Al Qaeda Pledges ‘Shocking’ Attack on US

/6 Comments/in , /by

A jihadist website posted a new threat by al Qaeda this week that promises to conduct “shocking” attacks on the United States and the West.

The posting appeared on the Ansar al Mujahidin network Sunday and carried the headline, “Map of al Qaeda and its future strikes.”

The message, in Arabic, asks: “Where will the next strike by al Qaeda be?” A translation was obtained by Inside the Ring.

“The answer for it, in short: The coming strikes by al Qaeda, with God’s Might, will be in the heart of the land of nonbelief, America, and in France, Denmark, other countries in Europe, in the countries that helped and are helping France, and in other places that shall be named by al Qaeda at other times,” the threat states.

The attacks will be “strong, serious, alarming, earth-shattering, shocking and terrifying.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Certifiable: Liberal Activist Attributes Chicago’s Murder Rate To . . . Climate Change (+video)

/8 Comments/in , /by

On Wednesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” the Center for American Progress’ Christie Hefner said that Chicago’s sky-high murder rate could be blamed — at least in part — on climate change.

“Yes, last year we hit a record number of murders from guns [in Chicago],” Hefner, the former chairwoman and chief executive officer of Playboy Enterprises, said. “And this year we are already outpacing last year’s numbers. Now, there are contributing factors that are not under anybody’s control and may seem odd, but it is factually true. One of them is actually the weather. There is a dramatic increase in gun violence when it is warmer. And we are having this climate change effect that is driving that.”

The average high temperature July, the hottest month in both Chicago and the much-safer New York City, is the same for both cities at 84 degrees Fahrenheit. Scarborough took a moment to sardonically thank Hefner for that statement on behalf of conservative bloggers.

Read more from this story HERE.

ATF Operation Marred by Mistakes, Failures

/2 Comments/in , /by

A store calling itself Fearless Distributing opened early last year on an out-of-the-way street in Milwaukee’s Riverwest neighborhood, offering designer clothes, athletic shoes, jewelry and drug paraphernalia.

Those working behind the counter, however, weren’t interested in selling anything. They were undercover agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives running a storefront sting aimed at busting criminal operations in the city by purchasing drugs and guns from felons.

But the effort to date has not snared any major dealers or taken down a gang. Instead, it resulted in a string of mistakes and failures, including an ATF military-style machine gun landing on the streets of Milwaukee and the agency having $35,000 in merchandise stolen from its store, a Journal Sentinel investigation has found.

When the 10-month operation was shut down after the burglary, agents and Milwaukee police officers who participated in the sting cleared out the store but left behind a sensitive document that listed names, vehicles and phone numbers of undercover agents.

And the agency remains locked in a battle with the building’s owner, who says he is owed about $15,000 because of utility bills, holes in the walls, broken doors and damage from an overflowing toilet.

Read more from this story HERE.

Poll: Young Americans Overwhelmingly Support Right to Own ‘Assault Weapons’

/4 Comments/in , /by

A vast majority of young adults under the age of 34 believe that Americans have a right to own an “assault weapon,” according to a new Reason-Rupe poll released Thursday.

Seventy percent of 18-24 year-olds and 58 percent of 24-34 year-olds indicated the government “should allow the private ownership of assault weapons.”

But a majority of older Americans disagree, with 57 percent of 55-64 year-olds and 61 percent of people over the age of 65 asserting that “assault weapons should be prohibited.”

Republicans and Democrats alike may be surprised at such results, which break with traditionally-held notions that a majority of seniors support the Republican Party, while the youth support the Democratic Party.

Overall, 51 percent said “assault weapons” should be allowed, including 68 percent of Republicans, 57 percent of independents and 33 percent of Democrats. Forty-four percent indicated that people “should be prohibited” from owning such weapons.

Read more from this story HERE.

Alabama Supreme Court Delivers Blow to Roe v. Wade

/5 Comments/in , /by

Some pro-lifers think that the Alabama Supreme Court dealt a massive blow to Roe v. Wade by specifically stating that the preborn child is a person (and therefore protected by the 14th Amendment). The Court’s ruling exposes 40 years of hypocrisy and delusions in American law resulting from the most diabolic decree ever issued by an institution of man.

The case involved two women tried for placing their preborn children at risk through the use of illegal drugs during pregnancy. One newborn tested positive for cocaine, the other actually died 19 minutes after birth of “acute methamphetamine intoxication.” Alabama law makes it a crime to endanger a child by exposing him or her to a controlled substance. The defense argued that the chemical endangerment law does not apply to preborn children.

However, the court disagreed, ruling, “The dictionary definition of the term ‘child’ explicitly includes an unborn person or a fetus. In everyday usage, there is nothing extraordinary about using the term ‘child’ to include a viable fetus. For example, it is not uncommon for someone to state that a mother is pregnant with her first ‘child.’”

By definition, fetus and child are interchangeable. And in Alabama, a child is defined as a person under the age of 18. Thus, since a preborn child is a person, the fetus is protected under the law like all other persons. Alabama attorney general Luther Strange describes the ruling as a “tremendous victory” for the “value of all life.”

Widespread legal recognition

The court said its ruling was “in keeping with the widespread legal recognition that unborn children are persons” and again exposed the indefensible legal noose that Roe artificially imposes upon our justice system undercutting our Constitution, our liberty, and our lives.

Read more from this story HERE.

Judd Uncertain of 2014 Run: McConnell Now At-Risk of Conservative Challenger

/2 Comments/in , , /by

Photo Credit: Genevieve719Actress Ashley Judd and Indy Car driver Dario Franchitti are ending their marriage after 11 years, and, yes, the news impacts Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Judd is weighing whether to jump into politics and challenge McConnell in Kentucky in 2014. She was in Washington for the inauguration and attended an event at EMILY’s List, the group that backs pro-choice Democratic women running for governor or Congress. Judd even carpooled with Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri, who demonstrated she knows how to win in a red state after defeating the self-injurious Todd Akin.

In a statement, the former couple said they mutually agreed to end the marriage. Judd tweeted at Franchitti suggesting they plan to remain close — making a reference to “family,” an awfully politically correct tweet.

Given this development, there’s a chance Judd won’t want to jump into a messy political campaign.

Read more from this story HERE.

Study: New E15 Gas Can Ruin Auto Engines

/1 Comment/in , /by

photo credit: fredthompsonThis week’s warm Washington temperatures had some thinking about rolling the Lawn-Boy out of the garage for the first cut of the year. And we all know what that means: Difficult starts due to E10 gas that gels when it sits.

Now, according to a new study, cars and truck may face the same fate thanks to President Obama’s demand for a higher ethanol in the new E15 gas.

The fuel industry’s American Petroleum Institute tested the 15 percent ethanol gas approved in 2010 and found it gums up fuel systems, prompts “check engine” lights to come on, and messes with fuel gauge readings.

“Failure of these components could result in breakdowns that leave consumers stranded on busy roads and highways,” said the industry report. Worse: API said the fuel problems–not found in E5 or E10 blends–aren’t always covered by auto warranties.

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama Admin Approves Sale of Sensitive Military Technology to China

/13 Comments/in , /by

A Chinese company will take charge of sensitive military and battery technology following the Treasury Department’s decision on Tuesday to permit the sale of a U.S. company that was bankrolled with tax dollars to the Shanghai-based Wanxiang firm.

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) approved the $256 million sale of A123 Systems’ operation, despite warnings from military insiders and lawmakers on Capitol Hill that the sale presents a danger to national security.

A123 Systems, which went bankrupt despite the Obama administrations’ $249 million in green energy funding to produce advanced lithium ion batteries, controls 91 patents for the sensitive technology.

“The approved sale marks yet another step in the coordinated strategy by foreign countries to acquire leading U.S. companies who are researching, developing and producing critical technologies,” said Dean Popps, co-chairman of the Strategic Materials Advisory Council. “CFIUS itself has recognized this strategy but continues to fail to do anything to prevent it.” The committee has not made public its rationale for the decision.

Read more from this story HERE.

ObamaLeaks in the White House

/3 Comments/in , /by

After highly classified details of a U.S. cyberattack on Iran’s nuclear program were made public, President Obama went to the White House press room to denounce those who suggested the leaks were coming from his top national security aides. “The notion that my White House would purposely release classified national security information is offensive [and] it is wrong,” the president declared.

Well, the Federal Bureau of Investigation may disagree. The Post broke the news Sunday that the FBI has launched an “aggressive” investigation into “current and former senior officials suspected of involvement” in the leak that Obama personally ordered cyberattacks on the Iranian nuclear program using a computer virus called Stuxnet. The New York Times story which first revealed the details of the cyberattack on Iran’s nuclear program cited as sources “members of the president’s national security team who were in the [Situation Room]” and even quoted the president asking during a top secret meeting: “Should we shut this thing down?” Only Obama’s most trusted national security advisers would have been present when he uttered those words.

Now several members of that inner circle are receiving promotions. Deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough has just been named the new White House chief of staff. And John Brennan, the White House counterterrorism adviser, has been nominated to be next director of the CIA. With the investigation reaching the top echelons of the administration, it is time for the White House to come clean and tell the American people which of Obama’s senior advisers is under investigation. There are no confirmation hearings for the chief of staff post, but Brennan will soon appear before the Senate on Feb. 7 for his confirmation hearings. If confirmed, he will be responsible for protecting our nation’s secrets. Congress has a right to know what he knows — and if he is being questioned by the FBI in the leak probe.

And the Stuxnet inquiry is only the beginning. The Justice Department is also investigating the disclosure of the role played by a double agent, recruited in London by British intelligence, in breaking up a new underwear bomb plot in Yemen. How far up the chain of command has that investigation gone? And how about the disclosure of classified details of the CIA drone campaign, including the fact that Obama personally selects the names on a terrorist “kill list”? Or leak to the New York Times of classified details of yet another covert operation in which “C.I.A. officers are operating secretly in southern Turkey, helping allies decide which Syrian opposition fighters across the border will receive arms to fight the Syrian government”? Or the revelation last summer that the U.S. was considering launching secret joint U.S.-Afghan commando raids into Pakistan against the Haqqani network? Or the disclosure of classified operational details of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden — which prompted then-Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to visit Obama National Security Adviser Tom Donilon in the West Wing and advise the White House to “Shut the [expletive] up”?

Read more from this story HERE.

Author: MSNBC ‘Essentially’ Ran ‘a Voter Suppression Campaign’ Against GOP During 2012 Presidential Election

/3 Comments/in , /by

By tarring conservatives as racist during the 2012 presidential campaign, MSNBC “essentially” mounted “a voter suppression campaign,” says the author of a new book on media bias.

“Some of the quotes I have in ‘Spin Masters’– you might remember them if you watch a lot of MSNBC — still make me cringe,” David Freddoso, author of the recently released book “Spin Masters: How the Media Ignored the Real News and Helped Reelect Barack Obama,” told The Daily Caller.

“For example, Chris Matthews asserting that conservatives were giving Romney a long leash (ideologically speaking) because they are racists, I mean, come on — what kind of political commentary is that? That was essentially a voter suppression campaign, to tar conservatism and shame conservatives out of participating in politics.”

Despite egregious examples like that, Freddoso said most of the anti-Republican bias in the media was not intentional, but rather the product of the “liberal bubble world in which most journalists live — especially in New York and Washington.”

“When you’re a liberal, and 90 percent of your colleagues are liberals, and the only exposure you have to conservative thought is perhaps a few cranky Internet commenters or people who dog you on Twitter, it skews your perception of political opinions — of what’s mainstream and of what real people think about,” he said.

Read more from this story HERE.