Every year in America, 30,000 families can look forward to crying like this when their loved one is killed by gunfire.

Columbus, Ohio has outlawed the sale or ownership of semi-automatic assault rifles with features like pistol grips, muzzle compensators, and detacheable clips. That’s stuff that makes these rifles more accurate over long distances, easier to control, and faster to reload. Want ‘em in your large urban city? No??? Weird… Columbus feels that way too!

Grizzly Bear voice: But somebody’s pouting. Look kids, it’s the big ole grumpy NRA. They’re so offended, they’re packing up their three-day annual conference and stomping away.

I don’t know whether the city should take that as an insult or compliment…

Besides being a guy (and thereby loving loud, fast mechanical things made of steel that shoot,) I don’t have much interest in guns. Based on what I’ve seen in 32 years, I think we’d be far better off without them. Remove guns from situations like depressed teens, drug dealers, gangs, domestic disputes, muggers, sexual assaults, bank robberies, road rage, kids peeking in Dad’s desk drawer… what do you get? You get a better outcome, every last time.

Now, I’m actually okay with the idea of people owning guns, given the circumstances. They’re already out there, it is provided for in the constitution, and if they’re handled safely, sold with accurate background checks, trigger locks, and licenses – the positive aspects for owners are many. Though you’ll never convince me those positives outweighs the negatives, there ought to be a realistic compromise somewhere in there somewhere.

But compromise isn’t a topic you can bring up with the NRA at the dinner table. To them, anything that goes bang-bang is good, whether or not it even makes sense. AK-47s, MAC-10s and TEC-9s spray upwards of 600 rounds per minute. They have zero value for target practice, play no practical part in protecting your property, and are of no value in hunting – unless you want to pick bullet fragments out of that deer for the next four days.

You know what assault rifles do? They inflict as much carnage as possible in the shortest amount of time. They appeal to boys’ immature, macho desires to cause massive destruction, and whether a boy is 3 or 53, they still get mad when grownups start taking away their toys.

Interesting side note 1:
In the wake of Columbus spoiling the party, NRA head Wayne Lapierre (pictured above reaching for another clip of ammo) is calling for Ohio to pass legislation that would prohibit cities from passing their own laws concerning gun control.
…wait, I gotta let that sink in… Nope. Sorry, I tried.

Interesting side note 2:
The NRA was informed in December of ‘04 – 8 months ago – that Columbus was likely to ban these weapons, but they proceeded anyhow. Know why? Many Columbus officials think it’s because they’d be in a position to dramatically yank their convention at the last minute, garnering loads of national attention. It’s obvious the NRA didn’t negotiate this contract in good faith, they were eagerly waiting to throw this kind of tantrum.

Karl Rove, President Bush’s most senior advisor, intentionally leaked the identity of a covert CIA agent. His aim was to discredit that agent’s husband, who had dared to challenge the administration in the buildup to the war by telling the truth about fake memos.

Bush has a choice to make: Spend months protecting Karl Rove’s job security, or spend them focused on protecting America’s national security. He cannot remain silent.

When the scandal first broke, White House spokesman, Scott McClellan, said “If anyone in this Administration was involved in it, they would no longer be in this Administration.” (9/29/03, White House press briefing).

Karl Rove’s days in the White House need to end now. Bush can either make good on his promise to hold accountable those who shared the identity of a secret soldier in the war on terror – or prove that promise hollow. As someone who claims to put his words into action, he needs to keep his promise to the American people and fire Karl Rove.

If you feel the same, you can tell your President, here.

Allegedly this is not the foot that made this footprint.

For decades, history books have confidently asserted that human beings first showed up in North and South America roughly 13,500 years ago. That’s the time when there would’ve been a land bridge connecting Asia to Alaska – just after the last ice age. Besides, 13,500 years is the oldest age anybody can put on stone tools those humans left behind. Makes sense to me.

So imagine the scientific community’s surprise yesterday when British scientists announced they’ve found ancient human footprints at an abandoned Mexican quarry. 40,000 year old footprints. How can they tell the age of a footprint? The age of the dried volcanic mud they were found in, I suppose. Whatever the method, if it turns out to be true it throws out the window the whole theory of how and when humans came to this part of the world. Why “how”? Because without the previously mentioned land bridge, these people would’ve had to come by boat, rather than on foot. I love that idea – the world’s oldest sailors.