After Kentucky Clerk Was Ordered to Jail, Her Son Stood up in an Incredible Way

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kimdavismugshot-913x512After a federal judge ordered Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis to jail for failing to issue same-sex marriage licences, his efforts to create an alternative means for the county to comply with a court order to issue the licenses came up short.

U.S. District Court Judge David Bunning summoned Davis’ six deputy clerks to appear in his courtroom on Thursday, wanting them all to confirm their willingness to issue same-sex marriage licenses. While five of the six said they would be willing to do so, Nathan Davis, Kim’s 21 year old son, said he would not. The judge chose not to hold him in contempt.

Some of the clerks questioned whether they had the legal authority to issue licenses without the county clerk’s approval, which the judge conceded may be an issue.

Ms. Davis indicated that she will not grant her deputies the authority to issue licenses under her name, all but assuring she will be spending more time in jail.

As an elected official, Kim Davis cannot be fired. However, she can be impeached by the Kentucky legislature, which is not due to reconvene until after the new year. Democrat governor Steve Beshear has directed Davis to issue the licenses, but has resisted calling a special legislative session for the purpose of impeaching her or changing current law to grant authority to other county officials to issue licenses. Regardless, it is not clear if the legislature would vote to impeach Davis, whose stand is popular particularly in her part of the state. (Read more from “After Kentucky Clerk Was Ordered to Jail, Her Son Stood up in a Huge Way” HERE)

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Why Is the FBI Trying to Bury a Special Forces War Hero?

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AAdS5m0Lieutenant Colonel Jason Amerine was one of the first U.S. soldiers into Afghanistan. He landed there with an Army Special Forces A-Team in late October 2001, when everyone agreed the war would be brief and the objectives were clear: Avenge the terror of the 9/11 attacks, depose the Taliban and leave. Nearly 14 years later, he went to Capitol Hill to explain why he’s still fighting his way out.

Until this past January, Amerine worked at the Pentagon, where he led an Army team ordered to bring home Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, a mission that was expanded to include several civilian hostages held by Taliban-aligned militants in Pakistan. Bergdahl had been captive for nearly four years by the time Amerine got involved, making him the longest-held prisoner of war since Vietnam and a key to any end-of-war negotiations. In 2013, Amerine lured the Taliban to a series of secret talks that identified a solution, but then hit a wall in Washington’s bureaucratic maze. As he wrangled more with federal agencies in D.C. than with the Quetta Shura in Pakistan, Amerine reached out to Representative Duncan Hunter, a Marine veteran and Republican member of the House Armed Services Committee.

Hunter wrote letters to then–Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and President Barack Obama pleading that someone cut through the interagency squabbling between the Army, the State Department, the FBI, the intelligence community and the Department of Defense. When Bergdahl was finally released last year in a trade for five Taliban prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Hunter complained that a far better deal brokered by Amerine was ignored. Worse still, six Western civilians, including two Canadians and a newborn child, were left behind, held by terrorist groups protected by the Pakistani government, a pivotal U.S. ally in the global war on terror.

This January, the day after an errant CIA drone missile killed one of those hostages, international aid worker Warren Weinstein, Amerine was abruptly escorted out of the Pentagon. The Army informed him that its Criminal Investigation Command (CID) had opened a case against him. His pay was halted, and his retirement was put on hold. Hunter says this was a hit job by the FBI, payback for infringing on the bureau’s hostage-recovery turf. The CID would not comment on the case for Newsweek, and the FBI redirected questions back to the Defense Department. Meanwhile, the hostages remain in Pakistan, the investigation of Amerine drags on, and an internal Pentagon investigation is investigating the CID’s investigation.

Testifying in June at a Senate hearing with the contorted title, “Blowing the Whistle on Retaliation: Accounts of Current and Former Federal Agency Whistleblowers,” Amerine did not relish his rebel status. “I am labeled a whistleblower, a term both radioactive and derogatory,” he said. “I am before you because I did my duty, and you need to ensure all in uniform can go on doing their duty without fear of reprisal.” (Read more from “Why Is the FBI Trying to Bury a Special Forces War Hero?” HERE)

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Baby Monitor Hacker Sends a Frightening Message to Indianapolis Family

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video-baby-monitor-70753-161503An Indianapolis couple was violated in their own home after someone hacked into their baby monitoring system. The Denmans use a video baby monitoring system to keep an eye on their daughter while she is asleep . . .

Wednesday, the Denman’s two-year-old daughter was playing at home with her mother when all of the sudden music started coming from the baby monitor.

“Someone was playing ‘Every Breath You Take’ by The Police,” said Denman.

At first, mom thought it was a joke, however, she quickly realized someone hacked into the camera . . .

Denman searched online to see if any other families have been through a similar situation. He discovered that the person who most likely violated his privacy has done it before. There are several videos posted online showing similar hacks with the same song playing over the speakers. The likely culprit also has a Twitter account he uses to brag about the breaches. (Read more from “Baby Monitor Hacker Sends a Frightening Message to Indianapolis Family” HERE)

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California Elementary School Removes Boys’ and Girls’ Bathrooms and Makes Them Gender Neutral

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2BF49F9A00000578-0-image-m-108_1441330653610One elementary school had decided to do away with boys’ and girls’ bathrooms. There will now just be bathrooms.

Miraloma Elementary in San Francisco, California is busy doing away with its gender assigned bathrooms and making them gender neutral for their young students.

Principal Sam Bass said the change was in part due to eight students who do not fit into traditional gender norms – and range from tomboys to transgender.

The school began removing the circles, triangles and stick-figure signs from restrooms at the start of this school year, according to SF Gate.

The bathrooms in kindergarten and first-grade classrooms at Miraloma, as well as a centralized bathroom, are gender-neutral. (Read more from “California Elementary School Removes Boys’ and Girls’ Bathrooms and Makes Them Gender Neutral” HERE)

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NATO Allies Making It Easier for Iran to Attack Israel?

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1234In early 2013, NATO supposedly came to its ally’s help: As Turkey was under threat from Syrian missiles — potentially with biological/chemical warheads — the alliance would build a mini anti-missile defense architecture on Turkish soil. Six U.S.-made Patriot missile batteries would be deployed in three Turkish cities and protect a vast area where about 3.5 million Turks lived.

The Patriot batteries that would protect Turkey from Syrian missiles belonged to the United States, Germany and the Netherlands. In early 2015, the Dutch mission ended and was replaced by Spanish Patriots. Recently, the German government said that it would withdraw its Patriot batteries and 250 troops at the beginning of 2016. Almost simultaneously, the U.S. government informed Turkey that its Patriot mission, expiring in October, would not be renewed. Washington cited “critical modernization upgrades” for the withdrawal.

Since the air defense system was stationed on Turkish soil, it unnerved Iran more than it did Syria. There is a story behind this. First, Patriot missiles cannot protect large swaths of land, but only designated friendly sites or installations in their vicinity. That the six batteries would protect Turkey’s entire south and 3.5 million people living there was a tall tale. They would instead protect a U.S.-owned, NATO-assigned radar deployed earlier in Kurecik, a Turkish town; and they would protect it not from Syrian missiles with chemical warheads, but from Iranian ballistic missiles . . .

What was stationed in Kurecik was an early-warning missile detection and tracking radar system. Its mission is to provide U.S. naval assets in the Mediterranean with early warning and tracking information in case of an Iranian missile launch that might target an ally or a friendly country, including Israel. So, a six-battery Patriot shield to protect the NATO radar in Kurecik against possible Iranian aggression was necessary. And that explains why the Iranians went mad about Kurecik and openly threatened to hit it . . .

Why, otherwise, would a country feel “threatened” and threaten others with starting a “world war” just because a bunch of defensive systems are deployed in a neighboring country? Iran did so because it views the NATO radar in Turkey as an asset that could counter any missile attack on Israel; and the Patriots as hostile elements because they would protect that radar. In a way, Iran’s reaction to the NATO assets in Turkey revealed its intentions to attack. (Read more from “NATO Allies Making It Easier for Iran to Attack Israel?” HERE)

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Over $572 Million in Excess Obamacare Tax Credits Paid Out

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dollarsThe Internal Revenue Service paid out over $572 million in excess Obamacare tax credits and sent incorrect forms to over half a million individuals due to a computer programming error, according a new government report.

The report released by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration on Tuesday inspected the interim results of the IRS’s verification of Obamacare’s Premium Tax Credits, which were created to assist low or medium-income individuals and families to purchase health insurance in the marketplace.

Those who are eligible to receive tax credits under Obamacare can choose to have their credits paid either directly to their health insurance provider as a partial payment towards their monthly premiums—known as the Advance Premium Tax Credit—or can receive the tax credits as one lump sum on their annual income tax return.

According to the IRS, $11 billion worth of tax credits were paid in advance to insurers for fiscal year 2014. By March 26, 2015, the IRS processed around 1.4 million tax returns that showed $4.4 billion in credits, bringing the total to more than $15 billion for 2014. Individuals claimed more than $240 million in additional premium credits and received $572 million in excess advance payments, according to the agency.

The inspection also brought to light a computer programming error that led to more than half a million individuals receiving incorrect health insurance forms. (Read more from “Over $572 Million in Excess Obamacare Tax Credits Paid Out” HERE)

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Inside the Ring: Russian Nuclear Buildup Challenges Obama’s Reduction Goal

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Nuclear MisstepsPresident Obama’s decision two years ago to reduce the role of nuclear weapons in U.S. military and defense policies is being challenged by Russia’s large-scale buildup of nuclear forces, along with Moscow’s revised nuclear doctrine and recent threats to use the weapons.

The U.S. guidance was outlined in a 2013 White House order called Presidential Policy Directive-24, which calls for reducing the role of U.S. nuclear weapons in national security strategy and maintaining deterrence with smaller nuclear forces.

A Pentagon report to Congress states that the administration is seeking “the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.” At the same time, the U.S. views the safety, security and effectiveness of nuclear arms as a deterrent that must be maintained “as long as nuclear weapons exist.”

One flaw in the White House guidance was outlined in the classified PDD-24. PDD-24 says a “key part” of the new guidance is a more benign global security environment, but that has not come to pass under Mr. Obama’s watch . . .

The 2013 order erroneously states that despite differences, “Russia and the United States are no longer adversaries and the prospects of a military confrontation between us have declined dramatically.” (Read more from “Inside the Ring: Russian Nuclear Buildup Challenges Obama’s Reduction Goal” HERE)

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Israel Recovers Ancient Sarcophagus Hidden by Contractors

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Part-NIC-Nic6481924-1-1-0Israeli authorities have recovered a Roman-era sarcophagus that construction workers sought to hide after digging it up at a building site, officials said Thursday.

The limestone coffin, estimated at 1,800 years old and discovered last week during work on a new neighbourhood in coastal city Ashkelon, was described as “unique” by Gabi Mazor, a retired Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologist and expert on the era.

The contractors who encountered the find opted to extract it themselves with a tractor, damaging it before hiding it beneath a stack of metal sheets and boards, according to the authority.

Police have questioned the contractors on suspicion of not reporting their find and of damaging it, and the authority pledged that legal proceedings would be pursued against those involved . . .

Around the coffin are engraved images of “bulls’ heads, naked Cupids, and the head of the monstrous female figure Medusa which includes remains of hair together with snakes, part of a commonly held belief in the Roman period that she protects the deceased,” Mazor said. (Read more from “Israel Recovers Ancient Sarcophagus Hidden by Contractors” HERE)

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See This Powerful Image of a Dead Syrian Child Washed up on a Beach After Europe Migration Surge

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6719096-3x2-700x467The pictures show a small boy lying face down in the sand on a Turkish beach as an official stands over him.

The child, who is thought to be Syrian, has drowned in an apparent attempt to flee the war ravaging his country.

They are extraordinary images and serve as a stark reminder that, as European leaders increasingly try to prevent refugees from settling in the continent, more and more refugees are dying in their desperation to flee persecution and reach safety . . .

syrian-migrant-boy-turkey

One of the boats was carrying six Syrians when it sank after leaving Akyarlar, in a desperate attempt to cross the 5km Aegean straight to Kos that represented their best chance of entering the EU . . .

According to Turkey’s Dogan news agency, three children and a woman from the small boat drowned. Two people survived after swimming back to shore in life jackets. (Read more from “See This Powerful Image of a Dead Syrian Child Washed up on a Beach After Europe Migration Surge” HERE)

(Dr. Zmirak discusses the horrific European immigration issues at 10:20 below):

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LGBT Activists Blast Rentboy Raid as ‘Digital Stonewall’

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Demonstrators hold signs as they protest the arrests of male escort service Rentboy.com staffers outside United States Court in the Brooklyn borough of New YorkBranding the raid a “digital Stonewall,” roughly 70 LGBT activists blasted Brooklyn federal prosecutors Thursday for busting up popular online escort site rentboy.com last week.

Holding signs and chanting, the raucous group gathered in front of the Brooklyn federal courthouse to demand that all charges against employees at the multimillion-dollar enterprise be dropped immediately.

The activists — including current sex workers who advertised their services on the site — argued that the feds should not be allocating resources to policing consensual sex.

Shouting “Bl–jobs, not no jobs” and “Sex work is real work,” the protesters suggested that the operation was aimed at gays and transgender sex workers.

Several attendees cited graphic sexual descriptions in the complaint against the rentboy.com staffers as peculiarly prurient and unnecessary. (Read more from “LGBT Activists Blast Rentboy Raid as ‘Digital Stonewall'” HERE)

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