By 22-Point Margin, Voters Favor Obamacare’s Repeal

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Photo Credit: Weekly Standard It would be a major understatement to say that Obamacare has had a bad spring. Around the time of Lincoln’s birthday, registered voters told Fox News that, by a margin of 6 percentage points (48 to 42 percent), it would “be better to go back to the health care system that was in place in 2009” than it would be “to leave the new health care law in place.” Three months later, as we head into Memorial Day, nostalgia for the good ol’ days of 2009 now beats Obamacare by a whopping 22 points (56 to 34 percent).

That’s saying something, because, back in 2009 — largely as a result of Republicans’ refusal to do much of anything on health care in the nearly decade-and-a-half between their defeat of Hillarycare and their defeat at the hands of Obama — Americans clearly weren’t very happy with the health-care status quo. Every one of the half-dozen polls published by RealClearPolitics in the first half of 2009 — before Obamacare clearly took shape — showed Americans favoring efforts to reform our health-care system. Now, Obamacare is even more unpopular than the unpopular pre-Obamacare status quo — and that has been true for nearly four years.

None of this, however, should lull Republicans into thinking there’s no need for them to advance conservative, limited-government reforms in lieu of Obamacare’s liberal, big-government model of centralized control over American medicine. For at least two main reasons, it’s crucial that the GOP push not only for the full repeal of Obamacare, but also for real reform.

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama Essentially Declares an End to the Global War on Terror

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Photo Credit: APSome call it wishful thinking, but President Barack Obama has all but declared an end to the global war on terror.

Obama is not claiming final victory over extremists who still seek to kill Americans and other Westerners. Instead, he is refocusing the long struggle against terrorism that lies ahead, steering the United States away from what he calls an equally frightening threat — a country in a state of perpetual war. In doing so, Obama recasts the image of the terrorists themselves, from enemy warriors to cowardly thugs and resets the relationship between the U.S. and Islam.

His speech Thursday was designed to move America’s mindset away from a war footing and refine and recalibrate his own counterterrorism strategy. Obama asserted that al-Qaida is “on the path to defeat,” reducing the scale of terrorism to pre-Sept. 11 levels. That means that with the Afghanistan war winding down, Obama is unlikely to commit troops in large numbers to any conflict — in Syria or other countries struggling with instability in the uncertain aftermath of the Arab Spring — unless, as his critics fear, he tragically has underestimated al-Qaida’s staying power.

“Wishing the defeat of terrorists does not make it so,” said Rep. Mac Thornberry, a Texas Republican who is vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and a member of the House Intelligence Committee.

Read more from this story HERE.

One-Third of Young Adults Regret Going to College

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Photo Credit: Forbes Here’s an indication of how burdensome student loans have become: About one-third of millennials say they would have been better off working, instead of going to college and paying tuition.

That’s a according to a new Wells Fargo WFC +0.57% study which surveyed 1,414 millennials between the ages of 22 and 32. More than half of them financed their education through student loans, and many say the if they had $10,000 the “first thing” they’d do is pay down their student loan or credit card debt.

That’s no surprise when you consider student borrowing topped the $100 billion threshold for the first time in 2010, and total outstanding loans exceeded $1 trillion for the first time in 2011. Student loan debt now exceeds credit card debt in the U.S. which stands at about $798 billion.

Delinquencies are also on the rise. The number of borrowers who are at least 90 days late on student loan payments has jumped from 8.5% in 2011 to 11.7% today, according to a study by the New York Federal Reserve.

Read more from this story HERE.

Flesh Eating Bacteria Survivor, Triple Amputee, Celebrates Life (+video)

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Last fall, we reported on the case of Aimee Copeland, a beautiful West Georgia graduate student who almost died in May.

Out for a weekend of fun, Ms. Copeland and her friends played on a homemade zip line. Unfortunately, while she was on the line, it snapped. Ms. Copeland fell, severely injuring her leg.


After receiving 22 staples to close the wound, she returned to the hospital, complaining of extreme pain. Turns out, she was suffering from necrotizing fasciitis – flesh eating bacteria.

To save her life, doctors had to amputate her hands, leg and foot.

Now, a year later, Ms. Copeland is celebrating life. Hear her encouraging story:

Jailed for Facebook Comments, Marine Sues (+video)

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Photo Credit: USDAgovIt happens in China routinely. It frequently happened in the old Soviet Union. Undoubtedly in North Korea, although generally there’s no one around to witness it. But in the United States? It happens here, too, apparently.

A lawsuit has been filed by officials with the Rutherford Institute on behalf of a Marine who was jailed and held for the comments he made on Facebook – comments that expressed a dissatisfaction with the present direction of the U.S. government.

According to officials at Rutherford, the civil rights action names as defendants members of law enforcement and the government who were involved in last year’s episode where Marine veteran Brandon Raub, 27, was arrested by a swarm of FBI and Secret Service and forcibly detained in a psychiatric ward for a week.

His crime was posting controversial song lyrics and political views on Facebook, the institute reported.

In one of his postings, he cited the evil in the world.

“The United States was meant to lead the charge against injustice, but through our example not our force. People do not respond to having liberty and freedom forced on them,” he wrote.

Read more from this story HERE.

America’s Cousins on Cusp of ‘Gay’ Marriage

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Photo Credit: WNDWhile the U.S. awaits two Supreme Court decisions on the issue, both Australia and the United Kingdom look increasingly likely to follow as the next nations to permit same-sex “marriage.”

And just like in the U.S., the subject is creating deep divisions between segments of the population promoting homosexuality – and vowing to stay true to the Judeo-Christian values that have guided civilizations for millennia.

In Britain, a bill already has passed the lower House of Commons and now moves on to the upper House of Lords, and could be enacted as soon as May 2014.

Similarly, in Australia, the Greens (far left) party’s deputy leader has indicated he will seek to have his Marriage Equality Amendment Bill brought on for a vote in the House of Representatives on June 6. The amendment, if passed, would make same-sex marriage lawful in Australia, following 14 other countries and several American states that have moved on the issue.

The rapid emergence of “gay marriage” as a matter of prominence has stunned many in both nations, in line with America’s surprise when Maine, Maryland and Washington State endorsed moves to allow gay marriage in last year’s election.

Read more from this story HERE.

Judge Rules Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s Office Racially Profiles Latinos

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Photo Credit: Ross D. FranklinA federal judge has ruled that the office of America’s self-proclaimed toughest sheriff systematically singled out Latinos in its trademark immigration patrols, marking the first finding by a court that the agency racially profiles people.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Murray Snow in Phoenix backs up years of allegations from Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s critics who say his officers violate the constitutional rights of Latinos in relying on race in their immigration enforcement.

Snow, whose ruling Friday came more than eight months after a seven-day, non-jury trial, also ruled Arpaio’s deputies unreasonably prolonged the detentions of people who were pulled over.

The ruling marks a thorough repudiation of the immigration patrols that made Arpaio a national political figure, and it represents a victory for those who pushed the lawsuit.

“For too long the sheriff has been victimizing the people he’s meant to serve with his discriminatory policy,” said Cecillia D. Wang, director of the ACLU Immigrants’ Right Project. “Today we’re seeing justice for everyone in the county.” Read more from this story HERE.

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Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio to appeal ruling in racial profiling case

By Fox News. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio will appeal a federal judge’s ruling that his agency systematically singled out Latinos in its trademark immigration patrols, marking the first finding by a court that the agency racially profiles people.

Tim Casey, the lead attorney representing America’s self-proclaimed toughest sheriff in the case, said an appeal of the finding that the agency racially profiles people was planned in the next 30 days.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Murray Snow in Phoenix backs up years of allegations from Arpaio’s critics who say his officers violate the constitutional rights of Latinos in relying on race in their immigration enforcement.

Snow, whose ruling came more than eight months after a seven-day, non-jury trial, also ruled Arpaio’s deputies unreasonably prolonged the detentions of people who were pulled over.

The ruling marks a thorough repudiation of the immigration patrols that made Arpaio a national political figure, and it represents a victory for those who pushed the lawsuit. Read more from this story HERE.

The Irish Should be Remembered by America this Memorial Day for their Great Military Service

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Photo Credit: Irish Central When the Romans first visited Ireland, they called it Hibernia, the sleeping land…See Hibernia. But soon, to their dismay, they found the people were not at all a sleeping group.

In the early 1st century, Roman and Greek knowledge of Ireland was thin, but the geographers Strabo and Pomponius Mela describe “a cold land populated by extremely fierce inhabitants.” In lore of combat between Romans and native Irish, the Romans feared the Irish and their woman warriors most for the fierceness of their attacks and utter lack of fear.

Invasions by warlike foreigners left their mark on Ireland and mixed their blood with the Irish. In the late 700’s the Vikings attacked and tried to establish permanent settlements See history of Vikings invading Ireland. The Vikings were eventually defeated, but many of them stayed and intermarried with the native population. Later the Normans came and went and then the British appeared.

The unique blend of the Irish and their invaders created a hybrid of warrior that has filled the ranks of many armies around the world.

Many Irish immigrated to the “new lands” of the American continent to find the opportunity and freedom that they couldn’t find in their native land. They took up arms to defend their adopted countries and to fight for what they believed to be battles for freedom and justice.

The influence Irish had in Latin America over the past 200 + years is historic. The Irish fought alongside their brothers and sisters in their new homelands. They shed their blood in many wars to help free millions from the tyranny of colonialism. See Irish in Latin America

But when the Irish found their way to North America, their presence was felt immediately in the armed forces battling for freedom in every step of the way.

The Irish played an integral part in the Revolutionary war, when a fledgling country had to win its freedom by force from British rule. Names like John Barry, the founder of our navy, Jeremiah O’Brien, Timothy Murphy, Molly Pitcher, John Sullivan and thousands of other Irish, who fought and died to form the new country of the United States.

The Irish stepped forward again, when the English returned and tried to re-conquer our young country in the war of 1812 and threw them back at the Battle of New Orleans.

Tragically when our country was torn apart by its civil war, Irish Americans fought on both sides to play key roles in the major battles that finally saw a divided country, unite again. One of the most famous units in all of American military history was a brigade known during the American Civil War as simply “The Irish Brigade.” See Irish Brigade; Heroes of the Civil War.

When the United States stepped into the 1st World War, the Irish Americans distinguished themselves in many memorable battles and astonished the Germans with their fierceness and valor. Especially noteworthy when they fought and brawled hand to hand with German crack troops as members of the famed “Lost Battalion.”

World War II saw another generation of Irish Americans push their way forward to defend their country against one of the greatest axis of evils the world had seen. Irish Americans were over represented in the awarding of Medals of Honor in the field of battle, with Audie Murphy becoming one of the most decorated soldiers in American history.

Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, Iraq, Afghanistan…Wherever and whenever the country needs to be defended and fought for, Irish Americans have a long history of being right there at the tip of the spear, where the greatest fighting occurs.

In war as well as peace, our country has benefited from the valor of its warriors of Irish descent. It is good to remember our “fighting” Irish American warriors on this Memorial Day weekend.

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Ed Farnan is the conservative columnist at IrishCentral, where he has been writing on the need for energy independence, strong self defense, secure borders, 2nd amendment, smaller government and many other issues. His articles appear in many publications throughout the USA and world. He has been a guest on Fox News and a regular guest on radio stations in the US and Europe.

Female Suicide Bomber Injures 11 in Russia

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A female suicide bomber identified as a widow of two killed Islamists blew herself up in the southern Russian region of Dagestan on Saturday injuring at least 12, including two children and five police officers, police said.

The bomber detonated an explosives-laden belt in the central square in the provincial capital, Makhachkala, Dagestan’s police spokesman Vyacheslav Gasanov said.

The bomber was identified as Madina Alieva, who married an Islamist who was killed in 2009 and then wedded another Islamic radical who was gunned down last year, police spokeswoman Fatina Ubaidatova said.

Since 2000, at least two dozen women, most of them from the Caucasus, have carried out suicide bombings in Russian cities and aboard trains and planes. All were linked to an Islamic insurgency that spread throughout Dagestan and the predominantly Muslim Caucasus region after two separatist wars in neighboring Chechnya.

The bombers are often called “black widows” in Russia because many are the widows, or other relatives, of militants killed by security forces. Islamic militants are believed to convince “black widows” that a suicide bombing will reunite them with their dead relatives beyond the grave.

Read more from this story HERE.

French Police Search for Man Who Stabbed Soldier

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Photo Credit: APFrench anti-terrorism investigators were searching Sunday for a man who stabbed a soldier in the throat in the commercial district of La Defense outside Paris.

The 23-year-old soldier, Cedric Cordier, was in uniform patrolling the busy underground corridors where shops and crowded public transport lines converge beneath the famous Arch of La Defense.

Saturday’s stabbing came days after a British soldier was hacked to death on a London street in broad daylight in a suspected terrorist attack that has raised fears of potential copycat strikes. However, there was no immediate confirmation of any link between the two attacks.

Read more from this story HERE.