Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in The Swamp.
Arming Teachers
Enacting legislation that would place stringent controls on access to assault weaponry, to say nothing of actually banning assault weapons, is plainly the kind of stupid idea that bears no further discussion, no matter how many public school students are shot up to the contrary. The problem is not that people have these weapons, but rather a string of irritatingly similar isolated incidents where no actual law was broken until .223 millimeter rounds began ripping through (stupidly) unarmed flesh.
By Van Walker8 years ago in The Swamp
Mountain Mama Your Children Are Crying
“Almost Heaven, West Virginia…” those words incite a sense of pride in me. The pride that comes with waking up in Morgantown on the dawn of a brisk fall Saturday. The pride that comes with sitting at my great-grandmother’s sick bed and listening to her talk about growing up in a coal camp. It’s watching We Are Marshall on the big screen with my mother, who I was lucky enough to watch graduate with her Master’s Degree in special education from that school. It’s my father recounting stories of his grandfather who died in a coal mining accident, saving two others and risking his life. It’s the way my grandmother pronounces wash with an "r" between the "a" and the "s."
By Courtney Lynn8 years ago in The Swamp
Buying into an Agenda
Mr. Marco Rubio, you were asked by a seventeen year old mass shooting survivor if you would accept any money from the NRA after this. The only answer you could give is that “people buy into my agenda.” You completely deflected the question, which tells me your answer is no. You and your politician friends are the lowest life form on earth. You are beneath scum. Basically, what you told this young man is that the bastards at the NRA support you, they line your pockets with cash, and you continue to do their bidding. This is not an acceptable answer.
By James Howell8 years ago in The Swamp
The Wheels of Injustice
As the wheels of justice grind to a halt by the powers that be, our society is fast approaching a breaking point. A breaking point from which there is really no return. More children with guns and the willingness to carry out horrific acts of violence have put our way of life in grave jeopardy. Serious questions have to be asked, and yet no one has been asking the right ones. What we should be asking is what has happened to a society which has gone from an era of moralistic virtues where our youth who played with toy guns but respected the danger that real guns posed, to today where our youth are getting hold of semi- and automatic weapons which have no place being available to adults let alone our youth.
By Dr. Williams8 years ago in The Swamp
War with and Without Guns
The horrific news of 17 children and adults being shot has drawn together some incredibly motivated and articulate people. Thousands of miles away, I wake daily to the news of the growing momentum in these campaigns for and against firearms.
By Steve Townsend8 years ago in The Swamp
November 9, 2016
I was at work when the weight of reality began to tip the scales. It was a Tuesday. Considering the current events, it was a Tuesday we’d known would be slower than most. So, I had my laptop perched on a table in the back of the bar, and between zesting manhattans or pan frying scallops, each of the employees and myself would find small moments we could go and peak at the screen, away from prying eyes. As the early evening drifted into the dinner hour, the crowd appeared to dwindle instead of grow. The normal rush hour traffic, usually buzzing around 1st Avenue, was quiet. The white-haired man on my laptop was hurriedly pressing boxes on a wall length touchscreen, appearing confused and panicked as he tried to explain what we were all seeing. By this time, we’d usually be busy taking orders and 86’ing dishes, but the place was almost empty, just a couple people sitting over drinks, scrolling screens by themselves.
By Patrick O'Neill8 years ago in The Swamp
I Predicted the Florida School Shooting
The evening of Monday, February 12, I was sitting in my chemistry lab measuring iron content of a salt complex when the fire alarm sounded and the sprinklers went off. My brain kicked into overdrive as I desperately racked my brain to remember all that I’d ever been taught in school drills about how to get safely out of the building. But before I had managed to grab my coat and make my way out of the lab, I heard what I never wanted to hear so close to me, gunshots. Now in complete shock, myself and the rest of my lab period stuck ourselves into the tiny back room, shut the door, and turned off the lights, hoping that we would get out of this alive.
By Claire Turvill8 years ago in The Swamp
Guns in Your Grandchild's America
This is about the future America our kids and grandkids will grow up in. If you want that future to look like the present or the past, I'd suggest you stop reading here. If you appreciate the concept of forward motion and progress in the human species, please continue.
By Patrick O'Neill8 years ago in The Swamp
