Suicide Bombers Break Out 500 Senior Al Qaeda Prisoners from Iraq’s Abu Ghraib Jail

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Photo Credit: File photoSuicide bombers have freed hundreds of terrorists during a full-frontal assault on Iraq’s top-security Abu Ghraib prison.

Gunmen attacked guards with mortar fire as well as rocket propelled grenades while terrorists drove cars packed with explosives at the fortified gates during an attack which left ten policemen dead.

Some of al Qaeda’s most senior members were among the 500 inmates thought to have escaped before authorities regained control of the infamous prison on the outskirts of Baghdad in the early hours of Monday morning.

The deadly raid on the high-security jail happened as Sunni Muslim militants are re-gaining momentum in their insurgency against the Shi’ite-led government that came to power after the U.S. invasion to oust Saddam Hussein.

The raid began on Sunday night when suicide bombers attacked the gates with trucks loads with bombs and blasted their way into the compound.

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama “Pushed Boycott of Jerusalem, Biblical Territories”

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Photo Credit: WNDA European Union boycott of financial dealings with Jews in the biblical West Bank, Golan Heights and eastern Jerusalem was fully coordinated with the Obama administration, a senior Palestinian negotiator told WND.

“Without the U.S. support, the EU wouldn’t have taken such measures,” the negotiator said.

On Friday, the EU published guidelines forbidding its 28 members from having any financial dealings with what it calls Jewish settlements or territories that have been “occupied” by Israel since 1967.

The preface to the guidelines states “the EU does not recognize Israel’s sovereignty over … the Golan Heights, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including east Jerusalem … and does not consider them to be part of Israel’s territory, irrespective of their legal status under domestic law.”

“Only Israeli entities having their place of establishment within Israel’s pre-1967 borders will be considered eligible as final recipients” of funding such as “grants, prizes and financial instruments.”

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If a Person Cannot ‘Stand His Ground,’ What Can He Do?

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By Bruce Johnson. Per the Florida Statute, Use of force in defense of person. 776.012

“A person is justified in using force, except deadly force, against another when and to the extent that the person reasonably believes that such conduct is necessary to defend himself or herself or another against the other’s imminent use of unlawful force. However, a person is justified in the use of deadly force and does not have a duty to retreat if:

He or she reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent (1) death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible felony; ..”

If you have no opportunity to retreat, you can stand your ground. If that is “bad law,” please provide, Mr. Holder, the “good law.”

Are we to pull out a rule book if we are pinned to the ground, or may we defend ourselves against someone who is in the process of rearranging your brain cells against the concrete?

If a Black Panther comes at you with a billy club at a polling place, and you defend yourself, in the Holder world, have you done something wrong? Probably. Read more from this story HERE.

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Obama co-sponsored bill strengthening Illinois stand-your-ground law in 2004

By Thomas Lifson. Now we have proof that the current Obama-Holder campaign against stand-your-ground laws is nothing more than a pose intended to distract from their political problems, having whipped up a racialist fury and pushed prosecution of George Zimmerman. Although State Senator Barack Obama could boast of few legislative accomplishments, one thing he did do was co-sponsor a bill strengthening the Illionois stand-your-ground law. The Illinois Review writes:

The Obama-sponsored bill (SB 2386) enlarged the state’s 1961 law by shielding the person who was attacked from being sued in civil court by perpetrators or their estates when a “stand your ground” defense is used in protecting his or her person, dwelling or other property…

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama Donors Keep Sending Those Checks Months After the Election

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Photo Credit: APThey send checks, a hundred dollars at a time, to President Barack Obama’s reelection bid — and they’re not stopping just because the election is over.

Some want to stick it to conservatives. Some are dedicated volunteers who didn’t realize Obama’s new tax-exempt group Organizing for Action took over fundraising from Obama for America.

And some didn’t remember sending Obama money at all.

Obama — who is scheduled to speak to his most loyal volunteers, donors and supporters on Monday at an Organizing for Action event — is having a rough time in Washington: Gun control is dead; immigration reform is stalled; Edward Snowden is still on the loose in a Moscow airport. But there’s a handful of die-hards so supportive of the president and his agenda that they continue to mail unsolicited donations to a campaign that now exists only on paper.

Many who spoke with POLITICO are seniors who don’t get their campaign news online and reflexively send checks through the mail when they feel Obama needs their support.

Read more from this story HERE.

Black Caucus Member: Blacks Worth Less Than Whites in America

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Photo Credit: APBy Pete Kasperowicz. A member of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) said Monday night that the Trayvon Martin trial is the latest evidence that America does not value the lives of blacks and whites equally.

“The tragic death of our young man, Trayvon Martin, followed by the acquittal of the man who pursued him and killed him, has reminded us that although it may seem as if African Americans and other minorities have achieved full equality in our civil society, we are still victims of racial profiling in violation of our laws and our morals,” Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) said on the House floor Monday night.

“The lives of black men and women are not accorded the same value as the lives of white Americans,” she said. “This is a reality for far too many black Americans.”

Clarke was one of many members of the CBC who spoke on the floor in reaction to last week’s decision by a jury that George Zimmerman was not guilty of murder or manslaughter after shooting Martin earlier this year.

Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) acknowledged violence in black neighborhoods, but implied that the way to solve this is to ensure equal opportunity for all. Read more from this story HERE.

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For blacks, empathy trumps the economy

By Niall Stanage. To African-Americans, President Obama just gets it.

Obama’s notably personal comments on Friday about the verdict in the trial of George Zimmerman, and on race in America, struck a chord. They vividly underlined the fact that, for the first time, the person in the Oval Office has lived an African-American experience.

To black supporters, that is more important than Obama’s inability to narrow racial inequalities during his four and a half years in office, something that has frustrated members of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), a former head of the black caucus, was in the middle of a phone interview with The Hill when Obama appeared at the White House briefing room podium to address the raw feelings exposed by the “not guilty” verdict on the man who had fatally shot Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager.

Pausing to listen to an office television for several minutes, Rangel said: “I don’t see how a person not-of-color could possibly do the job that he’s doing.” Read more from this story HERE.

President Seeking Credit for Tiny Economic Uptick

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Photo Credit: APBy Justin Sink. President Obama will grab credit for an improving economy in a series of speeches this week that the White House hopes will increase his political clout.

The messaging effort is intended to portray Obama as focused on jobs, which voters repeatedly say is the most pressing issue facing Washington, according to the White House.

Democratic allies argue it will allow Obama to go on offense after months in which he has been dragged down by political controversies that have dogged his second term and injured him in the polls.

“We have to keep focused on these issues, even as we all are buffeted about by, you know, the variety of things that confront us … fake scandals or things like that,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said Monday at his daily briefing.

“We have to keep focused on the North Star here, the issues that the American people want us to be focused on,” he added. Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: APPressure mounts on Obama as he REFUSES to pay his interns (while campaigning to raise the minimum wage)

By Hayley Peterson. As President Obama campaigns to increase the minimum wage, his own interns aren’t getting paid a cent to work a minimum of 45 hours a week.

White House interns are expected to show up to work ‘at least’ Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., according to the administration’s website. Housing and commuting assistance aren’t provided either, so the White House encourages applicants to petition nonprofits for help funding their living expenses.

Just this summer alone, the White House ‘hired’ 147 interns, saving the administration roughly half a million dollars if it had otherwise paid each intern minimum wage for 45 hours of work per week. The internship program, which lasts 11 weeks in the summer, runs year-round.

Unpaid internships are widespread in Washington. It’s estimated that the federal government uses as many as 30,000 uncompensated interns every summer.

But with Obama calling for an increase to the minimum wage – which is set at $7.25 an hour – activist Mikey Franklin says it’s particularly disdainful for the White House to be relying on free labor. Read more from this story HERE.

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Obama approval rating drops for second straight quarter

By Rick Moran. Gallup tracking poll shows the decline in President Obama’s approval numbers over the last 3 quarters.

The Hill:

Obama averaged a 47.9 percent approval rating for his 18th quarter in office, running from April 20 to July 19. That’s down from 49.7 percent in the first quarter of Obama’s second term in office, and down from 51.9 in the 16th quarter, when he was reelected.

The president got a slight boost in the early stages of the 18th quarter after the Boston Marathon bombings, but declined steadily from there and has not topped the 50 percent mark in almost a month.

According to Gallup, Obama’s average for the quarter is typical for second term presidents. The president comes in well below former presidents Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, well above Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon, and is near in approval to Harry Truman and George W. Bush.

Read more from this story HERE.

How Secrecy Erodes Democracy

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Photo Credit: ReutersIn early June, leaked documents revealed that the U.S. government was collecting the details — if not the content — of virtually every call that every American made. President Barack Obama claimed that the PATRIOT Act gave him the authority to know whom we called, when and how long we talked.

This claim came from the same man who, as a senator, wrote, “We believe the government should be required to convince a judge that the records they are seeking have some connection to a suspected terrorist or spy.”

It appears the president now believes we are all connected to terrorists. It’s as if he’s playing Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon with our civil liberties.

Congress passed the PATRIOT Act in 2001 after a vociferous public debate. To protect against abuses, the act was scheduled to sunset — it would expire if Congress did not renew it after five years.

When it was reauthorized in 2006, Congress sought to limit the government’s warrantless access to records. Under the revised law, the government can obtain records if a court determines they are relevant to an authorized investigation into international terrorism or foreign spying.

Read more from this story HERE.

U.S. Air Force Suffers Brain Drain as Top Guns Drop Out to Fly Drones – Leaving Pilot Numbers Short by Hundreds

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Photo Credit: Reuters The U.S. Air Force is struggling to keep its top gun combat pilots as increasing numbers move to the safety of flying attack drones from military bases.

Indeed, despite their adrenaline fueled reputations, fighter pilots believe the stresses of actual combat compared to the financial incentives of flying passenger airlines or drones are too much too ignore.

Facing a shortfall of 700 pilots from a required pool of 3,000 by 2021, the Air Force is now actively offering a huge $225,000 signing on bonus for new pilots – provided you stay in the service for nine years.

This year alone, the Air Force has a shortfall of 200 pilots among its ranks, as the surge in demand for better paid commercial jobs and reassignments to fly combat drones impacts and reshapes modern warfare.

Officers in the Air Force are aware of this issue according to the LA Times and as a result are beefing up their Aviator Retention Program which will offer a $25,000 signing bonus per year over the course of nine years.

‘Were it not for the program, there would be a greater problem that the one we currently have,’ said Lt. Col. Kurt Konopatzke.

Read more from this story HERE.

Who’s Watching the Watchdog? Records Show IG Billed Taxpayers for Questionable Trips

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Photo Credit: APThe man who’s supposed to be the chief watchdog for the Department of Homeland Security was himself billing the government for a string of “site visits” to sunny locales including Puerto Rico and south Florida — where he allegedly was pursuing his Ph.D.

The activity was detailed in a trove of documents obtained and published by conservative group Cause of Action. They appear to lend weight to at least some of the myriad allegations made last month against homeland security Acting Inspector General Charles Edwards.

Among other claims backed up by the documents are that Edwards employed his wife — some say in violation of nepotism rules — and that she won approval to telework.

“At least the timeline and the narrative are being confirmed,” Cause of Action spokeswoman Mary Beth Hutchins told FoxNews.com, adding there will have to be more digging. “There are some legitimate questions here.”

Edwards’ office, though, continued to battle and deny the allegations.

Read more from this story HERE.

Big Sis’ Shockingly Dirty Secrets Go Public

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Photo Credit: Center for American ProgressDemocrats and Republicans largely heaped praise upon Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano after she announced she would resign her post later in the year, but a longtime constitutional attorney says there is not much to applaud – especially for anyone concerned about preserving freedom and limiting government intrusion in their lives.

“What the Department of Homeland Security became under Janet Napolitano is this monstrous surveillance and very intimidating group,” said Rutherford Institute President John Whitehead, a constitutional attorney for the past 40 years and author of “A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State.”

“I think originally there were some good intentions with the Department of Homeland Security, but what happened under President Obama is that it accelerated rapidly,” Whitehead told WND. “I criticized George Bush’s policies. Under President Obama, we’re zooming.”

Whitehead said the Napolitano legacy of reducing freedom is evident across the board, starting in early 2009 when the department issued a report listing returning soldiers as one of the greatest threats to American security.

“Another program Napolitano set up is Operation Vigilant Eagle, which is a surveillance system done on all returning veterans from overseas, where they watch Facebook posts, text messages, emails of returning veterans to see if they’re going to be disgruntled,” Whitehead said. “There are quite a few disgruntled veterans. In fact, one that we helped just filed a major lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security.”

Read more from this story HERE.