Fort Hood Shooter Snapped Over Denial of Request for Leave, Army Confirms

/1 Comment/in , /by

Photo Credit: U.S. Army

Photo Credit: U.S. Army

Fort Hood shooter Ivan Lopez’s rampage followed an argument over the denial of his request for leave and did not appear to be due to some ongoing mental problem, an Army official said Monday.

The word came as officials announced findings of their ongoing investigation, which included interviews with more than 1,100 people and a recreation of the shooting last Wednesday, which left four dead including Lopez, and 16 injured.

“We only have one suspect,” said Chris Grey, spokesman for the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command. “We are fully committed to this investigation and we will continue to pursue investigatively all leads.”

Grey, who was flanked by other law enforcement officials, did not take questions at the brief Monday news conference, and said he would not divulge any information that could jeopardize the investigation. But confirmation that an argument of a request for leave had immediately preceded the shooting seemed to further put to rest prior speculation that the 34-year-old Army specialist’s Lopez’s spree may have been related to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Although he had reportedly been treated for mental issues including depression, military officials had expressed skepticism that his four-month tour in Iraq as that war wound down could have caused PTSD.

One complicating issue in the probe is the sheer size of the crime scene, Grey said, noting that it was comparable to two city blocks. The spree began in one building of the sprawling complex, where Lopez, who was 34, first pulled his .45-caliber Caliber Smith & Wesson handgun and killed one, injuring 10.

Read more from this story HERE.

Why is New York City Bullying Christians?

/1 Comment/in , /by

Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

A federal appeals panel has ruled that New York City has a right to ban churches from holding worship services in school buildings. In essence, it means Christians have officially become second-class citizens in the nation’s largest city.

The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second District is just the latest twist in a legal saga pitting the Bronx Household of Faith against the NYC Board of Education. The court found that New York City’s ban on renting schools to churches for weekend worship services did not violate the First Amendment right to free expression.

“The opinion uses the establishment clause as an excuse to treat people of faith worse than everybody else,” said the Bronx Household of Faith’s attorney, Jordan Lorence of Alliance Defending Freedom.

Circuit Judge John Walker was the lone dissenter in the 2 to 1 ruling on Thursday. He said the board of education “plainly discriminates against religious belief and cannot be justified by a compelling government interest.”

“Shutting the door to religious worship services in such a setting where every other activity is permitted strikes at the clause’s core,” he wrote in the dissent. “Of the 50 largest school districts in the United States, New York city alone entirely excludes religious worship from its facilities.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Supreme Court Rejects Christian Photographer’s Appeal of Lesbian Wedding Verdict

/4 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Photo Credit: Getty Images

While the Supreme Court is mulling over the religious rights of Hobby Lobby owners the Greens, it decidedly denied those rights Monday morning to a small wedding photography business owned by a Christian couple.

This morning the Supreme Court rejected Elane Photography’s appeal to overturn a 2006 New Mexico ruling which said that the Christian business owners violated the state’s anti-discrimination laws by refusing to photograph a lesbian wedding ceremony.

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins spoke out against the Supreme Court for its failure to protect First Amendment rights, saying:

Read more from this story HERE.

Gun Control Fail

/4 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: IJ Review

Photo Credit: IJ Review

By April 15th, any New Yorker that owns an “assault weapon” is to have registered their gun, per the requirements of the New York SAFE act passed last year. But it’s looking more and more like a tiny percentage of New Yorkers are actually doing it.

While the state of New York has not released actual firearms registration numbers, the rumors of registrations in the 3,000-5,000 range mean that 99% of those affected gun owners are refusing to comply with the law.

Furthermore, gun manufacturers are already responding to the law by designing guns that carefully circumvent its specific requirements.

Read more from this story HERE.

Benghazi Cover-Up Was More to Protect Hillary than Obama

/8 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Bebeto Matthews / AP

Photo Credit: Bebeto Matthews / AP

By Ernest Istook.

A deeply politicized CIA acted more to protect the secretary of state than the president when it falsified its Benghazi talking points, according to Halle Dale, the Heritage Foundation’s senior fellow for public diplomacy.

At this week’s extraordinary public hearing by the House Select Committee on Intelligence, former CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell acknowledged being the ultimate editor of the CIA’s infamous talking points memo about the murders of four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador, in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11, 2012.

The memo’s false claims became the Obama administration’s official version, broadcast by former U.N. Ambassador Susan E. Rice on national television as she spread the false message that the deaths resulted from a protest gone bad rather than a terrorist attack.

As a guest on my talk radio show Thursday on The Washington Times Radio Network, Ms. Dale said: “What we learned … is that the CIA is a deeply politicized agency.”

And protecting Hillary Clinton seemed a higher priority than protecting Barack Obama.

Read more from this story HERE.

_____________________________________________________________________

LIGNET Got Benghazi Right; Why Didn’t the CIA?

By Fred Fleitz.

In May 2011, I was asked by Christopher Ruddy, Newsmax Media’s President and CEO, to start a commercial intelligence analysis and forecasting service. It was an exciting project and a great opportunity after 25 years working in the national security field.

This project became known as the Langley Intelligence Group Network (LIGNET). Working with other intelligence and national security experts, we launched this project in the fall of 2011. LIGNET produces analysis in the style of the President’s Daily Brief, the classified memo that the U.S. Intelligence Community brings to the president every morning containing analysis of major security issues affecting this country.

Of the over 2,400 analyses we’ve posted since the launch of LIGNET, our work on one subject stands out: the September 2012 terrorist attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi.

I’m compelled to speak out about this after watching the testimony of former CIA acting Director Michael Morell before the House Intelligence Committee this week. Morell is in hot water because of controversial CIA-drafted talking points that said the attacks on the Benghazi consulate were the result of demonstrations over an anti-Muslim video and not a terrorist attack. These talking points, which were coordinated through several government agencies, were submitted to the White House and Congress on Sept. 15, 2012.

The talking points were politically convenient for the Obama administration in the run-up to the 2012 presidential election and were used by U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice to deny that the attacks on the consulate were related to terrorism during five Sunday morning talk show appearances on Sept. 16, 2012.

Read more from this story HERE.

Edward Snowden Addresses US Campaigners

/2 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Frank Polich / Reuters

Photo Credit: Frank Polich / Reuters

Edward Snowden and the reporter Glenn Greenwald, who brought to light the whistleblower’s leaks about mass US government surveillance last year, appeared together via video link from opposite ends of the earth on Saturday, for what was believed to be the first time since Snowden sought asylum in Russia.

In Germany, meanwhile, a leading ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel criticised the US for failing to provide sufficient assurances on its spying tactics and said bilateral talks were unlikely to make much progress before the German leader visits Washington next month.

The interior minister, Thomas de Maiziere, one of Merkel’s closest cabinet allies, told the German weekly magazine Der Spiegel: “US intelligence methods may be justified to a large extent by security needs, but the tactics are excessive and over-the-top.”

Last October, reports based on disclosures by Snowden said Washington had monitored Merkel’s mobile phone.

In Chicago, a sympathetic crowd of nearly 1,000 packed a downtown hotel ballroom at Amnesty International USA’s annual human rights meeting and gave Greenwald, who dialled in from Brazil, a raucous welcome before Snowden was patched in 15 minutes later – to a standing ovation.

Read more from this story HERE.

Rand Paul to California Republicans: Evolve, Adapt Or Die

/9 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Breitbart

Photo Credit: Breitbart

Evolve, adapt or die. That is the fate of our current Republican party. We must evolve as a party and find a way to attract millennials to the conservative movement or we will never succeed in realizing our ideals of individual freedom and freedom from government interference.

Initially, I received criticism from political pundits for speaking to non-traditional audiences. I was told it was a waste of time to reach out to these audiences, specifically students from both Howard University and University of California, Berkeley.

My response is this: I have never been one to watch the world go by without participating. I wake up each day hoping to make a difference.

You might be a Republican, Democrat or Independent. I speak before these audiences, not to preach or prescribe some special formula.

My intention is not to tell you what to be. You are more important than any political party or partisan pleadings. My intention is to motivate all Americans and defend their rights.

Read more from this story HERE.

Democrats Worry A Lot About Global Warming. Everybody Else, Not So Much.

/5 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: AP / J. Scott Applewhite

Photo Credit: AP / J. Scott Applewhite

A new Gallup survey shows a stark partisan divide in Americans’ beliefs on global warming. About one-third of the public — mostly Democrats — say they worry “a great deal” about global warming, while a much larger number, mostly Republicans and independents, say they worry about warming “only a little” or “not at all” or “a fair amount.”

At the same time, a solid majority of Americans express great concern about a number of other environmental issues. It’s just global warming that doesn’t bother them much.

On the question of global warming, 34 percent say they worry about it a great deal. That is in contrast to the 60 percent who say they worry a great deal about pollution of America’s drinking water; 53 percent who say they worry a great deal about contamination of soil and water by toxic waste; and 53 percent who say they worry a great deal about pollution of rivers, lakes and reservoirs. Slightly smaller numbers of Americans are deeply concerned about other issues: 46 percent say they worry a great deal about air pollution; 41 percent say they worry a great deal about the extinction of plant and animal species; and 41 percent say they worry a great deal about the loss of tropical rain forests. Only after all those other concerns comes global warming, at 34 percent. (When Gallup asked about concern over “climate change,” the number was 35 percent, suggesting the name doesn’t make much difference.)

Read more from this story HERE.

Democrats Joining Republicans in Protest Over Medicare Advantage Cuts

/3 Comments/in , /by

medicare1485Several Democrats — including some lawmakers whose re-election bids are seen as vulnerable in this year’s midterm races — are joining Republicans in calling for the Obama administration to stop proposed cuts to the Medicare Advantage program.

Administration officials plan to announce the 2015 rates for the program on Monday, reports The Hill, and could prove a sensitive issue as both parties are courting the senior citizens who tend to turn out in high numbers to vote in midterms.

Republicans say the program is a valid private alternative to Medicare, as it allows seniors to enroll in plans offered by private insurers, who are then directly paid by the federal government.

Until now, Democrats have complained that the plan receives a disportionate amount of money compared to the Medicare program, and Obamacare was partially funded through $200 billion in cuts over 10 years.

Opponents include Sens. Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, considered two of the Democratic Party’s most vulnerable senators seeking re-election. But some powerful Democrats are also speaking out, including Sens. Charles Schumer and Michael Bennett.

Read more from this story HERE.

Ex-CIA Boss Says Emotional Opposition From Feinstein May Taint Agency Probe

/2 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Fox News

Photo Credit: Fox News

Former CIA Director Michael Hayden on Sunday questioned the objectivity of a forthcoming report on the agency’s detention and interrogation programs, saying California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who ordered the probe, might have let her feelings about the issue get in the way.

Hayden zeroed in on Feinstein recently saying that declassifying the report would “ensure that an un-American, brutal program of detention and interrogation will never again be considered or permitted.”

Hayden told “Fox News Sunday”: “That sentence, that motivation for the report, may show deep, emotional feeling on the part of the senator. But I don’t think it leads you to an objective report.”

Feinstein, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, which led the probe, responded sharply to Hayden’s remarks, saying the report is “objective, based on fact, thoroughly footnoted.”

“I am certain it will stand on its own merits,” she said, according to The Washington Post.

Read more from this story HERE.