Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
CALLING ALL CITIZENS
Now, if you can't hang with this - if you can't agree with this - I suggest that you remain in that realm of the lunatic fringe while the sane disgest what this person has said and choose to move on toward making a difference.
Common ground is out there. The question is, can we all take a deep enough breath to find it?
TO THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
NanceGreggs's Journal: Nance Rants
Calling ALL Citizens
Posted by NanceGreggs in General Discussion: Presidential
Sun Sep 27th 2009, 09:58 PM
I don’t care if you’re an (R) or a (D), an Indy or a Green, a Liberal or a Conservative, a left-to-center, right of the aisle, progressive-regressive, Area 51-9/11 conspiracy theorist, astrology-driven Christian, reluctant Zen-Buddhist, Feng Shui adherent with Rococo overtones – or just a regular guy livin’ a regular life – it’s time to get a fuckin’ grip.
I think we’ve got some common ground, regardless of who we are or where we see ourselves on the colour-coded, media-created pie chart of inane categorization – whether we’re Gen-X or Boomers, low class, poor class, lower middle class, middle-middle class, upper middle class, unemployed, under-employed, over-employed, retired or expired, we’re all pretty much sick to death of the whole damned thing.
Right here, right now, we’ve got over-zealous cops armed with tasers, torturers armed with legal off-the-hook technicalities, citizens dyin’ for lack of healthcare insurance, insurance companies cryin’ about dyin’ profits, food banks running dry, real banks running amok, Wall Street v Main Street, Main Street USA in the business of hangin’ Out of Business signs, and a mainstream media saying suck it up, it’s a sign of the times – and listen to us, we know it ALL, ‘cause we have access to reliable sources like Twitter.
We’ve got so-called “news journalists” talking about whether the POTUS is under-exposed or over-exposed – as though he has a new movie/book/TV series to sell and we – not citizens, but consumers – should judge his accomplishments on the same basis as Survivor, deciding whether he should be voted off that flat-screen island that sits in front of the couch and broadcasts nonsense 24-7.
You want God involved in your government? Well, I don’t; got this separation of Church and State thing in my head – don’t know where that came from, but there you have it. Thing is I’d gladly accept the teachings of one Jesus Christ into the political discourse if, just once in a while, so-called Christian politicians (and their so-called Christian constituents) actually acted like the Late, Great JC and did unto their fellow citizens as they would have done unto their own selfish asses.
I don’t hold myself out as a Biblical scholar, but I don’t remember Jesus ever asking what’s-in-it-for-me before feeding the hungry or curing the afflicted – and, according to the official record so many feel free to fold, staple, spindle and/or mutilate when it fits their personal agenda, he never once asked to see someone’s insurance policy or Green Card before workin’ a God-damned miracle – nor did he refuse to heal a single leper on the basis that they had a pre-existing condition which, according to Saviour Rule No. 606.9(b). 03, disqualified them not only from assistance, but even a modicum of human compassion.
You want less government interference in your life? Hey, guess what – so do I. I don’t want the government pokin’ its nose into my bedroom, my internet communications, my emails, my right to protest, my right to ask where the fuck were all of the people who now want to know where their tax dollars are being spent – the same people whose jaws were apparently wired shut when the Bush administration was wire-tapping without warrants, and sending people who disagreed with them to designated “free-speech zones” while running up the national debt with all the fiscal responsibility of a drunken sailor with a stolen credit card – and while shovelling taxpayers’ money into the pockets of war-profiteering companies who just happened – oh, so coincidently – to be owned and/or operated to the financial benefit of family members and friends.
You believe we should Support the Troops? Yeah, me, too. I also believe that supporting our troops should be more than a bumpersticker – “I love a vet being treated for PTSD in June, how about you? I love a vet who, after all he’s been through and all he’s sacrificed, is still able to enjoy a Gershwin tune – how about you?” Holding hands in the movie show when all the lights are low – yeah, it may not be new, but for some of our returning soldiers it’s impossible to sit in the dark without reliving the horrors they’ve seen – and shouldn’t they be able to get the treatment necessary to make that simple a joy not just a possibility, but a reality?
There are people out there trying to divide us – and I gotta tell ya, so far they’re doing a damned fine job of it. They’re playing to the stoopid, and the stoopid are responding.
We know that because we’ve seen them – and if it’s on TV, it must be true.
They’re telling the stoopid that healthcare reform will ruin those good folks over to the multi-billion-dollar-a-year profit centers, that lobbyists lookin’ to make a buck for the bidness what hired them are good-‘n’-honest Americans, that Barack Obama is a Muslin fascist-communist-Nazi-all-too-uppity-person-of-color who is looking to ruin our nation by being articulate, intelligent, popular and respected.
And the stoopid are listening – they’re listening to the drug-addled Limbaughs, the Sarah “I Can See Russia from My Front Porch!” Palins, the cry-on-a-dime-give-ya-nine-cents-change Beck – who can prove his insane theories with a piece of chalk and a blackboard (or an Etch-a-Sketch, if he gets his sponsors back and can afford state-of-the-art technology once again.)
You want your country back? Well, count me in. I want it back from the lobbyists, the hypocrites, the electronic voting machines, the special interest groups, the birthers, the Teabaggers, the blissfully ignorant, the CEOs, the CFOs, the accountants who find the loopholes, the lawyers who find the technicalities that shield torturers from justice, the corporations that outsource, the companies that downsize for the sole purpose of upsizing their bottom-line – and everyone else who has turned putting you and me out of work and out of luck into a profession that pays well, all benefits included, soul and/or conscience not required.
I want it all back: the mom-and-pop operations that sell a cup of coffee that doesn’t cost twelve bucks, the local retailers who own their own businesses downtown instead of being greeters at the local WalMart in the mall, jobs where people benefit from their labor and retire with a pension instead of a one-way ticket to the poorhouse, schools that provide an education that doesn’t include teaching that the Earth is 6,000 years old despite all evidence to the contrary, doctors that spend their working hours treating patients instead of negotiating with insurance company death panels, corporations run by executives who don’t earn a multi-million dollar bonus for driving a company out of business, and a news media that delivers the fuckin’ news – being reportage of events that actually matter rather than who’s wearing who on the red carpet – nor their opinion of same.
Less government? I hear ya. But I want it minimized where it benefits the few, and maximized where it benefits the nation as a whole. I want my food inspected before I eat it, my drinking water free of contaminants, and my air fit to breathe.
And while I'm on the topic of what I want in this ever-popular atmosphere of it's-MY-world-and-it's-all-about-ME, I want my neighbors being judged on their character and not their accent, and my church/synagogue/temple/mosque being a place where people gather to pray and NOT a pulpit-of-convenience for those who choose to encourage hate and violence towards those who believe differently.
I want freedom of religion, not religion gussied-up as a barely reasonable facsimile of “moral values” and a desire to get right with God (who, in too many instances nowadays, doesn’t even get an honorable mention due to having been supplanted by politically-inspired sermons about voting for the guy who was just caught with his hand in the till, or up the skirt of his secretary, or down the pants of a choirboy – all deemed “forgiven” if he cries sufficiently on TV and promises to be a good boy from here on in, at least when somebody’s watching.
There is a great divide in this nation right now. But it is no longer a division between Democrats and Republicans (or what’s left of the latter); it is a division between the sane and the lunatic fringe, the truth-tellers and the out-and-out liars, the informed and those who refuse to be informed, the bigots and the tolerant, the insightful into what’s wrong and how to right it and the blind who are content to merely complain about the problems we face, without a clue as to what those problems even are.
It’s time to get a fuckin’ grip and pick a side. If you honestly believe that people like Orly Taitz are making a valuable contribution to your country, so be it. Take your place with the minority; carry your mis-spelled protest signs, proudly demonstrate your stupidity in the public square, declare that you want the gov’mint out of government-run programs like Medicaid, fight for the right of insurance conglomerates to make a buck off your pain and suffering, tune-in to Fox-News and swallow whatever foul-tasting, devoid-of-facts pablum they and the rest of the mainstream media is willing to spoon-feed you because you’re too lazy to care where your next meal is coming from if it requires moving your lazy lard-ass off the couch to actually do something pro-active - like voting once in a while.
But if you want your country back – back from the bought-and-paid-for politicians who have no qualms about buttering their own bread at your expense, back from the wingnuts who think murdering abortion-providers is the best way to preserve the sanctity of life, back from the newscasters who think you are unable to think and are therefore charged with doing your thinking for you, back from the school boards who determine that a well-rounded education includes not allowing students to hear the President extol the virtues of working hard in school, back from the so-called Christians who insist they’re being persecuted out of existence by people who wish them “Happy Holidays” in December, back from the brink of INSANITY – you might want to look at your fellow citizens who, despite their “Obama 2008” bumperstickers, despite the (D) after their names, despite their support of gay rights or the right to an abortion, despite the differences between their philosophies and yours, just MIGHT have more in common with you than you want to admit, or that you’re being led to believe.
Think about it. That’s all I’m asking. And I’m somehow confident that those of you still capable of thinking for yourselves have already figured this out.
Now let’s stop merely thinking alike and start acting alike – it’s our country. So let’s take it back – together.
Common ground is out there. The question is, can we all take a deep enough breath to find it?
TO THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
NanceGreggs's Journal: Nance Rants
Calling ALL Citizens
Posted by NanceGreggs in General Discussion: Presidential
Sun Sep 27th 2009, 09:58 PM
I don’t care if you’re an (R) or a (D), an Indy or a Green, a Liberal or a Conservative, a left-to-center, right of the aisle, progressive-regressive, Area 51-9/11 conspiracy theorist, astrology-driven Christian, reluctant Zen-Buddhist, Feng Shui adherent with Rococo overtones – or just a regular guy livin’ a regular life – it’s time to get a fuckin’ grip.
I think we’ve got some common ground, regardless of who we are or where we see ourselves on the colour-coded, media-created pie chart of inane categorization – whether we’re Gen-X or Boomers, low class, poor class, lower middle class, middle-middle class, upper middle class, unemployed, under-employed, over-employed, retired or expired, we’re all pretty much sick to death of the whole damned thing.
Right here, right now, we’ve got over-zealous cops armed with tasers, torturers armed with legal off-the-hook technicalities, citizens dyin’ for lack of healthcare insurance, insurance companies cryin’ about dyin’ profits, food banks running dry, real banks running amok, Wall Street v Main Street, Main Street USA in the business of hangin’ Out of Business signs, and a mainstream media saying suck it up, it’s a sign of the times – and listen to us, we know it ALL, ‘cause we have access to reliable sources like Twitter.
We’ve got so-called “news journalists” talking about whether the POTUS is under-exposed or over-exposed – as though he has a new movie/book/TV series to sell and we – not citizens, but consumers – should judge his accomplishments on the same basis as Survivor, deciding whether he should be voted off that flat-screen island that sits in front of the couch and broadcasts nonsense 24-7.
You want God involved in your government? Well, I don’t; got this separation of Church and State thing in my head – don’t know where that came from, but there you have it. Thing is I’d gladly accept the teachings of one Jesus Christ into the political discourse if, just once in a while, so-called Christian politicians (and their so-called Christian constituents) actually acted like the Late, Great JC and did unto their fellow citizens as they would have done unto their own selfish asses.
I don’t hold myself out as a Biblical scholar, but I don’t remember Jesus ever asking what’s-in-it-for-me before feeding the hungry or curing the afflicted – and, according to the official record so many feel free to fold, staple, spindle and/or mutilate when it fits their personal agenda, he never once asked to see someone’s insurance policy or Green Card before workin’ a God-damned miracle – nor did he refuse to heal a single leper on the basis that they had a pre-existing condition which, according to Saviour Rule No. 606.9(b). 03, disqualified them not only from assistance, but even a modicum of human compassion.
You want less government interference in your life? Hey, guess what – so do I. I don’t want the government pokin’ its nose into my bedroom, my internet communications, my emails, my right to protest, my right to ask where the fuck were all of the people who now want to know where their tax dollars are being spent – the same people whose jaws were apparently wired shut when the Bush administration was wire-tapping without warrants, and sending people who disagreed with them to designated “free-speech zones” while running up the national debt with all the fiscal responsibility of a drunken sailor with a stolen credit card – and while shovelling taxpayers’ money into the pockets of war-profiteering companies who just happened – oh, so coincidently – to be owned and/or operated to the financial benefit of family members and friends.
You believe we should Support the Troops? Yeah, me, too. I also believe that supporting our troops should be more than a bumpersticker – “I love a vet being treated for PTSD in June, how about you? I love a vet who, after all he’s been through and all he’s sacrificed, is still able to enjoy a Gershwin tune – how about you?” Holding hands in the movie show when all the lights are low – yeah, it may not be new, but for some of our returning soldiers it’s impossible to sit in the dark without reliving the horrors they’ve seen – and shouldn’t they be able to get the treatment necessary to make that simple a joy not just a possibility, but a reality?
There are people out there trying to divide us – and I gotta tell ya, so far they’re doing a damned fine job of it. They’re playing to the stoopid, and the stoopid are responding.
We know that because we’ve seen them – and if it’s on TV, it must be true.
They’re telling the stoopid that healthcare reform will ruin those good folks over to the multi-billion-dollar-a-year profit centers, that lobbyists lookin’ to make a buck for the bidness what hired them are good-‘n’-honest Americans, that Barack Obama is a Muslin fascist-communist-Nazi-all-too-uppity-person-of-color who is looking to ruin our nation by being articulate, intelligent, popular and respected.
And the stoopid are listening – they’re listening to the drug-addled Limbaughs, the Sarah “I Can See Russia from My Front Porch!” Palins, the cry-on-a-dime-give-ya-nine-cents-change Beck – who can prove his insane theories with a piece of chalk and a blackboard (or an Etch-a-Sketch, if he gets his sponsors back and can afford state-of-the-art technology once again.)
You want your country back? Well, count me in. I want it back from the lobbyists, the hypocrites, the electronic voting machines, the special interest groups, the birthers, the Teabaggers, the blissfully ignorant, the CEOs, the CFOs, the accountants who find the loopholes, the lawyers who find the technicalities that shield torturers from justice, the corporations that outsource, the companies that downsize for the sole purpose of upsizing their bottom-line – and everyone else who has turned putting you and me out of work and out of luck into a profession that pays well, all benefits included, soul and/or conscience not required.
I want it all back: the mom-and-pop operations that sell a cup of coffee that doesn’t cost twelve bucks, the local retailers who own their own businesses downtown instead of being greeters at the local WalMart in the mall, jobs where people benefit from their labor and retire with a pension instead of a one-way ticket to the poorhouse, schools that provide an education that doesn’t include teaching that the Earth is 6,000 years old despite all evidence to the contrary, doctors that spend their working hours treating patients instead of negotiating with insurance company death panels, corporations run by executives who don’t earn a multi-million dollar bonus for driving a company out of business, and a news media that delivers the fuckin’ news – being reportage of events that actually matter rather than who’s wearing who on the red carpet – nor their opinion of same.
Less government? I hear ya. But I want it minimized where it benefits the few, and maximized where it benefits the nation as a whole. I want my food inspected before I eat it, my drinking water free of contaminants, and my air fit to breathe.
And while I'm on the topic of what I want in this ever-popular atmosphere of it's-MY-world-and-it's-all-about-ME, I want my neighbors being judged on their character and not their accent, and my church/synagogue/temple/mosque being a place where people gather to pray and NOT a pulpit-of-convenience for those who choose to encourage hate and violence towards those who believe differently.
I want freedom of religion, not religion gussied-up as a barely reasonable facsimile of “moral values” and a desire to get right with God (who, in too many instances nowadays, doesn’t even get an honorable mention due to having been supplanted by politically-inspired sermons about voting for the guy who was just caught with his hand in the till, or up the skirt of his secretary, or down the pants of a choirboy – all deemed “forgiven” if he cries sufficiently on TV and promises to be a good boy from here on in, at least when somebody’s watching.
There is a great divide in this nation right now. But it is no longer a division between Democrats and Republicans (or what’s left of the latter); it is a division between the sane and the lunatic fringe, the truth-tellers and the out-and-out liars, the informed and those who refuse to be informed, the bigots and the tolerant, the insightful into what’s wrong and how to right it and the blind who are content to merely complain about the problems we face, without a clue as to what those problems even are.
It’s time to get a fuckin’ grip and pick a side. If you honestly believe that people like Orly Taitz are making a valuable contribution to your country, so be it. Take your place with the minority; carry your mis-spelled protest signs, proudly demonstrate your stupidity in the public square, declare that you want the gov’mint out of government-run programs like Medicaid, fight for the right of insurance conglomerates to make a buck off your pain and suffering, tune-in to Fox-News and swallow whatever foul-tasting, devoid-of-facts pablum they and the rest of the mainstream media is willing to spoon-feed you because you’re too lazy to care where your next meal is coming from if it requires moving your lazy lard-ass off the couch to actually do something pro-active - like voting once in a while.
But if you want your country back – back from the bought-and-paid-for politicians who have no qualms about buttering their own bread at your expense, back from the wingnuts who think murdering abortion-providers is the best way to preserve the sanctity of life, back from the newscasters who think you are unable to think and are therefore charged with doing your thinking for you, back from the school boards who determine that a well-rounded education includes not allowing students to hear the President extol the virtues of working hard in school, back from the so-called Christians who insist they’re being persecuted out of existence by people who wish them “Happy Holidays” in December, back from the brink of INSANITY – you might want to look at your fellow citizens who, despite their “Obama 2008” bumperstickers, despite the (D) after their names, despite their support of gay rights or the right to an abortion, despite the differences between their philosophies and yours, just MIGHT have more in common with you than you want to admit, or that you’re being led to believe.
Think about it. That’s all I’m asking. And I’m somehow confident that those of you still capable of thinking for yourselves have already figured this out.
Now let’s stop merely thinking alike and start acting alike – it’s our country. So let’s take it back – together.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
COLD SHOT ON SUNDAY
COLD SHOT ON SUNDAY @ 7:00 EASTERN TIME
Join Nicole Nichols on Blogtalk Radio September 27, 2009. Phone lines will open at 8:00 PM - so speak up and let your voice be heard.
TOPICS TO INCLUDE...
*Are Obama Supporters Engaged In the Indoctrination of Children?
*The Latest From the Right-Wing Smudge Pot (The Census, Immigration, etc.)
*Chuck Baldwin, Ron Paul, and the radical elements they attract
*The Racist Right And Their Bid For Mainstream Status - Hate On Display
*The Real Truth About Separatists and PLE's
*The Subjucation & Denigration of Women by the Fundamentalist & Racist Right
Please join us on Blogtalk Radio at 7:00 Eastern
The number to call is (347) 857-3972 and we'll be taking your calls starting at 8:00.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Words Continue To Haunt Bill White
Even after his family posted his $25,000 bond, Bill White's nightmare continues. Just five days after his release, Bill had to turn himself back in to await the ruling of the appealate court as prosecuters claim that the words he spoke were not those of someone who could be considered safe for the community.TO THE ORIGINAL STORY
Neo-Nazi leader William A. White was sent back to jail Wednesday by a federal appeals court.
White, who is charged with threatening people by e-mail and online, was released on a $25,000 bond last week by U.S. District Court Judge James Turk.
In jail since last October, White enjoyed just five days of freedom before the latest development in a yearlong series of court battles over his bond.
At the request of federal prosecutors, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals entered a stay of Turk's decision -- meaning that White will remain in custody while the bond issue is appealed.
The government contends that White is a danger to the Roanoke community, citing Web site postings in which he wrote of his urge to "kill, kill, kill" and of his plans to go on a murderous rampage.
White turned himself in to the Roanoke City Jail about 5:45 p.m. Wednesday after learning of the court's order, defense attorney David Damico said.
At a hearing Friday, Turk placed White on home electronic monitoring, basing his decision to release White from jail on testimony from a psychiatrist who determined the 32-year-old was not a danger to the community.
That finding has been hotly disputed by prosecutors, who have cited White's own words during a series of bond hearings and appeals that have involved four judges and two appellate courts in Virginia and Chicago.
In a filing last week to the 4th Circuit, Justice Department attorney Paige Fitzgerald wrote that perhaps the most revealing comment from White was what he said on the witness stand during his first bond hearing in October.
"You could kill a whole lot of people, and you still wouldn't be killing very many who had any value," White testified at the time.
"That's my general outlook on the world. I don't place a lot of value on mundane people. I think most people live their lives in a way that's self-destructive, modernist, corrupt."
Magistrate Judge Michael Urbanski, who presided over the hearing, said at a subsequent hearing that it was one of the most chilling moments he has experienced while on the bench.
At that October hearing, Urbanski ordered White held without bond on a charge that he encouraged violence against the foreman of a Chicago jury that convicted a fellow white supremacist.
But after a federal judge in Chicago dismissed the charge in July -- ruling that White's actions were protected by the First Amendment -- Urbanski decided to release White earlier this month when he was returned to Roanoke to face a second set of charges.
Federal prosecutors appealed Urbanski's ruling to Turk and then appealed again to the 4th Circuit when Turk also decided to release White.
A Dec. 9 trial date has been scheduled for White, who is charged in Roanoke with threatening a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist, a civil rights attorney from Canada, a university administrator and others who did not share his white supremacist views.
Prosecutors say White made his threats online and by e-mail and telephone.
White, who heads the Roanoke-based American National Socialist Workers Party, is expected to raise
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Uh...Bill's Going Back To Jail?
Court orders Va white supremacist back to jail
Associated Press
09/23/09 5:45 PM EDT RICHMOND, VA. — A federal appeals court in Richmond is sending an avowed white supremacist back to jail.
William A. White of Roanoke is charged with threatening a newspaper columnist, a mayor and several others over the Internet and by telephone. A judge released White on $25,000 bond last week based on a psychiatrist's finding that White doesn't pose an imminent threat to the community.
Prosecutors asked the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to stay the judge's decision pending their appeal. A three-judge panel of the court granted the stay Wednesday.
White, the head of a Roanoke-based neo-Nazi group, had been in jail since he was charged with threatening a Chicago jury foreman last October. That charge was dismissed.
Associated Press
09/23/09 5:45 PM EDT RICHMOND, VA. — A federal appeals court in Richmond is sending an avowed white supremacist back to jail.
William A. White of Roanoke is charged with threatening a newspaper columnist, a mayor and several others over the Internet and by telephone. A judge released White on $25,000 bond last week based on a psychiatrist's finding that White doesn't pose an imminent threat to the community.
Prosecutors asked the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to stay the judge's decision pending their appeal. A three-judge panel of the court granted the stay Wednesday.
White, the head of a Roanoke-based neo-Nazi group, had been in jail since he was charged with threatening a Chicago jury foreman last October. That charge was dismissed.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
WELCOME TO THE DEATH PANEL
This is an excellent article depicting the "Death Panel" that the majority of us must currently answer to. This scenario is being played out thousands of times a day all over this country. It's unconscienable.
ARTICLE SOURCE HERE
[cross-posted at The Huffington Post]
I got a phone call from my oldest friend yesterday. We’ve been friends since nursery school, stayed best friends in grade school, high school, college and beyond. We were the kind of friends that had hundreds of “in jokes” and we passed notes, and talked on the phone more than we should have, and drove our parents crazy. We survived Mrs. Nemchek’s Geometry class together. We liked the same music. Neither of us were the “popular” girls, but we didn’t want to be. We marched to our own drummer. We had each other, and we made each other laugh and we were always there for each other without reservation. We got a kick out of the fact that people would routinely ask us if we were sisters, when we looked absolutely nothing alike. There isn’t anyone else in the world with whom I share such a close personal history.
So, it wasn’t unusual to get a call from her. There are times when we talk every other day. Sometimes we seem to go for weeks without a call, but we’re always there in spirit.
“I need to tell you something,” she said. I wasn’t sure whether this was going to be good or bad, but “I need to tell you something” is always important. “I went to the doctor, and there’s something wrong with my heart.”
I wasn’t expecting that one.
My friend has had a series of health problems – a bad car accident resulting in two painful spinal surgeries, asthma, a breast cancer scare, but this was different. Her matter-of-fact tone quickly dissolved into tears of fear and vulnerability. “I can’t believe this. I’m only 43!” This wasn’t supposed to happen.
After her breast cancer scare, the doctor recommended a preventative regimen of tamoxifen, a drug which would help ward off the risk of cancer that her condition indicated might be a problem. But before they started her on the potent drug, they wanted to make sure she had a good healthy heart. A family history of heart disease put her in a high risk group, so the cardiologist insisted on a stress test.
She’s been living through multiple problems with her insurance provider, Horizon Blue Cross/Blue Shield, so she wasn’t surprised when they refused to pay for the test. She was surprised when the doctor decided to call the insurance company himself. He explained why it was important, and that he felt very strongly and in no uncertain terms that it needed to be done. They still refused to pay for the test. And then the cardiologist did an amazing thing. Outraged at the insurance company, he said that he would pay for the test himself, out of his own pocket. It was important, too important to cow to the insurance company representative whose job it was to deny claims just to increase the profits for the company.
My friend wasn’t even able to complete the stress test. After a few minutes on the treadmill, they stopped it and wouldn’t allow her to continue. Shortness of breath. Chest pain. She’d been experiencing these symptoms lately. She was mowing the lawn this week, and had to stop half way through because she couldn’t catch her breath. She chalked it off to asthma. But it was, in fact, a coronary blockage that was keeping one of the chambers of her heart from getting enough oxygen.
So, instead of starting a regimen of tamoxifen next week, she will be getting a stent in her heart tomorrow. She’s home right now, trying to “do nothing”, and trying not to get too stressed out by the thought that she’ll be in surgery in just a few hours, and never even knew anything was wrong.
If her insurance company had gotten its way, she would never have had that test. The next time she was out mowing the lawn, it could have killed her. “He saved my life,” she said, just as I was thinking the same thing. Yes, doctors are in the business of saving lives from disease, and illness and injury, but they shouldn’t have to be in the business of saving lives from business. “He saved my life from the insurance company, she continued. ”The insurance company… there’s your Death Panel.”
I didn’t even ask her his name, but I’m grateful to that cardiologist in the kind of way it’s difficult to express in words. He saved a wonderful, beautiful life. But how many people are not so lucky? A recent study found out that 45,000 people every year die because they are uninsured. And each one of those 45,000 has a story too. They are someone’s husband, or wife, or parent, or best friend since nursery school.
But my friend has health insurance. She pays $600 every month for it, and yet her coverage denied a test that saved her life. How many fully-insured Americans die every year because we allow the insurance industry to be a for-profit enterprise, making money off of people’s lives? How many die because our current system says that the money made for salaries and bonuses for insurance company executives is more important than they are? More important than your mother. More important than your son. More important than my friend. How long will we accept the harsh reality that the insurance company looks at human beings and sees nothing but a spreadsheet?
“We need a revolution in the health care industry,” my friend agreed. “We should not allow them to profit from our own illness.”
Until then, if you have insurance, get in line. Because whatever you are paying them, it’s only a matter of time before your number is up, and it’s you or someone you love that gets to stand in front of the Death Panel and plead your case. And guess what? They’d much rather pay politicians than pay to save your life. It’s cheaper.
ALSO CHECK OUT THE LATEST TOP 10 CONSERVATIVE IDIOTS LIST HERE
ARTICLE SOURCE HERE
[cross-posted at The Huffington Post]
I got a phone call from my oldest friend yesterday. We’ve been friends since nursery school, stayed best friends in grade school, high school, college and beyond. We were the kind of friends that had hundreds of “in jokes” and we passed notes, and talked on the phone more than we should have, and drove our parents crazy. We survived Mrs. Nemchek’s Geometry class together. We liked the same music. Neither of us were the “popular” girls, but we didn’t want to be. We marched to our own drummer. We had each other, and we made each other laugh and we were always there for each other without reservation. We got a kick out of the fact that people would routinely ask us if we were sisters, when we looked absolutely nothing alike. There isn’t anyone else in the world with whom I share such a close personal history.
So, it wasn’t unusual to get a call from her. There are times when we talk every other day. Sometimes we seem to go for weeks without a call, but we’re always there in spirit.
“I need to tell you something,” she said. I wasn’t sure whether this was going to be good or bad, but “I need to tell you something” is always important. “I went to the doctor, and there’s something wrong with my heart.”
I wasn’t expecting that one.
My friend has had a series of health problems – a bad car accident resulting in two painful spinal surgeries, asthma, a breast cancer scare, but this was different. Her matter-of-fact tone quickly dissolved into tears of fear and vulnerability. “I can’t believe this. I’m only 43!” This wasn’t supposed to happen.
After her breast cancer scare, the doctor recommended a preventative regimen of tamoxifen, a drug which would help ward off the risk of cancer that her condition indicated might be a problem. But before they started her on the potent drug, they wanted to make sure she had a good healthy heart. A family history of heart disease put her in a high risk group, so the cardiologist insisted on a stress test.
She’s been living through multiple problems with her insurance provider, Horizon Blue Cross/Blue Shield, so she wasn’t surprised when they refused to pay for the test. She was surprised when the doctor decided to call the insurance company himself. He explained why it was important, and that he felt very strongly and in no uncertain terms that it needed to be done. They still refused to pay for the test. And then the cardiologist did an amazing thing. Outraged at the insurance company, he said that he would pay for the test himself, out of his own pocket. It was important, too important to cow to the insurance company representative whose job it was to deny claims just to increase the profits for the company.
My friend wasn’t even able to complete the stress test. After a few minutes on the treadmill, they stopped it and wouldn’t allow her to continue. Shortness of breath. Chest pain. She’d been experiencing these symptoms lately. She was mowing the lawn this week, and had to stop half way through because she couldn’t catch her breath. She chalked it off to asthma. But it was, in fact, a coronary blockage that was keeping one of the chambers of her heart from getting enough oxygen.
So, instead of starting a regimen of tamoxifen next week, she will be getting a stent in her heart tomorrow. She’s home right now, trying to “do nothing”, and trying not to get too stressed out by the thought that she’ll be in surgery in just a few hours, and never even knew anything was wrong.
If her insurance company had gotten its way, she would never have had that test. The next time she was out mowing the lawn, it could have killed her. “He saved my life,” she said, just as I was thinking the same thing. Yes, doctors are in the business of saving lives from disease, and illness and injury, but they shouldn’t have to be in the business of saving lives from business. “He saved my life from the insurance company, she continued. ”The insurance company… there’s your Death Panel.”
I didn’t even ask her his name, but I’m grateful to that cardiologist in the kind of way it’s difficult to express in words. He saved a wonderful, beautiful life. But how many people are not so lucky? A recent study found out that 45,000 people every year die because they are uninsured. And each one of those 45,000 has a story too. They are someone’s husband, or wife, or parent, or best friend since nursery school.
But my friend has health insurance. She pays $600 every month for it, and yet her coverage denied a test that saved her life. How many fully-insured Americans die every year because we allow the insurance industry to be a for-profit enterprise, making money off of people’s lives? How many die because our current system says that the money made for salaries and bonuses for insurance company executives is more important than they are? More important than your mother. More important than your son. More important than my friend. How long will we accept the harsh reality that the insurance company looks at human beings and sees nothing but a spreadsheet?
“We need a revolution in the health care industry,” my friend agreed. “We should not allow them to profit from our own illness.”
Until then, if you have insurance, get in line. Because whatever you are paying them, it’s only a matter of time before your number is up, and it’s you or someone you love that gets to stand in front of the Death Panel and plead your case. And guess what? They’d much rather pay politicians than pay to save your life. It’s cheaper.
ALSO CHECK OUT THE LATEST TOP 10 CONSERVATIVE IDIOTS LIST HERE
Sunday, September 20, 2009
COLD SHOT TONIGHT
AT 7:00 EASTERN COLD SHOT WILL BE COMING ACROSS THE BLOGTALK RADIO SYSTEM.LISTEN HERE
TOPICS TO INCLUDE:
*AMERICA AT A CROSSROAD
*THE LATEST IN OBAMA SMEARS
*ARE THE RIGHT WING PUNDITS REALLY DANGEROUS?
*HAVE REPUBLICANS BECOME THE FIFTH COLUMN OF INSANITY?
*HAS OBAMA BEEN MARGINALIZED?
*THE NEW BLACK PANTHERS INTIMIDATION CASE
*MILITIA LEADER NORM OLSON RAISES HIS UGLY HEAD
PHONE LINES OPENED AT 7:45 EASTERN TIME
Friday, September 18, 2009
SWEET DREAMS AMERICA
This blog, and much of my life, has been dedicated to exposing and speaking out against racism and those who espouse and propagate the rhetoric of hatred and prejudice. Suffice it to say that throughout the years I have stood toe-to-toe with some very notable people on the racist right. In some instances, I managed to fly under their radar and they didn't even know who I was or what I stood for.
Likewise, on the internet I have met and disagreed with some rather prominent "leaders" in the so-called "movement." Much of the time the writings and the spewed beliefs of White Nationalists and neo-Nazi's yield nothing more than the usual and the predictable. Every once in awhile, however, one of their own offers something that is worthy of discussion - something that just smacks us in the face and calls for a response or even elicits agreement. This is one of those times.
Christopher Drake has been part of the White Nationalist scene for a number of years and has a pretty good reputation among them. He and I have had a few battles but today he had something important to say.
In response to my radio show, Cold Shot, which aired last night, Chris posted, what I believe to be an important essay in the comment section of this blog. You can read the uninterrupted text here.
Given the current climate and the recent events in this country, I think we should all be discussing this. I think we should open up this kind of dialogue from coast to coast. While I certainly disagree with some of what Chris says, it's a good start for both sides. My comments will appear in bold.
I've been meaning to comment on this for a while. Tom Metzger said in an interview a while back that if you could get Wall Street interested in the pro-white thing it would be huge. What he meant was that as long as the pro-white movement stayed as an under-funded grass roots thing, it was going to pretty much stay at a stand still. That's especially true while everyone is trying to stay legal.
Tom Metzger was right when he said that. Metzger has not only been a mentor and an activist for the whole pro-white movement for over four decades, but is one of the more politically savvy of the leaders. Many of the things he has "preached" have been dead-on. That's one of the reasons that he has been so feared by anti-racists.
Now money is involved. Now politicians see that whites are now ready to "vote white" again. Now there is money to be lost should your side lose. Like my fellow lefitst, Tom Metzger has pointed out again and again, if you start screwing with people's money, they start paying attention.Again, that's very true. If you look at the racial make-up of the recent protestors you will see that 99.99% of them are white, mostly middle-aged to senior-citizen. That's what makes up a huge part of the voting block. The Republican campaign coffers are filling up quickly and a rallying cry is being sent out by white, Republican candidates for contributions.
How many of you have seen a flier that said, "wake up, white man!"? I've seen it said so many times, so many ways on so many websites, handbills, stickers, etc. I always wanted to say, "oh he's awake, just half asleep because of his last big meal."
"Where were all these people while George Bush was screwing up the country?" I heard that asked at least three times yesterday for some reason. It's a legit question. Where were they? Simple. They were at home, happy with their nice unessarily big house, spending their money like crazy and assumming their jobs would always be there. Most of them wouldn't noticed if you'd elected Joe Stalin, so long as he didn't grab their attention or threatened to make life more complex for the sheeple.
And, therein, lies the major crux of the problem. As long as there is beer in the fridge, two cars in the driveway, a meal on the table and the TV is hooked up to cable all is right with the world. That's America. That's been America for a very long time.
But then it came time to do the right thing and get Bush out of office. Bush ran around like a crazy animal, attacking anyone the Jews told him to. If they asked him to bomb his own mother, you can bet his cabinet would meet about it. He wasn't the blood thirsty tyrant the reds made him out to be. He was worse. At least a tyrant knows what he wants. Bush just let the Zionist direct his military while he took care of big money. He didn't say abortion was a good idea nor did he ever say he wanted to take anyone's guns away. Money still rolling in? Steady enough. We'll sit home. Immigration worse than under even the most leftist administration? Maybe I DO NEED a Mexican housekeeper...
Eliminate the anti-Semitic statements and much of this is pretty close to right. Bush was a puppet - a wooden-headed marionette with strings attached to some of the most sinister and malevolent corporate leaders the world has ever known. Bought and paid for by these puppeteers, George W. Bush was as happy as a pig in slop doing their bidding and making an ass of himself and everyone else in this country while three-hundred million Americans slept.
So America set out to do the right thing from their command stations on sofas across the country. As far as "the right thing" went, it was NOT voting for John McCain. McCain assumed then and still assumes now that if he offers to kill anyone the Jews need killed, they'll give him a ticket to the lift. Ten years ago, that might have been true, John. By 2008, too many people on both sides of the fence were calling Iraq and Afghanistan "another Jewish war." It was time to just hold what they had and wait on juicy targets like Iran.
So the road to hell got another on-ramp added.
And this is where your argument becomes somewhat sloppy - even sophomoric. Let's do a little backtracking here - actually, let's do a lot of backtracking.
America loves to scapegoat. That's just the way it is. We have to have someone to blame - other than ourselves, of course. It's easier that way. And racists and white nationalists always seem to want to blame "the Jews" or "the blacks," or the homosexuals or...well, you get the point. Others point their fingers at liberals, or conservatives, or the government...and so on. You do it. I do it. We all do it to one extent or another.
Things aren't quite that simple, however. Think back to the election of 2000. Dubyah didn't win that election - he was "appointed." Oh, there was an outcry for a little while about him not being legitimate and then came 9-11. Remember how you felt that day? Remember the weeks after? Remember the country uniting behind Bush and his f'ing "War On Terror" as we moved into Afghanistan?
Now, no one will ever, ever, ever convince me that 19 known terrorists were able to board four planes close to the same time on the same day and fly them into buildings without SOMEONE in our government knowing about it. No one can tell me that really happened.
It really didn't take long for the white supremacist crowd in this country to start pointing their fingers at Israel and our Israeli alliance, though. Of course, we were all in shock. We were afraid. After all, this is America and those kinds of things don't happen here. We're a civilized nation. We had to blame someone, now, didn't we?
Well, after the shock waves passed and we were extracting our pound of flesh from Al Queada, we were quite easily lulled back into our complacent states of materialism and apathy. The country was in pretty good hands and now we had the Patriot Act and Homeland Security to protect us. We still had our jobs and the mortgage payments had to be met along with the those other bills for the boat and RV that we proudly park in our driveways.
The puppeteers now saw their big opportunity, didn't they? And they pulled the Shrub's strings a little harder - gave him a little song and dance routine about weapons of mass destruction and put him back on the stage. It didn't matter that hundred of thousands of people marched on Washington - or millions around the world. Georgie had it all under control. Remember, you're either with us, or against us.
To the ultra-conservatives, the protestors were left-wing pacifists and un-American. To the liberals, the proponents of the attack were right-winged war mongers. And the white nationalists weren't sure where to light. Some took their cause to the streets with their "No More Wars For Israel" signs and got their butts kicked to the curb. Why? Because the anti-war protestors didn't want to be associated with anything racist or anti-Semitic. They didn't share that sentiment.
But, Dubyah's handlers weren't concerned with the numbers in the streets - you see, those numbers didn't equate to dollars. Certainly not the kind of dollars that could be made through an unconscionable war. So...they gave us Shock & Awe. And we sat in front of the TV with our microwave popcorn and a six-pack and cheered at the non-stop media coverage of bombs being rained down on innocent men, women, and children while the puppeteers rubbed their greedy palms together in great anticipation of the profits they would reap.
Oh, yes...we did that, and Oh, yes...they did that. And for millions of Americans life was still thought to be good.
There was little thought given to those less fortunate. So you're homeless and hungry - get a job. So you can't see a doctor - that's too bad. So, you got wounded in Iraq - welcome to understaffed and under-funded Veteran's hospital. So you want twice the house you can afford - here's the loan, it'll be ours in 10 years, ha, ha. So your kids can't pass the ACT - here's "No Child Left Behind." I've got mine - get your own. That's Capitalism, baby. Want the American dream? Go find it.
Then the Road To Hell On Ramp was completed. Fighting wars on two fronts, an economy that collapsed, unemployment reaching mammoth proportions, the stock-market crashing, the auto-industry going bust, businesses going bankrupt, a broken health-care system, an antiquated and ineffective educational system - and guess what...America finally gets it.
In came Barack Obama. What kills me is that he got elected on vague slogans, white guilt, and promises to end the genocide Bush started. Does it piss one single person off that he hasn't raised a finger to even so much as slow the rate of bodies piling up in the Middle East? Shouldn't some of you who blindly follow him because he's black, get pissed off because he lies like hell to you? Anyhow. This post is going to be long enough as it is.
It is unfortunate that even in the face of an election that was such an overwhelming statement by the American people that the White Nationalist must somehow try to justify our votes through suggesting that they were cast because of "white guilt." I clearly see that you have to have something to blame the election of a black man on. Perhaps you have worn your fingers out pointing them at others?
I am pissed off. There's no doubt about that. But, not for the reasons you suggest. Barack Obama's election had nothing to do with "white guilt," and everything to do with change. That's all Americans had to see and hear - "CHANGE." It didn't matter what the change meant. In our minds - anything was better than what we were experiencing - and we were right.
I'm pissed off because a man who has held the office of the President of the United States for less than ten months, a man who stepped into one of the most precipitous situations ever faced by any other is being vilified by smears and blatant fabrications by Americans who slept through the last eight years of this country's decapitation.
I'm pissed off because there are so many people in my country who have been sold a bill of goods by profiteers and puppeteers whose unscrupulous greed for money and power obscures any and all things possible.
So now people in Washington are paying attention to the new pro-white movement. Sorry to all you apologists but that's what it is. It's Stormfront come to life with the militias marching in near-lockstep. You can say it's not about race or whatever. Don't kid youselves. It's totally about race. "Oh we are just American Patriots." Take it from a pro, you can't be an "American Patriot" and not be racist.
Yes the people in Washington are paying attention - and some are paying a lot more than that. And all one has to do is look at the racial makeup of those "American Patriots" to suspect that there is something more afoot here than taxes and health-care.
There are many among them who will claim not to be racist - but racism is often a nebulous vagary shrouded in code-words or underlying intents.
A lot of people are coming to that conclusion though. "You're a bigot!" works about as good at slowing white people these days as calling Obama a "nigger" made him reconsider running for office. "People in the tea-party movement are tired of people calling them racists." Where? All I see are some people who claim to be some sort of leadership backpeddling on race to the media.
Let me be the one to inform you all: there is no such thing as a post-racial society. I guess if you destroyed the entire human race, then you might have a post-racial world. The white person who patted his affirmative action black on the head last year is now carrying on just like a middle-of-the-road racist did two years ago. The same thing you heard on Stormfront is now being chanted through the streets of DC by thousands, if not millions, of people. Someone screwed with their money.
Well, you know the old saying about money being the root of all evil.
Many right-wingers, especially the pundits, have been attempting to conceal their racism for years, yielding the floor to the climate of political correctness and for fear of losing the dollars that come from their corporate sponsors. The sheer numbers that have flocked to the right-wing airwaves as well as into the streets have, however, emboldened the talking-heads as well as the network CEO's. The tide is definitely turning.
Finally.First, I must say that I understand that it is difficult for a neo-Nazi or white supremacist to discuss many political or social issues without laying everything off on "the Jews." In all honesty, any neophyte to the hyperbolic rhetoric of the white nationalist and their views would be led to believe that Jews make up 75% of the U.S. population, have an omniscient presence, and wield unbridled power over the populace. You guys really need to stop giving them so much credit.
Moving on, a race war actually has a chance of happening now. I watched a frightened negro on TV who apparently dropped the Hollywood fantasy and admitted that blacks would get their asses stomped Samolia style should a war of such break out. Right now, people in Washington are actually sitting around wondering how to run a race war and how to put things back together after it's over. No boys, that isn't a good thing. First, you don't want any war, regardless of how much you think you do. Second, if there was one, you don't want anyone from the beltway on your side. YOU WILL BE SCREWED OVER IN THE END AND WORSE OFF THAN BEFORE. If a war had to happen, it needs to be white people against the feds, the Chosen and their pets.
What makes you think a race war is coming, Drake? Simple. The rats are already jumping ship. You are seeing a lot of Jews starting to support the tea-party crowd (which is what I used to call "the tea-cups"). Black man, don't think for a moment that Jews cared a shred for you and your advancement. It was a bigger joke to them than it was to us. Just like during the birth of Nazi Germany, Jews are attempting to get in on the ground level. Yes, they will turn on you and are about to enmass. That's one sign.
For years I have been hearing white supremacists foretell the "Day of the Rope." I have laughed at their folly and their wishful predictions of a Racial Holy War. I have commented over and over again on their fantasies and their daydreams. Watching some of the actions, however, of the tea-party crowd and the drama that is unfolding, however, has given me pause. Not so much about a race war but, certainly, about a revolution and I concur - that's not something any of us want to see.
Another thing is that money, for the first time since big money told Hitler to disband the SA, is in the movement, if you can still call it that. Politicians smell votes around the tea-parties almost as much as big money smells trouble across the fence. They, not Nathan Furrows, can start a war.
Now...there is a statement worth chewing on. Let's face it, with the landslide election of Barack Obama and the usurpation of power by the Democrats in Congress - the struggling Republican Party was decimated. It has been gutted and filleted and now devoured. That's a hard pill to swallow for a lot of conservatives.
Money? Oh yeah...there's a lot of that at stake and one whole helluva lot being thrown into this tea-party thing. Just look at some of the names associated with this group - and those are just the ones who do the grunt work. The real money is very deep-pocketed and something I will discuss at another time.
While money might equal power, being in power makes one a lot more money - and that's precisely what we should all remember. We should remember it, because things are getting mighty scary.
It's highly unlikely that the power-brokers and the puppeteers are going to get another war on foreign soil because their big gun has already been fired and their shock and awe hand has been played in this round. They are just emerging from the throes of a grand mall seizure where much of the country united around the idea of "change." And they are pissed!
As much of a Patriot as I consider myself, I'm not excited about a race war or any other kind. You kids don't know what it's all about. I've had my taste of it and my stomach goes into knots each time I think about it. I know a lot of people are looking for payback towards non-whites and their associates. It's hard to try and tell them this: a race war is the last thing you should want if you love your people. But it looks like we're getting to "the last thing." Everytime we've tried to talk, we've been shut out, belittled, attacked, fired and jailed. A war in this country is horrifying still. 90% of you in the movement don't know what any kind of war is like and almost 99% of you can't imagine what a war at home would be. I've trained or been involved in low intensity conflict for a great deal of my life. Know what it's all taught me? That I want to sit at a cafe all day and type silly adventure novels. I want to play with my baby and never raise another rifle at anyone ever again. Politcs, basement commando photos, hard feelings and bad feelings aside, NOBODY but the sickest of you should want a civil war right here at home.
We ran a little mom and pop store for years, barely getting by. Now the mob (Washington) has an interest in our business. Great. Be careful what you wish far. And don't call an ill-thought wish a sucessful plan.
While I disagree that any sort of civil unrest will involve one race against another. I do believe that a war of any kind is the last thing we need. I fear, however, we are on the brink of something pretty disastrous. Something that we won't recover from for a very long time.
One of the things that has been accomplished is that Americans are slowly being pulled from that cocoon of comfort that they have gotten so used to. However, they still haven't fully awakened to the truth. Like a sleepy-headed child just emerging from her restful slumber, they haven't rubbed the sleep from their eyes or become acutely aware of the chaos that awaits them. I can only hope that they do so before running out into the path of an oncoming freight train.
As the white supremacist blames the Jew or the black man and the liberal blames the conservative and vice versa, this country is rolling right out onto those tracks. But, in the end, the ones really to blame are ourselves. We've been so busy with the name-calling, the labeling, the finger-pointing and the scapegoating that we have let our selves be manipulated and duped and, yes, pimped. It's cost us - it's cost us dearly. We all see that. We know that. Yet, we continue to allow it happen. Say goodnight - sweet dreams - God bless, America.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
COLD SHOT TONIGHT
Due to some renovations being completed here, Cold Shot could not be produced on Sunday. Consequently, it will air on Wednesday, September 16th at 7:00 Eastern. Topics of discussion include:• Bill White - The Roanoke Nazi was ordered released on $25,000 bond but the prosecution has appealed. Tune in for the latest developments in the case.
• Hal Turner - The racist, radio shock jock out of New Jersey is being released with "conditions." Discuss the latest in the saga of this circus clown.
• A Pro-White Political Party - Would such a thing succeed in America?
• It's About Race - Or Is It? - Is all of the hoopla in America right now because of the election of the first African-American President or because of something else?
• The Tea-baggers and the March on Washington - What is this really all about? What has been accomplished? What next?
• Righting a Wrong - It seems that I might have grossly underestimated the right-wing nuts in this country. Some are actually preparing for and advocating an armed revolution. Could it happen? What would your response be?
LISTEN HERE
PHONE LINES OPEN @ 7:45
CALL-IN NUMBER: (347) 857-3972
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
More Psychiatric Tests For The Roanoke Nazi
STORY HERE'
Neo-Nazi William White to stay in jail for now, judge orders psychiatric hearing
Neo-Nazi William White will stay in jail, at least until Friday.
Neo-Nazi William White will stay in jail, at least until Friday.
A federal judge in Roanoke wants a local psychiatrist to examine White before he decides whether White can be released on bond.
Last week, a magistrate judge set conditions for White's release. The government immediately appealed that decision to the district court.
White is charged with threatening and intimidating people by way of the internet.
He's been in jail since October, when he was charged with threatening a Chicago jury foreman. That charge has been dismissed.
HAL TURNER RELEASED
Blogger Charged With Threatening 7th Circuit Judges Gets Home Confinement
Lynne Marek
The National Law Journal
September 15, 2009
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U.S. District Judge Donald Walter has ordered the release of Internet blogger and Web talk show host Hal Turner, who was arrested in June for declaring in an online posting that three Chicago-based federal judges "deserve to be killed."
Turner is on his way back to his home state of New Jersey after Walter decided in a Wednesday conference call meeting with lawyers that Turner could be released under "strict conditions," including a prohibition on his speaking to the media, home confinement and electronic monitoring, said Michael Oroczo, who represents Turner. He said his client was currently in the U.S. Marshal Service's custody in Oklahoma City as he's being transferred to New Jersey.
"The government didn't even come close to proving he was a danger to the public," said Oroczo of Newark, N.J.'s Bailey & Oroczo.
In the conference call, federal prosecutors from the Northern District of Illinois argued, as they had previously in court, that Turner should remain in custody, said Randall Samborn, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Chicago. The release order by Walter, a U.S. district judge from Western Louisiana who was assigned the case to avoid potential bias, runs counter to a decision made last month by Chicago-based U.S. Magistrate Judge Martin Ashman, who found that Turner should remain in custody until his trial. It's not clear if a bond amount was set for the release.
Turner was charged by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Chicago with threatening to assault and murder three judges in retaliation for a June 2 decision they made. In a Web posting the same day, Turner called the 7th Circuit ruling, which declined to overturn laws banning handguns in Chicago and a nearby suburb, an "outrage" and said that the judges behind the decision "deserve to be killed." The judges who decided the case were Chief Judge Frank Easterbrook, Judge Richard Posner and Judge William Bauer. In a second posting on June 3, Turner provided the names, work addresses, phone numbers and photos of the judges.
Walter last week also allowed Turner's case to be transferred to the Eastern District of New York, granting his request for a change of venue from Chicago to Brooklyn. Walter granted the venue change partly because he agreed the defendant would have a harder time getting a fair trial in Chicago where there was significant media coverage of the 2005 murder of U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow's mother and husband. Turner said in his postings that federal judges in Chicago hadn't gotten "the hint" from those killings.
"Memories are not so short as to erase the event from the public mind," Walter wrote in a Sept. 8 decision. "On balance, it is this court's opinion that granting the motion would best serve, not only justice, but the appearance of justice.
Walter also allowed the postponement of the trial from Oct. 5 to Nov. 30. Samborn declined to comment on whether the Chicago-based prosecutors, Assistant U.S. Attorneys William Hogan and William Ridgway, will remain on the case or whether it will be transferred to another U.S. Attorney's office.
Lynne Marek
The National Law Journal
September 15, 2009
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Printer-friendly Email this Article Reprints & Permissions
U.S. District Judge Donald Walter has ordered the release of Internet blogger and Web talk show host Hal Turner, who was arrested in June for declaring in an online posting that three Chicago-based federal judges "deserve to be killed."
Turner is on his way back to his home state of New Jersey after Walter decided in a Wednesday conference call meeting with lawyers that Turner could be released under "strict conditions," including a prohibition on his speaking to the media, home confinement and electronic monitoring, said Michael Oroczo, who represents Turner. He said his client was currently in the U.S. Marshal Service's custody in Oklahoma City as he's being transferred to New Jersey.
"The government didn't even come close to proving he was a danger to the public," said Oroczo of Newark, N.J.'s Bailey & Oroczo.
In the conference call, federal prosecutors from the Northern District of Illinois argued, as they had previously in court, that Turner should remain in custody, said Randall Samborn, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Chicago. The release order by Walter, a U.S. district judge from Western Louisiana who was assigned the case to avoid potential bias, runs counter to a decision made last month by Chicago-based U.S. Magistrate Judge Martin Ashman, who found that Turner should remain in custody until his trial. It's not clear if a bond amount was set for the release.
Turner was charged by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Chicago with threatening to assault and murder three judges in retaliation for a June 2 decision they made. In a Web posting the same day, Turner called the 7th Circuit ruling, which declined to overturn laws banning handguns in Chicago and a nearby suburb, an "outrage" and said that the judges behind the decision "deserve to be killed." The judges who decided the case were Chief Judge Frank Easterbrook, Judge Richard Posner and Judge William Bauer. In a second posting on June 3, Turner provided the names, work addresses, phone numbers and photos of the judges.
Walter last week also allowed Turner's case to be transferred to the Eastern District of New York, granting his request for a change of venue from Chicago to Brooklyn. Walter granted the venue change partly because he agreed the defendant would have a harder time getting a fair trial in Chicago where there was significant media coverage of the 2005 murder of U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow's mother and husband. Turner said in his postings that federal judges in Chicago hadn't gotten "the hint" from those killings.
"Memories are not so short as to erase the event from the public mind," Walter wrote in a Sept. 8 decision. "On balance, it is this court's opinion that granting the motion would best serve, not only justice, but the appearance of justice.
Walter also allowed the postponement of the trial from Oct. 5 to Nov. 30. Samborn declined to comment on whether the Chicago-based prosecutors, Assistant U.S. Attorneys William Hogan and William Ridgway, will remain on the case or whether it will be transferred to another U.S. Attorney's office.
Monday, September 14, 2009
COLD SHOT COMIN ATCHA
Due to some renovations being completed here, Cold Shot could not be produced on Sunday. Consequently, it will air on Wednesday, September 16th at 7:00 Eastern. Topics of discussion include:• Bill White - The Roanoke Nazi was ordered released on $25,000 bond but the prosecution has appealed. Tune in for the latest developments in the case.
• Hal Turner - The racist, radio shock jock out of New Jersey is in transit from his cell in Chicago to a new one in Brooklyn. Discuss the latest in the saga of this circus clown.
• A Pro-White Political Party - Would such a thing succeed in America?
• It's About Race - Or Is It? - Is all of the hoopla in America right now because of the election of the first African-American President or because of something else?
• The Tea-baggers and the March on Washington - What is this really all about? What has been accomplished? What next?
• Righting a Wrong - It seems that I might have grossly underestimated the right-wing nuts in this country. Some are actually preparing for and advocating an armed revolution. Could it happen? What would your response be?
LISTEN HERE
PHONE LINES OPEN @ 7:45
CALL-IN NUMBER: (347) 857-3972
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Furrow Says So Long To Racism - If You Believe...
On August 10, 1999, Buford O'Neal Furrow packed a gun and went to town. Buford was a country boy, said to be quiet and seemingly nice according to his neighbors. But, Furrow was a troubled man. By all accounts, he was consumed with hate and filled with anger. The race-mixing ways and the Jew domination had to be stopped. White people had to awaken - and he, so he believed, was their wake-up call.
The North Valley Jewish Community Center was packed with children on the morning of August 11th as most community centers are on warm summer mornings. Furrow parked his van and hijacked a car then drove to the Center. Upon entering, Buford pulled his Uzi sub-machine gun and opened fire injuring five people - Isabelle Shalometh, 68, a receptionist at the center, counselor Mindy Finkelstein, 16, and three little boys, Benjamin Kadish,5, Joshua Stepakoff,6, and James Zidell,6. Investigators determined that in all 70 bullets were fired within the center. But, Buford wasn't finished. He had not quite exacted the toll that he wanted. His thirst for murder had not been sated.
On the morning of August 9th, Joseph "JoJo" Ileto had been assigned by the U.S. Postal Service, where he worked as a fill-in substitute letter-carrier, to cover at the Chatsworth Post Office (San Fernando Valley). Joseph was delivering his route at approximately 11:45 that morning when he was approached by a man asking him to post a letter for him. Ileto was standing by his truck. As he reached for the piece of mail, the man - Buford O'Neal Furrow - pulled a Glock Model 26 9mm and shot Joseph twice. Ileto bent over and attempted to run away. Furrow shot him seven times more in the back until he fell face down to the ground. Buford then got into his car, a stolen Toyota Camry, and drove away, leaving behind the mortally wounded Ileto. When inspectors arrived, Ileto was lying dead in a pool of blood. Furrow would later tell police that he believed Ileto to be a good target because he was non-white and worked for the federal government.
Buford Furrow is an avowed racist and white separatist. Prior to his shooting spree he had served as a security officer in Richard Butler's Aryan Nations compound. A book found in the van abandoned by Furrow, entitled "War Cycles, Peace Cycles," was written by Richard Kelly Hoskins, who is one of the principal ideologues of Christian Identity. While Furrow's sanity has been taken into consideration, it is still believed that Buford was acting as a Phineas Priest. Hard-line Christian Identity adherents, which many members of Aryan Nations are, believe that in order for the second coming of Christ to occur the earth must be swept clean of all satanic elements which, of course, include Jews, non-whites and homosexuals. Those wishing to become "Phineas Priests" initiate themselves with a lone act of violence that lends itself to this ultimate ethnic cleansing. Their "Bible" is another book by Richard Kelly Hoskins entitled "Vigilantes of Christendom: the Story of the Phineas Priesthood". The book encourages its followers to follow the example of the biblical Phineas, grandson of the priest Aaron in the Book of Numbers, who kills a prince of Israel for marrying a woman from another tribe. In return for this deed, Phineas receives the "covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God." The mission of the group is seen as one that will outlaw "interbreeding" and "root sodomites from the land." And the book lists several examples of how to do this one of which is the 1984 slaying of radio talk host Alan Berg by The Order. This in and of itself, is interesting in the Furrow case since Buford Furrow had taken up residency with one Debbie Matthews - the widow of the revered Robert Matthews, founder of The Order.
While most people of sound mind are reviled by the actions of Buford O'Neal Furrow, some on the extreme, racist right are proud of him. They extoll his actions and his dedication to "The Cause." Frequently they speak his name along with McVeigh and members of the order as a hero and martyr and they are quick to defend his actions as being part of the "Racial Holy War" or being the kind of thing that we will see more of as white people become more frustrated and angry over the perceived loss of their rights.
Buford O'Neal Furrow was justly sentenced in March, 2001. U.S. District Judge Nora Manella imposed two life sentences without possibility of parole, plus 110 years in prison and payment of $690,294 in restitution. "Your actions were a reminder that bigotry is alive," the judge told him. "If you've sent a message, it is that even the most violent crimes can strengthen a community."
Last week, in a letter to LA Daily News reporter Kevin Modesti, Furrow claimed:
About 5 yrs. ago I threw away my racist books, literature, etc. and took up a new leaf. I now publicly renounce all bias toward anyone based on race, creed, color, sexual orientation, etc. and am a much happier person. I feel a life based on hate is no life at all.
Those people I hurt, and the man I killed that day in 1999 will probably never forgive me, but I am truely (sic) sorry and deeply regret the pain I caused. My mind was filled with sickness and unfortunately I acted on it. But, I am now a "model" inmate who has shunned criminal activity and spend my day with exercise, art, and learning prison civil law. I can't change the past, but I can damn sure change the future, and my future will never include Neo-Nazi activity again. That is all I can do.
Now, Furrow claims, that he would like to speak about "the evils of hate." Now he is remorseful. Has prison really served to "rehabilitate" Furrow or is this just another situation where 10 yeas after the fact it's in his best interest to renounce his racism publicly?
The Aryan Nations pretty well met its' demise with the death of Richard Butler. Many of the younger members of racist organizations either don't remember Robert Matthews or find little to be admired in the gang known as "The Order." At a time when white supremacy and neo-Nazism is facing a lot of negativity from the populace and from law enforcement, Furrow probably doesn't have a lot of contacts outside of prison walls. Good. Let's keep it that way.
Friday, September 11, 2009
OLBERMANN SUGGESTS 'STUPUD PANELS'
Keith Olbermann absolutely smokes "Joe" Wilson and other Republicans in his comments and video.
STORY AND VIDEO HERE
Olbermann: Wilson’s factual failure worse than his incivility
SPECIAL COMMENT
By Keith Olbermann
Anchor, 'Countdown'
And finally, as promised, a Special Comment about the shout of "You Lie" during the presidential address to the joint session of Congress last night on the matter of health care reform.
The 43rd president of the United States lied the nation into the war, lied 4,343 of his fellow citizens to death in that war, lied about upholding the constitution, and lied about weapons of mass destruction.
He lied about how he reacted to al-Qaida before 9/11 and he lied about how he reacted to al-Qaida after 9/11. He lied about getting Bin Laden, and he lied about not getting Bin Laden.
He lied about nation-building in Iraq, lied about the appearance of new buildings in the nation of Iraq, and lied about embassy buildings in nations like Iraq. He lied about trailers with mobile weapons labs in them, and he lied about trailers with Cuban prostitutes in them.
He and his administration lied — by the counting of one non-profit group — 532 times about links between al-Qaida and Iraq. Only 28 of those were by that President, but he made up for that by lying 231 times about WMD.
And yet not once did an elected Democratic official shout out during one of George W. Bush's speeches and call him a "liar." Even when the president was George W. Bush, even when he was assailed from sidelines like mine, even when the lies came down so thick the nation needed a hat he was still the President and if he didn't earn any respect, the office he held demanded respect.
More over, that President and his Congressional tools like Congressman Addison Graves "Joe" Wilson of South Carolina insisted not just unquestioned respect for the office; they wanted unanimous lock-step compliance with the man.
And when the blasphemy of mere respectful criticism somehow came anyway — say by, or built on that by, the real Joe Wilson — Lord help he who might have made the slightest factual error in that criticism.
Congressman Wilson and his masters and the flying monkeys of right-wing media would pursue the erroneous critic to the ends of their careers, firing hot accusations of moral or intellectual confusion and incompetence at the unbelievers.
And that is the line Congressman Wilson crossed last night when he shouted "you lie" at this President of the United States. Not the respect line. The stupid line. Hey, Mr. Wilson!
"This evening I let my emotions get the best of me when listening to the President's remarks regarding the coverage of illegal immigrants in the health care bill," you hurriedly said last night as a nation caved in on you, and your own party's leadership coerced you into saying something.
"While I disagree with the President's statements, my comments were inappropriate and regrettable. I extend sincere apologies to the President for this lack of civility." For the lack of civility, Congressman? Is that what you think this is about?
Of course your comments were inappropriate and regrettable — you are a Republican trying to de-legitimize the elected president of the United States — that's all you do, and that's all you've got.
Of course you let your emotions get the best of you. At a figure of $435,296 in campaign donations from the Health Sector, of course your emotions would take over when your gravy train was threatened. It isn't about "inappropriate and regrettable," Sir!
Your comments were inappropriate and regrettable and wrong! You got up in front of the world, embarrassed your district, embarrassed your state, embarrassed your party, embarrassed your nation, shouted at the President like he was a referee at a ballgame and you were a drunk in the stands, and you were wrong.
House Bill 3200 specifically says, Sir, in language made precise and binding — in section 246 —under the heading, quote:No federal payment for undocumented aliens."
Look, Congressman! All capital letters! For the benefit of the factually-challenged! "Nothing in this subtitle shall allow Federal payments for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States."
You got it wrong! There is no ambiguity, Sir. There is no disagreement! The bill says those here illegally will not be covered; yet whether through stupidity or a willful attempt to mislead the gullible, you decided to spend whatever credibility remained to you, on a position in which you are utterly, inarguably, and — in a manner obvious to newborns and the more sophisticated of farm animals — wrong!
You apologize for your lack of civility? When are you going to apologize for your lack of being right? Wrong-Way Wilson. Whatever it is, it's congenital. Wrong-Way Wilson just wrote an op-ed, on August 27th for the Columbia, South Carolina newspaper "The State," about the non-existent death panels that he and Mrs. Palin saw in their dreams — or something:
"Those who have stood up and shown up to have their voices heard have already made a difference in this debate." Perhaps henceforth Mr. Wilson should soft-pedal the "have their voices heard" part.
"...citizens have discovered and brought to light numerous aspects of the health care overhaul (H.R. 3200) that are deeply troubling. These include the end of life counseling program, which has been correctly highlighted by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as a program which could lead to seniors being encouraged to seek less care in order to protect the government's bottom line."
Perhaps henceforth Mr. Wilson should soft-pedal the Palin Paranoia, since he caught enough of it that last night, he made himself look like an uninformed eight-year old screaming at an adult.
"Americans... want and deserve this honest debate." Perhaps henceforth Mr. Wilson should remember that the word "honest" is as important as the word "debate." The latter without the former is better known as Political Tourette's Syndrome.
The evidence that Wrong-Way Wilson and reality are strangers goes back much further than last night. When Congressman Rob Filner said the U-S had helped Saddam Hussein's chemical and biological weapons, Wilson went nuts. Worse, he accused Filner of a quote "hatred of America," and insisted "you shouldn't say that" and "you should retract it" and "you know it is not true."
It was true. It had been confirmed by the Commerce Department in 1994. Wrong-Way Wilson was wrong. A year later, when it was asserted that Sen. Strom Thurmond from Wrong-Way's home state had fathered a daughter with a black woman, Mr. Wilson called the assertion a quote "smear on the image" of Sen. Thurmond.
This was after Sen. Thurmond's family had acknowledged not just paternity, but the fact that the Senator had maintained a secret relationship with his daughter, and provided her money, for decades. After this was admitted, Congressman Wilson considered references to it a "smear" and said Thurmond's daughter should have kept it to herself.
Coincidence, of course, Wrong-Way, that it would be you who would consider the confirmed, acknowledged bi-racial child of Strom Thurmond as a "smear." And then it would again be you who — in the middle of a festival of blind racial rage dressed up as a health care debate —would shout out, "you lie" at a bi-racial President of the United States as he addressed Congress.
And just a coincidence that you're a member of a radicalized, insurrection-glorifying group, accused of harboring white supremacists, called "Sons Of Confederate Veterans."
Back to this incident. You have swallowed some of the Kool-Aid you mix up for those damn fools who believe you, Congressman. You sounded as pathetic as one of those poor souls, stampeded by corporate funding from the insurance and health care industries, who shout out nonsense at those demonstrations of willful stupidity that have been mislabeled "Town Halls" these places where a citizen's life is reduced to acting out that ridiculous maxim, if you're going to be wrong, be wrong at the top of your voice.
But Congressman — you're not supposed to be a Town Hall panicker, you're not supposed to be a Rube defending the efficacy of the Snake Oil, you are a Congressman — and still you were wrong at the top of your voice! Town Halls, Death Panels, Oligarhys, a multi-racial president who is accused of hating half his own ancestry, neuroses about communist artwork, the idea that fascism and socialism aren't mutually exclusive, grass-roots protests bought and paid for by lobbyists and corporations, scared seniors terrified enough to turn to insurance companies for protection against reformers who want to increase their coverage and cut their rates, birchers, birthers, deathers, the voices in Michele Bachmann's head, the Republican rebuttal to the President of the United States given by a guy who thought he could become "Lord Boustany" by paying a couple of English con men.
And now to top off this pile of stupidity: Congressman Wrong-Way Wilson, who — when a President publicly, and ostentatiously, gave credit for part of his health care reform proposal to the very Republican he swamped in the election last year — Wrong-Way Wilson followed that bi-partisan gesture, by shouting "you lie" as soon as he heard the truth.
It is this week, evident that the greatest threat to the nation is not terrorism nor the economy nor H1N1 nor even bad health care. It is rank, willful stupidity. When did we come to extol stupidity ahead of information, and rely on voo-doo, superstition, and prejudice ahead of education?
How many Republicans believe in Death Panels and Brownies and Elves? When did we start to listen to elect the impregnably dense? I was almost too fearful of using the word "impregnably" because of the prospect that Governor Palin would go after me the way she went after Letterman.
The time has come to rise up and take this country back, to again make it safe. for people who actually completed the seventh grade. The crime of Wrong-Way Wilson was not reflected in his emotions, nor his disagreement, nor his inappropriate conduct, nor in his incivility. It was in his prideful wrong-ness.
There are many vague portions of this bill, but section 246 says it plain: "No federal payment for undocumented aliens." I defend Congressman Wilson's right to incivility. A little incivility six years ago might have stopped the Iraq war. He can shout anything he wants, at anybody he wants, in any circumstances he wants.
Providing that he is willing to suffer the consequences of his actions, I am willing to suffer him.
This nation can survive a president being disrespected by some nickel-dime congressman from Beaufort; the shame falls onto the shouter and not the one shouted at.
But this nation cannot survive the continued acceptance, the continued endorsement, the continued encouragement, the continued institutionalization… of stupidity
I think if Mr. Lincoln were alive he might re-cast his most famous imagery in the light of the truest of our present crises: A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half smart, and half stupid.
Section 246 is written expressly: there will be no health care funding for those who are here illegally; that there will be no mechanism created to establish such funding. I fear Section 247 will have to be reitten expressly: so that there will be a mechanism created to establish:
Stupid Panels.
STORY AND VIDEO HERE
Olbermann: Wilson’s factual failure worse than his incivility
SPECIAL COMMENT
By Keith Olbermann
Anchor, 'Countdown'
And finally, as promised, a Special Comment about the shout of "You Lie" during the presidential address to the joint session of Congress last night on the matter of health care reform.
The 43rd president of the United States lied the nation into the war, lied 4,343 of his fellow citizens to death in that war, lied about upholding the constitution, and lied about weapons of mass destruction.
He lied about how he reacted to al-Qaida before 9/11 and he lied about how he reacted to al-Qaida after 9/11. He lied about getting Bin Laden, and he lied about not getting Bin Laden.
He lied about nation-building in Iraq, lied about the appearance of new buildings in the nation of Iraq, and lied about embassy buildings in nations like Iraq. He lied about trailers with mobile weapons labs in them, and he lied about trailers with Cuban prostitutes in them.
He and his administration lied — by the counting of one non-profit group — 532 times about links between al-Qaida and Iraq. Only 28 of those were by that President, but he made up for that by lying 231 times about WMD.
And yet not once did an elected Democratic official shout out during one of George W. Bush's speeches and call him a "liar." Even when the president was George W. Bush, even when he was assailed from sidelines like mine, even when the lies came down so thick the nation needed a hat he was still the President and if he didn't earn any respect, the office he held demanded respect.
More over, that President and his Congressional tools like Congressman Addison Graves "Joe" Wilson of South Carolina insisted not just unquestioned respect for the office; they wanted unanimous lock-step compliance with the man.
And when the blasphemy of mere respectful criticism somehow came anyway — say by, or built on that by, the real Joe Wilson — Lord help he who might have made the slightest factual error in that criticism.
Congressman Wilson and his masters and the flying monkeys of right-wing media would pursue the erroneous critic to the ends of their careers, firing hot accusations of moral or intellectual confusion and incompetence at the unbelievers.
And that is the line Congressman Wilson crossed last night when he shouted "you lie" at this President of the United States. Not the respect line. The stupid line. Hey, Mr. Wilson!
"This evening I let my emotions get the best of me when listening to the President's remarks regarding the coverage of illegal immigrants in the health care bill," you hurriedly said last night as a nation caved in on you, and your own party's leadership coerced you into saying something.
"While I disagree with the President's statements, my comments were inappropriate and regrettable. I extend sincere apologies to the President for this lack of civility." For the lack of civility, Congressman? Is that what you think this is about?
Of course your comments were inappropriate and regrettable — you are a Republican trying to de-legitimize the elected president of the United States — that's all you do, and that's all you've got.
Of course you let your emotions get the best of you. At a figure of $435,296 in campaign donations from the Health Sector, of course your emotions would take over when your gravy train was threatened. It isn't about "inappropriate and regrettable," Sir!
Your comments were inappropriate and regrettable and wrong! You got up in front of the world, embarrassed your district, embarrassed your state, embarrassed your party, embarrassed your nation, shouted at the President like he was a referee at a ballgame and you were a drunk in the stands, and you were wrong.
House Bill 3200 specifically says, Sir, in language made precise and binding — in section 246 —under the heading, quote:No federal payment for undocumented aliens."
Look, Congressman! All capital letters! For the benefit of the factually-challenged! "Nothing in this subtitle shall allow Federal payments for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States."
You got it wrong! There is no ambiguity, Sir. There is no disagreement! The bill says those here illegally will not be covered; yet whether through stupidity or a willful attempt to mislead the gullible, you decided to spend whatever credibility remained to you, on a position in which you are utterly, inarguably, and — in a manner obvious to newborns and the more sophisticated of farm animals — wrong!
You apologize for your lack of civility? When are you going to apologize for your lack of being right? Wrong-Way Wilson. Whatever it is, it's congenital. Wrong-Way Wilson just wrote an op-ed, on August 27th for the Columbia, South Carolina newspaper "The State," about the non-existent death panels that he and Mrs. Palin saw in their dreams — or something:
"Those who have stood up and shown up to have their voices heard have already made a difference in this debate." Perhaps henceforth Mr. Wilson should soft-pedal the "have their voices heard" part.
"...citizens have discovered and brought to light numerous aspects of the health care overhaul (H.R. 3200) that are deeply troubling. These include the end of life counseling program, which has been correctly highlighted by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as a program which could lead to seniors being encouraged to seek less care in order to protect the government's bottom line."
Perhaps henceforth Mr. Wilson should soft-pedal the Palin Paranoia, since he caught enough of it that last night, he made himself look like an uninformed eight-year old screaming at an adult.
"Americans... want and deserve this honest debate." Perhaps henceforth Mr. Wilson should remember that the word "honest" is as important as the word "debate." The latter without the former is better known as Political Tourette's Syndrome.
The evidence that Wrong-Way Wilson and reality are strangers goes back much further than last night. When Congressman Rob Filner said the U-S had helped Saddam Hussein's chemical and biological weapons, Wilson went nuts. Worse, he accused Filner of a quote "hatred of America," and insisted "you shouldn't say that" and "you should retract it" and "you know it is not true."
It was true. It had been confirmed by the Commerce Department in 1994. Wrong-Way Wilson was wrong. A year later, when it was asserted that Sen. Strom Thurmond from Wrong-Way's home state had fathered a daughter with a black woman, Mr. Wilson called the assertion a quote "smear on the image" of Sen. Thurmond.
This was after Sen. Thurmond's family had acknowledged not just paternity, but the fact that the Senator had maintained a secret relationship with his daughter, and provided her money, for decades. After this was admitted, Congressman Wilson considered references to it a "smear" and said Thurmond's daughter should have kept it to herself.
Coincidence, of course, Wrong-Way, that it would be you who would consider the confirmed, acknowledged bi-racial child of Strom Thurmond as a "smear." And then it would again be you who — in the middle of a festival of blind racial rage dressed up as a health care debate —would shout out, "you lie" at a bi-racial President of the United States as he addressed Congress.
And just a coincidence that you're a member of a radicalized, insurrection-glorifying group, accused of harboring white supremacists, called "Sons Of Confederate Veterans."
Back to this incident. You have swallowed some of the Kool-Aid you mix up for those damn fools who believe you, Congressman. You sounded as pathetic as one of those poor souls, stampeded by corporate funding from the insurance and health care industries, who shout out nonsense at those demonstrations of willful stupidity that have been mislabeled "Town Halls" these places where a citizen's life is reduced to acting out that ridiculous maxim, if you're going to be wrong, be wrong at the top of your voice.
But Congressman — you're not supposed to be a Town Hall panicker, you're not supposed to be a Rube defending the efficacy of the Snake Oil, you are a Congressman — and still you were wrong at the top of your voice! Town Halls, Death Panels, Oligarhys, a multi-racial president who is accused of hating half his own ancestry, neuroses about communist artwork, the idea that fascism and socialism aren't mutually exclusive, grass-roots protests bought and paid for by lobbyists and corporations, scared seniors terrified enough to turn to insurance companies for protection against reformers who want to increase their coverage and cut their rates, birchers, birthers, deathers, the voices in Michele Bachmann's head, the Republican rebuttal to the President of the United States given by a guy who thought he could become "Lord Boustany" by paying a couple of English con men.
And now to top off this pile of stupidity: Congressman Wrong-Way Wilson, who — when a President publicly, and ostentatiously, gave credit for part of his health care reform proposal to the very Republican he swamped in the election last year — Wrong-Way Wilson followed that bi-partisan gesture, by shouting "you lie" as soon as he heard the truth.
It is this week, evident that the greatest threat to the nation is not terrorism nor the economy nor H1N1 nor even bad health care. It is rank, willful stupidity. When did we come to extol stupidity ahead of information, and rely on voo-doo, superstition, and prejudice ahead of education?
How many Republicans believe in Death Panels and Brownies and Elves? When did we start to listen to elect the impregnably dense? I was almost too fearful of using the word "impregnably" because of the prospect that Governor Palin would go after me the way she went after Letterman.
The time has come to rise up and take this country back, to again make it safe. for people who actually completed the seventh grade. The crime of Wrong-Way Wilson was not reflected in his emotions, nor his disagreement, nor his inappropriate conduct, nor in his incivility. It was in his prideful wrong-ness.
There are many vague portions of this bill, but section 246 says it plain: "No federal payment for undocumented aliens." I defend Congressman Wilson's right to incivility. A little incivility six years ago might have stopped the Iraq war. He can shout anything he wants, at anybody he wants, in any circumstances he wants.
Providing that he is willing to suffer the consequences of his actions, I am willing to suffer him.
This nation can survive a president being disrespected by some nickel-dime congressman from Beaufort; the shame falls onto the shouter and not the one shouted at.
But this nation cannot survive the continued acceptance, the continued endorsement, the continued encouragement, the continued institutionalization… of stupidity
I think if Mr. Lincoln were alive he might re-cast his most famous imagery in the light of the truest of our present crises: A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half smart, and half stupid.
Section 246 is written expressly: there will be no health care funding for those who are here illegally; that there will be no mechanism created to establish such funding. I fear Section 247 will have to be reitten expressly: so that there will be a mechanism created to establish:
Stupid Panels.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Bill White Out On Bond - Not Quite
http://www.wtvr.com/news/dp-us--supremacistcharge0910sep10,0,2792900.story
Va. judge orders release of white supremacist
By SUE LINDSEY
Associated Press Writer
September 10, 2009
ROANOKE, Va.
A U.S. magistrate judge in Virginia has ordered the release of an avowed white supremacist, but prosecutors have appealed. Judge Michael Urbanski on Thursday stayed his ruling allowing William A. White's release on $25,000 bond pending the appeal to U.S. District Court. But he ordered an electronic monitoring system to be installed at White's home.
White is charged with threatening a syndicated newspaper columnist, a New Jersey mayor and several other people by e-mail, telephone or online. He has been in jail since last October, when he was charged with encouraging violence against the foreman of a Chicago jury that convicted a fellow white supremacist. A judge dismissed that charge in July. White is the self-styled leader of a Roanoke-based neo-Nazi group.
Va. judge orders release of white supremacist
By SUE LINDSEY
Associated Press Writer
September 10, 2009
ROANOKE, Va.
A U.S. magistrate judge in Virginia has ordered the release of an avowed white supremacist, but prosecutors have appealed. Judge Michael Urbanski on Thursday stayed his ruling allowing William A. White's release on $25,000 bond pending the appeal to U.S. District Court. But he ordered an electronic monitoring system to be installed at White's home.
White is charged with threatening a syndicated newspaper columnist, a New Jersey mayor and several other people by e-mail, telephone or online. He has been in jail since last October, when he was charged with encouraging violence against the foreman of a Chicago jury that convicted a fellow white supremacist. A judge dismissed that charge in July. White is the self-styled leader of a Roanoke-based neo-Nazi group.
Judge grants bond to jailed Roanoke neo-Nazi
William A. White will remain in custody while the government appeals the decision.
By Laurence Hammack The Roanoke Times
A judge this morning granted bond to a Roanoke neo-Nazi leader accused of making online threats.William A. White, who has been jailed since October, was granted a $25,000 secured bond by U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Urbanski. Under the terms of the bond, White also would be placed under home electronic monitoring and would be prohibited from accessing the Internet.White’s release has been stayed, however, until the government can appeal Urbanski’s decision to U.S. District Court Judge James Turk on Tuesday morning.
William A. White will remain in custody while the government appeals the decision.
By Laurence Hammack The Roanoke Times
A judge this morning granted bond to a Roanoke neo-Nazi leader accused of making online threats.William A. White, who has been jailed since October, was granted a $25,000 secured bond by U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Urbanski. Under the terms of the bond, White also would be placed under home electronic monitoring and would be prohibited from accessing the Internet.White’s release has been stayed, however, until the government can appeal Urbanski’s decision to U.S. District Court Judge James Turk on Tuesday morning.
Urbanski denied bond for White last year after White was charged with posting online the name, address and telephone number of the foreman of a Chicago jury that convicted a fellow white supremacist. In July, a federal judge rejected the government's theory that White solicited violence against the juror, ruling his actions were protected by the First Amendment.
But because White also faced federal charges in Roanoke of threatening about a half-dozen people by e-mail, telephone or online, he remained in custody.“The easiest thing in the world for me to do would be to follow my earlier decision and detain Mr. White,” Urbanski said today. “But I must consider what has changed in the past 10 months” – including the dismissal of the Chicago charge and a psychological evaluation that found White wasn’t a danger
WHAT WERE THEY PLANNING?
STORY HERE
Raid nets firearms, explosives, Nazi items; 2 held
September 3, 2009 6:59 PM
3 Comments
UPDATED STORY
A father and son were charged with felonies late Thursday after a raid of their home Wednesday night netted a cache of weapons, explosives, Nazi paraphernalia, manuals and chemicals to make explosives, drugs and cash, Antioch police said.
The men, who live in unincorporated Lake County near Antioch, were being held in the police department on Thursday and are expected to appear in Lake County Bond Court on Friday morning, Cmdr. Jim Ruth said.
Burl Thomas, 56, of 25100 block of West Linden Lane was charged Thursday evening with unlawful use of a weapon, armed violence, possession of marijuana and cocaine with intent to deliver and possession of drug paraphernalia. His son, John, 24, of the same address was charged Thursday evening with resisting arrest.
Police said they confiscated about 25 firearms, including two submachine guns and an assault rifle; a Marine rocket launcher with ammunition; TNT; gunpowder; chemicals used to make explosives and detonating devices; tear gas; brass knuckles; a battlefield illuminator used by military helicopters at night; several baseball bats, including one with spikes all over it; knives; machetes; multiple manuals about making explosives, land mines, silencers and improvised munitions.
About 400 grams of marijuana, 11/2 ounces of cocaine and about $1,000 were found in the home, police said.
"There is indication that they were white supremacists," Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran said.
--Ruth Fuller
Raid nets firearms, explosives, Nazi items; 2 held
September 3, 2009 6:59 PM
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UPDATED STORY
A father and son were charged with felonies late Thursday after a raid of their home Wednesday night netted a cache of weapons, explosives, Nazi paraphernalia, manuals and chemicals to make explosives, drugs and cash, Antioch police said.
The men, who live in unincorporated Lake County near Antioch, were being held in the police department on Thursday and are expected to appear in Lake County Bond Court on Friday morning, Cmdr. Jim Ruth said.
Burl Thomas, 56, of 25100 block of West Linden Lane was charged Thursday evening with unlawful use of a weapon, armed violence, possession of marijuana and cocaine with intent to deliver and possession of drug paraphernalia. His son, John, 24, of the same address was charged Thursday evening with resisting arrest.
Police said they confiscated about 25 firearms, including two submachine guns and an assault rifle; a Marine rocket launcher with ammunition; TNT; gunpowder; chemicals used to make explosives and detonating devices; tear gas; brass knuckles; a battlefield illuminator used by military helicopters at night; several baseball bats, including one with spikes all over it; knives; machetes; multiple manuals about making explosives, land mines, silencers and improvised munitions.
About 400 grams of marijuana, 11/2 ounces of cocaine and about $1,000 were found in the home, police said.
"There is indication that they were white supremacists," Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran said.
--Ruth Fuller
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Hal Going To Brooklyn
STORY HERE
Trial of blogger accused of threatening judges is moved
September 8, 2009 9:26 PM
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UPDATED STORY
A federal judge agreed Tuesday to move the case of a blogger accused of threatening three Chicago-based federal judges from Illinois to New York.
In issuing the order, U.S. District Judge Donald Walter said that holding Hal Turner's trial somewhere other than Chicago "would best serve not only justice but the appearance of justice."
Turner, 47, of North Bergen, N.J., was charged with making a death threat against three federal appeals judges after saying in Internet postings in June that the judges "deserve to be killed" because they had refused to overturn handgun bans in Chicago and Oak Park.
Turner also had said on his Web site that the judges' blood would "water the tree of liberty."
The posting included the photos and work addresses of the judges, along with a picture of the Dirksen Federal Courthouse in downtown Chicago and notations indicating the placement of "anti-truck bomb barriers."
Turner's attorneys had asked that the trial not be held in Chicago.
In ordering the case moved to Brooklyn, Walter recalled the February 2005 slayings of the mother and husband of Chicago-based federal Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow, which were also mentioned in Turner's post.
"Although the motion (for a change of venue) makes no reference to the recent tragedy in which the husband and mother of a member of the District Court for Northern Illinois were slain, the court takes notice of it and the widespread media coverage devoted to it," he said.
"Memories are not so short as to erase the event from the public mind," added Walter, a visiting judge from Louisiana who was assigned to the case.
Randall Samborn, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Chicago, declined to comment on the judge's order.
An attorney for Turner, Michael Andrew Orozco, did not return a phone message left at his office Tuesday night.
In a separate case, Turner is due to be arraigned Oct. 19 in Hartford, Conn., on charges of threatening Connecticut lawmakers by urging his readers to "take up arms" against them over legislation on Roman Catholic church finances.
--The Associated Press
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Trial of blogger accused of threatening judges is moved
September 8, 2009 9:26 PM
No Comments
UPDATED STORY
A federal judge agreed Tuesday to move the case of a blogger accused of threatening three Chicago-based federal judges from Illinois to New York.
In issuing the order, U.S. District Judge Donald Walter said that holding Hal Turner's trial somewhere other than Chicago "would best serve not only justice but the appearance of justice."
Turner, 47, of North Bergen, N.J., was charged with making a death threat against three federal appeals judges after saying in Internet postings in June that the judges "deserve to be killed" because they had refused to overturn handgun bans in Chicago and Oak Park.
Turner also had said on his Web site that the judges' blood would "water the tree of liberty."
The posting included the photos and work addresses of the judges, along with a picture of the Dirksen Federal Courthouse in downtown Chicago and notations indicating the placement of "anti-truck bomb barriers."
Turner's attorneys had asked that the trial not be held in Chicago.
In ordering the case moved to Brooklyn, Walter recalled the February 2005 slayings of the mother and husband of Chicago-based federal Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow, which were also mentioned in Turner's post.
"Although the motion (for a change of venue) makes no reference to the recent tragedy in which the husband and mother of a member of the District Court for Northern Illinois were slain, the court takes notice of it and the widespread media coverage devoted to it," he said.
"Memories are not so short as to erase the event from the public mind," added Walter, a visiting judge from Louisiana who was assigned to the case.
Randall Samborn, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Chicago, declined to comment on the judge's order.
An attorney for Turner, Michael Andrew Orozco, did not return a phone message left at his office Tuesday night.
In a separate case, Turner is due to be arraigned Oct. 19 in Hartford, Conn., on charges of threatening Connecticut lawmakers by urging his readers to "take up arms" against them over legislation on Roman Catholic church finances.
--The Associated Press
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Monday, September 07, 2009
Hate In Buffalo
FULL STORY HERE
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Brian Milligan Sr. believes his son's race triggered a brutal attack on the streets of Buffalo, New York.
Milligan lies in a hospital bed. The attack broke his jaw and left a 3-inch gash on his head.
2 of 2 Armed with a chunk of concrete, several assailants beat Brian Milligan Jr. on the back of the head on August 18, leaving a 3-inch gash. They kicked him in the face, breaking his jaw.
Bloodied and bruised, the 18-year-old managed to walk five blocks to his grandmother's house before being rushed to the hospital.
Milligan's father believes several African-Americans beat his son, who is white, because he is dating an African-American woman. He wants police to treat the beating as a hate crime. He also has criticized what he calls a deafening silence from the community, police and the national media.
"If this was a black guy who was beaten by a group of white guys for dating a white girl, people would be up in arms," he said. "There's a double standard."
Buffalo police believe a group of about 10 to 15 African-American men attacked Milligan late at night, police spokesman Mike DeGeorge said. Police have made no arrests and are still investigating the motive, he said.
Milligan Sr. says he believes the attackers are the same "neighborhood guys" who threatened his son and his African-American girlfriend because of their interracial relationship.
The younger Milligan and his girlfriend, Nicola Fletcher, who is also 18, had recently complained of an increase in insults and threats in east Buffalo, where Fletcher lives and where Milligan was staying with his grandmother, Fletcher said.
"Every time they walk the streets, people stop him and call him 'cracker' and ask her why she's not with a black guy," Milligan Sr. said.
Two days before the attack, Fletcher said she was shot with paintball pellets by the same group of neighborhood aggressors.
"I'm afraid to walk the streets," she said. "Those guys are still out there."
Police "are making good progress in the case," said DeGeorge, the police spokesman. Investigators are still trying to determine if it should be declared a hate crime.
They have asked members of the community to call police if they have any information.
When Milligan was taken to Erie County Medical Center, he was unconscious and suffered blood on the brain and brain swelling as a result of the beating. He will see a neurosurgeon on September 10 to be evaluated, said his father.
He is now recovering at home and remembers nothing about the attack, which has made the police investigation even more difficult.
The story has touched a nerve with several members of Buffalo's African-American community, including a local pastor who leads a predominantly black church in Buffalo.
"At first, it didn't affect me the way that it would have if I heard it was a black teen attacked," said the Rev. Darius Pridgen, who spent years fighting for civil rights for African-Americans.
"But after I saw his father on TV pleading with the community to find the assailants, I decided I had to go after the people who beat this kid."
Pridgen said he felt that the community has turned a collective blind eye to the beating. So he gave a fire-and-brimstone sermon at the True Baptist Church on a Sunday after the attack, appealing to his congregation to help find the culprits.
"He didn't deserve to be beaten this way," Pridgen recalled saying at the service. "If you believe this, put your hands together."
If it was a black teen, Pridgen said, "We would have been protesting with flags and everything else."
Rod Watson also addressed the issue in his column in the Buffalo News. Watson, who is black, pointed out that interracial marriages are nearly 10 times higher than they were in 1960, according to U.S. Census data, but still those couples have a tough time being accepted by society.
"If blacks in Buffalo in 2009 are acting like whites in Selma in 1959, this society has big problems, despite electing a president who is himself the product of an interracial union," Watson said.
Judy Milligan, a community activist and Brian Milligan Jr.'s great-aunt, said she has been overwhelmed with support from her friends, both black and white.
Mary Woods, a member of Buffalo's African-American community, reached out to Milligan to offer her support.
"I don't care what color you are, when something like this happens, justice must be served," Woods said. "There had to be someone who saw something, and they should come forward."
Milligan Sr. has criticized the Buffalo Police Department for spending too much time "trying to prove this crime wasn't a hate crime instead of performing a solid investigation."
But DeGeorge said the department is pursuing the attackers with the same vigor as it would any crime.
"People tend to want crimes solved yesterday," DeGeorge said. "We are performing a thorough investigation and that takes time."
He expressed optimism that Buffalo residents would come forward to help bring the perpetrators to justice
Sunday, September 06, 2009
COLD SHOT COMING ATCHA
SEPTEMBER 7, 2009 COLD SHOT @ 7:00 EST
ON TAP:
^ WHY YOU CAN'T "TAKE AMERICA BACK" - (The myths of the right and their propaganda)
^ OBAMA'S ADDRESS TO OUR CHILDREN - INDOCRINATION OR EDUCATION?
^ THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON - (Right-wingnuts descend on the Nation's Capitol)
^ THE DERRANGED RIGHT AND WHY THEY JUST CAN'T GET OVER IT
^ NEWS & VIEWS
PHONE LINES WILL OPEN AT APPROXIMATELY 8:00 EST
NUMBER TO CALL: :(347) 857-3972
LISTEN HERE
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Von Brunn To Remain In Jail
WASHINGTON — An 89-year-old white supremacist charged with killing a security guard at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum was ordered to remain in jail Wednesday after prosecutors said the frail man was still dangerous because he had "no true friends" and "nothing to lose."
A judge also ordered James von Brunn to undergo a competency evaluation despite objections from the wheelchair-bound suspect. He was otherwise nonchalant and even smiled when a prosecutor said he wanted to kill as many people as possible in the June 10 attack.
...
Von Brunn first shook his head and then called out "your honor" when the judge suggested he was going to order an evaluation. His attorney and the judge tried to advise him not to speak.
"Your constitution guarantees me a speedy and fair trial," von Brunn finally said in a halting voice.
"I'm a United States citizen, and as a U.S. naval officer I swore to protect my country. I take my vows very seriously," said von Brunn, a World War II veteran who served on a patrol boat.
Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jz74U...
A judge also ordered James von Brunn to undergo a competency evaluation despite objections from the wheelchair-bound suspect. He was otherwise nonchalant and even smiled when a prosecutor said he wanted to kill as many people as possible in the June 10 attack.
...
Von Brunn first shook his head and then called out "your honor" when the judge suggested he was going to order an evaluation. His attorney and the judge tried to advise him not to speak.
"Your constitution guarantees me a speedy and fair trial," von Brunn finally said in a halting voice.
"I'm a United States citizen, and as a U.S. naval officer I swore to protect my country. I take my vows very seriously," said von Brunn, a World War II veteran who served on a patrol boat.
Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jz74U...
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