Tag Archives: killing

Animal Issues

What do children learn when they’re taught to kill?

By Craig Shapiro

How do you teach a child to kill?

That’s what hunters do, right? They teach their sons and daughters to kill.

I don’t mean hiding in a tree stand or waiting idly in a blind until a deer, bear or duck comes into killing range. All that takes is a cold disregard for the life of another being.

What I mean is, how do you teach a child that it’s OK to terrorize animals and destroy their families? Is bloodlust ingrained, or do Dad and Mom have to nurture it?

I’ve been wondering about that ever since reading about the Youth Bear Hunting Day in Maine. Last month, children 16 and under armed themselves with rifles, bows and arrows, and crossbows and spent the day slaughtering the state’s iconic black bears.

If only this odious killing spree were an exception.

But Wisconsin is also putting on a two-day deer hunt next month, for children ages 10 to 15. The kids don’t need a certificate to point their weapons and fire as long as they’re “mentored” by an adult.

One writer in South Bend, Indiana, even lamented that some parents have shirked their responsibilities because they’ve stopped teaching their children to kill. But not to worry, he wrote: The sponsors of a recent pheasant kill “are stepping up to fill the void.”

He would have been heartened by a Chicago writer’s account of dove-hunting season’s opening day: The “coolest” thing he saw was a father leading his two young daughters onto the killing field.

What are we teaching our children? That massacring wildlife is some kind of noble tradition?

Hundreds of years ago, our ancestors may have had to hunt for food, but today, hunting is a senseless blood sport. Less than 5 percent of Americans hunt, and most of them aren’t killing to survive. They’re killing because they want another head or pair of antlers to hang on the wall.

Are we teaching our children that hunting is a “sport”? Last time I checked, a sport pitted evenly matched, willing opponents against each other on a level playing field.

Are we teaching them that many animals suffer prolonged and painful deaths when they’re blasted with a bullet or pierced with an arrow? One study found that some wounded deer suffered for more than 15 minutes and that 11 percent had to be shot two or more times before they died. A biologist estimated that more than 3 million wounded ducks go “unretrieved” every year.

A couple of the news stories that I read said that children will get to “harvest” a deer or bird. This language is as predictable as it is disingenuous. Hunters like to use the word “harvest” (“cull” is another favorite) to lull the public into forgetting that hunting is the same as slaughtering. Are our children learning to think of hunting as mere harvesting?

Hunters also use “harvest” to pretend that they’re keepers of the environment. But they aren’t targeting sick and injured animals and putting them out of their misery — they’re looking to “bag the biggest buck” and win bragging rights. What do children learn from that?

All that hunters do by killing is to create a spike in the animals’ food supply, which increases breeding among survivors and attracts newcomers. And they’re abetted by fish and game agencies, which design “wildlife management” programs to ensure that there will always be more animals to kill, not fewer.

You can’t tell me that putting a crossbow in the hands of a 10-year-old doesn’t desensitize that child.

A crossbow. In the hands of a 10-year-old.

What are we teaching our children?

InCity Feature, InCity Letters, InCity Voices, Uncategorized

Worcester Police Dept. needs ShotSpotter – another crime-fighting tool for our urban tool-box!

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By Sue Moynagh

This past Election Day, I had an informative conversation with a neighbor as we did standout for our respective candidates. We have a lot in common. We are both long time residents of Worcester’s Union Hill neighborhood. We attended the same church, school, shopped in local stores and walked on the same streets. We have both seen the changes in our community, the ups and downs, and we hang in there, hoping to effect changes for the better in the future. She spoke of the high crime rate on her street; drugs, violence and shootings. We both hear the gun shots, especially at night, and we are both glad of the response we are getting from the city, especially the police department. The latest “weapon” in the battle against crime could be ShotSpotter. What is ShotSpotter? What are the pros and cons? And why do I favor its use in this community?

First, I want to give an update on this war against crime. This past July, a community engagement meeting was held at Worcester Academy announcing that a special Community Policing Precinct was being formed for the Union Hill neighborhood. This is in response to the increase in violent crimes in this area, especially those involving guns. The Precinct involves the Police Operations Division, which works in conjunction with the Vice Squad and Detective Division to focus on problem situations within the community. In the first week, there were 7 coordinated drug busts and a large number of persons with outstanding warrants were apprehended. Large numbers of illegal abandoned or unregistered vehicles were also towed. The police officers are now walking throughout the streets of Union Hill, and you can see patrol cars everywhere. There is also a greater state police presence now that they have opened a division at 81 Lafayette Street along with the Attorney General’s office. What does this mean for the neighborhood safety?

In the past week, I have seen numerous state and Worcester police cruisers on Harrison, Dorchester, Madison, and Providence Streets. Cars are being stopped. When people see such an expanded police presence, there is a perception that it is safer. As one local businessman said, “People feel more secure. They are out walking, with kids, with baby strollers. There are more kids playing in the parks.” Unfortunately, there are still problems, including gunfire. More is needed to increase public safety in Union Hill and adjacent neighborhoods. This brings me to the ShotSpotter initiative.

I first heard about ShotSpotter at a CSX Neighborhood Advisory Committee that meets once a month to discuss funding proposals for three Worcester districts most impacted by the opening of the CSX railroad freight yard on Shrewsbury and Grafton Streets. The first meeting I attended was held at North High School in March. I testified that Union Hill was impacted by the CSX freight yard, and should receive mitigation money. A number of projects were proposed including the installation of 12 surveillance cameras along Providence Street and the surrounding streets. This would cost approximately $35,000 for stationary surveillance cameras. As far as I am concerned, anything that would give police added information to apprehend criminals is worth it. At the September CSX meeting, members of the Worcester Police Department gave a presentation of the ShotSpotter technology. A follow- up presentation was made in October.

ShotSpotter is a high- tech auditory system in which sensors pick up gunshots and relay this information to the police, allowing them to assess the situation and respond immediately. Sensors are activated by loud noises, but backfiring cars and fireworks are identified and filtered out. Data includes number of shots, location and, if shooters are in a vehicle, travel direction. Numbers of police needed and action required can be decided depending on information relayed to the police. Data provided by ShotSpotter would allow police to formulate long- term strategies to deal with criminal activity. Areas that are most problematic would get the most attention in terms of personnel. In some cases, ShotSpotter data can be used in courts as evidence. On at least one occasion, police were accused of instigating a shooting incident. Evidence showed that the police did not fire first. If police can get to the scene of a shooting in a much quicker time, there is better chance of making arrests and collecting more evidence.

I did some research about the system and was impressed by what it could do. In a report by Erica Goode in a New York Times News Bulletin, trials were conducted at the Charleston Navy Yard in 2006. ShotSpotter had a 99.6% “correct” rate of identifying and locating 234 gunshots at 23 locations within the test area. Other cities that use the technology claim an 80% plus success rate. ShotSpotter is rated favorably in many locations, including Washington DC, Springfield, MA, Oakland, Boston, Milwaukee and Gary, Indiana. Some of these cities claim that ShotSpotter use has reduced crime, especially gunfire by as much as 60- 80%. Overall crime rates have been reduced by a similar percentage, in a relatively short period of time.

Is ShotSpotter perfect? Of course not; there are cons. As with any new technology, there are imperfections. Sometimes police respond and there is no evidence of gunfire. In some cities, the police don’t utilize the information received correctly. Training is required for police personnel. It is also necessary to adjust SpotShotter according to each city’s unique auditory or acoustic “fingerprint.” An area with hills and large numbers of wooden buildings would reflect sound waves differently than one with flat terrain and with a large number of skyscrapers. Positions are determined by triangulating input from more than one sensor.

Some people fear the “big brother” aspect of this technology. Would private conversations be overheard? How much of this evidence should be allowed in courts before someone’s civil rights are jeopardized? Sensors are supposed to be placed at high levels and are activated by loud noises, not conversation. Surveillance cameras are not required, but recommended to be used with ShotSpotter. People feel uncomfortable with cameras in their neighborhood. I do. I also feel like I am willing to put up with this uneasiness if it means criminals can be identified and removed from my neighborhood, increasing overall safety. I also see these measures as temporary.

Another concern comes from those who have invested financially in the neighborhoods. If you own property or businesses in the community you want people to come in- to live, shop, dine and work here. There is fear that no one will want to come into a neighborhood that needs cameras and sensors. I would argue that the crime itself would dissuade people from moving into a neighborhood. If people feel safe, they will come and live, shop and work. Bad reputations are made by the crimes themselves, not responding technology.

Another fear is that ShotSpotter and cameras will drive crime into adjacent neighborhoods. Guess what? It is already there! There are no physical barriers separating the neighborhoods. People who commit crimes may live in one section of the city and be apprehended for crimes committed in another section of the city or even in another town. Many of the trouble-makers in Union Hill came from other parts of the city. In time, if not arrested, they will move elsewhere. Let’s work together to deal with problems, not close our eyes and point fingers.

One argument states that statistics do not bear out the need for high- tech tools. Few gunshots are reported, and other cities are even worse than Worcester in terms of violent crime. True. One reason brought out at the ShotSpotter presentation for low gunshot reports is that few people call the police when they hear gunshots. I know I don’t. It is very difficult to determine where the sounds are coming from unless the shots are very close by. Some people feel that they may be mistaken. Could it be fireworks? Others are just plain afraid of retaliation. So statistics about gunfire don’t tell the whole story. As for other cities being worse than Worcester in terms of violent crimes, I am sure there are. As far as I’m concerned, one gun fired or one crime committed is one too many.

At a recent meeting, I was accused of being an alarmist, for basing my endorsement of ShotSpotter and surveillance cameras on fear rather than on information. This comment was based on the testimonies given by myself and another resident at the CSX Advisory Committee meeting on October 12. Neither one of us are alarmists. Are we afraid? Certainly. But we are both intelligent, well- educated women that are able to make sound decisions, based on facts, not on hysterical, knee- jerk reaction. There are still guns being fired and other crimes being committed in this section of the city and we want the police to have whatever tools they need to respond quickly and effectively to problems that arise.

In closing, I want to make reference to a book I am reading, “The Quest,” by Richard and Mary-Alice Jafolla. It is a book about making improvements in an individual’s spiritual life, but I think it relates just as well with the health of a community. One section deals with the use of denials and affirmations. It states that if you change a baby’s diaper, you don’t put a clean diaper over an old one. You clean up the mess first! That’s what is needed now. We have to allow the police to do their work and get rid of all the CRAP in this neighborhood…in this city before improvements will take hold. I endorse ShotSpotter because it will enable the police to do an even better job of cleaning up my community, safely, efficiently, and effectively.

 

 

 

Green Island Grrrl, Rosalie's Blog

“Let’s get M.A.D.D. about Guns” and other articles about the massacre of the first graders at Newtown

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State police led children from the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., after a shooting was reported there. Go to related article »

From The New York Times. – R. T.:

Joe Nocera

Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times – Joe Nocera

Let’s Get M.A.D.D. About Guns
By JOE NOCERA

Published: December 18, 2012

On May 3, 1980, a 13-year-old girl named Cari Lightner was killed by a drunken driver. A terrible alcoholic, the man had three prior drunken driving convictions. He had just come from a bar, on the back end of a three-day binge.

Within weeks, Cari’s mom, Candy Lightner, co-founded M.A.D.D., or Mothers Against Drunk Driving. All over the country, mothers fed up with the unwillingness of politicians to do anything about drunken driving flocked to the organization. Within a few years, M.A.D.D. had persuaded President Ronald Reagan to support a national drinking age of 21, and it had pushed through state laws toughening the penalties for driving while intoxicated. Perhaps most important, M.A.D.D. turned a dangerous behavior that had long been socially acceptable into a taboo.

I was out of town on Friday, when the Newtown, Conn., massacre took place and could only connect to my loved ones by phone. My fiancée wept uncontrollably: “I can’t imagine what it would be like to drop Mackie off at school, and never see him again,” she said, referring to our 2-year-old son. My grown daughter also cried.

Listening to them – and seeing how powerfully affected the country has been by this horrible slaughter of children and their teachers – I couldn’t help thinking about M.A.D.D. Its success came about because its founders tapped into a wellspring of anger that had been quietly building – just like the current anger over the recent spate of mass killings. But it also came about because mothers could give a human face to the consequences of political inaction: their own children. How do you trump that?

Sadly, thanks to the elementary school shootings on Friday, children are now inexorably linked with the kind of mass killing that has become far too common. On Sunday, at the vigil in Newtown, President Obama explicitly cast the country’s lax gun laws as a failure to protect children. I have no doubt his remarks were heartfelt, but they were also politically shrewd. Rarely has the National Rifle Association been so silent. …

to read more, click on the link below:

http://mobile.nytimes.com/article?a=1007693&f=28&sub=Columnist

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To read other stories about this PREVENTABLE  American tragedy, please click on the several links below. LET’S BAN ASSAULT WEAPONS – NATIONALLY. Let’s – on federal level – institute BACKGROUND CHECKS on EVERYONE who buys guns at gun shows/through private dealers. LET’S DO THIS TODAY! – R. Tirella :

 

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2012/12/18/nyregion/amid-the-whiz-of-bullets-seeking-comfort-in-song.xml?f=19

 

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2012/12/17/blogs/renewed-and-some-new-support-for-gun-control.xml?f=19

 

PHOTO:  Mourners gather for a candlelight vigil at Ram's Pasture to remember shooting victims, Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012 in Newtown, Conn.

 

http://mobile.nytimes.com/art/1006817/28?sub=Columnist

 

http://mobile.boston.com/art/35/metrodesk/2012/12/17/mass-governor-says-renew-push-for-tougher-gun-regulation/qwrhw0d6ObDt18ibJhldJP/story


http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/newtown-sandy-hook-school-shooting/hc-timeline-newtown-shooting-1216-20121215,0,5058106.story

 

InCity Letters, InCity Voices

Trayvon Martin: Hoodies, Skittles and Arizona Iced Tea

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By Parlee Jones

By now we have all heard the terrible injustice that has happened in Sanford, Florida. A 17-year-old young man named Trayvon Martin going to the store for snacks during half time of the NBA All-Star Game. Returning back to his dad’s girlfriend’s house in a gated community. Assaulted and shot by 28 year old self appointed neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman. Trayvon was wearing his hoodie, this is what made Zimmerman see him as “suspicious”, the hoodie and the color of his skin. I’m not going to go into all the details, but one of the things that hit’s me hardest is the fact that Trayvon’s parents were not notified for three days, even though, the Sanford police had his cell phone.

My heart and soul weep with Trayvon’s parents, and all parents who have lost children to violence, perpetrated by whomever!

The one positive thing to take away from this terrible situation is how the WORLD COMMUNITY came together to voice their objection to Zimmerman not being arrested. How incredible to see all this support! Change.org is up to 2 and a quarter million signatures. It humbles me. It gives me hope. Hope for a brighter future.

Leaving us open for a real dialog ~ a dialog of truth.

No judgment ~ fact.

No shame ~ Acceptance.

Some people have suggested that we “teach” our kids how to react to “these types of situations”. What is the situation? Walking home from the store or walking while Black?

I feel what our children need is to know the Afrikan experience from the time we hit the shores of America. Not the text book version, which they are trying to water down even more, through curriculum renewal, but the real deal. As an old African Proverb states, “Until lions have their historians, tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunter”. Knowledge of self to better yourself.

Middle Passage ~ Willie Lynch ~ Jim Crow ~ Tuskegee Study ~ Labor Camps ~ Cointelpro ~ Fred Hampton ~ Emmet Till ~ Rosewood ~ Amadou Diallo ~ Rodney King ~ Abner Louima ~ Sean Bell ~ Jermaine Carter ~ Burning of Black Wall Street ~ James Anderson ~ James Byrd ~ I could go on and on!

We need to acknowledge these histories! Only then will our children know the ills that they are up against. Only then will they know how to react to the “situations” they find themselves in. Hmmm.

I stand here as a mother, sister, auntie, cousin to Black boys and Men. I stand here for the grandmothers of Black boys and men. I write this for our girl children too. You know why, because we came to these shores together in the bowels of the slave ships and have suffered through the same trials and tribulations. I am a strong believer of Sankofa ~ and adrinka symbol which means go back and fetch it ~ knowing your past to move on in the present and prepare for the future. Yes, people, it is that deep!

It’s that deep that our children must be awakened from this mental slavery.
From what they put in their minds and what they put in their bodies, we have to show them our glory and our pain. Maybe we can put it in a hip hop video. Maybe we can design a new line of clothing, but I digress!

Some friends and I are putting together a homage for Trayvon and our Boys and Men of Color. We will have living testimonies of experiences here in Worcester living as a Black man or boy. We will show a history of what has transpired since Plymouth Rock landed on us, as El Hajj Malik El Shabazz has said. We will talk about supporting our young people of color by being there to listen to and believe them. More details to follow soon!

I leave you with the words to Redemption Song by Robert Nesta Marley who pretty much sums up the experiences I refer to!

Old pirates, yes, they rob I. Sold I to the merchant ships. Minutes after they took I from the bottomless pit. But my hands were made strong, by the hands of the Almighty. We forward in this generation, triumphantly. Won’t you help to sing these songs of Freedom, for all I ever have is a Redemption Song. Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our mind. Have no fear for atomic energy, for none of them can stop the time. How long shall they kill our CHILDREN (prophets) while we stand aside and look? Some say it’s just a part of it, we’ve got to fulfill the book. Won’t you help to say, these songs of freedom, is all I ever had ~ Redemption Song!

These are my thoughts. No disrespect to anyone intended.

InCity Letters, InCity Voices, Uncategorized

Are speciesists stupid?

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By Paula Moore

Excuse me for stating the obvious, but racists are dumb. That’s not just my opinion. It’s the conclusion of a provocative new study published in the journal Psychological Science. Gordon Hodson, a psychologist at Brock University in Ontario, and his colleagues found that children with low intelligence are more likely to grow up to be racist adults. A previous study examining homophobia showed that people who are less adept at abstract reasoning are more likely to be prejudiced against gays.

All of this got me thinking: Does the link between brains and bias apply to how we view animals too? Are “speciesists”—people who believe that humans are superior to other animals—just not all that bright?

“There may be cognitive limits in the ability to take the perspective of others,” explains Hodson. In other words, the less intelligent you are, the harder it may be for you to put yourself in another’s shoes—and the more likely you are to hold prejudiced beliefs about other groups.

If someone is unmoved by the plight of elephants shackled, beaten and forced to perform in circuses or of animals poisoned and blinded in laboratories, perhaps they similarly lack the ability to consider the animals’ point of view.

The anecdotal evidence linking intelligence and empathy for animals is certainly intriguing. Some of the world’s greatest minds from throughout history—including Pythagoras, Leonardo da Vinci, Mohandas Gandhi and Leo Tolstoy—have been vegetarian.

Albert Einstein, whose diet was primarily plant-based, said, “Besides agreeing with the aims of vegetarianism for aesthetic and moral reasons, it is my view that a vegetarian manner of living by its purely physical effect on the human temperament would most beneficially influence the lot of mankind.”

A few years ago, the BBC reported on a study that linked a high IQ with being vegetarian. More than 8,000 children in the U.K. were given IQ tests in 1970. When researchers followed up with the participants decades later, they found that people who had scored well on the tests were more likely to become vegetarian later in life.

Another study showed that vegans and vegetarians have more empathy—for both animals and people—than meat-eaters do. Researchers in Europe recruited vegan, vegetarian and meat-eating volunteers and placed them into an MRI machine while showing them a series of random pictures. The MRI scans revealed that when observing animal or human suffering, the “empathy-related” areas of the brain are more active among vegetarians and vegans. The researchers also found that there are certain brain areas that only vegans and vegetarians seem to activate when witnessing suffering.

So, could it be that your deer-hunting cousin or that woman at the store with the fur-trimmed jacket is just not smart enough to see that animals feel pain every bit as acutely, love their young every bit as deeply and long for freedom every bit as intensely as we do?

Maybe. But I like to think that such people just haven’t been given the tools they need to make a compassionate choice. As celebrated astrophysicist Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson says, perhaps “part of our formal education should be training in empathy. Imagine how different the world would be if, in fact, it were ‘reading, writing, arithmetic, empathy.'”

InCity Letters, InCity Voices, Uncategorized

Drivers, beware: Deer-car collisions increase during hunting season

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By Paula Moore

November is the peak month for collisions between cars and deer, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Insurance groups estimate that about one in every 100 drivers will be involved in a deer-vehicle collision at some point in his or her life. A fatal crash late last month in Indiana illustrates how heartbreaking such encounters can be. Seven people—including four children—were killed after their minivan hit a deer and was subsequently struck by a semi-trailer.

While hunters invariably point to such tragedies as justification for killing even more deer, the blame for deer-vehicle collisions falls at least partly on their own shoulders.

Pennsylvania-based Erie Insurance, which has analyzed deer-vehicle collision data in the state for more than a decade, found that the opening day and opening Saturday of deer hunting season are “[t]wo of the most dangerous days to drive.” According to the Missouri Insurance Information Service, increased deer activity associated with hunting is a “major factor” in the rise in deer-vehicle collisions in the last three months of the year. With more people (hunters) in the woods, deer are spooked out of wooded areas—often out onto the road.

Hunting also increases deer populations—which increases the likelihood that deer-car collisions will occur. While several studies have suggested that sterilization programs may provide an effective, long-term solution to controlling deer populations, hunting just makes the problem worse. It’s been shown, for example, that in hunted populations, does are more likely to have twins rather than single fawns and are more likely to reproduce at a younger age. Immediately following a hunt, there’s less competition for food. The surviving deer are better nourished, which can lead to a higher reproductive rate and lower neonatal mortality.

The state agencies responsible for wildlife “management” know this, of course, but they’re primarily run by hunters, who hardly have the animals’ best interests in mind. So, instead of setting up sterilization programs, they destroy the deer’s homes by clear-cutting to increase the amount of vegetation for the deer to eat—further increasing their population. Such programs help to ensure that there are plenty of animals for hunters to kill (not to mention plenty of revenue from the sale of hunting licenses).

Simple, nonlethal methods can reduce the risk of deer-vehicle collisions. A team of scientists from the University of Alberta found that simply placing warning signs in hotspots where deer are known to cross roads can reduce collisions by 34 percent. Other communities are experimenting with roadside sensors that trigger lights and whistles as cars approach to scare deer away and with laser beams that sound alarms to alert motorists to the presence of deer.

Drivers should also slow down and watch the road carefully—especially during hunting season. Scan the side of the road for wildlife and use high-beam headlights at night when there is no oncoming traffic. Also be aware that deer tend to travel in groups, so if you see one deer, slow down and watch for more. In many deer-vehicle accidents, the driver slowed down for one deer, then sped up and hit another one.

Hunters like to say that killing deer is the only way to prevent traffic collisions with them, but it’s not. When hunting season turns deer territories into a war zone, it’s no wonder that the animals panic and run—often right out onto our roadways.


Paula Moore is a senior writer for The PETA Foundation.

Hoffman

There’s no business like show business!

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By Jack Hoffman

I originally decided to write about bin Laden’s sex life and all the fear that this horny dude has caused not just the US, but Europe and throughout the Middle East. But today we live in this 24-hour news cycle and having a short mind set sorry, Binny boy, you aren’t even obituary news page anymore.

So as your very diligent and informative columnist, I just can’t resist on reporting the front-page news– maybe some from the second page.

Newt Gingrich, that infamous Fox News fat pig/commentator who told his second wife, sorry, first wife on her death bed, he wanted a divorce. All the while he was grabbing one of his aides who became wife number two or three. This dude wants to be president of the USA! I can’t understand how republicans get away with so much infidelity – especially with hookers, other men, and who knows what else. And they still have the chutzpah to run for political office and some get elected. All the while John Edwards, the sole democrat, gets banished into the woods of Carolina for knocking up a fan/vidoegrapher of his.

The head of the IMF (International Money Fund) Dominique Strauss-Kahn (don’t you just love that name?) was fingered in a sexual attack and what else with a NYC hotel maid. This was not a Maid in Manhattan story. All my Jewish friends want to know if he is a member of the tribe. – Yes it’s true – It’s in the Jewish genes and that would be a great defense. With all that money, why not ring up one of the hundreds of female “escorts” advertising some good sex in the yellow pages?

Now the big one — Maria Shriver and Arnie — the Erich Segal novel gone badly awry. This nation could announce we’re in another war and still that famous love story would be number one. Without getting into the whole horny guy who some wanted for president. It’s always fascinating to me how Hollywood and sex can knock anything off the front page.

Now comes a good one: it answers the questions on why republicans are just so fucked up, especially those running for president, or suggesting it, e.g. Donald Trump. Now that’s also a number one story. Rick Santorum, one of the darlings on the right, and the Tea Party – are they still in business? And just about every republican gave most of the credit for the bin Laden massacre to Bush. So Santorum states it was the enhanced interrogation that led to el rancho Laden.

John McCain gets up on the Senate floor and says all that nonsense is bull-shit. So Santorum fires back: What does McCain know about enhanced interrogation? Yikes!

Let’s just say for the time being President Obama wins the election by default, stupidity, or just not knowing what’s out on the street. I will write later on how right-wing radio has lost one of its wings and is slowly falling out of favor.

From the news services, al Qaeda has a new leader. Does this mean more weapons to be built and a delay in US troops leaving Afghanistan?

Did they really build 20 buildings in Washington to deal with terrorism?