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home of the deplorables, despicables, & disgusting americans
a shithole's FINEST trash
June 15, 2019
It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.
James A. Baldwin
David Cross: “At least 25% of America has always been ignorant, racist, xenophobic and backwards, people prone to demagoguery. That’s not a surprise,” he says. “The surprise is that there’s this loud, brash, arrogant narcissist giving these people a voice and making them feel proud.”
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Mark Twain: “How much longer are we going to think it necessary to be ‘American’ before (or in contradistinction to) being cultivated, being enlightened, being humane, & having the same intellectual discipline as other civilized countries? It is really too easy a disguise for our shortcomings to dress them up as a form of patriotism!”
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Courage is the goal of cowards.
Alan Watts
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President Lyndon B. Johnson, who was a son of the South, said: “If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.”
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white trash's america
Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
...white Americans have lived in a country where the celerity with which they mask their racism matters as much as the color of their skin. One might look forward, unhappily, to white conservatives disassociating themselves from this massacre by claiming, in effect, that they're not "white trash"—meaning, in effect, that they've profited enough from their racism that they can afford to dress it up better; or look forward to white liberals disassociating themselves by claiming, in effect, that they're not "white conservative" hypocrites—meaning, in effect, that they've profited enough from their racism that they can afford to dress it up better still; or to white leftists disassociating themselves by claiming, in effect, that they're not "white liberal" hypocrites.
Why Are White Racists Always Called “White Trash"?
By Frank Guan
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Headlines: ignorance, racism, and stupidity america's trinity
of the bottom 70%
the people who make-up the shithole
(sources: raw story, politicus usa, daily kos)
*Florida man’s own family blasts him after he was arrested for racist threats: ‘This isn’t how we were raised’
*Right-wing pastor goes off the rails against ‘sodomites’ ahead of his ‘Make America Straight Again’ conference
*Right-wing vitamin website founder calls for Trump to use the military on big tech after Facebook takes down his page Mike Adams, noted conspiracy theorist and self-appointed “food scientist” and “health ranger,” has called on President Donald Trump to deploy the armed forces against big tech companies.
Mississippi fast food cashier ‘terminated immediately’ for ugly racist slur on customer’s receipt
June 15, 2019
By Bob Brigham - Raw Story
The owner of a fast food restaurant in Mississippi “terminated immediately” an employee after a racist and misogynistic slur of patrons.
When Lex Washington visited Who Dat’s Drive-Thru in Oxford with her roommate, the cashier listed them on the receipt as “black bitches in a silver car.”
A manager reportedly refused to apologize at the time, and instead “laughed in her face.”
A photo of the receipt then spread on social media.
Wylie Coleman, who owns Who Dat’s Drive-Thru, spent 90 minutes speaking with Washington.
Coleman described Washington as “nothing but sweet & communicative” after the meeting.
“We have so much common ground,” Coleman said. “I spoke with her in shock & remorse. Unexplainable to me were the words on the receipts.”
“The first step was taken by myself to the employee who was informed that they were terminated immediately. Ms. Washington and I decided this was necessary because the food service could be jeopardized and that is the only way to start moving forward with what transpired,” he noted.
“From the bottom of my heart I would like to apologize to the young ladies that were attacked by this injustice,” Coleman said. “I am not only apologizing to her but to everyone & anyone that could subject to a label in life.”
“I have taken the trash out on this instant that I am in control in, but I would like to inform everyone that I will not condone this anywhere,” he added.
Coleman told the New York Daily News, he wanted to “reiterate the employee was terminated immediately.”
When Lex Washington visited Who Dat’s Drive-Thru in Oxford with her roommate, the cashier listed them on the receipt as “black bitches in a silver car.”
A manager reportedly refused to apologize at the time, and instead “laughed in her face.”
A photo of the receipt then spread on social media.
Wylie Coleman, who owns Who Dat’s Drive-Thru, spent 90 minutes speaking with Washington.
Coleman described Washington as “nothing but sweet & communicative” after the meeting.
“We have so much common ground,” Coleman said. “I spoke with her in shock & remorse. Unexplainable to me were the words on the receipts.”
“The first step was taken by myself to the employee who was informed that they were terminated immediately. Ms. Washington and I decided this was necessary because the food service could be jeopardized and that is the only way to start moving forward with what transpired,” he noted.
“From the bottom of my heart I would like to apologize to the young ladies that were attacked by this injustice,” Coleman said. “I am not only apologizing to her but to everyone & anyone that could subject to a label in life.”
“I have taken the trash out on this instant that I am in control in, but I would like to inform everyone that I will not condone this anywhere,” he added.
Coleman told the New York Daily News, he wanted to “reiterate the employee was terminated immediately.”
The disturbing history behind Boston’s ‘Straight Pride’ parade organizers
June 6, 2019
By David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement - Raw Story
A “Straight Pride” parade is slated to be held in Boston on August 31, according to its organizers, who posted a map of the route (above). Many on social media this week laughed it off, while many others expressed anger and outrage.
Some of the organizers reportedly have ties and histories that should cause Boston authorities and residents concern.
“The event is a front for a far-right group founded by notorious right-wing brawler Kyle ‘Based Stickman’ Chapman,” writes Will Sommer at The Daily Beast.
Last year a California news outlet reported: “White Nationalist Kyle ‘Based Stickman’ Chapman Arrested for Felony Assault with a Deadly Weapon.” That article noted Chapman has “a violent history,” and a “judge barred him from possessing weapons of any type.”
Meanwhile, Straight Pride organizer Mark Sahady “isn’t just a particularly aggrieved straight dude,” the Daily Beast notes. “Instead, he has a long history participating in controversial right-wing events around Boston as an organizer for Resist Marxism, a group Chapman founded at the height of the fame he earned attacking left-wing anti-fascist activists with his eponymous ‘stick.'”
Sommer reports that “Sahady has endorsed the far-right ‘helicopter’ meme, which calls for liberals to be thrown from helicopters as in Augusto Pinochet’s Chile.”
Resist Marxism has a history of using “anti-Semitic slurs,” Sommer writes. “At least one Resist Marxism event had security provided by Patriot Front, a white-nationalist hate group.”
The group organizing the Straight Pride parade is called Super Happy Fun America.
“Straight people are an oppressed majority. We will fight for the right of straights everywhere to express pride in themselves without fear of judgement and hate. The day will come when straights will finally be included as equals among all of the other orientations,” says John Hugo, President of Super Happy Fun America on the group’s website. “Strength is our diversity!”
Some of the organizers reportedly have ties and histories that should cause Boston authorities and residents concern.
“The event is a front for a far-right group founded by notorious right-wing brawler Kyle ‘Based Stickman’ Chapman,” writes Will Sommer at The Daily Beast.
Last year a California news outlet reported: “White Nationalist Kyle ‘Based Stickman’ Chapman Arrested for Felony Assault with a Deadly Weapon.” That article noted Chapman has “a violent history,” and a “judge barred him from possessing weapons of any type.”
Meanwhile, Straight Pride organizer Mark Sahady “isn’t just a particularly aggrieved straight dude,” the Daily Beast notes. “Instead, he has a long history participating in controversial right-wing events around Boston as an organizer for Resist Marxism, a group Chapman founded at the height of the fame he earned attacking left-wing anti-fascist activists with his eponymous ‘stick.'”
Sommer reports that “Sahady has endorsed the far-right ‘helicopter’ meme, which calls for liberals to be thrown from helicopters as in Augusto Pinochet’s Chile.”
Resist Marxism has a history of using “anti-Semitic slurs,” Sommer writes. “At least one Resist Marxism event had security provided by Patriot Front, a white-nationalist hate group.”
The group organizing the Straight Pride parade is called Super Happy Fun America.
“Straight people are an oppressed majority. We will fight for the right of straights everywhere to express pride in themselves without fear of judgement and hate. The day will come when straights will finally be included as equals among all of the other orientations,” says John Hugo, President of Super Happy Fun America on the group’s website. “Strength is our diversity!”
Are you a right-wing extremist? This quiz may help — and you've got company
British military has a quiz for identifying dangerous right-wingers. Trump and other world leaders would fail
CHAUNCEY DEVEGA - Salon
JUNE 5, 2019 12:00PM (UTC)
Right-wing extremism threatens the security, safety and prosperity of countries around the world. Democracies — especially those in crisis — are especially vulnerable to right-wing extremism when it hides behind the benign-sounding banner of "populism."
On one extreme of the global right-wing movement are terrorists and other evildoers such as the Nazis or white supremacists who recently attacked mosques and synagogues in New Zealand, Pittsburgh and Southern California. On the other extreme are "respectable" right-wing politicians who use normal politics to take power. In the middle of this continuum are many millions of people who are either active members of the New Right or are sympathetic to its goals and aims.
In total, right-wing extremism is a multi-spectrum threat which extends from the president of the United States all the way down to street hooligans.
In response to several high profile incidents involving Nazis among its ranks, the British Ministry of Defense in conjunction with the British Army developed a chart to help officers identify right-wing extremists.
This chart, "Extreme Right Wing (XRW) Indicators & Warnings," was developed in 2017 and circulated as a leaflet for officers in the British military. Its existence became public last week when a copy appeared on right-wing websites. The British Ministry of Defense has confirmed the authenticity of the chart.
The XRW chart contains 20 examples of behavior which could indicate right-wing extremist values and suggest that a person is being radicalized into joining that dangerous movement.
Some of these warnings are:
Donald Trump, the Republican Party's elected officials and many of the leading voices in the right-wing media, as well as rank-and-file conservatives and other Trump supporters, meet many if not most of those criteria.
In a mix of mockery and concern, the usual right-wing voices are objecting that the XRW) chart is too broad and somehow "unfair," and stands as further proof of a conspiracy against "conservatives."
These objections fail in a number of ways.
The facts: the British Ministry of Defense chart is an accurate description of the individual behavior and collective worldview of today's right-wing extremists.
The New Right and its defenders are operating from a broken logic where everyone's sin is somehow no one's sin. In reality, the increasing prominence of right-wing extremism is simply a symptom of much larger social and political problems in the United States, Europe and elsewhere. Ultimately, the apparent popularity of an idea or thing in politics or other areas of life does not indicate its merit.
One must also be cautious in these discussions of "right-wing extremism": This language can disguise how common and increasingly "normal" such toxic values have become in the United States and elsewhere.
This is a function of what historian Nancy MacLean details in her book "Democracy in Chains": The American right has successfully executed a long-term plan to drag the country farther to the right, with the goal of undermining and eventually ending its multiracial democracy. This corruption of democracy is in many ways most effective when it is done gradually. In this way right-wing extremism becomes the norm, a cancer in the body politic that metastasizes to a point where it becomes fatal to democracy.
"History doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes." History often does this in an upside-down, cruel fashion. This week Donald Trump is touring Britain and Europe on the 75th anniversary of the American-led Allied landings of D-Day. This is the president who has abdicated American global leadership, harmed longstanding alliances, and given aid and comfort to the descendants of Nazism and other authoritarians around the world.
America, which was once celebrated as the world's greatest democracy, has now slumped toward fascism. During World War II and then the Cold War, the United States helped to save Europe and the world from fascism and authoritarianism. Perhaps it is now time for America's allies to reciprocate by helping to save American democracy from Donald Trump and all that he represents.
On one extreme of the global right-wing movement are terrorists and other evildoers such as the Nazis or white supremacists who recently attacked mosques and synagogues in New Zealand, Pittsburgh and Southern California. On the other extreme are "respectable" right-wing politicians who use normal politics to take power. In the middle of this continuum are many millions of people who are either active members of the New Right or are sympathetic to its goals and aims.
In total, right-wing extremism is a multi-spectrum threat which extends from the president of the United States all the way down to street hooligans.
In response to several high profile incidents involving Nazis among its ranks, the British Ministry of Defense in conjunction with the British Army developed a chart to help officers identify right-wing extremists.
This chart, "Extreme Right Wing (XRW) Indicators & Warnings," was developed in 2017 and circulated as a leaflet for officers in the British military. Its existence became public last week when a copy appeared on right-wing websites. The British Ministry of Defense has confirmed the authenticity of the chart.
The XRW chart contains 20 examples of behavior which could indicate right-wing extremist values and suggest that a person is being radicalized into joining that dangerous movement.
Some of these warnings are:
- Describe themselves as 'Patriots'
- Refers to Political Correctness as some left wing or communist plot
- Describe multicultural towns as 'lost'
- Looks at opponents as 'Traitors'
- Use the term 'Islamofascism'
- Make generalisations about Muslims and Jews
- Have XRW extreme group stickers or badges on clothing and personal items
- Make inaccurate generalisations about 'the Left' or Government
- Talk of an impending racial conflict or 'Race War'
- Threaten violence when losing an argument, although claiming that XRW groups protest peacefully
- Become increasingly angry at perceived injustices or threats to so called 'National Identity'
Donald Trump, the Republican Party's elected officials and many of the leading voices in the right-wing media, as well as rank-and-file conservatives and other Trump supporters, meet many if not most of those criteria.
In a mix of mockery and concern, the usual right-wing voices are objecting that the XRW) chart is too broad and somehow "unfair," and stands as further proof of a conspiracy against "conservatives."
These objections fail in a number of ways.
The facts: the British Ministry of Defense chart is an accurate description of the individual behavior and collective worldview of today's right-wing extremists.
The New Right and its defenders are operating from a broken logic where everyone's sin is somehow no one's sin. In reality, the increasing prominence of right-wing extremism is simply a symptom of much larger social and political problems in the United States, Europe and elsewhere. Ultimately, the apparent popularity of an idea or thing in politics or other areas of life does not indicate its merit.
One must also be cautious in these discussions of "right-wing extremism": This language can disguise how common and increasingly "normal" such toxic values have become in the United States and elsewhere.
This is a function of what historian Nancy MacLean details in her book "Democracy in Chains": The American right has successfully executed a long-term plan to drag the country farther to the right, with the goal of undermining and eventually ending its multiracial democracy. This corruption of democracy is in many ways most effective when it is done gradually. In this way right-wing extremism becomes the norm, a cancer in the body politic that metastasizes to a point where it becomes fatal to democracy.
"History doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes." History often does this in an upside-down, cruel fashion. This week Donald Trump is touring Britain and Europe on the 75th anniversary of the American-led Allied landings of D-Day. This is the president who has abdicated American global leadership, harmed longstanding alliances, and given aid and comfort to the descendants of Nazism and other authoritarians around the world.
America, which was once celebrated as the world's greatest democracy, has now slumped toward fascism. During World War II and then the Cold War, the United States helped to save Europe and the world from fascism and authoritarianism. Perhaps it is now time for America's allies to reciprocate by helping to save American democracy from Donald Trump and all that he represents.
Alabama Mayor Calls for Killing LGBTQ People in Facebook Post
Carbon Hill Mayor Mark Chambers tried to deny the post was his but finally admitted it.
BY TRUDY RING - The Advocate
JUNE 04 2019 12:43 PM EDT
An Alabama mayor has posted comments on Facebook about killing LGBTQ people, then tried to deny the post was his, but finally admitted it.
Carbon Hill Mayor Mark Chambers posted a graphic that read, “We live in a society where homosexuals lecture us on morals, transvestites lecture us on human biology, baby killers lecture us on human rights and socialists lecture us on economics.” It has now been removed, but Birmingham TV station WBRC captured a screen shot.
A Facebook friend of his commented, “By giving the minority more rights than the majority. I hate to think of the country my grandkids will live in unless somehow we change and I think that will take a revolution.” Chambers responded to that comment by saying, “The only way to change it would be to kill the problem out. I know it’s bad to say but without killing them out there’s no way to fix it.”
WBRC called Chambers, who first claimed the post was on someone else’s page, then ended the conversation. Then he called back and said the comment was meant to be a private message to his friend. He also said, “I never said anything about killing out gays or anything like that.” Then the reporter read the post back to him, and he said, “That’s in a revolution. That’s right! If it comes to a revolution in this country both sides of these people will be killed out.”
During the conversation, Chambers further called immigrants “ungrateful” and said the U.S. is in a state of civil war. He complained about his Facebook page being public, but Facebook users control what others can see. He later changed the page’s setting to private.
Chambers has been mayor of Carbon Hill, a northern Alabama town of fewer than 2,000 people, since 2014.
Carbon Hill Mayor Mark Chambers posted a graphic that read, “We live in a society where homosexuals lecture us on morals, transvestites lecture us on human biology, baby killers lecture us on human rights and socialists lecture us on economics.” It has now been removed, but Birmingham TV station WBRC captured a screen shot.
A Facebook friend of his commented, “By giving the minority more rights than the majority. I hate to think of the country my grandkids will live in unless somehow we change and I think that will take a revolution.” Chambers responded to that comment by saying, “The only way to change it would be to kill the problem out. I know it’s bad to say but without killing them out there’s no way to fix it.”
WBRC called Chambers, who first claimed the post was on someone else’s page, then ended the conversation. Then he called back and said the comment was meant to be a private message to his friend. He also said, “I never said anything about killing out gays or anything like that.” Then the reporter read the post back to him, and he said, “That’s in a revolution. That’s right! If it comes to a revolution in this country both sides of these people will be killed out.”
During the conversation, Chambers further called immigrants “ungrateful” and said the U.S. is in a state of civil war. He complained about his Facebook page being public, but Facebook users control what others can see. He later changed the page’s setting to private.
Chambers has been mayor of Carbon Hill, a northern Alabama town of fewer than 2,000 people, since 2014.
america's white trash is pissed!!
Fox News viewers spew ugly geyser of racist and sexist abuse at Meghan Markle over dispute with Trump
June 1, 2019
By Tom Boggioni - raw story
Reacting to a spat between President Donald Trump and Meghan Markle, an American who married into the Royal British Family, Fox News fans unsurprisingly sided with the President and against the Duchess of Sussex with a torrent of racist and sexist abuse aimed at her.
With Trump recently finding out that Markle once criticized him before she became royalty — to which Trump responded that she was “nasty” — Fox fans quickly rushed to his side in the typical Fox News viewer ways.
To kick it off, one commenter wrote, “Only a matter of time before the first black town jester knocks her up.”
Read the sick tweets here
With Trump recently finding out that Markle once criticized him before she became royalty — to which Trump responded that she was “nasty” — Fox fans quickly rushed to his side in the typical Fox News viewer ways.
To kick it off, one commenter wrote, “Only a matter of time before the first black town jester knocks her up.”
Read the sick tweets here
Black man ‘beat to a pulp’ by racist family after going to a Florida bar with his white wife
on May 31, 2019
By Tana Ganeva - raw story
A Florida man has been charged with a hate crime after sparking a fight with an interracial couple on Mother’s Day, reports News 6 in Orlando.
The couple — the man was black, and the woman was white — were celebrating Mother’s Day with drinks at Tailgatorz Sports Bar & Grill on Mother’s Day with his wife, when Warren Stratton, 66, of Oak Hill, Florida, came up to them and asked the man if he was from Africa.
He then wondered aloud whether it was “Africa Day,” according to the police report.
The victim told Stratton to move along, but instead he shoved him. Other patrons tried to separate them but the fight escalated, with two of Stratton’s family members joining in.
“There’s a terrible fight and there’s one African-American that’s being beat to a pulp — and no one is here to defend him — by a bunch of rednecks,” a witness said in a 911 call.
Stratton’s nephew, Troy Noe, 52, of New Smyrna Beach, is also charged with evidence of prejudice battery. The charges carry a penalty of up to five years in prison.
Noe’s son, John Noe, 22, was initially facing the same charge. It was reduced on May 17 to misdemeanor battery, reports the Daytona Beach News-Journal.
The couple — the man was black, and the woman was white — were celebrating Mother’s Day with drinks at Tailgatorz Sports Bar & Grill on Mother’s Day with his wife, when Warren Stratton, 66, of Oak Hill, Florida, came up to them and asked the man if he was from Africa.
He then wondered aloud whether it was “Africa Day,” according to the police report.
The victim told Stratton to move along, but instead he shoved him. Other patrons tried to separate them but the fight escalated, with two of Stratton’s family members joining in.
“There’s a terrible fight and there’s one African-American that’s being beat to a pulp — and no one is here to defend him — by a bunch of rednecks,” a witness said in a 911 call.
Stratton’s nephew, Troy Noe, 52, of New Smyrna Beach, is also charged with evidence of prejudice battery. The charges carry a penalty of up to five years in prison.
Noe’s son, John Noe, 22, was initially facing the same charge. It was reduced on May 17 to misdemeanor battery, reports the Daytona Beach News-Journal.
racism and ignorance run rampant in america!!!
Hank Haney's racist and sexist comments were unsurprising in the world of golf
Women’s golf is full of brilliant athletes from a huge variety of backgrounds. It can be tough to find out more about their stories though
Anya Alvarez - the guardian
Thu 30 May 2019 10.52 EDT
On Wednesday, I sat in a room with media executives working on a pitch for a series about the LPGA. We discussed multiple storylines that ranged across racial and social borders. Stories about South Korean, African American, Latina and white players. Stories about players who grew up in poverty but made it on tour; women who were born into privilege but are using their privilege for good. The LPGA is more diverse than many would have you believe: more than 25 countries are represented on tour this year. Last year, women from 10 different countries won tournaments.
Why does this matter? Because on Wednesday, Hank Haney, a golf instructor best known for coaching Tiger Woods during his prime, proved he knows little about women’s golf, but that he’s capable of spouting racist and sexist nonsense. Haney was asked by co-host Steve Johnson on their radio show about the Women’s US Open, which starts on Thursday.
“I’m gonna predict a Korean [will win],” Haney said.
“That’s a pretty safe bet,” Johnson replied.
“That’s gonna be my prediction. I couldn’t name you, like, six players on the LPGA Tour,” Haney said, before adding: “Well, I’d go with Lee. If I didn’t have to name a first name, I’d get a bunch of them right. I don’t know. ... Lexi Thompson. ... Michelle Wie’s hurt. I don’t know that many.”
Haney, who has since apologized for his comments, probably thought he was being funny. Instead his comments told us much about how little he values women’s golf. Jeehae Lee, a former LPGA player who moved to the US from South Korea in the sixth grade, responded on Twitter. “This is why @HankHaney’s comments hurt,” she wrote, “by publicly admitting that he sees a bunch of the same “Lee’s” on the LPGA, he has normalized the view that these women on the @lpga are nameless, faceless golfing robots who aren’t worthy of individual humanity.”
Wie, one of the few players Haney appears to have heard of, was similarly dismissive. “Too many of these girls, Korean or not, have worked countless hours and sacrificed so much to play in the US Open this week. There are so many amazing players in the field. Let’s celebrate them....Not mock them,” she wrote.
By admitting that he knows next to nothing about one of the biggest tournaments in women’s golf, Haney also proved he has no business hosting a show on a prominent golf channel.
But what Haney said is not surprising – there are countless examples of how bigotry has reared its ugly head in the sport. From African Americans, Jewish people, and female players being barred from joining golf clubs; to women only being allowed to play at certain times at many courses; to black women having police called on them while playing a round; to Asians players being blamed for the LPGA not being more popular (it should be noted the tour has experienced exponential growth in its fanbase). Racism and sexism is embedded in golf, and it has taken decades to repair the image of the game and make it appear welcoming and open to all. And there is clearly still work to be done.
In this context, it is hard to shovel all the blame on Haney. The golf media mostly treats the LPGA like a blip on the radar, rarely telling the stories of the brilliant Asian players Haney was so quick to dismiss. So it was strange to see major golf publications calling out Haney when they are part of the problem – their social media channels and websites make you wonder if a professional women’s golf tour that has been around for 69 years exists at all. And the reality is, the publications that attacked Haney have more of a responsibility than Haney to promote women’s golf. How can we take the media seriously on this when they’ve done little to show that they value the LPGA?
There are steps that can be taken to improve matter. Perhaps SiriusXM could cancel Haney’s show and replace it with one that covers the LPGA exclusively. And maybe golf media as a whole will do better at highlighting the various stories of the diverse group of women who compete on the LPGA.
Until we wait in hope, make sure to tune in to the Women’s US Open where more than 20 countries will be represented in the second major of the year. And if you don’t know more than six players names, learn some more. There are plenty of great stories out there.
Why does this matter? Because on Wednesday, Hank Haney, a golf instructor best known for coaching Tiger Woods during his prime, proved he knows little about women’s golf, but that he’s capable of spouting racist and sexist nonsense. Haney was asked by co-host Steve Johnson on their radio show about the Women’s US Open, which starts on Thursday.
“I’m gonna predict a Korean [will win],” Haney said.
“That’s a pretty safe bet,” Johnson replied.
“That’s gonna be my prediction. I couldn’t name you, like, six players on the LPGA Tour,” Haney said, before adding: “Well, I’d go with Lee. If I didn’t have to name a first name, I’d get a bunch of them right. I don’t know. ... Lexi Thompson. ... Michelle Wie’s hurt. I don’t know that many.”
Haney, who has since apologized for his comments, probably thought he was being funny. Instead his comments told us much about how little he values women’s golf. Jeehae Lee, a former LPGA player who moved to the US from South Korea in the sixth grade, responded on Twitter. “This is why @HankHaney’s comments hurt,” she wrote, “by publicly admitting that he sees a bunch of the same “Lee’s” on the LPGA, he has normalized the view that these women on the @lpga are nameless, faceless golfing robots who aren’t worthy of individual humanity.”
Wie, one of the few players Haney appears to have heard of, was similarly dismissive. “Too many of these girls, Korean or not, have worked countless hours and sacrificed so much to play in the US Open this week. There are so many amazing players in the field. Let’s celebrate them....Not mock them,” she wrote.
By admitting that he knows next to nothing about one of the biggest tournaments in women’s golf, Haney also proved he has no business hosting a show on a prominent golf channel.
But what Haney said is not surprising – there are countless examples of how bigotry has reared its ugly head in the sport. From African Americans, Jewish people, and female players being barred from joining golf clubs; to women only being allowed to play at certain times at many courses; to black women having police called on them while playing a round; to Asians players being blamed for the LPGA not being more popular (it should be noted the tour has experienced exponential growth in its fanbase). Racism and sexism is embedded in golf, and it has taken decades to repair the image of the game and make it appear welcoming and open to all. And there is clearly still work to be done.
In this context, it is hard to shovel all the blame on Haney. The golf media mostly treats the LPGA like a blip on the radar, rarely telling the stories of the brilliant Asian players Haney was so quick to dismiss. So it was strange to see major golf publications calling out Haney when they are part of the problem – their social media channels and websites make you wonder if a professional women’s golf tour that has been around for 69 years exists at all. And the reality is, the publications that attacked Haney have more of a responsibility than Haney to promote women’s golf. How can we take the media seriously on this when they’ve done little to show that they value the LPGA?
There are steps that can be taken to improve matter. Perhaps SiriusXM could cancel Haney’s show and replace it with one that covers the LPGA exclusively. And maybe golf media as a whole will do better at highlighting the various stories of the diverse group of women who compete on the LPGA.
Until we wait in hope, make sure to tune in to the Women’s US Open where more than 20 countries will be represented in the second major of the year. And if you don’t know more than six players names, learn some more. There are plenty of great stories out there.
‘Yes Ma’am, I Used the N-Word’: Mississippi Furniture Store Owner Unapologetic After Hurling Racial Slurs at Black Customers
By Kiersten Willis - atlanta black star
May 24, 2019
A Mississippi furniture store owner has admitted to dropping the n-word at Black customers after being caught on camera. Now he’s defending his actions.
A customer sent a video of an altercation that erupted outside Hometown Furniture in Southaven, Mississippi, on Saturday, May 18, to WREG. Witnesses said it shows Terry Pace, who owns the store, cursing at and using the n-word to Black patrons.
It’s not clear what exactly led to the volatile moment.
“I don’t care what they say. I did what I felt like was right,” Pace told a WREG reporter who arrived at his home after he shuttered his store for the day on Monday, May 20. “You weren’t there. You didn’t hear it. You didn’t hear all the stuff I heard.”
He claimed he was provoked and attacked, and left with a black eye. He also admitted to using the n-word, seemingly as a result.
“I called the n-word when it was over with. When it was all over with, and they kept mouthing off to me. Yes, ma’am, I used the n-word,” he adds.
Police were called to the scene but no report was filed.
However, those working in shops in the plaza shared with Hometown Furniture say Pace’s racist remarks are nothing new.
“He was like, ‘No. I don’t finance, because the only people that want to get furniture financed is the colored. And they don’t pay their bills.’ Yes. This is what he told me, and I let that go,” said Marvin Clark, who owns a business in the plaza.
Additionally, the woman who owns the plaza property states they’ve been flooded with complains about Pace, despite him only occupying the space since March.
Property manager Radhya Spencer told the news outlet she hopes the incident does not push away other customers.
“We need to come out here and support the businesses. We need to come out here and support Southaven and uplift it. We don’t plan on having him stay,” Spencer said.
She also noted there are no plans to renew when the lease is up for Pace’s store in June.
A customer sent a video of an altercation that erupted outside Hometown Furniture in Southaven, Mississippi, on Saturday, May 18, to WREG. Witnesses said it shows Terry Pace, who owns the store, cursing at and using the n-word to Black patrons.
It’s not clear what exactly led to the volatile moment.
“I don’t care what they say. I did what I felt like was right,” Pace told a WREG reporter who arrived at his home after he shuttered his store for the day on Monday, May 20. “You weren’t there. You didn’t hear it. You didn’t hear all the stuff I heard.”
He claimed he was provoked and attacked, and left with a black eye. He also admitted to using the n-word, seemingly as a result.
“I called the n-word when it was over with. When it was all over with, and they kept mouthing off to me. Yes, ma’am, I used the n-word,” he adds.
Police were called to the scene but no report was filed.
However, those working in shops in the plaza shared with Hometown Furniture say Pace’s racist remarks are nothing new.
“He was like, ‘No. I don’t finance, because the only people that want to get furniture financed is the colored. And they don’t pay their bills.’ Yes. This is what he told me, and I let that go,” said Marvin Clark, who owns a business in the plaza.
Additionally, the woman who owns the plaza property states they’ve been flooded with complains about Pace, despite him only occupying the space since March.
Property manager Radhya Spencer told the news outlet she hopes the incident does not push away other customers.
“We need to come out here and support the businesses. We need to come out here and support Southaven and uplift it. We don’t plan on having him stay,” Spencer said.
She also noted there are no plans to renew when the lease is up for Pace’s store in June.
Border Vigilante Was Accused of Running Child-Cancer Charity Scam
United Constitutional Patriots livestreams grabbing migrants at the border. Its spokesman has a shady past.
Nick R. Martin - daily beast
05.22.19 5:29 AM ET
For the past few months, Jim Benvie has played the role of a wannabe cop in the New Mexico borderlands.
He wears a badge with the words “Fugitive Recovery Agent.” He refers to Border Patrol agents as his “backup.” He claims to be protecting America from a “criminal invasion” at the nation’s southwestern border.
All the while, he’s been facing a criminal charge of his own in another state.
Benvie is the appointed spokesman for a group of Trump-loving border vigilantes previously known as the United Constitutional Patriots, which recently renamed itself Guardian Patriots. The group earned widespread notoriety last month because of videos Benvie livestreamed to Facebook, showing his armed crew harassing and apprehending migrants.
The vigilante group was kicked off PayPal and GoFundMe as a result, but it is still attempting to raise money for its efforts in other ways. Now, court documents reviewed by The Daily Beast raise serious questions about Benvie’s background in fundraising.
He was arrested in an incident in which police said he was fraudulently claiming to be collecting cash for a child with cancer and was allegedly in possession of a stolen rental truck, according to the court records. Benvie was subsequently charged with stealing the truck, though prosecutors did not charge him regarding the charity work.
The allegations against him are outlined in an affidavit filed in Logan County District Court in Oklahoma as part of an ongoing felony case. The existence of the stolen vehicle charge was reported earlier this month by Texas television station KDBC, but the affidavit paints a detailed picture of Benvie’s arrest, including the cancer scam suspicions, that has not previously been publicized.
Benvie’s organization has received the condemnation of civil rights groups and the attention of law enforcement. The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico described the group in a letter to the state’s governor and attorney general as an “armed fascist militia organization” and called for an investigation. Soon after, the FBI arrested the group’s self-appointed “commander,” Larry Hopkins, who goes by the fictitious name Johnny Horton Jr., on a federal weapons charge.
The incident that landed Benvie in trouble with the law began on the afternoon of July 2, 2018, when police in Guthrie, Oklahoma were contacted by the vehicle security company OnStar. The company had located a stolen yellow Penske rental truck in the parking lot of the chain chicken joint Golden Chick.
Inside the restaurant, a lieutenant found Benvie sitting at a table supposedly raising money for a child who had cancer. He had a blue bucket with cash in it, according to the affidavit.
“When Benvie observed me he began to look away and became very nervous,” Lt. Mark Bruning wrote in the affidavit. “I contacted him and asked how long he had been at the store attempting to raise money. He stated a couple hours.”
When the lieutenant asked what vehicle he was driving, Benvie pointed to the yellow truck. He told the lieutenant he had rented the truck from a Penske location in Tennessee on an “open ended ‘cash’ account,” according to the document.
The paperwork in the glovebox, however, showed that Benvie had rented the truck on April 4, 2018 and was supposed to return it the next day. A manager at the Penske location told police there was no such thing as an open-ended cash account.
Bruning questioned Benvie about the cause for which he was supposedly raising money. In the affidavit, the lieutenant wrote that Benvie said he was collecting money for a friend in Tennessee whose son had brain cancer. But when asked who the friend was, according to the lieutenant, “Benvie was unable to produce a name.”
Inside the truck, police found a “Make America Great Again” hat along with some garbage and two duffel bags filled with clothing. They also found pamphlets that read “Help Ryan Beat Cancer,” which depicted a boy with a scar on his head. Some of the pamphlets were old. Others were new.
“I asked Benvie about the pamphlets,” Bruning wrote in the affidavit. “He stated it was real and that he was raising money for the child. But again was unable to give a name.”
After arresting him, the lieutenant found two GoFundMe pages that appeared to have been started by Benvie, each under a different variation of his name. The first was called “Join Ryans Flight Crew” and the other was called “Bella Walk A Thon,” according to the affidavit.
The Daily Beast was able to locate a GoFundMe campaign by a Christopher Benvie, his middle name, titled “Bella’s Walk-A-Thon,” which had raised $343 and was no longer active. The other page could not be found.
The lieutenant was clearly skeptical of Benvie’s charity claims. Bruning went as far in the affidavit as writing that “it’s believed that Benvie was committing fraud by collecting donations for [a] child with cancer that he was unable to provide any information about.”
Benvie was irate after his arrest and blew his top with Bruning, according to the affidavit. While being moved from the Guthrie police station to the county jail, Benvie reportedly told the lieutenant: “I’ll bring that mom and sick kid to court if I have to.”
He was charged on July 6 in Logan County District Court with one count of possessing a stolen vehicle, a felony.
Court records show he was held on a $25,000 bond until Sept. 21, when the judge overseeing his case agreed to release him on his own recognizance. He has pleaded not guilty.
Benvie didn’t answer a phone number listed for him in court records, and he didn’t reply to a message sent to his personal Facebook page. The United Constitutional Patriots’ page on Facebook sent a short reply to The Daily Beast’s request to speak with Benvie: “check out his facebook page.”
Benvie’s lawyer in Oklahoma, David Bedford, declined to speak about his client.
“I represent a lot of people,” Bedford said. “You’re going to have to reach them and they’ll talk for themselves.”
Benvie has spoken in vague terms about the case to other news outlets, which have not reported the details outlined in the affidavit.
He told television station KDBC that he vowed to continue his border activities even if convicted. “You're not gonna get rid of me,” he told the station. “I'm America.” He reportedly told The Intercept that his arrest was due to a clerical error by the truck rental office.
Benvie is something of an unusual figure, even in the unusual world of border militias. Acting as the spokesman for the vigilantes, Benvie has done what no other figure in the movement has by broadcasting his group’s harassment of migrants live on Facebook for the world to see.
He’s done so at times with a certain cruelty.
In a video livestreamed on March 31, Benvie could be heard huffing, out of breath, as he pursued a group of migrants over a hill. A woman carrying a suitcase could be seen falling behind the group. She cried out as Benvie chased her from a few feet back.
“You’re gonna hurt yourself,” Benvie said as the woman tumbled face-first down the hill. “You don’t have to run.”
“See what we’re dealing with here, guys?” he narrated to his Facebook audience. The migrant group was eventually stopped by Border Patrol agents, and Benvie filmed the arrests. The video went on to be viewed more than 43,000 times, with users leaving comments like “Start shooting” and “Shoot-first-ask-questions-later.”
Other videos have received tens of thousands more views, including one in mid-April that set off a firestorm because the United Constitutional Patriots claimed it showed them detaining about 300 migrants.
The ACLU of New Mexico’s letter to the governor and attorney general regarding the video mentioned Benvie by name, accusing his group of making “unlawful arrests,” which the civil liberties group said undermines legitimate law enforcement.
Two days after the letter was sent, the FBI showed up at the United Constitutional Patriots’ camp in Sunland Park, New Mexico, a city in the southeast corner of the state. Agents arrested Larry Hopkins, the leader of the group who claimed to be in touch with President Donald Trump, on a federal charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
On Saturday, the FBI’s Albuquerque field office spokesman, Frank Fisher, told The Daily Beast that the case “still is under investigation” and declined to answer further questions.
The state Attorney General’s Office declined to say whether it had been in touch with law enforcement in Oklahoma regarding Benvie’s case. David Carl, a spokesman for the office, kept it vague in an email: “We are collaborating with law enforcement agencies to fully investigate this matter.”
Beyond the arrest of its leader, Benvie’s group has run into even more trouble. It was ordered off its original campsite by Sunland Park and railroad police. (A stretch of rail runs through the area where the group has been operating.)
But Benvie and his small band of camo-clad vigilantes found a new site to set up and are still out there, looking for migrants.
And he’s still livestreaming.
He wears a badge with the words “Fugitive Recovery Agent.” He refers to Border Patrol agents as his “backup.” He claims to be protecting America from a “criminal invasion” at the nation’s southwestern border.
All the while, he’s been facing a criminal charge of his own in another state.
Benvie is the appointed spokesman for a group of Trump-loving border vigilantes previously known as the United Constitutional Patriots, which recently renamed itself Guardian Patriots. The group earned widespread notoriety last month because of videos Benvie livestreamed to Facebook, showing his armed crew harassing and apprehending migrants.
The vigilante group was kicked off PayPal and GoFundMe as a result, but it is still attempting to raise money for its efforts in other ways. Now, court documents reviewed by The Daily Beast raise serious questions about Benvie’s background in fundraising.
He was arrested in an incident in which police said he was fraudulently claiming to be collecting cash for a child with cancer and was allegedly in possession of a stolen rental truck, according to the court records. Benvie was subsequently charged with stealing the truck, though prosecutors did not charge him regarding the charity work.
The allegations against him are outlined in an affidavit filed in Logan County District Court in Oklahoma as part of an ongoing felony case. The existence of the stolen vehicle charge was reported earlier this month by Texas television station KDBC, but the affidavit paints a detailed picture of Benvie’s arrest, including the cancer scam suspicions, that has not previously been publicized.
Benvie’s organization has received the condemnation of civil rights groups and the attention of law enforcement. The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico described the group in a letter to the state’s governor and attorney general as an “armed fascist militia organization” and called for an investigation. Soon after, the FBI arrested the group’s self-appointed “commander,” Larry Hopkins, who goes by the fictitious name Johnny Horton Jr., on a federal weapons charge.
The incident that landed Benvie in trouble with the law began on the afternoon of July 2, 2018, when police in Guthrie, Oklahoma were contacted by the vehicle security company OnStar. The company had located a stolen yellow Penske rental truck in the parking lot of the chain chicken joint Golden Chick.
Inside the restaurant, a lieutenant found Benvie sitting at a table supposedly raising money for a child who had cancer. He had a blue bucket with cash in it, according to the affidavit.
“When Benvie observed me he began to look away and became very nervous,” Lt. Mark Bruning wrote in the affidavit. “I contacted him and asked how long he had been at the store attempting to raise money. He stated a couple hours.”
When the lieutenant asked what vehicle he was driving, Benvie pointed to the yellow truck. He told the lieutenant he had rented the truck from a Penske location in Tennessee on an “open ended ‘cash’ account,” according to the document.
The paperwork in the glovebox, however, showed that Benvie had rented the truck on April 4, 2018 and was supposed to return it the next day. A manager at the Penske location told police there was no such thing as an open-ended cash account.
Bruning questioned Benvie about the cause for which he was supposedly raising money. In the affidavit, the lieutenant wrote that Benvie said he was collecting money for a friend in Tennessee whose son had brain cancer. But when asked who the friend was, according to the lieutenant, “Benvie was unable to produce a name.”
Inside the truck, police found a “Make America Great Again” hat along with some garbage and two duffel bags filled with clothing. They also found pamphlets that read “Help Ryan Beat Cancer,” which depicted a boy with a scar on his head. Some of the pamphlets were old. Others were new.
“I asked Benvie about the pamphlets,” Bruning wrote in the affidavit. “He stated it was real and that he was raising money for the child. But again was unable to give a name.”
After arresting him, the lieutenant found two GoFundMe pages that appeared to have been started by Benvie, each under a different variation of his name. The first was called “Join Ryans Flight Crew” and the other was called “Bella Walk A Thon,” according to the affidavit.
The Daily Beast was able to locate a GoFundMe campaign by a Christopher Benvie, his middle name, titled “Bella’s Walk-A-Thon,” which had raised $343 and was no longer active. The other page could not be found.
The lieutenant was clearly skeptical of Benvie’s charity claims. Bruning went as far in the affidavit as writing that “it’s believed that Benvie was committing fraud by collecting donations for [a] child with cancer that he was unable to provide any information about.”
Benvie was irate after his arrest and blew his top with Bruning, according to the affidavit. While being moved from the Guthrie police station to the county jail, Benvie reportedly told the lieutenant: “I’ll bring that mom and sick kid to court if I have to.”
He was charged on July 6 in Logan County District Court with one count of possessing a stolen vehicle, a felony.
Court records show he was held on a $25,000 bond until Sept. 21, when the judge overseeing his case agreed to release him on his own recognizance. He has pleaded not guilty.
Benvie didn’t answer a phone number listed for him in court records, and he didn’t reply to a message sent to his personal Facebook page. The United Constitutional Patriots’ page on Facebook sent a short reply to The Daily Beast’s request to speak with Benvie: “check out his facebook page.”
Benvie’s lawyer in Oklahoma, David Bedford, declined to speak about his client.
“I represent a lot of people,” Bedford said. “You’re going to have to reach them and they’ll talk for themselves.”
Benvie has spoken in vague terms about the case to other news outlets, which have not reported the details outlined in the affidavit.
He told television station KDBC that he vowed to continue his border activities even if convicted. “You're not gonna get rid of me,” he told the station. “I'm America.” He reportedly told The Intercept that his arrest was due to a clerical error by the truck rental office.
Benvie is something of an unusual figure, even in the unusual world of border militias. Acting as the spokesman for the vigilantes, Benvie has done what no other figure in the movement has by broadcasting his group’s harassment of migrants live on Facebook for the world to see.
He’s done so at times with a certain cruelty.
In a video livestreamed on March 31, Benvie could be heard huffing, out of breath, as he pursued a group of migrants over a hill. A woman carrying a suitcase could be seen falling behind the group. She cried out as Benvie chased her from a few feet back.
“You’re gonna hurt yourself,” Benvie said as the woman tumbled face-first down the hill. “You don’t have to run.”
“See what we’re dealing with here, guys?” he narrated to his Facebook audience. The migrant group was eventually stopped by Border Patrol agents, and Benvie filmed the arrests. The video went on to be viewed more than 43,000 times, with users leaving comments like “Start shooting” and “Shoot-first-ask-questions-later.”
Other videos have received tens of thousands more views, including one in mid-April that set off a firestorm because the United Constitutional Patriots claimed it showed them detaining about 300 migrants.
The ACLU of New Mexico’s letter to the governor and attorney general regarding the video mentioned Benvie by name, accusing his group of making “unlawful arrests,” which the civil liberties group said undermines legitimate law enforcement.
Two days after the letter was sent, the FBI showed up at the United Constitutional Patriots’ camp in Sunland Park, New Mexico, a city in the southeast corner of the state. Agents arrested Larry Hopkins, the leader of the group who claimed to be in touch with President Donald Trump, on a federal charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
On Saturday, the FBI’s Albuquerque field office spokesman, Frank Fisher, told The Daily Beast that the case “still is under investigation” and declined to answer further questions.
The state Attorney General’s Office declined to say whether it had been in touch with law enforcement in Oklahoma regarding Benvie’s case. David Carl, a spokesman for the office, kept it vague in an email: “We are collaborating with law enforcement agencies to fully investigate this matter.”
Beyond the arrest of its leader, Benvie’s group has run into even more trouble. It was ordered off its original campsite by Sunland Park and railroad police. (A stretch of rail runs through the area where the group has been operating.)
But Benvie and his small band of camo-clad vigilantes found a new site to set up and are still out there, looking for migrants.
And he’s still livestreaming.
Former Indiana lawmaker: Pete Buttigieg can’t be president because ‘homosexuals’ die young
Tom Boggioni - raw story
18 MAY 2019 AT 15:58 ET
According to reporting from Friendly Atheist founder Hemant Mehta, a former Indiana lawmaker turned Christian evangelist cautioned against electing South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg as the next president because he might not survive his first term.
As Mehta, notes, Dr. Don Boys, when he was in office claimed that “homosexuality is a crime worth a twelve-year jail sentence,” and now has turned his ire on the young mayor who has captured the nation’s attention.
Writing at his blog, Boys explained,”Pete Buttigieg is mayor of South Bend, Indiana and is ‘married’ to Chasten Glezman, a teacher at Montessori Academy near South Bend. Pete calls Chasten his ‘husband’ but since that is asinine, aberrant, and not accurate, I will refer to him as his ‘lover.’ I do that knowing I will be reminded that Time magazine gave him some credibility with a cover photo of Pete and his lover. However, Time’s rush to gush is typical of the leftist media who are willing to promote anything that is anti-biblical, anti-common sense, and anti-decency.”
He then took up the issue of health.
“All homosexuals are aware that their lifespan is about 20 years less than for normal people so voters should know that a homosexual president may not live to finish his term<“he warned. “Moreover, 70% of homosexuals admit to having at least one STD plus they are infected with other contagious diseases such as tuberculosis, pneumonia, etc. About 20% of homosexual men are infected with HIV and about half of them do now know it. Don’t voters have a right, even an obligation, to know a candidate’s health status since the candidate’s health is always an issue? Is a homosexual candidate an exception? If so, why?”
“Will he release his complete medical records?” he added.
You can read more of his reprehensible thoughts on the LGBTQ community here.
As Mehta, notes, Dr. Don Boys, when he was in office claimed that “homosexuality is a crime worth a twelve-year jail sentence,” and now has turned his ire on the young mayor who has captured the nation’s attention.
Writing at his blog, Boys explained,”Pete Buttigieg is mayor of South Bend, Indiana and is ‘married’ to Chasten Glezman, a teacher at Montessori Academy near South Bend. Pete calls Chasten his ‘husband’ but since that is asinine, aberrant, and not accurate, I will refer to him as his ‘lover.’ I do that knowing I will be reminded that Time magazine gave him some credibility with a cover photo of Pete and his lover. However, Time’s rush to gush is typical of the leftist media who are willing to promote anything that is anti-biblical, anti-common sense, and anti-decency.”
He then took up the issue of health.
“All homosexuals are aware that their lifespan is about 20 years less than for normal people so voters should know that a homosexual president may not live to finish his term<“he warned. “Moreover, 70% of homosexuals admit to having at least one STD plus they are infected with other contagious diseases such as tuberculosis, pneumonia, etc. About 20% of homosexual men are infected with HIV and about half of them do now know it. Don’t voters have a right, even an obligation, to know a candidate’s health status since the candidate’s health is always an issue? Is a homosexual candidate an exception? If so, why?”
“Will he release his complete medical records?” he added.
You can read more of his reprehensible thoughts on the LGBTQ community here.
american idiot!!!
Florida man calls cops on Middle Eastern stand-up comedian after joke makes him ‘uncomfortable’
Eric W. Dolan - raw story
15 MAY 2019 AT 10:01 ET
A man in Florida called 911 to report a stand-up comedian who made a joke about terrorism, according to local news outlet NBC 2.
The man, who has not been identified, was at the Off The Hook comedy club in Naples this month when he said Ahmed Ahmed asked how many audience members were from the Middle East.
“As the people raised their hands, they said I’m from Iraq, I’m from Iran,” the caller said to a 911 dispatcher. “He said that’s great we should organize our own terrorist organization. I don’t think that’s right. That really bothered me.”
He later told the dispatcher: “I just thought it was terrible. My wife and I looked at each other and felt very uncomfortable.”
Ahmed posted a video to Facebook showing that two officers were sent to the club.
“You can’t write this shit… This is new material,” the comedian joked to the officers. “I’m not insulted, I’m a little embarrassed – and I’m also, maybe, afraid for my life.”
“Don’t change your set, don’t change your jokes,” an officer assured him.
The comedian is baffled that someone resorted to calling the police.
“He should, you know, maybe get a passport, travel a little bit, maybe not be so subject to what he’s being brainwashed,” Ahmed told Wink News. “I feel bad for him that he’s kind of closed minded.”
The man, who has not been identified, was at the Off The Hook comedy club in Naples this month when he said Ahmed Ahmed asked how many audience members were from the Middle East.
“As the people raised their hands, they said I’m from Iraq, I’m from Iran,” the caller said to a 911 dispatcher. “He said that’s great we should organize our own terrorist organization. I don’t think that’s right. That really bothered me.”
He later told the dispatcher: “I just thought it was terrible. My wife and I looked at each other and felt very uncomfortable.”
Ahmed posted a video to Facebook showing that two officers were sent to the club.
“You can’t write this shit… This is new material,” the comedian joked to the officers. “I’m not insulted, I’m a little embarrassed – and I’m also, maybe, afraid for my life.”
“Don’t change your set, don’t change your jokes,” an officer assured him.
The comedian is baffled that someone resorted to calling the police.
“He should, you know, maybe get a passport, travel a little bit, maybe not be so subject to what he’s being brainwashed,” Ahmed told Wink News. “I feel bad for him that he’s kind of closed minded.”
Florida man assaulted by woman screaming ‘go home Jew — tell your neighbors that Jesus Christ is here’
Sarah K. Burris - raw story
09 MAY 2019 AT 14:05 ET
Kirsten Kelly arrested for assault on Jewish couple (Photo: Orange County jail mugshot)
A Florida woman was arrested after an alleged assault while shouting anti-Semitic comments.
According to Jeff Gelman, he was having breakfast with his wife when he witnessed a woman drive through an unlocked gate to drive through his lawn, ClickOrlando reported.
“We looked out to window and we saw someone doing donuts in our backyard, right there,” Gelman said.
He said that he’s never seen the woman, who has been identified as Kristen Kelly, but she was screaming anti-Semitic attacks as if she knew their faith.
“She was yelling, go home Jew tell your neighbors that Jesus Christ is here and that I’m going to clean some dirty Jews,” Gelman said.
Things got worse when the couple tried to approach Kelly and demand she get off their property.
“When she got out of the car she sprayed us with detergent and said ‘cleaning the dirty Jews,’” Gelman said.
He took photos of the woman and her car so that it would help police in identifying who was behind the wheel.
“We didn’t recognize her at all; never saw her in our lives,” Gelman told the media.
Kelly has been charged with aggravated assault and is still being held in an Orange County jail.
A Christian man in a San Diego suburb opened fire on a synagogue in April, killing one woman.
According to Jeff Gelman, he was having breakfast with his wife when he witnessed a woman drive through an unlocked gate to drive through his lawn, ClickOrlando reported.
“We looked out to window and we saw someone doing donuts in our backyard, right there,” Gelman said.
He said that he’s never seen the woman, who has been identified as Kristen Kelly, but she was screaming anti-Semitic attacks as if she knew their faith.
“She was yelling, go home Jew tell your neighbors that Jesus Christ is here and that I’m going to clean some dirty Jews,” Gelman said.
Things got worse when the couple tried to approach Kelly and demand she get off their property.
“When she got out of the car she sprayed us with detergent and said ‘cleaning the dirty Jews,’” Gelman said.
He took photos of the woman and her car so that it would help police in identifying who was behind the wheel.
“We didn’t recognize her at all; never saw her in our lives,” Gelman told the media.
Kelly has been charged with aggravated assault and is still being held in an Orange County jail.
A Christian man in a San Diego suburb opened fire on a synagogue in April, killing one woman.
EXTREMISTS
CousinIT - demo underground
they are just racists!!!
White Republicans are bothered by hearing foreign languages — but most Americans aren’t
Tana Ganeva - raw story
08 MAY 2019 AT 14:14 ET
Despite being buffeted by an endless stream of scandals — including reports of tax evasion — President Donald Trump maintains a high approval rating among Republican voters.
A new Pew Research poll might help explain why.
As the Washington Post observed, 47 percent of white Republicans polled told Pew it would bother them “some” or “a lot” to “hear people speak a language other than English in a public place.” Only eighteen percent of white Democrats concurred.
Plus, among white Republicans in the least diverse neighborhoods, 80% are satisfied with the amount of racial diversity they experience in their community.
The antipathy towards immigrants specifically and diversity more generally are reflected in many of President Donald Trump’s statements and policy positions. Despite being married to an immigrant with a heavy accent, the President continues to broadcast anti-immigration sentiment.
Even the President’s slogan, Make America Great Again, has been criticized for harkening back to a mythical past when America was ruled entirely by white men while women and minorities lacked many basic rights.
As the Washington Post observed, a shockingly high number of white Republicans oppose interracial marriage, close to half a century after it was legalized with the Loving v. Virginia case.
“Republicans also stood out in that survey for their skepticism of interracial marriage: One-third said “the fact that more people of difference races are marrying each other” was good for the country, while 16 percent said it was bad,” the Post notes.
A new Pew Research poll might help explain why.
As the Washington Post observed, 47 percent of white Republicans polled told Pew it would bother them “some” or “a lot” to “hear people speak a language other than English in a public place.” Only eighteen percent of white Democrats concurred.
Plus, among white Republicans in the least diverse neighborhoods, 80% are satisfied with the amount of racial diversity they experience in their community.
The antipathy towards immigrants specifically and diversity more generally are reflected in many of President Donald Trump’s statements and policy positions. Despite being married to an immigrant with a heavy accent, the President continues to broadcast anti-immigration sentiment.
Even the President’s slogan, Make America Great Again, has been criticized for harkening back to a mythical past when America was ruled entirely by white men while women and minorities lacked many basic rights.
As the Washington Post observed, a shockingly high number of white Republicans oppose interracial marriage, close to half a century after it was legalized with the Loving v. Virginia case.
“Republicans also stood out in that survey for their skepticism of interracial marriage: One-third said “the fact that more people of difference races are marrying each other” was good for the country, while 16 percent said it was bad,” the Post notes.
Utah bus driver traps boy in bus doors and drives off: lawsuit
Dominique Jackson - raw story
07 MAY 2019 AT 16:56 ET
Utah bus driver John Naisbitt “quietly” resigned after facing multiple accusations after he discriminated against minority students.
A 14-year-old student got caught in the doors while exiting the school bus, and Naisbitt continued to drive for another 150 feet before stopping.
“While students yelled at the driver to stop — the man pulled over again in front of West Point Junior High in northern Utah and opened the doors, dropping the boy on the sidewalk and allowing the rest of the kids in line to shuffle out,” a report from Salt Lake Tribune explained. “The boy, a seventh grader, was the only student of color on the bus.”
The boy’s mom, Brenda Mayes, is suing Naisbitt for racial discrimination. The mom has video evidence of the situation.
“It appears that the driver intentionally shuts the doors as he goes through, snapping the boy’s backpack between them, and moving forward as he hangs outside,” the report said.
“I think that race likely played a part in the incident,” Mayes told the school district.
“We deeply regret the actions of our employee and will be addressing this issue with urgency,” Superintendent Reid Newey responded.
A 14-year-old student got caught in the doors while exiting the school bus, and Naisbitt continued to drive for another 150 feet before stopping.
“While students yelled at the driver to stop — the man pulled over again in front of West Point Junior High in northern Utah and opened the doors, dropping the boy on the sidewalk and allowing the rest of the kids in line to shuffle out,” a report from Salt Lake Tribune explained. “The boy, a seventh grader, was the only student of color on the bus.”
The boy’s mom, Brenda Mayes, is suing Naisbitt for racial discrimination. The mom has video evidence of the situation.
“It appears that the driver intentionally shuts the doors as he goes through, snapping the boy’s backpack between them, and moving forward as he hangs outside,” the report said.
“I think that race likely played a part in the incident,” Mayes told the school district.
“We deeply regret the actions of our employee and will be addressing this issue with urgency,” Superintendent Reid Newey responded.
‘Get out while you can’: Former white nationalist exposes movement’s dark secrets
Brad Reed - raw story
02 MAY 2019 AT 09:36 ET
Katie McHugh, an admitted former white nationalist and writer at the Daily Caller and Breitbart News, is the subject of an extraordinary profile by BuzzFeed Newsreporter Rosie Gray in which she talks about the alt-right’s dark secrets.
McHugh tells Gray that she started out her career as a libertarian who was led down a dark path toward outright racism. She says that while she harbored racist views before working at Breitbart, she thinks that working at that right-wing publication encouraged her to be even more extreme.
“The thing is, I think Breitbart — and let me preface this by saying I take responsibility for all my actions. Everything I said that was terrible was my fault. However, I think that people’s flaws were encouraged,” she said. “I think Milo’s fame should not have been encouraged — it was very bad for him. And my vindictiveness and my capacity for cruelty were encouraged.”
But McHugh’s racism got so bad at one point that even Breitbart Texas editor Brandon Darby became concerned that she was openly supporting the writings of neo-Nazis.
However, former Breitbart boss Steve Bannon told Darby to back off of his criticism and he never disciplined McHugh for promoting neo-Nazi Twitter accounts.
“Steve said ‘stop it’ just out of irritation,” she said. “But it never, never affected my rise in the company.”
In fact, Bannon eventually promoted her to be his producer on his Sirius XM radio show.
Much of the profile documents how the white nationalist movement has worked to insert itself into supposedly “mainstream” conservative institutions — including former Trump Department of Homeland Security official Ian Smith, who was fired after his ties to white nationalism were exposed.
In the end, McHugh hopes that her story inspires more people who have been taken in by the movement to flee.
“There is forgiveness, there is redemption,” she tells Gray. “You have to own up to what you did and then forcefully reject this and explain to people, and tell your story, and say, ‘Get out while you can.’”
Read the whole profile here.
McHugh tells Gray that she started out her career as a libertarian who was led down a dark path toward outright racism. She says that while she harbored racist views before working at Breitbart, she thinks that working at that right-wing publication encouraged her to be even more extreme.
“The thing is, I think Breitbart — and let me preface this by saying I take responsibility for all my actions. Everything I said that was terrible was my fault. However, I think that people’s flaws were encouraged,” she said. “I think Milo’s fame should not have been encouraged — it was very bad for him. And my vindictiveness and my capacity for cruelty were encouraged.”
But McHugh’s racism got so bad at one point that even Breitbart Texas editor Brandon Darby became concerned that she was openly supporting the writings of neo-Nazis.
However, former Breitbart boss Steve Bannon told Darby to back off of his criticism and he never disciplined McHugh for promoting neo-Nazi Twitter accounts.
“Steve said ‘stop it’ just out of irritation,” she said. “But it never, never affected my rise in the company.”
In fact, Bannon eventually promoted her to be his producer on his Sirius XM radio show.
Much of the profile documents how the white nationalist movement has worked to insert itself into supposedly “mainstream” conservative institutions — including former Trump Department of Homeland Security official Ian Smith, who was fired after his ties to white nationalism were exposed.
In the end, McHugh hopes that her story inspires more people who have been taken in by the movement to flee.
“There is forgiveness, there is redemption,” she tells Gray. “You have to own up to what you did and then forcefully reject this and explain to people, and tell your story, and say, ‘Get out while you can.’”
Read the whole profile here.
I know it is a small sample - but good grief....
Islamophobia is about politics, not faith: New study explores impact on 2020 elections
Islamophobia is on the rise, with 44 percent of white evangelicals holding negative views of Muslims
SOPHIA A. MCCLENNEN - salon
MAY 1, 2019 1:00PM (UTC)
Since the administration of George W. Bush and the attacks on 9/11/2001 there has been a marked demonization of Islam in U.S. public discourse. Over and over again an entire religion has been conflated with the acts of extremists. But Bush-era Islamophobia pales in comparison with its rise since the 2016 election, when Donald Trump decided to openly use the demonization of Muslims as a campaign tactic. Since then, there has been a measurable increase in anti-Islamic attitudes and violence in the United States. A new study released by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU) offers data on predicting and preventing Islamophobia as well as valuable insight into how Islamophobia will shape the 2020 election.
The first key takeaway from the ISPU study is that Islamophobia is on the rise, especially in specific groups. Charting five negative stereotypes about Muslims, ISPU analysts documented an increase in the Islamophobia index from 24 in 2018 to 28 in 2019. But these numbers skew radically by faith group. Jews score the lowest in Islamophobic attitudes while white evangelicals score the highest. Fifty-three percent of Jews report having positive views of Muslims with only 13 percent reporting negative views. As many as 44 percent of white evangelicals hold unfavorable opinions about Muslims, which is twice as many as those who hold favorable opinions (20 percent).
These findings are especially noteworthy given Trump’s efforts to incite conflict between the Muslim and Jewish communities. Recall his recent speech stoking aggression towards Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN). "Oh, I forgot. She doesn't like Israel” he stated sarcastically in a speech to the Republican Jewish Coalition as the crowd booed. "I forgot. I'm so sorry."
As USA Today reports, these efforts are a not-so-subtle effort by the Trump team to capture more of the Jewish vote by suggesting that Democrats have become “anti-Israel” and “anti-Jewish.” They quote a recent Gallup report, based on tracking poll data from 2018, that found that only "one in six U.S. Jews identify as Republican." And about half described themselves as Democrats.
Even more interesting were the ISPU’s findings regarding the Muslim Ban. They found that for most voters a candidate’s approval of the ban is a negative. Sixty-one percent of Muslims, 53 percent of Jews, and 56 percent of non-affiliated Americans report that a candidate’s endorsement of the Muslim Ban would actually decrease their support for that individual. And yet, with white evangelicals it is a different story. In fact, 44 percent say a candidate’s endorsement of the ban would increase their approval. But here is the real surprise: even though white evangelicals are the one group most likely to support this policy, the overall majority either indicated that support for the ban either decreased their interest (19 percent) or made no difference to them (37 percent). These findings indicate that the Muslim Ban plays only to a vocal minority, even among White Evangelical voters.
Perhaps more importantly, the ISPU study shows that those who hold negative views of Muslims are the ones least likely to actually know one. Given that about only one in three white evangelicals reported knowing an American who is Muslim, this finding reinforces the idea that Islamophobia is based almost entirely on the proliferation of negative stereotypes absent any real-world knowledge. The analysts further found that knowledge of the religion of Islam often had an even greater impact in reducing Islamophobia than personal relationships with Muslims. This means that it is not necessary to have a Muslim friend to combat Islamophobia. It also suggests that when the religion is negatively portrayed for political ends to voters with no knowledge of the religion, voters may be more easily swayed to hold negative views.
Heading into the 2020 election it is unsurprising, but still noteworthy, that only 16 percent of American Muslims support President Trump but 73 percent of white evangelicals do. Broken down by faith, U.S. Muslims are the least likely to support Trump of any other group. Yet they are also more likely than the general public to express optimism about the direction of the country: Thirty-three percent of Muslims report being satisfied as compared to only 19 percent of the general public.
Party affiliation among American Muslims is also unsurprising with 76 percent having voted for Democrats in the 2018 election. The study documents a growing trend of registration for eligible Muslim voters. In 2016 only 60 percent were registered in comparison with 73 percent registered in 2019. Yet, they also note that Muslims who indicate a desire to vote, may not actually do it. In 2018, 83 percent of registered voters stated they planned to vote, but only 59 percent did.
In a phone interview with Salon, ISPU researcher Dalia Mogahed explained that another key takeaway for the 2020 election is the fact that intolerance towards one group correlates positively with intolerance towards other groups. That means that those who are Islamophobic are far more likely to also be anti-Semitic and anti-LGBT, for example. She suggests that the crisis of Islamophobia affects not only Muslims, and even more importantly it indicates increased risk of not just intolerance towards vulnerable populations, but violence as well. Certainly, the San Diego synagogue attack offers a recent example of the connections between anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. Mogahed explains that “empirical research shows that anti-Semitism and Islamophobia are inextricably linked.”
She further added that the ISPU study confirmed that Islamophobia is generated by politics rather than faith. She cautioned that it would be wise to take into account efforts, whether Russian propaganda or not, to use Islamophobia to sow division and political conflict. This is perhaps the most important takeaway from the study.
Across the globe we have seen anti-Muslim extremism rise as a tactic to mobilize fear and incite aggressive attitudes for political gain. And within the United States, as Jonathan Chait points out, we can note that Republicans have resisted acknowledging Donald Trump’s open bigotry towards Muslims. There seems little doubt that the Trump team will continue to use Islamophobia as a political tactic and there is proof that those tactics have escalated negative attitudes and violence towards Muslims. The only question is whether the 2020 elections will be shaped by the moderate majority or the extremist fringe.
The first key takeaway from the ISPU study is that Islamophobia is on the rise, especially in specific groups. Charting five negative stereotypes about Muslims, ISPU analysts documented an increase in the Islamophobia index from 24 in 2018 to 28 in 2019. But these numbers skew radically by faith group. Jews score the lowest in Islamophobic attitudes while white evangelicals score the highest. Fifty-three percent of Jews report having positive views of Muslims with only 13 percent reporting negative views. As many as 44 percent of white evangelicals hold unfavorable opinions about Muslims, which is twice as many as those who hold favorable opinions (20 percent).
These findings are especially noteworthy given Trump’s efforts to incite conflict between the Muslim and Jewish communities. Recall his recent speech stoking aggression towards Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN). "Oh, I forgot. She doesn't like Israel” he stated sarcastically in a speech to the Republican Jewish Coalition as the crowd booed. "I forgot. I'm so sorry."
As USA Today reports, these efforts are a not-so-subtle effort by the Trump team to capture more of the Jewish vote by suggesting that Democrats have become “anti-Israel” and “anti-Jewish.” They quote a recent Gallup report, based on tracking poll data from 2018, that found that only "one in six U.S. Jews identify as Republican." And about half described themselves as Democrats.
Even more interesting were the ISPU’s findings regarding the Muslim Ban. They found that for most voters a candidate’s approval of the ban is a negative. Sixty-one percent of Muslims, 53 percent of Jews, and 56 percent of non-affiliated Americans report that a candidate’s endorsement of the Muslim Ban would actually decrease their support for that individual. And yet, with white evangelicals it is a different story. In fact, 44 percent say a candidate’s endorsement of the ban would increase their approval. But here is the real surprise: even though white evangelicals are the one group most likely to support this policy, the overall majority either indicated that support for the ban either decreased their interest (19 percent) or made no difference to them (37 percent). These findings indicate that the Muslim Ban plays only to a vocal minority, even among White Evangelical voters.
Perhaps more importantly, the ISPU study shows that those who hold negative views of Muslims are the ones least likely to actually know one. Given that about only one in three white evangelicals reported knowing an American who is Muslim, this finding reinforces the idea that Islamophobia is based almost entirely on the proliferation of negative stereotypes absent any real-world knowledge. The analysts further found that knowledge of the religion of Islam often had an even greater impact in reducing Islamophobia than personal relationships with Muslims. This means that it is not necessary to have a Muslim friend to combat Islamophobia. It also suggests that when the religion is negatively portrayed for political ends to voters with no knowledge of the religion, voters may be more easily swayed to hold negative views.
Heading into the 2020 election it is unsurprising, but still noteworthy, that only 16 percent of American Muslims support President Trump but 73 percent of white evangelicals do. Broken down by faith, U.S. Muslims are the least likely to support Trump of any other group. Yet they are also more likely than the general public to express optimism about the direction of the country: Thirty-three percent of Muslims report being satisfied as compared to only 19 percent of the general public.
Party affiliation among American Muslims is also unsurprising with 76 percent having voted for Democrats in the 2018 election. The study documents a growing trend of registration for eligible Muslim voters. In 2016 only 60 percent were registered in comparison with 73 percent registered in 2019. Yet, they also note that Muslims who indicate a desire to vote, may not actually do it. In 2018, 83 percent of registered voters stated they planned to vote, but only 59 percent did.
In a phone interview with Salon, ISPU researcher Dalia Mogahed explained that another key takeaway for the 2020 election is the fact that intolerance towards one group correlates positively with intolerance towards other groups. That means that those who are Islamophobic are far more likely to also be anti-Semitic and anti-LGBT, for example. She suggests that the crisis of Islamophobia affects not only Muslims, and even more importantly it indicates increased risk of not just intolerance towards vulnerable populations, but violence as well. Certainly, the San Diego synagogue attack offers a recent example of the connections between anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. Mogahed explains that “empirical research shows that anti-Semitism and Islamophobia are inextricably linked.”
She further added that the ISPU study confirmed that Islamophobia is generated by politics rather than faith. She cautioned that it would be wise to take into account efforts, whether Russian propaganda or not, to use Islamophobia to sow division and political conflict. This is perhaps the most important takeaway from the study.
Across the globe we have seen anti-Muslim extremism rise as a tactic to mobilize fear and incite aggressive attitudes for political gain. And within the United States, as Jonathan Chait points out, we can note that Republicans have resisted acknowledging Donald Trump’s open bigotry towards Muslims. There seems little doubt that the Trump team will continue to use Islamophobia as a political tactic and there is proof that those tactics have escalated negative attitudes and violence towards Muslims. The only question is whether the 2020 elections will be shaped by the moderate majority or the extremist fringe.
Republican discussed violent attacks and surveillance with rightwingers
Washington state representative Matt Shea exchanged messages with far-right figures, chat records obtained by the Guardian reveal
Jason Wilson
the guardian
Sat 20 Apr 2019 02.00 EDT
A Washington state Republican politician took part in private discussions with rightwing figures about carrying out surveillance, “psyops” and even violent attacks on perceived political enemies, according to chat records obtained by the Guardian.
State representative Matt Shea, who represents Spokane Valley in the Washington state house, participated in the chats with three other men. All of the men used screen aliases – Shea’s was “Verum Bellator”, Latin for true warrior. The Guardian confirmed the identity of those in the chat by cross-checking phone numbers attached to the Signal accounts.
The group included Jack Robertson, who broadcasts a far-right radio show, Radio Free Redoubt, under the alias “John Jacob Schmidt”. The chat also included Anthony Bosworth, whose history includes a public altercation with his own daughter and bringing guns to a court house. Bosworth participated in the 2016 occupation of the Malheur national wildlife refuge, reportedly at Shea’s request.
The name of another participant, who provided the chat records to the Guardian, has been withheld due to concerns about personal safety.
The chats on the messaging app Signal took place in the days leading up to a supposed “Antifa revolt” on 4 November 2017. Throughout late October, far-right media outlets had been stoking fears of political conflict on the basis of planned peaceful protests by a small leftist group.
The men proposed to confront leftists – whom they repeatedly refer to as “communists” and “Antifa” – with a suite of tactics, including violence.
---
Other acts of extreme violence were also suggested. When a specific female Spokane resident was nominated for surveillance in the chat group, Robertson suggested:
---
Apart from violence, the men extensively discussed tactics of surveillance and intimidation.
---
Shea, the elected Republican legislator, did not demur from any of these suggestions. He also appeared willing to participate directly in surveillance of activists.
---
In response to a request in the chat for background checks on Spokane residents, Shea volunteered to help, going on to name three individuals – including an organizer for the liberal group Indivisible, and a college professor.
The men talked about the broad outlines of what they appeared to consider to be a looming civil war. They also discussed using symbols from what they understood to be Russian anti-communist groups as a way of spreading paranoia among their adversaries.
The group talked about making stickers and cards using skull and crossbones images from post-revolutionary Russian nationalist groups. After posting an image of a white army soldier holding such a banner, Bosworth remarked:
When we locate their homes we can tag the sidewalks and their mailboxes with the symbol
Oct 29, 2017 5:20PM
Leave the symbol as a calling card
Oct 29, 2017 5:20PM
We can waste their resources and make them Target something that doesn't exist
Oct 29, 2017 5:21PM
When the leftist revolt failed to materialize, Shea did not rethink his conspiratorial views and instead blamed the weather.
---
Shea, a six-term legislator and military veteran, came to international attention in 2018 after a document he authored surfaced laying out a “biblical basis for war”, which appeared to be a plan for an apocalyptic battle with people who practiced “same sex marriage” and “abortion”, and instructed: “If they do not yield, kill all males.”
Shea denied that the document meant what it appeared to say.
At that time, Shea lost donors, and he was stripped of his role as chair of the Republican caucus – though he was serving in this position at the time of the leaked chat.
But Shea has since regrouped, introducing bills to criminalize abortion and roll back gun laws, which other Republicans in Washington have supported. He has also continued pushing a plan for eastern Washington to secede and reconstitute as Liberty State. Robertson has also been a key architect of this campaign, and he and Shea have been regular guests on each other’s broadcasts.
Shea has long promoted conspiratorial views about the cooperation of leftists and Muslims in creating “counter-states” in the US. He has associated with conspiracy-minded far-right groups, and later this month will emcee a dinner for the anti-communist John Birch society in Couer D’Alene, Idaho.
In a telephone conversation with the Guardian, Robertson said: “I remember a discussion in response to Indivisible and Antifa groups that were planning to take to the streets,” but “I don’t recall the details”.
He denied surveilling his political opponents, but added: “If someone is in my community and they are threatening violence, I want to know more about them. That just makes sense.”
He also claimed that the apparent threats of violence were not authentic.
“A lot of people in private conversations say things tongue in cheek about what they would like to see happen to these people, but that is not setting a policy or establishing a protocol for people to carry things out.”
Some of Shea’s most prominent critics have been political conservatives. Spokane county’s Republican sheriff, Ozzie Knezovich, has repeatedly criticized Shea’s far-right ties.
“It’s part and parcel of what this group has been saying for years. I think if a state representative is condoning violence against his constituents then that person needs to be removed from office, and I hope the voters will do that at the next election.
“Matt Shea is a poor representative for the Republican party. Extremism on both sides is tearing this country apart,” Knezovich added.
Asked if the people around Shea were dangerous, Knezovich said: “Yes.”
The Western States Center, a progressive organization, has also previously criticized Shea. Its executive director, Eric Ward, said via email: “The violent extremism that Representative Matt Shea espouses is a clear threat to our democratic institutions and has no place in mainstream political discourse.
“We call on Washington State Republican Party leaders to censure Representative Shea if these allegations are true.”
Shea did not respond to a request for comment.
After the Guardian contacted Robertson and Shea for comment Robertson spoke on Thursday night on the Spokane Christian radio station on which he and Shea broadcast weekly programs.
In a rambling broadcast, Robertson confirmed the existence of the chats, called the Guardian a “propagandist”, read biblical accounts of war and followed with: “If it comes time for war and it’s forced upon you, do you not want a leader who is going to surround himself with warriors? I do.
“There was talk about doing surveillance on some of these Antifa people. Not surveillance but just start copying and pasting their comments, keeping track of who’s who, keep track of where they live, where they work, but that never came to fruition,” he added.
State representative Matt Shea, who represents Spokane Valley in the Washington state house, participated in the chats with three other men. All of the men used screen aliases – Shea’s was “Verum Bellator”, Latin for true warrior. The Guardian confirmed the identity of those in the chat by cross-checking phone numbers attached to the Signal accounts.
The group included Jack Robertson, who broadcasts a far-right radio show, Radio Free Redoubt, under the alias “John Jacob Schmidt”. The chat also included Anthony Bosworth, whose history includes a public altercation with his own daughter and bringing guns to a court house. Bosworth participated in the 2016 occupation of the Malheur national wildlife refuge, reportedly at Shea’s request.
The name of another participant, who provided the chat records to the Guardian, has been withheld due to concerns about personal safety.
The chats on the messaging app Signal took place in the days leading up to a supposed “Antifa revolt” on 4 November 2017. Throughout late October, far-right media outlets had been stoking fears of political conflict on the basis of planned peaceful protests by a small leftist group.
The men proposed to confront leftists – whom they repeatedly refer to as “communists” and “Antifa” – with a suite of tactics, including violence.
---
Other acts of extreme violence were also suggested. When a specific female Spokane resident was nominated for surveillance in the chat group, Robertson suggested:
---
Apart from violence, the men extensively discussed tactics of surveillance and intimidation.
---
Shea, the elected Republican legislator, did not demur from any of these suggestions. He also appeared willing to participate directly in surveillance of activists.
---
In response to a request in the chat for background checks on Spokane residents, Shea volunteered to help, going on to name three individuals – including an organizer for the liberal group Indivisible, and a college professor.
The men talked about the broad outlines of what they appeared to consider to be a looming civil war. They also discussed using symbols from what they understood to be Russian anti-communist groups as a way of spreading paranoia among their adversaries.
The group talked about making stickers and cards using skull and crossbones images from post-revolutionary Russian nationalist groups. After posting an image of a white army soldier holding such a banner, Bosworth remarked:
When we locate their homes we can tag the sidewalks and their mailboxes with the symbol
Oct 29, 2017 5:20PM
Leave the symbol as a calling card
Oct 29, 2017 5:20PM
We can waste their resources and make them Target something that doesn't exist
Oct 29, 2017 5:21PM
When the leftist revolt failed to materialize, Shea did not rethink his conspiratorial views and instead blamed the weather.
---
Shea, a six-term legislator and military veteran, came to international attention in 2018 after a document he authored surfaced laying out a “biblical basis for war”, which appeared to be a plan for an apocalyptic battle with people who practiced “same sex marriage” and “abortion”, and instructed: “If they do not yield, kill all males.”
Shea denied that the document meant what it appeared to say.
At that time, Shea lost donors, and he was stripped of his role as chair of the Republican caucus – though he was serving in this position at the time of the leaked chat.
But Shea has since regrouped, introducing bills to criminalize abortion and roll back gun laws, which other Republicans in Washington have supported. He has also continued pushing a plan for eastern Washington to secede and reconstitute as Liberty State. Robertson has also been a key architect of this campaign, and he and Shea have been regular guests on each other’s broadcasts.
Shea has long promoted conspiratorial views about the cooperation of leftists and Muslims in creating “counter-states” in the US. He has associated with conspiracy-minded far-right groups, and later this month will emcee a dinner for the anti-communist John Birch society in Couer D’Alene, Idaho.
In a telephone conversation with the Guardian, Robertson said: “I remember a discussion in response to Indivisible and Antifa groups that were planning to take to the streets,” but “I don’t recall the details”.
He denied surveilling his political opponents, but added: “If someone is in my community and they are threatening violence, I want to know more about them. That just makes sense.”
He also claimed that the apparent threats of violence were not authentic.
“A lot of people in private conversations say things tongue in cheek about what they would like to see happen to these people, but that is not setting a policy or establishing a protocol for people to carry things out.”
Some of Shea’s most prominent critics have been political conservatives. Spokane county’s Republican sheriff, Ozzie Knezovich, has repeatedly criticized Shea’s far-right ties.
“It’s part and parcel of what this group has been saying for years. I think if a state representative is condoning violence against his constituents then that person needs to be removed from office, and I hope the voters will do that at the next election.
“Matt Shea is a poor representative for the Republican party. Extremism on both sides is tearing this country apart,” Knezovich added.
Asked if the people around Shea were dangerous, Knezovich said: “Yes.”
The Western States Center, a progressive organization, has also previously criticized Shea. Its executive director, Eric Ward, said via email: “The violent extremism that Representative Matt Shea espouses is a clear threat to our democratic institutions and has no place in mainstream political discourse.
“We call on Washington State Republican Party leaders to censure Representative Shea if these allegations are true.”
Shea did not respond to a request for comment.
After the Guardian contacted Robertson and Shea for comment Robertson spoke on Thursday night on the Spokane Christian radio station on which he and Shea broadcast weekly programs.
In a rambling broadcast, Robertson confirmed the existence of the chats, called the Guardian a “propagandist”, read biblical accounts of war and followed with: “If it comes time for war and it’s forced upon you, do you not want a leader who is going to surround himself with warriors? I do.
“There was talk about doing surveillance on some of these Antifa people. Not surveillance but just start copying and pasting their comments, keeping track of who’s who, keep track of where they live, where they work, but that never came to fruition,” he added.
opinion: The misogynist trolls attacking Katie Bouman are the tip of the trashpile
Trolls latched on to Bouman’s achievement of the first black hole image with a vitriol that, in a saner world, would be shocking – but is par for the course for women
Jill Filipovic
the guardian
on Wed 17 Apr 2019 09.28 EDT
The researcher Katie Bouman played a leading role in taking the first photograph of a black hole. A photo of the 29-year-old Bouman taken the moment the photo was processed shows her with her hands clasped in front of her mouth, looking at the camera with a mix of shock and excitement. It went viral – both a testament to the groundbreaking work itself and a moment of victory for women in the sciences, whose contributions have long been ignored, downplayed and erased.
The giddiness didn’t last long.
Anti-feminist trolls latched on to the story and attacked Bouman with a vitriol that, in a saner world, would be shocking, but in this one looked a lot like the reaction to a Ghostbusters movie remake with a female cast – that is, sad, angry men yelling at women on the internet. Trolls created fake social media accounts impersonating Bouman. They questioned her contribution to the project. When she said that she was part of a team who all worked hard to make the photo happen, they dug in deeper, suggesting she was only getting public attention because she was a woman, when men did all the real work.
Unfortunately, this is par for the course for women on the internet. Or women in politics. Or women on television. Or women who become prominent in any way, even if they are, like Katie Bouman, private citizens who did something truly amazing.
It’s easy to point to misogynist trolls as a problem; it’s also easy to write them off as just pathetic losers tweeting from their mothers’ basements. But in reality, they are the tip of the trashpile. Trolls say out loud what others think; trolls also embody the ugliest and most blatant versions of the more subtle sexisms that animate everyday life. While hundreds of petulant man-children rail against a female scientist on Twitter, there are undoubtedly a great many more men in the real world who wouldn’t call a woman the C-word (at least not in public, or at least not with their own names attached), but do think maybe there is something to the theory that men are just more mathematically and scientifically adept than women.
For each of the hundreds of whiners who proclaimed their childhoods ruined by female Ghostbusters, there are a hundred more men who may not care about the Ghostbusters saga, but would also have to be dragged to see a movie with an all-female cast and simply don’t consume many cultural products – books, movies, television shows, music – in which women dominate and men are either marginal or absent. For every guy still, in 2019, yelling expletives about Hillary Clinton, there are thousands and thousands more who would say they would love to support a woman for president … just not any of the actual women who are running or have ever run.
Highlighting these attacks is crucial, if only to show the depth and degree of virulent misogyny. Too many women who have come into the public eye for any reason – or even women who are not in the public eye but spend time in online social spaces – know the feeling of being harassed, belittled, threatened and demeaned. Too many women have, as a result, piped down, shut up or bowed out. Untold numbers more never jump into the ring in the first place, keeping their voices down, their work quiet and their successes private.
I am sometimes invited to speak to journalism classes or to groups of college or high school students, and over and over again, I hear the same question: “How do you deal with the harassment?” I only hear this question from girls and women. Women see how other women are treated when we shine or succeed – how quickly we are cut down, how insults snowball into threats – and are intimidated. I never have a good answer, except to say that the internet can be a rough place for women, and to the extent you can ignore it or even work to change misogynist online culture, the better. But “ignore the bullies” is deeply unsatisfying and profoundly unhelpful advice.
Katie Bouman probably knows that. I don’t know how much time she spent online before this incident (she’s a computer scientist, so maybe quite a bit), but no doubt it has been jarring. But it goes beyond Bouman herself. Just as Bouman’s success was an inspiration to young women and girls in the sciences, the very public attacks on her work as a corollary warning. And that’s how we should understand this: not just as one of the ugliest forms of misogyny rearing its head, but as a pervasive, systematic part of a broader system that undermines women’s success and recognition at every level.
Attacks from sexist trolls are overwhelming and destabilizing. But far worse is the slow drip of sexism that keeps women from achieving their full potential for power, success and achievement every single day.
The giddiness didn’t last long.
Anti-feminist trolls latched on to the story and attacked Bouman with a vitriol that, in a saner world, would be shocking, but in this one looked a lot like the reaction to a Ghostbusters movie remake with a female cast – that is, sad, angry men yelling at women on the internet. Trolls created fake social media accounts impersonating Bouman. They questioned her contribution to the project. When she said that she was part of a team who all worked hard to make the photo happen, they dug in deeper, suggesting she was only getting public attention because she was a woman, when men did all the real work.
Unfortunately, this is par for the course for women on the internet. Or women in politics. Or women on television. Or women who become prominent in any way, even if they are, like Katie Bouman, private citizens who did something truly amazing.
It’s easy to point to misogynist trolls as a problem; it’s also easy to write them off as just pathetic losers tweeting from their mothers’ basements. But in reality, they are the tip of the trashpile. Trolls say out loud what others think; trolls also embody the ugliest and most blatant versions of the more subtle sexisms that animate everyday life. While hundreds of petulant man-children rail against a female scientist on Twitter, there are undoubtedly a great many more men in the real world who wouldn’t call a woman the C-word (at least not in public, or at least not with their own names attached), but do think maybe there is something to the theory that men are just more mathematically and scientifically adept than women.
For each of the hundreds of whiners who proclaimed their childhoods ruined by female Ghostbusters, there are a hundred more men who may not care about the Ghostbusters saga, but would also have to be dragged to see a movie with an all-female cast and simply don’t consume many cultural products – books, movies, television shows, music – in which women dominate and men are either marginal or absent. For every guy still, in 2019, yelling expletives about Hillary Clinton, there are thousands and thousands more who would say they would love to support a woman for president … just not any of the actual women who are running or have ever run.
Highlighting these attacks is crucial, if only to show the depth and degree of virulent misogyny. Too many women who have come into the public eye for any reason – or even women who are not in the public eye but spend time in online social spaces – know the feeling of being harassed, belittled, threatened and demeaned. Too many women have, as a result, piped down, shut up or bowed out. Untold numbers more never jump into the ring in the first place, keeping their voices down, their work quiet and their successes private.
I am sometimes invited to speak to journalism classes or to groups of college or high school students, and over and over again, I hear the same question: “How do you deal with the harassment?” I only hear this question from girls and women. Women see how other women are treated when we shine or succeed – how quickly we are cut down, how insults snowball into threats – and are intimidated. I never have a good answer, except to say that the internet can be a rough place for women, and to the extent you can ignore it or even work to change misogynist online culture, the better. But “ignore the bullies” is deeply unsatisfying and profoundly unhelpful advice.
Katie Bouman probably knows that. I don’t know how much time she spent online before this incident (she’s a computer scientist, so maybe quite a bit), but no doubt it has been jarring. But it goes beyond Bouman herself. Just as Bouman’s success was an inspiration to young women and girls in the sciences, the very public attacks on her work as a corollary warning. And that’s how we should understand this: not just as one of the ugliest forms of misogyny rearing its head, but as a pervasive, systematic part of a broader system that undermines women’s success and recognition at every level.
Attacks from sexist trolls are overwhelming and destabilizing. But far worse is the slow drip of sexism that keeps women from achieving their full potential for power, success and achievement every single day.
racist togetherness!!!
Woman in 'gardening while black' case hires self-proclaimed alt-right lawyer
Deborah Nash is being represented by Kyle Bristow, who previously represented white supremacist Richard Spencer
Tom Perkinsin Detroit
the guardian
Tue 16 Apr 2019 02.00 EDT
Marc Peeples, an urban framer in Detroit, is suing Deborah Nash after she falsely accused him of being a convicted pedophile, among other things. Photograph: Courtesy Marc Peeples
A white Detroit woman being sued by a black man in a high-profile case for repeatedly fabricating charges against him to police has hired an attorney who previously represented white supremacist leaders like Richard Spencer.
The case, whose victim said he was merely guilty of “gardening while black”, generated headlines around the country as another example of black Americans encountering racism, and the attention of law enforcement, for simply carrying out everyday activities.
Deborah Nash is now being represented by Kyle Bristow, a self-proclaimed alt-right attorney who in 2018 brought legal challenges against universities that denied Spencer permission to speak on campus.
Nash is a defendant in the lawsuit because she and two other white women accused Marc Peeples, a black urban farmer, of brandishing a gun, participating in a drive-by shooting targeting one of their homes, and being a convicted pedophile. The final accusation led to Peeple’s arrest, though none of the accusations were true.
A judge tossed that criminal case in October, calling it “ridiculous” and “disgusting” while admonishing police and prosecution for moving forward with it.
Peeples is asking the court to award $300,000 in damages. He and his attorney, Robert Burton-Harris, allege that the three women “knowingly fabricated all of [their] allegations” and “acted intentionally and concertedly to cause Marc economic harm and emotional distress”. Their behavior was “extreme, malicious, wanton, and outrageous”, the complaint says.
“I’m not surprised that Ms Nash hired Kyle to represent her in this matter,” Burton-Harris told the Guardian.
Bristow has a recent high-profile record in race-tinged cases in the US. After successfully pressuring Michigan State University to allow Spencer to speak there in March 2018, Bristow’s now-disbanded alt-right group, the Foundation for Marketplace of Ideas (FMI), organized a weekend-long conference that hosted Spencer and other white nationalist leaders ahead of the MSU event.
Non-profit forms filed by FMI describe Bristow as “one of the Alt-Right’s most vicious attack dogs”, and he characterized the group as an American Civil Liberties Union for the right.
When Bristow’s conference was disrupted by local media revealing its secret locations, Bristow announced that he planned to dissociate from the alt-right as the conference fell apart.
The Southern Poverty Law Center’s Bristow page highlights his record as an MSU student in the mid-2000s. During that time, he organized a “catch an illegal immigrant day” that was eventually canceled and led a “straight power” rally in front of the Lansing city hall.
The case, whose victim said he was merely guilty of “gardening while black”, generated headlines around the country as another example of black Americans encountering racism, and the attention of law enforcement, for simply carrying out everyday activities.
Deborah Nash is now being represented by Kyle Bristow, a self-proclaimed alt-right attorney who in 2018 brought legal challenges against universities that denied Spencer permission to speak on campus.
Nash is a defendant in the lawsuit because she and two other white women accused Marc Peeples, a black urban farmer, of brandishing a gun, participating in a drive-by shooting targeting one of their homes, and being a convicted pedophile. The final accusation led to Peeple’s arrest, though none of the accusations were true.
A judge tossed that criminal case in October, calling it “ridiculous” and “disgusting” while admonishing police and prosecution for moving forward with it.
Peeples is asking the court to award $300,000 in damages. He and his attorney, Robert Burton-Harris, allege that the three women “knowingly fabricated all of [their] allegations” and “acted intentionally and concertedly to cause Marc economic harm and emotional distress”. Their behavior was “extreme, malicious, wanton, and outrageous”, the complaint says.
“I’m not surprised that Ms Nash hired Kyle to represent her in this matter,” Burton-Harris told the Guardian.
Bristow has a recent high-profile record in race-tinged cases in the US. After successfully pressuring Michigan State University to allow Spencer to speak there in March 2018, Bristow’s now-disbanded alt-right group, the Foundation for Marketplace of Ideas (FMI), organized a weekend-long conference that hosted Spencer and other white nationalist leaders ahead of the MSU event.
Non-profit forms filed by FMI describe Bristow as “one of the Alt-Right’s most vicious attack dogs”, and he characterized the group as an American Civil Liberties Union for the right.
When Bristow’s conference was disrupted by local media revealing its secret locations, Bristow announced that he planned to dissociate from the alt-right as the conference fell apart.
The Southern Poverty Law Center’s Bristow page highlights his record as an MSU student in the mid-2000s. During that time, he organized a “catch an illegal immigrant day” that was eventually canceled and led a “straight power” rally in front of the Lansing city hall.
Trumper Crop
Stephen Miller is mad that immigrants aren’t being denied benefits fast enough by the administration
“You ought to be working on this regulation all day every day."
REBEKAH ENTRALGO - thinkprogress
APR 15, 2019, 1:19 PM
White House senior adviser Stephen Miller is openly berating top members of the Trump administration for failing to implement “public charge,” a proposed rule change that would deny residency status to immigrants who rely on public benefits.
“You ought to be working on this regulation all day every day,” Miller reportedly shouted during a meeting last month in the White House situation room, according to The New York Times. “It should be the first thought you have when you wake up. And it should be the last thought you have before you go to bed. And sometimes you shouldn’t go to bed.”
In the weeks that followed the meeting, Miller has led a purge of top employees at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) including former Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, Acting Deputy Secretary Claire Grady, and Secret Service Director Randolph D. Alles. Other agency officials, including Francis Cissna, head of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and John Mitnick, the department’s general counsel, have been warned by the White House they may be next.
Under the proposal, announced last fall, DHS requires immigration caseworkers to take into account immigrants’ reliance on public benefits, like Section 8 housing or food assistance, when considering applications for immigration visas (like work visas or family-based visas) or green cards (permanent residency).
Miller and President Donald Trump have both made it clear that any administration official who does not follow through with the administration’s plans to implement immigration policies that are legally questionable and ethically reprehensible has no place in the White House. Last week, Trump also reportedly told border agents to deny entry to asylum seekers, an act that would violate U.S. law, and offered to pardon acting DHS secretary Kevin McAleenan if he were sent to jail for breaking the law.
There is already a public charge rule on the books and it has its roots in a dark period of American history, having first surfaced the same year Congress adopted the Chinese Exclusion Act. In 1882, Congress also adopted another law that banned “any convict, lunatic, idiot, or any person unable to take care of himself or herself without becoming a public charge.” The test was initially aimed preventing the immigration of Irish Catholics to the United States and was later used by immigration officials to keep out Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany, along with LQBTQ immigrants, individuals with disabilities, and even unmarried women.
The Trump administration has proposed expanding that criteria to include anyone who receives or is likely to receive “any government assistance in the form of cash, checks or other forms of money transfers, or instruments and non-cash government assistance in the form of aid, services, or other relief, that is means-tested or intended to help the individual meet basic living requirements.”
As ThinkProgress previously reported, if U.S. citizens were forced to play by the same rules, only one-third of Americans would qualify.
The Trump administration has already begun implementing public charge; it’s just not at the rate Miller would prefer. According to Reuters, roughly 13,500 immigrant visas were denied by the State Department last year on the basis that the applicants might become “public charges” because they used government public assistance programs such as Medicaid and Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP). Other government programs that could deem someone to be a public charge include Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Supplemental Nutritional Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), Medicare subsidies, or rental housing assistance.
Reuters profiled Arturo Balbino, a Mexican construction worker living in Texas. Balbino believed he had a strong case for a visa, with a U.S. citizen wife and child, and a letter from his employer guaranteeing him an $18-per-hour job. In spite of this, during his visa interview, officials brought up his family’s past use of Medicaid and SNAP and his application was denied.
According to Reuters, some immigration attorneys believe consular officers are denying visas even when applicants fulfill legal requirements to prove they will be financially independent. Balbino’s father-in-law, for example, provided a legal affidavit of support providing financial evidence that he would not become a “government burden.”
The public charge regulation received over 200,000 comments from the public since it was first introduced. It will likely be months before the change is fully evaluated and implemented. The State Department, however, is able to deny visa applications on the basis of a back-door manual change in January 2018 that awarded diplomats more discretion to deny visas on the basis of public charge.
“You ought to be working on this regulation all day every day,” Miller reportedly shouted during a meeting last month in the White House situation room, according to The New York Times. “It should be the first thought you have when you wake up. And it should be the last thought you have before you go to bed. And sometimes you shouldn’t go to bed.”
In the weeks that followed the meeting, Miller has led a purge of top employees at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) including former Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, Acting Deputy Secretary Claire Grady, and Secret Service Director Randolph D. Alles. Other agency officials, including Francis Cissna, head of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and John Mitnick, the department’s general counsel, have been warned by the White House they may be next.
Under the proposal, announced last fall, DHS requires immigration caseworkers to take into account immigrants’ reliance on public benefits, like Section 8 housing or food assistance, when considering applications for immigration visas (like work visas or family-based visas) or green cards (permanent residency).
Miller and President Donald Trump have both made it clear that any administration official who does not follow through with the administration’s plans to implement immigration policies that are legally questionable and ethically reprehensible has no place in the White House. Last week, Trump also reportedly told border agents to deny entry to asylum seekers, an act that would violate U.S. law, and offered to pardon acting DHS secretary Kevin McAleenan if he were sent to jail for breaking the law.
There is already a public charge rule on the books and it has its roots in a dark period of American history, having first surfaced the same year Congress adopted the Chinese Exclusion Act. In 1882, Congress also adopted another law that banned “any convict, lunatic, idiot, or any person unable to take care of himself or herself without becoming a public charge.” The test was initially aimed preventing the immigration of Irish Catholics to the United States and was later used by immigration officials to keep out Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany, along with LQBTQ immigrants, individuals with disabilities, and even unmarried women.
The Trump administration has proposed expanding that criteria to include anyone who receives or is likely to receive “any government assistance in the form of cash, checks or other forms of money transfers, or instruments and non-cash government assistance in the form of aid, services, or other relief, that is means-tested or intended to help the individual meet basic living requirements.”
As ThinkProgress previously reported, if U.S. citizens were forced to play by the same rules, only one-third of Americans would qualify.
The Trump administration has already begun implementing public charge; it’s just not at the rate Miller would prefer. According to Reuters, roughly 13,500 immigrant visas were denied by the State Department last year on the basis that the applicants might become “public charges” because they used government public assistance programs such as Medicaid and Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP). Other government programs that could deem someone to be a public charge include Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Supplemental Nutritional Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), Medicare subsidies, or rental housing assistance.
Reuters profiled Arturo Balbino, a Mexican construction worker living in Texas. Balbino believed he had a strong case for a visa, with a U.S. citizen wife and child, and a letter from his employer guaranteeing him an $18-per-hour job. In spite of this, during his visa interview, officials brought up his family’s past use of Medicaid and SNAP and his application was denied.
According to Reuters, some immigration attorneys believe consular officers are denying visas even when applicants fulfill legal requirements to prove they will be financially independent. Balbino’s father-in-law, for example, provided a legal affidavit of support providing financial evidence that he would not become a “government burden.”
The public charge regulation received over 200,000 comments from the public since it was first introduced. It will likely be months before the change is fully evaluated and implemented. The State Department, however, is able to deny visa applications on the basis of a back-door manual change in January 2018 that awarded diplomats more discretion to deny visas on the basis of public charge.
GOP lawmaker gets death threats for not advancing permitless carry bill in state house
Matthew Chapman - raw story
09 APR 2019 AT 09:16 ET
Sometimes NRA lobbying is not the only reason Republicans have to fear defying gun rights orthodoxy.
According to the Post and Courier, South Carolina state Rep. Peter McCoy, a Republican who chairs the state House Judiciary Committee, is now under police protection after receiving a death threat on Facebook. The threat, replying to a post of Freedom Action Network of South Carolina calling McCoy the “#1 enemy of restoring our gun rights,” said “Totally sucks that one guy has that much control. Maybe we should shoot him?”
McCoy’s offense? He declined to advance a bill in the Judiciary Committee to implement “permitless carry,” which would completely eliminate the need to obtain certification to carry a handgun in the state.
Freedom Action Network’s president condemned the threat, saying “Under no circumstance do we advocate even the hint of a threat of violence,” but it wasn’t an isolated incident. Other comments on that same post include, “McCoy needs a ‘come to Jesus talking to’ and a serious one,” “Get the bill passed or look at your future,” and “He needs a behind the barn talking to!”
Permitless carry bills are being advanced in several GOP-controlled states, and were recently signed into law in Kentucky and South Dakota. But the death threats against McCoy seem to have blunted its momentum in South Carolina even further — the state Senate has now canceled hearings on a similar bill.
This isn’t the first time pro-gun activists have metaphorically shot themselves in the foot by escalating their tactics. A similar permitless carry bill in Texas was recently scrapped after the leader an extreme gun rights group went door to door intimidating people in state House Speaker Dennis Bonnen’s neighborhood.
According to the Post and Courier, South Carolina state Rep. Peter McCoy, a Republican who chairs the state House Judiciary Committee, is now under police protection after receiving a death threat on Facebook. The threat, replying to a post of Freedom Action Network of South Carolina calling McCoy the “#1 enemy of restoring our gun rights,” said “Totally sucks that one guy has that much control. Maybe we should shoot him?”
McCoy’s offense? He declined to advance a bill in the Judiciary Committee to implement “permitless carry,” which would completely eliminate the need to obtain certification to carry a handgun in the state.
Freedom Action Network’s president condemned the threat, saying “Under no circumstance do we advocate even the hint of a threat of violence,” but it wasn’t an isolated incident. Other comments on that same post include, “McCoy needs a ‘come to Jesus talking to’ and a serious one,” “Get the bill passed or look at your future,” and “He needs a behind the barn talking to!”
Permitless carry bills are being advanced in several GOP-controlled states, and were recently signed into law in Kentucky and South Dakota. But the death threats against McCoy seem to have blunted its momentum in South Carolina even further — the state Senate has now canceled hearings on a similar bill.
This isn’t the first time pro-gun activists have metaphorically shot themselves in the foot by escalating their tactics. A similar permitless carry bill in Texas was recently scrapped after the leader an extreme gun rights group went door to door intimidating people in state House Speaker Dennis Bonnen’s neighborhood.
Texas teacher exposed as a white supremacist: ‘It’s not fun’ teaching kids of color
Tana Ganeva - raw story
05 APR 2019 AT 12:30 ET
A Texas teacher is on leave after his ties to white nationalists were exposed, the Huffington Post reported.
Dallas teacher Stephen Arnquist, who teaches Japanese, allegedly posted online comments that signal an allegiance to white nationalists.
An antifa activist in Oregon revealed that Arnquist has ties to Identity Evropa, a fascist group originating in California.
The evidence does appear to link Arnquist to the group. He allegedly used the messaging app Discord, griping about being “a high school Japanese teacher in the ghetto.”
“The school is 40% Black, 60% Hispanic school,” wrote someone using the handle Stephen-TX. “The school was was 90% white back in the 70s. Walking down the hall by the auditorium looking at the band, choir, etc, photos year by year, it’s… it’s not fun.”
He further stigmatized the students of color he is supposed to be teaching, describing them as “somewhat higher tier blacks and Hispanics,” but “they’re still unimpressive compared to mostly white classes I observed in neighboring districts.”
He’s also frequently commented on The Right Stuff, a white supremacist site, the Huffington Post reports.
A spokeswoman for the district told the Huffington Pot that they are “committed to providing high-quality instruction in every class.”
“We proudly embrace the diversity of our students and value the families we serve,” she said. “Together, we believe every student can grow, succeed and achieve.”
Dallas teacher Stephen Arnquist, who teaches Japanese, allegedly posted online comments that signal an allegiance to white nationalists.
An antifa activist in Oregon revealed that Arnquist has ties to Identity Evropa, a fascist group originating in California.
The evidence does appear to link Arnquist to the group. He allegedly used the messaging app Discord, griping about being “a high school Japanese teacher in the ghetto.”
“The school is 40% Black, 60% Hispanic school,” wrote someone using the handle Stephen-TX. “The school was was 90% white back in the 70s. Walking down the hall by the auditorium looking at the band, choir, etc, photos year by year, it’s… it’s not fun.”
He further stigmatized the students of color he is supposed to be teaching, describing them as “somewhat higher tier blacks and Hispanics,” but “they’re still unimpressive compared to mostly white classes I observed in neighboring districts.”
He’s also frequently commented on The Right Stuff, a white supremacist site, the Huffington Post reports.
A spokeswoman for the district told the Huffington Pot that they are “committed to providing high-quality instruction in every class.”
“We proudly embrace the diversity of our students and value the families we serve,” she said. “Together, we believe every student can grow, succeed and achieve.”
Dear Terrified White Dudes: Your Strategy Needs an Update
TygrBright - demo underground
Dear Terrified White Dudes: Your Strategy Needs an Update
I know it's hard to climb out of that barge on the ol' Egyptian river, but seriously, denial ain't gonna help. Start with this: The demographic Point of No Return was passed many, many years ago.
No matter how hard you try to keep any NEW brown people from entering the country, at some point within the next couple of generations, there will be more brown people than white people here.
One more important thing to note: Trying to hang onto all the power, all the wealth, and all the control when you're a diminishing minority in the greater population hasn't worked out awfully well over the last few centuries. Starting with France in the 18th Century, and most recently in South Africa, one way or another the majority will tip the balance back, and you'll have to cope.
If you're lucky, the model will be much more like South Africa and much less like 18th-Century France.
So here's a suggestion for a new strategy:
When you're about to become a minority, maybe... just maybe... ensuring that the rights of minorities are vigorously protected in law and economic practice would be a hella smart strategy!
Think about it, white dudes.
Instead of trying to deny minorities the right to vote, you might want to ensure strong protections for everyone's access to the ballot, because one day, it might be YOUR neighborhoods that get left off the "where we put polling places" map.
Instead of trying to restrict access to the best educational opportunities, you might want to guarantee that the admissions process can't be gamed by privilege.
Instead of making it easy for economic predators to practice usury, extortion, and confiscation in minority communities, you might want to codify economic justice for all, now while you still can.
Instead of allowing industrial polluters a free pass to make places where minorities live as toxic and unlivable as possible, you might want to give the notion of environmental justice a little support.
You want to ensure a better future for your children and grandchildren when they are a minority in America? Then make America a place where minorities have the fullest possible equity.
I can think of no better, more effective, more powerful strategy to secure the existence of white people and a future for white children, than by securing the existence of ALL minorities and the future of ALL children.
Just sayin'...
futilely,
Bright
Dear Terrified White Dudes: Your Strategy Needs an Update
I know it's hard to climb out of that barge on the ol' Egyptian river, but seriously, denial ain't gonna help. Start with this: The demographic Point of No Return was passed many, many years ago.
No matter how hard you try to keep any NEW brown people from entering the country, at some point within the next couple of generations, there will be more brown people than white people here.
One more important thing to note: Trying to hang onto all the power, all the wealth, and all the control when you're a diminishing minority in the greater population hasn't worked out awfully well over the last few centuries. Starting with France in the 18th Century, and most recently in South Africa, one way or another the majority will tip the balance back, and you'll have to cope.
If you're lucky, the model will be much more like South Africa and much less like 18th-Century France.
So here's a suggestion for a new strategy:
When you're about to become a minority, maybe... just maybe... ensuring that the rights of minorities are vigorously protected in law and economic practice would be a hella smart strategy!
Think about it, white dudes.
Instead of trying to deny minorities the right to vote, you might want to ensure strong protections for everyone's access to the ballot, because one day, it might be YOUR neighborhoods that get left off the "where we put polling places" map.
Instead of trying to restrict access to the best educational opportunities, you might want to guarantee that the admissions process can't be gamed by privilege.
Instead of making it easy for economic predators to practice usury, extortion, and confiscation in minority communities, you might want to codify economic justice for all, now while you still can.
Instead of allowing industrial polluters a free pass to make places where minorities live as toxic and unlivable as possible, you might want to give the notion of environmental justice a little support.
You want to ensure a better future for your children and grandchildren when they are a minority in America? Then make America a place where minorities have the fullest possible equity.
I can think of no better, more effective, more powerful strategy to secure the existence of white people and a future for white children, than by securing the existence of ALL minorities and the future of ALL children.
Just sayin'...
futilely,
Bright
amerikkkans funnies
THOMAS JEFFERSON CALLED THEM "RUBBISH" PEOPLE
BEN FRANKLIN CALLED THEM "WASTE" PEOPLE
TRUMP CALLS THEM his "base"
These idiots are the people who lack the intelligence and morality to understand they are just FOOLS.
White Supremacists show their stupidity once again.....
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DJT - lie-brary
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