OBAMA: CLIMATE CHANGE LIKELY MAKING CALIFORNIA DROUGHT WORSE

During an interview with a local California news network, President Obama said climate change was probably making the state’s devastating drought worse.

“Neither a governor nor even a president can control weather,” he explained, but pointed out that his administration was putting more emphasis on “man made contributors” to climate change.

“We’re going to have to work hard to make sure that we’re serious about the climate change issue,” he said, acknowledging that although there was no evidence showing that the drought was “caused” by climate change, it certainly didn’t make it any better.

“What we do know is, if the temperature goes up a percent or two percent or three percent, more water evaporates, it changes weather patterns, and it’s not good for California, it’s not good for the West,” he said.

Obama praised farmers for voluntarily using less water and suggested that more of them shift to drip irrigation, to save more water, calling it an example of “where we need to go.”

Via: Breitbart

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POLITICS Black Pastor: ‘Democrats Have Failed Us For 50 Years’

Corey Brooks, a prominent Chicago pastor, told The Daily Beast that the African American community in Chicago had, for 50 years, been loyal to the Democratic party. Now, they’re realizing that the Democratic party has not been loyal to them and, says Brooks, it’s time for a change.

New Beginnings Church of Chicago, the home of Pastor Brooks, is where the pastor sat yesterday morning, laying out his case for Republican presidential candidates to travel to and campaign in the Chicago neighborhood that Brooks and the New Beginnings Church call home. Rand Paul is the first and only candidate to visit the church and his speech to the pastor’s congregation is the first step in what Brooks hope will be an increase in Republican stops in Woodlawn.

“We have a large, disproportionate number of people who are impoverished. We have a disproportionate number of people who are incarcerated, we have a disproportionate number of people who are unemployed, the educational system has totally failed, and all of this primarily has been under Democratic regimes in our neighborhoods,” Brooks said.

In 2014, when now-Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner was running for his current position, Brooks took a risky step and supported the Republican in his campaign.

“They have a failing plan,” Brooks said of Democrats that his congregation and community has voted for since the Civil Rights movement. “A business owner wouldn’t allow the person who runs it to remain in charge for 50 years, constantly running it into the ground.”

Brooks believes that the Democrats have taken the black vote for granted, and he wants it to stop. Brooks is a Republican, and he’s trying to turn the massive power of the black vote in Chicago toward a party that will actually help them. In his interview with The Daily Beast, the pastor specified trade unions as a major obstacle for African Americans in the Chicago suburbs.

Brooks also believes that the breakdown of the family structure is responsible for the violence in Woodlawn, and wants to discourage the efforts of the Democratic party to facilitate this breakdown by electing Republican leadership.

“There’s a class of African-Americans who have gone on to be very successful, and we’re grateful and thankful for that,” Brooks said. “But with their success, some of them didn’t bring it back to the community.”

Brooks hopes the Republicans can bring his community out of poverty and violence and into prosperity.

Via: Daily Caller

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Mooch To Take Mom And Daughters On Another Taxpayer-Funded Vacation, Heading To London, Milan, Venice…

Time is running out before she has to start paying for these trips on her own.

Via: Weasel Zippers

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NAACP Refuses to Help Young Black Man, Aspiring Cop Over Bogus Gun Charge

Steffon Josie-Davis is a responsible gun owner who wanted to be a police officer. He used to work as an armored guard for armed service company Loomis. When his little sister was playing in the garage where his gun was accessible, Josey-Davis put it inside the glove box of a locked vehicle. Josey-Davis then drove that car before accidentally failing to take the firearm out of the vehicle. His handgun is legally registered in the state of New Jersey.

Hello, My name is Steffon Josey-Davis I'm a 24 year old from New Jersey who became a convicted felon for a legally owned firearm. As an armored Guard for Loomis, As a Armed service company who transported U.S & foreign currency to banks and service ATM's. I was also on the road to a successful career with my township police department.

One Morning on September 20th 2013. I was preparing myself for work, grabbing my firearm out of my safe, bulletproof vest, Making my way to the garage. While in the process of disarming my firearm. My little sister came into the garage. To avoid any accidents, I put the firearm in the glove compartment moments after putting my bulletproof vest on the passenger seat. After securing my firearm, I took my sister upstairs to put her back in bed. Losing track of time, I noticed I was running late, grabbed my keys and continued to leave my house that morning for work. Not realizing my firearm was still in the glove compartment.

When I left out of the house that morning I was later pulled over in my vehicle. During my traffic stop, I notified the officers who I was, Who I worked for and I had my Legally owned firearm in my glove compartment.

The officers took my fire arm and let me go, When I went to claim my fire arm from the police department they arrested me and charged me with unlawful possession of a firearm I legally owned.

I was facing 10 years in prison for a simple technicality. I am now a convicted felon.  

Via: Townhall

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Immigration Advocates Frightened By 99-Pound Blonde by Ann Coulter

Third World immigration advocates Frank Sharry, Ali Noorani and Marc Andreessen aren’t shy about rushing to the press with pabulum quotes about how wonderful immigration is, but they don’t want to debate me, even to lie about all those benefits.

They don’t want you to think about immigration at all.

Although you will miss the lush analytical context of the full case made in my smash new book, Adios, America: The Left’s Plan to Turn Our Country Into a Third World Hellhole, here are some more startling facts from my book that the anti-American crowd doesn’t want you to know:

– If an illegal alien drops a baby on American soil, the entire family can access welfare programs that were supposed to be for U.S. citizens — in addition to the government assistance illegal aliens can collect right away, such as food stamps and housing subsidies, free medical care and free schooling.

– The Constitution did not make U.S. citizenship a game of “Red Rover” with the Border Patrol. Haha! Too late — I had the baby! The 14th Amendment confirmed the citizenship rights oaf former American slaves — not 21st-century freeloaders from China.

– Our ludicrous “anchor baby” policy was invented out of whole cloth by Justice William Brennan and slipped into a footnote in a Supreme Court opinion in 1982.

– On average, college graduates in the United States pay about $30,000 more in taxes each year than they get back in government services, while those without a high school degree get back about $35,000 more in government services than they pay in taxes.

– Only about 7 percent of Americans do not have a high school diploma, but more than a third of legal immigrants under the post-Kennedy immigration act and about 75 percent of illegal aliens do not have a high school diploma.

– Mexican immigrants send $20 billion back to Mexico every year — more than the U.S. sends to that country in direct foreign aid.

– The New York Times was saved from bankruptcy by one of the richest men in the world, Mexican Carlos Slim, whose fortune comes from illegal aliens’ sending money — most of it from the U.S. taxpayer — back to Mexico.

– Anything the Times says on immigration ought to be treated like a press release from a tobacco company about the low risk of disease from smoking.

– Contrary to repeated assertions that fences don’t work (by the Times, as well as a slew of Republicans, such as former Texas governor Rick Perry), after Israel completed a fence along its border in 2013, the number of illegal aliens entering the country dropped to zero.

– The country that put men on the moon can’t seem to build a wall like the one the Chinese built 700 years before Christ.

Via: Human Events

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$132 Billion in New Taxes/Fees Proposed by CA Legislators … So Far

As the Legislature nears the June 15 deadline for sending a budget bill to the governor, the California Taxpayers Association released “Tax Watch,” a report detailing $132 billion in new taxes and fees that have been introduced by lawmakers so far during this legislative session.

The report includes every bill introduced so far this session that would impose or authorize higher taxes, fees or tax-like “fees” estimated by state officials to generate $5 million or more per year in net revenue.

State revenue increased more than $10 billion this year under our existing tax structure, but that hasn’t stopped some lawmakers from asking for even more. With tax revenue surpassing expectations, and the state’s rainy day fund now in place to help weather future storms, this is not the time to be proposing $132 billion in new tax and fee increases. 

The most expensive proposal for taxpayers is Senate Bill 8 (Hertzberg), which would extend the sales and use tax to cover services (including veterinary services, auto repairs, gardening and music lessons).

The State Board of Equalization, which administers the sales and use tax, estimates that this change alone would cost taxpayers $122.6 billion every year, on top of all existing taxes.

To prepare “Tax Watch,” CalTax reviewed every bill introduced or amended from December 1, 2014, to May 29, 2015. In cases where two or more bills proposed similar increases (for example, four bills proposed taxes on marijuana), the cost was counted only once for purposes of calculating the total amount of taxes and fees proposed during this session.

Teresa Casazza is president of the California Taxpayers’ Association

Via: California Political Review

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Gawker’s Editorial Staff Votes Overwhelmingly to Unionize

The hard-snarking editors at Gawker Media voted 80-27 to unionize yesterday. With the vote, the editorial staff of Gawker, Deadspin, Jezebel and several other sites join the Writers Guild of America, making them the first major online journalism venture to vote themselves the ability to collectively bargain.

“The next steps: determining what we want to bargain for; forming a bargaining committee; and negotiating a contract,” the staff wrote in a post announcing the tally Thursday morning.

Depending on your POV, this is a major territorial advance for the waning American union, which represents a decreasing slice of the American workforce in increasingly outsourced industries. Former New York Times labor reporter Steven Greenhouse had a great rundown of the frontier yesterday:

The Gawker effort is unusual in numerous ways, starting with the fact that its supporters say Gawker is currently a good place to work. Many say they want a union as a sort of insurance policy in case the next generation of managers is not so nice. “We’re in a very good place right now,” wrote Anne Merlan, a Jezebel writer, in an online debate about unionizing. “But we also exist in a bubble. When it bursts, I’d like us to have fair labor practices in place to protect everyone and provide for them in the event of ‘downsizing.'”

In another twist, the company has not opposed the unionization drive; indeed, Gawker’s founder, Nick Denton, said he was “intensely relaxed” about it. The company and the Writers Guild East even issued a joint statement: “We believe the cumbersome and often fractious process of unionization is premised on an assumption of complete antagonism between management and labor. Nothing of the kind exists at Gawker Media.”

Whether that’s a fluke or a harbinger of a new style of worker organizing remains to be seen. Gawker has been merciless in exposing the labor practices of rival publications such as Vice and Huffington Post, while the online writing industry in general remains mired in unpaid internships, low salaries, and borderline non-existent grievance processes for employees.

“Every workplace could use a union,” longtime Gawkerist Hamilton Nolan wrote in April. “A union is the only real mechanism that exists to represent the interests of employees in a company. A union is also the only real mechanism that enables employees to join together to bargain collectively, rather than as a bunch of separate, powerless entities. This is useful in good times (which our company enjoys now), and even more in bad times (which will inevitably come).”

UPDATE 9:27 a.m.: Writer’s Guild of America East responds:

“As Gawker’s writers have demonstrated, organizing in digital media is a real option, not an abstraction. People who do this work really can come together for their own common good,” said Lowell Peterson, Executive Director of the Writers Guild of America, East. “The WGAE, Gawker’s writers, and the company’s management share a commitment to journalistic integrity and creative freedom. We are eager for Gawker’s editorial staff to join our creative community, and we are eager to negotiate a fair contract.”

Via: Mediaite.com

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IRS: AMNESTIED ILLEGALS DON’T NEED TO HAVE FILED RETURNS TO ACCESS TAX CREDITS FOR ILLEGAL WORK

John Moore/Getty Images

Illegal immigrants granted executive amnesty can claim back tax credits for work they performed illegally, even if they never filed a tax return during those years, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen has confirmed to Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA).

In a written response to questions Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, asked Koskinen following a February hearing on the IRS budget, the IRS commissioner clarified his earlier assertions that illegal immigrants granted executive amnesty — and Social Security numbers — can access Earned Income Tax Credits (EITC) for years they were working in the country illegally.

Back in February, Koskinen said that in order to claim the tax credits the amnestied illegal immigrant would have had to have filed returns in the past.

In his written statement to Grassley, released Wednesday, Koskinen went another step, saying an illegal immigrant granted amnesty could claim back tax credits regardless if they had filed returns in the past.

“To clarify my earlier comments on EITC, not only can an individual amend a prior year return to claim EITC, but an individual who did not file a prior year return may file a return and claim EITC (subject to refund limitations under section 6511 of the Internal Revenue Code). I would note that filing new returns for prior years would likely be difficult, since filers would have to reconstruct earnings and other records for years when they were not able to work on the books,” Koskinen said in his written response.

According to the IRS, illegal immigrants granted amnesty, and with it Social Security numbers, can claim up to three years prior in back tax credits.

“Section 32 of the Internal Revenue Code requires an SSN on the return, but a taxpayer claiming the EITC is not required to have an SSN before the close of the year for which the EITC is claimed. At your request, the IRS has reviewed the relevant statutes and legislative history, and we believe that the 2000 Chief Counsel Advice (CCA) on this issue is correct,” Koskinen added.

With this benefit Illegal immigrants granted amnesty could receive tens of thousands of dollars in back tax refunds.

Via: Breitbart

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The climate warming pause goes AWOL (or not)

Science mag is publishing a blockbuster paper today, on June 4.  Oh boy!  Get ready to watch yet another big fight about climate change – this time mainly among different groups of climate alarmists.  Is there a “pause”?  Did global climate really stop warming during the last dozen years, 18 years, or even 40 years – in spite of rising levels of the greenhouse (GH) gas carbon dioxide?

The renowned National Climate Data Center (NCDC), a division of NOAA located in Asheville, NC, claims that the widely reported (and accepted) temperature hiatus (i.e., near-zero trend) is an illusion – just an artifact of data analysis – and that the global climate never really stopped warming.If true, what a blessing that would be for the UN-IPCC – and for climate alarmists generally, who have been under siege to explain the cause of the pause.

This paper is turning out to be a “big deal.”The publisher of Science has even issued a special press release, promoting the NCDC claim of continued slow but steady warming.

Of course, NCDC-NOAA and Science may end up with egg on their collective faces.It does look a little suspicious that NCDC arrived at this earth-shaking “discovery” after all these years, after “massaging” its own weather-station data, just before the big policy conference in December in Paris that is supposed to slow the rise of CO2 from the burning of energy fuels, coal, oil, and gas.

Now watch the sparks fly -- as there are two major constituencies that have a vested interest in the pause:

There are at least two rival data centers that may dispute the NCDC analysis:

the Hadley Centre in England and the NASA-Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS).In fact, Hadley’s partner, the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, was the first to announce, on the BBC, the existence of a pause in global warming.

Via: American Thinker

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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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