Almost One-Third of Recent Vets Consider Suicide; Felons, Illegals “Treated Better than Our Military Heroes”

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Photo Credit: Masterfile/Radius ImagesAn astonishing survey from a veterans group found that 30 per cent of recent military vets have considered committing suicide since returning from active duty.

The Iraq Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) surveyed more than 4,000 of its members, 37 per cent of whom said they personally knew a recent vet who took his or her own life. Overall, 45 per cent reported knowing a fellow soldier, sailor, airman or Marine who has tried to commit suicide…

Fully 63 per cent – nearly two-thirds – said they have veteran friends whom they believe need medical help dealing with a mental health issue brought on by combat. And more than half polled in the survey admitted that someone close to them has suggested that they need mental health care.

[Veteran’s Activist] Ken Wahl, a former Hollywood actor and star of the 1980s hit TV show ‘Wiseguy,’ [said], “Convicted felons and illegal immigrants are treated better and with greater regard than our military heroes.”

In the IAVA survey, 80 per cent of the group’s members said the VA and the Pentagon don’t provide sufficient care for veterans who need mental health treatment.

Read more from this story HERE.

Dozens Arrested in Pro-Amnesty Protest in DC

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Photo Credit: Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/MCTDozens of leaders in the immigration movement were arrested Thursday after they blocked a major intersection near the Capitol in a protest of Republican opposition to an immigration overhaul that would include a pathway to citizenship for the nation’s 11 million immigrants who are in the country illegally.

More than 40 leaders were taken into custody after they walked onto Independence Avenue and locked arms, chanting in Spanish “Si, se puede” – “Yes, we can.” Another, smaller group of activists were arrested later in the afternoon after they blocked the hallway outside the office of House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.

As members of Congress prepared to leave Washington for a long summer recess, organizers said they wanted to send the “strongest message possible” to Republican leaders in the House of Representatives that they’re dissatisfied with progress on immigration and they’ll continue to fight for a comprehensive overhaul that includes a path to citizenship.

“We have to turn up the heat,” Jess George, the executive director of the Latin American Coalition in Charlotte, N.C., said minutes before she was arrested. “We have to let the House of Representatives know that America deserves a vote on citizenship. The vast majority of Americans want this. It’s democracy, and we need to make (House leaders) pay attention.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Not on Welfare or Living Below Poverty Line? Never Mind, Here’s Your Free Obamaphones

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Photo Credit: National Review The Federal Communications Commission oversees the so-called Lifeline program, created in 1984 to make sure impoverished Americans had telephone service available to call their moms, bosses, and 911. In 2008, the FCC expanded the program to offer subsidized cell-phone service, and since then, the expenses of running the program have soared. In 2012, the program’s costs had risen to $2.189 billion, up from $822 million before wireless carriers were included. As of June, there were 13.8 million active Lifeline subscriptions.

To be eligible for Lifeline, the applicant is supposed to be receiving some significant government benefit — food stamps, Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income, public housing assistance, etc. But because welfare eligibility has expanded under the Obama administration, more people than ever before are qualified to receive “free” cell-phone service — part of the reason why Lifeline mobiles have become commonly known as Obamaphones. Alternatively, applicants can qualify if their household income is less than 136 percent of the federal poverty line.

But as with any federal program with too much funding, too little oversight, and perverse financial incentives, Lifeline has become infamous for rampant fraud and abuse. There have been news reports about recipients flaunting dozens of subsidized phones. And in February, the Wall Street Journal reported on an FCC audit of the top five Lifeline providers, which found that “41% of their more than six million subscribers either couldn’t demonstrate their eligibility or didn’t respond to requests for certification.”

The FCC supposedly buckled down on eligibility standards last year and established other safeguards aimed at reducing fraud. I was curious about how tough it was to get one of these phones, so last month, I hit the streets of New York. And out of respect for the law and my journalistic integrity, I did not lie to obtain a phone.

Read more HERE about how the author acquired two free Obamaphones even though she didn’t lie and obviously didn’t qualify.

Report: Colorado Now a Major Exporter of Illegal Marijuana

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Photo Credit: KDVRThe amount of illegal marijuana from Colorado and seized elsewhere quadrupled in the past few years, according to a report by a network of law enforcement organizations.

The report found that in 2012, there were 274 seizures where the marijuana was destined for other states. In 2005, the number was 54.

The most common destinations for the marijuana were Kansas, Missouri, Illinois and Texas.

The size of the seizures also increased. From 2005 to 2008, the total average number of pounds seized was 2,220. From 2009 to 2012, it increased to 3,937.

Most of the marijuana came from Denver, Boulder and El Paso counties, the report found.

Read more from this story HERE.

Startling Slide in Home Ownership, Now at 18-Year Low

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Photo Credit: APStartling new housing data released this week could take the pep out of President Obama’s blitz of economic rallies, as they show homeownership dropping despite the push — by him and his predecessors — to prop up the market.

The new Census figures show homeownership dropped in the second quarter to an 18-year low of 65 percent. The rate, which hit a record 69.2 percent in 2004, has now fallen to its pre-housing bubble days nearly two decades ago.

The president, on the heels of the report, plans to head to Phoenix on Tuesday for a homeownership-themed stop on his multi-city tour — part of his recent pivot back to the economy.

But it’s unclear whether, given the government’s track record, new federal policies could or should be used to help Americans realize their picket-fence dreams.

Richard Barrington, of Money Rates, argues that homeownership is returning to more reasonable levels, and that the government should not push folks into buying homes they can’t afford.

Read more from this story HERE.

Report: Lewinsky-Clinton Sex Tape Surfaces in Possible Blow to Hillary’s Presidential Aspirations

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Photo Credit: WNDWhile the sexting of former congressman and current candidate for new York mayor Anthony Weiner is still making national headlines, a blast-from-the-past sex tape involving Monica Lewinsky and former President Bill Clinton has just reportedly surfaced.

An audio tape obtained by the National Enquirer purports to reveal the former White House intern planning a secret sexual meeting with the president and proclaiming to her paramour she’s “too cute and adorable” to be ignored.

The recording, made in November 1997 at the height of the pair’s sexual affair, is three minutes, 47 seconds long, and is addressed to “handsome.”

At one point, Lewinsky is heard trying to seduce Clinton, saying: “I could take my clothes off and start … well … I know you wouldn’t enjoy that? I hope to see you later and I hope you will follow my script and do what I want.”

Monica’s voice is the only one heard on the tape, which was thought to have been destroyed years ago, though a duplicate was secretly made and has now surfaced, according to the Enquirer.

Read more from this story HERE.

New Book Reveals Hollywood’s Chilling, Extensive Collaboration with Hitler and the Nazis

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Photo Credit: The Hollywood ReporterThe 1930s are celebrated as one of Hollywood’s golden ages, but in an exclusive excerpt from his controversial new book, The Collaboration: Hollywood’s Pact with Hitler (Harvard University Press, on sale Sept. 9), Harvard post-doctoral fellow Ben Urwand uncovers a darker side to Hollywood’s past.

Drawing on a wealth of archival documents in the U.S. and Germany, he reveals the shocking extent to which Hollywood cooperated and collaborated with the Nazis during the decade leading up to World War II to protect its business.

Indeed, “collaboration” (and its German translation, Zusammenarbeit) is a word that appears regularly in the correspondence between studio officials and the Nazis. Although the word is fraught with meaning to modern ears, its everyday use at the time underscored the eagerness of both sides to smooth away their differences to preserve commerce.

The Nazis threatened to exclude American movies — more than 250 played in Germany after Hitler took power in 1933 — unless the studios cooperated. Before World War I, the German market had been the world’s second largest, and even though it had shrunk during the Great Depression, the studios believed it would bounce back and worried that if they left, they would never be able to return.

Beginning with wholesale changes made to Universal’s 1930 release All Quiet on the Western Front, Hollywood regularly ran scripts and finished movies by German officials for approval. When they objected to scenes or dialogue they thought made Germany look bad, criticized the Nazis or dwelled on the mistreatment of Jews, the studios would accommodate them — and make cuts in the American versions as well as those shown elsewhere in the world.

Read more from this story HERE.

Cruz ‘Perplexed’ by GOP Attacks on Him, Won’t Back Down in ‘Defund Obamacare’ Fight

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Photo Credit: Daily Caller Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is “perplexed” by GOP attacks on his effort to defund Obamacare and has no intention of backing down, despite complaints from other Senate Republicans that his crusade is not realistic and could potentially damage the party’s chances in the 2014 midterm elections.

“There may be people who lob attacks at him, but he’s not going to return those attacks,” Cruz spokeswoman Catherine Frazier told The Daily Caller, taking a firm stand in a battle that could determine the GOP’s strategic playbook heading into the 2014 midterms.

Cruz and fellow junior Republican senators Mike Lee and Marco Rubio are involved in a “coordinated effort,” according to Frazier, to urge Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to block all continuing-resolution budget bills until Obamacare is defunded, either through budgetary means or by passing the Defund Obamacare Act, which has already failed three times in Congress.

Republican Sens. Bob Corker of Tennessee and Richard Burr of North Carolina strongly criticized the effort of Cruz and his two fellow junior senators, while Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn suggested that the plan’s political backlash could jeopardize Republican efforts to hold a majority in the House of Representatives next year.

Read more from this story HERE.

Hagel: Budget Cuts Could Force Navy to Sideline 3 Aircraft Carriers

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By Associated Press. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel warned Wednesday that the Pentagon may have to mothball up to three Navy aircraft carriers and order additional sharp reductions in the size of the Army and Marine Corps if Congress doesn’t act to avoid massive budget cuts beginning in 2014.

Speaking to Pentagon reporters, and indirectly to Congress, Hagel said that the full result of the sweeping budget cuts over the next 10 years could leave the nation with an ill-prepared, under-equipped military doomed to face more technologically advanced enemies.

In his starkest terms to date, Hagel laid out a worst-case scenario for the U.S. military if the Pentagon is forced to slash more than $50 billion from the 2014 budget and $500 billion over the next 10 years as a result of Congressionally-mandated automatic spending cuts.

The Pentagon has been ratcheting up a persistent drumbeat about the dire effects of the budget cuts on national defense, and as Congress continues to wrangle over spending bills on Capitol Hill. Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: APHagel: Smaller budget means smaller military

By Kristina Wong. A smaller Army and Marine Corps, consolidated combatant commands and a “decade-long modernization holiday” will befall the U.S. military if defense cuts known as sequestration remain in place, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Wednesday.

Mr. Hagel unveiled Wednesday the results of a department-wide fiscal review that identified budget items that would be cut to accommodate $500 billion in reduced defense spending over the next decade.

If Congress does not reverse the cuts, the Army could shrink to 380,000 troops from its target strength of 490,000. Similarly, the Army Reserves, which has been mostly saved from sequestration, would face reductions.

In addition, the Navy’s aircraft carriers could be reduced from 11 to eight or nine, the Corps could field as low as 150,000 Marines instead of 182,000, and combatant commands — headquarters dedicated to a region or specific function — could be merged.

“This strategic choice would result in a force that would be technologically dominant but would be much smaller and able to go fewer places and do fewer things, especially if crisis occurred at the same time in different regions of the world,” Mr. Hagel said. Read more from this story HERE.

Nancy Pelosi: Obama Among the Most ‘Non-Partisan’ Presidents Ever to Serve in White House

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Photo Credit: red alert politicsHouse Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi may have finally fallen completely off her rocker Tuesday as she commended the President and her fellow Democrats in Congress for propelling the Left into a “bipartisan, cooperative alternative” party.

The 73-year-old California Democrat seemed to fan-girl over President Obama during a meeting with USA Today’s editorial board Tuesday, calling him “one of the most practically non-partisans I have seen in the White House.” It seems the Commander-in-Chief has earned this special place in Pelosi’s heart by his apparent willingness to work with Republicans to thwart yet another upcoming fiscal crisis.

In fact, Pelosi, who is the most well-known leader on Capitol Hill according to a Gallup poll from April, believes that the GOP is solely to blame for all the bickering in Washington – something which they’re doing solely for political gain.

Read more from this story HERE.