Posted on 11/19/2004 10:30:49 AM PST by Mo1
Thank you; you too!
This particular weekend, the ritual was marred by tragedy and senselessness. Six are dead and two wounded, and Chai Soua Vang, 36, of St. Paul, Minn., has been arrested in the Sunday shootings in Sawyer County.
Among the dead and wounded are a father and son and a father and daughter, attesting to the pull of family that binds this ritual together.
And we’re all left wondering: Why?
Was it a dispute over a tree stand on private property that Vang, apparently lost, had no right to be in when he was asked to leave? This would hardly suffice as reason.
A probable-cause statement released by Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager quotes Vang as saying that the group of hunters hurled racial epithets his way and that he felt threatened.
He told investigators that one of the other hunters fired the first shot before he returned fire and that he saw other guns as well.
Still, among those killed were people with no weapons, and only one rifle was found at the scene.
If and when Vang is charged, some clarity might be forthcoming. This shouldn’t stop us, however, from asking questions now.
Some will immediately raise the issue of gun control. The SKS 7.62mm semiautomatic assault weapon, the kind of rifle Vang was carrying, is ill-suited for hunting deer. It is apparently too underpowered to kill a deer with a single shot, the goal of hunters who want to avoid needless suffering.
Alleged shooter was avid hunter Neighbors call him 'standoffish;' brother shocked by allegations
Mike he heading out this weekend for his hunting trip
I told him if anyone is sitting in a stand on their property .. not to ask him to get down.
He been here 18 half his life.....
He may not speak English well. I've been around many immigrants in this area who have been here for decades, and their command of the English language is marginal. A couple of years ago, there was a protest at the county courthouse by immigrants who feared losing public benefits like food stamps and welfare checks. Several of the protesters were interviewed. They complained that it was hard to find work when they couldn't speak English well (among other complaints). The ones who wwere interviewed had been here at least 10 years. I was furious. If you've been here that long, there are ample opportunities to learn the language, especially in an urban/suburban area like the San Francisco bay area. There are classes offered, for heaven's sake. If you don't learn the language, it's your own fault.
I wrote to the county supervisors about this, and how angry I was that people were complaining about losing welfare when they couldn't be bothered to help themselves. I got some mush-mouth answer back, and it made me even angrier.
Some will immediately raise the issue of gun control. The SKS 7.62mm semiautomatic assault weapon, the kind of rifle Vang was carrying, is ill-suited for hunting deer. It is apparently too underpowered to kill a deer with a single shot, the goal of hunters who want to avoid needless suffering.
***
I will assure you that this is media b.s.
It will down a deer just like it downed those poor souls - it's all about the placement of the bullet.
He had an SKS semi-auto, not an automatic.
They are not a 'high powered assault rifle' but are a cheap piece of crap people buy when they can't afford a good rifle.
They are about the weakest and cheapest thing it is legal to hunt deer with in most states.
At least I was glad to see that the leaders of the Hmong comunity denounced him as evil and wrong, and didn't try to claim he was discriminated against like most 'minority spokesmen'
So9
THIS IS CHILLING.....
Court document (pdf): Probable cause statement, including interview with suspect (Note: Some obscenities expunged)
http://www.jsonline.com/graphics/news/img/nov04/statement112304edits01.pdf
I can't believe you found that!!!
Gobble, gobble.
Thanks, Mo. Back at'cha.
Be safe and smart, Mike - happy hunting.
OK, it's been twenty years since I took Rifle Class for P.E., so I admit I can't remember much about rifles. I always picture hunters as having regular old rifles or maybe shotguns they have to reload? First thing I thought when I heard the story was what was he doing out there with an assault rifle that only kills people.
I wonder if a weapon was pointed at Vang...
All I had to read this week as the cover story of the Red Star was about how the poor illegals can't be reunited with their children because they weren't able to smuggle all of them across. The Red Star has tried every other tactic to get us to give our country away; now they are using the children angle. Front page, inside and out of investigative reporting of illegals. Some of the homes they showed - these people practically live better on welfare than we do. One would think the INS or someone would arrest the reporter and all the lawbreakers interviewed - since all the names and towns were provided. One would think that people would understand ILLEGAL means not legal.
First thing I thought when I heard the story was what was he doing out there with an assault rifle that only kills people.
***
"Assault" rifles are a figment of the gun-grabbers' fevered p.c. imagination. Any weapon that is wrongfully used against a person could be called an assault rifle; just as any rifle that harvests a deer could be called a deer rifle.
One of you expletive in blank space!
In that court paper 3rd page 1st paragaph
reported by a surviser Lauren Hesebeck, 48, he said ONE OF YOU xxxxxxx ARE STILL ALIVE!
Sounds like was coping the soldier in Falluia
Great catch on the court documents - thank you.
GENEVA (AP) -- The international Red Cross has visited Saddam Hussein again to check on his condition in detention, a spokesman said Wednesday.
Muin Kassis, spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Amman, Jordan, said the visit "took place recently in the detention place of the former president of Iraq."
"A team of ICRC delegates spent some time with the former president, and they were able to talk to him in private, which meets one of the requirements of ICRC's visits to prisoners and persons deprived of their freedom anywhere in the world," Kassis told The Associated Press by telephone.
He said he was unable to disclose details of the conversation, but that "usually during such visits the ICRC delegates would inquire about the general detention conditions and they would listen to the prisoner."
"Should they have any remark relating to the health condition or the detention conditions and treatment they would discuss it directly with the detaining authorities," Kassis added.
He said he didn't know whether Saddam sent his family any messages this time, but that ICRC remains in contact with his family.
The visit was the latest in a series that the ICRC has been making to the former Iraqi president since he was captured by U.S. forces last December and imprisoned in an undisclosed location.
The ICRC team, which usually includes a doctor, has been seeing Saddam every six to eight weeks in a prison in Iraq, where it also visits other "high-value detainees." The last confirmed visit by the organization was in early October.
The ICRC refuses to disclose details of his health or circumstances, but it has carried letters from him to his family.
Saddam underwent surgery to repair a hernia at the end of September or in early October and made a full recovery, a U.S. official said last month.
The U.S. military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Saddam's health was good with no major ailments.
In July, the Guardian newspaper in Britain and Newsday in New York quoted Iraq's human rights minister, Bakhtiar Amin, as saying Saddam was being treated for high blood pressure and a chronic prostate infection and was suffering from a hernia.
Saddam is believed to be held in an American-guarded facility near Baghdad International Airport.
He appeared in court in July for a preliminary hearing into charges of alleged crimes committed during his rule.
Thanks for the education SO9
God bless you and yours, Mo1.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.
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