"Ultimately, the problem comes to gun control. I don't know when we're going to get serious about all this, and I don't know how many more lives it will take before something will be done."Quote from : Gurcharan Grewal, president of the Sikh Religious Society of Wisconsin.In conversation with Amy Goodman at Democracy Now.
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"On a lot of levels, though, it doesn’t matter whether the dead were Sikh or Muslim, not least because Wade Michael Page, the terrorist who killed them, probably wouldn’t have cared. Yes, Sikhs, many of whom grow long beards and wear turbans, have faced shameful discrimination in the decade since 9/11 — the unwitting scapegoats of anti-Muslim fervor nationwide.
But to Page, an Army vet immersed in a world of far-right hate, the people he shot were brown-skinned and irredeemably “the Other.” That was enough to pull the trigger.
It’s that ideology that needs to be taken to task, that needs to be front and center of the national conversation. But will it be?"
Quote from: "Have We Turned A Blind Eye To Domestic Terrorism? In the United States, some types of hate are more tolerated than others"
By ISHAAN THAROOR | @ishaantharoor at Time.com, August 10, 2012
Brian Ross reports on the alleged gunman's history with Neo-Nazi racist nativist white supremacist movement.
08/07/2012"
"DHS/I&A has concluded that white supremacist lone wolves pose the most significant domestic terrorist threat because of their low profile and autonomy—separate from any formalized group—which hampers warning efforts..[...]
Returning veterans possess combat skills and experience that are attractive to rightwing extremists. DHS/I&A is concerned that rightwing extremists will attempt to recruit and radicalize returning veterans in order to boost their violent capabilities."Quote from 2009 Department of Homeland Security entitled “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment,”
Several Canadians, including Toronto-area MPP Jagmeet Singh, attended the funeral for the six people killed in a shooting at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin. An inter-faith event was also held in Brampton on Friday, to show support for survivors and victims’ families. Hundreds of people gathered in the Milwaukee suburb of Oak Creek on Friday to pay final respects to the five men and one woman killed when white supremacist and army vet Wade Michael Page burst into the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin and opened fire before prayer services last Sunday morning. Page shot himself after exchanging gunfire with police.also see: GOP and Fox News got it wrong in criticizing Department of Homeland Security for its 2009 report on profiling Domestic Terrorists Republicans Blasted Obama Administration For Warning About Right-Wing Domestic Terrorism By Annie-Rose Strasser , Think Progress on Aug 7, 2012
The gunman in the shooting at a Sikh temple over the weekend has been labeled a potential domestic terrorist — defined as one who incites politically-motivated violence against his or her own country. In Wade Michael Page’s case, that political motivation was likely white supremacy, a growing problem in the United States.
But when, in 2009, the Department of Homeland Security reported that white supremacy is the US’s biggest threat for domestic terror, it was met with harsh criticism. Conservatives blasted the department for defining terror threats too broadly, instead of focusing on potential Islamic terrorists. Then-House Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) was one of those who berated DHS, saying that they weren’t focusing on the real threats the US faces:
"[T]he Secretary of Homeland Security owes the American people an explanation for why she has abandoned using the term ‘terrorist’ to describe those, such as al Qaeda, who are plotting overseas to kill innocent Americans, while her own Department is using the same term to describe American citizens who disagree with the direction Washington Democrats are taking our nation. Everyone agrees that the Department should be focused on protecting America, but using such broad-based generalizations about the American people is simply outrageous."
The report was titled “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment,” and it named white supremacists, radical anti-abortionists, and a few “disgruntled veterans” as most susceptible to recruitment by extremist groups, or to harboring resentment that may lead to domestic terrorism. DHS stressed that, during recessions, these threats go up, and law enforcement should be on the lookout for such extremism:
"DHS/I&A has concluded that white supremacist lone wolves pose the most significant domestic terrorist threat because of their low profile and autonomy—separate from any formalized group—which hampers warning efforts..[...]Returning veterans possess combat skills and experience that are attractive to rightwing extremists. DHS/I&A is concerned that rightwing extremists will attempt to recruit and radicalize returning veterans in order to boost their violent capabilities."
The report’s findings were congruous with previous studies that indicate right wing extremism is responsible for more instances of violence every year (with the exception of 2001, when the September 11th attacks happened) in the United States than Islamic extremist. It also tracks with the rise of hate groups in the US since 2000.
As politicians peddle platitudes on second amendment rights and soul-searching, 32 Americans are shot to death every day by Amy Goodman Another mass murder, another shooting spree, leaving bodies bullet-riddled by a legally obtained weapon. This time, it was Oak Creek, Wisconsin, at a Sikh temple, as people gathered for their weekly worship. President Barack Obama said Monday: "I think all of us recognize that these kinds of terrible, tragic events are happening with too much regularity for us not to do some soul-searching." Amidst the carnage, platitudes.
With an average of 32 people killed by guns in this country every day – the equivalent of five Wisconsin massacres per day – both major parties refuse to deal with gun control. It's the consensus, not the gridlock, that's the problem.
The president's press secretary, Jay Carney, said: "We need to take common-sense measures that protect second amendment rights and make it harder for those who should not have weapons under existing law from obtaining weapons." It's important to note where Jay Carney made that point, reiterating the phrase "common sense" five times in relation to the president's intransigence against strengthening gun laws, and invoking "second amendment" a stunning eight times.
He spoke from the James S Brady press briefing room in the White House, named after one of Carney's predecessors, shot in the head by John Hinckley during the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan in 1981. Brady survived and co-founded, with his wife, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. After each of these massacres, the Brady Campaign has called for strengthened gun control.
This latest mass killing was very likely a hate crime, perpetrated by Wade Michael Page, a white, 40-year-old US army veteran with links to white supremacist groups and membership in skinhead rock bands. Page grew up in Littleton, Colorado, the same town where, in 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold plotted and executed their mass-murder plan at Columbine High School Page was in the US army from 1992 to 1998. He did missile-system repairs and later was a "psychological operations" specialist, although it is not clear in what capacity, based first at Fort Bliss, Texas, then at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Page received a "general discharge" from the army, lower than an honorable discharge, but not as bad as a dishonorable one. Reports suggest he had a problem with alcohol, with several arrests for drunken driving.
He recently lost a truck-driving job for the same reason, which may have precipitated the loss of his home to foreclosure. Page may have been troubled, but he was by no means unknown. After the shooting, FBI Special Agent Teresa Carlson of Milwaukee told the press: "There may be references to him in various files, and those are things that are being analyzed right now, but, we had no reason to believe, and as far as we know, no law-enforcement agency had any reason to believe that he was planning or plotting or capable of such violence."
Page was a prominent member of the neo-Nazi skinhead music scene, was known to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks rightwing hate groups, and was also personally interviewed, between 2001 and 2003, by Pete Simi, associate professor of criminology at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Despite the arrests, despite the history of membership in hate groups, Page was able to walk into a gun shop and buy the 9mm pistol legally, according to the shop owner.
"Stolarik's shot of Occupy arrests last fall."
"It is clear from the reports of the most recent incident involving Mr. Stolarik that proper training and supervision of NYPD officers regarding the rights of the press and public to record and photograph on city streets is sorely inadequate and that the directives and spirit of the FINEST message are being disregarded." -Quote from: National Press Photographers Association letter to police. source: NYPD's FINEST Message: What Freedom of the Press? by Abby Zimet at commondreams.org, August 6, 2012
"A demonstration outside the Olympic site on March 1, 2011 was called in solidarity with the whistleblower who was fired for standing up for an illegally blacklisted workmate." from article: Thousands of UK Workers 'Blacklisted' Over Political Views Activists threaten legal action over failure to investigate - Common Dreams staff, August 07,2012NYPD's FINEST Message: What Freedom of the Press? by Abby Zimet at commondreams.org, August 6, 2012
The press is pushing back against a still-thuggish NYPD after fully credentialled, longtime New York Times freelancer Robert Stolarik was roughed up, kicked and arrested for photographing the arrest of a teenage girl in the Bronx for a story about stop-and-frisk abuses- ie: for doing his constitutionally protected job. Stolarik also had a December run-in with the cops while he tried to photograph Occupy arrests. Lookit what these clowns pulled on him. So much for protect and serve.Update: Stop and Frisk and the attacks on the Press Freedom of the press guaranteed only to those who kow-tow to those in authority from the president to a governor to a mayor to the average olice officer or security guard , mercenary, hired off duty cops . Those in power intend to use their power to crush any dissent which they don't agree with or fear. NYPD refuse to stop their draconian and racist Stop and Frisk program while Sheriff Arpaio want to incarcerate all hispanic Americans while President Obama incarcerates purported enemies of the sate and using Drones to blowing up and obliterate innocent villagers in their thousands to capture a hand full of suspected terrorists while he and Clinton are salivating over the killing of tens of thousands in Syria to prove to all nations once again as they did in Libya that America is still #1. ------------------------------------------------------------- ---- Update 2: #OWS ---- Thousands of UK Workers 'Blacklisted' Over Political Views Activists threaten legal action over failure to investigate - Common Dreams staff, August 07,2012
Corporations in the UK who used a secret "blacklisting" database to screen out ‘left wing trouble-makers’ and union sympathizers as potential job recruits are facing renewed scrutiny after the UK-activist group Liberty called for a fresh investigation Monday night.
The blacklist scandal first broke in 2008, when the UK media revealed that more than 40 leading employers had subscribed to the vetting service provided by The Consulting Association, which had surveillance files on more than 3,200 workers, including political activists, shop stewards and health and safety representatives. Police seized the database three years ago and Ian Kerr, the founder of The Consulting Association, was fined only about $7,500.
Invoices were discovered showing that 44 companies had paid to access the names on the list. But full details of the material it contained only emerged as workers began to pursue legal action over their inclusion. he blacklist scandal first broke in 2008, when the UK media revealed that more than 40 leading employers had subscribed to the vetting service provided by The Consulting Association, which had surveillance files on more than 3,200 workers, including political activists, shop stewards and health and safety representatives.
Police seized the database three years ago and Ian Kerr, the founder of The Consulting Association, was fined only about $7,500. Invoices were discovered showing that 44 companies had paid to access the names on the list. But full details of the material it contained only emerged as workers began to pursue legal action over their inclusion. Liberty is now threatening to go to court to force the UK government to investigate the case, which it has compared in severity to the national press phone hacking scandal.
Corinna Ferguson, legal officer for Liberty, told the Independent: "We can't believe the inaction of the Information Commissioner on a human-rights violation of such wide public interest. "Contracting out the blacklisting of innocent workers, politicians and journalists is no better than farming out phone hacking to private detectives and the consequences for our democracy are just as grave. If we cannot persuade the Commissioner to discharge his public duty, we will consider seeking assistance from the courts."
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