Headlines...

Still have the whole "short attention span" thing going on...

Today, though, it seems to be combined with a fascination with betting... :)


...From AZCentral.com -

Gunman suspected of shooting 3 apologizes to 'innocent' victims

The 22-year-old Phoenix man suspected of shooting three people at South Mountain Community College confessed and apologized to victims Friday during his initial court appearance.

Anyone want to start a pool on how long it takes a Republican legislator to use Thursday's incident at SMCC as justification to propose another "guns in schools" bill?


...From AP -

Pa. teens charged in fatal beating of immigrant

PORT CARBON, Pa. (AP) — Three white teens were charged Friday in what officials said was an epithet-filled fatal beating of an illegal Mexican immigrant in a small northeast Pennsylvania coal town. Brandon J. Piekarsky, 16, and Colin J. Walsh, 17, were charged as adults with homicide and ethnic intimidation in the July 12 attack on Luis Ramirez.

Assuming that the defendants and their families seek donations to pay for their legal fees, anyone want to start a pool on how much money they receive from the Pearce/Ready/Childress crowd here in AZ?


From AP -

It's the law: No sagging pants in Chicago suburb

LYNWOOD, Ill. (AP) — Be careful if you have saggy pants in the south Chicago suburb of Lynwood. Village leaders have passed an ordinance that would levy $25 fines against anyone showing three inches or more of their underwear in public.

Anybody want in on a pool based on the number of Lynwood cops signing up for their new "Ruler Patrol"? I've got dibs on "0"... :)


From Politicker.com -

Arizona Dems use Heller's statement in ad knocking Republican incumbent

The Arizona Democratic Party has released an Internet video ripping U.S. Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz.), and the ad's main message comes from Republican Congressman Dean Heller (R-Carson City).

The video features a photo of Heller with remarks he made earlier this month to the Las Vegas Review Journal, saying the 1994 GOP Congressional freshman — famous for seizing the U.S. House from Democrats for the first time in decades — had been changed by the culture in Washington.

Anyone want in on a pool on how loudly Shadegg tells Heller to "shut the Heller up! Bob Lord doesn't need your help!"? (Sorry - couldn't resist that one. :)) )

Note: the full video is at the Politicker link.


...And in the "certain to generate headlines" department, according to next week's House schedule (courtesy The Weekly Leader from Steny Hoyer's office), the House will be considering H.R. 1338, the Paycheck Fairness Act. The bill would accord women faced with gender discrimination some of the same legal remedies available to victims of racial discrimination (think: lawsuits for both compensatory and punitive damages). The bill passed the House Education and Labor Committee this week on a party-line vote after Republicans trotted out "trial lawyers" and "gas prices" as among the reasons that they opposed the bill. (Workforce Management)

Anybody want to bet against more of the same when the bill reaches the House floor on Thursday or Friday?

Didn't think so. Hell, they'll probably add "ANWR," "offshore drilling," and "terrorism" to the list just to spice things up. :))

Democratic press release on the bill here.

Republican press release on the bill here.

Note: all four Democratic members of AZ's Congressional delegation - Harry Mitchell, Gabrielle Giffords, Raul Grijalva, and Ed Pastor - are among the 230 cosponsors of the bill.


...Finally, in a 'non-headline' item, the AZ Republic has posted the responses to its candidate questionnaires online here. The list of respondents is incomplete. In some cases, it's obvious by the presence of one or another opponent in a given race that some candidates were asked but simply didn't respond. In other cases, there is only one unchallenged contender so they may not have even been asked to complete a questionnaire.

Later!