Fox Trots Out More Freak-Out Lies @5 PM Tuesday

MoonHowler

Glenn Beck should be baying at the moon by 5 pm on Tuesday, September 8. Apparently he plans an hour long show dedicated to the endoctrination of America’s school children. He feels our republic is under attack:

 

 

To help us interpret all this insanity, perhaps its time for a good laugh from Keith Olbermann, who I rarely watch. The only thing left to do is laugh. There is no chance of reason here.

 

 

 

 

The sad thing is, too many people cannot think for themselves and rely on Beck, Hannity, and Limbaugh for their political foundation. Perhaps they would be better off with O’Reilly. He at least is a scholar and on occassion make sense. The others are third rate actors.

 

ACLU Fights 3 More Loitering Charges

MoonHowler

The ACLU is now fighting 7 loitering charges stemming from arrests made near Coverstone. The names of 3 more Latinos have been added to the already existing request for charges to be dropped.

According to the Washington Post:

“We have two problems here,” said Rebecca Glenberg, legal director of the ACLU of Virginia. “One is that there appears to be a pattern of using this ordinance to target the Latino community, and two, the loitering ordinance [overall] is unconstitutional.”

It was the second time in four weeks the ACLU has acted on behalf of Latinos in the county. A similar motion to dismiss loitering charges filed last month on behalf of four men stated that the county’s loitering ordinance is unconstitutional. Both motions are set to go before a Prince William General District Court judge Oct. 27.

This appears to be a wait and see situation. The 3 men live in Coverstone Apartments. Their attorney, Daniel Voss, reported that the men were doing nothing wrong and were standing outside the complex on a grassy area. However, something seems odd:

All the men were released after the incidents. If, however, they had been detained in the jail, they would have been questioned about their immigration status under Prince William’s agreement with federal immigration authorities, said Voss, who would not comment on whether the men are in the United States legally.

Is that how the Resolution works? Isn’t a person’s status checked post arrest? Does a person have to be jailed to have status checked? I must not have understood the Resolution after all–or are the men arrested legal residents?

Neighborhood Solutions

CindyB

An article on third page of the Prince William Extra in The Washington Post this morning, “Residents Given Reins to Improve Neighborhoods: Manassas Program Lets Neighbors Discuss Issues, Generate Solutions:

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/06/AR2009030603810.html

 

Check out the Neighborhood Leaders Group through the county also – their next meeting is Wednesday, March 11 from 7 – 8:30pm and is in the Occoquan Room of the McCoart Building.

 

 

 

287(g) Program Riddled with Ambiguity

MoonHowler

A GAO report released Tuesday night exposed some major flaws in the 287(g) program, according to the Washington Post. The report said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E), the overseer of the program, intended for 287(g) to be a plan to identify serious criminal offenders who are illegal immigrants and who needed to be removed from the country.

Some of the 67 jurisdictions who have trained for 298(g) with ICE are using 287(g) as a way to harass immigrants and to put ice detainers on individuals stopped for minor infractions like urinating in public and open alcohol containers, contrary to the objectives of the program.

Read More

Mideast Conflict Competes With Economy and Obama for Public Interest

MoonHowler

A few of us have been revisiting the Powder Keg thread for several days now discussing the fighting on the Gaza Strip. The Middle East just scares me and I am one of those rare birds who see 2 sides to the Palestinian/Israeli on-going issue. Basically I want to scream at both and say STOP DOING THAT!

Usually a war that involves Israel gets top billing on the news. Many people stayed glued to their televisons during the Hezbollah/Israeli conflict 2 years ago However, so much else is going on that the current battle in Gaza is often is taking a backseat to the financial crisis, the Inauguration, and Blagojevich. The Pew Institute provides us with the following chart:

Fewer people are interested in the conflict with Hamas than they were with the conflict with Hezbollah 2 years ago. Now that Hezbollah is firing missiles on towns in northern Israel, perhaps the interest will ratchet up some. It makes for a very dangerous situation in that region.

Blogger Gainesville Resident has referenced 2 very good reading resources on the current conflict. One is from Time Magazine and the other is from The Jewish Voice and Opinion. Don’t be mislead by the title on the later. It gives a variety of points of view. Neither are quick reading but are highly recommended.

Can Israel sustain a 2 front war? What should the United States role be in this conflict? Is our position weakened by a change in the Presidency? Are America’s enemies waiting and watching to see what President Obama will do? When a conflict is going on involving Israel, are we more vulnerable for a terrorist attack? What do you all think?

Click for more information from the Pew Institute on current events.

American News Media Called on to do a Penetrating Exposé of Congress for UnAmerican Views

MoonHowler

I thought McCarthyism was a relic from the past. I thought McCarthyism was a post-WWII overreaction by some zealots to the perils of communism. I thought McCarthyism was dinosaur thinking whose imprint was left back in the late 40’s and the decade of the 50’s. Looks like I was way off base. It is alive and well as evidenced by an interview with Minnesota Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann.

Congresswoman Bachmann is calling for the American news media to do ‘a penetrating exposé of Congress for un-American views.’ Would this be the same Mainstream Media all the darlings of the far right howl about on daily basis?

MSNBC pit-bull Chris ‘Hardball’ Matthews tries to hone in on exactly what Ms. Bachmann really means when she uses the terms ‘liberal’, ‘leftist’, and ‘anti-American’. Congresswoman (shudder) Bachmann is wound up tight and has her talking-points microchip all energized as she withstands a good grilling by Matthews. She doesn’t miss a beat while she castigates Presidential Candidate Obama as one who ‘pals around with terrorists.’

You have to see it to believe it.

Good news. Yes, there is something you CAN do about this outrage:

Petition for Congress
http://www.censurebachmann.com/

More good news. Bachmann is being challenged by a guy named Tinklenberg.

Bachmann’s challenger on Nov. 4th (trailing by single digits)
http://www.tinklenberg08.com/

Chicago Tribune
http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2008/10/rep_michele_bachmann_tells_chr.html

Will the ‘Real Virginia’ Please Stand Up?

MoonHowler

Talk about gaffes. McCain’s adviser Nancy Pfotenhauer told viewers that McCain had a good chance of taking Virginia because of his support in ‘Real Virginia,’ rather than Northern Virginia. MSNBC host Kevin Cork gave her every chance to get off the ledge. The lady blew her chance.

You just have to see this one. A picture is worth a thousand words:

ABC news for entire story