Photo Credit: Abilene Baptist ChurchFor nearly two decades, the U.S. Army has provided an honor guard for an Independence Day celebration at a Baptist church that predates the founding of the nation. But this year – that tradition has come to an end.
Officials at Fort Gordon say they will not be able to send an honor guard to a July 5th service at Abilene Baptist Church because it violates a military policy banning any involvement in a religious service.
“While there are conditions under which the Army can participate in events conducted at a house of worship, we cannot participate in the context of a religious service,” Public Affairs Officer J.C. Mathews told me.
He said officials at Fort Gordon as well as the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate reviewed the church’s request and determined they were in fact holding a “religious service” . . .
That policy would be an offense to most churches in America – but it is especially offensive when you consider the Army just refused to provide an honor guard for a church whose first pastor was a chaplain in the Revolutionary Army. (Read more from “Army Refuses to Provide Honor Guard for Church’s July 4th Celebration” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-06-11 03:04:482016-04-11 11:00:08After Two Decades of Attendance, Army Now Refuses to Provide Honor Guard for Church’s July 4th Celebration
This is a pressing question for most Americans, especially given that Obama has no strategy. But why not start with a simple proposition? Let’s not fund terror with American taxpayer dollars.
Yet, astoundingly, a bipartisan group of Republicans and Democrats voted yesterday to preserve foreign aid to the so-called Palestinian government. While marking up an authorization bill for a number of programs within the State Department, Sen Rand Paul (R-KY) offered an amendment to eliminate aid to the Islamic terror entity known as the Palestinian Authority (it sounds nicer than their authentic name, the Palestinian Liberation Organization). Sadly, only four other Republicans joined with him in supporting the amendment: Sens. Risch (ID), Gardner (CO), Barrasso (WY) and Rubio (FL). Every Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, along with GOP Sens. Corker (TN), Johnson (WI), Flake (AZ), Purdue (GA), and Isakson (GA), voted to continue funding the terrorists.
According to the Congressional Research Service, we have sent roughly $5 billion to the Palestinian government since the mid-1990s. Our annual aid has fluctuated, but has hovered around $500 million per year. The worst practices in the modern world of jihad have been taught to the Arab world by these people, yet our taxpayer dollars and military training have gone into propping up this violent “government.”
While some conservatives feel Sen. Paul is weak on U.S. policy with Iran, he has been much tougher than most Republicans when it comes to Palestinian terrorists. Paul released the following statement after his amendment was defeated:
“American tax dollars continue to flow to governments that openly seek the destruction of one of our nation’s biggest allies, Israel. My support has not and will not waiver; I will continue pushing to cut off all U.S. foreign aid to the Palestinian Authority until they recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, renounce terrorism, and purge terrorists from their ranks.”
Paul is absolutely correct. The much-vaunted Mahmoud Abbas, who is regarded as an Angel of Peace among the “international community,” has consistently refused to recognize Israel’s right to exist and has consistently told his people they will continue to struggle until “all of Palestine is liberated.” A post on the official Facebook page of Abbas’ Fatah faction showed a picture of terrorists in the military wings of Fatah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, under the banner of “brothers-in-arms: one God, one homeland, one enemy, one goal.”
So how could the committee members, led by Sens. Bob Corker (R-TN) and Ben Cardin (D-MD), agree to continue aid to Arafat’s terror group, even as they have joined in a unity government with Hamas? Aren’t we ostensibly sending money to those who are formally designated as terrorists by our own State Department? And remember, it’s pretty hard to get on the State Department’s terror list.
During the markup, Corker said he opposed the amendment because it would undermine the “Palestinian Authority” and risk destabilizing the “West Bank.”
This assertion cannot be farther from the truth. The so-called Palestinian government has been given more global aid per capita than any other country or entity, yet it is still a corrupt, terror-laden basket case. The entire purpose of keeping the bucks flowing into the Fatah-Hamas coffers is to create an Arab-Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria, what Corker erroneously refers to as the “West Bank” (hearkening back to Jordan’s illegal occupation in 1949 of the area west of the Jordan River). There is no greater potential destabilizing event than the creation of such a state. If a Hamas-Fatah state is not bad enough, there is no doubt that, given its geographical proximity to the unstable Jordan and Syrian Golan, this region would fall to the Islamic State the minute Israel’s military pulls out of the area.
Consequently, any continued aid to the PLO will only buttress Obama’s inexorable attempt to create a terror state in one of the most sensitive parts of the Middle East. At the very least, Senate Republicans should have conditioned aid to the PLO on Obama not supporting their bid for statehood at the UN.
Unfortunately, we can’t even get the political elites to agree not to send taxpayer dollars to the most violent terrorists. Just this past year, the U.S. has shipped to the Lebanese army a number of weapons, including AGM-114 Hellfire II missiles, M198 Howitzers, Humvees, and tens of millions of rounds of ammunition. The Lebanese Army is nothing more than a puppet of Hezbollah, which is a proxy of Iran.
Hence, a reaffirmation of aid to both of Israel’s top enemies – Hezbollah and Hamas – in the same week.
Why are so few politicians concerned about this dangerous and immoral use of American taxpayer dollars?
Washington is indeed broken. (See “Senate Panel Defends Taxpayer Funding for Palestinian Terrorists”, originally posted HERE)
In a survey conducted by the University of Kent between December 2014 and January 2015, 1,546 U.S. citizens and former citizens were asked why they no longer wanted to be Americans. Survey participants stated that high taxes were the primary reason for renouncing their citizenship. But the survey also found that contrary to popular belief, income was not a key factor in their decision.
“Of those who have renounced or relinquished US citizenship (142 of the total respondents), nearly half (43%) have annual pre-tax household incomes of under $100,000 (USD). There is, similarly, very little difference in renunciation intention between those with lower incomes and those with higher incomes: of US citizen respondents with annual household incomes under $100,000 (USD), 28% are actively thinking of renouncing; of US citizen respondents with incomes above $250,000 (USD), 33% are actively thinking of doing so.”
In 2014, the government raised the fee for those wishing to formally relinquish their U.S. citizenship from $450 to $2,350. But nearly a third of those surveyed say they are still thinking about doing it anyway. . .
The record number of American natives who have renounced their U.S. citizenship is in sharp contrast to the much larger rise in immigrants coming to America. An estimated 41.3 million immigrants, both legal and illegal, currently live in the United States and their numbers grew by 1.4 million people between 2010 and 2013, according to the Census Bureau. The largest number – 11.6 million – are from Mexico. . .
The Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) explained that during the next decade, immigrants will make up the largest share of the U.S. population ever recorded in American history:“The [Census] Bureau projected the future size of the immigrant (foreign-born) population and found that by 2023 immigrants will account for more than one in seven U.S. residents (51 million).” (Read more from “Record Number of Americans Renounced Their US Citizenship in 2015” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-06-10 20:12:302016-04-11 11:00:11Why Are Americans Renouncing Their Citizenship in Record Numbers?
By Jim Hoft. The Obama-Hillary State Department was accused of covering up the illicit sexual escapades of US Consul General Donald Moore in Italy . . .
Now this…
A new report from a State Department whistle blower suggests that key sections from an inspector general’s report were removed to protect Hillary Clinton politically before she stepped down as Secretary of State in late 2012.
Similar accusations made headlines in 2013. (Read more from “Hillary Clinton State Dept Accused of Covering up Investigations on Sex Crimes” HERE)
As the Democratic Field Grows, Hillary Clinton Campaign Urges Focus on the Primary
By Dan Merica. Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager had one message for her top supporters ahead of her kick off next week: We now have three opponents, so keep your focus on the primary.
In a memo obtained by CNN from a recipient, Robby Mook, the campaign’s manager, told supporters that while they now have “more than 11,000 active volunteers in all 50 states,” the Democratic side is not going to be a cakewalk.
“The field is competitive,” writes Mook in a memo titled, “The Next Phase of the Campaign.” “In the last two weeks alone, we have seen three new candidates enter the Democratic primary. And polls show that our party wants that competitive primary.”
Mook adds that “Becoming the Democratic nominee is never easy. Nor should it be.”
“Voters and caucus-goers want to know their candidate is tested and ready to represent their values and priorities in the general election,” Mook writes in the memo that was sent Tuesday afternoon. “While we know all that Hillary has done in her life to stand up for our families and our country, we also know that she’ll have to work hard to earn every vote and every delegate.” (Read more from this story HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-06-10 03:50:512016-04-11 11:00:11Hillary Clinton State Dept Accused of Covering up Investigations on Sex Crimes [+video]
The federal government is strongly urging employers to give transgender employees access to bathrooms that correspond to their gender identity, marking a new policy front in the fast-moving campaign for transgender equality.
“… It is essential for employees to be able to work in a manner consistent with how they live the rest of their daily lives, based on their gender identity,” the Occupational Safety and Health Administration wrote in a four-page Guide to Restroom Access for Transgender Workers posted last week on the agency’s Web site.
[Listen to this interview with an ex-transgender man who went through surgery and has strong views on the transgender debate]
The guide is explicit that restroom access for transgender workers is both a civil rights issue and a health and safety one.
“Restricting employees to using only restrooms that are not consistent with their gender identity, or segregating them from other workers by requiring them to use gender-neutral or other specific restrooms, singles those employees out and may make them fear for their physical safety,” OSHA, an arm of the Labor Department wrote, calling its guidance “Best Practices” for employers throughout the country.
In some workplaces, “questions can arise… about which facilities certain employees can use,” OSHA said, then explained that someone’s “internal gender identity” may be different from the sex they were assigned at birth. “A person who identifies as a man should be permitted to use men’s bathrooms, and a person who identifies as a woman should be permitted to use women’s restrooms.” (Read more from “Feds: Transgender People Should Use Bathroom of Gender They Identify As” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-06-10 03:39:582016-04-11 11:00:11Feds Now Trying to Force Employers Nationwide to Allow Transgender People to Use Opposite-Sex Bathrooms [+video]
A black pastor fed up with charlatan Al Sharpton called out the race hustler as a “pimp” during anti-violence rally Saturday in Connecticut.
And oily Al promptly proved the man’s point by acting just like one, according to news reports.
According to CT News Junkie and Fox CT, the scene unfolded at Shiloh Baptist Church in Hartford where an overwhelmingly black crowd had marched in an anti-violence rally following the deaths of four people in a spate of shootings since mid-May . . .
In the church, Sharpton was challenged from the pews by the Rev. Marcus Mosiah Jarvis, pastor of Christ the Cornerstone Praise and Western Tabernacle church, CT News Junkie reported.
“How dare you ask the people of Hartford to give you their money?” Jarvis shouted. “You’re nothing but a pimp!” (Read more from “Pastor Calls Sharpton out When He Asks for Money in Church: ‘You’re Nothing but a PIMP!'” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-06-10 03:39:502016-04-11 11:00:11Pastor Calls Sharpton out When He Asks for Money in Church: ‘You’re Nothing but a PIMP!’
Whistleblowers on Tuesday portrayed the beleaguered Transportation Security Administration as an agency mired in a culture of “fear and distrust” while raising security concerns over several programs — including TSA PreCheck, in which passes for expedited screening allegedly are passed out “like Halloween candy.”
The TSA employees leveled their criticism during a Senate hearing that follows recent bombshell inspector general reports. One showed undercover agents were able to sneak fake explosives and banned weapons through airport checkpoints about 96 percent of the time; the findings led to the acting TSA secretary being reassigned last week. A second report released Monday showed the agency failed to flag 73 commercial airport workers “linked to terrorism.”
The hearing was cut short by a bomb threat, though investigators did not find anything hazardous.
Before the hearing was broken up, Rebecca Roering, an assistant TSA federal security director at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee that the agency suffers from low morale. She said this is in part the result of agency leadership, composed of too many former commercial airline executives “placing more emphasis on customer service and passenger wait times than on security and detection rates.”
As part of this, she argued, TSA significantly expanded its PreCheck program. It now boasts more than 1 million enrollees who enjoy expedited security screening at airports. However, roughly 7 million are allowed to use it, according to whistleblowers. (Read more from “TSA Whistleblowers Describe Security Concerns, Culture of ‘Fear and Distrust'” HERE)
With his initial court appearance set for tomorrow, former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert emerged today from his sprawling vacation home in Wisconsin, where he has been secluded from public view, returning to his estate in Plano, Ill.
Hastert left his Wisconsin property early this morning, driving with his wife in a black SUV on the four-hour journey to his Plano home where he did not slow down as he was met by reporters at the gate.
Hastert is scheduled to appear in a Chicago federal court Tuesday for arraignment on federal bank fraud charges relating to payments he allegedly made to an unnamed individual to conceal “prior misconduct,” according to the Department of Justice. According to the indictment returned 10 days ago, Hastert was paying an unnamed individual hundreds of thousands of dollars to hide past “misconduct,” which federal officials told ABC News involves the alleged sexual abuse of a male student while Hastert was serving as a high school teacher and wrestling coach decades ago.
The sister of a second alleged sexual abuse victim told ABC News last week that her late brother, Steve Reinboldt, was also molested by Hastert while serving as the wrestling team’s student equipment manager. (Read more from “Former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert Emerges From Seclusion at Wisconsin Property” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-06-09 03:54:502016-04-11 11:00:14Former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert Emerges From Seclusion at Wisconsin Property
By Maggie Fox. A female patient with an extremely hard-to-treat form of tuberculosis is being treated at the National Institutes of Health outside Washington D.C., and federal and state officials are now tracking down hundreds of people who may have been in contact with her.
The woman traveled to at least three states before she sought treatment from a U.S. doctor. While TB is not easily caught by casual contact, extensively drug resistant (XDR) TB is so dangerous that health officials will have to make a concerted effort to warn anyone who may be at risk.
“The patient is staying in an isolation room in the NIH Clinical Center specifically designed for handling patients with respiratory infections, including XDR-TB. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the NIH, is providing care and treatment for the patient in connection with an existing NIH clinical protocol for treating TB, including XDR forms. NIAID has treated other XDR-TB patients in the past under this protocol,” the NIH said.
These special isolation rooms usually control air flow to prevent germs from escaping into the rest of the hospital or outside.
The patient, who isn’t being identified in any way, may face months or even years of treatment. Ordinary TB is hard to treat and requires, at a minimum, weeks of antibiotics. XDR-TB resists the effects of almost all the known TB drugs. Sometimes patients have to have pockets of infection surgically removed. (Read more from “Patient With Extreme Form of Tuberculosis Sent to National Institutes of Health” HERE)
By Merrill Hope. Initially, officials called it an isolated incident of tuberculosis (TB) in East Texas. One case of the contagious bacterial lung infection originated at a local community college. It since has multiplied into four new cases, the direct result of contact with “patient zero” and now, 60 more people are being screened as a precaution.
On May 29, the Texas Department of State Health Services (TDSHS) announced that the four new cases were being treated after individuals came into contact with patient zero, who was said to be a student at Kilgore College in Gregg County, by the Kilgore News Herald.
Officials also advised that an additional 60 people were being screened for TB who had possible contact with one of the infected individuals. Earlier in the month, the TDSHS began investigating that first TB case on campus.
“Many contacts who are currently being evaluated for TB will need to be re-evaluated in 8-10 weeks, depending on the last date of contact with the index (first) case,” said TDSHS spokeswoman Christine Mann, according to KTLV-TV.
Mann stated that if a contact is diagnosed with active TB disease, they will begin treatment immediately. However, if a contact is diagnosed with latent TB infection, which is not contagious, they will be offered treatment depending on their medical history and other risk factors. (Read more from this story HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-06-09 03:54:342016-04-11 11:00:14Patient With Extreme Form of Tuberculosis Sent to National Institutes of Health [+video]
College professors from across the country are taking a stand against what they call bias in history standards of a new Advanced Placement exam. . .
Part of their letter [to the College Board] reads:
The new framework is organized around such abstractions as “identity,” “peopling,” “work, exchange, and technology,” and “human geography” while downplaying essential subjects, such as the sources, meaning, and development of America’s ideals and political institutions, notably the Constitution. Elections, wars, diplomacy, inventions, discoveries—all these formerly central subjects tend to dissolve into the vagaries of identity-group conflict.
Susan Hanssen, University of Dallas history professor, said on “Fox and Friends” that “there’s kind of a pervasive anti-patriotism that’s being taught in schools”. . .
“There’s no discussion of limited government, checks and balances, the idea of natural rights, the idea of the laws of nature and nature’s God. There’s a real gap in the teaching of American history,” she said. (Read more from “Scholars Reject New History Standards for ‘Pervasive Anti-Patriotism, Focus on America’s Shortcomings'” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-06-09 03:54:132016-04-11 11:00:15UPDATE: Scholars Continue to Attack New History Standards for ‘Pervasive Anti-Patriotism, Focus on America’s Shortcomings’ [+video]
