tagged w/ Hate Crime
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A shocking video of a gay student being beaten at Union-Scioto High School in Chillicothe, Ohio, has surfaced reports Channel 6 WSYX news.
In the clip, which was filmed on a cell phone and then posted to Facebook, the attacker, who has not been named, can be seen waiting for the gay student, who wishes to remain anonymous, in a classroom.
Once the student arrives, the bully begins severely beating "the holy living crap out of him," says his mother.
Even though the boy tried to get away and asked "Why are you doing this?" the attack continued.
WSYX reports the student received a possible concussion and a chipped tooth.
The student also says that the perpetrator wrote "Check out the definition of a faggot" on his Facebook page two days earlier.
The attacker received three days suspension, but the mother of the gay student says that is not good enough and she is going to file charges.
She added, "For all those people that have hate in their hearts, they need to let it go because people are going to be who they are."
Anti-LGBT bullying is, sadly, not a new phenomenon and despite a very public outcry in recent months, it continues to rear it tragic, ugly head.
In recent weeks two students, Jamey Rodemeyer and Jamie Hubley, both committed suicide after being subjected to bullying because of their sexuality.
Towleroad adds:
"An anti-bullying bill is pending in Ohio's legislature. Ohio House Bill 208 would add sexual orientation, gender identity, and other enumerated protections to Ohio’s anti-bullying law without changing the general prohibition against any bullying or harassment. Proponents of the bill are seeking testimony in the House Education Committee, according to Equality Ohio, but the bill has not been a priority of the committee."A shocking video of a gay student being beaten at Union-Scioto High School in... more
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While Perry and his 3 ring circus of anti-queer hate is gearing up to congratulate each other for passing the buck to Yahweh Elohim in what he’s calling “The Response”, the GLBT community in Houston came together to remember those we have lost to hate and to dedicate a small garden as a lasting place of reflection. This effort was sparked to life as a reaction to a recent murder that took place in Houston. A young gay man named Aaron Scheerhoorn had been stabbed as was running from his attacker. Upon seeing a nightclub, he ran to the club’s entrance seeking help. The doorman turned him away… whereupon Aaron’s attacker pushed him down and in front of dozens of onlookers, commenced to stabbing Aaron over and over again… the onlookers did absolutely nothing to stop the attack and allowed the murderer to escape without hindrance.
http://www.cristanwilliams.com/b/2011/08/01/the-real-response-in-houston-texas-to-hate-bigotry-and-murder/While Perry and his 3 ring circus of anti-queer hate is gearing up to congratulate... more
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Folks, this is what you get when religious wackadoodles are allowed to promote so many things that are contrary to American way of life as defined in the Consitution and upheld by the Supreme Court. You cannot post comments freely on the original article there, but please feel free to leave your opinion here - unfettered.
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CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A jury found a North Carolina preacher guilty of stalking a Charlotte abortion doctor after passing out hundreds of "wanted" posters with the physician's name and photo on it.
Jurors deliberated about 90 minutes Friday before finding Rev. Phillip "Flip" Benham, director of Concord-based Operation Save America, guilty of misdemeanor stalking, The Charlotte Observer reported.
Benham, 62, was sentenced to 18 months of probation and ordered to stop any intimidating behaviors.
"I can't speak. I can't get within 500 feet," Benham said outside court, holding his Bible. "They've stolen from innocent babies a voice that has spoken for them."
Prosecutors said Benham distributed photos with the names and photos of several Charlotte doctors who perform abortions and the words "Wanted ... By Christ, to Stop Killing Babies."
Benham knew that doctors in other places had been killed after similar posters were made, Assistant District Attorney Kristen Northrup said.
"What would a reasonable person think if they saw `Wanted' on a poster with their picture on it?" Northrup said.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/02/phillip-flip-benham-guilty-stalking-abortion-doctor_n_889273.html/Folks, this is what you get when religious wackadoodles are allowed to promote so many... more
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Imzadi
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7 months ago
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No Place For Hate Hoax, or why hate crimes laws are pointless and potentially dangerous.
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The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill's Department of Public Safety has determined that a report of alleged aggravated assault filed by a student last week is false and the university will not be reporting it as a hate crime to the federal government.
Winston Crisp, vice chancellor for student affairs, confirmed to the Daily Tar Heel that UNC freshman Quinn Matney, who is gay, falsified his report.
“The aggravated assault did not take place,” Crisp said, adding that he believes no one other than Matney acted dishonestly.
Dear Students, Faculty and Staff:
The Department of Public Safety has determined that the alleged aggravated assault reported to campus last night did not occur. That report, filed with campus police on April 5, was false. The University will not report it as a hate crime.
It is important to recognize that incidents of harassment do occur. When they do, we take them seriously. We strive to foster a welcoming, inclusive and safe environment at Carolina.
We recognize that this has been a difficult time for campus. Members of the community who feel they need to discuss what has happened are encouraged to contact the Dean of Students Office at 919-966-4042; Counseling and Wellness Services at 919-966-3658 or 919-966-2281 after hours; LGBTQ Center at 919-843-5376; Diversity and Multicultural Affairs at 919-962-6962; or Human Resources' Employee Assistance Program at 919-929-2362.No Place For Hate Hoax, or why hate crimes laws are pointless and potentially... more
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By Lindsay Beyerstein, Media Consortium blogger
On Tuesday, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) unveiled a draft budget resolution for 2012. Ryan’s program would privatize Medicare and gut Medicaid.
“Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, is waging radical class warfare and ideological privatization schemes and selling it as a debt reduction plan,” writes Karen Dolan in AlterNet. Indeed, Ryan’s plan is larded with tax cuts for wealthy citizens and profitable corporations, which according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), would actually increase the national debt over the next decade. The CBO projects that the debt would reach 70% of GDP by 2022 under Ryan’s plan compared to 67% under the status quo.
At TAPPED, Jamelle Bouie predicts that Ryan’s budget plan will become the de facto platform for the GOP in the 2012 elections. Presidential hopeful Tim Pawlenty is already gushing about the plan. He notes the irony in Republicans seizing upon a plan to eliminate Medicare when they campaigned so hard to “protect” the program during the fight over the Affordable Care Act.
Attacking Medicare is politically risky. The conventional wisdom is the program is all but invulnerable because it is so popular with the general public, and especially with senior citizens–who reliably turn out to vote in large numbers.
Suzy Khimm of Mother Jones argues that, in order to win this political fight, the Democrats need to emphasize what they’re doing to grapple with the rising costs of Medicare–such as creating an independent board to regulate the reimbursement rates for all procedures covered under Medicare. Republicans have harshly criticized such a board as an example of health care rationing. Their proposed plan, however, would ration care far more severely, based on ability to pay. Ryan’s plan would give seniors a voucher to defray part of the cost of buying private health insurance. The voucher wouldn’t cover care equivalent to that which is offered under Medicare. So, under Ryan’s plan, care would be rationed based on each person’s ability to pay for extra coverage.
In a separate piece, Khimm notes that the GOP is taking a further political gamble by proposing massive cuts to Medicaid. She cites a recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation which found that only 13% of respondents favored major cuts to Medicaid. Republicans may be betting that they can cut Medicaid because they associate it with health care for the very poor, a constituency with little political capital and low voter turnout. But while Medicaid does serve the poor, a large percentage of its budget covers nursing home care for middle class retirees and services for adults with major disabilities–care that their families would otherwise have to pay for.
How to save $15 billion in health care costs
New research suggests that the federal government could save $15 billion by reducing unnecessary emergency room visits through investment in community health centers, Dan Peterson of Change.org reports:
This week, new research, from the Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative, pinpoints just how much we stand to lose in health care efficiency savings if the funding is cut as proposed; $15 billion. Put another way, for every $1 invested in CHC expansion, there is a potential savings in health care costs of $11.50.
Peterson reports that money to expand the CHC program may be cut from the budget. The report explains that if the funding is lost, then CHCs will not be able to serve the 10-12 million additional patients who were supposed to get care through expanded CHCs under the Affordable Care Act. If Congress refuses to allot $1.3 billion for cost-effective primary care, $15 billion in projected savings will evaporate.
If Republicans are serious about balancing the budget, they should happily expand the Community Health Center network.
Danish Antibiotic Resistance Education
D.A.R.E. to keep pigs off drugs. The U.S. hog industry is heavily dependent on low-dose antibiotics to keep its swine infection-free. This practice comes at the cost of increased antibiotic resistance. Sixteen years ago, the government of Denmark, the world’s largest exporter of pork, took the bold step of asking its pork industry to reduce the amount of antibiotics given to pigs. Ralph Loglisci of Grist notes that the experiment has been a huge success: The industry has slashed antibiotic use by 37%, antibiotic resistance is down nationwide, and production has held steady or increased.
Gay-bashed, uninsured
Twenty-nine-year-old Barie Shortell’s face was shattered in an apparent anti-gay attack in Williamsburg, Brooklyn in February. Joseph Huff-Hannon reports on AlterNet on an obstacle in Shortell’s already-long road to recovery:
After blacking out, and spending 10 hours in surgery and five days in the hospital, Shortell is now taking another whipping from one of the insidious antagonists of 21st-century American life—the private health-care system. Shortell, like many of his fellow American twentysomethings, is uninsured.
Up to 30% of people in their twenties are uninsured. The Affordable Care Act should reduce the number of uninsured twenty-somethings, but as Huff Hannon notes, the number of uninsured young adults is expected to continue to rise for some time. The ACA allows young people to stay on their parents’ health insurance until age 26, but this reform is of little help to the millions of families who lost job-linked health coverage during the recession.
This post features links to the best independent, progressive reporting about health care by members of The Media Consortium. It is free to reprint. Visit the Pulse for a complete list of articles on health care reform, or follow us on Twitter. And for the best progressive reporting on critical economy, environment, health care and immigration issues, check out The Audit, The Mulch, and The Diaspora. This is a project of The Media Consortium, a network of leading independent media outlets.By Lindsay Beyerstein, Media Consortium blogger
On Tuesday, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)... more
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By Catherine A. Traywick, Media Consortium blogger
Days after Arizona Governor Jan Brewer and Attorney General Tom Horne filed suit against the federal government for allegedly failing to protect the state from a Mexican “invasion,” the high-profile murder conviction of a Minutemen border vigilante underscores the state’s misguided border priorities.
Earlier this week, a jury found Shawna Forde—leader of the Minutemen American Defense (MAD)—guilty of murdering 8-year-old Brisenia Flores and her father, Raul Flores, Jr. during a racially motivated home invasion in 2009. Forde faces the death penalty for orchestrating the robbery and murders.
ColorLines’ Julianne Hing reports that Forde had planned a number of elaborate home invasions to raise funds for her border patrol activities—targeting individuals whom she (erroneously) believed to be drug dealers. Though no drugs were found in the Flores home, Forde—who, incidentally, has close ties to both the Tea Party and the conservative think tank Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR)—nevertheless justified Brisenia’s murder on the grounds that “people shouldn’t deal drugs if they have kids.” After watching Forde’s accomplices shoot her mother and kill her father, Brisenia was shot twice in the face.
While Latino advocacy groups have characterized the Flores murders as hate crimes provoked—at least in part—by state leaders’ incendiary anti-immigrant rhetoric, many regard Forde’s conviction as one of many indicators that the tables are turning on anti-immigrant politicos like Brewer who have curried political support through fear-mongering and misinformation.
Less tolerance for border vigilantes
As Valeria Fernandez reports at New America Media, the verdict comes just weeks after another Arizona court upheld a decision against rancher Roger Barnett who, in an act of unwarranted border vigilantism, assaulted a group of migrants traveling across his property. Barnett was fined $80,000. While the Forde and Barnett cases are only two incidents of a nationwide rash of anti-Latino crime, their convictions are particularly significant in Arizona, where state leaders have long tolerated and even encouraged border vigilantism as a necessary response to purported border-related violence.
A year ago, state politicians—including Brewer—fomented a national anti-immigrant mania (which handily ushered in SB 1070) by promoting false reports of border violence. As Valeria Fernandez reported at Feet in 2 Worlds last March, lawmakers were quick to attribute the shooting of Arizona rancher Robert Krentz to an unidentified, undocumented Mexican immigrant—though the sheriff in charge of the case later told the press that the prime suspect was not actually Mexican.
Brewer, for her part, gained national notoriety after fabricating tales of beheadings in the Arizona desert—which, as I wrote for Campus Progress at the time—generated support for her anti-immigrant political agenda while diverting public attention away from the reality that most of Arizona’s border violence is directed at immigrants, rather than perpetrated by them.
Arizona’s countersuit against the federal government
Brewer’s recent countersuit against the federal government—which alleges that Arizona is under invasion from the south and that the feds have failed to protect the state accordingly—similarly conjures nativist fantasies of immigrant-fueled border violence. But, as Scott Lemieux posits at TAPPED, the suit idly and transparently villainizes immigrants:
It is (to put it mildly) a stretch to argue that Arizona is undergoing an “invasion.” Illegal immigration does not constitute a military threat or an attempt to overthrow the state government; anti-immigration metaphors are not a sound basis for constitutional interpretation.
Like those propagated by state lawmakers during Arizona’s nativist heyday last spring, this new offensive belies the reality that, while anti-Latino hate crimes have risen by 52 percent nationally in recent years, border crime has been on the decline for quite some time—a fact noted by Alternet’s Julianne Escobedo Shepherd in her coverage of the countersuit.
Yet, in an effort to further their extreme, anti-immigrant agenda, Arizona’s nativist lawmakers determinedly maintain the myth that Latin American immigration somehow generates a groundswell of violent crime—even when doing so requires the hasty revision of a rancher’s death, and the callous disregard of an innocent child’s murder.
This post features links to the best independent, progressive reporting about immigration by members of The Media Consortium. It is free to reprint. Visit the Diaspora for a complete list of articles on immigration issues, or follow us on Twitter. And for the best progressive reporting on critical economy, environment, and health care issues, check out The Audit, The Mulch, and The Pulse. This is a project of The Media Consortium, a network of leading independent media outlets.By Catherine A. Traywick, Media Consortium blogger
Days after Arizona Governor Jan... more
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LOS ANGELES ( KTLA) -- Los Angeles police are looking for a man who was captured on video before he brutally assaulted a transgender woman.
The attack occurred around 1 a.m. on Oct. 4th along La Brea Ave., just north of Melrose Ave., according to LAPD officials.
The suspect knocked the victim to the ground, kicked her in the face and struck her in the head with a bottle.
The woman suffered a broken jaw in the attack.
Police say it's possible additional suspects participated in the assault.
It's not known what motivated the attack.
The suspect is described as a Hispanic man in his 20s, about 5 feet 6 inches tall and wearing a black shirt.
Surveillance cameras captured video of the man running toward the victim before the attack.
Immediately after the assault, the suspect(s) ran from the location and entered what witnesses described as a 2000 or later model white Chevrolet Suburban.
Anyone with information in the assault is asked to call the LAPD Wilshire Division's Major Assault Crimes Section at (213) 922-9234 or (213) 922-8268.LOS ANGELES ( KTLA) -- Los Angeles police are looking for a man who was captured on... more
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ayipis
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1 year ago
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Jennifer Lyn Petkov could well be the worst mother in the history of the world. Her launch into the realm of epic evil began two years ago when the family of 7-year-old Kathleen Edwards threw a party on the front lawn of their Trenton, Michigan home...
Kathleen-Edward.JPG
Kathleen Edwards is in the final stages of Huntington's Disease. A mom across the street put up a picture on her Facebook page showing the girl covered by crossbones.
It was a splendid affair complete with one of those bouncy houses. So Petkov, who lives across the street, texted Rebecca Rose, Kathleen's grandmother, asking if she could bring her own kids to the party.
But it seems Rebecca was a little slow in responding that day. You can imagine that she was just a bit busy. Besides, it's a little forward to invite yourself to someone else's party -- especially when you're Jennifer Lyn Petkov and even God hates you.
The delay in response pissed Petkov off. So she would spend the next two years taunting her neighbors over the slight.
At this point, you should know that 7-year-old Kathleen Edwards has a degenerative brain disorder that will lead to her death some day. She's in the final stages of Huntington's Disease. You should also know that Kathleen's mother died from the same illness.
So a decent woman would try to reach out of a family cursed by such illness. But Petkov is not a decent woman. Instead, she created a Facebook page devoted to taunting mother and daughter. She posted of a picture of the little girl with crossbones on her. She also posted a photo of Kathleen's mother hugging the Grim Creeper. Finally, she and her husband Scott parked a truck in front of their home that carried a homemade coffin.
Stay classy, Petkovs!
When Fox Detroit asked Jennifer why she was being such a dick, she only had this to say:
"Personal satisfaction! Because it rubs their assholes raw! Burns their assholes! Because it burns Rebecca Rose's asshole raw to make fun of her dead daughter on that page. Take it or leave it." (See the video of their immense dickery here.)
But after the story aired, the Petkov's had their home egged and began receiving death threats online. They were exposed as huge assholes, and suddenly had a change of heart.
Jennifer's husband Scott has now apologized for the taunting. He's dismantled the coffin and parked his truck behind a fence. But we're hoping the counter-harassment is not over. When you taunt a dying little girl, a mere egging of your house is insufficient punishment.Jennifer Lyn Petkov could well be the worst mother in the history of the world. Her... more
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PORTLAND, Ore. — Bethany Storro had just bought a pair of sunglasses and was celebrating a new job when a black woman walked up to her with a cup and said: "Hey pretty girl, do you want to drink this?"
The woman then splashed acid in the cup on Storro, who stumbled in pain and fell to the ground screaming. She felt agonizing pain as the skin on her face bubbled and sizzled and portions of her blouse disintegrated.
"It was the most painful thing ever," Storro, 28, said Thursday. "My heart stopped. It ripped through my clothing the instant it touched my shirt; I could feel it burning through my second layer of skin."
But she insisted that she would not let the attack in Vancouver wreck her life, and laughingly marveled how her eyesight was spared just minutes after she bought those sunglasses.Storro said she had spinal meningitis twice as a child, which robbed her of most of her hearing.
"Oh my gosh, to be hard of hearing and blind? That would drive them nuts," she said, laughing and pointing at her parents, Joe and Nancy Neuwelt. "They have to be in the same room for me to hear them. I'm just so glad it's a miracle."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38981535/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/?gt1=43001PORTLAND, Ore. — Bethany Storro had just bought a pair of sunglasses and was... more
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In a series of events which has caused wide notice and a storm of protests, the government of Mexico, through its consulate in New York in the United Nations, has announced it will begin patrolling the New York City borough of Staten Island to “safeguard” its nationals there.
The actions of Mexico come after a series of incidents the Mexican government terms “bias attacks.”
“We will act decisively in order to protect our citizens and will actively promote that those guilty of these vicious attacks are brought to justice expeditiously. We are working hand-in-hand with local authorities on all levels,” said Consul General of Mexico in New York, Ruben Beltran in an email to the Staten Island Advance.
Ironically, these so-called “hate crimes” have been perpetrated by blacks and Asians, indicative of rising tensions between various ethnic groups in the U.S. The Catholic Examiner and NBC New York both reported the Mexican government’s intention to mount surveillance, patrol and police in and around the Staten Island community of Port Richmond, which in recent years has seen a large influx of Mexican illegal immigrants.
READ MORE: http://morichesdaily.com/2010/08/mexican-police-patrol-york/In a series of events which has caused wide notice and a storm of protests, the... more
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Police in Battle Creek, Michigan are saying that the stabbing of a man in that city could possibly be a hate crime. The hate crime classification comes after learning the man is gay and discovering a ranting post on Craigslist which seems to target the victim. The victim had his car stolen by the assailant and spent a week and a half in the hospital following the attack.
The Battle Creek Enquirer reports:
A witness told police he was nearby, heard screaming and, when he investigated, saw one man attacking another. When the witness told the attacker to stop, the man replied it was a domestic dispute and to leave. The suspect then fled, taking the victim's car.
Detective Sgt. Austin Simons, supervisor of the detective bureau, said Thursday that police are investigating an online posting which appeared the day after the attack on Craigslist, a classified advertisement website.
In the anonymous message, which has since been removed, the writer, using derogatory references to gays, alluded to the attack under the headline "I warned you, you dumb queer." The message continued about the meeting at the park and "I e-mailed and said I have something ... but you did not think it was a knife did you. Now you are in the hospital and your car is in the river. I warned you."
If the author of the Craigslist post was indeed the assailant, this sounds like it could have been yet another terrible Internet meeting. Police are still searching for the victim's car, a copper-colored Toyota Matrix. The assailant (apparently a stocky white man with bald or shaved head and wearing a black shirt) is still at large.Police in Battle Creek, Michigan are saying that the stabbing of a man in that city... more
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An art project dedicated to Latino AIDS victims has been vandalized in Los Angles.
The Wall Las Memorias – an inspirational art project dedicated as a Latino AIDS monument on World AIDS Day in 2004 – has been vandalized. Apparently a mother went to see the name of her son on the Wall in Highland Park and found a section of the mural splashed in yellow paint.
Said the Wall’s founder, Richard Zaldivar, “The vandalism was done to the section of the AIDS mural that depicts a child saying, ‘I once knew a child with AIDS.’ And so it is really sad and very troubling that someone would use this opportunity to damage a piece of art that was created for the purpose HIV prevention and education to our community…. It seemed to be very targeted. There are six painted murals and only this mural was vandalized. So it was very targeted and focused.”
Zaldivar also said he is currently working with the police to determine whether the vandalism was a hate crime.An art project dedicated to Latino AIDS victims has been vandalized in Los Angles.... more
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CORNWALL GAY PRIDE 2010
THEME: The Circus
(See video… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQsvszHFM8E )
Cornwall (UK) PRIDE 2010 have chosen not to have a direct LGBT (Lesbian, Gay. Bisexual & Transgender) political message but rather the ‘Circus’ as its theme
Circuses are historically & traditionally synonymous with FREAK SHOW exhibitions — such as those with extraordinary diseases, conditions or deformities from that considered normal and socially acceptable
It is therefore interesting that the Cornish, Cornwall PRIDE 2010 chose ‘Circus’ as its theme, given gay people are still perceived as outcasts or freaks and not an accepted by many as part of ‘normal’ society
PRIDE WAS/IS A PROTEST: Stonewall was a riot AGAINST police homophobia
Gay PRIDE came about as a result of the STONEWALL riot in New York against police homophobia. However, some PRIDE events have degenerated into little more than hedonistic freak show carnivals with no discernable lgbt (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender) political message
The gay rights & equality message is lost, as those with primarily commercial and/or authoritarian self-interest take over running Gay Pride events, excluding many lesbian & gay equality campaigners, groups & interests
Give historic origin of both Gay Pride & Stonewall, ironic that in 2010 in Cornwall (UK) there remains a serious & sinister problem of protected homophobic attitudes & practices within Devon & Cornwall Constabulary
The Latin word circus comes from the Greek word kirkos, meaning "circle" or "ring"
In Ancient Rome, thousands were slaughtered at ‘circus’ for entertainment of the masses
In later centuries the circus became synonymous with sideshow freaks, gypsies, outcasts & animal cruelty. The circus was often perceived as sanctuary for criminals, runaways & those ostracised as freaks by normal society. Changes in popular culture, entertainment and better education led to decline of circus FREAK SHOW as a form of mass entertainment
Those taking part in Circus freak shows were often exploited by those who stood to gain financially, drawing parallels with gay ‘Pink Pound’ exploitation by some
Animal use in the circus also a matter of controversy, as animal-welfare groups have documented many cases of animal cruelty in the training of circus performing animals
The clown: Coulrophobia is an abnormal or exaggerated fear of clowns
In July 2006 the ‘Bestival’, a three-day music festival held in England, had to withdraw a request to festival goers to come dressed as clowns due to the unexpectedly high rate of ‘coulrophobia’ among the potential audience & serious Health & Safety issues .
Many children & adults are genuinely terrified of clowns.
Cornwall (GAY) Pride Sat 28th August Truro Cornwall UKCORNWALL GAY PRIDE 2010
THEME: The Circus
(See video…... more
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NEW ORLEANS (CBS/AP) A Mississippi man was charged Thursday with firing a shotgun at three black men in New Orleans who were wounded in what prosecutors said was a racially motivated attack in Hurricane Katrina's aftermath.
Roland Bourgeois Jr., a 47-year-old white man, is charged in a five-count indictment with firing a shotgun at the men in the city's historic Algiers Point neighborhood on the south side of the Mississippi River while they tried to leave the center of the city after the August 2005 hurricane.
Bourgeois and others discussed shooting black people and defending the neighborhood from "outsiders" after the storm, the indictment says. He allegedly bragged that he "got" one after the shooting, then retrieved a bloody baseball cap belonging to one of the victims.
"When [he] was advised that the man he had shot was still alive, Bourgeois referred to the injured man using a racial epithet and threatened he would kill him," the indictment says.
Bourgeois also warned a black resident of Algiers Point that "anything coming up this street darker than a brown paper bag is getting shot."
The case against Bourgeois is one of several post-Katrina investigations opened by the Justice Department's civil rights division. On Tuesday, six current and former New Orleans police officers were indicted on federal civil rights charges stemming from deadly shootings on a bridge.
Police shot and killed two people and wounded four others on the Danziger Bridge on Sept. 4, 2005. Five former officers already have pleaded guilty to participating in a cover-up to make it appear the shootings were justified.
Thursday's indictment only refers to Bourgeois' alleged victims by their initials, but a January 2009 article by ProPublica and The Nation magazine identifies them as Donnell Herrington, then 32; his cousin, Marcel Alexander, then 17; and a friend, Chris Collins, then 18.
Herrington, who was shot in the throat but survived, told The Nation that he didn't know the three heavily armed white men who shot at him.
"I just hit the ground. I didn't even know what happened," he recalled.
U.S. Attorney Jim Letten said federal authorities learned about the shootings from press reports.
Bourgeois is the only person charged in the case. A date for his initial court appearance wasn't immediately set and he is not in custody. Letten said Bourgeois wasn't arrested in part because he is apparently "in very poor health" and wasn't considered "a danger or a risk of flight."NEW ORLEANS (CBS/AP) A Mississippi man was charged Thursday with firing a shotgun at... more
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Louisiana convicted killer, http://www.wilbertrideau-realstory.com - Wilbert Rideau, a darling of The New York Times and now a free man debuts his new book In the Place of Justice. But does his book tell the whole story? This new video released from a 1981 interview where Rideau admits to the heinous crimes may tell a different story.Louisiana convicted killer, http://www.wilbertrideau-realstory.com - Wilbert Rideau, a... more
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Certainly the number of racially-motivated attacks on white people has historically been much smaller than attacks on minorities. The question then, is this: can white people be the victims of hate crime in the same way that minorities can? Can (or should) the law be applied in this way? Ostensibly, these laws are created to protect minorities. Should this particular crime be prosecuted as a hate crime (with severely increased penalties) or as a simple assault?
http://talkingskull.com/article/can-white-people-be-victims-of-hate-crimeCertainly the number of racially-motivated attacks on white people has historically... more
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Tikkun Magazine has been a strong supporter of the Upper Peninsula of EarthKeepers.
And there's word tonight that it's editor's (Rabbi Michael lerner) home was attacked last night
Rabbi Lerner is rabbi of ThBeyt Tikkun and the editor of TIKKUN magazine: A Bimonthly Jewish Critique of Politics, Culture and Society.
See the press release below
You can easily find contact info for Rabbi Lerner at the magazine's website
http://www.tikkun.org/
Rabbi Lerner's Home Attacked by Right-Wing Zionists
Berkeley, Ca. May 3, 2010
Berkeley police today confirmed that the attack on Rabbi Lerner's home late Sunday, May 2nd or early morning Sunday May 3rd was in fact a crime and was being investigated.
The attackers used a powerful form of glue to attach posters to his door and around the property of his home attacking Lerner personally, and attacking liberals and progressives as being supporters of terrorism and "Islamo-fascism."
They posted a printed bumper sticker saying "fight terror--support Israel" next to a carcature of Judge Goldstone whose UN report on Israel's human rights violations in its attack on Gaza last year has been denounced as anti-Semitic and pro-terror by right wingers in Israel and the U.S.
The caricature has Goldstone talking about his being kept from his grandson's bar mitzvah, and the caricature of Rabbi Lerner responds by saying "any enemy of Israel is a friend of mine."
This attack and vandalism follows on a week filled with Lerner and Tikkun staff receiving hate mail, prompted apparently by Tikkun's announcement that in case the South African Zionists had succeeded in preventing Judge Goldstone from attending his grandson's bar mitzvah, as they threatened several weeks ago, that Rabbi Lerner would gladly hold the bar mitzvah in the SF Bay Area instead, and following Tikkun's announcement that in light of Goldstone's courageous willingness to stand up for human rights in Israel (his report called on the Israeli government to do its own independent, pulbic and credibly objective investigation, punish those responsible for the crimes or show that they didn't happen, and thereby show that these actions were not government policy but the mistakes or evil choices by people in the IDF who were acting as rogue elements and not as a manifestation of the people of Israel) that Tikkun will award our prestigious Tikkun Award to Judge Goldstone in 2011 at the event celebrating our 25th anniversary!
This story, which was prominent in Ha'aretz and many other Jewish magazines and websites, has intensified anger against Lerner and Tikkun among those who seek to perpetuate the Occupation, and great support among those who realize that the Occupation is really hurtful both to Israel and to the Jewish people world-wide.
In the 24 years of Tikkun's operation, we have received many death threats and vicious hate mail, including phone calls to our office announcing that "Rabbi Lerner is dead" and others saying "We will kill all of you."
This particular attack has two worrisome elements not previously there:
1. They attack Rabbi Lerner's home. As law enforcement people told us, this is a way of conveying the messaget to Lerner: "We know where you live, we know your house is vulnerable, so don't ignore our threats."
2. By linking Lerner to alleged terrorism, they provide for themselves and other extremists a "right-wing justification" to use violence against Lerner, even though Lerner has been a prominent advocate of non-violence.
He regularly critiques Palestinian acts of violence when they occur, including the shelling of Israeli towns by Hamas, just as he critiques the violence of the Israeli occupation, and as he critiques the US war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the occupation of Chechny by Russia, the occupation of Tibet by China, the human rights violations agaisnt their own people by the rulers of Iran, the acts of violence of those resisting the US occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, the violence against women and homosexuals in many Arab and African countries (and in the US and Israel as well), the genocide in Darfur, the violence against Jews in some parts of Europe, and the list goes on.
Needless to say, this latest attack, on Lerner's home, has caused great concern to his family.
What can you do?
Let people know that this kind of thing is happening in the Jewish world to people who critique Israeli policies.
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A Canadian university delivers a stern warning to flamboyant American commentator Ann Coulter, who is on a speaking tour. As Shirlee Engel reports, Coulter is not impressed.A Canadian university delivers a stern warning to flamboyant American commentator Ann... more
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NB:-
*The UK Home Office released a report in 2005 stating HOMOPHOBIA was ENDEMIC throughout the UK police forces
*The Met police released a reort in 2007 into police investigations of murders of gay persons, stating police homophobia hampered investigations
*In Cornwall, police homophobic attitudes & practises are common place and seemingly NORMAL procedure when dealing with gay persons (FIA : In the year leading up to March 2008 over 1,200+ complaints were recorded against police officers & staff in the Devon & Cornwall Constabulary. The 3rd highest level of complaints out of the 43 UK police forces. The IPCC only knew of 933 of the complaints!)
Cornwall has the highest level of LGBT suicides in the South west of the United Kingdom
Cornwall Police = ARE the homophobic HATE CRIME problem!NB:-
*The UK Home Office released a report in 2005 stating HOMOPHOBIA was ENDEMIC... more
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