Federal Judge Orders Sheriff Joe to Stop Arresting Illegal Aliens For Using Stolen Identities

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Prosecutors have started dismissing identity-theft cases in light of a judge’s preliminary injunction that bars Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery and others from enforcing state laws that make it a felony to use a stolen identity to obtain employment.

But legal hurdles remain for the hundreds of immigrants arrested under the contested laws, with many facing additional charges or dealing with the ramifications of being an undocumented immigrant with a felony.

Workplace raids had become the backbone of Arpaio’s immigration-enforcement platform as courts have gradually stripped the office of other devices that critics say targeted undocumented immigrants.

A recent lawsuit aims to dismantle this last legal foothold, and U.S. District Court Judge David Campbell this month ordered law enforcement and prosecutors to stop pursuing ID-theft cases until he issues a final ruling on the case.

The suit focuses on two state statutes, passed in 2007 and 2008, that plaintiffs say were written to make life so difficult for undocumented immigrants that they would opt to “self-deport.” Further, they say, the laws are unconstitutional because they are pre-empted by federal law. (Read more from “Federal Judge Orders Sheriff to Stop Enforcing Law” HERE)

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Quadcopter Drone Crashes On White House Grounds

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By Anthony Domanico. The US Secret Service said Monday that a quadcopter drone crashed on the White House grounds just after 3 a.m. ET, causing a brief lockdown while the agency investigated to determine if there was a threat to the site.

After it ruled out a potential threat, the Secret Service revealed that the drone was a run-of-the-mill quadcopter that is sold in stores, though stopped short of identifying the exact make and model. The crash occurred on the southeast side of the compound.

The Secret Service is still working to determine who was controlling the drone, though no additional information on suspects was provided. The Federal Aviation Administration bans unmanned aerial flight systems in a 10-nautical-mile area around Washington’s Reagan National Airport, which according to Time would include the White House, Pentagon and the CIA.

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama were in India at the time. There’s no word on whether other family members were staying in the White House when the drone crashed this morning.

Even though it may be tempting to get an inside look at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue with your fancy new drone, the risk far outweighs the reward as you’d likely end up in jail, or at least on the wrong side of a Secret Service interrogation. So remember, if you try to take drone images of the White House, you’ll probably end up in the Big House. (Read more about the quadcopter drone crashing HERE)

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White House Drone Crash was Accidental

By Tribune Wire Reports. A two-foot-long drone apparently flown by a hobbyist crashed on the White House grounds Monday in an extraordinary, if unintended, breach that raised fresh questions about the president’s security — and a growing threat from the sky.

A man later came forward to say he was responsible for the mishap in the middle of the night and hadn’t meant to fly the drone over the complex, officials said. “Initial indications are that this incident occurred as a result of recreational use of the device,” said Secret Service spokesman Brian Leary. . .

Officials believed the intrusion to be the first of its kind on the White House grounds, although not the first in the vicinity.

Low-flying drones like the quadcopter — a craft lifted by four propellers — have become increasingly sophisticated and affordable instruments that authorities worry could also become tools for terrorists or others meaning to do harm. (Read more from this story HERE)

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2015 Blizzard Will Add to Snowiest Decade on the East Coast

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Photo Credit: Climate Depot By Marc Morano. The monster 2015 blizzard will be adding to what is already the snowiest decade on the East Coast.

“Assuming this storm gets ranked by NOAA as one of the high impact (population affected by snowstorm) snowstorms (likely since the November storm was), we will have had 14 major impact storms this decade (only half over) beating out the 10 in the 1960s and 2000s,” Joseph D’Aleo, CCM (Certified Consulting Meteorologist), told Climate Depot on Monday.

“Watch for widespread sub-zero cold next week if the European models are right (all the way to North Carolina and including DC area),” D’Aleo, the co-chief Meteorologist with Weatherbell Analytics, added. (Read more about the snowiest decade on the East Coast HERE)

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New York City Mayor Warns: Don’t Underestimate This Storm

By Ashley Fantz and Ed Payne. This is no ordinary snow storm, weather experts say.

The National Weather Service is using terms such as “life-threatening” and “historic” to describe the system ready to spread across the Northeast.

The storm could dump up to 3 feet of snow in Boston and New York before it ends Tuesday, along with freezing rain and strong wind gusts possibly reaching hurricane level.

Blizzard and winter storm warnings are up from New Jersey through Maine and into Canada . . .

“I want everyone to understand that we are facing — most likely — one of the largest snowstorms in the history of this city,” said New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Obama Enacting Even More New Regs to Destroy US Energy Production

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Photo Credit: Daily Signal By Stephen Moore. Recently the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced major new regulations on the emissions of methane into the air from oil and gas production. It calls methane a “potent” pollutant and its new rules would require a 45 percent reduction by 2025 from 2012 levels. Most Americans support these new rules, according to polling from environmental groups. This isn’t surprising. Methane sounds like a dirty and dangerous pollutant and even deadly if leaked into water or the air.

However, methane is just another term for the main component of natural gas. Drillers have a powerful motive to stop leakage on their own, because they want to sell it, not spill it.

How much of a menace is methane from the oil and gas industry? The amount of leakage into the atmosphere is minuscule, says Dan Kish of the Energy Research Institute. “Cows emit more methane when they pass gas than the natural gas industry,” he notes. Look for the EPA to start regulating cattle.

Green groups such as the Environmental Defense Fund warn that emissions will increase through 2018 and have been claiming that drillers spew more methane into the atmosphere than ever before, that it is “84 times more potent” a pollutant than carbon dioxide, and new regulations are overdue. (Read more about EPA’s newest strategy to restrict drilling HERE)

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Experts: $5 Gas on the Way

By Kate Scanlon. You might want to consider filling up your tanks, America. One expert is warning $5 per gallon gas is on its way.

John Hofmeister, the former president of Shell Oil, warns that we should “[e]njoy the price, because it’s going to go back up.”

“The next round of high prices is likely to start later this year, as crude rebounds to the $80s and $90s, perhaps pushing to the $100 level by late in the year or early next,” Hofmeister told USA Today.

Prices per barrel as high as Hofmeister projects would mean a significant hike in the price you pay at the pump. (Read more about how Obama is trying to destroy US energy production HERE)

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Actor Rob Lowe: Obama Prefers Fruit Loops Over Netanyahu

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Photo Credit: Twitter“How is it that a woman famous for eating cereal in a bathtub can get an audience with US President Barack Obama, when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to do so?” asked Rob Lowe on Twitter.

Among the Hollywood actor’s famous roles, is that of Deputy White House Communications Director in the television show The West Wing.

On Friday, Lowe entered a real-life diplomatic drama, when he weighed in on one of the most serious crises in the often infamous series of political battles that have raged between Obama and Netanyahu in the last six years.

Lowe mocked Obama for a live streamed meeting he held Thursday with three YouTube stars, GloZell Green, Hank Green and Bethany Mota. . .

[That] occurred the same day that the White House announced that the US president would not meet with Netanyahu in early March, when he visits Washington. It’s the first time Netanyahu will visit Washington without meeting Obama. (Read more about how Obama prefers fruit loops HERE)

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Planes Delayed After Bomb Threats Throughout the Nation

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By Mike Lindblom. Passengers on two arriving planes were delayed and then bused to the terminal following bomb threats Sunday afternoon, at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

Both planes were “cleared of security concerns” and passengers bused to the terminal, the airport tweeted around 6 p.m.

The first one, JetBlue Flight 1006 from Long Beach, arrived around 4:15 p.m. from Long Beach. It was sent to the far southwest end of the airfield, about 2,500 feet from other coming and going flights, said Cooper. Passengers were walking off using portable stairs, he said. They were taken to the terminal on buses. A passenger named Tiffany has been tweeting pictures of airport police, luggage being sniffed on the pavement by dogs, and the sunset.

The evacuation was a precaution, and other jets continued to take off and land, Cooper said earlier.

Then another plane was detained, Delta/SkyWest #4741 from Phoenix. The pilot mentioned three bomb threats, said Jenna Luthman, an executive producer at Northwest Cable News, who was on board and spoke live to KING 5 during its 5 p.m. newscast. (Read more about the delays after bomb threats HERE)

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BOMB THREATS NATIONWIDE FORCE PLANES TO REROUTE, ISOLATE UPON LANDING

By JORDAN SCHACHTEL. Two planes that had just touched down on Sunday afternoon at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport were immediately isolated, reportedly due to multiple bomb threats.

A third plane, a Delta Airlines flight originally scheduled to fly on Sunday afternoon from Los Angeles to Orlando, was diverted to Dallas due to “a security concern”. . .

It remains unclear whether the three Sunday bomb threats are connected. Sunday’s threats come just one day after NORAD scrambled two fighter jets to escort two flights to Atlanta. On Saturday, airline officials received a “credible” bomb threat via Twitter, prompting the partial shutdown of Hartsfield Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Brace for Potentially Historic Snowstorms Northeast

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The Northeast is bracing for a crippling snowstorm that the National Weather Service called “potentially historic” and could dump 2 to 3 feet of snow from northern New Jersey to Connecticut.

“This could be a storm the likes of which we have never seen before,” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a news conference Sunday.

During the news conference De Blasio held up a list of the city’s top 10 snowstorms and said this one could land at the top of a list that goes back to 1827. “Don’t underestimate this storm. Prepare for the worst,” he said as he urged residents to plan to leave work early Monday.

A blizzard warning was issued for New York and Boston and the National Weather Service said the storm could bring heavy snow and powerful winds starting Monday and into Tuesday.

“Commuters should consider working from home on Monday if possible to avoid disruptions from likely road and public transportation closures,” Governor Cuomo said in a statement. “New York State is taking all necessary precautions to prepare for this storm, and I urge residents to put safety first and plan ahead to protect themselves and others throughout the duration of this snowstorm.” (Read more about the potentially historic snowstorms northeast HERE)

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Obama Veers Off of Talking Points, Claims Homosexuality is a Choice, not Genetically Predetermined

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Photo Credit: GettyPresident Barack Obama’s gay allies are ignoring his endorsement of the long-standing claim that sexual orientation is a matter of choice.

“I think people know that treating folks unfairly, even if you disagree with their lifestyle choice… Let them live their lives and under the law they should be treated equally,” he said 25 minutes into his Wednesday interview with GloZell Green, a YouTube personality.

Obama’s statement violates progressives’ demand that Americans believe there’s no choice in sexual orientation.

But Obama’s statement reflects mainstream views.

A May 2014 poll by Gallup showed that only 42 percent of Americans believe all gay people are “born that way,” regardless of choice. Thirty-seven percent of Americans believe that homosexuality is linked to upbringing and environment. (Read more from “Obama: Homosexuality is a Choice” HERE)

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Federal Judge Orders State to Issue Illegal Aliens Driver’s Licenses

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A federal judge granted a permanent injunction Thursday affirming the ability of young immigrants protected from deportation to obtain an Arizona driver’s license.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge David Campbell came exactly one month after the so-called DREAMers began getting driver’s licenses in Arizona for the first time.

Arizona was one of the last states where officials refused to issue driver’s licenses to young immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children but allowed to remain under a 2012 Obama administration program.

Former Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican, waged a lengthy legal battle over the program.

Courts ruled against Arizona on several occasions and cleared the way for licenses to be issued starting Dec. 22. (Read more from “Arizona Now Must Issue Illegal Aliens Driver’s Licenses” HERE)

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And Then There Were Three: Pro-Amnesty, Establishment Field Grows With Rubio Jumping In

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. . .Friday’s news turns up the dial on his effort and tells us a few things about the race in general, and Rubio’s 2016 perceptions in particular.

First, Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney aren’t clearing the field. Bush has moved aggressively, announcing an exploratory committee and forming super PACs, while Romney’s evinced surprising interest in a race. That hasn’t scared off other candidates who might compete with them for the establishment and business wings of the GOP, however. Rubio’s moving. Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin has scheduled trips to the early-voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire.

Second, Rubio’s looking to President Obama for inspiration. Not in any ideological or policy sense, but in terms of baseline experience. Obama won the White House as a first-term Senate backbencher. If he could do it, why can’t Rubio? Many political strategists think voters might be looking for a governor with executive experience as their presidential choice in 2016, but political strategists say lots of stuff. Some of it is wrong.

Finally, the real divisions in the Republican primary field this time might be generational. Rubio isn’t a party outsider. He’s not a tea party favorite. He doesn’t have a support base among evangelicals, or Wall Street’s nod. But he hasn’t run for president twice before, like Mitt Romney. Or even once before, like Gov. Rick Perry of Texas. None of his relatives have been president, like Jeb Bush’s brother and Dad.

But if it turns out GOP primary voters are tired of the same-old, then Rubio can present himself as a fresh hat in the ring. (Read more about Rubio jumping in HERE)

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