N. Korea May be Able to Deliver Nuke, Pentagon Intel Says

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Photo Credit: CNN

The Pentagon’s intelligence arm has assessed with “moderate confidence” that North Korea has the ability to deliver a nuclear weapon with a ballistic missile, though the reliability is believed to be “low.”

Disclosed first by a congressman at a hearing on Thursday and then confirmed to CNN by the Defense Department, the assessment by the Defense Intelligence Agency is the clearest acknowledgment yet by the United States about potential advances in North Korea’s nuclear program.

The surprise development comes amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

North Korea has unleashed a torrent of dramatic threats against the United States and South Korea in recent weeks, including that of a possible nuclear strike.

The Obama administration calculates a test launch of mobile ballistic missiles could come at any time. But a senior administration official said there is no indication that missiles believed being readied for tests have been armed with any nuclear material. Read more from this story HERE.

Lawmaker Catches Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff ‘Off-Guard’, Reveals Probable North Korean Nuclear Capability

By Anna Mulrine. The results of a classified Defense Intelligence Agency report indicate that “North Korea now has nuclear weapons capable of delivery by ballistic missiles.”

That was the bombshell out of a House Armed Services Committee hearing Thursday.

It came when Rep. Doug Lamborn (R) of Colorado began quoting from what he said was an unclassified version of the DIA report, which has not yet been made public.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey, the nation’s top military officer, appeared caught off-guard. The Pentagon has in recent days sought to strike a balance between words of warning to the North and attempts to calm the situation. General Dempsey’s reaction suggested that he was not pleased to have the DIA assessment made public, as it could further stoke anxieties over what is already a enormously tense international standoff.

Representative Lamborn read from the report toward the end of a defense budget hearing. Read more from this story HERE.

NHL Announces Support For Gay Rights, Will Fight 'Homophobia' With New Initiative

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Photo Credit: Getty

The National Hockey League (NHL) has offered its support of gay rights with the announcement of a new partnership to combat homophobia in sports.

The NHL has teamed up with the You Can Play Project, an organization that promotes equality in sports, to develop “what appears to be the most comprehensive measure by a major men’s league in support of gay rights,” according to The New York Times. The initiative will include training and counseling on gay issues, along with participation in public service announcements.

“Our motto is Hockey Is for Everyone, and our partnership with You Can Play certifies that position in a clear and unequivocal way,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in the statement obtained by the Times. “We are delighted to reaffirm through this joint venture with the NHL Players’ Association that the official policy of the NHL is one of inclusion on the ice, in our locker rooms and in the stands.”

Patrick Burke, president of You Can Play and a Philadelphia Flyers talent scout, expressed how this move represents a huge milestone. In a statement to The Huffington Post, Burke said:

Today marks a historic step for LGBT equality in sports. The NHL and the NHLPA [NHL Players’ Association] are stepping up to ensure that the hockey community is welcoming — not begrudging, not tolerant — welcoming to LGBT players, coaches, management or fans. Now with the culture of the hockey community behind us, we can do the important educational outreach to help everyone know how to be accepting. The NHL has long had a slogan — “Hockey Is For Everyone.” We will work alongside our partners in the NHL and the NHLPA to continue to make that true.

Read more from this story HERE.

IRS Tracks Your Digital Footprint

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Photo Credit: MSN

The Internal Revenue Service is collecting a lot more than taxes this year — it’s also acquiring a huge volume of personal information on taxpayers’ digital activities, from eBay auctions to Facebook posts and, for the first time ever, credit card and e-payment transaction records, as it expands its search for tax cheats to places it’s never gone before.

The IRS, under heavy pressure to help Washington out of its budget quagmire by chasing down an estimated $300 billion in revenue lost to evasions and errors each year, will start using “robo-audits” of tax forms and third-party data the IRS hopes will help close this so-called “tax gap.” But the agency reveals little about how it will employ its vast, new network scanning powers.

Tax lawyers and watchdogs are concerned about the sweeping changes being implemented with little public discussion or clear guidelines, and Congressional staff sources say the IRS use of “big data” will be a key issue when the next IRS chief comes to the Senate for approval. Acting commissioner Steven T. Miller replaced Douglas Shulman last November.

“It’s well-known in the tax community, but not many people outside of it are aware of this big expansion of data and computer use,” says Edward Zelinsky, a tax law expert and professor at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and Yale Law School. “I am sure people will be concerned about the use of personal information on databases in government, and those concerns are well-taken. It’s appropriate to watch it carefully. There should be safeguards.” He adds that taxpayers should know that whatever people do and say electronically can and will be used against them in IRS enforcement.

IRS’s big data tracking
Consumers are already familiar with Internet “cookies” that track their movements and send them targeted ads that follow them to different websites. The IRS has brought in private industry experts to employ similar digital tracking — but with the added advantage of access to Social Security numbers, health records, credit card transactions and many other privileged forms of information that marketers don’t see.

Read more from this story HERE.

Mystery White House Official Takes Secret Service Shopping in Chicago (+video)

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Photo Credit: WTC Staff

No one recognized the man and his wife as they shopped at the Chanel Store on Chicago’s tony Michigan Avenue strip. But that didn’t stop the couple from receiving Secret Service protection and a Chicago police escort.

After shopping, the mystery couple were escorted to two waiting black security vans followed by two police cars. A Secret Service agent halted me until the duo was “in the clear.”

Who was this mystery official? Is it a member of President Obama’s cabinet? Or a visiting head of state? Can anyone take a guess?

Why were precious local law enforcement resources diverted to this shopping excursion?

As I said, no one knew who these “shoppers” were. I stopped a group of young teen girls, who witnessed the Secret Service song and dance, and asked them if they knew who the mystery couple was.

Barack Obama’s half-brother from Kenya,” chirped one of the girls.

Watch video here:

Read more from this story HERE.

Two Girls Lift 3,000 lbs. Tractor off of Dad in Miracle Feat (+video)

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Photo Credit: DunlopSouth

A Linn County man pinned by his overturned tractor said his teenage daughters saved his life by lifting the 3,000-pound machine off of him.

Jeff Smith was able to wriggle free and get breathing room after his daughters, 14-year-old Haylee and 16-year-old Hannah, lifted the huge machine up, as first reported by the Albany Democrat-Herald.

Smith said he was trying to pull a stump out of his garden when the tractor flipped last Monday. The steering wheel pinned his chest to the ground.

He said he was losing breath with each scream, but his daughters heard and ran to him. “It’s amazing. You hear about this kind of stuff… this adrenaline rush, being able to pick cars up and slide people out.

Watch video here:

Read more from this story HERE.

Daughter of Obama Pastor Jeremiah Wright Indicted (+video)

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Photo Credit: Chicago Tribune

The daughter of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright — the controversial former pastor to President Barack Obama — was indicted today in an expanding federal probe of a state grant tied to a former suburban police chief.

Jeri Wright of Hazel Crest is accused of helping former Country Club Hills Police Chief Regina Evans convert fake paychecks from Evans’ nonprofit to Evans’ personal use, allegedly hiding money that was supposed to be used to train minority and female workers in the building trades.

Federal prosecutors in the Illinois’ central district say Jeri Wright received about $28,000 in grant-tied paychecks in 2009, but $20,000 of that was deposited back into accounts controlled by Evans. Prosecutors also say Wright then lied to officers and a grand jury.

The charges emerge about a year after Evans was charged with fraud in relation to a $1.25 million job training grant awarded to her nonprofit, We Are Our Brothers Keeper.

Watch video here:

Read more from this story HERE.

Mo. Highway Patrol Gave Feds All of State's Weapon Permits Data

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Missouri’s database of concealed weapon permits was twice given to federal authorities investigating Social Security disability fraud in a move that has enraged lawmakers already angry over potential abuses in a new driver’s licensing system.

Missouri State Highway Patrol Col. Ron Replogle was questioned for nearly an hour this morning by the Senate Appropriations Committee after he revealed to Chairman Kurt Schaefer yesterday that his agency had turned over the data.

The delivery of the information to federal authorities has become a huge issue for lawmakers since they began raising questions about new driver’s licensing procedures. A lawsuit from Stoddard County challenged the procedures that require all supporting documents — including certificates granting concealed weapon privileges — to be scanned and retained.

Read more from this story HERE.

8th Grade Book Defines Conservatism= 'Restricting Personal Freedoms'; Liberalism= 'Personal Freedom for Everyone'

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Photo Credit: EAG News

A mother at a Wisconsin public school said her daughter’s eighth grade class was assigned a worksheet with some eyebrow-raising definitions for “conservatism” and “liberalism.”

Conservatism, it stated in part, believes in “preserving traditional moral values by restricting personal freedoms” while liberalism is for “equality and personal freedom for everyone.”

“This is indoctrination,” Tamra Varebrook, a Republican activist in Racine, Wis., told TheBlaze on Thursday after her 13-year-old daughter showed her the crossword-style vocabulary sheet from Union Grove Elementary School earlier this week. Varebrook first talked about the assignment with the news arm of the conservative Education Action Group.

Varebrook said she complained to Brenda Stevenson, district administrator at Union Grove, who apologized profusely and said it never should have been taught. Varebrook was told the teacher was required to correct the definition to the class Wednesday while the assistant principal observed.

Read more from this story HERE.

Is There Credible Proof for Darwinian Evolution?

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Many who believe in the Darwinian Evolutionary theory take it to be a proven fact. Not only that, but they also view those with another perspective (i.e.: not believing in Darwinian Evolution) with contempt and disdain.

“It is absolutely safe to say that if you meet someone who claims not to believe in evolution, that person is ignorant, stupid or insane.” (Dr. Richard Dawkins, 1999, NY Times article: “Put Your Money on Evolution”)

So, what kind of theories and/or evidence do evolutionists postulate that are so logical and intelligent that anyone who does not believe it (as Dr. Dawkins stated) is ignorant, stupid or insane? Consider the following example of what is being taught by sympathizers of the Darwinian Evolutionary theory:

“The observable universe could have evolved from an infinitesimal region (i.e.: smaller than the period at the end of this sentence). It is then tempting to go one step further and speculate that the entire universe evolved from literally nothing.” (Dr. Alan Guth, Scientific American, May 1984, pg. 128)

Unfortunately, many persons put their faith in a theory that is largely based on interpreted facts; not actual facts. Those who attempt to shed light on the fallacies of the Darwinian Evolution theory are ridiculed, scorned, vilified, attacked, or excluded from so-called intellectual circles of academia.

Read more from this story HERE.

Evangelical Pastors Declare: ‘We are Gay’!

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Photo Credit: Hutchpost

Coming out of the closet is a difficult decision to make, especially when close, personal relationships are at stake. Will my family abandon me? Will my friends still look at me the same? Will this announcement be worth the risk? These are indeed valid concerns that can make a person live like a double agent for years. And even though this decision is acutely personal, it does help to stand alongside someone else who is ready to announce the very same thing. It is a shared declaration. Coming out may be a personal choice, but doing it with someone you love somehow feels so right. It is with this spirit of unity that we, Pastor Ken Hutcherson and ministerial partner James Hansen, would like to shout loud and proud, “We are gay!”

For full disclosure, most of the people who are close to us have known for years how gay we are. Both of our wives know we’re gay and are completely supportive of this lifestyle choice. Our coworkers know we’re gay and have often asked us how they, too, can live as a gay Christian. And even though we’ve never made a formal announcement together, the bulk of our congregation has suspected it for years. How could they not? Our gayness is obvious in the way we talk and the way we act toward one another. Hold a gaydar up to either of us and it’s likely to read “Fabulous!”

So, this announcement will only come as a surprise to people who don’t know us that well. For those on the outside looking in, this would be the furthest thing they would ever imagine coming from two pastors at a conservative evangelical church. For some reason, Christians aren’t allowed to be gay. We’re seen as angry, oppressive malcontents who look like they’ve been baptized in vinegar. We’re often caricatured as plastic phonies who are willfully naïve, or miserable misfits who aren’t happy unless they’re unhappy. But from our perspective, certain individuals in another community seem like they’re the unhappy ones who are overtly hostile to anyone who disagrees with them.

For instance, Dan Savage claims to be gay. But he’s not. He’s just a vapid agitator who happens to be homosexual. His subcutaneous vitriol recently burst out at some high-school students when he saw they didn’t support his view of the Bible. And despite the obligatory apology he gave for his tirade, Savage’s hostility is what those teens will remember. Nice going, Mr. Tolerance. Now, we ask you, does Savage sound gay? Of course not. How could somebody that sour and unhappy label himself that way? For our part, we would like to extend the proverbial olive branch to this errant activist: Mr. Savage, please come over to our office and we’ll teach you how to be gay. You’ve tried it your way and it’s not getting you very far. It’s only made you a humorless bully. We promise that Jesus can bring you true happiness. If you let us show you how to really be gay, we know that you’ll leave our office a changed man.

Read more from this story HERE.