President Obama says bombing Syria will have a positive impact on American foreign policy. I don’t see it. I don’t see how helping the rebels does anything good for the US. But he seems to think this “shot across the bow” move will benefit US interests. Again, I just don’t see it. His reasoning doesn’t make sense. He says it’s to ensure the chemical weapons don’t fall into the wrong hands. Well how does that happen? You can’t just blow them up, that would disperse them in some cases. You’re not sending troops in to recover them, so how are you removing them?

And bombing the Syrian govt helps the rebels. You know, the groups we don’t want to get them. If the govt falls, those rebels will have possession of them all. This action defeats the stated purpose.

From RCP “PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, what’s happened has been heartbreaking, but when you start talking about chemical weapons in a country that has the largest stockpile of chemical weapons in the world, where over time, their control over chemical weapons may erode, where they’re allied to known terrorist organizations that, in the past, have targeted the United States, then there is a prospect, a possibility, in which chemical weapons that can have devastating effects could be directed at us. And we want to make sure that that does not happen. “

“And if, in fact, we can take limited, tailored approaches, not getting drawn into a long conflict, not a repetition of, you know, Iraq, which I know a lot of people are worried about – but if we are saying in a clear and decisive but very limited way, we send a shot across the bow saying, stop doing this, that can have a positive impact on our national security over the long term, and may have a positive impact on our national security over the long term and may have a positive impact in the sense that chemical weapons are not used again on innocent civilians.”

Congress needs to slow things down here, maybe wait on the UN report to see who is really responsible, and ensure that any action is thought out, debated, and authorized.

It appears the UK is backing off and saying they’ll wait on the UN.

From TheTelegraph “The Prime Minister has now said he will wait for a report by United Nations weapons inspectors before seeking the approval of MPs for “direct British involvement” in the Syrian intervention.

Downing Street said the decision to wait for the UN was based on the “deep concerns” the country still harbours over the Iraq War.

MPs had been recalled to vote on a motion on Thursday expected to sanction military action. Instead, after a Labour intervention, they will debate a broader motion calling for a “humanitarian response”.

A second vote would be required before any British military involvement. This could now take place next week.”

The US Intelligence Committee has a problem with it.

From Reuters “U.S. congressional intelligence committee leaders believe the Obama administration has not properly consulted them as the president engages in final deliberations for possible military action in Syria, according to congressional officials.

One of the officials said the administration’s discussions with critical lawmakers, including Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein and her House counterpart, Mike Rogers, had been limited to “very brief status updates.”

“A number of U.S. lawmakers have complained in recent days that Obama must do more to involve Congress in any decision to punish Syria militarily in response to last week’s chemical weapons attack on thousands of civilians.”

And at least one Congressman is calling on Boehner to bring the House back to address it.

From CNSNews “Rep. Scott Rigell (R.-Va.)–who served six years in the Marine Corps Reserves, sits on the House Armed Services Committee, and represents the congressional district with the largest concentration of military personnel of any in the nation–said today he is calling on House Speaker John Boehner to call the House back into session to prevent President Barack Obama from usurping Congress’s constitutional authority to authorize—or not authorize—the use of military force in Syria.

“He should be calling the House back right now,” Rigell said of Boehner. “I will be clear on this.”

“Rigell sent a letter to President Obama today—co-signed by a bipartisan group of “over 100” House members–reminding the president that it is “clearly delineated” in the Constitution that the president must seek congressional authorization before using military force unless the use of force is needed to protect the United States from an attack.

“While the Founders wisely gave the Office of the President the authority to act in emergencies, they foresaw the need to ensure public debate—and the active engagement of Congress—prior to committing U.S. military assets,” Rigell wrote. “Engaging our military in Syria when no direct threat to the United States exists and without prior congressional authorization would violate the separation of powers that is clearly delineated in the Constitution.”

You’d think the Constitutional Scholar/Professor would already know that, but no. Apparently it wasn’t covered. 🙄

And as a reminder, here’s more on some of the people this will aid.

From TheFreeBeacon “U.S. intelligence agencies earlier this month uncovered new evidence that al Qaeda-linked terrorists in Benghazi are training foreign jihadists to fight with Syria’s Islamist rebels, according to U.S. officials.

Ansar al-Sharia, the al Qaeda-affiliated militia that U.S. officials say orchestrated the Sept. 11 attacks on the U.S. diplomatic compound and a CIA facility in Benghazi, is running several training camps for jihadists in Benghazi and nearby Darnah, another port city further east, said officials who discussed some details of the camps on condition of anonymity.

The officials said the terror training camps have been in operation since at least May and are part of a network that funnels foreign fighters to Syrian rebel groups, including the Al-Nusra Front, the most organized of the Islamist rebel groups fighting the Bashar al-Assad regime in Damascus.”

Did I mention that I think this is a bad idea? Because I meant to.

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As I’m sure you’ve heard, Nidal Hasan has been given a death sentence for the massacre at Ft. Hood. Here’s a surprising piece from a surprising source on why this was terrorism, and not “work place violence.”.

From MotherJones “Last Thursday, as the jury in the trial of Nidal Hasan was deliberating, outgoing FBI Director Robert Mueller appeared on CBS News and discussed a string of emails between the Fort Hood shooter and Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical Islamic cleric with ties to the 9/11 hijackers. The FBI had intercepted the messages starting almost a year before Hasan’s 2009 shooting rampage, and Mueller was asked whether “the bureau dropped the ball” by failing to act on this information. He didn’t flinch: “No, I think, given the context of the discussions and the situation that the agents and the analysts were looking at, they took appropriate steps.”

In the wake of the Fort Hood attacks, the exchanges between Awlaki and Hasan—who was convicted of murder on Friday—were the subject of intense speculation. But the public was given little information about these messages. While officials claimed that they were “fairly benign,” the FBI blocked then-Sen. Joseph Lieberman’s efforts to make them public as part of a two-year congressional investigation into Fort Hood. The military judge in the Hasan case also barred the prosecutor from presenting them, saying they would cause “unfair prejudice” and “undue delay.”

As it turns out, the FBI quietly released the emails in an unclassified report on the shooting, which was produced by an investigative commission headed by former FBI director William H. Webster last year. And, far from being “benign,” they offer a chilling glimpse into the psyche of an Islamic radical. The report also shows how badly the FBI bungled its Hasan investigation and suggests that the Army psychiatrist’s deadly rampage could have been prevented.”

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A new Harvard study will be poorly received in liberal circles.

From Breitbart “A Harvard Study titled “Would Banning Firearms Reduce Murder and Suicide?” looks at figures for “intentional deaths” throughout continental Europe and juxtaposes them with the U.S. to show that more gun control does not necessarily lead to lower death rates or violent crime.

Because the findings so clearly demonstrate that more gun laws may in fact increase death rates, the study says that “the mantra that more guns mean more deaths and that fewer guns, therefore, mean fewer deaths” is wrong.

For example, when the study shows numbers for Eastern European gun ownership and corresponding murder rates, it is readily apparent that less guns to do not mean less death. In Russia, where the rate of gun ownership is 4,000 per 100,000 inhabitants, the murder rate was 20.52 per 100,000 in 2002. That same year in Finland, where the rater of gun ownership is exceedingly higher–39,000 per 100,000–the murder rate was almost nill, at 1.98 per 100,000.”

“And when the study focuses on intentional deaths by looking at the U.S. vs Continental Europe, the findings are no less revealing. The U.S., which is so often labeled as the most violent nation in the world by gun control proponents, comes in 7th–behind Russia, Estonia, Lativa, Lithuania, Belarus, and the Ukraine–in murders. America also only ranks 22nd in suicides.

The murder rate in Russia, where handguns are banned, is 30.6; the rate in the U.S. is 7.8.”

If you’re interested, here’s the link to The Harvard Study. And if you scroll to the bottom you’ll see this, their conclusion.

“This Article has reviewed a significant amount of evidence from a wide variety of international sources. Each individual portion of evidence is subject to cavil—at the very least the general objection that the persuasiveness of social scientific evidence cannot remotely approach the persuasiveness of conclusions in the physical sciences. Nevertheless, the burden of proof rests on the proponents of the more guns equal more death and fewer guns equal less death mantra, especially since they argue public policy ought to be based on that mantra. To bear that burden would at the very least require showing that a large number of nations with more guns have more death and that nations that have imposed stringent gun controls have achieved substantial reductions in criminal violence (or suicide). But those correlations are not observed when a large number of nations are compared across the world.”

Ouch.

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According to the DoJ atheist leaders are eligible for certain tax break typically reserved for clergy. Not surprising, they’re not the first cult to receive it. 😯

And the irony here is that this comes out in a lawsuit seeking to do away with the exemption for clergy. Ha. 🙂

From UPI.com “The U.S. Justice Department says in a legal filing leaders of an atheist group qualify for the same housing tax exemption priests receive.

The paradoxical position comes in response to a lawsuit by the Freedom from Religion Foundation in Madison, Wis., which seeks to end the parsonage tax break granted to priests, ministers, rabbis and other clergy by the U.S. government. The tax break allows them to claim part of their income as a tax-free housing allowance.

Annie Laurie Gaylor, who receives a $15,000 housing stipend from the Freedom from Religion Foundation, is suing the federal government because she has to pay taxes on that money while “ministers of the gospel,” as the law defines priests, do not.

In response, the federal government said rather than agree to end the parsonage exemption it could be extended to Gaylor because she is the leader of a religious movement — albeit one that does not believe in God.”

Meanwhile other atheist continue their assault on Christianity.

From TheWashingtonTimes “Atheists are threatening to sue over a planned Princeton, N.J., memorial to mark the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on American soil because a metal beam that’s part of the display has a small cutout of a Christian cross.

The beam is the brainchild of a firefighter — who’s Jewish — who says the cross is actually a historic symbol, not religious, on Fox News. The beam was removed from the site of the World Trade Center debris; the cross shape was then cut into it. But American Atheists say the cutout is “grossly offensive,” and members vow to sue the municipality if the memorial goes forth as planned.

The group’s president, David Silverman, insists that the symbol is religious and that putting it on a public site would be a “clear violation of the separation of church and state.””

🙄

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Yesterdays March on Washington was a sad imitation of the original. The speakers list pretty much ensured that. I could post tons of stuff from Sharpton and his ilk to demonstrate my point. But I’m not gonna do that. Instead, I have a question for you all. Does this sound like the type of thing Dr. King would have done?

From RedAlertPolitics “Noticeably absent from the speaker line-up at the Let Freedom Ring event commemorating the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington today: the nation’s only black Senator, Tim Scott.

Scott, a Republican Representative appointed by S.C. Governor Nikki Haley earlier this year to fill former Sen. Jim DeMint’s seat in the U.S. Senate after he retired, was not invited to participate in the historic event, a spokesperson for the Senator confirmed to Red Alert Politics in an email.”

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August 24, 2013 by the real Aj

News/Politics 8-24-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

First up today, the Obama admin refuses to do anything about those responsible for Benghazi. Even when begged by the team he sent to investigate and track the attackers.

From FoxNews “Two weeks after the Obama administration announced charges against suspects in the Benghazi attack, a large portion of the U.S. team that hunted the suspects and trained Libyans to help capture or kill them is leaving Libya permanently.

Special operators in the region tell Fox News that while Benghazi targets have been identified for months, officials in Washington could “never pull the trigger.” In fact, one source insists that much of the information on Benghazi suspects had been passed along to the White House after being vetted by the Department of Defense and the State Department — and at least one recommendation for direct action on a Benghazi suspect was given to President Obama as recently as Aug. 7.”

“We put American special operations in harm’s way to develop a picture of these suspects and to seek justice and instead of acting, we stalled. We just let it slip and pass us by and now it’s going to be much more difficult,” one source said, citing 1,200 prisoners escaping two weeks ago. “It’s already blowing up. Daily assassinations, bi-weekly prison escapes, we waited way too long.”

The special operators are starting to get frustrated at the lack of action, and Fox News has been told by multiple sources that one special forces leader “literally yelled” at former Libyan Chief of Mission William Roebuck “and told him, ‘so you’re willing to let these guys get away with murder?'” The outburst was “met with crickets,” the sources said.”

Just pathetic.

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A military jury has convicted the Ft. Hood terrorist on all counts.

From TheAP ” military jury on Friday convicted Maj. Nidal Hasan in the deadly 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood, making the Army psychiatrist eligible for the death penalty in the shocking assault against American troops by one of their own on home soil.

There was never any doubt that Hasan was the gunman. He acknowledged to the jury that he was the one who pulled the trigger on fellow soldiers as they prepared to deploy overseas to Iraq and Afghanistan. And he barely defended himself during a three-week trial.

The unanimous decision on all 13 counts of premeditated murder made Hasan eligible for execution in the sentencing phase that begins Monday.”

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The DA in Christopher Lane’s murder investigation has decided it was not a hate crime. Can’t say I agree.

From NBCNews “Three juveniles allegedly involved with the Aug. 16 shooting death of Australian college athlete Christopher Lane will not be charged with a hate crime, the Duncan, Okla., district attorney said Friday.

“At this point, the evidence does not support the theory that Christopher Lane was targeted based upon his race or nationality,” said District Attorney Jason Hicks. “The evidence is insufficient to establish that race was the primary motive in the murder of Christopher Lane.”

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Both sides in the Paula Deen fiasco have agreed to drop the suit. It will be interesting to see if those who fired her will now do the right thing.

From MSNTV “Lawyers signed a deal Friday to drop a discrimination and sexual harassment lawsuit against celebrity cook Paula Deen, who was dumped by the Food Network and other business partners after she said under oath that she had used racial slurs in the past.

A document filed in U.S. District Court in Savannah said both sides agreed to drop the lawsuit “without any award of costs or fees to any party.” No other details of the agreement were released. The judge in the case had not signed an order to finalize the dismissal.”

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And these last two go together. The liberal posters over at Buzzfeed are up in arms over an anti-abortion/Planned Parenthood piece they ran. Buzzfeed is defending themselves by saying it was on a community post, not an official one from them. Some liberal commenters are talking of wanting such talk censored. Liberals don’t like the truth about abortion being exposed. You decide for yourself. Does this need censoring?

From BuzzFeed “8 Outrageous Things Planned Parenthood Was Caught Doing

The nation’s largest abortion provider has been caught doing some incredibly offensive, appalling, and illegal things. Find out what they’ve been covering up…”

It then goes on to present it’s case, with the help of the work done by LiveAction.org. You’ll recognize some of them, we’ve covered them here. Like I said, they don’t like truth coming out.

From Observer.com “BuzzFeed came under fire today after the viral site ran a post slamming Planned Parenthood.

“8 Outrageous Things Planned Parenthood Was Caught Doing,” submitted by a community contributor, the anti-abortion group PersonhoodUSA, has unsurprisingly not been a hit with BuzzFeed’s core readership.

BuzzFeed editor in chief Ben Smith said that the site is still figuring out aspects of opening up BuzzFeed’s platform to community contributors. “We’ve been adjusting the labeling, and we’re in the process of figuring out where and whether we should draw lines about what’s appropriate on what we conceived as an open platform, like Facebook and Twitter. It’s an interesting, and complicated, question but we’re inclined to leave the platform as open as possible,” Mr. Smith told us in an email.”

Censorship isn’t necessary. Allowing differing opinions let’s folks decide for themselves. What do they have to fear? If it’s no true, rebut it.

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August 14, 2013 by the real Aj

News/Politics 8-14-13

What’s interesting out there today?

Open thread, so feel free to share with the group. 🙂

First up, this guy just keep shooting more and more holes in the Obama admins “workplace violence” story.

From TheNYTimes “One year after he waged a deadly shooting rampage at the Fort Hood Army base here in November 2009, Major Nidal Malik Hasan told a panel of military mental health experts that he wished he had been killed during the attack because it would have meant God had chosen him for martyrdom.”

(And yet the coward selected targets he knew were unarmed)

“Major Hasan, 42, an American-born Muslim of Palestinian descent whose long-delayed court-martial began last week in a Fort Hood courtroom, said in the documents and in previous statements in and out of court that he carried out the attack to wage jihad for what he has called the illegal and immoral wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. In the documents, he described in blunt and unapologetic terms how he killed soldiers as he stepped into a medical processing building on Nov. 5, 2009. He said he wore earplugs to muffle the sound of his semiautomatic weapon, and shot into areas that had the “greatest density of soldiers.” In the end, 13 people were dead.

“I don’t think what I did was wrong because it was for the greater cause of helping my Muslim brothers,” he told the military panel.”

Call it what it is. Islamic terrorism. And give the victims their benefits.

You can come up with your own theory as to why the Obama admin continues to ignore the obvious. I already have one, and again, it’s because of the influence muslim groups hold with this administration.

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Pro-Morsi demonstrators are now protesting in DC as well.

From TheInvestigativeProject “A rally Saturday in Washington supporting deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, the second in a month sponsored by a group calling itself Egyptian-Americans for Democracy and Human Rights (EADHR), along with its press conference on Friday, makes it harder for some leading American Islamists to deny their connection with the Muslim Brotherhood.”

“The pro-Morsi demonstrators who packed Freedom Plaza just a block from the White House repeated many of the same chants that have been common in Muslim Brotherhood protests in Egypt since Morsi’s fall.”

“The demonstrators and protest organizers hope to get the Obama administration to follow Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., in calling Morsi’s ouster a “coup.” Thus far, Secretary of State John Kerry and the Obama administration have declined to do so, saying that the military intervened to keep Egypt from devolving into chaos.”

He’ll cave. Just watch.

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And remember folks, Al-Qeada is defeated and on the run. Or they just changed their name or something.

From TheWaPo “A rebranded version of Iraq’s al-Qaeda affiliate is surging onto the front lines of the war in neighboring Syria, expanding into territory seized by other rebel groups and carving out the kind of sanctuaries that the U.S. military spent more than a decade fighting to prevent in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In the four months since the Iraqi al-Qaeda group changed its name to reflect its growing ambitions, it has forcefully asserted its presence in some of the towns and villages captured from Syrian government forces. It has been bolstered by an influx of thousands of foreign fighters from the region and beyond.

The group, now known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, is by no means the largest of the loosely aligned rebel organizations battling to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and it is concentrated mostly in the northern and eastern provinces of the country. But with its radical ideology and tactics such as kidnappings and beheadings, the group has stamped its identity on the communities in which it is present, including, crucially, areas surrounding the main border crossings with Turkey.”

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Once again Eric Holder is caught playing fast and loose with the facts.

From HotAir “Bloomberg News caught the Department of Justice in a particularly noteworthy Friday-night news dump over the weekend. The Obama administration, stung by accusations from the Left that it hadn’t gone after fraudulent mortgages and the lenders that helped fuel the bubble, claimed that a year-long initiative run by the Mortgage Fraud Working Group in the DoJ had charged 530 people who had victimized 73,000 people. When Bloomberg’s reporters began digging into the claim, the DoJ stonewalled — and then finally admitted it cooked the books themselves:

The Justice Department made a long-overdue disclosure late Friday: Last year when U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder boasted about the successes that a high-profile task force racked up pursuing mortgage fraud, the numbers he trumpeted were grossly overstated.

We’re not talking small differences here. Originally the Justice Department said 530 people were charged criminally as part of a year-long initiative by the multi-agency Mortgage Fraud Working Group. It now says the actual figure was 107 — or 80 percent less. Holder originally said the defendants had victimized more than 73,000 American homeowners. That number was revised to 17,185, while estimates of homeowner losses associated with the frauds dropped to $95 million from $1 billion.

Hey, they only inflated those claims by 80% and 9o% — or looking at it from the other direction, 500% and 900%. Shouldn’t they get a chance to round up to the nearest 1000%? If you’re wondering what prompted this sudden outbreak of honesty, Bloomberg explains that two of its reporters had figured out the fraud:

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Here’s an update from one of yesterdays stories. We may now know the culprits. Now all we need to know is who put them up to it.

From TheDailyCaller “A new rush through the U.S. border has been triggered by an outspoken progressive group that is exploiting new asylum regulations to demand American citizenship for 1.7 million illegals previously deported to Mexico, according to Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach.

Border officials have told advocates and TV stations that hundreds of people are using the group’s innovative legal tactic to get approval from the border patrol for a temporary legal stay in the country.

The National Immigrant Youth Alliance triggered the rush by sending a group of illegals back to Mexico. The illegals then successfully used the asylum claim to win a temporary stay in the United States. The members, dubbed the “Dream 9,” walked up to the U.S. border and asked for asylum, based on the claim that they’re afraid of Mexico’s drug-cartels.

The group’s tactic works because new regulations allow immigrants to ask that a judge, rather than a border patrol officer, decide their asylum claim. Instead of jailing the prospective immigrants until their courtroom date, border officials are releasing many into the United States.”

Where many will disappear and ignore their court date.

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And just further proof that the sequester meme from Obama and Dems was way overstated.

From GovExec.com “When sequestration was about to kick in, the Obama administration began a nearly across-the-board campaign to discuss the devastating impact the automatic cuts would have on agency operations.

At the center of these warnings stood employee furloughs: mandatory unpaid leave to help each department meet the lower budget caps that took effect March 1. Furloughs, combined with hiring freezes, would disrupt the proper functioning of government, agency chiefs said, as fewer employees working fewer hours could not accomplish the same amount as a fully staffed workforce.

While many federal agencies have in fact moved forward with furloughs, and there remain countless examples of sequestration interfering with government operations, most major departments have reduced furlough days, or eliminated them altogether.

The earliest examples came from departments that told Congress they would have to furlough employees, but ended up backtracking. The Education and Justice departments fall into this category. The Agriculture, Transportation and Homeland Security departments all received authority to transfer funds between agency accounts, and were therefore able to cancel planned furloughs. The Commerce Department projected furloughs at its National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, only to cancel them in May.”

Defense too.

August 6, 2013 by the real Aj

News/Politics 8-6-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

First a story that shows how misguided this admins policies are, and how too often, he and the govt sides with the extremists. They get special treatment, his victims get denied benefits. It’s sickening.

From NBC/Dallas/Ft.Worth “NBC 5 Investigates has learned the accused Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Hasan receives extraordinary treatment in jail while victims of the attack argue they have been forgotten and mistreated by the U.S. Army.”

“Victims of the Fort Hood massacre told NBC 5 Investigates the Army’s efforts to provide for Hasan’s needs do not match the treatment they have received since the shooting. They feel the Army has gone the extra mile for Hasan but not for them. “

“Howard Berry said his son was constantly bothered by what he saw as a lack of consideration such as the Army denying victims of the massacre Purple Heart medals and other combat-related benefits while insisting the shooting was not an act of terrorism – a classification Fort Hood shooting victim Logan Burnett strongly disputes.”

Watch the video at the link.

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Meanwhile the White House meets with an imprisoned Muslim Brotherhood leader in Egypt.

From YahooNews “The second-most senior U.S. diplomat has met with the imprisoned deputy leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, according to a senior official, a sign that the United States is ramping up its attempts to mediate Egypt’s political crisis.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns traveled late Sunday night to the notorious Tora Prison, a jail in the middle of Cairo that has housed some of Egypt’s most famous prisoners, to meet with Khairat el-Shater, the official said.”

“The United States is furiously mediating between the military and Brotherhood, trying to help Egypt stabilize after the military takeover a month ago. Egypt has long been the United States’ most important Arab ally, and U.S. officials are eager to see the military avoid any steps that could lead to civil war.”

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Again, we back the wrong horse. These arms came from us. We armed the extremists.

From FoxNews “Jihadists in Egypt’s lawless Sinai Peninsula are using U.S. weapons to carry out attacks against the temporary government in the wake of the military’s ouster of President Mohammed Morsi, according to the embattled nation’s Interior Ministry.

The government office posted an official statement on its Facebook page along with images of an exploded missile that hit the third floor of a building in the city of el-Arish last week. The post said terrorist forces targeted the North Sinai Security Directorate office with a ballistic missile that struck the third floor facade of the building, leaving three soldiers injured. While attacks in the Sinai, which borders Gaza and is a haven for terrorist activity, have become commonplace, the prospect that militants have U.S. weapons typically fired from helicopters at their disposal is especially alarming.”

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Meanwhile, others suffering the extremist’s wrath get a cold shoulder, and no help from this admin, even as they were/are murdered in large numbers.

From TheTelegraph “Tens of thousands Syriac Christians – members of the oldest Christian community in the world – have fled their ancestral provinces of Deir al-Zour and Hasakah in northeastern Syria, residents have said.”

“Conflict in the area, desperate economic conditions, lawlessness, and persecution by rebel groups born from the perception that Christians support the regime, remain the main reasons for why Christian families are fleeing the area.

The growing presence of radical jihadist groups, including al-Qaeda, has also seen Christians targeted.”

As in Egypt, we arm and assist the radicals, but not their victims.

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OK, Boko Haram has been accused of heinous crimes by the International Criminal Court. Good. Now what do you plan to do about it?

From ABCNews “The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court says that after a preliminary investigation she believes that acts attributed to the Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram are likely crimes against humanity.

“Information available provides a reasonable basis to believe that since July 2009 Boko Haram has launched a widespread and systematic attack that has resulted in the killing of more than 1,200 Christian and Muslim civilians in different locations throughout Nigeria,” Fatou Bensouda wrote in a report issued Monday.

She said the potential crimes against humanity include murder and persecution. But she said she will only move to a full-fledged investigation after further study and depending on whether Nigerian authorities themselves are willing and able to prosecute “those who appear to bear the greatest responsibility.”

So basically nothing, because the Nigerian authorities can’t stop them or bring them to justice. They can’t do it alone.

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And baseball has finally cracked down.

From FoxSports “Defiant till the end, Alex Rodriguez is intent on evading baseball’s most sweeping punishment since the Black Sox scandal.”

“Rodriguez was suspended through 2014 and All-Stars Nelson Cruz, Jhonny Peralta and Everth Cabrera were banned 50 games apiece Monday when Major League Baseball disciplined 13 players for their relationship to Biogenesis of America, a Florida anti-aging clinic accused of distributing banned performance-enhancing drugs.”

“Others agreeing to 50-game bans included Yankees catcher Francisco Cervelli and outfielder Fernando Martinez; Philadelphia pitcher Antonio Bastardo; Seattle catcher Jesus Montero; New York Mets infielder Jordany Valdespin and outfielder Cesar Puello; Houston pitcher Sergio Escalona; and free agent pitchers Fautino De Los Santos and Jordan Norberto.”

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August 5, 2013 by the real Aj

News/Politics 8-5-13

What’s interesting out there today?

Open thread, as always.

First up, over the weekend the FBI conducted raids in more than 70 cities. They rescued more than 100 teens, mostly runaways and kids from broken homes, from sex-trafficking operations. Well done FBI.

From NBCNews “The sting resulted in the arrest of 159 “pimps” from San Francisco to Miami who were involved in the commercial exploitation of both adults and children, said Ronald Hosko, assistant director of the FBI’s criminal investigative division.

It was the FBI’s largest action to date focusing on the recovery of sexually exploited children, and took law enforcement agencies to streets, motels, casinos and social media platforms, Hosko said. He said he hoped it would focus attention on sex trafficking, “this threat that robs us of our children.”

“The sweep was the seventh iteration of Operation Cross Country, part of a partnership begun a decade ago by federal authorities and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to address child prostitution.

The sting, over three days beginning Friday, demonstrate “how many of America’s children are being sold for sex every day, many on the Internet,” said John Ryan, the center’s president and CEO.”

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More on the threat that closed, and continues to keep closed, numerous overseas facilities. Security in the states has ramped up as well.

From ABCNews “On the day that almost two dozen U.S. embassies and consulates across North Africa and the Middle East are closed following the identification of a significant threat from an al-Qaeda affiliate, a senior U.S. official is providing new details about the communications intercepted from the terrorists, telling ABC News that al-Qaeda operatives could be heard talking about an upcoming attack. The official described the terrorists as saying the planned attack is “going to be big” and “strategically significant.”

“The part that is alarming is the confidence they showed while communicating and the air of certainty,” the official said, adding that the group — Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula — appeared to have a media plan for after the attack.

Authorities do not know the exact target of the planned attack, according to the official.”

Bill Kristol points out a painful truth. Despite the President’s rhetoric, reality shows al-Qaeda is alive and well.

From TheDailyCaller “Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol remarked on Sunday that President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign rhetoric on foreign policy stood in stark contrast to the turmoil in the Middle East stirred by threats from al-Qaida, pointing out that the U.S. closed 22 embassies throughout the Muslim world.

“Four years ago President Obama gave a much heralded speech as outreach to the Muslim world,” Kristol said. “And now, four years later we are closing embassies throughout the Muslim world. A year ago, the president said al-Qaida is on the run. And now we seem to be on the run.”

“I’m not criticizing the decision to close the embassies. That’s probably the right thing to do for the sake of trying to save American lives and others, but it’s a terrible thing,” he added. “That you know, just a year ago boasting al-Qaida is on the run and Osama bin Laden is dead.”

Or is it all yet another distraction tactic? Yes, cynical, I know.

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Some leakers are more equal than others. The White House will be all over this I’m sure. 🙄

From TheJerusalemPost “Unnamed US officials leaked information Thursday on alleged Israeli air strikes in Syria, and told The New York Times they expect an additional attack by Israel in the near future.

The sources, described by the Times as “American intelligence analysts,” discussed what they said were classified assessments, according to which a July 5 IAF strike on a Syrian facility housing Russian surface-to-sea missiles in Latakia failed to destroy them all.”

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It’ll be fun to see how the White House responds to this…

From FoxNews “A new petition on the White House website asks the administration to declare the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization.

The request was posted on petitions.whitehouse.gov on July 7 and quickly garnered more than the 100,000 signature requirement for the Obama administration to officially consider the request.”

“The “We the People” petition program, which was set up by the White House late last year, stipulates that all requests must receive some sort of response from the administration when150 signatures are added within the first 30 days and the petition gains 100,000 signatures by the second 30 days.”

The 100,000 in 30 has been met.

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Planned Parenthood is forced to pay the state of Texas 4.3 million dollars for Medicaid fraud. But as expected the media response is to act like the 3 monkeys. Hear nothin’, see nothin’, speak nothin’. You know the drill.

From NewsBusters “In the first week of February 2012, the Big Three networks lunged to the defense of Planned Parenthood when the Susan G. Komen Foundation (very temporarily) withdrew its donation to abortion giant (about $680,000 the previous year). Network reporters whacked Komen, promoting “outrage and disappointment engulfing the Internet.”

But Mollie Hemingway of Get Religion pointed out that Planned Parenthood in Texas was recently forced to pay the state of Texas $4.3 million for Medicaid fraud. Where was the “outrage and disappointment” engulfing the media? The networks didn’t notice. Even the local newspaper coverage was terrible.”

“Planned Parenthood trotted out the usual corporate line that settlement wasn’t an admission of guilt — which might be the shriveled fig leaf the “mainstream media” would use to say it’s not newsworthy. But wait — Texas isn’t the only state where this fraud might be occurring, as the Heritage Foundation reported:

Alliance Defending Freedom’s recent analysis of state and federal audits of family planning programs suggests that in 12 states, Planned Parenthood affiliates overbilled Medicaid for more than $8 million. One federal audit of New York’s Medicaid family planning program reported that certain providers, “especially Planned Parenthoods,” had engaged in improper practices resulting in overpayment.”

Shhhhh….. It’s a secret. 🙄

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Well I guess this was way overdue. She should just take him up on his offer and tell the truth.

From TheNYPost “Twenty-five years after accusing an innocent man of rape, Tawana Brawley is finally paying for her lies.”

“She still owes Pagones $431,000 in damages. And she remains defiantly unapologetic.

“It’s a long time coming,” said Pagones, 52, who to this day is more interested in extracting a confession from Brawley than cash.

“Every week, she’ll think of me,” he told The Post. “And every week, she can think about how she has a way out — she can simply tell the truth.”

Sharpton threw her under the bus. Isn’t it time she returned the favor?

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One less RINO?

Sure! 🙂

From FoxNews “The first woman to graduate from The Citadel has announced her plans to challenge U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham in the Republican primary in 2014.

Nancy Mace announced her candidacy Saturday at a GOP breakfast in Goose Creek.

Mace told the audience that she thinks government is out of touch, and that while it has worked its way into every corner of American lives, the country isn’t better off for it.”

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July 19, 2013 by the real Aj

News/Politics 7-19-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

First up, some good news. And a tip of the hat to the great state of Texas. 😉

From TheAP “Texas Gov. Rick Perry signed sweeping new abortion restrictions on Thursday that could shutter most of the state’s clinics that provide the procedure, a final step for the Republican-backed measure after weeks of sometimes raucous protests at the state Capitol.”

And another good news story thanks to the first.

From TheHill “Planned Parenthood on Wednesday informed staff at three of its facilities in Texas that they would be closing, according to people familiar with the decision.

The three clinics are located in Bryan, Huntsville and Lufkin, Texas. They are closing in response to a new package of abortion restrictions signed into law on Thursday and funding cuts to Texas’ Women’s Health Program that were passed by the Texas state legislature in 2011. Out of the three Planned Parenthood clinics that are closing, only the Bryan clinic performs abortions.”

And expect more closings to come.

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The DoJ is going forward with further attempts to find Zimmerman guilty of something.

From CNN “The Department of Justice has asked the Sanford, Florida, police department to hold all evidence related to the George Zimmerman case, Sanford Capt. Jim McAuliffe said Thursday.”

And if you’re suffering from liberal white guilt over this, don’t worry, Chris Matthews has already apologized on your behalf. You’re welcome.

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In Benghazi news, NDA’s for all!

From TheWeeklyStandard “Congressman Frank Wolf, a Republican from Virginia, said today on the House floor that survivors of the Benghazi terror attack have been forced to sign non-disclosure agreements: “On Tuesday I raised the question of why none of the Benghazi survivors, whether State Department, CIA, or private security contract employees have testified publicly before Congress,” said Wolf.

“According to trusted sources that have contacted my office, many if not all of the survivors of the Benghazi attacks along with others at the Department of Defense, the CIA have been asked or directed to sign additional non-disclosure agreements about their involvement in the Benghazi attacks. Some of these new NDAs, as they call them, I have been told were signed as recently as this summer.”

Gee, I wonder why…? 🙄

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And in other terrorism news……

From InvestorsBusinessDaily “If there’s any doubt the FBI’s gone soft on Islamic terror and may be overlooking more Boston-style plots, witness the bureau chief’s recent Hill testimony.

In a testy exchange with Republican lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee, FBI Director Robert Mueller reluctantly acknowledged FBI counterterrorism training materials have been purged of references to “jihad” and “Islam” and that counterterrorism agents have been restricted from doing undercover investigations at mosques.

These outrageous policies likely contributed to the FBI missing signs of radicalization in the Muslim community — including that of the Tsarnaev brothers in Boston. The marathon bombers operated in plain sight of the FBI before killing three and wounding 260.”

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And this is the last one for today. This is one state, NJ. Does anyone doubt that this doesn’t go on in every state?

From NewJersey.com “An investigation by the state comptroller, released Wednesday, found “widespread fraud” in New Jersey’s school lunch program that’s meant to serve needy families.

The investigation found more than 100 people on public payrolls, or their family members, allegedly lied about their income so their kids could eat in school for free. Among those caught cheating were 40 school district employees and six school board members in Pleasantville, Newark and Paterson.”

“”Our investigations division ultimately uncovered false information on applications submitted by school board members, teachers, other school employees as well as state, county and local employees,” state Comptroller Matthew Boxer said. “What we found are people who work for the government, lying to the government about how much the government is paying them — all to benefit from a program that is designed to help those in need.”

More here as well.

Gov. Christie has called for firings in the matter. Some fraud charges are probably in order as well.

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July 16, 2013 by the real Aj

News/Politics 7-16-13

What’s interesting out there today?

The Zimmerman acquittal continues to lead. It’s playing out much the way you would expect. The baiters gotta bait, the biased media has to show their bias, and the truth isn’t really a concern. The mob rules.

From the head of the NAACP, via TheOrlandoSentinel

“In remarks to reporters after his speech, Jealous, a father of two, said the George Zimmerman acquittal brought him to tears.

“When I heard that….the first thing I did was walk over to my son’s crib and lift him up, and I listened to him breathe,” Jealous recalled.

“And then I began to cry,” he said. “No one can explain to me how, if this young boy [Trayvon Martin] was white, somebody wouldn’t be in prison right now.””

He then goes on to call it a modern day lynching. Somebody’s being lynched, but it’s not who he thinks it is.

Next up, don’t anger the mob. And with a CONTENT WARNING!!! for language. From TheDailyCaller

“Christian Hartsock, a conservative journalist and filmmaker, says he was assaulted and beaten down to the ground by a mob with repeated strikes to the face while reporting at a Trayvon Martin rally in downtown Oakland Sunday night.

“I have interviews and I have footage of [Trayvon protestors] chanting ‘no justice, no peace—%$&# &%$ pigs in your sleep,’” Hartsock told The Daily Caller. “One of them was an elementary schooler chanting with his mom.”

Of course elected officials like Holder and Rangel are getting in on the act. From Mediaite

“Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) told MSNBC’s Martin Bashir on Monday that the outcome of the trial of George Zimmerman would have been different had the defendant been black and not Hispanic. If that were the case, Rangel said, the question would be whether the arresting officers would have “beat him to death” before putting him in handcuffs on the spot.”

Like I said, baiters gotta bait. Here’s more from the head of the CBC. From HuffPo

“Congressional Black Caucus chair Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) issued harsh words over the verdict in the George Zimmerman case, arguing that a “young black boy” was put on trial rather than the man who killed him.

“Mr. Zimmerman was found not guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, he was not found innocent. All of the facts I think that I know, that I’m aware of, is that there was a young man walking in his neighborhood, walking to his house unarmed, and someone decided that he looked suspicious,” Fudge said during an appearance on MSNBC.”

Wait, what?

Just a quick check of the definition shows that she’s misinformed.

in·no·cent
(n-snt)

a. Not guilty of a specific crime or offense; legally blameless: was innocent of all charges.

b. Within, allowed by, or sanctioned by the law; lawful.

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Now that we’re done with the drama queens and assorted agenda driven fanatics, let’s try a little truth, which none of the above are even mentioning since it doesn’t fit their agendas. The jury is beginning to speak. From CNN

“One of the jurors who acquitted George Zimmerman of killing Florida teen Trayvon Martin said she believed Martin threw the first punch in their confrontation and that Zimmerman probably feared for his life before shooting Martin. The juror spoke to CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360” on Monday.

The juror also said she believed Zimmerman’s “heart was in the right place” the night he killed Martin, but didn’t use “good judgment” in confronting him.”

It was always self-defense. He’s not the monster they’ve made him out to be. Neither was Trayvon, but denying that his actions didn’t contribute to his death is dishonest.

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And in other news……. A trial that should be receiving way more airtime, yet oddly isn’t. Gee, I wonder why?…. 🙄

Nope, no bias here, move along…. From HotAir

“These tweets from Karen Townsend and Elizabeth Scalia reminded me that we have at least one trial in progress in the United States that the media has failed to sensationalize. It has issues of terrorism, betrayal, mass murder, and religious extremism within it, so why do we hear so little about … Nidal Hasan?”

“That prompted me to do a little research into the Fort Hood shooting court-martial to see how much coverage it has received so far. The answer is … not much. The pre-trial voir dire has entered its second week, but the only news outlet interested at this point is the Associated Press. The three updates today I did manage to find all came from the AP:”

Shhhhhhh… It’s a secret……

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Which brings me to this next one. Isn’t it time to stop with the charades and insistence of neutrality and just have them state the obvious and confirm what we already know? From TheGuardian/UK

“Are mainstream journalists dedicated to journalism? This may seem like a strange question, especially since I’m a journalist myself, though independent and not tied to a corporate news organisation.

We are bombarded with details that claim to inform us about the world. From war and peace to politics and global affairs, reporters produce content that is consumed by the vast majority of the population. There are claims of holding power to account, questioning how governments, officials and businesses make decisions that affect us all. In reality, corporate and political interests too often influence what we see and hear.

Of course, profound failures regularly occur – not least during the global financial crisis, when most business reporters were far too close to bankers causing the lying and deceit. Or in the run-up to the 2003 Iraq war, when too few in the media questioned the bogus rationale by the Bush administration and its allies about Saddam Hussein’s supposed WMD threat. More recently, many in the Washington media elite rallied around Barack Obama and his defence of mass surveillance after the explosive revelations of former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

But the media has singularly failed in holding itself to account. We, as journalists, should disclose for whom we vote and any other political affiliations that may affect our reporting. It’s the least we can do to restore trust in an industry that regularly receives low marks by its readers. A 2011 study by Edelman Public Relations found only 33% of the Australian public trusted the press, compared to an average of 49% globally. A 2013 study by Transparency International finds Australians rank political parties and the media as the most corrupt institutions in the state.”

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Yes Please! 🙂

From TheWashingtonExaminer

“The New York Times polling analyst Nate Silver believes that Republicans may have a shot at retaking the Senate.

“A race-by-race analysis of the Senate, in fact, suggests that Republicans might now be close to even-money to win control of the chamber after next year’s elections,” Silver writes on his “Five Thirty Eight” blog. “Our best guess, after assigning probabilities of the likelihood of a G.O.P. pickup in each state, is that Republicans will end up with somewhere between 50 and 51 Senate seats after 2014, putting them right on the threshold of a majority.””

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If you’re a Republican, you resign in shame, if you’re a Democrat, sex scandals are resume’ enhancers. From HotAir

“Confession: It used to bug me when conservatives would dump on my hometown. I understood it wasn’t personal — red-state voters will obviously disdain a deep blue city. And there’s no disputing, whatever your feelings about NYC, that Bloomberg’s a cretin and the Yankees are evil. But still, you can’t listen to people dumping on the place where you grew up and not wince. It hits you where you live. Literally.

That’s how I felt. Until I saw this, and now, suddenly, I get it. I can finally watch “Cloverfield” and enjoy it without misgivings.”

“Strong support among black voters propels former Congressman Anthony Weiner to the top of the heap in the Democratic primary for New York City mayor and gives former Gov. Eliot Spitzer a 48 – 33 percent lead over Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer in the Democratic primary race for city comptroller, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today…”

Hey NY, you do realize that even California is laughing at you, right? I need a facepalm smiley.

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June 5, 2013 by the real Aj

News/Politics 6-5-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

We have a bunch today, so I’ll try to be brief. Some are videos, so you can hear and see it for yourself.

Out of all the testimony I’ve seen, this one is my favorite. It’s about time someone calls these partisan hacks out for their behavior and enabling of clear violations of the law. And these illegal acts for partisan reasons have had a chilling effect on free speech, and have led to crimes against people’s homes and businesses for nothing more than supporting traditional marriage.

Next up, what the IRS did to an Iowa pro-life group. You will find what she has to say extremely disturbing.

More on their illegal actions toward NOM here, from TheDailyCaller

“It is likely that someone at the Internal Revenue Service illegally leaked confidential donor information showing a contribution from Mitt Romney’s political action committee to the National Organization for Marriage, says the group.”

“The dispute stems from a March 30 post on the pro-gay Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC) website, which boasted that it had obtained documents revealing that Mitt Romney “donated $10,000 to the National Organization for Marriage [NOM] in 2008 …””

Meanwhile, other groups that are certainly questionable continued to have expedited service from the IRS and meetings with the White House to help move things along. From WND

“At the same time the Internal Revenue Service delayed or denied requests for tax-exempt status from hundreds of conservative non-profit groups, it was quietly restoring the tax-exempt status of an Islamist front group accused of collaborating with terrorists.

Last year, the politicized agency reinstated the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations’ tax-exempt status despite years of delinquent tax filings. CAIR officials had met with officials inside the White House before the decision was made.”

Anyone who still doubts the White House involvement needs to consider this as well. From TownHall

“Cutter insists that Shulman was simply meeting about implementation of ObamaCare — and in fairness, one of her responsibilities was managing communications strategy for the unpopular law. But as everyone knows, Stephanie Cutter’s expertise is not primarily in the policy area; it is in the realm of politics: Political strategy and communications. She has been described by the Daily Beast as a partisan “pit bull.” Her job isn’t the nuts and bolts of governing. She is a political fixer. That’s why she was a Deputy Campaign manager for the President’s re-election.

Given that’s the case, it’s far from clear why she would have been in meetings with Doug Shulman at all. The whole point of the IRS’ supposed “independence” is to insulate the agency from the influence and machinations of people exactly like Stephanie Cutter.

Some at the IRS are talking, and what they’re saying implicates others as well as the White House. From NationalReview

“Congressional investigators are probing the highest echelons of the Internal Revenue Service in Washington, D.C., in connection with the agency’s targeting of conservative groups, according to documents obtained by National Review Online. Those documents, provided by an IRS employee who asked to remain anonymous, indicate that those being asked to provide computer data to investigators include the agency’s chief counsel, William J. Wilkins, and both of his deputies. The chief counsel is one of just two political appointments at the IRS made by the president.”

Paul Ryan got some cheers from the audience for his rebuttal of McDermott. Despite his insistence that the Bush admin did this to liberal groups, he and Democrats offered no examples and called no witnesses.

GOP Rep. Jim Bridenstine’s One-Minute Critique Of The Obama Regime On House Floor…

Ouch.

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Here’s an update on the Ft. Hood shooting trial. Like I said yesterday, it’s getting really tough to sell the “work-place violence” lie. This was terrorism. The suspect has again admitted this publicly. Those involved deserve the proper designation and the benefits they have coming. Benefits the Obama admin has denied them because they don’t want to admit to the suspects motivations for PC reasons. From Newser.com

“A “defense of others” strategy requires defendants to prove they killed a person or people to protect others from immediate danger. Many of the soldiers killed on the Texas Army post were preparing to deploy.”

“Government documents show that Hasan, in speaking with some colleagues, expressed support for Osama bin Laden and said the U.S. was at war with Islam. In some emails to a radical Muslim cleric, Hasan indicated that he supported terrorists and was intrigued with the idea of U.S. soldiers killing comrades in the name of Islam.”

“Witnesses have said that after lunch on Nov. 5, 2009, a gunman wearing an Army combat uniform shouted “Allahu Akbar!” _ “God is great!” in Arabic _ and opened fire in a crowded medical building where deploying soldiers are given vaccines and undergo tests. Witnesses said the gunman fired rapidly, pausing only to reload, even shooting at some soldiers as they hid under desks and fled the building.”

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This one? Oh c’mon, really? From Philly.com

“Ask anyone coming down from the high of one too many cups of coffee, and they’ll tell you that the headaches from caffeine withdrawal can drive you crazy. So much so, that the latest version of psychiatry’s bible, DSM-5, is naming caffeine withdrawal as an actual mental disorder.”

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