Judicial Watch Sues, Gets Records for Obamas’ Tax Payer Funded Vacations

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Judicial Watch Obtains Records Revealing Obama’s $1,176,120.90 in Transportation Expenses to Attend Political Fundraisers in Los Angeles and San Francisco:

Lavish fundraiser hosted by Hollywood star Gwyneth Paltrow marked Obama’s 30th fundraising visit to Los Angeles County, CA.

Judicial Watch: Air Force Documents Show President Obama Ran up $1,539,402.10 in Flight Expenses Alone for Labor Day 2014 Weekend Trips:

After fundraising in Westchester, New York, Obama flew home to ‘spend the night in his own bed’ before returning for a wedding, running up to $295,227.80 in additional expenses.

Obama July Political Fundraising Trips to Denver, New York City Cost Taxpayers $1,159,823.50 in Flight Expenses Alone:

U.S. Department of Air Force Headquarters Air Mobility Command records detail expenditures of $1,159,823.50 by President Obama in flight costs alone for his July 2014 fundraising trips to Denver, Colorado, and New York, New York.

Judicial Watch Obtains Documents: Secret Service Tab for Obama Family 2013 Africa Trip Cost Taxpayers $2,189,727.60 for Lodging, Entertainment, and Security:

The Secret Service entourage accompanying President Obama and his family during their trip to sub-Saharan Africa from June 27 to July 3, 2013, incurred $2,189,727.60 in lodging, entertainment, and security expenses. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Judicial Watch Pursues Records from Michelle Obama’s Spain Trip

By Andrew Spalding. Judicial Watch has filed a lawsuit against the Air Force for records detailing the cost of Michelle Obamas lavish 2010 trip to Spain . . .

The Obamas have done their best to shroud this vacation in mystery. All we know is that in August of 2010, Michelle and one of her daughters jetted off on a “whirlwind tour of Spain,” where they travelled through coastal towns and had lunch with the king and queen. Accompanying Michelle and her daughter were “two friends and four of their daughters, as well as a couple of aides and a couple of advance staff members.”

The White House claims the Obamas “paid their own way” on the trip, but if this were the case, why wouldn’t they release the records? At the very least, taxpayers paid for Michelle’s security, and that would have been quite costly. (Read more about Judicial Watch suing Michelle Obama HERE)

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University Students Vote to Divest, From America

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Photo Credit: The Blaze By Sharona Schwartz. The University of California Student Association passed a resolution Sunday calling for the state university system to divest from the U.S. government.

The resolution was one of two that passed Sunday; the other, authored by pro-Palestinian students, called for the university to divest from companies that do business with Israel.

The U.S. resolution also called for the UC system to withdraw investments from other countries including Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Israel, Mexico, Russia, Turkey and Sri Lanka because they engage “in the violation of human rights” and “have violated the universal right ‘to life, liberty and security of person;’ ‘to education;’ to ‘privacy, family [and] home;’ ‘to own property, and … [not to] be arbitrarily deprived of property.”

In this clause, the students attending the state-sponsored university blasted the U.S. for violating the right “to education.”

The resolution pointed specifically to U.S. military drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen which it asserted have “killed over 2,400 people … many of them civilians.” It also lambasted the U.S. government for overseeing the “highest rate of imprisonment in the world” in which law enforcement “disproportionately” target minorities, calling the system the “Prison Industrial Complex.” It criticized the detention and deportation of “undocumented immigrants” and the government’s sale of weapons overseas. The resolution also attacked the University of California for accepting funding from the Defense Department to conduct research projects. (Read more about the university students vote HERE)

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University Spends $16k on Campaign to Warn Students to Watch What They Say

By Samantha Audia. Dozens of posters plastered across the University of Michigan caution students not to say things that might hurt others’ feelings, part of a new “Inclusive Language Campaign” at the state’s flagship public university that cost $16,000 to implement.

Words declared unacceptable through the campaign include “crazy,” “insane,” “retarded,” “gay,” “tranny,” “gypped,” “illegal alien,” “fag,” “ghetto” and “raghead.” Phrases such as “I want to die” and “that test raped me” are also verboten.

University spokesman Rick Fitzgerald told The College Fix in an email the campaign aims to “address campus climate by helping individuals understand that their words can impact someone and to encourage individuals to commit to creating a positive campus community.” (Read more from this story HERE)

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Did You Catch the Satanic Theme (again) at the Grammys?

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By Billy Hallowell. If you were watching the Grammy Awards closely last night, you might have noticed a common theme pop up a few times during the show: the presence of horns.

Perhaps the most noteworthy star to don light-up, red devil horns was pop singer Katy Perry, though she was hardly the only performer or audience member to wear them.

While some viewers expressed confusion as to why the devil horns were making an appearance, Business Insider reported that they were handed out to accompany AC/DC’s opening performance of “Highway to Hell,” noting that the band’s name was actually printed on them.

The horns weren’t present throughout the entire night, though, as a message reportedly popped up on the Grammy teleprompter asking audience members — Perry included — to put them away for the remainder of the show. (Read more about the satanic theme HERE)

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Katy Perry: God Spoke to Me Before Super Bowl Performance

By Fox News. Katy Perry revealed she received a message from God right before she performed at the Super Bowl.

The “Dark Horse” singer told E! News host Ryan Seacrest that she prepared for her half time show by leaning on her faith . . .

She added, “It’s funny, I was praying and I got a word from God and He says, ‘You got this and I got you.’ And then I was on top of the lion and a guy, a random guy, just looked on me with a headset that I’ve never communicated with before and he just looked me straight in the eyes and said, ‘You got this.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, this is God confirming I can do this.” (Read more from this story HERE)

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Charged as a Man, Convicted as a Woman: Curious Criminal Case in Miami

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Photo Credit: Miami Herald Nearly a decade ago, Harold Seymore was charged with sexually assaulting a female tourist on South Beach. Last week, Seymore was finally convicted of the crime — but as a woman.

Seymore’s story is a complicated one, an unusually long grind through both the criminal justice and mental health systems, all while struggling with gender identification issues. Born intersex, with functioning male and female reproductive organs, she has slowly transitioned to a woman.

For the first time in her life, Seymore donned a dress last week as she sat in a Miami-Dade courtroom to face jurors.

Her change in appearance from the 2005 arrest never took center stage but surfaced in subtle ways over four days of trial. Witnesses described a tall lanky man behind the assault. But defense attorneys, despite occasional slip-ups, made sure to call Seymore “she” while prosecutors used a neutral “the defendant” . . .

It took jurors just an hour to convict Seymore. On Friday, Pooler sentenced her to 15 years in prison, plus 10 years of probation. Because of her long criminal history, Seymore was designated a habitual violent offender. (Read more about the criminal case in Miami HERE)

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High School Student Wins Case Against Atheists Trying to Alter the Pledge of Allegiance

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Photo Credit: Daily Mail A high school senior has won her case over atheists to keep ‘under God’ in the pledge of allegiance.

Samantha Jones from Highland Regional High School in Blackwood, New Jersey, has defeated efforts by the American Humanist Association to remove the phrase, insisting it is a student’s right to read the pledge in its entirety.

A judge in Monmouth County threw out the latest attempt to have the phrase banished from the pledge because it did not violate the state’s constitution.

The teenager described America as a country of many beliefs and claimed everyone, including atheists, are protected by ‘one nation under God.’

In a statement released Friday, she said: ‘I’m so grateful the court decided that kids like me shouldn’t be silenced just because some people object to timeless American values.’ (Read more about the atheists trying to alter the pledge of allegiance HERE)

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NBC News Anchor Told Different Stories About Coming Under Hezbollah Rocket Fire [+video]

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By Fox News. “NBC Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams could face new questions this week over differing versions of a story he repeatedly told about coming under Hezbollah rocket fire while riding in an Israeli Defense Forces helicopter in 2006, according to a published report.

The Washington Post reported late Sunday that Williams has given differing accounts of how close the rockets came to the helicopter he was riding in over northern Israel.

In a blog post written for NBCNews.com and dated July 18, 2006, Williams said that he was flying “at 1,500 feet” in a Blackhawk helicopter with a high-ranking Israeli general while rockets were being launched by the terror group into northern Israel from southern Lebanon. In the blog, Williams says the helicopter pilot tells him the rockets “landed about 30 seconds ago.” At that point, Williams says, he witnesses a rocket launch, about six miles away.

“A rising trail of smoke, then a second rocket launch, an orange flash and more smoke — as a rocket heads off toward Israel,” Williams says.

However, a month later, Williams made an appearance on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show”, and told host Jon Stewart about “a view of rockets I have never seen, passing underneath us, 1,500 feet beneath us.” There is no such description of the rockets passing underneath the helicopter in Williams’ original blog post. (Read more about the different stories of coming under Hezbollah rocket fire HERE)

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‘Beyond Science’: Doctor Says She Visited Heaven in Near Death Experience, What She Learned Haunted Her for Years [+video]

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Dr. Mary Neal, an orthopedic spine surgeon who describes herself as a “concrete thinker” who isn’t “fanciful” and doesn’t exaggerate, spent a long time trying to explain a seemingly inexplicable event that unfolded back in 1999 following a near-death experience.

After almost drowning during a kayaking accident while on a trip to Chile — and supposedly going without oxygen for 24 minutes — Neal remarkably survived without sustaining any brain damage.

And as if that weren’t miraculous enough, she claims that she visited heaven, interacted with spirits and was warned about her son’s death 10 years before it happened — an experience that left her confused and in awe.

When Neal recovered from her traumatic accident, she said that she found herself on a journey seeking answers, wondering whether she had imagined the entire heavenly ordeal.

“I really needed to figure out what I had experienced. I have gone through the process of coming up with alternative explanations,” the doctor told OWN TV’s “In Deep Shift,” noting that she considered the possibility of dreams and hallucinations. “We always want to find an explanation that we can understand other than something that is divine. I am a very concrete thinker. I’m not fanciful. I don’t exaggerate.” (Read more about the near death experience HERE)

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Measles Outbreak Spreads to Three More States; Should the Feds Force Childhood Vaccinations?

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Editor’s note: the measles outbreak is continuing to spread throughout the U.S. Many vaccination advocates are using this as an opportunity to attack parents who refuse vaccinations or decide to vaccinate on a different schedule than what some public health officials direct. On the left, activists are suggesting that vaccinations should be forcibly imposed on all children, notwithstanding any parental objections.

But some of these objections stem from legitimate religious objections. For example, Merck’s Measles, Mumps, Rubella, and Chickenpox vaccine is produced from an aborted fetal cell line. The idea of injecting cells produced from murdered babies is deeply unsettling to some.

It is outrageous to suggest that parents should be forced to vaccinate their children using such products. But it is also outrageous that those advocating for mandated vaccination would ignore one of the major causes of the outbreaks of formerly-eradicated diseases in the United States: the third world, illegal alien.
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By Lenny Bernstein. The measles outbreak spread to three more states and Washington D.C. last week, affecting 19 additional people, according to an update posted Monday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The highly contagious disease is now in 18 jurisdictions, with 121 people affected. The vast majority of the cases are part of the large outbreak that began in Southern California Disney theme parks in late December, the health agency said . . .

Authorities have said the resurgence is mostly caused by the growing number of people who are declining to vaccinate their children for personal reasons, or delaying the vaccinations.

“This is a teachable moment for this country,” former U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman said at a conference Monday at Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health. “When we see a disease that was almost eliminated in the early 1980s now come back with a jolt all around this country, we have to ask ourselves what’s going on. (Read more about the measles outbreak HERE)

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Here’s How Obama is Defending His Choice to Not Meet With Netanyahu

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Photo Credit: The BlazeBy Fred Lucas. President Barack Obama said his refusal to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu two weeks before Israel’s elections isn’t personal — he wouldn’t meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel under the same circumstances, either.

“As much as I love Angela, if she was two weeks away from election, she probably would not have received an invitation to the White House, and I suspect she would not have asked for one,” Obama said at a joint news conference with the German leader Monday at the White House. “Some of this just has to do with how we do business. I think it is important for us to maintain these protocols because the U.S.-Israeli relationship is not about a particular party” . . .

“I don’t want to be coy. The prime minister and I have differences around Iran’s sanctions,” Obama said. “I have been very clear and Angela agrees with me and [British Prime Minister] David Cameron agrees with me and the others who are members of the negotiations agree that it does not make sense to sour the negotiations a month or two before they are about to be completed and we should play that out if we can get a deal, we should embrace it. If we cannot get a deal, we will have to make a set of decisions and, as I said to Congress, I will be the first one to work with them to apply even stronger measures against Iran.” (Read more about how Obama is defending his choice to not meet with Netanyahu HERE)

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Despite Recent Criticism, Netanyahu Still Determined to Address U.S. Congress on Iran’s Nuclear Program

By Barak Ravid. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that he is determined to address the U.S. Congress on Iran’s nuclear program. Netanyahu rejected the criticism in the United States and Israel, saying that “while some are busy with protocol or politics, a bad deal with Iran is taking shape.”

Speaking at a Likud election event, Netanyahu added that, as prime minister, it is his duty to do everything in his power to prevent a dangerous deal with Iran. “From the day Israel was established to this day, there have been essential differences between Israel and the U.S., and relations remained sound – this will be the case this time as well,” he said.

“This is not a political issue or a party issue, neither here nor there. This is an existential issue, and I approach it with the fullest responsibility.” (Read more from this story HERE)

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Boko Haram Attacks Again, Attacking Villages and Kidnapping 30

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By Associated Press. Residents say suspected Boko Haram fighters have kidnapped more than 30 people in northern Cameroon after attacking several towns.

Bouba Kaina, resident of where the first attacked took place, confirmed to The Associated Press on Monday that a bus was seized by the insurgents with 20 people aboard.

The bus was then driven toward the border with Nigeria, about 11 miles away . . .

Boko Haram fighters have escalated their attacks outside Nigeria, striking multiple times inside neighboring Cameroon and Niger in recent days. Neighboring countries are planning a military effort to subdue the group blamed for killing 10,000 people over the past year. (Read more about the Boko Haram attacks HERE)

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Nigeria Vows Not to Postpone Another Election, Despite Even More Boko Haram Threats

By Ola Awoniyi, with Aminu Abubakar in Kano. Nigeria insisted it will crush Boko Haram militants and avoid another election postponement, even as violence raged and the Islamists’ leader vowed to defeat a regional force hunting them.

National Security Advisor Sambo Dasuki’s comments came as Boko Haram launched another attack in neighbouring Niger and reports emerged of 20 people kidnapped in Cameroon, with 12 of them executed.

Niger’s parliament voted unanimously on Monday to send troops to join the regional fightback against the extremists, who have seized swathes of northern Nigeria in a conflict that has claimed more than 13,000 lives since 2009.

Dasuki, who at the weekend secured a six-week delay to Nigeria’s presidential elections, vowed that “all known Boko Haram camps will be taken out” by the time of the rescheduled vote. (Read more from this story HERE)

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