Report: DHS Halted Background Checks to Meet Flood of Amnesty Requests

June 12, 2013

by Mike Flynn 

In advance of his successful reelection, President Obama took executive action to defer, for two years, deportation for illegal immigrants who entered the country as children. The result was a flood of requests to the immigration service for the temporary amnesty. As a result of this demand, according to documents obtained by Judicial Watch, the Department of Homeland Security cut back on the legally-required criminal background checks of these immigrants. The revelation raises questions of how the agency could handle a blanket amnesty of all illegal immigrants.

In October 2012, Judicial Watch, acting on a tip from a whistleblower, filed a FOIA request with DHS for “all communications, memoranda, emails, policy guidance, directives, initiatives, and any other correspondence respecting the scope and extent of background checks to be performed (or not) on aliens applying to the Obama administration’s DACA program.” [DACA is the acronym for Obama's temporary amnesty directive.]

Memos and emails obtained through the FOIA reveal that the agency suspended conducting full criminal background checks on illegals applying for the program and, instead, instituted a "lean and lite" process, which allowed the applicant to continue moving through the system.

DHS staff were even informed that that an immigrant's failure to produce valid identification should not be a reason to delay their application for amnesty. In an October 3 memo, agents were told “Biometric processing should not be refused solely because an applicant does not present an acceptable ID.”

Interestingly, on November 9th, three days after President Obama won reelection, DHS staff were told to stop taking applications for the temporary amnesty. It was somehow no longer necessary to expedient the granting of temporary amnesty.

“The Obama administration seems to be throwing public safety and national security out the door in implementing its illicit and unilateral amnesty program for illegal aliens. The costs and security lapses of this program show that this administration can’t be trusted to implement any of the new security measures in the amnesty bill in the Senate,” Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton said in a statement.

Supporters of the Senate amnesty bill promise that no illegal immigrants will be placed on the path to citizenship without being a full criminal background check. If the agency couldn't handle applications from several hundred thousand immigrants, how can it handle the 11 million would will be legalized after the bill passes?


Source: Breitbart.com

If Edward Snowden Is a Criminal, Why Aren’t the Rest of Us Criminals As Well?

June 12, 2013

By John W. Whitehead

“We have been silent witnesses of evil deeds: we have been drenched by many storms; we have learnt the arts of equivocation and pretence; experience has made us suspicious of others and kept us from being truthful and open; intolerable conflicts have worn us down and even made us cynical. Are we still of any use? What we shall need is not geniuses, or cynics, or misanthropes, or clever tacticians, but plain, honest, straightforward men. Will our inward power of resistance be strong enough, and our honesty with ourselves remoreseless enough, for us to find our way back to simplicity and straightforwardness?” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 1943

In the wake of recent revelations about the National Security Agency’s (NSA) program of mass surveillance directed at all American citizens, Edward Snowden, the alleged leaker of the documents proving the government’s misdeeds, is being hailed as a hero by some, a traitor and criminal by others, while some simply don’t know what to think.

Here’s what I think: Snowden and the countless others like him who are daring to stand up to the government machine are acting as the moral conscience for a nation that has lost its way.

In our current governmental climate, where laws that run counter to the dictates of the Constitution are made in secret, passed without debate, and upheld by secret courts that operate behind closed doors, obeying one’s conscience can well render you a criminal. Or as George Orwell put it, “In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”

As I discuss in my new book, A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State (available now on Amazon.com), some of history’s most pivotal events came about because someone or some group chose to speak out against wrongdoing at great personal cost, even if it meant “breaking” the law. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a young German theologian with a brilliant future before him and a refuge in the United States, opted instead to take part in a plot to overthrow Hitler and his despotic regime, believing that “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” For his “crime” against the Fuhrer, Bonhoeffer was put to death at Flossenburg Concentration Camp.

Examples of “lawbreakers” who follow their conscience in order to stand against tyranny abound in our own history, starting with the colonists who rose up in opposition to the British crown criminals. The engineers of the Underground Railroad and the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement were also considered criminals of their day. Remember, Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested upwards of twenty times, most often for violating Jim Crow laws which mandated racial segregation in public facilities.

While technically violating the laws of their time, these individuals chose to speak and act against injustice, whether in the form of tyranny, slavery, or segregation. Instead of keeping their heads down and going with the flow, they raised their voices and sacrificed their security, comfort, and even their lives.

This brings me back to Edward Snowden, who not only has provided a window into the inner workings of American government but is holding up a mirror to American society and reflecting back our inaction, our acceptance of corruption in high places, and our indifference about the steady erosions of our freedoms.

While Snowden’s revelations about the NSA were dismaying, they were not surprising. Indeed, what I have found more disconcerting is the Left-Right response to Snowden’s revelations, namely, the willingness by those on both sides to join forces in maintaining the governmental status quo, at all costs.

Talk about showing one’s true colors. When politicians with such disparate views as Senators Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Lindsey Graham (R-NC) both give a full-throated defense of the Obama administration’s undeniably egregious and invasive surveillance activities, it’s obvious that we are no longer dealing with questions of freedom, or surveillance, or terrorism, but rather the defense of government power at all costs.

What this collusion reveals is that we currently live under a regime which has fully embraced the Nixonian mantra of “If the president does it, it’s not illegal.” The system of checks and balances which is supposed to protect Americans from government overreach like the NSA spying program is obviously not working.

Even President Obama, the former constitutional law professor, understands this, albeit in a perverse, backwards sort of way. In a recent speech in San Jose, Obama declared: “If people can’t trust not only the executive branch but also don’t trust Congress, and don’t trust federal judges, to make sure that we’re abiding by the Constitution with due process and rule of law, then we’re going to have some problems here.” However, when all branches of government are condoning clearly unconstitutional activities by the government against the citizenry, that’s a problem.

Moreover, there is no room for trust in the relationship between the government and its citizens. Remember it was James Madison who warned that “All men having power ought to be distrusted to a certain degree.” Thomas Jefferson’s solution was simple: “bind them down from mischief with the chains of the Constitution.”

As for the claim that the government is protecting us from further acts of terrorism by systematically violating our civil liberties, Conor Friedersdorf of The Atlantic effectively exorcised that particular demon when he pointed out that the likelihood of dying in a terrorist attack is astronomically low, lower than the chances of dying in a car wreck or being hit by lightning.

Thus, the question we should be asking is not whether Edward Snowden is a criminal but why the rest of us aren’t criminals as well? What are you doing to push back against the excesses of government, to reclaim our freedoms, and to live up to the ideals embodied in the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution? What are you doing to stop the emerging American police state?

WC: 997

source

27 Edward Snowden Quotes About U.S. Government Spying That Should Send A Chill Up Your Spine

June 12, 2013

Would you be willing to give up what Edward Snowden has given up? He has given up his high paying job, his home, his girlfriend, his family, his future and his freedom just to expose the monolithic spy machinery that the U.S. government has been secretly building to the world. He says that he does not want to live in a world where there isn't any privacy. He says that he does not want to live in a world where everything that he says and does is recorded. Thanks to Snowden, we now know that the U.S. government has been spying on us to a degree that most people would have never even dared to imagine. Up until now, the general public has known very little about the U.S. government spy grid that knows almost everything about us. But making this information public is going to cost Edward Snowden everything. Essentially, his previous life is now totally over. And if the U.S. government gets their hands on him, he will be very fortunate if he only has to spend the next several decades rotting in some horrible prison somewhere. There is a reason why government whistleblowers are so rare. And most Americans are so apathetic that they wouldn't even give up watching their favorite television show for a single evening to do something good for society. Most Americans never even try to make a difference because they do not believe that it will benefit them personally. Meanwhile, our society continues to fall apart all around us. Hopefully the great sacrifice that Edward Snowden has made will not be in vain. Hopefully people will carefully consider what he has tried to share with the world.

READ: The following are 27 quotes from Edward Snowden about U.S. government spying that should send a chill up your spine...

FBI requests for records under Patriot Act have increased 1,000% in just four years; Update: Data-mining goes deeper than thought?

June 12, 2013

It’s not just the number of requests, it’s the scope of them. They’re not demanding records related to particular investigations anymore, they’re demanding huge troves of records on random Americans for data-mining purposes, the same thing Patriot Act co-author Jim Sensenbrenner complained about a few days ago but somehow didn’t foresee in 2001.

FULL STORY>>

We aren’t communist?

June 12, 2013

..Perhaps it’s our identification of what we use as the yard stick to measure what is a communist government?

Direct Link to Article>>

New York Times Yanks Weiner Story

June 12, 2013

Claiming they had "inadvertently" published "before it was ready for publication," The New York Times published and then yanked a story about Anthony Weiner titled: “For Women in Weiner Scandal, Indignity Lingers.”

According to Politico, the Times' story...
Started with the line, “Customers still taunt Lisa Weiss.”

"‘Talk dirty to me,’ they joke. ‘We know you like it.’ Colleagues still refuse to speak with her,” Barbaro wrote, according to a Google News search.

Another sentence in the article apparently said: “For those on the other end of Anthony D. Weiner’s sexually explicit conversations, the episode damaged careers, disrupted educations.”

The left-wing New York Times has been criticized by its own public editor for being too soft on the disgraced former congressman as he attempts to rehabilitate himself with a mayoral run in New York City.



Source: John Nolte @ Breitbart.com

Women step forward and tell horror stories about abortionist accused of twisting babies heads off

June 12, 2013

Houston, Texas, June 11, 2013 (OperationRescue.org) – Yesterday, The Houston Chronicle posted a banner headline article on page A-1 that continued to hammer late-term abortionist Douglas Karpen, noting details of several malpractice suits that alleged horrific abortion complications, including the late-term abortion death of 15-year old Denise Montoya in 1985.

This article came on the heels of letters sent by Rep. Phil King and 20 state legislators to Richard Kleczynski with the Homicide Division of the Houston Police Department, Ms. Mari Robinson, executive director of the Texas Medical Board, and David L. Lakey MD., Commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services, requesting a full investigation into allegations that Karpen is conducting illegal late-term abortions then intentionally killing viable babies that are routinely born alive at this Houston abortion clinics.

Read the letters>>

or

Read the Full Story>>

The surveillance scandal is a direct result of our national denial about jihad

June 12, 2013

This surveillance scandal arises out of our national bipartisan unwillingness to face the reality of Islamic jihad. Because we all agree that Islam is a religion of peace, we can't possibly address where the threat is really coming from, and monitor mosques or subject Muslims with Islamic supremacist ties to greater surveillance. Instead, we have to pretend that anyone and everyone is a potential terrorist, and surveil everyone. Our freedoms and privacy are now at risk because of our refusal to admit the truth about Islam.

Full Story at Jihad Watch>>

Secret Service "Visits" Outspoken Critic of Obama - Because of Twitter?

June 12, 2013

Sample of a Tom Francois Obama Cartoon
 Credits: Tom Francois 2013

After you read this- you will wonder what country we are in>>

Cop Allegedly Sexually Assaulting Woman In Courtroom Then Arrested Her While Judge Ignores Her Plea!

June 12, 2013




VIDEO [Original] -- This Is Sick: Cop Allegedly Sexually Assaulting Woman In Courtroom Then Arrested Her While Judge Ignores Her Plea As Young Child Watches! Cop Allegedly Sexually Assaulting Woman In Courtroom Then Arrested Her While Judge Ignores Her Plea As Young Child Watches!

source

Nevada governor's poll using Bloomberg to our benefit.

June 12, 2013

Nevada governor's poll using Bloomberg to our benefit. Hit this poll. (Page 1 of 4)

Mayor Bloomberg has one upped our efforts by setting up a 1800 hotline that will re route your out of state call and assign it a local number to make it seem like a resident called in favor of this bill

so do us all a favor and use his HOTLINE number to call which does 2 things..

1. uses the antis money against them
2. makes our vote no vote look local.

1-888-966-9224

When the liberal talking head starts speaking just press 2 to skip it and wait to be redirected to the mayors office where you will press 2 again to cast your no vote.


KEEP READING>>

State Department Covered Up Pedophilia by Ambassador Who Was Obama and Hillary Donor

June 12, 2013

You can almost envision Hillary now, on the stand, uttering these words, “So he sexually abused a bunch of kids? What difference does it make?"

Daniel Greenfield has the FULL STORY>>

Obama’s Devious Definition of “Smarter Enforcement”

June 12, 2013

Welcome to Opposite World again. As the U.S. Senate geared up yesterday for the Gang of Eight illegal alien amnesty bill debate, President Obama goaded Capitol Hill to pass what he called “smarter enforcement, a pathway to earned citizenship and improvements to the legal system” of immigration. Bullcrap. The White House has already bulldozed a traffic-jammed superhighway for immigration law-breakers by executive fiat.

Obama and his open-borders pals pay lip service to fairness and the rule of law for the cameras. But behind closed doors and beyond the reach of public accountability, they’ve already paved the way for mass deportation waivers. Read their actions, not their lips. The official White House operating policy is: No illegal alien left behind. “Smarter enforcement” means no enforcement.

Read the FULL STORY by Michelle Malkin>>

You Can't Outleft the Left

June 12, 2013

by Daniel Greenfield

The dominant struggle of the 20th Century was the attempt to reconcile the growth of industrial economies with the social welfare demands of the left. The various attempts to "Steal the Thunder" of the left by adopting its social programs led to horrors such as Nazism on the one hand and the growth of the welfare state on the other.


Read the Rest>>

In the Spotlight: The Tragedy and the Farce of the Gang of Eight Immigration Bill

June 12, 2013

Karl Marx once said, “History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.” Marx’s prediction is about to play itself out in Congress, where the Senate is expected to begin deliberations on the tragically farcical Gang of Eight immigration bill. In an op-ed I wrote for the Politix online opinion site, I point out a few of the tragically failed promises of the 1986 amnesty bill, and the farcically identical promises the Senate is asking the American public to believe in 2013. … [Read More...]

The Gang of Eight’s Bill: To Know It Is To Hate It

June 12, 2013

The Federation for American Immigration Reform commissioned Pulse Opinion Research to conduct polling on key provisions of the Gang of Eight’s immigration bill in seven states: Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Montana, North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia. You can see the results here. In general, they show that if you tell voters what is actually in the bill, they don’t like it.

DETAILS HERE

Congressman: Christian Soldiers Being Singled out for Punishment

June 12, 2013

A Midwestern lawmaker is calling on his colleagues in Congress to offer cover to an Army soldier under fire for his conservative political views and religious faith, and accusing the Obama administration of “creating a tyrannical culture of political correctness in the military.”

Todd Starnes has the Rest of the Story>>

Americans living in Canada face looming IRS tax deadline

June 12, 2013

The deadline for Americans living in Canada to file a tax return with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service is less than a week away, but not everyone is scrambling to get their paperwork in order.

Continue to Article>>

A year after surviving recall, Scott Walker still faces no Democratic opponent for 2014

June 12, 2013

In hindsight, I think it’s safe to say the recall was what they call “overreach.” As Wisconsin Democrats gathered for their convention in one of the state’s lovely cities noted for its kind people, delicious dairy products, and unpronounceable name, they didn’t have any idea who will run against Gov. Scott Walker in 2014:

KEEP READING

Mohammed movie filmmaker: “If I could go back, I would do it again”

June 12, 2013

Excerpt: ..“Of course I’m proud of [the movie]. If I could go back, I would do it again,” said Nakoula, 55, a Coptic Christian born in Egypt who came to the United States in 1984. “Everybody gets hurt in this culture. We need the world free of this culture. We have to fight it.”…

Read The Entire Article>>

Silence is Golden: 'PBS Newshour' announces layoffs, office closures

June 12, 2013

The "PBS Newshour" will close offices in San Francisco and Denver and cut back on employees in Washington, D.C.

FULL STORY

The Fine Line Between "Love of Country" and "Treason"

June 12, 2013

Edward Snowden leaked selectively, Bradley Manning did not

A few miles from where Edward Snowden once lived in suburban Maryland, Private First Class Bradley Manning was today once again in a military court room at Fort Meade.

READ THE FULL STORY>>

Obama: ‘We Owe' Young Illegals a Path to Citizenship

June 12, 2013

(CNSNews.com) – President Barack Obama said Tuesday that America “owes” it to certain illegal aliens to pass legislation providing a “pathway to citizenship.”

Continue to Article>>

HOMOFAIL: Syphilis rates at ‘epidemic proportions’ among Vancouver gay/bisexual men

June 12, 2013

...Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) and the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) have issued a warning that syphilis infections in homosexual and bisexual men have soared to their highest levels in more than 30 years in the Vancouver area...

LifeSiteNews.com Has The FULL STORY>>

Success: 72-Year-Old Woman Greets Would-Be Home Invasion Robber With Gunfire

June 12, 2013

..Jan Cooper said she was home with her 86-year-old husband, a decorated World War II veteran, in the 10000 block of Gilbert Street around 12:30 a.m. Sunday when she heard an intruder at her front door..

Keep Reading>>

It Only Feels Like Racism: Unprecedented Power of Law Enforcement Gives Us A Glimpse At "The New Normal"

June 12, 2013

Sober Man DUI Charge Leads to 0.00 Blood-Alcohol Test, No Drugs

A 64-year-old Arizona man was cited for a DUI despite the fact that he was stone cold sober, and now he's arguing he was the victim of racial profiling.


READ THE FULL STORY>>

Edward Snowden: Russia considers offering whistleblower asylum

June 12, 2013

Russia would consider granting asylum to US intelligence whistleblower Edward Snowden if he sought it.

Read More>>

Exclusive: China Translates 1,200-Page Rebuttal to Climate Change Agenda

June 12, 2013

Breitbart News can exclusively report on Tuesday night that the Chinese Academy of Sciences has translated and published a Chinese edition of two massive climate change volumes originally published by The Heartland Institute in 2009 and 2011....

FULL STORY

Greek gov't announces immediate shutdown of public broadcaster ERT, strong reactions

June 12, 2013

ATHENS, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Greece's government announced on Tuesday the immediate shutdown of the national television and radio broadcaster ERT as of Tuesday midnight local hour and its reopening with a pared-down staff in the future.

The decision, made in the context of austerity and reform policies implemented to tackle the debt crisis, has sparked strong reactions from press unions, trade unions, political parties, as well as approximately 2,700 employees currently working at ERT's four nationwide television channels and 28 radio stations.

"The government has decided to close the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT). It will be replaced by a modern television and audio broadcaster as soon as possible," Greek government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou said in a televised address on Tuesday afternoon.

The New Leftist Mentality: Irresponsibility Has Become So Much of a Way of Life to Some That They Would Kill to Maintain It

June 12, 2013

Connecticut man hires hitman to kill pregnant girlfriend because she wouldn’t get an abortion: police

Read the Full Story>>

Is This the REAL Reason for the Government Spying On Americans?

June 12, 2013

To understand the scope and extent of government spying on all Americans – and the reasons for such spying – you have to understand what has happened to our Constitutional form of government since 9/11.

Continue to Article>>

A Freeper's Attempt at ReWriting A New American Declaration of Independence

June 12, 2013

by freebilly

A new American Declaration (Part 1)

We were all equally created free men with innumerable opportunities granted us by our Creator, Nature, or The Universe to freely pursue our passions for Life, Prosperity, Joy and unfettered Liberty-- The Natural Irrevocable Rights of Sovereign Individuals.

To protect and preserve our Freedoms, Governments are created for our use and owe their legitimacy to Natural Law and the voluntary and revocable assent of sovereign people to be governed for their mutual security of their Liberty and Rights.

Whenever Government fails to protect our Rights, seeks to revoke, curtail, limit or exchange the sovereignty of individuals for the growth and consolidation of institutional power and Governmental supremacy, it is the Right and Duty of Free People to end or change the Government in whatever way they see fit to ensure the continued protection of private personal Liberty.

Wisdom counsels that the dissolution or change of any established Government not be taken lightly or attempted for trivial or for inconsequential reasons. But when there exist a long list of Governmental abuses, seizures of power and tyrannical assaults on those Rights that Sovereign People enjoy, then it is time to replace it with one committed to protecting and preserving individual Freedoms and Liberties.

A New American Declaration (Part 2)


The time is now past for all freedom loving men and women to continue blindly ignoring those daily abuses of power to which we have been too long accustomed. The history of the current President of the United States is a history of repeated lies and gross violations of those Constitutional laws that guarantee those Rights and Freedoms long enjoyed by the citizens of the American Republic. To prove this, let these Facts be submitted for the edification and enlightenment of all sentient beings

He has violated his oath of office to defend, preserve and uphold the Constitution.

He has Launched an illegal war in Libya in violation of Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution.

He has appointed agency “czars” without Senate approval. Article II, Section 2, gives the president the power to appoint ambassadors, judges and top agency officials, but only with the “advice and consent of the Senate.” He has appointed, without Senate approval, more than two dozen czars in federal agencies.

He has made illegal recess appointments in violation of Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution. While the Senate was still in session, he made recess appointments of individuals to head Government positions in violation of the Law.

He and his courts have violated Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution by forcing Free Citizens to engage in Commerce in the forced purchase of health insurance.

He has refused to enforce laws in violation of Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution which states that the president “shall take care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” He has directed his Attorney General to ignore the Defense of Marriage Act and has conspired against it in the federal courts. He and his agents have suspended voter ID laws in Texas and South Carolina.

He has ignored the First Amendment and his agents of the Justice Department have attempted to abridge the Freedom of the Press.

He has allowed his agents of the IRS to harass and silence organizations opposed to the unfettered growth of Government in violation of their First Amendment Right to Free Speech and their Fifth Amendment Right to Due Process.

He and his agents have violated the public's Right to religious freedom. His Department of Health and Human Services have ignored the First Amendment by issuing orders to faith-based institutions to violate their beliefs and provide insurance covering abortifacients, contraceptives and sterilizations.

He has attacked the Second Amendment and has attempted to restrict the lawful access of the citizenry to arms and ammunition. He has issued 23 Executive Orders on gun control which is an infringement of the public's Right to Bear Arms.

He and his agents of the Justice Department and the National Security Agency have trampled upon the Fourth Amendment Rights of individuals to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures. They have issued warrants against members of the Press without probable cause and have surveilled the entirety of the communications among the Free and law abiding populace of the nation without reason, cause or warrants.

He has violated the Tenth Amendment which states that “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” He and his agents in the Justice Department have filed suit against the State of Arizona for requiring state officials to enforce federal immigration laws. Nothing in the Constitution prohibits states from assisting in enforcing federal laws. Meanwhile, the Justice Department ignores “sanctuary cities” that openly violate federal law.

He and his agents of The Justice Department have violated Fourteenth Amendment guarantees to “due process” and “equal protection of the laws" and the Fifteenth Amendment guarantees that “the right of citizens to vote shall not be denied or abridged on account of race.” He and his Attorney General have allowed the intimidation of Voters and failed to prosecute because of racial considerations.

He has allowed his Attorney General to commit Perjury in his testimony to Congress about unmonitored Government sales of weapons to foreign criminals. In addition, he has allowed his Attorney General to commit Perjury in his testimony to Congress about the illegal wiretapping of members of the Press.

He and his agents of the State Department have repeatedly lied to the public about the death of American citizens in Benghazi, Libya, and he has allowed his Secretary of State to lie to Congress during her testimony about this matter.

He has failed since taking office to pass a budget, has lead each citizen into Debt Bondage and has squandered our resources on political cronies.

He has failed to secure our borders and has armed our enemies.

He has offended, ignored and belittled our allies worldwide, has apologized to those who actively call for our destruction, and has refused assistance to our citizens attacked and murdered by Jihadists overseas. He has weakened our nation and has jeopardized the security of all Free Citizens in the Republic.

He has empowered and emboldened his agents of the Department of Homeland Security to declare us enemies of the state, and they have, at his bidding, detained us without warrant, have subjected us to unreasonable searches, and have violated our right to be secure in our effects and papers.

He has divided us by Race, Gender, Age, Wealth and Sexual Orientation and has violated his Oath to uphold the Constitution's stated purpose of insuring domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.

He has ignored the Will of Free People and at every turn has used his agents to harass, intimidate, lie and spy on us. He has proven himself to be unfit to lead a nation of Free law abiding citizens.

We have appealed to those leaders of the nominative opposition party to represent our interests, but we have been ignored by them, also, and have have been rebuffed in our requests for the redress of our grievances. By their unwillingness to represent the voice and interests of Free People, the leaders of the nominative opposition have proven themselves enemies of Liberty.

We, therefore, the Free Citizens of these United States of America, do solemnly publish and declare, That these Free People of America are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the current President, and his agents of the IRS, and of his Justice Department, and of his National Security Agency, and of his Department of Homeland Security. Furthermore, as Free and Independent People, we have full Power to do all Things which a Sovereign Peoples may do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Link to Original Article and Comments>>

White House Refuses To Respond to NSA Whistleblower. Fear "Transparency"

June 11, 2013

Watch The Fox News Video>>

Guess Which Team Is Signing Tim Tebow

June 11, 2013

After his short-lived and uneventful stint with the New York Jets, quarterback Tim Tebow will soon be a New England Patriot.

READ MORE>>

UPDATE 1-Organic growers lose decision in suit vs. Monsanto over seeds

June 11, 2013

(Reuters) - Monsanto Co. on Monday won another round in a legal battle with U.S. organic growers as an appeals court threw out the growers' efforts to stop the company from suing farmers if traces of its patented biotech genes are found in crops.

READ THE FULL STORY>>

Boulder Police: Officers routinely enter unsecured homes, practice not likely to stop

June 11, 2013

BOULDER, Colo. - Boulder police say they have a right to enter unsecured homes if residents leave an open door.

Boulder police Sgt. Michael Everett tells the Boulder Daily Camera entering unsecured residences is a standard procedure for most law enforcement agencies, including Boulder police. He says the practice is not likely to stop.

Chrissy Smiley called police to complain after she returned to her south Boulder condominium after walking her dogs Thursday and found a card from a Boulder police officer sitting on her dining room table letting her know he had been there.

Boulder police officials told The Camera officers can enter a home that is closed and even locked if they have a “reasonable suspicion that something was amiss… such as if the officer observes mail piled up by a door or sees someone inside who appears to be in physical distress.”

source

Ellsberg: Snowden’s NSA leak more important than my Pentagon Papers

June 11, 2013

Daniel Ellsberg, whose leak of the so-called Pentagon Papers to The New York Times in 1971 exposed the secret history of the war in Vietnam, thinks Edward Snowden's leak of the National Security Agency's surveillance programs was more important than his.

"In my estimation, there has not been in American history a more important leak than Edward Snowden's release of NSA material, and that definitely includes the Pentagon Papers 40 years ago," Ellsberg wrote in an op-ed published by the Guardian on Monday. "Snowden's whistleblowing gives us the possibility to roll back a key part of what has amounted to an 'executive coup' against the U.S. constitution."

FULL STORY

Benghazi Matters

June 11, 2013

The Benghazi attack raises fundamental questions on how to keep America safe and whether to trust the administration. We need a substantive debate on how to protect America against the growing threat of Islamic extremists.

In the aftermath of the killing of the U.S. ambassador in Benghazi and three other Americans, the Obama administration did the classic dance of political operatives confronted with an inconvenient truth: deny, deny, deny, and then say, “Oh that doesn’t matter because it was a long time ago.” President Obama has called efforts to get to the bottom of what happened a “sideshow.” But, alas, Benghazi is not a sideshow and it does matter. The administration’s actions in this and other scandals facing the Obama team go to the very foundation of any presidency: can the American people trust their president and his administration?

Read the Rest at The American>>

From 9/11 To PRISMgate - How The Carlyle Group LBO'd The World's Secrets

June 11, 2013

The short but profitable tale of how 483,000 private individual have "top secret" access to the nation's most non-public information begins in 2001.

READ MORE

Recorded: IRS Agent Telling Non-Profit To Keep Faith To Themselves

June 11, 2013

Texas-based Pro-Life Revolution applied for 501(c)3 status with the IRS in January 2011--they received that status some 900 days later, on June 6, 2013 in a letter dated May 19. In the interim, they received letters asking for clarification and "more information," and a March 2012 phone call in which IRS agent Sherry Wan told Pro-Life Revolution President Ania Joseph how the IRS expects tax-exempt groups to act, think, and speak....

FULL STORY

SF sues gun companies over high-capacity magazines

June 11, 2013

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco is suing three gun accessories companies and one gun show promoter, alleging they sold disassembled high-capacity magazines disguised as repair kits in violation of California law, the city attorney said Monday.

KEEP READING

Obama repackages Kenyan aid scheme

June 11, 2013

The Obama administration is relaunching a strategy to shift vast quantities of money from the United States to Kenya, even though the African nation was stripped of a propaganda plan that was uncovered in a series of WND reports a year ago.

READ MORE

UNFREAKINGBELIEVABLE!!!! Toy Gun Exchange Shows America’s Decline

June 11, 2013

If the constant barrage of hearing of the many progressive agendas being waged across America hasn’t made you crazy yet, prepare yourself to go insane over another example of the sad decline of America. At the Strobridge Elementary School in Hayward, California, they are holding a toy gun buyback. Kids who turn in a toy gun get a chance to win a bike, so the little tykes aren’t even guaranteed something for turning their toy guns in. (I thought progressives were all about equal results, so why isn’t every kid getting a bike?)

The local village idiot, Charles Hill, who also is the school’s principle explained this bit of progressive madness with, “Playing with toys guns, saying ‘I’m going to shoot you,’ desensitizes them, so as they get older, it’s easier for them to use a real gun.” When confronted with opposition in regards that most toy guns today do not resemble real guns, Hill disagreed and said, “Some of the guns I’ve confiscated, if they’re stuck down in a waistband, the average person would think it’s a real gun. I could easily see one of our sixth-graders wanting to fake out someone at a 7-Eleven by walking in there. They would think it’s funny, but it could turn into tragedy.”

What do you see when you look at this picture? 

What utter bunk! This is another in a long line of progressive attempts to emasculate the American culture by targeting our children. The problem with violence today is not toy guns or other nonsense, it’s the fact that progressive liberals have destroyed the family unit. Kids are no longer learning right and wrong or learning about consequences as that parents today live in abject fear of even attempting to discipline their children lest the State swoop in.

I grew up watching shows that today’s “child experts” would call violent. The Three Stooges. Looney Tunes. Old Walt Disney cartoons. People slapped each other, hit one another with various objects, fired guns, threw knives, and even smoked! Somehow, kids of the 1940s and 1950s didn’t run around in murderous rages. Violence was commonplace on shows like The Rifleman or Have Gun, Will Travel. The difference was that in those shows, bad behavior led to a bad end. Violence was used as a last resort in defense of oneself or another. Children knew the context that those who lived by the gun, died by the gun. Nothing was more noble that the quiet, little man standing up to thuggery. Today, however, the progressive left glorifies bad behavior in movies, song, and on tv shows. Those who strive to do good are always flawed and have a great deal of darkness within them. Children lack the context of right and wrong as they have increasingly grown up in broken homes with an ever increasing lack of morality.

Toy guns are not the problem. Back in the 1970s, I remember that every department store had an entire aisle devoted to toy guns. My entire neighborhood used to get together to play war or cops and robbers. The difference from then to today was that we knew what was right and what was wrong. Thanks to the breakup of the family and the hijacking of education, the progressive left has warped out culture. However, I still feel that it’s not too late. Stand up!

Hat tip: RightWingPatriot.com

Another Scandal? - New EPA Leak Farmers' Info Given To Environmental Groups - Malkin, Megyn Kelly..

June 11, 2013

80,000 US Farmers Are Latest Victims Of Out Of Control Agencies- Personal Info Leak to Left wing Environmental Groups

Source: YouTube

hat tip: Mass Tea Party

World leaders seek answers on US collection of communication data

June 11, 2013

Data protection chiefs and analysts in EU, Pakistan, South Africa and Canada express concerns at revelations in leaks

Viviane Reding, EU commissioner for data protection, wants
to know whether US access to data under Prism is limited to
individuals. Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

Leading Europeans, from Angela Merkel down to information chiefs across the continent, are lining up to grill American counterparts on the Prism surveillance programmes, amid mounting fury that the private information of EU nationals will have been caught up in the data dragnet.

READ THE FULL STORY>>

REPORT: University of Chicago removed pews from 88-year old chapel to accommodate Islamic prayers

June 11, 2013

University of Chicago (UC) administrators permanently removed pews from an 88-year old chapel on campus in order to accommodate Islamic prayers, according to a local news report.

A photograph of the chapel before the pews
were removed last year.

Chicago NPR affiliate, WBEZ news, reported on May 23, the pews, which are now part of display at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Chicago, were “removed in order to provide Muslim students a place to pray.”

Literature describing the artwork that was created by UC Director of Arts and Public Life Theaster Gates, also describes the removal of the pews as symbol of religious tolerance.

“The pews were recently removed from the chapel in order to offer Muslim students a place to pray, a symbolic gesture of religious tolerance,” according to an official description of the exhibit which includes a “set of repurposed pews from the University of Chicago’s campus church.”

A spokesperson for UC also appeared to confirm the reason for the pews’ removal in a statement emailed to Campus Reform on Friday.

“The benches were removed... to make Bond Chapel a more appropriate comfortable space for its many uses: ceremonial, spiritual, and artistic,” said Susie Allen.

Allen, however, said the primary purpose for the change, which was part of a broader renovation, was to “accommodate the installation of a Boroque-style organ.”

The UC Muslim Student Association (MSA) also announced in its 2012-2013 edition of The Complete Muslims Guide to UChicago that Friday prayers would be held in the chapel once renovation was complete.

“Bond Chapel is where Friday prayers will be held once construction is over,” it says.

“Insha'Allah, Jumuah prayer will be held in Bond Chapel every Friday this quarter,” reads another announcement on the MSA Chicago website.

Source: Campus Reform

Scandal number five: Insider-trading probe of Medicare announcement reveals hundreds of HHS employees had secret info

June 11, 2013

Is this scandal number five or number six? There’s Benghazi, the IRS, the DOJ snooping on reporters, Sebelius shaking down health executives for ObamaCare contributions, and now the NSA/PRISM/Snowden mega-clusterfark. This new WaPo story makes six. No, wait — seven. Ed just posted on the State Department covering up misconduct. We’re going to need a bigger boat.

READ THE FULL STORY>>

The Art of Building Things

June 11, 2013
By Daniel Greenfield

(Sultan Knish) - Creativity is an individual act. The act of building something, whether with hammers, blueprints, words, boards or plans is individualistic. Collectives can build, but not creatively. A mass has no vision because it has no personality. It can follow rules but not dreams.

American exceptionalism emerged out of a society which empowered the creative talents of the individual, not through grants, regulations, instructional pamphlets, inspectors and guidelines, but through the simple virtue of leaving men alone to do their work.

Freedom is the greatest creative force because it liberates the individual to build and as freedom diminishes within a society so does its creativity. Progress in restricted areas dwindles to a trickle as collectives expend a thousand times the money and effort, and still fail to equal the achievements of individuals operating on shoestring budgets.

The Soviet Union fell because its Communist collectives were not able to equal the West in the military or the economic arena. The only technique that Communist states ever had was to create a heavily regulated top-down infrastructure and when a crisis occurred, a mass of people would be thrown at the problem.

The collective approach allowed the Soviet Union to construct massive infrastructure projects; building roads, power stations and housing. But these were flawed imitations of Western projects and were poorly designed and implemented. The same pattern repeated itself across the Communist sphere. The collective could inefficiently mobilize armies of workers to carry out a project, but the planning and design of the project was grandiose, derivative and poorly adapted to the task at hand. Communist projects were mechanically conceived, mechanically implemented and unfit in the way that any project purely designed by machines would be for human use.

The Soviet Union, China, North Korea and Vietnam all won their engagements with enemies in the same way; by throwing so many men at the problem that the enemy would become bogged down and eventually forced to retreat. Their military victories did not emerge from strategy or heroism, but the mechanical willingness to sacrifice numberless individuals for the goals of the collective.

The few bits of genuine scientific progress came from scientists like Pavlov and Sakharov who were open critics of Communism and the Soviet Union. They did not come out of the collective that collectively crippled Russian science and ensured the collapse of its efforts at military parity with the United States. Ultimately the collective destroyed its own rule.

The seduction of the collective as builder however is not limited to countries that flew the red flag. When Obama and Warren proclaimed that there were no monads, that no man was an island, but that we were all part of one great economic collective to which we owed an eternal debt, they were following up on some very old ideas.

Obama's interpretation of individual creativity occurring only within the context of state institutions is a natural outgrowth of a political philosophy that views those institutions as the essence of the country and the true foundation of its national greatness. This "Institutionalism" is the dominant liberal mindset which sees individualism as a chaos that must be ordered by the state.

Institutionalism says that individuals are not creative, only institutions are creative. Individuals who create are harnessing the creative energy of institutions. In the liberal institutionalist view, the state must create the conditions that make creative acts possible and those who fail to acknowledge their debt to the state are "free riders" who exploit the system without paying back to it.

21st century America is institutionalist, though it derives the greater part of its economic energy from individual creativity. The official philosophy emphasizes the virtues of committeedom; of agencies, corporations, governments and mass determinants which slowly move forward, consuming any form of progress and transforming it into mulch. The official debate is not over the virtues of this rank institutionalism, but over which forms of institutions are best and who should be running them.

To the east and the south, the core of the Muslim world has finally gotten around to adopting the democracy that their Western friends had insisted would be their salvation. And the essence of their experiment with democracy was to reaffirm a collective identity based on Islam. What the masses of individuals in Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey and Iraq, not to mention the Palestinian Authority, wanted was an Islamic state that would eliminate any individuality.

In the face of chaos, Muslims chose not liberal institutionalism but Islamic institutionalism. What this means in practice, beyond women with covered faces and more bombs going off on buses, is that the state and its economic monopolies will be in the hands of the devout who will nobly take care of the needs of the people. The practical difference between Islamism and Socialism is that the former is more backward, more tyrannical and more violently disposed toward us. But these are distinctions in degree, not in essence. Both Islamists and Socialists institute tyrannies based on theorists from the last few centuries that recreate a more ancient feudalism in the name of an absolute call for justice.

Americans with Obama, like the Egyptians with Morsi, chose a collective leader who would inspire and take care of them. A leader who would make them feel united into one single group. The promise of transcendence lingered over Tahrir Square and the United States Capitol, a promise that individual differences and divisions would melt away leaving only a perfect collective that would be capable of doing anything it set its mind to.

Even if Obama had been genuinely well-intentioned, the project of collective creativity was doomed from the start. Institutions excel most at their own construction. In their early stages they can fund creative works, but with the passage of time they become incapable of meaningfully interacting with the outside world.

The longer an institution exists the more likely it is to develop its own groupthink, its collective mentality and culture that allows for internal consistency, but makes creative work impossible. Like the Soviet Union, these collectives can draw up grandiose plans that are inefficient, have no purpose and are implemented without regard to actual conditions on the ground.

These collectives can envision masses of wind farms, without taking into account what will happen when winter comes or whether there is enough wind to make the project worthwhile. They can pay foreign architects and foreign workers to create symbols of Islamic grandiosity, such as the Dubai Burj and Saudi Arabia's Royal Mecca Clock Tower, and symbols of Socialist grandiosity such as North Korea's Ryugyong Hotel or the USSR's Palace of the Soviets; but these are not signs of creativity, only pyramids representing the entombing of creativity within a display of mindless power.

Creativity brings new things into the world, but new things are the bane of institutions which already have too many things to deal with and see such creativity as elementally disruptive. Institutionalism strives to repress creativity by forcing everyone into a collective plan, a mandate to follow the central program of the collective. And the only thing that the institutions of the collective are interested in creating are monuments to themselves.

An individual building things according to his own plan is disruptive. Even when following tested techniques and using standard tools to complete the same task that he has already done ten thousand times before, the individual can still find easier and better ways to do something. The individual can also find that a thing might be better done in an entirely different way or that there is no reason to do it at all.

This expression of creative energy is what tyrants like Obama or Morsi fear because it upsets their goal of using institutional power to maintain a completely ordered society. Institutionalist societies believe that bigger is better, that the individual is wrong and the rule book is right, and that a difference is a danger. They may talk up their commitment to progress, but what they truly do is accept a lack of progress in exchange for order and control. They would rather own everyone and everything than have a society that actually moves forward and creates things worth owning.

It is not the state that builds things, it is individuals who build the state. Once the state is built it begins by protecting individual creativity and ends by consuming it. Institutionalism does not unleash creativity, it suppresses it in the name of its own consensus.

Institutionalists like Obama do not believe in the individual, they believe that the individual is the root of all evil. They see him as an exploiter, a free rider, a breaker of commitments, a smasher of idols and a disruptor of their plans. They wrongly believe that the individual owes them something for the privilege of living under their rule and they are wrong in this. It is they who are indebted for their parasitism, for their free ride on his back, for the muzzle they have put in his mouth and the spurs they have planted in his side.

The art of building things is a simple art. It is the art of learning about the world as it is, of learning what one's own hands and mind are capable of. And above all else it is the art of being free.

How Obama Et Al. Hacked the Constitution

June 11, 2013

Daniel Ellsberg and Rush Limbaugh come at the Obama administration’s actions from different perspectives but they ultimately agree: The Obama government has staged or is staging a form of coup against the American people. Ellsberg believes the evidence for such a coup rests in the Edward Snowden leak of the NSA’s PRISM program. Limbaugh began to arrive at the conclusion that we’ve suffered a coup after the IRS abuse scandal broke, and PRISM locked him in:

We got the IRS starting in 2010 taking action to suppress the political involvement and ultimately votes of Tea Party people and conservative Republicans. This regime, this government, on the orders of the highest level. In fact, that investigation is ongoing. We have Fast and Furious. We have Obamacare. The evidence of the totalitarian nature or the authoritarian nature of this administration is on display undeniably every day and yet in the midst of this, “Well, don’t go off half cocked on this, Rush. Be very levelheaded. Nothing really to see,” as though there’s no context here.

Read The Rest at PJ Media

Rubio on immigration: Legalizing illegals must and will come before border security

June 11, 2013

Via Byron York, don’t accuse the man of inconsistency. He’s defended “legalization first” since the very beginning of this process; his demands about border-security triggers have only ever applied to the second step in the path to citizenship, the green-card process after illegals have been given probationary legal status so that they can stay and work. It’s probationary status to which most border hawks object since it gives illegals a stake in residency that’ll never, ever be withdrawn no matter what happens on the border. What makes yesterday’s statement noteworthy is simply the fact that Rubio’s been tiptoeing to the right lately on immigration as prospects for passage in the House have begun to look dicier. He supported Cornyn’s amendment demanding more exacting standards for border control. Would he, perchance, also withdraw his key concession to the Democrats, namely, legalization first?

Nope, not a chance.

Salina to Rubio: You said this week that you would be inclined to vote against the legislation that you yourself helped to write unless there were some amendments that would strengthen even more the security of the border. Would you be willing to throw everything overboard?

Rubio: No, I am 100 percent committed to the issue of migration, immigration reform. To the contrary, I am going to continue working to ensure that that does not happen. My point is that if we can’t secure the border, if we can’t take the steps necessary to win the confidence of our colleagues, this is never going to become law, and we are wasting our time. But I don’t think we’re going to reach that point. I simply think that if we achieve a reasonable means … to secure the border and prevent any kind of other wave of illegal immigration in the future, we will have more than enough votes.

Rubio, responding to the concern that legalization might be delayed and therefore be subjected to the policies of future administrations: Let’s be clear. Nobody is talking about preventing the legalization. The legalization is going to happen. That means the following will happen: First comes the legalization. Then come the measures to secure the border. And then comes the process of permanent residence. What we’re talking about here is the system of permanent residence. As for the legalization, the enormous majority of my colleagues have accepted that it has to happen and that it has to begin at the same time we begin the measures for [the border]. It is not conditional. The legalization is not conditional.

Why won’t he demand border security before legalization, as Rand Paul suggested a few months ago should happen? Because that would kill the bill and Rubio’s committed to seeing something pass. Unconditional legalization is the jackpot prize for Democrats in all this, even more than an up-front guarantee of citizenship after the border’s secured. Nail down legalization and a citizenship process will surely follow later, if only because pressure from Latino voters on Republicans to pass it will ensure that it does. Rubio’s essentially being forced to choose between making a take-it-or-leave-it offer of “security first, legalization second,” which would win back conservatives at the price of scaring Democrats away and inviting endless demagoguery from them about him having killed the bill, or accepting their “legalization first, security second” demand. I think he’s calculating, unfortunately quite rationally, that conservatives are far more likely to forgive him for selling out their core interest in the name of winning over Latinos than general-election voters are if he becomes known as The Man Who Killed Reform. So he’ll give the Dems “legalization first” and focus instead on making the border security in step two as tight as he can. That’s the best way to balance general-election voters and Republican primary voters. It’s also why, I assume, Rubio would never agree to Mickey Kaus’s idea to give up on a big comprehensive bill and start small with a confidence-building compromise that would institute E-Verify in exchange for DREAM amnesty for younger illegals. Anything short of a big bill at this point will be used against him by Democrats eager to frame him as in thrall to conservatives and therefore “too radical” to get things done in Washington as president. For Rubio it’s comprehensive reform or bust, even if that means selling out on the key legalization provision.

Meanwhile, here’s Kelly Ayotte, revealing yesterday on “Face the Nation” that she too is the sort of establishment Republican liar who’ll run against amnesty when she needs to win a Republican nomination and then quickly revert to comprehensive reform once she’s safely in power. (She also needed to show New Hampshirites that she’s not the wingnutty wingnut Mike Bloomberg’s group keeps claiming she is for voting against expanded background checks.) She and Rubio will work together wonderfully in the years ahead. Oh, and if you’re expecting the House to put the brakes on all this, read Politico’s new piece about Boehner’s thinking on immigration. He wants GOP-run committees to start moving on reform with an eye to having a bill on the floor before the July 4th recess. Full speed ahead.

Source: by Allahpundit @ Hot Air

Obama-Endorsed Syrian Rebels Execute Teenaged Boy for Insulting Prophet Mohammed

June 11, 2013

Syrian rebels in the city of Aleppo have executed a teenaged boy, believed to be either 14 or 15, for insulting the Prophet Mohammed in front of his family. The boy has been identified as Mohammed Qatta.

The rebels heard his comment (“Even if Mohammed comes back to life, I won’t,”), kidnapped him, beat him, put him on trial, convicted him and shot him.

Although it is not known which rebel group killed Qatta, Aleppo is run by rebel groups affiliated with al Qaeda.

As horrible as the Assad regime is, this is a pretty compelling reason for the U.S. not to arm the Syrian rebels.

If we do, it could make Benghazi look like a Sunday school picnic.

Source: Spectator

Obama Considers Resettling Tens of Thousands Syrian Refugees in the US

June 11, 2013

Sure most people just see refugees, but Democrats see voters. A number of the refugees will be Christian, but somehow I think Obama isn’t all that interested in Christian refugees.

Taking in Muslim refugees from Muslim civil wars in Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere has largely been a disaster. The original World Trade Center bombing happened in part because the United States was willing to host Egyptian Islamists who would have been arrested in their own country. And who exactly will be taking in now?

If the Muslim Brotherhood Jihadists lose in Syria, their leaders will flee to Europe and America where they will suborn, undermine and plan acts of terror.

KEEP READING>>

Maybe Shia LaBeouf Was Right About the NSA All Along

June 11, 2013

We realize there's only so much time one can spend in a day watching new trailers, viral video clips, and shaky cellphone footage of people arguing on live television. This is why every day The Atlantic Wire highlights the videos that truly earn your five minutes (or less) of attention. Today:

 Were we wrong about writing Shia LaBeouf off? Maybe.

Thanks to the deepening, darkening truths about the NSA, this 2008 Tonight Show clip of LaBeouf talking about our government spying on us (and him) has resurfaced...

As Predicted: Obama administration says it will allow all girls to have morning-after pill access

June 11, 2013

Give 'em a finger and they'll take the whole hand..

The Obama administration announced Monday it will end age restrictions on emergency contraception, allowing girls and women of all ages to purchase the morning-after pill without a prescription.

The Department of Justice notified U.S. District Judge Edward Korman it will submit a plan for compliance with his recent ruling that allowed unrestricted sales of Plan B One-Step. If he approves it, the department will drop its appeal of his April ruling.

According to the department's letter to the judge, the Food and Drug Administration has told the maker of the pills to submit a new drug application with proposed labeling that would permit it to be sold "without a prescription and without age or point-of-sale prescriptions."

The FDA said that once it receives the application it "intends to approve it promptly."

Last week, an appeals court dealt the government a setback by saying it would immediately permit unrestricted sales of the two-pill version of the emergency contraception until the appeal was decided. That order was met with praise from advocates for girls' and women's rights and with scorn from social conservatives and other opponents, who argue the drug's availability takes away the rights of parents of girls who could get it without their permission.

Advocates for girls' and women's rights said Monday the federal government's decision to comply with the judge's ruling could be a move forward for "reproductive justice" if the FDA acts quickly and puts emergency contraception over the counter without restriction.

Annie Tummino, lead plaintiff in a lawsuit over unrestricted access to the morning-after pill and coordinator of the National Women's Liberation, said women and girls should have "the absolute right to control our bodies without having to ask a doctor or a pharmacist for permission."

"It's about time that the administration stopped opposing women having access to safe and effective birth control," she said in an emailed statement.

Planned Parenthood Federation of America president Cecile Richards, in a statement, called the government's decision to drop the appeal "a huge breakthrough for access to birth control and a historic moment for women's health and equity."

However, anti-abortion groups such as the Family Research Council criticized the government for not sticking with its decision to appeal.

"We're very concerned and disappointed at the same time because what we see here is the government caving to political pressure instead of putting first the health and safety of girls (and) parental rights," said Anna Higgins, director of the council's Center for Human Dignity.

The government had appealed the judge's underlying April 5 ruling, which ordered emergency contraceptives based on the hormone levonorgestrel be made available without a prescription, over the counter and without point-of-sale or age restrictions.

It had asked the judge to suspend the effect of that ruling until the appeals court could decide the case. But the judge declined, saying the government's decision to restrict sales of the morning-after pill was "politically motivated, scientifically unjustified and contrary to agency precedent." He also said there was no basis to deny the request to make the drugs widely available.

The government had argued that "substantial market confusion" could result if the judge's ruling were enforced while appeals were pending, only to be later overturned.

The morning-after pill contains a higher dose of the female hormone progestin than is in regular birth control pills. Taking it within 72 hours of rape, condom failure or just forgetting regular contraception can cut the chances of pregnancy by up to 89 percent, but it works best within the first 24 hours. If a girl or woman already is pregnant, the pill, which prevents ovulation or fertilization of an egg, has no effect.

The FDA was preparing in 2011 to allow over-the-counter sales of the morning-after pill with no limits when Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius overruled her own scientists in an unprecedented move.

The FDA announced in late April that Plan B One-Step, the newer version of emergency contraception, the same drug but combined into one pill instead of two, could be sold without a prescription to those age 15 or older. Its maker, Teva Women's Health, plans to begin those sales soon. Sales had previously been limited to those who were at least 17.

The judge later ridiculed the FDA changes, saying they established "nonsensical rules" that favored sales of the Plan B One-Step morning-after pill and were made "to sugarcoat" the government's appeal.

He also said they placed a disproportionate burden on blacks and the poor by requiring a prescription for less expensive generic versions of the drug bought by those under age 17 and by requiring those age 17 or over to show proof-of-age identification at pharmacies. He cited studies showing that blacks with low incomes are less likely than other people to have government-issued IDs.

The decision marks a sharp reversal for the Obama's administration. His previous decision to appeal set off a storm of criticism from girls' and women's rights groups, who denounced it as politically motivated and a step backward for their health. Abortion rights advocates who had counted Obama as among their supporters angrily questioned why a Democratic president had sided with social conservatives in favor of limiting women's health care choices.

Reluctant to get drawn into a messy second-term spat over social issues, White House officials have consistently argued that the FDA and the Department of Justice were acting independently of the White House in deciding how to proceed. That approach continued Monday, with the White House referring all questions about the decision to Health and Human Services.

Still, Obama has made clear in the past that he feels strongly about the limits, and he said in 2011 he supported Sebelius' decision to impose them despite the advice of her scientists.

"As the father of two daughters, I think it is important for us to make sure that we apply some common sense to various rules when it comes to over-the-counter medicine," Obama said then.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

source: Fox News

Snowden job?

June 10, 2013

It seems that nothing is ever as it seems.

It may be that Edward Snowden is what he seems to be — an Obama-supporter who, despite barely gaining a GED, managed to work his way into sensitive technical positions at the CIA, NSA and private contractors, and then became disillusioned that abuse of individual privacy he witnessed under the Bush administration was not cured and if anything worsened under Obama, and who, despite four years of Obama-rule in which to leak embarrassing documents, waited until late May 2013 in which to take and then dump on Glenn Greenwald a treasure trove of seemingly embarrassing documents which allegedly show a massive data-mining operation and desire to control all the world’s information.

Or,  Continue to Article....

A Glimpse At Future U.S. Elections? Iran watchdog denies considering banning election candidate

June 10, 2013

(Reuters) - Iran's Guardian Council said on Monday it was not considering barring any candidate from the June 14 presidential election, denying media reports that one of only two moderate contenders could be disqualified.

READ MORE

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood hold ‘March to J'lem’

June 10, 2013

Global marches aim to highlight the "racism" and "Judaiziation" taking place in Jerusalem according to a brotherhood spokesman.

Full Story at Jerusalem Post>>

Liberal Pundit: U.S. Has Become an ‘Authoritarian Surveillance State’

June 10, 2013

Paul Krugman, an outspoken liberal economist known for his support of the Obama administration, today said the United States has become an “authoritarian surveillance state.”

Read the Full Story>>

How the Washington Post Lost the PRISM Exclusive

June 10, 2013

After a series of stunning reports from the Guardian's Glenn Greenwald on the NSA's data collection programs, the paper will no doubt remain a central figure in the story of Edward Snowden, the whistleblower who leaked the PRISM slides in the first place. But, according to one of the reporters by-lined on the Washington Post's PRISM story, the exclusive was theirs to lose: it was offered to them first...

FULL STORY

Obama’s ill-advised visit to Tanzania

June 10, 2013

When President Obama goes to Africa at month’s end, the first African American president will have a rare opportunity to spread U.S. values to that continent. It would be a shame if his trip instead validated slavery...

READ MORE>>

Costs for Obama's state dinners continue to rise

June 10, 2013

For his June 8 meeting with the newly installed Chinese President Xi Jinping, President Barack Obama did not stint on the menu for the banquet arrayed for the leader of Asia’s superpower. Indeed, the costs for Obama’s culinary tastes when entertaining foreign heads of state has continued to rise. For example, when Obama received Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2009, the cost was approximately $487,000 or $1,441 per guest. In 2010, the cost of feting Mexican President Felipe Calderón reached $907,000 or $4,800 per persons, including transportation and other incidental costs.

This year, according to Sohu.com – a Chinese website – the cost of feeding President Xi and other honored guests reached $500,000, all at the cost of the Treasury Department and the American taxpayer.

KEEP READING

Data intelligence complex is the real story

June 10, 2013

More than half a century ago, Dwight D. Eisenhower warned Americans of the dangers posed by the country’s growing “military-industrial complex” – a phrase that entered instantly into everyday language.

“The total influence – economic, political, even spiritual – is felt in every city, every state house, every office of the federal government,” the outgoing Republican president said. “We must be alert to the … danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific technological elite.”

Ike was chiefly warning about the power of the Pentagon and the big defence companies that had grown up around it. Today his prescience would be applied to America’s vast army of federally-employed data analysts and the hundreds of software companies they employ.

The US spends at least $80bn a year on intelligence alone, which is more than the defence budgets of all but a handful of countries.

Every day, 854,000 US civil servants, military personnel and private contractors are scanned into high-security government offices to do intelligence work, according to the Washington Post’s 2011 “Top Secret America” report. Up to 55,000 of these work for the National Security Agency, the vast eavesdropping centre that collects “metadata” on billions of US domestic telephone calls. Most are data analysts. Distributed across an archipelago of high security federal buildings in Virginia, Maryland and Washington DC....

(Excerpt) Read more at ft.com ...


Hat tip: Free Republic

We'll Keep the Red Flag Flying Here

June 10, 2013

Ever since FDR made it his campaign song in 1932 while running for office during the Great Depression, the unofficial anthem of the Democratic Party has been that Tin Pan Alley classic, "Happy Days are Here Again." But no matter how often the old Victor spun, it would not be until well after Roosevelt's death that happy days would be here again.

Like Hope and Change, Happy Days are Here Again was a blandly optimistic and non-specific promise that good times were coming. Someday the happy days would arrive, an appropriate enough sentiment for a song whose pivotal moment came in the movie "Chasing Rainbows" where it was sung to reassure a cuckolded husband who is threatening to kill himself. And in an even more appropriate bit of symbolism, the actual movie footage of that moment is as lost as the happy times.

No matter how often the Democratic Party cheats on the American people, it can always break out a new rendition of "Happy Days are Here Again" to win them back. And even if the happy days never seem to actually arrive, the promise of "So long sad times" and "Howdy gay times" where "your troubles and cares are gone" is always a winner.

While the American Democratic Party may not have an official anthem, the British Labour Party does and its anthem, "The Red Flag" would be entirely appropriate for the new Democratic Party that no longer has anything in common with Thomas Jefferson or Andrew Jackson.

It might be awkward to imagine Harry Reid or Joe Manchin trying to make it through verses like, "The people's flag is deepest red" and the sonorous chorus, "Then raise the scarlet standard high /Within its shade we live and die/Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer/We'll keep the red flag flying here."

They would probably look almost as awkward singing it as Labour Party leader Ed Milliband does, but you could easily imagine Barack Obama and Valerie Jarrett belting it out. And that would be only right because while The Red Flag never gets around to mentioning Manchester, despite its popularity there, it does namecheck two cities. "In Moscow's vaults its hymns were sung/Chicago swells the surging throng."

These days red flag songs, once mandatory, are confined to all sorts of vaults in Moscow. The new Russian anthem is Putin's redress of the old Soviet one, with lyrics by the same composer. And the Soviet National Anthem, that secular hymn, has a familiar pedigree going back to the Anthem of the Bolshevik Party in 1938, which took its melody from "Life is better, Life is fun."

You might be forgiven for thinking that the Bolshevik Party had borrowed its melody from some Moscow musical, but that wasn't the case. "Life is better, Life is fun" was based on a statement by Stalin: "Life has become better, comrades. Life has become more fun." The year was 1935 and while it is impossible to know whether Comrade Stalin had decided to crib from the Democratic campaign of 1932, the theme was the same. So long sad times. Happy days were here again.

And just to remind everyone that happy days really were here again, Stalin began another round of brutal purges. A year earlier, Uncle Joe, as the Fireside Chatter liked to refer to one of the world's bloodiest mass murderers, had arranged for the murder of Sergei Kirov, who was everything that Stalin wasn't, and used the murder to begin a purge of anyone more popular than him, with the support of red flag wavers in Chicago, New York, London and Los Angeles.

Unlike Franklin, Stalin's idea of a campaign involved a lot of firing squads to properly soak the red flag in the deepest red, while the band played, "Life is better, Life is fun." After the purges were wrapped up, Stalin signed a pact with another red flag waver from Berlin. The Nazis and Communists might have disagreed on any number of things, but both of them had inherited the Jacobin fetish for painting a flag red with blood and then waving it while calling for more death.

While Moscow might have turned in its red card, Chicago's "surging throng" is still swelling the polls, and even though their shirts are purple, their fingers are red from the strain of repeat voting. If there is anywhere in the United States that the red flag has gone on flying, outside of Marin County, it's Chicago. In its shade, generations have lived and died, and now generations have begun living and dying in its shade across the country as the red flag keeps flying for another four years over D.C.

The red flags of the post-modern, post-American, post-British, post-everything revolutionaries aren't usually as obvious as a gang of wealthy politicians staggering to a microphone once a year and belting out, "We'll keep the red flag flying here". It usually sounds more like the parody of that anthem, known somewhat sarcastically as the "Battle Hymn of the New Socialist Party,"

"White collar workers stand and cheer/The Labour government is here/We’ll change the country bit by bit/So nobody will notice it." A policy of changing the country bit by bit so none of the workers who want their benefits notices that everything else they value is being dragged away to the rubbish heap while they sleep may be sneered at by the real reds, but it's worked quite effectively.

Tony Blair did a masterful job of changing Britain, leaving behind Neil Kinnock's threats to take the workers into the streets if the election did not go his way. (It did not. He did not.) Kinnock proved good enough for Joe Biden to plagiarize his biography from, but the future rested with a sensible left. A New Labour that would talk like technocrats while importing unprecedented number of immigrants to change the electoral balance of the country, so that the red flag would go on flying here, even if it was green and had a crescent and a pair of crossed swords in the middle.

Instead of the flying red flag, Tony Blair's New Labour used D:ream's "Things can only get better" as its election anthem, which despite a title that made it sound like another, "Happy Days are Here" or "Life is better, Life is fun" was more of a love song to a Labour messiah promising to cure "prejudice and greed".

"Walk my path/Wear my shoes/Talk like me/I'll be an angel," New Labour voters were promised and they fell for it. The age of the Me Generation PM was here and the new egotism resounded in lyrics like "Things can only get better/Can only get better/Now I've found you/(That means me)" that took both self-help and self-involvement to a whole new level. But British voters probably should have paid more attention to warning lyrics like, "I sometimes lose myself in me".

Bill Clinton was America's Tony Blair, but with enough Good Old Boy charm to leaven the false earnestness that led so many to hate Blair. If Blair was a liar pretending to be an honest man, Clinton was a liar pretending to be an honest man pretending to be a liar, a rotten sandwich of a paradox that you have to be a politician or an observer of them to properly appreciate. Like Blair, Clinton worked to change the country bit by bit, appealing to white collar workers and leaving the red flag in the trunk next to the road flares and the dynamite.

It's Chicago time now and the red flag is back. Talk of changing the country bit by bit is done. Now the country is being changed aggressively, every change a finger poke in the eye of the people who don't notice right what is in front of their faces. The cuckolding is no longer subtle. It's more out in the open than ever and the country is being bankrupted and the middle class is being wiped out to a rousing chorus of "Happy Days are Here Again", when an entire generation has come of age never knowing a time when happy days prevailed.

Whatever faults Kinnock and old Labour had, losing himself in himself wasn't one of them. But the Baby Boomer and Generation X leaders had the narcissistic habit of doing just that. Clinton and Blair both lost themselves in themselves and since then never appear to have found themselves again. And Barack Obama never lost himself in himself because he never stepped out of himself to begin with.

 Obama marries the red flag radicalism of the old left with generational egotism to show us the spoiled brat as leader, the tyke born with a set of silver spoons in his mouth who not only waves the red flag, but who mistakes his shamelessness for political genius. Where Clinton limited his shamelessness to his personal life, for his Democratic successor, in the tradition of both the hard left and the fellowship of mirror gazers, the personal has always been political. To the Hope and Changer, the man is the office, the state is the man, and the whim is the national agenda.

Stalin famously told his mother that he was the new Czar, transmuting collectivist revolution into the egotistical authoritarianism of one man. Obama has managed the same trick, merging revolutionary politics with his own brand until there is no longer a difference between the man and his revolution. FDR only promised happy days, but Obama has become the actual incarnation of hope, which may explain why there is no longer any hope to go around.

There is a flag flying over Washington and it's no longer the stars and stripes, but the same red flag that flies over Chicago. It's the red flag under whose shade misery and tyranny spreads while the band strikes up the same anthem over and over again. "Happy days are here again." Life is better, life is fun." "Things can only get better" and of course Obama's victory speech promise; "The best is yet to come."

It might have been more honest if he had instead admitted, "We'll keep the red flag flying here."


*Originally posted at Sultan Knish blog by Daniel Greenfield