Foreign

Labor Statistics Chief: Jobs Numbers Misleading

July 18, 2013 By Editor Leave a Comment

Think the economy is bouncing back quickly? Think again, says the former top number-cruncher in charge of the Washington Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Keith Hall tells the New York Post Thursday that the BLS, White House and media are wasting time focusing on an edited set of data and using it to paint an incorrect picture of the American jobs market on the mend. The current U.S. unemployment level is reported to be around 7.6 percent.

“Right now [it’s] misleadingly low,” Hall told the New York paper.

Hall, like many other economists, believes that the more accurate reading of Americans who want a job but can’t find one is north of 10 percent.

Hall is now a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.

He says the jobless rate that grabs the most headlines — called the U-3 — doesn’t factor in people who have stopped looking for work, but does count employed people who have clocked in as little as an hour of work during the prior month.

Hall says another more accurate indicator of the country’s economic health is in the U-6 number, which factors in the underemployed. That number, he said, jumped in June to 14.3 percent from 13.8 percent the month before.

“This has been a very slow, very bad recovery,” he said. “And I think the numbers have really struggled as a result. In fact, I’ve been very disappointed in the coverage of the numbers.”

The July monthly jobs report is scheduled to be released Aug. 2.

Published July 18, 2013 / FoxNews.com

Britain: “Rape Jihad” Against Children

July 12, 2013 By Editor Leave a Comment

A court in London has sentenced seven members of a Muslim child grooming gang based in Oxford to at least 95 years in prison for raping, torturing and trafficking British girls as young as 11.

The high-profile trial was the latest in a rapidly growing list of grooming cases that are forcing politically correct Britons to confront the previously taboo subject of endemic sexual abuse of children by predatory Muslim paedophile gangs.

The 18-week trial drew unwelcome attention to the sordid reality that police, social workers, teachers, neighbors, politicians and the media have for decades downplayed the severity of the crimes perpetrated against British children because they were afraid of being accused of “Islamophobia” or racism.

The seven members of the Oxford child grooming gang who were found guilty (clockwise from top left): Kamar Jamil, Akhtar Dogar, Anjum Dogar, Assad Hussain, Mohammed Karrar, Bassam Karrar, and Zeeshan Ahmed.

According to government estimates that are believed to be “just the tip of the iceberg,” at least 2,500 British children have so far been confirmed to be victims of grooming gangs, and another 20,000 children are at risk of sexual exploitation. At least 27 police forces are currently investigating 54 alleged child grooming gangs across England and Wales.

“As one police officer said to me, ‘There isn’t a town, village or hamlet in which children are not being sexually exploited.’ We should start from the assumption that children are being sexually exploited right the way across the country.” — Sue Berelowitz, Deputy Children’s Commissioner for England

Judge Peter Rook, who presided over the trial that ended on June 27 at the Central Criminal Court of England and Wales (aka the Old Bailey), sentenced five of the men to life in prison and ordered them to serve a minimum of between 12 and 20 years before becoming eligible for parole.

Rook said the severity of the jail terms — which are longer than those in other high-profile grooming cases such as those in Rochdale, Derby and Telford — were meant to send a message to abusers that they would be targeted and brought to justice.

After reading the sentence, Rook said the men — who are from Pakistan and Eritrea (see profiles here) — had committed “a series of sexual crimes of the utmost depravity” and had targeted “young girls because they were vulnerable, underage and out of control.”

The ringleaders of the gang, brothers Akhtar Dogar, 32, and Anjum Dogar, 31, were given life sentences and were told by the judge that they had been found guilty of “exceptionally grave crimes.” They are to remain in prison for a minimum of 17 years before becoming eligible for parole.

A second pair of brothers, Bassam Karrar, 33, and Mohammed Karrar, 38, were also given life sentences. Mohammed Karrar was given a minimum sentence of 20 years for the “dreadful offenses” he committed against the girls, including one child whom he branded with the letter “M” for Mohammed. He began pimping the girl when she was only 11, and forced her to have a backstreet abortion when she was 12.

In graphic testimony, one of the victims told the court that Mohammed Karrar would charge men £500 ($750) to have sex with her. They would take her to homes in High Wycombe where she would be subjected to gang rapes, incidents that she described as “torture sex.” The men would tie her up and gag her mouth with a ball to stop her cries from being heard. The men would play out abuse fantasies; sometimes she was left bleeding for days afterwards.

In one of her few acts of defiance, she threatened Mohammed Karrar with his own lock knife as he was preparing to rape her; he knocked her out with a metal baseball bat.

Mohammed’s younger brother, Bassam Karrar, who was found guilty of brutally raping and attacking a 14-year-old girl while he was high on cocaine, was ordered to serve a minimum of 15 years.

Kamar Jamil, 27, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 12 years. Assad Hussain, 32, and Zeeshan Ahmed, 28, were both jailed for seven years.

The six victims who gave evidence were aged between 11 and 15 when the abuse took place. They were plied with drugs and alcohol, repeatedly raped, sold and trafficked as prostitutes, all at a time during which when they were supposedly in the safekeeping of local authorities.

The trial — details of which were so disturbing that jury members were excused from ever having to sit on a jury again — exposed years of failings by Thames Valley police and Oxford social services. The court heard that the girls were abused between 2004 and 2012 and that police were told about the crimes as early as 2006, that they were contacted at least six times by victims, but failed to act.

The mother of Girl “A” said the police and social services had failed to protect the girls and made her and other family members feel as if they were overreacting. She said: “I can recall countless incidents when I have been upset and frustrated by various professional bodies.”

The mother of Girl “C” told the British newspaper The Guardian that she had begged social services staff to rescue her daughter from the rape gang. She said that her daughter’s abusers had threatened to cut the girl’s face off and promised to slit the throats of her family members. She said that they had been forced to leave their home after the men had threatened to decapitate family members.

Despite irrefutable evidence that the girls were being sexually abused, no one — according to a report published by the House of Commons on June 5 — acted to draw all the facts together, apparently due to fears by police and social workers that they would be accused of racism against Muslims.

The report, “Child Sexual Exploitation and the Response to Localized Grooming,” states: “Evidence presented to us suggests that there is a model of localized grooming of Pakistani-heritage men targeting young White girls. This must be acknowledged by official agencies, who we were concerned to hear in some areas of particular community tension, had reportedly been slow to draw attention to the issue for fear of affecting community cohesion. The condemnation from those communities of this vile crime should demonstrate that there is no excuse for tip-toeing around this issue. It is important that police, social workers and others be able to raise their concerns freely, without fear of being labelled racist.”

These allegations have been confirmed by the imam of the Oxford Islamic Congregation, Taj Hargey, who says race and religion are inextricably linked to the spate of grooming rings in which Muslim men are targeting under-age white girls.

Writing in the Daily Mail on May 15, Hargey states: “Apart from its sheer depravity, what also depresses me about this case is the widespread refusal to face up to its hard realities. The fact is that the vicious activities of the Oxford ring are bound up with religion and race: religion, because all the perpetrators, though they had different nationalities, were Muslim; and race, because they deliberately targeted vulnerable white girls, whom they appeared to regard as ‘easy meat’, to use one of their revealing, racist phrases.”

“But as so often in fearful, politically correct modern Britain,” Hargey continues, “there is a craven unwillingness to face up to this reality. Commentators and politicians tip-toe around it, hiding behind weasel words. … Part of the reason this scandal happened at all is precisely because of such politically correct thinking. All the agencies of the state, including the police, the social services and the care system, seemed eager to ignore the sickening exploitation that was happening before their eyes. Terrified of accusations of racism, desperate not to undermine the official creed of cultural diversity, they took no action against obvious abuse.”

According to Hargey, “Another sign of the cowardly approach to these horrors is the constant reference to the criminals as ‘Asians’ rather than as ‘Muslims.’ In this context, Asian is a completely meaningless term. The men were not from China, or India or Sri Lanka or even Bangladesh. They were all from either Pakistan or Eritrea, which is, in fact, in East Africa rather than Asia.”

He also says the grooming rings in Britain are actually being promoted by imams who encourage followers to believe that white women deserve to be “punished.” He writes that Muslims in Britain “have been drip-fed for years [with] a far less uplifting doctrine, one that denigrates all women, but treats whites with particular contempt. In the misguided orthodoxy that now prevails in many mosques, including several of those in Oxford, men are unfortunately taught that women are second-class citizens, little more than chattels or possessions over whom they have absolute authority.”

Hargey points to a telling incident in the trial when it was revealed that Mohammed Karrar branded one of the girls with an “M,” as if she were a cow. He writes, “‘Now, if you have sex with someone else, he’ll know that you belong to me,’ said this criminal, highlighting an attitude where women are seen as nothing more than personal property. The view of some Islamic preachers towards white women can be appalling. They encourage their followers to believe that these women are habitually promiscuous, decadent and sleazy — sins which are made all the worse by the fact that they are kaffurs or non-believers. Their dress code, from mini-skirts to sleeveless tops, is deemed to reflect their impure and immoral outlook. According to this mentality, these white women deserve to be punished for their behavior by being exploited and degraded.”

According to the British Children’s Minister, Tim Loughton, “We are only seeing the tip of the iceberg now. For too long it was something of a taboo issue in this country, little spoken about, little appreciated, little acknowledged or dealt with.” He also said the grooming cases raise “very troubling questions about the attitude of the perpetrators, all but one of whom were from Pakistani backgrounds, towards white girls. Nothing is gained by shying away from that.”

During a recent House of Commons hearing on “Child Sexual Exploitation and the Response to Localized Grooming” the Deputy Children’s Commissioner for England, Sue Berelowitz, said: “What I am uncovering is that sexual exploitation of children is happening all over the country. As one police officer who was the lead in a very big investigation in a very lovely, leafy, rural part of the country said to me: ‘There isn’t a town, village or hamlet in which children are not being sexually exploited.’ The evidence that has come to the fore during the course of my inquiry is that that, unfortunately, appears to be the case.”

Berelowitz continued: “We should start from the assumption that children are being sexually exploited right the way across the country. In urban, rural and metropolitan areas, I have hard evidence of children being sexually exploited. That is part of what is going on in some parts of our country. It is very sadistic. It is very violent. It is very ugly.”

Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute. He is also Senior Fellow for European Politics at the Madrid-based Grupo de Estudios Estratégicos / Strategic Studies Group. Follow him on Facebook.

GOP House Can Undo Obama Damage With Purse Strings

July 10, 2013 By Editor Leave a Comment

With the 2012 elections in the books, the result is that there has been no change in the makeup of America’s government. The Democrats won major advances in 2008, but were rebuked in the 2010 elections with the loss of the House of Representatives.

Now, the status quo prevails, and the government is growing larger and intruding evermore into the lives of Americans and burdening their businesses to the point of closing their doors.

As we look forward to the next 3.5 years of Obama governance, our state of the nation is extremely precarious, as real unemployment rates skyrocket, especially for young minorities, and as we head for the brink of a deadly fiscal and social cliff.

During Obama’s first term Republicans in the House were loathe to exercise the power the Constitution affords the House of Representatives. Now, following disclosures of monumental abuses by the IRS and NSA, House Republicans are finally threatening to cut budgets.

Indeed, the time to step up and enforce the Constitution is long past due, and we call upon House Speaker John Boehner to abandon his tepid leadership practices of the past and begin doing what the American people and Constitution sent him to do–govern.

In fact, not one penny gets spent in this nation without the GOP controlled House consenting to it. This fact gives Boehner and the GOP all power. They don’t have to compromise.

They are the kid with the ball, who is able to take it home and end the game any time the other kids fail to play by the rules. The Democrats stopped playing by the rules of the Constitution generations ago, and their hell-bent march to the left has rendered them enemies of the Constitution.

Obamacare, deficits, spying on citizens, targeting conservative groups, military cuts . . . these are all titillating fantasies of the left, but need not become our reality if the GOP will just exercise its Constitutional mandates and cut the budgets to offending agencies tasked with implementing unconstitutional policies.

Regarding the budget in general, the GOP must simply send a balanced budget with spending appropriated for Constitutionally mandated items to the Senate with instructions: “Pass this budget and send it to the president for signing, because it is the only budget you will get from us.” If they do that, then go to the golf course; GAME OVER.

Will the Democrats in the Senate and White House whine and scream? Yes. Will it do them any good? No. Why? Because without the consent of the House, the government cannot spend any money. Not one thin dime. Not a penny. Not a peso.

Can the Dems do an end run around the House and appropriate money for their programs? No. Will offending government agencies shut down? Perhaps. Is that bad? No.

Will this plan work? YES! It is time for the GOP to show the American people that they are doing the job they were elected to do–govern within a balanced budget and provide the basic services mandated by the Constitution.

PUBLIUS

Dependence Day – The Return of King George

July 4, 2013 By Editor Leave a Comment

With the level of the federal deficit approaching $17,000,000,000 (trillions), the interest on which costs Americans the first $1,300,000,000 (billion) they make every day, and the recent explosion of federal power over the citizens and the states as handed to U.S. socialists by the Supreme Court and the prolific pen of the Executive Order, the independence from government rule and tyranny sought by our Founders is all but neutralized. We and our children are indebted and imprisoned by design of a leftist attack on our country, and an Orwellian federal government spies on patriotic citizens and treats them like enemies while Islamic terrorists are welcomed into the White House.

A polarization has occurred in the nation—as the left has chipped away at personal liberty and individual sovereignty over the past several decades, those who cherish freedom have finally begun to become more vocal in their resistance. But is it too little, too late?

The left has made tremendous inroads in their quest to replace King George with its own elitist panels, commissions and czars, and within the past year its inches of ground winning have become feet.

. . . even an overtaxed economy like ours has rendered our own 99% the 1% of the world.

In the name of laborer parity and elevating the ethnically or socially disadvantaged, the socialists and communists of the past century have robbed the people of the world of their birthright, established by the labor and sacrifice of their 18^th and19^th Century Forbearers. In the name of pretended “fairness” leftist forces have lowered the wealth and opportunities of everyone rather than elevate the status of the less fortunate.

Look at any country where socialism and liberalism have penetrated the veil of liberty. Not one of them has improved the quality of life of their working people.

Where do we find the bottom half of earners in America? With all of the talk of the 1% and the 99% in this country, and the mindless chants of brain-dead occupiers in the streets, even an overtaxed economy like ours has rendered our own 99% the 1% of the world. Nearly all of our poor live in good housing, have clean water and food aplenty (many suffer from obesity), a computer of some kind, and cell phones and cable television. They live better than the wealthy of many of the earth’s nations.

Additionally, the tremendous generosity and military might of Americans has been the salvation of billions of people around the world, whose leftist economies have left them with nothing but squalor, want and exposure to dictators and war lords (usually leftists).

We hear of the Tea Party these days, and the name is spoken with disdain by over half of the country, and almost all of the mainstream media. Does any of them actually recall where the term originated? Do they remember how an oppressive monarch imposed taxes that were hard to bear and intruded into the personal liberties of a hardworking people, and that those people finally decided that they would take no more and rose up in rebellion, starting with throwing British tea into the harbor?

No, sadly enough, most young adults these days are the products of a dumbing-down campaign launched by the left and its educational arm, the National Education Association. They have mush for brains and their education consists of nothing more than pop culture and global warming propaganda.

We have nearly come full circle. We have hundreds of millions dependent on government and its handouts, a White House dedicated to the overthrow of the Constitution, and a Supreme Court that has decreed that the people are to be taxed even for services they DO NOT purchase at the government’s command.

King George is back, liberty has been strangled to near enslavement, and this time it will take more than a few muskets to rid us of the burgeoning oppression. America has not seen such dark times since the Civil War. I say the Civil War, because in all other wars the enemy was external. If we fail to immediately change our course, we will be irretrievably carried back under the oppression of dictatorship. We invite all liberty loving Americans to join the revolution, and to regain our independence from oppressive, centralized government.

PUBLIUS

Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood Leader Arrested

July 4, 2013 By Editor Leave a Comment

Egyptian security officials said Thursday that they have arrested the Muslim Brotherhood’s leader, after the military ousted Brotherhood-aligned President Mohammed Morsi and replaced him with the supreme justice of the Constitutional Court.

The officials said Mohammed Badie was arrested Wednesday night in a resort village in Marsa Matrouh, a Mediterranean coastal city west of Cairo not far from the Libyan border. He had been staying in a villa owned by a businessman with Brotherhood links.

The officials spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.

He was flown to Cairo on a military helicopter, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The prosecutor’s office, a day after the overthrow, ordered Badie’s arrest, and his deputy Khairat el-Shater, sources told Reuters. The two were reportedly wanted for inciting the killing of protesters in front of the Brotherhood’s headquarters in Cairo’s southern neighborhood called Mokattam, the AFP reported.

“This is the first time in the history of the Brotherhood that it is the people and not the regime that are acting against the movement”- Ibrahim al-Hudaibi, a prominent former member of the group

Al Ahram, a major state newspaper, reported that eight protesters were killed while attacking the headquarters, The New York Times reported.

Publicly, the Brotherhood urged members to avoid violence during the most recent upheaval.

In addition to the two high-ranking leaders, Al-Ahram reported that arrest warrants were issued for 300 other members of the Brotherhood, Reuters reported.

Badie and el-Shater were widely believed by the opposition to be the real power in Egypt during Morsi’s tenure. As of Wednesday night, Badie was last known to be holed up at a tourist resort on the Mediterranean coast near the Libyan border, with security forces surrounding the building.

The leader of the Brotherhood’s political arm — Freedom and Justice Party — and another of Badie’s deputies have been detained.

The arrests and warrants against Brotherhood leaders signal a crackdown by the military against Islamists who have dominated the political scene in Egypt since the ouster in 2011 of autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

Embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told a state-run newspaper that Morsi’s fall means the end of “political Islam.”

The Brotherhood’s television station, Misr 25, has been taken off the air along with several TV networks run by Islamists. Morsi’s critics have long accused the stations of sowing divisions among Egyptians and inciting against secularists, liberals, Christians and Shiite Muslims with their hard-line rhetoric.

Adi Mansour, Egypt’s interim leader, made overtures to the Brotherhood in his inauguration.

“The Muslim Brotherhood are part of this people and are invited to participate in building the nation as nobody will be excluded, and if they respond to the invitation, they will be welcomed,” he said, according to Reuters.

Still, Morsi’s ouster is seen by many as a blow to the Brotherhood’s push for influence in North Africa just two years after the fall of Mubarak. The Wall Street Journal reports that the change of tides may push some Islamists to take a pass on democracy and turn to violence.

The Brotherhood has hemorrhaged support. Under Brotherhood rule, crime has spiked, the economy has tanked and the country’s politics have grown dangerously polarized, the Journal’s report said. The popular swell of discontent with the Brotherhood and the movement’s governing shortcomings has been acknowledged even by the movement’s most defiant leaders.

“This is the first time in the history of the Brotherhood that it is the people and not the regime that are acting against the movement,” said Ibrahim al-Hudaibi, a prominent former member of the group, told the paper.

Morsi was ousted in what was described by the presidential palace as a “complete military coup.” The White House has not labeled Morsi ouster a coup. Doing so would have U.S. aid implications.

Ahmed Aref, a spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood party, told Reuters both Morsi and an aide were being held but he didn’t know their location. A security official said they were at a military intelligence facility, Reuters reported.

Morsi said on his presidential Facebook page that the military’s action “presents a military coup and it is unacceptable.”

At least 14 people were killed in clashes between Morsi’s supporters and opponents following the announcement, Reuters said, citing the state news agency MENA. Egyptian troops, including commandos in full combat gear, were deployed across much of Cairo, including at key facilities, on bridges over the Nile River and at major intersections

Eight of the dead were reported to be in the northern city of Marsa Matrouh, with three killed and at least 50 wounded in Alexandria. Another three were killed in the southern city of Minya.

A U.S. official said nonessential diplomats and embassy families had been ordered to leave Egypt amid the unrest. The State Department issued a warning urging U.S. citizens in the country to leave.

Published July 04, 2013 / FoxNews.com / The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Morsi Ousted

July 3, 2013 By Editor Leave a Comment

Egypt’s top military commander says the army is now in full control of the country and President Mohammed Morsi has been replaced by the chief justice of the constitutional court as the interim head of state.

He made the announcements in a Wednesday night speech — the latest twist in an all-out power struggle inside Egypt that Morsi’s national security adviser is describing as a military coup.

Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said the country’s constitution has been temporarily suspended and Morsi has failed to meet the demands of Egypt’s people.

Fireworks and cheers erupted from the millions gathered in Tahrir Square after the announcement was made.

Earlier in the day, an army deadline for Morsi to resolve Egypt’s political crisis expired.

Top military officials and opposition leaders met Wednesday and agreed on a political roadmap for the country’s future, calling for early presidential and parliamentary elections, el-Sissi said. A new presidential cabinet will be formed as well as a national reconciliation committee, which will include youth movements that have been behind anti-Morsi demonstrations.

Morsi’s response was not immediately known, but an aide says he has been moved to an undisclosed location.

El-Sissi said the military will deal “decisively” with any violence sparked by the announcements.

Before el-Sissi’s address, Egyptian troops, including commandos in full combat gear, were deployed across much of Cairo, including at key facilities, on bridges over the Nile River and at major intersections.

The military vowed Wednesday to defend its people “against any terrorist, radical or fool.”

But one of Morsi’s advisers called their actions a “coup.”

“For the sake of Egypt and for historical accuracy, let’s call what is happening by its real name: Military coup,” the Morsi adviser, Essam al-Haddad, said on his Facebook page.

An aide told Reuters that Morsi had spent the day working at a presidential office in a compound of the Republican Guard in Cairo, but it was unclear if he would be able to return later to his palace.

Witnesses told Reuters that the army was erected barbed wire and barriers around the compound, and moved in vehicles and troops to prevent supporters from getting to his palace.

A travel ban was put on Morsi and the head of his Muslim Brotherhood, Mohammed Badie, as well as Badie’s deputy Khairat el-Shater, officials told the Associated Press.

The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) — the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood — has denied that Morsi was placed under house arrest.

Minutes before the military’s deadline for Morsi to resolve the nation’s political crisis passed Wednesday afternoon, the embattled leader called for “national reconciliation,” but vowed he would never step down.

Millions were in the main squares of major cities nationwide Wednesday, demanding Morsi’s removal, in the fourth day of the biggest anti-government rallies the country has seen, surpassing even those in the uprising that ousted against his autocratic predecessor Hosni Mubarak. Critics say Morsi has set the nation on a path toward Islamic rule.

“The presidency renews its own roadmap and invites all national forces for dialogue,” Morsi said in a statement on his Facebook page, adding that his vision is to hold a coalition government that will run upcoming parliamentary elections. Morsi also said he was looking to “form an independent committee for constitutional amendments to be presented to the coming parliament.”

He described electoral legitimacy as the only safeguard against violence and instability.

Khaled Daoud, spokesman of the main opposition National Salvation Front, which pro-reform leader Mohamed ElBaradei leads, said that ElBaradei, Sheik Ahmed el-Tayeb, grand imam of Al-Azhar mosque, and Pope Tawadros II, patriarch of Egypt’s Coptic Christian minority, were part of the Wednesday meetings with military leaders.

Political sources told Reuters that two members of a rebel youth group that is leading the anti-Morsi protests and members of the hardline Muslim fundamentalist al-Nour Party also attended.

A Defense Ministry official said Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi held another emergency meeting with his top commanders Wednesday, hours before the deadline expired. The official, who gave no further details, spoke Wednesday on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media, the Associated Press reports.

The army also asked the FJP to meet with el-Sissi, but the invite was rejected.

“We have a president and that is it,” Waleed al-Haddad, a senior leader of the party, told Reuters.

The state-run Al-Ahram newspaper — which also seemed to be following a military line — reported that the military had placed several leaders of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood under surveillance.

Before the deadline expired at 5 p.m. local time (11 a.m. ET), employees at Egypt’s state TV station said military officers were present in the newsroom monitoring its output, but not interfering with their work.

The military also beefed up the presence of troops inside the building, the employees told the Associated Press, though they were not visible outside. Even before the crisis, a small army contingent usually guards the state TV headquarters.

In his emotional 46-minute speech late Tuesday, Morsi vowed not to step down and pledged to defend his legitimacy with his life in the face of three days of massive street demonstrations calling for his ouster. The Islamist leader accused loyalists of his ousted autocratic predecessor Hosni Mubarak of exploiting the wave of protests to topple his regime and thwart democracy.

“There is no substitute for legitimacy,” said Morsi, at times angrily raising his voice, thrusting his fist in the air and pounding the podium. He warned that electoral and constitutional legitimacy “is the only guarantee against violence.”

The statements showed that Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood were prepared to run the risk of challenging the army. It also entrenches the lines of confrontation between his Islamist supporters and Egyptians angry over what they see as his efforts to impose control through the Brotherhood and his failures to deal with the country’s multiple problems.

At the main pro-Morsi rally in Cairo, thousands of his Islamist supporters chanted, “Wake up el-Sissi, Morsi is my president.”

“We will not bring back the military rule,” they chanted outside the Rabia al-Adawiya Mosque. “Will not happen, will not happen,” they shouted.

After the army’s deadline passed, a military helicopter circled over the crowds in Tahrir Square, which was transformed into a sea of furiously waving Egyptian flags. “Leave, leave,” they chanted to Morsi, electrified as they waited to hear of an army move.After nightfall, fireworks went off and green lasers flashed over the crowd.

On Tuesday, clashes in Cairo and elsewhere in the country that left at least 23 people dead, most in a single incident near the main Cairo University campus. The latest deaths take to 39 the number of people killed since Sunday in violence between opponents and supporters of Morsi, who took office in June last year as Egypt’s first freely elected leader.

The bloodshed, coupled with Morsi’s defiant speeches, contributed the sense that both sides were ready to fight to the end. The president’s supporters also moved out in increased marches in Cairo Tuesday and other cities, and stepped up warnings that it will take bloodshed to dislodge him.

On Monday, the military gave Morsi the ultimatum to meet the protesters’ demands within 48 hours. If not, the generals’ plan would suspend the Islamist-backed constitution, dissolve the Islamist-dominated legislature and set up an interim administration headed by the country’s chief justice, the state news agency reported.

The leaking of the military’s so-called political “road map” appeared aimed at adding pressure on Morsi by showing the public and the international community that the military has a plan that does not involve a coup.

Fearing that Washington’s most important Arab ally would descend into chaos, U.S. officials said they are urging Morsi to take immediate steps to address opposition grievances, telling the protesters to remain peaceful and reminding the army that a coup could have consequences for the massive American military aid package it receives. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

At the U.S. State Department media briefing Wednesday, spokeswoman Jen Psaki restated the administration’s priority on the democratic process.

“It’s never been about one individual,” she told reporters. “It’s been about hearing and allowing the voices of the Egyptian people to be heard.”

Pentagon Spokesman George Little says there has been no change in terms of the U.S. military prepositioning assets in and around Egypt in the event they are called upon to assist the U.S. embassy in Cairo.

Published July 03, 2013 / FoxNews.com / The Associated Press contributed to this report.

GOP Using Obama’s ‘War on Coal’ to Tarnish Dems Ahead of Elections

July 2, 2013 By Editor Leave a Comment

Foes of President Obama’s alleged “war on coal” climate plan are hoping to use the combustible issue to tarnish Democrats in the next round of elections.

The political backlash started almost immediately after the president announced last week he’s ordering the EPA to draft new rules to limit emissions at coal-fired power plants.

In Virginia, it didn’t take long for Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli to label the plan the “Obama-Biden-McAuliffe war on coal,” in his race for governor against former Democratic Party chairman Terry McAuliffe.

The Cuccinelli campaign launched a coal-themed online ad blitz last week, as both candidates charge into the November 2013 election.

Other politicos already are looking down the calendar to 2014 and beyond.

On the national level, the risk for Democrats is inherent in the fact that the road to the White House in 2016 goes through several swing states that are also top 10 coal-producing states — namely, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Republicans, and groups representing the coal industry, could make life difficult for any candidate who gets too close to regulations deemed harmful to the coal industry.

Obama tried to get on offense over the weekend, saying in his radio address that voters should demand Congress get behind a climate plan.

“Remind everyone who represents you … that sheltering future generations against the ravages of climate change is a prerequisite for your vote,” Obama said.

The White House put out a detailed infographic on rising temperatures and the cost of natural disasters, which his plan supposedly would curb.

And Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz reportedly said Sunday that the government is not waging a “war on coal.”

According to Reuters, Moniz said Obama “expects fossil fuels, and coal specifically, to remain a significant contributor for some time.” He said the administration wants to encourage higher efficiency plants.

But those in the industry say the administration is moving too fast, and should give time to develop clean-coal technology that’s already in existence.

Luke Popovich, spokesman for the National Mining Association, told FoxNews.com his group was not launching any paid advertising on the issue at this point, but is in “constant contact” with governors and lawmakers in the states most affected by coal generation and use.

Popovich did not describe the plan as a “war on coal,” saying his group is “trying to find solutions here.”

“We hope that is not the case. It certainly would not make any sense given a lingering recession for most Americans,” he said.

He said the NMA wants to carve out a “separate and distinct standard” for clean-coal technologies, and will weigh-in during the EPA’s regulatory comment period.

According to Politico, the EPA has already sent a draft regulation on emissions for future power plants to the White House. The other draft rule, the more sweeping measure for existing plants, is still in process.

Democrats in coal country were visibly hesitant to get behind Obama’s plan. Some were outright hostile.

West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, in an interview last week with Fox News, called the president’s plan a “war on America.”

“It’s just ridiculous. … I should not have to be sitting here as a U.S. senator, fighting my own president and fighting my own government,” he told Fox News. “I will continue to reach out, but I need a partner here. I don’t need an adversary.”

Manchin’s colleague, Democratic Sen. Jay Rockefeller, was more reserved, saying the president needs to provide more information about how miners would be affected.

But any Democrat who remained silent on the issue was faced with the threat of Republican taunting.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee last week accused Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes — who on Monday announced she would challenge Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell for his Senate seat — of embracing Obama’s “radical agenda.”

“Over the past two days, Grimes’ silence makes clear that Kentuckians simply can’t count on her to stand up against her own party to protect them,” the NRSC said in a statement.

Democrats have two major political risks to weigh in considering whether to get behind the new climate agenda. First is the thousands of jobs at stake in the coal industry. According to the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE), EPA regulations have played a role in the closure of nearly 290 coal plants so far this year. Second is electricity rates.

In Ohio, Republican Sen. Rob Portman framed the issue in those terms, calling the Obama plan an “effort to raise electricity prices in Ohio.”

“President Obama’s EPA overreach has already cost jobs in Ohio. At least eight coal-fired power plants in Ohio are set to close due in large part to regulatory mandates put in place by the EPA,” he said in a statement, noting more than 80 percent of electricity in the state comes from coal generation and claiming the new rules could raise those costs.

“Coal’s part of the reason that we enjoy the level of economic prosperity we do in the nation today,” Kevin Crutchfield, CEO of coal company Alpha Natural Resources, told Fox News.

Published July 01, 2013 / FoxNews.com

Edward Snowden Seeking Asylum in Russia

July 1, 2013 By Editor Leave a Comment

Following a week of hide-and-seek in the international “transit zone” of the Moscow airport, NSA leaker Edward Snowden is reported to be seeking political asylum in Russia.

The Russian government had been distancing itself from Snowden over the past week, as has the government of Ecuador, locations where Snowden had reportedly been trying to relocate.

WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange has claimed to be assisting Snowden find a more permanent “home” to ride out the spying charges filed against him by the US Department of Justice.

Whether Snowden is a hero whistle-blower or a traitor is much in the eye of the beholder at this point, with only a small portion of the leaked information having come to light. Indeed, candidate Barack Obama praised government whistle-blowers:

Often the best source of information about waste, fraud, and abuse in government is an existing government employee committed to public integrity and willing to speak out . . . [I] will strengthen whistle-blower laws to protect federal workers who expose waste, fraud, and abuse of authority in government. Barack Obama

Of course, it is Barack Obama whose government has been fingered by the former NSA spy as being the most abusive wielder of power through intrusive spying on citizens and foreign governments in the history of the US.

PUBLIUS

Hundreds of Thousands Protest Egypt’s Morsi

June 30, 2013 By Editor Leave a Comment

CAIRO – Hundreds of thousands thronged the streets of Cairo and cities around the country Sunday and marched on the presidential palace, filling a broad avenue for blocks, in an attempt to force out the Islamist president with the most massive protests Egypt has seen in 2 1/2 years of turmoil.

In a sign of the explosive volatility of the country’s divisions, a hard core of young opponents broke away from the rallies and attacked the main headquarters of President Mohammed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, pelting it with stones and firebombs until a raging fire erupted in the walled villa. During clashes, Brotherhood supporters opened fire on the attackers, and activists said three protesters were killed.

Fears were widespread that the two sides could be heading to a violent collision in coming days. Morsi made clear through a spokesman that he would not step down and his Islamist supporters vowed not to allow protesters to remove one of their own, brought to office in a legitimate vote. Thousands of Islamists massed not far from the presidential palace in support of Morsi, some of them prepared for a fight with makeshift armor and sticks.

At least five anti-Morsi protesters were killed Sunday in clashes and shootings in southern Egypt.

The protesters aimed to show by sheer numbers that the country has irrevocably turned against Morsi, a year to the day after he was inaugurated as Egypt’s first freely elected president. But throughout the day and even up to midnight at the main rallying sites, fears of rampant violence did not materialize.

Instead the mood was largely festive as protesters at giant anti-Morsi rallies in Cairo’s central Tahrir Square and outside the Ittihadiya palace spilled into side streets and across boulevards, waving flags, blowing whistles and chanting.

Fireworks went off overhead. Men and women, some with small children on their shoulders, beat drums, danced and sang, “By hook or by crook, we will bring Morsi down.” Residents in nearby homes showered water on marchers below — some carrying tents in preparation to camp outside the palace — to cool them in the summer heat, and blew whistles and waved flags in support.

“Mubarak took only 18 days although he had behind him the security, intelligence and a large sector of Egyptians,” said Amr Tawfeeq, an oil company employee marching toward Ittihadiya with a Christian friend. Morsi “won’t take long. We want him out and we are ready to pay the price.”

The massive outpouring against Morsi raises the question of what is next. Protesters have vowed to stay on the streets until he steps down, and organizers called for widespread labor strikes starting Monday. The president, in turn, appears to be hoping protests wane.

For weeks, Morsi’s supporters have depicted the planned protest as a plot by Mubarak loyalists. But their claims were undermined by the extent of Sunday’s rallies. In Cairo and a string of cities in the Nile Delta and on the Mediterranean coast, the protests topped even the biggest protests of the 2011’s 18-day uprising, including the day Mubarak quit, Feb. 11, when giant crowds marched on Ittihadiya.

It is unclear now whether the opposition, which for months has demanded Morsi form a national unity government, would now accept any concessions short of his removal. The anticipated deadlock raises the question of whether the army, already deployed on the outskirts of cities, will intervene. Protesters believe the military would throw its weight behind them, tipping the balance against Morsi. The country’s police, meanwhile, were hardly to be seen Sunday.

“If the Brothers think that we will give up and leave, they are mistaken,” said lawyer Hossam Muhareb as he sat with a friend on a sidewalk near the presidential palace. “They will give up and leave after seeing our numbers.”

Violence could send the situation spinning into explosive directions.

The fire at the Brotherhood headquarters, located on a plateau overlooking Cairo, sent smoke pouring in the air, even as youths clashed with Brotherhood supporters at the site. Three on the anti-Morsi side were shot to death, and 60 were wounded, an activist who monitored casualties at the hospital, Nazli Hussein, said.

Southern Egypt saw deadly attacks on anti-Morsi protests, and five people were killed. Two protesters were shot to death during clashes outside offices of the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party, one in Beni Suef, the other in Fayoum.

In the city of Assiut, a stronghold of Islamists, gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on a protest in which tens of thousands were participating,, killing one person, wounding four others and sending the crowd running.

The enraged protesters then marched on the nearby Freedom and Justice offices, where gunmen inside opened fire, killing two more, security officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to talk to the press. Clashes erupted, with protesters and security forces fighting side by side against Morsi’s supporters.

At least 400 people were injured nationwide, the Health Ministry said.

Morsi, who has three years left in his term, said street protests cannot be used to overturn the results of a free election.

“There is no room for any talk against this constitutional legitimacy,” he told Britain’s The Guardian newspaper in an interview published Sunday, rejecting early elections.

If an elected president is forced out, “there will (be) people or opponents opposing the new president too, and a week or a month later, they will ask him to step down,” he said.

Morsi was not at Ittihadiya as Sunday’s rally took place — he had moved to another nearby palace.

As the crowds massed, Morsi’s spokesman Ihab Fahmi repeated the president’s longstanding offer of dialogue with the opposition to resolve the nation’s political crisis, calling it “the only framework through which we can reach understandings.”

The opposition has repeatedly turned down his offers for dialogue, arguing that they were for show.

The demonstrations are the culmination of polarization and instability that have been building since Morsi’s June 30, 2012, inauguration. The past year has seen multiple political crises, bouts of bloody clashes and a steadily worsening economy, with power outages, fuel shortages, rising prices and persistent lawlessness and crime.

In one camp are the president and his Islamist allies, including the Muslim Brotherhood and more hard-line groups. Morsi supporters accuse Mubarak loyalists of being behind the protests, aiming to overturn last year’s election results, just as they argue that remnants of the old regime have sabotaged Morsi’s attempts to deal with the nation’s woes and bring reforms.

Hard-liners among them have also given the confrontation a sharply religious tone, denouncing Morsi’s opponents as “enemies of God” and infidels.

On the other side is an array of secular and liberal Egyptians, moderate Muslims, Christians — and what the opposition says is a broad sector of the general public that has turned against the Islamists. They say the Islamists have negated their election mandate by trying to monopolize power, infusing government with their supporters, forcing through a constitution they largely wrote and giving religious extremists a free hand, all while failing to manage the country.

“The country is only going backward. He’s embarrassing us and making people hate Islam,” said Donia Rashad, a 24-year-old unemployed woman who wears the conservative Islamic headscarf. “We need someone who can feel the people and is agreeable to the majority.”

As they marched toward the presidential palace, some chanted, “You lied to us in the name of religion.” The crowds, including women, children and elderly people, hoisted long banners in the colors of the Egyptian flag and raised red cards — a sign of expulsion in soccer.

In Tahrir, chants of “erhal!”, or “leave!” thundered around the square. The crowd, which appeared to number some 300,000, waved Egyptian flags and posters of Morsi with a red X over his face. They whistled and waved when military helicopters swooped close overhead, reflecting their belief that the army favors them over Morsi.

Defense Minister Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi warned a week ago that the military would intervene to prevent the nation from entering a “dark tunnel.” Army troops backed by armored vehicles were deployed Sunday in some of Cairo’s suburbs, with soldiers at traffic lights and major intersections. In the evening, they deployed near the international airport, state TV said.

Similarly sized crowds turned out in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria and the Nile Delta cities of Mansoura, Tanta and Damanhour, with sizeable rallies in cities nationwide.

“Today is the Brotherhood’s last day in power,” Suliman Mohammed, a manager of a seafood company, said in Tahrir.

The protests emerge from a petition campaign by a youth activist group known as Tamarod, Arabic for “Rebel.” For several months, the group has been collecting signatures on a call for Morsi to step down.

On Saturday, the group announced it had more than 22 million signatures — proof, it claims, that a broad sector of the public no longer wants Morsi in office.

It was not possible to verify the claim. If true, it would be nearly twice the some 13 million people who voted for Morsi in last year’s presidential run-off election, which he won with around 52 percent of the vote. Tamarod organizers said they discarded about 100,000 signed forms because they were duplicates.

Morsi’s supporters have questioned the authenticity of the signatures, but have produced no evidence of fraud.

Near Ittihadiya palace, thousands of Islamists gathered in a show of support for Morsi outside the Rabia al-Adawiya mosque. Some Morsi backers wore homemade body armor and construction helmets and carried shields and clubs — precautions, they said, against possible violence.

At the pro-Morsi rally at the Rabia al-Adawiya mosque, the crowd chanted, “God is great,” and some held up copies of Islam’s holy book, the Quran.

“The people hold the legitimacy and we support Dr. Mohamed Morsi,” said Ahmed Ramadan, one of the rally participants. “We would like to tell him not to be affected by the opponents’ protests and not to give up his rights. We are here to support and protect him.”

Published June 30, 2013 / Associated Press

Euro Allies Fume Over NSA Claim

June 30, 2013 By Editor Leave a Comment

Allegations of NSA bugging stir tension with European allies

Emerging allegations that America’s National Security Agency bugged and hacked European Union offices stoked tension Sunday between U.S. and European officials, with German prosecutors announcing they are probing the claims.

The allegations were carried in a report by the German magazine Der Spiegel. They are the latest claims to surface regarding NSA surveillance activity, as on-the-lam leaker Edward Snowden feeds a series of sensitive documents to the media. Der Spiegel did not specifically say how it obtained the information.

European Parliament President Martin Schulz, in response, demanded a clarification from the NSA about the alleged program.

“I am deeply worried and shocked about the allegations of U.S. authorities spying on EU offices,” Schulz said in a statement, according to The Wall Street Journal. “If the allegations prove to be true, it would be an extremely serious matter which will have a severe impact on EU-U.S. relations.”

German federal prosecutors also said they are looking into the reports. The Federal Prosecutors’ Office said in a statement Sunday that it was probing the claims so as to “achieve a reliable factual basis” before considering whether a formal investigation was warranted.

It also said private citizens were likely to file criminal complaints on the matter.

A representative with the NSA referred questions on the matter to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which has not yet commented on the report.

But Michael Hayden, the former director of both the NSA and CIA, said Sunday that European officials should look in the mirror before criticizing the U.S.

“Any European who wants to go out and rend their garments with regard to international espionage should look first and find out what their own governments are doing,” he said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

Hayden noted he’s been out of the agency for years and said he didn’t know the accuracy of the Der Spiegel report, nor could he confirm or deny it if he did.

But he said “the United States does conduct espionage,” and that the Fourth Amendment right to privacy “is not an international treaty.”

Der Spiegel reported that the NSA appears to have installed bugs in an EU building in Washington, D.C., as well as infiltrated their computer network. According to the report, this let U.S. officials monitor discussions and emails.

U.S. officials have warned that the string of NSA leaks are damaging to national security.

Snowden is believed to still be at the Moscow airport. Russian officials so far have refused to expel him to the U.S., claiming he is in a transit zone and not technically in their hands.

Meanwhile, Vice President Biden on Friday called Ecuador’s president to urge the country to reject a request by Snowden for asylum in that country.

Published June 30, 2013 / FoxNews.com / The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Obama Welcomes Islamic Scholar With Terrorist Ties Into White House

June 26, 2013 By Editor Leave a Comment

A Muslim scholar whose group supports Hamas, who has urged the U.N. to criminalize blasphemy and who is the deputy of an Egyptian cleric banned from the U.S. over his radical statements was able to secure a visit at the White House earlier this month.

A report from The Investigative Project on Terrorism uncovered a statement on the website of Sheikh Abdullah Bin Bayyah claiming he met June 13 with Obama administration officials in Washington.

Bin Bayyah is vice president of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, a group founded by Egyptian cleric Yusuf Qaradawi — a Muslim Brotherhood leader who has called for the death of Jews and Americans and himself is banned from visiting the U.S.

While Bin Bayyah secured a visit, he and his group also have a history of questionable positions, IPT reports.

A 2009 fatwa from the group barred “all forms of normalization” with Israel. Bin Bayyah also got behind a campaign to pressure the U.N. to pass a resolution criminalizing blasphemy. IPT also found Bin Bayyah was vice president at the organization when they issued a 2004 fatwa saying that resisting U.S. troops in Iraq is a “duty” for Muslims — effectively allowing the killing of Americans.

On his website, as first reported by IPT, Bin Bayyah said the Obama administration requested the meeting.

He quoted National Security Council official Gayle Smith as saying: “We asked for this meeting to learn from you and we need to be looking for new mechanisms to communicate with you and the Association of Muslim Scholars.”

The post reportedly claimed he had met with Smith; Rashad Hussain, U.S. envoy to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation; and the national security adviser, among others.

According to the IPT report, the reference to meeting with the national security adviser was later deleted.

IPT reported that Bin Bayyah was lobbying the White House to do more to help the Syrian opposition.

Published June 26, 2013 / FoxNews.com

Did FBI Probe Result in Fiery Crash?

June 25, 2013 By Editor Leave a Comment

Mere hours before the fiery car crash that took his life, journalist Michael Hastings sent an email to friends and colleagues urging them to get legal counsel if they were approached by federal authorities.

“Hey [redacted] the Feds are interviewing my ‘close friends and associates,'” read the message dated June 17 at 12:56 p.m. from Hastings to editors at the website BuzzFeed, where he worked.

“Perhaps if the authorities arrive ‘BuzzFeed GQ’, er HQ, may be wise to immediately request legal counsel before any conversations or interviews about our news-gathering practices or related journalism issues.”

Hastings added that he was onto a big story and that he would, “need to go off the radat [radar] for a bit,” according to KTLA in Los Angeles.

Fifteen hours later, in the early morning of June 18, Hastings was driving a Mercedes C250 at a high speed when he lost control in Los Angeles’ Hancock Park neighborhood, causing the car to fishtail and crash into a palm tree. The impact caused the car to burst into flames, trapping the 33-year-old inside.

Conspiracy theories surrounding Hastings’ death began to circulate almost immediately.

On Twitter and several sites across the web, speculation was rampant that the death of Hastings — whose 2010 article for Rolling Stone led to the resignation of U.S. Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then head of the U.S. operation in Afghanistan — was no accident.

Also Friday, WikiLeaks released two messages on Twitter that added fuel to the fire.

“Michael Hastings’ death has a very serious non-public complication. We will have more details later,” said the first. Two hours later, WikiLeaks tweeted more specific information.

“Michael Hastings contacted WikiLeaks lawyer Jennifer Robinson just a few hours before he died, saying that the FBI was investigating him,” the second message read.

It was speculated by others that Hastings was working on a story about Drone Surveillance in the U.S.

LAPD officials said on Friday that no foul play was suspected in the fatal accident, although that did little to quell theories about his death.

Investigators are trying to determine whether there was a mechanical problem with the car, according to the Los Angeles Times. The car burst into flames after hitting a tree in the one-car accident at 4:20 a.m. Law enforcement sources said the car was believed to have been traveling at a high rate of speed.

Published June 24, 2013 / FoxNews.com

Supreme Court Strikes Down Key Part of Voting Rights Act

June 25, 2013 By Editor Leave a Comment

In a major ruling, the Supreme Court on Tuesday voided a provision of the Voting Rights Act that determines which state and local governments have to seek federal permission to change their voting laws.

The 1960s-era provision largely singled out states and districts in the South — those with a history of discrimination — for special screening by the federal government over changes to their laws. But the court ruled 5-4 that the formula determining which states are affected is unconstitutional, and said Congress could try to draft a new provision.

The justices said that the law Congress most recently renewed in 2006 relies on 40-year-old data that does not reflect racial progress and changes in U.S. society.

“In 2006, the Act was reauthorized for an additional 25 years, but the coverage formula was not changed. Coverage still turned on whether a jurisdiction had a voting test in the 1960s or1970s, and had low voter registration or turnout at that time,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote.

He clarified that the provision requiring advance approval of voting law changes — known as Section 5 — was not being struck down. Rather, the court found that the provision pertaining to the formula, known as Section 4, was unconstitutional. The decision, though, challenges the overall practice of federal screening unless and until Congress addresses the formula.

The decision means that a host of state and local laws that have not received Justice Department approval or have not yet been submitted will be able to take effect. Prominent among those are voter identification laws in Alabama and Mississippi.

Going forward, the outcome alters the calculus of passing election-related legislation in the affected states and local jurisdictions. The threat of an objection from Washington has hung over election-related proposals for nearly a half century. At least until Congress acts, that deterrent now is gone.

Roberts argued that these states and the conditions in them have “changed dramatically” over the years.

“The tests and devices that blocked ballot access have been forbidden nationwide for over 40 years. Yet the Act has not eased (Section 5’s) restrictions or narrowed the scope of (Section 4’s) coverage formula along the way. Instead those extraordinary and unprecedented features have been reauthorized as if nothing has changed, and they have grown even stronger,” he wrote.

The decision comes five months after President Obama, the nation’s first black chief executive, started his second term in the White House, re-elected by a diverse coalition of voters.

The high court is in the midst of a broad re-examination of the ongoing necessity of laws and programs aimed at giving racial minorities access to major areas of American life from which they once were systematically excluded. The justices issued a modest ruling Monday that preserved affirmative action in higher education and will take on cases dealing with anti-discrimination sections of a federal housing law and another affirmative action case from Michigan next term.

The court warned of problems with the voting rights law in a similar case heard in 2009. The justices averted a major constitutional ruling at that time, but Congress did nothing to address the issues the court raised. The law’s opponents, sensing its vulnerability, filed several new lawsuits.

The latest decision came in a challenge to the advance approval, or preclearance, requirement, which was brought by Shelby County, Ala., a Birmingham suburb.

The lawsuit acknowledged that the measure’s strong medicine was appropriate and necessary to counteract decades of state-sponsored discrimination in voting, despite the Fifteenth Amendment’s guarantee of the vote for black Americans.

But it asked whether there was any end in sight for a provision that intrudes on states’ rights to conduct elections, an issue the court’s conservative justices also explored at the argument in February. It was considered an emergency response when first enacted in 1965.

The county noted that the 25-year extension approved in 2006 would keep some places under Washington’s oversight until 2031 and seemed not to account for changes that include the elimination of racial disparity in voter registration and turnout or the existence of allegations of race-based discrimination in voting in areas of the country that are not subject to the provision.

The Obama administration and civil rights groups said there is a continuing need for it and pointed to the Justice Department’s efforts to block voter ID laws in South Carolina and Texas last year, as well as a redistricting plan in Texas that a federal court found discriminated against the state’s large and growing Hispanic population.

Advance approval was put into the law to give federal officials a potent tool to defeat persistent efforts to keep blacks from voting.

The provision was a huge success because it shifted the legal burden and required governments that were covered to demonstrate that their proposed changes would not discriminate. Congress periodically has renewed it over the years. The most recent extension was overwhelmingly approved by a Republican-led Congress and signed by President George W. Bush.

The requirement currently applies to the states of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia. It also covers certain counties in California, Florida, New York, North Carolina and South Dakota, and some local jurisdictions in Michigan. Coverage has been triggered by past discrimination not only against blacks, but also against American Indians, Asian-Americans, Alaska Natives and Hispanics.

Towns in New Hampshire that had been covered by the law were freed from the advance approval requirement in March. Supporters of the provision pointed to the ability to bail out of the prior approval provision to argue that the law was flexible enough to accommodate change and that the court should leave the Voting Rights Act intact.

On Monday, the Justice Department announced an agreement that would allow Hanover County, Va., to bail out.

Published June 25, 2013 / FoxNews.com / The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Technology Makes Possible the Surveillance State

June 23, 2013 By Editor Leave a Comment

Technology is making your every move — perhaps even those movements you make in the bathroom — ready for broadcast. The question is, are you ready for it?

Following the revelations about some of what the U.S. National Security Agency has been up to — secretly collecting millions of phone records and innumerable personal online searches and e-mails — government officials have been scrambling to reassure the public that the amount of information it is collecting is negligible, even trivial, and doesn’t impinge on personal freedom. However, the technology itself argues against the idea that what’s being collected about you is harmless.

Consider that phone numbers with time and location information can be easily combined with Web searches (for “anti-depressants,” say) and text message information to form a picture of where you are and what you’re doing. No one needs to listen to the content of a call if they know everything else about you, like the fact that you’ve messaged a therapist several times this week, belong to a gun club, and gave money to a Tea Party candidate.

Furthermore, the government’s Prism program looks positively mundane when you consider the other possible sources of information available through secret government surveillance. It is technically possible to monitor nearly every U.S. citizen — through automated scanning software programs — seven days a week, 24 hours a day.

Video cameras monitor you walking down the sidewalk. Toll tags and on-board connected car systems monitor you behind the wheel, even relaying rabbit starts, severe braking, and excessive speed. Security systems at work oversee cubicles, and employers monitor computer habits with hidden software that tracks keystrokes. At home, smart TVs with streaming services collect information about what you’re watching. Some sets and gaming consoles even include cameras that can tell who is in the room sitting on the couch.

Worse, our addiction to smartphones means we’re beaming our location, purchases, banking information, and personal relationships over networks that can be easily tapped — by government officials or by malware from hackers. Indeed, a computer program known as Flame that security experts say was created for espionage purposes has the demonstrated ability to secretly turn on a device’s microphone and record a conversation.

And then there’s Google Glass.

The much anticipated eyewear isn’t even available to the public yet, but when it is people won’t have to hold up a phone to take a picture, they’ll be able to record video in the blink of an eye. At a recent shareholder meeting, Google CEO Larry Page told attendees not to be terrified that people might use Glass in a public bathroom, just as we shouldn’t worry about people using smartphones in the bathroom.

I think there are some choice words folks would have for people who use Google Glass in the bathroom. (Try explaining to the friendly police officer that you were just reading FoxNews.com on the eyepiece, honest.)

The problem, of course, is the surreptitious nature of the technology and the secret monitoring it enables. It means that information — information you might think is innocuous — can be used against you without your knowledge. (Never mind embarrassing videos showing your lack of hygiene in the bathroom.) You may never know why you were rejected for a job or your kid didn’t get into a particular school.

Hypothetically speaking, you might be pulled over on the highway in the middle of the night by an officer who claims you were dallying in the passing lane. Unbeknownst to you, the real reason was that your plate was flagged by a license plate reader (LPR) camera, which was relying on an algorithm that detected that an individual who made phone calls to Eastern Europe and conducted Web searches for gun clubs is associated with that plate number.

The police officer lets you go on your way, but the next week, late at night, the same thing happens. And then the week after that, and, well, you get the picture.

So even if you never do anything wrong, never jaywalk or get a parking ticket, the information collected could be used against you, and you would be none the wiser. Catching terrorists is a laudable aim of such technological surveillance, and you might trust the Obama administration that such surveillance will never be misused. But what about the next administration?

Should people associated with the Tea Party get extra scrutiny from the IRS? Should people who are against gun control be monitored by state police? Should anti-war activists have their search history scrutinized by the NSA?

There are technological ways to limit the intrusion of such technology and prevent it from diminishing our privacy and freedoms, but it requires extra work. Programmers can limit the scope and fine tune communications monitoring software, and government officials could submit to more oversight by courts that are not secret.

But in a society where most of us are scrutinized on camera already — with the bathroom soon to come — it may be too late to put the digital genie back in the bottle.

By John R. Quain / FoxNews.com

Egyptian Pres. Morsi Appoints Member of Al Qaeda that Massacred European Tourists in Luxor

June 22, 2013 By Editor Leave a Comment

Last year Egyptian President Morsi freed one of the monsters behind the Luxor Massacre. Now he has appointed another member of The Islamic Group, Adel Mohammed al-Khayat as the Governor of Luxor.

Egypt’s tourism minister resigned a day after President Mohamed Morsi appointed the new governor to Luxor province.

Hesham Zazou said on Wednesday he “couldn’t continue in the role of tourism minister” after the appointment of Adel al-Khayat.

Following are witness accounts of the day that Adel Mohammed al-Khayat and his Islamic terrorist comrades murdered 58 tourists.

“As they ran past a Japanese tourist, she said, one of the men fired into the woman’s face from a range of about 15 inches.” The gunmen “took all the young women, the girls, and disappeared with them. I don’t know where they went with the women, but they hurt them. We could hear screams of pain,” Dousse said.

Among the horrors, the marauders cut off the ears and noses of several of their victims. A note praising Islam was found inside one disemboweled body.

The foreign dead included 31 Swiss, 10 Japanese, five Germans, four Britons, one child (a Bulgarian), a Colombian and a French citizen. The Japanese victims were four newlywed couples and an elderly couple on their second honeymoon.

Witnesses told how the terrorists methodically executed the European tourists. Some were forced to kneel before being shot, while others were stabbed to death.

Little Shaunnah, her mum and gran, all from Ripponden, West Yorks, died alongside fellow Brits George Wigham, 69, and wife Ivy, 71, of Swanley, Kent, and Londoner Sylvia Wilder, 26.

Shaunnah Turner, 5 Years Old, Murdered by Muslim terrorists at Luxor

Shaunnah Turner’ father, Richard, spoke of his murdered daughter after the horror: “In a crowd she would shine. She was really beautiful. She had an impish charm that could win anybody over.”

A member of the movement whose gunmen killed 58 foreigners at a temple in Luxor in 1997 was sworn in by Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi on Monday as governor of the vital tourist region.

Adel Mohammed al-Khayat, who now represents the Building and Development Party, the political wing of the al-Gamaa al-Islamiya movement.

‘No to the terrorist governor!’ read a placard at a demonstration by dozens of tourism workers who protested outside the governor’s office in Luxor.

Khayat, then in his mid-40s, was a leader of al-Gamaa al-Islamiya in another province when, on Nov. 17, 1997, six young men from the group shot their way into the Temple of Hatshepsut in Luxor’s Valley of the Queens.

The attack was part of a broader campaign by the group, at that time linked to al Qaeda, to cripple tourism revenues for the government of then-president Hosni Mubarak. Of the 62 people killed in the next hour, 58 were foreign tourists, more than half of them Swiss and the rest Japanese, British, German and Colombian.

The gunmen, reported to have trained at al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan, committed suicide.

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EPA Drops Study Linking Pollution to Fracking

June 21, 2013 By Editor Leave a Comment

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday it is dropping its longstanding plan to have independent scientists review its finding that hydraulic fracturing may be linked to groundwater pollution in central Wyoming.

The EPA is standing by its findings, but state officials will lead further investigation into the pollution in the Pavillion area. The area has been a focus of the debate over whether fracking can pollute groundwater ever since the EPA’s initial report came out in late 2011.

“We stand behind our work and the data, but EPA recognizes the state’s commitment to further investigation,” said agency spokesman Tom Reynolds in Washington, D.C. The EPA will let state officials carry on the investigation with the federal agency’s support, he said.

Wyoming officials have been skeptical about the theory that fracking played a role in the pollution at Pavillion, but Reynolds expressed confidence the state could lead the work from here. He described the shift as the best way to ensure Pavillion-area residents have a clean source of drinking water.

Even so, industry officials who have been doubtful about the EPA findings all along praised the change as confirmation of their view that the science wasn’t sound.

“EPA has to do a better job, because another fatally flawed water study could have a big impact on how the nation develops its massive energy resources,” Erik Milito, director of upstream and industry operations for the American Petroleum Institute, said in a release.

Richard Garrett, energy and legislative advocate with the Wyoming Outdoor Council in Lander, said he believes Thursday’s announcement shows the EPA is finding it more difficult than originally expected to come to grips with the full environmental effect of fracking. He noted that the EPA is pushing back other work aimed at gauging the how energy production may pollute groundwater.

“It’s not surprising to me that they’re kind of taking a secondary role in rural Pavillion,” Garrett said. “It looks to me like it might be a resource issue. That goes to the federal budget I suppose, and EPA administration.”

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, boosts the productivity of oil and gas wells by pumping pressurized water mixed with sand and chemicals into well holes to crack open fissures in the ground.

Environmentalists have voiced concern about fracking causing groundwater pollution for years, but the practice has significantly boosted oil and gas production in regions such as the Bakken Shale in North Dakota and the Marcellus Shale underlying Eastern states.

The EPA’s 2011 report marked the first time the agency publicly linked fracking and groundwater contamination, causing a stir on both sides of the issue.

The federal agency began seeking nominations last year for experts to serve as peer reviewers for its draft report, and it has extended public comment periods on the report three times since it came out. Each extension delayed the peer-review plans.

EPA officials insisted Thursday that the agency is not giving up on its Pavillion research and reserves the right to pick up the investigation in the future and open it to peer review. The EPA also has been examining the relationship between fracking and groundwater in different areas of the country and is proceeding with that study.

The Northern Arapaho Tribe on the Wind River Indian Reservation surrounding the Pavillion area has been seeking to maintain a role in the Pavillion research since taking part in new sampling last year. A tribal official said, however, that the EPA hasn’t worked closely with the tribe lately.

“They have a legal duty to consult with the tribe and that didn’t happen as part of their dialogue with the governor,” Ronald Oldman, co-chairman of the tribe’s business council, said in a statement.

The new research led by Wyoming officials would be funded at least in part by a $1.5 million grant from Encana Corp.’s U.S. oil and gas subsidiary, which owns the Pavillion gas field. The state will issue a final report in late 2014, Gov. Matt Mead’s office said in a news release.

Mead said Wyoming will focus on making sure the few dozen affected residents of the rural, farming and ranching country a few miles outside Pavillion, population 230, have a clean source of drinking water. The state has been providing water cisterns to 20 people in the area.

“It is in everyone’s best interest — particularly the citizens who live outside of Pavillion — that Wyoming and the EPA reach an unbiased, scientifically supportable conclusion,” Mead said in a news release. “I commend EPA and Encana for working with me to chart a positive course for the investigation.”

The study will assess the need for any further action to protect drinking water sources, according to the release.

The Encana funding will pay to examine 14 domestic water wells in the Pavillion field for water quality and palatability concerns.

Local residents have complained for more than seven years that their water began to reek of chemicals since fracking occurred in their neighborhood. However, EPA efforts to find potential pathways from deeper areas where gas is extracted to shallower areas tapped by domestic water wells have been inconclusive, the news release said.

“We’re pleased that EPA has agreed to discontinue the investigation,” Encana spokesman Doug Hock said. “We applaud the fact that further efforts in Pavilion will focus on a few specific complaints about perceived changes in domestic water well quality.”

Published June 21, 2013 / Associated Press

White House, IRS Hid Media Requests in Red Tape

June 20, 2013 By Editor Leave a Comment

Even as the freshly minted Obama administration was pledging a “new era of open government” in 2009, officials were quietly adding new rules that had the potential to slow down public requests for documents.

Those rules, detailed in memos reviewed by FoxNews.com, could even trip up present-day efforts to dig into the IRS’ practice of targeting conservative groups. The rules detailed in the memos largely emanated from the Treasury Department and, specifically, the IRS.

“It would seem to repudiate this notion that this is going to be the most transparent government in history,” said Dan Epstein, executive director of Cause of Action, the group that first obtained the memos.

“It would seem to repudiate this notion that this is going to be the most transparent government in history.” – Dan Epstein, director of Cause of Action

The memos follow reports about the administration’s use of private email accounts, and coincide with ongoing debate about government transparency — particularly with recent disclosures about widespread surveillance programs.

Epstein said the document request procedures are “troubling” since the media are “really concerned about the limits of government power.”

According to the documents, the Treasury Department in 2009 set up an additional review for requests involving “sensitive information,” which covered a broad range of items. The White House sometimes got involved, slowing down the process. The IRS also acknowledged having another review process for requests from “major media,” but not for requests from private individuals.

Members of the media often try to obtain documents not readily available by citing a law known as the Freedom of Information Act. The Treasury Department, though, in late 2009 erected speed bumps for some so-called FOIA requests.

The rules were detailed in a November 2010 memo and report sent from the Treasury inspector general to Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.

The documents showed the Treasury Department set up an additional “formal level of review” for requests for “sensitive information.” This category would cover everything from emails to memos to calendars to travel logs for top department officials, legal advisers, senior advisers and others.

Once a request was deemed “sensitive,” it would then go before a “review committee,” made up of officials from several Treasury offices.

Further, the document said a special report would be prepared for IRS requests from “major media.” This covers requests from traditional news media as well as bloggers, and according to the report covered information that “was likely to attract news media or congressional interest, involved large dollar amounts, or involved unique or novel issues.”

This report would then be sent to a higher-up in the division who decided whether the material should be disclosed.

The report repeatedly said that, in most cases, political appointees were not involved in these decisions, and that the agencies have no procedures to allow that.

But Epstein said these rules could cause problems as Congress and the media dig deeper into the origin of the IRS practice of singling out conservative groups for additional scrutiny.

He pointed to another memo, dated April 15, 2009, from then-White House Counsel Greg Craig that urged “executive agencies” to consult with his office “on all document requests that may involve documents with White House equities.” Craig said this pertains to everything from FOIA requests to congressional requests to subpoenas.

This practice apparently dates back to 1993. The Treasury IG memo cited this, and described the White House involvement as “minimal and limited.” However, the report also said the White House involvement “was responsible in several cases for adding a significant processing delay,” which in Treasury’s case slowed them down.

“It actually is heavily ironic in the realm of transparency,” Epstein said.

He pointed to edicts and memos early on in the first term of the administration stressing transparency. Obama issued a January 2009 directive calling for an “unprecedented level of openness.”

Attorney General Eric Holder in March 2009 directed all Executive Branch departments to use a “presumption of openness” when dealing with FOIA requests.

To that end, the administration has instituted several other transparency initiatives. It has followed through on requiring Cabinet secretaries to hold Internet town hall discussions, set up a comprehensive website to track stimulus spending, and set up a national declassification center.

By Judson Berger / Published June 20, 2013 / FoxNews.com

Find From Era of King David May Confirm Old Testament Text

June 20, 2013 By Editor Leave a Comment

A carved pillar discovered near Bethlehem may be linked to the Biblical King of Kings, David himself, or perhaps validate the scope of wise Solomon’s majestic kingdom.

If they ever get around to digging it up, that is.

Israeli tour guide Binyamin Tropper, who thought he was the first to discover the major historical artifact, was astonished to find out that authorities had known about the pillar for decades — and had been keeping it a secret all that time.

‘The Israeli Antiquities Authority told him, that’s great, now shut up.’ – Binyamin Tropper

“When I realized the significance of the pillar, I told my boss who spoke with the Israeli Antiquities Authority (IAA),” Tropper, who works at the educational field school at Kibbutz Kfar Etzion, told FoxNews.com. “The IAA then told him, ‘that’s great, now shut up.'”

Tropper may have stumbled across further proof of the real-life world behind the Biblical stories related in the Old Testament. The 2,800-year-old stone pillar could help locate those legends on a map, archaeologists say, and connect the modern country of Israel with the historical roots of Judaism.

But due to the complexities of Arab-Israeli relations, the find is being ignored, experts say, hushed up to avoid a major political battle over centuries of debate concerning who has the more legitimate claim to the Holy Land.

“As the site is located in the West Bank, not within the official borders of Israel, it is more problematic to excavate there than inside Israel,” Yosef Garfinkel, a professor of archeology at Hebrew University who inspected the site, explained to FoxNews.com.

In a carefully worded statement to FoxNews.com, the IAA acknowledged the discovery of the pillar but would not discuss the matter further, expressing concern over the unavoidable relationship between archeology and the Middle East conflict.

“The complex reality in Israel sometimes brings the scholarly discipline of archaeology in contact with political issues regarding the subject of historical roots and rights,” the IAA told FoxNews.com in an email. “When a significant archaeological discovery requires additional research, the IAA sees that this is carried out. Such is the case in this issue: the IAA is operating in effort to carry out a full excavation of the site, which will enable thorough study of the findings and their disclosure in both popular and scholarly publications.”

Tropper defied the IAA’s request to stay mum on his discovery, however; he believes it’s worth the political headache a proper excavation would provoke.

Tropper explained that in the last 20-30 years, an internal debate in Israel has ensued over the size and importance of King David’s kingdom as described in the Bible. This pillar’s design, he says, is consistent with the time period of the First Temple and would help provide concrete evidence of the Judean king’s existence in Israel.

“This pillar weighs (approximately) five tons, so you can’t move it,” Tropper said. “Because it is so big, we know it must belong to this location.”

King Solomon is credited with building the First Temple as detailed in the Old Testament. A place of worship for biblical Jews, it was said to be destroyed by the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar II in 587 BCE.

Garfinkel told the Times of Israel that the pillar marks the entrance to a water tunnel of the First Temple period. The similar Siloam Tunnel in Jerusalem is near the modern-day Arab neighborhood of Silwan and is thought to be a project of the biblical king Hezekiah, used as a way to channel water into the city before the Assyrian siege in the 8th century, according to the Book of Kings.

While Tropper is reluctant to reveal the exact location of the pillar in order to prevent attracting antiquity thieves, he admits the find is all the more controversial as it currently rests on privately owned land belonging to a Palestinian.

“I think the (Arabs in the nearby town) know of the find, but they do not know how important it is,” Tropper told FoxNews.com. He said opening up the site for excavation would benefit the nearby Arab-owned orchard tremendously.

“There is a spring there that if we excavate will open up and the Arabs would have the water back and it will bring them money,” explained Tropper.

Tropper hopes that with time, the IAA will realize the importance of the pillar and order an excavation.

“We understand that it is problematic and a little complicated,” Tropper said. “This is an important place and it is our story so we need to dig.”

By Sasha Bogursky, Jeremy A. Kaplan / Published June 20, 2013 / FoxNews

Obama Family Trip to Africa Will Cost $100 Million

June 19, 2013 By Editor Leave a Comment

President Obama’s trip this month to Africa, with the first family tagging along, is projected to cost taxpayers as much as $100 million, sparking criticism as the federal government scrimps along during sequester-related budget cuts.

Among the related costs will be fighter jets; hundreds of Secret Service agents; a Navy ship with a full trauma center; and military cargo planes to bring 56 vehicles including 14 limousines and three trucks loaded with sheets of bulletproof glass to cover the windows of the hotels where the first family will stay. The details were reported by The Washington Post, based on a confidential planning document.

The trip to sub-Sahara Africa runs from June 26 to July 3.

The president and first lady have cancelled plans to go on a safari that would have included the additional expense of a sharp-shooting team, responsible for putting down a cheetah, lion or any other wild animal that became a threat.

Figuring out the exact cost of the overall trip is difficult because the information is classified for the purpose of national security.

However, a Government Accountability Office report shows President Clinton’s 1998 trip to six African nations cost at least $42.7 million – not including Secret Service expenses.

Obama’s trip could cost the federal government $60 million to $100 million based on the costs of similar African trips in recent years, a person familiar with the Obama journey but not authorized to speak for attribution told The Post.

The trip comes as agencies across the federal government try to find cost-saving measures to deal with the massive, across-the-board budget cuts known as sequester, which kicked in this year after Washington lawmakers failed to agree on a more measured approach. The Secret Service, for example, pushed to cancel public White House tours to save thousands in weekly overtime expenses.

“For the cost of this trip to Africa, you could have 1,350 weeks of White House tours,” Rep. George Holding, a North Carolina Republican, said last week. “It is no secret that we need to rein in government spending, and the Obama administration has regularly and repeatedly shown a lack of judgment for when and where to make cuts. … The American people have had enough of the frivolous and careless spending.”

The White House had defended the trip cost saying the Secret Service plan determines the security cost and that first family’s trip will result in long-term goodwill.

“The infrastructure that accompanies the president’s travels is beyond our control,” said Ben Rhodes, Obama’s deputy national security adviser for strategic communications. “When you travel to regions like Africa that don’t get a lot of presidential attention, you tend to have very long-standing and long-running impact from the visit.”

Published June 18, 2013 / FoxNews.com

Democrat Senator ‘abandons big government plantation’ to join GOP

June 18, 2013 By Editor Leave a Comment

Louisiana State Senator Elbert Gullory — formerly a lifelong Democrat — made a surprising and enthusiastic announcement. The African-American Senator is walking away from the Democrats to join the GOP. After making the announcement, Sen. Gullory released this video explaining his unique decision.

“I’m Elbert Lee Guillory, the senator for the 24th district right here in beautiful Louisiana. Recently I made what many are referring to as a bold decision to switch my party affiliation to the Republican Party. I wanted to take a moment to explain why I chose to become a Republican and also to explain why I don’t think it was a bold decision at all. It is the right decision. Not only for me, but for all my brothers and sisters in the black community. You see, in recent history, the Democrat Party created the illusion that their agenda and their policies are what’s best for black people.

Somehow it’s been forgotten the Republican Party, founded in 1854 as an abolitionist movement with one simple creed that slavery is a violation of the rights of man. Fred ache Douglass called Republicans the party of freedom add progress. And the first Republican President was Lincoln, the uh a Thor of the emancipation proclamation. It was Republicans who offered the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments giving former slaves citizenship, voting rights and drew process of law. The Democrats, on the other hand, with the party of Jim Crow, it was Democrats who defended the rights of slaves on us. It was the Republican president Dwight Eisenhower who champions the Civil Rights Act of 1957, but it was the Democrats in the Senate who filibustered the bill.

At the heart of liberalism is the idea that only a great and powerful big government can be the benefactor of social justice for all Americans. But the left is only concerned with one thing: Control, and they guess guise in control as charity. Programs such as welfare, these programs aren’t designed to lift black Americans out of poverty. They were always intended as a mechanism for politicians to control the black community. The idea that blacks or anyone, for that matter, need the government to get ahead in life is despicable.

And even or important, this idea is a failure. Our communities are just as poor as they have always been. Our schools continue to fail children, our prisons are filled with young black men, who should be at home, being fathers. Our self-initiative and our several relicense have been sacrificed in exchange for allegiance to our overseers. Who control us by making us dependent on them. Sometime I wonder if the word freedom is tossed around so frequently in our society that it has become a cliche. The idea of freedom is complex and it’s all-encompassing. It’s the idea that the economy must remain free of government persuasion. It’s the idea that the press must operate without government intrusion. It’s the idea that e-mails and phone records of Americans should remain free from government search and seizure. It’s the idea that parents must be the decision-makers in regards to their children’s education, not shop government bureaucrat. But most importantly, it is the idea that the individual must be free to pursue his or her own happiness, free from government dependence and free from government control, because to be truly free is to be reliant on no one, other than the author of our destiny.

These are the ideas at the core of Republican party and it is why I am a Republican. So my brothers and sisters of the American community, please join with me today in abandoning the government plantation and the party of disappointment.”

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