It always amazes me that this country celebrates a man who discovered land that had already been discovered, and then enacted mass extermination of the existing people on the "new" land:

In 1493, when Columbus returned to the Hispaniola, he quickly implemented policies of slavery and mass extermination of the Taino population of the Caribbean. Within three years, five million were dead. Las Casas, the primary historian of the Columbian era, writes of many accounts of the horrors that the Spanish colonists inflicted upon the indigenous population: hanging them en mass, hacking their children into pieces to be used as dog feed, and other horrid cruelties.

And we have a holiday for this man?

Do you think if I "discover" a land that already has been discovered, and commit genocide against those already living there, would I get a holiday named after me?

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

And I have added my thesis to the "papers" section if you are interested.

So it read it over there.

A plea for help

Konerko and Thome have made a rare public appeal on behalf of Children's Home and Aid, asking the Illinois legislature to reject a proposed $461 million cut in aid to the Department of Children and Family Services. Konerko and Thome have worked for the last three years to promote foster care and adoption.

In an op-ed letter, they say the state's proposed ''Doomsday'' budget would make the outlook for needy children ''dismal,'' cutting foster-parent aid by 50 percent and triple caseloads for Children's Home and Aid.

''The main thing is, Jim and I never feel what we do on a baseball field should influence people, but this is one issue that if I can, I want to put our focus on it,'' Konerko said. ''In this case, if we can influence it and reach as many people as we can, it's the right thing to do. We've already seen the good results [of the agency's work].''

Thome said there was no question about making the public plea.

''Our wives are heavily involved in this as well,'' he said. ''We don't talk about it a lot, but you do things in your heart, and this is close to our hearts.''

Illinois, and specifically Illinois' safety net, is facing possibly its worst crisis in its history. Social services are facing HUGE, devastating cuts, upwards of 75% of the current fiscal year budget. This would mean that thousands of families would lose access to affordable child care. Thousands of seniors and people with disabilities would lose access to home care services, forcing them into nursing homes. Thousands of individuals struggling with addiction would no longer get help. Thousands needed help for sexual assault and abuse will have nowhere to go. You can read more here.

Why? Because Illinois' politicians do not have the guts to do the right thing and raise taxes in order to save these services. Everyone in Springfield knows that a tax increase is necessary - Republican and Democrat alike. Yet they refuse to take that hard vote.

I am proud to be one of over 5,000 people who visited the capitol yesterday, urging legislators to raise my taxes. Yes, I wrote that correctly.

Raise my taxes.

Illinois cannot afford to do otherwise.

This man believed some scary, scary stuff, some of which, for now, can be viewed here:
Hitler's Worst Mistake: He didn't gas the Jews (also in a screen shot at TPM).

Here is his "bio" from TPM:

In 1981 Von Brunn attempted to place the treasonous Federal Reserve Board of Governors under legal, non-violent, citizens arrest. He was tried in a Washington, D.C. Superior Court; convicted by a Negro jury, Jew/Negro attorneys, and sentenced to prison for eleven years by a Jew judge. A Jew/Negro/White Court of Appeals denied his appeal. He served 6.5 years in federal prison. (Read about von Brunn's "Federal Reserve Caper" HERE.) He is now an artist and author and lives on Maryland's Eastern Shore.

UPDATE: TPM has a profile on the shooter. END UPDATE

And people wonder why we still talk about race issues in this country?

Racism is, unfortunately, alive and well here in America.

Thankfully this scumbag did not accomplish his mission. Unfortunately this scumbag did kill one individual. See update III.

UPDATE II: Hmm... so this is the second far-right terrorist attack in the last couple of weeks. And people complained about the Department on Homeland Security talking about far-right extremism?

UPDATE III: Here is his disgusting website.

UPDATE IV: CNN is reporting that the guard that was shot has died.

Liberty University has revoked its recognition of the campus Democratic Party club, saying “we are unable to lend support to a club whose parent organization stands against the moral principles held by” the university....

But here are two completely unrelated stories that you should read:

• Treasures Lost to Time :

  Shaquille O’Neal, already a basketball legend, was speaking in his soft, husky voice about men with names like Woody Sauldsberry, Cleo Hill and Ben Jobe.

  "Some of these guys, I’d never heard of in my life," he said. "So I guarantee you the younger players have never heard of them." ...

• The Ugly Truth Behind Organic Food:

  The organic labeling standards do nothing to denote how farms treat their workers. Is your organic food a humanitarian nightmare?

Black day, stormy night
No love, no hope in sight
Don't cry, he is coming
Don't die without knowing the cross
Ghettos 2 the left of us
Flowers 2 the right
There'll be bread 4 all of us
If we can just bear the cross

Sweet song of salvation
A pregnant mother sings
She lives in starvation
Her children need all that she brings

We all have our problems
Some BIG, some are small
Soon all of our problems
Will be taken by the cross

Black day, stormy night
No love, no hope in sight
Don't cry 4 he is coming
Don't die without knowing the cross

Ghettos 2 the left of us
Flowers 2 the right
There'll be bread 4 all, y'all
If we can just, just bear the cross, yeah

We all have our problems
Some are BIG, some are small
Soon all of our problems, y'all
Will be taken by the cross

The cross

The cross

Today, the American labor movement proclaimed its intention to come back together -- helped, of course, by the fact that Democrats now control both Congress and the White House and are bent on enacting universal health insurance and, perhaps, some legislation that would make it easier for workers to join unions. After meetings in Maryland this week, the presidents of the two federations and of the nation's 12 largest unions -- including the National Education Association, which heretofore has not belonged to any labor federation -- announced the formation of the National Labor Coordinating Committee, an interim body that could pave the way for labor's reunification by forming a new federation with roughly 16 million members.

This could be the best thing that has happened to the labor movement in decades.

Of course, it could also turn into a complete and utter nightmare.

Either way, it is huge news.

Those were fun days...

Am I saying that he was a bore? Oh dear. I find that I possibly am.

But in a good way, arguably. He came across as a president who would consult and think thrice before bombing the smithereens out of a foreign capital.

We draw our strength from the very despair in which we have been forced to live. We shall endure.

Today is the birthday of Cesar Chavez (for more background, go here).

Chavez is a man who played a HUGE role in organizing migrant farm workers (mostly in California) in order to have a unified voice against the abusive practices of the farm owners, and served for many years as the President of the United Farm Workers (UFW). Chavez started just like so many others - as a son of farm workers who then became a farm worker himself. He began to get involved in community organizing and quickly saw the need to organize his fellow farm workers.

He also was a man who not only stressed social and economic justice for farm workers, but he also stressed the absolute need for non-violent actions against the bosses rather than using violent means.

Here are some quotes:

You know, if people are not pacifists, it's not their fault. It's because society puts them in that spot. You've got to change it. You don't just change a man - you've got to change his environment as you do it.

...People think non-violence is really weak and non-militant. These are misconceptions that people have because they don't understand what non-violence means. Non-violence takes more guts, if I can put it bluntly, than violence. Most violence acts are accomplished by getting the opponent off guard, and it doesn't take that much character, I think, if one wants to do it.

We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community...Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own.

Chavez was a man of principle. He was a man who was willing to embrace the struggle of justice, and embrace non-violent means to get to a point of justice.

If Chavez was still living today, I think he would be a bit disappointed. Disappointed that so many of his fellow migrant workers are still in awful conditions. Disappointed that we have yet to get to a point of just immigration policies. Disappointed that while progress was made, that there is still a long, long way to go.

But regardless of the disappointment, Cesar Chavez is a man who made a difference. He made a difference for thousands of farm workers and more generally, thousands, if not millions, of migrant workers around the country.

You can watch an excerpt below:

From Death Penalty Focus:

Today marks an extraordinary day in the fight to abolish the death penalty.

Legislation abolishing New Mexico's death penalty has been signed by the Governor! The bill replaces capital punishment with a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
...
This victory in New Mexico brings us one huge step closer to eliminating the death penalty once and for all.

PLEASE THANK GOVERNOR RICHARDSON FOR DOING THE COURAGEOUS THING-- FOR DOING THE RIGHT THING AND SIGNING H.B. 285 TO ABOLISH THE DEATH PENALTY.

SEND THANK YOU NOTES TO:

Honorable Bill Richardson
Office of the Governor
490 Old Santa Fe Trail
Room 400
Santa Fe, NM 87501
(505) 476-2200
For email, visit:http://www.governor.state.nm.us/emailchoice.php?mm=6

New Mexico becomes the 15th state to abolish the death penalty, and the second state since 1976.

You can read more at the New Mexico Coalition to Repeal the Death Penalty.

On Friday, March 13, 2009, The New Mexico Senate voted 24-18 to repeal the death penalty in New Mexico and replace it with a sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole. House Bill 285 passed the House last month and now goes to Gov. Bill Richardson for his signature.

Governor Richardson's office has set up a hotline to receive the opinions of New Mexicans (and anyone else!) on the issue. That number is 505-476-2225. Those wishing to weigh in via e-mail can do so through the governor's web site at:

http://www.governor.state.nm.us

and clicking on "Contact the Governor."

"This is an extremely difficult issue that deserved the serious and thoughtful debate it received in the Legislature," Richardson said in a prepared statement. "I have met with many people and will continue to consider all sides of the issue before making a decision."

Please take action RIGHT NOW to urge Governor Richardson to sign the Death Penalty Repeal bill whether you live in New Mexico, or anywhere else! IF you know people who live in New Mexico, please forward this and urge them to take this action immediately.

The state legislature voted today to repeal the death penalty, meaning New Mexico could become the 15th US state not to have capital punishment if the governor signs the bill into law.

Governor Richardson still needs to sign it, which, unfortunately, is not a sure thing.

But this is a huge step... and places New Mexico one step away from abolishing the awful practice of killing to show that killing is wrong!

Most of you already know this, but for those who do not, Baby Lowitzki has arrived!

Savannah Grace Lowitzki was born Saturday morning at 6:53, weighing in at 5 pounds, 14 ounces and measuring 19 inches.

And, of course, she is stunningly beautiful, just like her mother.

Mom and baby are doing wonderfully well, and we should be heading home this morning.

You can see more pics at BabyLowitzki.com.

I will do my best to approve all comments as soon as possible.