Support ‘Gays’ In Ranks Or Quit, Military Chiefs Told (+video)

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Photo Credit: Reuters

Photo Credit: Reuters

A video reveals that President Obama told the nation’s top military commanders to support his agenda of “gays” in the ranks – or find another job.

The stunning revelation comes in a video that was obtained by Buzzfeed under a Freedom of Information Act request and posted online.

The chief of the nation’s Coast Guard, Adm. Robert Papp, says in the video, “We were called into the Oval Office and President Obama looked all five service chiefs in the eye and said, ‘This is what I want to do.’”

Papp continued, “I cannot divulge everything he said to us, that’s private communications within the Oval Office, but if we didn’t agree with it – if any of us didn’t agree with it – we all had the opportunity to resign our commissions and go do other things.”

The issue was Obama’s abandonment of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy that allowed homosexual soldiers as long as they kept their proclivities to themselves. Now the military promotes open homosexuality in the ranks.

Read more from this story HERE.

Obamacare Website Crashes on Final Day of Enrollment

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Photo Credit: REUTERS/MIKE SEGAR

Photo Credit: REUTERS/MIKE SEGAR

By Rick Moran.

Enrollment on the healthcare.gov website is ending the way it began – very badly.

The site crashed this morning and although it has been somewhat revived, visitors are being put into a queue where an email will tell them when they can register.

NBCNews:

Healthcare.gov, the online marketplace bedeviled by bugs since its launch last fall, went down for several hours Monday morning, a statement from the Department of Health and Human Services said. The “tech team is working now to bring the system online as soon as possible,” HHS said in a statement.

The site later appeared to be operating, but it was putting customers in a “queue”, meaning they’d be notified by email when they could proceed with enrollment,

“Consumers may also complete their application by calling the call center at 1-800-318-2596. The federal data services hub is working normally,” HHS said.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Charges Likely To Be Dropped Against Volunteers Signing People Up For Obamacare

By STMW.

Chicago Police detained and later charged two men last week after receiving a report that they were going door-to-door, possibly scamming elderly residents of the Garfield Ridge neighborhood.

As it turned out, the two likely weren’t trying to scam anyone, Chicago Police acknowledged Sunday.

The men, who were volunteers for the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council, were distributing registration information about President Barack Obama’s signature health insurance program, the men told reporters on Sunday at a news conference outside the council’s headquarters.

“I never would have thought informing people about Obamacare would get me in handcuffs,” said Felipe Hernandez, 20. “I was doing something positive for my community. . . . I wasn’t doing anything wrong.”

Hernandez and Kevin Tapia, 19, said they were near 55th and Archer about 4 p.m. on March 25 when they were detained by officers.

Read more from this story HERE.

US Now Pumping 10 Percent of the World’s Crude

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Photo Credit: Eddie Seal/Bloomberg

Photo Credit: Eddie Seal/Bloomberg

Boosted by the galloping pace of tight oil operations, the United States produced a tenth of the world’s oil at the end of last year, the Energy Information Administration reports.

Overall U.S. oil production averaged 7.84 million barrels a day in the fourth quarter of 2013, 10 percent of the world production, up from 9 percent at the end of 2012. Shale and other dense rock, newly accessible because of advancements in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, accounted for 3.22 million barrels of the U.S. daily average during the three months ending Dec. 31.

Read more from this story HERE.

Religious Liberty is America’s First Freedom

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photo credit: fibonacci blueHigh Court to Weigh Limits of Religious Liberty in O-Care Case

By Ben Goad.

President Obama’s signature healthcare law is headed back to the Supreme Court in a high-stakes case that could redefine the limits of religious freedom in the United States.

The high court on Tuesday will hear challenges to ObamaCare’s contentious “birth control mandate,” which requires companies to offer contraceptive services to workers as part of their insurance coverage.

If successful, the challenge could peel away a significant portion of the mandate, potentially affecting preventive health coverage for millions of women and striking a major blow to the law itself.

But the court’s ruling could also have far-reaching implications for religious liberty by allowing companies to claim First Amendment rights that the government says are reserved for individuals.

“It’s pretty huge,” said Laurie Sobel, a senior women’s policy analyst at the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. “It’s hard to overstate the possible implications.”

Read more from this story HERE.

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If the contraceptive mandate passes, it will ruin a core U.S. ideology

By Rick Warren.

Does our Constitution guarantee the freedom of religion, or does it merely allow a more limited freedom to worship? The difference is profound. Worship is an event. Religion is a way of life.

Specifically, does the First Amendment guarantee believers of all faiths the freedom to practice their ethics, educate their children and operate family businesses based on their religious beliefs, moral convictions and freedom of conscience? Do Americans have the freedom to place our beliefs and ethics at the center of our business practices — or must we ignore them when we form a company?

These questions will be brought before the Supreme Court on Tuesday. The outcome of Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby will affect every American because any religion allowed to be practiced only inside a house of worship, and not in the day-to-day business of life, is a worthless faith.

Since I wrote “The Purpose Driven Life” 12 years ago, I have received more than 500,000 letters and e-mails from people trying to live in ways they believe honor God. For millions of Americans, faith is something you live by. It colors every decision and action, both at home and at work. It is personal, but it is not private.

David and Barbara Green are one example of a purpose-driven family leading a purpose-driven business. From the time the Greens started Hobby Lobby in their garage, building picture frames with their sons, they committed themselves and their company to one simple purpose: “Honoring the Lord in all we do by operating our company in a manner consistent with biblical principles.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Hilary Clinton: Abortion Needed for Equality —and Human Development…

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Photo Credit: DonkeyHotey / Creative CommonsBy Stafano Genarinni, J.D.

Twenty years after the Clintons failed to get countries to declare a right to abortion, Mrs. Clinton told a posh UN crowd that humanity cannot advance without reproductive rights.

“You cannot make progress on gender equality or broader human development without safeguarding women’s reproductive health or rights,” she declared. Clinton is adamant that reproductive health includes abortion.

The undisputed leader in the race for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination was the highlight of International Women’s Day at UN headquarters last Friday, drawing thunderous applause from a well-heeled audience as she decried how women’s equality remains “the great unfinished business of the 21st century.”

Reproductive rights are the starting point for a successful development agenda, according to the former U.S. Secretary of State who called this a “bedrock truth.” Many countries do not share that truth.

The most recent UN conference on development, held in 2012 while Clinton was U.S. Secretary of State, did not mention reproductive rights, instead emphasizing social and economic development.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: AIMClintonworld Determined to Contain Latest Controversy

By Roger Aronoff.

Much of the media have been obsessed with “Bridgegate,” the local New Jersey story about traffic jams caused by the closing of some lanes on the George Washington Bridge leading into Manhattan—and other potential scandals—simply because the person who figures into it most—Chris Christie—is the governor, and was considered by many to be the Republican with the best chance to beat Hillary Clinton in a 2016 matchup.

“The fact is that we have to take these guys on directly,” Christie shot back at the recent Conservative Political Action Conference. “You know, I’m shy and retiring and I don’t like to speak my mind, especially regarding the media. But what we need to start saying is…that we’re not going to put up any longer with them defining who we are.”

Politico was quick to point out that this was the first time that Christie had given a speech “to a crowd of base Republican voters since his administration was roiled by scandal.”

MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, who has been among the most obsessive about Bridgegate, told a late-night talk-show host this week that the reason it is so captivating is “I think in part because it’s not over and we still don’t know what happened.” By that standard, she should really want to sink her teeth into this latest Hillary Clinton controversy, which is already bordering on being a full-fledged scandal.

A local Washington D.C. political scandal that has Mayor Vincent Gray in the hot seat has expanded to ensnare the Clinton campaign machine, with actual evidence that illegal money was used to support her 2008 presidential primary campaign to defeat Barack Obama in the Democratic primary. But the former first lady and secretary of state claims that she had no knowledge of these actions, so she is, of course, exonerated by most of the mainstream media. “A campaign adviser to Hillary Rodham Clinton was involved in an off-the-books operation to help the former first lady’s 2008 presidential campaign in four states and Puerto Rico, according to federal court documents,” reports CBS News. Will this get enduring wall-to-wall coverage on par with Bridgegate? We doubt it.

Read more from this story HERE.

In Case You Missed It…

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Every Sunday, Restoring Liberty will be sending out an email with a recap of the week’s top stories.

Throughout the week we feature many headlining articles, which we believe would be of particular interest to our readers, and we even throw in a few light-hearted ones just for fun from time-to-time.

With busy schedules, it is easy to miss an article. We hope that our new format will help keep you informed.

We also encourage you to continue spreading the word, so we can keep our fellow freedom-loving Americans apprised of what is going on in our nation and world today.

Thank you for your loyal support!

Putin Mocks the West and Threatens to Turn Off Gas Supplies

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Photo Credit: Getty Images Vladimir Putin has mocked diplomatic efforts to end the Ukraine crisis as Russia threatened to disrupt European gas supplies by cutting off sales to Kiev over its unpaid debts.

The Russian president said through his official spokesman that, despite deep disagreements with the West, he did not want a confrontation over Ukraine to spiral into a “new cold war”.

Nevertheless Dmitry Peskov ridiculed Western demands for direct talks between the Kremlin and the new Kiev government, claiming that the loss of credibility involved “puts a smile on our face”.

The remarks were broadcast during the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi, where the Ukrainian athlete carrying her national flag was given a loud cheer.

Earlier, Gazprom, Russia’s state-owned energy giant, said it would start to reduce deliveries to Kiev, a move that would disrupt supplies to Europe. Gazprom said Ukraine had failed to make payments on its £1.2 billion debts.

Read more this story HERE.

Inspector General: EPA Officials Actively Obstructed that Crazy Fraud Investigation

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Photo Credit: dantekgeekWhat’s worse than a high-ranking Environmental Protection Agency official defrauding the agency over the course of twelve years by taking lengthy unexplained absences, doing very little actual work, stealing nearly one million dollars in the form of pay, bonuses, and airfare he didn’t deserve, and getting away with it all by cultivating an enigmatic reputation and telling his superiors (including now-EPA chief Gina McCarthy) that he was performing joint government work for the CIA vaguely related to climate change?

Other EPA officials actively obstructing the investigation into the whole mess, that’s what. The WFB reports on a letter from the EPA inspector general to Sen. David Vitter released on Wednesday, wherein the IG describes how several agency employees tried to get in the way of getting to the bottom of the ordeal:

EPA employees threatened Inspector General investigators, refused to cooperate, and handed out non-disclosure agreements to other employees to keep them from being interviewed, EPA Inspector General Arthur Elkins Jr. wrote in response to a request for information by Vitter on the case.

Read more this story HERE.

Alaska Republican Party Meltdown Continues

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Anchorage, AK – Saturday’s meeting of the Alaska Republican Party Central Committee at the Millennium Hotel was marked by more unrest as an elected officer from District 10 was escorted off the premises by police.

Unbeknownst to Daniel Palmer, who was elected at his last District Convention as a member of the Central Committee, Chairman Peter Goldberg reportedly dissolved his district by fiat on Friday before the meeting convened on Saturday.

Apparently the Chair, Vice-Chair and Secretary had vacated their positions.

In a subsequent email, Goldberg maintained that “the Rules give me the authority and mandate that the district should be declared unorganized.”

Palmer maintains he was never contacted, saying he only found out when he arrived. Party policy has always been that any registered Republican may attend as a guest if the requisite fee is paid.

The rub came in when Mr. Palmer decided to record the meeting. According to witnesses, the Central Committee subsequently voted through a temporary measure that would disallow the meeting to be taped.

One member compared the heavy-handed approach of the Central Committee Leadership to “Gestapo tactics.”

When Palmer refused to turn off his video camera, party officials called the APD and prevailed upon Hotel Security to trespass Mr. Palmer, who was subsequently escorted out by Anchorage Police.

Chairman Goldberg has warned Mr. Palmer, “If you come to another meeting with your recording equipment and the body of the membership does not want you to use it, and if you refuse to comply with that directive, you will again be removed.”

It’s hard to imagine what information is so sensitive as to warrant this level of secrecy. Palmer maintains that he is only trying to serve the people who elected him, and he feels recording the meetings is the most effective way to keep them informed.

The incident highlights the deep fissures within the party precipitated by the 2010 Write-In campaign of Senator Lisa Murkowski waged against the party nominee, and exacerbated by the Central Committee’s ouster of duly elected leadership after the Ron Paul contingent won the top leadership posts at the 2012 party convention.

Mr. Palmer says his district is mobilizing for an emergency meeting to redress the situation.

See Video:

Riot Police in Ukraine Move in Against Protest Camp

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Photo Credit: Fox News By Fox News.

Ukranian riot police armed with stun grenades and water cannons moved in against a protest camp in Kiev’s center Tuesday night as defiant crowds shouted “Glory to Ukraine” while their tents were engulfed in flames around them.

At least 18, including seven police officers and 11 protesters, were reported dead in the violence by early Wednesday morning, with hundreds more injured, the Associated Press reported.

Thousands of protesters had filled Independence Square just hours before, sensing that Ukraine’s political standoff was reaching a critical turning point after the deadliest violence yet in nearly three months of protests that have paralyzed the capital and the nation.

Opposition leader Vitali Klitschko urged the protesters to defend the camp.

“We will not go anywhere from here,” Klitschko told the crowd, speaking from a stage in the square as fires burned around him, releasing huge plumes of smoke into the night sky. “This is an island of freedom and we will defend it,” he said.

Read more this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: Reuters Ukraine crisis: Police storm main Kiev ‘Maidan’ protest camp

Police are storming the main protest camp in Ukraine’s capital, Kiev, which has been occupied since November.

Explosions are taking place, fireworks are being thrown and large fires have broken out in Independence Square.

On Tuesday at least 18 people were killed, including seven policemen, in the worst violence seen in weeks.

President Viktor Yanukovych blamed the violence on opposition leaders, but said it was still “not too late to stop the conflict”.

He was speaking after a late-night meeting with opposition figures Vitaly Klitschko and Arseniy Yatsenyuk.

Read more this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: WNDReagan official: Obama should support Ukraine Protesters

By Greg Corombos.

Recent Ukrainian unrest reached its deadliest levels yet Tuesday, as protesters and police officers were killed, fires raged in Kiev and a nation divided moved closer to a national tipping point.

Ukraine is closely divided between Russian-speaking residents largely loyal to Moscow and native-speaking western Ukraine, which identified with Europe and largely despises Russia for its decades of control during the days of the USSR.

The latest volatility stems from Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych rejecting an opportunity to establish closer economic ties with the European Union and subsequently accepting bailout assistance from Russia. Protests that followed were met with new laws restricting protest rights and even a ban on citizens wearing helmets.

Former Reagan administration Pentagon official Frank Gaffney told Radio America the people have very good reasons to be in the streets.

“There’s obvious frustration on the part of the people of Ukraine with their government, with the policies it’s been pursuing, particularly to the degree to which it is acceding to what can only be described as domination by Russia. I think there’s also a growing restiveness about the growing repression at home and the corruption of their government,” Gaffney said.

Read more this story HERE.