Firefighters (click here) in the air and on the ground work to control a fire that broke out in Duarte. Daniel Medina, 14, helps load his family\'s car with important belongings as flames crested the ridgeline near his house. 

Los Angeles " The Latest on wildfires burning in the West (click here) (all times local):

4:30 p.m.

Tawni Atencio was on the way to basketball practice with her mother when her stepfather called and told them they had to evacuate their home northeast of Los Angeles because of a wildfire.

The 17-year-old Atencio says her mom turned the car around Monday and drove straight to their home in Bradbury, in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains.

They went back to get family photos, their two dogs, clothes, and their five cars and a boat.

Atencio says the flames were just a couple miles from their home and were making the house hot despite air-conditioning.

The teenager says the fire is crazy and scary but also that it was "kind of cool" watching helicopters drop retardant on the blaze.

Atencio says she's at a friend's house in Long Beach, California while her family finishes evacuations...

The fact people are dead from heat exposure and not American residents doesn't change anything.

June 20, 2016
Current Large Incidents (click here)

Phoenix (click here) " The Latest on the extreme heat baking the Southwest (all times local):

5:50 p.m.

Authorities say a man who died and another who is missing after going for a hike in Arizona were from Germany and were in the state for a conference at a resort.

The men were in a group of three who went hiking Sunday on a trail outside the Tucson resort. One of the men is recovering, while 57-year-old Stefan Guenster was found dead.

The third man, 33-year-old Marcus Turowski, was still missing Monday.

Authorities didn't release their hometowns.

The Pima County Sheriff's Department says it likely would end its search at sundown Monday and resume Tuesday.

Tucson hit a record high of 115 degrees Sunday as a heatwave took over parts of the Southwest....

The United States of America must keep guns out of the hands of terrorists, but, domestically and abroad.

There is no reason for the USA to take a backseat to the safety of it's citizens at home or when they are in other lands.

The fact is very, very clear. When the Assault Weapons Ban was sunset by George W. Bush the straw purchasers took 50 percent more assault weapons into Mexico. The USA gun lobbyists are killing Mexicans in their own borders.

There are international conventions to end the free flow of weapons into the hands of those that kill indiscriminately to enforce their own particular idea of law. There is absolutely no reason for Daesh in Syria or Libya to exist or the drug cartels of Mexico. There is no reason for it. NONE!

We have our answers domestically.

June 20, 2016
By Lawrence Murley

The U.S. Supreme Court (click here) on Monday left in place gun control laws in New York and Connecticut that ban military-style assault weapons like the one used in last week's massacre at an Orlando nightclub, rejecting a legal challenge by gun rights advocates.
The court's action underlined its reluctance to insert itself into the simmering national debate on gun control. The Supreme Court issued important rulings in gun cases in 2008 and 2010 but has not taken up a major firearms case since.
The justices declined to hear an appeal of an October ruling by the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that upheld laws prohibiting semiautomatic weapons and large capacity magazines in the two northeastern states....

The interstate travel of assault weapons will continue because of the lack of a cohesive interstate law to prevent such migration of very dangerous weapons.

The USA has never been more divided. We literally have states that care about D the people and good governance of guns and those that don't. It is up to the people to make choices to vacation or live in states with excellence of governance of guns or live and vacation in states that are far more dangerous. It is the choice, liberty if you will, of the people to determine their safety margin in life.

The US House and Senate are completely incompetent.

Here is a little reality about the "mind speak" of the NRA. France has plenty civilian guns and those guns did nothing to prevent or end the violent deaths in Paris. DID NOTHING!

The estimated total number of guns (both licit and illicit) held by civilians in France is 19,000,000.

The estimated rate of private gun ownership (both licit and illicit) in France is 31.2 firearms per 100 people.

In a comparison of the number of privately owned guns in 178 countries, France ranked at No. 5.

In a comparison of the rate of private gun ownership in 178 countries, France ranked at No. 12.

Boston:

Sean Collier, 26, an MIT campus police officer, was fatally shot in his patrol car April 18th by the Boston bombers. The three killed by the explosions were 29-year-old Krystle Campbell (left), 8-year-old Martin Richard (center) and 23-year-old Lu Lingzi (right).

The police officer was shot dead by the deadly international criminals. I came to the conclusion the bombers were indeed international criminals. One had traveled abroad to validate his extremism and radicalization. The other young brother simply followed his brother's example of a great and appropriate warrior for the people of the Chechnya.

The suspects in Monday's deadly Boston Marathon explosions (click here) and the Thursday night murder of a police officer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are two brothers from a former Soviet republic who were in the United States legally for years, and lived together in a Cambridge, Mass., apartment....

...NPR's Joe Shapiro interviewed a woman in Toronto who said she's the aunt of the two suspects. She said the boys grew up in Kyrgyzstan and spent a year in Chechnya, 1994....

Why do these people get the idea these violent acts will change the way Americans view such violence. Americans will never capitulate to terrorists. But, the NRA is making the point terrorists don't need guns to kill.

Okay. But, there were three dead civilians from pressure cooker bombs, not 51. The police officer was gunned down. In case the gun lobbyists didn't notice. Do gun lobbyists include the deaths of police officers in their statistics? They should.

It is pretty bad when I have to reach into the tragedy of Americans to diffuse the NRA's propaganda. But, with apologies to all the victims and their families, I had to stop the NRA from comparing apples to oranges. Americans need to understand the truth, not a manipulated picture that will compromise their safety. 

Be safe. Be smart. Plan ahead to decide where one resides and plays.

Years ago road construction workers stated their work day at night time. The politics was for the convenience of the commuter. That was and is a lie. The reason was the heat and the workers ability to conduct themselves in their jobs. 

The modern world needs to begin to address a work day and make it a work night. 

The downside of such change is the increased energy demand that is new to the nighttime lifestyle. That is why we need alternative energies in far larger measure than we have today. 

Turbines don't stop turning when the sun sets. Solar batteries don't lose their charge simply because the sun won't be available for a few nighttime hours. On the other hand, the energy demand may be less considering the need for air conditioning to live will be far less than today.

Decisions have to be made to invoke movement of an entire country that won't like it because their circadian rhythms are out of sync.

STRESS. Besides the heat related deaths, there will be increased deaths due to the very stress people will have when life takes on new paradigms.

Americans are dying, huh? Yes? "I told you so."

Eventually, when a piece of bread is placed in an oven, it will become toast. Even 120 degree Fahrenheit oven.

I strongly suggest all these heat victims receive a through autopsy. The information has to be garnered to the condition of their blood, organs and skin.

Body chemistry, osmolality, every conceivable test not normally conducted. The body overheated SLOWLY, this is far, far different than deaths in a household fire.

20 June 2016
0700
Current temperatures (click here)

June 19, 2016
By Vivian Padilla

Anthem, AZ - The Phoenix Fire Department(click here) says a woman rescued after she stopped breathing while hiking up the Desert Vista Trail has died. 

Calls came in about a woman who was having heat-related issues about a mile up the trail around 9 a.m. Officials say that bystanders started CPR on the 28-year-old woman, who is an avid hiker and personal trainer, after she stopped breathing while mountain biking.

Phoenix Fire Department Capt. Larry Subveri said the woman and friends started mountain biking at 6 a.m. and they had water on them. However, around 9 a.m. she became exhausted. The woman did not have a pulse and stopped breathing, and that's when both of her friends, who are doctors, started CPR on her....

CPR won't help if the blood is too thick to circulate. It may be the best IV solution to hang on these victims may be Ringers Lactate with boluses of D10. They are extremely dehydrated more than likely with devastated electrolytes. There is probably extreme movement of large molecules such as magnesium, calcium and glucose. The body will use every method possible to survive, even shutting down the kidneys to prevent potassium depletion. The heart operates on the sodium potassium pump. What was the sincere cause of death (ORGAN FAILURE or NOT?) other than heat stroke and dehydration.

"Father's Day" at the national parks.

June 19, 2016

By Gregory Korte

Washington — President Obama (click here) has a lot of official reasons for visiting Yosemite this weekend: It's the centennial year of the National Park Service, he's highlighting policy proposals to invest more in public spaces, and he's encouraging more Americans to visit national parks.

But there's another, more personal reason for the president's visit: It's Father's Day.

"This has to be the perfect way to spend Father's Day, and Father's Day weekend," Obama said Saturday at Yosemite's picturesque Half Dome rock formation. "Just look at this scene. You can't capture this on an Ipad or a flat screen, or even an oil painting. You have to come in and breathe it in yourself."...

White House letter to Stephen Mather after the President signed the Organic Act creating the National Park Service on August 25, 1916.

By the Act of March 1, 1872, (click here) Congress established Yellowstone National Park in the Territories of Montana and Wyoming "as a public park or pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people" and placed it "under exclusive control of the Secretary of the Interior." The founding of Yellowstone National Park began a worldwide national park movement. Today more than 100 nations contain some 1,200 national parks or equivalent preserves.

In the years following the establishment of Yellowstone, the United States authorized additional national parks and monuments, many of them carved from the federal lands of the West. These, also, were administered by the Department of the Interior, while other monuments and natural and historical areas were administered by the War Department and the Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture. No single agency provided unified management of the varied federal parklands....

January 27, 2016

America’s National Parks: Record Number of Visitors in 2015 (click here)

WASHINGTON – More than 305 million people visited national parks in 2015, eclipsing the all-time visitation record that the National Park Service saw in the previous year. The unofficial visitation numbers for 2015 were announced by National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis, as the National Park Service (NPS) is celebrating its centennial year....

..."The increase in Congressional appropriations comes at a critical time for the National Park Service and will help us to serve the growing number of visitors,"Jarvis said. "We look forward to continuing to work with Congress as it considers additional legislation in support of the National Park Service Centennial, which would further improve the national parks by encouraging philanthropy and volunteerism, while also allowing us to improve visitor services and connect with a new generation of national park visitors."

By the Numbers: Unofficially, the NPS recorded more than 305 million visits during 2015. That is an increase of more than 12 million visits, and more than four percent, over the 2014 figure of 292.8 million visits. About 365 of 409 parks in the national park system record visitation numbers. The NPS has recorded more than 13 billion visits to parks since park managers began counting visitors in 1904, some 12 years before the NPS was created. Official statistics including the most-visited parks of the national park system and the most-visited national parks will be released in late February.

Statistics below are from "Yosemite National Park" alone: (click here) The US National Parks support local economies. These statistics were from 2009. THAT YEAR WAS 2009. It was the first year of President Obama's first year in his first term. It was a time in our country's history when the USA had to turn around a devastated economy. The National Parks served as a place for many to continue to have a vacation in difficult financial times. The National Parks are valuable to the quality of life of Americans. It is a great time to celebrate the National Parks in President Obama's last year in office in his second term.

9% of visitors were international visitors. With 9% each from Germany, Korea, Taiwan, United Kindgom.

11% of the respondents identified themselves as Hispanic, and 11% as Asian. Of those Asian visitors, the most well-represented races were Chinese (24%) and Japanese (22%).

The median group expenditure in the park and the surrounding 50-mile area was $490.

Assad is not going anywhere. Russia needs to keep active diplomatic relations with him to end any cruelty.

Since when does the US State Department declare war? I go away for a few days and this is what goes on. Disgusting. There is no authority to fill the vacuum in Syria except Assad. The opposition has disintegrated again, hasn't it? That is why Russia placed Assad back in authority, there is no other authority. 

Has everyone gone half crazy? It isn't enough the USA destroyed Iraq and now it is going to destroy Syria all over again? I don't think so! 

Other than the USA led air strikes it is my understanding Syria is still under a cease fire. Is that not the case?

There is an entire Congress that wants to sue Saudi Arabia, too, but, that doesn't make it right. Honestly.

The USA does not decide winners and losers in civil wars anymore. Removing chemical weapons from Syria was the right thing to do for all parties involved. Russia has to provide better munitions to end the use of barrel bombs. Barrel Bombs? Really?

President Assad has to lead an entire country to accept peace and the difference of faiths in Syria. The diversity of the people in Syria are magnificent. There is no other country in the world with such diverse ethnicities and religious denominations of Muslim. Denominations, right? Did I get that right? I don't know if Muslims think of their diversity as denominations or not. The Christians do. You know there are all kinds of variety, Methodist, Lutheran and all that kind of diversity in the Protestant denominations. And then there are the Greek Catholics and the Roman Catholics and stuff like that. I never thought perhaps the Muslims might consider their diversity similar to denominations as other faiths do. I just didn't want to offend anyone.

But, Syria should be a very proud country. The global community has to get rid of the poison in it's borders that is Daesh. That is the common goal. The US State department should remember the COMMON GOAL GLOBALLY TO END DAESH'S CHARISMATIC INFLUENCE. Too much for ya? Huh? It is easier to kill people, right?

"You are all fired!"

June 16, 2016
By Mark Landler

Washington — More than 50 State Department diplomats (click here) have signed an internal memo sharply critical of the Obama administration’s policy in Syria, urging the United States to carry out military strikes against the government of President Bashar al-Assad to stop its persistent violations of a cease-fire in the country’s five-year-old civil war.

The memo, a draft of which was provided to The New York Times by a State Department official, says American policy has been “overwhelmed” by the unrelenting violence in Syria. It calls for “a judicious use of stand-off and air weapons, which would undergird and drive a more focused and hard-nosed U.S.-led diplomatic process.”

Such a step would represent a radical shift in the administration’s approach to the civil war in Syria, and there is little evidence that President Obama has plans to change course. Mr. Obama has emphasized the military campaign against the Islamic State over efforts to dislodge Mr. Assad. Diplomatic efforts to end the conflict, led by Secretary of State John Kerry, have all but collapsed....

I'll be traveling. 

I'll be out of internet range until Monday. 

Have a good journey.

Elected officials should leave prayers to the professionals.

June 13, 2016
By Joshua Eaton

Two politicians who’ve been outspoken opponents of reform (click here) in recent years, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Florida Governor Rick Scott, were quick to respond to the tragedy on social media.

The National Rifle Association, which opposes any gun reform, endorsed Trump for president on May 20. The group also endorsed Scott for governor in both 2010 and 2014.
They weren’t alone. Igor Volsky, deputy director of the liberal Center for American Progress Action Fund, spent much of Sunday re-tweeting “thoughts and prayers” tweets from U.S. senators and representatives who’ve taken campaign donations, or more plainly, money from the NRA.Below is a collection of those politicians’ tweets, along with data on their NRA contributions compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, and their rating from the NRA — a score the organization uses to help guide its members on how to vote (the higher the mark, the more politician opposes gun control and reform).The victims of the Orlando massacre deserve everyone's prayers, but our elected officials need to take responsibility for the votes that they cast and the views of the organizations that fund them. Especially when those votes and views allow people to legally purchase weapons that cause as much carnage as the Orlando massacre.

Burr has received $4,950 from the NRA so far this election cycle.Burr voted against a 2015 amendment that would have blocked suspected terrorists from legally purchasing firearms. He has an “A+” NRA rating this year....

There are definitely two different camps of Republicans. I didn't expect Senator Jeff Sessions to be the leader of the Trump camp. It think the prayful do nothingness of the establishment is more than evident today.

Chuck Todd (HOST): Last week you were pretty honest, (click here) pretty blunt, about what you thought of Donald Trump’s week. You said it was a pretty, let me get it correctly, you said "it was not the best of weeks." It feels like from the outside things have gotten worse this week, what’s your assessment?
JEFF SESSIONS: Well I don't think so. I think the speech he gave on terrorism and what’s happening to America really raised the key issues. It’s not guns, its not those kind of things, it is a dangerous ideology that does threaten America. We need to figure out a better way, we need to slow down and figure out a better way to protect us from those kind of threats and I think we can....


 

By J. Newton Small

Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy (click here) led a group of his Democratic colleagues in a filibuster Wednesday morning in an attempt to force votes on two gun control measures in the wake of the Orlando shooting.
Murphy is seeking up and down votes on two bipartisan measures. One would ban those on the FBI’s terrorism watch list from purchasing firearms or explosives, a measure that might have prevented the weekend tragedy at a gay nightclub, the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, as the shooter Omar Mateen, had been on the FBI watch list at one time. The second measure would close the so-called Charleston loophole in background checks, fully funding three-day background checks to ensure felons and drug users are not purchasing weapons. That bill would have prevented convicted drug user Dylann Roof from buying the gun he allegedly used to shoot nine people to death in a Charleston church a year ago Friday.

This is from the Ames Tribune in Iowa.

June 14, 2016
By Grayson Schmidt

A day after being detained for possessing (click here) nearly two-dozen pipe bombs at a home west of Madrid, the two suspects have been formally charged and are being held at Boone County Jail on $20,000 bond.
Tjaden Mallory, 41, and Leanna Haidsiak, 39, were each charged Tuesday with unauthorized possession of offensive weapons.
Authorities went to the house on QW Lane west of Madrid about 1 p.m. Monday with a warrant to search the home. Once inside, they found the pipe bombs, some of which were active, Boone County Sheriff Gregg Elsberry said.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Elsberry said authorities had deactivated at least 10 of the pipe bombs in the roughly 12 hours authorities were at the scene.
Elsberry said investigators are continuing to search for answers as to why the pair had the pipe bombs, and why they had so many.
The house is located on a dead-end road, and three other houses in the area were evacuated and the road closed, but Elsberry said everyone was allowed to return to their homes late Monday evening....

June 14, 2016
By Sarina Rheinhart

The city will begin efforts today (click here) to control mosquito populations in city parks by targeting both adult and larvae to prevent the possible spread of diseases carried by the insect.
“The city of Ames has had a mosquito control program for over forty years,” said Joshua Thompson, parks and facilities superintendent. “It is important to control mosquito populations as they are a carrier of several diseases, including the West Nile Virus.”
The city has already started using larvicide, an insecticide to neutralize larvae, in standing water such as storm drains, catch basins, settling basins and other low lying areas. Thompson said they target the mosquito larvae in such a way that does not affect other animals such as fish, waterfowl and mammals.
Fogging will begin today, targeting adult mosquitoes. It is distributed through a sprayer mounted in the rear of a truck. These efforts will continue through September....

Intellicast High Temperature Map
June 15, 2016
0454

This is the temperature over the USA at 4:54 UTC. UTC is 4 hours ahead of Eastern Daylight Time. The picture was from 8:54 AM EDT.

Summer begins on June 20, 2016. The high heat index will not stop there. It will continue to climb.

US Drought Monitor (click here)
June 7, 2016

Some polls show the Libertarian ticket at 13 percent.

May 19, 2016
By Maggie Haberman

Former Gov. William F. Weld (click here) of Massachusetts, who attended a church service in 2013 for the Boston Marathon bombing victims, hopes to be the Libertarian Party’s vice-presidential candidate in November. Credit Yoon S. Byun/The Boston Globe, via Getty Images

William F. Weld, the twice-elected former Republican governor of Massachusetts, who was last seen campaigning in the 2006 Republican primary for governor of New York, now hopes to be on a national ticket as the vice-presidential nominee of the Libertarian Party.

And he is already on the attack.

In his first interview since accepting an invitation to be the running mate of former Gov. Gary Johnson of New Mexico, Mr. Weld assailed Donald J. Trump over his call to round up and deport the 11 million immigrants in the country illegally.

“I can hear the glass crunching on Kristallnacht in the ghettos of Warsaw and Vienna when I hear that, honest,” Mr. Weld said Thursday....

Saudi Arabia denounces violence.

June 14, 2016
Jeddah: The Council of Ministers (click here) has condemned the recent terror attacks in the American city of Orlando, and others in Beirut and Istanbul, which led to several deaths and injuries.
At a meeting chaired by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman at Al-Salam Palace in Jeddah on Monday, the ministers reiterated the Kingdom’s denunciation of “all forms of violence” and backed efforts to prosecute those responsible.
“The Cabinet reiterated the Kingdom’s rejection of terrorism and support for international efforts to combat terrorism in all its forms,” said Essam bin Saad bin Saeed, acting minister of culture and information, according to the Saudi Press Agency on Tuesday.
The terror attacks came one after the other, beginning with the massacre of 49 people inside a gay bar in Orlando, Florida in the United States on Sunday....
...Counterterrorism experts have been warning in the past few years about the danger of so-called lone wolf attackers who act in sympathy with extremist groups like the Daesh but are not directed by them....
...On Sunday night, a huge bomb blast damaged the headquarters of Lebanon’s second biggest bank in Beirut. Fortunately, there were no casualties....
...On Monday, a car bomb wounded nine people in the eastern province of Tunceli near a housing block for civil servants working at a local courthouse, security sources said....
...Turkey has suffered a series of bombings over recent months; last week a car bomb ripped through a police bus in central Istanbul near the main tourist district, a major university and the mayor’s office....

15 June 2016
Washington: Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (click here) has met US Secretary of State John Kerry to discuss conflicts in the Middle East, terrorism and ways to enhance economic relations.
The discussions took place during an informal meeting at Kerry’s private home in Washington, focusing on events in Yemen, Iraq, Syria and standing up to Daesh, said reports.
Prince Mohammed is making his third visit to the US since he assumed his position last year. His first visit was to Camp David in May 2015, and the second was with King Salman last September.
He is leading a large delegation that includes the ministers of energy, culture and information, interior and commerce, in addition to military leaders....

Reeva Steenkamp may get justice yet.

June 14, 2016

By Adam Lusher

Oscar Pistorius’ defence lawyer (click here) and his prison nurse have clashed over whether the athlete was a violent, difficult prisoner.

Charlotte Mashabane told the High Court in Pretoria, where Pistorius is being sentenced for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, that she had been at the receiving end of the paralympian’s “tantrums” on three occasions.

Ms Mashabane, the assistant health manager at Kgosi Mampuru II prison, where the paralympian was jailed for a year, claimed that one incident occurred in March 2015 when he screamed at her as she approached his cell while doing her morning rounds on the prison’s hospital wing....

The Tea Party has many House Representatives.

Andy Holt says his office has received threats for his plans to hold a fundraiser giveaway of semi-automatic rifles.


June 15, 2016
By Peter Holley

Washington: On Friday, (click here) Tennessee representative Andy Holt unveiled plans for an upcoming fundraiser at his family farm later this month. The event, according to an invitation posted on the politician's blog, will feature a roasted hog, a petting zoo, live music and "hay rides for the kids".

"Oh, did I mention we're giving away an AR-15...

The FIRST Hogfest starts at 6:30 PM on June 25th. Don't miss it.

The law protects and promotes gun use and sales. It does not protect Americans from gun violence.

Mourners held Puerto Rican flags at a memorial in Orlando, Fla., for the victims of the gay nightclub shooting. There were 23 Puerto Ricans among the victims.

June 15, 2016
By Adeel Hassan

...“The guilt (click here) of feeling lucky to be alive is heavy,” says one woman who was shot in the legs and saw her friend die. A trauma care hospital was blocks away, but the mass shooting illuminates new challenges facing emergency medicine.

What the gun laws say.

Federal law doesn’t disqualify those on the terrorist watch list from buying a gun from a licensed dealer. In states where mass shootings lead to legislative action, guns often become more available, a study shows.

A lawsuit brought by relatives of the victims in Newtown, Conn., argues that the AR-15 — a rifle similar to the one used in Orlando — is a weapon of war and should never have been marketed to civilians. A hearing is scheduled for next week....

The Washington Post is owned by a billionaire that is dedicated to getting the best information available to the American public.

His ex-wife states Mateen was not a devout Muslim and may have been a closeted gay man.

Ever since "W" didn't renew the Assault Weapons Ban the military style weapons crossing the USA southern border into Mexico increased by 50%.

The gun rights proponents, even the ones in jail, should be proud of Donald Trump for creating enough controversy to remove the focus on the real problem.

It isn't like FOX doesn't know the difference.

November 11, 2016
By George Hobica

As more airlines charge extra for luggage, (click here) it's important to know what's allowed --and not allowed in your bag--and even what constitutes carry-on.  We answer these and other pressing travel questions. 

Q: Are solid toiletries such as solid deodorant and wax-like hair products subject to the TSA 100 ml/3.4 oz. limit for “liquids and gels” or are they exempt?

A: According to the TSA website, solid deodorants are exempt, but “paste”-like products must adhere to the limits, so even semi-solid hair grooming products must be placed in that quart-size plastic bag. This question is answered on the TSA blog here: http://1.usa.gov/1aO3qgW. By the way, if you're flying through security at British airports, they're particularly strict about the size of the clear plastic bag....

Pope Francis is trying to keep a world of Roman Catholics alive and the guns are a huge part of the problem.

June 13, 2016
By Cassandra Vinograd

Pope Francis (click here) on Monday lashed out at the "brazen" freedom with which weapons circulate in the world when compared with numerous obstacles to distributing aid.

His remarks at a United Nations World Food Program event came one day after the bloodbath in an Orlando nightclub ranked as the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.

Francis told the audience it was a "strange paradox" that aid and food are obstructed by barriers including political decisions and skewed ideology but "weaponry is not."...