Obstruction? NSA Says It Can’t Search Its Own Emails

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Photo Credit: George Frey/GettyThe NSA is a “supercomputing powerhouse” with machines so powerful their speed is measured in thousands of trillions of operations per second. The agency turns its giant machine brains to the task of sifting through unimaginably large troves of data its surveillance programs capture.

But ask the NSA, as part of a freedom of information request, to do a seemingly simple search of its own employees’ email? The agency says it doesn’t have the technology.

“There’s no central method to search an email at this time with the way our records are set up, unfortunately,” NSA Freedom of Information Act officer Cindy Blacker told me last week.

The system is “a little antiquated and archaic,” she added.

I filed a request last week for emails between NSA employees and employees of the National Geographic Channel over a specific time period. The TV station had aired a friendly documentary on the NSA and I want to better understand the agency’s public-relations efforts.

Read more from this story HERE.

Video: Ted Cruz Warns that Charging Pastors with Hate Speech Is Next Step

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Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore By David Brody. Sen. Ted Cruz tells The Brody File that America is going down a dangerous road regarding what is considered “hate speech,” saying the next step could very well be charging pastors with a crime for speaking in support of traditional marriage from the pulpit.

We’ve provided a partial transcription. You’ll need to watch the entire video clip to get his full comments.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: WNDU.S. City look to penalize Bible believers

By Bob Unruh. Think it’s hot in Texas these days? Just wait a few weeks, until the San Antonio City Council ends its summer hiatus and resumes work on a proposed change to its nondiscrimination ordinances that apparently will discriminate against all who take the Bible at its word and follow it.

That’s because the change creates a penalty for those who ever exhibit a “bias,” which clearly could include adopting the Bible’s condemnation of homosexuality, with a permanent ban on participation in city government, business or employment.

Opponents of the plan, which would add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to the nondiscrimination ordinances, charge it is a violation of constitutional Article VI, paragraph 3, which states, “[N]o religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.”

The opponents explain that the ordinance would bar anyone from office who has “demonstrated a bias” against someone based on categories that include “sexual orientation.”

The proposal, however, does not define “bias,” which, according to local church leaders, could mean someone who declares homosexual behavior is sinful. Read more from this story HERE.

60-Foot Petition Demands End to Benghazi Secrets

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Photo Credit: Human EventsBy Gina Loudon.

It has been almost one year since the tragedy in Benghazi, Libya, where four Americans were killed and 10 others were injured in a terror attack.

Included in those murdered that day were U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, and two Navy Seals, Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods.

But a lot of other information isn’t yet known about the attack that day.

So Special Operations Veterans have presented a petition of 1,000 names calling for a Select Committee in Congress to “end the cover-up” of the Benghazi scandal.

The petition is 60 feet long, and it was unrolled near the Capitol building Tuesday. Read more from this story HERE.

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General can’t explain why forces not deployed to Benghazi

By Aaron Klein. Gen. Carter Ham, the former head of U.S. forces in Africa, has admitted that highly trained Special Forces were stationed just a few hours away from Benghazi on the night of the attack but were not deployed to Libya.

Ham’s explanation for why the military assets stationed abroad were not utilized during the attack raises more questions than it provides answers about his decision-making.

During the Sept. 11, 2012 Benghazi attack, command of the Special Forces reportedly was transferred from the military’s European command to Ham’s AFRICOM, or the United States Africa Command.

The Special Forces unit is known as C-110, or EUCOM CIF. It is a 40-man Special Ops force maintained for rapid response to emergencies such as the Benghazi attack.

Ham told the Aspen Security Forum that he first received word of the Benghazi attack from his command post in Stuttgart, Germany. The post is where EUCOM CIF is normally based. The night the of the Benghazi attack, the unit was on a training mission in Croatia, as first reported by Fox News and now reconfirmed by Ham.

Read more from this story HERE.

DHS Nominee Under Investigation for Allegedly Helping Hillary Clinton’s Brother

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Photo Credit: APAuthorities are investigating the man President Obama tapped to take over the second highest spot at the Department of Homeland Security for allegedly using his position and power to unfairly obtain U.S. visas for foreign investors in a company run by Hillary Clinton’s brother, FoxNews.com has confirmed.

Alejandro Mayorkas, director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, was named by Homeland Security’s Inspector General’s Office as a target in an investigation involving the foreign investor program run by USCIS, according to an email sent to lawmakers late Monday.

The investigation was opened in September 2012 following a referral from an FBI counterintelligence analyst. The probe was first reported by The Associated Press.

The investigation into Mayorkas is based on allegations he helped secure U.S. visas for Chinese businessmen after they had been denied by his own agency’s officials. The visas had been sought by Gulf Coast Funds Management, a financing company headed by then-Secretary of State Clinton’s brother Anthony Rodham, according to an aide to GOP Sen. Charles Grassley, who had received internal USCIS emails about the matter from a department whistle blower.

According to an email sent to lawmakers Monday, the IG’s office said, “At this point in our investigation, we do not have any findings of criminal misconduct.” The email did not specify any criminal allegations it might be investigating.

Read more from this story HERE.

US Shipment of F-16s to Post-Morsi Egypt Hits Delay

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Photo Credit: U.S. AIR FORCE / VAL GEMPISFour F-16 fighter jets were scheduled to fly to Egypt on Tuesday morning as part of a U.S. military aid package worth more than $1 billion a year — but the shipment has run into delays over apparent “political” issues.

If the Obama administration is able to send the planes, it will mark the first known military aid to Egypt since millions of Egyptians protested the rule of Mohammed Morsi, leading the Egyptian military to remove him from power earlier this month.

Supporters say that such aid is critical because it gives the U.S. influence over the Egyptian military. But critics say it is a waste of money, or worse — a gift of weapons that could later be turned against American interests.

The shipment has now been delayed at least 24 hours due to “political reasons,” according to a source who works on the naval air base in Fort Worth, Texas, from where the planes were being sent.

Officials at the U.S. Department of State, asked by FoxNews.com about the unexpected delay, explained that “we are reviewing our obligations and are consulting with Congress about the way forward.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Defunding Obamacare Already Sees Success

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Photo Credit: WNDBy Garth Kant

Whether the GOP should press for debilitating cuts to Obamacare – and risk a government shutdown – is the talk of Capitol Hill, but a most important point may be getting lost in the chatter: The strategy is already working.

A discussion with the “House Doctor” indicates the strategy to defund Obamacare is already largely in effect and has scored some significant victories.

Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Texas, is uniquely qualified to assess Obamacare after spending nearly three decades practicing medicine in North Texas, serving as co-chair of the Congressional Health Caucus and authoring the WND book “Doctor in the House” with its prescriptions for more efficient and less expensive health care.

Burgess told WND, “In the last continuing resolution, there was a billion dollars cut out of the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. There was well over $300 million cut out of the Treasury Department budget for implementation of activities regarding the Affordable Care Act. So, those were some serious sideswipes.”

The doctor-turned-lawmaker said GOP efforts to limit the implementation of Obamacare are already seeing results. Read more from this story HERE.

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Government shutdown looms over ObamaCare

By Alexander Bolton. ObamaCare is at the center of a rapidly escalating fight that threatens to shut the government down this fall.

Senate Republicans, including two members of the leadership, are coalescing around a proposal to block any government funding resolution that includes money for the implementation of the 2010 Affordable Care Act.

But such a move is a nonstarter for President Obama and congressional Democrats. Republicans have tried this maneuver in Obama’s first term, only to back off later to the chagrin of Tea Party leaders.

This time, GOP lawmakers are emboldened by problems plaguing the administration’s ObamaCare implementation. But that zeal could put Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in a tough spot. Both leaders have downplayed previous talk of shuttering the government.

In the House, 64 Republicans have signed onto a letter pressing Boehner not to bring any legislation funding ObamaCare to the floor. Read more from this story HERE.

Botched Anti-IED System May be Linked to US Soldier Deaths in Afghanistan, Report Finds

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Photo Credit: SPECIAL IG FOR AFGHANISTAN RECONSTRUCTIONA program designed to protect U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan by covering roadside drains with thick metal to prevent insurgents from planting bombs was plagued by shoddy and incomplete workmanship — and may have actually contributed to the deaths of American Marines, according to an internal report.

Millions of U.S. dollars have been spent on thousands of so-called “culvert denial systems” since 2009, but a scathing report released Tuesday by the Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction says hundreds of the devices were never installed or installed improperly. The report said an investigation has been launched “into whether this apparent failure to perform may have been a factor in the death or injury of several U.S. soldiers.”

The investigation has led to two arrests so far — an Afghan contractor and a sub-contractor. The men, who were paid $1 million by the U.S. government to install 250 culvert denial systems, didn’t install the devices as promised. The ones they did install were installed incorrectly, according to the report.

“The loss of life because individuals were not doing their job is horrific and unacceptable,” Special Inspector General John Sopko told FoxNews.com in a written statement. “This case shows so clearly that fraud can kill in Afghanistan. We will find out if contracting officers did not do their job and if that proves to be true and Americans have died, we will hold those individuals accountable.”

Both men have been charged with fraud and negligent homicide.

Read more from this story HERE.

Poll: Majority Of Americans Believe God Played Role In Human Evolution

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Photo Credit: Mario Tama/Getty ImagesA new poll finds that a majority of Americans believe that God played a part in the evolution of humans.

A YouGov survey shows that 62 percent of Americans believe God helped create humans. Thirty-seven percent of those believe God created human beings in their present form within the last 10,000 years while 25 percent believe human beings evolved from lesser life forms over millions of years but God guided the process. Only 21 percent believe that God did not play a part in human evolution.

Seventeen percent of those polled were not sure if God played a part in the existence of humans.

Read more from this story HERE.

Lookie Here! College Scans Students’ Eyeballs

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Photo Credit: WNDA public university in in Rock Hill, S.C., has announced it is implementing a new eye scanner system that collects and records data about the features of students’ eyes before granting access to school buildings this fall.

Winthrop University’s Associate Vice President for Information Technology James Hammond told Campus Reform the college plans to use the devices to stop “bad guys” from accessing buildings at the 445-acre campus.

The scanners, or “EagleEye stations,” cost an estimated $2,000 each. The university has already scanned the eyes of more than 1,600 of its students.

Winthrop University head of technology services, Patrice Bruneau, told WCNC-TV the school is taking extra precautions after Newtown, Conn., gunman Adam Lanza killed 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School and his mother Nancy Lanza, before taking his own life, on Dec. 14, 2012.

“The Newtown tragedy just got everybody’s attention,” Bruneau said.

Read more from this story HERE.

Gays In, Bibles Out In the New American Military

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Photo Credit: Björn SöderqvistPresident Obama’s Defense Department is waging a private war. While our Pentagon is entrusted with the duty to “protect and serve,” a secular zone is growing within the ranks of the Military.

A little over a year ago then Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced the Military would honor through “Gay Pride Month” the contributions of homosexual service members. This announcement came just a few months after the Department of Defense had begun its subtle campaign against the Bible.

1) The Air Force Services Agency through its spokesman Michael Dickerson stated the Air Force has “no requirement to have Bibles in the lodging checklist.” [1a] In other words, as a military member checks into housing (much like a civilian would into a hotel or dormitory) there is no availability of a Bible to be by his or her bedside. In defense of this Air Force Chaplain (COL) Ron Crews, Retired, has stated, “while there is no requirement to have them, why should there be a requirement to remove them?” [1b] By the way, these Bibles are free to the Military, paid for by donating Christian churches and foundations.

2) The Department of Defense announced it would be removing military edition Bibles from its base exchange stores. These military editions published by Holman Bible Publishers are “prominently emblazoned with exact replicas of the trademarked emblems of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force.” Known as the “Soldier’s Bible, or Sailor’s Bible and so forth,” these Bibles have been published since 2003. The Bibles “include a cover designed for the particular branch, as well as patriotic essays, prayers and hymn lyrics,” according to Holman’s website. “Holman also produces Bibles for police, firefighters, sportsmen and students, each tailored to its particular audience.” [2a]

Read more from this story HERE.