Former Clinton, Obama Officials Call For Halt to Arctic Drilling

/6 Comments/in , , /by

Former Clinton chief of staff John Podesta and former EPA administrator and Obama climate policy director Carol Browner officials have changed their tune and are now opposed to oil and gas drilling in the arctic. They argue that a “series of mishaps and errors” have them convinced it can’t be done safely and responsibly.

“We were open to offshore oil and gas development in the Arctic provided oil companies and the government could impose adequate safeguards, ensure sufficient response capacity and develop a deeper understanding of how oil behaves in ice and freezing water,” write Podesta and Browner, both now working at the liberal Center for American Progress.

“Now, following a series of mishaps and errors, as well as overwhelming weather conditions, it has become clear that there is no safe and responsible way to drill for oil and gas in the Arctic Ocean,” they added.

Podesta and Browner argue that despite reports warning about potential hazards of arctic drilling and advances in technology and expertise, Royal Dutch Shell has shown it is ill-prepared for arctic drilling. The two go farther to argue that arctic drilling should be stopped altogether.

“The Obama administration shouldn’t issue any new permits to Shell this year and should suspend all action on other companies’ applications to drill in this remote and unpredictable region,” write Podesta and Browner.

Read more from this story HERE.

Alaska’s RINO’s Fail to Remove Liberty-Minded Chair-Elect; Kangaroo Court to Reconvene February 1

/5 Comments/in , , , /by

Alaska’s Republican Party (ARP) leadership failed in its attempt last night to remove Chair-elect Russ Millette, a constitutional conservative, as well as vice-chair elect Debbie Brown, from the ARP.

Their efforts fell flat after a motion by Fairbanksan Ralph Seekins to allow Russ Millette a continuance so that he would have time to prepare a defense to the charges raised by leftist ARP Rules Chair and Ruedrich confidant, Frank McQueary.

The charges against Debbie Brown were raised by chairman Ruedrich himself, alleging financial improprieties. The fact that the charges were raised by a chairman who apparently not only transferred tens of thousands of ARP dollars to the Murkowski-supporting Juneau Capitol Hill club without proper authorization just a few weeks ago, but who also seems responsible for a significant FEC fine for financial improprieties related to VECO has many within the party scratching their heads.

It also is shocking that this same chairman was reportedly entrusted with hundreds of thousands of dollars for Joe Miller’s direct mail campaign in 2010 but who has refused to disclose the database evidencing that he actually spent the money for Joe Miller instead of Lisa Murkowski, as suspected by some party members.

To make matters worse, the inquisitors had the gall to confront Millette on who he supported for president in 2012 – despite the fact that the very people asking the questions failed to support Republican-nominee Joe Miller in the 2010 US Senate race. The fact that none of the Alaska press in attendance reported on this extreme hypocrisy reflects that little has changed since their efforts in 2010 to sink the anti-establishment candidate with false stories.

Russ Millette commented after the kangaroo court that McQueary had “brought up charges that he’d never seen before.” He stated that the “whole thing, the charges, were totally bogus.” Millette also noted that “most of the minds [on the ARP executive committee] seemed made up.”

Millette was amazed at the effort to remove him, suggesting that the effort by party-insiders to keep RINO’s in charge of the party would devastate its cohesion. If he were allowed to take office, Millette claimed that he would “unite [and] bring the party together.”

During the hearing last night, he was supported by a number of conservatives who waved signs outside of the ARP headquarters in Anchorage:

Stay tuned for the continuance of Ruedrich’s efforts to unseat his successor on February 1.

Thirty Hostages Reported Killed in Algeria Assault, Fate of Americans Unknown

/3 Comments/in , , /by

(Reuters) – Thirty hostages and at least 11 Islamist militants were killed on Thursday when Algerian forces stormed a desert gas plant in a bid to free many dozens of Western and local captives, an Algerian security source said.

Details remained scant – including for Western governments, some of which did little to disguise irritation at being kept in the dark by Algeria before the raid and its bloody outcome.

Two Japanese, two Britons and a French national were among at least seven foreigners killed, the source told Reuters. Eight of the dead hostages were Algerian. The nationalities of the rest, as well as of perhaps dozens more who escaped, were unclear.

Americans, Norwegians, Romanians and an Austrian have also been mentioned by their governments as having been captured.

Underlining the view of African and Western leaders that they face a multinational, al Qaeda-linked insurgency across the Sahara – a conflict that prompted France to send troops to neighboring Mali last week – the official source said only two of the 11 dead militants were Algerian, including their leader.

Read more from this story HERE.

State’s Rights Bill Protecting Alaskans’ Right To Keep And Bear Arms Introduced

/4 Comments/in , , /by

photo credit: housemajority

(SitNews) – Alaska Speaker of the House Mike Chenault (R-Nikiski) introduced a bill on Wednesday defending Alaskans’ Second Amendment rights in light of President Barack Obama’s announced plans to curb gun violence.

“We began work on this bill before the President’s announcement today, and now I’m extremely glad we did. Twenty-three Executive Orders have been signed into law without a review from Americans’ elected representatives,” Chenault said.

Chenault said, “Tragedy is not a license for federal encroachment of constitutionally protected freedoms. We can all agree that what happened in Newtown, Connecticut was an absolute tragedy. But what we fundamentally disagree on is how you meet the challenge it presented. The President is using it to further his liberal agenda to try and disarm and disenfranchise law-abiding Americans from their enshrined Second Amendment rights. No one should be comfortable with that, regardless of where you sit on the issue.”

“As a father, I prayed for those who lost children in the incident, and was sickened that someone would prey on our children,” Chenault said. “The President shouldn’t parade out children and pull on emotional heart strings on something as important as executing orders to circumvent the Congress and weaken the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Former Fairbanks Representative Mike Kelly stood up for Alaskans’ gun rights during the 26th Legislature, and I hope to carry on his legacy with this new bill.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Video: Deaf Bulldog Dancing to the Vibrations of his Master’s Blues Guitar

/0 Comments/in , /by

Just because you’re deaf doesn’t mean you can’t have soul.

Which is what Jamynne Bowle’s English bulldog demonstrates when the deaf pooch feels the blues in this adorable viral video.

Bowle’s footage shows her dog rocking back and forth in time to the twelve-bar blues a friend chugs out on their acoustic guitar.

See video below:

Read more from this story HERE.

David Gregory Gets Off Scot-Free

/12 Comments/in , , /by

photo credit: thebudman623

The attorney general for the District of Columbia, Irvin Nathan, announced Friday that he will not press charges against NBC News’ David Gregory nor any employee of the broadcast network for violating the city’s gun laws. Violation of the city’s firearms laws carry a maximum $1,000 fine and one year in jail.

Mr. Nathan wrote to an attorney representing Mr. Gregory and NBC News, Lee Levine of Levine Sullivan Koch & Schulz, LLP, that, “OAG has made this determination, despite the clarity of the violation of this important law, because under all of the circumstances here a prosecution would not promote public safety in the District of Columbia nor serve the best interests of the people of the District to whom this office owes its trust.”

In the three-page letter, Mr. Nathan also wrote that “no specific intent is required for this violation, and ignorance of the law or even confusion about it is no defense.” He said, “We therefore did not rely in making our judgment on the feeble and unsatisfactory efforts that NBC made to determine whether or not it was lawful to possess, display and broadcast this large capacity magazine as a means of fostering the public policy debate.”

The full text of the letter is at the bottom of this story.

The “Meet the Press” anchor ignored police guidance and held up an illegal 30-round rifle magazine in his D.C. studio during an interview on Dec. 23 with the National Rifle Association’s Wayne LaPierre on gun-control laws.

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama To Begin Aggressive Push for Amnesty

/4 Comments/in , , /by

WASHINGTON — President Obama plans to push Congress to move quickly in the coming months on an ambitious overhaul of the immigration system that would include a path to citizenship for most of the 11 million illegal immigrants in the country, senior administration officials and lawmakers said last week.

Mr. Obama and Senate Democrats will propose the changes in one comprehensive bill, the officials said, resisting efforts by some Republicans to break the overhaul into smaller pieces — separately addressing young illegal immigrants, migrant farmworkers or highly skilled foreigners — which might be easier for reluctant members of their party to accept.

The president and Democrats will also oppose measures that do not allow immigrants who gain legal status to become American citizens one day, the officials said.

Even while Mr. Obama has been focused on fiscal negotiations and gun control, overhauling immigration remains a priority for him this year, White House officials said. Top officials there have been quietly working on a broad proposal. Mr. Obama and lawmakers from both parties believe that the early months of his second term offer the best prospects for passing substantial legislation on the issue.

Mr. Obama is expected to lay out his plan in the coming weeks, perhaps in his State of the Union address early next month, administration officials said. The White House will argue that its solution for illegal immigrants is not an amnesty, as many critics insist, because it would include fines, the payment of back taxes and other hurdles for illegal immigrants who would obtain legal status, the officials said.

Read more from this story HERE.

The Fall of Europe: Criticizing Islam Considered National Security Threat in Spain

/5 Comments/in , , /by

WASHINGTON – As tensions continue to surge over the expansion of Shariah law both in the Middle East and in Europe, a new speech rights case has emerged in Spain where an ex-Muslim Christian convert is threatened with deportation for speaking out against Islam.

Imran Farasat, who was interviewed by WND, is a Pakistani Christian who converted from Islam in 2004, after, he said, “I realized that what I was following for 26 years of my life is not a religion but in reality is a political dictatorship which persecutes and teaches to persecute through the orders and teachings of a self-proclaimed prophet (Muhammad).”

After his conversion to Christianity, he began to speak out against Islam. He told WND, “Muslims are involved everywhere in terrorism. Christians are being persecuted in Islamic countries to the maximum level of torture and suffering and Islam is trying to invade the Western world and kill our values. Who will stop this all?”

In his legal fight, he’s represented by The Legal Project, which describes itself as working “…to protect the right in the West to freely discuss Islam, radical Islam, terrorism, and terrorist funding.”

It has a large, transnational clientele that “includes authors, bloggers, journals and politicians.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Congressional Dereliction: Senate Democrats Vow to Support Executive Fiat on Debt Ceiling

/8 Comments/in , , /by

photo credit: donkey hotey

Senate Democratic leaders have sent a letter to President Obama pledging their support if he raises the nation’s $16.4 trillion debt ceiling unilaterally in the face of Republican resistance.

Support has been growing among Democrats in Congress for Obama to invoke the 14th Amendment or another legal justification for expanding the nation’s borrowing authority without congressional approval.

“In the event that Republicans make good on their threat by failing to act, or by moving unilaterally to pass a debt limit extension only as part of unbalanced or unreasonable legislation, we believe you must be willing to take any lawful steps to ensure that America does not break its promises and trigger a global economic crisis — without Congressional approval, if necessary,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and other Democratic leaders wrote in a letter dated Jan. 11.

Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.), Senate Democratic Policy Committee Chairman Charles Schumer (N.Y.) and Democratic Conference Secretary Patty Murray (Wash.) signed the letter.

Read more from this story HERE.

Video: Newt Gingrich Responds to Assertion That He has Caved On Gay Marriage; Discusses Potential Obama EO’s on Gun Control, Debt Ceiling

/7 Comments/in , , /by

photo credit: gage skidmore

Newt Gingrich has been widely criticized for his recent comments that seemed to suggest he had abandoned the fight for traditional marriage. Here’s his response:

“I’m very concerned. I believe as a matter of faith that marriage is between a man and a woman. I think that everything we know of in terms of the bible and in teaching of the church says marriage is between a man and a women. I also believe as a matter of fact: that 9 states have now adopted a law which is different than that. And that poses very real and complex human circumstances. I think a practical reality is how are we going to deal with that fact? And it’s not that I am going to change my belief. I think that in fact it’s a big mistake to be confused about this issue. But I think it is also a legal reality that now people are being allowed to create legal status over here and if they created it in Maryland and they go on a trip and something happens to them on that trip—what is their status if they need to go to the local hospital? And so I think this is a very complicated human problem and Republicans need to take a deep breath and understand we need to deal with the human side of thus equation and understand that we still want to defend marriage in it’s classic form between a man & a women. I don’t except that there is an alternative. The government can declare that a Ford truck is AirForce One but that doesn’t mean it can fly.

The Defense of Marriage Act is a very specific bill that says that because Maryland to take an example happens to vote that marriage extends beyond a man & woman doesn’t mean that can be imposed on any other state. I still defend the right of any individual state to not adopt—(interrupted)—but I am saying as a matter of practical reality, we have to deal—we conservatives have to deal with the objective fact that 9 states have adopted a rule which is now going to make life more complicated. It’s not enough to—again—I’m no—my personal views, my personal beliefs I don’t back up an inch from the core belief from the Bible and the core belief of my church that marriage is between a man and a woman. But I am trying to understand, how are we going to cope with the complexity that this fact has now entered into our life?

We [Republicans] are going to remain the conservative party. We are going to remain a party that believes in core beliefs. We are going to remain a party which defends religious liberty. And we’ve got to do it much much better. I’ve watched us get out maneuvered by the left over and over for the last couple of years in ways that I found frustrating and infuriating and I think we have to learn from that.”