News for today's 2018

There is nothing random about LAX shooting

12:41 PM Tukiyooo 0

<div class="imgon2"><img alt="Paul Ciancia (inset) is suspected of killing a TSA officer and wounding two other people at a security checkpoint at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday. (photo: NBC Los Angeles)" border="0" height="181" src="http://readersupportednews.org/images/stories/article_imgs10/011015-lax-shooter-110313.jpg" style="border: 0px none;" title="Paul Ciancia (inset) is suspected of killing a TSA officer and wounding two other people at a security checkpoint at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday. (photo: NBC Los Angeles)" width="400" /> Paul Ciancia (inset) is suspected of killing a TSA officer and wounding two other people at a security checkpoint at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday. (photo: NBC Los Angeles)</div> <div class="txtauthor"> </div><div class="txtauthor">By Charles Pierce, Esquire</div><div class="date">03 November 13</div><div class="date"><a href="http://readersupportednews.org/">readersupportednews.org</a> </div>  <img border="0" src="http://readersupportednews.org/images/stories/alphabet/rsn-I.jpg" />t appears the TSA agent shot this morning four terminals over has died. That was the word carried by dozens of people who had decided to walk out of LAX in search of rental cars and whiskey, whose number I will be joining shortly. (One report has the shooter, in custody, as "a white man in a white shirt." Investigation is ongoing.)  Terminal 7 is gradually coming to life again; flights here will be delayed, but we are not a crime scene, so things likely will get back to normal by nightfall. There are bomb squads with dogs wandering about. The ticketing area is abuzz with low cellphone conversations reassuring loved ones that everything's okay, and that folks are likely going to be a little late going home. Every now and again, a person in a TSA uniform will wander by. They have the 1000-yard stare going. The shock waves are weaker, but you can still feel them moving through the place. A cop just ran by. Everybody turned and stared. <div class="indent">There already is some talk about this event being a "random" one. But it is not. These things are becoming as regular as rain, as predictable as the summer heat.</div><div class="indent"> </div><div class="indent">The only thing "random" about it is the shooter. He could be anyone, and that's the point. There are people who spend money making sure that he could be anyone, and there's nothing "random" about how they do that.</div><div class="indent"> </div><div class="indent">There is nothing "random" about this country's ludicrous disinclination to regulate its firearms. There is nothing "random" about the millions of dollars that the NRA spends to convince people that they should have the right to carry their assault weapon anywhere they want to carry it, including into an airport terminal, if they so desire. There is nothing "random" about the politicians who truckle and bow to this lucrative monetization of bloody mayhem.</div><div class="indent"> </div><div class="indent">These are all deliberate acts with predictable consequences. There is nothing "random" about how we have armed ourselves, and there is nothing "random" about the filigree of high-flown rhetoric with which we justify arming ourselves, and there is nothing "random" about how we learn nothing every time someone who could be anyone decides to exercise his Second Amendment rights by opening fire. There is nothing random about how we got where we are today, here in Terminal 7, where people have sought refuge from the bloodshed, four terminals over. There is nothing "random" at all.</div><div class="indent"> </div><div class="indent">We have chosen insanity over reason. We have done it with our eyes open. It is time for me to walk out of the airport now.</div><div class="indent"> </div><div class="indent">I am leaving behind a terrible event. But I am not leaving behind something accidental. I am leaving behind what America has determined must happen from time to time, if we are to be a free people. I am leaving behind what America has determined is part of the cost of being an American. I am leaving behind the blood that I am told I must accept as part of the price of being a member of a free society.</div><div class="indent"> </div><div class="indent">I am leaving behind a place of death, and I am joining my fellow citizens, as we make an odd pilgrimage out of a place that is now another altar of the blood sacrifice that I am told we must make, regularly, in order to be truly free.</div><div class="indent"> </div><div class="indent">I am a free citizen, I am told, of the Republic of Murder, my rights guaranteed by the Constitution of Moloch. I am leaving.</div>

Paul Ciancia (inset) is suspected of killing a TSA officer and wounding two other people at a security checkpoint at Los Angeles Intern...

Texas AG almost nailed by own voter ID law

10:13 AM Tukiyooo 0

<h1 class="txttitle"></h1><div class="imgon2"><img alt="Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott. (photo: AP)" border="0" height="181" src="http://readersupportednews.org/images/stories/article_imgs10/011114-greg-abbott-texas-110213.jpg" title="Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott. (photo: AP)" width="400" /> Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott. (photo: AP)</div> <div class="txtauthor">By Aviva Shen, ThinkProgress</div><div class="date">02 November 13</div><div class="date"><a href="http://readersupportednews.org/">readersupportednews.org</a> </div><img border="0" src="http://readersupportednews.org/images/stories/alphabet/rsn-A.jpg" />s early voting begins in Texas, the state's new, strict voter ID law has thus far flagged a <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/10/23/2821651/texas-judge-voter/" target="_blank">judge</a>, gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis, and another <a href="http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/14301/state-senator-leticia-van-de-putte-also-forced-to-sign-affidavit-to-vote-under-photo-voter-id-law" target="_blank">state senator</a> as potentially illegitimate voters. Attorney General Greg Abbott (R), voter ID's most strident defender, was also <a href="http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/14299/greg-abbott-can-still-vote-thanks-to-wendy-davis" target="_blank">flagged as a suspicious voter</a> under his own law's strict criteria. <div class="indent">Abbott was flagged because his license lists his name as "Gregory Wayne Abbott" while his voter registration record simply calls him "Greg Abbott."</div><div class="indent"> </div><div class="indent">Longtime voters, particularly <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/10/17/2789931/threat-women-texas/" target="_blank">married women</a> who have taken a spouse's name, are being stopped at the polls because their names on their drivers' licenses differ from their voter registration forms. Thanks to an amendment added by Wendy Davis, voters who clearly have "substantially similar" names can still cast a regular ballot by signing an affidavit affirming their identity. If the law had gone through unmodified as Abbott originally supported, he would have disenfranchised himself.</div><div class="indent"> </div><div class="indent">Though Davis' amendment will allow many legitimate voters to vote, the process to determine "substantial similarity" and organize affidavit-signing will inevitably clog up Texas electoral processes with unnecessary confusion. Come November 5, Texas' polling places may resemble Florida's in 2012, where Republicans' election law changes created <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/01/23/1486311/long-voting-lines-drove-away-at-least-201k-florida-voters-study-finds/" target="_blank">marathon lines and pollworker confusion</a>.</div><div class="indent"> </div><div class="indent">The law has also affected countless ordinary Texans who do not attract as much media coverage as Davis or Abbott. People of color, low-income voters, seniors, and students are most likely to lack the required ID and may not have their votes counted as a result. While Texas officials claim it is easy for these people to get a free voter ID, just <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/10/22/2812371/just-0003-percent-eligible-texas-voters-received-free-voter/" target="_blank">41 out of 1.4 million eligible Texas voters have received one</a> as of the middle of last month. ThinkProgress interviewed one 84-year-old woman who was <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/09/26/2683971/dorothy-card-voter-id/" target="_blank">denied the ID three times</a> despite providing extensive proof of her identity.</div>

NATIONAL NEWS WEIRD NEWS WOMEN Texas AG almost nailed by own voter ID law

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott. (photo: AP) By Aviva Shen, ThinkProgress 02 November 13 readersupportednews.org s early voting begins ...

The ghost of UA's Old Main lingers still

12:31 PM Tukiyooo 0

<h1></h1> By Alexis Blue, University Communications | October 30, 2013 <div style="font-style: italic;"> </div><div style="font-style: italic;">Construction workers renovating Old Main have come to know the story of Carlos, its lingering ghost.</div><div style="font-style: italic;"> </div> <div class="views-row views-row-1 views-row-odd views-row-first views-row-last"><div class="field-content"><div class="story-image" style="width: 620px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" href="http://uanews.org/sites/default/files/story-images/oldmain-moon-8450-2.jpg" rel="gallery-node-53530" title=""><img alt="Photo by Jacob Chinn" height="193" src="http://uanews.org/sites/default/files/styles/story-page-headline-800-300/public/story-images/oldmain-moon-8450-2.jpg?itok=9TMdHL2J" title="" width="400" /></a> <div class="caption">Photo by Jacob Chinn</div></div></div> </div> <div class="views-row views-row-1 views-row-odd views-row-first"><div class="field-content"><div class="story-image" style="width: 275px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" href="http://uanews.org/sites/default/files/story-images/Old-Main-7837.jpg" rel="gallery-node-53530" title="Photo by Jacob Chinn"><img alt="Photo by Jacob Chinn" height="183" src="http://uanews.org/sites/default/files/styles/story_body_aspect_ratio_switcher/public/story-images/Old-Main-7837.jpg?itok=AJ7KdYO9" title="" width="275" /></a> <div class="caption">Photo by Jacob Chinn</div></div></div></div> <div class="views-row views-row-2 views-row-even"><div class="field-content"><div class="story-image" style="width: 183px;"><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" href="http://uanews.org/sites/default/files/story-images/Old-Main-7833.jpg" rel="gallery-node-53530" title="Photo by Jacob Chinn"><img alt="Photo by Jacob Chinn" height="320" src="http://uanews.org/sites/default/files/styles/story_body_aspect_ratio_switcher/public/story-images/Old-Main-7833.jpg?itok=fF3eNhW7" title="" width="212" /></a> <div class="caption">Photo by Jacob Chinn</div></div></div></div> <div class="views-row views-row-3 views-row-odd views-row-last"> <div class="field-content"><div class="story-image" style="width: 275px;"> <a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed cboxElement" href="http://uanews.org/sites/default/files/story-images/Old-Main-7814.jpg" rel="gallery-node-53530" title="Photo by Jacob Chinn"><img alt="Photo by Jacob Chinn" height="183" src="http://uanews.org/sites/default/files/styles/story_body_aspect_ratio_switcher/public/story-images/Old-Main-7814.jpg?itok=LhGLWvPh" title="" width="275" /></a> <div class="caption">Photo by Jacob Chinn</div><div class="caption"></div></div></div></div> <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Every old building has a good ghost story to go with it, and the University of Arizona's historic Old Main is no exception. The UA's first building, Old Main has since 1891 served as the "front porch" of the UA, and it holds special significance for generations of Wildcat alumni and campus community members. Earlier this month, the University announced a $13.5 million Save Old Main fundraising campaign to restore the beloved building to its original grandeur, launching the website <a href="http://www.saveoldmain.org/" target="_blank">www.saveoldmain.org</a> and the Twitter hashtag #saveoldmain. But as the iconic Old Main undergoes the most comprehensive renovation in its history, some construction crew members are reporting ghostly goings-on. "I can't say I've seen anything, but I've heard some weird stuff as far as creaking and cracking," said Fred Briscoe, senior project manager with Sundt Construction. "We joke quite a bit that we're making Carlos mad." The Carlos he's referring to is Carlos Maldenado, who is said to have been murdered while supervising the construction of Old Main in 1888. The legend of Carlos is detailed online at <a href="http://www.uofamystery.org/" target="_blank">www.uofamystery.org</a>, a website not affiliated with the University. The story goes that Carlos often spent the night at Old Main while it was being built, chatting with members of local Indian tribes who stopped by to check out the project and keeping watch over the building, which some locals were not happy to see being constructed. One morning, Carlos's construction crew members arrived to find their beloved boss sitting in a wooden chair with a large knife stuck in his throat. His murder was never solved, and it's said that his spirit still haunts the building, where a number of students, staff and faculty have reported seeing him over the years. Word of Carlos traveled fast among workers who are currently renovating Old Main, a project scheduled for completion in the summer of 2014. Sundt Construction foreman Tomás Avilez certainly believes the legend. In fact, he enthusiastically claims to have seen Carlos twice, in the form of a shadowy figure in the attic of Old Main. "He doesn't stand still long enough to take a picture," Avilez said. "He kind of hides." "I'm not afraid of him, because I'm not afraid of stuff like that, but if you sit in the attic long enough, he might appear," he said. Carpenter Frank Contreras also has been spooked by the ghost story. After hearing Avilez and other colleagues talking about Carlos, he went online to do some investigating of his own and found the tale. Not long after, he arrived at Old Main early one morning, the first one on the site. When he entered an upstairs hallway, several faucets suddenly turned on at once, sending him in the opposite direction. Contreras's strategy, should he ever come face to face with Carlos: "Start running!" Senior project superintendent Dennis Manley has had some frayed nerves courtesy of Carlos, too. "I was here a lot by myself the first couple of weeks, and I'm a scaredy cat. When I came into work in the morning it was dark and I got goose bumps," he said. But Manley is no longer worried. "Now that he sees this place is getting a facelift, I think he's gone." Old Main's haunted history has earned it a spot on the UA's new Ghosts of the UA tour, set to launch Nov. 8, during Homecoming weekend. The hourlong walking tour, hosted by the <a href="http://alumni.arizona.edu/" target="_blank">Arizona Alumni Association</a>'s <a href="http://alumni.arizona.edu/saa" target="_blank">Student Alumni Ambassadors</a>, also will also include ghostly tales about the UA's Maricopa Residence Hall, Centennial Hall and Bear Down Gym. The free tour starts at 10 a.m. on the east side of Old Main and is open to the public. Those interested should RSVP at <a href="http://www.arizonaalumni.com/ghosttour" target="_blank">www.arizonaalumni.com/ghosttour</a>. In the meantime, renovations continue at Old Main through Halloween and beyond, with crewmembers hoping Carlos is a friendly ghost.</div></div></div>