Out-of-Control Supreme Court Kills Efforts to Require Illegals to Show ID When Registering to Vote [+video]

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The case, Kobach, et al. v. Election Assistance Commission, et al., was about whether Arizona and Kansas could require voters to prove their citizenship when registering to vote with the so-called federal form. Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach led the suit against the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, which was an appeal of a lower court decision.

Both Kansas and Arizona have state laws that require applicants to prove their citizenship when applying to vote with state forms (for state or federal elections). But the U.S. EAC denied the states’ requests to have their citizenship laws applied when would-be voters use the standardized federal form.

The Supreme Court had already ruled in 2013 that state proof-of-citizenship laws couldn’t be applied when people try to register with the federal form. The states’ direct request to the EAC was a last-ditch effort to get around that.

By not hearing the case, the Supreme Court effectively upheld the decision of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled against Arizona and Kansas in November 2014, saying the EAC did not have to modify its form to meet state laws. Under the federal form, would-be voters need only swear under penalty of perjury that they are citizens.

“This is a very big deal,” University of California Irvine Law Professor Rick Hasen wrote on his election law blog Monday. “Kobach had the potential to shift more power away from the federal government in administering elections toward the states,” he added. (Read more from “Out-of-Control Supreme Court Kills Efforts to Require Illegals to Show ID When Registering to Vote” HERE)

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ISIS Says Allah Will Reward Ten Times as Much to Jihadists Who Die During Ramadan

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By Stoyan Zaimov. Terror group ISIS has marked one year since the establishment of its self-proclaimed Islamic Caliphate in the territory of Iraq and Syria. The militants marked the occasion by calling for more jihadist attacks during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, claiming that allah will reward jihadists who die with “10 times as much” during the period.

“ISIS’ Ramadan message specifically preaches that jihad is 10 times more obligatory during Ramadan and that those who die in jihad will be rewarded by allah 10 times as much as during the rest of the year,” said Ryan Mauro, national security analyst and adjunct professor of Homeland Security for the Clarion Project, according to Fox News.

“There will be ISIS supporters who have waited to strike until now in order to get the maximum award and those who were considering an attack and will now feel more pressure to actually do it.”

June 29, 2014, marked the official formation of the Islamic State, as the group is also known, when it also named its leader “Caliph Ibrahim,” Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

The U.S. and a broad team of international allies have been hitting ISIS targets across Iraq and Syria with airstrikes, and have armed and trained local forces on the ground fighting the militants. The terror group has continued attacking and capturing new cities throughout the year, however, and has been expanding its attacks in a host of other countries. (Read more from “ISIS Says Allah Will Reward Ten Times as Much to Jihadists Who Die During Ramadan” HERE)

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Jihadists Vow to Attack Christians During Ramadan

By Stoyan Zaimov. The al-Shabaab terror group, which back in April murdered 152 people, mostly Christian students, have vowed to attack “non-believers” throughout the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, a pledge echoing ISIS’ threats.

News 24 reported that at least 15 people were killed on Monday in clashes between al-Shabaab and Somali and African Union troops near the southern port of Kismayo, though eight Islamic militants were also killed in the battle.

AFP noted that another 80 soldiers were killed on Friday in a separate attack on the Leego base in southern Somalia, with the jihadists claiming to have brought back 60 of the bodies.

“Al-Shabaab has consistently shown its ability to strike in urban areas and regroup in rural bases. It will take much longer to defeat the group and require Somalia’s security services to be significantly improved,” Ahmed Soliman, Horn of Africa analyst at the London-based Chatham House, told the Bloomberg news.

The total death toll could still be higher, with reports that some captured troop members have been beheaded. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Three Obama Quotes About ‘God’ and Traditional Marriage That Bill O’Reilly Just Used to Make a Point About the White House’s Rainbow Light Display

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By Billy Hallowell. Fox News host Bill O’Reilly was less than impressed with President Barack Obama’s decision to light the White House up with rainbow colors on Friday evening following the Supreme Court’s gay marriage ruling, calling it an “in your face” move that alienated conservatives . . .

The commentator, who said that he was “a bit surprised” by the president’s “victory lap,” went on to share three Obama quotes illustrating the president’s past opposition to same-sex unions to show that, not long ago, Obama took a very different view on the matter.

“What I believe is that marriage is between a man and a woman,” Obama said in 2004.

In 2008, he invoked God, proclaiming in an interview with Pastor Rick Warren, “I believe that marriage is the union between a man and a woman. For me, as a Christian, it’s also a sacred union. God’s in the mix.”

Flash forward to 2010 and Obama was still opposed to gay marriage, saying, “My baseline is a strong civil union that provides them the protections and the legal rights that married couples have.” (Read more from “Three Obama Quotes About ‘God’ and Traditional Marriage That Bill O’Reilly Just Used to Make a Point About the White House’s Rainbow Light Display” HERE)


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We’re Not About to Crawl in a Hole and Die

By Michael Brown. Over and over again we are told that we have lost the culture wars and that it’s time for us to throw in the towel and capitulate, especially as the Supreme Court’s decision on redefining marriage is soon to be announced.

I’m here to announce that no matter what the Supreme Court says, no matter what the president says, no matter what society says, we are not bowing down to anyone other than the Lord Himself. And with God’s help, there’s not a shred of a possibility that we will compromise our convictions when it comes to the meaning of marriage.

Those who fear man more than God will compromise.

Those who have a misguided conception of compassion will compromise . . .

But those who love the Lord, who honor His Word, who truly care about what is best for society in the long term and who have already denied themselves and taken up their cross to follow Jesus—they will never compromise. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Gay Rights Activist Arrested, Banned From International Travel, Assets Seized After Death Stemming From ‘Rainbow Party’ Fireball That Injured 500

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Taiwan gay rights activist and “rainbow party” (Color Play) organizer Zhong Ji Lu was taken into custody by Taiwan police today for his role in the massive, deadly fireball that rained down upon 500 youth celebrating over the weekend. He was questioned and released on NT$1 million bail, with investigations pending.

Zhong Ji Lu is the key founder of Gay Rights Taiwan according to Storm Media Group in Taiwan. Mr. Lu is well known as a gay rights activist according to Liberty Times Net Taiwan. He’s also been the subject of top news on Pridewatch Taiwan as a gay rights activist. Since this link was first publicized, the Pridewatch Taiwan website has been down, likely due to the very large amount of traffic referred by Natural News.

The Color Play Creative Company and Rui Bo Marketing Agency are responsible for this tragedy, reports China Times. Both organizations are owned by Taiwan gay rights activist Zhong Ji Lu, who has been linked to numerous business scandals, according to the Times.

“…[P]rosecutors from New Taipei’s Bali District held event organizer Lu Chung-chi for questioning,” reports the English-language China Post. (The China Post uses a Taiwan spelling structure for Mandarin Chinese names, spelling his name as Chung-chi instead of the more conventional pin-ying spelling of “Zhong Ji.” The two spellings refer to the same person.) “He was later released after posting NT$1 million bail, though he must periodically report to police and is barred from leaving the country pending investigation. Police also released Chiu Po-ming, the technician at the company headed by Lu on NT$300,000 bail” . . .

The weekend catastrophe involved the spontaneous ignition of a multi-colored special effect which was launched into the air by event organizers using air cannons. The “special effect” turned out to be highly explosive particulate corn flour, the same substance frequently responsible for grain silo explosions in the grain belts of the world. The airborne corn flour ignited and burst into flames, raining down fire upon the heads of nearly 500 youth who were attending the event (Read more from “Gay Rights Activist Arrested, Banned From International Travel, Assets Seized After Death Stemming From ‘Rainbow Party’ Fireball That Injured 500” HERE)

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Feds Manipulating the Numbers: US Debt Now Stuck at Same Number for 15 Weeks

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The portion of the federal debt that is subject to a legal limit set by Congress closed Friday, June 26, at $18,112,975,000,000, according to the latest Daily Treasury Statement, which was published at 4:00 p.m. on Monday.

That, according to the Treasury’s statements, makes 15 straight weeks that the debt subject to the limit has been frozen at $18,112,975,000,000.

$18,112,975,000,000 is about $25 million below the current legal debt limit of $18,113,000,080,959.35.

The Daily Treasury Statement for March 13 was the first to show the federal debt subject to the limit closing the day at $18,112,975,000,000. Every Daily Treasury Statement since then has reported the same thing: the debt closing the day at $18,112,975,000,000.

Every Daily Treasury Statement since Monday, March 16, has reported the debt beginning and ending each day at $18,112,975,000,000. (Read more from “US Debt Now Stuck at Same Number for 15 Weeks” HERE)

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Obama’s Latest Regulation

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Millions of Americans could see a boost in wages or reduced workload as a result of new federal regulations on overtime pay the Obama administration is unveiling this week.

Under the regulations, private-sector workers who make up to $50,400 a year will be guaranteed the right to earn additional pay if they work more than 40 hours per week. Currently, only workers who make $23,660 a year, or less than $455 a week, have those same protections.

The salary threshold had not been raised for a decade when Obama ordered the Labor Department to conduct a review last year, calling the figure outdated. The president plans to discuss the change Thursday in a trip to Wisconsin and previewed it in a Huffington Post op-ed posted Monday night.

“We’ve got to keep making sure hard work is rewarded. Right now, too many Americans are working long days for less pay than they deserve,” he said.

The change is likely to please labor advocates who had called on the administration to consider raising the threshold to salaries of at least $42,000 per year. They say an increased threshold could help stimulate the economy by boosting middle-class workers’ wages or triggering new hiring to prevent the need for paying the higher overtime rate. (Read more from “Obama’s Latest Regulation” HERE)

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This State Has More Marijuana Shops Than Starbucks

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Starting Wednesday, adults in Oregon will be able to legally possess and consume marijuana. But the state already has more ganja shops than Golden Arches or places to buy Grande Frappuccinos.

There are currently 269 medical marijuana dispensaries open for business in Oregon, according to the state’s health authority, which started issuing permits in March 2014. The Oregonian newspaper in Portland, by the way, has mapped nearly all of them. Medical weed is legal is 23 states, but very of few of them have licensed dispensaries. Oregon already has the second-highest number of medical marijuana patients per capita in the country, behind only Colorado.

Weed shops in Oregon are so plentiful that they top the total number of McDonald’s or Starbucks in the state. (Read more from “This State Has More Marijuana Shops Than Starbucks” HERE)

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After ‘Gratifying’ Week, Obama Vows to do Much More in Last 18 Months

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It did not match the week of his wedding or the weeks his daughters were born, but President Barack Obama acknowledged on Tuesday that last week was a particularly momentous one for him.

The Supreme Court legalized gay marriage and upheld his signature healthcare law, and Congress passed legislation critical to a Pacific trade pact Obama wants to finalize before leaving office in January 2017.

“I might see if we can make next week even better,” quipped Obama, who has about 18 months left in his presidency.

What’s next? Obama told reporters he hopes to next work with Congress on an infrastructure funding package and on reforming the criminal justice system.

“The list is long and my instructions to my team and my instructions to myself have always been that we are going to squeeze every last ounce of progress that we can make … as long as I have the privilege of holding this office,” Obama said at a news conference. (Read more from “After ‘Gratifying’ Week, Obama Vows to do Much More in Time Left” HERE)

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Wal-Mart Mob Wanted to See How Much Damage It Could Do

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Surveillance video of a wee-hours ruckus at a Macon Wal-Mart on Sunday shows a teenager race inside flashing gang signs ahead of a mob of four dozen or so people who burst in and smashed merchandise . . .

Some in the crowd also snatched a man, apparently a shopper at the Zebulon Road store, from a motorized shopping cart and dragged him to the floor, Bibb County sheriff’s officials said Monday.

The vandals, said to number between 40 and 50, sprinted down the store’s main aisle about 1:50 a.m. Sunday, “destroying merchandise displays and items,” a sheriff’s deputy’s report of the incident noted.

Floors in parts of the store were “coated with broken merchandise,” the report added. “The length of the store from front to rear was lined with items which had been shattered, destroyed, turned over and thrown about” . . .

The teenager seen leading the rushing horde of young men and women told a Wal-Mart employee “that this was a planned event … to see how much damage they could cause,” the sheriff’s report said. (Read more from “Wal-Mart Mob Wanted to See How Much Damage It Could Do” HERE)

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Threat From Artificial Intelligence Not Just Hollywood Fantasy

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From the dystopian writings of Aldous Huxley and HG Wells to the sinister and apocalyptic vision of modern Hollywood blockbusters, the rise of the machines has long terrified mankind.

But it now seems that the brave new world of science-fiction could become all too real.

An Oxford academic is warning that humanity runs the risk of creating super intelligent computers that eventually destroy us all, even when specifically instructed not to harm people.

Dr Stuart Armstrong, of the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford University, has predicted a future where machines run by artificial intelligence become so indispensable in human lives they eventually make us redundant and take over . . .

Dr Armstrong envisages machines capable of harnessing such large amounts of computing power, and at speeds inconceivable to the human brain, that they will eventually create global networks with each other – communicating without human interference. (Read more from “Threat From Artificial Intelligence Not Just Hollywood Fantasy” HERE)

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