Is this the start of something truly awful?

Authorities say a Phoenix man was arrested Thursday for the fatal shooting of his neighbor.

Phoenix Police Department spokesman Tommy Thompson said 50-year-old Gary Thomas Kelley was booked into the Maricopa County Jail on Thursday night and was charged with one count of murder and two counts of aggravated assault.

Officers were called to the scene of a shooting near 7th and Southern avenues around 1 p.m. and found 44-year-old Juan Varela wounded. He was transported to a local hospital, where he died.

According to Thompson, Kelley and Varela lived two houses apart for a number of years but have gotten into altercations during the past several years.

They reportedly quarreled again Thursday, during which Kelley used racial slurs towards Varela. A neighbor tells ABC15 he heard a man yelling racial slurs and asking the victim if he wanted to die. As the argument went on, Varela's brother Antonio walked over to the men and also exchanged words with Kelley.

Thompson said Juan Varela tried kicking Kelley, at which point he pulled out a gun and shot the victim on the sidewalk. Officers arrested Kelley at his home, where it appeared he had been drinking and was intoxicated.

Thompson said a search of the house turned up a gun believed to have been used in the fatal shooting.

Neighbors tell ABC15 they fear the shooting may have been the result of the debate over Arizona's new illegal immigration bill. A niece of the victim told ABC15 her uncle was born and raised in the U.S.

This might not be about anything related to SB 1070, but why would the neighbors make up the immigration law angle?

Until we get more information we won't speculate, but the fact that people could be blaming murder on the xenophobic immigration bill crafted by the admitted voter caging jerk Kris Kobach is just the beginning.

... Kris Kobach, chairman of the Kansas GOP, sent out a self-congratulatory litany of accomplishments. Among them was one particularly eye-catching item:

"To date, the Kansas GOP has identified and caged more voters in the last 11 months than the previous two years!" [...]

The despicable, un-American Arizona law really seems to have sparked a national backlash - and a strong push for immigration reform:

WASHINGTON — In protests fueled by anger over a tough anti-illegal immigrant law in Arizona, tens of thousands of demonstrators joined marches and rallies Saturday in cities across the country, calling on Congress to pass an immigration overhaul.

In Los Angeles, the police said the crowd had peaked at 50,000. Protesters numbered 25,000 in Dallas, more than 10,000 in Chicago and Milwaukee, in the thousands in San Francisco and here in Washington, D.C., according to the police and independent estimates. Organizers said rallies and vigils were held in more than 70 places around the country.

In Washington, Representative Luis V. Gutierrez, Democrat of Illinois, was arrested after staging a sit-in on the sidewalk in front of the White House with about three dozen other people, in front of a crowd of thousands.

At a rally before he was arrested, Mr. Gutierrez, speaking in English and in Spanish, evoked memories of the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

“There are moments in which you say, ‘We will escalate this struggle,’ ” he said. “Today they will put handcuffs on us. But one day we will be free at last in the country we love.”

In all, 35 people were arrested in the sit-in, the United States Park Police said.

At rally after rally across the nation, protesters chanted “shame, shame, Arizona,” and carried signs saying, “Todos Somos Arizona,” or “We are All Arizona.”

The bigger demonstrations were far larger than planners had anticipated in March, when the events were first announced. The protests were originally called by immigrant advocates who had set May 1 as the deadline for Congress to introduce overhaul legislation that would include measures to give legal status to millions of illegal immigrants.

But organizers said the Arizona legislation, which was signed into law April 23, had been a watershed event for disparate advocate organizations, transforming them into something akin to a civil rights movement with a national profile.

As hate radio, corporate right wing media and GOP politicians ramp up the violent rhetoric against Democrats, the nutjobs who follow them like zombies are becoming more and more unhinged and posing a threat to society. Case in point - a man so enraged by seeing an Obama/Biden bumper sticker on a car that he repeatedly rammed his SUV into it, while a 10 year old girl was inside:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A Nashville man says he and his 10-year-old daughter were victims of road rage Thursday afternoon, all because of a political bumper sticker on his car.

He said Harry Weisiger gave him the bird and rammed into his vehicle, after noticing an Obama-Biden sticker on his car bumper.

Duren had just picked up his 10-year-old daughter from school and had her in the car with him.

"He pointed at the back of my car," Duren said, "the bumper, flipped me off, one finger salute."

Once he started driving again, down Blair Boulevard, towards his home, he said, "I looked in the rear view mirror again, and this same SUV was speeding, flying up behind me, bumped me."

Duren said he applied his brake and the SUV smashed into the back of his car.

He then put his car in park to take care of the accident, but Weisiger started pushing the car using his SUV.

Duren said, "He pushed my car up towards the sidewalk, almost onto the sidewalk." Read on...

I don't think it's a matter of if, but when, one of these nutjobs are going to seriously injure or kill a Democratic politician or citizen. Apparently, that's what it will take before we see some form of crackdown on the violent propaganda being thrown around by Republican politicians and their media outlets.

Remember what happened to the last American who was labeled a "baby killer" by the right? Yeah, he's dead...

(Denver Post/JOHN SUNDERLAND)

Lost in all the discussion about healthcare reform is the oddly American notion that our teeth are not connected to the rest of our bodies, and have nothing to do with health. So am I surprised that 2000 people stood in line to get free dental care in America yesterday? Hell, no:

BRIGHTON — The doors to a free dental clinic in Brighton opened at 5:00 this morning to a throng of anxious people.

The first person in line was Robin Kelley, 59, of Westminster, who got in line last night at 5 p.m.

We only have one car," she explained, "and my husband works at night, so he dropped me off."

Like others in line, she had a blanket and camped out on the sidewalk. "The company was warm and great," she said.

At 6:15 organizers gave out 808 tickets for services, then ended the line because they felt that was the number of patients that could be seen today. The free clinic continues tomorrow.

David Hathaway, 49, of Arvada was second in line. He is unemployed with no insurance. He heard about the opportunity for free dental care at 3:30 Thursday afternoon and said to himself, "I gotta get out there," he related.

This morning he has already had two root canals and expects to leave with a cleaning, as well.

This is "a godsend," he said. "I think it's great what they are offering."

Earlier this week, Molly Pereira, associate executive director of the Colorado Dental Association, had predicted "a humongous turnout.

Rep. Judy Solano, D-Brighton, sent an automated call to 20,000 constituents, letting them know about the clinic.

Solano reported that a Thornton woman called her to say, "This must be an answer to our prayers."

The woman said her husband and son need dental treatment, but the family can't afford it because of medical bills for their child with special needs.

The two-day clinic is not taking appointments, Pereira said. It is treating people on a first-come, first- served basis.

Dentists, dental hygienists and other medical professionals are volunteering their services for the event, called the Colorado Mission of Mercy.

It's the first COMOM clinic in the metro area and the first since the economy slid into a recession.

"I think we are going to get patients from all walks of life," Pereira said.

Oh that slippery slope of civil liberties lost just got a little steeper.

The phrase doesn't make any sense, and it wasn't supposed to. 18 year old high school senior Joseph Frederick unfurled the 14 foot banner on a public sidewalk across the street from the high school during a non-school event. High school administrator Deborah Morse confiscated the banner and suspended Frederick for "advocating drug use" evidently in view of other high school students.

And yesterday, the Supreme Court backed her up and said that Frederick's right to free speech did not include reasonably interpreted discussion of drug use in a high school setting.

As was the other decisions that came down yesterday, the Court was divided 5-4 with the conservative gang of Roberts, Alito, Scalia, Thomas and Kennedy in the majority. What's more interesting is the opinions of the minority and they attest to a court that doesn't even agree with what they are entrusted:

"The message on Frederick's banner is cryptic," Chief Justice John Roberts said. But the school principal who suspended him "thought the banner would be interpreted by those viewing it as promoting illegal drug use, and that interpretation is plainly a reasonable one," Roberts said in the majority opinion.[..]

In dissent, Justice John Paul Stevens said the ruling "does serious violence to the First Amendment."[..]

Former independent counsel Ken Starr, whose law firm represented the school principal, called it a narrow ruling that "should not be read more broadly."[..]

Justice Stephen Breyer said the court should not have decided the First Amendment issue, but should have simply held that Frederick's claim for monetary damages because school officials have qualified immunity in carrying out their duties.

You know that there's a problem when a Justice openly asks, "Why are we even hearing this case?"

Salon: (watch short ad for day pass)

Not only did the World Bank president find his companion Shaha Ali Riza a cushy job in the State Department, but she received a security clearance -- unprecedented for a foreign national. [..]

(I)n 2006 Wolfowitz made a series of calls to his friends that landed her a job at a new think tank called Foundation for the Future that is funded by the State Department. She was the sole employee, at least in the beginning. The World Bank continued to pay her salary, which was raised from $60,000 to $193,590 annually, more than the $183,500 paid to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and all of it tax-free. Moreover, Wolfowitz got the State Department to agree that the ratings of her performance would automatically be "outstanding." Wolfowitz insisted on these terms himself and then misled the World Bank board about what he had done.

Exactly how this deal was made and with whom remains something of a mystery. The person who did work with Riza in her new position was Elizabeth Cheney, then the deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs. And Riza's assignment fell under the purview of Karen Hughes, undersecretary of state for public diplomacy. But these facts raise more questions than they answer.

Ah, but Bush has nothing but "full confidence" in the job Wolfowitz is doing. In any other reality, this guy would be out on the sidewalk filing for unemployment. But in BushWorld, this level of corruption is a good thing.

Kenneth Starr will take the side of an Alaska school board against a student who displayed a banner that said: "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" off school property.

Frederick was suspended in 2002 after he unfurled the 14-foot-long banner -- a reference to marijuana use -- just outside school grounds as the Olympic torch relay moved through the Alaskan capital headed for the Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Even though Frederick was standing on a public sidewalk, school officials argue that he and other students were participating in a school-sponsored event. They had been let out of classes and were accompanied by their teachers.

Principal Deborah Morse ordered the 18-year-old senior to take down the sign, but he refused. That led to a 10-day suspension for violating a school policy by promoting illegal drug use. (h/t Joe)

Sheehan and several dozen other protesters sat down on the sidewalk after marching along the pedestrian walkway on Pennsylvania Avenue. Police warned them three times that they were breaking the law by failing to move along, then began making arrests....read on

No More Mister Nice Blog

Caption of the photo that accompanies an article in today's Christian Science Monitor:

POSTER BOY: Chris Bowler (left, with his parents) says Hudson (Mass.) High School took down posters for his conservative club and altered a yearbook photo so the group's Web address wouldn't show (right). The website links to footage of beheadings by Islamic extremists. The Rutherford Institute is suing the school.

You have to read all the way to paragraph 22 to learn exactly what's being repressed here (emphasis mine):

The posters, hung by senior Chris Bowler, were provocative. They touted the clubs' website, which links to footage of beheadings at the hands of Islamic extremists. The site says the images show "the true doctrines of Islam put into action."

OK, let's discuss this. We're talking about advertising for a Web site that says a particular religion is inherently evil. It's entirely possible that (peaceful, responsible) members of this religious group attend the school. Does the school have no right to limit such speech on its own walls, or in a school-sponsored yearbook?

I believe in a very right to free speech, especially when we're talking about political speech. But there are always limits on venue -- you can't hold a demonstration in my living room without my permission, speech in your office cubicle may be limited by your boss, and a municipality can say you have to demonstrate in this place and not that one, or that you can march down the sidewalk but not in the street.

As long as high school kids can put this stuff out somewhere, it seems to me a school can say it doesn't belong on the school walls. And if it's permitted on the school walls, then links to sites reproducing The Protocols of the Elders of Zion ought to be allowed on the walls, too. For that matter, recruiting posters for the Klan or the Nazi Party or Stormfront ought to be permitted.

Maybe that would be fine. I can see an argument for a genuinely hardcore "democracy wall" in a high school -- one where anything goes. But I think it's reasonable to say that -- in the interests of maintaining an atmosphere in which all law-abiding students and parents feel welcome -- this stuff belongs elsewhere. Here's the site, by the way. Scroll down for the material in question: Read on...