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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