![theatlantic:
German Police Used Only 85 Bullets Against People in 2011
According to Germany’s Der Spiegel, German police shot only 85 bullets in all of 2011, a stark reminder that not every country is as gun-crazy as the U.S. of A. As Boing Boing translates, most of those shots weren’t even aimed anyone: “49 warning shots, 36 shots on suspects. 15 persons were injured, 6 were killed.” […]
Meanwhile, in the U.S., where the population is little less than four times the size of Germany’s, well, we can get to 85 in just one sitting, thank you very much. 84 shots fired at one murder suspect in Harlem, another 90 shot at one fleeing unarmed man in Los Angeles. And that was just April.
Read more. [Image: Reuters]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3uzwx6Fue1qcokc4o1_500.jpg)
German Police Used Only 85 Bullets Against People in 2011
According to Germany’s Der Spiegel, German police shot only 85 bullets in all of 2011, a stark reminder that not every country is as gun-crazy as the U.S. of A. As Boing Boing translates, most of those shots weren’t even aimed anyone: “49 warning shots, 36 shots on suspects. 15 persons were injured, 6 were killed.” […]
Meanwhile, in the U.S., where the population is little less than four times the size of Germany’s, well, we can get to 85 in just one sitting, thank you very much. 84 shots fired at one murder suspect in Harlem, another 90 shot at one fleeing unarmed man in Los Angeles. And that was just April.
Read more. [Image: Reuters]
Michele Bachmann officially becomes a foreign devil.
When I saw reports bouncing around this morning that Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) had become a Swiss citizen, I thought it was some kind of joke with an odd punch line. As it turns out, it’s legit.
The Minnesota congresswoman and former Republican presidential candidate was recently granted dual citizenship, Bachmann’s office confirmed Tuesday night, according to CNN.
“Congresswoman Bachmann’s husband is of Swiss descent so she has been eligible for dual-citizenship since they got married in 1978,” spokeswoman Becky Rogness said in a statement. “However, recently some of their children wanted to exercise their eligibility for dual-citizenship so they went through the process as a family.”
All of which leads you to wonder why it was that the Bachmann’s “wanted to exercise their eligibility for dual-citizenship.” It’s not something you just go do for the hell of it. Perhaps it’s “because of Switzerland’s universal health care system and generous, anti-freedom welfare state.”
This happened
‘Supermoon’ Alert: Biggest Full Moon of 2012 Occurs This Week
The moon will officially become full Saturday (May 5) at 11:35 p.m. EDT. And because this month’s full moon coincides with the moon’s perigee — its closest approach to Earth — it will also be the year’s biggest.
The moon will swing in 221,802 miles (356,955 kilometers) from our planet, offering skywatchers a spectacular view of an extra-big, extra-bright moon, nicknamed a supermoon.
And not only does the moon’s perigee coincide with full moon this month, but this perigee will be the nearest to Earth of any this year, as the distance of the moon’s close approach varies by about 3 percent, according to meteorologist Joe Rao, SPACE.com’s skywatching columnist. This happens because the moon’s orbit is not perfectly circular.
CREDIT: Tim McCord
Chinese students attacked in racially-charged train robbery in Australia.
Yesterday’s attack came just days after two safety warnings from the Chinese embassy in Canberra for citizens travelling in Australia. Many Chinese students studying in Australia have expressed their fear over growing violence directed against them.
One of the victims of the attack, known as Xuan, suffered from a fractured nose and burns from a lit cigarette.The international student from China, seeking a master’s degree at the University of Technology, Sydney, was travelling with a friend from Central to Rockdale when the attack happened.
A translation from Xuan’s blog on the Chinese social media site Weibo reads: “I really wish all of this is just a nightmare. However, the smell of blood in my mouth and body pains reminds me that this city is so dangerous.“
A gang of hooligans attacked us. Our noses are fractured and our bodies are covered in blood. My friend’s cheekbone was crushed. They attacked us with glass and burnt us with lit cigarettes. My face is burnt and totally disfigured! Worst of all, I really hated their racist comments.
“They were calling us Asian dogs and pussies while they were beating us. When my friend tried to wipe blood from his nose, a teenaged girl stuffed my friend’s mouth with her tampon removed from her pants.”
Another woman passenger, who was also targeted by the thieves, allegedly told the attackers to “rob them, they are Asian and they have got money.”
(Story from the Sydney Morning Herald, pictures from Beijing Shots, emphasis mine)
Of course, all of us should be honored to be listed on the TIME 100 alongside the two men who will be slugging it out in the fall: President Obama, and the man who would defeat him, David Koch. Give it up everybody for David Koch.
David, nice to see you again, sir.
Little known fact, David’s brother Charles Koch is actually even more influential. Charles pledged $40 million to defeat President Obama, David only $20 million. That’s kind of cheap, Dave.
Sure, he’s all for buying the elections, but when the bill for democracy comes up, Dave’s always in the men’s room. I’m sorry, I must have left Wisconsin in my other coat.
I was particularly excited to meet David Koch earlier tonight because I have a Super PAC, Colbert Super PAC, and I am — thank you, thank you — and I am happy to announce Mr. Koch has pledged $5 million to my Super PAC. And the great thing is, thanks to federal election law, there’s no way for you to ever know whether that’s a joke.
By the way, if David Koch likes his waiter tonight, he will be your next congressman.
Stephen Colbert rips on the Koch brothers to their faces at TIME Magazine’s gala (via thesoapboxschtick)
gg Stephen
A senior at Gibson County High School in Tennessee was kicked out of her prom last Saturday for wearing a dress that resembled the Confederate battle flag, according to The Jackson Sun.
School officials told 18-year-old Texanna Edwards that she could not wear the “offensive and inappropriate” dress, but she could change and come back to the event. However, Edwards refused to change out of her custom made dress and consequentially was not allowed to attend prom.
A teacher had advised Edwards not to wear the dress. But Edwards thought that she would still be allowed to attend prom, even though it might offend some people, she told The Jackson Sun. Students at the high school had regularly worn Confederate flags without incident, she said.
Gibson County Special School District Superintendent Eddie Pruett said there had been racial incidents at the high school in recent years.
Schools in the Southern U.S. have struggled to balance students’ First Amendment rights with the need to ensure a safe learning environment for students.
In 2006, a Tennessee high school student was suspended for wearing an image of the Confederate battle flag. He later sued the school district for violating his First Amendment rights, but the lawsuit was dismissed by a federal court, according to CBS News. The judge held that it was reasonable to assume that the racially-charged image could cause “substantial disruption to the school environment.”
There’s a frat here at Cornell that has a Confederate flag in one of its windows. Shit’s uncomfortable.
(via iggyjack)
Does the right even understand what racism is?
The Daily Caller’s Tucker Carlson launched another attack at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) on Hannity Monday evening.
Appearing on Fox’s panel discussion, Carlson’s latest outrage at the NAACP stemmed from its Martin County branch’s decision to cancel its Tuesday event and unitive Rep. Allen West (R-FL) from speaking after he insisted that “up to” 81 Democratic members of Congress were secretly Communists.
“The NAACP, storied history though it has, is a totally discredited group,” Carlson said. “And anyone that doesn’t think so doesn’t know much about the modern NAACP. It represents virtually no one. It’s bankrupt literally and morally. It’s an absurd fringe group and I don’t know why we pay any attention to what they think. We’re bullied into it because it was, at one point, a force for good.”
Carlson’s comments are the latest hostile statements he has said about the NAACP. In 2010, Carlson called the organization “totally discredited” and “pathetic.” He also labeled the NAACP a “sad joke that should be shut down” in 2007.
Ugh.
What is this racist, homophobic garbage masked as an awareness campaign for HIV?
Contact these people and tell them this campaign is offensive.
- 850 Barret Avenue, Suite 302
- Louisville, KY 40204
Phone: 1 502.930.0222
Email: STOP@voaky.org
^Ignorant motherfuckers
Live: Presidential Debate Between Third Party Candidates
The following candidates are participating in the debate:
- Peta Lindsay, nominee of the Party for Socialism and Liberation
- Roseanne Barr, seeking the Green Party nomination
- Stewart Alexander, nominee of the Socialist Party USA
- Rocky Anderson, nominee of the Justice Party
- Stephen Durham, nominee of Freedom Socialist Party
- Dr. Kent Mesplay, seeking the Green Party nomination
- James Ogle, seeking the Libertarian Party nomination
- Dr. Jill Stein, seeking the Green Party nomination
Unfortunately, this is the closest to a real ideological debate we’ll get this presidential cycle.
April 18th 1930: Nothing happened
On this day in 1930 BBC Radio announced in a 6.30pm news bulletin that there was no news for that day and instead played piano music for the duration of the programme.
“Good evening. Today is Good Friday. There is no news.”
- BBC presenter
Joining the BBC fandom
