Benghazi

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News/Politics 5-18-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

First, the IRS scandal continues to grow. From TheWallStJournal

“The Internal Revenue Service’s watchdog told top Treasury officials around June 2012 he was investigating allegations the tax agency had targeted conservative groups, for the first time indicating that Obama administration officials were aware of the explosive matter in the midst of the president’s re-election campaign.”

“The disclosure to the Treasury general counsel and the deputy secretary was a cursory one, according to J. Russell George, the Treasury inspector general for tax administration. He said he didn’t reveal conclusions of the probe, which was in its early stages, and his disclosure came as part of a routine update to Treasury leaders. At the time, Republican lawmakers were complaining publicly about alleged IRS targeting of tea-party groups.

The revelation nonetheless raised a fresh set of questions about who was aware of the problem within the Obama administration. It was one of several new details that emerged during a contentious four-hour House committee hearing Friday, held one week after an IRS official revealed at a legal conference that the agency had taken “absolutely inappropriate” actions in targeting conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status for often heavy-handed scrutiny.”

And of course they knew, it’s looking more and more like they ordered it.

More. From TheWeeklyStandard

“NBC’s Lisa Myers reported this morning that the IRS  deliberately chose not to reveal that it had wrongly targeted conservative groups until after the 2012 presidential election:”

Of course they did. The whole point was to aid Obama in his re-election bid. How successful do you think he would have been if the truth got out before election day?

The probe will be expanding now for sure, as it should. From TheNYTimes

“Congressional Republicans, not resting with the Internal Revenue Service scandal, are moving to broaden the matter to an array of tax malfeasances and “intimidation tactics” they hope will ensnare the White House.”

Don’t panic though, the Times hasn’t turned on Obama. They carry water for him numerous times in the article, starting with the second paragraph.

“Republican charges range from the clearly questionable to the seemingly specious, and they grow by the day. On Friday, lawmakers sought to tie the I.R.S. matter to the carrying out of President Obama’s health care law, which will rely heavily on the agency. Whether they succeed holds significant ramifications for Mr. Obama, who will soon know if he is dealing with a late spring thunderstorm that may soon blow over or a consuming squall that will leave lasting damage.”

Nothing to see here, move along.

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We have a Benghazi update too. From CBSNews

” The chairman of the House Oversight committee has issued a subpoena to compel the co-chairman of the independent review board that investigated last year’s attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, to answer questions about its findings in closed session.

California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa issued the subpoena on Friday to retired veteran diplomat Thomas Pickering to force him to appear at a deposition next Thursday.”

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A terrorist with a bomb was arrested in Idaho. Once again, he’d been legally admitted into the country. From TheLongWarJournal

“The Department of Justice arrested an Uzbek national living in Idaho today  and charged him with supporting the al Qaeda-linked Islamic Movement of  Uzbekistan and possessing an “unregistered destructive device,” or bomb.  Fazliddin Kurbanov  faces charges in both Idaho and Utah, and is accused of  conspiring to train others to purchase components to assemble a bomb.

Kurbanov is “legally present in the United States” at the time of his arrest  and is currently living in Boise, Idaho, the  Justice Department said in the press release that announced his arrest. He  has been charged with “conspiracy to provide material support to a designated  foreign terrorist organization,” the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, and “to  terrorists,” as well as “possessing an unregistered destructive device.”

Not surprising really. After all, DHS is too busy concentrating on make-believe right-wing terrorists instead. Real Islamic radicals get a pass. From TheDailyCaller

“The Department of Homeland Security, which under Secretary  Janet Napolitano has shown a keen interest in monitoring and warning about outspoken conservatives, takes a very different approach in monitoring political  Islamists, according to a 2011 memo on protecting the free speech rights of pro-Shariah Muslim supremacists.

In a checklist obtained by The Daily Caller entitled “Countering Violent  Extremism Dos and Don’ts” the DHS’s Office of Civil Rights and Civil  Liberties notifies local and national law enforcement officials that it is  Obama administration policy to consider specifically Islamic criticism of the American system of government legitimate.

This policy stands in stark contrast to the DHS Office of Intelligence and  Analysis’ 2009 memo “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and  Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment” [pdf], which warned of the dangers posed by pro-life  advocates, critics of same-sex marriage and groups concerned with abiding by the  U.S. Constitution, among others.”

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54 Colorado Sheriffs are standing up to the state for its unconstitutional new gun grab laws. From WeaselZippers

“54 Colorado Sheriffs File Civil Rights Lawsuit Against Anti-Gun Bills: It’s About Upholding The Constitution And Public Safety”

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And here’s more on a story from the other day about what sounds like the next Gosnell, with a CONTENT WARNING!, from TheHoustonChronicle

“Harris County authorities and the Texas Department of State Health Services are investigating a local doctor accused Wednesday by an anti-abortion group of performing late-term abortions in 2011.

“We have several people looking into the allegations,” said Sara Marie Kinney, a spokeswoman for the Harris County District Attorney.

In an email, DSHS spokeswoman Carrie Williams said the agency, which monitors abortion facilities across the state, is “aware of the allegations, and we are investigating.” Added Williams: “This is a very high priority for us.”

The anti-abortion group Operation Rescue issued a report on Wednesday saying that three former employees of Dr. Douglas Karpen’s Houston clinic had relayed accounts of fetuses that had been illegally aborted and provided them with grisly photographs.”

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News/Politics 5-16-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

The IRS scandal continues to grow.

The acting IRS Commissioner has resigned. From CNN

Acting Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Steven Miller revealed Wednesday that officials had identified two “rogue” employees that were responsible for subjecting Tea Party groups to extra scrutiny in their requests for tax-exempt status. From HuffPo

That doesn’t sound truthful considering this info.

The Treasury Inspector General’s damaging report on the IRS-Tea Party scandal has destroyed the administration’s claim that low-level workers in a Cincinnati, Ohio office are to blame, revealing that 10 of 12 agency offices referenced in the affair are in Washington. From TheWashingtonExaminer

Documents: IRS letters harassing conservative groups came from Washington, DC  headquarters and from California offices, despite Inspector General’s focus on  Cincinnati employees. From TheDailyMail

Perjury?

Representative Dave Camp, chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, charged top IRS officials, including former commissioner Doug Shulman, of lying to Congress over the targeting of tea-party groups. From NationalReview

As usual, the buck always stops somewhere else.

NBC: W.H. Blaming Treasury Dept. for IRS Scandal. Via TheWeeklyStandard

The list of victims continues to grow.

Some counts say it will be as high as 500. From TownHall

‘Very Frightening’: Prominent Catholic Prof. Claims IRS Audited Her After Speaking Out Against Obama and Demanded to Know Who Was Paying Her. From TheBlaze

The Koch brothers and other Romney donors as well.

Frank VanderSloot: ‘I’m not the only’ major Mitt Romney donor audited. From TheDailyCaller

Pro-life groups are getting the same treatment Franklin Graham’s group did.

IRS is also targeting pro-life groups: Thomas More Society. From LifeSiteNews

Report: IRS denied tax-exempt status to pro-lifers on behalf of Planned Parenthood. From TheWashingtonExaminer

I’m sure the White House had nothing to do with this either. 🙄 harassment on behalf of the abortion mills, just like the DoJ has been doing to sidewalk counselors.

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And is there yet another possible IRS scandal?

The Internal Revenue Service is now facing a class action lawsuit over allegations that it improperly accessed and stole the health records of some 10 million Americans, including medical records of all California state judges. From HealthCareItNews

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The White House has released several Benghazi related e-mails. And yes, they expose a little more on how the lies that came from the Obama admin in the weeks after the attack were put together.

The Obama administration released 100 pages of emails Wednesday that reveal differences between intelligence analysts and State Department officials over how to describe the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. post in Benghazi, Libya. From WaPo

You can view them yourself here. From Scribd.com

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Holder had a testy hearing on the hill.

Apparently it’s “unacceptable and shameful”  to point out how he repeatedly refuses to provide info to Congressional investigators on numerous topics. From FoxNews

Meanwhile, Holder continues to play dumb and insist he knows nothing about the AP scandal.

Holder said that he recused himself from the  making the controversial decision to subpoena the phone records of Associated  Press journalists, saying that it was made by Deputy Attorney General James  Cole. From TheDailyMail

Yet there is no paper trail showing that he ever officially recused himself. He even admitted as much.

And he’s not sure when he did. From RCP

Sure. It seems the only thing he does know is that he doesn’t know. See for yourself.

And according to Carney, repeatedly as well I might add, the White House has “No Comment.”.

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And yet again we must ask, is there yet another phone records scandal coming?

Would You Believe The Administration Got Phone Records of The House Of Representatives? From TheGreenRoom

That’s the revelation made by California Congressman Devin Nunes, who sits on the House Ways And Means Committee on Hugh Hewitt’s Show Wednesday night.”

“HH: The idea that this might be a Geithner-Axelrod plan, and by that, the sort of intimation, Henry II style, will no one rid me of this turbulent priest, will no one rid me of these turbulent Tea Parties, that might have just been a hint, a shift of an eyebrow, a change in the tone of voice. That’s going to take a long time to get to. I don’t trust the Department of Justice on this. Do you, Congressman Nunes?

DN: No, I absolutely do not, especially after this wiretapping incident, essentially, of the House of Representative. I don’t think people are focusing on the right thing when they talk about going after the AP reporters. The big problem that I see is that they actually tapped right where I’m sitting right now, the Cloak Room.

HH: Wait a minute, this is news to me.

DN: The Cloak Room in the House of Representatives.

HH: I have no idea what you’re talking about.

DN: So when they went after the AP reporters, right? Went after all of their phone records, they went after the phone records, including right up here in the House Gallery, right up from where I’m sitting right now. So you have a real separation of powers issue that did this really rise to the level that you would have to get phone records that would, that would most likely include members of Congress, because as you know…

HH: Wow.

Wow indeed. Nixon? Anyone?

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Oh. And the Russians are saying they arrested a US spy. Possibly Boston Bombing related?

This morning the Russian foreign  ministry today  issued a formal protest to American ambassador Michael  McFaul who was summoned  to explain the alleged espionage mission of one  of his diplomats. Again, TheMail

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This next one? Well, I only have one comment….

Suckers. What did you expect?

Deep in the list of taxes that the president’s Obamacare plan will hit Americans with is a 40 percent excise tax on health plans typical union members have, especially in Midwest states, according to a new analysis. From TheWashingtonExaminer

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by

News/Politics 5-13-13

UPDATE!

Kermit Gosnell has been found guilty on at least 3 of the 4 1st Degree Murder charges. These were for babies born alive.

From HOTAIR

More on the other charges as it becomes available.

UPDATE! 2

Also guilty of involuntary manslaughter for the death of Karnamaya Mongar, the woman who died in a late-term abortion.

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What’s interesting in the news today?

There’s lots to choose from, so short and to the point.

First, Benghazi. I told you before of rumors that Benghazi was a CIA weapons operation. That idea is being floated again.

Geraldo: My sources tell me they were in Benghazi to round up missiles to send to Syrian rebels via Turkey, from TheRightScoop

CBS reporter  Sharyl Attkisson is being censored by her own network. She has dogged the administration on Benghazi, and now the network appears to be cracking down on her for it. It appears she may be fired for it. Now questions have been asked about ties between the Obama admin and CBS.

Top Obama official’s brother is president of CBS News, may drop reporter over  Benghazi coverage from TheDailyCaller

Benghazi Whistleblower’s Attorney Claims NBC Spiked Him Being a Democrat Who  Voted for Obama, from NewsBusters

Of course they did. Otherwise the “partisan hack” label they tried to use on Hicks would be exposed. Doesn’t fit the meme.

Issa wants the Presidents hand-picked review committee before Congress, and under oath, from TheAP 

CNN: Decision was made to drop reference to terror group from talking points at meeting in White House from TheRightScoop

That whole Patreus thing deserves a second look too. He appears to have strongly disagreed with the edits to the talking points.

 Watch out for Petraeus in Benghazi scandal, from TheWashingtonTimes

Hmmmmmm……

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Next up, Syria.

If You Think America Should Go to War in Syria, You Haven’t Been Paying Attention from PJMedia

Under the black flag of al-Qaeda, the Syrian city ruled by gangs of extremists, from TheTelegraphUK

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Then we have the IRS scandal. Let the investigations begin.

Ways and Means to IRS: ‘Provide All Communications Containing Words ‘Tea Party,’ ‘Patriot,’ or ‘Conservative’—By Wednesday from CNSNews

Giddy up! 🙂

Senior Internal Revenue Service officials knew employees were singling out  conservative groups for extra scrutiny as early as 2011 from Politico

So much for it being just a low level operation.

IRS targeted groups that criticized the government, IG report says, from TheWashingtonPost

10 crazy things the IRS asked Tea Party groups from HotAir

Six times the IRS has been accused of punishing President Obama’s political opponents from TheWashingtonFreeBeacon

And now it appears the IRS targeted other groups as well.

‘The IRS: First they Came for the Tea Partiers, Then They Came for the Jews’ from PJMedia

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And in Other News….

Prosecutor to seek aggravated murder charges against Ariel Castro, citing what he said were terminated pregnancies among captive women, from Cleveland.com

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Here’s more on the story from last week about the SEAL families demanding accountability.

SEAL Families Looking for Answers, Claim government officials, military brass have brushed aside concerns from TheWashingtonFreeBeacon

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Let’s hope there’s a lot more ObamaCare fallout to come for Democrats. 🙂

Grassley: Baucus Retiring Because He’s ‘Fed Up’ With Obamacare, from NationalReview

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And the last one. I told you Saturday about Prince Harry’s visit to the US to honor the wounded and those that gave all. Here’s an update, with tons of photos from Saturday’s Warrior Games with wounded vets. The guy’s a real Prince, in more ways than one. 🙂

Prince Harry opened  the 2013 Warrior games in Colorado Springs today, played sit down volleyball with wounded  service members, from TheDailyMail

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by

News/Politics 5-11-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

I guess we start this morning with another example of The Chicago Way. From TheAP

” The Internal Revenue Service apologized Friday for what it acknowledged was “inappropriate” targeting of conservative political groups during the 2012 election to see if they were violating their tax-exempt status.

IRS agents singled out dozens of organizations for additional reviews because they included the words “tea party” or “patriot” in their exemption applications, said Lois Lerner, who heads the IRS division that oversees tax-exempt groups. In some cases, groups were asked for lists of donors, which violates IRS policy in most cases, she said.”

They allege it was low-level employees who did this. No order from the top. For some reason I doubt that. I’m sure it had nothing to do with those groups working against Obama’s re-election. 🙄

Mitch McConnell is calling for an investigation. More from WFPLNews

“White House spokesman Jay Carney says an inspector general is looking into the matter.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is calling on the Obama administration to conduct a government-wide probe in the wake of an admission by the Internal Revenue Service that it targeted conservative groups.”

They’re looking into it. Well I feel better already, especially after the fine job they did investigating themselves on Benghazi. 🙄

Issa and Jordan call it “unconscionable”. From  TheHouseOverSightCommittee

A Tea Party leader is calling for an apology. From Buzzfeed

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Next up, a breaking story….. for the MSM at least. 🙄 From TheWashingtonExaminer

“One of the lead House investigators into the Benghazi terrorist attack called for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to testify before Congress about information provide by State Department whistleblowers, adding that he would support issuing a subpoena if she refuses.

“I would hope that she would step up and help us out,” Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, replied when Charlie Rose asked him if he wants the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to subpoena Clinton. Chaffetz emphasized that the committee is not yet ready to issue such a summons, but noted that “we do have whistleblowers stepping up, [so] I think we’re going to get serious about forcing people legally to [testify].”

Chaffetz — sounding as if he wanted to avoid saying anything that would seem to vindicate critics who dismiss the current Benghazi investigation as a witch-hunt designed to hurt Clinton’s ability to win the presidency in 2016 — said that if Clinton will not voluntarily appear, then “at some point, yeah, I’ll be supportive of [a subpoena].””

Can you say perjury? Yeah, I knew ya’ could. 😉

The Ranking Dem member is calling it a “distortion”.  I’d agree. But I don’t think the ones distorting are who he thinks they are. It’s the White House and State who have distorted info from the start. From Politico

“The top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is  accusing Republicans of distorting the remarks of a star witness testifying  before the panel this week on Benghazi.

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) sent letter to Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.)  on Friday asking that omitted portions of Gregory Hicks’s testimony be added to  the record.”

Meanwhile the White House continues to want the CIA to take a ride under the bus.

Here’s 7 minutes of lies and revisionist history in an attempt to cover their butts.

How bad is it? Well put it this way, even MSNBC used the “I” word. 😯 From TownHall

So what’s an administration to do? Why call the team together for an “Off the Record” press meeting, to get their talking points all on the same page, of course. 🙂  From HotAir

“Time for the team to huddle.

The White House held an off-the-record briefing with reporters on Friday afternoon to discuss recent revelations about the Benghazi investigation, sources familiar with the meeting tell POLITICO.

The meeting began around 12:45 p.m. and postponed the daily, on-the-record White House press briefing to 1:45 p.m. White House press secretary Jay Carney did not respond to a request for confirmation of the meeting.

The off-the-record session was announced to reporters in the wake of an ABC News report showing that White House and State Dept. officials were involved in revising the now-discredited CIA talking points about the attack on Benghazi.”

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Next we have a bunch of “In Other News” items.

More murders tied to the Boston bombers?  From BusinessInsider

“Law enforcement officials have told ABC  News that “mounting” forensic  evidence from an unsolved triple homicide ties Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to the crime.

Cell phone records also place the brothers in the area of the murders on the date they were committed.”

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A strange and interesting turn in the Texas fertilizer plant explosion. From FoxNews

“A Texas paramedic who helped evacuate people on the night of the deadly fertilizer plant explosion in West has been arrested and charged with possessing a destructive device.

It’s not clear whether the charges are related to the fire or the explosion at the West Fertilizer Co. last month that killed 14 people.”

“Investigators have largely treated the incident as an industrial accident. But Texas law enforcement officials also launched a criminal investigation Friday.”

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Prince Harry visited Arlington National Cemetery during a visit devoted to the injured and fallen. I appreciate his efforts, as a diplomat and soldier. I’ve actually seen some photos of the Prince with a former church member serving together in Afghanistan. These aren’t just words, but an effort to honor brother’s in arms. He is also in the US to attend the 2013 Warrior Games, where 200 US and British veterans wounded in combat will compete. From TheWashingtonPost

“Britain’s Prince Harry saluted America’s war dead in somber remembrance at Arlington National Cemetery on Friday, pausing, too, to place flowers on the tombstone of President John F. Kennedy and visit the grave of a British World War II hero buried far from home.”

“Harry, a British Army captain who has served twice in Afghanistan, capped the Washington portion of his trip with a visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, seeing the latest prosthetic technology and chatting with wounded warriors.”

“He sat on a bed and chatted with Staff Sgt. Tim Payne, 30, of Montana, injured by an IED in Afghanistan’s Kandahar Province. “We talked about how I got injured and that I like swimming,” Payne said after. “I told him I swim 4,000 meters a day and someday will swim the English Channel. Harry said, ‘That’s a crazy idea.’””

Just keep him out of Vegas please. 😦

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The owner of the Washington Redskin’s has finally responded to those wanting a name change for his team, as well as those suing to try and force them to. From USAToday

“Daniel Snyder is owner of the Washington pro football team he grew up adoring. Would he ever consider changing the team name that many American Indians and others believe is a racial slur?

“We will never change the name of the team,” Snyder told USA TODAY Sports this week. “As a lifelong Redskins fan, and I think that the Redskins fans understand the great tradition and what it’s all about and what it means, so we feel pretty fortunate to be just working on next season.””

“What if his football team loses an ongoing federal trademark lawsuit? Would he consider changing it then?

“We’ll never change the name,” he said. “It’s that simple. NEVER — you can use caps.””

Nice to see someone stand up to the PC stupidity for a change. 🙂

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by

News/Politics 5-10-13

What’s interesting out there today?

Another day, another whistleblower. And like all Obama admin whistleblowers, they’re attempting to silence him. At least they didn’t imply he was crazy like they did the last IG to cross them. At least not yet. From HotAir

“In yesterdays hearings on Benghazi, Gregory Hicks told the House Oversight Committee that the State Department warned him about cooperating with investigators and retaliated against him for challenging the bogus talking points about a “spontaneous demonstration.” Mark Thompson further testified to being cut out of the loop after he insisted that FEST should be activated, and Eric Nordstrom dismissed the supposedly independent ARB effort as a whitewash aimed at protecting senior officials in the State Department.

Those aren’t the only complaints coming from career professionals within the Obama administration.  Politico reports that the Inspector General for the reconstruction of Afghanistan is now claiming that “bureaucrats” are trying to silence him to keep the reports of corruption in the Karzai government from doing any more damage.”

“The watchdog who tracks the billions of taxpayer dollars spent to rebuild Afghanistan says government officials have tried to silence him because they think he’s embarrassing the White House and Afghan President Hamid Karzai by pointing out the waste and fraud.”

“John Sopko, the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, used a speech at the New America Foundation on Wednesday to blast government “bureaucrats”’ who have told him to stop publicizing damning audits that detail case after case of waste, corruption and mismanagement of rebuilding efforts in Afghanistan. Some government officials have even complained that they aren’t allowed to pre-screen or edit his reports, he said. …”

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The Benghazi Patsy, from Politico

“Nakoula Basseley Nakoula deserves a place in American history. He is the first person in this country jailed for violating Islamic anti-blasphemy  laws.

You won’t find that anywhere in the charges against him, of course. As a practical matter, though, everyone knows that Nakoula wouldn’t be in jail today if he hadn’t produced a video crudely lampooning the prophet Muhammad.”

“After Benghazi, the administration was evidently filled with a fierce resolve — to bring Nakoula Basseley Nakoula to justice. Charles Woods, the father of a Navy SEAL killed in Benghazi, said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told him  when his son’s body returned to Andrews Air Force Base: “We will make sure that  the person who made that film is arrested and prosecuted.”

Lo and behold, Nakoula was brought in for questioning by five Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies at midnight, eventually arrested and held without bond, and finally thrown into jail for a year. He sits in La Tuna Federal Correctional Institution in Texas right now, even as the deceptive spin that blamed his video for the Benghazi attack looks more egregious by the day.”

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More ObamaCare fraud and waste. From Reuters

“The Obama administration said on Thursday it is making $150 million available to community health centers to enroll uninsured Americans in healthcare coverage under President Barack Obama’s reform law.

The new funds would help about 1,200 health centers hire and train staff, conduct community outreach efforts and assist consumers in applying for benefits under the law, which provides coverage through subsidized insurance markets and an expansion of the Medicaid program for the poor, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said.”

Community organizers with lot’s of cash. Or as I like to call it, ACORN Reborn.  Again, Politico

“President Obama will speak Friday about the Affordable Care Act’s effects “on the health, lives and pocketbooks of women and their families,” the White House said in his schedule.

Timed to coincide with Mother’s Day, which is on Sunday, the event comes also comes as House Republicans plan to vote next week on a bill to repeal the health care law.

The audience for the 2:40 p.m. event will include representatives from women’s groups, including Planned Parenthood.”

Sure, ‘cuz everybody thinks of PP whenever Mother’s Day is mentioned. 🙄

Maybe they want to be the Grinches of Mother’s Day. Like these folks. From TIME

“It’s the time of year when we celebrate mothers and — about a month later — fathers. But the way we view each holiday reveals a lot about the growing gap between cultural gender stereotypes and the reality of most families’ day-to-day lives.”

“Other messages in Mother’s Day and Father’s Day cards also reinforce sex stereotypes. Moms are thanked for the hugs, for drying the tears, for “always being there.” Dads, though, tend to be thanked as role models and individuals to look up to. A typical Hallmark Father’s Day card reads, “Integrity. Respect. Honor. I learned these things from you.”

Of course, there is not a thing wrong with children saying thank you for all those cuddles and comfort, or for expressing gratitude for models of strength and responsibility. These are all lovely sentiments. The question is: why in 2013, are we still dividing all these traits by gender? It’s insulting to both women and men and it has less and less to do with contemporary American families. Dads can be nurturers. Moms can be role models. Many, of course, already are.”

Why are leftists so miserable that they want to ruin everything that people might enjoy? Sad.

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Domestic Terrorist Teaching at Colleges?

Uh….,  yeah. And here’s a list, from TheOtherMcCain

“Controversy ensued when the news broke that Kathy Boudin, former member of the Weather Underground who was convicted in 1984 of felony murder, received the position of adjunct professor at Columbia University.  While it may be ironic that Boudin received a teaching position at a university she was plotted to bomb, she is not the only former domestic terrorist to receive such a position.

At least a dozen former members of domestic terrorist organizations are now college professors. Members of the Weather Underground make up half of this list; some are well known, like Bill Ayers and his wife Bernadine Dohrn, Ayers is now retired from the University of Illinois, while Dohrn is still teaching at Northwestern Law.

Other lesser-known members of the group include Howard Machtinger, who was charged with conspiring to bomb the Detroit Police Officers Association Building and was on the run from the law for five years from 1973 to 1978. Machtinger now works for the School of Education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.”

And many more as well.

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by

News/Politics 5-9-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

We’ll start with a bunch of Benghazi links for those interested.

Benghazi whistleblower: ‘I’ve been demoted’ for challenging Susan Rice’s claims, from the Washington Examiner

White House struggles to respond to new Benghazi revelations, from the Washington Times

Diplomat Says Questions Over Benghazi Led to Demotion, from the NY Times

Top U.S. Diplomat In Libya Says Hillary Clinton’s Top Aide Chewed Him Out For Talking With Investigators… from Weasel Zippers

Top Ranking U.S. Diplomat In Libya After Ambassador Stevens Death Says FBI Never Bothered To Interview Him During Their Investigation… from Weasel Zippers

And of course a Democrat blames it all on budget cuts, from The Weekly Standard

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A pair of new studies will make the gun debate a little tougher for one side. From TheWashingtonPost

“Gun homicides have dropped steeply in the United States since their 1993 peak, a pair of reports released Tuesday showed, adding fuel to Congress’ battle over whether to tighten restrictions on firearms.

A study released Tuesday by the government’s Bureau of Justice Statistics found that gun-related homicides dropped from 18,253 in 1993 to 11,101 in 2011. That’s a 39 percent reduction.

Another report by the private Pew Research Center found a similar decline by looking at the rate of gun homicides, which compares the number of killings to the size of the country’s growing population. It found that the number of gun homicides per 100,000 people fell from 7 in 1993 to 3.6 in 2010, a drop of 49 percent.”

“Both reports also found that non-fatal crimes involving guns were down by roughly 70 percent over that period.”

Huh. You mean they’re being dishonest with their rhetoric? After all, they insist that booming gun sales are dangerous. Yet while ownership rose, deaths declined. Go figure. And yeah, it’s also funny that this comes just weeks after the Senate’s attempted regulations. Now you know why they were in a hurry.

Despite the actual facts, the public seems uninformed on the matter. Just like they and their media mouthpieces intended. Here’s more, from TheLATimes

“Gun crime has plunged in the United States since its peak in the middle of the 1990s, including gun killings, assaults, robberies and other crimes, two new studies of government data show.

Yet few Americans are aware of the dramatic drop, and more than half believe gun crime has risen, according to a newly released survey by the Pew Research Center.”

“Despite the remarkable drop in gun crime, only 12% of Americans surveyed said gun crime had declined compared with two decades ago, according to Pew, which surveyed  more than 900 adults this spring. Twenty-six percent said it had stayed the same, and 56% thought it had increased.

It’s unclear whether media coverage is driving the misconception that such violence is up. The mass shootings in Newtown, Conn., and Aurora, Colo., were among the news stories most closely watched by Americans last year, Pew found. Crime has also been a growing focus for national newscasts and morning network shows in the past five years but has become less common on local television news.”

Unclear? No. Not really.

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Joe Biden would like you to know that it’s immoral and callous to want Voter ID. From Politico

“Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday bashed voting rights requirements — calling them “immoral, callous” — and warned of political consequences for those  who try to impose barriers to casting a ballot.

“To me it is the most immoral, callous thing that can be done, the idea of  making it more difficult to vote,” Biden said at the annual gala dinner of the  Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a minority-focused public  policy organization.”

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More radical ties to Boston bombing suspect #1. From YahooNews

“Last year, when Tamerlan Tsarnaev spent six months in the Russian region of Dagestan, he had a guide with an unusually deep knowledge of the local Islamist community: a distant cousin named Magomed Kartashov. Six years older than Tsarnaev, Kartashov is a former police officer and freestyle wrestler—and one of the region’s most prominent Islamists.

In 2011 Kartashov founded and became the leader of an organization called the Union of the Just, whose members campaign for sharia law and pan-Islamic unity in Dagestan, often speaking out against U.S. policies across the Muslim world. The group publicly renounces violence. But some of its members have close links to militants; others have served time in prison for weapons possession and abetting terrorism—charges they say were based on fabricated evidence. For Tsarnaev, these men formed a community of pious young Muslims with whom he could discuss his ideas of jihad. Tsarnaev’s mother, Zubeidat, confirmed that her son is Kartashov’s third cousin. The two met for the first time in Dagestan, she said, and “became very close.””

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The chair of the Congressional Black Caucus is seeking leniency for Jesse Jackson Jr. From TheChicagoSunTimes

“Eight of the letters argued for a break. The most prominent advocate for Jesse Jackson was Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio), chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Fudge wrote that even though she and some congressional colleagues in hindsight saw signs of his bipolar illness “during the last 4 to 5 years,” nevertheless, he was a “tireless advocate for the poor and underserved.” He was also the charming “highlight of our karaoke nights.””

So it’s OK to steal campaign donations, as long as you can Karaoke. Got it. 🙄

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Jodi Arias is guilty, and she’d rather have the death penalty. From TheAP

“Jodi Arias spent 18 days on the stand sharing intimate, emotional and oftentimes X-rated details of her life before a rapt television and online audience. She had hoped it all might convince a jury that she killed her one-time boyfriend in self-defense.

But the eight men and four women on the panel didn’t buy it, convicting Arias of first-degree murder after only about 15 hours of deliberations. Jurors will return to court Thursday to begin the next phase of the trial that could set the stage for Arias receiving a death sentence.

It’s a punishment that Arias herself says she wants, telling a TV station minutes after her conviction that she would “prefer to die sooner than later.””

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News/Politics 5-7-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

We’ll start off with this one. A frightening story on the kidnapping of 3 women. They were all abducted as teens over a 10 year period , but thankfully all are now free. Their apparent kidnappers are in custody. Police will release more info this morning. From TheAP

“The woman’s voice was frantic and breathless, and she was choking back tears. “Help me. I’m Amanda Berry,” she told a 911 dispatcher. “I’ve been kidnapped and I’ve been missing for 10 years and I’m, I’m here, I’m free now.”

Those words led police to a house near downtown Cleveland where Berry and two other women who vanished a decade ago were found Monday, elating family members and friends who’d longed to see them again.”

“At first Tejeda said she didn’t want to believe who the young woman was. “You’re not Amanda Berry,” she insisted. “Amanda Berry is dead.”

But when Berry told her she’d been kidnapped and held captive, Tejeda said she gave her the telephone to call police, who arrived within minutes and then took the other women from the house.”

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I hate to say I told you so, but…..

Welcome to the Arab Spring. In Libya, Al-Qaeda is blooming. From TheDailyBeast

“A rare interview with a top Libyan intelligence official reveals that, as an unintended consequence of the French intervention to quash a radical Muslim insurgency in nearby Mali, which forced al Qaeda in the Mahgreb to move north earlier this year, Libya has now become the main base of the terror group in the region, heightening the instability of what is already a volatile country.”

““Libya has become AQIM’s headquarters,” says the intelligence source, adding that in just the last few weeks three new al Qaeda camps have opened in southern Libya.”

“Disgruntled militiamen in league with the Muslim Brotherhood last week applied a choke hold on the government by besieging key ministries in an effort to coerce approval of a measure that is likely to collapse of the government of Ali Zeidan, plunging Libya into even greater political turmoil and weakening Libya’s ability to battle jihadists.”

On the ropes huh? 

And we helped do it. We’re doing the same in Syria. And we’re about to give them more arms.

And our govt. won’t lift a finger to stop them, even when American lives are at stake. From FoxNews

“On the night of Sept. 11, as the Obama administration scrambled to respond to the Benghazi terror attacks, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and a key  aide effectively tried to cut the department’s own counterterrorism bureau out of the chain of reporting and decision-making, according to a “whistle-blower”  witness from that bureau who will soon testify to the charge before Congress,  Fox News has learned.

That witness is Mark I. Thompson, a former Marine and now the deputy  coordinator for operations in the agency’s counterterrorism bureau. Sources tell Fox News Thompson will level the allegation against Clinton during testimony on Wednesday before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, chaired by  Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif.

Fox News has also learned that another official from the counterterrorism  bureau — independently of Thompson — voiced the same complaint about Clinton and Under Secretary for Management Patrick Kennedy to trusted national security colleagues back in October.”

Certainly explains the order to stand down as well.

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Meanwhile back in the States, our govt found yet another way to get more tax money from us. From TheAP

“The Senate sided with traditional retailers and financially strapped state and local governments Monday by passing a bill that would widely subject online shopping — for many a largely tax-free frontier — to state sales taxes.

The Senate passed the bill by a vote of 69 to 27, getting support from Republicans and Democrats alike. But opposition from some conservatives who view it as a tax increase will make it a tougher sell in the House. President Barack Obama has conveyed his support for the measure.”

“”We ought to have a structure in place in the states that treats all retail the same,” said Matthew Shay, president and CEO of the National Retail Federation. “Small retailers are collecting (sales tax) on the first dollar of any sale they make, and it’s only fair that other retailers who are selling to those same customers the same product have those same obligations.””

Sure. That’s the only motivation for retailers, and the extra money the govt pulls in has nothing to do with it for our elected officials. Riiiight. 🙄

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But hey it’s not all bad. The President is gonna concentrate on jobs now too. Apparently it took 4 1/2 years to focus that laser of his on jobs. He’s even gonna tour the country and tell folks about. Which will waste tons of money. Again. The Never-ending Campaign rolls on. From TheWashingtonPost

“President Obama will travel this week to Austin, where the jobs market has been booming, to kick off a new focus on the middle class and economic growth.

Obama is planning a campaign-style “Middle Class Jobs & Opportunity Tour” across the country, beginning Thursday in Austin, a magnet for new tech jobs. The push seems designed to help jump-start the president’s second term.”

“Now, White House officials hope that Obama, by campaigning outside of Washington, can galvanize the public and pressure Congress to back his legislative agenda, including economic measures he outlined in February’s State of the Union address.”

I love it. Hey, if you’re gonna try and grab credit for some good economic news, where else but Texas? He won’t mention that they got there by doing the opposite of what he would do, and in spite of him and his policies.

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And this last one…..  The printable firearm has arrived. From HotAir

“Just to establish a baseline of what we’re talking about here, any of you who regularly watch shows like How it’s Made, Modern Marvels or any of the other science and technology offerings on cable probably already know about 3-D printing. (One of the featured manufacturers of these machines has a nice video tutorial on it.) Basically, a 3-D model is designed and the “printer” lays down one layer after another of material until the model is produced. And some of these machines are already getting down to the affordable range.

So what would you do if you got one? Well, if you’re Cody Wilson, you’d print a gun of course. Forbes has the exclusive.”

““We want to show this principle: That a handgun is printable,” says Wilson, a 24-year-old second-year law student at the University of Texas. “You don’t need to be able to put 200 rounds through it…It only has to fire once. But even if the design is a little unworkable, it doesn’t matter, as long as it has that guarantee of lethality.””

So, sure as the sun rising in the East, Dems wanna ban it.

“New York congressman Steve Israel has responded to Defense Distributed’s work by introducing a bill that would renew the Undetectable Firearms Act with new provisions aimed specifically at 3D printed components. In January, personal 3D printing firm Makerbot removed all gun components from Thingiverse, its popular site for hosting users’ printable designs.

More on the banning, and some good ol’ fashioned media fear mongering, from TheNYDailyNews

“The future just got a lot scarier.

A Texas company is set to release blueprints for making a plastic gun with a  3-D printer — a development Sen.  Chuck Schumer called “stomach-churning” Sunday.

Defense Distributed, a collective of gun access advocates headed by  self-described “free-market anarchist” Cody Wilson, has announced it made such  an untraceable gun with the new plastic-making technology. The nonprofit Texas  group intends to post blueprints for “The Liberator” (pictured) online this  week.

The Liberator may look like a toy, but “this gun can fire regular bullets,” Schumer said, calling for legislation outlawing the technology’s weapons potential.”

The Daily News has no problem being a mouthpiece for anything anti-gun. Even if that means publicly attacking anyone who dares disagree. Like this, from TheNYDailyNews

“Sarah Palin showed up  at the NRA convention the other day, which was merely perfect. She belonged there as much as anybody in the hall just because from the start, from the time  John McCain picked her out of the chorus, Palin has most appealed to mean, dumb, angry crowds exactly like the one she found in Houston.

Palin should have worn a prom dress, but on this occasion wore a T-shirt  that read “Women Hunt.” In her case, that means hunting for attention.

Or relevance.”

“She wants to be a populist and a patriot, the way the phonies cheering her on  Friday think they’re patriots, and brave defenders of the Second Amendment. But all Palin did this time was turn herself out for the craziest and creepiest gun  lovers on the planet. It is the same as turning yourself out for gun  manufacturers.”

He goes on to whine and name call some more after calling Wayne LaPierre her pimp.

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News/Politics 5-6-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

Open Thread.

We’ve had a bunch of new stuff released on Benghazi over the weekend.

From the get go. From CBS

“Everybody in the mission” in Benghazi, Libya, thought the attack on a U.S. consulate there last Sept. 11 was an act of terror “from the get-go,” according to excerpts of an interview investigators conducted with the No. 2 official in Libya at the time, obtained by CBS News’ “Face the Nation.”

“I think everybody in the mission thought it was a terrorist attack from the beginning,” Greg Hicks, a 22-year foreign service diplomat who was the highest-ranking U.S. official in Libya after the strike, told investigators under authority of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Hicks, the former U.S. Embassy Tripoli deputy chief of mission, was not in Benghazi at the time of the attack, which killed Chris Stevens – then the U.S. ambassador to Libya – and three other Americans.”

Here’s the video of an Issa interview on “Face the Nation”. Looks like Bob Schieffer is coming around now that he knows they lied to him on his show.

 The Benghazi Talking Points, and how they were changed to obscure the truth, is addressed nicely at TheWeeklyStandard

“Even as the White House strove last week to move beyond questions about the Benghazi attacks of Tuesday, September 11, 2012, fresh evidence emerged that senior Obama administration officials knowingly misled the country about what had happened in the days following the assaults. The Weekly Standard has obtained a timeline briefed by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence detailing the heavy substantive revisions made to the CIA’s talking points, just six weeks before the 2012 presidential election, and additional information about why the changes were made and by whom.”

The Whistleblowers have been named. From FoxNews

More info in this video from Fox News Sunday.

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Israel has made strikes in Syria. From Bloomberg

“Syria accused Israel of attacking targets on the outskirts of Damascus in an aerial strike that sent a fireball over the capital and drew threats of retaliation.”

“Syria’s Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al-Mekdad told CNN the airstrikes were a “declaration of war” and that the government would retaliate in its own time. The country’s information minister, Omran al-Zoubi, said in a statement on state TV that the attack opens doors to all possibilities and that Syria would use “any means” to protect its people.”

We also have a new report that says it was the rebels, and not the regime, that used chemical weapons in Syria. A possible false flag to get outsider(US) weapons and aid for the rebels. From TheHill

“United Nations human rights investigators said Sunday they have gathered  testimony from outside Syria suggesting rebels, not Bashar Assad’s regime, may  have used chemical weapons.

“Our investigators have been in neighboring countries interviewing victims,  doctors and field hospitals and, according to their report of last week which I  have seen, there are strong, concrete suspicions but not yet incontrovertible  proof of the use of sarin gas, from the way the victims were treated,” Carla Del  Ponte, a member of the independent commission of inquiry on Syria, told  Swiss-Italian television. “This was use on the part of the opposition, the  rebels, not by the government authorities.”

The allegations will likely make it harder for the Obama administration to  justify taking a more active role in the two-year-old civil war on the side of  the opposition. The administration has said in recent days that chemical weapons  appeared to have been used in Syria, which would violate the “red line” Obama  set for Assad’s forces.”

John McCain will be hardest hit by this news. He so wanted to help arm the rebels.

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The Editor of the Aurora Sentinel has called for cracking down on the real terrorists and kidnappers among us. Those dastardly NRA members. He wants to strip them of their rights and send them to Gitmo. If you suggested doing that to an actual terrorist, he’d flip his liberal lid. No word on if they will be waterboarded or not.

And they wonder why newspapers are dying. 🙄 Maybe it has something to do with constantly insulting half your readers. Just sayin’… From TheAuroraSentinel

“I have seen the light. After all these years, I now agree that it’s fruitless to give the benefit of the doubt to people who are so obviously corrupt, so clearly malevolent, so bent on hurting innocent people for their own sick gain.

No more due process in the clear-cut case of insidious terrorism. When the facts are so clearly before all Americans, for the whole world to see, why bother with this country’s odious and cumbersome system of justice? Send the guilty monsters directly to Guantanamo Bay for all eternity and let them rot in their own mental squalor.

No, no, no. Not the wannabe sick kid who blew up the Boston marathon or the freak that’s mailing ricin-laced letters to the president. I’m talking about the real terrorist threat here in America: the National Rifle Association.”

“Hundreds of editorials across the country used the same language, making it clear that the NRA had bullied a handful of low-life senators who are so cowardly, so corrupt that they would knowingly lie and distort the issue in a painfully obvious attempt to cover their political tracts and back ends. This, this is on par with Nixon’s nastiness. This is unforgiveable.”

Of course they used the same language, they all used the same White House talking points. What they made clear was that they’re all reading the same script. The JournoList is obviously alive and well.

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More evidence showing that Gosnell was not an exception, and that Pennsylvania isn’t the only state with a problem. From HotAir

“Besides the actions of the defendants in the Kermit Gosnell house-of-horrors abortion clinic in Philadelphia, the original grand jury expressed outrage in their 2011 report over the lack of intervention by the city and state of Pennsylvania to stop Gosnell’s operation.  The refusal to address numerous reports and complaints over a years-long period was “by design,” the grand jury emphasized, as the political and regulatory establishments chose to protect abortionists rather than the women they maimed and the children they killed.

Pennsylvania isn’t the only state with designs to protect abortionists, either.  Earlier this week, Michigan Live and WOOD TV exposed the cronyism and official neglect that allowed a now-defunct abortion clinic to operate while owned by a convicted felon and piling up complaint after complaint:”

“Michigan lawmakers say that an alleged conflict of interest on the state Board of Medicine allowed a Muskegon doctor, who served time in prison and whose abortion clinic recently closed due to unsanitary conditions, to continue performing abortions despite complaints of “horrendous” misconduct.”

“MLive and The Muskegon Chronicle reported that Dr. Robert Alexander’s abortion clinic was closed in December after police discovered “filthy” and unsanitary conditions throughout the Muskegon clinic, including “blood on the floor and walls in multiple locations.”

Turns out the Board Chairman responsible for deciding an investigation was un-necessary was also the same guy who mentored this felon in the 90’s, and helped him get his license back after he lost it for selling illegal prescriptions. Sounds like another Gosnell type clinic, and operator.

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by

News/Politics 5-3-13

What’s interesting out there today?

Here’s a few and then you folks can have at it. 🙂

We’ll start with things that make you go Hmmmmmm…….  From FoxNews

“The State Department’s Office of Inspector General is investigating the  special internal panel that probed the Benghazi terror attack for the State  Department, Fox News has confirmed.

The IG’s office is said by well-placed sources to be seeking to determine  whether the Accountability Review Board, or ARB — led by former U.N. Ambassador  Thomas Pickering and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike  Mullen — failed to interview key witnesses who had asked to provide their  accounts of the Benghazi attacks to the panel.”

“This disclosure marks a significant turn in the ongoing Benghazi case, as it  calls into question the reliability of the blue-ribbon panel that then-Secretary  of State Hillary Clinton convened to review the entire matter. Until the report  was concluded, she and all other senior Obama administration officials regularly  refused to answer questions about what happened in Benghazi.”

This video from Brett Baier’s Special Report with the disguised witness said much the same on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the FBI has finally gotten around to releasing photos of the Benghazi militants responsible. Maybe. From Reuters

“The FBI on Thursday released the photographs of three men it said were at the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, when it was attacked last September.

The FBI did not call the three men suspects in the attacks, saying only that they “may be able to provide information to help in the investigation.”

“The FBI is now asking Libyans and people around the world for additional information related to the attacks,” the U.S. investigative agency said in a statement with the photographs.”

Wow. And it only took like 8 months. And they won’t call them suspects. And you have video, but you’re not sure. OK then.

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Here’s a story on drone strikes. The allegation is that they’d rather kill suspected militants than send them to Gitmo. From TheGuardianUK

“The lawyer who first drew up White House policy on lethal drone strikes has accused the Obama administration of overusing them because of its reluctance to capture prisoners that would otherwise have to be sent to Guantánamo Bay.

John Bellinger, who was responsible for drafting the legal framework for targeted drone killings while working for George W Bush after 9/11, said he believed their use had increased since because President Obama was unwilling to deal with the consequences of jailing suspected al-Qaida members.

“This government has decided that instead of detaining members of al-Qaida [at Guantánamo] they are going to kill them,” he told a conference at the Bipartisan Policy Center.

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The Boston bombers were originally planning a July 4th attack, but they completed the bombs sooner than expected. From CNN

“The bombs used in the Boston Marathon attack were built in the apartment that suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev shared with his wife and child, a U.S. law enforcement official with first-hand knowledge of the investigation told CNN on Thursday. The official was not authorized to release the information.

Katherine Russell, Tsarnaev’s widow, has remained largely out of view inside her parents’ North Kingstown home since her husband’s death.

According to her attorney, Amato DeLuca, the 24-year-old widow knew nothing of plans to bomb the race, and reports of her husband’s involvement came as an “absolute shock” to Russell and her family.”

I don’t see how you and your brother produce multiple bombs in an apartment and no one else living there sees anything.

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And this last one, well I think we need to get a pool going. How many months until the “My neighbors are them hateful crazy christian people. And they have guns. You should go check them out.” calls start from “concerned” neighbors.? Tea Party Members and legal gun owners should worry too I’d imagine. From ThePalmBeachPost

“Florida House and Senate budget leaders have awarded Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw $1 million for a new violence prevention unit aimed at preventing tragedies like those in Newtown, Conn., and Aurora, Colo., from occurring on his turf.

Bradshaw plans to use the extra $1 million to launch “prevention intervention” units featuring specially trained deputies, mental health professionals and caseworkers. The teams will respond to citizen phone calls to a 24-hour hotline with a knock on the door and a referral to services, if needed.”

“Bradshaw is readying a hotline and is planning public service announcements to encourage local citizens to report their neighbors, friends or family members if they fear they could harm themselves or others.”

““We want people to call us if the guy down the street says he hates the government, hates the mayor and he’s gonna shoot him,” Bradshaw said. “What does it hurt to have somebody knock on a door and ask, ‘Hey, is everything OK?’ ””

I seem to recall similar programs in another country that I read about…… now where was that…..?

Oh well, anyway, I’m sure it’ll be fine.

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News/Politics 5-2-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

Open Thread, as always.

Here’s a few to start.

Some of the Benghazi whistleblowers are bringing their whistles to the House next Wednesday. From TheHill

“Eyewitnesses with potentially damaging information on the Obama  administration’s handling of last year’s terror attack on the U.S. mission in  Benghazi will testify at a hearing next week, Republicans said.

The House oversight committee is holding a hearing next week that will “expose new facts and details that the Obama administration has tried to  suppress,” oversight chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said Wednesday.

Two of Issa’s lieutenants said the witnesses at the hearing would include  federal employees with direct knowledge of the attack that killed Ambassador  Christopher Stevens and three other Americans in Libya.”

The White House would like to remind you that it was a long time ago. 🙄

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Here’s an update on the military’s assault against Christians. And yes, Mikey Weinstein wants proselytizing to be a court-martial offense. From FoxNews

“Religious liberty groups have grave concerns after they learned the Pentagon is vetting its guide on religious tolerance with a group that compared Christian evangelism to “rape” and advocated that military personnel who proselytize should be court martialed.”

“The Military Religious Freedom Foundation is calling on the Air Force to enforce a regulation that they believe calls for the court martial of any service member caught proselytizing.

President Mikey Weinstein and others from his organization met privately with Pentagon officials on April 23. He said U.S. troops who proselytize are guilty of sedition and treason and should be punished – by the hundreds if necessary – to stave off what he called a “tidal wave of fundamentalists.””

““Someone needs to be punished for this,” Weinstein told Fox News. “Until the Air Force or Army or Navy or Marine Corps punishes a member of the military for unconstitutional religious proselytizing and oppression, we will never have the ability to stop this horrible, horrendous, dehumanizing behavior.””

A Hat Tip to Pastor Roy

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I told you about the creative new accounting trick the govt will now use to boost the GDP numbers. But the “real” jobless rate remains over 10% in most states according to CNBC

“Two months from now, revised government estimates are likely to show that the economy is even bigger than the currently stated $15 trillion.

And while the numbers may make some blink or gasp, the mere size of gross domestic product won’t hide the reality that in terms of actual growth, this is also the worst economy in 83 years.

GDP growth is in the midst of its longest sub-3 percent annual growth rate since 1929, the beginning of the Great Depression, according to Bespoke Investment Group. The economy hasn’t topped 3 percent since 2005—before Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke took over—and is unlikely to do so this year.”

“Though employment has risen by 1.3 million over the past year, unemployment that counts the discouraged and underemployed, as well as the jobless (often called the “real” unemployment rate) has remained stubbornly high, at 13.8 percent of the workforce, according to the most recent count.”

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And ObamaCare isn’t just costing you more for healthcare coverage through rising premiums. Other benefits are falling because of it as well. From InvertorsBusinessDaily

“Employer spending on benefits rose at the slowest pace on record in the first  quarter, as companies began bracing for higher health costs with next year’s launch of ObamaCare.

Total benefits, such as insurance and pension contributions, rose just 0.1%  vs. the end of last year, the smallest gain in Labor Department data going back to 2001. By comparison, payroll employment grew by a half-million, or 0.4%, in  Q1. So benefits-per-worker declined.

Total employee benefits provided outside of government jobs declined outright.”

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Reid admits it’s rollout is turning into a train wreck, but they could fix it if they had more money. I won’t put on my shocked face because I’m not. From TheHill

“Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) says he shares colleagues’ concerns  that the Affordable Care Act could become a “train wreck” if it’s not  implemented properly.

Reid warned that people will not be able to choose  health insurance plans on government health exchanges if federal authorities  lack the resources to set them up and educate the public.”

“Reid warned the federal government is not spending enough money to implement the  law because of Republican opposition to ObamaCare.”

“The shortage of funding to implement the law has forced President Obama to shift  funds from other parts of the law.”

As expected, it’s already costing more than estimated, and that’s with next to nothing being paid out yet. FAIL.

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