Bipartisan Group Introduces Tough North Korea Sanctions Bill, as Reclusive Nation Indicts US Tourist

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Photo Credit: APBy Fox News. Republican and Democratic lawmakers in the House are proposing to step up sanctions against North Korea amid growing concern over its nuclear programs as Pyongyang plans to indict an American detained for alleged hostile acts against the country.

The bill, crafted by leaders of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and introduced Friday, would punish companies, banks and governments that do prohibited business with North Korea.

Congressional staffers say it’s intended not only to improve enforcement of existing sanctions, but also to expand them. The bill is modeled on sanctions in force against Iran.

The measure reflects growing concern over North Korea’s nuclear weapon and missile development, and frustration over the failure of U.S. policy to stop it.

The bill was introduced by Reps. Ed Royce, R-Calif., and Eliot Engel, D-N.Y. Its prospects for becoming law are uncertain. Read more from this story HERE.

North Korea to indict American tourist

By Reuters. North Korea said on Saturday a Korean-American tourist, who has been held in prison by the reclusive state since late last year, will face trial for “committing crimes” against the North, a move that could further stoke tensions with the United States.

Kenneth Bae, 44, was in a group of five tourists who visited the northeastern city of Rajin on a five-day trip last November and has been held by police since then.

KCNA, the North’s official news agency, said Bae entered the North on November 3.

“In the process of investigation he admitted that he committed crimes aimed to topple the DPRK with hostility toward it,” the KCNA report said, using the North’s official title of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

“His crimes were proved by evidence,” it said, adding he would soon be taken to the Supreme Court “to face judgment”. Read more from this story HERE.

911 Calls: California Planned Parenthood Injures Three Women in Abortions (+audio)

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Photo Credit: YouTubeOperation Rescue has obtained recordings and Computer Aided Dispatch Transcripts for four 911 calls placed from a single Planned Parenthood in Orange, California, three of which were made on the same day seeking emergency transport for patients suffering complications from an abortion and one employee experiencing from chest pain.

The records raise additional questions concerning patient safety of Planned Parenthood and other abortion clinics across the nation. Operation Rescue has documented 22 medical emergencies occurring at abortion clinics nationwide since January 1, 2013. This includes five medical emergencies at a Planned Parenthood in Wilmington, Delaware, which later fired its abortionist and closed down for “cleaning” after public outcry erupted.

“There simply is no such thing as a ‘safe and legal’ abortion clinic,” said Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue and Pro-Life Nation. “Women are injured or killed, and babies die as a matter of course in our nation’s abortion clinics and we have yet to find one that obeys the law on all points. Health and safety violations are rampant at abortion clinics, and Planned Parenthood is certainly no exception.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Breakthrough in Quest for Nuclear Fusion

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Photo Credit: Image EditorThe international nuclear fusion project – known as Iter, meaning “the way” in Latin – is designed to demonstrate a new kind of nuclear reactor capable of producing unlimited supplies of cheap, clean, safe and sustainable electricity from atomic fusion.

If Iter demonstrates that it is possible to build commercially-viable fusion reactors then it could become the experiment that saved the world in a century threatened by climate change and an expected three-fold increase in global energy demand.

This week the project gained final approval for the design of the most technically challenging component – the fusion reactor’s “blanket” that will handle the super-heated nuclear fuel.

The building site in Cadarache has also passed the crucial stage where some 493 seismic bearings – giant concrete and rubber plinths – have been set into the reactor’s deep foundations to protect against possible earthquakes.

Peering over the edge of the huge seismic isolation pit, it is still possible to see some of these bearings before they are covered with a raft of reinforced concrete that will support the massive fusion machine at the heart of the £13bn [$20 billion] Iter project.

Read more from this story HERE.

Rep. Chaffetz Claims DHS has 1000 More Bullets Per Agent Than US Soldiers

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Photo Credit: APRepublican Rep. Jason Chaffetz said Thursday that the Department of Homeland Security is using roughly 1,000 rounds of ammunition more per person than the U.S. Army, as he and other lawmakers sharply questioned DHS officials on their “massive” bullet buys.

“It is entirely … inexplicable why the Department of Homeland Security needs so much ammunition,” Chaffetz, R-Utah, said at a hearing.

The hearing itself was unusual, as questions about the department’s ammunition purchases until recently had bubbled largely under the radar — on blogs and in the occasional news article. But as the Department of Homeland Security found itself publicly defending the purchases, lawmakers gradually showed more interest in the issue.

Democratic Rep. John Tierney, D-Mass., at the opening of the hearing, ridiculed the concerns as “conspiracy theories” which have “no place” in the committee room.

But Republicans said the purchases raise “serious” questions about waste and accountability.

Read more from this story HERE.

Bill Clinton Jokes About Having Bush Paint Him Naked

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Bill Clinton joked on Thursday about wanting his fellow former president George W. Bush to paint him naked, now that he has become something of an amateur painter.

There were bursts of laughter as Clinton made the remarks about his counterpart’s hobby during a speech at the opening of the George W. Bush Library in Dallas…

He said that George W’s mother Barbara Bush had shown him some of his landscape and animal canvases and that he thought they were ‘great’.

Clinton then quipped: ‘I seriously considered calling and asking you to do a portrait of me until I saw the results of your sister’s hacked emails. ‘Those bathroom sketches are wonderful but at my age, I think I should keep my suit.’

He was referencing self-portraits found in hacked Bush family emails which appear to show paintings of the former president shaving in the shower and soaking in a bathtub.

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Officials: Boston Suspect had no Firearm when Barrage of Bullets Hit Hiding Place

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Photo Credit: Washington PostAlthough police feared he was heavily armed, the suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing had no firearms when he came under a barrage of police gunfire that struck the boat where he was hiding, according to multiple federal law enforcement officials.

Authorities said they were desperate to capture Dzhokhar Tsarnaev so he could be questioned. The FBI, however, declined to discuss what prompted the gunfire.

Other law enforcement officials said the shooting may have been prompted by the chaos of the moment and some action that led the officers to believe Tsarnaev had fired a weapon or was about to detonate explosives.

These new details emerged as investigators continued their examination of the movements and motives of Tsarnaev, 19, and his brother, Tamerlan, in last week’s coordinated bombing, which killed three people and wounded more than 250.

Law enforcement officials said they do not believe the brothers were connected with a terrorist organization, but they cautioned that the inquiry is at an early stage.

Read more from this story HERE.

Baby Killers are Having a Good Week

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Photo Credit: Washington TimesUnborn and newborn babies aren’t getting much support from the White House this week. President Obama continues to refuse to weigh in on the case of alleged serial killer abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell. Instead, he agreed to give the keynote address at Planned Parenthood’s annual gala dinner on Thursday night.

The White House realized Wednesday that the public outcry was too loud and made up an excuse why Mr. Obama couldn’t give the major address, but would do a smaller speech at a Friday breakfast. It is unheard of for a president to cancel a scheduled speech or event — especially with one day notice — unless in the case of a major domestic or international crisis. Spending extra times with the families of victims of the fertilizer factory in Waco, Texas does not fit those criteria.

Meanwhile in Philadelphia, Dr. Gosnell apparently thinks his case is a slam dunk. His lawyer rested the case Wednesday without putting a single witness on the stand to rebut the five weeks of testimony from the prosecution.

On Tuesday, Judge Jeffrey P. Minehart acquitted the abortion doctor of three of the first-degree murder charges, leaving the defendant facing four counts of first-degree murder for allegedly killing babies after they were born by cutting their spinal cords with scissors. He also faces a charge of third-degree murder for giving too much medication to a woman during an abortion at his clinic, according to the prosecution.

The president followed the lead of the liberal mainstream media by ignoring the Grosnell trial, in the hopes that the public would as well. Conservative outlets — particularly Fox News, which has been covering the case since 2011 — have been the only ones bringing the horrific details of the abortion clinic to the public. On April 15, Fox News’ Ed Henry was the first of the White House press corps to ask Press Secretary Jay Carney about the Gosnell trial. The spokesman would only say that the president is “aware” of it and “does not and cannot take a position on an ongoing trial.”

Read more from this story HERE.

When Will Enough Be Enough America?

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Photo Credit: The Daily SheepleThe truth is that I cannot recall in my lifetime when our government has been so corrupt, so filled with lawless individuals who only think of themselves and not what is truly best for Americans.

America has a government that is slowly strangling the liberty out of its citizens and even though there are plenty of conservatives who rail against it, work to change it, and understand what is coming if we fail, the difficulty is that those in our government (aided and abetted by the media) do what they want to do anyway, often in total disregard for the rule of law. It’s not only maddeningly frustrating, but it goes against the very core of the Constitution.

America is a Constitutional Republic and I’m sure you know that. As such, we elect individuals who are duty bound to uphold and protect the Constitution upon which this country is founded. We do not elect individuals so that they will do what the perceived majority wants done. That kind of government is a Democracy, which America is not.

Even Obama gets this confused with his remarks about 90% of Americans wanting stricter gun control. First of all, he’s lying because that percentage is something he pulled out of the vapid environment in his head. Secondly, it does not matter if 100% of Americans wanted greater gun control measures to be enacted. That percentage has nothing to do with anything and he knows that, but simply refuses to acknowledge it. The Constitution clearly defines the 2nd Amendment as the right to keep and bear arms and it shall not be infringed. Simple. Clear. Definitive. Elected officials are supposed to do all in their power to protect, uphold, and defend the Constitution, not engage in every subterfuge they can think of to circumvent or overturn it.

We have a Congress that passed Obamacare without even reading it and now is secretly trying to exempt themselves (and their staffs) from it that very legislation they created. They couldn’t care less about us.

Read more from this story HERE.

U.S. Gives Big, Secret Push to Internet Surveillance

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Photo Credit: Getty Images Senior Obama administration officials have secretly authorized the interception of communications carried on portions of networks operated by AT&T and other Internet service providers, a practice that might otherwise be illegal under federal wiretapping laws.

The secret legal authorization from the Justice Department originally applied to a cybersecurity pilot project in which the military monitored defense contractors’ Internet links. Since then, however, the program has been expanded by President Obama to cover all critical infrastructure sectors including energy, healthcare, and finance starting June 12.

“The Justice Department is helping private companies evade federal wiretap laws,” said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, which obtained over 1,000 pages of internal government documents and provided them to CNET this week. “Alarm bells should be going off.”

Those documents show the National Security Agency and the Defense Department were deeply involved in pressing for the secret legal authorization, with NSA director Keith Alexander participating in some of the discussions personally. Despite initial reservations, including from industry participants, Justice Department attorneys eventually signed off on the project.

The Justice Department agreed to grant legal immunity to the participating network providers in the form of what participants in the confidential discussions refer to as “2511 letters,” a reference to the Wiretap Act codified at 18 USC 2511 in the federal statute books.

Read more from this story HERE.

Calif. Bill Would Let Non-Citizens Serve on Juries

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Photo Credit: zzpzaThe California Assembly passed a bill on Thursday that would make the state the first in the nation to allow non-citizens who are in the country legally to serve on jury duty.

Assemblyman Bob Wieckowski, D-Fremont, said his bill, AB1401, would help California widen the pool of prospective jurors and help integrate immigrants into the community.

It does not change other criteria for being eligible to serve on a jury, such as being at least 18, living in the county that is making the summons, and being proficient in English.

The bill passed 45-25 largely on a party-line vote in the Democratic-controlled Assembly and will move on to the Senate. One Democrat – Assemblyman Adam Gray, of Merced – voted no, while some other Democrats did not vote.

Democratic lawmakers who voted for the bill said there is no correlation between being a citizen and a juror, and they noted that there is no citizenship requirement to be an attorney or a judge. Republican lawmakers who opposed Wieckowski’s bill called it misguided and premature.

Read more from this story HERE.