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If you see a story that you believe would be useful and important to our readers, simply respond to this email with a link and a brief description of why it is important.  (Even if it may be obvious)

Obama called "war criminal" & "hypocrite of the century" in Irish Parliament

Monday, 01 July 2013 12:00

New Revelations About NSA Spying Abroad Enrage European Officials

Written by  Bob Adelmann

Saturday's revelations

 by the German newspaper Der Spiegel that U.S. agents placed bugs in European Union officials' offices in New York and Washington and hacked into EU headquarters in Brussels have ignited a firestorm of indignation among German and European officials. Coming on the heels of the FISA court's ruling in April that Verizon must turn over telephone records to the National Security Agency and Edward Snowden'sexposure in June of PRISM, which has been vacuuming up American citizens' Internet communications for years, expressions of outrage were heard from German and European Union politicians. Martin Schulz, head of the European Parliament, declared: "On behalf of the European Parliament I demand full clarification and require further information speedily from US authorities with regard to these allegations."

Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said: "If these reports are true, it's disgusting. The United States would be better off monitoring its [own] secret services than [those of] its allies. Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, Germany's minister of justice,said such spying was "reminiscent of the methods of foes during the cold war," adding:

It defies all belief that our friends in the US see Europeans as enemies. If EU offices in Brussels and Washington were indeed monitored by US intelligence services, that can hardly be explained with the argument of fighting terrorism.

There has to be an immediate and comprehensive explanation from the US as to whether media reports about completely unacceptable surveillance measures of the US in the EU are true or not.

Comprehensive spying on Europeans by Americans cannot be allowed.

A document partially revealed by

 Der Spiegel indicates that the National Security Agency (NSA) monitors half a billion phone calls, e-mails, and text messages in Germany every month, reminding those who lived in East Germany of tactics used by the Stasi secret police, along with older memories of Hitler's Nazi regime.Elmar Brok, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the European Parliament, also appeared to be outraged:

 

The spying has reached dimensions that I didn't think were possible for a democratic country. Such behavior among allies is intolerable. [The United States] is suffering from a security syndrome. They have completely lost all balance. George Orwell is nothing by comparison.

The official position taken by the United States is that the fight against terrorism justifies all manner of surveillance, as long as it isn't unlimited. President Obama denied that the NSA was just "rifling" through the e-mails of ordinary European citizens because it is a "circumscribed" system, and that it has averted various terrorist threats already. And former NSA director Mike Hayden pushed back by saying on Sunday

 on the CBS show

 Face the Nation that Europeans "should look first and find out what their own governments are doing." Officially, the NSA stated: "As a matter of policy, we have made clear that the United States gathers foreign intelligence of the type gathered by all nations."

Read more:

Obama, in South Africa, Tells U.S. Media to 'Behave'

SAVE THE DATE:  Tuesday, July 9, 6:30-8:30pm

CITIZENS FOR CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT hosts

Financial Analyst RICH SHUKER of Eyes on Pennsylvania (www.eyesonpa.com)

PROPERTY TAX ELIMINATION BILL WORKS!!  No more government threat to our right to property through unaffordable property taxation!  

** Did you know that almost 10% of Bucks County homes are right now either in foreclosure, under income tax liens, or up for Sheriff's sale?

** Did you know that Bucks County with an average annual property tax of $4090 is the second highest in the state?

** IF CITIZENS CAN LOSE THE PROPERTY FOR WHICH THEY WORKED AND SACRIFICED TO GOVERNMENT TAXES, ARE WE SECURE IN OUR RIGHT TO OWN PROPERTY??

NEW SUMMER LOCATION:  Latvian Baptist Church of Bucks County, 1142 Apple Rd., Applebachsville (Quakertown mailing address), PA    Go to our website www.CCG-PA.org for Mapquest link.

Valley Forge Patriots July 12 Meeting

Valley Forge Patriots - Tea Party Conservatives

Friday, July 12, 2013
7:00 PM

Phoenixville Senior Center
153 Church Street
Phoenixville, PA 19460

Learn more

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.

^th

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,

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

WHAT IS COMMON CORE?

Common Core, or the Common Core State Standards Initative (CCSSI), as it is known at the State and Federal level, is a set of national education standards that will fulfill the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, through a waiver system. (The NCLB Act was put into place by Congress in 2001 and signed into law by President George W. Bush). Many states were failing to meet the NCLB Act requirements and, therefore, wanted something to replace NCLB.Common Core is part of the UN's plan for complete federal control over our education systems and the "Dumbing-down" of America.

 

Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) are not state standards in the first place, and are nothing more then further federalization of our state education systems.

 

COMMON CORE IS A TROJAN HORSE AND TIED TO THE UNITED NATIONS (UN)

If you cannot see that Common Core is tied to the United Nations you have not done your homework! The major funder of the Common Core Movement is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which has pledged $60 million dollars to this effort. Bill and Melinda Gates are tied to UN through-and-through and have spent money in America and overseas for UN programs in Africa and all over the world for decades.

From the Conservative Teachers of American organization, they wrote an article entitled: "Common Core Standards and the Federalization of Education." In this article we read: "Many are concerned that the Common Core Standards, once successfully implemented, will provide unfettered access of our educational system by the United Nations. Some textbooks and curricula for our public schools have already been written by the [United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization] UNESCO and the International Baccalaureate program, that is currently in many school districts, across the United States. Grabbing additional access is a natural next step. Once they write the curricula, they must have authority to develop all testing tools."

 

The UN involvement in the American educational system has already been facilitated by treaties signed by American presidents from both parties. Those documents include but are not limited to: Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Treaty on the Rights of the Child, Civic Education: Classroom Connections, and Agenda 21.

 

The  US Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development (since 2003), is the nexus of the UNA-USA and Global Leadership Coalition at the Department of Education, which altogether leverages the UN Decade on Education for Sustainable Development 2005-2014.  UNESCO, the lead agency of the Decade, defines Education for Sustainable Development as "education for everyone everywhere" for the "lifelong learning" of "present and future generations".  

 

The UNA-USA sponsors Model UN across America and tailors its Global Classrooms curricula to whichever setting the kids happen to be participating.  Children are unknowingly trained to respond with prescribed consensus to the situations, simulations and stimulation's of the particular activity (Delphi Technique).  Global Kids is the CFR arm of Connect All Schools Consortium, a new Department of Education network, led by Independent Sector and The White House via United Planet Partners.  Global Kids is preparing children for Agenda 21.  

 

The White House, NSA and CIA now have website divisions aimed at kids.  The Public Education Network is a national association funded by Independent Sector donors: plus Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Department of Education

 

"Funders" of the Rockefeller Foundation-backed International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), "Members" of the the Sustainability Consortium, backed by the EPA and BSR (Rockefeller Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, State Department) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation-backed International City/County Management Association (ICMA): Center for Sustainable Communities (an ICLEI "Partner") are "partnered" with local schools and governments.  

 

From the Partnership for 21st Century Skills aligning the Common Core State Standards with "professional development" content for teachers and principals and Lego Robotics curricula for students (Carnegie Mellon/Lego Education); to software curricula through websites like: cyberschoolbus.un.org, icivics.org, atomiclearning.com, renlearn.org, brainpop.com and ttl4.sunburst.com; to the weekly deliveries of Time for Kids magazine and textbook curricula into classrooms; kids are programmed with UN-defined values.  State Governors administer Federal funds to "Community-Oriented Policing" systems like Crime Stoppers (The UN, FBI and other law enforcement and corporate partners administer Crime Stoppers International), the local student-equivalent of the Department of Homeland Security's' "See Something, Say Something" campaign; whereby children see hand-drawn posters of child characters on school walls displaying "Eyes Looking", "Ears Listening", "Mouth Reporting" with a hotline to call.  Presidents Bush and Obama have personally followed the George H. W. Bush/Clinton trail of the Agenda 21/ Sustainable America megabanks-maze in "bipartisan" fashion. 

 

UNESCO PLEDGES SUPPORT OF COMMON CORE

From UNESCO's document "The Vision of Education Reform in the United States" it states: "My department has been pleased to partner with the US Agency for International Development to help ensure that our best domestic practices are shared world-wide. The United States provides over a billion dollars annually to partner countries working on educational reform. Our goal for the coming year will be to work closely with global partners, including UNESCO, to promote qualitative improvements and system strengthening....Ultimately, education is the great equalizer. It is the one force that can consistently overcome differences in background, culture, and privilege."

 

THE UN'S AGENDA 21- COMMON CORE IMPLEMENTER!

In the United Nations Agenda 21 (Guide for the 21st Century), Chapters #25 and #36 specifically talk about education of our children:

 

Principle #25- "Children and Youth in Sustainable Development." In the "Activites 25.9.d" it states: "Ensure access for all youth to all types of education, wherever appropriate, providing alternative learning structures, ensure that education reflects the economic and social needs of youth and incorporates the concepts of environmental training, implementing innovative methods aimed at increasing practical skills, such as environmental scouting."

 

Principle #36- "Promoting Education, Public Awareness and Training." In the Activities Section of this document in "36.5.g" we read: "Within two years the United Nations system should undertake a comprehensive review of its educational programmes, encompassing training and public awareness, to reassess priorites and reallocae resources. The UNESCO/UNEP International Environmental Education Programme should, in cooperation with the appropriate bodies of the United Nations system, Governments, non-governmental organizations and others, establish a porgramme within two years to integrate the decisions of the Conference into the existing United Nations framework adapted to the need of the educators at different levels and circumstances. Regional organizations and national authorities should be encouraged to elaborate similar parallel programmes and opportunies by conducting an analysis of how to mobilize different sectors of the population in order to assess and address their environmental and development education needs."

 

In the Activities Section of this document in "36.5 h" we read: "There is a need to strengthen, within five years, information exchange by enhancing technologies and capacities necessary to promote environment and development education and public awareness. Countries should cooperate with each other and with the various social sectors and population groups to prepare educational tools that include regional environment and development issues and initiatives, using learning materials and resources suited to their own requirements." Sounds just like PARCC and SLDS. ASU's Institute for Global Sustainability and their "Sustainable Cities Network" is doing a fine job "brain-washing" our students in our high schools on sustainability, global warming (aka climate change), etc. Go here to meet the ASU sustainability schools!

 

 

COMMON CORE SCIENCE STANDARDS TEACH GLOBAL WARMING!

The new Common Core Science Standards that are up for review teach Global Warming (aka Climate Change)! Here is Research and Commentary on the Common Core Science Standards" from The Heartland Institute.

Please spread the word to all AMERICAN PATRIOTS!

Reality Check.....COMMON CORE EDUCATION = COMMUNISM IN AMERICA!

Common Core Education is the INDOCTRINATION of our CHILDREN. 

DO NOT LISTEN TO THE GOP ESTABLISHMENT RHETORIC FROM MIKE HUCKABEE!!! 

The Development of Common Core, Explained by Michael Chapman

The video says this is a clip from the 1989 National Governors'Assoc conference on Education:

Sr. Director of Mid-Continental Regional Education Laboratory, Dr. Shirley McCune

 She says about education:

#1) Total transformation of our society

#2) Teaching of facts and information (knowledge) is no longer the primary purpose of education

#3) Close connection between economic (sustainable) development and human capitol (human resource labor for a planned economy)

A group that allowed this kind of rhetoric to be said at their meeting? I don't think I want them developingeducational standards!  Please read to the bottom for transcripts from the 1987 NGA meetings chaired by Bill Clinton.  These transcripts are eye-opening.  They are clearly more concerned with workers for the manufacturing.  They seem to have concerns that we have students who can't read well enough (non-English speaking especially) to function in the manufacturing plants, and then on the other end of the spectrum... too many with higher ed degrees who don't WANT to work in the manufacturing.  So... what to do about all this?  Hummm.... standards!  Make sure they read well enough to function as the industrial workers, but not so well that they don't want to!!!   This is the John D. Rockefeller goal of the early 20th century when he started pushing for compulsory government schooling and funding the building of government schools. 

NOW.... review the transcripts below of the conferences chaired by Bill Clinton: 
National Governor's Association website  (find all annual meetings here with transcriptsm- )
1986-87 NGA Chair Gov. Bill Clinton's Initiative

Making America Work: Productive People, Productive Policies

March 25, 1986

1987 Winter Meeting with Bill Clinton as chair, you will find on page 12 that the governors unanimously adopted a policy to adopt an INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION POLICY.    http://www.nga.org/files/live/sites/NGA/files/pdf/1987NGAWinterMeeting.pdf

1987 Annual meeting.   See page 34of this document to see how those governors seem to be concerned that we aren't training our students for the "workforce." They are concerned that the professors of higher ed are telling students to strive for more than the job of working in the manufacturing plants.  On page 40 they start talking about standards needed in education.  " See page 42 with this statement by Governor Sinner (great name!) to Lee Iacoccoa: "But you also made a point about the terrific cost to industry of the disparity between states in these regulations and I wondered, with all the fuss and the furor that we make over states' rights...."  http://www.nga.org/files/live/sites/NGA/files/pdf/1987NGAAnnualMeeting.pdf 

June 11, 2013: Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) leads the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee in a markup of the Strengthening America's Schools Act of 2013, an education initiative to replace No Child Left Behind.  http://www.c-spanvideo.org/event/220036

At the June 10 Common Core forum in Fayette County, Superintendent Barge stated over and over again that if Georgia wants to change these standards at any time, we have the ability to do so.   The testimony below contradicts this belief by Superintendent Barge and confirms that states who adopted the Common Core standards DO NOT have the ability to change the standards in any way on their own.

2:23:00 - Rep. Tim Scott discusses his amendment to Harkin's bill.  Instead of states being forced to adopt blanket standards like Common Core as a prerequisite for funding, let's put decision-making back in the hands of parents and teachers in our communities."

2:31:00 - It is admitted that states who want to change the CC standards,the Secretary of Education would have to approve it.  States DO NOT have the ultimate decision making abilities!

2:39:00 - Alexander reads page 89 of the bill stating that any changes to standards MUST go through the Secretary of Education for approval.

As are most of the amendments offered by Republicans to this education bill, the Scott Amendment is defeated 12-10.

DATA COLLECTING: Senator Burr at the 1:00:00 mark reveals information about ADDITIONAL data points that this legislation will add to the data mining.  He says that his count is now 500 data points.  

TEACHER EVALUATIONS: Senator Alexander at 2:00:00 mark discusses his amendment to end federally mandated school and teacher evaluations.  He says states had a "gun to their head" to adopt the teacher evaluations because they were desperate for NCLB waivers.   He makes the charge that the Harkin bill creates a "NATIONAL SCHOOL BOARD."  The Gates Foundation involvement is mentioned frequently.  

Harkin says over and over "this is voluntary."  If states don't want to implement the programs in the bill we just don't accept the money!"    More strong evidence that our states need to "just say no" to all federal education dollars.   As is pointed out in this debate: Any private business that entered into a partnership where the partner who contributed 10% funding got 80-90% of the control (as is the case with education funding under NCLB and Common Core) the partnership is DOOMED TO FAIL!

Angela Bean
Fayetteville, GA
StopCommonCore.com 

We all know how tough it is to maintain your morals in today's media world. Here are two gifts from the AFA to you, each meant to help you navigate your way through media today:

1. Free Article: How to Watch TV Without Compromising Your Values  2. Free Guide: 300 Family Friendly Movies

The article discusses how far TV has fallen in recent years and outlines some practical steps you can take to protect your family.

And the free movie guide is a great way to find movies for family night that the whole family can enjoy.

I hope these tools are a blessing to you!

At the Boston Marathon we all witnessed what happens when people become radicalized by an extreme Islamic ideology.

IT IS TIME THAT EVERYONE GET EDUCATED ON THIS ISSUE.

Watching The Third Jihad is the ultimate way to share this knowledge with other Americans.

Share the film, the third jihad with 5 friends,
and we will send you a FREE DVD of our award-winning film Obsession - Radical Islam's War Against the West - a must-see for every American.

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AGENDA 21 RESOURCE PAGEs

APC Newswire

Produced by American Policy Center
Email: admin@americanpolicy.org  Website: americanpolicy.org
Tom DeWeese, President
Kathleen Marquardt, Editor

Mandatory Biometric Enrollment
Lawsuit - UPDATE
(fingerprinting, facial recognition, iris scan, DNA, etc.)
By Mark Lerner:  Co-Founder Constitutional Alliance

If you value liberty and understand how dangerous government mandated biometric ID is to our freedom, you need to read and understand every word of what I am writing about today. Something very important is happening so stay with me.
 
Over the years, the Constitutional Alliance has consistently fought against mandatory biometric ID and for the right of all citizens to be free of it.  Government mandated biometric ID is the lynchpin of the modern surveillance society.  The amount of control this system gives government over individuals is an anathema to a free society and we oppose it being imposed on anyone - period.  You cannot reconcile a free society with a surveillance society.
 
The founders of this country called religious freedom "the first freedom" because it is a precondition for other important rights..  Try to imagine the value of freedom of speech, or freedom of association without religious freedom and you will quickly see why religious freedom, also referred to as 'freedom of conscience' is so important.
 
Here is the Big News
 
This past week, 19 June 2013, a Motion for Summary Judgment was filed in Kaye Beach's lawsuit in the state of Oklahoma (You can read it here).  This is a pre-trial motion that presents the undisputed facts of her case and makes the strongest assertion based on those facts, that her rights are being violated.  The Motion for Summary Judgment asks the Judge, based on these undisputed facts, to rule in her favor.  Kaye fully expects a favorable ruling on this Motion but in the event that this doesn't happen, her lawsuit will continue on. You need only to read the first 30 pages of the Motion to understand the arguments Kaye and her attorneys have made.  If you choose to read further you can read about the answers the Department of Public Safety (the department that oversees the issuance of driver's licenses) gave to Kaye's "Discovery Motion". 
 
Kaye Beach's lawsuit, is the only substantial challenge to government mandated biometric ID, to my knowledge, that exists anywhere in our country.
 
Here is a brief recap of the issue and basis for Kaye's legal challenge;
 
Kaye is opposed to mandatory biometric identification which is required of her if she wishes to have a state issued driver's license or ID card.  As we know, the ability to drive a vehicle and also banking, many financial transactions, as well as a host of other necessary daily activities are dependent upon having a government issued photo ID most commonly presented in the form of state driver's license or ID card. Try to go without one and you will soon find (like Kaye has!) that not having a valid ID is no small matter.
 
In September, 2011 Kaye filed a lawsuit against the state of Oklahoma for the unwarranted collection of her biometrics and for violating her religious freedom, both of which are protected under Oklahoma law.  Kaye is a born again Christian.
 
Here is why this case is important for everyone 

Read more:

We must stop the call for a  Constitutional Convention! 

Article V of the Constitution:

1. Gives NO guidelines for how to conduct a Con Con. 
2. NO rules on how delegates will be eligible or selected
3. States have NO Guarantees they will even be represented
4. Con Con could result in a COMPLETE CHANGE of our way of government
5. There simply are NO controls over the delegates once selected.             

Read more:

Friends,

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE:

As you're well aware, it was a CRAZY week in the Capitol with the Governor's aggressive agenda, as well as the budget, all being debated at the same time.  We thought we were going to get a meaningful vote on prevailing wage reform, but it got lost in the shuffle and looks like it will get pushed back until the fall.  Please keep holding your legislators' feet to the fire over the summer on these issues as you see them at picnics and different events.

July 1, 2013,  8 PM

Dear Members and Friends,

What a difference a day makes. 

Just when we thought that our lawmakers were moving ahead with groundbreaking legislation, and the press reported it as such, we learn that it was all smoke and mirrors.

And so it was with the Pennsylvania Senate's passage of the Liquor Privatization Bill.

The voting process began several months ago when the Pennsylvania House approved and sent to the Senate a much better privatization bill.  The House version was then virtually tossed aside while Senator Chuck Millinery (R-Bucks) and his colleagues rewrote almost the entire bill.

Still, there was a glimmer of hope left for privatization when the Senate passed its version by a vote of 27-23.

But in Harrisburg, Senate approved legislation must then clear the Appropriations Committee.

And even though Republicans are in the majority on the Committee, word is they won't move on privatization unless the House passes $2.1 billion Transportation Bill that would increase the price of gas by at least $.30 a gallon.

The House, to its credit, also won't budge.

So, what does this mean?  The PA Republican Senate would rather substantially raise taxes than support an effort to expand free enterprise in the Keystone State.

Bad news for Governor Tom Corbett who supports both the privatization and the transportation bills. Looks like, for now, the Governor is plum out of luck.

Hats off to the rank and file House Republicans for standing their ground against the pseudo Republicans that dominate the Senate, and, on the Transportation bill, the aloof Governor of our state. 

Does Governor Corbett actually think the path to re-election is a $.30 or more tax increase on a gallon of gas?

We'll find out in 16 months.

Hope to see you on the 4th (details below).

On behalf of the Association Board,

Teri Adams 

RedState Morning Briefing

For July 2, 2013

1.  Our President Needs a Science Lesson

Of his new plan to address climate change, President Obama says:

"This plan will cut the dangerous carbon pollution that contributes to climate change. For years, groups like the American Lung Association have warned us that carbon pollution threatens our health and the air our children breathe. We limit the mercury, sulfur, and arsenic in our air and water, but today, there are no federal limits on the amount of carbon pollution that power plants can pump into the air. That's not safe. So we'll work with states and businesses to set new standards that put an end to this limitless dumping of carbon."

Apparently our President choomed his way through high school science class . . . please click here for the rest of the post →

2.  Ed Snowden continues to betray America.

I went off on this on Twitter last night, and I am no less disgusted today: Ed Snowden does not, in fact, care for the United States of America.

"The German magazine Der Spiegel reported Saturday that the NSA had bugged European Union offices and gained access to EU internal computer networks where it was able to read documents and emails. United Nations offices were similarly targeted, reports Der Spiegel based on information provided by Mr. Snowden."

Of course the National Security Agency bugged them! That is what the National Security Agency does! . . . please click here for the rest of the post →

3.  NC Unemployment Cuts: A Necessary & Difficult Change

Yesterday, North Carolina became the first state in the country to forfeit federal long-term unemployment benefits.

As her state budgets continued to balloon and unemployment remains uncomfortably high, the Republican controlled legislature ended the state's war on prudent fiscal policy by exempting herself from receiving further federal assistance for people unemployed longer than 26 weeks, as well as lowering the maximum potential benefit.

If you listen to Paul Krugman of The New York Times, you'd believe the GOP was doing this to upset President Obama and purposefully hurt the poor. . . . please click here for the rest of the post →

4.  Wendy Davis' Unstable Political Future

With Texas State Senator Wendy Davis' filibuster of SB 5 last week, she's become a liberal rockstar.  Her filibuster was halted and the bill was passed, but not before the 12am deadline, which killed the bill - for now.  The unruly masses of pro-aborts in the gallery caused such a disturbance that procedural motions were unable to be heard, thus preventing the bill from being passed successfully.  It was mob rule.  The bill would've banned abortions 20-weeks into a pregnancy. And Gov. Rick Perry has already called another special session to begin July 1. The bill has the votes.  It's going to pass.  Yet, some on the left feel that Davis "revived" the Texas Democratic Party. . . . please click here for the rest of the post →

5.  Spencer Bachus Needs More Time With Family

Imagine the Democrats reelecting a guy like this from one of their most liberal urban districts.

Spencer Bachus has always been a big government Republican.  He has supported all the financial bailouts.  He has also opposed efforts to rein in government intervention in public housing, at least until Fannie and Freddie became so unpopular.  He has been a reliable vote for wage controls during the past two decades.  Oh, he is an RSC member, but he has voted against almost every RSC budget.

Heritage Hotsheet

Experts on the Day's Hottest News

Contact An Expert
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Items for Tuesday, July 2nd, 2013

  Protests grow against Morsy amid military challenge
CNN

Jim Phillips
James Carafano
Peter Brookes
Steve Bucci
Rebeccah Heinrichs
Luke Coffey


House Dems seek path to final immigration deal
Boston.com

Derrick Morgan
Genevieve Wood


Texas' abortion fight begins anew as lawmakers head back to work for second special session
The Washington Post

Jennifer Marshall
Ryan Anderson
Andrew Walker
Sarah Torre

Putin: Edward Snowden can stay in Russia if he stops leaks
LA Times


Ariel Cohen
Steve Bucci
Jim Carafano
Paul Rosenzweig


Dem resolution would let 'mobile Congress' cast votes from home
The Hill

Hans von Spakovsky


Health-Insurance Costs Set for a Jolt
The Wall Street Journal

Nina Owcharenko
Bob Moffit
Ed Haislmaier
 

Latest Heritage Research:
ISSUE BRIEF  How to Cut $30 Billion More from the THUD Bill
July 1, 2013

ISSUE BRIEF  The Cost of Educating the Public on Obamacare
July 1, 2013

ISSUE BRIEF  U.S. Should Warn Egyptian President Morsi Against a Crackdown Issue Brief
June 28, 2013 

July 2, 2013   

Today's Articles:

Another Obama Comrade

07-01-2013 02:04:20 AM

Another link in the chain. ...»

Rein in the Imperial Judiciary

07-01-2013 02:04:10 AM

Contrary to popular belief, there is a way for Congress to exert control over the Supreme Court....»

A Race-Hustler Form of Justice

07-01-2013 02:04:00 AM

I've been in George Zimmerman's circumstances many, many times. The case against him is absurd....»

The Paula Deen Witch Hunt

07-01-2013 02:03:55 AM

The Deen controversy illustrates the fact that the Left is the one of the most unforgiving and unyielding religious cults in existence. ...»

Obama's Court Marks Churches for Death

07-01-2013 02:03:50 AM

The American Catholic Church sleeps with the fishes. ...»

Trayvon, Rachel and White Privilege

07-01-2013 02:03:43 AM

Perhaps I'm just a creepy-a** cracka' who doesn't get it. But it always seems that when it comes to standards, the left gives you two for the price of one. ...»

Planned Parenthood: Strangely Hysterical over 0.045% of Its Revenue

07-01-2013 02:02:20 AM

Students ridicule DOMA supporters as 'hideous' and 'disgusting' outside Supreme Court

Christine Williams - A Day Of Mourning For Persecuted People In Islamic Regimes

Trayvon's Friend Can't Read Letter She 'Wrote' About Shooting

Students in Washington D.C. react to affirmative action ruling

LibertyNEWS TV - Celebrities Say What?! Team Obama's Culture Warriors

The Editors' Top Picks

  NSA Surveillance Database: Backdoor to a National Gun Registry?  A group of U.S. senators asked if the NSA has created a national gun registry by keeping all electronic business transactions in a permanent database.
  Catholic Priest Beheaded by Islamic Terrorists in Syria  A Catholic priest is the latest victim of the violence in Syria, beheaded by a group of al-Qaeda-linked Islamic terrorists.
  California Students to Be Trained as ObamaCare Promoters  California's health-insurance exchange is spending $1 million in part to teach Los Angeles school students to promote ObamaCare at home.
  New Revelations About NSA Spying Abroad Enrage European Officials  Recent revelations that the U.S. placed bugs in EU officials' offices in the U.S. and hacked into EU headquarters in Brussels have enraged European officials.
  Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: NSA of the Financial World  The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has been vacuuming up data on Americans' financial transactions in direct violation of both the Constitution and the law that created the bureau.
  Teen Faces Eight Years in Prison for Making Joke  While our politicians consider granting amnesty to millions of law-breaking foreigners, an American teenager has been sitting in jail since March for making an innocent joke. 

Tyson Plant Drops Labor Day for Muslim Holiday

Obama To Egyptian Christians: Stop Protesting Muslim Brotherhood

July 1, 2013
  What the Founders fought
for is under attack 

In three days we in America celebrate the 1776 adoption of the Declaration of Independence.

237 years later, one of the core freedoms our founding fathers fought for, freedom of speech, is under attack.

Recently, ACT! for America Executive Director Guy Rodgers was interviewed for the Stakelbeck on Terror program. He discussed the growing global assault by Islamists on free speech and the ways in which our own government is assisting this.

You can view the ten minute interview below.

Those who signed the Declaration of Independence pledged their "lives," "fortunes," and "sacred honor." Many of them paid such a price for their stand for liberty in the face of England, the most powerful nation in the world at that time.

We can honor their legacy by fighting to protect our First Amendment right of free speech.

If you haven't already done so, please SIGN OUR OPEN LETTER TO CONGRESS AND THE 50 STATE LEGISLATURES opposing the implementation of UN Resolution 16/18, and forward it to others you know.

And please check out our plans for September 25^th, "Freedom of Speech Day," the 224^th anniversary of congressional ratification of the Bill of Rights. 

Guy Rodgers: "First Amendment Under Attack" Stakelbeck on Terror Show

Its Not An Invasion If We Think They Belong Here by Terresa Monroe-Hamilton   Published 2013-07-01
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Safe Streets Ahead by Heather Mac Donald   Published 2013-07-01
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Interview on Turkey and Syria with Barry Rubin   Published 2013-07-01
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Obama's Proxy War on Mideast Christians by Raymond Ibrahim   Published 2013-07-01
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Erasing Jihad, U.S. Terror Divide, and More by David J. Rusin   Published 2013-07-01
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Sunday, June 30, 2013

Obama is giving these savages "lethal weapons" and arms. I posted on the killing of this priest on June 28th when jihadists attacked a Christian village. I was unaware that they had beheaded him. "Catholic Online believes it is very important the world knows that Christians are being murdered for their faith, and that martyrdom isn't an ancient phenomenon." So why did the Catholic Diocese of Worcester cave to vicious jihad mouthpieces and libelists like Nathan Lean and cancel talks by Robert Spencer? The Catholic church must answer for that.

WARNING GRAPHIC VIDEO - Syrian Jihadists behead Catholic priest Catholic Online:

Syrian terrorists have beheaded a Catholic priest who they accused of collaborating with the Assad regime. Those accusations have not yet been verified. Father Francois was summarily executed and the Vatican has confirmed the martyrdom.

VATICAN CITY (Catholic Online) - The Vatican is confirming the death by beheading of Franciscan Father, Francois Murad, who was martyred by Syrian jihadists on June 23.Below is the news release from the Vatican, via news.va.

On Sunday, June 23 the Syrian priest François Murad was killed in Gassanieh, in northern Syria, in the convent of the Custody of the Holy Land where he had taken refuge. This is confirmed by a statement of the Custos of the Holy Land sent to Fides Agency. The circumstances of the death are not fully understood. According to local sources, the monastery where Fr. Murad was staying was attacked by militants linked to the jihadi group Jabhat al-Nusra.

Read more and see video here:

Sunday, June 30, 2013

OBAMA'S EPIC FAILURE IN EGYPT: MILLIONS MARCH IN ANTI-MORSI, ANTI-OBAMA PROTESTS

Obama's legacy. History will not be kind to the Muslim Brothehrood stooge in the White House. Imagine, Obama send Morsi 140,000 canisters of tear gas. They won't soon forget.

Obama in Egypt via twitpic
  

Massive anti-Muslim Brothehrood protests in Egypt via twitpic

Another sign in Tahrir where thousands of anti-protesters are says "Obama support dictator Morsi

"Reporter's Notebook: Millions March in Egypt Protests" ABC News, June 30, 2013

CAIRO, Egypt - A sea of bobbing heads hoisting Egyptian flags high spilled out of Tahrir Square as drivers pulled their cars over on the October 6 Bridge to watch the scene below. A long procession of others walked down Ramses Street in the direction of the presidential palace.

We've covered a lot of protests in Egypt since the fall of President Hosni Mubarak, but the last time we'd seen anything on this massive scale was in the days following Jan. 25, 2011, when the revolution started against him.

As night fell today, it quickly became clear the size of the June 30 protests by opponents of President Mohammed Morsi would eclipse those seen during the revolution. Egypt's CBC cable channel showed a split-screen of high shots of the various protests, each box revealing a staggering number of Egyptians walking and chanting.

Read more:

 

 

Sunday, June 30, 2013

JUNE DEADLIEST MONTH FOR TROOPS IN AFGHANISTAN IN 9 MONTHS

All through the Bush years, there was not a day that went by that the mainstream media didn't run multiple pieces blaring the "deaths in Iraq." They ran daily death counters. Those numbers were a fraction of Obama's death toll in Afghanistan, and now the media says nothing.

Please stop and remember those who do what must be done, despite serving a commander-in-chief with an incoherent foreign policy, a CIC who refuses to address religious motivation (jihad, the reason for all of these wars), who is abandoning our allies and siding with our enemies. Pray for our sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives who are in a life-and-death battle with an Islamic army that Obama is "peace partnering" with. Our soldiers are being killed in unprecedented numbers under the Obama regime.

Obama continues to break his own death toll records. Obama exhibits an almost psychotic denial of reality in his rabid pursuit of a peace treaty with bloodthirsty savages. He begs, they kill. He begs some more, they kill some more.

Obama makes Blanche DuBois look like a pragmatist.

"A spokesman for the international military coalition in Afghanistan declined to comment for this report."

"June deadliest month for troops in Afghanistan in 9 months" Stars and Stripes, June 30, 2013 (thanks to Suzanne) 

KABUL -- In a dark reminder that the fighting in Afghanistan is still raging, despite the multinational military coalition's pronouncements that the war is winding down, June has become the deadliest month for international troops in the country in nearly a year.

Already in June, at least 27 foreign troops have died, including 17 Americans, the most deaths in a month since September 2012, according to iCasualties.org, a website that tracks troop deaths. Twenty-five of the deaths were termed "hostile," or battle-related.

Read more:

Sunday, June 30, 2013

A Season for Treason

Posted by Daniel Greenfield @ the Sultan Knish blog 

Set aside all the politics over the War on Terror and then ask what Bradley Manning, Julian Assange and Edward Snowden have in common. 

All three are arrogant and unstable men filled with aimless grievances and animated by the sense that they never received the things that they really wanted out of life. They are in short exactly the sort of people that foreign intelligence agencies recruit when trying to spot weak links in the security chain.

Foreign intelligence agencies look for people with security clearances who go through a lot of money in short periods of time, who simmer with grudges and grievances, who are rootless and dissatisfied. Those descriptions adequately cover Edward Snowden and Bradley Manning; two men who should never have been given any kind of clearance whatsoever on personality alone. 

That isn't to say that any of the men are spies. Spying is passe now. Not in China which spies on the same industrial scale that it does everything else. Or in Russia, which may not have pulled the trigger on Wikileaks, but appears to have some links to Assange and through its RT propaganda channel feeds an endless stream of the same sort of stories that the Soviet Union used to run, but stripped of the obligatory Communist angle.

But it's passe in the West where the very notion of treason has long since become an ambiguous thing in the sunset days of the state. The idea of treason depends on the importance of the state as a force representing the interests of the citizenry against other states. And that's not really a Western idea anymore.

When Obama totes around a copy of The Post-American World and seems more eager to represent the interests of the wrong half of the world over those of his own country, he can hardly complain when men like Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden take him at his word and follow in his footsteps.

Snowden and Manning just did what Obama has been doing. They leaked classified information and damaged the interests of the United States. The only difference is that they didn't go through the formalities of raising millions of dollars from San Francisco Green Energy tycoons and running for political office first.

Morning Jolt  . . . with Jim Geraghty

July 1, 2013

Man, You Europeans Were a Bunch of Suckers for Obama's 2008 Rhetoric.

Hope and change, baby! Back in 2008, Germans overcome with enthusiasm for the Democratic presidential nominee referred to their own country as "Obamaland."

Now... well, I'll let this picture sum it up:

"Stasi 2.0." Dang, that's going to leave a mark. Obama's just lucky that these latest revelations broke after he gave his overhyped Brandenberg speech.

According to Der Spiegel, the NSA has been going through the phones, computers, and who knows what else of European Union officials.  If European politicians were any angrier, they would be commenting on Daily Kos. They're so mad, Islamic Rage Boy is telling them to calm down. Alec Baldwin is imploring them to not lose their temper.

Really, they're ticked:

Senior European Union officials are outraged by revelations that the U.S. spied on EU representations in Washington and New York. Some have called for a suspension of talks on the trans-Atlantic free trade agreement.

Europeans are furious. Revelations that the U.S. intelligence service National Security Agency (NSA) targeted the European Union and several European countries with its far-reaching spying activities have led to angry reactions from several senior EU and German politicians.

EU and German politicians on Sunday, however, were reacting primarily to the revelations that the U.S. had specifically targeted the 27-member bloc with its surveillance activities. "If these reports are true, then it is abhorrent," said Luxembourgian Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn. "It would seem that the secret services have gotten out of control. The U.S. should monitor their own secret services rather than their allies."

Asselborn characterized the operation as a breach of trust. "The U.S. justifies everything as being part of the fight against terrorism. But the EU and its diplomats are not terrorists. We need a guarantee from the very highest level that it stops immediately."

A guarantee from the president of the United States that we will no longer collect intelligence on officials in EU countries? "Bzzz! Sorry Hans, wrong guess. Would you like to go for Double Jeopardy where the scores can really change?"

If you're a European diplomat, and you didn't already assume that your phone calls, e-mails, and files are constantly being targeted by intelligence agencies from all kinds of countries, hostile and friendly and everything in between... well then, fire your counterintelligence staff. Welcome to the real world, Hans. If you've got information worth having, then somebody, somewhere, is trying to get it.

There's a line of dialogue from Heat: "Assume they got our phones, assume they got our houses, assume they got us, right here, right now as we sit, everything. Assume it all." It's good advice for anyone connected with sensitive information, because even if U.S. intelligence agencies never contemplated snooping in those EU diplomats' files, the Russians, Chinese, and who knows who else did it, and continue to do it, too. You're only as secure as your countermeasures.

As an American, I'm not particularly bothered by the NSA giving a technological colonoscopy to every electronic gadget used by every European diplomat. That's just good old-fashioned intelligence-gathering. The U.S. Constitution's Fourth Amendment doesn't say Jacques merde about unreasonable searches on foreign officials.

Of course, it doesn't bother me because I'm not a European diplomat and I never really thought Obama was the embodiment of hope and change. If I had gone to that big rally in Berlin in 2008 and told my constituents that this president really was the polar opposite of George W. Bush in all the ways that mattered to those kumbaya-minded Europeans, well... yeah, I'd feel like a fool, too.

Let's close with a few words from Obama's speech in Berlin:

Even as we remain vigilant about the threat of terrorism, we must move beyond a mindset of perpetual war.  And in America, that means redoubling our efforts to close the prison at Guantanamo.  (Applause.)  It means tightly controlling our use of new technologies like drones.  It means balancing the pursuit of security with the protection of privacy. (Applause.)

And I'm confident that that balance can be struck.  I'm confident of that, and I'm confident that working with Germany, we can keep each other safe while at the same time maintaining those essential values for which we fought for. 

Our current programs are bound by the rule of law, and they're focused on threats to our security -- not the communications of ordinary persons.

Congratulations, EU officials. We don't think you're ordinary!

Experts Estimate Egyptian Protest Crowd Size to Be... Eh, Just About Everybody.

Turkey, Brazil... and now, Egypt. Bit of a crowd on the Egyptian streets in the past 24 hours, according to these Twitter photos:

Well, I'm sure they'll clear out after dark... oh, wait, here's Tahrir Square in Cairo at 1:50 a.m.:

And you thought the regular morning commute in Cairo was bad.

Blake Hounshell, formerly with Foreign Policy magazine, now with Politico, is a guy worth following on these matters, and a couple of his thoughts in the past day: "U.S. failure to distance itself from Morsi and the Brotherhood looking like a huge mistake today... @USEmbassyCairo didn't even tweet out Obama and Kerry's comments on the protests... Kerry managed to say absolutely nothing about Egypt over four verbose paragraphs."

Being verbose and yet not really saying anything is sort of his specialty, isn't it?

Among righty bloggers and Tweeters, there's grumbling that the U.S. media is largely ignoring the Egyptian protests:

David Burge: "17 million protesters in the streets of Egypt. The U.S. media won't mention it until they decide on the right narrative."

Mollie Hemingway: "I was confused why U.S. media didn't really cover Turkey protests. The lack of coverage of Egypt even more so. What am I missing?"

Rick Wilson, around 10 p.m. Eastern Sunday night: "I turn on CNN, hoping to see Egypt...instead, Yoko Effing Ono. Seriously."

Ace: "So it's strange to me the media gave Tahrir Square protests such urgent, breathless play last time, when Obama was thinking about giving a speech, and seem to care so little about the biggest protest in history, when Obama isn't thinking about giving a speech."

Moving South a bit, catching up with President Obama's $60 million to $100 million tour of African nations...

As President Obama's motorcade pulled up on Sunday to a community health center run by Archbishop Desmond Tutu in this picturesque coastal city, people on the streets held signs that read "Thanks PEPFAR." It was a reference to the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, started by President George W. Bush.

Obama has been widely applauded for distinguishing himself from Bush's policies, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan. But across this continent, many Africans wish Obama was more like Bush in his social and health policies, particularly in the fight against HIV/AIDS -- one of the former president's signature foreign policy aid programs.

The Deen Scream

I spent the last week in Hilton Head, which isn't far from Savannah, so the local news covered former Food Network host Paula Deen's continuing troubles in great detail.

A couple of questions and points to keep in mind, entirely separate from whatever you think about Deen's testimony that she used the n-word when privately discussing her encounter with a bank robber who held a gun to her head, and on other occasions that she characterizes as "a long time ago"...

First, why is her use of the n-word perceived as a career-killer, but the allegations that are driving the lawsuit are more or less overlooked in the coverage? Using the n-word is bad but legal; running a workplace where employees are harassed and intimidated violates the law. What started the whole legal battle:

Lisa Jackson said in the lawsuit that her physician encouraged her to quit working at Uncle Bubba's Seafood and Oyster House because she suffered from panic attacks and other stress from working there. The restaurant is owned by Deen and her brother Bubba Hiers.

Jackson said in the lawsuit that Hiers routinely made inappropriate sexual and racial remarks and that she heard both Hiers and Deen use racial slurs. She also said in the lawsuit she saw Hiers violently shake a black employee and that he fostered an environment of intimidation.

You can read the deposition transcript here. Rod Dreher looks through it and concludes, "For all I know, Paula Deen should be held responsible for tolerating her dumbass brother's juvenile behavior in the restaurant. But the idea that the woman is now professionally ruined because of this N-word thing and her antiquated Southern romanticism strikes me as unjust."

Second, Deen's market value to the Food Network and other employers is not based upon the quality of her food, but really based upon how people think of her - which is why they're dropping her like a hot deep-fried potato.

You've probably felt this way before. You discover a new show or movie, with an actor or actress you come to love. This performer just seems to burst through the screen with a unique charisma, quickly becoming one of your new favorites... and then you come across an interview with this new star, and he starts blurting out political ideas that the guy with the boot on his head would find weird. You were prepared for this actor not be like the beloved character, but suddenly the image is shattered: it's like finding out that the friendly neighbor who moved in next door worships Thor and the Norse gods, and considers old issues of Marvel comics to be infallible religious texts.

But we don't generally appreciate actors for their political perspectives - their job is to put on the costume, remember their lines, go before the cameras or the audience and perform. On paper, Paula Deen's personal views on race relations, her vision of a "really Southern Plantation wedding" with black servants that she wanted to throw for her brother, her politics, or any other non-food topic should be irrelevant.

But the Food Network isn't really in the business of selling food. It's actually in the business of selling personalities - likeable, fun personalities who you would enjoy hanging around with, and who you're willing to metaphorically invite into your home by tuning in to the channel. The deposition's revelations greatly complicate the effort to persuade viewers that Deen is just a fun, bubbly Southern lady. Meanwhile, her dedicated fans reject that anything in the deposition could contradict the image they've watched and enjoyed on their television screens for the past years.

Third, how much is Deen getting the media hammer dropped upon her for this deposition because she already dodged a PR bullet?

Southern celebrity chef Paula Deen appeared on the Today Show with Al Roker this morning to address rumors that she has been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

Deen confirmed, "I was diagnosed three years ago during a regular physical exam with my doctor, that I had type 2 diabetes. I am here today to let the world know that it is not a death sentence. I am working with a very reputable pharmaceutical company. I'm working on a new program called 'Diabetes in a New Light.' You can go to our website. I'm going to be there for you and help you manage every day of your life with this, because it can be done."

The chef, who has come under fire in recent years for the unhealthy nature of many of her recipes, also announced that she is working as a paid spokesperson for the drug company Novo Nordisk, which manufactures Victoza - an injectable, non-insulin drug used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes.

Now,  this is a free country, and you're free to become wealthy and famous as a chef preparing buttery, sugary food, and you're also free to make money endorsing insulin drugs. But that arrangement does appear to give Deen some influence over both supply and demand for that brand of insulin drug, hm?  Imagine how we would feel if the owners of the Heart Attack Grill also owned the patents on some heart stents. (Read this summary of customers having cardiac incidents shortly after eating at that establishment.)

Above: Paula Deen, in her studio kitchen, which is adjacent to the National Strategic Butter Reserve.

Finally, before you instinctively respond, 'she's a Southern white Republican, of course the media is out to get her,' there's the little detail that she isn't one.Why is there this popular perception she's a conservative or a Republican?

John Nolte: "What we are not seeing is the 2008 video below where Deen physically embraces First Lady Michelle Obama and gushes over how she is reminiscent of Jackie Onassis... Deen is a Democrat who campaigned for and supported Obama in 2008."

Lincoln Would Unbind Americans' Striving Spirit, Not the Federal Government

Three paragraphs that make a good sales pitch for Lincoln Unbound: How an Ambitious Young Railsplitter Saved the American Dream - and How We Can Do It Again:

Lincoln himself is so revered that nearly everyone wants to make a claim on him. And his tradition is capricious enough that nearly everyone can. Democrats make theirs largely on the basis of their positive view of government.

President Obama says that Lincoln understood that government can aid private economic growth and opportunity rather than impede it. About this, he is undeniably correct. On the other hand, it is not true that everything government does aids growth. The liberal fallacy is to believe Lincoln would have favored almost every iteration of government and expansion of it, just as they do. Old-age entitlements funded by young workers that are clearly unsustainable? He'd fight to perpetually expand them. Massive peacetime deficits? All in favor. Government-dominated health care? Why not? Steeply progressive taxes on the rich, justified as a matter of basic justice? Sign him up. Subsidies for farmers? Yes! Perpetually expanding welfare? Absolutely. Costly regulations? Certainly. Red tape obstructing development? But of course.

Lincoln favored an active government, not a blunderbuss government. The debate over the role of government in Lincoln's time was, in large part, over how pro-business it would be. And much of the action was at the state level. It is a grievous mistake to extrapolate from his position in that debate and portray him as an inchoate Great Society liberal, favoring every new federal program and every new business-impeding regulation.

ADDENDA: I'm glad Jane Harman, former ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, is around to reveal these complicated truths to us: "Are people deliberately misleading other people? I suppose it can happen."

Thanks to Jack filling in during vacation. No, he's no Joe Shlabotnik; he showed up at the right time and place:

NRO Digest - July 1, 2013

Today on National Review Online . . .

Monday, July 1, 2013

To: Friends & Supporters

From: Gary L. Bauer


Tragedy In Arizona

Prescott, Arizona, is reeling from the news that 19 members of an elite firefighting unit were killed battling a blazing fire near the small town of Yarnell. "We're devastated. We just lost 19 of the finest people you'll ever meet," Prescott Fire Chief Dan Fraijo said yesterday.

Our hearts go out to the families of these brave firefighters. It is a tragic reminder that on a daily basis first responders here at home are putting their lives on the line to help and protect us, just as our men and women in uniform do overseas.

Please join us in praying for these families and those affected by this devastating wildfire.


Palin Warns GOP Elites

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin raised more than a few eyebrows this weekend when she seemed open to joining a third party. Appearing on Fox News Saturday, Palin was asked whether she and radio talk show host Mark Levin would be "willing to build a 'Freedom Party' if [the] GOP continues to ignore conservatives?" Palin responded:

"I love the name of that party -- the 'Freedom Party.' And if the GOP continues to back away from the planks in our platform, from the principles that built this party of Lincoln and Reagan, then yeah, more and more of us are going to start saying, 'You know, what's wrong with being independent?' ...

"I think there will be a lot of us who start saying, 'GOP, if you abandon us, we have nowhere else to go except to become more independent... Remember these are private parties, and you know, no one forces us to be enlisted in either party."

That was the mood of many callers I spoke to on the Bauer & Rose Show yesterday. They have had it with Beltway elites and frequently cited the same issues: More than a dozen GOP senators voting for the so-called immigration "reform" bill, and the weak response from Republican leaders to the outrageous Supreme Court decisions on marriage.

Anyone interested in seeking the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 -- Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Paul Ryan, Chris Christie, Rand Paul, etc. -- needs to understand how close we are to a permanent unraveling of the GOP coalition.

Anyone who thinks a 3rd party led by Sarah Palin would be insignificant doesn't get it. If they think it would be suicidal for the party, then they had better come up with a plan to keep populists and pro-family conservatives inside the tent everyone says they are trying to expand.

We have been told repeatedly that this amnesty bill is necessary to help the party grow. Statistically that appears to be an extraordinarily weak argument.

Hispanics are more likely than the general population to identify as "liberal." And they overwhelmingly support the concept of "bigger government and more services" over "smaller government and less services." It is difficult to comprehend how granting amnesty to millions of new liberal voters helps the GOP.

Members of Congress are back home for the July 4th recess. House members need to hear from their constituents. Use our online Congressional Directory to find contact information for your elected representative's district office. Make your voice heard!


Lerner Waived Her Rights

Friday the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee voted 22-to-17 to call IRS executive Lois Lerner back to testify about her knowledge of the IRS's harassment and targeting of conservative groups. You may recall that Lerner invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination during a May appearance before the committee and refused to testify.

However, she made a series of statements addressing the issue after she asserted her rights, effectively offering her testimony then refusing to answer questions from committee members. As Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC), a former prosecutor explained, that is not how the Fifth Amendment works:

"I have identified nine separate specific assertions made by Lois Lerner on May 22 and that was after she asserted after she asserted her right. Nine separate specific assertions, including, Mr. Chairman, 'I have done nothing wrong,' 'I have broken no laws,' 'I have provided no false information to Congress,' 'I have violated no IRS rules,' 'I have violated no IRS regulations,' and then, Mr. Chairman, she authenticated a document, all of this, Mr. Chairman, after she invoked her right to remain silent.

"The case law ... is clear. This is not the way the Fifth Amendment works. You don't get to tell your side of the story, and then avoid the very process we have in this system of getting at the truth, which is cross-examination."

Lerner's attorney vowed to resist further attempts to compel her testimony. If she refuses to testify, she could be charged with contempt of Congress. Stay tuned.


Hobby Lobby Wins Reprieve

Overshadowed by last week's disappointing Supreme Court decisions was some good news in the legal battle against Obamacare's assault on religious liberty.

The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals determined that Hobby Lobby was likely to succeed in its lawsuit against Obamacare's contraception mandate and ordered a lower federal court to reconsider its ruling against the company. Friday the district court reversed itself and issued an injunction preventing the federal government from enforcing the mandate.

The Obama Administration is effectively arguing that for-profit companies -- even privately-held companies such as Hobby Lobby owned by religious families -- have no right to assert claims of religious liberty. But in their opinion, the appellate court judges rhetorically asked, "Would an incorporated kosher butcher really have no claim to challenge a regulation mandating non-kosher butchering practices?" 

The Obama Administration is putting Hobby Lobby and other business owners in an intolerable position: The company can A) violate its religious beliefs and comply with the mandate, B) pay $26 million in fines if it dropped its health care plan to avoid the mandate or C) keep its health insurance coverage and pay nearly $500 million in fines for failing to comply with the mandate.

This case and others like it will presumably be decided by the Supreme Court, where there are four reliably liberal justices and four center-right justices. As we learned yet again last week, pinning your hopes on Justice Anthony Kennedy is a slender reed.

That only underscores the necessity of electing conservatives to Congress in 2014 and a conservative president in 2016 who will work to repeal Obamacare!  

SCOTUS Gives "Loving Couples" The Gold Mine - Families And Society Get The Shaft
July 1, 2013
By Don Feder

       Oh give me a home where the loving couples roam and constitutionally-protected sexual choices hold sway.

       Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Section 3 of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which essentially said that if a state was stupid enough to establish ersatz marriage, federal taxpayers weren't required to subsidize the travesty.

       Writing for the majority, Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy - Ronald Reagan's most tragic mistake, surpassing even Bush '41 - said the wicked and iniquitous DOMA "places same-sex couples in an unstable position of being in second-tier marriages. The differentiation demeans the couple, whose moral and sexual choices the Constitution protects...."

       Of course, the Constitution does no such thing. It no more protects "sexual choices" (under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments) than it creates a sphere of privacy (under the First Amendment) which permits abortion-on-demand. A society incapable of differentiating between a family and a perversion is doomed to extinction.

       Concurring with DOMA's 5-4 majority, the nation's Love Doctor, Barack Hussein Obama, exalted: "I applaud the Supreme Court's decision to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act. This was discrimination enshrined in law. It treated loving couples as a separate and lesser class of people....We are a people who declared that we are all created equal.... And the love we commit to one another must be equal as well." (Emphasis added.) All the love we "commit" - including polygamous love, incestuous love, "intergenerational" love (pedophilia), cross-species love, and masochistic love (taxpayers voting for Democrats)?

       No one gives better platitudinous drivel than the 44th president of the United States - who himself was an advocate of discrimination enshrined in law and of creating a separate and lesser class of people, up until about 14 months ago. Prior to that, Obama said he believed "Marriage is between a man and a woman" and "I don't think marriage is a civil right."

       To fully understand the damage done by United States. v. Windsor (the DOMA decision) - which sets us firmly on the path to the judicial imposition of homosexual marriage nationwide - the ruling must be seen it the light of what the left has already done to marriage and the family in America over the past five decades.
 

Read more:

MONDAY BRIEF

Marriage Means Something

The Foundation

"In order to discover the line of our duty rightly, we should take our children in our hand, and fix our station a few years farther into life; that eminence will present a prospect, which a few present fears and prejudices conceal from our sight." --Thomas Paine

Inspiration

Marriage means something

"The Left will say that we are on the wrong side of history, but that doesn't matter if we're on the right side of truth. And the truth is not that #LoveIsLove, but that the love of a man and woman, for life, is God's design for marriage and family. Forty years ago, many people thought ... that the battle for life was lost. Over time, our movement and technology helped to change people's hearts and minds to a new understanding of the sanctity of the unborn child. And we will do it again. ... But it will take a faithful remnant. People in America's pews and pulpits who have been silent can be silent no longer. ... Are these rulings demoralizing? Definitely. But we will not let a court's definition of marriage define us. As I've told my staff: we were not called to serve results. We were called to serve God. ... Someday -- years from now -- when law students are memorizing this date and its importance in American history, what will they say about our movement? That it united together and changed the conversation on marriage? That it refused to quit until it transformed state and federal laws? Hopefully, they will say that you and I stood on truth -- and restored marriage and the Author of marriage to their rightful place in American policy." --FRC's Tony Perkins

Faith and Family

"Even a secular person should be required to answer a question before removing such an important cultural underpinning as traditional marriage: If marriage is no longer to be reserved for one man and one woman, as it has for millennia in many different cultures and religions, what is the new standard and on what is it based? Should we change America's motto to 'in polls we trust'? ... Polygamist groups have made it known they wish to be next in line to enjoy full constitutional protection for their lifestyle. ... There are people who favor sex and marriage between adults and children. On what basis should they be denied their 'right to happiness'? Today's 'that goes too far' easily becomes tomorrow's 'right' with a morally vacuous media leading the charge and a morally exhausted people who are afraid to say 'stop,' for fear they'll be labeled 'bigots.'" --columnist Cal Thomas

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Daily Email - July 1, 2013
    Top Story  Latest Obama Leak Investigation Targets Retired General
By Roger Aronoff  |  July 1, 2013
The Obama Administration is at it again, pursuing yet another leaker. The target named in this investigation is Retired Marine General James "Hoss" Cartwright, former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Cartwright is being investigated for possibly having leaked information to The New York Times' David Sanger about Stuxnet, the joint cyberattack program [...]
    From the AIM Blogs 
Reporter Who Sought to Remove Gag Order on NRA-Shirt-Wearing Teen Thrown Out of Court
By Manzanita McMahon  |  July 1, 2013

"Today" Show Rides Paula Deen Interview to Rare Ratings Victory
By Don Irvine  |  June 28, 2013
  AIA Column  Catholic Anthropology
By Spencer Irvine  |  June 28, 2013
The theology at the Catholic University of America, the only college in the United States chartered by the Vatican, may be doctrinally sound but its anthropology courses border on the pagan.
    Guest Column  The Anti-American Far Left Rallies to Edward Snowden's Defense
By Ron Radosh  |  July 1, 2013
Know Edward Snowden by taking a look at who his friends are. As it becomes more and more obvious that Mr. Snowden is not a civil-libertarian whistle-blower, but someone committed to engaging in espionage, his list of supporters is beginning to dwindle. Even his father recently acknowledged that his son broke U.S. law; he wants [...]
    AIM Newswire
Millions of Egyptians protest and call for Morsi's resignation

Obama to Egypt protesters: Let's talk it out guys!

Egypt's Islamist leader Morsi condemns "enemies of Egypt" 

Forcing "sick days" benefits into small business workplaces is merely backdoor Card Check

Jul 01, 2013 06:13 am | Coach Collins

By Kevin "Coach" Collins

The Democrats in New York's City Council have overridden Mayor Bloomberg's veto of its bill forcing small businesses to provide "sick days" to their workers. This is a cynical "end run" to Card Check. There is very little chance that Card Check, which would allow unions to "supervise" workers' votes on whether to unionize, would pass even in today's political climate. This has forced the desperate unions to find another way to increase their dwindling membership rolls.

The numbers are clear; unions are being crushed under the weight of today's economic realities. Unions are job killers and put companies out of business. There is no voluntary growth of unionization in the private sector and without the forced unionization of government workers there would be no net gain for unions in America.

Nevertheless, unions are a prime source of Democrat campaign war chests and because of this, Democrats will always protect unions. If ... Continue Reading:Forcing "sick days" benefits into small business workplaces is merely backdoor Card Check

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Watch as a genuine conservative levels King Barack with the truth in 58 seconds

Jun 30, 2013 03:31 pm | Coach Collins

Congressman Jim Bridenstine a Republican you can be proud of from Oklahoma pours truth on King Barack's reign.

ps://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=hvWDcFbUpk8

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Today's Headlines:  Monday, July 01, 2013

Reported Beheading of Syrian Priest Comes Amid Rising Fear for Christians' Safety

Death Valley's Global Record 134°F Has Stood for 100 Years - So Far

Obama's Final Word: Catholics Must Buy/Provide Coverage for Abortion Drugs

It is because of the generosity of readers like you that CNSNews.com is able to report THE TRUTH, seven days a week. Please make a gift today.

Final Reg: Mandatory Free Contraceptives, Sterilizations, Abortion-Inducing Drugs Will Prevent 'Employee Absences'

Rep. Gohmert: What's Next - Legalized Polygamy?

9th Circuit Accused of Violating Its Own Rules to Speed Gay Marriage in California

See a roundup of wasteful spending stories, including the following, on CNSNews.com's Wa$te Watch:

NIH Awards $254K to Study Workforce Safety of Male Prostitutes in Boston

Days After Deploring 'Mistreatment' of American Indians, Obama Urged to Rename Columbus Day

'Believe It Or Not,' Kerry Says He's Keeping 'Close Tabs' on Egypt, Syria

Gowdy: 'More Interested in Getting It Right' Than Following Senate on Immigration 
Now you can access all the latest breaking news from CNSNews.com on your smartphone. Check out our mobile website today!

All Countries Gather Foreign Intelligence, DNI Spokesman Says Amid EU Protests

House Recalls Lois Lerner to Testify About IRS, Potential for Immunity Deal

Obama Announces Multi-Billion-Dollar Plan to Bring Electricity to Africa

Gov't Unveils New Snack Standards for Schools: Donuts Out, Fruit Cups In

GAO: Current Method of Measuring Border Security Is Incomplete

Nation's Highest State Gas Taxes in New York, California

COMMENTARY:

Arab Summer: Egypt
By Rich Galen
Egypt will be yet another test of the ability -- or desire -- of President Obama to exert any influence on the direction of difficult situations overseas.

Senate Passes 1,200 Page Amnesty Legislation Full of Kickbacks and Carve-Outs

What began as an 844-page bill grew to nearly 1,200 pages in the final days before passage, thanks to a substitute amendment introduced by Sens. Bob Corker (R-TN) and John Hoeven (R-ND).

Click here to read the full article.

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Senators Ignore the Will of their Constituents in Amnesty Vote

Last Thursday, the Senate voted 68-32 to pass the Gang of Eight's "comprehensive" immigration reform bill. Remarkably, at least 16 Senators disregarded their constituents' clear opposition to the bill, S. 744, and voted for amnesty.

Click here to read the full article.

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GOP Voters Unlikely to Support Pro-Amnesty Lawmakers

Last week, National Journal and United Technologies released a poll showing that Republican lawmakers who vote for a "pathway to citizenship" for illegal aliens will face great scrutiny in upcoming elections.

Click here to read the full article.

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Speaker Boehner Claims He Will Follow Majority of GOP Wishes

With House Republicans planning to meet on July 10 to discuss immigration, Boehner has attempted to shore up conservative support by finally insisting he will not move a bill that lacks the support of a majority of Republicans in the House - known as the "Hastert rule" after a former House Speaker.

Click here to read the full article.

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California Bills to Benefit Illegal Aliens in Final Stages

While most of the country is focused on immigration at the federal level, the California State legislature is busy working on a number of immigration bills of their own, most of which benefit illegal aliens.

Join Glenn Beck at a Walk for Hope: Mercury One Raising Awareness for Huntsman Cancer Foundation

Join Glenn in supporting Mercury One's second annual "Day of Service." On Saturday, July 6th, Mercury One will be holding a 5k walk/run called Walk for Hope. Your participation will help raise awareness for the vital work supported by the Huntsman Cancer Foundation. We will meet you at Liberty Park in Salt Lake City and show our support together. Register for the event HERE.

NFL says no to Obama

The NFL has enjoyed immense popularity in recent years, and it looks like they are not willing to risk harming their reputation - even for Presdident Obama. He begged them to promote Obamacare, but the NFL has allegedly said thanks but no thanks. Most organizations in this position have decided to kiss up to Obama, so why did the NFL refuse to bow down? Glenn explains on radio today.

For The Record, Episode 3 is now available on-demand!

Did you miss last week's brand new episode of For The Record? TheBlaze TV Plus subscribers can now watch it on-demand! For The Record, Episode 3: Fallen Angel takes an unflinching look at how tactical errors and mismanagement of our Special Forces factored into the August 2011 Chinook helicopter crash that killed 30 American soldiers, including 15 members of the elite SEAL Team Six. Plus, hear from the families of the victims as they share memories and celebrate the extraordinary lives of these fallen heroes. Watch For The Record: Fallen Angel on-demand HERE.  

Obama-approved Syrian rebels behead Catholic priest, 2 other Christians. Get the fulls story via TheBlaze.

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Download TheBlaze iOS app to watch live and on-demand video from TheBlaze TV and much more! Plus, with the new TheBlaze newsreader, access to breaking news from TheBlaze.com is easier than ever! Download TheBlaze iOS App HERE.

To tip or not to tip? 

A sushi restaurant has decided to ban tipping because they believe trying to calculate the tip after enjoying a meal detracts from the dining experience. Figuring out 20% of a typical meal isn't exactly rocket science, but apparently they don't have much faith in people to pull off the calculation. Should more restaurants follow suit? See the spirited debate on radio today.

The sequel to The Overton Window has finally arrived!

Glenn's blockbuster novel from 2010 now continues with The Eye of Moloch - a thriller that's seemingly been ripped right from today's headlines. Follow Molly and her group of 'Founders Keepers' as they work to expose the secrets of a government that wants them dead. If you're looking for a summer beach read or just something to help you get even less sleep at night, The Eye of Moloch is a perfect choice. Buy a copy now and get an invite to an exclusive online event with Glenn. Get all the details HERE.

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Tonight's primetime lineup on TheBlaze TV:

• 5pm ET - The Glenn Beck Program: Does the immigration bill stand in direct contrast to the principles of the Founding Fathers?
• 6pm ET - Real News: The panel discusses how the DOMA decision could impact future rulings on Roe v. Wade.
• 7pm ET - Wilkow!: Representative Louis Gohmert (R-TX) joins Andrew to explain why the House won't approve the Senate's amnesty bill.