TPM: "Conservative radio host Bryan Fischer on Wednesday doubled down on his "Muslims have no first amendment rights" comments from last month, this time arguing that the United States should "restrict immigration from Islamic countries." ........................."

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) -- A judge has ruled that a former Somali prime minister who has been living quietly in the U.S. for the last 14 years can be deposed in a federal lawsuit alleging he oversaw war crimes and other abuses against his own people.

A heartwarming victory is only marred by the situation itself: one of the wealthiest counties in the U.S.

MEMPHIS, Tennessee - Long-forgotten photos that show James Earl Ray being brought to jail after his arrest for assassinating Martin Luther King Jr. were unveiled Wednesday to commemorate the 43rd anniversary of the civil rights leader's death.

"It used to be that you would have situations where some men would go to Bangkok [Thailand] for the sex tours with children. Well, some of them are coming to Atlanta, now."

The man accused of bringing young girls from Mexico to the Atlanta area and forcing them to become prostitutes was sentenced to 40 years in prison Thursday.

This is a phenomenal video of the immigrant rights community in southern Arizona & their battle last summer against Governor Jan Brewer's draconian legislation regime....

Our communities are tired of being a mecca for men who want to buy young girls' bodies.

The victim and her mother have already been blamed for the crime in news reports, and the girl's name and picture were reportedly published on a website created by those connected to the case.

The chancellor of the University of California, Los Angeles said Monday he was "appalled by the thoughtless and hurtful comments" that a white student made about her Asian classmates in a video that has drawn national attention.

As Lynn Higgins and Brenda Silver ask in their book Rape and Representation, "How is it that in spite (or perhaps because) of their erasure, rape and sexual violence have been so ingrained and so rationalized through their representations as to appear 'natural' and inevitab …

A Texas judge has issued a sweeping gag order barring anyone who could be called to testify at the trial of 18 men and boys accused of sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl from talking to the news media.

To avoid a messy battle in court, Mel Gibson has reached a plea deal with Los Angeles prosecutors in his domestic violence case, a source confirms to PEOPLE.

This latest report by Wendy Cervantes and Donald J. Hernandez of First Focus shows that we cannot afford to ignore the needs of the children of immigrants.

The arrest of four suspects means that 17 have now been accused in the sexual assault of an 11-year-old girl last year.

Giving Transportation Security Administration agents a peek under your clothes may soon be a practice that goes well beyond airport checkpoints.

A state senator escaped being arrested for an alleged domestic violence dispute because of an obscure piece of law granting him 'legislative immunity', police said today.

Several commentators have suggested that Ms. Logan was somehow at fault: because she's pretty; because she decided to go into the crowd; because she's a war junkie. This wasn't her fault. It was the mob's fault. This attack also had nothing to do with Islam.

A famous World War II slogan was, "Food will win the war and write the peace." Today, the House of Representatives, with its budget proposal, has a new take on this slogan: No food. The House is planning over $800 million in cuts to international food aid programs.

UPDATE: Local media report that the Dems may return to work on Saturday. Stay tuned.... UPDATE: The Dems have left the Illinois hotel they where they were "found" by media this afternoon; no reports as to their current whereabouts

A Gwinnett County woman was arrested Saturday for allegedly trying to bring two children from Mexico to Georgia.

ZIEBACH COUNTY, S.D. (AP) — In the barren grasslands of Ziebach County, there's almost nothing harder to find in winter than a job. This is America's poorest county, where more than 60 percent of people live at or below the poverty line.

Two years ago today, in a story that shook me to my core, a woman walking her dog found a femur in the desert.  She alerted the police, who began a three-month dig, covering a vast area of the mesa near my home.  The police found the bodies of 11 women, one of whom was four mon …

"Mandatory E-Verify without comprehensive immigration reform will not end illegal immigration, free up jobs for unemployed Americans, or save the country money. In fact, studies of E-Verify predict the opposite."

Paul Barrow points out that "the real focus" of DHS "is not on prevention but on management of disasters" which "have created immense political backlash." But the real backlash will come when we attempt to use the new software & there's noone to show us how!

An overview of the trial of Shawna Forde in Tucson tells us little we don't already know.... I kept missing the fact that she was a beautician....

A fascinating overview of the issues surrounding the expansion of immigrant detention in Essex County, New Jersey, & around the country....

How can anyone justify threatening rape victims with a Bad-Conduct Discharge if they dare to speak out about their assaults? I'm just dying to hear the argument, if you've got one!

Tens of thousands of the nation's war widows find it perplexing and downright disrespectful to their late military husbands: In order to fully collect on insurance their husbands bought for them when alive, they must marry another man. And to qualify, the widows must remarry whe …

The show at the Capitol yesterday sounds hysterical alright: everyone from the most ardent advocate of children's rights to the most extreme right-wing nativist! The only thing to which I can imagine comparing it is the endless array of comments at the end of the article....

Rick Scott says that he's going to focus on jobs, education, and the rule of law; but Gary Borders is running Lake County like his own personal mafia! And the governor is instead involved in promoting an Arizona SB1070-copycat bill - I guess that's his definition of rule of law!

Contrary to what I'm sure you're going to hear this weekend: Reagan was not one of our most popular presidents, both during his reign & for the first decade after it (how quickly we forget!);

We're barely a week into the new year and already we can report that misogyny is alive and well in 2011. Here is a quick and undoubtedly incomplete roundup of the first week's action

A crucial reminder that myths are precisely that: halfway between fact/truth & lies/falsity! As Joan says:

Words from the street in Cairo echo in my mind, "It's time for change!" We need to legalize prostitution so that we can regulate it and protect children from being exploited!

The survey, in the form of a "pop quiz," asked Americans whether they thought a series of 10 provisions were included in the new law. Five items (ie.

Veterans under 35 Experience Traumatic Deaths at Higher Rates than Californians with no Military Service

Another shock video campaign proven to be based on a hoax!

The black community in Greenwood, Miss., is on edge and angry after the death of Frederick Jermaine Carter (pictured) who was 26 years old and found hanging from a tree in what authorities have labeled to be a suicide.

The case sparked national outrage. Advocacy groups Change.org and Color of Change launched ambitious online campaigns that have already gotten thousands of signatures.

At least now we know that the right-wing extremism isn't just reserved for violating the civil rights of immigrants: LGBT & DV victims are now(?) included in the list of victims of the state's culture wars.... Or as a native has put it on the comments page:

Once again, the data shows that 287(g) programs are violating people's civil rights, fighting efforts at accountability & oversight, & choosing to ignore the directive to focus on dangerous criminals rather than increasing their numbers by picking on the easiest targets in the im …

While the new report may be the first of its kind, the unique plight of immigrant women, particularly the sexual harassment and violence to which they are subjected, is not entirely undocumented.

The Los Angeles Police Department has completed DNA and other tests on all of the 6,132 rape kits - some of them years old - that were reported in 2008 to have been sitting untouched in lab freezers, Capt. Kevin McClure told the Police Commission

You don't need to read the 46-page Missouri Supreme Court decision to determine that this Guatemalan mother's due process & maternal rights were infringed upon: it's common sense!

"Alarming trends" is the understatement of the day!

ABC news reported that the suspect, a military officer's wife, was hospitalized on Saturday, and had complained that her children were "mouthy."

At least the British press is covering the trial of Shawna Forde for this outrageous murder of 9-year-old Brisenia Flores & her father by the renegade Minutemen operative.

UPDATE 1/31/2011 ED SCHULTZ REPORTED TONIGHT THAT THE PETITION NOW HAS OVER 14,000 SIGNATURES AND THAT SEN. YEE HAS GOTTEN ADDITIONAL THREATS. UPDATE 1/30/2011: OVER 10,000 SIGNATURES SO FAR UPDATE 1/28/2011:: SIGNATURES NOW TOTAL OVER 7,000 AND GROWING!

A brilliant academic piece which shows that not only will rescinding birthright citizenship create a massive new bureaucracy at a time when we need to streamline but it would deprive us of the crucial resource of young people who are paying taxes, fulfilling civil & military serv …

An Ohio mother of two was sentenced to 10 days in jail and placed on three years probation after sending her kids to a school district in which they did not live.

A group of 400 rabbis from the Reform, Orthodox, Conservative and Reconstructionist Jewish traditions published a full page ad in the Wall Street Journal today telling Rupert Murdoch to put a leash on Glenn Beck, to have him quit his use of inappropriate remarks about the Holoca …

A heady combination of reflections on our willingness to do whatever we want with our prisoners regardless of the treaties to which we are signatories & notification that Amnesty International has a letter condeming Bradley Manning's treatment; his lawyer David Coombs has stated  …

"After he was acquitted Friday, Phil Mocek, the Seattle man famous for refusing to show ID to TSA officers, declared victory. Quoted in the Albuquerque Journal, Mocek said:

"Mandatory data retention 'raises serious privacy and free speech concerns'

Christopher Drew is a 60-year-old artist and teacher who wears a gray ponytail and lives on the North Side. Tiawanda Moore, 20, a former stripper, lives on the South Side and dreams of going back to school and starting a new life.

Thanks to the anti-choice movement, poor women throughout the U.S. cannot afford safe abortions and are sometimes forced to make extremely dangerous choices.

For all his accomplishments — Peace Corps director, ambassador, leader of the war on poverty — R. Sargent Shriver ultimately became known first as an in-law.

We definitely need to heed Tim's advice to put away "the safe & sanitized version of this man & his compatriots" & "awaken from the stupor" which our "Ambien-induced haze" has cast upon us in order to deal with the legacies of injustice which MLK against which he spent his life f …

"Count to ten; & take a deep breath!"

"In honor of Martin Luther King Jr., we have compiled archival videos, documentaries, commentaries, discussions and reports about his life, legacy and the Civil Rights movement.

I have a dream that... The world will have peace one day!!! -abbie I have a dream that....humans of all ethnicities will unite against worldwide terror and pain,and become one as a nation! -jeanne

Just what the headline says. --------------------------------------- For a great piece of writing about MLK, see this wonderful article in the Washington Post: On Martin Luther King Day, remembering the first draft of 'I Have a Dream'

A former St. Petersburg man accused of war crimes in Bosnia was deported from the United States on Saturday, immigration and customs enforcement officials said.

A second time around, this expose on the culture of corruption & secrecy that allows Border Patrol officials literally get away with murder was even more rewarding & meaningful: it is an absolute must-read, regardless of your political persuasion.

Children were abused on American military dollars. The cables are undoubtedly an embarrassment to the war effort.

A fairly decent rundown on the 287g controversy in Tennessee: a must-read if you care about the ensuing civil rights struggle in this country! When was the last time you were indefinitely detained because of the color of your skin?

It does us well to reflect on the stories of our victims....

I can't believe that "no state or federal judge has ever been impeached to punish a judicial opinion" yet in the history of our country: unfortunately these Family Leader folks dont' seem to be weary of "dangerous" roads....

The 2012 general election ballot shall carry the question of whether to amend Article VI, Section 1, of the Arizona Constitution to state that in making judicial decisions, Arizona courts must not look to legal precepts of other nations or cultures and must not consider internati …

Apparently, House Republicans are not reading the same briefs on the topic as we are....

I'm always afraid when the most liberal court in the country hands down a fascist decision like this: hopefully not a sign of things to come!

An encyclopedia of rightisms!

WBAI's Evening News had the best coverage, detailing the stories of the unscrupulous restauranteur who answered a plea for payment with a whack of a frying pan & the contractor who threw someone out of a moving vehicle after they had severely beaten them - all for asking when the …

Imagine if your employers felt that they could strike you upside the head with a frying pan when you asked to get paid or throw you out of a moving car after severely assaulting you - & get away with it! Would you believe in the need for better labor laws then?

I wonder how many people will get arrested tomorrow at this rally in DC.... Hopefully noone will end up in Guantanamo, but you never know....

Rep. Robert Brady, D-Pennsylvania, said he will introduce legislation making it a federal crime for a person to use language or symbols that could be perceived as threatening or inciting violence against a Member of Congress or federal official.

Congressman Giffords is the first Jewish female elected to high office in Arizona.

this is such a sad moment in the histroy of american politics. other countries who view us as arrogant and disrespectful spit at us and now have more reason to laugh at us.

In February 2009, Roll received hundreds of threats after he allowed a lawsuit filed by illegal immigrants against a rancher to go forward. "They cursed him out, threatened to kill his family, said they'd come and take care of him.

According to a memo obtained by Fox News with information compiled by the Department of Homeland Security and released to state law enforcement officials, Jared Loughner, the alleged shooter of Congressman Gabrielle Giffords, may have been influenced by a pro-white racist organiz …

U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords, an Arizona Democrat, and other people were shot at an event today in Tucson, according to broadcast reports.

An anonymous individual dropped off a computer hard drive containing over 100 hours of video depicting a sequence of sexual assaults on women, all of whom appear to be disabled, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said Thursday.

FORT LAUDERDALE — The little girl is standing beside an elephant statue somewhere in Thailand. She wears a pretty white dress with dark stripes and has a little girl's pretty, shoulder-length hair.

"Congratulations," the greeting card says, "You got bad touched." The cartoon depicts a traumatized young woman, naked, hunched down in a shower. It attracted attention when it was posted on Ebay by a seller called "youstupidbitch."

DAYTONA BEACH -- A decade-old law that gives criminal immunity to some people who defend themselves with knives, fists, sticks or guns is rearing its head more frequently in Volusia County courtrooms.

KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) -- Authorities say about 20 Cubans found living on an offshore island along the Florida Keys have been detained, and some were receiving medical treatment.

Arthur Sedille was up-front with police: He would often put a gun to his wife's head during fantasy sex play at their Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, home.

WASHINGTON - Vice President Joe Biden says the country is evolving on the issue of gay marriage and he thinks it's inevitable there will be national consensus.

Talking back to street harassers just went viral: Hollaback posted a video of a woman on a subway train who, when she realized the man that was crowding her on the subway was doing so because he'd pulled his condom-sheathed penis out and was rubbing it on her, started to berate …

"New Census figures released Tuesday shows that 75 percent of US metro areas – most of them in the South and West – saw racial segregation drop to levels not seen for more than a century.

The uprising of Georgia inmates on December 9 defied the stereotype of the chaotic "prison riot" in the public imagination. Yet neither did "Lockdown for Liberty" fit within the conventional model of civil disobedience or industrial action.

"Despite the furor its screening procedures have raised in the past two months, the TSA, it appears, routinely misses handguns and bombs, which pass through their airport scanners undetected.

"This Santa slid down no chimney, but he feels he and the kids got the shaft nonetheless. Dennis Jackson said it was over-reaching cultural sensitivity that led to being told his annual Santa appearances must cease at St. Peter Head Start classes for young children.

POll Did the world come to and end today or is this just the calm before the storm?

Word that the world's largest military power will allow gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military brought strong and swift reaction Saturday, with supporters declaring a civil rights milestone and detractors insisting it would weaken and divide the armed forces.

"She claims that she knew of the star's alleged intolerance far before anyone else.