Utah Polygamy Ruling Criticized

Some social conservatives are blasting Utah's ruling striking down part of that state's law banning polygamy.

The suit was brought by the stars of the television reality series "Sister Wives," and a federal judge's ruling Friday throws out the law's section prohibiting "cohabitation," saying it violates constitutional guarantees of due process and religious freedom.

Former Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum - who a decade ago came under fire for comments indicating polygamy would become legal if courts banned anti-sodomy laws - responded to the ruling over the weekend.
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Mega Millions Jackpot Jumps, Could Reach $1 Billion

The Mega Millions jackpot is juicy, but thanks to new, longer odds, it's entirely possible the payout could reach $1 billion by Christmas.

Nope, that wasn't a typo -- "b" as in "boy."

When no winner was selected in Friday's drawing, the jackpot rolled over to $550 million, and it jumped again Monday to $586 million, with a cash payout of $316.5 million, said Tandi Reddick, a spokeswoman for the Georgia Lottery.

The total could easily increase again before Tuesday night's drawing.
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U.S. Pledges $156 Million Over Two Years To Help Southeast Asian Countries

In the pivot to Asia, the United States is putting its money where its mouth is. Secretary of State John Kerry says the U.S. will provide $32.5 million in new aid to help Southeast Asian countries protect their territorial waters. Vietnam will receive nearly half of the additional aid. That includes five fast patrol boats for its coast guard. The aid comes as China is asserting its authority over the South China Sea, alarming other nations in the area. In all, the U.S. has pledged $156 million over two years to bolster security in the area.

Fossils May Help Revive Bay Oyster Population

BALTIMORE - Tons of fossils from Florida may hold a key to reviving the local oyster population in the Chesapeake Bay.

"I'm holding fossiilized oyster shells - these are about a million years old," says David O'Neill, vice president for conservation with The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, which orchestrated a parternship wtih CSX to transport the shells from a Florida quarry to Maryland.

Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley displayed 2,750 tons of fossilized oyster shells in a barge, at a ceremony at the Port of Baltimore.
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Magnum - Lost Dog: UPDATE

I live on Wainwright Ave and him and his sister were both let out around midnight last night to go potty. They never came back. His sister, Heidi (a 9 month old lab) was found hit by a car on Old Ocean City Rd headed north just past Walston Switch Rd at around 8 am this morning. I had to have her put her down because she had a broken back. I have 3 small children who got Magnum as a Christmas present from me last week and are already very distraught from the loss of Heidi, so hopefully someone know where he is!! He is on medication that he desperately needs!! He is a very easy going dog and has on a red collar. We were going to take him today to get his tag for his collar. He is UTD on all shots and was neutered on 12/4/13. My email address is concal0205@hotmail.com and my cell phone number is 443-783-9729.

Dog Helps Save Owner Who Was Hit By Car

A dog helped save her owner who was badly injured in a car crash just days before Thanksgiving.

John Miles was walking his dog Lucy on Neponset Street in Dorchester, as he does every day, when both of them were hit by a car.

John blacked out and doesn’t remember what happened. Lucy, a husky-beagle mix, who was also injured, limped to a nearby dentist’s office and barked until help arrived. She limped back and stayed by John’s side until emergency crews arrived.
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What Will It Take?

Americans still seem willing to give a pass to the disaster in the White House.

Let me begin with a categorical statement that, given current events and recent political history, can be easily defended: Barack Hussein Obama is a willful, indoctrinated child of the Left with strong Islamic sympathies who is not fit to govern. Indeed, he would not be fit to govern Lower Slobovia, let alone the United States of America. Obama is a historic disaster of the first magnitude and, if not restrained, he will see to the irrevocable decline of the country which foolishly elected him, leaving the world on the brink of a conflict — or in the midst of one — whose repercussions cannot be underestimated.

Accompanying the undeniable havoc and damage that Obama is wreaking on his country and equally on its allies — Honduras, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Poland, Czech Republic, Israel, and possibly Taiwan — is the sense of helplessness that overcomes one when writing or speaking about a rogue president and his destructive administration. I feel this personally, having done my utmost in books, articles and lectures, from 2008 to the present, to warn whomever might read or listen that Obama represented a greater threat to the U.S. and the oddly named “free world” than any of our most dedicated and belligerent enemies. Even prior to his nomination as the Democratic candidate for the presidency, my distrust of this man was proprioceptive. And after his Missouri address, I wondered why anyone would want to “fundamentally transform” a country which, for all its flaws, perched atop the pinnacle of success in comparison to any other country.

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FDA RAISES SAFETY CONCERNS ON ANTIBACTERIAL SOAPS

The Food and Drug Administration says there is no evidence that antibacterial chemicals used in liquid soaps and washes help prevent the spread of germs, and there is some evidence they may pose health risks.

The agency said it is revisiting the safety of chemicals like triclosan in light of recent studies suggesting they can interfere with hormone levels and spur the growth of drug-resistant bacteria.

The government's preliminary ruling lends new credence to longstanding warnings from researchers who say the chemicals are, at best, ineffective and at worst, a threat to public health.
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Million American Jobs Project

Price Tag Placement Can Change The Product Name...12-16-13

 

Dent, Faber, Celente, Maloney, Rogers – What Do They Say Is Coming In 2014?

Some of the most respected prognosticators in the financial world are warning that what is coming in 2014 and beyond is going to shake America to the core. Many of the quotes that you are about to read are from individuals that actually predicted the subprime mortgage meltdown and the financial crisis of 2008 ahead of time. So they have a track record of being right. Does that guarantee that they will be right about what is coming in 2014? Of course not. In fact, as you will see below, not all of them agree about exactly what is coming next. But without a doubt, all of their forecasts are quite ominous. The following are quotes from Harry Dent, Marc Faber, Gerald Celente, Mike Maloney, Jim Rogers and nine other respected economic experts about what they believe is coming in 2014 and beyond…

-Harry Dent, author of The Great Depression Ahead: “Our best long-term and intermediate cycles suggest another slowdown and stock crash accelerating between very early 2014 and early 2015, and possibly lasting well into 2015 or even 2016. The worst economic trends due to demographics will hit between 2014 and 2019. The U.S. economy is likely to suffer a minor or major crash by early 2015 and another between late 2017 and late 2019 or early 2020 at the latest.”

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WCSO Press Release 12-16-13

Press Releases 12/16/2013

Incident: Assault 

Date of Incident: 13 Dec 2013 

Location: 23000 block of Mezick Road, Tyaskin, MD

Suspect: William Ashby Jenkins, 51, Tyaskin, MD

Narrative: On 13 December 2013 at 3:06 PM, a deputy responded to a reported disturbance in the 23000 block of Mezick Road in Tyaskin involving a subject brandishing a shotgun. Upon arrival, the deputy met with an individual who had been engaged in repossessing a vehicle at this location when the vehicle owner exited the residence carrying the shotgun and proceeded to order the subject to get away from his vehicle. During the altercation, Jenkins allegedly pointed the shotgun at the individual attempting to repossess the vehicle while threatening to kill him. The victim reportedly retreated but was followed by Jenkins who continued to point the shotgun at him.  The deputy placed Jenkins under arrest and transported him to the Central Booking Unit where he was processed and taken in front of the District Court Commissioner. After an initial appearance, the Commissioner detained Jenkins in the Detention Center in lieu of $50,000.00 bond.

Charges: Assault 1st Degree, Assault 2nd Degree and Reckless Endangerment

Jenkins, William

Incident: Drug Possession

Date of Incident: 15 Dec 2013

Location: 900 block of Snow Hill Road, Salisbury, MD

Suspect: James Patrick Hutson, Jr., 18, Salisbury, MD

Narrative: On 15 December 2013 at 12:38 AM a deputy exited his vehicle in the parking lot of the Royal Farms store and quickly detected the odor of marijuana emanating from with the vehicle parked next to him. The deputy engaged the operator, James Hutson, in conversation and developed even more information to support that the deputy would locate marijuana inside Hutson’s vehicle. A subsequent search revealed 13 individually wrapped baggies of what the deputy identified as marijuana.  The deputy placed Hutson under arrest and transported him to the Central Booking Unit where he was processed and taken in front of the District Court Commissioner. After an initial appearance, the Commissioner detained Hutson in the Detention Center in lieu of $75,000.00 bond.

Charges: Possession of Marijuana with the Intent to Distribute and Possession of Marijuana

Hutson, James

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Releasing Authority: Lt. Tim Robinson        Date:  16 December 2013

THE DIGITAL STORY OF THE NATIVITY

SUDDEN THREAT ENDANGERS HILLARY'S 2016 RUN

NEW YORK – A threat to Hillary Clinton’s much anticipated 2016 presidential campaign appears to be developing in Egypt where that nation’s government is taking steps to criminalize the Muslim Brotherhood.

Specifically, a new criminal complaint has been filed with Egypt’s attorney general, Hisham Barakat, alleging then-U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton collaborated with Naglaa Mahmoud, the wife of ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, in seeking to incite domestic insurrections to topple Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the Egyptian general who has been commander in chief of the Egyptian armed forces, as well as minister of defense, since Aug. 12, 2012.

Researcher Walid Shoebat, a native Arabic-speaker and a former Palestinian Liberation Organization operative, has reported on his blog that credible news sources in Egypt have reported in Arabic that criminal charges have been brought against Hillary Clinton and Morsi’s wife.
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"Sal Monella" Tells The Story Of Twas The Night Before Christmas

TOM LAUGHLIN OF 'BILLY JACK' FAME DEAD AT AGE 82

Tom Laughlin, whose production, marketing and making of "Billy Jack" set a standard for breaking the rules on and off screen, has died.

Laughlin's daughter told The Associated Press that he died Thursday at Los Robles Hospital and Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, Calif. Laughlin was 82 and Teresa Laughlin says the cause of death was complications from pneumonia.

"Billy Jack" was released in 1971 after a long struggle by Laughlin to gain control of the film.

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BREAKING NEWS: Judge Deals NSA Defeat On Bulk Phone Collection

A federal judge says the National Security Agency's bulk collection of phone records violates the Constitution's ban on unreasonable searches. The judge put his decision on hold pending a nearly certain government appeal.

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What Type Of Tree Would You Buy?

Burglar Calls 911 For Help After Homeowner Shoots Him

A burglar called 911 last week after being shot and wounded by the owner of a Toledo, Ohio, home he was trying to rob.

Randy Estrada, 21, shattered the front window in an attempt to break into the home of Antione Garretof, 34, and his girlfriend at about 5 a.m. on Dec. 5. The noise awakened Garretof, who grabbed a handgun and ran downstairs, where he saw the would-be burglar crawling through the window, according toToledo News Now.

Saying the incident was “like a scene from a movie,” the homeowner fired several shots at Estrada, who immediately retreated through the window.

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Worcester County Sheriff’s Office Press Release

On December 14, 2013 at approximately 2247 hours, Worcester County Sheriff’s Office Deputies responded to a residence on George Island Landing Rd, Stockton, Maryland, for a burglary in progress.

Upon arrival a Deputy made contact with the complainant who advised their door had been kicked in by a white male, The suspect was identified as Eric Todd Apgar of Stockton, Maryland, and he had left the scene on foot. The Deputy was able to direct other responding Deputies in the direction Mr. Apgar was walking where Deputies located Mr. Apgar. Mr. Apgar allegedly attempted unsuccessfully to enter the residence at the back door. He then proceeded to the front door where he was able to kick in the door, destroying it.

Mr. Apgar was placed under arrest for 4th degree burglary and malicious destruction of property. Mr. Apgar was taken before the District court Commissioner where he was released on his own recognizance.

Indiana Groom Dies In Road Accident Hours After Wedding

A bride is in mourning.

Hours after the wedding, groom William Riley Knight, 49, of Crown Point, Indiana, was run over and killed.

His new wife was not injured.

They had just left their reception, according to Patti Van Til, a spokeswoman with the Lake County, Indiana, Sheriff's Department.

"She was still in her wedding dress," she said.
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How The West Was Lost By The Selfie President

My bookshelves sag with encyclopedic volumes arguing that America and the West are in decline. But proving that a picture is worth a thousand books, the “selfie” seen ’round the world ends the argument.

It’s official — the government of the United States of Obama consists of boobs and bores and is led by a narcissist. It is no consolation that Great Britain joins us in racing to the bottom.

President Obama’s flirting with Denmark’s prime minister would be shameful on any occasion. That it happened at the memorial for Nelson Mandela only adds to the embarrassment.

But the “selfie” episode also symbolizes the greater global calamity of Western decline. With British prime minister David Cameron playing the role of Obama’s giggling wingman, the “look at me” moment confirms we have unserious leaders in a dangerously serious time.

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Swift Justice! Dumb Thief Tries To Rob A Retired Cage Fighter

Illegal Alien Charged With Raping Young Child In North Carolina

On Friday, police in Raleigh arrested Leonardo Miranda Garcia, 25, after he reportedly raped a girl under the age of 13.

WRAL reported:

The arrest warrant indicates the alleged crimes happened Friday, but it did not say how he knew the child.

Garcia has been charged with first-degree rape and and indecent liberties with a child. He is currently being held at the Wake County Detention Center on an immigration detainer.

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FORMER SECRET SERVICE AGENT DAN BONGINO SERVES GOP ESTABLISHMENT 'DIVORCE PAPERS'

Former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino, who isrunning for Congress as a Republican in Maryland's Sixth Congressional District, wants a divorce from the Republican establishment.

"Consider yourself served," he wrote on his Facebook page on Wednesday after those in the GOP establishment, like House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), slammed conservatives for opposing the budget deal that would raise spending beyond the sequester levels.

In "An open letter to the establishment GOP," Bongino wrote, "I am serving you with divorce papers. For those who are unaware of what happened, the establishment wing of the Party has openly declared war on the grassroots."

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WELFARE ABUSE: 32 Years Old Austin, TX Welfare Recipient Says..

Worth Repeating

Sebelius Drops New Bombshell: Employer Plans Will Also Drop Workers From Coverage

I don’t care if you’ve been under a rock or had your head in the sand for the past few weeks, you have still most likely heard about the millions of people who have lost their health insurance recently. This was not due to some type of ‘glitch’ in this system, this IS the system. This is exactly as Obama has designed ObamaCare to function.

Yes, we all know Obama promised everyone that they could keep their plans. He promised us that if we liked our healthcare plans no one would take them away. He even emphasized this by looking right into the camera and appearing to push back a single little tear from cheek and said “period.” In my mind this meant that there would need to be no more explaining and no more equivocating, nothing.

This Wednesday, the HHS ObamaCare Queen herself, Kathleen Sebelius was to be found on Capitol Hill. This time her royal duty was to protect Obama’s hide once again as she testified in front of the Senate Finance Committee. As expected, she was grilled about Obama and his broken promises. Specifically about how people were losing their health plans left and right. Presumably, many of them would have liked to remain insured given the fact that before ObamaCare passed something like 90 percent of insured Americans were happy with their plans.

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White House Front Group Vows To Target Alternative Media

Media Matters set to intensify attacks against Drudge, Infowars in concert with Obama advisors

White House front group Media Matters has vowed to target “alternative online outlets” as part of its new “strategic plan” to exert media influence in coordination with the Obama administration.

Claiming that its war with Fox News is over and that “to a large extent, we won” (despite polls showing Americans trust Fox News over any other mainstream network), Media Matters has finalized a blueprint which outlines a shift to focus on “new, increasingly influential targets, including Spanish-language media, social media streams, alternative online outlets and morning and entertainment sources.”

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It’s Not Just Patients; Thousands Of Doctors Now Being Dropped From Obamacare Coverage Networks

Don’t look now, America, but another very predictable consequence of Obamacare is beginning to play out.

Not only are customers losing their insurance plans – the plans Obama said they could keep – but now, insurance companies are dropping physicians from coverage plans as well.

As reported by The Wall Street Journal:

UnitedHealth Group, Inc., the nation’s largest provider of privately managed Medicare Advantage plans, has dropped thousands of doctors from its networks in recent weeks – spurring protest from lawmakers and physician groups and leaving many elderly patients unsure about whether they need to switch plans to keep seeing their doctors.

Obamacare regulations ‘driving our actions’

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Man Shot Dead At Short Hills Mall

NEW YORK (MYFOXNY) -A man leaving the Mall at Short Hills in northern New Jersey with his wife was shot in the head in the parking lot on Sunday night, said officials.

Two men confronted the couple returning to their vehicle on the second floor of a parking deck at about 9 p.m.

The man opened the door for his wife and as he went to the driver's side was approached by the men and shot before he entered the vehicle, said Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn A. Murray.

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Delaware State Police K9 Graduation Announcement

When: Wednesday December 18, 2013 at 6:00 p.m.

Location:  Delaware State Police Training Academy, 1453 North DuPont Highway Dover, Delaware

Resume: Dover, DE- The Delaware State Police would like to announce the graduation of several newly trained K9 handlers and their partners.

The ceremony will celebrate and recognize the successful completion of 12 weeks of various training methods including; obedience, confidence course, tracking, building searches, areas searches, suspect apprehension, and officer protection.

The following is a list of the graduate troopers and their K9 partners:

2013 Fall Patrol Class:
Cpl/2 Robert J. Kunicki K9 “Max” Troop 6
Tfc Robert B. Costlow K9 “Roni” Troop 3
Tfc Matthew S. Rosner K9 “Marshall" Troop 3
Tfc Christopher T. Middendorf K9 “Oki” Troop 7

2013 Fall Narcotics Class:
Cpl/3 Eric T. Huston K9 "Micky" Troop 2 GTF
Cpl/2 James A. Wharton K9 "Kane" Troop 5
Cpl William J. Brennan K9 "Dirk" Troop 5
Cpl Christopher W. Donaldson K9 "Ripper" Troop 3
Cpl William J. Haggerty K9 "Hero" Troop 9
Tfc Nicholas S. Ronzo K9 "Luka" Troop 2
Pfc Tyrone J. Woodyard K9 "Blue" Lewes PD

The ceremonies will begin at 6:00 p.m. in the multi-purpose room of the Delaware State Police Training Academy in Dover, Delaware. A K9 demonstration will take place immediately following the graduation.

Mark Spitznagel Slams The Fed For Creating The Rich-Poor "Chasm"

A major issue is the growing disparity between rich and poor, the 1% versus the 99%. While the president’s solutions differ from Republicans, they both ignore a principal source of this growing disparity.

The source is not runaway entrepreneurial capitalism, which rewards those who best serve the consumer in product and price. (Would we really want it any other way?) There is another force that has turned a natural divide into a chasm… dun, dun, dun… the Federal Reserve. The relentless expansion of credit by the Fed creates artificial disparities based on political privilege and economic power.

David Hume, the 18th-century Scottish philosopher, pointed out that when money is inserted into the economy (from a government printing press or, as in Hume’s time, the importation of gold and silver), it is not distributed evenly but “confined to the coffers of a few persons, who immediately seek to employ it to advantage.”

In the 20th century, the economists of the Austrian school built upon this fact as their central monetary tenet. Ludwig von Mises and his students showed that an increase in money supply is beneficial to those who get it first and is detrimental to those who get it last. Monetary inflation is a process, not a static effect. To think of it only in terms of aggregate price levels (I’m looking at you Ben Bernanke) is to ignore this pernicious process and the imbalance and economic dislocation that it creates.

As Mises protégé Murray Rothbard explained, monetary inflation is akin to counterfeiting, which necessitates that some benefit and others don’t. After all, if everyone counterfeited in proportion to their wealth, there would be no real economic benefit to anyone. Similarly, the expansion of credit is uneven in the economy, which results in wealth redistribution. To borrow a visual from another Mises student, Friedrich von Hayek, the Fed’s money creation does not flow evenly like water into a tank, but rather oozes like honey into a saucer, dolloping one area first and only then very slowly dribbling to the rest.

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Chicago Vs. Houston (In 4 Charts)

Perhaps not so United States?

...how can 2 of the nation's favorite cities be so painfully different?

Source

Man Claims Harassment From Telemarketers After Signing Up For Obamacare

Is healthcare.gov selling your information?

A man claims he was bombarded with telemarketing calls immediately after signing up at healthcare.gov, prompting accusations that Obamacare enrollees are having their private information sold to companies or that the website has been compromised by hackers.

“My phone is virtually silent most of the time. I do not play any face book games or do any online surveys,” the man wrote. “The only thing I did in the past 3 days on the internet between then and now, is sign up for Obamacare.”

The man claims he received the following list of calls the day after signing up for Obamacare;

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Harvard University Evacuates Buildings Over Reports Of Explosives

Harvard University has evacuated four buildings on campus over unconfirmed reports of explosives.

An alert posted on the university’s website shortly after 9 a.m. local time Monday read “Unconfirmed reports of explosives at four sites on campus: Science Center, Thayer, Sever, and Emerson. Please evacuate those buildings now.”

There were no reports of explosions, Harvard's Twitter account posted.

Harvard University and Cambridge police officers are investigating the scene, the university said. The campus is in Cambridge, Mass.

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Iraq Is Still Bleeding 10 Years After Saddam Hussein's Capture

Friday's anniversary of the dictator's arrest sees the country struggling with a resurgent al-Qaeda and a death rate double that of a decade ago

Ten years after the capture of Saddam Hussein, Iraq is at risk of becoming a failed state again as al-Qaeda reclaims vast swathes of the country.

Friday’s anniversary of the Iraqi dictator’s arrest sees the country still struggling with his legacy, with al-Qaeda launching a fresh campaign of terrorist atrocities from new territory carved out in western and northern Iraq.

Backed by jihadists fighting the civil war in neighbouring Syria, the group is trying to create an “emirate” straddling the two countries, taking advantage of the collapse in security across the border.

Bridges linking four key border towns on the Iraqi side have been dynamited, making it difficult for security forces to operate in the area.

Road signs have even been put up proclaiming it to be the turf of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, the name for the joint Syrian-Iraqi al-Qaeda franchise.

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Lawmakers Who Oversee Government Surveillance Programs Receive Millions From Intelligence Companies

Every member who sits on the committees that oversee government intelligence operations has received campaign contributions from the top twenty largest intelligence companies in the United States, according to a new report.

Amid the NSA scandal, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence — the committees in charge of oversight — denied stricter reform attempts to the NSA programs and instead propelled legislation aimed at restoring their trust. The committees are intended to keep waste, fraud, and abuse in check given most of these programs are hidden from the general public.

Every single member on the committees received campaign contributions from the largest intelligence companies in the U.S. performing services for the the government.

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NY Doctor Stands Up To Politicians Over ObamaCare

WASHINGTON — A feisty Upper East Side ophthalmologist didn’t take any guff from lawmakers Thursday when she gave congressional testimony about the ill effects of ObamaCare.

Dr. Patricia McLaughlin, whose ObamaCare woes were first highlighted in The Post, gave a House committee a simple prescription for the defective health care law: “Fix it!”

But Democratic lawmakers pounced on her for relating how she got hit with an ObamaCare “double whammy.”

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70% Of ObamaCare Enrollees Are In Medicaid

HHS reported Wednesday that 1.2 million Americans have enrolled in ObamaCare since the exchanges opened on October 1st. The media is trumpeting this as a sign the website is improving and ObamaCare is making steady progress towards its goals. A deeper look at the numbers, however, reveals a more troubling trend. Of the total enrollees, over 800,000 have signed up for Medicaid. Just over 360,000 have enrolled in private insurance plans, just 30% of the total.

Medicaid was supposed to be a small part of ObamaCare's drive to universal coverage. Expanding an already struggling and unsustainable entitlement program may end up being the law's only "legacy."

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O'Malley Administration: "Major Issues" Resolved With Health Care Website

In spite of numerous technical problems with the Maryland Health Benefits Exchange, Governor Martin O'Malley said Saturday that all "major issues" with the website have been resolved.

A spokeswoman for Governor O'Malley told WBAL News, "the nine major issues with the exchange have been fixed," with the exchange. The spokeswoman said there are still some other technical problems that remain with the website, but it should be "functional for most Marylanders."

The governor had wanted the website to be fixed by now, to allow people to obtain insurance by next Monday, December 23, which is when the state says people must obtain insurance in order to have a policy to take effect on January 1.
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Fiscal Cliff

After 100 Years Of Failure, It's Time To End The Fed!

A week from now, the Federal Reserve System will celebrate the 100th anniversary of its founding. Resulting from secret negotiations between bankers and politicians at Jekyll Island, the Fed's creation established a banking cartel and a board of government overseers that has grown ever stronger through the years. One would think this anniversary would elicit some sort of public recognition of the Fed's growth from a quasi-agent of the Treasury Department intended to provide an elastic currency, to a de facto independent institution that has taken complete control of the economy through its central monetary planning. But just like the Fed's creation, its 100th anniversary may come and go with only a few passing mentions.

Like many other horrible and unconstitutional pieces of legislation, the bill which created the Fed, the Federal Reserve Act, was passed under great pressure on December 23, 1913, in the waning moments before Congress recessed for Christmas with many Members already absent from those final votes. This underhanded method of pressuring Congress with such a deadline to pass the Federal Reserve Act would provide a foreshadowing of the Fed's insidious effects on the US economy—with actions performed without transparency.

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The NSA Has Inserted Its Code Into Android OS, Or Three Quarters Of All Smartphones

Over a decade ago, it was discovered that the NSA embedded backdoor access  into Windows 95, and likely into virtually all other subsequent internet connected, desktop-based operating systems. However, with the passage of time, more and more people went "mobile", and as a result the NSA had to adapt. And adapt they have: as Bloomberg reports, "The NSA is quietly writing code for Google’s Android OS."

Is it ironic that the same "don't be evil" Google which went to such great lengths in the aftermath of the Snowden scandal to wash its hands of snooping on its customers and even filed a request with the secretive FISA court asking permission to disclose more information about the government’s data requests, is embedding NSA code into its mobile operating system, which according to IDC runs on three-quarters of all smartphones shipped in the first quarter? Yes, yes it is.

Google spokeswoman Gina Scigliano confirms that the company has already inserted some of the NSA’s programming in Android OS. "All Android code and contributors are publicly available for review at source.android.com." Scigliano says, declining to comment further.

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Cop Gives Homeless Man Sweatshirt Off His Back

“Boots cop” has some company.

A warmhearted NYPD officer on patrol near the UN gave a shivering homeless man the sweatshirt off his back Friday.

Carlos Ramos, who turns 29 on Saturday and works anti-crime and counterterrorism for the Transit Bureau, removed his navy blue Champion sweatshirt from under his coat and uniform and handed it to Robert William at around 9 a.m.

The gift comes a year NYPD Officer Larry De¬Primo bought a pair of $100 Skechers boots for a shoeless homeless man on a frigid night in Times Square.

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Tiny Vermont Gets $208 Million To Build Disastrous Obamacare Exchange; Where Are The Press Watchdogs?

In mid-November, Americans for Tax Reform compiled a list of federal spending on state Obamacare exchanges totaling a breathtaking $4.5 billion.

One number on the list stands out from the rest — and it's not California's, though its $910 million amout is awful, disproportionate, and surely highly wasteful (before considering scalability concerns, the fixed costs of building a web site should be close to the same regardless of a state's population). The big eye-catcher istiny Vermont's staggering $208 million. The nation's second-least populous state (626,000 as of 2012) has 0.2 percent of the U.S. population, but has received 4.6 percent of grants from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Though the Green Mountain State's enrollment numbers have been among the country's least embarrassing on percentage of the population, its exchange's rollout has in many ways been as bad, if not worse, than HealthCare.gov's, according to a December 10 Vermont Public Radio report which has garnered very little attention (HT Megan McArdle at Bloomberg News; bolds are mine):

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