Kerry: Egypt’s ‘Military Did Not Take Over’ (+video)

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By Jeryl Bier

During his visit to Pakistan on Thursday, Secretary of State John Kerry gave several TV interviews including one to Hamid Mir of Geo TV. Mir’s first question for Kerry concerned Egypt. The Obama administration has resisted referring to the military action in Egypt as a coup, but in this interview, Kerry went even further, asserting that “the military did not take over, to the best of our judgment so – so far,” and that its intervention was at the request of “millions and millions of people” concerned about the increasing chaos in the country [emphasis added]:

QUESTION: Thank you very much for giving us time. My first question is about your commitment with democracy. The U.S. believes in democracy, U.S. is a champion of democracy all over the world. But why U.S. is not taking a clear position on military intervention against the democratically elected government of President Morsy in Egypt?

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, it’s a very appropriate and important question, and I want to answer it very directly. The military was asked to intervene by millions and millions of people, all of whom were afraid of a descendance into chaos, into violence. And the military did not take over, to the best of our judgment so – so far. To run the country, there’s a civilian government. In effect, they were restoring democracy.

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Photo Credit: WNDEgypt Hurtling Toward Civil War?

By F. Michael Maloof

As demonstrations increase in intensity in Egypt between the military backers and Muslim Brotherhood supporters, concern mounts that the conflict could lead to major confrontations and civil war, according to a report in Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.

Members of the Muslim Brotherhood have ratcheted up demonstrations demanding the reinstatement of President Mohammad Morsi, who was elected last year but ousted by the military after one year in office.

These demonstrations have resulted in increased clashes with the military, raising concerns the confrontations could become more widespread.

Now, the military has added fuel to the fire by accusing Morsi of conspiring with the Palestinian militant group Hamas in killing some 14 guards, while getting help in his 2011 escape from prison.

As WND recently reported, the Brotherhood also has announced the creation of the Egyptian Free Army, a reflection of a similar army created by the opposition in Syria to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. A civil war has been under way there for two years, and some 100,000 people have been killed.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: WNDFeds plan to give Egypt armed-to-the-teeth ships

By Steve Peacock

The U.S. Senate has rejected an effort to crack down on U.S. taxpayer monies being forwarded to the violence-ridden nation of Egypt, and now the Obama administration is preparing to send more heavily armed, missile-equipped naval patrol ships to the interim government there.

For that purpose, Washington is hiring private contractors to make the transoceanic delivery on its behalf.

This shipment of Fast Missile Craft, or FMC, comes at a time when congressional interest in suspending U.S. military aid to Egypt had heated up – to the point there was a Senate proposal to cut it off. That aid, according to federal law, must be suspended in response to military coups.

But the White House refuses to designate the military overthrow of deposed President Mohamed Morsi as a coup, and therefore has expressed no more than a commitment to review U.S.-Egyptian aid.

The U.S. Senate this week shot down, 86-13, Sen. Rand Paul’s proposed amendment to the transportation spending bill that would have redirected “certain foreign assistance to the government of Egypt as a result of the July 3, 2013, military coup d’état.” Read more from this story HERE.

Mexican Cartels Hiring US Soldiers as Hit Men

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Photo Credit: Fox NewsMexican cartels are recruiting hit men from the U.S. military, offering big money to highly-trained soldiers to carry out contract killings and potentially share their skills with gangsters south of the border, according to law enforcement experts.

The involvement of three American soldiers in separate incidents, including a 2009 murder that led to last week’s life sentence for a former Army private, underscore a problem the U.S. military has fought hard to address.

“We have seen examples over the past few years where American servicemen are becoming involved in this type of activity,” said Fred Burton, vice president for STRATFOR Global Intelligence. “It is quite worrisome to have individuals with specialized military training and combat experience being associated with the cartels.”

The life sentence handed down in El Paso District court July 25 to an Army private hired by the Juarez Cartel to be the triggerman in a 2009 hit in this border city is the most recent case.

Michael Apodaca, 22, was a private first-class stationed at nearby Fort Bliss Army Base and was attached to the 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade when he was recruited and paid $5,000 by the Juarez Cartel to shoot and kill Jose Daniel Gonzalez-Galeana, a cartel member who had been outed as an informant for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Apodaca, who was the triggerman in the May 15, 2009, hit, was sentenced in El Paso District Court July 25.

Read more from this story HERE.

Where’s That 5% Unemployment Rate Obama Promised by Now?

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On the surface, the July jobs report — the unemployment rate dipped to 7.4% last month thanks to a shrinking workforce as the economy added a disappointing 162,000 net new payrolls — is just another dismal data point in America’s “new normal” recovery. But it’s also an important milestone and metric for judging the Keynesian fiscal experiment known as Obamanomics.

In January 2009, Team Obama economists put together a report – half quantitative analysis, half sales pitch — outlining the potential economic impact of the proposed $800 billion stimulus. (See above chart from that report.) If Congress passed the plan, the report forecasted, the economy would generate enough additional demand, output, and employment that two big things would happen:

First, the unemployment rate would never reach 8%. Unfortunately, we hit 10% unemployment in October 2009. Failure number one.

Second, the unemployment rate would return to its long-term “natural rate” of 5% by July 2013 (a jobless rate, it should be noted, above the low points of the Bush and Clinton presidencies). Labor markets would be back to peak health. The Great Recession would truly and finally be over.

Mission accomplished by this jobless report.

Read more from this story HERE.

Veterans Sue City in New York that Ordered ‘Don’t Tread on Me’ Flag Banned

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Photo Credit: APA veterans group alleges in a federal lawsuit that officials violated its free-speech rights when they banned a “Don’t Tread on Me” flag from a city-owned armory.

The lawsuit filed last week in federal court says New Rochelle’s action, in addition to being unconstitutional, was “unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious” and betrayed a lack of appreciation of history.

The City Council had ordered the flag down in March, citing complaints that the yellow banner with a coiled rattlesnake was making a political statement. The flag has been used as an unofficial symbol of the tea party since at least 2008 and is often seen at party rallies, tax protests and gun rights rallies.

But the lawsuit, filed by the United Veterans Memorial and Patriotic Association, offers a long history of the flag, which has been used by the U.S. military since 1776. And it says none of the veterans who raised the flag in March are tea party members.

Read more from this story HERE.

Congressman: Obama’s Lawless Administration Changing Benghazi Survivors’ Names, Dispersing them Throughout US in Massive Cover-up (+video)

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The Obama administration is “changing names” of the Benghazi survivors and “creating aliases” to keep them hidden from congressional investigators and the American people, Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) told Greta Van Susteren on Thursday night. He also said the administration is “dispersing them around the country” to keep them out of sight.

Gowdy’s stunning claims were overshadowed by CNN’s bombshell report that revealed there were “dozens” of CIA operatives on the ground in Benghazi on Sept. 11, 2012, the night of the deadly attack that killed four Americans. Meanwhile, the CIA is taking “unprecedented” to keep whatever it was doing in Benghazi a secret, according to the report.

Read more from this story HERE.

Levin on Congressional Obamacare ‘Fix’: They are So LUCKY We Don’t Storm Capitol Hill (He’s Not Advocating That)

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Mark Levin explained tonight how Congress has gotten Obama to get one of his flunkies at the Office of Personnel Management to announce that the “government can continue to make a contribution to the health care premiums of members of Congress and their aides”.

This is something that wouldn’t have occurred had if Obamacare were implemented as written. But it would have cost our dear leaders thousands of dollars in premium costs so they got Obama to override the law on their behalf.

Read more and listen to audio HERE.

Study: Record 21 Million Young Adults Living With Parents

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Photo Credit: Moyan_BrennA record number of young adults are living with their parents.

A new study from Pew Research finds that 36 percent of Millennials – young adults ages 18 to 31 – are living at their parents’ homes, the highest number in four decades. A record 21.6 million young adults were still living at home last year.

“Most of my friends that have graduated end up living back home because even if they have a job they can’t afford to pay rent and pay back their loans at the same time,” Stephanie Levonne, a 20-year-old college student living at home, told CBS News. “I know a lot of people that took out almost half or more of their tuition in loans which is $50,000 so it’s impossible to pay rent and live in New York City while paying off your loan.”

The number rose from 32 percent at the beginning of the Great Recession in 2007 and 34 percent in 2009.

Read more from this story HERE.

Military Investigators Reportedly Disqualify 60 Troops as Sexual Assault Counselors, Recruiters or Drill Instructors

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Photo Credit: Fort BraggMilitary investigators reportedly have disqualified some 60 troops as sexual assault counselors, recruiters or drill instructors following a Defense Department-ordered review of their credentials and conduct.

According to USA Today, investigators found those removed from their posts had committed violations ranging from alcohol-related offenses to child abuse and sexual assault, although there was no confirmation from the Defense Department.

The records of at least 35,000 troops have been screened or are under review, the paper said, with the Army suspending 55 personnel and the Navy five.

Read more from this story HERE.

Rep. Graves: Grassroots Need to Keep Up Pressure to Defund Obamacare

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Photo Credit: APRep. Tom Graves (R-GA) told Breitbart News on Friday that a majority of House Republicans have now signed onto his legislation to defund Obamacare in the upcoming Continuing Resolution (CR), passing a threshold that meets the informal Hastert Rule that requires a majority of the majority to support legislation before it comes up for a vote.

“Well it sends a real strong message,” Graves said of the reaching the milestone during a phone interview on Friday morning. “I think as of yesterday we had 121 cosponsors. That’s a very rapid growth of cosponsoring, including House leadership such as Lynn Jenkins, signing onto the bill this week.”

“So, we have the majority of the majority that meets the Hastert Rule,” he explained. “We’ll see if those numbers continue to grow. Members have come up to me even this morning asking if they could sign on and where would they go to do that. I think we’re going to see the momentum continue.”

In fact, since the interview Graves conducted with Breitbart News on Friday morning, the bill picked up yet another cosponsor and is up to 122. Since there are 234 GOP members in the House, a total of 117 cosponsors are needed for any piece of legislation to cross the threshold to meet the Hastert Rule.

Graves credits a lot of the success thus far to the grassroots and Tea Party movement, which has been helping pressure members of Congress to get in the fight.

Read more from this story HERE.

Dems Favor Federal Bailout of Detroit, But Majority of Public Opposed

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Photo Credit: real clear politicsA new national poll from Quinnipiac University shows that a majority Democrats believe the federal government should bail out Detroit, but an even larger majority of Americans oppose such a move. Fifty-one percent of Democrats support Washington providing federal assistance to Detroit, which last month became the largest American city ever to seek bankruptcy protection.

Not surprisingly, there is a strong partisan divide on the question of a federal bailout for the Motor City. Seventy-three percent of Republicans oppose a bailout, while only 18 percent support the idea. Independents are nearly of the same mind as Republicans on the issue: 68 percent oppose federal assistance for Detroit and 28 percent support it.

The poll also shows a significant racial divide on the issue. Whites overwhelmingly oppose a federal bailout (63 percent against vs. 26 percent in favor) while a solid majority of African-Americans support a bailout (57 percent favor vs. 36 percent against) as do a plurality of Hispanics (48 percent favor vs. 36 percent against).

Read more from this story HERE.