Madison mass school shooting gathers attention; Houston killing of two youth, shooting of four garners little attention
Police revealed Tuesday that the shooter who killed a teacher, a student and themselves Monday and injured six others is female, which is unusual among mass shooters. Natalie “Samantha” Rupnow opened fire at Abundant Life Christian School just before 11 a.m. CST Monday.
• Rupnow had apparently been bullied a few days before, or at minimum “dealing with problems,” reports The Guardian.
• Of 249 mass school shooting suspects in 2024, only nine identified as female (The Guardian)
• Meanwhile, a shooting in Houston, Tex., Saturday that killed two teenagers remains under investigation. An unidentified “tall, thin black man” wearing black clothes and black mask walked into a youth “pop-up club” Saturday evening and opened fire, killing a 14-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy. Four girls age 14 to 19 are still hospitalized in critical condition with gunshot injuries.
Trump’s Cabinet nominees most ideologically diverse in modern history”
Despite some outlandish and controversial picks since his presidential election victory in early November, President-elect Donald Trump is getting kudos for choosing Cabinet nominees that may be “one of the most ideologically diverse in modern history,” writes Straight Arrow News, which strives for fact-based reporting and “hearing from both sides.”
“From pro-union Republicans to former Democrats and figures tied to liberal causes, the cabinet reflects a broad range of political perspectives under Trump’s populist vision,” SAN writes. Axios repeats the observation, calling it “undebatable” that Trumps Cabinet may be “the most ideologically diverse cabinet of modern times.”
• His latest picks include three prominent LGBTQ+ personalities. Scott Bessent is a former investment advisor to liberal philanthropist George Soros and is nominated for treasury secretary. Richard Grenell served as ambassador to Germany and acting intelligence director in Trump’s first administration, is known for pushing election denier theories, and is nominated for the new “presidential envoy for special missions.” Jacob Helberg is a defense firm advisor and former Pete Buttigieg supporter that Trump has nominated for undersecretary of State for economic growth, energy, and the environment. The Advocate reports Helberg also played a key role in the law mandating the sale of TikTok by the Chinese firm ByteDance.
Trump’s LGBTQ+ nominees thus far include (l to r) Scott Bessent, Richard Grenell, and Jacob Helberg. (photos courtesy Wikimedia Commons)
• Trump has nominated two people of Mexican, Hispanic or Latino heritage: Marco Rubio and Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon, whom the Associated Press describes as a “pro-union Republican” who has also supported Biden legislation that would strengthen workers’ rights.
• Only one Black person has been nominated by Trump thus far: Scott Turner, a former NFL football player who also served during Trump’s first term. Turner led the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council in 2018, “an initiative to encourage public and private investment”in thousands of low-income census tracts designated as so-called ‘opportunity zones’ ” by the Trump administration. (CNN)
For a full list of Trump’s nominees for his 26 Cabinet positions, see CBS News.
Charitable funding explodes for LGBTQ+ groups since 2012
Charitable giving to LGBTQ+ nonprofits grew by more than 200 percent from 2012 to 2021, the most recent year that tracked donations available, according to the LGBTQ+ Index (The Conversation). Donations grew from $387 million in 2012, to $823 million in 2021.
• Giving to groups that serve primarily transgender people grew by more than 600 percent.
• Donations to HIV prevention groups serving the LGBTQ+ community grew by only 7 percent during the same time period
• Even with the growth in giving overall, LGBTQ+ charities account for less than 0.2 percent of donations tracked by the IRS, which are donations to groups that are not only state-level non-profits, but certified 501(c)(3)s.
