912 Patriots of Lower Bucks - Your Daily Updates ALL in ONE Place!
April 10, 2013
Quote:
"The instrument by which it [government] must act are either the AUTHORITY of the laws or FORCE. If the first be destroyed, the last must be substituted; and where this becomes the ordinary instrument of government there is an end to liberty!"
~ Alexander Hamilton, Tully, No. 3, 1794
COMMUNISM SURVIVOR BLASTS SALEM GUN GRABBERS: "YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT FREEDOM IS!"
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McConnell: The Left Targeted My Campaign With Watergate-style Tactics
By Guy Benson | 4/9/2013
The editors of Mother Jones, the Left-wing magazine that damaged Mitt Romney's presidential bid by releasing the infamous "47 percent" video last year, think they have another scoop on their hands.
The publication's Washington bureau chief published a breathless story this morning, revealing that Sen. Mitch McConnell's re-election campaign...discussed possible ways of defeating Ashley Judd if she became the Democrats' nominee. The horror. Even the MSM was forced to dismiss the nonbombshell:
This - as any campaign operative will tell you - is the basic blocking and tackling of opposition research that every candidate does both against their potential opponents and against themselves. And, the average voter won't a) follow this story or b) care all that much if they do - especially since this news is breaking on the day after the Louisville Cardinals won the NCAA basketball tournament...The audio of the McConnell meeting is exactly the reason why we - and many Democratic operatives - believed that Judd would be a poor candidate to challenge the Senate Minority Leader. McConnell has made his political living by savaging his opponents and Judd - as the tape makes abundantly clear - was an embarrassment of riches in terms of her past public statements.
Which is precisely why national Democrats eagerly pushed her out of the race. Mother Jones seems to think that the McConnell campaign's spit-balling session about exploiting Judd's vast reservoir of outlandish comments amounts to a scandal of some sort. They were considering making an issue of her religious beliefs! And what might those be? Verbatim quote:
Posted by Daniel Greenfield @ the Sultan Knish blog
Modern politics is often fought on the battlefield of the 19 inch or the 50 inch screen with grim bursts of image artillery directed by experts and consultants. But for all the experts and consultants, it is the ability of the politician to communicate what he feels and believes is true that trumps everything else.
Margaret Thatcher's death has touched such a nerve because her passing takes place in the shadow of mediocrities like David Cameron who talk a great deal but say nothing at all, whose preferred form of communication is to avoid controversy. Likewise so many American conservatives turn to memories of Reagan because when they turn toward the marble mecca of D.C., all they see from their party are former conservatives scurrying to evolve into blithering idiots in time for the next election.
The missing element is conviction. When conservatives remember Thatcher and Reagan, they hear the echoes of clear and principled messages. Neither of them were perfect as politicians, but their rhetoric was perfect because they knew what they believed, said it clearly and colorfully and enjoyed themselves doing it.
Announcing - Women On Target, Getting Comfortable With Firearms
Place: Wicen's Shooting Range, 3179 Mozart Road, Furlong, PA 18925
Date: April 26-27.
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
Gun Owners of America
Gun Control can be Passed Only If Republicans Sell Out
Tell them Gun Owners oppose "universal" background checks
"Gun-control measures that seemed destined to become law after the school shootings in Newtown, Conn., are in jeopardy amid a fierce lobbying campaign by firearms advocates." - The Washington Post, April 1, 2013
We realize that you have been receiving several emails from Gun Owners of America in recent days. And while we apologize for filling your inbox so frequently, we hope you realize that we are in an all-out fight to stop Congress from infringing upon our liberties.
Your activism is making a difference, but we need to keep the pressure on!
As so, as we approach "gun control Armageddon" next week, we are faced, not surprisingly, with "sell-outs and rumors of sell-outs."
But we can conclude that all gun control will die UNLESS Republicans flinch. And this is why, now that anti-gun Senator Chuck Schumer is on the verge of a humiliating defeat, he's scrambling for some feckless Republican who will help him turn GOP victory into GOP defeat.
Anti-gun columnist Ruth Marcus spoke for Schumer last Wednesday morning when she suggested that, as a desperation measure, anti-gunners might have to drop recordkeeping from the universal registry bill.
But even if ALL recordkeeping were dropped, which is doubtful, background checks would mean that:
Americans would still have to get the government's permission to own a firearm from whatever source.
Americans in rural areas without access to the Internet could be barred from gun ownership.
The Brady Check system would break down on weekends even more often than it currently does.
Eight percent of all applicants would still be illegally denied the right to purchase firearms through "false negatives."
Schumer would still claim that he "broke the back of the gun lobby."
The universal registry bill would still be nothing but a vehicle for consideration of other gun control now - and a platform for gun control demands in the future.
The solution to all of this is easy, and it's for Senators to support the Paul-Cruz-Lee filibuster! Tell them not to let Congress sidle up to the gun control buffet and to defeat the motion to proceed to gun control.
ACTION: Click here to contact your Senators. Demand they support the Paul-Cruz-Lee filibuster and oppose the motion to proceed to any gun control vehicle.
The system will automatically select a pre-written editable response, depending upon whether your Senator is a Republican or Democrat.
The Philadelphia Freedom Center Presents: The Crisis in Syria is Exploding
There is no better thinker on the region than Michael Ledeen, the Freedom Scholar at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Michael is a highly regarded expert on Iran's Green Movement and maintains close ties to opposition groups inside Iran. Join us as Michael provides us with his invaluable insights to the crisis in Syria, in a sit-down conversation with Andrew McCarthy.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013 6:00 PM
Union League of Philadelphia 140 South Broad Street
Program & Cocktails: $35
Private Dinner Party with Andy McCarthy and Michael Ledeen: $125 (limit 12)
More than 70,000 Syrians have been killed, and hundreds of thousands displaced, in the ongoing civil war. Western governments, including the United States, are now being drawn into the fray. Where is the crisis headed? What should American policy be? Join us April 10 at 6 pm participate in this forum!
Michael Ledeen Michael Ledeen is the Freedom Scholar at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. He is a highly regarded expert on Iran's Green Movement and maintains close ties to opposition groups inside Iran. Click for full bio.
Andrew McCarthy Andrew McCarthy is a former federal prosecutor and New York Times bestselling author. He's the Executive Director of the Philadelphia Freedom Center. Click here for full bio.
Please join us and guest speaker John Anthony, founder of the Sustainable Freedom Lab.
On Wednesday April 10 @ 7PM
John Anthony will explain how across the country our rights to personal property - land, homes, privacy - are at greater risk than ever.
Plans and ordinances approved in our region could take control of your own property out of your hands! You worry about your mortgage while politicians and bureaucrats consider policies that will slash the value of your property!
Have you ever wonder where the words Sustainable or Agenda 21 originated, then this is the meeting for you. Find out about the plan that is intended to take away the rights and liberties of all Americans. Currently the push is to institute a global tax (Carbon tax) and make the UN the global IRS.
If you think this is not possible, I challenge you to find out the real truth. There are many counties and townships in our area that have already signed up and are involved, including the borough of West Chester. Some municipalities in Maryland have fought and have won their way out of the program.
Location: East Goshen Township Building 2nd floor 1580 Paoli Pike West Chester, PA 19380
VALLEY FORGE PATRIOTS APRIL MEETING
FRIDAY, APRIL 12, 6pm AT PJ RYANS
BRIDGE ST. PHOENIXVILLE
We will have an organizational meeting with members. The VFP wants to talk with our members to review how the organization is structured, what kind of help we need to be successful and to discuss our plans for 2013. We also need to discuss meeting location(s) and what amenities you want.
There will be no formal speakers, however, Paula Stiles will fill us in on the latest with Smart Meters and state legislation dealing with them.
We really need your thoughts and ideas about how you want your organization to function and what you think we should focus on. We have learned that we can't do everything because there is so much going on at all levels.We must focus on a few most important issues.
Should we work on projects at the local level, the state level, and/or the federal level? Or, should we pick several focal points that could be worked on at all levels? Voter ID would be one of these issues. Should the VFP continue its legislator visit program. This would be another program that would involve all levels of government. How about UN Agenda 21? School Board?
The VFP Steering Committee wants your ideas, your help, and your involvement in continuing to make our programs successful.
PLEASE COME OUT AND JOIN IN THE DISCUSSION!
P.S. Since we are having the meeting at a commercial establishment, and since the room is free, we are expected to buy our food and drink at PJ Ryans. No outside food or drink please.
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 -
"EDUCATION: From the 3 R's to the 3 P's"
(The Federal Government Takeover of 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
Our
meeting for April is TUESDAY April 16 (not Thursday like usual) at 7pm at Rock (857 Main St Harleysville). We have
Leo Knepper from Citizens' Alliance of Pennsylvania. He will talk about PA state issues. Please come!
Here are action items Pam wanted to forward to you.
1. Members of PA Tea Party Patriots are working on a plan to get our State legislatures to pay attention to how our schools are implementing curriculum to conform to Common Core. http://nopacommoncore.com/
PA state education department agreed to implement the Common Core Curriculum before it was written.
Antithetical to our principles: 1) Limited govt: Obama admin enlisted private organizations to create standards which are replacing the PA standards. We don't know who these orgs are and have no recourse to contact them. We're on the hook for federal education $ to teach curricula to meet the standards. Should remain state issue. 2) Fiscal Responsibility: $645 million to implement in PA. 3) Is also invasion of privacy: Looks to implement a student tracking database which includes metrics like health histories, disciplinary record, family income range and religious affiliation.
2. Interested in learning about Fracking? Fracknation, a documentary revealing the truth about this technology and the leftist's attempts to turn public opinion against Fracking will be playing on April 10 at 7:00 p.m. at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute, 824 W Lancaster Ave, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010. I (Pam) am very interested in seeing it. Let me know if you would like to join a car pool. My cell is 610-731-9434. See film information here: http://fracknation.com/phelim-brings-fracknation-to-pa/
3. Ungag the Benghazi 33 - The American people deserve the truth! Sen. Lindsey Graham is the only voice speaking out on the Benghazi cover-up. Attached is a .txt letter for you to address, sign, print and send to your representative or senator.
4. Election Laws We're not affiliated with John Birch Society but the info below, when combined with "immigration reform", welfare/medicaid expansion/Obamacare, student loan forgiveness, etc, looks an awful lot like a well-orchestrated plan to secure voter blocks and the voting system in the Progressive's favor. This from the JBC::
Stop the Federal Power Grab of Our Elections
No fewer than five bills to increase federal control over American elections have been filed in the 113th Congress. The Obama administration has appointed a bipartisan presidential commission supposedly for the purpose of streamlining election procedures and reducing the long lines. However, even a cursory review of the bills already proposed reveals that passage of these bills would enable an unconstitutional federal power grab over American elections accompanied by drastic reductions in the safeguards against electoral fraud that remain in at least some of the states. The bills submitted so far are:
H.R. 50 - Streamlined and Improved Methods at Polling Locations and Early Voting Act of 2013 (SIMPLE)
H.R. 280 - Same Day Registration Act of 2013
H.R. 281 - Voter Access Protection Act of 2013
H.R. 289 - Value Our Time Elections Act of 2013 (VOTE)
The Founding Fathers of our republic knew how dangerous to freedom centralized control over elections would be. But they also feared opponents of the proposed U.S. Constitution might try to undermine the new form of government by failing to call elections. That's why they put a provision in Article I, Section 4 saying Congress may alter the states' voting laws. The purpose of this grant of power was explained in Federalist Paper #59 as only to be used to address specific extraordinary situations and would be temporary. Further confirmation of this explanation can be inferred by its placement in Article I, Section 4 and using the word "may." The ongoing permanent powers for Congress are granted in Article I, Section 8 using the word "shall" in listing those powers under the phrase "Congress shall have the Power To."; History has proved the dangers of centralized control over a country's elections. Witness those of modern-day, third world dictatorships or those of an earlier day in Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. United States Ambassador Arthur Bliss Lane documented the fraud in the Polish election in 1947 where he quoted reliable estimates that 60 percent of the Polish voters voted for the Polish Peasant Party and its freedom agenda, but that the Stalin-controlled, centralized elections bureaucrats counted the votes behind closed doors and declared the Communists the winners. We urge contact with members of Congress to alert them of this danger and ask them to pledge to block the dangerous centralized control over our elections that would be enabled by the five bills mentioned above. The ability for us to cast our ballots in free and unfettered elections is at stake.
Click here to send a message to your representative and senators to alert them to this danger and to request that they block this legislation.
5. Smart meters - This from our friends in central PA Tea Party Patriots:
SMART METER update is as follows: REP ROBERT GODSHALL could be the nail in our coffin if we don't act fast. Please call him and ask that he does these two things. First, ask him to bring Reese's three Stop Smart Meter Bills out of committee and ask him to vote "yes" for all three bills. The bills are as follows: HB 902 which is "Consumer Opt Out". HB 899 which is "Repeal a mandate to install smart meter technology on the buildings of their customers". HB 906 which is "Consumer Consent to share smart meter information". PLEASE CALL GODSHALL NOW! Rep. Robert W. Godshall (717) 783-6428. Fax: (717) 787-7424 TTY: (855) 282-0614
Thanks, See you on Tuesday for our meeting with Leo Knepper! -Jim, Pam, Tim
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!
FrackNation is a documentary on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and the natural gas boom in the US and abroad. FrackNation shows how unfounded opposition to fracking is damaging the lives of some of the poorest and hardest working people in America. FrackNation dispels myths and tells the story of the people directly affected by fracking bans.
FrackNation premiered January 22, 2013 on Mark Cuban's AXS TV. The New York Times called the film "meticulously researched...provocative." And Variety said it was a "briskly paced...mischievous pic."
The film was created and directed by the husband and wife team of Phelim McAleer and the always outrageous Ann McElhinney. Ann will be speaking on April 20th at the upcoming PA Leadership Conference. DVDs of the film will be available for purchase at the PA Coalition booth at PLC
Phelim will be touring Pennsylvania for a series of screenings across the Commonwealth. Listed below are venues and dates for screenings in April. Additional screenings are planned for May including one in the Pittsburgh area. If your grass roots group would like to schedule a screening, please contact Magdalena Segieda at magda@fracknation.com
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
Brigitte Gabriel to Speak
in Baltimore, MD!
Brigitte Gabriel
Leading Global Islamic Terrorism Expert
CLICK HERE to view Brigitte's special video invitation!
It is my privilege to invite you to a special event featuring Brigitte Gabriel, Founder and President of ACT! for America. This event is free and open to the public and will be held at the following:
Central Christian
7411 Rossville Blvd. Baltimore, MD 21237
Monday, May 6th at 7 pm
Ms. Gabriel will speak on the rise of Islamic radicalism in your community and in our nation. Her story of survival as a persecuted Christian living in a bomb shelter for 7 years will have you captivated and inspired! She will share how the events of 9/11 compelled her to start ACT! for America, the largest national security grassroots organization in the U.S.
The recent assaults at our embassies have been a sobering wake-up call to America. The lesson is that we should be displaying strength to our enemies, not appeasement which only demonstrates our weakness. Without question, the threats of radical Islam to America have increased.
These are just some of the threats Brigitte will discuss:
Suppression of criticism of Islam
Homegrown jihad
Terrorists infiltrating our borders
The Muslim Brotherhood and creeping sharia law in America
Misrepresentation of history in our public education
You will hear first-hand how ACT! for America is successfully rolling back the tide of radical Islam...how we are winning legislative victories...how we don't have to live in fear or resign ourselves to the inevitability of the threats arrayed against us...and how we will prevail.
I encourage you to forward this email to everyone you know. For those who are not familiar with ACT! for America, please share this short video with them.
I know those of you who have heard Brigitte will agree, not only do you not want to miss this, but you will want to bring your relatives and friends with you. It will be an event people will be talking about for a long time to come!
Invite your friends and come join us in Baltimore, MD! We look forward to seeing you on May 6th
Guy Rodgers 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.
From a trusted friend:
As some of you may know, I am associated with Coventry Christian Schools as a parent of a graduate (2010) and as member of the Board of Trustees. Last October we spent a wonderful evening honoring Mark Niehls at our revitalized Founder's Dinner and celebrated our shared heritage in the remarkable community that is Coventry Christian Schools. Our vision for future Founder's Dinners is to inspire and inform not only our alumni and current CCS families but to inspire and inform the Tri-County Area and even our region by hosting speakers and artists who can uniquely assist us in celebrating the heritage, core values, and mission of CCS while also lifting our vision for an even greater future built upon the foundation of our past. The caliber of our speakers and guest artists should provide us with wonderful opportunities to share our CCS story with new partners in Christian education. Proceeds from the dinner will be applied to our annual Coventry Kids Fund for CCS scholarships.
This year we are proud to announce that our distinguished guest and speaker is Dr. Benjamin Carson, and our dinner's theme is "Faith of Our Fathers: The Role of Faith in American Schools." Please join us as we welcome Dr. Carson to the Tri-County Area and celebrate the great things God is doing at CCS!
Dr. Carson is a highly regarded neurosurgeon and motivational speaker who has addressed various audiences across the country. He is one of the most honored and recognized physicians in the world and holds more than 60 honorary doctorate degrees along with hundreds of awards and citations. He is a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States. He is the author of five books and is the founder of the Carson Scholars Fund. The 2009 award-winning movie entitled Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story, starring Cuba Gooding, Jr. as Carson, premiered on TNT and is based on his memoir. Dr. Carson is an authentic disciple of Christ, has been married to his wife Candy for more than 37 years, and is the father of three sons.
The 2013 Founder's Dinner, which will once again be a part of our Homecoming festivities, will be held at the historic Sunnybrook Ballroom in Pottstown on Sunday, October 13th, 2013. Doors will open at 4:30pm, followed by dinner at 5:15. Dress will be business/professional. Tickets will be priced at $100 until May 15th, then will be $125, so reserve your tickets for the reduced price.
Due to Dr. Carson's international reputation and recent prominence in the media, including his recent speech at the 2013 National Prayer Breakfast, we fully anticipate that this event will sell out quickly once advertised to the public. Tickets go on sale to the public April 15. If you are interested in attending, tickets can be purchased online. I will send the link out to those who wish to go on April 15
th
. While online reservations are preferred because they facilitate efficient event planning, you may also complete a paper order form, which I can forward to you as well.
All of us at Coventry Christian Schools, look forward to sharing this very special evening with you and acquainting you with the school and its mission!
Blessings,
Christine Gordon
Sponsorships are available as well and are as follows:
Gold Sponsor $3,000
Two tickets at Speaker's Table
Two tickets at Headmaster's Table
Listed as sponsor on school website through 12 months post event
Listed as sponsor on pre-event print marketing
Mentioned by name at event
Full Page ad in Dinner Program
Silver Sponsor $1,500
Two tickets at Speaker's Table
Listed as sponsor on school website through 12 months post event
Half page ad in Dinner Program
Bronze Sponsor $500
Two tickets at Headmaster's Chairman's or Founder's Table
Listed as sponsor on school website through 12 months post event
·Quarter page ad in Dinner Program
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.
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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.
Read the sourced and footnoted response to the National Review Online and get all the facts you need to know about Common Core HERE. Compiled by American Principles project and Glenn's research team.
Common Core is the new set of federal education standards being pushed by the Obama administration and several leftist organizations but it's even seeing some support from some conservatives.
defending Common Core, and Glenn gave the definitive response on radio today."Common Core is something that we didn't really get for quite some time and again it's something we've learned from the 9/12 project and concerned parents all around the country that have been bringing this to our attention. When we started in on this work, we thought it was pretty bad. The more we do, the worse it becomes," Glenn said.
Below are some of the points made by the National Review Online in defense of Common Core, followed by Glenn's response.
Today on radio, Glenn gave the definitive response. See that and get all the sources to back it up HERE.
A concerned parent tipped off TheBlaze to the disturbing fact that NY public schools are teaching the U.N.'s Socialist-leaning Universal Human Rights. We also discovered that the schools are delivering this indoctrination using videos made by the Church of Scientology. Learn what our investigation revealedHERE.
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.
Pennsylvanians Against Common Core Facebook page has nearly 450 "friends" which is 8 times that of the pro-Core Facebook page!
Pennsylvanians Against Common Core website has had incredible traffic
We have been contacted by email by many interested parties looking for help and materials in getting the word out and in fighting Common Core. Below are some items that should be of interest to you:
Speakers - Cheryl Boise of the Commonwealth Education Organization will be coordinating speakers that can be available to speak to groups around the state on the subject. You can contact her at: ceb@ceopa.org
Flyers - We have designed an informative flyer for handout at school board meetings, political events and to your friends that should be ready in 10 days. We have ordered 10,000 of these flyers and can mail them out to you upon request when received (be patient). Attached is a one page flyer for your use now that you can print out for distribution.
Suggestion on Curriculum - Many people are telling us that their legislators are arguing that Common Core does NOT control curriculum it only sets standards. We will shortly have a piece debunking that, but in order to not to get lost in a hopeless argument you may just want to call them "national standards" when writing letters to the editor or communicating with your legislator rather than stating that Common Core determines curriculum.
Rallies - Stay tuned, they will be coming at the appropriate time...
State Board of Education Meetings - Please be advised that the PA State Board of Education did hold meetings that technically were open to the public to discuss Common Core prior to voting to enact CCS, but were not well publicized and in some cases were held in buildings with restricted access.
Petition and Passion - the comments that are posted by petition signatories tell a great story of the passion generated by this usurpation of our local and states rights.
Gennell from Reading says: Our family stands firmly against Common Core. Please be advised that our votes WILL depend on your vote against this education standard that would destroy education as we know it.
Amanda from Montgomery County says: Stop this NOW!
Deborah from Dauphin County says: "Stop Common Core and let the local authorities and the PARENTS decide how to educate their children. This is morally wrong."
Susan from Mount Holly Springs says: "Governor Corbett, We do not need Common Core in our schools. Please leave the education of my children alone. "
Michael from Pittsburgh says: "This is an absolute outrage and a violation of our parental rights and state sovereignty."
John from Erie says: "Common Core secondary math education is substandard. Classical literature is being left out in a mad attempt to teach to the test."
Action items:
Contact Secretary of Education Ronald Tomalis at rtomalis@pa.gov and 717-783-6788 and ask him reconsider advancement of Common Core and to hold open well publicized meetings to discuss. Contact your legislator in the PA House and Senate Education Committees and ask them to hold hearings on CCS and to oppose. Please pass on the links to our website and Facebook page to all of your contacts Print and pass out our one page flyer to friends and at meetings. in your area
Common Core goes SOCIAL MEDIA!!! Please share with everyone you know and help us make this a huge success. MARK YOUR CALENDAR!!! Not a TWITTER person.....grab a kid and have some fun.
Parent-Led Reform (@ParentLedReform) will host a Twitter Rally on April 16, 2013 which will start will go from 12:00p-2:00p (EST). We will discuss how the Common Core State Standards effect your family, community and schools? We invite you to participate.
There will be an expert panel and several organizations that will discuss#StopCommonCore. So far I know the panel will consist of:
I'll update with a live link for the Twitter Rally (or you can just follow the hashtag #StopCommonCore) and as the expert panel is finalized.
Update: Be sure to RSVP with the Facebook event invite, this will help keep you up to date with pertinent info.
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."
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Overview:
The sectional divide that led to the outbreak of the Civil War was rooted in fundamentally opposing interpretations of the principles of the Declaration of Independence in addition to diverging perceptions of the institution of slavery. Slaveholders and non-slaveholders alike at the time of the Founding generally agreed that slavery was unjust and an evil that ran counter to the ethos of the Founding, even while countenancing it in practice. By the 1850s, prominent men such as John C. Calhoun and Alexander Stevens argued that slavery was a positive good, and that liberty and equality, far from being natural rights belonging to every human being, were privileges to be earned.
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Under this Bill farmers will also have to become licensed and certified to apply fertilize.
As you will see under the definitions it includes all fertilizer synthetic, dry, gases, plant matter, animal feces...etc and applies to all farms over 10 acres.
This bill does not have a number or sponsor yet but it is sure to get one because it is attached to farmland preservation grant money.
David Daniels is the current Director of the Ohio Department of Ag. and sadly used to be my rep.
Cliff Hite is the Chairman of the Senate Ag. Committee
Troy Balderson is the Vice Chairman...Troy Balderson represents the east side of Pickaway County but I am on the west (do own farms in his district though)
Bob Peterson is my Senator and he is also on the Ag. Committee
We need to call these guys immediately.
By Ohio Property Rights Activist Wendy Sizemore
Report from Virginia Property Rights Activist Donna Holt
Conservation Easements: A Vehicle for Land Confiscation
We morn the loss of one of the greatest leaders of the 20th Century,
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who, together with President Ronald Reagan, limited the social welfare state at home and dismantled Soviet-style communism abroad.
They were courageous giants who understood that nothing corrupted is too big to fail--not the American or British Republics--nor the expansive Soviet empire.
We thank God for the leadership of Dame Thatcher. May she rest in eternal peace!
Barletta and Immigration
This past Friday, despite last minute notice, at least 10 members and friends of the Association attended a contentious event at the University of Pennsylvania featuring Congressman Lou Barletta (R-PA) on the hot topic of immigration.
Sponsored by a new non-partisan student group, the program drew roughly 80 participants--many of whom were vocal pro-amnesty supporters.
While there were tense moments as the evening progressed, we commend the student group for keeping matters orderly and fair.
We also commend Congressman Barletta for the patient and dignified way in which he conducted himself and defended our position opposing amnesty for illegal immigrants. He actually stayed an additional 45 minutes to make sure that everyone's questions were answered.
(We couldn't have been prouder of the man our PAC endorsed for Congress in the 2010 Republican primary.)
In addition, our members and friends demonstrated the utmost civility with their respectful demeanor, questions, and comments. Among those attending: Jerry and Carol Klein, Silvia Chopkovich, Matthew Lamorgese, Bob Adcock, Bob Walst, Teri Adams, and Don Adams.
Toomey and Guns
On another hot issue--the 2nd Amendment--we received a call from Senator Pat Toomey's office, Friday, explaining the Senator's involvement with one of several 'gun control bills' surfacing in the US Senate.
We are aware that both the NRA and Senator Toomey (R-PA) are attempting to positively influence the outcome of these bills, which deal specifically with background checks, to make sure that the 2nd Amendment is protected from the likes of Senators Bob Casey (D-PA), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Tom Carper (D-DE), and Chris Coons (D-DE).
We believe that any Congressional protests conducted in our region should
be held at the offices of Senators Casey, Menendez, Lautenberg, Carper, and/or Coons--the real enemies of the 2nd Amendment--not (as some are suggesting) at the offices of our friend and ally, Pat Toomey.
Senator Toomey and his staff are more than willing to discuss the legislation in his office and/or over the phone. We think holding meetings and discussions with the Senator and his staff is a much more effective way to express our concerns regarding any and all proposed gun legislation--unless, of course, Toomey protestors are seeking media attention.
The media thrives on reporting disagreements among those in the center/right coalition.
Independence Hall of Fame/Shame
Each month, after a vote, we will be inducting three politicians, pundits, public figures and/or organizations into the Independence Hall of Fame and the Independence Hall of Shame.
If you haven't yet done so, please cast your April ballot by clicking the link below:
Shortly, we will be announcing plans for our 5th Annual April Tax Summit!
Last year, we were fortunate and honored to have had Governor Mitt Romney as our keynote speaker.
In the meantime, please consider these other important conservative events taking place in our area during the next few weeks, including an event with Tim Tebow (pictured below) on Tax Day, April 15 and a Second Amendment
Action Day (rally) being sponsored by Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (pictured below) in Harrisburg on April 23.
Also, this Wednesday, the Philadelphia Freedom Center will host a very
timely program, The Crisis in Syria is Exploding, with Michael Ledeen.
1.The Crisis in Syria is Exploding When: Wednesday, April 10, 2013, 6 PM Where: Union League of Philadelphia, 140 South Broad Street, Philadelphia
Who: Michael Ledeen is the Freedom Scholar at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and is a highly regarded expert on Iran's Green Movement. Mr. Ledeen maintains close ties to opposition groups inside Iran.
Please join Mr. Ledeen as he engages in a sit-down conversation on the Syrian crisis with Freedom Center Executive Director, Andrew McCarthy.
Who: Representative Daryl Metcalfe and friends of the 2nd Amendment
Hope to see you soon!
On behalf of the Association Board,
Teri Adams
RedState Morning Briefing
For April 10, 2013
1.Sources Report Senate Republicans Caving on Guns
Sources inside the Senate tell me that the Republican Conference is scared to death of the tactics of Senators Lee, Cruz and Paul - that it is supposedly putting them in a tough spot.
Several of the Republicans are using the Manchin-Toomey compromise plan as an excuse to cave on the gun filibuster. They claim that Senators Lee, Cruz, and Paul are running ahead of the conference in their insistence on a filibuster.
In his latest attempt to cajole Republicans into raising taxes, Obama has called for a budget plan that makes some cuts to Medicare providers and subjects Social Security payments to the chained CPI.John Boehner was correct to reject this ploy of holding entitlement savings hostage for tax increases.However, he has come close to negotiating such a deal in the past, and there are some GOP officials who are saying they would still agree to such a trade.Lindsey Graham has already expressed encouragement over the proposal. . . . please click here for the rest of the post →
3.Gay Marriage: About the Children Whether We Like It or Not
Two of the more interesting (where "interesting" is a euphemism for "horrifying") aspects of the debate over gay "marriage" are inexorably intertwined: the decision by the movement's backers to pretend that there is no strong connection between marriage and children (this is overwhelmingly done by those who do not have children) and a separate but related track to "get government out of marriage," which is treated as some sort of tactical decision to, er, divorce government from its ability to decide who may marry and when.
The former is overwhelmingly done by libertarians who have taken the curious position that the failure by the state to expand a right is the same as the affirmative denial of that right, and by liberals who do not understand what rights actually are. The latter is a position taken by libertarians who believe the state's role in marriage reaching back centuries is part of the nanny state, and conservatives who either legitimately want to preserve marriage from the barbarians or who like sounding good to their more left-wing friends. . . . please click here for the rest of the post →
4.Carterism revisited, Thatcherism needed
Kevin Williamson has a great piece at National Review explaining why the Left hates Margaret Thatcher so much.(Enough to throw parties celebrating her death, followed up by a bit of light rioting and looting.)In short, Williamson says Thatcher earned the undying animosity of the Left by making them look silly, and having a good time doing it.In other words, she challenged their legitimacy.
The Left is big on asserting that there are no morally legitimate arguments against their positions.Every word said against them is born of greed or mindless hatred.It doesn't matter if the practical results of liberal policies fail to meet expectations - it doesn't even matter if things spiral into outright disaster - because the alternatives are unthinkable.They really hate when their own legitimacy is questioned in turn, particularly when someone like Thatcher or Ronald Reagan does it with a smile and a well-turned phrase.. . . please click here for the rest of the post →
Where's the Progress in Progressivism? Daren Jonescu Perhaps the ultimate explanation of every progressive atrocity, real and prospective, from the Communist Manifesto to Bill Ayers' projection of the need to kill twenty-five million Americans who resist re-education More
Gays are much ado about nothing Jim Hlavac We just can't be this important. We few simply can't be the lynchpin of what heterosexuals do. We are not responsible for any of this irresponsible procreation or social ills of the broken family or abortion. More
Barack Obama Couldn't Care Less about Dead Children Jeannie DeAngelis Pressing for a bill whose ultimate goal is to curtail gun ownership because children die from gunshot wounds would be like lobbying for a bill to outlaw household cleaning products because every year thousands of children die as a result of accidental poisoning More
American Colonialism Michael Bargo Jr. No, the exploitation of minorities did not end with segregation -- it continues under the Democrats to this day. More
AT editor J.R. Dunn guests on Moran's show April 9, 2013 The death of Margaret Thatcher and the controversy over remarks made by MSNBC host Harris-Perry about children not belonging to parents will be discussed. More
A new phase of combat in the language wars? April 9, 2013 We are at a very interesting point in the conservative awakening, following the trauma of the 2012 presidential electoral defeat. More
AT Video - Click to Watch: Flashback: Thatcher Exposes Socialism
AT Video - Click to Watch: Can Government Create Jobs?
AT Video - Click to Watch: U.S. Navy Unveils New Laser Weapons System for Drone-Killing
AT Video - Click to Watch: Union 'Navigators' for ObamaCare Given All Our Personal Data?
AT Video - Click to Watch: WOW: Pro-Abortion Vandalism at Ohio State University Caught on Tape
Threat and Response-
Part SevenIslamists in our public schools!
CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) is an unindicted co-conspirator in the largest terrorism financing trial in U.S. history.
Over the past several years, a number of CAIR officials and leaders have been indicted, convicted or deported, on various charges.
CAIR's co-founder has publicly stated that "the Qur'an should be the highest authority in America."
Our Justice Department has connected CAIR to the terrorist organization Hamas.
Does this sound like an organization we should be welcoming to speak in our public schools?
Of course not-which is why ACT! for America is fighting attempts by CAIR to get into our children's classrooms.
In Washington state, the CAIR affiliate has been sending letters to school districts offering CAIR representatives as speakers. Our Washington state chapters have been fighting this.
Last fall in Tampa, Florida, ACT! for America chapters helped organize a local citizens watchdog group that appeared before the county school board to oppose CAIR representatives being invited to speak in schools.
ACT! for America Executive Director Guy Rodgers spoke at a news conference in Tampa, during which he asked, "Would the school board allow a speaker into the schools from an organization tied to a white supremacist terrorist organization? Of course not! Nor should it. Then the school board should be consistent and not allow speakers from CAIR in its schools."
In 2010, ACT! for America learned that Everett Community College had invited a CAIR representative to speak on campus.
Using our large Facebook presence, we mobilized to demand that Everett Community College invite a speaker with an opposing viewpoint.
The president of the college personally posted a message on the college Facebook page, noting that the grassroots response about CAIR was the largest they'd ever seen.
The college did invite another speaker, and even removed the CAIR logo from its website.
ACT! for America is the only organization combating radical Islam that has a national citizen action network and local chapters. When you make a contribution to ACT! for America, you are helping us grow this network, recruit and train new chapter leaders, and empower them to take action.
If there was no ACT! for America, the grassroots efforts described above would not have happened.
Please help us meet today's Spring Pledge Drive goal by logging on here and making either a monthly Patriot Partner contribution or a single gift Contributing Member contribution.
Our online contribution process is safe, simple and secure.
If you've been following our "Threat and Response" emails, you see the many ways in which radical Islam is trying to impose its will on the West and on America.
Out of the sight of most Americans, an Islamist organization connected to the terrorist organization Hamas is trying to worm its way into our schools.
With your help, we can fight CAIR wherever it tries to do so.
- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is launching an advertising campaign to "educate the public" about housing discrimination, saying there is a "persistence of discrimination based on religion."The public service announcement campaign will feature television, radio and print ads in English, Spanish, and Chinese around the theme "Fair Housing is Your Right, Use It." HUD has observed April as "Fair Housing Month" since 1969.
In a press release announcing the media campaign, HUD said it is designed to "educate the public and housing providers about their rights and responsibilities under the Fair Housing Act."
The campaign will encourage individuals to file complaints under the Fair Housing Act of 1968, which made it illegal to discriminate in the sale or rental of housing based on race, color, sex, religion, national origin, familial status or disability.
In addition, the campaign will advertise print ads that feature several scenarios of individuals and families facing discrimination based on their race, religion or disability.
A Muslim woman wearing a hijab is the subject of one ad that says, "Is religious discrimination keeping you out of the home of your dreams?"
The Emir of Qatar, who has long cultivated an image as a pro-Western reformist, has vowed to "spare no effort" to spread Wahhabi Islam throughout Europe. Wahhabism - which not only discourages Muslim integration in the West but actively encourages jihad against non-Muslims - threatens to radicalize Muslim immigrants in Ireland.
City planners in the Irish capital, Dublin, have given the go-ahead for the construction of a sprawling mega-mosque complex that will cater to Ireland's burgeoning Muslim population.
The massive €40 million ($50 million) "Islamic Cultural Center" will be built on a six-acre site in Clongriffin, a new and as yet unfinished suburb at the northern edge of Dublin.
According to the Dublin City Council, which approved the project on March 7, the Clongriffin Mosque will consist of: (a) a three-story domed mosque and cultural center with towering minarets; (b) a two-story conference center including a reception foyer, conference room, restaurant, banquet hall, kitchens and ancillary accommodation; (c) a three-story 16-classroom primary school and a two-story 12-classroom secondary school; (d) a two-story fitness center with a gym, sauna, steam room and an Olympic-sized indoor swimming pool; (e) a bookshop, library and mortuary; and (f) three four-story blocks of two-bedroom apartments with ground floor shops.
The Clongriffin Mosque will cater to some of the 30,000 Muslims living in Dublin, which is home to around 60% of the estimated 50,000 Muslims living in Ireland.
Although the number of Muslims in Ireland is relatively small (1.07% of the overall population), when compared to other European countries, the rate of growth of the Muslim population in Ireland has surged exponentially (1,170%) over the past 20 years, and Islam is now the fastest growing religion in the country. The total population of Ireland is 4.6 million.
According to Irish census data for 1991, the number of Muslims in the country was 3,875. After 1991, the Muslim population jumped, due to the arrival of Muslim refugees and asylum seekers from Bosnia, Kosovo and Somalia. According to the Irish census data for 2002, the number of Muslims was 19,147; by 2006, that number had swelled to 32,539. In the 2011 census, the number of Muslims was 49,204.
Ireland's Muslim population is projected to almost triple over the next twenty years, according to the Washington, DC-based Pew Research Center. A report entitled, The Future of the Global Muslim Population: Projections for 2010-2030 forecasts that there will be 125,000 Muslims living in Ireland by 2030.
The Clongriffin Mosque is being promoted by a Dublin-based Muslim organization called the Dublin Welfare Society Limited, an opaque group that was incorporated in April 2010 and has no formal activities other than to lobby for the mosque project.
The mega-mosque will be developed by a local real estate mogul, Gerry Gannon, on extensive land he owns at Clongriffin. According to the Irish Times, the project is a "coup" for Gannon, who hopes to sell hundreds and possibly thousands of newly built homes to Muslim families using the cultural center.
Clongriffin is located about 10 kilometers (6 miles) north of Dublin. Also known as the North Fringe, most of the land on which Clongriffin is being built was previously farmland. In July 2003, the Dublin City Council granted permission to begin developing a new suburb comprising houses and apartments, as well as schools, retail stores, supermarkets and a multi-screen cinema.
But construction in Clongriffin came to an abrupt halt after the Irish property bubble burst in 2009, and the country needed to be rescued in November 2010 with an €85 billion ($109 billion) bailout by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.
Before Ireland's real estate crash, Gannon invested millions of euros on developing Clongriffin, including the construction of a railway station linking the suburb to downtown Dublin. With the approval of the mega-mosque project, Clongriffin suddenly has a new lease on life... and so does Gannon.
Planning documents show that the Dublin City Council has approved the construction of 3,678 new homes near where the mega-mosque will be built. Gannon hopes the Clongriffin Mosque will fuel demand for the homes he is eager to sell.
But critics worry that Clongriffin is in danger of becoming an exclusively Islamic suburb on the outskirts of Dublin where Muslims will establish a parallel society rather than integrate.
An Islamist website called "Islamic Vanguards: Spearheading Ireland's Transition" recently warned that Gannon's greed would be Ireland's undoing: "If there's one thing the west yearns, it is money. For it has worshiped this false god without fail for as long as they have departed from the worship of the true God. And it is this weakness, nay addiction that will see what they hold precious being wrenched from their spindly hands.
Court handout/FilesPolice surveillance video of Toronto 18 members Saad Goya and Saad Khalid, who both pleaded guilty after being arrested in Newmarket, Ontario.
Christie Blatchford | 13/04/02
The most alarming thing about the CBC revelations that it was two nice young men from London, Ont., who were involved in the January terrorist attack at an Algerian gas plant is that Canadians still have the capacity to be alarmed.
A CBC investigation has fingered a third man from London, Ont., with possible links to a terrorist attack on an Algerian gas plant last January.
Aaron Yoon attended London South Collegiate and was a classmate of Xristos Katsiroubas and Ali Medlej, two men the public broadcaster identified on Monday as being among 29 Islamist extremists who stormed the In Amenas plant and held hundreds of workers hostage for four days.
Mr. Yoon travelled to North Africa with Mr. Katsiroubas and Mr. Medlej, but according to the CBC, he was arrested and detained prior to the attack, which was planned in Mali and launched from Libya. Mr. Yoon remains in a North African prison.
The two, in their early 20s, have been identified as Xristos Katsiroubas and Ali Medlej, former schoolmates at London South Secondary and apparently the products of conventional backgrounds.
They were among 29 armed Islamists, led by al-Qaeda-linked Mokhtar Belmokhtar, who stormed the In Amenas plant and held hundreds of workers hostage for four days.
They were later killed in an Algerian military raid on the plant.
Intelligence types have been warning for years, in language as frank as this lot can use, that increasing numbers of young Canadians are being radicalized - either to fight overseas or, as with the so-called "Toronto 18" group of a few years ago, at home.
Eleven of the 18 originally charged in 2006 were actually convicted of terrorism offences, with two core members sentenced to life in prison.
Back then, one of the drivers - the factors leading to radicalization - was the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks in America, particularly the war in Afghanistan, and the countries of choice were Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Now, it is Syria making what one intelligence source dryly describes as "that huge sucking sound" - the sound of disaffected young men from across Europe and Canada taking off in droves for that wartorn country, where last month alone an estimated 6,000 people were killed.
Nobody knows what is going through Kim Jong Un's fevered brain. North Korea's young dictator has been hurling threats and invective for weeks. His regime has warned foreign diplomats that it cannot guarantee their safety after tomorrow. North Korea is warning foreigners to leave South Korea. And Kim has threatened nuclear strikes on specific U.S. cities.
What is our response? Well at the White House they held another party. At the Department of Defense, Secretary Chuck Hagel canceled a scheduled U.S. missile test. According to the Associated Press the launch was canceled due to "concerns the launch could be misinterpreted and exacerbate the Korean crisis."
Nobody wants the U.S. to be involved in another war by accident or otherwise. But this is not the way to avoid it. Kim Jong Un is threatening to nuke specific American cities and the reaction of our Secretary of Defense is to do his best to avoid being provocative. The provocation is all Kim Jong Un's.
It's not clear that Kim has the capability to deliver a nuke. He may or may not. But if we are cowering in the face of such threats now, just imagine the dilemma the next president will face when Iran and North Korea do have the ability to lob nukes at us or transfer those nukes to terrorists.
Today we face two tyrants running Iran and North Korea while threatening us and other democracies with nuclear weapons. The response has been pathetic, as this Wall Street Journal op-ed makes clear.
Instead of peace through strength, Obama is giving us instability through weakness. Obama is working non-stop to limit the rights of law-abiding Americans to obtain firearms while potential mass murderers in Iran and Korea may soon have weapons that can kill millions.
Demonizing Faith
As if dealing with North Korea were not enough, some left-wing bureaucrats inside the military have apparently declared war on men and women of faith. An Army Reserve unit in Pennsylvania was recently given a briefing on extremism. A Power Point presentation included a slide with more than a dozen examples of extremism.
Al Qaeda was listed fifth. Hamas was sixth. The KKK was eighth on the list. At the top of the list was "Evangelical Christianity," and "Catholicism" was tenth.
The Chaplains Alliance for Religious Liberty and the Archdiocese for the Military Services blasted the briefing. The Department of the Army contends this was an isolated incident, and that the materials were not condoned by the Army. But how does material like that even get written at all?
From the very beginning of the Obama Administration, the Department of Homeland Security was already "profiling" conservatives. Earlier this year, a West Point report labeled part of the "violent far right" anyone who espoused "strong convictions regarding the federal government, believing it to be corrupt and tyrannical, with a natural tendency to intrude on individuals' civil and constitutional rights."
That could well be a majority of the country! According to a February Pew Research poll, 53% of Americans view the government as a threat to their liberty.
For decades, the political left has been on a cultural jihad to purge God and faith from the public arena. The political left mocks Christian conservatives as "the American Taliban." Now we are being told that believing marriage is between a man and a woman is bigotry.
When leftists outside the government condemn men and women of faith, why would we be surprised when leftists inside the government start producing reports calling heartland Americans "extremists"?
If any fair-minded observer in Big Media wanted to figure out why there is such a concern about universal background checks and a national registry of firearms, he should look no further than this latest Army briefing and the left's routine demonization of normalcy.
Democrat "Evolution" On Marriage
The demonization of normalcy is exemplified by the rush of Democrat politicians to embrace the radical notion of men "marrying" other men. CBS News reports that 54 senators now support same-sex "marriage," and 52 of them are Democrats. Of the 46 remaining hold outs, only three are Democrats.
Two of the hold outs -- Mary Landrieu and Mark Pryor -- are up for reelection next year in conservative states. The third, Sen. Joe Manchin, is from West Virginia, another conservative state with a highly competitive open Senate race next year.
We have already seen a number of Democrats in red states endorse same-sex "marriage" soon after they were elected. Even liberal reporters at the Washington Post can see though the cynical pandering of these left-wing politicians. Two reporters looked at 13 Democrats who recently switched their positions and concluded:
"[T]hese Senators have long privately supported gay marriage but have resisted going public until the last three weeks for fear of the political consequences. . . .Of that same group of 13 Democrats, nine were elected or re-elected in 2012, meaning that they won't stand for re-election until 2018. Two others -- Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia and Tim Johnson of South Dakota -- are retiring rather than seeking re-election in 2014."
The National Republican Senatorial Committee and the RNC should be putting together a hard-hitting ad campaign right now to run against Senators Landrieu and Pryor.
For example, they could demand they sign a pledge stating that they will respect the values of their constituents and that under no circumstances will they promote same-sex "marriage" while they hold public office. That way there won't be a voter in their state who feels cheated the day after the election, as I am sure many now do in Indiana, Missouri, Montana and North Dakota.
The Left's All-Out War On Conservatives
You will recall that during the presidential campaign, a big albatross around Mitt Romney's neck was the release of a tape of a speech he delivered. In his remarks, Romney appeared to suggest he was writing off 47% of the country as "takers." David Corn broke the story in his left-wing publication Mother Jones.
Now Corn and Mother Jones are breaking news with a new tape that attempts to smear Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell. Somehow Corn's crew obtained a recording of an opposition research meeting conducted by McConnell's campaign to discuss the strategy they would employ against actress Ashley Judd, who seriously considered running against McConnell.
The contents of the tape reveal the ways in which Judd could have been pilloried as an out-of-touch elitist. She has been critical of traditional Christianity, she is pro-abortion, she is anti-coal, she has a history of mental instability.
Of course, Corn portrays Judd as the victim of right-wing intolerance. But politics is a contact sport, and don't think for a second that liberal activists haven't been holding similar meetings about Mitch McConnell.
The real victim here is the McConnell campaign. This was a private meeting of longtime, loyal staffers. The office was obviously bugged. The McConnell campaign has asked the FBI to investigate these "Nixonian tactics." This investigation could become the "Watergate scandal" of the 2014 campaign.
I know Mitch McConnell is not a favorite of conservatives. But he has been fairly tough in the Senate while playing a pretty weak hand. He is also the leader of the Senate GOP and more than anything the left wants his scalp as a symbolic victory.
While some Republican senators have been dining with Obama, thinking he really wants to work with them, his left-wing allies are doing everything they can to destroy conservatives. They bug offices, smear men like Dr. Ben Carson and intimidate and threaten anyone who defends life, marriage and faith.
Pray For Warren Family
Carol and I were saddened by the tragic news this weekend that Matthew Warren, Pastor Rick Warren's 27 year-old son, took his own life. In a statement Pastor Warren released, he wrote that Matthew "had a brilliant intellect and a gift for sensing who was most in pain or most uncomfortable in a room." Sadly, Matthew was often in pain himself as he struggled with depression.
Please remember Pastor Rick Warren, his wife, Kay, and the entire Saddleback community in your prayers.
A Toronto area father is upset after being locked out of his daughter's swim class for what he was told are "religious reasons," according to the Toronto Sun.
In a stunning move, the AP capitulated to pressures by Islamist group CAIR to drop the use of the term "Islamist" when describing self-declared Islamist militants and movements.
CPAC attendees charged CPAC's organizers, the American Conservative Union, with neglecting national security issues, particularly those involving multiple interrelated global Islamist threats.
The killings in Colorado and at Sandy Hook school were committed by certifiably insane individuals. No background check can determine a person's sanity.
We are accustomed to seeing Iranians as revolutionary Shiite Muslims at war with the world, exemplified by Ayatollah Khamenei (and before him, father of the revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini).
The Holocaust was a transformative event, but only to a degree, the responses to it came out of earlier debates that had been going on for several generations.
Democratic political strategist Donna Brazile is raising some eyebrows today with a tweet that questions Margaret Thatcher's legacy in regards to women in politics.
Baroness Thatcher, who has died aged 87 from a stroke, was not only Britain's first woman Prime Minister, she was also the outstanding peacetime leader of the 20th century.
700 retired Military Special Ops professionals sent a letter to the House of Representatives urging members to create a Committee to investigate last September's deadly terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya.
Did you know that if everyone who visited our FSM website this year donated just $1, we would easily exceed our annual budget?
Your gift will be an investment in freedom.
As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, The Family Security Foundation relies upon the thoughtfulness and (tax-deductible!) generosity of visitors like you.
"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
On January 23, 2013, long-time "China hand" Ambassador Frank Lavin visited The Heritage Foundation to share his insights on the fundamental issues facing China's new leaders.
"How China defines itself, and is defined by others, will in large measure define this century," he explained. "The 21st century is all about the policy decisions that China makes and which decisions the United States and other countries make regarding those decisions."
He outlined for the audience the four key issues China faces today: (1) economic performance, (2) social stability, (3) leadership cohesion, and (4) foreign policy.
How the People's Republic of China addresses these issues will determine its success or failure at home, and will also contribute to either friction or harmony in Asia in the coming years.
Instead of being arbitrarily handled on a case-by-case basis, concerns over cyber espionage should be addressed in a much more transparent and standardized way - by reforming the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).
There had been hopes that the new Chinese leadership of Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang would pursue a more conciliatory line once they had formally acceded to both Party and governmental positions. Instead, Chinese policy on maritime boundary disputes appears to be hardening.
What the Left Misunderstands about Poverty and Dependency
Jim DeMint kicked off his first day as President of the Heritage Foundation with a letter celebrating the American spirit and lamenting the damage done to our national character by the Left's limitless welfare state: "Liberal policies have destroyed families and communities and created dependence on government. Putting our society back together will require work."
Not surprisingly, DeMint's message failed to resonate with The Huffington Post. Author Ryan Grim responded that "government assistance has led to a dramatic decline in poverty since the days when poor people were left to their own devices."
Is the choice really only between government help or callous indifference to the plight of others?
George Washington has a monument. Thomas Jefferson has a memorial. Heck, even James Buchanan has a spot in Washington, D.C. There's no slab of marble in honor of James Madison. But there is a document.
Both the Senate and the House passed a budget resolution. It's about time! Without budgeting Congress abdicates its constitutional policymaking role. Choosing how to allocate resources among the government's activities is a fundamental part of governing. When Congress neglects this work, it accelerates a dangerous concentration of power in the executive branch and the administrative state.
Alan Dershowitz can be a frustrating man, but when he is good, he is very, very good. I will skip past some of his iffier moments of Obama-induced backsliding to the present day when the Harvard professor has again stepped forward, this time to protest the decision of Yeshiva University's Cardozo School of Law to give its annual "International Advocate for Peace" award to U.S. President Jimmy Carter.
For most Americans, the arrival of spring means rising temperatures, the reemergence of green grass (and weeds), and a return to outdoor activities. It also appears, for the fourth year in a row, that spring's arrival will be accompanied by yet another swoon in the nation's job market.
VIDEO: Reid says there is "no reason" for GOP's "blatant obstruction" of gun control except "fear of considering anti-violence proposals" in public view.
"Democracy will soon degenerate into an anarchy; such an anarchy that every man will do what is right in his own eyes and no man's life or property or reputation or liberty will be secure, and every one of these will soon mould itself into a system of subordination of all the moral virtues and intellectual abilities, all the powers of wealth, beauty, wit, and science, to the wanton pleasures, the capricious will, and the execrable cruelty of one or a very few." ~ John Adams
When Will He Give It Up?
O'Reilly Doubles Down On Insulting Christians "As a dog that returneth to his vomit, so is the fool that repeateth his folly." That's Proverbs 26:11 for a certain popular cable-news host who just returned from a nice Caribbean vacation. And, no, I'm not Bible thumping. I'm O'Reilly thumping...
U.S. Ready To Spend Up To $300,000 For 'Workforce Development'--In Serbia By Jon Street CNSNews.com The U.S. State Department, through the Agency for International Development (USAID), has announced that it will award up to $300,000 for "workforce development" in Serbia.
Thus Saith The Late Lady Thatcher: For Those Who Have Forgotten And Those Who Never Knew
[Late] Margaret Thatcher on Socialism NewsMax.com This is a video excerpt from Margaret Thatcher's last speech in Parliament as Britain's prime minister.
Bill Ayers: Weatherman Domestic Terrorist Spills The Beans
Bill Ayers Confirms What Obama Has Denied By Aaron Klein WorldNetDaily Weatherman domestic terrorist Bill Ayers is now confirming what the White House has previously denied--that he held a fundraiser in his living room for Barack Obama.
Apparently, he did not have the right permit to defend himself!! Related posts: Obama Supporters Charged With Voter Fraud!! This is likely just the tip of the iceberg!!... Continue... Allen West Hits Back At Dems' Racially Charged Ad Allen West slams his congressional opponent, Patrick Murphy, for blatantly...
Apr 09, 2013 01:26 pm On Friday April 5, 2013 - Carl Gallups of Freedom Friday with Carl Gallups interviewed Mike Zullo, Lead Investigator, with the Sheriff Arpaio Cold Case Posse. The interview was conducted over an hour and half portion of Carl's show. Zullo and Gallups promised stunning new revelations in the case ... and in spite of the [...]
Video: Hawaii Gov. Used Search Warrant To Find Obama Birth Certificate
Apr 09, 2013 01:17 pm
Of course, it was a failed attempt! Related posts: WND's Joseph Farah: Hawaii Found To Be A Bogus Birth-Certificate Factory Our good friend Joseph Farah, editor-in-chief of WND (and a... Will Hawaii Destroy Obama's Birth Certificate? By Bob Unruh, WorldnetDaily The state of Hawaii has made...
Apr 09, 2013 01:07 pm In early March, Senator Rand Paul had America buzzing about drones. They were the highlight of his 13-hour filibuster against John Brennan, Barack Obama's nominee to be director of the CIA. Paul's intention was not to actually stop the nomination of Brennan - he knew the filibuster would fail. Instead, he wished to turn the [...]
It's good to know we are not alone in demanding answers from Obama's regime!! Related posts: Benghazi-Gate: Lawmakers Demand Answers The "Benghazi Accountability Report" issued by the Obama administration merely... Senator Wants Answers On Benghazi-gate Before Confirming CIA Head Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) was interviewed by Bret Baier on...
Apr 09, 2013 12:57 pm In their haste to impose an historic affront to individual liberty, the authors of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) neglected to provide the federal bureaucracy with either the funding necessary to build ObamaCare exchanges within the various states OR the authority to award tax credits or impose penalties on the American public. For when the [...]
Video: Michigan Lawmakers Nullify NDAA, Stand Against Fed Gun Grab
Apr 09, 2013 12:53 pm
Nearly a thousand heavily armed demonstrators, some in wheelchairs and some in strollers, descended upon the Michigan State Capitol building in Lansing on Wednesday March 20th to draw a line in the sand, telling the Federal government in no uncertain terms that they would oppose any attempts to register or ban any type of currently [...]
Apr 09, 2013 12:52 pm WASHINGTON - Democrats have brought gun control legislation to the Senate floor amid a threat from conservative Republican senators to use delaying tactics to prevent formal debate from even beginning. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid took the first procedural step to begin debate on Monday. Read More at OfficialWire . Photo Credit: Donkey Hotey (Creative Commons) [...]
Glenn Beck says that proponents of marriage equality have won because they made the issue about freedom, "and the principle of it is right." Related posts: DID LAWRENCE O'DONNELL IMPLY GLENN BECK IS GAY? MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell has long been trying to get a... Marriage Is Our Freedom, Not A Gift From Our Government Newt [...]
Apr 09, 2013 12:45 pm Two weeks ago, I wrote a column encouraging churches to take a moral stand and make their voices heard as the Supreme Court deliberates the constitutionality of California's Proposition 8, which voters in my home state approved in 2008 to ban same-sex marriage. I pointed out that the fight over Proposition 8 is not just [...]
Video: Father's Gun Confiscated After Son Talks About Water Gun
Apr 09, 2013 12:43 pm
It is now a daily occurrence for school officials somewhere in America to freak out, call the police, and discipline students over anything vaguely resembling a gun. On Monday, it was the turn of Malden High School in Massachusetts. Related posts: Obama Administration Proposes Race-Based School Discipline System The Obama White House thinks that schools [...]
Apr 09, 2013 12:42 pm HARTFORD, Conn. - With time running out on the chance to pass gun control legislation, President Barack Obama on Monday warned Congress not to use delaying tactics against tighter regulations and told families of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims that he's "determined as ever" to honor their children with tougher laws. Obama's gun [...]
Video: MSNBC Host: Thatcher Embodied Selfishness And Greed
Apr 09, 2013 12:39 pm
Martin Bashir of course doesn't know what he's talking about... Related posts: MSNBC's Bashir: GOP OK With Obama Building The White House, Not Living In It MSNBC host Martin Bashir took his race-baiting all the way... MSNBC's Bashir Mocks 'Chicken Hawk' Herman Cain, Despite Dept. Of Navy Service MSNBC's Martin Bashir on Wednesday wondered if [...]
Building On The Secular Case For Traditional Marriage
Apr 09, 2013 12:33 pm Is there a strong secular case to be made for the state's exclusive recognition of traditional marriage? If so, any arguments for a deviation from this accepted, well-established standard should be equally as compelling. Please consider this brief introductory summary in support of traditional marriage. The case made is purely a secular one. [Note: Featured [...]
Apr 09, 2013 12:25 pm Joseph Curl noted in his Sunday column in the Washington Times that many ordinary Americans around the country were upset with the extravagant lifestyles President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and their families are living while most Americans suffer from a still-disastrous economy. "President Obama had another tough week in a second term filled [...]
Video: Coulter Swipes At Palin In Comment On Thatcher
Apr 09, 2013 12:24 pm
On yesterday morning's edition of Geraldo Rivera's radio show, Ann Coulter shared a very interesting anecdote about the late Margaret Thatcher's complicated relationship with Sarah Palin. Related posts: Ann Coulter Takes A Swipe At Sarah Palin This was very unexpected on Ann Counter's part, in my... Ann Coulter On Today, Thanks To Drudge And Citizen [...]
Woulda, Shoulda, Coulda In Washington And Elsewhere
Apr 09, 2013 12:13 pm We should only get mail delivered on Mondays and Thursdays. The Conservatives in the House should be drafting a bill concerning the number of taxpayer-funded vacations any future president gets (and a cap on costs over which the President is responsible.) Going to Camp David or their private home for extended times are fine, as [...]
Conservative comedian Jodi Miller cracks a bunch of jokes at the expense of liberals... Related posts: What Birthday Gift Do You Get For The Guy (Obama) Who's Taken EVERYTHING! Here, comedian Jodi Miller cracks jokes at Obama's expense.... Continue... Dennis Miller: Obama Most Divisive POTUS Ever Comedian Dennis Miller asks why Obama always says 'rich' [...]
Apr 09, 2013 11:10 am This is a term used by the establishment. Language is important for progressives in order to throw off unwitting voters. As I said before, people make the mistake of only describing leftists as progressives. This is not the case. Statists, career politicians, and the establishment all fall in the progressive category. In order for there [...]
Apr 09, 2013 10:48 am WASHINGTON - Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, two self-assured and firm-speaking conservatives, joined forces in the early 1980s and drastically changed the economic and political landscapes in both of their countries. Their calls for more-austere government and lower taxes still resonate with conservatives on both sides of the Atlantic. And their side-by-side standing up to [...]
The Republican members of the bipartisan Senate "Gang of Eight" have passed the deadline for Senate Judiciary Committee ranking GOP member Sen. Chuck Grassley's request for a briefing on their coming immigration reform bill.
Last week, Grassley (R-IA) and his conservative committee colleagues Sens. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Mike Lee (R-UT) wrote to "Gang of Eight" senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), John McCain (R-AZ), and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), asking them to champion a transparent immigration reform process complete with thorough hearings examining each facet of any legislation those "Gang" Republicans and their Democratic counterparts develop.
In their haste to impose an historic affront to individual liberty, the authors of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) neglected to provide the federal bureaucracy with either the funding necessary to build ObamaCare exchanges within the various states OR the authority to award tax credits or impose penalties on the American public.
For when the ACA was written it was foolishly believed by lawmakers that each of the 50 states would immediately take on the near 100 million dollar responsibility of completing an ObamaCare exchange within its borders-an exchange being the sales center without which no ObamaCare business may be transacted, no healthcare policies sold.
But today a desperate Kathleen Sebelius and her Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have gone from depending on states to implement the Affordable Care Act to threatening those same states for dragging their feet and performing acts of outright rebellion against both the law and the ... Continue Reading:The Supreme Court re-wrote ObamaCare in order to salvage it, now the IRS takes its turn
Bowdoin President Barry Mills reportedly engaged in a golf game during the summer of last year with philanthropist and investor Thomas Klingenstein who, while not being a graduate of Bowdoin, was himself interested in the college�s approach to education. The result was an apparently awkward conversation during which Klingenstein complained of Bowdoin�s excessive celebration of �racial and ethnic difference,� in his words, rather than of �common American identity." See the shocking reportHERE.
A Connecticut father is accusing his son�s school district of teaching children that Americans do not have a constitutional right to bear arms. Steven Boibeaux of Bristol, Connecticut, is claiming that his child, an eighth-grader at Northeast Middle School, was given a social studies worksheet that is anti-Second Amendment in nature � or, at the least, opposed to the conservative view of the provision. Get the details and see a copy of the actual worksheetHERE.
This weekend, an email written by Ron Trowbridge, the undersheriff of Prowers County, Colorado, began to sweep some of the viral corners of the internet. The e-mail alleges that a Colorado State Police training encouraged law enforcement officials to look at Bible-believing Christians with intense skepticism. Get the full story on this shocking trainingHERE.
One of the most widely read financial journalists in America says a scandal in the Obama Administration could actually ruin the entire Democratic party. Learn how here.
On Monday, Fox News� Megyn Kelly hosted Newtown parent Mark Mattioli, whose son was tragically gunned down at Sandy Hook Elementary, to discuss the ongoing gun control debate. The interview became so overwhelmingly emotional at one point that Mattioli broke down in tears while Kelly struggled to keep it together. See the segmentHERE.
Baroness Margaret Thatcher was well-known throughout the free world for her fierce conservatism and her opposition to the �Evil Empire,� two noble qualities that separated her from many of her U.K. colleagues. But did you know that she also had some frighteningly accurate economic predictions? Check them outHERE.
An elaborate hoax setup to trick followers of Pastor Joel Osteen into believing that he has left Christian ministry is capturing a fair bit of attention. The ploy apparently gained so much steam that a representative felt the need to respond to inquiries on the preacher�s official Twitter account, writing, �It is a false rumor: Pastor Joel is not leaving the church.� Watch the fake news report that appeared on the hoax websiteHERE.
Doctor Benjamin Carson, the director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital, says he wasn�t subjected to �name-calling� because of his conservative views before respectfully offering an alternative to President Obama�s health care plan at the National Prayer Breakfast. Now, he is regularly referred to with vile words, ones so vile, they can�t be repeated on air. According to a group of black conservatives who appeared on Sean Hannity's Show on Monday night, this is not uncommon. Watch the videoHERE.
Country music star Brad Paisley has a new single out titled �Accidental Racist� and it�s ruffling some feathers. In the song, Paisley talks about wearing a shirt with a Confederate flag on it as a symbol of �Southern pride,� not because he is racist. Read the lyrics, watch the video and share your opinion on the controversial song HERE.
We think laughter is a vital component to each day. That's the main reason we're sharing this video featuring the same skiing mishap over and over, just with different music underneath it. Watch, laugh, and enjoyHERE.
Bazaar salesmen in Argentina apparently think customers are pretty gullible. Reportedly, the salesmen have been passing off ferrets on steroids as toy poodles. Unfortunately, some people really are that easily fooled and have purchased the modified ferrets. Can this be real? Watch the videoHERE.
This column by ACRU Senior Fellow Robert Knight was published April 8, 2013 on The Washington Times website.
In a remarkably short time, Germany recovered smartly from the wreckage of its defeat in World War II to become the economic strongman of Europe. Monuments to the nation's plunge into Nazism remain at Dachau and other death camps as grim reminders of the dangers of an all-powerful state with a messianic leader.
Curiously, one aspect of the old Nazi state that originated in 1918, even before the Nazis took power, remains: a prohibition on home-schooling. It seems the current education authorities are willing to enforce this draconian law to keep their monopoly.
A courageous German Christian couple refused to hand over their children to the government schools and fled to America three years ago. Now, the Obama administration is trying to send them back. A likely outcome would be the state seizing the children and imprisoning the parents.
This column by ACRU General Counsel and Senior Fellow for the Carleson Center for Public Policy (CCPP) Peter Ferrara was published April 7, 2013 on Forbes.com.
The biggest political problem faced by so-called "liberals" and so-called "progressives" in President Obama's second term is how to prevent voters from holding them politically responsible as the public comes to realize how badly they were lied to during the first Obama term to win passage of Obamacare.
Most supporters of Obamacare embraced it because of a principled belief that everyone should have access to essential healthcare. But even the establishment, still Democrat dominated, CBO admits that after 10 years of implementation, Obamacare will still leave 30 million uninsured.
This column by ACRU Policy Board Member and Professor of Economics Dr. Walter E. Williams was published April 3, 2013 on Townhall.com.
Professor Craig Frisby is on the faculty of University of Missouri's Department of Educational, School and Counseling Psychology. His most recent book is Meeting the Psychoeducational Needs of Minority Students. It's a 662-page textbook covering a range of topics from multiculturalism and home and family influences to student testing and school discipline. There's no way full justice can be given to this excellent work in the space of this column, so I'll highlight a few valuable insights he makes that would help educators do a better job with minority students.
Washington is abuzz over Mother Jones's publication of secretly-recorded audio of a meeting between Senator Mitch McConnell and a small group of his campaign advisers. McConnell and his aides are heard discussing the potential candidacy of actress Ashley Judd, and suggesting ways in which she could be vulnerable. (Judd has since announced that she will not seek the Democratic nomination to run against McConnell.) Politico, like many other outlets, tried to make the conversation sound churlish:
Aides to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell discussed attacking Ashley Judd's mental health if the actress had opted to challenge the Kentuckian in 2014, according to a secret audio recording.
It turns out, though, that "[m]ost of the discussion focuses on Judd's liberal positions, including support for gay marriage and President Barack Obama's health care reform law." And the mental health reference comes from Judd's own autobiography:
"She's clearly, this sounds extreme, but she is emotionally unbalanced," a McConnell aide says on the recording.... "I mean it's been documented. Jesse can go in chapter and verse from her autobiography about, you know, she's suffered some suicidal tendencies. She was hospitalized for 42 days when she had a mental breakdown in the '90s."
Which is reminiscent of P.J. O'Rourke's observation that "[y]ou can't shame or humiliate modern celebrities. ... [I]f you say a modern celebrity is an adulterer, a pervert and a drug addict, all it means is that you've read his autobiography."
So it doesn't sound like much of a story. It's not as though they rooted through Judd's garbage or broke into her personal email account. Now that would be a scandal that the press would never let go of, right?
A group of 700 retired special operations military personnel have signed a letter to members of the House of Representatives, asking them to investigate the Benghazi debacle. You can read the letter here:
The purpose of this letter is to encourage all members of the US House of Representatives to support H.Res. 36, which will create a House Select Committee on the Terrorist Attack in Benghazi. It is essential that a full accounting of the events of September 11, 2012, be provided and that the American public be fully informed regarding this egregious terrorist attack on US diplomatic personnel and facilities.
The letter lists a series of questions that the House Select Committee should ask the Obama administration. I think they provide a good summary of the unanswered questions, most of them quite obvious, on which the administration has stonewalled, so far successfully:
1. Why was there no military response to the events in Benghazi?
a. Were military assets in the region available? If not, why not?
b. If so, were they alerted?
c. Were assets deployed to any location in preparation for a rescue or recovery attempt?
d. Was military assistance requested by the Department of State? If so, what type?
e. Were any US Army/Naval/USMC assets available to support the US diplomats in Benghazi during the attack?
f. What, if any, recommendations for military action were made by DOD and the US Africa Command?
2. What, if any, non-military assistance was provided during the attack?
3. How many US personnel were injured in Benghazi?
4. Why have the survivors of the attack not been questioned?
5. Where are the survivors?
6. Who was in the White House Situation Room (WHSR) during the entire 8-hour period of the attacks, and was a senior US military officer present?
7. Where were Leon Panetta and General Martin Dempsey during the crisis, and what inputs and recommendations did they make?
8. Where were Tom Donilon, the National Security Advisor, Denis McDonough, his deputy, Valerie Jarrett and John Brennan during the attacks, and what (if any) recommendations or decisions did any of them make?
9. Why were F-16 fighter aircraft based in Aviano, Italy (less than two hours away) never considered a viable option for disruption (if not dispersal) of the attackers until "boots on the ground" (troop support-General Dempsey's words) arrived?
10. Were any strike aircraft (such as an AC-130 gunship) in the area or possibly overhead that would cause former SEAL Tyrone Woods to laser-designate his attacker's position and call for gunship fire support, thereby revealing his own location that led to his death?
11. Who gave the order to "STAND DOWN" that was heard repeatedly during the attacks?
12. What threat warnings existed before the attack, and what were the DOD and DOS responses to those warnings? What data (which will reveal exact timelines and command decisions) is contained within the various SITREPS, records, logs, videos and recordings maintained by the myriad of DOD, Intelligence Community and State Department Command Centers that were monitoring the events in Benghazi as they unfolded?
13. Why did the Commander in Chief and Secretary of State never once check in during the night to find out the status of the crisis situation in Benghazi?
14. What was the nature of Ambassador Stevens' business in Benghazi at the time of the attack?
15. What guidance has been provided to survivors and family members since the time of the attack, and who issued that guidance?
16. Why are so many agencies now requiring their personnel that were involved in or have access to information regarding the events that took place in Benghazi sign Non-Disclosure Agreements?
The signers of the letter note that as former special operators, they have a keen interest in what appears to be a case of Americans being abandoned in the face of enemy action:
A longstanding American ethos was breached during the terrorist attack in Benghazi. America failed to provide adequate security to personnel deployed into harm's way and then failed to respond when they were viciously attacked. Clearly, this is unacceptable and requires accountability. America has always held to the notion that no American will be left behind and that every effort will be made to respond when US personnel are threatened. Given our backgrounds, we are concerned that this sends a very negative message to future military and diplomatic personnel who may be deployed into dangerous environments. That message is that they will be left to their own devices when attacked. That is an unacceptable message.
The signers of the letter are an impressive group, apart from their sheer numbers. They include two Medal of Honor recipients and five retired lieutenant generals, including William (Jerry) Boykin.
While the Obama cover-up has been successful so far, Benghazi still has the potential to dog the president's second term, much as the Nixon administration was able to keep a lid on the Watergate break-in until after the election, but couldn't stave off the scandal indefinitely. Of course, times were different then: the press was trying to bring the administration down, not prop it up.
Nouri al-Maliki, the Prime Minister of Iraq, writes an op-ed for the Washington Post called "A partner in Iraq." The most significant thing about the op-ed is that Maliki took the trouble to produce it. By doing so, he goes a ways towards demonstrating that the U.S. does have a partner, of sorts, in Iraq and that, as he puts it, the U.S. has not lost Iraq.
Maliki's piece relies heavily on cliches, of course - what op-ed by a national leader doesn't? But his take on Syria is interesting. Maliki argues that there is "no scenario in which a military 'victory' by either the government or the opposition can bring peace and stability." Thus, he advocates a "negotiated solution."
This is the position I would expect from a responsible Iraqi nationalist leader - one who is hostile to al Qaeda and other Islamic extremists (who may well achieve military victory in Syria), but not in the pocket of Iran (which wants Assad to win). A negotiated settlement is plainly in Iraq's interests, and Maliki makes a decent case that it's also in the interests of the U.S.:
We have been mystified by what appears to be the widespread belief in the United States that any outcome in Syria that removes President Bashar al-Assad from power will be better than the status quo. A Syria controlled in whole or part by al-Qaeda and its affiliates - an outcome that grows more likely by the day - would be more dangerous to both our countries than anything we've seen up to now.
I am similarly mystified, but wonder whether there can be a negotiated settlement, much less one that would hold, given the extent to which the situation in Syria has disintegrated during the past two years of U.S. inaction.
Matt Salmon, the gay son of a Republican congressman, says that CNN's Piers Morgan and MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell canceled interviews with him because he refused to criticize his father, who is not a supporter of same-sex marriage. The rejection of guests because they won't serve as props to further the host's simplistic narrative isn't confined to CNN and MSNBC. I experienced it with a well-known Fox News talk-show host.
But using a son as a prop to bash his father seems to carry the joke too far. Moreover, O'Donnell and Morgan are missing the real story of the Salmons and the Portmans - the loyalty that stems from family love. Matt Salmon is loyal to his father; Rob Portman is loyal to his son.
We know that bad behavior from dysfunctional families makes for good television ratings. Behavior from well-functioning families - no longer purely a dog-bites-man story - might do so, as well. But perhaps not for the audience that watches Piers Morgan and Lawrence O'Donnell.
In one of his routines on the justice system dating back to the early 1970's, comedian Richard Pryor commented sarcastically (in language rated XXX): "You go down there looking for justice, that's what you find: Just us."
Pryor was referring to the racial composition of the players involved in the administration of justice. Times have changed substantially in that respect, but reading Ben Shapiro's account of President Obama's gun control speech in Colorado last week, I was reminded of Pryor's routine:
In his big pitch in Colorado on Wednesday for further gun control, President Obama made an astonishing statement about gun rights advocates' fears of governmental gun seizures. He said that such worries would just feed "into fears about government. You hear some of these folks: 'I need a gun to protect myself from the government. We can't do background checks because the government's going to come take my guns away.' The government's us. These officials are elected by you...I am constrained as they are constrained by the system that our founders put in place."
Obama's point about constraints does not exactly square up with his assertion that there's nothing to worry about, "the government's us." There is an unacknowledged tension between these points.
The founders of the United States were profound students of politics and history. They understood the difficulty of reconciling individual rights with democratic rule. In Federalist 1 Publius observes, "of those men who have overturned the liberties of republics, the greatest number have begun their career by paying an obsequious court to the people; commencing demagogues, and ending tyrants." In the clip, to borrow the language of Publius, Obama is paying obsequious court to the people. He's not "commencing" a demagogue. He's been there for a while.
The founders saw that democracies had "ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths." They set about to limit the powers of government to protect our liberties from the likes of President Obama - and from "us."
If you're Iran, and you can't come to an agreement with other world powers about nuclear arms, apparently this is what you do to tick off everyone else ...
WES VERNON, RA ANALYST - Amongst the myriad twists and turns and subplots of World War II was the amazing efficiency with which Soviet agents in the U.S.O., Japan, and elsewhere around the globe coordinated to steer the imperial Japanese government away from an attack on the Soviet Union -- a multi-year effort that resulted in the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941... (more)
ALAN KEYES - According to the ABC News report I read, "The Associated Press, the largest news-gathering outlet in the world, will no longer use the term illegal immigrant." Apparently, this decision comes after years of pressure from groups that find the term offensive. The report boasts that "Fusion, the ABC-Univision joint venture, does not use 'illegal immigrant' because we believe it dehumanizes those it describes...."... (more)
F. MICHAEL MALOOF - If North Korea were to launch an attack, U.S. intelligence analysts tell WND the barrage of hundreds of thousands of artillery rounds and missiles would destroy not only South Korea's capital, Seoul, but also most of the U.S. troops stationed primarily around the capital and near the Demilitarized Zone separating the two countries... (more)
JOSEPH FARAH - They say Americans get most of their information not from news reports but from entertainment programming. This might not be a bad development, as it concerns one of the most frightening possibilities facing our nation in the immediate future. On the catastrophic scenario of an electro-magnetic pulse attack on the USA, the news media have been AWOL... (more)
PHYLLIS SCHLAFLY - Thirty years ago, on March 23, 1983, Ronald Reagan made a television address calling on the United States to build an anti-missile defense. His rationale was compelling: Isn't it better to save American lives than to kill millions of the enemy?... (more)
TIMOTHY P. CARNEY - Congressional Republicans and the Obama White House are headed for another clash over corporate welfare, and once again President Obama is on the side of big business while Senate conservatives are on the side of free markets... (more)
CNS NEWS - A recent solicitation from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) reveals that the agency is seeking a "massive" online database capable of pulling up individuals' personal information, connections and associates... (more)
AARON KLEIN - Weatherman domestic terrorist Bill Ayers is now confirming what the White House has previously denied -- that he held a fundraiser in his living room for Barack Obama. That 1995 meeting was said to have launched Obama's political career... (more)
JACK CASHILL - (Published June 19, 2012) In all the talk about David Maraniss' new book, "Barack Obama: The Story," the chattering classes seem to have overlooked the most significant of Maraniss' revelations, namely that the story on which Obama based his 2008 candidacy is "received myth, not the truth"... (more)
CNN - A federal judge in Brooklyn, New York, has ordered the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to make the morning-after birth control pill available to people of any age without a prescription. The order overturned a 2011 decision by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to require a prescription for girls under 17... (more)
NEWSMAX - A federal judge's order that emergency contraceptives must be made available to girls of all ages within 30 days "doesn't make any kind of medical sense,'' a top Mount Sinai School of Medicine physician says... (more)
REUTERS - The Kansas state Senate passed a measure on Friday that would ban Planned Parenthood from providing sex education in schools and require women to get more information about fetal development before having an abortion... (more)
WORLDNETDAILY - Soldiers in the U.S. military have been told in a training briefing that evangelical Christians are the No. 1 extremist threat to America -- ahead of groups like the Muslim Brotherhood, KKK, Nation of Islam, al-Qaida, Hamas and others... (more)
WASHINGTON TIMES - James E. Hansen will no longer be touring the country preaching his end-times hysteria, collecting a $158,832 government paycheck for it. Mr. Hansen demonstrated a certain mastery of the art of leveraging, using his position as head of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies to promote a personal brand of global warming quackery... (more)
MICHELLE MALKIN - President Obama's hometown of Chicago still goes by the old nickname "Windy City." But after three miserable decades of strict gun control and permanent Democratic rule, Chicago has cemented its reputation as America's Bloody City... (more)
ALAN KEYES - [This is a comment from one of my Facebook readers, with my reply. It was occasioned by my last post entitled "Bullying 'bible thumpers,' O'Reilly rejects God-endowed rights."] THE COMMENT: The states should decide. It's not a federal issue... (more)
FRED HUTCHISON, RA ANALYST - The crisis in public education is well known. High dropout rates, low test scores, deficits in reading, math, and history, and inarticulate young people who do not read books are so frequently reported in the news that we have almost come to expect bad news about education. Why are these chronic problems so difficult to fix?... (more)
CLIFF KINCAID - Offending the moral sensibilities of millions of Americans, Time Magazine is featuring cover stories showing two white homosexual couples kissing. The Right Scoop blog ran a "censored version of the offensive covers."... (more)
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE - North Korea dramatically escalated its warlike rhetoric on Thursday, warning that it had authorised plans for nuclear strikes on targets in the United States. "The moment of explosion is approaching fast," the North Korean military said, warning that war could break out "today or tomorrow"... (more)
JOSEPH FARAH - Is all this talk of war by North Korea just the kind of posturing we've heard off and on from three generations of "supreme leaders"? Maybe. But with the rhetoric of the kind emanating from Pyongyang in the last week, only one thing is certain -- if war comes, it will be the worst camouflaged sneak attack in history... (more)
Make Your Voice Heard on April 10. Call Congress Tomorrow!
Pro-Amnesty Supporters to Rally in DC
Dear FAIR supporters,
Do you have plans for lunch tomorrow, Wednesday, April 10?
We know that pro-amnesty groups are converging on Capitol Hill for a rally and meeting with Members of Congress. In fact, the pro-amnesty lobby intends to bring "tens of thousands" of protesters to Washington, DC.
Help FAIR remind Congress why amnesty was rejected in 2007. Make plans to call your Members of Congress during lunch on Wednesday, April 10!
While the pro-amnesty lobbyists try to meet with our elected officials, make their phones ring off the hook! Nearly three decades after the failed 1986 legislation granted amnesty to roughly 3 million illegal aliens, the same groups are back and are telling Congress to grant amnesty to another 11-12 million illegal aliens!
The American people must tell Congress that despite new marketing and talking points, another amnesty won't work in 2013-especially with 22 million Americans unemployed and underemployed.
We also need your help in letting new Members of Congress know that Americans oppose amnesty just as much now as they did when we stopped amnesty legislation in 2007. In fact, more than 40 new Senators have taken office since the last time Congress took up comprehensive immigration reform.
FAIR has all the information you need to take action during lunch tomorrow.
Call your Members of Congress during Lunch on April 10!
- Enter your ZIP to find the phone numbers & information that you need.
- Remember to call during lunchtime tomorrow to tell your elected officials: "No Amnesty!"
FAIR is a non-partisan, non-discriminatory non-profit organization dedicated to securing our borders, ending illegal immigration and promoting immigration levels consistent with the national interest. FAIR relies solely on the tax-deductible contributions of citizens and philanthropic foundations. Click here to visit FAIR's website.
Lady Margaret Thatcher, Britain's former prime minister and patron of The Heritage Foundation, was a leader who transformed Britain from the sick man of Europe into once again a great nation and an economic powerhouse.
Her death yesterday at the age of 87 is a loss not only for her own country of Great Britain, but also her strong allies in America and across the globe.
Lady Thatcher outlived the vast majority of her adversaries and critics. She was a leader who changed the course of history. In fact, the Thatcher revolution really laid the foundations for the Reagan revolution in the United States.
She was a hugely successful politician because she was always a conviction politician. Lady Thatcher held to a deep-seated set of conservative beliefs. She always stood by conservative principles.
Lady Thatcher always believed firmly in the ideal of American leadership on the world stage. It was her view that without American leadership, this world is a far more dangerous place.
And in order to protect and advance her legacy in the United States, she established the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at Heritage in 2005. It's the only center in the world that is named after Lady Thatcher. And she set up a center in the Washington, not in London, because she has so much faith in American global leadership.
Heritage has always had a very special place in Lady Thatcher's heart. I saw her in London just a few months ago in December. She was very cheerful. She was contented. She was very tranquil. And the first question she asked me when I saw her was, "How is The Heritage Foundation doing?" Because she has always felt that Heritage is a special place, that Heritage is a place that protects and defends conservative beliefs.
As we mourn the loss of Lady Thatcher, it's important for us to remember the importance of moving forward with core conservative beliefs. If Heritage does not defend these very values that Margaret Thatcher fought for, then America will be a far less prosperous society -- a society that does not hold onto the beliefs of individual freedom, individual liberty. And for Margaret Thatcher, individual liberty, individual freedom, are what makes the United States a great nation.
So today we pay tribute to the Iron Lady, one of the greatest British politician of our time, one of the greatest figures of modern times, a figure who fought for everything that we believe in as conservatives. And may we go forward now fighting for those principles and advancing the vision of the great Iron Lady.
Nile Gardiner, director of Heritage's Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, reflected on Lady Thatcher's legacy at The Heritage Foundation yesterday. To watch Dr. Gardiner's full presentation, click here.
In honor of the late "Iron Lady," we are paying tribute to Margaret Thatcher, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and President Reagan's close friend and ally during the Cold War. Here is a roundup of our posts.
PJ Columnist Michael Ledeen honors "Lady T" as part of "history's most remarkable groups of leaders": "She saved British capitalism, and she gave Britain another generation as an important country. She spoke magnificently, and she had great courage."
PJ Columnist Richard Fernandez explains how Thatcher found greatness by simply being the one who understood the challenge:
What made Margaret Thatcher noteworthy will not lie with her in the coffin, either to praise or -- as is almost as certain -- for her enemies to revile. The essence of her accomplishment was external to her. She only gave it a medium; a voice. Ronald Reagan perhaps put it best when he said: "There is no limit to what you can accomplish if you don't care who gets the credit."
PJ Washington editor Bridget Johnson details Washington's reaction to Thatcher's passing. President Obama called the former prime minister "one of the great champions of freedom and liberty" and a "true friend" to the United States. And House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) called Thatcher "the greatest peacetime prime minister in British history." Read the full article here.
Hoping Today's Young Learn About the Iron Lady from Sources Beyond 'The Iron Lady'
The 2011 film The Iron Lady was maddeningly frustrating for many reasons, a big one being that it represents such a missed opportunity. Hollywood won't make another Margaret Thatcher biopic anytime soon, if ever. You get one shot at a big-budget biopic, and you know that thousands, perhaps millions of people will get their view of history from the film, not from the history books. (Go figure, no stockbroker ever jumped out of a high window when the stock market crashed; content warning at link.)
For starters, about a third of the movie was about Thatcher's losing battle with Alzheimer's, and while I can understand the filmmakers' instinct that depicting that would offer an unexpected side of a famous figure, it ended up making large swaths of the film feel like a standard-issue Lifetime Channel what-are-we-going-to-do-with-Mom tear-jerker. But what's even worse is that they waste Meryl Streep - who clearly put a lot of effort into perfecting the mannerisms and tone of Thatcher - in a movie that provides all of the key moments of her career on fast forward. As the New York Times review noted, "'The Iron Lady,'...makes a particular hash of British history, compressing social and economic turmoil into a shorthand that resembles a chronologically scrambled British version of Billy Joel's 'We Didn't Start the Fire.' ('Miners' strike/Falklands War/I can't take it any more . . .')" We see Streep-Thatcher fighting, but rarely getting any sense of why she's fighting these particular battles, and we move on to the next topic before we get any sense of what the consequence was.
I mention all this because I hope that the news coverage in the coming days helps fill in the gaps left by that bit of Oscar bait. Judging from Twitter, there are quite a few folks out there who have no idea who Margaret Thatcher is.
For more than a decade Margaret Thatcher enjoyed almost unchallenged political mastery, winning three successive general elections. The policies she pursued with ferocious energy and unyielding will resulted in a transformation of Britain's economic performance.
The resulting change was also political. But by discrediting socialism so thoroughly, she prompted in due course the adoption by the Labour Party of free market economics, and so, as she wryly confessed in later years, "helped to make it electable".
As for the effects of the Thatcher phenomenon upon British society, these were both more ambiguous and more debatable. Her remark "there is no such thing as society" was wrenched altogether out of the context of the interview in which it was made, and made to seem to be an advocacy of naked individualism, when she was really calling for more personal responsibility. Yet, rightly or wrongly, the 1980s came to be seen as a time of social fragmentation whose consequences are still with us.
Margaret Thatcher was the only British prime minister to leave behind a set of ideas about the role of the state which other leaders and nations strove to copy and apply. Monetarism, privatisation, deregulation, small government, lower taxes and free trade - all these features of the modern globalised economy were crucially promoted as a result of the policy prescriptions she employed to reverse Britain's economic decline.
Above all, in America and in Eastern Europe she was regarded, alongside her friend Ronald Reagan, as one of the two great architects of the West's victory in the Cold War. Of modern British prime ministers, only Margaret Thatcher's girlhood hero, Winston Churchill, acquired a higher international reputation.
Over at Viral Read, they were among the first to get Meryl Streep's official statement, one that suggests you can't pretend to be Margaret Thatcher for long stretches of time without coming away with some deep admiration for her:
Margaret Thatcher was a pioneer, willingly or unwillingly, for the role of women in politics. It is hard to imagine a part of our current history that has not been affected by measures she put forward in the UK at the end of the 20th century. Her hard-nosed fiscal measures took a toll on the poor, and her hands-off approach to financial regulation led to great wealth for others. There is an argument that her steadfast, almost emotional loyalty to the pound sterling has helped the UK weather the storms of European monetary uncertainty.
But to me she was a figure of awe for her personal strength and grit. To have come up, legitimately, through the ranks of the British political system, class bound and gender phobic as it was, in the time that she did and the way that she did, was a formidable achievement. To have won it, not because she inherited position as the daughter of a great man, or the widow of an important man, but by dint of her own striving. To have withstood the special hatred and ridicule, unprecedented in my opinion, leveled in our time at a public figure who was not a mass murderer; and to have managed to keep her convictions attached to fervent ideals and ideas- wrongheaded or misguided as we might see them now-without corruption- I see that as evidence of some kind of greatness, worthy for the argument of history to settle. To have given women and girls around the world reason to supplant fantasies of being princesses with a different dream: the real-life option of leading their nation; this was groundbreaking and admirable.
I was honored to try to imagine her late life journey, after power; but I have only a glancing understanding of what her many struggles were, and how she managed to sail through to the other side. I wish to convey my respectful condolences to her family and many friends.
700 Special Ops Veterans: We Want a Full Accounting of Benghazi
Via Michelle Malkin, news you probably won't be reading on the front page of your morning newspaper:
Via the Center for Security Policy, 700 Special Ops veterans sent a letter to Congress today calling on Congress to establish a select committee to investigate the Benghazi cover-up. "The SOF 700 letter was organized at the initiative of Lieutenant General William G. "Jerry" Boykin USA (Ret.) by Special Operations Speaks (SOS)," Frank Gaffney writes. "This not-for-profit organization was established by special operation veterans in 2012 to illuminate the failed operational security environment of the Obama Administration and to restore accountability in government. These veterans have put their lives on the line for our country. The signers are determined to ensure than no one else needlessly loses theirs by establishing - and learning from - the lessons of the Benghazigate scandal."
The statement notes, "To be sure, several congressional committees have tried to investigate separate aspects of the attack and the Obama administration's handling of it after the fact. But, with each committee having different jurisdictions, their inquiries so far have been piecemeal and incomplete. The American people still do not have a definitive accounting of what went wrong."
What can be done?
Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Virginia) has introduced a congressional resolution, H. Res. 36, calling for the establishment of a special Congressional committee to investigate the Benghazi attack and the Obama administration's handling of it in the weeks that followed. It's an opportunity for a comprehensive investigation that connects all the dots, and holds people accountable.
You can join the petition movementhere at EndTheCoverUp.com. Make your voice heard and keep the memory of the fallen Americans in Benghazi alive.
I hate to be a skeptic about such an obviously noble cause like this, but I'd like to know what a special committee would or could do that the existing committees haven't or won't.
Another Day, Another Ominous Bit of News from North Korea
Just in case you thought things on the Korean Peninsula had calmed down a bit . . .
North Korea plans to recall 51,000 workers and temporarily shut down its operations at the Kaesong Industrial Park that it runs jointly with South Korean companies just north of the border.
Analysts in South Korea see the move as a leap in Pyongyang's determination to make sacrifices amid its increasingly belligerent rhetoric, including indications of a fourth nuclear test.
"This is a big deal," said Yoon Sang-Hyun, the ruling Saenuri Party lawmaker and an expert in foreign policy and inter-Korean relations. "No more words, they're really taking a blow economically and demonstrating that they really mean what they've been crying out loud."
Russian President Vladimir Putin says any nuclear conflict on the Korean peninsula could make Chernobyl look like a fairy tale.
"I would make no secret about it, we are worried about the escalation on the Korean peninsula, because we are neighbours," he told a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a visit to a trade fair in Germany.
"And if, God forbid, something happens, Chernobyl which we all know a lot about, may seem like a child's fairy tale. Is there such a threat or not? I think there is... I would urge everyone to calm down... and start to resolve the problems that have piled up for many years there at the negotiating table."
ADDENDUM: A lot of great Margaret Thatcher quotes are floating around today, but I hadn't seen this one before, courtesy of the Eye on Politics: "Of course it's the same old story. Truth usually is the same old story."
LEE HABEEB & MIKE LEVEN: As amateurs, the Wright brothers beat the taxpayer-funded brain trust in the race to flight. A Tale of 'Government Investment.'
Where Have All the Workers Gone? By Patrick J. Buchanan These folks who have quit working and quit looking, who are they? How do they support themselves? What does this surging dropout rate from the workforce portend for America's future?
Black Unemployment By Walter E. Williams Black youths are becoming virtually useless for the increasingly high-tech world of the 21st century.
It's a headline almost too ridiculous to believe, even from this administration, but according to an undersheriff in Colorado that is exactly what the state patrol and DHS plan to do. The reason for the extra close attention stems from a training session he attended where the DHS warned against "Christians who take the Bible literally." STORY
Glenn reacts to stunning report on radical elite college
A simple round of golf played by the President of Bowdoin College and a philanthropist eventually led to a scathing report about the radical nature of Bowdoin. What was the turning point in the round that changed it from friendly to a man on a mission to expose the College? Find out HERE.
WATCH: Wilkow talks to a former FBI informant about the Weather Underground
On last night's Wilkow! Andrew took a deeper look into a group that Glenn has been telling you about for years - the Weather Underground. He spoke with former FBI informant Larry Grathwohl, who explained how he found himself entrenched with the Weathermen and the extreme ideology of the group's members. See the shocking details.
The Wonderful World of Stu is back!
Tired of those greedy capitalists and their evil capitalist ways? Stu's not! He loves capitalism, and he'll show you some of the good things we have in America because of it. He takes on progressives and liberals by dismantling their phony statistics and misleading claims. The Wonderful World of Stu is the perfect mix of humor and news that drives the left crazy and leaves the right laughing out loud. This Saturday, April 13th, at 10:30pm ET, don't miss a brand new episode of the Wonderful World of Stu!
MUST WATCH: A Cuban immigrant's impassioned plea for the Second Amendment
Manuel Martinez was born in Cuba and has been an American citizen for more than 40 years. He gave a startling testimony on why he is opposes any tampering with the Second Amendment of the Constitution: "You people don't know what freedom is because you never lost it." Check out the rest and Glenn's response on radio today.
DON'T MISS Penn Jillette this week on the Glenn Beck Program!
If there's one thing that Americans understand, it's freedom. That's how America has solved problems and conflict for much of history. But lately, government has been using regulations and restrictions to try to control decisions and "solve" problems both economically and socially. It doesn't work. This Thursday at 5pm ET, Penn Jillette will join Glenn for the full hour to discuss why the answer should always be more freedom, and how we can bring disparate ideas together to work towards liberty. Not a subscriber? Start a 14 day FREE trial to watch!
Oops: Michelle Obama calls herself a "single mom"
During a recent interview, Michelle Obama had a bizarre but interesting slip, in which she referred to herself as a single mom. She was lamenting her busy life and said it's tough being a single mother, before retracting it a few moments later. Why would she let something like that slip out? Glenn responds to the story.
Need more Glenn, Pat & Stu? Podcasts of the Glenn Beck Radio Program and Pat & Stu are available on demand for free on iTunes! Just subscribe to each show and they'll be waiting for you on playback whenever you want. Subscribe to Glenn's show HERE and Pat & Stu HERE.
NASA chief says US manned moon landing not in cards
If you were hoping for another moon landing anytime soon, sorry to burst your bubble but NASA has all but ruled out future moon landings. An official said, "NASA will not take the lead on a human lunar mission." So what is NASA doing with all that taxpayer money? Global warming research and making Muslims feel better about themselves, of course. Glenn has more.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer Poster Now Available: You've heard Glenn speak about this inspirational man of faith. You've seen his image hanging in his studio for quite some time. Now you can have the same poster, featuring the powerful message: "Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak, not to act is to act." Order a copy while supplies last!
Tonight's primetime lineup on TheBlaze TV
5pm ET -The Glenn Beck Program: Economic freedom in America - what are the solutions to our spending problem?
6pm ET -Real News: A look at immigration and high tech visas.
7pm ET -Wilkow!: Sen. Mike Lee joins Andrew to discuss the Pacific Legal Foundation case. Could Obamacare see another day in the Supreme Court and possibly be struck down?
Today's Non Compos Mentis Award Winner: "I will tell you these are ammunition, they're bullets, so the people who have those now they're going to shoot them, so if you ban them in the future, the number of these high capacity magazines is going to decrease dramatically over time because the bullets will have been shot and there won't be any more available." --Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO), primary sponsor of House legislation to ban higher capacity magazines, responding to a question about what they are. DeGette apparently thought that magazines are single use items, and once empty, disposed
And Now for Cartoons
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