Ranchers Told "Look the Other Way or Face the Consequences"

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Photo Credit: KRGVRanchers along the Rio Grande say immigrant smugglers threaten them constantly.

One Cameron County rancher said smugglers ordered him to look the other way or face the consequences.

The landowner said smugglers are using trails on his property to bring illegal immigrants into the country.

The rancher said he fears for his safety.

“You don’t see anything; you don’t talk to anybody,” he said.

Read more from this story HERE.

Vet Dies Waiting 30 Minutes for Ambulance from Hospital Five Minutes Away

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Photo Credit: APWhile it is just a tragic anecdote, the latest story surrounding the chronic and too often fatal inefficiency of Veterans Affairs hospitals is illustrative of a much larger problem.

“A veteran who collapsed in an Albuquerque Veteran Affairs hospital cafeteria, 500 yards from the emergency room, died after waiting 30 minutes for an ambulance,” the Associated Press reported on Thursday. “Officials at the hospital Thursday confirmed it took a half an hour for the ambulance to be dispatched and take the man from one building to the other, which is about a five minute walk.”

VA spokeswoman Sonja Brown defended the VA’s conduct in this case, telling reporters that the staff “followed policy in calling 911 when the man collapsed on Monday.” She added, however, that this policy is now under review.

It is unclear why the ambulance took so long to reach this veteran in need, and blaming the VA system in this instance may be entirely unfair. That said, it is also just another example that serves to reinforce the narrative that the VA system is hopelessly broken.

And the impression that the VA system is broken is anything but unfair.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Whistleblower Fights Back Against VA Hospital Over Secret Waiting Lists

By Michael Volpe.

Despite denials by the Department of Veteran Affairs, a whistleblower is standing by his claim that a Louisiana VA hospital maintained a secret waiting list for patient care.

According to a hospital employee named Shea Wilkes and internal emails leaked to the media, there have been wait times of up to fifteen months for appointments in the mental health department of the Overton-Brooks VA Medical Center in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Stephanie Alexander, a nurse in the hospital, emailed James Patterson, the department’s chief of staff, and Ruthie McDaniel, the operations manager, to request overtime so that employees could catch up on scheduling the backlog.

“There are multiple lists, excel sheets, papers that contain names of patients that need to be scheduled- just a few at approximately 2400 existing patients- some have not been seen in as long as 12-15 months,” said Alexander in the email.

Wilkes told The Daily Caller that 620 veterans still need appointments.

Read more from this story HERE.

Iran Opposition Compares its Struggle to the American Revolution

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Photo Credit: Fox News The leader of the Iranian opposition likens its goal to overthrow the regime in Tehran to the war for American independence from Britain, the struggle to abolish slavery in the U.S. and the birth of the civil rights movement in the 1960’s.

“I am confident that the Iranian resistance, which seeks the proven values of advanced societies, will reach its goal of a free, prosperous, democratic, just and non-nuclear Iran,” declared Maryam Rajavi, the head of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, in an exclusive Fox News interview.

“The experience is out there, including in the history of the United States, such as George Washington and the people of America who decided to stand up to colonialism to gain independence, such as Abraham Lincoln and the price he paid and the war he waged to abolish slavery and the price the people of America paid during the time of Dr. Martin Luther King for civil rights and the struggle of the people of America for the freedom of women,” she says.

“These are all historical experiences and I am, therefore, confident. My experience and that of the Iranian people tell us that when a people, a nation, decides to fight and pay the price for the rights it deserves, such as democracy, freedom and equality, when it decides to fight for these and pay the price, for values which shine in history of all human societies and in the progress of human society, it will certainly achieve it.”

Rajavi, based outside of Paris, is the leader of the largest Iranian resistance group that opposes the current Tehran regime. She is calling for regime change, free, democratic elections, and a non-nuclear Iran. The group held a massive hours-long rally last week, in which a variety of speakers, including many prominent former U.S. government officials, also called for a democratic Iran and tougher restrictions on Tehran in advance of the looming July 20 nuclear agreement deadline.

Read more from this story HERE.

Alaskan Floating Strip Club Navigates Regulatory Trouble

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Photo Credit: jkbrooks85A new attraction on Alaska’s Kodiak Island features exotic dancers who entertain fishermen on a converted Bering Sea crabbing boat dubbed the “Wild Alaskan” — and it’s already encountered choppy regulatory seas.

Barely open for business, the floating bar and grill was briefly shut down by the Coast Guard after someone reported that a water taxi was overloaded as it transported patrons to the 120-foot vessel.

Wild Alaskan owner Darren Byler said he is “100 percent sure” that whoever notified authorities doesn’t like that he has stripping dancers aboard. He said he apologizes in advance to anyone in the public who doesn’t approve of that line of work.

“But let’s face it, this is business. It’s nothing personal,” he said. “And by the way, this business has been around for a while. I didn’t invent it.”

The water taxi is legally allowed to carry six passengers, Byler said, adding that four others aboard were crew members, so there were no violations.

Read more from this story HERE.

Missisippi Burning UPDATE: McDaniel Offers $15k Reward

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Photo Credit: TownHallAs my colleague Guy Benson has said at various panels and conferences, when you’re wrong, own it. After all, it’s the right thing to do. Last week, I wrote a post about how voter outreach and cultural ties helped Sen. Thad Cochran win in the Mississippi runoff against his challenger State Sen. Chris McDaniel.

As for the cultural ties, Mississippi voters still like their pork projects and the long-serving lawmakers who bring home that bacon. But, as for voter outreach, I jumped the gun. While evidence is still accumulating and being analyzed, there are some very questionable practices that have been alleged surrounding the get-out-the-vote effort on Cochran’s behalf that deserves some attention.

Investigative reporter Charles Johnson alleges that the Cochran camp bought the votes of black Mississippians. Matt Lewis at the Daily Caller wrote that:

The African-American pastor alleging that he was offered money to buy votes for Thad Cochran was also paid by the reporter for the story. This is both ironic and problematic: If you’re the kind of person who is willing to participate in a vote-buying scheme, isn’t it possible you’d also be the kind of person who is willing to make up a wild story in order to get paid by a reporter?

Another interesting wrinkle is that the person making the allegation claims he received the walking around money to distribute to African-American voters but never got paid the money he was promised for his services (note: Always get paid up front!).

Read more from this story HERE.

American Exceptionalism – How the World’s Greatest 'Turnaround' Nation Will Do It Again

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Photo Credit: TownHall Individual liberty, rule of law, and economic freedom are central to what makes America unique in world history. Our success, our power, and our global influence rest strongly on the values on which this country was founded.

English author G.K. Chesterton once wrote, “America is the only nation in the world that is founded on a creed…It enunciates that all men are equal in their claim to justice, that governments exist to give them that justice, and that their authority is for that reason just.” The creed Chesterton refers to is, of course, the Declaration of Independence. This endowing document approved by Congress 238 years ago tomorrow proclaims that all people are created free and equal.

Sadly, an entire generation of young Americans is emerging from our schools and universities that is no longer being taught what it means to be an American. The cries of political correctness and the one world movement insist that teachers and professors not acknowledge excellence, either for individuals or for our country. It is all an effort to level the playing field.

However, much is to be said for American exceptionalism. The truth is that in 5,000 years of recorded human history, there has never before been a nation like America. A leader throughout the agricultural, industrial, and technological eras, America stands alone in the advancement of human innovation. When we think of America’s inventive genius, our country is responsible for the birth of technologies used around the world every day: personal computers, the internet, GPS, the lightbulb, the telephone, and the airplane.

Read more from this story HERE.

Colorado's DMV Website Overwhelmed by Non-Citizen License Requests

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Photo Credit: Colorado.govThe website for Colorado’s Division of Motor Vehicles was briefly shut down late Wednesday, the same day non-citizens were allowed to begin making appointments to obtain driver’s licenses.

Daria Serna, a spokeswoman for the agency, confirmed the brief shutdown on Thursday, saying the website was back online as of 5 a.m. Thursday local time. On Tuesday, the “Schedule an Appointment at a Driver’s License Office” page averaged 70,000 hits per hour, including a high of 107,500 hits hourly, compared to its hourly average of 8,126 hits per hour.

“There is clearly a great deal of interest by the community to obtain these services,” Barbara Brohl, the executive director of the Colorado Department of Revenue, said in a statement to FoxNews.com.

In all, a total of 823 appointments were scheduled, Serna told FoxNews.com, or 100 appointments an hour specifically related to SB 12-251, the Colorado Road and Community Safety Act, which authorizes the issuance of state driver’s licenses to individuals who cannot demonstrate lawful presence in the United States or can only show temporary lawful presence beginning Aug. 1, 2014. Licenses to verified applicants begin being issued at that time.

Read more from this story HERE.

Hiring Pickup Aided By Rare Source of Strength: Governments

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The recent hiring spurt—one of the best stretches since the late 1990s—has gotten a surprising lift by a major sector: government.

In June, all levels of government added a seasonally adjusted 26,000 employees. That gain outpaced the manufacturing and construction sectors — combined. Rising government employment not only adds to the total hiring figure, it also represents growth in a relatively well-paying field.

Public-sector employment grew by 54,000 so far this year. While that’s a modest fraction of the 1.4 million workers added to payrolls in 2014, it comes after five straight years of shrinking in the government workforce.

Government workers tend to be paid better than those in the fast-growing fields of retail and food service, and they typically receive health and retirement benefits. Well-compensated workers could support stronger spending and faster economic growth.

Read more from this story HERE.

Feds Hand Out Border Pass To Mexican Snitch

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Photo Credit: The Smoking Gun Looking to enter the United States from one of our neighbors to the south?

Well, forget about dealing with unsavory coyotes and enduring dangerous nighttime treks to the border. There is a much easier way to gain access–legal access–to the U.S.: Start diming out narcotics smugglers.

According to federal court records, a Mexican informant who has provided “credible information” to U.S. law enforcement agencies about narcotics trafficking was to be compensated “with the ability to cross the border legally into the United States for at least one year.”

The arrangement with the informant was disclosed last year following the arrest of a Mexican woman who allegedly sought to smuggle 17.2 pounds of cocaine and 5.3 pounds of methamphetamine into California via the San Ysidro port of entry.

Read more from this story HERE.

July 4 Barbecue Costs Climb to Record

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Photo Credit: Bloomberg Rising prices for beef, ice cream and lettuce mean Americans will spend the most ever for Fourth of July barbecues this year.

The CHART OF THE DAY shows an index tracking U.S. retail prices for seven foods commonly consumed while grilling climbed 5.1 percent in May from a year earlier to the highest ever for the month, the latest data from Bureau of Labor Statistics show.

Independence Day is the most popular time of the year for Americans to cook outdoors, according to the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association. The holiday falls on a Friday this year, increasing chances that revelers will keep celebrating into the weekend. Prices for ground beef are 16 percent higher than a year earlier, while ice cream climbed 1.7 percent and tomatoes soared 12 percent, government data show.

Read more from this story HERE.