One ACU Board Member Speaks Up: CPAC Should Not Have Invited Atheists

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Photo Credit: Leadership InstituteMorton Blackwell, a longtime member of the American Conservative Union’s (ACU) Board of Directors, said that American Atheists should not have been invited to participate in the ACU-sponsored Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), which will be held in Washington, D.C. March 6-8th.

“My answer is no,” Blackwell replied when CNSNews.com asked him whether, as a matter of principle, the atheist group should have ever been invited to the annual conservative conference in the first place.

“CPAC was originally supposed to represent the conservative movement, and that means the principles of American conservatism in many ways embodied by Ronald Reagan: limited government, free enterprise, a strong national defense, and traditional values,” explained Blackwell, who is also president of the Leadership Institute, an official sponsor of CPAC.

And while “we certainly should not insist that every participant in CPAC is in agreement on every public policy question,” he said, they should “not be openly hostile to any other elements of conservative principles,” including “attacks on traditional values, including religious faith.”

Blackwell was the only one of more than two dozen ACU Board members and CPAC sponsors contacted by CNSNews.com who was willing to go on record opposing CPAC’s decision to allow American Atheists to set up a booth at the annual gathering, which is attended by hundreds of conservative activists from across the country.

Read more this story HERE.

11-Year-Old Girl Shoots and Kills Cougar that Was Stalking her Brother, 13, Outside their House

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Photo Credit: Bill WhiteWhen Tom White spotted a cougar approaching his teenage son outside their home in rural Washington state last week, there was only one thing to do – hand a gun to his 11-year-old daughter.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Shelby White killed the female cougar, and wildlife officials suggested that the animal may have been sick.

The mountain cat was 4 years old and weighed about 50lbs, which is about half of what an animal that age should weigh.

‘This cougar was very, very skinny,’ State Fish and Wildlife Officer Cal Treser said.

The fearless 11-year-old took action when she saw the cougar following her 13-year-old brother as he was walking towards their home in the town of Twisp, population 940.

Read more this story HERE.

Harry Reid Accuses Republicans of Telling ‘Outright Lies’ About Obamacare

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Photo Credit: APBy Susan Jones.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says despite all the “good news” about Obamacare, “there’s plenty of horror stories being told, all of them untrue — but they’re being told all over America.”

In a speech on the Senate floor Wednesday, Reid complained that Republicans, with help from wealthy donors — he named the Koch brothers — are telling “tall tales” and “outright lies” about Obamacare in stump speeches and political advertisements.

“Republicans may need tall tales and outright lies to convince people that Obamacare’s bad for them — but Democrats — we don’t have to make things up,” Reid said.”

To illustrate his point, Reid read a letter from Jane Thomas, one of his Nevada constituents, who was able to quit her job as a school teacher “thanks to Obamacare.”

“This story is true,” Reid said. “For years, Jane was locked into a job as a school teacher because she, (her husband) and her two teenage children needed guaranteed health insurance. And it cost a lot. But Jane was able to quit her teaching job, spend more time with her children, and help her husband with the family’s small business. Jane says the Affordable Care Act has literally changed her life.”

Read more this story HERE.

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‘They’re All Lying?’ GOP Replies to Reid Claim ‘All’ Obamacare Horror Stories Untrue

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said today that despite all the good news on Obamacare, “There’s plenty of horror stories being told. All of them are untrue, but they’re being told all over America.”

It’s a pretty bold claim that all the stories about cancelled policies are false – but Reid goes a step farther, and blames the Koch brothers in a halting speech from the Senate floor.

“The leukemia patient whose insurance policy was canceled [who] would die without her medication, Mr. President, that’s an ad being paid for by two billionaire brothers. It’s absolutely false.”

“Or the woman whose insurance policy went up $700 a month,” Reid continued. “Ads paid for around America by the multibillionaire Koch brothers, and the ad is false.”

“We heard about the evils of Obamacare, about the lives it’s ruining in Republicans’ stump speeches and in ads paid for by oil magnates, the Koch brothers. But in those tales, turned out to be just that: tales, stories made up from whole cloth, lies distorted by the Republicans to grab headlines or make political advertisements.

Read more this story HERE.

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Kansas Senators SLAM Harry Reid

By Chuck Ross.

Photo Credit: REUTERS/Jonathan ErnstBoth Kansas senators took to the Senate floor Thursday to hit back against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for saying that the Kansas-based Koch brothers are “un-American.”

“Yesterday two prominent citizens were called unpatriotic merely because they have engaged, legally I must say, in their First Amendment right to participate in the political process,” said Kansas Republican Sen. Pat Roberts.

“I was saddened, I was dismayed, I was discouraged to see the floor of the Senate used as a venue for such campaign-related attacks”, said Roberts, who called Democrats’ focus on the Kochs’ political spending “all part of a coordinated plan” and an “abuse of power.”

In two Senate floor speeches on Wednesday, Reid lashed out at Charles and David Koch, the primary owners of Koch Industries, which is based in Wichita, Kansas.

“Despite all that good news [of Obamacare], there’s plenty of horror stories being told. All are untrue, but they’re being told all over America,” said Reid in his first floor speech on Wednesday.

Read more this story HERE.

Russian Moves Raise Stakes in Ukraine Conflict

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Photo Credit: AP/Emilio MorenattiMasked gunmen stormed the parliament of Ukraine’s strategic Crimea region as Russian fighter jets screamed above the border, while Ukraine’s newly formed government pledged to prevent a national breakup with the strong backing of the West – the stirrings of a potentially dangerous confrontation reminiscent of Cold War brinksmanship.

Moscow reportedly granted shelter to Ukraine’s fugitive president, Viktor Yanukovych, who was said to be holed up in a luxury government retreat and to have scheduled a news conference Friday near the Ukrainian border. As gunmen wearing unmarked camouflage uniforms erected a sign reading “Crimea is Russia” in the provincial capital, Ukraine’s interim prime minister declared that the Black Sea territory “has been and will be a part of Ukraine.”

The escalating conflict sent Ukraine’s finances plummeting further, prompting Western leaders to prepare an emergency financial package.

Yanukovych, whose approach to Moscow set off three months of pro-Europe protests, finally fled by helicopter last weekend as his allies deserted him. The humiliating exit was a severe blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who had been celebrating his signature Olympics even as Ukraine’s drama came to a head. The Russian leader has long dreamt of pulling Ukraine – a huge country of 46 million people considered the cradle of Russian civilization – closer into Moscow’s orbit.

For Ukraine’s neighbors, the specter of Ukraine breaking up evoked memories of centuries of bloody conflict.

Read more this story HERE.

Egyptian Doctor Files Terrorism Complaint With U.S. Congress Against Barack Obama (+video)

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Photo Credit: YouTubeThe charges brought against Malik Obama by Dr. Sadek Raouf Ebeid and his attorney in Egypt have now been brought to the attention of tens of millions of Arabs.

Above is a short clip from a 10 O’clock news broadcast by El-Qahera wal Nas (Egypt and its people).

Read more this story HERE.

Stocks Rise after Yellen Talks Taper; Record Finish for S&P 500 (+video)

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Photo Credit: CNBCU.S. stocks climbed on Thursday, propelling the S&P 500 to a record close, after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said the central bank would probably continue tapering its asset purchases while tracking data to figure how much recent softness in the economy is due to the weather.

“Reduced tapering would be very negative to the market. We made a change in December to good news is good news,” said Randy Frederick, managing director of active trading and derivatives at Charles Schwab.

For technical traders, “when you break through resistance which has taken a long time to get through, resistance becomes support,” said Frederick of the S&P closing above 1,848.38, its prior closing high, set on Jan.15.

Appearing before the Senate in testimony delayed by a snowstorm, Yellen said the harsh weather could have played a role in the recent spate of tepid economic data.

“The market is of the opinion the weather has impacted business the last couple of months. When the weather is a little bad, and one or two retailers use it as an excuse, it tells you there’s a problem with the one or two companies, but when 98 out of 100 tell you it’s the weather, then you can believe it,” said Doug Foreman, chief investment officer at Kayne Anderson Rudnick.

Read more this story HERE.

University Removes ‘God’ from Plaque

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Photo Credit: Boston Public LibraryPurdue University, which once defended the right of a private speaker to blaspheme Jesus, has banned an alumni donor from using the word “God” on a plaque because it might offend someone.

Dr. Michael McCracken and his wife made a $12,500 pledge to the university’s school of mechanical engineering. In return, Purdue, a large public university in Indiana, offered the McCrackens the opportunity to name a small conference room in a lab building. They were also invited to supply language for a plaque that would be installed in the room.

McCracken chose to name the room after his father, Dr. William McCracken, who graduated from Purdue with a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering, and his mother Glenda, who died recently.

The plaque was inscribed with the following message:

“To those who seek to better the world through the understanding of God’s physical laws and innovation of practical solutions. In honor of Dr. William ‘Ed’ and Glenda McCracken.”

Read more this story HERE.

Restaurant Chain Adds Obamacare Surcharge to Customers’ Bills

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Photo Credit: REUTERS/Larry DowningA chain of Florida restaurants are making customers pick up the tab for the company’s mandatory participation in the Affordable Care Act — with a surcharge to every bill to help cover the cost of providing healthcare to their employees.

Eight Gator’s Dockside restaurants have started putting an “ACA Surchar” on every customer’s bill. The new charge adds one percent to the total check, which would mean 15 cents for an average $15 lunch according to a CNN report.

“The costs associated with ACA compliance could ultimately close our doors,” a sign outside one restaurant reads. “Instead of raising prices on our products to generate the additional revenue needed to cover the costs of ACA compliance, certain Gator’s Dockside locations have implemented a 1 percent surcharge on all food and beverage purchases only.”

Read more this story HERE.

North Korea Launches Missiles into Sea (+video)

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Photo Credit: CNNNorth Korea launched four Scud missiles into the sea off its eastern coast Thursday, the South Korean Defense Ministry said.

The missiles were fired in the direction of Russia and fell into the sea, according to the Pentagon, which described the launch as a very low-level matter.

The missiles were fired just days after the start of annual joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States that North Korea opposes. The joint military exercises routinely spark tension between North Korea, South Korea and the United States.

For example, last year’s exercises triggered weeks of heightened tensions between the nations and North Korean threats of nuclear war.

The South Korean and U.S. militaries have not been specific about where they are conducting their drills.

Read more this story HERE.

D.C. Health Plans to Include Gender-Reassignment Surgeries

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Photo Credit: ASTRID RIECKEND.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray on Thursday announced that the city will recognize gender dysphoria as a medical condition, forcing insurance companies to cover treatments such as gender-reassignment surgery for transgender people.

The coverage extends to all D.C. residents with group or individual health insurance — including the roughly one-third of city residents receiving Medicaid benefits — whose doctors diagnose the condition and for whom treatment is deemed medically necessary.

“This action places the District at the forefront of advancing the rights of transgender individuals,” Mr. Gray said at his ceremonial office at City Hall. The District joins California, Colorado, Connecticut, Oregon and Vermont in requiring the coverage, which the federal government will not be made to offer to its employees.

Transgender activists applauded the move, saying it guarantees coverage for treatments such as gender reassignment surgery that can cost tens of thousands of dollars and which have been denied by insurance companies that deemed the procedures cosmetic.

“This isn’t about who’s paying for things. This is about whether or not it’s medical care and who gets to decide that,” said Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality. “Nobody in America wants their health care decisions made by the insurance companies.”

Read more this story HERE.