April 30, 2013

The "black widows" of Dagestan

The Russian terror defense lawyer interviewed asserts that female suicide bombers "are not a criminal problem, it's a social problem." He explains that "when a woman's husband is dead, she has no rights: she can't make decisions, or have a lover or boyfriend." That is why "if a woman is religious, she becomes an easy target for suicide recruiters."

April 26, 2013

Obama: 'Planned Parenthood Is Not Going Anywhere'

President Barack Obama became the first sitting president Friday to address Planned Parenthood's national conference, where he reassured the organization and its supporters that he will continue to fight on their behalf.

"When politicians try to turn Planned Parenthood into a punching bag, they're not just talking about you," he told the crowd of 1,200. "They're talking about the millions of women you serve. When they talk about cutting off your funding, let's be clear: They’re talking about telling many of those women, 'You're on your own.' They're talking about shutting those women out at a time when women need it most, shutting off communities that need more health care options for women, not less."

Obama was originally scheduled to address Planned Parenthood's annual gala Thursday night, but he rescheduled the speech in order to attend a memorial service in West, Texas. The scheduling change fueled some speculation that Obama was distancing himself from the family planning provider, but he dispelled those rumors Friday.

"I'm sorry I could not be at the party yesterday," he said during his speech at a Marriott in Washington, D.C. "I understand it was a little wild. But as all of you know, obviously, we've gone through a pretty tough week and a half. I was down in Texas letting the people of West, Texas, know that we love them and care about them in their time of grieving."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/26/obama-planned-parenthood-_n_3163522.html

April 22, 2013

Turn to Religion Split Bomb Suspects Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's Home

Law-enforcement officials trying to understand what happened in Boston are looking into whether Tamerlan Tsarnaev had taken a turn toward radical Islam. Among the things they are examining: a six-month trip he took last year to Dagestan, a republic in Russia's south, bordering Chechnya.
...

Once known as a quiet teenager who aspired to be a boxer, Tamerlan Tsarnaev delved deeply into religion in recent years at the urging of his mother, who feared he was slipping into a life of marijuana, girls and alcohol. Tamerlan quit drinking and smoking, gave up boxing because he thought it was in opposition to his religion, and began pushing the rest of his family to pursue stricter ways, his mother recalled.

"You know how Islam has changed me," his mother, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal in Makhachkala, Dagestan, says he told her.

The changes drove a wedge through the Tsarnaev home at 410 Norfolk St., in Cambridge, Mass. Tamerlan persuaded his mother to cover herself up, which she says at one point distressed her husband, Anzor. "He said, 'You are being crazy, covering yourselves,'" she recalled her husband saying. She said that she told him, "This is what Islamic men should want. This is what I am supposed to do."

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324235304578437131250259170.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTTopStories

April 22, 2013

Boston Marathon Bombings: Turn to Religion Split Bomb Suspects Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's Home

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Law-enforcement officials trying to understand what happened in Boston are looking into whether Tamerlan Tsarnaev had taken a turn toward radical Islam. Among the things they are examining: a six-month trip he took last year to Dagestan, a republic in Russia's south, bordering Chechnya.
...

Once known as a quiet teenager who aspired to be a boxer, Tamerlan Tsarnaev delved deeply into religion in recent years at the urging of his mother, who feared he was slipping into a life of marijuana, girls and alcohol. Tamerlan quit drinking and smoking, gave up boxing because he thought it was in opposition to his religion, and began pushing the rest of his family to pursue stricter ways, his mother recalled.

"You know how Islam has changed me," his mother, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal in Makhachkala, Dagestan, says he told her.

The changes drove a wedge through the Tsarnaev home at 410 Norfolk St., in Cambridge, Mass. Tamerlan persuaded his mother to cover herself up, which she says at one point distressed her husband, Anzor. "He said, 'You are being crazy, covering yourselves,'" she recalled her husband saying. She said that she told him, "This is what Islamic men should want. This is what I am supposed to do."





Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324235304578437131250259170.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTTopStories

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So he thought boxing was bad but bombing innocent, defenseless people was ok.

Just goes to show that drugs, sex and rock n' roll is not the worst thing your kid could get into. Reminds me of the old Cheech and Chong line, "I used to be messed up on drugs, now I am messed up on the Lord."

April 21, 2013

Official: Boston bombing suspect 'sedated'

Source: CNN.com

The surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings suffered an injury to his throat and may not be able to talk, a federal official told CNN on Saturday, possibly hindering attempts by authorities to question him about a motive in the attack.
...
The official, who was briefed on Tsarnaev's condition, spoke on condition of anonymity.

Tsarnaev was in "serious but stable condition" and "not yet able to communicate yet," Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick told reporters during an impromptu briefing on Saturday.
...
Authorities have not publicly detailed the injuries sustained by the teen, but an official who has been briefed said Tsarnaev has been "intubated and sedated." The official also spoke on condition of anonymity.



Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/20/us/boston-attack/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

April 11, 2013

Why the NRA fights background checks

By John J. Donohue, Special to CNN
...
Federal law prohibits selling guns to felons or the mentally ill. Background checks are the only way to enforce that law. So, besides criminals and the insane, who could possibly oppose universal background checks? Gun manufacturers.

They are the ones who call the shots at the NRA, and they are the most important people in the opposition. The manufacturers don't want anything that interferes with total gun sales and profits.

Background checks would impose a minor burden on gun transactions, but more importantly, limit the size of the market (and therefore, profits) in two ways. The direct loss of profit comes because closing the current gaping loophole in the background check system will shut off sales to criminals and the mentally ill who are effectively free to buy all the guns they want at gun shows and through private transactions.

But there is also an indirect loss of profit: Cutting off sales to the mentally ill and criminals will reduce crime and thereby reduce the public's demand for guns for self-protection.

...
http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/10/opinion/donohue-background-checks/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

April 10, 2013

Police: U.S. couple who fled to Cuba with kids vowed "journey to the Armageddon"

Source: cbsnews.com

Joshua and Sharyn Hakken seemed to have a charmed life, doting on their two young boys, buying a comfortable home and building successful careers as engineers. It all derailed last year when police in Louisiana found the family inside a hotel room with drugs, weapons and promises from the parents to take "a journey to the Armageddon."

The couple is now jailed on charges they kidnapped the boys from their grandparents in Florida and sailed to Cuba on a boat called "Salty" to elude U.S. authorities. The family arrived in Florida early Wednesday morning, accompanied by federal, state and local authorities after being handed over by Cuban officials. Four-year-old Cole and 2-year-old Chase are now with their grandparents and their parents in jail, closing a bizarre ordeal that began with an Amber Alert and ended with diplomatic intervention.

Friends of the couple said the family seemed happy and had no marital problems. "This is a train that went completely off the tracks, and I don't have any explanation for how it can go off the track that badly basically in a year and a half. It's very bizarre," said Darrell Hanecki, who employed Sharyn Hakken for nearly a decade at Hanecki Consulting Engineers.
...

The blinds at the Hakken household were drawn tight Wednesday. An "infowars.com" bumper sticker was pasted on their mailbox, a reference to conservative radio personality Alex Jones' Web site. A white SUV was in the driveway where neighbors said they usually saw a small boat parked. The boat was such a common presence that it was noticeable when it disappeared last week, said neighbor Simon Castillo.

...




Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57578940/police-u.s-couple-who-fled-to-cuba-with-kids-vowed-journey-to-the-armageddon/

April 4, 2013

Molly Ivins on Gun Control

From her 1993 essay "Taking a Stab at Our Infatuation with Guns" (The Seattle Times, March 15, 1993), she begins by saying:

Let me start this discussion by pointing out that I am not anti-gun. I'm pro-knife. Consider the merits of the knife. In the first place, you have catch up with someone in order to stab him. A general substitution of knives for guns would promote physical fitness. We'd turn into a whole nation of great runners. Plus, knives don't ricochet. And people are seldom killed while cleaning their knives. As a civil libertarian, I of course support the Second Amendment. And I believe it means exactly what it says: "A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." Fourteen-year-old boys are not part of a well-regulated militia. Members of wacky religious cults are not part of a well-regulated militia. Permitting unregulated citizens to have guns is destroying the security of this free state. I am intrigued by the arguments of those who claim to follow the judicial doctrine of original intent. How do they know it was the dearest wish of Thomas Jefferson's heart that teen-age drug dealers should cruise the cities of this nation perforating their fellow citizens with assault rifles? Channelling?

http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19930315&slug=1690536

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This facebook post came to mind when I read Molly's riff on how "permitting unregulated citizens to have guns is destroying the security of this free state":