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And the winner is....
Repent America. Just yesterday, I wondered which asshat cult leader would start casting blame for the hurricane at the feet of others. It seems that Repent America has stepped up to the plate. Gays 'Responsible' For New Orleans Devastation Group Claims
by Fidel Ortega 365Gay.com Miami Bureau
Posted: August 31, 2005 3:00 pm ET
(New Orleans, Louisiana) An evangelical Christian group that regularly demonstrates at LGBT events is blaming gays for hurricane Katrina.
Repent America says that God "destroyed" New Orleans because of Southern Decadence, the gay festival that was to have taken place in the city over the Labor Day weekend.
"Southern Decadence" has a history of filling the French Quarter section of the city with drunken homosexuals engaging in sex acts in the public streets and bars" Repent America director Michael Marcavage said in a statement Wednesday.
"Although the loss of lives is deeply saddening, this act of God destroyed a wicked city." Marcavage said. "From ‘Girls Gone Wild’ to ‘Southern Decadence’, New Orleans was a city that had its doors wide open to the public celebration of sin. May it never be the same."
"Let us pray for those ravaged by this disaster. However, we must not forget that the citizens of New Orleans tolerated and welcomed the wickedness in their city for so long," Marcavage said.
"May this act of God cause us all to think about what we tolerate in our city limits, and bring us trembling before the throne of Almighty God," Marcavage concluded.
As 365Gay.com reported on Tuesday, organizers for Southern Decadence have cancelled the event and are promising full ticket refunds. (story)
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said Wednesday that hundreds are known dead and the death toll will reach into the thousands. Some estimates, CNN reported, indicate the final death toll in New Orleans alone may top 100,000.
Water levels eased off slightly on Wednesday, but most of the city remains submerged and it is believed it could be months before the city is inhabitable.
Repent America most recently demonstrated at the Philadelphia Phillies tribute to gay fans earlier this month. (story)
Last year 10 members of Repent America marched to an area near the front of a stage at Philadelphia's Outfest and began to yell Biblical passages.
Police attempted to get the protestors to move to to an area on the edge of the Outfest site. Instead they went deeper into the gay crowd. Using a bullhorn they condemned homosexuality. They then got into an argument with a group of Pink Angels, who screamed back.
It was at that point police intervened.
Four members of Repent America, including Marcavage, were charged with ethnic intimidation, criminal conspiracy and inciting to riot. The charges carry sentences up to 47 years behind bars. But, in court, a judge dismissed the charges saying the protestors were in a public park and police had violated the group's First Amendment right to free speech. (story)
Marcavage has been arrested, detained or cited by police around the country since founding Repent America in 2002, including at a demonstration against same-sex marriages in San Francisco.
©365Gay.com 2005
We interrupt regular blog posting....
I'm glad that Houston is able to help out in some way during this catastrophe. ‘Nightmare’ worsens: more flooding, and death
Superdome evacuees going to Astrodome; Mississippi coastline ‘obliterated’
BREAKING NEWS
NBC, MSNBC and news services
Updated: 9:44 a.m. ET Aug. 31, 2005
NEW ORLEANS - With the city still flooding after levees failed, officials on Wednesday made plans to bus evacuees at the Superdome and other shelters to Houston's Astrodome.
New Orleans was filling with water after an initial attempt to stop one leaking levee failed, while police fought to stop widespread looting in the stricken city.
Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco said everyone still in the city, now huddled in the Superdome and other rescue centers, needs to leave. She said she wanted the Superdome evacuated within two days.
“We need to evacuate the people in the Superdome and other shelters and in the hospitals,” she told NBC’s “Today” show on Wednesday. “Those are our basic missions today.”
Houston officials later said those evacuees would be sent via 475 buses to the city's Astrodome. The stadium's schedule was cleared through December to make it available.
Blanco said that trying to fix the levees has been “an engineering nightmare,” with sandbags dropped from the air simply falling “into the eternal black hole.”
“This is a nightmare,” she added, “but one that will give us an opportunity for rebirth.”
Hundreds dead?
Officials said it was simply too early to estimate a death toll. In Mississippi, officials confirmed that at least 100 people had died in the killer storm and said the toll was almost certain to go much higher.
Vincent Creel, a spokesman for Biloxi, Miss., said that in that city alone the death toll is “going to be in the hundreds.”
A 30-foot storm surge in Mississippi wiped away 90 percent of the buildings along the coast at Biloxi and Gulfport, leaving a scene of destruction that Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour said was “like there’d been a nuclear weapon set off.”
Many areas were “absolutely obliterated,” he told NBC’s “Today” show, making it tough for rescue crews. “You can't see any asphalt because the streets are covered with lumber and shingles and furniture. And so it’s one house at a time; most places it’s not really a house, it's digging through three, four, five feet of rubble to see if anybody’s under there.”
New Orleans: Dead pushed aside
U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu said she had heard at least 50 to 100 people were dead in New Orleans, where rescue teams were so busy saving people stranded in homes they had to leave bodies floating in the high waters.
Mayor Ray Nagin said hundreds, if not thousands, of people may still be stuck on roofs and in attics, and so rescue boats were bypassing the dead.
“We’re not even dealing with dead bodies,” he said. “They’re just pushing them on the side.”
Rescuers in boats and helicopters plucked bedraggled flood refugees from rooftops and attics. Louisiana Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu said 3,000 people have been rescued by boat and air, some placed shivering and wet into helicopter baskets. They were brought by the truckload into shelters, some in wheelchairs and some carrying babies, with stories of survival and of those who didn’t make it.
“I’m alive. I’m alive,” shouted one joyous woman as she was ferried from a home nearly swallowed by the rising waters.
Katrina, one of the most punishing storms to hit the United States in decades, struck Louisiana on Monday with 140 mile per hour winds, then slammed into neighboring Mississippi and Alabama.
New Orleans at first appeared to have received a glancing blow from the storm, but the raging waters of Lake Pontchartrain tore holes in the levee system that protects the low-lying city, then slowly filled it up.
Nagin said at least 80 percent of the city, much of it below sea level, was covered with water that was in places 20 feet deep.
In Jefferson Parish, one of the hardest-hit areas, parish president Aaron Broussard said a complete rebuilding would be required. “Jefferson Parish as we knew it is gone forever,” he told reporters.
Read the rest here.
Water Still Rising, Situation Deteriorating UPDATED: 4:46 pm EDT August 30, 2005 NEW ORLEANS -- With water rising in the streets of New Orleans and conditions rapidly deteriorating, Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco says the tens of thousands of people now huddled in the Superdome and other rescue centers will have to be evacuated. "The situation is untenable," Blanco said at a news conference. "It's just heartbreaking." Because of two levees that broke Tuesday, the city was rapidly filling with water, the governor said. She also said the power could be out for a long time, and the storm broke a major water main, leaving the city without drinkable water. Police in New Orleans say there are hundreds of people still on rooftops in the city, waiting for rescue. Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco said the devastation being seen "is greater than our worst fears." She described it as "totally overwhelming." Blanco said there are no casualty figures yet, but that "many lives have been lost." She said 700 people were rescued overnight from flooded areas. Video from a TV helicopter has been showing a Coast Guard chopper plucking people from rooftops in one area where floodwaters nearly cover the homes. One by one, the hurricane survivors are being placed in a basket and lifted up to the hovering helicopter. One man said he and his fiancee sat on their roof for three hours before being taken to safety. Bryan Vernon said the water "kept rising and rising and rising." Crews hope to plug a broken levee in New Orleans with 3,000-pound sand bags dropped from helicopters. The city is below sea level, and the network of pumps, canals and levees isn't keeping up with the rising water. Many pumps weren't working Tuesday morning. Rising water has sent patients from one hospital to the Louisiana Superdome. A knee-deep moat surrounds the stadium and downtown streets are swamped. The water is fouled with gasoline, debris and floating islands of red ants. The top homeland security official in New Orleans said bodies have been spotted drifting in the floodwaters. Despite very poor conditions at the Louisiana Superdome, National Guard troops have brought in more refugees who are trying to escape rising water in New Orleans. Eight of the people who arrived Tuesday had spent the night in the attic of a flooded beauty salon. They had to hack through the ceiling to reach the attic as the water rose. Another man had spent the night in his own attic -- and said he "almost died" in the water. They've now reached safety -- but not comfort. The air conditioning has been out since power was lost Monday morning. The bathrooms are filthy and barrels are overflowing with trash. There are more than 10,000 people in the makeshift shelter. An official of the company that manages the Superdome said two people have died there, but offered no details. One refugee kept the discomfort in perspective. She said if the facility hadn't been opened, there would have been "a lot of people floating down the river." Read the rest here.
Martial Law declared in The Big Easy
Via Malkin. Situation Deteriorating In Hurricane Aftermath
CBS News - Tuesday, August 30, 2005 10:37 AM
New Orleans, LA (CBS) - Martial Law has been declared in parts of New Orleans as conditions continued to deteriorate. Water levels in The Big Easy and it's suburbs are rising at dangerous levels and officials stated they don't know where the water is coming from. Residents are being urged to get out of New Orleans in any way they can as officials fear "life will be unsustainable" for days or even weeks.
Gulf Coast residents were staggered by the body-blow inflicted by Hurricane Katrina, with more than a million people sweltering without power, miles of lowlands under water and unconfirmed reports of as many 80 people dead in Mississippi alone.
"We heard one report of 30 dead at just one apartment complex on the beach in Biloxi," said CBS News Correspondent Jim Acosta. Much of the devastation is being blamed on a storm surge.
"It's not like when you see big tornadoes or hurricane force winds come through and the house is blown away," said Acosta. "A storm surge rises up to the house and clears out everything in its path, moving furniture and cars around."
The Ohio Valley could see severe flooding from Katrina Tuesday.
"Katrina is now moving to the north," said CBS News Hurricane Analyst Bryan Norcross. "It is a tropical storm now moving into Tennessee. But the big rain event today is going to be in the Ohio Valley, all the way from Missouri on up to Louisville towards Cincinnati and then it will spread through the northeast."
Read the rest here.
Update
Just got off the phone with Star. She's doing good, but there's no power in the hospital at which she's staying. So, instead of watching TV, she's watching the water rise over by the Superdome.
Clusterfuck of epic proportions
When we left Houston, the hurricane was safely on its way to Florida. When we got to New Orleans at 5am, we learned the hurricane was headed right for us. We visitied with Star for a while, then at 2pm we hit the road back to Houston. This is where the clusterfuck began. It took us three hours to get across the Lake Ponchatrain bridge, at which point the State Police closed I-10, and put everyone on I-55N. And, of course, they closed every single exit on I-55. We ended up almost in Mississppi before we could get of I-55. It was 8pm before we even got to Baton Rouge. Around midnight, we hit Lake Charles to drop Mike and my dad off, then we (me and Mr. Priapus) hit the road for Houston. We got back to Houston around 4am. It took us 14 hourse to get from N.O. back to Houston. At this point, I had been awake for 44 hours. Anyway, I'm home, I'm safe, and I'm hoping that I'll never have to do anything like this again.
On the road again....
Well, it's time for another long weekend. After I leave work today, I'll be off to school, then it's on the road back to New Orleans for the weekend. Mister Priapus will be joining me on the trip. I'll be taking my laptop again, so I'll try to make a post or two while I'm there.
But...but...I thought they supported the troops
Not that I ever believed any leftist that made this claim, but at least they're finally being honest. Anti-War Protests Target Wounded at Army Hospital
By Marc Morano
CNSNews.com Senior Staff Writer
August 25, 2005
See Marc Morano's Video Report
Washington (CNSNews.com) - The Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., the current home of hundreds of wounded veterans from the war in Iraq, has been the target of weekly anti-war demonstrations since March. The protesters hold signs that read "Maimed for Lies" and "Enlist here and die for Halliburton."
The anti-war demonstrators, who obtain their protest permits from the Washington, D.C., police department, position themselves directly in front of the main entrance to the Army Medical Center, which is located in northwest D.C., about five miles from the White House.
Among the props used by the protesters are mock caskets, lined up on the sidewalk to represent the death toll in Iraq.
Code Pink Women for Peace, one of the groups backing anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan's vigil outside President Bush's ranch in Crawford Texas, organizes the protests at Walter Reed as well.
Some conservative supporters of the war call the protests, which have been ignored by the establishment media, "shameless" and have taken to conducting counter-demonstrations at Walter Reed. "[The anti-war protesters] should not be demonstrating at a hospital. A hospital is not a suitable location for an anti-war demonstration," said Bill Floyd of the D.C. chapter of FreeRepublic.com, who stood across the street from the anti-war demonstrators on Aug. 19.
"I believe they are tormenting our wounded soldiers and they should just leave them alone," Floyd added.
According to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, nearly 4,000 individuals involved in the Iraq war were treated at the facility as of March of this year, 1,050 of whom were wounded in battle.
One anti-war protester, who would only identify himself as "Luke," told Cybercast News Service that "the price of George Bush's foreign policy can be seen right here at Walter Reed -- young men who returned from Iraq with their bodies shattered after George Bush sent them to war for a lie."
Luke accused President Bush of "exploiting American soldiers" while "oppressing the other nations of earth." The president "has killed far too many people," he added.
On Aug. 19, as the anti-war protesters chanted slogans such as "George Bush kills American soldiers," Cybercast News Service observed several wounded war veterans entering and departing the gates of Walter Reed, some with prosthetic limbs. Most of the demonstrations have been held on Friday evenings, a popular time for the family members of wounded soldiers to visit the hospital.
But the anti-war activists were unapologetic when asked whether they considered such signs as "Maimed for Lies" offensive to wounded war veterans and their families.
"I am more offended by the fact that many were maimed for life. I am more offended by the fact that they (wounded veterans) have been kept out of the news," said Kevin McCarron, a member of the anti-war group Veterans for Peace.
Kevin Pannell, who was recently treated at Walter Reed and had both legs amputated after an ambush grenade attack near Baghdad in 2004, considers the presence of the anti-war protesters in front of the hospital "distasteful."
When he was a patient at the hospital, Pannell said he initially tried to ignore the anti-war activists camped out in front of Walter Reed, until witnessing something that enraged him.
"We went by there one day and I drove by and [the anti-war protesters] had a bunch of flag-draped coffins laid out on the sidewalk. That, I thought, was probably the most distasteful thing I had ever seen. Ever," Pannell, a member of the Army's First Cavalry Division, told Cybercast News Service.
"You know that 95 percent of the guys in the hospital bed lost guys whenever they got hurt and survivors' guilt is the worst thing you can deal with," Pannell said, adding that other veterans recovering from wounds at Walter Reed share his resentment for the anti-war protesters.
"We don't like them and we don't like the fact that they can hang their signs and stuff on the fence at Walter Reed," he said. "[The wounded veterans] are there to recuperate. Once they get out in the real world, then they can start seeing that stuff (anti-war protests). I mean Walter Reed is a sheltered environment and it needs to stay that way."
McCarron said he dislikes having to resort to such controversial tactics, "but this stuff can't be hidden," he insisted. "The real cost of this war cannot be kept from the American public."
The anti-war protesters claim their presence at the hospital is necessary to publicize the arrivals of newly wounded soldiers from Iraq, who the protesters allege are being smuggled in at night by the Pentagon to avoid media scrutiny. The protesters also argue that the military hospital is the most appropriate place for the demonstrations and that the vigils are designed to ultimately help the wounded veterans.
"If I went to war and lost a leg and then found out from my hospital bed that I had been lied to, that the weapons I was sent to search for never existed, that the person who sent me to war had no plan but to exploit me, exploit the country I was sent to, I would be pretty angry," Luke told Cybercast News Service.
"I would want people to do something about it and if I couldn't get out of my bed and protest myself, I would want someone else to do it in my name," he added.
The conservative counter-demonstrators carry signs reading "Troops out when the job's done," "Thank you U.S. Armed Forces" and "Shameless Pinkos go home." Many wear the orange T-shirts reading "Club G'itmo" that are marketed by conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh.
"[The anti-war protesters] have no business here. If they want to protest policy, they should be at the Capitol, they should be at the White House," said Nina Burke. "The only reason for being here is to talk to [the] wounded and [anti-war protests are] just completely inappropriate."
Albion Wilde concurred, arguing that "it's very easy to pick on the families of the wounded. They are very vulnerable ... I feel disgusted.
"[The anti-war protesters] are really showing an enormous lack of respect for just everything that America has always stood for. They lost the election and now they are really, really angry and so they are picking on the wrong people," Wilde added.
At least one anti-war demonstrator conceded that standing out in front of a military hospital where wounded soldiers and their families are entering and exiting, might not be appropriate.
"Maybe there is a better place to have a protest. I am not sure," said a man holding a sign reading "Stop the War," who declined to be identified.
But Luke and the other anti-war protesters dismissed the message of the counter demonstrators. "We know most of the George Bush supporters have never spent a day in uniform, have never been closer to a battlefield than seeing it through the television screen," Luke said.
Code Pink, the group organizing the anti-war demonstrations in front of the Walter Reed hospital, has a controversial leader and affiliations. As Cybercast News Service previously reported, Code Pink co-founder Medea Benjamin has expressed support for the Communist Viet Cong in Vietnam and the Nicaraguan Sandinistas.
In 2001, Benjamin was asked about anti-war protesters sympathizing with nations considered to be enemies of U.S. foreign policy, including the Viet Cong and the Sandinistas. "There's no one who will talk about how the other side is good," she reportedly told the San Francisco Chronicle.
Benjamin has also reportedly praised the Cuban regime of Fidel Castro. Benjamin told the San Francisco Chronicle that her visit to Cuba in the 1980s revealed to her a great country. "It seem[ed] like I died and went to heaven," she reportedly said.
Farewell to a damn fine actor
Brock Peters, best remembered for his performance as Tom Robinson in "To Kill a Mockingbird," passed away after battling pancreatic cancer. It seems all the really talented actors are dying off and leaving us with only the crappy ones. Brock Peters, "To Kill a Mockingbird" actor, dies
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Brock Peters, the deep-voiced American actor who portrayed a black man wrongly accused of rape in the classic film "To Kill a Mockingbird," has died at 78.
Peters died at his Los Angeles area home on Tuesday after a battle with pancreatic cancer, the Los Angeles Times reported. He was diagnosed with the disease in January and had been undergoing chemotherapy.
"He was a fine and powerful singer and actor," Miles Kreuger, president of the Los Angeles-based Institute of the American Musical, told the Times. "But more than that, he was a majestic human being."
Although the versatile Peters began acting on Broadway as a teenager and worked in show business for six decades, he was best known as Tom Robinson in "Mockingbird," a black man accused of raping a white girl who is defended by Gregory Peck's idealistic lawyer, Atticus Finch, in Depression-era Alabama.
The 1962 film earned two Academy Awards, including a best-actor Oscar for Peck. Peters was not nominated for his role but later won lifetime achievement awards from the Screen Actors Guild and the National Film Society.
Peters was born George Fisher in New York's Harlem neighborhood in 1927 and decided to be an actor at a young age. His distinctive resonant voice landed him early jobs -- he sang backup on Harry Belafonte's "Banana Boat" -- and would serve him well throughout his long career.
Peters' film debut came in the 1954 musical "Carmen Jones," which starred Belafonte and Dorothy Dandridge.
In later years Fisher lent his voice to a number of film and television roles, including "The Wild Thornberrys Movie" and "Star Trek: Starfleet Command III."
Cult leader calls for assassination
Keep talking, Pat. The more you and your ilk talk, the more people will see your death cult for what it truly is. Robertson Calls for Chavez Assassination
Aug 23 12:21 PM US/Eastern
By SUE LINDSEY
Associated Press Writer
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va.
Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson has suggested that American agents assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to stop his country from becoming "a launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism."
An official of a theological watchdog group on Tuesday criticized Robertson's statement as "chilling."
"We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability," Robertson said Monday on the Christian Broadcast Network's "The 700 Club."
"We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator," he continued. "It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with."
Chavez has emerged as one of the most outspoken critics of President Bush, accusing the United States of conspiring to topple his government and possibly backing plots to assassinate him. U.S. officials have called the accusations ridiculous.
"You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it," Robertson said. "It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war ... and I don't think any oil shipments will stop."
On Tuesday, critics objected to Robertson's statements.
"It's absolutely chilling to hear a religious leader call for the murder of any political leader, no matter how much he disagrees with such a leader's policies or practices," said the Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
David Brock, president of Media Matters, a liberal media watchdog group, said the remarks should discredit Robertson as a spokesman for the religious right.
Robertson, 75, founder of the Christian Coalition of America and a former presidential candidate, accused the United States of failing to act when Chavez was briefly overthrown in 2002.
A Robertson spokeswoman, Angell Watts, said he would not do interviews Tuesday and had no statement elaborating on his remarks.
A call seeking comment from the U.S. State Department was not immediately returned Tuesday.
Chavez was believed to be in Cuba, but his whereabouts were unknown and no media access was announced.
In Caracas, pro-Chavez legislator Desire Santos Amaral accused Robertson of shedding his Christian values.
"This man cannot be a true Christian. He's a fascist," Santos said. "This is part of the policies of aggression from the right wing in the North against our revolution."
Santos said she thinks U.S.-Venezuelan relations could still improve but comments by "charlatans and fascists" like Robertson only get in the way.
Venezuela is the fifth largest oil exporter and a major supplier of oil to the United States. The CIA estimates that U.S. markets absorb almost 59 percent of Venezuela's total exports.
Venezuela's government has demanded in the past that the United States crack down on Cuban and Venezuelan "terrorists" in Florida who they say are conspiring against Chavez.
Robertson has made controversial statements in the past. In October he suggested that the State Department be blown up with a nuclear device. He has also said that feminism encourages women to "kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians."
Pic of Star
 The view from her window: 
Update
As everyone knows, I spent the weekend in New Orleans visiting my sister. While I was there, I had the chance to speak at length with a couple of her doctors. They've admitted they cannot stop the spead of cancer; they can only slow the progress with radiation and chemo. As it turns out, and as I had predicted, their estimation of a year was overly optimistic. Right now they're saying she probably won't see the end of this year.
Greetings from New Orleans
I'm sitting here in a hotel room in New Orleans, puffing on a rather fine cigar I got from The Cigar Factory on Bourbon Street, and yes, Mr. Priapus, I bought a couple of cigars for you. I've been visiting with Star for most of the day. She's doing well and is managing to keep her spirits up. We managed to keep my impending arrival a secret as I wanted to surprise her when I walked into her room this morning. I'll post some pictures when I get home and can download them into my desktop machine since I forgot to bring the USB cable for my camera. After leaving the hospital so Mike and Star could visit without interruption, Dad and I checked into a hotel here on Canal St. - just up the road from Bourbon Street. I took a short nap, then headed out to see some of the sights. Ok, ok. I went to wander up and down Bourbon Street. I really enjoyed it. Hopefully, next time I can make it to New Orleans, it'll be under better circumstances and will have time to see more of the city. Mike and I are planning to visit for a little while tomorrow then we're going to hit the road back home to Houston. If I'm unable to post again before we leave N.O., then I'll see you all back in Houston.
I'm too busy right now to fully comment on this, but expect a full-fledged rant when I get back from New Orleans.
August 19, 2005
Two Illegal Immigrants Win Arizona Ranch in Court Fight
By ANDREW POLLACK
DOUGLAS, Ariz., Aug. 18 - Spent shells litter the ground at what is left of the firing range, and camouflage outfits still hang in a storeroom. Just a few months ago, this ranch was known as Camp Thunderbird, the headquarters of a paramilitary group that promised to use force to keep illegal immigrants from sneaking across the border with Mexico.
Now, in a turnabout, the 70-acre property about two miles from the border is being given to two immigrants whom the group caught trying to enter the United States illegally.
The land transfer is being made to satisfy judgments in a lawsuit in which the immigrants had said that Casey Nethercott, the owner of the ranch and a former leader of the vigilante group Ranch Rescue, had harmed them.
"Certainly it's poetic justice that these undocumented workers own this land," said Morris S. Dees Jr., co-founder and chief trial counsel of the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Ala., which represented the immigrants in their lawsuit.
Mr. Dees said the loss of the ranch would "send a pretty important message to those who come to the border to use violence."
The surrender of the ranch comes as the governors of Arizona and New Mexico have declared a state of emergency because of the influx of illegal immigrants and related crime along the border.
Bill Dore, a Douglas resident briefly affiliated with Ranch Rescue who is still active in the border-patrolling Minuteman Project, called the land transfer "ridiculous."
"The illegals are coming over here," Mr. Dore said. "They are getting the American property. Hell, I'd come over, too. Get some American property, make some money from the gringos."
The immigrants getting the ranch, Edwin Alfredo Mancía Gonzáles and Fátima del Socorro Leiva Medina, could not be reached for comment. Kelley Bruner, a lawyer at the law center, said they did not want to speak to the news media but were happy with the outcome.
Ms. Bruner said that Mr. Mancía and Ms. Leiva, who are from El Salvador but are not related, would not live at the ranch and would probably sell it. Mr. Nethercott bought the ranch in 2003 for $120,000.
Mr. Mancía, who lives in Los Angeles, and Ms. Leiva, who lives in the Dallas area, have applied for visas that are available to immigrants who are the victims of certain crimes and who cooperate with the authorities, Ms. Bruner said. She said that until a decision was made on their applications, they could stay and work in the United States on a year-to-year basis.
Mr. Mancía and Ms. Leiva were caught on a ranch in Hebbronville, Tex., in March 2003 by Mr. Nethercott and other members of Ranch Rescue. The two immigrants later accused Mr. Nethercott of threatening them and of hitting Mr. Mancía with a pistol, charges that Mr. Nethercott denied. The immigrants also said the group gave them cookies, water and a blanket and let them go after an hour or so.
The Salvadorans testified against Mr. Nethercott when he was tried by Texas prosecutors. The jury deadlocked on a charge of pistol-whipping but convicted Mr. Nethercott, who had previously served time in California for assault, of gun possession, which is illegal for a felon. He is now serving a five-year sentence in a Texas prison.
Mr. Mancía and Ms. Leiva also filed a lawsuit against Mr. Nethercott; Jack Foote, the founder of Ranch Rescue; and the owner of the Hebbronville ranch, Joe Sutton. The immigrants said the ordeal, in which they feared that they would be killed by the men they thought were soldiers, had left them with post-traumatic stress.
Mr. Sutton settled for $100,000. Mr. Nethercott and Mr. Foote did not defend themselves, so the judge issued default judgments of $850,000 against Mr. Nethercott and $500,000 against Mr. Foote.
Mr. Dees said Mr. Foote appeared to have no substantial assets, but Mr. Nethercott had the ranch. Shortly after the judgment, Mr. Nethercott gave the land to his sister, Robin Albitz, of Prescott, Ariz. The Southern Poverty Law Center sued the siblings, saying the transfer was fraudulent and was meant to avoid the judgment.
Ms. Albitz, a nursing assistant, signed over the land to the two immigrants last week.
"It scared the hell out of her," Margaret Pauline Nethercott, the mother of Mr. Nethercott and Ms. Albitz, said of the lawsuit. "She didn't know she had done anything illegal. We didn't know they had a judgment against my son."
This was not the first time the law center had taken property from a group on behalf of a client. In 1987, the headquarters of a Ku Klux Klan group in Alabama was given to the mother of a boy whose murder was tied to Klansmen. Property has also been taken from the Aryan Nations and the White Aryan Resistance, Mr. Dees said.
Joseph Jacobson, a lawyer in Austin who represented Mr. Nethercott in the criminal case, said the award was "a vast sum of money for a very small indignity." Mr. Jacobson said the two immigrants were trespassing on Mr. Sutton's ranch and would have been deported had the criminal charges not been filed against Mr. Nethercott.
He criticized the law center for trying to get $60,000 in bail money transferred to the immigrants. While the center said the money was Mr. Nethercott's, Mr. Jacobson said it was actually Ms. Nethercott's, who mortgaged her home to post bail for her son.
Mr. Nethercott and Mr. Foote had a falling out in 2004, and Mr. Foote left Camp Thunderbird, taking Ranch Rescue with him. Mr. Nethercott then formed the Arizona Guard, also based on his ranch.
In April, Mr. Nethercott told an Arizona television station, "We're going to come out here and close the border with machine guns." But by the end of the month, he had started his prison sentence.
Now, only remnants of Camp Thunderbird remain on his ranch, a vast expanse of hard red soil, mesquite and tumbleweed with a house and two bunkhouses. One bunkhouse has a storeroom containing some camouflage suits, sleeping bags, tarps, emergency rations, empty ammunition crates, gun parts and a chemical warfare protection suit.
In one part of the ranch, dirt is piled up to form the backdrop of a firing range. An old water tank, riddled with bullet holes, is on its side. A platform was built as an observation post on the tower that once held the water tank.
Charles Jones, who was hired as a ranch hand about a month before Mr. Nethercott went to prison, put up fences and brought in cattle to graze. He has continued to live on the property with some family members.
But now the cattle are gone, and Mr. Jones has been told that he should prepare to leave. "It makes me sick I did all this work," he said.
Ms. Nethercott said she was not sure whether her son knew that his ranch was being turned over to the immigrants, but that he would be crushed if he did.
"That's his whole life," she said of the ranch. "He'd be heartbroken if he lost it in any way, but this is the worst way."
She Does Not Speak for Me
This will be the only thing I will post about Cindy Sheehan and her antics at Camp Moonbat in Crawford, Tx. She Does Not Speak for Me
My son died in Iraq--and it was not in vain.
BY RONALD R. GRIFFIN
Thursday, August 18, 2005 12:01 a.m.
I lost a son in Iraq and Cindy Sheehan does not speak for me.
I grieve with Mrs. Sheehan, for all too well I know the full measure of the agony she is forever going to endure. I honor her son for his service and sacrifice. However, I abhor all that she represents and those who would cast her as the symbol for parents of our fallen soldiers.
The fallen heroes, until now, have enjoyed virtually no individuality. They have been treated as a monolith, a mere number. Now Mrs. Sheehan, with adept public relations tactics, has succeeded in elevating herself above the rest of us. Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida declared that Mrs. Sheehan is now the symbol for all parents who have lost children in Iraq. Sorry, senator. Not for me.
Maureen Dowd of the New York Times portrays Mrs. Sheehan as a distraught mom standing heroically outside the guarded gates of the most powerful and inhumane man on earth, President Bush. Ms. Dowd is so moved by Mrs. Sheehan's plight that she bestowed upon her and all grieving parents the title of "absolute moral authority." That characterization epitomizes the arrogance and condescension of anyone who would presume to understand and speak for all of us. How can we all possess "absolute moral authority" when we hold so many different perspectives?
I don't want that title. I haven't earned that title.
Although we all walk the same sad road of sorrow and agony, we walk it as individuals with all the refreshing uniqueness of our own thoughts shaped in large measure by the life and death of our own fallen hero. Over the past few days I have reached out to other parents and loved ones of fallen heroes in an attempt to find out their reactions to all the attention Mrs. Sheehan has attracted. What emerges from those conversations is an empathy for Mrs. Sheehan's suffering but a fundamental disagreement with her politics.
Ann and Dale Hampton lost their only child, Capt. Kimberly Hampton, on Jan. 2, 2004, while she was flying her Kiowa helicopter. She was a member of the 82nd Airborne and the company commander. She had already served in Afghanistan before being deployed to Iraq. Ann Hampton wrote, "My grief sometimes seems unbearable, but I cannot add the additional baggage of anger. Mrs. Sheehan has every right to protest . . . but I cannot do that. I would be protesting the very thing that Kimberly believed in and died for."
Marine Capt. Benjamin Sammis was Stacey Sammis's husband. Ben died on April 4, 2003, while flying his Super Cobra helicopter. Listen to Stacey and she will tell you that she is just beginning to understand the enormousness of the character of soldiers who knowingly put their lives at risk to defend our country. She will tell you that one of her deepest regrets is that the world did not have the honor of experiencing for a much longer time this outstanding Marine she so deeply loved.
Speak to Joan Curtin, whose son, Cpl. Michael Curtin, was an infantryman with the 2-7th 3rd ID, and her words are passionately ambivalent. She says she has no room for bitterness. She has a life to lead and a family to nurture. She spoke of that part of her that never heals, for that is where Michael resides. She can go on, always knowing there will be that pain.
Karen Long is the mother of Spc. Zachariah Long, who died with my son Kyle on May 30, 2003. Zack and Kyle were inseparable friends as only soldiers can be, and Karen and I have become inseparable friends since their deaths. Karen's view is that what Mrs. Sheehan is doing she has every right to do, but she is dishonoring all soldiers, including Karen's son, Zack. Karen cannot comprehend why Mrs. Sheehan cannot seem to come to grips with the idea that her own son, Casey, was a soldier like Zack who had a mission to complete. Karen will tell you over and over again that Zack is not here and no one, but no one will dishonor her son.
My wife, Robin, has a different take on Mrs. Sheehan. She told me, "I don't care what she says or does. She is no more important than any other mother."
By all accounts Spc. Casey Sheehan, Mrs. Sheehan's son, was a soldier by choice and by the strength of his character. I did not have the honor of knowing him, but I have read that he attended community college for three years and then chose to join the Army. In August 2003, five months into Operation Iraqi Freedom and after three years of service, Casey Sheehan re-enlisted in the Army with the full knowledge there was a war going on, and with the high probability he would be assigned to a combat area. Mrs. Sheehan frequently speaks of her son in religious terms, even saying that she thought that some day Casey would be a priest. Like so many of the individuals who have given their lives in service to our country, Casey was a very special young man. How do you decry that which someone has chosen to do with his life? How does a mother dishonor the sacrifice of her own son?
Mrs. Sheehan has become the poster child for all the negativity surrounding the war in Iraq. In a way it heartens me to have all this attention paid to her, because that means others in her position now have the chance to be heard. Give equal time to other loved ones of fallen heroes. Feel the intensity of their love, their pride and the sorrow.
To many loved ones, there are few if any "what ifs." They, like their fallen heroes before them, live in the world as it is and not what it was or could have been. Think of the sacrifices that have brought us to this day. We as a country made a collective decision. We must now live up to our decision and not deviate until the mission is complete.
Thirty-five years ago, a president faced a similar dilemma in Vietnam. He gave in and we got "peace with honor." To this day, I am still searching for that honor. Today, those who defend our freedom every day do so as volunteers with a clear and certain purpose. Today, they have in their commander in chief someone who will not allow us to sink into self-pity. I will not allow him to. The amazing part about talking to the people left behind is that I did not want them to stop. After speaking to so many I have come away with the certainty of their conviction that in a large measure it's because of the deeds and sacrifices of their fallen heroes that this is a better and safer world we now live in.
Those who lost their lives believed in the mission. To honor their memory, and because it's right, we must believe in the mission, too.
We refuse to allow Cindy Sheehan to speak for all of us. Instead, we ask you to learn the individual stories. They are glorious. Honor their memories.
Honor their service. Never dishonor them by giving in. They never did.
Mr. Griffin is the father of Spc. Kyle Andrew Griffin, a recipient of the Army Commendation Medal, Army Meritorious Service Medal and the Bronze Star, who was killed in a truck accident on a road between Mosul and Tikrit on May 30, 2003.
Rubbing salt into the wounds
Cross-posted at Constitution Death Pool. This past June saw a gross travesty of justice known as Kelo v. New London handed down to us by the Supreme Court. In accordance with Kelo, local government may now seize private property and give it to whomever they damn well please, so long as they do it under the vaguely defined guise of "public good." In this case, "public good" translates into "more tax revenue." To make matters worse for the plaintiffs in the Kelo lawsuit, the city of New London is charging them rent dating back to the time the land was condemned, going all the way back to 2000. 'I'd leave here broke'
Chutzpah is a Yiddish word meaning brazen arrogance. The cliché example is a man who murders his parents and then begs a judge for mercy because he is an orphan.
The city of New London, Conn., deserves a chutzpah award. In 2000, it condemned 15 homes so a developer could build offices, a hotel and convention center. Susette Kelo and her neighbors spent years in a legal battle that culminated in June, when the
U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 against them.
That was painful enough. But while the homeowners were battling in court, New London was calculating how much "rent" they owe for living in the houses they were fighting to save. (The city's development corporation gained title to the homes when it condemned them, though the owners refused to sell and haven't collected a cent.)
The homeowners could soon be served with eviction notices, which is justified by the court ruling. But the rent is something else. For some, it comes to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Kelo, whose name is on the landmark case, could owe $57,000. "I'd leave here broke," she told the Fairfield County Weekly. "I could probably get a large-size refrigerator box and live under the bridge."
In a letter to the homeowners' lawyer a year ago, the development corporation justified its behavior by saying, "We know that your clients did not expect to live in city-owned property for free."
Well, they might have expected not to be bullied for exercising their right to be heard in court.
News of the city's heavy handed tactics should add to the unusual national backlash that has followed the Supreme Court's ruling. The court said state and local governments can seize homes, not just for a public purpose such as building roads or schools, but also for someone else's private profit if the city's economic future is at issue.
The court said states can curtail abuses, and legislatures have rushed to do that. Delaware and Alabama passed laws barring the taking of private property for economic development. Similar measures are pending in eight other states and Congress.
The bills have created some strange alliances. Conservatives worry about the loss of property rights. Liberals say the seizures amount to corporate welfare at the expense of low- and middle-income homeowners who lack the power to fight City Hall.
In response, Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell is urging a compromise that would preserve the homes of Kelo and her neighbors.
Unless that happens, they will be evicted - with a rent due. Talk about chutzpah.
Thanks, everyone
First of all, I would like to thank everyone for their well-wishes, support, and prayers regarding my sister. Sadly, they have all been in vain. After a series of bone scans, CAT scans, and MRI's, we have learned the true extent of the spread of cancer. In addition to the breast cancer and the bone cancer, which we already know about, there have been additional complications. The cancer has spread to the lymphatic system, to the spinal cord, and to the liver. According to the doctors, the prognosis is terminal. At this point, it's just a matter of time.
Update on Star
Star has been transferred to Tulane Cancer Center in New Orleans. The doctors there performed a bone scan, and found that she has broken her hip in an area that has been affected by the bone cancer - pretty much as I had predicted. They say the break will probably never heal, so they're going to have to repair it surgically with pins and rods. They also estimate she'll have to undergo at least 4-6 weeks of chemotherapy.
Happy Blog Birthday (One Day Late)
Three Hundred and Sixty Six days ago a new blog burst forth from the mind of Darth Apathy. In that time it has become an amusing read to the right and a cause of countless aneurysms on the left. Vultures Row offers our best wishes to Darth Apathy on this momentous occasion. Keep up the good work and never stop inflicting your opinions on the rest of the world.
This might not be such a good idea....
From James Dobson and his organization Focus on the Faggots Family. This is an excerpt from his dissertation on how to prevent homosexuality: He can even take his son with him into the shower, where the boy cannot help but notice that Dad has a penis, just like his, only bigger. Mr. Dobson seems to forget there have been numerous stories in the news over the last few years that resulted from relgious zealots who decided that waving their wangs at little boys was a good idea. Of course, should the measures recommended by Mr. Dobson fail, he can always advise parents to take other preventative measures.
Happy Blogiversary
Today marks the one year Blogiversary of this blog.
Latest news.
Star is currently in a hospital room in Lake Charles pending an open bed at the hospital in New Orleans. Star's boyfriend Mike came to Houston this morning to pick up his parents from Bush Intercontinental. It just so happens that I live merely five miles from Bush, so he stopped in and we had breakfast at IHOP. He brought all the doctor's notes he had to let me read and translate them. After reading all the lab reports and the doctors' notes, I've pretty much determined that it's no longer a matter of if Star will die, but a matter of when. When they did the mastectomy last month, they removed 15 lymph nodes that may have been affected by the cancer. According to the biopsy report I read, all 15 of those nodes were cancerous. The doctors are also convinced that there are more cancerous lesions on her bones than what have been found. She'll be getting a full bone scan when she gets to N.O. I'm now in the process of preparing the family for the inevitable, including preparing the final arrangements.
Update
Just got off the phone with Dad. Star had an appointment with an oncologist today. The oncologist is having Star transferred to New Orleans via ambulance. I'll post more details when I have them.
Freedom of speech, not freedom from consequences
Via Michelle Malkin. Michelle Malkin shares some of her hate mail, such as the one from this twit who sent her this message from his work email address (names have been changed or removed to protect the terminally stupid): X-Originating-IP: [XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX]
From: "Fuck, Dumb" Dumb.Fuck@XXXXXXXXX.com
To: "'malkin@XXXXXXX.net'"
Subject:
Date: Thu, 11 Aug 2005 11:41:22 -0400
X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2657.72)
YOU STINK you nasty CUNT! Eat Shit and DIE bitch!! And, of course, the inevitable occurs: Dear Ms. Malkin,
I am the Managing Shareholder of the law firm of XXXXXXXXXX with offices located across the country. I was very disturbed to learn today that a legal secretary in our Los Angeles office sent you the vile e-mail referenced on your home page. Such remarks are clearly inappropriate in any context and an e-mail such as this certainly should not have been sent during working time using our firm's equipment. The comments of this employee are not reflective of the views or opinions of the firm and are directly in violation of our e-mail policy. As Managing Shareholder, I wanted to extend to you our apologies and let you know that this serious violation of our firm's work rules has resulted in the discharge of this employee.
Once again, let me offer you our deepest apologies for any discomfort that the referenced e-mail has caused. It will not happen again.
Sincerely,
Dumb Fuck's Former Boss Who wants to bet that Dumb Fuck believes it's Ms. Malkin's fault he lost his job?
The new Theory of Relativity
"The Emptiness of the Wallet is in direct relation to the Fullness of the Tank." 
Judge finds beer claim hard to swallow; prosecutor seeks new roundBy Holly Herman Reading Eagle The case went flat for prosecutors when Berks County Judge Jeffrey K. Sprecher dismissed charges against a 44-year old Kutztown man accused of buying beer for his 17-year-old neighbor. The teen, Shawn Putnam of Kutztown, testified at a pretrial hearing that Gregg R. Hartman, his neighbor, bought him a case of Miller Genuine Draft at Duffer's Distributors in Kutztown on Jan. 7 and that he drank five beers from the case. But Sprecher ruled, in an order made available Tuesday, that prosecutors failed to prove Miller Genuine Draft is indeed beer.Sprecher sided with the defense and ruled Putnam's testimony was not enough to prove Hartman of the 300 block of East Walnut Street bought beer. “They did not have any beer cans or tests to prove it was beer,” argued defense attorney David R. Eshelman. Eshelman said prosecutors did not present a state Liquor Control Board list of all beers. “There is no testimony on the record that the beer contained any alcohol,” he said. “In most cases, the prosecutors will give a list from the state with names of beer to prove that it is beer. In this case, they did not do that.” On Tuesday, Assistant District Attorney Joseph R. Speece filed a request for Sprecher to reconsider his decision and included with that the state's list of beers. “We thought that the boy's testimony proved that he drank beer,” Speece said. According to testimony at the pretrial hearing: Hartman picked up Putnam to drive him to a restaurant. Instead, Putnam said, Hartman agreed to drive him to the distributor and buy beer for Putnam. Putnam drank five beers in the car while Hartman drove around. Hartman's car skidded on the right side of Long Lane in Greenwich Township and went off the road at 11:20 p.m. State police responded, and Hartman was charged with furnishing liquor to minors. Officials said Putnam was cited for underage drinking and pleaded guilty. Further details were unavailable. Eshelman said the law requires prosecutors to prove the beer contained at least 5 percent alcohol. “No testimony or evidence on records proved that Miller Genuine Draft contained 5 percent alcohol,” Eshelman said. “I was not surprised with the outcome. It was the right outcome.”
Latest News
I just got off the phone with Star's boyfriend Mike. He called me because he thinks I'm the one person on the family that's still keeping a level-head. We talked about some things, including the fact that he's kept a few facts from the family because he wants me to be able to tell them when I feel the time is right. First among them is that the doctors estimate Star has about a 10% chance to last out a year. And it's going to be a very painful year, at that. They've also found more lesions and tumors. There are nine spots on her bones - ranging from her spine to her hips all the way down to the middle of her right femur. Mike told me to thank everyone for their prayers and support.
Update on my sister
This morning, my sister was complaining about having severe pain in her lower back and hips. She went to the ER, and the doctor there ordered an x-ray of her back. The x-ray revealed an anomoly, so the doctor ordered a CAT scan to get a better look at the anomoly. The scan revealed an tumor in the bones of her spine around the L4-L5 area. The tumor was putting pressure on the nerves of her spine which is what was causing her all the pain. As it stands now, there are some tests still pending, but the doctor says that it looks like the mass is a very aggressive form of cancer that is rapidly spreading. It's still too early to tell how things are going to play out. Dad's freaking out (though he's trying very hard to hide it) because this is very close to what happened to his oldest sister who died of cancer back in 1983. Update8/08/05, 9:00pmJust got off the phone with Dad. The doctors have found two more tumors - one on each of her hips.
But...but...but....
...liberals told us that starvation and dehydration were "peaceful" and "dignified" ways to die. Mother Of Starved Baby Has Long History With CPS
The mother of a 2-year-old boy with cerebral palsy who starved to death has a long history with Child Protective Services, but the agency lost track of her, Local 2 reported Wednesday.
An autopsy ruled the cause of death as malnutrition and dehydration, so investigators took the mother, identified as Chrisy Castillo, 27, into custody and charged her with murder by omission.
"The child did not receive the correct amount of food or nourishment to sustain life," said Detective C.P. Abbondandolo, of the Houston Police Department.
The baby, Marvin, weighed 18 pounds when he died. At 23 months, the average weight for babies is 28 pounds.
Child Protective Services has had several investigations of Castillo, who had five children. In November 2000, the agency investigated allegations that Castillo neglected Marvin's brother. In November 2001, that brother and a sister were turned over permanently to other family members. In November 2003, Marvin's twin died. It was first ruled sudden infant death syndrome, but the case has since been reopened. In September 2004, another allegation of neglect was made, this time involving Marvin.
"How come CPS didn't intervene before this boy died?" Local 2's Joel Eisenbaum asked.
"We did. Each and every time we'd get a call, we would intervene. Now, this mother -- she has a history of being transient, of moving from place to place," said Estelle Olquin, with CPS.
Castillo was living in a north Houston motel room when Marvin died.
CPS said that, by then, they had stopped trying to find her.
"It's not like we have the resources to keep checking once a month," Olquin said.
"The caseworker can't make a call once a month?" Eisenbaum asked.
"No. Eventually the case is closed and you move on to the next case," Olquin said.
Olquin said they don't have the resources or the law on their side to track down questionable parents who don't want to be found.
Castillo was in court for her arraignment Wednesday morning. She is jailed on a $50,000 bond.
The Politics of Galactica
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