Democratic Lawmaker Hits Justice as ‘Uncle Thomas’

/2 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

A Democratic lawmaker from Minnesota criticized Tuesday’s Supreme Court decision on the Voting Rights Act by calling Justice Clarence Thomas “Uncle Thomas,” then saying he didn’t know “Uncle Tom” was a racist epithet.

On his Twitter account Tuesday, state Rep. Ryan Winkler called the justices’ 5-4 ruling striking down a part of the law racist, and the work of “four accomplices to race discrimination and one Uncle Thomas.” Justice Thomas, who is black, was one of the five justices in the majority.

That tweet was quickly deleted, and Mr. Winkler, who is white and represents some upper middle class suburbs west-southwest of Minneapolis, offered a conditional-tense quasi-apology in subsequent tweets.

He said he “didn’t think it was offensive to suggest that Justice Thomas should be even more concerned about racial discrimination than colleagues. But if such a suggestion is offensive, I apologize.”

However Mr. Winkler, whose website says he has an undergraduate history degree from Harvard and a law degree from the University of Minnesota, seemed to dig the hole deeper in a subsequent tweet, in which he said the racism of the term “Uncle Tom” was disputed and unknown to him.

Read more from this story HERE.

Glenn Greenwald: Snowden’s Files Are Out There if ‘Anything Happens’ to Him

/1 Comment/in , /by

Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

As the U.S. government presses Moscow to extradite former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, America’s most wanted leaker has a plan B. The former NSA systems administrator has already given encoded files containing an archive of the secrets he lifted from his old employer to several people. If anything happens to Snowden, the files will be unlocked.

Glenn Greenwald, the Guardian journalist who Snowden first contacted in February, told The Daily Beast on Tuesday that Snowden “has taken extreme precautions to make sure many different people around the world have these archives to insure the stories will inevitably be published.” Greenwald added that the people in possession of these files “cannot access them yet because they are highly encrypted and they do not have the passwords.” But, Greenwald said, “if anything happens at all to Edward Snowden, he told me he has arranged for them to get access to the full archives.”

The fact that Snowden has made digital copies of the documents he accessed while working at the NSA poses a new challenge to the U.S. intelligence community that has scrambled in recent days to recover them and assess the full damage of the breach. Even if U.S. authorities catch up with Snowden and the four classified laptops the Guardian reported he brought with him to Hong Kong the secrets Snowden hopes to expose will still likely be published.

A former U.S. counterintelligence officer following the Snowden saga closely said his contacts inside the U.S. intelligence community “think Snowden has been planning this for years and has stashed files all over the Internet.” This source added, “At this point there is very little anyone can do about this.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama Admin. Slashing Combat Brigades at 10 US Bases

/7 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: The U.S. Army

Photo Credit: The U.S. Army

In a massive restructuring, the U.S. Army is slashing the number of active duty combat brigades from 45 to 33, and shifting thousands of soldiers out of bases around the country as it moves forward with a longtime plan to cut the size of the service by 80,000.

Officials say the sweeping changes would eliminate brigades at 10 Army bases in the U.S. by 2017, including in Texas, Kentucky, Georgia, Colorado, North Carolina, New York, Kansas and Washington. The Army will also cut thousands of other jobs across the service, including soldiers in units that support the brigades, and two brigades in Germany have already been scheduled for elimination.

Officials provided details on the plans on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. An announcement is expected Tuesday afternoon. The Army is being reduced in size from a high of about 570,000 during the peak of the Iraq war to 490,000 as part of efforts to cut the budget and reflect the country’s military needs as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan end. Additional reductions could be required if Congress allows automatic budget cuts to continue into next year.

Read more from this story HERE.

Democrat Markey Wins Kerry’s U.S. Senate Seat in Massachusetts Special Election

/3 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: WEBN-TV

Photo Credit: WEBN-TV

Long-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Edward Markey beat out Republican newcomer Gabriel Gomez Tuesday in Massachusetts’ special election for John Kerry’s U.S. Senate seat.

Markey had an advantage of about 8 percentage points over Gomez with most precincts reporting late Tuesday, according to unofficial returns. He took to Twitter to thank voters after his victory.

“Thank you Massachusetts!” he tweeted. “I am deeply honored for the opportunity to serve you in the United States Senate.”

Gomez said he called Markey to congratulate him and wished him “nothing but the best.”

In a concession speech to supporters, Gomez said he was a better person as a result of the campaign and believed Markey would be a better senator having gone through the election.

Read more from this story HERE.

Sources: NSA Has Total Access to Computers via Microsoft Windows

/2 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: WND

Photo Credit: WND

The National Security Agency has backdoor access to all Windows software since the release of Windows 95, according to informed sources, a development that follows the insistence by the agency and federal law enforcement for backdoor “keys” to any encryption, according to Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.

Having such “keys” is essential for the export of any encryption under U.S. export control laws.

The NSA plays a prominent role in deliberations over whether such products can be exported. It routinely turns down any requests above a megabyte level that exceeds NSA’s technical capacity to decrypt it. That’s been the standard for years for NSA, as well as the departments of Defense, Commerce and State.

Computer security specialists say the Windows software driver used for security and encryption functions contains unusual features the give NSA the backdoor access.

The security specialists have identified the driver as ADVAPI.DLL. It enables and controls a variety of security functions. The specialists say that in Windows, it is located at C:\Windowssystem.

Read more from this story HERE.

An Unconstitutional Assault on Coal Will Be Accomplished Through Regulation

/3 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Irish Central

Photo Credit: Irish Central

In another arbitrary and illegal assault on America’s way of life, President Obama announced he will unilaterally toughen EPA regulations.

Excerpted from a report in the Guardian:

Obama would direct the Environmental Protection Agency to begin regulating greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power plants.

Coal-fired power plants are the single largest source of America’s greenhouse gas emissions – responsible for up to 40% of carbon pollution – and have long been a target of campaigners.

The Obama administration has already taken steps to raising standards on new power plants. But it has balked until now at imposing tougher standards on existing power plants – a measure which would deliver the biggest cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.

There was intense speculation ahead of Tuesday’s speech about whether Obama would promise to curb emissions of existing facilities.

All of this based on a premise that there is global warming and it is caused by human activity. This is not based on scientific fact and is hotly disputed by thousands of scientists and meteorologists around the world, including 32,000 American scientists. See Oregon Petition.

Perhaps the Presidents announcement was timed to distract attention away from the many scandals surrounding the White House. But for whatever reason, it clearly illustrates America is evolving into a monarchy when the chief executive (King), can make a proclamation that will effectively place a hardship on millions of Americans with huge spikes in energy costs.

Bypassing the checks and balances of our republic by executive order, shows too much power is put in the hands of one person.

The goal of course is to model our policy after Europe where electric energy costs as a result of green energy have forced some to choose between food or paying their electric bill. See German finance minister declaring solar is the path to bankruptcy.

Lots of talk about wind/solar/unicorn dust to take up the slack if coal is removed and other forms of fossil fuel are punished….But in reality, alternative energy at this stage of its technology will only compete as an energy source when all other energy competition is forced to subsidize them. See “EU’s Green Policies In Retreat”.

Additionally the reliance on natural gas if coal is taken out of the picture, refuses to recognize the price of gas has seen wild swings in the past. It will assuredly do it again without competition from a reliable supply of clean coal to keep it in line.

John Fay, an American in Ireland shows what will happen when the left imposes their will on a country’s energy policy with his excellent piece: “Irish people, shivering in their own homes, have only themselves to blame”.

The public needs to know what is in store for them if President Obama and the far left, achieve their goal of choosing energy winners and losers. By first killing coal and then punishing other productive fossil fuels in order to usher in and subsidize “green energy,” our modern society as we know it, can grind to a halt.

It is game changing and damaging to our society to let a small cabal of fossil fuel enemies decide that America’s most prolific source of cheap energy is no longer welcome to be used…..and then regulate it out of existence.

It is game changing and damaging to our society and our country to let this decision rest in the hands of one person.

America’s energy future is far too important to be regulated by an executive order with an agenda. Time to put a halt to energy legislation by regulation and let the rest of our branches of government be involved in these decisions.

_____________________________________

Ed Farnan is the conservative columnist at IrishCentral, where he has been writing on the need for energy independence, strong self defense, secure borders, 2nd amendment, smaller government and many other issues. His articles appear in many publications throughout the USA and world. He has been a guest on Fox News and a regular guest on radio stations in the US and Europe.

Only 9% of Employers Say Obamacare Will be Good for Their Businesses

/3 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Weekly Standard

Photo Credit: Weekly Standard

A new Gallup poll of small-business owners indicates that Obamacare is having a dramatic and deleterious effect on Americans’ employment prospects. More than 40 percent of small-business owners say that Obamacare has caused them to freeze hiring, while nearly a fifth say that it has caused them to cut existing workers. According to the poll, 41 percent of small-business owners have frozen hiring, while 19 percent have “reduced the number of employees [they] have in [their] business as a specific result of the Affordable Care Act [Obamacare]” (italics added).

The Gallup poll was commissioned by Littler Mendelson, a firm specializing in employment law. Steven Friedman, an attorney for the firm, said of the results, “We were startled.” He added that these are “some pretty startling answers.”

Just 9 percent of the 603 employers surveyed by Gallup said Obamacare will be good for their business…

Read more from this story HERE.

Army Reprimands Soldier Under Fire for Religious Beliefs

/3 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Ryk Neethling

Photo Credit: Ryk Neethling

A member of the U.S. Army Band who said he was reprimanded for having anti-Obama bumper stickers on his personal car, serving Chick-fil-A sandwiches at a party and reading books written by conservative authors like Sean Hannity was found guilty of three Article 15 charges.

Master Sgt. Nathan Sommers, a decorated soloist with the Army Band, was found guilty Thursday of failing to go to an appointed place of duty, disobedience of an order and making a false official statement, his attorney said.

The charges were handed down June 9, one day after Sommers told Fox News that he was facing discrimination and persecution because of his conservative political and religious beliefs.

Retired Navy Commander John Bennett Wells told Fox News the charges were stemmed from giving a superior officer the wrong date for a doctor’s appointment. He’s also accused of failing to carry out an order. In order to comply with that order, Sommers would have had to disclose private information about his autistic son’s medical records.

“The timing does seem strange,” Wells told Fox News. “It’s suspicious. It looks like a graduated attempt to build a case against him on some really ridiculous charges.

Read more from this story HERE.

IRS Chief Admits Improper Screening of Groups Went on Until Last Month

/1 Comment/in , /by

Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

In a conference call with reporters, Danny Werfel said that after becoming acting IRS chief last month, he discovered wide-ranging and improper terms on the lists and said screeners were still using them. He did not specify what terms were on the lists, but said he suspended the use of all such lists immediately.

“There was a wide-ranging set of categories and cases that spanned a broad spectrum” on the lists, Werfel said. He added that his aides found those lists contained “inappropriate criteria that was in use.”

Werfel’s comments suggest the IRS may have been targeting groups other than tea party and other conservative organizations for tough examinations to see if they qualify. The agency has been under fire since last month for targeting those groups.

His comments also indicate that the use of inappropriate terms on such lists lasted longer than has been revealed previously. A report last month by a Treasury Department inspector general said agency officials abolished targeting of conservative groups with those lists in May 2012…

The report describes several new procedures the agency is installing to prevent unfair treatment of taxpayers in the future. They include a fast-track process for groups seeking tax-exempt status that have yet to get a response from the IRS within 120 days of applying.

Read more from this story HERE.

Prominent Blacks Deserting the Liberal Plantation

/4 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Urban Cure

Photo Credit: Urban Cure

By Rosslyn Smith. In the last few months we have seen the rise to national prominence of the conservative Dr. Ben Carson of Maryland, the surprise emergence of Bishop E.W. Jackson as the Republican candidate for Lt. Governor in Virginia, and now Louisiana State Senator Elbert Guillory has switched parties with a video that has gone viral. During this period Republican Congressman Tim Scott also became the junior US Senator from South Carolina. Note, too, that about a year ago former Alabama Congressman Artur Davis switched parties.

The media loves to talk about tokenism when it addresses the issue of black Republicans but there is a tipping point at which this becomes a trend that can’t be dismissed, even if the likes of Chris Matthews insist there are currently no blacks in the US Senate.

Two factors may be happening here. Black men — other than educated elites such as Obama — have tended to have been treated pretty shabbily by the politically correct elite establishment, especially when they insist on speaking their own minds. Note also that since the 1960s most social spending has been concentrated on programs for women and children. Black women with college degrees now far outnumber black men with college degrees. Unemployment remains a huge problem for black men as does the continuing decline of stable, intact families. One does not have to read very deeply in publication aimed at black audiences to see that the culture wide war on men can be waged with particular nastiness in parts of the black community, due in large part to the disparity in education and career prospects between men and women. While they constantly bemoan the lack of well educated, employed and thus “marriageable” black men, the black women in these publications seldom, if ever, consider reforming a system that has bestowed them with both credentials and highly paid, secure jobs, often on the government payroll.

I noted with some interest that in last year’s election the one portion of the black demographic where Obama lost support in percentage terms from 2008 was among black men. This could be significant not just because black men haven’t done well under Obama. It’s been my experience that men in general are often more willing than women to buck the conventional wisdom.

In the 1940s and 50s, largely young black males in the civil rights movement would ask their elders what has 80 years of loyal support for the party of Lincoln actually gotten our people? The answer too often was a lot of patronizing lip service and not much else ever since a war weary North abandoned Southern Reconstruction and allowed the establishment of Jim Crow. (Yes, Republicans have traditionally supported civil rights but the significant changes only happened when a critical mass of liberal Democrats joined with them after WWII.) Read more from this story HERE.

________________________________________________________________

Traditional values will attract more blacks to GOP

By Star Parker. Anyone who doubts that the Republican Party can attract black voters need only look south to Louisiana.

During @Large — a conference in Baton Rouge in May aimed at attracting black conservatives — a black Democrat in the Louisiana Legislature, Elbert Guillory, announced that he was switching political parties and becoming a Republican.

Less than two weeks later, just up the road in Central City, La., a black Democrat city councilman made the same announcement. Ralph Washington, who’d also attended @Large conference, said he’s turned Republican.

The mystery is why this is not happening more often.

I’m asked all the time why — when it is so clear that blacks are damaged by the left-wing political agenda — black voters so uniformly and consistently support Democratic candidates who advance this agenda.

My answer is that Republicans need to start acting more like the businesspeople they claim to be. Read more from this story HERE.