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WND EXCLUSIVE
SWAT TEAMS NEW FACE OF POLICE AGENCIES
Militarization of law enforcement going full steam ahead
A key distinction between the U.S. and other nations, even relatively free nations, long has been American restrictions on domestic use of the military, for police actions, law enforcement and keeping things under control.
However, when the local police officer or sheriff's deputy is equipped with night vision goggles, laser-scope rifles, electronic eavesdropping equipment and body armor and comes up a citizen's driveway in a military-type personnel carrier with shielded windows and oversize wheels, the prohibitions seem to lose some of their teeth.
It's an issue on which WND has reported for more than a decade, and others now are taking note.
Since 1878, with the passage of the Posse Comitatus Act, it has long been an established legal principle that the federal government is not allowed to use the military to enforce federal or state laws.
Twenty-two years ago Rabbi Eliezer Weiss lost his wife Rachel and their three young sons in a brutal terrorist attack. The four burned to death in a bus targeted in a firebomb attack.
On Sunday morning, Rabbi Weiss learned that his children's murderers are expected to go free in a mass terrorist release. The government is planning to free over 100 terrorists, several of them murderers, in a "gesture" to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
A neighbor of Rabbi Weiss, Efraim Holtzberg, recalled the rabbi's reaction to the news. "He told me he doesn't understand why the state of Israel invests millions in searching for Nazi criminals around the world," he told Arutz Sheva.
"Why does the Weisenthal Center track down Nazis who murdered Jews, while here we have Muslim Nazis who murdered Jews, who spilled blood as if it were water, who burned a mother and three children and an unborn baby alive - and they are released? Is there a difference between them and the Nazis criminals?" he asked, quoting Rabbi Weiss.
Holtzberg burst into tears as he recalled the funeral for Rachel Weiss and her children. The four were killed when terrorists hurled a firebomb at a bus full of civilians, setting it on fire.
Forget Monopoly there's a new game in town! Now you can learn the Constitution in new board game
If your family loves playing Monopoly, here's a new board game that can help adults and children learn about something more important than money - the Constitution.
It's all made in America, designed for two to four players or team play. It's great for teens and adults. The directions are simple. It's fun and engaging. It includes 223 game cards with information about the Constitution, including:
3 branches of government
Powers granted and denied
Checks and balances
Laws from the Articles
The Bill of Rights and other Amendments
Historical facts and dates
Play in less than an hour
Learn the Constitution as you play ... the more you play, the more you learn
Includes a complimentary copy of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence
Fun and educational for the classroom environment
Fantastic for home schooling
Great for entertainment for adults and teens who want to learn the Constitution
We are going to "Occupy" the sidewalk above 222N just past the Rt. 12 split. This overpass, end of Berkshire Blvd., IS a pedestrian overpass with a catch fence and plenty of parking in adjacent shopping mall.
FROM THE DIRECTOR OF GODS AND GENERALS AND GETTYSBURG COMES THE LIBERTY MOVIE OF THE YEAR
RON MAXWELL'S COPPERHEAD
For anyone who reveres and believes in the preservation of the Constitution of the United States, Copperhead is a must see this summer!
Copperhead is unlike any Civil War movie to date. It is a film of the war at home - of a family ripped apart by war, of a community driven to an appalling act of vengeance against a man who insists on exercising his right to free speech during wartime. A story of the violent passions and burning feuds that set ablaze the homefront during the Civil War, Copperhead the movie is also a timeless and deeply moving examination of the price of dissent, the place of the individual amidst the hysteria of wartime, and the terrible price of war - a cost measured not in dollars but in fractured families, broken loves, and men dead before their time.
Based on the extraordinary novel by Harold Frederic, who witnessed these conflicts firsthand as a small child, Copperhead tells the story of Abner Beech, a stubborn and righteous farmer of Upstate New York, who defies his neighbors and his government in the bloody and contentious autumn of 1862.
CALL TO ACTION - JULY 29, 2013
We have some work to do during Congress's August break, and WE NEED YOU. NumbersUSA has some great suggestions on how we, pro-American, pro-enforcement, taxpaying citizens, can defeat the proposed Amnesty bill. Please join us on Monday, July 29, at the Warminster Library, 1076 Emma Lane, Warminster, PA at 7 p.m. or call Marge at 215-659-6404.
If not now, then when? If not me, then who?
The Rise of the Police-State
Tuesday, July 30th, from 7PM-9PM Jeffersonville Golf Club 2400 W Main St, Norristown, PA 19403 (Right out side of King of Prussia, Philly, Phoenixville, Lansdale, and Conshohocken)
Hello Members and Friends,
I hope that you can join us for our monthly meeting. Its free and open to the public! Our monthly meetings have officially been moved to the Jeffersonville Golf Club because its a bigger and better location. We are rapidly growing thanks to our dedicated members and friends. Our next meeting is on Tuesday, July 30th and after that our regular meetings will now fall on the 3rd Tuesdays of each month at 7PM. We hope you can make it!
Meeting Topic: The Rise of the Police-State
America is rapidly devolving into the oppressive police-state that our Founding Fathers warned us about. In recent years, politicians have passed laws that destroy and erode our constitutional rights like the N.D.A.A. and The Patriot Act. Recently, Homeland Security, federal government agencies, and local police departments have widely adopted military tactics, military equipment (armored personnel carriers, flash-bang grenades) - and, sometimes, the mindset of military conquerors rather than domestic peacekeepers, and they say its all in the name of "safety" to promote a "global society".
The military industrial complex is transforming our once free country into a giant prison camp. A broke and indoctrinated society constructed in the name of fighting terrorism, was actually built to enslave the American people by making them give up their liberties in the name of security, (Benjamin Franklin warned us about that). Body scanners, sound cannons, citizen spies, staged terror, and cameras on every street corner -- it's only the beginning of the U.N. & globalist's hellish plan.
THE AGENDA:
- Steve Piotrowski and Jackie Piotrowski will give an eye-opening presentation on the police-state, and the erosion of liberties that our government has taken away from us in the name of "safety". We will also speak about what you can do, and current PA. legislation that we can support to help us all fight Big Government and protect citizens of their Constitutional and god-given rights.
- Darren Wolfe, CFL guest speaker of the year, and (author of The International Libertarian) will also give a Philosophy presentation on the police-state and why the founding fathers warned us against this, and what we can do.
- We are also hoping to get Senator Folmer to come speak. He introduced a bill that will end the N.D.A.A. in PA and make it a crime for any government official to enforce it. Hopefully we can get him to attend and talk about it, or even others that helped draft the bill.
- We will also have a round table of open discussion... Your voice matters!
COMMON CORE:
WHAT'S IN STORE FOR OUR CHILDREN?
We'd like to extend a special invitation for you to attend an open meeting covering Common Core
hosted by the Coaltion for Advancing Freedom:
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
The Red Clay Room, 423 Dalmatian Street, Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, 19348, USA
Doors open at 6:00pm. Program begins promptly at 6:45pm.
We encourage you to invite your friends and neighbors, teachers and PTO members, for this important program featuring two engaging subject-matter experts, Whitney Neal and Dr. Peg Luksik, followed by a Question & Answer Session.
Part 1- A Rigorous Assessment
Speaker: Dr. Peg Luksik Former candidate for PA Governor and US Senate
* * * * *
The first part of the evening will be a presentation by nationally-known education expert Dr. Peg Luksik, who will speak about the Common Core education standards and how they will affect you and your family. She'll cover what it is, how it came to be, why you may never have even heard of it, and why it is not a good idea for the children of Pennsylvania.
Part 2 - Making Education 'Common'
Speaker: Whitney Neal Director of Grassroots - FreedomWorks
* * * * *
In the second part of the program, grassroots activist and former 8th Grade U.S. History teacher Whitney Neal, will cover how the Common Core's 'homogenized' approach treats every child exactly the same, regardless of their individual needs, strengths, or career goals, and how this untested program can only result in a consistent standard of mediocrity.
Part 3 - Question & Answers
What We Can Do: As Parents, Teachers, School Board Members and Administrators
* * * * *
The third part of the evening will be a Question & Answer Session focused on what we can do. Especially because, to date, we parents, teachers, PTOs and PTAs, school boards, administrators, and concerned citizens have had no say in the matter.
The Federal Government effectively 'bribed' the State apparatus to adopt the Common Core using federal stimulus money, and they did so 'behind the scenes' without any significant public debate. There hasn't been any means testing to ensure that the standards are successful in the classroom. Finally, only 1 out of 60 content experts who reviewed the Common Core were teachers, and no proof was provided that their feedback was received, or their changes reflected in the final standards.
Twitter handle for use before, during, and after the August 13 program: @CAF4PA
Please RSVP HERE ASAP so that we have a good attendance estimate.
Feel free to invite those that you know need to hear more about Common Core.
And please note that Moms are the constituency aligning most against it.
Working to secure the blessings of Liberty.
US House passes bill to protect local educational control
WASHINGTON, D.C - On Friday, July 19th, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 5, the Student Success Act. This legislation will reduce federal interference in education, restore control to local school districts and states, empower parents and support effective teachers.
As passed by the House, the Student Success Act will: · Eliminate the flawed Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) system and replace it with state-determined accountability systems, thereby returning authority for measuring student performance to states and school districts. · Eliminate federally mandated actions and interventions currently required of poor performing schools, giving states and districts maximum flexibility to develop appropriate school improvement strategies and rewards for their schools. · Allow Title I dollars to follow disadvantaged students, at the option of individual states. This landmark 'portability' option promotes parental choice and allows all Title I schools to receive funds to promote the academic achievement of students in need. · Repeal federal bureaucrat designed teacher requirements and grant states the flexibility to develop their own teacher evaluation systems to better gauge an educator's effectiveness, if they so choose. · Maintain the requirement that states and school districts issue and distribute annual report cards, including disaggregated data on student achievement and high school graduation rates, while also streamlining data reporting to ensure meaningful information is easily available to parents and communities. · Support opportunities for parents to enroll their children in local magnet schools and charter schools, and enhance statewide parental engagement. · Eliminate more than 70 existing elementary and secondary education programs to promote a more appropriate federal role in education through the block grant program. · Consolidate a myriad of existing K-12 education programs into a new Local Academic Flexible Grant, which provides funding to states and school districts to support local priorities that improve student achievement.
The bill passed on a party line vote. The Pennsylvania delegation was split with all Democrats voting to oppose and all Republicans voting in support. It faces an uncertain future as it moves to the Democrat controlled Senate.
Pennsylvanians Against Common Core will be poised to mobilize our grass roots network at the appropriate time as it moves for consideration in the Senate.
Want to be involved in our Common Core Mail Blitz? Contact Sharon atjsshaugh1@rcn.com or sharongrammy@icloud.com
New Pennsylvanians Against Common Core flyers will be printed shortly. If you or your group would like a large quantity, please email us at contactpacc2013@gmail.comCost is $50 per 1,000.
Upcoming Common Core Meetings
Date/Time: 7:00 PM, July 31 Place: Furniture & Firearms Depot - 2165 Mt. Bethel Highway, Mt. Bethel Pa. 18343 (on Rt. 512) Group: Slate Belt Parents Against Common Core Focus: Educational assembly explaining Common Core Contact persons: Alisa Reto 570-992-1185 / Jim Comunale 570-897-3376
Date- Tuesday, August 20th, 2013 Location- Fire Company #1, 6th & Broad Sts., Emmaus Time- 7:30-9:30 PM Speakers- Mrs. Peg Luksik: Graduate of Clarion University of Pennsylvania, in Special Education and Elementary Education. She was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Humanities Degree by Stonehill College in Massachusetts in 1997. Author of "Outcome Based Education". Free and Open to the Public
Latest News
Top teacher ignores latest reform directives Rafe Esquith, the most imaginative and productive classroom teacher I know, freely admits he overdoes it. He works long hours, including Saturdays. He leads his fifth graders in mounting several performances of a Shakespeare play each year. He helps former students prepare for college. This summer he gave speeches in China, took former students to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, drove their luggage 700 miles, showed students several John Steinbeck haunts, did an 11 day tour for this new book and took students on a Mississippi steamboat ride. As hyper as he is, after 29 years teaching mostly low-income Hispanic and Korean kids in a small, rundown classroom in Los Angeles he knows what drains teacher energy and ambition. In his new book, "Real Talk for Real Teachers," he describes this in ways I think nearly every teacher in the country would endorse: The system, "rather than encourage and support you, . . . actively works to discourage you," he writes. Read more.
Worried about privacy? How about Common Core? Increasingly worried about surveillance, concerned Americans may not have considered this issue - gathering data about children in schools and the possibility that it can become widely accessible. How? Dr. Paul Kengor explains in this op-ed about the controversial Common Core standards. Read more.
Common Core won't make kids smarter The new education standards called Common Core won't make U.S. kids any smarter. It would be better if states used their own revised and improved version of standards already successfully piloted in 12 states. The overall Common Core strategy is to raise the scores of average students by a point or two but do nothing to motivate or help the smarter kids or the dumber kids. Read more.
If you have a group that will be holding informational meetings on Common Core, please let us know at contactpacc2013@gmail.com so that we can promote.
Please continue to promote the Pennsylvanians Against Common Core on-line petitionand Facebook page. If you would like to have a spokesperson speak to your group concerning the problems and questions concerning Common Core, please contact us at contactpacc2013@gmail.com.
Visit our website at http://nopacommoncore.com
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 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
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.
UNESCOPLEDGESSUPPORT 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."
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!
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!!!
Reality Check- just in case you ever had a doubt......MIke Huckabee is a typical GOP Establishment person.
Mike Huckabee is now championing Common Core Education on Fox News for the GOP! How disgusting is that?!?!? "Mike Huckabee Urges Conservatives to Back Common Core Standards"
This is another reason why Constitutional Conservatives MUST leave the GOP and beware of what you hear on Fox News. Fox News continues to move to the left - to the liberal progressive side of issues. That is the very very sad but true fact. Mr. GOP Huckabee....."It's disturbing to me there have been criticisms of these standards directed by other conservatives including the RNC," Huckabee wrote. "The truth of the matter is, these criticisms are short-sighted." see attached article from Sunshine News. Send a message to Mr. GOP Huckabee at http://www.mikehuckabee.com/masterfeedback and send a loud message to the every more liberal progressive Fox News! Americans that believe in our Constitution must not be silent about this!
Do NOT let Fox News get away with promoting the very liberal progressive Common Core Education that promotes the ideology that American Children are Common/Community Property!
Do NOT let Fox News get away with promoting the loss of state's rights and the federal government taking over Education. WE NEED TO ABOLISH THE FEDERAL DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION - NOT EMPOWER IT!
If you support SOCIALISM AND COMMUNISM FOR THE U.S.A. then COMMON CORE EDUCATION IS FOR YOU. If you believe in the U.S.A. CONSTITUTION....then YOU WILL LOUDLY AND OPENLY REJECT AND OPPOSE COMMON CORE EDUCATION AND ANYONE THAT PROMOTES IT!!
Common Core Education is the indoctrination of American Children. This is NOT acceptable if you still believe in FREEDOM!!
The proponents of Common Core say that the standards ARE state led because they were developed by The National Governors' Association.
Well, perhaps this is true in a way that is very disturbing! Listen to this speech at the 1989 NGA conference on education (at 12:48).
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
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!
Volunteers contact CCG VP of Activities & Events Kathy Bessler at KEBCHICK@hotmail.com. (First come, first served)
My 8 year old Joseph and I will be there.....hope you and your children or grandchildren will join us! For liberty, Jaime
Here's a little more detail from AFP organizer Katy Abrams....
Ideally I am expecting about 30 or so kids. Two hours will be various learning/activity stations and the last half hour will be snack time with a birthday cake celebrating economist Milton Friedman's 101st birthday. The stations will be really easy to run. I am in need of 3-4 adult/teenage volunteers to help run the various stations.
THIS WILL BE A WORKING MEETING. BE PREPARED TO HAVE A LITTLE WRITER'S CRAMP.
Common Core is a huge issue for our schools and students as well as the taxpayers. The cost of implementing Common Core Standards (CCS) in PA will be $650 million or more over seven years at a time when we are facing a severe pension crisis. The PA legislature was bypassed when PA signed on to the CCS. There is no evidence that this costly and transformational initiative will result in better learning outcomes. In addition, we believe that we will lose local control over our school boards and over the education of our students.
For our August meeting we will have a Common Core post card writing blitz and we urge you all to join in the effort. VFP will supply pre-stamped post cards, as well as bullet points to write and addresses of legislators. This is a nationwide effort that we are coordinating with Pennsylvanians Against Common Core.
It is most important that we contact and continue to contact legislators since this Common Core initiative is already being implemented. Of course, the leftist teachers unions will be spaming mail, probably on the clock as usual. If you have kids, grandkids, neices and nephews you need to care about this. Hope to see you there with your writing utensils.
Gun Control groups like Mayor Bloombergs CeasefirePA are still pushing hard to further "question" our right to Keep and Bear Arms! Just this week CeasefirePA testified at the PA Judiciary Committee hearing on HB1010 to expand background checks (next step towards registration). And the Bloomberg anti-gun bus tour continues across the USA with a likely stop in PA in the next 60 days. The recent Zimmerman trial verdict has given these anti-liberty groups a renewed energy to pass more incremental gun control laws.
This battle for our rights needs YOU to stay involved. CGOPA is an all-volunteer grassroots group of citizens, we are your friends and neighbors. There is a core group of 13 and we are always looking for more help! We need people to help coordinate legislative action and develop a formal membership framework. Please email concernedgunowners@gmail.com to get involved!
Even if you can't help directly, please continue to support our cause by showing up to one of our upcoming events.
Movie Screening- Assaulted: Civil Rights Under Fire
Thursday, August 8th 7:30pm
Philadelphia PA
Mike Novak stepped up to the plate and organized this Premiere in the Philadelphia area! Please check out this link and watch the trailer and then place your ticket order. We need to sell a minimum number of tickets by August 1st (less than 2 weeks away) in order to have the showing, tickets will not be charged until the minimum is met but please reserve yours TODAY. Thanks Mike for setting this up!
Townhall Meeting- Defensive Use of Firearms, Your Rights & Responsibilities
Tuesday, October 1st 7:00pm
Warminster VFW
Join us for this highly anticipated townhall meeting with 2A attorney Joshua Price from Firearms Consulting Group, an NRA instructor, and hopefully a representative of law enforcement as we discuss what you need to know if you ever have to use a firearm in a defensive manner. Not to be missed! More details to come. We will be announcing a gun raffle in the coming weeks that will be drawn this evening!
Rally & March in Support of HB357 Held June 15 in Doylestown
State Rep. Paul Clymer, co-sponsor of HB357, spoke to a crowd of almost 200 who then marched through the historic district of Doylestown handing out flyers. More info here.
Join Jim DeMint, Delaware Valley's Conservatives, and Heritage Action
Members of Congress are leaving Washington in August to head home-but few of them are hosting town hall events to hear what their constituents are saying. So we are bringing issue education and our message of Congressional accountability to strategic cities across the country-including Delaware Valley.
Michael A. Needham Chief Executive Officer Heritage Action for America
Guy Rodgers, Executive Director for ACT! for America, to speak in Elmer, NJ
It is my privilege to invite you to a special event featuring Guy Rodgers, Executive Director of ACT! for America. This event is free and open to the public and will be held at the following location:
Elmer Grange Hall 535 Daretown Road Elmer, NJ 08318 Tuesday, September 3rd at 7 pm
Guy has been my right hand since I founded ACT! for America in 2007. He is a compelling, dynamic public speaker who combines a deep knowledge of the threat of radical Islam with nearly three decades of strategic and communications experience in the political world.
The result is extraordinary-and something you don't want to miss.
The Boston Marathon bombing was a painful reminder that the threat of jihad is always lurking just beneath the surface. Unfortunately, we can't just wish it away or turn a blind eye to it. Whether that threat is the violent kind of jihad we saw in Boston or on 9/11, or the "stealth" kinds of jihads that is the primary weapon of the Muslim Brotherhood, we must be informed and have the tools with which to fight it effectively.
Here are just some of the aspects of this threat Guy will discuss:
The worldwide effort to muzzle free speech-and how our own government is assisting this effort.
Homegrown jihad.
Terrorists infiltrating our borders.
The Muslim Brotherhood and creeping sharia law in America.
Pro-Islamic bias and indoctrination in our public school textbooks.
But perhaps even more importantly, you will learn 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. I know you will leave this event not only educated, but inspired.
So please come and invite your friends to this ACT! for America event in Elmer, NJ, on Tuesday, September 3rd. You'll be glad you did.
Yours for a Safe and Free America,
Brigitte Gabriel
In the wake of the Supreme Court's marriage decisions, the movement to uphold America's core principles heads to the states, where challenges to state laws and local communities' religious liberties will surely open up in coming months.
How can citizens strategize and get the tools to effectively make the case for life, marriage, and religious liberty? Are conservative groups working together? Get the answers at Values Voter Summit 2013 >>
On October 11-13, Values Voter Summit 2013 will bring together thousands of Americans to tackle issues impacting our freedoms, families, national security, and values. This year's theme, Standing for Faith, Family and Opportunity for All, celebrates how following America's founding principles provides all Americans more freedom and better lives.
Leading voices in public policy and culture will address the summit, notably Senator Ted Cruz, former Governor Mike Huckabee, Rep. Steve King, columnistStar Parker, Senator Rand Paul, Live Action president Lila Rose, former Senator Rick Santorum, Todd Starnes of Fox News, and many more. See the latest confirmed speakers and register now >>
Heritage president Jim DeMint will deliver a keynote address to the leaders gathered, expected to be broadcast live on C-SPAN. His talk will touch on the importance of marriage and upward mobility, themes further developed in breakout sessions featuring Heritage experts.
In "Responding to the Tough Questions on Marriage, Religious Liberty, and More," Heritage's Jennifer Marshall, along with Adèle Keim of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, will tackle tough questions conservatives often hear, such as "Isn't it pro-family to expand who can get married?" and "Do conservatives care about the poor?"
Heritage will also host "How America Provides Opportunity for All: Stories and Solutions" to explore the truth of upward mobility in America. Matthew Spalding, author of We Still Hold These Truths, and Bishop Shirley Holloway, founder ofHouse of Help/City of Hope, will reveal how government redistribution runs counter to our Founders' wisdom and what the real solutions are to breaking the cycle of poverty. Get more details on breakout sessions >>
Students are also a vital part of this year's event. They will have exclusive opportunities to interact with speakers, including a Friday night mixer. In a casual interactive setting, Ryan Anderson of Heritage-famed for his CNN face-off with Piers Morgan-and the Family Research Council's Peter Sprigg will help young adults develop intellectually honest answers to what friends are asking on sexuality, relationships, and why marriage matters.
Between sessions, all attendees can receive complimentary materials and speak directly with dozens of conservative groups, including Christians United for Israel, Liberty Counsel, Students for Life, Leadership Institute, and Let Freedom Ring. Plus there's much more, from networking to new initiatives by the leaders you trust.
About The Heritage Foundation Founded in 1973, The Heritage Foundation is a research and educational institute -- a think tank -- whose mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense.
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
Dear FrontPage Reader, Each year, we invite the nation's leading conservative lawmakers, thinkers, and writers to join us in Palm Beach, Florida, for the David Horowitz Restoration Weekend. Held at The Breakers-one of the most beautiful resorts on the east coast-this retreat offers an unparalleled opportunity to relax and renew our dedication to our conservative values and preserving liberty.
This year's Restoration Weekend, which will be held November 14-17, promises to be the greatest yet. Dr. Ben Carson, Monica Crowley, Richard Grenell, David Horowitz, and Steve Moore are already confirmed to speak and we expect to add many more great conservatives to this list as we get closer.
I won't lie-attending the weekend is not cheap. And I know this has deterred many people throughout the years. That's why the Freedom Center will be covering all the costs for a lucky supporter and their guest to attend-roundtrip airfare, three nights at The Breakers, and admission to all of the retreat's programs, meals, and activities.
This special offer won't last long. We'll be selecting the winners on August 31-so make sure to enter today.
Thanks,
Michael Finch COO, David Horowitz Freedom Center
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:
The critically-acclaimed film, The Third Jihad - Radical Islam's Vision for America educates about the nature of radical Islamic ideology. Law enforcement agencies across the country have used the film in their counter-terror training.
Understanding the threats of terror is the first step in preventing deadly attacks.
Please consider supporting our efforts
AGENDA 21 RESOURCE PAGEs
Agenda 21 and the impact on personal property rights and land rights content, This page is updated often, last update was May 3rd, 2013 about conservation easements by Rick Buchanan The most recent updates are first, but the foundational video series are below. under the
Taking Liberty Video Documentary. We have had several hundred thousand visitors to this page due to its indepth resources on Agenda21 and property rights. You can also search our database of over 15,000 content news and commentary articles for more information. Use the search box in the upper right corner above the newsletter subscription button. Recently the UN website removed some long standing links to the 351 page document on Agenda21 (link below) Just a note: Don't be fooled by the term "non-binding", as that can be easily edited by the removal of 3 letters.
Donna Holt from Campaign for Liberty has also written extensively on this issue and her research provided valuable information both to James Simpson and Right Side News, and most importantly, the citizens of Virginia to get them involved at the local level.
Sustainable Development is code for a policy designed to transform human society, essentially eliminating individual life decisions and replacing them with top - down, one-size-fits-all government control. In steady fashion, the agenda for this new policy, designed at the international level, is put into place piece by piece with a new government council here, and new regulation there, each designed to appear as a "local" development program. Like the proverbial frog in the slowly boiling pot, many Americans fail to notice the rise in government heat.
The main course of action to impose the new agenda is through the pretense of environmental protection; "Sorry about your rights, but if we don't save the planet, then we will all perish!" And so with the devastation of a thousand pin pricks, America and its form or government is being changed through the creation of non-elected boards, councils and regional governments, designed to enforce the new regulations and "assure that we protect the environment."
The pin pricks come disguised as such issues as controls on community development; controls on use of private property; controls on use of open space; creation of development areas, many times under the excuse of historic preservation; communities designed on the blue print of pack and stack housing; making it harder to drive as roads are narrowed, even forcing cars to share the road with bicycles; the enforcement of expensive mass transit boondoggle projects; and the never ending spending spree on inefficient, unworkable alternative energy, such as wind and solar power.
In fact, control of energy and water are the two most effective tools in the enforcement of the Sustainable Development agenda. Without energy and water, human society stops. Using strict controls on how, or even if, energy and water can be used provides government with the power to dictate every aspect of society.
ImmigrationCounters.com provides the key numbers and events related to illegal immigration in the United States. Using the latest government and private sources, research and analysis trending data is factored at their individual rates of increase. For information about the research behind the individual counters clickhere Data Sources. ImmigrationCounters.com supports legal immigration and respect for all humanity yet highlights the significant impact of illegal immigration in America.
ImmigrationCounters.com informs the public of the realities of illegal immigration while challenging the myths and misinformation surrounding it. After decades of passively watching this problem grow, most Americans are now more aware of the severity of this issue. Our government has demonstrated a complete lack of urgency to control illegal immigration both on the borders and within the interior. Because of this large failure that which traditionally had been the American way of welcoming immigration is now dividing the country because of one word, illegal. Opposing illegal immigration and wanting the laws enforced is not un-American. It is time to set the record straight on what is un-American, illegal is un-American.
The issue of illegal immigration doesn't need more laws, studies or debates, it needs leadership and enforcement. America doesn't need immigration reform, it needs leadership reform. Because our government has failed to enforce the existing immigration laws, why should anyone be confident they will do so with expanded immigration reform? Because of these failures, legislators have been addressing the problems at their local levels with bills to manage it incrementally, piece-by-piece, rather than trying to fix the national problem at once--an impossible task. What most Americans expect is to have our borders secure, enforcement of the existing laws within the interior, meaningful punishment of employers who hire illegally and removal of incentives such as birthright citizenships and public school enrollments without status verifications. We must also address the fact that we're soft on criminals caught in crimes and aren't deported. No other country would allow this to continue. 40% of them entered the country legally and overstayed their visas. Yet there's still no reliable method to verify if Visa overstays have left the country. Another incentive that must be addressed is the birthright citizenship program that has resulted in millions of children and parents receiving instant rights and benefits. Some have called them "GPS babies" and this certainly cannot be what the authors of the 14th Amendment intended to occur. Public housing and other benefits are provided for the illegal parents through their 'anchor children' while citizens are turned away because of limited resources. This antiquated program must end. Government agencies and officials at all levels must address the costs associated with this kind of abuse. Past mistakes have been made in attempts to fix illegal immigration and our communities can no longer afford these kinds of mistakes.
Senator Lee Puts Wheels in Motion to Stop Anti-gun, Anti-freedom ObamaCare
"[ObamaCare] should be a serious concern to gun owners." -- GOA Executive Director Larry Pratt, IdahoReporter.com, March 21, 2013
Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Thursday on behalf of 11 other Republican colleagues, stating that they will not support a continuing resolution that funds the implementation of the anti-gun ObamaCare law.
"We view the Obama Administration's recent decision to delay ObamaCare's employer mandate and eligibility verification for the individual exchanges as further proof the law is a failure that will inevitably hurt businesses, American families, and the economy," Lee's letter states.
To be sure, there are many reasons to dislike ObamaCare. And if you're reading this alert, you are probably part of the majority in this country that wants to see this law overturned.
But gun owners should be especially concerned.
You may remember that because of the health care law that was enacted in 2010, the ATF will eventually be able to troll ObamaCare's federal health database for people who could be stripped of their guns because of PTSD and other similar medical maladies.
In fact, more than 150,000 military veterans -- perhaps as many as 165,000 -- have already lost their gun rights because of the "see a VA shrink, lose your gun rights" precedent from the Clinton-Bush era.
But what started with veterans is now spreading to the private sector, such as in places like New York. According to gun rights reporter, Dan Roberts, firearms are now being confiscated from gun owners in the Empire State because of their mental health information. For example:
[John Doe] received a letter from the Pistol Permit Department informing him that his license was immediately revoked upon information that he was seeing a therapist for anxiety and had been prescribed an anxiety drug. He was never suicidal, never violent, and has no criminal history.
So now taking anxiety pills can result in one's forfeiting their Second Amendment rights! This is happening pursuant to New York's recent gun control law, but this is exactly the type of thing that gun owners can expect nationwide after ObamaCare is fully implemented.
We don't need to see this occurring at the national level!
ACTION: Click here to contact your Senators and urge them to cosign Senator Lee's letter, expressing opposition to funding the anti-gun ObamaCare law.
SENATORS COSIGNING THE LEE LETTER: Rubio (R-FL), Grassley (R-IA), Risch (R-ID), Paul (R-KY), Vitter (R-LA), Fischer (R-NE), Chiesa (R-NJ), Inhofe (R-OK), Thune (R-SD), Cruz (R-TX) and Enzi (R-WY).
SENATORS WHO HAVE PULLED THEIR NAMES OFF THE LETTER. Three Senators had originally told Lee they would cosign the letter, but then subsequently were pressured -- perhaps by leadership -- to withdraw their names. These three Senators need special attention.
They are: Senators Mark Kirk (R-IL), Roger Wicker (R-MS) and John Cornyn (R-TX).
A fourth Senator, Richard Burr (R-NC), told the Hill newspaper that the strategy to block a government funding bill over Obamacare is "the dumbest idea I've ever heard." Burr should definitely hear from those constituents who don't think this is a "dumb" idea.
As even some of its most liberal supporters have admitted, ObamaCare is a "train wreck." The Obama Administration admitted as much when it made the decision to break the law by delaying ObamaCare's employer mandate and eligibility verification for individual exchanges.
However, President Obama and Senate liberals are more determined than ever to force this disastrous and vastly unpopular law on American families. We need you to urge conservatives in the House and Senate to stand strong and defeat the law once and for all!
The House of Representatives has voted 38 times to repeal ObamaCare, but Harry Reid Senate liberals keep blocking repeal.
Senate conservatives, led by Mike Lee of Utah and Ted Cruz of Texas, have taken a bold stand and have declared that conservative legislators must commit to defunding ObamaCare through the upcoming Continuing Resolution.
Because the Senate has refused to pass a sensible budget, the government has been operating on a series of Continuing Resolutions, which keeps government running at its current funding levels.
Conservatives are urging a Continuing Resolution that will continue all funding at current levels but will defund ObamaCare implementation.
This is a very heavy lift, as liberals are threatening a government shutdown over the issue, and conservatives are still haunted by the last time they took a stand that ended in an unpopular government shutdown in 1995. We need you to strengthen their spines!
As conservative Senators state in this letter (that we encourage you to sign) sent to Senator Reid, "If the administration will not enforce the law as written, then the American people should not be forced to fund it."
Time is running out on efforts to stop ObamaCare. On October 1, 2013, open enrollment begins for the law's massive new entitlements, including the new subsidized exchanges and Medicaid expansion. Once those kick in, it will be nearly impossible to undo ObamaCare.
ObamaCare is already increasing premiums, destroying jobs and reducing work hours, not to mention the denial of freedom and religious liberty this administration is forcing on us. President Obama is pulling out all the stops - legal and illegal - to keep it.
Leadership in the House and Senate seem more concerned about pushing through an amnesty bill for illegal immigrants than stopping ObamaCare's stranglehold on our economy. We need you to set their priorities straight and tell them to stop pushing amnesty and defund ObamaCare!
Please call and email Rep. Mike Reese today and tell him that he needs to change or remove the wording in his bill "everyone new construction will have as smart meter" . We are fighting to stop smart meters we don't want them in every new home constructed Lisa.
Please allow me to make one point at the top here today.
For several years, Republican establishment types and their allies in the press have mocked conservatives for wanting an all or nothing strategy. They've said we have to be willing to compromise. So Mike Lee proposes a plan to fund the government except for the discretionary funding for Obamacare. The reaction of GOP leaders? They only want to support a plan that fully repeals Obamacare.
Conservatives have done what the GOP establishment wants. And now they attack us for compromising instead of going all or nothing?
We inch ever closer to a third party as Republican Leaders commit suicide by lie. The leadership willing to fight the base to pass a terrible immigration reform bill won't lift a finger to fight against Obamacare.
-- Erick
1.Republicans Declare Soviet Union is Here to Stay
Were it Tom Coburn in the White House in 1981 instead of Ronald Reagan, we'd still be dealing with the Soviet Union.
Ronald Reagan was in the minority who thought the Soviets should be fought and could be beaten. The majority of Republicans and Democrats alike had so thoroughly bought into detente and peaceful coexistence and containment that Reagan had to fight his own side and the left. Since Barry Goldwater was defeated asking "why not victory?" with Lyndon Johnson quoting the Bible "Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further," no one thought rolling back the Soviets was achievable.
Reagan thought otherwise and was prepared to fight.
He did fight and he won.
Tom Coburn, joining John Boehner, has declared that the Republican strategy against Obamacare must be one of detente and containment and peaceful coexistence.
Tom Coburn says that because the GOP lost in 2012 we cannot get rid of Obamacare. Ronald Reagan, it should be pointed out, took every opportunity to undermine the Soviets. Coburn, because the GOP does not control the Senate or White House, is taking the position that we should not even try to undermine Obamacare because we cannot replace it.. . . please click here for the rest of the post →
2.Media Lesson from Dr. Aslan Interview: A PhD Cures Bias
There's a lot of buzz today about this interview of Reza Aslan, a card carrying member of academia with a Ph.D. in the sociology of religions from the University of California about his new book Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth.
So what was the big deal?
Host Lauren Green starts the interview with this question: "You're a Muslim, so why did you write a book about the founder of Christianity?"
Former RedState contributor and now Political Director of Heritage Action for America, Russ Vought, has written a pretty comprehensive "FAQ" on the Obamacare defunding fight. I asked Russ if I could post it here in its entirety. He said I could. The original is found right here. This should answer most of your questions, including the question about mandatory vs. discretionary spending.. . . please click here for the rest of the post →
4.Whose Shutdown?
Oh, predominately leftist perspective "media reports" say that Republicans are eager for a shutdown. Might as well throw in the towel because if they don't give Obama what he wants in fall's budget battles, "media reports" will label GOP as "obstructionists"; in 2014 and 2016 "media reports" will say that Republicans hate women, are a subsect of the Klan, and other horrible things, so why even mount a challenge? Let's just hysterically wave the white flag of surrender before they even arrive for negotiations. That's one of the pillars of Art of War. Dang those "media reports!". . . please click here for the rest of the post →
5.Mountains, Mole Hills, Rush, and Hannity
Liberals in the press are soiling themselves in excitement that Cumulus might drop Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, the nation's most popular and second most popular radio programs. "Sandra Fluke's revenge," they claim giddily.
That's nonsense and what is actually happening is quite simple.
Cumulus made some business mistakes and some large acquisitions that have both affected its bottom line. Premiere charges a lot for Rush and Sean's shows because they are the two most listened to shows on radio. Cumulus wants to pay less. So they are fighting.
Looking for a little extra cash? If you're interested in defrauding taxpayers, it might be as easy as writing down a number on a form.
The number is your income. The form is the Obamacare application.
If you do not have "affordable" employer-sponsored health insurance and your income is between about $31,800 and $94,200 for a family of four (that is, between 138 percent and 400 percent of the federal poverty level), you qualify for an insurance subsidy through Obamacare.
But when you apply for coverage in the Obamacare insurance exchange, it's up to you to report your income accurately. It turns out that the IRS won't be checking everyone's Obamacare applications.
Heritage health care expert Chris Jacobs ran the numbers to show what a difference a little fraud can make. He took a hypothetical family of four with $90,000 in income who were eligible for coverage through the exchange. If this family were honest, they would receive a subsidy of $2,997 to help cover their insurance premiums.
But if that same family put down $35,000 as their income instead, they would receive $10,175 from taxpayers. Even if they were caught, they would have to pay back only $2,500 of their ill-gotten subsidy, due to a loophole in Obamacare.
Will anyone be checking? It's doubtful, Jacobs writes:
Supporters of the law claim this scenario will not happen, due to the penalties associated with misrepresenting information on application forms and tax documents. But with government auditors noting the exchanges have missed critical deadlines, and Obamacare anti-fraud investigations being cancelled, will the federal government really have the resources necessary to enforce the law, much less ensure taxpayer funds are not being abused?
Congress should not expose taxpayers to this kind of liability. It's another reason to defund Obamacare.
Quick Hits:
Should the IRS investigate the pro-Obamacare group Enroll America?
Whistles, Whistleblowers and Rats G. Murphy Donovan In the real world, we seldom know much about the motives of leakers. Stimuli probably cover a spectrum from conscience to concupiscence. More
GOP's Outreach Blues Christopher Chantrill The Republican Party has never had a clue how to "reach out" to voters. And it shouldn't. More
The Foolishness Of The Wise Jack Curtis The overwhelming difference betweent he market and government is that government is always under human management while the free market is unmanaged. More
Bad Lies Keith Riler Political lies are nothing new. But a system that seeks to survive on the basis of lies and nothing else... That's another story. More
Paying in Advance Shoshana Bryen Israeli and Palestine requirements for a settlement remain in conflict -- and always will. More
American Thinker Blog
Diane Lane to Channel Hillary Clinton July 30, 2013 If ever there were proof that Hollywood liberals are delusional, it was when NBC announced that in preparation for 2016, fetching actress Diane Lane will star in a Hillary Clinton miniseries. More
Big talk radio realignment possible July 29, 2013 Hardball corporate negotiations may well end up causing some of the top hosts in the radio world to go head-to-head against each other in the same time slots. More
A bad economy is a tough sell July 29, 2013 The striking fact of the Obama economy is that median real household income has fallen even during the recovery. More
'False crisis' over the federal debt? July 29, 2013 "False crisis" is the way Treasury Secretary Jack Lew characterized the federal debt yesterday. The charts tell the story. More
Last week President Obama met with his Vietnamese counterpart, President Truong Tan Sang, at the White House. During a photo-op, Obama repeated the canard of the left that Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam's notorious communist dictator, "was actually inspired by the U.S. Declaration of Independence and Constitution, and the words of Thomas Jefferson."
What was Obama thinking? Four months ago Jane Fonda apologized for that terrible 1972 photo of her seated on a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun. She called it an "unforgivable mistake" that she would take "to my grave."
There are more than 58,000 names inscribed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. It's within walking distance from the White House. Yet last week our president praised Ho Chi Minh, who was a committed communist trained in Moscow in the 1920s.
Perhaps Obama was just humoring his guest, albeit at the expense of Vietnam veterans. But it is just as likely to be one more indication of his own leanings.
To the left, Vietnam was an unjust war. The radicals in the anti-war movement attacked our soldiers for being "baby killers." They considered the communist North Vietnamese "the good guys." Their reaction today would be equivalent to someone suggesting that the Taliban are "the good guys."
Don't forget that Barack Obama launched his political career in the living room of former radicals Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn. And he sat for decades in the pews of a pastor who preached from the pulpit, "God damn America!"
What A Deal!
Liberal big city politicians love to make promises they can't keep. Unfortunately many people rely on those promises for their pensions and their retirement security. So what do you do when the bills come due? Well, if you're the liberals running Detroit, you dump folks into Obamacare!
The New York Times reports that Detroit's plan is "being watched closely by municipal leaders around the nation, many of whom complain of mounting, unsustainable prices for the health care promised to retired city workers."
The timing is incredible. Starting next year, Obamacare will increase your health care costs and use your "premiums" to subsidize others who can't afford the higher costs, including Detroit's municipal retirees. So hard-working taxpayers all over America are indirectly bailing out Detroit's liberal politicians without Obama ever having to admit it!
By the way, Obamacare dramatically expands the power and influence of the IRS. But the government employees union representing IRS workers is fighting tooth-and-nail to make sure they don't have to participate in Obamacare. What does that tell you about the system Obama, Reid and Pelosi have designed for the rest of us?
Obama Torpedoes The Pipeline
The New York Times interviewed President Obama last week and asked him about the Keystone XL pipeline. Proposed during the Bush Administration, the Keystone pipeline, which would transport Canadian shale oil to the U.S., is one of the most thoroughly vetted projects in modern memory.
It is overwhelmingly supported by the American people and would seem to be a slam dunk for an administration desperate to create jobs. But we are still waiting for a State Department review to be completed and released to the White House.
Whatever the State Department decides, Obama's comments about the Keystone XL pipeline were clear: He's against it. He mocked the potential for the project's job creation, suggested that the additional oil might actually raise gas prices and reiterated his concern about "carbon in our atmosphere."
"Go For It!"
The reaction to our Friday report about Obamacare was overwhelming. You want Obamacare stopped and you're willing to shut down the government if necessary. That's my instinct as well. But many of you questioned whether the GOP leadership had the guts to see it through. The always-insightful columnist Charles Krauthammer has pondered that concern, and concluded that they do not.
As much as he would love to defund Obamacare, Krauthammer believes the threat of a government shutdown is "really dumb." Here is Krauthammer's take:
"Never issue a threat you're not prepared to in the end honor and deliver on. And if the Republicans imagine they're going to either stop the funding of the government or refuse the raising of the debt ceiling, they're out of their minds. It would be a catastrophe in the end.
"All the president has to do is wait and they're going to cave. This happened on January 1 of this year. It happened with the debt ceiling. We know the end game. Why would you threaten something and demand in return something you know the president will never do? ...The only alternative is to go over a cliff. It is really dumb.
"You don't engage in a tactic that you know from the beginning will lose... The only way to do it is to recover the Senate and do it with full control of the Congress, if ever, or the White House. You can't govern from a single house of Congress."
Charles Krauthammer is identifying our problem -- the propensity of too many GOP leaders to cave in!
Daily Email - July 29, 2013 Top StoryAIM Announces Formation of Citizens' Commission on Benghazi By Roger Aronoff | July 29, 2013 Accuracy in Media (AIM), along with some of the country's top retired military officers and national security officials, will hold a press conference on Tuesday, July 30, to launch the Citizens' Commission on Benghazi. The press conference is at noon in The Zenger Room at the National Press Club. The newly formed group will focus on [...] From the AIM Blogs Obama Administration Kills "Change" By Don Irvine | July 26, 2013 Guest ColumnJustice Rips Off the Blindfold By Diana West | July 29, 2013 Watching the Justice Department under President Obama transform into a dirty weapon of political manipulation to divide Americans into warring camps of class and race is enough to make a citizen feel helpless. I am referring, of course, to the federal government's outrageous reaction to the jury verdict in the George Zimmerman case. Innocent, the [...] AIM Newswire Samsung Beat Apple to a Pulp, in China!
I thought I knew a lot about lying. After all, I've written two popular books about high-level lying and deception and been interviewed on the subject hundreds of times on radio and TV.
I thought I knew pretty much all of the tricks - the ways Americans have been influenced, misled, duped, seduced, indoctrinated and intimidated into abandoning all that is good and wholesome in favor of angry, irrational and destructive ideologies and behaviors.
But that was before I met Ion Mihai Pacepa.
The author of a mind-boggling new book called "Disinformation," Pacepa is the highest-ranking intelligence officer ever to defect to the West from the Soviet bloc.
In other words, he was a top commie spy chief - the director of foreign intelligence for Romania and top adviser to the infamous dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. As such, he not only was an eyewitness to some of the most audacious and high-flying secret lying campaigns of our lifetime, he was in some cases a major participant!
CONTRIBUTOR: Hyscience. EXCLUSIVE: According to Michael Strange's parents, Michael along with 8 other SEALS made it out of the Chinook and were fighting on the ground. This seems now to be the biggest cover up in United States Government and Military History. Tells Michael Savage 'they knew something was up.' What, you...
CONTRIBUTOR: Live Free or Die. According to this video released today by David Vose, America is already now under martial law. With the NDAA in effect and the obvious assassinations of American citizens happening before our eyes, the attempted silencing of truth and the lies of the mainstream media being exposed every day, is this...
CONTRIBUTOR: Live Free or Die. According to financial experts in this excellent video, a compilation of MSM news reports just released today by Jason A, there is nothing that can stop the forthcoming collapse in America. To quote Jeff Berwick in this report, founder and chief editor of The Dollar Vigilante, "...there is no chance...
CONTRIBUTOR: Expose Obama. "Ideally, handguns, which account for more than half of all homicides in the United States, should be banned completely, but we recognize that this is not currently politically feasible," wrote Dr. Karl P. Adler in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). For years, the confiscationist left have fought...
CONTRIBUTOR: The Liberator. MSM: "Obama Would Love To See Civil Unrest in This Country" September Chaos Obama Wants $1.6 Trillion More in Taxes - Martin Armstrong We are headed into a massive black hole & there is not much we are going to be able to do. These politicians are totally...
CONTRIBUTOR: SGTreport. from KingWorldNews: A Tale Of Two Cities is a book written by Charles Dickens set before and during the French Revolution. It is a book that ranks in the top of all literary achievements. It depicts the plight of the French peasantry prior to the Revolution and the retribution inflicted...
CURATOR: John Rolls. DEEPCASTER LLC www.deepcaster.com DEEPCASTER FORTRESS ASSETS LETTER DEEPCASTER HIGH POTENTIAL SPECULATOR Wealth Preservation Wealth Enhancement "Run for the Hills Now, I'm Doing It." Jim Rogers, CNBC.com (07/20/13) When a Remarkably Successful Establishment (albeit a Rebel within) Investment Guru warns that He and We should "Run...
CONTRIBUTOR: Alton Parrish . Commercial honey bees used to pollinate crops are exposed to a wide variety of agricultural chemicals, including common fungicides which impair the bees' ability to fight off a potentially lethal parasite, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Maryland and the U.S. Department of...
CONTRIBUTOR: Alton Parrish . The Younger Dryas stadial, also referred to as the Big Freeze, was a geologically brief (1,300 ± 70 years) period of cold climatic conditions and drought which occurred between approximately 12,800 and 11,500 years BP. The Younger Dryas stadial is thought to have been caused by the collapse of the...
In 2009 Obama went to Allentown and lamented the economic slowdown saying, "I promise you this: I won't rest until things get better." Well, he's played 100 rounds of golf since that speech...
Detroit did what most cities do. It did what the country does, it tried to make ends meet by borrowing money even though it had no prospects for paying the money back.
Anti-energy activists promote falsehoods about this vital, safe job-creating technology. They inhabit a callous parallel universe and wage war on cheap energy, jobs and the poor.
For those of us dismayed by how the government and people of Israel are depicted in much of the world today, there are illuminating and often poignant accounts to be found in the reporting of earlier times...
The failure, as Commander-in-Chief, to send military assistance to the Ambassador in Libya when informed he was under attack and then concocting a false story about the attack surely raises some questions...
One idiotic professor quoted in the recent issue of Rolling Stone, blamed the murderous rampage of the Tsarnaev brothers on "American policies" (code words for support of Israel).
"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
Secretary of State John Kerry and his advisers have emitted more than 35.4 metric tons of carbon dioxide into the environment during their ill-fated attempts to restart the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, according to a Washington Free Beacon environmental impact study.
U.S. prisoners of war were left behind in North Korea, China, and Russia after the Korean War and the Pentagon failed to win their release or a full accounting of their fate, according to research contained in a new book that is highly critical of U.S. POW recovery efforts.
President Barack Obama praised the courage of America's Korean War veterans and called on the country to learn from the conflict at a Saturday morning event celebrating the 60-year anniversary of the armistice that ended the conflict.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie blasted Sen. Rand Paul's (R., Ky.) foreign policy views as "dangerous" on Thursday, making him one of the few high-profile Republican lawmakers to publicly attack Paul's non-interventionist positions.
Detroit Bankruptcy Could Impact Other State, City Bankruptcies
By Bill McMorris
Detroit's bankruptcy could set off a chain reaction in state capitals and city halls across the country, as lawmakers weigh burgeoning retirement costs for public employees against public services.
I spent last evening watching Blade Runner, as I do once a year or so.* It's an infinitely rewarding picture because I always wind up seeing something new-this time it was the umbrellas, the poles of which lit up like lightsabers in the omnipresent rain.
America is the land for small business and big dreamers, in all industries. Independent swimsuit model Ashley Sky using the Internet to generate business is no different than what countless bakers and fitness instructors do.
"Be in general virtuous, and you will be happy." --Benjamin Franklin
Inspiration
George H.W. Bush and Patrick
"Former President George H.W. Bush shaved his head [last] Tuesday, supporting a two-year-old with leukemia whose father is part of the 89-year-old's Secret Service detail. Members of the Bush Protective Division began removing their hair last week in solidarity with Patrick, who was diagnosed with leukemia last spring, Bush's spokesperson Jim McGrath told CBSNews.com. Bush said 'it was very easy for him to do,' McGrath said. Patrick's prognosis is 'good,' but his treatment and illness carry a special place in Bush's heart as his daughter Robin died of the same blood disease in 1953 when she was three. His Secret Service members have organized a website and 50-mile motorcycle ride through Maine -- where Bush resides -- to help pay for Patrick's medical bills." --CBS News
Opinion in Brief
"What does a president in a perpetual campaign do when national disapproval rates start rising higher than 50 percent? He returns to Knox College in Galesburg, Ill., the site of a Lincoln-Douglas debate and, even more impressively -- as a nearly breathless White House informed us -- the place he delivered his first major economic address as a U.S. senator. ... That's not to say that Obama offered a single new constructive idea. Raise the minimum wage? Force banks to lend money more easily? Subsidize clean energy? Universal preschool? 'I'm going to challenge CEOs from some of America's best companies to hire more Americans,' says our humble leader -- because, evidently, CEOs want to stick it to workers for the heck of it. Bold. Whatever you make of these ideas in general, they are unserious policy prescriptions for a stagnant economy. If the president were earnest about moving forward, he would have offered something, anything -- regulatory slowdown or a reprieve for small businesses or a pipeline even. Instead, the GOP was presented with a grab bag of progressive hobbyhorses that he knows have no chance of going anywhere. And isn't that the point? Keep your heel on the throat of the obstructionists and win the politics of the day. The House and White House are ready to battle over the debt ceiling and budget, and that's what this is about." --columnist David Harsanyi
For the Record
"During [Obama's] first two years in office, his party controlled both houses of Congress and rammed through its agenda. Largely as a result, Democrats lost the House in 2010, but they have retained the Senate, where Majority Leader Harry Reid has been playing the Igor to Obama's Dr. Frankenstein ever since (though reporters have yet to catch Reid actually saying 'Yetthhhh master' on tape). At Obama's bidding, the Senate failed to pass a budget for four years and refused to take up any meaningful legislation passed by the House. That's not the narrative you usually hear, because for most of Obama's presidency, the Washington press corps was enthralled with him. It wasn't until the dawn of his second term that most reporters stopped asking questions like, 'Can you create a boulder too heavy for you to lift?' It's also odd that Obama has pivoted back to the economy when, depending on whose estimates you use, he's made similar 'pivots' on average once every 2-4 months since he's been elected. As one wag told the Weekly Standard, 'You do that on the basketball court, you get called for traveling.' But the more apt image is of a basketball player with one shoe nailed to the floor, constantly pivoting in a circle." --columnist Jonah Goldberg
A Virginia woman has shut down a website for a charity operation meant to help American troops deployed in Afghanistan in response to what she describes as harassment and intimidation from U.S. military leadership.
Breitbart's Brandon Darby Exposes Hole in Border Fence More
$444 Million Hockey Stadium To Be Built In Bankrupt Detroit
From CNN comes the news that the once-great city of Detroit, which recently filed for the largest municipal bankruptcy in American history because of President George W. Bush's economy (he's still president, right?), is moving forward with its plan to build a nearly half-billion-dollar hockey stadium for the city's home team, the Red Wings.
Detroit's unemployment rate for June was 9.4 percent. The argument that managed to convince Michigan's Republican governor, Rick Snyder, not to halt the construction plans is that building an arena for the whitest sport in America in one of the blackest cities in America will supposedly help boost Detroit's economy and create jobs. Never mind that most of those will be temporary construction jobs. Gov. Snyder's cognitive functions seem to have been adversely affected by being surrounded by Democrats.
There is one Democrat, State Senator Gretchen Whitmer, who, not realizing what political party she is a member of, actually argued something mostly sensible: "If you want people to live in the city, and not just visit to go to games, you have to invest in schools, in having the police to respond to calls." (Remember, it takes an average of about an hour for police to respond to emergency calls.) "There are so many investments that should trump a sports stadium."
Over the weekend, Fox News religion correspondent Lauren Green interviewed Dr. Reza Aslan, author of the new book �Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth.� From the moment it began, the nearly 10-minute interview was contentious, with Green repeatedly questioning why Aslan, a Muslim, would write a book about the life of Christianity�s central figure. See the five most awkward moments from the interviewHERE.
According to a new book, the iconic photograph of firefighters raising the American flag in the rubble of the World Trade Center was almost excluded from the National September 11 Memorial and Museum because it was considered to be too �rah-rah America.� See the famous photo and get the rest of the storyHERE.
In a story some are already saying bears resemblance to the Trayvon Martin case, a homeowner in New Orleans has been arrested and charged with attempted second-degree murder after he shot an unarmed teen after he says he thought the boy was trying to break into his home. Get the entire story and watch the local TV coverageHERE.
Mysterious, low-frequency hums heard all around the world have baffled scientists for decades and driven residents mad with frustration. So what causes the hum heard in places such as Taos, N.M., Bristol, England, and Largs, Scotland? Get the latest answersHERE.
A new group of birthers has emerged questioning the eligibility of the president, claiming he was born in Columbia and thus is not a natural-born citizen and is ineligible for the office. See this latest controversial birther storyHERE.
IKEA may be known for giving customers amenities beyond the average shopping experience, but one of its stores reportedly went well above and beyond the call of duty. Shoppers at an IKEA store in central Israel had quite the sensory experience after a woman allegedly vomited on one of the store�s couches and then proceeded to the bedroom display where she curled up on a bed and fell asleep. Learn what the very accommodating store didHERE.
Most people think the surfing crowd is generally a laid back group. However, Sunday evening a riot broke out in Huntington Beach, Calif. following the closing of the Vans U.S. Open of Surfing competition. And there�s video showing the chaos. Check out the madness that took local police more than two hours to get under controlHERE.
Glenn Beck -- Glenn recaps the news of the day and Reason Magazine's Nick Gillispie joins Glenn to discuss Chris Christie's anti-Libertarian comments --5pm ET or on-demand on TheBlaze TV.
Wilkow! -- Did Obama Create The Middle Class? (Spoiler Alert - NO!) Alberto Cardenas joins Andrew to talk about the GOP's lack of leadership. --7pm ET -- only on TheBlaze TV.
Newly discovered footage allegedly shows the final moments before journalist Michael Hastings� vehicle crashed and burst into flames on impact. Hastings was killed after his Mercedes Benz smashed into a tree on Highland Avenue on June 19. Watch the videoHERE.
This weekend, pro Golfer Hunter Mahan made the happy jump from tournament leader to proud father. He announced the birth of his daughter on Sunday, a day after withdrawing from the Canadian Open. The unusual part of this story -- Mahan was leading the tournament when he received a call telling him that his wife Kandi had gone into labor with their first child. Had he stayed and won, Mahan could have pocketed $1 million. Get the rest of the storyHERE.
Holder Declares War on Texas, Ignores Supreme Court
This column by ACRU Senior Legal Analyst Ken Klukowski was published July 25, 2013 on Breitbart.com.
Attorney General Eric Holder has launched a war against Texas, and in doing so is defying the Supreme Court of the United States. The imminent judicial beat-down of Holder highlights that this case is not about the rule of law and instead abuses the federal courts for political purposes to rile up the far left and demonize Republicans.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) was enacted pursuant to the Constitution's Fifteenth Amendment, making it illegal to deny someone's voting rights due to race. Under VRA Section 2, if any government official violates your voting rights anywhere in the country, you can sue in federal court.
Breaking: Holder Tries to Re-grab Texas, Announces Nationwide Attack on Election Integrity
This column by ACRU Policy Board Member J. Christian Adams was published on June 25, 2013 on the PJ Media website.
Two important developments this morning. First: Attorney General Eric Holder will announce that the Justice Department will initiate broad nationwide attacks on election integrity measures like Voter ID using the remaining portions of the Voting Rights Act. Last month, the Supreme Court struck down the 1965 triggers that forced 15 states to submit election law changes to Washington D.C. for federal approval.
Second: despite the Supreme Court's ruling, the Justice Department announced it will try to recapture Texas under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act by showing the state continues to act with a racially discriminatory intent when passing voting laws.
Military Censors Christian Chaplain, Atheists Call for Punishment
This column by ACRU Senior Legal Analyst Ken Klukowski was published July 24, 2013 on Breitbart.com.
A Christian chaplain in the military is being officially censored for engaging in free speech, and anti-Christian activists are demanding he be punished.
Lt. Col. Kenneth Reyes is a Christian chaplain currently serving in the U.S. Air Force. He is stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska. As an ordained clergyman whose duties are to provide religious instruction and spiritual counseling, he has a page on the base's website called "Chaplain's Corner."
This column by ACRU Senior Legal Analyst Ken Klukowski was published July 23, 2013 on Breitbart.com.
San Diego County Clerk Ernest J. Dronenburg, Jr. has petitioned the California Supreme Court to order marriage licenses not be issued to gay couples while the court considers whether these licenses are illegal under California law. California's Proposition 8 amended the California Constitution to define marriage as one man and one woman.
The U.S. Supreme Court punted on the issue of gay marriage in Hollingsworth v. Perry last month, holding that supporters of Prop 8 lacked legal standing to defend it in court, and therefore neither the Supreme Court nor the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit had jurisdiction to rule on the question of whether defining marriage between one man and one woman violates the U.S. Constitution.
This column by ACRU Senior Fellow Robert Knight was published July 22, 2013 on The Washington Times website.
The federal government is growing like kudzu. That's the Japanese ivy plant that's taking over roadsides all over the south and is even invading the north.
Kudzu does some good, holding the ground and so on, but the price is steep: It kills the other plants, trees and bushes by smothering them. It's kind of pretty in the summer, like the topiary animals at Disney World, full of fanciful shapes. In the states that have cold winters, though, it leaves a tangled mess of dead trees and brown, twisted vines--a perfect symbol for big government's strangling tendencies.
Two recent dreadful jailbreaks in Libya and Iraq should shame those who brag about leading with their collective behind from the White House. The criminals in Iraq and Libya had all the advantages, and their successful breakout shames the local authorities and those who brag about leading with their collective behind from the White House.
It's always a little galling (not to mention hilarious) for those of us on the right to reflect that the Democratic Party has somehow managed to sell itself to African Americans as the friend of black people! But it's beginning to be equally galling (and equally comic) to reflect that the Democrats have also contrived to present themselves as the party of women.
Michigan Republican Rep. Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said "most Americans" do not realize that the United States is currently in the middle of a "cyber war."
A Huffington Post contributor regrets staying home to raise her children instead of getting a job. But when all is said and done, most children are profoundly grateful for the time and sacrifices of their stay-at-home parents.
Rush Limbaugh wasted no time on the air today responding to a report the second-largest operator of radio stations in America is planning to drop his program at the end of year.
Find out what the "Doctor of Democracy" had to say about the future of his No. 1 talk-radio show.
Sarah Palin: Team McCain Forbad Me To Tell The Truth About Obama in 2008 "I was not allowed to talk about things like that because those 'elitists,' those who are the brainiacs in the GOP machine, running John McCain's campaign at the time said that the media would eat us alive if we brought up these things.".
Gun Activist Held Without Bond In DC Court A D.C. Superior Court judge has ordered a veteran and activist accused of openly carrying a shotgun in D.C.'s Freedom Plaza held without bond.
Army Issuing New Unisex Uniforms With narrower shoulders, a slightly tapered waist and a more spacious seat, the unisex clothing line has been in the works since 2009 and is being issued to all installations - except Fort Benning in Columbus, Ga. - for men and women with a smaller or more slender body.
Bill Clinton 'Pissed' Over Weiner Comparisons According to a top Democrat: "The Clintons are upset with the comparisons that the Weiners seem to be encouraging - that Huma is 'standing by her man' the way Hillary did with Bill, which is not what she in fact did."
Former Obama czar and now Harvard genius Cass Sunstein is lamenting over the lack of American students' interest in science and math. Sunstein is right in noting that kids arrive in college with poor preparation in the sciences - I might add in bad physical shape because their high school PE programs were cut, their corpus collosi challenged because their right brain development in music and art programs were cut to make room for the political correctness of phony racial diversity, gender equality, sexual proclivity and hate America themes. And they expect kids to be motivated to subject themselves to real disciplines?
I think what Sunstein and the rest of the "progressive" crowd miss is the attitude base of today's education process. Students are hammered with all the evils of American hegemony and destroying the earth with our technology. Schools under guidance from DC promote Godless political correctness in all its evil forms, ... Continue Reading:Science, Mathematics, Education, Religion and "Progressivism"
Posted by Daniel Greenfield @ the Sultan Knish blog
It's an iron law of nature as certain as the one about an angel getting its wings every time a bell rings or a snowstorm blanketing the area every time Al Gore comes to town to remind the carbon puffing infidels about Global Warming; every time Obama gives a speech; a thousand businesses go out of business.
On July 24th, to celebrate Venezuela's Simon Bolivar Day, Obama delivered yet another economic speech in which he castigated Republicans in Congress for the sequester that he proposed, promised big economic benefits for the entire country from Green Energy and Illegal Immigration and promised to spend every one of his remaining days trying to help working people; at least those days when he isn't on the golf course, on vacation at Martha's Vineyard or delivering useless speeches.
An Obama speech is a familiar quality that even the scribblers whose limbs once tingled at the touch of the teleprompter have developed a callous contempt for its reflexively dishonest "Let me be clears" and the infinite "I's" that roll off its assembly line speechmakers.
Posted by Daniel Greenfield @ the Sultan Knish blog
Weiner's political career will never end, if only because of how much value he has to offer to the media, standup comedians and bored browsers looking for some news item to wake them up long enough to finish another hour of data entry at their job.
Shame has become a mostly discredited concept. The return of Weiner and Spitzer to public life proves as much. But the Era of Shame ended conclusively with Clinton's impeachment proceedings. The only outcome of those proceedings was to degrade the country while leaving the man at the center of the mess intact.
The New York Times ran a preachy editorial telling "the serially evasive Mr. Weiner" to "take his marital troubles and personal compulsions out of the public eye". The censure might have more credibility if the New York Times' editorial board hadn't defended the serially evasive Bill Clinton and urged him to stay instead of telling him to take him "marital troubles and personal compulsions" back to Arkansas.
Is the New York Times really any less serially evasive than Weiner? And for that matter, the Gray Lady's David Carr makes Weiner look like a saint. At least Weiner probably didn't get around to domestic abuse, crack or baby stealing.
The difference between Clinton and Weiner being made by the serially evasive New York Times is one of political convenience.
Pushing Weiner out of the race now will help the Democrats secure Gracie Mansion by preventing a candidate with problems from heading up their party's ticket. If Weiner had already won the runoff, then the message would have been that we have to give him another chance. And another one.
In the White House, Bill Clinton had to be defended to the death. If Weiner makes it inside City Hall, he will have the protection of the media mafia which only cares about making sure the players of the left can shoot and score some policy victories for their side.
If John Edwards had become the President of the United States, he would have been defended to the death and any witnesses and accusers against him would have received the Linda Tripp treatment, instead of the slick lawyer being mocked and kicked to the curb once it became clear that his disgrace might damage the progress of the progressive agenda.
On Thursday, Huma Abedin had been flogged across the airwaves by the MSM as being "intelligent," "delicate," "brave" and was lauded for "standing by her man." The degenerate Anthony Weiner had "made a mistake." Several, actually. Why the deafening cacophony of praise? Because Abedin and the State Department are under Senate investigation and MSM is trying to deflect damaging public scrutiny of Abedin/Hillary/State Department wrongdoing.
If the investigation sinks Abedin, it might also derail a potential presidential run by Hillary Clinton in 2016. Abedin and Hillary are indiscrete in more ways than one.
According to FOX News "Abedin is facing her own troubles - less salacious than her husband's, but potentially more severe."
Abedin was Hillary Clinton's deputy chief of staff at the State Department. The title changed, according to Politico, when Abedin took maternity leave during the summer of 2012. Clinton awarded her bosom buddy of 15 years the title of "special government employee."
Abedin's part-time labors on behalf of the State Department netted her an annual salary of $135,000 - $155,000 with benefits. The status change was kept secret. It was unearthed by The Politico in May, 2013. Being a "special government employee" gave Abedin plenty of time with her new family but it also permitted Abedin to pursue other, more lucrative jobs while on the government payroll.
From time to time, we have noted President Obama's lack of knowledge about American history. The most recent manifestation - his claim that Ho Chi Minh was inspired by America's Founding Fathers - suggests that Obama's ignorance is to some extent willful.
It is, in any event, not accidental. From Stanley Kurtz, we learn that Obama is a fan of the leftist historian Howard Zinn. Stanley cites this passage from James T. Kloppenberg's book Reading Obama:
Obama filled out his education in American history as well as politics while he was working in Chicago. Mike Kruglik had been a doctoral candidate in American history at Northwestern before he became an organizer, and when he and Obama talked, they discussed the reasons why a nation supposedly dedicated to freedom and equality provided so little of either.
They talked about the differences between the populists and the progressives and the reasons why ordinary people never seemed to get anywhere in modern America. Kruglik recalls that Obama had a special interest in the work of the radical historian Howard Zinn. (Emphasis added)
John and Steve commented on Howard Zinn here. Steve nailed it when he wrote:
The main defect of Zinn is that he takes the deviations from the perfect realization of America's founding principles to be the whole of America, and hence argues that America is therefore wholly fraudulent, missing the paradox that it was precisely America's founding principles (especially individual equality) that made possible the liberal reform tradition. Once you ponder this, you recognize that Zinn, like his intellectual cousin Noam Chomsky, is simply a hater.
Today, the NRO editors summarize Zinn's errors and distortions here. They note:
Zinn misrepresents everything from slavery in the Chesapeake colonies to American involvement in Cuba to the Tet offensive. He reports as fact the story of Polly Baker, a woman persecuted for having an illegitimate child, when the story is in truth a work of fiction, penned by Benjamin Franklin.
Zinn himself described A People's History as "a biased account," that bias being in favor of socialism, a political tendency that Zinn favored and thought would be popular but for the fact that "the Soviet Union gave it a bad name." Mao Zedong and Fidel Castro didn't help much, either, though Zinn had kind words for their revolutions.
Zinn denied being a member of the Communist party, though he was identified as such by several other members and served as an officer in a CPUSA front group. Presented with evidence (including a confession) that Soviet spies Zinn had defended were in fact guilty as charged, his response was: "To me, it didn't matter whether they were guilty or not." Later in life, he trafficked in 9/11 conspiracy theories.
Zinn's book is as notable for what it excludes as it is for its distortions. It is a history of the United States in which there is no Gettysburg address, no Wright brothers, no moon landing, no D-Day landing at Normandy. The thought of Joan Baez receives more prominent attention than does that of Alexander Hamilton.
It shouldn't come as a surprise that President Obama had a special interest in the views of an anti-American historian. And it is only mildly surprising that Americans elected a president with a special interest in those views. As the NRO editors warn: "From kindergarten through graduate school, American education is a sewer of left-wing ideology."
Unless Mitch Daniels and others succeed in improving this state of affairs, the distorted Obama/Zinn view of America likely will prevail within a decade or two. And a self-hating America does not have a promising future.
Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Howard Dean concludes that the Affordable Care Act's Independent Advisory Board "will never control costs" and "will cause frustration to providers and patients alike." A friend comments:
Note what is going on here. The Affordable Care Act was a liberal dream-come-true that was going to create a utopian, leftist society that brought the "dream" of health insurance to all Americans through the guise of big government.
Now, three years after its passage, here is what we have: members of Congress who voted for it predict a train wreck; the president violated the law and the Constitution's separation of powers doctrine by delaying the hated "employer mandate" for a year; dozens or hundreds of religious groups are suing because the ACA violates their religious liberty, the First Amendment to the Constitution, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and a host of other laws; and now the former DNC Chairman denounces the "IPAB" as a disaster.
What to make of these Democrats' expressions of concern? Well, we can start with the 2014 election, for one thing. The fear is that "ObamaCare" will be such a disaster that the voters will throw out Democrats in large numbers next year.
For this reason, the president decided not to enforce it until after the mid-term election. The strategy is to try to take the "mandate" off the table and hope for a liberal Congressional majority in the president's last two years. Then, of course, there is the blame-the-Republicans strategy. Mr. Dean's piece illustrates this approach, as if to say, "see, I told you that ObamaCare was a disaster. If only those pesky Republicans would work with us, we could fix it."
Does this seem ridiculous? Yes. But then note this concluding line from Mr. Dean's article: "instead of posturing, getting rid of IPAB is something Democrats and Republicans ought to agree on."
The Democrats are running scared, and with good reason. If the Republicans can avoid shooting themselves in the foot, 2014 could turn out to be a big year for the GOP.
The climate campaign has gone to DefCon1 over the tergiversations of Reuters, where alarmist news stories about climate change have fallen by nearly 50 percent following the hiring of an editor (Paul Ingrassia, formerly of the Wall Street Journal) who harbors some skeptical views. Media Mutters is all over the case, producing the chart below showing the decline in climate change coverage pre- and post-Ingrassia:
There's a full-scale media outrage under way to purge the heretic. The Guardian, Mother Jones, and other outlets are all on the chase, proving 1) the dependence of the climate campaign on a media monopoly, and 2) that the environmental version of the Brezhnev Doctrine lives-what's there is theirs, and don't dare change your news coverage.
But maybe they buried the lede on this story. The Columbia Journalism Review's account of this matter notes down toward the bottom that climate coverage is declining at other media outlets (just as Power Line predicted it would):
It's worth noting that most newsrooms around the country have reduced coverage of climate change-related issues since 2010. In 2011, Environment & Energy Publishing, which produces Greenwire, ClimateWire, and four other news services, estimated they reduced climate coverage by about 13 percent. According to an assessment published by The Daily Climate, The New York Times cut its global warming article count by 15 percent, and the Guardian slashed coverage by 21 percent that same year. (Reuters, too, dropped its climate coverage by 27 percent in 2011, before Ingrassia came aboard.)
It was bound to happen sooner or later: Paul Krugman has discovered suburban sprawl. He's against it. Big surprise there. After all, sprawl has been an all-purpose bogeyman for enlightened liberals for a long time (some liberals blamed the 1999 Columbine school shooting on sprawl, harshing Michael Moore's anti-NRA narrative, but never mind). One wonders what took Krugman so long to joint the bandwagon.
Krugman comes close to suggesting that if suburban sprawl around Detroit had been prevented, Detroit would be fine today. He deplores Atlanta, precisely because it has allowed suburban growth. He endorses "smart growth" policies, "which try to promote compact centers with access to public transit." In other words, Krugman joins other liberals in wanting to use the force of the law to compel people to live in modes contrary to their revealed preferences (as most other economists would say). The irony is lost on Krugman that in order to promote social mobility, he wishes to use the power of government to prevent physical mobility-the right and ability of people to exit predatory, dysfunctional urban governments like Detroit.
It's a mystery to me why people like Krugman can still claim to be called "liberal." There is nothing liberal at all about them. Like his fellow elitist snob Tom Friedman, Krugman is better classified as an authoritarian. And an especially nasty one at that. Funny thing about authoritarians: they always end up being nasty sooner or later.
Well why shouldn't an entire nation be eligible for one of our coveted Green Weenie Awards? After all the country actually has a Green Party that has been included in past cabinets, and is often held up as an example of how a nation should embrace green energy technologies.
Lignite and hard coal power plants and gas plants delivered 12.4 percent more power in the first half year, according to figures by the Federal Association of German Electricity Association (BDEW). As a result, German greenhouse gas emissions will rise again in 2013, just as they did in 2012. Already in 2012 lignite and hard coal power plants had emitted approximately four percent more CO2. The data for the first half year now show that this trend will significantly worsen.
And Hamburg is building a new coal plant to meet demand. One reason this is happening is that Europe's failure to join America's shale gas revolution (which has meant gas is cheaper than coal here now) has kept coal prices lower than gas:
In addition, coal is currently much cheaper in Europe than natural gas. According to a recent review of Germany's energy policies by the International Energy Agency, coal is so cheap that it has de-incentivized the construction of more efficient and more flexible natural gas plants, thereby threatening the progress of the Energiewende.
Meanwhile, German solar power output is stagnant. And winter is just a few months away.
Monday, July 29, 2013
Click here to View Full Text, With Photos, of all Today's Stories On One Page
Friday and today's blog posts (sorry, we neglected to publish the Friday blogs with the Friday news):
"Based on this serious abuse of taxpayer funds, we encourage the Jindal administration to immediately suspend Louisiana's contract with Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast pending a thorough investigation," Louisiana Right to Life said in a statement.
The recent proposal in the UK by David Cameron's Government to filter pornography on the Internet sparked an interesting discussion among LifeSiteNews writers and editors. That Cameron should have suddenly rediscovered his passion for social conservatism seems much too convenient.
The Pope's remarks on the 'gay lobby' in response to a question on his return flight from Rio to Rome have sparked misleading coverage all over the world.
When Sarah Palin criticized the Independent Payment Advisory Board as a "death panel," Dean said her post might constitute an "incitement to violence."
The Third Circuit's ruling differs from a high-profile decision made early this month by the Tenth Circuit granting the Christian-owned Hobby Lobby chain of craft stores an injunction against the mandate.
Eight Catholic Democrats have signed on to an angry letter accusing the Archbishop of using poor immigrants as "pawns in a political battle" and urging him to continue funding the groups.
"We've got an inside source who made it clear without our peaceful prayerful vigil out here, this would not be happening," a pro-life demonstrator told local media.
These findings, said the study authors, are "in line with evidence that conservative ideology ... may promote positive psychological outcomes, including well-being."
According to the Vatican press officer, "The parents did not wish to abort their child even though an abortion would have been allowed legally for such a case."
Echoing the reporter's thinly veiled sentiments, Samantha Gordon, the director of public affairs for NARAL Pro-Choice America, told ABC News that the stunt was 'extreme and unsettling.'
Because of this abuse, Katie had severe protein-energy malnutrition, severe anemia, severe osteoporosis, multiple spinal compression fractures, scurvy, and atrophic skin. But even with all of these medical concerns, Katie was still a wanted child.
Expanding Education Choices: Vouchers, Tax Credits, & Savings Accounts By Jonathan Butcher and Lindsey Burke
This Heritage Foundation Special Report presents three ways in which states can refine their existing school choice programs, transforming existing voucher and tax credit programs into flexible education savings accounts.
Unions Can't Ignore Support for Choice By Lindsey Burke
Across the country, parents and taxpayers are voicing their support for policies that allow children to attend schools that meet their unique learning needs. There is growing sentiment that state funding for public education should be directed toward students-not school buildings-and that those funds should follow children to any provider of choice.
Led by local leadership, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Alabama, Oklahoma and Utah have withdrawn from Common Core national standards. There are indications that Florida will be next. Michigan has blocked spending on implementation and New York-where the standards are fully implemented- is now spending on alternatives.
Findings in a multistate survey by the Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO) show that 85-89 percent of the black community support parental choice in their children's education.
"[The Common Core national standards are] increasingly being used by the Obama administration to turn the Department of Education into what is effectively a national school board. This effort to coerce states into adhering to national curriculum standards is not the best way to help our children attain the best education. Empowering parents, local communities and the individual states is the best approach."
About The Heritage Foundation Founded in 1973, The Heritage Foundation is a research and educational institute -- a think tank -- whose mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense
Media Response
jeremy beck
Why DOUBLE immigration when millions face poverty & lack of work?
The story comes from the Associated Press, wh ich reports: "The findings come as President Obama tries to renew his administration's emphasis on the economy, saying in recent speeches that his highest priority is to "rebuild ladders of opportunity" and reverse income inequality."
What the AP does not acknowledge is that the White House's top priority in Congress this summer is to build support for granting permanent work permits to 11 million illegal aliens and an additional 22 million new legal immigrant workers over the next decade.
You are receiving this fax because you indicated you are a Republican
Over the weekend, influential Republican policy maker Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.), held a town hall meeting for his Hispanic constituents that was full of illegal aliens and pro-amnesty activists. Rep. Ryan made it clear that he expected the House to pass several immigration-related bills over the next few months, including legislation that would give illegal aliens a pathway to citizenship and immediate work permits and visas.
Unfortunately, this is playing directly into the hands of the proponents of the Gang of Eight legislation. Democratic Senators Chuck Schumer and Bob Menendez have made it clear that all they need is one House-passed immigration bill so they can conference it with their Gang of Eight bill and force the main provisions of the Gang of Eight amnesty through conference and through the House.
Please send a fax to Reince Preibus, the Chairman of the Republican National Committee, and tell him that passing immigration legislation is simply a bad idea -- it's exactly what the Senate pro-amnesty Democrats want. Also, be sure to mention that Rep. Paul Ryan's pro-amnesty rhetoric is very unhelpful.
The Middle Class By Rich Galen President Obama is in a rut. He is staring down the barrel of a second term that finds him stuck at 46 percent approval and 47 percent disapproval, and that is likely to be how he goes limping through the next three-plus years.
Zealot: Media totally loves Muslim Professor's book about Jesus
The media is in love with Reza Aslan's new book Zealot, which claims to be a 'historical' look at the life of Jesus. But there are a few problems with the book. The Muslim author has attempted to debunk the very things that made Jesus the center of Christianity. While Aslan is free to write whatever he wants, isn't it interesting that the one Jesus book the media decides to promote is the one that attempts to disprove him? Glenn has more on radio today.
Sen. Ted Cruz: 'This is our last and best chance' to stop Obamacare
Glenn spoke with Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) on radio this morning about why he feels this is the last chance to stop Obamacare from being fully implemented. Sen. Cruz explained what he feels must be done in order to stop this disastrous legislation from taking effect and crushing the economy in 2014. And he is going to need your help! MORE
Michele Bachmann explains controversial NSA vote to Glenn
You have to give Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-MN) credit, she does not back down from a challenge. After defending the NSA last week during a vote to defund the program, which irked many conservatives (including Glenn) in the process, Rep. Bachmann came on the radio program this morning to explain her position. Could she win Glenn over? WATCH
Glenn reacts to Bachmann interview
After the interview, which Glenn previewed as the 'battle of the Titans', he had a lot to say about what Congresswoman Michele Bachmann had just explained. While Glenn doesn't feel there's a nefarious bone in Rep. Bachmann's body, he adamantly disagreed with her conclusion about the NSA. See Glenn's post interview debrief HERE.
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Wonderful World of Stu: Watch Brad Thor's EPIC book trailer HERE.
Iconic 9/11 photo almost excluded from museum
We all remember the iconic photograph after the September 11th attacks of three NYC firefighters raising an American flag surrounded by a mountain of rubble. It was an image that helped rally Americans in the aftermath of the worst terror attack on American soil. So why in the world would the directors of the 9/11 museum be trying to keep these pictures out of the display? Apparently the photos have been deemed too 'rah rah American'. Wow... Glenn reacts on radio.
Man in the Moon merchandise is now available!
From the Man in the Moon DVD and official soundtrack to t-shirts and more, Man in the Moon merchandise is now available. You can find all of the great products HERE.
Is Doc Thompson cool?
The B.S. of A. team officially welcomed TheBlaze Radio's Doc Thompson to the New York office. What could possibly go wrong? WATCH
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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.
Tonight's primetime lineup on TheBlaze TV:
5pm ET - The Glenn Beck Program: Why is the September 11th Memorial Museum now considered too 'rah-rah' American? Stu explains.
6pm ET - Real News: What is the economy of a hamburger? The panel investigates.
7pm ET - Wilkow!: Andrew explains why, contrary to some recent remarks, President Obama did not create the middle class.
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WASHINGTON, D.C - On Friday, July 19th, the U.S. House of Representatives passed 
Top teacher ignores latest reform directives
Gun Owners of America
Zealot: Media totally loves Muslim Professor's book about Jesus 
