Libya

by

News/Politics 9-3-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. Oh boy.

From TheFreeBeacon  “Islamist militias in Libya took control of nearly a dozen commercial jetliners last month, and western intelligence agencies recently issued a warning that the jets could be used in terrorist attacks across North Africa.

Intelligence reports of the stolen jetliners were distributed within the U.S. government over the past two weeks and included a warning that one or more of the aircraft could be used in an attack later this month on the date marking the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against New York and Washington, said U.S. officials familiar with the reports.”

“Meanwhile, officials said Egyptian military forces appear to be preparing to intervene in Libya to prevent the country from becoming a failed state run by terrorists, many with ties to al Qaeda.”

Might become? Already is.

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2. So what’s being done to ensure they don’t return to the US?

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3. Rationalizing the indefensible.

From Yahoo  “The White House is crafting a blame-it-on-Congress legal justification to back up President Barack Obama’s impending executive actions on immigration.

 Facing an expected onslaught of opposition, the administration plans to argue that Congress failed to provide enough resources to fully enforce U.S. laws, thereby ceding wide latitude to White House to prioritize deportations of the 11.5 million people who are in the country illegally, administration officials and legal experts said. But Republicans, too, are exploring their legal options for stopping Obama from what they’ve deemed egregious presidential overreaching.

A self-imposed, end-of-summer deadline to act on immigration is rapidly approaching. While Obama has yet to receive the formal recommendations he’s requested from Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, administration officials said the president is intimately familiar with the universe of options and won’t spend much time deliberating once Johnson delivers his recommendations.”

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4. It should be interesting to see how he justifies this to millions of unemployed citizens.

From TheWashingtonExaminer  “The number of illegal immigrants crossing into the United States would surge more than five times the current wave of 90,000 if President Obama grants amnesty to up to 6 million undocumented people as many advocates expect, according to an immigration expert.

“It could hit nearly half a million people,” said Jessica M. Vaughan, director of policy studies with the Center for Immigration Studies. She said that the additional 500,000 would come in the first year following an amnesty plan.

Obama has hinted that he plans to wait until after the upcoming midterm elections before unveiling his executive order, an action that could move immigration out of the mix of big issues roiling House and Senate contests.

Vaughan said that illegal immigrants already believe that the United States has an open door policy since virtually all of the undocumented children from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras are entering to welcoming officials. Some 37,000 illegals have been released into the country and only 280 deported so far this year.”

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5. How do voters feel about it?

From Reuters  “It has been a question heard repeatedly by lawmakers this month in “town hall” district meetings punctuated – and sometimes dominated – by concerns and angry outbursts over immigration policy and the crisis caused by a flood of child migrants at the southwestern border in recent months.”

Those summer town halls have provided lawmakers a first-hand glimpse of growing discontent among Americans over U.S. immigration policy. Seventy percent of Americans – including 86 percent of Republicans – believe undocumented immigrants threaten traditional U.S. beliefs and customs, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted in mid-July.

Those fears have been exacerbated by the recent wave of illegal child migrants from Central America. An issue that had been simmering is now hotting up as voters prepare to go to the polls in congressional elections due in November.

The anger and frustration expressed in the town halls suggests there will be a fierce debate when U.S. lawmakers return to Washington on Sept. 8 and take up proposals to address a flood of child migrants crossing the southwestern U.S. border.”

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6. The DoJ is using the shakedown method to help fund their allies. Again. Jesse and Al must be so proud.

From JudicialWatch  “Judicial Watch first reported the scheme two years ago when Countrywide Financial Corporation doled out $335 million to settle its discrimination lawsuit with the feds. The money was supposed to be distributed to more than 200,000 minority victims who supposedly were charged higher interest rates and fees than white borrowers based on their race not their credit. Instead, a chunk of the money went to Democrat-tied groups not connected to the lawsuit, including the scandal-plagued Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) and the open-borders National Council of La Raza (NCLR).

Now many of the same groups will get more money from a record $16.65 billion settlement with Bank of America. It’s a “historic resolution,” according to Attorney General Eric Holder, and the money will help make amends to borrowers and communities that were negatively affected by the bank’s conduct. Besides settling civil penalties at the state and federal level, the billions will bring relief to struggling homeowners and communities by, among other things, offering new loans and providing financing for affordable rental housing. Delinquent borrowers in Democrat strongholds like Chicago, Oakland and Detroit will also benefit from debt forgiveness.

Leftover funds will go to politically-connected community groups—like the NCLR, Operation Hope and National Community Reinvestment Coalition—that intimidate banks into qualifying more minorities for home loans, even if they really can’t afford it. This part of the deal is conveniently buried in an annex to the 37-page DOJ agreement, but a publication dedicated to covering business, finance and economics draws attention to it in a scathing editorial that refers to the arrangement as extortion.

“In effect, the government has ordered the nation’s largest bank to create a massive slush fund for Democrat special interests,” states the editorial which reveals that radical Democrat activist groups stand to collect millions from Holder’s record deal with Bank of America. “The recession has dried up funding for such groups. But Holder’s massive bank shakedown could rebuild their war chests in a hurry.” The piece also points out that Holder has brokered other similar deals that will provide more back-door funding for the Democrat groups. They include a $13 billion agreement with JPMorgan Chase and a $7 billion deal with Citibank.”

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7. Your tax dollars hard at work getting to the bottom of the issues that matter to Americans.

Or not……..

Also From TheFreeBeacon  “The federal government is still seeking answers as to why the majority of lesbians are obese and U.S. taxpayers are footing the bill, which now totals $2.87 million.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) study is now in its fourth year, receiving an additional $670,567 for fiscal year 2014. The project seeks to determine why “nearly three-quarters of adult lesbians overweight or obese,” and why gay males are not.

In just two years the project’s budget has nearly doubled, growing from $1.5 million to nearly $3 million today, despite fears that sequestration could jeopardize the project and other NIH funding.”

“The sexual orientation and obesity study is slated to last until 2016. The latest grant comes receiving $682,873 last year, $778,622 in 2011, and $741,378 in 2012. The total for the project thus far is $2,873,440.”

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by

News/Politics 8-26-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. It looks like another defeat for Obama’s “Smart Diplomacy,” and yet another victory for radical Islam.

From HotAir  “It was the conflict which gave birth to the infamous and orphaned Obama doctrine of “leading from behind.” The coalition air war over Libya, a response to Muammar Gaddafi’s brutal efforts to suppress the Arab Spring rebellions in that country, was once touted by the administration as one of the president’s signature foreign policy achievements.

“After four decades of brutal dictatorship and eight months of deadly conflict, the Libyan people can now celebrate their freedom and the beginning of a new era of promise,” Obama said in a prepared statement delivered on October 23, 2011.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton echoed the president and noted that Libya had been set on a path toward democracy. “The transitional authorities can build on this movement by promoting reconciliation and respect for human rights across Libyan society, while helping to prevent reprisals and ensuring the justice and due process that the Libyan people expect and deserve,” she said at the time.

“From Tripoli to Misurata to Benghazi — today, Libya is free,” Obama said in speech delivered before the United Nations. “This is how the international community is supposed to work — nations standing together for the sake of peace and security, and individuals claiming their rights.””

“These celebrations were shown to be premature when a sophisticated terrorist attack against American diplomatic and CIA outposts in Benghazi resulted in the deaths of four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya. It was not until today, though, when the country’s capital fell to Islamist militants that the administration’s post-campaign Libya policy was exposed as utter folly.”

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2. The White House says Obama’s constitutional responsibility to protect Americans trumps the law.

From TruthRevolt  “A defiant White House rejected the Government Accountability Office’s determination that the administration broke the law in its highly controversial swap of U.S. Army Sgt. Bow Bergdahl for five Taliban leaders, saying that the president’s “constitutional responsibility to protect the lives of Americans” trumped the law.  

When asked about the GAO’s conclusions released Thursday, administration spokesman Eric Schultz told reporters Friday that the they “strongly” disagree with the GAO’s legal argument:

“It’s not going to surprise you to know that we strongly disagree with GAO’s conclusion and we reject the implication that the administration acted unlawfully. The president has the constitutional responsibility to protect the lives of Americans abroad and specifically to protect U.S. service members. It’s important for everyone here to understand that the GAO report expressly does not address the lawfulness of the administration’s actions as a matter of constitutional law.”

Schultz argued that President Obama is committed to protecting U.S. military personnel and will prioritize that “bedrock principle” over legal “caveats”:”

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3. Here’s yet another case where the so-called “constitutional scholar” and his Democrat minions ignore the rule of law. I guess they feel he has an obligation to ignore the rule of law for illegal immigrants too. Hey it’s only 5 million, right?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=lSLB_b9aPVM

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4. Gee, I wonder why this hasn’t gotten more press? 🙄

From IJReview  “There are few political subjects that can bring the likes of Roseanne Barr, Sarah Silverman, Kelsey Grammer, and Arnold Schwarzenegger together, but through a group called Creative Community for Peace, these artists and nearly 200 other Hollywood stars and executives joined together to condemn Hamas.

The group recognizes that the only free society in the Middle East, the one that supports intellectual and artistic freedom, is Israel. Deadline reports:

“When you talk to artists like Javier Bardem and Pedro Almodovar, you have to think, ‘Where do you think your movies are being watched in the Middle East? They can’t be watched anywhere else but in Israel. When you are on the ground, you realize that you are in a very free and progressive society, and it’s a region where people can’t pay to see the product that we’re making other than in Israel.”

The Hollywood actors who supported the statement can be read below, via the Creative Community for Peace website. The celebrities endorsing it include Arnold Schwarzenegger, Roseanne Barr, Bill Maher, and Sylvester Stallone, among many others.”

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5. A victory in California for 2nd Amendment supporters.

From NationalReview  “A big Second Amendment victory in California. Per the Calguns Foundation:

California’s 10-day waiting period for gun purchases was ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge this morning in a significant victory for Second Amendment civil rights. The laws were challenged by California gun owners Jeffrey Silvester and Brandon Combs, as well as two gun rights groups, The Calguns Foundation and Second Amendment Foundation.

In the decision released this morning, Federal Eastern District of California Senior Judge Anthony W. Ishii, appointed to the bench by President Bill Clinton, found that “the 10-day waiting periods of Penal Code [sections 26815(a) and 27540(a)] violate the Second Amendment” as applied to members of certain classifications, like Silvester and Combs, and “burdens the Second Amendment rights of the Plaintiffs.”

And the victory provides a foundation to challenge other unconstitutional restrictions that California has placed on firearms.

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by

News/Politics 4-29-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. Another “Phony Scandal” update. I recommend you read the whole thing, it’s pretty detailed. This is Obama/Clinton foreign policy legacy.

From TheMailOnline  “The Citizens Commission on Benghazi, a self-selected group of former top military officers, CIA insiders and think-tankers, declared Tuesday in Washington that a seven-month review of the deadly 2012 terrorist attack has determined that it could have been prevented – if the U.S. hadn’t been helping to arm al-Qaeda militias throughout Libya a year earlier.

‘The United States switched sides in the war on terror with what we did in Libya, knowingly facilitating the provision of weapons to known al-Qaeda militias and figures,’ Clare Lopez, a member of the commission and a former CIA officer, told MailOnline.

She blamed the Obama administration for tacitly approving the diversion of half of a $1 billion Qatari arms shipment to al-Qaeda-linked militants.

‘Remember, these weapons that came into Benghazi were permitted to enter by our armed forces who were blockading the approaches from air and sea,’ Lopez claimed. ‘They were permitted to come in. … [They] knew these weapons were coming in, and that was allowed..

‘The intelligence community was part of that, the Department of State was part of that, and certainly that means that the top leadership of the United States, our national security leadership, and potentially Congress – if they were briefed on this – also knew about this.’“

Nope, nothin’ to see there…. 🙄

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2. The political fraud about voter fraud.

From TheWSJ  “The Obama administration has been ramping up its rhetoric about the evil of voter identification as part of the run-up to the midterm elections. In January, Attorney General Eric Holder told MSNBC that voter fraud “simply does not exist to the extent that would warrant” voter ID laws, adding that many who favor such measures do so in order to “depress the vote.” Vice President Joe Biden claimed in February that new voter ID laws in North Carolina, Alabama and Texas were motivated by “hatred” and “zealotry.”

In an April 11 speech to Al Sharpton‘s National Action Network, President Obama recited statistics purporting to show that voter fraud was extremely rare. The “real voter fraud,” he said, “is people who try to deny our rights by making bogus arguments about voter fraud.”

These arguments themselves are bogus.”

“The president’s speech may have been red meat for his base and good for fundraising. But it failed to engage the serious issues relating to election integrity. The coming months don’t promise an improvement.”

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3. In 20% of American families, no one works.

From CNSNews  “In 20 percent of American families in 2013, according to new data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), not one member of the family worked.

A family, as defined by the BLS, is a group of two or more people who live together and who are related by birth, adoption or marriage. In 2013, there were 80,445,000 families in the United States and in 16,127,000—or 20 percent–no one had a job.

The BLS designates a person as “employed” if “during the survey reference week” they “(a) did any work at all as paid employees; (b) worked in their own business, profession, or on their own farm; (c) or worked 15 hours or more as unpaid workers in an enterprise operated by a member of the family.”

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4. An Egyptian court’s crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood leaders continues.

From YahooNews  “An Egyptian court sentenced 682 alleged Islamists and Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie to death on Monday, a lawyer and prosecutor said, after two brief sessions the defence partly boycotted.

The same court in the southern province of Minya also reversed 492 of 529 death sentences it passed in March, commuting most of those to life in prison.

The court, presided over by judge Said Youssef Sabry, had sparked an international outcry with its initial sentencing last month amid an extensive crackdown on supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.”

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5. China has restarted it’s campaign against Christian churches within it’s borders.

From TheTelegraph  “Demolition teams began destroying parts of a Chinese church that has become a symbol of resistance to the Communist Party’s draconian clutch on religion, activists and witnesses said on Monday.

Sanjiang church in Wenzhou, a wealthy coastal city known as the “Jerusalem of the East”, made headlines earlier this month when thousands of Christians formed a human shield around its entrance after plans for its demolition were announced.

Church members accused Communist leaders in Zhejiang province of ordering an anti-church crackdown and claimed there were plans to completely or partially demolish at least 10 places of worship.”

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6. Israeli Christians have seen what happened to their brethren in Muslim countries during the Arab Spring. Now they want to help protect theirs from the same fate.

From TheGlobalPost  “For the first time in its history, Israel’s army is getting ready to send voluntary military enlistment notices to Christian Arab citizens when they turn eighteen.

The unlikely impetus behind the move is none other than the Arab Spring, the popular rebellion revolutionizing the Arab world and in the process recalibrating the relationship between Christian citizens and the State of Israel. Shocked by a new climate featuring violence against Christians in Egypt and Libya, among other countries, and displacement in Syria, some of Israel’s Christian Arabs are pushing for greater participation in their home state.”

“The name alone — “Israeli Christians Recruitment Forum,” rather than “Arab Christians Recruitment Forum” — is a strong statement in this region. Naddaf has lost patience, he says, “with the Arab world telling us what we can do and what we should feel.”

“In light of the persecution of Christians in Arab countries just because they are Christians,” Naddaf said in a meeting with journalists this week following the army’s announcement, “our youth feels they must make a sacrifice for the country that is protecting them.” He believes that these notices, which still aren’t equivalent to the obligatory draft others face, will “open the door … to full participation in society for Christians.” But apart from an explicit welcome, the notices will include details on a possible preliminary meeting at the individual’s nearest IDF enlistment office, and reduce the amount of energy Christian youths need to expend volunteering for a service other citizens are brought into automatically.”

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by

News/Politics 3-25-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. At least 14 people have died in a mudslide in Washington state. Many more are still missing.

From Seattle/CBSLocal  “The search for survivors of a deadly Washington state mudslide grew Monday to include scores of people who were still unaccounted for as the death toll from the wall of trees, rocks and debris that swept through a rural community rose to at least 14.

In the struggle to find loved ones, family members and neighbors used chain saws and their bare hands to dig through wreckage that was tangled by the mud into broken piles.

Authorities said they were looking for more than 100 people who had not been heard from since the disaster about 55 miles northeast of Seattle. They predicted that the number of missing would decline as more people are found safe. But the startling initial length of the list added to the anxieties two days after a mile-wide layer of soft earth crashed onto a cluster of homes at the bottom of a river valley.”

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2. The failed results of this administration’s “smart” diplomacy. Failed state, failed diplomacy. We should never have gotten involved.

From HotAir  “An anniversary passed this week that went almost completely unremarked — and for good reason. March 17th marked the three-year anniversary of the UN Security Council resolution imposing a no-fly zone over Libya to stop the Moammar Qaddafi regime from attacking rebel-held Benghazi and Ajdabiya, and the three-year anniversary on the 19th of the NATO war on Libya. French, British, and American planes began bombarding the Qaddafi regime, an air war that would continue for months — while Barack Obama refused to request Congressional approval for it. Later, Obama would claim that Libya represented the smart model of Western intervention.

If so, why did these anniversaries pass unremarked? The Associated Press report on the status of Libya today gives a very good answer, although it is not written as such. Libya has become a failed state, where the government’s writ doesn’t run outside of its capital, and not even everywhere within that. Not only is it a dangerous place, but it is a danger to the surrounding nations in north Africa too:

Libya, where hundreds of militias hold sway and the central government is virtually powerless, is awash in millions of weapons with no control over their trafficking. The arms free-for-all fuels not only Libya’s instability but also stokes conflicts around the region as guns are smuggled through the country’s wide-open borders to militants fighting in insurgencies and wars stretching from Syria to West Africa.

The lack of control is at times stunning. Last month, militia fighters stole a planeload of weapons sent by Russia for Libya’s military when it stopped to refuel at Tripoli International Airport on route to a base in the south. The fighters surrounded the plane on the tarmac and looted the shipment of automatic weapons and ammunition, Hashim Bishr, an official with a Tripoli security body under the Interior Ministry, told The Associated Press.”

And as the author notes later, the Obama admin relied on the same type of groups for security in Benghazi, and in Egypt as well.

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3. Democrats are now using the tactic of disparaging military service to help win elections. Rather cowardly, not to mention ungrateful of them, if you ask me.

Also from HotAir  “In case you were wondering precisely how desperate Senate Democrats are getting as they watch the poll numbers shift and the pages of the calendar fall away toward November, the answer would appear to be, “a lot.” You can argue the relative merits of policy and legislation all day long and nobody will bat an eye, but who on Earth thought it would be a good idea to criticize your opponent for serving their country in the military? Well, two examples come to mind from recent weeks. The first was Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) going after Tom Cotton.

There’s a disgusting pattern emerging of Democrats attacking Republican candidates’ records of service to the nation. Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) recently complained that Rep. Tom Cotton (R-AR), his general election opponent, has a “sense of entitlement” because of his military service.

“There’s a lot of people in the Senate that didn’t serve in the military,” Pryor, who never served and is the son of a politician, told NBC News. “I think it’s part of this sense of entitlement that he gives off is that almost as like ‘I served my country, therefore elect me to the Senate.’ That’s not how it works in Arkansas.”

A “sense of entitlement” for mentioning your service record? That takes some serious chutzpah. It had the Morning Joe crew shaking their heads in disbelief.”

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4. Remember the old days when college campuses were the place to engage in debate, and all points of view were heard and considered, that whole free exchange of ideas thing?

Yeah, good times….. Nowadays you might get assaulted by a professor for not towing the liberal line.

From TheCollegeFix  “The University of California-Santa Barbara professor who allegedly assaulted a pro-life student on campus has been charged with criminal battery.

The College Fix reported on March 12 that department of feminist studies professor Mireille Miller-Young, whose research emphasis is black studies, pornography, and sex work, had been caught on camera assaulting a 16-year-old student, Thrin Short.

Miller-Young led a small mob that approached a group of pro-life demonstrators who were holding signs. The mob chanted “tear down the sign.” Miller-Young then grabbed one of the signs and stormed off with it, eventually engaging in a physical altercation with 16-year-old Short, one of the pro-life demonstrators, when Short tried to retrieve the stolen sign.

The confrontation took place in the university’s designated “free speech area.” 

The irony is strong with this one….

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5. The DoJ is trying to convince the Supreme Court that preventing an embryo in the womb from implanting is not abortion.

From CNSNews  “The U.S. Justice Department is telling the Supreme Court that killing a human embryo by preventing the embryo from implanting in his or her mother’s uterus is not an “abortion” and, thus, drugs that kill embryos this way are not “abortion-inducing” drugs.”

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the case of Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby. The crux of the administration’s argument in this case is that when Christians form a corporation they give up the right to freely exercise their religion–n.b. live according to their Christian beliefs—in the way they run their business.

It is in the context of this case, that the administration is making its argument that killing an embryo seeking to implant in his or her mother’s womb is not an abortion.”

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6. This one is just disgusting. Talk about inhumane.

From TheTelegraph/UK  “The bodies of thousands of aborted and miscarried babies were incinerated as clinical waste, with some even used to heat hospitals, an investigation has found.

Ten NHS trusts have admitted burning foetal remains alongside other rubbish while two others used the bodies in ‘waste-to-energy’ plants which generate power for heat.

Last night the Department of Health issued an instant ban on the practice which health minister Dr Dan Poulter branded ‘totally unacceptable.’

At least 15,500 foetal remains were incinerated by 27 NHS trusts over the last two years alone, Channel 4’s Dispatches discovered.”

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Kane alleges that these prosecutors, out of revenge, left her holding a damaged political-corruption case that she was forced to drop, and that they then leaked the story to the press in order to besmirch her reputation. But I have looked into the facts, and they conclusively disprove this charge. These prosecutors didn’t leak this story, and I believe that not just because they told me; I believe it because the reporters themselves have said so. Kane should know that too, because those reporters have explicitly advised her office that these prosecutors were not the source of the story.

And there’s another problem with this theory: The case files were not in her office when Kane became attorney general. I have been told that before she took office, the files had been given to federal authorities, and they have stated that they never made a conclusion as to the merits of the case. No one left her with a potentially embarrassing decision to make; all she had to do was leave the investigation in the hands of federal authorities. But she didn’t do that. Instead, she asked for the files back. And then, after going out of her way to reclaim the investigation, she shut it down.

For whatever reasons, Kane has been largely silent about this important fact. She has repeatedly claimed that it was federal prosecutors who ended the investigation, and that they did so because they concluded that it was without merit. I believe that to be untrue.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20140323_Kane_s_account_of_case_doesn_t_add_up.html#aUyPTCkdv8mZYgWj.99

Kane alleges that these prosecutors, out of revenge, left her holding a damaged political-corruption case that she was forced to drop, and that they then leaked the story to the press in order to besmirch her reputation. But I have looked into the facts, and they conclusively disprove this charge. These prosecutors didn’t leak this story, and I believe that not just because they told me; I believe it because the reporters themselves have said so. Kane should know that too, because those reporters have explicitly advised her office that these prosecutors were not the source of the story.

And there’s another problem with this theory: The case files were not in her office when Kane became attorney general. I have been told that before she took office, the files had been given to federal authorities, and they have stated that they never made a conclusion as to the merits of the case. No one left her with a potentially embarrassing decision to make; all she had to do was leave the investigation in the hands of federal authorities. But she didn’t do that. Instead, she asked for the files back. And then, after going out of her way to reclaim the investigation, she shut it down.

For whatever reasons, Kane has been largely silent about this important fact. She has repeatedly claimed that it was federal prosecutors who ended the investigation, and that they did so because they concluded that it was without merit. I believe that to be untrue.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20140323_Kane_s_account_of_case_doesn_t_add_up.html#aUyPTCkdv8mZYgWj.99

Kane alleges that these prosecutors, out of revenge, left her holding a damaged political-corruption case that she was forced to drop, and that they then leaked the story to the press in order to besmirch her reputation. But I have looked into the facts, and they conclusively disprove this charge. These prosecutors didn’t leak this story, and I believe that not just because they told me; I believe it because the reporters themselves have said so. Kane should know that too, because those reporters have explicitly advised her office that these prosecutors were not the source of the story.

And there’s another problem with this theory: The case files were not in her office when Kane became attorney general. I have been told that before she took office, the files had been given to federal authorities, and they have stated that they never made a conclusion as to the merits of the case. No one left her with a potentially embarrassing decision to make; all she had to do was leave the investigation in the hands of federal authorities. But she didn’t do that. Instead, she asked for the files back. And then, after going out of her way to reclaim the investigation, she shut it down.

For whatever reasons, Kane has been largely silent about this important fact. She has repeatedly claimed that it was federal prosecutors who ended the investigation, and that they did so because they concluded that it was without merit. I believe that to be untrue.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20140323_Kane_s_account_of_case_doesn_t_add_up.html#aUyPTCkdv8mZYgWj.99

Kane alleges that these prosecutors, out of revenge, left her holding a damaged political-corruption case that she was forced to drop, and that they then leaked the story to the press in order to besmirch her reputation. But I have looked into the facts, and they conclusively disprove this charge. These prosecutors didn’t leak this story, and I believe that not just because they told me; I believe it because the reporters themselves have said so. Kane should know that too, because those reporters have explicitly advised her office that these prosecutors were not the source of the story.

And there’s another problem with this theory: The case files were not in her office when Kane became attorney general. I have been told that before she took office, the files had been given to federal authorities, and they have stated that they never made a conclusion as to the merits of the case. No one left her with a potentially embarrassing decision to make; all she had to do was leave the investigation in the hands of federal authorities. But she didn’t do that. Instead, she asked for the files back. And then, after going out of her way to reclaim the investigation, she shut it down.

For whatever reasons, Kane has been largely silent about this important fact. She has repeatedly claimed that it was federal prosecutors who ended the investigation, and that they did so because they concluded that it was without merit. I believe that to be untrue.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20140323_Kane_s_account_of_case_doesn_t_add_up.html#aUyPTCkdv8mZYgWj.99

also have to address another conspiracy theory advanced by the attorney general. She says these career prosecutors are just out to get her. She says they were mad at her because she criticized their work on another high-profile case: the investigation of Jerry Sandusky, a former coach at my alma mater, Pennsylvania State University.

Kane alleges that these prosecutors, out of revenge, left her holding a damaged political-corruption case that she was forced to drop, and that they then leaked the story to the press in order to besmirch her reputation. But I have looked into the facts, and they conclusively disprove this charge. These prosecutors didn’t leak this story, and I believe that not just because they told me; I believe it because the reporters themselves have said so. Kane should know that too, because those reporters have explicitly advised her office that these prosecutors were not the source of the story.

And there’s another problem with this theory: The case files were not in her office when Kane became attorney general. I have been told that before she took office, the files had been given to federal authorities, and they have stated that they never made a conclusion as to the merits of the case. No one left her with a potentially embarrassing decision to make; all she had to do was leave the investigation in the hands of federal authorities. But she didn’t do that. Instead, she asked for the files back. And then, after going out of her way to reclaim the investigation, she shut it down.

For whatever reasons, Kane has been largely silent about this important fact. She has repeatedly claimed that it was federal prosecutors who ended the investigation, and that they did so because they concluded that it was without merit. I believe that to be untrue.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20140323_Kane_s_account_of_case_doesn_t_add_up.html#aUyPTCkdv8mZYgWj.99

I also have to address another conspiracy theory advanced by the attorney general. She says these career prosecutors are just out to get her. She says they were mad at her because she criticized their work on another high-profile case: the investigation of Jerry Sandusky, a former coach at my alma mater, Pennsylvania State University.

Kane alleges that these prosecutors, out of revenge, left her holding a damaged political-corruption case that she was forced to drop, and that they then leaked the story to the press in order to besmirch her reputation. But I have looked into the facts, and they conclusively disprove this charge. These prosecutors didn’t leak this story, and I believe that not just because they told me; I believe it because the reporters themselves have said so. Kane should know that too, because those reporters have explicitly advised her office that these prosecutors were not the source of the story.

And there’s another problem with this theory: The case files were not in her office when Kane became attorney general. I have been told that before she took office, the files had been given to federal authorities, and they have stated that they never made a conclusion as to the merits of the case. No one left her with a potentially embarrassing decision to make; all she had to do was leave the investigation in the hands of federal authorities. But she didn’t do that. Instead, she asked for the files back. And then, after going out of her way to reclaim the investigation, she shut it down.

For whatever reasons, Kane has been largely silent about this important fact. She has repeatedly claimed that it was federal prosecutors who ended the investigation, and that they did so because they concluded that it was without merit. I believe that to be untrue.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20140323_Kane_s_account_of_case_doesn_t_add_up.html#aUyPTCkdv8mZYgWj.99

But I’m familiar with the newspaper reports, and with the attorney general’s extensive comments disparaging her own case. Her central complaint, as I understand it, is that she couldn’t possibly prosecute, no matter how obvious the corruption, because the witness who recorded the payoffs was offered immunity for serious criminal charges he himself was facing.

In other words, she apparently has electronic recordings of numerous elected officials taking money while promising their votes – and she has to let them off scot-free because she would be incapable of convincing a jury of their guilt?

Prosecutors around the country – local, state, and federal – regularly and successfully bring cases based on the testimony of some very bad men, sometimes even men who have been granted complete immunity after committing multiple murders. But the attorney general of Pennsylvania drops a case supported by hundreds of hours of devastating tapes because the main witness got a deal on a bunch of government fraud charges.

As a district attorney, I think this might be the most disturbing aspect of the whole sordid spectacle. You don’t have to be a prosecutor to know this is how it’s done. The way to take down organized crime or major drug distribution – or political corruption – is to get someone on the inside, someone who has been part of the enterprise, to give evidence in exchange for favorable treatment. It happens all the time, in prosecutors’ offices everywhere – including in Kane’s own.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20140323_Kane_s_account_of_case_doesn_t_add_up.html#7qVaLy6LQYZc98V1.99

But I’m familiar with the newspaper reports, and with the attorney general’s extensive comments disparaging her own case. Her central complaint, as I understand it, is that she couldn’t possibly prosecute, no matter how obvious the corruption, because the witness who recorded the payoffs was offered immunity for serious criminal charges he himself was facing.

In other words, she apparently has electronic recordings of numerous elected officials taking money while promising their votes – and she has to let them off scot-free because she would be incapable of convincing a jury of their guilt?

Prosecutors around the country – local, state, and federal – regularly and successfully bring cases based on the testimony of some very bad men, sometimes even men who have been granted complete immunity after committing multiple murders. But the attorney general of Pennsylvania drops a case supported by hundreds of hours of devastating tapes because the main witness got a deal on a bunch of government fraud charges.

As a district attorney, I think this might be the most disturbing aspect of the whole sordid spectacle. You don’t have to be a prosecutor to know this is how it’s done. The way to take down organized crime or major drug distribution – or political corruption – is to get someone on the inside, someone who has been part of the enterprise, to give evidence in exchange for favorable treatment. It happens all the time, in prosecutors’ offices everywhere – including in Kane’s own.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20140323_Kane_s_account_of_case_doesn_t_add_up.html#7qVaLy6LQYZc98V1.99

But I’m familiar with the newspaper reports, and with the attorney general’s extensive comments disparaging her own case. Her central complaint, as I understand it, is that she couldn’t possibly prosecute, no matter how obvious the corruption, because the witness who recorded the payoffs was offered immunity for serious criminal charges he himself was facing.

In other words, she apparently has electronic recordings of numerous elected officials taking money while promising their votes – and she has to let them off scot-free because she would be incapable of convincing a jury of their guilt?

Prosecutors around the country – local, state, and federal – regularly and successfully bring cases based on the testimony of some very bad men, sometimes even men who have been granted complete immunity after committing multiple murders. But the attorney general of Pennsylvania drops a case supported by hundreds of hours of devastating tapes because the main witness got a deal on a bunch of government fraud charges.

As a district attorney, I think this might be the most disturbing aspect of the whole sordid spectacle. You don’t have to be a prosecutor to know this is how it’s done. The way to take down organized crime or major drug distribution – or political corruption – is to get someone on the inside, someone who has been part of the enterprise, to give evidence in exchange for favorable treatment. It happens all the time, in prosecutors’ offices everywhere – including in Kane’s own.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20140323_Kane_s_account_of_case_doesn_t_add_up.html#7qVaLy6LQYZc98V1.99

But I’m familiar with the newspaper reports, and with the attorney general’s extensive comments disparaging her own case. Her central complaint, as I understand it, is that she couldn’t possibly prosecute, no matter how obvious the corruption, because the witness who recorded the payoffs was offered immunity for serious criminal charges he himself was facing.

In other words, she apparently has electronic recordings of numerous elected officials taking money while promising their votes – and she has to let them off scot-free because she would be incapable of convincing a jury of their guilt?

Prosecutors around the country – local, state, and federal – regularly and successfully bring cases based on the testimony of some very bad men, sometimes even men who have been granted complete immunity after committing multiple murders. But the attorney general of Pennsylvania drops a case supported by hundreds of hours of devastating tapes because the main witness got a deal on a bunch of government fraud charges.

As a district attorney, I think this might be the most disturbing aspect of the whole sordid spectacle. You don’t have to be a prosecutor to know this is how it’s done. The way to take down organized crime or major drug distribution – or political corruption – is to get someone on the inside, someone who has been part of the enterprise, to give evidence in exchange for favorable treatment. It happens all the time, in prosecutors’ offices everywhere – including in Kane’s own.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20140323_Kane_s_account_of_case_doesn_t_add_up.html#7qVaLy6LQYZc98V1.99

by

News/Politics 9-30-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

First up, the plot thickens….

From Politico  “House Republicans forced through a short-term government funding bill that  delays Obamacare and permanently repeals a tax on medical devices, setting up  their most dramatic face-off ever with President Barack Obama and Senate  Democrats.

The vote to delay Obamacare was 231-192,  with two Republicans voting against the bill, while two Democrats supported  it.  The Republicans opposed to the bill were New York Reps. Chris Gibson  and Richard Hanna, and the Democrats who supported the measure were North  Carolina Rep. Mike McInytre and Utah Rep. Jim Matheson.

The move represents a complete about-face by Speaker John  Boehner (R-Ohio) and the House Republican leadership. They wanted to shift the  focus of health care and budgetary squabbles onto the debt ceiling fight, but  conservative Republicans honed in on the government funding battle.”

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Maybe Boehner has found his spine.

From TheWallStJournal  “House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) issued a statement blasting Democrats for not reconvening the Senate sooner, in the latest round of recriminations over a rapidly approaching government shutdown.

If the Senate reconvenes as planned Monday afternoon, Democrats will be engaging in an act of “breathtaking arrogance,” Mr. Boehner said in a written statement early Sunday afternoon.

“They will be deliberately bringing the nation to the brink of a government shutdown for the sake of raising taxes on seniors’ pacemakers and children’s hearing aids and plowing ahead with the train wreck that is the president’s health care law,” Mr. Boehner said.”

Why should Democrats worry? They know the media will carry their water and blame it all on those dastardly Republicans.

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Here’s a summary of the job killing ObamaCare has wrought on the economy.

From InvestorsBusinessDaily  “ObamaCare’s impact on jobs is hotly debated by politicians and economists.  Critics say the Affordable Care Act, with its employer mandate to provide health  insurance, gives businesses an incentive to cut workers’ hours. This year,  report after report has rolled in about employers restricting work hours to  fewer than 30 per week — the point where the mandate kicks in. Data also point  to a record low workweek in low-wage industries.

In the interest of an informed debate, we’ve compiled a list of job actions  with strong proof that ObamaCare’s employer mandate is behind cuts to work hours  or staffing levels. As of Sept. 25, our ObamaCare scorecard included 313 employers. Here’s our latest analysis, focusing on cuts to adjunct  hours at nearly 200 college campuses. The ObamaCare list methodology is explained further in our  initial coverage; click on the employer names in the list below for links to  supporting records, mostly news accounts or official documents.”

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Canada has revoked the tax exempt status of The Islamic Society of North America for supporting terrorism.

From TheTorontoSun  “The Canada Revenue Agency has revoked the charitable status of an Islamic group after it says it distributed over $280,000 to an agency allegedly linked to a terrorist organization in Pakistan.

The CRA announced Friday it will strip the Islamic Society of North America Canada’s Development Foundation of its charitable status.

After a nearly two-year-long audit of its books, the CRA said it found evidence linking the group to an organization that funds a terrorist organization in Pakistan.

“The Government of Canada has made it clear that it will not tolerate the abuse of the registration system for charities to provide any means of support to terrorism,” a press release from the CRA said.”

And yet Pres. Obama praises them, and recently released a video which was played at their annual conference thanking them for their work…….

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I’ve told you before about this woman’s fraudulent credentials. And yet McCain hire her. Now you know why he supports the rebels in Syria. This is the type of adviser he takes advice from.

From TheDailyCaller  “Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain hired the Syria analyst in favor of U.S.  intervention who was fired for fabricating her Ph.D., Foreign Policy reported.

Elizabeth O’Bagy, formerly of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), will  start Monday as a legislative assistant in Sen. McCain’s office.

McCain told Foreign Policy that “Elizabeth is a talented researcher, and I  have been very impressed by her knowledge and analysis in multiple briefings  over the last year.” The senator’s office said they would not make any further  comment on O’Bagy’s employment.”

Gee, I wonder why?…… 🙄

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And lastly, I wonder when Holder and the DoJ will get around to investigating these leakers?

From TheDailyCaller  “A leaked State Department email indicates that officials were worried about  the safety of House Oversight Committee chairman Rep. Darrell Issa after  Democrats revealed his plans for a secret trip to Libya this week.

Issa, a Republican from California, has safely returned from his fact-finding  trip to the country as his committee continues to investigate the terrorist  attacks that killed America’s ambassador and three others in Benghazi on Sept.  11, 2012.

CBS News reported Thursday on an email that quoted a  Libyan national sharing “his concern and his opinion that Representative Issa  should not come to Libya for his own safety.”

““Ranking Member Elijah Cummings’ reckless release of information was not going  to deter Chairman Issa from conducting his oversight responsibilities in the  wake of the Benghazi tragedy,” Issa spokesman Frederick Hill told The Daily  Caller. “Fortunately, despite the media attention and resulting threat, no  security incident occurred during Rep. Issa’s time in Libya.”

That’s low, even for a treasonous Dem like Cummings.

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by

News/Politics 9-26-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

First up today, someone notes the obvious bias in the treatment the filibustering Cruz has gotten from the media when compared to Wendy Davis.

From Politico  “Sen. Ted Cruz has been speaking on the Senate floor for almost 19 hours, as of this post. The talk is not technically a filibuster — he can’t actually block the Senate from going about its business — but symbolically, it’s more or less the same thing. The point is to show one’s opposition to something through a demonstration of physical will.

Which is why you can forgive conservatives for being upset with the mainstream media’s coverage of the Cruz affair. When a Democrat like Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis filibusters against abortion restrictions, she is elevated to hero status, her tennis shoes become totems. When Cruz grandstands against Obamacare, he is a laughingstock in the eyes of many journalists on Twitter, an “embarrassment” in the eyes of The New York Times editorial board.

“Gee I wonder why NYT and WaPo and everyone else gave ecstatic coverage to Wendy Davis but not to Ted Cruz. I just can’t make sense of it!” John Podhoretz, the conservative columnist, tweeted on Wednesday morning.”

Was that sarcasm? 🙂

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The usual suspects are all wound up over Ted Cruz’s behavior. Several have shown their true colors. McCain being the most obvious.

From WeaselZippers  “UNREAL: McRINO Backs Dems On Senate Floor After Cruz Filibuster, “The People Spoke” And They Want Obamacare – Update: Chuck Schumer Thanks McRINO For His “Outstanding Remarks”…

Yeah. Sad. And what polls has he been looking at? From day 1 the majority has been against ObamaCare.

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Senator Durbin seems to say a lot of stupid things. Here’s Exhibit B, also from yesterday.

From CNSNews  ” Questioning Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on the Senate floor Tuesday, Sen.  Dick Dubin, an Illinois Democrat, explained why he’s proud to have  voted for Obamacare.

He told the story of a chambermaid named  Judy who works “at a motel that I often go to,” and who will benefit  from Obamacare because she is so poor: “The good news for Judy is that  her income is so low that she now qualifies for Medicaid for the first time in her life,” Durbin said.”

Yes, you read that right. She’s lucky she’s poor. Wow. A face palm smiley would be perfect here, but I have to settle for this. 🙄

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But in a way he’s right, even if he is a condescending jerk about it. She is lucky, she won’t get what most of us will get. Higher premiums.

From Forbes  “For months now, we’ve been waiting to hear how much Obamacare will drive up the cost of health insurance for people who purchase coverage on their own. Last night, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services finally began to provide some data on how Americans will fare on Obamacare’s federally-sponsored insurance exchanges. HHS’ press release is full of happy talk about how premiums will be “lower than originally expected.” But the reality is starkly different.”

“Earlier this month, I and two colleagues from the Manhattan Institute—Yevgeniy Feyman and Paul Howard—published an interactive map that detailed Obamacare’s impact on individually-purchased health insurance premiums in 13 states plus D.C. As the accompanying article described, Obamacare increased premiums in those states by an average of 24 percent.

But those states were largely blue states that had set up their own, state-based insurance exchanges. The big data dump that we’ve been waiting for, since then, is from the majority of states that didn’t set up their own state-based exchange. That data is the responsibility of the Obama administration, namely HHS. Finally, with less than a week to go before the exchanges are supposed to go on-line, HHS has released a slim, 15-page report and a press release that summarize some of the premium data.”

“Former Congressional Budget Office director Douglas Holtz-Eakin agrees. “There are literally no comparisons to current rates. That is, HHS has chosen to dodge the question of whose rates are going up, and how much. Instead they try to distract with a comparison to a hypothetical number that has nothing to do with the actual experience of real people.”

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Next up, this is why I’ve said in Libya and Syria, if you aid the so-called rebels, you aid our enemies. Or stuff just gets “stolen” by the bad guys while the other rebels look the other way.

First one is on Syria, from TheBlaze  “Recent images from the front line of the Syrian war suggest that terrorists are enjoying the small comforts of U.S. equipment and supplies that are meant to aide legitimate rebels, who are part of the Free Syrian Army. This appears to prove all the concerns among U.S. lawmakers and analysts that aid to the Syrian rebels could end up in the hands of Al Qaeda.

The photograph allegedly shows Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) linked Commander Muhajireen Kavkaz wa Sham, along with other rebels dawning battle-gear and an RPG, inside a USAID tent.”

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The second is Libya, from FoxNews  “The recent theft of massive amounts of highly sensitive U.S. military equipment from Libya is far worse than previously thought, Fox News has learned, with raiders swiping hundreds of weapons that are now in the hands of militia groups aligned with terror organizations and the Muslim Brotherhood. 

 The equipment, as Fox News previously reported, was used for training in Libya by U.S. Special Forces. The training team, which was funded by the Pentagon, has since been pulled, partly in response to the overnight raids last August. 

According to State Department and military sources, dozens of highly armored vehicles called GMV’s, provided by the United States, are now missing. The vehicles feature GPS navigation as well as various sets of weapon mounts and can be outfitted with smoke-grenade launchers. U.S. Special Forces undergo significant training to operate these vehicles. Fox News is told the vehicles provided to the Libyans are now gone. 

Along with the GMV’s, hundreds of weapons are now missing, including roughly 100 Glock pistols and more than 100 M4 rifles. More disturbing, according to the sources, is that it seems almost every set of night-vision goggles has also been taken. This is advanced technology that gives very few war fighters an advantage on the battlefield.”

It wouldn’t be shocking to find that this is what was actually stolen from the CIA’s gun running program at the embassy on 9-11.

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by

News/Politics 9-19-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

I’m feeling under the weather today. You folks are pretty much on your own. But here’s a few I did want to post.

From TheBBC  “Multiple sources in the Capitol Police department, which guards the US Capitol complex, have told the BBC that its highly trained and heavily armed four-man Containment and Emergency Response Team (Cert) was near the Navy Yard when the initial report of an active shooter came in at about 8:20 local time.

The officers, wearing full tactical gear and armed with HK-416 assault weapons, arrived outside Building 197 a few minutes later, an official with knowledge of the incident told the BBC.

According to a Capitol Police source, an officer with the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), Washington DC’s main municipal force, told the Capitol Cert officers they were the only police on the site equipped with long guns, and requested their help stopping the gunman. When the Capitol Police team radioed their superiors, they were told by a watch commander to leave the scene, the BBC was told.”

“I don’t think it’s a far stretch to say that some lives may have been saved if we were allowed to intervene,” a Capitol Police source familiar with the incident told the BBC.”

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From TheFreeBeacon  “Under Secretary of State Patrick Kennedy said the government of Libya is not allowing U.S. law enforcement into the country to arrest individuals connected with the Benghazi attack because the Libyan government “is not in control to that degree” Wednesday in a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing.

Kennedy explained ever since the events of September 11, 2012 the country has taken a “serious turn for the worse.”

Journalists, according to Kennedy, still have access to the country but the Libyan government’s authority is so diminished it is incapable of allowing the United States in to arrest people:”

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From CNSNews  “House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), appearing with other Republican  leaders on Wednesday, said the House will pass a continuing resolution  (CR) that defunds Obamacare and lets the Senate deal with it.

He also  indicated that Republicans will use debt limit legislation as leverage in an attempt  to cut spending.

Two other Republicans said their conference has agreed to “delay” Obamacare.”

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From TownHall  “Traditionally, an “interfaith” meeting would mandate that some sort of “faith” be present by all parties, but that is no longer the case with the Obama administration. The Secular Student Alliance, a national nonprofit dedicated to organizing nonreligious students, has been invited to help plan a national gathering for the President’s Interfaith and Community Service Challenge.”

“While it is curious that an organization that explicitly denies the existence of faith would be invited to an “interfaith” meeting, it is hardly the Obama administration’s first outreach to those lacking any belief in a higher power. Atheists were present at a 2010 “interfaith discussion” at the White House, which prompted criticism from religious leaders.”

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by

News/Politics 9-4-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

The President continues to shore up support for military action in Syria.

From Politico  “A new use-of-force resolution for Syria sets a 60-day deadline, with one  30-day extension possible, for President Barack Obama to launch military strikes  against the regime of Syria President Bashar Assad — and it will also bar the  involvement of U.S. ground forces in Syria.

The revised resolution was crafted by Sens. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and Bob  Corker (R-Tenn.), the chairman and ranking member of the Foreign Relations  Committee, following several days of negotiations. The panel could vote on the  proposal by Wednesday.”

More here on the arm twisting, also from Politico.

And all this despite public opposition to it. Here’s the latest poll, from ABC/WaPo

And here’s further evidence that if we do this, we help the radicals. Seems there’s already delays to previous weapon supply programs because they can’t find anyone who isn’t a radical to give the guns to.

From TheWallStJournal  “In June, the White House authorized the Central Intelligence Agency to help arm moderate fighters battling the Assad regime, a signal to Syrian rebels that the cavalry was coming. Three months later, they are still waiting.

The delay, in part, reflects a broader U.S. approach rarely discussed publicly but that underpins its decision-making, according to former and current U.S. officials: The Obama administration doesn’t want to tip the balance in favor of the opposition for fear the outcome may be even worse for U.S. interests than the current stalemate.

U.S. officials attribute the delay in providing small arms and munitions from the CIA weapons program to the difficulty of establishing secure delivery “pipelines” to prevent weapons from falling into the wrong hands, in particular Jihadi militants also battling the Assad regime.”

The White House seems to think they can bomb Assad to punish him, and at the same time not help the radicals? Seriously? That’s one of the stupidest things I’ve heard yet. Any action tips the conflict, that’s reality.

Some are asking what’s the point of all this? Good question.

From BuzzFeed  “Frederic Hof spent President Obama’s first term as the State Department’s point man on Syria. He is now a furious administration critic, and a symbol of the growing consensus in the professional foreign policy community that the Obama Administration — no matter how its last-minute detour through Congress turns out — has badly bungled its Syria policy through two years of popular uprising turned bloody civil war.

“The events of the past ten days suggest that there was no administration forethought to the possibility of a major chemical incident in Syria,” wrote Hof, currently a fellow at the Atlantic Council, where his former boss is Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel. Hof had floated the specter of a chemical attack by the regime months ago.

“The results of this mystifying lack of preparedness have been abysmal,” he wrote, calling Obama’s decision to seek congressional approval for the strikes “constitutionally sound, but strategically appalling” and suggesting the White House find “an objectives-based strategy.”

Our own Generals can’t even tell what the mission actually is here.

From TheFreeBeacon  “Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey couldn’t answer what exactly the U.S. was seeking in Syria Tuesday during questioning from Sen. Bob Corker (R., Tenn.) about a resolution authorizing military action there:”

Elect an amateur, this is what you get. Consequences, ya know. It seems to be an awful lot about the White House trying to save face now. And Obama’s ego.

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As you all know I’ve been rough on the anti-war crowd from the Bush years and the disappearing act they pulled when Obama was elected. Some are stirring from their slumber, so it’s only fair I point it out. They’ve been picketing Kerry’s house, and heckling him while he “testifies” to Congress. Yes, even the nuts at Code Pink. 🙂

From WeaselZippers  “Medea Benjamin, head of Code Pink,specifically, was screaming and got tossed.

This was Occupy/Anonymous and other odd assorted anti-war kids outside Kerry’s house two days ago:”

With some photos.

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Here’s a not at all shocking piece.

From TheWashingtonExaminer  “Just minutes after 35 jihadists crashed through the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, nearly one year ago, the facility got word to the State Department, FBI and Pentagon that terrorists were attacking, according to a forthcoming book that provides the fullest review of the assault to date.

In “Under Fire, the Untold Story of the Attack in Benghazi,” it is revealed that an unidentified security official in the Benghazi compound protecting Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens messaged the U.S. embassy in Tripoli: “Benghazi under fire, terrorist attack.” Stevens and three others died that night.

Twenty-five minutes after it began, the operation center at State received an electronic cable announcing the attack, according to authors Fred Burton, a former State Diplomatic Security agent and Samuel Katz, an author and expert on international special operations and counterterrorism.

Their findings in “Under Fire,” based on exclusive interviews of those in the battle, refute days of claims by the administration that the attack was sparked by Muslim anger at a U.S.-made anti-Muslim film, and raise new questions as President Obama eyes military action in Syria that U.S. diplomatic posts in the region are properly protected.”

It’s just one foreign policy failure after another.

From TheIndependent/UK  “A little under two years ago, Philip Hammond, the Defence Secretary, urged British businessmen to begin “packing their suitcases” and to fly to Libya to share in the reconstruction of the country and exploit an anticipated boom in natural resources.

Yet now Libya has almost entirely stopped producing oil as the government loses control of much of the country to militia fighters.

Mutinying security men have taken over oil ports on the Mediterranean and are seeking to sell crude oil on the black market. Ali Zeidan, Libya’s Prime Minister, has threatened to “bomb from the air and the sea” any oil tanker trying to pick up the illicit oil from the oil terminal guards, who are mostly former rebels who overthrew Muammar Gaddafi and have been on strike over low pay and alleged government corruption since July.

As world attention focused on the coup in Egypt and the poison gas attack in Syria over the past two months, Libya has plunged unnoticed into its worst political and economic crisis since the defeat of Gaddafi two years ago. Government authority is disintegrating in all parts of the country putting in doubt claims by American, British and French politicians that Nato’s military action in Libya in 2011 was an outstanding example of a successful foreign military intervention which should be repeated in Syria.

Next, to National Review, and the total destruction of that whole “smart power” meme thingy.

From NationalReview  “Democrats Suddenly Realize What They Miscalculated About the World: Everything”

“Being nicer to countries like Russia will not make them nicer to you. The United Nations is not an effective tool for resolving crises. Some foreign leaders are beyond persuasion and diplomacy. There is no “international community” ready to work together to solve problems, and there probably never will be.

You can pin this on Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Susan Rice, but most of all, the buck stops with the president. Those of us who scoffed a bit at a state senator ascending to the presidency within four years on a wave of media hype and adoration are not quite so shocked by this current mess. We never bought into this notion that getting greater cooperation from our allies, and less hostility from our enemies, was just a matter of giving this crew the wheel and letting them practice, as Hillary Clinton arrogantly declared it, “smart power.” (These people can’t even label a foreign-policy approach without reminding us of how highly they think of themselves.) They looked out at the world at the end of the Bush years, and didn’t see tough decisions, unsolvable problems, unstable institutions, restless populations, technology enabling the impulse to destabilize existing institutions, evil men hungry for more power, and difficult trade-offs. No, our problems and challengers were just a matter of the previous hands running U.S. foreign policy not being smart enough.”

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And last, well fine then, I guess I’ll just continue to be a bad person. At least in this lady’s eyes.

From HotAir  “We still have four more months left in 2013, but we may have found a winner for the single most vapid column of the year, courtesy of Slate. Allison Benedikt wrote a “manifesto” which appeared on their site today demanding that parents stop using private schools for their children, because — and I am not making this up — putting more children in failing schools is the path to improvement.  Benedikt begins her argument by pronouncing herself ignorant on education policy, and proceeds to demonstrate a nearly endless supply of ignorance throughout the rest of the article.

Actually, I’ve gotten ahead of myself.  She starts off her argument by pronouncing anyone who does not put their children in public schools a “bad person”:

You are a bad person if you send your children to private school. Not bad like murderer bad—but bad like ruining-one-of-our-nation’s-most-essential-institutions-in-order-to-get-what’s-best-for-your-kid bad. So, pretty bad.

Take a moment to mull over that gem. Benedikt’s entire argument is that non-participants in an organization ruin it by their non-participation.  It’s not the actual participants who are to blame for the institution’s failures – not the teachers, not the administrators, and not the policy-makers — but the people who avoid the failure that should be blamed.  That argument conveniently lets the participants in this “most-essential” institution off the hook for their own failures.  We’ll get back to that in a minute.”

And then it goes downhill from there.

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by

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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by

News/Politics 3-27-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

I guess we start with some good news from North Dakota. 🙂

From LifeNews

““Gov. Jack Dalrymple today signed HB 1305, HB 1456 and SB 2305 and provided the following statements to the Legislature:”

“I have signed HB 1305 which would ban abortions performed solely for the purpose of gender selection and genetic abnormalities.

I have signed HB 1456 which would ban abortions after the detection of a fetal heartbeat. Although the likelihood of this measure surviving a court challenge remains in question, this bill is nevertheless a legitimate attempt by a state legislature to discover the boundaries of Roe v. Wade. Because the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed state restrictions on the performing of abortions and because the Supreme Court has never considered this precise restriction in HB 1456, the constitutionality of this measure is an open question. The Legislative Assembly before it adjourns should appropriate dollars for a litigation fund available to the Attorney General.

I have signed SB 2305 which requires admitting and staff privileges at a nearby hospital for any physician who performs abortions in North Dakota. The added requirement that the hospital privileges must include allowing abortions to take place in their facility greatly increases the chances that this measure will face a court challenge. Nevertheless, it is a legitimate and new question for the courts regarding a precise restriction on doctors who perform abortions.””

More here on the banning of abortion based on Down Syndrome, as well as gender preference based abortions. Also via LifeNews

“With the governor’s signature on the ban today, North Dakota has become the first state to ban abortions based on genetic “defects” like Down Syndrome. When diagnosed before birth, such genetic abnormalities prompt couples to have abortions 90 percent of the time.”

“The measure would also ban abortion based on gender selection, an issue of increasing concern in the United States has people from nations like China and India migrate to the United States and bring their cultural preference for boys with them.”

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Then some possibly good news. Or just wishful thinking. But the quicker we lame duck the current President, the better.

From Bloomberg

“U.S. Senator Tim Johnson’s announcement that he’ll retire after the 2014 election just made the Democrats’ job of holding their Senate majority a lot tougher.

Johnson, 66, the Senate banking committee chairman, is the second Democrat from a state won by Republican nominee Mitt Romney last year to say he won’t seek re-election in 2014. The announcement today means his party must defend two open seats and support five other Democratic incumbents running for re-election in Republican-leaning states.”

““The battle for the Senate will come down to Democrats’ability to hold seats in Republican-leaning states,” said Nathan Gonzales, deputy editor of the non-partisan Rothenberg Political Report, based in Washington. “A lot depends on how popular the president is” next year “because if people are dissatisfied, their option is to vote against the president’s party.””

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And then it starts to go downhill. 😦

It sounds like good news for a change due to ObamaCare, more jobs. But there’s a catch.

From HotAir

“Today, the Washington Post discovers that the Law of Unintended C0nsequences applies to ObamaCare, too.  Thanks to the massive costs added to hiring full-time workers, businesses now want to operate on cash-only relationships with labor:

The health-care law could prove to be a boon for temporary-staffing companies as employers outsource jobs to sidestep complex requirements for medical insurance.

But some experts say the Affordable Care Act’s exceptions for temporary employees could undercut the goal of expanding coverage to more American workers.

“That could lead to an increase in part-time workers” who lack insurance, said Susan N. Houseman, an economist at the Upjohn Institute for Employment Research who studies staffing companies. “You regulate something and people will always try to find a way around the regulation.”

Gee, nobody saw that comin’ huh? 🙄

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Then we get a GRINCH ALERT!!! and it’s not even Christmas. 😦

From FoxNews

“Boys and girls at an Alabama elementary school will still get to hunt for eggs – but they can’t call them ‘Easter Eggs’ have the principal banished the word for the sake of religious diversity.”

““We had in the past a parent to question us about some of the things we do here at school,” said Heritage Elementary School principal Lydia Davenport. “So we’re just trying to make sure we respect and honor everybody’s differences.””

““Kids love the bunny and we just make sure we don’t say ‘the Easter Bunny’ so that we don’t infringe on the rights of others because people relate the Easter bunny to religion,” she told the television station. “ A bunny is a bunny and a rabbit is a rabbit.”

🙄 And you’re a weasel Ms. Davenport. They’d probably lock the school down if anybody dared mention Jesus’ name in connection with Easter.

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But I guess as annoying as that is, it’s nothing compared to the persecution other believers face. And this is who our govt. is supporting and funding.

From FoxNews

“Islamic hard-liners stormed a mosque in suburban Cairo, turning it into  torture chamber for Christians who had been demonstrating against the ruling  Muslim Brotherhood in the latest case of violent persecution that experts fear  will only get worse.

Such stories have become increasingly common as tensions between Egypt’s  Muslims and Copts mount, but in the latest case, mosque officials corroborated  much of the account and even filed a police report. Demonstrators, some of whom  were Muslim, say they were taken from the Muslim Brotherhood headquarters in  suburban Cairo to a nearby mosque on Friday and tortured for hours by hard-line  militia members.

“They accompanied me to one of the mosques in the area and I discovered the  mosque was being used to imprison demonstrators and torture them,” Amir Ayad, a  Coptic who has been a vocal protester against the regime, told MidEast Christian News from a  hospital bed.”

““There is no longer anything to hold them back. The floodgates are  open.”

And in Libya more of the same, from CNSNews

“On Feb. 12, about two years after the U.S. government first militarily intervened in Libya to advance the cause of Libyan revolutionaries and five months after Libyan terrorists murdered Amb. Chris Stevens and three other Americans in that country, the  post-revolutionary Libyan government arrested a U.S. citizen for  allegedly “proselytizing” Christianity in Benghazi.

As of today, according to both a senior administration official and a State Department spokesperson, this U.S. citizen remains imprisoned in  post-Qaddafi Libya.

The Libyan government also arrested seven other Christians in Benghazi in connection with the same alleged case of Christian proselytizing. These include a South African woman, a South Korean man  and five Egyptian men.”

And again, this is who we’re propping up.

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