This hits a little too close to home, for sure:

On Jan. 8, 2011, we as a society were shocked and dismayed when 19 people, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, a Democratic congresswoman from Arizona's 8th District, were shot during a public meeting outside a local supermarket. Six people were killed and Rep. Giffords suffered a near-fatal head wound. In the wake of this national tragedy, there seemed to be a clarion call to have an open dialogue about gun control, a thoughtful conversation about the way this country treats its mentally ill, and a long overdue discussion about the consequences of overly inflammatory political rhetoric.

Well, seeing as I haven't heard so much as a word about any of those topics in the past three months, I'm going to go ahead and assume that at some point we thoroughly explored those complex issues, resolved them, and are now living our lives based on the lessons we learned from the in-depth conversations I assume we had.

After all, if the crucial, imperative questions raised by this shooting—and there were many—hadn't been satisfactorily answered, we'd still be discussing them, right?

The easy joke is, of course, how would anyone be able to tell, but Phoenix based conservative blogger Espresso Pundit posted an odd missive yesterday to mark his several-day hiatus from blogland. Maybe this is coded conservative-speak that I'm just not capable of understanding.

I've tried to get the passion back with less caffeine. Last week I moved my copy of "Silent Spring" from by bookshelf to my desk. After all, Rachel Carson is a hero to the left, but banning DDT has killed upwards of 50 million people. Surely that will get me motivated? Nope.

So this morning, I said screw it and had a giant cup of coffee and I'm thoroughly jacked up on caffeine. Rachel Carson is back on the shelf...Liberal Fascism is on the desk now. Don't forget that Woodrow Wilson put 175,000 Americans in jail for STATEMENTS they made during WWI. Don't forget that Roosevelt imprisoned 75,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry...with the full support of his newly reshaped Supreme Court. Jim Crow laws, White Primaries and Grandfather clauses were DEMOCRATIC Party inventions.

The Chinese economy is a centrally-planned house of cards. Entitlements are going to overtake the entire budget in a few years. The 1.4 Trillion dollar deficit isn't sustainable. Napolitano is bringing the same corrupt practices to the Orwellian sounding department of "Homeland" security that she got away with here. The only thing worse than Obama Care and "Cash for Clunkers" may have been Bush's prescription drug benefit and steel tariffs.

Whew. That felt great. Sure, my hands are shaking and I can't see out of my left eye, but it's totally worth it to have the fire back. I have so many things to tell you about....

It's a little bit of a challenge figuring out exactly what subject Michael Steele is an expert in, but we can all appreciate that the long standing felt-ceiling that has keep puppets from commenting on the news has finally been broken.

Former Republican National Committee head Michael Steele has found himself a new role: MSNBC legal analyst, following a series of negotiations with the channel. The “forward-leaning” news network will feature Steele as an expert contributor across its lineup.

Says Steele of the move:

It’s an honor to contribute and engage in the dialogue on MSNBC. I look forward to engaging a diverse audience to share insights and analysis about the people, issues, and events shaping America’s future. I’m sure our discussions will be both informative and a bit spirited!

[Mediaite]

The Tucson Weekly took home seven honors in the Arizona Press Club’s annual contest—and six of those were first-place wins.

Five of those wins came in writing categories. In comparison, the Arizona Daily Star only took home one first-place writing prize, and three first-place awards overall.

All of the Weekly’s writing honors came in metro or “Best in Arizona” categories, meaning that the Weekly’s entries competed against those submitted by all of the state’s largest newspapers.

Tim Vanderpool won two first-place trophies. His “Predators and Prey” (May 20, 2010) took top honors in the Public Safety Reporting category. Judge Jordan Smith, of the Austin Chronicle, noted: “Vanderpool does a nice job of making a personal experience the jumping off point to navigate the often-charged topic of sex offender laws. The subject matter is complex and often under-reported outside of spot news related to individual arrests. Vanderpool does a good job of navigating the core issues of crime and punishment in this area of the law without succumbing to the sensational.”

Vanderpool’s other win came in the Health Reporting category, for “Death by Study” (March 4, 2010), about a potential childhood leukemia cluster in Sierra Vista. Judge Meg Kissinger, of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, wrote: “This story was as effective in telling what is known about cancer cluster studies as it was fleshing out the frustration of what is not known. Compelling examples. Excellent writing.”

Tom Danehy, Margaret Regan, Emily Bowen, Linda Ray and Anna Mirocha shared top honors in the Personality Profile category for their Local Heroes contributions (Dec. 23, 2010). (The Weekly entered the entire Local Heroes package, featuring profiles of 10 people, but the Press Club board decided that only five “stories” could be included as one entry, and therefore only sent five of the 10 profiles to the judge.) Judge Tracy Ahrens, of the Chicago Tribune, raved: “A beautiful blend of five short portraits of community heroes. The works are easy to read and hold the reader. These pieces make you want to meet every person showcased. More publications should do routine personality profiles like this of often hidden, unsung heroes in every community.”

Renée Downing won the Don Schellie Award for Column Writing, for a selection of her work including "To Annoy a Mockingbird: Meet Fu’s New Mortal Enemy” (May 27, 2010) and “A Disturbing Revelation: Downtown Phoenix Has Recently Become … Nice” (April 1, 2010). The Orlando Sentinel’s Mike Thomas noted: “Downing has what I like to call writing genetics. Her topics were clever and her writing crisp. She ably turned mockingbirds into villains and Phoenix into, well, something almost desirable. Being from Orlando, I certainly could relate!”

Weekly scribes took the top two places in the all-encompassing Criticism category. Margaret Regan took first for “The Whole Picture” (Feb. 4, 2010), “Tiled Roofs and Borrowed Styles” (July 15, 2010) and “Deposited by Angels” (Oct. 28, 2010). Mark Feeney, of The Boston Globe, commented: “Serious without being solemn, Regan’s reviews demonstrate intelligence, range, and a consistent ability to provide context and make larger connections.”

For the fifth year in a row, James DiGiovanna was honored as Arizona’s best film critic, as he took second in the Criticism category, behind Regan, for “Tolstoy, Plus Boobs” (Feb. 18, 2010), “Emotion Exposed!” (March 25, 2010) and “Tragic Remake” (April 22, 2010). Judge Feeney said: “Possessing an impressive knowledge of film, a knowledge he wears lightly, DiGiovanna writes with frequent verve and consistent passion.”

Photographer David Zickl took first prize in the non-metro Portrait Photography category, for his picture of ranchers Robert and Phil Krentz. The image was used on the April 29, 2010, cover of the Weekly, along with the story “The Krentz Bonfire,” about the as-yet-unsolved murder of Robert Krentz.

Daniel Gonzalez, of The Arizona Republic, was named the Virg Hill Journalist of the Year at the awards ceremony, held Saturday, May 21, at the Sheraton in downtown Phoenix. Jen Levario Cieslak, also of The Republic, was named Designer of the Year, The Republic’s Michael Chow was honored as Photographer of the Year. The Explorer’s Thelma Grimes was named the Community Journalist of the Year for the second year in a row for work she did at the San Pedro Valley News-Sun.

We've all been fooled by something on the internet at one point or another, I imagine, but getting tricked by an article from The Onion? In 2011? Not cool.

My new professional goal: do something important enough to be interviewed by Bert. Or Andy Samberg. But preferably Bert.

Now there are two women getting ready to retire that won't move to Pima County, even though they love the hiking and birds? What have we done to our collective reputation as a county?

Another highlight from the recent Star comments by Cynthia Ann:

We have been visiting Tucson almost every year since 1985.We are avid birders and hikers and love the flora and fauna of the Sonoran Desert. Now that we are getting ready to retire, we have made 2 trips to Pima County to look at real estate. We have been looking for a burnt adobe with a pool and stable. All the retirement advice books tell you to subscribe to the local paper to get a feel for the local issues. Boy, has that been a big surprise. The stories about Clarence Dupnik in the ADS is just one of a long list of reasons why Tucson and Pima County would not be a good place for us to retire. We're Democrats from a blue state on the east coast, but we wouldn't fit in with your politics. Better to be a snowbird and not get involve with local issues.

[HT to commenter JoelFriday]

I like Conan O'Brien and the novelty of his fight against NBC hasn't entirely worn off yet, so I'm happy that he's on the cover of Fast Company this month. However, I think I would have been ok with one Conan, instead of Conan in the guise of various honorees from the magazine's 100 most creative people in business list (in case you were wondering...yes, Ryan Seacrest made the list).

Mostly, I think the issue is that the cover reminds me of the video for Aphex Twin's "Windowlicker" and while I'm a fan of the song, the video is a little disconcerting.

I have no idea what prompted someone to index the patterns of sweaters worn on The Cosby Show
(although the show's appearance on Netflix Instant Watch probably helped), but now that all the immediately useful information has been cataloged, it's time to move on to less obviously relevant concerns.

Bonus blog content: the first Cosby sweater pop culture reference I could think of:

If we can keep you from ever having to tune into Fox News, that's a service we're happy to provide, so here's the Jon Stewart/Bill O'Reilly debate from earlier tonight on the O'Reilly Factor.