Cheat Sheet - The NRA Has Created a Monster

Read This, Skip That .... June 09, 2014 GUN NUTS 1. Vegas Shooting: The NRA Is Killing Us The three killed in yesterday's Las Vegas shooting were just the latest victims of a booming month for the National Rifle Association—with massacres at universities, in restaurants, and at retail stores across the country. With their extreme anti-government rhetoric, the bosses of the gun rights group have created a monster, and, argues Cliff Schecter, the recent mass-shooting death toll is the logical conclusion of their deluded approach to our safety. Read it at The Daily Beast ON TRIAL 2. Homophobia in Russia Takes a Kafkaesque Turn Things are even worse for LGBT in Russia than we think. The country has declared gay rights organizations as foreign agents in one fell swoop, while gays are being blacklisted by banks, employers, and landlords, writes Jay Michaelson. Welcome to the new reality of being LGBT under Putin. Read it at The Daily Beast GOD LOVES YOU 3. Westboro Son Speaks About Childhood Abuse Nate Phelps, son of the late, hate-mongering preacher Fred Phelps, is speaking out about his abusive childhood and how he escaped life in the church. Caitlin Dickson reports on an unlikely activist who is helping others to come to terms with their sexuality and a documentary-in-the-making that will shed light on his Westboro Baptist Church upbringing. Read it at The Daily Beast SHOCKING 4. 57,000 Waiting for First VA Visit According to an audit of 731 Veterans Affairs hospitals and clinics, 57,000 patients are still waiting for their initial appointment, and 64,000 who have enrolled over the past decade have never actually been seen. VA hospitals and clinics are dealing with a massive backlog that makes the 14-day goal for seeing first-time patients unreachable, the Veterans Affairs Department said Monday. The audit also states that 13 percent of staffers reported they were told by supervisors to falsify appointment dates to make wait times seem shorter. Read it at Associated Press GOOD NEWS? 5. Assad Declares Amnesty for Prisoners Less than a week after winning Syria's democratic farce, also known as its presidential election, Bashar al-Assad declared a general amnesty for all prisoners within the country on Monday. Syria's pro-government Al Ikhbariya television station said that the amnesty decree was issued in the "context of social tolerance and national unity," according to the justice minister. However, it is not remotely clear what Assad means by "amnesty." It is by no means certain that any prisoners will actually be released. The state-run SANA news agency did not say whether amnesty would apply to tens of thousands of jailed opposition supporters. Instead, SANA's report implied that the government would reduce sentences rather than free prisoners. Whatever amnesty entails, it is likely not enough to heal the wounds of three years of bloody civil war in which the death toll has been estimated at more than 160,000. Read it at Associated Press TERRIFYING Taliban Claim Airport Assault 28 dead in Pakistan. BADGERING Wisconsin AG Tries to Halt Gay Marriages Filed appeal to stay ruling. TAKING A HIT Male Faces Evolved to Be Punched New evolutionary theory. BUZZKILL Pot-Related Traffic Deaths on the Rise Tripled in a decade. ROAD HAZARD Morgan to Be Hospitalized for 'Weeks' Says prosecutor. GET The Cheat Sheet A speedy, smart summary of news and must-reads from across the Web. You'll love the featured original stories on politics, entertainment, and more from The Daily Beast's diverse group of contributors. GET Culture Beast Weekly cultural recommendations from The Daily Beast. An Evangelical Artist's Drunken Downfall by Zac Bissonnette Inside London's Hottest Celebrity Haunt by Lizzie Crocker Iran Says Take Off the Veil—and Be Raped by IranWire

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