New Orleans Police Laugh after the Execution and Burning of Henry Glover

On September 2, 2005 Henry Glover and a friend were walking behind a washed out Chuck E. Cheese’s and a strip mall in the Algiers Point section of New Orleans. According to witnesses there was a shout “get out of here!” followed by brief seconds then a shot rang out hitting Henry in the chest.


Henry was shot from a second story balcony by 47 year old New Orleans Police Officer David Warren, but at the time Henry didn’t know that he wouldn’t live to find out who shot him. His friend Bernard Calloway then runs across the street to get help from Henry’s brother Edward King.

Both Bernard and Edward rush back to aide Henry, and Edward spots a man in a 2002 Chevy Malibu rolling down Seine Street. Edward is able to get the man William Tanner’s attention and able to get him to stop and help.

William makes a very fateful decision. He considers taking Henry directly to West Jefferson Medical Center, but decides instead to take Henry to Paul B. Habans Elementary School, which had been taken over and was being used by New Orleans finest as a tactical base. One would think going to the police in search of aide would be a reasonable thought. However, as the Black residents of Katrina surely found out the police were no resource.

"They put guns in our faces," says Tanner. He suspects the police "assumed [Glover] was looting and that's why he got shot. They assumed we were looters, too."
King tells me he frantically tried to get the officers to help Glover: "I was hollering, saying, 'My brother's shot!' They handcuffed us. I said, 'You're not worrying about my brother.' They said some bad words to us and started beating us. They were beating us for 20 minutes." Tanner and King say that they, along with Calloway, were seated on a bench and cuffed while a swarm of officers punched, slapped and berated them. One of the officers bludgeoned Tanner in the face with the butt of an assault rifle, they say. "Every time I'd look up or sit up, they'd beat me," King tells me, noting that about five officers, all of them white, participated in the beating.

Meanwhile, in the back seat of the car, Glover, a father of four, was sliding toward death as blood poured from his wound, according to King and Tanner. Both men insist the officers did nothing to try to save Glover, despite his obvious injury, and both firmly believe that Glover died that day in Tanner's Chevy.

God bless Propublica or the case would have never been known

Numerous – possibly dozens – of other officers were likely present at the site of the alleged beatings. In an interview this week, a SWAT officer told me 50 to 60 cops were camped out at the school at any given time in the days after Katrina. (The officer declined to comment directly on the Glover matter.).

More Publica on the case

Ok, so there is a man in the back of a car bleeding to death, and they allow it to happen. There were 3 other men in the car and they toss them a beating for being Black in a natural disaster. Disgusting enough, but what comes next is the punctuation on this entire nasty episode. Two officers took the mans car and the body parked it next to a levee and set it on fire, and two other senior police officers helped them lie about it.

This week five New Orleans Police officers David Warren, Dwayne Scheuermann, Gregory McRae, Robert Italiano began trial on 11 counts in federal court as it appears Louisiana has no desire to ever prosecute police for the murder of Black people during Katrina.

Lt. Joseph Meisch testified Thursday that he was standing outside a police station near the Mississippi River when he saw a car followed by a pickup truck driving on a levee. McRae was driving the car and Scheuermann was driving the truck, according to prosecutors.
Moments after the car drove off the levee, Meisch saw a plume of thick, black smoke.
Meisch didn't know who was driving the vehicles until McRae and Scheuermann ran toward him. Scheuermann had a blank look on his face, but McRae was laughing, Meisch said.
"Laughing like somebody had just played a joke?" Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracey Knight asked.
"It could have been humorous or nervous laughter," he said.

Huffpo account of the trial

Henry’s mother went to the Police after her son’s death and asked for an accounting. She got nothing. I suppose I’m still smarting over the fact that George W. Bush considers the greatest pain in his presidency was Kanye West stating he doesn’t care about Black people. I wonder if incidents like this ever hit his radar screen, oh wait I know they didn’t. Henry’s story wasn’t isolated in the days after Katrina when reports of police brutality and murder were treated as urban myth. The truly depressing thing is with stories like that of Oscar Grant, or 15 others I could rattle off since Katrina very little has changed.

UFO over Disneyland and Curious Police Activity

On the night of October 10th there was a mass sighting of UFO’s in Southern California. I know I saw one myself. I was not alone. I know what I saw. However there were a string of sightings that was far more interesting in the communities of Anaheim and Garden Grove. I collected them in the blog post I did the next day you can find here http://adept2u.blogspot.com/2010/10/strange-starsufos-being-caught-on.html.

Inside this collection was a film from a brother named Izayne. Izayne if you are out there you are fierce. At any rate Izayne appears to have seen this UFO along with many others and uploaded what he saw.

The next day however he noticed strange police and quasi governmental activity. He and his crew jumped in their car and chased it.

Let’s cut to Wednesday October 27th and my man Izayne sees the same crew rolling through his neighborhood.

Why are the police escorting industrial equipment, and why are they wearing masks. Oh and what was the object that Izayne saw in the sky? Mr. Blinky!

Izayne speaks! I have been watching his video for comments and he has spoken more on the subject

Ok, Im going to do a quick summery of what happened, because so many people requested just that... We heard the loud speaker yelling danger danger, Same as the very first sighting that was filmed when we caught the first footage, instantly we ran to glance, there it was again, the convoy of Patrol cars.. We ran, in pack, grabbed the big green clunker truck, Jumped in it, and the guy that films all these clips is an older 58 year old man name tattoo Joe, He says he lives near by, and always

shows up when the big Sirens and Helicopters sound off, he beat us outside with his camera, we jumped in the truck, headed where the convoy appeared to be headed... To summarize this without so much detail, When The Girl Questioned the Police, She questioned him in fear for her own Safety, nothing else.... I don't know what was said, all i know is when she ran back to the truck, she muffled hurry lets get out of here fast, turn back and shut the camera off,he was trying to shut camera off

and the next thing happened so fast, Something Blue Flew In Front Of My Friends Truck Fast and scared the shit out of all of us, that is why we started trippin out and yelling, he almost dropped the dam camera and jumped out for my own safety... The driver then started following this Blue flash the flew fast in front of the truck climbed hight in the air in 2 seconds, like WTF, that freaked all of us out and Joe tried very hard to keep the camera on it but was unable to stay on it..

Anyone think Izayne was chasing a tranformer? Well do a search on Youtube videos from people seeing UFO's in So.Cal on the 27th here is a hint.



Does that look familiar?

Hey and guess what else happened that night

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local-beat/UFO-Sighting-Over-Knotts-Berry-Farm-105897123.html

The US Military Lost Primary Command and Control of 50 Nuclear Missiles

The power to destroy humanity on this planet carries a great deal of responsibility. One of the bedrock trusts the rest of us have to have in order to sleep well at night is that the security and reliability of our nuclear forces has to be 100%.

So when I got wind of this story I almost couldn’t believe it.

WASHINGTON — An equipment failure disrupted communication between 50 nuclear missiles and the launch control center at Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming over the weekend, an Air Force spokesman said Tuesday.
Lt. Col. Todd Vician said the break occurred early Saturday and lasted less than one hour. The White House was briefed about the failure Tuesday morning

Huffington Post link



The Air Force assures us that the security of the missiles was never in danger and that the ability for them to launch was never lost, and these are not the droids you seek. I’m sorry that last part was a bit of cynicism.

The equipment failure disrupted "communication between the control center and the missiles, but during that time they were still able to monitor the security of the affected missiles," Vician said. "The missiles were always protected. We have multiple redundancies and security features, and control features."

Huffington Post link

According to the official, engineers believe that a launch control center computer (LCC), responsible for a package of at least five missiles, usually ten of them, began to "ping" out of sequence, resulting in a surge of "noise" through the system. The LCCs interrogate each missile in sequence, so if they begin to send signals out when they're not supposed to, receivers on the missiles themselves will notice this and send out error codes

The Atlantic's account of this story

Do these statements make anyone else’s anus pucker? They could monitor security? Let’s say that this was a cyber warfare attack could they monitor the missiles being launched by say some Al Qaeda computer whiz? They began to “ping” out of sequence? So are they trying to tell us our nuclear forces have a software issue or a mind of their own?

The firepower they lost contact with has the ability to ruin life on earth for all of humanity, and they lost contact with it they started pinging on their own. I’m sorry that simply cannot be allowed. If there aren’t generals in civilian clothes over this we don’t have the responsibility requisite to be a nuclear power.

An administration official said that "to make too much out of this would be to sensationalize it. It's not that big of a deal. Everything worked as planned."

The Atlantic's account of this story

For the first time in my history I’m going to straight criticize the Obama Administration. Whoever said that everything worked as planned and to not make a big deal out of it needs to lose their job as well as every Air Force officer above the rank of Major with any responsibility for this incident.

Update 8:00 am

"Over the course of 300 alerts — those are 24-hour shifts in the capsule — I saw this happen to three or four missiles, maybe," says John Noonan, a former U.S. Air Force missile launch officer who first tweeted word of the issue. "This is 50 ICBMs dropping off at once. I never heard of anything like it."

"There are plans and procedures available to deal with individual broken missiles," Noonan adds, "but they are wholly inadequate to handle an entire squadron of missiles dropping offline."

Wired link

So the Air Force mentioned that security was not impacted by the event, and the administration said it wasn't a big deal

According to people briefed on what happened, a squadron of ICBMs suddenly dropped down into what's known as 'LF Down' status, meaning that the missileers in their bunkers could no longer communicate with the missiles themselves. LF Down status also means that various security protocols built into the missile delivery system, like intrusion alarms and warhead separation alarms, were offline.

Slashdot coverage

Intrusion alarms, and separation alarm were offline and that's not a big deal? Seriously?

Seems to me I wrote a few weeks back about a group of Air Force officers that had something to say about missiles dropping off line. The world is a funny place.

Namaste friends.

Go to Republican Strategy for Victory…Stop Black People From Voting

Disenfranchisement and Republican strategy go together like peas and carrots. Illinois Senate Candidate Mark Kirk is the newest participant in the tried and true strategy of White candidates instead of campaigning for the votes of non-White people instead electing to bar them from the ballot box.



He said the other side would be tempted to “jigger” the numbers. The word jigger is just another way to call a cat a kitty here. He wants to suppress the votes of the people of those districts and the reason he is so willing to fund the largest voter suppression effort possible and do it openly is the voters aren’t White.

In a private phone conversation that was secretly recorded, Mark Kirk, the Republican U.S. Senate candidate in Illinois, told state Republican leaders last week about his plan to send "voter integrity" squads to four predominately African American neighborhoods of Chicago "where the other side might be tempted to jigger the numbers somewhat.

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/10/mark_kirk_sends_poll_watchers_to_vulnerable_largel.php?ref=fpa

George Bush spent his entire Presidency turning the civil rights/voting rights division of the Department of Justice into one that has decided the greatest threat to American democracy was that non-white people would exercise their ability to vote. That’s why rather than go after the people who actually do things like voter caging, or real voter intimidation they are more concerned with a skinny little Black dude with a stick.

It would be funny if it weren’t so tragic. Mark Kirk intends to send his legions of White people into the Black community to challenge their right to vote. Voting shouldn’t be a hassle. These people secured their right to vote with their citizenship and their birthright. The blood of Black people is stained on every American battlefield, and it was not left there so the children of the people who shed it would have their privileges challenged at every turn.

Remember the dire warnings and shrill allegations of voter fraud surrounding the 2008 election? That ACORN would steal it, that the New Black Panthers were intimidating voters, that fraud across the county would be "rampant?"
They never panned out. ACORN no longer exists. (Although that hasn't stopped 20 percent of the American public from believing they'll try to steal the election.) The DOJ found that the New Black Panthers incident was isolated -- although that case found new life in allegations against the Justice Department itself (more on that below). A five-year effort by the Bush DOJ to weed out fraud, an effort the Obama team said was designed to suppress minority voter turnout, turned up "virtually no evidence."

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/09/despite_dearth_of_evidence_right_wing_voter_fraud.php

I used to run around posting this video when there was still a chance that ACORN might survive. When the media both right and left (talking to you Jon Stewart) took an entire lie and made it national news and used it to destroy one of the strongest progressive organizations designed to assist poor and non-white citizens they produced this in defense. I post it because during the first half of the presentation they say in no uncertain terms what the goal and strategy of the Republican Party is.

My New Hobby! I’m collecting the daily UFO/Strange Stars

Since the object I’m calling Mr. Blinky showed up in my life on October 9th I’ve been like the Richard Dreyfus character from Close Encounters. Instead of building a mound though, I’m building a little file of all the daily Youtube videos from all over the world that star Mr. Blinky.

I understand that the videos from Anaheim last night have had an “official” explanation. Apparently a trucker was playing with a LED encrusted radio controlled airplane. That’s actually fantastic. He should do it again. Hey I know why they didn’t just do it again, or ok I’m speculating. Here’s the speculation. These are not the droids you seek. Lol

Anyway here is Mr. Blinky’s parade. This first guy hooked his telescope to his camera and has a really great shot of Mr. Blinky. This is exactly what I saw too.

Sweden



Dublin



Don’t know where this is from, but I’m starting to enjoy the conversation of the people recording the things as much as the things themselves.



Neopolitan



ROFLMAO the ET’s are down with the Juggalos!



Australia



Why do people put creepy music in their videos of these phenomenons? I never did like the X-Files and I think it was mostly because of the music.





Alberta, Canada



This one is just described as outside his house. Don’t be afraid. Fear is the mind killer.



Waymart, PA



I love how seeing something strange isn’t gonna stop the party.



Im going to say this is Poland





WOW!



Kentucky



The internet is ablaze with the idea that October 13th will be a day of mass sightings over major cities. That kind of made me chuckle cause when I was reading that it was October 13th somewhere on Earth. Hey I’m laughing while looking at about 50 people a day record winking lights through their iPods.

Strange Stars/UFO's being caught on YouTube

There is something definitely going on. This is a collection of the what is it a star/ufo from the night of October 10th and 11th. What is occurring doesn’t appear to be slowing down. I took a sample on Youtube using just the search words UFO and looking for the blinking lights I saw. What I saw was amazing.

Anaheim



Another Orange County California



Sweden



You from Jersey? I’m from Jersey!



Scotland, and for this one I just have to ask are you kidding me, look at that thing move. Is it a satellite? I don’t know do they have satellites that can change direction like this



Back in the USSR ok Russia, but I wanted to hum a Beatles song.



Same day as in Russia, but in South America



France



Poland



Don’t know where, but it had that feel and on the same day



Mississippi



Montreal



So where you ever told how come there aren’t more films of UFO’s now that everyone has cameras? This is just the last two days ya’ll and as this isn’t my bandwidth I’m putting them together.



Lots of people from the OC last night here is Garden Grove



Another from the Anaheim



Viva Italia



Unless Mickey has a new effect Anaheim sure was rocking last night







Raising Arizona









Australia



Hey I know this one



Japan



Israel I guess



Again this was just for last night. The night of October 10th not the 9th where I found an additional huge amount of sightings.

Strange Star Over Southern California

Sweetie and I observed this thing move too fast to be a star i'm familiar with and a couple of other objects around it for two hours last night October 9th from about 2100 to 2300 hours. It appeared in the NE sky and appeared to transit about 25 degrees in the time we watched it. I was able to observe it on a Meade 4504 telescope (thanks Neil!) where I noted it rapidly leaving the field, and exhibiting blue yellow and red as well as white light blinking lights. The videos were taken with a very low tech digital camera.





So I do the YouTube thing to see if anyone else saw something similar on the night of October 9th and early morning hours of October 10th


Romania



Ghana



England



Toronto, Canada



Italy and these people had a better camera caught the color



Montreal Canada



Don’t know where



Ontario Canada



New Zealand



Another satisfied customer don’t know where



Marco Island, Florida



You get the picture. There were over 25 of these from all over the world.

Is Meg Whitman a TAX CHEAT even if her maid were legal?

One of the defenses California Republican nominee for Governor Meg Whitman has put forward in the controversy surrounding the hiring of her maid is a 1099 form.

"We never received those letters," Whitman told GMA's George Stephanopoulos in an interview. "When we hired Nicky we used an employment agency. Nicky provided her social security card, a California drivers license, she filled out a 1099 - because we told the employment agency, we have to hire people only who are documented to work here. So we had no idea that she was not here legally."

CBS news link

Ms. Whitman did you mean a W-2 form for employees?

Form 1099 is a form promulgated by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and is used in the United States income tax system to prepare and file an information return to report various types of income other than wages, salaries, and tips (for which Social Security Administration Form W-2 is used instead). The term information return is used in contrast to the term tax return although the latter term is sometimes used colloquially to describe both kinds of returns.
Each payer must complete a 1099 for each covered transaction. Three copies are made: one for the payer, one for the payee, and one for the IRS.

Wiki link

Independent contractor you say, well what on earth is that. I know very well what that is having worked as one for the last 10 years. An independent contractor cannot be given direct instruction. An independent contractor is given a job a due date and money and is expected to pay self employment tax. Let’s take a look at what the IRS has to say.

There are three basic categories of factors that are relevant to determining worker classifications:
Behavioral control
Financial control and
Relationship of the parties

IRS link

Wow Ms. Whitman you’re a multimillionaire but you wont even classify a worker you have in your home and control as an employee? Someone I imagine you were paying a monthly or weekly amount and not by the task, and she was working in your home with your husband tritely telling her to “look into” her citizenship status. This sounds like a really close relationship if not emotionally certainly not like a plumber, or the IT dude you ask to write a program for you.

Where is the IRS in all this, and if they weren’t investigating this, where do I send this information in order to cash in on the whistleblower money? I’m sure Ms. Whitman has more staff than this lady, and I’d be very curious if she has classified them as independent contractors. I wonder if she offered them medical insurance and if so did she classify them as employees to the insurance company? I wonder if she covered them in workers comp?

UFO Disclosure and Today’s Press Conference

A number of retired military personnel and civilian officers have come forth with evidence of both unidentified flying objects and visitation by extra terrestrial intelligence. This group contains people of high veracity from former Clinton Chief of Staff John Podesta to NASA astronauts like Edgar Mitchell and Gordon Cooper.



Today another group of people held a press conference in Washington to continue to tell their story.







May I be forgiven, but even Fox talked about it.




Today’s press conference featured six men who were on active duty with the US Air Force and It’s missile command, and two incidents one in America and one in England. The following accounts are from Captain Robert Salas and Colonel Charles Halt respectively.

The U.S. Air Force is lying about the national security implications of unidentified aerial objects at nuclear bases and we can prove it,’

‘The missiles shut down – ten Minuteman [nuclear] missiles. And the same thing happened at another site a week later. There’s a strong interest in our missiles by these objects, wherever they come from. I personally think they’re not from planet Earth.’

The sighting is said to have taken place 30 years ago. First he saw the object firing beams of light into the base then heard on the military radio that aliens had landed inside the nuclear storage area, he said.
‘I believe that the security services of both the United States and the United Kingdom have attempted – both then and now – to subvert the significance of what occurred at RAF Bentwaters by the use of well-practised methods of disinformation.’

Daily Mail's story



I’ve always been taught that which has an issue has as its first reactions from officialdom the ideas of ridicule and fear the idea probably contains something of the truth. One can’t have an adult conversation regarding phenomenon like this without the MSM playing X-Files music, but if you search YouTube or the internets like I have this phenomenon is not just going away.

I will only place the CNN video in link form here as it screws up commenting. Link to CNN story and if anyone can embed these things without messing up commenting I'd appreciate the tip




Hey if it’s real just imagine how many of us can get a job in the new and exciting field of exo-politics!

Vision Quest Sedona

When Sweetie and I left Arizona the last time after our Grand Canyon excursion something told me we would be back and soon. As we were driving out of Flagstaff the last time we were there I couldn’t get over the distinct impression that there was something more for us to see and accomplish in Arizona so when Sweetie suggested that we go back to Arizona and Sedona for their vortexes it felt like part two of the two part series.



Sweetie and I are travelers of the afternoon and evening. No matter how hard we try we can’t get out of the door before about three in the afternoon, so for a drive that should last 8 or 9 hours we almost always choose to run from the sun going and chase the sun coming home and this trip was no exception we didn’t head east in earnest until about 3:30. Sweetie is the foremost car trip outfitter in the land. When we take off for a road trip our car can feed a dinner party in luxury and entertain a room full of kids even though it’s just Sweetie and I on these trips my Boo has us prepared. We had a fabulous meal, all the munchies and sodas anyone would want, plenty of water and ice, and the Sweetie magic bag that contains everything from extra socks to the ability to almost perform surgery.

Sedona is known and especially in the Southwest Native American cultures as a pilgrimage destination. It has four recognized by the Park Service areas where the energies that come out of the earth are very pronounced which are called vortexes http://www.lovesedona.com/01.htm in Sedona and not vortices. Apparently that’s how they can identify the people who are not from around there. Now the Park Service “officially” recognizes four of them, but I happen to think they only recognize the ones on their land so they can direct the people to pay the fee in order to park and enjoy them. As we rode into Sedona I know I felt more than just the four locations that the Park Service outlines on their maps.

It was about 10:30 when Sweetie and I pulled off the I40 to the 17 to 89A which is the last 20 odd miles into Sedona itself and the dark that introduced itself to us on our Grand Canyon excursion was in full effect again as we pulled into Sedona. Riding around the mountain/canyon roads of Sedona at night you can see the falling rock signs, but you just can’t see the mountains that the rocks fall off of. You can look into the inky black voids and imagine how far they go if you want to, and Sweetie was sure into it, but I was more into keeping the car on the road. Yet as nervous as I can be in the heights and as bold as Sweetie is as we approached the town both of us began to sort of even out. It’s hard to explain, and I’ll try again later, but the energies surrounding Sedona are palpable.

We tend to take these trips on a couple days notice. Sweetie will provide the inspiration and I’m there to say let’s go. Consequently we don’t tend to get the hotels in the front of the city we usually stay at the second Best Western in town. That’s fine by me we don’t travel for the hotels and we normally get to ride through the city as a preliminary reconnaissance before we do the thing. Riding through Sedona that night my first and overwhelming impression of the town was these people have money. First of all it was closed. I didn’t even see a bar hopping. It’s full of little spa’s in exquisite locations, and retreats that sound like 400 bucks a night. A cool thing about the way Sweetie and I travel is sleep comes easily. When we finally get checked in and on the pillow 6:00 am comes and my internal rooster crows before we know it.



I couldn’t wait to see what Sedona looked like so while Sweetie showered shampood and shined I walked outside to get a gander. Sedona is beautiful. If you’re into a fairy canyon vision of red rock mesas interspersed with slate canyons with formations that remind you of works of art Sedona’s the place. The Best Western that we stayed in happened to be right at the foot of the Airport Mesa and the location of the first vortex so as the sun was about to really get up we decided to take that one in first then plan our day.



Airport Mesa

Sedona has its airport in close proximity of the vortex and as I’ve never heard of airplanes going down the first thing I thought was these things must be truly benign. About half way up a three mile hill from our motel was the turn off and observation rock. Even though it was early the parking area for it was nearly full. We in fact got the last parking spot. It was when I was heading to pay the fee in a vending machine that was broken that I felt the first difference. Have you ever been near a very high voltage electrical transmission station? Maybe played with a Telsa coil? Start there and multiply the feeling by 10 levels of subtlety then subtract the physical effects. We decided to chance not having the pass for the parking area and walked on up to the observation rock. There seemed to be about 30 people already there in various levels of appreciation, devotion, or just sitting there thinking. It was peaceful. The vistas of Sedona again impressed. I don’t know if it is an ordinance but the homes of Sedona really match the landscape. They appeared made out of adobe and painted in natural colors that contrasted very well with the rocks and hills they were nested in. Sweetie and I did devotion, I practiced my tai chi on an area of the rock that actually contained a drop, and I wasn’t the least bit nervous, and we hung out a good half hour before going to the top of the mesa to enjoy the full sunrise.





Slide Rock

After the Airport Mesa we decided to go to the local chamber of commerce and get oriented as well as buy a pass so we could enjoy the stops without looking for Mr. Ranger. The people they have staffing these places are always so helpful and the gentleman who helped us in Sedona was a peach. We got maps and a cool GPS device that would provide a narrative as we approached areas of interest we decided on our vortex tour and lit out.

One of the other interesting aspects of the Sedona area I noticed is my normally keen sense of direction was completely scrambled. Normally I can fall into any area or city and if I know what time it is, and can look at the sun I am usually pretty fixed as to the cardinal directions. In Sedona my internal compass was haywire. We were supposed to head in one direction toward our next vortex, but instead I took us almost back out of town to Slide Rock. We are never lost on our trips. We are always right were we should be and we needed to see Slide Rock.



It is the homestead of one of the original White homesteaders of the area and an absolutely natural waterslide. This man engineered an irrigation system and was selling his produce as far away as Los Angeles in the early 1900’s before there was even a solid road to the area.



Bell Rock



Whenever Sweetie and I go into the “wilderness” I’m always reminded of the theme from Green Acres “New York is where I’d rather stay, I get allergic smelling hay, I just adore a penthouse view darling I love you but give me Park Avenue” That’s my sweetie, one of the only women I’ve ever known to go hiking in a blouse and work it. The walk to the vortex at Bell Rock was a hike, but it was pleasant. It can be as hot as all get out in Arizona, but once again we were lucky. It was only about 95% according to the cars thermometer and we had a nice walk to the Bell Rock vortex.





Boynton Canyon Kachina Woman



It was a 5 mile round trip hike to visit the Kachina Woman, and she had a nice uphill component, but she was worth it. The vistas were magnificent again, and the feel of the vortex potent. People did an interesting thing in stacking up rocks all over the place. The very trees around the Kachina woman were decorated like Christmas trees with stacks of rocks. I believe they stay because of the energy of the vortexes. I didn’t feel like making a pile it felt somehow wrong kind of like using the Woman’s energy as a stunt. Sweetie and I hung out with the Kachina woman for a good long time. So long with the hike out and the next 5 mile jaunt the remaining vortex had to offer we decided to head back to Airport Mesa to enjoy the sunset.









Hopi Reservation 2nd Mesa Arizona



We had a great evening. I asked a maid where they enjoyed eating when they went out and she hooked us up with Jose’s Café and we dined very well. We chilled out in the Jacuzzi at the motel with a cool couple from Bolivia. Interesting thing about them is he was a police officer from the Phoenix area. He had been in America since he was young, but his wife grew up in Bolivia. Of course I had to ask him his feelings on SB 1070 and after the obligatory he’s a man in blue too speech it came out he didn’t like it. The idea that his lovely wife or their beautiful daughter might have been subject to the strictures of that law had it been allowed to stand did mean something to him especially since he put his life on the line everyday defending those who would question him out of uniform or his wife because it was a sunny day.

The hikes had the same effect on us as the drive, and with the Jacuzzi as even more help we went down like Tyson had punched us. When we woke up the next morning on Sunday we decided we would pack up find a nice church hit up the last vortex and head back to So. Cal.

We sort of scouted around for the feeling that we wanted to stop and join a congregation for the day, but for some reason nothing was clicking. I don’t know why Sweetie didn’t feel it, but there was something about the opulence of the churches I saw that made me not want to just fall in. I was wearing my adventure shirt after all. When we were last in Arizona we hung out a little with the Dine people of the Navajo tribe, so sweetie suggested we visit the other main tribe of Native peoples in the area the Hopi. It was only another 3 or so hours down the road, and it went right by the place where the first confirmed meteor smacked the earth, so I was there to say let’s go.



It’s about 50 miles off the I40 to the Hopi Mesa. These are the kinds of lands I long to see. It’s possible to look into the distance and outside of the road there is little evidence of the hand of man and for millennia. Vast tracts of land that delight the eye for as far as it can see.





When we arrived at 2nd Mesa we went to the only motel on the Mesa which also had people selling things, tour offices, and a nice little motel. We hit up the museum walked around the surrounding area a bit, and went into a shop. There we met a man who told us we had the opportunity to witness a Woman’s dance in the village that was closest entrance road of the Mesa. When we got there we met a man who had come in with his family from off the reservation for the services. He invited us to watch from his mother’s roof which is actually living space. It turns out we got to go to church after all. The ceremony was very touching. We didn’t take pictures of course, but we were able to feel what we had hoped to. As Black Americans we are people of the chant and drum and watching the women dance their prayers felt strangely familiar.

We had considered staying on the Mesa for the night, but it was 3:00 again traveling time, so we hit the road. Arizona is now ours as we are free beings living on a free earth. I don’t know if we are going to hit this place again soon Sweetie has never seen Lake Tahoe, and I don’t know how we’ve been together so long and that not happened yet, but having had the chance to meet its peoples and soak in its ancient lands it’s a place I can now call my own.





Photo credits to my Sweetie. The very Universe and all of time will be our playground.

My Totem Animal

It appears I’ve identified my spirit guide and animal totem it is the crow. I suppose it’s always seemed like I’ve had a relationship with them. I glimpse their language I feel their flight. A few days ago as I was meditating and calling for guidance from all things that had my well and good in mind an entire flight of them went right over my head. It isn’t the first time something like this has happened to me and those birds, but it’s the first time I’ve thought to examine what it might mean.

As I was meditating this evening one of them landed on the fence in my backyard looked at me as if to say “yeah that’s right” and took off. Just now one cawed so ok already.


Crow is about Law, most specifically Sacred Law. He is the keeper of these laws and all sacred texts are under this protection. Sacred texts of the Native Peoples are all bound in Crow feathers.
Human law and Sacred law are not the same. We humans, many times, struggle with the balancing of the two ways. Crow sees that the physical world and the spiritual world, as we humans interpret them, are an illusion. As a totem he comes to help us see our personal truth.
The Crow totem will come to us when it is time to reflect on how we see the laws of the Great Spirit in relation to the laws of humanity. Great Spirit is the term many indigenous peoples refer to when some would say the Holy Spirit while others might just say God.
http://hubpages.com/hub/Crow-Totem-Meanings


Crows are the keepers of the Sacred Law
and to have a Crow totem is very powerful.
Personal Integrity are your watchwords and your guide in Life.
If you have a Crow totem, your prime path
is to be mindful of your opinions and actions.
You must be willing to walk your talk,
to speak your truth and to know your life's mission.
Crow is a omen of Change.
Crow lives in the void and has no sense of time,
therefore, it sees past, present and future simultaneously.
Crow merges both light and dark, both inner and outer.
It is the totem of the Great Spirit and must be respected as such.
They are symbols of creation and spiritual strength.
Look for opportunities to create and manifest the magic of life.
Crows are messengers calling to us
about the creation and magic that is alive in the world today
and available to us.

http://www.linsdomain.com/totems/pages/crow.html


If you have a crow as a totem, you need to be willing to walk your talk and speak your truth. You must put aside your fear of being a voice in the wilderness and "caw" the shots as you see them. Crow is an omen of change. If he keeps appearing to you he may be telling you that you have a powerful voice when addressing issues that you do not quite understand or feel that they are out of balance.
Crows are the bringer of messages from the spirit world, and is thought to dwell beyond the realm of time and space.
When you meet crow, he could be telling you that there will be changes in your life and that possibly you should step by the usual way you view reality and look into the inner realms …walk your talk…be prepared to let go of your old thinking and embrace a new way of viewing yourself and the world.

Well I said I was open to the journey.

Update 6:39 ok I write this and 3 fly over and one drops a feather for me. I said alright already!

Adept2u's Sunday Thoughts

On this day we look to commune with our God I open the text to the book of Wonder. If any are confused know the basic answer to all of life’s interesting issues can be solved by how effectively we apply LOVE to it. How do you do it when it hurts so bad? FORGIVENESS, How does one forgive when it hurts so bad? It's for that exact reason that you have to learn how to do it. For who is anyone else to let their actions hurt you so badly.



I step forth into this day with APPRECIATION. I orient myself and emotions to know that all I am given is a blessing. Every event is a chance to learn. Every problem is an opportunity to perform. I have been bestowed by the creator of the universe with the knowledge of his being and for that I am the most grateful of all.

I desire to experience the expression of God through you. It is for that reason I cultivate EMPATHY in my heart as a mother raises her child. May it be strong. May it grow as a light through and about me. May it be the first thing I greet any of my human family with.

My Bellissima
My own being skips a beat
Restarts in your eyes.



The ability contained inside of each human soul is powerful as to be beyond limit. It is because of that fact I ask for HUMILITY. I ask that the awareness of that potential inform my every interaction and color my every decision. May I never endeavor to stand above another, but instead love to stand with anyone.

I am not at war with my tears for they are a sign of COMPASSION. I hope to never be so hardened as to not care. I aim to feel my brother’s pain as keenly as he does so that all pain may end. I add my waters to all those currently hurting.

http://oxfamamerica.org/


Fear is not an option. Fear has no place in the councils of my mind. I was born with all the armor I require and it is a protection that cannot be taken from me. Fear has only the ability to motivate me to Joy for I am a man of VALOR.



So I close today again calling from the Book of Wonder. I pull a page from his time machine of 1976 yet it's message is more important in the next seconds, moments, hours, today and tomorrow. Namaste friends I love you all!

135 Honks in two hours

Ever since Glenn Beck announced his plans to defile the memory of MLK with his brand of hate I’ve been announcing my intention to stand outside his corporate edifice in Los Angeles and protest the genesis of hate in this country his organization Newscorp/Fox/Rupert Murdoch.



All week long it’s been hotter than July in Los Angeles. Those days were trying very hard to give me an excuse to duck out. No one would be there but me and those I brought, It wont do anything, and why should I put peoples health at risk by standing them in the middle of a 105 degree day. So I wake up this morning and it’s overcast lovely and not even 75 degrees. So we got our behinds up and got ready to go.

I’ve always kind of treasured the tradition of protest I can trace in my family. I like to think I’m a worthy inheritor of the tradition and as one I want to make sure it goes down the line. To that end I called 3 of the sweetest smartest young ladies I have in my family to represent the next generation and down we went.

I know the area of the Fox Television Studios in Los Angeles fairly well, but even so I looked up the neighborhood one more time as reconnaissance before we headed down, so we knew what to expect. Our target was a fairly nice looking modern building on the west side of Bundy with a street making it the fulcrum of a T facing the building. Really cool because that means that the building itself had 2 corners of attention plus it’s frontage as a billboard. I’m thinking oh boy if we can get a few folks to show up we can look like we’re doing something.



I was stressing like mad because we were running a little late. We didn’t actually get in front of Fox until 10:15 and I had announced the jump off time of the festivities as 10:00. If anyone showed up and didn’t hang out for us 15 minutes sorry I missed you, but it was just our crew at 10:15 and although I could feel many people with us in spirit it was just us 5 in body.



It is not my nature to be shy. I make my living in being not shy, so I grabbed my sign and started marching up and down. Sweetie and the ladies jumped in like Trojans and we held up what we came to tell them.

I made an attempt to catch the eye of every driver who went by us to notice the double takes and reactions. It wasn’t long until I noticed a few thumbs up a couple of head bobs, and then it started to happen, people would blow their horns in solidarity. Not long after that we began to wonder how many people would honk at us, and the count began.
We went over 25 within the first 15 minutes, and I decided to see if we could make it a game. We decided we would try and hang out until we amassed 200 honks.

Not long after we hit the 30 mark we got our first visitor in the form of a security agent. I had semi expected this to happen from my experience in yelling at the men from mouse at Disney. Sweetie was already talking to him by the time I came down the line with my Fox Sells Hate sign, so I was late to the conversation. He was discussing how active he was in his local chapter of the SEIU, he said I’m off duty now and they know they wrong what group are you guys with you need to hook up with some other groups because they need people who aren’t afraid to protest. He shared his e-mail and promised to put us in contact with one of the groups that has filled in for ACORN.

Honk 50

We went from 30 to 50 in what seemed like an hour. I was starting to think 200 honks might have been overly optimistic. Sweetie rallied us to persevere for as she told us who knows when a string of honkers would come through. It was also at this time I noticed a guy drive into the Fox front door and mouth “oh fuck” you can tell when that happens you don’t need be a mouth reader.

About 15 minutes later we get our next visit from Fox Security and unlike our first visitor he wasn’t wearing a uniform, but he had a fantastic Black lady named Keisha along with him to give him credibility I guess. He asked who we represented and why we were there. I told him as our signs said we were trying to speak out against his corporation’s usage of hate as a weapon to divide the country I love. He tried to point out that where I was standing was not Fox News, and I let him know that if Rupert Murdoch owned a Chuck E. Cheese’s franchise I’d picket that too. There are no happy face companies and I don’t buy the corporate fiction of independent organizations. He told me that I had the right to walk up and down the public sidewalk and that he would appreciate it if I didn’t block their driveway. Fair enough, but for some reason I felt like torturing their security for a bit so I went to their mobile camera and grabbed my sig line sign and hoped they’d send an e-mail to Rupert.



Honk 73

Of all the eyes I caught outside of indifference I only saw two negative reactions. One lady in a very tight Jaguar looked me right in the eyes shook her finger in a tsk tsk and shook her head no no at my Fox Sells Hate sign. I smiled as sweetly and as nicely as I could and said yes they do and shook my head yes and she drove on very nicely. The second was an old man that looked like Willie Nelson who refused to wash his hair, but he was riding in a very nice Mercedes. He rolled down his window yelled “fuck you” at the same time showing me one of his digits in a most unfriendly way. I answered back “thank you sir” pointed at my Hate sign and said “I love you” and he answered “FAGGOT”. He then rolled down about 20 feet and gave the same treatment to a 12 year old girl. So do people who defend Fox exhibit the very thing we had come to speak against? Why yes, yes they do.

Honk 97

The honks are actually coming pretty fast and furious and I’m actually thinking we might make our number of 200. I should have looked in the eyes of my fellow protestors. We’d been out about an hour and a half and arms were getting tired. After we went over 100 we changed the goal. 25 more for Dr. King!

Honk 117

The strip of Bundy that the Fox studios are on is just south of some very rich real estate. All through the day as I was looking at the faces against the quality of car I’d say hey isn’t that, or hmm I think she might have been someone, but honk 117 was special. Black escalade large brother who sweetie and the girls now swear was Terrell Owens.

Honk 125

People are tired. I don’t think we’re going to make it to 150 let alone 200 so I make one more attempt. Can we get 25 more honks for Mrs. King? Mrs. King it seems was only good for 10 more. As if in concurrence the sun started to come out and the lovely Southern California protest weather began to break. Mrs. King’s were the fastest honks we got all day,

I love to think of the concept that a the beat of the wing of a singly butterfly might be the genesis of a hurricane. My little crew and I beat ours speaking out against hate and for unity. I hope I showed my little cousins a good enough time so that they will always know that even if their voice is alone it is theirs to use. A great day was had by all I sprung for some chicken and we had a great picnic afterwards. The greatest President this country has ever elected Barack Obama has echoed Gandhi, heck I even heard Beck said about the same thing today. Be the change you want to see in the world.

TTFN

I used to wonder why people wrote TTFN type diaries etc, but now I know why. It’s to let the many people you have formed a relationship with here know you haven’t just dropped off the side of the earth.

I’ve had an excellent time as a diarist and commenter here on the Daily Kos and as a Democrat I will always be active in the causes I hold dear, but I have decided to end my active participation on this site for now.

I enjoy too many diarist works to not at least lurk, and I’m hoping something will inspire me enough to scream out about it, but for now this place is far too divided, too unfriendly, and I’m just tired of fighting.

Namaste friends.

Jeffrey Lord Doubles Down on the Stupid

Jeffrey Lord has come out with a defense of his indefensible article attacking Shirley Sherrod in the American Spectator for referring to the death of her relative Bobby Hall as a lynching. Get a load of this crap in its entirety if you have a strong stomach.

For those who don't have the constitution for open race baiting or want to jump into the crazy world of Jeffrey Lord one in which a person being beaten to death by 3 crazed southern sheriffs isn’t a lynching because they lacked rope here is a great deconstruction of his arguments by Radley Balko over at Reason.com. Who Jeff Lord actually has the nerve to call Balko Boo Radley lol!


Or If I may I’ll just quote how our own Jed Lewison summarized the smear.

Shirley Sherrod lied when she described Bobby Hall's death as a lynching because the Supreme Court never said it was a lynching (even though everybody agrees a Sheriff beat Hall to death and dragged him through the county courthouse while on his deathbed).

Progressives who sounded an awful lot like Shirley Sherrod are responsible for creating the conditions that led to Bobby Hall's murder because the only way you can advocate for working people is to engage in race-baiting.

Link to Jed's article

Jed wasn’t the only one to see the errors in Mr. Lord’s reasoning, two contributors in his own publication called him to task.

Jim Tabin writes

What on Earth is Jeffrey Lord talking about on the mainpage? He says that the sentence "Claude Screws lynched a black man" is untrue. Lynching is defined as an extrajudicial killing by a mob (which can be as few as two people). The fatal beating of Bobby Hall most certainly qualifies.

Link to his post

Phillip Klein chimes in as well.

A regular part of writing for a political magazine or website is that you sometimes disagree with what is written, or even with decisions to publish certain articles. Such is my sentiment today with Jeff Lord's piece on Shirley Sherrod. I am rendered speechless by a 4,000-word article that is based around the suggestion that somebody is a liar for saying that a black man was lynched, when he was merely beaten to death by a white sheriff who evidence suggests had previously threatened to "get him."

Link to his post

So what how does Mr. Lord respond to this hail of criticism? Does he reasses his position? Does he think again about what he said? No, if you believe that I have some very attractive swamp land for sale. Unfortunately what he does in defense of his ignorance is what Republicans have done since the dawn of the southern strategy double down.

Random House Webster's College Dictionary defines lynching as: "to put to death, esp. hanging by mob action and without legal authority."
I have read the Court's decision. Three people are not a "mob." A mob is defined as a "large crowd." So there was no "mob action" because there was no mob. Second, the Supreme Court specifically said the Sheriff and his deputy and a local policeman acted "under color of law." Which means they had legal authority.

So to say that Bobby Hall was lynched is, factually, according to the Supreme Court and, if you prefer, Webster's, not true. No mob. Therefore no "mob action." And the three had "legal authority." So my new friend Radley "Boo" Balko over at Reason pounced...and got it wrong instantly.

Link to what Mr. Lord calls his defense

The actual definition of a lynching does not require a mob, as he would like to define it. It actually consists of three people as the federal anti lynching statute and anyone who and anyone who would take the time to actually research the subject can attest.

Mr. Lord also apparently doesn’t have the slightest idea that acting under the color of law does not give you legal authority to beat a man to death. I have to wonder did he give that contention one moment of thought. In this persons world any police officer who has on a uniform basically has a 007 license to kill.

His second defense of his hatchet job on the truth and history is even more hilarious.

Second. The larger point. My colleagues seem not to understand the connection between what they are seeing in the headlines everyday -- and history. There is, I'm sorry to say, a direct connection between Southern racists of yore and, say, the Obama Administration policy in Arizona.. The Black Panther case. And what Ms. Sherrod was doing in her speech when she ever so casually linked criticism of health care to racism, which is to say not supporting a (her words) "black President."

Link to what Mr. Lord calls his defense

Yes Mr. Lord the connection is people like yourself. People who so hate the Obama administration that they would rekindle the ugly emotions that fueled the southern racist of yore, but with the damndest twist. Republicans can apparently demand their non white citizens prove themselves, take 3 idiots and a website and make them the terror of the nation, and completely ignore the actual history of race relations in this country.

On the positive side while cruising the comments of this most interesting exercise in sophistry I found that it is not playing well amongst the commenters of the American Spectator.

Just off the top I found these examples.

From Marcus

I usually don't agree with liberal bloggers, because, well they're liberal. However, how stupid are you? They're correct to point out the Hall's murder was, by definition, a lynching. Mob violence is what lynching is. I can't believe you're actually trying to defend that moronic piece you wrote a few days ago. I suspect you've come to the realization of how stupid you came off and how ridiculous you premise is/was. Mr. Lord, just stop, give up, admit you're wrong, because hardly anyone is going to agree with you. Moron.

The Bulge

You're embarrassing yourself. Just admit it was a stupid thing to write, and move on. Or, you know, just keep digging like you're doing. It's hard to believe you could be this dumb.

Ex

Mr. Lords rebuttal is as weak as his initial argument. He gives three arguments based on the definition he supplies and each of his arguments are pathetically weak. The definition that he supplies of lynching says esp. by hanging. Especially implies other means and does not preclude beatings. By Mr. Lords definition Emitt Till was not lynched. Next Mr. Lords says that there was not enough people to constitute a mob, conveniently ignoring Mr. Balko citation of the Dwyer anti lynching bill that defined a mob as three or more people. His last argument is that Sheriff Straw and his two accomplices acted under color of law so therefore had legal authority. Just because they had legal authority to arrest and subdue Mr. Hall did not give them legal authority to kick and beat him with an 8 inch 2 lbs black jack for 15 minutes resulting in his death.

Mr Lord's comparing himself to Atticus Finch is as misguided as his rebuttal is weak. Atticus Finch defended a black suspect from the lynch mob. He did not minimize the mobs action nor did he attack the victim's relatives.

The whole premise or the initial article was wrongheaded. Why imply Ms Sherrod is a liar because she did not use an extremely narrow debatable definition of lynching. The point is Mr. Hall was a victim of Jim Crow racism not whether he was hung in front of the courthouse or beaten to death in front of it.

It gets far better than this in the original post. I believe if this little interlude in the mind of a Republican is any illustration of how they feel as a group we have tremendous issues to overcome. When a respected Republican thinker can equate the murder of a Black man to something done under the color of authority and not a lynching Shirley Sherrod was right when she was discussing the attitude of Andrew Breitbart. They do want to take us back to the time when a Black man couldn’t look a white one in the face