Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” is the book that gave birth to American environmentalism 50 years ago.

It’s the book that raised the first red flag over the unregulated use of chemical pesticides that killed birds and other creatures, poisoned water, and worked their way up the food chain to human consumption...

...And it’s the book that Carson said was inspired by a letter from Duxbury resident Olga Owens Huckins.

“Olga Owens Huckins told me of her own bitter experience of a small world made lifeless,” Carson wrote in her acknowledgments for “Silent Spring,’’ “and now brought my attention sharply back to a problem with which I had long been concerned. I then realized I must write this book.”

Indian women turn to firearms against threat of violence

Guns are increasingly popular with well-off Indian women who feel that they should be able to defend themselves against crime


When Dr Harveen Kaur Sidhu travels from her home in an upmarket neighbourhood of the north-western Indian city of Chandigarh, she always slips her lightweight .22 revolver in her bag. The gun is a new purchase – Sidhu got her licence only a year ago – but now the 33-year-old dentist won't travel without it.

"I don't have faith in the police to protect me. There are so many attacks on women these days. It's everybody's right to defend themselves. I think all women who are vulnerable should be carrying guns," Sidhu said. She is not alone. A growing number of well-off, educated Indian women are turning to firearms for protection....

...Gang rapes in the capital, New Delhi, are commonplace. One recent news magazine's investigation revealed widespread misogyny among the city's senior police officers, many of whom said the crimes were the fault of the victims.

"There are so many incidents, especially in Delhi. Women who are working or who are travelling should definitely have a gun," said Sidhu. She explained that changing lifestyles were making women more vulnerable, particularly single women working or coming home late at night. "Why should I be dependent on someone else, even my husband or the police, for my own safety? I should be independent," she said. "Imagine all the problems and mishaps which could be avoided if women could defend themselves properly. The females have to be self-armed and protected and should send out a strong message that we are not taking this anymore."

Amendment XIV
Section 1.

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws...

Corker challenger Park Overall agrees with Obama on same-sex marriage

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2012/may/10/corker-challenger-park-overall-agrees-obama-same-s/?breakingnews

NASHVILLE — Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Park Overall said today she’s fully in support of President Barack Obama’s statement in support of same-sex marriage.

“The 14th Amendment calls for equal rights under the law. I can’t imagine how the fear of same-sex couples has trumped the Constitution for this long,” Overall, an environmental advocate and actress, said in a statement. “As for President Obama saying he’s for gay marriage, all I can say is, hallelujah and what took so long?”

Overall is running in the August Democratic primary in hopes of challenging U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., in November.

For “committed, loving couples to be denied the rights of heterosexual couples is prejudicial,” she said. “I am thrilled that my president has taken this highly evolved stances and continues to push the rock uphill. May we continue to strive for the rights of all men and women.”...

The NRA and George Zimmerman

BRADY'S NEW PRESIDENT SPEAKS OUT ON TRAYVON MARTIN

TRIBUTE TO CHRISTINA-TAYLOR GREEN

My niece, my daughter's cousin....

"We don't need anymore restrictions on our society"

"If we live in a country like the United States, where people are more free than anywhere else, we are subject to things like this happening."