Breaking: Gunman kills nine people at Charleston church
Police in South Carolina say they are investigating a "hate crime" as they hunt white gunman who opened fire at a historic place of worship for African-Americans
4:15AM BST 18 Jun 2015
Police in Charleston, South Carolina, are hunting a gunman who shot dead nine people at a church with a predominantly black congregation.
Officers said he burst in on a Bible study group at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church at abut 9pm.
Greg Mullen, the Charleston police chief, confirmed that nine people had died.
Worshippers embrace following a group prayer across the street from the scene of the shooting (AP)
"It will be investigated as a hate crime," he said.
He added that police were still hunting for the gunman three hours later.
"It is unfathomable that someone would walk into a church when people are having a prayer meeting and take their lives."
Earlier Joe Riley, mayor of Charleston, confirmed that had been fatalities.
Police close off a section of Calhoun Street near the Emanuel AME Church (AP)
"This is an unspeakable and heartbreaking tragedy in this most historic church, an evil and hateful person took the lives of citizens who had come to worship and pray together," he said.
Thomas Dixon, a local pastor, told CNN: "It's really bad. It's a very bad scene.
The scene minutes after a gunman opened fire on a church in Charleston
"Apparently the person just entered the church and opened fire.
"That part has not been fully articulated on what happened yet ... they are still looking for the suspect."
A helicopter hovered overhead as police sealed off streets around the church.
The website for the church said it has one of the largest and oldest black congregations in the region.
The church was built in 1891 and is considered a historically significant building, according to the National Park Service.
A small prayer circle forms close to the shooting at the Emanuel AME Church (AP)
Charleston is known locally as "The Holy City," due to its large number of churches and historical mix of immigrant ethnic groups that brought a variety of creeds to the southern city on the Atlantic coast.
Local reports said a Bible study group met on Wednesday evenings.
Local ministers comfort each other near the site of the shooting at the Emanuel African Methodist (AME) Episcopal Church (EPA)
Police briefly detained a man who matched the description of the gunman, however, he was identified as a local photographer and the search continued.
A group of several men stood in a circle in front of a hotel near the church. "We pray for the families, they've got a long road ahead of them," Reverend James Johnson, a local civil rights activist, said during the impromptu prayer service.
The first guy taken by the police was released. He was a cameraman on the scene.
ReplyDeleteThat cameraman that cut up Lebron James head oughta be in jail.
DeleteIt seems a little early with not enough known to immediately call it a hate crime.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it is.
Maybe though he was on some exotic drug and didn't know who he was, where he was, or what he was doing.
I always advise patience when making accusations in such matters.
It's best to find out who the guy is first, his past, what he said during the act, if anything, and anything else relevant to the question of a hate crime.
The Police, of all people, ought to know this given that they have been erroneously accused of this and that so often recently.
This is shocking to me as I was saying just yesterday crazy Bernie didn't stand a chance - (I still don't think he does)
ReplyDeleteJune 17, 2015
Shocking poll for Hillary
By Thomas Lifson
The American Spectator and American Thinker are not the only ones calling out the danger signs popping up for Hillary’s supposedly inevitable nomination. It turns out that if you dig down into the internals of a recent poll in New Hampshire, there’s extremely bad news for Hillary Clinton. Michael Warren reports for the Weekly Standard:
The only female Democratic candidate for president may have a problem with male voters in that party, judging by a new Suffolk University poll of the New Hampshire primary. The poll, which shows former secretary of state Hillary Clinton below 50 percent support and just 10 points ahead of senator Bernie Sanders, reveals an interesting detail about where Clinton is weakest among Granite State Democrats.
While Clinton does better with female Democrats—47 percent to Sanders's 28 percent—she's actually losing men to the Vermont senator. Within a relatively small sample of likely male Democratic voters in New Hampshire, Sanders wins 75, or 35 percent, while Clinton wins 69, or 32 percent. See the details of the crosstabs here.
These are Democrats!
It’s long been a joke that Hillary Clinton reminds men of their ex-wives. But the poll reveals that turning out men to vote for her may be difficult. Perhaps even more worrisome, considering that Hillary’s strategy is to rely on the Obama coalition.........
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2015/06/shocking_poll_for_hillary.html
"It’s long been a joke that Hillary Clinton reminds men of their ex-wives."
DeleteHeh
;)
>>>On Sunday morning, Conan Nolan asked Madison if she and her fellow commissioners had buckled to pressure from anti-police groups in reaching their conclusions about the Ford shooting. “There was no buckling,” she said. And in this Madison was speaking the truth, though not in the sense she intended. One need not buckle to the mob when one is herself a member of it.
ReplyDeleteBut the mob may yet find themselves unsatisfied. Yes, the Police Commission has the final word on the propriety of a use of force, but the police chief has the last word on officer discipline, and as noted above, Chief Beck has already determined that both officers involved in the Ford shooting acted within the law and department policy. This sets up a confrontation between Beck and his titular bosses, though it is one in which Beck has little to lose by tweaking the commissioners’ noses. He is already serving what must by law be his final term as chief, so whatever opinion the commission may come to have of him is all but irrelevant to his future prospects. If he bows to the commission and punishes the officer, he will be seen as weak by those he seeks to lead, who will respond as any organization does to poor leadership. But if he gives the officer a pass, the commission may retaliate by making decisions detrimental to the department. Either scenario will be harmful to the city.
And now what? It requires no great feat of prognostication to predict that, regardless of what Chief Beck decides, LAPD officers will react to the Police Commission’s ruling by being more circumspect in their enforcement efforts. Considerations of law and tactics will be replaced by those of politics, with the result being officers who will be satisfied to take a report when someone is shot and put up yellow tape around the dead bodies, but not to pursue those responsible for the crimes for fear of risking a violent confrontation that will be judged by people lacking even the vaguest notion about how police work should be conducted. In the Newton Division, where Ezell Ford was killed, violent crime is already up 35 percent for the year, with homicides up 42 percent and shooting incidents up 93 percent. Violent crime is up in the other areas of South Los Angeles as well, as it is throughout the city (though not yet by as much). With the city’s gang members emboldened by the commission’s ruling and its police officers demoralized, we can expect Los Angeles to see a violent summer.<<<
Long interesting article about the Police becoming fearful of doing what they are supposed to do - in this case because of a political panel in LA.
>>Consider the maps found below, which are drawn from the Homicide Report, an online feature of the Los Angeles Times. The dots on these maps represent homicide victims killed in the Florence neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles between 2000 and today. The first map, containing 237 dots representing 237 dead people, excludes those killed by police. The second map, with nine dots, shows only those killed by police. One of the dots in this second map represents Ezell Ford, a 25-year-old black man who was shot and killed by Los Angeles Police Department officers last summer. A ruling by the Los Angeles Police Commission last week all but assures that in the future there will be fewer dots on the second map but many, many more on the first.<<
Homicide maps included. Lots of dots. Scary place to live.
L.A.’s Long Hot Summer of Racial Violence Is Brewing
City’s gang members are emboldened by LAPD commission’s pro-criminal ruling and its police officers demoralized.
by Jack Dunphy
http://pjmedia.com/blog/las-long-hot-summer/?singlepage=true
Sure, lots more blacks will die, but the MSM will have had their way with cops, so it'll be a better World.
DeleteMaybe they'll Federalize the place, like New York City, that'll git'r done, just ask Barack and Loretta Lynch.
Are they going to lower their Confederate Flag to half-mast?
ReplyDelete:-)
DeleteFamily members tell @ABC that the shooter came into the church, sat down, and participated in bible study before opening fire. #Charleston
ReplyDeleteWhat differentiates a gunman from a terrorist?
ReplyDeleteIn this case it's probably a "black and white" issue. :)
DeleteThree people were killed in the Boston bombing and Boston was locked down by Robo-cops in Humvees.
ReplyDeleteNine people shot and murdered in Charleston and...
Yup, Charleston should have Humvees and Robo-cops, just like Boston.
DeleteThey might have caught the guy by now.
..In Boston, an investigation involving more than 1,000 federal, state and local law enforcement personnel quickly was launched. A breakthrough in the case came less than two days later, when FBI analysts, who had pored through thousands of videos and photographs taken from security cameras in the area where the attack occurred, pinpointed two male suspects. The FBI released surveillance-camera images of the men, whose identities were then unknown, on the evening of April 18.
ReplyDelete...6:10 a.m.
DeletePolice say they have surveillance video of a possible suspect and vehicle in the shooting deaths of nine people at a historic black church in downtown Charleston that’s being called a hate crime.
Police Chief Greg Mullen met with reporters early Thursday to distribute the video. Mullen said he couldn’t give a specific make and model of the vehicle because they could not be certain from the video.
The suspect is described as a white man thought to be in his early 20s. Mullen said he had no reason to think the suspect has left the Charleston area, but is distributing information about the suspect and the vehicle around the country.
Mullen said police consider the shooting a hate crime. The FBI and state police are helping in the search.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteWhite Nut on the loose.
DeleteHate crime.
ReplyDelete>>Pinckney’s cousin told WAFF-TV that the gunman specifically asked for the reverend before Bible study and sat next to him before opening fire. The cousin says survivors told her that the gunman told them, “You rape our women and you’re taking over our country. And you have to go.”<<
Deletehttp://atlanta.cbslocal.com/2015/06/18/gunman-kills-9-at-historically-black-church-during-bible-study/
If he said that, you're right, it is a hate crime.
He goes and shoots the law abiding, family oriented, worshipful, religious blacks.
DeleteHe will get his, only a matter of time.
He's been identified as Dylann Roof, 21, white.
Delete'Never give a rifle to a melancholy bore'
DeleteW. H. Auden
Punky Roof is reported to having been given a rifle for his 21st birthday.
DeleteStarting out his adulthood right, and getting a look at his non sealed adult criminal record, he has been arrested on drug charges, then trespassing.....
'Never give a rifle to a melancholy bore'
Punky's now in the slammer for the rest of his life.
DeleteA perfect example of what NOT to do with one's young life.
ReplyDeleteA nicer story from Charlotte, NC
(Married to his high-school sweetheart)
Highlights
ReplyDeleteJobless claims, after trending slightly higher in recent weeks, are back down near historic lows. Initial claims in the June 13 week fell 12,000 to 267,000 which is very near the low-end of the Econoday forecast for 265,000. The 4-week average is down 2,000 to 276,750.
The June 13 week is also the sample week for the June employment report and a comparison with the May sample week is mixed with the latest week 8,000 lower, which is a plus for the outlook, but in an offset the 4-week average is up 10,250.
Continuing claims, reported with a one week lag, reversed much of the prior week's gain with a 50,000 decline to 2.222 million. The 4-week average is 2,000 higher at 2.231 million. Both very favorable readings. The unemployment rate for insured workers is unchanged at a very low 1.7 percent.
There are no special factors in today's report, one confirming very positive conditions on the unemployment side of the labor market.
Jobless Claims
Highlights
DeleteJust about all the readings in the May consumer price report point to very soft price pressures with the overall monthly gain, at plus 0.4 percent, and the ex-food ex-gasoline core gain, at only plus 0.1 percent, at or near the low-end of the Econoday forecasts.
The 0.4 percent overall gain may look a bit high compared with prior months including April's 0.1 percent rise, but it reflects an unsurprising jump in energy costs specifically gasoline which jumped 10.4 percent in the month. But energy prices are still very low, confirmed by the year-on-year rates which for all energy products are down 16.3 percent and for gasoline, down 25.0 percent (no misprint).
But the look at the year-on-year rates shows one element of pressure, a plus 1.7 percent rate for the core. This is down from 1.8 percent in April but is still skating a bit close to the 2.0 percent hawk barrier at the Fed. The overall year-on-year rate, however, is as benign as can be at zero percent.
(More to follow)
HI ! DOUG !!
ReplyDeleteGreat to have you on the lurk....!!!
Now if WiO would keep hanging around we'd have at least 50% sanity here, maybe a majority on those good days when Quirk is in his right mind
DeleteCareful, he's on Suboxone, you never know when those “orange strips” go snap, crackle, Pop!
DeleteI guess those people that elected to keep flying the Confederate Battle Flag are "Shocked, Shocked" at this.
ReplyDeleteFucking racist assholes ought to be kicked out of the Union.
That's an insult to them to tell them they're in the Union.
DeleteFrom what I know and read, racial relations are better in the South than in the northeast cities.
ReplyDeleteCharleston sounds like a pretty nice place.
I know Lexington, Kentucky, and it seems to be doing OK these days.
This whacko seems to stand out as an exception, not the rule in the south these days.
DeleteOther opinions may be more knowledgeable than mine, I do admit.
As we previously highlighted, virtually every major mass shooter was taking some form of SSRI or other pharmaceutical drug at the time of their attack, including Columbine killer Eric Harris, ‘Batman’ shooter James Holmes and Sandy Hook gunman Adam Lanza.
ReplyDeleteAs the website SSRI Stories profusely documents, there are literally hundreds of examples of mass shootings, murders and other violent episodes that have been committed by individuals on psychiatric drugs over the past three decades.
Pharmaceutical giants who produce drugs like Zoloft, Prozac and Paxil spend around $2.4 billion dollars a year on direct-to-consumer television advertising every year. By running negative stories about prescription drugs, networks risk losing tens of millions of dollars in ad revenue, which is undoubtedly one of the primary reasons why the connection is habitually downplayed or ignored entirely.
Psych Wars
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ReplyDeleteThe problem will expand under TPP. Instead of just pulling add revenue, Big Pharma will be suing the networks for damages and lost revenue.
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ReplyDeleteThe S.C. shooting points out the two sides of the 'gun-control' debate. It is impossible for me to put myself in the mind of an adult that would give out a handgun as a birthday gift to anyone much less so to a young guy just turning 21. I ask myself, what was the point?
On the other side, you have Obama who, in the middle of delivering an especially moving eulogy on the victims, decides to insert the politics of gun-control into the event. IMO, there is a time to talk gun control, but within 24 hours of the incident, while relatives and friends are still grieving and the dead not yet buried, for what I think was a political purpose, is just inappropriate.
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DeleteAnother irony of this story, the Charleston Post and Courier carried the shooting as the top story on the front page with the headline Church attack kills 9.
Right above the headline they carried an add for a gun shop.
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DeleteIt was a stick-on add but you would have thought someone would have caught it.
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ReplyDeleteThe ultimate degradation: Brian Williams demoted to faux news on MSNBC. Karma?
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ReplyDeleteAmerican Hate-Crime in Five Charts
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A fire believed to have been started by Jewish extremists has badly damaged a church on the Sea of Galilee built on the site where Christian tradition holds that Jesus performed the miracle of feeding five thousand people with two fish and five loaves of bread.
ReplyDeleteThe Roman Catholic Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fish at Tabgha was extensively damaged “both inside and out” by the fire, according to police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld.
Father Matthias Karl, a German monk from the church, told reporters that an office for pilgrims, a souvenir shop and a meeting room were heavily damaged and bibles and prayer books were burnt. However, the prayer area was not harmed, he said.
Words from a Jewish prayer urging the “cutting down” of idol worshippers were daubed in red paint on a wall outside the church. Firefighters determined that the blaze had broken out in several places.
Israeli leaders quickly and vigorously condemned the hate crime, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu terming it “appalling”. But Catholic leaders suggested it may have been enabled by what they claim has been a lax Israeli policy towards such actions in the past.
“We had incidents including at Tabgha and Dormition Abbey where Israeli authorities didn’t do enough to stop them, so we expected such a crime and this may continue if the authorities don’t take concrete steps to stop it, to show they are serious in protecting the holy places in the Holy Land,” said Father Jamal Khader, rector of the Latin Patriarchate Seminary in Beit Jalla in the West Bank.
Last year, a group of mostly Jewish youth attacked the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fish outdoor prayer area, pelting worshippers with stones, destroying a cross and throwing benches into a fire, Father Karl told the Associated Press.
In January 2014, vandals punctured the tyres of cars and scrawled anti-Christian graffiti on a Catholic monastery at Deir Rafat, near the town of Beit Shemesh.
In May 2014, a Romanian Orthodox church in Jerusalem was defaced with graffiti saying “Jesus is garbage”. Shortly before that, graffiti was scrawled on the Notre Dame Centre in Jerusalem saying: “Death to Arabs and Christians and those who hate Israel.”
In April, a Maronite Catholic cemetery was vandalised in northern Israel. The attacks have also targeted mosques, with vandals four months ago setting fire to one in Jaba village near Bethlehem. They left behind graffiti with a star of David and the word “revenge”.
According to Tag Meir, an Israeli anti-racism group, there have been no indictments in connection with these attacks or 36 others against churches, monasteries and mosques in the past three years.
Delete“Punishing these crimes is not a priority for the authorities,” said Yossi Saidov, a Tag Meir activist. “The message that comes down from the Prime Minister to the individual policeman is that it’s all right that this happens, it’s not so terrible.”
“If 43 synagogues were attacked in Poland and the authorities didn’t stop it, we would scream that it was anti-Semitism and rightly so,” Mr Saidov said.
Mr Netanyahu’s office said he has instructed the Shin Bet intelligence agency chief Yoram Cohen to carry out an “expedited” investigation of the Tabgha fire. Mr Netanyahu said “This appalling arson against a church is an attack on all of us. Freedom of worship in Israel is one of the foundation stones of our values and is enshrined in the law. We will fulfill the law against those responsible for this criminal action. Hatred and intolerance have no place in our society.”
Mr Rosenfeld said that police detained 16 youths from a West Bank settlement for questioning to check if they were linked to the church attack and then released them.
Jewish extremists suspected of torching Sea of Galilee ‘loaves and fishes’ church in Tabgha
Deletehttp://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/jewish-extremists-suspected-of-torching-sea-of-galilee-loaves-and-fishes-church-in-tabgha-10329998.html
The Church burners and wreckers are extremists
DeleteAnyone heard anything from the GOP Likuds Force?
DeleteFrom one of their commanders:
DeleteRepublican presidential candidate Lindsey Graham reacted to a mass shooting at a historically black church in home state of South Carolina by suggesting that the shooter was “looking for Christians to kill them.”
On Wednesday, Dylann Roof allegedly shot and killed nine people at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston. A witness said that he told them that he was there “to shoot black people.”
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, at least 19 hate groups are based in South Carolina, but it was not year clear if Roof was connected to any of them.
Graham told hosts of The View on Wednesday that his niece had gone to school with Roof.
“Strange, disturbed young man,” the senator noted. “Emily said in school he was just a quiet strange kid. Seems like one of these Newtown-type guys.”
“Once thing it’s not — let’s talk about what it’s not, in my view — it’s not a window into the soul of South Carolina,” Graham insisted. “It’s not who we are, it’s not who our country is, it’s about this guy. This guy has got tons of problems.”
He continued: “I can’t explain this. I don’t know what would make a young man at 21 get so sick and twisted to kill nine people in a church, this is beyond my understanding.”
“Do you think it’s a hate crime or do you think it’s more mentally disturbed?” one of the co-hosts asked Graham.
“Probably both,” he replied. “There are real people out there that are organized to kill people in religion and based on race. This guy is just whacked out.”
“But it’s 2015, there are people out there looking for Christians to kill them,” Graham added. “This is a mean time we live in.”
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/06/lindsey-graham-downplays-race-after-black-church-shooting-people-looking-for-christians-to-kill-them/
I don't see that Graham's comment is so heinous.
Delete>>“Do you think it’s a hate crime or do you think it’s more mentally disturbed?” one of the co-hosts asked Graham.
“Probably both,” he replied. “There are real people out there that are organized to kill people in religion and based on race. This guy is just whacked out.”<<
There are posters here who seem to have it it for the nation's Christians.
This black church seems a model of good sense and mutual support.
I have seen 6 or 7 of its members speaking on Fox, etc.
They all seem quite bright and good hearted to me.
They have created a community within the general community and are doing and living their lives really well, I think.
None seem to give a damn whether Herod really killed the first born or whether the New Testament writers were just hitting the ping pong ball back across the net with that narrative.
>>King James Bible
Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.<<
The correct opinion is the ping pong ball option.
It's the singing, praying, liturgy, fellowship and sense of belonging that counts.
This black church in Charleston seems to have all that in buckets full.
I take exception with #4, the map showing Idaho and Montana as high in hate crimes.
ReplyDeleteI can't really speak for Montana, but in Idaho, once the Aryan Nations, and they were known for talk, not action, were put down (they originated out of state) I don't know of a real problem here. (Though I'm not so informed about south Idaho).
I read the papers, I watch the TV news, I listen to the radio endlessly.
The last incident I remember was in Lewiston some six or seven years ago when some two or three white high school kids got in a semi-fight with a black kid at a gas station. There was lots of talk about this being a hate crime as some bad language was used. One white kid may have even been charged - they were all minors I think - and I can't recall what came of it. Before that incident, I can't recall anything...
That's it, as far as I know.
We may have a bad reputation, but I think most of it is unearned.
I did see a bumper sticker the other day that read:
"Justice For Arfee"
$350K claim filed against Coeur d'Alene for Arfee's killing
Author: Rob Kauder, Internet Content Manager, robk@kxly.com
Published On: Oct 21 2014 04:04:28 PM PDT Updated On: Oct 22 2014 12:03:08 AM PDT
http://www.kxly.com/news/north-idaho-news/350k-claim-filed-against-coeur-dalene-for-arfees-killing/29264914
I think the settlement was for $80,000 dollars.
I think there has been justice for Arfee's owner, though not certain about Arfee himself.
“Strange, disturbed young man,” the senator noted. “Emily said in school he was just a quiet strange kid. Seems like one of these Newtown-type guys.”
ReplyDelete“Once thing it’s not — let’s talk about what it’s not, in my view — it’s not a window into the soul of South Carolina,” Graham insisted. “It’s not who we are, it’s not who our country is, it’s about this guy. This guy has got tons of problems.”
The “disturbed young man" had problems
Arfee was a dog named Arfee, not a human being, in case you were wondering.
ReplyDeleteVideo of Arfee in link above.
DeleteArfee is, or rather, was, black.
DeleteStrange
ReplyDeleteHe didn’t hate our values. He is strange, young and disturbed. I suppose the Saudi crews that took advantage of the trust and hospitality of the US passengers on the doomed 911 flights were also strange, young and disturbed.
DeleteThe Confederate Battle Flag flew proudly, today, over the Statehouse of the State that led the South into a War to Preserve the Slavery of Human Beings.
ReplyDeleteThe strange young man was surrounded by Disturbed people - a state full of them.
DeleteAccording to our Host, the Civil War should never have been fought.
The blacks should have been allowed to languish in slavery until changing economic conditions freed them, or the whites grew a conscience, which ever might come first, if either ever came to pass at all.
Thankfully, Mississippi stood neutral during the entire affair, thus demonstrating its moral superiority to the other Southern States of the Confederacy.
DeleteAnd just what exactly are you doing, Rufus, to build community ?
DeleteYou have said repeatedly the only community you care about is Community Clan Rufus.
Please don't use my name, nor address me in either public, or private. You are an ignorant, racist cracker, and I don't want people to think that we might, in some way, have a connection.
DeleteFuck off you ignorant hypocritical swamp hick.
DeleteYou will always be Dumbfucker Rufus of Clan Rufus, to me.
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This 21 year old had been using exotic drugs and opiates in the past. Whether when the shooting occurred I haven't heard yet, but it certainly is possible.
I got my first .22 rifle at age 10.
First single shot shotgun at age 12.
Never misused a gun in my life, and at nearing 70 years I think it's safe to say I never will.
So, it's not the age.
A peaceful rural environment helps....
And a large loving extended family.
According to our Host, the Civil War should never have been fought.
ReplyDeleteThe blacks should have been allowed to languish in slavery until changing economic conditions freed them, or the whites grew a conscience, which ever might come first, if either ever came to pass at all.
I never said that fool. I said that there was a political way of ending slavery without having 700,000 Americans murdered.
I said every other country in the Americas ended slavery without slaughtering their fellow countrymen.
I said that the cost of a slave was $1000 and for less than the cost of the idiotic civil war, every slave could have been bought, freed and given $1000.
Is that clear enough for your dumb ass hayseed clown brain to comprehend?
Believe your Yankee Noodle bullshit about Lincoln being great about anything other than the great killer and incompetent politician he was, but don’t attribute your fantasies to me.
ReplyDelete.
ReplyDeleteThe Divine Paradox
WASHINGTON — The encyclical on the environment that Pope Francis released on Thursday is as much an indictment of the global economic order as it is an argument for the world to confront climate change.
It offers blistering criticism of 21st-century capitalism, expressing skepticism about market forces, criticizing consumerism and cautioning about the costs of growth.
But where Francis’ environmental and economic agendas meet, he leaves something of a paradox, and ammunition potentially for both sides in the debate over how to address climate change.
While urging swift action to curb the burning of fossil fuels that have powered economies since the Industrial Revolution, he also condemns the trading of carbon-emission credits, saying it merely creates new forms of financial speculation and does not bring about “radical change.” But carbon trading is the policy most widely adopted by governments to combat climate change, and it has been endorsed by leading economists as a way to cut carbon pollution while sustaining economic growth.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/19/world/europe/pope-targets-carbon-credits-economists-favored-path-to-change.html?_r=0
I put up the post merely to point out the paradox that exists between social justice and climate control.
The Pope suggests the responsibility for slowing climate change rests primarily with developed countries. He also attacks 'cap in trade' one of the main 'solutions' proposed by the UN and major polluting countries. He rejects it on the basis that it will reduce growth and thus primarily hurt the poor and that it will merely lead to financial speculation and would not bring about the 'major change' that is needed.
Though many will critique the Pope's encyclical on what it says about climate change, I expect a lot less talk will about the social equity issues he raises. The poor suffer from pollution and climate change, the rich continue to get richer and for the most are hardly affected by them.
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DeleteThe Obama administration reflects the conflicting interests.
Obama is talking about executive actions through the EPA to force 'cap and trade'. The rules haven’t been written yet but the following was written last year to report on what is being talked about:
According to media reports, EPA is going to propose a plan that requires blanket cuts in greenhouse gas emissions across the entire power sector, somewhere around 25% to 35% (below a given baseline). States would then craft plans to achieve these cuts. EPA’s guidelines would offer States a menu of policy options to reduce greenhouse gases, from which States could choose. These policies reportedly could include:
• Green energy production quotas
• Demand-side response
• Curtailment of demand
• Carbon tax
• Regional cap-and-trade energy rationing schemes
http://www.globalwarming.org/2014/05/23/what-would-a-federal-implementation-plan-look-like-under-epas-impending-climate-plan-for-existing-power-plants/
There is no indication what would happen to the states if they failed to meet the federal targets. Most seem to believe the plan would negatively affect growth which would ultimately negatively affect the poor. As the Pope suggests, there would at least some who would benefit financially from the plan, Al Gore for instance. But I am not trying to argue the pros and cons of ‘cap and trade’. I merely point out the conflicts between Obama’s plan for climate change and his support of TPP and his pushing of TPA in order to guarantee its passage.
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DeleteFrom what has been leaked about TPP, we learned that multinationals will have a tribunal they can use to challenge government actions under the treaty. Enshrined in the treaty, if initial reports are true, is the idea that government regulations that affect the profits of these corporations would be considered a ‘taking’, and just as a property owner is supposed to receive compensation for their property when it is taken for government use or to meet social needs, the corporations would be entitled to compensation when they are forced to meet government regulations. So we can envision the situation where though court orders it would not be the corporations that had to clean up polluted sites that they created rather it would be the public. Again, I won’t argue the pros and cons of TPP but will only ask the question:
‘If both of Obama’s initiatives pass, who will end up paying the price for Obama’s climate change initiative?’
I can picture a situation where a corporation forced to shut a power plant as a result of EPA actions would end up suing the government (read public) for recompense.
As for the Pope's concerns, climate change, trade pacts, what difference does it make? In the end, the rich and influential will continue to get richer and the poor will continue to suffer.
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Rufus has stated all drugs ought to be legalized -
ReplyDeleteCharleston Shooter Was on Drug Linked to Violent Outbursts
Dylann Storm Roof was taking habit-forming drug suboxone
by Paul Joseph Watson | June 18, 2015
Charleston shooter Dylann Storm Roof was reportedly taking a drug that has been linked with sudden outbursts of violence, fitting the pattern of innumerable other mass shooters who were on or had recently come off pharmaceutical drugs linked to aggression.
According to a CBS News report, earlier this year when cops searched Roof after he was acting suspiciously inside a Bath and Body Works store, they found “orange strips” that Roof told officers was suboxone, a narcotic that is used to treat opiate addiction.
Suboxone is a habit-forming drug that has been connected with sudden outbursts of aggression.
SS X2
A user on the MD Junction website relates how her husband “became violent, smashing things and threatening me,” after just a few days of coming off suboxone.
Another poster on the Drugs.com website tells the story of how his personality completely changed as a result of taking suboxone.
The individual relates how he became “nasty” and “violent” just weeks into taking the drug, adding that he would “snap” and be mean to people for no reason.
Another poster reveals how his son-in-law “completely changed on suboxone,” and that the drug sent him into “self-destruct mode.”
A user named ‘Jhalloway’ also tells the story of how her husband’s addiction to suboxone was “ruining our life.”
A poster on a separate forum writes about how he became “horribly aggressive” towards his partner after taking 8mg of suboxone.
A website devoted to horror stories about the drug called SubSux.com also features a post by a woman whose husband obtained a gun and began violently beating his 15-year-old son after taking suboxone.
According to a Courier-Journal report, suboxone “is increasingly being abused, sold on the streets and inappropriately prescribed” by doctors. For some users, it is even more addictive than the drugs it’s supposed to help them quit.
As we previously highlighted, virtually every major mass shooter was taking some form of SSRI or other pharmaceutical drug at the time of their attack, including Columbine killer Eric Harris, ‘Batman’ shooter James Holmes and Sandy Hook gunman Adam Lanza.
As the website SSRI Stories profusely documents, there are literally hundreds of examples of mass shootings, murders and other violent episodes that have been committed by individuals on psychiatric drugs over the past three decades.
Pharmaceutical giants who produce drugs like Zoloft, Prozac and Paxil spend around $2.4 billion dollars a year on direct-to-consumer television advertising every year. By running negative stories about prescription drugs, networks risk losing tens of millions of dollars in ad revenue, which is undoubtedly one of the primary reasons why the connection is habitually downplayed or ignored entirely.
http://www.infowars.com/charleston-shooter-was-on-drug-linked-to-violent-outbursts/
Just put a negative sign before any comments by Rufus and you will be on the right track.
To be perfectly fair and accurate about it, Rufus did reconsider and back off legalizing that drug - can't recall the name, you know what it is - that causes one to get naked and eat someone's face off.
DeleteSweden mulling new laws criminalizing joining or aiding jihad groups
ReplyDeleteJune 18, 2015 9:37 pm By Robert Spencer
Sweden jihadCommon sense. Long overdue. “Sweden mulls new laws banning jihad combat, travel,” AFP, June 17, 2015:
Stockholm (AFP) – Sweden is considering drafting new legislation that would ban its nationals from fighting in armed conflicts for terrorist organisations such as Islamic State (IS), the government said Wednesday.
“It is completely unacceptable that Swedish citizens are travelling to (join) IS, financing the organisation, or fighting for it,” Justice Minister Morgan Johansson and Interior Minister Anders Ygeman wrote in a joint article in leading newspaper Dagens Nyheter.
No kidding, really?
The proposed ban would prohibit combat for terrorist organisations listed as such by the United Nations or European Union.
“We have a responsibility for what our citizens do both here at home and in other countries,” they wrote.
“People who live here and who have chosen to join IS can constitute a serious threat upon their return. Criminalisation is of course not the only way of preventing this but it is an important part of anti-terrorism measures,” they said….
Swedish intelligence service Sapo has said that about 150 people from Sweden are known to have travelled to Syria and Iraq to join Islamic militant groups, but that the figure may be as high as 300.
http://www.jihadwatch.org/2015/06/sweden-mulling-new-laws-criminalizing-joining-or-aiding-jihad-groups
India's plans for Yoga Day taking a stressful turn
ReplyDeleteYoga workshop in India
People take part in a yoga workshop in Allahabad, India. The nation is sponsoring events in 191 countries as part of the International Day of Yoga. (Sanjay Kanojia / AFP/Getty Images)
By Shashank Bengali contact the reporter
Asia World News India Crime Minority Groups Narendra Modi
Muslims in India won't be part of International Day of Yoga, citing the practice's Hindu roots
As India gears up for Yoga Day, civil servants have had to huff and grimace through practice sessions
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, the Victorian-era headquarters of one of India's largest rail networks through which more than 600,000 passengers travel every day, is not known as a place of calm.
But in a chandeliered, colonnaded executive dining hall, a few dozen railway employees have been attending voluntary yoga classes every afternoon as part of a government-sponsored campaign to promote the ancient Indian discipline nationwide.
"It's very peaceful," R. Rajeshwari, a 26-year veteran of the commercial inspections department, said after an hourlong session Wednesday. "My job is mostly sitting at my desk or running around to stations. I've never had such a chance before."
Indian students at yoga workshop
Students in Ahmedabad, India, attend a yoga workshop conducted by the Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Institute. Some Indian Muslims have objected to the practice of yoga because of its Hindu roots. (Sam Panthaky / AFP/Getty Images)
The organized breathing, chanting and stretching culminates Sunday in the first International Day of Yoga, an idea proposed at the United Nations General Assembly last fall by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a yoga devotee, and endorsed by 175 countries.
India's leadership of the event, however, has been rather less serene than some yoga teachers might like.
To ensure a good turnout, students in Mumbai have been told to come to school early Sunday morning for yoga demonstrations. Army personnel are expected to take part at bases and aboard aircraft carriers. Paunchy civil servants have huffed and grimaced through official practice sessions.
lRelated
Does India's new 'Make in India' campaign mean 'Made by Children?'
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The Foreign Ministry has flown instructors around the world and is sponsoring yoga events in 191 countries through its diplomatic missions, officials said. Thousands are expected in New York's Times Square, where yoga guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar will take the crowd through poses that will be broadcast via satellite. Events are also planned in Los Angeles, San Francisco and other cities.
The biggest event will take place in New Delhi, the Indian capital, where about 35,000 people will participate in a 35-minute program at Rajpath, the ceremonial boulevard that more often hosts military parades and funeral processions. Modi will attend, although officials say he will not be practicing yoga.
Delete'Eccentric and slightly absurd': Leader repaints Kolkata blue and white
Organizers have applied for consideration in the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest yoga demonstration and have recruited athletes, film stars and government officials to beef up the number. Senior bureaucrats were sent letters last week admonishing them to study the prescribed poses closely because if "their performance is not up to the mark, we run the risk of the record claim … being affected."
In announcing the unusually thorough preparations, Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj described yoga as "the best soft power India has."
"The aim is to bring the world on the path of peace," Swaraj said. "It is needed as we have been witnessing violence around us."
Yet in a country increasingly polarized along religious lines, some see the promotion of yoga as part of a broader pro-Hindu agenda by Modi's conservative government, which has ties to right-wing Hindu nationalist groups that are often hostile to religious minorities, particularly Muslims.
cComments
According to authorities, only 1 person in 69 thousand who tries yoga is still practicing it six months later.
Brainwashed_in_Church
at 6:29 AM June 18, 2015
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1
Over the last year, Modi allies have falsely accused Muslims of forcibly converting Hindus to Islam, attempted to make Hindu religious texts required reading in schools and banned the possession of beef in the western state of Maharashtra on grounds that the cow is sacred in Hinduism.
It was perhaps not surprising, then, that some prominent Muslim groups refused to participate in yoga demonstrations because of the discipline's Hindu roots. They argued that the surya namaskar pose, or sun salute, violates the Islamic belief that only God can be worshiped, while some yogic chants are part of Hinduism.
DeleteIn India, farm crisis drives villagers to become migrant laborers
In India, farm crisis drives villagers to become migrant laborers
"Chanting 'Om, hari om' — these are the words of Hinduism. Muslims cannot say these words," said Abdul Rahim Qureshi, general secretary of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board. The group has filed a case against the government of the northern state of Rajasthan for reportedly requiring students to attend the yoga sessions.
"This government is trying to impose Hindu culture and Hindu forms of worship on non-Hindus," Qureshi said. "This is not allowed by the constitution."
Officials pointed out that the sun salute was not part of the official list of poses for Yoga Day. Some states said the demonstrations were not compulsory. It all amounted to a great deal of friction for an event that was supposed to promote harmony.
"Yoga has no religious connotation. People like to make political statements that are not based on facts," said Subodh Tiwari, joint director of the Kaivalyadhama Yoga Institute, the main organizer of events in Mumbai.
But Tiwari acknowledged that Modi's embrace of yoga had undoubtedly led to a reawakening of the discipline in India. With the support of state officials, his institute will be holding events Sunday for employees of the railways, postal service, utility companies, police and other agencies, as well as prisoners and the general public.
Railway officials in Mumbai first thought of offering yoga to their employees several years ago and described the voluntary classes that started last month as "in line with the government's thinking."
"Yoga has always been there in India, but it was taken for granted," Tiwari said. "You have to be proud of something to promote it. [Modi] has taken something that was there in our heritage and strengthened it."
shashank.bengali@latimes.com
Special correspondent Parth M.N. contributed to this report.
Pope Francis has come out strongly against the Quirkification of the world.
ReplyDeletePope Francis: Time for a “bold cultural revolution” to confront climate change and “compulsive consumerism”
Jun 18, 2015 10:01 AM by Ed Morrissey
http://hotair.com/archives/2015/06/18/pope-francis-time-for-a-bold-cultural-revolution-to-confront-climate-change-and-compulsive-consumerism/
"Quirkification" is the end goal of that insistent advertising effort to force compulsive consumerism on the entire world.
When the world is Quirkified all people will do is consume those products which the advertisers, those prime movers behind the scenes, dictate shall be consumed.
This must be fought with all the moral fiber of our being.
Outlaw advertising, and jail all ad men now ! They are a scourge on our common humanity, on our ability to freely choose.
This comment has been removed by the author.
Delete.
DeleteIMHO, of course.
.
The graph shows the Total Debt Service Ratio (DSR), and the DSR for mortgages (blue) and consumer debt (yellow).
ReplyDeleteThe overall Debt Service Ratio decreased in Q1 has been moving sideways and is near a record low. Note: The financial obligation ratio (FOR) is also near a record low (not shown)
The DSR for mortgages (blue) are near the low for the last 35 years. This ratio increased rapidly during the housing bubble, and continued to increase until 2007. With falling interest rates, and less mortgage debt (mostly due to foreclosures), the mortgage ratio has declined significantly.
The consumer debt DSR (yellow) has been increasing for the last two years.
This data suggests aggregate household cash flow has improved.
Read more at http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2015/06/fed-q1-household-debt-service-ratio.html#hzoYEWASm5E3DjuY.99
calculated risk blog
>>This, of course, is easily recognized as a version of The Talk: The facts of life lecture black parents give to their children about how black people are relentless victims of relentless white racism.
ReplyDeleteBut here is what they seldom say: Black people are far more likely to the victim of crime and violence from another black person. Not a white person. Not a cop. Not even close.
A black person is 50 times more likely to assault a white person than the other way around. The black on white rape numbers are even more out of proportion when compared to white on black sexual assault.
Black Twitter did not bother to cloak the black-on-white racial hostility. Thousands of tweets picked up these false narratives -- what people call lies today -- and urged violence against white people. They are as easy to find as they are disturbing to read.<<
June 19, 2015
The War on Black People in South Carolina: the First Casualty is Truth.
By Colin Flaherty
http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/06/the_war_on_black_people_in_south_carolina_the_first_casualty_is_truth.html
The punk in this most recent event is said to have confessed.
South Carolina does have a death penalty.
Seems like an appropriate set of circumstances for its use, to me.
If not now, when ?
If not for something like this, for what ?
Anyone, an Ash for instance, who doesn't get a hearty horse laugh out of all this horse shit is an horse's arse and should be put to pasture -
ReplyDeleteVideo: Spokane unanimously boots famed ethnic-identity pioneer from police board
posted at 10:41 am on June 19, 2015 by Ed Morrissey
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Someday, we’ll recall these as the days of struggle, comrades, in pursuit of redistribution of heritage. After all, why should the Irish get all the blarney, or the Italians all the pasta? And don’t even get me started on the Swiss. On the other hand, if Rachel Dolezal’s motivation came from a deep-seated need to appropriate the claimed victimhood of others, maybe she no longer needs to fake her ethnicity any longer, since she’s become almost universally rejected for her own fakery. Spokane’s city council unanimously decided to end Dolezal’s association with the city, although the action comes in response to a separate complaint of misconduct:
City leaders voted Thursday to remove Rachel Dolezal from a police oversight committee in Spokane.
The vote came during a special City Council meeting.
The Spokane City Council voted 6 to 0 to remove Rachel Dolezal from the Police Ombudsman Commission due to misconduct which was originally reported in a whistle-blower complaint. …
Investigators from an independent law firm ruled Wednesday on the complaint which was filed in April 2015. They began looking into the claims on May 4.
The investigator found behavioral misconduct during interactions with City employees by three members of the commission including Dolezal. The eight findings include workplace harassment, taking on duties not assigned, changing official meeting minutes, and criticizing the person that filed the complaint against all three in public.
Who’s shocked that someone with Dolezal’s background was found to be a difficult employee and manager? Oh, let’s not always see the same hands …
On Wednesday, the council and the mayor announced at a press conference that they wanted Dolezal and the others to resign their positions, and had contacted them with that request. Dolezal ignored it, responding in a public statement that she was “deeply disturbed” by the request, and “sincerely troubled” at the conclusions reached by investigators. Given the recent revelations about her years-long fabulism, those particular expressions appear ill-considered.
Anyway, future textbooks will surely record this as nothing but a mere speed bump on the path to ethnic liberty, a momentary setback to those who are on the right side of history. Greater platforms than the Spokane police board and the local NAACP chapter await Dolezal, such as the inevitable TLC reality series Here Comes Genealogy Boo-Boo.
Speaking of reality TV, this story has an odd coda. Kelly Osbourne apparently decided to poke fun at Dolezal on Instagram, and got ripped by fans for — wait for it — being “insensitive.” No, really: VIDEO
http://hotair.com/archives/2015/06/19/video-spokane-unanimously-boots-famed-ethnic-identity-pioneer-from-police-board/
" ethnic-identity pioneer"
DeleteMr. Ed is snorting in the barn......
Why be a slow witted befuddled and stubborn Swede when one can be a suave Italian, or an Israeli.........?
DeleteOr even a Polish Advertising Executive ?
Deletebwabwahahaha..
work calls
Cheers !