Granny With Gun Foils Gem Heist

Chicago Takes First Place!

Chicago Is The Deadliest Global City

Chicago likes to compare itself to other world cities, so Ward Room thought it would find out how we rank in violence. It turns out no one can top us. Among what are considered Alpha world cities, Chicago has the highest murder rate -- higher even than the Third World metropolises of Mexico City and Sao Paolo.

Bogota, Columbia complained that it's dead were being counted in Chicago.

Chicago politicians like Rahm Immanuel and Barack Obama must be so proud.

Meanwhile, Chicago racks up one Aurora equivalent every week or so.  And they have very restrictive gun control, so I assume it's being mostly carried out with knives and blunt instruments...

The Colorado Shootings

For my two or three regular readers, my apologies for the light blogging, and not commenting on this already.  However, one advantage of working is that stories often get a chance to take shape before I get an opportunity to comment on them, and this can lead to **gasp** almost having a few facts before it's time to put thoughts into electrons.  In this case, the lapse was even greater because of family obligations/privileges that came before blogging.

I suppose it's possible that someone, sometime, from somewhere odd reads this without knowing the facts as they've unfolded, so here's a brief summary of the facts:

Late Thursday night, at a first screening of the new Batman Movie "Dark Knight Rises", a man later identified as James Holmes, of Aurora, Colorado, sneaked out the backdoor of the theater, which he propped open, returned with a number of guns and tear gas, and proceeded to shoot as many people as possible. Twelve people are dead and 58 injured (at this point). He was apprehended in the alley behind the studio, apparently without much resistance, and admitted to the shootings, claiming to be "The Joker".  His hair was dyed red.  Upon entering his apartment, it was found booby trapped with explosives and chemical devices, and police have not fully cleared them at this time.

James Holmes is a graduate student in neurosciences at the University of Colorado, where he is/was in the process of withdrawing (I think we can consider this effectively complete). There seem to be no credible reports of any previous run ins with law enforcement, other than a speeding ticket, and no reports of violence or threats of violence to family, neighbors, fellow students or faculty. Neighbors report him as a pleasant person:

"He seemed to have a good demeanor," Parkman said. "The news reports you hear about him, it's as if people are talking about one person in San Diego and one in Colorado. Who he is now is not who he was in San Diego."

although one high-school friend reported that he had a penchant for rooting for the bad guy.

He was a good student as well:

Holmes graduated in the spring of 2010 with a degree in neuroscience from the University of California-Riverside, where he was remembered as an outstanding student who attended on a merit-based scholarship.

"He was at the top of the top," said Chancellor Timothy White at a hastily called news conference. "He really distinguished himself."

although, he was reportedly upset at being unable to find a job in his field.

He purchased his guns and ammunition legally, starting in May of this year, purchasing the four guns (an AR15, a Shotgun, and two Glock pistols) at two stores in Colorado, and had accumulated a large amount of ammunition, approximately 3,000 rounds, or two weeks of practice for Ted...

No specific motive has been offered for his deeds.  At some level you have to grant that mental illness is involved; people with normal brains simply don't do things like this.  Unemployment after a brilliant undergraduate career is certainly disappointing, but hardly sufficient grounds to shoot up a theater full of random and innocent people.  If it were, there would be thousands of such shootings annually, particularly in the current economic climate.  The Batman and Joker connection would seem to indicate that some seriously delusional behavior going on, but unlike say Jared Loughner, no one (with the possible exception of his mother) appears to have seen any previous signs of it.

At some point, you simply have to allow for the possibility of evil in addition to the apparent mental problems.  Is the evil a result of the mental problems, or is it an independent personality development.  Can the mental problems be relieved or at least lessened by treatment, and if so, will the evil go with them or remain behind?

Now, for the "other" things that happened after the shooting.

ABC news immediately covered itself in disgrace when long time correspondent Brian Ross breathlessly reported to George Stuffingevelopes on the Today Show that a Jim Holmes of Aurora, Colorado had a page on a Tea Party Patriots website.  (Aurora has a population of about 300,000 and the statistic suggest up to 25 or more Jim or James Holmes).  Clearly, Ross had been fishing for evidence that the shooter was a right wing extremist of some sort, and had an orgasm when he discovered (or more likely was tipped) to this.  That Jim Holmes turned out to be a 52  year old Hispanic law enforcement officer completely innocent of any involvement.  Over the course of the day, however, he received death threats.  This earned Ross the Title of "America's Wrongest Reporter" by Gawker (I guess in the "it takes one to know one" sort of spirit).

ABC has admitted the error, and apologized (well sort of).

"An earlier ABC News broadcast report suggested that a Jim Holmes of a Colorado Tea Party organization might be the suspect, but that report was incorrect," ABC News said in a statement. "ABC News and Brian Ross apologize for the mistake, and for disseminating that information before it was properly vetted."

This is not Brian Ross's first brush with ignominious reporting.  He was involved in the affair in which NBC reporters arranged for GM trucks to be rigged with explosives to start fires at staged crash for Dateline NBC.  GM sued and NBC settled, and subsequently Ross and others lost their jobs. He was almost immediately picked up by ABC.

Keeping the car theme, a Brian Ross report on sudden acceleration by Toyotas was found to contain staged footage of a tachometer redlining (in a car parked in a garage). Ross was one of several journalist who linked the 2011 anthrax attacks to Al Qaeda (we know it to be the work of a lone researcher today).  He accused Republican Speaker of the House Denny Hastert of connections to the Jack Abramoff corruption scandals, which the Justice Departement (and Denny Hasteret of course) denied, and which were never pursued.  He is reported to have rushed Michelle Bachmann at a campaign event, ignoring requests to stay back and forcing her guards to man handle him.  He whined like a baby:

Ross said he'd only been treated like that before "mostly by Mafia people.

There is really no excuse for Brian Ross to be employed in the news business at this point.  One has to presume anything he reports on to be tainted.

The usual suspects, gun control advocates such as New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the New York Daily News, have seized on this news to push gun control.  Michael, you already have strict gun control in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.  How's that working out?

In short, a bad day all around for truth, justice and the American Way.

Married Athletes Charge Olympics Favor Gay Couples

We Can’t Live Together During Games, But Gay Couples Can

An Australian Olympic married couple claims they have been prohibited from sharing a room in the London Olympic Village, even though gay couples are reportedly allowed to do so.

Olympic shooters Russell and Lauryn Mark told news.com.au that they are being discriminated against by officials.

Based on our previous research, it's hard to imagine that the Olympic housing is actually paying that much attention to who is sleeping with who, but in the rare case of a two Olympic athlete family, you would think they might find an accommodation.

“The stupid part of this, which I have argued to them, is that there are tons of gay couples on the Olympic team who will be rooming together, so we are being discriminated against because we are heterosexual,” Russell Mark told news.com.au.

Lauryn Mark additionally told the website that the Australian Olympic Committee has not helped them with their situation.

If the Olympic housing is making a point of allowing gay couples to choose housing together, and don't make that same accommodation for straight couples, married or not, then the Marks have a legitimate complaint.  If the gay couples are just getting together ex-officio, as we have seen the singles do, I don't see the beef.

“Basically they said if we want to room together we need to check out of the village and go into a hotel at our own expense. It’s not feasible,” she told news.com.au. “I am very frustrated because in sport there are a lot of same-sex couples and it’s OK to be partners with someone of the same sex, but if you are heterosexual you are penalized.”

Nick Green, head of mission for the Australian Olympic Committee, told the London Evening Standard that the Marks are not being discriminated against.

My guess is that if you have devoted your life to becoming a good enough shot to compete in the Olympics you probably have the financial resources to afford the hotel room.  You may even be able to find someone to help.

Pole Dancing is part of Lauryn's fitness program

“Accommodation and bedding are done in a particular way to ensure all the athletes are accommodated in the village,” Green told the Evening Standard.

The couple has previously come under fire for Russell Mark’s claims that sleeping pills help him, as well as for Lauren Mark’s provocative photo shoot showing her in a bikini on the cover of a magazine.

The two will still take part in the Olympics despite not being able to live together during the games.

I dunno.  While I don't pretend to fully understand the story, it sounds to me like the Marks are looking for excuses to make trouble for the Olympic Committee, and possibly vice versa.

I wish them well in their respective contests, and hope they remember to make the best of it despite choosing to sleep in different beds for the short duration of the Olympics.

Wombat-Soccho hit his self imposed Sunday deadline with "Burning Photographs" and Rule 5s at The Other Mccain.

When in Trouble or in Doubt

Run and hide; throw bean bags as a last resort

First it was confirmed that Border Patrol agent Brian Terry and his elite tactical unit initially fired bean bags at heavily armed dope smugglers. Now comes news that a Border Patrol training video is instructing agents that, when confronted by a shooter they should “run away” and “hide”. Only as a last resort, if they are cornered, should agents get “aggressive” and “throw things” at the perps. Throw things? Really; here’s the site of the largest local of the Border Patrol agents’ union describing the training they’re required to undergo.

I know, that was a pretty lousy rhyme.  The original, which I first heard in "Time Enough for Love" by Robert Heinlein, was "When in trouble or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout".  I'm sure he stole borrowed it from somewhere else.

Rule 5 Saturday - A Cup Of Starbuck - Katee Sackhoff

Born  in St. Helens, Oregon, a month before the mountain exploded a mere 39 miles away (I remember it well), Katee grew up in nearby Portland.

Robbed of her planned swimming career by a knee injury, she took to acting.

Her first acting job exemplified rural life in Oregon "Fifteen and Pregnant", a Lifetime movie with Kirsten Dunst, in which she played another teen mother.









Her best known role, at least to us Sci-Fi geeks, was hard living fighter pilot  Kara "Thrace" Starbuck in the resurrected TV series "Battlestar Galactica". 


However, this Rule 5 post was inspired by seeing her in the new summer show "Longmire" in which she play Festus (Vic for Victoria Moretti) to the western sheriff Longmire (played by Robert Taylor).  She looks good in guns, don't you think?

Sackhoff said she embraced her own masculinity, but enjoys her femininity just as much. "I also love wearing a pair of Louboutins and looking like a piece of ass and walking in and having every man in the room want to f--k me," she said.

"Let's be honest! I know that's straightforward. I love to have to play both sides of the coin. And I love to have both of those attributes in my characters as well because I think that's real and I think every woman has that, it's just what side you lean more toward and I think I'm just more down the middle."

William Teach at Pirates Cove linked this with "Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup - Father's Day Edition." Ted has Abbie Cornish as Weekend Woman #50.

Americans buy record numbers of guns for Christmas

Guns

According to the FBI, over 1.5 million background checks on customers were requested by gun dealers to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System in December. Nearly 500,000 of those were in the six days before Christmas.

It was the highest number ever in a single month, surpassing the previous record set in November.

On Dec 23 alone there were 102,222 background checks, making it the second busiest single day for buying guns in history.

The actual number of guns bought may have been even higher if individual customers took home more than one each.

Explanations for America's surge in gun buying include that it is a response to the stalled economy with people fearing crime waves. Another theory is that buyers are rushing to gun shops because they believe tighter firearms laws will be introduced in the future.

The National Rifle Association said people were concerned about self defence because police officer numbers were declining.

A spokesman said: "I think there's an increased realisation that when something bad occurs it's going to be between them and the criminal."

But anti-gun campaigners said those who already owned weapons were simply hoarding more of them due to "fear-mongering" by the NRA.

A spokeswoman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence said: "The research we've seen indicates fewer and fewer people are owning more and more guns."

Dave LaRue, of Legendary Guns in Phoenix, Arizona, said Christmas sales were up 25 per cent on the previous year and ammunition sales were also "brisk".

He said: "There are a lot of people concerned about pending gun legislation and the sense about the current administration. People think future availability will be limited and there's a feeling of get it while you can."

The record for gun sales in a single day was set in November, on the day after Thanksgiving, when 129,166 background searches were carried out on customers buying weapons.

Since the near-fatal shooting of congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords by a deranged gunman in Tucson, Arizona last January there have been increasing calls for tighter gun control. Miss Giffords survived being shot in the head with a semi-automatic handgun, and six other people were killed.

News by Telegraph


Read current news at http://bbc-cnn-worldnews.blogspot.com