May 2013
Gunmerica, May 21, 2013
From Joe Nocera, New York Times
A 4-year-old child is recovering in the hospital after being shot in Brighton, Ala., Sunday afternoon. Someone shot into an occupied vehicle in which the child was a passenger at around 3 p.m. Police are soliciting tips from the public.
—WVTM-TV
An accidental shooting claimed the life of a 12-year-old in Dayton, Ohio, Sunday morning. Deputies responded to a home...
6 tags
So, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), let me see if I have...
1. Some citizens in your state, including many children, got killed and wounded by a vicious tornado this week.
2. Property damage was likewise extensive. People’s lives have been horribly disrupted (if they were lucky) and transformed (if they weren’t).
View Post
Why God Failed to Earn Tenure
With graduations (and faculty promotion and tenure season) just past, an oldie but a goodie: why God can’t earn tenure:
1. He published only one book. 2. It was in Hebrew. 3. It had no references. 4. He did not publish it in refereed journals. 5. There is significant doubt He wrote it Himself. 6. He is neither collegial nor a regular coauthor. 7. Sure, He created the world, but what has He...
Politicalprof is so old ...
I remember the days when all one saw before the previews of coming movies was a blue screen, sometimes covered by a curtain.
Now it’s like living inside a screaming television.
The new Star Trek movie is enjoyable, but JJ Abrams certainly has made a traditional action adventure series out of the Star Trek universe, rather than a “Star Trek” movie …
“If I am right, then (religious fundamentalists) will not go to Heaven, because...”
– Isaac Asimov
And yet another day in Gunmerica: May 17, 2013
From Joe Nocera, New York Times
Bonnita Todd, 64, who neighbors and friends called “Granny,” was shot to death while she slept as more than a dozen bullets ripped through her apartment in Richmond, Calif., Wednesday night. Investigators said the shooting was not random, that the home was targeted, but Todd was not who the shooter was after. “Granny was our joy,” neighbor Cymande Russell said....
I go away for five days and Tumblr is on the verge...
My apologies, everyone. I had no idea.
Sometimes I get depressed ...
And then I remember that the trillion dollars and the lives we’ve spent in Afghanistan will likely be used to secure that country on behalf of whatever Chinese companies are able to develop whatever natural resources Afghanistan might have. Which doesn’t so much alleviate my depression as explain it.
Stop trolling liberal fuck, you obviously like...
I don’t think trolling means what you think it means.
First world problems ...
After 72 holes of golf over two days the outside of my right upper thigh is sore from pressing against the side handle of a golf cart.
It’s a hard life after all ;-)
In which Politicalprof has a (second) hole in one...
So, yeah: I had a pretty good day.
Checking out for a little while ...
You may hear off and on from me for the next week, but I’ll be out of town whacking little white balls and generally proving that I have poor athletic abilities while spending money doing it … after all, they had to call it “golf” because all the other four-letter words were taken.
My nomination for easiest job in the world?
TV director for a golf tournament in which Tiger Woods is playing.
Cut one: Tiger is hitting. Put Tiger on! Cut two: Tiger is waiting to hit. Put Tiger on! Cut three: Tiger is waiting to putt. Put Tiger on, and talk about Tiger. Cut four: Put up interview of another player; ask about Tiger. Cut five: There’s a lull in the action. Cut to Lindsey Vonn with Tiger!
If Tiger Woods is leading,...
tag76 asked: Do you not know about everything Obama has been doing? Seriously, he has done and signed plenty without any votes from congress.
kjrodgers asked: Where do you get your facts? All the murders that took place? Were these murders done with legally registered firearms or does it matter? How about the 4 people killed in Benghazi. What are the gun laws in Libya? Let's compare the US and Mexico?
So Rand Paul has gone off the deep end (again)
This time alleging President Obama is involved in a secret treaty that would compel the government to confiscate all American guns, etc.
In a fundraiser (perhaps unsurprisingly).
BTW: No such treaty EXISTS.
ht: Ezra Klein
Another day in Gunmerica: May 10, 2013
From Joe Nocera, New York Times
A 3-year-old girl was shot in S.E. Washington, D.C., Thursday evening. The child, who was shot while on a balcony, was breathing when she was taken to the hospital. Police believe she was hit by a stray bullet. They have a description of the suspect.
—WUSA9
D.C. police are investigating a triple shooting on Eastern Avenue Thursday evening. The shootings happened...
“I have grown increasingly frustrated with how the mythology of leadership has...”
– Norman Ornstein, one of the best analysts of American politics, takes apart the “if only Obama would lead!” myth.
This is worth a read.
—oh, and the answer to Ornstein’s question is: no.
about--forever asked: Hello!I have just read your article about the weapon possession in the US and i totally agree with the spirit. At the other hand, iam not sure that the"disarming"process will be an easy task, especially in certain States.I think that the weapons are attached with the American community and a fact like this is difficult to change even if there where no other interests. Although, i...
brazenwussy asked: I would love to read your thoughts on the Pew study that just came out about gun violence. Its findings that gun violence decreased dramatically over the last few decades seem sharply at odds with the feeling that many of us have that our country has become ever more violent, weaponized, and Gadsden flag-y in the last, say, 10 years. Do you see any methodological flaws in the Pew study? Should it...
One Day in Gun-merica: May 9, 2013
From Joe Nocera, NY Times
A 3-year-old boy died Wednesday night after a self-inflicted shooting in Corsicana, Tex. Kinzler Allen Davis found a handgun inside a bedroom in his home and then discharged it, striking himself in the head. The boy’s father was in another room at the time. There were no immediate plans to charge the parents.
—CBS DFW
Authorities are searching for a 45-year-old man...
tbitw1322 asked: This isn't a question but I just wanted to say I really enjoy all of your posts even if I don't agree with the message. I support my views, but it's always refreshing to read the other side on issues. Some people are too quick to dismiss those that they disagree with which is a shame. But your usually on point colorful banter causes one to have to examine your ideas and internally...
I rode in a car after we rowed boats on our road...
English is a weird language.
Proud to say I have no idea of who Jodi Arias is,...
and planning to keep it that way.
4 tags
A brief thought on Mark Sanford's win
So some people seem surprised that Mark Sanford won his old seat in Congress yesterday, beating Stephen Colbert’s sister, Elizabeth Colbert-Busch. While this win was by no means inevitable, given Sanford’s infamous “hike” on the Appalachian Trail,” it wasn’t fundamentally surprising. SC-1 is a strongly Republican district, and Mitt Romney polled 58% there.
...
It's a good sign you're not Professor's pet when...
Although to be quite fair, they undoubtedly think the same thing about me …
So now, having published an op-ed saying we had to...
Because Syria is in no way Iraq.
It would be just glorious if the Times got over its muscular liberal interventionist fantasies. Just once.
“Creationists make it sound as though a ‘theory’ is something you...”
– Isaac Asimov
“Along with all of the other rising inequalities we’ve become so familiar...”
– Chris Hayes, per Ta-Nehisi Coates
ShortFormBlog: Guantanamo Bay more expensive per... →
shortformblog:
900,000+dollars per year in cost for a detainee at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. The Pentagon estimates that the facility costs about $150 million to run per year (the prison itself, as well as its military court system), which comes to the above amount when averaged across…
Politicalprof: really? A foreign military base guarded by a Marine unit and the US Navy...
So apparently there's a show called "Teen Mom,"...
And the Huffington Post REALLY thinks I need to know about this.
Thanks … I’m sure.
7 tags
So Mountain Dew was surprised that an ad that...
Who could have thought it?
