(Wed Dec 19th)

The NRA has long acted as a “shield” for a group of manufacturers who literally play hide and seek behind actual gun statistics on a yearly basis in the United States. Whether you enjoy hunting, casually target shoot for practice, or act as a buyer for the US military, gun manufacturing is BIG business in the United States, so big that it has a shield organization (the NRA) lobbying on it’s behalf, maintaining an enormous public membership, and this organization successfully helps the industry itself deflect any criticism or questions, that would ultimately put any ordinary company (or industry) out of business in the face of turmoil. One recent episode the industry must contend with is the shooting death of 27 adults & children in an elementary school in Sandy Hook, CT. This tragedy follows a mass-shooting in Aurora, CO last Summer as well, and it has lead to the following end-question that a fair-share of Americans want answered:

Who is behind the manufacturing of guns that ultimately help contribute to the deaths of 30,000 Americans on a yearly basis?

Well, the answer is simple. One only needs to look at the list of gun manufacturing companies and their top roster of employees. To date, not one of of these executives (or their parent companies) have come forward and expressed remorse, sympathy, offered any solutions on any public forum, or reached out to the victims in any way, shape or form. Pro-gun or anti-gun or whatever your political affiliation might be, there’s specific companies behind the production of weapons that were used in a recent heinous crime, and 2nd Amendment posturing or beliefs can’t shield that fact.

Usually if a company manufactures a product that ends up as a tool in the killing of innocent people, one might expect at the very least a court supoena or an explanation of how their safety-features work, and what steps they are taking to help prevent tragedies in the future. Instead, we’re just seeing a lot of record profits by the industry in the wake of the tragedy, and zero solutions offered. When Mike Bloomberg (Mayor of New York City) is asking for “action” from the President, he’s really asking for something to be done about this cottage industry that ultimately has blood on it’s hands, as National statistics don’t lie and cannot be ignored. The American people want answers, are now demanding accountability, and one can say this is the beginning of the end of the “NRA-shield-of-secrecy” the gun manufacturing sector has enjoyed for so long.

For an industry that drapes itself in the American flag, one must question the real “patriotism” of companies that put private-company-profitabilty above the public safety of American citizens. When a company hides behind a public “shield” organization rather then answering questions in favor of maintaining profits, they’re violating the very laws (and one might say patriotism) the original fore-fathers founded the United States upon.

Want gun control in the United States? Then it’s time for US citizens to end the consumer demand for guns, and help put the following companies out of business. Capitalism is only successful when it’s profitable, and fewer guns manufactured means fewer guns finding their way onto American streets, schools. Since these companies want to remain secret and have the NRA speak on their behalf, we thought we’d post some information about who some of these people are behind the curtain.

Freedom-Group.com

Kevin Miniard is Chief Manufacturing Officer and Senior Vice President of Operations of Freedom Group, the parent company behind the “Bushmaster” assault rifle (that was used in the recent Sandy Hook shooting). Freedom Group also produces the following gun brands: Remington, Marlin, Barnes Bullets, Dakota Arms as well.

Following the Sandy Hook shooting, Private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management has since sold Freedom Group in the wake of the tragedy. Cerberus called the Sandy Hook shooting “a tragic and devastating event,” a “watershed event that has raised the national debate on gun control to an unprecedented level.”

Sig Sauer
One of the pistols used by Adam Lanza in the Sandy Hook tragedy was a Sig Sauer pistol. Sig Sauer is a for-profit company that generates millions upon millions of dollars in revenue by producing guns, so profitable that the Governor of New Hampshire John Lynch stopped by their factory in 2009 (see picture below), to give his seal of approval on how they conduct business. John Lynch, and Sig Sauer have remained silent in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting.

For more information on the company behind one of the weapons used in this tragedy, go here:

Ron Cohen CEO of Sig Sauer

When Ron Cohen joined Sig Sauer back in 2004, they only “had 130 employees with sales of around $40 million”, but being a businessman at heart, Cohen sure turned things around, so well that Sig Sauer has brought more products to the marketplace in the past 8 years than their founding some 25 years ago. He was recently quoted in Management Today magazine with the following quote: “Our ability to bring new products to the table is one of the major success stories of this company.” One might say their success lies in producing weapons that are ultimately used for murder, and put profitabilty above the safetly and welfare of the American public.

Below is a photo-collage of the 27 victims of the recent Sandy Hook tragedy, who weren’t as fortunate as the above executives or gun-manufacturers who are currently enjoying record profits thanks to increased gun-sales in the wake of the Sandy Hook tragedy.

Want Gun Control in the United States? Then it’s time to start at the top. If the United Kingdom is able to enact sensible laws, then surely the United States is more then capable as well.

For additional reference, below is a list of US based and foreign gun manufacturers.

Accuracy International – Precision rifles.
Accu-Tek Firearms – Stainless steel compact pistols.
American Derringer Corp.
American Hunting Rifles – High end hunting rifles.
American Western Arms – Recreating authentic American western firearms.
Anschütz – High quality rifle and air rifles.
AR-7 Industries
ArmaLite, Inc.
Armament Technology – Tactical and smallbore rifles.
Arnold Arms Co, Inc.
Autauga Arms – Mk II .32 caliber pocket pistol.
Auto-Ordnance Corp
Barrett Firearms Manufacturing, Inc. – .50 BMG
Benelli Arms
Beretta Italy – Beretta USA
Bond Arms
Briley Manufacturing, Inc.
Browning
Bul Transmark – Israeli
Bushmaster Firearms
Casull Arms Corporation
Ceska Zbrojovka
Charles Daly – Shotguns, Rifles, & Pistols.
Charter 2000, Inc.
Cimarron Firearms Company – Firearms used taming the frontier in Texas and the American west.
Colt Blackpowder Arms Company
Colt Manufacturing Co.
Connecticut Shotgun Manufacturing Co. – A. H. Fox Double Barrel Shotguns.
Connecticut Valley Arms Company
C. Sharp Arms Company
CZ-USA
Daisy Manufacturing Co., Inc.
Dakota Arms, Inc.
Dan Wesson Firearms Co.
DPMS – Defense Procurement Manufacturing Services.
DS Arms, Inc.
EAA – European American Armory Corp.
Fabarm – Shotguns from Italy
Feather, USA – LIghtweight pistols, rifles in 22, 9mm and 40 S&W.
FN Manufacturing, Inc.
Franchi Spa
Fratelli Tanfoglio – Pistols
Freedom Arms Inc.
Fulton Armory
Gatling Gun Company – Hand-made, full sized model 1862 Gatling Guns.
Gibbs Rifle Company – M98 Sporter, military conversions, Parker0Hale Enfield replicas, etc.
Glock
Hämmerli – The Competitor’s Advantage!
Harrington and Richardson
Heckler & Koch
Heritage Manufacturing Inc. – American manufacturer of quality revolvers and semi auto pistols.
Hi-Point Firearms
High Standard Manufacturing Co. Inc.
IAR, Inc. – Collectible quality replica firearms and blank firing guns.
Israel Arms International, Inc.
Kahr Arms
Kel-Tec – P11 is a semi-automatic, locked breech pistol chambered for the 9mm Luger.
Kimber of America – Manufacturer of rifles and pistols.
Knight Rifle – #1 in Muzzleloading.
Lazzeroni Arms Company
L.W. Seecamp Co. – L.W. Seecamp Co. and the LWS32 and LWS380 pistols.
Magnum Research Inc. – Maker of the Desert Eagle.
Marlin
Mauser – Original Mauser M98 Magnum.
McMillan Bros Rifle Co, Inc.
O.F. Mossberg and Sons, Inc. – Pump action shotguns.
Navy Arms Company
North American Arms, Inc.
Olympic Arms – AR-15 rifles, accessories, and Safari Arms Line of 1911 pistols and parts.
Para Ordnance Mfg. Inc.
Pedersoli Guns – Muzzle Loading Firearms Manufacturer.
Professional Ordinance Inc. – The worlds lightest .223 auto rifles and pistols.
Remington Arms Company, Inc.
Republic Arms, Inc. – Patriot .45 ACP.
Rossi
Ruger – Sturm, Ruger & Company.
Sako Ltd. – Finland-based manufacturer of world class hunting rifles.
J.P. Sauer – Sporting Rifles
Savage Arms, Inc.
Searcy Enterprises – Manufacturer of Fine Double Rifles and Mag. Mauser actions.
Sigarms, Inc. – Be sure to also visit their International Site.
Smith & Wesson
Special Interest Arms – Originators of the “Enfield K” in 7.62×39
Springfield Armory
SSK Industries
Steyr Mannlicher
STI International – Firearms for competiton, duty, and self-defense.
Tanfoglio
Taurus International
Thompson Center Arms
Traditions, Inc. – Manufacturer of muzzleloading rifles, pistols, classics, and accessories.
Uberti USA, Inc. – Producer of historical firearms.
U.S. Fire Arms Mfg. Co. – Speciality historic guns including single action army.
U.S. Repeating Arms, Inc. – Winchester Rifles and Shotguns.
Valkyrie Arms, Ltd. – BATF approved, semi-auto versions of classic military automatic arms.
Vector Arms, Inc. – UZI Service Center for the USA.
Wildey Guns – Home of the .475 Wildey Mag.
Walther
Weatherby
ZDF Import/Export, Inc. – M96 Expeditonary Rifle (based on Stoner 63), Importer of VEPR rifles.

(List via http://www.shootguns.info/maker.htm)

(top photo via this link)

(via Journalism.org)

From “Crushing New Taxes” to “a step in the right direction,” social media leapt into action following the Supreme Court ruling last Thursday which let the Affordable Care Act stand – including the controversial element requiring all individuals to obtain health insurance by 2014.

The response was passionate, and at first heavily tilted toward those in favor of the ruling, according to a special report by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism. But by the end of the weekend, the tenor of the conversation had changed as those in opposition became more vocal. This sentiment matches closely the divided public opinion over the health care ruling. More here….

Breaking: An Ethiopian court has declared Swedish photojournalist Johan Persson and reporter Martin Schibbye guilty of supporting terrorism and entering the country illegally, according to an AFP report.

“Guilty as charged, period, unanimous vote,” the judge declared, according to the AFP story. The judge added that just because Persson and Schibbye are journalists doesn’t mean they didn’t engage in “criminal acts.”

“They have not been able to prove that they did not support terrorism,” the judge reportedly said.

Prosecutors are calling for 18-year jail terms, and sentencing is scheduled for December 27. (Editor’s note: See update, below.)

Persson and Schibye were arrested last July in the Ogaden region of the country. Ethiopian troops are currently fighting rebels in the oil-rich region and the government has barred journalists from the area. Schibbye and Persson, who is represented by the Swedish photo agency Kontinent, gained access to Ogaden with the help of a group of rebels that the Ethiopian government classifies as terrorists. Persson and Schibbye admitted at trial they had entered the country illegally, but vehemently denied they were aiding the rebels.

More on this disturbing developing story here…

Most cemeteries replace the illusion of life’s permanence with another illusion: the permanence of a name carved in stone.
Not so May Pen Cemetery, in Kingston, Jamaica, where bodies are buried on top of bodies, weeds grow over the old markers, and time humbles even a rich man’s grave.

The most forsaken burial places lie at the end of a dirt path that follows a fetid gully across two bridges and through an open meadow, far enough south to hear the white noise coming off the harbor and the highway. Fifty-two concrete posts are set into the earth in haphazard groups of two and three.

Each bears a small disk of black metal and a stencilled number. The majority of these mark the unclaimed dead from the last days of May, 2010, when the police and the Army assaulted the neighborhood of Tivoli Gardens, in West Kingston. The rest mark the graves of paupers. The trouble that led to the Tivoli Gardens deaths began in August, 2009, when the United States government requested the extradition of Christopher (Dudus) Coke

Read more of this disturbing piece here…

According to Gawker it is. Here’s an interested snippet on the “rise” of “Celebukid Reporters and News-ertainment”

“Even after the rise of cable news and online news, network “news” broadcasts are still the biggest single unified source of news. Far more Americans get their “news” from a TV network “news” operation than from any other particular outlet. Network “news” is, therefore, still quite important.

There are a very limited number of jobs for network “news” journalists. Logic, then, would dictate that those jobs should go to the very best TV journalists in America. Instead, those jobs go to political celebrity children like Chelsea Clinton and Jenna Bush, media celebrity children like Luke Russert, and—perhaps most egregiously—to open political operatives like George Stephanopolous.

Nothing whatsoever can disqualify someone from being hired as a network “news” journalist, except perhaps ugliness.”
More here…

And the Atlantic is asking why…

“The Occupy Wall Street protests that began in New York City a month ago gained worldwide momentum over the weekend, as hundreds of thousands of demonstrators in nine hundred cities protested corporate greed and wealth inequality. Protesters from London to Sydney echoed the anti-capitalist, populist rhetoric of the Occupy movement in what was deemed a “global day of protest”.

“The unrest comes amid a mounting European sovereign debt crisis, which has contributed to ongoing market volatility and fears of another global economic recession. Governments around the world–particularly in the indebted eurozone periphery–have implemented harsh austerity programs, making economic growth all but impossible. In the United States, anger at Wall Street bankers seen as responsible for the global financial crisis–and at the government, for bailing out the banks with taxpayer money–is exacerbated by a persistently dismal job market.” more here…

(Picture via UPI.com)

It seems that Jeffrey Heller, Douglas Hamilton, Andrew Heavens of Reuters.org have an interesting way of reporting a simple news item that’s been covered by other organizations with a bit more objectivity. Here’s two of the opening paragraphs of (what should have been) a simple news item. The problem is with the words in bold below, which are used out of context to the reality of what has actually transpired in this case:

“JERUSALEM/GAZA (Reuters) – Israel and Gaza’s Hamas Islamist rulers agreed on Tuesday to swap more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners for Israeli captive soldier Gilad Shalit, resolving one of the most emotive and intractable issues between them.”

Problem with words in bold in the above paragraph: “Islamist rulers” is an intentionally mis-leading use of words that doesn’t apply to the case. “Hamas” is the accurate description of the political party that actually brokered the deal with Israel. (Correct terminology on Hamas can be found on Wikipedia)/. They are simply refered to as a political party, not “Islamic Rulers”, as Palestine (last time we checked) can hardly be defined as an “Islamic Kingdom”.

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip greeted the agreement, brokered by Egypt and a German mediator, with celebratory gunfire. Hamas confirmed that it only remained to conclude technical arrangements for the exchange. The breakthrough pact, after many false dawns in years of secret efforts to free Shalit since he was captured in 2006, has no direct bearing on Middle East peace negotiations.

Problem with first set of words in bold in the above paragraph: where is the evidence of there being celebratory gunfire? Did all of the Palestinians celebrate with gunfire? Or a handful of individuals? Thanks to Reuters, we’ll never know because the article doesn’t address this observation.

Problem with second set of words in bold in the above paragraph:
“The breakthrough pact, after many false dawns in years of secret efforts to free Shalit since he was captured in 2006, has no direct bearing on Middle East peace negotiations.” – This statement is 100% false. This agreement DOES have a direct bearing on Middle East peace negotiations, otherwise it wouldn’t be news. A prisoner swap has been achieved after five years of failed negotiations by both parties, and REUTERS doesn’t think this is a “Direct bearing on Middle East Peace Negotiations”? Little wonder the Middle East conflict is never-ending. News agencies like REUTERS refuse to accept any sort of peace brokering by either side, or bother to report it as such.

The rest of the news item leaves the reader subjected to the un-informed, and un-educated opinions of the writers of the story: “Prospects for peacemaking have been clouded by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s request for UN recognition of a Palestinian state and Israeli settlement expansion which Abbas has said must stop if negotiations are to begin again.”

Problem with the above statement – there’s multiple factors behind the prospects for peacemaking. Abbas’ UN bid is only one out of seven factors according to Middle East experts and academics. The other main issue is Israeli settlement expansion in the West bank, which both the United States and Europe have condemned as the “main obstacle to peace”. (Past quotes from Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and countless US politicians can be referenced saying such statements all over the internet in countless news items on the Middle East.)

For more information, and a better sourced objective pieces, click on the link below courtesy of the NY Times:

NY Times

(Please note – in this story we learn what accurate Middle East reporting is):

“Khaled Meshal, the Hamas leader based in Syria, confirmed in a broadcast from Damascus that an agreement had been reached, setting off wild celebrations and cheering in Gaza and Palestinian communities elsewhere as word spread that hundreds of Palestinian prisoners languishing in Israeli jails would soon be coming home. Mr. Meshal said the Israelis had agreed to turn over 1,027 Palestinians, among them 315 sentenced to life in prison and 27 women. He called the agreement “a national accomplishment.”

Note in the above paragraph – there is no mention of “Islamic Rulers”, “Gunfire”, and the leader of Hamas Khaled Meshal, (who isn’t referenced as a nameless “Islamic Ruler” – he’s referenced simply as “the Hamas leader based in Syria”), called the agreement “a national accomplishment”.

Good thing Reuters isn’t responsible for brokering peace in the Middle East, for irresponsible reporting like this from them and other news agencies, we can count on a Middle East conflict for years to come.

The Shalit family for one, deserves more accurate reporting on such a case, and Noam Shalit (the father of Gilad Shalit) does as well, being as he spent 1,934 days of their son’s captivity outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem protesting the lack of progress by both parties. He recently thanked U.S. Muslim Leaders for assisting in his release.

(Pic of Gilad Shalit via NY Times)

A busy weekend in the Middle East for Israeli radicals. According to the AFP:

“Israeli settlers invaded Palestinian olive groves in the West Bank on Saturday and uprooted 200 trees, Palestinian witnesses said. The settlers from Yitzhar, near the northern city of Nablus, attacked the groves around the villages of Hawwara and Ein Nabus, the sources said. Late on Wednesday, dozens of Palestinian olive trees were destroyed in an attack near the city of Hebron in what local residents called an act of revenge carried out by settlers. Controversially, the Israeli military is only claiming “about 40″ trees were burnt and uprooted in the village of Shuweikeh, south of Hebron. The military and local residents said the attackers left Hebrew-language graffiti at the scene, including a spray-painted Star of David and the slogan “price tag”. More on this developing story here…

In more news, via Huffington Post, potentially the same group of radicalls torched a mosque in an Arab village in northern Israel early Monday:

“Graffiti spray-painted on the mosque’s walls suggested Jewish radicals were involved. About 200 residents of the village of Tuba-Zangria, Arab citizens of Israel, marched to a major intersection nearby with the intention of blocking the road in protest, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. Some of the demonstrators set tires on fire and threw stones at police officers, who dispersed the crowd with tear gas, Rosenfeld said. No one was injured. Police were mobilized in the area to prevent further disturbances and were meeting with village leaders in an effort to defuse tensions, he added. No unrest was reported inside the village. Rosenfeld said a carpet was burned inside the mosque and interior walls were damaged. Copies of the Quran, the Muslim holy book, were also burned, Israeli media reported. Rosenfeld said the words “price tag” were spray painted on the building – reference to a settler practice of attacking Palestinians and their property in retaliation for Palestinian attacks and government operations against settlements.

More here…

According to the PEJ News Coverage Index: August 15-21, 2011

Barack Obama and Rick Perry Drive the Week’s News. Here’s the official breakdown:

The economy and presidential election led the news agenda last week as two men vying for the same job played a dominant role in those narratives — President Barack Obama and Texas Governor Rick Perry.

From August 15-21, the economy was the top story, accounting for 25% of the newshole according to the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism. That marked the ninth straight week the subject has topped the news even as the level of economic coverage dropped for the third consecutive week. More here…

The Los Angeles Times won a Pulitzer Prize for public service Monday for revealing that politicians in a small, working-class California city were paying themselves exorbitant salaries. But for the first time in the Pulitzers’ 95-year history, no award was given in the category of breaking news — the bread and butter of daily journalism.

In a year when the big stories included the devastating earthquake in Haiti and the Gulf oil spill, the Pulitzer Board didn’t like the entries in the breaking news category enough to honor any of them with the most prestigious award in journalism.

The Los Angeles Times won for its series revealing that politicians in Bell, Calif., were drawing salaries well into six figures. The newspaper’s reporting that officials in the struggling city of 37,000 people were raising property taxes and other fees in part to cover the huge salaries led to arrests and the ouster of some of Bell’s top officials. Read more here…