The DOJ’s Curious Foray into the ‘Knockout Game’ Fray

Twenty-seven-year-old Conrad Barrett of Katy, Texas, has been charged with a hate crime by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for allegedly targeting a 79-year-old black man as his “knockout game” victim.

The victim suffered two jaw fractures in the November 24 assault. “Suspected crimes of this nature will simply not be tolerated,” said Kenneth Magidson, the U.S. attorney for the southern district of Texas. “Evidence of hate crimes will be vigorously investigated and prosecuted with the assistance of all our partners to the fullest extent of the law.”

According to the complaint filed by the DOJ, Barrett recorded a cell phone video of the attack in which he remarked, “the plan is to see if I were to hit a black person, would this be nationally televised.” The complaint also states that Barrett allegedly showed the video to other people and that other videos contained on the cell phone confiscated by police included Barrett using the n-word and insisting that black Americans “haven’t fully experienced the blessing of evolution.”

As a result, Barrett has been charged with one count of violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. If convicted, he will be facing a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. “It is unimaginable in this day and age that one could be drawn to violently attack another based on the color of their skin,” said Special Agent in Charge Stephen Morris of the FBI’s Houston office. “We remind all citizens that we are protected under the law from such racially motivated attacks, and encourage everyone to report such crimes to the FBI.”

Via: Canada Free Press

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Obama Battered by Healthcare, Shutdown, Surveillance Scandals

From Obamacare to sequestration to Iran to the 16-day government shutdown that cost American taxpayers $1.4 billion, 2013 marked the year of the scandal — domestically and internationally — for President Barack Obama.

The president's year was so riddled with troubles because "the Obama White House isn’t nearly as transparent as they had bragged during two different campaigns," Tobe Berkovitz, an associate professor of advertising at Boston University, told Newsmax. "The White House is so tight with letting any information out that once negative information goes out, the press and the public start to take more interest in it because usually there's such tight control on everything."

But the worst problem of all is Obamacare, Berkovitz said.

"That affects everybody — and healthcare and a family's health, along with their economic security, are the most important things to Americans," he told Newsmax. "You start messing with people's health and their healthcare, that gets right to the core of what people care about."

Here are some of the major scandals that rocked the Obama administration:

The Obamacare Rollout

After delaying the mandate for large companies under Obamacare, President Obama decided to proceed with the mandate for individuals on Oct. 1. The rollout was plagued by a dysfunctional website, HealthCare.gov, which serves 36 states that lack their own exchanges.

The site has experienced a plethora of technological glitches — and HealthCare.gov was shut down its first weekend to address these issues, and again in November.

Americans continue to have problems accessing the site — and concerns surrounding whether applications have been processed sufficiently, even whether Americans' personal information is safeguarded, continue to dog the website.

President Obama promised that the site would be improved by Nov. 30 — and then even that deadline was extended by a day. HealthCare.gov crashed during a visit by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to a Miami hospital in November.

The glitches led the White House to postpone deadlines for Americans to apply for insurance that would start on Jan. 1 — from Dec. 23 to 11:59 p.m. on Christmas Eve.

Via: Newsmax

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Glenn Greenwald rips MSNBC bias — on MSNBC

Glenn Greenwald — the reporter who published Edward Snowden’s initial documents on NSA surveillance and retains many more for future publication — blasted MSNBC’s hypocrisy for suggesting his defense of Snowden violates journalistic ethics. “That’s ludicrous,” he said, noting that “the agenda of President Obama and the Democratic Party are promoted, defended, [and] glorified” every day on the cable network.

MSNBC anchor Kristen Welker spoke with Greenwald Thursday about the NSA leaks, asking him to respond to critics who claim he’s become “more of a spokesman for Edward Snowden.” Greenwald’s response? Pot, meet kettle:

GREENWALD: I think that’s ludicrous, is what I say to that. Every journalist has an agenda. We’re on MSNBC now, where close to 24 hours a day the agenda of President Obama and the Democratic Party are promoted, defended, glorified. The agenda of the Republican Party is undermined. That doesn’t mean the people on MSNBC aren’t journalists, they are. I think every journalist has a viewpoint.

My viewpoint is clear. I don’t hide it. I think what Edward Snowden did was very admirable and heroic, but at the same time the ultimate test of a journalist is, is what you publish accurate and reliable? And I think with regard to every story we published over the last six months, there hasn’t been a single correction made to any of them, very few called into question. And I think that’s the ultimate question when it comes to journalism.

A clearly flustered Welker tried to backtrack, declaring “”the point is not so much about MSNBC,” but that Greenwald’s defense of Snowden’s actions may “cross a line.”

Via: Daily Caller

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Democrats Say Pass Extension of Unemployment Benefits First; Pay Later

(CNSNews.com) - Interrupting their vacation on Thursday, two Democrats -- Sen. Jack Reed of R.I. and Rep. Sander Levin of Michigan -- demanded that Republicans go along with a three-month extension of long-term unemployment benefits without immediately paying for them. The cost of a three-month extension is around $6.5 billion.

Losing jobless benefits is like being hit by an "economic hurricane," said Rep. Levin, who sits on the House Ways and Means Committee.

"And so that's the reason why, in the past -- much more often than not -- there has not been a pay-for. They haven't been offset. And I think what we hope to do both in the Senate and the House is to pass this three-month provision on a bipartisan basis -- not offset, and then we can sit down and talk further about where we go from here."

Sen. Reed said Democrats have introduced a bill providing a three-month, unpaid-for extension because "it will us the time to work on changes to the program that's necessary, but also time to look for appropriate pay-fors. And there are a long list of pay-fors, from offshore tax breaks, several (tax) loophole closings." He said any "serious discussion about tax policy" would produce a way to pay for the extension.

Via: CNS News

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President Obama's Top 10 Constitutional Violations Of 2013

One of Barack Obama’s chief accomplishments has been to return the Constitution to a central place in our public discourse.

Unfortunately, the president fomented this upswing in civic interest not by talking up the constitutional aspects of his policy agenda, but by blatantly violating the strictures of our founding document. And he’s been most frustrated with the separation of powers, which doesn’t allow him to “fundamentally transform” the country without congressional acquiescence.

But that hasn’t stopped him. In its first term, the Administration launched a “We Can’t Wait” initiative, with senior aide Dan Pfeiffer explaining that “when Congress won’t act, this president will.” And earlier this year, President Obama said in announcing his new economic plans that “I will not allow gridlock, or inaction, or willful indifference to get in our way.”

And so, as we reach the end of another year of political strife that’s fundamentally based on clashing views on the role of government in society, I thought I’d update a list I made two years ago and hereby present President Obama’s top 10 constitutional violations of 2013.

Via: Forbes

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Brent Budowsky: ObamaCare sales surge

WE CAN ALL DREAM, BUT THE REALITY IS THAT IS GOING TO FAIL BIGTIME!!

Remember Budowsky's first law of insider punditry: When the media and political herds are tripping over each other's hoofs while stampeding in a certain direction, the herds are almost always wrong.

Take note of the fact that in recent days, the traffic to the Affordable Care websites has skyrocketed, and sales of insurance policies have surged nationally and in key states.

Some of the big stories of 2014, I predict, will be: First, reports of ObamaCare's demise have been greatly exaggerated, and sales will be on an upward curve through the first quarter of 2014.

Second, insurance companies will spend well over $100 million to market their policies to consumers, because they have a tremendous vested interest in new signups.

Third, ObamaCare will be a particular success in blue states with Democratic governors and insurance commissioners who are consumer-friendly. And that is why: Fourth, Democrats, progressives, liberals and populists who are smart will continue to own the healthcare issue with American voters.

My mini-enlightenment was caused, strangely enough, by a story on Fox News, which suggested (correctly) that consumers in red states were getting the worst deal under ObamaCare. I had an exchange with the individual on Fox who did that story, which I promised to keep off the record.

I am at liberty to state my response to the story, which was: Doesn't the story suggest that voters in red states with Republican governors would receive better and cheaper healthcare if they became blue states and elected Democratic governors? The answer, I propose, is yes.

Watch California — a state with a progressive Democratic governor who has supported the healthcare law, acted to make it work, done a good job protecting consumers — which has had a major surge in signups.

Via: The Hill

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[CARTOON] Obamacare Fruitcare

Via: California Political Review

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE TO SPEND $50 MILLION TO CRUSH TEA PARTY

On Christmas Day, the Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce says it plans to spend at least $50 million to "support establishment, business-friendly candidates in primaries and the general election, with an aim of trying to win a Republican Senate majority." 

"Our No. 1 focus is to make sure, when it comes to the Senate, that we have no loser candidates," said U.S. Chamber of Commerce top political strategist Scott Reed. "That will be our mantra: No fools on our ticket." 

GOP establishment officials hope to elide Tea Party challenges by shrinking the nomination process down to a tight four-month window replete with penalties for states that shirk the rules. 

The WSJ reported that Republican leaders "hope a less restive Republican caucus will allow the House to pass a farm bill and push ahead on at least incremental overhauls of the immigration system." 

The Chamber's comments are just the latest salvo in a widening battle between the conservative Tea Party grassroots and the establishment wing of the Republican Party. Increasingly, the Tea Party's growing power and influence has unmoored Republican politicians from their traditional alliance with Wall Street in favor of grassroots conservative activists. 

The shift comes as grassroots activists have re-framed the GOP's old "pro-business" stance into a "pro-free markets" positioning that eschews corporate welfare and taxpayer-funded crony capitalist giveaways to industries that make major political contributions and reap big government contracts paid for by voters.  

The Journal says that joining the Chamber of Commerce will be groups like Karl Rove's American Crossroads, who "are preparing an aggressive effort to groom and support more centrist Republican candidates." 

Via: Breitbart

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Hollywood's new financiers make deals with state tax credits

ATLANTA — Ric Reitz makes movies. He helped bankroll the Matt Damon thriller "Contagion," Clint Eastwood's "Trouble With the Curve" and the Robert Downey comedy "Due Date."

Reitz, an energetic 58-year-old, doesn't hang out at the Polo Lounge, red-carpet premieres or swank offices in Century City. Instead, he works out of a former cotton mill near Martin Luther King Jr.'s boyhood home, hustling for business at Chamber of Commerce dinners and Rotary Club lunches. Recently, he was looking forward to attending a meeting of prosperous chicken farmers.

Reitz is one of Hollywood's new financiers. Just about every major movie filmed on location gets a tax incentive, and Reitz is part of an expanding web of brokers, tax attorneys, financial planners and consultants who help filmmakers exploit the patchwork of state programs to attract film and TV production.

ON LOCATION: Where the cameras roll

In his case, he takes the tax credits given to Hollywood studios for location filming and sells them to wealthy Georgians looking to shave their tax bills — doctors, pro athletes, seafood suppliers, beer distributors and the like.

"I've got a giant state of people who are potential buyers," he said. "It's the funniest people who are hiding under stones."

The trade benefits both sides. The studios get their money more quickly than if they had to wait for a tax refund from the state, and the buyers get a certificate that enables them to cut their state tax bills as much 15%.

Via: LA Times
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Aerosmith’s Joe Perry Tweets ‘Freedom of Speech’ Defense Of Duck Dynasty

(CNSNews.com) – Joe Perry, lead guitarist for the rock band Aerosmith, which is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and who with front-man Steven Tyler is in the Songwriters Hall of Fame, tweeted a defense of the Duck Dynasty controversy concerning anti-gay behavior saying, “More crackin’ down on Freedom of Speech in the US or what?”

In a follow-up tweet, Perry said, “Seems to me people have a right to express their opinions & religious beliefs. But that doesn’t mean we have to agree.”

Duck Dynasty, with about 12 million viewers per episode, is a reality-TV show on the A&E cable channel about a Christian family in Louisiana who built a mega-successful business making duck-calls for hunters. The head of the family, self-described Bible-thumpin’ Phil Robertson, was suspended indefinitely from the program on Dec. 18 by A&E because of comments he made in the latest GQ magazine explaining why he thinks homosexual behavior is unnatural and sinful.

Via: Pat Dollard

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Be prepared: Wall Street advisor recommends guns, ammo for protection in collapse

A top financial advisor, worried that Obamacare, the NSA spying scandal and spiraling national debt is increasing the chances for a fiscal and social disaster, is recommending that Americans prepare a “bug-out bag” that includes food, a gun and ammo to help them stay alive.

David John Marotta, a Wall Street expert and financial advisor and Forbes contributor, said in a note to investors, “Firearms are the last item on the list, but they are on the list. There are some terrible people in this world. And you are safer when your trusted neighbors have firearms.”

His memo is part of a series addressing the potential for a “financial apocalypse.” His view, however, is that the problems plaguing the country won't result in armageddon. “There is the possibility of a precipitous decline, although a long and drawn out malaise is muh more likely,” said the Charlottesville, Va.-based president of Marotta Wealth Management.

Marotta said that many clients fear an end-of-the-world scenario. He doesn’t agree with that outcome, but does with much of what has people worried.

“I, along with many other economists, agree with many of the concerns expressed in these dire warnings. The growing debt and deficit spending is a tax on those holding dollars. The devaluation in the U.S. dollar risks the dollar's status as the reserve currency of the world. Obamacare was the worst legislation in the past 75 years. Socialism is on the rise and the NSA really is abrogating vast portions of the Constitution. I don't disagree with their concerns,” he wrote.

In his latest note, he said that Americans should have a survival kit to take in case of a financial or natural disaster. It should be filled with items that will help them stay alive for the first 72-hours of a crisis, including firearms.

“A bug-out bag is a good idea depending on where you live even if the emergency is just power outages, earthquakes and hurricanes. And with your preparedness you will be equipped to help others who might be in need,” he wrote. “Be prepared. Especially because it keeps you from being scared.”

He provided a list of items and even a link to bug-out bags on Amazon.

Via: Washington Examiner

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A&E’s Duck Dynasty Dilemma

It had never happened before. When big, powerful TV executives ask a star to apologize for what they deem inappropriate comments or behavior, the star simply complies. A team of publicists is assembled, the star does the obligatory apology tour for the press and promises never to do or say what he did or said again. Ever.

But the TV gods never met a man like Phil Robertson. Or his family. When they decided to place the patriarch of the Duck Dynasty clan on a non-suspension suspension for his comments to a GQ magazine writer about homosexuality, the executives at A&E created a problem.

Because this family believes in a bigger God. The same God that roughly 70 percent of Americans believe in. The Robertsons take their faith seriously, and one of the more important elements of that faith involves putting no god before theirs. Not even the suits at the big network.

It is such an important notion in Christianity that there are commandments about it in the second book of the Bible. I guess the executives at A&E never got that far.

If not, didn’t they at least see the movie version with Charlton Heston?

Here’s a quickie theology lesson for those executives: The Ten Commandments are pretty important rules for followers of Christ. And for Jews, too. The first four commandments are all about man’s relationship to God and how God must be first in our lives.

Not network executives or ratings. God.

Those commandments are the reason dictators throughout history haven’t much cared for Christians and Jews.

Via: NRO

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American held by al Qaeda in Pakistan urges Obama for help

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A U.S. development worker kidnapped in Pakistan by al Qaeda two years ago appealed to President Barack Obama to intervene and help negotiate his release, in a video released on Thursday.

In a 13-minute clip issued by al Qaeda's media wing and posted on several news websites, Warren Weinstein, 72, looked gaunt and tired.

"I am not in good health. I have a heart condition. I suffer from acute asthma... Needless to say I've been suffering deep anxiety every part of every day," he said.

"Mr President, for the majority of my adult life, for over 30 years I've served my country ... Now when I need my government it seems that I have been totally abandoned and forgotten."

The video could not be independently verified.

Weinstein was abducted in 2011 in the eastern city of Lahore where he worked for a U.S. consulting company.

Pakistan's tribal areas on its border with Afghanistan serve as safe havens for al Qaeda, the Taliban and other militant groups, and the Islamabad government has been under pressure from the United States to do more to eliminate the insurgency.

Via: Chicago Tribune

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Dem Rep Wants Public ‘Rage’ over Unemployment Benefits Similar to Prospect of Syria Intervention

Appearing on MSNBC on Thursday, Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI) scolded her colleagues in Congress for failing to extend unemployment benefits for long-term jobless before they expire at the end of the year. Moore said that she hoped to see “rage” from Americans over the lapse of unemployment benefits in the same way Americans revolted over the prospect of intervening in the Syrian civil war. 

Asked about the end of unemployment benefits for millions of Americans, Moore said that there was a perception issue among many that long-term unemployed are “lazy.” She said that even those with advanced degrees are suffering as a result of America’s chronic unemployment.

RELATED: Rand Paul to Fox: Continuing Unemployment Benefits Does ‘Disservice to Workers’

“If we can generate the kind of rage in the American public that we have seen when, say, for example just recently there was talk of going to Syria, I think we could get people on board for doing this really American thing,” Moore concluded.

Via: Mediaite.com

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Amazon says it sold 426 items a second on Cyber Monday

AND OBAMACARE SOLD ONE POLICY EVERY 426 SECONDS

Amazon.com sold almost 37 million items on Cyber Monday, a pace of 426 a second to be exact.

The sales tally for Dec. 2 was one of a number of statistics the Seattle online retailer announced on Thursday. 

It did not reveal how sales compared to last year's Cyber Monday, but said that overall holiday season sales were its best ever.

PHOTOS: Got a Christmas gadget? Here are the apps to download

The company also said that it shipped items to customers in 185 countries during the holidays. Additionally, Amazon said 50% of its customers used mobile devices to do their holiday shopping.

As for Christmas sales, it did not say how many of its packages may have missed the Dec. 24 delivery. UPS and FedEx on Thursday said they were still scrambling to deliver packages that did not arrive in time for Christmas.

The shipping giants blamed the missed deadline on heavy holiday shipping volume and bad weather in some parts of the country.

Here are some other oddball statistics that Amazon released in its press release:

• Enough Crayola Marker Makers were sold to draw a line around the world four times.
• Enough Hot Wheels cars were purchased to stretch around the Daytona International Speedway.
• Enough miniature flashlights were bought to light up four football fields to NCAA standards.
• Enough Himalyan Crystal Lamps were purchased that if they were each stacked on one another their collective height

Via: LA Times
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What to Do When ObamaCare Unravels

The unraveling of the Affordable Care Act presents a historic opportunity for change. Its proponents call it "settled law," but as Prohibition taught us, not even a constitutional amendment is settled law—if it is dysfunctional enough, and if Americans can see a clear alternative.

This fall's website fiasco and policy cancellations are only the beginning. Next spring the individual mandate is likely to unravel when we see how sick the people are who signed up on exchanges, and if our government really is going to penalize voters for not buying health insurance. The employer mandate and "accountable care organizations" will take their turns in the news. There will be scandals. There will be fraud. This will go on for years.

Enlarge Image

David Gothard

Yet opponents should not sit back and revel in dysfunction. The Affordable Care Act was enacted in response to genuine problems. Without a clear alternative, we will simply patch more, subsidize more, and ignore frauds and scandals, as we do in Medicare and other programs.

There is an alternative. A much freer market in health care and health insurance can work, can deliver high quality, technically innovative care at much lower cost, and solve the pathologies of the pre-existing system.

The U.S. health-care market is dysfunctional. Obscure prices and $500 Band-Aids are legendary. The reason is simple: Health care and health insurance are strongly protected from competition. There are explicit barriers to entry, for example the laws in many states that require a "certificate of need" before one can build a new hospital. Regulatory compliance costs, approvals, nonprofit status, restrictions on foreign doctors and nurses, limits on medical residencies, and many more barriers keep prices up and competitors out. Hospitals whose main clients are uncompetitive insurers and the government cannot innovate and provide efficient cash service.

Via:WSJ

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