TINY TOWN A THREAT? Chicken, Alaska Focus of Armed Task Force Raid

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Photo Credit: Dave Bezaire & Susi Havens-Bezaire

Photo Credit: Dave Bezaire & Susi Havens-Bezaire

Some miners in Alaska want the feds to start digging for answers.

A task force including members of 10 state and federal law enforcement agencies descended on a gold mine in the tiny town of Chicken (pop. 17) last month, in what locals described as a raid.

“Imagine coming up to your diggings, only to see agents swarming over it like ants, wearing full body armor, with jackets that say “POLICE” emblazoned on them, and all packing side arms,” gold miner C.R. Hammond told the Alaska Dispatch. “How would you have felt? You would be wondering, ‘My God, what have I done now?”

A spokesman for the federal Environmental Protection Agency did not deny that agents wore body armor and carried guns, but said it was not a “raid.”

“The ongoing investigation conducted by the AK Environmental Crimes Task Force — consisting of EPA, ADEC, USFWS, ADFG, BLM, Coast Guard, FBI, Alaska State Troopers, NOAA, & US Park Service — did not result in a raid,” the statement read. “The Task Force members involved in the investigation during the week of August 19, 2013, were EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division & Bureau of Land Management’s Office of Law Enforcement & Security, in cooperation with ADEC’s Environmental Crimes Unit.”

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Instant Lame-Duck? – Obama on Verge of Historic Rebuke Over Syria

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Photo Credit: NDTV

Photo Credit: NDTV

President Barack Obama appears to be dangerously close to what would be an historic rebuke at the hands of Congress, if the current whip-count projections on the authorization to attack Syria continue to hold.

Pundits on both sides of the aisle say losing the high-stakes bid for congressional authorization would make Obama an instant lame-duck, and might well endanger his entire second-term agenda.

The resolution authorizing an attack on Syrian strongman Bashar Assad, as punishment for his use of chemical weapons against his own people, is still expected to pass the Democratic-controlled Senate.

But the real question mark all along has been whether the administration could muster enough support to get the attack resolution through the House. And there, the situation for the administration appears to be growing dimmer by the hour.

Various news organizations are contacting members of Congress to see where they stand on the attack authorization. While each outlet has different numbers, the ominous sign for the administration is that all of them show the “no” votes outpacing the “yes” votes by a more than a 3-1 margin.

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SC Gov. Nikki Haley Makes a Candid Facebook Confession… and Gets Attacked For It

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South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley received a massive public response, and criticism from the state’s Democrats, after posting on Facebook that she locked herself out of the governor’s mansion Wednesday morning wearing a robe.

“What not to do…getting locked out of the Governor’s mansion in your robe while sending the kids off to school. Sigh…” Haley wrote on her Facebook page Wednesday morning, adding the hashtag, “#adayinthelife.”

Photo Credit: Facebook screen shot

Photo Credit: Facebook screen shot

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Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Posts Obamacare Rates (+video)

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Photo Credit: altheadlines

Photo Credit: altheadlines

North Carolinians got their first look Thursday at the potential cost of getting health insurance under the federal Affordable Care Act – more commonly referred to as Obamacare.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina posted proposed premiums on its website Thursday morning. Rates range from a low of $145 to a high of $947 per month depending on the age of the customer and the level of coverage wanted.

“Health reform is complicated, and it affects everyone differently. We want to help North Carolina consumers understand how they will be affected and provide information to support them in making the best decision for their personal situation,” said Barbara Morales Burke of BCBSNC in a news release.

Blue Cross said it plans to offer 26 different coverage plans.

The N.C. Department of Insurance has given health insurers until the beginning of October to post rate information. Nationally, starting Oct. 1, those who don’t have health care coverage on the job can go to online insurance markets – also called exchanges – in their states to shop for a private plan and find out if they qualify for a tax credit. An estimated 4 out 5 consumers in the new markets will be eligible for some level of tax credit.

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Putin calls Kerry a Liar on Syria

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Things aren’t exactly warming up between the Obama administration and Vladimir Putin, even as President Obama arrived in St. Petersburg for the G-20 summit.

Putin called Obama Secretary of State John Kerry a liar over Kerry’s testimony this week before Congress.

The question may be al-Qaeda’s influence on the Syrian rebels, an issue Kerry has downplayed.

Speaking to his human rights council Wednesday, Putin said, “This was very unpleasant and surprising for me. We talk to them (the Americans), and we assume they are decent people, but he is lying and he knows that he is lying. This is sad.”

Putin has criticized Obama administration claims that Bashar Assad’s government attacked the rebels with chemical weapons.

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Calls to Congress 499 to 1 Against Syria War

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Marine Not Fight for War In SyriaAmericans are slamming at least 22 members of Congress with thousands of phone calls and emails, urging lawmakers not to approve a military strike on Syria – by a margin of as much as 499 to 1.

A national debate is raging on Twitter. Tweets and statements from members of Congress – both Democrat and Republican – show tremendously strong opposition to President Obama’s call for an air strike on Syria:

Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., tweeted, “Calls and emails from my constituents is 100 to 1 AGAINST getting involved in Syria. The American people are speaking.”

Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., said 99 percent of the calls his office oppose an attack.

Rep. Matt Salmon, R-Ariz., tweeted, “Syria constituent calls 489-2 against.”

Rep. Shelley Capito, R-W.V., said of “about 1,000 calls to my office, maybe 5 are for.”

Rep. Tim Griffin, R-Ark., tweeted, “FYI: Received 75 calls/emails from constituents today so far on Syria. All 75 opposed to military action.”

Rep. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said, “I’m told the phone calls are 9 out of 10 against a strike in Syria, from my constituents in Kentucky.”

Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., tweeted, “My office has been inundated with constituent phone calls and emails about Syria. Virtually unanimous opposition to military intervention.”

Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, tweeted, “So far about 500 emails regarding Syria. 499 say NO and 1 say YES go to war” and “Hundreds of calls to our Provo and Washington, D.C., office. So far not a single call in favor of bombing Syria.”

Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., tweeted, “The phones in my office are ringing off the hook and mail is flowing in. Almost all of the people are opposed to intervention in Syria.”

Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, said “a very high percentage” of the constituents contacting his office have been against U.S. involvement in Syria. He estimated that 90 percent of more than 1,000 calls and emails from Americans have been urging him not to support intervention.

Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., tweeted, “I’ve been hearing a lot from members of our armed forces. The message I consistently hear: Please vote no on military action against Syria.”

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Jack Nicholson on Abortion: ‘I’m Positively Against It’ — ‘I Never Would Have Gotten to Live’

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Hollywood legend Jack Nicholson, 76, who is retiring from movies it was reported today, is, unlike many liberals in Tinseltown, a staunch pro-lifer who said in a 1984 interview about abortion, “I’m positively against it. I don’t have the right to any other view.”

He added that it was the moral character of his mother and grandmother that ensured he himself had not been aborted.

The Academy Award-winning Nicholson was born on Apr. 22, 1937 to a woman named June Frances Nicholson, who was 17 years old at the time and a showgirl dancer. Jack was raised by his maternal grandparents, John Nicholson and Ethel May, believing they were his real parents and that June Frances was his sister. Jack Nicholson did not find out until 1974, after his mother had died of cancer, that June Frances was his real mother.

In the 1984 Rolling Stone interview, Jack Nicholson described his mother and the life she had lived and also talked about abortion. He said, “I’m very contra my constituency in terms of abortion because I’m positively against it. I don’t have the right to any other view.”

“My only emotion is gratitude, literally, for my life,” said Nicholson. “[If June and Ethel had been] of less character, I never would have gotten to live. These women gave me the gift of life.”

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Democratic Leadership More Pro-War than GOP Leadership

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Democratic leadership in the Senate and House are more in favor of military action in Syria than Republican leadership in either chamber.

Four out of eight members of Democratic leadership have stated they would support involvement, while the other four remain undecided but seem to lean toward an attack.

Meanwhile, just two out of 10 members of Republican leadership support a resolution to attack Syria. Two more are currently against but may be swayed. Rep. James Lankford, R-Okla., is firmly against military action and the rest are either skeptical or undecided.

Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.: For intervention. “I believe the use of military force against Syria is both justified and necessary,” Reid said in a press release.

Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill.: For intervention. “If we can do something to discourage Assad and others like him from using chemical weapons without engaging in a war and without making a long-term military commitment of the United States, I’m open to that debate,” Durbin said in a press release.

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CRS: DOD Estimates ‘Over 75,000 Troops’ Needed to Secure Syria’s Chem Weapons

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) said in a report released on August 20 that the Pentagon has estimated it would take “over 75,000 troops” to secure Syria’s chemical weapons.

Meanwhile, the draft text of the resolution authorizing President Barack Obama to use force in Syria that is being taken up by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today prohibits the president from putting ground troops in Syria “for the purpose of combat operations”–but appears to leave open the possiblity that the president could put troops in Syria to secure chemical weapons.

“The authority granted in section 2 does not authorize the use of the United States Armed Forces on the ground in Syria for the purpose of combat operations,” says the text of the draft resolution.

However, Section 2 of the resolution gives the president the authority to use the Armed Forces in Syria “as he determines necessary and appropriate” for a limited set of purposes, including “to protect our allies and partners against the use of” weapons of mass destruction.

The CRS report saying that the Pentagon had estimated it would take “over 75,000 troops” to secure Syria’s chemical weapons was issued just one day before an August 21 chemical weapons attack in the Damascus suburbs. According to an assessment released by the U.S. government, that attack killed 1,429 people. Ten days after the attack–and eleven days after the CRS released its report–President Obama announced his intention to use military force to penalize the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Asad for perpetrating the attack.

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Jon Stewart Returns to Blast Obama Administration, Congress on Syria

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Photo Credit: Comedy Central screen shot

Photo Credit: Comedy Central screen shot

Jon Stewart returned to Comedy Central’s “Daily Show” Tuesday night after spending the summer directing a film in Jordan, and the host wasted no time in going after the Obama administration and Congress members on Syria.

Correspondent John Oliver filled in for Mr. Stewart for eight of the 12-week break, and he gave the returning host an on-air rundown of the summer’s news.

“Wow! America taking military action against a Middle East regime? It’s like I never left,” the host said, before leading into a segment called “Uncle Jonny Stew’s Good Time Syria Jamboree,” featuring presidents who delivered various threats against Middle Eastern countries.

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