SECRET SERVICE

Where are the women?

The Secret Service sex scandal in Cartagena, Columbia has women wondering whether the mostly-male bodyguard team might benefit from a few more female figures. On This Week with George Stephanopoulous today, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) discussed Paula Reid, the woman brought in to clean up the scandal, and how the secret service would have behaved if there were fewer men with a “wheels up, rings off” mentality.

Maloney was left asking the same question she asked during the contraception debate: “Where are the women?” As it turns out, there aren’t many. According to Maloney, only 11 percent of the Secret Service are women:



There is no reason women shouldn’t qualify for the Secret Service. According to their application requirements, nearly all requirements are of mental acumen, not physical strength. The only physical requirement is “applicants must be determined physically fit by an authorized government physician to perform strenuous and physically demanding duties.” Certainly, there are plenty of women who are fit enough to make the cut.

This 11 percent figure differs from a 2010 Equal Opportunity Employment Commission report that 25 percent of the Secret Service were women, leaving questions about whether the report or Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan gave accurate information.



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THE WAR ON WOMEN

The Daily Show
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,

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Trayvon Murderer In Court

George Zimmerman spoke at his bond hearing Friday morning, answering questions about whether he had given an apology or expressed regret over shooting Trayvon Martin in a Sanford, Florida neighborhood back in February. His attorney, Mark O’Mara, told the court that his client wanted to make a statement:

I wanted to say I am sorry for the loss of your son. I did not know how old he was. I thought he was a little bit younger than I am and I did not know if he was armed or not.

“I’m sorry, sir, you’re not really addressing that to the court. You’re doing it here for the victim’s family, is that correct?” asked prosecuting attorney Bernardo De La Rionda.

“They are here in the court, yes,” said Zimmerman.

“I understand. But I thought you were going to address your honor, Mr. Judge Lester, not — So that’s really addressed to the family and where the media happens to be, correct Mr. Zimmerman?” asked De La Rionda.

“No,” said Zimmerman. “To the mother and the father.”

“I felt sorry that they lost their child, yes,” Zimmerman told the prosecution, referring to Martin’s parents.

“Why did you wait so long” to tell the teen’s family he was sorry, asked De La Rionda, repeatedly questioning Zimmerman as to whom he had expressed his apologies for the shooting of Martin and why he had waited some 50 days to so.

“I was told not to communicate with them,” Zimmerman responded, adding that he had told his attorneys to give his apologies to Martin’s family.

De La Rionda then asked Zimmerman about contradictions in his statements to authorities, while Zimmerman maintained that he had “absolutely not” altered his story. He was also questioned about his cell phone records, as well as whether he had sent a message referring to Martin’s father.

Zimmerman’s wife, Shelley Nicole Zimmerman, testified over the phone. She said she understood that the court’s concern is that if a bond was issued that Zimmerman could be a flight risk. The court is also concerned that a bond, which could be in excess of six figures, would be excessive for the Zimmerman’s to afford. Zimmerman’s wife conceded that she is a nursing student and is not working and they do not own their home. She further asserted that there is no asset that her family could liquidate to make bail.

Mrs. Zimmerman said that she had “no concern whatsoever,” that her husband was a “danger to the community.”

The prosecuting attorney, Bernardo De La Rionda, examined Mrs. Zimmerman and she agreed that her husband was accused of a violent crime but that he did not have a “violent history.” When the prosecution outlined his history of violent crimes, including battery of a law enforcement officer and obstructing justice, she conceded that Zimmerman had informed her of those crimes.

De La Rionda further outlined an incident and read testimony from a woman who claims Zimmerman slapped her in the mouth. Mrs. Zimmerman countered that he filed an injunction against that woman. She reasserted that Zimmerman is not a threat to the community.

De La Rionda brought up a website established to fund Zimmerman’s defense. Mrs. Zimmerman conceded that Zimmerman left the state while he was “in hiding.”

The prosecution highlighted that both Mr. and Mrs. Zimmerman felt like they were in physical danger and Mrs. Zimmerman said she received “hate mail” which she would turn over to the attorney. However, she admitted that mail contained no threats.

O’Mara asked Mrs. Zimmerman to qualify the assault on the police officer. She testified that the officer in question was in plain clothes at the time and was in the process of helping a “friend” who he believed was being assaulted by the officer. O’Mara asked if law enforcement identified themselves as such, as the report on the incident makes clear they did. Zimmerman’s wife said that was “not true.” She did, however, concede that Zimmerman had to attend anger management courses as a court order.

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TED NUGENT........ STILL A DOUCHE BAG

TED NUGENT - DOUCHE BAG RACIST TEA BAGGER

Since we've been discussing Ted Nugent lately, this seemed a good time to bring up Nugent's draft dodging. It's well known that Nugent claims to have gone to great lengths to flunk his Draft Board physical. What's not so well-known is that he got a student deferment at the same time he was touring with his rock band, putting in an average of 300 shows a year. How was he going to school and touring that much at the same time?

One of our readers sent me a copy of an extract of Nugent’s Selective Service records, obtained via a FOIA request (copy below).

As you can see, Nugent received student deferments in 1967 (1-S) and 1968 (2-S). But according to the Internet Movie Data Base website, Nugent has been “performing professionally since 1958, non-stop yearly touring since 1967, averaging more than 300 shows per year '67-73.” Hmm, that would include the two years he was supposedly too wrapped up in his studies to be serving his country.

Like the presidential candidate he has endorsed, Nugent managed to avoid service in Vietnam, employing both familiar rhetoric, and describing his clever plan, in a 2006 interview with the Rutland Herald out of Vermont back in 2006:

“… if I would have gone over there, I’d have been killed, or I’d have killed, or I’d kill all the hippies in the foxholes … I would have killed everybody,” he told the Detroit Free Press in an interview published July 15, 1990.

Fortunately, for our hero, Ted didn’t go to Vietnam. And how Ted managed to avoid the draft makes President Bush look like a war hero.

In that 1990 interview with the Free Press and from information collected from the Chickenhawk Web site, Nugent told about how he avoided the draft:

“He claims that 30 days before his Draft Board Physical, he stopped all forms of personal hygiene. The last 10 days he ingested nothing but junk food and Pepsi, and a week before his physical, he stopped using the bathroom altogether, virtually living inside his pants caked with excrement and urine. That spectacle won Nugent a deferment.”

It says volumes about the character of a man who calls himself the Motor City Madman. The Detroit native went out of his way to avoid the defining experience of his generation, then has the gall to talk about how eagerly he would have killed, “if” he had served.

Nugent on Dana Loesch's Radio Show




What a douche bag! Below Nugent being a racist.





But wait, there’s more: Ted the Family Guy

He has had two wives and has eight children, including three out of wedlock in two liaisons almost 30 years apart.

 In the late 1960s, prior to his first marriage, Nugent fathered a boy, Ted (Mann) and a girl, whom he gave up for adoption in infancy. In 2005 Nugent was involved in a legal battle for not paying enough child support.

In 1978, Nugent began a relationship with a seventeen-year-old Hawaii native named Pele Massa. Due to the age difference they could not marry so Nugent joined Massa’s parents in signing documents to make himself her legal guardian, an arrangement that Spin magazine ranked in October 2000 as #63 on their list of the “100 Sleaziest Moments in Rock”

But of course, he’s an all around good American, and the arbiter of who is, and who isn’t, a patriot…Ole Nug, he is the epitome of a sleazy, disgusting, radical tea bagger!

So the 63-year-old douche bag, who says he’ll be “dead or in jail” this time next year if President Obama is re-elected, wasn’t man enough to answer his country’s call during the Vietnam draft. That’s so Napoleon Bonaparte...even he thought he was being patriotic!

RELATED: Below is a great blog (CAUTION LANGUAGE):

NUGENT




NFTOS
Editor-In-Chief
Roger West

Radical Governor Backs Nugent

Embattled rocker Ted Nugent continued his radio tour on Wednesday with an appearance on the Mike Huckabee radio show. Following the interview, Huckabee defended Nugent’s controversial comments about Democrats and President Obama, saying that they were “really not threatening at all.” The former Arkansas governor also took a swipe at the Secret Service, saying that they have their own “issues” and some agents may need “inoculation from a little Colombian Cat Scratch Fever.”

Huckabee introduced Nugent as “my hunting buddy and good friend who found himself in just a little bit of hot water after this weekend’s comments.” When asked by Huckabee to explain his comments, Nugent seemed to place blame on the government for overreacting to his content.

“The level and increasing corruption and abuse of power in the federal government is off the charts – everybody knows that,” said Nugent. “Unless you’re part of that abuse of power and then you just stand by and you take advantage of that because abuse of power corrupts absolutely.”

Nugent went on to attempt to indict the Department of Justice and Attorney General Eric Holder for the “Fast and Furious” gun-walking scandal.

“We all revere the sacrifice and dedication of law enforcement, but when you have the U.S. Attorney General illegally running guns to Mexican drug gangs and bringing about the death of another law enforcement hero, we kind of cry tears of blood that we’re so heart broke,” said Nugent. He went on to cite the Solyndra energy loan scandal, the unfolding General Services Administration scandal and the Justice Department’s failure to prosecute members of the New Black Panther party as examples of government corruption.

Nugent also went on to indict the federal government for enforcing provisions of the Endangered Species Act in Michigan and cited the actions of hunters in Texas for reviving the Scimitar-Horned Oryx population.

When finally asked to explain his comments over the weekend, Nugent professed that he is a “non-violent guy.”

“I never threatened anyone’s life in my life,” said Nugent, repeating a phrase he used on the Glenn Beck radio show hours earlier. “I wouldn’t threaten the life of the president, or anyone in public office or anyone anywhere.” 

Nugent said that he is having a meeting with Secret Service agents tomorrow as they perform their due diligence to, as he put it, “respond to the lunatic fringe in the Congress and in the Senate and the White House, where they have to investigate or at least do a interview regarding the preposterous, outrageous, deceitful, dishonest claims that I threatened anyone’s life,” said Nugent. “I respect their duty to do so.”

Nugent said that he was subject to a politically motivated investigation in California before because he had several non-operational riffles on stage with him at a concert that could have been a model that was illegal in the state of California. “So this has been going on because I have the audacity to use the First Amendment, Mike, and they want to shut me up and it ain’t gonna happen.”

As we stated yesterday, remember a win for Obama -  equals asshat Nugent in jail.

Rocker Ted Nugent In Secret Service Cross Hairs

Radical Teabagger Hard Rocker Ted Nugent

Move over Charles Manson, someone’s taken over as the engineer of the Crazy Train and has already run it off the tracks. In fact, Ted Nugent is now under investigation by the Secret Service for a peculiar comment during a speech supporting Republican Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney.
According to a report on Think Progress, rocker Ted Nugent is in the Secret Service’s crosshairs after making comments about President Barack Obama and members of the Democratic party up for election in 2012.

The ‘Cat Scratch Fever’ guitarist / singer spoke to the crowd at a National Rifle Association (NRA) convention on Sunday, April 15. “If you don’t know that our government is rubbing its ass with the Constitution, you’re living under a rock someplace. And that there’s a dead solider an airman or marine, a seaman, a hero of the military that just got his legs blown off for the U.S. Constitution, and we got a President and Attorney General who doesn’t even like the Constitution.”

 
Ted Nugent "Cat Scratch Fever"



What put Nugent on the radar of the Secret Service however, was sparked by the following quote about President Obama:

“If Barack Obama becomes the President in November again, I will
 either be dead or in jail by this time next year.”


As an anonymous Secret Service agent tells New York Magazine, “We are aware of [Nugent's comments], and we’ll conduct an appropriate follow up.”

With the Secret Service’s entry into the scandal, it is unlikely that Romney will escape the gravity of this snowballing controversy without having to comment on it. Romney will be asked to repudiate the endorsement, but given the former Massachusetts governor only recently secured the Republican presidential nomination and still faces residual resentment from within his party’s base, it will be politically challenging for Romney to throw Nugent under the bus.

Watch the offending remarks below:




Regardless of whether you support Romney or Obama in the 2012 election, one must admit that Nugent’s decision to air that comment in a public forum wasn’t too bright a decision. Although the quote in question doesn’t have a definite meaning as to why Nugent feels like he would be dead or in jail, the Secret Service isn’t taking any chances.


Remember readers: A vote for Obama is a vote to send Ted Nugent to jail.



NFTOS
Editor-In-Chief
Roger West

FIREMAN TO THE RESCUE

Miami-Dade Fire Captain Blames Trayvon Martin Killing On ‘Shitbag’ Parents Of ‘Urban Youths’

The Miami-Dade Fire and Rescue Department opened an investigation into a racist post on one of its captains’ Facebook page. According to The Grio, Brian Beckmann, a captain in the Miami-Dade fire department, posted a rant on his Facebook page suggesting that Trayvon Martin shooter George Zimmerman was unjustly accused and that Martin’s killing can be blamed upon poor parenting by “urban” parents who are “welfare dependent”:

Words of Fire Capt Brian Beckmann

For the record, Trayvon Martin’s mother is a program coordinator at the Miami-Dade Housing Authority. His father is a truck driver. So neither parent is “dependent” on welfare.




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SEAN HANNITY NOW A LAWYER?

Once An Asshat Always An Asshat "Sean Hannity"

Now that the Trayvon Martin story has become a bona fide court case, the focus of the tale shifts from why George Zimmerman is free despite having committed homicide (lawful or otherwise) to what the results of the trial will be. Earlier this week Sean Hannity expressed relief that the system was now taking its course and support for Martin’s mother in her composure throughout the effort, and offered his prediction on what would happen: either Zimmerman would plea guilty to manslaughter, or manslaughter would be included in the trial.

Hannity’s panel– reporter Shannon Butler, attorney Crystal McCrary, and radio host David Webb– opened the discussion with what potential evidence the prosecution could bring to trial. Butler, who interviewed a witness early in the story who claimed Martin had attacked Zimmerman, confirmed that “there were at least two witnesses” saying Martin attacked Zimmerman, but the prosecution is rumored to have found some that saw the interaction between the two sooner, and perhaps saw Zimmerman provoke the encounter. She notes that “it was the girlfriend on the phone that really helped the prosecution on the case.”

Hannity argued that “this is why I kept saying nobody should rush to judgment,” and reiterated that it was possible a “horrible accident/tragedy” happened, as it is “possible that those two mindsets [Zimmerman's and Martin's] did not read the situation correctly [and] conflicted.” McCrary noted that she understood the racial elements of the case “as a mother of an African American son who has been profiled because he is African American,” but that “you can profile somebody and not be racist.” Webb countered that the problem with the racial element was that the case “isn’t about empathy, this is about empirical evidence,” and the media’s rush to judgment had been “the biggest deliberate tragedy” in the case aside from the family’s suffering.

Hannity concluded offering a prediction: “either they’re going to plea down to manslaughter… or it goes to trial and I think it would go down to a manslaughter.”





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A FEW WAYS TO IRRITATE A TEAPUBLICAN

HOW TO PISS OFF A TEABAGGER

Blog brought to you by Addictinginfo's Stephen D Foster


Conservatives are so easy to anger these days. Even the most insignificant statement can set off their tempers. If you want to enrage a conservative, I suggest saying the following:

1. A Socialist wrote the Pledge of Allegiance.

 2. Jesus healed the sick and helped the poor, for free.

 3. Joseph McCarthy was an un-American, witch hunting sissy.

 4. Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee were traitors.

 5. The South lost the Civil War, get over it.

 6. The Founding Fathers were liberals.

 7. Fascism is a right-wing trait.

 8. Sarah Palin is an idiot.

 9. The Earth is round.

 10. Reagan raised taxes eleven times as President.

 11. Reagan legalized abortion as Governor of California.

 12. Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency.

 13. Ronald Reagan supported gun control.

 14. Global warming is real.

 15. Republicans hate illegal immigrants, unless they need their lawns mowed or their houses cleaned.

 16. The military is a government-run institution, so why do Republicans approve the defense budget?

 17. The Cold War is over and the Soviet Union no longer exists.

 18. Paying taxes is patriotic.

 19. Republicans: Peddling the same failed economic policies since 1880.

 20. The Republican Party began as a liberal party.

 21. The Presidents’ full name is Barack Hussein Obama and he was born in the United States of America.

 22. George W. Bush held hands with the King of Saudi Arabia.

 23. President Obama saved the American auto industry, while Republicans wanted to destroy it.

 24. Hate is not a Christian virtue.

 25. Jesus was a liberal.

 26. Republicans spend MORE money than Democrats.

 27. Tea parties are for little girls.

 28. Public schools educate all children; private schools are for indoctrinating children.

 29. The Constitution is the law, NOT the Bible.

 30. Sharia law doesn’t exist in America.

 31. The President is NOT a Muslim.

 32. Corporations are NOT people. People are people.

 33. Fox News isn’t real news, it’s just a racist, sexist, hateful, right-wing propaganda machine.

 34. The Federal Reserve was a Republican idea.

 35. Women are equal citizens who deserve equal rights.

 36. Women control their own bodies.

 37. Abortion is a relevant medical procedure, just ask Rick Santorum.

 38. Please use spell-check.

 39. It’s “pundit”, not “pundint”.

 40. Social Security is solvent through 2038.

 41. Health care is a right, not a product.

 42. Roe v. Wade was a bipartisan ruling made by a conservative leaning Supreme Court.

 43. G.O.P also stands for Gross Old Perverts.

 44. The donkey shouldn’t be the Democratic mascot because Republicans are the real jackasses.

 45. Barack Obama ordered the killing of Osama Bin Laden. It took him two and half years to do what Bush couldn’t do in eight.

 46. Waterboarding IS torture.

 47. 9/11 happened on George W. Bush’s watch, therefore he did NOT keep America safe.

 48. Republicans invaded Iraq for oil, so Iraq should be allowed to invade Texas to get it back.

 49. Separation of church and state is in the Constitution, it’s called the First Amendment.

 50. Muslims are protected by the Constitution, just as much as Christians.

 51. Barack Obama is the first African-American President, get over it.

 52. The Oval Office is NOT a “whites only” office.

 53. America is a nation of immigrants, therefore we are all anchor babies.

 54. The white race isn’t disappearing, it’s evolving.

 55. God is a particle.

 56. Evolution is real.

 57. The Earth is 4.54 billion years old, not 6,000.

58. The Founding Fathers did not free the slaves.

59. The Revolution was NOT fought over slavery.

 60. Paul Revere warned the Americans, NOT the British.

 61. Federal law trumps state law.

 62. The Civil War was about slavery, NOT state’s rights.

 63. Corporations care more about profits than they do about people.

 64. Getting out of a recession requires government spending.

 65. Glenn Beck is a nut-job.

 66. Republicans: Paranoid since 1932.

 67. Republicans don’t want to pay for your birth control, but they want you to pay for their Viagra.

 68. Republicans actually NEED Viagra.

 69. Fox News is owned by an Australian and has a Saudi prince as an investor.

 70. Republicans complain about immigrants taking American jobs, then freely give American jobs to foreigners overseas.

 71. Republicans hate communism, so why do they refer to themselves as red states?

 72. Labor unions built this country.

 73. Republicans hold America hostage as a political strategy; the temper tantrum throwing kind of political strategy.

 74. Jesus was a Jew, not a Christian.

 75. When Republicans see black, they attack.

 76. Inside every Republican is a Klansman or a Nazi waiting to bloom.

 77. Republicans only care about children BEFORE they are born.

 78. Republicans are hypocrites, they’re just too stupid to know it.

 79. The Christian-Right boycotts movies that have violence, and then promotes guns and insurrection.

 80. I think therefore I am NOT a Republican.

 81. Republicans that oppose gay marriage are most likely in the closet themselves.

 82. Churches should stay out of politics, or be taxed.

 83. People are too poor to vote Republican.

 84. Democrats think for themselves, Republicans form think tanks to do it for them.

 85. Republicans hate education because they couldn’t hack it in school.

 86. Greed is one of the seven deadly sins and Republicans wallow in it.

 87. A little socialism on the Left is better than a little fascism on the Right.

 88. The current corporate tax rate is the lowest in 60 years, so stop whining about it being too high.

 89. Republicans: Anti-Gay Marriage, Pro-Lesbian sex.

 90. Republicans: Terrorizing the American people since 1981.

 91. Republicans have their own terrorists, just look up Timothy McVeigh.

 92. Republicans love outsourcing, just ask the Chinese Communists.

 93. The Republican answer to the oil spill was to apologize to BP, a foreign oil company.

 94. Democrats will be working hard to bring jobs to Americans, while the Republicans tea bag each other in the middle of the aisles.

 95. Voter disenfranchisement is immoral and un-American, that’s why Republicans do it.

 96. Republicans would let your house burn down unless you pay them to put it out.

 97. Democrats want to take care of the sick. Republicans take their credit cards and then deny them medical attention.

 98. Republicans say teachers are union thugs, then proceed to rape and mug the entire middle class on behalf of corporations.

 99. Republicans think rape isn’t a crime, but miscarriages are.

 100. Republicans are idiots and arguing with them is a waste of time!


Bottom line? If you want to anger a conservative, tell them the truth.



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Stand Your Ground Law

States In Yellow Have Stand Your Gound Laws

The most absurd moment in the Travyon Martin stand your ground killing came on March 13, when Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee stated that he could not arrest George Zimmerman because there were no grounds to disprove George Zimmerman’s claim of self-defense. And that was the moment anyone in their right mind should have concluded that stand your ground laws are ridiculous. When you get to kill the other guy, claim self defense and walk, solely because you claimed self-defense, we know we have a problem.

The fact that Zimmerman carried, and used, a firearm while serving as a neighborhood watch volunteer should have been enough for Bill Lee to make the call that maybe something was amiss here. The fact that Lee didn’t even test Zimmerman for drugs or alcohol, while Travyon Martin’s body was tested, should be enough for any observer to conclude the presumption of innocence afforded under law has been breached by the stand your ground laws that are now found in more than two dozen states.

Why We Should Repeal Stand Your Ground Laws?

1. They require “law enforcement officials to prove that a suspect did not act in self-defense. [NYT] ” This burden of proof is a bridge too far on the presumption of innocence continuum. You cannot prove motive with confidence on the basis of circumstantial evidence when the other guy happens to be dead.

2. They protect shooters from civil suits, where the burden of proof for a civil judgment is lower. This means that when the state doesn’t press charges, no civil options remain to the victim’s family.

3. Many of the victims have been unarmed (12 of 13 studied in a recent Orlando Sentinel investigation).

4. Police chiefs do not understand the laws, and thus abrogate their duty to investigate fully in the first crucial hours following an incident, allowing vital forensic evidence to be destroyed.

5. Dumbass gun owners, like George Zimmerman, who are inclined to ignore or misunderstand regulations regarding use of a firearm, will falsely believe they have rights that they do not, in reality, possess.

6. They encourage vigilantism by codifying a set of assumptions that magnifies the real degree of threat posed by “suspicious” persons possessed of unknown intent. This effect is exacerbated by racial profiling, as well as outright racism, and further fueled by the now well-known “hoodie effect.”

7. They represent an attempt to “normalize” the use of firearms in situations where the standard of proof is that of “feeling threatened,” a standard that is not codified with objective criteria under the laws.

8. People under investigation for having committed a crime involving the use of a firearm already possess a presumption of innocence.

9. They serve to reinforce the brutality of American society, driven by a paranoid sense of threat experienced by some armed civilians.

10. They represent a license to kill. And, as I have said before, it’s not gun nuts who bother me, it’s nuts with guns. I agree with Chattanooga, Tennessee gun enthusiast Sally Peterson who told WRCB TV,"You can't approach a person and draw your gun. I just think there are too many wannabe cops.”

Twenty threes states have the "stand your ground" law.

Click on the state to see its law.


Alabama

Arizona

Georgia

Idaho

Illinois (The law does not includes a duty to retreat, which courts have interpreted as a right to expansive self-defense.)

Indiana

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Michigan

Mississippi

Montana

Nevada

North Carolina

Oklahoma

Oregon (Also does not include a duty to retreat.)

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Washington (Also does not include a duty to retreat.)

West Virginia


These laws are very problematic, and it's the police and public interpretation of the law, which makes it even more dangerous. Moreover, in nearly all cases, you have two people....one dead and one holding the gun. Ultimately, the murderer can always claim stand your ground...without anyone alive to dispute his claims.

Perhaps stand your ground laws, also known as “Shoot First” laws, should be called "The Last Man Standing Laws", because the last man standing in a fatal altercation calls the shots, so to speak. And it seems to me that the last man standing in a Zimmerman-Martin type situation always claims self-defense. The expansion of this presumption of innocence creates an impossible situation for prosecutors when there are no witnesses, which plays nicely into the hands of those who would commit murder, intentional or otherwise. While it has always been a goal of those so inclined to avoid witnesses, under stand your ground laws they really do have a free-shot zone.

One way to ensure that we put pressure on these law makers and the NRA is to to reach out to the more than one million signers of the Change.org petition calling for George Zimmerman’s arrest to sign a petition calling for the repeal of the laws nationwide.

If ever there was a bad idea, bad law, this is the one. These laws lay the groundwork for a shoot-first, think-of-a-defense later environment. These laws expand the danger zone to threats within the personal space that exists in public arenas.

What's' next, too many items in the express checkout line? An attack of road rage? An argument with an umpire at a kid’s baseball game? A sideways glance from a street person?

In such an atmosphere how long will it be before citizens began arming themselves as they left the house in the belief that they would need to protect themselves from fellow citizens who logically would be doing exactly the same thing?

There’s a good reason why we entrust public protection to police officers who are trained in the use of deadly force and have the experience of what do in stressful situations.

The last thing this country needs is a return to the Wild West when disputes were resolved by who had the quicker draw. Having more guns in public with a legal shield to use them is a very bad idea, especially in the hands of the galactically stupid.



NFTOS
Editor-In-Chief
Roger West

Zimmerman Getting A Taste Of His Future

TRAVON'S MURDERER IN COURT

Which is behind bars!




Forty-seven days after Trayvon Martin was shot and killed in a Sanford, Florida, neighborhood, a solemn George Zimmerman made his initial appearance in a Florida court overnight for his second-degree murder charge in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, as the high-profile case entered its pre-trial phase.

At the brief hearing, a handcuffed Mr Zimmerman was dressed in a grey jump suit and indicated he understood his rights.

Mr Zimmerman spoke only twice, responding, "Yes, sir", to Seminole County Judge Mark Herr.

Judge Herr scheduled a May 29 court date for Mr Zimmerman to be arraigned on the charge and transferred the case to Seminole Circuit Judge Jessica Recksiedler.

His lawyer, Mark O'Mara, had previously declared he would seek Mr Zimmerman's release on bail today, but he said following the hearing that he had changed his mind because it "might only increase the fervour" surrounding the case, which has sparked emotional protests about perceived racial injustice.

The affidavit below in its entirety.  

Affidavit

"It just didn't make sense where the case is now," Mr O'Mara said, adding that he eventually planned to ask for a bond hearing but had not decided when he would file his motion.

Mr Zimmerman is currently being held in protective custody at the Seminole County Jail in Sanford, Florida.

Special prosecutor Angela Corey first announced Mr Zimmerman's second-degree murder charge yesterday, after Mr Zimmerman voluntarily surrendered to authorities.

Overnight, Judge Herr placed witness records in the case under seal upon a request by Mr O'Mara.

After the hearing, Mr O'Mara briefly addressed rumours that Mr Zimmerman was having psychological issues.

"He's in a good place but does not want to be here (in jail)," Mr O'Mara said, adding that "any diagnosis like that should be done by those who know how to do it".

Overnight, Martin's mother Sybrina Fulton said on the Today show that she believed the shooting was "an accident" but she later retracted her comments.

Mr O'Mara, who is currently working for Mr Zimmerman at no cost, said he did not plan on using Ms Fulton's initial characterisation as part of Mr Zimmerman's defence.

"We're not talking about using the words of the mother of a deceased child" against her, Mr O'Mara said.

This case takes on a plethora of issues, like neighbourhood watches, and what is their job, should they just observe and call, or carry weapons and take the roll of the local police - "stand your ground" laws - what constitutes "I feel threatened"? Right now, two crack heads in Florida carrying weapons, or two rival gang members could shoot up the town and then invoke "I was threatened" and get off Scott free - without a punch or threat even laid. Just the word [my life was threatened] of the one whom survives the gun shot wounds - which is just completely ludicrous!

This law in States that have it, should be required to pull the plug on it. If ever a law required judicial review, this one deserves a thorough scrubbing.

All things have consequences, right to free speech, right to bare arms, right to be an idiot, all have consequences, these rights should not be free reign entitlements to overdose on stupidity. Americans are well known for pushing envelopes are far as they can go without going over the line. "Stand your ground" is a dangerous law in the hands of life forms on terra firma. With the George Zimmerman's of the world,  [and believe you me there are boat loads in America] many shall invoke "I am standing my ground", whether they truly are or not!

NFTOS
Editor-In-Chief
Roger West

ZIMMERMAN FINALLY CHARGED

Finally, some 45 days later someone within the confines of the State of Florida gets it right!

George Zimmerman has been charged with second degree murder.

Trayvon Martin’s shooter George Zimmerman is currently in police custody and will be charged with murder in the second degree, a more serious crime than the manslaughter charge many analysts speculated Zimmerman might face. Under Florida law, second degree murder is defined as the unlawful killing of a human being, when perpetrated by any act imminently dangerous to another and evincing a depraved mind regardless of human life, although without any premeditated design to effect the death of any particular individual.”

Zimmerman’s new attorney Mark O’Mara conceded in an interview last month that some people have called Florida’s “stand your ground” law a “license to murder” statute “because it doesn’t require actions to avoid the confrontation.” O’Mara will likely be asserting that defense on behalf of Zimmerman in a court of law.




Trayvon Martin’s family watches the announcement of a second degree murder charge against George Zimmerman.

Trayvon Martin Family

If Zimmerman is convicted of 2nd degree murder the Florida sentencing guidelines are:

Maximum of life in prison; Minimum of 25 years if firearm is used, otherwise a minimum of 20.5 years under sentencing guidelines for a person with a clean record.



NFTOS
Editor-In-Chief
Roger West

 What we know now:  

Zimmerman's attorneys announced they have "lost contact" with Zimmerman and are withdrawing as counsel.

Attorneys say they still believe former client is innocent and acted in self-defense.

          Engage in heated discussion with the press, say Zimmerman is "victim" of press attacks.



In a highly contentious press conference, attorneys Craig Sonner and Hal Uhrig announced they have withdrawn as counsel for George Zimmerman, who remains under intense scrutiny for the killing of 17-year-old Treyvon Martin.

"It's no so much that we are resigning. It's that we cannot continue to represent him until he comes forward," said attorney Craig Sonner.

Sonner and Uhrig say they have been unable to contact Zimmerman since Sunday, when he stopped returning their phone calls.

"He's not returning my message not returning my texts not returning my emails. He wont' even give me a collect call," Sonner said.

However, both attorneys said they would be willing to resume their representation of Zimmerman if he contacts them directly.

"He's got to reach out to us," added co-counsel Hal Uhrig.

The press conference than took an unusual twist, with Uhrig essentially trying the case before the gathered members of the press. Both attorneys stressed that they continue to believe Zimmerman acted in self-defense, while Uhrig criticized both the press and Martin himself.

Going after the press directly, Uhrig said, "If you don't believe this has been crouched in racial terms, you're not watching the same media, the same TV, reading the same blogs." In an unfortunate choice of words, Uhrig added, "I'm taking a shot at the press when I say this."

Martin then directed criticism at the now-deceased Martin, alleging that his own actions were to blame for Zimmerman shooting him.

"Whoever decided to turn it from a war of words into a war of fists does so at their own peril," Uhrig said. "We frankly believe the correct decision will be to not charge him [Zimmerman]," Uhrig said.

"The first person that swung, as far as we can tell, was Treyvon Martin," Uhrig said. "The crime    was battery against George Zimmerman."

"People are saying, how can you shoot an unarmed man? You know what, an unarmed man can kill you if he keeps doing what he's doing," Uhrig said. "I don't care what one investigator thought. They're often wrong."

The attorneys say they know of Zimmerman's location and have access to his personal phone number.

"We've been able to handle the case by phone up this point," Sonner said. "But there were face-t0-face meeting scheduled."

Attempting to justify working on the case without direct, physical access to their former client, Uhrig said:

"George can't go out and buy a Diet Coke. There's a bounty on his head."

Both attorneys repeatedly refused to reveal Zimmerman's location but insinuated that he is no longer in Florida:

"You can stop looking in Florida. look much further away than that," Uhrig said.

 It is reported the Zimmermans has had one on one phone conversations with Faux News' Sean Hannity.

Rogue in killing Trayvon, rogue in avoiding justice. Indict this asshat now!



NFTOS
Editor-In-Chief
Roger West

BREAKING

George Zimmerman Launches Website, Features Vandalized Black Cultural Center

According to NBC News correspondent Mara Schiavocampo, George Zimmerman has launched a newwebsite:

On the website — therealgeorgezimmerman.com — Zimmerman solicits donations to support his “living expenses and legal defense.” He also features a photo of a vandalized black cultural center at Ohio State University.

Zimmerman alleges that other purported legal defense funds are not actually providing him with financial support.



NFTOS
STAFF

A grand jury will not look into the Trayvon Martin case, a special prosecutor said Monday, leaving the decision of whether to charge the teen's shooter in her hands alone and eliminating the possibility of a first-degree murder charge.

That prosecutor, Angela Corey, said her decision had no bearing on whether she would file charges against George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who has said he shot the unarmed black teen in self-defense. Corey could still decide to charge him with a serious felony such as manslaughter, which can carry a lengthy prison sentence if he is convicted.

A grand jury had been set to meet Tuesday in Sanford, about 20 miles northeast of Orlando.

Corey has long had a reputation for not using grand juries if it wasn't necessary. In Florida, only first-degree murder cases require the use of grand juries.

Corey's decision means she doesn't have to rely on potentially unpredictable jurors, said David Hill, an Orlando criminal defense attorney.

"Let's give her the benefit of the doubt. Maybe she knows there isn't enough for first-degree murder but she wants to maintain control and charge him with something else," Hill said. "What does she need a grand jury for? She cuts out the unpredictability of the grand jury. She goes where she feels she has more evidence."

Corey took over the case last month after the prosecutor who normally handles cases out of Sanford recused himself. That prosecutor, Norm Wolfinger, had originally called for the case to be presented before a grand jury.

"From the moment she was assigned, Ms. Corey noted she may not need a grand jury," said a statement from Corey's office.

Prosecutors sometimes use grand juries to avoid the political fallout from controversial cases. But Corey was elected by voters more than 100 miles away in the Jacksonville area, so political problems are less of an issue for Corey, Hill said.

Martin was killed Feb. 26 during a confrontation with Zimmerman in a gated community in Sanford.

Zimmerman has claimed self-defense, and Florida's self-defense law gives wide leeway to use deadly force and eliminates a person's duty to retreat in the face of danger.

Zimmerman's attorney, Craig Sonner, said he didn't want to comment on Corey's decision.

An attorney for Martin's parents said in a statement that he is not surprised by the decision to avoid the grand jury and hopes a decision is reached soon.

"The family has been patient throughout this process and asks that those who support them do the same during this very important investigation," said attorney Benjamin Crump.

The case has led to protests across the nation and spurred a debate about race and the laws of self-defense. Martin was black; Zimmerman's father is white and his mother is Hispanic.

In Georgia, a civil rights activist is challenging that state's so-called stand your ground law. The Rev. Markel Hutchins said he sued Monday in Atlanta in response to Martin's death. The lawsuit claims the law leads to the unnecessary use of lethal force.

On Monday, one protest led to the temporary closing of the Sanford Police Department offices to the public for most of the day as about a half dozen student activists blocked the building entrance.

Police officers took no action to remove the protesters, who were part of a group of students who marched from Daytona Beach to Sanford over the weekend.

Citizens wanting to do business with the police department were directed to City Hall.

Calling themselves "the Dream Defenders," the protesters demanded Zimmerman's arrest; a special investigation into the Sanford Police Department; a community meeting; and the firing of the city manager and the police chief who temporarily stepped down after Martin's death, Bill Lee. Darren Scott, a 23-year veteran of the Sanford Police Department, was named acting chief. Lee is still employed with the department and receiving his salary.

After meeting with six of the protesters, city officials agreed only to a community forum next week.

"The city certainly is committed to justice for Trayvon Martin," said City Manager Norton Bonaparte Jr.

NFTOS
STAFF

HAPPY EASTER

Happy Easter from all of us at NFTOS.


THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST




JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR






NFTOS
Editor-In-Chief
West

JUSTICE FOR TRAYVOM MARTIN

Trayvon killing eyewitness on CNN: I offered to show police scene of the crime, they declined!

Ashleigh Banfield, substituting in for Anderson Cooper last night, spoke to an anonymous eyewitness to the death of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman about what she saw that night. She had already spoken out anonymously, but she came forward yesterday with more information. She revealed that after the police brought her in for questioning, she offered to bring them to the scene of the crime and show them what happened, but they declined her offer.

She told Banfield that she heard two cries of help, the second one more of a “devastating, desperate” yell. She said she believes that the yell came from Martin, and heard them loudly arguing outside her window, even if she couldn’t precisely decipher what she was saying. When Banfield asked if it sounded like a confrontation, she agreed. The eyewitness did call 911 and mentioned that she did hear a gun went off. She described the experience as like watching a movie and telling the dispatcher what was happening outside her home, play-by-play.

At one point, she held up her phone near the screen door so the dispatcher could hear what was happening. Banfield asked, when the gun went off, who it looked like was on top. The eyewitness answered that it looked like “the larger man,” meaning Zimmerman, was on top of Martin. At one point, Zimmerman started walking closer to where the eyewitness could see him, but could not discern whether his face was bloodied or not. When she was called in for questioning by the police, she said their questions did not necessarily have some depth to them, but merely just them asking her for a basic recap of what happened.

She offered to take them to the location of the crime, but claims that they were not interested. Banfield pressed her to explain why, but she said the police could answer that question better than her. And, in fact, the lead investigator told her that she misheard, and that it was Zimmerman who cried for help, not Martin. Following a community meeting to discuss the issue, she said she contacted the police two more times, but they did not get back to her.





Trying to understand George Zimmerman and the Sanford police department -it's like trying to pick up the clean end of fecal matter!


NFTOS
Editor-In-Chief
Roger West

UNITED STATES MARINE BOARD AGREES WITH NFTOS

Boot the tea bagger!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

A Marine who criticized President Barack Obama on his Facebook page has committed misconduct and should be dismissed, a military board recommended late Thursday.

The Marine Corps administrative board made the decision after a daylong hearing at Camp Pendleton for Sgt. Gary Stein.

The board also recommended that Stein be given an other-then-honorable discharge. That would mean Stein would lose his benefits and would not be allowed on any military base.

The board's recommendations go to a general who will either accept or deny them. If the general disagrees with the board, the case could go to the secretary of the Navy.

Stein's lawyers argued that the 9-year Marine, whose service was to end in four months, was expressing his personal views and exercising his First Amendment rights.

"We're truly surprised and disappointed but it was an honor to fight for a hero like Sgt. Stein and every other Marine's right to speak freely," Stein's defense attorney Marine Capt. James Baehr said.

Stein addressed board members during Thursday's hearing, tell them he loved the Marine Corps and wanted to re-enlist, Baehr said.

During the hearing, the prosecutor, Capt. John Torresala, said Stein went as far as superimposing images of Obama's face on a poster for the movie "Jackass."

Torresala argued that Stein's behavior repeatedly violated Pentagon policy that limits the free speech rights of service members, and said he should be dismissed after ignoring warnings from his superiors about his postings.

The government submitted screen grabs of Stein's postings on one Facebook page he created called Armed Forces Tea Party, which the prosecutor said included the image of Obama on the "Jackass" movie poster. Stein also superimposed Obama's image on a poster for "The Incredibles" movie that he changed to "The Horribles," the prosecutor said.

Torresala also said anti-Obama comments by Stein that were posted on a Facebook page used by Marine meteorologists were prejudicial to good order and discipline, and could have influenced junior Marines.

Stein's security clearance was taken away and he has no future in the Marine Corps because he can't do his job without that clearance, Torresala said.

"The Marine Corps community views the command's lack of action as some kind of knock on good order and discipline," Torresala said. "Our own people are questioning why this Marine is not being held accountable."

Baehr said during the hearing that prosecutors were trying to dredge up any damaging information they could against Stein.

"There is no basis in this case," Baehr said. "Sgt. Stein has broken no law."

Baehr expressed after the hearing that he hoped that the recommendation would be rejected by the general, saying the case will go forward. "The issues are too important for this to end today," he said.

The military has had a policy since the Civil War limiting the free speech of service members, including criticism of the commander in chief.

Pentagon directives say military personnel in uniform cannot sponsor a political club; participate in any TV or radio program or group discussion that advocates for or against a political party, candidate or cause; or speak at any event promoting a political movement.

Commissioned officers also may not use contemptuous words against senior officials.

Backed by a team of lawyers and congressmen, Stein has said he is fighting for his constitutional rights and should be allowed to stay in the military. His lawyers and the American Civil Liberties Union contend his views are protected by the First Amendment.

"Think about how dangerous this could be if the U.S. government can prosecute you for something you say on your private Facebook page," Baehr said.

Stein has said his opinions are his own and has put a disclaimer on his Facebook page saying so. His attorneys argued service members have a right to voice their opinions as long as they do not appear to be presenting their views as being endorsed by the military. They say the Pentagon policy is vague and military officials do not understand it.

The Marine Corps has said it decided to take administrative action after Stein declared on Facebook that he would not follow orders from Obama and later clarified that statement saying he would not follow unlawful orders.

Stein could face other-than-honorable discharge while seeing his rank reduced to lance corporal and losing his benefits. The nine-year veteran was set to finish his service in four months.

He said he was removed from his job at the Marine Corps Recruiting Depot in San Diego last month and given a desk job with no access to computers.

Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., a former Marine, wrote a letter to Stein's commanding officer stating the sergeant should not face dismissal for an opinion shared by a majority of Marines. Hunter said he was referring to Stein's statement that he would not obey unlawful orders. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., also expressed support for Stein.

Stein said his statement about Obama was part of an online debate about NATO allowing U.S. troops to be tried for the Quran burnings in Afghanistan.

In that context, he said, he was stating that he would not follow orders from the president if it involved detaining U.S. citizens, disarming them or doing anything else that he believes would violate their constitutional rights.

Make a statement with this tea bagger! When you dawn the uniform, you obey all POTUS', not just ones that align with you radical Reich-wing agenda. Let this be a lesson to all tea baggers in uniform, we will not tolerate insubordination of any type, especially because you don't like the President - due to his being black!

When you go Gary Stein, go in disgrace, lose any entitlement due you for services rendered, and learn, that while you have the right to freedom of speech, that right comes with consequences, especially when defending the country you so love. When in uniform you protect all American's not just tea baggers! As the old saying goes:

"Don't go away mad, just go away"!

NFTOS
Editor-In-Chief
Roger West

KNOW THE FACTS

JUST THE FACTS MAAM

George W. Bush created nearly 7 trillion dollars in new debt for the deficit, and President Obama has created 1.7 trillion (including the bailout).

In 2001 George W. Bush projected a 5.9 trillion dollar surplus through 2011! When in reality, George W. Bush actually created a nearly 6 trillion dollar deficit. Talk about missing the mark.


Flipflopney and Reality




The video in text version:

Mitt Romney: "The President has pledged to "transform America," and he has spent the last four years laying the foundation for a new Government-Centered Society."
President Obama: "I have never been somebody who believes that government can or should try to solve every problem."

Mitt Romney: "He saw free enterprise as the villain and not the solution."
President Obama: "I believe deeply that the free market is the greatest force for economic progress in human history."


Mitt Romney: "When you attack business and vilify success, you're going to have less business and less success."
President Obama: "I know that the true engine of job creation in this country is the private sector, not Washington."


Mitt Romney: "... tax increases become not only a necessity, but also a desired tool for social justice."
President Obama: "I've cut taxes for small business owners 17 times over the last three years."


Mitt Romney: "... government spending always increase because...well why not?"
President Obama: "As President I've eliminated dozens of programs that weren't working. And put annual domestic spending on a path to become the smallest share of the economy since Dwight Eisenhower held this office"


Mitt Romney: "If we become one of those societies that attack success, one outcome is certain -- there will be a lot less success."
President Obama: "In this country broad based prosperity has never trickled down from the success of a wealthy few. It has always come from the success of a strong and growing middle class."


Mitt Romney: "We'll stop the days of apologizing for success at home and never again apologize for America abroad."
President Obama: "I have no doubt that we will continue our long and prosperous journey as the greatest nation on Earth. Thank you. God bless you. God bless the United States of America."


Know the facts readers, for not doing so endangers our livelihoods. The mind is a terrible thing to waste!



NFTOS
Editor-In-Chief
Roger West

SARANOYA "INFILTRATES" "LAMESTREAM MEDIA"

SARANOYA PALIN A UNIVERSAL NIGHTMARE

Following Sarah Palin‘s gig co-hosting Today, Jon Stewart zeroed in on her appearance — and particularly on Palin saying she was “infiltrating” the lamestream media. She’s acting like she’s “uncommonly ballsy,” he said, when really ” it’s just another place for you to tout your brand of homespun nonsense unchallenged!”





Palin was “quite good and likable,” Stewart said. But that wasn’t the issue. “It was mostly with how Governor Palin seemed to view it,” he said. Stewart then highlighted a tweet in which Palin said she was going to “go rogue” and “infiltrate some turf.”

Stewart summed it up: “I think it means you’re cynically exploiting a manufactured notion of yourself as a crusader against a monolithic exclusionary activist liberal media, whilst actually enjoying a mutually beneficial, symbiotic relationship with them — only to the detriment to the rest of the country.”
“It’s the Today Show!” he continued. “Do you really believe co-hosting the Today Show is is entering the lion’s den, armed only with some Jesus fish earrings and an Iwo Jima sized flag pin?” He then launched into detailing how ridiculous Palin’s perspective is:

Governor Palin acts like she needed to protect herself from the lamestream liberals like garlic to a vampire when the truth is, you’re at the Today Show! You’re there to talk about party planning with Tori Spelling! To pretend that you remember who Wilson Phillips is, or to hang out for some light-hearted couch banter with Matt and Ann and Al — instead of acting like you’re sitting with which Che and Lenin and Saul Alinsky. You’re pretending this whole appearance is some uncommonly ballsy way of sticking it to the lamestream media. It’s just another place for you to tout your brand of homespun nonsense unchallenged!

Hitting Palin’s “failed socialist policies” remark, and suggestion that Oprah Winfrey should get some conservatives on her network, Stewart said, “That’s it, in a nutshell. The simplicity and prejudice of your worldview that the patriotism and goodness of something is in direct proportion only to the amount of conservatism in said thing. And that equation so rules your life that you offered that advice spontaneously to the question of ‘how do you think Oprah’s doing?’”


I think Palin was more interesting as an interview subject. Lauer asked Palin whether she’d be “happy” with Mitt Romney as nominee, and Palin, God bless her stupidity, is not media professional enough to hide her distaste: she inhaled deeply and grimaced as if being waterboarded by George Bush and Dick Cheney. As a host, with her rambling style and still baroque syntax [It's nice how people keep letting Sarah Palin go on TV (NBC Today Show) so she can practice her English] she's not likely to garner a full time gig with NBC, or any news group for that fact.

By the time it was all said and done, viewers weren't sure which side the whole episode was more degrading for: NBC, blatantly groveling for ratings, or Palin, giving a cheerful Mama Grizzly growl to Al Roker. Welcome to the lamestream part time Governor.



NFTOS
Editot-In-Chief
Roger West

The Role Of George Zimmerman’s Father

JUSTICE FOR TRAYVON MARTIN

In an interview, Martin family attorney Natalie Jackson raised serious questions about the role of George Zimmerman’s father, Robert Zimmerman, in the case.

Specifically, Jackson pointed to Robert Zimmerman’s presence during police questioning of his son. The New York Times reported the following:
The day after the shooting, George Zimmerman, according to his father, returned with at least three police officers to the Retreat at Twin Lakes, back to that grassy area where plaintive cries for help had gone unanswered. The investigators, accompanied by someone with a video camera, wanted him to re-enact the events of the night when the two strangers had stood their ground.

Mr. Zimmerman’s father watched from nearby. 

Jackson noted that Robert Zimmerman was a retired magistrate judge who “issued warrants” and knows “what probable cause needs to be” to justify an arrest. His presence at the questioning, according to Jackson, was unusual and potentially inappropriate because “we don’t know what coaching went on.”

In an interview with Fox 35 Orlando, Robert Zimmerman, speaking of his son’s conduct, said “If a law enforcement officer presented those facts to me and requested a warrant, he would absolutely be denied.” Robert Zimmerman’s unusual role could help explain how George Zimmerman avoided arrest despite the recommendation of the lead homicide investigator that he be charged with manslaughter.
Seperately, Ben Crump, Jackson’s co-council, sent a letter to the U.S. Deputy Attorney General urging him to investigate a number of irregularities in the conduct of local authorities. Crump wrote that he believed “family members of shooter George Zimmerman were present at the police department” the night Trayvon Martin was killed.

Robert Zimmerman appeared to acknowledge he had spoken to the police and the state’s attorney in the case. In his Fox 35 interview, he said, “No one knew I was a retired magistrate judge. I didn’t mention it to the police. I didn’t mention it to the state attorney’s office.” He did not elaborate on the substance of his conversations with the police or prosecutors.

Jackson noted that Robert Zimmerman has made several claims about his son’s conduct that have turned out to be “not credible.” For example, in a letter to the Orlando Sentinel, he flatly stated that at “no time did George follow or confront Mr. Martin.” Subsequently, the 911 tapes were released and revealed that George Zimmerman acknowledged chasing Trayvon Martin.

Also, in the un-edited 911 tapes [Google Trayvon Martin 911 tape, and you'll see a plethora of YouTube videos not edited] you can hear Zimmerman while chasing Travyon - calling him a "fucking coon". All this prior to any head banging, scuffle, broken nose, head gash or shot fired.....enough said!




NFTOS
Staff Writer
Steve "Damn Nazi Liberal" Chevapravatdumrong

LIMBAUGH"S TWO CENTS

JUSTICE FOR TRAYVOM MARTING

This afternoon, right-wing radio host Rush Limabugh said that the tragic death of Trayvon Martin — which has outraged millions inside and outside of the African-American community — is “doing more harm to the black community than anything else.” Ignoring the tens of thousands of people who have engaged in non-violent protests throughout the country, Limbaugh said nothing in the response to Martin’s death has been “uplifting” or “admirable.”

Limbaugh also alleged that media coverage of the case was a conspiracy between Obama, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson to ensure Obama’s reelection.





Limbaugh argued that the case received scant media attention for the first several weeks because the media needed to focus on attacking him and the Republican “war on women.” Actually, media attention increased when the police finally released 911 tapes that revealed Zimmerman had pursued Trayvon Martin.

The essential facts of the case below:


1. Zimmerman called the police to report Martin’s “suspicious” behavior, which he described as “just walking around looking about.” Zimmerman was in his car when he saw Martin walking on the street. He called the police and said: “There’s a real suspicious guy. This guy looks like he’s up to no good, on drugs or something. It’s raining and he’s just walking around looking about… These a**holes always get away” [Orlando Sentinel]

2. Zimmerman pursued Martin against the explicit instructions of the police dispatcher:

Dispatcher: “Are you following him?”
Zimmerman: “Yeah”
Dispatcher: “OK, we don’t need you to do that.”
[Orlando Sentinel]

3. Prior to the release of the 911 tapes, Zimmerman’s father released a statement claiming “[a]t no time did George follow or confront Mr. Martin.” [Sun Sentinel]

4. Zimmerman was carrying a 9 millimeter handgun. Martin was carrying a bag of Skittles and a can of iced tea. [ABC News]

5. Martin weighed 140 pounds. Zimmerman weighs well over 200 pounds. [Orlando Sentinel; WDBO]

6. Martin’s English teacher described him “as an A and B student who majored in cheerfulness.” [Orlando Sentinel]

7. Martin had no criminal record. [New York Times]

8. Zimmerman “was charged in July 2005 with resisting arrest with violence and battery on an officer. The charges appear to have been dropped.” [Huffington Post]

9. Zimmerman called the police 46 times since 2004. [Daily Beast]

10. According to neighbors, Zimmerman was “fixated on crime and focused on young, black males.” [Miami Herald]

11. Zimmerman “had been the subject of complaints by neighbors in his gated community for aggressive tactics” [Huffington Post]

12. A police officer “corrected” a key witness. “The officer told the witness, a long-time teacher, it was Zimmerman who cried for help, said the witness. ABC News has spoken to the teacher and she confirmed that the officer corrected her when she said she heard the teenager shout for help.” [ABC News]

13. Three witnesses say they heard a boy cry for help before a shot was fired. “Three witnesses contacted by The Miami Herald say they saw or heard the moments before and after the Miami Gardens teenager’s killing. All three said they heard the last howl for help from a despondent boy.” [Miami Herald]

14. The officer in charge of the crime scene also received criticism in 2010 when he initially failed to arrest a lieutenant’s son who was videotaped attacking a homeless black man. [New York Times]

15. The police did not test Zimmerman for drugs or alcohol. A law enforcement expert told ABC that Zimmerman sounds intoxicated on the 911 tapes. Drug and alcohol testing is “standard procedure in most homicide investigations.” [ABC News]

16. In a cell phone call moments before his death, Martin told a teenage girl that he was “hounded by a strange man on a cellphone who ran after him, cornered him and confronted him.” “‘He said this man was watching him, so he put his hoodie on. He said he lost the man,’ Martin’s friend said. ‘I asked Trayvon to run, and he said he was going to walk fast. I told him to run but he said he was not going to run.’ Eventually he would run, said the girl, thinking that he’d managed to escape. But suddenly the strange man was back, cornering Martin. ‘Trayvon said, ‘What, are you following me for,’ and the man said, ‘What are you doing here.’” [ABC News]

17. Police have Trayvon Martin’s cell phone but never contacted his girlfriend. [Miami Herald]

18. Zimmerman told the police “he had stepped out of his truck to check the name of the street he was on when Trayvon attacked him from behind as he walked back to his truck.” “He said he feared for his life and fired the semiautomatic handgun he was licensed to carry because he feared for his life.” [Miami Herald]

19. The incident occurred in a tiny gated community Zimmerman patrolled regularly. [Miami Herald]

20. Zimmerman was not a member of a registered Neighborhood Watch group. Zimmerman also violated basic Neighborhood Watch guidelines by carrying a weapon. [ABC News]

21. The police reports were amended to bolster Zimmerman’s claim of self defense. “Initial police reports never mentioned that Zimmerman had a bloody nose or a wet shirt that showed evidence of a struggle.” [Miami Herald]

22. Police ignored witness whose account was different from Zimmerman’s.“One of the witnesses who heard the crying said she called a detective repeatedly, but said he was not interested because her account differed from Zimmerman’s.” [Miami Herald]

23. Just prior to killing Martin, Zimmerman may have used a racial slur. The police admit they initially overlooked the remark. It’s unclear exactly what Zimmerman is saying. [ABC News]

24. Zimmerman still has a permit to carry a concealed weapon in the State of Florida.

25. In April 2011, Zimmerman called the police to report a suspicious black male, “7-9″ years old, “skinny build.” [Daily Beast]

26. Zimmerman claims Martin attacked him, punched him in the nose and repeatedly slammed his head on the sidewalk. “With a single punch, Trayvon Martin decked the Neighborhood Watch volunteer who eventually shot and killed the unarmed 17-year-old, then Trayvon climbed on top of George Zimmerman and slammed his head into the sidewalk, leaving him bloody and battered, law-enforcement authorities told the Orlando Sentinel. That is the account Zimmerman gave police.” [Orlando Sentinel]

27. The lead investigator in Trayvon Martin shooting wanted manslaughter charge against Zimmerman. The lead investigator, Chris Serino, “stated he was unconvinced Zimmerman’s version of events.” His recommendation for a manslaughter charge was overruled by state attorney Norman Wolfinger, who subsequently removed himself from the case. [ABC News]

28. Surveillance video taken immediately after shooting, shows no blood or bruises on Zimmerman. ABC News, which obtained the video, reports: “A police surveillance video taken the night that Trayvon Martin was shot dead shows no blood or bruises on George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch captain who says he shot Martin after he was punched in the nose, knocked down and had his head slammed into the ground.” [ABC News] [UPDATE: ABC subsequently enhanced the video, now there may be "a pair of gashes" on Zimmerman's head.]

29. An eyewitness at the scene said Zimmerman “didn’t appear hurt.” [CNN]

30. Martin’s funeral director said his body showed no signs of fight. “We could see no physical signs like there had been a scuffle [or] there had been a fight… The hands — I didn’t see any knuckles, bruises or what have you. [CBS]

31. EMS records from the night of the shooting show Zimmerman sustained no serious injuries.New York Daily News]


Indict Zimmerman now Florida!


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Roger West