Former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert Emerges From Seclusion at Wisconsin Property

/0 Comments/in , /by

With his initial court appearance set for tomorrow, former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert emerged today from his sprawling vacation home in Wisconsin, where he has been secluded from public view, returning to his estate in Plano, Ill.

Hastert left his Wisconsin property early this morning, driving with his wife in a black SUV on the four-hour journey to his Plano home where he did not slow down as he was met by reporters at the gate.

Hastert is scheduled to appear in a Chicago federal court Tuesday for arraignment on federal bank fraud charges relating to payments he allegedly made to an unnamed individual to conceal “prior misconduct,” according to the Department of Justice. According to the indictment returned 10 days ago, Hastert was paying an unnamed individual hundreds of thousands of dollars to hide past “misconduct,” which federal officials told ABC News involves the alleged sexual abuse of a male student while Hastert was serving as a high school teacher and wrestling coach decades ago.


ABC News Videos | ABC Entertainment News

The sister of a second alleged sexual abuse victim told ABC News last week that her late brother, Steve Reinboldt, was also molested by Hastert while serving as the wrestling team’s student equipment manager. (Read more from “Former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert Emerges From Seclusion at Wisconsin Property” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Patient With Extreme Form of Tuberculosis Sent to National Institutes of Health [+video]

/2 Comments/in , /by

By Maggie Fox. A female patient with an extremely hard-to-treat form of tuberculosis is being treated at the National Institutes of Health outside Washington D.C., and federal and state officials are now tracking down hundreds of people who may have been in contact with her.

The woman traveled to at least three states before she sought treatment from a U.S. doctor. While TB is not easily caught by casual contact, extensively drug resistant (XDR) TB is so dangerous that health officials will have to make a concerted effort to warn anyone who may be at risk.

“The patient is staying in an isolation room in the NIH Clinical Center specifically designed for handling patients with respiratory infections, including XDR-TB. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the NIH, is providing care and treatment for the patient in connection with an existing NIH clinical protocol for treating TB, including XDR forms. NIAID has treated other XDR-TB patients in the past under this protocol,” the NIH said.

These special isolation rooms usually control air flow to prevent germs from escaping into the rest of the hospital or outside.

The patient, who isn’t being identified in any way, may face months or even years of treatment. Ordinary TB is hard to treat and requires, at a minimum, weeks of antibiotics. XDR-TB resists the effects of almost all the known TB drugs. Sometimes patients have to have pockets of infection surgically removed. (Read more from “Patient With Extreme Form of Tuberculosis Sent to National Institutes of Health” HERE)

__________________________________________________________

Tuberculosis Outbreak Brewing in Texas

By Merrill Hope. Initially, officials called it an isolated incident of tuberculosis (TB) in East Texas. One case of the contagious bacterial lung infection originated at a local community college. It since has multiplied into four new cases, the direct result of contact with “patient zero” and now, 60 more people are being screened as a precaution.

On May 29, the Texas Department of State Health Services (TDSHS) announced that the four new cases were being treated after individuals came into contact with patient zero, who was said to be a student at Kilgore College in Gregg County, by the Kilgore News Herald.

Officials also advised that an additional 60 people were being screened for TB who had possible contact with one of the infected individuals. Earlier in the month, the TDSHS began investigating that first TB case on campus.

“Many contacts who are currently being evaluated for TB will need to be re-evaluated in 8-10 weeks, depending on the last date of contact with the index (first) case,” said TDSHS spokeswoman Christine Mann, according to KTLV-TV.

Mann stated that if a contact is diagnosed with active TB disease, they will begin treatment immediately. However, if a contact is diagnosed with latent TB infection, which is not contagious, they will be offered treatment depending on their medical history and other risk factors. (Read more from this story HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Hollywood Star Defends Bakery’s Decision to Refuse Support Gay Marriage Cake [+video]

/3 Comments/in , /by

Patrick Stewart has defended a bakery, which was found guilty of discrimination for refusing to bake a cake with a pro-gay marriage slogan.

Last month, a judge ruled that Ashers Baking Company in Northern Ireland had discriminated against a gay customer by refusing to make a cake with the words “support gay marriage”, along with a picture of Bert and Ernie from “Sesame Street.”

Gareth Lee commissioned the cake for an event to mark International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. The bakery initially accepted the order but called Lee two days later to cancel.

Speaking to the BBC’s Newsnight program, Stewart, who starred in the “Star Trek” TV show, said he supported the rights of the bakery to refuse something which they found personally offensive.

“Finally I found myself on the side of the bakers,” he said. “It was not because this was a gay couple they objected, it was not because they were going to be celebrating some kind of marriage, it was the actual words on the cake they objected to, they found them offensive. (Read more from “Hollywood Star Defends UK Bakery’s Decision to Refuse Support Gay Marriage Cake” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

UPDATE: Scholars Continue to Attack New History Standards for ‘Pervasive Anti-Patriotism, Focus on America’s Shortcomings’ [+video]

/1 Comment/in , /by

College professors from across the country are taking a stand against what they call bias in history standards of a new Advanced Placement exam. . .

Part of their letter [to the College Board] reads:

The new framework is organized around such abstractions as “identity,” “peopling,” “work, exchange, and technology,” and “human geography” while downplaying essential subjects, such as the sources, meaning, and development of America’s ideals and political institutions, notably the Constitution. Elections, wars, diplomacy, inventions, discoveries—all these formerly central subjects tend to dissolve into the vagaries of identity-group conflict.

Susan Hanssen, University of Dallas history professor, said on “Fox and Friends” that “there’s kind of a pervasive anti-patriotism that’s being taught in schools”. . .

“There’s no discussion of limited government, checks and balances, the idea of natural rights, the idea of the laws of nature and nature’s God. There’s a real gap in the teaching of American history,” she said. (Read more from “Scholars Reject New History Standards for ‘Pervasive Anti-Patriotism, Focus on America’s Shortcomings'” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

How 2 Murderers Escaped From a New York Maximum-Security Prison

/2 Comments/in , /by

Two inmates made a daring and cinematic escape over the weekend from Clinton Correctional Facility, the upstate prison known as “Little Siberia,” somehow obtaining the power tools necessary to carve their way out of their steel cells and into a large pipe leading to a street outside. The account below is based on statements from the New York State governor’s office and police officials.

First, the inmates cut neat rectangular holes in the steel at the backs of their cells. They fashioned dummies from sweatshirts and stuffed their beds to thwart discovery during regular cell checks by guards.


The inmates, both serving long terms for vicious murders, had adjoining cells. There were rectangular holes that could be seen in both walls from the catwalk behind the cells . . .


[They] crawled through pipes and tunnels to a manhole about 400 feet outside the walls of the prison, cutting through a steel lock and chain to open it. (Read more from “How 2 Murderers Escaped From a New York Maximum-Security Prison” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

ISIS Captures 86 Eritrean Christians in Libya, US Official Confirms

/0 Comments/in , /by

The ISIS terror group kidnapped 86 Eritrean Christians from a people-smugglers’ caravan in Libya last week, a U.S. defense official confirmed Monday.

The defense official confirmed initial reports of the mass kidnapping to Fox News after seeing a recent intelligence report. The independent Libya Herald newspaper reported that the convoy was ambushed by militants south of Tripoli before dawn this past Wednesday morning.

Meron Estafanos, the co-founder of the Stockholm-based International Commission on Eritrean Refugees, told the paper that the group of migrants included “about 12 Eritrean Muslims and some Egyptians. They put them in another truck and they put 12 Eritrean women Christians in a smaller pick-up”.

Estafanos said that the militants had initially stopped the truck and demanded that the Muslims on board make themselves known. Everyone who responded was asked about the Koran and their religious observance in an attempt to catch Christians pretending to be Muslims.

The main body of the group was put back on the original truck. As the militants drove the vehicle away, Britain’s Daily Telegraph reported that at least nine men attempted to escape by diving off the back of the truck. Estefanos said three of those who had escaped were safe, but still trying to get out of Libya. The fate of the others was not known. (Read more from “ISIS Captures 86 Eritrean Christians in Libya, US Official Confirms” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Residents Near Gaza Border Say They Hear “Continual” Underground Tunnel-Digging

/1 Comment/in , /by

Local government officials in towns near the Gaza border reported on Sunday receiving complaints from residents who say they hear digging underground.

“We have relayed these complaints to security officials who are looking into it,” one source told The Jerusalem Post’s Hebrew-language sister publication Ma’ariv. “According to the complaints, the digging hasn’t stopped for a moment.”

The complaints come less than a day after Israeli warplanes launched reprisal raids against targets in the Gaza Strip. Palestinian Islamists in Gaza fired a rocket into Israeli territory earlier on Saturday. Earlier last week, at least two rockets were fired at Gaza frontier towns . . .

“We knew this would repeat itself, this trickle of missiles,” said Eran Zomer, a 27-year-old resident of the moshav of Amioz. “Very simply, the IDF didn’t do the job the last time.”

“I’ve also heard of many residents in the area complaining about hearing digging, so we weren’t surprised that a senior Hamas official said their people continue to prepare offensive tunnels,” he said. “I hope that next time [the army] will properly deal with the tunnels in a timely fashion instead of waiting until 14 terrorists pop out from underground.” (Read more from “Residents Near Gaza Border Say They Hear Underground Tunnel-Digging” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Millions of Noisy, Rare Cicadas Emerge in Kansas After 17 Years [+video]

/1 Comment/in , /by

Millions of cicadas have emerged from the ground in central Kansas, capping off a 17-year lifespan spent, in large part, burrowed in the dirt.

The tiny, red-eyed insects spend the better part of two decades below ground – feeding on tree roots for nutrition and undergoing five phases of development – before returning to the surface, where they make their presence known, loudly, much to the chagrin of nearby humans . . .

The people to whom he was referring are neighbors of these noisy critters. In neighborhoods across central and eastern Kansas, residents have endured weeks of the incessant noise. Fortunately for them, the end is near: Cicadas spend only a few weeks above ground before perishing.

As the cicadas emerge, the male population sings a loud, high-pitched song to attract female mates. As a new generation of cicadas are laid in the twigs of trees, the adults decompose, emitting a foul odor to accompany the mating call. A lethal combination, quite literally.

Between their extraordinarily long lifespan and the crescendo with which that life comes to an end, cicadas are of immense interest to scientists, though little is definitively known about them. “From a scientific standpoint, they’re truly fascinating,” Griffin, who directs the John C. Pair Horticultural Center in Wichita, said. (Read more from “Millions of Noisy, Rare Cicadas Emerge in Kansas After 17 Years” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Juneau’s Boneless Chicken Ranch Caucus

/3 Comments/in , /by

Pink slips- ten thousand were recently mailed out to nervous state employees that could take effect July 1st. The state budget storm clouds darkening Alaska’s horizon can be attributed to the Boneless Chicken Ranch Caucus made up of State House Representatives Jim Colver (R), Gabrielle LeDoux (R), Paul Seaton (R), Bryce Edgmon (D), Neal Foster (D), and Louise Stutes (R) who signed a letter sent to House Speaker Mike Chenault refusing to vote to fund the budget out of the Earnings Reserve per our state constitution. What caused the members of the House Majority Caucus to turn invertebrate and not fund the budget? The politics of perception.

This story is complicated if you will bear with me a little as we do a quick dive into the weeds. Alaska has three savings accounts. The first is called the Statutory Budget Reserve (SBR). It can be accessed with a simple majority vote and was fully depleted over the last three years to fund Alaska’s multibillion dollar annual deficits. The second account is called the Constitutional Budget Reserve (CBR) which has about $10 Billion in it that can only be accessed by a ¾ supermajority vote. The State Senate has the votes to access this plump account whereas the State House does not. To get the necessary number of votes in the State House, the minority caucus wants to spend another $100 million on varies areas including a public union a cost of living (COLA) pay increase and Medicaid expansion- hence the stalemate.

There is a third savings account accessible with a simple majority vote called the Earnings Reserve (ER). This account was setup when the Alaska State Constitution was amended in 1976 by Alaska Governor Jay Hammond to set up a perpetual annuity for the citizens of Alaska and to fund state government when oil revenue started to wane. Every year a portion of oil revenue is deposited into the Permanent Fund (PF) that is fund surrounded by constitutional razor wire and is therefore unspendable by the state legislature and has about $54 Billion in financial assets. The interest generated from PF is deposited into the separate Earnings Reserve (ER) account. The Alaska State Constitution in Article 9, Section 15 says, “All income from the permanent fund shall be deposited in the general fund unless otherwise provided by law.” The “otherwise provided for by law” provisions for the Earnings Reserve are to payout our annual dividend checks and to inflation proof the principal of the PF (which was big consideration back in 1976 when double-digit inflation was decimating savings accounts). Today there is approximately $6.4 Billion in the ER account.

“I wanted to transform oil wells pumping oil for a finite period into money wells pumping money for infinity.” – Governor Jay Hammond, father of the Alaska Permanent Fund and the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend

Enter politics- the house minority caucus wants to keep the debate focused on tapping the Constitutional Budget Reserve (CBR) to fund our $3.1 Billion FY2016 deficit because they can extract financial concessions in exchange for their votes. A simple majority vote to tap the ER would render their additional spending cries mute. Hence, they and their supporters in the media have opened up a public relations smear campaign on the majority caucus implying they would be spending the principal of the PF (which of course is a blatant untruth). Everyone knows Alaskans love their PF and just being associated with spending it crosses all party lines and is political suicide. This threat was enough scare the bones out of the chicken caucus into a clucking feathered morass and hence- our present budget impasse. So what if they ignore the budget solution set forth in the Alaska State Constitution they took a solemn oath to uphold- all politics is perception, and good perception is the key to political longevity. Many political groups are not fooled by these political machinations and will be raising PAC money to fire up the deep fryer to give them the Colonial Sanders treatment in the upcoming 2016 election. However, I digress.

Oh it gets even better. House Bill 2002 is gaining support to avoid paying the ransom demanded by the minority caucus to access the CBR and for avoiding getting their image getting sullied by the minority with a deliberate mistruth. There is a rule that would allow the CBR to be accessed with a simple majority vote if the state were in a cash crisis. How about artificially creating one by dumping the ER into the PF? HB2002 would transfer $4.9B of the ER into the PF to access the CBR this year. Next year, a further $1.5B would be transferred to access it again for a total of $6.4B transferred. Instant problem solved. Oh really?

Most moderates in the center are gathering around this politically expedient path of least resistance where politicians tend to congregate and cluck. This idea is horrendous to those on the far left and the far right. It would instantly deplete 40% of Alaska’s accessible cash reserves, threaten our state bond rating, and bring Brad Keithley’s much warned about “fiscal cliff” closer from 3 years to 2. On the left, tens of thousands of state employee jobs, Governor Walker’s natural gas line, and public programs could face the axe when Alaska runs out of cash much sooner and can’t tax enough to fund them. On the right, massive new state income taxes and industry killing oil taxes could arrive much faster if profligate spending can’t be wound down fast enough- and this year’s legislature is a very bad omen. Those dreamers who think that this stunt will force state austerity sooner without the accompanying crippling state taxes- I have a fully funded natural gas line to sell them. HB2002 would be politically expedient if not financial self-immolation to both the left and the right.

I support the straight ER draw per the Alaska State Constitution despite the inevitable political smearing that would come from the house minority. Elected servants forget that it is not about them and their reelection- it’s about the good of the Alaskan citizens whom they represent. The State House is wrapped around the axle about this smear threat because they are up for reelection in 2016 whereas the State Senate is not.

There is a great long-term solution that avoids unnecessary state layoffs, doesn’t require any new taxes, and preserves the current Permanent Fund principal and dividend check amounts indefinitely. It requires reducing annual state spending to $4.5B (currently about $5.3B is being debated by the State House to spend in FY2016 beginning July 1st, down from $6.2B spent last year). The University of Alaska Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) think tank has calculated that Alaska can spend $4.5B per year indefinitely without instituting any new taxes or reducing the PFD check. That number comes from approximately $2.2B in state revenue plus an annual draw from our ER annuity. The solution is pretty simple and was written into our state constitution.

If you feel strongly about this issue, please contact your state legislator. Thousands of state layoffs and a state bond rating downgrade could occur on July 1st if they don’t hear from you. Please call, write, fax, or email at: [email protected].

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

US Forces Embassy to Celebrate 4th of July Early to Respect Ramadhan

/20 Comments/in , /by

The United States Embassy enjoyed its annual 4th of July celebration on Thursday, June 4, one month early, in order to respect the upcoming Ramadhan month, which will begin on June 17 and last for one month.

US Ambassador to Indonesia Robert O. Blake and US Ambassador to ASEAN Nina Hachigian presided over the festivities, which involved brass band renditions of the Star-Spangled Banner and the Indonesian national anthem, Indonesia Raya.

Blake explained that the theme of the event leaned toward “green” development, which supported the US’ focus on building and promoting a green economy and more environmentally sustainable development.

He also praised Indonesia’s performance as a fully functioning democracy, aiming for further collaboration between the two countries in the years to come.

“The US will continue to support Indonesia in the future through its democratic achievements. Democracy is an American value which we have championed since [the country’s birth in] 1776,” Blake told the crowd during the festivities at his residence near Taman Suropati, Central Jakarta, on Thursday. (Read more from “US Embassy Celebrates 4th of July Early to Respect Ramadhan” HERE)

______________________________________________

Move of July 4th Celebration a “Mind Boggling” Gesture of US Submission to Islam

By Thomas Lifson. In a mind-boggling gesture of official US Government dhimmitude, the US Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia celebrated our sacred Independence Day holiday on June 4, so as to avoid any conflict with the month-long Ramadan celebration. If you think any Islamic countries – there are 57 of them (not counting ISIS) that count themselves officially Islamic – will move their DC embassy’s celebration of Ramadan to accommodate our Independence holiday, I have some bridges to sell you. . .

Officially, embassies are the national territory* of the country being represented, not of the host country. So there is no need to accommodate local sensibilities in celebrating our most sacred national holiday. . .

It is a bedrock of Islamic scripture that infidels must bow down in submission to Islam and Muslims, being tolerated so long as they endure humiliations and pay a special tax. Muslims have no obligations at all to infidels, which is why you will never see an counterpart to the submission just demonstrated by the US Embassy in Jakarta.

This is a moment of national dhimmitude and deep shame. (Read more from this story arguing that US embassies should not respect Ramadhan HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.