Whistleblower: ‘The VA System Is A Perfect Example Of Cronyism’

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Bad hiring practices have led to a culture of cronyism that is as at the center of a burgeoning number of scandals at the Overton-Brooks Veteran Administration (VA) Medical Center in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Shea Wilkes, who blew the whistle on the secret waiting list in the mental health department, told The Daily Caller that he also filed a complaint about bad hiring practices alongside the waiting-list complaint.

Wilkes said a full audit of the hiring practices in the mental health department occurred after it was discovered that many candidates didn’t even have their files scored during the interview process.

Wilkes served as one of four individuals on the hiring committee for the current chief of staff of the Mental Health Department at Overton-Brooks, where he charges he saw cronyism first hand: Though three of the four people on the committee scored Dr. Charles Patterson poorly, Patterson was hired when hospital Chief of Staff Patrick McGauly overrode his three colleagues.

According to Jessica Jacobsen, a media relations specialist with the VA, there was nothing untoward with the hiring process.

Read more from this story HERE.

Feds: Obama Broke Law with Bergdahl Swap

Photo Credit: WND

Photo Credit: WND

President Obama violated a “clear and unambiguous” law when he released five Guantanamo Bay detainees in exchange for Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, the Government Accountability Office reported Thursday.

“[The Department of Defense] violated section 8111 because it did not notify the relevant congressional committees at least 30 days in advance of the transfer,” the GAO report said. “In addition, because DOD used appropriated funds to carry out the transfer when no money was available for that purpose, DOD violated the Antideficiency Act. The Antideficiency Act prohibits federal agencies from incurring obligations exceeding an amount available in an appropriation.”

Read more from this story HERE.

New Report From DHS Shows That Messing With Americans’ Freedom Could Have Serious Consequences

Photo Credit: Western Journalism

Photo Credit: Western Journalism

Months after the tense standoff between federal authorities and protesters at the Bundy Ranch, the Department of Homeland Security produced a report warning that potentially violent uprisings against a growing federal government could result across the U.S.

Among the judgments outlined in the DHS’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis report is the fear that a “perceived victory” by demonstrators at the Bunkerville ranch would “prompt more violence.”

While militias from surrounding states responded to the show of force by armed Bureau of Land Management agents in April, the report seeks to tie a subsequent shooting to the standoff.

“Violent anti-government extremists Jerad Dwain Miller and Amanda Renee Miller ambushed and killed two Las Vegas Metropolitan police officers at a local restaurant on 8 June,” the report asserted.

Read more from this story HERE.

Ineligible Illegals File Request to Get Dreamer Status, Force Obama’s Hand

Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

By Stephen Dinan.

Nearly a dozen illegal immigrations announced a campaign Wednesday to force President Obama’s hand on halting deportations, saying they would file papers demanding to be let into the existing program granting legal status to so-called Dreamers, although none qualifies.

Some of the immigrants came as children and would have qualified except they went home for college and then came back, while others are parents of Dreamers who already have legal status under Mr. Obama’s 2012 program. And one is Jose Antonio Vargas, a former Washington Post reporter who was a few months too old to qualify for the Dreamer policy, and whose case has become a flashpoint in the immigration debate.

Mr. Vargas, who travels the country advocating for illegal immigrants, said they often hear complaints from Americans who tell them they should get in the back of the immigration line. But he said that’s impossible for most illegal immigrants, saying there is “no line” for them to get in that would earn them legal status from within the U.S.

“This morning, by submitting our applications, we created a line, a process. Now it’s up to the Obama administration. The ball is in your court, Mr. President,” Mr. Vargas said.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

NY church backs out of federal plan to house illegal immigrant children

By Joshua Rhett Miller.

A New York church has dropped its proposal to temporarily house roughly 40 juvenile immigrants who have entered into the United States from Mexico, citing a missed deadline for the federally-funded program and a looming change in leadership.

Rev. Marc Herbst, an assistant to the bishop of the Metropolitan New York Synod-Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, told FoxNews.com that Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Commack has abandoned its plan to house the children for roughly 10-day stays.

“At this point, it just doesn’t look like this is going to be feasible,” Herbst said Tuesday. “At this point, it’s not appropriate to make a decision at this moment because funding is not available and we’re going through transition.”

“Faith-based organizations have a moral imperative to care for these children and to care for them with compassion.”- Maryann Sinclair Slutsky, executive director, Long Island Wins

Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: Breitbart

Photo Credit: Breitbart

GOP Rep: illegal immigration costs Americans

By Caroline May.

Each illegal immigrant in the United States costs American citizens, Louisiana Republican Rep. Vance McAllister argued this week at a town hall meeting in his home state, according to The Town Talk.

“Every time one illegal immigrant comes to this country, you lose health care, you lose schooling, you lose education for one our citizens.” McAllister said, according to the local publication, due to their costs.

Read more from this story HERE.

Islamic State Message to America: 'We Will Drown all of You in Blood'

Photo Credit: beverly and pack

Photo Credit: beverly and pack

The Islamic State militant group that has seized large parts of Iraq and drawn the first American air strikes since the end of the occupation in 2011 has warned the United States it will attack Americans “in any place” if the raids hit its militants.

The video, which shows a photograph of an American who was beheaded during the U.S. occupation of Iraq and victims of snipers, featured a statement which said in English “we will drown all of you in blood”.

U.S. airstrikes in northern Iraq have helped Kurdish fighters take back some territory captured by Islamic State militants, who have threatened to march on Baghdad.

Read more from this story HERE.

Breaking: What Mike Huckabee Just Did Could Reignite the Tea Party

Mike-Huckabee-Endorses-Joe-MillerBy Floyd Brown.

In race after race across America, Tea Party candidates have faced long odds and millions in Republican establishment influence money spent against them.

No candidate has faced longer odds and more establishment money being spent against him than Joe Miller. His simple pro-Constitution, free market, low tax message made him a Tea Party favorite in 2010 and Joe Miller is back running for the US Senate in Alaska. Tuesday, August 19th is the Republican Party primary which will decide his fate.

I have traveled to Alaska for a front row seat.

If I had to judge after a day shadowing the tireless candidate, I would say the money spent against him has been wasted. Here in Anchorage, I see a race uninfluenced by the millions spent against Miller.

In the last 48 hours the tide had turned and the race is now very close.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Mike Huckabee Endorses Joe Miller for U.S. Senate

Citizens for Joe Miller is pleased to announce that former Arkansas Governor and Fox News Host Mike Huckabee has endorsed Joe Miller for United States Senate.

Governor Huckabee hailed Miller’s strong stand on life, traditional values, the Fair Tax and constitutional government, calling him “the common sense choice for those who desire limited government and free market economics.”

“I am proud to have Governor Huckabee’s endorsement,” said Miller. “He is in the trenches every day, contending for common sense and traditional values. This is an incredible boost. I am grateful for his support.”

Read Huckabee’s full statement below:

“I am proud to endorse Joe Miller for United States Senate in Alaska, because Joe embodies the kind of values our country so desperately needs. He is unequivocally pro-life, pro-family, and pro-traditional marriage. And above all, he understands that life and liberty come from God.

“Joe is the only US Senate candidate endorsed by Alaska Right to Life, and my friend General Jerry Boykin at the Family Research Council.

“His understanding of Constitutional values also makes him the common sense choice for those who desire limited government and free market economics. As a fellow supporter of the Fair Tax, Joe is the kind of leader who will be a game-changer in Washington. We can restore the fortunes of America one election at a time, by electing common sense conservatives like Joe Miller.”

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Joe-Miller-and-Sarah-PalinBreaking: Sarah Palin Just Made A Major Endorsement; This Could Be A Game Changer

By B. Christopher Agee.

Fox News reported Friday that former Alaska governor and Tea Party favorite Sarah Palin has endorsed U.S. Senate candidate Joe Miller in that state’s upcoming primary election.

In a statement she released to the news network, Palin offered her support for the conservative candidate.

“To restore liberty, to defend our Constitution, to build American exceptionalism, we must send fighters to the U.S. Senate who will stop Barack Obama’s fundamental transformation of the nation we love,” she wrote. “The status quo has got to go, and in Alaska the man who understands this key to our state and country’s future also has the guts, wisdom, experience and optimism to fight for what is right – and win.”

Read more from this story HERE.

ISIS Beheads American Journalist James Wright Foley

Photo Credit: TownHall

Photo Credit: TownHall

By Katie Pavlich.

The terrorist group ISIS has allegedly beheaded American journalist James Wright Foley on video in Iraq in order to send a message to the United States. I’m not going to dignify the terrorists by posting the video here, you can look it up on your own if you’d like. A warning, extremely violent and difficult to watch.

Wright’s fellow journalist Ihan Tanir gave some background on the situation on Twitter.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: DailyMail

Photo Credit: DailyMail

Executioner ‘with a British accent’ beheads US journalist in the name of ISIS: Mother of slaughtered American calls on Islamist group to cease killing and pays tribute to her ‘extraordinary son’

By JOHN HALL FOR MAILONLINE and JAMES NYE and ASHLEY COLLMAN.

A shocking video has emerged showing an ISIS militant who speaks with a British accent brutally executing an American photojournalist who was kidnapped in Syria two years ago.

Graphic footage of the execution appeared in an video titled: ‘A Message to the U.S.’, in which an apparently coerced James Wright Foley, 40, describes America as his true killers for using airstrikes to assist Kurdish forces in recapturing the Mosul Dam from ISIS militants.

Foley – who went missing in 2012 while working for the Global Post news agency in Syria – is then beheaded with a small knife over a period of seven minutes by a masked man dressed all in black.

The executioner, who speaks directly to the camera in what appears to be a London accent, then warns that a second captured American journalist will be killed if the U.S. doesn’t halt the airstrikes.

Speaking after the video emerged, Foley’s mother Diane issued a statement saying that she and her husband John have ‘never been prouder’ of their son, who they say gave his life to expose the suffering of the Syrian people.

Read more from this story HERE.

The Nation’s Largest Grocery Store Takes an Unexpected Position In Gun Control Fight

Photo Credit: IJ Review

Photo Credit: IJ Review

Fresh off of victories at Target, Sonic, Chipotle, and other stores, Moms Demand Action is taking its fight to the nation’s largest grocery store chain.

The gun control group has its sight set on Kroger to get the food store to prohibit guns, or “kindly suggest” shoppers don’t bring their guns into the store.

Recent demonstrations by open carry activists proudly carrying their weapon in Ohio and Texas stores prompted the group to level aim at Kroger, The Huffington Post reports.

Read more from this story HERE.

Joe Miller Congratulates Dan Sullivan

Photo Credit: AP / Mark Thiessen

Photo Credit: AP / Mark Thiessen

Joe Miller called to congratulate fellow U.S. Senate candidate Dan Sullivan on a race well run.

Miller said, “While there are still over 20,000 absentee ballots to be counted and several major precincts yet to report, it seems unlikely we will be able to close the 7000 vote gap, given the current trends. I have called and congratulated Dan Sullivan for running a strong campaign.”

Miller added, “I want to thank our volunteers for their incredible effort and those who supported our campaign throughout the great state of Alaska. The pundits said our grassroots campaign (being outspent 10 to 1) did not stand a chance, but I think ‘We the People’ surprised more than a few tonight. I am grateful to God to live in such a wonderful state and country. As Ronald Reagan reminded us, ‘Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction,’ so I will continue to do my part to ensure it is alive and well and passed on to the next generation of Americans.”

Preliminary Report: Over A Dozen Witnesses Back Darren Wilson’s Story

Photo Credit: REUTERS / Mark Kauzlarich

Photo Credit: REUTERS / Mark Kauzlarich

According to a preliminary report from a St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter, police say that more than a dozen witnesses back Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson’s version of the events that led to the fatal shooting of Michael Brown…

Wilson’s claims match a woman who called herself “Josie” who called into Dana Loesch’s radio show on Friday. CNN confirmed with police officials that Josie’s and Wilson’s versions match.

According to Josie, Wilson, a six-year police veteran, claims Brown assaulted and then “bum rushed” him during their encounter on August 9.

The assault followed after Wilson drove upon Brown and a friend walking in the street. Wilson told the two to move to the sidewalk. After driving forward, Wilson reportedly received a dispatch call about a strong-arm robbery at a convenience store.

Brown allegedly stole cigars from the store and shoved a store clerk. According to Josie, Wilson says he saw the cigars and then confronted Brown and his friend.

Read more from this story HERE.