Obama’s DOJ retaliates against high profile GOP donor Sheldon Adelson with money laundering investigation?

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The Justice Department is investigating whether Las Vegas Sands Corp., owned by high-profile Republican donor Sheldon Adelson, broke federal law by failing to report millions of dollars of potentially laundered money transferred to its casinos by two high-rolling Las Vegas gamblers, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles is investigating deposits made in the mid-2000s by a Mexican pharmaceutical businessman, later indicted for drug trafficking in 2007, and a California executive with Fry’s Electronics, who later pleaded guilty to taking illegal kickbacks, the newspaper said, citing lawyers and federal officials working on the case.

The Journal said there were no indications that the investigation included actions by Adelson, Sands’ chief executive and a major political donor for the Republican Party. Adelson has pledged to spend as much as $100 million to help Republican candidates in this election cycle.

Federal investigators have begun focusing on casinos amid concerns that the industry’s lax financial systems could be used for money laundering and other illegal activities, according to Justice Department officials cited by the Journal.

Sands Corp. did not immediately return calls from the Associated Press on Sunday. A company spokesman, Ron Reese, told the Journal that the company believes “it has acted properly and has not committed any wrongdoing.”

Read more from this story HERE.

For 2012 recipients, social security taxes paid now exceed future benefits

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Based on a study by the Urban Institute, AP writer Stephen Ohlemacher has announced a surprise for couples who started collecting their Social Security last year: They won’t be getting all their money back. In fact, under the assumptions by the think tank, they won’t even come close.

Ohlemacher said that a couple who retired after both spouses earned average wages (each earning $43,500 annually) and paid Social Security taxes of nearly $600,000 over their working years, will receive only $556,000 in benefits if they live out their normal life expectancies. That’s a shortfall of $42,000. And if they happen to die sooner, the difference will be larger.

But buried in the Urban Institute’s study is this basic assumption: that the retiring couple could have earned two percent after inflation on those taxes if they had saved the money outside of Social Security. Despite the poor returns on investments over the last decade, real returns on capital over the past 40 years have approached six percent a year, which puts today’s value of their $600,000 paid in taxes at well over $1 million. Put another way: The couple who retired last year is enjoying a much lower standard of living than they would have if they hadn’t been forced to pay into Social Security.

And this is just as it was designed: Social Security is a wealth transfer system that was flawed from the very beginning.

But initial beneficiaries, such as Ida May Fuller, made out handsomely. Ida May was the first beneficiary of Social Security, receiving her first monthly check in the amount of $22.54, on January 1, 1940. Prior to her retirement she worked as a legal secretary during which time her total contributions to Social Security were $24.75. So she nearly broke even the first month.

Read more from this story HERE.

Teacher union threatens to sue private schools if they accept gov’t vouchers

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A Louisiana teachers union is threatening private schools with legal action if they accept money from a new voucher program – and the threat has already forced at least one school to put its participation in the program on hold.

The demand was sent a few weeks ago by law firm representing the Louisiana Association of Educators and several other interests, and it argues the state-approved program is illegal because participating schools would be receiving an unconstitutional payment of public funds.

The two-page letter further states if schools don’t agree, then the law firm has “no alternative” than to take legal action.

“Our clients have directed us to take whatever means necessary to prevent the unconstitutional transfer of public money,” wrote Brian Blackwell, of the firm Blackwell & Associates.

The Louisiana program was initiated by Gov. Bobby Jindal, a Republican, and expands on one started in 2008. The state legislature approved the proposal in April, now making the program essentially open to students in kindergarten through grade 12.

Read more from this story HERE.

First speakers for GOP Convention announced; Palin not on list

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Sen. John McCain, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee are among the first speakers named for this month’s Republican National Convention in Tampa.

The list, which was first reported by the Tampa Bay Times and later confirmed by the Associated Press, also includes four current GOP governors: Florida’s Rick Scott, South Carolina’s Nikki Haley, Ohio’s John Kasich and New Mexico’s Susana Martinez.

The keynote speaker and other headliners will be announced closer to the Aug. 27-30 convention, where Mitt Romney will officially become the party’s 2012 presidential nominee.

“Ours will be a world-class convention, worthy of the next president of the United States, and these speakers — and those that will be announced later — will help make it a truly memorable and momentous event,” RNC chairman Reince Priebus said.

Noticeably missing from Sunday’s list of announced speakers are the most frequently talked about vice presidential contenders, including former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.

Read more from this story HERE.

Illegal alien students: pay $465, stay in the U.S.

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The Homeland Security Department said Friday that illegal immigrants will have to pay $465 to apply for legal status in the U.S. under President Obama’s administration Dream Act, with the fees going to make sure no taxpayer funds are used.

Illegal immigrants will be able to begin applying Aug. 15 under the program announced in June by President Obama and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, which will apply to illegal immigrants age 30 and under who were brought here before age 16.

In another key decision, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Alejandro Mayorkas said the agency will generally not use the information from the applications to try to deport illegal immigrants who don’t qualify unless they lie on their application, have serious criminal records or are otherwise deemed threats to the country.

That move is likely to draw fire from critics who say the Obama administration is knowingly turning its back on illegal immigration, but an administration official, who briefed reporters on condition that he not be named, said they made that decision in order to try to convince illegal immigrants to come forward.

“Information contained in the request will not be used for immigration enforcement purposes,” the official said.

Read more from this story HERE.

China furious over interference in the South China Sea, tells US to “shut-up”

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By Ben Blanchard. China’s Foreign Ministry has called in a senior U.S. diplomat to protest against remarks by the U.S. State Department raising concerns over tensions in the contested South China Sea, further intensifying an already fraught territorial dispute.

In a statement released late on Saturday, China’s Foreign Ministry said Assistant Foreign Minister Zhang Kunsheng summoned the U.S. Embassy’s Deputy Chief of Mission Robert Wang to make “serious representations” about the issue.

The State Department on Friday said it was monitoring the situation in the seas closely, adding that China’s establishment of a military garrison for the area runs “counter to collaborative diplomatic efforts to resolve differences and risk further escalating tensions in the region”.

The South China Sea has become Asia’s biggest potential military flashpoint. Beijing’s sovereignty claim over the huge area has set it against Vietnam and the Philippines as the three countries race to tap possibly huge oil reserves.

Beijing and Washington are already at odds over numerous matters, including the value of China’s currency, Tibet and Taiwan. Read more from this story HERE.

China tell US to “Shut-up”

By Chris Buckley. China’s state-run media ramped up condemnation of the United States on Monday over tensions in the South China Sea, with the Communist Party’s top newspaper telling Washington to “Shut up” and charging it with “fanning flames” of division in the region.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry’s over the weekend condemned a U.S. State Department statement that said Washington was closely monitoring territorial disputes in the South China Sea, and that China’s establishment of a military garrison for the area risks “further escalating tensions in the region”.

The mosaic of rival territorial claims in the South China Sea has become Asia’s worst potential military flashpoint.

Beijing has said its disputes with Vietnam, the Philippines and other southeast Asian claimants should be settled one-on-one, and it has bristled at U.S. backing for a multilateral approach to solving the overlapping claims.

“We are entirely entitled to shout at the United States, ‘Shut up’. How can meddling by other countries be tolerated in matters that are within the scope of Chinese sovereignty?,” said a commentary in the overseas edition of the People’s Daily, an offshoot of the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s top newspaper. Read more from this story HERE.

Tea Party Republicans sketch out Internet policy

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Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), the son of libertarian Congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul, visited the conservative Heritage Foundation on Thursday to sketch out his agenda for preserving Internet freedom. In Paul’s view, this means opposing warrantless government snooping of private networks—and also opposing regulations intended to protect privacy and network neutrality.

The event follows last month’s announcement of a new “Internet freedom” initiative by the Campaign for Liberty, an activist group founded by the elder Paul. It appears that father and son see eye to eye on Internet issues, and the younger Paul used the Heritage event as an opportunity to explain his views.

Sen. Paul began by referencing Gordon Crovitz’s recent column in the Wall Street Journal, questioning whether the government launched the Internet. We’ve pointed out that Crovitz’s column was factually challenged; Paul offered a more nuanced version of the argument.

“It may not be completely simple but it’s definitely not as simple as that the government invented it,” he said. “When you say stuff like, ‘Oh, the government invented the Internet,’ it sort of demeans the process of the individuals who were involved.”

For example, “There was Vinton Cerf. There was Tim Berners-Lee. There were individuals. But it wasn’t the faceless government that invented the Internet. It was individuals. Even if some of them did work for government, the mind of the individual is what should be extolled, not some faceless bureaucracy.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Clint Eastwood just made Mitt Romney’s day

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The Dirty Harry star and Oscar-winning director of Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby endorsed the Republican presidential candidate Friday night during a Sun Valley, Idaho fundraiser.

‘I think the country needs a boost,’ Eastwood told The Associated Press as he joined other Romney supporters for the private campaign event.

In February, Eastwood told Fox News that he wasn’t supporting any politician at that time.

Some saw the ‘halftime in America’ ad he made for the Super Bowl as a nod toward President Barack Obama. Eastwood responded then by saying he was not ‘politically affiliated’ with the president.

‘Now more than ever do we need Gov. Romney. I’m going to be voting for him,’ Eastwood told Romney supporters Friday night.

Read more from this story HERE.

Homosexuals, others protest Chick-fil-A yesterday, create “chaos”

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A day of protest at Chick-fil-A franchises around the country ended in chaos yesterday as thousands of gay couples gathered to oppose the company’s stance on same-sex marriage.

One branch of the fast-food restaurant was vandalised with graffiti accusing them of spreading ‘hate’, while another had to call police after being flooded with protesters and media.

Reports were also received of a restaurant being evacuated after a bomb threat which was later deemed to be a hoax.

The unrest marred a day when thousands expressed their support of marriage equality with public displays of affection outside branches of the popular chicken restaurant.

One protester went to extreme lengths to show his disdain for the chain’s anti-gay marriage stance – and ended up losing his job over it. Adam Smith, the former CFO of an Arizona-based medical device manufacturer, decided to take matters into his own hands by targeting an employee at a drive-thru window, videoing it and uploading it on to YouTube.

Read more from this story HERE.

US black teen, Gabby Douglas, makes Olympic history, publicly praises God

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By USWeekly Staff.  Gabby Douglas, 16, made history Thursday when the U.S. Olympic gymnast won the gold medal in the women’s all-around final competition. She became the first African-American to win the top prize.

“Someone mentioned that I was the first black American (to win the all-around gold), and I said, ‘Oh yeah, I forgot about that!’ I feel so honored,” she told reporters via The Associated Press after her win.

Gabby was raised in Virginia and began training at the age of 6. When she was 9, her father, Air Force Staff Sgt. Timothy Douglas, went to war in Iraq and Afghanistan. “I just had to pray to God just to keep him safe and tell the angels to keep my dad safe and come home,” she recently explained to NBC Nightly News of her father being away.

After having to miss many of her competitions, Gabby’s father was able to attend her U.S. Olympic trials on June 29. It was the first time he had seen his daughter for the first time since October 2010, according to USA Today. Holding an American flag with “Go Gabby Douglas, Love, Dad” on the front, Gabby was thrilled to see her dad in the stands.

“I’m like, ‘Who’s calling my name?’ And then I look up. It was my dad and his friend, and I haven’t seen him in a while,” Gabby explained. “They were holding up the flag. And I almost felt like bawling. I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, Dad!”  Read more from this story HERE.

iTickets.com also reports:  Following her emotional win the 16 year old gave an interview with NBC and celebrated the moment by praising God and offering her thanks for an amazing blessing.

“It is everything I thought it would be; being the Olympic champion, it definitely is an amazing feeling. And I give all the glory to God. It is kind of a win win situation. The glory goes up to Him and the blessings fall down on me,” Douglas testified in the interview.

Later she also took to social networking site Twitter to continue her praise. She tweeted, Let all that I am praise the LORD; may I never forget the good things He does for me.

Douglas also stated on her Twitter account that she “loves my family, dogs & most importantly God.”

Douglas, a Virginia native, earned her spot on the U.S. Womens Gymnastics team after she defied expectations at the American Cup in March. She initially only competed in the cup as an alternate, but she outscored the favorite in the U.S. Gymnastic team, Jordyn Wieber.  Read more from this story HERE.