Tag: free speech

The decision by Rolling Stone Magazine to put Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on their magazine cover has created quite a stir. The first reactions were people didn't want to buy it, and thought they were glamorizing him and giving him publicity and notoriety, and they especially didn't like the picture being used. The "glamorous" and "flattering" picture of him before the bombing brought anger to many people in the Boston area and others affected by the bombing tragedy. Now, many retail outlets have decided to not sell the issue of Rolling Stone, and has pulled the issue from their stands. I abhor censorship, but I can see why people are upset. Some people are saying it is because the photo makes him appear like maybe any kid in America, and that is unsettling to many. He does not look like a mysterious, dark, foreign stranger in a faraway land; homegrown terrorists can live next door now.

In the latest twist to this stir a police photographer, Sgt. Sean Murphy, unofficially and against policy released very unflattering pictures of Tsarnaev to Boston Magazine when the suspect surrendered in that backyard after hiding in a boat. In the photos he is bloody and disheveled. The police sergeant may lose his job over it. What do you think? Head on over to our Justice Through Music Facebook Page and start a conversation!

July 18, 2013 - Old Uncle Ted Nugent has been really saying some pretty sick and twisted mind farts this week. You can see my blog from yesterday below me where I blogged about him saying some pretty racist and idiot shit and has even said some horrible things about Trayvon Martin in a July 14 Op Ed on Rare.com. (I know, I've never heard of them either, they are using this extremist rhetoric to get traffic to their site, and exploiting Trayvon's death) In that Op Ed Nugent claimed Trayvon was a "dope-smoking gangsta wannabe". First, Ted Nugent smoked dope and banged rock and roll groupies while other buddies his age were getting shot at in Vietnam, and he has probably smoked pot his whole life. So for him to criticize someone for "dope smoking" is like Honey Boo Boo criticizing someone for eating a Twinkie. 

For the next installment of Ted Nugent Is Insane series, he has written another Op Ed for the website "Rare", where their motto is "Red Is the Center", so they sound fair and balanced also, NOT. Anyways, Old Uncle Ted has done it again, this time he says that George Zimmerman ought to sue the parents of Trayvon Martin for...wait for it...emotional suffering. Yep, you heard it right. Ted thinks that since poor George couldn't just shoot Trayvon and walk away an hour later with no charges, which almost happened, that he should be able to sue.

Ted Says that George Zimmerman will not be "free" for the rest of his life, because "racist goons" will be stalking him. Wait...Gerorge Zimmerman is not the racist? Did I miss something here? Wasn't George the one who profiled, and slowed down and got out of a car because he saw a black kid? Hellooo?? Anyways, he goes on to say that Trayvon "brought on his own demise". How Ted? By trying to defend himself from the gun-toting, stalking, George Zimmerman? The cop-wannabe sociopath? Incredibly, Ted advises George Zimmerman to use the fact that Trayvon was a minor at the time, that legally his parents are responsible, so GZ should sue Trayvon's parents for the "18 months of untold emotional hell, pain, distress, anguish, fatigue, nightmares and financial ruin". So that is Ted's advice to George Zimmerman. Sue the mourning parents whose son was treated horribly by the Sanford police department and the Florida justice system. Ted, you are not a "simple Motor City guitar player". You are either insane, racist as hell, or both. You are a pathetic sight. Read Ted's latest insane rant on the website Rare here.  (photo credit: Lenny Francioni/CC)

July 16, 2013 - Can Ted Nugent get any more racist? It turns out he can. Nugent ranted recently that Trayvon Martin was a "dope smoking, racist gangsta wannabe", and "enraged black man-child" and a "skittles hoodie boy". Now, according to the insane and racist mind of Ted Nugent, all black men are constantly breaking the law and are making bad choices; everyone of them. Also, ALL of their problems they face are self-inflicted. Yes, Media Matters reported that while on the Alex Jones radio show, Nugent claims African-Americans could fix their problems by "being honest, law-abiding [and] delivering excellence at every move in your life." Nugent added that supposedly there are "black mobs across America that are guilty of the worst racism since the Klan." Are you frickin" kidding me? Did he just say that?! Then, he stunningly says African-Americans have bought into a "lie that somehow they're oppressed..." Yes, according to Nugent, the horrible racism and prejudice blacks face everyday in America is all just a fantasy in their head. Unfrickinbelieveable.

Nugent then ranted again about Trayvon Martin saying that Trayvon was a "dope-smoking, gangsta wannabe, involved with illegal drugs, and illegal guns and illegal people", and added that Martin was "emboldened by a Black Panther president" to attack Zimmerman. Watch the Media Matters clip below, and read more on Media Matters here.

July 1, 2013 - Musical-activist Natalie Maines, famous of course for her dissing of Dubya back in 2003, joined thousands of activists surrounding the Texas Statehouse building as they protested the attempts by Republican state lawmakers who are currently trying to ram through legislation attacking women's reproductive rights. The Republicans tried to ram it through last Friday, but the great State Senator Wendy Davis mounted an 11-hour filibuster and the midnight deadline passed, and they couldn't get it voted on. Activists were worried that Republicans would once again try and strip away women's reproductive rights in the second special legislative session this week, so they staged a huge rally today featuring musicians, speakers, celebrities, activists, and of course State Senator Wendy Davis. Watch the videos below of Natalie Maines singing the national anthem, and "Not Ready to Make Nice". Read more on the rally on Reuters.com here.

June 28, 2013 - Activist- musician Tom Morello has offered to fund the whistleblower Edward Snowden after he uncovered the fact that our NSA is unconstitutionally eavesdropping on American's emails and phone calls in a widespread and systematic fashion, all in top secret. Speaking to TMZ, Tom Morello said, "I think he should live a happy life in Ecuador. That's what I think. He's a hero." Then he added, "He exposed the crimes of the government. That we're all being spied on, all the time by the Obama administration. If anybody deserves to be in jail, it's not Snowden." Watch the video interview of Tom Morello on TMZ.com below, and join the conversation at our Facebook Page!

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