Rubio Chooses Miami’s Freedom Tower to Announce 2016 Plans

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rUBIOSen. Marco Rubio on Thursday told The Miami Herald that he plans to announce his 2016 intentions at a downtown landmark that was often the first stop for exiles fleeing Cuba, but the Florida Republican declined to disclose what political office he would be seeking.

Rubio, a first-generation Cuban-American, has scheduled an April 13 rally at Freedom Tower, the 11-story tower that, for more than a decade, was where refugees first met with U.S. government officials after leaving the island off the Florida coast.

“To me, it’s a place that’s symbolic of the promise of America,” Rubio said in an interview with his hometown newspaper.

Rubio earlier in the week announced the date of his announcement during an appearance on Fox News. Thursday’s interview disclosed the location, and aides said he would not reveal his 2016 plans before the event at Freedom Tower. (Read more from “Rubio Chooses Miami’s Freedom Tower to Announce 2016 Plans” HERE)

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U.S. Muslim Population to Triple by 2050 and Here’s What it Means for America

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American flagLast month, CR published a series of articles spotlighting the surge in Muslim immigration to America and noted that, if a stronger vetting process is not instated for immigrants from countries with a large concentrations of fundamentalist Muslims, America could easily head down the dangerous path to balkanization that is now plaguing parts of Europe.

As Europe is unfortunately finding out, there is nothing tolerant and pluralistic about admitting radical Muslims who are driven by a hatred of people outside of their religion. In some countries, like France, Jews are now being forced to flee.

Today, Pew published their biannual projection on world population of major religions, and their findings only reinforce the concerns about letting in more radical Muslims. Europe will continue to grow its Muslim population, primarily due to fertility rates, according to the Pew projections. By 2050, 10% of all of Europe’s population will be Muslim, with countries like Sweden and England expected to have an even larger share of Muslims.

In the U.S., the Muslim population is expected to triple by 2050 – from 2.77 million to 8.1 million. It is expected to double in just 15 years.

By 2040, there will be more Muslims in the U.S. than Jews. As Pew notes, this is partially due to fertility rates but is primarily based on projections of massive Muslim immigration, which as noted before, is already hovering around 100,000 per year.

One might be asking, what is the problem with this? What are the long-term implications of these numbers?

To quote the words of Hirsi Ali, a moderate Muslim reformer who emigrated here from Somalia, from a riveting op-ed she wrote at Time Magazine on this topic:

As an immigrant of Somali origin, I have no objection to other people coming to America to seek a better life for themselves and their families. My concern is with the attitudes many of these new Muslim Americans will bring with them – and with our capacity for changing those attitudes. Approximately two fifths of Muslim immigrants between now and 2030 will be from just three countries: Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Iraq. Another Pew study – of opinion in the Muslim world – shows just how many people in these countries hold views that most Americans would regard as extreme. Three quarters of Pakistanis and more than two fifths of Bangladeshis and Iraqis think that those, like me, who leave Islam should suffer the death penalty. More than 80 percent of Pakistanis and two thirds of Bangladeshis and Iraqis regard sharia law as the revealed word of God. Only tiny fractions would be comfortable if their daughters married Christians. Only a minority regards honor killings of women as never justified. A quarter of Bangladeshis and one in eight Pakistanis think that suicide bombings in defense of Islam are often or sometimes justified. People with views such as these pose a threat to us all, not because those who hold them will all turn to terrorism. Most will not. But such attitudes imply a readiness to turn a blind eye to the use of violence and intimidation tactics against, say, apostates and dissidents – and a clear aversion to the hard-won achievements of Western feminists and campaigners for minority rights.

Ali hones in on an inconvenient truth, but one for which she can speak with authority.

It’s true that few Muslims, even from the most volatile nations, are actual terrorist operatives. However, as we’ve seen from Europe, when there is a large immigration of people who don’t adhere to the same value sets as their new country, like tolerance and democracy, the risk is run of undermining culture and creating reverse assimilation. That culture of Sharia law, which by the way, is hostile to women and gays, can help cultivate a counter-culture that fosters support for Jihad.

Ali drives this point home:

According to a detailed survey of Muslim Americans, about 8% of those surveyed said that suicide bombing and other violence is often or sometimes justified to defend Islam from its enemies. Indeed, more than a fifth of Muslim Americans say there is a great deal or a fair amount of support for extremism in the Muslim American community. About 20% say that Muslim Americans want to remain “distinct from the larger American society.” Indeed, half say they think of themselves first as a Muslim, second as American, despite the fact that 81% of those polled were U.S. citizens.

This Pew survey and the Hirsi Ali column are very salient in light of the domestic imbroglio America is engaged in with regard to religious liberty and the aggressive coercion tactics of the radical sexual identity movement. The sexual identity movement is engaging in Religophobia against religious Christians and Jews who don’t heed that movement’s demand to have their personal decisions supported by others with their private property or involuntary servitude. What does the sexual identity movement plan to do when the Muslim population of this country triples, and with it the inevitable rise of true intolerance? Whereas religious Jews and Christians are tolerant and know how to disagree agreeably and intelligently, many of these newly arrived Muslim immigrants will not operate with as much tolerance.

Ironically, the biggest threat to the broader homosexual agenda is the growth of adherence to Sharia law, yet some of the same leftists who are attacking religious groups have promoted the very policies that have created a surge in immigration from countries that don’t share the modern Judea-Christian virtue of tolerance. They tolerate the intolerant and are intolerant to those who are tolerant.

Then again, self-immolation is always a characteristic of those who are driven by hate and intolerance. (See, “U.S. Muslim Population to Triple by 2050 and Here’s What it Means for America” originally posted HERE)

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Huge Surge of ‘Unscreened’ Muslims Flooding U.S.

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Photo Credit: WND

Photo Credit: WND

Muslim immigration from dangerous nations is dramatically higher in recent years, and government assurances that immigrants are being properly screened is “a farce,” according to accomplished author and columnist Paul Sperry.

“It’s a huge surge under Obama. In the last three years, he’s averaged 100,000 new immigrants from Muslim nations a year. That is very alarming. It’s more than we’re importing both from Central America and Mexico combined. This is a big shift in immigration flows,” said Sperry, who is the author of “Infiltration: How Muslim Spies and Subversives Have Penetrated Washington” and co-author of “Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld That’s Conspiring to Islamize America.”

“It’s really insane what we’re doing. No one’s really talking about it, but this mass immigration from Muslim countries poses a serious national security threat,” said Sperry, who is also a Hoover Institution media fellow and former Washington bureau chief of WND. Sperry frequently writes for the New York Post and Investor’s Business Daily.

The stated reason for the influx in recent years is the rise in refugees from war-torn nations like Syria and Iraq. The number of people accepted from Syria in particular baffles Sperry, who said there is a long standing policy of keeping Syrians at bay.

“Syria has always been on our terrorist list,” he said. “We have had very strict restrictions on Syrian immigration. Since Syria’s become a failed state, Obama’s increased the number of refugees. By the time he leaves office, we will be importing over 10,000 Syrians into this country. This is a concern because Iraq and Syria are now controlled by the Islamic State.” (Read more from “Huge Surge of ‘Unscreened’ Muslims Flooding U.S.” HERE)

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Obama: Tentative Iran Nuclear Deal ‘Best Option’ For Israel

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President Obama Makes Statement On Nuclear Talks With IranPresident Barack Obama says that every path Iran had to develop a nuclear weapon will be cut off after a tentative nuclear deal was reached.

On Thursday, the United States, Iran and five other world powers announced an understanding outlining limits on Iran’s nuclear program so it cannot lead to atomic weapons, directing negotiators toward achieving a comprehensive agreement within three months.

“It is a good deal — a deal that meets our core objectives. This framework would cut off every pathway that Iran could take to develop a nuclear weapon,” Obama told reporters. “Iran will face strict limitations on its program and Iran has also agreed to the most robust and intrusive inspections and transparency regime ever negotiated for any nuclear program in history. So this deal is not based on trust, it’s based on unprecedented verification.”

Obama stated that the deal is not based on trust, but on unprecedented verification.

“If Iran cheats, the world will know it. If we see something suspicious, we will inspect it.” Obama said, adding that “Iran will face more inspections than any other country in the world.” (Read more from “Obama: Tentative Iran Nuclear Deal ‘Best Option’ For Israel” HERE)

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Meet Flakka, the Dangerous New Drug Sweeping Florida

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Photo Credit: Time

Photo Credit: Time

Its effects can be as potent as crystal meth, bath salts or cocaine. It causes people to act erratically, uncontrollably and dangerously. It’s called flakka, and it’s the new designer drug hitting the streets of Florida.

In recent weeks in Florida, this new drug has led to a man trying to break down the door to a police station, a man impaling himself while trying to scale a fence, and an armed and naked man shouting about hallucinations from a rooftop, CBS reports.

The health effects of taking flakka, which can be injected, snorted, smoked or swallowed, can be dire.

“We’re starting to see a rash of cases of a syndrome referred to as excited delirium,” Jim Hall, an epidemiologist at the Center for Applied Research on Substance Use and Health Disparities at Nova Southeastern University, told CBS. “This is where the body goes into hyperthermia, generally a temperature of 105 degrees. The individual becomes psychotic, they often rip off their clothes and run out into the street violently and have an adrenaline-like strength and police are called and it takes four or five officers to restrain them. Then once they are restrained, if they don’t receive immediate medical attention they can die.” (Read more from “Meet Flakka, the Dangerous New Drug Sweeping Florida” HERE)

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Democrats Still After Ammo for AR-15s

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15We have to give the Democrats credit for persistence – they don’t give up when it comes to going after the Second Amendment. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. In mid-March, only a few days after the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) indefinitely postponed its plan to ban common, green-tipped M855 ball ammo as “armor piercing,” Democrats in Congress decided to try it legislatively.

A few months ago, the ATF said it was considering removing a sporting exemption on the popular round. In late February and early March, word reached the media and the general public about the proposal and tens of thousands of angry gun owners flooded the ATF with emails, faxes and letters. Days before the comment period was over, the ATF announced it was indefinitely postponing the process though it said it would like to revisit the idea at an unspecified date. From there Democrats in Congress took up the torch.

U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel, a Democrat from New York, introduced his “Armor Piercing Bullets Act” to the House, appropriately enough in keeping with the insanity of the bill, on Friday, March 13. Engel’s bill goes much further than the ATF’s proposal would have gone as he would attempt to ban any ammunition that would go through the soft body armor worn by police.

That would effectively ban any Centerfire Rifle ammunition, as the bullet from any deer rifle will easily go through a bulletproof vest. Of course such a widespread ban would warm the heart of any gun banning liberal.

The ATF’s original rule change would have prevented the sale to civilians of one particular type of ball ammunition because these rounds can be used in “pistols” that shoot the 5.56/.223 round. These novelty weapons are essentially cut down AR-15s—they have AR-15 receivers and use the same magazines. These firearms are expensive, bulky, and not easily concealable, despite what Engels and his allies say.

There were repercussions for the administration from the ATF’s proposed rule change. The same day Engel propose his bill, ATF Director B. Todd Jones announced his resignation. Deputy Director Thomas E. Brandon will serve as acting director until a replacement is nominated. While he had already been planning to resign, it happened much sooner than expected.

It is hard to believe that Engels’ bill, and similar proposals by Senate Democrats, are serious efforts and not simply pre-election year efforts to fire up their base. 240 members of Congress, including five Senate Democrats, signed a letter objecting to the ban, so they must know the bill has little chance of passage, even if it has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee.

The response of congressional Republicans has been encouraging. Standing up for the Second Amendment is one of the few instances where they generally are reliably conservative, if only to keep their constituents quiet, if not happy. Rep. Tom Rooney of Florida introduced a bill to prohibit the ATF from creating any new restrictions on the manufacture, importation or sale of ammunition. If the numbers of Congressmen opposed to the ATF’s restriction is any indication, it should receive widespread support.

Congress is not the only place where there has been a pushback against the federal government’s efforts. The attorneys general of 23 states sent a letter to the ATF urging the agency not to attempt to ban the ammunition in the future.

This effort by the ATF and the Obama administration was beat back by a vigilant and engaged public, the formula that will be necessary to combat any future gun control legislation. (See, “Democrats Still After Ammo for AR-15s” originally posted HERE)

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A Year After Firestorm, DHS Wants Access to License-Plate Tracking System

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ScannerThe Department of Homeland Security is seeking bids from companies able to provide law enforcement officials with access to a national license-plate tracking system — a year after canceling a similar solicitation over privacy issues.

The reversal comes after officials said they had determined they could address concerns raised by civil liberties advocates and lawmakers about the prospect of the department’s gaining widespread access, without warrants, to a system that holds billions of records that reveal drivers’ whereabouts.

In a privacy impact assessment issued Thursday, the DHS says that it is not seeking to build a national database or contribute data to an existing system.

Instead, it is seeking bids from companies that already gather the data to say how much they would charge to grant access to law enforcement officers at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a DHS agency. Officials said they also want to impose limits on ICE personnel’s access to and use of the data.

“These restrictions will provide essential privacy and civil liberty protections, while enhancing our agents’ and officers’ ability to locate and apprehend suspects who could pose a threat to national security and public safety,” DHS spokeswoman Marsha Catron said in a statement. The solicitation was posted publicly Thursday. (Read more from “A Year After Firestorm, DHS Wants Access to License-Plate Tracking System” HERE)

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What Truly Motivates Obama’s Love Affair with Iran?

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HOUSEIn November 2013, Barack Obama agreed to lift sanctions on Iran as part of an interim agreement with the largest terror-supporting state in return for curtailing their nuclear weapons program and agreeing to negotiate a permanent deal.

The negotiations have been extended twice over the past year, allowing Iran to reap as much as $700 million in unfrozen assets per month.

The entire premise of these negotiations were immoral as the Islamic terror state was given a gratuitous bailout at the very moment they stepped up their support for Hezbollah on Israel’s border and began taking over other parts of the Middle East. Yet, faux pro-Israel Democrats said they just wanted to allow the negotiations to run its course before they agree to re-impose sanctions. Well, that deadline has come and there are no more excuses. Now, the Administration is calling for another extension.

When Congress reconvenes in two weeks, Democrats will face the following test: are they weaker in combating Iranian terror than the France’s governing socialist party? Republicans will confront the question of whether they are willing to hold Democrats’ feet to the fire on something as critical as national security.

Which brings us to the broader question: what is motivating Obama and his party to engage in a breathtaking embrace of Iran and alienation of Israel – to the point that an Iranian defector recently said the American negotiation team is essentially there to “speak on Iran’s behalf.”

Let’s zoom out and take a broader look at what this Administration has done over the past year in the Middle East:

• The Administration has essentially ceded Yemen to Iran’s Shiite proxy, almost risking another Benghazi in the haste to evacuate American personnel.

• They are using our Air Force to bail out Iran from a humiliating defeat against ISIS in Tikrit, even though the Iranian-backed Shiite militias are engaging in the same atrocities and ethnic cleansing as ISIS.

• They are turning a blind eye to Iran’s massive buildup of troops near Israel’s Golan border and arming of Hezbollah with guided warheads.

• They expunged any mention of Iran and Hezbollah in the annual assessment of terror threats.

• They have gone out of their way to not to offend Iran and to pander to all of their sensibilities, despite their chants of “Death to America.”

• At the same time, Obama has declared a cold war on Israel by leaking details of their nuclear program and threatening to leave them hanging at the UN.

• He has also openly opposed the new Egyptian government, led by a pro-American leader who is fighting ISIS and other terror groups and is cooperating with Israel.

• Last summer, Obama imposed a de facto arms and travel embargo on Israel to stop them from dismantling Hamas, even though Israel was being cheered on by Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.

Taken as a whole, this goes well beyond credulous appeasement. When you are outraging the Europeans and other Arab countries over your backwards treatment of Iran and Israel, there is clearly a more sinister motivation.

Putting the pieces together, there is only one sensible explanation for Obama’s historically immoral realignment of American foreign policy. It’s all about the creation of an Arab (so-called Palestinian) state in the heart of Israel.

If socialized medicine is the crown jewel of liberal socialism for domestic policy, the creation of an Arab Palestinian state – at any cost – has always been the raison d’etre of liberal foreign policy-makers in America and Europe. It has been the ultimate goal of all globalist elites since the failed Oslo Accords. The “two-state solution” has consistently been promoted as the consummate solution to all foreign policy problems in the world, much like some American politicians promote “comprehensive immigration reform” as the fix-all for domestic problems.

Frustrated by 20 years of the failed pursuit of this goal, as a result of endless terror on the part of the Palestinian Arabs, Obama has decided that he will use the terrorism of Iran’s proxies as the weapon, not the obstacle, to the creation of the Palestinian state. He figures that by pretending to solve the issue of Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons, in conjunction with strengthening Hezbollah and isolating Israel, he can force the creation of the new state with brute force.

Republicans must step in and stop Obama’s dangerous double game before he does irreparable damage. The House should immediately pass sanctions on Iran and defund any effort on the part of the State Department to push a Palestinian state at the UN.

As for the so-called pro-Israel Democrats, there is no longer anyway to straddle the fence between Obama and our national security and support for Israel. It’s time for them to internalize the words of Elijah in Kings 18:21 “Until when are you hopping between two ideas? If the Lord is God, go after Him, and if the Baal, go after him.” (See, “What Truly Motivates Obama’s Love Affair with Iran?” originally posted HERE)

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Timeline Puts Lie to Obama’s Story About Bergdahl

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140606obamabergdahlThe Obama regime still insists that releasing the top command of our enemy was all about saving Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. But several reports from 2012 reveal that it was secretly negotiating the Taliban Five’s release without Bergdahl.

Now that the Army has filed desertion charges against Bergdahl, the administration is under increasing pressure to justify the bad deal. Astoundingly, it’s sticking to its story that President Obama only freed the high-risk Gitmo detainees to free a “POW.”

“This was about bringing home an individual that had served his country,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said last week about the 2014 swap.

But IBD has uncovered a series of credible reports from 2012 — as well as a transcript of a candid press conference by then-Afghan President Hamid Karzai — that show the White House originally wanted to give up the Taliban commanders under just one condition: that the Taliban open a political office in Qatar “to conduct peace negotiations.” It was Qatar that ended up taking the prisoners.

Bergdahl, who walked off his post and into the arms of the Taliban in June 2009, wasn’t even part of the negotiation back then. The original deal was a one-sided release, naked any trade for a “POW” or “hostage” or soldier who allegedly had served “with honor and distinction.” (Read more from “Timeline Puts Lie to Obama’s Story About Bergdahl” HERE)

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Why Obama Chose the Iran Talks to Take One of the Biggest Risks of His Presidency

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teethMuch of President Obama’s foreign policy agenda has been foisted upon him during his six years in office. He inherited two wars, in Iraq and Afghanistan, neither of which he’s been able to end. He’s had to react to chaos in the Middle East and a Russian incursion in Ukraine.

The negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program are a different matter. They are Obama’s choice, and he’s fought to keep them moving since the beginning of his presidency despite setbacks and second-guessing from Republicans, fellow Democrats and longtime foreign allies.

The latest setback came Wednesday when the White House agreed, for a second time in two days, to suspend its self-imposed March 31 deadline for an agreement, amid complaints from the United States and its allies that Iran was not offering serious counterproposals.

Secretary of State John F. Kerry said he would stay in Switzerland and continue negotiations until at least Thursday morning.

The president’s decision to keep negotiating reflects both the importance he has placed on the talks and his particular view of how American leadership, persistence and engagement with enemies can change the world. (Read more from “Why Obama Chose the Iran Talks to Take One of the Biggest Risks of His Presidency” HERE)

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