Palin: Kelly Ayotte Flip-Flopped on Amnesty Bill, Should Face Primary Challenge

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Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore

Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore

Three years ago, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin backed Kelly Ayotte in a very hotly contested Republican primary for the Senate. Palin said that Ayotte was “Granite Grizzly” and the endorsement was a key reason why the powerful tea party support in 2010 was split between Ayotte and a primary opponent she barely defeated.

Now Palin feels differently about Ayotte. In fact, in an radio interview she suggested that Ayotte, now in the Senate, should face a primary over her “flip-flop” on immigration, as Palin put it.

“I think that every politician should be held accountable for breaking their campaign promises. Kelly Ayotte, bless her heart, she had on her website that her top immigration priority would be to secure the border. ‘No excuses’ is her quote. No excuses,” Palin said on Fox News radio to host John Gibson. “And she was absolutely against amnesty and yet Kelly Ayotte and Marco Rubio and all the others who had said that border security must come first before any talk about immigration reform they turned their back on the American public, so why should they not be held accountable?”

Gibson, the radio host, then pushed Palin, asking if Republicans should deny Rubio or Ayotte of “major office”…

“I think that they should be challenged,” Palin said

Read more from this story HERE.

Gay Marriage Rulings Make MSNBC Sad Because They Gut ‘Power Of Federal Government’ (+video)

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Photo Credit: Mediaite

Photo Credit: Mediaite

Well, at least she’s consistent.

MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry joined anchor Thomas Roberts on Wednesday to react to the Supreme Court’s rulings on the cases relating to gay marriage rights in the United States. Harris-Perry threw cold water on the celebrations ongoing at 30 Rock when she lamented the Court’s decision to not rule in the case against Proposition 8. She said that this ruling, along with other decisions the Court handed down this session, “gut the power of the federal government” and prevent Washington D.C. from declaring gay marriage the law in all 50 states.

“It’s been kind of a rocky week for rulings from the Supreme Court,” Roberts opined.

Harris-Perry agreed and apologized for being the cautious voice in the room and interrupting the “celebratory” atmosphere on MSNBC.

“As much as those of us who are allies of this movement, and those of us how’ve been working hard on the question of marriage equality would like to read this in the broadest sense,” Harris-Perry began. “What they did, all week long – from the beginning to the end of this week so far – is to gut the power of the federal government.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Deal to Stop Student Loan Interest from Doubling Appears to be Falling Apart

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Photo Credit: Forbes

Photo Credit: Forbes

Efforts to keep interest rates on new student loans from doubling appeared to be falling apart Wednesday as the Democratic leader of the Senate declared a bipartisan proposal unacceptable.

With just days to spare before a July 1 deadline, a group of senators from both parties attempted to link interest rates on new federally subsidized Stafford loans to the financial markets in a deal that would avert a costly rate hike for now but could spell higher rates in coming years. The loans account for a quarter of all federal student lending.

The proposal seemed to stall even before it had a chance to be considered.

The chamber’s top Democrat, Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, said it could never pass. The Democratic chairman of the education panel said he couldn’t back a plan that doesn’t include stronger protections for students and parents…

There is no limit to how high interest rates could go.

Read more from this story HERE.

Hernandez Charged with Murder, Cut By Patriots

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

The New England Patriots didn’t wait for Aaron Hernandez’s legal troubles to play themselves out.

Two hours after police arrested Hernandez but before he was charged with murder in court on Wednesday afternoon, the Patriots cut the tight end who had signed a five-year deal with New England just last summer.

“Words cannot express the disappointment we feel knowing that one of our players was arrested as a result of this investigation. We realize that law enforcement investigations into this matter are ongoing,” the team said in a statement. “We support their efforts and respect the process. At this time, we believe this transaction is simply the right thing to do.”

Hernandez was taken from his home in handcuffs early Wednesday, more than a week after a Boston semi-pro football player was found dead in an industrial park a mile from Hernandez’s house. He was arraigned later in the day and charged with murder.

Odin Lloyd, a 27-year-old member of the Boston Bandits, was found slain June 17. Officials ruled the death a homicide but did not say how Lloyd died.

Read more from this story HERE.

Three Years After Texas Woman’s Suicide, a Question Lingers: Who Was She?

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Photo Credit: Fox News

Photo Credit: Fox News

To her husband, she was Lori Kennedy. But to a dogged federal investigator, she is “Jane Doe,” a Texas mother who killed herself three years ago in her family’s driveway after spending decades using stolen identities to erase a past that remains mired in mystery.

For two years, Social Security investigator Joseph Velling has been working to uncover the real identity of Lori Erica Ruff, who was Lori Erica Kennedy before marrying into an East Texas family in 2004. Prior to that, she was known as Becky Sue Turner, an identity forged with the birth certificate of a long-dead child. Velling, a seasoned government sleuth, has been stumped in figuring out the true name and background of this Jane Doe, who took on aliases with spy-like sophistication.

“She created a false identity for the sole purpose of getting lost in America,” Velling told FoxNews.com. “It must have been for some horrific reason…either she was running away from a crime or an abusive family or relationship.”

“She wanted a complete break from her past,” said Velling. “By changing her name, she created a clean identity – a person with no past.”

The mystery surrounding Jane Doe’s identity begins in May 1988, when the unknown woman requested the Bakersfield, Calif., birth certificate of a 2-year-old girl, Becky Sue Turner, who died in a 1971 house fire in Fife, Wash., Velling said.

Read more from this story HERE.

What’s the Secret to Magician’s ‘Bus Levitation’ Trick? (+video)

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Photo Credit: YouTube

Photo Credit: YouTube

A British magician working with Pepsi Max wants people to “live for now” and witness the “magic that’s all around us.”

In order to capture their attention, the magician who goes by Dynamo performed a “bus levitation” trick. While the double-decker rolled along London streets, Dynamo appeared to be floating in the air alongside the bus with nothing more than what seems to be his arm holding him up.

Naturally, onlookers were amazed, but the first thing they do, as you can see in the video, is whip out their phones to take photographic evidence.When you watch the clip, see if you can count how many people have their phones out to document the trick.

Read more from this story HERE.

Breast-Fed Babies Achieve Higher Social Status

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Photo Credit: Getty Images

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Studies suggest that breast-feeding can be good for a baby’s health, and now there’s fresh evidence that it may help children to climb the social ladder as well.

What does breast-feeding have to do with social status? According to the researchers from University College London, who reported their findings in the journal BMJ, breast-feeding can impact cognitive development, and that accounted for just over a third of nursing’s effect on improvements in social status. What’s more, the practice also seemed to lower the chances of downward mobility.

To assess the impact of breast-feeding on later social status, the researchers compared two cohorts of people, including more than 17,400 individuals born in 1958, and over 16,700 people born in 1970. When their kids were about 5 years old, mothers in both groups were asked if they had breast-fed their children. The researchers used the children’s fathers’ income and job to determine the youngsters’ initial social status when they were about 10 to 11 years old and compared this with their social status decades later, when they reached age 33 or 34. And to get some idea of the way in which breast-feeding might be influencing social status, the scientists also evaluated the children’s cognitive skills and stress responses when they were about 10 or 11.

Read more from this story HERE.

Supremes Open Marriage to Homosexuals, Prop 8 in Question

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Homosexual Supreme COurtBy WND.com. The U.S. Supreme Court today struck down the federal Defense of Marriage Act as a violation of the constitutional provision for equal protection.

It was one of two major marriage decisions. The court dismissed the second case, California’s Proposition 8, deciding that the citizens who appealed the California Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the law protecting traditional marriage did not have “standing.”

The DOMA dispute was triggered by a lesbian whose same-sex partner died and left her an estate. The lesbian sued because she was assessed taxes on her inheritance while the survivor of a married spouse would be exempt.

The opinion said marriage laws long have been determined by states, but DOMA rejected that concept.

President Obama had refused to defend DOMA, which was signed by President Bill Clinton in 1996. The provision simply said that for federal purposes, such as benefits, marriage is limited to a man and a woman. Read more from this story HERE.

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Prop 8 General Counsel Announces that Supremes Did Not Rule Against Prop 8

By Andy Pugno. Just moments ago, the U.S. Supreme Court announced its decision in the Proposition 8 case.

It is widely being mis-reported that the Court ruled against Prop 8. IT DID NOT!

Rather, the Court said it could not reach a decision because California government officials refused to defend the law. So it did not rule on Prop 8’s validity.

In doing so, the Court also nullified the Ninth Circuit’s ruling against Prop 8, which is a great victory in itself!

So, the voter-passed Constitutional Amendment to protect man-woman marriage remains the law of the land in California, because only an appellate court can strike down a voter proposition statewide.

But it remains to be seen what California officials will do now.

Right now we are heading down the steps of the Supreme Court building to a long bank of TV cameras and reporters, to deliver this statement:

“We are pleased that the Supreme Court has reversed the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ misguided decision that sought to invalidate Proposition 8. For the more than seven million Californians who have seen their vote stripped away from them, little by little, over the course of five years, that decision is gratifying.

“While it is unfortunate that the Court’s ruling does not directly resolve questions about the scope of the trial court’s order against Prop 8, we will continue to defend Prop 8 and seek its enforcement until such time as there is a binding statewide order that renders Prop 8 unenforceable.

“We are also especially grateful and humbled by the consistent prayers and support of traditional marriage supporters everywhere throughout this long and difficult case.”

US Supreme Court Ruling Keeps Alaska in Driver Seat to Define Marriage

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Photo Credit: dmcdevit

Photo Credit: dmcdevit

Today’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling regarding the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and Prop 8, California’s successful citizen initiative that defined marriage as a union between one man and one woman, highlights how important it is that Alaska was the first state in the nation in 1998 to define natural marriage in our own State Constitution.

Thank God we as citizens of Alaska ignored the advice of those who said we should wait for the Court to determine what this essential institution means.

Although you will hear from most media sources that DOMA was dismantled today, Justice Kennedy, acknowledges in his majority opinion the inherent right of individual states to define and regulate marriage as they see fit.

For most Americans, the big picture is more of what the Court did not do:

*It did not create a constitutional right to same-sex marriage as it did for abortion in 1973.

*It also did not declare same-sex marriage a civil right on the order of ethnicity or nationality.

The critical role of natural marriage is not diminished by these rulings today. The essential need for children to have both a married mother and father is not lessened by the opinions of five unelected black robes on the U.S. Supreme Court. The work of Alaska Family Action to strengthen marriage and families continues, as well.

Now more than ever, Alaskans must not stay silent on cherishing and promoting the truth of natural marriage. Whatever journalists, intellectuals and other elites may tell us, the only way to guarantee future political losses is to sit idly by.

We must step up and frame our message, strengthen our coalitions, devise strategies and bear witness to a culture looking for answers.

Though Alaska Family Action disagrees with aspects of the Court’s decision, we are grateful that the Court did not undermine the will of Alaska voters who defined marriage in our State Constitution.

In DOMA, we believe that the court erred in claiming that a state that has redefined marriage can force that definition on the federal government for purposes of federal marriage laws.

In Prop 8, the court has ensured that the state-by-state debate about marriage is allowed to continue. Truly the debate over marriage has just begun.

Marriage is more than just a personal promise, it serves a public purpose. It is society’s best guarantee of a limited government that stays out of family life. Social science data has proved this time and time again.

Alaska Family Action is committed to continuing to stand for marriage and to defeat any efforts to redefine this essential union.

Stay tuned and stay engaged.

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Thank you for your interest in the Alaska Family Action. We are an Alaska-based pro-family, public policy organization formed to provide a voice on social and cultural issues impacting Alaskan families. We are funded entirely by the generous contributions of individual Alaskans who believe in helping us to compete in the marketplace of ideas. By strengthening families in Alaska through informed citizenship, community involvement and improved public policy, the Alaska Family Action intends on being engaged in the important issues of our day on a long-term, ongoing basis. We look forward to serving you and ask you to join us financially, prayerfully and as an active volunteer partner.

Standing for families,

Jim Minnery

President

Alaska Family Action

Radical Muslim Preacher Whose Organization Supports Killing US Soldiers Met at White House this Month

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Photo Credit: Daily Caller

Photo Credit: Daily Caller

An Islamic scholar who serves as vice president of an organization that supports the terrorist group Hamas and whose president sanctioned the killing of American soldiers in Iraq met with senior Obama administration officials at the White House earlier this month.

In a posting on his website, brought to The Daily Caller’s attention by the Investigative Project on Terrorism, Shaykh Abdullah Bin Bayyah revealed that he met at the White House on June 13 with Gayle Smith, senior director of the National Security Council, and Rashad Hussain, President Obama’s special envoy Organization of the Islamic Conference, among other officials.

The posting also initially stated that the “national security adviser” was at the meeting, without naming him directly, though that part of the post was removed shortly after TheDC contacted the White House to see if National Security Adviser Tom Donilon was in fact at the meeting. According to the Investigative Project on Terrorism, the Arabic version of the post was also changed to say that the deputy national security adviser attended, not the national security adviser.

Among the topics the post says Bin Bayyah addressed at the meeting was how to “lift the injustices from vulnerable peoples such as the Syrian people, the Palestinians, and the Muslims in Myanmar” and for the U.S. to do more to aid the Syrian revolution.

Read more from this story HERE.