Saturday, June 15, 2013
Secret Service Invades Home Of Obama Critic Over Twitter Followers
Via ojibwa
Tom Francois was visited by the Secret Service merely because he posted anti-Obama messages for his “large” Twitter
following to read. I am sick and tired of looking out the window to see
if Old Glory is still flying to reaffirm my shaky belief that I still
reside in America. Francois never threatened the president; he simply
lambasts and lampoons his actions, facial expressions, and
unconstitutional policies. The most thin-skinned president in the
history of the Republic has proven once again that he has nothing but
disdain for the First Amendment.
The Secret Service agents arrived at the home of Tom Francois and asked if they could come inside and take a look around. Noting that he had nothing to hide and not wanting to see his things tossed about if the agents were forced to wait for a warrant, the avid political cartoon creator let the men inside. Francois maintains that while he loathes Barack Obama’s policies, he has never threatened his being in any way, shape, or form. I scanned hundreds of Francois’ tweets (which were the cited reasons for the Secret Service agents arriving on the blogger’s porch), and saw nothing violent—just the same angst felt by millions of Constitution-loving patriots.
Criminal
The Secret Service agents arrived at the home of Tom Francois and asked if they could come inside and take a look around. Noting that he had nothing to hide and not wanting to see his things tossed about if the agents were forced to wait for a warrant, the avid political cartoon creator let the men inside. Francois maintains that while he loathes Barack Obama’s policies, he has never threatened his being in any way, shape, or form. I scanned hundreds of Francois’ tweets (which were the cited reasons for the Secret Service agents arriving on the blogger’s porch), and saw nothing violent—just the same angst felt by millions of Constitution-loving patriots.
More @ Off The Grid News
The Dogwood Tree & CSA Surgeon Francis Peyre Porcher
Roundabout via Sister Anne
When I lived out West, I missed the dogwood tree's lacy, airy blooms, which seem to be omnipresent during springtime in the Southeast. To be without the dogwood in spring is like not having spring at all.
The dogwood tree (Cornus florida) hardly needs an introduction in how to identify it. If I were to stop random people on the street and ask them to identify a dogwood - kind of like Jay Leno asking random people about politics - I would be interested to see the results, but I'm guessing even people with no interest in plants could identify a dogwood tree.
Just in case, though, the dogwood is a small, slender-trunked deciduous tree with bark resembling a Roman tiled mosaic. Its large, four-petaled white flowers have a rusty-pink divot, or impression, at the tip of each petal's edge, which cause the petals to slightly curl. The pink-blossomed variety has greenish-white divots. Dogwood blooms have been said to signify Christ nailed to the cross, with the divots being the place where he was nailed.
As a medicine, other than for its aesthetic beauty, dogwood is no longer used; however, Native Americans, African slaves and Confederate soldiers found the tree's medicine highly valuable.
When the Southern ports were blocked during the Civil War, the South lost access to imported medicines, one of which was quinine, which was used to treat malaria, from the bark of the South American Cinchona tree. The surgeon general of the Confederacy commissioned Confederate surgeon and botanist Francis Peyre Porcher of Charleston, S.C., to prepare a treatise on medicinal and economically useful Southern botanicals.
When I lived out West, I missed the dogwood tree's lacy, airy blooms, which seem to be omnipresent during springtime in the Southeast. To be without the dogwood in spring is like not having spring at all.
The dogwood tree (Cornus florida) hardly needs an introduction in how to identify it. If I were to stop random people on the street and ask them to identify a dogwood - kind of like Jay Leno asking random people about politics - I would be interested to see the results, but I'm guessing even people with no interest in plants could identify a dogwood tree.
Just in case, though, the dogwood is a small, slender-trunked deciduous tree with bark resembling a Roman tiled mosaic. Its large, four-petaled white flowers have a rusty-pink divot, or impression, at the tip of each petal's edge, which cause the petals to slightly curl. The pink-blossomed variety has greenish-white divots. Dogwood blooms have been said to signify Christ nailed to the cross, with the divots being the place where he was nailed.
As a medicine, other than for its aesthetic beauty, dogwood is no longer used; however, Native Americans, African slaves and Confederate soldiers found the tree's medicine highly valuable.
When the Southern ports were blocked during the Civil War, the South lost access to imported medicines, one of which was quinine, which was used to treat malaria, from the bark of the South American Cinchona tree. The surgeon general of the Confederacy commissioned Confederate surgeon and botanist Francis Peyre Porcher of Charleston, S.C., to prepare a treatise on medicinal and economically useful Southern botanicals.
More @ Online Athens
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Zimmerman’s Father Blames Boston Bombings On Eric Holder’s Decision To Investigate Trayvon’s Death
With the first week of his son George Zimmerman‘s trial coming to a close and Father’s Day just around the corner, the defendant’s father Robert Zimmerman Sr. must have thought now was the perfect time to release his new e-book, “Florida v. Zimmerman: Uncovering the Malicious Prosecution of my Son, George.”
The controversial text contains the bold claim that April’s Boston
Marathon bombing never would have happened had the FBI not been
spending so much time investigating the death of Trayvon Martin.Zimmerman directs most of the blame to Attorney General Eric Holder, who he says “shamelessly” hyped his son’s alleged murder case “to obtain great advantage in the African-American community.” He goes on to claim that Holder’s decision to investigate whether Martin’s death constituted a federal civil rights violation led to the FBI to not have “adequate resources to investigate clearly identified potential terrorist” threat in Boston. “Tragically,” Zimmerman writes, “we have suffered the consequences of Mr. Holder’s politically motivated decisions.”
In addition to the accusations against Holder, the e-book contains a chapter called “Who Are The True Racists,” which includes a list of black leaders and organizations that Zimmerman has deemed “racist,” handily compiled by ThinkProgress below:
More @ Mediaite
Admission: Special Forces were only hours from Benghazi
In a bombshell admission that has until now gone unreported, Martin Dempsey, chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, conceded that highly trained Special Forces were stationed just a few hours away from Benghazi on the night of the attacks but were not told to deploy to Libya.
In comments that may warrant further investigation, Dempsey stated at a Senate hearing Wednesday that on the night of the Sept. 11, 2012, attack, command of the Special Forces – known as C-110, or the EUCOM CIF – was transferred from the military’s European command to AFRICOM, or the United States Africa Command.
Also, Dempsey’s comments on the travel time between Croatia and Benghazi were incorrect.
His remarks for the first time confirm an exclusive Fox News interview aired April 30 in which a special government operator, speaking on condition of anonymity, contradicted claims by the Obama administration and a State Department review that there wasn’t enough time for military forces to deploy the night of the attack.
“I know for a fact that C-110, the EUCOM CIF, was doing a training exercise in … not in the region of North Africa, but in Europe,” the special operator told Fox News’ Adam Housley. “And they had the ability to act and to respond.”
The operator told Fox News the C-110 forces were training in Croatia. The distance between Croatia’s capital, Zagreb, and Benghazi is about 925 miles. Fox News reported the forces were stationed just three and a half hours away.
“We had the ability to load out, get on birds and fly there, at a minimum stage,” the operator told Fox News. “C-110 had the ability to be there, in my opinion, in a matter of about four hours … four to six hours.”
More @ WND
Mike Bloomberg's Gun Control Message Backfiring
Late last year, New York City Mayor and billionaire Michael Bloomberg launched a super PAC to counter the National Rifle Association when it comes to elections. Since new gun control measures failed in the Senate in April, Bloomberg has been out for blood running ads against Democrats who didn't vote for those measures. But it turns out, Bloomberg's efforts to unseat anti-gun control Democrats are backfiring.
Of the 35 Senate seats up for grabs in 2014, the 10 most contested battles come in mostly rural, conservative-leaning states such as Montana, West Virginia, Alaska and Arkansas, and nine of them are held by Democrats. Every Republican up for reelection in 2014, including the top GOP leaders, Sens. Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and John Cornyn (Tex.), have demonstrated that their biggest political fear is a primary challenge from the right, making them much more receptive to supporting the NRA’s position.
More @ Townhall
Reports: US Mulls Syrian No-Fly Zone, Small Arms for Rebels
The United States is considering a no-fly zone in Syria and will send small arms, ammunition, and possibly anti-tank weapons to aid rebels in their long-running civil war against President Bashar al-Assad, reports say.
Reuters is reporting two senior Western diplomats said the United States was looking into a limited no-fly zone close to Syria's southern border with Jordan.
"Washington is considering a no-fly zone to help Assad's opponents," one diplomat said.
Meanwhile, CNN reported on Friday the United States will send weapons, provided by the Central Intelligence Agency, to Syrian rebels.
The reports come a day after the Obama administration announced that it had definitive evidence that Assad’s military had used sarin gas and other chemical weapons against opposition forces. The use of the chemicals had crossed a “red line” imposed by President Barack Obama, and the administration said it would increase its military support to the rebels.
But the White House has declined to specify what increased military assistance it would provide.
“I can't give you a specific timeline or itemized list of what that assistance is,” Ben Rhodes, the deputy national security adviser, said at a Thursday afternoon news conference.
Imposing a no-fly zone could require the United States to destroy Syria's sophisticated Russian-built air defences, thrusting it into the war with the sort of action NATO used to help topple Muammar Gaddafi in Libya two years ago.Washington says it has not excluded a no fly zone but is also considering other options.
"We have been clear that we are not excluding options but at this stage no decision has been taken," said Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and Obama's incoming national security adviser.
"A no-fly zone ... would carry with it great and open-ended costs for the United States and the international community. It's far more complex to undertake the type of effort, for instance, in Syria than it was in Libya," U.S. deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said on Thursday.
Any such move would also come up against a potential veto from Assad ally Russia in the U.N. Security Council. The Kremlin dismissed U.S. evidence of Assad's use of nerve gas.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday any attempt to enforce a no-fly zone over Syria using F-16 fighter jets and Patriot missiles from Jordan would violate international law.
More @ Newsmax
Why The West Doesn't Understand Islamists (They Don't Read What the Radicals REALLY Say)
Via WiscoDave
To read Yusuf al-Qaradawi’s 1984 book, Islamic Education and Hasan al-Bana, is to get an Islamic education. Nobody should be allowed to talk about Islam or political Islamism without having read this or similar texts. Just as Marx claimed in the “Communist Manifesto” for his movement, the Islamists, too, disdain to conceal their aims. Yet those who don’t read their actual texts, speeches, and debates but only their public relations' disinformation know nothing.
It’s easy to see why al-Qaradawi is the leading Sunni Islamist thinker in the world today, the spiritual guide behind Egypt's Islamist revolution. He knows how to express his ideas clearly and persuasively. Here is his depiction of the Muslim world before the rise of revolutionary Islamism to power and prominence:
‘’Just imagine a waste land which has no sign of leaf or tulip or hyacinth far and wide, but which blossoms forth immediately with the first sprinkle of the rains of blessing, and fields of flowers begin to bloom. Lifeblood starts circulating in its lifeless body…..
"The condition of the Muslim nation was like a wasteland in the middle of the fourteenth century Hijri (mid-nineteenth century). The pillars of caliphate had broken which was the last display of unity under the flag of Islamic belief. Islamic countries were breathing their last under the talons of capitalist countries like Britain, France and others, so much so that Holland, whose population was [small] dominating over the ten million strong population of Indonesia with the help of force and weapon. It had spoilt the face of Islamic decrees and putting Quran behind was busily engaged in its disrespect. Blind imitation of self-made Western laws and appreciation of foreign values had set over the lives of Muslims. The youths and lovers of new culture who were bearers of the so-called modern culture were particular victims of this. Western domination upon the field of education and means of communication was producing heaps of Westernized `Khan Bahadur" (honorable people) whose names were no doubt Islamic but brains were West-bred.’”
There is a huge amount to analyze in this passage. Notice his different angle on what for the Western author would be a tale of Western imperialism and on the technological and organizational backwardness of Muslim peoples. Al-Qaradawi does not put the emphasis on Western strength or even injustice but on Muslim weakness. He does not flinch from facing the humiliations of the situation. He promises--as the Arab nationalists did sixty years ago--that his doctrine will bring rapid development and tremendous power. Like Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev once said, al-Qaradawi pledges to the West, ""We will bury you."
To read Yusuf al-Qaradawi’s 1984 book, Islamic Education and Hasan al-Bana, is to get an Islamic education. Nobody should be allowed to talk about Islam or political Islamism without having read this or similar texts. Just as Marx claimed in the “Communist Manifesto” for his movement, the Islamists, too, disdain to conceal their aims. Yet those who don’t read their actual texts, speeches, and debates but only their public relations' disinformation know nothing.
It’s easy to see why al-Qaradawi is the leading Sunni Islamist thinker in the world today, the spiritual guide behind Egypt's Islamist revolution. He knows how to express his ideas clearly and persuasively. Here is his depiction of the Muslim world before the rise of revolutionary Islamism to power and prominence:
‘’Just imagine a waste land which has no sign of leaf or tulip or hyacinth far and wide, but which blossoms forth immediately with the first sprinkle of the rains of blessing, and fields of flowers begin to bloom. Lifeblood starts circulating in its lifeless body…..
"The condition of the Muslim nation was like a wasteland in the middle of the fourteenth century Hijri (mid-nineteenth century). The pillars of caliphate had broken which was the last display of unity under the flag of Islamic belief. Islamic countries were breathing their last under the talons of capitalist countries like Britain, France and others, so much so that Holland, whose population was [small] dominating over the ten million strong population of Indonesia with the help of force and weapon. It had spoilt the face of Islamic decrees and putting Quran behind was busily engaged in its disrespect. Blind imitation of self-made Western laws and appreciation of foreign values had set over the lives of Muslims. The youths and lovers of new culture who were bearers of the so-called modern culture were particular victims of this. Western domination upon the field of education and means of communication was producing heaps of Westernized `Khan Bahadur" (honorable people) whose names were no doubt Islamic but brains were West-bred.’”
There is a huge amount to analyze in this passage. Notice his different angle on what for the Western author would be a tale of Western imperialism and on the technological and organizational backwardness of Muslim peoples. Al-Qaradawi does not put the emphasis on Western strength or even injustice but on Muslim weakness. He does not flinch from facing the humiliations of the situation. He promises--as the Arab nationalists did sixty years ago--that his doctrine will bring rapid development and tremendous power. Like Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev once said, al-Qaradawi pledges to the West, ""We will bury you."
More @ Yid With Lid
Am I a traitor?
Via NC Renegade
The question hit me like a lightning bolt as I looked in the mirror upon awaking this morning. Am I a traitor to my country, to my fellow citizens of the United States of America? Have I abandoned all sound reason and logic and lost my moral compass?
Have I somehow sold out my ideals and thereby my family, friends and fellow reporters? Apparently someone in this administration must believe I am a traitor and lost my way, for I am the target of active telephone monitoring by the National Security Agency (NSA), a branch of the Department of Defense and an agency tasked with monitoring foreign intelligence and communications.
As I stared in the mirror, I asked myself, “what am I missing here?” What have I done during the course of seeking out the truth to provide to the American people about what’s really going on within and outside of our government with regard to the numerous “scandals” we are learning about? Could it be that the truth is that toxic to those in power that they will go to such lengths to silence an investigative reporter?
The question hit me like a lightning bolt as I looked in the mirror upon awaking this morning. Am I a traitor to my country, to my fellow citizens of the United States of America? Have I abandoned all sound reason and logic and lost my moral compass?
Have I somehow sold out my ideals and thereby my family, friends and fellow reporters? Apparently someone in this administration must believe I am a traitor and lost my way, for I am the target of active telephone monitoring by the National Security Agency (NSA), a branch of the Department of Defense and an agency tasked with monitoring foreign intelligence and communications.
As I stared in the mirror, I asked myself, “what am I missing here?” What have I done during the course of seeking out the truth to provide to the American people about what’s really going on within and outside of our government with regard to the numerous “scandals” we are learning about? Could it be that the truth is that toxic to those in power that they will go to such lengths to silence an investigative reporter?
More @ Canada Free Press
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