Pentagon Official: Situation in Iraq Is ‘So F**ked’

Photo Credit: MOHAMMED SAWAF / AFP / GettyWith the crisis in Iraq worsening by the day, a ranking Pentagon official with knowledge of the situation has shed some light on the Obama administration’s inaction in an exclusive statement to TheDC.

“The Pentagon is split and the administration is paralyzed,” he said, calling the gridlock “horrendous.”

“Joint Chiefs Chairman [Martin] Dempsey is an asshat yes man,” he continued. “We have congressional authority to use force for the Iraq War, as it never expired, but people are putting targeting packets through unnecessary bureaucracy to slow events to the point that — they hope — the situation is overcome by events. Bad call. So fucked. Reads like another chapter in [Robert] Gates’s book.”

While the Iraqi government is accepting military assistance from Russia and Syria, the Obama administration has yet to authorize the airstrikes Iraqi officials have repeatedly asked for.

“Time is not on our side,” Iraqi ambassador to the U.S. said Tuesday. “Further delay only benefits the terrorists.”

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Obama Ranked ‘Worst President’ Since World War II

Photo Credit: Pete SouzaPresident Obama reached a new milestone, but not one he’s likely to tout. According to a Quinnipiac University poll, Obama ranks as the worst president since World War II.

When presented with a list of presidents since Harry S Truman and asked which they would consider “the worst,” 33 percent of respondents chose Obama. The president surpassed his predecessor, George W. Bush, by 5 points.

In contrast, Ronald Reagan ranked as the best president since Truman at 35 percent. Bill Clinton earned second place and John F. Kennedy third with 18 percent and 15 percent, respectively.

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FBI: Colorado Woman Aimed to Go to Syria for Jihad

Photo Credit: ReutersFBI agents tried more than once to discourage a 19-year-old suburban Denver woman who said she was intent on waging jihad in the Middle East before arresting her in April as she boarded a flight she hoped would ultimately get her to Syria, court documents unsealed Wednesday show.

Shannon Maureen Conley had told agents that she wanted to use her American military training from the U.S. Army Explorers to start a holy war overseas, even though she knew that it was illegal, according to the newly released federal court records. Her “legitimate targets of attack” included military facilities, government employees and public officials, the documents say.

Conley, a Muslim convert, was arrested April 8 at Denver International Airport, telling agents she planned to live with a suitor she met online, apparently a Tunisian man who claimed to be fighting for an al-Qaida splinter group, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The militant group also known as ISIL or ISIS has recently overrun parts of Iraq and Syria.

Conley has been charged with conspiring to help a foreign terrorist organization. Her federal public defender did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

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'Ideal Aryan Baby' on Cover of Nazi Magazine Revealed to Be Jewish

Photo Credit: USC SHOAH FOUNDATIONA baby in a photo that was chosen by a Nazi magazine as the image of an ideal Aryan baby has been revealed to be Jewish.

Hessy Taft was six months old and living in Berlin in 1935 with her parents, Jacob and Pauline Levinsons, both singers.

At the time, Pauline Levinsons took Hessy to a popular photographer to have her portrait taken, The Telegraph reports.

Months later, Taft’s photo appeared on the cover of Sonne ins Hause, a popular Nazi family magazine.

Fearing that the family’s religion would be exposed, Pauline Levinsons demanded an explanation from photographer Hans Ballin, who said he knew the family was Jewish and submitted the photo in a contest.

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What the New Caliphate Means for World

Photo Credit: Getty Images By Joel Richardson.

Two weeks ago, our illustrious President Obama stood in the White House and made the following statement:

“[T]he truth of the matter is that for all the challenges we face, all the problems that we have, if you had to be – if you had to choose any moment to be born in human history, not knowing what your position was going to be, who you were going to be, you’d choose this time. The world is less violent than it has ever been. It is healthier than it has ever been. It is more tolerant than it has ever been. It is better fed then it’s ever been. It is more educated than it’s ever been.”

On Sunday afternoon, my Twitter account lit up, as the various radical Muslims I follow erupted with jubilant declarations that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, or ISIS) had officially declared a caliphate – an Islamic state ruled by Islamic Shariah. No longer is it ISIS, but simply the Islamic State (IS). After an official meeting of ISIS’ shura (religious) council, they named their shadowy leader, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, to be the Emir al-Mu’minin, or the commander of the faithful – the first “caliph” in roughly 90 years. The caliph is essentially a Muslim pope, president and general all rolled into one.

The potential implications for the world are absolutely profound. First, according to Islamic jurisprudence, once a caliph has been declared, it is mandatory upon all Muslims to make a pledge of allegiance to the sitting caliph, known in Arabic as the bay’ah. The bay’ah translated is as follows:

“I pledge my allegiance to the Commander of the Faithful, to hear and obey, in hardship and in blessings, to establish the religion of Allah, and to enforce Allah’s Shariah, and to expand the order of Allah, to establish the global Islamic state.”

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Photo Credit: Global Research The Islamic State, the “Caliphate Project” and the “Global War on Terrorism”

By Prof Michel Chossudovsky.

The Al Qaeda legend and the threat of the “Outside Enemy” is sustained through extensive media and government propaganda.

In the post 9/11 era, the terrorist threat from Al Qaeda constitutes the building block of US-NATO military doctrine. It justifies –under a humanitarian mandate– the conduct of “counter-terrorism operations” Worldwide.

Known and documented, Al Qaeda affiliated entities have been used by US-NATO in numerous conflicts as “intelligence assets” since the heyday of the Soviet-Afghan war. In Syria, the Al Nusrah and ISIS rebels are the foot-soldiers of the Western military alliance, which in turn oversees and controls the recruitment and training of paramilitary forces.

While the US State Department is accusing several countries of “harboring terrorists”, America is the Number One “State Sponsor of Terrorism”: The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) –which operates in both Syria and Iraq– is covertly supported and financed by the US and its allies including Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Moreover, the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham’s Sunni caliphate project coincides with a longstanding US agenda to carve up both Iraq and Syria into separate territories: A Sunni Islamist Caliphate, an Arab Shia Republic, a Republic of Kurdistan, among others.

The US-led Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) constitutes the cornerstone of US military doctrine. “Going after Islamic terrorists” is part and parcel of non-conventional warfare. The underlying objective is to justify the conduct of counter-terrorism operations Worldwide, which enables the US and its allies to intervene in the affairs of sovereign countries.

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Federal Gov’t Sues Wisconsin Company, Says English-Language Requirement is 'Discrimination'

Photo Credit: CNS News The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), a federal agency tasked with enforcing workplace discrimination laws, is suing a private American business for firing a group of Hispanic and Asian employees over their inability to speak English at work, claiming that the English-language requirement in a U.S. business constitutes “discrimination.”

Judicial Watch reported Tuesday that the government is accusing Wisconsin Plastics, Inc. of violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on “national origin.” The government argues this includes the “linguistic characteristics of a national origin group.”

Irene Garcia, the blog editor and Spanish media liaison for Judicial Watch, called the EEOC’s accusation “ludicrous.”

“That’s ludicrous and an overreaching of government,” Garcia told CNSNews.com. “If you are a private company in the United States, you should be able to require your employees to speak English.”

According to a news release from the EEOC, Chicago Regional Attorney John C. Hendrickson said the Green Bay-based company’s English requirement is based on “superficial” reasoning.

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Planned Parenthood Gave One of Their Clinics an “Award” for the Most Disturbing Reason Possible

This is absolutely heartbreaking. Hey guys, great job on exceeding the number of deaths this year, let’s celebrate!

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Burger King Sells Gay Pride Whopper

Photo Credit: Burger KingBy Bruce Horovitz.

Burger King has concocted yet another way to have it your way: a gay pride burger.

The Proud Whopper, as it’s called, comes wrapped in a rainbow colored wrapper with this inscription: “We are all the same inside.” It will be sold through Thursday at one Burger King restaurant on San Francisco’s Market Street, that was at the heart of the route for last weekend’s 44th annual San Francisco Pride Celebration & Parade.

Burger King on Wednesday morning at 8 a.m. EST plans to post a two-minute video about the Proud Whopper on its YouTube channel.

“It showcases who we are as a brand,” says Fernando Machado, senior vice president of global brand management at Burger King. “It shows how we, as a brand, believe in self-expression.”

The inspiration behind the unusual burger wrap and video, he says, is Burger King’s localized efforts to put into motion actions that support its recently-tweaked slogan: “Be Your Way.”

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Photo Credit: AFPSecond Employee Alleges Chase Bank Surveyed Staff’s LGBT Loyalty

By Austin Ruse.

A second source has confirmed that JP Morgan Chase has asked each of its employees whether they are “an ally of the LGBT community,” which employees have taken as a veiled threat.

Each year JP Morgan Chase sends its employees a survey asking questions related to management and other non-controversial issues. A longtime Chase employee told Professor Robert George of Princeton that the survey this year included the following questions for the first time:
Are you:

1) A person with disabilities;
2) A person with children with disabilities;
3) A person with a spouse/domestic partner with disabilities;
4) A member of the LGBT community.
5) An ally of the LGBT community, but not personally identifying as LGBT.

This employee was alarmed to receive the final question. If he answered no, he feared, he would be opened up to criticism that may affect his employment. Only a few months ago Brendan Eich was hounded out of the CEO role at Mozilla for not supporting LGBT marriage.

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Buses With Migrant Families Rerouted Amid Protests (+video)

Photo Credit: myfoxla.comBy Hal Eisner.

Mayor Alan Long stands before a packed auditorium at Murrieta Mesa High School to talk about what he says is a “very controversial” subject. The audience is filled with those who are upset that migrants are illegally crossing the border in Texas and being flown to Riverside County for processing in, among several places, Murrieta.

He tells those assembled that “Wside you’re on we can agree there must be change.” There is applause. He says the fact is that the Federal Government wants to bring 140 people every 72 hours… indefinitely. And, as he told me earlier at City Hall, that is a concern for the city.

Supervisor Jeff Stone tells the audience “We have a lack of political will to protect our borders which is a Federal responsibility. He says the Federal Government needs to “stop this action of exporting frightened and traumatized women and children from Central American countries for nothing more than satisfying a political agenda.” He says “these are human beings. We do not make border policy. We have a responsibility to make sure those who come into our country are free of communicable diseases. We have always been humanitarian and must provided social services. But, must react in a peaceful and orderly way and, demand the Congress immediately secure our borders. They must enforce current immigration laws.

Los Angeles News | FOX 11 LA KTTV

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HHS Bars Congressman from Seeing Immigrant Children

By Joel Gehrke.

A Health and Human Services official refused to allow a member of Congress to enter a facility in his district where some of the unaccompanied immigrant children are being housed.

Representative Jim Bridenstine (R., Okla.) was told he could schedule an appointment for July 21. “​What are they trying to hide?” Bridenstine said after the incident. “​Do they not want the children to speak with Members of Congress? As a Navy pilot, I have been involved in operations countering illicit human trafficking. I would like to know to whom these children are being released.”

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Union’s Free Spending Raised Free Speech Concerns at Issue in Court Case

Photo Credit: Flickr Creative CommonsUnion leaders based in Chicago racked up more than $13,000 in hotel charges to attend President Obama’s second inauguration and more than $6,000 to purchase booze for a Christmas party the month before.

If the bosses of the Service Employees International Union plan to continue spending in that fashion, though, they may have to find some new sources of cash to cover expenses such as the $1.1 million in travel their Indiana-Illinois health care unit logged in fiscal 2013. The SEIU no longer can force home-based personal care assistants to pay dues-like fees to the union.

That’s because Pamela Harris, an Illinois mother who provides health care services to her disabled son prevailed yesterday in a case before the U.S. Supreme Court that challenged compulsory union dues as unconstitutional under the First and 14th amendments.

The case, in which justices decided 5-4 in Harris’s favor, is known as Harris v. Quinn. Harris and six of the other seven plaintiffs provide care for disabled family members in Illinois. They are paid under the state’s Medicaid program but are hired by the patients they serve.

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