New Conservative Poll for Prez Surprises GOP Establishment

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When it comes to picking a presidential candidate for 2016, the GOP elite is having a hard time getting the grassroots to toe the establishment line.

Top Republican strategist Karl Rove, for example, has repeatedly praised Chris Christie, the Republican governor of New Jersey, as “a strong potential candidate in 2016,” whom Democrats fear will win the nomination.

And when other names gained popular attention, particularly attention among the so-called tea-party crowd, the man known as the “architect” was quick to criticize.

Rove, for example, blasted potential presidential hopeful Ted Cruz for not playing ball with the GOP establishment, just as the Texas senator’s name started to gain traction with Republican voters. Rove similarly opened fire on Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., for talking about Monica Lewinsky and potential Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in the same breath…

But now a poll on one of the Internet’s top websites, the Drudge Report, reveals the ground troops just aren’t buying it.

Read more from this story HERE.

McConnell Wants No Nominees From Tea Party: Establishment “Going to Crush Them Everywhere”

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Photo Credit: AP/J. Scott ApplewhiteSenate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) didn’t merely say Tea Party candidates challenging him and other established Republicans in the 2014 midterm elections don’t pose much of a threat.

McConnell’s prediction is arguably more along the lines of fighting words.

“I think we are going to crush them everywhere,” McConnell told the New York Times. “I don’t think they are going to have a single nominee anywhere in the country.”

Read more this story HERE.

U.S. to Relinquish Remaining Control Over the Internet to Global Governance

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U.S. officials announced plans Friday to relinquish federal government control over the administration of the Internet, a move that pleased international critics but alarmed some business leaders and others who rely on the smooth functioning of the Web.

Pressure to let go of the final vestiges of U.S. authority over the system of Web addresses and domain names that organize the Internet has been building for more than a decade and was supercharged by the backlash last year to revelations about National Security Agency surveillance.

The change would end the long-running contract between the Commerce Department and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a California-based nonprofit group. That contract is set to expire next year but could be extended if the transition plan is not complete.

“We look forward to ICANN convening stakeholders across the global Internet community to craft an appropriate transition plan,” Lawrence E. Strickling, assistant secretary of commerce for communications and information, said in a statement.

The announcement received a passionate response, with some groups quickly embracing the change and others blasting it.

Read more from this story HERE.

Now Feds Can Order any Family to Violate their Religious Beliefs

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Photo Credit: WNDAn administrative decision by the Department of Homeland Security means members of a German homeschool family whose grant of asylum in the U.S. later was withdrawn will not be returned to face the persecution homeschoolers face in Germany.

But advocates for homeschooling are warning that the underlying legal precedent in the Romeike family’s case suggests that the government always knows best what education is appropriate for children and can require them to attend a school that violates their religious beliefs.

The warning comes from Michael Farris, founder of the Home School Legal Defense Association, which represented the family.

The Romeikes were facing massive punishment, including fines, jail time and loss of custody of their children, had they remained in Germany and continued homeschooling. They made the choice because of teaching in public schools on homosexuality, abortion and other issues that violated the family’s Christian faith.

An appeals court complied with the Obama administration’s request to withdraw the granting of asylum, and the Supreme Court recently left the decision undisturbed.

Read more from this story HERE.

HHS Official Jumps Ship in Scathing Letter of Resignation: ‘Worst Job I’ve Ever Had’

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Photo Credit; ORIA Department of Health and Human Services official resigned from his post in a scathing letter that ripped the agency for profound dysfunction.

David Wright headed the Office of Research Integrity for two years and wrote in his letter dated Feb. 25 that his time with the agency left him “offended as an American taxpayer.”

The job was apparently not only unsatisfying, it was downright offensive, Wright said in the letter, which was first obtained by ScienceInsider.

It was “the very worst job I have ever had,” he said.

The Office of Research Integrity is responsible for reviewing possible misconduct in agency research projects.

Read more from this story HERE.

Man Known as Kissing Sailor in WWII-Era Picture, Dies

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Photo Credit: APA man who became known for claiming he was the sailor kissing a woman in Times Square in a famous World War II-era photo taken by a Life magazine photographer has died. Glenn McDuffie was 86.

McDuffie died March 9 in a nursing home in Dallas, his daughter, Glenda Bell, told The Associated Press.

A mail carrier and semi-professional baseball player after he returned from World War II, McDuffie’s life became more exciting about six years ago when Houston Police Department forensic artist Lois Gibson was able to identify him as the young man leaning over the woman in his arms to kiss her.

Read more from this story HERE.

Cop Arrives at Traffic Accident, Shoots Air Force Airman, Chief Calls it ‘Appropriate Force’

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Photo Credit: WTVM screenshotAn Alabama police chief has determined that one of his officers used “appropriate force,” when the cop arrived at the scene of a traffic accident and immediately shot an apparently unarmed Air Force airman.

The airman, 20-year-old Michael Davidson, was shot in the chest and nearly bled out before receiving medical aid, according to the Raw Story.

Davidson was driving to Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro, North Carolina. He may have been driving erratically, according to the Ledger-Enquirer.

Read more from this story HERE.

Zuckerberg Phones Obama to Blast Him about NSA

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Photo Credit: UPIFacebook Inc. chief executive Mark Zuckerberg blasted the US government’s electronic surveillance practices on Thursday, saying he’d personally called President Barack Obama to voice his displeasure.

“When our engineers work tirelessly to improve security, we imagine we’re protecting you against criminals, not our own government,” Zuckerberg said in a post on his personal Facebook page.

“I’ve called President Obama to express my frustration over the damage the government is creating for all of our future. Unfortunately, it seems like it will take a very long time for true full reform,” the 29-year-old Zuckerberg continued.

The phone call and Zuckerberg’s 300-word missive on Thursday come amid a series of revelations about controversial government surveillance practices that were leaked by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.

“The president spoke last night with Mark Zuckerberg about recent reports in the press about alleged activities by the US intelligence community,” a White House official said.

Read more from this story HERE.

US Achilles’ Heel: Entire Power Grid could be Taken Out with Small, Targeted Attack

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Attackers could bring down the entire power grid of the United States in just a few moves, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

The report, citing an unreleased federal study, says a blackout could last more than a year.

The United States is divided into three major power networks: Texas, the western half of the U.S. and the eastern half.

Coordinated attacks in those three grids, pictured above, would knock out power to nine of the nation’s 55,000 electric substations. That would be enough to achieve a nationwide blackout.

The substations take in electricity from power plants and send it out to homes and businesses. The map below shows the flow of power out of those plants.

Read more from this story HERE.

House Pushing Back Against Imperial Presidency With “Enforce the Law Act”

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The House of Representatives passed the “Enforce the Law Act” Wednesday, a bill designed to push back against the numerous unilateral moves the Obama administration has used to circumvent the law.

Five Democrats joined Republicans in passing the bill by a 233 to 181 vote.

H.R. 4138, sponsored by Rep. Trey Gowdy (R., S.C.), would authorize the House or Senate to sue the executive branch for not enforcing laws and provide an expedited process through federal district courts. The bill is one of several the House GOP is pushing to combat the “imperial presidency.”

Republicans say the legislation is necessary in light of the numerous administrative actions taken by President Barack Obama to change and selectively enforce laws, including immigration, marriage, welfare rules, and his signature legislative achievement, Obamacare.

The administration has unilaterally altered Obamacare at least 20 times. Most recently, the Wall Street Journal reported that millions have been exempted from the individual mandate due to a rule change.

Read more about this push back against the imperial presidency HERE.