Obama

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News/Politics 10-11-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

I’ve got a bunch today, so I’ll be brief. Or not. 🙂

First up, an interesting read on the spitefulness from the White House and the similarities to other spiteful leaders in history.

From TheSultanKnishBlog  “The Berlin Blockade was a siege in all but name. Beyond the sheer fact of food and coal being cut off to a city of millions were a thousand minor humiliations by Soviet officials designed to break the will of their enemies to resist. That was their mistake. And it’s a mistake that the left often makes.

The barricades around the Lincoln Memorial and the WW2 Memorial, the traffic cones blocking the view of Mt. Rushmore and the sawhorses around Old Faithful are no Berlin Blockade, but they come out of the same meanness of spirit and the same motives.

The petty harassment extended to a 24-hour blockade of an inn that had tried to stay open and rangers arriving to block Old Faithful every time it erupted. There are few moments that sum up the meanness of spirit of the Obama Blockade as well as a park ranger angrily telling senior citizens to get back on the bus and stop taking photos because they are engaging in forbidden “recreating”.

The Obama Blockade has no valid justification. Like the Berlin Blockade, it is about power and control.”

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Next, good, let’s see more.

From TheWashingtonTimes  “Taking their lead from the veterans who first pushed through the barricades  to visit the World War II Memorial,  Americans nationwide are defying the federal government shutdown, tossing aside  traffic cones and toppling wooden fences to get to national parks and other  federal lands that the administration has deemed out of bounds.

As the shutdown hits the middle of its second week, civil disobedience has  become a sensation. Some proudly post online photos of themselves overcoming the  government’s obstacles, and others use more subtle ways to make their point.”

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And here’s more.

From TheWaPo  “Organizers of the “Truckers Ride for the Constitution” rally say they are indeed coming to Washington on Friday — but whether they will shut down the Beltway or just make a lot of noise remains to be seen.”

“Zeeda Andrews, one of the organizers of the event, said the ride is a go, but emphasized that it will be peaceful. She said that Georgia trucker Earl Conlon “overstepped his boundaries” earlier this week in saying the event was just a ploy to get attention for the group’s agenda.

“Yes, it is happening,” she said about the rally. Andrews said she expects “a few thousand truckers” to descend on the District on Friday.”

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Veterans are sick of the poor treatment and are planning a protest as well.

From VetMarch  “In a mean-spirited fit of selfish anger, Barack Obama has shut down our nation’s war memorials. And he has declared open war on our honored veterans!

 The World War II memorial … the Vietnam Veterans Memorial … the Korean War Veterans Memorial – Obama has shut them all down to force his will on the House of Representatives and frankly, to get revenge on the American people who oppose Obamacare and his other naked power grabs.

Let’s put it plainly: Barack Obama is behaving like a vicious tyrant. And if he succeeds in this assault on the democratic system, the Republic we love is at mortal risk. It’s just that simple.

That’s why I am asking you now to take two decisive moves to show Barack Obama, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi – and all of their oppressive ilk in Washington – that “We the People” are still in charge. And we won’t rest until we take back our memorials and monuments!”

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Some folks are picking up the slack. 🙂

From USAToday  “Most everybody complains about the government shutdown, but Chris Cox is actually doing something about it.

With many government operations shuttered by the political standoff in Washington,  Cox took a lawn mower to the National Mall this week and began cutting  grass areas between the Lincoln and World War II memorials.

“These are our memorials. Do they think that we’re just going to let them go to hell?” Cox told Washington radio station 99.1 in a story recounted by Columbia, S.C., TV station WIS.”

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Maybe de-funding ObamaCare won’t be necessary. It could just collapse on its own.

From TheDailyMail  “Obamacare’s main sign up engine attracted  just 6,200 new customers on its launch day and 51,000 after the first  week

At the same rate, the 6-month open  enrollment period would sign up just 2 million Americans, including 14 states  and D.C., which have their own insurance exchanges

The Congressional Budget Office says  Obamacare needs at least 7 million customers to stay afloat  financially .

Numerous Obama administration officials  have denied seeing any enrollment figures at all

MailOnline’s sources are two Health and  Human Services workers who have access to the data as it’s  crunched

So the White House lied yesterday when asked if the numbers were available. Not surprising.

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And it’s look like 800,000 NJ residents just found how it will impact them.

From NJ.Com  “Hundreds of thousands of New Jerseyans opened the mail last week to find their health insurance plan would no longer exist in 2014 because it does not cover all the essential benefits required by the Affordable Care Act.

The news surprised some who were unaware that provisions in the new law known as “Obamacare” were forcing insurance companies to scrap some plans they had previously offered.

“The Affordable Care Act is driving many changes to products and pricing,” said Thomas Vincz, a spokesman for Horizon. “Horizon BCBSNJ is actively working to help our members find new insurance plans that meet their needs and budget.”

Sorry folks. But elections have consequences’.

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News/Politics 10-5-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

First up, I’d like to say I’m shocked. I’d like to….

From TheDailyCaller  “In a stunning development, some military priests are facing arrest if they  celebrate mass or practice their faith on military bases during the federal  government shutdown.

“With the government shutdown, many [government service] and contract priests  who minister to Catholics on military bases worldwide are not permitted to work  – not even to volunteer,” wrote John Schlageter, the general counsel for the  Archdiocese for the Military Services USA, in an op-ed this week. “During the shutdown, it  is illegal for them to minister on base and they risk being arrested if they  attempt to do so.””

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Republicans are continuing their efforts to fund some govt departments. FEMA could be an important one if the hurricane in the Gulf causes widespread damage. Let’s see if the obstruction on piecemeal bills continues from the Senate and White House.

From FoxNews  “The House voted Friday to fund the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as Republicans cast the bill as an emergency measure to help Americans threatened by the approaching tropical storm.”

The bill was one of several House Republicans have pushed in recent days to fund chunks of the government amid the partial government shutdown. 

They’ve been pressuring Democrats, with little success, to support these mini-spending measures while the budget impasse drags on. Republicans upped that pressure on Friday, saying disaster response is critical as Tropical Storm Karen tracks toward the Gulf Coast and is poised to hit this weekend. 

“When you’ve got a storm in the Gulf of Mexico, this is not a time for partisanship,” Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., said after the vote, flanked by Gulf state lawmakers. Scalise called on President Obama to remove his veto threat and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to pass the bill in the Senate. “

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Meanwhile the firm responsible for the ObamaCare implementation has been identified. And no offense to our Canadian friends, but couldn’t we have found a US company instead of outsourcing to Canada?

From TheWashingtonExaminer  “A Canadian tech firm that has provided service to that country’s single-payer health care system is behind the glitch-ridden United States national health care exchange site healthcare.gov.

CGI Federal is a subsidiary of Montreal-based CGI Group. With offices in Fairfax, Va., the subsidiary has been a darling of the Obama administration, which since 2009 has bestowed it with $1.4 billion in federal contracts, according to USAspending.gov.

The “CGI” in the parent company’s name stands for “Conseillers en Gestion et Informatique” in French, which roughly translates to “Information Systems and Management Consultants.” However, the firm offers another translation: “Consultants to Government and Industry.”

The company is deeply embedded in Canada’s single-payer system. CGI has provided IT services to the Canadian Ministries of Health in Alberta, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Quebec and Saskatchewan, as well as to the national health provider, Health Canada, according to CGI’s Canadian website.”

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And the last one from me today is this. The founder of McAfee speaks out about the lack of security with the ObamaCare sites. Still needin’ that face palm smiley. 🙄

From TheDailyCaller  “For starters, McAfee said the way it is set up makes it possible for fake  websites be set up to fool people to think they’re signing  up for Obamacare.

“It’s seriously bad,” McAfee said. “Somebody made a grave error, not in designing the program but in simply implementing the web aspect of it. I mean, for example, anybody can put up a web page and claim to be a broker for this  system. There is no central place where I can go and say, ‘OK, here are all the legitimate brokers the examiners for all of the states and pick and choose one.’”

“According to McAfee, there’s not a quick fix — and as long as it set up this  way, it could be a playground for computer hackers.”

““Here’s the problem: It’s not something software can solve,” McAfee continued. “I mean, what idiot put this system out there and did not create a central  depository? There should be one website, run by the government, you go to that  website and then you can click on all of the agencies. This is insane. So, I will predict that the loss of income for the millions of Americans who are going  to lose their identities — I mean, you can imagine some retired lady in Utah, who has $75,000 dollars in the bank, saving her whole life, having it  wiped out in one day because she signed up for Obamacare. And believe me, this  is going to happen millions of times.”

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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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News/Politics 9-27-13

What’s interesting out there today?

Open Thread, as always.

As launch day approaches, second thoughts?

From Bloomberg  “U.S. Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia broke ranks with fellow Democrats and said he’d support a stopgap spending plan that delays the individual mandate in President Barack Obama’s health-care law.

“There’s no way I could not vote for it,” Manchin said at a Bloomberg Government breakfast today. “It’s very reasonable and sensible.”

“The individual mandate is the linchpin of the law that requires Americans who lack insurance to purchase health care through government-run exchanges. Republicans, led by a group of newcomers in the House, are pushing to dismantle the health-care law and are using a ticking clock on a possible Oct. 1 government shutdown as leverage.”

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So Manchin is a terrorist too?

What? I’m just repeating what I’ve heard. He might be a kidnapper and/or arsonist as well. Like us.

From BusinessInsider  “White House senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer used three vivid analogies to  attack House Republicans’ laundry list of demands for  raising the debt ceiling, comparing Republicans to arsonists, hostage-takers  and suicide bombers.

 “What we’re not for is negotiating with people with a bomb strapped to  their chest,” Pfeiffer said in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper Thursday  afternoon. “We’re not going to do that.””

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More problems…..

From DesertNews  “Days before the debut of new online insurance markets, a couple of last-minute technical glitches with President Barack Obama’s health care law are making supporters anxious and giving opponents a new line of attack.

The administration said Thursday that small business owners who want to use insurance markets designed especially for them will have to wait until sometime in November before they can finish their sign-ups. They still can start shopping right away on Oct. 1. And even with the delay, they can get coverage for their employees by Jan. 1, when the law takes full effect.

In a potentially more significant delay that affects the law’s larger insurance market for individuals, the administration quietly told Hispanic groups on Wednesday that the Spanish-language version of the healthcare.gov website will not be ready to handle online enrollments for a few weeks. An estimated 10 million Latinos are eligible for coverage, and 4 million of them speak Spanish primarily.”

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This one we’ll call “Lowered Expectations”.

From Politico  “Americans probably won’t flock to sign up for Obamacare coverage in October  or even in November — and the White House doesn’t expect them to, a top Obama  adviser said Wednesday.

Enrollment will go through lots of ebbs and flows over the six-month  enrollment period rather than remaining steady, communications adviser David  Simas told reporters during a 45-minute interview at an event sponsored by Third  Way at which he downplayed the Obama administration’s expectations for the law’s  rollout starting next week.”

“But he also acknowledged the realities on the ground. Simas said that  “perhaps” the administration could have started its outreach efforts earlier, to  prepare to sign up as many people as possible. But he blamed financial  limitations for the late start — an indirect reference to House Republicans who  have blocked the administration’s requests for more implementation funding.

“In a perfect world with a ton of money for outreach and engagement, perhaps  you could have started earlier,” Simas said. “This is not a perfect world, and  there are limitations on what you can do.””

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That’s funny. They need more money. Maybe they should just find the 67 million the IRS misplaced from their ObamaCare slush fund.

From Reuters  “With Congress debating whether to take funding away from the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said in an audit that the IRS failed to account for some of the agency’s spending to implement the law.”

“The IRS did not report $67 million in costs the agency incurred for employees who were working on the healthcare law for fiscal 2010 through 2012, the report said.

The money was part of $488 million the IRS tapped from a special fund the agency was using to implement Obamacare.

“Funding related to direct labor were sometimes inaccurate and not always substantiated by reliable supporting documentation,” TIGTA said.”

Translated, we spent it on perks and wasteful stuff and didn’t get receipts, but it’s all totally legit. Uh-huh. And yet Obama wants to give them another 1/2 a billion for their ObamaCare work.

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In other news, the revolving door between the press and Obama admin continues to spin.

From TheWashingtonPost  “As it happens, Carney was an early adopter. He was among the first of what has turned out to be a parade of journalists who’ve turned in their press badges for work in the Obama administration. In a trend that has raised some eyebrows among Obama’s critics, at least 20 reporters and editors from mainstream news organizations have taken high-profile positions in the administration within the past five years.

The latest hire: Richard Stengel, Time magazine’s managing editor (and Carney’s former boss). Obama nominated Stengel last week to be the State Department’s undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs, a top communications post. Stengel will succeed Tara Sonenshine, another journalist (ABC News, Newsweek) who became part of the government she once covered.

At State, Stengel can swap newsroom stories with Samantha Power, a former journalist (U.S. News, the Boston Globe, the New Republic) who is now the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. His staff will include Desson Thomson, a former Washington Post movie critic who became a speechwriter for Hillary Rodham Clinton when she served as secretary of state. Other colleagues will include two recent additions to Secretary of State John F. Kerry’s staff: Glen Johnson, a longtime political reporter and editor at the Boston Globe, and Douglas Frantz, a reporter and editor who has worked for the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times and, most recently, The Post. Frantz was also briefly an investigator for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, chaired by Kerry, then a senator from Massachusetts.”

All these connections ensure that the press remains “on message” for Obama. It’s Journolist 2.0

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This one, well once again…

Thank you Texas.

From TheHill  “Texas attorney general Greg Abbott (R) is threatening to sue the federal  government after Secretary of State John Kerry signed the U.N. arms treaty this  week.

“Texas stands ready to lead the charge to have the treaty overturned in court,”  Abbot said Wednesday, according to the Austin  American Statesman.“

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And the last one from me today. Saying goodbye to the greatest closer ever. Mariano Rivera’s final game at Yankee Stadium.

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News/Politics 9-25-13

What’s of interest in today’s news?

Sen. Ted Cruz began filibustering over ObamaCare funding yesterday. In fact, as of 6:15 AM this morning, he still was. Sen. Harry Reid is not happy, and would like to remind you it’s not a real one, it just looks and sounds like one. And “Green Eggs and Ham” was the perfect reading selection for an ObamaCare related filibuster. Like the man said, “We do not like it Sam I am”.

From WeaselZippers  “Cruz Begins “Talking Filibuster,” Vows To Speak “Until I Am No Longer Able To Stand” – Update: Harry Reid Whines: Your Filibuster Isn’t Real – Update: Enters Third Hour – Update: Dingy Complains, This Is “Fake” – Update: Reads “Green Ham And Eggs” On Senate Floor – Update: Passes 7 Hour Mark – Update: 8 Hours And Counting…Update: Approaching 16 Hours, Still Going! 

And it’s not just Dems and ObamaCare he’s being critical of.

From TheWashingtonTimes  “In his remarks, he repeatedly took aim at fellow Republicans, urging  them to  join him in voting against limiting debate on a stopgap spending  bill that also  defunds Obamacare. Many Republicans said they will vote  along with Democrats to  proceed with the stopgap bill because as of now  it contains the defunding  provisions.

Mr. Cruz, though, said it is certain Democrats will be able to strip  the  defunding provision with a majority vote later in the process, so  the only  chance to exert influence is early on, when it will take a  60-vote threshold to  even proceed with action.”

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The House GOP is offering another solution.

From Politico  “The House Republican leadership is seriously considering attaching a one-year  delay of Obamacare’s individual mandate to the Senate bill to avert a government  shutdown, according to senior GOP aides.

If House Republicans decide to go this route, it would all but provoke a  government shutdown, since Senate Democrats might not even schedule a vote on a  bill that includes that provision, Senate leadership staffers say. Even if the  Senate schedules a vote, there might not be time to move the legislation through  the slow-moving chamber.”

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Here’s an interesting read on the US terrorists involved in the mall massacre.

From YahooNews  “A heated debate has erupted among Somali refugees in the U.S. over the slaughter of civilians in the Kenyan shopping mall, highlighting what U.S. intelligence officials fear is fertile recruiting ground for Islamic jihadists.”

“When the conversation turned to Kenya, the room erupted in debate in a smattering of broken English and Arabic dialects between the men playing cards and sipping tea on ramshackle furniture.”

“”Al-Shabaab is not just recruiting young Somalis in the U.S. Also around the world,” Abtieon said in an interview outside the din of his arguing countrymen in the market’s back room.”

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Bob Beckel has had a stunning moment of clarity. Perhaps some on the left are starting to wise up.

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The same can’t be said for major US print news sources. Not surprisingly, they won’t point out the obvious, or the relevant facts. That wouldn’t be politically correct.

From NewsBusters  “Dare a top newspaper journalist to play connect-the-dots and chances are  he’ll fail miserably – at least with drawing the line between Islam and  terrorism. In Nairobi, Kenya last weekend, Islamist militants took over a  high-end shopping mall and began executing non-Muslims. In Pakistan, Islamist  suicide bombers detonated at a Christian Church on Sunday. 

Yet on Monday, September 23, 90 percent of the top ten (via  circulation numbers) daily newspapers’ headlines in the United States  censored the words “Islam” and Muslim” from Nairobi and Pakistan reports. One –  the New York Daily News – didn’t even have a headline for the latest Islamic  terrorist attacks. That’s journalism at its finest.”

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Looks like Obama and Kerry have a backdoor route to their gun control utopia in mind.

From TheHill  “Secretary  of State John Kerry is expected to sign an arms trade treaty opposed by the  Senate and the gun lobby as early as Wednesday, and Republicans aren’t happy  about it.

Kerry’s plan to sign the treaty on the margins of the U.N. General Assembly  in New York this week has sparked immediate criticism from GOP  opponents. 

“This treaty is already dead in the water in the Senate, and they know it,” said  Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services.  “The Administration is wasting precious time trying to sign away our laws to the  global community and unelected U.N. bureaucrats.”

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This one I only have one comment on. It’s about time.

From TheWashingtonTimes  “House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has no  Catholic right to be  granted Communion, said the leading cardinal of the  highest court at the  Vatican.”

“That’s canon law, not opinion, he said. Canon 915 states that  Catholics who are stubbornly contrary “in manifest grave sin  are not to  be admitted to Holy Communion.”

And Cardinal Burke said Mrs. Pelosi fits   the definition.

“Certainly this is a case when Canon 915 must be  applied,” he said,  the Western  Center for Journalism reported. “This is a person who  obstinately, after  repeated admonitions, persists in a grave  sin — cooperating with the crime of  procured abortion — and still  professes to be a devout Catholic.”

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News/Politics 9-24-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

First up, a story of heroism during the terrorist attack in Kenya.

From TheDailyMail  “An off-duty member of the SAS emerged as a hero of the Nairobi siege yesterday, after he was credited with saving up to 100  lives.

The soldier was having coffee at the Westgate mall when it was attacked by Islamists on Saturday.”

“He is said to have returned to the building on a dozen occasions, despite intense gunfire.”

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Next up, once again things are missed, and the results are deadly for the victims. And again the Obama admin should be called to task for the influence these groups have on American policy, and within their own ranks.

From TheDailyCaller  “The Council on American Islamic Relations repeatedly tried to stop a  Minnesota community leader from warning about the dangers al-Qaida-linked group  posed to the Somali-American community prior to the Kenyan mall massacre.

“I tried to warn America,” Abdirizak Bihi, a Minnesota-based Somali community  leader, explained to The Daily Caller.

Minnesota residents were reportedly among the attackers in the grisly  assault by al-Shabaab terrorists on the Westgate mall in Nairobi, Kenya. The  Twin Cities are home to the largest Somali community in the United States.”

“But he told The Daily Caller the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR)  has blocked his efforts for years, telling law enforcement agencies by telling  them that he doesn’t know the Somali community and calling him “an Islamophobe”  in a recent report.”

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The Obama admin would like you to know that his foreign policy in Africa is working. Wait… What? 😯

From TheHill  “The president said the United States stands with Kenya against the “terrible  outrage” that saw al Shabaab’s Islamist militants kill at least 69 people in a  high-end shopping mall in Nairobi. He later joined in a moment of silence at the  United Nations.

“We are confident that Kenya, which has been a pillar of stability in eastern  Africa, will rebuild,” Obama said. “But this, I think, underscores the degree to  which all of us, as an international community, have to stand against the kind  of senseless violence that these kinds of groups represent. And the United  States will continue to work with the entire continent of Africa and around the  world to make sure that we are dismantling these networks of destruction.”

The attack has raised new concerns about al Shabaab’s tenacity despite  administration claims that Somalia is now a success story.”

““The fact of the matter is we’ve actually had a very aggressive effort to go  after al Shabaab in Somalia, both through direct U.S. counterterrorism efforts,  but also through support for AMISOM, the international force, including Kenya,  that has pushed al Shabaab out of a number of its strongholds in Somalia,”  Rhodes told reporters traveling with the president. “And, frankly, I think it  was that pressure on al Shabaab that, in terms of their own professed  motivation, led them to pursue an attack against Kenya.”

So relocating terrorists is a considered a successful anti-terrorism policy? All they did was just make them someone else’s problem. Here and abroad, their anti-terrorism methods are failing. Maybe it’s the company they keep?

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Which brings us to this, the company they keep….. The DC has another story out that is my recommended reading for today. This story exposes CAIR for the terrorism supporting outfit they are, and how they go about it. Sadly our Attorney General turns a blind eye to their criminal behavior. It’s an indictment of CAIR, but also our DoJ and White House. After all, they allow and even encourage it, while allowing the criminals to call the shots. They are breaking numerous federal laws, allow foreign govts to fund their efforts, and file false tax documents. And make no mistake, those efforts are successful and have borne fruit for the radicals. That’s why the MB and CAIR hold such prominence in this administration.

From TheDailyCaller  “Since its founding in 1994, CAIR has presented itself to American Muslims and  the media as a single organization centered on American concerns. But it shows a  different face to the IRS, with multiple corporate entities that conceal the  large financial donations that come to CAIR from Middle East sources.

As a registered lobbying group, CAIR is required to report to the IRS  contributions over $5,000. Its shifting 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) branches,  however, make it possible to collect millions of dollars from oil-rich  Muslim nations without disclosure. Documents show CAIR has received millions of  dollars in overseas contributions and tens of millions in pledges from  overseas.”

““In addition to violating its 501(c)(3) regulations, CAIR’s undisclosed and  hidden foreign donations amount to violation of the Foreign Agent Registration  Act as well,” Reaboi continued.”

““According to both the letter and spirit of the law, this is illegal as  CAIR is avoiding disclosure of foreign sources of funding to a 501(c)3  (CAIR-F),” Reaboi explained to TheDC.”

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Next up, Lois Lerner is getting her taxpayer funded retirement. Her payback from her handlers.

From FoxNews  “The Internal Revenue Service says an official at the center of the agency’s tea party scandal is retiring.

Lois Lerner headed the IRS division that handles applications for tax-exempt status when she was placed on paid leave in May. While she was in charge, the agency acknowledged that agents improperly targeted tea party groups for extra scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status from 2010 to 2012.”

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Like I said yesterday, never mind the torpedoes……. 🙂

From TheWallStJournal  “The Senate plunged into debate over legislation to fund the government while cutting of money for the new health-care law, with both sides accusing the other of threatening to bring about a government shutdown.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) opened debate by denouncing the bill  passed by the House Friday that embodies conservatives’ campaign to “defund Obamacare,” as the health law is known.”

“Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) the leading proponent of the bill, set a confrontational tone by quickly proposing two motions he knew would be rejected — one to pass the House  bill by voice vote, and another to block any amendments that do not command a super-majority of 60 votes.”

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There was some news stories last week that joyfully told everyone the Pope had softened his and the church’s stand against gay marriage. This should help clear up any misconceptions that have arisen as a result of his taken out of context remarks.

From TheTelegraph/UK  “Pope Francis excommunicates pro-gay marriage priest. He’s not the liberal the media wants.”

“From all of last week’s headlines saying that the Pope wants to forget this nonsense about abortion and gays, you’d imagine that Germaine Greer had been elected to run the Catholic Church. Actually what the Pope was saying was that he wants the Church to talk more about what it’s for than what it’s against. But that doesn’t mean it won’t still be against those things that contradict its teachings and traditions.

Just ask Greg Reynolds of Melbourne – a priest who appears to have been both defrocked and excommunicated because of his radical views on women clergy and gay marriage.”

Oh No! In a totally unforeseeable turn of events, the Pope has turned out to be Catholic. 🙄

So the left will be resuming it’s regularly scheduled hate fest pretty soon.

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News/Politics 9-20-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

Open thread, here’s a few to start things off.

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From Breitbart  “Obamacare is before the U.S. Supreme Court again. On Thursday, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) lawyers filed the first viable petition for Supreme Court review involving Kathleen Sebelius’ HHS Mandate, which requires employers to provide abortion-related insurance coverage, even if those employers have a religious objection to abortion.  

Section 1001 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or Obamacare) requires all large employers to offer “preventive services” to their employees or face enormous financial penalties. With President Obama’s approval, Sebelius issued a regulation that defined preventive services to include access to birth control, including those that cause abortions after conception. The regulation issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) only allows narrow exceptions, such as for churches, but leaves other religion-oriented or religiously-owned employers subject to the regulation. “

“These lawsuits argue both that the HHS Mandate violates the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment as well as a federal law called the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). The federal appeals courts have split on whether a religiously-owned business can claim religious-liberty protections and whether requiring people to provide abortion-related services is a substantial burden on religious faith.”

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But Democrat Chris Murphy would like you to believe that forcing folks to violate their religious convictions is the morally right thing to do. 🙄

From CNSNews  “Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said that it would be morally justifiable for Congress to pass a continuing resolution that forces Americans to buy health care plans covering abortion-inducing drugs even if doing so violates their religious beliefs.

CNSNews.com asked Murphy about funding the controversial provision in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, following a press conference on Capitol Hill Wednesday.”

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Tom DeLay is back in the news. His conviction for money laundering has been overturned on appeal.

From KVUE/ABC  “Found guilty in 2010, the lawmaker known as “the Hammer” became a convicted felon.

 “It is what it is and we will carry on,” DeLay told reporters after the  verdict was announced. Lead attorney Dick DeGuerin assured the gathered  media, “This will never stand up on appeal.”

On Thursday, a two to one decision by the Third Court of Appeals  overturned that conviction, citing a lack of evidence. In the majority  opinion, Justice Melissa Goodwin explained, “The fundamental problem  with the State’s case was its failure to prove proceeds of criminal  activity.”

This decision will be appealed as well, but by prosecutors.

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Just think, when Common Core is fully implemented all public school kids will be learning the important stuff they need to succeed.

Or not. 🙄

From FoxNews  “Fourth grade students in Vermilion Parish, La. were given a homework  assignment that included words like “Po Pimp” and “mobstaz,” but school  officials said the worksheet was age appropriate based on an education website  affiliated with Common Core education standards.

“I try to instill values in my son,” parent Brittney Badeaux told Fox News.  “My goal is for him to ultimately to become a great man, a family man, a  well-rounded man. And now my son wants to know what a pimp is.””

“Vermilion Parish School Superintendent Jerome Puyau told Fox News the  “po-pimp” assignment was aligned to a fourth grade English Language Arts  standard for Common Core.

“Out of context, this word is inappropriate,” Puyau said. “However, within  the Common Core standards, they do want us to discuss real world texts.”

The Superintendent says this will help them later in life when buying albums. I kid you not. 🙄

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And here’s one that Chas posted last night, in case you missed it.

There’s a whole lot I’d like to say about these cowards not having the decency to hear these folks out. But I won’t. I’ll just say that I find this disgusting and shameful, which is exactly what I’ve come to expect from Democrats.

From TownHall  “During the second portion of a House Oversight and Government Reform hearing about Benghazi Thursday on Capitol Hill, the majority of Democrats on the Committee left the room and refused to listen to the testimony of Patricia Smith and Charles Woods. Ms. Smith is the mother of Sean Smith, an information management officer killed in the 9/11 Benghazi attack. Charles Woods is the father of Navy SEAL Tyrone Woods, who was also killed.”

More here from HotAir, along with some video.

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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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News/Politics 9-17-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

First up, some good news. 🙂

From ChristianityToday  “For Abby Johnson, the closing of a single Planned Parenthood center demonstrated her dramatic reversal from abortion clinic director to leading pro-life advocate.

But for pro-lifers throughout the United States, it marked another exhibit in a hopeful trend—abortion centers are shutting down at an unprecedented rate. The total so far this year is 44, according to a pro-life organization that tracks clinic operations.

None was more telling for Johnson than the mid-July closing of the Planned Parenthood center in Bryan, Texas. It came less than four years after Johnson, burdened by her involvement with abortion, walked out of that clinic as its director and into the offices of the Coalition for Life.”

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Needless to say, some aren’t as happy about it.

From HuffPo  “At least 54 abortion providers across 27 states have shut down or ended their abortion services in the past three years, and several more clinics are only still open because judges have temporarily blocked legislation that would make it difficult for them to continue to operate. Nebraska and Massachusetts have each added one clinic since 2010, and the other 21 states and the District of Columbia, most of which have not passed new anti-abortion laws since 2010, were unable to accurately count their clinics because their health departments do not license abortion providers separately from other kinds of medical providers. The Huffington Post’s tally did not include hospitals that provide abortions.

“This kind of change is incredibly dramatic,” said Elizabeth Nash, state issues manager at the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health research organization. “What we’ve been seeing since 1982 was a slow decline, but this kind of change … [is] so different from what’s happened in the past.””

“This has turned into a nightmare,” said Kat Sabine, executive director of NARAL’s Arizona affiliate. “The kind of efforts the women have to take to get family planning or abortion services are just incredible, and you can only get care if you can get out of the community to do it. If you’re on a reservation or rural part of the state, unless you have reliable transportation, you’re not going to get care.”

And then doom and gloom scenarios end exactly where you would expect them to.

Yep. Cries of a “War on Women” by Republicans. Yeah, we didn’t see that comin’……

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Next, the DC Navy Yard shooting.

From TheWaPo  “At least 13 people are dead and 14 others were injured after a gunman opened fire at the Washington Navy Yard on Monday, Navy officials said, spreading fear and chaos across the region as authorities sought to contain the panic.”

“D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier and Mayor Vincent C. Gray announced the mounting number of casualties in a series of news conferences. The suspected shooter, identified by the FBI as Aaron Alexis, 34, living in Fort Worth, is among the 13 dead. Alexis was a military contractor, one official said.”

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Why does this not surprise me?

From NYPost  “‘Are you sexually active? If so, with one partner, multiple partners or same-sex partners?”

Be ready to answer those questions and more the next time you go to the doctor, whether it’s the dermatologist or the cardiologist and no matter if the questions are unrelated to why you’re seeking medical help. And you can thank the Obama health law.

“This is nasty business,” says New York cardiologist Dr. Adam Budzikowski. He called the sex questions “insensitive, stupid and very intrusive.” He couldn’t think of an occasion when a cardiologist would need such information — but he knows he’ll be pushed to ask for it.

The president’s “reforms” aim to turn doctors into government agents, pressuring them financially to ask questions they consider inappropriate and unnecessary, and to violate their Hippocratic Oath to keep patients’ records confidential.”

But we’ve always been told it’s Republicans who stick their noses in what happens in private bedrooms and other people’s sex lives. Who knew? :roll:.

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Like I said last night, it’s good to be part of the exempt ruling class huh?

From NationalReview  “Prostitution. Bribery. Blackmail. Thuggery. Hypocrisy.

Those were just some of the incendiary words thrown around the U.S. Senate last week, and that doesn’t count what people said in private.

The Senate may still have a reputation as a genteel club, but lawmakers seemed to abandon rules of decorum completely last week in arguments about whether Congress should be treated like the rest of the country when it comes to Obamacare. 

Senator David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican, has demanded a floor vote on his bill to end an exemption that members of Congress and their staffs are slated to get that will make them the only participants in the new Obamacare exchanges to receive generous subsidies from their employer to pay for their health insurance. Angry Senate Democrats have drafted legislation that dredges up a 2007 prostitution scandal involving Vitter. The confrontation is a perfect illustration of just how wide the gulf in attitudes is between the Beltway and the rest of the country — and how viciously Capitol Hill denizens will fight for their privileges.”

It’s their “Precious.”

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We’ll finish today with a story related to yesterday’s on “Common Core Curriculum.” Or, if you prefer, you can call it what I do. Just another reason to home school.

From TheDC-Clothesline  “I am a high school English teacher. I became a teacher because I believe that literacy, which goes beyond just reading the words on the page, is an absolute necessity for maintaining our Republic. Proof of that is found in the many laws against reading certain texts, or against reading altogether, that have been passed down by every tyrant since literacy became available to the general population. A few examples of such tyrannical laws are the Taliban banning reading for any female or laws against teaching slaves to read or the Soviet Union’s banning of such books as A Wrinkle in Time, Where’s Waldo, and To Kill a Mockingbird. The communist Khmer Rogue in Cambodia so hated literacy that just wearing glasses was cause for execution. Literacy leads to freedom and tyrants know it.

 I have been teaching for over twenty years. Generally, I have been given either no curriculum or curriculum that was focused on skills, not specific texts. I would have to get those skills taught in whatever way I wanted to get there. Sometimes I was given more direction and that direction was generally pretty good including texts, key terms, supplemental stories, and suggested writing assignments. These directions were created at a school level by the teachers in the school. I helped write some myself. Mostly, I have had a lot of freedom in how I could achieve the learning goals. Not anymore.

Today I was in a professional development session for my school district. Our school system has swallowed the Common Core curriculum whole. Why wouldn’t they? The federal system has said that it is “voluntary”, but “voluntary” means that the district gets cut off from major federal funding if it does not adopt the standards, so “voluntary” is subjective. Here is what the Washington Post reported Sen. Charles Grassley has to say about Common Core:

Current federal law makes clear that the U.S. Department of Education may not be involved in setting specific content standards or determining the content of state assessments. Nevertheless, the selection criteria designed by the U.S. Department of Education for the Race to the Top Program provided that for a state to have any chance to compete for funding, it must commit to adopting a “common set of K-12 standards” matching the description of the Common Core.”

She then goes on to expose the ugly heart of Common Core. It’s a liberal educator/indoctrinators dream come true.

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News/Politics 9-16-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

First up, well what did they think would happen? Of course it would benefit Assad and Russia. Funny though, the Obama admin considers this a victory. ‘Course they have to say that, otherwise they might have to admit they totally failed here.

From TheNYPost  “Syrian President Bashar al-Assad gets to stay in power — and keep his chemical weapons for a year — under a Russian-sponsored deal that critics slammed as undermining American leverage in the Mideast.

Under the pact reached Saturday by Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Assad must submit an inventory of his chemical arsenal this week but has until mid-2014 to dispose of it.

Kerry said the first inspection of Syrian weapons will be in November and destruction will begin sometime next year.”

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More on Syria.

From TheTelegraph/UK  “Syria: nearly half rebel fighters are jihadists or hardline Islamists, says IHS Jane’s report

Nearly half the rebel fighters in Syria are now aligned to jihadist or hardline Islamist groups according to a new analysis of factions in the country’s civil war.

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The Obama admin sure does love the MB huh?

From BizPacReview  “A controversial Homeland Security advisor who was recently promoted to senior fellow is a self-declared Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and Mohamed Morsi supporter.

Mohamed Elibiary, who was appointed to the Department of Homeland Security Advisory Council by then-Secretary Janet Napolitano in 2010, tweeted Thursday that his appointment was renewed and his position elevated:”

“Elibiary’s tenure on the advisory council created controversy almost from the start. About a year after his appointment, PJ Media reported that he used his new federal security clearance to download information on the Texas Department of Public Safety and sell it to left-leaning media outlets as proof of Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s “Islamophobia.””

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Common Core sounds great, unless the left gets to be the ones deciding on that “Core” curriculum. Think 50 Shades of Common Core. Yeah, like that. 😦

CONTENT WARNING!!!

From TheDailyCaller  “The Common Core State Standards Initiative is a project that attempts to  standardize various K-12 curricula around the country. By design, American  students subject to the Common Core will experience a reading  regime that focuses heavily on nonfiction.”

“There will be a slice of fiction here and there, though. One such slice for  sophomores at Buena High School in Sierra  Vista, Ariz. is an utterly minor 1992 novel called “Dreaming in Cuban” by  Cristina Garcia, reports Eagnews.org.

An unidentified parent claimed in  an email to Eagnews that “Dreaming in Cuban” was assigned to everyone in one of  her son’s 10th-grade classes. In addition, students read the book out loud  during class.”

It then gives a few excerpts from the book. It’s Porn in class.

More here from EAGNews.

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I doubt this will do much good, but it’s worth a shot I suppose.

From Breitbart  “On Sept. 12, religious-liberty leaders met with Pentagon officials to discuss the rapidly-escalating incidents of religious-liberty violations in the military under the Obama administration.  

On Apr. 28, Breitbart News broke the story of Pentagon brass meeting with anti-Christian activist Mikey Weinstein to discuss religious-liberty policies. Quoting Weinstein in his own printed words, this activist has a record of calling observant Christians “fundamentalist monsters” who seek impose “theocratic terror” on America, and that evangelizing (sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ) in the military is an act of “sedition and treason” against this country, making those who do it “enemies of the Constitution.” He says those who do so should be court-martialed (criminally prosecuted).”

“Now leaders from Restore Military Religious Freedom—a coalition to protect service members of faith—met with Pentagon officials. Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin (ret.) of the Family Research Council, Col. Ron Crews (ret.) of the Chaplains Alliance for Religious Liberty, Kellie Fiedorek of the Alliance Defending Freedom, and nationally-known Christian talk radio host Sandy Rios took with them two petitions calling on Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to protect religious liberty. One was a general petition with 170,000 signatures, and the other—with 50,000 signatures—was sparked by the last incident mentioned above, where Air Force Senior Master Sergeant Phillip Monk was relieved of duty by Maj. Elisa Valenzuela, allegedly because of Monk’s Christian beliefs on marriage. Monk now faces possible court martial.”

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I know seceding from the Union is frowned upon, but what about counties from individual states? I guess it would depend on the state constitution. It seems to be an idea that’s spreading. As someone who lives in an area where Philly presents the same problem, I like the idea.

Five words. Arlen Specter, Bob Casey Jr.

See. Of course I’m all for it.

From FoxNews  “A group of Maryland residents frustrated with its state’s liberal government  is joining a recent movement across the country of regions trying to secede.

 Western Maryland is made up of five counties whose residents largely vote  Republican and feel under-represented at the state capitol, run by Democratic  Gov. Martin O’Malley and a Democrat-controlled legislature.”

“Strzelczyk said the biggest concerns are increasing taxes, and the  Democrat-controlled legislature gerrymander voting district so that the state’s  big metropolitan areas have the most representation and tighter gun laws enacted  this year, which he calls “the last straw.”  

The movement is just one of several across the country that includes the  Upper Peninsula in Michigan, Northern California and several conservative  northern Colorado counties.”

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And this last one I submit with no comment. Take it for what you will.

Also from Breitbart  “Almost everything you think you know about the Matthew Shepard narrative is false.”

“Almost immediately Shepard became a secular saint, and his killing became a kind of gay Passion Play where he suffered and died for the cause of homosexuality against the growing homophobia and hatred of gay America.

Indeed, a Mathew Shepard industry grew rapidly with plays and foundations along with state and even national hate crimes legislation named for him. Rock stars wrote songs about him, including Elton John and Melissa Etheridge. Lady Gaga performed John Lennon’s “Imagine” and changed the lyrics to include Shepard.

Thanks to a new book by an award winning gay journalist we now know that much of this narrative turns out to be false, little more than gay hagiography.”

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