Saturday, September 17, 2011
Friday, September 16, 2011
Thursday, September 15, 2011
General Accuses White House Of Pressuring Him To Change Testimony For Democratic Donor
The Daily Beast reports:
TweetThe four-star Air Force general who oversees U.S. Space Command walked into a highly secured room on Capitol Hill a week ago to give a classified briefing to lawmakers and staff, and dropped a surprise. Pressed by members, Gen. William Shelton said the White House tried to pressure him to change his testimony to make it more favorable to a company tied to a large Democratic donor.
The episode—confirmed by The Daily Beast in interviews with administration officials and the chairman of a congressional oversight committee—is the latest in a string of incidents that have given Republicans sudden fodder for questions about whether the Obama administration is politically interfering in routine government matters that affect donors or fundraisers. Already, the FBI and a House committee are investigating a federal loan guarantee to a now failed solar firm called Solyndra that is tied to a large Obama fundraiser.
Now the Pentagon has been raising concerns about a new wireless project by a satellite broadband company in Virginia called LightSquared, whose majority owner is an investment fund run by Democratic donor Philip Falcone. Gen. Shelton was originally scheduled to testify Aug. 3 to a House committee that the project would interfere with the military’s sensitive Global Positioning Satellite capabilities, which control automated driving directions and missile targeting, among other things.
Al Qaeda’s Operational Chief In Pakistan Liquidated In Drone Attack
TweetA senior administration official tells ABC News that officials have confirmed that al Qaeda’s chief of Pakistan operations, Abu Hafs al-Shahri, was killed earlier this week in Waziristan, Pakistan.
The administration does not confirm the use of predator drones, but on Sunday, the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, a drone fired two missiles at a car as it entered a compound in Mir Ali, North Waziristan, killing three militants.
“Abu Hafs’ death will further degrade al Qaeda’s ability to recover from the death last month of AQ’s number two, Atiyah, because of his operations experience and connections within the group,” the senior administration official said, referring to ‘Atiyah ‘Abd al-Rahman, the deputy leader of al Qaeda killed in August.
Four Out Of 10 Jewish Americans Currently Disapprove Of Obama
TweetObama’s approval rating among Jewish Americans is also down to 55 percent – a five point drop from his approval rating in June, which stood at 60 percent.
Together, the rise in disapproval and dip in approval ratings are a net negative 11 point downturn for Obama among Jews…
“For a while now, I’ve been hearing from my constituents a lot of dissatisfaction with the statements on Israel that have been coming from the president and the administration,” Rep. Eliot Engel, (D-N.Y.) told the New York Times this week. “He’ll still get a majority of Jewish votes, but I would not be surprised to see that drop 10 to 20 points.”
Cherokee Indians Kick Blacks Out Of Tribe, U.S. Government Wants Indians To Take Them Back As Citizens As Required By 1866 Treaty
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The nation's second-largest Indian tribe said on Tuesday that it would not be dictated to by the U.S. government over its move to banish 2,800 African Americans from its citizenship rolls.
"The Cherokee Nation will not be governed by the BIA," Joe Crittenden, the tribe's acting principal chief, said in a statement responding to the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs.Crittenden, who leads the tribe until a new principal chief is elected, went on to complain about unnamed congressmen meddling in the tribe's self-governance.
The reaction follows a letter the tribe received on Monday from BIA Assistant Secretary Larry Echo Hawk, who warned that the results of the September 24 Cherokee election for principal chief will not be recognized by the U.S. government if the ousted members, known to some as "Cherokee Freedmen," are not allowed to vote.
The dispute stems from the fact that some wealthy Cherokee owned black slaves who worked on their plantations in the South. By the 1830s, most of the tribe was forced to relocate to present-day Oklahoma, and many took their slaves with them. The so-called Freedmen are descendants of those slaves.
After the Civil War, in which the Cherokee fought for the South, a treaty was signed in 1866 guaranteeing tribal citizenship for the freed slaves.
The U.S. government said that the 1866 treaty between the Cherokee tribe and the U.S. government guaranteed that the slaves were tribal citizens, whether or not they had a Cherokee blood relation.
The African Americans lost their citizenship last month when the Cherokee Supreme Court voted to support the right of tribal members to change the tribe's constitution on citizenship matters.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Top Palestinian Leader Says That Any Future Palestinian State Must Be Free Of Jews
Ha’aretz reports that the future independent Palestinian state will not include a Jewish minority, a top Palestinian official told USA Today on Wednesday, adding that it was in the best interest of both peoples to “be separated.” And yet it is pro-Palestinian activists that slander Israel, with a 20% Arab minority with full citizenship rights, as an "Apartheid State"? Don't hold your breath for the international community to voice opposition to or condemnation of top Palestinian leaders that declare any future Palestinian State must be Judenrein. Tweet
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Anthony Weiner's Senate Seat Lost To Republican With Loss Of Jewish Support For Democrats
Republicans have scored an upset victory in a House race that started as a contest to replace Rep. Anthony Weiner after he resigned in a sexting scandal but became a referendum on President Barack Obama's economic policies.Tweet
Retired media executive and political novice Bob Turner defeated Democratic state Assemblyman David Weprin on Tuesday in the special election to fill the seat vacated by Weiner, a seven-term Democrat who resigned in June.
With more than 80 percent of precincts reporting, Turner had 54 percent of the vote to Weprin's 46 percent in unofficial results.
"We've been asked by the people of this district to send a message to Washington," Turner told supporters after the landmark win. "I hope they hear it loud and clear. We've been told this is a referendum. Mr. President, we are on the wrong track. We have had it with an irresponsible fiscal policy which endangers the entire economy."
Weprin did not immediately concede.
The heavily Democratic district, which spans parts of Queens and Brooklyn, had never sent a Republican to the House. But frustration with the continued weak national economy gave Republicans the edge.
Turner has vowed to bring business practicality to Washington and push back on spending and taxes.
The race was supposed to be an easy win for Democrats, who have a 3-1 ratio registration advantage in the district.
Weprin, a 56-year-old Orthodox Jew and member of a prominent Queens political family, seemed a good fit for the largely white, working-class district, which is nearly 40 percent Jewish.
But voter frustration with Obama put Weprin in the unlikely spot of playing defense. A Siena Poll released Friday found just 43 percent of likely voters approved of the president's job performance, while 54 percent said they disapproved. Among independents, just 29 percent said they approved of Obama's job performance.
Turner, a 70-year-old Catholic, vowed to push back on Obama's policies if elected. He received help from prominent Republicans including former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, whose much-praised stewardship of the city after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks was recalled during the 10th anniversary of the attacks last weekend.
Weprin became embroiled in New York-centric disputes over Israel and gay marriage, which cost him some support among Jewish voters.
Orthodox Jews, who tend to be conservative on social issues, expressed anger over Weprin's vote in the Assembly to legalize gay marriage. In July, New York became one of six states to recognize same-sex nuptials.
Former Mayor Ed Koch, a Democrat, endorsed Turner in July as a way to "send a message" to Obama on his policies toward Israel. And Weprin was challenged on his support of a proposed Islamic center and mosque near the World Trade Center site, in lower Manhattan.
Poverty Soars And Hits Record High
The AP reports:
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The ranks of America's poor swelled to almost 1 in 6 people last year, reaching a new high as long-term unemployment left millions of Americans struggling and out of work. The number of uninsured edged up to 49.9 million, the biggest in more than two decades.
The Census Bureau's annual report released Tuesday offers a snapshot of the economic well-being of U.S. households for 2010, when joblessness hovered above 9 percent for a second year. It comes at a politically sensitive time for President Barack Obama, who has acknowledged in the midst of a re-election fight that the unemployment rate could persist at high levels through next year.
The overall poverty rate climbed to 15.1 percent, or 46.2 million, up from 14.3 percent in 2009. The official poverty level is an annual income of $22,314 for a family of four.
Federal District Court In Pennsylvania Declares Obamacare Individual Mandate
Federal district Judge Christopher C. Connor of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania issued an opinion striking down Obama health care plan individual mandate. It is available here.
“The federal government,” Conner said, “is one of limited enumerated powers, and Congress’s efforts to remedy the ailing health care and health insurance markets must fit squarely within the boundaries of those powers.”
TweetSeventh Circuit Court Of Appeals Panel Finds That Jordanian Government Does Little About Honor Killing
The decision is Sarhan v. Holder (Sept. 2, 2011). Here is an excerpt:
This petition presents the question whether a woman who will fall victim to an “honor killing” at the hands of a family member is entitled to relief either under the Convention Against Torture (CAT) or under the procedure known as “withholding of removal.” For the latter, she must prove that she is a member of a “particular social group” within the meaning of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3). We hold that she has successfully established that she is. In addition, for purposes of both the CAT and withholding, we find that the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (the Board) finding that she has not shown a clear probability that she will be killed on account of her membership in that social group if she is returned to Jordan is not supported by substantial evidence. The Board failed to consider significant evidence that she presented that supports a finding that the Jordanian government is currently unable or unwilling to protect her....
Nuha Sarhan is Sarhan and Disi’s sister-in-law (she is married to Sarhan’s brother). [Sarhan and his wife Disi are the petitioners in this case. –EV] There is a history of animosity between Nuha and her in-laws.... [Nuha] started a rumor that Disi had committed adultery. Nuha told this story to her mother, who took the news to Amman, Jordan, and there informed Disi’s family — including Disi’s brother, Besem Disi — that Disi had been unfaithful and had dishonored the family. Disi first heard about these false accusations in 2003, when Sarhan’s parents visited the United States and told her that these rumors were swirling in Jordan. Neither Sarhan nor the rest of his family believe that anything Nuha has said is true, but Disi’s brother Besem is convinced that Disi has committed adultery and has ruined the family’s reputation. Sarhan’s parents told Disi during their visit that Besem planned to kill her when she returned to Jordan in order to restore the family’s honor....
Besem has long been obsessed with family honor, as defined by religious and social norms in Jordan, and he cannot be deterred from murdering his sister in response to the rumors Nuha started. Besem’s persistence is perplexing given the evidence that Nuha has manufactured scandals similar to this one in the past. Before sullying Disi’s name, Nuha once accused Sarhan’s mother (her own mother-in-law) of infidelity; this slur caused Sarhan’s father to attempt an honor killing against his wife. Thankfully, Sarhan and his brothers intervened to save their mother’s life, and the family later discovered that Nuha had made the whole thing up. Nonetheless, Besem is resolute, because he apparently believes that the rumors alone have harmed his reputation in the community enough to warrant killing Disi — the truth no longer matters. In 2006, Besem visited Disi in Chicago and told her that he planned to murder her when she returned to Jordan. In the proceedings in the Immigration Court, Disi testified that Besem said, “[W]hen you come back to Jordan, I’m going to kill you. Here [in the United States], I can’t do, because there is a penalty for this, but in Jordan, nobody can do for another killing.” Sarhan and his father have corroborated the sincerity of Besem’s threat....
This brings us to the role of the Jordanian government. “Persecution is something a government does, either directly or by abetting (and thus becoming responsible for) private discrimination by throwing in its lot with the deeds or by providing protection so ineffectual that it becomes a sensible inference that the government sponsors the misconduct.” ... After reviewing the evidence of the Jordanian government’s treatment of honor crimes, we conclude that the record permits no conclusion other than that the government is ineffective when it comes to providing protection to women whose behavior places them in the group who are threatened with honor killings....
According to the State Department’s 2007 report, during that year there were “17 reported instances of honor crimes that resulted in the death of the victim, although activists reported that additional unreported cases likely occurred. A November [2007] UN Development Fund for Women study stated that 25 percent of honor crime victims in the country were killed merely because they were suspected of involvement in an illicit relationship.” U.S. Dep’t of State, Country Report on Human Rights Practices for Jordan (2007). At oral argument, the government called our attention to the fact that this amounts to 17 honor killings during a one-year period in a country with a population of 6 million. Apparently it meant to suggest that the low number of honor killings means it is not much of a problem. We do not see the logic; a common (though not inevitable) feature of persecution is that the victims come from minority populations. That there are few publicly recorded instances of killings within a particular social group does not mean that the U.S. government is free to remove someone who has experienced a direct and credible threat of such a killing. Nor does it address the twin problems of underreporting and measures short of killing (such as mutilation) that take place....
We find similarly unconvincing the unadorned fact that all 17 honor crimes committed during 2007 were prosecuted. Prosecution at times is an empty gesture. The sentences given out in Jordan for honor crimes show that prosecutions of honor crimes result in little more than a slap on the wrist. The State Department put it this way: “While the defendants are almost always universally found guilty, defendants often received token sentences, with the charges often reduced from premeditated murder to manslaughter. Many men convicted of an honor crime received minimal prison sentences, usually no more than six months.” A six-month sentence for this kind of premeditated murder, when all other murders are punished much more severely, sends a strong social message of toleration for the practice....
A Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals case from earlier this year said the same thing. Here is a link to an important excerpt from that opinion.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Iranian Nuclear Plant Steps Up Operations
TweetIran's first nuclear power plant stepped up operations Monday after more than a decade of delays, pumping out electricity at up to 40 percent capacity and marking a major step forward in the Islamic Republic's nuclear program.
The Bushehr nuclear plant - which officials say could begin full-power operations in December - is also a cornerstone of Iran's drive to become a technological leader among Muslim nations with efforts such as a space program and long-range missile development.
The U.S. and its allies accuse Iran of using its civilian nuclear program as a cover to develop nuclear weapons. Iran denies the claim and says it only seeks reactors for energy and scientific research.
Wall Street Journal: $421 Billion Of Obama's Newly Proposed $447 Billion Jobs Bill Is From Taxpayer's Pockets
The Wall Street Journal reports:
TweetThe prospects for President Barack Obama's $447 billion jobs plan grew dimmer Monday as he unveiled the fine print of how it would be paid for—primarily through tax increases that Republicans said would destroy jobs, not create them.
Mr. Obama proposed limiting itemized deductions for families with taxable income of $250,000 or more a year, ending tax breaks for oil companies and corporate jet owners, and cutting out a tax break for investment-fund managers. The White House says the tax changes would take effect in 2013 and estimates they would raise $467 billion in additional revenue over 10 years...
"It would be fair to say this tax increase on job creators is the kind of proposal both parties have opposed in the past,'' said Michael Steel, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio). "We remain eager to work together on ways to support job growth, but this proposal doesn't appear to have been offered in that bipartisan spirit.''
Governor Bobby Jindal Endorses Rick Perry
And important endorsement for Governor Rick Perry:
TweetLouisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is backing Rick Perry for president, a major endorsement for the Texas governor as the campaign for the Republican nomination enters the crucial fall stretch of the primary calendar, a source tells CNN.
Jindal is on his way to Florida and will be Perry’s guest at Monday night’s “Tea Party Republican Debate” broadcast on CNN from Tampa, the source said. Jindal is expected to formally make the announcement prior to the debate.
Full Tea Party / CNN GOP Primary Debate
Part 1 of the debate:
Part 2: http://youtu.be/yk8MEjRKEnw
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XnplPlZS40
Part 4: http://youtu.be/qb6aAiJUp9w
Part 5: http://youtu.be/77_h1myeX5E
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