LOS ANGELES, Kalifornia - August 18, 2010 – Radio talk-show host Dr. Laura Schlessinger announced Tuesday she will not renew her contract that is up at the end of the year, telling CNN’s “Larry King Live” she wants to “regain my First Amendment rights.”

Schlessinger, 63, has been under fire for using the word “nigger” repeatedly during an on-air conversation last week with a caller.

In announcing her decision “not to do radio anymore” after being in the business for more than 30 years, Schlessinger said, “I want to be able to say what’s on my mind and in my heart and what I think is helpful and useful without somebody getting angry or some special-interest group deciding this is a time to silence a voice of dissent.”

National furor erupted when Schlessinger used the word “nigger” 11 times in five minutes during a call August 10 with an African-American caller who was seeking advice on how to deal with racist comments from her white husband’s friends and relatives. The conversation evolved into a discussion on whether it’s appropriate to use the word ever, with Schlessinger arguing it’s used on HBO and by black comedians.

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By Stephen Lendman

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Florida – August 17, 2010 – On August 15, AP reported that Obama gave his “personal assurances of (the) Gulf’s safety,” saying, “Beaches all along the Gulf Coast are clean, they are safe, and they are open for business.”

He lied.

The same day, BBC reported, “Barack Obama has taken a swim in the Gulf of Mexico (to) reassure Amerikans that the waters are safe despite the recent oil (gusher).”

U.S. corporate media reporters repeated the message, CNN’s senior White House correspondent Ed Henry among them, stating, “Obama takes (the) plunge, swims in the Gulf (to show it’s safe and) open for business.”

In fact, area businesses continue to be severely impacted and the entire region is dangerously unsafe.

As for Obama’s swim, on August 16, the London Independent reported that Obama and his daughter, Sasha, swam in a private Panama City Beach, Florida beach off Alligator Point in St. Andrew Bay, which is not part of the Gulf of Mexico.

Reporters were banned and no TV or video was permitted. “So… only the White House photographer was allowed to capture proceedings. The official picture was intended to provide evidence that the region’s beaches are back to normal.”

That statement is false. A dangerously toxic oil/dispersant brew contaminates much, if not the entire Gulf. It’s poisoned and potentially lethal for decades, maybe even generations. Nothing in it should be ingested. Millions in the region are at risk. No one should swim in coastal waters or eat any Gulf seafood. Responsible officials should ban it. Instead, the all clear has been given.

Obama, his officials and BP executives are criminally liable. So are state governors, coastal mayors and regional health authorities.

Area residents with children should leave. Tourists should avoid the region. A growing catastrophe will continue for decades, including a silent epidemic of cancers and other diseases, as well as lives and livelihoods lost.

That’s the major media’s unreported reality, which is worsening, not improving daily.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.

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Iraqi war veteran Mike Prysner has become one of the most outspoken activists against the military-industrial complex strategy of invasion and occupation of foreign countries for profit. He eloquently explains how the real terrorists are those who send troops to fight and die in undeclared and unconstitutional (i.e. illegal) wars.

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DENVER, Colorado – July 18, 2010 – Pastor Marvin Booker just wanted to get his shoes. But deputies at the new Denver jail told him to stop. When Booker, who was being processed on a charge of possession of drug paraphernalia, didn’t obey, he was held down, hit with electric shocks and then placed facedown in a holding cell, according to two inmates who watched it unfold.

Booker never got up. He was pronounced dead later that morning.

“I’ve never seen anything happen like that before in my life,” said John Yedo, 54, who was being processed on a charge of destruction of property and said he witnessed the scene. “What I saw is not what you’d expect to see in Amerika.”

The two jail witnesses, who were both arrested in the early-morning hours of July 9 around the time Booker was being processed, were contacted and interviewed by The Denver Post separately. Both of them said they had not been questioned by police investigating the death of Booker, a homeless ordained minister who served the poor.

Captain Frank Gale, spokesman for the jail, said he cannot comment on the ongoing investigation by the Denver Police Department and the Denver district attorney’s office, and cannot confirm the inmates’ accounts.

He said what happened at the Van Cise-Simonet Detention Facility would have been recorded on videotape.

“If in fact what they are saying is true, it should be reflected in the video,” Gale said.

District attorney spokeswoman Lynn Kimbrough said she couldn’t comment during the investigation, which could take several more weeks. The coroner’s office is awaiting test results before completing the autopsy report and determining how Booker died, she said. In the meantime, the deputies involved in Booker’s case are still on the job.

Yedo has had one prior arrest, in 1974 on a drug charge. Christopher Maten, 25, the other witness, was arrested in 2005 for public consumption of alcohol. Neither is a career criminal. The versions the two suspects tell are nearly identical.

Source:  http://www.denverpost.com/ci_15542359

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White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is fond of saying, “You don’t ever want a crisis to go to waste; it’s an opportunity to do important things that you would otherwise avoid.” Well, the Obama Administration certainly has not let the British Petroleum (BP) Deepwater Horizon oil rig crisis go to waste, using it as a smokescreen to silently assault and further diminish American citizens’ personal freedom.

While the nation has its eyes and ears focused on the blame game ping-pong match between President Obama and BP top brass, President Obama on Thursday, June 10, quietly announced a new Executive Order establishing the “National Prevention, Health Promotion, and Public Health Council.”

Claiming the “authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America,” President Obama has truly gone off the deep end this time in his most atrocious attempt to date to control every aspect of Americans’ lives.

According to the Executive Order that details the President’s “National Prevention and Health Promotion Strategy,” the Council will be charged with carrying out ” lifestyle behavior modification” among American citizens that do not exhibit “healthy behavior.”

The President’s desired lifestyle behavior modifications detailed in Sec. 6 (c) focus on:

• smoking cessation;
• proper nutrition;
• appropriate exercise;
• mental health;
• behavioral health;
• sedentary behavior (see Sec. 3 [c]);
• substance-use disorder; and
• domestic violence screenings.

Making matters even worse, if that is even possible at this point, President Obama will create an “Advisory Group” composed of experts hand-picked from the public health field and various other areas of expertise “outside the Federal Government.”

Let’s consider who the President has sought advice and mentoring from in the past:

• Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who the Anti-Defamation League calls a “Messenger of Intolerance,” and
• Bill Ayers, leader of the 1960′s domestic terrorist group ”Weatherman” that was “responsible for 30 bombings aimed at destroying the defense and security infrastructures of the U.S.”

Now, President Obama is going to seek medical advisors who will be charged with modifying lifestyles and behaviors of those citizens he deems unhealthy? “Paging Dr. Kevorkian! You’re wanted in the White House STAT by President Obama!”

Whether you are a child, a parent, a worker, or retired, the President’s approximately 25-member “Advisory Group” will soon be present in every aspect of Americans’ lives, as the Executive Order prescribes in Sec. 4 (b). Specifically, our new so-called lifestyle behavior modification advisors will be actively carrying out the President’s orders in:

• worksite health promotion;
• community services, including community health centers;
• preventive medicine;
• health coaching;
• public health education;
• geriatrics; and
• rehabilitation medicine.

President Obama’s sweeping plan to enforce “lifestyle behavior modification” is chock full of open-ended target areas, especially when it comes to issues of “mental” and “behavioral” health, “proper nutrition,” “sedentary behavior,” and “appropriate exercise.” The President’s Executive Order is a blatant and forceful attempt to adjust the way Americans young and old think, behave, eat, drink and whatever else free will used to entitle our nation’s citizens to enjoy as prescribed by the Founding Fathers.

If you are feeling stressed-out, sad, confused, hungry, thirsty, bored, or tired, do you honestly trust President Obama and his “Advisory Group” to act in your best interests?

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BALTIMORE, Maryland – June 12, 2010 – A cop who shot an Iraqi war vet nine times at point blank range last weekend for making a pass at his female companion has been charged with murder.

The problem is, no one can find him.

Authorities in Baltimore issued an arrest warrant Friday evening charging Baltimore police officer Gahiji A. Tshamba with first degree murder in connection with the death of former Marine Tyrone Brown.

But efforts to locate the 15-year veteran have been unsuccessful, leading investigators to consider the possibility Tshamba may have absconded rather than face murder charges and possible jail time.

“We have been to several places where he is known to live and he was not there,” a Baltimore police officer speaking on condition of anonymity told Raw Story Saturday morning.

Police have not officially classified Tshamba as a fugitive.

The charges come after a week of intense pressure for prosecutors to quickly indict Tshamba for the slaying of Brown.

Tshamba and Brown’s paths crossed nearly a week ago in an alley behind a bar in Baltimore’s Mt. Vernon neighborhood.

The two exchanged words after Brown allegedly made unwanted advances towards a girlfriend with Tshamba.

Police said an altercation ensued.

The Baltimore Sun reported that witnesses told police Tshamba yelled at Brown to “do it again,” allegedly referring to Brown’s advances. Then Tshamba fired off the fatal fusillade of bullets striking Brown nine times in the chest, head, and groin.

After the shooting officer Tshamba refused to take a breathalyzer test. Witnesses told police the officer was at a local bar holding a drink shortly before the shooting occurred.

An autopsy conducted earlier this week found so-called “stippling” on Brown’s head, gunpowder burns that indicate a victim was shot at point blank range.

The autopsy corroborates witness accounts that Tshamba was standing over Brown when he fired off 13 shots. Witnesses said Brown had his hands over his head when the shooting occurred.

Last weekend’s shooting was not the first time Tshamba had fired his weapon off-duty amid allegations that he had been drinking.

The Sun noted in 2005 that Tshamba shot a man in the foot who had been yelling racial slurs at the officer after he had struck Tshamba’s car. A blood alcohol test showed Tshamba had a .12 alcohol level, over the .08 legal limit of intoxication in Maryland for operating the motor vehicle.

In spite of this, internal affairs investigators determined the shooting was justified. Tshamba received an 8-day suspension.

A funeral for Brown is scheduled for Wednesday in Baltimore.

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BALTIMORE, Maryland – June 5, 2010 – An off-duty Baltimore police officer cold-bloodedly murdered an unarmed man outside a Mount Vernon nightclub early Saturday. Police said the officer fired his service weapon at least 13 times on a crowded street after witnesses said the victim groped the officer’s female companion.

While police said witnesses agreed that the victim had inappropriately touched the woman and fought with the officer, spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said detectives have “not been able to find a concrete motive” as to why the officer used his weapon.

The victim, identified as East Baltimore resident Tyrone Brown, 32, was hit at least six times in the chest and groin, according to the police spokesman. The officer, a 15-year veteran assigned to the Eastern District patrol division, fired his department issued Glock handgun at least 13 times, officials said.

The officer – who was not immediately identified in keeping with department policy – has been assigned to desk duty while the department investigates.

Police commanders indicated that Saturday’s shooting was troubling. It raises numerous questions, including whether the officer had been drinking and was impaired when he fired his gun, why he did not call for help from the many on-duty officers stationed nearby and whether it was appropriate for him to fire on an unarmed man in a crowd of bystanders.

Call and LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD! This is another opportunity for you to make it clear that you will not tolerate this murder by police. Tell the Commissioner that if he does not fire and prosecute for murder this thug cop, then you will do it yourselves. Tell him that you will find out who he is and where he lives and then destroy his life the same way he murdered that unarmed innocent man.

Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick Bealefed III

410-396-3100

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-md-police-shooting-edens,0,5949075.story?track=rss

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FRANKFURT, Germany – May 28, 2010 – On Friday at 12:40am, vigilantes set fire to a speed camera at Offenbach in Spessartring am Main. The large, pillar-shaped camera was lit after being doused with gasoline. The blaze damaged the camera housing but, according to Frankfurter Rundschau, the electronics inside survived. Police have no suspects, but will begin investigating anyone who had recently received a ticket from the device.

Vigilantes in Wachtberg grabbed a traffic camera from the L123, but the device was used as a traffic counter, not an automated ticketing machine, Radio Boom reported.

Last week, a speed camera on Fish Dam Lane in Barnsley, England was set on fire with a burning tire. The location is of particular interest because officials had previously stated that releasing the basic number of citations issued by the device would encourage attacks. Despite maintaining a veil of secrecy over all ticketing operations, the camera was destroyed.

“If information regarding the number of people prosecuted for the fixed camera site on Fish Dam Lane, Barnsley was released it would provide information to the public about enforcement activity at this particular site and reduce the overall effectiveness of the South Yorkshire Safety Camera Partnership’s safety camera system,” the South Yorkshire Speed Camera Partnership had stated in an August 10, 2009 letter denying a request under freedom of information laws. “In addition, if an unscrupulous person gained information about the most prolific sites in terms of detection in Barnsley, this will lead to a significant danger of increase in criminal damage at these locations causing loss of public money.”

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PORTLAND, Oregon – May 29, 2010 – As Americans prepare to honor fallen soldiers this Memorial Day, one former Oregon National Guard member is wondering why he’s being charged more than $3,000 for military gear that was lost after he was shot.

Gary Pfleider, a six-year veteran of the Guard, received a Purple Heart after he was shot by a sniper in Iraq. Some time later, he received a somewhat less gratifying award: A bill for $3,175 for military equipment that was lost when he was shipped out of Iraq for medical treatment.

Pfleider feels disrespected by the charges. He said he lost sight of the gear when he left Iraq and believes he should not be responsible for it now….

Pfleider inventoried his belongings and discovered several personal items and military-issued gear, including clothing, canteens and grenades, were missing.

He believed the supervisors at his former unit in Albany had filed paperwork clearing him of the charges. But in June 2009, Pfleider received a bill for $3,175.88. Shortly afterward, the federal government began taking $120 out of his Social Security disability checks each month. Pfleider said his state and federal tax returns were also frozen.

Pfleider says he can’t work because of his disability – he walks with a cane – and can now no longer afford to visit his daughters in Vancouver, Washington.

Capt. Stephen Bomar, a spokesman for the Oregon Military Department, told KVAL that it’s standard procedure for soldiers to be billed for unaccounted-for equipment for which they were responsible. But he said there is a process in place that allows soldiers in situations like Pfleider’s to file for reimbursement.

“Pfleider provided KVAL News with a sworn statement he filed at the Albany Armory in February 2010,” the station reports. The former soldier believes the military lost his paperwork.

“I think it’s just sitting somewhere on somebody’s desk at Fort Lewis, and they just don’t want to mess with it because they don’t think it’s a big enough issue,” KVAL quoted him as saying.

Captain Bomar said if it turns it was a paperwork mishap on the military’s part, Pfleider will be reimbursed.

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CHICAGO, Illinois – May 31, 2010 – Good friends, good food and the comforts of his own home.

Illegitimate President Barack Obama enjoyed all three when he brought his family home to Chicago for a long Memorial Day holiday weekend. It was the first family’s first sleepover at their red brick home in more than a year.

Obama’s only public appearance Sunday was for a roundtrip to a private gym for a workout. Top advisers updated him on efforts to manage the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. In the evening he joined family and friends at a neighbor’s home, according to a White House aide.

The president was due back at the White House on Monday after paying respects to the nation’s war dead during Memorial Day observances at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood, Illinois, south of Chicago.

Some veterans groups have criticized Obama, who has sent tens of thousands of troops into a ramped-up war in Afghanistan, for skipping the traditional wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. Obama helped lay a wreath at Arlington last year but this year has handed the honor to Vice President Joe Biden.

Obama spoke at the Lincoln cemetery on Memorial Day in 2005.

Before taking office in January 2009, Obama expressed a desire to visit his $1.6 million home in the city’s Hyde Park neighborhood about every six weeks.

“Our friends are here. Our family is here. We are going to try to come back here as often as possible … at least once every six weeks or couple of months,” he told the Chicago Tribune back then.

But the demands of the presidency and his daughters’ busy schedules of weekend soccer and basketball games, birthday parties and sleepovers have thwarted his intentions.

First lady Michelle Obama, daughters Malia and Sasha, Obama’s mother-in-law Marian Robinson and family dog Bo arrived in Chicago on Thursday night.

On Friday, Obama interrupted his getaway to visit the Louisiana coast for an update on efforts to stop the flow of oil into the Gulf. He also sought to assure coastal residents, and others unhappy with the federal government’s response to the nation’s largest oil spill, that he is in command.

Back in Chicago on Saturday, Obama indulged in one of his favorite sports – a game of basketball – at the University of Chicago Lab School where his daughters were enrolled when the family lived in Chicago.

A member of the group of reporters that travels with Obama also briefly saw Mrs. Obama in the backyard of their home, wearing yellow rubber gloves. The reporters were stationed nearby to await word on Obama’s next move.

That word came just before the family took a rare stroll down the now-barricaded public streets surrounding Obama’s house to the home of neighbor and friend Marty Nesbitt for a backyard barbecue. They stayed until after dark. The Obamas, including a casually dressed, sandal-clad president and Bo, were joined by Mrs. Robinson, her son Craig, his wife Kelly and their new baby.

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