Obama Admin Split Goes Public: FBI Director and President Disagree on Ferguson

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President Obama and his FBI director are sparring over whether the so-called “Ferguson Effect” is real, complicating the president’s push to loosen the nation’s sentencing laws.

The dispute could threaten the growing bipartisan momentum behind a criminal justice reform effort that Obama sees as a top second-term priority.

The question of whether police are reluctant to enforce the law because they are afraid of being videotaped has become the subject of fierce debate, as experts struggle to explain an uptick in violent crime in some U.S. cities.

FBI Director James Comey, a Republican, amplified the argument twice over the past week, suggesting anti-police sentiment fueled by the killings of unarmed black men in places such as Ferguson, Mo., has resulted in a crime spike.

“Some part of the explanation is a chill wind blowing through American law enforcement over the last year. And that wind is surely changing behavior,” Comey said in an October 23 speech at the University of Chicago Law School. (Read more from “Obama Administration Split FBI Director and President Disagree on Ferguson” HERE)

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Think Gay Marriage is Wrong? Prepare to Lose Your Guns

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Editor’s note: The feds are taking an increasingly aggressive stance with respect to gun ownership by those with perceived “mental issues.” For example, this past summer it was announced that the Social Security Administration is developing a plan to report some Social Security beneficiaries to the federal background check system to prevent gun ownership by them. Gun rights groups estimate that over 4,000,000 Americans could be barred from gun ownership by this new approach.

Additionally, federal law prohibits the sale of firearms to anyone who is found to be “a mental defective.” See 18 USC 922(g)(4). In view of recent developments like the frightening “study” below, it’s no stretch to imagine some time in the not-so-distant future when Christians and other traditionalists will be stripped of their Second Amendment rights.

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Diagnosing Dissenters: IS HOMOPHOBIA A DISORDER?

By Eric Metaxas. This summer, the Supreme Court narrowly redefined marriage and handed the gay-rights movement a major victory: full “equality” and recognition by the government. With that box checked, the gay-rights movement can now focus on its ultimate goal: silencing those who disagree. . .

In just thirty years, America went from a country where homosexuality was a diagnosable disorder to one where you can be fined for refusing to bake a gay “wedding” cake. Now things are going a step further. New research published in “The Journal of Sexual Medicine” suggests that homophobia, not homosexuality, is the psychological disorder.

“Live Science” reports that researchers at the University of Rome Tor Vergata asked 560 university students to report their feelings about homosexuality, then gave them a standard psychiatric evaluation.

Participants who exhibited what the researchers called “healthy attachment styles” tended to show less animosity toward homosexuals. They also showed more “mature coping mechanisms” in “scary or unpleasant situations,” and were generally less angry. But those who showed the highest animosity toward homosexuals exhibited a host of warning signs like inability to trust others, passive-aggressive behavior, and denial.

Lead researcher Emmanuele Jannini concluded, “After discussing for centuries if homosexuality is to be considered a disease, for the first time we demonstrated that the real disease to be cured is homophobia.” (Read more from “Think Gay Marriage is Wrong, You May be Mental” HERE)

U.S. To Deploy Special Operations Forces in Syria

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The U.S. will send a small number of U.S. special operations forces into Syria as part of a shift in its strategy against ISIS, White House officials announced Friday.

President Barack Obama has authorized a contingent of fewer than 50 commandos to deploy into northern Syria and work with moderate opposition forces who are fighting the militants.

While the White House has consistently said it would not put U.S. boots on the ground, spokesman Josh Earnest insisted that they will be there in a “train, advise and assist mission” — and not in a combat role.

“It will not be their responsibility to lead the charge up the hill,” he said. But he acknowledged they will be in a perilous situation: “There is no denying the amount of risk they are taking on here.”

Earnest called the additional forces an “expansion” but not a “change” in U.S. strategy against ISIS. He was unable to detail what the special operators will do, citing security concerns. (Read more from “U.S. To Deploy Special Operations Forces in Syria” HERE)

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19-Yr-Old Just Compared Obama to Carson, Discovers Exactly What NO Lib Wants to See [+video]

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Markeece Young, 19, who describes himself as a “former Democrat now Conservative Republican,” has put together a meme to answer the question whether presidential candidate Ben Carson, as opposed to President Obama, is somehow a traitor to his race by advocating for conservative principles.

As reported by Western Journalism, Carson directly addressed the question of whether he is an “Uncle Tom” in August. “I’d say they need to actually listen, not only to what I’m saying, but look at my life and look at what’s been done,” the retired neurosurgeon told TheBlaze. “It is the things that are done that elevate people, not things that repress people and make them dependent.”

Carson was asked why, traditionally, Democrats have gotten most of the African American vote and what the Republican Party can do to change that.

“Well, I think it’s because the Democratic Party has ascribed to the Lyndon Johnson philosophy. I don’t know if you know, but Lyndon Johnson said, ‘If you give those N-words such and such, they’ll vote for us for the next 200 years,’” the candidate responded.

“What the Republican Party needs to do is come out and discuss more the kinds of relationships and the programs that will actually bring people out of poverty, that will give them the ability to use their God-given talents to rise, rather than to simply be satisfied in a dependent position in society,” Carson added.

The Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient gained national political prominence for his articulation of conservative principles at the National Prayer Breakfast in 2013, with Barack Obama sitting only feet away.

He warned the United States to be wary of going the way of Rome, which destroyed itself from within through “moral decay” and “fiscal irresponsibility.”

(Read more from “19-Yr-Old Just Compared Obama to Carson, Discovers Exactly What NO Lib Wants to See” HERE)

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White House Aims to Stop Release of Obama-Clinton Emails

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The White House will try to block the release of a handful of emails between President Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, citing longstanding precedent invoked by presidents of both parties to keep presidential communications confidential, officials said Friday.

The State Department discovered the emails between Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton as part of its effort to release the former secretary’s emails, several thousand more of which were made public on Friday. A review of those emails showed Mrs. Clinton engaged in conversations with various aides about security in Libya, discussing talking points after the 2012 attack on the American compound in Benghazi, Libya, and — on a lighter note — complaining about the lack of emoticons on her phone.

Mr. Obama’s direct correspondence with Mrs. Clinton was forwarded by the State Department to the White House, which has decided against release, a move likely to intensify the struggle between Mrs. Clinton and congressional Republicans, who have pressed for disclosure of her emails as part of an investigation into the administration’s handling of the Benghazi events.

The contents of the emails between Mrs. Clinton, who is running for president, and Mr. Obama have not been disclosed, but their presumed existence has not been a secret. The White House press secretary, Josh Earnest, acknowledged in March that the two “did have the occasion to email one another” when Mrs. Clinton was secretary of state.

Mr. Obama told CBS News in March that he learned about Mrs. Clinton’s use of a private email server “the same time everybody else learned it — through news reports.” Mr. Earnest later clarified that the president was aware that she sometimes used a private email address but did not know the details about how the server was set up. (Read more from “White House Aims to Stop Release of Obama-Clinton Emails” HERE)

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This GOP Candidate’s Chief Operating Officer Just Quit the Campaign

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Christine Ciccone, the chief operating officer for Jeb Bush’s campaign, is leaving the team as the former Florida governor dramatically cuts costs and asserts himself as the Republican establishment frontrunner.

Ciccone was being paid roughly $12,000 a month but is departing the campaign after the campaign notified employees that they were reducing their payroll by 40 percent, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal . . .

After leaving a government job, Ciccone became the Vice President of Government relations at the lobbying firm Honeywell before moving to a position as Senior Vice President of External Relations for the USEC. (Read more from “This GOP Candidate’s Chief Operating Officer Just Quit the Campaign” HERE)

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This Horrible Thing Just Happened to the Praying Football Coach

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Coach Joe Kennedy has been booted from the locker room at Bremerton High School in Washington State, Fox News has learned exclusively.

Superintendent Aaron Leavell placed the longtime coach on administrative leave after he refused to stop his post-game prayers.

“Effective immediately, pending further District review of your conduct, you are placed on paid administrative leave from your position as an assistant coach with the Bremerton High School football program,” Level wrote to the coach in an Oct. 28th letter. “You may not participate, in any capacity, in BHS football program activities.”

Kennedy, who is a devout Christian, had been under investigation since September after someone complained about his post-game prayers at the 50-yard-line.

He was directed to cease and desist those prayers on Sept. 17th. He was also ordered to avoid kneeling, bowing his head or doing anything that could remotely be seen as religious. (Read more from “This Horrible Thing Just Happened to the Praying Football Coach” HERE)

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Senators Demand Answers About IRS Use of Secret Cellphone Tracking Systems

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Two top senators are probing use by the Internal Revenue Service of secret cellphone tracking systems that are more often utilized by federal or local law enforcement agencies.

IRS Commissioner John Koskinen admitted this week that the agency does use the technology, known as cell-site simulators, or StingRays. The admission came after a report by The Guardian that indicated the IRS has spent more than $71,000 to upgrade a version of the device and to receive training from a company that manufactures the devices.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and ranking member Patrick Leahy on Thursday sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew demanding answers about the use of the technology by the IRS.

“We were surprised to learn that IRS investigators may be using these devices,” Mr. Grassley, Iowa Republican, and Mr. Leahy, Vermont Democrat, wrote in the letter. “While the devices can be useful tools for identifying the location of a suspect’s cell phone or identifying an unknown cell phone, we have previously expressed concerns about the privacy implications of these devices.”

Cell site-simulators work by mimicking cellphone towers to trick cellphones to connect to them, enabling investigators to obtain identifying information about the phones and their locations. Law enforcement officers often deploy the suitcase-sized StingRays by hauling them around in vehicles as they drive through neighborhoods looking for a suspect’s phone, scooping up data on the cellphones of any passers-by in the process. (Read more from “Senators Demand Answers About IRS Use of Secret Cellphone Tracking Systems” HERE)

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U.S. Court Will Not Halt NSA Phone Spy Program Before Ban

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A U.S. appeals court on Thursday refused to immediately halt the government’s bulk collection of millions of Americans’ phone records during a “transition” period to a new federal scheme that bans the controversial anti-terrorism surveillance.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York said it would not disturb Congress’ decision to provide a 180-day period for an “orderly transition” to a new, targeted surveillance system from the sweeping National Security Agency program that the court found illegal on May 7.

“An abrupt end to the program would be contrary to the public interest in effective surveillance of terrorist threats, and Congress thus provided a 180-day transition period,” Circuit Judge Gerard Lynch wrote for a three-judge panel. “Under the circumstances, we will defer to that reasonable decision.”

The NSA program collected “metadata” such as phone numbers dialed and call durations, but not call contents. It was first disclosed in 2013 by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

Thursday’s decision rejected a request by the American Civil Liberties Union for a preliminary injunction to stop the program until the narrower scheme begins on Nov. 29. (Read more from “U.S. Court Will Not Halt NSA Phone Spy Program Before Ban” HERE)

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States Struggle With What to Do With Sex Offenders After Prison

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Behind razor wire and locked metal doors, hundreds of men waited on a recent morning to be counted, part of the daily routine inside a remote facility here that was built based on a design for a prison.

But this is not a prison, and most of these men — rapists, pedophiles and other sex offenders — have already completed their sentences. They are being held here indefinitely under a policy known as civil commitment, having been deemed “sexually dangerous” or “sexual psychopathic personalities” by courts. The intent, the authorities say, is to provide treatment to the most dangerous sex offenders until it is safe for the public for them to go home.

Yet not one of the more than 700 sex offenders who have been civilly committed in Minnesota over the past two decades has actually gone home. And only a few men have been provisionally discharged to live outside of state facilities under strict supervision. “You knew you were going to die here,” said Craig Bolte, a sex offender who has been held here nine years and who says he would rather be sent to prison, where “there is still hope.”

But now Minnesota’s civil commitment program — which detains more people per capita than any other state — is facing an overhaul. Earlier this year, a federal judge found it unconstitutional, calling it “a punitive system that segregates and indefinitely detains a class of potentially dangerous individuals without the safeguards of the criminal justice system.” The judge, Donovan W. Frank, of Federal District Court in St. Paul, is expected to order changes to the program as soon as this week.

Minnesota is not alone in revisiting its policies. In Missouri, a federal judge last month found that state’s program violated people’s right to due process, potentially imposing “lifetime detention on individuals who have completed their prison sentences and who no longer pose a danger to the public, no matter how heinous their past conduct.” Of about 250 people held since Missouri began committing people in 1999, state officials say seven have been granted what the state considers release with court-ordered restrictions, though some of those men remain in a group-home-like setting behind razor wire at a state facility. (Read more from “States Struggle With What to Do With Sex Offenders After Prison” HERE)

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