The National Rifle Association has issued a recommendation for safeguarding America’s schools. A task force working for the National Rifle Association recommended Tuesday that at least one armed guard be stationed on every campus in America as part of a three-month review on how to make schools safer in the wake of the mass shooting in Newtown, Conn. [sigh] Why
Read moreWe are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be. – Kurt Vonnegut You may have seen the story about the Hollywood action movie-style murder on the Las Vegas strip early yesterday morning. All the stories I’m seeing focus on the shooting victim, one Ken Cherry (aka Kenny Clutch, an aspiring rapper from
Read moreRemember Richard Jewell? He was accused of placing a bomb in Atlanta’s Centennial Park during the 1996 Olympics. He endured a horrific trial (and conviction) by media and had his life destroyed. Turned out he was innocent. The guilty party was anti-abortion terrorist Eric Rudolph. Jewell sued several media outlets (including CNN), reaching settlements in all cases save one (which
Read moreAs we try to unravel the whole Manti Te’o/”Lennay Kekua” mystery – is she dead? Is she alive? Does she exist? Was Te’o in on it or is he the biggest rube in America? – “sports journalists” (one of my favorite oxymorons, btw) are taking a right kicking, and deservedly so. Everybody out there who reported on the heartbreaking dead
Read moreEvery good recipe for deception begins with an ounce of truth. Whoever is managing the current public relations crisis facing the National Rifle Association clearly understands this fundamental principle. In the days since the tragic shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT, the NRA has offered a textbook execution of the crisis communication playbook, employing everything from ducking
Read moreWe have heard, over the last 24 hours, all kinds of comment on the tragic shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT. Predictably, much of the public response has taken the form of outrage over the broad availability of the weaponry used in these murders, to say nothing of other high-profile mass killings in places like Aurora, Colorado.
Read moreAt Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, 27 people – 20 of them kindergarteners – are dead at the hands of a gunman armed with a Glock and a Sig Sauer. Meanwhile, a madman ran amok in a school in Henan province, China today, as well. A knife-wielding man injured 22 children and one adult outside a primary school
Read moreBack in September S&R pointed everyone to the story of Thomas Wierdsma. We began that piece this way: Let’s see, what have we here? Private prison corporation executives: check. Abusive husband: check. Witness tampering: check. Threats to use political clout to have abused spouse deported if she doesn’t keep her mouth shut about being slapped around: check. We’re used to
Read moreOn Sunday, the University of Colorado fired head football coach Jon Embree after two seasons. Reaction has been mixed and at times heated. Some point to the results, noting not only the 4-21 record but also suggesting that the program was actually regressing. Others argued that Embree inherited a dumpster fire from previous coach Dan Hawkins and that it was
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Back in September Kim Christensen and Jason Felch of the Los Angeles Times broke an absolute blockbuster of a story: the Boy Scouts of America have, for decades, been providing cover for pedophiles in its ranks. Over two decades, the Boy Scouts of America failed to report hundreds of alleged child molesters to police and often hid the allegations from parents and the
Read moreBack in the old days rape was rape. Or, at most, there were two kinds. There was the “put on a ski mask and rape her at knifepoint” type and there was the “she said she was 18” statutory type. Which wasn’t really rape at all, because, I mean, LOOK at her. And she really wanted it. These days it’s
Read moreEditor’s Note: Dr. Sid Bonesparkle of the S&R Sports Desk caught up with DeMaurice Smith, head of the NFL Players Association, in between meetings yesterday. What follows is a transcript of their candid conversation. S&R: Thanks for making a few minutes for us. I know you’re busy. Smith: No problem. I’m always glad to speak with the press. S&R: So,
Read moreLet’s see, what have we here? Private prison corporation executives: check. Abusive husband: check. Witness tampering: check. Threats to use political clout to have abused spouse deported if she doesn’t keep her mouth shut about being slapped around: check. Wow. Some highlights. Boulder County jury finds high-level prison exec engaged in ‘outrageous conduct’ – Verdict against GEO Group senior VP
Read moreI’m more than a little troubled by what has happened with the Lance Armstrong case. I’ll begin by saying that I don’t know if Armstrong is guilty of doping. If it were proven that he were I wouldn’t be surprised – his accomplishments are simply remarkable, and to have done it all in a sport where apparently every single participant was
Read moreBack when I was younger there was a story going around about Uganda’s batshit crazy thug dictator, Idi Amin. It said that one of his wives had been found hacked into 13 pieces and stuffed into the trunk of a car. The verdict: “a clear-cut case of suicide.” I can find no evidence that this ever actually happened, but Amin
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lullaby pit 