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Saudis Behind Benghazi Attack Per Hacked Clinton Emails
The hacker known as Guccifer first came to prominence in February after breaching the AOL email account of Dorothy Bush Koch, the sister of George W. Bush. Guccifer released photos of Bush's amateurish oil paintings and details regarding the ailing elder Bush. The mainstream media idiotically focused on Bush's prowess as an artist rather than the fact that the public was being offered a glimpse into the secret world of the elite that pull the levers in American society and the world.
Guccifer's real treasure, however, came in the form of a series of emails hacked from the AOL account of former Bill Clinton aide Sidney Blumenthal to then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The emails are significant because there is one dated September 12, 2012, which of course was the day after the attack on the Benghazi consulate. Blumenthal cites a number of what can only be called spies throughout the world in order to supply Clinton with a clear picture of current events.
WND EXCLUSIVE
New scandal threatens Obama, Hillary
Report confirms what well-placed sources have been saying
byAaron Klein
TEL AVIV - Has the White House been misleading the public by repeatedly denying it was coordinating arms shipments to the rebels in Syria, insurgents known to consist in large part of al-Qaida and other jihadist groups?
Other top U.S. officials and former officials, including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, have implied in congressional testimony that they didn't know about any U.S. involvement in procuring weapons for the rebels.
Now, a starkly different picture is emerging, one that threatens the longstanding White House narrative that claims the Obama administration has only supplied nonlethal aid to the rebels.
While the Times report claims most of the weapons shipments facilitated by the CIA began after the latest presidential election, Middle Eastern security officials speaking to WND have said U.S.-aided weapons shipments go back more than a year, escalating before the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. facilities in Benghazi.
In fact, the Middle Eastern security officials speaking to WND since last year describe the U.S. mission in Benghazi and nearby CIA annex attacked last September as an intelligence and planning center for U.S. aid to the rebels in the Middle East, particularly those fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
The aid, the sources stated, included weapons shipments and was being coordinated with Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Posted by Daniel Greenfield @ the Sultan Knish blog
The only question worth asking about gay marriage is whether anyone on the left would care about this crusade if it didn't come with the privilege of bulldozing another civilizational institution.
Gay marriage is not about men marrying men or women marrying women, it is about the
deconstruction of marriage between men and women. That is a thing that many men and women of one generation understand but have trouble conveying to another generation for whom marriage has already largely been deconstructed.
The statistics about the falling marriage rate tell the tale well enough. Marriage is a fading institution. Family is a flickering light in the evening of the West.
The deconstruction is destruction. Entire countries are fading away, their populations being replaced by emigrants from more traditional lands whose understanding of the male-female relationship is positively reactionary. These emigrants may lack technology or the virtues of civilization, and their idea of marriage resembles slavery more than any modern ideal, but it fulfills the minimum purpose of any group, tribe or country-- it produces its next generation.
The deconstruction of marriage is not a mere matter of front page photos of men kissing. It began with the deconstruction of the family. Gay marriage is only one small stop on a tour that includes rising divorce rates, falling childbirth rates and the abandonment of responsibility by twenty and even thirty-somethings.
Each step on the tour takes apart the definition and structure of marriage until there is nothing left. Gay marriage is not inclusive, it is yet another attempt at eliminating marriage as a social institution by deconstructing it until it no longer exists.
"It is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favors." --George Washington
Publisher's Note
He is not here, but has risen.
In observance of Good Friday and in celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we take leave from the rigors of analyzing the week's news, policy and opinion in order to focus on an eternal message. To our readers of faiths other than Christianity, we welcome you to read on, and we hope that this edition serves to deepen your understanding of our faith -- the faith of so many of our Founders. To all of our readers, we wish God's blessing and peace upon you and your families.
The Good News
"Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, 'They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.' So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead." --John 20:1-9
"While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, 'Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.'" --Luke 24:4-6
Resurrection Day Meditations
"It is the duty of all men in society, publicly, and at stated seasons, to worship the SUPREME BEING, the great Creator and Preserver of the universe." --John Adams
"Adore God. Reverence and cherish your parents. Love your neighbor as yourself, and your country more than yourself. Be just. Be true. Murmur not at the ways of Providence." --Thomas Jefferson
"When I survey the wondrous cross, On which the Prince of Glory died, My richest gain I count but loss, And pour contempt on all my pride." --Isaac Watts
"The ecclesiastical establishments of Europe, which serve to support tyrannical governments, are not the christian religion, but abuses and corruptions of it. The religion of Christ and his apostles, in it primitive simplicity and purity, unencumbered with the trappings of power and the pomp of ceremonies, is the surest basis of a republican government." --Noah Webster
"Life is real! Life is earnest! And the grave is not its goal." --Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
"When divine souls appear, men are compelled by their own self-respect to distinguish them." --Ralph Waldo Emerson
"It was not for societies or states that Christ died, but for men." --C.S. Lewis
"I still can't help wondering how we can explain away what to me is the greatest miracle of all and which is recorded in history. No one denies there was such a man, that he lived and that he was put to death by crucifixion. Where ... is the miracle I spoke of? Well consider this and let your imagination translate the story into our own time -- possibly to your own home town. A young man whose father is a carpenter grows up working in his father's shop. One day he puts down his tools and walks out of his father's shop. He starts preaching on street corners and in the nearby countryside, walking from place to place, preaching all the while, even though he is not an ordained minister. He never gets farther than an area perhaps 100 miles wide at the most. He does this for three years. Then he is arrested, tried and convicted. There is no court of appeal, so he is executed at age 33 along with two common thieves. Those in charge of his execution roll dice to see who gets his clothing -- the only possessions he has. His family cannot afford a burial place for him so he is interred in a borrowed tomb. End of story? No, this uneducated, property-less young man has, for 2,000 years, had a greater effect on the world than all the rulers, kings, emperors; all the conquerors, generals and admirals, all the scholars, scientists and philosophers who have ever lived -- all of them put together. How do we explain that -- unless He really was what He said He was?" --President Ronald Reagan (1911-2004) (Video Link)
From your brothers and sisters at The Patriot Post, we wish you a blessed day in celebration of our Savior.
Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus et Fidelis! Nate Jackson for The Patriot Post Editorial Team
TWO IMPORTANT EVENTS:
1)The anti-gun/anti-second amendment group, Bucks Against Gun Violence, and other antigun groups will be holding a rally at the Doylestown County Courthouse on Saturday March 30th at Noon. There will be the parents of gun murdered Corey Kesselman speaking, who was Killed By being shot in the back by a SHOTGUN after a drug situation gone bad .
Please show up with signs like GUNS PROTECT WOMEN CHILDREN AND THE HELPLESS; CITIZENS USE GUNS 2MILLION TIMES A YEAR FOR PROTECTION.
Please no aggressive signs, just positive pro-gun signs and wear paraphernalia that distinguishes you from THEM, like NRA logos, Freedom is not Free or TEA PARTY stuff.
PLEASE SEE their FLYER
2) Commissioner Marseglia is trying to exclude any County retirement funds that invest in firearm manufacturing, but also in firearm sales. This is outrageous and stinks of a total firearms ban and a an attack of free enterprise. Stores like Cabelas and Dick's fall into that category.Challenge her at the next Commissioner meeting and ask her if this means that she advocates a total gun ban for hunters and sportsmen as well as protection. What does this have to do as she expounds"control unsafe gun use" See the below Intel story.
Commissioner's Meeting
April 3, 2013 at 10:00 a.m. Bucks County Courthouse Community Room 55 E. Court St., 1st Floor, Doylestown
Should Bucks County invest in guns?
By James McGinnis Staff writer | Posted: Thursday, March 21, 2013
It's no secret Bucks County spends millions of dollars each year to combat and prosecute gun crime.
What's harder to figure out - even for a county commissioner - is just how much the government invests in gun manufacturing and sales.
Commissioner Diane Marseglia said she's spent more than a month investigating the county's pension fund and a portfolio of investments, which includes some gun makers and distributors.
The U.S. Conference of Mayors urged all local and state governments to cut ties with 'irresponsible' gun companies in the wake of the Dec. 14 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, which left 20 children and six adults dead.
At Marseglia's request, investment adviser PFM Asset Management LLC said it contacted the six managers of portfolios held in the Bucks County Employees' Retirement Fund. The majority does not hold any such investments, PFM said.
However, a shortlist provided by the firm does include a military defense contractor, a firm selling guns to civilians and some sporting goods stores that sell firearms. Marseglia said she will call on her fellow commissioners to study the portfolios in greater detail.
"This is something that we can all do to try to control unsafe gun use because our lawmakers in Washington can't seem to do it," said Marseglia. "I think what we need here is a more exhaustive search."
Her fellow commissioners, Robert Loughery and Charley Martin, aren't as keen on the idea, though.
Announcing - Women On Target, Getting Comfortable With Firearms
Date: April 26-27.
Place: Wicen's Shooting Range, 3179 Mozart Road, Furlong, PA 18925
This is a 2-day class, 4 hours total. You may attend Day 1 classroom only, or you may attend both Day 1 classroom & Day 2 shooting event. You may NOT attend Day 2 shooting event without attending the Day 1 classroom portion. (Some students may choose not to attend the shooting portion, but we will encourage them to do so.)
Day 1 Classroom (40 people maximum): Friday, April 26, 2013 from 7-9pm Day 2 Range: Saturday, April 27, 2013 Two sessions (20 people each maximum): First come first serve 9 am -11 am 1 pm - 3 pm
Cost: Each Day is $25.00. Total cost if you attend both Day 1 and Day 2 will be $50.00 per student. You must make payment in the form of check or cash.
On Day 1 students will take an after-hours range tour, learn firearm safety, reasons to own a firearm, and have the opportunity to handle and ask questions about various pistols, rifles and shotguns.
On Day 2 students will split into 3 small groups, and have the opportunity to shoot pistols, rifles and shotguns, with an NRA Certified Instructor coaching them through each safety step.
All firearms and ammunition will be supplied. Up to 50 rounds per student will be allocated.
This will be performed by Lori Wicen of Wicen's Range (not CGOBC):
Email will be checked each evening and respond accordingly. Please note how many ladies will be attending this course in your email. (Lori will answer and allocate spots according to the time stamp on the email from you.)
Lori will keep a chart of interest, and then highlight when their check is received.
Lori will let us know (via the the Facebook post) when she has 15 in either Saturday session so we know when one class is almost full.
Check must be at least $25.00 (per person) .. you may pay the entire $50 (per person) if you want to lock in both days. If you only pay $25 (per person) then your Saturday class will not be locked in and you risk not getting the time slot you desire.
Please make check payable to: Wicen's Shooting Range Mailed to: Wicen's Shooting Range 3179 Mozart Road Furlong, PA 18925 note in comment area or enclose a note: WOT April 26, and specify morning or afternoon Saturday session, put their telephone number on the check ***You must submit payment (cash or check only) no later than close of business Saturday April 13th or your spot will be released.
contact info: loriwicen@yahoo.com Telephone at the range: 215-598-3534 leave a message!
************************************************ There will be a raffle on day one where four lucky women will receive their $25 "DAY 1" payment refunded and on day two there will be a raffle where four lucky women (two in each session) will receive their "DAY 2" payment refunded. ************************************************ As an added bonus through the generosity of Tanner's Sport Center, Ray Tanner is offering 5% off a gun purchase to attendees of the course after completion of the full course.
***Please refer all questions pertaining to this course to Lori Wicen. loriwicen@yahoo.com 215-598-3534
Terri's Day 2013!
Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network announces the, "International Day of Prayer and Remembrance for Terri Schindler Schiavo, and All of Our Vulnerable Brothers and Sisters," (Terri's Day!), which is typically observed each year on March 31, the anniversary of Terri's death.Because Easter falls on March 31, this year Terri's Day Memorial Mass will be held on Friday, April 5, 2013. (Read below)
National Memorial Mass for Terri's Day!
This year's Terri's Day Memorial Mass will be held on Friday, April 5, 2013 at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul located at 18th Street & Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA 19103.
The mass will be celebrated by Archbishop Charles Chaput, Archbishop of the Diocese of Philadelphia, beginning at 5:00 p.m. All are invited to attend.
Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network's Award Gala with Governor Sarah Palin
Following the Memorial Mass, there will be the Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network's Award Gala, currently scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. with a cocktail reception. This dinner gala will be held at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, located at 1201 Market Street in Philadelphia. The first "Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Award" will be presented.
*As you may know, Philadelphia parking is very limited in the city, particularly around the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter & Paul. The Marriott, however; has plenty of parking available. Please plan ahead.
Introduction to Terri's Day!
We invite individual believers to spend time on that day learning about Terri, and praying for all whose lives are threatened in the same way that Terri's was.
We invite Churches to hold memorial services and to educate their people on the dignity of every human life, despite any disability or disease with which that life may be afflicted.
We invite educational institutions to help dispel the myths and inaccuracies about Terri's life and death, and to contribute to our society's debate regarding the rights of the disabled by providing accurate, factual information and mature reflection on the ethical demands of caring for the weak and vulnerable.
We invite all people to use the resources on this website and to help us continue to draw good out of the sad and tragic way in which Terri was treated.
in support of ACTION of PA Cumberland County Chapter
Thursday, April 4, 2013
8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
The Bongiorno Conference Center 430 Union Hall Rd. Carlisle, PA
This presentation will provide Biblical worldview answers for such key questions as:
Is there hope for America?
What is God's role for pastors in our time?
How do we rebuild the walls?
Speakers and Program for the Morning Include:
8:30-9:00 a.m. - Welcome
9:00-9:35 a.m. - Hon. Sam Rohrer, President, PA Pastors' Network - presents the need for pastors to "Stand in the Gap"
9:35-9:55 a.m. - Pastor Gary Dull, Faith Baptist Church of Altoona and PPN Leadership Council Member presents the content for pastors to "Preach the Word"
10:00-10:40 - Pastor Jim Arcieri, Community Bible Fellowship Church and PPN Leadership Council Member presents the "Tools" for pastors to "Rebuilding the Walls"
It will be a vital addition to your ministry when you attend this very important luncheon. ABSOLUTELY FREE! Olive Tree Ministries and our event hosts invite you to join us for a Middle East Briefing with Pastor Victor Styrsky on April 4th and 5th. Victor a speaker your will love! His straight forward and passionate heart drew enthusiastic response last Fall when his powerful message about Israel reached audiences throughout Delaware and Pennsylvania region. Victor has just returned from Israel where he hosted over 50 pastors on life - changing tours and briefings. As the First State, Delaware need to be on God's radar in support fo Israel, the apple of His eye! Won't you become part of our initiative here in this area to bring together Pastors, Rabbis and congregational Leaders for Israel? NOW is the time! We will look forward to having you join us. Staff of Olive Tree Ministries.
Click above to register for either or both events Bring spouses and guests. You will be linking directly to the CUFI registration pages. Your guests are welcome but each individual person must register as indicated on the registration pages.
SAVE THE DATE: APRIL 16th CITIZENS FOR CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT
Tuesday, April 16, 2013, 6:30-8:30 pm
Quakertown Library, 401 W. Mill Street, Quakertown
hosts PEG LUKSIK on Indoctrination in Education
Founder & Chairman Pennsylvania Parents Commission and National Parents Commission - to give parents a voice in education and public policy: State-wide leader in successful effort to stop implementation of Outcome Based Education
Founder, CEO, Chair Board of Trustees of Mom's House - service network assisting single parents and children in completing education to become employable
State Chairman, Constitutional Party of Pennsylvania 1995
T.V. host "The Learning Curve"
Co-author "Outcome Based Education: The States Assault on our Children's Values"
WHO CONTROLS THE CHILDREN??For a preview of this fantastic speaker, watch this dynamite YouTube video
Peg Luksik "Who Controls Our Children" How Public Schools Dumb Down Kids
Updated PA Leadership Conference Agenda Released
The conference which will be held April 19-20, 2013 at the Radisson Penn Harris Convention Center in Camp Hill (Harrisburg), PA.
Registration includes admission to all conference functions EXCEPT the pre-dinner reception. Registration DOES include the Friday evening dinner with speaker Steve Hayes of Fox News/The Weekly Standard (do not register separately for the dinner); the Saturday breakfast with John Gizzi and Saturday lunch with pollster/commentator Scott Rasmussen. It also includes all panels, workshops and speakers. The only function NOT included in the registration fee is the pre-dinner reception with Steve Hayes, which is priced separately.
Depart: Doylestown Library When: 8 AM Rally at the Capitol followed by lobbying visits 12noon Returning to Doylestown 8:30
Cost is Free To reserve your spot
Please Call Anastasia at 215-534-1851
April 23rd-Bus Trip-2nd Amendment Rally
Depart: Doylestown Library When: 7:30 a.m. Arrive: Harrisburg, PA Depart: 2:30 p.m. Cost: $50.00 due ASAP to reserve bus(es) Includes: Shirt, Drink
Please mail your check payable to CGOBC as follows:
CGOBC PO Box 745 Doylestown, PA 18901
Come join the Concerned Gun Owners of Bucks County (COGBC) on their bus trip to Harrisburg to promote H.B. 357. Plan on entering the capital to meet with your legislators and to support your 2nd Amendment Right!
We are so blessed that over the last four years thousands of churches in over 60 countries have stood in solidarity with Israel through CUFI Sunday. From the largest cities to the smallest towns, from mega churches in the American heartland to underground churches in China, Christians have come together to express their love and support for Israel.
We pray that your church will participate in the fifth annual CUFI Sunday on May 5, 2013. CUFI will provide you with all the materials you need to implement a successful CUFI Sunday, including videos, literature and Pastor John Hagee's personal sermon notes for your use.
Please click hereto participate in CUFI Sunday. As you'll see, you don't have to be a pastor to ensure that your church stands with Israel on CUFI Sunday.
The date we've chosen for CUFI Sunday -- May 5th -- is close to Israeli Independence Day. As the Jewish State celebrates her 65th birthday, there is no better present we can send than the news of thousands of churches standing in solidarity with her!
We look forward to uniting in action and prayer on behalf of Israel with you and your congregation on May 5, 2013.
May God Bless You and Those that You Love,
Pastor John Hagee National Chairman
David Brog Executive Director
Announcing the 2013 National Conference
& Legislative Briefing!
June 19 - 21 we will convene at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC for our fourth annual National Conference & Legislative Briefing.
And here's some really great news: This year's registration fee is only $229! Register by April 15th and you'll receive our "Early Bird" rate of just $189!
We also offer again this year special benefits for Patriot Eagle and Patriot sponsors.
We have some exciting new wrinkles planned for this year's event, and our list of confirmed speakers already includes:
Steven Emerson - Journalist, author, and the Executive Editor of the Investigative Project on Terrorism. A. M. Rosenthal, late-managing editor of The New York Times, described Emerson as "one of the nation's best national security correspondents."
John Guandolo - Former FBI agent and one of America's leading authorities on the Muslim Brotherhood and its inner workings in America. Guandolo spoke at our conference in 2011 and received rave reviews from conference attendees!
Ezra Levant - Canadian lawyer, author, newspaper columnist with Sun Media, and former publisher of the Western Standard. Hauled before a Canadian "human rights commission" because he published the Danish cartoons that satirized Muhammad, Levant's personal account of a politically correct government inquisition is something you won't want to miss!
The National Conference & Legislative Briefing will begin on Wed. evening, June 19th, and conclude on Friday, June 21st at noon, with additional optional training sessions Friday afternoon.
It will again feature our very popular Capitol Hill Awards Luncheon and our signature gala banquet-and of course, our Legislative Briefing, where Members of Congress will brief you on various issues and answer your questions.
So make your plans now to join us in our nation's capital for what promises to be our best National Conference & Legislative Briefing ever!
More details to come!
As Israelis celebrate their 65th Independence Day this year, we should all take time out to reflect on the miracle of Israel's independence. We must also ask ourselves the question, "What can I do to ensure that this miracle of Israel survives and thrives?"
We announced earlier this week that we'll be headed to New Orleans the first weekend in August for this year's RedState Gathering. As a member of our RedState family, we'd like to extend exclusive Early Bird registration and pricing to you (just use the promo code EARLYBIRD on the registration page).
The 2013 RedState Gathering will be held August 2-3 at the Westin Canal Place in New Orleans, LA. We'll have two full days of speakers and activities and you can expect a good mix of elected officials and potential candidates for the 2014 cycle (we'll keep you informed as additions are made).
The Gathering has always been a unique event, in that all speakers, even the most in-demand and influential, pay their own way and make their own travel arrangements. This helps keep our costs low, a savings we are happy to pass along to our conference attendees. Additionally, we strive to get you up close to the speakers, ask them to take your questions, and we take care of nearly all your meals during the conference. Bottom line: fewer frills, more thrills and access.
We are thrilled to once again be joined by Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, who will be hosting a reception for all attendees and appear at the Gathering podium as a keynote speaker. A huge hit in 2012, we're looking forward to Gov. Jindal playing an even larger role this year as he welcomes us to his home state.
Now, more than ever, true conservative activists must come together to exchange ideas and strategize for the future. That's what this year's Gathering is all about. We hope you'll join us.
P.S. Don't delay! You'll receive 20% off if you register today - just use the promo code EARLYBIRD. Click here.
Glenn: Help us get in millions of home
Why should you support the "Get TheBlaze" movement to get TheBlaze in millions of homes across the country? For starters, how about a network that will cancel out the damage Al-Jazeera will be doing in America as it replaces Current in your lineup? Check out Glenn's "why" in this exclusive letter HERE.
Ready to take action? Click here to contact your TV provider and urge them to add TheBlaze.
ATTENTION: Are you a Verizon FiOS Subscriber? They've created a new form for you to fill out to request TheBlaze! You can complete the form HERE. And don't forget to make your request public by posting on their Facebook page. Thank you for supporting us!
Sirius XM adds TheBlaze Radio News to Patriot channel
Sirius XM Radio announced today that TheBlaze, Glenn Beck's multi-platform news, information, and opinion network, will produce 24/7 hourly radio newscasts on SiriusXM Patriot, SiriusXM's conservative talk channel. DETAILS
If you're like most of TheBlaze TV community, you watched the first episode of For the Record when it premiered and immediately wanted to share the truth about how the NSA has turned America into a surveillance state. Now, due to popular demand, we have made this must-see episode available on DVD.
The restoration of journalism has begun. For The Record is an investigative news magazine with no political agenda and nothing to lose. Probing, fair, but unforgiving. Journalism the way it used to be.
Don't miss your chance to own the premiere episode of For The Record. Watch as For the Record investigates how the NSA turned America into a surveillance state. Hear from former NSA employees who left the agency after discovering the government was spying on her people. Plus, join us as we investigate a facility being built in Utah slated to become the largest information-gathering center in the country.
This chilling, one-hour episode, reminds us all that with every call, every email...the government is watching.
We can't rely on "honest" journalists to get this information to the public, so we are counting on YOU. Order your copy now.
TheBlaze | 1133 Avenue of the Americas | New York, NY 10036 | TheBlaze LLC | All Rights Reserved 2013
Hi All - I just spoke w/ Lisa Lnancollas@aol.com (717 437 1327) who lives in Lewistown, Pa and is majorly involved in fighting the smart meters............and it's more than just electric, it's water, furnaces/ac's and wells too
We need to share this information. I asked her if she'd speak to groups in our area and she said yes, but would like to include Mike Reese who's written several bills that we want to get out of committee and approved:
2.signs in our yards saying NO SMART METERS......put them around like election signs
3.Let our State Reps know how you feel ie Warren Kampf....tell him you're in favor of the bills against smart meters
4.Do neighbor alerts........call your neighbors if you see trucks coming into the area
5.Write letters to the editors....remember if they get several letters, they're more likely to put at least one in.....educate the public
6.Prepare handouts
7.Send certified letter to electric company and get return receipt of name of person who signed for it
Be aware:
Water Smart Meters.........(IF YOU LET THEM IN, you're giving permission.) YOU DO NOT HAVE TO LET THEM IN
Well Smart Meters......are coming and will limit the amount of water you use.
If you get someone knocking on your door asking if you want to save money on your heat/ac, do not say yes or they'll put a clip on your unit that will limit your usage of air conditioning. The fan will work, but your usage will be CONTROLLED.
IF you get a new wall mount (thermostat & it may be required w/ a new ac unit because of the wiring) for your AC DO NOT GET ONE WITH A GPS in it........there is a cheaper model that has no GPS........ask questions BEFORE you start or consider any changes!!!!!!!!
Important Announcement from SFL
Across America, state and local officials are writing bills and resolutions to protect citizen's from Agenda 21's policies. Because many people do not recognize Agenda 21 in action, property owners still remain at risk.
To help officials recognize Agenda 21's footprint, SFL created a document in a Q&A format that answers:
How do I know Agenda 21 exists in the U.S.?
What does Agenda 21 have to do with sustainable development?
What is wrong with the Brundtland Commission's definition of sustainable development?
How do I know the UN's sustainable development is the same one in our community?
I thought sustainable development is good, what makes you think it is so bad?
How can something like this happen in America?
How will I recognize Agenda 21?
The document has a lot more information for community members and officials, including a brief history of Agenda 21 and actions to take to have safe planning without top-down intervention.
Grants issued in conjunction with government 'sustainability initiatives' contain stipulations or implementation practices that are the primary doorway for Agenda 21/sustainable development to enter your community. These stipulations often require no growth boundaries, income integration through low-income housing demands, reduced vehicle usage, healthy cities, livability principles and other forms of social engineering.
Other grants issued by non-profit groups such as the Packard, Pew or Carnegie Foundations, frequently promote Agenda 21. Often this happens when HUD or some other federal agency funds the foundation with the money they in turn offer as a sustainability-related grant.
Non-governmental organizations:
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) including ICLEI, the Nature Conservancy, American Farmland Trust and the American Planning Association have close ties to HUD-EPA-DOT sustainability initiatives and promote Agenda 21 through their regional and community work, conservation easements and funding.
Federal agencies:
Federal agency Acts including the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act and Endangered Species Act have so expanded, that individual's rights are losing way to unfounded and often exaggerated endangerment findings. The solutions to their findings invariably require fines, taxes, property rights' infringements or the outright transfer of private lands to the government.
Preservation programs, National Parks, Historic Places and Byways, Heritage Sites and Legacy Forest programs have exceeded prudent land and species' protection and are now confiscating massive quantities of the U.S. land mass in alignment with Agenda 21 principles.
The planning process:
Planners' surveys - contain unfair questions that do not express all of resident's options
Consensus meetings - are conducted in ways that elicit responses that support the planner's goals rather than genuine community desires
Visioning sessions- may be over-conducted to the point that the vision belongs to the facilitator and only appears to be that of the community.
Stakeholder meetings - can produce misleading results when the stakeholders do not represent the average community member. Frequently the "stakeholders" have a financial or ideological interest in implementing the plan.
Zoning regulations - originating with the American Planning Association (and others,) contains language that establishes the legal framework to implement Agenda 21 in communities. HUD, other federal agencies and firms such as Siemens funded the development of the APA's Growing Smart Legislative Guidebook, 2nd ed. These supporters all have a stake in Agenda 21's implementation.
Conservation easements - often contain undiscussed clauses that severely restrict property owners' rights, reduce property values and favor the land trust for future contract changes.
Regionalism:
Regional councils replace much of the local officials' authority with unelected boardmembers.
As the regional council matures, local rule diminishes, leaving citizens with more distant and reduced representation.
Once a region is formed, the ability to oppose sustainable development is limited.
Generally, when the regional council accepts grant monies, all tethered communities are bound by the grant stipulations.
Regional planning often includes tax base sharing which promotes wealth transfer by forcing community members to pay for services in other locations.
Regional planning often includes "no growth boundaries" that force housing into urban and inner ring suburban areas. This reduces homebuyers' choices and artificially inflates the value of some properties, while reducing it for others.
Awareness about Agenda 21 is finally spreading throughout the country, due in no small part to your efforts. But knowing it is there isn't enough. Now we need to educate ourselves on how to combat it. That's where you come in.
American Policy Center has recently released a booklet that explains everything you need to know to start fighting back against sustainable programs both locally and nationally. The booklet is called Special Report: Agenda 21 and How to Stop It and is available in the APC store for only $5.95.
I wrote this 35 page booklet in order to give activists a succinct resource they can refer to if they suspect Agenda 21 or Sustainable Development is being implemented in their area. It includes my own research coupled with incredibly helpful graphics created by Carroll County, Maryland Commissioner Richard Rothschild.
In the booklet you will find answers to several roadblocks that grassroots anti-Agenda 21 activists often face, including a definition of property rights and "Resolution to Protect Citizens' Property Rights," which many concerned citizens are already using to tie the hands of power hungry politicians.
This booklet is a great resource for anyone interested in preserving their property rights. It includes all the information to put up a first line of defense and step by step instructions for how to proceed from there. If you face Agenda 21 or Sustainable development in your area or are simply concerned with the national fight this booklet is a must read.
P.S. - The American Policy Center store has recently updated our inventory to include everything you need to fight back against Agenda 21. The revamped catalogue includes the "Stop Agenda 21 Action Kit", which provides users with everything they need to know about Agenda 21 in their own living room, as well as ways to share it with other concerned activists and critical knowledge on how to fight back. The store also offers DVDs of past successful conferences and symposiums, books and articles that deal with the issues of sustainability and Agenda 21 and individually packaged manuals and workbooks to aid you in your activism. You don't need to look any farther than the American Policy Center Store for everything you need to combat Agenda 21 and Sustainable Development in your area.
TheBlaze has been at the forefront in uncovering the disturbing details of the nationalized curriculum standard known as Common Core. One of the most troubling aspects of this federal program is that government bureaucrats are currently mining sensitive and highly personal information on children through Common Core's tracking system. Watch the powerful segments from The Glenn Beck Program HERE.
It's time to opt out of the creepy federal data-mining racket.
By Michelle Malkin
Last week, I reported on the federal government's massive new student-tracking database, which was created as part of the nationalized Common Core standards scheme.
The bad news: GOP "leadership" continues to ignore or, worse, enable this Nanny State racket. (Hello, Jeb Bush.)
The good news: A grassroots revolt outside the Beltway bubble is swelling. Families are taking their children's academic and privacy matters out of the snoopercrats' grip and into their own hands. You can now download a Common Core opt-out form to submit to your school district, courtesy of the group Truth in American Education.
Parents caught off guard by the stealthy tracking racket are now mobilizing across the country. According to the
New York Daily News
, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, echoing parents across New York City, blasted the tracking database in a letter to government officials: "I don't want my kids' privacy bought and sold like this." This Wednesday, prompted by parental objections, Oklahoma state representatives unanimously passed House Bill 1989 - the Student Data Accessibility, Transparency and Accountability Act - to prohibit the release of confidential student data without the written consent of the student's parent or guardian.As I noted in last week's column, the national Common Core student database was funded with Obama stimulus money. Grants also came from the liberal Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (which largely underwrote and promoted the top-down Common Core curricular scheme). A division of the conservative Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. built the database infrastructure. A nonprofit startup, "inBloom, Inc.," evolved out of this strange-bedfellows partnership to operate the invasive database, which is compiling everything from health-care histories, income information, and religious affiliations to voting status, blood types, and homework completion.
And it gets worse. Research fellow Joy Pullmann at the Heartland Institute points to a February Department of Education report on its data-mining plans that contemplates the use of creepy student-monitoring techniques such as "functional magnetic resonance imaging" and "using cameras to judge facial expressions, an electronic seat that judges posture, a pressure-sensitive computer mouse and a biometric wrap on kids' wrists."
The DOE report exposes the big lie that Common Core is about raising academic standards. The report instead reveals Common Core's progressive designs to measure and track children's "competencies" in "recognizing bias in sources," "flexibility," "cultural awareness and competence," "appreciation for diversity," "empathy," "perspective taking, trust, [and] service orientation."
That's right. School districts and state governments are pimping out highly personal data on children's feelings, beliefs, "biases," and "flexibility" instead of doing their own jobs of imparting knowledge - and minding their own business. And yes, Republicans such as former Florida governor Jeb Bush continue to falsely defend the centralized Common Core regime as locally driven and non-coercive, while ignoring the database system's circumvention of federal student-privacy laws.
Why? Edu-tech nosybodies are using the Common Core assessment boondoggle as a Trojan horse to collect and crunch massive amounts of personal student data for their own social-justice or moneymaking ends. Reminder: Nine states have entered into contracts with inBloom: Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, and North Carolina. Countless other vendors are salivating at the business possibilities in exploiting public-school students.
Marxism in Education - The Infiltration of Our School Systems by the Common Core Standards
Details
Written by Terresa Monroe-Hamilton
Right Side News has been reporting on progressive education reformers and the Common Core Standards being implemented in our public schools across the nation. Here is an excellent article with videos detailing how the Obama Administration is requiring the public schools in your county through grants (bribes) to adopt Common Core Standards.
Bottom line: the Obama Administration is using your tax money to indoctrinate your children to a Marxist mindset. You can make a difference, as explained below the videos by downloading an OPT-OUT form and submitting that to your local school district.
Terresa Monroe-Hamilton, Noisy Room Blog
I caught Glenn Beck on The Blaze and his excellent showcasing of Obama's Common Core Standards that are now in 45 states, including my state of Idaho. Common Core is Marxism for children. It is state run propaganda and is meant to dumb down and control our little ones. It is evil and it has been a long time coming. Obama pushed it through slyly and quickly after coming into office, but I can tell you, this has been brewing since at least the 1990s.
A little background... When my children were in school in the 1990s, my husband and I requested to see the school curriculum for their school in Las Vegas, Nevada. We were refused and basically told we were too dumb to understand what the teachers were instructing our son and daughter in. The last straw came when they wanted to put my daughter in the second grade on Ritalin instead of disciplining her. I was pulled in front of four teachers and accused of not raising my daughter correctly, as well as basically being an abusive and stupid parent.
I promptly told these teachers that they could pound sand and pulled our children (our son was in third grade at the time) out of school that very same day. I left the Fortune 500 and home schooled both of them till high school and in retrospect, should have kept them out even then. My children could not do the simplest of math or read when we pulled them out. I tested them and started them all over again with the ABEKA home schooling system, which at the time, cost a great deal of money.
Forty-five states, the District of Columbia, four territories, and the Department of Defense Education Activity have adopted the Common Core State Standards.
What information is being collected on your kids through Common Core?
TheBlaze TV subscribers can watch past episodes covering Common Core and CSCOPE. The March 14th episode focused on Common Core and the March 7th episode focused on CSCOPE. Not a subscriber? Sign up HERE.
Glenn has spent a lot of time over the past few weeks exposing some of the education initiatives in states across the country that are indoctrinating kids into the radical progressive agenda. Today, Glenn discussed an issue tied into Common Core that many people aren't aware of: data mining.
"We cover many important stories and topics on this program, but I don't think any could be more important than what we are covering tonight: the progressive takeover of America's schools,"
OK....when they look at you like you have a tin foil hat on your head......take some of this information with you. It is 126 pages. I have not read through the entire document (YET) but what I have read is enough to blow off the top of your head. I have highlighted some stuff. KIPP (Charter Schools) has a CHARACTER REPORT CARD on Page 39. So for now start on page 39 and work your way through to page 45. Remember FERPA laws were changed last year and I am sure not one parent is aware that permission to share information about our children no longer requires parental consent. Obama just slipped all these new changes in and I don't believe any parents were ever asked their opinions about these changes. And where was our Republican Congress when this happened???
AGENDA 21 is: The complete control and inventory of every human activity. After your friends read some of this information ask them if they still believe A21 is not real. Chapter 36 of A21 document is devoted to education.
Our government forgets there are still people alive that can think and see through their garbage.
Print this document and get a highlighter...........then start visiting your neighbors, school boards, elected officials and start screaming. GET COMMON CORE AND THE GOVERNMENT out of our class rooms. I think it is time to start a MASS movement for Home Schooling. I know Home Schooling will not be spared. This should be a movement to bring education back to the local level and DESTROY the Federal Department of Education. If our kids are not in school it will create an uprising at all levels. We should not settle for shutting down Common Core because they will masquerade it....they are already doing this in VA. VA supposedly never signed on to Common Core but GUESS WHAT........they ARE implementing Common Core and disguising it from the citizens in VA....of course they aren't doing a good job of hiding it and people in VA are catching on. Our schools have been in the process of a government take over (in earnest) for more than 20 years. If we don't shut down the Department of Education it will never stop. We have to cause a citizen uprising!!
Here is the U.S. Department of Education - Office of Educational Technology document:
"The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government - lest it come to dominate our lives and interests"- Patrick Henry
To fix "THE SYSYEM" We must become "THE SYSTEM" - k. bracken "The change we seek has always required great struggle and great sacrifice." - Barack Hussein Obama "The man who speaks to you of sacrifice, speaks of slaves and masters. And intends to be the master." - Ayn Rand
Has Communist Ideology Overtaken America? Education is crucial. Today I want to share two very interesting lists with you, and rather than adding an extensive amount of my commentary, I want to give you the chance to examine the facts for yourself. It is my opinion that many communist goals have already been accomplished. I also believe that advancement has been made in other areas. But, you owe it to yourself to do your own research. I believe not only in the freedom of speech, but also in the responsibility of free thought. So please don't take my word for it. Examine the facts for yourself.
Again, I want to share two lists with you. The first is a list that was entered into 1963 Congressional Record. The second is the 10 planks of The Communist Manifesto.
If you can't see this happening in America, and a ton of progress being made, then I offer two potential explanations:
You are one of the "useful idiots" of communist teaching.
I am one of the "village idiots" that your Mama probably warned you about.
Some of these points will be open for debate and some will not. In some cases it is blatantly obvious that they have achieved their goals. It is even rumored that our own President has deep communist ties. You might want to check that out as well but I will withhold my opinion at this point. Let's just lay it out and you can interpret it.
This list was originally printed in "The Naked Communist" by Cleon Skousen. It was entered into Congressional Record in 1963 as the 45 goals of "The Communist Takeover of America."
If I Were the Devil - (BEST VERSION) by PAUL HARVEY audio restored
America needs a history lesson
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March 2013 * Volume 42, Number 3
The Second Amendment as an Expression of First Principles
Edward J. Erler California State University, San Bernardino
EDWARD J. ERLER is professor of political science at California State University, San Bernardino. He earned his B.A. from San Jose State University and his M.A. and Ph.D. in government from the Claremont Graduate School. He has published numerous articles on constitutional topics in journals such as Interpretation, the Notre Dame Journal of Law, and the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy. He was a member of the California Advisory Commission on Civil Rights from 1988-2006 and served on the California Constitutional Revision Commission in 1996. He is the author of The American Polity and co-author of The Founders on Citizenship and Immigration.
The following is adapted from a lecture delivered on February 13, 2013, at Hillsdale College's Kirby Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship in Washington, D.C.
We are currently mired in a frantic debate about the rights of gun owners. One example should suffice to prove that the debate has become hysterical: Second Amendment supporters, one prominent but less than articulate member of Congress alleges, have become "enablers of mass murder."
Special animus has been directed against so-called assault rifles. These are semi-automatic, not automatic weapons-the latter have been illegal under federal law since the 1930s-because they require a trigger pull for every round fired. Some semi-automatic firearms, to be sure, can be fitted with large-capacity magazines. But what inspires the ire of gun control advocates seems to be their menacing look-somehow they don't appear fit for polite society. No law-abiding citizen could possibly need such a weapon, we are told-after all, how many rounds from a high-powered rifle are needed to kill a deer? And we are assured that these weapons are not well-adapted for self-defense-that only the military and the police need to have them.
Now it's undeniable, Senator Dianne Feinstein to the contrary notwithstanding, that semi-automatic weapons such as the AR-15 are extremely well-adapted for home defense-especially against a crime that is becoming more and more popular among criminals, the home invasion. Over the past two decades, gun ownership has increased dramatically at the same time that crime rates have decreased. Combine this with the fact that most gun crimes are committed with stolen or illegally obtained weapons, and the formula to decrease crime is clear: Increase the number of responsible gun owners and prosecute to the greatest extent possible under the law those who commit gun-related crimes or possess weapons illegally.
I used to not send a Morning Briefing on Good Friday.But then people would start calling me early to say it hadn't come and ask why.I take Good Friday as a holiday until the sun sets.It marks the three most important days in the history of Mankind.From art to geography, the world has never been the same because of what happened 1,980 years ago this weekend.
After years of people pestering me, I finally decided I would send out the Morning Briefing on Good Friday, but I would do it differently.One post would be a special one reflecting on the day and the other would be scripture.Believe it or not, I've been on vacation this whole week in Hilton Head, SC.That hasn't stopped me from spending five days writing and rewriting the top story at RedState for this morning.Please do read the whole thing and my thanks to those who helped me make sense of otherwise rambling thoughts.
With that, rejoice.The Lord has risen.Our week of reflecting on this historic event comes to an end with this morning's meditation, the beginning of which is below.If you can, please join me tonight for my annual Good Friday radio program.From 5pm to 8pm ET, I will put this monumental event in perspective on the radio.You can listen live here and call in at 1-800-WSB-TALK.I'm leaving vacation a few days early to keep the tradition of this radio program going.I hope you'll join me.
Have a glorious and blessed Easter.
God bless,
Erick
Christ in a Karmic Age
Every religion and philosophy has a version of the Golden Rule. Until Christ showed up on the scene two thousand years ago, the rule was almost always expressed in the negative - do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you.
It is, if you will allow, a very libertarian philosophy. We can do X, Y, or Z because they do not harm our neighbors. It is the embodiment of karma in today's culture. We think that we should be allowed to do that which we please as long as we do not harm others. We think that if we do bad things to others, bad things will be visited on us.
When bad things happen to us or someone else and we think the perpetrator has gotten away with it, the average person tends to think that at some point something bad will happen to the perpetrator. "Karma's a bitch," the saying goes.
Either God will smite them or fate will intervene. Likewise, many Christians and others of faith think that when we consciously sin, at some point we are going to be punished, rebuked, or otherwise have our comeuppance. This worldly notion of karma that pollutes even the thinking of many a devoted Christian is not very Biblical and it is something preachers should work harder to combat.
So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 7:12
Not only did Christ tell us to refrain from acting in a bad way, but he commanded we act in a positive way. He told us to do to others what we would have them do to us. It was not a live and let live philosophy. It was also not a call for the good to be a worldly good - affirming others as they are that they might affirm us. It was a call to do Christ's good and to love sacrificially as Christ loves. In a karmic age, Christ forces us to confront the idea of grace - a grace that means we have forgiveness without a sword of Damocles hanging over us at any moment dropping should we run afoul of karma.
And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots.And sitting down they watched him there;And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias.And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink.
The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him.Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.
Amy Payne and Jennifer Marshall | March 29, 2013 at 7:38 am
There's a heated debate going on in this country about marriage-and at times, it's less than civil.
Heritage's William E. Simon Fellow, Ryan Anderson, faced a verbal firing squad on Piers Morgan Live this week, as Morgan and guest host Suze Orman told him that he was one of the few people "still" holding a traditional view of marriage between a man and a woman.
Obviously, that's not true. Citizens of 41 states continue to affirm marriage as it has been through history, and thousands joined the March for Marriage in Washington, D.C., this week to attest to the fact.
But emotionally charged discussions can be uncomfortable-even if you're not on national television. To foster reasoned debate, The Heritage Foundation and other allies have produced a booklet that explains why maintaining the definition of marriage matters for children and for limited government.
We should welcome debates like these, and that's why the Supreme Court should not cut it off. It should uphold the marriage laws before it right now and allow the American people to continue to make marriage policy. Judicial restraint respects the democratic process.
"North Korea is 'not a paper tiger' and its repeated threats to attack South Korea and the U.S. should not be dismissed as 'pure bluster,' a U.S. official has warned," according to NBC News.
Five Republican Senators have said they will filibuster any legislation that threatens Americans' Second Amendment rights.
You may have heard that Google gives its employees lots of freedom and lavish perks. Here's the theory behind it that has made the company so successful.
The U.N. Arms Trade Treaty was blocked yesterday by a host of nations. Heritage's Ted Bromund explains many of the problems with the treaty.
The White House is making the Easter Egg Roll about exercise and health this year. Tune in to Istook Live! this morning to find out more.
March 29, 2013
Today's Articles:
Legislating from the Bench on Gay Marriage Jonathon Moseley Only a lawyer willing to 'tell' on his profession can reveal how disturbing was the High Court's oral argument in Hollingsworth v. Perry. More
The Dog Ate My Exit Strategy Bruce Johnson Any plausible "exit strategy" for the Fed grows more and more remote. What does this mean for the economy? More
Bill O'Reilly vs. the Bible Thumpers Selwyn Duke Bill O'Reilly lamented how traditionalists don't have a "compelling argument" on the faux-marriage issue and that all we can do is "thump the Bible." More
A Criminologist Questions the Bin Laden Episode Jason Kissner Now that seriously conflicting accounts of Osama bin Laden's end have come out, what do we really know about his death? Less than you might think. More
Sasha and Malia Obama 'Learn What They Live' Jeannie DeAngelis The First Daughters are learning how to be highbrow aristocrats whose extravagances are enjoyed without embarrassment, in full view and at the expense of the suffering. More
Peacemaker or Trojan Horse? Jerrold L. Sobel Obama really made a big impression in Israel. But that's what he's good at. Results? Not so much. More
Facing facts on Islam March 28, 2013 A more realistic picture of the implacable Islamic religious war underway against the West for over a millennium. More
Michael Mann's latest bogus claim March 28, 2013 Michael Mann, the Father of the Hockey Stick graph - you know, the one where they had to "hide the decline" - seems to have a predilection for making implausible claims. More
One key shift in U.S. policy was overlooked in the barrage of news about Barack Obama's eventful fifty-hour visit to Israel last week. That would be the demand that Palestinians recognize Israel as the Jewish state, called by Hamas leader Salah Bardawil "the most dangerous statement by an American president regarding the Palestinian issue."
First, some background: Israel's founding documents aimed to make the country a Jewish state. Modern Zionism effectively began with the publication in 1896 of Theodor Herzl's book, Der Judenstaat ("The Jewish State"). The Balfour Declaration of 1917 favors "a national home for the Jewish people." U.N. General Assembly resolution 181 of 1947, partitioning Palestine into two, mentions the term Jewish state 30 times. Israel's Declaration of Establishment of 1948 mentions Jewish state 5 times, as in "we ... hereby declare the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz-Israel, to be known as the State of Israel."
Because of this tight connection, when Arab-Israeli diplomacy began in earnest in the 1970s, the Jewish state formulation largely disappeared from view; everyone simply assumed that diplomatic recognition of Israel meant accepting it as the Jewish state. Only in recent years did Israelis realize otherwise, as Israeli Arabs came to accept Israel but reject its Jewish nature. For example, an important 2006 publication from the Mossawa Center in Haifa, The Future Vision of Palestinian Arabs in Israel, proposes that the country become a religiously neutral state and joint homeland. In brief, Israeli Arabs have come to see Israel as a variant of Palestine.
Awakened to this linguistic shift, winning Arab acceptance of Israel no longer sufficed; Israelis and their friends realized that they had to insist on explicit Arab acceptance of Israel as the Jewish state. In 2007, Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert announced that unless Palestinians did so, diplomacy would be aborted: "I do not intend to compromise in any way over the issue of the Jewish state," he emphasized. The Palestinian Authority immediately and unanimously rejected this demand. Its head, Mahmoud Abbas, responded: "In Israel, there are Jews and others living there,. This we are willing to recognize, nothing else."
When Binyamin Netanyahu succeeded Olmert as prime minister in 2009, he reiterated this demand as a precondition to serious negotiations: "Israel expects the Palestinians to first recognize Israel as a Jewish state before talking about two states for two peoples." The Palestinians not only refused to budge but ridiculed the very idea. Again, Abbas: "What is a 'Jewish state?' We call it the 'State of Israel.' You can call yourselves whatever you want. But I will not accept it. ... It's not my job to ... provide a definition for the state and what it contains. You can call yourselves the Zionist Republic, the Hebrew, the National, the Socialist [Republic] call it whatever you like, I don't care."
Only six weeks ago, Abbas again blasted the Jewish state concept. The Palestinian rejection of Jewish statehood could not be more emphatic. (For a compilation of their assertions, see "Recognizing Israel as the Jewish State: Statements" at DanielPipes.org.)
American politicians, including both George W. Bush and Obama, have since 2008 occasionally referred to Israel as the Jewish state, even as they studiously avoided requiring Palestinians to do likewise. In a typical declaration, Obama in 2011 sketched the ultimate diplomatic goal as "two states for two people: Israel as a Jewish state and the homeland for the Jewish people and the State of Palestine as the homeland for the Palestinian people."
Then, in his Jerusalem speech last week, Obama suddenly and unexpectedly adopted in full the Israeli demand: "Palestinians must recognize that Israel will be a Jewish state."
If films and cartoons defame Islam, the Quran itself defames other religions.
by Raymond Ibrahim FrontPage Magazine September 26, 2012
As the Islamic world, in the guise of the 57-member state Organization of Islamic Cooperation, continues to push for the enforcement of "religious defamation" laws in the international arena-theoretically developed to protect all religions from insult, but in reality made for Islam-one great irony is lost, especially on Muslims: if such laws would ban movies and cartoons that defame Islam, they would also, by logical extension, have to ban the religion of Islam itself-the only religion whose core texts actively defame other religions.
To understand this, consider what "defamation" means. Typical dictionary-definitions include "to blacken another's reputation" and "false or unjustified injury of the good reputation of another, as by slander or libel." In Muslim usage, defamation simply means anything that insults or offends Islamic sensibilities.
However, to gain traction among the international community, the OIC maintains that such laws should protect all religions from defamation, not just Islam. Accordingly, the OIC is agreeing that any expression that "slanders" the religious sentiments of others should be banned.
What, then, do we do with Islam's core religious texts-beginning with the Quran itself, which slanders, denigrates and blackens the reputation of other religions? Consider Christianity alone: Quran 5:73 declares that "Infidels are they who say Allah is one of three," a reference to the Christian Trinity; Quran 5:73 says "Infidels are they who say Allah is the Christ, [Jesus] son of Mary"; and Quran 9:30 complains that "the Christians say the Christ is the son of Allah ... may Allah's curse be upon them!"
Considering that the word "infidel" (or kafir) is one of Islam's most derogatory terms, what if a Christian book or Western movie appeared declaring that "Infidels are they who say Muhammad is the prophet of God-may God's curse be upon them"? If Muslims would consider that a great defamation against Islam-and they would, with the attendant rioting, murders, etc.-then by the same standard it must be admitted that the Quran defames Christians and Christianity.
Similarly, consider how the Christian Cross, venerated among millions, is depicted-is defamed-in Islam: according to canonical hadiths, when he returns, Jesus supposedly will destroy all crosses; and Muhammad, who never allowed the cross in his presence, ordered someone wearing a cross to "take off that piece of idolatry."
What if Christian books or Western movies declared that the sacred things of Islam-say the Black Stone in the Ka'ba of Mecca-are "idolatry" and that Muhammad himself will return and destroy them? If Muslims would consider that defamation against Islam-and they would, with all the attendant rioting, murders, etc.-then by the same standard it must be admitted that the hadith defames the Christian Cross.
Here is a particularly odious form of defamation against Christian sentiment, especially to the millions of Catholic and Orthodox Christians. According to Islam's most authoritative Quranic exegetes, including the revered Ibn Kathir, Muhammad is in paradise married to and having sex with the Virgin Mary.
What if a Christian book or Western movie portrayed, say, Muhammad's wife, Aisha the "Mother of Believers," as being married to and having sex with a false prophet in heaven? If Muslims would consider that a great defamation against Islam-and they would, with all the attendant rioting, murders, etc.-then by the same standard it must be admitted that Islam's most authoritative Quranic exegetes defame the Virgin Mary.
Nor does such defamation of Christianity occur in Islam's ancient texts only; modern day Muslim scholars and sheikhs agree that it is permissible to defame Christianity. Qatar-based "Islam Web" even issued a fatwa that legitimizes insulting Christianity.
The OIC "deplored... an offensive and derogatory film on the life of Prophet Muhammad" and "called on the producers to show respect to the religious sentiments held sacred by Muslims and those of other faiths."
But what about the "offensive and derogatory" depictions of Christianity in Islam's core texts? Are Muslims willing to expunge these from the Quran and hadith, "to show respect to the religious sentiments held sacred ... by those of other faiths," in this case, Christians?
Turkish Prime Minister Erodgan said the film "insults religions" (note the inclusive plural) and called for "international legal regulations against attacks on what people [not just Muslims] deem sacred."
Well, what about the fact that Islam "insults religions"-including Judaism and all polytheistic faiths? Should the West call for "international legal regulations against attacks on what people deem sacred," in the case of Christianity, regulations against Islam's teachings which attack the sanctity of Christ's divinity, the Cross, and Virgin Mary?
Porker of the Month is a dubious honor given to lawmakers, government officials, and political candidates who have shown a blatant disregard for the interests of taxpayers.
Today, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) named Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-Wash.) its March 2013 Porker of the Month for spearheading Senate Democrats' excessively expensive fiscal year (FY) 2014 budget proposal, "Foundation for Growth: Restoring the Promise of American Opportunity."
Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) has released Prime Cuts 2013, the latest edition of the group's waste-cutting recommendations that could provide some much-needed relief for taxpayers by eliminating unnecessary and ineffective federal initiatives. A comprehensive list of spending cuts is useful at any time; it is of particular importance when Congress and the President are facing multiple crucial budget decisions. The automatic cuts known as sequestration, necessitated by the Budget Control Act of 2011, kicked in on March 1, 2013. In addition, the continuing resolution funding the federal government for the first six months of fiscal year (FY) 2013 has been extended through the end of the fiscal year, while the debt ceiling needs to be raised again over the summer. "By following the blueprint provided by CAGW's
Prime Cuts 2013, wasteful government spending can be cut and the nation can start on a path toward fiscal sanity," said CAGW President Tom Schatz. "
Prime Cuts 2013 is essential reading for taxpayers, the media, and legislators alike."
CCAGW Declares Victory on Amendments to Senate Budget
This week, the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) declared qualified victories in the passage of several amendments to the Sen. Con. Res. 8, the fiscal year 2014 budget resolution, which the Senate approved on March 23 by a vote of 50-49. CCAGW remains opposed to the resolution itself, but the final version included several amendments that represent important victories for taxpayers, including the following:
* Sen. Kelly Ayotte's (R-N.H.) Amendment #136, which would establish a deficit-neutral reserve fund for the prohibition on funding of the wasteful Medium Extended Air Defense System;
* Sen. Johnny Isakson's (R-Ga.) Amendment #138, which would establish a deficit-neutral reserve fund relating to establishing a biennial budget and appropriations process;
* Sen. Tom Coburn's (R-Okla.) Amendment #709, which would allow for consolidating 816 duplicative programs identified by the Government Accountability Office, including 15 financial literacy programs, 53 entrepreneurial support programs, 94 green building programs, 14 diesel emissions programs, 80 federal teacher quality progrmas, and 18 defense language and cultural training programs.
This month, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) announced the results of its online poll for the 2012 Porker of the Year. Last year produced an abundance of ridiculous moments in taxpayer gouging and government overreach, but in the end there can only be one "winner." In a very tight race, that honor goes to Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), who garnered 22.2 percent of the vote, just enough to edge out runner-up Illinois Governor Pat Quinn (D), who received 21.6 percent, and third-place finisher New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I), who received 20.6 percent. Also-rans Reps. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), and Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) received 17.6 percent, 11.8 percent, and 6.2 percent of the vote, respectively. Sen. Stabenow received her nomination for submitting amendment #1812 to S. 1813, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act, which would have extended federal subsidies for green energy. "Every Porker of the Year nominee had to be exceptionally wasteful to get to this stage, and if it were possible to name each of them a winner we would do so, since they were all so deserving," said CAGW President Tom Schatz. Read more about the 2012 Porker of the Year.
But what about the guy who spends a couple of years in the military and then gets on with his life? Bear in mind that most veterans did nothing heroic.
Americans were told if Obamacare was made law, they would be able to keep their health plans, taxes wouldn't go up, premiums would go down, and more jobs would be created.
Insurance companies will have to pay out an average of 32 percent more for medical claims on individual health policies under Obama's overhaul, the nation's leading group of financial risk analysts has estimated.
However, the Moscow Helsinki Group reported the real cause as beatings and torture inflicted by Russian Ministry of Interior officials implicated by Magnitsky's fraud investigation.
While amnesty advocates and civil liberties zealots in the U.S. decry "police state" tactics against illegal aliens, Mexico fiercely maintains laws against illegal border crossings...
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same." ~ Ronald Reagan
The belligerent dictatorship routinely threatens to turn Seoul, the capital of South Korea, into a "sea of fire." Recent videos have threatened America with nuclear annihilation.
Of course, after countless threats aren't followed with action, the world wonders when to believe it.
The young leader Kim Jong-un is presiding over an administration, however, that shows a dangerous pattern.
Over the years, North Korea has repeatedly attacked allied military and civilian targets, including assassination attempts against the South Korean president, blowing up a civilian airliner, shooting down a U.S. Air Force plane, and seizing a U.S. Navy ship. This month, North Korea nullified the armistice ending the Korean War, moved artillery closer to the demilitarized zone, and warned South Koreans on border islands to evacuate.
All this suggests greater potential for another attack-perhaps imminent-on South Korean military and civilian targets. North Korea announced on Tuesday that it had put all of its artillery and rocket forces on the highest state of wartime alert, including those units "assigned to strike U.S. imperialist aggressor bases on the U.S. mainland and on Hawaii and Guam and other operational zones in the Pacific, as well as all enemy targets in South Korea."
South Korean President Park Geun-hye has vowed to respond forcefully to the next North Korean attack-and Seoul should counter-strike the next time North Korea attacks. If there are no consequences, the north will continue its attacks.
Of course, a stronger response from South Korea could mean escalation, and the U.S. must be prepared to join its ally. In fact, we are committed. On March 22, Washington and Seoul signed a Combined Counter-Provocation Plan to counter North Korean tactical-level attacks. The plan provides for a "strong and decisive combined South Korean and U.S. response."
But friends-and enemies-are questioning U.S. ability to deliver on its security promises.
North Korea's threats prompted the Obama Administration to reverse some of its reductions in missile defense recently, but that is not nearly enough. The Administration's reassurances that America can defend itself and its allies actually contradict the Deputy Secretary of Defense, who warned that sequestration would have devastating effects on U.S. defenses in the Pacific.
The Obama Administration's much-heralded "pivot to Asia" has been rhetoric without resources. Claims of the U.S. being "back in Asia" were undermined by a budget-driven defense strategy that left the military shortchanged and U.S. credibility and resolve in doubt.
Defense needs should drive the defense budget. More of the defense cuts need to be reversed to ensure that American forces are capable of whatever is demanded of them.
North Korea may be blustering again, but we can't take that chance. We have to be prepared for the day that it attacks.
Super Surveillance Camera installed on aircraft. If you have watched the TV program "Person of Interest" you may have thought that this was science fiction but it is here right now. It is amazing and yet frightening at the same time. Watch and be amazed.
Threat and Response-Part Four
"Civilization Jihad"
In the Muslim Brotherhood explanatory memorandum for its strategic objectives in North America we read:
The Ikhwan [brothers] must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and "sabotaging" its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God's religion is made victorious over all other religions.
This memorandum was approved by the Muslim Brotherhood Shura Council, and the U.S. Justice Department affirmed its authenticity when it entered the memorandum as evidence in the Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing trial.
Think about what this memorandum is saying.
It's calling for a "grand Jihad";
Its goal is to destroy Western civilization;
They will use people in the West as enablers of their own destruction ("sabotaging its miserable house by their hands...")
In other words, the Muslim Brotherhood believes that by using "information warfare" it can recruit Westerners to assist it in toppling Western civilization.
And the Muslim Brotherhood has been very successful at doing this.
Who are these enablers?
They include those who refuse to acknowledge jihadist ideology as the driving force behind Islamic terrorism. Those who believe deceptive platitudes offered by groups like CAIR, ISNA, MPAC and ICNA. Those who actively work to silence critics of radical Islam by calling them "Islamophobes."
Lt. Col. Dooley
When General Martin Dempsey publicly dressed down Lt. Colonel Matthew Dooley, who was teaching about the threat of Islamic terrorism at the National Defense University, Dempsey became a poster child for the Muslim Brotherhood's goal of tearing us down "by our own hands."
ACT! for America is aggressively fighting back against the Muslim Brotherhood's "civilization jihad."
From the Obama administration to university professors to media personalities who flack for the Muslim Brotherhood, we are exposing their tactics and associations with Muslim Brotherhood connected organizations.
On Capitol Hill and in state legislatures we are educating elected officials and their staffs about the Muslim Brotherhood and its strategy of using Americans to do its bidding to achieve its goal of destroying us from within. Our Director of Government Relations points congressional staff to the Muslim Brotherhood expose' located on the ACT! for America Education website.
We've launched a national campaign, "Americans United to Defend Free Speech," to fight back against assaults on free speech by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and its enablers in our government.
Your monthly Patriot Partner gift or single Contributing Member gift will help us continue and even expand these efforts.
Please log on here and make either a monthly Patriot Partner contribution or a single gift Contributing Member contribution.
Our online contribution process is safe, simple and secure.
The Muslim Brotherhood has already proven in Europe how successful its information warfare strategy can be. Just ask people like Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Woolf, ACT! for America chapter leader in Austria, who was convicted of using "hate speech." European leaders doing the bidding of the Muslim Brotherhood are tearing down their countries by their own hands!
Author Mark Steyn has stated he believes America is the last hope against the rising tide of global radical Islam. ACT! for America is on the front lines of this struggle and we need your help!
Please visit our website today and make the most generous monthly Patriot Partner contribution or single Contributing Member contribution you can make.
Given the current views of both the Republicans and Democrats about taking away our rights to own guns "without infringement" we need to be VERY VERY nervous about the UN Small Arms Treaty. No matter how they spin it. No matter how many lies they tell. PLEASE understand the UN has been trying to become the global police and the global military for years. They want ALL citizens defenseless and they want world dominance. And this is THE Treaty that will do that. The only modifications they are making will be modification to hide the truth so deep in the bowels of this Treaty people will be tricked into thinking it just an agreement to stop the sale of arms to other countries. Well think about this. What happens when we are all just one big happy world with no states and no borders?? How would such an agreement play out in that environment?
This is BAD and if it gets ratified you might as well dig a hole in the woods and jump inside.
"The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government - lest it come to dominate our lives and interests"- Patrick Henry
To fix "THE SYSYEM" We must become "THE SYSTEM" - k. bracken "The change we seek has always required great struggle and great sacrifice." - Barack Hussein Obama "The man who speaks to you of sacrifice, speaks of slaves and masters. And intends to be the master." - Ayn Rand
TheBlaze has been at the forefront in uncovering the disturbing details of the nationalized curriculum standard known as Common Core. One of the most troubling aspects of this federal program is that government bureaucrats are currently mining sensitive and highly personal information on children through Common Core�s tracking system. Watch the powerful segments from The Glenn Beck ProgramHERE.
On Wednesday night, CNN�s Piers Morgan hosted Robert Zimmerman, Jr., the brother of George Zimmerman, whose controversial tweet comparing Trayvon Martin to De�Marquise Kareem Elkins, a Georgia teenager accused of shooting a 13-month-old baby in the face, has sparked cries of racism. Checek out the allegedly racist tweets and watch the fiery exchangeHERE.
Police officers in Manassas, Virginia, captured some media attention over the past few days after reportedly being refused restaurant service � because they were armed. The eight cops were on-duty, but were said to be in plain clothes. Despite having their badges out, WWBT-TV reports that the server still would not take their orders. Get the rest of this "absurd" story and learn how the restaurant has responded to the outrage in the communityHERE.
Famed Swiss investor Marc Faber, author of the Gloom Boom & Doom newsletter, has warned that the U.S. is �creating bubbles and bubbles and bubbles� by printing money and sticking with poor financial policies. The coming crisis is going to be �systemic� and not even gold will be able to shield people from it. Watch Mr. Farber explain his thinkingHERE.
The FBI Vault, an electronic reading room with more than 6,700 documents, holds many public FBI files that never made its way on the official website, historical records and previously unreleased files. The most popular of these documents has been viewed almost 1 million times over the past two years. Guess which document is the most popular. And then see if you were correct by clickingHERE.
On Wednesday, Vice President Joe Biden said the expected upcoming Senate votes on gun control are only the beginning of the White House�s fight strengthen gun laws. During a conference call organized by Mayors Against Illegal Guns, Biden assured supporters that the push gun control would not end with the current proposed bill, saying, �Let me say this as clearly as I can: this is just the beginning.� Get the whole storyHERE.
On Thursday, executives for TheBlaze TV announced that the network is launching on four more cable operators, continuing its quest to be in every home in America. TheBlaze has entered into carriage agreements with Blue Ridge Communications, the 21st-largest cable operator in the nation, and with BEK Communications, Sweetwater Cable Television and Atwood Cable. Learn how you can get TheBlaze on your televisionHERE.
An cache of weapons including guns, more than a thousand rounds of ammunition, a bayonet and several swords was found in the home of the gunman who carried out the Newtown school shooting, according to search warrants released Thursday. Get the latest on Adam Lanza's arsenalHERE.
Wilkow! -- A new economic world order could bring Russia, China, India and Brazil together to challenge the U.S. Dollar. -- Wilkow! at 6pm ET -- only on TheBlaze TV.
Wayne Ebenroth of Idaho was taking pictures of a bison in a Utah state park while his wife participated in the Buffalo Run 100 race. Park rangers believe that the man did something to attract the bison and the animal �decided to pay him a visit.� See the videoHERE.
The Shroud of Turin continues to spark intense theological debate. While one side believes that the cloth is nothing more than a medieval forgery, the other contends that the x-ray-like image imprinted on it was supernaturally created during Jesus Christ�s resurrection. Learn the latest facts about this controversial piece of clothHERE.
"Be thankful we're not getting all the government we're paying for." ~ Will Rogers
Report Confirms What Well-Placed Sources Have Been Saying
New Scandal Threatens Obama, Hillary By Aaron Klein WorldNetDaily.com
Has the White House been misleading the public by repeatedly denying it was coordinating arms shipments to the rebels in Syria, insurgents known to consist in large part of al-Qaida and other jihadist groups?
Gary Bauer Threatens To Leave The GOP Posted On America's Conservative News
On Wednesday, Gary Bauer upped the ante in the debate over so-called 'same-sex marriage' by warning the GOP; "If you bail out on this issue, I will leave the party and I will take as many people with me as I possibly can."
We Will Be Judged By Our Silence By Doug Hagmann CanadaFreePress.com
The activists hypnotized by the illusion of equal rights are nothing more than pawns duped into believing they are fighting for tolerance and inclusion, while the end game scenario leaves no room at the proverbial table for them.
The hacker known as Guccifer first came to prominence in February after breaching the AOL email account of Dorothy Bush Koch, the sister of George W. Bush. Guccifer released photos of Bush's amateurish oil paintings and details regarding the ailing elder Bush. The mainstream media idiotically focused on Bush's prowess as an artist rather than [...]
Mar 28, 2013 01:27 pm More explosive evidence of the media bias driving the campaign to change America's culture and Judeo-Christian foundations has emerged. Speaking at a "gay journalists" event in New York City last Thursday night, Natalie Morales of the NBC Today Show declared: "Many of us here in this room-the media-we are responsible for opening the world's eyes to these [...]
Video: O'Reilly: Gay Rights Advocates Have 'Compelling Argument'
Mar 28, 2013 01:18 pm
He also attacks "bible-thumpers"... Related posts: Gun Rights Advocates Face Off With Piers Morgan Dana Loesch and Scottie Hughes tell Piers Morgan: "We have... Kagan Was 'Not Sympathetic' As Law Clerk To Gun-Rights Argument Elena Kagan said as a U.S. Supreme Court law clerk...
Mar 28, 2013 01:13 pm You can't win the fight if you don't put on the gloves. A punch-drunk, old heavyweight boxer knows that's a truism, but not the churches of America. The Supreme Court heard arguments this week on the constitutionality of California's Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in the state by a 52 to 47 margin in [...]
The sarcasm of this woman cracks me up: Related posts: Busted: Mark Levin Exposes Dianne Feinstein On Gun Control They are ALL hypocrites. When they give up their armed... Dianne Feinstein Caught Lying About Her Past Gun Grab Intentions In less than a minute, this video will expose Dianne...
Mar 28, 2013 12:55 pm With employment prospects for college graduates as dismal as Barack Obama has made them, it's hard to see how this makes sense. Brown University is planning to host a workshop called "Protect me from what I want" designed to help black homosexuals overcome their "unapproved" attraction to caucasian gays. This is another example of the [...]
Video: Gay Tea Party Activist Denounces Gay Marriage
Mar 28, 2013 12:47 pm
Doug Mainwaring of the National Capital Tea Party Patriots, who is openly gay, attacks gay marriage at the National Organization for Marriage's rally on the Mall. Related posts: CAIR Is Trying To Stop Brigitte Gabriel's TEA Party Appearance The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has risen up from... Turmoil In The Tea Party Patriots? Tea [...]
Unemployed Illegal Granted Deferred Action For Playing XBox
Mar 28, 2013 12:44 pm Though the 25-year-old illegal immigrant went for years without a job, the current administration apparently feels Jose Munoz deserves to spend more time in the U.S. based on his years of experience ... playing video games! Reports indicate he applied for deferred action status, using records of his extensive Xbox use to prove he's been [...]
Video: Will SCOTUS Lose Its Legitimacy If It Legalizes Gay Marriage?
Mar 28, 2013 12:35 pm
Matt Barber and Mat Staver say that the Supreme Court, and the entire judiciary, will lose their legitimacy of the Court rules in favor of gay marriage. Related posts: The Right's Response To SCOTUS Gay Marriage Outcome Should Be... In today's Washington Post, Ralph Reed states: Look, if the... If SCOTUS Allows Gay Marriage... Jennifer [...]
Thom Hartmann absurdly suggests that the Apostle John made gay advances toward Jesus during the last supper. Related posts: Caller Takes On Radical Radio Host Over Obama's Born In Kenya Bio Thom Hartmann gets educated by a wise caller about Obama's... Liberal: 'Outlaw Billionaires; Cap Income At $300K' Liberal Radio Talk Show Host Thom Hartmann [...]
Video: Limbaugh Criticizes O'Reilly For His Dumb Comments
Mar 28, 2013 12:13 pm
On his radio show, Rush Limbaugh took a swipe at Bill O'Reilly after the Fox News host and his guest said that opponents to same-sex marriage have no "compelling" argument besides "thumping the Bible." Related posts: The Obama Team's Limbaugh Fixation Bill O Reilly Man, I got out just in... Limbaugh Compares Gay Marriage [...]
RNC Chairman Tells GOP Not "To Act Like Old Testament Heretics"
Mar 28, 2013 12:10 pm I was appalled when Ohio Republican Senator Rob Portman came out last week and endorsed same-sex marriage because his son is a homosexual. Portman decided that supporting his son's sinful lifestyle was more important than what his faith says on the subject. However, after hearing what Reince Priebus, Chairman of the Republican National Committee told [...]
Video: Menendez Bounces Back After Would-be Sex Scandal
Mar 28, 2013 12:00 pm
Unbelievable how Americans forgive politicians for such immoral behavior. I mean, it's one thing to forgive them as a person. But it's quite different when you re-elect them or don't call for them to resign. Related posts: Can The Military Handle Latest Photo Scandal? The outrage over pictures taken by soldiers in the 82nd... The [...]
Mar 28, 2013 11:51 am WASHINGTON- President Barack Obama is keeping up his congressional charm offensive, with a second dinner with Senate Republicans planned for next month. Obama dined with a dozen GOP senators earlier this month at a hotel near the White House. The dinner was aimed in part at seeing whether the parties could restart talks on a [...]
Video: White House Pressed On Anti-Obamacare Study
Mar 28, 2013 11:48 am
Another Obama stooge ducks an actual question and recites the same old talking points... Related posts: Cargill And Others Behind Anti-Organic "Stanford Study" September 5, 2012 - Harry Wallop of the London Telegraph... Michele Bachmann Speaks At Anti-Obamacare Rally Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) speaks at the Washington DC "Stand...
Mar 28, 2013 11:37 am New York Times reporter Michael Barbaro promoted billionaire New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg's bankrolling of his latest liberal crusade on Sunday's front page: "TV Blitz on Guns Puts Swing Senators on the Spot." Barbaro, who covered the Romney campaign in hostile fashion and hated Wal-Mart's occasional donations to conservative groups (dwarfed by the corporation's [...]
Sarah Palin makes a plea to conservatives nationwide: Related posts: NYTimes Preparing A Hit Piece On Governor Palin? By Warner Todd Hurston Joseph Russo over at Conservatives... Fearing Sarah Palin Two words, seemingly harmless until recently. Palin had no meaning...
The Weakest Link: Left Targets Justice Roberts-Again
Mar 28, 2013 11:19 am It worked last time. Last year, when oral arguments in the Obamacare case seemed to go against the administration, the left targeted Chief Justice John Roberts with a series of attacks from President Barack Obama on down. The attacks may have worked, as Roberts apparently changed his vote and upheld Obamacare by effectively rewriting the [...]
Mar 28, 2013 11:16 am LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - The Arkansas Senate voted Wednesday to override Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe's veto of legislation that would require voters to show photo identification before casting a ballot. The Republican-led Senate voted 21-12, along party lines, to override the veto. There was no debate beforehand. The bill's sponsor, Republican state Sen. Bryan King, [...]
Mar 28, 2013 11:10 am ORLANDO, Fla. - The former chairman of the Republican Party of Florida was sentenced Wednesday to one-and-a-half years in prison for stealing $125,000 in party funds, marking the fall of a man who once was one of the most powerful political figures in the state. Jim Greer, 50, was sentenced in an Orlando courtroom, more [...]
Mar 28, 2013 10:47 am SEOUL, South Korea - In a show of force following weeks of North Korean bluster, the U.S. on Thursday took the unprecedented step of announcing that two of its nuclear-capable B-2 bombers dropped munitions on a South Korean island as part of joint military drills. The announcement is likely to further enrage Pyongyang, which has [...]
Mar 28, 2013 10:27 am If you're not sure what "chained CPI" is, you're not alone. That's a feature, not a bug. In fact, its wonky and innocuous-sounding name might just be the reason chained CPI could be included if some sort of grand bargain to reduce the deficit ever materializes. A quick explainer: Right now, Social Security and other [...]
Mar 28, 2013 10:22 am Despite surviving a number of threats, President Obama's health care law remains harmful, unstable, and unpopular. It also remains vulnerable to repeal, largely because Congress and the Supreme Court have granted each state the power to veto major provisions of the law before they take effect in 2014. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act [...]
Two and a half years after the U.S. introduced the most significant overhaul to financial regulation in a generation, many of the rules have yet to be completed. Meanwhile, regulators, lawmakers, and the private sector continue to be at odds over the finalized regulations.
Arguments before the Supreme Court went from a debate on whether a state's voters can usurp what the federal government may deem a constitutional right to the issue of whether the federal government can have a Defense of Marriage Act if the business of marriage should be the prerogative of the states. Chief Justice John Roberts also questioned President Obama for continuing to enforce DOMA's provisions even while proclaiming that it's unconstitutional.
Ray Reynolds, owner of United Loan and Firearm, says that Comcast is censoring his TV ads that run on Comcast Cable. The cable giant is demanding that he truncate "United Loan and Firearm" to remove the reference to guns, and that he remove any imagery of guns from his ad. If he does not comply, his ad will not run.
Protesters gathered for a second day of rallying outside of the Supreme Court for the arguments Wednesday about the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). There were fewer people at the demonstration, which still numbered in the thousands, and no counter rally by opponents of same-sex marriage was planned for Wednesday.
It worked last time. Last year, when oral arguments in the Obamacare case seemed to go against the administration, the left targeted Chief Justice John Roberts with a series of attacks from President Barack Obama on down. The attacks may have worked, as Roberts apparently changed his vote and upheld Obamacare by effectively rewriting the legislation itself to define the individual mandate as a tax.
The attacks on Roberts last year included President Obama's general--and bizarre--assertion that the Supreme Court could not overturn congressional legislation, as well as a direct attack on Roberts by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), who admonished the Chief Justice about "the proper role of the judicial branch." The left media joined in enthusiastically, bullying the Chief Justice into deferring to Congress and the President.
Hillary Changed State Dept Policy To Allow Same Sex Partners To Travel With Diplomatic Privileges More
Thursday, March 28, 2013
To: Friends & Supporters
From: Gary L. Bauer
The Family Values Meltdown Continues
The GOP's meltdown over marriage and the sanctity of life continues. Tuesday, former Republican Senator Larry Pressler announced his support for same-sex "marriage," calling it the "new conservative position." Tellingly, Pressler made his announcement on Al Gore's Current TV.
He could not be more wrong. There is nothing conservative about redefining marriage. And there is nothing conservative about turning to unelected judges to invalidate the will of the American people. That is called liberal judicial activism, and conservatives have rightly opposed it for decades.
In 2006 the voters of South Dakota approved a constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman. If Larry Pressler was entertaining the notion of a political comeback, I suspect he would not get half the votes he did last time after coming out of the closet to support redefining marriage. He is another out-of-touch politician who thinks he knows better than the people of his own state.
But Pressler joins other politicos like former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman and Nicolle Wallace in denouncing supporters of normal marriage as bigots. When Pressler was in the Senate, he was always someone conservatives had to worry about.
Not surprisingly, Pressler voted for Barack Obama in 2008 and publicly campaigned for him in 2012. Huntsman, of course, served in the Obama Administration while Obama was taking over the healthcare system, raising taxes and promoting abortion. Nicolle Wallace, who I debated on Fox News Sunday last week, famously aimed her vitriol during the 2008 campaign at Sarah Palin rather than Barack Obama.
My point is simply this: The Republicans who are now coming out and insisting that we should downplay values issues have never been full members of the team to begin with. They are part of the same establishment that bitterly fought Ronald Reagan.
Huntsman, Pressler and Wallace don't understand Middle America and do not appreciate the values of hard-working, men and women of faith. There are millions of blue collar folks -- Nixon's Silent Majority and former Reagan Democrats -- who vote for Republicans because of values issues not because of GOP promises to protect billionaires from tax hikes.
The more GOP elites signal their disdain for values voters, condemning their deeply held religious values as bigotry, the more they risk losing them. In the end, the very elites who claim they are trying to save the party will end up causing its crack-up.
An Opportunity
In the days leading up to the Supreme Court's hearings on marriage, Democrats tripped over each other trying to get to the nearest microphone to be the next to embrace same-sex marriage.
Some of them are up for reelection next year and come from states that have passed marriage protection amendments by wide margins. If the GOP will take a second to stop preemptively surrendering, they might discover some real opportunities are right in front of them. For example:
Senator Mark Begich (D-AK) now supports same-sex marriage. Alaska voters approved a constitutional amendment preserving normal marriage by a vote of 68%-to-32%.
Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) endorsed same-sex marriage this week. Virginia voters approved a marriage protection amendment by a vote of 57%-to-43%.
And yesterday Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC) announced her support for men "marrying" other men. It has not even been one year since the voters of the Tar Heel state approved a constitutional amendment preserving traditional marriage by vote of 61%-to-39%.
Talk about having a Senate seat handed to you on a silver platter! Most politicians would give their right arm to win with 61%. I believe this seat could be easily won if the Republican candidate is bold enough to articulate a strong stand for traditional marriage. We could teach them how in 30 minutes, but I doubt anyone in the RNC apparatus is even thinking about it.
The fact that Begich, Warner and Hagan feel free to publicly oppose the vast majority of their constituents shows they have concluded that the GOP will be afraid to use it as a campaign issue.
The party elites may be backing down but, my friends, I am not! With your support, this political action committee will do everything we can to defeat politicians who oppose our values!
Obamacare Is Raising Costs
Obamacare was urgently needed, we were told, because healthcare was too expensive. Obamacare will lower premiums by $2,500, right? Wrong! This week brought yet more evidence proving what conservative critics said all along: Big Government solutions will only increase costs.
The latest study comes from the Society of Actuaries -- professionals, not partisans. According to their report, Obamacare will increase the costs insurance companies pay on medical claims by an average of 32%. In some states, the increases are massive: 80% in Ohio, 68% in Indiana, 67% in Maryland, 62% in California.
Try as they might, liberals have yet to find a way to suspend the fundamental laws of economics. If you raise costs for businesses, you raise costs for consumers. Obamacare's regulations are dramatically raising costs for insurance companies, and that means higher -- not lower -- healthcare premiums for you.
Big Government Still Wasting Billions
In spite of all the apocalyptic warnings about how painful the sequester spending cuts will be, we continue to learn about the myriad ways in which Big Government is still wasting your hard-earned tax dollars.
According to Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK), "We (the federal government) spend about $8 billion a year maintaining properties that we have no use for." Breitbart.com reports that the government sold a federal building last month for $20 million. But the sale took ten years to complete because of red tape!
And while the White House remains closed to schoolchildren and tourists, and workers are facing furloughs, the Obama Administration has spent over $1 million on puppets and nearly $900,000 to study New Zealand mud snails.
It's your money, folks. Washington doesn't earn a dime. Whatever it spends on empty buildings or puppet shows it has to first take from hard-working taxpayers.
This next installment from Herb Meyer's YAF lecture on Bill Casey features a hilarious description of Casey explaining why being a member of the Soviet Politburo in the 1980s was "not a lot of fun." Having read some translations of transcripts of Politburo meetings (not available to the CIA at the time), I can see what he meant. They came to resemble faculty meetings run by worn-out left-wingers. This segment is about eight minutes long.
By the way, you can get Herb's books and DVDs from his website, StormKingPress.com.
For someone who represented herself as the acme of philosophy and individual strength, Ayn Rand could be remarkably touchy. Whittaker Chambers's famous review of Atlas Shrugged in National Review infuriated her, to the point that she would not be in the same room with William F. Buckley ever after.
Buckley and Chambers weren't the only ones to feel her volcanic wrath. Over at the fine First Things blog, Matthew Schmitz directs our attention to an obscure 1998 volume by Robert Mayhew entitled Ayn Rand's Marginalia : Her Critical Comments on the Writings of over Twenty Authors. I'm not sure it is proper to publish anyone's marginalia or casual notes, and this project certainly doesn't do Rand much credit. Turns out Rand didn't like Hayek, von Mises, or Barry Goldwater. She appears to be the perfect person to argue why the People's Front of Judea is superior to the "splitters" in the Judean People's Front.
Turns out she really didn't like C.S. Lewis. Fair enough for an atheist like Rand. But the Lewis book she takes on is The Abolition of Man, which is Lewis's entirely reason-based argument against moral relativism and in favor of natural law. Lewis's theology doesn't turn up at all. It builds a strong case against centralized political power based on scientific pretensions to principles that he reveals to be nihilism. Yet Rand proves herself the most casual and sloppy reader of Lewis's argument, making marginal comments that would earn a high school student a C- grade for missing the point entirely. For example, there this passage from Lewis:
I am considering what the thing called 'Man's power over Nature' must always and essentially be. No doubt, the picture could be modified by public ownership of raw materials and factories and public control of scientific research. But unless we have a world state this will still mean the power of one nation over others. And even within the world state or the nation it will mean (in principle) the power of majorities over minorities, and (in the concrete) of a government over the people. And all long-term exercises of power, especially in breeding, must mean the power of earlier generations over later ones.
The underlinings are Rand's. To which she attaches these comments in the margin:
So in the pre-science age, there was no power of majorities over minorities - and the Middle Ages were a period of love and equality, and the oppression began only in the U.S.A. (!!!) The abysmal bastard!
It gets worse, but this is enough. Schmitz has more if you like in his original post. If Rand had taken care to grasp the whole argument of this short book (I read it in high school, and had no difficulty), or if she had bothered to read Lewis's other essays on the subject of government, she'd have known that Lewis regarded the idea of world government-or increased government power of most kinds-with horror. Better still, she ought to have read the dystopian novel Lewis wrote to dramatize the point: That Hideous Strength. Dare I incur the wrath of Randians everywhere if I suggest that Lewis's dystopian novel is the best of the entire genre of mid-20th century group that includes 1984 and Darkness at Noon. Which means it is also far superior to Atlas Shrugged, not only in style but in content as well.
Whittaker Chambers had it right that Atlas Shrugged is a "strenuously sterile world" filled with "operatic caricatures." By contrast, Lewis's portrait of the academic bureaucrat Withers holds up along side Randall Jarrell's Pictures from an Institution. (It has some other relevant wit: the National Institute of Co-ordinated Experiments-or N.I.C.E.-is dead-on for the kind of authoritarian bodies and processes-sensitivity training anyone?-the therapeutic Left imposes on all of us today.)
To be sure, Atlas Shrugged has taken on a whole new salience in the Age of Obama. As Glenn Reynolds commented way back in the early weeks of Obama's rule, the Obamanauts seem to regard it is a how-to manual for expropriating the wealth and demonizing the productivity of American business. But Shrugged doesn't capture the subtle shadings of what Lewis rightly called "the Progressive Element" nearly as well, and hence it lacks persuasive force beyond true believers. So today it ironically fits the criticism leveled by Chambers that it is "a massive tract for the times." That doesn't mean it will have staying power over the very long run, which is why I continue to think that in the fullness of time Rand's works will become, like Edward Bellamy's wildly popular socialist novels of 125 years ago, more a literary curiosity than a vibrant creed.
The World Cup qualifying campaign of the U.S. soccer team gained a big boost this week from a 1-0 victory at home over Costa Rica and a 0-0 draw against Mexico. Although we are still early in the campaign, qualification seems likely.
The U.S. need only finish third in a six team group to advance, and a fourth place finish would enable us to qualify if we can then beat New Zealand. As the members of our group are Mexico, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Honduras, and Panama, third place does not seem like a tall order.
But the U.S. would like to accomplish more than mere qualification. Ideally, it would like to develop into a world class team, instead of a group of grinders capable of competing on equal terms with the world's elite sides, not simply of pulling of the odd upset against them. That was the point of firing Bob Bradley in favor of German legend Jurgen Klinsmann.
Measured against this aspiration, the U.S. came up short in the Costa Rica and Mexico matches.
The former match will long be remembered because it was played in a blizzard. The field was already covered with a thin layer of snow at kickoff time, with much more snow forecasted. The referee should never have allowed the match to commence.
In fairness, though, the field somehow remained playable for almost the full 90 minutes. Players did not slip and the ball ran fairly true.
The problem was visibility. Players had obvious difficulty seeing 25 yards ahead, making it tough to pick out the proper pass. And the officials were hard pressed to see far enough ahead to make the proper calls, which probably explains why they missed an obvious foul in the penalty box by Costa Rica in the first half.
Strangely, the Costa Ricans seemed to handle the cold and snow better than their North American counterparts. The U.S. dominated the early going and produced a goal to show for it. But in the second half, it was all Costa Rica. At this stage of our soccer history, we shouldn't be relying on backs-to-the-wall defending to defeat Costa Rica in a home game in wintry Colorado.
Even top sides will require that sort of defending against Mexico at the legendary Azteca Stadium. So on paper, the 0-0 draw seems impressive. After all, it represents only the second time the U.S. has avoided defeat in a Cup qualifier in Mexico.
But we were lucky to gain the draw. The referee denied Mexico one super-obvious penalty kick and a second that seemed clear enough. Reverse these two decisions, and see if the ESPN commentators are still raving about a heroic U.S. effort. Reverse the unusually poor play of slumping Mexico in and around their penalty box, and the match could easily have turned into a rout.
The good news from the two matches, in addition to the bottom line, is the emergence of three center backs of seemingly good quality: Gonzalez (the pick of the three), Goodson, and Besler. The bad news is that without Landon Donovan, who is taking a break from competitive soccer, the U.S. seems to have regressed as an attacking force.
In sum, the Klinsmann era U.S. team looks a lot like its predecessors. That's not really surprising. The characteristics of a national team usually, though not always, persist over time. But considering the size of the U.S. and the extent to which young Americans play the sport, we should have pulled further ahead of our regional rivals, Mexico excepted, than seems to be the case.
You may recall the case of the shoeless beggar found on a New York City street this past November by a NYPD officer. A passerby photographed NYPD Officer Lawrence DePrimo kneeling beside the man on a cold November night in Times Square, giving him a pair of boots. The photo, shot by tourist Jennifer Foster on her phone, went viral. I originally found the story here via ABC News. The story was held out as demonstrating the power of one random act of kindness, as in the video posted with ABC's account.
His name is Jeffrey Hillman, and on Sunday night, he was once again wandering the streets - this time on the Upper West Side - with no shoes.
The $100 pair of boots that Officer DePrimo had bought for him at a Skechers store on Nov. 14 were nowhere to be seen.
"Those shoes are hidden. They are worth a lot of money," Mr. Hillman said in an interview on Broadway in the 70s. "I could lose my life."
Mr. Hillman, 54, was by turns aggrieved, grateful and taken aback by all the attention that had come his way - even as he struggled to figure out what to do about it.
"I was put on YouTube, I was put on everything without permission. What do I get?" he said. "This went around the world, and I want a piece of the pie."
How had Mr. Hillman hit the skids? He didn't provide the Times with a direct answer:
He was reluctant to talk about how he ended up on the streets, staring blankly ahead when asked how his life went off course.
After a long pause, he shook his head and said, "I don't know."
Since Mr. Hillman's bare feet became famous, other people reported seeing him without shoes - one even after Officer DePrimo's gift - and one woman said she had bought him a pair of shoes a year ago. Whatever the case, Mr. Hillman seemed accustomed to walking the pavement shoeless.
He was panhandling on Sunday night and carried a cup with a few coins inside.
I thought Hillman provided a case study in the difficulty of helping the homeless and destitute. I wondered whether the man who wanted "a piece of the pie" needed treatment that would have been forced on him in less enlightened times, or whether he was helped by helped by those who filled his tin cup.
It didn't occur to me that Hillman simply might have gone back to work, or that he was helping himself in his own way. Consider the art on display in the Times's update in light of the New York Post's addition to Hillman saga this week. The Post finds Hillman's case to represent a case study of a different kind:
So it now turns out that Jeffrey Hillman, the barefoot beggar who famously received a free pair of boots from a big-hearted police officer, not only has an apartment but pockets as much as several hundred dollars a day while pretending to be homeless.
Hillman freely admitted as much to a team of Post reporters who followed him home on the subway Sunday - and then watched as he calmly counted a huge wad of bills. Not to mention that he seems to be the Imelda Marcos of the streets, with at least 30 pairs of shoes and boots.
Most New Yorkers will doubtless be disappointed to learn that the inspiring tale of a police officer's kindness to a man in distress would have such a cynical denouement. Few, however, will be surprised. Even so, there is a moral to this story that is especially timely.
The beggar whose charade spurred Officer Larry DePrimo's act of kindness is a fraud.
New York is a generous city, at both the individual and government level. In addition to private charity, those in need can count on a whole raft of services, from shelter to food to rent subsidies and Medicaid. Our guess is that most New Yorkers are more than willing to pay so long as their dollars go to help people truly in distress.
Hillman reminds us how easy it is to exploit generosity. His scam seems to have been directed at passers-by who take pity on a man who goes about Midtown pretending to be barefoot, poor and homeless. His example reminds us why it is important for the city to ensure that its own assistance is not exploited by those who don't need it.
For in addition to the needy, New York also has a whole class of politicians and activists quick to denounce City Hall as cruel and heartless (and to sue) whenever it takes reasonable measures to weed out the deserving from the undeserving.
When the NYPD's Larry DePrimo bought those now-famous boots, he represented the best of this city. People such as Jeffrey Hillman remind us that when the greedy take advantage, there's more cynicism about giving - and less help to go around for those truly in need.
I don't think the Post quite gets the lesson offered by the Hillman saga as a case study. Despite Hillman's exploitation of the kindness of strangers, I think his case is inherent in the welfare state. One way or another, however, it provides a case study worthy of continuing discussion.
UPDATE: Michael Walsh considers Hillman as a case study in his Post column "A nation suckered."
In the Wall Street Journal today Ed reveals how Iran could get a nuclear bomb overnight:
The West has tried to stop Iran from manufacturing nuclear weapons by diplomacy, sanctions and cybersabotage, and with the threat of military action if Tehran crosses red lines in moving toward the final stages of making a bomb. If Iran becomes discouraged in its efforts, an easier and more immediately dangerous option is available: buying nuclear weapons from North Korea.
When it comes to manufacturing weapons of mass destruction, the Iranian regime is in a bind. To further enrich its current stockpile of lowly-enriched uranium hexafluoride gas to weapons-grade material, Tehran would need to reconfigure its centrifuges. Since those centrifuges are closely monitored by inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran would have to expel the inspectors, explicitly breaking out of the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Then it would take four to six months-according to the head of Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Studies, Amos Yadlin-to produce enough enriched uranium for a bomb. During this interval, Tehran would effectively invite an attack by the U.S. and Israel, which have repeatedly stated that they will not allow Iran to produce fissile fuel for weapons. Since the U.S. has munitions capable of destroying all of Iran's centrifuges above ground at Natanz and sealing off the entrances to its underground facilities at Fordo-plus the Stealth bombers to deliver these knockout punches-Iran would likely lose the means to manufacture nuclear weapons before it could make a single one.
But what if Iran buys one or two nuclear warheads from North Korea? The government in Pyongyang has already conducted three nuclear tests and claims that it has nuclear warheads that fit on its No Dong medium-range ballistic missiles. If that claim is true, then mounting the warheads on Iran's Shahab missiles, which are copies of the North Korean ones, would present little problem. After all, Iran has collaborated with North Korea on missile design for more than a decade.
These off-the-shelf weapons would leave virtually no window of opportunity for a pre-emptive attack by the West and its allies. The warheads could arrive in Iran on a plane in the middle of the night and be immediately fitted onto Iranian missiles. Iran would not have to actually use these missiles to have a deterrent. It could renounce the Non-Proliferation Treaty and flaunt its nukes, as North Korea has done for seven years without suffering a military attack by the U.S. Indeed, such a fait accompli would give Iran the same potential for nuclear retaliation as North Korea.
Do we know for sure that North Korea has nuclear warheads it could transfer to Iran? There is little doubt that the country has the means to produce between three and six nuclear bombs annually. In 2011, North Korea invited a former director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, Siegfried Hecker, to inspect a state-of-the-art uranium-enrichment plant at Yongbyon, with just such a capability. According to a Feb. 13 report by the Congressional Research Service, U.S. intelligence believes that, in North Korea, "it is likely other, clandestine enrichment facilities exist" to produce fissile material for bombs.
North Korea has already demonstrated its willingness to engage in illicit nuclear proliferation by selling a nuclear reactor to Syria (the reactor was destroyed by Israeli bombers in 2007.) We also know that Pyongyang desperately needs money and that, even with sanctions, Iran has billions in oil revenue. If the price is right, then, the North Koreans have every reason to make a deal.
One ominous sign that such a deal may be in progress came in February reports by the Sunday Times of London and the Times of Israel that the Iranian physicist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was in North Korea when it conducted its third nuclear test last month. Mr. Fakhrizadeh, one of the architects of Iran's nuclear program, reportedly headed Iran's secret "project 111," which, according to the 2007 CIA National Intelligence Estimate, worked to design warheads that could be used on Iranian missiles. If he indeed observed the test last month, it would not have been as a tourist.
By focusing on preventing Iran from manufacturing a nuke and relying on time to plan a pre-emptive strike, the U.S. may be neglecting Iran's far more dangerous option of buying the bomb. Stopping the delivery of a warheads shipment would not be easy. Not being ready to stop it could prove catastrophic.
With employment prospects for college graduates as dismal as Barack Obama has made them, it's hard to see how this makes sense. Brown University is planning to host a workshop called "Protect me from what I want" designed to help Black homosexuals overcome their "unapproved" attraction to Caucasian Gays.
This is another example of the White liberal's belief in their right of husbandry over all minorities especially Blacks. These people obviously see "managing" the lives of subgroups as their self-appointed job.
While it's plain that White liberals believe they should be able to tell anyone how to live their lives, this is never truer than when they deal with Blacks. In the White liberal world view Blacks are not allowed to think conservative thoughts. They are not allowed to go to any schools not run by the government. They are not allowed to protect themselves with guns or shop in Walmart. They ... Continue Reading:Brown University's LGBT workshop another liberal "new suit of clothes" for 50% of jobless grads
Question: What is the difference between Christian seminaries and American universities? Answer: Christian seminaries announce that their purpose is to produce committed Christians. American universities do not admit that their primary purpose is to produce committed leftists. They claim that their purpose is to open students' minds. This month Florida Atlantic University provided yet another example of how universities have become left-wing seminaries. An FAU professor told his students to write "JESUS" (in bold caps) on a piece of paper and then step on it.
Dear Friends,
There is a lot going on today on NRO. Here are just some of the highlights.
NR's Marriage Editorial We weigh in on the High Court's hearings this week. A snippet of our take: "In both cases, the Court should leave lawmaking authorities to do their will. We oppose same-sex marriage, but in the absence of a constitutional amendment enshrining our view it would be wrong for the Supreme Court to block it - and nobody has ever argued otherwise. Proponents of same-sex marriage feel no such inhibitions. The Supreme Court should be more dispassionate." There's much more. Please read it and share it.
Bob Woodward Exposed Boy oh boy, Conrad Black does not like the famous, or increasingly infamous, Watergate journalist. In his new NRO column, Black writes "Woodward and Bernstein are naked to posterity, Woodward a mendacious, journalistically incontinent hack, Bernstein a burned-out tabloid journeyman, and both silent partners even in an antique book business of questionable ethics." Conrad has a way with words. I am a big fan of his writing. I encourage you: if you've yet to read Black, do so now.
Are We Getting Egypt-ed On the Corner we have a head-shaking video clip of an Egyptian cleric pontificating (or is it imamicating?) that US foreign aid to Cairo is, essentially, mandatory: It is a payment of jizya, the tax non-Muslims pay in return for second-class / leave-me-alone dhimmi status. Seriously. Foreign policy, Muslim Brotherhood style.
Did you know that there are some great NR-related podcasts produced by our friends at Ricochet? Find them on NRO here - weekly there's Robert Costa and Andrew Stiles providing the "Beltway Buzz," and Jay Nordlinger and Mona Charen telling you what you "Need to Know." They are both wise and informative, and easy listening. Please listen, and spread the news to your friends.
SDI at 30 Speaking of Jay, his important week-long series on the 30th Anniversary of the Space Shield program continues today.
And finally . . .
Texas Public Health Bucks We've found some public spending that Kevin Williamson might actually, well, not hate. His new "Exchequer" piece on a Texas public health program is, like everything he writes, most interesting.
Our offices are closed tomorrow in observance of Good Friday, although I am certain there will still be plenty of activity on NRO.
Best,
Jack Fowler Publisher
P.S.: Just a reminder about our new program - NR is giving a full-year subscription to the magazine's digital edition to any college student, absolutely free, no strings attached, and the sign-up is simple. So let the young academic in your life know about it, please. And thanks.
Uh-oh! Hillary's Benghazi claim is unraveling
While it's not uncommon for politicians to lie, most of them try to not do it while under oath ... especially when it involves the investigation of the loss of American lives.
Which brings us to then-secretary Hillary Clinton's sworn testimony before the U.S. Senate on the Benghazi attack.
If Rush Limbaugh is right -- and he usually is -- about the consequences of legalizing same-sex marriage, somebody needs to tell the Pilgrims they landed in the wrong place if they were seeking religious freedom ...
Look what judge bans in black-on-white torture-murder trial
When the vicious killers in this black-on-white crime spree -- already found guilty in the gruesome killing of a young white couple -- get their retrial, THIS will be banned.
So, is the judge just being fair, or are the victims' families getting hammered again by the justice system?
The New York Times caused a sensation with its kazillion-word, March 17 article by Michael Luo on the failures of state courts to get guns out of the hands of men in domestic violence situations.
The main purpose of the article was to tweak America's oldest civil rights organization, the National Rifle Association, for opposing some of the more rash anti-gun proposals being considered by state legislatures, such as allowing courts to take away a person's firearms on the basis of a temporary restraining order.
The Heritage Foundation's Ryan Anderson mounted a vigorous defense of traditional marriage Tuesday night on "Piers Morgan Live" during a debate with Morgan and Suze Orman, who both back same-sex marriage.
Anderson, who serves as Heritage's William E. Simon Fellow in Religion and a Free Society, opened the segment by stating his view on marriage:
I think marriage exists to bring a man and woman together as husband and wife, to be mother and father to any children their union produces. And the Supreme Court, in the cases they're hearing today and tomorrow, should really not cut short the democratic debate that we're having. Citizens all across the country are discussing what marriage is and why it matters. And what we want to see the court do is uphold our constitutional authority to have that debate.
When Orman called him uneducated and ignorant for his views, Anderson responded politely, asking her why she would assume he was ignorant when he doesn't think anything badly about her.
Anderson stated facts and never lost his calm, even as Suze Orman and Piers Morgan kept raising their voices. And he successfully explained what many conservatives are concerned about: "Marriage is based on the biological fact that reproduction depends on a man and a woman, and on the social reality that children need a mother and a father."
The audience's response was in line with Morgan and Orman's views, but Anderson remained stoic. He said he while he may be in the minority in that audience, "in America there are lots of people who agree with me and we should have this conversation."
Admiral Samuel Locklear, the commander of American forces in the Pacific, told the Boston Globe earlier this month that climate change is the biggest security threat America faces in the Pacific.
And there's reason to worry, he continues, that our military leadership is losing its focus on threats like North Korea, or China's military buildup. Brookes asks, "Is it possible that our leadership is taking its eyes off of the real threats in favor of feel-good, politicized or du jour perceptions of evolving national-security challenges?"
Most Americans retire between the ages of 62 and 64. And the average American is now expected to live to 79, meaning people who retire at 62 can receive 17 years or more of government benefits like Social Security.
But Americans' practical ability to retire is in jeopardy, as The Heritage Foundation's David John reported last fall. One alternative would be for seniors to change when they retire, Heritage's Romina Boccia suggests: "Delaying the age of retirement for those able to continue working means a big income boost for seniors, less strain on Social Security, and more economic growth."
"It's a train wreck that we see unfolding in Cyprus," one which could spell the end of the Eurozone, Heritage Foundation expert Nile Gardiner said yesterday on CNBC's Kudlow Report. Watch the video >>.
The new European Union-dictated bailout is "evidence of the growing centralization of political power in Europe, which is unhealthy," said Gardiner, who directs Heritage's Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom.
Marching for Marriage-and Children by Ken McIntyre, Marilyn and Fred Guardabassi Fellow in Media and Public Policy Studiesat The Heritage Foundation
"Kids deserve a mom and a dad." That was the overarching message as thousands gathered Tuesday morning on the National Mall to honor the institution of marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
"We stand for millions of Americans who want the freedom to continue telling the truth about marriage as it has existed for millennia," Jennifer A. Marshall, Heritage's director of domestic policy studies, told those attending the first March for Marriage.
Marshall, taking the stage in the early afternoon, welcomed Americans from all over the nation who gathered for the march, sponsored by the National Organization for Marriage and allied groups.
She was among more than two dozen speakers who addressed marchers about what marriage is, why it matters, and the consequences of redefining it.
Those who want to redefine marriage cannot answer. But we know the answer to Grace's question. We've known the answer to Grace's question since the founding of this country...since the beginning of human history, in fact.
The issue before the Supreme Court this week is whether we will have the freedom to continue answering Grace's question. Will we have the freedom to make marriage policy that tells the truth about children needing a mother and a father?
Just blocks away, a sign-waving throng gathered outside and across the street from the Supreme Court building, exercising Americans' constitutional right to engage in the nation's debate about marriage.
The Supreme Court, a succession of speakers at the March for Marriage emphasized, should allow that debate to continue, rather than cut it short.
Children raised by their married, biological parents have, on average, higher academic achievement, better emotional health, and fewer behavioral problems.
DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society at The Heritage Foundation
Founded in 1973, The Heritage Foundation is the nation's most broadly supported public policy organization. Heritage established the DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society in 2004 to educate government officials, the media and the public about the role religion, family, and civil society play in sustaining freedom and the common good.
Obamacare at Three Years: The Costs Keep Climbing
Saturday marked three years since Obamacare was signed into law, and taxpayers weren't celebrating.
Over the last three years, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has revised its cost estimates for Obamacare's new entitlements-the Medicaid expansion and exchange subsidies-many times, and they have more than doubled since 2010.
The first estimate in 2010 pegged the gross cost at $898 billion from 2010 to 2019. But this projection was deceptive, because it included only six years of spending on these provisions, since they don't begin until 2014.
However, CBO's latest estimate in February 2013 provides a more accurate cost projection, finally encompassing 10 years of full spending. The 11-year estimate places spending on these provisions at $1.85 trillion from 2013 to 2023.
It is likely that these costs will continue to increase in the future, as will the tax provisions that help pay for this new spending.
At a time when our nation is $16 trillion in debt and running annual trillion-dollar budget deficits, spending over $1.85 trillion on Obamacare's new entitlements is beyond reckless.
91,500 THE PROJECTED SHORTAGE OF DOCTORS THE U.S. WILL FACE BY 2020 Obamacare's regulations and burdens on doctors are adding to our already existing doctor shortage, setting up a health care crisis. Learn More >>
About The Heritage Foundation
Founded in 1973, The Heritage Foundation is a research and educational institute - a think tank - whose mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense.
Gangs of Eight Finalize Amnesty Bills
Voice Your Opposition Before it is Too Late!
The latest news from Capitol Hill is that both amnesty working groups in the House and Senate - the so-called "Gangs of Eight" - are finalizing their "comprehensive" immigration reform bills this week!
Although both the House and Senate are currently in recess, the self-appointed "Gangs" in each chamber are expected to introduce legislation the week of April 8, upon returning from their two-week Easter break.
Once legislation is introduced, pro-amnesty Members of Congress are expected to rush it through the relevant committees and to the respective floors for a vote, giving the American people little time to learn about the contents of the legislation before it's passed.
In fact, the Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee has already said he intends to "proceed to comprehensive immigration reform with all deliberate speed," and has indicated he will not hold any additional hearings on immigration once the Gang of Eight introduces its amnesty legislation.
Now is the time to voice your opposition to amnesty! Many Members are at home in their states and districts during this break hosting town hall meetings.
Find and attend a meeting near you and tell them the American people deserve a fair and public immigration debate, and better than another failed amnesty that will do nothing to get unemployed Americans back to work.
The Gangs of Eight are purposely delaying releasing their bills because they know that Americans do not want amnesty and that if given the time to read and understand the legislation, it would have zero public support!
It's critical that supporters of true immigration reform call their Members of Congress today and let them know that the American people won't stand for legislation written behind closed doors and rushed through the House and Senate.
-FAIR
P.S. Not sure about what to say when you call? FAIR recently launched an activism guide, giving you the tools you need to contact your Senators and Representative.Click here to get started!
If David Kempf wins the mayoral race on April 2, a bronze statue of Free Cheese based on the People's Cube design is going to be built in Oklahoma's third largest city, Norman. There's no reason why he shouldn't, since he just received our official endorsement, which he alsoannounced on his website.
Our relationship started after we noticed incoming web traffic from David's campaign website. We traced the link to a section dedicated to Free Cheese. In a humorous way, the candidate for Mayor of Norman described his attitude towards free government cheese, which he defined...
S.O.S.: Stand against "most important" piece of fundamental transformation
Four years ago Glenn talked about the machine progressives were building. Once ready, the new framework would fundamentally transform America. What does Glenn feel is THE most important piece of that machinery? See Glenn's urgent S.O.S. from radio today.
Why in the world would progressives want to go data mining in America's schools?
Last night on TheBlaze TV, Glenn showed the creepy lengths progressives have gone to in order to data mine America's schools. What kind of information are they seeking? Blood types, political party affiliation, religious affiliation, income information, healthcare history and more. What is going on? Glenn explains - WATCH.
TheBlaze is added to four new cable operators
After the massive outpouring of support from Glenn's audience (you) demanding TheBlaze TV to their channel lineups, a wave of providers have announced they are adding TheBlaze TV. Is your provider one of them? Find out HERE.
The fantastic letter from Atwood Cable Glenn read today
Glenn read a letter from one of the cable companies that has decided to carry TheBlaze TV this morning on radio. The owner shared the reason why his company, Atwood Cable, chose to partner with TheBlaze TV. The story will make you an instant Atwood fan.
Stuart Chase wrote a book towards the end of World War II that attempted to predict what would happen to global superpowers after the war was over. He predicted the globe would abandon the free market and move towards a "System X" that would display certain characteristics. His accuracy is incredibly eerie - and unfortunate (for us). Glenn explains HERE.
Tonight's primetime lineup on TheBlaze TV?
5pm ET -The Glenn Beck Program: The New World Order - where we came from and where we're going.
6pm ET - Real News: If the economy is growing, why isn't food stamp use shrinking?
7pm ET - Wilkow!: A new economic world order could bring Russia, China, India and Brazil together to challenge the U.S. Dollar.
The banks have opened and the media is eager to report that the people of Cyprus are completely and totally accepting of their government's money grab from their private bank accounts. They may not be rioting, but to suggest everyone is just peachy about this government overreach seems a tad...unbelievable? Glenn reacts on radio today. WATCH
The Glenn Beck Radio Program is now available on demand for FREE! Listen to Glenn's radio show whenever, wherever you want -- available on iTunes, Stitcher and SoundCloud.
Pat & Stu talk to Will Cain about the same-sex marriage controversy
Anyone voicing opposition to same-sex marriage finds themselves in the unenviable position of being public enemy #1. Will Cain is not afraid to look past the rhetoric and talking points to seek the truth. He joined Pat & Stu today and explained what is really happening in the same-sex marriage debate. WATCH
Get the eighth episode of Glenn's e-book thriller series WRATH & RIGHTEOUSNESS
Great news! The eighth episode in the WRATH & RIGHTEOUSNESS e-book series has been released! Wrath & Righteousness examines the eternal battle between Light and Darkness while asking one of the fundamental questions of our existence: what is mankind's relationship to the spiritual world? Download the previous episodes HERE and get eighth episode in the 10-part series HERE. Have a question or comment about the series? Visit our newly updated FAQ page.
Despite the severe budget sequester which is, according to Debbie Wasserman Schultz, forcing young Washington staffers to starve because they can't afford meals on their pitiful $60,000-$160,000 salaries, Barack Obama has still managed to cobble together the money to send his family on yet
another luxurious, first-class five-star vacation to help take their minds off of the fact that they haven't visited Hawaii for
And while there's nothing wrong with the girls having a little fun, it
does seem pretty tacky to rub Americans' noses in the Obamas' conspicuous wealth (and willingness to also use taxpayer money) while the Whitehouse itself is closed to the young paupers and working-class riff-raff who had hoped to visit during their
own spring breaks.
Now, sadly, all those kids can do is visit the Supreme Court and listen to people protesting about Gay marriage while wondering why
all the Supremes, male and female, are wearing dresses.
Frankly,
Hope n' Change would like to see those kids get a clearer look at how our government really works. With the first family not around to require expensive Secret Service protection, why not let kids actually tour the Whitehouse and ask why, during times of extreme crisis
, there's nobody on the job?!
What could be more fun than letting kids hear real echos in the empty Oval Office?!
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Following the Memorial Mass, there will be the Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network's Award Gala, currently scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. with a cocktail reception. This dinner gala will be held at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, located at 1201 Market Street in Philadelphia. The first "Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Award" will be presented.
Glenn: Help us get in millions of home
American Policy Center has recently released a booklet that explains everything you need to know to start fighting back against sustainable programs both locally and nationally. The booklet is called Special Report: Agenda 21 and How to Stop It and is available in the APC store for only $5.95.
OK....when they look at you like you have a tin foil hat on your head......take some of this information with you. It is 126 pages. I have not read through the entire document (YET) but what I have read is enough to blow off the top of your head. I have highlighted some stuff. KIPP (Charter Schools) has a CHARACTER REPORT CARD on Page 39. So for now start on page 39 and work your way through to page 45. Remember 
Porker of the Month is a dubious honor given to lawmakers, government officials, and political candidates who have shown a blatant disregard for the interests of taxpayers.
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If David Kempf wins the mayoral race on April 2, a bronze statue of Free Cheese based on the People's Cube design is going to be built in Oklahoma's third largest city, Norman. There's no reason why he shouldn't, since he just received our official endorsement, which he also
S.O.S.: Stand against "most important" piece of fundamental transformation 
