Bobby Jindal Says Duck Dynasty Star Willie Robertson Would Be a ‘Great Running Mate’

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Photo Credit: Bloomberg Politics

Photo Credit: Bloomberg Politics

That’s the ticket?

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, who is considering a White House run, may have narrowed his choice of running mates. During a joint appearance at a Good Friday prayer breakfast in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Jindal was asked about picking Duck Dynasty star Willie Robertson as his side man in the coming campaign.

“As a running mate? Sure, but as vice president—I assume that’s what you’re asking—not the other way around,” Jindal told reporters, adding, “He’s a great guy, I think he’d be a great running mate. It’d be a huge pay cut for him, so I’m not sure he’d be willing to do it.”

Jindal has made no secret of his admiration for Robertson and the rest of the Duck Dynasty clan. His header photo on Twitter, for example, features a gathering of the Jindal and Robertson clans. (Read more from “Bobby Jindal Says Duck Dynasty Star Willie Robertson Would Be a ‘Great Running Mate’” HERE)

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America Needs to Curb Immigration Flows

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borderwire18n-1-webBy Jeff Sessions. It is time for an honest discussion of immigration.

The first “great wave” of U.S. immigration took place from roughly 1880 to 1930. During this time, according to the Census Bureau, the foreign-born population doubled from about 6.7 million to 14.2 million people. Changes were then made to immigration law to reduce admissions, decreasing the foreign-born population until it fell to about 9.6 million by 1970. Meanwhile, during this low-immigration period, real median compensation for U.S. workers surged, increasing more than 90 percent from 1948 to 1973, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

In the 1960s, Congress lifted immigration caps and ushered in a “second great wave.” The foreign-born population more than quadrupled, to more than 40 million today.

This ongoing wave coincides with a period of middle-class contraction. The Pew Research Center reports: “The share of adults who live in middle-income households has eroded over time, from 61% in 1970 to 51% in 2013.” Harvard economist George Borjas has estimated that high immigration from 1980 to 2000 reduced the wages of lower-skilled U.S. workers by 7.4 percent — a stunning drop — with particularly painful reductions for African American workers. Weekly earnings today are lower than they were in 1973. (Read more from “America Needs to Curb Immigration Flows” HERE)

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Immigration Activists to Train ‘Community Navigators’ in Executive Amnesty

By Caroline May. A series of powerpoint presentations from the Committee for Immigration Reform Implementation sheds some light on how groups supportive of President Obama’s executive amnesty are strategizing to get people to sign up and defend the president’s actions.

“Once the applications are out, the best defense of the programs will be huge number of applications for [Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals] and [Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents],” reads one of the powerpoint slide.

The powerpoints are part of a curriculum for what the coalition of immigration activists calls community navigators to help prepare people up for executive amnesty.

“Community navigators (or promotores) are volunteers who receive specialized training to provide quality immigration services for their communities in an empowering and effective way. The Committee for Immigration Reform Implementation (CIRI) has developed a curriculum for organizations to use to train navigators who will be engaged in outreach, organizing, screening, document preparation, and/or application assistance related to administrative relief implementation,” reads the program’s description. It’s slated for April 13.

“The training has been fully vetted by the CIRI subcommittee on regional coordination, as well as the CIRI steering committee. We will introduce the model and discuss how it can be adapted for various contexts and demographics,” it adds. (Read more from this story HERE)

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University Coach Fights Back for ‘American Sniper’; University Decides to Screen Movie After All

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american-sniper_612x380_0Perhaps there’s a fighting spirit at the University of Michigan after all — and no surprise that it comes from new football coach Jim Harbaugh.

After cancelling a screening of the blockbuster movie “American Sniper” because it made Muslim students feel “unsafe,” the university has had second thoughts and will show the film . . .

Trying to stay a step ahead of the firestorm unleashed in the wake of the school’s original decision, the Center for Campus Involvement announced on social media Tuesday that the movie will be shown in a “separate forum that provides an appropriate space for dialogue & reflection” . . .

The school cancelled the showing of the film after Muslim students circulated a letter online complaining that it “not only tolerates but promotes anti-Muslim … rhetoric and sympathizes with a mass killer” . . .

The Center for Campus Involvement initially apologized for scheduling the movie, saying in a statement “we deeply regret causing harm to members of our community.” But in a later statement, University Vice President for Student Life E. Royster Harper backed away entirely from the earlier decision, calling it a “mistake.” (Read more from “University Coach Fights Back for ‘American Sniper’; University Decides to Screen Movie After All” HERE)

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Boston Marathon Bomber Tsarnaev Convicted, May Face Death Sentence

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BomberDzhokhar Tsarnaev was found guilty on Wednesday of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing that killed three people and injured 264 others, and the jury will now decide whether to sentence him to death.

Tsarnaev, 21, is the surviving member of pair of ethnic Chechen brothers who planted the homemade pressure-cooker bombs that tore through the crowd at the famed race’s finish line in one of the most shocking attacks on U.S. soil since Sept. 11, 2001. He left a note behind describing the attack as an act of retribution for U.S. military campaigns in Muslim-dominated countries.

His lawyers opened Tsarnaev’s federal trial in Boston a month ago by bluntly admitting “it was him” who planted one of the bombs on April 15, 2013 and three days later shot dead a police officer, kicking off a day of chaos in Boston. After 11 hours of deliberations over two days, the jury found him guilty of all 30 criminal counts he faced.

The slightly built, lightly goateed defendant stood silently, shifting uncomfortably as a U.S. District court official read out each guilty finding, a process that took 25 minutes. The courtroom was packed with survivors of the attack including the parents of 8-year-old Martin Richard, the youngest fatality, and law enforcement officials, including former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis.

After the verdict was read, Karen Brassard, whose left leg was badly injured by one of the bombs, said she was glad that Tsarnaev had shown no emotion. “Personally I wouldn’t have bought it if he had,” Brassard said, as an early-spring sleet fell over Boston’s waterfront. “He has been, to use my word, arrogant walking in and out of the courtroom.” (Read more from “Boston Marathon Bomber Tsarnaev Convicted, May Face Death Sentence” HERE)

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Kansas Wants to Ban Welfare Recipients from Seeing Movies, Going Swimming on Government’s Dime

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pooolIf House Bill 2258 is signed into law by Gov. Sam Brownback (R) this week, Kansas families receiving government assistance will no longer be able to use those funds to visit swimming pools, see movies, go gambling or get tattoos on the state’s dime.

Those are just a few of the restrictions contained within the measure that promises to tighten regulations on how poor families spend their government aid.

State Sen. Michael O’Donnell, a Wichita Republican who has advocated for the bill, said the legislation is designed to pressure those receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families to spend “more responsibly.”

“We’re trying to make sure those benefits are used the way they were intended,” O’Donnell, vice chair of the state senate’s standing committee on public health and welfare, told the Topeka Capital-Journal. “This is about prosperity. This is about having a great life” . . .

“I just think we are simply saying to people, ‘If you are asking for assistance in this state, you’re sort of less than other people and we’re going to tell you how and where to spend your money,’” Rep. Carolyn Bridges, a Wichita Democrat, said during the House’s debate, according to the Associated Press. (Read more from “Kansas Wants to Ban Welfare Recipients from Seeing Movies, Going Swimming on Government’s Dime” HERE)

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Historic Poll: Obama Is Nearly Twice as Popular in Cuba as He Is in the U.S.

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ObamaBarack Obama is a pretty popular guy in Cuba these days. So much so that nearly nine out of 10 Cubans hope he’ll be the first U.S. president to visit their island since Calvin Coolidge did in 1928.

A new Bendixen & Amandi Poll for Univision Noticias – Fusion in collaboration with The Washington Post shows that 89 percent of Cubans think the U.S. leader should swing by for a visit now that the two countries are trying to make nice. Obama also enjoys an 80 percent favorability rating on the communist-led island. The poll suggests that Obama is nearly twice as popular in Cuba as he is in the United States. Back home, where the U.S. president’s favorability rating is around 47 percent — the same as President Castro’s in Cuba.

According to the poll, an independent survey of 1,200 Cubans living across the island, 34 percent of Cubans have a “very positive” opinion of Obama, while 46 percent say they have a “somewhat positive” opinion of the U.S. president. That puts Obama’s overall favorability rating well above that of Fidel Castro, whose “very positives” and “somewhat positives” add up to 44 percent. Cuban President Raul Castro’s favorability rating is at 47 percent, nudging him slightly ahead of his older brother in the popularity category, according to the survey results.

The door-to-door poll, considered the most comprehensive and largest independent survey in Cuba in more than 50 years, was conducted by a team of local Cuban interviewers led by Miami-based research firm Bendixen & Amandi. The poll was carried out without the authorization of the Cuban government between March 17-27 in all 13 provinces of the island, including the capital city of Havana. The data offers a unique insight into public opinion on an island where reliable polling is notoriously difficult and where 75 percent of Cubans claim they have to be careful what they say in public. The opinion poll claims a margin of error of 2.8 percent, with a 95 percent confidence level. (Read more from “Historic Poll: Obama Is Nearly Twice as Popular in Cuba as He Is in the U.S.” HERE)

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Obama Makes Another Anti-Christian Statement, This Time at Yesterday’s Easter Prayer Breakfast

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mrBy Matt Wilstein. Towards the end of his speech at Tuesday morning’s Easter Prayer Breakfast, President Barack Obama appeared to veer off script to make some comments that implicitly referenced the fierce debate that has been raging over the last week about “religious freedom” laws in Indiana, Arkansas and elsewhere.

“On Easter, I do reflect on the fact that as a Christian, I am supposed to love,” Obama said. “And I have to say that sometimes when I listen to less-than-loving expressions by Christians, I get concerned.” As the crowd began to murmur, the president backed off, saying, “But that’s a topic for another day.”

“I was about to veer off,” he explained. “I’m pulling it back.” (Read more from “Obama Denounces ‘Less-than-Loving’ Christians at Easter Prayer Breakfast” HERE)

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Rush: Left Has ‘Fear and Hatred of Christianity’

By Ian Hanchett. Talk radio host Rush Limbaugh stated that the left has a “fear and hatred of Christianity” on Monday.

Rush said that he thought it was odd that people on the left seem to believe Pope Francis I agrees with them on many issues, “even though they hate religion, even though they’re frightened of it, even though they’re scared to death of it, which is the real truth of it all, they so desperately want the pope to be one of them. It’s one of the most amazing psychological things, I think. Modern leftists, particularly modern really extreme leftists — I mean, most of the culture war that is occurring in this country and has been going on for 30 years, if the truth be known, at the root of it is a fear and hatred of Christianity and religion in general, Christianity specifically, but religion in general.”

He continued, “that is what people on the left just have the biggest struggle with. It’s a giant enemy. It’s a powerful enemy, an enemy they have no control over, an enemy they will never be able to dominate, an enemy they will never be able to obliterate and they know it, but they nevertheless try.” (Read more from this story HERE)

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White House Computers Hacked by Russians, Sensitive Information Accessed

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000_was226501.siRussian hackers behind the damaging cyber intrusion of the State Department in recent months used that perch to penetrate sensitive parts of the White House computer system, according to U.S. officials briefed on the investigation.

While the White House has said the breach only affected an unclassified system, that description belies the seriousness of the intrusion. The hackers had access to sensitive information such as real-time non-public details of the president’s schedule. While such information is not classified, it is still highly sensitive and prized by foreign intelligence agencies, U.S. officials say.

The White House in October said it noticed suspicious activity in the unclassified network that serves the executive office of the president. The system has been shut down periodically to allow for security upgrades.

The FBI, Secret Service and U.S. intelligence agencies are all involved in investigating the breach, which they consider among the most sophisticated attacks ever launched against U.S. government systems. ​The intrusion was routed through computers around the world, as hackers often do to hide their tracks, but investigators found tell-tale codes and other markers that they believe point to hackers working for the Russian government.

National Security Council spokesman Mark Stroh didn’t confirm the Russian hack, but he did say that “any such activity is something we take very seriously.” (Read more from “White House Computers Hacked by Russians, Sensitive Information Accessed” HERE)

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NCIS Investigation Reportedly Shows Bergdahl Had ‘Deliberate Plan’ to ‘Offer Himself up’ to the Taliban

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Photo Credit: EPA; AP; Reuters

Photo Credit: EPA; AP; Reuters

A 2009 NCIS investigation into Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s activities while in Afghanistan reveal that there is clear evidence Bergdahl was “going over to the other side with a deliberate plan,” Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer said on Fox News’ “The O’Reilly Factor” Monday night.

Shaffer, a former military intelligence officer and Fox News contributor, said two senior sources told him that the Naval Criminal Investigative Service investigation included a forensic review of his computer, which show Bergdahl’s apparent intent to travel to Uzbekistan.

“He was going to go off to Uzbekistan,” Shaffer told Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly. “He had made contact with local Afghans and wanted to be moved to Uzbekistan and then made contact with the Russians because he wanted to talk to Russian organized crime …

“Clearly he was not all there relating to what he was doing,” Shaffer told O’Reilly. “I think we’re going to see more and more, as this report is made public that there were a number of disconcerting things within Bergdahl.”

A military source also told Fox News there was strong intelligence after Bergdahl’s 2009 disappearance indicating he was handed over to the Taliban about 10 days after he left his base, and that the group wanted him. The source, who is familiar with the investigation and efforts to recover Bergdahl, said there was an effort to pick up Bergdahl — and potentially block his crossing into Pakistan — but the intelligence was either bad or old and the effort was not successful. (Read more from “NCIS Investigation Reportedly Shows Bergdahl Had ‘Deliberate Plan’ to ‘Offer Himself up’ to the Taliban” HERE)

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U.S. Secretly Tracked Billions of Calls for Decades

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Businessman has stress - Mann schreit ins TelefonThe U.S. government started keeping secret records of Americans’ international telephone calls nearly a decade before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, harvesting billions of calls in a program that provided a blueprint for the far broader National Security Agency surveillance that followed.

For more than two decades, the Justice Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration amassed logs of virtually all telephone calls from the USA to as many as 116 countries linked to drug trafficking, current and former officials involved with the operation said. The targeted countries changed over time but included Canada, Mexico and most of Central and South America.

Federal investigators used the call records to track drug cartels’ distribution networks in the USA, allowing agents to detect previously unknown trafficking rings and money handlers. They also used the records to help rule out foreign ties to the bombing in 1995 of a federal building in Oklahoma City and to identify U.S. suspects in a wide range of other investigations.

The Justice Department revealed in January that the DEA had collected data about calls to “designated foreign countries.” But the history and vast scale of that operation have not been disclosed until now.

The now-discontinued operation, carried out by the DEA’s intelligence arm, was the government’s first known effort to gather data on Americans in bulk, sweeping up records of telephone calls made by millions of U.S. citizens regardless of whether they were suspected of a crime. It was a model for the massive phone surveillance system the NSA launched to identify terrorists after the Sept. 11 attacks. That dragnet drew sharp criticism that the government had intruded too deeply into Americans’ privacy after former NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaked it to the news media two years ago. (Read more from “U.S. Secretly Tracked Billions of Calls for Decades” HERE)

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