Things that make you go Hmmmm…….

All stories from today’s paper:

http://OrlandoSentinel.com

Cards pile up, tears fall for slain Dillard High School student
By Macollvie Jean-Francois, Kathy Bushouse and Robert Nolin
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
November 14, 2008

It's an all too familiar coming-of-age ritual: An outpouring of grief from high schoolers mourning the loss of one of their own, confused hurt manifested in flowers, teddy bears, and awkward messages scrawled on walls.Thursday, the scene played out once again, this time in memory of Amanda Collette, a 15-year-old Dillard High School student who police say was shot and killed by a single bullet fired by a childhood friend.

Student may have told Dillard High officials about gun
District looking into whether Dillard shooting was avoidable
By Kathy Bushouse, Tonya Alanez and Mike Clary
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
November 14, 2008
FORT LAUDERDALE

Broward School District officials are investigating whether a student told a Dillard High School teacher or staff member that Teah Wimberly had a handgun before she used it to fatally shoot a friend and classmate in a school hallway, Superintendent James Notter said Thursday.


Editorial: Metal detectors at school entrances?
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board
5:59 PM EST, November 13, 2008

In the wake of Wednesday's tragedy at Dillard High School, it is the question of the day — and it's the wrong question: "Why aren't there metal detectors to stop guns from getting into schools?"Metal detectors at school entrances aren't the answer, and they aren't happening. Not when the Broward School District has to cut another $34.2 million from the budget, and Palm Beach County schools are cutting $23.4 million. Even if money was available, turning schools into fortresses is not the answer.So it is time to ask the better question: "How can we be more vigilant in recognizing problems before they escalate into violence?" It's a similar question asked after every campus homicide.

Gun sales up after Obama openly supports banning assault weapons
Henry Pierson Curtis
Sentinel Staff Writer
November 14, 2008

Gun sales are up across Central Florida, dealers say, part of a nationwide pattern after President-elect Barack Obama's open support of permanently banning assault weapons.The buying spree reminds local sellers of a 1994 surge that preceded the 10-year ban on semiautomatic military-style rifles. The trend began last summer when anti-Obama posters became marketing tools at Florida gun shows.

All fired up: Gun owners rush to buy guns for fear Obama, Democrats will curb gun rights
By DENA POTTER
3:59 AM EST, November 8, 2008

MIDLOTHIAN, Va. (AP) _ When 10-year-old Austin Smith heard Barack Obama had been elected president, he had one question: Does this mean I won't get a new gun for Christmas?That brought his mother, the camouflage-clad Rachel Smith, to Bob Moates Sports Shop on Thursday, where she was picking out that special 20-gauge shotgun — one of at least five weapons she plans to buy before Obama takes office in January.Like Smith, gun enthusiasts nationwide are stocking up on firearms out of fears that the combination of an Obama administration and a Democrat-dominated Congress will result in tough new gun laws.

Obama: Your guns are safe
—James Oliphant
September 6, 2008

DURYEA, Pa. — Barack Obama got a chance to go back to Scranton on Friday and talk about guns. And he made the most of it.This week, Obama was on the receiving end of a blast from Republican vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin, who accused him of talking "one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco," a reference to Obama's now-infamous comment about how some people in America "cling to guns or religion."Obama toured a glass factory in Duryea, a small town outside Scranton, and took questions afterward."There are rumors going around that ... you're going to take away our guns," said Joan O'Neil. Obama said: "I believe in the 2nd Amendment, and if you are a law-abiding gun owner you have nothing to fear from an Obama administration."

But are your children?

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The Rev. Harry Scott Coverston, J.D., Ph.D.
Member, Florida Bar (inactive status)
Priest, Episcopal Church (Dio. of El Camino Real, CA)
Instructor: Humanities, Religion, Philosophy of Law
University of Central Florida, Orlando
http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~ncoverst/
frharry@cfl.rr.com

If the unexamined life is not worth living, surely an unexamined belief system, be it religious or political, is not worth holding.

Most things of value do not lend themselves to production in sound bytes.
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