Albany High School Student Accused of Planning ‘Columbine-Style’ Attack (+video)

Photo Credit: KPTVA West Albany High School student is accused of planning a “Columbine-style” attack on his classmates.

Benton County District Attorney John Haroldson announced that 17-year-old Grant Acord will be charged as an adult on Saturday. He will face a charge of attempted aggravated murder. Prosecutors said he had a well thought out plan that included at date.

Haroldson said Acord had, “plans checklists, diagrams, inspirations, sources and a focus on recreating the model of Columbine, with adjustments that would make it more successful.”

According to Haroldson, police found at least six homemade bombs and bomb making materials hidden in a secret compartment in Acord’s bedroom at his mother’s house. The home is located on Northwest Raymond Court in Albany.

“The types of bombs include pipe bombs, a napalm bomb, Draino bombs and Molotov cocktails,” said Haroldson.

Read more from this story HERE.

Did Holder Perjure Himself? (+video)

By Jason Howerton. During last week’s hearing, Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) asked Holder about the potential to prosecute reporters under the Espionage Act of 1917.

“You’ve got a long way to go to try to prosecute the press for publication of material,” Holder answered.

He later added: “In regard to potential prosecution of the press for disclosure of material, this is not something I’ve ever been involved in, heard of, of would think would be wise policy.” Read more from this story HERE.

As we reported yesterday, however, Holder was personally involved in the approval of the warrant and investigation of Fox News reporter Rossen.

Widow of Butchered British Soldier Gives Heartbreaking Tearful Interview: ‘I Love Lee and Always Will’

Photo Credit: The BlazeBy Jason Howerton. London is still reeling from the horrific terror attack that took place earlier this week.

Both of the suspects accused of butchering a British soldier during broad daylight on a London street had long been on the radar of Britain’s domestic spy agency, though investigators say it would have been nearly impossible to predict that the men were on the verge of a brutal killing.

Still, counter-terrorism officials said they are reviewing what – if any – lessons can be gleaned from the information they had leading up to the slaying Wednesday.

Authorities in the U.S. have similarly pledged to review their procedures in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing, with the Boston police commissioner saying that cities should consider deploying more undercover officers and installing more surveillance cameras.

The British review comes amid an outpouring of grief over Wednesday’s slaughter of 25-year-old Lee Rigby of the 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. Rigby, who had a two-year-old son, had served in Afghanistan. Detectives say they do not believe the attackers knew him or that he was specifically targeted, but they are still investigating. Read more from this story HERE.

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To the Slaughter: British Lions Come up Lambs in Woolwich

Photo Credit: National Review By Mark Steyn. On Wednesday, Drummer Lee Rigby of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, a man who had served Queen and country honorably in the hell of Helmand Province in Afghanistan, emerged from his barracks on Wellington Street, named after the Duke thereof, in southeast London. Minutes later, he was hacked to death in broad daylight and in full view of onlookers by two men with machetes who crowed “Allahu akbar!” as they dumped his carcass in the middle of the street like so much road kill.

As grotesque as this act of savagery was, the aftermath was even more unsettling. The perpetrators did not, as the Tsarnaev brothers did in Boston, attempt to escape. Instead, they held court in the street gloating over their trophy, and flagged down a London bus to demand the passengers record their triumph on film. As the crowd of bystanders swelled, the remarkably urbane savages posed for photographs with the remains of their victim while discoursing on the iniquities of Britain toward the Muslim world. Having killed Drummer Rigby, they were killing time: It took 20 minutes for the somnolent British constabulary to show up. And so television viewers were treated to the spectacle of a young man, speaking in the vowels of south London, chatting calmly with his “fellow Britons” about his geopolitical grievances and apologizing to the ladies present for any discomfort his beheading of Drummer Rigby might have caused them, all while drenched in blood and still wielding his cleaver.

If you’re thinking of getting steamed over all that, don’t. Simon Jenkins, the former editor of the Times of London, cautioned against “mass hysteria” over “mundane acts of violence.”

That’s easy for him to say. Woolwich is an unfashionable part of town, and Sir Simon is unlikely to find himself there of an afternoon stroll. Drummer Rigby had less choice in the matter. Being jumped by barbarians with machetes is certainly “mundane” in Somalia and Sudan, but it’s the sort of thing that would once have been considered somewhat unusual on a sunny afternoon in south London — at least as unusual as, say, blowing up eight-year-old boys at the Boston Marathon. It was “mundane” only in the sense that, as at weddings and kindergarten concerts, the reflexive reaction of everybody present was to get out their cell phones and start filming. Read more from this story HERE.

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Cameron calls for probe on word terrorists were known to UK authorities prior to attack

By Fox News. The savage attack mounted by Muslim terrorists on a soldier on a busy London street has prompted a parliament inquiry into what the nation’s vaunted MI5 domestic intelligence agency could have done to stop the suspects, both of whom had raised alarms with authorities.

The two suspects accused of hacking 25-year-old British soldier Lee Rigby to death Wednesday remained hospitalized under guard after being shot by police following the shocking incident, the aftermath of which was caught on cellphone video by passersby.

Michael Adebolajo, 28 and Michael Adebowale, 22, hit Rigby with their car and then attacked him with knives and a meat cleaver, according to witnesses.

Prime Minister David Cameron said Friday a parliamentary committee will carry out an investigation into the role of the security services in tracking the suspects before their bloody rampage. MI5 was apparently aware of the men, and while Adebolajo had handed out radical Islamist pamphlets neither was considered a serious threat, a government source told Reuters. Adebowale is a naturalized British citizen born in Nigeria, while Adebolajo was born in Britain to a Nigerian immigrant family, according to a Reuters report.

“To find the signals, the red flags as it were, I think is enormously hard,” Richard Barrett, former head of counter-terrorism at the Secret Intelligence Service MI6, Britain’s foreign spy agency, told the BBC. Read more from this story HERE.

John McCain Tears Into Mike Lee on Senate Floor, Lee Responds (+videos)

Photo Credit: YouTubeSen. John McCain provides yet another reason why many feel the “old bull” should be put out to pasture when he tore into fellow Republican Sen. Mike Lee on the Senate floor Thursday over Lee’s objection to negotiate the debt limit increase as part of the budget resolution.

“Perhaps the senator from Utah doesn’t know about that — the fact that even if they did raise the debt limit, it could not become law because it doesn’t go to the president of the United States,” McCain said.

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama Breaks with Tradition, Fails to Return Marine’s Salute (+video)

Photo Credit: GOP The Daily DosePresident Obama, commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, broke with the tradition of returning the salute of the U.S. Marine outside Marine One Friday morning.

Perhaps Obama suddenly realized, or perhaps someone onboard the helicopter said something to him, because Obama promptly walked back down the steps to go shake hands with the Marine.

Read more from this story HERE.

Comedian Calls Out Muhammad for Pedophilia, Gets Hammered With Death Threats (+video)

Photo Credit: YouTubeComedian Steven Crowder’s recent “Jesus vs. Muhammad” video – just posted this week – has gone viral, generating almost 250,000 views.

Why? Its content is a bit edgy, calling out Muhammad for pedophilia and the Koran for its incitement of violence.

As one might expect, that has generated significant backlash. Crowder is reporting from his Twitter account that he has received many death threats, profanity-laced insults, and other not-so-nice reactions from Muhammad defenders on social media.

Here’s the video that’s created all the fuss:

Protesters Interrupt Obama Counterterrorism Speech (+video)

Photo Credit: ReutersThe woman who heckled President Barack Obama during his speech at the National Defense University on Thursday gained access to the closed event by saying she was a member of the press, the university said.

Medea Benjamin, the leader of the human rights activist group Code Pink, stood and shouted several times as the president gave his national security speech focused on drone use and closing down the Guantanamo detention center.

Officials at the university, located at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C., later said Benjamin was able to get into the invite-only speech by saying she was with the news media. It was unclear which media outlet she told them she was with.

Read more from this story HERE.

Jay Leno Jokes Target President Obama’s Problems (+video)

Photo Credit: Screenshot On the late night talk show circuit lately, President Barack Obama has been on the receiving end of a barrage of jokes from “The Tonight Show” host Jay Leno, who has spent the past week opening his nightly monologue with a series of jokes at the White House’s expense.

In reaction to news of a prostitution ring being run out of a retirement home. “Boy, that Obamacare is amazing! It just provides everything!”

On a new IRS commissioner: “They’re called ‘acting commissioner’ because you have to act like the scandal doesn’t involve the White House.”

On comparisons to Nixon: “At least he’s not being compared to President Carter.”

On the Miami Heat beating Obama’s beloved Chicago Bulls: “You now what that means? LeBron James is going to get audited by the IRS.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Interstate Bridge Collapses Near Seattle (+video)

Photo Credit: Jessie BarnhartThe Interstate 5 bridge over the Skagit River collapsed Thursday evening, dropping two vehicles into the water and injuring three people.

Both the northbound and southbound portions of the bridge collapsed into the river sometime before 7 p.m., according to Washington State Patrol trooper Mark Francis.

Xavier Grospe, 62, who lives near the river, said he could see three cars with what appeared to be one person per vehicle. The vehicles were sitting still in the water, partially submerged and partly above the waterline, and the apparent drivers were sitting either on top of the vehicles or on the edge of open windows.

Rescue crews in several boats were able to pull all three people from the semi-submerged vehicles, which were tangled in the wreckage of the bridge.

All three were taken taken to a local hospital and the extent of their injuries is not known. Nobody was killed in the collapse.

Read more from this story HERE.

IRS’s Lerner Had History of Harassment, Inappropriate Religious Inquiries at FEC (+videos)

Photo Credit: AP Photo/J. Scott ApplewhiteBy Mark Hemingway. Perhaps no other IRS official is more intimately associated with the tax agency’s growing scandal than Lois Lerner, director of the IRS’s Exempt Organizations Division. Since admitting the IRS harassed hundreds of conservative and Tea Party groups for over two years, Lerner has been criticized for a number of untruths—including the revelation that she apparently lied about planting a question at an American Bar Association conference where she first publicly acknowledged IRS misconduct…

[P]rior to joining the IRS, Lerner’s tenure as head of the Enforcement Office at the Federal Election Commission (FEC) was marked by what appears to be politically motivated harassment of conservative groups.

Lerner was appointed head of the FEC’s enforcement division in 1986 and stayed in that position until 2001. In the late 1990s, the FEC launched an onerous investigation of the Christian Coalition, ultimately costing the organization hundreds of thousands of dollars and countless hours in lost work. The investigation was notable because the FEC alleged that the Christian Coalition was coordinating issue advocacy expenditures with a number of candidates for office. Aside from lacking proof this was happening, it was an open question whether the FEC had the authority to bring these charges.

James Bopp Jr., who was lead counsel for the Christian Coalition at the time, tells THE WEEKLY STANDARD the Christian Coalition investigation was egregious and uncalled for. “We felt we were being singled out, because when you handle a case with 81 depositions you have a pretty good argument you’re getting special treatment. Eighty-one depositions! Eighty-one! From Ralph Reed’s former part-time secretary to George H.W. Bush. It was mind blowing,” he said.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Lois Lerner: ‘I have not done anything wrong’ at IRS

By Susan Ferrechio. The head of the Internal Revenue Service division that targeted conservative groups told a congressional committee Wednesday that she did nothing wrong and is not to blame for the wrongdoing, but then invoked her Fifth Amendment protections against self-incrimination and refused to answer lawmakers’ questions.

Lois Lerner was a witness lawmakers hoped would help finally answer the fundamental questions about who authorized the IRS to target the Tea Party and other conservative groups opposed to President Obama ahead of last year’s election.

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., dismissed Lerner from the hearing after she invoked the Fifth Amendment. He said he may recall Lerner to testify at a future hearing, saying she may have waived her Fifth Amendment rights when she first delivered an opening statement proclaiming her innocence. To force Lerner to return and testify, Issa refused to adjourn the hearing at the end of the day, instead gaveling it into recess.

“I am looking into the possibility of recalling her,” Issa said. Read more from this story HERE.

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Rep. Gowdy Grills Former IRS Commissioner