You've undoubtedly heard that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump yesterday alluded to the power of "Second Amendment people" to put a stop to Hillary Clinton and her Supreme Court appointees, should they try to confiscate all of the guns. Y'know, if Obama doesn't manage to get that long-planned job done by the end of the year.

Trump's comments sounded to many like a call to assassinate his political opponent and some of Trump's apologists—like House Speaker Paul Ryan—have suggested Trump made a bad joke. Team Trump insists their man , but Team Trump insists he was serious but didn't mean he wanted Clinton shot, merely that he hoped that those who love the Second Amendment would put pressure on the U.S. Senate to block a gun-grabbing justice. And now we've learned that the Secret Service has talked with Trump about the comment.

Tucsonan Gabby Giffords, the survivor of an 2011 assassination attempt, and her husband, retired NASA astronaut Mark Kelly, condemned Trump's language:

Donald Trump might astound Americans on a routine basis, but we must draw a bright red line between political speech and suggestions of violence. Responsible, stable individuals won’t take Trump’s rhetoric to its literal end, but his words may provide a magnet for those seeking infamy. They may provide inspiration or permission for those bent on bloodshed.

It must be the responsibility of all Americans — from Donald Trump himself, to his supporters, to those who remain silent or oppose him — to unambiguously condemn these remarks and the violence they insinuate. The integrity of our democracy and the decency of our nation is at stake.

Trump may or may not have been alluding to a desire to see Clinton shot, but here's the thing: His willingness to blow that kind of dog whistle is yet another sign that he is far too reckless to serve in the Oval Office. As Jonathan Chait notes at New York Mag:

One fact that has grown bracingly clear over the course of the presidential campaign is that the campaign is not about any of the normal issues in American politics, but about democracy. The other elections we all remember have pitted two small-d democrats against each other. This one pits a small-d democrat against a candidate who has repeatedly stated that strong leaders crush their enemies, who warns without evidence that Antonin Scalia was murdered and that the election will be “rigged,” who threatens retaliatory policy crackdowns on owners of newspapers whose coverage displeases him, who has asked Russia’s autocrat to conduct a cyberattack on his opponent, and who, today, exhorted his audience to violent insurrection.

After sitting on the shelf for quite some time, Mark Osborne’s unorthodox, animated adaptation of Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s classic story finally gets a release, albeit a release streaming on Netflix.

It’s a good enough movie, but its by no means a straight retelling of The Little Prince. There’s a modern story about a young girl (Mackenzie Foy) who befriends an old aviator (Jeff Bridges), and the aviator is the one from The Little Prince. He recounts part of that story to the little girl, which we see in stop motion animation (the modern story is mostly CGI).

There’s an interesting mix of animation techniques to go with some twists to the story, and while it feels a little uneven and perhaps slow at times, it’s an enjoyable film.

Other voice performers include Rachel McAdams, Paul Rudd, Marion Cotillard, James Franco, Benicio Del Toro and Albert Brooks, and its fun hearing all of their great voices in one place.

Again, if you are looking for a traditional retelling of The Little Prince, this is not your bag. If you are looking for decent enough animated fare that will entertain kids and adults alike, you could do much worse.

A few days ago, I wrote about the famous takedown of Senator Joe McCarthy in 1954 by the attorney Joseph Welch, which began McCarthy's downward political slide. Welch said,

"Until this moment, Senator, I think I never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness. . . . Let us not assassinate this lad further, senator. You have done enough. Have you no sense of decency?"

Cruelty. Recklessness. No sense of decency. Sixty-two years later, that fits Donald Trump like a glove.

Trump, we have learned again and again, has no sense of decency. But what about decent Republicans who are disgusted with their presidential candidate and are willing to put country over party? Are there any of those? The answer is a resounding yes.

Senator Susan Collins is the latest Republican to come out against Trump (though who knows, there may be more before you read this). 

"Donald Trump, in my judgment, would make a perilous world even more dangerous," Collins told CNN's Jamie Gangel. "I worry that his tendency to lash out and his ill-informed comments would cause dangerous events to escalate and possibly spin out of control at a time when our world is beset with conflicts. That is a real problem."

And there's the letter signed by 50 Republican security officials.

Fifty of the nation’s most senior Republican national security officials, many of them former top aides or cabinet members for President George W. Bush, have signed a letter declaring that Donald J. Trump “lacks the character, values and experience” to be president and “would put at risk our country’s national security and well-being.”

Mr. Trump, the officials warn, “would be the most reckless president in American history."

It's still early in the week, but let's start talking about what the plan is to de-stress this weekend.

My suggestion: Join the good folks at the Loft Cinema (3233 E. Speedway Blvd.) for an evening of battling Rodents of Unusual Size, humiliations galore and, of course, popcorn. That's right, they're showing the Princess Bride on the big screen. 

The movie is playing at 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday (Aug. 12-13) and 10 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 2 p.m.

Is there's a better way to come down from a rough week of work than watching a classically charming movie? Inconceivable! I'll see you there.

Three sisters, Sachi, Yoshino and Chika (Haruka Ayase, Masami Nagasawa and Kaho), welcome their newfound and much younger half-sister Suzu (Suzu Asano) into their home after their father passes away.

Suzu is closed off and quiet at first but, as she gets to know her new family, she starts opening up, as does the movie. Writer-director Hirokazu Koreeda doesn’t go for storytelling fireworks in this movie, but he does achieve a quiet, subtle, and extremely charming beauty in this tale of four sisters. Much of the film consists of the girls sitting around dinner tables, having meals and discussing simple life issues. Yes, it sounds boring as all hell on paper, but it actually plays into one of the summer’s most pleasant and rewarding surprises.

Ayase is especially good as the eldest sister, dealing with romantic struggles and trying to reconcile bad feelings towards her mother. Asano is a revelation as the young Suzu, an emotionally closeted girl who, nonetheless, jumps at the chance for a new family and a fresh start. While much of the movie is still and quiet, there’s a moment where Suzu rides on the back of a bike through a tunnel of cherry blossoms that amounts to one of the year’s most memorable images.

The movie goes at a leisurely pace, but not to a point that irritates. When it’s over, you’ll miss these characters. 

Time for a sex ed lesson! Thanks to environmental stressors such as overpopulation the Earth is hurting and endangering wildlife. What can we do about it? The Center for Biological Diversity says it's petty simple: Stop hogging the planet. 

The rapid growth of our human population is pushing other species off the planet in what most scientists are calling the sixth mass extinction crisis. Yet this population explosion is too often ignored by the public, the media and even the environmental movement, while it continues to drive all the major environmental problems that plague our planet — including climate change, habitat loss, ocean acidification and resource depletion.

That’s why the Center for Biological Diversity launched our Endangered Species Condoms project in 2009, and since then has distributed hundreds of thousands of free condoms across the United States. Wrapped in colorful, wildlife-themed packages (with artwork by Shawn DiCriscio), Endangered Species Condoms offer a fun, unique way to get people talking about the link between human population growth and the species extinction crisis.

The art is pretty great and we've got a boxful to give away. Want a pack? Send me an email ([email protected]) with the subject line "Endangered Species Condoms." I'll hand 'em out until they're gone. As they say: Wrap with care, save the polar bear. 

Whether you're an experienced filmmaker or looking to try something new, this might be for you: Tucson Fringe and Strada Company are teaming up to produce the first-annual Three Minute Film Festival. 

Why three minutes?

Because new and emerging filmmakers often don’t have the resources for longer pieces. The Fringe, as you might guess, is putting special emphasis on alternative storylines, new ideas, artful concepts, and imaginative flair. Whatever you’ve got – HD Video, pocket camera, smart phone – if you can shoot video on it, you can enter the Three Minute of Film Festival Festival.

Don't worry, you have plenty of time to make a three minute film, the entry deadline isn't until Oct. 1. Each film that's selected will get a public screening, and a be entered for a chance to win cash prizes (the dollar amount of which will be determined by screening attendance and number of entries).

The entry fee to submit a film to the festival is $10. 

The details are still being ironed out, but the screening is expected to take place downtown in late fall.

The Tucson Fringe Festival is an unjuried and uncurated performance festival, so the Film Festival will accept as many short films as seems reasonable and prudent. You don’t have to be reasonable and prudent, though. This Festival is open to filmmakers across the world but Strada Company and the Tucson Fringe plan to reserve a portion of spots for southern Arizona filmmakers.

The categories to win prizes in are as follows: Audience Award, Best Narrative Film, Best Art Film, Best Writing, Best Director

Submit your three minute film here, and for more information email the Tucson Fringe Festival at [email protected], or call 621-4851.

The very first blogging I did was in 2007 when I covered the trial involving a public records request for voting records of Pima County elections. Sitting in the courtroom beside Mike Bryan, then the proprietor and sole writer on Blog For Arizona, I furiously scribbled down a play-by-play of the proceedings while Bryan, a lawyer, wrote the analysis. By the end of the week, I asked Mike if I could write about education and whatever else I wanted on BfA. After giving me a short grilling to see if I had anything worth saying, he said yes and handed me the keys to the kingdom (Me: "Mike, do you want to look over what I'm writing before I put it online?" Mike: "No, here's the password. Write away.")

The specific issue at the trial was the 2006 Regional Transportation election. The results showed the measure passing with about 60 percent of the vote, but some people questioned whether the vote count was legit, and they wanted access to all relevant materials so they could check the results for themselves. During the trial and afterward, I developed a layman's understanding of the concerns of the local Election Integrity Committee and others around the country who were certain that our elections could be, and possibly had been, stolen.

The local and national work has continued since then, mainly out of the media spotlight. Now election integrity concerns are making the news because people are wondering if Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to put his finger on the U.S. election scales. Last week an article spoke of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson's concerns that our electronic voting systems could be vulnerable to sophisticated hackers here and abroad, and Wired Magazine published an article, America's Electronic Voting Machines are Scarily Easy Targets.

I hope these issues get the national, public airing they deserve. There's little question that voting machines as well as vote transmission and counting systems can be hacked to change election results. The most pertinent question right now is, how can the systems be made as secure as possible going forward, and how can the results be double-checked to make sure they represent the will of the voters?

Hi, I'm Sawyer!

I'm a four year old boy and I'm looking for a new home! I was transferred to the Humane Society of Southern Arizona from a different shelter so they don't know a lot about my history. What they do know is that I love to play and I get along well with dogs!

If you're looking to add a playful dog to your home I might be the perfect fit! Contact HSSA Main Campus at 327-6088 ext. 173 to check on my availability and exact location!

Hope to see you soon!

Lots of love,
Sawyer (828550)

In a summer that is supposed to be blowing our minds with big budget special effects and things that go boom, this relatively quiet Philip Roth adaptation winds up being one of the season’s best bets.

Logan Lerman gives one of the year’s best performances thus far as Marcus, a Jewish student attending college in New Jersey while many of his friends are going off to fight the Korean War. He meets Olivia (Sarah Gadon, so good in 11.22.63), a free spirited young woman with a checkered past. The two have a romance that isn’t necessarily of storybook quality, and complications ensue.

Lerman and Gadon are terrific together, and James Schamus, making his feature directing debut, delivers what may be the best adaptation of a Roth novel to date.

There’s a much buzzed about scene in this movie between Lerman and Tracy Letts as the school’s Dean, a scene that will blow your socks off. Honestly, this scene is as powerful and mesmerizing as anything Hollywood has tried to put on screen in the last couple of months.

This is a star making turn for both Lerman and Gadon, and the tragedy at the core of this story will leave you wiped out by the time credits roll. Indignation is easily one of the summer’s best.