America Has an ‘Ugly, Anti-Christian Bias’ Says Franklin Graham

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Photo Credit: Christian Today

Photo Credit: Christian Today

Influential evangelical leader Franklin Graham has issued a powerful warning of growing bias against Christians. He argued that it will lead to discrimination and loss of religious freedom, and praised the courage of those who hold fast to the faith, even at risk of persecution and death.

In an Easter message on his Facebook page, Graham, head of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and of the relief agency Samaritan’s Purse, said that millions of Christians around the world were celebrating the resurrection of Jesus.

Many of them risk their freedom and their lives to worship Christ, he added.

“Even under the threat of imprisonment, they faithfully follow, like Pastor Saeed Abidini [sic] and scores of others.”

Pastor Abedini is an Iranian-American Christian pastor who has been in prison in Iran since 2012. In 2013, he was sentenced to eight years for planting house churches and “attempting to sway Iranian youth away from Islam.” (Read more from “America Has an ‘Ugly, Anti-Christian Bias’ Says Franklin Graham” HERE)

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Secret Service Officer Charged With Burglary, Destruction of Property

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Secret SServieAn off-duty member of the Secret Service’s uniformed division was arrested Friday morning after allegedly trying to kick in the front door of his former girlfriend’s apartment.

Arthur E. Baldwin, 29, was charged with first-degree burglary and destruction of property. According to D.C. Superior Court charging documents, police arrived at the apartment in the 3200 block of D Street SE and noticed dents, broken hinges and a boot print on the front door. Also, two apartment windows were shattered.

The woman — who according to the report was crying, shaking and “appeared to be in fear of her life” — told officers that her ex-boyfriend wouldn’t “leave me alone.”

Baldwin, according to the report, left the scene before officers arrived. The woman told the responding officer that her ex-boyfriend was a police officer and that she did not want him to lose his job.

Minutes later, according to the charging documents, Baldwin, who was in uniform, returned to the apartment. The responding officer asked Baldwin for his service weapon, and Baldwin told the officer that the pistol was in his vehicle in a book bag. The officer recovered a Sig Sauer 229 with one magazine loaded with live ammunition. (Read more from “Secret Service Officer Charged With Burglary, Destruction of Property” HERE)

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Air Force Removes General Who Warned of ‘Treason’

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WarthogBy Kristina Wong. An Air Force general has been removed from his position after warning airmen not to talk to members of Congress about the A-10 “Warthog” attack jet.

Air Force Maj. Gen. James Post III, a two-star vice commander at Air Combat Command, was under investigation by the Air Force’s inspector general for allegedly telling more than 300 airmen at a Nevada conference in January that they were not to talk to members of Congress about the Air Force’s attempts to retire the attack jet.

In response to a question about the A-10, Post discussed “the importance of loyalty to senior leader decisions and used the word ‘treason’ in describing his thoughts on communication by Airmen counter to those decisions,” the investigation found.

Post’s “choice of words had the effect of attempting to prevent some members from lawfully communicating with Congress, which is a violation of the U.S. Code and [Department of Defense] Directives, whether that was his intention or not,” said Air Combat Command (ACC).

His remarks had a “chilling effect on some of the attendees and caused them to feel constrained from communicating with members of Congress,” the command said. (Read more from “Air Force Removes General Who Warned of ‘Treason’ on A-10” HERE)
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Senator McCain, Ayotte “Outraged” by General’s Treason Comments

AirForceGeneralBy Jeff Schogol. Post’s “treason” comment outraged some in Congress, including Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who called on Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James to investigate the matter.

Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., has been the foremost opponent to the Air Force’s plans to retire the A-10. In January, Ayotte told Air Force Times she was “deeply disturbed” by what Post said.

“How could members of the armed forces exercising their lawful right to communicate with Congress be providing aid and comfort to our enemies?” Ayotte said in a statement at the time. “If the facts are on the Air Force’s side regarding its efforts to prematurely divest the A-10, what does the Air Force fear?”

On Friday, Ayotte issued a statement saying she was glad that the IG had affirmed the right of service members to talk to Congress.

“I appreciate the thorough investigation that the Air Force Inspector General conducted into Maj. Gen, Post’s comments,” she said in Friday’s statement. “I hope this unfortunate incident will eliminate any doubt regarding the legal right of a service member to lawfully communicate with Congress about the A-10 or any other issue of concern.” (Read more from this story HERE)

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Outrage: Fort Hood Shooting Victim Denied Benefits, Despite Purple Heart Decision

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Purple_Heart_caseBy Catherine Herridge. The Obama administration has finally acknowledged that those hurt and killed in the 2009 Fort Hood shootings were victims of terrorism — and not “workplace violence,” as it was previously described. But while formal recognition of that is set for Friday, when victims will receive the Purple Heart, it may only be symbolic.

Fox News has learned as part of its ongoing investigation of the 2009 terrorist attack that the military, at least in one case, is still denying benefits for injuries sustained in the attack.

“I think it’s almost unheard of for someone to receive the Purple Heart but not have their injuries deemed combat-related,” Shawn Manning, who was seriously injured in the 2009 attack, told Fox News. “I know that was not what Congress intended to have happen, but it is what currently the Army has determined is going to happen.”

On Nov. 5, 2009, then-Staff Sgt. Manning was shot six times by Maj. Nidal Hasan. Two bullets are still in his body — one in his leg, the other in his back — and he suffers from PTSD.

The 2015 defense budget — known as the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA — included language that meant Fort Hood victims were eligible for the Purple Heart honor because the attack was inspired by a foreign terrorist group, and not workplace violence, as the Defense Department initially labeled it. (Read more from “Fort Hood Shooting Victim Denied Benefits, Despite Purple Heart Decision” HERE)

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‘Outrageous, Indefensible’ That Ft. Hood Victims Get Purple Heart, but No Benefits

By Michael Dorstewitz. Although the 47 victims and family members of the Fort Hood tragedy are finally being awarded their Purple Hearts after more than a five-year wait, they’re also being denied the benefits that attach to the award. And U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz is disgusted.

The Texan Republican and presidential candidate said the situation is “outrageous and it’s indefensible” during his Friday appearance on “Fox & Friends.”

Cruz noted that he helped approve bi-partisan legislation that overturned the classification of the November 2009 massacre from one of “workplace violence” to an act of terror, which led to the Purple Heart awards.

Contributing to the delay is that “this president and this administration is unwilling to acknowledge radical Islamic terrorism for what it is,” according to Cruz.

However, because the injuries themselves have been classified as non-combat-related, the recipients are still denied the financial benefits associated with the Purple Heart. (Read more from “Outrageous, Indefensible’ That Ft. Hood Victims Get Purple Heart, but No Benefits” HERE)

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Puerto Ricans Qualify as Disabled for Social Security Because They Can’t Speak English

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puerto ricoHundreds of Puerto Rico’s residents qualified for federal disability benefits in recent years because they lacked fluency in English, according to government auditors.

The Social Security Administration’s inspector general questioned the policy this month in light of the fact that Spanish is the predominant language in the U.S. territory.

Under Social Security regulations, individuals are considered less employable in the United States if they can’t speak English, regardless of their work experience or level of education.

In a report this month, the independent watchdog suggested that a more appropriate standard might be to consider local conditions when making benefits decisions.

According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau data, 95 percent of Puerto Rico residents above age 5 speak Spanish at home, and about 84 percent say they do not speak English “very well.” (Read more from “Puerto Ricans Who Can’t Speak English Qualify as Disabled for Social Security” HERE)

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Obama Moves Forward Plan to Remove Castro Terror Regime from U.S. Terror List

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flagsDespite the fact that the brutal Castro regime enslaving Cuba continues to support terrorism and harbor American fugitives from justice — not to mention its ruthless oppression of the Cuban people — the Obama administration is reportedly plotting to remove the Communist Party dictatorship from the official U.S. government list of state sponsors of terrorism. According to media reports, the John Kerry-led State Department completed a “review” of Havana’s record and recommended that the regime be taken off the list. However, numerous analysts have pointed out that doing so would be a disaster — not least because the Castro regime has never stopped supporting terrorism.

Obama, who is currently at the socialist-dominated “Summit of the Americas” in Panama schmoozing with various Latin American autocrats, claimed he was waiting for a “recommendation” from his advisors before deciding to remove Castro from the terror list. “That review has been completed at the State Department,” Obama was quoted as saying. “It is now forwarded to the White House. Our inter-agency team will go through the entire thing and then present it to me with a recommendation. That hasn’t happened yet.” More than a few analysts expect Obama to make his big announcement by the end of the summit, which runs into the weekend, about removing Castro from the list. Multiple media outlets reported that Obama called the tyrant over the phone prior to the confab in Panama.

Speaking in Jamaica the day before the Panama summit, Obama dropped several hints suggesting that he would cave in to Castro’s demands. “Our emphasis has been on the facts,” Obama claimed, sounding oblivious to the irony. “We want to make sure that given that this is a powerful tool to isolate those countries that genuinely do support terrorism, that when we make those designations we’ve got strong evidence that, in fact, that’s the case.” The Castro regime genuinely supports terrorism, and Obama knows that. In fact, Castro’s thugs are currently in Panama terrorizing dissidents and critics of his regime. However, as The New American has documented extensively, top establishment players — ranging from the global government-promoting Council on Foreign Relations and Big Business to the dictator-dominated United Nations — have been trying to legitimize the autocracy for years.

Critics, though, say it would be a tragedy to remove the terrorist regime from the terror list. “Removing Cuba from the U.S. terror list is a terrible mistake,” said Frank De Varona, a Cuban-born American patriot who fought to free Cuba in the Bay of Pigs invasion and was imprisoned in one of Castro’s dungeons. “Cuba continues to support terrorism around the world.” Among other strategies, De Varona told The New American that the Cuban regime, through its close ally Venezuela, was providing intelligence to Hamas and Hezbollah. The regimes ruling Cuba, Venezuela, and Iran all have a very close relationship and continue to support terrorism across the Middle East, too, he said. The Castro regime also inked a deal with Russia’s Putin to establish military, intelligence, and naval bases in Cuba that “will threaten the national security of the United States,” said De Varona, also a former university professor, author, and expert on Cuba. (Read more from “Obama Set to Remove Castro Terror Regime from U.S. Terror List” HERE)

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DHS Ordered to Explain Secret Plan to Shut Down Phone Service

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phone serviceThe U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is questioning the Department of Homeland Security’s decision to keep secret its plan to shut down mobile phone service during “critical emergencies.” The court originally sided with the federal government that the plan should not be disclosed under a Freedom of Information Act request, but has since revisited the ruling and has ordered the DHS to explain the secrecy.

According to Ars Technica, the Department of Homeland Security plan, known as Standing Operating Procedure 303, was created after mobile phones were used to detonate explosives in London.

Court documents explain that SOP 303 is a “unified voluntary process for the orderly shut-down and restoration of wireless devices during critical emergencies such as the threat of radio-activated improvised explosive devices” . . .

As noted by The Blaze, outside groups have been requesting information about SOP 303 for years. The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) became particularly interested in SOP 303 in 2011, when officials attempted to stop a protest by shutting down cellular phone service near a San Francisco subway station. Likewise, Bay Area Rapid Transit shut down a portion of its train service during the same period. Following that incident, the Electronic Privacy Information Center filed a Freedom of Information Act request asking the federal government to disclose the federal document that granted the DHS the authority to enact SOP 303. The government agreed to the request, but redacted much of the document. (Read more from “DHS Ordered to Explain Secret Plan to Shut Down Phone Service” HERE)

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NY Times Blatantly Lies About the Carry of Guns at NRA Annual Meeting

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Photo Credit: Bearing Arms

Photo Credit: Bearing Arms

If the New York Times editorial board didn’t already exist, I’d have to invent them for my amusement.

Here’s the opening for their latest op-ed.

No Firing Pins, Please, as the N.R.A. Gathers

Seventy-thousand people are expected to attend the National Rifle Association’s convention opening on Friday in Tennessee, and not one of them will be allowed to come armed with guns that can actually shoot. After all the N.R.A. propaganda about how “good guys with guns” are needed to be on guard across American life, from elementary schools to workplaces, the weekend’s gathering of disarmed conventioneers seems the ultimate in hypocrisy.

This lede paragraph in a New York Times editorial today is completely, utterly, factually false.

As NPR discovered after reading one of our articles earlier this week, convention attendees at the NRA Annual meetings can indeed carry firearms at the NRA Annual Meeting. (Read more from “NY Times Blatantly Lies About the Carry of Guns at NRA Annual Meeting” HERE)

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As Encryption Spreads, Feds Contend with Those Who Think the Constitution Matters

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generalFor months, federal law enforcement agencies and industry have been deadlocked on a highly contentious issue: Should tech companies be obliged to guarantee government access to encrypted data on smartphones and other digital devices, and is that even possible without compromising the security of law-abiding customers?

Recently, the head of the National Security Agency provided a rare hint of what some U.S. officials think might be a technical solution. Why not, suggested Adm. Michael S. Rogers, require technology companies to create a digital key that could open any smartphone or other locked device to obtain text messages or photos, but divide the key into pieces so that no one person or agency alone could decide to use it?

“I don’t want a back door,” Rogers, the director of the nation’s top electronic spy agency, said during a speech at Princeton University, using a tech industry term for covert measures to bypass device security. “I want a front door. And I want the front door to have multiple locks. Big locks.”

Law enforcement and intelligence officials have been warning that the growing use of encryption could seriously hinder criminal and national security investigations. But the White House, which is preparing a report for President Obama on the issue, is still weighing a range of options, including whether authorities have other ways to get the data they need rather than compelling companies through regulatory or legislative action.

The task is not easy. Those taking part in the debate have polarized views, with advocates of default commercial encryption finding little common ground with government officials who see increasing peril as the technology becomes widespread on mobile phones and on text messaging apps. (Read more from “As Encryption Spreads, U.S. Grapples with Clash Between Privacy, Security” HERE)

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Ayatollah Khamenei Accuses White House of ‘Lying,’ Being ‘Deceptive,’ and Having ‘Devilish’ Intentions

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Photo Credit: Weekly Standard

Photo Credit: Weekly Standard

President Obama has long known that the real decision maker in Iran is Ayatollah Khamenei, the so-called supreme leader. While other Iranian officials have negotiated with Western powers over the mullahs’ nuclear program, Khamenei’s opinion is the only one that really counts. It is for this reason that Obama began writing directly to Khamenei early in his presidency.

Earlier today, Khamenei broke his silence on the supposed “framework” the Obama administration has been trumpeting as the basis for a nuclear accord. Khamenei’s speech pulled the rug out from underneath the administration.

Khamenei accused the Obama administration of “lying” about the proposed terms, being “deceptive,” and having “devilish” intentions, according to multiple published accounts of his speech, as well as posts on his official Twitter feed.

I trust our negotiators but I’m really worried as the other side is into lying & breaching promises; an example was White House fact sheet.

— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) April 9, 2015

Hours after the #talks, Americans offered a fact sheet that most of it was contrary to what was agreed.They always deceive &breach promises.

— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) April 9, 2015

Khamenei also disputed the key terms Obama administration officials have said were agreed upon in principle. Economic sanctions will not be phased out once Iran’s compliance has been “verified,” according to the Ayatollah. Instead, Khamenei said that if the U.S. wants a deal, then all sanctions must be dropped as soon as the agreement is finalized. Khamenei also put strict limits on the reach of the inspectors who would be tasked with this verification process in the first place.

Beginning earlier this month and in the days since, Obama and his advisers have attempted to portray the negotiations as major step forward. During an appearance in the Rose Garden on April 2, Obama said the U.S. and its allies have “reached a historic understanding with Iran.” (Read more from “Ayatollah Khamenei Accuses White House of ‘Lying,’ Being ‘Deceptive,’ and Having ‘Devilish’ Intentions” HERE)

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