US Changes Story, Regulated Militia

Permawar: The US military now says the Afghan military, not the US, called in the air strike that destroyed the Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz. The sustained attack by an AC-130 gunship, a vicious weapon, killed 22 people including doctors and patients.

The US commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Campbell, said, “This is different from the initial reports which indicated that U.S. forces were threatened and that the airstrike was called on their behalf.” A critical question that remains unanswered is how close American advisors were at the time and whether they knew the hospital was under attack.

Stormy Weather: South Carolina is beginning to drain out after heavy rains caused widespread flooding. Yesterday about 40,000 people were without water and some small towns were cut off.

Death Be Not Proud: Pondering his own mortality, California Gov. Jerry Brown yesterday signed the state’s new assisted suicide law allowing doctors to prescribe lethal drugs to terminally ill patients. Brown wrote in a signing statement, “In the end, I was left to reflect on what I would want in the face of my own death. I do not know what I would do if I were dying in prolonged and excruciating pain. I am certain, however, that it would be a comfort to be able to consider the options afforded by this bill. And I wouldn’t deny that right to others.”

Celebrating Mass: Takaaki Kajita of the University of Tokyo and Arthur McDonald of Queen’s University were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics today for their discovery the subatomic particles known as neutrinos have mass.

Nation: A 57-year-old American Airlines pilot died of an apparent heart attack during an overnight fight from Phoenix to Boston. The first officer took over and landed in Syracuse.

>The Coast Guard now says the container ship El Faro, with 33 hands on board, sank in 15,000 feet of water in the Bermuda Triangle during Hurricane Joaquin. One body was seen in the water but was not recovered. Maritime experts say the captain may have steered into the storm to save time and fuel on the run from Florida to Puerto Rico.

GunBeat: Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens writes in the Washington Post that the Second Amendment “right to bear arms” has been misinterpreted in modern times to protect the individual right to own military-style weapons and should be changed. The amendment reads, “a well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” Stevens writes that the amendment should be changed to say, “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms when serving in the Militia shall not be infringed.”

The Front Page: The Los Angeles Times yesterday sold about a third of its front page to American Airlines for an advertisement that wrapped around a diminished news report with only three stories. While newspapers are a symbiotic relationship between news and advertising, the front page has traditionally been sacred space reserved for the news. The Times, and its parent Tribune Corporation, may have set a precedent that will further diminish the quality and content of the struggling newspaper business. Also yesterday, the shrinking Tribune company announced further staff cuts.

BookBeat: Clinical psychologist and technology expert Sherry Turkle, publishes her new book today, “Reclaiming Conversation,” in which she asks readers to re-examine their relationship with digital devices. Turkle says in the book that human contact and conversation are threatened by digital communication. Her previous book on a similar theme is “Alone Together,” a title that explains itself.

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Page Two

The Most Corrupt Justice

Monday, October 2, 2023

Democracy and Video in the Dark

Sunday, February 26, 2023

Page Two: Do the Right Thing

Tuesday, February 1, 2022

Page Two: Sound Recall

Monday, September 13, 2021

Page Two: Cuomo Must Go

Friday, August 13, 2021

Trump and the Truth

Tuesday, November 3, 2020

The “Great” President

Monday, March 30, 2020

The Wright Stuff

Saturday, February 29, 2020

It's Been Said

"In my mind, I’ve never crossed the line with anyone, but I didn’t realize the extent to which the line has been redrawn. There are generational and cultural shifts that I just didn’t fully appreciate, and I should have, no excuses."

-Andrew Cuomo, resigning as governor of New York after accusations of sexual harassment

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