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Military personnel harassed on subway

A pro-family activist and former presidential candidate says it is outrageous that military personnel in uniform, who use public transportation while traveling to the Pentagon, are being publically harassed by anti-war leftists.

The Air Force recently issued a security advisory, relating several incidents where military personnel have been approached by individuals expressing themselves as anti-government and shouting anti-war sentiments.

Gary Bauer, Chairman of American Values, says in one case a woman in uniform was followed as she exited a Washington, D.C., subway train and a left wing thug continued to berate her as she exited the metro station. Bauer believes there is a limit to free speech.

"Freedom of speech, like all our liberties, has limitations on it. You can't drive a car down a suburban neighborhood at eleven o'clock at night with a loudspeaker on the top of it. And this fits into that category. When somebody is in a public place, they have a right not to be harassed," Bauer explains.
     
In fact, Bauer notes, harassment itself is against the law. "And in this case I would call it traitorous. If I'm on a subway or at an airport and see something like this happen, I for one will take action. I think this is an intolerable thing to be happening in our country," Bauer contends.
 
Bauer believes these protestors are being constantly urged by left wing blogs and websites to harass the military. And he says left wing politicians who compare U.S. troops to Nazis bear responsibility, too – as do those in the media who constantly present the troops in a negative way.

Long Beach recruiters targeted by Peace Thugs

Downtown LB’s military recruiting station at Pine Ave./6th St. and the immediate area were marked with anti-war type graffiti overnight.

LBPD Public Information Officer Sgt. Dina Zapalski says that about 6:30 a.m. today (June 5), officers were dispatched to the area of 6th/Pine and found spray painting had occurred on the military recruiting station’s windows, building and adjacent sidewalk.

The statements (summarized/paraphrased) were along the lines of ‘we’re all people,’ ‘wars are unnecessary,’ peace signs…and one that included a possibly threatening statement which LBPD is investigating, Sgt. Zapalski indicated.

Graffiti (now removed) was originally in red, photog Daniel DeBoom says.

LB photojournalist Daniel DeBoom says that when he arrived in the 8 a.m. hour, graffiti removal crews were already on scene.

He says he saw one tag atop a planter that simply stated “T.” Another on the ground in front of the planter read “WE ARE ALL PEOPLE”…and was painted in red.

“By the time I arrived the city workers had cleaned it to a dull version of its former self,” photog DeBoom said.

Violent Attacks By Anti-War Radicals Against Military Recruiting Centers

Code Pink and Anti-War Groups Hysterical Over Report
This weekend a new report was released detailing a campaign of violence by supposed "peace" protestors against military recruiting centers across the United States.

Titled "The Sedition Report," the document released by the pro-troop organization Move America Forward followed a month-long exhaustive investigation into actions by anti-war activists against military recruiting centers including bombs planted at recruiting centers (Times Square - NY and St.Louis, MO), shots fired at a recruiting center (Denver, CO), firebombing of recruiters cars (in Alabama and Maryland), manure and feces smeared across recruiting centers (Toledo, OH and Milwaukee, WI) and on and on.

As the report was being released to the media at the historic National Press Club, anti-war activists threw a hissy fit - literally. Members of anti-war groups including Code Pink and Global Exchange infiltrated the news conference posing as reporters. In the middle of the news conference they began to yell and scream, declaring that the reports of violence by the anti-war movement were all lies. One gentleman stood up, proclaimed himself a 2nd generation Marine and said he was ashamed of what had become of the military he once served in. He removed his outer shirt, revealing a pink captain's jacket with various insignias. As he proceeded to scream epitepths against our troops he was asked to leave by security. When he refused a scuffle ensued. A reporter for the Washington Post confronted the individual and found out he was in fact NOT a Marine.

The anti-war activist Tighe Barry has previously been arrested for disrupting the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee and most notably was arrested after he traveled to Pakistan to express support for Islamic terrorists.

Melanie Morgan, Chairman of Move America Forward, said that the hostile actions of those who disrupted the news conference goes to the point of "The Sedition Report." "These are the same types of actions these individuals have engaged in at recruiting centers such as the one at 14th and L in Washington, D.C. and Berkeley, California. They storm the office, disrupt the actions of recruiters, commit acts of vandalism, and occupy the offices."

As part of the effort to inform the American people about the increasing frequency and degree of violence in these attacks against recruiting offices, Move America Forward also released a new national ad campaign.

The ad was featured on Fox News Channel on Sunday in an interview hosted by Jamie Colby.

400 members of Rainbow Family surround, attack federal officers
Forest Service officials stoned by hippie group allowed to displace Boy Scouts' service project

National Forest Service officials, surrounded and attacked yesterday in Wyoming with sticks and stones by 400 members of the Rainbow Family, were given reason to regret their decision to cancel a long-planned national service project by the Boy Scouts of America in favor of the unorganized annual gathering of hippies, anarchists and "free spirits" who commune with nature and each other.

According to a statement released by the Forest Service's Incident Command Team in Rock Springs, Wyo., officers patrolling the main meadow of the seven-day event held near Sandy Springs made contact with a man who fled and was later apprehended. A second Rainbow attendee was detained for interfering in the arrest.

As 10 officers began to leave the area with their suspects, they were surrounded by an estimated 400 members of the Rainbow Family. A request for additional officers was made.

"The mob began to advance, throwing sticks and rocks at the officers. Crowd-control tactics were used to keep moving through the group of Rainbows," the news release said.

When back-up support arrived, officers made five arrests. A government vehicle was damaged and one officer was treated for injuries at a local hospital and released.

"This lawless behavior is unacceptable and we will not tolerate it," said John Twiss, Forest Service director of law enforcement. "The safety of our employees, public and Rainbow participants is our number one priority, and we will continue to protect everyone on the national forest."

As WND reported, the Forest Service canceled a week-long national service project by approximately 1,000 members of the Order of the Arrow, the honor society for the Boy Scouts of America, scheduled since 2004, after the Rainbow Family announced it would hold its annual gathering in the same general location.

As WND has reported, the Order of the Arrow has been working for several years to put together this year's public service project called ArrowCorps5.

The plans include about 5,000 top Boy Scouts from across the country donating an estimated 250,000 hours of time to restore, repair, rebuild, reclaim and refurbish miles of trails, acres and glens at five different sites in the nation's forests. In most cases, the scouts pay their own travel and room and board expenses to participate in the biggest service project since World War II.

"ArrowCorps5 is the largest, most complex, most challenging conservation project ever conceived by the Order of the Arrow and Boy Scouts of America," said Brad Haddock, chairman of the National Order of the Arrow Committee. "This project provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for each participant to set an example of leadership in service to those who treasure our national forests."

The decision by the Forest Service to evict the Scouts left local Wyoming leaders infuriated.

"It's a matter of intimidation," Sublette, Wyo., County commissioner Joel Bousman told WND. "It appears the Rainbow group has managed to intimidate an entire federal agency."

Mark Rey, the federal undersecretary supervising the U.S. Forest Service, met with Rainbow Family members earlier in Pinedale, and urged them to move their gathering, the Casper Star-Tribune reported. They refused.

Rey told WND he thought the decision to move the Scouts to somewhere else and leave the Rainbow Family alone was the best under the circumstances. He said the government allows the Rainbow Family to bypass its regular permit requirements in favor of an "operating plan" but the bottom line was that the government didn't want to be arresting hundreds or thousands of people.

"They couldn't be expelled without a fairly significant amount of law enforcement activity," he told WND a week before the gathering began.

"The Boy Scouts have been planning this since 2004," Bousman told WND. "They've been through the planning process and have been working very cooperatively with our Forest Service. They've spent lots of money planning the biggest venture ever for the Boy Scouts.

"They did everything legally, they had their permits. But because of the fact Undersecretary Rey, for whatever reason, took it on himself to do what he has referred to as an experimental process by which he does not require the Rainbow Group to have any permit, the conflict developed," Bousman said.

Now, the "significant amount of law enforcement activity" Rey was hoping to avoid by not holding the Rainbow family to the standard permitting process has become unavoidable.

Following yesterday's melee, members of the gathering told the Star-Tribune a far different story than that told by the Forest Service.

"They were so violent, like dogs," camper Robert Parker said after the incident. "People yelled at them, 'You're shooting children.'"

Rainbow members claimed they were Tasered, hit with rubber bullets and pepper spray balls, and had guns pointed at them.

"These people deliberately, for hours, were aggressively working the camp over and working the people over," a Rainbow who gave his name only as Ryan said. "They chose the kiddie village – the one place, the kids, to take their stand and create a riot, and I bought into it. ... They were looking for an excuse to do some damage to us."

Ryan's partner, Feather, said she was pepper-sprayed, and saw another Rainbow member with welts all over his body.

Today, the American Civil Liberties Union announced plans to investigate how federal law enforcement treated those attending the gathering. Linda Burt, executive director of the ACLU in Wyoming, said her organization would accept collect calls from Rainbow Family members for the next two weeks to gather information.

Meanwhile, the ArrowCorps5 projects already completed in other states are being credited with making "immediate" changes, Scott Scheffler, a volunteer spokesman for the Scouts, told WND. In Missouri, for example, 100 acres of invasive salt cedar was removed, restoring the area's water table, allowing grasslands to re-grow and restoring the area's beautiful vistas.

Code Pink Stalker Rushing Stage at President Bush Speech at Monticello 7/04/08

Members of the terrorist-supporting group Code Pink repeatedly heckled President Bush's speech at a naturalization ceremony for new American citizens this morning at Monticello, the home of Declaration of Independence author, Thomas Jefferson.

Code Pinko Desiree Farooz, infamous for getting in the face of Sec. of State Condoleezza Rice at a House hearing last fall in a stunning breakdown of security, rushed the stage where President Bush was speaking. Taking advantage of distractive actions being taken by other Code Pinkos, Farooz was able to get past the front row and turn toward the stage before she was intercepted by security.

It appears that she was able to get close enough to the stage that if she had explosives secreted on her person she could have done the unspeakable.

A 42 second video was posted on Youtube by David Swanson, moonbat extraordinaire, of AfterDowningStreet.org. Sadly, Swanson claims to be a graduate of Thomas Jefferson's University of Virginia. David Swanson, the former press secretary for Dennis Kucinich, is the individual that organized this protest.

Local news reports the protesters were ejected from the grounds after their outbursts, but that no one was arrested.

The Secret Service needs to explain why Code Pinkos keep getting close to their protectees. Last weekend Farooz got close to John McCain when she rushed the stage at a speech he was giving in Washington, D.C.

Of course, Barack Obama has nothing to fear from Code Pink, they're funding him.

Apparently nothing is sacred to these wackos. It was nice of the Leftists to ruin the naturalization ceremony for the new Americans and their families. Of course this is par for the course for their ilk.

I like the sounds of a "Patriot Twitch". I doubt that it would bring any sense to them but it would still be a satisfying experience.

Crackdown on Rainbows considered
Forest Service had booted Boy Scouts in favor of hippie 'commune'

Federal officials say they are considering a crackdown on Rainbow Family events on federal property that could include a ban on meetings such as the arrest-marred event in Wyoming over the July 4th holiday weekend.

According to a report from the Associated Press, John Twiss, chief of law enforcement and investigations for the U.S. Forest Service, said the event's participants were "non-compromising" and "arrogant" and a review and a ban may be needed.

"I think we have to have that discussion within the agency," he told AP. "We spend an awful lot of time and effort on these people. And frankly, the taxpayers deserve better."

As WND reported at the time, officials for the Forest Service were surrounded and attacked with sticks and stones by 400 members of the Rainbow Family.

The confrontation happened after the Forest Service cancelled part of a long-planned national service project by the Boy Scouts of America in favor of the unorganized annual gathering of hippies, anarchists and "free spirits" who commune with nature and each other.

According to a statement released by the Forest Service's Incident Command Team in Rock Springs, Wyo., on the holiday officers patrolling the main meadow of the seven-day event held near Sandy Springs made contact with a man who fled and later was apprehended. A second Rainbow attendee was detained for interfering in the arrest.

As 10 officers began to leave the area with their suspects, they were surrounded by an estimated 400 members of the Rainbow Family. A request for additional officers was made.

"The mob began to advance, throwing sticks and rocks at the officers. Crowd-control tactics were used to keep moving through the group of Rainbows," the news release said.

When back-up support arrived, officers made five arrests. A government vehicle was damaged and one officer was treated for injuries at a local hospital and released.

"This lawless behavior is unacceptable and we will not tolerate it," Twiss said at the time. "The safety of our employees, public and Rainbow participants is our number one priority, and we will continue to protect everyone on the national forest."

WND had reported on the Forest Service's decision to move part of a week-long national service project by approximately 1,000 members of the Order of the Arrow, the honor society for the Boy Scouts of America, scheduled since 2004, after the Rainbow Family announced it would hold its annual gathering in the same general location.

The Order of the Arrow had worked for several years to put together this year's public service project called ArrowCorps5.

The plans include about 5,000 top Boy Scouts from across the country donating an estimated 250,000 hours of time to restore, repair, rebuild, reclaim and refurbish miles of trails, acres and glens at five different sites in the nation's forests. In most cases, the scouts pay their own travel and room and board expenses to participate in the biggest service project since World War II.

"ArrowCorps5 is the largest, most complex, most challenging conservation project ever conceived by the Order of the Arrow and Boy Scouts of America," said Brad Haddock, chairman of the National Order of the Arrow Committee. "This project provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for each participant to set an example of leadership in service to those who treasure our national forests."

The decision by the Forest Service to evict the Scouts from the location occupied by the Rainbows left local Wyoming leaders infuriated.

"It's a matter of intimidation," Sublette, Wyo., County commissioner Joel Bousman told WND. "It appears the Rainbow group has managed to intimidate an entire federal agency."

Mark Rey, the federal undersecretary supervising the U.S. Forest Service, met with Rainbow Family members earlier in Pinedale, and urged them to move their gathering, the Casper Star-Tribune reported. They refused.

Rey told WND he thought the decision to move the Scouts to somewhere else and leave the Rainbow Family alone was the best under the circumstances. He said the government allows the Rainbow Family to bypass its regular permit requirements in favor of an "operating plan" but the bottom line was that the government didn't want to be arresting hundreds or thousands of people.

"They couldn't be expelled without a fairly significant amount of law enforcement activity," he told WND a week before the gathering began.

"The Boy Scouts have been planning this since 2004," Bousman told WND. "They've been through the planning process and have been working very cooperatively with our Forest Service. They've spent lots of money planning the biggest venture ever for the Boy Scouts.

"They did everything legally, they had their permits. But because of the fact Undersecretary Rey, for whatever reason, took it on himself to do what he has referred to as an experimental process by which he does not require the Rainbow Group to have any permit, the conflict developed," Bousman said.

Now, the "significant amount of law enforcement activity" Rey was hoping to avoid by not holding the Rainbow family to the standard permitting process has become unavoidable.

Following the holiday weekend melee, members of the gathering told the Star-Tribune a far different story than that told by the Forest Service.

"They were so violent, like dogs," camper Robert Parker said after the incident. "People yelled at them, 'You're shooting children.'"

Rainbow members claimed they were Tasered, hit with rubber bullets and pepper spray balls, and had guns pointed at them.

"These people deliberately, for hours, were aggressively working the camp over and working the people over," a Rainbow who gave his name only as Ryan said. "They chose the kiddie village – the one place, the kids, to take their stand and create a riot, and I bought into it. ... They were looking for an excuse to do some damage to us."

Ryan's partner, Feather, said she was pepper-sprayed, and saw another Rainbow member with welts all over his body.

This Undersecretary Rey appears to be the bonehead responsible for this, and he SHOULD be held responsible for it. Typically, the men and women at the bottom of the food chain in law enforcement have more common sense than this, but they are the ones who pay the price for bad decisions made by folks who stay safe in their offices. The Scouts followed all of the rules and are not known for problems of any kind. The Rainbow Idiots followed NONE of the rules and have a record of NOTHING but TROUBLE. It would appear there's a need for someone with more common sense to be making decisions at the top. The safety of the public and the Forest Rangers was jeopardized FOR WHAT? AND, what kind of message was given to the fine young people in the Scouts? THINGS LIKE THIS ARE SICKENING! Don't we still want to encourage our young people to be law abiding citizens who desire to do constructive things for themselves and others? All of us should be proud of the Scouting programs and support them however we can. They will be the backbone of our future and our way of life - YOUNG PEOPLE TO BE PROUD OF!

Let's see if the following Scripture applies?

Isaiah 5:20  Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!


Isn't this exactly what happened in this situation?

Love In Christ,
Tom

Exactly.

This is an article I came across on a blog that I occasionally review. I thought it quite fitting to post here in "Peace Thugs" as it shows the true colors of these individuals. People claim that those in the leftist groups are more sensitive of others needs and feelings. This is especially not true when it gets them what they really want ... hurt feelings, demoralized people, and fear. Kind of sounds like terrorists to me. No wonder they support the terrorists in the way they do.


NYT Complaint: Not Enough Photos Of Mutilated American Soldiers in This War

The New York Times is miffed. They aren’t happy that there has been a dearth of news photos showing dead American soldiers in the war in Iraq. The Times is lamenting that there have been “4,000 U.S. Combat Deaths, and Just a Handful of Images,” so more carnage and death is their druthers. Well, more American dead, anyway. They aren’t interested in the dead of the enemy, to be sure.

Using the story of photog Zoriah Miller who had his embed status removed when he publicized photos of dead U.S. Marines after a suicide bombing, the Times reveals their pique over the fact that not enough dead Americans have been peddled to the American public. The Times denounces the military for protecting the troops and their families saying, “after five years and more than 4,000 American combat deaths, searches and interviews turned up fewer than a half-dozen graphic photographs of dead American soldiers.”

Complaining for opponents of the war that the lack of casualty photos has created a a situation where the “public portrayal of the war is being sanitized,” the Times wonders if the homefront is being badly served because we here are not seeing the “human cost of a war that polls consistently show is unpopular with Americans.”

How the Times can imagine that the anti-war set aren’t getting their opinions out to the public is anyone’s guess. And how the Times can imagine that the “human cost of war” is being “sanitized” is also a puzzlement. After all, for the last four years and until recently we had been daily treated to the media’s recital of the American body count, letting us know just how many Americans had died. Again, the body count of the enemy didn’t interest them at all.

Of course, the story of photographer Miller seems compelling… at least to the Times. His photos showed the after math and success of a suicide bombing and this is precisely why the military didn’t want his photos shown to the world.


The story details the story of several photographers that have been disembedded by the military brass after publishing photos of dead U.S. soldiers and reports that many embedded journalists are being kept from areas of battle is revealed.

The New York Times illustrates their story with photos of dead American soldiers from D-Day during WWII as if to say that it was always allowed to show dead soldiers in previous wars, as if these are somehow new restrictions. First of all, that isn’t true. But secondly, we are in a different era, a time when a fire fight can happen and mere minutes later photos of the aftermath can be beamed across the world to TV and news outlets. This nearly instant reporting leaves little time for the public to assimilate facts about any battle, much less give family members the opportunity to find out about the fate of their loved ones through proper, more respectful channels.

But, I guess the media have little use for respect.

The military responded to the Times’ carping with some solid points.


Now, the Times quotes photographer Miller as being “surprised” that his images of dead American solders raised any ruckus. He callously just chalked their deaths up to something that “happens every day,” and blew off any criticism. But there is one more aspect of this that explains why the military blanches at allowing the media to exploit the deaths of our soldiers.

Have you seen any stories about Iraq’s Sgt. York? How about the Iraq war version of Audie Murphy? In fact, how often do you see any story that reports on the heroism of one of our soldiers in Iraq? The media hasn’t wasted much of its precious ink on what they must consider such trivialities. But, they’d certainly love to see the mutilated corpses of our troops splashed across their pages and TV screens!

So, since the news isn’t balanced and the soldiers are treated by the media as victims and used solely to promulgate their anti-war and anti-Bush themes, is it any surprise that the military won’t let them use graphic photos of our troops’ deaths, too?

It sure isn’t to me.

An update to this article:

I have been contacted by Capt Esteban Vickers, one of the officers quoted in the New York Times story, and he asked me to pass along the full text of the letter he sent the Times’ reporter on this issue.


And I want to take this opportunity to thank Captain Vickers for his service. I second that thanks to Capt Vickers along with A Thank You to all the Troops!

Booted by Forest Service, Scouts now help fight fires
1,000 repair project volunteers relocated by feds when Rainbow Family set up camp

Members of the honor society for the Boy Scouts of America who had to change their service project plans in Wyoming when the U.S. Forest Service instead allowed the Rainbow Family hippie group to use a location the Scouts had sought now are helping the federal agency fight a forest fire in the state.

According to a report in the Casper Star-Tribune the Scouts, some of an estimated 1,000 members of the Order of the Arrow in the state, have "stepped in" to help firefighters in the Bridger-Teton National Forest fight the New Fork Lakes fire, about 19 miles north of Pinedale.

The blaze started when a campfire got out of control and from during the course of about eight hours earlier this week grew from 40 to 1,500 acres.

The Scouts are staffing the supply line that provides materials and services to firefighters, officials said. Firefighters also have established a command post at the Scouts' camp.

"It is a great help to have the extra hands," fire cache manager Heidi Zardus told the newspaper. "They are helping me get the orders filled and the supplies shipped out in record time."

The Scouts were in the area to work on a major forest restoration project that had been planned since 2004.

The massive project, called ArrowCorps5 and described as the largest of its kind in decades, has had Order of the Arrow members working on various locations around the nation this summer.

The plan had about 5,000 top Boy Scouts from across the country donating an estimated 250,000 hours of time to restore, repair, rebuild, reclaim and refurbish miles of trails, acres and glens at five different sites in the nation's forests. In most cases, the scouts paid their own travel and room and board expenses to participate in the biggest service project since World War II.

"ArrowCorps5 is the largest, most complex, most challenging conservation project ever conceived by the Order of the Arrow and Boy Scouts of America," said Brad Haddock, chairman of the National Order of the Arrow Committee. "This project provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for each participant to set an example of leadership in service to those who treasure our national forests."

But as WND had reported, the Forest Service decided earlier this summer to move the Scouts from part of their long-planned work sites in favor of the unorganized annual gathering of hippies, anarchists and "free spirits" who commune with nature and each other.

The decision by the Forest Service to evict the Scouts from the location occupied by the Rainbows left local Wyoming leaders infuriated.

"It's a matter of intimidation," Sublette, Wyo., County commissioner Joel Bousman told WND. "It appears the Rainbow group has managed to intimidate an entire federal agency."

Federal officials, after the Rainbow gathering, said they were re-evaluating their procedures and may have to ban meetings such as the arrest-marred gathering in Wyoming over the July 4th holiday weekend.

According to a report from the Associated Press, John Twiss, chief of law enforcement and investigations for the U.S. Forest Service, said the event's participants were "non-compromising" and "arrogant" and a review and a ban may be needed.

"I think we have to have that discussion within the agency," he told AP. "We spend an awful lot of time and effort on these people. And frankly, the taxpayers deserve better."

As WND reported at the time, officials for the Forest Service were surrounded and attacked with sticks and stones by 400 members of the Rainbow Family.

The Casper Star-Tribune also is reporting that the cleanup effort by the Rainbow Family from the assembly estimated at about 7,000 people is "cosmetic."

"It is cleanup," said District Ranger Tom Peters. "But it certainly is not rehabilitation by any stretch of the imagination. And it is not re-naturalization, which is a term they use and I'm not really sure what that means. But it is cleanup. I would describe it as cosmetic cleanup. They're taking out the trash."

He said members of the crew that remained behind are covering compost pits with soil, covering up trenches and covering fire pits with branches and tree trucks. One of the more egregious uses of public land, he noted, was a fire pit some 40 feet in diameter and four feet deep.

Before the Rainbow gathering, Mark Rey, the federal undersecretary supervising the U.S. Forest Service, met with Rainbow Family members in Pinedale, and urged them to move their gathering, the Casper Star-Tribune reported. They refused.

Rey told WND he thought the decision to move the Scouts to somewhere else and leave the Rainbow Family alone was the best under the circumstances. He said the government allows the Rainbow Family to bypass its regular permit requirements in favor of an "operating plan" but the bottom line was that the government didn't want to be arresting hundreds or thousands of people.

"They couldn't be expelled without a fairly significant amount of law enforcement activity," he told WND a week before the gathering began.

"The Boy Scouts have been planning this since 2004," Bousman objected. "They've been through the planning process and have been working very cooperatively with our Forest Service. They've spent lots of money planning the biggest venture ever for the Boy Scouts.

"They did everything legally, they had their permits. But because of the fact Undersecretary Rey, for whatever reason, took it on himself to do what he has referred to as an experimental process by which he does not require the Rainbow Group to have any permit, the conflict developed," Bousman said.

And where are the Rainbow Group members during this fire?

Brothers and Sisters,

These fine young people in the Boy Scouts are good news, and I wish that we had more of it. I'm proud of them, especially considering that previous negative actions toward them didn't ruin their attitudes or wishes to help. These Boy Scouts are giving us all a lesson that we need:   DON'T GET DISCOURAGED - KEEP TRYING!

This same message applies to Christians directly. We should keep trying and never allow the devil to discourage us. There is work that GOD wants done, and we can do it, regardless of the difficulty we might face in serving HIM. HE is worthy!

Love In Christ,
Tom

Amen!

Tacoma Peace thugs vandalize Army recruiters, then brag about it

Domestic attack

A short time ago we responded to threats to our soldiers with a mass rally at the Tacoma recruiting station. SDS led this attempt to interfere with the rights of our soldiers to do their jobs. We stopped them! On Friday they attacked the recruiting station with rocks in a clear and deliberate (yet fruitless) attack of sedition.

I found this report at the Tacoma SDS website that clearly states that they work with the attacker.


They also threaten more attacks.


Seattle’s Indymedia site had a video of a peace thug saying that maybe someone "would plant something".

Thugs!  And proud of it!

They promote peace just as islam does.

I didn't hear about this.  Was it today?


You hit that nail on the head!  (http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x125/luvmarley_bucket/thumb_hammer.gif)

It supposedly happened at the Tacoma Mall on 1 Aug. The information I posted here was just put up on the internet on 3 Aug, it was posted on the site where I saw it just yesterday. I don't know why it has taken so long to report on it. The web site I saw it on usually has things like this posted within minutes of it happening. This was a continuing action by this peace thug group that also called for people to harass all Military and their families at the same mall back on 15 Mar 2008 when they attempted to shut down the entire mall.

RNC Accuses Obama Bundler of Supporting Iraq Insurgency

The Republican National Committee (RNC) published an update at its BarackBook.com website yesterday that accuses Barack Obama presidential campaign bundler Jodie Evans of supporting the insurgency in Iraq.


    Evans is co-founder of the so-called antiwar group Code Pink.

    The RNC quoted a January 15, 2006 column by Robert Novak that said,
"Code Pink, At A Mock War Crimes Tribunal In Istanbul June 27, Signed A
Declaration That The Iraqi Insurgency 'Deserved The Support Of People
Everywhere Who Care For Justice And Freedom.'"

    Evans represented Code Pink at the mock war crimes tribunal. In
addition to expressing Code Pink's support for the insurgency, Evans
published a statement from Istanbul personally endorsing the insurgency
that has killed thousands of American troops and free Iraqis:

    "We must begin by really standing with the Iraqi people and defending
their right to resist. I can remain myself against all forms of violence,
and yet I cannot judge what someone has to do when pushed to the wall to
protect all they love. The Iraqi people are fighting for their country, to
protect their families and to preserve all they love. They are fighting for
their lives, and we are fighting for lies." (AlterNet, June 26, 2005)

    Evans has a close relationship with the Obama campaign. She hosted
Obama's first Hollywood fundraiser in February 2007, along with Steven
Spielberg, David Geffen, Jeffrey Katzenberg and her ex-husband Max
Palevsky.

    According to Evans' Code Pink co-founder Medea Benjamin, Evans is on a
first name basis with Obama and discussed Iraq policy with Obama at another
Hollywood fundraiser on June 24, 2008.

    Evans is listed on the Obama website as having bundled between $50,000
and $100,000. She has also contributed the maximum $2300 to his primary
campaign, according to FEC records.

    In addition to supporting the insurgency in Iraq, Evans recently
expressed her agreement with Osama bin Laden's reasons for attacking
America on September 11, 2001 in an interview broadcast June 3, 2008:

    Jodie Evans:..."We were attacked because we were in Saudi Arabia, that
was the message of Osama, was that because we had our bases in the Middle
East, he attacked the United States."

    Paul A. Ibbetson: "Do you think that's a valid argument?"

    Evans: "Sure. Why do we have bases in the Middle East? We totally
violated the rights of that country. Why do we get to have bases in the
Middle East?"

    Also in that interview, Evans said Code Pink's goal is to "undermine
the war effort (of the United States") and that she wished Saddam Hussein
was still in power.

    Toward that goal, Evans has worked with the governments of Saddam
Hussein (in 2003), Hugo Chavez and the Castro brothers, as well as
pro-insurgent elements in the Middle East.

    While supporting the Iraq insurgency abroad, Evans has led a campaign
against the Marines at home in Berkeley, where Code Pink has called the
Marines "assassins" and she has likened the Marine recruiting office to a
"porn shop."

    The Obama campaign has rejected two requests by pro-troop organizations
that Obama renounce Evans.

    Kristinn Taylor, co-leader of the D.C. Chapter of FreeRepublic.com, an
independent grassroots group comprised of veterans, military families and
other patriotic Americans, issued the following statement applauding the
RNC and reiterating the call for Obama to renounce Evans:

    "Barack Obama has said he knows he needs to earn the trust of the
military. When he speaks before the Veterans of Foreign Wars today, he
could take a giant step toward earning that trust by renouncing Jodie Evans
and her bundled campaign dollars and denounce her support of the Iraq
insurgency.

    "The RNC is to be commended for speaking out against Evans. We hope
that they too will join the call for Obama to renounce Jodie Evans."

Clash with university over beliefs strands student
Seeking resolution of master's degree work at Temple


A university student who challenged his school's "speech code" and won a ruling in federal court that it was vague, overbroad and stifled student speech, including his Christian views, is continuing his battle with Temple University because the school has – three years after he completed it – declined to provide a grade on his master's thesis, thus effectively denying him his degree.

The Alliance Defense Fund recently announced that the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had affirmed the district court victory by Christian DeJohn, who is a sergeant in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard.

The ADF handled DeJohn's successful request in the courts for a permanent injunction against Temple University's speech code, and after a district judge sided with DeJohn, the appeals court confirmed "speech cannot be prohibited in the absence of a tenable threat of disruption… Furthermore, the policy's use of 'hostile,' 'offensive,' and 'gender-motivated' is, on its face, sufficiently broad and subjective that they 'could conceivably be applied to cover any speech' of a 'gender-motivated' nature 'the content of which offends someone.'"

Continued the appeals court ruling, "This could include 'core' political and religious speech, such as gender politics and sexual morality… The policy provides no shelter for core protected speech."

DeJohn's career, however, is not advancing as he planned. He told W ND the judge's order did not include instructions for Temple to grade his thesis, so more than three years after he completed it under school supervision, it still sits.

DeJohn now is serving at Fort Meade in Maryland, and told WND how the problems developed. He said he was enrolled at Temple in Philadelphia, but left about seven months after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks because he was deployed to Bosnia.

While he was in Bosnia, he started getting anti-war e-mails, called "teach-ins" from Richard Immerman, chairman of Temple's history department. DeJohn responded with a request that the e-mails be stopped.

Then when he returned from active duty and tried to re-enroll in Temple as a graduate student, he was told he had been expelled because he had not asked permission to leave the university.

DeJohn produced copies of his written request, with copies of his orders to deploy, and officials then attributed the situation to "computer error." He eventually was allowed back into school and worked on his master's degree in American and Military History.

However, two professors whose classes he took, Gregory Urwin's "Comparative History of Modern Warfare" and Immerman's "American Diplomatic History," included diatribes against President Bush, the military and the war, he said.

During the course of those lectures, DeJohn expressed his opinion.

He also finished his thesis, "The Sherman Tank in World War II: For Want of a Gun," in 2005 following payments for "thesis guidance" to the school, but he claims because of the dispute, the school simply declined to address his project.

However, Ray Betzner, a Temple spokesman, told WND the court simply did not rule in DeJohn's favor on the issues regarding the thesis.

"In short, his academic performance just wasn't good enough," Temple attorney Joe H. Tucker, Jr. said. "It had nothing to do with his First Amendment rights and everything to do with Temple professor's academic freedom to grade a student's poorly written, poorly constructed … thesis."

However, the primary reader of his thesis, Dr. Jay Lockenour, was ready to sign off on it but when DeJohn needed a secondary reader, Urwin refused to approve it, DeJohn said. He said Lockenour apparently believed it would be resolved, and advised him to register to graduate in May 2005, but it didn't happen.

Despite those circumstances, DeJohn said Temple reported to his student loan companies that he had obtained a diploma, causing his loans in the amount of $50,000 to default, damaging his credit.

DeJohn said he believed Temple had initiated a campaign against him, punishing him for openly discussing his opinions while he was a student. He even wrote to Temple's president, David Adamany, seeking his help regarding the obstacles he was facing.

Subsequently, when asked under oath if he was aware of DeJohn's dilemma, Adamany denied being aware of allegations about violations of academic freedoms. DeJohn, also under oath, produced copies of their communication. Shortly thereafter, in a front page story in the Philadelphia Inquirer on Jan. 20, 2006, Adamany announced his resignation. Betzner insists that he "retired."

DeJohn eventually sought help from Accuracy in Academia and a Pennsylvania state representative, and later followed the discrimination complaint filed by the Alliance Defense Fund.

But even today, DeJohn's academic status remains in limbo because his status of his thesis hasn't been resolved.

And the campaign apparently even has gone beyond that. DeJohn reported when he applied for a job as historian at The Army Military History Institute at The Carlisle Barracks in Pennsylvania, Urwin apparently e-mailed one of his former students who worked there, saying that he understood that DeJohn had applied for the job. He stated that all veterans are mentally imbalanced because they have been trained to kill by the Army.

DeJohn said he never even was interviewed for the post, but under a Freedom of Information Act request, he obtained documents showing that he was rated No. 1 out of 62 candidates for that position.

Recreate ‘68 threatens Democrat convention in Denver

Recreate 68 is an "organization" (I use that term loosely as nothing is actually organized but rather a free-for-all group of chaos) that is threatening to recreate the situation that occurred at the 1968 Democrat National Convention. They call themselves an "alliance". All of the supposed "peace protestors" of the anti-war groups are getting together to recreate the 1968 protests. For those that are not aware of what the 1968 protests in Chicago at the DNC was like it was complete uncontrolled mob action with riots. There was a whole lot of damage and many people hurt. Recreate 68 has promised that the 1968 protests will “look like a small get-together” compared with the havoc that will erupt in Denver.

Recreate 68 demonstrated in Seattle during the traumatic and destructive 1999 World Trade Organization protests there, and it plans a “massive presence” in Denver. In Seattle, protesters barricaded intersections, kept terrified delegates holed up in their hotels, and drove the mayor to declare a state of emergency.

In addition to the authorities having to deal with Recreate 68, another anarchist group, Unconventional Action, has vowed to “target” fundraisers, delegates’ hotels and the city’s transportation system.

In Minneapolis for the RNC, Recreate 68 plans to:


What is the purpose of their protests? It is to:


Yes, you read that right ... including the occupation of places such as the U.S. including Hawaii ... not by terrorist muslim organizations but by "illegal imperialist". In plain terms that means our current government and they are ready to invoke violence in the name of "peace".

Recreate 68 includes groups such as CODEPINK, the Green Party, Tent State University, the Denver International Socialist Organization and Iraq Veterans Against the War, Students for a Democratic Society, United for Peace and Justice, and many more such groups. Some of these groups claim to have splintered away from Recreate 68 and vow a peaceful protest only. We'll have to see how true that is since CODEPINK is one of those groups and they have a large record of violent protests.

Anti-war protesters march to Pepsi Center

More than a thousand protesters marched to the gates of the Pepsi Center today, temporarily closing down access to the site of the Democratic National Convention. Protesters from the Recreate 68 anti-war rally and march briefly sat down, but dispersed peacefully when police asked them to disband. There were no arrests.

Police officers, some on mountain bikes, some on horses, escorted the marchers from the steps of the Capitol down Colfax Avenue and Speer Boulevard to the Pepsi Center.

"No cops, no KKK, no fascist USA," some marchers chanted as they walked in the bright, noonday sun.

Organizers reconsidered at the last moment not to march across Civic Center, which had filled with conventioneers, marketers and opportunists with booths and tents. Instead, they marched under police escort down Colfax Avenue to Speer Boulevard, then turned left on Auraria Parkway to 9th Street, where the march ended.

Recreate 68 and other protest groups said months ago they would occupy Civic Center park in violation of the host-committee permit. Recreate 68's Larry Hales says early threats to take Civic Center were meant to start a dialogue (to get attention).

Officials estimate up to 1,500 protesters took part. Despite taunts and threats made to police, no one was arrested and the marchers disbanded 30 minutes after arriving on Auraria Parkway.

Earlier today, at a speech at the Capitol rally, anti-war protester Cindy Sheehan urged a crowd of 500 people to support alternative candidates.

"It's been three years since I camped out in Crawford, Texas, and the country is still mired in war in the Middle East," she told the cheering crowd on the west steps this morning.

Sheehan, whose son was killed as a soldier in Iraq, became known as the "Peace Mom" after she camped for 26 days outside of President Bush's ranch in Crawford, hoping to get an audience with him.

"Neither Republicans nor Democrats represent the people," she said. "They've taken away more of our freedoms.

It's now easier to spy on us. (Admitting they have something to hide?)

"This convention is sponsored by AT&T. What does that tell you?" she said to wild cheers.

"Denver has partnered with the Democrats to create a fascist police state. Now we have free speech in cages. We are not animals."

Although she purchased property in Crawford, she now lives in San Francisco, where she is running against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her seat in the House of Representatives. "I believe my campaign is winnable," Sheehan said.

Just before the protest began, organizers prepared puppet heads of President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Folk musicians warmed up the crowd with live music as the rally began at 9 a.m.

Recreate 68 co-founder Mark Cohen called presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama part of an imperialist system.

Ron Kovic, the anti-war activist whose paralyzing injuries in Vietnam were chronicled in his book "Born on the Fourth of July," told the crowd, "We refuse to be silent ... we are going to speak our minds. The whole world is watching."

At one point, demonstrators confronted a Fox News camera crew, screaming that Fox is biased in its coverage. Amid chants of "Fox has got to go", and "Fox, go home," state troopers moved in and separated the most vocal protesters from the camera crew. That same crew was confronted again at the end of the march on Auraria Parkway. Police ushered the crew away.

Green Party vice-presidential candidate Rosa Clemente told the crowd that "hip-hop" culture has not gone away. Basically campaigning for herself instead of condemning the war, Clemente chided the black and Latino media for ignoring her campaign, as well as that of Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney, who was in the crowd.

It sounds like they've loosed an army of NUTS on Denver, and the NUTS want to run the country. They call Obama an Imperialist, so can you imagine what they would be like?

WOW! I'd heard something about the Green Party, but I really had no idea. My first thought involved cartoon characters, and I really couldn't get past that point. I'll be holding my breath to see how many votes they get. They're giving sociopaths a bad name.   ;D   ;D

100 protesters taken to temporary center

About 100 protesters were being processed early today at Denver's temporary processing center in a former warehouse.

Depending on their charges, they should be processed by 4 a.m. or 5 a.m., said Capt. Frank Gale of the Denver Sheriff's Office.

"It's working exactly the way it is supposed to do," Gale said of the facility.

If the detainees have the resources, they could post bond, Gale said. Others could end up being taken back to the main jail.

About 7 p.m. Monday, riot police using pepper spray forced a couple of hundred protesters out of Civic Center and then blocked them before they could reach the 16th Street Mall.

Police surrounded the protesters along 15th Street between Court Street and Cleveland Place and then moved up reinforcements, including at least two armored vehicles.

Lynn Kimbrough, a spokeswoman for the convention's Joint Information Center, said one officer fired pepper spray during the initial confrontation near the City and County Building and one officer fire pepper spray on 15th Street. She also said one officer fired pepper balls in once instance, but wasn't sure of the timing.

She said an officer fired the first spray when several of the protesters charged toward the police line, which had been set up to protect the roadway and prevent any movement toward the pedestrian mall.

Police processed detainees until nearly 11 p.m. using tables set up along Cleveland and loading the detainees onto sheriff's buses for transport to the center.

Larry Hales with the activist group Recreate 68 said his group did nothing wrong Monday and had a permit for the Civic Center gathering when police closed in and created havoc.

Hales said that if they are not released by the morning, the activists will protest outside the police headquarters.

"I'm a little in shock," said Joey-Kenzie, 21, of Denver, after spending about 90 minutes in the crowd of people pinned in by officers in SWAT gear.

Kenzie said she wanted to leave but police had surrounded the group and there was no way out.

"At one point we didn't know what we were going to do, we were going to get arrested or maced," said the recent Community College of Denver graduate.

Kenzie said police never asked for her identification.

"I haven't been able to vote for a president yet, but this was an epiphany," she said. "My freedom of speech was suppressed."

Protesters and police had originally lined up across from one another in front of City and County Building about 7 p.m., the police wearing their full riot gear and holding batons, chanting "move back, move back."

Police used pepper spray before the mass of marchers moved back across the park and were cut off by police behind the Sheraton Hotel.

One protester said police had used the spray "like a supersoaker" in front of the City and County Building. Pepper spray was used again on 15th Street.

A police spokesman said that they had massed their forces in the park based on intelligence about the protesters' actions.

One demonstrator, who would not give his name, said the confrontation began when "a bunch of us were supposed to have a direct action march."

Paralyzed anti-war activist Ron Kovic, who was not part of the march, had talked to protesters on the mall outside of the police parimeter."I came out here for my concern for you," Kovic told them. "We're not going to let them stop you. We're not going to let them intimidate you. But we are emphasizing peace and nonviolence. We don't want trouble in Denver tonight."

Curiousity seekers stood outside the police cordon, outnumbering the marchers.

Protestors told reporters they were a mix of Tent State participants and those identifying themselves as anti-capitalist, anti-fascist, anti-war individuals.

The group split, with officers surrounding and detaining the group on 15th Street, while others were pushed back by police toward Civic Center. Once the police organized their lines, the distance widened.

Police officials asked RTD to shut the 16th Street Mall bus shuttle service shortly after 7 p.m., said RTD spokesman Scott Reed. The mall service resumed around 9:30 p.m.

Sam Harper, 36, of Eufaula, Okla., said he was here to protest the war, but he wasn't prepared to be injured.

"When I saw the tear gas, I split. I don't need to get beat down," Harper said.

The detained grouped chanted in unison: "Who screams? We scream."

Some in the crowd outside the police lines, which included onlookers and media, chanted: "Cops here. Bombs there. U.S. out of everywhere."

"Speech is free. Let them be."

"Show me what the First Amendment looks like."

"Let them go."

"Watch out! They're gearing up," some in the crowd shouted, as officers donned gas masks and other protective equipment.

A girl warned anyone with contact lenses to get out of the area.

"The spray will fuse your contact lenses to your eyeballs," she said.

A protester named Timmy said he had slipped out of his all-black outfit and then slipped outside the police cordon.

"We want freedom from oppression," he said. "We want direct democracy where communities are allowed to make decisions based on our own abilities. It takes bottom-up organizing to make change; it doesn't take a leader. We want cooperations, not capitalism."

Meanwhile, in Skyline Park near 18th and Arapahoe, about a dozen people sat surrounded by police, apparently in custody.

Code Pink protester still in jail after skirmish
'There's been hundreds of contacts with officers that have gone very well'

A Code Pink protester shown on video being shoved to the ground by a police officer's baton and later hauled away remains in jail on a charge of interfering with an arrest but should be released tonight, Code Pink officials say.

Alicia Forrest was arrested outside Civic Center after confronting officers and asking them questions about another arrest they were making, said Sally Newman, legal liaison and spokeswoman for the group.

"She was one of a number of people trying to find out where this person was being taken," Newman said. "They just arrested her along with him."

The video shows an officer quickly shoving Forrest with the length of his baton, forcing her to the ground with a smack. Later, as she was speaking with reporters, the video shows police coming behind her and dragging her away.

Lt. Ron Saunier, a police spokesman, said the 30-second video is “kind of jumpy” on his computer and doesn’t give the full context of the situation.

“Just shown in that context, you don’t get what the whole dynamics or the full situation is,” he said.

Richard Rosenthal, Denver’s independent monitor, who saw the video online at the request of the Rocky, said the incident warrants additional review.

“Obviously, looking at that, I’d want to look at the use of force report. I’d want the department to look and evaluate,” he said.

Rosenthal declined to share his initial thoughts on the officer’s actions.

“I can’t do that,” he said. “My job is to maintain objectivity until the completion of an investigation. What I can say is I think that that warrants additional review … But I have to maintain objectivity on anything because you can’t rush to judgment.”

Code Pink posted a $500 bail for Forrest, and the group expects her to be released in four to six hours, Newman said.

"It's really frustrating that we have this incident of violence now," she said.

Forrest is consulting with an attorney from the People's Law Project, which has been representing protesters arrested during this week's Democratic National Convention.

Saunier said he recommends that the protester contact the department’s Internal Affairs Bureau or the Office of the Independent Monitor if she feels that the officer used unnecessary force.

During the DNC, officers have had many interactions with protesters and overall, police have reacted professionally, he said.

“There’s been hundreds of contacts with officers that have gone very well. We may have an isolated instance here and there and the department is committed to fully looking into those instances, and if it’s deemed inappropriate, we’ll take the appropriate actions,” he said.

Flammables, duct tape,
knives and urine, oh my!
Police raid uncovers 'RNC Welcoming Committee'
weapons stash meant to disrupt GOP in Twin Cities

Police in Minnesota raided a building in St. Paul and several homes in Minneapolis last night, confiscating materials believed to be stockpiled for protests, vandalism and riots by an anarchist group calling themselves the RNC Welcoming Committee.

Five people were arrested and more than 100 handcuffed, questioned and released when a Ramsey County police force – assisted by the FBI, Hennepin County, and Minneapolis law enforcement – executed a search warrant against a group considered a threat to launch violent protests during this week's Republican National Convention.

Ramsey County Sherriff Bob Fletcher read from a statement this morning, describing the RNC Welcoming Committee as "a criminal enterprise made up of 35 self-described anarchists who are intent on committing criminal acts before and during the Republican National Convention.

"These acts include tactics to blockade and disable delegate buses, breaching venue security and injuring police officers," Fletcher said.

Fletcher's statement also included a list of items found in the searches, including PVC pipe, chicken wire and duct tape – believed by police to be intended for locking protesters together in human barricades called "sleeping dragons" – five-gallon buckets of urine, throwing knives, flammable liquids, homemade caltrops (devices used to puncture tires, presumably bus tires), bolt cutters, sledgehammers, protective padding, and plastic buckets cut into shields.

A video claiming to advertise for the RNC Welcoming Committee's upcoming protests was posted on YouTube, showing a masked female running through streets to the lyrics, "One way or another, I'm gonna find ya, I'm gonna getcha," and distributing riot gear and homemade bombs from materials such as those found in last night's raids. The group did not respond to WND's request that it confirm authorship of the video, though the group's name and website are featured prominently throughout.

Both the video page and the group's website link to another group's stated plan for disrupting the RNC, which includes establishing blockades around St. Paul's Excel Center (where the convention is to take place), immobilizing delegates' buses and blocking the bridges that connect Minneapolis to St. Paul.

"Those plugging into this strategy," the plan states, "will be free to shape their actions as they see fit, using the tactics they consider appropriate."

The RNC Welcoming Committee released a statement late Friday, criticizing the police action.

"The police may claim that the raid was executed according to protocol – however, the violence inherent in this action may only be a hint of the violence to be expected on Monday and beyond, and is only a hint at the violence perpetrated daily by the police," the group said.

RNC Welcoming Committee member Tony Jones read from a statement calling the raids and effort to "derail RNC protest organizing efforts and to intimidate and terrorize individuals and groups converging on the Twin Cities to exercise what are supposed to be their basic civil rights."

St. Paul City Councilman Dave Thune, whose district includes the building rented by the RNC Welcoming Committee, joined the criticism.

"This is not the way to start things off," Thune told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. "This is sending the wrong message. Regardless of how you feel about these people … they have a right to be here."

"To me," Thune told the St. Paul Pioneer Press, "this smacks of preemptive strike against free speech."

St. Paul Mayor Christopher Coleman, however, defended the motivation behind the police action.

"We have worked very, very hard to make sure we've protected people's right to exercise free speech," Coleman told the Pioneer Press. "To pick up a protest sign, that's fine. If you're here to pick up a brick or some other instrument, there's a problem."

The Pioneer Press reports that the five people being held in jail are under arrest on suspicion of conspiracy to riot, conspiracy to commit civil disorder and conspiracy to damage property and that the St. Paul building that the RNC Welcoming Committee was leasing, found following the raid to be in violation of fire code, has since been turned back over to the property owner.

250 arrested after rioters smash windows
Protesters at Republican convention set fire, slash tires

An Associated Press photographer and a Democracy Now! TV and radio show host were among those arrested at an anti-war march on the first day of the Republican National Convention. Both were released hours later.

Police said Tuesday they arrested 286 people during Monday's event. Most of the estimated 10,000 people in the march were peaceful, but small groups that police said numbered about 200 broke windows, slashed tires and harassed delegates.

A different group, the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Committee, was going ahead with a planned march on Tuesday. This committee obtained a permit for its march, though spokeswoman Cheri Honkala said the group would deviate from its permitted path to go by the county jail where some of those arrested Monday were still held.

The committee is separate from the RNC Welcoming Committee, a group of self-described anarchists who vowed to keep up their street protests all week.

AP photographer Matt Rourke was covering the protest when he was swept up by police moving in on a group of protesters in downtown St. Paul. Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman was arrested as she asked police in riot gear about the status of two producers who had been arrested, one of whom she had heard was bleeding. The producers also were released later.

David Ake, an AP assistant chief of bureau in Washington, said he was concerned by the arrest of Rourke, a Philadelphia-based photographer.

"Covering news is a constitutionally protected activity, and covering a riot is part of that coverage," Ake said. "Photographers should not be detained for covering breaking news."

Phil Carruthers, director of the prosecution division of the Ramsey County Attorney's Office, said Monday night that no charges against Rourke were anticipated. Rourke, held on a gross misdemeanor riot charge, was released early Tuesday.

Democracy Now! producers Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar were arrested while they carried out their journalistic duties, Democracy Now! said in a statement. Democracy Now! said Kouddous and Salazar were arrested on a felony riot charge while Goodman was charged with misdemeanor obstruction of a legal process and interference with a peace officer.

All three appeared on Goodman's show on Tuesday and recounted their experience. A video of Goodman's arrest, aired on her program and also posted on YouTube, shows her begging police not to arrest her before being taken away in handcuffs.

Court proceedings moved slowly Tuesday morning as at least 22 people facing misdemeanor charges had refused to give their real names, said Dave Gill, a Ramsey County public defender. Only two people had gone through initial hearings by midday.

'Peace' protesters at RNC welcomed anarchists
Violent rampage grabs spotlight during anti-war demonstration

The spokesman for the coalition of 130 groups engaged in a "peace" protest outside the GOP convention yesterday told WND he had no problem joining forces with activists as extreme as anarchists, but it was anarchists who, nevertheless, grabbed the headlines with a violent rampage resulting in at least five arrests.

"We're glad they have come to speak out at the RNC," Mick Kelly told WND prior to the anarchists' attacks, which included smashed cars, punctured tires and bottles hurled at police, who arrested at least five.

"A diversity of views is, in fact, welcome when we're united about opposing the occupation of Iraq and demanding peace, justice and equality," said Kelly, spokesman for the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War, which included a Teamsters union branch, the ANSWER Coalition and Iraq Veterans Against the War.

You're concerned about how extreme some of these groups are?

"Not at all," he replied before the march, as a group of anarchists milled about near his media tent in front of the Minnesota capitol building.

At least one anarchist – or "anarchist-syndicist" to be precise – told WND before the march he was, well, kind of against using violence to accomplish his aims.

Cameron, a 20-something barista from Mankato, Minn., who laughed as he was asked for his last name, explained he subscribes to a branch of anarchist philosophy that takes a more pragmatic approach, regarding anarchy as utopia but recognizing it probably will never be achieved.

"It's kind of the activist anarchy," he explained. "Basically it's saying you make immediate changes when and where you can. I might advocate universal health care; the next day I might advocate immigrant rights. It's social Darwinism is what it is.

Recalling the anarchist rampage at the World Trade Organization in Seattle in 1999, Cameron was asked if he advocated violence to help bring about his ideal world.

"No sir," he replied.

But he qualified his answer when asked if he identified with the Eugene, Ore., anarchists that smashed storefronts in unprepared Seattle, bringing an ugly, early end to the WTO meetings.

"A little bit," he said. "I understand their anger.

"I don't think destruction of property is violence," he quickly elaborated. "Hurting other people, that's violence … when you make a big deal about smashing windows when there's a big war going on, or killing tens of thousands of civilians, if not hundreds of thousands, it's the pot calling the kettle black."

Starbucks was one of the targets of the Seattle rampage, but Cameron said he serves coffee at an independent local shop in Mankato.

In St. Paul yesterday, with police on high alert with a fully equipped riot team, some anarchists reportedly started a trash bin fire and later tried to block a major intersection. Police dispersed the group, firing two tear gas canisters at the fleeing anarchists. Another mob, of about 100, threw garbage in the streets and at cars from a trash bin they commandeered. Blogger Jim Holt of Gateway Pundit reported his bus was hit by sandbags thrown from a highway overpass.

While destroying property is a simple, straightforward endeavor, describing what an anarchist America would look like proves more difficult.

For starters, there would be no president or Congress.

"There's no hierarchy," Cameron said.

How do people, uh, organize themselves. Can you get sewer and water?

"You work together," he said. "Groups of people all over have been providing basic services for each other before creating a military state. Always, people who don't understand it compare it to total chaos and a lack of organization and community. But it's really an absence of the state, and allowing people to collectively organize among themselves."

Cameron's colleague standing nearby, Colin from Milwaukee, chimed in, pointing to the Rotary Club as a helpful example.

"The last time I checked, they don't have a military presence, and they seem to organize just fine," Colin explained.

Asked if there's an example from history of a successful anarchist community, Cameron pointed to the Spanish Civil War, when thousands of anarchists in Catalonia and Barcelona rebelled against the regime before being dismantled by the communists.

Cameron said that while he has many communist friends, he isn't one, because "they don't have such a great track record."

What's your track record?

"Well normally the anarchists tend to be the soldiers, like the Russian revolution – that was mainly fought by socialists and anarchists, and in the end, the Bolsheviks took us over, and they threw us in jail and they killed us," he replied.

"The same thing happened in Catalonia … and in all of Europe during the 1800s," he said.

Is that an inherent problem – that the neighbors who are more organized are always going to wipe you out?

"That does tend to be a problem," he said. "We just hope to get stronger.

The superior people of far-Leftist Berkeley

All ego

As most veteran customers know, it takes a pretty thick skin to successfully navigate the Berkeley Bowl, this strident city’s most popular grocery store. Outside, petitioners seeking signatures for ballot measures have come to blows with opinionated residents. In the tiny parking lot, nicknamed the Berkeley Brawl, frustrated motorists have been known to ram one another’s cars. At the checkout, people have thrown punches and unripened avocados at suspected line-cutters.

When one shopper was told she couldn’t return a bag of granola, she showily dumped its contents on the floor. Culyon Garrison, who works at the customer-service desk, recently had a loaf of bread thrown at him.

The produce emporium — one of the nation’s most renowned retailers of exotic fruits and vegetables — creates its own bad behavior. Kamikaze shoppers crash down crowded aisles without eye contact or apology for fender-benders. So many customers weren’t waiting to pay before digging in that management imposed the ultimate deterrent: Those caught sampling without buying will be banned for life — no reprieves, no excuses. (Not even “I forgot to take my medication.”)

Raphael Breines, who was ejected last year for eating on the premises, said he couldn’t decide between two types of apricots, so he sampled both. Security stopped him in the parking lot. “They treated me like a thief,” said the 37-year-old park planner, who was photographed and required to sign a no-trespass agreement. “Technically I was stealing, but I wasn’t trying to hide anything. I was just deciding which type of apricot to buy.” Breines, a longtime customer, sent an apology letter, asking to be reinstated. His request was denied.

Store manager Larry Evans says the policy is a fair response to doctors, lawyers and college professors who help themselves to bags of cookies, nuts and vitamins, stick their fingers in pies and guzzle from bottles of sake, assuming the rules don’t apply to them. “There’s a sense of entitlement to this town,” Evans said. “People think, ‘If I want to do it, I’ll do it, just try and stop me.’ ”

Seven years on the job, he said, has given him insight into the city’s sometimes sharp social elbows. “Berkeley residents are angry — they’re mad at the president, the economy, all kinds of stuff. And this is the place where it seems to get released, the local supermarket.”

Longtime Berkeley residents also think they have a grip on the good life, so being banned from the Bowl is no small matter. On a typical summer day, a shopper at the Bowl is likely to find 20 kinds of apples, eight types of mangoes, half a dozen varieties of papaya, six kinds of garlic, five types of ginger and 40 different tomatoes.

Anti-war protester tries to handcuff Karl Rove
58-year-old woman accosted on stage attempting 'citizen's arrest for treason'

An anti-war protester confronted former Bush administration aide Karl Rove while he spoke at a San Francisco mortgage bankers' meeting.

A statement by the group Code Pink identified the woman as 58-year-old Janine Boneparth, who tried to handcuff Rove in what she called a citizen's arrest for "treason."

Rove, who was speaking Tuesday at the Mortgage Bankers Association's annual convention, elbowed Boneparth away as she was escorted off the stage.
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In total, five Code Pink members were removed from the hall during Rove's appearance. The organization says none of the five women were charged.

I do believe that we are going to hear a lot more from this group.

Leftists Get Violent During IMF/World Bank Protest

Two bank branches in Logan Circle sustained more than $110,000 in damage before dawn yesterday when at least 15 people dressed in black used bricks, hammers and sticks to smash windows, smearing red paint symbols that denounced the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, police said.

Security cameras in the 1400 block of P Street NW captured images of the vandals racing down the sidewalk at 5:20 a.m., residents said. As they went, they spilled red paint, which police say was later found streaked on the soles of several suspects' shoes and on their clothes.

Yesterday, a two-hour demonstration through downtown ended near the IMF headquarters on 19th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, where police tried to force the protesters off the street and then used pepper spray to disperse the crowd.

One protester was taken to a hospital with a splint on his leg. Dozens of others, along with a police officer, were treated at the scene for burning skin and eyes. A 22-year-old demonstrator was arrested after kicking a police officer who had fallen off a bicycle, police said.
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Police said they believe that the vandalism at the banks -- a PNC branch and a Wachovia branch -- was associated with the groups that organized the protests later in the morning, although several demonstrators denied involvement.

Capt. Jeffrey Herold of the Special Operations Division compared the vandalism to the rampage through Adams Morgan after George W. Bush's second presidential inauguration. The impromptu incident in 2005 left windows smashed at a police substation and two bank branches, and about 80 people were arrested.

About 8 a.m., a group of about 50 people marched in tank tops or spandex, doing fan kicks and arm curls while chanting "Kick out the capitalists!" and "Pump up the people power!"

Later, they joined with a group that had marched down Connecticut Avenue led by self-described anarchists. Members of that group dressed in black, and many wore hooded sweat shirts and bandannas over the mouths.

About 9:15 a.m., as they snaked down Pennsylvania Avenue past the IMF headquarters, chants turned darker. "No bailouts, no thanks! We'll burn down your [expletive] banks!"

A 20-year-old area college student and member of an anarchist collective said the group was not responsible for the vandalism but supported it.

"Banks should be abolished, and we believe in the destruction of capitalism and all organizations that support it," said the student, adding that he would not give his name because he feared government retaliation. "Housing is a right, and the banks are taking that away through foreclosure, so we do support any action against banks."

About 9:45 a.m., the protesters marched through Foggy Bottom flanked by police and approached the financial institutions' headquarters for a second time. Police ordered the demonstrators, who did not have permits to march in the street, to move to the sidewalk.

The protesters resisted, some pounding their hands on the hood of a police car. Dozens of federal and local officers arrived -- by bicycle, motorcycle and cars and on horseback -- to help quell the disturbance.

Compare this to the TEA Parties, which were poo poo’d by most in the Credentialed Media, but did not feature violence.

Did the police have to pull out the pepper spray during the TEA Parties, and arrest anyone for kicking a cop? I didn’t think so.

Who were the little darlings? Why, they were part of Global Justice Action, or at least there because of GJA, which sponsored the protests, starting on Friday and going through today. The police ought to arrest the leaders, since they basically incited the violence.

Environmental activist Marie Mason was sentence to twenty-one years and ten months in prison for her role in an Earth Liberation Front (ELF) arson at Michigan State University (MSU) in 1999. Mason was also ordered to pay $4.1 million in restitution.

Marie Mason, an environmental activist from Cincinnati, Ohio, is serving 22 years after admitting 13 counts of arson and property damage. Many liberal organizations are decrying this action as being too severe and mislabeled as terrorism. After all it isn't terrorism because no one got hurt.

Attack on Californians a 'hate crimes' preview?
Report documents assault on freedoms of speech, religion

If you want a preview of America under a federal "hate crimes" plan, just look at the attacks on majority Californians when the Proposition 8 state constitutional definition of marriage as being between one man and one woman only was approved in November, according to a coming report from Coral Ridge Ministries.

Robert Knight, a senior writer for the ministry, called the plan that already has been approved by the U.S. House and now is pending in the Senate, "perhaps the greatest challenge to the freedoms of speech, religion and assembly that we've ever seen."

The ministry's May 17 Corral Ridge Hour will report on the growing hostility towards advocates of traditional marriage and how the "hate crime" plan will inspire more abuse from homosexual radicals.

Cited in the report is an incident immediately following the 2008 election, in which a majority of Californians chose to define in their state constitution marriage as being between a man and a woman only.

An angry mob of homosexual activists in Southern California attacked an elderly bespectacled woman carrying a cross, then shouted her down as she tried to explain during a television interview her defense of the state's new marriage amendment.

"WE SHOULD FIGHT! WE SHOULD FIGHT!" screams one  protester as the woman, identified as Phyllis Burgess, stands calmly with a reporter waiting to be interviewed.

An example of attacks on Christians in California by homosexuals upset over their support for traditional marraige

If you want a preview of America under a federal "hate crimes" plan, just look at the attacks on majority Californians when the Proposition 8 state constitutional definition of marriage as being between one man and one woman only was approved in November, according to a coming report from Coral Ridge Ministries.

Robert Knight, a senior writer for the ministry, called the plan that already has been approved by the U.S. House and now is pending in the Senate, "perhaps the greatest challenge to the freedoms of speech, religion and assembly that we've ever seen."

The ministry's May 17 Corral Ridge Hour will report on the growing hostility towards advocates of traditional marriage and how the "hate crime" plan will inspire more abuse from homosexual radicals.

For a limited time,  by special arrangement through WND, for only $10.95 members of the public can send 100 individually addressed letters to each senator by overnight mail. Each letter is individually "signed" by the sender. The letters ask for a written response and call for opposition to the bill, including by filibuster if necessary.

Cited in the report is an incident immediately following the 2008 election, in which a majority of Californians chose to define in their state constitution marriage as being between a man and a woman only.

An angry mob of homosexual activists in Southern California attacked an elderly bespectacled woman carrying a cross, then shouted her down as she tried to explain during a television interview her defense of the state's new marriage amendment.

"WE SHOULD FIGHT! WE SHOULD FIGHT!" screams one  protester as the woman, identified as Phyllis Burgess, stands calmly with a reporter waiting to be interviewed.

A video of the attack can be seen on WND along with this article at:

http://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=98207

A cross Burgess was carrying was knocked from her hands, then stomped on the ground. Even the reporter was baffled by the aggressive protesters.

"She just wants to express her viewpoint, sir," she tells a protester who was waving his arms in her face.

The Coral Ridge report also cites the vicious and obscene attacks on Miss California, Carrie Prejean, who was asked by a homosexual activist judge during the national competition for her personal views on marriage. She responded with an acknowledgement of America's freedom to choose, then said her own belief was that marriage is between a man and a woman.

The response was a series of vicious name-calling attacks on her.

That attitude, Knight said, will be emboldened under a "hate crime" law.

"Seeing is believing. Perez Hilton berating Miss California is worth a thousand words," Knight said. "[You can] see what the guy is all about and what the gay movement will be like if they triumph. It should send a shiver down every spine in America."

Gary Cass, president of the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission, joins Knight on the program. He cites other instances of vandalism on churches, physical attacks on Christians, even a senior citizen being punched in the face because her yard held a "Yes on 8" sign.

Also featured will be "The War Against Christianity," a sermon by the late D. James Kennedy, Coral Ridge founder.

A hearing on the pending "hate crimes" plan, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, already approved by the U.S. House as H.R. 1913 and pending in the Senate as S. 909, is expected in the Senate Judiciary Committee soon. It's been described by Shawn D. Akers, policy analyst with Liberty Counsel, as a bill to create penalties against "victims" who were chosen based on an "actual or perceived ... sexual orientation, gender identity."

Many have dubbed it the "Pedophile Protection Act," and Reps. Louis Gohmert, R-Texas, and Steve King, R-Iowa, have explained how they tried to have majority Democrats in Congress define "sexual orientation" in the bill – and were refused.

They also tried to add an amendment that would state that pedophiles were not, in fact, protected under the law, and Democrats again voted to reject that idea.

King explained it's part of a national effort by homosexual activists not to just have the freedom to choose their lifestyle, but to be able to demand approval and likewise condemn those who don't agree with homosexual behavior.

First, he said, comes the so-called "hate crimes" law. Then will come the employment non-discrimination concept that says "thou shalt hire people of these proclivities." Finally, there would come the imposition of nation-wide same-sex marriage combined with speech limits banning any criticism of it, restrictions that already are in place in Canada.

Gohmert pointed out that Christians and their pastors need especially to be worried because of the bull's-eye being painted on them by homosexuals.

He said while the "hate crimes" bill says its provisions shouldn't be used against religious statements, there's an important word that follows that provision: "Unless."

That's unless "the evidence relates to that offense," he said.

And under existing federal law, someone who "induces" a crime can be tried, convicted and sentenced as the principal. He said that leaves open pastors and Christians to be prosecuted should someone who commits a crime claim to have heard them speaking against homosexuality.

 The ongoing Senate circus in Albany is pure farce at its most absurd, but at one point this week, things turned downright ugly.

On Thursday, some 150 protestors -- many of them from the thuggish far-left group ACORN -- turned up outside the Senate chamber and actually assaulted members of the Republican faction.

The demonstrators nearly knocked to the floor Sen. James Alesi (of upstate Monroe County); they also spat in the face of his chief of staff, according to published reports.

Not only was this violence uncalled for, the ACORN crowd shouldn't even have been there in the first place: The Senate lobby is a restricted area, and public protests are explicitly prohibited.

Sen. George Winner (R-Elmira) accused Senate Secretary Angelo Aponte -- the Malcolm Smith ally who earlier had locked the entire Senate out of the chambers -- of having "clearly sanctioned" the riot.

Violence from ACORN hardly surprises: It has a history, dating to the '80s, of engaging in trespassing, illegal seizure of private property, physical harassment, intimidation and outright extortion.

Those tactics, along with its notorious, fraud-tainted "voter registration" efforts, have been bolstered not only with millions in union cash, but also with $53 million in direct federal aid since 1994.

All of which makes us wonder why Mayor Bloomberg felt the need to go to bat for the group and its anti-foreclosure efforts.

The mayor, along with some of his big-city counterparts, supports a "pilot" ACORN project that ostensibly "mediates" renegotiations of distressed mortgages between borrowers and lenders to avoid foreclosures.

His housing commissioner, Rafael Cestero, hailed ACORN as "a solid housing provider in the city and a partner to the city of New York."

It remains to be seen whether this particular program is above board -- though ACORN, with its record, deserves the benefit of no doubts whatsoever.

But we wonder.

Will Bloomberg -- with his unfortunate history of doing business with noxious figures like Lenora Fulani and, now, ACORN -- be singing a different tune if the shoving and spitting come to City Hall?