Judicial Watch: Fast and Furious AK-47 Used in Phoenix Assault

/2 Comments/in , /by

Government watchdog Judicial Watch said Thursday documents it obtained show an AK-47 rifle used in a gang-style assault in Phoenix last year was part of the Department of Justice’s botched Fast and Furious gunrunning operation.

In a statement, the group noted Iowa Republican Sen. Charles Grassley and California Republican Rep. Darryl Issa wrote to Deputy Attorney General James Cole, blasting the department for not providing Congress or the public with any information about the weapon.

Grassley is the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, while Issa is the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

“Based on the serial number [1977DX1654] from the police report obtained by Judicial
Watch and documents obtained during our Fast and Furious investigation, we can
confirm that the assault rifle recovered in the vehicle on July 30, 2013, was purchased by
Sean Christopher Stewart,” the lawmakers wrote.

During the controversial operation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms allowed weapons from the United States to pass into the hands of gun smugglers so they could be traced to Mexican drug cartels. But instead, the release triggered violence that could be traced back to those weapons, critics charge.

Read more from this story HERE.

Twitter Blocked Campaign To Protect Pastors From Having To Hand Over Their Sermons and Emails To The Government

/3 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: APTwitter blocked a petition campaign Wednesday to protect Houston pastors from having to hand over to the city government all of their sermons and personal emails dealing with the issue of homosexuality.

The Christian organization Faith Driven Consumer’s Twitter hashtag campaign #HoustonWeHaveAProblem was censored by Twitter minutes after launching so that users could not Tweet the petition and a warning was placed on Twitter-based links to the petition website. The group’s previous campaign #iStandWithPhil defending Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson was also blocked by Twitter at one time.

Read more from this story HERE.

AIDS-Positive Alabama Pastor Who Slept with Congregants Banned from Church

/1 Comment/in , /by

Photo Credit: JAY REEVES / APA minister who confessed to having sex with church members and neglecting to tell them he had AIDS was temporarily banned from acting as pastor on Thursday.

Montgomery County Circuit Judge Charles Price issued a preliminary injunction, as sought by deacons and trustees of Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church. Price ruled that the Rev. Juan McFarland, 47, must turn in his church keys and his church Mercedes vehicle and then stay away from the church he led for 24 years.

Church members hugged and prayed after the ruling. “Now we’ve got the church back, and the healing can begin,” said Lois Caffey, a member for 21 years.

The judge scheduled a hearing Dec. 1 to decide whether to issue a permanent injunction.

Lee Sanford, chairman of the board of trustees, said the challenge now is to reunite the 170 active members of the congregation. “I’m confident with God’s help we will be able to do that,” he said.

Read more from this story HERE.

Hawaii Students Get Gift Cards for Participating in Controversial Sex-Ed Program

/1 Comment/in , /by

Photo Credit: Civil Beat / Creative CommonsMiddle school students who participated in a controversial sex education program in Hawaii were rewarded with gift cards from the University of Hawaii Center on Disability Studies.

The gift cards, valued at between $10 and $20 each, were issued to 11-, 12- and 13-year-olds who participate in Pono Choices. About $52,200 of a $5 million grant from the U.S. Office of Adolescent Health was used to buy the cards.

“The Pono Choices program provides gift cards to students who have taken the course as an incentive to complete student surveys,” said Donalyn Dela Cruz, a spokeswoman for the Hawaii State Department of Education. “Student opinion is the most powerful measure in the effectiveness of the program, and we support the efforts in seeking such feedback.”

The curriculum, developed by the University of Hawaii Center on Disability Studies, set off a firestorm over the past year. Some parents and lawmakers said the program, which taught children as young as age 11 about anal and homosexual sex, was inaccurate and inappropriate.

Read more from this story HERE.

Leaked DHS Document: 167,000 Convicted Criminal Aliens at Large in US

/5 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: BreitbartDeportations from the interior of the United States declined 34 percent this year from last, according to a new report from the Center for Immigration Studies, derived largely from an internal Department of Homeland Security document.

The CIS report released Wednesday and authored by the group’s director of policy studies, Jessica Vaughan, details the decline in immigration enforcement and reveals that there remain nearly 167,000 convicted criminal immigrants with final orders of removal still in the United States and “currently at large.”

“Prosecutorial discretion as practiced by the Obama administration has transformed immigration enforcement into a massive catch-and-release program that makes a joke of the law, fails to deter illegal settlement, and allows even illegal aliens who commit crimes to remain here,” Vaughan said Wednesday.

“These policies inflict real harm on Americans and legal immigrants,” she continued, “in the form of lost jobs, depressed wages, additional social services, and even lost lives. In addition, with the rise of ISIS and other terrorist groups around the world, our lax policies represent an unnecessary national security risk.”

Vaughn’s data originates from a Sept. 22 “Weekly Departures and Detention Report (WRD)”. The WRD, according to Vaugh’s footnote, is authored by the Statistical Tracking Unit of the Office of Enforcement and Removal Operations of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Read more from this story HERE.

Statehouse Shootout: Pa. Lawmaker Exchanges Gunfire with Would-Be Robber

/7 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: APThey messed with the wrong lawmaker.

Two Pennsylvania state representatives escaped unharmed Tuesday night after they were involved in a shootout with a gunman who attempted to rob them near the state Capitol in Harrisburg.

State Rep. Marty Flynn, a former prison guard who’s licensed to carry a handgun, fired the shots after he and Rep. Ryan Bizzarro were accosted by the would-be robber. Flynn told the Associated Press he thinks he might have been killed if he had not been carrying a concealed pistol.

“We are used to fighting for the people in our districts every day,” Flynn said in a statement to the Philadelphia Inquirer. “We certainly are going to stand up for ourselves and not become victims.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Official Barack Obama Twitter Account Invites People to ‘Stick It to Climate Change Deniers’

/3 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: SAUL LOEB / AFP / GettyPresident Barack Obama’s official Twitter account late Tuesday asked people to help ‘stick it to climate change deniers’ by signing a petition in support of Obama’s plan to cut carbon pollution.

“This is a big moment in the fight against climate change — stick it to climate change deniers by adding your name,” the tweet asked.

The account is mostly run by staffers for Organizing for Action, a group that supports Obama’s policy agenda, although the president does occasionally tweet on it. Still, the decision to tweet out such a pointed, partisan message under Obama’s official Twitter account is a far cry from Obama’s message as a candidate that he wants to unite the country.

Read more from this story HERE.

Obamacare’s Got Seven Extra Ways of Hiking Premiums In 2015

/2 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Daily CallerHealth insurance premiums under Obamacare are rising in a boatload of states, but HealthCare.gov customers will be faced with a laundry list of glitches and changes that could result in hiked premiums on top of that, according to new research from the American Action Forum.

There’s a big problem with the health-care law’s regulations hiking the actual cost of health insurance for many people. Premium rates are rising because policies are required to be more inclusive, whether the customer wants extra servivces or not. But on top of rising prices, there are seven policies on the federal Obamacare exchange itself that can cause even bigger premium hikes next year.

Partly to blame, according to the free-market think tank’s health policy analyst Angela Boothe, is that on HealthCare.gov, many customers just aren’t guaranteed a certain price for their health insurance.

In a private market, an insurance company charges its customers a set price. But in Obamacare exchanges, the federal government can change what they’re charging many customers after the fact — especially if the customer is one of the 85 percent of federal Obamacare sign-ups receiving a subsidy.

One culprit is an ongoing mismatch between Obamacare applications and federal data. When it comes to premium subsidies, errors can result in effective premium increases — owing the IRS money back at tax season.

Read more from this story HERE.

Black Voters in Ferguson Turn Against the Democratic Party

/4 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: TownHallIt’s been two months since Michael Brown was shot by police officer Darren Wilson, and while protests continue, some in the African American community are now channeling their anger into political action—and not for the usual party.

“Just because they’ve got the D next to their name, that don’t mean nothing,” Darren Seals told the Washington Post. “The world is watching us right now. It’s time to send a message of our power.”

Many African Americans in Ferguson and across St. Louis County, angered over their leaders’ response to the fatal shooting, say they will be taking their outrage to the ballot box and voting against a Democratic Party that has long been their automatic choice.

They are focusing on the St. Louis county executive’s race, which typically centers on matters such as the budget and sanitation but this year has become caught up in the unrest.

Read more from this story HERE.

Report: Houston Mayor Backs Off from Subpoenas to Pastors

/9 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Breitbart Houston Mayor Annise Parker has backed down from the subpoenas the City of Houston issued to several area pastors, Breitbart Texas has learned.

Breitbart Texas reported earlier about the controversy, stemming from litigation challenging the city’s anti-discrimination ordinance and subpoenas asking the pastors for the content of their sermons, speeches and communications with church members. Texas Senator Ted Cruz weighed in, firmly supporting the pastors in their efforts to fight the subpoenas, while Mayor Parker initially remained adamant that the city had the right to request those records. Despite posting comments on Twitter just hours before that seemed to indicate she would continue to fight this issue, she told a Houston radio station that she had changed her mind.

Read more from this story HERE.