Saturday, April 12, 2014

Magnitude 8.3 7.6 quake hits near Solomon Islands, generates tsunami warning


A tsunami warning was issued for the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu, said the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. An earlier tsunami watch for Fiji, Australia, Indonesia and nearby areas was cancelled after the earthquake was revised down from its original magnitude of 8.3. -Reuters

PLUS:

A magnitude 6.1 earthquake occurred yesterday at 5:27 pm local time in central America. The earthquake was centered onshore 27 miles NNW of Managua, Nicaragua's capital. The earthquake caused at least one death, 33 injuries and damaged at least 800 structures. A number of aftershocks followed the 6.1 including a 5.1 and several 4s. - Redwood Coast Tsunami Work Group

Added info: 9/30/14
Earthquakes Data Magnitude 5.0 and Over 2005 - 2014
Seismic Monitor
Quakes - Live Earthquakes Map

FEDS RETREAT FROM RANCH STANDOFF: Nevada Cattle Rancher Wins 'Range War' With Feds

The standoff in Nevada is coming to a close... for now. The announcement that a certain powerful Senator was allegedly involved in forcing the siege seems to have sped things up.

Deal: Cliven Bundy shakes hands with Sheiff Doug Gillespie on Saturday morning as
the rancher comes to a deal to stop federal agents rounding up his cattle

Victory for Nevada´s last rancher! Federal government backs down and says it will NOT try to seize cattle from cowboy at the centre of armed showdown - Daily Mail UK
The last rancher in southern Nevada has won a battle over the federal government's round up of his cattle on public land after a week-long standoff with agents.

The Bureau of Land Management announced today that it would stop trying to seize the cattle of Cliven Bundy after armed militia gathered in Nevada.

Shortly after the deal was agreed, about 100 armed protesters, some on horse back, headed to a corral to demand the BLM also hands back cattle it had already taken.

Armed members of the BLM and the Bundy family were also reported to be involved in tense talks about the cattle.
HARRY REID SURRENDERS: Military wing of Bureau of Land Management Says It Will Leave Bundy Alone - Doug Ross
Caleb Howe reports that the Harry Reid-controlled Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has raised the white flag and will cease its paramilitary operation against the Bundy family.
BREAKING: Feds to Stand Down from Bundy Ranch in Nevada (LIVE FEED at the link) - Top Right News via Kitchen Cabinet
"The BLM made the announcement Saturday morning, a week after rangers started gathering the animals from land near Gold Butte.

The agency says it is “concerned about the safety of its employees and the public”. Earlier this week, BLM officers with attack dogs and supporters of the Bundy family were involved in a nasty confrontation. Cliven Bundy’s son, Ammon Bundy, was tased twice by federal agents. A pregnant woman was also thrown to the ground by an officer.

This stand down order is happening with curious rapidity after a website exposed the possible inside dealing between Nevada Senator and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, his son Rory, and a Chinese company in order to make a $5 billion deal for a massive solar farm on a portion of the Bundy Ranch.
EXCLUSIVE: Sheriff Gillespie Announces to Bundy Ranch Crowds: ‘BLM Activites Will Cease’ - 21st Century Wire
"At 9:45am PST, Clark County Sheriff Douglas Gillespie, sharing the stage with rancher Cliven Bundy, addressed the crowd of protesters and announced that the official process has begun whereby the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) operations in and around the Bundy Ranch ‘will cease’, and the the Gold Butte area will be reopened to the public."
Breaking News: Armed Standoff at the Bundy Ranch Ends with the Feds Leaving - IJ Review (Video FOX News Report at the link)
BREAKING: Armed Standoff Between BLM and Bundy Ranch Over As Feds RETREAT! – Update: Crowd Cheers! - The Right Scoop
The BLM is asking for people to allow them to withdraw safely and without incident. Stay with The Right Scoop for further updates as the day progresses.
Feds End Standoff on Bundy Ranch - Washington Free Beacon
Interesting – Within Hours Of Reid/China Report, FEDS Back Away From Nevada Cattle Ranch - Ulsterman
This represents a huge victory in the fight against big government and the federal agenda to seize public land in the name of pursuing notoriously corrupt and wasteful “green energy” projects.

It serves to remind us of the power of media spotlight and grass roots activism in affecting real change....

The Info Wars report is right in that this was not only a victory for the Bundy family, but the alternative media that pushed the story out there to millions, and forced the Mainstream Media to give it recognition. This in turn placed increasing pressure upon Nevada officials, and then federal authorities, including a likely “uh-oh” moment within the Obama White House itself.

ABC US News | ABC Business News

Nevada Cattle Rancher Wins 'Range War' With Feds - ABC News/Good Morning America

Show down: Ranchers on horseback and protesters gather at the BLM
camp to try to claim back cattle the agency has already rounded up

Victory for Nevada´s last rancher! Federal government backs down and says it will NOT try to seize cattle from cowboy at the centre of armed showdown - Daily Mail UK
Former GOP Rep. Joe Walsh arrives in Nevada with questions as #BundyRanch standoff ends - Twitchy







WELL, WELL, WELL: Dingy Harry Reid Behind Feds' Land Grab Attacks on Rancher in Sleazy Payback Deal

UPDATING...


WELL, WELL, WELL: Dingy Harry Reid Behind Feds' Land Grab Attacks on Rancher in Sleazy Payback Deal - Doug Ross
This week, the Bureau of Land Management has been attempting to confiscate the cattle of Cliven Bundy, the last rancher in Nevada's Clark County. On Wednesday, BLM agents confronted the Bundy family and supporters, using attack dogs, tasers and stun guns. Bundy's son was tased and his daughter thrown to the ground. Three others were injured. Bundy supporters eventually drove the BLM off, but not before they had taken some cattle.

The BLM claims the cattle are "tresspassing" on land designated for the endangered desert tortoise. This designation is a red flag that something else is going on. Desert tortoises have co-existed with cattle for over 100 years and the cattle offer no threat.
Sure enough, as Dana Loesch reports today in a great piece of investigative journalism, Senator Harry Reid, known as "Cleanface" by the Nevada mob, and named by Judicial Watch as one of Washington's "Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians," has been using the BLM to seize rangeland on behalf of campaign contributors. One of Reid's former senior advisors, Neil Kornze, was recently appointed to lead the BLM, but he has worked there since 2011, and been de facto leader for at least a year. According to Loesch, Reid even ordered BLM to alter boundaries of tortoise habitat to allow top contributor, Harvey Whittemore, to develop the land. Yet another compassionate Democrat concerned for the environment. Good old Cleanface.

All other ranchers have been driven out of the county, but Bundy refuses to bend. The BLM claims Bundy owes them grazing fees dating back to 1993, however, he says his grazing rights predate the BLM, his family has used the land since the 1800s and those rights should have been grandfathered in. Contrary to BLM's accusations, Bundy has been paying grazing fees, but to the governmental entity he believes has true title to the land: Clark County, Nevada....
HARRY REID'S SON REPRESENTING CHINESE SOLAR PANEL PLANT IN $5 BILLION NEVADA DEAL - Breitbart h/t: Refounders
The son of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Rory Reid, is the primary representative for ENN Energy Group, a Chinese energy company seeking to build a $5 billion solar panel plant on a 9,000-acre Clark County desert plot in Laughlin, Nevada.

ENN scored big when Clark County commissioners unanimously voted to sell the Chinese company the public land for just $4.5 million, despite the fact that it was appraised at $38.6 million.

Sen. Reid has been one of ENN’s biggest supporters, having recruited the company during a 2011 trip to China. According to Reuters, last month Sen. Reid tried to “pressure Nevada's largest power company, NV Energy, to sign up as ENN's first customer.”

Both Rory Reid and Harry Reid deny having ever discussed the $5 billion Chinese solar panel plant deal:
"I have never discussed the project with my father or his staff," said Rory Reid. Kristen Orthman, a spokeswoman for the senator, said he had not discussed the project with his son.
This isn’t the first time the Reids have come under fire for alleged cronyism. In 2003, allegations emerged that Nevada industries frequently lobbied Sen. Reid through his well-connected relatives.
U.S. Senator Reid, son combine for China firm's desert plant - Reuters
...Reid has been one of the project's most prominent advocates, helping recruit the company during a 2011 trip to China and applying his political muscle on behalf of the project in Nevada. His son, a lawyer with a prominent Las Vegas firm that is representing ENN, helped it locate a 9,000-acre (3,600-hectare) desert site that it is buying well below appraised value from Clark County, where Rory Reid formerly chaired the county commission....
BLM Won’t Say if They’ve Euthanized Rancher's Cows in Ranch Standoff - Elizabeth Harrington/Washington Free Beacon
...Amy Lueders, the Nevada state director for the BLM, said in a conference call Thursday evening that the agency does have a “protocol,” but would not release any numbers for animals they have found dead or that they have euthanized.

A reporter asked about heavy construction equipment that was seen coming in and out of the blockade, and whether cattle have been found dead, injured, or euthanized during the operation.

“In terms of the number that we’ve found, animals who are, I think, deceased on the range, or if we’ve had to euthanize an animal, we don’t have an answer to that question at this time,” Lueders said. “We will euthanize an animal during the impoundment if they exhibit dangerous characteristics, threaten the health and safety of the employees, display a hopeless prognosis for life.”

“So, we do have a protocol in terms of when we would euthanize animals,” she said. “But we don’t have any answers at this time in terms of the numbers.”

Lueders said she understood that the heavy equipment was being used to “restore land that has been affected by the trespass cattle.”...
DRUDGE:
HEAVILY-ARMED FEDS SURROUND NEVADA RANCH...
County Commissioner Says Bundy Supporters 'Better Have Funeral Plans'...
Lawmaker: Cattle Roundup 'Reminded Me Of Tiananmen Square'...
Family: 'Wake up America...they are taking everything from us'...
Militia Members Arrive: We're not 'afraid to shoot'...
Supporters gather outside LVPD headquarters...
Rangers Brought in From Out of State...
Charlie Daniels: First test of military against citizens?
Feds Refuse to Say If They've Euthanized Cattle...
BREAK: Sen. Reid/Chinese gov't takeover of ranch for solar farm?





Media: Hillary Shoe-Thrower 'Frightening'; Bush Shoe-Thrower A 'Folk Hero'



On Friday, all three network morning shows fretted over a woman throwing a shoe at Hillary Clinton during a speaking event in Las Vegas. - Newsbusters

NBC Today co-host Tamron Hall was particularly melodramatic: "I mean, but how scary is that?...Had it hit her, that would have been awful. It would have been awful." Weatherman Al Roker added: "Jeez, that's frightening." Hall declared: "It's hard for me to watch, actually."

The shoe was on the other foot in 2008, when an Iraqi journalist threw two shoes at then-President George W. Bush during a Baghdad press conference. At that time, ABC and CBS referred to the shoe-thrower as a "celebrity" and "folk hero" who "thrilled the Arab world." In 2009, then-MSNBC host David Shuster actually cheered the release of the footwear assailant from prison. Tamron Hall happened to be on the show at the time and observed that people would have been "more outraged" if someone threw a shoe at President Obama.

HILL GETS A HEEL

And then...
Cancels Friday Speech Where Benghazi Victim's Mom, Protestors Await - CNS

Hillary Clinton was the planned keynote speaker at the 17th Annual Western Healthcare Leadership Academy in San Diego on April 11 - but she's cancelled her visit in the midst of planned protests from San Diego locals and military families.

Protestors organized by "The Difference Matters" do not want the former U.S. Secretary of State to come because of Clinton's role in the Benghazi scandal.

Military family protesters tell Hillary Clinton she is not welcome in San Diego - Daily Caller

Megyn Kelly Rips CAIR Spokesman: 'I'm Not Going to Let You Hijack This Segment'



Fox News's Megyn Kelly clashed with CAIR again in a taped segment that aired Thursday night on The Kelly File. Arguing over the recent uproar at Brandeis University, Kelly ripped CAIR for suing its critics and trying to "silence" them. - Newsbusters

For those who haven't heard, Brandeis intended to honor human rights activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali at its graduation, but pulled its invitation after backlash over her criticism of Islam as anti-women. CAIR called her a "notorious Islamophobe." The organization's spokesman then defended its stance on Thursday night, but Kelly wouldn't have it.

"I'm not going to let you hijack this segment, Mr. Hooper. It's not going to happen," Kelly insisted after Hooper interrupted her. "Chuck Schumer came out and said, and I quote, 'CAIR, we know has ties to terrorism. Prominent members of CAIR's current leadership, also – excuse me – had intimate connections with Hamas.'"

Kelly accused the organization of playing the smear card against opponents:
"Your critics say that when you hear anything negative about you, you threaten a lawsuit. And the viewers should know that you have gone after and threatened Reader's Digest, the American Medical Association, U.S. News and World Report, Atlantic Monthly, the Dallas Morning News, Fox News – we did a segment on Honor Diaries just the other week. You demanded a retraction, which you're not getting. Every time you hear something you don't like, you try to shut down the message. Whereas here in America, we like speech. Good and bad."

Sharpton was ‘eager to get slice of 1980s coke deal’: pal

A drug trafficker who worked for Al Sharpton’s nonprofit in the 1980s said that despite the preacher’s denials, he was eager to get a slice of the lucrative drug deal captured on FBI surveillance video. - New York Post

“It was greed. He just wanted money,” Robert Curington, 72, told The Post during a two-day interview at his North Carolina home, detailing for the first time how Sharpton stepped into the FBI’s trap — and was then forced to become a federal informant.

Sharpton has said he showed interest in the drug deal only because he feared the undercover agent was armed. He also claimed that he snitched for the feds — as first reported by The Smoking Gun this week — because the mob was threatening him.

Curington called all of that a tall tale.

He instead provided a detailed account of how Sharpton wined and dined a man he thought was a South American drug lord — and said Sharpton met him not just once, but three times....

Friday, April 11, 2014

A new Field Poll released Friday morning reveals that Republican Pete Peterson leads the field of primary candidates in the race for Secretary of State

POLL: AFTER YEE ARREST, REPUBLICAN FAVORED TO WIN SECRETARY OF STATE - Joel Pollak/Breitbart

A new Field Poll released Friday morning reveals that Republican Pete Peterson leads the field of primary candidates in the race for Secretary of State--the same office that State Sen. Leland Yee had sought prior to his arrest on corruption and gun-running charges last month. The Santa Monica-based Peterson enjoys the support of 30% of likely voters, ahead of Democrat State Sen. Alex Padilla, who is polling well behind at a mere 17%.

The poll indicates that Peterson was actually leading the field prior to Yee's arrest, and benefited only slightly....

CFRW: Capitol Update

Last week I talked about the inspiring and empowering workshop presented by the National Republican Congressional and Senatorial Committees at the NFRW Board of Directors meeting in Washington DC. Each of these committees are working hard behind the scenes training qualified candidates to ensure we keep the House and win back the US Senate. We must bring America back to that shining city on a hill! We must put a stop to the super majority in Sacramento and we have outstanding Assembly, State Senate, and Constitutional office candidates who are working hard to get our message out to the voters.

There is so much we need to do to help our Republican Candidates win, from registering more voters, to attending candidate forums, engaging & educating our neighbors, even recruiting new members. Everything we do as Federated Republican women works toward our # one goal: to elect our candidates and Win in November! Support your candidates by working hard, stay positive and stay on message!

If you are fortunate enough to have two Republicans running for the same office, tell the voters why your candidate is best instead of making negative comments about the other Republican candidate. If your candidate does not win the primary then please support the Republican who wins the primary. Talk to voters about the issues we can agree on. It is almost impossible to agree 100% with a candidate on every issue. Remember, the Democrats are our enemy. We agree with each other so much more than we disagree.

We all loved and respected President Reagan. My favorite Reagan quote is: If you agree with me 80% of the time, I will forgive you the other 20%. . We also need to remember President Reagan’s 11th Commandment: Though shall not speak disparagingly about a fellow Republican. That should include not only candidates but also other Federated Republican women. We need to follow our bylaws, so during this election year read them and get familiar with them, especially Article V Ethics. Section 1 & 4 When we make negative comments about a candidate, even a member in public, print or electronic communication it comes back to bite us, we lose members, our organization loses respect, and we lose elections!

So get ready and keep plenty of registration forms and club brochures in the trunk of your car, sign up to walk a prescient or make phone calls, recruit new members, and use your knowledge of the issues to engage voters in your community. We look forward to seeing you at the CFRW Spring Conference & Student Program, April 25 to 27 at the Double Tree Hotel in Orange. Our speakers and workshops will provide you with information and talking points to inform the voters, learn about our CFRW Voter Registration program, plus the opportunity to meet more of our Republican candidates at our Sunday candidate forum and lot’s more! Remember our President’s Roundtable on Friday April 25 is open to club or county Presidents, past or future Presidents and Regional Directors.

God Bless You & God Bless America

Thank you for all you do,

Roseann
Roseann Slonsky-Breault, President
Working Together To Make A Difference

“It was so bizarre. When this all started, it was in the throes of the final weeks before the 2012 election when True the Vote was at its peak of operations, helping to train citizens and getting them ready to serve inside of the polls for the elections,” she said, “out of nowhere, we got this letter from Elijah Cummings."



IRS TARGET: SCANDAL POINTING TO OBAMA - WND

The president of the grassroots organization at the center of the recent IRS scandal says she believes the rabbit trail will lead to the “highest offices in the land.”

Former IRS official Lois Lerner may soon be facing a contempt of Congress citation and even criminal prosecution for her role in directing unlawful scrutiny toward conservative organizations seeking tax-exempt status, but the biggest bombshell of the week is the revelation that Lerner’s office shared sensitive tax information with the top Democrat on the committee investigating the scandal.

However, True the Vote President Catherine Englebrecht said even this development is only one step in discovering just how high this goes in the Obama administration.

This week, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee revealed an email chain showing the IRS passed along confidential information from True the Vote to the office of Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md.

Cummings then launched his own investigation of the group through his position on the committee, even though the committee cannot lawfully investigate a private organization.

So what is it that Republicans stand for?

What Republicans Stand For - RedState

We stand for many things, to list them all out would be quite the task. But it all springs forth from our founding. We stand for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

We stand for life, in that we stand for the dignity of the individual. We stand for life by acknowledging the uniqueness of each individual, embracing them for who they are, rather than what purpose they might suit for the collective. We stand for life in the defense of our nation through the sacrifice of a volunteer military.

We stand for life when we demand that patients and doctors make medical decisions rather than government bureaus and boards....

We stand for liberty. We stand for liberty of the individual within the state, the state within the nation, and our nation within the world. We believe that choices that affect the individual do not need to be decided by the collective.

We believe all are born into the liberty our nation offers, regardless of race or creed.

We believe that liberty does not equal license, as license would no doubt curtail the liberty of others. We stand for this liberty in the church pew, in the corporate office, and in the public square.

...We stand for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, just as our forefathers envisioned. We do so with the understanding that man is flawed, and that our liberty comes with a requirement that we be responsible for our own actions.

What do you think? ◼ Answer on our Facebook page...

Freaky Photoshop disaster: Jay Carney puff piece goes hilariously wrong [pics]

The next issue of Washingtonian MOM doesn’t hit newsstands until next week, but lucky for us, we don’t have to wait for a sneak preview of the cover story: - Twitchy







And this:


Hmmm … maybe we should take a closer look at that last one. Notice anything unusual?



This blockbuster story makes CBS look really, really bad...



Journalist Reveals CBS Would Pull Her Off Obama Scandals When Close to Blowing Stories Wide Open - IJ Review via Conservative Daily

Before former-CBS investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson left the network last month, rumors persisted that she was frustrated by the network’s efforts to stifle her investigations of various stories that could potentially cast the Obama administration in a negative light: namely, Fast & Furious, Benghazi, and Obamacare....

Now, a former CBS reporter is making clear what any astute news observer already knows: the major networks (not named Fox) aren’t interested in doing actual reporting in the public’s interest, but in running political cover for Democrats and the Obama administration.

Obamacare taxes add BILLIONS to rising premiums

On top of rising premiums, Obamacare taxes are adding hundreds of dollars per year onto customers’ costs, according to new study from the American Action Forum. - Sarah Hurtubise/Daily Caller

...Exchange plans cost significantly more than those from private insurers because they’re subject to the health exchange user fee, a 3.5 percent tax placed on all premiums in the federally run Obamacare exchnage. The idea is for exchanges to eventually become self-sustaining by having exchange customers pay the administrative costs themselves.

In state-run exchanges, the tax varies But customers in states with unexpectedly low enrollment will likely face tax increases soon. Many exchanges, including California, Hawaii and Minnesota, are already worried about how they’ll raise enough funding from existing rates.

While enrollment has risen in the past several months, customers in individual states with low numbers of sign-ups may see their insurance premiums rise anyway. Hawaii’s exchange, notorious for already incurring the highest cost to insure each sign-up, has even considered taxing non-exchange insurers to pay for their Obamacare marketplace.

Expert's take: Is the fed forcing Common Core on the states? Why is the Obama administration abusing power to force subpar education on our children?

Liberals, conservatives, Democrats, and Republicans are divided on the issue of centralized, standardized education. Gov. Jeb Bush is making a push in favor of Common Core, leading voters to believe it doesn’t stem from the federal government. - Human Events

Neal McCluskey, associate director of Cato’s Center for Educational Freedom, sets us straight:

Jeb Bush is downplaying the fact that Common Core has its roots in the federal government. How is he wrong about this?

Is this something Gov. Bush is doing intentionally, or is it a part of his agenda to sell Common Core to people who are leery of such a broad educational program that comes from the federal government?

What is the status of and next step for Common Core?

New York has been a gigantic battleground since their results came out showing big drops in what was called kids who were proficient – about a third fewer are called proficient under the new tests than were under the old tests. And if you see that kind of drop in other states, you could very well see the Common Core disintegrate....

Should save this for the Sunday Funnies:



Virginia Democrat Mike Dickinson, who hopes to win his party’s nomination and run against Eric Cantor in November, has pledged to wage “war” on the Tea Party, the NRA and Fox News. Thursday night, he took a few shots at Fox on Greta van Susteren’s show – and was promptly humiliated. IJ Review

‘Was that a joke?’: Candidate takes his ‘war on Fox News’ to Greta Van Susteren [video] - Twitchy



Boehner Unloads on WH Over IRS, Benghazi, Fast & Furious: "They Owe the American People the Truth"



At his weekly press briefing today, Speaker Boehner unloaded on the White House for refusing to tell the American people the truth about the IRS, Benghazi, and Fast and Furious...

“The frustration is, is that the American people have not been told the truth about what happened at the IRS.

“The American people have not been told the truth about what happened in Fast and Furious.

“The administration has not told the American people the truth about Benghazi.

“We’ve been going through all of these hearings, having to hold people in contempt, because they’ve made it impossible to get to the documents.

“They have not been forthcoming. They owe the American people the truth.

“And when it comes to Benghazi, we’ve got four Americans who are dead, and their families deserve the truth about what happened. And the administration refuses to tell them the truth.”

Have you changed any of your passwords?

The ‘catastrophic’ Heartbleed bug discovered in a large portion of the Internet’s security encryption code this week has tech firms and services across the Web calling on users to change their passwords, and lists of websites and services known to have been affected are already starting to pop up. - Daily Caller

Due to the severity of the bug and the popularity of the affected OpenSSL security library used in the HTTPS encryption for the last two years, the full extent of the security breach has not been and may never be fully calculated.

The nature of the flaw makes it impossible to determine whether or not specific account information like usernames, passwords, communications credit cards, etc. were stolen by hackers exploiting the bug, but all of them were vulnerable on a number of popular websites and services.

Go here for a full explanation and updated list of what is safe and compromised.

Thursday, April 10, 2014

San Francisco International Airport Photo In al-Qaida Magazine Raises Terrorism Concerns



In the spring issue of the al-Qaida magazine “Inspire,” a picture of the AirTrain at SFO is featured prominently. The AirTrain connects all the airport terminals with BART, terminal garages and the rental car center. - CBS SF

Below the photo, a caption in Arabic reads, “…stand up, pack your tools of destruction. Assemble your bomb, ready for detonation.”

Judge Sides with Louisiana in Voucher Case - Against DOJ

Gov. Bobby Jindal: “Today is a great day for school choice and access to an opportunity for a better education for all Louisianians.” - Elizabeth Harrington/Washington Free Beacon

A federal court has rejected attempts by the Justice Department to scrap Louisiana’s school choice program, ending a months-long battle between the state and the Obama administration.

U.S. District Court Judge Ivan Lemelle ruled Tuesday evening that the Louisiana Scholarship Program can go on as planned, as long as the state provides information to the DOJ on vouchers 10 days prior to their award....

Jindal said Louisiana would resist further attacks on the program, which primarily serves minority students who attend C, D, or F rated schools. Nearly 7,000 students received vouchers this school year.

“We have learned from this lawsuit the potential dangers of federal government overreach in K-12 education,” he said. “We will remain vigilant that the Department of Justice will not take advantage of the information sharing process and use it as means to further obstruct school choice. We will continue to oppose any attempts to impede children and their parents from being able to escape failing schools and have access to better educational opportunities.”

School choice organizations also praised the ruling, and vowed to continue to fight for the program.

ABC, NBC Continue Blackout Of GOP’s Criminal Referral for Lois Lerner

That Ranking Oversight Committee Democrat?
Now linked with Lois Lerner

It is clear that we know that the IRS became politically weaponized against Conservative groups but who knew that the main Democrat who was supposed to provide non-partisan oversight was actually in cahoots with Lois Lerner! - GraniteGrok

...Now, True the Vote’s mission is to go through the voter rolls and ferret out Voter Fraud – sort of the anti-ACORN. Which means it doesn’t only just detect who should not be voting but can also lead to other strings that can be run up and pulled to see who is at the other end – and almost always some Democrat or some Democrat advocacy group. From that, one just steps from one stone to another – and that could not be allowed to happen to the Democrats bread and butter tactic for queering elections results. But wait! Based on that Oversight Committee’s investigation, we once again see not just that he / his staff conspired with the IRS to do sideline Conservatives, but he did so with the leading person leading that charge within the IRS, Lois Lerner (and she was doing so when in the Federal Elections Commission)

Catherine Engelbrecht hammers Elijah Cummings over new emails - The Right Scoop

Catherine Engelbrecht was on Fox tonight with Megyn Kelly to talk about the newly discovered emails that show collusion between the IRS and Elijah Cummings and his staff.

FLASHBACK, MARCH 6:


Wonder what Chris Matthews has to say today.

Tsunami alert: New poll shows ObamaCare driving voters

How big is ObamaCare in this year’s midterms? More than 80 percent of respondents in a new poll conducted by the Pew Research Center for USA Today said that a candidate’s stance on the troubled health law is important to them, with 54 percent saying it is “very important.” - FOX

The worst news for Democrats is that among the majority of registered voters who said the law was “very important,” there were twice as many opponents as there were supporters. Overall, support for the signature Obama initiative, which pairs expanded welfare and entitlement programs with far-reaching regulations on health insurance, fell to 37 percent. That’s the lowest level since the summer after the law was passed in 2010 when incumbents’ town halls across the country erupted with ObamaCare outrage. The takeaway: The electoral climate this year is defined by ObamaCare and the forecast is getting worse for Democrats.

Dems need to scare up a stampede - Some race watchers may deduce from the poll that the constant efforts by President Obama and his fellow Democrats to frighten and mobilize base voters will be inadequate in the face of an overall political climate as dire as the one described by the Pew/USA Today poll. But the survey actually shows the importance of efforts to provoke a stampede of liberals to the polls.....

BREAKING: Healthcare.gov Fumbler Kathleen Sebelius Resigns as Secretary of HHS


The President is set to nominate Sylvia Mathews Burwell, director of the Office of Management and Budget, as her replacement. - IJ Review

RNC Chairman Reince Priebus released the following statement:
Secretary Sebelius oversaw a disastrous rollout of ObamaCare, but anyone can see that there are more problems on the way. The next HHS Secretary will inherit a mess—Americans facing rising costs, families losing their doctors, and an economy weighed down by intrusive regulations.

No matter who is in charge of HHS, ObamaCare will continue to be a disaster and will continue to hurt hardworking Americans. It’s time for President Obama to admit that Democrats’ signature law is a failure and heed Republican calls for patient-centered healthcare reform.”
__________________

"I thank Secretary Sebelius for her service. She had an impossible task: nobody can make Obamacare work." --Rep. Eric Cantor
__________________

Titanic Clears Deckchairs: Kathleen Sebelius Resigns - Ed Driscoll/PJMedia

So they hit their target of seven million sign-ups and she’s still out the door before the dust settles, eh? Seems … not so triumphant. - Allahpundit/HotAir
Allegedly she jumped rather than waiting to be pushed, but the Times catches something I missed last week. She wasn’t at the Rose Garden ceremony where O declared Mission Accomplished after they hit seven million. Hard to believe she wouldn’t want to be there to join the victory lap after taking so much grief from so many sides for so long over the website. Was she not invited?
While it would be nice to think that failure and dishonesty have caught up with Sebelius, the reality is that she is probably leaving government for more lucrative reasons. - Bryan Preston/PJMedia

Sebelius Flubs Goodbye Speech, ‘Can’t Even Resign Correctly’ - IJ Review

...In the middle of of her resignation speech Friday, Sebelius paused before admitting she was missing a page of her speech....

Trey Gowdy on Why Lois Lerner Waived Her Right to Remain Silent



link - The Blaze

Speaking on the House floor Thursday, Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) lost his patience with Democrats who are making excuses about why ex-IRS official Lois Lerner shouldn’t have to testify before Congress about the agency’s targeting scandal....

“Mr. Chairman, I counted 17 separate factual assertions by Mrs. Lerner — not those three little sentences that my colleagues like to cite,” Gowdy said. “That is a lot of talking for someone who wants to remain silent! That’s a lot of talking! If you honestly believe you can make 17 separate factual assertions and still invoke your right to remain silent, then please tell me what waiver is.”

He pointed out that Lerner testified that she had broken no rules or laws during her time at the IRS, which he claims is problematic by itself in regards to the law.

“Can you imagine a fact pattern where somebody takes the stand and says, ‘I didn’t rob the bank. But I’m not gonna answer why my fingerprints are on the demand note,’” Gowdy continued. “‘And I’m not gonna tell you why I’m on the surveillance footage with a gun in my hand. And I’m not gonna tell you why the dye pack blew up in my car. I’m just gonna tell you I didn’t rob the bank!’ That’s not the way our system works.”

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan slowly backing away from Common Core

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has always been a strong supporter of the controversial Common Core Standards — like his boss, President Barack Obama — but he is now beginning to distance himself from a reform that has earned considerable animosity from teachers, parents, students and activists. - Daily Caller

This is a significant step backward for Duncan, who said just last June that the Common Core standards were possibly the best thing to happen to education reform since Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court decision that mandated desegregation.

...He also famously blamed “white suburban moms” for giving Common Core a bad name.

From the comments: CommonCore follows in the same path as 0bamaoCare, disintegrating as it rolls out.

“It’s one of the worst-kept secrets in Jerusalem that Kerry’s team leaks anti-Netanyahu quotes and claims to the Israeli press."

Inside the White House’s Secret Campaign to Scapegoat Israel - Washington Free Beacon

The Obama administration has been waging a secret media war in capitals across two continents blaming Israel for the recent collapse of peace talks with the Palestinians, according to former Israeli diplomats and Washington, D.C. insiders familiar with the peace process.

Multiple sources told the Washington Free Beacon that top Obama administration officials have worked for the past several days to manufacture a crisis over the reissuing of housing permits in a Jerusalem neighborhood widely acknowledged as Israeli territory.

Senior State Department officials based in Israel have sought to lay the groundwork for Israel to take the blame for talks collapsing by peddling a narrative to the Israeli press claiming that the Palestinians were outraged over Israeli settlements, the Free Beacon has learned.

These administration officials have planted several stories in Israeli and U.S. newspapers blaming Israel for the collapse of peace talks and have additionally provided reporters with anonymous quotes slamming the Israeli government. Disgraceful! Read the rest at the link.

Herman Cain #throwbackthursday

If you’ve paid even a modicum of attention to the House Oversight Committee hearings on the IRS scandal, you know that Ranking Member Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) has insisted from the beginning that the Republican-led investigation has been little more than a witch hunt.

Remember the Democrat Who Went on a Phony Tirade Against Issa at an IRS Hearing? We Got Your Emails - IJ Review

Cummings has been accused of virtually running cover for the White House, a charge he has vehemently denied. Now, newly delivered internal emails between Cummings’ staff and the IRS not only prove otherwise, but show that Cummings’ own staff directly communicated with the IRS about at least one of the conservative groups targeted by the agency....

So the plot thickens in the scandal that refuses to die – despite the best efforts of Cummings and the Democrats, the White House, and much of the media. How ironic that Cummings himself is now part of it.

Conservative Daily - This Democrat grandstanded after an IRS hearing and then tried to make Issa look like a "racist" when he cut him off.

Now we know why...

The New Inquisition

The Left is trampling free speech for the sake of orthodoxy. - Victor Davis Hanson/National Review

...We are in a new Inquisition. Self-appointed censors try to stamp out any idea or word that they don’t wish to be aired — in the pursuit of a new race, class, gender, and environment orthodoxy.

Hounding out people with different views is seen by the Left as a necessary means to achieve its supposedly noble goals — just like the Spanish Inquisitioners who claimed God was on their side as they went after religiously “incorrect” Jews, Muslims, and heretics.

Unfortunately, the Obama administration has been part of the problem, not part of the solution. Its appointees used the once-impartial IRS against conservatives. They monitored Associated Press reporters. They denied that the NSA was eavesdropping on average citizens. They arbitrarily chose not to enforce laws they didn’t like.

...Our civil liberties will not be lost to crude fascists in jackboots. More likely, the death of free speech will be the work of the new medieval Torquemadas who claim they destroyed freedom of expression for the sake of “equality” and “fairness” and “saving the planet.”

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

STANDOFF AT NEVADA RANCH...'Wake up America...they are taking everything from us'...


Cattle Seized... - FOX ◼ Via Drudge
For 20 years, a tough-as-leather Nevada rancher and the federal government have been locked in a bitter range war over cattle grazing rights.

This weekend the confrontation got worse, when the feds hired contract cowboys to start seizing Cliven Bundy's cattle, which have been grazing on public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The government officials brought a show of force that included dozens of armed agents in SUVs and helicopters.

...Bundy said he is worried BLM might try to turn the situation into another Waco or Ruby Ridge.

“Yeah, there’s a little fear in me,” Bundy said. “They’re definitely set up to do that.”
200 Armed Federal Agents Surround Farm... - Biz Pac Review
Since 1993, Cliven Bundy has been battling the agency, as well as the National Park Service, the Center for Biological Diversity and the courts, to graze his cattle on 150 square miles of Gold Butte scrub land in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. He stopped paying his grazing fees back then, saying he “fired” the Bureau of Land Management as land manager. His Mormon ancestors had tilled the unforgiving soil since 1887, long before the 1934 Taylor Grazing Act allowed the federal government to seize control, TheBlaze reported.
Snipers... - Becket Adam/The Blaze
Claiming that all other options have been exhausted, the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. National Park Service responded to Bundy’s inflexibility on the issue by calling on federal agents and contract cowboys to restrict access to the public land and to confiscate Bundy’s “trespass cattle.”
Armed Fed Agents and Snipers? Nevada Rancher Is Taking on the Gov’t in a Battle That’s Reaching a Breaking Point
'Range War'... - ABC News
A Nevada rancher's threat to wage a "range war" with the federal Bureau of Land Management precipitated a standoff today between supporters of the embattled rancher, Cliven Bundy, and law enforcement officials.

Bundy posted a statement on the Bundy Ranch website on Sunday night saying: "They have my cattle and now they have one of my boys. Range War begins tomorrow."

He invited supporters to show up this morning on his property, about 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas, near Bunkerville, just west of the Utah state line.
Nevada Governor Blasts Feds’ ‘First Amendment Area’ in Bundy Dispute: “Constitutional rights sacred to all Nevadans” - Paul Joseph Watson/Infowars
Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval has inserted himself into the escalating standoff between cattle rancher Cliven Bundy and federal officials by blasting the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) over their creation of a ‘First Amendment Area’ outside of which free speech is banned.
Governor Calls Roundup 'Intimidation'... - CBS
Senator: 'Overreaching'... - Sacramento Bee
Sen. Dean Heller of Nevada said he told new U.S. Bureau of Land Management chief Neil Kornze in Washington, D.C., that law-abiding Nevadans shouldn't be penalized by an "overreaching" agency.

Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval pointed earlier to what he called "an atmosphere of intimidation," resulting from the roundup and said he believed constitutional rights were being trampled.
Family: 'Wake up America...they are taking everything from us'... - KSL
The situation escalated Saturday after Cliven Bundy's son, Dave Bundy, 37, was arrested. Members of the Bundy family had gathered to film and take pictures of the removal of their cattle in an effort to document the event, according to Cliven Bundy's daughter, Bailey Bundy Logue.
FEDS Seize And Kill Rancher’s Cattle During Public Lands Grazing Dispute - Ulsterman (image source)

Internet users told to change ALL passwords in wake of ‘catastrophic’ Heartbleed security bug

Add caption

After the discovery this week of a massive security flaw in the open source software used to secure and encrypt a vast portion of internet communications, major tech firms are urging users across the Web to change the passwords on all of their accounts. - Daily Caller

Dubbed the “Heartbleed” bug by the researchers responsible for uncovering it, the widespread security hole allows hackers to steal code from websites and online services which reveal the most sensitive of user information — including usernames, passwords, communications, credit card and account information.

Websites, web applications, email, instant messenger services and even virtual private networks are among many other Internet programs that use the customizable OpenSSL (secure sockets layer) security library on websites with HTTPS (embedded in the addresses of most websites users browse to) encryption to protect users information on their services.

“The little lock icon (HTTPS) we all trusted to keep our passwords, personal emails, and credit cards safe, was actually making all that private information accessible to anyone who knew about the exploit,” the popular blogging platform Tumblr wrote in a post....

“This might be a good day to call in sick and take some time to change your passwords everywhere – especially your high-security services like email, file storage, and banking, which may have been compromised by this bug,” Tumblr said.

The Heartbleed Hit List: The Passwords You Need to Change Right Now - Mashable h/t: Bridget
Why Heartbleed Is the Ultimate Web Nightmare - Mashable (IMAGE: MASHABLE COMPOSITE, ISTOCK, SAUL HERRERA)
It's easy to want to think the reaction to the Heartbleed OpenSSL vulnerability is overblown; Sadly, it's not. Heartbleed is bad. It's not hyperbole; it's a major problem.

In fact, Heartbleed has the potential to be one of the biggest, most widespread vulnerabilities in the history of the modern web.

Writing about Heartbleed, security expert Bruce Schneier says "'catastrophic' is the right word. On the scale of 1 to 10, this is an 11." That's about right.

So why is Heartbleed so bad? Why is this such a big deal?

Bombshell: Emails Show Democrat on Oversight Committee was Working With Lois Lerner to Target True the Vote (Update: Engelbrecht Reacts)

Emails released today by the House Government Oversight and Reform Committee show that Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) has some explaining to do. - PJ Media

...Cummings has stonewalled the investigation throughout, while President Obama has claimed that there wasn’t even a “smidgen of corruption” in it.

The communication between Lerner and Cummings and his staff shows that the IRS and Cummings made numerous requests for virtually identical information from True the Vote, the Houston-based group dedicated to improving election integrity and rooting out election fraud. That Cummings and the IRS sought nearly identical information raises the strong probability of collusion between the government agency and the Democrats on the House Government Oversight and Reform Committee.

Did Rep. Cummings lie during the committee hearings?

Update: True the Vote president Catherine Engelbrecht reacts in a press statement:
Elijah Cummings has blocked the IRS abuse investigation all along. We now see clearly that two branches of government have colluded to target and silence private citizens.

“America has come to a tipping point,” Engelbrecht said. “No more lies. No more cover-ups. No more collusion. Enough is enough. Finally, we have a chance for the rule of law to be re-established, thanks to the bold efforts of Chairman Issa and Rep. Jordan.”

Engelbrecht added, “We filed an ethics complaint against Rep. Cummings in February. Today we’re amending that filing to include this latest revelation. As I have said in my testimony before Congress; I will not retreat, I will not surrender, I will not be intimidated. I will not ask Rep. Cummings, Lois Lerner, Barack Obama, or anyone else, for permission to exercise my constitutional rights.”
DIRTY HANDS: Emails Reveal Democrat Ranking Member, Elijah Cummings, on Investigative Committee is Also Guilty in IRS Scandal... - Red Flag

Obama’s Watergate moment is here - Flopping Aces

Back in June of 2013 Elijah Cummings declared the IRS investigation over, despite the continued stonewalling of the Obama administration:
Based upon everything I’ve seen, the case is solved. If it were me, I would wrap this case up and move on, to be frank with you. The IG made some recommendations, those recommendations are being adopted by the IRS, we’ve got a new commissioner in, acting commissioner in, Danny Werfel is doing a great job, I think we’re in great shape.
Last month all of the democrat members of the House Oversight Committee demanded Darryl Issa end the IRS investigation.

Now we know why, and why the next public word out of Cummings’ mouth will be “racism.”

Cummings pushed the IRS to harass True the Vote.

DRUDGE:
Dallas IRS office plastered with pro-Obama stickers, screensavers...
Lerner talked of job with Obama campaign group...
PARTY LINES: House panel urges criminal prosecution...
Issa Accuses Top Dem of Colluding with IRS...
Emails suggest Cummings prompted targeting of conservative group...
IRS Gave Dems Info on Targeted Conservative Group...

Should unions be allowed to control when a company relocates?

If you own a company and want to relocate to another part of the country, Obama wants you to know that you have no right to decide where that location will be. Obama wants you to know that only a labor union can make that decision. You have no say in the matter. - Warner Todd Huston/Right Wing News

At least, that is what Obama’s National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) wants to do with a new rule that would give unions veto power over where a company re-opens its doors.

The goal, of course, is to destroy the economies of right-to-work states and force them to allow destructive unions to hold sway over their business sector or risk economic ruin.

Currently it is perfectly legal (not to mention moral, I might add) for a company to decided it wants to close its facilities in one part of the country and move some or all of it’s business to another part of the country. We call it the free enterprise system.

The IR-SS: It really should be called Organizing Against America.

Lois Lerner talked about working for Obama’s group Organizing for Action while she had official oversight over it - Patrick Howley/Daily Caller
Ex-IRS official Lois Lerner talked about taking a job with President Barack Obama’s nonprofit advocacy group Organizing for Action (OFA) while she had official oversight at the IRS over nonprofit tax-exempt groups.

The revelation was made Wednesday in the House Ways and Means Committee’s referral letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ) to prosecute Lerner on criminal charges. Ways and Means voted to refer Lerner to DOJ.
Oversight panel recommends House hold Lois Lerner in contempt - Sean Lengell/Washington Examiner
A House Oversight and Government Reform Committee report on Tuesday recommended the full House find former Internal Revenue Service official Lois Lerner in contempt of Congress for her refusal to answers questions about the agency's conservative-targeting scandal.

"Lois Lerner's testimony is critical to the committee's investigation," read the report released Tuesday by the Republican-run panel. "Without her testimony, the full extent of the IRS's targeting of Tea
Party applications cannot be known, and the committee will be unable to fully complete its work."
IRS under fire: Vote for Obama stickers, campaign cheerleading commonplace - Stephen Dinan/Washington Times via Mark Levin
Even as the IRS faces growing heat over Lois G. Lerner and the tea party targeting scandal, a government watchdog said Wednesday it’s pursuing cases against three other tax agency employees and offices suspected of illegal political activity in support of President Obama and fellow Democrats.
In one case the Office of Special Counsel, which investigates federal employees who conduct politics on government time, said it was “commonplace” in a Dallas IRS office for employees to have pro-Obama screensavers on their computers, and to have campaign-style buttons and stickers at their office....

Another IRS employee in Kentucky has agreed to serve a 14-day suspension for blasting Republicans in a conversation with a taxpayer.
“They’re going to take women back 40 years,” the IRS employee said in a conversation that was recorded. The employee also said that “if you vote for a Republican, the rich are going to get richer and the poor are going to get poorer.”
That employee went on to tell the taxpayer she knew she wasn’t supposed to be voicing her political opinions, and asked the taxpayer not to say anything....
Darrell Issa: Emails suggest Elijah Cummings prompted IRS targeting of True the Vote - Susan Ferrechio/Washington Examiner
“The IRS and the Oversight Minority made numerous requests for virtually identical information from True the Vote, raising concerns that the IRS improperly shared protected taxpayer information with Rep. Cummings’ staff,” a statement from the Oversight panel reads.

...Issa said Cummings and his office asked for more information in January 2013 about True the Vote, this time getting Lerner involved.

At one point, an email revealed, Lerner asked her deputy, “Did we find anything?”

When the deputy said she had not received any new information, Lerner responded, “thanks – check tomorrow please.”

Issa said Cummings had previously denied asking the IRS about True the Vote.
IRS Official Who Plead the Fifth Going To Jail? It Might Happen With Or Without DOJ Involvement - IJ Review
Lois Lerner could be jailed as a result of criminal charges via the Department of Justice or from direct Congressional action. At this point, Republicans prefer the latter and just took steps towards that end.

The House Ways and Means Committee formally requested that the Justice Dept. review pressing criminal charges.
The letter to DOJ can be read ◼ here. If convicted of these crimes in a court of law, Lerner could face up to 11 years in prison.

The Democrats Have a Marriage Problem


Politics: This fall, Democrats will no doubt resurrect the "war on women" theme to try to hold the Senate. - Investor´s Business Daily EDITORIAL

But they don´t really care about all women, just the unmarried ones. The IBD/TIPP poll shows why. According to the Washington Post, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is building a huge computer database that will let it predict women´s marital status. That way they can "pinpoint unmarried women as the target of specific, poll-test messages," according to one source quoted in the story.

Poll: 62 Percent Of Americans Believe GOP Will Repeal Obamacare

A majority of Americans believe that President Barack Obama’s signature health care law will be repealed. A new Rasmussen Reports poll found that 62 percent of likely voters believe that Republicans will repeal Obamacare, which recently marked its fourth anniversary. - CBS News (Wash. D.C.)

...Only 23 percent of those polled believe that the health care law has been a success...

“The president is actually spending more time fundraising in Texas than honoring those who were murdered at Fort Hood at the memorial ceremony”

Mark Levin: Obama ‘disgrace’ for jetting from Fort Hood memorial to DNC fundraiser - Cheryl K. Chumley/Washington Times

“I want to tell you something that I’m ashamed and disgusted about,” he said, on his recent radio show. “This is so appalling.”

The president’s schedule is this: Leave White House at 9:05 a.m. Wednesday. Arrive in Killeen, Texas, about 11:30 a.m. local time. Attend the Fort Hood memorial service — and then head out at 5 p.m. Central Time to the Democratic National Committee fundraiser to raise money for House and Senate races.

Mr. Obama and his wife are supposed to be joined at the glitzy event — where tickets cost upwards of $16,200 per person and $64,800 per couple — by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, The Associated Press reported. Mr. Obama will later give remarks at a Democratic Party dinner that same evening.

"Although some California Republican leaders had seen the moderate, Neel Kashkari, as the GOP's candidate of the future in a deep blue state, tea party favorite Tim Donnelly is pummeling him, according to a surprising new Field Poll."


Field Poll: GOP's hope in California governor's race leaning far to the right - San Jose Mercury News

Thirty-four percent of likely Republican voters would pick Donnelly, R-Hesperia, while only 3 percent would vote for Kashkari.

...So far, (Kashkari) has raised considerably more money than other Republican candidates, and he has been actively campaigning up and down the state. He has about $903,000 in the bank, while Blount and Donnelly have about $8,000 and $10,000, respectively.

Brown, meanwhile, has amassed a war chest of close to $20 million.

Donnelly has been running a low-budget campaign since he announced his candidacy two years ago. And he's been "a genius" at reaching voters through social media and on websites like YouTube, where he has posted quirky campaign videos that have gone viral, said Allan Hoffenblum, publisher of the California Target Book, which handicaps legislative and congressional races.

Having a double-digit lead on his closest Republican challenger is "pretty encouraging," said Donnelly, who takes pride in the fact that his campaign "hasn't spent a cent on persuasion."

"There's a movement in California to unite under the banner of liberty, freedom, civil rights and privacy, and I'm leading it," Donnelly said. "I'm the underdog, but I like to call myself the underdog frontrunner."

The new blacklist means that while diversity of races, genders and sexual orientations is mandatory, diversity of thought and opinion is restricted. In Silicon Valley, they burn heretics.

The New Blacklist - Pat Buchanan/Lew Rockwell

...What the Brendan Eich episode teaches us, where a man was driven from a position he had earned, because of his beliefs, and was abandoned and left undefended by false friends and gutless peers in Silicon Valley, is this:

In the new dispensation, opposition to same-sex marriage disqualifies you from leadership and may legitimately be used to bring about the ruin of your career.

This is the new blacklist.

The old blacklist declared that if you were a member of the Communist Party that toadied to Stalin, and you refused to recant and took the Fifth Amendment, you would not be permitted to work in Hollywood. We are Americans, said that Hollywood, and we believe in American values.

Now, nearly seven decades later, the Stalinists of the ’40s are martyr-heroes in Hollywood. And in Silicon Valley conservatives and traditionalists who oppose same-sex marriage are to be denied top jobs and driven into social exile.

"According to the Biblical prophecy, world history is about to change dramatically."


APOCALYPSE NOW: Why a rare astrological event LAST NIGHT could herald the 'End of Days' - Express.UK (Fun astrology stuff, for what it's worth)

Mars, Earth, and the Sun all aligned last night, a rare 'opposition of the planets' that only happens once every 778 days.

But what made this event so remarkable is that it occured precisely a week before everyone on earth will see the first of FOUR dark red 'blood moons', an extraordinary event some Christians believe represents the End of Days and the second coming of Christ.

The King James Bible predicts: "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD comes," [Joel 2:31].

And, according to NASA, a highly unusual 'Tetrad' - four successive total 'blood-red' lunar eclipses each followed by six full moons - will, indeed, start next Tuesday and finish on September 28 2015.

The incredible alignment has only happened a handful of times in the last two thousand years but, remarkably, on each of the last three occasions it has coincided with a globally significant religious event....

"To get four blood moons you need something absolutely extraordinary in astrological terms.

"Every time this has happened in the last 500 years, it has coincided with tragedy for the Jewish people followed by triumph. And once again, for Israel, the timing of this Tetrad is remarkable.

"The first of the four blood moons will come on April 15 this year, during Passover. The second will be on October 8, at the time of the Feast of the Tabernacles.

"On April 4 2015, during Passover, we will have another blood moon. Then finally, on September 28, during next year's Feast of the Tabernacles, the fourth blood and final moon will dawn."

4 BLOOD MOONS; first astronomical event takes place April 14 - Will Houston/The Times-Standard

Though lunar eclipses are quite common, Astronomers of Humboldt member Jeff Schmitt said this tetrad of eclipses is “kind of exciting.”

”When you end up with several in a row like this, it's sort of unusual,” Schmitt said.

The first lunar eclipse in the tetrad will start at around 10 a.m. on April 14 for the West Coast, with a total phase occurring from around midnight to 1:30 p.m. on April 15.

Tetrads can be rare or common depending the time period, according to Astronomers of Humboldt Vice President Ken Yanosko.

...(Astronomers of Humboldt Vice President Ken) Yanosko said it is just orbits that cause the eclipses, not omens.

”I got an email from some crackpot saying that this was going to be the end of the world,” he said. “There are a lot of rumors and chatter.”

The next three total lunar eclipses will take place on Oct. 8, April 4, 2015, and Sept. 28, 2015.

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Kids take Common Core tests with ‘inappropriate content, ambiguous questions’

New York City principals are rising up against the Common Core testing that was forced on their students last week and contained “inappropriate conduct and ambiguous questions,” according to one principal. - Daily Caller

“The teachers and administrators are truly devastated by what a terrible test it was and how little it will tell us about our children,” wrote Liz Phillips, principal of PS321, in a statement.

According to Phillips, the Common Core-aligned tests — which were taken last week by third, fourth and fifth graders — contained misleading questions, subjective reading passages and even product placement....

“I am left to wonder if Pearson made a mistake: was this truly intended for 3rd Grade students?” asked Kate Matthews, another NYC principal, in a statement.

The principals agreed that whatever the results, they would have little bearing on their students’ actual academic proficiency.

13-year-old suspended for informing students of Common Core opt-out rights? - Daily Caller

A 13-year-old New York student says she was suspended for informing other students of their right to opt-out of Common Core-aligned standardized testing.

The student, Seirra Olivero of the Orange-Ulster BOCES school in Goshen, New York, was told to “shut [his] mouth,” about the fact that students were not actually required to take the controversial tests. Administrators suspended her for two days.

Olivero believed that the tests were “set up for the kids to fail,” according to The Times Herald-Record. It’s an opinion that many educators, administrators and parents share

Essentially, this student was suspended for showing independent thought.

“This might be a good day to call in sick and take some time to change your passwords everywhere— especially your high-security services like email, file storage and banking, which may have been compromised by this bug.”

Flaw Found in Key Method for Protecting Data on the Internet - Nicole Perlroth/Bits

The tiny padlock icon that sits next to many web addresses, suggesting protection of users’ most sensitive information — like passwords, stored files, bank details, even Social Security numbers — is broken.

A flaw has been discovered in one of the Internet’s key encryption methods, potentially forcing a wide swath of websites to swap out the virtual keys that generate private connections between the sites and their customers....

“This still means that the little lock icon (HTTPS) we all trusted to keep our passwords, personal emails, and credit cards safe was actually making all that private information accessible to anyone who knew about the exploit,” Tumblr’s security team wrote on their site. “This might be a good day to call in sick and take some time to change your passwords everywhere— especially your high-security services like email, file storage and banking, which may have been compromised by this bug.”

Mr. Chartier advised users to consider their passwords gone. “Companies need to get new encryption keys and users need to get new passwords immediately,” he said. “And do it quickly.”

Students Fed Up With Michelle Obama’s School Lunch Overhaul — Menu-Item Snapshots Spell Out Why

link - Dave Urbanski/The Blaze

First, about one million public school students said “no way” to their cafeteria menus after Michelle Obama’s anti-obesity campaign led to anger and frustration over food that apparently many American kids didn’t want to stomach.

Meanwiches and stinkburgers: Ticked-off kids blame Michelle Obama for pitiful school lunches [pics] - Twitchy





Hillary Clinton caught buying Twitter followers


Twitter page “Faith and Value Voters for Hillary Clinton 2016″ — the verified @Faith4Hillary account — was caught last week after having allegedly purchased 12,000 fake followers, roughly 42 percent of its total following. - Anna Giaritelli/Rare

Clinton’s faith-based Twitter handle obtained 42 percent of her followers through “inorganic, fraudulent or dishonest means,” according to Twitter Audit. StatusPeople calculated that a mere 18 percent of followers were healthy, genuine followers.

The Culture of Shut Up

Too many debates about important issues degenerate into manufactured and misplaced outrage—and it's chilling free speech. - Jon Lovett/The Atlantic

...one day you found this rock and you realized that you could use the rock to write on a leaf. And so you developed a written language and taught it to everyone. And at the big village meetings, when the three elders at the front would have their arguments, villagers could participate. People would write things like, “I agree with you and appreciate your position.” Or “I hope you get cancer and die.” Or “Here’s a picture of what I ate for lunch.” Or “Please stop drawing pictures of food, no one cares what you ate for lunch.” Or “Check out this cat in a shoebox because adorable.”

But it turned out by the time we finally had this great way to communicate in our hands, we were already so angry and suspicious that the rock and leaf became a way to vent our frustrations not just as the elders but at each other.

Bill says, “I support single-payer village healthcare.”

And then Mary writes, “Bill is a faggot communist.”

And then Ted says, “I won’t shop at Mary’s boutique until Mary apologizes to Bill.”

Then Angela says, “Stand with Mary against the assault on her freedom of speech!”

And then Bill says, “Angela is a racist.”

And Jeff says, “Anyone who shops at Mary’s boutique is a racist.”

And Ted says, “Check your privilege.”

And Mary says, “I don’t remember who I am in this story but I’m furious.”

And then someone writes, “FUCKK YOU TED!!1!” in all caps with a bunch of typos.

Soon there were really only two kinds of messages people would write—either vicious personal attacks, or self-righteous calls for apology—until eventually the villagers, angry and exhausted and sick of the noise and rancor just started pelting each other with the rocks until all the rocks were broken and all the leaves were shredded and finally in the silence, after the dust had settled, the villagers shrugged their shoulders, and turned back toward the smug and satisfied village elders who were just waiting for their chance to regain supremacy—just waiting for the moment when the villagers would come crawling back, desperate to be led, desperate for the reassuring simplicity of the old order, of the establishment, of the way things used to be....