ATLANTA CROOK MAKES FATAL MISTAKE BY THINKING PATRONS IN LINE FOR $180 SHOES WON’T EXERCISE 2ND AMENDMENT RIGHT

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A crook in Atlanta made a fatal mistake on Saturday when he tried to rob patrons in line for the new, $180 Lebron James shoes: The lawbreaker was shot dead after a customer used his gun to fight back. And there’s incredible surveillance video showing the moment the customer decided to exercise his Second Amendment right.

Patrons had been lining up all week — at least of them one since last Monday — to get the new Nike LeBron X EXT shoes. And according to WSB-TV, a parking attendant had warned buyers outside the store Wish in the Little Five Points area that someone had been pick-pocketing patrons. Around 5:30am on Saturday, he apparently struck.

Reports indicate the crook used a gun to try and rob everyone one in line. But one person wasn’t having it. An armed citizen in line used his own gun to fight back — he opened fire on the man and hit him. The crook ran a little ways before collapsing and dying.
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QUOTES OF THE DAY 6-24-13

“Every thing secret degenerates, even the administration of justice; nothing is safe that does not show how it can bear discussion and publicity.”

John Dalberg Lord Acton

“The vast majority of the race, whether savage or civilized, are secretly kind-hearted and shrink from inflicting pain, but in the presence of the aggressive and pitiless minority, they don’t dare to assert themselves.”

Mark Twain

Their fundamental belief simply has to be that society must not exist for society’s sake, but only as the foundation and scaffolding on which the best type of being is able to raise itself to its higher task and to a higher state of being…”

Friedrich Nietzsche

“On Wall Street he and a few others—how many?—three hundred, four hundred, five hundred?—had become precisely that … Masters of the Universe.”

Tom Wolfe, The Bonfire of the Vanities

“As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods. They kill us for their sport.”

William Shakespeare, King Lear

NEW IRS CHIEF: ‘INAPPROPRIATE’ TARGETING WAS BROADER AND LASTED LONGER THAN PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT

The Internal Revenue Service’s screening of groups seeking tax-exempt status was broader and lasted longer than has been previously disclosed, the new head of the agency said Monday.

An internal IRS document obtained by The Associated Press said that besides “tea party,” lists used by screeners to pick groups for close examination also included the terms “Israel,” “Progressive” and “Occupy.” The document said an investigation into why specific terms were included was still underway.

In a conference call with reporters, Danny Werfel said that after becoming acting IRS chief last month, he discovered wide-ranging and improper terms on the lists and said screeners were still using them. He did not specify what terms were on the lists, but said he suspended the use of all such lists immediately. 
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USDA SLASHES FOOD FOR WOMEN, CHILDREN, SUBSIDIZES WINERIES INSTEAD

On Wednesday, Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) of the Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs penned a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack pointing out waste and abuse within the department that could be cut in order to pay for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) assistance that the department slashed for 600,000 women and children. Coburn points out that despite sequestration, on April 4, representatives from the USDA Rural Development Office held “a workshop on their agency’s economic development and affordable housing programs” for residents of Martha’s Vineyard. Clearly, affordable housing is not the key issue in an area whose cheapest home is listed at $260,000 (a two-bedroom condo). In fact, Coburn points out, the “entire island of Martha’s Vineyard has been designated as a rural area eligible for taxpayer backed home loans by USDA.”

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Obama: U.S. Following All ‘Legal Channels’ To Catch Edward Snowden

President Obama weighed in on the search for government leaker Edward Snowden Monday, saying the United States was working with other countries and following all applicable laws to catch the former American contractor who spilled secrets about top-secret surveillance programs.

“What we know is that we’re following all the appropriate legal channels and working with various other countries to make sure that rule of law is observed, and beyond that, I’ll refer to the Justice Department that has been actively involved in the case,” Obama said ahead of a meeting with business leaders at the White House to discuss immigration reform.

Obama has been careful to avoid saying too much about the search for Snowden, who has hopscotched the globe in an attempt to evade U.S. authorities. The president tried to shoo reporters out of the room on Monday, before relenting and giving a vague reaction to the Snowden manhunt.

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The Stunning Hypocrisy Of The U.S. Government

Congress has exempted itself from the prohibition against trading on inside information… the law that got Martha Stewart and many other people thrown in jail.

There are many other ways in which the hypocrisy of the politicians in D.C. are hurting our country.

Washington politicians say we have to slash basic services, and yet waste hundreds of billions of dollars on counter-productive boondoggles. If the politicos just stopped throwing money at corporate welfare queens, military and security boondoggles and pork, harmful quantitative easing, unnecessary nuclear subsidies, the failed war on drugs, and other wasted and counter-productive expenses, we wouldn’t need to impose austerity on the people.

The D.C. politicians said that the giant failed banks couldn’t be nationalized, because that would be socialism. Instead of temporarily nationalizing them and then spinning them off to the private sector – or breaking them up – the politicians have bailed them out to the tune of many tens of billions of dollars each year, and created a system where all of the profits are privatized, and all of the losses socialized.

Obama and Congress promised help for struggling homeowners, and passed numerous bills that they claimed would rescue the little guy. But every single one of these bills actually bails out the banks … and doesn’t really help the homeowner.

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Irish MP Blasts President Obama as 'Hypocrite of the Century'

IRONY

BREAKING NEWS: Immigration Bill Clears Senate Test Vote

The Senate voted 67-27 to advance a major amendment to the comprehensive immigration bill, moving toward a final vote possibly within the next week.
From Fox News

Remember This

I’d Like A Refund, Please

You’ve heard about “class action” lawsuits. A group of people who’ve all suffered a common harm at the hands of a single offender get together and sue jointly for damages. I think all the people who were victimized for the 20 years the 55 MPH National Maximum Speed Limit (NMSL) was in effect (1974-1995) ought to consider doing something along those lines.

“Drive 55″ – as it was styled – came into force in 1974, just before Tricky Dick Nixon was almost frog-marched out of the Oval Office over the Watergate thing and other sordid abuses of office. But Tricky Dick was never held accountable for this crime.

Though enacted – officially – as a fuel-conservation measure, people – millions of people – were issued speeding tickets for driving in excess of 55 MPH on the highway. They were dunned by the state – and then dunned afterward by their insurance companies, which used these “speeding” convictions as evidence of “unsafe driving habits.”

This went on for 20 years – until the mid-1990s – when Congress finally did something not-criminal and rescinded the NMSL.

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Designer Makes Bulletproof Clothing For Kids

Confessions Of A Tea Partier: An Open Letter To The GOP

Dear GOP Establishment,

We need to talk. It’s not us. It’s you.

Any successful relationship must be based upon trust, mutual respect, and understanding. We are 0 for 3 in those categories. There is a deep schism within this Party between a Conservative Tea Party base and an elitist Progressive leadership. Things just don’t seem like they’re going to work out between us due to irreconcilable differences.

First off, we in the Tea Party don’t trust you guys. How can we when you break your campaign promises to us again and again? No matter how Conservative a Democrat candidate will try to appear when running for office, those who are foolish enough to pull the D-lever know exactly what they’re going to get: higher taxes, social welfare expansion, a reduced military, and more intrusive government regulations that further limit individual liberties. Democrat politicians run a limited gamut from the very Progressive Harry Reid all the way to the extremely Progressive Barack Obama. That is why we Conservatives cannot support the Democrat party. But don’t misinterpret that as us automatically granting our support for the Republican Party.

In a lot of ways it is often scarier and more frustrating to vote for the Republican candidate because there is really no telling what we are going to end up with. A GOP candidate may be pro-life or pro-choice, pro-traditional or pro-gay marriage, fiscally Conservative or pro-government expansion. The fact that the Republican Party can house both a Ted Cruz as well as a Chris Christie does not testify to the success of a Big Tent policy. It is evidence of a house divided, and sooner rather than later one of the factions is either going to have to change or pack up and move out.

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'Sweetest Comeback': Twinkies To Hit Shelves July 15

Hostess is betting on a sweet comeback for Twinkies when they return to shelves next month.

The company that went bankrupt after an acrimonious fight with its unionized workers last year is back up and running under new owners and a leaner structure. It says it plans to have Twinkies and other snack cakes back on shelves starting July 15.

Based on the outpouring of nostalgia sparked by its demise, Hostess is expecting a blockbuster return next month for Twinkies and other sugary treats, such as CupCakes and Donettes. The company says the cakes will taste the same but that the boxes will now bare the tag line "The Sweetest Comeback In The History Of Ever."
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Top Aide To Former IRS Chief Reportedly Logged Hundreds Of White House visits

Not only did the former IRS commissioner visit the White House dozens of times during his tenure, but his chief of staff was reportedly making those visits even more frequently.

The Washington Examiner reported Friday that Jonathan M. Davis, the chief of staff for former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman, appears to have visited the White House campus up to 310 times between late 2009 and early 2013. Sources told the Examiner that Davis, who had little background in tax policy, largely served as a political aide.

It's unclear what he was doing at the White House all those times. Shulman, during a hearing on Capitol Hill last month, tried to explain his own frequent attendance at White House meetings. He said he was there for everything from policy meetings to "the Easter Egg roll with my kids."

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Transgender 6-Year-Old Wins Civil Rights Case To Use Girls' Bathroom

A transgender 6-year-old who identifies as a female should be allowed to use the girls' bathroom at her elementary school even though she was born a male, the Colorado Civil Rights Division ruled on Sunday.


In a decision being hailed as a major victory by advocates for transgender Americans, the division concluded that the Fountain-Fort Carson School District created an unnecessarily hostile situation for Coy Mathis when it made the female bathroom off limits.

By not allowing Coy to use the girls' restroom, the school "creates an environment rife with harassment," Steven Chavez, the division director, wrote in the decision.
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Cruz Wins White House Dossier 2016 GOP Presidential Poll

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz scored a huge victory in a White House Dossier poll of readers’ preferences for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, garnering nearly a third of the vote, while former conservative darling Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida barely registered in the survey.

Cruz has emerged during his frist year in the Senate as an unflagging conservative leader on a string of issues, most notably gun control and immigration. Thirty one percent of voters in the poll, who mostly described them as conservative, said Cruz was their choice for president.

While Cruz’s star has soared, Rubio’s has dimmed nearly the point of invisibility. Rubio, who has drawn conservative ire for his banner role in pushing an immigration reform bill this year, garnered just three percent of the vote.

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PORKULUS MAXIMUS

Are you a taxpayer? Do you work your butt off, and give half your money to the government? Do you have any idea what they are doing with it?

Yes, they are paying 30 million union government drones $448 billion a year in salaries and benefits. We all know they are spending $1 trillion a year for the 100 million on welfare that weren’t required to go to work today. But did you know you were funding studies on gay porn? Or why monkeys fling crap?

But take a minute and read all the ways the criminals in Washington are pissing your money away. It will simply blow your mind.

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Eight Weekend Shootings In Baltimore Kill Six

A deadly weekend in Baltimore leaves six people dead in a total of eight shootings.

Two of the shootings took place early Sunday morning in northwest Baltimore.

The most recent shooting happened around 4:42 a.m. Sunday in the 5200 block of St. Charles Avenue.

An unidentified man was pronounced dead at the scene from an apparent gunshot wound.

About three hours earlier, around 1:30 a.m. three other unidentified men were shot in the 5200 block of Arbutus Avenue in northwest Baltimore.
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The GOP’s Rand Paul Moment

You won’t find him on any Federal Election Commission disclosure forms, but Director of National Intelligence James Clapper is the biggest in-kind donor to the incipient Rand Paul–for president campaign.

Whatever its merits, the National Security Agency metadata program couldn’t be better fashioned to play into fears of the government. Is it vast? Yes. Secret? Check. Raise profound questions about privacy? Uh-huh.

This is the kind of issue Rand Paul was born and (literally) raised to raise holy hell over. The NSA leak came on the heels of revelations that the Internal Revenue Service was singling out tea-party groups for extra scrutiny, and on the heels of the Associated Press and James Rosen investigations.

Add in the gun-control fight earlier this year, and Paul is nearly four-for-four in fights sticking up, in his view, for the first four amendments of the Bill of Rights. The only thing missing is the third, because no one has proposed quartering of troops in our homes — yet.

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Found Cat 6-24-13: UPDATE

UPDATE: Cat and owner reunited Thanks!!!

Hey Joe, 

We woke up this morning to find a beautiful and extremely friendly orange tabby cat on our back deck on the corner of Pemberton and Rockawalkin. I believe he must be an indoor cat as he wants to come into our house but we already have two cats. 

Could you please post this and see if anyone is missing their pet. He is well taken care of and wearing a collar, Identify the collar and you can have him back. Thanks for all you do Patricia Toney
410-742-0422

Absolutely Brilliant 3D Chalk Art

See More HERE

Why Neocons Are Freaking Out Over Lincoln

When Obama went before the United Nations on September 12, 2012 to declare that the Syrian regime "must end" and threatened U.S. military intervention to achieve that end he did not cite the U.S. Constitution as his authority. No American president ever does when threatening military intervention. Instead, he invoked the rhetoric of Abraham Lincoln or what the late Professor Mel Bradford called "the rhetoric of continuing revolution." More specifically, in his U.N. speech he paraphrased Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address to say that U.S. military intervention is warranted because "government of the people, by the people, and for the people is more likely to bring about the stability, prosperity, and individual opportunity that serve as a basis for peace in the world."

Obama repeated this hoary theme – that Lincoln’s rhetoric "justifies" or "legitimizes" endless American military interventionism all over the world – in his first inaugural address. "What makes us exceptional," he shouted, "is our allegiance to an idea articulated in a declaration made more than two centuries ago . . ." This "idea" was not, of course, the Constitution and not even the Declaration of Independence, but a few words from the Declaration taken out of historical context. The words are the "all men are created equal" phrase.

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EVA LONGORIA'S 'DEVIOUS MAIDS' SLAMMED AS 'DEGRADING,' 'STEREOTYPICAL' TO HISPANICS

Devious Maids, the new TV series produced by and starring actress Eva Longoria, is being criticized as demeaning to Hispanics and for stereotyping Latino women as domestic help.

When commercials started playing advertising the new Lifetime Network drama/comedy about five Latina maids, many potential viewers complained that the heroines of the show were but lowly Latina house maids. It was demeaning, stereotypical, and even racist they said.

Damarys Ocana, executive editor of Latina Magazine, was one that immediately criticized the new series. "There probably wasn't a Latina in the country who didn't initially roll her eyes of 'oh great, here we go again. Another Latina character that's a maid,'" she told ABC News.
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Sanity Is Not Statistical . . . But It Is Uncommon

Sanity still exists, it’s just not consistently applied.

For instance, consider marriage. It is generally agreed that it ought to be voluntary – that both parties should be mutually consenting. And not just to the initial union, either – but to the union on an ongoing basis. If at any point the union is no longer satisfactory, the couple’s right to part from one another is rarely questioned. This is sane. The idea that they should be forced at gunpoint to stay together is (rightly) regarded by most people asinsane.

Yet the same principle is rarely translated over to the realm of politics. We are told as children by our teachers about the “consent of the governed.” But when that consent is withdrawn, why is it that most people recoil from the idea of peaceful separation? Why do most people celebrate the forcible “union” of unwilling partners? How is it different to be told you must accept being lorded over by a certain form of government – or else – vs. being told you must stay with your husband or wife – or else? Is it a function of numbers? That is, because more than just two people are involved, it becomes ok to force some to be bound by others? Is it because of “process”? What makes that any different from a husband declaring he has a piece of paper in his hand that entitles him to “perpetual union” with his unwilling wife? Society, after all, is just intellectual shorthand for all the people in a given area. “Society” does not consent to anything because society does not exist. Only individual people exist – and do – or do not consent.

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Facebook Does It Again

A bug on Facebook inadvertently shares the email addresses or phone numbers of 6 million Facebook users. On Friday, Facebook posted a message detailing how the bug may have allowed some of a person's contact information to be accessed. Facebook downplayed the incident saying the contact information was not exposed to developers or advertisers and no other types of personal or financial information were included.

From Main Street To D.C.

Once you were of the people and you had their trust. You all took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States — and most violated that oath on the first day.

Then you became professional politians in contrast to those early members of Congress who served the public interest for a short time and returned to real careers. Now you are an elite above the law, who think insider trading, accepting bribes, courting special interests, and arranging porkulus for your districts makes you special.

Some of you don’t warm the bench forever, you seek the Main Chance with the revolving door, only to return in one Phoenix maneuver, accruing wealth with each step. Of course, some of you never, ever had a real job but you know in some mystical fashion what is best for the little people.

Unfortunately, you’ve lost your integrity — if you ever had any — lost sight of what the citizens perceive and wonder why congress (small c intentional) has such a poor rating by the majority of those citizens.

You wouldn’t poke a hornet’s nest with a stick but think nothing of unleashing sticks and stones and the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune against the people. Let me count the ways, no, that would take more time and effort than it is worth. But here are just a few that rankle the senstivities of real people:

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GSA Sells Property On Line For $19 Million

The General Services Administration is finally free of a massive property in Georgetown. GSA closed Friday on the $19 million sale of the the West Heating Plant, The Washington Business Journal reports. The property was auctioned off online in February with an opening bid of $500,000. The sale is part of GSA's effort to shed excess properties. The agency estimates it has sold 44 properties across the country so far this year for $40 million and has 100 more in the disposal pipeline.

After Espionage Charges, Edward Snowden Petition Reaches Critical Mass

President Obama will now be forced to weigh in on the public's desire to pardon PRISM whistleblower Edward Snowden, despite a carefully crafted effort to neither praise nor condemn him.

A We the People petition titled "Pardon Edward Snowden" reached the requisite 100,000 signatures Saturday morning. By the Obama administration's own rules, any petition that reaches that threshold will receive a formal response from the White House, though there’s no formal timetable for the official comment.
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Black Mob Violence: Are There Any Reporters Left In Milwaukee?

Every year, Juneteenth in Milwaukee is a mess: Lots of violence. Lots of people arrested at this annual festival of black liberation. Here is a link from some examples in years gone by. Top 100 Black Mob Videos #37: Milwaukee? Yes.

So that brings us to this year. Something happened at Juneteenth in Milwaukee a few days ago but not one local reporter is talking about it:

Nothing here: Juneteenth Day 2013 | Milwaukee Courier Weekly Newspaper

Here’s something: Four people were arrested and a large police presence required. Arrested for what? No one knows. Unrest after Juneteenth celebration in Milwaukee – 620 WTMJ – Milwaukee’s Source for Local News and Weather

Something else: Still no one knows what: ”there were several arrests at Wednesday’s Juneteenth celebrations at the Martin Luther King Center, but would not go into further detail about the incidents.” The rest talked about how well police get along with everyone in Milwaukee.

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Bush-Era NSA Whistleblower Makes Most Explosive Allegations Yet About Extent Of Gov’t Surveillance

Russ Tice, a former intelligence analyst and Bush-era NSA whistleblower, claimed Wednesday that the intelligence community has ordered surveillance on a wide range of groups and individuals, including high-ranking military officials, lawmakers and diplomats.

He also made another stunning allegation. He says the NSA had ordered wiretaps on phones connected to then-Senate candidate Barack Obama back in 2004.

“They went after–and I know this because I had my hands literally on the paperwork for these sort of things–they went after high-ranking military officers; they went after members of Congress, both Senate and the House, especially on the intelligence committees and on the armed services committees and some of the–and judicial,” Tice told Peter B. Collins on Boiling Frog Post News.

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DELEGATE RON GEORGE SIGNS PLEDGE TO NOT RAISE ANY TAXES

Annapolis, MD – Republican Candidate for Governor, Delegate Ron George (R-Annapolis) signed a pledge to not raise any taxes as governor. George also promised to cut taxes, and he challenged all candidates to make the same pledge.

“Our economy will not grow unless our citizens and business can keep more money to spend and invest as fits their needs,” said Mr. George.

Delegate George was recognized last week as the Marine Trade Associations Legislator of the Year for his successful work to cut the state’s high boat excise tax which had hurt the entire industry.

GUN-RIGHTS RALLYGOERS DEFY LOCAL LAW, CONFRONT ‘POLICE STATE’ ACTIONS

Protesters showed up to a gun-rights rally in Erie, Pa., with their firearms out in the open—purposely defying a local ordinance that prohibits guns at city parks.

“We are American patriots, and we are a force to be reckoned with!” yelled Pastor George Cook of North Bangor, Pa. (350 miles away) at the Perry Square park gazebo Saturday, WSEE-TV reports.

“First, our constitution…says that the right of people to bear arms in defense of themselves and the state shall not be questioned,” said Cook. ”The preemption clause in our state law…says that local towns like Erie can’t make other laws concerning firearms.” 
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DEBUNKING The Bush And Obama Administrations’ Justification For Mass Surveillance

Preface: The Bush and Obama administrations both claimed that spying on Americans was justified by 9/11. Specifically, they said that they could have caught one of the 9/11 hijackers living in San Diego if they could have spied on phone calls on American soil.

However - as demonstrated below - that claim is totally false.

ProPublica notes:
In defending the NSA’s sweeping collection of Americans’ phone call records, Obama administration officials have repeatedly pointed out how it could have helped thwart the 9/11 attacks: If only the surveillance program been in place before Sept. 11, 2001, U.S. authorities would have been able to identify one of the future hijackers who was living in San Diego [named Khalid al Mihdhar].

Last weekend, former Vice President Dick Cheney invoked the same argument.

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‘Blair Witch’ Director Wants To Shoot Film In Abandoned Frederick Mall

FREDERICK, Md. (AP) — A horror movie director wants to shoot a film in an abandoned mall in Frederick.

Director Eduardo Sanchez lives in Urbana and made Burkittsville famous with “The Blair Witch Project” in 1999. He tells The Frederick News-Post that he’s developing a screenplay set in the cavernous, empty Frederick Towne Mall.

Cal Glorioso, director of the Frederick Film Office, is trying to negotiate a deal between Sanchez and Rockwood Capital, which owns the property and is trying to redevelop it.
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Vanderwende's Creamery In Bridgeville

Hey Joe,

We all scream for ice cream from Vanderwende's Creamery about 4 miles west of Bridgeville, De. on Rt. 404. Always a line but worth the weight!

IRS SENT $46 MILLION IN TAX REFUNDS TO 23,994 ‘UNAUTHORIZED’ ALIENS — ALL AT THE SAME ADDRESS IN ATLANTA

The IRS sent more than $46 million in tax refunds to 23,994 “unauthorized” alien workers who all listed the same address in Atlanta, Ga., in 2011, according to an audit report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA).

However, the Atlanta address that received millions of dollars in refunds was not the only address apparently housing thousands of “unauthorized” aliens. In fact, it wasn’t even the only address in Atlanta that was claiming such a situation.

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2 Cannons Raised From Blackbeard's Ship

BEAUFORT, N.C.

Blackbeard's ship has surrendered more of its historical treasures.

The Daily News of Jacksonville reports that two cannons were raised from the wreck of the Queen Anne's Revenge off the coast of Carteret County on Thursday.

A dive expedition at the site this month had hoped to bring up eight cannons. But efforts were hampered by bad weather until Thursday.

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Clint Eastwood And A 1-Sentence Editorial

This one sentence editorial appeared in the  Peoria,  Ill. Journal Star  . . . . .   "A pen in the hand of this president is far more dangerous than a gun in the hands of 200 million law-abiding citizens."   Then Clint Eastwood added his words  . . . . .   "We Americans are so tired of being thought of as dumbasses by the rest of the world that we went to the polls this past November and removed all doubt."   Clint Eastwood --

Massive Turnover In Legislature Expected, With Howard County A Prime Example

Massive turnover in the legislature is expected in the 2014 election, with at least a third of the 188 Maryland General Assembly seats changing, and as many as 50 members turning over in the House of Delegates alone.

Nowhere is the upheaval more dramatic than in Howard County, where two-thirds of its seats are up for grabs: two of three Senate seats and six of nine delegate seats.

These changes have already led to the announcement or filing of more candidates for Howard County legislative districts by non-incumbents than any other area in the state.
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This Is What 66 Years Of Love Sounds Like

GO HERE to listen.

Young People Should Say No To Obamacare

Starting in 2014, Obamacare will attempt to get almost every American to obtain health insurance. The system desperately needs healthy young people, millions of whom don’t have health insurance, to sign up because their money is needed to subsidize treatment for older, sicker Americans. But will they?

Young people will be asked to buy policies that don’t reflect the low risk they have of getting sick. Obamacare allows health insurers to vary premiums based on age, but they can charge older customers only up to three times as much as healthy young customers, while most insurers have as much as a five- or six-to-one ratio. This means lower prices for older (and wealthier) folks, but high prices for the young. “They’ll have sticker shock,” House budget chairman Paul Ryan told me.

Indeed, the law will require four out of five young Americans to pay more than they otherwise would for health coverage — yet another form of generational theft from young to old that ought to sour young people on government “help.”

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FREE STUFF

Obama Comments 'Unlawful Command Influence'

Two defendants in military sexual assault cases cannot be punitively discharged, if found guilty, because of “unlawful command influence” derived from comments made by President Barack Obama, a judge ruled in a Hawaii military court this week.

Navy Judge Cmdr. Marcus Fulton ruled during pretrial hearings in two sexual assault cases -- U.S. vs. Johnson and U.S. vs. Fuentes -- that comments made by Obama as commander in chief would unduly influence any potential sentencing, according to a court documents obtained by Stars and Stripes.

On Wednesday and Thursday, Fulton approved the pretrial defense motions, which used as evidence comments that Obama made about sexual assault at a May 7 news conference.

“The bottom line is: I have no tolerance for this,” Obama said, according to an NBC News story submitted as evidence by defense attorneys in the sexual assault cases.

‘I expect consequences,” Obama added. “So I don’t just want more speeches or awareness programs or training, but ultimately folks look the other way. If we find out somebody’s engaging in this, they’ve got to be held accountable -- prosecuted, stripped of their positions, court martialed, fired, dishonorably discharged. Period.”

The judge’s pretrial ruling means that if either defendant is found guilty, whether by a jury or a military judge, they cannot receive a bad conduct discharge or a dishonorable discharge. Sailors found guilty under the Uniform Code of Military Justice’s Article 120, which covers several sexual crimes including assault and rape, generally receive punitive discharges.

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Christina Denny Named Miss Maryland

HAGERSTOWN, Md. —Christina Denny has won the Miss Maryland pageant and will compete for the crown of Miss America in September.

Pageant business manager Courtney Thomas says the 22-year-old Denny represented western Maryland in the competition Saturday night in Hagerstown. Denny won both swimsuit and talent competitions in the preliminary rounds. It was her third time competing in the Miss Maryland pageant.

Denny is a teacher at Echelon Academy in Olney, a school for children with learning disabilities. She teaches students between 6th and 10th grades.
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More Big Brother Lies Exposed

U.S. President Barack Obama and other federal leaders have assured the public that the government is not listening to their phone calls or accessing their private electronic information without a warrant. But according to The (U.K.) Guardian – the paper which has been leading the effort to expose the Obama administration’s massive domestic spying network – that isn’t the case.

In July 2009, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder (no stranger to domestic spying) submitted a pair of documents to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA) outlining the parameters of the administration’s snooping program.

“The documents show that even under authorities governing the collection of foreign intelligence from foreign targets, (domestic) communications can still be collected, retained and used,” The Guardian reported.

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