What’s news today?
Well the sordid tale of Sen. Menendez’s (D/NJ) alleged solicitations of South American, under-age prostitutes has finally become too hard to ignore. I told you about this before. At that point they were vague allegations. I understand the media kinda laying off it. These are pretty serious, and could end his career, so tact was necessary I guess. But that did help him get re-elected as well. What the public didn’t know, couldn’t hurt him. Given his expected promotion to chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and his being front and center in the Senate immigration deal, some answer are necessary. If true, the Senator should resign or be removed as quickly as possible. It certainly seems he’s trying to cover his mistakes.
From HotAir
““Wonderful things, subpoenas,” Wilford Brimley said in Absence of Malice, after the threat of one broke the silence of conspirators in the film’s climax. We can add FBI raids to that list of wonderful catalysts. After discovering that the FBI had raided the offices of his frequent travel companion and campaign donor Salomon Melgen, Senator Bob Menendez suddenly remembered that he owed nearly $60,000 to Melgen for private-jet flights to the Dominican Republic:
Embattled Democratic New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez said through a spokesman Wednesday that trips he took on the private jet of a major political donor “have been paid for and reported appropriately.” But that may not have been accurate until shortly before the statement went out to media: WNBC-TV4 in New York City reported Wednesday that Menendez recently wrote a $58,500 check to the jet’s owner, Florida eye doctor Salomon Melgen.
“Senator Menendez has traveled on Dr. Melgen’s plane on three occasions, all of which have been paid for and reported appropriately,” the statement said.
Menendez’s chief of staff, Dan O’Brien, told NBC that it took the senator three years to pay his private airfare because of an office mistake.
This raises all kinds of questions as well. If he violated the laws in the Dominican Republic, can he claim Diplomatic Immunity? And now that he’s reimbursed Dr. Melgen, will the good doctor now pay some of the millions in back taxes he owes? Funny how he has all this money to donate to Menendez and the DNC, but not to pay his taxes.
Read more here from TheGatewayPundit
And here from the people who first broke the story, TheDailyCaller
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After that, we need some good news. Note this is adult stem cells that once again they are making progress with, and not embryonic.
From LifeNews
“Opponents of unethical stem cell research have always believed that scientists would be able to develop a robust regenerative medical sector without needing to create and/or destroy nascent human lives. And indeed, we have seen the invention of induced pluripotent stem cells–made from normal human tissues–that are already being used in ways that advocates once said would require human cloning to accomplish. We see thousands of human trials using adult stem cells throughout the world. Embryonic, not so much.
And now, scientists are creating human hearts using pig hearts and adult stem cells. From the Houston Chronicle story:”
“Remember, this is still in the experimental stage, so no guarantees. But the research seems to be moving forward toward human testing:”
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Here’s one of the reasons I don’t like Twitter. I’ve seen all manner of vile Tweets about Romney, even death threats, yet those accounts weren’t censored. So why were these?
Also from LifeNews
“A coalition of African-American pro-life activists have had their Twitter account suspended after firing off Tweets challenging the NAACP over its position favoring abortion.”
“At this year’s event, the National Black Prolife Coalition tells LifeNews it will be protesting “due to the failure of the civil rights organization to represent the best interests of the community” including abortion.
After announcing the protest, their Twitter account @NAACP_WATCHDOGS was suspended.”
““The black groups were drawing attention to what they claim is the failure of the civil rights organization to represent the best interests of the community. The issues range from abortion, traditional marriage, destruction of the black family and the extraordinarily high incarceration rate of black men. Protesters from across the nation will assemble in Los Angeles to declare that the NAACP has betrayed the black community,” the pro-life coalition told LifeNews.”
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What is it with this administration and botched gun programs? And remember folks, these are the people who will play a vital role in implementing Obama’s proposed new gun regs. should they ever become law.
From TheMilwaukeeJournalSentinel
“They were undercover agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives running a storefront sting aimed at busting criminal operations in the city by purchasing drugs and guns from felons.
But the effort to date has not snared any major dealers or taken down a gang. Instead, it resulted in a string of mistakes and failures, including an ATF military-style machine gun landing on the streets of Milwaukee and the agency having $35,000 in merchandise stolen from its store, a Journal Sentinel investigation has found.
When the 10-month operation was shut down after the burglary, agents and Milwaukee police officers who participated in the sting cleared out the store but left behind a sensitive document that listed names, vehicles and phone numbers of undercover agents.
And the agency remains locked in a battle with the building’s owner, who says he is owed about $15,000 because of utility bills, holes in the walls, broken doors and damage from an overflowing toilet.”
🙄
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And yet again, not as advertised.
From CNSNews
“The examples point to families of four and families of five, both of which the IRS expects in its assumptions to pay a minimum of $20,000 per year for a bronze plan.
“The annual national average bronze plan premium for a family of 5 (2 adults, 3 children) is $20,000,” the regulation says.
Bronze will be the lowest tier health-insurance plan available under Obamacare–after Silver, Gold, and Platinum. Under the law, the penalty for not buying health insurance is supposed to be capped at either the annual average Bronze premium, 2.5 percent of taxable income, or $2,085.00 per family in 2016.”
And that’s for the plan with high deductibles and co-pays. A decent one will be quite a bit more.
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And now we know why the Israeli’s took it upon themselves to enter Syria and destroy a military convoy. Self preservation. This latest convoy was suspected of moving weapons to Hezbollah again.
From TheJerusalemPost
“The Saudi-based newspaper Al-Watan on Thursday reported that the Syrian regime has transferred non-conventional weapons to Hezbollah.
Al-Watan, quoting unnamed sources from the Syrian opposition, reported that Syrian President Bashar Assad has been transferring weapons to Hezbollah since the beginning of 2012, including two tons of mustard gas and long-range missiles capable of carrying chemical warheads and traveling 300 kilometers.”
But once again the useless UN scolds the Israelis rather than the terrorist group.
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Wandering Views 
Former NY City mayor Ed Koch has died at 88.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/former_mayor_ed_koch_dead_at_age_75lqLcuapohQ9JC6ILAXrL
“Former Mayor Ed Koch died early this morning, sources told The Post. He was 88.
Koch had been in and out of the hospital in recent months, and was admitted Monday at New York Presbyterian Medical Center.
He was moved to intensive care yesterday as his condition worsened.
Koch – who served as mayor from 1978 to 1989 – died at about 2 a.m. today, sources said.”
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May he rest in peace
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From AP News via Drudge:
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A suspected suicide bomber detonated an explosive Friday in front of the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, killing himself and a guard at the entrance gate, officials said.
ABC NonNews on the hour reports that revised unemployment news looks better.
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I’m disgusted with US citizens. They bought the politician’s lie that we could include everyone in the healthcare plan, and still have cheap insurance. Obviously, at $20K per family for Obamacare’s LEAST expensive plan, that was, and is, at the very best, a bald faced lie.
You foolish foolish people.
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A lot of people in this State don’t make that much. But then, a lot of people in this State don’t carry insurance.
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The Menendez allegations, if they turn out to be true, would make the Senator a party to human trafficking.
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JoeB. It doesn’t matter to those who elected him.
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I know Chas and that is what is so sad. I wonder how NJL feels about this?
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An interesting side note on Ed Koch’s death.
http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/202557/ed-kochs-grave-marker-will-be-inscribed-with-journalist-daniel-pearls-last-words/#.UQu_NKSdq8I.twitter
“Former New York City mayor Ed Koch died Friday morning at the age of 88. He plans to be buried in Manhattan, the three-term mayor said in 2008. His headstone and a memorial bench, placed at Trinity Church Cemetery in 2009, evoke his faith and his admiration of a murdered journalist. Koch explained his plans in 2008 to the Associated Press:
The marker will bear the Star of David and a Hebrew prayer, “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.” It also will be inscribed with the last words of journalist Daniel Pearl before he was murdered by terrorists in 2002: “My father is Jewish. My mother is Jewish. I am Jewish.”
Koch explained that he had been moved that Pearl chose to affirm his faith and heritage in his last moments.”
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Info on Twitter’s policy for suspending accounts:
https://support.twitter.com/articles/15790-my-account-is-suspended
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Menendez is a total fraud. He stood front and center for the “War on Women” nonsense they accused the Reps. of waging. Meanwhile the hypocrite is involved in human trafficing of underage girls and paying them for sex. Just a total scumbag.
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I loved Wilford Brimley in “Absence of Malice.”
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AJ. While I share your disdain for Menendez, you are much kinder that I would be. Personally, I would like to have the Cheyenne and Arapaho nations deal with him. They are very harsh with those that molest children.
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“Absence of Malice” is one of our favorite movies. We watch it at least once a year. We’ve only lived in our current house since Thanksgiving and we’ve watched it here already.
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$10 an hour, 40 hours a week is $400.
$400 for 52 weeks is $20,800.
Before taxes.
Most people earning $10 an hour or less will be given 29 hours a week or less.
Thank You Democrats.
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To be fair, they won’t pay that. How could they? So they will be hit with the fine instead if they are uninsured. 10%, or $2,000, is the penalty. The link shows how that is calculated. It’s still a huge hit either way. More likely is that they get subsidised by other higher earners and go with an exchange plan to avoid the penalty.
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A couple of relevant quotes from an article by Mindy Belz in this week’s World:
“Many experts assert that forces from now dispersed but linked factions of al-Qaead (al-Shabaab being its militant arm in Somalia) form a greater threat to the United States than they did up to 9/11. But you will have to connect the dots yourself because Washington continues to fail –perhaps deliberately – to do so.”
“We keep life turning inside a bubble apart from threats that are evil and real. And we apparently prefer subsidized healthcare and retirement entitlements our government can no longer afford over any sort of guarantees of national security and safety”.
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Also:
“As official Washington makes the case for vacating Central Asia and the Middle East, remember that threats aren’t simply from a few haggard men in detention plotting to kill a few Americans, but spawned by a transnational movement dedicated to bringing down Western civilization.”
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Chas,
They’re clueless.
http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2013/01/state-dept-recruits-muslim-foreign-service-officers-at-jihadist-conf/
“The Obama administration is covertly recruiting Muslims to work at the State Department as Foreign Service officers representing the United States in one of 265 American embassies, consulates and diplomatic missions worldwide.
It appears to be part of the administration’s Muslim outreach effort, which includes a variety of controversial moves. Among them Homeland Security meetings with extremist Islamic organizations, sending an America-bashing mosque leader (Feisal Abdul Rauf) who blames U.S. foreign policy for the 9/11 attacks on a Middle Eastern outreach mission and revamping the way federal agents are trained to combat terrorism by eliminating all materials that shed a negative light on Muslims. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton even signed a special order to allow the reentry of two radical Islamic academics whose terrorist ties long banned them from the U.S.
Now comes news of a secretive State Department campaign, discovered in the course of a Judicial Watch investigation, to add Muslims to its roster. Presumably, the new recruits will be deployed around the globe to help the agency fulfill its mission of promoting the country’s international relations. The campaign seems to be headed by Mark Ward, the Deputy Special Coordinator in the State Department’s Office of Middle East Transition.”
Meanwhile, the MidEast continues to rage, driven by extremism. And those fighting against it do so alone because Obama has sided with Morsi and his gangs against them. It’s getting ugly.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-31/egypt-opposition-gears-up-for-protest-after-pledge-to-end-unrest.html
“Opponents of Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi battled security forces near his palace in Cairo and the Islamist leader warned them to withdraw, as the clashes threatened a day-old agreement to end a wave of violence.
Protesters threw Molotov cocktails at the palace walls, while security forces fired tear gas and water cannons to keep them away. At least 48 people received medical attention at the scene, mostly as a result of the gas, Mohammed Sultan, head of the ambulance service, said by phone. Mursi said demonstrators breached the compound, and urged opposition groups that organized the rallies to call them off.
“The political powers that might have participated in urging this on hold full political responsibility,” Mursi said on the presidency’s Facebook page. “We call on the national powers to condemn these actions and to call their supporters to leave the palace area immediately.” He said security forces will act “firmly to apply the law.”
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Chas. the dopey politicians and bureaucrats in DC have nothing to worry about Al Qaeda. Why should they? They play a fiddle while Rome burns. They will have weapons to defend themselves all the while stripping us of ours. Every woman here, if she is wise will learn how to use a firearm because the day will come when the peaceful Muslim Brotherhood will bring Sharia to your neighborhood. All the while the pinheads in DC will continue to spout the same old lame lies about Islam being a peaceful religion.
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