Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
What is wrong with the world?
T-shirts sold by Mulligan's Food & Spirits show the character Curious George above Barack Obama's name.
Cobb bar protested as racist for Obama T-shirts
Mulligan's selling shirts with 'Curious George' picture
By CHRISTIAN BOONE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 05/13/08
Marietta tavern owner Mike Norman says the T-shirts he's peddling, featuring cartoon chimp Curious George peeling a banana, with "Obama in '08" scrolled underneath, are "cute." But to a coalition of critics, the shirts are an insulting exploitation of racial stereotypes from generations past.
"It's time to put an end to this," said Rich Pellegrino, a Mableton resident and director of the Cobb-Cherokee Immigrant Alliance. It was among the organizations gathering outside of Mulligan's Bar and Grill Tuesday afternoon to protest the "racist and highly offensive" shirts.
"There's no place for these views, not in this day and age," he said.
Just down the street from Marietta's famous Big Chicken, Mulligan's has carved a provocative niche in an increasingly multicultural area, thanks to its owner's ultra-conservative political views. If you live in Marietta, it's impossible not to know what's on Norman's mind, as he posts his views on signs in front of Mulligan's.
Among his recent musings: "I wish Hillary had married OJ," "No habla espanol — and never will" and the standard "I.N.S. Agents eat free."
"I'm saying out loud what everyone in this town whispers," Norman said.
Whatever residents think of the signs, organized opposition to his blunt commentaries — ongoing for 16 years — had been nonexistent. No longer, says Pellegrino, who, though familiar with Norman's politics, said he was still surprised by the stark imagery of the Obama T-shirts.
"There's a lot of people hurt by this," he said.
Norman said those offended are "hunting for a reason to be mad" and insisted he is "not a racist."
Why picture Obama as Curious George? "Look at him . . . the hairline, the ears, he looks just like Curious George," Norman said.
He said it's just a coincidence that the character he chose for the t-shirt is a monkey. Norman said proceeds raised from sales of the T-shirts will be donated to the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Nation of Islam and the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials were among the organizations represented at Tuesday's rally.
"Mulligan's is promoting and selling racially offensive T-shirts, and Marietta and Cobb County residents and taxpayers abhor and cannot condone, any longer, this type of divisive and incendiary behavior in our community," said Jerry Gonzalez, executive director of GALEO.
Pellegrino said Mulligan's is giving Marietta a bad name, adding that the critics intend to remain vocal.
"These T-shirts were almost a Godsend," he said. "We're a coalition now, and we're very determined."
Thursday, March 20, 2008
State fires 2 for looking at Obama file
This is some straight bullshit. The problem I have with this whole situation is that they fired the two contract employees and now the Inspector General does not have authority to question them about the activity. This is not simply curiosity by some federal contractors. GTFHO. No investigation and the first instance occurred in January. GTFOH.
This is a blatant violation of his rights. Come on. This campaign is getting ridiculous.
_____________________
WASHINGTON - Two contract employees for the State Department have been fired and a third disciplined for inappropriately looking at Democratic Sen. Barack Obama's passport file, a spokesman said Thursday.
He would not release the names of those who were fired and disciplined.
"We believe this was out of imprudent curiosity, so we are taking steps to reassure ourselves that that is, in fact, the case," McCormack said.
curiosity," which occurred separately on Jan. 9, Feb. 21 and March 14. He would not release the names of those who were fired and disciplined.
"We believe this was out of imprudent curiosity, so we are taking steps to reassure ourselves that that is, in fact, the case," McCormack said.
Bill Burton, a spokesman for Obama's presidential campaign, called for a complete investigation.
"This is an outrageous breach of security and privacy, even from an administration that has shown little regard for either over the last eight years. Our government's duty is to protect the private information of the American people, not use it for political purposes," Burton said.
"This is a serious matter that merits a complete investigation, and we demand to know who looked at Senator Obama's passport file, for what purpose, and why it took so long for them to reveal this security breach," he said.
McCormack said it was not immediately clear what the contract employees may have seen in the records or what they were looking for. He said he did not know the names of the companies they worked for.
The department has informed Obama's Senate office of the breach, and a personal briefing for the senator's staff was scheduled for Friday, McCormack said.
Protesters arrested in DC marking 5th anniversary of Iraq war
War protesters have lost thier minds. I was reading a story this morning that 30 of them got arrested on yesterday. Some for throwing paint on a person and on the ground to represent the blood shed in Iraq.
OH.... hell 2 the no. They actually threw paint on someone's clothes! There is no way in hell I would have not been going to jail. You let somebody throw anything on me. I will bust their head to the white meat. I understand the whole thing about protesters making a statement about fur, war, things they believe etc. but if you violate:
1. my personal space
2. My body or clothing attached to my body
3. My ability to freely go where I need to go
You will have a whole lot to deal with. I wish a muthaf*cker would throw paint on me.
It is one thing to deface a building to make your statement...but to throw blood red paint on someones clothes who happens to be coming out of the building you are protesting.That's not happening. I bet you five dollars the person they threw paint on was not Black.
It is one thing to deface a building to make your statement...but to throw blood red paint on someones clothes who happens to be coming out of the building you are protesting.That's not happening. I bet you five dollars the person they threw paint on was not Black.
The headlines would have read something completely different: Black Man/Woman beats protester about the head for throwing paint! Both Arrested.
_________________________
Protesters danced in the streets of downtown Washington, acted out a Baghdad street scene in Syracuse, N.Y., and gave out "unhappy birthday cake" in San Francisco to mark the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
Dozens of people were arrested during demonstrations in the three cities and elsewhere around the nation.
At the IRS, about 100 protesters led by a marching band gathered Wednesday morning at the main entrance. Some of them jumped a barricade and sat down in front of the doors and were immediately detained. A second group did the same thing at a side entrance.
The demonstrators said they were focusing on the IRS, among other institutions, because it gathers taxes used to fund the war. A spokeswoman for the Federal Protective Service said 32 people were arrested. Another person was arrested by District of Columbia police for crossing a police line, spokeswoman Traci Hughes said.
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Later Wednesday, about 20 protesters were arrested during a march about a block from the U.S. Capitol. Police made the arrests after the protesters, dressed mostly in black with white masks, froze in place and stopped traffic. In some cases, police had to drag the protesters off the street.
Brian Bickett, 29, was among the first arrested at the IRS building. The high school theater teacher from Brooklyn, N.Y., said he had never engaged in civil disobedience before.
"We need to find lots of different ways to resist the war, and I decided to try this," he said.
Events were held around the U.S. calling for an end to the war. In Syracuse, police arrested 20 protesters who blocked traffic by creating a mock Baghdad street scene. One person dressed in camouflage lay on the ground. Another was covered in a white sheet with red markings and a woman leaned over as if grieving. They were from a group of more than 100 demonstrators who marched downtown in a steady rain over the lunch hour.
In Chicopee, Mass., eight people were arrested when they blocked a gate at Westover Air Reserve Base, police said. Capt. John Muraski said most of the six women and two men are retirees over 60.
Five people were arrested In Hartford, Conn., for blocking the front door of a federal courthouse.
On the West Coast, San Francisco police arrested about 100 protesters by early afternoon for blocking traffic and chaining themselves to buildings, police said.
The rallies, which drew hundreds to the city's busy financial district, were mostly peaceful, though some demonstrators threw glass Christmas ornaments filled with paint at police, said Sgt. Steve Mannina, a San Francisco police spokesman.
Black balloons were tied to trees along San Francisco's main downtown thoroughfare, and protesters at a table offered coffee, oranges and "unhappy birthday cake" to passers-by.
Across the street a few hundred protesters banging drums and waving banners that read "Was it worth it" took to the streets for an impromptu parade that blocked morning traffic.
Demonstrators also converged in Ohio, where more than 20 different vigils, rallies, marches and other events were planned.
In New York City, the Granny Peace Brigade sang songs and counted out the war dead outside the military recruiting station in Times Square, which was recently the target of a bomb.
Half a dozen anti-war protesters in Miami dressed in black placed flowers outside the U.S. Southern Command during rush-hour Wednesday morning.
In Washington, hundreds of protesters gathered downtown at noon for an action called "Funk the War." With music blaring, the crowd marched and danced in the middle of the street for hours, blocking traffic as they went. Police pushed them out of the way when they lingered at major intersections. Some of the protesters used chalk to draw peace symbols and anti-war messages on the pavement.
"The loss of life needs to end," said Manihi Kotnik, 19, a college student from Flagstaff, Ariz. "Maybe if the people can unite and shut down traffic and shut down whatever, maybe they'll start listening."
Outside a military recruitment office, the protesters were met by a handful of counterdemonstrators.
Colby Dillard, who held a sign reading, "we support our brave military and their just mission," pointed to some red paint that one of the anti-war protesters had splattered on the sidewalk.
"The same blood was spilled to give you the right to do what you're doing," Dillard, who served in Iraq in 2003, told the protesters.
Earlier, about 150 people, mostly with the group Veterans for Peace, marched down Independence Avenue. Many of them carried upside-down American flags, which they said symbolized a nation in distress.
Daniel Black, who was stationed in Fallujah with the Marines in 2004, said that after he returned he came to believe the war was a mistake.
"The more I read the more it just didn't add up," said the 25-year-old, a student at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
A couple of miles away at the American Petroleum Institute, protesters chanted "No blood for Oil!" and tried to block traffic by sitting in the street and linking arms. At least once, they were dragged away by police.
On Tuesday, 10 people were arrested at an anti-war rally in upstate New York. About 60 people participated in the demonstration, which started at Binghamton University campus and moved into the street as demonstrators made their way to a military recruiting station. Police said the demonstrators tied up traffic in the town of Vestal, N.Y., causing two traffic accidents.
Vandals in Milwaukee damaged the front door of an Army recruiting center and spray-painted anti-war graffiti across its front windows. Milwaukee police said the vandalism occurred Monday night or Tuesday.
The Iraq war has been unpopular both abroad and in the United States, although an Associated Press-Ipsos poll in December showed that growing numbers think the U.S. is making progress and will eventually be able to claim some success in Iraq.
Dozens of people were arrested during demonstrations in the three cities and elsewhere around the nation.
At the IRS, about 100 protesters led by a marching band gathered Wednesday morning at the main entrance. Some of them jumped a barricade and sat down in front of the doors and were immediately detained. A second group did the same thing at a side entrance.
The demonstrators said they were focusing on the IRS, among other institutions, because it gathers taxes used to fund the war. A spokeswoman for the Federal Protective Service said 32 people were arrested. Another person was arrested by District of Columbia police for crossing a police line, spokeswoman Traci Hughes said.
GA_googleFillSlot("Article-300x250-A");
Later Wednesday, about 20 protesters were arrested during a march about a block from the U.S. Capitol. Police made the arrests after the protesters, dressed mostly in black with white masks, froze in place and stopped traffic. In some cases, police had to drag the protesters off the street.
Brian Bickett, 29, was among the first arrested at the IRS building. The high school theater teacher from Brooklyn, N.Y., said he had never engaged in civil disobedience before.
"We need to find lots of different ways to resist the war, and I decided to try this," he said.
Events were held around the U.S. calling for an end to the war. In Syracuse, police arrested 20 protesters who blocked traffic by creating a mock Baghdad street scene. One person dressed in camouflage lay on the ground. Another was covered in a white sheet with red markings and a woman leaned over as if grieving. They were from a group of more than 100 demonstrators who marched downtown in a steady rain over the lunch hour.
In Chicopee, Mass., eight people were arrested when they blocked a gate at Westover Air Reserve Base, police said. Capt. John Muraski said most of the six women and two men are retirees over 60.
Five people were arrested In Hartford, Conn., for blocking the front door of a federal courthouse.
On the West Coast, San Francisco police arrested about 100 protesters by early afternoon for blocking traffic and chaining themselves to buildings, police said.
The rallies, which drew hundreds to the city's busy financial district, were mostly peaceful, though some demonstrators threw glass Christmas ornaments filled with paint at police, said Sgt. Steve Mannina, a San Francisco police spokesman.
Black balloons were tied to trees along San Francisco's main downtown thoroughfare, and protesters at a table offered coffee, oranges and "unhappy birthday cake" to passers-by.
Across the street a few hundred protesters banging drums and waving banners that read "Was it worth it" took to the streets for an impromptu parade that blocked morning traffic.
Demonstrators also converged in Ohio, where more than 20 different vigils, rallies, marches and other events were planned.
In New York City, the Granny Peace Brigade sang songs and counted out the war dead outside the military recruiting station in Times Square, which was recently the target of a bomb.
Half a dozen anti-war protesters in Miami dressed in black placed flowers outside the U.S. Southern Command during rush-hour Wednesday morning.
In Washington, hundreds of protesters gathered downtown at noon for an action called "Funk the War." With music blaring, the crowd marched and danced in the middle of the street for hours, blocking traffic as they went. Police pushed them out of the way when they lingered at major intersections. Some of the protesters used chalk to draw peace symbols and anti-war messages on the pavement.
"The loss of life needs to end," said Manihi Kotnik, 19, a college student from Flagstaff, Ariz. "Maybe if the people can unite and shut down traffic and shut down whatever, maybe they'll start listening."
Outside a military recruitment office, the protesters were met by a handful of counterdemonstrators.
Colby Dillard, who held a sign reading, "we support our brave military and their just mission," pointed to some red paint that one of the anti-war protesters had splattered on the sidewalk.
"The same blood was spilled to give you the right to do what you're doing," Dillard, who served in Iraq in 2003, told the protesters.
Earlier, about 150 people, mostly with the group Veterans for Peace, marched down Independence Avenue. Many of them carried upside-down American flags, which they said symbolized a nation in distress.
Daniel Black, who was stationed in Fallujah with the Marines in 2004, said that after he returned he came to believe the war was a mistake.
"The more I read the more it just didn't add up," said the 25-year-old, a student at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
A couple of miles away at the American Petroleum Institute, protesters chanted "No blood for Oil!" and tried to block traffic by sitting in the street and linking arms. At least once, they were dragged away by police.
On Tuesday, 10 people were arrested at an anti-war rally in upstate New York. About 60 people participated in the demonstration, which started at Binghamton University campus and moved into the street as demonstrators made their way to a military recruiting station. Police said the demonstrators tied up traffic in the town of Vestal, N.Y., causing two traffic accidents.
Vandals in Milwaukee damaged the front door of an Army recruiting center and spray-painted anti-war graffiti across its front windows. Milwaukee police said the vandalism occurred Monday night or Tuesday.
The Iraq war has been unpopular both abroad and in the United States, although an Associated Press-Ipsos poll in December showed that growing numbers think the U.S. is making progress and will eventually be able to claim some success in Iraq.
Friday, February 29, 2008
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