Syria: Cameron and Obama Move West Closer to Intervention

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

David Cameron and Barack Obama moved the west closer to military intervention in Syria on Saturday as they agreed that last week’s alleged chemical weapon attacks by the Assad regime had taken the crisis into a new phase that merited a “serious response”.

In a phone call that lasted 40 minutes, the two leaders are understood to have concluded that the regime of Bashar al-Assad was almost certainly responsible for the assault that is believed to have killed as many as 1,400 people in Damascus in the middle of last week. Cameron was speaking from his holiday in Cornwall.

The prime minister and US president said time was running out for Assad to allow UN weapons inspectors into the areas where the attack took place. Government sources said the two leaders agreed that all options should be kept open, both to end the suffering of the Syrian people and to make clear that the west could not stand by as chemical weapons were used on innocent civilians.

A spokesman for No 10 said: “The prime minister and President Obama are both gravely concerned by the attack that took place in Damascus on Wednesday and the increasing signs that this was a significant chemical weapons attack carried out by the Syrian regime against its own people. The UN security council has called for immediate access for UN investigators on the ground in Damascus. The fact that President Assad has failed to co-operate with the UN suggests that the regime has something to hide.

“They reiterated that significant use of chemical weapons would merit a serious response from the international community and both have tasked officials to examine all the options. They agreed that it is vital that the world upholds the prohibition on the use of chemical weapons and deters further outrages. They agreed to keep in close contact on the issue.”

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Assad Calls Obama’s Bluff

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Photo Credit: NEWSCOM

Photo Credit: NEWSCOM

The timing was probably not a coincidence, falling as it did on two anniversaries. August 18, 2011, was when President Obama first demanded Syrian president Bashar al-Assad step aside, and August 20 last year was when Obama warned that the use of chemical weapons would “change my calculus.” It was a year to the day after Obama’s warning that Assad launched what is to date the regime’s largest chemical weapons attack. At least a thousand people are dead, likely more, in several Damascus suburbs and outlying towns. The video reports from Syria are chilling—children foaming at the mouth, their unblinking eyes full of terror, their contorted limbs frozen like broken dolls.

Yes, yes, it’s terrible, say many, but why would Assad be so foolish as to use his unconventional arsenal when a U.N. investigating team is already in the country collecting evidence on past use of chemical weapons? Well, Assad is not a fool: The purpose of waging an attack under the watchful eyes of the U.N. is to show his adversaries that the international community, the Europeans, and even the Americans are not going to help them, no matter what. Assad’s message to the rebels is: In spite of their moral posturing, their stern admonitions, even their revulsion and horror at watching children paralyzed by nerve agents, your Western friends won’t help you. Indeed, they are so craven, so eager for a reason to do nothing, they will suggest that the chemical attack was perhaps a ploy—that to get them to enter the war on your side, you killed your own children.

There’s also a military logic at work in Assad’s chemical attack last week. For months, the regime has been shelling these neighborhoods northeast of Damascus, explains Tony Badran, research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “But every time the regime tries to enter—armored units or infantry—they’re repelled by rebel fighters. Last week’s attacks, and these areas were [also] subjected to chemical weapons attacks in the spring, are intended to disrupt rebel defenses.”

There’s a strategic purpose, too. “These neighborhoods are not far from Mt. Qassioun,” says Badran, “which is the military’s center of gravity. It’s not just a military base, but also high ground from which the regime can easily fire on the rebels.” Moreover, Badran explains, “the neighborhoods attacked last week overlook the Damascus-Homs highway, which is one of the regime’s main communications lines. A little further northeast is an airport in Dumayr where the regime is supplied by direct flights from Iran. Therefore, it’s essential Assad establish control over this strategic territory.”

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Gay Lawmaker to Christians: ‘We’ll Take Your Children’

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Blond Boy CryingFew people doubt that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie hopes to become president in 2016. Unfortunately for him, he may have just signed away any chance of that.

On Monday, Christie signed A3371, a draconian piece of legislation that bars licensed therapists from helping children overcome unwanted same-sex attractions, behavior or identity. This law bans help for minors even when – as is so often the case – those same-sex attractions arise from childhood sexual abuse by the likes of a Jerry Sandusky.

This law will prohibit minors and their parents from receiving counseling they desire and will force counselors to violate ethical codes because they will not be able to help clients reach their own counseling goals. This law would enslave children – whether abused or not – to a subjectively determined sexual identity that they reject.

The connection between homosexual abuse and “gay identity” is undeniable. Consider this: Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have found that homosexual men are “at least three times more likely to report CSA (childhood sexual abuse)” than heterosexual men.

Moreover, the Archives of Sexual Behavior – no bastion of conservatism – determined in a 2001 study that nearly half of all gay-identified men were molested by a homosexual pedophile: “46 percent of homosexual men and 22 percent of homosexual women reported having been molested by a person of the same gender. This contrasts to only 7 percent of heterosexual men and 1 percent of heterosexual women reporting having been molested by a person of the same gender” noted the study.

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IRS Profiling Expands: American Legion Now Targeted, Lois Lerner Believed Responsible

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Photo Credit: Daily Caller

Photo Credit: Daily Caller

The Internal Revenue Service is targeting the veterans’ organization the American Legion, and a U.S. senator believes that Lois Lerner — a key figure in the IRS scandal – is to blame.

“The IRS now requires American Legion posts to maintain dates of service and character of service records for all members… The penalty for not having the required proof of eligibility is, apparently, $1,000 per day,” the American Legion stated.

The American Legion was referring to a 13-part section of Part 4, Chapter 76 of the Internal Revenue Manual pertaining to “veterans’ organizations.”

The section falls under “Exempt Organizations Examination Guidelines,” which is the jurisdiction of Exempt Organizations head Lois Lerner, who apologized for improperly targeting tea party groups and tried to plead the Fifth Amendment in a congressional hearing.

“The American Legion has recently learned of the so-called IRS ‘audit manual’ and is concerned that portions of it attempt to amend statutes passed by Congress and approved by the president,” American Legion legal counsel Philip Onderdonk, Jr. told The Daily Caller.

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Obama’s Military Teaches Colonists Were ‘Extremists,’ Advocates of Individual Liberty Dangerous

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Photo Credit: WND

Photo Credit: WND

By Bob Unruh

The colonists who came to the New World and built the foundations of what now is the United States were “extremists,” and discussions that include mention of “individual liberties” are a dangerous sign, according to the U.S. government.

The education materials that originate with the Department of Defense depict conservative organizations as “hate groups” and cite the Southern Poverty Law Center, which was named in a federal court case for having identified the Family Research Council as a “hate group” simply for adhering to a biblical perspective on homosexuality.

That identification, by his own account, led Floyd Lee Corkins II to arm himself and enter the FRC offices in Washington with the intention of killing as many people as he could.

The documents were obtained by Judicial Watch, the government corruption monitor.

JW said it obtained the records under a Freedom of Information Act request that was launched months ago. The request asked for records “concerning, regarding, or related to the preparation and presentation of training materials on hate groups or hate crimes distributed or used by the Air Force.”

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Photo Credit: Daily Caller

Photo Credit: Daily Caller

Defense Department guide calls Founding Fathers ‘extremist’

By Charles Rollet

A Department of Defense teaching guide meant to fight extremism advises students that rather than “dressing in sheets” modern-day radicals “will talk of individual liberties, states’ rights, and how to make the world a better place,” and describes 18th-century American patriots seeking freedom from the British as belonging to “extremist ideologies.”

The guide comes from documents obtained by Judicial Watch and is authored by the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute, a DoD-funded diversity training center.

Under a section titled “extremist ideologies,” the document states, “In U.S. history, there are many examples of extremist ideologies and movements. The colonists who sought to free themselves from British rule and the Confederate states who sought to secede from the Northern states are just two examples.”

Besides a brief reference to 9/11 and another to the Sudanese civil war, the guide makes no mention of Islamic extremism.

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Guardian Partners with New York Times Over Snowden GCHQ Files

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Photo Credit: Getty Images

Photo Credit: Getty Images

The Guardian has struck a partnership with the New York Times which will give the US paper access to some of the sensitive cache of documents leaked by the National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden.

The arrangement was made when the Guardian was faced with demands from the UK government to hand over the GCHQ files it had in its possession.

“In a climate of intense pressure from the UK government, the Guardian decided to bring in a US partner to work on the GCHQ documents provided by Edward Snowden. We are working in partnership with the NYT and others to continue reporting these stories,” the Guardian said in a statement.

Journalists in America are protected by the first amendment which guarantees free speech and in practice prevents the state seeking pre-publication injunctions or “prior restraint”.

It is intended that the collaboration with the New York Times will allow the Guardian to continue exposing mass surveillance by putting the Snowden documents on GCHQ beyond government reach. Snowden is aware of the arrangement.

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VA Paid $11K Bonus to Surgeon Who Left Op Room Before End of Surgery

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) paid an $11,189 performance pay bonus to a surgeon who left the operating room before a surgery was completed, leaving residents to continue the procedure without him, according to a Government Accountability Office report released on Friday.

The “[s]urgeon who was supervising residents left the operating room and medical center before the surgery was completed, allowing residents to continue the surgery without supervision until another surgeon was found to supervise the residents,” said the report.” The surgeon was suspended without pay for 14 calendar days.”

Despite this particular performance, the VA still gave the surgeon an extra $11,189 in pay.

This surgeon was not the only doctor the VA gave a performance pay bonus after they had engaged in poor performance.

–The VA paid a $7,500 performance pay bonus to a doctor who was reprimanded after refusing to see assigned patients in an emergency room because he or she (GAO does not specify the gender of the doctor) believed the patients had not been triaged appropriately by the emergency department nurse. The report says the physician was reprimanded, but nonetheless received the extra performance pay.

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Delta Warns ObamaCare Will Drive $100 Million Spike in Health Care Costs

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Photo Credit: Fox News

Photo Credit: Fox News

Delta Air Lines has issued an urgent warning about the impact of ObamaCare, claiming the law’s implementation will contribute to a roughly $100 million increase in health care costs next year alone.

The astonishing figure was included in a letter from Delta executive Robert Kight to officials in the Obama administration. The website RedState.com was the first to obtain and publish the letter earlier this week.

A representative with Delta confirmed the authenticity of the letter to FoxNews.com.

“Like many large companies, Delta faces significantly increased healthcare costs in 2014 and beyond,” the company said in a statement on Friday. “Delta will absorb the vast majority of those increased costs so that we can continue providing a high value, high quality health plan. Consistent with our culture, Delta will always keep the best interests of our people in mind in connection with the healthcare and other benefits we provide.”

In the original letter, Kight disputes the notion that the law — the biggest parts of which take effect at the start of 2014 — will mean “business as usual” for big employers. A combination of factors, he claimed, will “mean that the cost of providing health care to our employees will increase by nearly $100,000,000 next year.”

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San Diego Mayor Bob Filner Agrees to Resign

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Photo Credit: Fox News

Photo Credit: Fox News

Embattled San Diego Mayor Bob Filner has agreed to resign Aug. 30 after 17 allegations of sexual harassment.

But in public remarks at a City Council meeting Friday announcing his resignation, an emotional Filner claimed he was the victim of a “lynch mob” and “if given due process, I would be vindicated.”

The City Council voted 7-0 to accept a deal with Filner to end a political stalemate after 17 women, including a great-grandmother, identified themselves as targets of unwanted advances, including touching, forcible kisses and lurid comments.

Filner, 70, who has been in office just nine months, began his remarks by saying “I offer a deep apology. The city should not have been put through this. My own personal failures are responsible and I apologize to the city.”

Referring to the harassment allegations, he said, “To all the women that I’ve offended, I had no intention to be offensive, to violate any physical or emotional space.”

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NSA Paid Millions to Cover Prism Compliance Costs for Tech Companies

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Photo Credit: The Guardian

Photo Credit: The Guardian

The National Security Agency paid millions of dollars to cover the costs of major internet companies involved in the Prism surveillance program after a court ruled that some of the agency’s activities were unconstitutional, according to top-secret material passed to the Guardian.

The technology companies, which the NSA says includes Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and Facebook, incurred the costs to meet new certification demands in the wake of the ruling from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (Fisa) court.

The October 2011 judgment, which was declassified on Wednesday by the Obama administration, found that the NSA’s inability to separate purely domestic communications from foreign traffic violated the fourth amendment.

While the ruling did not concern the Prism program directly, documents passed to the Guardian by whistleblower Edward Snowden describe the problems the decision created for the agency and the efforts required to bring operations into compliance. The material provides the first evidence of a financial relationship between the tech companies and the NSA.

The intelligence agency requires the Fisa court to sign annual “certifications” that provide the legal framework for surveillance operations. But in the wake of the court judgment these were only being renewed on a temporary basis while the agency worked on a solution to the processes that had been ruled illegal.

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