[FoxNews-AP]
Published June 18, 2013
June 18, 2013: A general view of Taliban office in Doha before the official opening in Doha, Qatar. In a major breakthrough, the Taliban and the U.S. announced Tuesday that they will hold talks on finding a political solution to ending nearly 12 years of war in Afghanistan as the Islamic militant movement opened an office in Qatar. American officials with the Obama administration said the office in the Qatari capital of Doha was the first step toward the ultimate U.S.-Afghan goal of a full Taliban renouncement of links with Al Qaeda. (AP)
June 18, 2013: Afghan President Hamid Karzai speaks during a ceremony at military academy on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan. Karzai announced at the ceremony that his country’s armed forces are taking over the lead for security nationwide from the U.S.-led NATO coalition. (AP)
Representatives from the United States and the Taliban will engage in Afghanistan peace talks Thursday in an office that has opened in Qatar, senior U.S. administration officials say.
The officials say detainee exchanges will likely be among the topics discussed in the Doha office, which opened Tuesday after months of delays. Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s High Peace Council is expected to follow up with its own talks a few days later.
(more…)
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June 18, 2013 | Categories: Armed Forces, Civil War, Corruption, Cyber Security, Economic Security, Foreign Insurrection, Foreign Policy, Government, International Affairs, International News, Middle East Affairs, National Security, New Media News, Nuclear Security, Terrorism, Terrorists Threats | Tags: afghanistan karzai, Aghanistan, Doha, Hamid Karzai, High Peace Council, Islamic militant movement, kabul afghanistan, NATO, peace talks, Qatar, Taliban, US | Leave A Comment »
[FoxNews.com]
Published June 13, 2013
Feb. 2, 2012: FBI Director Robert Mueller testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP)
Following revelations about the federal government’s surveillance programs, FBI Director Robert Mueller defended the government’s collection of millions of U.S. phone records, emails and other information that people transmit online as vital to the nation’s national security. Mueller told a House Judiciary panel Thursday that law enforcement must stay “a step ahead of criminals and terrorists” while still heeding Americans’ civil liberties.
Early in the hearing, Mueller tried to make the case for the National Security Agency surveillance programs and said that law enforcement “must stay a step ahead of criminals and terrorists” while still heeding the civil liberties of Americans.
Mueller, who is stepping down from his post in September, says that if the metadata collection program had been in place before the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, they would have identified one of the 9/11 hijackers in San Diego and most likely derailed the plot.
(more…)
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June 13, 2013 | Categories: America's Freedoms, America's National Security, Classified Intelligence, Corruption, Cyber Security, Deficit, Due Process of Law, Economic Security, Economic Terrorism, Government, Government Appointments, Intelligence, Manufactured Crisis, National Security, New Media News, Politically Intentioned Crisis, Treason | Tags: Capitol Hill, criminals and terrorists, FBI, House Judiciary panel, James Rosen, john conyers jr, judiciary panel, Libya, politics, Robert Mueller, September 11 2001, snooping, surveillance programs, testimony | Leave A Comment »
[FloppingAces.net | Reader Post]
June 12, 2013
Upon hearing about the latest “gate,” I thought “will this be the damning evidence that shows our Government is broken beyond repair?” The inevitable has been reached and the tin-foil hat and black helicopter crew have much more credibility. With this in mind what are my options in what the Democrats used to phrase as “keeping the “government” out of my bedroom?”
1. Accept it.
2. Change it.
If I accept it, I have to expect that my Government in every form, from Health Care to personal phone calls, and yes, credit card purchases and automobile mileage, speed, and destination are being recorded and my entire identity is being placed in a file with a grade upon this file. Am I “URGENT,” or “To be Audited at Later Date?”
If I want to change it, am I prepared to “go dark?” I mean can I cancel my internet, cell phone, land line, all gaming systems, and bank credit/debit card? Can I deal in cash or money orders under $3000 only?
How can I go dark and not be a “low information voter?” Or how can I plug into what’s going on without my favorite blogs? If you’re sitting in your “Man Cave” thinking that you have a case of beans and weenies and that old 22 your grandpa gave you is enough, think again.
If not one person in the 50 or so communication sources such as Google, YouTube, Face book, or Verizon didn’t stop this blatant invasion of privacy then they should suffer the consequences of their actions. Would the Cloward–Piven strategy work for the “Atlas Shrugged” crowd? I think I have the answer. Are you prepared to go against an over-bearing government performing acts against her people that would make King George III look like a “light bringer” and could lower the seas?
Part two: Local newspapers and Thumb drives.
This entry was posted in . Bookmark the permalink. Wednesday, June 12th, 2013 at 10:24 am
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June 12, 2013 | Categories: America's Freedoms, Consumer Issues, Corruption, Deficit, Freedom Justice and Liberty, Government, Individual Rights and Freedoms, Liberals Big Spending and Taxes, National Debt, New Media News, Progressives pushing for Marxism/Socialism | Tags: American Intelligence, automobile mileage, Barack Obama, beans and weenies, Constitution, credit card purchases, freedom, IRS, king george iii, light bringer, MSM Bias, NSA Wiretap's, power grab, tin foil hat | 1 Comment »
[RT.com]
Published time: June 11, 2013 14:53
Russian President Vladimir Putin, far center, during his talk with Russia Today television channel’s journalists and correspondents, June 11, 2013. (RIA Novosti / Michael Klimentyev)
“Such methods are in demand. But you can’t just listen to the phone call in Russia; you need a special order from court. This is how this should be done in civilized society while tackling terrorism with the use of any technical means. If it is in the framework of the law, then it’s ok. If not it is unacceptable,” Putin said answering the question of RT’s Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan. Commenting on Obama’s statement that “You can’t have 100 per cent security and 100 per cent privacy,” Putin disagreed, saying it is possible if done within the law.
Russia said it could consider the possibility of granting political asylum to 29-year-old Edward Snowden, if such request is made. The ex-CIA worker disclosed the existence of PRISM, the National Security Agency’s (NSA) massive data-mining surveillance program, to The Guardian.
“If we receive such a request, we will consider it,” President Vladimir Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said.
(more…)
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June 11, 2013 | Categories: America's Freedoms, America's National Security, Congress: Inquiries & Committees, Constitution, Constitutional Rights, Corruption, Corruption in Government, Elections Politics, First Amendment, Foreign Policy, Government, International News, New Media News, Political Incompetence, POTUS Deception | Tags: Edward Snowden, government, intelligence, not break law, Putin, Putin lectures Obama, Russia, surveillance | Leave A Comment »
[CWNewsONLINE.net]
By: David Kirkpatrick
June 10, 2013
Photo: President Barack Obama talks with Michael Froman, then NSA deputy for international and economic affairs, during a working dinner at the G8 Summit, June 25, 2010. (White House/Flickr)
News about the National Security Agency’s PRISM program and its privileged access to internal user data at 9 U.S. Internet companies has unleashed a torrent of justified anger and hand-wringing. But the worries do not go far enough. Almost everybody is still looking at this through a narrow domestic lens. Our values and goals may be more challenged than you think.
The implications are not just about what happens to the privacy of Americans and to the future of American political due process. There are potentially vast negative global consequences. Giving the U.S. government special rights to data from U.S. companies sets a terrible precedent, and is hugely short-sighted.
The Internet is intrinsically a global business and social landscape. Yet up until now American companies have overwhelmingly dominated it. They have done so with astonishing innovation and technical achievement. Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Skype, Yahoo, and YouTube — all companies said to be participating in PRISM — are the world’s most important digital platforms for communications and information. The economic and political benefits both to the U.S. and to the world of this domination are obvious. Not only are they by far the world’s most valuable set of businesses for investors. They have created extraordinary value for their users by fostering an openness and landscape for free expression and dialogue that is unprecedented.
How much of this astonishing success are we willing to sacrifice on the altar of domestic security?
(more…)
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June 10, 2013 | Categories: America's Freedoms, America's National Security, American Exceptionalism, Classified Intelligence, Congress, Constitution, Constitutional Responsibilities, Constitutional Rights, Corruption, Corruption in Government, Cyber Security, Economic Security, Education, Elections Politics, First Amendment, Government, Government Regulations, House of Representatives, Illegal Searches, Individual Rights and Freedoms, Information Technologies, International Affairs, National Security, New Media News, Privacy for Citizens, Progressives pushing for Marxism/Socialism, Rejecting Political Correctess, Science & Technology, Terrorism, The Economy | Tags: David Kilpatrick, economy, Edward Snowden, internet, leaks, national security agency, NSA, Obama, overwhelming, politics, PRISM, technology, vast negative consequences | Leave A Comment »
[Newsbusters.org]
By Tom Blumer | June 09, 2013 | 16:59
Although there are stories at Fox News and the Daily Caller, there appears to be almost no interest on the part of the establishment press in covering the Treasury Department’s failure to report over 99% of its conference costs when Oklahoma Republican Senator Tom Coburn asked for an itemized listing a year ago.
The Politico, the repository for stories which cause Democrats and the left discomfort that the rest of the press would prefer to ignore (“Oh, the Politico did something with it, so we don’t have to”), buried the item in a “Morning Tax” report Thursday. Writer Lauren French held off as long as she possibly could presenting how the $50 million in omitted IRS costs dwarfed the measly $500,000 which was reported (paragraph breaks added by me; bolds are mine throughout this post):
Coburn questions incomplete disclosure from Treasury
MORE MISSED DISCLOSURES. The inspector general audit detailing the nearly $50 million the IRS spent on conferences shocked members of Congress. But none more than Sen. Tom Coburn.
That’s because the Oklahoma Republican had already been told by the Treasury Department of each conference the department held from 2005 to 2012 — and that response did not mention any of the 200 IRS conferences included in the IG report.
The Treasury, responding from a 2012 request from Coburn, said it hosted only five conferences with more than 50 staffers and the cost for the events were under $500,000. Now Coburn is asking Treasury Secretary Jack Lew to explain the discrepancy.
(more…)
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June 9, 2013 | Categories: America's Freedoms, Constitution, Corruption, Corruption in Government, Due Process of Law, Election 2012, Elections Politics, Government, New Media News, POTUS Deception | Tags: 2012 response, 50 staffers, Conference costs in 2012, corruption in government, disclosures, establishment press, Fox News, incompetent disclosure, IRS, Jack Lew, omission, Politico, Sen. Tom Coburn, tom coburn, Treasury Department | Leave A Comment »
[DailyCaller.com]
June 07, 2013
Neil Munro, White House Correspondent
Email Neil Munro
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A clear majority of independents, and even a plurality of Democrats, believe high-ranking IRS officials were aware of the agency’s harassment of conservatives’ political organizing, according to a new Gallup poll.The poll’s results are risky for Obama, whose political approval rate has remained relatively high, despite the lousy economy, because of his relatively high personal ratings.
Sixty-two percent of adults disapprove of his handling of the IRS scandal, said the Gallup poll. Only 32 percent of adults approve of his reaction to the scandal.
If his approval ratings falls, he’ll have even more difficulty accomplishing his top political goals. Those goals include passage of an immigration bill and winning a Democratic majority in the House
.
Fifty-seven percent of independents say high IRS officials were “aware of conservative targeting,” said the Gallup poll, released Friday. Only 23 percent believe the “knowledge [was] limited to IRS employees in one office.”
(more…)
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June 7, 2013 | Categories: 2012 Election, Balanced Budget, Classified Intelligence, Congress: Inquiries & Committees, Constitution, Constitutional Rights, Consumer Issues, Corruption, Corruption in Government, Deficit, Elections Politics, First Amendment, Government, Illegal Searches, National Debt, National Security, New Media News, POTUS Deception, POTUS Elibility Issue | Tags: Barack Obama, big government, corruption, Culture of Corruption, Democrats, employees, Gallup Poll, government, high IRS officials, IRS, knowledge, liberal tactics, Marxists in the White House, neil munro, politics, targeting conservatives, Tea Party, White House | Leave A Comment »
[FoxNews.com]
Published May 31, 2013
What started as a scandal over the IRS’s targeting of conservative groups has broadened, with lawmakers and other critics now questioning whether other kinds of organizations were unfairly flagged for additional scrutiny.
Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo., chairman of the House Small Business Committee, wrote a letter to Acting IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel on Friday asking a series of questions about the agency’s audit practices for small businesses.
He made no specific allegation, but said that lawmakers’ investigations to date prompted the letter.
“(Congressional) investigations have only raised more questions as to the extent these practices may have extended beyond conservative groups,” Graves wrote.
Indeed, the scope of the IRS’ heavy auditing and scrutiny appears to go beyond Tea Party groups.
(more…)
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May 31, 2013 | Categories: America's Freedoms, Congress, Congress: Inquiries & Committees, Constitutional Responsibilities, Consumer Issues, Corruption, Corruption in Government, Deficit, Due Process of Law, Education, Elections Politics, Freedom Justice and Liberty, Government, Individual Rights and Freedoms, New Media News, Political Incompetence, POTUS Deception, POTUS Elibility Issue, Rejecting Political Correctess, Smaller Government | Tags: 501(c)(4) nonprofits, billy graham evangelistic association, corruption, delays for Tea Party, government, IRS, irs taxpayer advocate, politics, scrutinizing, targeting conservatives, Tea Party, trust deficit | 2 Comments »
[WND.com EXCLUSIVE]
WND reported game-changing shipment 2 weeks ago
Published: May 30, 2013
Aaron Klein | Email | Archive
Aaron Klein is WND’s senior staff reporter and Jerusalem bureau chief. He also hosts
“Aaron Klein Investigative Radio” on New York’s WABC Radio. Follow Aaron on
Twitter and
Facebook.
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TEL AVIV – The Syrian government already has received a first shipment of S-300 air defense missiles from Russia and is waiting for more, stated President Bashar al-Assad in a television interview today.
Assad told Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television station that Syria “has got the first batch of Russian S-300 missiles” and “the rest of the shipment will arrive soon.”
Citing Arab intelligence sources two weeks ago, WND was first to report that S-300 missile batteries had reached Syria.
Israeli security sources said two weeks ago there was no information to support the Arab claim.
(more…)
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May 30, 2013 | Categories: Corruption, Cyber Security, Deficit, Education, Elections Politics, Foreign Insurrection, Foreign Policy, Government, Immigration, International News, International Politics, Media Corruption, Middle East Affairs, National Debt, National Security, Politics, POTUS Deception, POTUS Elibility Issue, Propaganda, Rejecting Political Correctess, War on Terror | Tags: Bashar al-Assad, guided missles, Hezbollah, Israel, K720 Iskander missiles, Middle East, muslim extremeists, politics, Russian S300 missles, Syria, Tel Aviv, threat, War on Terror, WND | Leave A Comment »
[CBS News]
ByJake Miller, Jill Jackson, Stephanie Lambidakis
May 29, 2013, 12:47 PM
This post was updated at 2:08 p.m. ET
WATCH CBSNews VIDEO Here
Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday expressing “great concern” about the possibility that Holder lied under oath during his testimony earlier this month on the Justice Department’s seizing of journalists’ records, CBS News has learned.
On May 15, Holder told the committee he wasn’t involved in “the potential prosecution” of a member of the press under the Espionage Act for disclosing classified information. “This is not something I’ve ever been involved in, heard of, or would think would be wise policy,” he said.
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May 29, 2013 | Categories: America's Freedoms, Classified Intelligence, Congress: Inquiries & Committees, Corruption, Corruption in Government, Deficit, Elections Politics, Government, Intelligence, Liberal Scare Tactics, Media Corruption, National Security, New Media News, Politics, POTUS Deception, POTUS Elibility Issue, Progressives pushing for Marxism/Socialism, Scandals, Smaller Government | Tags: AP, AP scandal, congressional testimony, corruption, email records, Eric Holder, espionage act, Fox News, government deception, great concern, House Republicans, James Rosen, politics, possible perjury, Scandals, search warrants, self-evident, White House | Leave A Comment »
[CNSNews.com]
Dr. Anthony Levatino, former abortionist turned pro-life activist
(CNSNews.com) – A former abortionist who said he had performed some 1,200 abortions before his conversion to pro-life activist, said Thursday at a House subcommittee hearing that abortion causes pain to unborn babies.
“If anybody thinks that ripping off arms and legs and crushing these children the way we’re doing during these procedures isn’t painful, they’re just kidding themselves … badly kidding themselves,” Dr. Anthony Levatino said at a hearing on the District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.
Levantino was one of four witnesses at the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice hearing to discuss fetal pain and the bill, H.R. 1797, which would ban abortion after 20 weeks across the nation.
(more…)
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May 28, 2013 | Categories: Abortion & Pro-Life, America's Freedoms, Congress, Congress: Inquiries & Committees, Constitutional Responsibilities, Constitutional Rights, Corruption, Deficit, Due Process of Law, Economic Security, Education, Elections Politics, Freedom Justice and Liberty, Government, Indoctrination, Media Corruption, National Security, New Media News, Political Incompetence, Politics, POTUS Deception, Redistribution of Wealth, Rejecting Political Correctess, Religion, Religious Freedoms, Science & Technology, Terrorism | Tags: aborted babies, abortion, activist, current-events, Dr. Anthony Levatino, former abortionist, infantacide, neurological abnormalities, painful, politics, pro-life, ripping off of legs and arms, turned pro-life | 1 Comment »
[FoxNews.com]
Published May 23, 2013
Republican Rep. Darrell Issa declared Thursday that the embattled IRS official who refused to testify Wednesday had no right to do so, and is now looking to haul her back before his committee.
The chairman of the House oversight committee made the call after consulting with attorneys about IRS official Lois Lerner’s bizarre appearance before the panel on Wednesday. Lerner, the head of the exempt organizations division which oversaw the controversial targeting of conservative groups, caused confusion Wednesday morning when she pleaded the Fifth and refused to answer questions — but also delivered an opening statement in which she asserted her innocence.
Though Issa dismissed her from the hearing room, he questioned at the time whether she had waived her rights by delivering the statement. A spokesman told Fox News on Thursday that Issa had reached a decision.
“After consulting with counsel, Chairman Issa has concluded that Ms. Lerner’s 5th amendment assertion is no longer valid,” spokesman Ali Ahmad said. “She remains under subpoena, the Committee is looking at recalling her for testimony.”
Issa, citing the concerns over Lerner’s comments, never actually adjourned the hearing — where other current and former Treasury and IRS officials testified. He only called it into recess. The thinking among Republicans is that they can still call her back to testify.
(more…)
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May 23, 2013 | Categories: America's Freedoms, Corruption, Corruption in Government, Deficit, Due Process of Law, Economic Security, Elections Politics, Government, Liberals Big Spending and Taxes, National Security, New Media News, POTUS Deception, POTUS Elibility Issue, Treason | Tags: ali ahmad, back in the battle, bizarr appearance, Chairman Darrell Issa, Darrell Issa, exempt organizations division, government, IRS, irs official, IRS scandal, Libya, Lois Lerner, pleaded the Fifth, politics, targeting conservatives, tax agency, voided 5th Amendment right | Leave A Comment »
[DailyCaller.com]
WASHINGTON – Lois Lerner, head of the IRS tax exempt organizations division, told the House Oversight Committee that she had done nothing wrong before invoking her Fifth Amendment right to remain silent and not testify.
“I have not done anything wrong,” Lerner said in a brief opening statement. “I have not broken any laws, I have not violated any IRS rules and regulations, and I have not provided false information to this or any other congressional committee.”
Lerner said she “would very much like to answer the committees questions today,” but that her counsel had advised her not to testify, in light of the Department of Justice criminal investigation into the IRS’s targeting of conservative groups for extra scrutiny.
Because she was taking the Fifth, Lerner said, “I know that some people will assume I’ve done something wrong. I have not.”
Rep. Darrell Issa, chairman of the committee, subsequently dismissed Lerner from the hearing.
WATCH VIDEO:
(more…)
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May 22, 2013 | Categories: America's Freedoms, Congress, Constitution, Constitutional Responsibilities, Consumer Issues, Corruption, Corruption in Government, Due Process of Law, Elections Politics, Government, New Media News, POTUS Deception | Tags: 5th amendment, Cummings, Gowdy, IRS, Lois Lerner, Rep. Darrell Issa, scrutiny, targeting conservatives, took fifth amendment priviledge | Leave A Comment »
[TheBlaze.com]
May. 21, 2013 10:26am – by Becket Adams
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. (Getty Images)
Raymond Maxwell, one of four State Department employees recently disciplined by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, made headlines this month for penning slightly cryptic verses critical of the agency’s handling of the Sept. 11, 2012, terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi.
And now Maxwell, who was placed on forced “administrative leave” despite his claim had no role in consulate-related security issues, is back in the news for ditching the poetry and outright accusing former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of making him the Benghazi scapegoat.
(more…)
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May 21, 2013 | Categories: Corruption, Economic Security, Elections Politics, Foreign Insurrection, Foreign Policy, Government, Intelligence, International Affairs, Liberal Scare Tactics, Manufactured Crisis, Media Corruption, Middle East Affairs, National Security, New Media News, Politically Intentioned Crisis, Politics, POTUS Deception, POTUS Elibility Issue, Progressives pushing for Marxism/Socialism, Radical Liberal Progressive Left, Scandals, Terrorism, Terrorists Threats, Undermining Constitution, War on Terror | Tags: accountability review board, Benghazi, COVER-UP, Hillary Clinton, human resources bureau, levels big charges, Libya, politics, Raymond Maxwell, September 11 2012, U. S. Consulate | Leave A Comment »
[CNSNews.com]
May 20, 2013 By Patrick Goodenough
Pakistani Christians protest against the country’s blasphemy laws and violence targeting their minority community. An independent U.S. watchdog has urged the executive branch every year since 2002 to designate Pakistan as a “country of particular concern” over religious freedom violations. (AP Photo)
(CNSNews.com) – As the State Department prepares to release its annual report on international religious freedom Monday, a key issue for many Americans concerned about religious persecution is whether it will blacklist a handful of particularly egregious violators – or, as in previous years, ignore the recommendations of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.
The question is especially sensitive in the case of countries where the plight of minority Christians has worsened, even as their governments benefit significantly at the cost of U.S. taxpayers.
Among the religious freedom violators are four of the top ten recipients of U.S. foreign aid in fiscal year 2013 – Egypt, Pakistan, Iraq and Nigeria. Another is Vietnam, whose communist government has seen its diplomatic and economic ties with the U.S. improve dramatically over the past seven years.
On Monday, Secretary of State John Kerry will release the administration’s report on the state of religious freedom around the world in 2012, a requirement under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA), which sought to enhance the importance of religious freedom in the pursuit of U.S. foreign policy.
The primary tool available to the executive branch under the 1998 legislation is the designation of “countries of particular concern” (CPCs) – those whose authorities either commit or are judged to tolerate violations of religious freedom. CPCs are subject to U.S. sanctions or other measures designed to prod governments to improve.
Currently designated CPCs are Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Uzbekistan.
But a handful of other countries deserve to be on the list too, in the view of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), an independent body established under the IRFA, comprising unpaid commissioners appointed by congressional leaders and the administration.
When it released its own yearly report three weeks ago, the USCIRF pressed for Egypt, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam to be designated CPCs.
In some of those cases, the recommendation has been disregarded for years.
Pakistan, home to some of the world’s most notorious blasphemy laws, has evaded CPC status despite USCIRF recommendation every year since 2002, as have Turkmenistan since 2000, Egypt since 2011, Nigeria since 2009, and Tajikistan since last year.
The other two, Iraq and Vietnam, were both previous designated CPCs. The Bush administration removed Iraq in 2004, following the fall of Saddam Hussein regime; and Vietnam in 2006, citing improvements as a result of active lobbying of the communist authorities in Hanoi.
Each year since 2008 the USCIRF has recommended that Iraq be returned to the CPC list. In the case of Vietnam, the commission never agreed with its delisting, and has recommended its return every year since, also to no avail.
Last week House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.) introduced legislation calling on the administration to relist Vietnam as a CPC, citing authorities’ refusals to grant legal recognition to churches, as well as assaults, harassment, imprisonment and home destructions targeting Christians.
Last year’s State Department report on international religious freedom referred to “continued reports of abuses of religious freedom” in Vietnam and said that then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other senior State Department officials “raised religious freedom concerns with government officials and called for continued improvements in religious freedom.”
Those diplomatic efforts did not appear to have had any effect, however: The report also noted that Hanoi “did not demonstrate a trend toward either improvement or deterioration in respect for and protection of the right to religious freedom.”
A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report earlier this year examining compliance with the IRFA noted tensions between the USCIRF and State Department as each has sought to do its respective job.
The report prompted USCIRF chair Katrina Lantos Swett to underline in a letter to the GAO that the commission’s “mandate is neither to conduct diplomacy nor balance religious freedom against other U.S. national interests.”
Swett said the USCIRF recognized that its role “sometimes poses a challenge for the State Department” – but also noted that “at times, our findings draw the ire of offending governments that would prefer their shortcomings remain hidden.”
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May 20, 2013 | Categories: America's Freedoms, Americans Reject Sharia and Islamic Supremacism, Congress, Constitutional Responsibilities, Corruption, Education, Elections Politics, Foreign Policy, Freedom Justice and Liberty, Government, Human Rights, Individual Rights, International Affairs, International News, International Politics, Liberals Big Spending and Taxes, Media Corruption, Middle East Affairs, New Media News, Politics, POTUS Deception, POTUS Elibility Issue, Radical Liberal Progressive Left, Rejecting Political Correctess, Religious Freedoms, Terrorists Threats, War on Terror | Tags: blasphemy laws, CPC, egregious violators, egypt, international religious freedom, Iraq, IRFA, Nigeria, Pakistan, pakistani christians protest, patrick goodenough, religious freedom act, religious freedom violators, Sec. John Kerry, Tajikistan, taxpayers, U. S. designate, U. S. foriegn policy, uscirf | Leave A Comment »
[TheBlaze.com]
Fox News
Syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer on Friday said the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of conservative organizations could be “fatal” for the Obama administration if it turns out that anyone in the White House was aware of it.
Appearing on Fox News’ “Hannity,” Krauthammer called the IRS situation “the one scandal that people have a visceral sense about” — it’s the one U.S. institution, besides the military, that can do very serious harm.
Going after conservative groups based on their politics is “a violation that everybody — left or right– understands,” he added.
Krauthammer urged that there’s no suggestion that Obama knew what was happening, “but if there’s any indication that there were people in the White House who knew, who orchestrated, who encouraged or whatever, then it can be a fatal problem.”
Obama ducked a direct question on Thursday about whether he or anyone else in the White House had known what was happening.
Krauthammer said he wasn’t comparing the current situation to Watergate, but pointed out that the second article of impeachment against Richard Nixon was abuse of the IRS.
“The one issue that can fell a presidency is the corruption of the IRS coming from on high,” Krauthammer said.
Watch below, via Mediaite:
VIDEO
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May 19, 2013 | Categories: Congress: Inquiries & Committees, Constitution, Constitutional Rights, Corruption, Deficit, Education, Elections Politics, First Amendment, Government, Individual Rights, International Affairs, Liberals Big Spending and Taxes, New Media News, POTUS Deception, POTUS Elibility Issue, Rejecting Political Correctess, Second Amendment | Tags: 'Fatal Problem", Barack Obama, Charles Krauthammer, conservative groups targeted, ducked a direct question, IRS, IRS scandal, Mediate, Obama, Richard Nixon, The Blaze, Watergate | Leave A Comment »
[Breitbart.com]
May 17, 2013 by Joel B. Pollak
Former Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Acting Commissioner Steven Miller, who only took over in November and resigned this week at President Barack Obama’s behest, will testify before the House Ways and Means Committee Friday on his role in targeting Tea Party and conservative groups for audit or excessive review.
Miller was the first senior IRS official to be disciplined in the scandal, though the problems began before he took over the IRS, and other senior officials were aware of the problem and appear to have misled Congress.
Though Miller’s resignation was reported as a decisive step by the president, his term had been due to expire in early June. Joseph Grant, had been appointed only several days before as Acting Commissioner of the IRS’s tax exempt and government entities division, has also resigned.
(more…)
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May 17, 2013 | Categories: Congress: Inquiries & Committees, Government, Media Corruption, National Security, New Media News, Politics, Progressives pushing for Marxism/Socialism, Radical Liberal Progressive Left, Undermining Constitution | Tags: Barack Obama, current-events, doj probe, Douglas Shulman, Eric Holder, government, IRS, irs official, politics, resigned, Steven Miller | Leave A Comment »
[FoxNews.com]
Published May 16, 2013
Posted CWN: May 17, 2013
March 29, 2013: People are taken into custody by U.S. Border Patrol near Falfurrias, Texas. (Reuters)
Hundreds of illegal immigrants with criminal records were released earlier this year as the Obama administration prepared for budget cuts, according to newly released data that challenged claims the program involved “low-risk” individuals.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement released the figures to two top senators, after a three-month delay and under the threat of congressional subpoenas.
Of the 2,226 detainees that were released in February, the department revealed, “622 have been identified as having some type of criminal conviction.”
A statement from Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Carl Levin, D-Mich., who received the stats, said 32 of them had multiple felony convictions. The department then “re-apprehended” 24 of those, the senators said, after realizing the “seriousness” of their crimes.
McCain called for those responsible to be punished.
(more…)
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May 17, 2013 | Categories: America's Freedoms, Congress, Constitutional Responsibilities, Corruption, Due Process of Law, Election 2012, Government, House of Representatives, Moral Issues, New Media News, Progressives pushing for Marxism/Socialism, Senate, United States Court System, War on Drugs, War on Terror | Tags: criminals, Falfurrias, ICE, illegal immigrants, john mccain, low-risk, punish responsible, released, REPREHENSIBLE, Texas, U. S. Border Patrol, with records | Leave A Comment »
[DailyCaller.com]
May 16, 2013
Neil Munro, White House Correspondent
President Barack Obama dismissed calls for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate the IRS scandal, and evaded a question asking if White House officials knew of the IRS targeting of conservative political groups.
“I can assure that I certainly did not know anything about the [inspector general] report before the IG report had been leaked through the press,” he told reporters during a Thursday lunchtime press conference held in the White House Rose Garden.
Obama’s evasion will likely spur public suspicions that White House officials knew about, or even supported, the IRS targeting.
(more…)
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May 16, 2013 | Categories: America's Freedoms, Congress, Constitution, Constitutional Responsibilities, Constitutional Rights, Consumer Issues, Corruption, Corruption in Government, Deficit, Election 2012, Elections Politics, Foreign Policy, Freedom Justice and Liberty, Government, House of Representatives, Liberals Big Spending and Taxes, Middle East Affairs, New Media News, Second Amendment | Tags: Barack Obama, DOJ, Eric Holder, Internal Revenue Service, IRS, irs officials, IRS targeting, neil munro, political nightmare, public suspicions, target political rival, targeting conservative political groups, TV clips, White House, white house rose garden | 1 Comment »
[TheBlaze.com]
May. 16, 2013 8:55am Jonathon M. Seidl
Police found a note inside the boat where Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was found hiding and eventually captured — a note written by the suspect and claiming responsibility for the destruction, CBS News is reporting.
The note said the bombing was retribution for the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the actions that have killed Muslims.
“When you attack one Muslim, you attack all Muslims,” the note — which CBS reports was scrawled with a pen on an interior wall — apparently said.
According to CBS, the note is significant because it is an admission of guilt outside of the questioning administered to Tsarnaev before he was read his Miranda rights. Any admissions made during that questioning would not be admissible in court.
CBSNews VIDEO
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May 16, 2013 | Categories: America's Freedoms, Corruption, Deficit, Due Process of Law, Foreign Policy, Government, International News, National Security, New Media News, Progressives pushing for Marxism/Socialism, Terrorism, Terrorists Threats, War on Terror | Tags: admission of guilt, Afghanistan, boat, bombing, boston marathon, CBS News, cbs reports, cbsnews, claiming responsibility, Dzhorkhar Tsarnaev, hiding, Middle East, miranda rights, muslims killed, note found, politics, retaliation, retribution, suspect | Leave A Comment »
[Breitbart.com]
by John Nolte 15 May 2013, 4:34 AM PDT
***UPDATE: NBC’s senior White House correspondent joined the chorus Wednesday. On his MSNBC show, “The Daily Rundown,” Chuck Todd looked into the camera and said, “Attention White House: Release all the emails.” The headline has been updated to add NBC.
Assuming they are the ones who leaked to CNN an email written by Ben Rhoades (a Deputy National Security Advisor close to the President), the White House might have been too clever by half Tuesday. An act that was obviously meant to pour water on the Benghazi fire started by an ABC News report, has only ended up being gasoline. Now both CNN and ABC have joined conservative media in calling for the White House to release all the emails surrounding the editing of the CIA talking points.
Friday, in a bombshell report that blew the long-simmering Libya scandal wide open and right into the arms of the mainstream media, ABC’s Jonathan Karl reported that an email written by Rhoades specifically mentioned the State Department’s concerns about the CIA talking points. Here is how Karl transcribed the Rhoades’ email:
We must make sure that the talking points reflect all agency equities, including those of the State Department, and we don’t want to undermine the FBI investigation. We thus will work through the talking points tomorrow morning at the Deputies Committee meeting.
(more…)
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May 15, 2013 | Categories: America's Freedoms, Congress, Constitutional Responsibilities, Constitutional Rights, Corruption, Corruption in Government, Deficit, Due Process of Law, Education, Elections Politics, First Amendment, Government, House of Representatives, International Politics, Liberal Scare Tactics, Media Corruption, New Media News, Political Incompetence, Politics, POTUS Deception, POTUS Elibility Issue, Progressives pushing for Marxism/Socialism, Radical Liberal Progressive Left, Rejecting Political Correctess, Senate, War on Terror | Tags: ABC, backfire, Ben Rhoades, Benghazi, Chuck Todd, corruption, COVER-UP, deputies committee, john nolte, Libya, Marxists in the White House, MSNBC, national security advisor, NBC, politics, release Libya Emails, senior correspondent, State Department, victoria nuland, White House | Leave A Comment »
[CNSNews.com]
May 12, 2013
First Lady Michelle Obama and President Barack Obama (AP Photo)
(CNSNews.com) – A timeline of Internal Revenue Service activities that was developed by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration and provided to congressional staff indicates that early last year–as the nation was headed toward a presidential election–the IRS issued a “be on the lookout order” (BOLO) for officials in its “Determinations Unit” to ferret out for heightened scrutiny organizations applying for tax exempt status that were involved in educating Americans “on the Constitution and Bill of Rights.”
The inspector general’s timeline indicates that as early as March 2010 the IRS’s “Determinations Unit” had begun targeting for special scrutiny organizations that used in their tax-exempt applications the words “Tea Party” or “Patriots.”
The IG’s timeline says that in March-April 2010: “The Determinations Unit began searching for other requests for tax exemption involving the Tea Party, Patriots, 9/12 and I.R.C. § 501(c)(4) applications involving political sounding names, e.g., ‘We the People’ or ‘Take Back the Country.’”
In July 2010, according to the IG’s timeline: “Determinations Unit management requested its specialists to be on the lookout for Tea Party applications.”
But by the beginning of the 2012 election year, the IRS had adjusted its “be on the lookout order” to more generally target groups that were involved in teaching people about the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights.
(more…)
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May 13, 2013 | Categories: Agency Regulation, America's Freedoms, Balanced Budget, Congress, Election 2012, Elections Politics, Government, Government Appointments, House of Representatives, Individual Rights and Freedoms, Liberal Scare Tactics, Liberals Big Spending and Taxes, New Media News, Politics, POTUS Deception, Progressives pushing for Marxism/Socialism, Smaller Government, United States Court System | Tags: 501(c)(4) nonprofits, BOLO, government, Internal Revenue Service, IRS, Michelle Obama, Patriots, politics, scrutiny, target groups, targets Conservative, Tea Party, treasury inspector general | Leave A Comment »
[FoxNews-AP]
Published May 11, 2013
April 17, 2013: Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP)
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’ recent push to encourage health care executives and nonprofit organizations to make donations to organizations working to implement ObamaCare is drawing criticism from a key Senate Republican who questions whether she has a conflict of interest.
HHS spokesman Jason Young confirms that Sebelius in recent weeks has asked various charitable foundations, businesses executives, churches and doctors to make financial contributions to nonprofit organizations, such as Enroll America, that are helping to implement President Obama’s health care overhaul.
Young said there is a special section within the Public Health Services Act that allows the HHS secretary to solicit financial support for nonprofit organizations conducting public health work. He said most of the solicitations have occurred through telephone calls, but in some speeches as well.
“For the last several months, the secretary has been working with a full range of stakeholders who share in the mission of getting Americans the help they need and deserve,” Young said. “We have always worked with outside groups and the efforts now ramping up are just one more part of that work.”
The fundraising pitches were first reported by the Washington Post. Young said Sebelius made no fundraising request of entities regulated by HSS, such as drug companies, hospitals or insurers.
Some lawmakers and advocacy groups have voiced concerns in recent weeks that many consumers will have a hard time navigating the health coverage options available to them next year as a mix of government programs and tax credits for private insurance kicks in.
The administration has recently announced it would be directing $200 million to states, private groups and local health centers so that they can hire workers who can help consumers pick the insurance plan best for them. The fundraising pitches appear to be another step along those lines. Beginning Oct. 1, people can start signing up for coverage through new state and federal health exchanges.
But Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said that soliciting money from health care executives is absurd.
“Moving forward, I will be seeking more information from the administration about these actions to help better understand whether there are conflicts of interest and if it violated federal law,” Hatch said.
Hatch’s criticism comes as House Republicans plan yet another vote to try to repeal ObamaCare.
In his remarks at a Mother’s Day-themed event at the White House on Friday, Obama said his signature health care law “is here to stay.”
“There’s a lot that this law is already doing for Americans with insurance,” the president said. “There’s a lot more that’s going to happen for folks who don’t have insurance.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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May 11, 2013 | Categories: America's Freedoms, Congress, Congress: Inquiries & Committees, Constitutional Responsibilities, Deficit, Education, Foreign Policy, Government, Healthcare, Individual Rights and Freedoms, National Debt, New Media News, Politics, Propaganda, Rejecting Political Correctess, Rights of States, Scandals, Value of the Dollar | Tags: business execs, Capitol Hill, criticism, fundraising push, GOP senator, health care executives, HHS, hhs secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, nonprofit, Obamacare, public health services, public health work, scrutiny, Sec. Kathleen Sebelius, senate republican | Leave A Comment »
[FoxNews-AP]
Published May 10, 2013
Tea Party leaders refused to accept an apology from the IRS Friday in which the agency acknowledged that it inappropriately flagged conservative groups for additional review during the 2012 election to see if they were violating their tax-exempt status. Jenny Beth Martin, national coordinator for Tea Party Patriots, said she wants to see resignations over what she called the “disturbing, illegal and outrageous abuse of government power.”
Republican lawmakers also seized on the acknowledgment, after having complained about the suspected harassment more than a year ago. Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell called for a “government-wide review” to assure “these thuggish practices” are not in use elsewhere. House Republican Leader Eric Cantor later said the House would investigate.
Reaction was swift and harsh after Lois Lerner, who heads the IRS division that oversees tax-exempt groups, acknowledged the issue at a conference Friday sponsored by the American Bar Association.
She confirmed that organizations were singled out because they included the words “tea party” or “patriot” in their applications for tax-exempt status.
In some cases, groups were asked for their list of donors, she said.
(more…)
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May 10, 2013 | Categories: America's Freedoms, Congress, Congress: Inquiries & Committees, Constitution, Constitutional Responsibilities, Constitutional Rights, Education, Elections Politics, Financial Sector, First Amendment, Government, House of Representatives, Individual Rights and Freedoms, New Media News, POTUS Deception, POTUS Elibility Issue, Rejecting Political Correctess | Tags: apology, conservative, donor lists requested, Eric Cantor, House of Representatives, Internal Revenue Service, investigation, IRS, irs officials, Mitch McConnell, outrageous abuse, Patriots, rejected, senate gop, tax exempt, tax scrutiny, Tax-Exempt Status, Tea Party | Leave A Comment »
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