Monday, May 13, 2013
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Monday, May 6, 2013
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Reading The Boston Bomber His Miranda Rights
The
reading of the Miranda warnings to the Boston jihadist by a magistrate
who waltzed into the hospital with a public defender during the
interrogation led the bomber to immediately lawyer and clam up. FBI
sources indicate they were still in the midst of questioning that was
yielding valuable intelligence. They were surprised when their
interrogation was called off. I would remind anyone engaging
in histrionics over Miranda being delayed that the Miranda rights have
no significant support in the history of the privilege or in the
language of the Fifth Amendment. That which was devised in the Miranda
v. Arizona ruling has a judicially created "public safety exception"
allowing for questioning without the reading of rights. The precise
contours of that exemption remain undefined. If this contrived exception
to a now sacrosanct yet originally concocted rule is to exist, and the
Boston atrocity demonstrates that it should, the circumstances to which
it applies must be more clearly defined. There is no reason the DOJ
should be invoking it and then suddenly removing it while the FBI is
under the impression they are allowed more time to delay the made up
privilege.
Formally watering down an invented right in cases such as mass and
potentially international Islamist terrorism is not scandalous. It is
common sense.
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The Boston Bombings: Deadly Political Correctness
Three innocents were killed in the terrorist attack on Boston, including an eight-year-old child. Blood and body parts spattered the streets of one of America's greatest cities, with tens facing injuries such as severe amputations and worse, and countless more severely injured. This death toll is worth taking seriously. The attack happened in the same city where an incident occurred that helped inspire a revolution. In 1770 British troops had fired on Americans, killing five men and wounding six. The enemy were the British, and it was taken as a sign of their imposition of unjust rule over the colonies. The confrontation is still referred to as the "Boston Massacre" to this day, making its way into every high school American history lesson. The assault was not forgotten when the same State began fighting at Lexington and Concord in 1776. Are today's Americans taking the contemporary attack on Boston seriously? Will we even remember it six years from now, let alone six months from now? The answer is straightforward. Not if we do not know or recognize the enemy, and the character of the forces America is battling. Not if we leave it to the forces of political correctness.
Let's be clear. Jihad came to Boston. Will those in the media (MSNBC, NPR, CNN, etc.), that speculated time and time again without any hard evidence that an anti-government right-winger had committed the Boston atrocity, now take the time to reflect upon their own biases? Don't hold your breath. The mainstream media must deal with ratings, a 24-hour news cycle, and their agendas. They at least have poor excuses, and no sworn duty to protect and defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic. The bigger problem lies with the fact that the highest levels of the American government refuse to name the enemy or the ideology that attacked Boston. Was it "jihad"? Was it "Islamism"? Was it "Islamofascism"? Not according to President Barack Obama.
The press conference President Obama held after the FBI killed or captured the Boston jihadists was seriously defective. Analyzing his key statements is important. President Obama stated, "Obviously, tonight there are still many unanswered questions. Among them, why did young men who grew up and studied here, as part of our communities and our country, resort to such violence?" I would point out that not long after the FBI released the photos of the bombers, and long before this press conference, everyone knew the bombers were radical Islamic terrorists. That already had gone quite a long way in answering that question.
The President said, "One thing we do know is that whatever hateful agenda drove these men to such heinous acts will not — cannot — prevail.” Why must the President feign ignorance of their agenda? The President continued, "Whatever they thought they could ultimately achieve, they’ve already failed. They failed because the people of Boston refused to be intimidated. They failed because, as Americans, we refused to be terrorized." Did they really fail? Contrast the reaction of Israel to terrorism, with that of the United States. If a Palestinian blows up Bus #14, after the streets are literally cleaned of body parts, Israelis will board Bus #15. That's not being intimidated or terrorized. In Boston, a manhunt for one 19-year-old terrorist sent a major American city into a lockdown, with the New York Times reporting "this raucous, sports-loving, patriotic old city became a ghost town," and with military-style swat teams making their way through civilian neighborhoods.
Finally, the President concluded with, "After all, one of the things that makes America the greatest nation on Earth, but also, one of the things that makes Boston such a great city, is that we welcome people from all around the world — people of every faith, every ethnicity, from every corner of the globe. So as we continue to learn more about why and how this tragedy happened, let’s make sure that we sustain that spirit." Please explain, Mr. President, why, if nothing was known about the motives or hateful agenda of the terrorists at this point, did you find it necessary in this statement to specifically state that "people of every faith" are welcome in America?
Let's be honest. This press conference was nothing more than the High Priest himself coming out to present an offering before the altar of political correctness. The only problem is that it is utterly unworthy of those who were sacrificed. Vice President Joe Biden called the bombers "knock-off jihadis," and proceeded to ask, "why do they do what they do?” What needs be realized is that once you understand that they are jihadis, the mystery begins to unravel.
This is part of a disturbing trend. When President Obama delivered a speech to students in Jerusalem over a month ago he spoke of "the rise of nonsecular parties" in the Middle East. As Charles Krauthammer recently noted in the Washington Post: "Non-secular? Isn’t that a euphemism for 'religious,' i.e., Islamist? Yet Obama couldn’t say the word. This is no linguistic triviality. He wouldn’t be tripping over himself to avoid any reference to Islam if it was insignificant." He explained that the Obama "administration obsessively adopts language that extirpates any possible connection between Islam and terrorism. It insists on calling jihadists 'violent extremists' without ever telling us what they’re extreme about."
Far more than just insulting the intelligence of the American people, the culture of political correctness appears to pervade law enforcement to the point of endangering American lives. Russia warned our country about Tamerlan Tsarneav, yet the federal law enforcement community allowed him to construct his pressure cooker bombs, to post his jihadist propaganda online, and to travel back and forth freely between the U.S. and Russia (all while receiving welfare from the Massachusetts taxpayer). Even the most obvious warnings and red flags were missed. That these went ignored even after the 2009 attack on Fort Hood by Major Nidal Malik Hasan is inexcusable. The Associated Press reported in November 2009 that federal "law enforcement officials say the suspected Fort Hood, Texas, shooter had come to their attention at least six months" prior to his attack "because of Internet postings that discussed suicide bombings and other threats, including posts that equated suicide bombers to soldiers who throw themselves on a grenade to save the lives of their comrades." In the aftermath of the Fort Hood Massacre, information poured in about the "red flags" and "warning signs" of Nadil Malik Hasan's Islamist extremism going ignored by the FBI, the Defense Department, and the U.S. Army. No action was taken. 13 soldiers now lie dead in the graveyard of political correctness. Unfortunately, nothing has changed. A deadly refusal to confront the enemy, for fear of being falsely labeled a bigot, or even worse an "Islamophobe," is crippling the ability of law enforcement to protect the homeland.
When a pattern emerges, sheer incompetence becomes a less credible excuse. The refusal to condemn outright the evil ideology of the Boston bombers is a sign of fecklessness. Despite screaming “Allahu Akbar!" when killing fellow soldiers, despite having communicated with Al Qaeda terrorist Anwar Al-Awlaki, and more, the Obama administration still labels the attack on Fort Hood an incident of "workplace violence." When the first Ambassador to be killed since 1979 is murdered in Benghazi with other innocent Americans, emphasis is placed on blaming an irrelevant youtube video in the immediate aftermath.
It's time for political correctness to end, and for counterterrrorism to operate without willful blindness.
It goes without saying that the overwhelming majority of Muslims are not terrorists. That caveats like this, stating the obvious, are even viewed to be necessary, is itself a product of political correctness. While it is true that not every Muslim is a terrorist, it is equally evident that the threat of international jihad needs to be exposed, especially after lethal terrorist acts, if only in order to prevent them in the future. Failure to learn this lesson will only lead, G-d forbid, to further otherwise avoidable devastation.
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Thursday, April 4, 2013
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Thursday, March 28, 2013
CBO: Food Stamps Hit Historic High
The Wall Street Journal reports:
The financial crisis is over and the recession ended in 2009. But one of the federal government's biggest social welfare programs, which expanded when the economy convulsed, isn't shrinking back alongside the recovery. Enrollment in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, as the modern-day food-stamp benefit is known, has soared 70% since 2008 to a record 47.8 million as of December 2012. Congressional budget analysts think participation will rise again this year and dip only slightly in coming years. The biggest factor behind the upward march of food stamps is a sluggish job market and a rising poverty rate. At the same time, many states have pushed to get more people to apply for SNAP, a program where the federal government picks up the tab. But there is another driver, which has its origins in President Bill Clinton's 1996 welfare overhaul. In recent years, the law has enabled states to ease asset and income tests for would-be participants, with the encouragement of the Obama administration, allowing into the program people with relatively higher incomes as well as savings. The new rules were designed to encourage people to take advantage of the program before they became destitute. By expanding the pool of potential applicants, they are redrawing the landscape of government assistance. It is one reason why SNAP appears to have evolved from a program that rose and fell with the unemployment rate to a more permanent feature of the landscape.Tweet
Monday, March 25, 2013
"The Beginning Of Wisdom Is Fear Of God"
"The beginning of wisdom is fear of God." - Psalm 111:10
Dennis Prager: "[This] verse...solved the riddle of why nonsense and moral confusion dominate the liberal arts in almost all Western universities... I realized that, of course, there are individuals who are secular and wise and individuals who are religious and foolish. But it could not be a coincidence that the most morally confused of society's mainstream institutions and the one possessing the least wisdom - the university - was also society's most secular institution. The Psalmist was right - no God, no wisdom."
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Hamas On Obama's Visit To Israel
Two rockets fell on southern Israel as Obama was headed to Ramallah. That's what you call a teachable moment. Tweet
Democratic Senators On Budget Committee Unanimously Reject Any Notion Of A Balanced Budget
President Obama To Israeli Students: "Put Yourself In Palestinian Shoes"
President Obama said to Israeli students regarding the Palestinians: "Put yourselves in their shoes." After making sure those shoes are not loaded with explosives, I shall do so if only with some recent examples:
I do not believe Israel has a right to exist.
When America suffered the 9-11 attack, I went to the streets to pass out candy.
I engage in and support terrorism against Israeli civilians.
During the 2000 to 2005 intifada I killed 1,100 Israelis.
When Israel withdrew every soldier and settler from Gaza, I burnt down green houses the Israelis left behind intact for us, and my land became an Islamist hellhole bent on destroying Israel.
Since Israel began construction on a security fence, my attacks have declined by more than 90%.
I was part of a strong plurality in 2005 who voted the Islamoterrorist organization Hamas to lead my parliament.
Since Israel left Gaza, I have continuously fired rockets against Israel's civilians.
My President has recently paid tribute to the World War II era Hitler-supporting Mufti Haj Amin al-Hussein (as well as other more modern terrorists) as he marked the 48th anniversary of Fatah’s first armed attack on Israel which took place on January 1st 1965 (before any territory was supposedly "occupied").
I could go on, but these shoes are starting to feel uncomfortable.
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Rabbi David Wolpe: "The Problem With Being 'Spiritual But Not Religious'"
Rabbi Wolpe writes on Time.com:
"[I]nstitutions are...the only mechanism human beings know to perpetuate ideologies and actions. If books were enough, why have universities? If guns enough, why have a military? If self-governance enough, let’s get rid of Washington... Spirituality is an emotion. Religion is an obligation. Spirituality soothes. Religion mobilizes. Spirituality is satisfied with itself. Religion is dissatisfied with the world... No one expects those without faith to obligate themselves to a religious community. But for one who has an intuition of something greater than ourselves to hold that this is a purely personal truth, that it demands no communal searching and struggle, no organization to realize its potential in this world, straddles the line between narcissistic and solipsistic."
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Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Secretary Of State John Kerry: Iranian Government "Elected"
“Iran is a country with a government that was elected and that sits in the United Nations,” Kerry said in France standing alongside French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius. “And it is important for us to deal with nation-states in a way that acts in the best interests of all of us in the world.”
The comment is similar to what Hagel said on Jan. 31 when he told the Senate Armed Services Committee Iran was “an elected, legitimate government, whether we agree or not.”… Hagel had to walk back his declaration that Iran was “an elected, legitimate government” after being challenged in the hearing by Democratic New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. “I can understand if you meant it’s a legal entity that has international relations and has diplomatic relations, that is a member of the UN, I do not see Iran or the Iranian government as a legitimate government, and I’d like your thoughts on that,” Gillibrand said.Iran is not led by an elected leader. Its Supreme Leader is Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and he does not stand for popular election. The current Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadenijad partook in a sham election, and the American Secretary of State should know that the 2009 vote was rigged rather than legitimize the radical Islamist regime that remains the chief sponsor of global terrorism. After the mock election, Ahmadenijad then brutally and violently suppressed the opposition protesters in the streets. Tweet
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Senate Confirms Anti-Israel Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel
The final vote: 58-41.
The Republican Senators who voted for cloture, thus assuring that his nomination would head to the floor for a full Senate vote where the Democrats were certain to give him the nod, are named here:
AlexanderThe Republican Senators who actually voted in favor of Chuck Hagel when the full Senate took the vote: Cochran, Johanns, Shelby, and Rand Paul. Tweet
Ayotte
Blunt
Burr
Chambliss
Coburn
Collins
Corker
Flake
Graham
Hatch
McCain
Murkowski
Sessions
Thune
Israel Calls For Removal Of All Uranium From Iran
As Iran and the world’s major powers begin talks in Kazakhstan on Tuesday on curbing its nuclear program, an Israeli official said the goals needed to be clear: an end to Iran’s uranium enrichment, and the transfer out of the country of all the uranium already enriched. It is much preferable if these goals were met though diplomacy, the official said, but added that if diplomacy did not work, these goals needed to be met “through another method.” The official said that Israel has been conducting ongoing discussions with key players in the international community in advance of the renewed talks. A US official said on Monday that the P5+1 – US, Russia, China, Britain, Germany and France – would offer Iran some sanctions relief during the talks in Almaty if Tehran agreed to curb its nuclear program.Tweet
Rocket Falls On Israel From Gaza For First Time Since Cease Fire
The Jerusalem Post reports:
Palestinian terrorists broke a three month ceasefire on Tuesday and fired a rocket from Gaza into southern Israel. The rocket fell on a road south of Ashkelon causing some damage to a road, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.
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Monday, February 25, 2013
Louis Farrakhan Endorses And Applauds Chuck Hagel
National Review Online reports:
“Now wait,” Farrakhan told the crowd. “He said this to Aaron David Miller in the book The Much-Too-Promised Land. And guess what? I said the same thing 30 years ago at the National Press Club in Washington, and they have not left me alone since. Special interests along with Zionist AIPAC are robbing America of the principle of democracy and representative government. The record is there. Now, 30 years later, after beating the heck out of me for all those years, they’re finally getting up enough courage to tell it like it is.” After arguing that the media is controlled by Jewish interests, he applauded Hagel’s nomination. “Senator Hagel is in trouble,” Farrakhan said. “But America needs a man in Congress like that, who’s not a rubber stamp for others. You need a man like Senator Hagel as your secretary of defense because a man with a mind like that will keep you out of fighting somebody else’s wars. You need a man in government that has another opinion that is not controlled, and if the Senate does not confirm him as defense secretary because of his opinion on Israel, that only proves that the Senate in the U.S. Congress is controlled by the Israeli lobby. And it also sentences America to war with Iran for the state of Israel.”Tweet
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Friday, February 22, 2013
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Presidential Debate Commissioner: "We Made One Mistake This Time: Her Name Is Candy."
Politico reports:
Fahrenkopf said he was proud of his role in helping to pick the debate moderators, but then added, shockingly I thought: “We made one mistake this time: Her name is Candy,” a reference to Candy Crowley of CNN, who absorbed hosannas from the left and brickbats from the right after she corrected Mitt Romney during the second debate.Tweet
Senator Rand Paul Gives $600,000 Allotted To His Senate Office Back To The Treasury
Via CNN:
Sen. Rand Paul cut another six-figure check to the United States Treasury Wednesday, taking the money he said he didn’t need from his office’s budget to make a tiny dent in the nation’s massive federal debt. “We watch every purchase,” Paul, a Republican from Kentucky, said at an event next to an oversized check for $600,000. “We watch what computers we buy, what paper we buy, the ink cartridges. We treat the money like it’s our money, or your money, and we look at every expenditure.” The $600,000 reflects more than 20% of Paul’s annual office budget, according to a press release.Tweet
US News: Joe Biden's Advice To His Wife About Blasting Shotguns In The Air Is Illegal In Delaware
Vice President Joe Biden might want to have a talk with his son, Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, before he makes another public statement about guns. In a Facebook "chat" Tuesday, the vice president said that he had advised his wife, Jill, to fire a shotgun in the air from their Delaware home's porch if she was concerned for her safety. "I said, 'Jill, if there's ever a problem, just walk out on the balcony here, walk out and put that double-barrel shotgun and fire two blasts outside the house,'" Biden said. "You don't need an AR-15—it's harder to aim," he added, "it's harder to use, and in fact you don't need 30 rounds to protect yourself. Buy a shotgun! Buy a shotgun!" However, Delaware law would likely make his suggestion illegal—unless the shots were fired in self-defense in a truly life-threatening situation. A sergeant with the Wilmington, Del., police department explained to U.S. News that city residents are not allowed to fire guns on their property... Tom Shellenberger, a lawyer who serves as a spokesman for the Delaware State Sportsmen's Association, told U.S. News that Biden's security tip was "the worst type of advice." "I am a member of the Delaware Bar, as is Vice President Biden," noted Shellenberger. "There are a number of statutory restrictions that could be violated by shooting a shotgun 'off the porch.'" In addition to felony charges, Shellenberger cited the "Discharge of a firearm within 15 yards of a road (7 Del.C. § 719), a misdemeanor," and "Violation of the residential dwelling safety zone as set forth in 7 Del.C. § 723, also a misdemeanor." "Beyond the potential criminal liability, it is simply bad advice," added Shellenberger. "Not only does blasting blindly away put innocent persons at risk, it also tells the bad guys where you are and that you are armed. In most circumstances, it might be better if that comes as a surprise to the bad guys."Tweet
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Chuck Hagel Called Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu "Radical," Says Israel Headed Toward Apartheid
The Washington Free Beacon reports:
Kenneth Wagner, who attended the 2010 speech while a Rutgers University law student, provided the Washington Free Beacon with an email he sent during the event to a contact at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. The email is time-stamped April 9, 2010, at 11:37 AM. “I am sitting in a lecture by Chuck Hagel at Rutgers,” Wagner wrote in the email. “He basically said that Israel has violated every UN resolution since 1967, that Israel has violated its agreements with the quartet, that it was risking becoming an apartheid state if it didn’t allow the Palestinians to form a state. He said that the settlements were getting close to the point where a contiguous Palestinian state would be impossible.” “He said that he [thought] that Netanyahu was a radical and that even [former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi] Livni, who was hard nosed thought he was too radical and so wouldn’t join in a coalition [government] with him. … He said that Hamas has to be brought in to any peace negotiation,” Wagner wrote.Tweet
Monday, February 18, 2013
Chuck Hagel's Host For 2007 Rutgers University Speech Included Iranian Front Group
A pro-Hezbollah, pro-Hamas candidate for the Iranian presidency, a man linked to Iranian-controlled front groups, brought former Republican Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel to speak at Rutgers University in 2007, according to another professor on campus… A press release in 2007 noted that the “Rutgers Center for Middle Eastern Studies” — Amirahmadi’s campus group – ”is hosting the senator’s visit to the university.” Amirahmadi’s CV discloses that he has received financial support from the Alavi Foundation, a wealthy organization that the U.S. government has called “a front for the government of Iran.”… As early as 2008, Amirahmadi was revealed to be a supporter of the Iranian regime who received its backing. He traveled to Tehran to ask for additional support from the government, telling the government-funded newspaper Etemad on November 12, 2008 that “there is a clash between various regional [Middle East] lobbies. Israelites will gather around Obama. Arabs will also spend their money to get close to Obama. Iranian rights are [the] subject of unkind hostility in Tehran.”Tweet
Friday, February 15, 2013
Russian Nuclear Bombers Circle Guam
The Washington Free Beacon reports:
Two Russian nuclear-armed bombers circled the western Pacific island of Guam this week in the latest sign of Moscow’s growing strategic assertiveness toward the United States. The Russian Tu-95 Bear-H strategic bombers were equipped with nuclear-tipped cruise missiles and were followed by U.S. jets as they circumnavigated Guam on Feb. 12 local time—hours before President Barack Obama’s state of the union address. Air Force Capt. Kim Bender, a spokeswoman for the Pacific Air Force in Hawaii, confirmed the incident to the Washington Free Beacon and said Air Force F-15 jets based on Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, “scrambled and responded to the aircraft.” “The Tu-95s were intercepted and left the area in a northbound direction. No further actions occurred,” she said. Bender said no other details would be released “for operational security reasons.” The bomber incident was considered highly unusual. Russian strategic bombers are not known to have conducted such operations in the past into the south Pacific from bomber bases in the Russian Far East, which is thousands of miles away and over water. John Bolton, former U.N. ambassador and former State Department international security undersecretary, said the Russian bomber flights appear to be part of an increasingly threatening strategic posture in response to Obama administration anti-nuclear policies. “Every day brings new evidence that Obama’s ideological obsession with dismantling our nuclear deterrent is dangerous,” Bolton said. “Our national security is in danger of slipping off the national agenda even as the threats grow.”Tweet
Senators Lindsey Graham And Kelly Ayotte Send Letter To Chuck Hagel About His Saying That The State Department Is Controlled By Israel; Jewish Groups Join In Expressing Concern
Republican Senators Lindsey Graham and Kelly Ayotte sent a letter to secretary of defense nominee Chuck Hagel Friday afternoon asking whether he said the U.S. Department of State was an extension of the Israeli government in a 2007 speech at Rutgers. “Given the importance of U.S. policy towards the Middle East and the Secretary of Defense’s direct role in implementing this policy, it is critical that we have a better understanding of your remarks before we vote on your nomination,” Senators Graham and Ayotte write in the letter. “Did you, in fact make this statement at the Rutgers event or have you ever made similar comments? If you made these comments or similar comments, please explain what you meant. Finally, does such a statement in any way reflect your views on the U.S.-Israeli relationship?” The letter was prompted by a Thursday story in the Washington Free Beacon that reported on a contemporaneous account of Hagel’s speech by George Ajjan, a Hagel supporter. Ajjan’s account was first unearthed by Steve Emerson’s Investigative Project on Terrorism. Hagel, according to Ajjan, described the State Department as an adjunct of the Israeli foreign minister’s office during a Q&A session after the speech. Ajjan told the Free Beacon he had been “taking notes as [Hagel] was speaking” and “If I wrote it, then that’s what happened at the time.” An official working on Hagel’s confirmation said the secretary of defense nominee “will be responding to this latest letter, as he’s done with every other he’s received.” The American Jewish Committee echoed the senators’ concerns on Friday, calling for further deliberation of Hagel’s nomination before a vote takes place. “In light of [Hagel’s] complex record in the Senate and controversial statements he has made since his public service on strategic and political affairs—notably grappling with the range of pressing Middle East issues—AJC believes that further Senate deliberation is called for before any final vote is taken,” said AJC Executive Director David Harris. On Thursday, Abe Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League told the Washington Post‘s Jennifer Rubin, “It is somewhat puzzling that this would surface the day that the Senate was scheduled to vote on the nomination. Nevertheless, if the story is true, it is very disturbing – probably more disturbing than his interview in Aaron David Miller’s book. If it is not true, then Senator Hagel should say so, and take the speculation about his remark off of the table.”Tweet
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Iran Looking To Buy 10,000 Ring Magnets In Sign Of Major Expansion Of Nuclear Program
The Washington Post reports:
Iran recently sought to acquire tens of thousands of highly specialized magnets used in centrifuge machines, according to experts and diplomats, a sign that the country may be planning a major expansion of its nuclear program that could shorten the path to an atomic weapons capability. Purchase orders obtained by nuclear researchers show an attempt by Iranian agents to buy 100,000 of the ring-shaped magnets — which are banned from export to Iran under U.N. resolutions — from China about a year ago, those familiar with the effort said. It is unclear whether the attempt succeeded.
Defense Secretary Nominee Chuck Hagel Referred To State Department As An "Adjunct To The Israeli Foreign Minister's Office"
This report has surfaced, with yet another mind-boggling statement that Hagel delivered at Rutgers University in 2007:
Hagel said the U.S. Department of State was an adjunct of the Israeli foreign minister’s office, according to a contemporaneous report of the event. Republican political consultant and Hagel supporter George Ajjan wrote about the March 2, 2007, speech on his website the following day, writing a description “point by point through some of the more important elements of his speech.” [Ajjan, on point six:] The State Department has become adjunct to the Israeli Foreign Minister’s office …Reached by phone, Ajjan confirmed his 2007 account of the event, saying he was “taking notes as [Hagel] was speaking.”
Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal Center said in a phone conversation that the notion that our government is an adjunct of Israel is “beyond fantasy.” As for Hagel himself, Cooper was blunt: “Do most Americans think he is the best person? They do not.” Moreover, Hagel’s shaky performance on Iran troubled Cooper greatly. “He either wasn’t briefed, or maybe he was nervous,” he offered. But well beyond any ludicrous statements about Jews and Israel, Cooper said, “most important, the mullahs are going full-blast with nuclearization. Our only shot is a chokehold on the people that count [in the regime] and the fear of a powerful, immediate response.” He worries that Hagel simply won’t be able to advance that position. “He would be entering the endgame,” Cooper said.
The Republican Jewish Coalition put out a statement, which read, in part:
This new information shows why Senate Republicans are right to insist that final action on this nomination not be rushed. We need to fully investigate this allegation, and that means Senator Hagel needs to be heard from directly. Did Chuck Hagel really tell this audience — or any audience — that “the State Department is an adjunct to the Israeli Foreign Minister’s office”? That is what a pro-Hagel blogger, who says he was “taking notes as [Hagel] was speaking,” reported at the time. It should go without saying that claiming Israel controls our State Department is absurd and outrageous.Tweet
Filibuster Of Chuck Hagel Delays Senate Vote, One Republican Short Of Cloture
Senate Republicans successfully foiled attempts to confirm Chuck Hagel for the post of defense secretary on Thursday, by denying him the 60 votes needed for the nomination to proceed. Democrats ultimately came up short of the 60 votes needed to invoke cloture and end the Republicans' filibuster, with a final vote count of 58 to 40. Republican Sens. Mike Johanns (Neb.), Susan Collins (Maine), Thad Cochran (Miss.) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) voted with Democrats in their failed effort to end debate. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) voted present. The nomination is hardly dead. In fact, it looks increasingly likely that Democrats will be able to muster the needed votes to confirm Hagel's nomination after a 10-day recess. But the failure to end the GOP filibuster is still is a setback for the administration, which wanted a fast confirmation process, and Senate Democratic leadership, whose decision to punt on filibuster reform at the beginning of this congressional session was met with criticism.Tweet
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Israel’s Ambassador To UN: “EU Must Find The Moral And Political Courage” To Label Hezbollah Terrorist Organization
On Tuesday Israel’s Ambassador to the UN called on the European Union to designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. Speaking at a UN Security Council debate on the protection of civilians in combat zones, Ron Prosor noted that the suicide bombing in Burgas, Bulgaria last year that killed six, including five Israelis “was the deadliest attack on European soil since 2005.” Last week Bulgarian officials linked Hezbollah to the deadly incident. “Make no mistake: Hezbollah’s sole purpose – its raison d’etre – is to commit terrorist acts both inside and outside the Middle East,” Prosor said. “Some European lawmakers continue to bend over backwards attempting to differentiate between Hezbollah’s military and political wings. This is an exercise in futility. The only ‘difference’ between these two wings is that the political wing negotiates the sum of drug cartel money that the military wing later uses to purchase weaponry.” Prosor challenged the EU to make the tough decision of designating Hezbollah a terrorist organization. “The EU must find the moral and political courage to place Hezbollah on its list of terrorist organizations.”Tweet
President Barack Obama's 2013 State Of The Union Address And Republican Responses From Senators Marco Rubio And Rand Paul
President Obama's 2013 SOTU:
The official Republican response delivered by Senator Rubio:
The "Tea Party response" by Senator Paul:
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Senator Rand Paul: I May Block Brennan Nomination For CIA Chief Unless He Says Whether American Citizens In The U.S. Can Be Targeted By Drones
Senator Rand Paul's official statement, reiterated to USA Today in an interview
Paul said he would do “whatever it takes” to delay Brennan’s confirmation until he directly answers whether American citizens legally can be killed by drone strikes within the United States. The Kentucky Republican accused Brennan of obfuscating on the issue when it was raised at confirmation hearings before the Senate Intelligence Committee last week. Rand on Sunday said he wouldn’t vote for Brennan until the questions were answered, but he raised the stakes in an interview with “Capital Download,” a weekly video series on usatoday.com.Tweet
“He was asked a very specific question. . . ‘Can you kill an American with a drone in America?’ And he refused to answer the question,” Paul said. “I find that very, very worrisome (and) we’re going to do whatever it takes to get the answer. Can the government, does the government, the president himself, claim the power to unilaterally kill an American in America without a trial?”
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Treasury Secretary Nominee Jack Lew Has Bank Account In Cayman Islands
Via NBC:
Jack Lew, President Barack Obama’s Treasury Secretary nominee, previously held up to $100,000 in investments in an offshore hedge fund located in the Cayman Islands, according to financial disclosure forms. Lew’s financial disclosure forms, filed in 2009 and 2011, showed that Lew had invested between $50,000 and $100,000 in a fund called Citigroup Venture Capital International Growth Partnership (Employee) II, L.P. — the very type of fund President Obama has repeatedly criticized. … According to his official White House biography, Lew served as managing director and chief operating officer of Citi Global Wealth Management and then Citi Alternative Investments (CAI) from 2006 to 2008. … The source also told NBC News that Lew had no role in creating, managing or operating the fund, and that Citigroup had organized the fund in the Cayman Islands and made it available to other employees. The source said that many other Citigroup employees had investments in the fund.Tweet
Egypt Bans Youtube For Hosting Anti-Islam Video
An Egyptian court ordered a one-month ban on YouTube on Saturday, after it said the video-sharing Web site had failed to remove an American-made anti-Islam video. Cairo’s administrative court ruled in response to a suit filed by an independent Egyptian lawyer. Judge Hassouna Tawfiq, who presided over the case, said the ban would also apply to other Web sites that circulated the video, including, potentially, social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.Tweet
Muslim Brotherhood Appoints One Of Its Own As Grand Mufti Of Egypt, Seeking To Dominate All Egyptian Institutions
Egypt's ruling Muslim Brotherhood has nominated one of its senior leaders for the influential position of grand mufti, the nation's top cleric, defying critics who accuse the Islamist group of seeking to dominate all institutions. Islamic scholars chaired by the head of the ancient seat of learning, Al-Azhar, are due to pick a new mufti on Monday from a shortlist of three candidates and send their choice to President Mohamed Mursi to approve. The mufti is empowered to issue opinions (fatwas) on any matter, influencing legislation on social and cultural issues, public behavior and court rulings.Tweet
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Iran's Ayatollah Dismisses Talks With U.S. After Joe Biden Brings Up The Possibility
Iran’s supreme leader Thursday strongly rejected proposals for direct talks with the United States, effectively quashing suggestions for a breakthrough one-on-one dialogue on the nuclear standoff and potentially other issues. The statement posted on Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s website echoes previous remarks opposing bilateral talks with Washington in parallel with stop-and-start nuclear negotiations with world powers, including the U.S., which are scheduled to resume later this month. But the latest comments marked Khamenei’s first reaction since the idea of direct talks received a high-profile boost earlier this week from U.S. Vice President Joe Biden during a security summit in Munich attended by Iran’s foreign minister. Khamenei’s statement also could spill over into the negotiations in Kazakhstan later this month between Iran and a six-nation group comprising the permanent U.N. Security Council members plus Germany. His apparent references to U.S. sanctions — saying Washington was “holding a gun” to Iran — suggests Iranian envoys will likely stick to demands for relief from the economic pressures before considering any nuclear concessions.Tweet
Sequestration Cuts Amount To A 5% Reduction In Discretionary Spending – After 14% Increase Since 2008
From the Wall Street Journal:
Republicans have rightly concluded after two years of being sucker-punched that the sequester is the main negotiating leverage they have and may be the only way to restrain spending. So now Democrats and a gaggle of interest groups are denouncing Mr. Obama’s fiscal brainchild because the programs they cherish—from job training to education, to the EPA and energy subsidies, to money for Planned Parenthood—are about to get chopped too. Fear not. As always in Washington when there is talk of cutting spending, most of the hysteria is baseless. The nearby table from the House Budget Committee shows that programs are hardly starved for money. In Mr. Obama’s first two years, while private businesses and households were spending less and deleveraging, federal domestic discretionary spending soared by 84% with some agencies doubling and tripling their budgets. Spending growth has slowed since Republicans took the House in 2011. Still, from 2008-2013 federal discretionary spending has climbed to $1.062 trillion from $933 billion—an increase of 13.9%. Domestic programs grew by 16.6%, much faster than the 11.6% for national security.Tweet
Dr. Benjamin Carson Delivers Terrific Speech At The National Prayer Breakfast
Here is an excerpt:
CARSON: Well, some people say, they say, "Well, that's not fair because it doesn't hurt the guy who made $10 billion as much as the guy who made ten." Where does it say you have to hurt the guy? He just put a billion dollars in the pot! You know, we don't need to hurt him. It's that kind of thinking that has resulted in 602 banks in the Cayman Islands. That money needs to be back here, building our infrastructure and creating jobs.Here's another:
CARSON: Here's my solution: When a person is born, give him a birth certificate, an electronic medical record, and a health savings account to which money can be contributed -- pretax -- from the time you're born 'til the time you die. When you die, you can pass it on to your family members, so that when you're 85 years old and you got six diseases, you're not trying to spend up everything. You're happy to pass it on and there's nobody talking about death panels. Number one. And also, for the people who were indigent who don't have any money we can make contributions to their HSA each month because we already have this huge pot of money. Instead of sending it to some bureaucracy, let's put it in their HSAs. Now they have some control over their own health care.Tweet
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli: View Of Marijuana Legalization "Evolving"
Via Reason:
“I’m not sure about Virginia’s future [in terms of marijuana legalization],” the newspaper quoted Cuccinelli saying. “But I and a lot of people are watching Colorado and Washington to see how it plays out.” Cuccinelli’s marijuana comments surprised U.Va. political science professor Larry Sabato, whose class Cuccinelli address.
Sabato noted “Cuccinelli stressed he wouldn’t be recommending changes anytime soon. But he praised states such as Colorado for experimenting with marihuana legalization, saying this was federalism in action. He said twice his views were ‘evolving” on the subject.”
“The students were as surprised as I was,” Sabato added, observing that based on their reactions “his views made him more appealing to them.”Tweet
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Defending Obama's Drone Policy Against Americans
We know that a lot of libertarian and progressive critics of a hawkish foreign policy believe that the only real threat to peace and security in this world is the United States, but if anyone thinks that al-Qaida is some kind of dissident political club — rather than a “terrorist organization engaged in constant plotting against the United States” — we’d like to see the research.
And if anyone thinks that this organization’s commitment to “engage in such attacks regularly to the extent it were able to do so” does not pose “an imminent threat of violent attack against the United States” and her just interests, we’d like to know why.
And if anyone thinks that apprehension and trial of these combatants in a “host nation [that] is unable or unwilling to suppress the threat posed by the individual” is feasible, we’d like to understand how.
And if anyone thinks that committing treason by being in a foreign country — as a member of the armed wing of an organization that Congress “has authorized the use of force” against — is a constitutionally-protected place to be, we’d like to get an explanation.
And if anyone thinks that being “a senior operational leader of the enemy forces who is actively engaged in planning operations to kill Americans” is too broad, we’d like entertain a more workable definition.
And if anyone think that the president does not have a constitutional duty to defend the citizens of the United States from attack, we’d like to hear that thought process.
And if anyone has a better solution, we’d like to hear that out too.
From the National Review's David French, "Yes the Military Can and Should Target American Members of Al Qaeda": http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/340008/yes-military-can-and-should-target-american-members-al-qaeda-david-french
Finally, international law professor Michael Lewis writes that drones constitute the best way to combat the Taliban, and argues that "after examining the alternatives, it is clear that drones remain the best option available to minimize the negative effects of the conflict on civilians while continuing to disrupt the Taliban and deny it control of territory in the tribal areas." http://www.northjersey.com/news/opinions/drones_020713.html?page=all Tweet
Senator Lindsey Graham Urges Support Of U.S. Drone Policy
“Every member of Congress needs to get on board,” Graham said. “It’s not fair to the president to let him, leave him out there alone quite frankly. He’s getting hit from libertarians and the left."
“I think the middle of America understands why you would want a drone program to go after a person like Anwar al-Awlaki,” Graham added. “The process of being targeted I think is legal, quite frankly laborious and should reside in the commander in chief to determine who an enemy combatant is and what kind of force to use. If this ever goes to court I guarantee you it will be a slam dunk support of what the administration is doing. I think one of the highlights of President Obama’s first time and the beginning of his second term is the way he’s been able to use drones against terrorists."Tweet
Democratic Congressmen Seek To Legalize Marijuana
Two Democratic congressmen are tapping into what they call a “groundswell of public opinion” by introducing legislation to legalize marijuana on the federal level, tax it and regulate it like alcohol and tobacco. Colorado Rep. Jared Polis introduced the Ending Marijuana Prohibition Act on Tuesday. The bill would remove marijuana from the schedule of controlled substances and prohibit the Drug Enforcement Administration from regulating it. If passed, it would mean that states would be free to set their own marijuana policies without the threat of federal intervention, which is currently the greatest hurdle to the pot industries in Colorado and Washington, which legalized the adult recreational use of marijuana by wide margins in November... “Americans have increasingly come to the conclusion that the drug war is a failed policy,” Polis said. “Americans are sick and tired of the cost of the war on drugs, whether we’re talking about the financial costs in a time of deficits or whether we’re talking about the human costs.” Polis said there has been an “enormous evolution” in public sentiment toward marijuana and that legalization is “an idea whose time has come.”Tweet
Chris Rock Says President Obama Must Be Supported Because He Is The "Boss," "Dad Of The Country"
During a morning gun control press conference Chris Rock stated:
I am just here to support the President of the United States. President of the United States is our boss, but he is also... you know, the President and the First Lady are kinda like the Mom and the Dad of the country. And when your Dad says something you listen, and when you don't it will usually bite you on the ass later on. So, I’m here to support the President.Tweet
Iran's Ahmadenijad Seeks Strategic Axis With Egypt's Morsi
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on the first visit to Cairo by an Iranian leader in more than three decades, called for a strategic alliance with Egypt and said he had offered the cash-strapped Arab state a loan, but drew a cool response. Ahmadinejad said outside forces were trying to prevent a rapprochement between the Middle East's two most populous nations, at odds since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution and Egypt's signing of a peace treaty with Israel in the same year. "We must all understand that the only option is to set up this alliance because it is in the interests of the Egyptian and Iranian peoples and other nations of the region," the official MENA news agency quoted him in remarks to Egyptian journalists published on Wednesday.Tweet
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Obama Announces He Will Visit Israel This Spring
President Barack Obama plans to visit Israel in the spring, marking his first visit to the nation since becoming president.
The White House says Obama spoke about the visit with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Jan. 28. That’s when Obama congratulated Netanyahu on his success in Israel’s recent election.
Obama visited Israel while running for president in 2008, but hasn’t been back since, prompting criticism from some pro-Israel groups.
The White House says the start of Obama’s second term offers an opportunity to reaffirm Israel’s close relationship with the U.S. and to discuss major issues like Syria and Iran.
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Monday, February 4, 2013
New York City Schools Hand Out 12,721 "Morning-After Pills," Ignores Parents
New York City schools are offering young girls a full menu of birth control options, free of parental counsel, thanks to an unpublicized project by Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration. School nurses handed out 12,721 doses of the Plan B One-Step “morning-after” pill in 2011-12, up from 10,720 in 2010-11 and 5,039 in 2009-10, the New York Post reports. Mona Davids, president of the NYC Parents Union, was stunned by the report. “I’m in shock,” she said. “What gives the mayor the right to decide, without adequate notice, to give our children drugs that will impact their bodies and their psyches? He has purposely kept the public and parents in the dark with his agenda.” Besides “emergency contraception,” about 40 school-based clinics have dispensed prescriptions for contraception, intrauterine devices and hormone-delivering injections, the Post reports. Officials refused to discuss the project.Tweet
Premiums To Rise As A Result Of ObamaCare Tax On Insurance Industry
While the most sweeping provisions of the health care overhaul have not yet gone into effect, plenty of Americans will still be paying higher insurance premiums this year -- as insurance companies try to preemptively cover the cost of a tax increase included in President Obama's Affordable Care Act. That tax doesn't take effect until next year, when other major provisions like the so-called "individual mandate" and insurance subsidies also kick in. But that hasn't stopped insurance companies from charging higher premiums this year to cover the hike, as well as the cost of ObamaCare benefits such as free birth control and preventive care. Premiums for individuals and small businesses are projected to increase due to the tax by roughly 2 percent this year and by as much as 3.7 percent in 2023, according to a widely cited analysis by the insurance industry.Tweet
Yale Law Professor On Iraq War WMD Intelligence: Nobody "Lied" Or "Spun" The Intelligence
A bracing challenge to this view is provided by “The Art of Betrayal,” Gordon Corera’s enthralling history of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, popularly known as MI6. Corera, a widely respected British Broadcasting Corp. journalist with impeccable sources in the clandestine world, devotes a good deal of his narrative to the question of what went wrong in Iraq. But the wider focus is on the shadowy, yet colorful, figures who have populated the agency since the dawn of the Cold War. The book is worth reading for Corera’s detailed recounting of largely unexamined swaths of secret history, which I will discuss in a future column. For the present, let us consider only what he has to say about Iraq -- and, in particular, about the notion that U.S. President George W. Bush and U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair and their staffs fabricated the evidence of weapons of mass destruction... Corera has combed available public sources, both official investigations and various memoirs, and added to it his own reporting, most of it from anonymous intelligence sources. His ironic conclusion: “Everyone, including the spies, was convinced by the intelligence that said Saddam had the weapons,” he writes. Yet “they were not sure it looked strong enough to win the argument.” By everyone, Corera means everyone. As he reminds us, even Hans Blix, the chief United Nations arms inspector before the war, believed that Saddam Hussein had hidden weapons of mass destruction. David Kay, who led the postwar Iraq Survey Group that found no evidence of weapons of mass destruction, went into his search expecting to find the opposite. In this sense, Bush and Blair were just along for the ride... Overall, Corera agrees with the conclusion of the British investigators: With a single exception, the intelligence wasn’t spun by the politicians. It was “simply wrong.” From the point of view of the spies, he points out, this realization is far more damaging. It means they didn’t do their jobs. And the political leaders, says Corera, “believed the intelligence they had been told about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.”... In the case of Iraq, one issue is that there was, in effect, a deadline: It was increasingly clear that Bush and Blair meant to go to war by early 2003. Thus the intelligence agencies were faced with the need to find a way to document what they believed to be true but couldn’t quite prove. As Corera points out, the enemy of good intelligence work is often time. It can take months or years to determine whether a bit of information is even true -- longer still to figure out what it means. The faster the spies have to work, the greater the likelihood of error.Tweet
Christian Bakery Owner Being Investigated In Oregon For Refusing To Sell Gay Wedding Cake
KGW reports:
It started on Jan. 17 when a mother and daughter showed up at Sweet Cakes by Melissa looking for the perfect wedding cake. “My first question is what’s the wedding date,” said owner Aaron Klein. “My next question is bride and groom’s name … the girl giggled a little bit and said it’s two brides.” Klein apologized to the women and told them he and his wife do not make cakes for same-sex marriages. Klein said the women were disgusted and walked out. “I believe that marriage is a religious institution ordained by God,” said Klein. “A man should leave his mother and father and cling to his wife … that to me is the beginning of marriage.”... “I’d rather have my kids see their dad stand up for what he believes in then to see him bow down because one person complained.”Klein told KATU: "I apologized for wasting their time and said we don’t do same-sex marriages. honestly did not mean to hurt anybody, didn’t mean to make anybody upset, (it’s) just something I believe in very strongly." Tweet
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Friday, February 1, 2013
Suicide Bombing At U.S. Embassy In Turkey
The AP reports:
In the second deadly assault on a U.S. diplomatic post in five months, a suicide bomber struck the American Embassy in Ankara on Friday, killing a Turkish security guard in what the White House described as a terrorist attack.Tweet
Obama's Advisers On Iran Comment On Chuck Hagel's Hearing: "Baffling And Incomprehensible"
“It’s somewhere between baffling and incomprehensible,” a member of Mr. Obama’s own team of advisers on Iran said on Thursday night when asked about Mr. Hagel’s stumbling performance on the question during the all-day hearing. The worry was evident in the voice of the official, who would not speak on the record while criticizing the performance of the president’s nominee. For those who question whether the no-containment cornerstone of the Obama approach to Tehran is for real, or just diplomatic rhetoric, Mr. Hagel clearly muddled the message, he said.Tweet
Senate Kills Rand Paul’s Bill To Prohibit Sales Of F-16s To Egypt
The vote against Paul’s bill: 79-19.
Rand Paul’s amendment: “To prohibit the sale, lease, transfer, retransfer, or delivery of F-16 aircraft, M1 tanks, or certain other defense articles or services to the Government of Egypt.”
The 19 Republicans that voted in favor of stopping the shipment of F-16s to Egypt:
Boozman (R-AR) Coats (R-IN) Cornyn (R-TX) Crapo (R-ID) Cruz (R-TX) Fischer (R-NE) Grassley (R-IA) Heller (R-NV) Lee (R-UT) Moran (R-KS) Paul (R-KY) Risch (R-ID) Roberts (R-KS) Rubio (R-FL) Scott (R-SC) Sessions (R-AL) Shelby (R-AL) Thune (R-SD) Vitter (R-LA)Tweet
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Chuck Hagel Says He Supports Obama Policy Of "Containment" Of Iran, Then Backtracks 4 Minutes Later
4 minutes later he clearly demonstrates that he has no idea what he is talking about: Tweet
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
U.S. Confirms: Israel Notified Us Of Intention To Hit Syria
The Jerusalem Post reports:
US officials said Wednesday overnight that Israel had bombed a suspected shipment of anti-aircraft missiles in Syria on Tuesday night, the Wall Street Journal and New York Times reported.
The Wall Street Journal report cited a Western official as saying that the strike targeted a convoy of trucks carrying Russian-made SA-17 missiles to Hezbollah, in a border area west of Damascus .
American officials told the Times that Israel notified the US about the attack.
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Al Qaeda Promises New "Shocking" Attacks In The United States
A jihadist website posted a new threat by al Qaeda this week that promises to conduct “shocking” attacks on the United States and the West. The posting appeared on the Ansar al Mujahidin network Sunday and carried the headline, “Map of al Qaeda and its future strikes.” The message, in Arabic, asks: “Where will the next strike by al Qaeda be?” A translation was obtained by Inside the Ring. “The answer for it, in short: The coming strikes by al Qaeda, with God’s Might, will be in the heart of the land of nonbelief, America, and in France, Denmark, other countries in Europe, in the countries that helped and are helping France, and in other places that shall be named by al Qaeda at other times,” the threat states. The attacks will be “strong, serious, alarming, earth-shattering, shocking and terrifying.”Tweet
Shipment Headed From Syria To Hezbollah Terrorists In Lebanon Bombed By Israel
The Wall Street Journal reports:
Israel bombed a suspected shipment of antiaircraft missiles in Syria on Wednesday, according to regional and U.S. officials, in its most ambitious strike inside its neighbor's territory in nearly two chaotic years of civil war there. The early-morning strike in a border area west of Damascus targeted a convoy of trucks carrying Russian-made SA-17 missiles to Hezbollah, the anti-Israel Shiite militant and political group in Lebanon, according to a Western official briefed on the raid.Tweet
U.S. Economy Shrinks By 0.1%
The U.S. economy posted a stunning drop of 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter, defying expectations for slow growth and possibly providing incentive for more Federal Reserve stimulus. The economy shrank from October through December for the first time since the recession ended, hurt by the biggest cut in defense spending in 40 years, fewer exports and sluggish growth in company stockpiles.Tweet
GOP Senators Ask DOJ To Explain Why Oil And Gas Companies Are Targeted For "Bird Death" Prosecutions While Wind Energy Companies Have Not Been Prosecuted A Single Time
The fact that wind energy in the United States kills thousands of protected birds every year has not amounted to a single Department of Justice prosecution of a single wind-energy company:
Yet, via The Hill:
Sens. David Vitter (R-La.) and Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) asked U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder why he is “targeting” oil and gas companies by prosecuting them for the unintentional death of birds. … Vitter pointed out that wind energy producers kill far more birds than oil and gas companies, but that all of the bird deaths have been unintended. … “These are important matters,” Alexander said. “The rule of law is one of the fundamental characteristics of this nation and the Department of Justice is enforcing a law against oil and gas companies and not wind energy companies.” … “Please explain the apparent targeting of oil an gas producers for violations under the MBTA,” [the letter to Eric Holder] reads. “Do you believe it is inconsistent to prosecute energy producers for the deaths of several animals among three producers at the same time the Administration condones an energy project that plans to kill between eight and fifteen bald eagles each year?”Tweet
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Matt Lauer Confronts Al Gore On "Hypocrisy" Of Selling Current TV To Oil-Owned Al Jazeera
Al Gore definitely cares about being green, it just turns out the green he likes most has Benjamin Franklin's picture on it:
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
TweetTeacher Who Sexually Harassed Students Has Made $1 Million For Sitting In “The Rubber Room”
Disgraced New York City music teacher Aryeh Eller confessed back in 1999 to sexually harassing female students during his one and only year of teaching. He was removed from the classroom and placed in the “rubber room” … a place where faculty deemed “inappropriate” to be around students go to … well … perform no task or function. That has earned Eller $1 million over the 13 years since the sexual harassment admission.Tweet
Paris To Expel Radical Islamist Imams To Tackle "Global Jihad"
Paris says it will deport a number of radical religious imams to tackle extremism in Europe and "global jihadism". French Interior Minister warned the eviction would happen "in the coming days". "We will expel all these imams, all these foreign preachers who denigrate women, who hold views that run counter to our values and who say there is a need to combat France,” AFP quoted foreign minister Manuel Valls as saying. Speaking at the conference in Brussels, he stressed that the move will affect “Salafist groupings, who are involved in the political process, whose aim is to monopolize cultural associations, the school system." Radical Islam, the key topic at an international conference in Belgium, is a pressing issue for France especially after Mohamed Merah the al-Qaeda inspired murderer, dubbed the Scooter Killer, shot dead three soldiers, three Jewish schoolchildren, and a rabbi in March 2012. Valls referred to the Toulouse incident, pointing out that Merah did not work alone, but had many contacts in France and abroad and “lived in a [radical] environment”. The minister concluded this “forged the process of radicalization that led him to kill”.Tweet
Islamists Burn Ancient Manuscripts As They Flee Mali's Timbuktu
Fleeing Islamist extremists torched a library containing historic manuscripts in Timbuktu, the mayor said Monday, as French and Malian forces closed in on Mali's fabled desert city. Ousmane Halle said he heard about the burnings early Monday. "It's truly alarming that this has happened," he told The Associated Press by telephone from Mali's capital, Bamako, on Monday. "They torched all the important ancient manuscripts. The ancient books of geography and science. It is the history of Timbuktu, of its people." The mayor said Monday that the radical Islamists had torched his office as well as the Ahmed Baba Institute – a library rich with historical documents – in an act of retaliation before they fled late last week.Tweet
Egypt's Army Chief Warns Of "Collapse" As Chaos Mounts
The New York Times reports:
Egypt’s top military officer warned Tuesday of the potential “collapse of the state” if political forces in the country did not reconcile, reflecting growing impatience with the country’s growing unrest.
In a speech to military cadets that was distributed as a statement, Gen. Abdul-Fattah al-Sisi, the defense minister, publicly warned Egypt’s new Islamist leaders and their opponents that “their disagreement on running the affairs of the country may lead to the collapse of the state and threatens the future of the coming generations." As such, General Sisi suggested, the polarization of the civilian politics was becoming a concern of the military because “to affect the stability of the state institutions is a dangerous matter that harms Egyptian national security."
His remarks came as violence in Cairo began to escalate. During clashes between riot police and protesters along the Nile Corniche early on Tuesday, the fighting spilled into one of the city’s luxury hotels, leaving the lobby in ruins.
The worst of the turmoil, which has left at least 45 people dead, has been in Port Said at the northern tip of the Suez Canal. Egypt’s president, Mohamed Morsi, has imposed a monthlong state of emergency in the city and two others in the Suez Canal zone, calling on the army to regain control of security.
General Sisi also said the army would protect the “vital” Suez Canal.
The state of emergency imposed by Mr. Morsi virtually eliminates due process protections against abuse by the police.
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US Debt Headed Toward 200% Of GDP Even After "Fiscal Cliff" Deal
The Hill reports:
The nation's long-term fiscal outlook hasn't significantly improved following the recent agreement between Congress and the White House over tax and spending issues, according to a new analysis.
The "fiscal cliff" deal, combined with the debt-limit agreement of August 2011, only slightly delays the United States reaching debt-to-gross domestic product levels that would damage the economy and risk another fiscal crisis, according to a report from the Peter G. Peterson Foundation released on Tuesday.
The agreement "may have prevented the immediate threats that the fiscal cliff posed to our fragile economic recovery, but we haven’t remotely fixed the nation’s debt problem," said Michael A. Peterson, president and COO of the Peterson Foundation.
"The primary goal of any sustainable fiscal policy is to stabilize the debt as a share of the economy and put it on a downward path, and yet our nation is still heading toward debt levels of 200 percent of GDP and beyond," he said.
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Texas Governor Rick Perry: Give Excess Tax Money Back To People
Reuters reports:
Texas Governor Rick Perry on Tuesday called for returning excess tax money to taxpayers and tapping the state's rainy-day fund for water and transportation infrastructure.
Perry, 62, the longest-serving governor in the nation at just over 12 years, touted the success of Texas in creating jobs and luring companies to the state.
The Republican called for changing the constitution of the state, the nation's second most populous, to allow the return of tax money to the people who paid it when the state brings in more than needed.
"We've never bought into the notion that if you collect more, you need to spend more," Perry said in his state of the state address, which he delivered to a joint session of the Texas House and Senate.
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