Manns Medium

Was watching the Lawrence O’Donnell Show “The Last Word” and heard about the story of the 5 year old Kentucky boy shooting and killing his 2 year old sister with his new rifle purchase for his recent birthday.  Afterwards began to think just what it is that is causing, normally, intelligent people to engage in to such ill-intelligent actions.  As parents, many of us do all that we can to keep our children safe, we try and protect them from all harm even going as far as having them believe in the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.  So are we so very silent or extremely naive when it comes to children and guns?  I entertained the” why” for quite some time and can only think of two good reasons.  One is, we are quickly coming close to “the end of days” but if this one is too scary for you, try my next one. Before I educate you on that here is a little from the story about the previously mentioned 5 year old Kentucky boy who shot his 2 year old sis...

If you are wondering where this country is headed, wonder no more because you have just been given a “bird’s eye view” of the dual faces of America.  Which one of the faces will you rejoice in wearing? The first face was shown by all those first responders, volunteers and every day citizens who rushed forward in peril by putting those who were injured in the Boston Marathon Blasts before them.  They showed heroic compassion by not only jumping in, working together and doing all this without being asked or paid.  They did all this by now offering their home, a place at their table and comforting words and encouragement to those displaced by that bombing.  We saw a face of America that makes us that shining city on the hill that beacon for all society to see and emulate. We saw the true and real essence of America.  This was a clear example of the type of compassion Jesus spoke about in Luke Chapter 10 regarding The Good Samaritan.  Grab your Bible, loo...

Normally I do not consider myself a conspiracy theorist but the actions of the Colorado Movie Theater shooter, Mr. James Holmes does gives me pause.  No one has to try hard to imagine the cowardice it took to attack unarmed citizens as they embarked on a night of entertainment but try, if you can, to follow my thoughts on why he took those actions and why he may have acted as he did after being captured. Now remember, he was not caught as reported, he surrendered and that alone makes me wonder.  Many who feel justified in their actions and are resolved to give their lives to whatever cause, will not surrender unless they know that they will be released or they have other scenarios that they want to see play out.  Mr. Holmes surrendered peacefully and quietly even offering to warn law enforcement about the booby traps left in his apartment.  Either he is extremely weak or there is something else he wanted to see the results of. Given what we know about his backgro...

I have mentioned before about the care that some commentators and show owners demonstrate when it comes to a particular story that they feel passionate about.   I feel the need to readdress the extended magazine controversy first brought to my attention by Lawrence O’Donnell on the Last Word and backed up by some progressive groups.   Mr. O’Donnell just can’t understand why President Obama has not yet spoken out about doing this issue. I shall attempt to try and add my take to this issue again.   I first mentioned that the reason he has not rattled his saber is because it appears if you wish legislation to be dead on arrival all you have to do is have the president step up to the microphone and say something.   What I think that Obama Administration is doing is getting out of the way for House of Representative Democrat Carolyn McCarthy.   The Executive Branch does not make laws and this president ahs said many times that he will not try to legislate from the W...

The subject is the attack on Democratic Rep. Gilford and her supporters in that mall in Tucson, Arizona.   Much has been made about the lesson lawmakers may be learning about their own security, much is being made about what both parties could do to try and fix this problem.   Much is being made about the rhetoric that is spewed by those who find it easy to get in front of a camera and speak as if they and those who hang on their every word are the only true Americans on this planet but what I think may be missing more than anything else is the influence of parents or parental figures in our society and what they should be doing to also help curb this type of activity. What brought me this thought was an article written by Associated Press’ Justin Pritchard titled Shooting suspect's nihilism rose with isolation .   In that article it mostly spoke about the type of person the alleged shooter appeared to be from the take of his school mates.   It attempted to describe...

Not being an avid gun holder/collector myself, I really had not thought too much about this issue.   The unnecessary shooting in Tucson, Arizona brought this issue to light but to me still wasn’t enough for me to really join the fray until I saw the segment on the Rachel Maddow Show about how many times one individual was able to go to the same place and buy up to twenty assault rifles each time without it raising questions for anyone. I served this country in the United States Marines from Sept 1980 till April 1991 and in that time, learned one important fact about guns.   They are useful and legal but when they are turned into nothing more than a conversation piece or something that is used to force your values on another then they become like any other commodity and needs to be heavily regulated.   When I saw heavily regulated I do not mean that laws need to be legislated to prevent responsible and rational Americans from owing, what I mean is that they show not be so...