States are now pushing for media literacy programs in public schools to battle the proliferation of "fake news."

Courtesy of the AP: 

Alarmed by the proliferation of false content online, state lawmakers around the country are pushing schools to put more emphasis on teaching students how to tell fact from fiction. 

Lawmakers in several states have introduced or passed bills calling on public school systems to do more to teach media literacy skills that they say are critical to democracy. The effort has been bipartisan but has received little attention despite successful legislation in Washington state, Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Mexico. 

Several more states are expected to consider such bills in the coming year, including Arizona, New York and Hawaii. 

"I don't think it's a partisan issue to appreciate the importance of good information and the teaching of tools for navigating the information environment," said Hans Zeiger, a Republican state senator in Washington who co-sponsored a bill that passed in his state earlier this year. "There is such a thing as an objective source versus other kinds of sources, and that's an appropriate thing for schools to be teaching."

I am totally behind this effort, and see it as a complete necessity moving forward.

I think on the first day of class, lesson one should be do not listen to a damn thing this guy says.

Remember the New Mexico school shooter? Yeah, well he was a Trump supporting white supremacist.

William Edward Atchison

Courtesy of the Daily Beast:  

In real life, William Edward Atchison—people called him Bill—lived in a little yellow house with his parents, about a mile away from the Giant gas station where he worked and from Aztec High School, where he shot and killed two students and then himself last Thursday. 

At the murder scene, police found a thumb drive with a note that read, “If things go according to plan, today would be when I die. I go somewhere and gear up, then hold a class hostage and go apeshit, then blow my brains out.” 

He wrote “work sucks, school sucks, life sucks. I just want out of this shit.”

And yet online, the 21-year-old New Mexico resident lived a prolific life as a white supremacist, pro-Trump meme peddler who was most known for his obsession with school shooters. For a half-decade, Atchison spent most of his days online, repeatedly posting threats of violence and cries for help. 

When users saw posts from Atchison, who went by dozens of names like “Adam Lanza” and “Future Mass Shooter” on both larger platforms like YouTube and racist communities like The Daily Stormer, they would often ask how his manifesto was going.

This kid literally spent most of his time online obsessed with school shooters and asking for hep to fix his life.

And yet he seems not to have been on the radar of any law enforcement officials.

Could that simply be because he was white?

As it turned out the two kids he killed, Casey Marquez and Francisco Fernandez, were non-whites so it would seem that this could indeed be racially motivated.

The FBI has been saying for decades that the White Supremacist and militia groups were far more dangerous than terrorist groups from overseas, and clearly this is yet another example to prove that point.

These two young people should not have died, and if their attacker had been a Muslim kid name Abdul they probably wouldn't have. 

Atheists have adopted Donald Trump's favorite catch phrase, but I do not think he will appreciate how they put it to use.

Courtesy of NBC News: 

Nick Fish, a spokesman for American Atheists, claimed the signs aren’t meant to offend, but to spark a dialogue by adding a topical tag line.

“It’s a way of starting a conversation not just with this organization but within a community,” Fish told NBC News on Wednesday. “The choice is often between being provocative or not being heard at all. If we can start that initial conversation, then we’re doing our jobs to get the ball rolling and get our foot in the door.” 

Since the signs were put up on Nov. 30, many atheists in the affected areas have come forward in support of them, Fish said. These atheists claimed that the billboards made them feel as though they weren’t alone in their community. 

American Atheists, which has gone after Christian groups as well as other organized religions since they formed in 1963, specifically targeted areas that they felt were particularly religiously homogeneous. 

“It’s about targeting areas where religious identity is assumed. Albuquerque is not necessarily a conservative place,” Fish said, “but there is a lot of religious expectation there and we want to challenge that.”

There is of course very little in the Bible that is supported by the facts, so defining it as "fake news" seems perfectly reasonable.

Of course if reason was something that the majority of Christians were to embrace there would be a whole lot fewer Christians.

Another day, another school shooting. This time in New Mexico.

Courtesy of Time Magazine:  

Students hid in their classrooms, some behind locked doors or in closets, as a gunman opened fire Thursday inside a New Mexico high school, killing two classmates before he ended up dead. 

Authorities and other officials in the small town of Aztec near the Colorado border have released few details other than to say the shooter and two victims attended Aztec High School. 

No other injuries were reported, and it was not clear if the shooter died by suicide or was killed by police. 

Bryn Divine, a senior, said she was sitting at her desk in her history class when she heard gunshots erupt down the hall. At first, it sounded as if someone was swinging a metal baseball bat against the lockers. 

Then she heard an announcer over the school intercom tell students: “This is not a drill.” 

“I stayed in my desk, and I just prayed, ‘Please just let this be over as soon as possible.’ That was my first reaction,” she said.

I hate to break to this young woman, but this will never be over.

Never.

And just to drive that point home just the other day Congress passed a bill that would allow folks to carry concealed weapons across state lines. 

After all this is America, where we are constantly told that access to more guns means less gun violence.

And so long as many of our fellow Americans believe that there will be a never ending stream of blood flowing from the victims of that mindset.

Primary day open thread. Update!

This will be my last primary day open thread and thank Odin for that.

Today's offering will be, in the order that their polls close,  New Jersey, New Mexico, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, and finally California.,

New Jersey's polls should be closing right now.

The polls in North Dakota, South Dakota, and New Mexico close in about an hour.

Montana is next in about two hours.

And finally the big Kahuna California will close at about 7:00 PM AK time.

At this point there is of course no real suspense as Hillary is already the presumptive nominee, but it will still be interesting to see how certain states vote and if Sanders is actually able to steal California away from Clinton.

As always I will update this post as polls close and information is available.

Update: Well this doesn't bode well.

Asked by @LesterHoltNBC if his campaign ends tonight, Sanders says he'll keep trying to turn super delegates pic.twitter.com/zf6XLJbpR3

— Sabrina Siddiqui (@SabrinaSiddiqui) June 7, 2016

At some point you are just embarrassing yourself.

Update 2: Donald Trump is speaking right now and reaching out to Bernie Sanders supporters who were victimized by a "rigged system."

Donald Trump to Bernie Sanders supporters: "We welcome you with open arms" https://t.co/oZz0jUmo8i #PrimaryDay https://t.co/HeiM2uj1D1

— CNN (@CNN) June 8, 2016

I bet he really thinks he can get some of them to come over to the dark side too.

And who knows, maybe he's right.

Update 3: Hillary just won New Jersey. Well that's one down.

Update 4: Sanders wins North Dakota. (It is the last caucus state.)

Update 5: In the speech she is giving right now Hillary Clinton just referred to herself as the first female presidential nominee in history.

Oh it is on now!

Update 6: New Mexico has been called for Hillary now as well.

Update 7: Hillary has now won South Dakota.

Update 8:

Speaking is hard for me. But come January, I want to say these two words: "Madam President." #ImWithHer

— Gabrielle Giffords (@GabbyGiffords) June 8, 2016

By the way Hillary is leading in California.

Update 9: Sanders has won Montana with a whole 21 delegates up for grabs.

Three year old child shoots not one, but both of his parents. Soon to be a NRA poster child.

Courtesy of HuffPo: 

Authorities say a 3-year-old boy got ahold of a handgun from his mother's purse and fired just one shot that wounded both his parents. 

Albuquerque police say the toddler apparently reached for an iPod but found the loaded weapon. 

The bullet first struck his father in the buttock and then hit the shoulder of his mother, who is eight months pregnant. 

His 2-year-old sister was present but unhurt. Local media reports say police believe Saturday's shooting was accidental.

Accidental? Are they sure?

Unless they are suggesting that a gun, even in the hands of a child, could cause physical harm or even death to several people accidentally with no intention to do so by the person holding the weapon.

But that can't be right.

After all that flies in the face of every NRA mailer I have ever seen. I mean guns in the hands of good people only hurt bad guys, right?

The police by the way are investigating as to whether any charges of negligence should be filed (They should.), and the children have, at least temporarily, been removed from the home.

Drunken argument between two officers results in shooting death of New Mexico Sheriff's Deputy.

Deputy Jeremy Martin

Courtesy of Raw Story:  

A New Mexico sheriff’s deputy shot and killed another deputy during a drunken argument after transporting a prisoner out of state. 

Police said two Santa Fe County deputies were returning from the transfer when they rented a hotel room at 4 p.m. Monday in Las Cruces, reported the Albuquerque Journal. 

The deputies later went to Dublin’s Street Pub, where they began arguing after drinking alcohol. 

Police said the argument escalated when the deputies returned to their seventh-floor hotel room, and one of them attempted to flee to an elevator. 

Deputy Tai Chan fatally shot Deputy Jeremy Martin several times in the back and arms with a semi-automatic gun, police said. 

The 29-year-old Martin was pronounced dead at an area hospital.

You know the NRA is always saying that gun deaths are the result of criminals getting access to guns and not something that "good guys" with guns are ever involved in.

Wrong!

After all these are trained individuals who are suppose to be the very definition of the "good guys with a gun."

The fact is that reasonable people sometimes get unreasonable, especially when drinking, and the presence of a firearms can often mean that a simple shoving match, or exchange of punches, can instead become the taking of a life. 

Federal judge rules that controversial Ten Commandments monument in New Mexico must go.

Courtesy of HuffPo:

A federal judge on Thursday ruled that a New Mexico city must remove a monument inscribed with the Ten Commandments from the lawn in front of Bloomfield City Hall. 

Senior U.S. District Judge James A. Parker said in his ruling in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union that the monument amounts to government speech and has the "principal effect of endorsing religion." 

Because of the context and history surrounding the granite monument, Parker said Bloomfield clearly violated the First Amendment's Establishment Clause. 

He gave a Sept. 10 deadline for its removal. The suit was filed in 2012 on behalf of two Bloomfield residents who practice the Wiccan religion.

Well at least the Wiccans will take the heat for this one instead of the Atheists. 

The Bloomfield mayor claimed that he considered it a monument to an historical document. However I am not sure how the Ten Commandments could be considered part of New Mexico's history.

Not only that but of course the actual tablets themselves never existed which sort of undermines the idea that they have a place in reality based history.

If one were to follow that line of logic one could put up a statue representing the Tortoise and the Hare from Aesop's Fables, Humpty Dumpty from Mother Goose, or even Rapunzel from Grimm's Fairy Tales.

New Mexico middle school teacher heralded as hero for stopping young gunman and saving lives.

John Masterson

Courtesy of Yahoo News:  

A New Mexico middle school teacher has been credited with saving many lives when he persuaded a 12-year-old boy into dropping his shotgun after he had wounded two students, according to officials. 

New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez said more students could've been injured if not for the heroics of teacher John Masterson, who confronted the alleged shooter Tuesday morning inside the gymnasium at Berrendo Middle School in Roswell, N.M. 

"He starts to turn and see that the young man shoots and shoots, and then pointing the firearm at Mr. Masterson," Martinez said at a Tuesday night news conference. "Mr. Masterson then begins to talk to him -- to put it down. The young man put the gun down and raised his hands." 

A girl identified as Kendal Sanders, 13, underwent surgery Tuesday night and her condition has been upgraded to stable, Martinez said. She suffered injuries to her right shoulder. 

An 11-year-old boy is in critical condition after suffering more serious injuries to his face and neck. The young victim underwent a second surgery during the day, according to Martinez. The family of the boy wished to not disclose his name. 

The suspected shooter, a seventh-grader whom police have not named, was transferred to an Albuquerque psychiatric hospital after a hearing Tuesday, according to The Associated Press, citing attorney Robert Gorence, who is representing his family.

This must be a sad story for the NRA. 

After all if Mr. Masterson had only been a "good guy with a gun," instead of a dedicated professional who cared about his students, just think of how much bigger the body count might have been?

Instead this brave man used his empathy and courage to save lives, including the 12 year old shooter, and ensured that the young man might be rehabilitated and reenter the world as a respectable member of society, rather than to simply be another grave in a graveyard littered with the bodies of shooting victims.

Yay, for Albuquerque!

Courtesy of Aljazeera America:  

In a closely watched, first-of-its-kind municipal election, voters in New Mexico's largest city have defeated a proposed ban on late-term abortions. 

Voters in Albuquerque on Tuesday rejected the measure 55 to 45 percent, following an emotional and graphic campaign that brought in national groups and hundreds of thousands of dollars in advertising. The campaign included protests that compared abortion to the Holocaust and displayed pictures of aborted fetuses. 

A coalition of groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico and Planned Parenthood, called the results a huge victory for Albuquerque women and families. 

"Albuquerque families sent a powerful message today — they do not want the government interfering in their private medical decisions," Micaela Cadena, of the Respect ABQ Women campaign, said in a statement. 

"Dangerous, unconstitutional laws like the one we rejected today have no place in Albuquerque, no place in New Mexico, no place anywhere in our nation," she added.

This is great news!

I have to admit that I was worried that this law was going to pass and that it would set a precedent for a number of southern cities to follow suit. 

But damn if logic, common sense, and rational thinking didn't save the day again.

Albuquerque, New Mexico becomes ground zero for the next big abortion battle.

Courtesy of the LA Times:  

Early voting is underway in Albuquerque for an election Tuesday, which will decide whether to ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. 

Although similar bans have been passed by state legislatures, New Mexico's largest city is believed to be the first municipality in the country to place such an initiative on a ballot. 

The "Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Ordinance," which needs a majority to pass, would have statewide impact because the only late-term abortion providers in the largely rural state are in Albuquerque. 

Women living out of state also fly to Albuquerque for this type of care, said Micaela Cadena, policy director at Young Women United. The New Mexico-based group is part of the Respect ABQ Women campaign, which is fighting the local measure. 

"Albuquerque voters are voting for the whole state of New Mexico and also for the rest of the country," Cadena said. 

The Supreme Court's ruling in Roe vs. Wade has been interpreted by lower courts as making abortion legal through 24 weeks of pregnancy, but antiabortion activists are pushing to ban the procedure after 20 weeks — a step in chipping away at the 1973 landmark ruling.

There is little doubt that these people will never stop until they have managed to overturn Roe vs Wade, or else have the laws allowing abortion so watered down so as to make them virtually useless.

Our only hope of protecting a woman's right to choose is to elect as many Democrats as possible to office, and to focus on putting secularists into positions of power.

Remember the entire anti-abortion debate is based on a biblical belief that life begins at conception, and that man has no right to interfere with God's wishes.

If we put rational politicians, who are not manipulated by superstition, into office, we can pass laws that strive to protect people instead of embryos, promote education instead of indoctrination, and who place their faith in science instead of the supernatural.

To my mind that is essentially our only hope of protecting our women, our children, and ultimately our planet. 

New Mexico Republican lawmaker writes bill that would make it illegal for rape victims to terminate pregnancy, calling it "destroying evidence of the crime." No, I am NOT kidding!

Rep. Cathrynn "I know nothing about rape: Brown.

Courtesy of HufPo:  

A Republican lawmaker in New Mexico introduced a bill on Wednesday that would legally require victims of rape to carry their pregnancies to term in order to use the fetus as evidence for a sexual assault trial. 

House Bill 206, introduced by state Rep. Cathrynn Brown (R), would charge a rape victim who ended her pregnancy with a third-degree felony for "tampering with evidence." 

“Tampering with evidence shall include procuring or facilitating an abortion, or compelling or coercing another to obtain an abortion, of a fetus that is the result of criminal sexual penetration or incest with the intent to destroy evidence of the crime," the bill says. 

Third-degree felonies in New Mexico carry a sentence of up to three years in prison. 

Pat Davis of ProgressNow New Mexico, a progressive nonprofit opposing the bill, called it "blatantly unconstitutional" on Thursday. 

“The bill turns victims of rape and incest into felons and forces them to become incubators of evidence for the state,” he said. “According to Republican philosophy, victims who are ‘legitimately raped’ will now have to carry the fetus to term in order to prove their case.“

You know I think the part of this that bothers me the most is that it is being introduced by a woman! How is that even possible?

First off this is a completely naked attempt to  an anti-abortion bill while cloaking it in the most transparent covering of an pro-law enforcement bill, and I truly doubt that too many people in New Mexico are confused about that.

However the other thing is that THIS is what Rape Kits are for. If used properly they can identify the rapist using the DNA he would leave behind and as humiliating as it is for a woman to go through that process it is infinitely better than forcing her to give birth to her rapist's child.

You know I often ask myself if the Republican party is a party completely without compassion or self awareness, ans when I read stories like this one the the answer to that question becomes all too obvious.

Fifteen year old New Mexico teenager murders entire family. Gee do you think guns were involved?

Nehemiah Griego

Courtesy of Eyewitness News 4 out of Albuquerque, New Mexico:  

A statement of probable cause filed in connection with the murder of five people Saturday in the South Valley says the 15-year-old suspect initially told people at his church that his family had been killed in a car crash and were laying dead inside the home. 

Bernalillo County deputies say instead that Nehemiah Griego had shot and killed his father, mother and three young siblings inside their home with weapons he found in his parent's closet. 

They say it appears the younger Griego killed his family, then drove to Calvary Church. 

After hearing his stories, church officials didn't believe him and instead called police. 

Griego later led officers to the home where the victims Greg Griego, 51; his wife Sarah Griego, 40; and three of their children, Zephania Griego, 9; Jael Griego, 5; and Angelina Griego, 2 were found shot to death. 

The elder Griego had been a pastor there and the family worshipped there. 

According to court documents, Nehemiah Griego told deputies the shootings happened because he had "anger issues" and "was annoyed with'' his mother. 

Griego said he had been having homicidal and suicidal thoughts, and so around midnight on Saturday, he got a .22 caliber rifle from his parents closet and shot his mother in the head, killing her. 

His nine year old brother was sleeping next to her. His brother became upset when he woke up, so Griego shot him in the head, killing him. 

He said his sisters were crying and he shot both of them in the head, killing them. 

Griego said he then got an AR-15 rifle from his parent's closet and waited in a bathroom until his father arrived home at about 5 a.m. He then shot his father multiple times, killing him. 

Officers said Griego told them he then reloaded the weapons so he could drive to a populated area to murder more people. 

Griego said he wanted to shoot people at random and eventually be killed while exchanging fire with law enforcement. 

Instead, Griego put some of the guns in the family's van and drove it to Calvary, where his story of what happened to his family was questioned. 

He also told police he took a picture of his dead mother and sent it to his girlfriend.

I would like to point out that his boy had NO criminal history, does not seem to have any diagnosed mental health issues, and used guns that belonged to his father to kill his family, and I would be willing to bet that they were all purchased legally.

His father was a pastor so the idea that a lack of religion is the cause of this will not be a ready made red herring for the Right Wing, and I doubt very seriously that it will be easy to simply link to violent movies or video games.

The simple fact, as much as EVERYBODY will want to dismiss it, is that this young man was able to slaughter his entire family ONLY because he had access to weapons which gave him the power to do so.

The problem is guns.

Not lack of religion.

Not video games.

Not movies.

Not even mental illness.

The teenager could have been a Satan worshiping, video game playing, R rated movie watching, sociopath. But without access to those guns he would have been a relatively harmless Satan worshiping, video game playing, R rated movie watching, sociopath.

I don't know about all of you but I am sick and tired of reading about these unnecessary deaths, and even MORE sick and tired of hearing the same old excuses for why we can't do something to greatly reduce them of put a stop to them altogether.