tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83799224483020939682024-03-12T23:04:48.653-04:00JBMedia World NewsJBMedia-jbslik1.blogspot.comJBMediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01913007398286876740noreply@blogger.comBlogger676125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379922448302093968.post-20504016345116313372014-07-05T19:28:00.001-04:002014-07-05T19:32:21.215-04:00US 'profoundly troubled' by American's beating in Israeli custody - Yahoo News<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/us-profoundly-troubled-americans-beating-israeli-custody-204629191.html">US 'profoundly troubled' by American's beating in Israeli custody - Yahoo News</a><br />
JohnButts@JBMedia Reports:<br />
A "profoundly troubled" United States condemned reports Saturday that an American teenager detained in <br />
Israel was "severely beaten" while in police custody, amid heightened tensions with Palestinians.<br />
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The parents of Tariq Abu Khder, a 15-year-old cousin of a Palestinian youth murdered earlier this week, have told AFP that their son was arrested in Shuafat after being beaten by police on Thursday during his holiday stay in the area.</div>
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State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the United States "strongly condemn(s) any excessive use of force," referring to the alleged beating.<br />
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Clashes have erupted in recent days, sparked by the abduction and murder of Tariq's cousin Mohammed Abu Khder, 16, as autopsy reports showed he was burned alive. </div>
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Palestinians said Jewish extremists killed him in revenge for the kidnapping and murder in the West Bank last month of three Israeli teenagers.</div>
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Tariq was still in Israeli custody, Psaki confirmed, adding that a US consulate official had visited him Saturday. "We are profoundly troubled by reports that he was severely beaten while in police custody," Psaki said in a statement.</div>
"We are calling for a speedy, transparent and credible investigation and full accountability for any excessive use of force."<br />
Rocket fire targeting Israel from Gaza has also increased, raising fears of an escalation with the Islamist movement Hamas, which controls the Palestinian enclave. <br />
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"We reiterate our grave concern about the increasing violent incidents, and call on all sides to take steps to restore calm and prevent harm to innocents," Psaki said.</div>
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A video circulating on social media (www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDENWwEDGr4) shows what appears to be Israeli border police beating and kicking a handcuffed semi-conscious figure -- believed to be Tariq -- before dragging him away.</div>
The parents, who saw their son in an Israeli hospital, said they were told Tariq had been arrested for being masked.<br />
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Police spokeswoman Luba Samri could not confirm it was Tariq in the video, but said the footage was from the arrest of a group of six Palestinians, including Tariq. The justice ministry, meanwhile, said it was investigating the video.</div>
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Samri said police found a sling on Tariq, who had attacked police and resisted arrest, while others were throwing stones and Molotov cocktails, wounding six police. Tariq is due to appear before a Jerusalem court on Sunday.</div>
JBMediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01913007398286876740noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379922448302093968.post-50557096182588691792014-07-02T17:46:00.001-04:002014-07-02T17:55:09.993-04:00Senate Race Conference Call Spins Into Complete Disaster After Questioner Asks About 'Harvesting Black Votes' - Yahoo Finance<a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/senate-race-conference-call-spins-205704843.html">Senate Race Conference Call Spins Into Complete Disaster After Questioner Asks About 'Harvesting Black Votes' - Yahoo Finance<br />JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:</a><br />
A Thad Cochran campaign call Wednesday afternoon tumbled into disaster when a questioner asked why <br />
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the Cochran campaign was "harvesting black people" for votes.</div>
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The call was held to push back against claims from the campaign of Mississippi state Sen. Chris McDaniel, Cochran's intra-party challenger who contends he <a data-rapid_p="9" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mcdaniel-legal-challenge-cochran-mississippi-senate-runoff-2014-7" target="_blank">won last week's Republican primary runoff election illegitimately</a> by courting the votes of Democrats and African-Americans.</div>
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But the call was quickly hijacked by callers who later referred to themselves as supporters of McDaniel. One repeatedly interrupted Cochran campaign adviser Austin Barbour. "Quick question," said the caller, who did not identify himself. "Since black people harvested cotton, why is it OK to harvest their votes? Why is it OK to harvest the votes of black people?"</div>
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After Barbour largely ignored the question, the questioner asked again: "If black people were harvesting cotton, why do you think it's OK to harvest their votes?" This finally triggered a response from Barbour.</div>
"Sir, I don't know where you're calling from, but I'm happy to address any question, no matter the lunacy of it," Barbour said.<br />
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But the questioner continued to press, insistent on derailing the call.<br />
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"Why did you use black people? Why did you use black people to try to get Cochran elected when they're not even Republicans? You're treating them as if they're just idiots, that they'll just vote for Cochran just <br />
because they're black. Why did you harvest black votes?"<br />
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This was when Barbour decided to end the call — or at least end his participation. He urged members of the national media to call or email him or Cochran campaign spokesman Jordan Russell. Another questioner <br />
butted in to attempt to ask a "legitimate question," as he called it. Barbour, though, hung up in the process of him asking the question, even as a woman shouted, "Let him talk!"<br />
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A source in the Cochran campaign pointed blame for the call's chaos on Charles C. Johnson, the conservative blogger who has launched accusations against the Cochran campaign and other Mississippi <br />
Republicans. On Monday, Johnson posted an <a data-rapid_p="10" href="http://gotnews.com/" target="_blank">interview</a> Monday night with an African-American man who described himself as pastor in Mississippi who claimed he bribed black voters to turn out and vote for Cochran. But the interview came with the disclosure that the pastor was paid for his participation, which raised doubts about his claims.<br />
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Fifteen minutes before the press call was scheduled to start, Johnson <a data-rapid_p="11" href="https://twitter.com/ChuckCJohnson/status/484422782218817536" target="_blank">tweeted</a> the call's details to his nearly 6,000 followers.<br />
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It wasn't clear if Johnson was the one who actually asked the question on the call. The call didn't end when Barbour hung up. Callers lingered, chatting with each other. Some wondered if the Cochran campaign had planted the interruption to make McDaniel supporters appear racist. Others wondered if it was President Barack Obama's doing. At one point, callers played Obama soundboards back and forth at each other. One person noted how it was blowing up on Twitter, because "BuzzFeed retweeted this!"<br />
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The call went on for at least another half hour after Barbour ended the Cochran campaign's participation.</div>
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McDaniel announced Wednesday <a data-rapid_p="12" href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/encouraged%20Democrats,%20whether%20they%20voted%20in%20their%20own%20primary%20or%20not,%20to%20enter%20the%20GOP%20fray%20and%20deliver%20his%20slim%20margin%20of%20victory.%20%20Read%20more:%20http://www.businessinsider.com/mcdaniel-legal-challenge-cochran-mississippi-senate-runoff-2014-7#ixzz36LWyrvqq" target="_blank">he was forming an "Election Challenge Fund"</a> to contest what he considered a "corrupt" election. His campaign claims they have already found more than 3,300 voting "irregularities," but it has produced no hard evidence. " Put up or shut up. If they have hard evidence, bring it forward," Barbour said on the conference call before it descended into chaos.</div>
JBMediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01913007398286876740noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379922448302093968.post-30395338964469058772014-06-23T17:19:00.001-04:002014-06-23T17:25:29.567-04:00Judge strikes down Montana immigrant law - Yahoo News<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/judge-strikes-down-montana-immigrant-law-164324977.html">Judge strikes down Montana immigrant law - Yahoo News</a><br />
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:<br />
A Montana judge struck down most of a 2012 voter-approved law requiring government officials to conduct <br />
immigration checks on anybody seeking services provided by the state — from unemployment benefits to crime-victim assistance.<br />
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The law, which aims to deny government jobs and assistance to people in the U.S. illegally, required Montana agencies to check legal status when a person applied for any state service. If the person was not in the country legally, the agency must turn over the name to federal immigration officials.</div>
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The ruling is the latest test of a law approved during a wave of immigration crackdowns nationwide. Last week, a federal judge in Utah upheld part of a 2011 law in that state that allows authorities to check the citizenship of those stopped for traffic infractions — within certain limits — but struck down other provisions, such as warrantless arrests on suspicion of immigration status.</div>
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In Montana, nearly 80 percent of voters approved the state's law in a 2012 referendum, but it has not been enforced since an immigration-rights group filed a legal challenge.</div>
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District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock of Helena said in his Friday order that it conflicts with federal immigration laws by attempting to regulate immigration, which is exclusively a federal power.</div>
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The law, known as Legislative Referendum 121, makes up its own definition of "illegal alien" that is not defined in federal law, Sherlock said. That means state officials would be making their own determination of immigration status, which should only be done by authorized federal agents, he said.</div>
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"This is the crux of the problem with the enactment," Sherlock wrote in the order.<br />
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Sherlock allowed one provision of the law to stand, saying it doesn't conflict with federal law. It requires state officials to report to immigration officials the name of a person who is not in the U.S. legally.</div>
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Attorney Shahid Haque-Hausrath, who challenged the law on behalf of the Montana Immigrant Justice Alliance, said the reporting provision shouldn't matter as long as the rest of the law is struck down.</div>
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"That shouldn't be of any significance because agencies won't be screening or asking any questions," Haque-Hausrath said Monday. "That was the heart of LR 121."</div>
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State attorneys just received the ruling Monday and no decision has been made on whether to appeal, Montana Department of Justice spokesman John Barnes said.</div>
JBMediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01913007398286876740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379922448302093968.post-35126374594346424362014-06-17T18:15:00.001-04:002014-06-17T18:22:04.291-04:00Prospect of new Iraq fight turns hawks into doves - Yahoo News<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/prospect-iraq-fight-turns-hawks-doves-173134266--politics.html">Prospect of new Iraq fight turns hawks into doves - Yahoo News</a><br />
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:<br />
The prospect of the U.S. military returning to the fight in Iraq has turned congressional hawks into doves.<br />
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Lawmakers who eagerly voted to authorize military force 12 years ago to oust Saddam Hussein and destroy weapons of mass destruction that were never found now harbor doubts that air strikes will turn back insurgents threatening Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government and Baghdad.</div>
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Fears of Mideast quagmire and weariness after a decade of conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan loom large for even those who talk tough on national security. More than 6,000 Americans died in those wars, which cost a <br />
trillion dollars.</div>
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As President Barack Obama mulls his next step, there is little unanimity in Congress on what the United States should do despite some Republican voices — most notably Sen. John McCain — loudly calling for air strikes and stepped-up military action. The sectarian violence between the pro-government Shiites and Sunnis adds to congressional uncertainty.</div>
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Obama will discuss the situation in Iraq with House and Senate leaders of both parties at the White House Wednesday. State Department and Pentagon officials will hold closed-doors briefings with lawmakers over the next couple of days.</div>
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"Where will it lead and will that be the beginning or the end?" Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., said, when asked about air strikes. "We don't know that. This underlying conflict has been going on 1,500 years between the Shias and the Sunnis and their allies. And I think whatever we do, it's not going to go away."</div>
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Shelby was one of the 77 Senate Republicans and Democrats who voted to give President George W. Bush the authority to wage war. Casting the strong bipartisan vote on Oct. 11, 2002 were Democratic Sens. Joe Biden of Delaware, Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Harry Reid of Nevada.</div>
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"After a decade of war, we've all had enough," said Reid, the Senate majority leader.</div>
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"It was one of the worst votes I ever cast," added Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, another who voted yes. Asked about what the vote means more than a decade later as the U.S. ponders intervention anew, Harkin said: "It is weighing heavily on my mind."</div>
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But Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., who also voted for use of force in 2002, said that vote would have no effect on her thinking this time. She declined to say if she supported military action. Sen. Chuck Schumer of <br />
New York, another Democrat who authorized military action in Iraq the last time, also wouldn't give his opinion.</div>
Senators from both parties appeared almost unanimous in their view that al-Maliki should leave power, even as many called for assistance to his government in battling the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant insurgency.<br />
<br />
ISIL has conquered several cities in Syria and Iraq. The administration is sending almost 300 American forces in and around Iraq to help secure U.S. assets.<br />
<br />
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"I support almost anything that would curtail" ISIL, said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. "That's a very dangerous situation."</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1403043214123_879">
McCain, who spoke by telephone over the weekend with White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, said not many forces would be needed for an effective operation in Iraq and they'd only be for close air support. He said no combat troops are needed, but some personnel should be on the ground to identify targets for air strikes.</div>
"That would be a handful of probably special forces, forward air controller people," he said, expressing frustration that the administration hasn't done more.<br />
<br />
Among the newer senators, Mark Kirk, R-Ill., expressed support for air strikes, but Tim Scott, R-S.C., had his doubts.<br />
<br />
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1403043214123_887">
"The president's comments about he doesn't know who to strike doesn't give me 'a warm and fuzzy,'" Scott said. "The option should remain on the table, but clarity should come first so that I can have an understanding<br />
and appreciation. If they don't have an understanding and appreciation, I certainly don't have one."</div>
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who voted for the war authorization in 2002, wanted to learn more about the administration's plan.<br />
<br />
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1403043214123_886">
"The question is whether air strikes can be targeted enough that they don't kill innocent people," she said.</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1403043214123_885">
The Senate's top Republican, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, said Obama must offer a strategy and act quickly to provide the Iraqi government with assistance before "every gain made by the U.S. and allied troops is lost." He didn't outline a specific course of action.</div>
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<object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="https://ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/bCax-4XZ_v8/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/bCax-4XZ_v8&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/bCax-4XZ_v8&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object><br />
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:<br />
http://news.yahoo.com/video/ukraine-military-aircraft-shot-down-165835356.html<br />
<br />
Pro-Russian separatists posted videos purportedly showing the shooting <br />
down of a Ukrainian military reconnaissance plane flying over Slovyansk <br />
on June 6. Some details of their claims appear in local news reports. <br />
Other reports said the Antonov-30 plane was steered away from <br />
Slovyansk’s city center to make a crash landing in nearby woods. This <br />
video shows the burning plane freefalling to the ground. Ukraine has now<br />
confirmed a plane was shot down Credit: VK/ArtemKachinJBMediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01913007398286876740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379922448302093968.post-32101855362572078092014-06-06T15:14:00.001-04:002014-06-06T15:19:34.822-04:00Taliban Says Bergdahl Deal Means More Kidnappings - Yahoo Finance<a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/taliban-says-bergdahl-deal-means-170500137.html">Taliban Says Bergdahl Deal Means More Kidnappings - Yahoo Finance<br />JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:</a><br />
TIME Magazine featured a <a data-rapid_p="8" href="http://time.com/2826534/bowe-bergdahl-taliban-captors/" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1402082028578_1203" rel="nofollow">chilling interview</a> with an Haqqani network-affiliated Taliban commander who was intimately involved in negotiations with the U.S. over the release of Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl. The takeaway: More kidnappings are “definitely” to come as a result of the deal.<br />
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<li class="list-item story" data-uuid="8b0b437f-8e16-3315-b939-f5b53e76c786"> <a data-rapid_p="1" data-ylk="itc:0;tar:www.bloomberg.com;ct:1;sec:lst-ct;cpos:1;test:;g:8b0b437f-8e16-3315-b939-f5b53e76c786;pkgt:2;prov:Bloomberg;" href="http://www.bloomberg.com/video/obama-on-bowe-bergdahl-swap-i-make-no-apologies-I8UDNsTpRPWctQAnYJFauA.html?cmpid=yhoo">[video] Obama on Bowe Bergdahl Swap: 'I Make No Apologies'</a> <span class="source">Bloomberg</span> </li>
<li class="list-item story" data-uuid="857f16be-528c-366b-a8aa-9a9178304f2a"> <a data-rapid_p="2" data-ylk="itc:0;tar:finance.yahoo.com;ct:1;sec:lst-ct;cpos:2;test:;g:857f16be-528c-366b-a8aa-9a9178304f2a;pkgt:2;prov:Bloomberg;" href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/obamas-deputies-defend-deal-taliban-181532602.html">Obama's Deputies Defend Deal With Taliban That Freed U.S. Soldier Bergdahl</a> <span class="source">Bloomberg</span> </li>
<li class="list-item story" data-uuid="cedebe9c-9a8c-3d3d-95e5-0a664e6a1773"> <a data-rapid_p="3" data-ylk="itc:0;tar:www.bloomberg.com;ct:1;sec:lst-ct;cpos:3;test:;g:cedebe9c-9a8c-3d3d-95e5-0a664e6a1773;pkgt:2;prov:Bloomberg;" href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-01/bowe-bergdahl-freedom-brings-joy-tempered-by-taliban-risk.html?cmpid=yhoo">Bowe Bergdahl Freedom Brings Joy Tempered by Taliban Risk</a> <span class="source">Bloomberg</span> </li>
<li class="list-item story" data-uuid="f607da20-1f49-38a5-9e58-255466c02846"> <a data-rapid_p="4" data-ylk="itc:0;tar:finance.yahoo.com;ct:1;sec:lst-ct;cpos:4;test:;g:f607da20-1f49-38a5-9e58-255466c02846;pkgt:2;prov:The Fiscal Times;" href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ted-cruz-bergdahl-feel-guilty-041500021.html">Ted Cruz: Bergdahl Should Feel Guilty for Deal</a> <span class="source">The Fiscal Times</span> </li>
<li class="list-item story" data-uuid="0a9b6b3d-f02f-302b-a31b-7f8cd8949ae8"> <a data-rapid_p="5" data-ylk="itc:0;tar:finance.yahoo.com;ct:1;sec:lst-ct;cpos:5;test:;g:0a9b6b3d-f02f-302b-a31b-7f8cd8949ae8;pkgt:2;prov:The Fiscal Times;" href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/susan-rice-biggest-loser-bergdahl-163200598.html">Susan Rice Is the Biggest Loser in Bergdahl Affair</a> <span class="source">The Fiscal Times</span> </li>
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“It’s better to kidnap one person like Bergdahl than kidnapping hundreds of useless people,” the unnamed commander told TIME by telephone. “It has encouraged our people. Now everybody will work hard to capture such an important bird.”</div>
</div>
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<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1402082028578_566">
<b id="yui_3_16_0_1_1402082028578_565"><a data-rapid_p="9" href="http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2014/06/05/Bergdahl-Fallout-Signals-Obama-s-Risky-Strategy" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1402082028578_564" rel="nofollow">Related: Bergdahl Fallout Signals Obama’s Risky Strategy</a></b></div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1402082028578_571">
Amidst great debate on whether or not the deal should have happened at all are lingering questions about whether Sgt. Bergdahl was a deserter. Although Bergdahl himself has yet to give his side of the story, questions remain unanswered about what exactly Bergdahl was doing off base the night he was captured by the Taliban.</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1402082028578_1133">
According to <a data-rapid_p="10" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/06/world/asia/bowe-bergdahl-walked-away-before-military-report-says.html?_r=0" rel="nofollow"><i>The New York Times</i></a>, a classified military report on the night Bergdahl wandered off base in<br />
June 2009 says this wasn’t the first time. In fact, the roughly 35-page report says that he’d wandered off from both a training range in California and from his outpost in Afghanistan before returning back to his assigned area. The report concludes that Bergdahl likely did so on his own free will in the dark of night.</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1402082028578_1132">
Perhaps more important is what the report leaves out. There is no stated conclusion as to whether or not the then Private Bergdahl had any intention to officially desert.</div>
<b><a data-rapid_p="11" href="http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2014/06/03/Susan-Rice-Biggest-Loser-Bergdahl-Affair" rel="nofollow">Related: Susan Rice Is the Biggest Loser in Bergdahl Affair</a></b><br />
Nonetheless, the price tag for bringing America’s only living prisoner of war home to U.S. soil wasn’t cheap. On May 31<sup>st</sup>, the United States released five top-level Taliban commanders from Guantanamo Bay, sending them to Qatar to live under a form of house arrest.<br />
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1402082028578_1130">
Some believe the deal, executed by President Obama by executive order and which Obama makes “no apologies” for, sets a dangerous precedent. Not surprisingly, the loudest criticism has come from Republicans on Capitol Hill.</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1402082028578_1129">
“What does this tell terrorists?,” Republican Senator Ted Cruz asked on <a data-rapid_p="12" href="http://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/week-transcript-ambassador-susan-rice-sen-ted-cruz/story?id=23942676" rel="nofollow">ABC’s <i>This Week</i></a> following Bergdahl’s release. “That if you capture a U.S. soldier, you can trade that soldier for five terrorist prisoners?”</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1402082028578_1128">
After hearing announcement of the deal on Saturday, Sen. John McCain criticized President Obama’s decision, calling it a “mistake.”</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1402082028578_1125">
<b id="yui_3_16_0_1_1402082028578_1127"><a data-rapid_p="13" href="http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2014/06/02/Did-US-Trade-5-Taliban-Terrorists-Army-Deserter#sthash.eUvqHCBR.dpuf" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1402082028578_1126" rel="nofollow">Related: Did the U.S. Trade 5 Taliban Terrorists for an Army Deserter?</a></b></div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1402082028578_1124">
On Sunday, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers cited the deal as a clear “break with U.S. policy.” During an appearance on <a data-rapid_p="14" href="http://sotu.blogs.cnn.com/" rel="nofollow">CNN’s “State of the Union,”</a> the Michigan Congressman said, “The No. 1 way that Al Qaeda raises money is by ransom — kidnapping and ransom. We have now set a price.” </div>
The two-and-a-half year back-and-fourth has resulted in the first prisoner exchange between the Taliban and the United States. And it marks an important—and very public—shift in White House policy. The deal was <br />
ultimately given the green light by the president who once vowed, “We don’t negotiate with terrorists.”JBMediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01913007398286876740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379922448302093968.post-84357846191976508982014-05-26T13:38:00.001-04:002014-05-26T13:49:05.527-04:00Lawmaker: Gay State Rep. Mike Fleck Should Have Stayed In The Closet<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/26/mike-fleck-gay-election_n_5392039.html?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000592">Lawmaker: Gay State Rep. Mike Fleck Should Have Stayed In The Closet<br />JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:</a><br />
An openly gay Pennsylvania lawmaker <a href="http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2014/05/ballots_still_being_hand-count.html" target="_hplink">will likely lose</a> his seat this week, just days after the state became the 19th to allow same-sex marriage.<br />
<br />
Mike Fleck (R) was first elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 2006. In 2012, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/01/mike-fleck-gay_n_2224007.html?1401105970" target="_hplink">he came out</a> as gay. According to one of his Republican colleagues, the move was a huge political mistake.<br />
<br />
Pennsylvania State Senator John H. <a href="http://www.altoonamirror.com/page/content.detail/id/585477/Fleck-fighting-to-retain-his-seat.html" target="_hplink">Eichelberger Jr. told the Altoona Mirror</a> that "if [Fleck] had just gone about his business and people thought he was a homosexual or heterosexual or whatever, there wouldn't be a <br />
problem."<br />
<br />
Eichelberger said that many people thought Fleck was gay prior to his coming out and weren't bothered by it.<br />
"A lot of people thought that Mike was a homosexual," Eichelberger said. "He didn't announce it and it was OK. The feeling from many people is, he put them in a very uncomfortable position" by coming out.<br />
<br />
The blog Raging Chicken Press first pointed out the <a href="http://www.ragingchickenpress.org/2014/05/25/pa-republican-state-senator-to-gay-republican-house-member-you-should-have-stayed-in-the-closet/" target="_hplink">quote on Sunday.</a><br />
In an earlier post on Facebook, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/VoteMikeFleck/posts/776819462350458" target="_hplink">Fleck said</a> that he always knew coming out could affect his political career. <br />
<br />
I am gay. I don’t wear it on my sleeve, it doesn’t define who I am, and quite frankly it’s the least interesting part about me. Nevertheless, I knew that when I came out this race would be nothing more, nothing less than whether my constituency could wrap their mind around the fact that I was a gay man. People fear that which is different.<br />
The final results of the election will likely be announced on Tuesday.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/26/mike-fleck-gay-election_n_5392039.html?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000592"><br /></a>JBMediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01913007398286876740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379922448302093968.post-8787447816283031352014-05-07T14:59:00.001-04:002014-05-07T15:07:46.875-04:00The GOP civil war is over... and the tea party won? - The Week<a href="http://theweek.com/article/index/261149/speedreads-the-gop-civil-war-is-over-and-the-tea-party-won">The GOP civil war is over... and the tea party won? - The Week</a><br />
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:<br />
Last night's GOP Senate primary in North Carolina was billed as a surrogate battle in the Republican Civil War between the establishment and grassroots. But it ended up being more of a surrender than a battle.<br />
And since establishment candidate <a href="http://dailycaller.com/2014/05/06/gop-establishment-candidate-tillis-avoids-run-off-in-north-carolina-race/" target="_blank">Thom Tillis easily trounced his two grassroots conservative opponents</a>, it would be easy to declare today that the tea party is toast.<br />
<br />
The truth is probably more complicated than that. In fact, if the tea party didn't show up, or put up much of a fight, it might be because they already won the war. I'll let <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/05/thom-tillis-wins-north-carolina-primary-is-this-the-end-gop-civil-war/361834/"><i>The</i> <i>Atlantic's</i> Molly Ball explain</a>:<br />
<br />
<div style="display: block!important; padding-left: 75px; width: 510px;">
[I]f Tillis represented the Republican establishment — something he<br />
denies, of course; it is not a label anyone embraces — he also represents<br />
the party's new, post-Tea Party mainstream. He was endorsed by National <br />
Right to Life and the National Rifle Association. As House speaker <br />
during a time when Republicans took over North Carolina's government<br />
for the first time since 1896, he oversaw a dramatic slate of rightward <br />
policies, from tax cuts to voter ID, that he terms a "conservative <br />
revolution."</div>
<div style="display: block!important; padding-left: 75px; width: 510px;">
<br />
It was hard for opponents to paint Tillis as a liberal when actual liberals<br />
were <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/07/how-north-carolina-became-the-wisconsin-of-2013/277007/">picketing his initiatives on the steps of the statehouse</a> in Raleigh on<br />
a regular basis. If this race is any indication, the "Republican civil war"<br />
storyline so beloved of pundits in recent years may have to be retired...<br />
[<a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/05/thom-tillis-wins-north-carolina-primary-is-this-the-end-gop-civil-war/361834/"><i>The</i> <i>Atlantic</i></a>]</div>
<br />
The theory goes like this: In the beginning, the GOP establishment had grown old and fat and corrupt, and the tea party bench was full of young and talented and pure candidates. And so, when quality candidates <br />
like former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio and former Rep. and Club for Growth head Pat Toomey challenged moderate GOP candidates like then-Gov. Charlie Crist (Fla.) and then-Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.) — both of whom later became Democrats — it was like picking low-hanging fruit.<br />
<br />
But there are only so many Rubios and Toomeys (and only so many Crists and Specters). So it gets increasingly harder to replicate this success. The well of quality tea party candidates goes dry, and eventually, you're scraping the bottom. What's more, the early victories send a message to the old guard that they'd better clean up their act.<br />
<br />
And so, the tea party message gets co-opted by the establishment — which, for tea party conservatives, ought to be cause for celebration; incumbents who want to survive either get religion, or get ousted.<br />
<br />JBMediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01913007398286876740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379922448302093968.post-79089663072810184962014-04-26T10:56:00.001-04:002014-04-26T10:58:53.093-04:00Middle school teacher provides ‘full-contact’ lap dance in front of class for birthday boy - Yahoo News<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/middle-school-teacher-provides-full-contact-lap-dance-203041332.html">Middle school teacher provides ‘full-contact’ lap dance in front of class for birthday boy - Yahoo News</a><br />
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:<br />
Prosecutors in Houston, Texas charged a middle school teacher because she gave a full-on lap dance to a<br />
<div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1398524102603_834">
boy for his birthday in front of an entire class of no-doubt impressed <br />
preteens.</div>
<div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1398524102603_1328">
The teacher, Felicia Smith, staged the lap dance in her classroom at Stovall Middle School on February 26, <a class="external" data-rapid_p="9" href="http://www.khou.com/news/local/Aldine-ISD-Police--Teacher-charged-with-improper-relationship-with-student-256678251.html" id="yui_3_9_1_1_1398524102603_1330" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">reports local CBS affiliate KHOU</a>. When police interviewed the unnamed student, he said Smith, 42, had seductively placed a school chair in front of the classroom after the tardy bell rang. Music began to play – from some undisclosed source – and several students in the class began yelling raucously that the birthday boy should sit down in the chair.</div>
<div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1398524102603_1334">
Once the kid sat down, the fortysomething teacher gave him what was perhaps his first full-contact lap dance. According to a police report, Smith did the thing where she turned around and swiveled her butt on the middle school student. She rubbed her hands all over his body. She also got down on her knees and <br />
stuck her head between the boy’s legs.</div>
<div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1398524102603_1336">
It’s not clear if the kid enjoyed the lap dance. However, he admitted that he did slap Smith’s ass a couple times.</div>
<div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1398524102603_1371">
The incident lasted a little over three-and-a-half minutes — presumably the duration of the song that was<br />
playing. It’s not clear which song was chosen for the special occasion. At the end of the lap dance, Smith hugged the boy and told him, “I love you, baby. Happy birthday,” according to KHOU.</div>
<div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1398524102603_1317">
When police questioned Smith, she said she provided the lap dance at the urging of students in the class. She noted that she almost fell down a few times while performing the acrobatics required of the lap dance.</div>
<div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1398524102603_1283">
Somebody – it’s not clear who – apparently filmed the spectacle. The Harris County district attorney and<br />
the Aldine, Texas police department both have copies of the video. Smith faces a single criminal charge: improper relationship with student. She is free on a $30,000 bond. A statement released by the local</div>
<div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1398524102603_1340">
school district explained that Smith “was removed from the campus during the investigation and has not returned.”</div>
<div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1398524102603_1342">
It’s not clear if she is still being paid while her criminal case meanders through the court system.</div>
JBMediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01913007398286876740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379922448302093968.post-81294714242934273382014-04-14T14:24:00.001-04:002014-04-14T14:30:03.691-04:00APNewsBreak: Russian jet passes near US warship - Yahoo News<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/apnewsbreak-russian-jet-passes-near-us-warship-155042130--politics.html">APNewsBreak: Russian jet passes near US warship - Yahoo News</a><br />
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:<br />
A Russian fighter jet made multiple, close-range passes near an American warship in the Black Sea for more than 90 minutes Saturday amid escalating tensions in the region, U.S. military officials said Monday.<br />
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<li class="list-item story" data-uuid="3d9ebd60-2311-3369-91a0-04e0db0e8208"> <a data-ylk="itc:0;tar:news.yahoo.com;ct:1;sec:lst-ct;cpos:4;test:312027;g:3d9ebd60-2311-3369-91a0-04e0db0e8208;pkgt:2;prov:AFP;" href="http://news.yahoo.com/turkey-rejects-russian-claims-over-us-ships-black-162648508.html">Turkey rejects Russian claims over US ships in Black Sea</a> <span class="source">AFP</span> </li>
<li class="list-item story" data-uuid="61eae769-cf87-33a0-96a6-30aede8ea753"> <a data-ylk="itc:0;tar:news.yahoo.com;ct:1;sec:lst-ct;cpos:5;test:312027;g:61eae769-cf87-33a0-96a6-30aede8ea753;pkgt:2;prov:Reuters;" href="http://news.yahoo.com/u-mulls-sending-warship-black-sea-ukraine-response-213512733.html">U.S. mulls sending warship to Black Sea in Ukraine response</a> <span class="source">Reuters</span> </li>
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In the first public account of the incident, the officials said the Russian Fencer made 12 passes, and flew within 1,000 yards (900 meters) of the USS Donald Cook, a Navy destroyer, at about 500 feet (150 meters) above sea level.</div>
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<br />
The U.S. warship issued several radio queries and warnings using international emergency circuits, but the Russian aircraft did not respond.<br />
<br />
"This provocative and unprofessional Russian action is inconsistent with international protocols and previous agreements on the professional interaction between our militaries," said Army Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman.<br />
<br />
The fighter appeared to be unarmed and never was in danger of coming in contact with the ship, said the officials. <br />
The passes, which occurred in the early evening there, ended without incident. A second Russian fighter jet flew at a higher altitude and was not a concern, said Warren.<br />
<br />
A U.S. military official also said that a Russian Navy ship, a frigate, has been shadowing the U.S. warship, remaining within visual distance but not close enough to be unsafe. The official was not authorized to discuss the incident publicly so spoke on condition of anonymity.<br />
<a class="body-related-link body-related-image go-to-slideshow-lightbox rapid-noclick-resp landscape onesize get-lbdata-from-dom" data-pos="1" data-rapid_p="12" data-uuid="81903d99-76d6-355a-9596-ca238865e3cd" data-ylk="t1:a3;t2:ct-mod;t3:embd;sec:ct-mod;slk:expand;elm:img;elmt:ct;itc:1;g:87270819-8632-3e82-b320-3c96e84e8a99;aid:81903d99-76d6-355a-9596-ca238865e3cd;ct:4;cpos:1;" href="http://news.yahoo.com/photos/uss-donald-cook-docked-black-sea-port-constanta-photo-164946207.html" title="The USS Donald Cook is docked in the Black Sea port&nbsp;&hellip;"><span class="cta-text xsmall">View gallery</span></a><br />
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The USS Donald Cook is docked in the Black Sea port of Constanta, Romania, Monday, April 14, 2014. A … Warren said that he is not aware of any official communication or protests by the U.S. to the Russians about incident.</div>
The USS Donald Cook has been conducting routine operations in international waters east of Romania. The ship, which carries helicopters, was deployed to the Black Sea on April 10, in the wake of the Russian military takeover of Ukraine's Crimea region and ongoing unrest there. <br />
U.S. military officials have said the deployment is part of an effort to reassure allies and partners in the region.<br />
<br />
Ukraine's acting President Oleksandr Turchynov on Monday called for the deployment of United Nations peacekeeping troops in the east of the country, where pro-Russian insurgents have occupied buildings in nearly 10 cities. The gunmen are demanding more autonomy from the central government and closer ties with Russia.<br />
<br />
The West has accused Moscow of fomenting the unrest. And European Union foreign ministers are meeting in Luxembourg Monday to consider additional sanctions against Russian officials because of Moscow's annexation of Crimea.<br />
<br />
The USS Donald Cook is now in port at Constanta, Romania.<br />
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US Navy personnel stand on the deck of the USS Donald Cook, in the Black Sea port of Constanta, Roma … Romanian President Traian Basescu visited the ship Monday and said a second U.S. Navy warship — a frigate from the Navy's Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea — is also heading to the Black Sea.</div>
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"My visit to the ship is symbolic, which first of all shows our respect to our NATO allies' reaction who have strengthened their presence in the Black Sea after Russia's annexation of Crimea," said Basescu, who is a <br />
former ship captain. He said the Russians "had created a circle of fire around the Black Sea."<br />
<br />
The U.S. frigate, which has not yet been identified, is expected to arrive in the Black Sea in the next two weeks. According to a U.S. military official, the frigate is likely to replace the USS Donald Cook, which is expected to return to the Mediterranean Sea.<br />
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JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:<br />
A fed-up Attorney General Eric Holder is accusing congressional critics of launching “unprecedented, unwarranted, ugly and divisive” attacks on him and the Obama administration.<br />
<br />
During a speech to the National Action Network in New York on Wednesday lauding the organization’s effort to advance racial equality, a heated Holder went a little off-script.<br />
<br />
“Forget about me [specifically]. Look at the way the attorney general of the United States was treated yesterday by a House committee,” Holder told the crowd. “What attorney general has ever had to deal with <br />
that kind of treatment? What president has ever had to deal with that kind of treatment?”<br />
<br />
The remarks drew loud applause from the crowd.<br />
<br />
On Tuesday, while testifying before a House panel, Holder engaged in a testy back-and-forth with two of his most outspoken Republican antagonists. One accused Holder of violating federal law and questioned <br />
whether he should even be allowed to testify before lawmakers, while Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, seemed to threaten Holder with another contempt citation and angrily told Holder he didn’t need to be lectured by the nation’s top law enforcement official.<br />
<br />
On Wednesday, with a finger raised, Holder told the crowd in New York that his tenure as attorney general has been “defined by significant strides … even in the face of unprecedented, unwarranted, ugly and divisive adversity.”<br />
<br />
The day before, after Gohmert ran out of time to ask questions, Holder leaned into the microphone in front of him and wished Gohmert “good luck with your asparagus.” It was a not-so-subtle dig at Gohmert’s flub last year when he warned Holder not to “cast aspersions on my asparagus.”<br />
<br />
Holder has had a tense relationship with several Republican lawmakers since the Republican-led House held him in contempt of Congress two years ago for failing to turn over certain documents tied to the Fast and Furious scandal involving botched firearms sting operations despite a congressional subpoena seeking those documents.<br />
<br />
In asking Holder on Tuesday about the Justice Department’s refusal to turn over documents in an unrelated terrorism case, Gohmert again raised the issue of contempt, saying, “I realize that contempt is not a big deal to our attorney general, but it is important that we have proper oversight.”<br />
<br />
A visibly upset Holder, leaning back in his chair, shot back, “You don’t want to go there, buddy. You don’t want to go there, OK?”<br />
<br />
“You should not assume that that is not a big deal to me,” Holder added, pointing a finger toward the congressman. “I think it was inappropriate. I think it was unjust. But never think that was not a big deal to me. Don’t ever think that.”<br />
<br />
Gohmert pressed the issue.<br />
<br />
“There have been no indications that it was a big deal, because your department has still not been forthcoming in producing the documents that were the subject of the contempt,” Gohmert said.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 13px;">“I don’t need lectures from you about contempt,” Gohmert added.</span><br />
<br />
“And I don’t need lectures from you either,” Holder responded.<br />
<br />
The documents at issue were mostly from the months after the public first learned that an Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigation called Fast and Furious put guns into the hands of criminals in Mexico. Republican lawmakers subpoenaed the Justice Department for internal emails dated after Feb. 4, 2011, when department officials realized they would have to retract a letter to Congress denying any such thing happened.<br />
<br />
But President Obama then asserted executive privilege over the documents, and Republicans filed suit in federal court.<br />
<br />
Holder’s “good luck with your asparagus” comment Tuesday was<span style="font-size: 13px;"> a reference to a remark by Gohmert at a hearing nearly a year ago. At that hearing, Gohmert and Holder got into another heated back-and-forth over how the FBI handled the case of alleged Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who had been interviewed by the FBI years before the attack over possible radicalization.</span><br />
<br />
Gohmert said he was “trying to determine how the FBI blew the opportunity to save people’s lives,” but Holder defended the FBI’s work, telling Gohmert, “You don’t know what the FBI did. You don’t know what the FBI’s interaction was with the Russians. You don’t know what questions were put to the Russians, whether those questions were responded to. You simply do not know that. And you have characterized the FBI as being not thorough or taken exception to my characterization of them as being thorough. I know what the FBI did. You cannot know what I know.”<br />
<br />
In trying to get a chance to respond to Holder’s comments, a flustered Gohmert shot back, “[Do not] cast aspersions on my asparagus.”<br />
<br />JBMediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01913007398286876740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379922448302093968.post-43986995841132356542014-04-09T13:35:00.001-04:002014-04-09T13:44:18.757-04:00Jeb Bush's Immigration Heresy - WSJ.com<a href="http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303456104579489521824299200?ru=yahoo?mod=yahoo_itp&mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702303456104579489521824299200.html%3Fru%3Dyahoo%3Fmod%3Dyahoo_itp">Jeb Bush's Immigration Heresy - WSJ.com</a><br />
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:<br />
For a party that has lost the popular vote in five of the last six presidential elections, the GOP sure seems eager to banish people from its potential candidate ranks. First Senator<a data-ls-seen="1" href="http://topics.wsj.com/person/R/Marco-Rubio/6882"> Marco Rubio</a> was expelled from impolite conservative company, then Rep <a data-ls-seen="1" href="http://topics.wsj.com/person/R/Paul-Ryan/6420">Paul Ryan</a> came in for abuse, and now former Florida Governor Jeb Bush is being whipped for breaking from the anti-immigration orthodoxy on the right. In a Sunday interview<a data-ls-seen="1" href="http://topics.wsj.com/person/B/Mr.-Bush/5369"> Mr. Bush</a> said the act of illegally entering America is sometimes "an act of love" done out of a commitment to feed and clothe family members. <br />
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This is merely another way of way of putting his brother George W. Bush's line from the 2000 campaign that "family values don't stop at the Rio Grande." You know the GOP's immigration allergy has become excessive when even expressions of sympathy are criticized.</div>
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Political Diary editor Jason Riley on whether former Florida Governor Jeb Bush will run for President in 2016. </div>
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Here's what Mr. Bush said in fuller context: "Someone who comes to our country because they couldn't come <br />
legally, they come to our country because their families—the dad who loved their children was worried that their children didn't have food on the table. And they wanted to make sure their family was intact, and they crossed the border because they had no other means to work to be able to provide for their family. Yes, they broke the law, but it's not a felony." He's right about the non-felony, though Senator<a data-ls-seen="1" href="http://topics.wsj.com/person/C/Ted-Cruz/7753"> Ted Cruz</a> immediately jumped in to say the rule of law matters. Thanks for clearing that one up, Senator, but Mr. Bush got there first, saying that one reason to pass immigration reform is to "restore people's confidence" in the law. "For example, </div>
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40% of illegal immigrants come with legal visas and they overstay their bounds. A great country ought to know where those folks are and politely ask them to leave," he said. "There are means by which we can control our border better than we have. And there should be penalties for breaking the law." Failure to reform immigration, he added, "ends up trapping these people when they could make a great contribution for their own families but also for us."<br />
Mr. Bush urged everyone to drop "the harsh political rhetoric" and recognize that immigrants "can make a contribution to our country if we organize ourselves in a better way." Assimilation is essential to that </div>
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effort, he said, and should include teaching civics in public school and requiring English.</div>
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Not too long ago that would have been called Reagan orthodoxy. Mr. Bush says he'll decide on whether to run for President by the end of the year, but if he does run he's already got a better immigration message than the <br />
self-defeating "self-deportation" crowd that cost the GOP so dearly in 2012.</div>
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<br />JBMediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01913007398286876740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379922448302093968.post-88308652091389959702014-04-07T03:48:00.001-04:002014-04-07T03:51:58.191-04:00Pro-Russia protesters in east Ukraine seize weapons: Interior Ministry - Yahoo News<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/pro-russia-protesters-seize-ukraine-buildings-kiev-blames-064327574.html?vp=1">Pro-Russia protesters in east Ukraine seize weapons: Interior Ministry - Yahoo News</a><br />
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:<br />
Pro-Russian protesters who broke into state security headquarters in the eastern Ukrainian city of Luhansk have seized weapons, and highway police have closed down entrances into the city, local police said on Monday.<br />
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Mainly Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine has seen a sharp rise in tension since Moscow-backed Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich's overthrow in February and the advent of an interim government in Kiev that wants closer ties with Europe.</div>
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"Unknown people who are in the building have broken into the building's arsenal and have seized weapons," police said in a statement. Nine people had been injured in the disturbances in Luhansk, they said. Separately, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said on his Facebook page that the regional administrative building in the eastern city of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, had been cleared of "separatist"</div>
<div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1396856909253_1355">
protesters. Pro-Russian protesters in the east seized official buildings in three cities on Sunday, including the regional administrative building in the mining hub of Donetsk. Demonstrators in Donetsk and Luhansk demanded a referendum be carried out on whether to join Russia like that held in Crimea that paved the way for its annexation by Russia.</div>
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Avakov on Sunday accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of orchestrating the "separatist disorder" and promised that disturbances would be brought under control without violence. The protesters appeared to be responding in part to deposed Yanukovich, who fled to Russia after he was ousted and on March 28 issued a public call for each of Ukraine's regions to hold a referendum on its status inside the country.<br />
<div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1396856909253_1363">
Russia has branded the new government in Kiev illegitimate and has annexed Ukraine's Crimea region citing threats to its Russian-speaking majority - a move that has sparked the biggest standoff between Moscow and the West since the end of the Cold War.</div>
JBMediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01913007398286876740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379922448302093968.post-47114305707203250502014-04-07T00:43:00.001-04:002014-04-07T00:51:03.356-04:00Jeb Bush says illegal immigration often 'an act of love' - Yahoo News<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/jeb-bush-says-illegal-immigration-often-act-love-224650855.html">Jeb Bush says illegal immigration often 'an act of love' - Yahoo News</a><br />
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:<br />
Jeb Bush, a potential Republican presidential candidate in 2016, said on Sunday that illegal immigrants who come to the United States to provide for their families are not committing a felony but an "act of love."<br />
<br />
In comments at odds with the views of many in his party, Bush, the son of the 41st president and brother of the 43rd, said of the divisive immigration issue: "I think we need to kind of get beyond the harsh political rhetoric to a better place.<br />
<br />
"I'm going to say this and it will be on tape and so be it," Bush said in an interview with Fox News host Shannon Bream in an event at the Texas presidential library of his father, George H.W. Bush.<br />
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"The way I look at this is someone who comes to our country because they couldn't come legally ... and they crossed the border because they had no other means to work, to be able to provide for their family, yes, <br />
they broke the law, but it's not a felony. "It's an act of love, it's an act of commitment to your family.</div>
<a class="body-related-link body-related-video go-to-slideshow-lightbox rapid-noclick-resp landscape onesize get-lbdata-from-dom" data-pos="1" data-rapid_p="9" data-uuid="b0f66f19-186c-349f-a83f-0005f2e2e479" data-ylk="t1:a3;t2:ct-mod;t3:embd;sec:ct-mod;slk:play;elm:img;elmt:ct;itc:1;g:c1b0e899-b88a-35ae-9fb3-2f2174aeac58;aid:b0f66f19-186c-349f-a83f-0005f2e2e479;ct:3;cpos:1;" href="http://news.yahoo.com/video/jeb-bush-discusses-politics-not-222400657.html" title="Jeb Bush Discusses Politics, But Not Presidency"><span class="clearfix title cta-text medium">Jeb Bush Discusses Politics, But Not Presidency</span></a><br />
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Bush, 61, added: "I honestly think that that is a different kind of crime. There should be a price paid, but it shouldn't rile people up that people are actually coming to this country to provide for their families." Bush repeated at the event that he would decide on a presidential bid by the end of the year.<br />
A comprehensive immigration reform bill passed the Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate in June 2013 but has stalled in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.<br />
<div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1396845795346_662">
Republican lawmakers have cited deep divisions in the party over the issue, including granting legal status to 11 million undocumented immigrants.</div>
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A Republican Party review after the last presidential election had urged the party to embrace immigration reform to attract more Hispanic support. Democratic President Barack Obama, who was re-elected in 2012, won 71 percent of the Hispanic vote to Republican challenger Mitt Romney's 27 percent.</div>
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Recent polls have suggested that if he were to run, Bush, a former Florida governor, would be weighed down by Americans' lingering attitudes toward his brother, George W. Bush, who left office in January 2009 as one of the least popular presidents in U.S. history.</div>
<div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1396845795346_665">
In a Washington Post/ABC News poll last month, nearly half the voters surveyed said they "definitely would not" vote for Jeb Bush in 2016 - a level of disapproval matched only by Romney. Even Bush's mother, former first lady Barbara Bush, has been lukewarm about the notion of another son running for president.</div>
<div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1396845795346_666">
Asked by Bream about the critical considerations that would go into his decision on whether to run for the presidency, Bush said one was whether he could do it with a "hopeful, optimistic message" that avoids drawing him into a political "mudfight."</div>
<div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1396845795346_849">
The other consideration, he said, "is it OK for my family? Is it something that isn't a huge sacrifice for our family." He added: "It turns out that not running has generated more interest than if I said I was running."</div>
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The newly elected mayor of New York City has come out strong against corporate welfare and income inequality, and he has a plan to help remedy them. During an interview with WNYC reporter Brian Lehrer, Mayor Bill de Blasio said, “If we’re subsidizing companies, we have every right to demand a living wage for the people they pay.”<br />
<br />
DeBlasio set his sights, more specifically, on the fast food industry. In October, a report found that American taxpayers hand out over $3.8 billion every year to help subsidize workers pay for the countries top 10 largest fast food chains. The subsidies include welfare to help supplement their workers’ poverty wages, SNAP benefits so they can afford to eat, and Medicaid so that they do not die from a preventable illness. All while raking in record profits year after year.<br />
<br />
The increased awareness led to a historic walk out of non-unionized workers. Among their strongest supporters was de Blasio. Prior to his election,he joined fast food employees during protests in which they <br />
demanded a higher minimum wages, benefits and a union. While the walk out was not immediate successful, they did change the conversation in America to a much more pressing issue. One that de Blasio heard loud and clear. At the time, he said,<br />
<br />
“The bottom line is, this is an unsupportable situation where every day hard-working people can’t meet, and the companies involved certainly can do more.” Americans have built a cynicism towards what a politician says versus what they will actually do, and for good reason. When we vote, we make the best choice possible then hope we made the right choice. DeBlasio is not that kind of politician. Instead, he took to heart the anger and frustration of low-wage employees and wants to create laws that would help level the playing field.<br />
<br />
The mayor is expected to soon introduce legislation expanding living wage protections to New York. Under a proposal introduced this past summer, de Blasio would raise the wage for employees at companies receiving city subsidies–including some retail and fast-food restaurants–to $11.75 an hour with benefits.<br />
De Blasio said during the WNYC interview that he will fully unveil his plan to combat income inequality during next weeks State of the City address.<br />
<br />
Another possible plan that de Blasio is considering is asking Albany to allow New York City the power to set its own minimum wage. This idea is a lot like the one that would split California into two different states. New York City is one of the most expensive cities to live in the world. The needs of the people in the city differ greatly from the rest of the state. Even at $11.75 an hour, trying to support a family would still be at a poverty level.<br />
<br />
If de Blasio is granted the right to set his own minimum wage, it could give the city the power it needs to reduce income inequality. A higher minimum wage will mean more money in the pockets of workers which<br />
builds a thriving economy. While Republicans will try to argue the theory that a higher minimum wage would mean less jobs, the facts simply say otherwise. De Blasio and the Democratic Party are on the right side<br />
of this issue. The question is, will enough Americans create enough noise to force Congress to do the right thing by them?JBMediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01913007398286876740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379922448302093968.post-41000373190147107632014-03-23T17:13:00.001-04:002014-03-23T17:20:03.303-04:00Turkey shoots down Syrian plane it says violated air space - Yahoo News<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-jet-shot-down-near-turkish-border-media-123858361.html">Turkey shoots down Syrian plane it says violated air space - Yahoo News</a><br />
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:<br />
Turkish armed forces shot down a Syrian plane on Sunday that Ankara said had crossed into its air space <br />
in an area where Syrian rebels have been battling President Bashar al-Assad's forces for control of a border crossing.<br />
"A Syrian plane violated our airspace," Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told an election rally in northwest Turkey. "Our F-16s took off and hit this plane. Why? Because if you violate my airspace, our slap after this<br />
<div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1395609166943_846">
will be hard."</div>
<div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1395609166943_666">
Syria condemned what it called a "blatant aggression" and said the jet was pursuing rebel fighters inside Syria. It said the pilot had managed to eject before the plane crashed. The Turkish general staff said </div>
one of its control centers detected two Syrian MIG-23s around 1 pm (1100 GMT) and warned them four times after they came close to the Turkish border.<br />
<br />
<div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1395609166943_847">
One plane entered Turkish airspace at Yayladagi, east of the Kasab border crossing, it said. A Turkish F-16 fired a rocket at the Syrian jet and it crashed around 1,200 meters (1,300 yards) inside Syrian territory.</div>
<div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1395609166943_665">
Amateur video released by rebel fighters showed smoke rising from wooded hills in the border area where they said the plane had come down. The rebels have been fighting since Friday for control of the Kasab </div>
<div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1395609166943_851">
crossing, one of several counter-offensives since they retreated this week from a crusader castle near the Lebanese frontier and town on a vital cross-border supply route.</div>
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State television said Hilal al-Assad, a cousin of the president and local leader of the National Defence Force militia which has been supporting the army's efforts to crush the rebellion, was killed near Kasab on Sunday.</div>
Assad's soldiers, backed by Iran and Shi'ite forces from Iraq and Lebanon's Hezbollah, have been pushing rebels back in the centre of the country around Damascus and Homs, but have only a minimal presence in most of north and eastern Syria.<br />
<br />
"UNPRECEDENTED" TURKISH INTERVENTION<br />
The incident occurred six months after Turkish warplanes shot down a Syrian helicopter which crossed into Turkish airspace in the same border area.<br />
<br />
Once a close ally of Assad, Erdogan became a fierce critic of the president's military response to Syria's uprising and has sheltered and supported rebels battling to overthrow him. Authorities in Damascus say this <br />
week's Islamist rebel offensive around the Kasab border crossing marked a new escalation, accusing Turkey of firing tank and artillery shells into Syria to provide cover for the fighters.<br />
<br />
<div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1395609166943_662">
A source at Syria's foreign ministry called Turkey's actions "unprecedented and unjustified", state news agency SANA said.</div>
More than 140,000 people have been killed in Syria's conflict, while 2.5 million refugees have fled to neighboring countries and millions more need humanitarian aid.<br />
<br />
Assad's forces have already lost control of most border crossings with Turkey during the three-year civil<br />
war but had held on to Kasab, gateway to the coastal province of Latakia that has remained an Assad stronghold.<br />
<br />
<div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1395609166943_569">
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said heavy clashes continued for a third day around Kasab, where rebels have seized control of the border crossing but Assad's forces, who still control <br />
the nearby Kasab village, have been fighting back, supported by air power.</div>
<div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1395609166943_661">
The British-based anti-Assad Observatory said rebels also launched another attack in Latakia on Sunday in the village of Solas, about 25 km (15 miles) south of Kasab. They also fired two rockets into the coastal city of Latakia, the main hub for operations to ship out Syria's chemical weapons for destruction under a deal reached with the United States and Russia. There were no immediate reports of casualties.</div>
<div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1395609166943_659">
In the northern city of Aleppo, rebels said they had captured a former police station on the edge of the city's ancient citadel, as well as installations in the Layramoun district and a nearby hill overlooking the main road into Aleppo from the northwest.</div>
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JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:<br />
The president of ex-Soviet Moldova warned Russia on Tuesday against considering any move to annex his <br />
country's separatist Transdniestria region in the same way that it has taken control of Crimea in Ukraine.<br />
<br />
The president's comments came one day after the speaker of Transdniestria's separatist parliament, during a trip to Moscow, urged Russia to incorporate his mainly Russian-speaking region, which split away from Moldova in 1990.<br />
<div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1395193098816_831">
<br />
Moldovan President Nicolae Timofti said Russia would be making a "mistake" if it agreed to the request for annexation from Transdniestria's parliamentary speaker, Mikhail Burla. "This is an illegal body which has taken no decision on inclusion into Russia," Timofti told a news conference. "I believe that Burla's actions are counter-productive and will do no good for either Moldova or Russia. And if Russia makes a move to satisfy</div>
<div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1395193098816_833">
such proposals, it will be making a mistake," he said. President Vladimir Putin and the ethnic Russian leaders of Ukraine's Crimea region signed a treaty on Tuesday in Moscow making the Black Sea peninsula part of Russia after its voters overwhelmingly backed such a move in a referendum on Sunday.</div>
<br />
The Russian-speakers of Transdniestria seceded from Moldova in 1990, one year before the dissolution of the Soviet Union, amid fears that Moldova would shortly merge with neighboring Romania, whose language and culture it broadly shares.<br />
<br />
<div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1395193098816_835">
The separatist region fought a brief war with Moldova in 1992 and it declared itself an independent state, but it remains unrecognized by any country, including Russia.<br />
<br />
"INTERNATIONAL NORMS"</div>
Attempts to resolve the dispute have made little progress, with Russian "peacekeepers" standing guard over a large Soviet-era arsenal. A referendum in Transdniestria in 2006 produced a 97.2 percent vote in favor of joining Russia, an even higher score than in Crimea's referendum. Unlike Crimea, however, it is located far from Russia. It shares a border with Ukraine.<br />
<div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1395193098816_838">
<br />
Moldova, one of Europe's poorest countries, has been governed by pro-Western leaders since 2009. It has clinched an association agreement with the European Union, as currently sought by the pro-Western leaders<br />
who came to power in Ukraine after the removal of Moscow-backed President Viktor Yanukovich.</div>
<div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1395193098816_839">
<br />
In his remarks, Timofti denounced as illegal the referendum in Crimea and any bid by Russia to annex the peninsula, echoing criticism from Ukraine's pro-Western leaders, the United States and EU countries. <br />
Russia says it is acting in Crimea in accordance with international law. Timofti said Moldova wanted to solve its Transdniestria standoff through talks anchored in upholding the country's territorial integrity. "Russia has repeatedly stood by this. Our expectations from Russia are that it will observe international norms in Transdniestria," he said. Reports from Moscow said speaker Burla told Russian officials his region had given approval in principle to a law that would ensure the implementation of Russian legislation by Transdniestria.</div>
<div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1395193098816_843">
<br />
"Transdniestria's very difficult situation could be made even worse if Moldova, which has already signed an association agreement with the EU, now adopts restrictive economic measures," Russian media quoted Burla as saying. It was Yanukovich's decision last November not to sign Ukraine's association agreement with </div>
<div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1395193098816_844">
the EU and to seek closer economic ties with Russia instead that ignited the street protests that eventually forced his removal from office.</div>
JBMediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01913007398286876740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379922448302093968.post-62188538394972409382014-03-17T22:57:00.001-04:002014-03-17T23:04:39.430-04:00Baltimore set to repay $4 million in misspent homeless funds | Baltimore Brew<a href="http://www.baltimorebrew.com/2014/03/17/baltimore-set-to-repay-4-million-in-misspent-homeless-funds/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+baltimorebrew+%28Baltimore+Brew+-+Stirring+Up+Baltimore+News+and+Views%29">Baltimore set to repay $4 million in misspent homeless funds | Baltimore Brew</a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEjvJKyEVECMkNsNGr6vwy6Ol08XdlSuTH1QIs6jr1jguYSyt8p1ggAHTh264Mo8zAQTuGFxWRP2nvkvq6bwaeh5is5_4YmrQsnYR6l57BSWtgM6IdmtHyNyffAcsv-GSrZjysyjNBaaRmKcQvOdaO8IM0y93I7CjF16x6Zy9nlv3qtrEkpGprPENf_dyKlCnfTbiPA4EZ-jr0xCwwBG2DsmaSBTVA__7nI4BpfeEsbrFdnliqM1rtK9rRhfW6YSPFvYIgIR0boa=" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="homeless camp by I-83" border="0" class="image-src" src="http://www.baltimorebrew.com/content/themes/bbrew/scripts/thumb.php?src=/content/uploads/2014/03/homeless-camp-by-I-83.jpg&w=590&zc=0" height="123" width="200" /></a>JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:<br />
In a major setback to The Journey Home, the mayor’s signature homeless program, the Board of Estimates is scheduled to allocate nearly $4 million in general funds to reimburse the federal government for <br />
mishandling homeless funds spent between 2009 and 2011.<br />
<br />
The settlement, listed on Wednesday’s board agenda, will end a nearly two-year battle with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) over the use of $9.5 million in Homelessness <br />
Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing funds awarded to Baltimore as part of President Obama’s 2009 Recovery Act.<br />
<br />
Following a critical audit by HUD’s Inspector General, the agency made a final determination that $3,756,025.35 of the funds given to non-profit grantees as part of The Journey Home program violated federal eligibility requirements or were not part of the program’s terms and conditions.<br />
<br />
<b>City Hall Deflects Blame</b><br />
A dozen providers – including Prisoner’s Aid Association, People Encouraging People (PEP), AIDS Interfaith Residential Services (AIRS), the city’s Community Action Centers, and St. Vincent de Paul – could not document how millions of dollars were used.<br />
<br />
The Mayor’s Office of Human Services administered the funds, and United Way of Central Maryland served as fiscal agent for The Journey Home program.<br />
<br />
Both groups allowed federal funds to be dispersed to providers on a predetermined basis before any documentation of spending was received, according to HUD’s Inspector General.<br />
<br />
HUD reported that several subgrantees had conflicts of interest, and the city’s Homeless Services office hired a top employee based on an “oral contract” that was paid for with federal funds. In response, <br />
Olivia Farrow, director of Human Services, and Kate Briddell, Homeless Services chief, insisted that the city would document and account for all of the spending.<br />
<br />
Even last month, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake was denying that the matter was anything more serious than misplaced paperwork and confusion caused by a federal program that was hastily set up to address the Great Recession and mortgage crisis.<br />
<br />
The mayor said other cities also failed to document funds for the program, but a review of HUD inspection reports by <i>The Brew</i> indicated that Baltimore was, by far, <a href="https://www.baltimorebrew.com/2012/12/05/inside-city-hall-what-a-federal-audit-tells-us-about-city-spending/" target="_blank" title="Baltimore homeless funds misspent ">the worst violator</a>.<br />
Following media reports, officials from St. Vincent De Paul, Catholic Charities and Health Care for the Homeless stood alongside the mayor last month to defend the program.<br />
<br />
Asked who was to blame for the debacle, the Mayor told <i>The Brew</i>: “I tend to think blame is someone else’s game. This to me is about serving homeless individuals, and this was done. Serving families in need, and that was done. For me, at the end of the day, it’s about reputable service providers providing good services for people in need.”<br />
___________________________________________________________<br />
<b>OUR COVERAGE OF THE DISPUTED FUNDS</b><br />
<b>• <a href="http://www.baltimorebrew.com/2012/12/05/inside-city-hall-what-a-federal-audit-tells-us-about-city-spending/" target="_blank" title="HUD homeless audit ">What a federal audit tells us about city spending</a></b> (12/5/12)<br />
<br />
<b>• <a href="http://www.baltimorebrew.com/2013/12/03/city-reserves-7-million-to-repay-mismanaged-federal-homeless-grant/" target="_blank" title="$7 million reserved for mismanaged grant">City reserves $7 million to repay mismanaged federal homeless grant </a></b>(12/3/13)<br />
<br />
<b>• <a href="http://www.baltimorebrew.com/2014/01/08/questions-but-no-answers-on-mismanaged-homeless-services-grant/" target="_blank" title="questions about mismanaged homeless grant">Questions but no answers on mismanaged homeless services grant</a></b> (1/8/14)<br />
<br />
• <b><a href="https://www.baltimorebrew.com/2014/02/25/hud-tells-city-to-repay-nearly-4-million-in-misspent-homeless-funds/" target="_blank" title="HUD tells city to repay">HUD tells city to repay nearly $4 million in misspent homeless funds</a> </b>(2/25/14)<br />
<br />
• <b><a href="https://www.baltimorebrew.com/2014/02/26/documents-show-hud-last-year-ordered-review-of-64-homeless-grants/" target="_blank" title="HUD orderd reviewed of Balto homeless grants">Documents show: HUD last year ordered review of 64 homeless grants</a></b> (2/26/14)<br />
<br />
• <b><a href="https://www.baltimorebrew.com/2014/02/26/mayor-and-homeless-providers-praise-grants-faulted-by-hud/" target="_blank" title="mayor praises homeless grants">Mayor and homeless providers praise grants faulted by HUD</a></b> (2/26/14)<br />
__________________________________________________________<br />
During the February 26 news conference, the mayor cautioned reporters that the city may not have to reimburse HUD in cash. She said, “There are a lot of ways to get to that 3.7 [million dollars]. At this point, <br />
it is not clear whether it has to be dollar-for-dollar.”<br />
<br />
Asked if the city was seeking a special deal with HUD, she answered, “It’s too early to say.” In its still-unreleased report (obtained by<i> The Brew),</i> HUD’s Baltimore field office stipulated that the money had to come from non-federal city funds, meaning from the taxpayer-financed general fund.<br />
<br />
This week’s Board of Estimates agenda shows that the federal government hasn’t backed down – and is demanding its money right down to the penny.<br />
<br />
<!-- Blogger automated replacement: "https://images-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.baltimorebrew.com%2Fcontent%2Fthemes%2Fbbrew%2Fscripts%2Fthumb.php%3Fsrc%3D%2Fcontent%2Fuploads%2F2014%2F03%2Fhomeless-camp-by-I-83.jpg%26w%3D590%26zc%3D0&container=blogger&gadget=a&rewriteMime=image%2F*" with "https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEjvJKyEVECMkNsNGr6vwy6Ol08XdlSuTH1QIs6jr1jguYSyt8p1ggAHTh264Mo8zAQTuGFxWRP2nvkvq6bwaeh5is5_4YmrQsnYR6l57BSWtgM6IdmtHyNyffAcsv-GSrZjysyjNBaaRmKcQvOdaO8IM0y93I7CjF16x6Zy9nlv3qtrEkpGprPENf_dyKlCnfTbiPA4EZ-jr0xCwwBG2DsmaSBTVA__7nI4BpfeEsbrFdnliqM1rtK9rRhfW6YSPFvYIgIR0boa=" -->JBMediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01913007398286876740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379922448302093968.post-27833375231389767932014-03-16T17:04:00.001-04:002014-03-16T17:20:48.689-04:00Crimeans overwhelmingly vote for secession - Yahoo News<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/crimeans-overwhelmingly-vote-secession-203613036.html">Crimeans overwhelmingly vote for secession - Yahoo News</a><br />
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:<br />
Fireworks exploded and Russian flags fluttered above jubilant crowds Sunday after residents in Crimea <br />
voted overwhelmingly to secede from Ukraine and join Russia. The United States and Europe condemned the ballot as illegal and destabilizing and were expected to slap sanctions against Russia for it.<br />
<br />
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<li class="list-item story" data-uuid="1aaf865f-2c0a-3ef1-b626-ea2a352874f9"> <a data-rapid_p="2" data-ylk="itc:0;tar:news.yahoo.com;ct:1;sec:lst-ct;cpos:2;test:312015;g:1aaf865f-2c0a-3ef1-b626-ea2a352874f9;pkgt:2;prov:Associated Press;" href="http://news.yahoo.com/ukraine-pm-says-nation-never-surrender-215509430.html">Ukraine PM says his nation will 'never surrender'</a> <span class="source">Associated Press</span> </li>
<li class="list-item story" data-uuid="fbd2cd46-4bc8-30a2-bf64-91dc946b7f29"> <a data-rapid_p="3" data-ylk="itc:0;tar:www.marketwatch.com;ct:1;sec:lst-ct;cpos:3;test:312015;g:fbd2cd46-4bc8-30a2-bf64-91dc946b7f29;pkgt:2;prov:MarketWatch;" href="http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=D146AC6A-AD20-11E3-9CF0-00212803FAD6&siteid=yhoof2">Crimea nearer to split with Ukraine</a> <span class="source">MarketWatch</span> </li>
<li class="list-item story" data-uuid="4ad69699-1c59-32c7-9249-43c99b7e6e38" id="yui_3_9_1_1_1395003712360_856"> <a data-rapid_p="4" data-ylk="itc:0;tar:theweek.com;ct:1;sec:lst-ct;cpos:4;test:312015;g:4ad69699-1c59-32c7-9249-43c99b7e6e38;pkgt:2;prov:The Week (RSS);" href="http://theweek.com/article/index/258127/speedreads-crimeans-vote-today-in-a-disputed-referendum-to-split-from-ukraine" id="yui_3_9_1_1_1395003712360_855">Crimeans vote today in a disputed referendum to split from Ukraine</a> <span class="source">The Week (RSS)</span> </li>
<li class="list-item story" data-uuid="3d7872fa-eefb-330d-a598-6dfbf5c791f7"> <a data-rapid_p="5" data-ylk="itc:0;tar:theweek.com;ct:1;sec:lst-ct;cpos:5;test:312015;g:3d7872fa-eefb-330d-a598-6dfbf5c791f7;pkgt:2;prov:The Week (RSS);" href="http://theweek.com/article/index/258127/speedreads-crimeans-vote-today-in-a-disputed-referendum-on-whether-to-split-from-ukraine">Crimeans vote today in a disputed referendum on whether to split from Ukraine</a> <span class="source">The Week (RSS)</span> </li>
</ul>
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</section><br />
Ukraine's new government in Kiev called the referendum a "circus" directed at gunpoint by Moscow — referring to the thousands of Russian troops now in the strategic Black Sea peninsula after seizing it two weeks ago.</div>
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</div>
<div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1395003712360_669">
But after the polls closed late Sunday, crowds of ethnic Russians in the regional Crimean capital of Simferopol erupted with jubilant chants in the main square, overjoyed at the prospect of once again becoming part of Russia.</div>
<div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1395003712360_670">
The Crimea referendum offered voters the choice of seeking annexation by Russia or remaining in Ukraine with greater autonomy. After 50 percent of the ballots were counted, Mikhail Malishev, head of the referendum committee, said more than 95 percent of voters had approved splitting off and joining Russia.</div>
<div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1395003712360_838">
Opponents of secession appeared to have stayed away Sunday, denouncing the vote as a cynical power play and land grab by Russia.</div>
Russia was expected to face strong sanctions Monday by the U.S. and Europe over the vote, which could also encourage rising pro-Russian sentiment in Ukraine's east and lead to further divisions in this nation of 46 <br />
million. Residents in western Ukraine and the capital, Kiev, are strongly pro-West and Ukrainian nationalist.<br />
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An Ukrainian policeman exits a voting booth after casting his vote in Perevalne, Ukraine, Sunday, Ma …</div>
The Crimean parliament will meet Monday to formally ask Moscow to be annexed and Crimean lawmakers will fly to Moscow later in the day for talks, Crimea's pro-Russia prime minister said on Twitter.<br />
<br />
In Moscow, the speaker of the lower house of the Russian parliament, Sergei Naryshkin, suggested that joining Russia was a done deal.<br />
"We understand that for 23 years after Ukraine's formation as a sovereign state, Crimeans have been waiting for this day," Naryshkin was quoted as saying by the state ITAR-Tass news agency.<br />
<br />
Russian lawmaker Vladimir Zhirinovsky said the annexation could take "from three days to three months," according to Interfax.<br />
Some residents in Crimea said they feared the new Ukrainian government that took over when President Viktor Yanukovych fled to Russia last month will oppress them.<br />
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</div>
A Ukrainian policeman looks at ballot boxes after casting his vote in Perevalne, Ukraine, Sunday, Ma … "It's like they're crazy Texans in western Ukraine. Imagine if the Texans suddenly took over power (in Washington) and told everyone they should speak Texan," said Ilya Khlebanov, a voter in Simferopol.</div>
<br />
In Sevastopol, the Crimean port where Russia now leases a major naval base from Ukraine for $98 million a year, more than 70 people surged into a polling station in the first 15 minutes of voting Sunday.<br />
<br />
Ukraine's new prime minister insisted that neither Ukraine nor the West would recognize the vote.<br />
"Under the stage direction of the Russian Federation, a circus performance is underway: the so-called referendum," Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said Sunday. "Also taking part in the performance are 21,000 Russian troops, who with their guns are trying to prove the legality of the <br />
referendum."<br />
As soon as the polls closed, the White House again denounced the vote.<br />
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Pro-Russia demonstrators storm the prosecutor general's office during a rally in Donetsk, Ukrain … "The international community will not recognize the results of a poll administered under threats of violence," it said in a statement. "Russia's actions are dangerous and destabilizing."</div>
<br />
Russia raised the stakes Saturday when its forces, backed by helicopter gunships and armored vehicles, took control of the Ukrainian village of Strilkove and a key natural gas distribution plant nearby— the first Russian military move into Ukraine beyond the Crimean peninsula of 2 million people. The Russian forces later returned the village but kept control of the gas plant.<br />
<br />
On Sunday, Ukrainian soldiers were digging trenches and erecting barricades between the village and the gas plant.<br />
"We will not let them advance further into Ukrainian territory," said Serhiy Kuz, commander of a Ukrainian paratrooper battalion.<br />
<br />
Despite the threat of sanctions, Russian President Vladimir Putin has vigorously resisted calls to pull back in Crimea. At the United Nations on Saturday, Russia vetoed a Security Council resolution declaring the <br />
referendum illegal. China, its ally, abstained and 13 of the 15 other nations on the council voted in favor.<br />
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A man and child exit a voting booth after casting a vote in the Crimean referendum in Simferopol, Uk … German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke to Putin by phone Sunday, proposing that an international observer mission in Ukraine be expanded quickly as tensions rise in the east. Her spokesman said she also condemned the Russian seizure of the gas plant.</div>
<br />
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry also spoke and agreed to support constitutional reforms in Ukraine that could ease the tensions, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. Ukraine's Regional Policy Minister Volodymyr Groisman told The Associated Press the new government was already working on giving towns and regions more autonomy but said there were no plans to turn Ukraine into a federation.<br />
<br />
In Donetsk, one of the main cities in eastern Ukraine, pro-Russia demonstrators called Sunday for a referendum similar to the one in Crimea.<br />
<br />
<div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1395003712360_1394">
In Sevastopol, speakers blared the city anthem up and down the streets but the military threat was not far away — a Russian naval warship still blocked the port's outlet to the Black Sea, trapping Ukrainian boats.</div>
At a polling station inside a historic school, tears came to Vladimir Lozovoy, a 75-year-old retired Soviet naval officer, as he talked about his vote.<br />
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A woman casts her ballot at a polling station in Simferopol, Ukraine, Sunday, March 16, 2014. Reside … "I want to cry. I have finally returned to my motherland. It is an incredible feeling. This is the thing I have been waiting for for 23 years," he said.</div>
But Crimea's large Muslim Tatar minority — whose families had been forcibly removed from their homeland and sent to Central Asia during Soviet times — remained defiant.<br />
The Crimea referendum "is a clown show, a circus," Tatar activist Refat Chubarov said on Crimea's Tatar television station. "This is a tragedy, an illegitimate government with armed forces from another country."<br />
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The fate of Ukrainian soldiers trapped in their Crimean bases by pro-Russian forces was still uncertain. But Ukraine's acting defense minister, Igor Tenyuk, was quoted as saying Sunday that an agreement had been reached with Russia not to block Ukrainian soldiers in Crimea through Friday. It was not clear exactly what that meant.</div>
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On the streets of Simferopol, blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flags were nowhere to seen but red, white and blue Russian and Crimean flags fluttered in abundance.</div>
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A man holds a ballot after casting a vote in favor of separation from Ukraine in the Crimean referen …</div>
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Ethnic Ukrainians <br />
interviewed outside the Ukrainian Orthodox cathedral of Vladimir and <br />
Olga said they refused to take part in the referendum, calling it an <br />
illegal charade stage-managed by Moscow. Some said they were scared of <br />
the potential for widespread harassment.</div>
<div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1395003712360_1359">
"We're just not going to play these separatist games," said Yevgen Sukhodolsky, a 41-year-old prosecutor from Saki, a town outside Simferopol. "Putin is the fascist. The Russian government is fascist." Vasyl Ovcharuk, a retired gas pipe layer, predicted dark days ahead for Crimea. "This will end up in military action, in which peaceful people will suffer. And that means everybody. Shells and bullets are blind," he said.</div>
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Against Putin - Bloomberg View<a href="http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-03-10/waiting-for-china-to-speak-out-against-putin?cmpid=yhoo">Waiting for China to Speak Out Against Putin - Bloomberg View</a><br />
\JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:<br />
The world's condemnation of Vladimir Putin's power grab in Ukraine is missing one important voice: China's. That's no surprise. <br />
Since assuming office, Chinese President Xi Jinping has put <a href="http://rbth.ru/news/2013/03/22/xi_jinpings_visit_to_moscow_to_prove_china_russia_most_important_strateg_24142.html" title="" type="">great emphasis</a> on building up his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Both men fancy themselves strong, charismatic leaders bent on restoring their nations to greatness. <br />
But if China wants to be the world leader it claims to be, it cannot afford to sit on the sidelines this <br />
time. Xi spoke with U.S. President Barack Obama on Sunday night and, <a href="http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304815004579416771704060190?mod=WSJAsia_hpp_LEFTTopStories&mg=reno64-wsj" title="" type="">contrary to Russian claims</a><br />
of Chinese support, agreed on the "importance of upholding principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity, both in the context of Ukraine and also for the broader functioning of the international system." That's a nod in the right direction, not a bold step. <br />
The difficulty for Xi is that he considers Russia -- his first overseas stop after becoming president -- to be a useful counterbalance to the West. It's also an increasingly important source of energy and <a href="http://en.ria.ru/world/20120306/171780246.html" title="" type="">advanced weaponry</a>.<br />
Even as China, in its one public comment on Russia's incursion in Crimea, reaffirmed its respect for Ukraine's independence and sovereignty, it <a href="http://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1439665/russia-says-china-board-over-its-actions-ukraine-beijing-less-forthright" title="" type="">underscored</a> that "there are reasons that the Ukrainian situation is what it is <br />
today" -- a reference to the messy collapse of the Soviet Union, which both Xi and Putin <a href="http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/317151-film-study-exorcises-gorbachev-for-chinese-cadres/?photo=2" title="" type="">agree</a> was a tragedy. <br />
Yet the real bond in the Sino-Russian relationship is the very principle Putin has just violated in Ukraine: noninterference in another nation's internal affairs. Moscow and Beijing cling tightly to the dictum to justify United Nations Security Council vetoes. It's critical to both, given their shared worries about how outsiders might exploit ethnic tensions and democracy movements within their countries.<br />
If Putin continues to advance in Ukraine, forcing a military confrontation or breakup of the country, he may well push China to take a stronger stand. The truth is that in material terms, China gains less than Russia does <br />
from their relationship. The latter accounts for <a href="http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/139617/fiona-hill-and-bobo-lo/putins-pivot" title="" type="">a little more than 2 percent</a> of China's external trade. While volumes are growing, in 2011 China got only about 6 percent of its imported oil from Russia. And though China is Russia's largest trading partner, Putin has also been <a href="http://thediplomat.com/2013/11/to-hedge-its-bets-russia-is-encircling-china/" title="" type="">hedging his bets</a>. He has sought to expand rail links, pipelines and energy exports not just to China but also to both Koreas and to China's archrival Japan. <br />
Russia is aiming to sell sophisticated weaponry to India, and has deepened economic and military relations with Vietnam. Moscow has longstanding fears about Beijing's influence in its Far East, where an influx of Chinese traders has virtually colonized the region. <br />
In other matters affecting international stability, China has <a href="http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/67477/thomas-j-christensen/the-advantages-of-an-assertive-china" title="" type="">acknowledged</a> its responsibility to get involved. It has, for instance, agreed to chase pirates off the coast of Somalia even if they flee into territorial waters, and it has chosen not to obstruct some international sanctions against Iran and North Korea. Implicitly tolerating Putin's adventurism now only reinforces fears about China's behavior -- especially among its neighbors, who already suspect that it aims to annex several islands and atolls across the East and South China Seas. <br />
China ultimately shares the same goals in Ukraine as the rest of the world: to affirm the sanctity of international borders, avoid bloodshed and <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-03/goldman-sees-russia-taming-ruble-losses-after-plunge-to-record.html" title="" type="">restore stability</a> to global markets as quickly as possible. All would be accomplished much faster and more durably if China spoke out now against Putin's aggression. <br />
<br />JBMediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01913007398286876740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379922448302093968.post-9813472294297911212014-03-09T18:17:00.001-04:002014-03-09T18:26:03.644-04:00Is Ben Carson 2016's sleeper candidate? | TheHill<a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/200264-is-ben-carson-2016s-sleeper-candidate">Is Ben Carson 2016's sleeper candidate? | TheHill</a><br />
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:<br />
Neurologist Ben Carson could be 2016’s sleeper presidential contender. You won’t find him in early polls, and he doesn’t make headlines for huddling with top advisers in primary states. Carson is lauded for his plainspoken yet forceful ability to speak clearly about the party’s values. The retired neurosurgeon, rose to prominence after delivering a controversial speech at last year’s National Prayer Breakfast, where he lambasted President Obama and his policies while standing just feet away from the president.<br />
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<div class="field-items">
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Now, his supporters believe Carson, as a black Republican and a true political outsider, could be the one GOP candidate capable of taking down Hillary Clinton.<br />
That simple star power has made him one of the biggest draws at this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference, earned him a prime speaking slot on Saturday, and and even inspired an unlikely movement to draft him into the presidential race.<br />
But for as much of a surprise as his rise with conservatives has been, he’s still a reluctant candidate. Carson maintains he doesn’t want to run and isn’t making any serious preparations for a bid, but in a Thursday interview with The Hill, it was clear that he has thought seriously about the logistics of a campaign.<br />
“My hope, obviously, is that someone else will really catch fire and generate a great deal of enthusiasm. If that doesn’t happen in another year and there’s still a lot of people clamoring for another option, then I will have to really look seriously at it,” he told The Hill in a phone conversation.<br />
But people are already clamoring for Carson. He wouldn’t give specifics on where his packed speaking schedule had taken him in the past few months, but said he visits states in every corner of the country, headlining fundraisers and civic events and speaking at schools about conservative principles and on the dangers of ObamaCare.<br />
“People are so thrilled to see that they’re not the only one with common sense. But the problem is the <br />
people with common sense have been beaten down so they’re afraid to express themselves,” he said.<br />
That’s why he’s trying to “wake the American people up” — a central theme of his speech on on CPAC’s closing day.<br />
“I’m going to talk about how [conservatives have] been picking on little things and making big arguments out of them, rather than looking at the big things that are destroying our country,” he said, noting the national debt as an example of a troubling “big thing.”<br />
But don’t call his address a precursor to a presidential run. Carson said that “if it’s supposed to happen it’s going to happen,” and that he’s leaving the preparations “in the hands of God.” Or, the hands of Vernon <br />
Robinson, a former congressional candidate and George H.W. Bush appointee and one of the co-founders of the Draft Ben Carson for President Committee.<br />
The organization raised $2.83 million from 47,000 donors in its first six months of operation — considerably more than the $1.25 million the similar “Ready for Hillary” effort made in its first six months, and they’ve deployed 1,700 active volunteers to GOP functions nationwide to gather draft signatures. Standing in the noisy hallways of CPAC, where a troupe of volunteers were passing out “Ben Carson for President” swag two floors down, Robinson told The Hill that the group is hoping to triple that sum by the end of the year.<br />
“We’re trying to do three things: Get a million people to sign the [draft] petition by the end of the year, raise someplace between $7 or 8 million from 150,000 donors by the end of the year and we’re trying to build a <br />
political infrastructure,” he said.<br />
Robinson is so enthusiastic about Carson for president because, he says, he may be the only candidate that can take down Clinton.<br />
“He’s the only guy who can broaden the GOP base, get 17 percent of the black vote, get a healthy number of Hispanic voters, while still staying true to conservative ideals,” Robinson said. “[Carson’s] very effective at communicating conservative ideas so that the average American can understand.<br />
Carson said he was aware of the draft effort but that he would “have to see something on a sustained basis” in terms of encouragement to run, and that “$2-3 million is not anywhere close to enough money” to support a campaign.<br />
Carson did say, however, “I’ve heard from some very big donors” encouraging him to run, though he wouldn’t offer any names. He readily acknowledges that he’s not steeped in politics and would need a <br />
team with that experience to mount a strong challenge.<br />
And, as any serious contender would do, he’s sizing up the field before he makes his decision.<br />
“I really am waiting more to see what the field looks like. If there’s somebody out there who is truly exciting people, there wouldn’t be any need for me to run,” he said.<br />
But that hasn’t happened yet: “I think there are a lot of potential people. No one has really grabbed the<br />
imagination of the American people.” Indeed, if the need is there, he just might do it. Begrudgingly.<br />
“I don’t particularly want to do it,” he told The Hill, “but I would never turn my back on my fellow Americans.”</div>
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JBMediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01913007398286876740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379922448302093968.post-68651356186422152882014-03-09T17:44:00.001-04:002014-03-09T17:48:19.762-04:00Mitch McConnell On Tea Party Challengers: 'We Are Going To Crush Them Everywhere'<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/09/mitch-mcconnell-tea-party_n_4930160.html?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000592">Mitch McConnell On Tea Party Challengers: 'We Are Going To Crush Them Everywhere'</a><br />
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:<br />
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) says he isn't worried about tea party-backed candidates challenging GOP incumbents in this year's midterm elections. <br />
<br />
"I think we are going to crush them everywhere," McConnell told the <a href="http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/03/09/us/politics/leading-republicans-move-to-stamp-out-challenges-from-right.html?referrer=" target="_hplink">New York Times</a> in an interview published Saturday. "I don't think they are going to have a single nominee anywhere in the country." <br />
<br />
McConnell is one of several senators facing tea party opposition in their primary races this spring. McConnell's main opponent is Kentucky businessman <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/23/matt-bevin-kentucky_n_3640113.html" target="_hplink">Matt Bevin</a>, who has spent the campaign attacking the senator's conservative credentials. As the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/25/senate-republican-primaries_n_4853043.html" target="_hplink">Associated Press</a> reported last month, McConnell and other GOP incumbents have started to come out aggressively against these candidates, using opposition research to undermine them.<br />
<br />
“Mitch McConnell is clearly in trouble in this primary or he wouldn’t be attacking Matt Bevin and declaring <br />
war on conservatives,” the Senate Conservatives Fund's Matt Hoskins told the <a href="http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/03/09/us/politics/leading-republicans-move-to-stamp-out-challenges-from-right.html?referrer=" target="_hplink">Times</a>.<br />
<br />
However, polls in the race tell a different story. A survey released last month by GOP firm <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/13/mitch-mcconnell-poll_n_4782067.html" target="_hplink">Wenzel Strategies</a> found McConnell with a 42 point lead over Bevin, while a <a href="http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20140206/NEWS010605/302030108/0/NEWS01/Mitch-McConnell-trails-Alison-Lundergan-Grimes-in-Bluegrass-Poll-46-42" target="_hplink">Bluegrass Poll</a> pinned McConnell's lead at 26 points. <br />
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The Kentucky primary will be held May 20. JBMediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01913007398286876740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379922448302093968.post-49225131389770861862014-03-04T23:16:00.001-05:002014-03-04T23:22:51.652-05:00Michele Bachmann jewsplains to U.S. Jews that they are buzzkilling her End Times dream date | The Raw Story<a href="http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/03/04/michele-bachmann-jewsplains-to-u-s-jews-that-they-are-buzzkilling-her-end-times-dream-date/">Michele Bachmann jewsplains to U.S. Jews that they are buzzkilling her End Times dream date | The Raw Story</a><br />
<img alt="Bachmann_DONKEYHOTY-Flickr" class="attachment-in_article wp-post-image" src="http://www.rawstory.com/rs/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Bachmann_DONKEYHOTY-Flickr.jpg" height="112" width="200" /> <br />
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:<br />
Michele Bachmann (R-North Bedlam) is not very happy with American Jews. No siree, she most definitely is not.<br />
<br />
After all that American conservative evangelical Christians have done for The Chosen People, they persist in not choosing Republicans at the voting booth. C’mon, you guys! The Bible-thumpers are totally looking <br />
the other way about that little misunderstanding a couple of thousand years ago when you guys kinda-sorta killed Their Lord and Savior, The Prince of Peace, Son ‘O God: Jesus “MC J.C” Christ.<br />
<br />
So can you folks of the Hebrew persuasion maybe help a Brother In Christ out and vote for a Republican, even if he’s a Mormon, once in awhile?<br />
<br />
C’mon …. be a mensch (<i>Jewish for: ‘cool dude’</i>) just once!<br />
<br />
Apparently it’s not in the Kabbalah cards, so Michele sat down with Tony Perkins from the Family Research Council, (‘<i>Murican for: ‘chock full ‘o Godbotherers’</i>) to explain that U.S Jews are bring about the destruction of their homeland – which is, admittedly, kind of bad for them – but it’s actually really worse for her because she’s not getting any younger and the End Times aren’t getting here any faster.<br />
<br />
And you know why?<br />
<br />
According to <a href="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/bachmann-jewish-democrats-sold-out-israel-help-obama-bible-predicts-us-will-turn-against-isr">Right Wing Watch</a>, Michele says it’s all because of those meddling Jews and that <i>schvartzer</i> in the, previously, White House:<br />
<br />
The Jewish community gave him their votes, their support, their financial support and as recently as last week, forty-eight Jewish donors who are big contributors to the president wrote a letter to the Democrat [sic] senators in the US Senate to tell them to not advance sanctions against Iran. This is clearly against Israel’s best interest. What has been shocking has been seeing and observing Jewish organizations who it appears have made it their priority to support the political priority and the political ambitions of the president over the best interests of Israel. They sold out Israel. Why it was just last year when Bachmann warned that the <a href="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/bachmann-obama-supporting-al-qaeda-proving-we-are-end-times">End Times Are Nigh</a>:<br />
<br />
“This happened and as of today the United States is willingly, knowingly, intentionally sending arms to terrorists, now what this says to me, I’m a believer in Jesus Christ, as I look at the End Times scripture, this says to me that the leaf is on the fig tree and we are to understand the signs of the times, which is your ministry, we are to understand where we are in God’s end times history.”<br />
<blockquote>
“Rather than seeing this as a negative, we need to rejoice, Maranatha<br />
Come Lord Jesus, His day is at hand,” Bachmann continued. “When we see <br />
up is down and right is called wrong, when this is happening, we were <br />
told this; these days would be as the days of Noah.”</blockquote>
Cosmology note: <a href="http://www.noahmovie.com/">Noah opens nationwide</a> on March 28, so that has to mean something. Right?<br />
<br />
Anyway, everybody knows that Jesus won’t come back until Israel is all nice and tidy, so it would be greatly appreciated if the U.S. Jews would clean up their act, stop hanging around with riff-raff (like giving him money and smokes), and stop treating Israel like a frat house; maybe make the bed, wash a few dishes and take out the empties.<br />
<br />
Then, when He gets here, the Jews can all convert which will totally make up for that little <i>whoopsie-doodle!</i> from a couple of thousand years ago…<br />
<br />
Bless your Savior-denying (<span class="style9"><span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>John. 1:11</i>)</span></span> hearts…<br />
<br />JBMediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01913007398286876740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379922448302093968.post-53487939791246328922014-03-04T23:00:00.001-05:002014-03-04T23:06:43.249-05:00Big names set to win in Texas primaries shaken by Tea Party influence - Yahoo News<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/big-names-set-win-texas-primaries-shaken-tea-025911869--finance.html">Big names set to win in Texas primaries shaken by Tea Party influence - Yahoo News</a><br />
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:<br />
Texans went to the polls on Tuesday in primary elections where the top candidates for governor were <br />
projected to post easy wins and favorites of the conservative Tea Party movement shook up several races with established Republicans.<br />
U.S. Senator John Cornyn, a Republican, will win his race by a wide margin, local media projected. Attorney General Greg Abbott, the leading Republican candidate for governor, and state Senator Wendy Davis, the top Democratic Party candidate, were also projected to win in landslides, they said.<br />
<div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1393991985346_1173">
Run-off elections will be held on May 27 between the top two vote-getters in races where a single candidate did not win an outright majority.</div>
<div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1393991985346_1234">
The vote marks a changing of the guard for the Republicans with long-serving Governor Rick Perry not seeking re-election, perhaps to pursue a presidential run in 2016. Republicans dominate the statehouse and have not lost a statewide race since 1994. U.S. Senator Ted Cruz has emerged as one of the leaders of the Texas Republicans, pushing politics in the already conservative state even further to the right, analysts said. He is a favorite of the Tea Party movement, which is considered both conservative and libertarian and also populist in advocating for a smaller federal government and tax cuts.</div>
Perry, governor since 2000, has won praise for increasing jobs, exports and the size of the Texas economy, which has a $1.4 trillion annual GDP, slightly larger than South Korea's.<br />
Perry has been criticized for not doing enough to improve schools or provide health insurance for the poor, <br />
while pushing a socially conservative agenda with increased abortion restrictions and a ban on same-sex marriage.<br />
A host of Republican hopefuls have been trying to ride on the coattails of new star Cruz, turning campaigns into raucous affairs about how much they despise President Barack Obama's healthcare policy, embrace the constitutional right to bear arms and see a need to raise alarms about undocumented immigrants.<br />
"The Republican lieutenant governor's race and attorney general's race have been races to the right," said Sherri Greenberg, Director at the Center for Politics and Governance at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas.<br />
These two races were likely heading for run-offs. In the Dallas area, U.S. Representative Pete Sessions is the most prominent Republican in the Tea Party firing line. Challenger Katrina Pierson's website features a picture of Cruz and a quote in which he calls her "an utterly fearless principled conservative."<br />
Less than 1 percent of the precincts had reported in that race as of 8:30 p.m. U.S. Central Time, according to official voting results. In neighboring Fort Worth, Cruz has endorsed local Tea Party leader Konni Burton as the Republican nominee for a state Senate seat. Burton was the early leader in the race.<br />
State Senator Ken Paxton, running in a crowded field for attorney general, has featured a comment on his website in which Cruz calls him a "conservative warrior."<br />
Paxton took an early lead over Dan Branch, a long-serving member of the Texas House in that race.JBMediahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01913007398286876740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8379922448302093968.post-27831900091787729482014-03-04T02:37:00.001-05:002014-03-04T02:48:24.350-05:00Former NAACP President Ben Jealous Joins Kapor Center - The Root<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://www.theroot.com/articles/politics/2014/03/former_naacp_president_ben_jealous_joins_kapor_center.html?wpisrc=newstories">Former NAACP President Ben Jealous Joins Kapor Center - The Root</a><br />
<img alt="178267086-benjamin-todd-jealous-president-and-chief-executive-of" class="cq-dd-image sl-img-no-new-tab sl-art-illo" height="120" src="http://www.theroot.com/content/dam/theroot/articles/politics/2014/03/former_naacp_president_ben_jealous_joins_kapor_center/178267086-benjamin-todd-jealous-president-and-chief-executive-of.jpg.CROP.rtstoryvar-large.jpg" title="178267086-benjamin-todd-jealous-president-and-chief-executive-of" width="200" /><br />
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:<br />
Benjamin Jealous left the NAACP in January, but, he says, he plans to “stay on track with my life’s mission of leveling the playing field in this country.” And in the next phase of his career—as a venture partner at <br />
the Kapor Center for Social Impact—he’ll be focused on “trying new ways” to expand opportunities for young black and Latino students and entrepreneurs.<br />
<br />
Jealous—who became the youngest-ever president and CEO of the nation’s best-known civil rights organization when he took over at the end of 2008—is moving on, but he’s clear about what his legacy is at the NAACP.<br />
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<br />
Brought in to bring the association into the digital age and get “engaged online in a serious way,” Jealous says that under his leadership, the NAACP “went from less than 200,000 to more than 2 million digital activists.” He believes that “in any type of battle,” including ongoing civil rights struggles, “the ability to get the resources to the front line is really what makes or breaks your success.” And to that end, he says, in five years the association was able to “massively expand” its donor base.</div>
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<br />
Going forward, Jealous says, “restoring Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act” will be the NAACP’s top priority, but it’s one they’ll have to take on without him, because he’s already beginning a new chapter at <a href="http://kaporcenter.org/" target="_blank">Kapor</a>.</div>
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<br />
The center invests in tech companies that aim to narrow the divide in educational and entrepreneurial opportunities for African Americans and Latinos, particularly in the information technology sector.</div>
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<br />
When asked if part of the motivation for his next move was a sense that civil rights was migrating away from a government focus—particularly in light of President Barack Obama’s new emphasis on public-private partnerships like his <a href="http://www.theroot.com/articles/politics/2014/02/the_white_house_initiative_for_boys_and_young_men_color_explained.html?wpisrc=newstories" target="_blank">My Brother’s Keeper initiative</a>—Jealous suggested that his is a “‘both-and’ generation” of civil rights leaders who have “stayed in the groove of ‘We shall overcome’” and “resisted the temptation of ‘I shall overcome,’” and have “understood implicitly that we have to be willing” to address civil rights challenges “by any means that work.”</div>
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That includes My Brother’s Keeper, of which <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/politics/joegarofoli/article/Obama-Brother-s-Keeper-program-inspired-by-5275076.php" target="_blank">the Kapor Center is a sponsor</a>.</div>
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He’ll be working now to “diversify the start-up culture of the Silicon Valley by any means,” including efforts like Kapor’s sponsorship of “hack-athons” that provide experience for elementary and middle schools students who want to enhance their computer-programming skills and its funding of <a href="http://unow.com/" target="_blank">University Now</a>, a program designed to ease the cost burden of tuition for minority students seeking advanced degrees.</div>
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The Kapor Center also works with start-ups like <a href="http://pigeon.ly/" target="_blank">Pigeon.ly</a>, a service that provides lower-cost digital communication between prison inmates and their families, and <a href="https://www.regalii.com/en" target="_blank">Regalii</a>, another service that allows immigrant families to digitally pay bills for their families in their home countries.</div>
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The goal, says Jealous, is to provide seed investments for “disruptive technologies that promise to have a positive social impact” and “close gaps in access, opportunity and participation” for African Americans and Latinos in the start-up economy.</div>
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