Middle School Cancels Honors Night Because It’s Too “Exclusive”…

EAST GREENWICH, R.I. —Citing concerns about the "exclusive nature" of the annual honors night at Archie R. Cole Middle School, school officials have decided to scrap the tradition.

Instead, students who would normally be recognized at the annual spring tradition will be honored during team-based recognition ceremonies and graduation.

Update: School Changes Heart, Honors Night Back on the Table after Parent Outcry
The notice was sent to parents over the weekend in an e-mail signed by School Principal Alexis Meyer and Assistant Principal Dan Seger.

"Members of the school community have long expressed concerns related to the exclusive nature of Honors Night," the email stated. 

By having the recognition ceremonies during team-based ceremonies, it will "afford us the opportunity to celebrate the individual and collective success of all students and their effort, progress and excellence."

Via: East Greenwich Patch

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10,996,447: Disability Beneficiaries Hit New Record

(CNSNews.com) - The total number of disability beneficiaries in the United States rose from 10,981,423 in March to 10,996,447 in April, setting a new all-time record, according to newly released data from the Social Security Administration.

The number of Americans receiving disability benefits continues to exceed the populations of Greece, Tunisia and Portugal, and is approaching the population of Cuba, which according to the CIA World Factbook is 11,047,251.

The 10,996,447 total disability beneficiaries includes 8,942,232 disabled workers, 153,475 spouses of disabled workers, and 1,900,740 children of disabled workers.

None of those individual categories of beneficiaries set a record in April, but the combination of all three was the highest it has ever been in the history of the disability program.

The number of disabled workers peaked at 8,942,584 in December—with 352 more workers receiving disability than in April.

Via: CNS News

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Barrasso: Obamacare Premiums Depend on Side of Street You Live On

U.S. Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming says his disturbing find that some Americans pay more for their Affordable Care Act premiums than their neighbors is proof of how unfair President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law is.

"It is nutty … [You] save money or end up paying more depending on which side of the street you live," Barrasso told "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV.

"[A] person living on one side of the street or the other could end up paying up to $600 a year more … Not because of their health, not because of fitness, not because of pre-existing conditions, but solely because of which side of the street they live.

"This is happening all over America. There's so many of the unintended consequences of the healthcare law, but people know that they're not being treated fairly."

Barrasso, chairman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee, analyzed costs in three states participating in the federal healthcare exchange: South Carolina, Louisiana and Arkansas.

Via: Newsmax

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'Rogue' Agency? EPA Under Fire for Allegedly Obstructing Investigations

The Environmental Protection Agency's little-known Office of Homeland Security has illegally blocked investigations by an independent watchdog for years, an inspector with the agency's Office of Inspector General will tell Congress Wednesday.

Patrick Sullivan, the assistant EPA inspector general for investigations, is expected to testify Wednesday before a House oversight committee about the activities of the Office of Homeland Security, a unit run by President Obama's political staff.

The office of about 10 employees is overseen by EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy's office, and the inspector general's office is accusing it of operating illegally as a "rogue law enforcement agency" that has impeded independent investigations into employee misconduct, computer security and external threats, including compelling employees involved in cases to sign non-disclosure agreements.

"Under the heavy cloak of 'national security,' the Office of Homeland Security has repeatedly rebuffed and refused to cooperate with the OIG's ongoing requests for information or cooperation," Sullivan wrote in prepared testimony. "This block unquestionably has hamstrung the Office of Inspector General's ability to carry out its statutory mandate to investigate wrongdoing of EPA employees."

EPA Deputy Administrator Bob Perciasepe was expected to tell Congress that the agency's employees work cooperatively with the inspector general and support its mission, according to his prepared testimony.

Via: Fox News

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FEC chair warns that conservative media like Drudge Report and Sean Hannity face regulation --- like PACs

Government officials, reacting to the growing voice of conservative news outlets, especially on the internet, are angling to curtail the media's exemption from federal election laws governing political organizations, a potentially chilling intervention that the chairman of theFederal Election Commission is vowing to fight.

“I think that there are impulses in the government every day to second guess and look into the editorial decisions of conservative publishers,” warned Federal Election Commission Chairman Lee E. Goodman in an interview.

“The right has begun to break the left’s media monopoly, particularly through new media outlets like the internet, and I sense that some on the left are starting to rethink the breadth of the media exemption and internet communications,” he added.

Noting the success of sites like the Drudge Report, Goodman said that protecting conservative media, especially those on the internet, “matters to me because I see the future going to the democratization of media largely through the internet. They can compete with the big boys now, and I have seen storm clouds that the second you start to regulate them. There is at least the possibility or indeed proclivity for selective enforcement, so we need to keep the media free and the internet free.”

All media has long benefited from an exemption from FEC rules, thereby allowing outlets to pick favorites in elections and promote them without any limits or disclosure requirements like political action committees.

But Goodman cited several examples where the FEC has considered regulating conservative media, including Sean Hannity's radio show and Citizens United's movie division. Those efforts to lift the media exemption died in split votes at the politically evenly divided board, often with Democrats seeking regulation.

Liberals over the years have also pushed for a change in the Federal Communications Commission's "fairness doctrine" to cut of conservative voices, and retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens has delighted Democrats recently with a proposed Constitutional amendment that some say could force the media to stop endorsing candidates or promoting issues.

“The picking and choosing has started to occur,” said Goodman. “There are some in this building that think we can actually regulate” media, added Goodman, a Republican whose chairmanship lasts through December. And if that occurs, he said, “then I am concerned about disparate treatment of conservative media.”

He added, “Truth be told, I want conservative media to have the same exemption as all other media.”

Via: Washington Examiner

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The IRS Targeting Scandal, Lois Lerner and Contempt of Congress - The Truth Must Be Uncovered

On May 10, 2013, former top IRS official Lois Lerner appeared before a gathering of the American Bar Association. Responding to a question that she had planted in the audience, Lerner apologized for what she acknowledged was “inappropriate” targeting of conservative political groups during the 2012 election.

Lerner said the practice was initiated by low-level rogue employees in Cincinnati and was not motivated by political bias.

Fast forward to today – on the eve of the one-year anniversary of that bombshell. Lois Lerner faces a vote in the full House of Representatives – a vote to hold her in contempt of Congress.

What a difference a year makes.

As we know, that’s exactly what happened in this case.

Under the direction of Lois Lerner, there was a coordinated nationwide effort – not the work of a few rogue agents – to target conservative and Tea Party groups that applied for tax-exempt status. Lerner and others (we still don’t know how high the involvement goes) employed a strategy to delay these applications – effectively silencing these conservative organizations – putting them on the sideline in the run-up to the 2012 presidential election.

Our federal lawsuit challenging this unlawful and unconstitutional action by the IRS is moving forward. We represent 41 organizations in 22 states. Eleven of our clients are still waiting for an answer – one group has been waiting for a response for nearly five years.

As if this deliberate targeting scheme was not enough, we now know that Lerner was truly a partisan bureaucrat – her politically-charged conduct outlined in a letter released recently by the House Ways and Means Committee.

Make no mistake about it. The actions of Lois Lerner, which I detailed in an earlier post, clearly reveal what can only be described as stunning political bias and manipulation.

Via: Fox News

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Dems Slam 'Unfair' Benghazi Probe Plan

House Democrats are threatening not to participate in a special select committee on Benghazi, accusing Republicans of making an “unfair” framework for the panel that underscores its partisanship.

"This is nothing more than a kangaroo court in the making,"Democratic Caucus Chairman Xavier Becerra told reporters Wednesday. "They have not explained to us on the Republican side what’s so important to do this over and over again."

Top Democrats told GOP leaders in a letter last night that they reject the proposed makeup of seven Republicans and five Democrats on the panel, as well as its granting of subpoena authority only to chairman Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy.

“If you truly want this new select committee to be bipartisan and fair – and to be taken seriously by the American people – we call on you to reconsider this approach before bringing this measure to the House floor for a vote,” they wrote.

Other Democrats went even further, saying flatly that they should ignore the panel entirely.

"I would be dead-set against it," top Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina said of a committee that didn't have equal representation of Republicans and Democrats. "I'm not bringing a noose to my hanging."

Republicans will vote Thursday on a resolution to formally establish the rules for the special select committee. Democrats are expected to oppose that measure.

House Speaker John Boehner insisted Wednesday that the special select committee is intended for “transparency and accountability,” not for political points.

“This is all about getting to the truth,” he told reporters. “There's not going to be a side show, there's not going to be a circus, this is a serious investigation.

Via: NBC News

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DNC Chairwoman: Benghazi Committee ‘Political Ploy’

Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz on Wednesday accused House Republicans of creating a select investigative committee on the 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya, solely to motivate their base to turn out in the November midterm elections.

“Let’s call this what it is — it is nothing more than a political ploy because continuing to focus obsessively on repealing the Affordable Care Act has lost its luster, even among their own party members,” the Florida lawmaker said at a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.

Republicans selected Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., to lead the committee and gave their party seven slots on the 12-member panel, to just five for Democrats. House Democratic leaders sent a letter to Speaker John A. Boehner Tuesday night urging him to reconsider the committee’s partisan split.

Wasserman Schultz said she agrees with the request from Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md., and believes they “should seriously consider not participating if the process is not going to be fair.”

If House Republicans “want to ensure that the investigation — which, like I said, I believe is really just an election-year turnout operation for their base — if they want to make sure it’s fair, there is no reason to reject the leader’s request to have the committee be evenly split.”

In response, Republican National Committee spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski said, “Republicans want answers from a White House that spent more time politicizing this issue than trying to figure out how Americans died.”

The chairwoman pointed to the special election in Florida’s 13th District — which in the immediate aftermath served as a red flag for Democrats already concerned about turnout in November — as an example of the GOP’s own turnout issues, saying Republicans should have “run away” with the open-seat race.

Despite polling showing a challenging climate for Democrats, she said the party is headed for a successful midterm cycle, particularly when looking at the races individually, rather than at a macro level.

“We’re looking forward to the midterms,” Wasserman Schultz said, citing some gubernatorial opportunities in Pennsylvania, Florida and Maine. “We have opportunities in the Senate in Georgia and Kentucky, and keep a close eye on Mississippi. When it comes to our incumbent senators, the Republicans and pundits are pointing some of the vulnerable incumbents — these are challenging races, but we have incumbent members who have their finger on the pulse of their constituencies, know the people that they represent, and I think we’ll be successful in November.”

Via: Roll Call

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Gowdy: 'I Want to See Every Single Solitary Document'; Death of 4 Americans 'Transcends Politics'

Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), who has been chosen to chair the select committee on Benghazi, went “On The Record tonight.

When asked what he would say to Democrats like Rep. Adam Schiff who oppose the committee, Gowdy said, “At least let the process have a chance to work before you declare it null and void.”

Gowdy said the committee will lay out all the facts and evidence, and then a jury will come to a decision. He said he hopes for a reasonable, fair-minded jury.

The South Carolina congressman told Greta Van Susteren that witnesses have come forward and shared that there was a systematic effort to keep certain documents under wraps. He also said there is a lot of over-classification of documents to protect people’s careers.

“I’m not interested in summaries, I’m not interested in synopses, I’m interested in access to the document and the witness, and I’ll decide whether or not I think the appropriate questions were asked in the past,” he said.

“There are certain things in our culture that have to transcend politics. And I don’t mean to sound naive, but the murder of four fellow Americans and an attack on a facility that is emblematic of our country should transcend politics, and I know our fellow citizens can handle the truth, but only if they get access to it,” he said.

Via: Fox News

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FBI Targets, Raids Democrats Across Country

Democrats in California, New York, and North Carolina were targeted by the FBI on Wednesday. All are targets of unrelated federal investigations.

 

Democratic state Sen. Leland Yee of San Francisco was taken in by federal authorities on public corruption charges after a series of FBI raids Wednesday morning. Also arrested as part of the investigation was “infamous Chinatown gangster Raymond ‘Shrimp Boy’ Chow,” according to the San Jose Mercury News.

Yee was a candidate for California Secretary of State.

New York Assemblyman William Scarborough (D., Queens) had both his Queens and Albany offices raided by FBI agents on Wednesday and was met by agents at his hotel room.

The FBI is investigating per diem payments that reimburse legislators for days spent in the Capitol.

Scarborough told reporters that the FBI raid is the result of a “tabloid hit job.”

Charlotte, N.C., Democratic Mayor Patrick Cannon was arrested on public corruption charges of theft and bribery as a result of a four-year FBI sting operation.

Cannon collected cash bribes and other items of value from undercover FBI agents posing as businessmen who wanted to do business in Charlotte,according to U.S. attorney for the Western District of North Carolina Anne Tompkins.

The month of March has been rife with Democrats on the crime blotter.

Via: WFB

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O’Reilly, Stossel Pile On ‘Astronomical’ Cost of Obama Trips: ‘This Is the Royal Presidency’

John Stossel and Bill O’Reilly went off Thursday night on exactly how much money is being spent on vacations for the First Family, with Stossel remarking, “This is the royal presidency.” Both men were astounded by the “astronomical” cost of travel alone for presidential trips, though Stossel mockingly suggested the plane cost is so high because “they have to be in constant communication if they want to declare nuclear war.”

Stossel did not that it’s “no worse than Bush or Clinton,” but he and O’Reilly still found the high cost outrageous, and Stossel detected some hypocrisy in how the government spends money.

“What upsets me more is when they were stopping White House tours ‘cause they said sequester was so awful, Sasha and Malia did spring break on Paradise Island in the Bahamas with Secret Service.”

O’Reilly also noted how taxpayers are, in essence, paying for trips President Obama takes when he goes to do fundraisers.

Via: Mediaite.com

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[CARTOON] Yet Another Obamacare Delay

Via: California Political Review

The Coming Paradigm Shift on Climate

The just-published NIPCC reports may lead to a paradigm shift about what or who causes current climate changes.  All the evidence suggests that Nature rules the climate – not Man.

Watch for it: We may be on the threshold of a tipping point in climate history.  No, I’m not talking about a tipping point in the sense that the Earth will be covered with ice or become hellishly hot.  I’m talking about a tipping point in our views of what controls the climate -- whether it’s mainly humans or whether it’s mainly natural.  It makes an enormous difference in climate policy: Do we try to mitigate, at huge cost, or do we merely adapt to natural changes -- as our ancestors did for many millennia?

Such tipping points occur quite frequently in science.  I have personally witnessed two paradigm shifts where world scientific opinion changed rapidly -- almost overnight.  One was in Cosmology, where the “Steady State” theory of the Universe was replaced by the “Big Bang.”  This shift was confirmed by the discovery of the “microwave background radiation,” which has already garnered Nobel prizes, and will likely get more. 

The other major shift occurred in Continental Drift.  After being denounced by the Science Establishment, the hypothesis of Alfred Wegener, initially based on approximate relations between South America and Africa, was dramatically confirmed by the discovery of “sea-floor spreading.” 

Via: American Thinker

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OBAMA MAKES TWO MAJOR FOREIGN POLICY GAFFES ON EUROPE TRIP

RE-WRITING HISTORY THE FLY!!!!

President Obama has made two major gaffes so far during his Europe trip. After falsely claimed that Kosovo held a UN-assisted referendum on self-determination, he then wrongly said that Georgia was not being considered for NATO membership.

Speaking on Kosovo yesterday, Obama said : "...Kosovo only left Serbia after a referendum was organised not outside the boundaries of international law, but in careful cooperation with the United Nations and with Kosovo’s neighbours. None of that even came close to happening in Crimea."

But none of it came close to happening in Kosovo either, as Milos Subotic, the International Relations Officer of the University of Pristina, Kosovo told Breitbart London. 

"During his yesterday speech in Brussels, President Obama showed a lack of knowledge of the political situation in Kosovo. Kosovo never organised any kind of referendum, but the Assembly of Provisional Institutions of self-government of Kosovo made a unilateral declaration of independence on February 17th 2008.

"The declaration of independence has been recognised by approximately one hundred states, however Serbia and many countries have also showed their opposition to declaration of independence, most notably China and Russia. What Kosovo did was not in line with United Nations and that’s confirmed by the fact that Kosovo is not member of UN."

Dr. James Ker-Lindsay, a Senior Research Fellow on the Politics of South East Europe at the London School of Economics took to Twitter to correct the U.S. President before telling Breitbart London: "I think one must assume that this was indeed an error. However, it really does seem to be an incredible mistake to have made. Surely there must have been someone at hand who would have known that there was no UN organised referendum in Kosovo. It really was not that long ago.

"It will certainly play into the hands of those who believe that the United States is now trying to rewrite history to put a better gloss on its own actions.

"It will be interesting to see if a retraction or correction is issued by the White House."

If messing up on Kosovo wasn’t enough, Obama has now also potentially undermined Georgia’s application to join NATO.

Speaking at the press conference after the EU-US summit yesterday the US President wrongly suggested that Georgia "is not currently on a path to NATO membership". In fact the country has been on the path to membership since 2008.

VIA: Breitbart

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OBAMACARE NAVIGATORS HELPING PEOPLE ENROLL AT MEXICAN CONSULATES

The Obama administration has been helping to facilitate a series of events nationwide at Mexican Consulate offices to enroll people in Obamacare – and a key activist says the efforts are “our responsibility” regardless of citizenship.

 

“Whether they’re Mexican nationals or whether they’re United States citizens or whether they’re in transition-- and if they’re there it is our responsibility within all of America to educate on the Affordable Care Act,” Enroll America Field Organizer Jose Medrano told Breitbart News on Wednesday.

Health Care insurance navigator groups hosted an Obamacare enrollment fair on Tuesday in the Mexican Consulate’s Brownsville office, The Rio Grande Guardianreported last Friday, where Mexican nationals among others were counseled about enrolling in the ACA.

“The Mexican consulate is a very reliable source of information to the Latino community. And therefore when they host their events, yesterday being the health fair, there are several hundred people that show up,” Medrano said.

Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), undocumented immigrants aren't supposed to be receiving government-run health benefits or subsidized coverage. However, President Barack Obama told Latinos in early March that the Healthcare.gov website would not be used to find out about an individual’s immigration status.

“None of the information that is provided in order for you to obtain health insurance is in any way transferred to immigration services,” he said.

According to Medrano, 101 families were represented at the ACA enrollment and education fair at the Brownsville Mexican Consulate on Tuesday and about 60 percent of them spoke to a health care counselor. Medrano says that the consulate’s office is helpful “as part of the transition” to “mainstream… America.”

This is not the first time the Mexican Consulate has been used to enroll individuals into Obamacare. Get Covered Illinois announced in late February that the Erie Family Health Center hoped to increase its enrollment numbers at the Mexican Consulate in Chicago,The Sun Times reported.

According to Vegas Seven, in Nevada, the Latino community is being targeted for ACA enrollment at the Mexican Consulate in downtown Las Vegas. Insurance News says Hispanic National Advocacy groups like National Alliance for Hispanic Health have helped lead the push to get more Latinos enrolled in Obamacare.

Via: Breitbart

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Former Campaign Workers for Bronx Councilwoman Arroyo Charged with Fraud

AND THE DEMOCRATS STILL KEEP CRASHING THE BURNING

THE BRONX — Three former campaign workers for Bronx Councilwoman Maria Del Carmen Arroyo's reelection bid were charged with forging nearly 100 signatures, including Derek Jeter's and Kate Moss', on the candidate's primary ballot petitions, according to the Bronx District Attorney's Office.    

Elbin Lopez, 49, Betty Julien, 47, and Luis Vargas, 45, were charged multiple felony counts Wednesday including falsifying business records and forgery. The women were hired to gather signatures to get Arroyo's name placed on the September 2013 Democratic primary election.

Other forged names included sports announcer Joe Buck and New York Giants defensive tackle Rocky Bernard, the DA's Office said.

The petitions also included some fake addresses, including a Citibank branch and a drug rehabilitation program, prosecutors said.

The nine-month investigation into the fraud uncovered no other criminal conduct by any campaign staff, according to the DA's office.

The women were arraigned in Bronx Criminal Court and released without bail.

They face up to seven years in prison.

Arroyo was first elected in 2005 and serves District 17, which includes Melrose, Hunts Point and Longwood.

"From the very onset, I believed the actions of the individuals involved were unacceptable and that they had violated the law," said Arroyo in a statement. "I look forward to seeing this case through its conclusion."

Via: DNAInfo New York

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