What’s interesting in the news today?

Open Thread

1. Anybody shocked? And notice how the White House, like the media, continues to push the lie about “heavily edited” videos. The full, unedited versions were released along with the shorter/edited version from the start. But hey, why let facts get in the way of protecting your blood money, right Barry?

From TheHill  “White House spokesman Josh Earnest on Wednesday dismissed claims that Planned Parenthood has illegally profited from harvesting fetal tissue, saying the organization holds itself to “the highest ethical standards.”

Earnest defended Planned Parenthood one day after it was targeted by a second secretly recorded video that appears to show an organization official haggling over prices of fetal organs with a medical research firm.

The footage was filmed by anti-abortion activists from the Center for Medical Progress, which has threatened to release more videos until the government cracks down on Planned Parenthood.

When asked in a news conference whether President Obama had concerns about the video, Earnest pointed concerns about the video’s accuracy.

Earnest pointed to media reports that raise “significant concerns about the way those videos were selectively edited to distort not just the words of the individual speaking, but also Planned Parenthood.”

“They subscribe [to] and implement the highest ethical standards in carrying out their operations,” he said of the nonprofit health group.”

Well, you know, the highest ethical standards that butchers of unborn children can have anyway, which is obviously very low standards. 

______________________________________

2. Another perv/Obama bundler is in trouble. Just imagine the press coverage if he were a Republican. But he’s not, so silence once again….

From TheFreeBeacon  “A proposed civil settlement by gay activist and Obama bundler Terry Bean that would have cleared Bean of criminal charges for an alleged sexual encounter with a 15-year-old boy was rejected by a Eugene, Ore., judge, according to Oregon Live.

Bean, who raised over $1 million for President Barack Obama’s two presidential campaigns, was arrested last November and charged with two counts of third-degree sodomy and one count of third-degree sex abuse. The charges stemmed from allegations that the 66-year-old Bean and his 25-year-old boyfriend had sex with the teenage boy in a Eugene hotel when he was 15.

Last week, Bean’s lawyer cleared the court and attempted to sell a settlement agreement that had been reached with the teenage boy, but the deal was rejected by the judge who learned that Bean had avoided similar charges through a civil agreement.”

“His name appears on the White House Visitor Log more than 30 times. On one of those visits, Bean brought along his then-boyfriend Kiah Lawson, who was also arrested and charged with identical counts as Bean for the hotel encounter.“

So this one isn’t his first victim. 

______________________________________

3. The number of illegal aliens who crossed the border under Obama- 2.5 million. 

From TheWashingtonExaminer  “Some 2.5 million illegal immigrants have flowed into the United States under President Obama, with 790,000 rushing in since 2013, according to a new analysis.

Calculations from the Center for Migration Studies and the Pew Research Center indicate 1.5 to 1.7 million aliens joined the illegal population from 2009 to 2013 — either overstaying a temporary visa or sneaking into the country, according to a Center for Immigration Studiesreport out Monday morning.

The immigration watchdog’s analysis of Census Bureau data also showed that an additional 790,000 illegals entered from the middle of 2013 to May of 2015, for a total of 2.5 million new illegal immigrants since Obama took office in January of 2009. That is a rate of 300,000 to 400,000 a year.”

And he’s not done yet….

From TheFreeBeacon  “The Obama administration is moving forward with plans to expand a waiver program that will allow additional illegal aliens to remain in the country rather than apply for legal status from abroad.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a proposed rule on Tuesday that would make changes to a waiver program created by President Barack Obama’s executive action on immigration in 2013. The action created a waiver that primarily allowed illegal immigrants with a U.S. citizen spouse or parent to stay in the country instead of having to leave the United States and be barred from returning for three or 10 years, if they proved their absence would create an “extreme hardship” for their spouse.

The new rule expands eligibility to a host of other categories of illegal immigrants beyond those with citizen spouses and parents.

“DHS proposes to expand the class of aliens who may be eligible for a provisional waiver beyond immediate relatives of U.S. citizens to aliens in all statutorily eligible immigrant visa categories,” the proposed rule stated. “Such aliens include family-sponsored immigrants, employment-based immigrants, certain special immigrants, and Diversity Visa program selectees, together with their derivative spouses and children.”

The waivers allow illegal immigrants to stay in the country while they await visas, and avoid a penalty under U.S. law that bars persons who entered the country illegally from returning for at least three years.”

Diversity visas? I’m afraid to ask….. 🙄

______________________________________

4. Don’t worry, I’ve found some good news for today too. 

Problem solved. But atheists will still be miserable, because it’s what they do. 

From StarsAndStripes  “The land beneath the cross on Mount Soledad in San Diego has been purchased by a private nonprofit group for $1.4 million, a key step toward possibly ending a more than two-decade legal controversy over having a cross on public property.

The Mount Soledad Memorial Association announced Monday that it had purchased the half-acre of property from the U.S. Department of Defense.

A provision in the defense authorization bill passed in December called for the federal government to sell the land beneath the cross to the memorial association, which has pledged to retain the cross as part of a war memorial.

The 43-foot cross was erected in 1954. More than 3,000 plaques honoring veterans are on walls surrounding the cross. The memorial association has long tended the cross and surrounding property, holding Memorial Day and Veterans Day events there.

Since the late 1980s, litigants, including the ACLU and Jewish War Veterans, have argued that the cross violates the constitutional separation of church and state. In 2006, the land was transferred from city ownership to the federal government.

The case is now with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which in a previous ruling ordered the cross removed, although it remains unclear what effect the sale of the property by the Department of Defense will have. The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear the case.”

______________________________________

5. Repaying a debt. 

From Breitbart  “In 1938, 19-year-old George Weidenfeld was given safe passage to the United Kingdom, thanks to the help of a Christian group called the Plymouth Brethren. Weidenfeld would later work at the BBC and go on to co-found the publishing firm Weidenfeld & Nicholson.

The publisher just recently financed the resettling of 42 Syrian Christian families into Warsaw, Poland, who all made it safely to Europe. The operation was carried out in total secrecy, as identifying the refugees’ names may threaten their family members remaining in Syria. Furthermore, 200 more Syrian Christian refugee families are expected to receive safe passage to Poland in the next few months, Weidenfeld said.

Weidenfeld, who feels he has a “debt to repay,” told The Times of Israel, “We have been deeply moved by the plight of Christians in conflict-torn Middle East countries, and we are supporting the transfer of Christian families to safe havens where they can lead normal lives.”

Additionally, the Jewish National Fund–a pro-Israel organization–has stepped in to help finance the Christian rescue operations, according to the report. Another charity, the Warsaw-based Esther Foundation, has provided temporary accommodations for the refugees.”

______________________________________