Ed Asner Explains Hollywood Silence on Obama, Syria: They ‘Don’t Want to Feel Anti-Black’

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Photo Credit: Hollywood Reporter

Photo Credit: Hollywood Reporter

In 2003, ahead of a U.S. attack on Iraq, a robust anti-war movement in Hollywood included a TV commercial starring Martin Sheen and Sean Penn visiting Baghdad. There were online petitions signed by Ed Asner; letters to President George W. Bush pleading for peace were signed by Matt Damon, Tim Robbins, Barbra Streisand and Alec Baldwin; former M*A*S*H star Mike Farrell fronted multiple press conferences where celebrities denounced war. In interviews, Janeane Garofalo stopped identifying herself as an actor — she preferred to be called a member of the U.S. anti-war movement.

The good news for President Barack Obama as he considers a military response against Syria for using chemical weapons against rebels is that he probably won’t have to deal with a similar anti-war movement from Hollywood. But that’s not because there isn’t opposition. It’s just not organized, and, as Asner and Farrell – two of the industry’s most vocal progressive activists — told The Hollywood Reporter Friday, perhaps it never will be.

While some conservatives see hypocrisy, Farrell says that an all-out war in Iraq under Bush, a Republican who was very unpopular in Hollywood, was a much bigger deal than potential missile strikes against Syria under the direction of Obama, a Democrat who drew millions for his campaigns from showbiz industry donors.

Asner, 83, and Farrell, 74, both expressed extreme disappointment in Obama for advocating military action.

“What he is talking about in Syria is a potential war crime,” Farrell said. “It will be illegal, and if citizens are killed it certainly could be considered a war crime.”

Read more from this story HERE.

August Jobs Report: We’re ‘Dead in the Water’

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Obama_jobsOne of the first economists I read after the monthly, “official” jobs report comes out is James Pethokoukis of AEI’s public policy blog.

Pethokoukis has a nice way of breaking through all the spin and revealing an employment picture that goes inside the numbers to tell us the true nature of the jobs market.

After August’s horrible numbers, Pethokousis doesn’t seem optimistic.

How do you know the August jobs report was pretty bad? When the best thing you can say is that it might have met Wall Street expectations if not for a temporary shutdown in the porn industry last month. (The motion picture and sound recording industry lost 22,000 jobs in August, according to the BLS.) Sure, the White House can argue, as economic adviser Jason Furman did right after the report’s release, that the “incoming economic data broadly suggest that the recovery continues to make progress.” But consider the following:

1. This was the jobs report that was supposed to reflect an economy kicking into higher gear. Goldman Sachs, for instance, was looking for 200,000 net new jobs. And whisper estimates were even higher. Instead, the economy added just 169,000 jobs vs. the 180,000 consensus forecast. HERE.

Zogby Report Card: Confused Obama Flunks Syria 101

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Photo Credit: Washington Examiner

Photo Credit: Washington Examiner

Pollster John Zogby reports in our weekly White House report card that President Obama, deserted by the public and Britain on Syria, is holding an office that’s not as powerful or influential as it used to be.

“Mr. President. I have been doing a lot of thinking about your term project on Syria. When you first approached me about the topic, you said that a president of the U.S. had no good options. The U.S. cannot topple Syrian President Assad because there would be more chaos in the country and the region — like Egypt, Iraq, Libya, and Afghanistan (not to mention Yemen and Tunisia).

“While there was pressure from congressional hawks to help the rebels, you were saying that the rebels could be dangerous and inimical to the U.S. and regional interests. You were then arguing that the U.S. involvement would bring no positive gain.

“Then you suggested that the U.S. must arm the ‘good’ rebels, without clarifying who they were and what you meant by ‘help.’ In the last few weeks, your term paper shifted its thesis to backing a limited surgical intervention to send a strong moral message to Assad and the world that we (citizens of the world) could not tolerate the use of chemical weapons, especially against the most innocent of victims…

Read more from this story HERE.

Snakes in Church: National Geographic Brings You Inside a Bizarre American Cult

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Photo Credit: Irish Central

Photo Credit: Irish Central

Serpents have gotten a bad rap throughout history. In Genesis, the serpent beguiled Eve in order to lure Adam to take the bite of the forbidden apple that banished them from the garden forever.

In the New Testament, the Book of Revelation makes use of the Serpent several times to identify Satan the Dragon, as an ancient Serpent.

The absence of snakes in Ireland gave rise to the legend that in the 5th century patron St. Patrick, had chased them all into the sea.

Lets face it, many people are very afraid of snakes because they slither, hiss and can strike you with sharp fangs that deliver lethal poison. To bolster that reputation and fear, snake bites kill at least one hundred thousand people per year and injure perhaps another million.

The Bible has many archaic passages, if you search you can take one and create a religion with it…some would be called cults:

“They will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

This is the basis of the 100 year old Christian Pentecostal sect known as the “Holiness.”

National Geographic takes us inside this bizarre world of cult religion to reveal the strange practices that most people would recoil from. “Snake Salvation” Premieres Tuesday, September 10, at 9:00 and 9:30 PM ET/PT

These true believers feel their only salvation and way to heaven is to handle and dance with deadly snakes while speaking in strange tongues, even quaffing down a chaser of strychnine to add a bit more excitement. But they also believe, not participating in their religious practice will destine them to hell.

To understand this obscure religion practiced mainly in the back country of Appalachia, executive producer Matthew Testa follows the exploits of 2 pastors and their adherents as they pursue their beliefs and maintain their churches.

Testa said: “They firmly believe they are commanded by the Bible to take up serpents as a sign to non-believers, and feel strongly they are exercising their religious freedom as guaranteed by the Constitution. They often say, ‘God’s law trumps the law of man. ”

One of the Pastors is 9 fingered Jamie Coots, (lost his other finger to a rattlesnake bite). Coots has lead the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Jesus Name for nearly 20 years, which was founded by his snake handling grandfather in Middlesboro Kentucky. See family tradition here

The other Pastor is 22 year old Andrew Hamblin, who used to be a member of Pastor Jamies congregation. Hamblin is struggling to provide for his wife and 5 children and must rely on food stamps as he tries to maintain his church.

Episodes of Snake Salvation will follow these two Pastors as they find and sustain their collection of venomous snakes to use in their services. They head out on snake roundups, racing to find dens of their coveted cold-blooded reptiles before winter starts and the snakes go into hiding.

With both pastors too financially strapped to purchase their supply, they are often forced to get creative to keep their stock thriving,( See the snake room) be it snake trading at “Repticon,” the reptile convention, or illegally transporting venomous reptiles from warmer climates across state lines. Even if they can keep their snake population thriving, and stay out of jail, they’re also challenged to find and retain followers to their unorthodox faith.

Many community members scoff at their bizarre practices, members of their own families teeter on faithfulness and reformed criminals use it as their best defense against backsliding into sin. Viewers will even see occasions when church members were bitten by the venomous serpents as National Geographic cameras were rolling. But the pastors’ own faith never falters that they’ll be able to inspire their masses to seek their personal Snake Salvation. See a trailer here.

FYI to Pastor Jamie and Pastor Andrew: There is also a passage in the Bible that says “Do Not Tempt God”

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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.

New York Beating Suspect Spoke of Targeting White Person, Report Says

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Photo Credit: rakkhi

Photo Credit: rakkhi

A man is reportedly in a coma and may be brain dead after authorities say a suspect who declared he was going to punch the first white person he saw knocked him to the ground Wednesday.

Authorities say John Babbitt, 62, who is white, was punched by 31-year-old Lashawn Marten in New York City’s Union Square.

Two other people suffered injuries in the attack and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said detectives from the NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force are investigating the attacks.

Read more from this story HERE.

Eric Holder a Convert on State’s Rights?

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Photo Credit: WND

Photo Credit: WND

The 10th Amendment long has been a favorite of more conservative- and libertarian-leaning Americans for limiting the power of the federal government with respect to the states.

The amendment particularly has been invoked by opponents of President Obama’s many moves to expand the federal government’s reach, including in health care and state law enforcement.

So when Obama’s attorney general, Eric Holder, invoked the 10th Amendment in the Justice Department’s decision to not challenge state lawmakers in Colorado and Washington who challenged federal statutes by passing laws legalizing possession of marijuana, a Colorado congressman wanted to know the extent of Holder’s conversion.

“The real question is, ‘Does this mean that states now have the right to pre-empt federal law under the 10th Amendment?’” wrote Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., in a letter to Holder.

The letter came after Holder confirmed publicly that the Department of Justice, which repeatedly has said that states cannot deviate from federal law, would defer to Colorado and Washington state laws regarding marijuana.

Read more from this story HERE.

Syria Crisis: Kerry Says West Must Not Be ‘Silent Spectators to the Slaughter’

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Photo Credit: AFP

Photo Credit: AFP

Barack Obama is keeping his options open and is yet to decide whether the US will delay possible military action against the Syrian government until after a United Nations report on the Assad regime’s alleged chemical weapons attack, John Kerry said on Saturday.

The US secretary of state travelled to Europe on Friday for a three-day visit, aiming to boost international backing for a possible strike in retaliation for the suspected use of chemical weapons in Damascus on 21 August.

Kerry addressed reporters in Paris alongside Laurent Fabius, France’s foreign minister. France has emerged as the US’s key ally as it attempts to persuade the international community to support action against Syria.

While European Union foreign ministers issued a strongly-worded statement on Saturday, condemning the attack and suggesting there is “strong evidence that the Syrian regime is responsible”, the EU said that military retaliation should not occur until the UN inspectors have delivered their report.

Kerry compared Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, to Saddam Hussein and Adolf Hitler, repeating his contentious claim, made earlier in the week, that the trio are the only leaders to have used chemical weapons since the Geneva Protocol against such methods was signed in 1925.

Read more from this story HERE.

Clash over Common Core: Opposition Grows as National Education Standards Approach

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Erika Russell, a mother of four from Maine, had no intention of embroiling herself in the fight over Common Core.

As she put it, “I sent my kids to public school, so I wouldn’t have to worry about what they’re learning.”

Then her then-9-year-old, second-grade daughter returned home from school one day in January of 2012 with a frown.

“She asked me, ‘Mom, Can you home school me?’ I said, ‘What about your friends?’ and she just told me she would see them at sports. Then, I knew something was wrong and I should start looking into this.”

Over the next 18 months, the 36-year-old Russell, who resides in Sidney in the central part of the state, helped found “No Common Core Maine,” a coalition of concerned parents, educators and activists– and one of a growing number of organizations nationwide who have made it their mission to stop Common Core’s implementation.

Read more from this story HERE.

Clinton. Christie. Cringe.

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

On Jan. 20, 1981, Michael Deaver, a political aide, peered into a bedroom in Blair House, across from the White House, and said to the man still abed, “It’s 8 o’clock. You’re going to be inaugurated as president in a few hours.” From beneath the blankets, Ronald Reagan said, “Do I have to?”

Some are so eager to be inaugurated in 2017 that the 2016 campaign has begun 28 months before the 1.4 percent of Americans who live in Iowa and New Hampshire express themselves. It is, therefore, not too soon to get a head start on being dismayed. Consider two probable candidates.

Hillary Clinton comes among us trailing clouds of incense, so some acolytes will call it ill-mannered, even misogynistic, to ask: What exactly is it about the condition of the world, and about America’s relations with other nations, that recommends the former secretary of state for an even more elevated office?

Granted, neither she nor any other U.S. official can be blamed for the world’s blemishes. To think otherwise is to embrace what Greg Weiner, an Assumption College political scientist, calls “narcissistic polity disorder.” It is the belief that everything everywhere is about us. Today, it is the delusion that, although events in Egypt and Syria look like violent clashes between Egyptians and Syrians concerning what those countries should be, the events really are mostly about what America has or has not done.

That said, however, this also should be said: Clinton’s accomplishments are not less impressive than those of many who have sought, and some who have won, the presidency. But the disproportion between the thinness of her record and the ardor of her advocates suggests that her gender is much of her significance.

Read more from this story HERE.

Man Charged With Smuggling Meth In Frames Of Religious Art

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Photo Credit: KDKA

Photo Credit: KDKA

It’s a drug-smuggling scandal straight out of a movie.

Federal agents say they’ve uncovered a scheme in which meth was hidden in the frames of religious artwork and shipped to Pittsburgh from Mexico, according to an affidavit filed in court.

Carmelo Rojas-Perez is charged with smuggling.

He lived in an apartment in Oakland, but according to court papers, he’s a Mexican citizen who came here illegally in 1993. The man who owns the store below Rojas-Perez’s apartment says he came into the store regularly, but the owner says he had no idea what was allegedly going on.

Custom agents at the FedEx hub in Memphis caught on to the hidden drugs.

Read more from this story HERE.