I'm a slayer, ask me how.

Just had a patron call with questions about the Capital Gazette shooting so I needed to read all these articles about the crazy person who killed those people and how he got a gun etc. and omg, I just wanted to say "NOOOOO I don't want to read this anymore, call back Monday, you are making me depressed!!"

Also, apparently in Maryland, you have to be 21+, have certification, attend a training and have state ID to get a handgun or semi-automatic. To get a shotgun, you just need to be 18+ and have an ID. That's it. WTF. A gun is a gun is a gun.

But I'm sure he got it through a third party seller that didn't bother to do a background check.

Honestly, do we really need to do a more extensive background check than searching for someone's twitter handle?

So ready for 5pm. :(

This NPR article is terrifying on so many levels

We Tracked Down a Fake News Creator in the Suburbs. Here's What We Learned.

The whole "fake news" debate has really pulled me in. At first, I was concerned that people were just calling anything partisan "fake news" but then I read this and these people are writing out of malice. This guy is a liberal, a registered Democrat, and he think it is "fun" to feed people misinformation and propaganda.

Oh, and he may or may not be making at least $30,000 a MONTH on it.

Reading this, I realized it is not the fake news sites that we need to be targeting. We need to target their source of revenue. We need to find out what companies advertise on fake news sites and boycott them. Shame them away from supporting these sites that are just lies.

When it comes down to it though, it is all in the hands of the consumer. We tell people to lock their house before leaving to discourage theft. We tell people to install anti-virus programs on their computer. We research our electronics purchases and check all the reviews before buying a TV. It is our responsibility to check our news sources before we share them or take them as truth.

But how can we do that when the fake news creators are actively trying to make this difficult? Buying URLs that sound like small town newspapers because they want to fool readers? Or, as the creator points out, when people "want" to read the lies, they want to believe the lies, so why would they bother to check? The fake news article about people using food stamps to buy pot in Colorado - people want to believe the worst about the poor so do they bother to find out if this is true?

But I don't think Facebook should try to block sites only because I know people will start trying to block legitimate sites they don't agree with. Like when Facebook went to the real name only policy and all of the transgender people and drag queens were virtually attacked for not using their "given" names. Plenty of news sites twist the facts, mold them to fit their agenda - is that real news or fake news?

Deep thoughts for a Sunday morning, I know. But this whole thing has been bothering me. I don't think it swayed the election, I think most people had made their decisions long before polling day. But it might sway the next one.

Thoughts? More articles? Tell me!

Mississippi's Confederate Heritage Month proclamation prompts outcry

Seriously, how could they not think this was going to cause issues? They did it to CAUSE issues. What is wrong with the U.S. right now? Why are these states going insane?

All they had to do was create a "Civil War Rememberance" Month or something like that, honor everyone who fought, talk about the issues. No, instead they specifically focus on the Confederates.

**sigh** between this and the anti-LGBT laws that are getting pushed through left and right, I'm starting to be pro-wall, but I'd like that wall built across the Mason-Dixon line.