Police officers killed in Baton Rouge
There aren’t many details yet, but it is being reported that three police officers have been killed in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and several have been wounded. Terrible news.
Continue reading →Category Archives: Violence
Reflections: the day after the failed coup in Turkey
What a sad sad day. As commenter “Yancey Ward” writes: I think it possible, even likely, that Erdogan staged the coup himself, or knew it was coming in advance and allowed the plotter so openly hang themselves. Literally, Erdogan couldn’t … Continue reading →
The Bastille Day terrorist
The death toll in yesterday’s horrific terrorist attack in Nice, France, has now reached 84, with many more injured, some of them very seriously and 25 on life support, so one can expect the death toll to rise. The perpetrator … Continue reading →
Terror in Nice
[Further UPDATES as the story develops.] A terrorist drove a truck through a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, killing 73 people. As with all such horrific events, reports of the death toll and other details will probably change over … Continue reading →
Booker T. Washington: controversial then, controversial now
Booker T. Washington was a towering figure. Born in slavery, he become a leader of early post-Civil War black advancement and in particular emphasized the value of education. You can read about his manifold accomplishments here, as well as the … Continue reading →
I did not realize that public libraries had been all been closed
Did you? But that’s the only explanation I can think of for this extraordinary remark of Barack Obama’s delivered yesterday at the funeral for the five murdered police officers in Dallas: It’s easier for a teenager to buy a Glock … Continue reading →
Emerging thoughts on the Dallas shooting of police
There’s an awful lot to digest today, a lot. Now it is being reported that during last night’s sniper attack in Dallas 12 officers and two civilians were shot, and five officers have died. That may be the largest death … Continue reading →
Several Dallas police officers injured during demonstration against recent shootings by police
Breaking news: At least two police officers have been shot at a rally to “show solidarity for communities affected by officer-involved shootings this week in Louisiana and Minnesota.” There’s very little news on the condition of the officers. I’m reading … Continue reading →
Medea in Texas
You’ve probably heard about Christy Sheats, 42, the Texas mother who recently killed her 17- and 22-year-old daughters in front of their father, citing as her motivation a desire to punish him (she committed the murders on his birthday). The … Continue reading →
Patterns of Islamic extremist terrorism: now it’s Bangladesh
It’s a terrible and repetitive story, this time occurring in the predominantly Muslim country of Bangladesh: Islamic terrorists, perhaps allied with ISIS, attack a restaurant. In this case they took the patrons hostage (after possibly killing some in the initial … Continue reading →
More details on the Istanbul airport attack
I’ve learned over the years that if you want the most thorough coverage of terrorist attacks—even ones in this country but especially attacks that occur abroad—go to the British papers. The Daily Mail has a lot of details (some of … Continue reading →
Congress and the latest on gun control
Four measures—two by Democrats, two by Republicans—went down to defeat: The measures Monday each went down in succession on largely party line votes. The 60-vote threshold required for passage prevented even Republicans, who control the chamber, from pushing through their … Continue reading →