As school shootings increase, Arizona rushes to make guns legal on college campuses



Gun on college campuses legislation



There was a recent article titled “Why does America lead the world in school shootings?” by Dr. Frank Ochberg, a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Michigan State University and former Associate Director of the National Institute of Mental Health.  With notable credentials like that, the gun industry, particularly the National Rifle Assn. (NRA), should pay attention to his findings. 

One in particular was, “Access to guns is a significant factor in American school shootings. If kids could not and did not bring guns to school, we wouldn't have Columbine, Virginia Tech or Chardon, Ohio.”  He continues, “But the reason we have an American school shooting problem that exceeds other nations has to do with access to loaded weapons by kids who should not have that access.”

   

Other factors include peer warning signs, bullying gone unchecked, lack of recognizing mental illness, and violent role models and drugs.  Each is significant but without that access to the weapon there would be no killings or injuries, at least by guns, which are most prevalent in these incidents. 

What is most interesting about Dr. Ochberg’s study is that the U.S. has the worst problem in the entire world.  That is tragic for a civilized nation when compared to some third-world countries. 



AZ Sen. Ron Gould...finger pointing



But damn the killing of young adults and children, full speed ahead to force guns onto Arizona college and university campuses when both the educators and law enforcement are dead-set against it and have vociferously voiced their opinions.  The drive for Senate Bill 1474 is led by Arizona State Sen. Ron Gould who, some have indicated, has as his main intention to fire up the gun nuts in Arizona so they will vote for him in his run for a U.S. House seat.

The Arizona Republic says, “Currently, it is illegal in 22 states to carry a concealed weapon on a college campus. In 25 states, including Arizona, the decision is left to the individual college or university. No Arizona college or university allows guns on campus.  Oregon, Utah, Wisconsin and Mississippi require campuses to allow concealed weapons on campus.”  Another NRA promoted law forcing guns down the throats of those who don’t want them.

See video below on Arizona campus guns bill:



And while the Arizona gun bubbas are forging ahead with their campus legislation, there were two more shootings in the state, one at a Wilcox high school, the other at a Tempe (Phoenix suburb) nightclub, which wounded at least 14 people.  Tempe is the home of Arizona State University two miles from the club.  The shooters were not ASU students, who have said repeatedly that they do not want guns on their campus.



Chardon, OH shooter



Most of the focus lately has been on Chardon, Ohio’s High School where student

T.J. Lane

opened fire on February 27, in the Cafeteria, killing three and injuring two others, one paralyzed.  It wasn’t even his school, which turned out to be the Lake Academy, where a fellow student said he was “…being picked on for everything from his hair, to his clothes, to his quiet personality.”  Lane used a 22 caliber pistol and had a record of violence in the past.

But returning to the Arizona campus gun legislation, local Phoenix columnist Laurie Roberts puts the blame squarely on the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) exclaiming that if the NRA wants it, they will get it in Arizona.  And why not?  They have already been responsible for diluting the state’s gun laws to the extent that they are the loosest in the nation. 

Roberts says: “But then this bill isn't about making college campuses safe. It's about making the NRA -- and the sizable block of reliable Republican voters it can deliver (or take away) -- happy.”

And finally there’s the cost that will have to come from the university budgets that are already strained to the limit.  It is estimated that the legislation will result in one-time costs of $13 million for lockers to store guns that can’t be brought into buildings, with annual maintenance of $3 million.  The Arizona legislature has offered no support.  Pathetic!

Aides finally muzzle Arizona Governor Jan Brewer



NY Sen. Chas. Schumer



First Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer was invited to testify before New York’s Democratic Senator Charles Schumer’s Senate Judiciary’s Committee’s immigration subcommittee.  She was invited the day before the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments on the state’s anti-immigration bill SB-1070 on April 25.  

Schumer said to Brewer that she was always asking President Obama to come to the border to discuss immigration problems; why not come before his committee and air her concerns.  She declined, saying that it was a publicity stunt.

Talking of the new increased security at the border that has drastically decreased border crossings, Schumer wanted to know: 1) why you signed SB 1070 in 2010; 2) whether you still believe SB 1070 is necessary in light of the substantially increased security situation along our southern border; and 3) whether you favor SB 1070 being made a permanent law irrespective of whether conditions further improve along the southern border," as reported in the Huff Post.



President Obama in OZ



Next, just a few days later, Brewer declined an invitation from Obama to attend the G honoring the nation’s governors just before the Nat’l Governors Assn. conference, which Brewer attended on Feb. 27.  She told her staff that she didn’t want to “participate in a ‘social’ event.”  But when quizzed about not attending the dinner, aides whisked her away before she could speak and mouthpiece Matthew Benson answered questions.

Someone is finally waking up to the fact that every time Jan Brewer opens her mouth she puts every resident of Arizona’s foot in it, not just hers.  It has become so embarrassing that those around her that have propped her up in the past are at last realizing they must put a muzzle on her to try and prevent more ridicule of the state of Arizona.  Unfortunately the country’s most incompetent governor doesn’t even realize what’s going on and simply muddles on.

Satirist Fran Lebowitz, who appeared recently in Scottsdale, AZ, talking about Brewer’s finger pointing at the President said: “Arizona has not endeared itself to me. I have to say, truly, the president of the United States deserves respect… On top of everything else, it's morally crass. Not just from an etiquette standpoint, but it shows a kind of moral vulgarity.”

Brewer spokesperson Matthew Benson said to the Washington Times, “It doesn’t appear that this would be the most productive hearing for Governor Brewer to attend,” talking about Sen. Schumer’s committee hearing.  My take is that Jan brewer is always willing to shoot off her mouth when she won’t be pressed for hard answers, or can just walk away from a media event as she has in the past.  But she can’t walk away from Schumer, fully realizing she will be in way over her head.



Russell Pearce RECALLED



But it all fell into place when disgraced recalled Arizona Sen. Russell Pearce, who is known as one of the state’s biggest racist bigots, offered to replace Brewer at Schumer’s hearing.  He agreed to go to Washington on April 24, as a replacement for Brewer saying he knew more about SB-1070 than the Gov since she “…only signed the bill that was sent to her.”  That in itself is an insult from the man known as the de facto governor since Brewer was elected.

Charles Schumer press aide Brian Fallon comments, noting Pearce’s offer: “It is interesting that other Arizona officials responsible for this law are willing to come and defend it, but not Gov. Brewer."  Fallon is simply being diplomatic, knowing full well that Brewer’s former 16 seconds of silence could easily turn into hours, starting with the first question of Sen. Schumer’s committee.

What U.S. company do you hate the most?

In today’s environment where big business is focused entirely on profits, it would be near impossible to determine just how many companies are hated for their lack of concern for their customers.  But

24-7 Wall St

.

, through “substantial” research, has determined those that are “loathed” the most.  Their results are based on customer care and satisfaction and the way the company conducts its business, such as profits, earnings, products development and brand valuations.

According to MSN Money, online businesses take a big hit with their unhappy number of enemies, no doubt due to the fact that much of the time it is impossible to reach someone for satisfaction.  This compared to smaller companies with less customers.  There’s also the current economic situation where employers have had to fire or lay off their workers.  A large variety of sources were used to determine the results, which you can see in the above link.

The results are arranged in no particular order and here are the

24-7 Wall St.

5 most hated companies.



Facebook's Mark zuckerberg



1.    Facebook: There are 800 million online users of this social network so there is plenty of room for unrest.  It is no doubt that a great deal of the problem is the arrogant founder Mark Zuckerberg’s flamboyant attitude toward his customer’s privacy.  “Facebook has the lowest customer satisfaction score from the American Customer Satisfaction Index.“  The company’s customer service was described as poor by 25.9 percent of users in 2011.

2.    American Airlines: This airline has had its problems, currently being in bankruptcy, having lost $234 million in January.  As reported by the Wall Street Journal, American was picked as the worst airline for customer service by the annual Middle Seat scorecard.  “For the past five years, American has been among the worst three airlines at on-time performance.”  They are at the bottom of the American Customer Satisfaction Index with a score of 63.

3.    AT&T: JD Power gave them the lowest score in their wireless customer care performance.  The feds accused them of trying to form a monopoly with the buyout of T-Mobile and Consumer Reports gave them their lowest satisfaction rating for cellphone standard service providers.  MSN-Money-IBOPE Zogby International says that 26 percent of AT&T’s customers rate their service as poor.

4.    Nokia: Unhappy shareholders here with market share dropping repeatedly with their stock declining 50 percent this past year.  The company was tied for lowest overall satisfaction in JD Powers 2011 Wireless Traditional Mobile Phone Satisfaction Study and also received the lowest ACSI score for wireless telephones.  Interbrand reports that Nokia’s brand value has dropped 15 percent from last year.

5.    Goldman Sachs: You knew we had to get around to Wall Street with this company one of the largest offenders during the financial crisis.  The government sued GS for fraud in 2010.  Fraud accusations continued with two lawsuits for selling mortgage products valued at $15.8 billion. The Federal Housing Finance Agency just this past Fall made another accusation that Goldman Sachs embellished the quality of $11.1 billion of another group of mortgage-backed securities.

Later, the next five most-hated companies according to

24-7 Wall St.

and reported by MSN Money.

Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG) uses Super Bowl to launch latest drive for more gun control

The Giants beat the Patriots 21 to 17 in the 2012 Super Bowl where no one turns down the sound on commercials that can sometime be as interesting as the game itself.  One in particular stood out on February 5, showing New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino vying for their local teams, food etc.  But the real focus of the 30 second commercial was a new push by Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG) for more gun control.

Bloomberg and Menino co-founded the organization in 2006 which currently has more than 600 mayors nationwide participating.  Their main thrust is to keep criminals from getting illegal guns. 

A good example of their work is the recent sting by MAIG at an Arizona gun show, a state where gun laws are the loosest in the nation.  MAIG investigators bought guns from a private weapons dealer there without anything but the money it took to make the purchase.  They even told the seller they probably could not pass a background check.  The seller simply laughed at their comment and sold them the guns, which is illegal.

MAIG plans to keep the heat on for more gun control right through the November election, although the Democrats still cringe at the thought of supporting any gun discipline legislation.  Unfortunately, there are more people in the U.S. with guns now and these newly created National Rifle Assn. gun worshippers are fixated on no control so anyone can buy a gun and take it anywhere.  And there lies the problem.



Arizona gun show sting



According to a Reuters report, “Members of the MAIG says it is not trying to take guns away from their legal owners, just to close loopholes that allow criminals to get guns and move them around undetected.”  Although murder is down in New York and nationwide, the mayors also comment that they still see too many killings of cops and teens.  It is rare for a day to go by in Arizona without a shooting, some of which end up as deaths.

This gun show loophole/background checks issue is one area that needs fixing.  But another is required education and training before you can own a gun.  Arizona has nothing, zip.  Most states don’t.  I decided to ask an expert so I contacted Ladd Everitt, Director of Communications for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, and asked the following question: “Can you tell me the average gun training/education a gun owner is required to have?”  His answer below.

“If they're simply purchasing firearms, none whatsoever.  If they are going to be carrying that gun in public, they MIGHT be required to have training.  In 28 states you can now openly carry a loaded gun in public with no permitting, screening or training.  Four states now require no permitting, screening or training to carry a concealed firearm in public. 

And even in ‘Shall Issue’ states that require one to obtain a permit to carry a concealed firearm in public, several have no training requirement.  In Arizona, it is wide open.  Law enforcement would have no idea what the background of a gun carrier is until he opens fire (unless that individual voluntarily obtained a permit to carry a firearm into certain sensitive public spaces).”

Phew!  That means a mentally unstable person from Arizona could walk into a gun store there and buy a Glock 19 with a 15-round clip, hop in his car, and assuming Congress passes HR 822, the federal open-carry bill, with a carry permit drive to any state and commit mass murders like Jared Loughner in Tucson and Seung Hui Cho at Virginia Tech.  Assuming he wasn’t caught, he could be on his merry way to another state to commit more mayhem.  Only in America.

More on MAIG later.

Private prisons another example of big business exploiting states

The undocumented immigrants issue had been seething in many states across the country and finally came to a head in April of 2010 when Arizona passed the first law attempting to ban those who were illegal from the state.  Alabama followed in April 2011, with its own law somewhat patterned after Arizona’s but even more stringent.  Then Florida passed a watered-down version of both bills in May of 2011.  Other states have passed similar laws.  



Private prison industry



It quickly became obvious to the private prison industry that when these illegals were arrested they would have to be housed somewhere.  It was the perfect opportunity to profit from a newly defined crime, so companies like Corrections Corp. of America (CCA) and GEO Group decided to focus on states with the harshest laws.  For the last ten years and leading up to the current immigration dilemma, CCA and GEO have doubled their annual revenues.

The idea is to buy up state prisons or open up new ones when expansion is justified.  There’s something called the Corrections Investment Initiative between the companies and the states that requires a guarantee of 90 percent occupancy rate over the term of the contract, according to the Huff Post.  Which means the states must come up with prisoners from somewhere and what better way to do this than to go after the undocumented immigrants.



Jan Brewer



The most famous purveyor of this required supply of inmates is Arizona’s Joe Arpaio, Sheriff of Maricopa County, billed as the toughest sheriff in the U.S.  His counterpart in the state is Paul Babeu, Sheriff of Pinal County, Arizona.  Both are carrying their own baggage with Arpaio about to be indicted by the feds for abusing his power as a law-enforcement official, and Babeu, who was outed as gay, and accused of threatening to deport his former lover.  Only in Arizona.

Arizona’s sham Gov. Jan Brewer was caught with her hand in the private prison dole when she accepted campaign contributions of $60,000 from CCA.  Her campaign chairman and policy adviser, Chuck Coughlin, is a lobbyist for the largest private prison company in the country, and one of two people in the Brewer administration with ties to Corrections Corporation of America.



Florida recently killed a state bill that would have privatized South Florida prisons.  Passage of the bill could have eliminated around 4,000 prison jobs in 24 facilities in South Florida.  Those in favor of the bill claim it could save the state $16.5 million a year but opponents say that public safety situations like corrections should not be contracted out.

Apparently the private prisons industry relies on three factors to thrive: One is lobbying; two is campaign contributions; and three is knowing people in the right places.

 



Private prison philosophy



When you look at the undocumented population there are over 11 million in the U.S.  Because Arizona was the leader in anti-immigration laws in the country with over 700,000 undocumented, they are a good state in which to evaluate the private prison system.  The Tucson Citizen released a report recently by the American Friends Service Committee, a group that is working to prevent private prisons in Arizona. 

One of the main findings of the study was the fact that “the private prisons under contract with the state cost more than equivalent units operated by the Department of Corrections.”  There’s more.

• The Arizona Auditor General found a total of 157 security failures in the 5 private prisons under contract with the Arizona Department of Corrections
• California’s Inspector General found serious security flaws and improper treatment of California inmates held in three CCA prisons in Arizona
• AFSC found evidence of at least 28 riots in private prisons since 2009.  The number of riots is likely underreported
• There were at least 6 escapes from inside Arizona private prisons in the past 10 years

Free enterprise is one of the foundations of our democracy, but it is clearly inappropriate for private prisons to coach states with the following rhetoric:

“The demand for our facilities and services could be adversely affected by the relaxation of enforcement efforts, leniency in conviction or parole standards and sentencing practices or through the decriminalization of certain activities that are currently proscribed by our criminal laws.

In other words, ramp up the searches and arrests of illegal immigrants to keep our jail cells full.  Remember the 90 percent rule.

More…gun insanity…state by state



Gun insanity



This is a continuation in my series to point out that there is gun insanity all over the country that needs to be corrected with sane gun control.  Of course, there is no better place to start than Arizona.

ARIZONA: Add animal abuse to the charges against this suspected gun freak.  It seems that Mark Donald Arneson gave his pit bull “Buddy” to another man and somehow the animal ended up with two rounds in his head.  Arneson has a criminal history which makes it illegal for him to have a gun, if in fact he did.  Arneson said Buddy had become aggressive and he decided to unload him on this other man.  The cops say at the least, he facilitated the dog’s death.

WASHINGTON: Another school shooting of an 8-year-old girl in an elementary school in Bremerton, Washington.  They had the shooter in custody but there was no report as to whether he or she was also a student.  School shootings are becoming more and more prevalent, but some states still want to legalize bringing a gun on college campuses.

ARIZONA: In a “Walmart Special” recently, a man from Mesa, Arizona dropped his Ruger .357-caliber Western-style revolver in the restroom as he started to sit for his constitutional.  The gun went off when it fell out of his holster and hit the floor, the bullet passing through the stall door, ricocheting off the wall into a light on the ceiling then back at the floor almost hitting a man at a urinal.  It wasn’t clear whether Andrew Seals would be prosecuted for endangerment.  In Arizona?  HA!

Following is a must-see video on Arizona gun laws:

PENNSYLVANIA: Tyrirk Harris is accused of killing his neighbor, Franklin Manuel Santana, in Philadelphia over his dogs running free and making a mess.  Police say it was an ongoing dispute that eventually prompted Harris to pull out his 9-mm handgun and shoot Santana several times.  The victim left a wife and 2-month-old baby.  Harris was charged with murder and was not licensed to carry a gun at the time.

ARIZONA: A 42-year-old man, from Mesa again, was arrested on suspicion of threatening his 19-year-old son at gunpoint.  Jeffrey Higgins is a Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office detention officer; one of Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s boys.  He was booked into jail on suspicion of aggravated assault and criminal damage and was placed on administrative leave by the Sheriff’s office.  Higgins has a history of threatening his son with guns but the incidents have been unreported.

Sarah Palin with best pal



Jared Loughner, Tucson shooter



MISSOURI: Several Democratic state lawmakers found stickers on their office doors with rifle crosshairs on them.  Shades of Sarah Palin and her 2010 crosshairs on Gabby Giffords Arizona district.  Coincidentally, it was just one day before Giffords announced on Capitol Hill that she would resign to concentrate on her recovery from being shot at the 2011 Tucson massacre.  Some lawmakers removed the stickers only to return later and find even larger ones.

ARIZONA: In Mesa, once again, a 7-year-old boy brought a handgun on a loaded school bus and discharged it.  There were about 30 students on board when the boy manipulated the gun in his backpack, firing a single shot.   His father,

Mike Place

, was “grateful nobody was hurt.”  The kid found the weapon in a closet at home and had carried it around school all day.  What kind of moron gun owner leaves his handgun unsecured in a closet?  One from Arizona, of course.   

From accidents to intent to harm, there are too many guns on the streets and too many of those guns are in the hands of those who either legally should not possess a weapon or are not educated well enough to carry a gun.  More coming up on the lack of gun education later. 

  

Arizona mock Gov. Jan Brewer takes racism back to pre-1964

It was July 2, 1964, when President Lyndon Johnson signed into law the Civil Rights Act that outlawed major forms of discrimination against African Americans and women, including racial segregation. 



AZ Gov. Jan Brewer



It was bad enough that a troubled, less-than-capable head of state Jan Brewer greeted the President of the United States to Arizona with a finger-wagging in his face in an attempt to dominate him.  That was more than adequate to prompt charges of bigotry against the leader of a state known for its racists and an intolerant conservative legislature that, along with much of the state’s population, also hates Hispanics.

Now Brewer is not the greenest saguaro in the desert but Politico thinks she has ignited a “firestorm” around the potential of race becoming an issue in the 2012 election.  And there is no state better than Arizona to coddle this movement with known racist, bigot and recalled state Senator Russell Pearce and his buddy J.T. Ready, another racist and also a neo-Nazi, to fan the flames.  However, jaundiced Jan didn’t stop with her finger in the face of Barack Obama.

Following the incident and on Fox News and various other media outlets, she offered up several versions of the incident.  She accused Obama of being “thin skinned,” and said that she felt threatened by his attitude.  Harry Shelton, Sr. VP for the NAACP commented: “What were you afraid he would do, steal your purse?”  Although there are those who support her in Arizona, she and other state politicians like her continue to bring unbridled ridicule to the state.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson pointed out that we are celebrating the 150^th anniversary of the Civil War but are seeing an awakening of the States’ Rights movement of the 1940s, that fought the federal government because of its opposition to federally mandated racial desegregation.  I grew up during that movement and experienced several Dixiecrat Party political rallies in Tennessee that opposed integration.  The party was formed in 1948 and dissolved in 1948.    

PoliticusUSA says the fact that we have a black President doesn’t indicate any progress toward race equality.  Further, “The racism in America is not limited to hatred of African-Americans, and the past year’s negative rhetoric against immigrants, the poor, and Muslims has been a display of white supremacy that has permeated the general population and many of our politicians.” 

In other words, the feeling of superiority over others knows no bounds when they are different than we are.

PoliticusUSA also said, “Conservatives’ attacks on ACORN, NAACP, and the Southern Poverty Law Center were not for their activism or defense of civil rights, but an attack on African Americans.”  Their concern is rooted in the fact that blacks, Hispanics and other minorities will eventually organize and use their voting power to oust the conservative bigots and make equal rights mean what the Constitution originally intended.

If you want a demonstration of Arizona racism, you must see the following Russell Pearce and J.T. Ready video:



Politico reports, “An AP-Ipsos poll taken just before the 2008 election showed that Obama’s support would have been as much as 6 percentage points higher had he been white.”  Because of the concerns over the economy, this “racial bias” will be played down in 2012.  Although the racial effects were there in 2008, they didn’t decide the election, according to Tammy Frisby, a research fellow at the conservative Hoover Institution.



Getting along



If you must have your specific illustration of racism against Barack Obama, Politico says it is “visceral,” providing the following example: “That was true in 2008 — when a handful of rabid Obama haters sent out emails that included crude caricatures of Obama as a Muslim, a monkey, Buckwheat or worse.

Mary Frances Berry, former chairwoman of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, thinks we should focus on how the President handled the tarmac finger wagging and ignore Jan Brewer’s motives.  Obama characterized the moment as “no big deal” and moved on from there.  Unfortunately, Arizona, and much of the rest of the nation, isn’t able to do the same.

Eliminating the penny could shut down the junk mail industry

When is the last time you saw anything in a junk mail catalog that didn’t end in 99 cents?  Well maybe sometime they fudge with 95 cents but that’s pretty rare.  I spent 35 years in this business as a data broker and consultant and when I first started it was impressed on me the value of using the word “free” and never using a rounded off price.  And it’s not only junk mail; traditional retail establishments use the same ploy.

Gasoline prices end in 99 cents.  Dollar stores even sell many of their products at 99 cents.  Amazon.com has a 99 cent Lady Gaga album and authors sell their e-books for 99 cents.  The Dish Network has 99 cent movies and one game maker was selling its games for 99 cents.  Some companies have an offer to ship your merchandise for only 99 cents and one 99 cent chain is in the middle of a huge buyout that will no doubt end in a selling price that includes 99 cents somewhere.



Do they think we’re stupid?  No, so thought David Gold in 1982 when he opened his first 99 Cents Only store in California.  The move was prompted when he tried using the 99 cent approach to selling wines in his liquor store he wanted to move, and friends told him he had a concept that should be expanded.  Dollar and 99 cents stores are now found in most cities around the country.  One of Gold’s first promotions was selling a limited amount of TVs for 99 cents.

Wikipedia calls it “psychological pricing,” which it is by using odd prices like 99 cents with the theory that it increases demand.  I doubt that and firmly believe that if you sold an item for $5.00 instead of $4.99, consumers would buy it for the sheer novelty.  At least until the impact of the change wore off.  From a study done back in the late 1990s, it was found that 60 percent of advertised prices ended in the digit 9, 30 percent 5, 7 percent in a zero.

Just think of the money that could be saved by rounding prices off.  Without all the 99 cent digits gone, catalogs could be smaller or contain more products and junk mail could lower prices even more.  Gas pumps could be narrower without the .99 extension and fuel prices could be lowered.  Retail outlets could use smaller signs in stores without all the .99s meaning they could hold more sales with more price reductions. 

In 1970 when I entered the junk mail business they were already using the 99 cent price calculation so David Gold might have gotten his idea from receiving one of their catalogs.  In case you don’t know, the purpose of the junk mail offer is to “get your attention,” then get you “involved” so you end up buying something.  It was determined early on that a round figure was not attention-getting, thus, the move to just one cent lower than the round figure. 

You might wonder, had the industry gone with the round figure, just how much more profitable could it have been.



Typical Victorias Secret ad



On the other hand, junk mail companies sell your names from their mailing list at round figures.  It’s almost as if they think the buying public is dumb enough to fall for the 99 cent subterfuge but other junk mailers they are selling their lists to are not.  Based on my 35 years in the business, I would take exception with that.  For perspective, the lingerie catalog Victorias Secret sells its customer names for a base price of $115 per thousand names.  This can increase dramatically to over $200 per thousand names if junk mailers want things like age, income, etc.

My gut tells me that the public has seen this 99 cent thing for so long that it doesn’t do anything to incite them to make a purchase anymore.  However, when you have developed a habit like this based on, hopefully, some logic that was inspired years ago, you’re not likely to dump the idea without new logic.  Junk mailers are much busier at this time trying to figure out how to wring even more bucks out of your names; they gross over $4 billion annually now.

Read more here about eliminating the penny.

Rick Santorum can eliminate Mitt Romney in Arizona…just use a gun

It’s all but guaranteed.  Mitt Romney supports the 2^nd Amendment but his more moderate politics may lead some to believe it is also where he stands on gun rights.  Even if not true, his conservatism is not quite fanatical enough for Arizona Republicans, some of which think a middle-of-the-roader is a bleeding liberal.  Rick Santorum, on the other hand, goes all the way with his views, so far to the right that he almost circles the political globe back to the left.

All the polls report that Santorum and Romney are close in the latter’s home state of Michigan leading into Wednesday’s debate in Arizona, and the Christian Science Monitor reports that a new CNN/Time poll announces that Santorum may now be closing the gap in Arizona.  Romney does still have a lead prior to Wednesday. 

But all Ricky boy has to do to get the majority’s attention in Arizona is to swagger into the debate wearing a Glock 19 at his side, an AK-47 over his shoulder.  I can see it now.  With a tumultuous applause including standing ovation, Santorum tells his loving audience, I feel your pain and one of my first acts as President will be to pass a law that will make it legal to shoot illegal immigrants as they cross the border.  Forget the fence; just work on improving your aim.



Typical Arizona lawmaker



Now, of course, Rick Santorum would never do that but there are some in Arizona that would welcome a law like this.  The Arizona Republican state legislature, after hearing of this idea, is probably already checking out the concept to see how they might turn it into legislation.  And if they don’t get them at the border, just confront the first immigrant at your local bar, starting an altercation that ultimately ends up in you shooting them, illegal or not.

I know.  Purely bizarre and maybe I am pushing the envelope, but all within the realm of possibility in a state that hates a huge portion of its workforce, and loves its guns more than it does the safety of Arizona’s citizens.  I don’t want you make-believe vigilantes protecting me with your concealed weapons.  You don’t have the proper training, nothing even remotely close to law enforcement, and it is time you cowboys understood that.



The National Victims Action Council (NVAC) has an interesting illustration of how those packing heat probably would never have the chance to react, even if they had enough training.  It’s a fantasy, they say, advanced by the gun lobby, that gun owners need their weapons with them at all times for self defense.  Like walking down a street in Dodge City waiting to draw and shoot.  Doesn’t happen that way.  The criminal almost always has the element of surprise. 

Mitt Romney, Mr. 1%

In most instances a police officer would have the upper hand by most likely being in uniform, trained to spot the bad guys before they get the upper hand.  He or she can anticipate their moves and already has a strategy for almost any kind of confrontation.  Gun fanatics take notice: you don’t have any of this talent but if you do it is no doubt limited to watching TV cop dramas.  I keep bringing this up but two gun nuts almost shot each other in the Tucson massacre.

Let’s be realistic.  Because of a lousy economy law enforcement has been cut back but I’ll still wait for the police any day rather than put my life in the hands of a vigilante cowboy.

NVAC says in a 2009 study commissioned by the National Institutes of Health and published in the American Journal of Public Health, “…guns did not protect those who possessed them from being shot in an assault.”  Further, “The study found that people carrying a gun were 4.5 times more likely to be shot in an assault than those not carrying a gun.”  Go to the NVAC site, above, for more facts on this issue.

In the meantime, when you read this post, it will probably already be evident how both Romney and Santorum stand on gun rights from the debate last night; that is if anyone dares bring it up.  My exposition above is simply to shed light on the fact that gun rights in Arizona, and several other states, are simply insane.  I would settle for just one of the candidates saying, ‘Ah, come on Arizona and the rest of the country.  Can’t we just agree on sane gun control?’  Yeah, right.