U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) was shot in the head today at a small political rally in Tucson, Arizona.  Altogether, eighteen people were shot. Six of them have died and others are in critical condition.  Last year, on April 16, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed into law a bill that legalizes the carrying of concealed firearms and other weapons without a permit for adults over 21 years of age.  Arizona law prohibits any local Arizona jurisdiction from passing laws requiring licensing of guns, including assault weapons.

That’s the same Arizona and the same Tucson in the same United States of America from which the report has come that the newly elected Arizona Attorney General Tom Horn has announced the end of Latino School programs such as the Latino Literature class at Tucson Magnet High School because, according to Mr. Horn, “It’s propagandizing and brainwashing that’s going on there.”  Teachers are being told by the Attorney General’s office that they may not advocate for ethnic solidarity, so a class which focuses specifically on the literature of a single ethnic group is illegal. 

I am wondering how I will answer when my friends from Europe and Asia and Australia and South America and Africa ask me to explain why such a thing can happen in my country.  I can’t think what to say that will make my country seem reasonably civil to those looking at us from a distance.
When I heard that the International Pigeon Show was happening just down the hill from my house, I couldn't resist. The pictures say it all. Who would ever have thought there could be so many varieties of pigeons. I went into a room with thousands of pigeons waiting patiently (or not so patiently) to be judged. There was no way I could tie the pigeon show to the tragedy in Tuscon today, so I didn't try.