Premature Twins Born One Week Before Legal Abortion Limit Miraculously Survive

/0 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: TownHallJust one day after the parents of a premature baby in England released a picture of their newborn in the hopes of pushing back against legal late-term abortions comes another amazing story. In this new story, the parents of premature twins are talking about what happened to their children since they were born just one week ahead of Britain’s legal abortion limit.

Nichola Baird, 30, was overjoyed when told she was expecting twins but Kyle and Jake arrived just 23 weeks into the pregnancy and thelegal limit for abortions in the U.K. is 24 weeks — and higher in some cases. Research shows that babies born before 24 weeks can survive but babies at this age range are killed in abortions each and every year.

The twins were born weighing just over 1lb – the equivalent of three apples and they were rushed to critical care in different hospitals due to complications. Both required operation to close a valve in their hearts and Jake needed an operation on his bowel at just 13 days old.

Miraculously, the tots were allowed home after 17 weeks in hospital and are now healthy .

Read more from this story HERE.

CIA: ISIS Ranks Swell to 31,500…(+video)

/1 Comment/in , /by

Photo Credit: ISIS propaganda videoISIS Can ‘Muster’ Between 20,000 and 31,500 Fighters, CIA Says

By Jim Sciutto, Jamie Crawford and Chelsea J. Carter.

A CIA assessment puts the number of ISIS fighters at possibly more than three times the previous estimates.

The terror group that calls itself the Islamic State “can muster between 20,000 and 31,500 fighters across Iraq and Syria,” a CIA spokesman told CNN on Thursday.

Analysts and U.S. officials initially estimated there were as many as 10,000 fighters, including those who were freed from prisons by ISIS, and Sunni loyalists who have joined the fight as the group advanced across Iraq.

“This new total reflects an increase in members because of stronger recruitment since June following battlefield successes and the declaration of a caliphate, greater battlefield activity and additional intelligence,” the spokesman said.

The news came a day after President Barack Obama laid out his plan to “dismantle and ultimately destroy” ISIS, including authorizing airstrikes.

Read more from this story HERE.

___________________________________________________________________

Photo: UncreditedAn imminent beheading?

By Bill Gertz.

Counterterrorism officials are concerned that the Islamic State will behead a British hostage next week, noting consistencies in the terrorist group’s decapitations of two American journalists.

Analysts say the video releases of the beheadings of James Foley and Steven Sotloff took place two weeks apart and both were made public on a Tuesday evening.

If the timing was calculated, officials are concerned that the Islamic State will similarly murder British hostage David Haines on Tuesday.

Mr. Haines, a worker for a French non-governmental organization, was shown at the end of the Sotloff video dressed in an orange jumpsuit. The terrorist who spoke on the video said Mr. Haines would be the group’s next victim.

The videos of the Foley and Sotloff beheadings showed a masked, British-accented jihadist cutting off the American journalists’ heads, sparking global outrage and prompting calls for U.S. intervention against the Islamic State.

Read more from this story HERE.

___________________________________________________________________

The Three Types of People Who Fight for ISIS: A breakdown of the most evil group on the planet

By Graeme Wood.

On February 2012, a young, beefy Egyptian named Islam Yaken took a shirtless selfie and posted it on a Facebook competitor called Vk.com. The picture wouldn’t have attracted much attention outside his circle of Cairo friends, were it not for the photos of himself he tweeted two years later. In that time, the Wahlberg wannabe with tidy, cropped hair had transmogrified into a bushy-haired hipster with heavy-rimmed glasses—who had gone to fight for ISIS. The jihadi accessories in his new photos included a Kalashnikov, a sword, and a bucket of Shia heads.

When Yaken’s pictures went viral a month ago, they provoked some confusion about how this well-educated, urban gym-rat could so rapidly embrace a group known for its austere, backward-looking form of desert Islam. The same confusion reigns over the transformation of Abdel Majed Abdel Bary, the former stoner who rapped in London under the name L Jinny and is now a suspect in the murder of journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff.1 There is, of course, an obvious continuity between the Yaken who yanked his undies just below the pube-line to give a full glimpse of his abs and the narcissistic poseur now in Syria, as well as a thread of miscreance that runs through the life of Abdel Bary. But not all ISIS fighters are the type to have traded protein shakes and doobies for scimitars and explosive belts.

By now we’re starting to see an emerging taxonomy of the motivations of ISIS supporters. And as the types emerge, they reveal hints of ISIS’s vulnerability, and where its rapid expansion can be used against it. Patrick Skinner, a former CIA case officer now with The Soufan Group, estimates a total roster of 10,00 to 15,000 ISIS fighters, of whom hundreds may be foreigners, with the remainder from indigenous populations and ex-Baathists.

Read more from this story HERE.

‘T’ Is For … Thomas The Tank Engine Is Also Racist

/11 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Daily CallerThe TV show “Thomas and Friends” is racist, wrote Tracy van Syke for the Guardian in July, because good engines puff white smoke and bad engines puff black smoke. She is so relieved her son doesn’t have “a manic train fascination like so many other children,” because although the show “seems to impart good moral lessons about hard work and friendship,” it is in reality “concealing some pretty twisted, anachronistic messages” — it’s racist, classist, sexist and anti-environmentalist. The smoke is just one example. “I’d like to think there was a good environmental message in there,” she writes, “but when the good engines pump out white smoke and the bad engines pump out black smoke … it’s not hard to make the leap into the race territory.”

Another person who has no trouble leaping into “the race territory” is author and activist Leonard Zeskind, who said at a National White Privilege Conference that the entire Tea Party is is marked by a contagious racism. “There has been a longitudinal study that find the longer you are in the Tea Party, the more racist you become,” he declared, and said the movement is like other white nationalist groups. “Is it racist?” he asked, and then answered himself: “Yes.”

The Tea Party rallying cry, “Take back our country,” is racist, Eugene Robinson wrote in a Washington Post op-ed in May. “In general, I try to focus on what a person does or says rather than speculate on what he or she is. How can I really know what’s in another person’s heart?” he asks, before implying that anyone holding a “Take Back Our Country” sign is racist, since they started using the phrase after a black man became president.

Read more from this story HERE.

DC Teacher has Sixth-Graders Compare George Bush to Adolf Hitler

/4 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: APA public school teacher in Washington who instructed sixth-graders to compare former President George W. Bush to Adolf Hitler has learned her own lesson, according to district officials, but critics wonder why she still has a job.

D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson responded to the controversy late Wednesday on Twitter, saying no curriculum intended to make the comparison “in any way” and that the district and unidentified teacher are “deeply apologetic” about the matter. Henderson said the teacher has been ordered to apologize to the class.

“No DCPS curriculum says 2 make these comparisons in any way,” Henderson wrote. “Teacher used poor judgment & will apologize.”

Marc Thiessen, who worked for years as Bush’s speechwriter, said the teacher should be terminated immediately.

“A person who can’t tell the difference between George W. Bush and Adolf Hitler shouldn’t be teaching children,” Thiessen told FoxNews.com. “This isn’t even political bias, this is utter incompetence.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Area Schools Scramble to Meet the Emotional Needs of Undocumented Children

/6 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Michael Robinson Chavez / Los AngelesAll summer, Central American children caught at the U.S.-Mexico border have been trickling into the Washington area, sent to live with relatives in Latino communities. Now, they are descending en masse on the region’s public schools, bringing an array of problems that school officials are scrambling to address.

Ripped from distant worlds, most of the new students speak no English, and some are psychologically scarred from abuse by gangs or smugglers. Reunited with parents or other relatives they barely know, and still grieving for family and friends back home, they may feel depressed and resentful.

“Some of these kids arrive feeling very angry,” said Rina Chavez, a counselor with the Montgomery County schools. “After years of living with their grandparents, suddenly here they are with mom and a new stepdad and two younger siblings. Then they are expected in a heartbeat to sit down and learn, but they may not be ready.

“At first, some even refuse to learn English.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Peter Schiff: Economy on Thin Ice, the Poor and Middle Class Should Prepare to Suffer the Most

/0 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: NoHoDamon / Creative Commons Friday’s release of disappointing August payroll numbers should have been a jarring wake-up call warning Wall Street that the economy has been treading on thin ice. Instead the alarm clock was stuffed under the pillow and Wall Street kept sleeping. The miss was so epic in fact (the 142,000 jobs created was almost 40% below the consensus estimate) that the top analysts on Wall Street did their best to tell us that it was all just a bad dream. Mark Zandi of Moody’s reacted on Squawk Box by saying “I don’t believe this data.” The reliably optimistic Diane Swonk of Mesirow Financial told Reuters the report “sure looks like a fluke, not a trend”.

But the opinions of those that really matter, the central bankers in charge of the global economy, are likely taking the report much more seriously. . . Since the markets crashed in 2008, central banks around the world have worked feverishly to push up the prices of financial assets and to keep consumer prices rising steadily. They have done so in the official belief that these outcomes are vital ingredients in the recipe for economic growth. The theory is that steady inflation creates demand by inspiring consumers to spend in advance of predictable price increases. . . In other words, seed the economy with money and inflation and watch it grow.

Thus far the banks have been successful in creating the bubbles and keeping inflation positive, but growth has been a no show. The theory says the growth is right around the corner, but like Godot it stubbornly fails to show up. This has been a tough circle for many economists to square.

. . .This is where we are with stimulus. Six years of zero percent interest rates and trillions and trillions of new public debt have failed to restore economic health, but our conclusion is that we just haven’t given it enough time or effort. My theory is a bit different. Maybe zero percent interest rates and asset bubbles hinder rather than help a real recovery. Maybe they resurrect the zombie of a failed model and prevent something viable and lasting from gaining traction? This is a possibility that no one in power is prepared to consider. . .

The tragedy is that if the policy fails to produce real growth, as I am convinced it will, the price will be paid by those elements of society least able to bear it, the poor and the old. Inflation and stagnation mean lost purchasing power. The rich can mitigate the pain with a rising stock portfolio and more modest vacation destinations. But they won’t miss a meal. Those subsisting on meager income will be hit the hardest.

Read more from this story HERE.

Don’t Give the Masters of the Universe Their Amnesty

/2 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Justin Sullivan / Getty Earlier this week I spoke about the president’s promise that he would issue an executive amnesty to 5 or 6 million people. The planned amnesty would include work permits, photo IDs, and Social Security numbers for millions of people who illegally entered the U.S., illegally overstayed their visas, or defrauded U.S. immigration authorities.

The Senate Democratic conference has supported and enabled the president’s unlawful actions and blocked every effort to stop them. Not even one of our Democratic colleagues has backed the House legislation that would stop this planned executive amnesty or demanded that Senator Reid bring it up for a vote. Every Senate Democrat is therefore the president’s partner in his planned lawless acts.

Tonight I would like to talk about the influence of special interests on our nation’s immigration system. How did we get to the point where elected officials, activist groups, the ACLU, and global CEOs are openly working to deny American workers the immigration protections to which they are legally entitled? How did we get to the point where the Democratic party is prepared to nullify and wipe away the immigration laws of the United States of America?

Just yesterday Majority Leader Reid wrote in a tweet something that was shocking. He said: “Since House Republicans have failed to act on immigration, I know the President will. When he does, I hope he goes Real Big.”

Let this sink in for a moment. The majority leader of the Senate is bragging that he knows the president will circumvent Congress to issue executive amnesty to millions, and he is encouraging the president to ensure this amnesty includes as many people as possible. And the White House has acknowledged that 5 to 6 million is the number they are looking at.

Read more from this story HERE.

Obamacare To Cancel Health Plans For 250,000 Virginians

/2 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: REUTERS / Larry DowningUp to 250,000 Virginia residents will have their health insurance plans cancelled this fall due to Obamacare regulations, NBC 29 WVIR reports.

“Nearly a quarter million Virginians will have their current insurance plans cut this fall,” said a local NBC-29 anchor on Thursday. “That is because many of them did not — are not following new Affordable Care Act rules, so a chunk of the companies that offer those individuals their policies will make the individuals choose new policies.”

“This goes back to that now heavily-criticized line we heard before Obamacare was put in place: ‘If you like your plan, you can keep it,’” said reporter Alana Austin. “Ultimately, that turned out not to be true for thousands of Virginians and companies in the Commonwealth. … Wednesday Virginia lawmakers on the health insurance reform commission met for the first time this year. Turns out, a staggering number of Virginians will need new plans this fall.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Reporter Ticks Off Nancy Pelosi By Mentioning George Bush

/1 Comment/in , /by

Photo Credit: Chip Somodevilla / Getty ImagesHouse Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was visibly irritated when a reporter brought up former President George W. Bush and asked whether she thinks Obama is following his lead.

“He’s not relevant right now,” she said at her weekly press briefing Thursday, after a reporter brought up a statement from former Bush administration lawyer John Yoo reported by BuzzFeed Wednesday: “President Obama has adopted the same view of war powers as the Bush administration.”

“Do you agree with that?” the reporter asked.

Read more from this story HERE.

3-Year-Old Boy Born Without Fingers Gets “Iron Man” Hand Thanks to 3-D Printer

/0 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: LifeNewsA three-year-old Hawaiian boy received a robotic hand thanks to a 3D Printer. Nicknamed “Bubba”, Rayden Kahae was born without fingers due to Amniotic Band Syndrome (ABS), which occurs when an unborn baby becomes entangled in the fibrous string-life amniotic bands in the womb. The bands restrict blood flow and can cause a wide spectrum of clinical abnormalities.

West Palm Beach TV shares more:

His grandmother, Rulan Waikiki, says, “Bubba was born with ABS which is amniotic band syndrome. It’s where the baby’s hands end up without some fingers, some with none, couple little stumps instead of fingers.”

But it’s life as he knew it. And while he thrived, he too knew he was different.

“He knew from earlier on when he could notice that his sister had two hands and he didn’t, that he always said he doesn’t like that hand he wanted one like Tita’s,” Waikiki said.

Read more from this story HERE.