I thought that there might be plenty to write about after last weekend's NFL playoff games, on both days, and was proven right. So, I never really got around to the "Around the Bend" early in the week, nor later on, for that matter.
But here I am now, and thought this would be an opportune time.
Obama and Gun Control
So, now, things are really beginning to heat up on this front. With the press conference yesterday, the President made a strong push for stricter gun control, although he also made clear that it is the American people themselves who need to force the issue and demand tighter controls for access to guns.
President Obama took the recommendations of the team that he had assembled, which was headed by Vice President Biden, and urged Congress to approve an assault weapons ban, a limit on high capacity magazines and background checks for all who seek to buy guns. All of this in the wake of the Sandy Hook shootings last month, in hopes of ending, or at least reducing, gun violence. The President said that since the school shootings that shook the nation, an additional 900 Americans have been killed by gun violence.
The NRA, for their part, of determined to wage what they called a "battle" with any government efforts to curb gun violence by limiting access to guns. NRA President David Keene was unmoved by the presence of four children from different parts of the nation during yesterday's press conference, dismissing it and saying that the President was "using kids to advance an ideological agenda".
The language being employed by many supporters of the NRA, including Keene, seems almost to be preparing for actual battle. "All bets are off when a president really wants to go to war with you, " he said, "We're gonna be there and we're gonna fight it."
The NRA has an ad out showing the Obama daughters and is claiming that it is hypocrisy from the President to rely on armed guards to protect them, yet to be opposed to the NRA's proposals to bring armed guards into every school.
"When the question is the protection of children, which is what this is all about...it's perfectly legitimate to ask why some children should be protected and other children should not be protected," Keene said in defense of the ad.
Following that logic, perhaps we can ask why every adult does not have armed guards, since the President himself has armed guards.
I think Obama was smart to point out that iconic conservative President Reagan also favored some measures of gun control, including some of the same ones that President Obama is now proposing. It should also be noted that conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia ruled that such controls were constitutional.
Former Republican Presidential candidate, and current Texas governor Rick Perry felt the need to chime in on the issue, saying that what was needed was not more gun control laws, but for people to pray for an end to the violence instead.
http://news.yahoo.com/nra-president-defends-ad-attacking-obama-vows-battle-234103020--abc-news-politics.html
http://www.opposingviews.com/i/religion/religion-society/rick-perry-forget-gun-control-pray-help-instead
Around the World
Middle East
Israel - Israeli forces removed a a Palestinian encampment of protest tents outside of Jerusalem on Thursday. They were protesting on land that has been reserved for Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank.
Egypt - A train crash earlier this week has killed nineteen. No foul play is suspected.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/14/world/africa/egypt-train-crash/index.html?hpt=wo_bn7
Europe
Germany - Germany's central bank is going to bring back much of it's gold that is currently stored in France and the United States back to Germany.
France - Hundreds of thousands of anti-gay marriage protesters rallied at the Champ-de-Mars, by the Eiffel Tower, earlier this week, to voice their opposition to gay marriage. President Hollande is for gay marriage, and legalizing it was one of his campaign promises.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/13/world/europe/france-marriage-rights-protest/index.html?hpt=wo_bn6
Latin America & Caribbean
Venezuela - President Chavez missed his own inauguration, and now, he also had Vice President Nicolas Maduro give the State of the Nation address, as President Hugo continues to rest due to severe health concerns.
http://news.yahoo.com/venezuelan-vp-delivers-state-nation-address-215718695.html
Asia
Indonesia - Severe floods have crippled the capital city of Jakarta after heavy monsoon rains. More than 20,000 people have been forced from their homes. Further heavy rains are expected.
Africa
Mali - The war here has really heated up in the last few days, as France has gotten itself involved in it's former colony, launching a ground campaign. The United States was opposed to this, not wanting to bring a Western face into the mix, since it could enforce the perception by some of the "crusade" against Islam by Westerners. Islamist fighters in neighboring Algeria have upped the ante and made this war involve more of the globe by taking dozens of Western journalists hostage. France is presently alone in it's fight in Mali, as other Western nations are hesitant to get involved, although other western African nations seem willing to help, including troops from Nigeria. Chad also has troops heading for Mali.
http://news.yahoo.com/sahara-hostage-siege-turns-mali-war-global-010547607.html
http://news.yahoo.com/w-africans-join-fight-against-mali-islamists-075956170.html
Sports
NFL
The Chargers will be staying put, and not making any sort of move to Los Angeles this year, at least. A move cannot be ruled out for sometime in the future, although that is, for the moment, exactly what it would be: the future. The mayor of San Diego, Bob Filner, announced that the Chargers would be staying put in San Diego for at least another year.
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/mayor-least-1-more-san-062253686--nfl.html
NHL
Hockey is back!
Should anyone care?
Yes, a last minute, eleventh hour deal was reached this past weekend, essentially allowing the NHL to resume play. But after the third major work stoppage in seventeen years, one wonders just how much the fans will be willing to follow the sport, let alone spend money on tickets and merchandise to support their teams.
There will always be some die hard fans who will, of course. But for more moderate fans, a league that has had significant work stoppages three ties in less than twenty years certainly cannot be appealing. So much the less for prospective new fans, and remember that the league has desperately tried to obtain new fans in markets not known for traditionally caring about hockey, particularly in the South.
I like hockey, and my son has been asking about it, specifically. So, I may wind up taking him to a game or two, perhaps. But as for myself, I'm a bit tired to the nonsense. After the last such stoppage in 2004-05, I lost interest in attending games for years, going to my first hockey game in many years only in 2008. With my son, now, that changes things, since he really seems to want to go and has been asking about it. He's too young to understand. But I do, and while I used to go to many games per season, that will no longer be the case, so tired I am of the nonsense. Perhaps when Bettman is gone, it will be better. But until then, it seems like there will be a repetition of the same old same old.
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nhl--how-badly-will-the-lockout-really-hurt-the-nhl--maybe-not-much-205509633.html
Cycling
Disgraced former cyclist Lance Armstrong is set to have his exclusive interview with Oprah aired later this evening, where he is supposed to make a limited confession about doping during his historical Tour de France wins from 1999 until 2005, when he won an unprecedented seven consecutive Tour de France titles, which he has subsequently been stripped of. While Oprah has not released anything at all from the interview, she did claim to be shocked by what Armstrong did not reveal, by how much he seemed to be holding back during the interview.
France - Ligue 1
Superstar striker Nene has left Paris St. Germain for Al Gharafa on a two and a half year deal.
Below are the current standings in the Ligue 1, as per Yahoo! Sports. Lyon remains in front of PSG, with Marseilles trailing behind in third place, but nipping on the heels of PSG and Lyon.
| Place | Team | Games Played | Wins | Draws | Losses | Points | Goals For | Goals Against |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lyon | 20 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 41 | 35 | 18 |
| 2 | Paris Saint-Germain | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 39 | 36 | 12 |
| 3 | Marseille | 20 | 12 | 2 | 6 | 38 | 25 | 23 |
| 4 | Bordeaux | 20 | 7 | 11 | 2 | 32 | 23 | 14 |
| 5 | Nice | 20 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 32 | 31 | 26 |
| 6 | Rennes | 20 | 10 | 2 | 8 | 32 | 29 | 26 |
| 7 | Lorient | 20 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 31 | 32 | 31 |
| 8 | Lille | 20 | 7 | 9 | 4 | 30 | 26 | 20 |
| 9 | Montpellier | 20 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 29 | 31 | 24 |
| 10 | Valenciennes | 20 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 29 | 31 | 29 |
| 11 | St. Etienne | 20 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 28 | 26 | 16 |
| 12 | Toulouse | 20 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 27 | 27 | 22 |
| 13 | Bastia | 20 | 7 | 4 | 9 | 25 | 28 | 42 |
| 14 | Brest | 20 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 24 | 22 | 28 |
| 15 | AC Ajaccio | 20 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 20 | 21 | 29 |
| 16 | Reims | 20 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 19 | 17 | 22 |
| 17 | Sochaux | 20 | 5 | 4 | 11 | 19 | 20 | 30 |
| 18 | Evian | 20 | 5 | 4 | 11 | 19 | 22 | 34 |
| 19 | Troyes | 20 | 2 | 7 | 11 | 13 | 21 | 39 |
| 20 | AS Nancy-Lorraine | 20 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 17 | 35 |
http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/ligue-1/
Tennis
The Australian Open is in full swing right now. No major upsets just yet, but stay tuned. In the meantime, this story may cheer some people of a more mature audience up. Kimiko Date-Krumm, who is 42 years old, won again at this Grand Slam. She won on Thursday 6-2, 7-5, over Shahar Peer, to advance to the third round.
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/date-krumm-42-wins-again-081506488--ten.html
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