China Killed Your Dog. Are You Next?

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Photo Credit: Daniel J. Groshong/Bloomberg NewsHas your dog exhibited unpleasant health effects — such as, oh, death — after eating jerky treats imported from China? If so, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration would really “like to hear from you or your veterinarian.”

That, in essence, is the white flag of surrender the FDA raised on its homepage this week, effectively conceding its inability to figure out what, precisely, in imported jerky treats has sickened 3,600 dogs and 10 cats since 2007. According to the agency, approximately 580 of those cats and dogs have died from causes that include kidney failure and gastrointestinal bleeding.

Yet, despite the fact that the agency has tested more than 1,200 jerky treats since 2011, visited Chinese pet food plants and engaged in collaborations across governments and academia, there’s no reason to believe that the agency’s regulators are any closer to understanding the outbreak than they were six years ago. So, left to their own devices, they’re asking for help from the public.

This should worry more than pet owners. According to U.S. government data collected by Food & Water Watch, a nongovernmental group concerned with food safety issues, U.S. imports of Chinese food products for human consumption have increased from 2.3 billion tons in 2003 to 4.1 billion tons in 2012. In effect, Americans would be well within their rights to wonder: If the agency can’t secure the jerky treats, what guarantee is there it can secure the 367.2 million gallons of Chinese apple juice Americans imported in 2012?

Read more from this story HERE.

Alaska’s Baggage, Change Fees Go Up Oct. 30

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Photo Credit: Alan Berner/The Seattle TimesYou’ll soon pay more to check a bag or change a flight on Alaska Airlines .

For tickets purchased on or after Oct. 30, the fee for checking a suitcase will increase to $25 for each of the first two bags (up from $20 per bag) and $75 for the third bag (currently $25). However, elite-level frequent fliers still get free checked bags.

Read more from this story HERE.

Sean Hannity Shows His Generosity For Fired Obamacare Phone Worker

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Photo Credit: Irish Central Radio talk show host and conservative Fox News super star Sean Hannity, showed the world a side of him that the far left would pretend doesn’t exist.

During his radio show Monday afternoon, Hannity called the phone number President Obama told the public to use for help with Obamacare questions, since the website doesn’t work.

Phone worker Erling Davis answered Sean’s call and proceeded to field the questions about the Obamacare roll out that Sean prodded her with.

The friendly and good-natured Davis truthfully answered Sean’s questions about the fiasco surrounding Obamacare….and it seems that was her downfall. None of her answers cast the Obamacare roll out in a good light, especially when asked by Sean if any of her callers like the plan and she said not really. Hear dialogue.

Hannity had Ms Davis on his show today to ask if there were repercussions from speaking to him on his national radio show. She explained the next morning, she was taken to a Human Resources meeting and told she was fired. The reason given for her firing was “contact with the media.”

According to Ms Davis, she was never told during her training that she was forbidden from taking calls from the media. “I was just out here trying to help everybody,” she told Hannity.

If you think about it, Ms. Davis was doing a better job of informing the public about Obamacare than the administrations has been doing. She answered questions about the healthcare system and its website heard by millions of Americans listening to Hannity’s radio show.

Upon hearing that Ms Davis had lost her job as a result of talking to him on national radio, Sean Hannity pledged to send her the year’s salary (26,000) that she would have made if she remained at her job and also promised to find her a new job.

Ms. Davis was grateful for the help from Sean. Being a single mother of two suddenly losing her job was a fearful event for her, but Hannity took her under his wing and protected her.

Hannity said: “I’m very sorry that you had to go through that. I don’t want you to have to pay a price just for taking our call. So I want to help you out here.”

This isn’t the first time Sean Hannity has helped out people that he feels need a break and has shown his generosity many times this way. But he is also known as a generous philanthropist behind the scenes as well and many can attest to that.

But it also magnifies a stark fact that if you speak out against President Obama or his policies, you will pay a price for speaking the truth.

_____________________________________

Ed Farnan is the conservative columnist at IrishCentral, where he has been writing on the need for energy independence, strong self defense, secure borders, 2nd amendment, smaller government and many other issues. His articles appear in many publications throughout the USA and world. He has been a guest on Fox News and a regular guest on radio stations in the US and Europe.

How Badly Will ObamaCare Screw You? Answers Here!

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Photo Credit: Andrew AliferisWell well lookie what the cat dragged in.

That’s a link to the unsubsidized data dump — all 78,437 records — for each county and State under the Obamacare exchange program. I can verify that for at least my state and county the table is correct, since you can now look it up on Healthcare.gov without creating an account first (which I am not about to do.)

There are several very interesting statistical facts that come from this.

First, if you’re “27”, the average premium is $266.20/month or $3,194.40 per year. How many 27 year olds have an extra $3,200 to spend on this? Remember, this is the price that virtually every uninsured 27 year old must be willing — and able — to cough up in order to prevent the model this system is predicated on from collapsing.

If those 27 year olds don’t show up, and they won’t, then the system collapses instantly. If they do show up because the government threatens them with fines the economy collapses as $3,200 a year exceeds the average 27 year old’s disposable personal income after mandatory expenses (e.g. food, shelter, etc.) Remember, there are always exceptions but these premiums are averages and over large pools of people the statistical averages are what matters — not the ends of the barbell.

It gets better. The “average” 50 year old premium, again, for single coverage, is $452.87, or $5,434.44/year. How many 50 year olds will find that attractive compared against what they’re paying now? Probably more of them, especially if they’re already sick. But how about the healthy ones?

Read more from this story HERE.

Germany, Brazil Turn to U.N. to Restrain American Spies

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Photo Credit: Foreign Policy Brazil and Germany today joined forces to press for the adoption of a U.N. General Resolution that promotes the right of privacy on the internet, marking the first major international effort to restrain the National Security Agency’s intrusions into the online communications of foreigners, according to diplomatic sources familiar with the push.

The effort follows a German claim that the American spy agency may have tapped the private telephone of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and dozens of other world leaders. It also comes about one month after Brazilian leader Dilma Rousseff denounced NSA espionage against her country as “a breach of international law” in a General Assembly speech and proposed that the U.N. establish legal guidelines to prevent “cyberspace from being used as a weapon of war.”

Brazilian and German diplomats met in New York today with a small group of Latin American and European governments to consider a draft resolution that calls for expanding privacy rights contained in the International Covenant Civil and Political Rights to the online world. The draft does not refer to a flurry of American spying revelations that have caused a political uproar around the world, particularly in Brazil and German. But it was clear that the revelation provided the political momentum to trigger today’s move to the United Nations. The blowback from the NSA leaks continues to agonize U.S. diplomats and military officials concerned about America’s image abroad.

“This is an example of the very worst aspects of the Snowden disclosures,” a former defense official with deep experience in NATO, told The Cable, referring to former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. “It will be very difficult for the US to dig out of this, although we will over time. The short term costs in credibility and trust are enormous.”

Although the U.N.’s ability to fundamentally constrain the NSA is nil, the mounting international uproar over U.S. surveillance has security experts fearful for the ramifications.

Read more from this story HERE.

Joe Miller: Time to Take a Stand

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The Obamacare shutdown and debt ceiling debacle made one thing abundantly clear. We cannot count on the Washington establishment to save the country we love.

It is time for patriots to take a stand!

It is unconscionable that the President, Harry Reid, and Mark Begich would shut down the government to bail out a failed program that Americans don’t want, can’t afford, and that manifestly does not work.

The backroom deal cut by Congressional leadership to end the government shutdown only reinforced what ordinary Americans already knew – Washington isn’t serious.

The establishment compromise did nothing to mitigate the harmful consequences of Obamacare for Alaskans, it did nothing to address the dire fiscal situation our country is in, and it did nothing to offer relief to small businesses that are struggling in Barack Obama’s economy.

When the President can grant Obamacare waivers for Congress and their staff, big business, big labor, and any number of his favored cronies, but chooses to make the American people and family businesses suffer, we have a problem.  America deserves better.

The bipartisan cabal that just voted to fund Obamacare and give the president a blank check until February simply cannot be trusted.  If you need any further evidence, consider the fact that the national debt jumped by more than three hundred billion dollars the day after the “big bargain.”

Barack Obama told America that raising the debt ceiling would avert a default on US debt, but that’s not how China’s Dagong credit agency saw it. Here is how the Chinese downgrade of US credit was reported by the president’s hometown paper, The Chicago Tribune:

Dagong said that the temporary fix of the debt issue would not defuse the fundamental conundrum of the U.S. fiscal deficit or improve repayment ability in the long-term, but could trigger defaults at any time in the future.

“The deal means only an escape from a debt default for the time being, but hasn’t changed the fact that the growth of government borrowing has largely outpaced overall economic growth and fiscal revenues,” China’s biggest home-grown ratings agency said in a statement. 

It seems everybody but Washington knows that we are swiftly approaching a “fiscal cliff” that will be catastrophic for the future of our country.

As much as he would like to change the narrative and pass himself off as an independent voice in Washington, Mark Begich was there at every turn to aid and abet the President and Harry Reid. The only thing independent about our junior senator is that his words are independent from his actions.

We cannot count on Senator Begich and the “me too” Republicans to represent us. That’s why I’ve filed to run for US Senate.

However Mark Begich and the establishment media choose to spin things, one thing is certain. More spending and debt is bad for Alaska, and it could be catastrophic.

Now the president seems intent on resurrecting the amnesty bill that passed the Senate in June with the full support of our Senate delegation.  

The Weekly Standard reported yesterday that this administration has spent 3.7 trillion dollars on welfare payments over the last five years. Imagine the staggering consequences to our health and welfare systems should we grant blanket amnesty for tens of millions of illegal aliens. The insanity in Washington has to stop.

With your help, I will take reform to Washington. I pledge to stand along side the 144 House members, and 16 Senators who took a stand against the President’s reckless agenda to bankrupt America!

It’s time to stand and fight for the future of “the last best hope of man on earth.” Can I count on you?

Thanks for your generosity and support!

In Liberty,

Joe

Iran Gives Christians 80 Lashes for Communion Wine as UN Blasts Human Rights Record

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Photo Credit: ReutersFour Iranian Christians were reportedly sentenced to 80 lashes for drinking wine for communion, a shocking punishment meted out even as a new United Nations report blasted the Islamic republic for its systematic persecution of non-Muslims.

The four men were sentenced Oct. 6 after being arrested in a house church last December and charged with consuming alcohol in violation of the theocracy’s strict laws, according to Christian Solidarity Worldwide. They were among several Christians punished for their faith in a nation where converting from Islam to Christianity can bring the death penalty. According to a new October UN report by Ahmed Shaheed, UN special rapporteur on human rights in Iran, such persecution is common, despite new President Hasan Rouhani’s pledge to be a moderate.

“At least 20 Christians were in custody in July 2013,” Shaheed wrote. “In addition, violations of the rights of Christians, particularly those belonging to evangelical Protestant groups, many of whom are converts, who proselytize to and serve Iranian Christians of Muslim background, continue to be reported.”

Iran’s regime has made stopping the spread of Christianity a cornerstone of its crackdown on religious freedom. There are estimated to be as many as 370,000 Christians in Iran, according to the most recent U.S. State Department report. The clerical rulers see Christianity as a threat to Iran’s majority ultra-orthodox Shiite Islamic religion.

Read more from this story HERE.

Air Force Academy Considering Dropping ‘So Help Me God’ from Honor Oath

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Photo Credit: Air ForceThe Air Force Academy is considering dropping the phrase “so help me God” from its honor oath after a complaint from a civil liberties group that advocates for the separation of church and state in the military.

The Academy’s Honor Review Committee met Wednesday at the Colorado-based campus to review the oath after a complaint filed by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. Academy Public Affairs Director Major Brus Vidal told Fox News the Honor Review Academy considered a range of options with the ultimate decision to be made by the Academy Superintendent.

Air Force officials could opt to leave the oath as it is, make the mention of God optional or remove it altogether.

The Academy’s current honor oath reads: “We will not lie, steal or cheat nor tolerate among us anyone who does. Furthermore, I resolve to do my duty and live honorably, so help me God.”

The complaint originated with a poster at the Academy which included the oath. MRFF President Mikey Weinstein said once the poster was brought to his group’s attention, he contacted Academy Superintendent Lt. Gen. Michelle Johnson.

Read more from this story HERE.

NSA Monitored Calls of 35 World Leaders after US Official Handed Over Contacts

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Photo Credit: Guardian The National Security Agency monitored the phone conversations of 35 world leaders after being given the numbers by an official in another US government department, according to a classified document provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden.

The confidential memo reveals that the NSA encourages senior officials in its “customer” departments, such the White House, State and the Pentagon, to share their “Rolodexes” so the agency can add the phone numbers of leading foreign politicians to their surveillance systems.

The document notes that one unnamed US official handed over 200 numbers, including those of the 35 world leaders, none of whom is named. These were immediately “tasked” for monitoring by the NSA.

The revelation is set to add to mounting diplomatic tensions between the US and its allies, after the German chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday accused the US of tapping her mobile phone.

After Merkel’s allegations became public, White House press secretary Jay Carney issued a statement that said the US “is not monitoring and will not monitor” the German chancellor’s communications. But that failed to quell the row, as officials in Berlin quickly pointed out that the US did not deny monitoring the phone in the past.

Read more from this story HERE.

Soros Donates Big Bucks, Joins Ready for Hillary National Finance Council

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Photo Credit: Fox NewsBillionaire investor and hedge fund titan George Soros is backing an effort to lure Hillary Clinton into a 2016 White House bid.

Soros signed on to be a co-chair for Ready for Hillary, a super PAC trying to trump up support for a presidential run by Clinton.

“We are proud to welcome George Soros as one of the co-chairs of @ReadyForHillary’s national finance council,” the organization tweeted Thursday afternoon.

Soros’ political director, Michael Vachon, said in a statement that the 83-year-old is “delighted to join more than 1 million Americans in supporting Ready for Hillary.”

“His support for Ready for Hillary is an extension of his long-held belief in the power of grassroots organizing,” the statement said.

Read more from this story HERE.