Houston Police Investigate Claims of Eight People Held Captive in ‘Dungeon’ For Up to Ten Years – UPDATED

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Photo Credit: YouTubeBy Tom Dart. Police in Houston are investigating claims that four men have been held as long-term captives in dire conditions at a house in the city.

Officers received a call at about 8.25am local time Friday morning alleging that several men were being held against their will in a converted garage at a single-story home on Whitecastle Lane, 10 miles north of downtown.

Police arrived and found four men aged roughly from 50 to 80 living there. Three appeared to be malnourished and were taken to a local hospital. They had been at the house for varying lengths of time, with one claiming he had been kept there for about a decade. Officials are investigating whether the men are homeless invalids or military veterans who were forced to hand over their welfare money.

“All four said they had been enticed to that location with the promise of beer and cigarettes and not been allowed to leave,” a police department spokesman told the Guardian. Several women with apparent mental disabilities were also found to be living there, he added.

One man who does not live at the property was detained for questioning and has not been charged, pending further investigation, the spokesman said.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: Houston Police DepartmentGrandson, 31 of woman who owned Houston house where three starved and abused men were kept in ‘prison room’ for a DECADE is charged

By Jessica Jerreat. The grandson of the owner of a Houston house, where three malnourished men were discovered living in ‘deplorable’ conditions on Friday, has been charged.

Walter Jones has been charged with injury to the elderly by act, and injury to the elderly by omission.

Jones is suspected of keeping the men, including a military veteran, in a filthy garage while he claimed their disability welfare and veterans’ checks.

The alleged victims, who had to be taken from the house on stretchers because they were so malnourished, told police they had been lured to the house with the promise of cigarettes and food, according to CNN.

Once inside the house they were not allowed to leave, police spokesman Jodi Silva said. She added: ‘They were apparently given scraps to eat. Very little food was being provided to them.’ Read more from this story HERE.

Alaska Needs This: A Patch that Makes Humans Invisible to Mosquitoes (+video)

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Photo Credit: indiegogo[A] technology firm based in California [has invented] a patch which makes the wearer invisible to the insects.

The Kite Patch uses non-toxic compounds that disrupt mosquitoes’ ability to find people through CO2 for up to 48 hours.

The technology was developed by Olfactor Laboratories and the University of California at Riverside, with backing from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the National Institutes of Health…

‘The Kite Mosquito Patch isn’t just another mosquito product, but a powerful alternative to most products on the market, enabling people to live normal lives with a new level of protection against contracting mosquito-borne diseases,’ said Michelle Brown, the chief scientist and vice president of Olfactor Laboratories, Inc.

Read more from this story HERE.

Pentagon Admits that Key Marine Colonel Missing from Benghazi isn’t actually Retired; Will Now Allow Him to Testify

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Many of Restoring Liberty’s readers likely remember the article from earlier this month concerning congressional efforts to locate a Marine colonel, George Bristol, who was in a key position in the chain of command of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) on the night Ambassador Stevens was murdered. The Marine officer is one of the several witnesses who have gone missing from Benghazi since that fateful day.

In response to congressional inquiries, Pentagon spokesman Major Robert Firman characterized COL Bristol as “retired” and stated that the Department of Defense “cannot compel retired members to testify before Congress. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, confirmed that DoD had said the Marine colonel was “retired and they can’t reach out to him.”

Turns out the Pentagon was not telling the truth. The colonel has several weeks until his retirement and is still under the Pentagon’s control. See the last story below.

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Pentagon does about-face on key Benghazi witness, makes Marine colonel available to talk to Congress

By David Martosko. The U.S. Department of Defense has agreed to make available to Congress a Marine Corps colonel who was in command of U.S. Special Forces in Northern Africa on the night armed terrorists staged a military-style assault on an American diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, Libya.

A series of requests for Marine Col. George Bristol’s testimony from Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, both Republicans, had fallen on deaf ears until Friday. The Pentagon had claimed that since Bristol had retired, it ‘cannot compel’ him to tell congressional panels what he knows about the Benghazi attack.

Chaffetz said on July 9 that the Defense Department was ‘not willing to pass along any sort of information’ related to Bristol’s whereabouts.

Now Air Force Maj. Robert Firman has confirmed to MailOnline that due to an ‘administrative error,’ Bristol was mistakenly classified as a retired officer despite his current active-duty status.

‘The Department of Defense has fully cooperated with congressional requests to understand the attacks on the Benghazi compound,’ Firman said. ‘Col. George Bristol, USMC, will be available to meet with House and Senate members and their staffs.’ Read more from this story HERE.

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Despite Pentagon claims, Marine colonel sought in Benghazi investigation not yet retired

By Dan Lamothe. When insurgents attacked the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, last fall, Col. George Bristol held a key post in the region. As commander of Joint Special Operations Task Force-Trans Sahara, he was in a position to know what options the U.S. had to protect Americans under fire.

U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans died in the Sept. 11 attacks, sparking national outcry and a congressional investigation examining the lack of protection. Several U.S. officials have testified before Congress since — but not Bristol, a salty Marine whose task force was responsible for special operations in northern and western Africa.

Defense Department officials have told members of Congress that Bristol cannot be forced to testify because he retired after stepping down during a March change of command ceremony, according to several media reports. The Pentagon reinforced that point of view to Marine Corps Times on Tuesday.

“Col. Bristol was not invited by Congress to testify before he retired,” said Air Force Maj. Robert Firman, a spokesman with the Office of the Secretary of Defense. “The DoD has cooperated fully with Congress and the Accountability Review Board since the beginning of this investigation, and we will continue to do so.”

That isn’t the case, however. While Bristol is preparing for retirement, he is on active duty through the end of July, said Maj. Shawn Haney, a Marine spokeswoman, on Wednesday. He will be placed on the inactive list on Aug. 1, she said. That contradicts statements that Pentagon officials have issued to both Congress and the media. Read more from this story HERE.

Obama Takes Over White House Press Briefing to School the Nation On Trayvon Martin and Racism (+video)

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Photo Credit: globalgrind.comObama Takes Over White House Press Briefing To Speak On Trayvon Martin

By Jennifer Bendery. President Barack Obama made an unexpected appearance at Friday’s White House press briefing to talk about the outcome of the Trayvon Martin case and, more broadly, how the United States continues to grapple with racial bias.

“When Trayvon Martin was first shot, I said that this could have been my son. Another way of saying that is, Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago,” Obama said.

Obama said he understands why people are so upset that George Zimmerman was found not guilty for shooting and killing Martin, an unarmed teen who was walking down the street in Sanford, Fla., in February 2012. Zimmerman, a neighborhood watchman, pursued Martin for no clear reason and ultimately shot him in what he said was self-defense. Read more from this story HERE.

Here’s a full video of Obama’s remarks:

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Obama Says that the Disproportionate Criminal Conduct of Black Young Men is an “Excuse” for Treating Them Differently

By Neil Munro. President Barack Obama took the White House podium Friday [and] acknowledged that African-American males have a higher-than-average crime rate, shortly before he dismissed the data as an “excuse” for treating black youths differently.

“Now, this isn’t to say that the African-American community is naive about the fact that African-American young men are disproportionately involved in the criminal justice system, that they are disproportionately both victims and perpetrators of violence,” he said.

He immediately suggested that Americans should ignore the data. ”The fact that a lot of African-American boys are painted with a broad brush and the excuse is given, well, there are these statistics out there that show that African-American boys are more violent — using that as an excuse to then see sons treated differently causes pain,” he said.

A November 2011 report by the Justice Department said that young African-American men comprise only 1 percent of the population, but commit 27 percent of the murders. Read more from this story HERE.

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Obama Calls For Review Of ‘Stand Your Ground’ Laws After Trayvon Martin Verdict

By Amanda Terkel. President Barack Obama is calling for a review of the controversial Stand Your Ground laws that were at the heart of the killing of Trayvon Martin.

“I think it would be useful for us to examine some state and local laws to see if it — if they are designed in such a way that they may encourage the kinds of altercations and confrontations and tragedies that we saw in the Florida case, rather than defuse potential altercations,” Obama told reporters in a surprise press conference at the White House on Friday.

Florida was the first state in the nation to pass a law that allows an individual who feels threatened to “stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force.” There are now about 30 states with such statutes. Read more from this story HERE.

Mark Levin: Obama has been FDR, Lincoln, Reagan and now Trayvon Martin (+video)

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On his Friday night radio program, conservative talk show host Mark Levin had some harsh criticism for President Barack Obama and his remarks on the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the death of Trayvon Martin…

“We have a president who is balkanizing the nation, as is his cabinet,” he continued. “This wasn’t about Barack Obama. This was a trial in a courtroom in Florida. And now all weekend long the question is going to be, ‘What did you think about what Obama said? It was good. It was bad.’ So suddenly it’s about Obama.

Obama had been Franklin Roosevelt. He’s been Abraham Lincoln. He’s been Ronald Reagan. And now he’s been Trayvon Martin. But he’s none of them. He didn’t live like Trayvon Martin, nor is he any of those three presidents. This president could have been a great president — policies aside — by his temperament, by what he said, by his respect for the American people. This president could have been a man that could have been admired. Instead, he is what he is.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Despite Obama’s Smear Campaign, Rep. Issa is Unrelenting

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Photo Credit: APThe Watchdog: Rep. Darrell Issa takes on the IRS

By Susan Ferrechio. Rep. Darrell Issa likes to show visitors to his office a bullet-riddled body-armor plate that was manufactured in his district.

He holds up a new model that offers better protection for soldiers, but cautions that even the latest prototypes have limits.

“Ultimately, these things are not bulletproof,” Issa said as he examined a shield. “When you are getting riveted, you’ve got to get out of there. You don’t stand there like one of those movie stars, taking bullets in the chest forever.”

It’s a fitting metaphor for Issa, Republican chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, whose aggressive style of taking on government agencies, most recently the Internal Revenue Service, has drawn a barrage of hit pieces in the news media.

Some of the attacks, which delved into his arrests for alleged car thefts as a youth, were purportedly orchestrated by the White House press office, according to Mark Leibovich in his new book, “This Town,” about the self-absorbed Washington media. Read more from this story HERE.

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Rep. Issa blasts Justice inaction on tax snooping, sees dangers in health care law

By Stephen Dinan. House oversight committee Chairman Darrell E. Issa said Thursday he’s baffled that the Justice Department declined to prosecute a government employee who apparently knowingly pried into tax records of a political candidate or donor, and said there should be a way for victims to know their rights have been violated.

He also said letting state officials have access to federal tax records can be dangerous, and that’s one reason to try to rein in the health care law, which will expand access to states that plan on running their own insurance exchanges.

Mr. Issa made the comments after The Washington Times reported this week that the Treasury inspector general for tax administration had found at least four cases in which a candidate’s or donor’s tax information was accessed improperly.

In one case, the investigator said the violation was willful and referred it to the Justice Department, which declined to pursue the case — a move Mr. Issa said was worrisome.

“We are not just disappointed, but dismayed,” Mr. Issa, California Republican, told The Times, speaking just after he finished a hearing with Inspector General J. Russell George looking at the intrusive IRS scrutiny of conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status. Read more from this story HERE.

Judge Grants Exemption for Hobby Lobby in ObamaCare Challenge

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By Associated Press. Hobby Lobby Inc. was given a temporary exemption Friday from a requirement in the new federal health care law to offer insurance coverage for the morning-after pill and similar emergency birth control methods or face steep fines.

U.S. District Judge Joe Heaton issued the preliminary injunction for the Oklahoma City-based arts and crafts chain and stayed the case until Oct. 1 to give the federal government time to consider filing an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court.

The ruling was welcomed by the Christian owners of Hobby Lobby and its sister company, the Mardel Christian bookstore chain. Attorneys for the Green family have argued that their religious beliefs are so deeply rooted that having to provide every form of birth control would violate their conscience.

“We’re just very excited. This is a great step for us,” Hobby Lobby president Steve Green said.

Members of the Green family say they believe life begins at conception, and oppose birth control methods that can prevent implantation of a fertilized egg in the uterus, such as an intrauterine device or forms of emergency contraception. Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: WNDCourts prevent feds from enforcing abortion-drug mandate

By WND. A federal court Friday granted a preliminary injunction to Hobby Lobby, preventing the Obama administration from enforcing the Obamacare abortion-drug mandate against the Christian-run company while the case is in progress.

The case brought by Hobby Lobby is just one of dozens pending in courts now over the Obamacare demand that employers provide abortifacients to their employees – irrespective of whether such actions violate the employers’ beliefs.

The Becket Fund, which is representing the company, said the court found there is a “substantial public interest in ensuring that no individual or corporation has their legs cut out from under them while these difficult issues are resolved.”

“The tide has turned against the HHS mandated,” said a spokesman for the organization.

Matt Bowman, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom, said every American, including family business owners, should be free to live and do business according to their faith. Read more from this story HERE.

Iran’s Mullahs Demand Justice for Trayvon – Really

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Photo Credit: APIran’s foreign ministry on Friday criticized the acquittal of George Zimmerman and chastised the United States for widespread “racial discrimination.”

“The acquittal of the murderer of the teenage African American once again clearly demonstrated the unwritten, but systematic racial discrimination against racial, religious, and ethnic minorities in the US society,” Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Abbas Araqchi was quoted as saying by Iran’s state run Fars News Agency.

“The court ruling has also seriously put under question the fairness of the judicial process in the United States,” Fars reported Araqchi as saying.

Iranian officials said that Zimmerman’s trial for the murder of Trayvon Martin should have been conducted in a more “accurate and fair” manner.

“Several months on since a probe was launched [into the murder], the public opinion in the U.S. and across the world expect transparency, an accurate and fair judicial investigation into the case, with due regard to human rights principles for American citizens and a ban on discrimination against minorities in the country,” Araqchi said.

Read more from this story HERE.

Another Conservative Black Pastor Weighs in on Zimmerman, Calls Jackson and Sharpton ‘Race Hustlers, Poverty Pimps’ and Says Trayvon Martin was a Thug (+video)

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Photo Credit: CNNThe Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, president of the Brotherhood Organization of A New Destiny (BOND), a conservative nonprofit, made some contentious statements on CNN’s “Piers Morgan Tonight” on Thursday. In addition to lambasting Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson for inserting race into Trayvon Martin’s death and George Zimmerman’s subsequent trial, he called the 17-year-old shooting victim a “thug.”

The exchange began with Peterson claiming that race played no role in the highly-publicized tragedy.

“This case was not about race at all and what happened – you have the race-hustlers and poverty pimps like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton and others who turned it into a race issue in order to gain power and wealth,” he charged.

Read more from this story HERE.

Charles Barkley: I Agree with the Zimmerman Verdict (+video)

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During an interview with CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo, NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley made a few surprising comments about the Zimmerman verdict and racism:

Well, I agreed with the verdict. I feel sorry that young kid got killed. But they didn’t have enough evidence to charge him. Something clearly went wrong that night. Clearly something went wrong and I feel bad for anybody who loses a kid, but if you looked at the case and you don’t make it — there was some racial profiling, no question about it. But something happened that changed the dynamic of that night, and I know that’s probably not a popular opinion among most people but just looking at the evidence I agreed with the verdict.

I just feel bad because I don’t like when race gets out in the media because I don’t think the media has a pure heart, as I call it. There are very few people who have a pure heart when it comes to race. Racism is wrong in any, shape, form. There are a lot of black people are racist too. I think sometimes when people talk about racism, they say only white people are racist. There are a lot of black people who are racist. I don’t like when it gets out there in the media because I don’t think the media has clean hands.