each sunrise, and each sunset, a gift. . .

my chakra-chant is for the tech
families and victims and friends. . .

but my head has now returned
to justice, politics and the law:

i actually think this is a bad
development, from gonzales’ per-
spective. . . that is so, because
whatever impact the pre-
release of his opening
statement might have had on
the news-cylce, it will be
LONG gone by thursday, especially
in light of today’s senseless tragedy. . .

and, that’s two more days for
committee staff to tick-and-tie
all sampson (and other staffers)
have averred — vs. contradictions
gonzales is already wedded-to
by virtue of the pre-release
of his opening. . . i’ll note
especially here that sen. leahy
has begun to release the details
of what kyle sampson said in
his unprecedented-sunday interview
with the judiciary committee to
the new york times, tonight. . .

[i may wirte more on this later
tonight or in the morning. . . dunno.]

me? i’m buying MORE popcorn, not less. . .

btw, woo-hoo! this makes my ben-n-jerry’s for
a year bet for friday at 5:30 pm as gonzo-gone
time, look even better!

Boy, I do feel for the facility folks at VT who will be needing to clean and repair the facilities. That will be a horrible job.

Lord, I hadn’t even thought about that. Truly the stuff of nightmares.

Certainly CBS is as aware as anyone that both of those previous incidents were planned/managed by the US government. The inference is spooky to me, especially as this mass murder occurred on the day before AG’s testimony, during which he is expected to flounder.

To you who respond to this suggestion by pointing out that this shooter “wasjust a random freak”, I’d remind you that the CIA has a black ops program, quite well documented, which is devoted to programming individuals for jobs such as this one. More fear has been implanted with media’s full-blast support, and the threatening Gonzalez hearing has been postponed. 33 plus lives lost has no meaning to these beings. (I refuse to consider them human)

I guess I didn’t realize that you were castigated earlier today. When I read your(early) post, I said “amen”. But I suppose if I had posted it, you might have felt supported. Sorry.

As a nation, we have great sympathy and compassion. This awful event has us thinking of the pain of these families and our hearts go out to them. We’ll cry at their funerals, we’ll set up scholarships in their honor, and we’ll know what a loss this is.

Why can’t we project this abroad? The pain of Iraqi families comes to mind, but we have a long history of inflicting this kind of pain, yet to bring it up is somehow unpatriotic. The pain that our guy, the Shah, inflicted on Iranian families through the CIA-trained SAVAK? The pain that Abrams, Poindexter, and Negroponte inflicted on central America? The pain that Kissinger inflicted on Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia? Any less?

Even on these progressive threads, to bring this up is to politicize this particular massacre. And yet, this was likely the product of a single, deranged human. Is that more horrific than those other crimes, which were entirely predictable results of policies established and planned out? I’d say, No.

Evil can’t be weighed, but we can’t claim any special pain–yet we will. There is a shocking egotism to American culture that sees our pain as more searing than anyone else’s. I was castigated today for noting that an event like this Virginia Tech tragedy happens three times a day in Baghdad, but it does. Convince me that going to school at Virginia Tech is worse than living in Baghdad every single goddamn day.

Anti-trafficking
Is there a one-handgun-per-month limit on gun sales? Yes
Assault weapons
Are there limitations on assault weapons and magazines? No
Attorney general regulations
Can the attorney general regulate guns? No.
Background check At state level
Do state police perform a background check in addition to federal NICS check? Yes
Ballistic fingerprinting
Must handguns be ballistic fingerprinted prior to sale? No
Concealed weapons limits
May police limit carrying concealed handguns? No
Child access prevention
Are gun owners held accountable for leaving guns accessible to kids? Yes
Child-safety locks
Must locking devices be sold with guns? No
Gun manufacturer accountability
Do cities have authority to hold gun makers legally liable? No
Gun show checks
Are background checks required at gun shows? No
Juvenile possession
Are minors restricted from possessing guns? Partial
Juvenile sale
Is it illegal to sell guns to kids? Partial
License or permit to purchase
Is a license/permit required to buy handguns? No
Local gun laws – preemption
May cities enact laws stronger than the state’s? No
Record keeping
May police maintain gun sale records? Partial
Registration
Are all guns registered with law enforcement? No
Safety standards
Are there consumer safety standards on guns? No
Safety training
Is safety training required for handgun buyers? No
Saturday Night Specials
Are there limitations on ‘junk’ handguns? No
School zones
Is it illegal for concealed weapons permit holders to carry guns into schools? Yes
Secondary sales
Are background checks required on “private” gun sales? No
Waiting period
Is there a waiting period on gun sales? No

Source: Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence • Print this