IRAN AGGRESSIVELY RECRUITING ‘INVISIBLE ARMY’ OF LATIN AMERICAN CONVERTS TO INFILTRATE U.S. THROUGH ‘SOFT BELLY’ OF THE SOUTHERN BORDER

Iran is recruiting an “invisible army” of revolutionary sympathizers in Latin America to infiltrate the U.S. through the “soft belly” of the southern border, U.S. officials and national security experts told TheBlaze. And they’re using one website in particular to do it.

The Iranian regime’s conversion efforts are becoming increasingly aggressive, especially over the Internet, with the goal of conducting operations against United States interests in the Western Hemisphere, according to U.S. government officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the nature of their work in the region.

Islamoriente.com, which focuses on religion and politics, is one of Iran’s main recruitment and conversion websites for Latin America on the Internet, TheBlaze has learned. The site, which launched in 2008, includes links to Iranian television for Spanish speakers, anti-American news stories, essays on reasons to convert to Islam, chat rooms and a personal message from the Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran.
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Why Being Nice May Be The Secret To Success

Anyone who’s been in the job market recently knows that a good LinkedIn profile and a developed set of connections are essential to your success. But what about the rest of the social media universe? Does Facebook really matter? Twitter?
According to Peter Shankman, speaker, entrepreneur, and author of "Nice Companies Finish First," in the world of Brand You, all social networks impact your professional success. There is no divide between your public life and your private life, said Shankman, speaking at a networking event hosted by High-Tech Connect.

As a member of the audience, my first thought was “Ugh. Seriously? Now I need to sell myself to my Facebook friends and family?”

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N.C. Pastor Asks That 'Only White People' Greet Congregation At Church Doors

A North Carolina pastor is under fire after reportedly asking that "only white people" stand at the front door of her Charlotte church to greet the congregation.

Pastor Makeda Pennycooke, who is African-American, recently sent an e-mail to volunteers who act as greeters at Freedom House Church in Charlotte. In it, Pennycooke wrote that "first impressions matter" and said the church wants "the best of the best on the front doors," according to local reports.

"We are continuing to work to bring our racial demographic pendulum back to mid-line," she wrote. "So we would like to ask that only white people be on the front doors."
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Observing King Obama’s Syrian Madness

The road leading to King Obama’s now apparently inevitable, U.S.-led offensive war on Syria continues to be marked by some mighty ridiculous occurrences:

–Polls show more than 60-percent of Americans oppose the zany notion that there is a U.S. national-security interest in Syria that must be defended with a U.S.-initiated offensive war. Pray, guess which courageous American politician has stood up to champion the people’s adamant opposition to war? You are right, none. Oddly, only Vladimir Putin — admittedly for Russia-specific reasons — is on the same wavelength as most Americans regarding Syria, with them opposing an offensive war that will yield a worse disaster for the United States and the world than King Obama’s glorious Libyan war.

–Our heroic, if addled Knesset-member-wannabees McCain and Graham warn that if we do not do “something” about the Syrian regime’s chemical weapons, Asaad may well turn them over to terrorist groups. Interesting point, but only if you say it fast and do not ponder it. If we destroy Asaad’s regime in favor of the al-Qaeda-led Syrian opposition, won’t those unkempt Islamist laddies inherit Syria’s chemical-weapons arsenal? As night follows day, if the U.S.-led West destroys the Syrian regime, our highly intelligent King Obama will have succeeded in arming al-Qaeda and its allies with Asaad’s chemical weapons.

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Classroom Chaos? Critics Blast New Common Core Education Standards

A full year before students around the nation submit to the new Common Core standardized tests, the federally-backed program is already causing chaos and confusion at local school board meetings, in the classroom and at the dinner table.

As critics fear Washington is poised to take control of what and how local districts teach kids, school administrators are adopting new curriculum in an effort to ensure their students outperform their peers and parents worry that their children are being used as academic guinea pigs. As the program gets closer to full implementation, a full-blown backlash is developing despite assurances from supporters that it is merely a test aimed at establishing a national standard.
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Obama Announces More Executive Actions On Guns

Unable to get gun control legislation through Congress, the Obama administration announced two new executive actions Thursday – one to “close a loophole,” another to block importation of surplus military weapons.

The announcements come the same day that Vice President Joe Biden – who has spearheaded the administration’s anti-gun efforts since the school massacre in Newtown, Conn. in December — is set to do a ceremonial swearing-in of B. Todd Jones, who was confirmed by the Senate as the director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The two new executive actions are on top of 23 previous executive actions announced by President Barack Obama after the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting.

Under current law, the administration says that machine guns and short barreled shotguns must be registered and an individual must undergo a fingerprint-based background check to purchase the gun.

“At present, when the weapon is registered to a trust or corporation, no background check is run,” a White House news release said Thursday morning. “ATF reports that last year alone, it received more than 39,000 requests for transfers of these restricted firearms to trusts or corporations.”

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By Definition: If You Don't Get Paid Enough, It's Your Own Fault

And that means the power to improve your situation rests solely with you. Aren't you glad I'm telling you this?

The boss, who knows a thing or two about how and why people get paid entry-level wages, touched on this in his post-show video on Friday. I want to expand on the theme a little here, because what I've always believed about people's economic state of affairs is a message that I see as empowering, but that many wrongly see as "blaming the victim."

And that's because they don't like the idea that at some point you have to let go of blame and complaints and admit that only you can decide your own economic fate.
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Cory Booker’s Imaginary Friend

Go back and listen to Cory Booker’s stump speeches over the years, and, as in those of any politician, you’ll hear many of the same stories. But Booker’s are more dramatic and heart-rending than most. They draw heavily on his experiences in Newark, N.J., where he moved in 1995 after his second year at Yale Law School. They have also helped to make him a political celebrity and put millions of dollars into his campaign war chest and Newark’s coffers.

Booker’s tales of his trials and travails on the streets of Newark, the city that twice elected him mayor, are familiar, and they have helped to breed an almost mythological aura around the Stanford, Oxford, and Yale graduate. He did, after all, rescue a woman from a burning building last year, sustaining burns in the process. But sources tell National Review Online that the central character in one of Booker’s oft-repeated stories — T-Bone, the drug pusher who the mayor has said threatened his life at one turn and sobbed on his shoulder the next — is a figment of his imagination, even though Booker has talked about him in highly emotional terms and in great detail.

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Obama’s Crony Appointments

Welcome to another installment of No Obama Bundler Left Behind. This chapter stars an elite Hollywood fundraiser who scored a plum diplomatic appointment, slacked off on the job, left her public office in disgrace, and then rebounded from failure as a new Obamacare promoter. Nice crony “work” if you can get it.

This failed celebr-ambassador is Nicole Avant. Her father, Clarence Avant, is a prominent Democratic activist and music executive. Her husband, Ted Sarandos, is the chief content officer at Netflix. Her godfather is music legend Quincy Jones. On Monday, Avant turned up at an Obama-administration confab with pop stars (Jennifer Hudson, Jason Derulo), comedy stars (Amy Poehler, Kal Penn, Aisha Tyler), and other assorted Beautiful People (public-relations teams for Oprah Winfrey and Alicia Keys). The liberal glam-squad members all have agreed to spread Obamacare propaganda to the masses.

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Syria Attack: MPD, Park Police On Alert For Retaliation

Internal documents obtained by ABC 7 News show that multiple law enforcement agencies, including U.S. Park Police and D.C. Police, are looking for suspicious activity and increasing surveillance near potential targets like monuments and government buildings.

This watch is in response to a possible U.S. military strike against Syria based on evidence that Syria recently killed more than 1,400 of their own in a chemical weapons attack.

On Saturday, the same day President Barack Obama stated the U.S. should take military action against the Syrian regime, the U.S. Park Police issued a lengthy internal memo alerting the agency to be ready and prepared for potential retaliatory action against the U.S. after any military intervention. 
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New Jersey Property Tax Problems

Egg Harbor, New Jersey (MY9NJ) -

The mayor of one New Jersey town is actually moving out because he claims he can’t afford to pay the property taxes there.
Egg Harbor Mayor Sonny McCullough bought his home in 1985 for about $350,000 and according to him, now he is officially taxed out.
In 2012, Egg Harbor property taxes were increased by 60% making his home now worth $1.1 million and that comes with close to a $35,000 tax bill.

Depending on which formula you use, New Jersey is either number one or number two in the country for pricey property taxes.
McCullough said, “property tax is the unfairest tax in the world. It’s not based on someone’s ability to earn money. It’s based on the property value.”

Of the property taxes, 60% come from school taxes, 30% is for the township and local taxes make up less than 10% of the property tax bill.

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Military Strike Would Likely Bring Spike At Gas Pumps

A U.S. military strike against the Syrian regime could lead to an immediate spike in the price of gasoline.

One analyst would expect a sudden increase at the pumps of 10 cents to 15 cents a gallon, according to oil industry expert Greg Laskowski of marylandgasprices.com.

Prices could conceivably move back down quickly if the US strike is over quickly and remains limited, Laskowski said. 
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The US False Flag

In his famous essay, “War is the Health of the State,” Randolph Bourne made an important distinction between country and state. One’s country is “an inescapable group into which we re born.” As such, “there is no more feeling of rivalry with other peoples than there is in our feeling for our family.” Country is “a concept of peace, of tolerance, of living and letting live,” wrote Bourne.

The state, on the other hand, “is essentially a concept of power, of competition.” Conflating the two concepts – country and state – sends one into a hopeless and very dangerous confusion. For the history of the American country is one of “conquest of the land, of the growth of wealth, of the enterprise of education, and the carrying out of spiritual ideals.”

The history of the American state, by contrast, is one of “making war, obstructing international trade, preventing itself from being split to pieces, punishing those citizens whom society agrees are offensive, and collecting money to pay for it all.

In peacetime the state “has almost no trappings to appeal to the common man’s emotions,” wrote Bourne. The average citizen largely ignores the state. For example, at the outset of the American “Civil War” the only connection the average citizen had with the federal government was though the post office and paying about $45/year in taxes. This of course is considered to be a disaster or a calamity by all statists.

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Vladimir Putin Slaps President Obama With An Oddly Coherent Message About Syria

'How many times did the US initiate conflicts in various parts of the world? Has this ever helped to resolve even one problem?'

Before we get started, let's just be clear. Putin's an old-school, ex-KGB, hardliner. He's no hero, a staunch Assad ally, and no friend to the West. Everything he does is done in service of his own interests.

So, with that in mind.... How embarrassing is it that his remarks here - which take a pretty severe swipe at Obama - make more sense than anything coming out of the White House? You can argue about Putin's conclusions, but can you imagine what would happen if the American media demanded a message this cogent from a teleprompter-less President?
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US Finally Admits What Ron Paul Said: "Nobody Knows Who Set Off The Gas"

The AP reports that US intelligence officials are admitting that linking Syrian President Bashar Assad or his inner circle to an alleged chemical weapons attack is no "slam dunk," as opposed to Obama (and Kerry) who are 'unequivocal' of the fact.

Via AP,
The intelligence linking Syrian President Bashar Assad or his inner circle to an alleged chemical weapons attack is no "slam dunk," with questions remaining about who actually controls some of Syria's chemical weapons stores and doubts about whether Assad himself ordered the strike, U.S. intelligence officials say.

an intercept of Syrian military officials discussing the strike was among low-level staff, with no direct evidence tying the attack back to an Assad insider or even a senior Syrian commander, the officials said.

So while Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday that links between the attack and the Assad government are "undeniable," U.S. intelligence officials are not so certain that the suspected chemical attack was carried out on Assad's orders, or even completely sure it was carried out by government forces, the officials said.

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MYSTERY DINER PAYS FOR FAMILY’S MEAL AND LEAVES BEHIND AN INCREDIBLY TOUCHING NOTE

A family in China Grove, N.C., was in for a surprise when they dined at Stag n Doe Pizza House on Friday. A mystery customer who was eating at the same establishment paid for the England family’s dinner and left a note that is now going viral. It read, “God only gives special children to special people.”

In an interview with WBTV-TV, Ashley England explained that her 8-year-old son, Riley, has special needs. The mother noted that he got rowdy during the dinner, as he has apparently had trouble in public lately.
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Rush to War: Boehner, Pelosi, Cantor Back Obama On Syria

In an incredible display of bipartisan blindness, leaders of the Democratic and Republican parties have now declared their support for President Obama’s proposal for action against Syria. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) stated on Tuesday, “I'm going to support the president's call for action. I believe my colleagues should support this call for action.”

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s alleged use of chemical weapons “cannot be ignored.” She added, “Humanity drew the red line, not President Obama.” She stated, in a moment of almost unbearable irony, that the UN was acting far too slowly, and should not hold up action. She then invoked the foreign policy wisdom of her 5-year-old grandson to support the potential strike: “My five-year-old grandson, as I was leaving San Francisco yesterday, he said to me, Mimi, my name, Mimi, war with Syria, are you yes war with Syria, no, war with Syria. And he's five years old. We're not talking about war; we're talking about action. Yes war with Syria, no with war in Syria. I said, 'Well, what do you think?' He said, 'I think no war.' I said, 'Well, I generally agree with that but you know, they have killed hundreds of children, they've killed hundreds of children there. ' And he said, five years old, 'Were these children in the United States?' And I said, 'No, but they're children wherever they are.’”

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Despite ‘Fast & Furious’ Questions, Biden Praises New ATF Director

Vice President Joe Biden said the administration “couldn’t have picked a better man or woman for the job” as chief of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives than director B. Todd Jones.

Jones has served as the acting ATF director since August 2011 when the previous acting director Kenneth Melson resigned at the height of the scandal over Operation Fast and Furious. He was confirmed by the Senate despite questions about whether he was intimidating agency whistleblowers and taking other questionable actions regarding the investigation into the botched Justice Department sting program that allowed hundreds of guns to flow to Mexican drug trafficking organizations. The program was halted in December 2010 after two guns from the program were found at the murder scene of U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry.

Delivering remarks during Jones’ ceremonial swearing-in for Jones at the White House, Biden said the ATF needs to move beyond a string of acting directors to a permanent director to properly enforce the nation’s gun laws.

“We’re finally putting the ATF back in business,” Biden said. “They’ve been in my view over the last period of time been marginalized, or attempted to be marginalized by the process, but no longer.”

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Tenn. Teen Pleads Guilty To Killing Principal

A Memphis teen who police say studied close-combat battle tactics and sharpened his knife the night before he fatally stabbed his high school principal pleaded guilty to second-degree murder Tuesday.

Eduardo Marmolejo, 18, told Criminal Court Judge W. Mark Ward that he accepted a plea deal and a 35-year sentence without parole. He then apologized to the family of Suzette York, whom he stabbed multiple times and left for dead in a pool of blood in a classroom on Aug. 10, 2011.

"I apologize for my bad behavior," Marmolejo said. "I'm not the same man I used to be. I'm a better man."

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Sandy’s ‘Freaky’ Path May Be Less Likely in Future

Man-made global warming may further lessen the likelihood of the freak atmospheric steering currents that last year shoved Superstorm Sandy due west into New Jersey, a new study says.

But don’t celebrate a rare beneficial climate change prediction just yet. The study’s authors said the once-in-700-years path was only one factor in the massive $50 billion killer storm. They said other variables such as sea level rise and stronger storms will worsen with global warming and outweigh changes in steering currents predicted by the study’s computer models.

“Sandy was an extremely unusual storm in several respects and pretty freaky. And some of those things that make it more freaky may happen less in the future,” said Columbia University atmospheric scientist Adam Sobel, co-author of a new study on Sandy. But Sobel quickly added: “There’s nothing to get complacent about coming out of this research.”
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We're All Edward Snowden Now

In the last several days, I’ve had three phone conversations with friends — completely normal people who have their wits about them — during which they have declined to say something for fear of government surveillance. They will be talking normally and suddenly catch themselves and divert the conversation.

The topics we were discussing were mostly innocuous, and I can’t imagine that government interlopers would care, but the impulse to self-censor was triggered anyway.

Free becomes unfree. Fear replaces liberality. Open communication becomes censorship. The curtain is falling fast on free speech. It’s happening all around us, and it is getting worse every day.

The first time I had this happen was about one year ago, when I was talking to a soldier stationed at a military base. He spoke to me almost in code, fully certain that his conversations were being monitored simply because he was speaking from a government facility. The phone was his, but he had the sense, which he probably couldn’t prove, that the lines of communication were not safe.

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The Stage Is Set In Baltimore

The stage is set for NFL Kickoff 2013 in Baltimore this week.
Literally.

Early Monday morning the floating stage for Keith Urban’s concert arrived in town.

At the same time those concrete and chain link fence retaining walls were being cleared from the streets around the Inner Harbor after the Baltimore Grand Prix, tug boats guided the barge with the stage into the waters of the Inner Harbor.

Keith Urban will perform from the floating stage barge in the Inner Harbor adjacent to the Maryland Science Center.
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Brooke's Big Moment

Hi all,

Busy day here but wanted to quickly post some links to video from this past week. 

Tuesday Brooke was interviewed live for the Jimmy Fund Telethon (the clinic at Dana-Farber where Brooke receives her treatments) and they featured her story as well.

Here is the link to the story:
http://nesn.com/2013/08/eight-year-old-brooke-mulford-doesnt-let-diagnosis-hamper-her-positive-attit...
And the really fun one is Brooke throwing out the Ceremonial First Pitch for the Red Sox on Friday night. She did awesome and got a standing ovation from a sold out crowd! It was an unforgettable moment for both of us!

http://youtu.be/lnedNIOmqDg
Here is her getting Hi-5's from the players after the pitch:
http://youtu.be/MRhardfj7_I
Then we were interviewed live from our seats in the 4 inning:
http://youtu.be/C1tpNvEbkNA

Next week Brooke will be having scans at CHOP so please pray for stable or better! If her cancer has spread she will have to come off this trial and I will have to find another one for her.

Blessings,
Amy

THE BATTLING BOYS OF BENGHAZI

We're the battling boys of Benghazi  

No fame, no glory, no paparazzi. 

Just a fiery death in a blazing hell 

Defending our country we loved so well. 

It wasn't our job, but we answered the call, 

fought to the Consulate and scaled the wall. 

We pulled twenty Countrymen from the jaws of fate 

Led them to safety, and stood at the gate. 

Just the two of us, and foes by the score, 

But we stood fast to bar the door. 

Three calls for reinforcement, but all were denied, 

So we fought, and we fought, and we fought ‘til we died. 


We gave our all for our Uncle Sam, But Barack Obama didn't give a damn. 

Just two dead seals who carried the load 

No thanks to us..........we were just 
"Bumps In The Road".

Wicomico Welcomes 62 New Teachers For The 2013-14 School Year

Wicomico County Public Schools welcomes 62 new teachers to the school system for the 2013-14 school year. These teachers and related educators are listed by school below.

Beaver Run Elementary: Ashley Maher, kindergarten; Ashley Roe, special education; Katlyn Ulrich, grade 1

Charles H. Chipman Elementary: Gregory Arment, music; Jesica Dempster, special education; Melissa Johanning, guidance counselor

Delmar Elementary: Carly Thornton, grade 1

East Salisbury Elementary: Paige Baker, grade 4; Ron Bose, physical education; Matthew Curtis, grade 4; Christina Osterwalder, grade 3; Rachel Rubenstein, grade 4

Fruitland Primary: Jaclyn Johnson, special education; Erin O'Shea, grade 1

Fruitland Intermediate: Staci Carbone, physical education; Mary Davis Sartorio, grade 3

Glen Avenue Elementary: Donna Adams, speech pathologist

Northwestern Elementary: Amy Barnhouse, grade 3; Caitlin Borris, grade 5

Pemberton Elementary: Kristina Powell, grade 4

Pinehurst Elementary: Julie Duncan, grade 4

Prince Street Elementary: Casey Dunn, special education; Lindsay Manuel, grade 2

West Salisbury Elementary: H. Elaine Jones, grade 1; Diana Schultz, special education; Kimberly Young, grade 2

Wicomico Early Learning Center (WELC): Kendra Gaskins, prekindergarten

Pittsville Elementary and Middle: Frank Caputo, Reading/English/Language Arts; Sean Dalrymple, special education

Bennett Middle: Michael Perdue, science; Caitlin Rork, math; Laura Rosenblatt, math; Rachel Thompson, math

Salisbury Middle: Matthew Sroka, Reading/English/Language Arts; Amy Stein, special education; Katherine West, professional development reading coach

Wicomico Middle: Laura Allen, math; Keith Brotzman, math; Nathan Israel, physical education; Jenna Murfree, math; Kayla Shook, social studies

Mardela Middle and High: Julie Johnson, environmental science

James M. Bennett High: Don Berry, French; Genise Fleming, chemistry; Dustin Hitchens, math; Brent Lewis, special education; Nicole Tritsch, special education

Parkside High: Erica Amalfitano, physical education; Renee Badger, math; Jacob Bostaph, math; Jerry Kelley, CTE Horticulture; Jennifer Nock, math

Wicomico High: Adriana Bonsteel, Spanish; Christopher B. Bozman, physical education; Bryan Cox, chemistry; Shannon Monroe, physical education/health; Harry Suber, social studies; Megan Tull, English; Bryan White, athletic trainer

Choices: Sarah Bolek, social studies; Ashley Martin, English; Edward Shuty, social studies

The Image John Kerry WON'T Want You To See: U.S. Secretary Of State Pictured Dining With Assad And His Wife At Damascus Restaurant Before War Broke Out In Syria

Kerry's cosy dinner with Syria's 'Hitler': Secretary of State and the man he likened to German dictator are pictured dining with their wives at Damascus restaurant before civil war broke out
Kerry pictured around a small table with his wife and the Assads in 2009

Assad and Kerry lean in towards each other, deep in conversation
Picture taken in February 2009 when Kerry led a delegation to Syria
Kerry yesterday compared Assad to Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein

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Madison Institute's McClure: 'Obamacar' Lemon Should Head To The Junkyard

As problems keep emerging in the struggle to implement the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), long-time critics and former supporters alike face a different kind of struggle: finding words adequate to convey the scale of these problems.

“A train wreck,” was what Democratic Senator Max Baucus called it. Maybe a handier way to depict some of the problems is to imagine where we’d be if, instead of “Obamacare,” we were talking about the “Obamacar.”

This 2010 model rolled off the assembly line at Congressional Motors (CM) with scant attention to quality control. Already Congress has been forced to act nine different times to fix broken parts, including a provision that would have forced virtually everyone who pays anyone anything to file an IRS Form 1099, as if the IRS didn’t have enough to worry about these days.

The U.S. Supreme Court – by a decisive 7-2 margin – struck down another provision that would have forced states to expand Medicaid. If a “50 Worst Laws of All Time” list is ever compiled, the PPACA deserves at least an honorable mention.

Indeed, if an actual vehicle had posed as many risks to highway safety as the PPACA poses to the health of the U.S. economy, federal authorities would have ordered a massive recall.

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Labor Day Politics: Bongino Keeps Punching, Writes Book On Obama ‘Bubble’; Sarbanes ‘Sympathetic With President’ On Syria Move

Labor Day used to be considered the traditional start of the fall election campaign season, but even with the 2014 election a year off and the primary 10 months away, Labor Day weekend was still not too early for candidates to be politicking.

Dan Bongino, last year’s Republican U.S. Senate nominee, held a major fundraiser in Frederick County Friday night in what he concedes is “going to be a tough election” to unseat freshman Democratic Congressman John Delaney in the 6th District. But he made no mention of a book he wrote due out in November, which details why he chose to leave the Secret Service and run for office.

The setting was the clubhouse Whiskey Creek Country Club in rural Ijamsville, but Bongino had a different sport on his mind.
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Best Obamacare Commercial Ever

The DEA Pays AT&T For Real-Time Access To 26 Years Of Phone Records

The Drug Enforcement Agency can comb through roughly 26 years of phone records in their pursuit of big-time drug dealers through a newly revealed partnership with AT&T to provide the law enforcement agency with real time access to an unprecedented amount of user information.
According to reports from The New York Times and ABC News, the DEA has been paying AT&T since 2007 to work directly with the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program to offer access to every call that goes through the communications company's switchboard.

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"Dogs Welcome"

A man wrote a letter to a small hotel in a Midwest town he planned to visit on his vacation. 

He wrote: I would very much like to bring my dog with me. He is well-groomed and very well behaved. Would you be willing to permit me to keep him in my room with me at night?"

An immediate reply came from the hotel owner, who wrote:

SIR: "I've been operating this hotel for many years. In all that time, I've never had a dog steal towels, bedclothes, silverware or pictures off the walls.

I've never had to evict a dog in the middle of the night for being drunk and disorderly. I've never had a dog run out on a hotel bill.
Yes, indeed, your dog is welcome at my hotel. 

And, if your dog will vouch for you, you're welcome to stay here, too."

Free Syrian Army Enslaves Child Soldiers

Ron Paul Asks "Will Congress Endorse Obama's War Plans? And, Does It Matter?"

President Obama announced this weekend that he has decided to use military force against Syria and would seek authorization from Congress when it returned from its August break. Every Member ought to vote against this reckless and immoral use of the US military. But even if every single Member and Senator votes for another war, it will not make this terrible idea any better because some sort of nod is given to the Constitution along the way. Besides, the president made it clear that Congressional authorization is superfluous, asserting falsely that he has the authority to act on his own with or without Congress. That Congress allows itself to be treated as window dressing by the imperial president is just astonishing.

The President on Saturday claimed that the alleged chemical attack in Syria on August 21 presented "a serious danger to our national security." I disagree with the idea that every conflict, every dictator, and every insurgency everywhere in the world is somehow critical to our national security. That is the thinking of an empire, not a republic. It is the kind of thinking that this president shares with his predecessor and it is bankrupting us and destroying our liberties here at home.

According to recent media reports, the military does not have enough money to attack Syria and would have to go to Congress for a supplemental appropriation to carry out the strikes. It seems our empire is at the end of its financial rope. The limited strikes that the president has called for in Syria would cost the US in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey wrote to Congress last month that just the training of Syrian rebels and "limited" missile and air strikes would cost "in the billions" of dollars. We should clearly understand what another war will do to the US economy, not to mention the effects of additional unknown costs such as a spike in fuel costs as oil skyrockets.

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Chicken Manure Lawsuit A Teachable Moment For UMd Law School

The sad saga of the Hudson Family farm continues.

You remember the Hudsons, who raise Cornish hens for Perdue and also a herd of beef cattle on 300 acres near Berlin on Maryland’s Lower Eastern Shore.

Alan and Kristin Hudson got sued by the New York-based Waterkeeper Alliance, which hoped to win a landmark case holding Perdue liable for water pollution in drainage ditches caused by chicken manure from a subcontractor like the Hudsons.

The plaintiffs, represented in part by the University of Maryland’s Environmental Law Clinic, embarrassed themselves. It was such a botched job that it makes an ideal case study (perhaps at the rival University of Baltimore Law School).
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Caption This Photo 9-3-13

Who Benefits From A War Between The United States And Syria?

Someone wants to get the United States into a war with Syria very, very badly. Cui bono is an old Latin phrase that is still commonly used, and it roughly means "to whose benefit?" The key to figuring out who is really behind the push for war is to look at who will benefit from that war. If a full-blown war erupts between the United States and Syria, it will not be good for the United States, it will not be good for Israel, it will not be good for Syria, it will not be good for Iran and it will not be good for Hezbollah. The party that stands to benefit the most is Saudi Arabia, and they won't even be doing any of the fighting.

They have been pouring billions of dollars into the conflict in Syria, but so far they have not been successful in their attempts to overthrow the Assad regime. Now the Saudis are trying to play their trump card - the U.S. military. If the Saudis are successful, they will get to pit the two greatest long-term strategic enemies of Sunni Islam against each other - the U.S. and Israel on one side and Shia Islam on the other. In such a scenario, the more damage that both sides do to each other the happier the Sunnis will be.

There would be other winners from a U.S. war with Syria as well. For example, it is well-known [14]  Gulf, through Syria and into Europe. That is why Qatar has also been pouring billions of dollars [15] into the civil war in Syria.

So if it is really Saudi Arabia and Qatar that want to overthrow the Assad regime, why does the United States have to do the fighting?

Someone should ask Barack Obama why it is necessary for the U.S. military to do the dirty work of his Sunni Muslim friends.

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DHS Knew About Racist Employee's Activities Since 2010

Irritated Genie released a new audio clip Tuesday in which he claims that his supervisors were aware of his outside activities since December 2010. According to Genie, whose real name is Ayo Kimathi, his employers found out about his beliefs when his real name was outed on a podcast. Kimathi was encouraged to stick it out by someone who said the government wouldn't act. It seems this person was right as no action was taken against Kimathi until recently when someone he works with went to the media with the story.

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If It Fits, I Sits

Who Am I?

ACAPELLA AMISH CHOIR Who Am I? Beautiful!!!! Since most conservative Mennonite and Amish churches sing only acapella hymns in their churches, it is not surprising to find that there are numerous Mennonite and Amish acapella choirs, quartets, and family singing groups. Most of these groups sing in simple four-part harmony. Altar of Praise Chorale is a mixed acapella group, comprised of some of the best male and female singers in the conservative Anabaptist world. Members of the group come from various Anabaptist backgrounds: Beachy Amish, Mennonite, and Charity Christian Fellowship.

Cops Nab Robbery Suspect After He Trips On His Own Sagging Jeans

BROOKLYN - An alleged cellphone bandit was apprehended after being tripped up by his sagging jeans. 21-year-old Joel Donaldson allegedly punched a female in the face, snatched her cell phone and then made a break for it. It was during his getaway that Donaldson's jeans began slipping off exposing more and more of his boxer shorts. A nearby traffic cop spotted the man wrestling with his denim trousers and took chase.

The suspect's pants eventually gave up on him and fell to his ankles, allowing the cop to tackle him. A witness gave a first hand account: "He was zigzagging all over the place, but he couldn't run because his pants were falling down."

Donaldson was arrested just two blocks from Brooklyn Criminal Court. He was charged with robbery.

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The Melting Pot

The map that shows where America came from: Fascinating illustration shows the ancestry of EVERY county in the US
Census data shows heritage of 317 million modern Americans
Clusters show where immigrants from different nations chose to settle

Largest ancestry grouping in the nation are of German descent with almost 50 million people

African American or Black is the second largest grouping with just over 40 million people

Almost 20 million people claim to have 'American' ancestry for political reasons and because they are unsure of their family's genealogy

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Accuser Testifies At Naval Academy Sex Assault Hearing

WASHINGTON – A midshipman testified Wednesday that she didn't remember being sexually assaulted by three former Navy football players after a night of heavy drinking, but she said one of the men told her she had sex with him and another accused player.

The woman, who is now a senior at the U.S. Naval Academy, testified for more than two hours at the Washington Navy Yard at a hearing to determine whether the three midshipmen will face court-martial. She described a night of drinking in her room at the academy with a friend before going to the toga-themed party in April 2012 at an off-campus house in Annapolis, Md.

At the crowded party, which took place in what was known as "the football house" because of its association to the team, the woman said she felt "overwhelmed" and "dizzy" from drinking too much.

"I felt like I was going to pass out," she said, noting that she leaned against structural beams in the basement to keep from falling over.

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ONE CAN ONLY IMAGINE HOW AWKWARD THIS MEETING BETWEEN THE NAACP AND A KKK ORGANIZER REALLY WAS

Simmons was apparently concerned about several reports of black men getting beat up in Gillette, Wyo., as KKK literature began showing up around town. He first considered rallying against the KKK, but ultimately decided to try a different approach.

As Mediaite’s Josh Feldman points out, the meeting predictably awkward and tense at times:

As you would expect, there was a lot of tension in the room, because even though Abarr touted his credentials as a member of the ACLU and the Southern Poverty Law Center, he admitted he believes the northwest United States should secede and, while it would be unfair to kick out any black people currently living there, no more should be let in.

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Five Star Resort Weekend For Federal Judge

With officials from the Judicial Branch demanding that Congress end across the board budget cuts from the sequester, federal judges from the Tenth Circuit start to gather today for a judicial conference at a "five star" Colorado resort that features three golf courses and a "scenic mountain backdrop."

The Tenth Circuit gathering at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs was postponed from a year ago because of budget concerns, but court officials argue canceling the gathering entirely would have actually cost taxpayers money.

"We again considered canceling the conference when the sequester occurred, but the hotel cancellation fees made it more cost-effective to proceed," said Tenth Circuit Executive David Tighe in an email.

Asked about costs, Tighe provided a basic rundown, saying that 99 federal judges attended the last Tenth Circuit gathering, which was also at the Broadmoor.

"The primary cost of judicial conferences is judges' travel and lodging, and in 2010, that totaled approximately $191,000," Tighe said. The Tenth Circuit covers federal judges in Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming.

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This Video Goes Into More Detail,, Also WHY The Vaccines

‘He Did His Job’: Texas Teen Protects Grandma’s Home, Shoots Suspected Burglar

A Texas teen is being praised by neighbors for protecting his grandmother’s home from a burglary attempt early Wednesday morning after he shot and killed one of two suspects.

The break-in occurred in Baytown just after 5:30 a.m. when the 18-year-old told police he heard someone coming into the home. He called 911, grabbed a shotgun and found the two men in the living room, according to KHOU-TV.

When the two suspects did not put their hands up as the teen ordered, he shot at both. KHOU reported that one of the suspects, later identified as 40-year-old Charles Allen Dixon, died on site, while the other was wounded and ran away.

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Labor Day Traffic Was No Fun At All

Hey Joe,

Just got back from Kent Island where I could see westbound traffic on Bay Bridge was down to a crawl. 301 & westbound 50 were either at a crawl or stopped. I took a picture before turning on to Rt. 404 where I could see westbound 50 backup towards Easton. The second picture is westbound 404 about a mile west of Queen Anne. This was around 5:15 pm.

SFD Calls For Service 9-2-13

• Monday September, 2 2013 @ 22:09:43 Nature: Difficulty Breathing City: Salisbury
• Monday September, 2 2013 @ 20:50:04 Nature: Subject Fallen City: Salisbury
• Monday September, 2 2013 @ 17:25:57 Nature: Pi Accident City: Salisbury
• Monday September, 2 2013 @ 16:26:35 Nature: Sick Subject City: Salisbury
• Monday September, 2 2013 @ 14:36:56 Nature: Difficulty Breathing City: Salisbury
• Monday September, 2 2013 @ 14:25:34 Nature: Subject Fallen City: Salisbury
• Monday September, 2 2013 @ 10:27:34 Nature: Non Breathing City: Salisbury
• Monday September, 2 2013 @ 08:35:07 Nature: Assault Ems City: Salisbury
• Monday September, 2 2013 @ 07:47:05 Nature: Assault Ems City: Salisbury
• Monday September, 2 2013 @ 07:29:03 Nature: Pi Accident Address: 401 Churchill Ave Salisbury, MD 21801
• Monday September, 2 2013 @ 07:28:56 Nature: Pi Accident City: Salisbury
• Monday September, 2 2013 @ 05:47:44 Nature: Automatic Alarm Address: 3050 Merritt Mill Rd Salisbury, MD 21801
• Monday September, 2 2013 @ 04:29:53 Nature: Sick Subject City: Salisbury
• Monday September, 2 2013 @ 03:04:58 Nature: Medical Assist Address: 143 Onley Rd Salisbury, MD 21801
• Monday September, 2 2013 @ 02:54:34 Nature: Injury City: Salisbury
• Monday September, 2 2013 @ 02:51:21 Nature: Overdose City: Salisbury
• Monday September, 2 2013 @ 01:35:04 Nature: Structure Fire Address: 1024 Fairground Dr Salisbury, MD 21801
• Monday September, 2 2013 @ 01:35:02 Nature: Sick Subject City: Salisbury
• Monday September, 2 2013 @ 01:35:00 Nature: Structure Fire Address: 1024 Fairground Dr Salisbury, MD 21801
• Monday September, 2 2013 @ 01:03:52 Nature: Chest Pain City: Salisbury

Boy, 1, Shot To Death In Stroller On NYC Street

A 1-year-old boy being pushed in a stroller by his parents was shot in the face while crossing a city street and later died. No arrests have been made.

Antiq Hennis and his parents were walking across a street in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn at about 7:20 p.m. Sunday when shots were fired and the boy was struck, police said.

"I heard three to four shots. ... I saw a man with a stroller screaming: 'My baby got shot! My baby got shot,' " witness Gina Gamboa, 23, told the New York Post (bit.ly/1fsZnns).

"He was going crazy."

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The Fed Owns 31.89% Of The Bond Market: Up 0.3% In One Week

We have beaten this topic to death [5]so we won't say much more, suffice to say the chart below shows what is the key issue: too much monetization and it's game over for the reserve currency; too little and it's an uncontrolled market sell off, and with every passing week the margin for error gets less and less.
Last week the Fed owned $1.663 trillion in ten year equivalents, or 31.59% of total
This week the Fed owned $1.678 trillion in ten year equivalents, or 31.89% of total

In other words, the Fed's holdings of the Treasury market, expressed though the correct 10 Year equivalent basis not the completely wrong total notional, rose by a whopping 0.3% in one week!

Annualize that (especially without a taper) to understand just how cornered the Fed now is (especially with the TBAC already complaining non-stop about lack of Treasury liquidity and eligible private-sector collateral).

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