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The Michigan Messenger going forward

By Staff Report | 11.16.11

I am writing today to announce the closure of the Michigan Messenger. After four years of operation in Michigan, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news into a single site, The American Independent at Americanindependent.com. This is part of a shift in strategy, towards new forms [...]

Colorado-based abstinence program provided false and misleading information to Michigan students

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By Todd A. Heywood | 11.16.11

An abstinence-only presentation provided to numerous school districts in Calhoun and Eaton Counties in October of this year provided false and misleading information to students about HIV, experts allege.

Class action lawsuit filed against MERS over unpaid taxes

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By Todd A. Heywood | 11.15.11

Two county registers of deeds filed a class action lawsuit Monday on behalf of Michigan’s 83 counties alleging that the Mortgage Electronic Registration Services owes millions of dollars in property title transfer taxes.

Schuette fights important mercury regulations

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By Eartha Jane Melzer | 11.14.11

Despite evidence of the impact of mercury on children and public health, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette last month joined with 24 other state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to scuttle new EPA regulations that would reduce mercury emissions from power plants.

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SPLC increases number of Michigan hate groups

By Todd A. Heywood | 02.24.11 | 12:23 pm

The Southern Poverty Law Center released its annual listing of hate groups on Tuesday and the list shows a significant increase in the number of groups so identified, including in Michigan.

Michigan, which had 26 recognized hate groups in 2009, has 35 recognized hate groups in 2010 according to the SPLC. Included in that list is Battalion 14, a neo-Nazi organization that appeared in Jackson in spring of 2010 with a White Pride march through that city. The SPLC told Michigan Messenger last spring that it was likely Battalion 14 would be listed as a hate group.

The list has a 7.5 percent increase over 2009, up from 932 groups to 1002 groups. Since 2000, there has been a 66 percent increase in identified hate groups across the country, the SPLC reports.

“Far-right extremists remain highly energized, even as politicians across the country co-opt many of the radical ideas and issues that are important to them,” said Mark Potok, editor of the Intelligence Report. “This success in having their voices heard in the political arena, where they have long occupied the fringe of conservative thought, might eventually take the wind out of their sails, but so far we’re not seeing any sign of that.”

In Michigan, the list also includes an increase in the number of Klu Klux Klan organizations in the state, and Nation of Islam groups in the state. There is also a new hate group called the Black Foot Soldier Network that can be found in Oak Park, Taylor, Detroit and Muskegon.

Comments

  • Anonymous

    1. There is no legal definition for “hate group,” which is why even the FBI does not track “hate groups.”

    2. The SPLC uses the deliberately meaningless term “hate groups” in its fund-raising propaganda precisely because it allows them to denigrate their perceived opponents without accusing them of any actual crimes.

    3. The “Hate Map” is a fund-raising tool, nothing more. It provides no information whatsoever on the alleged groups, in fact, the SPLC didn’t even bother to make up locations for 262 of the groups; that’s 26% of the total.

    Of the 35 “groups” listed for Michigan, 8 of them are homeless. That’s 23% of the total right off the top. In some states the percentage of phantom “groups” is as high as 80-100%.

    Many of the alleged “groups” are listed twice in the same location.

    4. Since the SPLC is the sole arbiter of the meaningless “hate groups” label, AND because SPLC fund-raising is directly tied to creating the illusion of an ever-increasing threat, it is in their direct financial interest to raise the numbers each year.

    Last year the SPLC took in $31 million donor-dollars in donations and earned $26 million in interest on its bloated “Endowment Fund.” That’s $57 million dollars for last year alone. Since 2003, the SPLC has taken in more than a third of a BILLION dollars in tax-free cash, and yet the number of “hate groups” always goes up.

    http://wp.me/pCLYZ-82

    5. The most ironic (read: “hypocritical”) thing about the Southern Poverty Law Center is that NOT ONE of its top ten, highest paid executives is a minority.

    http://wp.me/pCLYZ-7m

    In fact, according to the SPLC’s hometown newspaper, the Montgomery Advertiser, despite being located LITERALLY in the back yard of Dr. Martin Luther King’s home church, the SPLC has NEVER hired a person of color to a highly paid position of power in its entire 40 year history.

    Some “experts”

    • Anonymous

      Let me know when you decide to argue against the specified groups being hate groups. Then I’ll be happy to listen. Until then, you can hate the messenger, but the message is still valid.

      • Anonymous

        Let me know what the legal definition of “hate group” is and then we can talk. Until then, it’s meaningless.

    • http://www.facebook.com/dtdevries Derek DeVries

      The FBI defines “Hate Groups” thusly: “Hate groups form identities through symbols, rituals, and mythologies, which enhance the members’ status and, at the same time, degrade the object of their hate. For example, skinhead groups may adopt the swastika, the iron cross, the Confederate flag, and other supremacist symbols. Group-specific symbols or clothing often differentiate hate groups. Group rituals, such as hand signals and secret greetings, further fortify members. Hate groups, especially skinhead groups, usually incorporate some form of self-sacrifice, which allows haters to willingly jeopardize their well-being for the greater good of the cause. Giving one’s life to a cause provides the ultimate sense of value and worth to life.12 Skinheads often see themselves as soldiers in a race war.”

      http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/fbi/7stage_hate_model.pdf

      The FBI is an arm of the Executive Branch of government which creates procedural law, which constitutes a legal definition.

      • Anonymous

        That’s not a legal definition. Religions, sports teams and political parties “form identities through symbols, rituals, and mythologies,” are we to designate them as “hate groups” as well?

        Even the SPLC’s own $147,000 donor-dollar-a-year PR guru Mark Potok admits that:

        “The FBI does not monitor groups just because they have “hateful” ideology. There must be some evidence of criminal wrongdoing.“

        (www.usatoday.com, May 17, 2002) http://wp.me/pCLYZ-77

        Law enforcement officers can tell you without a shadow of a doubt what constitutes robbery, murder or treason because these things have all been codified into law. That is to say, they all have a LEGAL DEFINITION

        Otherwise, you’re talking about nothing more than people’s own subjective definitions. Everybody has their own definition of “hate group.”

        There are tens of millions of people in this country, of all races, of all religions, of all political persuasions who believe that people who want to enter this country should do so according to EXISTING immigration law, and yet, the SPLC smears everone who believes this as belonging to a “hate group.”

        What happens when the SPLC arbitrarily decides that YOU belong to a “hate group”??

    • Anonymous

      Rkeefe, to your point, I wanted to see just that and so started to look into a couple in Michigan. Yahweh’s Truth caught my eye and when I go listen to “Pastor Dan’s” bizarre podcasts, they are definitely wacko but I would not call them hate or really any worse than what I hear on Fox News or from Glen Beck. I think SPLC would do the country a better service by pinpointing the truely dangerous groups.

  • Anonymous

    “Far-right extremists remain highly energized, even as politicians across the country co-opt many of the radical ideas and issues that are important to them,” said Mark Potok, editor of the Intelligence Report

    What hate group led issues are legislators taking up??? Please tell me, give me an example so I can call my congressman and chew him out for being a hatemonger.

  • Anonymous

    For more info on the Southern Poverty Law Center, Google these search terms:

    “SPLC — 2011– Forty Years of White Supremacy”

    “Southern Poverty: richer than Tonga”

    “The Southern Poverty Law Center – A Special Report”

  • Irish_Wake

    Your first item was written by rkeefe, who deflected by accusation, yet left unanswered all points in the earliest post.
    The second proves an efficient fundraising mechanism.
    The third comes from…well, let us be polite and say ‘The Social Contract Press’ will not be cited as a source in a research paper.

    While the SPLC has its faults, they are minor when viewed alongside the Klan, similar-minded groups, and their defenders.

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