Alaskan Navy Seal who wrote book on bin Laden killing identified, faces likely probe

On Wednesday this week, Reuters reported that a Navy Seal had written a book about the mission that killed Osama bin Laden. The book, entitled “No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission that Killed Osama bin Laden,” was written by a former Seal Team Six member under the pseudonym of “Mark Owen” along with co-author Kevin Maurer. The publisher states that it will be released on 9/11.

According to Reuters:

The U.S. government was surprised by the news that a Navy SEAL who participated in the raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan has written a book about the operation in which the al Qaeda leader was killed, U.S. officials said on Wednesday. . . It was not vetted by government agencies to ensure that no secrets were revealed.

The agencies not consulted included the Pentagon and the CIA. The publisher, Dutton of the U.S. Penguin Group, responded:

The book was vetted by a former special operations attorney. He vetted it for tactical, technical, and procedural information as well as information that could be considered classified by compilation and found it to be without risk to national security.

After a bit of sleuthing, Fox News discovered that the author was part of the elite team that killed three Somalian pirates who had taken control of an American vessel in the Indian Ocean in 2009, and that

“Mark Owen,” the pseudonym under which the book was written, is actually 35 year-old Matt Bissonnette of Wrangell, Alaska. Bissonnette held the rank of chief in the elite Navy SEAL Team 6 prior to retiring. He was one of the first men in the room where bin Laden died, witnessing the occurrence first-hand.

Some have called Fox’s decision to publicize Bissonnette’s name and location “astonishing” as it most certainly puts the former Navy Seal at risk of reprisal by Islamic fanatics.  Fox disagreed, noting that anyone who publishes such a book loses any reasonable expectation of privacy.  The network also contended that Bissonnette’s goal is to publicly confront Obama for “taking credit” for the raid, since he had cited the need to “set the record straight.”

It now appears that Obama may be attempting to preempt this confrontation. According to Reuters, Bissonnette is likely to face a Department of Defense probe over his failure to have the book “cleared” prior to publication:

Colonel Tim Nye, spokesman for the U.S. Special Operations Command, or SOCOM, which directs operations by Navy SEALs and other special operations forces, said on Thursday that SOCOM did not review the book before publication, nor had the SEALs.

Nye said that because the book had not been subjected to appropriate pre-publication review, it could become a target of “potential investigation” by government authorities.

Unfortunately for Obama, “any such inquiry was unlikely to be launched until after the book’s publication, scheduled for the anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the United States.”

 

Fox News Under Fire, Falsely Asserts Planned Parenthood Doesn’t Do Abortions

A Fox news anchor is drawing criticism from pro-life advocates for saying in a news report that Planned Parenthood doesn’t do abortions. Moreover, former Judge Andrew Napolitano agreed with the anchor that that was the case.

Anchor Martha MacCallum was conducting a report on the decision by a federal appeals court to allow Texas to continue its effort revoking taxpayer funds from the Planned Parenthood abortion business.

“So judge obviously there has been a lot of debate in this country over whether or not the federal government and states should fund Planned Parenthood because they do refer people to and give them counseling with regard to abortion. They don’t perform abortions at Planned Parenthood,” she said to Napolitano, who responded, “Correct.”

“So Planned Parenthood says that most of what we do is outreach to women who need cancer screenings and basic health care, OBGYN health care, we do not provide abortions, we do counsel people, and we do help them, if they say that that’s what they want to do, we help them get there,” MacCallum added.

However, Planned Parenthood’s own figures show it is the biggest abortion business in the nation.

Read more from this story HERE.

Botched Abortion 911 Call: “She’s Bleeding Quite Badly” (+video)

By Steven Ertelt. The recording of the 911 call from an apparently badly botched abortion last week at an abortion clinic is Dayton has been made public and the details are shocking for a woman who was victimized.

A woman was rushed to the hospital in Dayton, Ohio following a botched late-term abortion that took place at the Women’s Med Center abortion clinic in Dayton. Martin Haskell, who is credit with making the partial-birth abortion procedure a household name, runs the abortion facility that injured the woman.

According to local pro-life advocate who filmed emergency medical personnel rushing to the scene, paramedics loaded a female patient into an awaiting ambulance. Those activists confirmed that the abortion practitioner on duty that day was Roslyn Kade, a long-time associate of Haskell’s.

Now, a 911 recording just released by Operation Rescue reveals that a medical emergency last week involved uncontrolled bleeding on a 37-year old patient.

“She’s bleeding quite bad,” a caller from the Women’s Med Center told the emergency dispatcher. The woman’s current condition remains unknown.

Read more from this story HERE.

Here’s the 911 call from the abortion clinic:

Heritage: Another Recession Is Imminent

Photo credit: Ed Yourdon

Yesterday, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reported that without a doubt, America will have a fresh recession next year unless Congress and the President prevent it.

We are facing the largest tax increase in history—Taxmageddon, scheduled to take effect January 1—and what experts are calling a “fiscal cliff” of sharp and unforgiving budget changes that will send the country spiraling downward. Congress and the President have the power to prevent this, and when the August congressional recess is over, that is exactly what they should do.

In its new report, the CBO said that if Congress does not act, it’s not economic growth we should be worried about, because the economy will actually shrink next year. It will shrink by 0.5 percent, and the unemployment rate will spike to 9.1 percent. As Heritage’s J.D. Foster explains: “Forget percentages—what does this mean in actual jobs lost if President Obama and Congress fail to act? It means roughly 1.6 million more Americans will be out of work—on top of the 12.8 million who already want to work but can’t find jobs.”

Preventing Taxmageddon and the fiscal cliff are necessary just to keep the economy from taking a nosedive. The status quo isn’t attractive, but Congress certainly shouldn’t make things worse. If Congress moves to prevent the nosedive, the CBO projects that the economy will grow only slightly next year, at an anemic 1.7 percent, and the unemployment rate will remain stuck around 8 percent.

Why? The CBO report makes it clear: Our spending problem continues, and it’s driven mainly by the three major entitlements: Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. Spending on these programs will outpace tax revenue over the next decade.

Read more from this story HERE.

Video: Order to strike Iran issued in Israel today

This commercial, just released on Israeli TV, features John Cleese of Monty Python fame. Cleese plays a US general and he, along with two other western generals, listen to Israeli pleas to allow them to strike Iran. English with Hebrew subtitles.

Va. judge, in surprise move, orders immediate release of Marine vet Brandon Raub

In an unexpected ruling handed down today by Circuit Court Judge Allan Sharrett, the judge dismissed the government’s case against Brandon Raub, the Marine who was arrested by local police and FBI agents, detained in a psychiatric ward and forced to undergo psychological evaluations based solely on the controversial nature of lines from song lyrics, political messages and virtual card games which he posted to his private Facebook page. Judge Sharrett dismissed the petition for involuntary commitment on the grounds that the petition “is so devoid of any factual allegations that it could not be reasonably expected to give rise to a case or controversy.” Raub is expected to be released immediately.

“This is a great victory for the First Amendment and the rule of law,” said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. “Brandon Raub was arrested with no warning, targeted for doing nothing more than speaking out against the government, detained against his will, and isolated from his family, friends and attorneys. These are the kinds of things that take place in totalitarian societies. Today, at least, Judge Allan Sharrett proved that justice can still prevail in America.”

Brandon Raub, a former Marine who has served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, was detained by FBI agents and police officers at his home in Chesterfield County based upon the nature of content posted to his Facebook page in recent months. Like many Facebook users, Raub uses his Facebook page to post song lyrics and air his political opinions, as well as engage in virtual online games with other users. On Thursday, August 16, 2012, police and FBI agents arrived at Raub’s home, asking to speak with him about his Facebook posts. They did not provide Raub with a search warrant. Raub was cooperative and agreed to speak with them. Without providing any explanation, levying any charges against Raub or reading him his rights, law enforcement officials then handcuffed Raub and transported him first to the police headquarters, then to John Randolph Medical Center, where he was held against his will due to alleged concerns that his Facebook posts were “terrorist in nature.” Outraged onlookers filmed the arrest and posted the footage to YouTube.

In a hearing before Special Justice Walter Douglas Stokes on August 20, government officials again pointed to Raub’s Facebook posts as the sole reason for their concern and for his continued incarceration. Ignoring Raub’s explanations about the fact that the FB posts were being read out of context and his attorney’s First Amendment defense, Stokes sentenced the former Marine to up to 30 days’ further confinement in a psychiatric ward and signed a court order for Raub’s involuntary admission to the Veterans Hospital in Salem. In coming to Raub’s defense, attorneys for The Rutherford Institute challenged the actions of Chesterfield County, Va. as procedurally improper, legally unjustified, and in violation of Raub’s First Amendment rights. Institute attorneys appeared before the Circuit Court on August 23 to request that Raub be transferred back to John Randolph Medical Center while Institute attorneys attempted to secure his release. However, Judge Allan Sharrett declared the government’s case to be lacking in factual allegations and ordered Raub immediately released.

Read more from this story HERE.

Video: Texas judge warns of US civil war involving UN if Obama reelected

A Texas judge in an interview broadcast on a Fox TV newscast predicted a US civil war if Obama is reelected. He contends that Obama will call in UN troops and that that will create further unrest. These comments begin at about :30 of the video. To see the Houston Chronicle story on this, please click HERE.

Michelle Obama guest-edits website that also features sex tips from prostitutes

As the guest editor of iVillage, Michelle Obama has been sharing fitness and lifestyle tips over the past week.

But First Lady fans who are new to the site may be shocked to notice some of the other, more sexually explicit content, running alongside her commentary on family life and workout routines.

Among the articles currently on the iVillage site are a series of sex tips from prostitutes and a list of ‘naughty’ smartphone apps that are ‘digital turn-ons’, CNSNews.com points out.

Though none of the sex-related articles are by Mrs Obama herself, the title of Guest Editor implies that she would have control over the site’s editorial content.

Articles such as ‘How To Have A One-Night-Stand’, and ‘8 Subtle Ways To Give Him the Hint to Head “South”‘ are unlikely to have been on her agenda though.

Read more from this story HERE.

Photo credit: DonkeyHotey

Gov’t idiocy on steroids: Illegal aliens to reap up to $7 billion in tax credits

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore

Illegal immigrants could receive more than $7 billion this year in federal tax credits, according to one estimate, thanks to a loophole in the law that allows people not authorized to work to reap the government payments with no questions asked.

Sen. Jeff Sessions’ office calculated that, based on recent trends, illegal immigrants could receive roughly $7.4 billion through a provision known as the Additional Child Tax Credit. That’s more than quadruple what the payout was four years ago, but the payments have been steadily increasing over the past decade.

Though illegal immigrants are prohibited from receiving similar tax credits, a quirk in the law allows them to qualify for the child tax credit. And it’s a “refundable” credit, meaning recipients can reap the money — with average checks totaling about $1,800 — even if they’ve paid no taxes.

An aide to Sessions, R-Ala., the top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, said the issue is a “serious matter that deserves attention” and another sign of how “Washington is disconnected from reality.”

Illegal immigrants can qualify because even people not authorized to work in the U.S. are supposed to file returns with the IRS. If they don’t have a Social Security number, they are provided what’s known as an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number in order to file returns.

Read more from this story HERE.

Video: Conceived-in-rape Attorney battles pro-abort Gloria Allred on Piers Morgan

Watch this excellent video from Piers Morgan Tonight featuring Personhood USA representative Rebecca Kiessling battling Pro-Abortion Gloria Allred. Ms. Kiessling was conceived in rape and Ms. Allred was raped and then had an abortion. Stick with this video, the fireworks, and Ms. Kiessling’s excellent defense, begins at minute 9.