Protesters Around the Country Call for Fed’s Prosecution of Zimmerman, But Leading Dem Says not so Fast

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Photo Credit: werthmediaProtesters call for federal civil rights lawsuit in Trayvon Martin case

By Elise Viebeck. Protesters around the country on Saturday are calling on the Obama administration to prosecute George Zimmerman, the man acquitted of killing unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin, on civil rights grounds.

The demonstrations come after President Obama downplayed the possibility that Attorney General Eric Holder would take the case, calling it an issue for “state and local” law enforcement.

Martin’s parents were scheduled to lead protests in New York and Miami in partnership with the Reverend Al Sharpton, who said demonstrations would take place in more than 100 U.S. cities.

For days, activists have rallied around the goal of a Justice Department (DOJ) suit against Zimmerman, who was acquitted of second-degree murder and manslaughter charges in Sanford, Fla.

Zimmerman’s attorneys argued that he acted in self-defense, but many have alleged that racial bias was a factor in Martin’s killing. The 17-year-old was unarmed at the time he died. Read more from this story HERE.

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Leading Dem casts doubt on possible DOJ charges against Zimmerman

By Elise Viebeck. A leading House Democrat questioned Friday whether the Justice Department (DOJ) has the evidence to mount a civil rights case against George Zimmerman, the man acquitted of killing an unarmed black teenager in Florida.

Rep. Henry Waxman (Calif.), the top Democrat on the Energy and Commerce Committee, said in a television interview that “it seems unlikely” Attorney General Eric Holder would file discrimination charges against Zimmerman…

“I haven’t heard that they could show that there was anything with regard to race involved,” Waxman told C-SPAN’s Newsmakers program.

“There was a boy and this fellow Zimmerman thought he was up to no good and they got into a fight. Read more from this story HERE.

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Whether Feds Prosecute Zimmerman or Not, Little Obama Can Do to Rollback ‘Stand Your Ground’ Laws

By Ben Goad and Julian Hattem. President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder have little if any power to compel states to dial back “stand your ground” laws the two have criticized in the wake of George Zimmerman’s acquittal in the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

While the Justice Department may review the case and could seek civil rights charges against Zimmerman, experts say the federal government has little recourse with the stand your ground laws themselves.

“There’s little the Department of Justice can do,” UCLA law professor Adam Winkler told The Hill.

“States are allowed to have their own criminal laws, including self-defense laws,” Winker said. “DOJ may be able to pursue civil rights charges in individual cases, but it has no authority to overturn state laws.”

The stand your ground laws in two dozen states around the country have come under national scrutiny in the wake of last week’s acquittal of Zimmerman, a volunteer neighborhood watchman, in Martin’s shooting death.
 Read more from this story HERE.

The Militarization of America’s Police Forces and the Violence it’s Spawned

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Photo Credit: Sean McCabeOn Jan. 4 of last year, a local narcotics strike force conducted a raid on the Ogden, Utah, home of Matthew David Stewart at 8:40 p.m. The 12 officers were acting on a tip from Mr. Stewart’s former girlfriend, who said that he was growing marijuana in his basement. Mr. Stewart awoke, naked, to the sound of a battering ram taking down his door. Thinking that he was being invaded by criminals, as he later claimed, he grabbed his 9-millimeter Beretta pistol.

The police say that they knocked and identified themselves, though Mr. Stewart and his neighbors said they heard no such announcement. Mr. Stewart fired 31 rounds, the police more than 250. Six of the officers were wounded, and Officer Jared Francom was killed. Mr. Stewart himself was shot twice before he was arrested. He was charged with several crimes, including the murder of Officer Francom.

The police found 16 small marijuana plants in Mr. Stewart’s basement. There was no evidence that Mr. Stewart, a U.S. military veteran with no prior criminal record, was selling marijuana. Mr. Stewart’s father said that his son suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and may have smoked the marijuana to self-medicate.

Early this year, the Ogden city council heard complaints from dozens of citizens about the way drug warrants are served in the city. As for Mr. Stewart, his trial was scheduled for next April, and prosecutors were seeking the death penalty. But after losing a hearing last May on the legality of the search warrant, Mr. Stewart hanged himself in his jail cell.

Read more from this story HERE.

Rape Victim Sentenced to Jail for Extramarital Sex and then Fired by Janet Jackson’s Husband

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Photo Credit: APBy Jason Howerton. A Norwegian woman sentenced to 16 months in jail in Dubai for having sex outside marriage after she reported an alleged rape said Friday she decided to speak out in hopes of drawing attention to the risks of outsiders misunderstanding the Islamic-influenced legal codes in this cosmopolitan city.

The case has drawn outrage from rights groups and others in the West since the 24-year-old interior designer was sentenced Wednesday. It also highlights the increasingly frequent tensions between the United Arab Emirates’ international atmosphere and its legal system, which is strongly influenced by Islamic traditions in a nation where foreign workers and visitors greatly outnumber locals.

“I have to spread the word. … After my sentence we thought, ‘How can it get worse?’” Marte Deborah Dalelv told The Associated Press in an interview at a Norwegian aid compound in Dubai where she is preparing her appeal scheduled for early September. Read more from this story HERE.

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Janet Jackson’s Billionaire Husband Fired Rape Victim After She Was Sentenced by Muslim Court

By h/t RF. On the ninth of April [rape victim Marte Dalelv] got a new shocking letter: Her contract was terminated due to “unacceptable and improper behavior”. This time it was the company’s managing director, Mr. Wissam Al Mana [Janet Jackson’s Muslim husband], who himself signed the letter:

Dear Ms. Dalelv,

Further to the suspension letter notified to you on 20th March 2013, we hereby inform you that you employment with Al Mana Interiors W.L.L. is terminated for misconduct and breach of your employment duties, effective immediately.

As mentioned is the suspension letter dated 20th March 2013, your employment agreement is termination due to your unacceptable and improper behavior during your last business trip in Dubai, which has resulted in your arrest by the Police Authorities in UAE.

The full and final settlement of any outstanding benefits can be discussed wih Mr. XXXX XXXXXX. At the same time, you are requested to hand in any company property given to you on account of company work.

The present letter has been given in accordance with article 61 of the Qatar Labour Law no 14 of (2004), and a copy of which will be submitted to the Labour Department, for their records.

Sincerely,

Wissam Al Mana
Managing Director

Al Mana and popstar Janet Jackson, the sister of paedophile Michael Jackson, got married in 2012. When they confirmed the marriage, this past February, the news went worldwide. Read more from this story HERE.

Krauthammer Slams Obama for “Re-Racializing” the Zimmerman Verdict with his Pathetic Press Briefing Speech (+video)

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On Fox News yesterday, Charles Krauthammer slammed Obama’s press briefing speech for having “re-racialized” the Zimmerman case.

He opined that the President’s speech was motivated by the fact that the federal government doesn’t have a case, so Obama had to do something to satisfy his extreme constituency.

Krauthammer continued:

I gave him and Holder credit all week for trying to de-racialize the issue. And what Obama did, I think, unfortunately, today, is to re-racialize it. The first statement he issued after the verdict, on Saturday, I think it was, was to talk about we have to honor what the jury decided and then he spoke about helping our communities helping our neighbors and gun control. But it wasn’t about race.

Listen to more of Krauthammer’s insightful comments here:

Detroit Surrenders As If It Had Been Invaded

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Photo Credit: Ann MillspaughBy the time Detroit declared bankruptcy, Americans were so inured to the throbbing dirge of Motown’s Greatest Hits — 40% of its street lamps don’t work; 210 of its 317 public parks have been closed; it takes an hour for police to respond to a 911 call; only a third of its ambulances are drivable; one-third of the city has been abandoned; the local realtor offers houses on sale for a buck and still finds no takers — Americans were so inured that the formal confirmation of a great city’s downfall was greeted with little more than a fatalistic shrug.

But it shouldn’t be. To achieve this level of devastation, you usually have to be invaded by a foreign power. In the War of 1812, when Detroit was taken by a remarkably small number of British troops without a shot being fired, Michigan’s Gov. Hull was said to have been panicked into surrender after drinking heavily.

Two centuries later, after an almighty 50-year bender, the city surrendered to itself.

The tunnel from Windsor, Ontario, to Detroit is now a border between First World and Third World — or, if you prefer, developed world and post-developed world.

To any American time-transported from the mid-20th century, the city’s implosion would be incredible. Were he to compare photographs of today’s Hiroshima with today’s Detroit, he would assume Japan won the Second World War after nuking Michigan. Detroit was the industrial powerhouse of America, the Arsenal of Democracy, and in 1960 the city with the highest per capita income in the land.

Read more from this story HERE.

George Zimmerman and Barack Obama Share Same Disapproval Rating

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Photo Credit: Daily Caller Former neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman is viewed favorably by 32 percent of the American public, according to a new Rasmussen poll.

32 percent of American adults view Zimmerman favorably, while 48 percent view him unfavorably, according to the poll.

Zimmerman was acquitted this month in the shooting death of unarmed Florida teenager Trayvon Martin, but his case remains a lightning rod in the public discourse. Though just 34 percent of the public actually disagreed with Zimmerman’s not-guilty verdict, according to a previous Rasmussen poll, the 29-year old watchman remains a polarizing national figure…

NBA legend Charles Barkley has been one of the few public figures anywhere near Zimmerman’s side during the frenzy, saying, “I agree with the verdict.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Sequestration Destroying Naval Readiness

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Photo Credit: APDefense budget cuts have reduced the number of Navy forces that would respond to an emergency in the Persian Gulf and the Western Pacific, the chief of naval operations said.

“A year ago I would tell you we had three [aircraft] carrier strike groups and three amphibious ready groups ready to surge. And if there were a contingency, that we had to take on a large operation, the surge force would be a concern,” Adm. Jonathan Greenert told reporters at the Pentagon…

Until this year, the Navy had maintained two carrier groups in the Gulf. Only one is maintained there now because of spending cuts known as sequestration that will require the Pentagon to trim its spending by $500 billion over the next 10 years.

After sequestration kicked into effect, the Navy withdrew all combat ships from its Southern Command, curtailed training and deployments, halted restoration and modernization projects, and minimized base operations.

Read more from this story HERE.

Sen. Ted Cruz: Obama has a “Consistent Disregard for the Bill of Rights”

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Photo Credit: CNNPresident Barack Obama’s suggestion that state “Stand your Ground” laws should be examined after the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin could amount to an assault on the right of Americans to own guns, Sen. Ted Cruz said in Iowa Friday.

Speaking after addressing a Republican group, Cruz told reporters he hadn’t yet watched Obama’s remarks. But when asked to respond to Obama’s call for a review of laws in individual states, Cruz responded by saying the president was trampling on constitutionally guaranteed rights.

“It is not surprising that the president uses, it seems, every opportunity that he can to go after our Second Amendment right to bear arms,” the Texas Republican said. “This president and this administration has a consistent disregard for the Bill of Rights.”

For example, Cruz said the Obama administration was violating free speech guarantees by “restricting the rights of our servicemen and women to share their faith and not be gagged,” and that the use of drones raised other constitutional questions.

Obama on Friday made his first public comments about the acquittal of George Zimmerman last week in Martin’s shooting death in 2012.

Read more from this story HERE.

Was Israel’s Latest ‘Air’ Attack on Syria from a Submarine?

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Photo Credit: Weekly StandardAn attack two weeks ago that destroyed an advanced Russian missile shipment delivered to Syria’s Assad regime should also serve as a warning to Iran – and to those complacent Western diplomats who have (dangerously in my view) reconciled themselves to the idea of allowing Iran to go nuclear and then trying to contain it. For it seems that the July 5 attack on an arms depot near the Syrian naval base of Latakia, which has been attributed to Israel, came not from the air (as CNN and the New York Times reported last weekend) but from under the water.

Many Western officials who have apparently concluded that Israel could only destroy Iran’s nuclear program from the air – and that Israel does not have the capability to carry out such long-range air strikes in a decisive way – should take note. In recent years, Israel has greatly advanced its sea-based capabilities, and the geographical range of operations that Israel can mount from the sea, I am reliably told, now spans the entire globe. Israeli submarines are no longer confining themselves to the Mediterranean.

Last Saturday, the United States appeared to confirm that Israel was behind the July 5 attack on 50 Russian Yakhont anti-ship missiles in Latakia. Both the New York Times and CNN quoted unnamed U.S. officials as saying the strike was carried out by Israel from the air. The state-of-the-art Yakhont missiles have a range of 300 kilometers and are considered to be among the best of their kind in the world – for example, they can evade radar by flying just above water surface. They were of significant concern to both the U.S. and Israel because their range and sophistication meant they could neutralize the ability of both nations’ navies to patrol the region, and they could also complicate the ability of the U.S. or other states to enforce a future no-fly zone over Syria should they wish to implement one. Israel was also concerned that Syria would allow the missiles to fall into the hands of its arch enemy, the Iranian-controlled Hezbollah militia.

Read more from this story HERE.

Crossdressing Camp for Boys As Young As Six Draws Criticism From Christian Leaders

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Photo Credit: Lindsay MorrisYoung boys preening in front of mirrors putting on makeup, picking flowers in skirts, and prancing in heels and dresses at a talent show: all these are depicted in controversial photoessay, featured on Slate this week, documenting an annual summer camp for gender confused boys. The images are drawing praise from gay activists, and criticisms from pro-family leaders.

For the last three years, photographer Lindsay Morris has attended the four-day-long camp for “gender variant” boys from 6 to 16 and their families held in an undisclosed location in New England. Morris refers to the camp by the pseudonym “Camp ‘You Are You,’” although her description of the camp closely matches the one given on the website for Camp Aranu’tiq for “transgender” boys, which was featured last year in the Boston Globe, and which makes campers and visitors sign a confidentiality agreement. According to the Globe, it is the only camp of its kind in America.

Morris, who recently published the photoessay on her website, told Slate that the camp is aimed at “parents who don’t have a gender-confirming 3-year-old who wants to wear high heels and prefers to go down the pink aisle in K-Mart and not that nasty dark boys’ aisle.”

She said that the fashion show was one of the highlights of the camp, and something that many boys and their families worked to prepare for all year. “Some … create their own gowns with their mothers or friends of the family,” Morris said. “The focus and enthusiasm is really pretty incredible.”

On her own website, Morris describes the camp as “a temporary safe haven where gender-variant boys can freely express their interpretations of femininity alongside their parents and siblings.” Adds Morris, “Here, they can be true to their inner nature without feeling the need to look over their shoulders.”

Read more from this story HERE.