The Owners Don't Care About You

COLD SHOT SPECIAL

This Sunday, November 1, 2009, Cold Shot will host an interview between Daryle Lamont Jenkins of One People's Project and white supremacist Steve Holten at 7:00 PM Eastern Time.

Holten was once a major player in Richard Butler's Aryan Nations. In 2004, he was arrested for making terrorist threats against employees of the Reno Gazette-Journal and the San Francisco Chronicle and several state government officials. In his threats, Holten stated, "Our violent terrorist actions will be a shock to the citizens of Reno and San Francisco. It will be gruesome, and something that has never been seen ever." He added, "We of Aryan Nations are angry, and we hate and we kill."

In court it was disclosed that Holten was HIV Positive, immediately placing him in a negative light with others in the white supremacsit movement and causing a severance of his relationship with other Aryan Nations members.

Shortly after his release from prison it was reported that Holten was again under arrest for soliciting sex acts from an undercover officer in a park where homosexuals meet. It was asserted that Holten had been advertising via fliers that particularly sought out Hispanic men for sexual encounters. According to reports, Holten was dressed in full Nazi regalia and sported many Nazi tattoos at the time of his arrest.

Today, Holten claims that he was set-up and that he is still being targeted by law-enforcement. As the interview progresses, Holten speaks of these things, his previous relationship with Pastor Richard Butler, as well as his continued devotion to the movement. He and Jenkins also discuss the right-wing talking heads and the role that they play. Holten suggests that another Oklahoma City type event is imminent.

Join Daryle Lamont Jenkins and Nikki Nichols after the interview for an on-air discussion.

LISTEN HERE

TWO SHOT ENTERING SYNAGOGUE

According to breaking news reports, two men were shot in the legs as they entered a North Hollywood Synagogue early this morning. A black man wearing a hooded sweatshirt has been detatined as the investigation continues.

TO ORIGINAL STORY

LOS ANGELES (AFP) – Two men were wounded in a shooting at a Los Angeles synagogue early Thursday in what police said was being investigated as a possible hate crime.

Michel Moore, the deputy chief of Los Angeles police, said the two men were shot in their legs after arriving separately in an underground car park at the Adat Yeshurun Sephardic Congregation in North Hollywood.

Moore said a black male wearing a hooded sweatshirt opened fire on the two men without speaking before fleeing the scene. The victims were being treated in hospital and "were stable and doing fine" Moore said.

"They are stable, they are conscious and they will survive their injuries," Moore told reporters at a press briefing.

Moore said a man fitting the "very loose" description of the gunman was detained near the scene shortly afterwards but stressed that the investigation was ongoing and remained "dynamic."

Other synagogues in the area had been put on alert although Moore said police were keeping an open mind as to a possible motive even though officers believed the Jewish temple had "played a role" in the attack.

The shooting came one day after US President Barack Obama signed a landmark hate crimes law hailed as a new step forward for US civil rights.

The act outlaws offenses motivated by a person's race, gender, identity, color, sexual orientation, or mental of physical disability.

"We'll assume right now that this synagogue did play a role in this and it's a reasonable expectation that we alert our other friends in the Jewish community as to their locations," said Moore.

"We have no remarks by the suspect to these victims that we're aware of at this early juncture that can identify what his motive was whether it was a robbery or this was an attack on these two individuals because of their presence at the synagogue," he said.

"We have worked to activate law enforcement resources and our contact with the Jewish community throughout this region. We have extra patrols already in place at all of our Jewish schools as well as the synagogues."

Okay....Talk To Me....

For the most part, I have tried to stay away from this whole issue largely because it is such a heated one and generates much passion on the part of those both in favor and those opposed. Also, generally speaking, I part ways with most of my liberal-minded cohorts on the issue of abortion, believing that all too often abortions are sought as a means of birth-control rather than necessity.

However, the recent developments surrounding Scott Roeder, the man accused of murdering late-term abortion provider George Tiller, have caused me to want discussion and input on the fund-raising efforts that are underway to provide him with what is being called a "Necessity Defense."

What do you think?

1)Should abortion be legal?

2)When should late-term abortion be legal?

3)Should Roeder, the Army of God, and their followers be considered terrorists?

4)Will such a defense ever be effective in a jury trial?

5)In your opinion, was Roeder justified?




TO ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Posted on Sat, Oct. 24, 2009
Online auction to raise funds in Scott Roeder case
By JUDY L. THOMAS
The Kansas City Star
An Army of God manual. A prison cookbook compiled by a woman doing time for abortion clinic bombings and arsons. An autographed bullhorn.

These are among the items that abortion foes plan to auction on eBay and other Web sites in a fundraiser for Scott Roeder, the Kansas City man charged with killing Wichita abortion doctor George Tiller.

“This is unique,” said Regina Dinwiddie, a Kansas City anti-abortion activist who will sign the bullhorn. “Nobody’s ever done this before. The goal is that everybody makes money for Scott Roeder’s defense.”

One abortion-rights leader called the auction deplorable and said it could lead to more violence.

“The network of extremists promoting and defending the murder of doctors is contributing to escalating threats against clinics and doctors across the country,” said Kathy Spillar, executive vice president of the Feminist Majority Foundation.

Roeder, charged with first-degree murder in the May 31 shooting of Tiller, is scheduled to go to trial in January.

Dave Leach, an Iowa abortion opponent who is organizing the auction effort, said he was aiming for a Nov. 1 launch.

EBay would not reveal whether eBay would permit the auction to launch.

“EBay does not allow listings that promote or glorify violence, hate, racial or religious intolerance, or items that encourage, promote, facilitate or instruct others to engage in illegal activity,” the company said in a statement.

Among items that will go on the auction block, Dinwiddie said, are three drawings she received in the mail Wednesday from Roeder. Two drawings were done by another inmate at his direction, but Roeder autographed all of them.

“They’re wonderful pencil art drawings,” she said. “They were done in jail.”

One is a sketch of David and Goliath.

“It has David with a slingshot in one hand and the head of Goliath in his other hand and the name ‘Tiller’ on Goliath’s forehead,” she said. “On the corpse on the ground, it says ‘child-murdering industry.’ ”

Leach said he was continuing to collect items.

His own donation: An Army of God manual, an underground publication for anti-abortion militants that describes dozens of ways to shut down clinics, including bombing. Leach published a reprint of the manual in 1996 in his magazine, Prayer and Action News.

“I plan to cover up the offending eight pages of bomb recipes and instead insert a note saying that in order to avoid legal problems, we advise our bomb-loving friends to seek their bomb recipes in a U.S. Army Manual, which is approved by the Justice Department,” Leach said. “I will also enclose my April 1996 issue, which contains bomb-making excerpts from a declassified U.S. Army Manual widely available in Army surplus stores.”

Another item to be auctioned, Leach said, is a collection of recipes compiled in prison by Shelley Shannon, the Oregon woman who shot and wounded Tiller in 1993 and was later convicted in a series of abortion clinic arsons and bombings.

“When they have birthdays or something in prison, they don’t have access to bake a cake,” said Leach, who recently paid a visit to Shannon in a Minnesota prison. “So they’ve figured out how to make quite a number of confectionary things.”

One recipe is for prison cheesecake, he said.

“It starts of with four little plastic tubs of pudding, a container of powdered creamer, a packet of powdered lemonade, and a little tub of cream cheese, like what you put on bagels, and stir it all together,” he said. “Shelley said it’s really pretty good.”

Leach said Shannon also is donating “her awesome handwritten book of commentary on the news and her part in it over the past few years, including her original cartoons.”

Dinwiddie, who made headlines in 1995 when a federal judge ordered her to stop using a bullhorn within 500 feet of abortion clinics, will contribute several items.

Dinwiddie is a friend of Roeder. She also was a friend of Paul Hill, who shot an abortion doctor and his escort to death in Pensacola, Fla., in 1994. Hill received a death sentence for the killings and was executed in 2003.

“Regina is digging out her old VHS tapes of Paul Hill in her home praying before Shelley’s trial,” Leach said. “She wants to start that one off at $500.”

The bullhorn autographed by Dinwiddie is similar to those she used when protesting outside abortion clinics.

“My original ones have all been confiscated by police,” Dinwiddie said, “but I’ll have a signed one, since I was the only person in the whole world that’s ever had an injunction against a bullhorn.”

Michael Bray, an Ohio activist who spent four years in prison for the firebombings of abortion-related facilities on the East Coast in the 1980s, is donating an autographed copy of his book, “A Time to Kill.” The book is described as “an ethical treatise on the use of force in defense of the child in the womb.”

Leach said the auction was intended to raise money for the defense of Roeder, who was being represented by public defenders.

Leach and others would like to help Roeder hire a lawyer to present what is known as a necessity defense. That strategy would argue that Tiller was killed to prevent a greater harm — killing babies. Other anti-abortion activists charged with violent crimes have tried to use such a defense but with little success.

“If we are not successful in finding a lawyer we can afford, we will distribute the money to prisoners who have sacrificed their years for the cause of saving lives,” Leach said.

Roeder said in a phone interview that he was excited about the auction.

“I think it’s great,” he said. “I appreciate all of the efforts going into that. I’m all for anything that might bring some donations in.”

But he declined to comment about whether he would use such a defense.

For their part, abortion-rights advocates said the auction was appalling.

“The idea of an eBay auction featuring a video of Paul Hill, who murdered a doctor and volunteer clinic escort; the work of Shelley Shannon, who attempted to murder Dr. Tiller; and the writings of Michael Bray and Dave Leach, individuals who promote the killing of doctors, is reprehensible,” Spillar said.

In another effort to support Roeder, Leach has produced a series of videos that he released on several Web sites, including YouTube. In the videos, Leach suggests that Roeder may not get a real trial by jury because the judge probably would refuse to allow jurors to hear why Roeder “had to do what he did.”

In his videos, Leach is “interviewed” by two girls, ages 8 and 10, who play the role of reporters on “Pee Wee TV.”

REJECTING THE HATE

More Photos Here From Mark Zaleski
When 600+ counterprotestors show up to stand against the Nazi's, the point is made. Mainstream America has no tolerance for those promoting and promulgating a hate-filled agenda.

The signs, symbols, and speech displayed by the National Socialist Movement, et. al. have always engendered an anger and a revulsion among those who seek to preserve and protect the fabric of a multicultural society and the recent events in Riverside, California are no exception.

TO ORIGINAL SOURCE

By LORA HINES
The Press-Enterprise

A brief fistfight and a lime-throwing incident led to arrests of at least two counterprotesters Saturday during a three-hour neo-Nazi rally near a well-known Riverside day labor gathering site.

The fight erupted minutes after 20 neo-Nazis arrived and took positions behind metal barricades erected by the Riverside Police Department near Madison Street and Railroad Avenue. Police barricaded an estimated 600 counterprotesters about 150 feet away on the other side of the street.

But more than two dozen counterprotesters, including members of the Brown Berets, a Chicano activist group, rushed toward the neo-Nazis and the two groups yelled at each other.

One unidentified Brown Beret member, who was later arrested, pushed over a barricade and a brawl between both sides barely started before dozens of officers wearing riot gear and using batons quickly stopped it.

Another counterprotester, who identified himself as Geronimo Rivera, 32, was led away by police and arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon.

Rivera, held on $25,000 bail, was arrested in connection with limes being thrown at the neo-Nazis shortly before the rally ended.

The counterprotesters cheered as the neo-Nazis ended the rally, giving the signature Nazi salute as motorcycle officers escorted them to their SUVs and minivans.

SAME AREA AS BEFORE

The demonstration, which led to the closure of part of Madison near Indiana Avenue, was a follow-up to a short rally last month in the same area.

On Saturday, police established a command near the rally site, and an estimated 75 officers kept counterprotesters from confronting neo-Nazis. A police helicopter flew overhead during much of the rally.

The California Highway Patrol closed the eastbound offramp at Madison from Highway 91 during the rally, which resulted in traffic backing up to at least Van Buren Boulevard. Trains also were halted as neo-Nazis spilled onto the tracks.

Riverside police Sgt. Jaybee Brennan couldn't say how much the rally could cost Riverside taxpayers.

RALLY CALLED SUCCESS

Jeff Hall, a Riverside resident and state director of the National Socialist Movement, said the group met its goal -- to shut down the day labor site.

"We're going to be here again and again," he said.

The neo-Nazis and counterprotesters spent much of the time videotaping and yelling disparaging comments and names, urging the other group to go home.

Counterprotesters dared neo-Nazis to confront them and held signs that read "Tolerance, yes. Hatred, no," "Stop harassing day laborers," "Human beings are not illegal" and "We do the jobs you can't live without."

Neo-Nazis criticized homosexuals, Jews and undocumented workers taking jobs.

A group of about 100 people identified as students in support of day laborers defied police and marched on Madison toward the neo-Nazis before a line of motorcycle officers and riot police blocked them. They beat makeshift drums, blew whistles and yelled "Nazis go home."

The students from the Claremont colleges were among the counterprotesters who last month drove off the neo-Nazis, said member Troy Araiza-Kokkinis.

He said the students would counterprotest as long as the neo-Nazis rally.

"Our obligation is to drown them out and combat racism in the Inland Empire," Araiza-Kokkinis said. "We'll come back every week."

Bill White Supporter, Eric Hunt, Is Seeking Funds In A Most Peculiar Way

Everyone should remember this young man. His name is Eric Hunt and back in January or February of 2007, he was arrested for assaulting Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel. He stalked him across the country and assaulted him in California. At the time, Bill White was claiming that he was a supporter of ANSWP. If you'll remember, after the assault he checked himself into some sort of mental facility. Well, it seems that Hunt has taken a new route...and I think he might need to check himself right back into that facility.

TO ORIGINAL STORY

Holocaust survivor sued in Fla. for memoir 'lies'
October 20, 2009 8:27 AM
The Associated Press
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — The man who accosted Holocaust scholar Elie Weisel in 2007 has filed suit in Florida against an Auschwitz death camp survivor, alleging her memoir is full of lies.

Eric Hunt seeks damages in excess of $60 million, alleging Irene Weisberg Zisblatt should be punished “for tormenting Gentiles and instilling hatred in Jews.”

Zisblatt’s son-in-law, who is a lawyer, calls the lawsuit “absurd” but says he’s worried about the woman’s safety.

Hunt made headlines in 2007 for dragging Wiesel off a San Francisco hotel elevator. He said then he had mental problems and got “sucked into anti-Semitic conspiracy theories on the Internet.”

Hunt was sentenced to 4 years probation and ordered to undergo psychological treatment. He was released from a 2-year prison sentence for 1 year served during the proceedings.

According to a website dedicated to Ms. Zisblatt...

As a young prisoner in the camps, Irene witnessed and experienced unspeakable cruelty and brutality. She lost her whole family to the gas chambers. She was a "guinea pig" for Dr Josef Mengele, who performed inhumane experiments on her. The last mementoes of her family were the four diamonds given to her by her mother, that she had to keep swallowing over and over so they wouldn't be confiscated. She walked for two months on a death march while thousands of weakened prisoners dropped dead around her. Through it all, she held onto her hope and faith and, encouraged by the strength of her friend, Sabka, somehow she made it through one of humankind's darkest eras.

Although she swore to tell the world of the atrocities she'd seen, to be a voice for her friends and fellow prisoners, it took her fifty years to get over her fear and shame before she could do so. After taking part in the March of the Living, a walk through the camps culminating in Israel, she opened up and shared her story with the younger generation. She's been sharing it ever since, speaking around the world, testifying for the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation and taking part in Steven Spielberg's Oscar-winning documentary, "The Last Days."

Of course there are those who attempt to convince the world that the Holocaust never happened and those who attempt to obfuscate or one-up the atrocity by citing other monsterous acts and it appears that Eric Hunt is one of those. But, one has to wonder just how effective that court-ordered psychiatric treatment has been.

COLD SHOT ON SUNDAY

Join me on Sunday, October 18th, 2009, as I take some really cold shots at those right-wing extremists who just have to be called out for their actions. It's usually a lot of fun and you just never know what's going to happen. So...as the weekend winds down, why not pull up a chair, kick your shoes off, cop a squat and tune in. And...if you're so inclined...the phone lines will open about an hour into the show - so give a holler!


TOPICS TO BE DISCUSSED

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Republican leader John Boehner objected to the expansion of hate crimes legislation claiming that the protection of homosexuals under the bill is not based upon immutable characteristics and called it 'thought crimes legislation.' What do you think about hate crimes legislation in general and the expanded version in particular? Necessary or Not?

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Pastor Marc Grizzard of the Amazing Grace Baptist Church, along with his congregation, are going to celebrate Halloween by "Burning Perversions of God's Word." That means that they are burning all Bibles that are not of the King James Version. They also plan to burn Satan's music - which includes almost everything - as well as any works from various authors such as Mother Teresa, Oral Roberts, Jimmy Swaggart, and the Pope. They also plan on serving fried and Bar-B-Qued chicken along with all the sides. They didn't say if they plan on cooking the chicken over the open flames.

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Frank Schaeffer, author of Crazy For God, says "Anyone can be killed." He also says...

"The bestselling status of the Left Behind novels proves that, not unlike Islamist terrorists who behead their enemies, many evangelical/fundamentalist readers relish the prospect of God doing lots of messy killing for them as they watch in comfort from on high," he added. "They want revenge on all people not like them -- forever."

The former religious right leader also says he's worried President Obama could be assassinated -- or that extremists might launch another "Oklahoma" type bombing

Add your two-cents to this discussion...

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And speaking of the extremes...it looks like Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church just wasn't get enough attention picketing the funerals of our dead soldiers or demonstrating their supreme ignorance and hate across from high-school campuses. They have broadened their targets to include Jews. They do this cloaked in the mantra of free-speech. Well...I have free speech rights too - and I'll be exercising those rights right here on BlogTalk Radio.

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At first, he was criticized for trying to do too much, too soon. Now he is being called the "do-nothing" President by his detractors. Are his gloves really coming off with the health insurance industry or is he bluffing?

Politico credits Obama with rewriting the history of race relations in this country. What does that mean to us at this juncture - and what will it say to future generations? Have we really come a long way, baby?

---

The wild and whacky case of neo-Nazi Frank Spisak. This wannabe Hitler killed three people in 1983, was sentenced to death, had the sentence overturned and that is being reviewed again.

Ohio Attorney General, Richard Cordray, a former state solicitor, made his seventh appearance before the justices, but his first as attorney general. Cordray told the justices that the case is "one of the most infamous in Ohio history." Spisak wore a Hitler-style mustache at trial, gave the Nazi salute and boasted of his hatred of African-Americans and Jews. Spisak also has sued state officials because prison officials refuse to refer to him as a woman, as he prefers. Cordray wants the death penalty reinstated for Spisak. What do you think should be done?

---

STFU and...GRAB A MOP!

OH! AND WE'VE GOT A REP FOR THAT!

LIMBAUGH GETS DUMPED & DISSED...

Rush Limbaugh was dissed and dumped in his bid to be a part owner of the St. Louis Rams. Seen as a liability after players and activists protested any involvement by the racist talk-show host, it was announced earlier that he was being cut from the list of potential owners.

According to CNN News sources:

In a statement released Wednesday evening by St. Louis Blues chairman Dave Checketts -- who is heading the group that hopes to buy the Rams -- he announced Limbaugh's official exit from the bid. It is believed that Limbaugh's controversial participation would have doomed the group's effort in the eyes of NFL owners. League sources told SI.com that Limbaugh's candidacy in any Rams bid had "zero chance'' of being approved by the league's owners. In his statement, Checketts said Limbaugh's participation had become "a complication and a distraction'' to the group's efforts.

OBAMA MIGHT NOT PLAY THIS COURSE

Swastika, Obama Carved On Lakeville Golf CourseLAKEVILLE (WBZ) ― Click to enlarge

FOR STORY & VIDEO
The Secret Service is investigating a possible threat to President Obama made at a local golf course.

Someone carved the letter "I" then a swastika and the word "Obama" on the 18th hole at the Lakeville Country Club.

It was discovered early Monday morning by greens keepers.

The Secret Service confirms it is working closely with Lakeville police on the case.

"It's just so insulting to the human race and it just shouldn't be part of our doings by anybody. I just can't understand it. It's unforgivable," course owner Gary Mosca told WBZ.

Mosca says he's going to have to call in turf experts to repair the damage.

He doesn't expect it to be completely fixed until next spring.

GET A FREAKIN GRIP!

People Puhhhleeeazee - get a freakin grip! The comments on the previous post are proof positive that if Obama were to solve every world crisis in the next 30 days there would still be those who refuse to give him his just due. The right-wing is having a grand-mal seizure over the Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to the President of the United States and they are about to bite their tongues smooth off! Geeze...do you even read or listen or know why he was given this award? Or are you just hell bent on demonstrating your lack of abilities and knowledge?

This is the statement issued by the committee with my emphasis and comments in bold...

The Nobel Peace Prize for 2009

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 is to be awarded to President Barack Obama for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples. The Committee has attached special importance to Obama's vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons.

Note that they cite "efforts," "vision," and "work for" things like international diplomacy and cooperation. This has been the case in the awarding of the prize to many other recipients. The committee often awards the prize based upon intentions and efforts rather than outcomes.

Obama has as President created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play. Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts. The vision of a world free from nuclear arms has powerfully stimulated disarmament and arms control negotiations. Thanks to Obama's initiative, the USA is now playing a more constructive role in meeting the great climatic challenges the world is confronting. Democracy and human rights are to be strengthened.

There is an obvious reference here to a renewal of diplomacy over the past era of aggression that was endured under the Bush administration. Additionally, the emphasis in making the award was largely based upon Obama's efforts and dialogue which have both resulted in a more favorable view of the United States and in world stability and climate. Again, the award is not always based upon outcome. What part of that is so difficult for people to understand? It is irrefutable that with the election of Obama and his move toward diplomacy and negotiation rather than aggression and bullying that a more rational and peaceful tone is being set in the international sector.

Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future. His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world's population.

Can anyone argue the point that President Obama has captured the world's attention? Or that he has given millions upon millions of people around the world hope? Hope that peace will come. Hope that, perhaps, sanity will rule the day. Hope that the greatest country on Earth will no longer be the aggressor but the peace-maker.

For 108 years, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has sought to stimulate precisely that international policy and those attitudes for which Obama is now the world's leading spokesman. The Committee endorses Obama's appeal that "Now is the time for all of us to take our share of responsibility for a global response to global challenges."

Clearly, the intent of the prize is not to applaud or reward accomplishments or outcomes but to honor those who the committee believes are endeavoring to make this world a better place.

Across the nation, right-wing pundits and disgruntled Republicans, so-called "Patriots" and militia-minded individuals are denouncing the awarding of this honor to our President. Some on the left are joining with them in a chorus of disapproval citing his lack of tenure and actual accomplishments as a reason for their discontent.

But, is their disapproval really that benign? Perhaps it is rooted in their lack of true understanding of the prize itself. Or, perhaps it is simply another vehicle by which they can attempt to besmirch and belittle the man to whom they lost their power base. Maybe it's all of those things.

The whine of the right is a loud one, for certain. Pitiable, really. For, in all of their lamenting and bemoaning it appears they have lost all of their joy, all of their emotional appetite for happiness, all of their sense of pride, all of their dignity, and all of their self-respect. In all of their plans to "take this country back," they seem to have forgotten what it was like to be a "real" American who celebrates our victories, our recognitions, and our people.

Keep Your Eye On The Prize

AWESOME! That's exactly what I thought when I got the news that our President, Barack Obama, had been awarded the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize. What a statement and a testament to a man who has only held the office of Presidency for ten short months! It's a proud moment, indeed, for the United States of America who had lost so much stature in world affairs over the last several years.

Then...my jaw dropped, my eyes teared, and my heart sank as pundits and the right-wing began wagging their necrotic tongues. Their effusive dialogue can only be said to belie their continuous postulations of patriotism and love of this country.

While, I guess, the reaction should have been predictable, my optimistic and hopeful nature evidently blurred any prescience I might have had at my disposal. My moment of pride was soon defiled by the vitriol unleashed by loathsome pseudo-patriots of the right-wing.

Understanding that much of the current rancor among right-wingers and Republicans is lodged in the bowels of abject racism it should have come as no surprise when Erick Erickson of Red State retorted "I did not realize the Nobel Peace Prize had an Affirmative Action quota, but that is the only thing I can think of for this news."

It was surprising, however, in that he should make such an overtly racist statement and be so blatantly ignorant as to the nature of the prize which has recognized individuals of every race and nationality worldwide. Through such an acerbic statement Erickson not only cheapened the coveted prize but himself as well.

Additionally, the reaction by Rush Limbaugh was one that should have been easily predicted as the voracious and disgruntled Republican has been spewing his hate-filled, right wingnuttery for months now. This morning was no different as he said, "The Nobel gang just suicide bombed themselves," and "Something has happened here that we all agree with the Taliban and Iran about and that is he doesn't deserve the award."

The equally distasteful and repugnant Glenn Beck commented, "Obama doesn't deserve the prize but the Tea Party protestors do." Now, just what have the tea-baggers accomplished for world peace, I ask you?

With that, things got worse. Many suggest that he should not accept the prize while others question his "achievements," therefore whether or not he is deserving of such an honor. Still others belittle the prize itself.

In fairness, there are many who reside on the democratic and progressive side of the fence who believe that the awarding of the coveted prize to Obama came to quickly. Some question the timing and the validity of presenting him with such an award.

One can only imagine what the rest of the world is thinking. Last week, when the U.S. lost the bid for the 2016 Olympics, media personalities and people on the streets reveled in that loss. Today, as it was announced that President Obama would be the recipient of one of the greatest world-wide honors, the act was met with derision and denouncement.

From the Huffington Post we are told...

In its statement, the Committee said he had "created a new climate in international politics. ... Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future." It continued, "His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world's population." That is, in other words, a true commitment to democracy.

You see, the Nobel Peace Prize isn't always about honoring a lifetime of achievement. Recipients aren't always determined upon criteria that requires concrete accomplishments or measurable outcomes. Sometimes it's awarded for the setting of a tone, the promise of change, or leadership and role-modeling.

Those who are hemorraghing and squealing like stuck pigs seem to lack the ability to think either in the abstract or deal with the reality that apparently the rest of the world prefers diplomacy, values, and character to a cowboy hat, boots, and a big belt buckle. The rest of the world would prefer leaders who are committed to solutions and peace to those with the "you're either with us or against us" mentality.

This isn't about who has the biggest and the baddest bombs or who can shock and awe the rest of the world into submission. It's about who has the ability and the acumen to recognize that we are all sharing this planet and that we must learn how to do so together and to lead us in the direction of peace rather than bullying people into submission.

As Robert Creamer so aptly noted...

" The Nobel Committee gave the prize to Barack Obama because he gave the world hope that its most powerful, wealthy nation would once again provide humankind with inspiration and leadership that can be trusted and admired.
Since his election, President Obama has launched a worldwide campaign to eliminate all nuclear weapons - recognizing that controlling the proliferation of nuclear weapons is a practical impossibility unless we work to eliminate them from the globe. He has rededicated America to cope with the massive threat of climate change. He has reset our relationship with the Muslim world. He has rededicated America to the world's international institutions. And, he has begun to use all of the tools available to our country - including diplomacy - to create a more just and peaceful planet.

All of this is just the beginning of a long journey. But at least we have once again begun that journey down the right road. In and of itself that has made America safer, restored our respect in the world, and has begun to build a foundation for peace in the world over the long term.
Americans may not fully appreciate how completely they changed our relations to the rest of the world when they voted to elect Barack Obama last November. The rest of the world does. We should consider Barack Obama's Nobel peace prize as a giant gesture of gratitude.

I see it that way.

DAN JONES GETS POPPED

TO STORY AND LINKS


Portland man arrested for mailing noose to NAACP leader

10:19 AM PDT on Thursday, October 8, 2009

By MICHAEL ROLLINS, Kgw.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio – A Portland man was arrested Wednesday and accused of civil rights and mail violations for sending a noose in February 2008 to a regional director of the NAACP in Cleveland.


MULTNOMAH COUNTY JAIL

Daniel Lee Jones
Daniel Lee Jones, 33, is alleged to have used the Postal Service to send a noose to the home of Jason Upthegrove.

The FBI said Jones sent hate literature to residents of Lima, Ohio, where an African American woman was recently shot by a police officer. During that time, Upthegrove was speaking out in the community against the mailings and for equal police service for African Americans.

“A noose is an unmistakable symbol of hatred and violence in our nation, conjuring up images of a despicable period in our history. Mailing a noose to an individual who advocates for racial equality sends a clear threat of violence,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.

If guilty of mailing threatening communications, Jones faces a maximum of five years in prison and $250,000 in fines. If guilty of interfering with federally protected activities, he faces up to a year in prison and $100,000 in fines.

Background: Nazi flags in Tigard

The Portland Independent Media Center, a self-described political activist group which also tracks hate groups, describes Jones as behind the flying of Nazi flags from helium balloons around the Portland area in spring 2008 and Nazi banners from freeway overpasses. The group said he organized a hate gathering a month ago outside Vancouver.

DAY-CARE, BOMBS & WEED - LOVELY

So...this creep was making a bomb inside a day-care center and growing weed. Now...that's just the sort of place I would want to drop my kids off at every morning.


STORY HERE

California Man Blows Off Hands with Explosives
Authorities Say Neo-Nazi Material Found in Victim's Home
By RICHARD ESPOSITO, ALEX STONE and MEGAN CHUCHMACH
Oct. 8, 2009 —


A young man blew his hands off while making homemade high explosives inside his family's California home, where his mother ran a day care center, law enforcement sources say. Neo Nazi and anarchist type literature were found in the home, authorities said. There is no known link at this time to any organized rightwing extremist group.

The sheriff in Riverside, CA said suspect Benjamin Kuzelka, 23, was also growing marijuana in the home.

A substantial quantity of the high explosive TATP -- used in London bombings and suspected in the current Najiboullah Zazi /alleged New York terror plot case -- has been located at the scene, counter terrorism sources say.

After cordoning off the scene, LAPD bomb technicians placed explosive material in a LAPD "total containment vehicle," and a bomb technician yelled "fire in the hole" before detonating it. Officials say there is no relation to any of the ongoing terrorism cases.

Kuzelka is expected to be charged with manufacturing explosives, growing marijuana and child endangerment, since he was mixing the explosives inside the Kuzelka Day Care center run by his mother. He is currently in the hospital with serious injuries and will be taken to jail upon release. His brother and mother were also arrested on marijuana charges.

Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) are on their way to the scene. The FBI says "there is no threat to public safety."



Phone calls left at the day care center were not immediately returned.

This is the second case involving explosives in Riverside, CA in the past 24 hours. Another resident was arrested for possession of an explosive device, possession of bomb making material, possession of a firearm and possession of ammunition. The suspect was booked into the Riverside County Jail and is expected to be arraigned today. The cases appear to be unrelated.

Lunar Shock & Awe

As if we don't have enough problems, we are now going to blow up the damned moon.

Our guys in the military are awaiting donations of underwear while we spend another fortune on a shock-and-awe mission into space to desecrate the moon. And, just where do we get off anyway? We have done a pretty shitty job in protecting our own world - now we want to mess up the rest of it? Who has jurisdiction here? I really do believe that we have lost our minds.


STORY HERE

NASA to blow up the moon? Sort of
Rocket will shoot at the moon to collect dust
Updated: Thursday, 08 Oct 2009, 12:44 PM CDT
Published : Thursday, 08 Oct 2009, 12:44 PM CDT

HOUSTON (AP) - NASA will throw a one-two punch at the big, old moon Friday and the whole world will have ringside seats for the lunar dust-up.

NASA will send a used-up spacecraft slamming into the moon's south pole to kick up a massive plume of lunar dirt and then scour it to see if there is any water or ice spraying up. The idea is to confirm the theory that water - a key resource if people are going to go back to the moon - is hidden below the barren moonscape.

The crashing spaceship was launched in June along with an orbiter that is now mapping the lunar surface. LCROSS - short for Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite and pronounced L-Cross - is on a collision course with the moon, attached to an empty 2.2-ton rocket that helped get the probe off the ground.

Thursday evening, about 10 hours before smashing into the moon, LCROSS and its empty rocket will separate.

Then comes the first part of the lunar assault. At 6:31 a.m., the larger empty rocket will crash into a permanently dark crater and kick up a 6.2 mile high spray of debris.

Trailing just behind that rocket is the LCROSS satellite itself, beaming back to Earth live pictures of the impact and the debris plume using color cameras. It will scour for ice, fly through the debris cloud and then just four minutes later take the fatal plunge itself, triggering a dust storm one-third the size of the first hit.

"This is going to be pretty cool," LCROSS project manager Dan Andrews said. "We'll be going right down into it. Seeing the moon come up at you is pretty spectacular."

Within an hour, scientists will know whether water was hiding there or not.

The mission is a set-the-stage venture dreamed up by the NASA office that has been working on a $100 billion program to eventually return astronauts to the moon. The return-to-the-moon goal is now being re-examined by NASA and the White House.

These are not crashes for the faint of heart. The two ships will smash into the moon at 5,600 mph, more than seven times the speed of sound. The explosion will have the force of 1.5 tons of TNT and throw 772,000 pounds of lunar dirt out of the crater. It will create a new crater - inside an old one - about half the size of an Olympic swimming pool, Andrews said.

But do not feel bad for the moon. It gets crashes this size about four times a month from space rocks. But the difference is this one is planned and at just the right angle and location to provide interesting science for astronomers. The southern polar region is a prime landing possibility. This crater, called Cabeus, is one where astronomers think there is a good chance of hidden ice that would be freed by the crash, describing the dirt there as "fluffy."

The crashes will also be a good show for the folks back home, which was always part of NASA's plan for the probe, Andrews said. The crashes will be broadcast live on NASA's Web site. The Hubble Space Telescope and other larger Earth telescopes will be trained at the moon. Observatories and museums are planning viewing parties in at least three countries.

And amateur astronomy buffs with telescopes who live west of the Mississippi may try to catch a glimpse of it through their own instruments because it will still be dark outside. People who live in areas where it will be daylight won't be able to see it from home telescopes.

"A lot of telescopes will be tuning in," said Terry Mann, president of the Astronomical League, an umbrella group for local amateur astronomy societies. "You might see something you might not ever see again."

Amateurs need at least a 10-inch telescope to look at the crashes and what they see will only be a small part of their overall view in the scope. And they will not see the impact itself, but the spray of debris flying up.

This is all happening during a peak week in a yearlong celebrations commemorating the 400th anniversary of Galileo using a telescope to see Jupiter's moons. On Wednesday evening, the White House planned a star party for middle schoolers and about two dozen telescopes.

In Boulder, Colo., the Fiske Planetarium on Friday will serve free bagels and coffee to early rising moon crash spectators. The planetarium plans to stream a live video feed from NASA, train its own 24-inch telescope to watch the crash, and let people look for themselves through two research-grade telescopes.

"People like explosions one way or another," said Matt Benjamin, the planetarium's education programs manager. "And a celestial explosion is going to excite them."

To see all the conspiracy theories on YouTube regarding this NASA decision, go here.

The Hell You Say...

This cannot be happening! We spend, what, a half a trillion dollars on two f'd up wars, put our young men and women in battle fields fighting for God only knows what, and now...they need socks and undies? What the hell is the matter with this picture? I mean, I'm glad that someone is bringing this to our attention - but this should not even be an issue! If we can't take care of our soldiers better than this, then we can't expect that the masses here at home will fare any better! Now, they're having to rely on donations so they don't freeze their asses off in Afghanistan!

CHECK THIS OUT

HOW REAL IS THIS?

COLD SHOT ON SUNDAY

COLD SHOT ON SUNDAY - OCTOBER 4, 2009!

Join Nikki Nichols on Blogtalk Radio this Sunday evening at 7:00 Eastern Time. Phone lines will open at 8 where you can sound off, speak out, or just converse on the topics of discussion.

TALKING POINTS:

*Patriarchy on the right - the subjugation and degradation of women by right-wing extremists.

*Conferring With the Right - The fear that drives them crazy.

*No More Mr. Nice Guy - To homosexuals, that is.

*Secession - The new "White Flight" agenda.

*The "Relgiofication" of Politics - a new kind of jihad.

*Whose Side Are They On - the unpatriotic Patriots

*A Coup In the Making

LISTEN HERE

PHONE LINES IOEN AROUND 8:00 EASTERN

You Say You Want A Revolution, Well You Know...

History does have a way of repeating itself. However, the right-wing extremists in today's world aren't exactly cut from the same cloth as those who fought so valiantly for our independence.

The rhetoric has been ramped up more than just a notch and the frustration of the radicals on the right has begun to spill over into the mainstream. About three weeks ago I had an exchange with one of those extremists and reported on his dangerous posturing and speculations.

Mark Epstein, runs a blog over on Wordpress and he was asking for others to declare if they could be counted in or out should an armed revolution begin. Yesterday, John Perry wrote an article which appeared on Newsmax in which he stated:

Will the day come when patriotic general and flag officers sit down with the president, or with those who control him, and work out the national equivalent of a "family intervention," with some form of limited, shared responsibility?

Imagine a bloodless coup to restore and defend the Constitution through an interim administration that would do the serious business of governing and defending the nation. Skilled, military-trained, nation-builders would replace accountability-challenged, radical-left commissars. Having bonded with his twin teleprompters, the president would be detailed for ceremonial speech-making.

Military intervention is what Obama's exponentially accelerating agenda for "fundamental change" toward a Marxist state is inviting upon America. A coup is not an ideal option, but Obama's radical ideal is not acceptable or reversible. [Newsmax.com, 9/29/09]

The flurry of outrage that ensued caused Newsmax to remove the article and enter in to a damage control mode trying to distance itself from Perry. Claiming that Perry had no official capacity with Newsmax, however, proved even more disastrous as TPM immediately discredited such a statement with this little bit of research:

That's not quite the wording on his Newsmax biography. There, Perry is described as an "award-winning newspaper editor and writer" who "contributes a regular column to Newsmax.com."

He's also a former senior editor for the site, working in that role from late 1999 until October 2001.

Perry has written for the site regularly -- nearly every single week -- since November 1999. Newsmax was founded in 1998. (Check out the archives here and here.)

On the site's "Blogs" page, he's listed alongside other contributors including Ben Stein, Grover Norquist and Christopher Ruddy, the founder and editor-in-chief of Newsmax.

As Perry's article was being disseminated throughout cyberspace, talk radio show host Jim Quinn was making his bid to further the calls for insurrection as he warned our soldiers:

"The only reason you put military anywhere is to win and win as quickly as you can, as ruthlessly as you can, because mercifully it will be over quick, instead of turning it into a meat grinder. I'm looking at -- guys, look, I love you all who go over there and serve, but I gotta tell you right now, run for your life, get out, this guy is gonna get you killed. Man, these people are scary." [Clear Channel's The War Room with Quinn & Rose, 9/29/09]

The Huffington Post reports, "Media Matters points out that the appeals to the military follow a wave of rhetoric from the right suggesting that civilian violence against the government might be justified. Chuck Norris has asked if people are ready for "a second American Revolution." RedState's Erick Erickson has asked, "At what point do the people ... march down to their state legislator's house, pull him outside, and beat him to a bloody pulp?" Radio host Michael Savage declared recently that "we're going to have a revolution in this country."

And Media Matters has a whole list of others who are fueling this fire with their incessant and dangerous rhetoric.

And it's not only the media gurus who are unscrupulously and wantonly promulgating the seeds of civil unrest in this country. Congressional leaders, evangelical fundamentalists, and militia-minded individuals appear to be anxiously awaiting the first volley of violence - in fact, wishing it would happen. Did you ever wake up and feel like you were in another country?

The really chilling thing in all of this is that, it would seem, that pretty much all semblance of denial or even concern over what all this might result in has been stripped away from these right-wing fanatics. Quite simply, by all appearances, they just don't care. The fact that they lost the election, they lost their power-base, and they lost appeal has resulted in them losing their minds.

Something tells me that these nutjobs had better rethink their priorities and they had better drop this whole armed revolution idea. I say that because there are just as many sane people looking on who are now realizing that this kind of extremism is mot only non-productive, but absolutely detrimental to the fabric of our society.

As these cretins crawl out of every rock and cranny, they may be fomenting dissent - but there is another undercurrent going on here - one of utmost importance and largely overlooked in this melee of media frenzy - the damn is breaking, and the silent, sane majority is getting mad as hell and sick of it all. You know what they say about the quiet ones. I'd suggest the right-wing fanatics slither back in their hidey holes with their war-games and such because they really don't know what they are inviting.