Paul, Cruz Plan Anti-Obamacare Rally

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Obamacare opponents are planning a defunding rally for the first day lawmakers return from August recess and just three weeks before millions can start enrolling in coverage.

Republican Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Mike Lee of Utah), who have been leading calls in the Senate to defund the law in any spending bills, will headline the Sept. 10 Exempt America from Obamacare event, organized by Tea Party Patriots and ForAmerica, along with other conservative groups.

“Democrats will stop at nothing to protect the president’s signature legislation, and too many Republicans are afraid to fight,” rally organizers wrote.

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Yosemite Wildfire Burns Area the Size of Chicago, Threatens Homes (+video)

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Photo Credit: CNN

Photo Credit: CNN

A massive northern California wildfire that’s threatening Yosemite National Park and San Francisco’s key water and power sources grew Monday, becoming the 13th largest in state history, state fire authorities said.

The Rim Fire, which has devoured 160,980 acres, has scorched an area about the size of the city of Chicago while more than 3,600 firefighters try to rein it in.

Susan Loesch and Curtis Evans just started settling into their second home in California’s Sierra foothills a few months ago. Now, they’re worried it could go up in smoke as the massive wildfire spreads.

“This is kind of a little paradise up here for us. … To think this would all be gone would be devastating,” Evans told CNN on Sunday.

Cradling their Chihuahua, Cuervo, they prepared to leave the area Sunday.

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Sentenced to Death for a Sip of Water

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Photo Credit: NY Post

Photo Credit: NY Post

More and more people join the crowd as they push me towards the home of the village headman. I recognize the house — it’s the only one that has a garden with grass growing in it. They throw me to the ground. The village imam speaks to me: “I’ve been told you’ve insulted our Prophet. You know what happens to anyone who attacks the holy Prophet Mohammed. You can redeem yourself only by conversion or death.”

“I haven’t done anything! Please! I beg you! I’ve done nothing wrong!”

The qari with his long, well-combed beard, turns to Musarat and the three women who were there on the day of the falsa harvest.

“Did she speak ill of Muslims and our holy Prophet Mohammed?”

“Yes, she insulted them,” replies Musarat, and the others join in: “It’s true, she insulted our religion.”

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‘Lawless White House’ Has Made a ‘Clear Attempt’ to ‘Aid and Abet Voter Fraud,’ Says GOP Rep

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stockmanA Republican Texas Congressman issued a blistering statement on Friday, accusing President Obama of intentionally working to encourage voter fraud.

Congressman Steve Stockman made the comments following Attorney General Eric Holder’s announcement that he will take legal action to block a Texas law that requires voters to show a valid form of identification.

“This is a clear attempt by a lawless White House to aid and abet voter fraud,” said Stockman, in a statement.

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Congressman Reveals Obama Policy That Opened Asylum Floodgates

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asylum1Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) has sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano that reveals the Obama administration policy of asylum overwhelms the ability to enforce laws. This comes in the wake of a Breitbart News story about the sudden surge of “credible fear” requests at Mexico/U.S. border crossings.

The letter begins by referencing the story that Breitbart News brought to national prominence:

“Dear Secretary Napolitano,

I write regarding the recent surge in foreign nationals, largely from Mexico, claiming asylum at U.S. ports of entry. This surge has been overwhelming Border Patrol agents in San Diego, California. Border Patrol agents reported that in one day 200 aliens came through the Otay Mesa, San Diego port of entry while as many as 550 overflowed the processing center there and in nearby San Ysidro claiming a “credible fear” of the drug cartels in Mexico.”

Rep. Goodlatte then lays out the concern that another Breitbart News story pointed out—that the asylum process is being exploited by Mexican nationals—and highlights the surge in such claims since 2009:

“Such claims have increased from 5,222 in 2009 to 23,408 in just the first three quarters of 2013. According to the most recent data available, DHS is permitting 92% of these claimants to move forward to further proceedings, despite the fact that press reports indicate that up to 91% of these claimants from Mexico are ultimately denied. In addition, most are likely being released into the U.S. pending further proceedings before Immigration Judges as opposed to being detained as required by law.”

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Controversial Czar to ‘Probe’ Government Surveillance

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sunsteinNEW YORK – A White House panel established to review federal surveillance measures is set to include a controversial former administration official who once advocated government agents infiltrate chat rooms and online social networks, WND has learned.

Also reportedly slated to join the panel is a resigning CIA official fingered in the scandal surrounding the White House’s edited Benghazi talking points.

ABC News reported Cass Sunstein, Obama’s former regulatory czar, will be among what President Obama has called a “high-level group of outside experts” probing government surveillance programs.

Also slated to join the investigative body is recent acting head of the CIA, Michael Morell, who announced his resignation in June, the news network reported.

Obama announced the panel’s formation two weeks ago, stating at the time the group will “consider how we can maintain the trust of the people [and] how we can make sure that there absolutely is no abuse.”

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Court: No Mail-In Ballots for Colorado Recall Election for Anti-Gun Legislators

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Photo Credit: Reuters

Photo Credit: Reuters

With mail ballots out of the question, recall elections for two Democratic state senators who backed new firearm restrictions will test how enthusiastic their backers are about getting to the polls in person — and how badly gun-rights advocates want to kick out the lawmakers.

At a time when most Colorado voters prefer voting by mail, a court ruling this week that requires in-person voting injects uncertainty about which side has the advantage in the state’s first legislative recalls…

Democrats were hoping that an elections law they passed this year requiring mail ballots to all voters would boost turnout with their base. But a Denver district judge ruled this week that third-party candidates should have until Aug. 26 to qualify for the Sept. 10 recall ballot. That means there won’t be enough time to send mail ballots to everyone, except for overseas voters and those requesting one in an emergency.

Recall supporters say the court decision gives them an advantage because gun-rights advocates who pushed for the election are more driven to go to the polls and make sure Morse and Giron are kicked out of office.

“We happen to be pleased with the decision. We think it’s in our favor that people actually have to show up at the ballot box to vote,” said Jennifer Kerns, a spokeswoman for the Basic Freedom Defense Fund, which is supporting the recalls. “We feel like we have a very motivated base.”

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Doctors’ Organization Demands Hospitals Perform More Abortions, Young Doctors Eager to Learn Killing Art

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Photo Credit: Getty Images

Photo Credit: Getty Images

In a statement set to be published in the September issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 100 ob-gyns condemn new state restrictions on abortion as a “political regression.” The article, obtained by TIME, criticizes hospitals for relinquishing abortion to stand-alone clinics that are easily targeted by abortion activists, and calls on the medical community to integrate the procedure into women’s-health services and medical training…

It’s a rare call to arms for the medical community, which tends to lay low when it comes to abortion. A 2011 study from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists found that while 97% of ob-gyn doctors in the U.S. have met with a patient who wants an abortion, just 14% actually perform the procedure.

Hospitals provide just 4% of abortions in the U.S., according to the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit sexual-health-research organization, and many facilities limit the procedure to rare cases, like fetal abnormalities or when the life of the woman is at risk. The majority of hospitals perform fewer than 30 abortions per year. Others refuse to provide the procedure at all…

Despite these obstacles, however, pro-choice physicians say they have already made progress toward normalizing abortion in the medical community, most notably by expanding training through residency programs and family-planning fellowships. About 50% of the 200 ob-gyn residency programs in the U.S. now integrate abortion into training requirements, up from just 12% in 1992. Professors believe that a new generation of doctors will use their training to bring abortion back into hospitals and doctors’ offices. A 2011 study of ob-gyns found that female doctors and those ages 35 and younger were far more likely than their colleagues to perform abortions.

“It is very unusual for us to find new residents who don’t want to learn abortions,” Darney says. “They may find it difficult to practice, but we have a whole new generation of young women who are replacing the old men, and they have a very different view about their relationships with their patients. It’s very promising.”

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U.S. Spy Agency Edges into the Light After Snowden Revelations

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Photo Credit: Reuters

Photo Credit: Reuters

There was a time when the U.S. National Security Agency was so secretive that government officials dared not speak its name in public. NSA, the joke went, stood for “No Such Agency.”

That same agency this month held an on-the-record conference call with reporters, issued a lengthy press release to rebut a newspaper story, and posted documents on a newly launched open website – icontherecord.tumblr.com (which stands for intelligence community on the record).

The steps were taken under pressure as President Barack Obama’s administration tries to calm a public storm over disclosures by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden that the surveillance agency and its British counterpart scoop up far more Internet and phone data than previously known.

The NSA’s moves out of the shadows were meant to show that it operates lawfully and fixes mistakes when they are detected, but not everyone is convinced that it is a fundamental shift toward more openness at the intelligence agencies.

Some steps toward openness were unprecedented.

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When Energy Dreams Fall Short

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

If the energy visions of past years had come true, throngs of Americans would be using switchgrass to fuel their cars and running their homes on electricity from nuclear fusion or carbon-capturing coal plants.

But reality has worked out differently.

Many of the nation’s most ambitious energy projects have fallen far short of their lofty goals, either because they were unrealistically optimistic, took too long develop or were abandoned as markets shifted. EPA offered a reminder of that reality this month, when it made sharp cuts in its production estimates for an advanced biofuel called cellulosic ethanol.

Some experts caution that struggling technologies can still strike gold, making it hard to judge when it’s too soon to stop investing in them.

“When do you know when to cut your losses?” asked Margot Anderson, executive director of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s energy project. “When is a flop a flop?”

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