Wednesday, June 12, 2013

BIFF SPACKLE EMAILS: Real-Time News Just Got Better

Biff Spackle emails to say that BadBlue, the 24-7 real-time news service, has added dozens of news sources to its database. If you haven't seen BadBlue before, check it out. It's an automated, Drudge-style news-gathering system that avoids the big media censors.


So give it a try. Spackle says you'll love it -- or your money back.


CALL THE GANG OF EIGHT'S AMNESTY BILL WHAT IT REALLY IS: Comprehensive Democrat Importation Reform

On the left side of the aisle stands Barack Obama, the racial separatist group called La Raza ("The Race"), Chuck Schumer, the government of Mexico, the SEIU, Bob Menendez, the AFL-CIO, Dick Durbin, Harry Reid and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

Standing side-by-side with the Left are the "Republican" elements of the permanent Beltway ruling class: Karl Rove, The Wall Street Journal, John McCain, and Lindsey Graham. These are the monied elites who are using threats, promises, payoffs, twisted arms, and every other tool at their disposal to bring the likes of Marco Rubio, John Boehner, Paul Ryan, and Rand Paul to their side.

For the "Republican" establishment, it's about remaining in power. It's not about the country. It's not about stopping the importation of a permanent underclass of welfare recipients certain to vote Democrat. It's not about preserving American exceptionalism. It's not about rescuing the private sector from the damage decades of Democrat policies like "Great Society" and Obamacare have wrought.

It's not about the American people. You and I, my friends, are second-class citizens. Our voices are not nearly as important as those who have entered the country illegally.

The Heritage Foundation says the Senate's massive bill would "grant amnesty to 11 million illegal immigrants" while "recycling the flawed and failed ideas of the past".

Mickey Kaus warned earlier this week that 2016 hangs in the balance for the Republican Party on this bill: "If the conservative public were paying attention, the flaws and crude deceptions of the Schumer-Rubio bill would be common knowledge. They are so obvious, especially in the border enforcement area, that even Sen. Rubio pretends to be dissatisfied with his own bill."

The Senate Majority Leader has been very blunt: "Harry Reid indicated on Wednesday that he will not allow the Gang of Eight immigration bill to require stricter border security measures."

Ann Coulter: "It must be fun for liberals to manipulate Republicans into focusing on hopeless causes. Why don't Democrats waste their time trying to win the votes of gun owners? ... But rich businessmen don't care. Big Republican donors -- and their campaign consultants -- just want to make money. They don't care about Hispanics, and they certainly don't care what happens to the country. If the country is hurt, I don't care, as long as I am doing better! This is the very definition of treason."

Congress is about to fundamentally transform the very makeup of the American electorate into a permanent Democrat underclass addicted to government benefits.

You and I aren't going down without a fight. I urge you to call your Senator and two other Senators now (clicking will open a new window).

Tell them this bill is an IQ test for Republicans. Tell them in no uncertain terms that this bill must be stopped -- and anyone who supports it will be damaged goods from this point forward. No money. No support. And primaried, guaranteed. Call now. There is no time to waste. And thank you for your help.


Larwyn's Linx: The Mother of All Scams and Shams

Send us tips! Bloggers: install a Larwyn's Linx widget. Get real-time news, 24/7, at BadBlue.

Nation

The Mother of All Scams and Shams: Michelle Malkin
Despite massive data collection, Obama can't find 6 million illegals: GWP
Obama's Power Grab: Glenn Reynolds

The Top Twenty Obama Administration Scandals: Dossier
Secret Collection of Americans' Records Up 1,000% Under Obama: WZ
Lindsey Graham: I’d Support Censoring The Mail If Necessary: Doug Mataconis

IRS Transcript Release Would Be Too Reckless, Issa Writes: NewsMax
Chuck Schumer Republicans Push the Amnesty Train: Daniel Horowitz
Openly Gay Justice Nominee Goes Off Script: Meredith Shiner

Economy

Poverty: Americans Blame Welfare: Foundry
A California School Has A Toy-Gun Buyback: John Hawkins
Government Dependence In U.S. Reaches Absurd Levels: ETF Daily News

Obama Watching Four-Hour Documentary: Keith Koffler
Government’s Shocking Interference in Rancher’s Life: Hans von Spakovsky
Cash-only doctors abandon the insurance system: Steve Hargreaves

Scandal Central

Two New Obama Scandals in a Single Day: Keith Koffler
‘It’s a Coverup’: US Ambassador to Belgium Solicited Prostitutes, Including Minors: JWF
Computer Access Not Restricted, Lerner Continues to Log In to IRS System: Eliana Johnson

Documents Reveal DHS Abandoned Illegal Alien Background Checks: JW
Cruz: ‘Why hasn’t the Obama administration prosecuted a single felon who illegally tried to buy a gun?’: Tatler
DOD Makes $1.1 Bil in “Erroneous Payments” in One Year: JW

Media

Mark Levin: The Constitution’s Churchill: Jeffrey Lord
WaPo Quietly Changes Key Details in NSA Story: Bryan Preston
The Associated Press Notices The Public’s Crumbling Trust Of Obama: American Glob

Aaron Sorkin's Psychosis Is What Caused the IRS to Target the Tea Party: Ace
Edward Snowden: Ushanka
Allen West sets Bill Cosby straight on Muslims: Scoop

Obama's Orwellian Legacy: Dustin Walker
Obama’s No-Free Press (Cartoon): Gary McCoy
UCLA Professor: Gun Control Can't Stop a Madman: AWR Hawkins

World

Hillary’s State Department Sex Scandal: Jonathan S. Tobin
Alleged Pedophile Ambassador Protected By State Dept Is Major Obama Bundler : Nice Deb
Rep. Mike Pompeo tells American Islamic leaders their silence on Islamic terrorism makes them complicit: Scoop

Sen. Ted Cruz: Democrats Designed Immigration Bill to Fail – So They Can Use It as a Political Tool: Jim Hoft
Rand Paul’s ‘Here’s to Crime’ Act: Andrew C. McCarthy
White House Plans to Veto House Defense Bill: William Bigelow

Sci-Tech

Researchers find underwater monument in Sea of Galilee: Times of Israel
NSA Built Back Door In All Windows Software by 1999: Ritholtz
Navy to Equip Destroyers with Next-Gen Radar: Kris Osborn, DefTech

Cornucopia

Obama: “Chance” Of A Lifetime!: MOTUS
FaceBook Changes "Privacy" Features Once More: ZH
Anthony Scaramucci Has A Solution To The Ugly Broads Working In Midtown Bars Epidemic: Bess Levin, Dealbreaker

Image: The girlfriend that whistleblower Ed Snowden left behind
Sponsored by: Action Needed: What part of 'enforcement first' don’t they understand?

QOTD: "You don’t throw a whole net on the entire country and everybody’s phone numbers and check the duration and see if you can come up with some overlaps. That’s not law enforcement. That’s not how national security works. I don’t care what the hell the Supreme Court said 30 years ago or what some judge said 15 minutes ago. This is America, and our government is collecting way too damn much data on we the private citizen...

….This is what happens when our country becomes unmoored from the Constitution. The function of the federal government are without limits. We have this all-powerful centralized government with concentrated power. Stomping all over the First Amendment. I mean look at these warrants with these reporters. I was chief of staff to an Attorney General of the United States. We didn’t take a back seat to anyone who leaked information to the media, but twenty phone-taps, a hundred reporters, James Rosen’s parents? What kind of mindless idiocy is that?

I think people had better wake the hell up and understand something. That we are not a constitutional republic anymore. I don’t know what we are. I’m not saying we’re the most oppressive regime on the face of the earth either, but we are not a constitutional republic anymore. When you look at the first amendment, the assault on free speech under these campaign laws, the assault on religious groups, under the first amendment. When you look at the effort to create a registry under the second amendment on guns. When you look at the fourth and fifth amendments turned on their heads, the ninth and tenth amendments, they pretend they don’t even exist. We have a chief justice of the Supreme Court who twists the words of the commerce clause and the meaning of tax in order to uphold Obamacare. This is lawlessness. And at some point we need to unravel this federal government, unravel the ruling class and push power back to the states, municipalities, and the people, or we’re going to get more of this." --Mark R. Levin

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

HILLARY 2016! Clinton's office said to have covered up Pedophilia, Hooker and Drug Scandals in State Department

NBC News reports that a State Department whistleblower has alleged an organized cover-up of a series of scandals inside then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's massive, bloated operation.

A State Department whistleblower has accused high-ranking staff of a massive coverup — including keeping a lid on findings that members of then-Secretary Hillary Clinton’s security detail and the Belgian ambassador solicited prostitutes.

A chief investigator for the agency’s inspector general wrote a memo outlining eight cases that were derailed by senior officials, including one instance of interference by Clinton’s chief of staff, Cheryl Mills.

Any mention of the cases was removed from an IG report about problems within the Bureau of Diplomatic Security (DS), which provides protection and investigates crimes involving any State Department workers overseas... “It’s a coverup,” declared Cary Schulman, a lawyer representing the whistleblower, former State Department IG senior investigator Aurelia Fedenisn.“The whole agency is impaired..."

Among the bombshell findings:

* A DS agent was called off a case against US Ambassador to Belgium Howard Gutman over claims that he solicited prostitutes, including minors... Undersecretary of State for Management Patrick Kennedy ordered the investigation ceased, and the ambassador remains in place, according to the memo... Gutman was a big Democratic donor before taking the post, having raised $500,000 for President Obama’s 2008 campaign and helping finance his inaugural.

* At least seven agents in Clinton’s security detail hired prostitutes while traveling with her in various countries, including Russia and Colombia... Investigators called the use of prostitutes by Clinton’s security agents “endemic.” ... According to the memo, members of the Special Investigations Division (SID) approached the agent who was probing “and reportedly told him to shut down the four investigations...”

* The case in which Clinton enforcer Mills allegedly intervened centered upon Brett McGurk, Obama’s nominee to be US ambassador to Iraq... McGurk’s expected nomination fell apart after a computer hack exposed his racy e-mails and an extramarital affair with Wall Street Journal reporter Gina Chon... According to the memo, the SID “never interviewed McGurk, allegedly because Cheryl Mills from the Secretary’s office interceded...”

* The document states that a security officer stationed in Beirut, Chuck Lisenbee, allegedly engaged in sexual assaults against local guards...

...[The whistleblower], who retired in December, has been threatened by State Department officials with criminal charges.

London's Daily Mail also notes the possibility of an "underground drug ring operating near the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad."


One other reaction comes to mind, which must be repeated in a shrill, screechy voice: WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE???


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

The Merry Band of Chuck Schumer Republicans Keep Pushing the Amnesty Train Down the Tracks

I've got a very basic question for Marco Rubio, John McCain and the rest of the Schumer Republicans: why pass any new immigration law when the current administration won't enforce our existing laws?

Daniel Horowitz at RedState briefs us on the latest Amnesty news from Capitol Hill:

The Senate just voted 82-15 to proceed with debate on the amnesty/immigration deform bill. Every Democrat voted yes, laying waste to the notion that there are still moderate red state Democrats. 15 Republicans voted to stand with We the People against the La Raza foreign lobby/K Street juke box:

Barrasso, Boozman, Crapo, Cruz, Enzi, Grassley, Inhofe, Kirk, Lee, Risch, Roberts, Scott, Sessions, Shelby, Vitter

McCain, Murkowski, and Coburn were not present for the vote. The former two would have voted for it anyway. [Update: Coburn voted yes on the second procedural motion to proceed.]

The rest of the Republicans, led by Mitch McConnell, all voted to proceed with debate, thereby sealing the fate of the bill and ensuring that a phony cosmetic compromise is hatched to pass the bill and pressure the House.

We will hear a lot of statements about the need to proceed with debate in order to “strengthen” the bill. It’s akin to advocating for debate on Obamacare so we can fix the beast. This bill is beyond fixing, and even if there was a way to fix it, Democrats along with McConnell and Cornyn have made it clear that their idea of tweaking the bill is strengthening the enforcement after legalization. Rubio actually plans to offer amendments to place provisions in the bill that he originally claimed were a part of the legislation to begin with (the Zuckerberg ads still tout that original speech).

We will hear the establishment say that the status quo is unacceptable. Yes, the status quo of constant amnesty before enforcement is unacceptable. But just because the status quo is bad doesn’t mean we should make it worse just for the purpose of passing “something.” By that same logic, we should have passed Obamacare because there were problems with our current healthcare system. The status quo of Obama promulgating cap and trade regulations by executive fiat is unacceptable, so we need to pass a compromise cap and trade bill to fix the problem.

Now that we have brought the amnesty-first supporters out of the shadows, we need to call the following members and ask them what part of enforcement first don’t they understand:

Alexander (R-TN)
Ayotte (R-NH)
Blunt (R-MO)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Chiesa (R-NJ)
Coats (R-IN)
Cochran (R-MS)

Coburn (R-OK)
Collins (R-ME)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Fischer (R-NE)

Flake (R-AZ)
Graham (R-SC)
Hatch (R-UT)
Heller (R-NV)
Hoeven (R-ND)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johanns (R-NE)
Johnson (R-WI)
McConnell (R-KY)
Moran (R-KS)

Murkowski (R-AK)
Paul (R-KY)
Portman (R-OH)
Rubio (R-FL)
Thune (R-SD)
Toomey (R-PA))
Wicker (R-MS)

Remember, Alexander, McConnell, Cochran, Graham, and Cornyn are up for reelection.

As we noted yesterday, it is quite evident that Democrats have 60 votes to pass any amnesty bill. They are aiming to work with McConnell and Cornyn to insert one or two shiny objects into the bill, so they can bring along another 15-20 Republicans into the fold. This way they will have the GOP share in the blame of another failed amnesty, and place enormous pressure on the House to jump off the cliff instead of following the prudent enforcement-first approach of the House Judiciary Committee - a position supported by the vast majority of the country.


To add insult to injury, we discovered today -- thanks to Judicial Watch -- that the Department of Homeland Security isn't even performing rudimentary background checks on those illegals impacted by the Obama "DREAM Act". You may remember the Obama "DREAM Act"; it was the Executive Action the president engaged in extra-constitutionally because a Democrat Congress wouldn't pass the real DREAM Act. Remember "If Congress doesn't act, I will"?

So instead of sane policies like securing the border, our ruling elites -- with but a few exceptions -- simply pass more laws and regulations that are certain to be ignored by the Executive Branch. Millions of more poverty-stricken, poorly educated, undocumented Democrats will come "out of the shadows" and jump to the front of the line behind the legal immigrants who are trying to follow the process.

I say no more. Nothing passes. Nothing. Not until we have border security. Call and write your nearest Senators using the list above.

Tell them in no uncertain terms: don't pass any Amnesty laws when our current immigration laws are being ignored by a lawless administration.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

21 Mind-Blowing Facts: Rising Government Dependence in America

Guest post by Michael Snyder

Government dependence in the United States has reached a level never seen before. 50 years ago, the federal government handed out about 10 cents for every dollar that American workers earned. Now, the federal government hands out about 35 cents for every dollar that American workers earn. Yes, there are always poor people that cannot take care of themselves. We never want to see a single American going hungry or sleeping in the streets. But we are rapidly approaching the point where so many people are jumping on to the “safety net” that it is going to break. If you can believe it, more than 100 million Americans are enrolled in at least one welfare program, and more than 70 percent of all spending by the federal government goes to “dependence-creating programs”. If we really are “the greatest economy on earth”, then why is the number of people dependent on the government absolutely exploding? Of course the truth is that all of this just shows that we are in the midst of a long-term economic decline that is rapidly accelerating. Our economy simply does not produce enough jobs anymore, and there are a whole lot of people out there that are really suffering.

It is good to want to help all of the people that are hurting, but the reality is that we are spending far more money than we can afford to. We have been borrowing (stealing) more than 100 million dollars from our children and our grandchildren every single hour of every single day to pay for all of this. Our national debt is rapidly approaching 17 trillion dollars, and if future generations get the chance, they will look back and curse us for handing such a mountain of debt down to them.

It is absolutely criminal what we are doing to future generations. But we cannot help ourselves. We are like the 400 pound union executive in New York that takes long naps at his desk every afternoon. We know that what we are doing is not right, but we cannot help ourselves. For much more on the horror of our national debt, please see my previous article entitled “55 Facts About The Debt And U.S. Government Finances That Every American Voter Should Know“.

So what should we do? We certainly don’t want millions of Americans to go without food or a place to sleep, and yet the number of Americans that need government assistance just continues to grow. Of course the ultimate solution would be to provide a job for all of those people, but our economy is falling apart. Unless a miracle happens, the U.S. economy will never produce enough jobs ever again. As our economy continues to crumble, dependence on the government is likely going to continue to rise.

The following are 21 facts about rising government dependence in America that will blow your mind…

FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY: The Obama Scandal Word-Search Game!                              

Having trouble keeping track of all of the fast-breaking White House scandals? This handy word-search game is suitable for all ages and is, according to Joe Biden, "a big f***in' deal".


AMERICORPSFIRING
AMNESTY
ANITADUNN
AUTOPEN
BENGHAZILIES
BILLAYERS
BLACKPANTHERS
CARTELS
COVERUPS
DISCLOSEACT
DOUGSHULMAN
ENDRUNDREAMACT
ENEMIESLIST
ERICHOLDER
FASTANDFURIOUS
FISKER
FOODSTAMPS
FOREIGNCONTRIBUTIONS
FTHOOD
GOLF
HHSBLACKMAIL
HOLLYWOODBINLADEN
IFCONGRESSWONTACTIWILL
INTERNETVIDEO
IRSLEAKS
IRSTARGETING
JAMESROSEN
LIBYA
LOISLERNER
NDAA
NSASPYING
OBAMACARE
PEDOPHILIA
PERJURY
PIGFORD
RICHARDWINDSOR
SEBELIUSPAYOFFS
SHOVELREADY
SOLYNDRA
STEVENMILLER
TESLA
TSARNAEVBROTHERS
UNIONPAYOFFS
VANJONES
VOTERID
WORKPLACEVIOLENCE

Based on the Complete List of Obama Firsts.


Larwyn's Linx: Wake Up Now and Read This!

Send us tips! Bloggers: install a Larwyn's Linx widget. Get real-time news, 24/7, at BadBlue.

Nation

Wake Up Now and Read This!: Mickey Kaus
Immigration Talking Points Busted: Michael Becker
Clinton State Dept. Covered Up Investigations into Employee Misconduct : WFB

Three Lies to the Public That Must Have Consequences: Jim Geraghty
Ex-NSA Employee Leaked Surveillance Details Before Snowden: Mandy Nagy
Our Privatized National Security State: Michael Hirsh

The End of Innocence: Richard Fernandez
Government Secrets and the Need for Whistle-blowers: Bruce Schneier
Ricin Suspect Was Tracked Via Mail Scanners: TSG

Economy

Obama: 'We Don't Want to Tax All Businesses Out of Business': CNS
Where are the startups?: Jeffrey Carter
Federal regulations cost $1.8T, more than Canada, Mexico GDP: CEI

IRS Buying Spyi Equipment: Elizabeth Harrington
Obamacare Slashes Employee Hours in Indiana Schools: Daniel Halper
Sen. Ted Cruz on Farm Bill: “Does Much More Harm Than Good”: Rob Bluey

Betsy McCaughey on how she took apart the ‘Gang of 8' immigration bill: DC
Senator: foreign governments had role in immigration bill: Julian Pecquet
Did Obama Just Destroy the U.S. Internet Industry?: David Kirkpatrick

Scandal Central

Hillary's State Dept. in Huge Cover-up of Prostitution, Drug Abuse, and Necrophilia*: CBS
* Dogs were barking, could have misheard that last bit
IRS claims they can't release name of agent who illegally released data for... privacy reasons: Ace
IRS Agent Sherry Wan Caught on Tape Policing Political Speech: Bryan Preston

Psst: There are four separate scandals going on at EPA right now: Mary Katherine Ham
"The court rubber-stamped each and every petition from the Obama administration.": Brad Jackson
Ft Hood Shooter has received more than $278K since shooting; while victims struggle to pay their bills: News Ninja

Climate & Energy

EPA Leaks Private Info to Left-Wing Groups: Ricochet
@NYTimes: The Dog Ate My Global Warming: Steve Maley

Media

2005 Obama: My Goodness, I Cannot Convey How Strongly Opposed I Am to Universal Surveillance: Ace
Stop The Presses: Hillary Is Now On Twitter!: Tammy Bruce
Obama Approval Makes 20-Point Negative Swing in 2013: Breitbart

A whole lot of folks think it's great that Obama is spying on his political enemies: WyBlog
Fox News Defends Free Speech with Moral Clarity: Robert Begley
National Press Still Ignoring Absentee Ballot Scam by Fla. Dem Congressman’s Staff Chief: BizzyBlog

The drip drip drip of Hillary brand renovation continues: Anne Sorock
Why Does the New York Times So Hate Missile Defense?: Peter Huessy
An Obama Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand!: Ed Driscoll

World

Russia Conducts Test of New ICBM Designed to Defeat U.S. Defenses: Bill Gertz
North Korean defectors tell stories of abuse, torture : AIM
Bar Heaven Mass Kidnapping Audio: Witness Account Translated: Borderland Beat

The surveillance scandal is a direct result of our national denial about jihad: JihadWatch
San Fran airport’s garage now a mosque complete with Islamic foot bath: Creeping
The Further ‘Fundamental Transformation’ of the Military: Josh Painter

Sci-Tech

Edward Snowden’s lesson to both businesses and the NSA: Your IT people are your biggest risk: Gideon Lichfield
Inside Amazon's plan to sell you groceries: JP Mangalindan, Fortune
Meet the Ava 500, the Roomba's Corporate Cousin: Brad Stone, Business Week

Cornucopia

The Big Snoop®: MOTUS
Welcome to The Spectator Archive: 180 years of history now online: Sebastian Payne
Feds now back morning-after pills for all girls: Tom Hays, AP

Image: The drip drip drip of Hillary brand renovation continues
Sponsored by: Immigration reform talking points busted: Take Action Now!

QOTD: "As you probably know by now, the New York Times decided they had indeed overplayed their hand, and decided to refund most of Obama's credibility by stealth-editing their harsh judgment into "The administration has now lost all credibility on this issue"...

...The best thing Obama has going for him is perfectly illustrated by the Times stealth edit: the media will never assemble a Narrative tying all of these scandals and outrages together. They'll always break even the worst stories down into little isolated islands of controversy. They'll always say they question his credibility on one specific issue, rather than treating him like a Republican and writing meta-pieces about how he's constantly being caught lying, and it's absurd for the most powerful man on Earth to pretend he's helpless, or for a man who claimed to be smarter than all of his advisers to claim he only knows what he reads in the papers, and how everyone around him seems to "spontaneously" decide to abuse their authority in ways that further his political ambitions." --John Hayward

Monday, June 10, 2013

Using Metadata to Find Paul Revere

Absolute brilliance from Kieran Healy.

London, 1772.

I have been asked by my superiors to give a brief demonstration of the surprising effectiveness of even the simplest techniques of the new-fangled Social Networke Analysis in the pursuit of those who would seek to undermine the liberty enjoyed by His Majesty’s subjects. This is in connection with the discussion of the role of “metadata” in certain recent events and the assurances of various respectable parties that the government was merely “sifting through this so-called metadata” and that the “information acquired does not include the content of any communications”. I will show how we can use this “metadata” to find key persons involved in terrorist groups operating within the Colonies at the present time. I shall also endeavour to show how these methods work in what might be called a relational manner.


The analysis in this report is based on information gathered by our field agent Mr David Hackett Fischer and published in an Appendix to his lengthy report to the government. As you may be aware, Mr Fischer is an expert and respected field Agent with a broad and deep knowledge of the colonies. I, on the other hand, have made my way from Ireland with just a little quantitative training—I placed several hundred rungs below the Senior Wrangler during my time at Cambridge—and I am presently employed as a junior analytical scribe at ye olde National Security Administration. Sorry, I mean the Royal Security Administration. And I should emphasize again that I know nothing of current affairs in the colonies. However, our current Eighteenth Century beta of PRISM has been used to collect and analyze information on more than two hundred and sixty persons (of varying degrees of suspicion) belonging variously to seven different organizations in the Boston area.

Rest assured that we only collected metadata on these people, and no actual conversations were recorded or meetings transcribed. All I know is whether someone was a member of an organization or not. Surely this is but a small encroachment on the freedom of the Crown’s subjects. I have been asked, on the basis of this poor information, to present some names for our field agents in the Colonies to work with. It seems an unlikely task...

...Rest assured that we only collected metadata on these people, and no actual conversations were recorded or meetings transcribed. All I know is whether someone was a member of an organization or not. Surely this is but a small encroachment on the freedom of the Crown’s subjects. I have been asked, on the basis of this poor information, to present some names for our field agents in the Colonies to work with. It seems an unlikely task.

If you want to follow along yourself, there is a secret repository containing the data and the appropriate commands for your portable analytical engine... Here is what the data look like.


...I cannot show you the whole Person by Person matrix, because I would have to kill you. I jest, I jest! It is just because it is rather large. But here is a little snippet of it. At this point in the eighteenth century, a 254x254 matrix is what we call ”Bigge Data”. I have an upcoming EDWARDx talk about it. You should come. Anyway:


...The analytical engine has arranged everyone neatly, picking out clusters of individuals and also showing both peripheral individuals and—more intriguingly—people who seem to bridge various groups in ways that might perhaps be relevant to national security...


...Look at that person right in the middle there. Zoom in if you wish. He seems to bridge several groups in an unusual (though perhaps not unique) way. His name is Paul Revere.


Once again, I remind you that I know nothing of Mr Revere, or his conversations, or his habits or beliefs, his writings (if he has any) or his personal life. All I know is this bit of metadata, based on membership in some organizations. And yet my analytical engine, on the basis of absolutely the most elementary of operations in Social Networke Analysis, seems to have picked him out of our 254 names as being of unusual interest...

Read the whole thing.


Hat tips: V and Postcardiness's Blog.

Obamacare leans forward in Ohio: Health care premiums will only rise by 88 percent next year!

It's another success story for central planning! Avik Roy explains:

...on Thursday, the Ohio Department of Insurance announced that, based on the rates submitted by insurers to date, the average individual-market health insurance premium in 2014 will come in around $420, “representing an increase of 88 percent” relative to 2013...


...It’s called “rate shock,” but it’s not shocking to people who understand the economics of health insurance. In August 2011, Milliman, one of the nation’s leading actuarial firms, predicted that Obamacare would increase individual-market premiums in Ohio by 55 to 85 percent. This past March, the Society of Actuaries projected that the law would increase premiums in that market by 81 percent...

...What are the drivers of the increase? According to Milliman, the two biggest drivers are (1) risk pool composition changes, such as forcing the young to subsidize the old, and the healthy to subsidize the sick; and (2) Obamacare’s required expansion of insurance benefits, particularly its mandated reductions in deductibles and co-pays...

Stephen Green notes that insurers no longer have control of the products they are allowed to offer:

The so-called “bronze” plan — the very minimum you’ll be allowed/mandated to buy — contains more benefits than many of the “Cadillac” plans Obama sneered at from 2008-2010. And if you and your family don’t need all those benefits? Well, too bad. Because Big Government couldn’t get Big Insurance on board with the new big, bold scheme without promising to shovel much more of your money at it... So that’s precisely what they’re doing.

Please review the above chart. I included it for a specific reason. Medicare and Medicaid were signed into law in 1965. These systems were single-payer and, as such, enforced anti-free market price controls.

The results of these interventions have been stunning. And, with the advent of Obamacare's price controls, we have only just begun to see the market distortions that will result in untold misery for Americans.


Chart: Sam Baker, University of South Carolina.

Absolutely Brutal Tweets Smash White House Spying Scandals

Brought to you by Twitchy and BadBlue:



It's the Constitution, Stupid [IBD]

Guest post by Investors Business Daily


Scandal: An administration that has attacked our freedoms of speech and the press, and to peacefully assemble and petition for redress of grievances is drawing a bead on our protection against unreasonable search and seizure.
Since the beginning of the war on terror, we have heard various iterations of a famous statement by Ben Franklin from 1755: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

The Bush administration kept us safe after 9/11 through targeted use of the Patriot Act and its surveillance offshoots. If a phone number turned up on a terrorist laptop overseas, it made sense to look at who in the U.S. might have that number and what numbers called it or were called by it.

The Obama administration has thrown out all the rules, insisting that when you are looking for a needle in a haystack, it's OK to seize the haystack, keep it permanently on record and to look for whatever needle they want at any time they want.

They say they're looking for terrorists but can't find or stop those they have in plain sight. Such sweeping surveillance did not catch the "underwear" bomber who, thanks to sheer luck and alert passengers, failed to bring down an airliner over Detroit.

It did not catch the Tsarnaev brothers as they freely traveled to the terrorist haven they called home before bombing the Boston Marathon. It did not stop Maj. Nidal Hasan before he slaughtered U.S. soldiers and civilians at Ft. Hood. It has not found those responsible for the attack in Benghazi.

Larwyn's Linx: Has the Obama administration earned our trust on phone harvesting?

Send us tips! Bloggers: install a Larwyn's Linx widget. Get real-time news, 24/7, at BadBlue.

Nation

Has the Obama administration earned our trust on phone harvesting?: Moe Lane
The "worst thing the federal government has ever done": J. Christian Adams
Edward Snowden: the NSA whistleblower: Guardian

The Founder's Folly: The Supreme Court: Byron Horatio
List of Companies Cooperating with the NSA Grows to 50: Rick Moran
NSA memo pushed to 'rethink' 4th Amendment: Philip Ewing, Politico

Losing the Mandate of Heaven: Sipsey Street Irregulars
Rand Paul: Congress, not DHS, Should Decide Border Issue: Breitbart
Weekly Featured Profile: David Axelrod: Trevor Loudon

Obama Relaxing Hi-Tech Restrictions on China?: Trevor Loudon
Obama gives Chinese president Xi fabulous parting gift: Ace
The NSA Whistleblower Goes Public: Glenn Reynolds

Economy

Punching Back Twice as Hard at Eco-Statists' Catch-22: Ed Driscoll
How America Lost Its Way: Niall Ferguson
Krugman: "We Actually Don't Have A Problem With Government Debt": RCP

Scandal Central

No, We Will Not Let It Go! Who Gave the Order to Stand Down?: Lloyd Marcus
Student Loan Fraud Up 82% Under Obama: Daniel Greenfield
The Scandal Dump is a Smokescreen: Phillip Cowan

Author of Patriot Act: Never Intended to Spy on Americans as Obama is Now Using It: WZ
‘Environmental Justice,’ EPA Style: Steven F. Hayward
‘Extreme and reckless’: Rep. Issa blasts Rep. Cummings’ assertion that IRS scandal is ‘solved’: Twitchy

Climate & Energy

Compromising With the EPA: The Intelligencer / Wheeling News-Register
EPA Uses Tax Dollars for Man Cave: OzarksFirst
The EPA is a threat to farmers: Dean Fisher, Garwin, Iowa, Times-Republican

Media

You’re Gonna Need a Bigger Movement: Robert Stacy McCain
The legal academy can demonstrate where they stand in the battle between the citizen and the DOJ: Glenn Reynolds
Washington Post Announces Paywall, Hoping to Plug Revenue Gap: Don Irvine

Former NYT reporter: Obama criminalizing reporting and gets away with it for two reasons...: Blaze
Well, If The Writer At ‘Slate’ Says We Shouldn’t Worry About Gov’t Surveillance…: Stephen Kruiser
Ruh Roh: Even Progressive Moonbats Calling for Impeachment: Moonbattery

NYT Defends Partial Walkback of Their Condemnation of Obama; How Will They Handle Snowden?: Tom Blumer
The Metastasizing of Progressivism in America: Derek Hunter
Forum: Given The Scandals Surrounding His Administration, Will Obama Finish His Second Term?: Watcher

World

The Resurgence of National Pride and the Future of Europe: Geert Wilders
The stunning decline of Barack Obama: 2013: Nile Gardiner
The NSA was already on to Edward Snowden before his PRISM leaks went public: NextWeb

Former CIA Operative: U.S. will NEVER get Edward Snowden from China, there’s not a chance: Scoop
Air Force Prohibiting Airmen from Reading NSA Scandal Stories: Shane Vander Hart
Former CIA Officer: Officials Considering NSA Whistleblower’s Case ‘Potential Chinese Espionage’: Evan McMurry

America Will Pay a Price for President Obama’s Inaction in Syria: Michael Barone
Obama Official to Share Stage With Three Islamists: Ryan Mauro
Insurgents attack military side of Kabul airport: Fox

Sci-Tech

What Prism slide-presentation means by "direct access" to Internet giants' servers: Cory Doctorow
Danger in 3-D: The Rapid Spread of Printable Pistols: Uwe Buse, Spiegel
Air Force Surgeon General warns of deadly virus from Middle East: Army Times

Cornucopia

Out of the Mouths of Liberals: Ace
The real story in the NSA scandal is the collapse of journalism: Ed Bott, ZDNet
Tonight’s whiney ad nauseum news item...: Sondrakistan

Image: Mass honors bomb victim on day he would turn 9
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Freedom's Torch

QOTD: "The administration claims authority to sift through details of our private lives because the Patriot Act says that it can. I disagree. I authored the Patriot Act, and this is an abuse of that law...

...In his press conference on Friday, President Obama described the massive collection of phone and digital records as "two programs that were originally authorized by Congress, have been repeatedly authorized by Congress". But Congress has never specifically authorized these programs, and the Patriot Act was never intended to allow the daily spying the Obama administration is conducting...

...Congress intended to allow the intelligence communities to access targeted information for specific investigations. How can every call that every American makes or receives be relevant to a specific investigation?

This is well beyond what the Patriot Act allows..." --Rep. James Sensebrenner

Sunday, June 09, 2013

The Resume of NSA Leaker Edward Snowden: Stunning

I'd hate to be in the Public Relations department at government contractor Booz Allen Hamilton this weekend. It's not just the fact that Snowden is/was a Booz employee.

Booz Allen Hamilton, Edward Snowden's employer, is one of America's biggest security contractors and a significant part of the constantly revolving door between the US intelligence establishment and the private sector.

The current of director [sic] of national intelligence (DNI), James Clapper, who issued a stinging attack on the intelligence leaks this weekend, is a former Booz Allen executive.

And it's not just that DNI Clapper is an ex-BAH exec and his statement is just a tad embarrassing.

No, let's examine the reported resume of Snowden (dates are estimated):

• Raised in Elizabeth City, North Carolina and later moved to Maryland.

• Attended a community college, but never completed his coursework and never graduated from high school.

• 2003-2004: U.S. Army, discharged after training accident

• 2005: NSA, Security Guard, University of Maryland.

• 2006: CIA, IT security.

• 2007-2009: CIA, diplomatic cover, Switzerland.

• 2009-2013: NSA Contractor, Dell and later Booz Allen Hamilton.

Salary: around $200,000.

What? Seriously? So a guy who never even graduated from high school (he later reportedly earned a G.E.D.) and started his professional career as a security guard, got hired by a couple of defense contractors and -- at age 29 -- was making $200K a year?

If this story is true, I don't know what's more bizarre: the leak itself or the sheer profligacy of the federal spending machine.


Update 6/11/2013: Booz Allen Hamilton has revealed that Snowden lied about his salary: it was $120,000 -- not $200,000.


CALIFORNIA STATE BUDGET IN AWESOME SHAPE: Bay Area Rapid Transit honcho earned $333,000 last year without working a single day

There are those who believe that California is running a budget surplus. And there are those who believe in the Tooth Fairy. Both groups have an equal amount of credibility.

California's massive pension, education, and health care obligations -- to name but a few -- have mysteriously been omitted from the current-state budget analysis. Exhibit 90 jabillion of the fiscal insanity is a particularly crusty old bird named Dorothy Dugger, who has pulled off one of the more elegant (legal) ripoffs of the state's taxpayers.

With a gross salary of more than $333,000, BART's highest-paid employee last year wasn't its general manager, police chief or a worker who racked up gobs of overtime scrubbing grime from filthy train seats... [Instead it] was someone who did no work at all for BART in 2012: Dorothy Dugger, the agency's former general manager who resigned under pressure more than two years ago.

Under a lucrative retirement scheme, Dugger, 57, quietly stayed on the books, burning off nearly 80 weeks of unused vacation time, drawing paychecks and full benefits for more than 19 months after she agreed to quit in May 2011, according to an analysis by this newspaper. By remaining on BART's payroll, she accrued almost two extra months of vacation, while sitting at home drawing a six-figure salary for unused time off.

The months of extra pay were on top of the $920,000 that BART paid Dugger to leave after the agency's board botched an effort to fire her by violating public meetings laws...[she] reaped the astonishing windfall by cashing in more than 3,100 vacation hours, saved during her 20 years with BART.

[In addition, because] she was allowed to drag out her vacation-bank payments for months, Dugger received $138,000 worth of benefits, including pension contributions and medical insurance -- perks she would not have received if she had taken her vacation payments in a lump-sum check. Since she remained on BART's payroll, Dugger also received an additional $98,000 in cash, because she was still racking up vacation time and management bonuses -- even though she had no one to manage.

...Remaining on BART's payroll also added both time and money to the calculations on which Dugger's retirement is based -- increasing her pension payments by more than $1,000 a month for life. When her time on BART's books finally ran out in December, she began to draw a pension of $181,000 a year.

...Dugger said she was proud of her time with BART. Asked if her lucrative use of vacation time exposed a fiscal flaw in the agency, she said, "I think BART's track record on fiscal management is quite solid."

Quite solid indeed.

Thanks to the nefarious alliance of Democrats and public sector unions, California's budget woes haven't even begun.


Hat tip: LVN.

The power to tax inequitably and with impunity is the power to destroy [MM]

Guest post by MM


We now know that the Obama administration used the IRS to purposefully target Christian ministries, Jews, Patriots, Republican Senate candidates, Pro-Life groups, and those who support the Military for extraordinary scrutiny and delays in their tax returns and applications for tax-exempt status.

By the way, for all of you Obama voters -- those of you who still support Obama, that is -- but also support some parts of Christian ministries, Jewish organizations, Patriots, Republican Senate candidates, Pro-Life groups and those who support the Military, well, you really need to arrange all of this in your minds in a way that allows you to live with yourselves.

Here's a thought.

Perhaps if the IRS would target Gay, Black, Pro-Abortion, or Hispanic organizations -- or even organizations founded by Obama's half-brother -- with the same zeal that it has demonstrated against conservatives and Jews, we could get the American public interested in the lies and deceit being uncovered daily about this Administration.


Rep. Elijah Cummings Wants the IRS Scandal to Go Away: It's "Solved", Even Though We Don't Know Who Instigated It

The IRS scandal must be very, very bad for the Obama administration. For those of you who stepped away for the last several weeks, it was handily summarized for us by Jim Hoft:

The IRS targeted hundreds of conservative groups since 2010. 500 conservative and Christian groups were illegally targeted by the Obama IRS starting in 2010. For twenty-seven months the Obama IRS refused to approve any Tea Party applications for tax-exempt status. At the same time the Obama IRS approved dozens of progressive applications within weeks.

The ranking member of the House Oversight Committee -- Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) -- must know something that we don't. And he wants us to remain in the dark regarding what really happened between the White House and he IRS. Mind you, this is the same administration that targeted not only conservative, Christian and Jewish groups using the IRS, but also attacked the Associated Press and Fox News through its highly politicized Justice Department.

“Based upon everything I’ve seen, the case is solved,” Cummings told CNN’s Candy Crowley. “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.”


Oversight Committee chairman Darrell Issa slammed Cummings for his claims, calling them “extreme and reckless” and arguing they are “a signal that his true motivation is stopping needed Congressional oversight.” Issa added that “fortunately” Cummings cannot stop the ongoing the investigation.

The Oversight Committee, which, along with the House Ways and Means Committee, is investigating the IRS’s systematic targeting of tea-party groups, is currently interviewing several agency officials involved in the scandal. Though they have linked the initial orders to identify tea-party applications to officials in Washington, D.C., they have yet to identify the official who asked for those applications, or to determine whether the White House was involved in the targeting of conservative groups.

Elijah Cummings, who heretofore struck me as a thoughtful and deliberative man, should be ashamed of himself.



Politicizing the instrumentalities of the federal government has reached a record and intolerable level under this administration. And Cummings appears more invested in advancing his party's interest than pursuing his constitutionally mandated role of oversight.


Related: BUSTED: The Complete IRS Scandal Timeline in Spreadsheet Format.


How Did It Start? [Brad]

Guest post by Brad

When I was in elementary school I was having trouble coming up with an idea for my science project and my friend had come up with two ideas. I convinced him the one I didn’t want to do was better so he did that one. I did his other one, and got an A. He got a B+.

I joined The Boy Scouts when I was 11 and it was a blast. I got to go camping and always had a great buddy that was very skilled in all areas of the outdoors. They always seemed happy to do the stuff I was unsure of. I remember that I had to get my Eagle before I was 16 or I couldn’t get my driver’s license, and my 16th birthday was getting close. I never understood why it was so important to have all of those merit badges and when they told me I was missing a couple I was very disappointed. I was pretty sure I must have done enough stuff that it would equal those badges so I bought a couple of blank merit badge cards and filled them out. I turned in the part I would have kept to my new leader and told him I had done them at one of the camps and they must have lost the paperwork at the scout office. They got me some “Replacement” badges and took care of the lost papers so I was able to get my License. That was a close one.

When I was in High School I needed to write a paper, but putting the subject into words was hard so I found one on the internet that I liked. I didn’t want to be accused of cheating so I changed some of the wording, and found some other references that matched up so that it was more original. Then I found some pictures that would enhance the data in the report on the internet so I cut and pasted them into my report. A few had some names and source data on them that didn’t look good so I cropped that stuff out and submitted it. I got a B on that one, but I was happy with that and it was pretty easy. This same process was very helpful on other projects and papers too, and if something isn’t broken, don’t fix it, right? After all it saved me so much time.

Larwyn's Linx: Mark Steyn on The All-Seeing State

Send us tips! Bloggers: install a Larwyn's Linx widget. Get real-time news, 24/7, at BadBlue.

Nation

The All-Seeing State: Mark Steyn
Whistleblower’s NSA warning: ‘Just the tip of the iceberg’: Shaun Waterman
Guardian scoop about NSA surveillance program may be overstated: RedAlert

Obama's Ethical Gymnastics: Victor Davis Hanson
Gohmert: If Holder ignores another subpoena, it’s time to defund the DOJ: Scoop
Rich ‘progressive’ Ken Lerer wants to ensure only criminals are armed: Codrea

"Mother, Should I Trust the Government?": Karl Denninger
Prism: Background Info: Ace
A Congressman with Guts Takes on Obama: Doug Patton

Economy

American Households On Foodstamps Climb To New Record: Tyler Durden
Don’t Be Fooled by the Latest Jobs Numbers: Keith Koffler
Government Employed 92,000 Additional People in May: CNS

What People Think is the Leading Cause of Poverty in America: MenRec
Illinois Continues Its Sad, Slow Slide: Walter Russell Mead
Obama Economic ‘Recovery’ So Great Motorists Have To Rent Tires: SHN

The Problem with Obamacare’s “Rate Shocks”: Walter Russell Mead
Labor Unions Turn Against Obamacare: Eric Oldfather
Counterterrorism Drill Makes Downtown Los Angeles Look Like Urban War Zone: NoisyRm

Scandal Central

EPA awarded ethics certificate to Lisa Jackson alias ‘Richard Windsor’: Josh Hicks
Lawmakers press EPA for answers on alleged 'bias' against conservative groups: Fox
Boundless Informant: the NSA's secret tool to track global surveillance data: Guardian

White House Getting to Bottom of Surveillance Scandal — Who Leaked the News, That Is: Bridget Johnson
Where's Obama as IRS, EPA compete for most bizarre scandal in Washington?: Reince Priebus
Administration's Secret Email Accounts: Sean Hannity

Climate & Energy

The EPA Is The Underreported Scandal: Ace
Shaun Adkins, USMC Veteran who dismantled Sen. Manchin: I want answers and truth, DC has failed: News Ninja
Could A Volcano Power America?: Colin Lecher

Media

Big Brother Looking Out for Us or Just Looking at Us?: Mike Herrera
Quote of the Day: Ushanka
Al Sharpton: I trust Obama on wiretapping, but he won’t be president forever: Charlie Spiering

Cut the Crap: Karl Denninger
As Predicted, New York Times Just Can't Stay Mad at Its Backdoor Lover: Ace
Judge Jeanine on Obama Spy Scandals: Founding fathers wouldn’t even recognize America today: Right Scoop

Soldier Reprimanded for Reading David Limbaugh and Mark Levin: Andrew C. McCarthy
Sarah Palin convenes liberty-lovers’ book club in support of conservative soldier: Twitchy
Texas High School Officials Cut Mic on Valedictorian’s Speech on US Constitution: GWP

World

Europe under attack, Israel beware: Dror Eydar
How to Stop Jihad In Its Tracks: Pamela Geller
Santa Monica Shooter Identified – Middle Eastern Name – John Zawahri: GWP

Russia Vows to Send Anti-Aircraft Missiles to Syria to Keep "Western Hotheads" Out of Their Satrapy: Ace
FBI agent announcing sharia at Tennessee event approved Muslim-led purge of FBI training: Creeping
Benched: Obama gives China’s leader patio furniture as parting gift, goes golfing: Twitchy

Chris Christie fills NJ Senate seat with dhimmi: Creeping
Lawmakers rebut Obama's data defense: Reid Epstein, Politico
The Games Behind the Olympics Games: Thomas Purcell

Sci-Tech

How to Keep the NSA at Bay: The Tricks From Privacy Experts: Winston Ross
Apple Said to Start IPhone Trade-In Program in Stores: Bloomberg
Ancient 3-Inch Creature Holds Clue to Human Divergence From Apes: Bloomberg

Cornucopia

Listening to the People: iOTW
1944…1949…1984…2013: Which Doesn’t Belong and Why?*: MOTUS
Ohio Man Faces 329 Charges in Missing Women Case: Law Officer

Image: Labor Unions Turn Against Obamacare
Sponsored by: Pass It On→ AUDIT THE IRS RALLY – June 19th Noon – US Capitol West Lawn

QOTD: "...money printing must lead to higher inflation at some point. The combination in Japan of a gigantic pile of accumulated debt, high running budget deficits, an old and aging population, near-zero interest rates and the prospect of rising inflation (indeed, that is the official goal of Abenomics!) are a toxic mix for the bond market. It is absurd to assume that you can destroy your currency and dispossess your bond investors and at the same time expect them to reward you with low market yields. Rising yields, however, will derail Abenomics and the whole economy, for that matter.

It is, of course, too early to tell. The whole thing could end up being just a storm in a tea cup. It could be over soon and markets could fall back in line with what the central planners prescribe. But somehow I doubt that this is just a blip – and interestingly, so does Mohamed El-Erian, Bill Gross’ colleague at PIMCO and the firm’s other co-chief investment officer. In an interesting article on CNN Money yesterday, he contemplated the possibility that markets were beginning to lose confidence in central bankers.

If that is indeed the case it won’t be confined to Japan but will rapidly reverberate around the world. This is a much bigger story than a modest slowing of QE in the US. Could it be the beginning of the end?

I think the central bankers may not be sleeping so well now." --Detlev Schlichter

Saturday, June 08, 2013

Checking back in with the survivors of the Boston Marathon bombings

People Magazine's Kristen Mascia (subscription required) circles back with several survivors of the Boston Marathon bombings:

When they met on April 15 on their way to the hospital, Roseann Sdoia and Marc Fucarile were both fighting for their lives.

"She kept me awake, telling me to focus on my fiancée and my kid," says Fucarile, who lost his right leg that day.

They're still turning to each other, like so many of their fellow survivors – whom PEOPLE photographed on May 30 at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Charlestown, Mass.

"Marc and his family will be in my life forever," says Sdoia, who also lost a leg. "The new friends I've made, they're all amazing. I'm thankful for them."

Mery Daniel shares that spirit. "I choose to focus on the positive," she says. "I'm happy to be alive."

Bless all of these folks and their families.

But seemingly lost among the series of scandals swirling around the Obama administration is the Marathon bombing:

Despite being warned -- repeatedly -- by foreign intelligence services that the Tsarnaev brothers were likely Jihadists bent on terror attacks in the U.S., the Holder Justice Department did nothing.

Perhaps that was related to the bizarre directives, beginning in 2009, to scrub all connections between Islamists and terrorism from law enforcement training material.

In October 2011, 57 Islamic groups wrote a letter to John O. Brennan, now CIA director, but then President Obama’s chief counterterrorism adviser. Citing news reports, the groups complained of “biased, false and highly offensive training materials about Muslims and Islam” inside the federal government’s instructional halls...

...The White House issued an edict to scrub all law enforcement, intelligence and military teachings on Islam. The FBI ended up discarding pages of information that warned about the threat from the Brotherhood.

Consider for a moment: the myriad of scandals swirling around President Obama -- Fast and Furious, Benghazi, the IRS targeting of political opponents, the wiretaps of the Associated Press, the James Rosen debacle, and many, many more -- all appear related to suppressing the American people. At the same time, illegal aliens and Islamists are welcomed with open arms by the administration.

There is something fundamentally broken in America.


Hat tip: BadBlue Fame: Real-Time Entertainment News.