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When Roger West first launched the progressive political blog "News From The Other Side" in May 2010, he could hardly have predicted the impact that his venture would have on the media and political debate. As the New Media emerged as a counterbalance to established media sources, Roger wrote his copious blogs about national politics, the tea party movement, mid-term elections, and the failings of the radical right to the vanguard of the New Media movement. Roger West's efforts as a leading blogger have tremendous reach. NFTOS has led the effort to bring accountability to mainstream media sources such as FOX NEWS, Breitbart's "Big Journalism. Roger's breadth of experience, engaging style, and cultivation of loyal readership - over 92 million visitors - give him unique insight into the past, present, and future of the New Media and political rhetoric that exists in our society today. What we are against: Radical Right Wing Agendas Incompetent Establishment Donald J. Trump Corporate Malfeasence We are for: Global and Econmoic Security Social and Economic Justice Media Accountability THE RESISTANCE

Monday, September 9, 2013

BREAKING: GEORGE ZIMMERMAN IN CUSTODY FOR GUN THREAT TO FAMILY MEMBER


Trayvon Martin shooter George "twinkie guzzler" Zimmerman is under police investigation for a possible domestic battery following a fight with his wife and her family on Monday afternoon. According to news channel WKMG Local 6, police are “trying to determine what exactly happened” but they report a gun was present. The Associated Press reports that Zimmerman allegedly violently threatened his estranged wife, Shellie, and her father first with a knife, punched the father-in-law in the nose, and pulled out his gun at her parents’ house in Lake Mary, Central Florida, just days after Shellie filed for divorce.

In her 911 call, Shellie said, “He continuously has his hand on his gun and he keeps saying ‘get closer.” She continued, “I’m really really afraid. I don’t know what he’s capable of. I’m really, really scared.”

The family is considering whether to press charges, and no arrest has been made yet.

In the meantime, Zimmerman’s brother, Robert, has tweeted:



Zimmerman has had documented instances of domestic violence before, including a restraining order from his ex-fiancee.

Since Zimmerman was acquitted for shooting and killing Martin, he has gone shopping for a new firearm from the manufacturer that made the gun that killed Martin. He has also received speeding tickets from police, and revealed he had a gun stored in his car glove compartment at the time. An Ohio gun group raised over $12,000, which they sent Zimmerman to purchase the new gun.

Under Florida law, Zimmerman’s alleged actions likely amount to “aggravated assault,” a third degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison. Additionally, if Zimmerman is convicted of this felony, he would be legally barred from owning a gun.

Stay tuned for further developments.



NFTOS 
STAFF WRITER

AL ASSAD MAKES CASE, TAUNTING OBAMA


BASHAR AL ASSAD TAUNTS OBAMA ON CBS

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad made his case to CBS News’s Charlie Rose in an interview that aired on Monday against an American-led military strike on his country in response to his government’s alleged chemical weapons use.

Assad charged that the United States and the international community have no evidence that forces linked to his government used chemical weapons. He later seemed to try to push Congress toward voting against a resolution to give President Obama authorization to attack Syria, arguing, as some like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) have, that any U.S.-led military action against the Syrian government would help al Qaeda:

Assad Asks Congress To Vote Against War





White House chief of staff Denis McDonough said on Sunday that the intelligence on whether Assad’s forces were responsible for the attack isn't in dispute. “Every member of Congress I’ve spoken to accepts the intelligence that they carried out this attack,” he said on CBS’s Face the Nation. “And so what we need now is to communicate very clearly what is expected of him. And what is expected of him is to live up to the prohibition now, almost a hundred years old, against using these dastardly weapons to gas women and children.”

Assad also said in the CBS interview that the Obama administration is no different from the Bush era. “They are operating the same doctrine with different accessories,” he claimed.

The Syrian president also said the U.S. and its allies should expect some kind of retaliation to an attack and suggested it might be carried out by non-state Syrian allies like Hezbollah. “You should expect everything. Not necessarily from the government. It’s not only the government are not the only player in this region. You have different parties, you have different factions, you have different ideology. You have everything in this region now. So you have to expect that,” Assad said.

Despite the fact that his forces started the civil war in Syria with its brutal and violent crackdown on peaceful protesters more than two years ago, Assad also later disputed that he’s the aggressor, likening himself to a doctor saving a patient. “A doctor who cut the leg to prevent the patient from the gangrene, if you have to, we don’t call him butcher, we call him doctor. And you– thank you for saving the lives. When you have terrorism, you have a war. When you have a war, you always– you always have innocent lives that could be the victim of any war.”

Secretary of State John Kerry announced on Sunday that the Saudis offered support for an American strike on Syria and during a press conference with Kerry, Qatar’s foreign minister called for foreign intervention “to protect the Syrian people.”

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said in a statement on Saturday that the chemical weapons attack in Syria was “blatant violation of international law, a war crime and a crime against humanity” and that the evidence “seems to indicate strong evidence that the Syrian regime is responsible.” The E.U. statement called for action but did not endorse a military strike. Most European countries have said they want some kind of United Nations process to play out and want U.N. weapons experts to report on their findings in Syria, a process that could take weeks, before deciding whether to support an attack.

Meanwhile, Obama is set to make his case to the American people and Congress this week in a series of interviews and speeches. As it stands right now, it appears that the White House has an uphill climb to get Congress on board, or at least the House. According to a NFTOS's preliminary tally, more than 200 lawmakers in the House are against military action or lean toward not supporting it.



NFTOS
STAFF WRITER