called terrorists but one who slaughters 50 innocent people & injures hundreds, not?

https://twitter.com/RuthHHopkins/status/914870028700352513

1 year ago

Yesterday, if you listened to President Obama offer words of comfort and resolve on the worst mass shooting in U.S. history at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, you heard something that hadn't been there in any of the twenty other times Obama spoke after such violence: resignation. "This massacre is therefore a further reminder of how easy it is for someone to get their hands on a weapon that lets them shoot people in a school, or in a house of worship, or a movie theater, or in a nightclub," he said. "And we have to decide if that’s the kind of country we want to be. And to actively do nothing is a decision as well."

That tone of nihilism over the possibility of any real change in the gun laws of the country continued in his briefing to the press today. Obama commented, "We are also going to have to have to make sure that we think about the risks we are willing to take by being so lax in how we make very powerful firearms available to people in this country. And this is something that obviously I’ve talked about for a very long time."

We can sit here and get angry all over again. We can get angry at the Islamic fundamentalism that is functionally a kind of sociopathy, if not outright mental illness, as is the fundamentalism of any faith. We can get angry at the homophobia that right-wing politicians and pundits traffic in, often hand-in-hand with the mentally-ill Christian fundamentalists, the kind of hatred that gives silent approval to acts of violence against the LGBT community. We can get angry at politicians who refuse to do anything more than feel sorry for the victims. But the part we should be most angry about is the failure of the United States as a nation to pass any meaningful restrictions on gun ownership in the wake of a series of increasingly horrific attacks by primarily men armed with guns.

In this way, the National Rifle Association, as a body that threatens the careers of lawmakers who would vote against it and that warns that a country with fewer guns would lead to tyranny and criminal rampages, has become a domestic terrorist organization, one whose primary method is psychological attack and the undermining of democracy. Those who follow its dictates are individual terrorists who commit violent acts in the name of the terrorist organization and its radical ideology. And as things exist now, the United States has surrendered to the NRA.

http://rudepundit.blogspot.ca/2016/06/the-terms-of-our-surrender-to-our.html

FEB 28 2017, 8:39 PM ET

President Donald Trump quietly signed a bill into law Tuesday rolling back an Obama-era regulation that made it harder for people with mental illnesses to purchase a gun.

The rule, which was finalized in December, added people receiving Social Security checks for mental illnesses and people deemed unfit to handle their own financial affairs to the national background check database.

Had the rule fully taken effect, the Obama administration predicted it would have added about 75,000 names to that database.

President Barack Obama recommended the now-nullified regulation in a 2013 memo following the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, which left 20 first graders and six others dead. The measure sought to block some people with severe mental health problems from buying guns.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/amp/trump-signs-bill-revoking-obama-era-gun-checks-people-mental-n727221

https://twitter.com/JoyAnnReid/status/914848865161027584

and they still keep masturbating

https://twitter.com/PersianRose1/status/914815782575468544

WASHINGTON — The House could pass legislation as early as this week that would roll back decades-old restrictions on gun silencers, opening up the market for a device that critics say would make it difficult in a mass shooting to detect where gunfire is coming from.

The House is also expected to move this fall on separate legislation that would allow people to carry their legally concealed weapons across state lines into jurisdictions, such as California, that tightly restrict weapons concealment.

The silencer measure is part of the Sportsmen Heritage and Recreational Enhancement Act, a broad-ranging gun bill delayed in June after House GOP Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., and two Capitol Hill police officers were wounded by a gunman who opened fire on a congressional baseball practice session.

Critics say silencers — called noise suppressors by supporters and heavily regulated by the federal government for more than eight decades — would make it harder for police officers to locate a shooter in an attack.

http://www.sfchronicle.com/nation/article/Pair-of-pro-gun-bills-on-move-in-House-12243745.php?cmpid=twitter-premium

At least 20 people were killed and more than 100 were injured in an active shooting incident on the Las Vegas Strip late Sunday night. Police have confirmed that "one suspect is down" and they do not believe there are any more shooters. Authorities are looking to talk to a "female companion" as a possible person of interest. Within minutes of reports of the shooting hitting Twitter, trolls started flooding social media with fake information.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanhatesthis/here-are-all-the-hoaxes-being-spread-about-the-las-vegas?bftwnews&utm_term=.nwGzVZyzZ#.pcrm6qbmq

Source: REUTERS

WASHINGTON/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Hewlett Packard Enterprise allowed a Russian defense agency to review the inner workings of cyber defense software used by the Pentagon to guard its computer networks, according to Russian regulatory records and interviews with people with direct knowledge of the issue.

The HPE system, called ArcSight, serves as a cybersecurity nerve center for much of the U.S. military, alerting analysts when it detects that computer systems may have come under attack (Graphic: tmsnrt.rs/2yHK3VS). ArcSight is also widely used in the private sector.

The Russian review of ArcSight’s source code, the closely guarded internal instructions of the software, was part of HPE’s effort to win the certification required to sell the product to Russia’s public sector, according to the regulatory records seen by Reuters and confirmed by a company spokeswoman.

Six former U.S. intelligence officials, as well as former ArcSight employees and independent security experts, said the source code review could help Moscow discover weaknesses in the software, potentially helping attackers to blind the U.S. military to a cyber attack.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-cyber-russia-hpe-specialreport/special-report-hp-enterprise-let-russia-scrutinize-cyberdefense-system-used-by-pentagon-idUSKCN1C716M?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=Social

Federal Court Says Fla. County Board Cannot Discriminate Against Non-Theists

A federal court last night struck down the Brevard County, Fla., Board of County Commissioners’ policy of excluding non-theists from giving opening invocations, a ruling that is being hailed by the groups that sponsored the litigation.

In its ruling, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida said a local governing body cannot limit its invocation speakers to those from monotheistic religions.

“It is unconstitutional for any governing body to discriminate against people who don’t believe in God,” said Alex J. Luchenitser, associate legal director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State and lead counsel in the case. “Yet that is exactly what Brevard County did through its invocation policy. We’re pleased that the court put an end to the county’s discriminatory practice.”

The Williamson v. Brevard County lawsuit was filed in 2015 by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida on behalf of multiple plaintiffs. It asserted that Brevard County’s rejection of atheists, humanists and other non-theists who sought to deliver solemnizing messages at the beginning of commission meetings violated the U.S. and Florida Constitutions.

https://au.org/media/press-releases/federal-court-says-fla-county-board-cannot-discriminate-against-non-theists

TALLAHASSEE, FLA.
A federal judge has blocked a Florida law that would require people and groups that provide abortion advice to register with the state and furnish women with a detailed explanation of the procedure and alternatives.

U.S. District Judge Robert L. Hinkle issued the ruling late Friday saying that the lawsuit filed by a minister, two rabbis, the Palm Beach chapter of the National Organization for Women and others would likely succeed at trial. The plaintiffs argued that the 2016 law would compel them to pay a $200 fee and make statements they disagreed with and weren't qualified to make. The plaintiffs don't provide abortions but make referrals. They receive no government funds.

The state's attorneys argued the plaintiffs had not been harmed by the law, that it wasn't being enforced and that there was no penalty for not registering.

Hinkle, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1996, said the advice the plaintiffs provide is protected by the First Amendment, so the state cannot usually require them to register and pay a fee. He pointed out the state does not require similar individuals and groups giving advice on cancer treatment, vaccines and other legal medical procedures to register, only abortion.

http://amp.miamiherald.com/latest-news/article176347221.html