Alaska Right-to-Life Endorsed Candidates Win 8 of 11 Races in GOP Primary

Photo credit: utsfl

Anchorage, AK – It was a good night for the pro-life cause around the state of Alaska. In all, eight of eleven candidates endorsed by AK Right to Life PAC won Republican primaries, with one race yet undecided in House District 6, where the incumbent Eric Feige holds a 114-vote lead over his pro-life challenger, George Rauscher.

There were four contested Senate primaries in which AK Right to Life PAC candidates were endorsed. Headlining the night was a pair of Senate races featuring incumbent members of the Pro-abortion Democrat-controlled bi-partisan working group. Both sitting Senators lost to more conservative pro-life challengers.

In Senate District D, Mike Dunleavy handily defeated Senator Linda Menard by a margin of 58.22% to 41.78%. Many expected the race to be much closer, but at the end of the day with less than 16% turnout, Republicans went resoundingly for Dunleavy. And in Senate District O, challenger Peter Micciche easily defeated incumbent Senator Tom Wagoner by more than nineteen points. Micciche is currently the Mayor of Soldotna. Neither Dunleavy nor Micciche have Democrat challengers in the general election. Incumbent Senator Cathy Giessel also won easily in Senate District N.

On the House side, AK Right to Life PAC endorsed in 7 contested primaries. Five of those races were in the Mat-Su Valley. Four of the five won by twenty points or more: Wes Keller in District 7; Shelly Hughes in District 8; Lynn Gattis in District 9; and Bill Stoltze in District 11. Incumbent Peggy Wilson also won by double digits in District 33. As mentioned above, District 6 challenger George Rauscher still trails by a narrow margin with 10% of precincts not yet reporting.

While two races were decided against AK Right to Life PAC’s endorsed candidates, there is good news even there. In House District 26 where our endorsed candidate, Larry Wood, came in second, the winner, Lora Reinbold, is also a strong pro-life conservative. And in Senate District C, where AK Right to Life PAC endorsed long-shot candidate David Eastman, the winner, Click Bishop, is also pro-life with some exceptions.

On behalf of Alaska Right to Life, I would like to offer our sincere congratulations to the winners of tonight’s primaries, and many thanks to all the pro-life candidates who stood up and were counted in this election cycle. May God bless you for your efforts. Onward and upward!

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Matt Johnson is the executive director of Alaska Right to Life.

Obama’s Ambassador Tells LGBT in Czech Republic that US is their Ally

The “Photo of the Week” currently featured on the State Department’s official “Dip Note” blog shows U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic Norman Eisen and staff members taking part in a ‘gay pride’ parade in Prague on August 18.

Speaking at the opening of the event, Eisen told LGBT activists in the Czech Republic that the United States was their ally.

The parade was part of the second annual “Prague Pride” festival, which featured activities such as a “Rainbow Karaoke Party,” “Children’s Day with Picnic,” and “Gay Speed Dating.”

“The theme of this year festival is ‘Bringing our colours together’ with the aim to introduce the general public to the LGBT communities that are usually hidden from the public eye, such as LGBT Roma (gypsies), disabled or transgender persons,” according to the Prague Pride website.

Alongside Prague Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda, Eisen delivered remarks at the event’s opening reception on August 13: “I am truly honored to be here today, representing the United States and President Obama in the effort to ensure the rights of the global LGBT community,” said Eisen.

Read more from this story HERE.

Egypt Allows Iranian Navy Ship Through Suez After Complaining About US Ships Just Last Year

Egypt has again allowed an Iranian Navy ship to pass the Suez Canal toward Syria.

A senior official said the Egyptian Navy approved the passage of an Iranian ship loaded with weapons to move from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. The official said Egypt dismissed a request by the United States to stop the Iranian ship at the canal.

“The Egyptian Navy refused a U.S. request to strike an Iranian ship loaded with weapons that was on its way to Syria through the Suez Canal,” Mohab Mamish, chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, said.

Mamish, a former member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, said he was authorized to make all decisions on the canal, a leading earner of revenue for Egypt.

Mamish, whose remarks were also reported by Egypt’s official daily Al Ahram, said the Egyptian military objected to deployment of U.S. Navy ships at the southern entrance of the canal in January 2011. At the time, President Hosni Mubarak faced massive unrest, which led to his ouster by the military 18 days later.

Read more from this story HERE.

Romney: I’m Reluctant to Release Tax Returns Because of Tithing to Mormon Church

Photo credit: Tim Pearce

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said in an interview to be published Sunday that one reason he’s reluctant to release his tax returns is that they reveal how much money he and his wife have given to the Mormon church.

In an interview with Parade Magazine, Romney said his church “doesn’t publish how much people have given.”

“This is done entirely privately,” Romney told Parade. “One of the downsides of releasing one’s financial information is that this is now all public, but we had never intended to our contributions to be known.”

Romney said his contributions to his church are “a very personal thing between ourselves and our commitment to our God and to our church.”

Democrats have hammered Romney for refusing to release any tax returns beyond his release of his 2010 return and a summary of last year’s tax information. He has said he plans to release his full 2011 return before the Nov. 6 election.

Read more from this story HERE.

Video: RNC Chair Reince Priebus – GOP Won’t Give Akin Anything Even if He’s Tied

Despite a growing grassroots rebellion over the Akin senate race in Missouri, Reince Priebus is adamant that the senate candidate will get no help from the GOP, even if he matches Sen. McCaskill in the polls.

Video: Interview with Facebook-posting Marine Veteran: “I am Scared for My Country”

In an interview with Attorney John Whitehead today, Marine Veteran Brandon Raub describes his arrest for his Facebook posts, his incarceration in a psych ward, and the state of the country: “I’m pretty tough, so I rolled with the punches. But it made me scared for my country that a man can be snatched out of his property without being read his rights, I think it should be very alarming to all Americans.” Here’s the interview:

Seeds of Dissent & Discord: A Response to Keyes

Photo credit: WEBN-TV

Alan Keyes’ August 25th article entitled “Is Romney to Lead Conservatives to Self-Extinction?” is poorly timed, ill-advised, and definitely not what America needs at this time.

As far as I can remember, I have voted in every election since 1968. I have never had the opportunity to vote for a perfect candidate. Nor have I ever seen or heard of a perfect candidate. (Perfectionists who demand the perfect candidate are, as far as I can tell, about 2000 years too late.) Candidates do not run for Sainthood, they run for public office – human public office. We do not get to vote for perfection, we only get to vote for the least number of warts. And if we are smart, once we have made our selection, we get behind that person 100%; that is, if we expect our candidate to have any hope of winning.

That’s why I was shocked by Mr. Keyes’ article. If it had been written months ago when there were still several Republican candidates in the race, it would have been helpful and appropriate. But publishing it now only serves to divide and disorient both the conservative base and many independents, potentially causing many to stay away from the polls on election day.

Is this Mr. Keyes’ intent? Probably not, but intentions count for little, including the intent given by those who choose to pass along this article because it represents a minority, but significant view among conservatives. So what? Those who do hold that view are, again, those “perfectionists” who are never and will never be satisfied by any candidate; the ones who always see the glass half empty; the naysayers whose talent is always to find even the smallest point with which they cannot agree. Their condition is regrettable, but they are better left alone, not handed articles like this that only serves to provide more fodder for their doubts.

Conservatives have enough enemies. There are literally thousands of liberal columnists, bloggers, pundits and so-called “neutral” media personnel who stand against us. They will do a fine job of flogging and flaying our flesh. They don’t need our help. But I’m sure they smirk behind their hands every time they see one of us sowing seeds of dissent and discord in our own ranks.

So Romney isn’t perfect. What else is new? Electing him will not solve all our problems or end our national crisis. Agreed. But if we let Obama have four more years, where will we be then? Will not our present crisis, bad as it may be, seem four years from now like the good old days?

We had better get behind Romney now and support him 100%. If we don’t . . .

Gingrich Turns Tables on Chris Matthews, Calls him Racist

In an appearance on MSNBC’s “Hardball” on Monday from the Republican National Convention, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich took on host Chris Matthews, who accused the Republican Party of playing the “race card” throughout the day on MSNBC.

Gingrich turned the tables on Matthews, asking: “Why do you assume ‘food stamp’ refers to black? What kind of racist thinking do you have? Why are you being a racist, because you assume he’s referring to black?”

In a testy exchange, Matthews asked Gingrich why his party was using what he deemed coded racist dog whistles.

“I find your assumption so absurd that it’s hard to answer your question,” Gingrich responded. “Let me take the birther thing for a second — what Mitt Romney did the other day, people say, ‘You ought to relax, you ought to be a little bit lighter’. So he tells a joke. Now, it tends to be a joke that serves him in a totally different way that you’re calculating. It reminds everybody in Michigan that he was born in Michigan.”

But Matthews wouldn’t back down from his premise: “You know, it’s amazing how — you know how African-Americans generally, at least people who have emailed me in the last couple of hours, how they react to this?”

Read more from this story HERE.

Scientists Successfully ‘Hack’ Brain To Obtain Private Data

Photo credit: ssoosay

It sounds like something out of the movie “Johnny Mnemonic,” but scientists have successfully been able to “hack” a brain with a device that’s easily available on the open market.

Researchers from the University of California and University of Oxford in Geneva figured out a way to pluck sensitive information from a person’s head, such as PIN numbers and bank information.

The scientists took an off-the-shelf Emotiv brain-computer interface, a device that costs around $299, which allows users to interact with their computers by thought.

The scientists then sat their subjects in front of a computer screen and showed them images of banks, people, and PIN numbers. They then tracked the readings coming off of the brain, specifically the P300 signal.

The P300 signal is typically given off when a person recognizes something meaningful, such as someone or something they interact with on a regular basis.

Read more from this story HERE.

DNC Convention to Host Radical Muslims & Their “Jumah” Prayers for 2 Hours (+video)

By Erica Ritz. The Democratic National Committee is raising a number of eyebrows after announcing that it will be hosting Islamic “Jumah” prayers for two hours on the Friday of its convention, soon after denying a Catholic cardinal’s request to say a prayer at the same event.

Up to 20,000 people are expected to attend the Friday prayers and Jibril Hough, a spokesman for the Bureau of Indigenous Muslim Affairs (BIMA), said the purpose of the event is to hold political parties accountable for the issues faced by Muslim-Americans.

In particular, the event will target the Patriot Act, the NYPD, the National Defense Authorization Act, and anti-Shariah sentiment.

And while Muslim-Americans undeniably face distinct challenges, those who are well-informed on the dangers of radical Islam are expressing their doubts about the event.

Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, a devout Muslim and the Founder and President of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, wrote: “The leaders of this event – Jibril Hough and Imam Siraj Wahhaj [are not] moderates. They are radicals. These individuals embrace Islamist supremacy and have demonstrated support for radical ideologies.” Read more from this story HERE.

Here a video promoting the “Jumah.” It gets interesting at about the 2 minute mark: