Obama

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News/Politics 1-19-15

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. Bad idea?

From TheDailyMail  “House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is set to appoint a Muslim lawmaker to the Intelligence Committee, congressional aides said Tuesday, giving him access to some of America’s most closely held secrets in the war on terror.

The move will come as the world is still grappling with an al-Qaeda death squad’s massacre last week of journalists at the French satire magazine Charlie Hebdo, executed because they had published a cartoon of the Muslim prophet Muhammad.”

“In a Huffington Post interview two months ago, he reflected on his time as a police officer assigned to track terrorism and conduct counter-intelligence.

‘What I learned is that in the U.S., as in the UK, it is impossible to fight the threat of global terror without help from Muslims,’ the congressman said.

‘But there is a problem with institutional bigotry.'”

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More here, from  BizPacReview  “U.S. Rep. Andre Carson, an Indiana Democrat, may be one of Nancy Pelosi’s handpicked selections to serve on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, but he has a lot of explaining to do on who made political contributions to his campaign — and a history of racially charged, inflammatory statements.

According to the Daily Caller, Carson, the first Muslim to get a seat on the committee, spoke to the 37th Annual Islamic Circle of North America-Muslim American Society Convention in Hartford, Conn., declaring the need to incorporate some Islam-based practices into the U.S. system.

“America will never tap into educational innovation and ingenuity without looking at the model that we have in our madrassas, in our schools, where innovation is encouraged, where the foundation is the Quran.””

“Carson also made a racially charged statements about the tea party members of Congress suggesting, “Some of these folks in Congress right now would love to see [blacks] as second class citizens. Some of them in Congress right now with this tea party movement would love to see you and me…hanging on a tree.””

And as you’d expect, he also has questionable donations from questionable Islamic sources. I believe the wording used was “unindicted co-conspirators.”

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2. The first western reporter to embed with ISIS is talking about the experience.

From Breitbart  “Todenhofer lived side by side with the jihadist fighters for ten days in the Islamic State-stronghold city of Mosul, Iraq. He was accompanied only by his son, who served as his cameraman.

“I always asked them about the value of mercy in Islam,” but “I didn’t see any mercy in their behavior,” explained Todenhofer. He added, “Something that I don’t understand at all is the enthusiasm in their plan of religious cleansing, planning to kill the non-believers… They also will kill Muslim democrats because they believe that non-ISIL-Muslims put the laws of human beings above the commandments of God.”

The German reporter then elaborated on how shocked he was about how “willing to kill” the ISIS fighters are. He said that they were ready to commit genocide. “They were talking about [killing] hundreds of millions. They were enthusiastic about it, and I just cannot understand that,” said Todenhofer.”

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3. Barry’s not gonna like this….

From TheWashingtonExaminer  “As talks over Iran’s nuclear program resumed Sunday in Geneva, lawmakers in Congress moved forward with legislation to impose new sanctions on Tehran, defying a veto threat from President Obama.

The Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee announced that it would meet Thursday to consider bipartisan sanctions legislation by Sens. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., and Bob Menendez, D-N.J.

It’s an indication that the two senators have lined up enough support to deliver Obama a humiliating defeat on the issue just days after he publicly threatened to veto any proposed sanctions. Last month, Kirk told the Washington Examiner that he and Menendez were aiming for legislation that could receive bipartisan support sufficient to overcome any presidential veto.”

“Support for sanctions is strong in both chambers of Congress, in spite of intense administration lobbying on the issue. Legislation to impose new sanctions on Iran passed the House in July 2013 by a 400-20 vote. In the Senate, an earlier version of the legislation by Menendez and Kirk had majority support last year but was blocked by then-Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.”

Further proof that it was Reid who was the real obstructionist in the legislature.

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4. Will the Obama White House try to bury the Bergdahl report?

From FoxNews  “Last Sunday, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, indicated that he expected a decision “fairly soon” on whether the Army will court martial Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl for allegedly deserting his post in Afghanistan, or has cleared him, paving the way for separation from the service and back pay in excess of $200,000. Moreover, a decision to clear Bergdahl may well open the door for him to be designated a former prisoner of war, ensuring him substantial monthly pay, medical and educational benefits for the rest of his life.

To those who have followed all angles of Bergdahl’s case, it appears the Army has a true dilemma on its hands, as does the Obama administration. By now the investigating team has done an in-depth look into the circumstances surrounding Bergdahl’s disappearance from his post, has probably interviewed every witness with credible information, has looked at every piece of physical evidence and has reviewed hundreds of classified intelligence reports regarding his captivity. Its conclusions are long overdue.”

“In White House terms, not charging Bergdahl means that he was indeed worth the trade for the Taliban Five. But charging him on any level means that releasing the five Taliban was an error of monstrous proportions, one the administration will never be able to explain away satisfactorily.

Watch for the announcement, in all likelihood on a Friday afternoon. If Bergdahl is charged, the administration will hope it’s old news by Monday. If he’s not charged, it will be big news for a long time to come.”

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News/Politics 1-15-15

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. The FBI has arrested a man they say was plotting an ISIS inspired attack on D.C.

From ABCNews  “The FBI Wednesday arrested an Ohio man for allegedly plotting an ISIS-inspired attack on the U.S. Capitol, where he hoped to set off a series of bombs aimed at lawmakers, whom he allegedly considered enemies.

Christopher Lee Cornell, 20, of Green Township, was arrested on charges of attempting to kill a U.S. government official, authorities said.

According to government documents, he allegedly planned to detonate pipe bombs at the national landmark and open fire on any employees and officials fleeing after the explosions.

The FBI first noticed Cornell several months ago after an informant notified the agency that Cornell was allegedly voicing support for violent “jihad” on Twitter accounts under the alias “Raheel Mahrus Ubaydah,” according to charging documents. In addition, Cornell allegedly posted statements, videos and other content expressing support for ISIS — the brutal terrorist group also known as ISIL — that is wreaking havoc in Iraq and Syria. “

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2. Despite US bombings, ISIS is expanding their territory.

From TheDailyBeast  “ISIS continues to gain substantial ground in Syria, despite nearly 800 air strikes in the American-led campaign to break ISIS’s grip there.

At least one-third of the country’s territory is now under ISIS influence, with recent gains in rural areas that can serve as a conduit to major cities ISIS hopes to eventually claim as part of its caliphate. Meanwhile, the Islamic extremist group does not appear to have suffered any major ground losses since the strikes began. The result is a net ground gain for ISIS, according to information compiled by two groups with on-the-ground sources.

In Syria, ISIS “has not any lost any key terrain,” Jennifer Cafarella, a fellow at the Washington D.C.-based Institute for the Study of War who studies the Syrian conflict, explained to the Daily Beast.”

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3. NBC and ABC are touting the new Charlie Hebdo cover as a “declaration of defiance” and a “triumph of free-speech.” But you’ll have to take their word for it because they won’t show it on air. 🙄

From NewsBusters  “Reporting on the release of Charlie Hebdo’s first issue since the January 7 terrorist attack, NBC’s Today and ABC’s Good Morning America on Wednesday refused to show the cover of the satirical magazine that depicted a cartoon image of Mohamed. Despite such censorship, both networks touted the publication as “a triumph for free speech” and “a kind of declaration of defiance against terror.”

On Today, co-host Matt Lauer proclaimed: “…a defiant Charlie Hebdo releases its very first issue since that terror attack on its Paris offices, with a cartoon of the Prophet Mohamed on the cover.” Correspondent Bill Neely began his report: “Today Charlie Hebdo is back on the street, seemingly stronger than ever.” However, moments later he explained: “On its cover, which NBC News is not showing, a cartoon of a tearful prophet Mohamed.”

“Good Morning America demonstrated a similar contradiction. Co-host Robin Roberts announced: “The French are certainly showing no fear in the face of terrorism this morning. That new issue of Charlie Hebdo selling out across the country this morning…” Correspondent Terry Moran led off his report by noting that getting a copy of the magazine “has become a kind of declaration of defiance against terror…” Despite such pronouncements, the morning show did not show the cover.”

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4. After reading this one I have to ask….

Have the terrorists already won?

From InternationalBusinessTimes  “One of the biggest education publishers in the world has warned its authors not to mention pigs or sausages in their books to avoid causing offence.

Oxford University Press (OUP) said all books must take into consideration other cultures if they hope to sell copies in countries across the world.

As a result, the academic publisher has issued guidance advising writers to avoid mentioning pigs or “anything else which could be perceived as pork” so as not to offend Muslim or Jewish people.

The move was revealed during a discussion on free speech during BBC Radio 4’s Today programme in the wake of the attack on French satirical magazine Charlie Hedbo and its decision to use an image of the Prophet Mohammed on the cover of its latest issue.”

“An OUP spokesperson said: “Our materials are sold in nearly 200 countries, and as such, and without compromising our commitment in any way, we encourage some authors of educational materials respectfully to consider cultural differences and sensitivities.”

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5. Remember this the next time someone tells you our economy is recovering.

From Breitbart  “In a stunning Tuesday report, Gallup CEO and Chairman Jim Clifton revealed that “for the first time in 35 years, American business deaths now outnumber business births.”

“Let’s get one thing clear: This economy is never truly coming back unless we reverse the birth and death trends of American businesses,” writes Clifton.”

“Indeed, the numbers are striking. Contrary to the oft-cited 26 million businesses in America figure, Clifton says 20 million of these so-called “businesses” are merely companies on paper with zero workers, profits, customers, or sales. In reality, America has just 6 million businesses with one or more employers–3.8 million of which have four or fewer employees. In total, these 6 million U.S. companies provide jobs for more than 100 million people in America.

Of the 2.2 million job-creating companies with five or more workers, the numbers break down accordingly:

There are about a million companies with five to nine employees, 600,000 businesses with 10 to 19 employees, and 500,000 companies with 20 to 99 employees. There are 90,000 businesses with 100 to 499 employees. And there are just 18,000 with 500 employees or more, and that figure includes about a thousand companies with 10,000 employees or more. Altogether, that is America, Inc.”

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News/Politics 1-14-15

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. First up today, a good news story. But it raises some questions as well. If he was aware, how many others in a similar situation are as well? I can’t help but think of Terri Schiavo.

From TheDailyMail  “Martin Pistorius was a happy, healthy boy – until at the age of 12 a mystery illness left him in a virtual coma. Doctors never found the cause of his condition – even his mother gave up hope.”

“My mind began to awaken at about the age of 16. By 19 it was fully intact: I knew who I was and where I was, and understood I’d been robbed of a real life.

I was completely entombed. At first I wanted to fight my fate by leaving some tiny sign to guide people back to me, like the crumbs Hansel and Gretel left to help find their way out of the woods. But my efforts were never enough.

Have you ever seen one of those movies in which someone wakes up as a ghost but they don’t know that they’ve died? That’s how it was, as I realised people were looking through and around me.

However much I tried to beg and plead, shout and scream, I couldn’t make them notice me.

My mind was trapped inside a useless body, my arms and legs weren’t mine to control and my voice was mute. I couldn’t make a sign or a sound to let anyone know I’d become aware again. I was invisible – the ghost boy.”

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2. Boko Haram has tried expanding their territory, and thankfully failed.

From MSN/TheAP  “Cameroon’s government said Tuesday that its military killed 143 militants from the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram, which has been waging war in neighboring Nigeria.

In a statement carried on state television, authorities said hundreds of militants had attacked a Cameroonian military camp in Kolofata the day before after crossing the border from Nigeria.

The fight lasted five hours and left 143 of the militants dead, Cameroonian Information Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary said in the statement.

“It is by far the heaviest toll sustained by the criminal sect Boko Haram since it began launching its barbaric attacks against our land, people and goods,” he said.”

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3. Some uncomfortable truths, and good questions.

From TheAtlantic  “As many as a million people, joined by 40 world leaders, filled the streets of Paris on Sunday in solidarity after two separate terrorist attacks claimed 17 innocent lives last week. The day before, more than 3,000 miles to the south, a girl believed to be around 10 approached the entrance to a crowded market in Maiduguri, a city of some 1 million in Nigeria’s Borno State. As a security guard inspected her, the girl detonated explosives strapped to her body, killing herself and at least 19 others. Dozens more were injured.

Saturday’s suicide bombing elicited little coverage compared to the events in Paris, which have dominated headlines since last Wednesday’s attack on Charlie Hebdo, a satirical newspaper. Why the slaughter of 17 innocents in France receives more attention than the death of roughly the same number of Nigerians is the kind of question that can result in accusations of indifference, racism, and media bias. But the contrast between the attacks in Paris and the suicide bombing in Maiduguri actually reveals something far more sinister: the ravages of state failure.

Boko Haram is waging a ruthless war throughout northeast Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country. On Wednesday, Boko Haram militants laid siege to Baga, a city that has resisted them, setting fire to buildings and killing residents indiscriminately. Hundreds of people fled into Lake Chad and attempted to swim to a nearby island. Many drowned along the way. Those who didn’t are now marooned without food and shelter and have no defense against the island’s swarm of malarial mosquitos. The death toll in Baga reportedly exceeds 2,000. Some 20,000 others are now displaced.

The New York Times story on this deadly siege appeared on page A6 of Saturday’s print edition, while the paper’s story of the suicide bombing landed on page A8.

How did the attacks in France so thoroughly bury the atrocities in Nigeria?”

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4. Something to consider if you have tech savvy little ones.

From Forbes  “Most parents would be concerned if their children had significant exposure to lead, chloroform, gasoline fumes, or the pesticide DDT.  The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IRIC), part of the United Nations’ World Health Organization (WHO), classifies these and more than 250 other agents as Class 2B Carcinogens – possibly carcinogenic to humans.  Another entry on that same list is radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF/EMF).  The main sources of RF/EMF are radios, televisions, microwave ovens, cell phones, and Wi-Fi devices.

Uh-oh. Not another diatribe about the dangers of our modern communication systems?  Obviously, these devices and the resulting fields are extremely (and increasingly) common in modern society.  Even if we want to, we can’t eliminate our exposure, or our children’s, to RF/EMF.  But, we may need to limit that exposure, when possible.

That was among the conclusions of a report published in the Journal of Microscopy and Ultrastructure entitled “Why children absorb more microwave radiation than adults: The consequences.”  From an analysis of others studies, the authors argue that children and adolescents are at considerable risk from devices that radiate microwaves (and that adults are at a lower, but still significant, risk).”

For more on the specifics, just click the link.

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5. Never let a crisis go to waste, eh Barry?

From TheGuardian  “Barack Obama unveiled new cybersecurity measures on Tuesday amid warnings from privacy campaigners about unnecessarily “broad legal immunity” that could put personal information at risk in the wake of attacks like the Sony Pictures hack.

Just one day after the Pentagon’s own Twitter account was compromised and Obama pushed a 30-day window for consumer security breaches, his administration was hoping the proposed legislation would toughen the response of the private sector by allowing companies to share information with government agencies including the NSA, with which the White House admitted there were “overlapping issues”.

“I’ve got a State of the Union next week,” Obama said after a Tuesday meeting with Republican leaders at the White House. “One of the things we’re going to be talking about is cybersecurity. With the Sony attack that took place, with the Twitter account that was hacked by Islamist jihadist sympathizers yesterday, it just goes to show much more work we need to do both public and private sector to strengthen our cybersecurity.”

The administration believes the legislation is necessary partly to give companies legal immunity for sharing information on attacks so that counter-measures can be coordinated, but the White House has stepped back from suggestions that companies should be allowed to individually retaliate against hackers, fearing such encouragement could lead to an escalation of cyber warfare.”

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6. How can you address the problem when you can’t even admit what the problem is?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=isM6kkNhdLs

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News/Politics 1-13-15

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. The Ohio State Buckeyes are the national champions. And now that the first ever college playoffs are over, what did you think of it?

From MSNSports  “They took advantage of an opportunity they never would have had in the BCS, shrugging off questions about if they belonged among the college football’s final four. Cardale Jones, Ezekiel Elliott and the Buckeyes won the first College Football Playoff national championship, upsetting Marcus Mariota and Oregon 42-20 on Monday night.

Behind their bullish backup quarterback Jones and the relentless running of Elliott, the Buckeyes (14-1) completed a remarkable in-season turnaround with a dominating performance against the Ducks (13-2).”

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2. The House is trying to rollback Obama’s executive overreach. I know, which one, right?

From TheHill  “The GOP-led House Rules Committee late Monday advanced a bill to the floor that would fund the Department of Homeland Security through September and several amendments that would roll back President Obama’s immigration policies.

The House will likely vote on each of the amendments and the spending bill on Wednesday. The GOP-sponsored amendments are expected to be adopted and wrapped into the spending bill.

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas), chairman of the Rules panel, said Republicans want to withhold funding for the executive orders because Obama’s actions are “unlawful, illegal and unconstitutional.” 

The amendments would defund Obama’s executive orders on immigration from November, the Morton Memos of 2011 and 2012 that relaxed some immigration laws and the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that defers deportations of children who came to the United States illegally.

Other amendments focus on immigration enforcement for sex offenders and prioritizing people who came to the U.S. legally ahead of those who arrived illegally.”

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3. The Keystone pipeline passes its initial Senate hurdle. Still no idea if they have the Democrat votes needed to override Obama’s threatened veto.

From LegalInsurrection/TheAP  “Legislation approving construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline cleared an initial Senate hurdle Monday, a victory for newly empowered Republicans angling for a quick veto showdown with President Barack Obama.

The bipartisan 63-32 vote was 3 more than the 60 required, and well above the level the highly controversial measure ever gained in recent years when Democrats controlled the Senate….

But with more than enough votes at their command, Republican and Democratic supporters said they hoped the legislation could win final approval and be sent to the White House by the end of next week.

“President Obama has every reason to sign the jobs and infrastructure bill that we will pass,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. He noted that the Nebraska Supreme Court had recently rejected a legal challenge brought by opponents, an obstacle the White House had cited.”

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4. More “green science” myths bite the dust.

From HotAir  “Not that anyone in the anti-energy community will pay attention to this, but the debate over hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and energy extraction in general has delivered another blow to the Green Energy crew. In fact, several of the most commonly repeated stories about the health hazards associated with the oil and gas energy have turned out to be “claims masquerading as science.”

[Dr. Dan Hill, head and professor and Noble Chair of the Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering at Texas A & M University] cited a study in Colorado, which alleged that people who live within a half mile of a natural gas well are at higher risk of cancer. That study was later criticized by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment for it flawed methodology and was eventually decommissioned by the Garfield County Commissioners in Colorado.

Similarly, some residents of Flower Mound, Texas (north of Fort Worth) suspected that breast cancers were linked to increased drilling. After extensive investigation by the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, the Texas Cancer Registry, and Susan G. Komen for the cure in Dallas all said there is no evidence of an increase in cancers. The Texas Department of State Health Services also found no connection between natural gas production and cancer in 2014.

In order to appreciate the impact of these results, do a Google search on Flower Mound, Texas and Fracking. This case has taken on legendary status among fracking opponents. It brought the phrase cancer cluster to national prominence and fueled the opposition to hydraulic fracturing in the liberal media for years. It was accepted as gospel that the incidence rate of cancers must be higher and, even in the absence of any evidence of a causal relationship, that it must have been caused by fracking. However we now see groups including Komen for the Cure saying that there was no increase and no relationship.”

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News/Politics 1-9-15

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. Boko Haram continues it’s rampage. I guess #hashtag diplomacy isn’t working.

From NBCNews  “More than 2,000 people are unaccounted for after radical Islamist sect Boko Haram torched more than 10 towns and villages in Nigeria, a local lawmaker told NBC News. Ahmed Zanna, a senator for Borno state where the attack happened, said the militants razed the town of Baga as well as “10-to-20” other communities in the country’s rural northeast over the past five days. “These towns are just gone, burned down,” he told NBC News via telephone. “The whole area is covered in bodies.”

Zanna said he had spoken to residents who fled the towns. They reported that the spree had been ongoing since Boko Haram overran a nearby military base Saturday. During the days-long assault, the militants chased people out of Baga before returning to kill those left and torch the buildings to the ground, according to survivors who contacted Zanna. Some of those who survived fled on foot the 100 miles south to Maidurguri. The BBC spoke to Musa Alhaji Bukar, a senior government official in the area, who also said that 2,000 people had been killed in the raids. “This is one of the worst attacks I’ve seen because so many people are unaccounted for and feared dead,” said Zanna, who was elected in 2011.

Nigeria will hold general elections on February 14, a ballot many expect Boko Haram will attempt to disrupt. The group, whose name roughly translates to “Western education is sinful,” has slaughtered and kidnapped thousands and wants to establish a state in northern Nigeria based on strict Islamic law.”

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2. Bill Maher is upsetting his liberal friends again with some uncomfortable truths.

From HotAir  “It’s not what he’s saying that’s novel — he’s made this point before, and seems to be making it more often lately — but the forum in which he’s saying it. I wonder if there was anyone else featured across the four broadcast networks’ news/current events programming yesterday to raise the point that the “tiny minority of extremists” isn’t so tiny when you consider the raw numbers. Kimmel is uncomfortable from the start, partly because Maher went out there with a point to make rather than engage in the usual dreary late-night banter and partly because he’s violating a liberal taboo in noting that jihadi fanatics are sustained by a larger, decidedly illiberal culture. Criticizing the tiny minority on TV is okay provided that you emphasize their tiny-minority-ness. When, however, you try to connect up the actions of the worst offenders to the cultural fishbowl they swim in — a practice the left not only engages in but insists upon in every other context except Islamic fanaticism — then you’re over the line. Watch Kimmel scramble for a commercial break as Maher tries to get going on that point. Listen to how silent the audience is throughout, as if they dare not disrespect their host, ABC, by encouraging him. No wonder Maher had to move his own show from broadcast TV to pay cable.”

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3. Not shocking.

From CNSNews  “Nine of the 10 countries with the worst records for persecution of Christians have populations that are at least 50 percent Muslim, according to the assessment of persecution in the Open Doors USA’s World Watch List (WWL) 2015 and population information published by the State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency.

The WWL is an “annual survey of religious liberty conditions for Christians around the world” that was released Wednesday.

Communist North Korea topped the list for the 13th consecutive year for the regime’s extreme persecution of Christians.

But the other 9 countries among the 10 worst had Muslim populations of 50 percent or greater and were cited for “Islamic extremism” as a main cause for the persecution of Christians.

“Approximately 100 million Christians are persecuted worldwide, making them one of the most persecuted religious groups in the world,” said an Open Doors statement announcing the report. “Islamic extremism is the main source of persecution in 40 of the 50 countries on the 2015 World Watch List.””

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4. Also, not shocking.

From HotAir  “Did anyone actually think Cuba would release all 53 political prisoners whose release Barack Obama demanded for normalized relations? Outside of the White House and John Kerry’s State Department, that is?

The Cuban government is resisting the release of several of the 53 people the U.S. government has said were to be freed as part of a thaw in relations, linking them to acts of violence, a congressional aide told Reuters.

“We’ve been told that the Cuban government has agreed to release all but several of the political prisoners on the list,” the aide said.

“The government in Havana believes that the smaller group has committed acts of violence,” the aide said.

No specific number of prisoners was provided.

“All but several”? What exactly does that mean? Five, fifteen, twenty-five … fifty-two? At this point, we might do better to ask for the list of those whose release the Obama administration has confirmed. It’s likely to be shorter than the alternative.”

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5. Why? Is it because they’re unprepared for college when they leave high school?

From Politico  “President Barack Obama will need the approval of Congress to realize his proposal for making two years of community college free for students. So far, that plan doesn’t have an official price tag — other than “significant,” according to White House officials. If all 50 states participate, the proposal could benefit 9 million students each year and save students an average of $3,800 in tuition, the White House said.

“What I’d like to do is to see the first two years of community college free for everybody who’s willing to work for it,” Obama said in a White House video posted Thursday evening. “It’s something we can accomplish, and it’s something that will train our workforce so that we can compete with anybody in the world.”

The president’s proposal would make two years of community college free for students of any age with a C+ average who attend school at least half-time and who are making “steady progress” toward their degree.

To be eligible, community colleges would have to offer academic programs that fully transfer credits to local public four-year colleges and universities or training programs with high graduation rates that lead to in-demand degrees and certificates. Community colleges must also adopt “promising and evidence-based institutional reforms” to improve student outcomes.

Federal funding would cover three-quarters of the average cost of community college, and Obama is asking states to pick up the rest of the tab — assuming Congress agrees to the plan in the first place.”

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News/Politics 1-8-15

What’s interesting in the news today?

Open Thread, with a few to start things off.

1. Looks like some Democrats are waking up to the unworkable realities of ObamaCare. But the President is still threatening to veto a legislative fix. He changes it illegally anytime he wants, so he’s probably unfamiliar with the concept of legal legislative fixes.

From TheWashingtonTimes  “Congressional lawmakers, including Democrats, rebuked the White House on Wednesday for refusing to allow tweaks to Obamacare, saying President Obama is reneging on his promise to work to fix problems in the law.

A day after the White House said it would veto a bill to re-establish the 40-hour workweek standard, House and Senate members said they would press ahead and dare the president to oppose them.”

“Under Obamacare, businesses must count as full-time employees anyone who works at least 30 hours a week.

Critics say that is pushing employers to cut some workers’ hours to stay below the threshold for having to comply with the Obamacare business mandate. They want to restore the 40-hour definition.”

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2. One of the 3 suspects in the attack on a French paper’s office has turned himself in.

From APNews  “One man sought in the deadly shooting at a French satirical paper has turned himself in, and police hunted Thursday for two heavily armed men with possible links to al-Qaida in the military-style, methodical killing of 12 people at the office of a satirical newspaper that caricatured the Prophet Muhammad.

President Francois Hollande, visiting the scene of France’s deadliest such attack in more than half a century, called the assault on the weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo “an act of exceptional barbarism.”

France raised its terror alert system to the maximum — Attack Alert — and bolstered security with more than 800 extra soldiers to guard media offices, places of worship, transport and other sensitive areas. Fears had been running high in France and elsewhere in Europe that jihadis trained in warfare abroad would stage attacks at home.

French brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi, in their early 30s, should be considered armed and dangerous, according to a police bulletin released early Thursday. Mourad Hamyd, 18, surrendered at a police station in Charleville-Mezieres, a small town in France’s eastern Champagne region, said Paris prosecutor’s spokeswoman Agnes Thibault-Lecuivre. She did not offer details on Hamyd’s relationship with the men.”

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3. Isn’t Graham kinda stating the obvious here?

From HotAir  “Before you start in the comment section, I know. It’s Lindsey Graham. He’s a RINO. Amesty or something. In response to the terrorist attack this morning in Paris, he’s the first elected official to call it like it is, firmly and unreservedly. In an interview taped just a few minutes ago with Hugh Hewitt that will air at 7:06 EST, the senior senator from South Carolina had this to say, especially after Egypt’s President al-Sisi spoke out publicly for the need to reform Islam.

LG: I think the President of the United States is undercutting the president of Egypt. We’re in a religious war. These are not terrorists. They’re radical Islamists who are trying to replace our way of life with their way of life. Their way of life is motivated by religious teachings that require me and you to be killed, or enslaved, or converted. The President of the United States tip-toes around the threats we face, and he is trying to diminish the religious aspect of this war. Why? I don’t know. And he is not engaging the enemy in an aggressive fashion, which makes it more likely we’ll get attacked. What he’s doing is pretending to want to destroy ISIL when in fact, he’s trying to get out of office without having to commit American ground forces to do the job as part of a team in the region, because he made a campaign promise. His campaign promises, Hugh, are getting a lot of people killed.”

“I hope so, because this is not a cartoon problem. Our way of life doesn’t fit into their scheme of how the world should be. If you stopped talked about radical Islam, if you never did a cartoon again, that’s not enough. What people need to get is they can’t be accommodated. They can’t be negotiated with. They have to be eventually destroyed. And the way you destroy them over time is to have the people within the religion turn on them, have the capability to keep them at bay within the countries where they exist. That requires capacity building. That requires partnerships. But the way you defeat radical Islam is the way the KKK was defeated. People in the South over time turned against them. They got more educated. They rejected the extreme philosophy. And we’re going to have to invest in countries and people that would reject radical Islam, side with them, partner with them to keep the war over there. And here’s what I would say to President Obama. Your strategy of containing or destroying ISIL will not work. Your goal of containing them until you get out of office puts our country at risk. You’re not a very good commander-in-chief. Your policies to take the intelligence gathering process and destroy it by treating terrorism as a common crime is going to hurt this country. And to my fellow members of Congress, you’re part of the problem, too. If you don’t find a substitute for these Defense and intelligence cuts, you’re reducing our ability to defend this nation. There’s a perfect storm brewing, and I am going to keep talking about this until we get some action.”

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News/Politics 1-5-15

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. Make it so.

From FoxNews  “Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert said Sunday that he will challenge House Speaker John Boehner for his post when Congress returns this week to Washington.

Gohmert, among the House Republican caucus’ most conservative members, made the announcement on “Fox & Friends,” saying he decided to run after Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Fla., said Saturday that he would challenge Boehner for the chamber’s top post.

“We have heard from a lot of Republicans that said, ‘I would vote for somebody besides speaker Boehner.’ But nobody will put their name out there,” Gohmert said. “That changed yesterday with Ted Yoho.””

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2. Challenging the myth that Republicans are the party of the rich.

From TownHall  “Not only do Democratic billionaires spend more on campaigns then Republicans do, as Katie Pavlich noted yesterday, but Democrats also represent the nation’s richest congressional districts, while Republicans represent the middle class.

According to 2012 U.S. Census data, Democrats represent seven of the nation’s ten richest congressional districts including, California 18 (median household income $100,917), California 17 (median household income $100,652), Virginia 11 (median household income $98,815), New York 3 (median household income $96,626), Virginia 8 (median household income $92,918), California 33 (median household income $92,111), and Maryland 8 (median household income).

Meanwhile, Democrats also represent nine of the nation’s ten poorest congressional districts, including New York 15 (median household income $23,314), Mississippi 2 (median household income $29,981), Michigan 13 (median household income $30,273), Alabama 7 (median household income $31,080), Florida 5 (median household income $31,116), Ohio 11 (median household income $31,331), Arizona 7 (median household income $32,259), North Carolina 1 (median household income $32,488) , and California 34 (median household income $32,714).

And not only is the Democratic Party sharply divided between those that represent rich and poor congressional districts, but income inequality within Democratic congressional districts is far greater than it is within Republican ones. Of the top ten congressional districts with the highest levels of income inequality, Democrats represent nine of them.”

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3. So taxpayers will be helping to foot the bill for 87% of new ObamaCare enrollees.

From TheDailyMail  “About seven out of every eight Obamacare insurance customers who enrolled between November 15 and mid-December are poor enough to qualify for taxpayer-funded subsidies designed to lower their monthly premiums.

The Department of Health and Human Services reported that number Tuesday, saying it’s up from 80 per cent a year ago.

Americans who participate in government-brokered medical insurance can get subsidies from the federal treasury if their households earn less than four times the government’s official ‘poverty’ level.

That situation describes 64 per cent of all U.S. residents, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. But far more are qualifying, suggesting that the Obamacare subscriber base is dramatically tilted toward low-income earners.

And as poor Americans depend inreasingly on handouts to manage their monthly health insurance bills, the U.S. Supreme Court could be months away from invalidating the entire subsidy system that supports the 34 states that chose not to run their own Obamacare marketplaces.”

Let’s hope so.

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4. The discovery phase should be fun to watch.

From TheWashingtonExaminer  “Investigative reporter Sharyl Attkisson, whose coverage of the Sept. 11, 2012, terrorist attacks in Benghazi, Libya, has earned her both high praise and harsh criticism, has launched a lawsuit against the Department of Justice, demanding access to FBI documents that involve her personally.

The now-senior independent contributor to the Daily Signal, a conservative online news outlet based at the Heritage Foundation, alleges that during her final months as a correspondent for CBS News, her personal and work computers were hacked as she continued to produce often unfavorable reports on the Obama administration.

“I am hoping to get information that sheds light on a number of problems I’ve been dealing with,” Attkisson told the Washington Examiner’s media desk Friday evening. “One of the items the FBI is withholding is information surrounding a case they opened on my computer intrusions, which lists me as the victim.”

“Yet they never told me they opened the case, never interviewed me, and won’t produce material relevant to the case or the case file. The case has to progress through court and, historically, the government drags it out (at taxpayer expense). So it’s unclear when, if ever, we might receive the documents to which we are entitled,” she said.”

Yet another of the Obama admin’s “investigations” that don’t really investigate.

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5. Extortion by another name is still extortion.

From TheNYPost  “Want to influence a casino bid? Polish your corporate image? Not be labeled a racist?

Then you need to pay Al Sharpton.

For more than a decade, corporations have shelled out thousands of dollars in donations and consulting fees to Sharpton’s National Action Network. What they get in return is the reverend’s supposed sway in the black community or, more often, his silence.”

“Al Sharpton has enriched himself and NAN for years by threatening companies with bad publicity if they didn’t come to terms with him. Put simply, Sharpton specializes in shakedowns,” said Ken Boehm, chairman of the National Legal & Policy Center, a Virginia-based watchdog group that has produced a book on Sharpton.”

“Once Sharpton’s on board, he plays the race card all the way through,” said a source who has worked with the Harlem preacher. “He just keeps asking for more and more money.””

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News/Politics 12-30-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. Anyone notice a pattern from the “most transparent administration ever?”

From NationalReview  “Darrell Issa’s leading role in the IRS investigation may have come to a close — he lost his chairmanship of the House Oversight Committee to term limits — but there is plenty of work left for his successor, Jason Chaffetz of Utah. None of these criminals has been punished; the maddening fact is that Lois Lerner is enjoying a six-figure pension at the expense of the very taxpayers against whom she conducted a corrupt political jihad. And even if that happy day should come when Lerner et al. are given one-way bus tickets to Florence, Colo., or some other suitable destination, Chaffetz and his colleagues still would have a tremendous amount of work to do; if Issa’s time has taught us anything, it is that the federal agencies are in thrall to a culture of criminality, and that the most significant crime in the agencies’ repertoire is the obstruction of federal investigations.

Earlier this year, 47 inspectors general — the officials charged with fighting corruption, waste, and wrongdoing in federal agencies — sent a letter to Issa’s committee complaining that organizations ranging from the EPA to the Justice Department were impeding their investigations by withholding information — despite the fact that federal law specifically forbids withholding that information. These are not a bunch of Republican operatives trying to score a few political points: Those 47 inspectors general comprise more than half of all such officials, and many who signed the letter were appointed by President Barack Obama. Their complaint is that the federal agencies treat them more or less like they do . . . members of Congress: thwarting them, withholding documents, obstruction investigations.

Michael Horowitz, the inspector general for the Justice Department, came to the Oversight Committee practically begging them for a means by which the DOJ – the federal law-enforcement department — might be forced to follow the laws that it is supposed to be enforcing. “It is very clear to me,” he testified, “just as it is to the Inspectors General community, that the Inspector General Act of 1978 entitles inspectors general to access all documents and records within the agency’s possession. Each of us firmly believes that Congress meant what it said in Section 6(a) of the IG Act: that Inspectors General must be given complete, timely, and unfiltered access to agency records.” But under the leadership of Attorney General Eric Holder, the DOJ did no such thing. Horowitz notes that the DOJ specifically tried to withhold information related to the investigation of Operation Fast and Furious.”

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2. Oh goody, because the one we have just isn’t enough. 🙄

From TheDailyCaller  “President Obama’s nonprofit advocacy group Organizing for Action plans to train 10,000 new community organizers in 2015 in a search for the next “organizer-in-chief.”

The OFA Fellows Program set a goal of training 10,000 new organizers to follow in the footsteps of Obama, according to a fundraising email the group sent out Sunday with the subject line “The next Barack Obama.””

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3. Talk about bad optics…..

From TheWashingtonExaminer  “One couple wanted to get married, but President Obama wanted to play golf.

Army captains Natalie Heimel and Edward Mallue Jr. knew Obama was headed to Hawaii for the holidays, so on a whim, they extended him an invite to attend their Dec. 28 wedding — one he politely declined. That same day, they were informed they would have to move their wedding location.

The wedding was set to be at the 16th tee box at Kaneohe Kipper Golf Course on the Marine Corps Base in Hawaii — a favorite of both Mallue and Obama.

“It was kind of ironic they got the letter from them and then, within hours, they were told they had to be moved due to him,” Jamie McCarthy, Mallue’s sister, told Bloomberg Politics. “It was emotional, especially for her — she’s the bride and in less than 24 hours they had to change everything they had planned.”

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4. And some good news…..

From Breitbart  “Though the Chinese Communist Party is the largest explicitly atheist organization in the world, with 85 million official members, it is now overshadowed by an estimated 100 million Christians in China. It is no wonder Beijing is nervous and authorities are cracking down on Christian groups.

Christianity is growing so fast in China that some predict that it will be the most Christian nation in the world in only another 15 years. By far, the greatest growth is coming outside the official state-sanctioned churches, which are rightly considered subservient to the Communist Party. Numbers are increasing, rather, in unofficial Protestant “house churches” and in the underground Catholic church.

“By my calculations China is destined to become the largest Christian country in the world very soon,” said Fenggang Yang, a professor of sociology at Purdue University and author of Religion in China: Survival and Revival under Communist Rule.”

China is on to this as well and they are persecuting many as a result.

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News/Politics 12-29-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

Open Thread. Here’s a few to start things off.

1. The firing of the head of the Phoenix VA where the scandal started has been upheld. Funny thing though it was for receiving inappropriate gifts and not for the actual scandal itself. It seems the govt. didn’t provide enough info to find fault on those charges. Convenient, no?

From StarsAndStripes  ” The government agency charged with making sure federal employees are treated fairly upheld this week the Department of Veterans Affairs decision to “formally remove” Sharon Helman, director of the Phoenix Department of Veterans Affairs’ Health Care System and the leader at the center of the biggest scandal in the agency’s history.

But the ruling by the Merit Systems Protection Board could not substantiate that Helman knew or should have known that employees at her hospital lied about health-care wait times for former troops seeking treatment for everything from cancer to post-traumatic stress disorder.”

“In the ruling, Chief Administrative Judge Stephen Mish rejected the VA’s other charges, which said that Helman failed to see that veterans were waiting months or even years to get health care. But the judge said the VA failed to demonstrate any actions or inactions on the part of Helman that caused it.

“To phrase it more colloquially, an agency must connect the dots of fault from the identified failure by the subordinates back up the line to the manager,” the judge wrote. “The agency did not attempt to do so here. Accordingly, this specification is not sustained.”

Similarly, the VA said Helman failed to process 2,500 new claims that were found, which led hundreds of veterans to be without health care for more than a year. But the judge again said the VA did not provide enough information to the board.

The ruling also points out that linking Helman’s removal to the wait-times issue is complex. The report notes that the VA’s office of the inspector general did not interview Helman about wait times during their investigation into the issue.”

So it’s like the IRS scandal, where no one talks to the witnesses, victims, or the accused before deciding the case.

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2. They did it again. But this time it was cops from all over the country.

FromTheWashingtonPost  “The streets of this working-class neighborhood in Queens overflowed on Saturday with thousands of blue-uniformed police officers, state troopers, corrections officers and firefighters from across the country.”

“The outpouring — some estimates were of more than 20,000 officers — was about more than brotherhood and the New York Police Department’s long history of showing support to honor slain officers. This time, the solemn memorial turned into a kind of counter-protest.”

“Hundreds of officers watching the services outside Christ Tabernacle Church turned their backs on the screens when Mayor Bill de Blasio spoke. The mayor has been heavily criticized by New York police union officials, accused of causing a mood of mistrust that they say contributed to the killings of Ramos and Liu. Tensions between the mayor and police had already grown in recent months after de Blasio said he was worried about how police might treat his son, who is biracial.”

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3. Despite the reporter’s attempts to provide cover for Obama, Rudy raises some good points.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=nCIut7kydMU

More here from NationalReview

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News/Politics 12-23-14

What’s interesting in the news today?

Open Thread

I’ll start it off with these two.

UPDATE!

I’m having a real hard time with this administration’s idea of foreign policy. What is wrong with these people?

Not only are we releasing spies in exchange for pretty much nothing, but now we find out we’ve been helping one of the imprisoned spies artificially inseminate his wife in Cuba. 

How would that work you ask? By sending his sperm from prison to Panama, with the help of a US Senator, as part of the negotiations.

From StarsAndStripes  “Cuba is celebrating the return of three intelligence agents imprisoned in the United States for more than a decade, and the joyful but puzzling news that one of their wives is expecting just two weeks from now.

Adriana Perez’s pregnancy has been the talk of Cuba since she appeared with Gerardo Hernandez at the island’s parliament this weekend. Perez beamed and held hands with Hernandez as he caressed her baby bump, clearly visible beneath a flowing blue dress.

A top aide to U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy said Monday that the lawmaker helped arrange for Perez’s artificial insemination, one of the stranger chapters of 18 months of back-channel negotiations that culminated with Washington and Havana’s announcement they will resume diplomatic ties after more than 50 years of hostility.

Tim Rieser, foreign policy adviser to Leahy, told The Associated Press that it all began with a February 2013 trip to Cuba by Leahy, who has visited the island multiple times since the early 1990s, met with both former and current presidents Fidel and Raul Castro and opposes the U.S. embargo.”

“Back home, Leahy’s office began working with U.S. government officials. Conjugal visits are not allowed in the federal penitentiary system, but officials identified a precedent where artificial insemination had been permitted for an inmate.”

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1. The absolute worst idea yet from the gun control gang. Steal your parents gun and take it to school to give to your teacher. I kid you not.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=VFOhBAH3zPA

Did you spot the 3 crimes he committed? More on that here,

From National review  “Moreover, in the course of his little ploy, the kid breaks pretty much every law on the books. He takes a gun out of his house (not only is this felony burglary, but he’s not old enough to carry a firearm in public); he then takes that gun into a school (that’s against federal and state law); and, finally, he transfers it to a teacher without a background check, thereby breaking the very rule that progressives tell us is necessary to keep us all safe from gun violence. And for what, pray? Typically, anti-gun commercials focus in on a specific safety issue: a lack of trigger locks, or background checks, or safe-storage, for example. This one seems to feature a child who is saying, “I don’t want any guns in the house at all.” This absolute approach is extreme, even for today’s class of wildly incompetent control freaks.”

And just imagine the fun when he shows up at school with it. 🙄

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2. A Christmas surprise from ObamaCare. Further proof that Gruber and Obama think you’re too stupid to make these kind of important decisions yourself.

From TheWashingtonTimes  “If you like your health care plan, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has a Christmas surprise for you! When will this new present arrive? December 25th.

In an ongoing effort to keep Obamacare numbers elevated, CMS has embarked on the next step of its government takeover of healthcare.

It seems CMS is taking a page from Jonathan Gruber’s book; rather than allowing the “stupid” masses to make a decision on their own health plan, CMS has proposed a new rule that includes an overly reaching provision allowing CMS to re-enroll anyone who has not made the annual trek back to healthcare.gov in a cheaper plan of CMS’ choosing.

That’s right, the government will choose your plan, perhaps limit access to your doctor, and ultimately make the decision on what is “best” for you.”

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