White Hobbits Only!

No Frodo…There are NO black Hobbits allowed!

The previous movies in this series were pretty anemic looking…

The Hobbit’: Casting agent dismissed after seeking extras with ‘light skin tones’

A casting agent working on director Peter Jackson’s adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’sThe Hobbit was fired from the production after placing ads in a regional New Zealand newspaper seeking extras with “light skin tones,” according to Agence France-Presse. The casting agent was also reported to have told a prospective background extra, a woman of Pakistani heritage named Naz Humphreys, that she wasn’t suitable to play a Hobbit because of her skin color. According to The Waikato Times, video footage shows the casting agent telling people at an audition, “We are looking for light-skinned people. I’m not trying to be … whatever. It’s just the brief. You’ve got to look like a Hobbit.” A spokesman for Jackson’s production company told Agence France-Presse that the casting director, who was contracted by the film, was never directed to make any restrictions based on skin color. “No such instructions were given,” the spokesman said. “The crew member in question took it upon themselves to do that and it’s not something we instructed or condoned,” adding, “It’s something we take very seriously.”

 

First Prosecution Under New Hate Crimes Law

A New Mexico town is the honorary home of 3 men who will be the first prosecuted under the new Hate Crimes Legislation. The town is trying to get past a bloody history of Hate Crimes. Perhaps this prosecution, like the first successful prosecution of KKK criminals during the Civil Rights era will serve notice to the scumbags …

Swastika case another race issue for NM town

Three friends had just finished their shifts at a McDonald’s when prosecutors say they carried out a gruesome attack on a customer: They allegedly shaped a coat hanger into a swastika, placed it on a heated stove and branded the symbol on the arm of the mentally disabled Navajo man.

Authorities say they then shaved a swastika on the back of the 22-year-old victim’s head and used markers to scrawl messages and images on his body, including “KKK,” ”White Power,” a pentagram and a graphic image of a penis.

The men have become the first in the nation to be charged under a new law that makes it easier for the federal government to prosecute people for hate crimes.

The case also marked the latest troubling race-related attack in this New Mexico community, prompting a renewed focus among local leaders on improving relations between Navajos and whites.

The defendants are accused of violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act and could face 10 years in prison if convicted. The sentences could be extended to life if the government proves kidnapping occurred.

Federal prosecutors say they were able to bring the case because the 2009 law eliminated a requirement that a victim must be engaged in a federally protected activity, such as voting or attending school, for hate crime charges to be leveled.

The law also expanded civil rights protections to include violence that is based on gender, disability, sexual orientation or gender identity.

The swastika branding has also put the spotlight back on Farmington, a predominantly white community of about 45,000 residents near the Navajo Nation.

Farmington leaders signed a historic agreement earlier this month with the Navajo Nation in which both sides pledged to work toward improving race relations.

The signing ceremony was held at City Hall and included a blessing by a Navajo medicine man who prayed for a strong, stable and long-running agreement. City officials sat cross-legged on the floor alongside Navajos during the service.

“Mistreatment of fellow humans is a learned behavior. The only thing that will address that directly is education,” said Duane “Chili” Yazzie, chairman of the Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission and a participant in the signing ceremony.

The signing was significant because it put into writing what both sides have long expressed. Negotiations took almost a year as the parties discussed wording and language.

Navajo and city leaders agree race relations have improved dramatically since May 1974, when the beaten and burned bodies of three Navajo men were found north of town. Three white high school students were linked to the crime and sent to reform school, outraging the Navajo community.

More recently there were other events.

There was the 2006 kidnapping and beating of a Navajo man by three young white men. Six days later, a Navajo man was shot to death in a Walmart parking lot by a Farmington police officer responding to a domestic violence call.

The shooting was ruled justified by sheriff’s investigators and the Justice Department determined there was no basis for a civil rights investigation. Still, the incident touched off a round of protests by angry Navajos.

When a New Mexico advisory committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights visited Farmington in 2004 to assess the city’s progress 30 years after the canyon murders, several speakers at a forum complained that harassment of Indians by white youth continues.

In the current case, defendants William Hatch of Fruitland and Paul Beebe and Jesse Sanford, both of Farmington, have pleaded not guilty. Their court-appointed lawyers have declined comment. They have also been charged with state crimes.

Yazzie and Mayor Tommy Roberts said despite the history of problems, there is evidence of substantial progress in Farmington, including the recent agreement between city and tribal leaders.

 

 

Sharia Stupidity in Oklahoma

Ten Commandments, Part of Sharia Law - Banned?

In quite possibly the stupidest move since the Volstead Act – Oklahoma Republicans managed to pass a referendum banning the State Judicial considering International, or Sharia Law in the decision of any cases.

Why is it stupid? The same nutcase Republicans are arguing that our country was founded on “christian principles” and thus is subject to christian law.

In order to be Constitutional – the Oklahoma proposed Amendment would have to ban ALL Religious Law – not just that of one religion based on conservative racism.

Further – the 10 Commandments are part of Sharia Law – and ARE “International Law” (You didn’t think Moses wandered around in Kansas, did you?).

As to the ban on other aspects of International Law – Oklahoma is landlocked, so nobody gives a flock.

Federal judge keeps Sharia law restriction out of Oklahoma Constitution

An Oklahoma City federal judge Monday ruled against a voter- approved restriction on Islamic law.

In a 15-page order, U.S. District Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange continued to keep the restriction out of the Oklahoma Constitution. Her ruling was a victory for an Oklahoma City Muslim leader who had complained his constitutional religious rights were in jeopardy.

“While the public has an interest in the will of the voters being carried out … the Court finds that the public has a more profound and long-term interest in upholding an individual’s constitutional rights,” the judge wrote.

At issue was a constitutional amendment that forbids state courts from considering or using international law or Sharia law. The amendment describes Sharia law as Islamic law based on the Quran and the teaching of Mohammed.

Oklahomans on Nov. 2 approved the amendment — in State Question 755 — with 70.08 percent of the vote. Muneer Awad, 27, an American-born Muslim, sued two days later. The judge on Nov. 8 blocked the state Election Board from certifying the SQ 755 results.

The order Monday continues the freeze on those results.

The order is a preliminary injunction, not a permanent one. Still, the state Election Board could appeal now.

The state attorney general’s office was considering its options, a spokesman said. A key supporter of the measure, state Sen. Anthony Sykes, R-Moore, said, “I was disappointed but not surprised. We look forward to working with the AG’s office on it.”

Awad is executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Oklahoma. “It is another positive step,” he said after the ruling.

“The initial filing of the lawsuit was a rough time,” Awad said, “But we’ve noticed since then a tremendous outpouring of support from Muslims and non-Muslims. We are confident we have supporters who want to see this amendment fail. It’s not just about the Muslim community. It’s about Oklahoma. The nation — the world — is watching.”

Imad Enchassi, president of the Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City, said, “Justice has been served.”

In Monday’s order, the judge wrote that Awad “has made a strong showing that State Question 755’s amendment’s primary effect inhibits religion and that the amendment fosters an excessive government entanglement with religion.”

The judge rejected the state’s argument that the amendment is a broad ban on state courts applying the law of other nations and cultures regardless of what faith they may be based on.

She wrote, “The actual language of the amendment reasonably … may be viewed as specifically singling out Sharia law, conveying a message of disapproval of plaintiff’s faith.”

The judge wrote: “This order addresses issues that go to the very foundation of our country, our (U.S.) Constitution, and particularly, the Bill of Rights. Throughout the course of our country’s history, the will of the ’majority’ has on occasion conflicted with the constitutional rights of individuals, an occurrence which our founders foresaw and provided for through the Bill of Rights.”

Quoting from a 1943 U.S. Supreme Court decision, she wrote, “One’s right to life, liberty, and property, to free speech, a free press, freedom of worship and assembly, and other fundamental rights may not be submitted to vote; they depend on the outcome of no elections.”

The judge said any harm to the state in delaying certification of the results is minimized because the amendment “was to be a preventative measure and the concern that it seeks to address has yet to occur.”

Legislators called the measure the “Save Our State” amendment. The measure’s principal author, former state Rep. Rex Duncan, a Republican, has called it a “pre-emptive strike … against a growing threat.”

Critics of Sharia law contend it could be used as a defense in state courts to such barbaric practices as marital rape.

 

 

 

 

The Billionaires Speak

Interviews of Warren Buffett, Bill and Melinda Gates, and Ted Turner –

This group are pretty much on the same page. I think it would be interesting to add the Koch brothers into this mix, and perhaps have a roundtable. The Koch brothers are among the principal financiers of the Tea Party, and right wing in this country.

My personal belief is that the economy will not come back until two things happen:

First, we have to somehow defeat and eliminate the culture of corruption which infests Wall Street, the Banks, corporations, and Congress. Until you get a handle on that, there just isn’t any reason to believe the system isn’t gamed to the advantage of the already rich, and the corrupt – driving the small investor who is the backbone of the economy out.

The next thing is to get back to the metaphorical economic relationship of the car to the windshield wipers.  The car is what drives the market. The windshield wiper is an accessory, which wouldn’t exist without the car. You don’t build a car around a fancy new windshield wiper design – it’s the other way around. The economic mavens in this country have spent far too much time and money investing in technologies which can only be described as windshield wipers – while pawning the ability to make cars to China.

Until you get back to owning th car – there won’t be another American Bill Gates, whose operating system has been the vehicle for which countless accessories dance the tune.

Nor will there be meaningful jobs.

 

Barbara Walters Interviews the Obamas

If you haven’t seen this, it is a great interview –

 

 

Drop off the keys, Lee…And get yourself free!

Well, it appears that the increasingly popular Internet Dating has spawned a new Internet Industry…

Internet Dumping.

What was that Jhonnie Taylor line in the immortal “It’s Cheaper to Keep Her”?

“You didn’t pay but $2 to bring that little girl home. Now you gonna pay $2,000 to leave her alone!”

Cost you $50 a month to find her (him) on popular sites like eHarmony and Match…

$10 to get rid of her (him) on IDUMP4U!

Skip the pain, Jane!

Time to Break Up? Online Service Can Do the Dumping

There are few things more awkward than having the “It’s not you, it’s me” conversation. For those too nervous, chicken, or lazy to break up with their partner themselves, there’s iDUMP4U, a website that does the dirty work for you—for a mere $10. For said fee, the man behind the site, Bradley Laborman, will make the breakup call … and record it, should you want to post it on YouTube, reports Time.

He’ll even handle messier cases: Pay him $25 and he’ll call it quits on your engagement; $50 will get the wheels turning on your divorce. Though he started it as a joke in September 2009, he’s logged 200 breakups to date. And the holidays are his busy time: “Last year I had a lot of Turkey Dumps,” he says. “I also had people who didn’t want to buy a Christmas present [for their partner]. This time of year is the busiest.”

 

 

 

 

And Your Dog’s Fat, Too!

Fresh on the report that the United States has made the list of the “10 Fattest Countries” – that is countries with the highest percentage of people that are obese…

Comes the report that all this pulchritudinous living is affecting fido and Fritz as well!

Animals Face Obesity Epidemic, Too

America is suffering from anobesity epidemic—and not just among the humans. A new study of more than 20,000 animals shows that even family pets, wild critters that live close to humans, and research animals are getting fatter, Scientific American reports. The biostatistician who published the study looked at weight changes in eight different species including primates and rodents in research centers, pet cats and dogs, and urban rats. They’re all packing on the pounds.

“Now, we don’t know why these increases occurred, but it invites some very interesting speculation,” he says. Unhealthy food and lack of exercise are blamed for the human problem, “but maybe there are other things that are important—because those things can’t be acting on the marmosets, or the rats and mice in the National Toxicology Program.” One theory is that it’s something in the water, literally: maybe toxins that are messing up the endocrine system of humans and animals alike. Future studies may explore the possibility.

 

 

 

President Obama Requires 12 Stitches – The Real Reason!

President Obama had to have a bit of medical care yesterday after playing Basketball…

Well… That’s the official story.

Think he got clocked by a right cross by Michelle… And here’s why:

Michelle Obama: I’ll ‘Never Get Sick of Talk About My Arms’

Remember the hullabaloo over Michelle Obama’s gunboats? That was great, the first lady tells Barbara Walters in a lighter moment of the first couple’s interview. Walters notes that Obama is wearing sleeves, reports the Huffington Post, and asks if she’s sick of the chatter. Responds Obama: “I will never get sick of people talking about my toned arms. If it’s a positive compliment, I am a woman, just, like, bring it on. I’m cool with it. But no, I still wear what I like and enjoy, and I thought this dress is pretty.”

As for the guy on her arm, he’ll “definitely notice” what she’s wearing, says the first lady. Maybe to a fault: “Sometimes it’s a little irritating. Because it’s like, ‘is that new?'” she says. “It’s like, well, well—stay out of my closet!” The president tells Walters “I’m not rifling through” her closet, but adds that Michelle “looks good, generally.

OK guys… Do you really think you aren’t in for a night on the couch, or having something thrown at you…

For saying your Lady “looks good…Generally”?

Remember George Bush…

“Eating a pretzel and falling?”

 

No Pardon for the Delicious

This bad boy did not receive a presidential pardon…

Happy Thanksgiving All!

To my International visitors from countries which don’t celebrate this…Here’s the deal.

 

Dancing Tom DeLay Convicted

Former House Speaker Tom Delay of Texas, AKA the Hammer, AKA DeLiar, AKA Sir Dancenot, AKA Hot Tub Tom…

Probably most remembered for being the King of Payola Republicans, and his successful effort to disenfranchise 1 million minority voters in Texas – thus guranteeing a Republican majority US Congressional legislature from the state…

Finally got convicted.

Only took 5 1/2 years.

Now, being Republican Texas I really don’t believe DeLay will get much more than a wrist slap, including time spent on Dancing With the Stars.

Hammered: What Punishment Will Tom DeLay Get?

Five years and a month ago, Tom DeLay, who was once House Majority leader, set the standard for jailhouse mug shots. Smiling widely, with a twinkle in his eye, he held a metal sign: “10-20-05, Thomas Dale DeLay, Money Laundering.” Now, 1,861 days later, after an epic legal struggle, a retreat from Washington back to his constituency of Sugar Land, Texas, after one cha-cha in a leopard print vest on Season Nine of Dancing with the Stars — plus a stiff waltz, a fumbled tango and a hobbled samba — the smiling former Texas congressman, the man they called “The Hammer,” has been found guilty as charged.

Much is being made of the possible punishment — one to 99 years in state prison on the money laundering charge, two to 20 on a conspiracy charge. But presiding Judge Pat Priest, a semi-retired special appointee who added to the musical theme by listening to Rodgers and Hammerstein show tunes as the jury deliberated, could very well give the fallen politician probation. Sentencing will begin on Dec. 20; and, so far, prosecutors have not specified how much jail time they will demand, only that the case was a “message from the people of Texas” who want “honesty and ethics” in their public officials, according to District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg…

As for jail time, the speculation is that he will be put on probation, or given a brief time behind bars at worst, plus a hefty five-digit fine.

Seems that Republican era of “Special Justice for Special People”…

Isn’t quite over yet.

 

 

Kamala Harris – First Minority Elected to Statewide Office in California

Kamala Harris makes history as the first Minority elected to a statewide position in California…

Cooley concedes California attorney general race

Republican Steve Cooley conceded the California attorney general’s race to Democrat Kamala Harris on Wednesday, giving Democrats a sweep of all statewide offices and ushering in the first woman and first minority elected to the post.

With only 150,000 votes remaining to be counted, there aren’t enough outstanding votes for Cooley to overtake Harris, Cooley spokesman Kevin Spillane said.

“The reality is frankly the margin is too great,” Spillane said. “At this point there’s no mathematical possibility of the course being reversed.”

Harris, the San Francisco district attorney, is up by 51,000 votes, a half-percentage point margin, in the closely fought north-south battle between the prosecutors from California’s two most prominent cities. Cooley is Los Angeles County district attorney.

Spillane said that Cooley called Harris this morning to congratulate her and that the two had a “cordial conversation.” Harris, 46, replaces Democrat Jerry Brown, who gave up the office in his successful bid for governor.

The rising Democratic star, the daughter of a black father and a mother from India, won backing from President Barack Obama and was named one of the nation’s most inspiring women by Oprah Winfrey’s O Magazine.

The race also drew national attention because of California’s size and its ability to influence national policy. During his tenure, Brown sued the federal government over former President George W. Bush’ refusal to accept state laws on auto emission standards. Obama moved to set national standards this year, partly as a result.

Harris ran as a reformer who began alternative tough-love programs in San Francisco for drug offenders and parents whose children miss too much school. Prosecutors and lawmakers should attack the underlying social problems that lead to crime as well as the criminal, she said.

 

The Sno’ Ho’ Show Suffers Audience Drop

It appears that the Sno’ Ho’ Show on TLC, has a major audience drop down to it’s basic viewer demographic…

Horny white men over 60.

Sarah Palin's Alaska...Rooting for the Bear to Have White Meat for Dinner

 

Sarah Palin’s Alaska Ratings Plummet

It seems mostly old people are watching Sarah Palin’s Alaska. Ratings for the show’s second installment fell 40%, CBS News reports. While the premiere set a record for TLC with 5 million viewers, only 3 million came back for more. Of those, only 885,000 were in the advertiser-friendly 18-49 age bracket. The median age of viewers was 57, which is 15 years older than TLC’s average.

But TLC says it anticipated the drop, since the show was going up against the NFL’s Sunday night games and the American Music Awards. “We are very happy with the ongoing strength of Sarah Palin’s Alaska,” said a network spokesman, noting thatConan saw a similar drop off.

 

World’s Second Dumbest Pirates Convicted

This one goes back about a year when an intrepid group of Somali Pirates attempted to hijack an US Warship armed only with their trusty Ak’s and RPGs.

Bad move.

The Guilty hear the verdict

Somali pirates convicted of attacking US Navy ship

 

Why are these guys the world’s second dumbest pirates?

A US Frigate looks like this –

Look Ma! No Cannons!

 

So – other than the large white numeric designation on the bow which is a dead giveaway that this is a warship and not the “Betty Boop” tramp steamer out of Kalamazoo, one might mistake this American Warship for a harmless merchant ship from miles away.

Some of these Pirate’s bretheren attacked a French Warship which looks like this on the right –

Things That go Boom! French Frigate Somme

 

 

 

 

 

For future reference, the little dome at the front with the “pipe” sticking out of it… Is a cannon.

The Tabar, An Indian Navy Frigate

Russian Missile Cruiser, Peter the Great

 

Out of the running (self-Darwin elimination) for World’s Dumbest Pirates are the Somali Pirates who attacked an Indian and a had a tango with a Russian warship…

It’s hard to take smithereens to trial.

 

Woman Who Confronted Obama on Economy, performance – Loses Her Job

Seriously doubt anyone had anything to do with this…

Except the piss-poor economy. But Velma Hart, who took President Obama to task on his failure to live up to expectations, has lost her job as CFO of AmVets – a Veterans Service Organization.

Mrs. Hart called President Obama out on the economy, his timid progress in achieving change, and his failure to live up to the ideals expressed during his campaign.  She isn’t the only one who has been saying it.

As we watch the chickensqat maneuvering of the Lame Duck Democrat Congress – we have to wonder if the Dems have learned their lesson yet.

Woman Who Confronted Obama on Economy Has Lost Her Job

Velma Hart, a woman who got President Obama’s attention when she said she was “exhausted” from defending him and his policies, has lost her job as chief financial officer with a Maryland-based veterans group.

Hart has been laid off by Am Vets, but not because of any failure of her part. “She got bit by the same snake that has bit a lot of people,” Am Vets Executive Director Jim King told the Washington Post. “It was a move to cut our bottom line. Most not-for-profits are seeing their money pinched.”

At a townhall meeting carried by CNBC in September, Hart told Obama that she and her husband thought “we were well beyond the hot-dogs-and-beans era of our lives.” But, she continued, “it’s starting to knock on our door and ring true that [this] might be where we’re headed again. And quite frankly , Mr. President, I need you to answer this honestly: Is this my new reality?” In response, Obama told Hart her family’s hard work should be rewarded and assured her, “We’re moving in the right direction.”

But the president got a earful at the event in Washington. “Quite frankly,” Hart said to him, “I’m exhausted — exhausted from defending you, defending your administration, defending the man for change I voted for and deeply disappointed with where we are right now.” Because she is an African-American and was speaking bluntly to the first black president, Hart’s comment were seen as evidence that Obama was losing ground with some of his core supporters.

At Am Vets, Jim King said he had not considered the irony of Hart being let go just two months after her emotional face-off with Obama. “She was at the townhall as a private citizen,” he said to the Post. “Whatever she had to say were her own thoughts.” Hart would not discuss the matter when contracted Monday by the newspaper.

 

Not Just Black Folks – Native American Unemployment Pain

Some things never seem to change in this here “post-racial” America…

Different race, Different recession – American Indian Unemployment in 2010

From the first half of 2007 to the first half of 2010, the American Indian unemployment rate nationally increased 7.7 percentage points to 15.2%. This increase was 1.6 times the size of the white increase.

• By the first half of 2010, the unemployment rate for Alaska Natives jumped 6.3 percentage points to 21.3%—the highest regional unemployment rate for American Indians.

• Since the start of the recession, American Indians in the Midwest (see Table 1 for the states within each region) experienced the greatest increase in unemployment, growing by 10.3 percentage points to 19.3%.

• By the first half of this year, slightly more than half—51.5%—of American Indians nationally were working, down from 58.3% in the first half of 2007.

• In the first half of this year, only 44% of American Indians in the Northern Plains were working, the worst employment rate for Native Americans regionally.

• The employment situation is the worst for American Indians in some of the same regions where it is best for whites: Alaska and the Northern Plains.