Obama Admin. Fails to Designate Pakistan as Hostile to Religious Freedom Despite Recent Massacres of Christians

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maxresdefault (97)The United States Department of State has released its official blacklist of countries guilty of egregious violations of religious freedom, and for the 14th consecutive year has left Pakistan off the roster.

Secretary of State John Kerry has re-designated Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, as “countries of particular concern,” or CPCs, under the International Religious Freedom Act, and has added the ex-Soviet republic of Tajikistan for the first time.

State Department spokesperson John Kirby announced this year’s list of countries of particular concern at a press briefing last week, underscoring that these designations “help us shine a spotlight on countries and conditions that require the international community’s attention.”

Nonetheless, despite persistent urging from the bipartisan U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), the list omits mention of Pakistan, despite recent incidents that have drawn world attention to the country.

The Easter-Day massacre targeting Christians in Lahore saw the death of 72 victims, mostly women and children, along with at least 320 injured. (Read more from “Obama Admin. Fails to Designate Pakistan as Hostile to Religious Freedom Despite Recent Massacres of Christians” HERE)

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New York Primaries Deliver Huge Victories for Primary Front-Runners

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23691565882_46f5873d66_bCruz must rely on contested convention

By FoxNews.com. Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton regained their stride in the presidential race Tuesday night, winning their respective primaries in New York — and sending a message to their rivals that their campaigns are back on track after recent stumbles.

Trump, in his home state, notched what appeared to be his biggest victory yet. Speaking to cheering supporters Tuesday night at Trump Tower, he declared: “We don’t have much of a race anymore.”

“[Texas] Senator [Ted] Cruz is just about mathematically eliminated,” Trump claimed. “We’re really, really rockin’.” Indeed, Cruz’s poor showing left him with no mathematical chance of clinching the nomination before the Republican convention in July, though Trump could still end up short of the needed 1,237 needed to seal victory before the gathering. . .

In the Democratic race, Clinton soundly defeated Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in her adopted home state, which she represented in the Senate for eight years. Despite the Brooklyn-born Sanders’ hard-fought attempt at an upset, the former secretary of state successfully staved off that possibility Tuesday night. With 94 percent of precincts reporting, Clinton had 58 percent to Sanders’ 42 percent. (Read more about the New York Primaries HERE)

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Trump the “Runaway Winner” in New York Primaries

By Scott Kelnhofer. As expected, Donald Trump is the runaway winner in today’s New York Republican primary.

Within minutes after the polls closed, CNN projected the real estate mogul as the winner. With more than 40 percent of precincts reporting, Trump had more than 62 percent of the vote. Ohio Gov. John Katich was second with 23 percent of the vote, while Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has only 14 percent of the vote.

The question coming into the night was not if Trump would win his home state primary, but rather by how much. The margin would be important in determining how the state’s 95 delegates would be allocated.

CNN not only projected Trump would win the state, the network also projects Trump would win more than 50 percent of the vote across the state’s congressional districts, which would give him all of the state’s delegates.

It was a dramatic turnaround from just two weeks ago, when Cruz picked up a double-digit win in Wisconsin and so-called establishment Republicans hoped they were seeing the beginning of the end of Trump’s dominance.

No such concerns were being raised after Tuesday’s win. (Read more from “New York Primaries Deliver Huge Victories for Primary Front-Runners” HERE)

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The Confidential Memo Behind a Ted Cruz Victory Over Donald Trump Supporters

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6236460903_2a8ff49c7e_bBy Jim Galloway. On Saturday, Harry Abrams was a member of the five-member nominating committee for [Georgia’s] 11th District GOP convention. The committee had spent the previous week interviewing 61 applicants for the three delegate and three alternate spots the convention was to hand out.

In the end, the committee produced a six-person slate that led with a Donald Trump supporter, Lori Pesta of Cherokee County. But on a motion from the floor, the slate was dumped and the elimination of Trump supporters began.

In an after-action report, Abrams sent out the confidential blueprint that Ted Cruz supporters received on Friday night, and operated from on Saturday morning. The four-page memo is somewhat faint, but the detail is worth the squinting.

Writes Abrams in an introduction:

Was anything illegal done? I would have to say no. Was the Convention Packed. I would say yes. Under our “rules” was anything done that was illegal? No.

(Read more from “The Confidential Memo Behind a Ted Cruz Victory Over Donald Trump Supporters” HERE)

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Cruz to Win Half of Pennsylvania’s Delegates

By Ian Schwartz. NBC’s Hallie Jackson reports Cruz has changed his focus to Pennsylvania and making a play for the state’s unbound delegates. Jackson, the network’s Cruz correspondent, said even if Cruz has a third place finish in Pennsylvania’s Republican primary, he’ll win more than half the delegates.

“It’s very telling that’s Ted Cruz tonight is not in Brooklyn or Manhattan or any of the boroughs or state. He’s in Pennsylvania,” reported Jackson.

“He’ll be in Philly for his watch party tonight,” Jackson said. “That’s indicative of where he and his campaign see this race going, to Pennsylvania, where they are looking to make a play for these unbound delegates. Even if they come in a distant third, a top campaign aide tells me, they will still, they believe, pick up more than half the delegates there.”

“They’re looking at more than 30,” Jackson said. (Read more from “Cruz to Win Half of Pennsylvania’s Delegates” HERE)

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Former New York Mayor Gives His Recommendation on a Winning Republican Ticket

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477145681_1ee6571a50Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has given his recommendation for a Republican presidential ticket he feels “could win the election” . . .

Continuing the interview, Giuliani said, “Look, what have the Cruz, Trump, Bernie Sanders voters told us? They don’t trust Washington. Now Sen. (Mitch) McConnell, who is Washington, is coming in and saying, ‘I want an open convention so I can pick the nominee.’ We’re going to lose the grassroots of this party.”

Giuliani suggested that in the event of such a scenario, Trump could make a deal in order to get the necessary delegates. He also cautioned the other candidates, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, saying, “Cruz step back, Kasich step back and give him the extra 20 to 30 because if you don’t, you’re going against the will of 65 percent of the Republican Party, maybe 70 percent of the Republican Party.”

Later, Giuliani said the voters are the people who elect the president, not the people in Washington. He then said, “And if this election season has told us anything, what it’s taught us is the people of this country, Republican and Democrat, are disgusted with the party bosses.”

Finishing, Giuliani said, “If they want to win the presidency, they have got to elect a guy with the most votes of anybody during the Republican primary. And Trump has the most votes. Trump-Kasich ticket could win this election.” (Read more from “Former New York Mayor Gives His Recommendation on a Winning Republican Ticket” HERE)

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Top 5 Reasons Congress Should Reject Obama’s Climate Change Treaty

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8216393551_acc6d4ef64_bSecretary of State John Kerry will join leaders from around the world to sign the Paris Protocol global warming agreement this Friday at the United Nations headquarters.

Here are the top five reasons Congress and the next administration should withdraw from the accord:

1) Higher energy bills, fewer jobs and a weaker economy.

The economic impact of domestic regulations associated with the Paris agreement will be severe. To meet America’s commitment to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, the administration will need to drive the cost of conventional fuels higher so households and businesses use less.

Because energy is a necessary input for almost all goods consumers buy, households are hit by higher prices multiple times over. Global warming regulations will increase electricity expenditures for a family of four by at least 13 percent a year. Cumulatively, they will cost American families over $20,000 of lost income by 2035 and impose a $2.5 trillion hit on the economy.

2) No impact on climate.

Regardless of one’s opinions on the degree to which climate change is occurring, regulations associated with the Paris accord will have no meaningful impact on the planet’s temperature.

Even if the government closed the doors to every businesses and CO2-emitting activity in the U.S., there would be less than two-tenths of a degree Celsius reduction in global temperatures.

Even Kerry admitted during the negotiations last December that:

If all the industrial nations went down to zero emissions— remember what I just said, all the industrial emissions went down to zero emissions— it wouldn’t’t be enough, not when more than 65 percent of the world’s carbon pollution comes from the developing world.

Though the Paris Protocol is an international agreement, there is little reason to believe that the developing world (India, China, etc.) will prioritize reducing cargo dioxide emissions over using affordable energy that provides their citizens with a better standard of living.

Yes, China and other developing countries have serious air and water quality problems from industrial byproducts. But do not associate those problems with carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is a colorless, odorless and non-toxic. The focus of the Paris Protocol is to address catastrophic global warming. The developing world has more pressing tangible environmental challenges, which they’ll be able to address when they’re wealthier and have the necessary means to tackle them.

3) Massive taxpayer-funded wealth transfer for green initiatives.

An important part of the Paris agreement for the developing world is money. More specifically, other peoples’ money. In Nov. 2014, President Barack Obama also pledged to commit $3 billion to the Green Climate Fund, an international fund for green projects in the developing world.

The administration and proponents of a Green Climate Fund have repeatedly called for spending $100 billion per year between the United States and other countries in public and private financing to combat climate change.

In March, the Obama administration made a $500 million taxpayer-funded payment to the Green Climate Fund despite Congress never having authorized the funding.

The Green Climate Fund is nothing more than a taxpayer-funded wealth transfer from developed countries to developing ones. The fund will do little to promote economic growth in these countries but instead connect politically-connected companies with taxpayer dollars.

4) Avoids review and consent from elected officials.

The Paris agreement is in form, in substance, and in the nature of its commitments a treaty and should be submitted to the Senate for review and consent. The executive branch has shown contempt for the U.S. treaty-making process and the role of Congress, particularly the Senate.

As my colleague Steven Groves writes and explains in great detail, “The argument that the U.S. Nationally Determined Contribution “targets and timetables” are not legally binding and therefore the Paris Agreement is not a “treaty” requiring the advice and consent of the Senate simply has no basis in law.”

5) A top-down, government controlled push for economic transformation.

To achieve their global warming goals, international leaders want to control an economic transformation. Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change has said that:

This is the first time in the history of mankind that we are setting ourselves the task of intentionally, within a defined period of time to change the economic development model that has been reigning for at least 150 years, since the industrial revolution.

A top-down, concentrated effort to shift away from the use of coal, oil and natural gas will prevent millions from enjoying the basic energy needs Americans and the developed world takes for granted. In the industrialized world, the effects of moving away from conventional fuels have been devastating at times. Fuel poverty and pricier energy caused tens of thousands of deaths in Great Britain because families could not heat their homes. The world runs on traditional fuels because they are cost competitive and abundant. If and when any transformative shift away from these natural resources occurs, it will be driven by the market.

The Paris agreement, and U.S. participation in the entire framework convention on climate change is a raw deal for Americans. The next administration should not only withdraw from Paris but the entire United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. (For more from the author of “Top 5 Reasons Congress Should Reject Obama’s Climate Change Treaty” please click HERE)

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Cruz, Hannity Spar Over Delegates [+video]

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12986871745_dd2ce9af53_bBy Ian Hanchett. GOP presidential candidate Texas Senator Sen. Ted Cruz and talk radio and Fox News Channel host Sean Hannity engaged in a testy exchange over the delegate process on Hannity’s radio show on Tuesday.

Hannity began the interview by asking, “I think the number one question on the minds of Republicans right now is what is going on with the delegates. For example, if you can explain to people that your campaign, that you have every right, within the rules, to talk to candidates, that are pledged on a first ballot, to candidate A or candidate C, you being candidate B. And that — tell us what that process is.”

Cruz answered that isn’t what people are concerned about, and are instead concerned about policy issues and beating Democratic candidate former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Cruz further stated that “the media loves to obsess about process. This process, and this whining from the Trump campaign is all silly. It’s very, very simple –.”

Hannity then cut in to say, “I’m on social media, with millions of people. I have 550 radio stations. And I have the top-rated cable in my hour, all across the board. And I am telling you, that people are telling me, that they find this whole process confusing.” He further stated that this wasn’t a “process question. It’s an integrity of the election question. And everybody’s asking me this question. So, I want — I’m giving you an opportunity to explain it.”

Cruz responded, “Sean, the only people asking this question, are the hardcore Donald Trump supporters.” Hannity again cut in to ask, “Senator, why do you this? Every single time you…you’ve got to stop. Every time I have you on the air, and I ask a legitimate question, you try to throw this in my face. I’m getting sick of it. I’ve had you on more than any other candidate, on radio and TV. So, if I ask you, Senator, a legitimate question to explain to the audience, why don’t you just answer it?” (Read more from “Cruz, Hannity Spar Over Delegates” HERE)

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Cruz Slams Trump: Campaign Seems Incapable of ‘Running a Lemonade Stand’

By Hannity.com Staff. Texas Senator Ted Cruz is dismissing charges from the Trump campaign that his recent delegate victories in states like Colorado and Wyoming are a result of an unfair and arcane primary system. In a interview on The Sean Hannity Show, Cruz accused the Trump campaign pushing a narrative that claims that the primary system is rigged . . .

Cruz credited his grassroots support with his recent string of successes. He also explained that Trump’s loss is not a result of skulduggery on the part of his campaign, but on a lack of organizational skill from Trump’s.

“Donald Trump’s campaign does not know how to organize on the grassroots, and so when the delegates are elected the real conservative activists show up, they elect delegates and we are winning those elections over and over and over again,” Senator Cruz explained to Sean. “I cannot help that the Donald Trump campaign does not seem capable of running a lemonade stand.” (Read more from “Cruz Slams Trump: Campaign Seems Incapable of ‘Running a Lemonade Stand'” HERE)

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LYIN’ HILLARY: On 9/11/2012, She Told Egyptian PM the Benghazi Attack ‘Had Nothing to Do With the Film’

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25982411775_211b8a8ce7_bJudicial Watch has obtained new documents from the Department of State containing the telephone transcripts from the evening of September 11, 2012, in which then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton informs then-Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Kandil that the deadly terrorist attack on the U.S. compound in Benghazi “had nothing to do with the film.” The documents include previously unreleased telephone transcripts with world leaders about the Benghazi attack.

Clinton’s admission to Kandil was first produced to the Select Committee on Benghazi on October 13, 2015 and publicized on the day of Mrs. Clinton’s testimony, October 22, but court filings in Judicial Watch litigation show that the record was only produced after two federal court judges ordered the State Department to produce more Benghazi-related records to Judicial Watch. Similarly, Judicial Watch litigation also forced the release of the September 11, 2012 email in which Secretary of State Hillary Clinton informed her daughter by email that the attack had been staged by an “Al Qaeda-like group,” rather than as the result of “inflammatory material posted on the Internet,” as Mrs. Clinton had claimed in her official public statement one hour earlier.

The State Department previously told a federal court that the Kandil document wasn’t responsive to Judicial Watch’s request and resulting lawsuit (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:14-cv-01511)) seeking:

Any and all records concerning, regarding, or related to notes, updates, or reports created in response to the September 11, 2012 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. This request includes, but is not limited to, notes taken by then Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton or employees of the Office of the Secretary of State during the attack and its immediate aftermath.

But the State Department then produced this information last month to Judicial Watch. The records, the State Department told the Court, were found among thousands of new Clinton State Department records supposedly only discovered in December, 2015 – again, two months after the key Kandil document was first produced to the Benghazi Committee.

Under court order, the State Department released 11 documents responsive to the Judicial Watch request with large blocks of information redacted. The documents also include phone conservations between Clinton and other foreign dignitaries and heads of state during the period of the deadly terrorist attack on the Benghazi consulate.

At 10:08 p.m. on September 11, Mrs. Clinton issued an official State Department press statement, approved by the White House, placing the blame for the attack on an Internet video:

Some have sought to justify this vicious behavior as a response to inflammatory material posted on the Internet. The United States deplores any intentional effort to denigrate the religious beliefs of others. Our commitment to religious tolerance goes back to the very beginning of our nation. But let me be clear: There is never any justification for violent acts of this kind.

Yet the next day, in her 7:49 PM September 12 conversation with Kandil, Clinton said, “We know the attack in Libya had nothing to do with the film. It was a planned attack – not a protest.” Kandil responded, “You’re not kidding. Based on the information we saw today we believe that group that claimed responsibility for this is affiliated with al-Qaeda.”

On September 15, in a telephone call with then-Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Amr, Clinton emphatically portrayed the “stupid, very offensive film” as the root cause of the Benghazi violence. Clinton told Amr, “I have repeatedly, as has the President and other officials in our government, deplored not only the content of this stupid, very offensive film… But we have to exercise more self-discipline… otherwise we’ll be in a vicious downward circle against everyone who has ever felt offended, particularly on the internet….”

Clinton’s telephone call with Amr also contained a curious reference to what the former secretary referred to as a “very successful investment visit led by my deputy Tom Nides, and on the very day they left this series of incidents began to unfold.” According to the Washington Post, Nides, who was deputy secretary for management and resources at the State Department, was at the same time responsible for “communications with donors” to the Clinton Foundation. Nides was also involved in the scandal involving Clinton’s efforts to provide special access to State Department officials for hedge fund clients of her son-in-law, Marc Mezinsky.

In a September 12 call with the Afghan President Hamid Kharzi, Clinton says at some point they need to talk about “about religious feelings and insults and defamation.” Islamists seeks to criminalize criticism (“defamation”) of Islam. The Obama administration worked closely with advocates for restrictions on free speech as part of their Benghazi video pr campaign.

The documents also show that Clinton referenced the “actions of a mob” to Tunisian Prime Minister Jebali on September 14. Jebali responded that he condemned “these terrorist actions.”

“There are two scandals here. The first is Hillary Clinton was telling different stories to different foreign leaders about the Benghazi attack – including an admission that it was a terrorist attack,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “The second is the State Department’s cover-up of these documents. The State Department is forcing Judicial Watch to play ‘whack-a-mole’ with Clinton and Benghazi documents. It is no wonder that two frustrated federal court judges granted Judicial Watch discovery into the Clinton FOIA issues.” (For more from the author of “LYIN’ HILLARY: On 9/11/2012, She Told Egyptian PM the Benghazi Attack ‘Had Nothing to Do With the Film'” please click HERE)

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U.S. Court Rules for Virginia Student on Transgender Bathroom Access

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maxresdefault (96)(Editor’s note: the author’s pronoun usage below does not reflect the views of RL) A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday ruled for a Virginia transgender student seeking access to the bathroom of his gender identity in a case that could impact the national bathroom wars playing out between gay rights activists and social conservatives.

The ruling by the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals sent back to a lower court the widely watched case that considered whether transgender students are protected by the 1972 Title IX Act, which prohibits sex-based discrimination by schools receiving federal funding.

Student Gavin Grimm was barred from using the boys’ bathroom at his local high school in Gloucester County, Virginia. Grimm was born a female but identifies as a male.

After drawing community complaints for allowing Grimm to use the boys’ bathroom, the school district approved a policy in December 2014 requiring students to use single-stall unisex restrooms or restrooms associated with their physical sex.

The appellate court reversed a district court’s dismissal of a Title IX claim by the student and said he could proceed with his lawsuit, which contends that the school board’s decision was discriminatory. (Read more from “U.S. Court Rules for Virginia Student on Transgender Bathroom Access” HERE)

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Mother of Son Murdered by an Illegal Breaks Down in Tears Before Congress, Begging for Immigration Enforcement

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4103771959_593986f3bf_zThe mother of a teenage son who was tortured and murdered by an illegal immigrant broke down in tears Tuesday before a House panel, begging for the government to enforce immigration law.

Laura Wilkerson, the mother of Josh Wilkerson, described in vivid detail the manner in which Hermilo Vildo Moralez, an illegal immigrant, beat, tortured, and eventually killed her son Josh then went to a movie.

In emotional testimony before the House Immigration and Border Subcommittee, Wilkerson expressed frustration that the problem of illegal immigration has not been fixed since the last time she testified before Congress in July 2015.

“Nothing has been done about it. We can have hearing after hearing, after hearing, after hearing until there is action we’re just talking,” Wilkerson said.

“I see this America government scrambling over themselves to pretend to care about American families and instead you give away every bit of America to people who have broken our laws entering this country,” she added. “Then on to break other laws.” (Read more from “Mother of Son Murdered by an Illegal Breaks Down in Tears Before Congress, Begging for Immigration Enforcement” HERE)

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Report: Planned Parenthood Organ Sales Are ‘Pure Profit’

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maxresdefault (95)Planned Parenthood abortion clinics profit from the sale of aborted baby organs, according to new documents released by a congressional committee investigating the organization’s practices.

The U.S. House Select Panel on Infant Lives released a preview of its findings after a months-long review of internal documents obtained from the nation’s top abortionist, as well as organ procurement companies and buyers. The panel concluded that abortion clinics incur no additional costs in harvesting organs obtained from an already-aborted baby and that the sale or transfer of those organs represented “pure profit” for the clinic.

“The [abortion clinic] has no costs so the payments from the [procurement business] to the [abortion clinic] are pure profit,” the report concludes. “All costs are born by the [procurement business] or the customer. The payments from the customer to the PB exceed its cost by a factor of 300 to 400 percent.”

Pro-life activists said those practices run counter to federal law, which bars clinics from profiting off of the sale of baby body parts.

“The abortion industry sells baby hearts, livers, brains, hands and other organs procured by a middleman company inside their facilities at no cost or effort to the facilities themselves. The facility receives upfront fees that can amount to five-figure sums every month and then the procurement companies resell organs for tens of thousands more—depending on the child’s characteristics,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, said in a release. “The documents make clear there is absolutely no cost to the abortion clinic so that all monies received go to their bottom line.” (Read more from “Report: Planned Parenthood Organ Sales Are ‘Pure Profit'” HERE)

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