Black Friday Posts New Single Day Record for Gun Checks at More Than 200,000

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The FBI was flooded Friday with more than 200,000 background check requests for gun purchases, setting a new single day record, the bureau reported Saturday.

In all, the FBI fielded 203,086 requests on Black Friday, up from the previous single-day highs of 185,713 last year and 185,345 in 2015. The two previous records also were recorded on Black Friday.

Gun checks, required for purchases at federally licensed firearm dealers, are not a measure of actual gun sales. The number of firearms sold Friday is likely higher because multiple firearms can be included in one transaction by a single buyer.

The surging numbers received by the bureau’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), comes just days after Attorney General Jeff Sessions ordered a sweeping review of the system, which allowed a court-martialed Air Force veteran to purchase the rifle used earlier this month to kill 25 people inside a Sutherland Springs, Texas, church . . .

The breakdown in the Kelley case highlighted longstanding problems within the system, which for more than 20 years has served as the centerpiece of the government’s effort to block criminals from obtaining firearms. Yet it has largely struggled to keep pace with the volume of firearm transactions and still properly maintain the databases of criminal and mental health records necessary to determine whether buyers are eligible to purchase guns. (Read more from “Black Friday Posts New Single Day Record for Gun Checks at More Than 200,000” HERE)

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Eco-Terrorist Explains Why She Tried to Kill an Oil Pipeline — Her Defense Is Disturbing

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An eco-terrorist responsible for sabotaging an oil pipeline in North Dakota suggested Saturday that shutting down the multi-billion dollar line was necessary to defuse the ticking time bomb of man-made global warming.

Temporarily taking offline a pair of pipelines in Minnesota earlier this year was part of an effort to save the world from fossil fuels, Seattle activist and poet Emily Johnston wrote in an editorial for The Guardian. A judge is allowing her to use a “necessity defense” to justify her actions last year against the Enbridge pipeline.

“As recent months have made clear, climate change is not only an imminent threat; it is an existing catastrophe. It’s going to get worse, and tar sands oil—the dirtiest oil on Earth—is one of the reasons,” Johnston wrote, referring to a spate of hurricanes that clobbered the U.S. earlier this summer.

Clearwater County District Judge Robert Tiffany gave Johnston – and other activists from anti-oil group, Climate Direct Action – the option of arguing the fear of cataclysmic climate change justifies any action taken to stymie oil production and transport. The judge’s decision allows the group to produce various climate experts to testify about the upcoming climate Armageddon.

Most necessity defenses are allowed in instances like when someone is arrested for breaking and entering after hearing a baby crying in a burning building and rushing in to save the infant. The action was justifiable to prevent the immediate harm of another person. (Read more from “Eco-Terrorist Explains Why She Tried to Kill an Oil Pipeline — Her Defense Is Disturbing” HERE)

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Man Who Survived Vegas Massacre Killed in Hit-And-Run

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A man who survived the Las Vegas massacre in October died several weeks later in a hit-and-run in southern Nevada.

Roy McClellan, 52, was killed Nov. 17 when he was hit by a car in Pahrump, about 60 miles west of Las Vegas.

He was walking on the roadway when he got hit by a Chevrolet Camaro that fled the scene, according to the Nevada Highway Patrol.

McClellan and his wife made it out safely when a gunman opened fire at the Route 91 Harvest music festival on October 1, killing 58 people, his widow said. (Read more from “Man Who Survived Vegas Massacre Killed in Hit-And-Run” HERE)

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‘Ignorant Infidels’ in U.S. May Have to Be ‘Forced’ to Accept Islam

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Radical imams from Virginia, Maryland and Texas recently attended a fund-raising event organized by an Islamist charity in which they were treated to a smorgasbord of teachings from foreign-based Islamic thinkers.

The prime delicacy was offered up by keynote speaker Habib-ur-Rehman Ludhianvi, a visiting Islamic cleric from Pakistan.

Ludhiavi believes America is a “land of infidels,” whom he described as “ignorant.” His comments are a ringing example of what Muslim leaders say when they are behind closed doors and in the company of other Muslims, as opposed to the public comments meant for gullible infidel ears, security experts tell WND.

The only reason the public knows what was said inside the Nov. 18 conference at a Holiday Inn in Springfield, Virginia, is because the gathering was infiltrated by Ehsan Rehan, the brave Pakistani-born journalist and editor of Rabwah Times who went undercover and captured video and audio.

The keynote speaker, Ludhianavi, is leader of the Islamic seminary Dar-ul-Uloom, which is based in Pakistan but operates branches in the United States, Canada and the U.K., including one in St. Paul, Minnesota, that opened in a former Catholic church in 2014. There’s another in Lawrenceville, Georgia, and others in Warren, Michigan, and San Bernardino, California. (Read more from “‘Ignorant Infidels’ in U.S. May Have to Be ‘Forced’ to Accept Islam” HERE)

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Texas Rep Barton Apologizes for Nude Pic and Sext, but Won’t Retire

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Congressman Joe Barton, R-Texas, has apologized for sending a nude photo and illicit text message to a woman not his wife. The image circulated around social media earlier this week.

“While separated from my second wife, prior to the divorce, I had sexual relationships with other mature adult women,” Barton said in a statement Wednesday. “Each was consensual. Those relationships have ended. I am sorry I did not use better judgment during those days. I am sorry that I let my constituents down.”

Barton announced his reelection bid earlier this month. The Republican representative told the Texas Tribune on Tuesday he was still deliberating his political future.

However, a spokesman for Barton told The Dallas Morning News Wednesday that the congressman has no plans to retire.

“You’re as aware of what was posted as I am,” he said. “I am talking to a number of people, all of whom I have faith in and am deciding how to respond, quite frankly.”

Barton, 68, was first elected to the House in 1985 and is the longest-serving member of Congress from the Texas delegation. (For more from the author of “Texas Rep Barton Apologizes for Nude Pic and Sext, but Won’t Retire” please click HERE)

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US Troops Killed in Plane Crashes Skyrockets in 2017

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Even before the Navy cargo plane crash Wednesday, the number of U.S. troops killed in plane crashes had skyrocketed this year along with the total number of crashes overall compared to this point a year ago, a Fox News investigation has uncovered.

So far this year, there have been 22 U.S. military noncombat plane crashes flying routine operations. That’s up 38 percent from this time last year.

The number of American troops killed in these plane crashes has more than doubled. Following the announcement by the 7th Fleet Thursday night that it has ended its search for three missing American sailors hundreds of miles off the coast of Japan, the number of U.S. service members lost to plane crashes in 2017 stands at 37. That is more than 130 percent higher than the number killed in non-combat plane crashes at this point in 2016 . . .

“Perhaps the greatest harm to our national security and our military is self-inflicted. I repeat self-inflicted,” Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and former naval aviator, said on the senate floor. “We are killing more of our own people in training than our enemies are in combat.”

The Navy cargo plane crash this week was the deadliest crash for the U.S. military since an Army Black Hawk helicopter crashed off the coast of Hawaii killing five soldiers in August. (Read more from “US Troops Killed in Plane Crashes Skyrockets in 2017” HERE)

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Tom Steyer’s Impeachment Push Has Some Dems Running Scared

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California financier Tom Steyer’s $20 million ad campaign to impeach President Donald Trump has alienated some of the Democratic leaders with the influence to make impeachment a reality.

Some within the Democratic leadership fear that aggressively pursuing impeachment will only serve to turn Republican and independents against the party and jeopardize their opportunity to flip Congress in 2018.

“I’ve been a very harsh critic of this president….But the impeachment message right now is not helpful to the possibility of retaking the House,” Democratic Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, chairman of the fiscally moderate New Democratic Coalition, told The Wall Street Journal . . .

The ads have run on CNN, MSNBC and Fox News, local broadcast stations, Times Square and Twitter. The segments, which cast Trump’s firing of former FBI director James Comey as obstruction, direct viewers to a virtual impeachment petition website, that 2.6 million people have signed in the month since the campaign began.

Steyer, who has spent over $170 million to support Democratic causes and candidates over the last three years, claims the ad campaign is designed to put sufficient public pressure on lawmakers that they secure the necessary coalition to impeach. (Read more from “Tom Steyer’s Impeachment Push Has Some Dems Running Scared” HERE)

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Trump to Troops on Thanksgiving: ‘You’re Fighting for Something Good’

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By Miles Parks. President Trump spoke to U.S. troops Thursday from his private Florida club Mar-a-Lago, telling them “we’re really winning” in the fight against ISIS and in Afghanistan — all thanks to his administration’s leadership.

“They say we’ve made more progress against ISIS than they did in years of the previous administration, and that’s because I’m letting you do your job,” Trump said, in a video call to branches of the U.S. armed forces . . .

Trump also pointed to the economy in the speech, telling the service members that “when you come back, you’re going to see with the jobs and the companies coming back into our country and the stock market just hit a record high. Unemployment is the lowest its been in 17 years.”

“So you’re fighting for something real,” he said. “You’re fighting for something good.”

The president spent the holiday at Mar-A-Lago, but made a visit to a local Coast Guard station as well. He and first lady Melania Trump provided turkey sandwiches, giant muffins, fruit, chips and cookies to the men and women on duty there, according to the Associated Press. The president also thanked them for their help in providing hurricane relief. (Read more from “Trump to Troops on Thanksgiving: ‘You’re Fighting for Something Good'” HERE)

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Thanksgiving Help for the Homeless: ‘We Haven’t Seen Numbers Like This Since the Great Depression’

By City News Service. Thanksgiving meals will be served to thousands of homeless and near-homeless individuals today on Skid Row and in Pasadena and Canoga Park amid calls for donations and volunteers for the rest of the year.

The Midnight Mission will serve Thanksgiving brunch to nearly 2,500 homeless and near-homeless men, women and children, according to Georgia Berkovich, its director of public affairs.

Scheduled volunteer servers include gubernatorial candidate and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, entertainer Dick Van Dyke and actress Nicolette Sheridan.

The Midnight Mission is seeking donations of $5 to $10 to help it cover the costs of the meals. Donations can be made by texting “Meals” to 71777, Berkovich said. The mission serves meals seven days a week, distributes hygiene kits after its meal service and conducts drives for food and clothing to distribute to its guests.

“We haven’t seen numbers like this since the Great Depression,” she said. (Read more from “Thanksgiving Help for the Homeless: ‘We Haven’t Seen Numbers Like This Since the Great Depression'” HERE)

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Roy Moore Opponent Defended Man With Ties to KKK, Holocaust Deniers

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The Democratic nominee in the heated Alabama Senate race once defended a man in court who has ties to the Ku Klux Klan and Holocaust deniers, complicating his record on the campaign trail as a civil rights champion.

Former U.S. Attorney Doug Jones is running against Republican candidate Roy Moore for the Senate seat, which was long occupied by now-U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions . . .

But the 63-year-old Democrat has built his campaign largely on his personal history and legal record during his stint as a U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, where he successfully prosecuted two KKK members linked to the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in 1963 that left four African-American children dead . . .

But while Jones and the media tout his prosecution of the KKK members, his lesser-known record as a private defense attorney in the 1980s is often overlooked. In one case, he defended Tom Posey, the infamous figure during the Iran-Contra scandal, who had ties with the KKK and Holocaust deniers . . .

Jones represented Posey in 1987 amid allegations of illegal arms shipping to the Nicaraguan rebels fighting the socialist government at a time when such activity was prohibited as the U.S. was not officially at war with Nicaragua. He got off the charges thanks to Jones’ representation. (Read more from “Roy Moore Opponent Defended Man With Ties to KKK, Holocaust Deniers” HERE)

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CNN Blackout on House Democrat Under FBI Investigation

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By Peter Hasson. It has been 24 hours since news broke that Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. Bob Brady is under FBI investigation for allegedly paying his primary opponent to drop out of the race, but CNN has published zero articles and devoted zero airtime to the story.

The FBI was granted a search warrant for Brady’s campaign email, [email protected], as part of its investigation into payments Brady’s campaign allegedly made to 2012 primary opponent Jimmie Moore. Two of Brady’s political consultants have already been charged in connection with the investigation.

A search of CNN’s website shows the news outlet has yet to publish an article acknowledging the investigation into the congressman.

And while CNN devoted plenty of coverage to President Trump’s feud with Lavar Ball, the father of UCLA basketball player LiAngelo Ball, the network has yet to even acknowledge the investigation into Brady on-air since the news broke, according to broadcast monitoring service TVEyes.

CNN isn’t the only major network keeping its viewers in the dark about the Brady investigation. MSNBC also has yet to mention the story on-air since it broke. (Read more from “CNN Blackout on House Democrat Under FBI Investigation” HERE)

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FBI Investigates Congressman for His Campaign Paying Opponent to Quit

By The Daily Beast. The FBI said it is investigating Rep. Bob Brady (D-PA) for an alleged scheme to pay his primary opponent to drop out of a 2012 race against him and for allegedly lying to investigators.

The revelation came from a search warrant application unsealed in a Pennsylvania federal court on Monday, which was first reported by Seamus Hughes. An FBI agent asked a judge to authorize access to Brady’s personal email account on the belief it holds evidence contradicting an anticipated defense about the campaign payments. The judge approved the warrant and the FBI said it got one CD worth of data from the email account.

Brady’s congressional office in Washington, D.C., could not be reached for comment. Brady has not been charged with a crime.

Jimmie Moore ended his campaign for the Democratic nomination in February 2012 after allegedly receiving $90,000 from the Brady campaign. The FBI said the payments were routed from the Brady campaign to businesses owned by his aides. Then the money was transferred to one of Moore’s aides, who used it to pay for services rendered to the Moore campaign. (Read more from “FBI Investigates Congressman for His Campaign Paying Opponent to Quit” HERE)

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