Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
This from The Hill
Increased penalties on straw purchases of guns sailed through the Senate Judiciary Committee and looked like a safe bet to win Senate approval even as other provisions — including the expanded background checks that remain a goal for gun control supporters — ran into trouble.
Now the straw-purchasing bill could be in danger because of NRA demands to change the language so law enforcement officials would have to prove that a straw purchaser intended to commit a crime or further the commission of a crime by buying a gun for someone else.
Unbelievable.
Sunday, March 31, 2013
18 Year Old Eagle Scout Builds Peace Garden
I just finished reading an article in the NYTimes Magazine titled "That Other School Shooting" about a mass shooting at Oikos University in Oakland, California in April of last year. The article touches on many things, not the least being the fact that very few people have even heard of the shooting. Certainly not in comparison to Newtown, Va Tech, Columbine.
But what really caught me was a few paragraphs describing a young man named Kinsa Durst. Mr. Durst, as part of an Eagle Scout project, built a Peace Garden on the campus of Oikos University. Both Mr. Durst and the shooter, One L. Goh, are Korean. So is the author of the piece, Jay Caspian Kang. Mr. Kang explains Mr. Durst's motivations:
He said he built the gardens to help bridge the gap between Koreans and Americans in the Bay Area. When I asked him what he meant by that, Durst, who is half-Korean and speaks the language fluently, said he worried that the shooting portrayed Koreans in a negative light. “I wanted to show we’re not all the same,” he explained. I pointed out that none of the local or national news media had run a story about a rash of violent Koreans and wondered where he might have heard such talk. Durst said: “Well, there was also Virginia Tech, and now there have been two shooters who were Korean. The school wasn’t getting much support because of people’s bad perceptions, so I wanted to come and help.”
But what really caught me was a few paragraphs describing a young man named Kinsa Durst. Mr. Durst, as part of an Eagle Scout project, built a Peace Garden on the campus of Oikos University. Both Mr. Durst and the shooter, One L. Goh, are Korean. So is the author of the piece, Jay Caspian Kang. Mr. Kang explains Mr. Durst's motivations:
He said he built the gardens to help bridge the gap between Koreans and Americans in the Bay Area. When I asked him what he meant by that, Durst, who is half-Korean and speaks the language fluently, said he worried that the shooting portrayed Koreans in a negative light. “I wanted to show we’re not all the same,” he explained. I pointed out that none of the local or national news media had run a story about a rash of violent Koreans and wondered where he might have heard such talk. Durst said: “Well, there was also Virginia Tech, and now there have been two shooters who were Korean. The school wasn’t getting much support because of people’s bad perceptions, so I wanted to come and help.”
Pretty amazing kid.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Newtown, Three Months After
I cut this blurb from the Daily Beast ...
Three months after Adam Lanza opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, President Obama spoke Thursday at the White House, pushing for stricter gun legislation to protect our children. “I don’t think any of us who are parents can hear these stories and not think of our own daughters, our own sons,” he said. “I haven’t forgotten those kids. Shame on us if we’ve forgotten.” Obama defended the legislation laid out by Vice President Joe Biden, insisting that it is “consistent with the Second Amendment” and will not “infringe” on the rights of gun owners. “Tears aren’t enough, speeches aren’t enough. We’ve cried enough,” he said. “Now is the time to turn that heartbreak into something real.”
In the past several days I've had some excellent meetings with Troy City government, and I'm feeling better and better about being able to make the first PeaceWork actually happen in Troy.
Which would be the very definition of turning "that heartbreak into something real."
Three months after Adam Lanza opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, President Obama spoke Thursday at the White House, pushing for stricter gun legislation to protect our children. “I don’t think any of us who are parents can hear these stories and not think of our own daughters, our own sons,” he said. “I haven’t forgotten those kids. Shame on us if we’ve forgotten.” Obama defended the legislation laid out by Vice President Joe Biden, insisting that it is “consistent with the Second Amendment” and will not “infringe” on the rights of gun owners. “Tears aren’t enough, speeches aren’t enough. We’ve cried enough,” he said. “Now is the time to turn that heartbreak into something real.”
In the past several days I've had some excellent meetings with Troy City government, and I'm feeling better and better about being able to make the first PeaceWork actually happen in Troy.
Which would be the very definition of turning "that heartbreak into something real."
Monday, March 25, 2013
Bloomberg Initiates Campaign/NRA Responds
Speaking as a member, I can tell you the National Rifle Association is an out-of-control organization, comprised of millions of perfectly rational gun owners and sportsmen who favor stricter reporting and background checks and the banning of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, but which is led by extremists.
None of this should be surprising to you, but a quote from NRA lobbyist Chris Cox in a recent New York Times article about Mayor Bloomberg's planned media blitz in support of Federal regulations to curb gun violence applies to The PeaceWorks Project.
None of this should be surprising to you, but a quote from NRA lobbyist Chris Cox in a recent New York Times article about Mayor Bloomberg's planned media blitz in support of Federal regulations to curb gun violence applies to The PeaceWorks Project.
“What he is going to find out is that Americans don’t want to be told by some elitist billionaire what they can eat, drink and they damn well don’t want to be told how, when and where they can protect their families,” Mr. Cox said.
On some level, the quote is standard attack-dog lobbyist populism. On a deeper level it's a little sad.
Mr. Bloomberg responded by saying (referring to background checks, etc.), "These ideas shouldn't be controversial."
But they are. For good or for bad. And encouraging that discussion is what The Project is all about.
Mr. Bloomberg responded by saying (referring to background checks, etc.), "These ideas shouldn't be controversial."
But they are. For good or for bad. And encouraging that discussion is what The Project is all about.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Next week is full of meetings
Lots of pushing has resulted in a spate of upcoming get togethers related to the Project. We'll have a significantly better sense of our progress after that.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
The Municipal Gears Grind Slowly
I see some progress.
As I noted before, naming names is almost certainly more counterproductive at this stage of the process than productive. Nonetheless, I see some progress, not just here but in the city of Albany as well.
I remain hopeful that PeaceWork #1 will happen in Troy (if for no other reason than that I'll be able to walk by it every day and say, 'Wow, who would have thought?'), but it's also prudent to be pursuing other municipalities at the same time.
As I noted before, naming names is almost certainly more counterproductive at this stage of the process than productive. Nonetheless, I see some progress, not just here but in the city of Albany as well.
I remain hopeful that PeaceWork #1 will happen in Troy (if for no other reason than that I'll be able to walk by it every day and say, 'Wow, who would have thought?'), but it's also prudent to be pursuing other municipalities at the same time.
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