RANDOM SHOTS - Guns Sales Jump in Colorado, Keystone XL Pipeline, Hawaii Man Defends Self Against Raging Bull, and More!

FIRST SHOT!

Gun-Control Crazies Mobilize in Wake of Batman Movie Massacre

Right after the massacre in Aurora, I told my wife two things would take place: First, liberals will come out of the woodwork demanding stricter Gun-Control. And second, as a result of their call for more Gun-Control, gun sales across the nation will go up.

With the bodies of victims still in the theatre, New York City's Mayor Bloomberg immediately jumped at the chance to further his anti-gun agenda by coming out with statements regarding his perceived need for more Gun-Control.

Liberals are easy to figure out that way, no matter if its a catastrophe at sea such as the one in the Gulf of Mexico where a BP oil rig a huge industrial accident which resulted in an oil spill or in the case of the Movie massacre, it seems to me that they use any tragedy to push their political agenda.

In the case of the BP oil rig catastrophe, on 20 April 2010, high-pressure methane gas from the well expanded into the drilling riser and was released onto the drilling rig, where it ignited and exploded. Flames engulfed the drilling rig.

Most of the workers escaped the rig by lifeboat and were subsequently evacuated by boat or airlifted by helicopter for medical treatment. But sadly, eleven workers were never found despite a three-day Coast Guard search operation, and are believed to have died in the explosion.Efforts by multiple ships to douse the flames were unsuccessful. After burning for approximately 36 hours, the Deepwater Horizon sank on the morning of 22 April 2010.

The result was an environment disaster. One which fueled liberal environmentalist to call for an immediate halt to ALL drilling in the United States. And yes, their allies in the Obama White House were more than willing to assist in an effort to shut down oil production in the Gulf of Mexico.

On Friday, the Aurora Movie Massacre takes place. On Saturday, as soon as a friend saw me today, he said, "Well, it's started! The gun control nuts are using the movie theatre massacre to try to restrict sales of guns!"

And yes, he was right.  Within hours of a madman opening fire in a crowded movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, Gun-Control advocates began to use the theater shooting spree, which left 12 dead and 71 wounded, to push their agenda.

While bodies were still in the theatre, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an ardent gun-control advocate, led the way by citing the massacre on a radio broadcast Friday morning. He seems to jump at the opportunity to push his personal ant-gun agenda.

And yes, he was all too eager to say that statements of sympathy and concern from President Barack Obama’s and Mitt Romney’s campaigns were not enough.

I find it interesting that New York City has tough gun laws, almost as strict as Chicago, yet the murder rate in New York City is climbing. Just like Chicago, extremely strict gun laws in New York City hasn't done anything to curtail the numbers of murders there.

Their laws are designed to disarm their residents and make them ripe targets.

For Bloomberg to come out with advice for the rest of the nation, I can't help but wonder who Bloomberg thinks he is?

Mayor Bloomberg should try tending to his own responsibilities before telling the country what to do. Maybe if he were a better Mayor, his city wouldn't be as screwed up as it is these days?

By Saturday much of the liberal media had weighed in with calls for more control.

In an editorial, The Washington Post wrote, "There is no rational basis for allowing ordinary Americans to purchase assault rifles. They’re not necessary for hunting, and they’re not needed for self-defense."

It added, "Yes, the Second Amendment protects a citizen’s right to own a gun, but it does not preclude reasonable regulation for public safety. Yes, mass killings occur in societies with stronger gun laws, but not with such regularity — and not against the backdrop of daily gun violence, both criminal and accidental, that distinguishes the United States."

The Washington Post editorial misses the mark on some major points here. First, it describes Holmes as an "ordinary Americans" when he is definitely not an "ordinary Americans." Ordinary Americans don't go on killing sprees. 

Second, their editorial says, "the Second Amendment ... does not preclude reasonable regulation for public safety." Reasonable regulation for public safety is why we have gun laws, yet stricter gun laws like the ones in Aurora Colorado did not provide the public any safety from a person with the intent to commit mass murder.

And lastly, what is this "regularity" the Washington Post is talking about? The only "mass killings occur ... with such regularity" are the killings taking place in gang ridden cities like Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles where strict gun laws have been in place for years to no effect.

Democratic Rep. Ed Perlmutter who represents the Aurora area where the shooting occurred, said of Holmes: “I don’t know why he had such easy access to guns.”

Perlmutter said it was “premature” to consider political issues, however his Democratic colleague in the House, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy of New York was not so bashful. “We as a nation should … not continue to ignore avenues to prevent tragedies like this from happening in the future," said McCarthy, whose husband was shot to death on the Long Island Railroad in 1993.

Even while the bodies of the victims are still warm, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence posted a petition on its web site asking for signatures from those who felt the Aurora tragedy was a reason to help prod lawmakers towards more gun control legislation.

No one is surprised that liberal media figures joined in the call for more Gun-Control, CNN talk show host Piers Morgan tweeted extensively on the issue, saying, among other things, that “America has got to do something about its gun laws. Now is the time.”

On the other side!

On the other side of the Twitter debate, singer Chris Daughtry tweeted, "Stricter gun laws will not stop SICK people from getting access to guns...Laws & rules are not in the forefront of the mind of a criminal."

The NRA has more concern for the victim and their families. They are putting themselves above politics and the liberal calls for stricter Gun-Control.

NRA Spokesman Andrew Arulanandams told Newsmax: “Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims’ families and indeed the whole Aurora community. We will not make any further statements until all the facts are known.”

Support for gun control has fallen in recent years. Gallup says 78 percent wanted stricter gun laws in 1990, falling to 62 percent by 1995. By 2007 it was 51 percent and last year just 44 percent.

Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas said he could not understand why there was apparently no-one in the theater with a weapon who could take gunman James Holmes out before he could create more mayhem?

"It does make me wonder, with all those people in the theater, was there nobody that was carrying a gun that could have stopped this guy more quickly?" Gohmert asked.

That's a real good point!

And yes, tonight at the American Legion, we discussed that point - as well as the fact that that murderous bastard Holmes was wearing body armour.

Some said a man with a legally carried concealed weapon would not have stood a chance because Holmes was wearing body armour. I have know policeman who have taken a shot of two while wearing protective gear, and I can report that they did have to pick themselves off the ground because of the knock down power of some of those rounds.

But more than trying to kill the bad guy, shots in his direction may have distracted him long enough to make him think twice about his course of action. Besides, I really believe that any effort made to kill him before he could have killed others would have been worth the effort!

Then again, maybe that's why he picked Aurora? Maybe he knew how strict their gun laws are and that no one would be putting up a defense? Maybe he saw the citizens of Aurora as ripe targets simply because Aurora's own gun laws prevented citizens from carrying concealed weapons?

Fact is, Aurora, Colorado’s strict gun laws didn’t help anyone but the killer.

So the question becomes: How will stricter gun laws bring an end to criminals having guns - especially when the laws against murder have not been able to stop them from killing innocent people?

SECOND SHOT!

Guns Sales Jump In Colorado In Wake Of Movie Massacre

It is being reported today, July 24, 2012, that Colorado gun stores are seeing a huge jump in demand for firearms since last Friday's massacre at a midnight movie showing in Aurora.

Background checks for people wanting to buy guns in Colorado reportedly increased more than 41 percent after last week’s Aurora movie massacre.

The Denver Post reports that firearm instructors have also seen increased interest in training needed for a concealed-carry permit.

"It's been insane," Jake Meyers, an employee at Rocky Mountain Guns and Ammo in Parker told the newspaper Monday.

Between Friday and Sunday, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation approved background checks for 2,887 people who wanted to purchase a firearm — a 43 percent increase over the previous Friday through Sunday and a 39 percent jump over those same days on the first weekend of July.

The biggest spike was on Friday, when there were 1,216 checks, a 43 percent increase over the average number for the previous two Fridays.

On Friday morning, just hours after alleged 24-year-old gunman James Holmes killed 12 and injured 58 others at the Century Aurora theater, up to 20 people were already waiting outside the store when Meyers arrived, he said.

He said the day was “probably the busiest Monday all year” and said basic firearms classes that he and the store’s owner conduct are booked for the next three weeks — a first for this year, the newspaper reports.

"A lot of it is people saying, 'I didn't think I needed a gun, but now I do,' " he told the newspaper. "When it happens in your backyard, people start reassessing - 'Hey, I go to the movies.'"

I really believe that any effort made to kill those trying to kill you, before he can kill you or others is worth the effort! It is better to die defending yourself, than die crying wishing you had a way to combat the threat.

THIRD SHOT!

Oil Industry Boom Creates Huge Number Of Jobs In The "Economic Miracle" State of North Dakota

All of those going to Colleges and Universities these days who are graduating with degrees that they can't use, may want to consider taking some Vocational / Technical Skills courses instead.

Technical advances in energy exploration and production have made it possible to get much more oil out of the ground. And yes, that's especially true in North Dakota.

North Dakota has outrun Alaska and leaped into the number two spot for oil production. The results of increased oil production is that it's feeding all sorts of demand in the state. Subsequently, North Dakota has the lowest unemployment in the nation.

And no, it isn't surprising that unemployed residents of other states have been migrating into North Dakota in search of work.

"We're able to find workers which, otherwise, if we'd been on full employment, it would have been hard to get people to move to a rural area like this" says Tom Rolfstad, executive director of Williston Economic Development.

The work and business opportunities are wide-ranging and plentiful, but small towns are racing to keep up with demand for housing. For example, Williston put in 2,100 units last year and expects to add 3,500 next year.

The oil boom has turned into a jobs boom. And yes, that has made things a little crazy these days!

"For the most part, everybody's working. To a degree I could even say we have the working homeless, that we have so many workers and not enough housing, that that's our problem with homeless" says Rolfstad. The town has had to regulate where RVs are parked and crack down on sleeping in the parks.

It's not unheard of for people to live out of their cars. The Williston job services office actually has handout information on where to find showers.

While potential for high wages is a draw, Cindy Sanford, with Job Service North Dakota's office in Williston, says many employers are looking for skilled labor, applicants with actual experience and certifications.

Just because someone has a welding background does not mean he or she will qualify to weld on an oil company's pipe; the certifications can be very specific.

And it can be more than know-how. A job might require a high level of physical fitness because of the danger involved.

Just about all oil patch jobs require the minimum of a high school diploma or GED. Background checks, and yes, drug tests and clean driving records also figure big in one's prospects.

Job Service North Dakota has a guide, "North Dakota Oilfield Employment" which which contains drilling basics, occupations, how to apply for jobs and other tips.

The Job Service North Dakota team pointed out efforts are being made to help and recruit veterans.

There are waivers to allow those with a military driver's license to skip the road test for a Commercial Drivers License (CDL), therefore making it easier to land a trucking job. Some jobs involve working with explosives, which can be compatible with veterans backgrounds.

Maren Daley, executive director of Job Service North Dakota, says the state's economy is diversified. The oil boom has about one-third of the job openings in the state and it is "...acting sort of like the tip of a pyramid.

There's all of this oil activity and a lot of really good jobs closely tied to oil, but with that the influx of people to those oil areas, it has the impact of creating more jobs in other industries such as transportation, food service, hospitality."

Rolfstad echoes the fact there's a nationwide, even worldwide, ripple effect from the energy boom. "We drilled 2,100 wells last year ... and so we did 8,400 miles of pipe last year. Now if that didn't help Pittsburgh, I don't know what would."

He noted brand-new trucks are on the roads, power lines and construction mean more lumber has to be produced. The oil business means lots of tools on the job.

"I think what's good for us is good for the country and, uh, we have employees from all over. We have investors from all over the country, so we're part of the big symbiotic relationship across the country and we couldn't do it alone without the rest of our country working with us."

So, while all of this is going on in North Dakota, why is Obama so vehemently against the Keystone XL Pipeline which can create an estimated 100,000 new jobs for America?

It's because the Democrat political agenda is not in favor of drilling for oil here in the United States. I really believe Democrats would rather see you out of work, then to help the oil industry and make thousands of jobs!

FOURTH SHOT!

Proof That Jobs Equal More Tax Revenues!

North Dakota Oil Tax Revenue Breaks $100M Mark in March as Industry Booms

Quick, someone should notify Obama and the Democrats!

North Dakota's booming oil industry has yielded record tax revenue for the state, breaking the $100 million mark in March at a time when other states are struggling to stay afloat.

The state in just the last few years has become an oil-producing powerhouse and is looking to overtake California in total production.

Thanks to the activity, the North Dakota tax department reported that tax collections on oil production hit $101 Million in March, marking a 24% increase from the prior month.

And yes, it's a 66% tax increase from last summer.

Much of the recent increase is due to rising crude prices, which have shot up amid concerns over unrest in the Middle East. But North Dakota's oil production is also accelerating rapidly, and state officials expect the windfall to hold steady.

"We've seen a steady, steady month-by-month increase," said Deputy Tax Commissioner Ryan Rauschenberger.

The 350,000 barrels a day produced in March was actually about 2,000 barrels a day lower than in February.

But Rauschenberger attributed the dip to the weather, and said that even if crude prices return to prior levels the state expects to take in $2 billion in oil-related tax revenue over the next two years. If prices stay high, he said that haul could reach $2.4 billion -- money that goes into the schools, back to the counties and to other areas.

Amid a debate on Capitol Hill over whether the U.S. needs to do more to encourage domestic oil production, North Dakota is charging ahead with expansion. The state industry was helped in no small part by efforts over the past several years to tap into a massive oil field known as the Bakken Shale deposit, where virtually all future expansion is happening.

Production is expected to grow "substantially," said Ron Ness, president of the North Dakota Petroleum Council.

With 5,300 wells across the state and thousands more expected to come online, Ness projected that the state could reach up to 700,000 barrels a day by 2015.

North Dakota is the fourth-largest oil producing state in the U.S. behind California, Alaska and Texas, and Ness said California is in their "target zone."

He noted that the revenue has made things easier for state budgeters.

According to the North Dakota tax office, the latest two-year budget included $1 Billion in savings, which is expected to go into trust funds in case of future shortfalls. Imagine that!

Savings are expected to go into trust funds in case of future shortfalls! What a concept!

Anyone out there think the federal government should do the same thing? They are too busy spending any reserves!

Rauschenberger acknowledged North Dakota has been "fortunate," considering the fact that many other states are dealing with sagging revenue and employment in the wake of the recession.

While the U.S. nationally is clocking in with a 9 percent unemployment rate, unemployment in North Dakota was 3.6 percent in March -- the lowest in the country.

The energy industry, along with the agriculture industry and other important North Dakota sectors, helps keep the jobless rate low, which in turn keeps people spending their incomes, which in turn feeds the state treasury along with taxes on oil production.

For calendar year 2010, more than 31% of North Dakota's state tax revenue came from oil taxes.

Imagine that!

FIFTH SHOT!

Republican Proposal Renews Hopes For Keystone XL Pipeline

It was reported yesterday, July 23rd, that a House of Representatives Republican introduced a bill Monday that would jump-start the Keystone XL Pipeline project if it were to be approved.

Yes, the move will likely renew the political debate. And yes, the liberals crazies in the environmentalist movement are already gearing up to kill the Keystone XL.

As I said before, I really believe Democrats would rather see you out of work - then to help the oil industry and make thousands of jobs for Americans!

The Keystone XL Pipeline proposal stands little chance of passing in the Democrat-controlled Senate and Obama is not likely to sign it before November elections. But, believe it or not, the Keystone XL Pipeline project has the backing of Unions. And yes. poll after poll shows overwhelming support Keystone XL Pipeline from Americans across the nation.

President Obama approved a southernmost U.S. leg of the project which leaves thousands of miles between it and the Canadian oil sources.

Obama's gesture was purely political, because it effectively halted progress on the proposed project.

Now Republican Rep. Lee Terry is seeking approval for permitting constructing for the Canada-to-Nebraska stretch, the section that remains under federal review. A review biased against the construction of the pipeline.

Because Obama has only approved the southern U.S. leg, Canada has hinted at finding new customers for their crude because the administration is blocking construction of the Nebraska leg.

The proposed pipeline project is roughly 2,000-miles-long and would create thousands upon thousands of U.S. jobs.

Crude oil from Canada and mineral-rich Western states would be pumped to refineries along the Gulf Coast of Texas when completed.

“All I am saying with my legislation is: Mr. President, please treat the northern portion of the pipeline in the same manner as you treated the southern portion,” said Representative Terry, (R-Neb.), on Capitol Hill. “You praised the construction for the southern route but keep changing the rules for the part that crosses the border."

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and other Republicans argue that building TransCanada Corporation’s pipeline would generate much-needed jobs, including thousands of union jobs, and help the country become less dependent on foreign oil.

It sounds like a win win win situation, but Obama and other Democrats are siding with environmental extremists by purposely delaying the project by asking for additional studies. Studies that Republicans say are already completed.

“The Keystone XL pipeline is an element of the picture that we're focused on to address our energy problems,” said Rep. Gregg Harper, (R-Miss.)

After Obama approved a section of pipeline at the southernmost end of the project, the company submitted another application to avoid Nebraska’s environmentally sensitive Sandhills region.

Then, last month, Mr. Obama’s State Department called for a supplemental study, which likely means a decision will not be reached before the November elections.

This all stinks of liberal politics while Americans are out of work.

SIXTH SHOT!

Hawaii Man Defends Himself Against Raging Bull

In Waimanalo, on the island of Oahu in Hawaii, a local man was forced to defend himself against a raging bull.

On July 17th, a man was injured in Waimanalo after a bull came running through his yard. The bull was being chased by pig-hunting dogs. It was a situation that could have been avoided if the dogs hadn't trespassed.

John Rodrigues was in the house when all of a sudden, "I seen the bull coming and I thought holy crap. It came hopping over through here and came running straight through here, hopped over the bench, smashed it all up and went to the other side smashed all the plants up."

Then the bull ran around the house to where John's uncle Robert was.

"I yelled 'Rob watch out for the bull' and he ran but then he tripped and fell," said Manny Fernandez, victim's neighbor.

"He tried chasing the bull out, the bull charged him and whacked him. His head is gashed really bad," said John Rodrigues, victim's nephew.

Officials say 52 year old Robert Rodrigues was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

"I'm thankful he's still alive," said John Rodrigues.

The dogs were returned to the hunter, but I think the hunter should be in jail!

"Those of you who are pig-hunters, you just need to be aware of your dogs. We all work together, they need to be aware of where their dogs are at and not be around livestock," said Bud Gibson.

The Hawaiian Humane Society is investigating the case.

Meanwhile the owner of a pack of hunting dogs that witnesses say drove the bull into a frenzy is under investigation.

The victim says he's lucky to be alive, though a valuable and never before violent bull had to be put down.

Bulls from the town and country stables have gone wandering out of pasture before, even down to Rob Rodrigues's house down the way.

"The fence will break, they come down here, they come down, I see them coming down I close the gate, keep them off the highway. They come over here, drink water, and then after that you scare 'em one time they take off just like rhinos they go back up the street," he added. "They aren't out to harm nobody."

But Tuesday was a different story as a nearly one ton bull was chased off pasture and into Rodrigues's yard by a pack of hunting dogs that were tearing at its body.

"His legs was all bleeding, his testicles was bleeding, his ‘okole part was bleeding, his nose was all chomped up. He was in pain and he was in fear,” he said.

And soon that fear escalated into a frenzy.

"I yelled and the dogs stopped and just so happened I was in the line of fire,” he said.

The line of fire of a raging bull.

"I fell right here and he started scraping me all over, that's all his horn marks, and he had me down over here and slammed me against that, that's the first one. And after that I tried to get up and I couldn't get up and I seen that opening so I tried to crawl in there and that's where he finished me off right there,” said Rodrigues.

The bull ended up in a back corner of the yard.

"He went in there like he was going to leave, but he turned around and it was like he was going to defend himself right there,” he said.

The bull, a 3 year old weighing 1750 pounds, had a horrible fate.

Besides being attacked by dogs, cut and bloody, the bull had to be put down.

"Unfortunately we had to put the bull down to make sure nothing else happened," said Bud Gibson, the owner of Town and Country Ranch - the owner of the bull.

"Because of the nature of the bulls that we raise, they're bucking bulls and even though we handle 'em and they're gentle and they come around when we call 'em, this bull got separated because there was a pig-hunter in our pasture. And the dogs got in our pasture which they shouldn't have been and got on this bull," said Bud Gibson, the bull's owner.

"The guy was illegal hunting. The bull had marks all bitten around him, ear all messed up. It was pretty bad," said John Rodrigues.

"That's all the bull's blood. The bull's and on the wall from the dogs on him. And he came from behind. You can see all the ti leaves all bus up back there, where the dogs were chasing 'em."

The bull's owner made a tough call and one shot put the bull down.

"My biggest concern is for Robbie, and of course we lost a good bull,” said Bud Gibson of Town & Country Stables.

"Those bulls average around $20,000 a piece, and the good ones can bring up to 40-50,000. That bull had his future ahead of him and so there's no telling what he could have been worth,” said Gibson.

As for Rodrigues he's left with 16 staples to the back of his head, 6 to the front, 4 in his mouth, a separated bone in his shoulder and a hip and back stomped into agony but he says he bears no grudges.

"I have no bad vibes against nobody, the hunter has a reason, the bull had a reason,” said Rodrigues. "All the hunters should have control of their dogs, call them off or whatever.”

"This area in the back is conservation, those dogs shouldn't have been back there, he shouldn't have been back there hunting,” said Gibson. "Most of the time the dogs don't have the problem, you've got the human problem."

The Hawaiian Humane Society says it's investigating possible violations of the dangerous dog law. The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) is investigating a possible illegal hunting violation.

The DLNR says the nearest area authorized for public hunting if licensed would be on the other side of the Koolau Range in the Kuliouou Forest Reserve. 

To me, at the minimum, that hunter should be made to have to pay for that bull!

For the video on this, Loose Bull Killed After Injuring Waimanalo Man

LAST SHOT!

Biological Dad Has No Heart!

This is one of those stories you read and wish you had a lot of money to make a child's dream come true - and dish a nice big helping of crow to her father!

Because of the rules, Make–A-Wish let's a part-time dad block his daughter from having her dream vacation.

This was published July 19th, so yes this is real recent.

Whitney Hughs has been collecting money so her daughter McKenna May could possibly one day - visit Disney World.

May's been denied her Make-a-Wish trip because her biological father doesn't believe the organization's money should be wasted on what he calls "cured kids". That's according to the Sentinel-Tribune. 

Make-A-Wish rules require that two parents sign off on a sponsored trip. Because of that rule, it is possible for an Ohio father to block his 4-year-old daughter from taking a "wished" Disney World vacation.

"What she's been through sucks," William May, the father of cancer-survivor McKenna May, told Fox News. "But I think any money that the organization hands out to children, should go to dying kids. Not cured ones."

The Sentinel-Tribune in Bowling Green reports that McKenna May was diagnosed with leukemia in 2010 and endured 15 spinal taps, skin burns, multiple chemotherapy treatments, and steroid injections. In reality, she will not be ruled "cancer free" until five years after her last treatment.

Susan McConnell, the CEO of Make-A-Wish Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana told The Sentinel-Tribune that the young girl was determined by doctors to be qualified for the trip.

"She's been through a lot," McConnell told the paper. "What I really feel bad about is she is stuck in the middle."

Make-A-Wish, which grants a new “wish” every 38 minutes, has the two-parent signature rule in place to make sure it doesn’t get involved in any kind of custody battle or family issue - that's according to Mark Hiegel who is the national communications director for the organization.

"We leave the medical evaluations to the doctors and legal issues with the courts," he said, noting that he never heard of a case where permission was denied by a parent because a child was too healthy. "Families have so many different structures; we need to have enforceable guidelines."

Heagel said, in certain instances, Make-A-Wish allows a judge to intervene and force a parent's signature.

A judge reportedly told the girl’s mom that he would consider an order for the parental signature, but the mom pulled her request for the trip due to fears the order wouldn’t be effective, The Sentinel-Tribune reported.

"That's regrettable," Hiegel said. "I bet she would have got that approved."

The girl's father said he had a brief relationship with her mother. Now married to another woman, he said her mom was going to use the trip, in part, to go house-hunting in Florida to make his bi-weekly visitations more difficult.

Her dad, however, said doctors gave the girl a 99 percent chance of survival and she’s "got tons of time" to go to Disney World.

"I'm not saying she hasn't been through a lot," he said. "But maybe she should get a swing set or something."

Whitney Hughs, the girl’s mother, said the girl's father is being spiteful because he didn’t like the arraignment for the trip. And she said he was barely there when his daughter was undergoing treatment.

"It's just really tough that she has to be put through all this," Hughs told Fox News. "I remember her telling me how she can’t wait to see Mickey Mouse and Cinderella while she had needles in her chest. She even packed her small suitcase."

McKenna's mother and grandmother say they're collecting donations at local businesses in hopes of getting her to Disney World on their own.

"I just told her we were still going to Disney," Hughs said. "Someday."

This is one of those times when I wish I had a lot of money, because if I did - I'd send the little girl and her mom to Disney World in spite of what dear old dad has to say! The jerk!

Story by Tom Correa 

Republican Senator Ron Johnson says, "This Isn’t An Issue About Guns!"

On July 22, 2012, Fox News reported that Republican Sen. Ron Johnson called Batman massacre mass murderer James Eagan Holmes "sick, demented, evil" - all while at the same time defending our rights to own guns.

He was on "Fox News Sunday" in a debate with Gun-Control advocate Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

Sen. Johnson defended Americans’ rights to own guns following the Colorado massacre and calls for tougher weapons laws, saying the real issues are “sick, demented individuals” and how the country deals with them.

This Is Not An Issue About Guns!

"This isn’t an issue about guns,” said Johnson, (R-Wis.).

"This is really an issue about sick, demented individuals. It's a tragedy, and I don't think there’s a solution in Washington to solve that problem. ... other than look to our families, look to our communities, starting with our education system. We've got to re-instill values in what we're teaching our children. We need to look at families and the education system.”

He also pointedly called the alleged Colorado killer, James Eagan Holmes, "a sick, demented, evil individual."

Johnson faced off on the gun-control issue with California Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein, following the mass murder early Friday in Colorado in which a gunman used an AR-15 rifle with a large magazine to kill 12 people and injure dozens of others in a movie theater in Aurora.

Liberals and Democrats use murderous carnage to advance their political cause to ban guns? Could this be true?

In 1994, a Congress controlled by Democrats approved a 10-year gun-ban on 19 different types of firearms.

Later that year, some Democrats became believers that their support for that specific gun-ban legislation contributed to their loss of the House a few months later.

But even though Democrats loss Congress for the first time in 40 years, it was only 5 years later that Vice President Al Gore cast a tie-breaking Senate vote on legislation to restrict sales at Gun Shows.

Feinstein, (D-Calif.), argued the federal government should put a ban on rapid-fire weapons and large magazines, which can hold as many as 100 rounds.

"Weapons of war don’t belong on the streets," Feinstein said on the show. "We’ve got to sit down and really come to grips on what is sold to average citizens."

"Average citizens"? Is she calling James Eagan Holmes an "average citizen"? I hope not, but if so, it shows how out of touch Dianne Feinstein truly is.

The call for federal lawmakers to tighten gun laws began shortly after the shooting, including one from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has himself registered as an Independent but sides with liberal Democrats.

"Soothing words are nice," he said in a radio interview, "but maybe it's time that the two people who want to be president of the United States stand up and tell us what they are going to do about it, because this is obviously a problem across the country."

"A problem across the nation"? Where does Bloomberg get his information? I can't help but wonder if its from the same people who told him large soft-drinks are the problem with obesity in New York? Probably.

New Jersey Democratic Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg over the weekend urged Congress to swiftly address a ban on certain weapons.

“Let's stop wasting time and start saving lives,” Lautenberg, D-N.J. said on his Twitter account. “Congress must prioritize a ban on high-capacity gun magazines.”

Lautenberg staff is reported to have said, "If reports are correct and a high-capacity gun magazine was used to commit these awful murders, Senator Lautenberg will absolutely renew his effort to limit the availability of this dangerous firearm attachment."

Last year, Lautenberg introduced legislation to ban high-capacity ammunition magazines. He also has authored other gun-related bills including one that would close so-called loopholes on background checks for buyers at gun shows.

But wait, there is one fellow Democrat who does not agree!

Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, who is also a Democrat, suggested tighter regulations would not have prevented Holmes.

"If it wasn't one weapon, it would have been another. I mean, he was diabolical," he said on CNN's "State of the Union."

"If there were no assault weapons available, and no this or no that, this guy is going to find something, right? He's going to know how to create a bomb," said Hickenlooper.

So what's this about?
 
Well, it appears that every time a highly publicized outbreak of gun violence takes place - liberal anti-Gun advocates like Fienstein and Bloomberg and others come out with instant statements calling for more Gun-Control.
 
Whether it was the Columbine school killings, or the Virginia Tech murderous rampage, or the attempted murder of a Congresswoman, it seems as though carnage by deranged individuals is the trigger for anti-Gun people to release the same calls.
 
And yes, to answer a question that I will be asked later, my friends we have a population of over 314 Million people.
 
Out of that, we have one sick individual who would commit a mass murder and kill like Holmes did. It was a homicide of huge proportions, but homicides are not all committed with guns. Fact is that he could have set fire to the theatre, used a bomb, or walked around stabbing people. This low-life is criminally insane.

Friends,no matter what the Liberal News Media tries to tell us, out of us 314 Million citizens, there are only about .0078% of us who are not responsible citizens and commit murders.   

Where did I get that number from? From the fact that out of of over 314 Million people, there were 24 Thousand murders last year in 2011. 
 
Homicides lowest in 50 years!
 
Even though we hear more and more about gun violence in the News, and yes the liberal News Media wants to play up the "shooter" and "gun" aspect of murders across the nation, the truth tells a different story.
 
According to the U.S. government, statistics that came out in January of this year show that the U.S. death rate from homicides dropped to a 50 year low

On January 11th, 2012, The Washington Post reported that life expectancy improved, mortality rates fell for all five leading causes of death, and the homicide rate was as low as it has been in almost 50 years.

"What grabbed us here was the drop in homicide," said Robert N. Anderson, chief of mortality statistics at the National Center for Health Statistics.

Homicide climbed into the top 15 causes of U.S. deaths in 1965. It placed tenth for three years in the early 1990s. In recent years, it has been hovering at 13 or 14. In 2010, it fell to 16.

“We’re really not sure what’s driving this. That’s the million-dollar question,” Anderson said.

The steep drop in homicide in the 1990s — the District’s rate is now less than a third of what it was in 1991 — is usually attributed to crack cocaine’s waning popularity. Experts are less able to explain the decline since 2008, a period that tracks the economic down-turn.

“There’s not enough knowledge out there for us to have an explanation that we can bank on. We’re left with speculation,” said Alfred Blumstein, a criminologist at Heinz College of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

A wide array of theories has been offered about factors that might be contributing to the decline, he said, ranging from better policing to the possibility that a lowered rate of lead poisoning in city children has led to reduced anti-social behavior among young adults.

"I think we can also rule out the ‘business cycle’ as an explanation," said Philip J. Cook, a professor of economics and public policy at Duke University.

Cook, who has analyzed the 13 business cycles since 1933 and found that, "Recessions have little or no effect on the homicide rate. . . . At this point, I think we need to dig into the details of the homicide patterns” to come up with credible reasons for the recent trend," said Cook.

For many good reasons, the American public does not endorse Gun-Control.

Ultra-left Democrat want to enact federal legislation even though homicides have gone down in the last 50 years. And yes, because of that they are seen as out of touch with what's going on in America.

According to a Gallup poll in 1990, 78 percent of those surveyed said laws covering the sale of firearms should be stricter, while 19 percent said they should remain the same or be loosened.

By the fall of 2004 support for tougher laws had dropped to 54 percent. In last year's sounding, 43 percent said they should be stricter, and 55 percent said they should stay the same or be made more lenient.

Yes, the issue of Gun-Control might divide some rural voters from some urban voters - but gun sales in going through the roof mostly in urban areas. That shows that many is urban areas are tired of being the victim of crime.

Many urban folks in cities like Chicago, where Gun-Control is the strictest in the nation has seen a huge jump in the number of murders in that city. In fact, in recent months, Chicago was declared more dangerous than Afghanistan when you look at the number of killings there.

In Washington, D.C., where the murder rate in also high, citizens have had to fight tooth and nail to be granted their Constitutional Rights to own guns.

In the District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008), the landmark case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution protects an individual's right to possess firearms.

It was sad that it had to come down to a Supreme Court decision.

It's a shame there are some out there who are trying to make this into something that it isn't! 

In the current election cycle, the National Rifle Association has made 88 percent of its political donations to Republicans, and 12 percent to Democrats. Yes, the NRA supports some Democrats who have shown themselves as being pro-2nd Amendment and the Bill of Rights.

It is very sad that things like the movie massacre takes place. It's also sad that anti-gun Democrats find it necessary to immediately find a microphone and start calling for restrictions on our 2nd Amendments rights.

And yes, it's a damn shame there are some out there that are trying to make this into something that it isn't! 

Everyone should stand and be counted with Republicans like Sen Ron Johnson who came out and said "This isn’t an issue about guns."

We should all vow to stand against liberal politicians, like Dianne Feinstein, who would use such a senseless act to advance their agenda of banning guns. We have the power and the votes to prevail.

Story by Tom Correa

Batman Massacre: James Eagan Holmes

I couldn't believe hearing about the craziness in Colorado this morning. Sitting there in the comfort of my in-law's home, the news again reassured me that the criminally insane are never going away.

This time the target was a movie theatre in Aurora.

A gunman burst into the emergency exit door of a theater and shot 71 people, killing 12, at a midnight premiere of the new Batman movie Friday, creating a chaotic, smoke-filled scene that had bloody moviegoers dragging each other outside.

While some witnesses said the gunman entered through a side-door emergency exit at the front of the theater, a federal law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Associated Press that the gunman bought a ticket and went into the theater as part of the crowd.

The official said James Eagan Holmes, 24, then apparently propped open an exit door in the theater as the movie was playing, donned the protective ballistic gear and began one of the worst mass shootings in the nation's history.

"It was like something out of a movie," said Jacob King, who was standing in the lobby when someone carried out the still body of a young girl, covered in blood. "You don't want to believe it's real, but it is."

The moviegoer handed the child's body to a police officer, who put her in the back of his squad car and sped away.

Holmes stormed into the theater with three guns - an AR-15 assault rifle, a shotgun and a Glock handgun - and two gas canisters that clouded the room and stung people's eyes and throats. Witnesses said he was wearing a gas mask and a flak jacket.

In New York City, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said: "It clearly looks like a deranged individual. He has his hair painted red. He said he was the Joker, obviously the enemy of Batman." Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates would not confirm that information, but confirmed he had spoken to Kelly. The two used to work together in New York.

Holmes was arrested by police in the parking lot outside the theater and is custody. His car, a Hyundai, was parked outside the back door, Oates said at a press conference. Police found his north Aurora apartment booby-trapped, the same song playing on repeat on his stereo. The apartment complex has been evacuated.

ABC News, Brian Ross apologizes for his Tea Party screw up!

During his report of the incident, Brian Ross immediately rushed to judgement by reporting that James Holmes was tied to Tea Party

ABC News and correspondent Brian Ross apologized Friday after Ross suggested on air that the Colorado mass shooting suspect could be tied to the Tea Party.

As the name of the suspect, identified as 24-year-old James Holmes, first emerged Friday morning, Ross reported on ABC News that he'd found a web page for a "Jim Holmes" on a Colorado Tea Party site.

"There is a Jim Holmes of Aurora, Colorado, page on the Colorado Tea Party site as well, talking about him joining the Tea Party last year," Ross reported.

He added: "Now we don't know if this is the same Jim Holmes, but it's Jim Holmes of Aurora, Colo."

That man is not the same Jim Holmes. The Colorado Tea Party Patriots, whose website Ross was looking at, put out a statement criticizing Ross for even floating the possibility - noting the Jim Holmes with the Tea Party group is 52 years old and not the same person.

"The attempts of some media organizations to characterize the shooter as a Tea Party member without having made any effort to contact our organization are shameless and reprehensible," the group said in a statement.

Ross clarified on air Friday, as ABC News issued a formal apology.

"An earlier ABC News broadcast report suggested that a Jim Holmes of a Colorado Tea Party organization might be the suspect, but that report was incorrect. ABC News and Brian Ross apologize for the mistake, and for disseminating that information before it was properly vetted," the statement said.

On air later in the morning, Ross also said, "An earlier report that I had was incorrect that he was connected with the Tea Party. In fact, that's a different Jim Holmes. He was not connected to the Tea Party and what we do know about him is he is a 24-year-old white male who went to Colorado for a Ph.D."

So far 12 people were killed in the shooting at that Aurora movie theater, and, sorry to say, over 50 were injured.

Holmes was arrested by police in the parking lot outside the theater and is custody. His car, a Hyundai, was parked outside the back door, Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates said at a press conference.

Police found his north Aurora apartment booby-trapped, the same song playing on repeat on his stereo. The apartment complex has been evacuated.

The Massacre!

The massacre occurred in a suburb of Denver, about 18 miles from Littleton, scene of the 1999 Columbine mass shooting where 15 people died, including the two gunmen.

Corbin Dates and Jennifer Seeger were sitting in the second row of the theater when Dates saw someone in the front row answer a phone call during the opening credits and walk to the emergency door in the front of the theater.

Less than an hour later a man, dressed in black and wearing a gas mask and what looked like body armor, entered through the same emergency exit. He lobbed two canisters and almost instantly the theater filled with smoke.

Dates and Seeger, like others in the theater, thought the man and the smoke were all part of the show, they said. Right as their eyes began to tear up from the smoke, the man fired a shot at the ceiling.

The gunman moved through the crowd and stopped in front of Seeger.

He pointed a long rifle at her face and said nothing, then he shot at the person sitting behind her, Seeger said.

"I have no idea why he didn't shoot me," Seeger said.

The two dove to the ground. They could feel hot shell casings hitting their legs as the tried to crawl through the dark theater now filled with smoke. Seeger's forehead has a burned from one of the casings.

Her friends urged each other and the people around them to stay quiet, desperate not to draw the attention of the gunman who was working his way up the aisle.

As she huddled on the ground, Seeger could see bodies of women and children lying around her.

Seeger, who has some EMT training, tried to help a man bleeding next to her. She worked to find a pulse, but was forced to leave him behind as they tried to flee the theater.

People tried to exit through the main entrance of the theater, Seeger said. By then the gunman had worked his way to the back of the theater, shooting at people as they tried to run.

Seeger estimates she was trapped in the theater for 10 to 15 minutes. When she finally reached the lobby, she saw a police officer cocking a shot gun. Once outside, Seeger called her father.

"My dad is not a sentimental guy, but he was crying on the phone," Seeger said.

James Wilburn was also sitting in the second row of the theater when the emergency door opened.

"He was dressed in black," Wilburn said. "Wearing a flack jacket and a gas mask."

The man dropped a canister to the floor that began spewing gas before he fired several rounds toward the back of the theater.

Naya Thompson, 21, said the gas spread quickly through the theater and thinks that the gunman may have dropped two canisters.

"It was like tear gas," Thompson said. "I was coughing and choking and I couldn't breathe."

Benjamin Fernandez, 30, said he was watching the movie when he heard a series of explosions. He said that people ran from the theater and there were gunshots as police shouted "get down!"

Frenandez said he saw people falling, including one young girl.

Brittany Romero was in Theater 10 for the 12:15 a.m. showing. When the fire alarm sounded, people began throwing their popcorn and drinks in the air, assuming it was a practical joke, Romero said.

Salina Jordan, 19, was in Theater 8 and saw people fall after they were shot. She said one girl was struck in cheek, others were wounded in the stomach including a girl who looked to be around 9-years-old.

Jordan said it sounded like firecrackers until someone ran into Theater 8 yelling "they're shooting out here!"

The police came running in, telling people to run out. Some police were carrying or dragging bodies, she said.

Meghan Walton, 20, of Boulder said she was sitting beside her friend Gage Hankins, 18 of Ohio, in Theater 8 when he was shot in the arm before he was rushed out of the theater.

"I saw a whole lot of smoke in the isle," Walton said. "I saw about three of four bullets shot near the smoke."

Walton was with 10 members of the group Friends: Association of Young People who Stutter.

"I ran outside and was holding his arm that was hot," Walton said. "My eyes were blurred by the smoke. It was like chaos. People were crying hysterically."

She counted 12 people who were bleeding. Ambulances started arriving but there were not enough to put everyone in them.

"The worst was a man who was shot in the head. He had his hand on his head," Walton said. "They started doubling up, putting two people in the same ambulance. One girl who wasn't injured as badly was placed in a police car and rushed away."

Police set up a command post near the Dillards department store and were interviewing hundreds of possible witnesses. Many were taken by bus to Gateway High School for questioning.

Robert Jones, 28, was in Theater 9 when the shooting started.

Jones said when he first saw smoke billowing from the front of the theater, he thought it was a special effect. Shots rang out almost immediately after.

"I thought it was pretty much the end of the world," Roberts said.

Roberts stayed flat on the ground until police came into the theater.

Tammi Stevens said her son, 18-year-old Jacob Stevens, was inside Theater 9 when the shooting started. Stevens was waiting for her son at Gateway High School while police interviewed him.

Jacob told his mom that he saw a guy walk into the theater wearing body armor and throw some sort of canister that then emitted some sort of gas.

"You let your kids go to a late night movie...you never think something like this would happen," Stevens said.

Oates said the first police officers were at the theater within between 60 and 90 seconds. Eventually 200 officers and deputies responded. Police from all over the metro area were called to the scene.

Ten people died in the theater and two others died at hospitals. Many of the injured were critically injured. At least one person in an adjoining theater was hit.

One of those killed was Jessica Ghawi, a sports blogger also known as Jessica Redfield. She recently wrote of surviving a Toronto shooting. The Department of Defense says two Air Force airmen and a Navy sailor were wounded in the shooting, while another sailor who was at the theater can't be located.

One of the victims died at Children's Hospital in Aurora but officials there would not say whether it was a child or an adult. The other five patients survived, including one who is in critical condition with buckshot injuries to the back.

Two of the victims at Children's were hit with a high-velocity rifle, perhaps from 60 to 80 feet away, said emergency room physician Dr. Guy Upshaw.

Oates said police received hundreds of 911 calls about the shooting beginning at 12:39 a.m. and arrived minutes later at the theater complex.

Police say the suspect "appeared" at the front of one of the theaters showing "The Dark Knight Rises."

Witnesses told The Post that he entered through an emergency exit at the right front of the Theater 9 less than 10 minutes into the film.

The suspect then threw some type of explosive and started shooting into the packed theater. Police have no evidence that there are any additional suspects involved in the shooting.

The bodies of the 10 people who died at the theater remain at the scene while police continued to investigate.

Josh Kelly, 28, was watching the movie with his girlfriend of about four years. He lost her in the chaos.

Josh called his father, Robert Kelly, from the theater and said: "I can't find my girl." In the mayhem, the darkness and the smoke, and people trampling, he "just lost track and he couldn't see," the elder Kelly said. "My son is freaked out."

Robert Kelly rushed to the theater after his son's call, and found him outside covered in blood. His girlfriend was among the fatalities. Now he is home and sedated, under a nurse's care.

Outside the back exit of the theater, FBI agents have placed yellow tape and numbered evidence markets on objects in the parking lot, including a gas mask. A bloody jacket and spilled popcorn were on the pavement.

Authorities also searched a white car parked behind the movie theater, removing what appeared to be a combat helmet, a duffle bag, an ammunition clip and a vest.

After his arrest, the suspect made a statement about possible explosives in his residence.

Police have blocked off a three-block area around an apartment complex in north Aurora. Residents in the area said they were evacuated around 2 a.m. while police searched the third floor of the apartment building.

The police chief choked up when he said officers arrived on the scene a minute after the first 911 call, and that 200 officers eventually showed up, many of them personally driving victims to the hospital.

Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper also became emotional while discussing the mass shooting at the Friday afternoon press conference.

"There's not one of us who doesn't read or hear this story ... and think about it being your child in that movie theater," Hickenlooper said. "That reality makes the pain and grief too intense for words."

Hickenlooper called the killer an "aberration of nature."

Hickenlooper released a statement Friday morning saying, "It is beyond the power of words to fully express our sorrow this morning. We appreciate the swift work by local, state and federal law enforcement. Coloradans have a remarkable ability to support one another in times of crisis. This is one of those times."

"It is an absolute horror," Aurora Mayor Steve Hogan said, thanking the first responders who tended to the victims. "We will always wish that no matter how much we did now that we had done more."

The FBI is assisting in the investigation. Officers and deputies responded from almost every local police and sheriff's department in the metro area.

The FBI said that there is no indication that the shooting has any connection to terrorism.

Victims were transported to at least six hospitals. Several of them were rushed to hospitals in police cars. Ages of people injured and killed in the shooting vary.

One child and five adults were taken to Children's Hospital Colorado. The adults ranged in age from 18 to 31 years old. One of the six patients died and the other five are currently listed in conditions from good to critical.

Information on which of the patients died was not released.

Shortly after midnight, patients started arriving at the Medical Center of Aurora. A total of 15 patients - ranging from 16 to 31 years old - were sent to the medical center, 12 of them with gunshot wounds.

Eight of the patients have been discharged, five victims remain in critical condition and two patients are being prepared for surgery.

All of the patients came in with wounds to their torsos, necks or necks. Doctors said the wounds were caused by a high caliber weapon and or what appears to be shrapnel.

Swedish Medical Center spokeswoman Nicole Williams says two people injured at the theater have arrived at the hospital in critical condition.

She says emergency workers said there could be several more patients.

Denver Health Medical Center treated six victims from the shooting. All were treated for gunshot wounds and abrasions. Three victims have since been released, the other three remain in fair condition, hospital officials said.

A total of 23 victims were taken to the University of Colorado Hospital.

Details are still emerging about the suspect, who is right now in custody. Prepare yourself because in the next few days to weeks, we will find out everything about James Eagan Holmes.

We'll hear about his life before the shooting, the days of his youth, his parents, his family, his neighborhood. We will hear about his grades, if he dated, if he was straight or gay, if he was a Democrat or Republican, if he ever participated in violent protests, or if he was really a quiet guy who kept to himself.

In the next short while, the News Media is going to dissect him. They will tell us a lot of information that may or may not be important to us depending on our level of curiosity. We will hear folks tell us if he was a loner, a sociopath, deranged, slipped under the wire, and of course what they think "may have" made him do this.

We'll find out about his guns, where he bought them, where he got his magazines and ammunition from, we may even find out where he got the tear gas from, or if any of the guns he bought were legal or not? We may even hear people call for regulations to ban the type of guns he used - it wouldn't surprise me if someone is writing it up right now.

What we already know!

Authorities say Holmes arrived at the theatre dressed in black, outfitted in a gas mask, ballistic helmet, vest and leggings, black tactical gloves and protectors on his throat and groin. He was armed with an assault-style rifle, a shotgun and Glock handgun.

Police said he started his attack by tossing at least gas canisters into the theatre, where he had bought a ticket for the midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises," the new Batman movie.

A federal law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing probe into the rampage, said Holmes bought four guns from retailers in the last two months.

Holmes bought his first Glock pistol in Aurora, Colorado, on May 22nd. Then six days later, he picked up a Remington shotgun in Denver. After that about two weeks later, he bought a .223 calibre Smith & Wesson rifle in Thornton, Colorado, and then a second Glock in Denver on July 6 - 13th just days before the shooting, the official said.

A high-volume drum magazine was attached to the rifle, an assault weapon, the official said. Police Chief Dan Oates said that a 100-round drum magazine for the rifle was recovered from the scene.

"I'm told by experts that with that drum magazine, he could have gotten off 50 to 60 rounds, even if it was semiautomatic, within one minute," Oates said at a news conference. "And as far as we know, it was a pretty rapid pace of fire in that theatre."

Of this new information, this information about his gun purchases just don't sound right.

The new Glock pistols, the shotgun, and the rifle all cost a great deal of money, but Holmes is said to have been struggled to find work after graduating with highest honours with a neuroscience degree from the University of California, Riverside. This was said by a neighbour, and retired electrical engineer, Tom Mai.

Holmes is not talking to police and has asked for a lawyer, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the case. Police found jars of chemicals in Holmes' booby-trapped apartment with wires nearby, the law enforcement official said.

When he surrendered meekly in the movie house parking lot, Holmes told authorities what he'd done at his residence in the Denver suburb of Aurora, the third most populous city in Colorado.

James Eagan Holmes came from a well-tended San Diego enclave of two-story homes with red-tiled roofs, where neighbours recall him as a clean-cut, studious young man of sparing words.

Tall and dark-haired, he stared clear-eyed at the camera in a 2004 high school yearbook snapshot, wearing a white junior varsity soccer uniform - No. 16. The son of a nurse, Arlene, and a software company manager, Robert, James Holmes was a brilliant science scholar in college.

The biggest mystery surrounding the 24-year-old doctoral student was why he would have pulled on a gas mask and shot dozens of people early on Friday in a suburban Denver movie theatre, as police allege.

In the age of widespread social media, no trace of Holmes could be found on Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Twitter or anywhere on the Web. Either he never engaged or he scrubbed his trail.

Holmes went to high school in the San Diego area where Holmes grew up. A longtime neighbour in San Diego remembers him as only a "shy guy ... a loner" from a church-going family. In addition to playing soccer at Westview High School, he ran cross country.

The bookish demeanor concealed an unspooling life.
Holmes had a degree in neuroscience from the University of California-Riverside, and he enrolled as a graduate student in the same field at the University of Colorado, according to spokeswomen for both universities.

The University of Colorado confirmed that Holmes was in the process of withdrawing from the university's graduate program in neuroscience. Holmes enrolled at the university in June 2011. He withdrew from the university last month for unknown reasons.

Holmes enrolled last year in a neuroscience Ph.D. program at the University of Colorado-Denver but was in the process of withdrawing, said school officials, who didn't provide a reason. The school later said in a statement that he left the program in June 2012.

As part of the advanced program in Denver, James Holmes had been listed as making a presentation in May about Micro DNA Biomarkers in a class named "Biological Basis of Psychiatric and Neurological Disorders."

In academic achievement, "he was at the top of the top," recalled Riverside Chancellor Timothy P. White.

Holmes concentrated his study on "how we all behave," White added. "It's ironic and sad."

Julie Adams, whose son played junior varsity soccer with Holmes, said her son remembered little about the suspect, which was unusual for the tight-knit team.

"I don't think many of the kids (teammates) knew him. He was kind of a loner," she said.

Jackie Mitchell, a furniture mover who lives several blocks from the killer's apartment building in Colorado, said he had drinks with Holmes at a bar on Tuesday night, though he showed no sign of distress or violence.

After Holmes approached him, "we just talked about football. He had a backpack and geeky glasses and seemed like a real intelligent guy, and I figured he was one of the college students," Mitchell said.

When Mitchell saw Holmes' photo after the shooting, "the hair stood up on my back," he said. "I know this guy."

From a distance, Holmes' life appears unblemished, a young man with unlimited potential. There are no indications he had problems with police.

Somehow, the acclaimed student and quiet neighbour reached a point where he painted his hair red, called himself "The Joker," the green-haired villain from the Batman movies, according to New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, who said he had been briefed on the matter.

"Our hearts go out to those who were involved in this tragedy and to the families and friends of those involved," Holmes' family said in a statement Friday. "We ask that the media respect our privacy during this difficult time."

San Diego Superior Court spokeswoman Karen Dalton said there were no records found under his name, not even for a traffic ticket. Riverside County prosecutors also have no criminal record for him, said John Hall, a spokesman for the district attorney's office.

On Friday morning, police escorted the suspect's father from the family's San Diego home. The mother stayed inside, receiving visitors who came to offer support.

San Diego police spokeswoman Lt. Andra Brown spoke to reporters in the driveway of the Holmes' home, on behalf of the family.

"As you can understand, the Holmes family is very upset about all of this," she said. "It's a tragic event and it's taken everyone by surprise."

The Batman movie killer tells police he's "The Joker."

Law enforcement sources confirmed to ABC News that Holmes said "I am the Joker" when apprehended by authorities. His hair was painted red, the same hair color of Heath Ledger's Joker at one point in 2008's "The Dark Knight."

While supposedly the "Dark Knight Rises" director Christopher Nolan says the shooting's devastating, I can't help but wonder if Hollywood wants to accept their part of the blame for things like this.

Violence like the massacre that happened is an all too common staple of action films, including Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy. A similar, now haunting, scene unfurls in "The Dark Knight Rises" when a masked villain leads a violent gang into a packed football stadium and deploys guns and explosives on the unsuspecting crowd.

Granted, there are no signs that the Batman trilogy is the motive behind the insanity of James Eagan Holmes' acts - but, some are pointing fingers at parallels between the comics, the movie trilogy, and the massacre.

In Frank Miller's iconic 1986 comic book series, "The Dark Knight Returns," the Joker murders a television studio audience by deploying "smile gas."

Holmes began his massacre by setting off smoke bombs throughout the theater.

My personal opinion is that the massacre was committed by someone who had spent too much time watching what Hollywood calls entertainment - but in reality is just extreme violence.

From older extremely violent movies like Taxi Driver, to more modern movies like No Country for Old Men, to "critically acclaimed" television series like Sons of Anarchy and Breaking Bad, young Americans are being exposed to a level of savagery never encountered before.

And yes, if you don't think it has something to do with behavioural problems - think again. Fact is, study after study proves without a doubt that violence begets violence. Whether it's glorified killers, drug dealers,  or sadistic criminals, the norm is sickening!

But then again, if he really thinks he is "The Joker," should we really care? I don't think we should. This is one of those crimes committed by the delusional, the deranged, the cowardly. But it was also planed, premeditated, and consciously carried out - by him!

James Eagan Holmes may have become jaded by the gore he witnessed on film. Films may have actually instructed him how to use the guns that he bought - after all, it's obvious he learned to use them somewhere!

Ultra-violent movies and television programs may have taught him to kill, maybe even given him the very idea to do what he did - but that still doesn't excuse his actions.

And because of his actions, Hell has a special place for people like this him. And yes, it's waiting for him!

Story by Tom Correa

RANDOM SHOTS - The Role Of Government, 71 year-old Cafe Patron Shoots Robbers, Dem Congresswoman Says Unemployment Number Too Low, Obama Birth Cert Fraud, and More!

FIRST SHOT!

Let's See If Obama's As Quick To Help As He Is To Regulate!

The Role Of The Government

There are defining moments in a person's life, in a position they hold, in a responsibilty they have. This is one of those times. America's agriculture is in trouble because of this year's drought.

The role of government is to watch out for its citizens, this is one of those times when the government needs to step up and fulfill its responsibilities.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary is now asking Congress to aid Farmers And Livestock Producers during this record drought.

Rain is sorely needed across America, But since no one has a thing to do with making it rain where it's needed, the next best thing is help in the way of government services.

The American Farmer and Rancher, like everyone else in America, pays huge taxes so that services will be there when needed. Yes, that's the role of government - to support its citizens!

American agriculture hurt by the summer drought is a problem that hurts all Americans.

One can only hope that between all of the many campaign dinners, that Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has indeed enlightened President Obama of the magnitude of the problem.

One can only hope that the president can find time to work on America's problems. At least as much time as he allocates to fly all over the country raising money for himself.

It appears that if the choice has to be made between doing his job as president and lining his pocket with cash from wealthy liberal donors - to Obama, the cash wins!

It seems with Obama primarily in the role of "Campaigner In Chief," the responsibility to get something done for those struggling is all on Congress.

"I get on my knees every day, and I'm saying an extra prayer now," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said at a White House briefing. "If I had a rain prayer or a rain dance I could do, I would do it. But honestly, right now the focus needs to be on working with Congress."

During the afternoon briefing at the White House, Vilsack called on Congress to act quickly to help farmers.

Congress could vote to extend expiring disaster programs, he said, and step up aid by passing food, farm and jobs measures. And yes, since the President is unavailable to lead - it may be up to Congress to take the helm and do what needs to get done.

Of course, putting the focus on Congress fits into the Obama administration's favorite political strategy of making the lawmakers out to be a "do-nothing Congress." It would work if it weren't for the President being on the raod so much raising money for himself - and yes, people see that!

Vilsack is no stranger to political contests. He's the former Democratic governor of Iowa, and his wife, Christie, is the Democratic candidate for Congress in a hotly contested seat in central Iowa.

For the Obama administration to play politics with relief for those hardest hit by this year's drought is an all time low for the administration.

One would think that Obama can hold off one less campaign dinner - he's been to 100 as of last night - to find the time to help the American people.

Maybe someone should teach Obama that the role of government is to support and watch out for its citizens - not regulate them. This concept might be new to him!

Let's see if he's as quick to help as he is to regulate!

SECOND SHOT!

Florida Customer Shoots Two Armed Criminals During Internet Cafe Robbery

If you've wondered why put in for a Concealed Carry Permit? Well, check this out!

Yesterday, the police in central Florida said that two black teenagers were trying to rob an Internet cafe when a 71 year-old cafe patron took the initiative and shot the two armed robbers with his own gun.

Surveillance video shows two masked men entering the Palms Internet Cafe around 10pm on Friday. The Ocala Star-Banner reports that one pointed a gun at customers while the other swung a baseball bat.

The video shows patron Samuel Williams sitting when they entered but slowly stood before drawing his own legal handgun and shooting the assailants. He continues firing while the suspects fall over each other as they run out the door.

Here's the video:

Both 19 year-olds, Duwayne Henderson and Davis Dawkins, were later arrested and face attempted armed robbery with a firearm and criminal mischief charges. They were transported to Shands at the University of Florida in Gainesville.

Dawkins had a superficial wound in his left arm, but Henderson was shot in two places. Believe it or not, Henderson was shot in his hip and twice in his left butt-cheek of his ass! Now that's what I call "Justice!"

Both Duwayne Henderson and Davis Dawkins posted bail and were released.

Mr Williams has a concealed weapons permit. Bill Gladson of the Marion County State Attorney's Office says the shooting appears justified.

THIRD SHOT!

Democrat Congresswoman says Unemployment worse than 8.2 percent

Participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or Food Stamps, continues to increase despite reported decreases in Unemployment. Huh, how's that work?

Well, it's possible if the Unemployment numbers are wrong!

And yes, there is at least one Democrat who isn't afraid to say something is wrong here!

According to Connecticut Democratic Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the reason behind the swelling food stamp rolls is that unemployment is worse than the 8.2 percent reported earlier this month by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

During a Thursday CSPAN interview, when presented with a Bloomberg Government graph showing millions more people on food stamps even as unemployment decreased from Oct. 2009-Dec. 2011, DeLauro said, "Let’s just say this, when we talk about the unemployment numbers, unemployment is 8.2 percent.

That’s not including the people who have stopped looking for jobs. So, we’re looking at - probably - it’s a higher number given that the number of people who have stopped looking for a job can’t find a job, people who have been unemployed for a year or two years, who are unable to find jobs."

She is pointing to what most Americans already know. The 8.2 number out of Washington is not correct - especially when you consider how many people have given up on trying to find full time work and now work "under the table" because their benefits have run out.

FOURTH SHOT!

Obama USDA has "Aggressive" Campaign to Grow Food Stamp Enrollment.

This goes along with the previous story where Democrat Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro argued that the 45 million people - or one-in-seven - Americans currently on Food Stamps need the government assistance due to the poor economy.

So why such a drastic difference in numbers? Well, prior to the present recession one-in-11 Americans were on food stamps. In the 1970s, one-in-50 were enrolled.

Many now say the huge number of recipients is due to a government policy that has come into effect since Nancy Pelosi's Congress lowered the standards to enter the Food Stamp program.

The new laws actually encourages more people to get on the program.

The Congressional Budget Office has projected that even after the recovery, one-in-nine Americans will still be enrolled to get Food Stamps.

Since 2008, Government spending on Food Stamps has increased 100 percent.

The pending House version of the 2012 farm bill reauthorization proposes $16 billion in cuts to the program.

The Senate version, passed last month, rejected attempts at vast reform, but cut $4 billion from the program over the next decade — pittance compared to $770 Billion the government is the expected to spend on Food Stamps in the next 10 years.

Democrats say that the increase in Food Stamp spending and participation is due to need. Many say it's because the Obama White House encourages people to become "the needy" even if they don't feel they need the help.

Case and point: The USDA under Obama's leadership was forced to end questionable food stamp ads - after criticism came in regarding their motives.

On July 13th, the Department of Agriculture moved to "cease future production" of advertisements that encouraged people to go on food stamps - following criticism over what was described as an "aggressive" campaign to grow enrollment.

The Department of Agriculture came under fire for a 10-part series of Spanish-language "novelas" that celebrated and literally encouraged people to reap the benefits of the food stamp program.

After those ads finally became public, they drew scrutiny. The USDA did remove them from its website.

Kevin Concannon, USDA undersecretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services, explained that the department will now move away from such ad campaigns to encourage enrollment.

"The American people support helping those in need, but they want to know their tax dollars are being spent wisely. Many of the PSAs and ads on the agency's website were posted nearly 4 years ago and some of the content in these advertisements does not meet the standards of what I consider to be appropriate outreach," he said in a statement to Fox News.

"To that end, I have instructed the agency to remove these materials from our website and to cease future production of advertisements. These funds could be better invested in improving our oversight of this critically important program and that is exactly what I intend to do moving forward."

The Spanish-language radio ads composed a 10-part miniseries called "Hope Park."

In it, the characters were shown persistently trying to convince a character named "Diana" to go on food stamps - known these days as SNAP, or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program - even though her husband works and she doesn't think she needs it.

"I don't need help from anyone," Diana says in Episode 4. "My husband makes enough to take care of us."

But her friends are persistent, and by Episode 10, Diana is enrolled and singing the program's praises.

The ads drew criticism at a time when one-in-seven are already enrolled.

The food stamp rolls have swelled since the recession, growing to more than 46 million people in the program - at a cost of $80 Billion a year.

Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, slammed the USDA ad campaign as a push to enroll individuals who don't feel they need it.

"It has become increasingly clear that, in recent years, the mission of the food stamp program has been converted from targeted assistance for those in need into an aggressive drive to expand enrollment regardless of need," he said in a statement.

"Food stamp spending has quadrupled since 2001, yet USDA complains that too many eligible people continue to resist enrollment. Read as a whole, USDA's activities suggest that the program administrators take personal offense when people who technically qualify for their largess decline to accept - and see it as an obstacle to overcome."

Sen. Sessions noted the radio ads are part of an effort to enroll immigrants and non-citizens, who are eligible provided they meet certain requirements.

The USDA notes that illegal immigrants cannot apply, however:

"Non-citizens who are unlawfully present, are not, nor have they ever been, eligible to receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. States must verify the immigration status of individuals who apply for benefits. Individuals applying for SNAP are required to provide documentation of their immigration status as a condition of eligibility," the USDA said in a statement.

As for the ad campaign itself, a USDA Food and Nutrition Service spokesman said earlier -- before the campaign was canned -- that it was targeted toward "communities most at risk for hunger."

"Congress allocates funds to USDA with the mandate to conduct public education about the benefits of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and how to apply to help reduce hunger in America," the spokesman said. "Partner organizations use the public service announcements and other tools to connect eligible households with the information they need to make an informed decision about SNAP participation."

The radio ads were among a series of USDA-paid ads produced to promote food stamp enrollment. It was money that could have gone to better places!

FIFTH SHOT!

Two Seattle Men Stopped At Border For Having Illegal Chocolate Eggs

Two Seattle men say they spent more than two hours in a detention center at the Canadian border after U.S. border agents discovered illegal chocolate eggs in their car.

Brandon Loo and Christopher Sweeney told KOMO-TV they decided to bring home some treats for friends and family during a recent trip to Vancouver, British Columbia. They bought Kinder Eggs -- chocolate eggs with a toy inside.

The two men say border guards searched their car and said the eggs are illegal in the United States because young children could choke on the small plastic toys. Importing them can lead to a potentially hefty fine.

Sweeney says the bust was a waste of his time and the agents' time. The men eventually got off with a warning.

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman declined to comment about the case Tuesday night.

The agency warned on its website around Easter that the treats can't be imported legally.

The agency says it seized more than 60,000 Kinder Eggs from travelers' baggage and international mail shipments in fiscal 2011.

In the mean time while agents were busy guarding the country against chocolate eggs with toys, no one knows what sorts of real crime transpired!

SIXTH SHOT!

Sheriff Joe Arpaio says Obama Birth Record "Definitely Fraudulent!"

Investigators for Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio have declared that President Barack Obama's birth certificate is definitely fraudulent.

Members of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's posse said in March that there was probable cause that Obama's long-form birth certificate released by the White House in April 2011 was a computer-generated forgery.

Now, Arpaio says investigators are positive it's fraudulent.

Mike Zullo, the posse's chief investigator, said numeric codes on certain parts of the birth certificate indicate that those parts weren't filled out, yet those sections asking for the race of Obama's father and his field of work or study were completed.

Zullo said investigators previously didn't know the meaning of codes but that the codes were explained by a 95-year-old former state worker who signed the president's birth certificate.

Zullo said a news reporter who has helped out in the probe let investigators listen in on an interview he concluded of the former state worker.

The Obama campaign declined to comment on Arpaio's allegations.

But though Obama does not want to comment, the problem is not going away. For a while it seemed to die off, then a video surfaced with Obama telling a group of students that he wasn't born in the U.S. and in fact was born overseas.

That, and Obama's reluctance to produce a birth certificate fueled the flames of suspicion. So-called "birthers" maintain Obama is ineligible to be president because, as they contend, he was born in Kenya.

Hawaii officials have only recently confirmed Obama's citizenship. Obama released a copy of his "long-form" birth certificate in an attempt to quell citizenship questions, but that certificate came under immediate suspicion when irregularities were discovered in the document.

This lead to investigators looking into the questionable documentation. Now, according to trained and experienced investigators, their finding prove it is a fake.

So where does this go from here, well that's any one's guess!

LAST SHOT!

Kazakhstan to boost Olympic hopes with imported horse-meat sausages?

That's right, horse-meat sausages!

This was reported on July 14th, and I figured all of you other horse people may want to know about this. 

The Kazakh Olympic team is said to be attempting to import horse-meat sausages into Great Britain to give their athletes' a boost and increase their chances of success at London 2012.

But, there might be hope for the horses because there is a problem with getting the horse-meat into the UK. At the time of reporting, it is unclear whether the sausages will make it into the country - due to strict import controls on meat.

The BBC reports that the Central Asian country is arguing that horse-meat is an indispensable part of the traditional Kazahk diet and that it really does help their athletes' performance.

The Kazahk team is made up primarily of boxers, wrestlers and weightlifters, all sports for which competitors require a protein-rich diet. And yes, it seems that horse-meat is the only kind of protein that will do!

Kazahk sports official Elsiyar Kanagatov said that the country's athletes could achieve "outstanding results" if properly fed. He added that the team intended to bring both horse-meat and caviar. But of course!

Kazakhstan are fielding 114 athletes at London 2012 in two weeks' time.

The oil-rich country is promising large cash rewards for any athletes that brings home medals, reportedly offering $200,000 (£129,000) for a gold, $150,000 (£96,000) for silver and $75,000 (£48,000) for bronze.

No word on whether or not they've gotten their horse-meat, but I've been told that the London mounted police is keeping a sharp eye on their own horses just in case those Kazahks can't find protein from any other source.

Story by Tom Correa