"i need another toy this one exploded by accident"
RT @Olivianuzzi: @darth pic.twitter.com/9kI7Uzzxmt
— darth™ (@darth) January 8, 2015
Palate cleanser after another nasty week.
On an entirely different topic, from the NYTimes, “Scorch Marks and Questions Linger After N.A.A.C.P. Bombing in Colorado“:
COLORADO SPRINGS — A shadow of char is the only remnant of an improvised bomb that exploded Tuesday outside the local offices of the N.A.A.C.P. here at the feet of the snow-covered Rocky Mountains, jolting the volunteers more accustomed to running membership drives and planning prayer breakfasts.
On Thursday, F.B.I. investigators continued trying to unravel the identity and motivation of whoever had set off the makeshift bomb Tuesday morning, a crime that authorities are investigating as a possible bias attack or case of domestic terrorism. The N.A.A.C.P.’s all-volunteer staff here decided to reopen the office, still baffled by an assault that they said seemed to come out of nowhere…
“It’s just astounding to see that somebody would go through all that trouble to hurt somebody who gives turkeys at Thanksgiving,” said Carol Chippey-Rhanes, a volunteer.
The building is tucked into a residential neighborhood on the south side of town, two blocks away from a school that offered its space as a meeting place after the explosion. The chapter has been in the same building for about 30 years, its presence announced by a simple light-blue sign above the front door…
Since the bombing, two volunteers said their thoughts turned to a tense encounter shortly before Christmas, when an angry man had walked into their offices and delivered a disjointed tirade about how the N.A.A.C.P. was not supporting his personal protest against local law enforcement. Volunteers listened to him, and then asked him to leave. They said they reported the interaction to the authorities after the bombing, but had no idea whether there was any connection. Ms. Sanders declined to comment on the incident.
By Thursday morning, volunteers were back at their desks in the small office, making coffee and answering nonstop phone calls: Thank you, we are all doing O.K. A supporter dropped off trays of vegetables and pastries, as well as three bottles of sparkling juice. The president of the group’s Wyoming chapter drove down to offer support and help answer phones. Mr. Allen, the Colorado Springs chapter president, was busy talking to concerned neighbors and coordinating events for Black History Month with two soldiers from a nearby Army base.
The local chapter has been active here in Colorado Springs — which is also home to the N.A.A.C.P.’s state conference — since about 1920. The chapter has spent the past couple of years trying to re-energize itself, Mr. Allen said, increasing its membership from 269 to more than 500 and reaching out to the area’s large Spanish-speaking population.
“We are law-abiding citizens,” Mr. Allen said. “We are not a radical, out-of-control group. We just want everybody to be treated equally.”…
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Apart from doing our best to clean up the broken world, what’s on the agenda for the day?