Washed Away

This must be the hardest thing to deal with to watch your six-year-old daughter washed away by a tsunami wave knowing that you can't do anything to stop it:

Embedded video from CNN Video

Mom Watches Girl Vanish in Wave
Ted Rowlands , CNN
posted: 2 HOURS 52 MINUTES AGOcomments: 385filed under: World News
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LEONE, American Samoa (Oct. 3) -- Taitasi Fitiao was holding her six-year-old daughter's hand when a tsunami wave crashed onto their coastal village in American Samoa.
"I held her hand. The wave got us and that's when her hand just left mine and I could hear her say, 'Mom, please.' And then I saw her, I saw her floating away. And I knew right then that she was gone, she was taken from us."

Read more: Here.

Pray for the Fitiao family as they deal with the grief of such a horrific and tragic loss.

Ron Paul On Health Care Reform

Ron Paul makes a lot of sense to me, but then again I voted for him. Thanks to Drew Tatusko for posting this video first.

Ancient Synagogue Found in Israel

Here's another interesting finding for Biblical Archaeology:

Ancient Synagogue Found in Israel

By KEVIN FLOWER, CNN
posted: 2 HOURS 4 MINUTES AGOcomments: 38filed under: Travel News, World NewsWith HP wireless printers, you could have printed this from any room in the house. Live wirelessly. Print wirelessly.


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JERUSALEM (Sept. 11) -- In what was slated to be the site of a new 122-room hotel, archaeologists say they have discovered one of the world's oldest synagogues in Northern Israel.
The site, which was unearthed as preparations were being made for construction of the hotel near the Sea of Galilee, is believed to date back some 2000 years from 50BCE to 100CE.

In the middle of the 120 square meter main hall of the synagogue archaeologists discovered an unusual stone carved with a seven branched menorah. "We are dealing with an exciting and unique find," said excavation director and Israeli Antiquities Authority archaeologist Dina Avshalom-Gorni.
The menorah engraving is the first of its kind to be discovered from the Early Roman period, according Avshalom-Gorni who said the site joins just six synagogue locations that are know to date from the same time.
She said synagogues from this period were extremely rare in part because many Jews during that time were in the habit of visiting the main temple in Jerusalem three times a year as opposed to attending local houses of worship.
Avshalom-Gorni posited that the engraved menorah was done by an artist who had visited the main synagogue in Jerusalem known as the Second Temple where the actual menorah was believed to be kept.

In addition to the engraved stone Avshalom-Gorni said they discovered preserved frescoes on the walls with "vivid" colors.
The synagogue was discovered in area called Migdal, historically an important settlement along the Sea of Galilee, which researchers say was mentioned in ancient Jewish texts as playing a prominent role during what is known as the Great Revolt, when Jews attempted to rebel against Roman rule. Migdal also figures in early Christian writings as the place where Mary Magdalene accompanied Jesus and the Apostles.

Jose Miguel Abat, a legal representative for the company developing the land, Ark New Gate, said the company was thrilled at news of the find and planned to establish a multi-cultural and multi-religious center at the location.
"We are sure this finding and the planned center will attract tourists and visitors from Israel and from around the World," Abat said in a statement.

© 2009 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
2009-09-11 15:56:35

Rick Warren's Boo Boo

John Shuck beat me to it: Shuck and Jive: Rev. Rick Warren's Short Memory and Shuck and Jive: Rick Warren Continues to Play the Victim.

But here is the gist of it---

Here's a clip of Rick Warren clearly supporting Proposition 8:

And here's the clip in question from a recent Larry King episode, in which Rick Warren denies ever supporting Proposition 8:


Also here's an article from AOL's Political Machine on Warren's boo boo:

Rick Warren Abandons Fight Against Gay Marriage?
By David Knowles
Apr 8th 2009 9:24AM
Filed Under:eRepublicans, Barack Obama, Featured Stories, Gay Rights

A growing sense of inevitability is rising across America. In the past week alone, an Iowa supreme court decision, a resounding veto-override in the Vermont legislature, and a Washington DC city council measure to recognize gay marriages performed in states that permit the practice, have all essentially reached the same conclusion: Gays and lesbians should be allowed to get married.

While this social issue still has the power to divide people across the country, it seems clear that a paradigmatic shift is underway, and that before long gays will be afforded full marriage rights, and we will look back and wonder what all the fuss was about. Don't believe me? Well, let's consider the recent turnabout by evangelist Rick Warren, who on the Larry King show this week declared "I am not an anti-gay marriage activist."
....
As others have pointed out, Warren broke one of the ten commandments in front of King's audience, because he did "issue a statement" and made an "endorsement" in California's Prop. 8 battle.
....
Warren aside, there are plenty of conservatives, religious or otherwise, who have come to the conclusion that it's time to pack in the fight against gay marriage. In part, this has to do with a simple revelation.

The next generation overwhelmingly supports the expansion of gay rights. Many Democrats, too, who, like President Obama, have waffled over whether civil unions are an adequate substitute for marriage are suddenly seeing the light. Here's Iowa State Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal taking a stand and refusing to co-sponsor legislation to attempt to ban gay marriage.

And here is what Right Wing nutcase Ingrid Schlueter of Worldview Weekend has to say about Warren's boo boo:

In Warren's Own Words: "I'm Not an Anti-Gay or an Anti-Gay Marriage Activist....I am interested in what the recession is doing to the spiritual climate of our nation."
Posted: 04/08/09
Apr 08 by Ingrid Schlueter

Here is Rick Warren in his own words. What Rick Warren thinks or doesn't think about homosexual marriage doesn't amount to a hill of beans. The real issue is whether God is anti-gay marriage, and those who read the Scriptures are well aware that God has spoken for all time in His Word on homosexuality.

"Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind:it is abomination."

–Leviticus 18:22

"Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."

–I Corinthians 6:9-11

"For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another,men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error."

Yes, I get this crap in my email box, because when I took their Worldview test, I scored Secular Humanist, because I don't bow down and worship capitalist materialism and the Republican party like them. Anyways, don't you just love how much homophobes bring up Leviticus. Ironically though even-though I've stated over and over again here that I'm pro same-sex marriage and against Proposition Hate, I've been labeled a homophobe and bigot by Bigotry Blogs | Sanctity Of Bigotry | Steve's Web Hosting.

I Love Sharks

You may think that's a weird statement for a Blog mainly about theology, literature and cultural musings, but I think they are some of God's most fascinating creatures. Anyways, here are some recent news stories on one of my favorite animal species.

Embedded video from CNN Video

Sharks Draw Near Horde of Swimmers
AOL
posted: 13 DAYS 12 HOURS AGOcomments: 355filed under: Animal News, World NewsPrintShareText SizeAAA

(March 17) -- About 700 swimmers taking part in a race Sunday off Sydney, Australia, seemed oblivious that danger was lurking just a stone's throw away. A hammerhead shark was swimming near them, and another, smaller shark was in the water under them.
This video below, from ITN, captures the drama. The camera was able to pick up the hammerhead, but it wasn't able to get an image of the other interloper.

Most of the competitors appeared to be unaware of the sharks' presence. Race winner Chris Allan did see authorities put up a shark signal as he was swimming, but he seemed to take it in stride. "I figure [the sharks] had 700 of us to choose from and they couldn't decide, by the looks of things," he told ITV.com.
.....

2009 AOL LLC. All Rights Reserved.
2009-03-17 09:33:11

Embedded video from CNN Video

Shark Video Triggers Some Backlash
AOL
posted: 17 DAYS 10 HOURS AGOcomments: 1952filed under: Animal News, National NewsWith HP wireless printers, you could have printed this from any room in the house. Live wirelessly. Print wirelessly.
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(March 13) -- You've probably seen it by now: stunning video footage of a spear-fisherman battling a tiger shark in the Gulf of Mexico off Louisiana. The video became an online sensation this week, but not all viewers are fans of what they saw. The underwater fight resulted in the shark's death -- a killing that some viewers say was unjustified. The New Orleans Times-Picayune has a good background piece on the circumstances that led to the fight, which took place in June.

Spear-fisherman Craig Clasen and two friends were looking for yellowfin tuna when they encountered the shark, he told the newspaper. The trio was accompanied by Ryan McInnis, a videographer, and D.J. Struntz, a photographer, who were working on a promotional video for a fishing company.
Struntz and Clasen were hauling a fish to the surface, Clasen said, when he heard McInnis scream. According to accounts in the Times-Picayune and CNN, a shark went after the videographer. "The shark turned and came right in at me," McInnis told CNN.
A two-hour fight followed. It ended with Clasen killing the shark with a long blade.

CNN was among the media outlets that aired footage of the encounter. In a follow-up interview with McInnis, Clasen and Stuntz, CNN's Rob Marciano said the story caused a "public outcry" among some viewers. They asserted Clasen didn't have to kill the shark.
Clasen said he took no joy in killing the shark. "We really wanted to have a different outcome here, but unfortunately that wasn't possible," he told Marciano.
The killing was "absolutely not" for show, Clasen said. "It was so remorseful for us. It was a quiet boat ride home."
....

Why is the story coming out now? Because Outside magazine recounts the shark fight in a March feature story on spear-fishermen in the gulf. Clasen told the magazine that on the way home from the kill, the friends ate a filet of the shark, sashimi-style. It tasted "terrible," he said.

2009 AOL LLC. All Rights Reserved.
2009-03-13 09:54:56

Inspirational News Stories

Search Ends for Missing NFL Players
AOL / Wire Services
posted: 21 MINUTES AGOcomments: 204filed under: National NewsPrintShareText SizeAAA

(March 4) - The Coast Guard's three-day search for two NFL players and a third man sent adrift in chilly seas ended in futility, dashing hopes they might be found after rescuers plucked one survivor from the Gulf of Mexico.
Crews combed more than 24,000 miles of ocean before calling off their search Tuesday for Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper, free-agent defensive lineman Corey Smith and former South Florida player William Bleakley. The four friends had been missing since Saturday when their boat capsized during a fishing trip. On Monday, Crews did rescue Bleakley's former South Florida teammate, 24-year-old Nick Schuyler, who managed to stay with the 21-foot boat. Coast Guard Capt. Timothy Close said if there were any other survivors, they would have been found.
"I think the families understood that we put in a tremendous effort," Close said. "Any search and rescue case we have to stop is disappointing."
Searchers spotted no signs of the men except for a cooler and a life jacket 16 miles southeast of the boat. Still, family members of Cooper — the son of Phoenix sportscaster Bruce Cooper — maintained hope at a Tuesday night prayer vigil in Mesa, Ariz., that he might turn up.
"Even if he goes on, he's with the Lord," said Cooper's grandmother, Zelma Davis. "But we have hope we're going to keep him."
Schuyler allegedly told investigators that Cooper and Smith took off their own life jackets in a "bizarre story," according to the St. Petersburg Times.
"We were told that Nick said the two NFL players took their life jackets off and drifted out to sea," said Robert Bleakley, father of William, 25, told the newspaper.
According to the Times, Schuyler said that two to four hours after the boat tipped over in rough waters, one of the two NFL players decided he'd had enough. A few hours later, the second one did the same thing.
Schuyler also said that Bleakley's son, who had stayed hanging on the capsized boat with Schuyler, told him he saw a light in the distance and decided to try and swim for it, the paper reported.
"I think he was delusional to think he could swim someplace," Robert Bleakley said.
Ray Sanchez, Cooper's cousin, told the Times that the Coast Guard told him the same thing, but he cautioned that Schulyer might not be recalling the incident clearly after such a traumatic experience.
"We're not 100 percent sure where his head was at," Sanchez told the St. Petersburg Times. "He'd been through a lot."
Bleakley's father said he thought Coast Guard rescuers did everything they could, adding he had lower expectations after only one survivor was found Monday.
"I think they were not to be found," Bleakley said.
Scott Miller, a friend of the college teammates, said Schuyler told him that a chopper shone a light directly above them the first night. Schuyler also told him he even saw lights beaming from ashore.
It was Bleakley who swam underneath to retrieve three life jackets he could find, along with a cushion, a groggy Schuyler told Miller from a Tampa hospital. Bleakley used the cushion and the other men wore the jackets, Miller said.
But the waves were powerful, and after Cooper and Smith were separated from the boat, the college teammates tried to hang on.
"He said basically that Will helped him keep going," Schuyler told Miller, who said he had known Bleakley since the sixth grade. "The waves were just so much. They never got a break."
Family and friends embraced and sobbed outside the Coast Guard station shortly before the announcement. They left without talking with reporters.
"I'm sure that I'll speak of Will like he's still with us for a long time," Bleakley said of his son. "He'll be an inspiration for me for a long time. He always has been. I told everybody, I call him my hero."
Lions running back Kevin Smith called Corey Smith "a good, quiet guy, who always put in an honest day's work."
Kevin Smith, a Florida native, said he has been fishing as far off the coast as the men were in boats smaller, the same size and larger than the watercraft that capsized.
"The No. 1 thing when you're out there is, you have to respect the water," he said. "I know those guys had safety vests. I'm trying not to even think about it. That's a tough way to go."
Quarterback Jon Kitna, a former teammate with the Lions the past three seasons, said you never expect something like this to happen to a guy you know.
"It's a reminder of how life is fragile," he said. "Corey was a great dude."
The four men left Clearwater Pass early Saturday in calm weather, but heavy winds picked up through the day and the seas strengthened, with waves of 7 feet and higher, peaking at 15 feet on Sunday. The Coast Guard said it did not receive a distress signal.
Close said some family members asked about continuing the search on their own, which he discouraged but said the Coast Guard wouldn't prevent. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission may be heading out Wednesday to recover the boat.
Schuyler told the Coast Guard the boat was anchored when it capsized.
The Coast Guard hadn't had more detailed conversations with Schuyler because of his physical condition, Close said. Schuyler was in fair condition and told hospital officials he didn't want to speak to the media.
Cooper, who is 26 and owns the boat, was selected in the third round of the 2004 NFL draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers out of Washington. He played 26 games for the Bucs in his first two pro seasons, then led a nomadic NFL existence.
Cooper and Smith, 29, became friends when they were teammates at Tampa Bay. Smith signed with the Bucs as an undrafted free agent in 2002, and spent last season with Detroit before becoming a free agent. The former North Carolina State standout recorded 42 tackles (28 solo), three sacks and 10 special teams tackles in 2008, his best NFL season.
Bleakley, a former tight end from Crystal River, Fla., was on the USF football team in 2004 and 2005. He had one reception for 13 yards in his career, which also included some time on special teams.
Stuart Schuyler said his son is an instructor at L.A. Fitness and had helped train Smith and Cooper.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

Copyright 2009, Reuters
2009-03-04 07:42:50

Dying 9-Year-Old Girl 'Weds' Friend
AOL
posted: 7 DAYS 18 HOURS AGOcomments: 260filed under: Health News, National NewsPrintShareText SizeAAA

(Feb. 24) - Jayla Cooper's dying wish came true as she married her friend in a dream wedding in Texas.
Jayla, who's just 9 years old, likely has only weeks to live after having battled leukemia for the last two years, reports WFAA-TV. "We didn't expect to do this when she was 9 years old, but she has taught us all how to love each other and to be strong," said Lisa Cooper, Jayla's mother.
In the symbolic ceremony, put together in less than a week, Jayla wore a white dress and walked down the aisle on her father's arm. She "married" Jose Griggs, a young boy who's also facing illness. The two youngsters, who met in the hospital, vowed to be friends forever. "He's very cute, and I love him," Jayla said of her 7-year-old groom.

2009 AOL LLC. All Rights Reserved.
2009-02-24 09:42:30

Malaysian Council Bans Yoga for Muslims

John MacArthur surely would agree with this---after all he said that 'all Christians need for meditation is the bible,' so why not the Koran for Muslims. Here is a clip of John MacArthur telling Doug Pagitt that some aspects are dangerous for Christians as they may welcome demons into their life:

John also said why borrow a term from a false pagan religion. Well there goes the idol and false god of John MacArthur, the manmade pages of the bible---after all, the Greek word "biblos" from which the word bible derives was invented by Zeus-worshiping Greeks. The pagan Egyptians invented paper and not to mention the pagan and imperialistic terms which the Gospels themselves are comprised of. What do you expect from people who worship manmade paper and 'golden' calfskin leather instead of the One True Risen and Living God, Jesus Christ. Anyways, sorry for getting sidetracked---here is the full article on the Muslim ban on Yoga:

Malaysian Council Bans Yoga for MuslimsBy VIJAY JOSHI, AP
posted: 1 DAY 22 HOURS AGOcomments: 169filed under: World News

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (Nov. 22) — Malaysia's top Islamic body, fresh from banning tomboys, issued an edict Saturday that prohibits Muslims from practicing yoga, saying that elements of Hinduism in the ancient Indian exercise could corrupt them.
The National Fatwa Council's chairman, Abdul Shukor Husin, said many Muslims fail to understand that yoga's ultimate aim is to be one with a god of a different religion — an explanation disputed by many practitioners who say yoga need not have a religious element.

"We are of the view that yoga, which originates from Hinduism, combines physical exercise, religious elements, chanting and worshipping for the purpose of achieving inner peace and ultimately to be one with god," Abdul Shukor said.
News of the yoga ban prompted activist Marina Mahathir to wonder what the council will ban next: "What next? Gyms? Most gyms have men and women together. Will that not be allowed any more?"
The edict reflects the growing influence of conservative Islam in Malaysia, a multi-ethnic country of 27 million people where the majority Muslim Malays lost seats in March elections and where minority ethnic Chinese and mostly Hindu ethnic Indians have been clamoring for more rights.
Recently, the council said girls who act like boys violate Islam's tenets. The government has also occasionally made similar conservative moves, banning the use of the word "Allah" by non-Muslims earlier this year, saying it would confuse Muslims.
Analysts say the fatwa could be the result of insecurity among Malay Muslims after their party — in power since 1957 — saw its parliamentary majority greatly reduced in elections because of gains by multiracial opposition parties.
Malay Muslims make up about two-thirds of the country's 27 million people. About 25 percent of the population is ethnic Chinese and 8 percent is ethnic Indian, most of whom are Hindu.

"They are making a stand. They are saying 'we will not give way,'" said Ooi Kee Beng, a fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.
Decisions by Malaysia's Fatwa Council are not legally binding on the country's Muslims, however, unless they also become enshrined in national or Shariah laws. But many Muslims abide by the edicts out of deference, but some, like Putri Rahim, plan not to follow the latest fatwa.
"I am mad! Maybe they have it in mind that Islam is under threat. To come out with a fatwa is an insult to intelligent Muslims. It's an insult to my belief," said Putri, a Muslim who has practiced yoga for 10 years.
In recent years, yoga — a collection of spiritual and physical practices, aimed at integrating mind, body and spirit — has been increasingly practiced in gyms and dedicated yoga centers around the world.
There are no figures for how many Muslims practice yoga in Malaysia, but many yoga classes have Muslims attending.
In the United States, where it has become so popular that many public schools began offering it in gym classes, yoga has also come under fire.
Some Christian fundamentalists and even secular parents have argued that yoga's Hindu roots conflict with Christian teachings and that using it in school might violate the separation of church and state. Egypt's highest theological body also banned yoga for Muslims in 2004.

Yoga drew the attention of the Fatwa Council last month when an Islamic scholar said that it was un-Islamic.
A top yoga practitioner in India, Mani Chaitanya, said the Malaysian clerics seem to have "misunderstood the whole thing." Chanting during yoga is to calm the mind and "elevate our consciousness," said Chaitanya, the director of the Sivananda Ashram in New Delhi.
"It is not worship. It's not religious at all. Yoga is universal. All religions can practice yoga. You can practice yoga and still be a good Christian or a good Muslim," he said.
Malaysian yoga teacher Suleiha Merican, 56, who has been practicing yoga for 40 years, also denied there is any Hindu spiritual element to it. "It's a great health science that is scientifically proven and many countries have accepted it" as alternative therapy, said Merican, a Muslim.
Associated Press writer Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur and Muneeza Naqvi in New Delhi contributed to this report.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2008-11-22 14:33:54

Teen Sues The KKK And Wins

Brian Bohannon, AP---Jordan Gruver gets a hug from his mother, Cindy, after the verdict is read.

Teen Wins Lawsuit Against KKK Members
By Ann O'Neill, CNN
posted: 5 MINUTES AGOcomments: 471filed under: Crime News, National News

(Nov. 15) -- A jury awarded $2.5 million in damages on Friday to a Kentucky teenager who was severely beaten by members of a Ku Klux Klan group because they mistakenly thought he was an illegal Latino immigrant, the Southern Poverty Law Center said.
The jury found that the Imperial Klans of America and its founder wrongfully targeted 16-year-old Jordan Gruver, an American citizen of Panamanian and Native-American descent.

The verdict included $1.5 million in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages against "Imperial Wizard" Ron Edwards.
The law center said before the verdict that a large damage award could break the Klan group, allowing the teen and the law center to seize the group's assets, including its headquarters, a 15-acre compound in Dawson Springs, Kentucky.
"We look forward to collecting every dime that we can for our client and to putting the Imperial Klans of America out of business," said SPLC founder and chief trial attorney Morris Dees, who tried the case.
Gruver, backed by the Southern Poverty Law Center, filed the personal injury lawsuit last year seeking up to $6 million in damages from the Imperial Klans of America and two of its leaders -- Edwards and "Grant Titan" Jarred R. Hensley.
An all-white jury of seven men and seven women deliberated for five hours after three days of testimony. The suit alleged that Edwards, Hensley, and the Imperial Klans of America as a whole incited its members to use violence against minorities.

"The people of Meade County, Kentucky, have spoken loudly and clearly. And what they've said is that ethnic violence has no place in our society, that those who promote hate and violence will be held accountable and made to pay a steep price," Dees said.
According to testimony, three members of the Klan group confronted Gruver in July 2006 during a recruiting mission at the Meade County Fair in Brandenberg, Kentucky. They taunted him with ethnic slurs -- inaccurate ones -- spat on him and doused him with alcohol .Two of the men, including Hensley, knocked Gruver to the ground and repeatedly struck and kicked him.
"All I could see was a bunch of feet," Gruver, now 19, told the jury. "As they were kicking me, I prayed to myself. I said, 'God, just please let me go. Please let me make it home.' "
When the blows stopped, Gruver had a broken jaw, broken left forearm, two cracked ribs and cuts and bruises.
He testified that he has suffered permanent nerve damage and psychological trauma. He doesn't leave his house and rarely sleeps more than two hours at a time because he has nightmares, CNN affiliate WLKY reported.

Among the evidence the jury saw was a pair of red-laced, steel-toed boots. A police witness testified that Hensley wore the boots the night he and another Klansman attacked Gruver.
Edwards acknowledged from the witness stand that the boots were the "weapon of choice" for skinheads and that the red laces carried special significance -- that "someone should shed blood for their race."
Also revealed during testimony: An alleged Klan plot to kill the Southern Poverty Law Center's attorney, Morris Dees.
Former Klansman Kale Kelly, once a member of Edwards' inner circle, testified he was told to kill Dees because of the center's lawsuit in Idaho against the Aryan Nations, a neo-Nazi supremacist organization.
The plot was thwarted by the FBI in 1999, according to testimony.
Kelly, who since has left the group, cried on the witness stand during his testimony.
Other former Klansmen also testified that they were encouraged to use violence. One said he was conditioned to kill. VideoWatch the former Klansmen testify »
Gruver's assailants already have gone through the criminal courts, striking plea bargains and serving time in the Kentucky state prison system, according to court documents. The case was not treated as a hate crime.

Dees alleged that on the night in question -- July 29 and 30, 2006 -- Edwards "sent his agents out on a mission." During that mission, which included recruiting and distributing Klan literature at the fair, Gruver was beaten because the men mistakenly believed he was an illegal immigrant.
Edwards, who represented himself, told the jury he had nothing to do with the attack. "I stay within the law. I don't break the law," he said.
At an earlier court deposition, Edwards demonstrated his contempt for the center and its lawsuit by tattooing a profane reference to it on his freshly shaved head.
On its Web site, the Imperial Klans of America refers to itself as a Christian organization exercising its rights of free speech and assembly under the U.S. Constitution.
The site carries this proviso: "If you are not of the White race, this Web site is not for the likes of YOU!" It then goes on to name the races and ethnicities it "hates," adding, "This is our God-given right."
The Web site disavows violence or any kind of criminal activity.
Edwards lives in a trailer on the Klan group's heavily guarded, gated compound in rural Dawson Springs. The compound is the site of the Klan's annual white power rally and music festival, know as "Nordic Fest," according to the suit.
It was at the compound, the suit alleges, that the Klan group incited its members to use violence against minorities.
The Klan seems to thrive during times of political and financial turmoil, according to organizations that monitor its activities.

The first incarnation of the Ku Klux Klan was founded by a group of Confederate generals at the end of the Civil War to promote a white supremacist agenda. The Klan was driven underground, but re-formed after World War I. Klan activity increased during the civil rights movement of the 1960s, and has surged again since 2006 as a result of opposition to gay marriage and immigration.
There is no single, centralized Ku Klux Klan. The Southern Poverty Law Center says the Imperial Klans of America is the second largest KKK group after the Brotherhood of Klans Knights, based in Marion, Ohio.
Booth Gunter, the center's spokesman, said there are 34 named Klan organizations across the country, with 155 separate chapters.
The Anti-Defamation League estimates there are more than 40 different Klan groups, with as many as 5,000 members in more than 100 chapters, or "klaverns," across the country.
It is not the first time the Southern Poverty Law Center has taken a supremacist group to court and won.
In 2000, for example, the center won a $6.3 million jury verdict that forced Aryan Nations leader Richard Butler to give up the group's Idaho compound. In 1987, a $7 million verdict in Mobile, Alabama, targeted the United Klans of America.
© 2008 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
2008-11-15 06:50:46