Separation of Powers explained (Well, the way it is supposed to work......)

Via WRSA

 

The Ukraine Discussion has Fingers Pointed at Russia, but what if..........

Via Cousin John

 

 .........the Ukraine Scenario Was Started by U.S. & European Special Interests (And George Soros) to Block Russia’s Ability to Freely Move Gas & Oil to Global Markets?

The title of this post is fairly provocative and while I’m no professional analyst, nor do I claim to have a good grasp on the underlying realities happening “under the hood” in Ukraine, there is a long line of evidence that suggest something rather sinister is at work that most media refuses to report on.

 If you get the bulk of your news from CNN, Fox News or one of the other major media hubs, you’ll find the media world wants us all to believe a bunch of innocent and passionate citizens of Ukraine had enough and overthrew their President. But if you actually take the time to dig a little deeper you’ll find it’s not at all this simple. In fact, the entire scenario may very well have been staged by U.S. and European interests vs. Russian interests as part of the great global energy wars.

Before I get to the evidence I mentioned above, take a moment to watch this clip of John Bolton, former U.S. Ambassador to the UN talking about the middle east wars the U.S. has constantly been dragged into.

More @ Liberty News

U.S. siding with Nazis

 

A new equation in the Ukrainian crisis is a growing concern that ultra-nationalist Ukrainians could attack ethnic Russians.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has stated the ultra-nationalist threat is the reason for preparing to move Russian troops into the country.

The ultra-nationalists were instrumental in ousting pro-Russian Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, even though he turned down a European Union partnership agreement. Yanokuvych’s acceptance would have brought about austerity measures that the ultra-nationalists would have opposed.

They have shown an ability to operate among the tens of thousands of demonstrators in Kiev and are trained to confront security forces. They are equipped with helmets, masks, protective gear, weapons and Molotov cocktails.

Analysts say that the ultra-nationalist groups present a threat, since members are prepared and willing to confront security forces.

More @ WND

If the South Had Won Gettysburg

 

The passage below is taken from a novel, though one based upon common sense and the historical realities of North and South.  The “Jim Crow” laws did indeed have their basis in the North: New York in the 1820s dealt with the threat of a black swing vote by raising property qualifications for black voters; and the author aptly describes a “lost cause” myth which would have developed in the postwar North to glorify its defeat, and find a convenient scapegoat.

Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman

North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission

"Unsurpassed Valor, Courage and Devotion to Liberty"

www.ncwbts150.com

"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"

If the South Had Won Gettysburg

“Southerners were appalled, as well as perplexed, at the growing problems of discrimination and segregation in the North.  That the North would have fought for the freedom of the black man, then turn around and display animosity at him for moving into the North and expressing his newly-found freedoms, seemed hypocrisy at its worst to the average citizen of the Confederacy. 

The turn of the century brought to the United States what became known as the “Jim Crow” laws, named after a traditional song and dance, ironically of the South. Contemporary Southern social analysts have blamed the animosities felt in the North against the former slaves and sons and daughters of formers slaves, on several things.

First, there was the idea in the north that the Civil War had, in essence been a “black man’s war” in which hundreds of thousands of northern boys had sacrificed life and limb for the emancipation of the black man.  The immediate woes that beset the United States after the war ended in defeat for the North needed some focal point, and the poor, uneducated former slave – the stranger to Northerners – became the convenient scapegoat.

In addition, the freeing of slaves flooded the job market in the North with workers who were willing to work for “slave wages” – much less than the ex-Union soldiers, also looking for jobs at the end of the war in 1863.  Many veterans were fired from jobs and replaced with ex-slaves.  The results were riots all over the North over nearly a decade.

The Southerner’s more lenient attitudes toward black people stemmed from generations of living with blacks, growing up with them, working beside them in the fields, and later, in the factories.  Most Southerners would have admitted, even during the War between the States that they had always felt an uneasiness – a guilt, even – in seeing blacks held in servitude as slaves.

The stories of mistreatment and whippings had always been regarded in the South as ludicrous, pre-war propaganda by Abolitionists who had never seen a black man or woman.  Certainly there were instances of a cruel overseer who applied punishment a little too often, but slaves in the old South had been considered property – and expensive property, as well – and were to be treated like an item of value.  As one Southern social historian put it, you wouldn’t take a sledge-hammer to your brand new, expensive horseless carriage the first time it didn’t run; you would find out why it wasn’t working and fix it.

Southerners saw black men and women grow up, fall in love, marry, give birth, laugh, cry, and mourn the deaths of family members. There was something wrong here, many felt.  These black people were not really property, like a plow or a horseless carriage.  Under the skin, though many a Southerner, we are a very much alike. 

It had to be a terrible moral burden, a society-wide, sublimated guilt about slavery that, once the war was over and the name-calling by Abolitionists had ended, could finally be seen in its true light, and was dealt with swiftly by the hurried measures to free the blacks from bondage.  To the average Southerner, blacks were not only property, but people too.  To the Northerners, blacks were first a symbol, then a threat.”

If the South Had Won Gettysburg, Mark Nesbitt, Thomas Publications, 1980, pp. 88-89)

1963 Shelby Cobra Dragonsnake CSX2093, 7-Time NHRA National Champion

 

 ........presented exactly as it competed, including the Weber-carbureted 289 Ford V-8 with Ballanger side mount headers, 4-speed transmission, Cobra Sunburst rear wheels with slicks, wire front wheels, removable hardtop and eye-grabbing Magenta metalflake paint.

CSX 2093 was the 93rd Cobra built and is one of only eight cars modified with the Shelby-developed Dragonsnake package designed to maximize drag racing performance. Depending on options, the package could swell the bottom line to a whopping $8,990, a huge sum in 1960s-era dollars.

Owned by Jim Costilow and piloted by drag racer Bruce Larson, later of USA-1 Funny Car fame, the Dragonsnake dominated the NHRA’s A/SP, AA/SP, B/SP and C/SP classes in 1964. It set all new records in the 1965 season and won the NHRA Springnationals, Winternationals and U.S. Indy Nationals that year. The Cobra was so successful that it overshadowed Shelby’s factory-sponsored Dragonsnake, much to Shelby’s dismay, and thereafter factory support for the privateer effort began to dry up.

More @ MECUM

NC: Obamacare: UNC System May Cut 6,500 Workers' Hours to Limit Compliance Burden

PollingReport.com @pollreport Follow

The way Kay Hagan is handling her job as U.S. senator: Approve 33% / Disapprove 49% / Unsure 18% (Elon U., RV, 2/23-26)

Obamacare won't increase national healthcare spending, they promised. Yes it will, nonpartisan analysts have demonstrated. Obamacare won't reduce the workforce, hamper growth, or slow hiring, they assured us. Yes it will, nonpartisan analysts have concluded. Obamacare won't raise premiums for individuals or small businesses, they insisted. Yes it will, experts have determined. The cuts to Medicare to fund Obamacare won't impact seniors, they insisted. Yes they will, nonpartisan analysts have determined (with panicked Democrats apparently changing their tune). There's "no serious evidence" that Obamacare is adversely impacting the job market or reducing workers' hours, they sneered. Yes there is, say business owners, media accounts, fed economists, and new realities like this (via Campus Reform):

Obamacare could cost the University of Carolina (UNC) system as much as $47 million per year starting in 2015 — and the universities may cut hours and jobs to comply, Campus Reform has learned.

More @ Townhall

Crimean Leader Says Ukrainian Military Units Are Surrendering

Russian troops fired warning shots in the air as the approximately 200 unarmed Ukrainian soldiers approached the airbase.

SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine — The prime minister of Crimea, the autonomous Ukrainian republic seized by Russian military forces, said Tuesday that most Ukrainian military units on the Crimean peninsula had surrendered and had pledged allegiance to his pro-Russian government, and that local officials were working to speed up a referendum on independence.

Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday morning, Prime Minister Sergei Aksyonov said that regional officials were in control of the security situation, even as standoffs continued between Russian forces and Ukrainian troops at several military installations, including a base near the airport of Belbek near Sevastopol.

“There is no safety threat to human life in Crimea,” Mr. Aksyonov said.

More with video @ The New York Times

HSLDA: "They Can Stay"

 The phones must have burned off the hook since yesterday

Fox News told HSLDA that they recorded 1 million page views of the Romeikes’ story in 24 hours—an all-time high.

Thank you for helping to keep them here!

The day after the U.S. Supreme Court denied their appeal for asylum, federal officials announced that the Romeike family will be permitted to remain in America. 

The Department of Homeland Security verbally informed Home School Legal Defense Association that the Romeike family is being granted indefinite deferred action status. The Department told HSLDA that this meant the order of removal would not be acted on and that the Romeikes could stay.

HSLDA Chairman Michael Farris was thrilled.

“This is an incredible victory that I can only credit to Almighty God. I also want to thank those who spoke up on this issue—including that long ago White House petition. We believe that the public outcry made a huge impact. What an amazing turnaround—in just 24 hours,” he said.

More with video @ HSLDA

Russia Test-Fires ICBM

Via Cousin John

Putin puts down the phone with Obama as they discussed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Russia then test-fires an intercontinental ballistic missile.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia said it had successfully test-fired an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) on Tuesday, with tensions high over its seizure of control in the Crimea and its threat to send more forces to its neighbor Ukraine.

The Strategic Rocket Forces launched an RS-12M Topol missile from the southerly Astrakhan region and the dummy warhead hit its target at a proving ground in Kazakhstan, Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Yegorov told state-run news agency RIA.

More @ PJ Tatler

Connecticut Gun Group Issues Ultimatum to Government: Molon Labe, Or Repeal

Via avordvet

 

Gun rights group Connecticut Carry has issued an ultimatum to politicians in the Constitution State today, telling the government that they should either follow through on their threats to try to confiscate more than 325,000 undocumented firearms and 2 million standard capacity magazines, or admit that they passed a law without the consent of the people, and will repeal it in its entirety:

…State officials look down the barrel of the laws that they created, and it is very probably that they now tremble as they rethink the extremity of their folly. Connecticut Carry calls on every State official, every Senator, and every Representative, to make the singular decision: Either enforce the laws as they are written and let us fight it out in court, or else repeal the 2013 Gun Ban in its entirety.

More @ Bearing Arms

WWII Reenactment

More @ Michael Mihin

Reset

Via u_96

 

Putin Advisor Threatens With Dumping US Treasurys, Abandoning Dollar If US Proceeds With Sanctions

Via Michael 

While the comments by Russian presidential advisor, Sergei Glazyev, came before Putin's detente press conference early this morning, they did flash a red light of warning as to what Russian response may be should the west indeed proceed with "crippling" sanctions as Kerry is demanding.  As RIA reports, his advice is that "authorities should dump US government bonds in the event of Russian companies and individuals being targeted by sanctions over events in Ukraine."

Glazyev said the United States would be the first to suffer in the event of any sanctions regime. “The Americans are threatening Russia with sanctions and pulling the EU into a trade and economic war with Russia,” Glazyev said. “Most of the sanctions against Russia will bring harm to the United States itself, because as far as trade relations with the United States go, we don’t depend on them in any way.”

More @ Zero Hedge

18-Year-Old Sues Parents for Support After Moving Out

 

Her father needs to take this idiot who is funding the lawsuit behind the barn for starters.

An 18-year-old senior in New Jersey is now suing her parents for immediate financial support and trying to force them to pay for her college education. Rachel Canning, the daughter of a retired Lincoln Park police chief, is living with the family of her best friend. The teen had it declared in court that she is nonemancipated and dependent on her parents financially.

Sean and Elizabeth Canning, Rachel’s parents, have not paid an $5,306 Morris Catholic tuition bill, and Rachel’s suit wants them to be pay the bill, pay her living and transportation expenses, and create a college fund for her.  Rachel states in her court papers, “My parents have rationalized their actions by blaming me for not following their rules. They stopped paying my high school tuition to punish the school and me and have redirected my college fund, indicating their refusal to afford me an education as a punishment.”

More with video @  Breitbart

MILLER: New Jersey bill is outright gun ban on .22-caliber rifles and leads to confiscation

 

New Jersey has become ground zero this year for legislative battles over gun control.

The Brady Campaign ranked the state third in the nation for most restrictive firearms laws, yet anti-gun Democrats who control the legislature are determined to go all the way to gun bans and confiscation.

The New Jersey Assembly's Law and Public Safety Committee was scheduled to hold a public hearing on Monday (postponed for snow) about a bill that reduces the maximum magazine capacity from 15 to 10.

Since the legislation covers both detachable and fixed magazines, it has the effect of to banning popular, low-caliber rifles.

The Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs gave the draft legislation to top firearms experts in the country to determine what guns would fall under the expanded ban.

They discovered that the bill would affect tube-fed, semi-automatic rifles because the magazine cannot be separated from the gun.

More @ The Washington Times

Email shows Lerner seeking deal with Issa

 

The House Oversight Committee on Monday released emails between its staff and an attorney for former Internal Revenue Service official Lois Lerner, seeking to back up Chairman Darrell Issa’s assertion that Lerner had agreed to answer questions Wednesday in a public hearing.

Issa (R-Calif.) is recalling Lerner, the former head of the tax-exempt division at the IRS, to testify before his House Oversight and Governmental Reform Committee, after she angered lawmakers last year by invoking the Fifth Amendment to refuse to answer questions about the agency’s admission it improperly scrutinized conservative groups.

Appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” Issa said that Lerner, through her attorney, had agreed to waive her Fifth Amendment rights and answer questions at the committee’s hearing. Lerner had initially sought immunity in exchange for her testimony.

After Issa’s appearance, however, Lerner's attorney William Taylor disputed his claim and said she still planned to invoke the Fifth Amendment.

More @ The Hill

To Wreck a Military

 

In 1968, the U.S. Armed Forces numbered 3,500,000 troops. Of those, just over one percent were female. Back in 1948 Congress, by passing Public Law No. 625, had capped the number of military women at two percent of that total. Those who did wear uniforms were limited to a very small number of Military Occupation Specialties. No military woman could be deployed abroad against her will. The highest rank any woman could attain was that of colonel. However, change was in the air.

As the War in Vietnam peaked, the Johnson administration feared, with very good reason, that trying to call up more men might meet with massive resistance. It might even lead to civil war. Casting about for a solution to the problem, one measure the military took was to try and attract more women. That was how the latter got their feet in the door.

More @ Small Wars Journal

Medal of Honor Roll Call: Bruce A. Grandstaff

 Human Events

Bruce A. Grandstaff

 

Date of birth: June 2, 1934 Date of death: May 18, 1967 Burial location: Spokane, Washington Place of Birth: Washington, Spokane Home of record: Spokane Washington Status: KIA
Action Date: 18-May-67 Service: Army Rank: Platoon Sergeant Company: Company B Battalion: 1st Battalion Regiment: 8th Infantry Regiment Division: 4th Infantry Division

Citation:

The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pride in presenting the Medal of Honor (Posthumously) to Platoon Sergeant Bruce Alan Grandstaff (ASN: RA-56240242), United States Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with the 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, in action against enemy aggressor forces in Pleiku Province, Republic of Vietnam, on 18 May 1967.

Platoon Sergeant Grandstaff distinguished himself while leading the Weapons Platoon, Company B, on a reconnaissance mission near the Cambodian border. His platoon was advancing through intermittent enemy contact when it was struck by heavy small arms and automatic weapons fire from three sides. As he established a defensive perimeter, Platoon Sergeant Grandstaff noted that several of his men had been struck down. He raced 30 meters through the intense fire to aid them but could only save one. Denied freedom to maneuver his unit by the intensity of the enemy onslaught, he adjusted artillery to within 45 meters of his position.

When helicopter gunships arrived, he crawled outside the defensive position to mark the location with smoke grenades. Realizing his first marker was probably ineffective, he crawled to another location and threw his last smoke grenade but the smoke did not penetrate the jungle foliage. Seriously wounded in the leg during this effort he returned to his radio and, refusing medical aid, adjusted the artillery even closer as the enemy advanced on his position.

Recognizing the need for additional firepower, he again braved the enemy fusillade, crawled to the edge of his position and fired several magazines of tracer ammunition through the jungle canopy. He succeeded in designating the location to the gunships but this action again drew the enemy fire and he was wounded in the other leg. Now enduring intense pain and bleeding profusely, he crawled to within ten meters of an enemy machinegun which had caused many casualties among his men.

He destroyed the position with hand grenades but received additional wounds. Rallying his remaining men to withstand the enemy assaults, he realized his position was being overrun and asked for artillery directly on his location. He fought until mortally wounded by an enemy rocket. Although every man in the platoon was a casualty, survivors attest to the indomitable spirit and exceptional courage of this outstanding combat leader who inspired his men to fight courageously against overwhelming odds and cost the enemy heavy casualties. Platoon Sergeant Grandstaff’s selfless gallantry, above and beyond the call of duty, are in the highest traditions of the U.S. Army and reflect great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of his country.

--General Orders: Department of the Army, General Orders No. 52 (August 8, 1967)

RadioShack to Close 1,100 Stores as Troubles Grow

RadioShack said it plans to close up to 1,100 stores in the U.S. and reported a wider quarterly loss after a disappointing holiday season.

Its stock tumbled 24 percent in premarket trading Tuesday.

CEO Joseph Magnacca said in statement that the store closings would leave RadioShack with more than 4,000 U.S. stores, including more than 900 dealer franchise locations. The company didn't immediately identify which stores will be closed or how many jobs would be affected.

A call to the company, based in Fort Worth, Texas, was not immediately returned.

The closures represent just the latest setback for RadioShack, which has been struggling to update its image and compete with the rise of online retailers in recent years. In addition to slashing costs and shuffling management, RadioShack has been renovating its stores with a more modern look.

More @ Money News

"I Will Not Comply"

Via Jonathan

France Surrenders to Russia

Via Jeffery

Paris, France (March 3rd, 2014) – With international tensions at a near breaking point from the Russian invasion of Ukraine over the weekend, the potential for continued violence has proven to be too much for some nations. Early reports are flowing out of Europe that President Francois Hollande has tendered Frances surrender to Russian President Vladimir Putin in a surprise Monday morning power play. The move has sent tidal waves through the international diplomatic community, with many concerned that it will prove to only embolden the aggressive Russian war machine.

 President Hollande is not scheduled to hold a press conference on the issue until later this evening, but the French press is alive and thriving off of insider leaks from the French administration. 

The alleged justification for the surrender is that the Russian military was becoming “too close for comfort” for the French military, despite the fact that France is well outside the former Soviet ‘Eastern Bloc’ and likely will not be a target whatsoever. One top French General was quoted as saying, “Rather than suffer an embarrassing hypothetical defeat on a possible battlefield, we pre-empted the unlikely conflict with surrender – it was the only logical solution to the potential problem.”

More @ Hit The Woodline