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Statistics show a deep divide in opinions along racial lines regarding the killing of a black Florida teenager, Trayvon Martin, by George Zimmerman, who is of mixed ethnicity, white and Hispanic. Zimmerman has claimed self-defense, invoking the Sunshine State’s “Stand Your Ground” law which has also come under intense scrutiny in the wake of the incident. Reuters news service reported last week, 91% of blacks believe Martin was unjustly killed, while only 35% of whites concurred. Hispanics were in between at 59% according to polling numbers Reuters gathered by querying nearly 2,000 Americans. The disparity of views over Martin’s death...

MIAMI (AP) -- Authorities say 12 people were wounded and two shot dead when gunmen opened fire on mourners outside a Miami funeral home. Miami-Dade Police say it happened Friday as services were taking place at the Funeraria Latina Emanuel.

Two girls, 10 and 11, were badly wounded when gunshots fired from a passing car struck them inside their home in East Chicago, Ind. East Chicago Police Chief Mark Becker said the girls were alert after the shooting Tuesday night, but he had no other information about their conditions.

YAKIMA, Wash. -- A 6-year-old girl critically injured in a drive-by shooting Wednesday night was struck twice by gunfire, the latest in a string of Yakima shootings that have claimed innocent victims.Neighbors identified the girl as Sitlaly Calva-Acevedo and said they had been told she was hit twice in the chest or abdomen when a gunman opened fire on a group of adults and children in the front yard of her home at 905 N. Third St.The shooting occurred at about 10 p.m. Wednesday. The girl’s home is across the street from Barge-Lincoln Elementary School. No arrests have been made...

Ever notice how cats just have this greater then thou attitude towards dogs? Kind of reminds me of the way many liberals in the MSM, academia, Hollywood, and politicians (on both sides of the isle I might add) have anointed themselves as superior to us common folk in the hinter lands. They are always looking down upon us with their collective noses in the air. Well take a look at the way this cat is riding a Roomba vacuum while taking pot shots at the boxer in this video. Doesn't it remind you of the way the MSM will...

What on earth was Sarah Palin thinking when she posed in a pair of teeny-tiny gym shorts for a photograph that ended up on the cover of Newsweek -- a cover she has called "sexist"? Perhaps she was thinking that her image would only appear in the magazine she was posing for, Runner's World, and nowhere else, at least not for months and months. If so, she had good reason -- since, as DailyFinance has learned, the photographer who shot the picture violated his contract by reselling them to Newsweek. That photographer, Brian Adams, could not immediately be reached, and...

You want a blatant example of the Old Media's over-the-top, gobsmacked love affair with Obama? Well, one would be hard pressed not to see Time Magazine's latest piece by Nancy Gibbs as a perfect example of the media ignoring all ills and of projecting only what is wonderful onto the dearly beloved as this piece represents. The lionization of Obama is bad enough, but the selective memory of the writer is even more appalling. Writer Gibbs begins her column trying to "place" Barack Obama in a "cultural map." Most famous people are remembered for a certain place that formed their...

Five-year-old Kayla Mitchell and her two sisters have their own bedroom, but the girls have always felt safer sleeping with their mother. But early this morning, as Kayla slept with her family, she was struck in the head by one of six bullets that pierced their Pleasant Grove home in an apparent drive-by shooting. “I can’t think of a safer place to be for a 5-year-old than with her mother in bed,” said Lt. Andrew Harvey, a Dallas police spokesman. Kayla was in serious condition after undergoing three hours of surgery at Children’s Medical Center Dallas. Her mother, Shanika Sherman,...

MAAYA THILA, Maldives Since climate change fears first gripped the globe, tourists have flocked to the Maldives to enjoy the islands' spectacular vistas before they vanish. Do they really need to rush? Scientists have long warned that the Maldives, an archipelago nation of nearly 1,200 islands in the Indian Ocean, will be wiped out by rising sea levels in the coming decades. President Mohamed Nasheed is so convinced of his nation's demise he has proposed relocating all 350,000 inhabitants to other countries. On average, the islands are 7 feet above sea level, making them the lowest-lying nation on Earth. Most...

Feds: Gun Smugglers Keep Cartels Heavily Armed An all-out war is raging in Mexico, and it is major news on both sides of the border. In 2008, 6,000 Mexicans were killed in gang warfare. In the first two months of 2009, more than a thousand people were gunned down in Mexico as the government intensifies it's war to bring down the narcotrafficking cartels. Mexican police officers are out-gunned by the firepower cartel gangsters are wielding, and bodies turn up tortured to death on the streets of Juarez and Tijuana on a regular basis. In the most gruesome new terror tactic...

The sitting Speaker of the House of Representatives has accused the CIA of lying to Congress. She is ensnared in a web of conflicting accounts. Her very hold on power could be under a cloud. Meh. Guess we can find some room on A20. But pot pies need to be heated to 165 degrees to be safe? Hold the presses: put it on the front page! Such is the news judgment of the New York Times. The Morning Joe crowd had a field day with Gray Lady and Pelosi’s travails during the show’s opening half-hour today, Joe Scarborough having great...

They can kill from more than four football fields away, shred police officers' vests, fire up to 75 bullets at a time - and they're increasingly showing up in criminals' hands. Last year, Fort Wayne Police seized 31 semiautomatic rifles, compared with two in 2003, the last year of the federal assault weapons ban that limited the sale of the rifles. The seizure increase and more reports of criminals using the rifles concerns Fort Wayne Police Chief Rusty York. “The fact that we have these relatively cheap, assault weapon-type firearms out there, it's not only a hazard to the public,...

On Morning Joe today, Joe Scarborough nailed the Washington press corps for its sycophantish performance at the White House Correspondents Association dinner this past Saturday night: “like a bunch of teenage girls waiting for a Bay City Rollers concert, waiting to scream at the top of their [lungs].” Mika Brzezinski, agreeing with Joe, lifted the veil on the goings-on behind the scenes, describing an enraptured TV production crew scrambling to get the most flattering shots of the prez and First Lady. View video here.

My post the other day, MSNBC Hides Obama's Dijon Mustard (aka Dijongate), has hit a nerve unlike anything else I have written. The post concerned the lunch trip of Obama and Biden to a burger shop to get a "Hell Burger." I accept that this should not have been news, but the White House image makers wanted to portray the two as just regular guys out at the local diner, so the event was hyped. MSNBC just happened to be in the burger place with cameras rolling when Obama and Biden came in and ordered. Again, not sure why MSNBC...

Last week, I asked my journalism and political science students at American University to grade the news media covering the Obama administration for the first 100 days. The consensus fell between a C+ and a B-. However, if I asked President Barack Obama’s media strategists to grade the press corps covering their boss, I bet they would mark their cards with an A. Why? With few exceptions, the mainstream news media have been dutifully pushing the Obama message, burnishing his carefully crafted image and offering few challenges when he makes questionable or misleading pronouncements, gestures or policy statements. In short,...

BY MOST people’s standards Barack Obama has had an excellent week. He enjoyed a counter-Carter moment when navy commandos rescued an American hostage, leaving three kidnappers dead. He gave a measured speech on the economy. And, to cap it all, he gave his daughters a Portuguese water dog named “Bo”. What’s not to like? Plenty, according to some people. Mr Obama may be widely admired both at home and abroad. But there are millions of Americans who do not like the cut of his jib—and a few whose dislike boils over into white-hot hatred. The American Spectator, which came of...

Taking aim at the way news is spread across the Internet, The Associated Press said on Monday that Web sites that used the work of news organizations must obtain permission and share revenue with them, and that it would take legal action against those that did not. A.P. executives said they were concerned about a variety of news forums around the Web, including major search engines like Google and Yahoo and aggregators like the Drudge Report that link to news articles, smaller sites that sometimes reproduce articles whole, and companies that sell packaged news feeds. They said they did not...

Because of Rush Limbaugh’s success as the trendsetter and trailblazer of talk radio, the self-proclaimed “Doctor of Democracy” has been called everything from “a big, fat idiot,” by that big, fat, idiot Al Franken, to “hateful” and “unpatriotic” by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). But Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) recently took accusations and name-calling to new low when he equated talk radio -- and by implication Limbaugh -- with pornography. This accusation was part of Schumer’s argument that the government ought to be able to “regulate” talk radio because it regulates pornography. In a Fox News interview, Schumer said,...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New York Times endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for U.S. president on Thursday, saying he had "met challenge after challenge, growing as a leader and putting real flesh on his early promises of hope and change." The Times posted its endorsement on its Internet site on Thursday evening and was to publish it in Friday editions of the newspaper. Earlier this year, the newspaper endorsed New York Sen. Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination, but it said Obama had long ago erased the reservations that led it to make that decision. "He has drawn in...

WASHINGTON (AP) — When it comes to the public's image of John McCain, it's as if somebody dialed the electricity down in the past month. For Barack Obama, the juice is still flowing. People's regard for the Republican presidential nominee has deteriorated across-the-board since September, an Associated Press-Yahoo! News poll showed Friday, with McCain losing ground in how favorably he's seen and in a long list of personal qualities voters seek in White House contenders. Perceptions of Obama have improved or remained steady. Beyond views of the two rivals' character traits, McCain faces another problem — Obama is more trusted...

In advance of tonight’s vice presidential debate, fewer than four-in-ten (37%) Americans say Sarah Palin is qualified to serve as president if necessary, while a majority (63%) say her opponent, Joe Biden, is qualified for the job. More than half (52%) viewed Palin as qualified in early September. Women are slightly less likely than men to view Palin as qualified. Both Palin and Biden are viewed favorably by a majority of Americans, but while views of Biden have remained virtually unchanged over the past month, the number of people viewing Palin unfavorably has risen from 32% to currently 40% as...

<p>Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who touts her state's proximity to Russia as part of her foreign policy experience, has not met with Russian leaders or delegations, negotiated any Russian issues or visited the country, according to an Associated Press review of records from the governor's office.</p>

NEW YORK Print circulation continues on its steep downward slide, the Audit Bureau of Circulations revealed this morning in releasing the latest numbers for some of the country's largest dailies in the six-month period ending March 31, 2008. When a full analysis appears it is expected to find, according to sources, the biggest dip yet, about 3.5% daily and 4.5 for Sunday. The following circulation compares the new data to the same period a year ago. Daily circulation is the Monday-through-Friday average. -- The New York Times lost more than 150,000 copies on Sunday. Circulation on that day fell a...

BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Globe's editorial board has endorsed Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain ahead of the New Hampshire presidential primary and the Iowa caucus, the newspaper reported Saturday. The board noted that Obama fulfills America's need for "a president with an intuitive sense of the wider world," and that McCain "has done more than his share to transcend partisanship and promote an honest discussion of the problems facing the United States," the newspaper reported on its Web site. The endorsements followed in-depth interviews with the presidential contenders. The board says Obama's diverse and international life experience helped...

"For 15 years I have stood up against the right-wing machine, and I've come out stronger," Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said at a Democratic presidential debate this year. "So if you want a winner who knows how to take them on, I'm your girl." Again and again, Mrs. Clinton tells Democratic primary voters she can win the 2008 general election because she knows how to fight the Republicans. And it's true that probably no contemporary public figure outside her marriage has more experience fighting Republicans. But fighting is not the same as winning. The truth is that Hillary Clinton's win-loss...

"It is now becoming widely known within the US that the terrorist attacks and violence is subsiding in Iraq rapidly, because of the US military buildup of "surge"...

Here's one sign that Hillary Clinton is the Democratic presidential frontrunner. Reporters are tripping over themselves to convince us how likable and human she is -- strong and yet nurturing. It's the same playbook the media used for Al Gore and John Kerry, both just as stiff, robotic and unlikable then as Hillary is now. So they're portraying Hillary not only as strong and invincible, but also as warm as a down comforter and as sweet as Mrs. Butterworth. The New York Times stands out as a primary transmission belt for the Clinton campaign's effort to melt the ice-queen image....

CBS: No good news Posted Jul 31st 2007 10:05AM by Douglas McIntyre Filed under: Earnings reports, Bad news, Press releases, CBS Corp 'B' (CBS) CBS (NYSE:CBS) today announced results for the second quarter that were dreadful. Net income plunged 48% to $404 million, or 55 cents per share, versus $781.7 million, or $1.02 per share, a year earlier. Revenue fell 3% to $3.4 billion. Operating income before depreciation and amortization ("OIBDA") of $859.4 million and operating income of $749.9 million for the second quarter of 2007 remained flat with $858.9 million and $750.3 million, respectively, for the same prior-year period....

<p>Are Americans having a change of heart over the war in Iraq?</p> <p>Maybe yes, maybe no.</p> <p>A new poll by CBS News and The New York Times shows that public support for the original invasion of Iraq has risen by a fifth - from 35 percent to 42 percent of those surveyed - over the past two months.</p>

Parasitic gangs and my chemical romance By MICHAEL LAWS - Sunday Star Times | Sunday, 17 June 2007 The arrest of 12 Mongrel Mob members last week, for the murder of toddler Jhia Te Tua, again put the media focus on this country's homegrown terrorists. The arrests were disturbing enough. That Jhia's father Josh turned up at the court to eyeball his daughter's killers - with a photoshopped image of Jhia in Black Power garb - was more disturbing still. Te Tua is also on bail for an earlier drive-by shooting. Which goes to prove. That the mythic hopes of...

The MSM has been trying to nominate a progressive/liberal/centrist/moderate/or maverick Republican presidential candidate since the days of Nelson Rockefeller -- in other words, ever since the Republicans stopped doing it to themselves. The MSM hasn't had much luck, though it made a decent run at it in 2000. But 2008 (including 2007) may well be the MSM's year. That's because the two leading Republican contenders, McCain and Rudy Giuliani, arguably fit somewhere in the progressive/liberal/centrist/moderate/maverick continuum. At a minimum, both take liberal positions on several issues that many conservatives deem vital. Right now, the MSM faces only one obvious obstacle...

Guy wants to be Hillarys intern, will supply his own cigars and stain proof undies...............

A major shareholder advisory firm, Institutional Shareholder Services, is urging investors to withhold their votes for four directors at The New York Times Co. as a way to push for corporate governance changes. The ISS report published Wednesday comes amid a campaign from a longtime shareholder, a Morgan Stanley investment fund, to roll back the dual-class share structure which allows the Sulzberger family to maintain control. ISS recommends separating the chairman and publisher roles, which are both currently held by Arthur Sulzberger Jr., as well as establishing key committees on the board that would be made up solely of directors...

The military gives enlistment bonuses of up to $40000

This week saw the continuation of the media’s crocodile teary investigation into poor patient conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Now the story has morphed into a public airing of every unpleasant anecdote and act of incompetence anyone can identify anywhere in the nation’s huge veterans health care system. Just six months ago, Time magazine ran a feature called, “How Veterans' Hospitals Became the Best in Health Care.” Today the website features a report on veterans’ care from Time’s sister company, CNN, called, “Iraq Veterans Tell Horror Stories.” That’s quite a reversal of investigative opinion since August, but when...

In what CBS’s Bob Schieffer called a “man-bites-dog story,” White House press secretary Tony Snow put A-list reporters on the spot Tuesday night, in front of C-SPAN cameras. The forum, the first collaboration between the White House Correspondents Association and National Press Club, provoked unusually candid remarks by the reporters, who usually are loathe to talk about such delicate subjects as how ideology and blogs affect their work. And Snow acknowledged that they made some good points. Snow, a former editorial writer who came to the White House after working as the host of “Fox News Sunday” and an anchor...

Satire scores for Fox News net 'News Hour' pilot bows with 1.5 mil viewers It got mixed reviews, but Fox News Channel's take on news satire scored with the only voters that matter. Heavily promoted on FNC and on conservative talkradio, the first pilot episode of "The ½ Hour News Hour" premiered with nearly 1.5 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research. That's a big number for an unknown show in a Sunday timeslot. First episode opened with some conservative star power, with Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter hamming it up as fictional -- or perhaps fantasy -- president and...

Abu Omar al-Baghdadi made his grand entrance onto the jihadist stage on October 12, 2006, and since then he's delivered two very important speeches — the more recent one came out last week — and has taken credit for much of the spectacular outbreaks of violence in Iraq of late, yet he still can't get his name in print on the pages of the New York Times. Why are the editors and reporters of that paper not telling their readers anything about Iraq's top terrorist? Abu Omar al-Baghdadi is Al Qaeda's guy in Iraq, and nowadays, the Sunni insurgency is...

http://news.postbulletin.com/newsmanager/templates/localnews_story.asp?z=2&a=277196 A 23-year-old Rochester man accused in a drive-by shooting in northeast Rochester in January has been found guilty on several, but not all, of the charges against him. Olmsted District Judge Joseph Chase issued a verdict and written memoranda explaining the verdict on Thursday. He found the shooter, Christopher Edwards, guilty of three counts of drive-by shooting, all felonies, and one count of first-degree assault, also a felony. Chase dismissed six counts of attempted first-degree murder, saying he was not convinced that Edwards meant to kill. "I give the GSR (gunshot residue) evidence little weight in this case," he...

NORTH HILLS - In a sign that the San Fernando Valley's surge in gang violence could be drawing in younger members, police said they arrested a 15-year-old triggerman and his 14-year-old accomplice Wednesday after a drive-by shooting that seriously injured a 12-year-old and two of his teenage friends. The two suspected gang members are accused of attacking three boys who police said belong to a graffiti, or tagging, crew. A third suspect in Tuesday's North Hills drive-by shooting remains at large. "These are not established gang members. These are junior high and high school students who are taking out a...

The bold daytime killing Thursday of a woman who was walking in a tranquil Fremont neighborhood to pick up her daughters from school has her family pleading to know why anyone would kill the mother of six. Alia Ansari, 37, was gunned down in central Fremont at 2:40 p.m. by someone who pulled up in a car, fired, then drove away. "She was a very diligent housewife. She lived a very simple life. She was not an extravagant person. She did not splurge," said a cousin who requested anonymity. "Whoever did this must have done this for no reason at...

Road rage builds on I-630 until arrow hits Camaro Road rage took a decidedly medieval turn Sunday when a Little Rock man was arrested after police said he attempted to settle a traffic dispute with a crossbow. Police said Wayne Allen Dierks Jr., 26, of 300 Walnut St. in Little Rock fired a crossbow at a motorist who had made an obscene gesture at him. Dierks was charged with committing a terroristic act, possession of an instrument of crime, driving while intoxicated and driving on a suspended driver’s license. “It was a drive-by crossbow shooting,” said Steve Gilgenbach, a University...

A Perth woman worshipping at a mosque has described the terror of feeling a bullet whizz past her ear in a drive-by shooting.Ahdielah Edries, 38, was on the second storey of the Mirrabooka mosque, north of Perth, last night when an unknown gunman fired a shot through the window about 8.45pm yesterday. "We were in the middle of praying ... I was in front of the window. I heard what seemed like a massive explosion and felt something go past my ear,'' Ms Edries said. She said the bullet sounded like a jet and missed her left ear by about...

Chris Matthews is so far around the bend that the only explanation for his continued tenure on MSNBC is that MSNBC executives don't watch their channel, either. NewsBusters reports the latest outrage, via Blog of the Week Riehl World View: Matthews: "Look, let me ask you this. Where are you on capital punishment?" Malachy McCourt: "Capital punishment? I think that if, if I've got to find that guy in Spain who indicted Pinochet and get him for war crimes, and I get him to do the same thing for Bush. And in that case, I would be for capital punishment....

GARY — Neighborhood children could count on Jermaine Martin’s generosity when the ice cream truck rolled through Marshalltown. At 27 years old, the mentally handicapped man rarely strayed far from his front yard, but welcomed visitors of all ages. So it was easy for his killer to find Martin on Wednesday afternoon. Police arrested a 15-year-old they say shot Martin with an SKS semiautomatic rifle as the teen’s mother drove past the victim’s house, slowing down to allow her son to fire. Police said a 16-year-old boy who was in the back seat of the car also was arrested. Martin,...

BAGHDAD – Iraqi army and Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers detained two terrorists and discovered bomb-making materials south of Baghdad Sunday night. Soldiers from 5th Battalion, 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, reported a drive-by shooting at their checkpoint at approximately 8:45 p.m.; the soldiers returned fire, causing the terrorists to flee their vehicle on foot. A quick reaction force from Company C, 1st Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, responded to the checkpoint and captured the two terrorists. In the vehicle, the Soldiers seized various bomb-making materials. -30- FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONCERNING THIS RELEASE,...

WASHINGTON, July 16, 2006 – Two Afghan civilians were killed and one was injured July 15 in a drive-by shooting in Zambar in Khowst Province. "This was a senseless attack on Afghan civilians," said Col. Thomas Collins, spokesman for Combined Forces Command Afghanistan. "For extremists to dress like women and kill innocent civilians shows the lengths the extremists will go to to threaten the safety of the Afghan people. The coalition remains committed to putting an end to such senseless violence and those who would commit these atrocities." Three people disguised as women who were wearing burkas and driving in...

A drive-by Media (sometimes referred to merely as a MSM) is an attack on a person carried out with one or more reporters, usually automatic RNCFL (ReportNowCheckFactsLater) or sub-standard reporting from a news briefing room, (or a cubicle on the 40th floor of an unnamed MSM headquarters). They often result in the falsely Reporting of innocent conservatives because the objective is to overwhelm the target by a sudden, massive amount of false reporting without attention to accuracy. The CBS - American News Anchor, ""Gunga Dan" Rather, is believed to have invented the drive-by Reporting. Drive by reportings were popular in...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Local police and neighbors of two Baghdad schools where gunmen had reportedly beheaded teachers in front of their students Wednesday said the slayings never happened, despite an official statement to the contrary. Reuters and Associated Press news crews responded to a statement by the Ministry of Interior, saying that two teachers were “slaughtered” at Amna and Shaheed Hamdi primary schools in Shaab district in Baghdad.

Second Girl Shot In 9 Days In Englewood (CBS) For the second time in little more than a week, another young girl is shot to death in the same Chicago neighborhood. It's a crime that has people in the Englewood neighborhood outraged. Ten-year-old Siretha White was celebrating at her own surprise birthday party Saturday night when bullets pierced the window of a home in the South Side neighborhood killing her. Just eight days earlier and just blocks away, 14-year old Starkesia Reed was also killed by a stray bullet in her home. As CBS 2's Rafael Romo reports, the...