As It Stands: 'Aflockalypse' Now: The world gets weirder in 2011

BY Dave Stancliff/For the Times-Standard

Posted: 01/16/2011 04:10:29 AM PST

All the signs indicate that 2011 is shaping up to be a banner year for the weird books.

Thousands of dead birds have fallen out of the skies in America, Italy, Sweden, fish have died for no apparent reason by the tens of thousands in America, thousands of dead crabs have mysteriously washed up in England, and a loosely-organized group of Christians are sure that Judgment Day will come on May 21st.

 I'd say that was a pretty good start, wouldn't you? Residents of Beebe, Ark., woke up on New Year's Day to reports of 5,000 dead birds plummeting from the heavens, and other odd mass animal deaths have been reported worldwide. Some people suggested the cause was fireworks and the birds were literally “blown from the sky.”

I'll have to pass on that explanation. According to fish and game wildlife experts, a massive bird death is not that unusual. Newspapers and blogs are calling the phenomenon the “Aflockalypse,” a nice catchy name if you ask me.

Mere days after the 5,000 birds went crazy and dive-bombed terra firma at Beebe, 100,000 dead drum fish washed up along 20 miles of the Arkansas River less than 500 miles away.The experts called it a coincidence. They also were quick to say that pollutants/poisons were not involved in either case. That was without testing the carcasses. The bottom-feeding drum fish were the only ones affected in the river, which makes me suspicious of that claim.

Within five days of those two Events there was another case of birds falling out of the sky. About 500 lifeless birds dropped onto Louisiana's Highway 1 near Pointe Coupee. Officials with the Louisiana Department of Fisheries and Wildlife noted that many of the birds showed signs, like broken beaks and wings, of violent injury that was not just the result of hitting the ground.

Perhaps these weird events are a coincidence. Conspiracy theorists might think otherwise. A third dead bird drop followed in Sweden days after the Louisiana event. “This is a classic example of freak events coinciding,” said Petter Boeckman, a zoologist at the Norwegian Natural History Museum, in an interview with Reuters.

Right after the Swedish event, 40,000 dead crabs washed up on the coast of Kent, England, leaving experts baffled again. And in Gilbertsville, Kentucky, a woman found dozens of dead birds in her yard. That was followed up by reports from Italy where 8,000 turtledoves fell dead out of the skies and left authorities wondering why they had a strange blue stain on their beaks.

Much closer to home, 100 birds were found dead south of Geyserville clustered on the ground off of Highway 101 on Jan. 8.

The reports of mass animal deaths around the world are galvanizing self-appointed prophets to proclaim the apocalypse is upon us. The unlikely confluence of factors may be tantalizing, but so far I haven't read anything that actually explains them.

For now, I'm putting these reports on my weird watch list of animal species dying in mass numbers for no apparent reason.

If Marie Exley, a 32-year-old Army veteran with two tours of Iraq, is right, I won't be around to see the year's end. Exley is convinced that Judgment Day is just around the corner. May 21st, to be specific.

She and a loose coalition of Christians are spreading the word. They've put together radio broadcasts and websites, independent of mainstream churches, to get their message out. Exley and others believe the Bible warns that May 21st will be the end of the world.

Frankly, I'm not expecting explanations for all of these strange events. Improbable events happen daily and go unreported. Reports of animals falling out of the skies go back hundreds of years. One of my favorite examples in this category is the famous “Kentucky Meat Shower” of 1876. Louisville residents were pelted with chunks of raw mutton and venison falling from the sky. One popular theory suggested the meat came from a flock of vomiting buzzards flying by! Talk about Aflockalypse.

As It Stands, who knows what will happen next? Republican and Democratic buzzards might cooperate with one another this year and actually do the job the public elected them for. Now that would be a sure sign of the end days!

60 days of nothing but spuds leaves advocate 21 lbs. lighter

I think that if I went on a diet like this I would soon be seeing eyes (right) in everything I ate. I’m a meat and potatoes guy, but this is just going too far. Gotta love what some people will do to keep their jobs however:

‘No toppings, no sour cream, no butter’: The rigors of the all-potato diet

“As the head of the Washington State Potato Commission, it’s the job of Chris Voigt to promote the spud as a nutritious, cost-effective, easy-to-grow vegetable that should be part of a well-balanced diet.

To hammer home his message, Voigt ate nothing but potatoes between Oct. 1 and Dec. 1. He had them for breakfast, lunch and dinner — about 20 potatoes per day prepared in a variety of ways.”

Canadian radio stations told to censor Dire Straits

The slippery slope of rewriting history is not good for anyone. One American scholar recently wanted to rewrite Huckleberry Finn because it used the “N” word. This latest attempt at historical censorship in Canada really surprises me.

Why is it that people feel they have to rewrite history to make it acceptable by today’s standards?

Excerpt:

“Canadian radio station have been warned to censor the 1985 Dire Straits hit "Money for Nothing," after a complaint that the lyrics of the Grammy Award-winning song were derogatory to gay men.

A St. John's, Newfoundland, station should have edited the song to remove the word "faggot" because it violates Canada's human rights standards, according to ruling this week by the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council.”

Forget about man biting dog for a story – try Fox shoots man!

I remember the old journalism saying; “It’s not a story when a dog bites a man. It is a story however, if the man bites the dog.”

“MOSCOW (Reuters) – A wounded fox shot its would be killer in Belarus by pulling the trigger on the hunter's gun as the pair scuffled after the man tried to finish the animal off with the butt of the rifle, media said Thursday.

The unnamed hunter, who had approached the fox after wounding it from a distance, was in hospital with a leg wound, while the fox made its escape, media said, citing prosecutors from the Grodno region.

"The animal fiercely resisted and in the struggle accidentally pulled the trigger with its paw," one prosecutor was quoted as saying.

Fox-hunting is popular in the picturesque farming region of northwestern Belarus which borders Poland.”

(Reporting by Amie Ferris-Rotman; Editing by Matthew Jones)

I was a Scropio & now I’m a Libra because experts say that a wobbly earth means our horoscopes are wrong!

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Stars shifted over 2,000 years so horoscope signs are nearly a month off

If you look to your horoscope for a preview of your day, look again: You're probably following somebody else's supposed fate.Thanks to Earth's wobble, astrological signs are, well, bunk. (Or even more bunk than you might expect.) Astrological signs are determined by the position of the sun relative to certain constellations on a person's day of birth. The problem is, the positions were determined more than 2,000 years ago. Nowadays, the stars have shifted in the night sky so much that horoscope signs are nearly a month off. [Read: Why Your Horoscope for 2011 Is All Wrong ]

Billionaire Koch Brothers Fulfill Father's Campaign to Segregate Public Schools, End Successful Integration Program in NC

Just in case there’s any doubt that racism is still rampant in America check out this story…

“In their quest to end the diversity policy, the frustrated parents have found some influential partners, among them retail magnate and Republican operative Art Pope. Following his guidance, the GOP fielded the victorious bloc of school board candidates who railed against “forced busing.” The nation’s largest tea party organizers, Americans for Prosperity – on whose national board Pope sits – cast the old school board members as arrogant “leftists.” Two libertarian think tanks, which Pope funds almost exclusively, have deployed experts on TV and radio.”

The Tea party group founded and funded by the Koch brothers, Americans for Prosperity, led the way in destroying what was a model integration system in Wake County. 

“Today in the Washington Post, reporter Stephanie McCrummen detailed how a right-wing campaign in the Wake County area of North Carolina has taken over the school board with a pledge to end a very successful socio-economic integration plan. The integration plan, which created thriving schools in poor African-American parts of the school district along with achieving diversity in schools located in wealthy white enclaves, was a model for the nation. However, Americans for Prosperity (AFP), the Tea Party group founded and funded by billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, worked with local right-wing financier (and AFP board member) Art Pope to fundamentally change Wake County’s school board.”

Proof that the Koch family bigotry infects each new generation:

“… the Koch brothers are simply fulfilling their father’s legacy. In 1958, Fred Koch — the founder of Koch Industries — joined a group of manufacturing executives and Robert Welch to found the John Birch Society, a virulent far-right group that dominated the civil rights debate.”

 

Absolutely Amazing Photography by Edgar Moskopp

 

GO HERE TO SEE MORE

‘Spirit of Adventure: British cruise ship dodges pirates in Indian Ocean

Spirit of Adventure approached by speedboat; passengers, crew are safe

“A British cruise ship avoided potential attack in the Indian Ocean yesterday when it was approached by a speedboat manned by what is thought to have been Somali pirates. The 9,570-ton, 348-passenger Spirit of Adventure, a sister line of Saga Cruises, was en route from Madagascar to Zanzibar when a suspect vessel came suspiciously close during dinner, having followed the ship at a distance for some time beforehand. A spokesman for Spirit of Adventure told Cruise Critic: "As a pure precaution, passengers were moved to the lounge and full security measures were put into place."

Abandoned buildings in America that are good for urban exploration

Abandoned Man-Made Military Island

Baltimore, Maryland has a number of interesting abandonments, but none so sizable and prominent as Fort Carroll (right). Over a century old, this for was constructed in the middle of the 19th century though it never saw war. In WWII it was briefly used as a firing range for the Army and a checkpoint for ships, but has been abandoned ever since. Developers have failed to find uses for it and it has since become a habitat for numerous animals and the site of occasional urban explorations.

Abandoned Luxury Hotel Building

Mineral Wells, Texas is home to a grand old abandoned hotel with the first Olympic-size swimming pool in the United States. Opened nearly 80 years ago, the 14 story Baker Hotel (above left) had visits from celebrities including Judy Garland, Clark Gable, Roy Rogers, The Three Stooges, Bonny and Clyde, Helen Keller and even Ronald Reagan before closing its doors. As per a strange promise made to the public, the hotel’s founder Earl Baker closed the hotel on his 70th birthday. The hotel was auctioned and reopened under new ownership but in the late 1960s Baker had a fatal heart attack (strangely enough) in his own grand hotel’s Baker Suite. The hotel closed shortly thereafter for good, leaving behind only pictures of this wonder. GO HERE TO SEE MORE

Art Corner: Los Angeles muralist, 94, paints the seasons of her life

Neighbors encouraged Erma Winfield's at-home project, and even the police hovered overhead to monitor her artistic progress.

The mural outside Erma Winfield's Mid-City home has a Grandma Moses look to it. And not just because the artist who painted it is 94, either. Story here.

PHOTO - Mid-City Artist Erma Winfield is a self-taught artist who celebrates life with paintings based on photos and her memories. She spent eight months completing the mural at her home. “It turned out great,” a neighbor says. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times / January 5, 2011)

I think it’s time for some laughter on this wet Tuesday afternoon

Image source

It was that close: Hero was almost a heel for shooting the wrong man

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You aren’t going to stop crazies like Loughner from killing soneone by carrying a gun.

As the dust settles on the shooting rampage in Tucson one thing is becoming clear; someone else was nearly killed by someone packing a gun while coming to the aide of the fallen Congresswoman.

Joe Zamudio’s actions have spurred some to look at Arizona’s liberal gun laws (you don’t need a permit to carry a concealed weapon) and to see if they need tightened. Others, to my amazement, are looking at ways to expand gun accessibility in the state. 

 Armed Giffords hero nearly shot wrong man

Joe Zamudio rushed to the scene and saw a man with a gun — but he wasn't the shooter

“Now comes the tragedy in Tucson. And what do gun advocates propose? More guns. Arizona already lets people carry concealed weapons without requiring permits. The legislature is considering two bills to expand this right, and as Slate's David Weigel reports, the Arizona Citizens Defense League is preparing legislation that would require the state to offer firearms training to politicians and their staff. The bill is tentatively titled the Giffords-Zimmerman Act in honor of the wounded congresswoman and her slain aide. "When everyone is carrying a firearm, nobody is going to be a victim," argues the state's top pro-gun legislator. Beyond Arizona, at least two members of Congress say they'll brings guns while traveling their districts.”

You can arm every man and women in Arizona and it’s not going to stop a determined shooter from walking up and blasting away. Unless the targeted person has their weapon out and are ready to shoot it instantly, it doesn’t do them any good according to law enforcement and government authorities. When your talking about a true “headcase” they aren’t going to care if everyone else is carrying a gun. Most of the time they expect to die, or even kill themselves after inflicting their damage.

“The new poster boy for this agenda is Joe Zamudio, a hero in the Tucson incident. Zamudio was in a nearby drug store when the shooting began, and he was armed. He ran to the scene and helped subdue the killer. Television interviewers are celebrating his courage, and pro-gun blogs are touting his equipment. "Bystander Says Carrying Gun Prompted Him to Help," says the headline in the Wall Street Journal.”

But before we embrace Zamudio's brave intervention as proof of the value of being armed, let's hear the whole story. "I came out of that store, I clicked the safety off, and I was ready," he explained on Fox and Friends. "I had my hand on my gun. I had it in my jacket pocket here. And I came around the corner like this." Zamudio demonstrated how his shooting hand was wrapped around the weapon, poised to draw and fire. As he rounded the corner, he saw a man holding a gun. "And that's who I at first thought was the shooter," Zamudio recalled. "I told him to 'Drop it, drop it!'"

But the man with the gun wasn't the shooter. He had wrested the gun away from the shooter. "Had you shot that guy, it would have been a big, fat mess," the interviewer pointed out.

Tactically speaking, if the Congresswoman and her aides, were all carrying weapons, they would still be at a hopeless disadvantage with respect to a sudden gun-reveal and attack by a determined or crazed assailant in a crowd...unless they have those weapons at the ready, and their primary function is armed security, and there is a physical separation between the assailant and the protectee, and the protectee has cover available.

"I was very lucky. Honestly, it was a matter of seconds. Two, maybe three seconds between when I came through the doorway and when I was laying on top of [the real shooter], holding him down. So, I mean, in that short amount of time I made a lot of really big decisions really fast. … I was really lucky."

Zamudio knows he was lucky. He’s never had any formal firearm training, but told reporters he grew up with guns. That’s great, but it doesn’t mean he knows what to do in a shoot-out with civilians everywhere. Right now the NRA and gun proponents are tooting his horn because he had a gun – despite the fact he didn’t use it and almost shot the wrong person – when he (and another man) subdued the shooter who had run out of ammunition for his semi-auto Glock.

One last thing: the shooter bought his ammo at a Wal-Mart hours before the killings. He went to one and they (for reasons still unknown) wouldn’t sell him any. So he went to another Wal Mart nearby, and bought 200 rounds there with no problem. That tells me that if there was a safeguard (showing ID - like we have to do in California as of this year) it worked in one place and not another. So what does that tell you about the effectiveness of that supposed safeguard?

‘As It Stands’ Comeback Line For 2010 is a true classic…

If you ever testify in court, you might wish you could have been as sharp as this policeman. He was being cross-examined by a defense attorney during a felony trial. The lawyer was trying to undermine the police officer's credibility ... 

Q: 'Officer --- did you see my client fleeing the scene?' 
 
A: 'No sir. But I subsequently observed a person matching the description of the offender, running several blocks away.' 
 
Q: 'Officer -- who provided this description?' 
 
A: 'The officer who responded to the scene.' 
 
Q: 'A fellow officer provided the description of this so-called offender. Do you trust your fellow officers?' 
 
A: 'Yes, sir. With my life.' 
 
Q: 'With your life? Let me ask you this then officer. Do you have a room where you change your clothes in preparation for your daily duties?' 
 
A: 'Yes sir, we do!'

 
Q: 'And do you have a locker in the room?' 
 
A: 'Yes, sir, ... I do.'

Q: 'And do you have a lock on your locker?' 
 
A: 'Yes, sir.' 
 
Q: 'Now, .. why is it, officer, if you trust your fellow officers with your life, you find it necessary to lock your locker in a room you share with these same officers?' 
 
A: 'You see, sir -- we share the building with the court complex, and sometimes lawyers have been known to walk through that room.'
 
The courtroom EXPLODED with laughter, and a prompt recess was called.

This comeback line came from Rolex Forums

If you enjoyed this comeback try going here for a great collection of comebacks compiled at PuzzList

8 Psychotic Overreactions by Adults at Youth Sporting Events

Anybody who played sports as a kid has probably had one or both of their parents behave in such a ridiculously embarrassing manner during a game that it still makes us cringe just to think about it. So it should come as no surprise that on athletic fields around the world, the phenomena known as Sideline Rage (that is, adults acting like unbalanced assholes during children's sporting events) seems to gotten even more terrifying since we were kids.

#8 Dentist Dad Rigs Helmet to Make Opposing Players Bleed

As much as every parent says, "It doesn't matter if you win as long as you have fun," nobody wants their kid running around picking daisies in the outfield and taking fancy-pants swings at the ball. Sure, you can make your kid do extra practice at home, or maybe even spring for a personal trainer. Or, if you're like dentist and overzealous sports dad Dr. Stephen Cito, you can weaponize your son's football helmet before a big game
Taking a page out sports legend Ty Cobb's playbook, Dr. Cito sharpened the face guard of his son's football helmet so it would slash any opposing players that got close enough. His son wore the death helmet in a game against high school rival Albuquerque Academy. After five players were taken off the field with lacerations, referees halted the game, and an inspection of the Cito's super-helmet revealed it was "sharp enough to shred a magazine cover."Let's make it clear: He didn't rig this thing to scratch up some arms and hands and make the game a little tougher on the other team. One opposing player had to be taken to the hospital to get 10 stitches on his arm. Yes, this is a real thing that happened.

Cito's son was expelled from St. Pious High and banned from competition for a year. Dr. Cito himself was charged with conspiring to commit aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and sentenced to two days in jail, one year probation and 400 hours community service, presumably teaching little leaguers how to file down a toothbrush and hide it in their glove.

Read the other 7 crazy reactions here.

Humans first wore clothing 170,000 years ago

Scientists track louse DNA to determine people got dressed after second-to-last Ice Age

“Humans began to wear clothing 170,000 years ago, according to a new study that suggests our ancestors first put on clothes after the second-to-last Ice Age, when being nude must have been too cool for comfort.

The evidence comes from seemingly very unfashionable lice, since scientists tracked when head lice evolved into clothing/body lice around 170,000 years ago. So lice have been with us since the world's first clothes were made.”

Airing out citizen concerns about PG&E's SmartMeter Program

By Dave Stancliff/For the Times-Standard

Posted: 01/09/2011 01:26:13 AM PST

It's been a year since PG&E's SmartMeter Program was introduced in California. We got ours in early December. I went outside and talked with the young lady while she installed the controversial new technology for monitoring energy use. She was from Oregon and wasn't bothered by rain coming down while she did her job.

At the time, I was unaware of the controversy regarding the new SmartMeters. When I mentioned I got one recently, a friend told me to Google “SmartMeters.” He hinted darkly that there were big problems with them. He didn't even want to talk about it.

Curiosity properly piqued, I got on my computer and surfed through reams of stories about SmartMeters. I've concluded there are three main issues associated with them: The first is questions about their accuracy. The second concerns health hazards from their microwave radiation emissions and the third is privacy concerns. Apparently anyone can read your personal meter.

PG&E's SmartMeter program initially came under attack because of reports about accuracy that were largely refuted when an independent study found the technology to be fundamentally sound. Having said that, I know there are still problems with accuracy. The electric bill for my son's employer's house has been about $25 a month for the last two years. When he got his new SmartMeter, his first bill for the month skyrocketed to $700!

Yes, it was taken care of. I've read and heard about other cases of overcharging throughout the state during my research on this subject. The word from PG&E is they're still working some bugs out of the system. Doesn't seem to me like a smart business move to install a system that wasn't 100 percent ready to go.

There have been protests in 22 counties in California (including here in Humboldt County) about health concerns regarding the SmartMeters. There's probably a protest going on right now somewhere. Many PG&E customers have reported headaches, dizziness, nausea, tinnitus and heart palpitations that allegedly began when the new wireless meters were installed.

SmartMeters use 1-watt radios to transmit energy data over wireless networks. Those radios emit low levels of radio waves. Some studies have linked these radio waves, like those that transmit cell phone communications, with illnesses such as cancer. To be fair, other studies have not found a connection between low levels of radio waves and life-threatening illnesses.

The long-term health effects of radio waves from SmartMeters have not been studied. At least I couldn't find any studies. If there are some I'd like to hear about them.

Finally, there's the privacy issue. For the record, digital meters have been around for about 30 years. The only thing new is the ability to communicate with PG&E. It's that ability that has people worried.

I've read numerous reports about how easy it is to hack into wireless networks. The residents' usage data becomes available to anyone nearby with a laptop. That could become a security concern, because usage data gives information about when residents are home, asleep, or on vacation. This kind of information could be valuable to criminals.

 

Having looked at the three concerns I've mentioned here, it's important to realize how widespread this technology has become. Advanced Metering Infrastructure, also known as SmartMetering, is currently used in Japan, Canada, New Zealand, Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Malta, Ireland, UK, Italy, and France. It's also being installed throughout Australia.

New technology often spawns concerns. Real and imagined. From all accounts, PG&E did a lousy job of educating the public when the installations began. They've been playing catch-up since. Whether or not these concerns prove to be true remains to be seen. This is not a comforting thought because I now have one outside of my house.

I can't help wondering what's going to happen to all those meter readers who will no longer be necessary because of this new system. Will PG&E give them some other job to do? My guess is they'll become casualties like so many other workers who lost their jobs to new technologies.

The traditional electrical meters only measured total consumption. They didn't provide information as to when the energy was consumed. Experts say the SmartMeters measure this information, allowing price setting agencies to introduce different prices for consumption based on the time of day and the season.

As It Stands, in a perfect world this would mean everybody saved money and energy usage was more efficient.

UPDATE – web site that’s carrying this column today

Googlyfish – an Australian Blog

Google News – search engine

 

Woman Dances 123 Hours to Set Guinness World Record

When a woman dances for 123 hours, it's going to be news.

Especially when it turns out to be a Guinness-worthy world record. And if you've never heard of the Indian dance called the Mohiniyattam before, that's why she did it.

Hemalatha trained harder than a lot of pro athletes. She practiced the Mohiniyattam for 10 hours a day and ran 28 miles to work on her stamina, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

A lesson for humans on working together and acting responsibly

This level of social organization is described as eusocial. As well as benefitting the colony, the researchers believe that this ability to change jobs may also lead to longer life spans in social insects compared to their solitary cousins…

BBC Animal Science — Central American leaf-cutter ants “retire” from their cutting role when they grow old, switching to carrying when their jaws blunt with age. Leaf-cutter ants start their lives with razor-like jaws, or mandibles, to cut through the leaves they harvest. But as these “wear out”, the insects tend to carry the leaves cut by their younger counterparts.

The findings suggest that individual ants can extend their useful lifespan as their skills decline. They are reported in the journal Behaviour Ecology and Sociobiology. The US-based scientists discovered that older ants were significantly less efficient at cutting leaves. They estimated these older colony members’ “worn-out teeth” halved the speed at which the entire colony was able to harvest leaves. Story here.

Holiday drive traded free pot for food donations at dispensary

I figure this was one for the books when it came to food drives. I’ve never heard of, or seen, one that rewarded the donors with doobies!

SOQUEL, Calif. (AP) — A California medical marijuana dispensary has raked in food donations with a unique offer: free pot.

The Granny Purps dispensary in Soquel, about 60 miles southeast of San Francisco, offered a complimentary marijuana cigarette for every four cans of food a patient brought in this holiday season. Each patient was limited to a maximum of three cigarettes a day.

The Santa Cruz Sentinel reports that the dispensary took in 11,000 pounds of food and handed out 2,000 marijuana cigarettes between November and Christmas Eve, when the promotion ended.

The food was donated to the Second Harvest Food Bank.

Democratic Congresswoman Giffords, others shot in Arizona

UPDATE Below

This is a breaking news story that just came minutes ago…

A Victim of political rage?

Gunman hits Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., in the head; sprays bullets into crowd

“Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., was shot in the head and an unknown number of others were wounded Saturday when an assailant sprayed bullets into an area where the lawmaker was meeting with constituents, congressional officials said.

Officials said one of the victims died soon after the attack, and others were taken to a nearby hospital.

There were conflicting reports on whether the congresswoman had died.”

UPDATE: 12:14 PST

According to Talking Points Memo : 

While NPR and CNN initially reported that Giffords and at least six others were killed in the shooting, local news confirmed with the hospital at 2:30 ET that she remains in surgery. We are expecting a news conference at 3:30 ET.

Related News – Why did this happen? Was it because Sarah Palin put her on a “target list?” The following provides clues…

Giffords has dealt with several violent incidents in the last year, mostly related to the health care reform vote. In August 2009 at another "Congress on Your Corner" event at a Douglas, AZ Safeway, one attendee dropped a gun.

Her office was vandalized in March 2010 after the health care vote. That same month, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin (R) put Giffords on SarahPAC's "target" list with a gun site over her district.

Giffords' opponent in a tough reelection campaign last fall, tea partier Jesse Kelly (R), reportedly held an event in June 2010 in which supporters were invited to shoot an M-16 with him to "Get On Target For Victory."

On at least two previous occasions, staff were concerned about violence. At one town hall event event, aides contacted police after an attendee left a gun, according to an account in the Huffington Post. And in March, 2010, a few hours after her vote in favor of the Affordable Care Act, somebody smashed in the window of her district office.

ODD REACTION FROM LOCAL BLOGGER

Apparently Eric at So Hum Parlance decided to censor my comments regarding the Congresswoman’s death, and a link to TPM about Palin putting her on a “Target List.” I wonder what brought that about? He’s never censored anything I said before and it wasn’t like I was “off thread” or being troll-like in any way.

GUMAN WAS DESCRIBED AS “LEFT-WING LIBERAL” (3:25 PST)

A young woman in Arizona, Catie Parker, claimed on her Twitter feed that she went to high school and college with the gunman, and was in a band with him. She described his politics in the past as "left wing, quite liberal, & oddly obsessed with the 2012 prophecy." She also described him as having a lot of friends "until he got alcohol poisoning in '06" and dropped out of school. "Mainly loner very philosophical."