Michelle Obama Makes You Want to Hug Your Kids

... But I don't have any kids, so I hugged my mom. In a tear-inducing speech to raise funds for programs targeting at-risk youth in Chicago, the First Lady talks about the murder of Hadiya Pendleton, a teen who was shot in Chicago shortly after performing for the First Family during their second inauguration. Mrs. Obama said Hadiya was just like her -- a good student from a good family -- only the First Lady got to grow up and Hadiya was killed.

Go get your tissue now. I started crying just typing that sentence alone.

Video after the jump.

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Talking Women, Gun Debate on NPR's Tell Me More

Last week, I went on NPR's Tell Me More with Michel Martin for the Beauty Shop segment where we discussed women and the gun control debate. All of us shared personal stories about how the gun issue isn't about gender, but some of the reasons why a woman may (or may not) own a gun has a lot to say about our society.

Check out the audio after the jump.

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Giffords Shooting Is Symptom of Uncomfortable Reality

In a disturbing start to a new session of Congress, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) was shot in the head at a voter meet-n-greet outside a Safeway grocery store in Arizona. Six others were killed in the insuing melee, including a federal judge, John M. Roll, and a 9-year-old girl, Christina Taylor-Green, who came to the event with neighbors. She'd just been elected to her student coucil and the neighbor thought meeting Giffords would continue to fuel the young girl's interest in politics.

As in any tragedy, a lot of finger pointing has gone around in search of a cause. But the more and more I read about the man accused of attempting to assassinate Giffords (she is currently recovering in a medically induced coma from a shot to the head), the more and more this sounds like a case of a distrubed person who had too easy of access to an automatic weapon and not enough access to care for his worsening mental conditions.

More after the jump.

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Now Folks Are Bringing Guns To Healthcare Rallies For Poops and Giggles

Again. Don't really know what packing heat has to do with healthcare. Why are guns part of the healthcare debate? Is it because you need to hold up an emergency room to get some healthcare? Explain! Things have gotten so ridiculous that as of Monday, now gaggles of people are bringing their small arms to rallies and now a radio show host has staged his own Arizona gun-in when the president was in town (It's like a sit-in, but with guns) with a semi-automatic. You know? For publicity. Rick "Rob Riggle" Sanchez held the conservative host Ernest Hancock of Declare Your Independence feet to the fire over the stunt.

More after the jump.

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It's Bring Your Gun To The Obama Townhall Day!

Like Stephen Colbert and his precious "Sweetness," some people like to take their guns with them wherever they go. It's why they have conceal and carry laws in many states -- so you and your gun never, ever have to be apart. But some people really like to prove that point that no law shall separate a man from his own private law enforcement system. Like, really, really want to prove a point. Like within several hundred yards of the President of the United States.

You know? Just cause!

More after the jump.

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