By “Pintface” Pete Bogs/BogsBlog
Last week 7-year-old Aiyana Jones was shot dead by police while she slept in her Detroit home. A reality TV show crew was filming and allegedly got the shooting on camera.
The resulting outrage has unsurprisingly left the city more tense than usual, leading Detroit Mayor Dave Bing to ban television crews from police raids. Translation: The problem is not police shooting willy-nilly into homes, but the presence of TV cameras when they do so.
The ubiquity of cameras in society today has compromised privacy for all of us, likely for all time. But it has also forced accountability in situations where none previously existed. Mayor Bing, don’t take that away.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
From My Cold, Dead, Shaky, Pickled Hands
By “Pintface” Pete Bogs/BogsBlog
Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen has vetoed a bill that would’ve allowed gun owners in his state to bring their favorite toys into businesses where alcohol is served, delivering a rare legislative defeat to the NRA and other gun proponents that have seemingly been writing U.S. gun laws for years.
That such a bill was ever created demonstrates both the sheer power and absurdity of the gun lobby. But after at first being incensed by it, I realized there may actually be a benefit to a bill like this; if Second Amendment fetishists go too far with their legislative agenda, they may eventually end up shooting themselves in the foot with regard to popular support.
Keep it up, guys.
Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen has vetoed a bill that would’ve allowed gun owners in his state to bring their favorite toys into businesses where alcohol is served, delivering a rare legislative defeat to the NRA and other gun proponents that have seemingly been writing U.S. gun laws for years.
That such a bill was ever created demonstrates both the sheer power and absurdity of the gun lobby. But after at first being incensed by it, I realized there may actually be a benefit to a bill like this; if Second Amendment fetishists go too far with their legislative agenda, they may eventually end up shooting themselves in the foot with regard to popular support.
Keep it up, guys.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
2012 Republican National Convention: Not in My Backyard!!!
By “Pintface” Pete Bogs/BogsBlog
It’s official: The 2012 Republican National Convention will be held in Downtown Tampa – a stone’s throw from my home (Note to self: Gather up stones and practice pitching arm). Economy schmeconomy ... I don’t want those hateful, greedy, misguided, self-righteous, torture-loving Republicants stinking up the place with their dirty money.
Besides, immigrant-hating Phoenix, Arizona would’ve been a much more appropriate choice for those xenophobes.
I think I'll have to break out the "unwelcome" mat. Stay tuned.
PS: OK, as someone who lives in an apartment I technically don't have a backyard. But you know what I meant, smartass.
It’s official: The 2012 Republican National Convention will be held in Downtown Tampa – a stone’s throw from my home (Note to self: Gather up stones and practice pitching arm). Economy schmeconomy ... I don’t want those hateful, greedy, misguided, self-righteous, torture-loving Republicants stinking up the place with their dirty money.
Besides, immigrant-hating Phoenix, Arizona would’ve been a much more appropriate choice for those xenophobes.
I think I'll have to break out the "unwelcome" mat. Stay tuned.
PS: OK, as someone who lives in an apartment I technically don't have a backyard. But you know what I meant, smartass.
Friday, May 07, 2010
Florida Doesn’t Care About Young People
By “Pintface” Pete Bogs/BogsBlog
Florida's Republicant-dominated legislature has passed a law requiring women to pay for ultrasounds before having an abortion, in a misguided attempt to deter them having the procedures.
If our highly principled elected officials are genuinely concerned about young lives, they should also require high school-age military recruits to look at films of death, dismemberment and destruction before enlisting.
Florida's Republicant-dominated legislature has passed a law requiring women to pay for ultrasounds before having an abortion, in a misguided attempt to deter them having the procedures.
If our highly principled elected officials are genuinely concerned about young lives, they should also require high school-age military recruits to look at films of death, dismemberment and destruction before enlisting.
Monday, May 03, 2010
Spill, Baby, Spill
By "Pintface" Pete Bogs/BogsBlog
The sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig couldn’t have come at a better time, since President Obama recently (and inexplicably) announced plans to expand offshore oil drilling. Nothing like a high-profile environmental catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico to remind us just how bad an idea that was and turn the tide of public opinion firmly against it.
Whether or not we have to rely on the Middle East for it, oil as an energy source is literally a dirty dinosaur. Can we finally get serious about developing alternative fuel sources?
The sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig couldn’t have come at a better time, since President Obama recently (and inexplicably) announced plans to expand offshore oil drilling. Nothing like a high-profile environmental catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico to remind us just how bad an idea that was and turn the tide of public opinion firmly against it.
Whether or not we have to rely on the Middle East for it, oil as an energy source is literally a dirty dinosaur. Can we finally get serious about developing alternative fuel sources?
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