NSA Leaker Snowden Says He’s not Avoiding Justice

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The former CIA employee who leaked top-secret information about U.S. surveillance programs said in a new interview in Hong Kong on Wednesday that he is not attempting to hide from justice here but hopes to use the city as a base to reveal wrongdoing.

Edward Snowden dropped out of sight after checking out of a Hong Kong hotel on Monday. The South China Morning Post newspaper said it was able to locate and interview him on Wednesday. It provided brief excerpts from the interview on its website…

Asked about his choice of Hong Kong to leak the information, Snowden said, “People who think I made a mistake in picking Hong Kong as a location misunderstand my intentions. I am not here to hide from justice; I am here to reveal criminality.”

The newspaper quoted him as saying that he had several opportunities to flee from Hong Kong, but that he “would rather stay and fight the United States government in the courts, because I have faith in Hong Kong’s rule of law.”

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Wisconsin Senate Descends into Chaos During Debate Over Abortion Bill (+video)

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Photo Credit: Raw Story

The debate over a bill requiring women to undergo an ultrasound procedure before being permitted to have an abortion resulted in an explosive shouting match on the floor of the Wisconsin Senate Wednesday.

State Sen. Kathleen Vinehout (D) began by reading various letters from her constituents complaining about the adverse affects the proposed legislation may have on women and victims of rape.

Vinehout’s argument was rebutted by her Republican colleague state Sen. Mary Lazich, who pointed out that victims of rape and incest are exempted in the anti-abortion legislation. She dismissed Vinehout’s argument as “theatrics”…

“They make that decision, it’s over! It’s over in a few minutes,” she said. “And then later on they can live with the fact that they terminated their pregnancy and it was the best thing for them or they killed their child and they made a horrific decision and they regret it and they wish they never would have done it.”

Following Lazich’s comments, Senate President Mike Ellis ( R) called for a vote on the bill despite efforts by Senate Democrats to extend the debate. The move resulted in chaos on the Senate floor.

See what happened here:

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House Committee Passes Bill Banning Abortions at 20 Weeks of Pregnancy

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With Republicans supporting it and Democrats opposed, a House committee has passed a bill that would ban abortions nationwide at 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Much of the debate focused on weaking amendments by Democrats who hoped to gut the bill and allow late-term abortions in cases to protect a woman’s health — even though abortions after 20 weeks are not necessary for health reasons and would allow virtually all late-term abortions to remain legal.

The committee passed the bill on a 20-12 vote and the measure now heads to the full House floor where it is expected to receive a debate and vote next week.

Also during the debate, lawmakers turned back efforts by Democrats to add a rape and incest exception to the late-term abortion ban. Rep. Trent Franks, an Arizona Republican who is the bill sponsor, said an unborn baby would be killed regardless of how she was conceived.

“The fundamental opposition here should be predicated on the notion that this child is going into the 6th month of pregnancy,” Franks said.

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Troops ‘Targeted’ by NSA for ‘Anti-Obama’ Views

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The NSA is systematically monitoring the Internet posts and telephone conversations of U.S. military returning from Afghanistan, according to a civil-liberties attorney.

“The FBI and the Secret Service are showing up to request an interview to question specific Internet posts the veteran has placed on websites such as Facebook,” explained attorney John Whitehead, founder of the Rutherford Institute.

Whitehead said the agencies are looking for “anti-Obama views that can be interpreted to reflect psychological problems of sufficient seriousness to disqualify the veteran from ever owning a firearm.”

Whitehead told WND credible sources within the National Security Agency have told him the NSA is downloading 1 trillion communications on the Internet per month, including posts to various websites, emails, instant message communications and texting messages.

As WND reported last week, Whitehead and the Rutherford Institute in a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in Richmond, Va., are representing Marine veteran Brandon Raub, 27, who was arrested by FBI and Secret Service agents for comments he made on Facebook expressing dissatisfaction with the present direction of the U.S. government.

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Huckabee: Churches Should Consider Dropping Tax-Exempt Status

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Churches should consider giving up their tax-exempt status if keeping it means allowing the government to tell them what to say, says Mike Huckabee.

The former Arkansas governor, GOP presidential candidate, and current Fox News talk show host also is an ordained Baptist minister. He made the comment on Monday during a minister’s conference in Houston, Texas, ahead of the annual Southern Baptist Convention meeting.

“Keep your deductions. Keep the exemptions. We stand more faithful with what God would have us to say, and we choose our freedom more than our financial benefit,” Huckabee said, according to Associated Baptist Press.

Recent revelations that the Internal Revenue Service has been targeting groups that are conservative and pro-Israel should be an alert to people of faith, Huckabee said. The Thomas More Society has complained that IRS officials asked anti-abortion groups in Texas and Iowa about the content of their prayers when the groups sought tax-exempt status.

“You may not clap real loud for this, but at least hear me out and think about it and pray about it,” Huckabee told the pastors. “I think we need to recognize that it may be time to quit worrying so much about the tax code and start thinking more about the truth of the living God.”

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Man Sets Home on Fire While Trying to Kill Bed Bugs

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A homeowner and four firefighters are recovering after investigators say he accidentally set his own house on fire while trying to kill bed bugs.

Police say the unidentified man was using a space heater, hair dryer and a heat gun to kill bed bugs inside his home on Penn Street in Woodbury, New Jersey. Heat guns are often used to strip paint off woodwork. They can reach temperatures, on average, of 1,000 degrees.

While doing this, police say he accidentally set fire to the second floor of his home.

The fire started around noon and firefighters were able to put the flames down soon after they arrived.

The firefighters were called back to the scene around 5:15 p.m. however after the fire rekindled.

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Ted Cruz Says he Suffers From Obamaphobia (+video)

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Photo Credit: Tom Pennington/Getty Images

Republican Texas senator Ted Cruz admitted Wednesday to suffering from a case of “Obamaphobia.”

Cruz’s playful admission was made in response to Democratic New Jersey senator Bob Menendez’s assertion Tuesday that Cruz, who might stand in the way of the Gang of 8′s immigration bill, must suffer from the ailment.

“I think he has Obamaphobia,” Menendez said. “The reality is that it is the ‘Gang of Eight’ that came together — four Democrats, four Republicans — and said that we need a path to citizenship.”

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French Mayor Faces Five Years in Jail for Refusing to Marry Homosexuals

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Same-sex or gay marriages may have been already legalized in France this year, but some heads of local governments are still willing to spare them the blessing. However, the stand of Jean-Michel Colo, the mayor of Arcangues in the Paye-Basques region of France, brave it might be to some, could risk him not only of his mayoralty post but land him in jail as well.

“The elects who do not respect the laws of the republic will risk significant sanctions,” Manuel Valls, France’s Minister of the Interior, said, according to news portal www.lefigaro.fr.

Mr Colo got into the hot seat after he refused to officiate the gay marriage of Guy Martineau-Espel to his long-time partner Jean-Michel Martin.

“When people close the door at home, they do what they want. For me, marriage is for a woman and man to have children. I am not discriminating as a same-sex couple is sterile. It’s a parody of equality, it’s a big lie,” Mr Colo told AFP.

“When I wanted to have a child, I had a woman, I did not turn to my neighbor,” he further pointed out.

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Koran: Beat Women to Alleviate Mental Disorders

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A Kuwaiti cleric and president of Iqra TV has said that Islam allows for wife beatings if she suffers from a “mental disorder,” such as masochism.

“We all know that some men suffer from a mental disorder known as sadism, and that some woman suffer from a mental disorder known as masochism,” Jassem Al-Mutawa said to guest host Muhammad Al-Hajj, a professor from the University of Jordan.

“What is the cure for such disorders? Beatings,” he continued. “Such a woman must be dealt with harshly.

“A psychiatrist friend of mine once told me that sometimes people come to him with marital problems, in which the woman suffers from that disease. He advises the husband to beat her in a certain way, and the problem is solved,” he said. “The Koran deals with such problems

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AmeriCorps: The Fruit of ‘Feel Good Government’

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The government-supported service organization AmeriCorps got a boost from President Obama in April, when he announced a new program to “connect more professional scientists and engineers to young students who might follow in their footsteps.” According to a news release, the goal is to place hundreds of AmeriCorps members in nonprofits across the country to mobilize professionals in science, technology, engineering and math “to inspire young people to excel in STEM education.”

A lofty goal, to be sure, but not one AmeriCorps is likely to serve well. Judging by the program’s track record over two decades—or distinct lack of a track record in several cases—taxpayers have better ways to spend some $446 million a year…

Consider the following recent activities:

• In April, AmeriCorps recruits in Tuscumbia, Mo., released 70 blue balloons outside the county courthouse to draw attention to the plight of abused children.
• In March, Providence, R.I., AmeriCorps members at the Institute for the Study and Practice of Nonviolence hosted a hip hop/poetry competition.
• Members of a Nevada AmeriCorps program busy themselves these days by encouraging local residents to drink tap water and watch out for bears (“bear awareness”).
• AmeriCorps members in Austin, Texas, hosted a trivia night in April at a local bar called Cheer Up Charlie’s to whip up enthusiasm for public service.

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