Chinese naval vessel tries to force U.S. warship to stop in international waters

A Chinese naval vessel tried to force a U.S. guided missile warship to stop in international waters recently, causing a tense military standoff in the latest case of Chinese maritime harassment, according to defense officials.
The guided missile cruiser USS Cowpens, which recently took part in disaster relief operations in the Philippines, was confronted by Chinese warships in the South China Sea near Beijing’s new aircraft carrier Liaoning, according to officials familiar with the incident.
“On December 5th, while lawfully operating in international waters in the South China Sea, USS Cowpens and a PLA Navy vessel had an encounter that required maneuvering to avoid a collision,” a Navy official said.
“This incident underscores the need to ensure the highest standards of professional seamanship, including communications between vessels, to mitigate the risk of an unintended incident or mishap.”
A State Department official said the U.S. government issued protests to China in both Washington and Beijing in both diplomatic and military channels.
The Cowpens was conducting surveillance of the Liaoning at the time. The carrier had recently sailed from the port of Qingdao on the northern Chinese coast into the South China Sea.
According to the officials, the run-in began after a Chinese navy vessel sent a hailing warning and ordered the Cowpens to stop. The cruiser continued on its course and refused the order because it was operating in international waters. Bailey Comment: " Things like this is caused by large retail stores in America buying cheap crappy Chinese products to sell to cheap Americans, which in turn makes the Chinese more powerful than the USA". Expect more of the same in the future!

Limo One

Federal Judge: Mt. Soledad Cross Must Come Down

A cross atop Mount Soledad in California is an unconstitutional religious display on government land and must come down, a federal judge in San Diego ruled late Thursday.
U.S. District Judge Larry Burns ordered the cross, which honors veterans, must be removed within 90 days -- a decision that could result in the case being sent back to the U.S. Supreme Court. Burns immediately stayed his order pending an expected appeal.
The original lawsuit was filed in 2006 by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of the Jewish Veterans of the United States of American and several other Southern California residents.
“We support the government paying tribute to those who served bravely in our country’s armed forces,” the ACLU’s Daniel Mach, said in a statement to the San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper. “But we should honor all of our heroes under one flag, not just one particular religious symbol.”
Bruce Bailey, president of the Mt. Soledad Memorial Association, expressed disappointment in the ruling.
"It is unfortunate that the Ninth Circuit left the judge no choice but to order the tearing down of the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial Cross," Bailey told Fox News.  "However, we are grateful for the judge's stay that gives us an opportunity to fight this all the way to the Supreme Court."
Hiram Sasser, director of litigation for Liberty Institute, said in a statement to Fox News that they will continue to “fight for this memorial and the selfless sacrifice and service of all the millions of veterans it represents; it is the least we can do for those who gave so much to us all." Bailey Comment: " They will keep on chipping away America as we know it until there is nothing left".

Boehner slams conservative groups' 'credibility' ahead of key budget vote

Bailey Comment: "Cry Baby".

House Speaker John Boehner escalated his battle with conservative groups opposed to the newly unveiled budget plan, saying they've "lost all credibility" as he charged ahead with a floor vote late Thursday.
"Frankly, I think they're misleading their followers," Boehner said at a press conference. "I think they're pushing our members into places where they don't want to be. And frankly, I just think that they've lost all credibility."
Boehner and other party leaders were voicing confidence that the bill, which would put in place a spending plan for two years and avert a partial government shutdown next month, will clear the House. Boehner is aggressively battling conservative advocacy groups trying to pressure the rank-and-file to block the budget -- a day earlier, he called their complaints "ridiculous."
The comments reflect an effort by Boehner to take on the right flank of his party, in contrast to the more conciliatory approach he took during the last budget showdown. The speaker even took a shot at them for fueling the last battle. "You know, one of them, they pushed us into the fight to defund ObamaCare and shut down the government," he said.
FreedomWorks, among the groups that oppose the current budget bill, shot back at the House speaker again on Thursday.
"Speaker Boehner may not care about what fiscally conservative groups do, but grassroots Americans still care about what he's doing in Washington," FreedomWorks President Matt Kibbe said in a statement. "When it comes to 'credibility,' actions speak louder than words. And right now, it looks like the Speaker is leading the charge for spending increases and recruiting Democrat votes in the House to help get it done."
House GOP leaders argue that the bipartisan plan is a good deal for conservatives, since they claim it will shave $23 billion off the deficit over the next decade. However, it also erases $65 billion in sequester cuts in the near-term, and conservative groups are worried the long-term savings might never materialize.
With the White House supporting the measure, GOP aides betrayed no nervousness about its chances for passage in the Republican-controlled House.
A Senate vote would likely wait until next week, and it was not yet clear whether Tea Party-aligned conservatives would require supporters to amass a 60-vote majority in order to pass it.
Nobody was claiming that the pact was perfect. Some lawmakers said they were troubled by short-term increases in the deficit, $23.2 billion in 2014 and $18.2 billion the year after that.
But the deal would put a dysfunctional Washington on track to prevent unappealing cuts to military readiness and weapons, as well as continued cuts to programs cherished by Democrats and Republicans alike, including health research, school aid, FBI salaries and border security. The cuts would be replaced with money from, among other things, higher airline security fees, curbs on the pension benefits of new federal workers or working-age military retirees, and premium increases on companies whose pension plans are insured by the federal government.
Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, said that "much of the spending increase in this deal has been justified by increased fees and new revenue. In other words, it's a fee increase to fuel a spending increase, rather than reducing deficits."

Rep. Issa accuses HHS of criminally obstructing probe into ObamaCare website

The Health and Human Services Department has told contractors working on the problem-plagued ObamaCare website not to release documents to congressional investigators, a mandate slammed as “criminal obstruction” by House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa.
The Dec. 6 letter from CMS official Daniel Kane says that although the department understands Congress’ need for documents to continue its probe into the issues with Healthcare.gov, the agency is concerned about security risks from releasing testing information to third parties.
Therefore, the letter states, the agency has decided to not allow contractors to release any documents to any third party, telling the contractors to send congressional investigators to CMS, who will handle the request themselves.
The letter was sent after the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee contacted 11 of the top contractors on the ObamaCare website as part of its investigation into its problems.
In a press release Wednesday, Issa, R-Calif., said the HHS’s request amounts to criminal obstruction, and he has sent a letter to HHS Secretary Sebelius demanding the agency have no further communication with the contractors about the probe.
“The department’s hostility toward questions from Congress and the media about the implementation of ObamaCare is well known,” Issa said. “The department’s most recent effort to stonewall, however, has morphed from mere obstinacy into criminal obstruction of a congressional investigation.”  
Issa said that by requiring CMS handle the information requests instead of the contractors, the agency is breaking a federal statute that prohibits anyone from interfering with a worker’s right to cooperate with a congressional investigation.
“The federal obstruction laws reflect the fact that Congress’ right of access to information is constitutionally based and critical to the integrity and effectiveness of our oversight and investigative activities,” Issa said. “For that reason, it is widely understood that private citizens and companies cannot contract away their duty to comply with a congressional request for documents. “
The HHS did not respond to an email request for comment.

Obama creates international incident with 'selfie' at Mandela service

  Bailey Comment: " This is a real classy Dude".

Call it the selfie seen 'round the world.
Among the enduring images from Nelson Mandela's massive memorial service in Johannesburg Tuesday will be one of a jovial President Obama taking a cell phone pic with his seat-mates, Denmark's Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt and Britain's David Cameron.
As the three of them smile for the camera, a stern-looking Michelle Obama can be seen staring straight ahead, hands clasped. As if to remind anyone who sees this photo years from now that it was, after all, a memorial service for one of the great human rights leaders.
The tsk-tsk-ing could be heard across continents.
"What on earth is going on? Why do world leaders now behave like this?" The Daily Telegraph's Iain Martin wrote. "Perhaps it is just that the current generation -- my generation -- is so appallingly spoiled that basic notions of decorum have been shot to pieces."
RedState.com's Erick Erickson tweeted: "Thank you Mrs. Obama for knowing how to behave at a funeral."
The first lady's reaction -- not just to the "selfie" but to her husband's chatting and joking with the young Danish prime minister -- was priceless. In one picture, Michelle Obama could be seen glaring over at him while he put his hand on Ms. Thorning-Schmidt's shoulder.
In another, it appeared the first lady and the president switched seats, putting Michelle squarely between him and the PM.
The photographer behind the "selfie" pic of the three dignitaries, though, later claimed that the first lady herself was "joking with those around her" a few seconds earlier. "The stern look was captured by chance," he wrote.
After the images surged through social media, the White House on Wednesday released its own set of photos of Obama's South Africa visit. Perhaps it was no accident that among them was a picture of Obama, the first lady and the Danish prime minister.
But in this one, Obama was talking to his wife, while Thorning-Schmidt seemed preoccupied with her phone.
The "selfie" incident was the second unexpected controversy stirred up by the president in South Africa. Earlier, Cuban-American lawmakers publicly objected after Obama -- on his way to deliver his tribute to Mandela -- shook the hand of Raul Castro.
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., called the moment "nauseating."
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who was at the Johannesburg service, walked out when Castro spoke.

Reid and staff intervened to expedite visa applications for Vegas hotel investors

The Obama administration expedited visa applications for about two dozen foreign investors for a Las Vegas casino hotel after pressure from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and his staff, the Washington Times reported Tuesday.
The Times, citing internal government documents, said the decision to overturn a prior, normally non-appealable visa decision ultimately benefited several companies whose executives have been heavy Democratic donors.
The paper said it also came despite concerns about “suspicious financial activity” involving some Asian applicants.
Reid, who represents Nevada, personally reached out to the top official at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Alejandro Mayorkas, setting in motion a process that ultimately granted expedited status to some two dozen investor visas for the SLS Hotel, formerly known as the Sahara Casino, the Times said.
Mayorkas is Obama’s current nominee to be the No.2 at the Department of Homeland Security and his appointment was to be reviewed by the Senate Wednesday.
The hotel needed the foreign investors’ visas to be approved so their money could be brought into the country. Within a few weeks of Reid’s intervention, the hotel was able to secure major funding from JP Morgan Chase, the paper said.  Bailey Comment : " Everybody knows Reid is a snake, except for the give me crowd"!

Antarctica sets low temperature record of -135.8 degrees

 Feeling chilly? Here's cold comfort: You could be in East Antarctica which new data says set a record for "soul-crushing" cold. Try 135.8 degrees Fahrenheit below zero; that's 93.2 degrees below zero Celsius, which sounds only slightly toastier. Better yet, don't try it. That's so cold scientists say it hurts to breathe.
A new look at NASA satellite data revealed that Earth set a new record for coldest temperature recorded. It happened in August 2010 when it hit -135.8 degrees. Then on July 31 of this year, it came close again: -135.3 degrees.
The old record had been -128.6 degrees, which is -89.2 degrees Celsius.
Ice scientist Ted Scambos at the National Snow and Ice Data Center said the new record is "50 degrees colder than anything that has ever been seen in Alaska or Siberia or certainly North Dakota."
"It's more like you'd see on Mars on a nice summer day in the poles," Scambos said, from the American Geophysical Union scientific meeting in San Francisco Monday, where he announced the data. "I'm confident that these pockets are the coldest places on Earth."
However, it won't be in the Guinness Book of World Records because these were satellite measured, not from thermometers, Scambos said.
"Thank God, I don't know how exactly it feels," Scambos said. But he said scientists do routinely make naked 100 degree below zero dashes outside in the South Pole, so people can survive that temperature for about three minutes.
Most of the time researchers need to breathe through a snorkel that brings air into the coat through a sleeve and warms it up "so you don't inhale by accident" the cold air, Scambos said.
On Monday, the coldest U.S. temperature was a relatively balmy 27 degrees below zero Fahrenheit in Yellowstone, Wyo., said Jeff Masters, meteorology director of the private firm Weather Underground.
"If you want soul-crushing cold, you really have to go overseas," Scambos said in a phone interview. "It's just a whole other level of cold because on that cold plateau, conditions are perfect."
Scambos said the air is dry, the ground chilly, the skies cloudless and cold air swoops down off a dome and gets trapped in a chilly lower spot "hugging the surface and sliding around."
Just because one spot on Earth has set records for cold that has little to do with global warming because it is one spot in one place, said Waleed Abdalati, an ice scientist at the University of Colorado and NASA's former chief scientist. Both Abdalati, who wasn't part of the measurement team, and Scambos said this is likely an unusual random reading in a place that hasn't been measured much before and could have been colder or hotter in the past and we wouldn't know.
"It does speak to the range of conditions on this Earth, some of which we haven't been able to observe," Abdalati said.  Bailey Comment: " Waleen Abdalati must be a Democrat because he's talking out both sides of his mouth"!