As the Gulf Coast deals with the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history, the Midwest is now facing an oil spill of its own.

A state of emergency has been declared in southwest Michigan's Kalamazoo County as more than 800,000 gallons of oil released into a creek began making its way downstream in the Kalamazoo River, the Kalamazoo Gazette reports.

The trouble began Monday at 9:45 a.m., when an oil pipeline owned by Enbridge Liquids Pipelines sprung a leak in Marshall Township. Enbridge Energy is a subsidiary of Calgary, Canada based Enbridge Inc., the Detroit Free Press reports. According to the company, it is the largest transporter of oil from western Canada.

The cause of the leak is under investigation, and the pipeline has been shut down--but not before it did some serious damage. U.S. Rep. Mark Schauer called the spill the "largest oil spill in the history of the Midwest." Officials are suggesting all water activities in the Kalamazoo River be put on hold until the situation is resolved--and some are fearing contamination of local water supplies:

The Battlecreek Enquirer reports:


Besides the noxious fumes coming from the river, health officials already are worried that the oil spill could have lasting health effects. While he said that the site of the spill was a wetland -- which has a natural clay barrier that prevents water from seeping too far into the ground -- Calhoun County Health Officer Jim Rutherford said there was a concern that the magnitude of the spill could spell trouble for the area's water supply. "It's not going to show up right now, but over time there is a real possibility that it will leach into the water supply," Rutherford said. "I think it's inevitable that, with as much as has leaked, that it will get into the water supply."

Residents living near Battle Creek and the Kalamazoo River valley have also reported strong odors and oil-soaked wildlife in the area.

Michigan politicians have vowed to hold Enbridge responsible for the spill. Skimmers and booms were deployed at the source of the leak in an effort to contain the spill Tuesday, the Free Press reports.

"I am deeply concerned about the effects of the oil spill near Marshall, including the environmental impact and the disruption to residents and businesses," Michigan Sen. Carl Levin said in a statement. "It is also deeply worrisome that the oil from the spill has made its way into the Kalamazoo River."

Enbridge Energy President Terrance McGill told the Free Press the company would do all it can to minimize the spill's impact on communities.

"The horrific pictures coming in of the oil spill in Calhoun County area underscore just how imperative it is for Michigan to move toward clean, safe energy sources like wind and solar instead of relying on outdated fuels like oil," Clean Water Action Michigan Director Cyndi Roper told the Gazette. "Sticking with outdated fuel will only hurt job growth and continue to harm the health and safety of our communities."

We are living in dangerous times and unless you understand what people are saying and why they are saying it and how they arrived there, then too many Americans are going to be fooled.

kill cracker babies

we need to take the following important steps:

1) Agree on a health care social contract between society and individuals that is explicit and fair.

Today there is a legal and moral obligation on society to provide some level of health care to those who become ill.

In a civilized and rich country like the United States, it is reasonable for society to accept an obligation to ensure that all residents have affordable access to at least basic health care - much as we accept the same obligation to assure a reasonable level of housing, education and nutrition.

But as part of that contract, it is also reasonable to expect residents of the society who can do so to contribute an appropriate amount to their own health care. This translates into a requirement on individuals to enroll themselves and their dependents in at least a basic health plan - one that at the minimum should protect the rest of society from large and unexpected medical costs incurred by the family. And as any social contract, there would also be an obligation on society. To the extent that the family cannot reasonably afford reasonable basic coverage, the rest of society, via government, should take responsibility for financing that minimum coverage.

2) Provide support to people to obtain health care based on their need, not where they happen to work, or their eligibility for welfare, or their military record, or their age. Enable individuals and families to use this support to enroll in a seamless system of coverage according to their choice.

The central public policy objective of a health care system is to use public funds in an efficient and economical way to enable every household to obtain at least an acceptable level of health care services and protection from large financial burdens associated with ill health. Whether a US resident is able to count on that commitment should not depend on their current circumstances.

An important step towards that would be to overhaul the tax treatment of health care, gradually ending the regressive tax exclusion for employer-sponsored health insurance and replacing it with a more progressive subsidy.

Thus an unemployed person and his or her family should have the same degree of assistance as an employed household of similar income with employer-sponsored coverage.

McCain has long supported Southern secessionist organizations, and has defended the Neo-Confederate movement, claiming, "we are CONQUERED AND SUBJUGATED by the Yankees, carpetbaggers and their SCALAWAG ABETTORS who are actually allowed to reside peacefully in Alabama, in the employ of a state whose citizens are thus so malignly scorned."[36]
McCain wrote and pamphlet titled, "WANTED for WAR CRIMES: Abraham Lincoln"[37] with the intention of distributing it in Rome, GA around the time of the 1996 Summer Olympic Games.[38] The proposed flyer would direct the reader to The Southern League "the only American organization which today advocates Southern independence. A visit to DixieNet is a valid educational experience, whether one agrees or disagrees with them ... er, us." [38]

Out on the road, people often ask about the dangers of bringing up our kids in the ghetto. What they have in mind are drugs and violence, but what I fear most is their extended exposure to ignorance and impotence. There are exceptional individuals here to be sure, but the overall culture of this place is overwhelmingly dysfunctional. If it gets to me as a grown man, I wonder, what is it doing to the developing hearts and minds of my children?

My son at seventeen is much taller and stronger than me, but coming home from his job as a bagger at the local supermarket he often reminds me of a hurt and angry little boy. It isn’t his bosses or the work itself that upsets him; it is the ongoing drama of child neglect, alcoholism, welfare fraud, theft, domestic violence, profanity, illiteracy, incompetence, and almost militant disinterest in doing the right thing, all on public display.

One day he watched a mother scream at her pre-teen girls for getting caught stealing baby formula and toilet paper, as if she hadn’t put them up to it in the first place. A week later, another mother told the cop shielding her 8 year old that she was going to beat the shit out of him as soon as they left, while the crying little boy kept leaning around, calling her a fucking bitch and telling her he wished she was dead. At the end of last month, he gained a lot of seniority when ten of his co-workers were caught on tape robbing their registers. At the beginning of this month, he rediscovered the ‘Check Day,’ when obese young women stuff their shopping carts with potato chips, candy, sugar cereals, and soda pop, all paid for with food stamps, while the rest of the neighborhood stocks up on beer and malt liquor. The good news is that, as part of our little fellowship, he knows lots of his customers by name. Actually, that’s the bad news.

Last night after work, my son walked in, sat down at the dining room table, and told me he thinks people who can’t read, support themselves, or demonstrate any form of competency should be sterilized until those conditions no longer apply. For him, this was not an abstract policy idea, but rather a very personal, very emotional response to the lunacy he sees around him every day. He named the toddlers across the street, never read or talked to, parked in front of the television or left on the front porch for hours on end. He named the kids around the corner, who call at the end of every month looking for food while their mother and her boyfriend smoke and drink away in their rent-free government housing. He named teenaged parents we know who can’t take care of their dogs, let alone their children.

“I’m not saying we shouldn’t love and take care of people who are totally stupid and can’t do anything for themselves,” he told me, “I’m just saying we shouldn’t let people like that reproduce.” Then he asked what I think.

What do I think? Honestly, I think my poor, young, frustrated son is right. I also think that if you lived here for very long, up to your neck in the human wreckage of this toxic ghetto subculture, you might end up agreeing with us. I’m not saying that’s a good thing; I’m saying that’s the danger people ought to be asking about.

We oppose the legalization of sodomy. We demand that Congress exercise its authority granted by the U.S. Constitution to withhold jurisdiction from the federal courts from cases involving sodomy.

Further, we urge Congress to withhold Supreme Court jurisdiction in cases involving abortion, religious freedom, and the Bill of Rights.

Our policy [on Israel] is based on God’s biblical promise to bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse Israel and we further invite other nations and organizations to enjoy the benefits of that promise.

The party's platform also seeks to make gay marriage a felony offense, which may be confusing to most given that the state does not sanction or recognize same sex marriages, meaning any such ceremony conducted does not bear the weight of law. Whether this means the GOP wants gay couples married in other states to be pursued through Texas as dangerous criminals, the party did not specify.

I had never heard of the term “American nativism” in any of my gang classes on white supremacy, so this caught my attention. I began to read the article about John Tanton, “the retired Michigan opthamologist who has been the most important figure in the modern American anti-immigration movement for three decades.” Somehow in all my research, reading and training this John Tanton character had gone unnoticed. This peaked my interest even more.

According to the SPLC, “The organized anti-immigration ‘movement’ is almost entirely the handiwork of one man,” that man being John Tanton. These organizations are:
*American Immigration Control Foundation (AICF), 1983, funded
*American Patrol/Voice of Citizens Together, 1992, funded
*California Coalition for Immigration Reform (CCIR), 1994, funded
Californians for Population Stabilization, 1996, funded (founded separately in 1986)
Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), 1985, founded and funded
*Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), 1979, founded and funded
NumbersUSA, 1996, founded and funded
Population-Environment Balance, 1973, joined board in 1980
Pro English, 1994, founded and funded
ProjectUSA, 1999, funded
*The Social Contract Press, 1990, founded and funded
U.S. English, 1983, founded and funded
U.S. Inc., 1982, founded and funded

5 of the 13 are listed as and deemed “hate groups” (ones with *), to include the group Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). I’ll get back to FAIR in a bit.

While I’m familiar with hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, the Aryan Nation, or the American Nazi Party; I was not at all familiar with the above groups who’s names are very PC, and easily fly under the radar. Why does one man need multiple organizations to tackle immigration reform??? Being familiar with fraud, not only as a Police Officer but as a victim, I know that people or businesses that use multiple names are typically up to no good. So when “Ted Smith” has 13 Aka’s, or a business has multiple Aka’s it’s time to be wary as well as look a little deeper. In this case John Tanton has 13 organizations which he founded, co-founded, or funds; five of which are deemed hate groups… Hmm.

while back when I started discussing illegal immigration on Facebook a friend recommended that I watch a video about immigration. This video was by a man named Roy Beck, and when I watched it my instincts told me “something isn’t right.” Not only did Roy Beck talk about how we need to keep illegal immigrants out of America but we also need to limit or stop LEGAL immigration. He cited “sustainability” and concerns for the environment as the reason. But as I’ve already mentioned, something didn’t sit right with me. It seemed like a shell game for something more diabolical. I had forgotten all about this video until I read this article about John Tanton. Throughout the article the term “anti-immigration” was used, and suddenly I recalled the video and Roy Beck’s stance on preventing immigration. I couldn’t help but wonder if Roy Beck and John Tanton were somehow acquainted.

On the Southern Poverty Law Center’s website they have a simple search bar at the top of the page so I punched in “Roy Beck”. Low and behold… Roy Beck is the executive director of NumbersUSA, and a former employee of U.S. Inc., both organizations founded by John Tanton. In the March 24, 2004, hearing before the immigration subcommittee of the House Committee on the Judiciary, Roy Beck somehow dodged the questions about his affiliation with John Tanton, even though he works for or has worked for two organizations founded by John Tanton himself. But why would Roy Beck distance himself from John Tanton, the guy who refers to Mr. and Mrs. Roy Beck as "dear friends”?

Maybe this is why… “Over the years, more and more information has emerged about the racial attitudes of John Tanton, who, like Beck, initially came to the immigration debate through concerns about overpopulation and the environment. As long ago as 1988, a set of his internal memoranda to the staffs of two groups he founded — the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) and U.S. English — were leaked and showed John Tanton warning of a coming "Latin onslaught," questioning whether Latinos were as "educable" as others, and worrying that Latinos were outbreeding whites. A decade later, he told a reporter that whites would soon develop a racial consciousness, and the result would be "the war of all against all." He hired and worked alongside Wayne Lutton, who has held leadership positions in four white supremacist hate groups. He published and endorsed a racist book on immigration, and he published numerous white supremacists. John Tanton compared immigrants to bacteria that will continue growing until the population crashes, and sneered at immigrants' "defecating and creating garbage and looking for jobs."

But that wasn't all. Late last year, the Report revealed that over the course of some 20 years John Tanton had corresponded with Holocaust deniers, former Klan lawyers, and leading white nationalist thinkers. He introduced leaders of FAIR, on whose board he still sits today, to the president of the Pioneer Fund, a racist outfit set up to encourage "race betterment," at a private club. He promoted the work of an infamous anti-Semitic professor, Kevin MacDonald, to both FAIR officials and a major donor. At one point, pursuing his interest in eugenics, the utterly discredited "science" of breeding a better human race, he tried to find out if Michigan had laws allowing forced sterilization. His concern, John Tanton wrote in a letter of inquiry, was "a local pair of sisters who have nine illegitimate children between them."

Well I said I’d get back to FAIR. And to refresh your memory, FAIR is an acronym for, Federation for American Immigration Reform. When I started uncovering this information about the man and organization behind that immigration video, Roy Beck and NumbersUSA; I contacted my brother Steven because he had seen the video as well and he like I didn’t agree with it. A short time later my brother gets back to me and says, “FAIR is behind the SB1070 bill in Arizona.” I was blown away, and yet I didn’t merely want to take my brother’s word on that. Not that I don’t love him or trust him, but I’m learning more and more, especially today, that it is important to know the source of information and even find it’s influences. Steve provided the following information: “Russell Pearce was the chief sponsor of the bill. He is a member of State Legislators for Legal Immigration, which is orchestrated by John Tanton through the John Tanton Network. Kris Kobach wrote the bill for Immigration Reform Law Institute, the legal arm of the John Tanton Network.” Both organizations are part of John Tanton’s ever growing list of organizations, and reach.

While Arizona State legislators may deny that State Bill 1070 (or SB1070) is intended to be discriminatory or promote racial profiling, one cannot help but wonder what the true intentions are now that I’ve discovered that the people, and organizations behind the bill are working for John Tanton; the very “man” who supports and promotes eugenics (selective and regulated breeding), anti-semitism, and other extreme white supremacy ideas. While I don’t believe (all)conspiracy theories, or think that there is a boogieman behind every tree, I do trust research and intelligence organizations such as the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League who think John Tanton is an evil man who is up to no good.