IT'S NOT THE GUNS - PART 2

The Bossier Parish Sheriff's Office is investigating a shooting at the Haymeadow Trailer Park in Bossier City that sent an 11-year-old boy to the hospital.

Authorities say two boys, aged 11 and 13, were at the older child's home around 4 p.m. Friday when the teen accidently shot the 11-year-old in the abdomen with a .22 handgun revolver. The weapon belongs to a family member of the teenager.

The injuries to the 11 year old boy are not life-threatening, and the shooting was determined to be accidental.  Will anyone be held responsible for owning a loaded hand-gun which is accessible to children?

The NRA brays about restrictions on responsible gun owners, but, in addition to guns used to commit crimes, frequent accidents involving guns and children indicate that a good many gun owners, who, though they do not use their weapons to commit crimes, are obviously not responsible gun owners.  Would it be against the 2nd Amendment to pass laws requiring gun owners to secure their weapons and ammunition to prevent children from having access?  I think not.

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.  

The "well-regulated" descriptive in the 2nd Amendment is completely ignored by those opposed to regulations on gun ownership.  Before the spate of mass shootings, an incident such as the above may not have been the subject of a news report, so perhaps we should consider that we are making progress.

LITTLE RICHARD - "TUTTI FRUTTI"

Friday night with Little Richard.

FAST TALK BY FASTPATH, OR IS OUR CHILDREN LEARNING?

John C. White

Southwood High School junior Randall Gunn is a straight-A student.

So when the school’s principal saw his name come up as registering to retake several courses online, it immediately raised a red flag. Gunn was called into a counselor’s office and told he was enrolled in three Course Choice classes — all of which he already had passed standardized tests with exceptional scores.

“I had no clue what was going on,” Gunn said. “I have no reason to take these classes and still don’t know who signed me up.”

More than 1,100 Caddo and Webster students have signed up to participate in what some say are questionable Course Choice programs. According to parents, students, and Webster and Caddo education officials, FastPath Learning is signing up some students it shouldn’t — in many cases without parent or student knowledge.

Our whiz kid State Superintendent of Education, John C. White, touts the course on the state website.

“This all goes back to all of the education reforms that were passed within eight days during last year’s session. This is what you get,” state Rep. Gene Reynolds, D-Dubberly, said of the apparent lack of oversight. “I’m not saying the idea was bad, but they are not doing it the way it should be done.”

Oops!  Oversight missing.   If you read the entire article at the Alexandria Town Talk, you will see that the tactics used by FastPath to sign up students are no more than flim-flammery on a scale which boggles the mind.  The Louisiana State Supreme Court ruled that public school funds cannot be used to pay for courses offered by private entities.  Last year, the purveyors of the courses were paid with funds taken from local public school districts, and apparently no definitive decision has yet been made by the Department of Education as to whether the company can continue to sign up students for the online courses with public school funds.

But that’s not the message Webster Parish education leaders are getting from Baton Rouge. Morris Busby, the district’s supervisor of secondary education, said he was “joyous, but cautiously joyous” with the court ruling. But the next day, he was still trying to get clarification from the state’s Course Choice counselors and got the impression state education officials are “bent on going ahead."

If they believe they can get away with it, Jindal and Co. appear determined to circumvent the court ruling against using public school funds to pay private entities of one kind or another to "educate" the children of Louisiana.

Excellent reporting by Vickie Welbord and Mary Nash-Wood at the Alexandria Town Talk.

H/T to Charles Pierce at Esquire.

IT'S NOT THE GUNS...

A man accidentally shot himself in the leg while bowling at Jupiter Lanes about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, police said. Witnesses said the man had been carrying a gun in the pocket of his shorts.

"The guy just stepped up to bowl," Jim Miller said. "I think he hit his leg on his back swing."

Added fellow witness Mike Martin: "The ball hit him in the leg, which triggered the revolver."

I did not realize this sort of incident happened so often.  Or is the media just beginning to take note?  The consequences this time are not grave, but they could have been.  Bowling with a loaded pistol in his pocket?  Is this man a responsible gun owner?

H/T to Charles Pierce.

PENTECOST IN 2 MINUTES.

Like.

H/T to Bosco Peters at Liturgy.

ON SLEEPING IN

So. I slept till 9:39 AM by the clock today, although I went to sleep at my usual time of midnight or 12:30 AM. Grandpère kept looking into the room to see if I had died in my sleep, but he did not wake me, for which I'm grateful. I rarely get the 8 hours recommended sleep, as I average about 7 or somewhat less, which is not bad, but I do love to sleep. I'm a night owl who can't go to bed early, and then I have to read myself to sleep. Reading is my sleeping pill.

Grandpère had McDonald's oatmeal with blueberries waiting for me, which makes for a pretty good breakfast. The drawback to sleeping late is that a good part of the day is gone by the time I get going. What time will I eat lunch? Perhaps, I should skip lunch as the oatmeal is filling.

Whoops.  Grandpère just called me to lunch.

UPDATE: Lunch was round steak with gravy and brown rice and string beans fresh from the garden. Yum.

WAXING CRESCENT MOON

Amber crescent moon
Hangs in west-southwestern sky
Pure delight for me

Yes, I am moonstruck.

Picture from Earth/Sky.

Reposted from May 2012.

LAST GASPS FOR THE TIMES PICAYUNE?

 

James Gill, who has been lampooning Louisiana politicians for more than a quarter of a century, will join The Advocate this week.

Gill’s column will appear on The Advocate’s opinion pages on Thursday and Sunday, beginning this week.

He had been appearing in The Times-Picayune.

“We’re looking forward to having James appear in our newspaper,” said Peter Kovacs, the Advocate’s editor.

“I was privileged to be James’ editor at The Times-Picayune, and the best part of the job was being the first person in Louisiana to read his column.”

“Louisiana has always been fertile ground for a newspaperman, but these are particularly exciting times,” Gill said. “Few other places have the benefit of competing dailies.”

James, the TP is no longer what most people would call a daily.

Today’s announcement marks the second time in a week that prominent journalists from The Times-Picayune signed on with The Advocate.
 
Last week, two Pulitzer prize-winning editors and two reporters left The Times-Picayune to join The Advocate’s growing New Orleans bureau only days after the newspaper was purchased by businessman John Georges.

A number of subscribers stayed with the TP for Gill's columns, so now what?  The Advocate's New Orleans edition has a way to go to before it becomes a real New Orleans daily, since it lacks its own op-ed page and coverage of arts, entertainment, weddings, and obituaries, but they're moving in the right direction.

The photo below the article about Gill shows a screen shot of the alleged shooter from a mounted video camera at the site of the Mother's Day parade.  As soon as the picture was made public, calls came in identifying the 19 year old Akein Scott, who has not yet been arrested.

PROM NIGHT - MY GRANDDAUGHTER AND HER DATE

 

My granddaughter's dress was purchased from a thrift shop, and, with slight alteration, the dress fit her perfectly.  She likes vintage clothing.

'IT'S GOT TO STOP'

In a shooting so brazen that it shocked a city hardened by recurrent gun violence, 19 people were rushed to local hospitals after gunmen opened fire on hundreds who had turned out for an annual Mother’s Day second line parade in the 7th Ward.

The attackers sprayed the crowd with bullets, despite the fact that police were embedded in the parade and several of the revelers were children.

The victims included 10 adult men, seven adult women, a 10-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl, said officer Garry Flot, a New Orleans Police Department spokesman. The 10-year-olds suffered graze wounds, as did most of the victims, Flot said. Many of the victims’ injuries were not serious, he said.

Jeb Tate, a spokesman for New Orleans EMS, said three of the nine people paramedics rushed to Interim LSU Public Hospital following the shooting were in critical condition.

Mayor Mitch Landrieu visited several of the victims in their hospital rooms, then, in a somber tone, told reporters that “the specialness of the day doesn’t seem to interrupt the relentless drumbeat of violence on the streets of New Orleans. ... It’s got to stop.”

Yes, it's got to stop, but how? It's way past time for Police Chief Serpas and Mayor Landrieu to deliver on their promises to reduce the the number of shootings in New Orleans, or my beloved home town will die a slow death from the rampant violence. 

Lord, have mercy.