3,700 illegal immigrant ‘Threat Level 1’ criminals released into U.S. by DHS

Most of the illegal immigrant criminals Homeland Security officials released from custody last year were discretionary, meaning the department could have kept them in detention but chose instead to let them onto the streets as their deportation cases moved through the system, according to new numbers from Congress.

Some of those released were the worst of the worst — more than 3,700 “Threat Level 1” criminals, who are deemed the top priority for deportation, were still released out into the community even as they waited for their immigration cases to be heard.

Homeland Security officials have implied their hands are tied by court rulings in many cases, but the numbers, obtained by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, showed 57 percent of the criminals released were by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s own choice, and they could have been kept instead.

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“Put aside the spin, and the fact is that over 17,000 of the criminal aliens released last year were released due to ICE discretion, representing 57 percent of the releases,” said Mr. Goodlatte. “The Obama administration’s lax enforcement policies are reckless and needlessly endanger our communities.”

In a statement to The Washington Times, ICE said it takes release decisions seriously and makes a judgment in each case. That holds true even for Threat Level 1 criminals.

“Not all Level 1 criminal aliens are subject to mandatory detention and thus may be eligible for bond,” the agency said, pointing to mitigating circumstances that can convince agents to release the most serious criminals.

Via: Washington Times

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Guess Who Pays When Rioting Thugs Destroy Our Cities?

Possessing an incredible amount of perspicacity, Thomas Sowell is always a “Best Bet” to come up with logic by the tons when confronted with a sticky situation.  Defining the effects of the recent marauding of American cities couldn’t be analyzed and dissected by anyone any better than the good Doctor of Economics Thomas Sowell.

n his June 2, 2015 column Paying the Price,  he covers the question in the above headline in magna cum laude fashion by stating on the Baltimore riots, that that city, meaning its residents, “is now paying the price for irresponsible words and actions, not only by young thugs in the streets, but also by its mayor and the state prosecutor, both of whom threw the police to the wolves, in order to curry favor with local voters.”

Naturally the physical damage to properties was generally the result of the rioters who had larceny in their hearts and craze in their minds.  But the unbelievably poor judgment in the use of words during a crisis heightened time such as that, immeasurably worsened the after-effects. 

It may not be totally sourced with the rioters but it is highly conceivable that as Sowell says, “murders in Baltimore in May have been more than double what they were in May last year, and higher than in any May in the past 15 years.”  So in the face of the hard evidence, Sowell can’t be faulted for his statement on murders.  And another factor that can’t be overlooked is, again as Sowell states, “Meanwhile, the number of arrests is down by more than 50 percent.”

It only seems natural that when high state government officials such as the city’s Mayor and the State Prosecutor, to paraphrase Sowell, threw the police ‘under the bus of blame’ some of the ‘care’ that police have for their fellow citizens has to be dampened somewhat.  It is terribly discouraging to get chastised for doing one’s duties.

Via: Canada Free Press

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House Committee Drops Funding for State Department Climate-Change Programs

With Secretary of State John Kerry at the helm, the Obama administration is promoting efforts to produce a new global climate treaty at a U.N. climate conference in Paris late this year. (AP Photo, File)

(CNSNews.com) – Just months before the most important U.N. climate conference in years, Republican appropriators in the House of Representatives are taking aim at one of the Obama administration’s most cherished priorities – international climate change funding.

An appropriations bill for the State Department and foreign operations, released Tuesday, excludes funding for three major climate initiatives – the Green Climate Fund, the Clean Technology Fund, and the Strategic Climate Fund – and also removes funding for the U.N.-backed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Also in the firing line is funding for the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and debt relief.

The bill eliminates funding for these “lower-priority international programs,” the House Appropriations Committee said in a statement, in order to meet what it views as top priorities – including “funding for security activities around the world,” support for key allies, and increased funding “for embassy and diplomatic security to address new needs identified after the Benghazi terrorist attack.”

“This legislation is first and foremost a national security bill,” said Rep Kay Granger (R-Texas), chairwoman of the Appropriations subcommittee on State and foreign operations.

Appropriations Committee chairman Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) said it provides funding for “critical endeavors – bolstering the fight against terror, strengthening our allies, helping innocent lives facing conflict and strife, and protecting our democracy, our people, and our way of life.”

In doing so, the drafters decided climate change programs did not merit funding.

The Green Climate Fund, launched in 2011, is designed to help developing countries curb “greenhouse gas” emissions and cope with occurrences attributed to climate change, such as rising sea levels.

With the aim of reaching $100 billion a year from public and private sources by 2020, it is one of the most ambitious elements of the global climate campaign.

President Obama last November pledged $3 billion for the GCF, a promise touted by Secretary of State John Kerry at subsequent U.N. climate talks, even as Republican lawmakers slammed the move.

The U.S. pledge is by far the largest announced contribution to date for the fund, which now has pledges totaling some $10.2 billion, from 33 countries.

In its fiscal year 2016 budget request, the administration asked for $500 million – $350 million for the State Department and $150 million for the Treasury Department – as a first step towards meeting that $3 billion objective.

Via: CNS News

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Leaked TISA Documents Reveal Privacy Threat

Under the draft provisions of the latest trade deal to be leaked by Wikileaks, countries could be barred from trying to control where their citizens’ personal data is held or whether it’s accessible from outside the country.

Wikileaks has released 17 documents relating to the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA), currently under negotiation between the US, the European Union and 23 other nations. These negotiating texts are supposed to remain secret for five years after TISA is finalized and brought into force.

The deal, which has been under discussion behind closed doors since early 2013, is intended to remove barriers to trade in services. It’s a sort of companion piece to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which cover trade in goods – but potentially far bigger, with Wikileaks claiming that ‘services’ now account for nearly 80 per cent of the US and EU economies.

Like TTIP and TPP, TISA could be sped through Congress using Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), also known as fast-track authority, which has been passed by the US Senate and may be taken up in the House this month. Under TPA, Congress is barred from making amendments to the trade deals, and most simply give yes-or-no approval.

A demonstrator protests against the legislation to give US President Barack Obama fast-track authority to advance trade deals (Credit: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

And the contents of TISA make interesting reading, particularly for anybody concerned about privacy. Under the draft agreement, the EU would be barred from requiring the personal data of its citizens to be held within European borders, an idea currently under discussion in Germany.

Via: Forbes

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[VIDEO] Woman In New TV Ad Claiming Obamacare Saved Her Life Bought Private Insurance Year Before Obamacare Started…

A new ad featuring a woman who credits Obamacare with alleviating her fear of falling ill while uninsured omits the fact that she already had coverage before enrolling in the government program. “For 20 years, I was afraid — afraid of getting sick and having no health insurance,” Julie Adams of Nashville, Tenn., says in the ad. “But when I got cancer, I finally had a health plan I could afford. . . . I’ll always remember how affordable health care saved my life.”

Ms. Adams’s life might have been saved by the health insurance plan she bought before enrolling for Obamacare, though. ‘The liberal political activist in the ad claiming she was uninsured until Obamacare saved her life actually bought a private plan a year before Obamacare started’ “What a relief!” she writes in a Facebook post announcing a trip to the doctor. “I waited forever because I didn’t have health insurance until this year. Thank you Obama.”  That message was published in March of 2013; the Affordable Care Act didn’t provide benefits until 2014. “The liberal political activist in the ad claiming she was uninsured until Obamacare saved her life actually bought a private plan a year before Obamacare started,” says Phil Kerpen of American Commitment, a conservative nonprofit.  “And the same media ‘fact checkers’ who viciously attacked cancer patients who spoke out against Obamacare 

A spokesman for the group that produced the ad acknowledged that Adams had purchased private coverage. “The plan Julie purchased was too expensive for her to keep long-term (more than double what she pays now), and she really bought it as a patch knowing she would try to apply for affordable coverage through the ACA,” says Kathy Melley of Community Catalyst Action Fund.  “In January of 2014, Julie’s health coverage through the ACA kicked in and about six months later that year she was diagnosed with cancer.” — Joel Gehrke is a political reporter for National Review.

Via: National Review

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Marilyn Mosby Seeks Protective Order To Block Release Of Freddie Gray’s Autopsy

Baltimore state attorney Marilyn Mosby speaks on recent violence in Baltimore, Maryland in this May 1, 2015 file photo. REUTERS/Adrees Latif/Files
Baltimore City state’s attorney Marilyn Mosby hopes to block the release of the autopsy of Freddie Gray and other documents related to the investigation into the 25-year-old’s April 19 death.

The protective order, filed Monday and reported by The Baltimore Sun, is raising accusations from an attorney for one of the six officers charged in the Gray case that Mosby’s request shows that the autopsy is her case.

When Mosby announced charges against the officers on May 1, she said that Gray sustained a broken neck while riding in the back of a police transport van. She also said his death was ruled a homicide and that officers failed to properly restrain him and to provide him with adequate medical attention.

Gray’s autopsy was released only to Mosby’s office, as required by state law. The Baltimore police department, which was conducting a parallel investigation at the same time Mosby’s investigators were conducting one of their own, was not provided the results of the autopsy.

If Mosby’s request for the protective order is granted, only the state’s attorney’s office and defense attorneys would be allowed to view the autopsy results and any other new filings in the case.

Ivan Bates, the attorney for Alicia White, the lone female officer charged in the case, told the Sun that Mosby’s motion indicates “there is something in that autopsy report that they are trying to hide.”

“Mrs. Mosby is the one who did an announcement discussing what she said the evidence was in a nationally televised speech, and now that it is time to turn over the evidence, to ask for a protective order is beyond disingenuous,” Bates told the Sun. “It’s as if she wants to do everything to make sure our clients do not get a fair trial.”

Via: Daily Caller

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CROWLEY: The Gaping Absence of a Commander-in-Chief - Obama's Clearly Neither FDR Nor Churchill by Monica CrowleVia: Washington

“I hope to God I know what I’m doing.”

Seventy-one years ago this week, Gen. Dwight Eisenhower turned to his staff and uttered this half-self-reassurance, half-prayer. On the eve of D-Day, even the wise, steady, old pro had his doubts about the mission, his leadership of it, and its potential for success.

Fortunately, Gen. Eisenhower did know what he was doing and had the guts to pull the trigger despite the inconceivable death and chaos he knew lay ahead. It had to be done if tyranny were to be crushed and freedom restored. On June 5, after getting final weather reports for the Normandy coast, Gen. Eisenhower stopped pacing and said firmly, “OK, let’s go.”

Would we recognize such exemplary leadership today?

Several weeks ago, I made a pilgrimage to Normandy to see the combat zones about which I had long read. We began in St. Mere Eglise, into which paratroopers from the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions drifted in the dark, early hours of June 6. From there, we stood at Pointe du Hoc, the 100-foot cliffs which the 2nd Army Ranger Battalion scaled in the face of unrelenting German fire. Past the cliffs lies Omaha Beach, site of the fiercest combat and greatest carnage of D-Day and the location of the heartbreakingly beautiful American cemetery. And further east, the British and Canadian beaches and German gun emplacements at Longues-su-mer.

Via: Washington Times

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[VIDEO] Perry announces presidential run

The 2016 election will be one in which “voters will look past what you say to what you’ve done,” Rick Perry says in a new video on his website. The former four-term governor of Texas will put that to the test, as he announced on his website overnight that he will run for the Republican presidential nomination — again. Later today, Perry will make a public announcement in Addison, Texas:

Rick Perry, the former Texas governor whose 2012 campaign for the White House turned into a political disaster that humbled and weakened the most powerful Republican in the state, announced Thursday that he will run for president again in 2016.

Mr. Perry is the latest candidate to officially enter a crowded field of Republican presidential contenders, declared and undeclared, several of whom have Texas ties and have overshadowed him in recent months, including Senator Ted Cruz and Jeb Bush, the brother of former President George W. Bush, Mr. Perry’s predecessor in the governor’s mansion.

Mr. Perry made the announcement on his website and planned a speech later in the day at a small municipal airport here in Addison, a northern suburb of downtown Dallas.

In promoting his political plans, Mr. Perry has cited his 14-year tenure as governor of the nation’s second-most-populous state and a vibrant Texas economy he has called “the envy of the nation.” As he has often pointed out, Texas added 1.8 million private-sector jobs on his watch, from January 2001 to October 2014, although his critics — and some economists — say he is taking too much credit for macro-economic forces, including an oil boom, beyond his control during that time.

Well, Perry had to be doing something right. It wasn’t just a coincidence that a third of all new jobs after the recession came in Texas, and the oil boom was not just a Texas phenomenon. The “macro-economic forces” over the years since the Great Recession have actually been a lot less than phenomenal, so the growth in Texas is remarkable on any level, and Perry was the man at the top during the entire time.

The biography video uploaded last night to the channel tells the campaign story Perry wants: a military veteran, a successful governor, and a man who connects with both the grassroots and the establishment to bring unity to the GOP. The flip side of this story is that all this was true in 2012, and the nomination could have been Perry’s for the taking except for the implosion during the primary. The campaign isn’t running away from that debacle, and they’ve wisely chosen Anita Perry as their point person for confronting it head-on:

“Rick is absolutely the guy that you want to have a beer with, but he’s so much more than that. He’s prepared now,” Anita said. “I want people to really give him a second look.”

Rick kicked off his first presidential bid in 2011 with six weeks of preparation, and he vaulted to the top of the polls. Things quickly unraveled.

He hadn’t fully recovered from an elective back surgery, was in pain and didn’t get much sleep. As a result, he couldn’t campaign as aggressively as he wanted to. He made errors like the infamous “oops” moment on the debate stage when he forgot one of the government agencies he wanted to eliminate.

“He will tell you he was arrogant at that time,” Anita said. A former nurse, both she and her husband underestimated how severely his back surgery would impact him. “I had a health care background. I should’ve realized he wasn’t ready and prepared health-wise, but I didn’t,” she said.

Via: Hot Air

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Most older Americans fall short on retirement savings

How bad is America doing when it comes to retirement savings? The Government Accountability Office looked into the question, and its answer is sobering.

A new GAO analysis finds that among households with members aged 55 or older, nearly 29 percent have neither retirement savings nor a traditional pension plan. (Tweet This)

"There hasn't been a significant increase in wages, people have student loans and other debt, and many are continuing to struggle financially," said Charles Jeszeck, the GAO's director of education, workforce and income security, which analyzed the Federal Reserve's 2013 Survey of Consumer Finances to come up with its estimates. "We aren't surprised that people have not saved a lot for retirement."

Even among those who do have retirement savings, their nest eggs are small. The agency found the median amount of those savings is about $104,000 for households with members between 55 and 64 years old and $148,000 for households with members 65 to 74 years old. That's equivalent to an inflation-protected annuity of $310 and $649 per month, respectively, according to the GAO.

"I don't care what anyone says. That's not enough income for retirement," said Anthony Webb, senior research economist at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, who reviewed the GAO report.

Via: CNBC

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An Obamacare Replacement That Works

Tom Price, the chairman of the House Budget Committee, is the latest Republican to unveil a conservative health-care plan to replace Obamacare. It's a good plan, although it could be made better -- and it helps to clarify some of the trade-offs involved in health policy.

Price's plan would give people tax credits to buy health insurance. The credits would be based on age but not on income. Everyone between 35 and 50 would get $2,100 a year, for example. Both the Affordable Care Act and some other conservative health-care bills, such as the one proposed by Senator Orrin Hatch and colleagues, instead phase out tax credits with income. The credits could be used to buy insurance in a much less regulated market than Obamacare creates: No longer would insurance policies have to cover a federally approved list of essential health benefits, for example.

The plan has already elicited some reasonable criticism over the choices Price made. If you offer the same tax credit regardless of income, you send money to people who don't need it. On the other hand, you relieve the administrative difficulty and unpredictability of an income-based credit. A lot of people don't know how much help they can count on from Obamacare; they would have more certainty with Price's plan.

Price also avoids a potentially serious problem with Obamacare. A credit that phases out with income raises effective marginal tax rates: People don't get the full benefits when they start working longer hours or get raises. That's one reason the Congressional Budget Office found that Obamacare would lead people to work fewer hours.

Other criticisms of Price's bill would apply to almost all conservative alternatives to Obamacare. Those alternatives generally loosen the Affordable Care Act's prohibition on discriminating against customers with pre-existing health conditions. This protection is popular, but it necessitated the law's least popular provision: the fine on people who don't buy insurance. Insurers demanded the fine because otherwise people might wait until they got sick to buy a policy, at which point they couldn't be turned down or charged a higher rate.

Price would instead forbid insurers from discriminating against people based on health status if they've maintained continuous coverage. That way there's no incentive for them to wait until they're sick to buy a policy, and no need for a fine for not buying one. Those with pre-existing conditions would have stronger legal protection than they had before the Affordable Care Act. And people who got insurance through Obamacare could continue to buy policies in the future on the same terms as everyone else.

Via: Bloomberg View

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Feds pour $32 million more into beleaguered solar industry

May 13, 2015: Some of the more than 37,000 solar panels gather sunlight at the Space Coast Next Generation Solar Center, in Merritt Island, Fla. Industry experts rank Florida third in the nation in rooftop solar energy potential but 13th in the amount of solar energy generated. (AP)

The Department of Energy has doled out another $32 million to support the solar industry, a sector fraught with technology challenges and scandal – and nevertheless propped up with billions of taxpayer dollars during the Obama Administration.

This latest funding is dedicated to training a workforce of solar technicians, developing new technology and implementing a database to share performance data, the DOE announced in a press release last week.  The training goal is 75,000 workers by 2020 and an undisclosed amount of “other professionals” in other fields such as real estate, finance, insurance and fire and safety.

What the release didn’t say was that the Obama Administration has spent $150 billion on green initiatives between 2009 and 2014, yet the industry cannot survive without government giveaways, a Brookings Institution study found.“Taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to spend even more money on job-training programs that are proven failures,” said Heritage Foundation energy expert David W. Kreutzer. “Industry will provide job-training where there are real jobs to be filled. The energy revolution in places like North Dakota and Texas has created hundreds of thousands of jobs—many of which required considerable technical skill—without a federally funded job-training program.”

Green giveaways were ramped up in 2009 with the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRRA), which dedicated $51 billion to renewable energy. A portion of ARRA was used for solar company loan guarantees, like the bankrupt Solyndra ($535 million) and Abound Solar ($400 million).

Then there was Ivanpah, a solar electricity plant that received more than $2 billion. When that project was completed, it produced less than 40 percent of projected output at a cost three times higher than traditional electricity, according to a report by the Taxpayer Protection Alliance.

Via: Fox News

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Tingles’ Wife To Run For Congress In Maryland…

Getty Images

Kathleen Matthews, the wife of MSNBC personality Chris Matthews, has entered the Democratic primary to replace Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who is running for Senate.

Matthews on Wednesday launched her campaign for Maryland’s 8th District House seat from downtown Silver Spring, vowing to fight for a litany of liberal causes, including equal pay for women, abortion rights, and raising the minimum wage, according to The Washington Post.

Matthews is a former local news anchor. She most recently served as an executive for Marriott Hotels but stepped down from that position last month as she geared up for the House race.

Matthews’s name recognition, and her family’s deep political ties, could help her stand apart from the huge field of Democrats seeking to replace Van Hollen.

Still, she’s never run for elected office before and faces a deep field of experienced state-level officials in the primary.

So far, Maryland Dels. Kumar Barve and Ana Sol Gutierrez are in the race, along with Will Jawando, a former aide to President Obama, and state Sen. Jamie Raskin.

A handful of other Maryland delegates and county officials are also believed to be eyeing the race in a safe Democratic district.

Van Hollen cannot run for reelection to the House because he is seeking the Senate seat left open by the retirement of Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.). Maryland law prevents candidates from running for both.

Via: Weasel Zippers

Via: The Hill

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The Myth that Republicans are Growing More Extreme

There is an insidious meme afoot that in the Obama era Democrats have been heroically restraining themselves by clinging to moderate policies while ideologically extreme Republicans have gone hog-wild in the pursuit of conservative purity.

Today’s Democratic Party makes common cause with the criminals who burn down poor people’s neighborhoods in American cities. And yet the Right is somehow alleged to be more susceptible to “extremism.”

Sharpening her class-warfare guillotine, Hillary Clinton calls for the “toppling” of the one percent. She copycats her potential rival, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), claiming that “the deck is stacked” in favor of the wealthy and powerful.

“My job is to reshuffle the cards,” Clinton says.

Yet Republicans, who haven’t singled out identifiable social groups for destruction, somehow get tagged as the radicals.

This alleged so-called asymmetric polarization by the GOP is just the latest iteration of the hoary media myth that Republicans are dangerous extremists and Democrats are reasonable moderates. It is popping up now because the two parties’ primary contests are heating up. The benighted masses need to be reminded by their betters what to think and how to vote.

In a May 31 Financial Times column titled “American socialism’s day in the sun,” garden-variety left-winger Edward Luce hails the recent entry of self-described socialist Bernie Sanders into the Democratic presidential race because, he claims, it is “dragging” frontrunner Hillary Clinton “leftward.”

“At 15 per cent in the Democratic polls, Bernie Sanders, the senator from Vermont, is riding higher than any US socialist since Eugene Debs ran for the White House a century ago,” writes Luce, who is the son of a British peer and was speechwriter to Bill Clinton’s Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers from 1999 to 2001.

“The fact that Mr. Sanders has very little chance of unseating Hillary Clinton is beside the point. His popularity is dragging her leftward. If he flames out, other left-wingers, such as Martin O’Malley, the former governor of Maryland who entered the race at the weekend, are ready to pick up the baton. Elizabeth Warren, the populist Massachusetts senator, will continue to prod Mrs. Clinton from outside the field. The more Mrs. Clinton adopts their language, the harder it will be for her to reclaim the centre ground next year. Yet she is only following the crowd. A surprisingly large chunk of Democrats are happy to break the US taboo against socialism.”

Via: Canada Free Press

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The War against Black Children

There is a statistic out there that almost half the adults in Detroit are functionally illiterate.  They can't fill out job applications.  They can't read the instructions on a pill bottle.

So when we talk about a war against black children, let's not think first about guns.  Think about the weapon that is doing the most damage.  That would be our public schools.

You cannot have functionality illiterate children at the high school level unless the school system systematically evades teaching those children to read at the elementary school level.  That's exactly what is happening in cities across America.  This is hardly a natural phenomenon.  It's caused by the perennial incompetence (some would say malevolence) of our Education Establishment.

A famous book precisely explained in 1955 "Why Johnny Can't Read."  You need phonics to teach reading.  Without phonics, you will get illiterate kids.  But our Education Establishment pretends not to hear the news.  Nobody can be that clueless.  They are best understood as a cult that pretends to be oblivious if that will help their agenda.

This is an easy matter for everyone to check.  Just ask any black parents you know who have (or had) children in elementary school.  Go ahead, ask them.  That's the only way we are going to confront and cure this thing.  Here's the key question: Did your children bring home lists of sight-words to be memorized?  If that was the method of instruction, then those kids were doomed from the start never to become good readers.  Sight-word lists are the smoking gun, the DNA evidence, the bloody fingerprints proving that the people in charge are not serious about literacy.

Via: American Thinker

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Krauthammer On Obama: 'Who Cares What He Feels?'

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our diplomacy as it worked respect to Iran, where for the first time in a decade we've halted the progress of its nuclear program and reduced its stockpile of nuclear material.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do you square that with the IAEA announcing that they a 20 percent increase in their nuclear field?

EARNEST: The IAEA report that was published at the end of last week is merely a snapshot in time. And the joint plan of action requires Iran by the end of that joint plan of action period, in this case by June 30th, to be at the appropriate cap on their stockpile.

(WATCH VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: Well, the snapshot in time is the time over the last 18 months as this nuclear deal has been being negotiated with Iran, the nuclear fuel increasing by 20 percent according to the IAEA. This as a former key aide to the commander in chief telling the Israeli press that the president was pretty frustrated by the perception that he wasn't a strong supporter of Israel. David Axelrod telling Israeli TV Channel Two the president said to him, he also recalled Obama venting in a moment of contemplation, telling, "You know, I think I am the closest thing to a Jew that has ever sat in this office. For people to say that I am anti-Israel or even worse, anti- Semitic, it hurts."

So with all this, let's bring in our panel, Steve Hayes, senior writer for "The Weekly Standard," Mara Liasson, National Political Correspondent of National Public Radio, and syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer. Mara?

MARA LIASSON, NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO: Well, in terms of Iran increasing its nuclear stockpile, I mean, Josh Earnest just stated a fact, which is according to the agreement it's supposed to get rid of it all by June 30th. What he didn't say is how they are going to, and why if they are trying to negotiate an end to the nuclear weapons program they were increasing their nuclear weapons program as the negotiations were going on.

So it's not a good sign. You know, if the administration does get something that it says is good, it's going to have a lot of explaining to do.

Via: Fox News

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Obama IRS Political Appointees Protected Tea Party Probe Requests

Internal Revenue Service Director of Exempt Organizations Lois Lerner listens during testimony to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee May 22, 2013 in Washington, DC. The committee is investigating allegations that the IRS targeted conservative non-profit organizations with the words "tea party" and "constitution" in their names for additional scrutiny. Lerner, who headed the division that oversees exempt organizations, plans to assert her constitutional right not to answer questions. AFP PHOTO / Karen BLEIER (Photo credit should read KAREN BLEIER/AFP/Getty Images)

A special internal committee was set up by senior IRS officials after information requests from Congress and “other investigative bodies” asking the IRS to investigate conservative and Tea Party non-profit applicants were sent to the federal tax agency’s two Obama White House political appointees.

Mary Howard, the IRS’s director of privacy, governmental liaison and disclosure division, told the House Committee on Oversight and Government reform Wednesday she never saw any of the information requests because the requests were forwarded to the special committee. Howard is also the tax agency’s chief Freedom of Information Act officer.

“I think Lois Lerner was just the tip of the iceberg,” Howard said.

“You’re telling me your group doesn’t get that?” Republican Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz asked. “Do you realize that there are only two political appointees in the IRS, the commissioner and the chief counsel?”

Chaffetz pressed Howard on White House involvement in screening documents related to the scandal. He held up an April 2009 memo from President Barack Obama that required agencies to send any requested documents to the White House that held “White House equities.”

Since those information requests never went to her department, Howard couldn’t tell the Oversight Committee who had to sign off on the release of any documents related to Lerner or the nonprofit targeting.

Chaffetz also said the committee had to subpoena the IRS for Howard’s presence at the hearing.

“We will drag the IRS up here every single week if we have to,” Chaffetz said. “You work for the American people.”

“If the IRS went after an individual … There’s no way you’d put up with this,” he continued.

Via: Daily Caller

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Colorado D.A. Confirms Shooting Of Three Thugs Was “Common Sense Self-Defense”

A trio of young thugs attempted to rob three men moving furniture into a condo in Aurora, Colorado Friday night. Two of the men accosted handed over their wallets. The third pulled his legally-concealed weapon and opened fire, hitting all three suspects:

One robbery suspect died on the way to the hospital. A second robbery suspect suffered serious injuries. A third fled, but walked into to Aurora South Medical Center where he was arrested.

The shooter had a concealed to carry weapons permit and put the gun down when he saw officers arriving.

Brauchler says Colorado’s self-defense law allows the use of deadly force.

“If you have a weapon on you and you are placed in imminent fear of serious bodily injury or death, you are entitled to defend yourself,” Brauchler said.

Brauchler noted it’s not a case of Make My Day because the shooting didn’t happen inside a residence.

“This is straight up regular common sense and statutorily codified self-defense,” he said.

All three suspects were shot as they stood in a 10′ x 6′ space between two doors.

Though the robbers have been described as “young people,” which is typically reserved for teens, the identities of the young men and their exact ages have not been discovered Aurora Police Chief Nick Metz said that they are looking for help in ascertaining who the three suspects are. The dead criminal obviously cannot speak, and the two surviving criminals either can’t speak, or think that by remaining silent they are somehow helping themselves.

Colorado Revised Statute § 18-3-102 is the state’s implementation of the felony murder rule, meaning that the two injured criminals can face first degree murder charges for the death of their compatriot.

Via: Bearing Arms

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Christian Bakers Respond to Government Agency’s Ties to LGBT Group

The Oregon couple who refused to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding says the case against them should be “pulled out” of the state’s administrative court system due to concerns that the government agency responsible for overseeing the trial is biased.

The Daily Signal obtained communications between Basic Rights Oregon, a prominent gay rights group, and the Bureau of Labor and Industries, which is the state agency pursuing the case against Aaron and Melissa Klein.

Based on that information, the couple’s lawyers suggested potential bias against the Kleins and requested the judge re-open the case for further investigation.

>>> Read More: Emails Raise Questions of Bias in Case Against Bakers Who Denied Service for Same-Sex Wedding

Now the Kleins, who are facing a $135,000 fine, believe their case should be withdrawn from the Bureau of Labor and Industries administrative court system completely.

“I think the case should be pulled out of [the Bureau of Labor and Industries] court and put into a civil court because I cannot get due process here,” Aaron Klein, co-owner of Sweet Cakes by Melissa in Gresham, Ore., told The Daily Signal in an exclusive phone interview.

“We were shut down at every turn, so to say that Basic Rights Oregon should have access to [Bureau of Labor and Industries Commissioner Brad Avakian], that is absolutely ludicrous,” he said.

The Kleins were forced to close their bakery after facing boycotts and public backlash.

Via: Daily Signal

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