The White House is standing by a statement on its website claiming that border security is at its strongest in history even in the face of a spiraling border crisis in Texas.
Under the heading “border security” on the White House website's section on President Obama's immigration proposal, the whitehouse.gov website gives the president credit for having "doubled the number of Border Patrol agents," saying "today border security is stronger than it ever has been." Read More...
In perhaps the most convincing testimony for gun rights in America, a police officer recently told a group of citizens that they were responsible for protecting themselves.
The announcement came as a result of the situation in Miami-Dade County of Florida. The county is considering firing hundreds of police officers because of budget cuts. The mayor of Miami-Dade County announced the proposed budget cuts last week, which includes firing almost 650 government employees in order to try to cover a $64 million deficit. John Rivera, president of the Miami-Dade Police Benevolent Association, spoke against the budget cuts, saying that they would negatively affect the safety of residents around the entire county. Police units that specialize in domestic cases such as child abuse could see their entire departments vanish according to reports from local news. One proposed compromise in order to keep police officers on the streets is that the Miami-Dade Police Benevolent Association agree to substantial cuts in healthcare benefits. Other services that the county is considering cutting includes employment the public library, maintenance and mowing services around the county, increasing time for emergency repairs and postponement of classes for new police officers. The mayor has ruled out new taxes to pay for the budget deficit.
Militia group is training near San Antonio By Kolten Parker San Antonio Express-News Published: July 11, 2014
SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Groups describing themselves as militias have set up a training area near San Antonio and said there already are four “operations on the ground” along the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas.The militias have said they will carry firearms along the border and carry out “missions” to stop the increasing number of migrants fleeing violence in Central America from entering the country illegally.
The groups, which supported a standoff at Cliven Bundy's Nevada ranch earlier this year, posted an update Tuesday on a website used to organize the effort that said there are currently three “troops on the ground” on the Arizona border, and “four credible operations on the ground” on the Texas border.The Texas militia, known as “Operation Secure Our Border,” is being led by Chris Davis, a 37-year-old truck driver who was discharged from the Army in 2001 “under other than honorable conditions in lieu of trial by court martial,” according to a summary of Davis' military service obtained by the San Antonio Express-News.
President Obama has bypassed Hillary Clinton, offering his support to Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren if she runs for president. ...................President Obama has quietly promised Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren complete support if she runs for president — a stinging rebuke to his nemesis Hillary Clinton, sources tell me.
Publicly, Obama has remained noncommittal on the 2016 race, but privately he worries that Clinton would undo and undermine many of his policies. There’s also a personal animosity, especially with Bill Clinton, that dates from their tough race six years ago. READ MORE
Get ready, folks, it looks like this is really happening. You may have read earlier that Chicago, Obama’s hometown, has just topped their 200th homicide for 2014. While this certainly indicates a big problem with violence, many liberals have overreacted to this situation. Many are actuallycalling for something akin to martial law. Before we get into this in more detail, a few facts should be made clear. This is the latest point in the calendar year when Chicago has hit its 200th homicide in the last four years, according to Red Eye Chicago. The homicide rate is also down 4 percent over last year, which was also the lowest level of homicides in the Windy City during the last 50 years. Never mind the facts, though, liberals like Roland Martin now want martial law declared:READ MORE
Hagel suggests Islamic State militants pose threat to US homeland
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel addresses service members on Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay in Georgia, July 9, 2014. Hagel toured the USS Tennessee during his visit and held an all-hands call where he hosted a question and answer session.
Adrian Cadiz/U.S. Air Force
ByJon Harper Stars and Stripes Published: July 9, 2014
NAVAL SUBMARINE BASE KINGS BAY, Ga. — Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel on Wednesday suggested that Islamic militants who have taken control over parts ofIraqand Syria pose a direct threat to the United States.
“This country should not make any mistake on this, nor anyone in Congress: This is a threat to our country. This is a force that is sophisticated, it's dynamic, it's strong, it's organized, it's well-financed, it's competent… And it is a threat to our allies all over the Middle East, it's a threat to Europe… and it's a threat to us,” he told troops at a town hall at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Ga.
The insurgent group, which refers to itself as the Islamic State, has said it wants to rule over much of the Middle East. Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, told lawmakers last month that the militants did not pose a direct threat to the U.S. homeland but could at some point if left unchecked.READ MORE
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
High School Graduation Speaker Defies District, Mentions Their Edits To Her Speech 07/09/2014 David Pietrusz
It was just another high school graduation in one more streamer-bedecked gym, with all the usual trappings, the procession, the band, the beach balls, the decorated caps, the parents, the dignitaries.
Except it wasn’t ordinary at all: it was as powerful a statement of faith from both a student and from the crowd itself as you will ever see.
I was one of the “dignitaries,” invited to speak at my old high school, Amsterdam High, in upstate New York. Amsterdam is an old mill town in the chronically depressed Mohawk Valley. Some speakers spoke of “following your dreams.” But this is an area where reality has long intruded. It’s the hard-scrabble area that Richard Russo wrote about in Mohawk.
”A great deal of territory had been surrendered since our ancestors had stolen the land and erected white churches with felled trees,” Russo wrote, “Up and down the Mohawk valley the green world had gone brown and gray, and the people who lived beneath the smokestacks and in the shadows of the tanneries were scared that even the brown and gray might not last. They didn’t know what came after brown and gray, and neither did I. One thing was for sure. Each Mohawk Fair was sadder and grayer than the last. And winter followed. With a capital W.”
The mills and the jobs have long vanished. Folks still have their dreams, but they know they come at a cost. So I spoke about hard work and persistence and planning. There’s no such thing as a free lunch and there’s no such thing as a free dream. At least, not a realized one.
I’d like to say my words were the highlight of the morning. They weren’t. Not by a long shot.
There were speeches before me. One was from the salutatorian. Rebekah Izzo. Her resume was pretty standard for such things: National Honor Society, Class President, a New York State Regents Scholarship. She wants to be a nurse.
She is, however, also leader of the school’s Bible study group, and when she stood up to speak she startled the crowd by saying this: “The district forced me to change my original speech because it contained a personal message for each individual here of what God can do in [their] own life.”
The school district deemed her original words an establishment of religion. But if they thought they might silence Rebekah Izzo they were wrong about that as well. She went on to speak of God and his importance in her life with a feeling and a bravery and strength that electrified the stunned crowd. This was not what anyone came expecting to see or hear, but this is what they knew to be true from the hopes they themselves had placed in God when their own difficulties had confronted them, when their own personal “brown and gray” threatened to fade.
Her words were clear, her voice strong and unhesitant. The average high school senior speaking before such a large crowd might betray a bit of a quaver. The average high school senior, wondering if her mike might suddenly go dead, might quaver quite a bit. She did not. Not at all.
She finished. They started. One by one they rose to their feet until the entire gymnasium was at its feet, applauding a commencement speaker had never been applauded in their city before — or would likely be again. It was all wonderfully akin to the singing of La Marseillaise in “Casablanca.” READ STORY
Facebook Removes Teen's Hunting Pictures; Keeps Up Page Advocating for Her Murder Christine Rousselle | Jul 09, 2014
Texas Tech student and aspiring TV host Kendall Jones has been under fire as of late for her posts on Facebook with various big game animals she has hunted. Facebook removed those photos yesterday, claiming that they violated the site's community standards. Something apparently does not violate those community standards, however, is a page advocating for the murderof Kendall Jones. Jones legally hunted all of the animals she is pictured with--she is not a poacher. It's fine to have an opinion that hunting is bad or cruel, but it certainly is not okay to advocate for the murder of another human being. Facebook's policy is hypocritical. One of the images on the "Kill Kendall Jones" page is a cartoon of a lion standing over Jones' dead body--if that's not "glorifying violence," then what is?
U.N. Pushes U.S. to Call Illegal Immigrants 'Refugees' Kara Jones | Jul 08, 2014
Tens of thousands of adults and unaccompanied minors continue to pour over our southern border as the United Nations presses the U.S. government to treat these illegal immigrants as “refugees.” With true refugee status, these immigrants would be eligible to seek asylum. Those granted asylum could then file a form to obtain permanent residence and could even petition tobring their entire family into the United States. The Associated Press reports:
[The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees] said it believes "the U.S. and Mexico should recognize that this is a refugee situation, which implies that they shouldn't be automatically sent to their home countries but rather receive international protection."
The U.N. defines a refugee as “someone who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war, or violence. A refugee has a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group. Most likely, they cannot return home or are afraid to do so. War and ethnic, tribal and religious violence are leading causes of refugees fleeing their countries.” FULL STORY
Caught on the Border: Has Obama Already Failed on Immigration Crisis?
By Chuck Todd, Mark Murray and Carrie Dann
Border optics problems for Obama and the GOP ..............
As he travels to Texas today, President Obama has a clear optics problem: He’s in the Lone Star State to raise money at two different fundraisers (in Dallas and Austin), but he won’t be coming to the U.S.-Mexico border to inspect what his administration has called a humanitarian crisis. Indeed, the White House is digging in its heels to NOT bow to pressure to visit the border. “The important thing here is that we've involved the whole of government from the very beginning, that we have multiple agencies of the cabinet engaged in the highest levels, that the president is fully aware and on top of the situation,” White House domestic policy adviser Cecilia Munoz told MSNBC’s Alex Wagner yesterday when asked why Obama wasn’t going to the border. This is not the first time the White House has dug in its heels on an optics-related critique. Their mindset: It makes no difference in the president’s response to the crisis whether he’s physically at the border or not. And yet, it’s one of the parts of the presidency that THIS president has resisted the most: political theater. It’s part of the job, whether he likes it or not. Still, the White House seems sensitive enough to the criticism that it hastily arranged a 5:55 pm ET meeting in Dallas with faith leaders -- and with Texas Gov. Rick Perry -- to discuss the problems at the border. But if Obama has an optics problem, the Republican Party might have a much bigger one if they reject the White House’s request for $3.7 billion to respond to the crisis at the border.
Author and columnist Edward Klein reports that sources have told him that President Obama is “quietly backing” Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren over Hillary Clinton for the party’s 2016 nomination.
In other words do what obama wants, or lose credibility
Action Trumps Obama Border Photo-Op, Says White House
By Chuck Todd, Mark Murray and Carrie Dann Does the GOP reject the White House’emergency-spending request for the border?
House Judiciary Committee Chair Bob Goodlatte certainly doesn’t sound like someone who wants to approve the funding. "President Obama created this disaster at our southern border, and now he is asking to use billions of taxpayer dollars without accountability or a plan in place to actually stop the border crisis,” he said in a statement, per NBC’s Frank Thorp. “Most of the money requested in the president's supplemental seems geared towards processing Central Americans than stopping the surge itself.” Heritage Action also is whipping against the border aid. “Conservatives are eager to change laws that are hampering the administration's ability to deal with the surge, but believe our nation's border security can be addressed through the regular appropriations process where priorities can be re-ordered and spending can occur within the established budget caps." Now it’s possible that House GOP leaders might negotiate for a smaller emergency spending bill -- maybe $2.7 billion instead of $3.7 billion. But if Republicans decide to do nothing, it would be a P.R. disaster. For starters, the party already is seen as having “compassion” and Latino problems, and rejecting aid would only underscore those problems (remember, $3 billion is a miniscule amount when it comes to appropriations). In addition, rejecting aid would highlight the GOP’s inability to govern. Passing a small emergency-spending bill is one of the easiest things Congress can do, and Democrats would be able to say: “House Republicans can’t do anything, even in a crisis.
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
A Democratic Congressman is speaking out over the Obama Administration’s mishandling of the illegal immigration crisis on the US-Mexico border,
EXCLUSIVE: Photos Show Drugs Pouring Over Southern Arizona Border as Agent Resources are Overwhelmed Katie Pavlich | Jul 08, 2014
Border Patrol agents working in Arizona, California and Texas continue to be overwhelmed as thousands of unaccompanied children from Central America flood into the United States illegally. As a result, thousands of Border Patrol agents have been pulled off of patrolling the border and into processing facilities where they are making meals, changing bed sheets and babysitting.
An alligator floating in the Atlantic Ocean sent swimmers scrambling off Ormond-By-the Sea near Daytona Beach. Erin Smith of Tallahassee told The Daytona Beach News-Journal she first thought a piece of carpet was floating nearby as she and her family waded in the ocean on Monday morning.
Package Deal: The Story Behind One Reader's Secret Bass Bait Article by Joe Cermele
A lot of lures hit my desk. Most come from the huge companies wanting to show off their latest designs, or from small shops hoping to catch their big break. Many of them are smart and innovative—but none are as genius as the package of homemade jigs I received this spring from an 82-year-old retired Missouri farmer. Howard Dickey included a letter with his lures, and his reason for sending them wasn’t fame or money. “I was hoping you might write an article about my lures,” he wrote, “just to capture the imagination of fellow bass fishermen.” READ MORE
obama Pens Article for Haaretz Calling for Two-State Mideast Solution
president barack obama urged Israel and the Palestinians to seek a peaceful, two-state solution in an article in an Israeli newspaper Tuesday, even as the Israeli army launched airstrikes in the Gaza Strip.
In the article, which was written for the newspaper Haaretz, obama wrote that "all parties must protect the innocent and act with reasonableness and restraint, not vengeance and retribution," adding: "While walls and missile defense systems can help protect against some threats, true safety will only come with a comprehensive negotiated settlement."
"Refusing to compromise or cooperate with one another won't do anything to increase security for either the Israeli or the Palestinian people," obama wrote in the article, which was published on the newspaper's website shortly before the Israeli army confirmed that it was starting the airstrikes, called Operation Protective Edge, "to stop the terror Israel's citizens face on a daily basis."
The analogy is absolutely right on . . . Maxine tells it like it is!!!!
I bought a bird feeder. I hungit on my back porch and filledit with seed. What a beauty ofa bird feeder it is, as I filled itlovingly with seed. Within aweek we had hundreds of birdstaking advantage of thecontinuous flow of free andeasily accessible food. But then the birds startedbuilding nests in the boardsof the patio, above the table,and next to the barbecue. Then came thepoop.It waseverywhere: on the patio tile,the chairs, and thetable---everywhere! Then some of the birdsturned mean. They woulddive bomb me and try topeck me even though I hadfed them out of my ownpocket. And others birds wereboisterous and loud. Theysat on the feeder andsquawked and screamed atall hours of the day and nightand demanded that I fill itwhen it got low on food. After a while, I couldn't evensit on my own back porchanymore. So I took down thebird feeder and in three daysthe birds were gone. I cleanedup their mess and took downthe many nests they had builtall over the patio. Soon, the back yard was likeit used to be...Quiet, sereneand no one demanding theirrights to a free meal. Now let's see--- Our government gives outfree food, subsidized housing,free medical care, and freeeducation and allows anyoneborn here to be an automaticcitizen. Then the illegal came by thetens of thousands. Suddenlyour taxes went up to pay forfree services; small apartmentsare housing 5 families; youhave to wait 6 hours to be seenby an emergency room doctor;your child's 2nd grade class isbehind other schools becauseover half the class doesn't speakEnglish. Corn Flakes now come in abilingual box; I have to'press one' to hear my banktalk to me in English, andpeople waving flags other than 'Old Glory' aresquawking and screamingin the streets, demandingmore rights and free liberties.
Just my opinion, but maybeit's time for the governmentto take down the bird feeder.
About six
miles from Maastricht, in the Netherlands, lie buried 8,301 American soldiers
who died in "Operation Market Garden" in the battles to liberate Holland in the
fall winter of 1944-.
Every one
of the men buried in the cemetery, as well as those in the Canadian and British
military cemeteries, has been adopted by a Dutch family who mind the grave,
decorate it, and keep alive the memory of the soldier they have adopted. It is
even the custom to keep a portrait of "their" American soldier in a place of
honor in their home. Annually, on "Liberation Day," memorial services are held
for "the men who died to liberate Holland." The day concludes with a
concert. The final piece is always "Il Silenzio," a memorial piece commissioned
by the Dutch and first played in 1965 on the 20th anniversary of Holland's
liberation. It has been the concluding piece of the memorial concert ever
since.This year
the soloist was a 13-year-old Dutch girl, Melissa Venema, backed by André Rieu
and his orchestra (the Royal Orchestra of the Netherlands). This beautiful
concert piece is based upon the original version of taps and was composed by
Italian composer Nino Rossi Watch at full screen.
Remind those of our sacrifice and don't confuse arrogance with leadership.
The count is 104,366 dead , brave Americans. And we have to watch an American elected leader who apologizes to Europe and the Middle East that our country is "arrogant"!
HOW MANY FRENCH, DUTCH, ITALIANS, BELGIANS AND BRITS ARE BURIED ON OUR SOIL... AFTER DEFENDING US AGAINST OUR ENEMIES?
WE DON'T ASK FOR PRAISE...BUT WE HAVE ABSOULUTELY NO NEED TO APOLOGIZE!
Hey Obama,
God Bless America, whether you like it or not.
Monday, July 7, 2014
Obama float at Norfolk parade sparks controversy
It was the parade float that elicited the loudest cheers Friday at Norfolk's Fourth of July parade. The crowd lining the streets clapped and laughed as the flatbed truck went by.
60 shot, 11 killed in Chicago 4th of July weekend shootingsCBS NewsJuly 7, 2014, 10:20 AM
Officers at the scene of a shooting in Chicago's Portage Park neighborhood. CBS Chicago
As of early Monday morning, the station reports no one was in custody for any of the weekend shootings.FULL STORY
CHICAGO - At least 11 people were killed and 60 others wounded citywide in shootings in Chicago over the Fourth of July weekend, reports CBS Chicago. There were also six police-involved shootings, two of which involved teens who were killed. In the most recent fatal shooting, an unidentified 44-year-old woman was shot at a barbecue around 12:30 a.m. Monday in the city's Morgan Park neighborhood, according to the station. She was shot as she leaned into a car in a parking lot and was pronounced dead at the scene. "While to date we have had the fewest murders since 1963, one victim is too many and there is clearly much more work to be done," said police spokesman Martin Maloney. At least 60 others were wounded in shootings throughout the holiday weekend.READMOREAs of early Monday morning, the station reports no one was in custody for any of the weekend shootings.
Soviet Defector's Trove of KGB Secrets Made Public
Original documents from one of the biggest intelligence leaks in history — a who's who of Soviet spying — were released Monday after being held in secret for two decades. The files smuggled out of Russia in 1992 by senior KGB official Vasili Mitrokhin describe sabotage plots, booby-trapped weapons caches and armies of agents under cover in the West.
The papers reveal that some were given Communist honors and pensions by a grateful USSR, but others proved loose-lipped, drunk or unreliable.
Mitrokhin was a senior archivist at the KGB's foreign intelligence headquarters — and a secret dissident. For more than a decade he secretly took files home, copied them in longhand and then typed and collated them into volumes. He hid the papers at his country cottage, or dacha, some stuffed into a milk churn and buried.
Smuggled out of Russia, Mitrokhin spent the rest of his life in Britain under a false name and police protection, dying in 2004 at 81.
The newly released papers include a list of KGB agents in America over several decades. It runs to 40 pages and about 1,000 names.The volumes also reveal that Soviet agents stashed weapons and communications equipment in secret locations around NATO countries.
Churchill Archive Centre via AP
This undated image made available by the Churchill Archive Centre shows Vasili Mitrokhin's handwritten copy of the KGB First Chief Directorate Lexicon. Original documents from one of the biggest intelligence leaks in history - a who's who of Soviet spying - were released Monday, July 7, 2014, after being held in secret for two decades.
Sunday, July 6, 2014
The Police State in Review, 2013 The year's biggest stories and the trend toward an American police state. January 2, 2014
While some “journalists” would have you believe the biggest stories of 2013 were about twerking celebrities and over-hyped real-life courtroom sagas, much bigger events were happening with far more lasting national significance. The foundation of an American police state is already laid and making its existence known, while most of the country remains blissfully focused on sports, reality shows, establishment pseudo-news, and other distractions. It would require an encyclopedia to cover all of the injustices, scandals, and brutality that took place in 2013. This list is designed to illustrate certain trends and significant stories from the past year. If Americans don’t fix their apathy and disengagement toward causes that matter, we can expect these trends to continue toward their logical conclusions: an increasingly repressive police state dominating the lives people inside these borders and beyond. Checkpoints, Warrantless Searches Become a Way of Life
Derailed Train in Montana Sends Boeing Fuselages Into River
A train derailment in Montana this week damaged a shipment of jetliner fuselages and other large parts on its way to Boeing Co factories in Washington state from Spirit Aerosystems, Boeing said on Saturday.
It was not yet known if the accident might affect production of planes, the company said. Boeing's production depends on a complex supply chain that deliver many parts just in time for assembly, but the company often has the ability to prevent minor problems in logistics from idling its factories.
Boeing said a BNSF Railway Co[BNISF.UL] train loaded with six 737 narrowbody fuselages and assemblies for its 777 and 747 widebody jets derailed in Montana while en route from Wichita on Thursday.
A total of 19 cars in the 90-car train derailed in the incident about 18 miles (30 km) east of Superior, Montana, said Rail Link Montana. The rail company links with BNSF to carry freight from Billings in southern Montana through the state to Spokane, Washington where it links back to BNSF.
Of the derailed cars, three cars carrying 737 plane fuselages went down an embankment and into the Clark Fork River.
The cause of the derailment was not yet known, said Montana Rail Link spokeswoman Lynda Frost, but added that speed was not considered to be an issue. There is a 35 mph (48 kph) speed limit on that section of the track, which is curvy as it tracks the Clark Fork, she said.
Churchill Archive Centre via AP
Before we get into this in more detail, a few facts should be made clear. This is the latest point in the calendar year when Chicago has hit its 200th homicide in the last four years, according to Red Eye Chicago. The homicide rate is also down 4 percent over last year, which was also the lowest level of homicides in the Windy City during the last 50 years. Never mind the facts, though, liberals like Roland Martin now want martial law declared: READ MORE