Alaska-Based Paratroopers Head to Thailand for Cobra Gold

/0 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Jason Epperson Paratroopers from U.S. Army Alaska’s 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, are preparing to trade Alaska’s winter weather for the warmth of Thailand – for a few days at least – when they take part in exercise Cobra Gold 2014.

Cobra Gold officially kicked off Feb. 11, but the Spartan Brigade paratroopers will join in by flying nonstop this week on five Air Force and Air National Guard C-17 Globemaster III transports to complete a strategic airborne insertion at Lop Buri Airfield, Thailand, to assist with humanitarian assistance and disaster relief portions of the training.

Once on the ground, the soldiers will conduct combined ground operations with partner forces.

“What 4-25 brings to the table is unmatched throughout the Asia-Pacific region. We can quickly mass a large force to accomplish any mission that requires decisive action, from combat with a near-peer threat to humanitarian aid and disaster relief,” said Army Col. Matthew McFarlane, the brigade commander, who will jump into Thailand with his unit. “That this brigade can be wheels-up within mere hours to respond to a humanitarian crisis now versus later is a testament to the strategic reach that 4-25 gives to the [U.S. Pacific Command] commander.”

Cobra Gold is an annual multinational and multiservice exercise developed by the Thai and U.S. militaries. Cobra Gold 14 will consist of a command post exercise, humanitarian and civil assistance projects and a field training exercise. Now in its 33rd iteration, the exercise is designed to advance regional security by exercising a robust multinational force from nations sharing common goals and security commitments in the Asia-Pacific region.

Read more from this story HERE.

When You See What Obama’s Common Core Is Doing To Children, It Will Break Your Heart

/6 Comments/in , /by

This picture captures how common core is killing the spirit of our nation’s children and destroying their love of learning. The picture was posted on Facebook by the young girl’s mother. She is in 2nd grade, and is a cancer survivor. This little girl has the ability to learn and the desire to learn and excel, but she is being beaten down by the current initiative that is sweeping the nation.

Her mother offered the following explanation of the photograph:

You may have already seen this image today. I posted it this morning on my business page and after returning from a session out in Syracuse, it has been shared over 400 times. I want to take a moment to explain this image so as those who do not know me, can understand how this image came to be.

I am a photographer, a hobby farmer, a child advocate and a mother of 3 elementary-aged children. This is my middle child in the photo … she is 7 and is in 2nd grade. My kindergartner and my 4th grader were already finished with their homework and had left the table. I had brought my camera in to work on my white balance skills while shooting in low light as I had a session the next morning to prep for.

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama’s Valentine’s Day Bachelor golf Holiday Marks 23rd Vacation

/2 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: APAmerica, you know how to treat a president and his family.

With another Presidents’ Day bachelor holiday planned by President Obama, this time golfing in California, and Aspen, Colo., resort reporters on the lookout for the annual first lady ski trip this weekend, the taxpayer’s tab for the first family’s vacations has topped $2.4 million.

But that’s just the start. That total is just from the skimpy documents detailing travel and security expenses obtained by the public watchdog group Judicial Watch from a handful of first family vacations.

When all of the reporting of the first family’s 22 vacations so far to Hawaii, Martha’s Vineyard, Spain, Colorado, Florida, Africa and elsewhere is added up, the estimate reaches over $18 million when hotel and resort rent, security hotel and car rentals, and airfare are included.

Concerned about the trip expenses and the administration’s lack of transparency on the trips, Judicial Watch has sought spending documents. They’ve had success on just eight trips and only received Air Force and Secret Service expense forms which total $2,417,595.47. Included is the $1 million tab for Michelle Obama’s 2011 trip to Africa, her $476,585 2010 vacay in Spain, the first couple’s 2009 New York City date night that cost $11,648 and the first lady’s 2013 trip to Aspen for Presidents’ Day costing $81,523.

Read more from this story HERE.

Nancy Pelosi: ‘Why Would Anybody Get Married?’

/6 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: LifeNews House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is a hardcore supporter of gay marriage. She gave a big ol’ “who cares?” when Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., railed against last summer’s Supreme Court same-sex marriage victory…

“But I would say, you know, if you’re getting married — why are you getting married?” Pelosi asked. “Why would you get married? Why would anybody get married? In that the person that they love so much, that was irresistible, that they had to get married?”

Read more from this story HERE.

Wyoming Officials Take EPA to Court After Ruling Gives Land (including Entire City) to Tribes

/4 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Fox News Wyoming officials are taking the Environmental Protection Agency to court in a bid to reverse a sweeping agency ruling that transferred more than 1 million acres of land — including an entire city — to Native American tribes.

Wyoming Attorney General Peter K. Michael filed his state’s appeal Friday morning before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit. The state wants either the EPA to reverse, or the courts to overturn, a December ruling on a request from the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone tribes.

The tribes had sought “state status” in order to administer air quality monitoring. The EPA, in the course of reviewing the request, determined the land in question actually belongs to the Wind River Indian Reservation and has for more than a century, despite a 1905 law opening it to non-tribal members.

The decision, which encompassed the city of Riverton, caused intense controversy as officials warned about a range of disruptive consequences, including the possibility that jailed tribal members could now challenge their convictions.

Offering some relief, the EPA earlier this week agreed to put its own decision on hold at the request of the state and the tribes themselves. The state was the first to ask for a stay, calling the decision “arbitrary” and “wrong.” But the tribes followed suit, in the interest of soothing tensions.

Read more from this story HERE.

Dirty Dozen: 12 Senate Republicans Who Voted to Silence Ted Cruz

/44 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: D.C. Clothesline Everyone knew that the debt-ceiling deal would pass through the Senate on Wednesday. Even Ted Cruz had to know it. As soon as the House passed the deal on Tuesday, the writing was on the wall.

Even so, Ted Cruz promised to fight for America once again and filibuster the legislation. Would that have changed things? More than likely it would not have changed the vote. But Ted Cruz is the voice of a lot of Americans who are fed up with the Washington D.C. “business as usual” crowd. Evidently tee times and the beltway bar scene are more important than listening to the voice of an elected representative, because 12 republicans turned on Ted Cruz Wednesday including his own Texas sidekick, John Cornyn.

This morning I feel like my own tongue was cut out, because there are few in the Senate who speak for me and Ted Cruz is one of them.

The Senate vote for cloture passed 67-31 and could not have passed without republican votes. 60 votes were needed. These are the 12 who voted to silence Ted Cruz as reported by The Hill:

The Republicans who voted in favor of ending debate were McConnell, Cornyn, Hatch, McCain, Corker and Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Jeff Flake (Ariz.), Mike Johanns (Neb.), Mark Kirk (Ill.), John Barasso (Wyo.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and John Thune (S.D.). Thune and Barasso are also members of leadership.

Read more from this story HERE.

Miller Calls Out Begich for Promoting IRS Tyranny

/2 Comments/in , /by

Photo by Joshua DoubekJoe Miller called out Mark Begich today for the Senator’s support of new IRS rules that would grant the agency even more power to shut down the political speech and the political involvement of tea party and other conservative groups.

“After all we have learned about the egregious acts by the IRS against Americans’ First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly, that Mark Begich would come out in support of granting the agency even more power to target political groups demonstrates he is no longer willing to offer even the pretext of protecting the rights of all Alaskans,” said Miller.

While President Obama initially labeled the IRS targeting of tea party and other conservative groups as “outrageous and unacceptable,” in a recent interview he stated there was not “a smidgen of corruption” found in the actions of the agency. However, the public learned that the subsequent DOJ investigation of the IRS is being conducted by a high-dollar campaign contributor to the President. Apparently, there is no known public record of any of the targeted tea party groups being interviewed in this supposed months long “investigation.”

“If Mark Begich is willing to not only condone, but advocate the use of the IRS in this capacity, he has shown he does not want to represent all Alaskans and no longer deserves to hold his office,” said Miller.

Miller concluded, “We have to ask ourselves, what kind of nation do we want to be? One in which the President unilaterally changes laws and uses executive agencies to spy on Americans and to shut down political speech, or one in which our constitutional liberties are secure and all are free to engage equally in the political debate? We must protect against this abuse of power, whether it is exercised against the political right or left.”

Court Overturns Concealed-Carry Rule in Blow to California Gun Law

/0 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: ReutersBy Dan Whitcomb.

A federal appeals court on Thursday struck down a requirement by San Diego County that residents show “good cause” to carry a concealed firearm, a ruling that could force local governments across California to revisit the way they license handguns.

A three-member panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, acting on a 2009 lawsuit, ruled in a 2-1 decision that San Diego County’s restrictions amounted to an unconstitutional infringement on citizens’ Second Amendment rights to bear arms.

Coupled with a California state law that largely bans the open carrying of firearms in public, San Diego County’s “good cause” rules on concealed weapons effectively bar residents from carrying a gun altogether, the panel said.

“In California, the only way that the typical, responsible, law-abiding citizen can carry a weapon in public for the lawful purpose of self-defense is with a concealed carry permit. And, in San Diego County, that option has been taken off the table,” Justice Thomas O’Scannlain wrote in the 77-page opinion for the majority.

California, which has enacted some of the nation’s strictest gun laws, allows residents to carry a concealed weapon if they meet several requirements, including completing a training course, demonstrating good moral character and establishing “good cause” to have the gun.

Read more from this story HERE.

__________________________________________________________________

Photo Credit: ReutersCalif. concealed weapon law tossed by fed appeals court

By Associated Press.

A divided federal appeals court on Thursday struck down California’s concealed weapons rules, saying they violate the Second Amendment right to bear arms.

By a 2-1 vote, the three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said California was wrong to require applicants to show good cause to receive a permit to carry a concealed weapon.

“The right to bear arms includes the right to carry an operable firearm outside the home for the lawful purpose of self-defense,” Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain wrote for the majority.

Judge Sidney Thomas dissented, writing that the good cause requirement limited the number of people carrying concealed handguns in public to those legitimately in need.

“It limits the risk to public safety by reducing the number of guns in public circulation, but allows those who will most likely need to defend themselves in public to carry a handgun,” Thomas wrote.

Read more from this story HERE.

Alaska Tops Standard of Living Index

/0 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Jessica Lynn Culver / Getty ImagesResidents of Alaska are the more satisfied with and optimistic about their standard of living than Americans in any other state, while people in West Virginia are the least satisfied, according to a new poll.

The Gallup survey released Thursday put Alaska in first on a broad measure of satisfaction. Throughout 2013, the pollster asked almost 180,000 adults in all 50 states two questions: how satisfied they are with their standard of living and whether they feel that standard is getting better or worse. Out of a maximum score of 100—achieved only if 100 percent of respondents say they’re happy with their standard and it’s getting better—Alaska came in first at 53, followed closely by the oil-rich land of North Dakota and the sunny state of Hawaii. Residents of West Virginia scored a last-place 22, followed by glum Maine at 31 and gloomy Rhode Island at 32.

Read more from this story HERE.

Stockman’s Reasons for Challenging Cornyn: ObamaCare, Cruz, Rubio, and Miller (+video)

/7 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: WND The GOP establishment has targeted him. But Rep. Steve Stockman, R-Texas, has a strategy to knock off the second-most powerful Republican on Capitol Hill, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. It’s the same strategy that propelled big underdog Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, to victory in 2012: Keep the entrenched incumbent below 50 percent in the primary election; then knock him off in a runoff…

His voice rising to demonstrate his conviction, Stockman declared, “I gave up my safe U.S. House seat to run against John Cornyn for U.S. Senate because I don’t want to see the Obamacare repeal movement defeated. I am willing to risk everything to see Obamacare repealed.”

The congressman maintained it is one thing to face a Democrat as a clearly defined opponent, but quite another when you have a Republican who consistently works against other Republicans, saying that Cornyn worked against Sen. Marco Rubio in Florida, Senate candidate Joe Miller in Alaska and even against his fellow Texas senator, Cruz.

In fact, when Stockman broke the news to WND in December that he would challenge Cornyn, the congressman cited as his top reason how the incumbent GOP senator “undermined Sen. Ted Cruz’s fight to stop Obamacare.”

Read more from this story HERE.