Supreme Court Exempts Nuns from Obamacare Birth Control Mandate While Case is Fought

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Photo Credit: Daily Caller

Photo Credit: Daily Caller

A Catholic organization won’t have to comply with the Obamacare contraception mandate until a final decision has been made on the case, the Supreme Court announced Friday.

The entire court extended a temporary injunction put in place on December 31 by Justice Sonia Sotomayor that allowed the Little Sisters of the Poor, a Colorado convent and charity, to forgo filling out contraception mandate paperwork while their case against the Obama administration is ongoing.

Sotomayor’s initial injunction, which garnered her accusations of being part of a Catholic, anti-women’s rights conspiracy from some on the left, would have lasted just until the federal appeals court, which is now reviewing the case, makes a decision. Now the Little Sisters will be free from the mandate at least until a final decision is made.

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Romney: Putin a Better President than Obama

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Mitt Romney thinks Vladimir Putin is better at being president than Barack Obama.

Romney, who lost the presidential race to Obama, told NBC that the Russian leader “outperformed” the president “time and time again on the world stage.”

The former GOP nominee called the US and Russia “geopolitical adversaries,” blamed Putin for giving cover to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and said fugitive leaker Edward Snowden’s asylum in Russia was a “bit of a stick in the eye of America.”

But Romney gave Putin grudging respect as his nation prepares to host the Winter Olympics.

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Poll: Only 25% of Americans Believe Feds Will Secure the Border if ‘Immigration Reform’ is Passed

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Photo Credit: Top Right News

Photo Credit: Top Right News

While most respondents said they want border security to play a prominent role in any type of immigration reform, few believe the federal government will actually enforce it.

The Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that just 25 percent of “likely” U.S. voters think it is even somewhat likely that the federal government will actually secure the border and prevent further illegal immigration if that’s part of new legislation.

Further, 65 percent said they consider it unlikely. Just 5 percent said the government is “very likely” to secure the border if it’s part of comprehensive legislation to give legal status to illegal aliens already in the country.

The survey stated that “confidence in the likelihood of the federal government actually securing the border fell to a previous low of 28 percent, from a high of 45 percent in January 2013.”

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The Nuclear Option: Republic to Lose True Public Servant, Sen. Tom Coburn

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Photo Credit: Breitbart

Photo Credit: Breitbart

It is a safe bet that Tom Coburn will not have a big federal building named for him. He is not likely to get a monument erected around here honoring him. He won’t be sitting for an official portrait — striking that generous pose of the longtime, greasy politicians — anytime soon.

No. The news from Sen. Tom Coburn, Oklahoma Republican, that he is retiring and will not finish his second term, will come as a huge relief to people around here and all across the sprawling federal bureaucracy.

But for America, those who cherish freedom and voters who believe in responsible, honest and limited government, one can scarcely think of a greater blow to the republic.

Mr. Coburn’s good constituents back home surely will find a satisfactory new senator. But, simply put, Tom Coburn is irreplaceable.

He is not the most visible politician in Washington. You would never catch him between Chuck Schumer and a television camera. There isn’t much pretty or flashy about the guy. He doesn’t hold forth for hours on end waxing poetic on the Senate floor about humble beginnings or overcoming personal strife or foolishness like that.

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Bloomberg Gave $10M Contract to Company Behind Botched ObamaCare Rollout

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration awarded a $10-million-plus contract to update the city’s non-emergency call system to the same company fired for the botched ObamaCare rollout, according to The New York Daily News.

The administration awarded the contract to Montreal-based CGI on Dec. 31, just hours before Democrat Bill de Blasio was sworn in as mayor.

The contract was approved because Bloomberg considers the 311 hotline one of the legacies of his three terms, the newspaper said.

Read more from this story HERE.

Michigan Gov. Wants Visas for Immigrants Who’ll ‘Stay for 5 Years’ in Detroit

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Photo Credit: AP Photo/Paul Sancya

Photo Credit: AP Photo/Paul Sancya

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder asked the federal government Thursday to set aside thousands of work visas for bankrupt Detroit, a bid to revive the decaying city by attracting talented immigrants who are willing to move there and stay for five years.

The Republican governor has routinely touted immigration as a powerful potential force for growing Detroit’s economy, saying immigrant entrepreneurs start many small businesses and file patents at twice the rate of U.S.-born citizens.

“Let’s send a message to the entire world: Detroit, Michigan, is open to the world,” Snyder said at a news conference.

The proposal involves EB-2 visas, which are offered every year to legal immigrants who have advanced degrees or show exceptional ability in certain fields.

But the governor’s ambitious plan faces significant hurdles: The visas are not currently allocated by region or state. And the number he is seeking — 50,000 over five years — would be a quarter of the total EB-2 visas offered.

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Swarms of Drones Could Be the Next Frontier in Emergency Response (+video)

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Photo Credit: Carnegie Mellon University

Photo Credit: Carnegie Mellon University

Robots that can buzz, whir, and clamber into some of the most dangerous crime scenes and disaster zones are coming to the aid of police officers and other first responders who put themselves in harm’s way.

In October 2013, a parolee barricaded himself in a Roseville, Calif., suburban home of a young couple and their toddler, taking mother and child hostage. A SWAT team from the local police station captured the alleged offender and took him in, but not before gunfire ripped through the one-story home and injured officers.

Law enforcement officers on the ground had help from bomb squad robots, that helped push aside the furniture the suspect had piled up as a barricade. But two detectives believe that a bit of unmanned aerial backup would have made a big difference.

“Just knowing what’s going on inside a house that we would go into cold — [we could] potentially save officers’ lives and victims’ lives,” Phil Mancini, a detective on the Roseville police desk, told NBC News. Mancini has been advising a group at Carnegie Mellon University that is building a swarm of cheap, small flying helicopters that could come to the aid of officers across the country who find themselves facing off against suspects they can’t always see.

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Police Disable ‘Crude Attempts’ at Explosive Devices after 3 Die, Including Gunman, in Maryland Mall Shooting

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Photo Credit: Fox News

Photo Credit: Fox News

A gunman fatally shot two people at a shopping mall in suburban Baltimore before taking his own life, authorities said Saturday.

Howard County (Md.) Police issued a statement late Saturday saying that they had tentatively identified the gunman at the Mall in Columbia, but were not releasing a name because investigators were still following up on leads. The statement also said that police had found two “crude devices” that appeared to be attempts at improvised explosives. Both devices were disabled.

Police said the gunman killed two employees of a skate shop called Zumiez on the upper level of the mall, which is located in a suburb of both Baltimore and Washington, before turning the gun on himself.

The victims were later identified as Brianna Benlolo, 21, and Tyler Johnson, 25. Police said it wasn’t clear if the shooter and victims knew each other.

Benlolo’s grandfather, John Feins, told the Associated Press in a telephone interview from Florida that his granddaughter had a 2-year-old son and that the job at Zumiez was her first since she went back to work after her son’s birth.

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Arizona Sheriffs Say Border Not Secure as Immigration Reform Looms

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Photo Credit: Getty Images

Photo Credit: Getty Images

As Congress prepares to take up immigration reform, two high-profile Arizona sheriffs tell Newsmax the federal government’s effort to secure the border has been a dismal failure.

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu said bluntly: “The border is not secure.”

“I’m telling you that as somebody on the ground, as someone who experiences it every day. This is a lie that is being peddled by those who must convince the American people that it is secure and everything is just fine,” Babeu told Newsmax.

“We have the most active drug and smuggling corridor in the country,” he added, saying that the intersection of major interstates, as well as rural and side roads and vast terrain, make it the perfect area for illegal immigrants coming to this country.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio echoes that view: “Drugs are still coming, illegal aliens are still coming into the U.S.,” he told Newsmax.

Read more from this story HERE.

Wal-Mart’s Cuts 2,300 Jobs at Sam’s Club

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Photo Credit: Fruitnet.com

Photo Credit: Fruitnet.com

Wal-Mart Stores Inc said it cut roughly 2 percent of total employees, or about 2,300 jobs, at its Sam’s Club retail warehouse chain on Friday, its biggest round of layoffs since 2010.

The action comes on the heels of a lackluster U.S. holiday season and layoffs announced earlier this month from U.S. retailers Macy’s Inc, J.C. Penney Co Inc and Target Corp.

In a review of operations that began before the holiday season, Sam’s Club found that its workforce was the same size, regardless of the revenue reaped by the business, company spokesman Bill Durling said in a telephone interview.

The cuts will include hourly and middle management positions.

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