Obama orders review of federal role in arming state and local police

Bailey: "For the rest of the Story, the real story click on the link below!"
http://www.city-data.com/city/Ferguson-Missouri.html

President Obama has directed a review of federal programs and funding that allow state and local law-enforcement agencies to acquire surplus military equipment, a senior administration official said Saturday.
The review will include whether the programs are appropriate, if the agencies are getting enough training and guidance to use the equipment and whether the federal government is sufficiently auditing the use of the equipment.
The president hinted Monday that a review was likely in the aftermath of an unarmed Ferguson, Mo., teen being fatally shot by a police officer, which was followed by local law enforcement using military equipment to try to control the ensuing protests and riots.
“I think it's probably useful for us to review how the funding has gone, how local law enforcement has used grant dollars, to make sure that what they’re purchasing is stuff that they actually need, because there is a big difference between our military and our local law enforcement and we don't want those lines blurred,” Obama said. “And I think that there will be some bipartisan interest in reexamining some of those programs.”
The August 9 incident in which 18-year-old Michael Brown was fatally shot by the officer and the local police later using automatic rifles and tank-like vehicles to control crowds was not the first time the issue about local police using military equipment has been raised.
An Associated Press investigation last year found that a large share of the $4.2 billion in surplus military gear distributed through the 24-year-old program went to police and sheriff’s departments in rural areas with few officers and little crime.
On Tuesday, Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Defense Department's chief spokesman, said the program has not been allowed to “run amok.”
The program was created by Congress in 1990 to allow local police to apply for the excess equipment. However, the transfers reportedly have increased as the United States winds down its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Defense Logistics Agency took over the program in 1997.
“We don’t push equipment on anybody,” Kirby continued. “This is excess equipment the taxpayers have paid for and we're not using anymore. And it is made available to law enforcement agencies, if they want it and if they qualify for it. … Just because they ask for a helicopter doesn’t mean that they get a helicopter."
Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., is among the members of Congress who plan to address the issue following August recess.
Johnson, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, wants to introduce legislation to curb what he describes as an increasing militarization of police agencies across the country.
“Militarizing America’s Main Streets won’t make us any safer, just more fearful and more reticent,” he said Thursday.
The president’s review will be led by White House staff including the Domestic Policy Council, the National Security Council, the Office of Management and Budget and relevant U.S. agencies -- including the departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Justice and Treasury, in coordination with Congress, the administration official also said Saturday.

US, UK 'getting closer' to identifying journalist's killer as British-born ISIS fighters scrutinized

American and British intelligence officials reportedly are "getting closer" to identifying the Islamic State fighter who beheaded American journalist James Foley in a video released last week by the militant group formerly known as ISIS. 
The Sunday Times reported that MI5 and MI6, Britain's two major intelligence agencies, had identified the man who did the brutal deed, though he had not been publicly identified. A counterterrorism source told Fox News that the investigation was moving forward and slowly eliminating individuals of interest. The source also told Fox News that the FBI had opened a crisis file shortly after Foley was kidnapped in northern Syria in November 2012 that included signals intelligence and interviews with former hostages. 
The militant who beheaded Foley is believed to be a member of a group of at least three British-born ISIS fighters known among former hostages as "The Beatles." In the video showing Foley's beheading, the man speaks in a British accent that linguists believe originated from London or southeastern England. 
One of the suspected "Beatles" has been identified by both The Sunday Times and Sunday People as 23-year-old Abdel Majid Abdel Bary, a former rap artist and DJ from Maida Vale in Northwest London. Bary, who is believed to have arrived in Syria sometime last year, is the son of Adel Abdul Bary, an Egypt-born terror suspect who was extradited from Britain to the U.S. in 2012 and is awaiting trial for his alleged role in the 1998 Al Qaeda bombings of the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. 
The Sunday Mirror, citing British intelligence sources, identified two other suspects as 20-year-old Abu Hussain al-Britani, originally from Birmingham, and 23-year-old Abu Abduallah al-Britani (no known relation), originally from the county of Hampshire on England's south coast. 
The Mail on Sunday reported that the three men known as "John," "George," and "Ringo" had formed a special kidnapping gang that may have targeted Westerners like Foley. The paper reported that the hostages regarded the group as particularly vicious jailers, who routinely beat their prisoners and tortured them with Tasers. At one point, the paper reported, the "Beatles" were actually prohibited from guarding the hostages due to the level of violence they inflicted.
According to The Mail on Sunday, the "Beatles" also boasted that they had made millions of dollars from ransoms paid by European countries, enough to "retire to Kuwait or Qatar," as one hostage told the paper. 
The U.S. and Britain have a policy of not paying ransom to terrorist groups in exchange for captured citizens. However, other Western countries have no such policy. The New York Times reported last month that Al Qaeda and its direct affiliates have received at least $125 million in ransom money since 2008, paid by European countries like France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Austria, and Switzerland. 
Similarly, The Mail on Sunday reported that France had paid approximately $13.2 million for the release of four hostages held by ISIS earlier this year, while Italy had paid close to $5 million for the release of an Italian journalist. The release of seven other European journalists and aid workers reportedly cost a combined $26.5 million. Last week, the CEO of GlobalPost, a media organization where Foley had worked, revealed that ISIS had demanded a ransom of $132 million in exchange for Foley's release. 
In addition to Foley, ISIS is believed to be holding three other Americans hostage. One of them, journalist Steven Sotloff, is threatened with beheading by the militant known as "John" at the end of the video released last week.

Hamas kills 18 suspected Israel informants

Hamas carried out a deadly purge of suspected informants in Gaza, killing as many as 18 people suspected of providing information to the Israel Defense Forces as fighting flared anew following the collapse of Egyptian-brokered cease-fire talks.
Masked gunmen killed seven suspected informants for Israel near a Gaza City mosque as worshippers were ending midday prayers on Friday, according to a witness and Hamas media. Earlier in the day, Hamas killed 11 men by firing squad in Gaza City's police headquarters, according to the Hamas-run Al Rai website.
Two of those killed were women, according to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, which called for an immediate halt to what it said were "extra-judicial executions."
Hamas media portrayed the killings as the beginning of a new crackdown, under the rallying cry of "choking the necks of the collaborators." The killings, which took place near the al-Omari Mosque in downtown Gaza, occurred a day after Israel killed three top Hamas military commanders in an airstrike on a house in southern Gaza. 
A witness says masked gunmen lined up the seven men in a side street and opened fire on them. He spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing for his own safety.

"We will not accept anything less than an end to the [Israeli] aggression and an end to the blockade."- Senior Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh

The deaths marked the third time since the outbreak of the Gaza war six weeks ago that Hamas has announced the killing of alleged collaborators. On Thursday, it said seven people had been arrested and that three of them had been killed on suspicion of working with Israel.
In pinpointing the whereabouts of the Hamas commanders, Israel likely relied to some extent on local informers. Israel has maintained a network of informers despite its withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, at times using blackmail or the lure of exit permits to win cooperation.
Meanwhile, Israel-Gaza fighting continued for a third day since the collapse of Egyptian-led cease-fire talks earlier this week.
An Israeli airstrike on a Gaza farm killed two Palestinians on Friday, a Gaza health official said. By midmorning, Israel had launched about 20 airstrikes at Gaza, while Gaza militants fired at least 26 rockets at Israel, the Israeli military said.
The renewed exchanges have dashed hopes for a lasting truce after a monthlong war that has already killed over 2,000 Palestinians. And earlier this week, Hamas rejected an Egyptian truce proposal under which Israel would gradually ease its blockade of Gaza, without giving specific commitments.
Hamas demands a lifting of the border closure imposed by Israel and Egypt after the militant group's takeover of the coastal strip in 2007.
A quick resumption of indirect talks between Israel and Hamas in Cairo also seems unlikely, particularly after the killing of the three Hamas commanders. Senior Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh said late Thursday that his group would not budge from its demands.
"We will not accept anything less than an end to the (Israeli) aggression and an end to the blockade," Haniyeh said in a statement posted by Al Rai. "Anyone involved in cease-fire efforts must understand that our people will not accept anything less than this."
Despite the crisis, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was in Qatar meeting Hamas political chief Khaled Mashaal to push him to return to a cease-fire, and to encourage Qatar to support Egyptian cease-fire efforts, a Palestinian official said.
Abbas was set to travel to Egypt later Friday to meet with Egyptian intelligence officials to discuss cease-fire efforts, the official added, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss issues related to the negotiations.
Since Israel-Hamas fighting erupted on July 8, at least 2,086 Palestinians have been killed in the coastal territory, according to Gaza health official Ashraf al-Kidra.
Nearly a quarter of the dead -- 469 -- are children, according to the top UNICEF field officer in Gaza, Pernilla Ironside. Of the more than 10,400 Palestinians wounded, nearly a third are children, according to UNICEF figures, while some 100,000 Gazans have been left homeless.
On the Israeli side, 67 people have been killed in the past six weeks, including 64 soldiers, two civilians and a Thai worker.
The airstrike Friday that hit the livestock farm where two workers were killed, also wounded three Palestinians, al-Kidra said. The Israeli military said its strikes targeted concealed rocket launchers and weapons sites.
In Israel, one civilian was moderately wounded by a rocket that hit the major southern city of Beersheva on Friday and another Israeli was lightly hurt by a rocket that landed in the border town of Sderot.
Israel has said that the three Hamas commanders killed Thursday had played a key role in expanding the militants' military capabilities in recent years, including digging attack tunnels leading to Israel, training fighters and smuggling weapons to Gaza. One of the trio also played a role in the capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit in 2006. After being held captive in Gaza for more than five years, Schalit was exchanged for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in 2011.
Israel says the Gaza blockade is needed to prevent Hamas and other militant groups from getting weapons. The restrictions prevent most Gazans from traveling outside the crowded coastal strip and bar most exports.

Missouri Dem predicts new wave of Ferguson unrest if no conviction in officer’s case

Idiot.

A Missouri Democratic lawmaker predicted Friday that if prosecutors don’t win a conviction against the police officer who shot 18-year-old Michael Brown, it could trigger a new wave of unrest in Ferguson.
Maria Chappelle-Nadal, a state senator in Missouri, has aggressively criticized Gov. Jay Nixon and local police over the law enforcement response in Ferguson as she’s joined protesters on a daily basis.
But she took her criticism a step further on Friday when she suggested that the unrest in Ferguson depends on whether there is an indictment, and a conviction, in the case.
“There’s several people out there including the protesters that I’ve been with this morning who seem to feel as though there won’t be a conviction,” she told Fox News.
“If that happens, we’re going to have exactly what you saw two weeks ago, with a lot of tear gas going all over the place.”
A grand jury has started hearing evidence in the case against police officer Darren Wilson, who shot Brown. Conflicting reports have emerged, though, on whether Wilson was attacked before he fired his gun.
One source told FoxNews.com earlier this week that Wilson was “beaten very severely.”
Meanwhile, Chappelle-Nadal has been highly critical of law enforcement and last week unloaded on the state’s governor on Twitter, in a string of profanity-laced messages.
“You don't know s--- bc you never communicate. F--- you, Governor!” she tweeted.
The lawmaker said on Fox News on Thursday night that her complaint was that Nixon allowed protesters to get “tear-gassed for three days.” She challenged his ability to keep a safe environment in Ferguson.
Nixon, though, has ordered the Missouri National Guard to begin withdrawing from the area.

‘Very dangerous’: Pentagon says armed Chinese jet did ‘barrel roll’ over US aircraft

Bailey: "Whenever Americans buy Chinese products they're not helping to feed or cloth the poor Chinese people. They're supporting a communist government, so what the hell do you expect?"

The Pentagon said Friday that a Chinese fighter jet made “several passes” by a U.S. Navy aircraft earlier this week off the coast of China in international airspace, baring its weapons and coming within mere feet of the U.S. plane.
Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby said Washington has lodged a protest to China through diplomatic channels, calling the maneuver “very close” and “very dangerous.”
“Not only is it unprofessional, it’s unsafe,” Kirby said.
Kirby said the Chinese jet made several close passes by the Navy P-8 Poseidon plane, coming within 30 feet of it. He said the Chinese jet did a “barrel roll” maneuver over the top of the Poseidon and also passed across the nose of the Navy plane, exposing the belly of the fighter in a way apparently designed to show that it was armed.
Kirby said it happened about 135 miles east of Hainan Island.
“We have registered our strong concerns to the Chinese about the unsafe and unprofessional intercept which posed a risk to the safety and the wellbeing of the air crew and was inconsistent with customary international law,” he said. “Also … this undermines efforts to continue developing military-to-military relations with the Chinese military.”
The Washington Free Beacon first reported on the incident, saying the P-8 was conducting routine surveillance when the Chinese Su-27 interceptor carried out a barrel roll over the U.S. plane.
As reported by the Free Beacon, this is the second such encounter this year with a U.S. surveillance aircraft – following an incident in April involving a Russian Su-27 flying close to a U.S. Air Force aircraft north of Japan.

Food stamp fraud rampant: GAO report

People receiving food stamps were caught selling and bartering their benefits online for art, housing and cash, according to a new federal report that investigates fraud in the nation’s largest nutrition support program.
Complicating the situation is the fact states around the country are having trouble tracking and prosecuting the crimes because their enforcement budgets have been slashed despite the rapidly-rising number of food stamp recipients, according to the Government Accountability Office report.
Under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, 47 million people have been awarded $76 billion in benefits. State agencies are responsible for addressing SNAP recipient fraud under the guidance and monitoring of the Food and Nutrition Service.
“Such rapid program growth can increase the potential for fraud unless appropriate agency controls are in place to help minimize these risks,” the investigators said in their report.
The GAO report resulted from a review of 11 state and federal efforts to fight food stamp fraud, effectiveness of certain fraud detection tools and how FNS oversees state anti-fraud efforts.
The report found that “most of the selected states reported difficulties in conducting fraud investigations due to either reduced or maintained staff levels while SNAP recipient numbers greatly increased from fiscal year 2009 through 2013.”
The report also said some of the state officials interviewed suggested “changing the financial incentives structure to help support the costs of investigating potential SNAP fraud.”  
As for the actual fraud itself, during a 30-day testing period of the automated tool for e-commerce websites, the GAO report found “28 postings from one popular e-commerce websites that advertised the potential sale of food stamp benefits in exchange for cash.”
The GAO also found limitations on the effectiveness of recommended replacement card data and website monitoring tools for fraud detection.
It also said states have different thresholds for prosecuting food stamp fraud.
In Tennessee, for example, $100 in benefits must be fraudulently obtained before officials will consider prosecuting, but in Texas it is a $5,000 level.
Allegations of fraud and abuse have long-plagued SNAP and have been used by lawmakers in Washington to argue that the program has spiraled out of control.

Pentagon broke law with Bergdahl prisoner swap, government watchdog says

A nonpartisan government watchdog agency said Thursday that the Pentagon broke the law when it swapped five Taliban leaders for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl earlier this year.
The Government Accountability Office, in a legal opinion issued at the request of congressional lawmakers, said the Defense Department violated the law by failing to notify key Capitol Hill committees at least 30 days in advance.
Further, the report said the Pentagon broke another law by using funds that were not technically available.
Defense Department press secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby told Fox News Thursday night,  "the operation to retrieve Sgt. Bergdahl was lawfully conducted and that was also the judgment of the Justice Department. Nothing has changed about our view that this was a lawful recovery operation."
The GAO said the law in this case is "clear and unambiguous." The agency said that while the Defense Department defended the legality of the controversial swap, "in our view, DOD has dismissed the significance of the express language" in the law.
The report comes several months after the Obama administration released five senior Taliban members from Guantanamo Bay in exchange for Bergdahl, who had disappeared in 2009. Under the exchange terms, the five Taliban are to remain in Qatar for a year.
Lawmakers at the time complained about the security implications of releasing Taliban leaders from Guantanamo, but also about the late notification by the Pentagon that they were going forward with the swap.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, among the lawmakers who requested the report, said Thursday that the president “clearly defied” the law.
“We have all seen the President decide to override the concept of checks and balances in many questionable executive actions, but the GAO opinion confirms that by doing so in connection with the release of Bowe Bergdahl, he engaged in a clear violation of the law,” she said in a statement. “I hope this opinion by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office sends a clear signal to the President that his recent shift towards unilateral action is not consistent with this nation's principles and our carefully designed separation of powers."
Whether the finding will result in any formal legal complaint remains to be seen. The House Armed Services Committee has prepared a “resolution of disapproval” potentially to be considered later this year about the swap, but such a measure is nonbinding.
At issue were recent laws passed by Congress. The latest Defense spending bill states that no money can be used to transfer Guantanamo prisoners to another country "except in accordance" with a separate, related Defense law. That law requires the secretary of Defense to notify key congressional committees at least 30 days before such a transfer.
The swap occurred May 31 of this year. However, the GAO report said those committees were only notified between May 31 and June 2.
"When DOD failed to notify specified congressional committees at least 30 days in advance of its transfer of Guantanamo Bay detainees to Qatar, DOD used appropriated funds in violation of section 8111," the report said.
It also said DOD violated the Antideficiency Act, which bars spending by agencies above the amount of money that Congress has obligated. In this case, the report said the Defense Department spent nearly $1 million more than it had.

Ryan says he'd love to see Romney run for president again

U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan said Thursday he would love to see Mitt Romney run again for president and teased the GOP's former nominee at one point that the "third time's the charm."
Appearing with Ryan at a public event for the first time since their ticket lost two years ago, Romney offered his own good-humored praise by saying that Ryan "wouldn't be a bad president" himself.
Ryan, R-Wis., has said he will wait until after the midterm elections to decide whether to pursue his own presidential campaign in 2016. Romney has repeatedly denied any plans for another campaign for president. He failed to win the nomination in 2008 and then lost the election to President Barack Obama in 2012.
Romney interviewed Ryan about his new book, "The Way Forward: Renewing the American Idea," on the brink of the fall election season. Republicans are driving for the six-seat gain required to grab the Senate majority. Success would put the GOP in control of Congress and dramatically shape the final two years of Obama's term.
They took turns criticizing Obama's record on domestic issues, including the economy, health care and immigration, with Ryan warning that Obama will "poison the well" on immigration compromise if he takes any unilateral action. Romney said Obama sent a message to Russia when he did not act in Syria and that there has been "an explosion of very bad things in the world" since then.
Romney said Obama's foreign policy is "based on his belief that everyone has the same interests" while he himself believes that some world leaders "want to dominate and some are fundamentally evil."
They also blamed Obama and the Democratic-led Senate for doing too little to reach out to Republicans and to act on important issues.
"If people want to actually see action in this country and dealing with problems from education to health care, immigration to our fiscal needs ... they're going to have to vote for Republican senators and ... a Republican president, as well," Romney said.
Ryan told reporters after the question-and-answer session with Romney that he would "love to see Mitt Romney run for president again."
Long before Romney and Ryan took the stage at the Union League Club of Chicago, Democrats said the pairing is a reminder of failure. In a statement, the Democratic National Committee listed what it called their memorable political gaffes, including Romney being caught on video telling donors that 47 percent of Americans would automatically vote for Obama because they don't pay income taxes and are "dependent upon government."
Romney has been campaigning for GOP candidates across the country, most recently for Rep. Tom Cotton this week in Arkansas, and Ryan has been promoting his book. Romney himself reviewed Ryan's manuscript and offered notes. And Ryan even sought advice from former Romney speechwriters and advisers during the writing.
The conversation Thursday centered on policy issues and didn't touch on the more personal parts of Ryan's book, including the fullest account yet of how Ryan, at 15, found his alcoholic father dead in bed from an apparent heart attack. Ryan told The Associated Press recently that the event shaped him as a politician and family man, and figures heavily into whether he'll seek the presidency in 2016.
Although writing a book often is seen as a prelude to a presidential campaign, Ryan has said he's not sure he's ready to spend more time away from Janesville, the small Wisconsin town where he grew up and where he and his wife, Janna, have raised their three children.

Hagel defends disclosure of secret, failed raid to free US hostages in Syria

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Thursday defended the decision to formally acknowledge a failed mission to rescue American journalist James Foley and others held in Syria earlier this year, amid criticism from Republicans over the disclosure.
The White House and Defense Department, in a rare public confirmation of a covert mission, acknowledged late Wednesday that President Obama sent special operations troops to Syria this summer on a secret mission to rescue American hostages held by Islamic State extremists. The mission was not successful.
Hagel echoed White House and State Department claims, though, in saying the only reason they acknowledged the mission was because media outlets already knew about it.
“There were a number of news outlets that were aware of the action, of the raid,” he said Thursday. “It was a decision made by the administration, which we concurred with, to address the mission.”
The statement follows criticism from Republicans, regarding both the formal acknowledgement and the apparent leak beforehand to some members of the press.
Rep. Buck McKeon, R-Calif., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, on Thursday called for an investigation into the leak.
“Successful or not, such operations are incredibly sensitive, even after they have concluded. Disclosure of these missions puts our troops at risk, reduces the likelihood that future missions will succeed, and risks the lives of hostages and informants alike,” he said in a statement. “While I believe it was unwise for the White House and Department of Defense to formally acknowledge this operation; it is outrageous that someone would be so selfish and short sighted to leak it to the media.”
He urged Hagel and other officials to investigate the matter “immediately and thoroughly.”
The disclosure prompted comparisons to past leaks from the administration, regarding details of the successful Usama bin Laden raid and other operations.
“This is sort of the same thing,” Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told Fox News. “One can't help but assume that this is sort of [to try] to help the PR, that they tried to rescue the hostages.”
In some cases, the administration has launched investigations into security leaks -- and has come under criticism from free press and whistleblower groups for aggressively prosecuting the leakers. 
In this case, critics voiced concerns that the disclosure jeopardizes other hostages.
Hagel said Thursday “there’s always risks” in any decision they make.
State Department spokeswoman Marie Hard said the administration had no intention of making the mission public, but was forced to do so because reporters were preparing to publish stories about it.
Officials, in disclosing the raid, said earlier that the rescue mission was authorized after intelligence agencies believed they had identified the location inside Syria where the hostages were being held. But the several dozen special operations forces dropped by aircraft into Syria did not find them at that location and engaged in a firefight with Islamic State militants before departing, killing several militants. No Americans died but one sustained a minor injury when an aircraft was hit.
The administration revealed the rescue operation a day after the militants released a video showing the beheading of Foley and threatened to kill a second hostage, Steven Sotloff, if U.S. airstrikes against the militants in Iraq continued.
The disclosure of the rescue mission marks the first time the U.S. has revealed that American military personnel have been on the ground in Syria since a bloody civil war there broke out more than three years ago. Obama has resisted calls to insert the U.S. military in the middle of Syria's war, a cautious approach his critics say has allowed the Islamic State to strengthen there and make gains across the border in Iraq, where the U.S. is now conducting airstrikes.

Holder says he understands mistrust of police as Ferguson protests dwindle

I am the attorney general of the United States. But I am also a black man.

Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday that he understands why many black Americans distrust the police as he made a one-day swing through the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, Mo., where a black teenager was fatally shot by a white police officer almost two weeks earlier. 
Holder made the comments during a meeting with about 50 community leaders at the Florissant campus of St. Louis Community College in which he heard about their own issues with law enforcement officials. 
Ferguson has endured more than a week of unrest since the August 9 death of 18-year-old Michael Brown, who was shot by Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson. The Obama administration intended the trip to underscore its commitment to civil rights in general and the Ferguson case in particular.
"I understand that mistrust," Holder said. "I am the attorney general of the United States. But I am also a black man." The attorney general then described how he was stopped twice on the New Jersey Turnpike and accused of speeding. Police searched his car, going through the trunk and looking under the seats.
"I remember how humiliating that was and how angry I was and the impact it had on me," Holder said.
Holder also described how once, while living in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, he was running to catch a movie with his cousin when a squad car rolled up and flashed its lights at the pair. The officer yelled, "Where are you going? Hold it!" Holder recalled.
His cousin "started mouthing off," and Holder urged him to be quiet.
"We negotiate the whole thing, and we walk to our movie. At the time that he stopped me, I was a federal prosecutor. I wasn't a kid," he said.
While in Ferguson, Holder met with federal officials investigating the case, as well as Brown's parents. He also met with Missouri Highway Patrol Capt. Ron Johnson, who has been in charge of security in Ferguson for nearly a week. The National Guard is also helping to keep the peace.
On Wednesday night, a diminished number of protesters marched around a single block in Ferguson as a thunderstorm filled the sky with lighting and dumped rain. Police still stood guard, but many wore regular uniforms rather than riot gear.
Johnson said there were six arrests Wednesday, compared to 47 the previous night. He called it "a very good night," and said Holder's visit had let people know their voices had been heard. 
In nearby Clayton, a grand jury began hearing evidence to determine whether Wilson should be charged in Brown's death. A spokesman for St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch said there was no timeline for the process, but it could take weeks.
Outside the St. Louis County Justice Center, where the grand jury convened, two dozen protesters gathered in a circle for a prayer, chanted and held signs urging McCulloch to step aside.
McCulloch's deep family connections to police have been cited by some black leaders who question his ability to be impartial in the case. McCulloch's father, mother, brother, uncle and cousin all worked for the St. Louis Police Department, and his father was killed while responding to a call involving a black suspect.
The prosecutor, who is white, has insisted his background will have no bearing on the handling of the Brown case, which has touched off days of nighttime protests during which authorities used tear gas and rubber bullets to clear the streets.
On Wednesday, police said an officer had been suspended for pointing a semi-automatic assault rifle at demonstrators, then cursing and threatening to kill one of them. A protester captured the exchange on video Tuesday and posted it to YouTube and other websites.

Hamas says three top commanders killed by Israeli airstrike in Gaza

Hamas said that an Israel airstrike in Gaza killed three of its senior military leaders early Thursday. 
The Palestinian militant group claimed that the men -- identified as Mohammed Abu Shamaleh, Mohammed Barhoum and Raed al-Attar -- were killed along with three other people in a strike on a four-story building near Rafah, a town in the southern part of the coastal territory. 
The Israeli security agency Shin Bet confirmed the deaths of Shamaleh and al-Attar in an email, but did not mention Barhoum. The three Hamas leaders are considered to be at the senior levels of its military leadership and were involved in a number of high profile attacks on Israeli targets.
"The strike was the result of intelligence and operational activities, which led to the detection and attack on two central operatives from the heart of Hamas’s military leadership," Shin Bet said in a statement. 
The strike, one of 20 the Israeli military said it carried out early Thursday, came one day after another strike in Gaza City aimed at Hamas' senior military leader, Mohammad Dief. Israeli intelligence sources have told Fox News that they believe that Dief was killed in that operation, but Hamas has claimed that he survived. 
Israel says the airstrikes are in response to a resumption of Hamas rocket fire that on Tuesday scuttled a six-day cease-fire. The military says that only one rocket launch was registered since midnight, compared to more than 210 over the previous 30 hours.
In a nationally televised address Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showed little willingness to return to the negotiating table after six weeks of war with Hamas.
"We are determined to continue the campaign with all means and as is needed," he said, his defense minister by his side. "We will not stop until we guarantee full security and quiet for the residents of the south and all citizens of Israel."
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry expressed "deep regret" over the breaking of the cease-fire. It said in a statement Wednesday that it "continues bilateral contacts" with both sides aimed at restoring calm and securing a lasting truce that "serves the interest of the Palestinian people, especially in relation to the opening of the crossings and reconstruction."
An Egyptian compromise proposal calls for easing the Gaza blockade but not lifting it altogether or opening the territory's air and seaports, as Hamas has demanded.
While the plan does not require Hamas to give up its weapons, it would give Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose forces were ousted by Hamas, a foothold back in Gaza running border crossings and overseeing internationally backed reconstruction.
The Gaza blockade has greatly limited the movement of Palestinians in and out of the territory of 1.8 million people, restricted the flow of goods into Gaza and blocked virtually all exports.
Israel says the blockade is needed to prevent Hamas and other militant groups from getting weapons. Critics say the measures amount to collective punishment.

Islamic State militants threatened journalist's death in email to family, CEO says

In the days before journalist James Foley was brutally beheaded by a member of the Islamic State militant group, an e-mail sent to Foley's family threatened his execution in "vitriolic" terms, the CEO of the international news service Foley had worked for said Wednesday. 
Philip Balboni told a news conference that the e-mail, which was received sometime last week, did not contain any demands, in contrast with previous missives dating back to last fall. Balboni said the company had hired an international firm shortly after Foley disappeared in November 2012, and the New Hampshire native was located in September 2013. Balboni added that Foley was always kept in Syria, though his captors moved him around often.
Foley was abducted in northern Syria while covering that country's civil war and had not been heard from since. On Tuesday, Islamic State, the militant group formerly known as ISIS, released a video showing a militant beheading Foley in apparent response to U.S. airstrikes against militant positions in Iraq. At the end of the video, the militant is shown threatening to behead another missing American journalist, Steven Sotloff.  
Citing a representative of Foley's family and a former hostage, the New York Times reported that ISIS militants had pressed the U.S. to pay a multi-million dollar ransom in exchange for Foley's release. That demand was refused. The Times also reported that ISIS is holding at least three other Americans hostage, including Sotloff, and has threatened to kill all of them if their demands are not met. 
In addition to money, the militants' demands also reportedly include prisoner swaps. One prisoner specifically named in the Times report is Aafia Siddiqui, a neuroscientist with ties to Al Qaeda who has been imprisoned in Texas since 2010 after a conviction for attacking U.S. agents in Afghanistan. 
In a rare move Wednesday, the Pentagon revealed that U.S. special forces had attempted to rescue hostages held by Islamic State, including Foley, earlier this summer. Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said in a statement that the mission had targeted a "captor network" inside the militant group, and included air and ground elements, but was unable to locate the hostages. 
Meanwhile, new details were being reported in the British press about the identity of the militant who beheaded Foley in the video. American and British intelligence officials were working to firmly identify the man, who speaks in the video with a distinct British accent and is believed to be from London or southeast England. 
A former hostage told The Guardian that the man was the head of a group of three British militants whose main job is to guard foreign captives in the northern Syrian city of Raqqa, an ISIS stronghold. The hostage said the man called himself "John" and described him as intelligent, educated, and devoted to radical Islamic teachings. The hostage said that his fellow captives referred to their three British overlords as "The Beatles." 
The Guardian also reported that "John" is a point man for hostage negotiations and has had discussions about possible ransoms with families of several foreign nationals via Skype. 
The British government has estimated that up to 500 citizens of that country have traveled to Syria and Iraq to join up with ISIS and other militant groups since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011. British intelligence officials also reportedly believe that those nationals have developed into particularly dangerous fighters, willing to carry out suicide attacks and, as in the case of Foley's death, beheadings. According to The Daily Telegraph, approximately half of those 500 have returned to the United Kingdom.

Teacher omits God from Pledge of Allegiance

Jessica Andrews could not believe her eyes.
“It was like an ‘Oh my gosh’ type of feeling,” the mother of six from Aiken, South Carolina told me.
The item that caused her angst came from her daughter’s school. It was a copy of the Pledge of Allegiance. But the school’s version of the pledge was just a few words short – two to be exact.
“It didn’t have ‘under God’,” she said.
Jessica’s daughter is a fourth grader at Chukker Creek Elementary School. She said Aiken is a very religious community and they are a religious family. So you can imagine her surprise when she realized the school’s version of the pledge did not include a shout-out to the Almighty.
“It’s outrageous, to be honest,” she told me. “It seems like the government is doing everything they can to take God out of everything.”
Jessica pointed out that our forefathers believed in God – so why can’t the youngsters acknowledge we are a nation under God?
“We are so quick to change our religion to accommodate everyone else,” she said. “It seems like Christianity is getting taken out of everything.”
So how did the Almighty end up getting cut from the pledge?
I alerted the school early Tuesday morning – and by midday Principal Amy Gregory determined Jessica had a legitimate beef.
In this particular case, the omission was not the nefarious work of a godless educator. The principal said it was an honest-to-goodness mistake.
“This was a single mistake by a very embarrassed and apologetic teacher,” the principal told me in written correspondence.
“In order to assist her new students with our morning announcements, a teacher made copies of the pledge and national anthem for her class,” she told me. “She cut and pasted these from a website and in doing so, this line was omitted.”
Ah yes – the old “cut and paste” will get you every time.
“The teacher failed to proof the paper,” the principal wrote.
As we all know – the most important part of the editorial process is the proof-reading. That’s why God made copy editors. Before I go off chasing another squirrel, let’s get back to the issue at hand – the pledge.
The principal said as soon as the teacher learned her mistake, she sent a corrected version to parents – along with an apology.
“I do apologize,” the teacher wrote. “Please forgive me. I respect our country and what it was founded on.”
Principal Gregory said the boys and girls at Chukker Creek recite the pledge every day. And in case you’re wondering, she said the words ‘under God’ are included.
Jessica told me she used the incident as a life lesson for her little girl.
“I told her the government and a lot of people don’t like God,” she said. “Some people are offended by Christianity. I try to be as real with my kids about their faith as I can be. I don’t want to sugarcoat everything.”
We need more moms like Jessica Andrews. Thanks to her eagle eye she was able to facilitate change at Chukker Creek Elementary School.
We also need more educators like Principal Gregory. She acknowledged the mistake, took swift action and righted a glaring wrong.
Gold stars for everyone!

US working to verify video purportedly showing beheading of American journalist

The Obama administration was working early Wednesday to confirm whether a video released by Islamic militants purportedly showing the beheading of American journalist James Foley was authentic.
However, two U.S. officials told The Associated Press Tuesday that they believed the video showed Foley's death. A statement by Foley's mother, Diane, posted on the "Find James Foley" Facebook page requested privacy "as we mourn and cherish Jim."
"We have never been prouder of our son Jim. He gave his life trying to expose the world to the suffering of the Syrian people," the message said. "We implore the kidnappers to spare the lives of the remaining hostages. Like Jim, they are innocents. They have no control over American government policy in Iraq, Syria or anywhere in the world."
Earlier Tuesday, a red-eyed but gracious Diane Foley said the family would not have an immediate statement when approached at her Rochester, N.H. home by an Associated Press reporter. A priest arrived at the home several hours later.
White House National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said the administration has seen the video. She said that if it's deemed genuine by the intelligence community, the U.S. would be "appalled by the brutal murder of an innocent American journalist."
President Obama was briefed on the video Tuesday night by Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes on Air Force One, Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz said.
Fox News has learned that the video, which is being taken seriously by U.S. officials, is being analyzed by a special group within the US intelligence community that specializes in media exploitation. The group, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, is believed to have other Americans in their custody.
At the end of the video, a militant shows a second man, who was identified as another American journalist, Steven Sotloff, and warns that he could be next captive killed. Sotloff was kidnapped near the Syrian-Turkish border in August 2013 and freelanced for Time, the National Interest and MediaLine.
The release of the video allegedly showing his death comes amid a U.S. airstrike campaign against Islamic State targets in Iraq. ISIS has declared an Islamic state in the territory it controls in Iraq and neighboring Syria, imposing its harsh interpretation of Islamic law.
Foley, 40, a freelance journalist, vanished in Syria in November 2012 while covering the Syrian civil war for GlobalPost. The car he was riding in was stopped by four militants in a contested battle zone that both Sunni rebel fighters and government forces were trying to control. He had not been heard from since.
The publication "mounted an extensive international investigation" for his whereabouts, with the search extending throughout the Middle East, along the Syria-Turkish border, in Lebanon, Jordan and other locations, GlobalPost wrote on its site Tuesday.
In 2011, Foley was among a small group of journalists held captive for six weeks by the government in Libya and was released after receiving a one-year suspended sentence on charges of illegally entering the country. In a May 2011 interview about his experience, he recounted watching a fellow journalist being killed in a firefight and said he would regret that day for the rest of his life. At the time, Foley said he would "would love to go back" to Libya to report on the conflict and spoke of his enduring commitment to the profession of journalism.
"Journalism is journalism," Foley said during the AP interview, which was held in GlobalPost's office in Boston. "If I had a choice to do Nashua (New Hampshire) zoning meetings or give up journalism, I'll do it. I love writing and reporting."
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists condemned what it called a "barbaric murder. The organization estimated Tuesday that about 20 journalists are missing in Syria, and has not released their nationalities. In its annual report last November, CPJ concluded that the missing journalists are either being held and threatened with death by extremists, or taken captive by gangs seeking ransom. The group's report described the widespread seizure of journalists as unprecedented and largely unreported by news organizations in the hope that keeping the kidnappings out of public view may help in the captives' release.
Marquette University, Foley's alma mater, said it was "deeply saddened" by the news of Foley's purported death. The Milwaukee university said he had a heart for social justice and used his talents to tell stories in the hopes they might make a difference.
"We extend our heartfelt prayers and wishes for healing to James' family and friends during this very difficult time," it said in a statement.
Earlier Tuesday, GlobalPost CEO and co-founder Philip Balboni in a statement asked "for your prayers for Jim and his family." AFP chairman Emmanuel Hoog said the French news agency was "horrified" by the video and called Foley "a brave, independent and impartial journalist."

Gaza truce talks break down as Israel, militants trade rocket fire

Talks being held in Cairo for a long-term Gaza cease-fire broke down Tuesday as Israel recalled its delegation hours after Palestinian militants broke an earlier truce by launching volleys of rockets.
An Israeli official told The Associated Press that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered negotiators at cease-fire talks to return home.
The Israeli military said a total of 10 rockets had fallen Tuesday, including one that damaged a coffee shop in southern Israel.
Israel responded to the rockets by launching their own airstrikes in the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian officials in Gaza reported more than two dozen Israeli airstrikes. At least 21 people, including 14 women and children, were wounded in a strike that hit a building housing the offices of Hamas' Al Aqsa TV station in Gaza City.
Israel's civil defense authority, the Home Front Command, ordered authorities to reopen public bomb shelters within a 25-mile range of Gaza.
The Israeli moves, coupled with the outbreak of violence, threw Egyptian efforts to arrange a long-term cease-fire into jeopardy.
The Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to journalists, said the Egyptian-hosted talks with Hamas militants are based on the "premise" that there will be no violence. The talks face a midnight deadline.
There was no immediate Egyptian comment, but a Hamas official declared the talks over.
In Cairo, the head of the Palestinian delegation, which is comprised of various factions, said no progress had been made in Tuesday's talks, but expressed hope they could still succeed.
"We gave the Egyptians our final position. We are waiting for them to come back with a response," said Azzam al-Ahmed, a close aide to President Mahmoud Abbas.
Earlier Tuesday, Israel’s military said three rockets launched from Gaza City landed in open fields near the southern city of Beersheba.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility. But shortly before the launch, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum hinted of more rocket fire, saying: "If Netanyahu doesn't understand ... the language of politics in Cairo, we know how to make him understand."
In a statement Tuesday, Israel’s military accused Palestinian militants of violating a cease-fire and said it maintains "both defense and striking capabilities in order to address the renewed aggression."
Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev called the rocket attack “a grave and direction violation of the cease-fire.”
Wide gaps remain on key issues in the cease-fire talks, including Israel's blockade of Gaza, its demands for disarmament of Hamas and Palestinian demands for a Gaza seaport and an airport.
In an apparent attempt to pressure Hamas, Egypt said early Monday it would co-host an international fundraising conference for Gaza — but only if a deal is reached first.
That appears to play into the hands of the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, which is seeking to regain a Gaza foothold, seven years after Hamas ousted it from power in the densely populated coastal strip.
Hamas, whose officials are part of the Palestinian delegation in the Cairo talks, has emerged weaker from the month-long Gaza war.
The militant group finds itself pressured by both Egypt and the Palestinian Authority to accept a less than perfect deal with Israel, but needs to show the people of Gaza that the enormous sacrifices they endured in the fighting were not in vain.
A member of the Palestinian delegation said that Israel was offering to ease the Gaza blockade by opening border crossings to some goods and people, but was insisting that it retain the right to limit the imports of material like cement, and chemical and metal products, which Israel says can be used for weapons manufacturing.
Hamas fears the arrangement would allow Israel to retain the right to close the crossings whenever it wished and is pushing for more Palestinian input into such decisions.
The Palestinian official also told The Associated Press that Israel wants to put off for an unspecified date any discussion on the opening of a Gaza seaport and airport and the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
The Palestinians, however, say they will only agree to postpone discussing the seaport and airport for "a month after a ceasefire agreement, with other issues like .... the prisoners," the official said. He spoke condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss negotiations with the media.
He also said that Israel agrees to extend the maritime territory in which Gaza fisherman can venture out from three to six miles and eventually to 12 miles from the shore, but that it was standing firm against Hamas' demand for unsupervised exports from the strip.
The Gaza blockade, imposed after Hamas seized control of the territory in 2007, has greatly limited the movement of Palestinians in and out of the territory of 1.8 million people, restricted the flow of goods into Gaza and blocked virtually all exports.
Israel says the blockade is needed to prevent arms smuggling, but critics say the measures have amounted to collective punishment.
Jamal Shobaky, the Palestinian ambassador in Cairo voiced disappointment with the Israeli stance, particularly on the question of the blockade. "What the Israelis have offered so far in the talks is not removing the blockade but rather easing it," he said.
The latest round of Gaza fighting was precipitated by massive Israeli arrests of Hamas members in the West Bank in the aftermath of the abduction and killing of three Israeli teenagers in June. Their deaths were followed by the slaying of a Palestinian youth in Jerusalem in what was a likely revenge attack.
Since the war started with an Israeli air campaign on July 8, followed by the introduction of troops on the ground nine days later, many of the strip's structures have been destroyed and tens of thousands of people remain huddled in U.N. shelters.
Gaza Health Ministry official Ashraf al-Kidra said Monday the death toll from the fighting had jumped to over 2,000 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians, while U.N. officials, who often take more time to verify figures, put the number at 1,976. Israel lost 67 people, all but three of them soldiers.

Hug Out Cartoon

Obama takes break from vacation for high-level White House meetings on undisclosed topics

President Obama took a break from his summer vacation to return to Washington early Monday for series of high-level, but unspecified, White House meetings.
Obama left his first family vacation on Martha’s Vineyard and will meet with Vice President Joe Biden and other top-ranking officials later Monday, according to White House staffers. But they have not disclosed what officials will discuss -- amid a list of international problems that include fighting in Iraq, Israel and Ukraine and the humanitarian-immigration crisis along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Obama’s decision to return to Washington appears to be in part a response to criticism about him spending two weeks on a resort island amid so many foreign and domestic crises.
However, the president’s first week on the Massachusetts island, in which he played several rounds of golf, included on-camera statements on U.S. military action in Iraq and the clashes between police and protesters in Ferguson, Mo. And he called foreign leaders to discuss the tensions between Ukraine and Russia, as well as between Israel and Hamas.
"I think it's fair to say there are, of course, ongoing complicated situations in the world, and that's why you've seen the president stay engaged," White House spokesman Eric Schultz said.
Officials disclosed Sunday that Attorney General Eric Holder will brief Obama on Monday about the situation in Missouri, where the Aug. 9 police shooting of unarmed black teen Michael Brown has sparked rioting.
Political observers have speculated that Obama might be returning to take executive action to help fix the country’s broken immigration system -- perhaps broadening a 2012 order that delayed deportation for some young illegal immigrants to include as many as 5 million people now living illegally in the United States.
However, White House officials have said the president won’t take such action until after summer and after receiving full reports on the issue from the departments of Justice and Homeland Security.
Obama is scheduled to return to Martha's Vineyard on Tuesday and stay through next weekend.
Though work has occupied much of Obama's first week on vacation, he also found time to go to the beach with his family and out to dinner with first lady Michelle Obama. He hit the golf course one more time Sunday ahead of his departure, joining two aides and former NBA player Alonzo Mourning for an afternoon round.
Earlier in the week, Obama attended a birthday party for Democratic adviser Vernon Jordan's wife, where he spent time with former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton.
That get-together between the former rivals-turned-partners added another complicated dynamic to Obama's vacation. Just as Obama was arriving on Martha's Vineyard, an interview with the former secretary of state was published in which she levied some of her sharpest criticism of Obama's foreign policy.
Clinton later promised she and Obama would "hug it out" when they saw each other at Jordan's party. No reporters were allowed in, so it's not clear whether there was any hugging, but the White House said the president danced to nearly every song.

Gov. Perry indicted: Everything's big in Texas, even this B.S.

Remember Barack Obama telling his followers to always "bring a gun to a knife fight"? Like good subjects do, his supporters in Texas obeyed. Friday, Texas Gov. Rick Perry was indicted on two counts of abuse of power. 
This ridiculous politically motivated “indictment” of Governor Rick Perry stems from the ugly thug tactics of the "politics of personal destruction" that the left is known for. They draw blood and leave scars on conservatives who threaten their political power, hoping the threat retreats and hoping his or her base of support remains silent in fear of becoming collateral damage.
Thankfully, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and those of us with scars to prove it can help others learn from things like this Texas-sized political drama.

This ridiculous politically motivated “indictment” of Governor Rick Perry stems from the ugly thug tactics of the "politics of personal destruction" that the left is known for.

First and foremost, today's liberals have no shame. Case in point: Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg.
Lehmberg was busted for drunk driving with an open bottle of vodka in her car after a 911 call reported her endangering others while swerving erratically on the road. The D.A. was smashed -- three times over the legal limit. 
She was a nut job while in custody, disgracefully threatening law enforcement officials and lashing out violently. The D.A. had to be physically restrained. It was all caught on tape. The extent of the D.A.'s serious drinking problem was uncovered, evidence included her purchase of 72 bottles of vodka in just one store alone, in just over a year. It's reasonable to believe she imbibed elsewhere, too.
The appropriate and honorable thing for this powerful D.A. to do -- note, she's the county's chief law enforcement officer and her job is to decide which law-breaking Texans she wants to put in jail - is resign. Governor Perry asked her to do so, which any good governor would do. But because this D.A. is a hardcore Democrat in a hardcore-Democrat county, and Governor Perry is a Republican, Democrats rallied around her and she refused to resign.
Lehmberg's D.A.’s office runs the state’s Public Integrity Unit which prosecutes public crimes like government corruption. Texans were baffled that this clearly unfit official was running a unit with huge statewide importance and they lost confidence in this government oversight unit.
Governor Perry used appropriate tools under the Texas Constitution to urge Lehmberg to do the right thing, using line item veto power to defund the Public Integrity Unit until it could actually serve the public with integrity, under a leader who had integrity. 
According to reports, he reached out to alleviate the Democrats’ fears about her replacement by promising to select her right hand man for the post – essentially giving liberals their desired replacement. All he wanted was for this unfit public official to step aside.
The governor was doing his job in looking out for the people, but Democrats only care about Democrats, and drunk or sober, Lehmberg was one of them. 
Her liberal supporters filed an ethics complaint against Perry, defying commonsense and common practice by claiming he abused power when he publicly announced his intention to veto.
The Travis County D.A.'s Office, still under Lehmberg, convened a grand jury, and – surprise, surprise! – Perry was “indicted.” Remember, a grand jury indictment is not a criminal conviction. It’s the result of a one-sided preliminary hearing run by the prosecution.
I don't worry about Perry, personally, in all this because he'll have a microphone plus millions in people and dollars to mount a strong defense at the courthouse and in the court of public opinion. But what we should all worry about is that the left doesn’t care about the end result, they only care about immediate headlines in their strategy to destroy a person.
Most Americans will only read that glaring headline orchestrated on a Friday night to minimize rebuttals: “Rick Perry Indicted On Felony Corruption Charges!” Once that bell is rung, it’s impossible to un-ring it.
I'm a believer that everything happens for a reason, so in hindsight I can value my own experience as a conservative governor dealing with leftwing activists who would stop at nothing to take out a successful Republican.
I was riddled with countless frivolous ethics complaints and lawsuits after being nominated as the GOP vice presidential candidate, all in an attempt to derail my governorship and personally bankrupt my family.
One by one these complaints were tossed out on the basis of their frivolity, but the activists got what they wanted via the complicit liberal media's consistent headline: “Palin Charged With Ethic Complaints!”
It didn’t matter that the “complaint” was for something as absurd as wearing an old snow machine jacket with my husband's logo on it, or answering reporters' questions inside my state office, or giving a pro bono speech for a pro-life charity; again in hindsight the ridiculousness of the constant charges -- that cost millions to defend and halted all progress in my administration -- would seem hilarious if they'd not been so unfair to the public.
The media breathlessly reported on every one of the liberal's complaints with bold font, front page coverage. But when each one was overturned, most times we never even saw one mention about our vindication.
I have no doubt that Rick Perry will weather this storm because he's better prepared for this kind of B.S. than we were up here in Texas's big sister state, when the politics of personal destruction ramped up to unimaginable levels.
Rick won't have to worry about the Republican establishment piling on, either. He's more ingratiated with the political machine than someone considered still an unknown who'd go rogue on GOP kingmakers when they acted unethically, so he's fortunate to only face a firing squad from one side.
All over the country people are facing challenges. Some are unfairly charged with wrongdoing and they may feel defenseless and are absolutely slack jawed at the injustice it seems their detractors get away with. But like Rick Perry will do, Americans must all keep the faith that justice will be done, and whether it's a personal or political battle, know that if we lose that faith, there's no hope for America.
We come out of the battle with more scars, but look at those as reminders of what it takes to overcome. The scars toughen your skin to prepare you for something perhaps tougher up ahead, but surely for something greater.   
In today's political ring, these leftwing Chicago-type tactics of personal destruction are a corruption of our democratic process. It's a slap in the face of the American way of affecting change. We see the same “take no prisoners” tactics at play in the scandalous Democrat-run IRS – as officials with liberal sympathies brazenly harass conservatives to shut us up and shut us down.
We see the same cruel and unfair tactics at play in the liberal-run press that chooses to ignore the liberal president's threats against Congress with his "pen and phone," and his threats against any who question his failed policies when instructing his supporters to meet us with a gun in the proverbial knife fight that is today's politics. All of this prevents good people from even wanting to get involved in politics.
This will only stop when We the People wise up and buck up enough to demand better, and to fight back with a warning to liberals to pull in their horns because we'll never fall for their sick game again.
Don’t fall for those "Another Corrupt Conservative Governor; This Time in Texas!" screaming headlines. It's true that everything's big in Texas, including this pile of B.S. thrown at their governor that may be bigger than usual.
An indictment is serious business, and if found to be baseless it gives a big black eye to every watchdog group and every D.A.'s decision, so let's expose these thug tactics for what they are: the corrupt power plays of an embarrassingly failed Democratic Party lacking integrity and honor.
Rick Perry and conscientious citizens will expose this on a national level in coming days, mark my words, because you don't mess with Texas nor do you poke the rest of us independent Americans fed up with hell rousers turning the bad guy into the hero while demonizing the good.
Sarah Palin first made history on December 4, 2006, when she was sworn in as the first female and youngest governor of Alaska. In August 2008, Senator John McCain tapped Palin to serve as his vice-presidential running mate in his presidential campaign, making her the first woman to run on the Republican Party's presidential ticket. She is a contributor for Fox News where she offers her political commentary and analysis across all Fox News platforms.

ISIS Cartoon

Hillary Clinton requires 'presidential suite,' stenographer for speaking engagements, report says

Bailey: "This is the Democrats version of spreading the wealth around!"

Hillary Clinton has not yet announced whether she will be running for president in 2016, but a new report suggests that she has a taste for luxury to match any world leader.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal obtained Clinton's contract and related documents related to a scheduled October 13 speech at a University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Foundation fundraiser. The documents show that Clinton received $225,000 to speak at the fundraiser, a discount from her initial $300,000 asking price. But the fee was only the first of Clinton's many stipulations. 
The former Secretary of State insists on staying in the ‘presidential suite’ of a luxury hotel of her staff's choice, with up to five other rooms reserved for her travel aides and advance staff. Clinton also reportedly requires that the Foundation provide a private plane. However, the jet can not be any private plane; only a $39 million, 16-passenger Gulfstream G450 "or larger" will do the job.
“It is agreed that Speaker will be the only person on the stage during her remarks,”  reads the contract for the event, which also requires that Clinton have final approval of all moderators or introducers. 
Also, according to her standard speaking contract, Clinton has to stay at the event no longer than 90 minutes and will pose for no more than 50 photos with no more than 100 people. There is no press coverage of video or audio taping of her speech allowed, with the only record allowed being made by a stenographer whose transcript is given to Clinton. The paper reports, however, that the stenographer's $1,250 bill will be paid by the UNLV Foundation.

Gaza talks in limbo as cease-fire expiration approaches

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators were due to return to mediation talks in Cairo Sunday with both sides facing the looming expiration of the current five-day cease-fire in the Gaza Strip. 
Negotiations between the sides have been ongoing since early last week. They are aimed at ending the latest war between Israel and Hamas-led Islamic militants in the Gaza Strip and improving conditions for the territory's 1.8 million people. Israel wants guarantees to end rocket fire and attacks on its citizens.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opened his government's weekly Cabinet meeting Sunday by saying "We are in the midst of a joint military and political campaign. The delegation in Cairo is operating under clear guidelines to stand by Israel's needs."
"Only if there is an answer to these needs will we reach an understanding. We are a strong and determined nation. If Hamas thinks that it can cover its military defeat with a political achievement, it is mistaken. As long as the quiet does not return, Hamas will continue to suffer very serious blows."
A member of the Palestinian delegation told The Associated Press on Sunday that the gaps between the sides were still significant and that it was far from certain whether a deal could be reached before the cease-fire expires.
"We are less optimistic than we were earlier," he said.
The negotiator said that a key sticking point remains Hamas's insistence that Israel pledge to end its Gaza blockade before the talks conclude. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to discuss the issue with journalists.
 Under the terms of an Egyptian proposal, Israel and the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority would negotiate the end to the blockade at some point in the future. The blockade has restricted the flow of goods into Gaza and blocked virtually all exports, as well as limited Palestinians' movement in and out of the territory.
The Times of Israel, citing a Palestinian news agency, reported that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had called on Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal to accept the Egypt-proposed truce when the two met in Qatar Saturday. 
Israel says the blockade is necessary to prevent arms smuggling, and officials are reluctant to make any concessions that would allow Hamas to declare victory.
Israel, meanwhile, is demanding that Hamas be disarmed, or at the very least, be prevented from re-arming, something the militant group has rejected.
Hamas has recovered from previous rounds of violence with Israel, including a major three-week air and ground operation in January 2009 and another weeklong air offensive in 2012. It still has an arsenal of several thousand rockets, some with long ranges and relatively heavy payloads.
The current round of fighting began after Hamas resumed firing rockets at Israel following the arrests of suspected Hamas-affiliated militants in the West Bank. Israel said the arrests came as part of the investigation into the killing of three Israeli teens in June.

Boots on the ground Cartoon

Banned Books (Unbelievable)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_books_banned_by_governments

Purported letter from inside Gaza tells of tunnel toil, Hamas cruelty

An emotional letter purportedly smuggled out of Gaza details one man’s harrowing participation in digging the tunnels that Israel blames for triggering the latest round of fighting and paints a bleak picture of life under Hamas control.
The 30-year-old Palestinian to whom the letter is attributed describes accepting a cryptic job offer, then being taken in a windowless truck with five others to a building where they were forced to dig tunnels for long, gruelling shifts in stretches that lasted 10 days.
“We drove for an hour and finally they stopped and took us into a closed building. We didn’t know where we were,” reads the letter, the text of which has been released on the Internet. “They showed us a hole in the ground and told us to go down.

“We didn’t know where we’d been, or what tunnel we dug.”- Purported letter smuggled out of Gaza City

“We walked for a few hundred meters, and when we got to the end, two Hamas members were waiting for us,” the letter continues. “They gave us working tools and explained to us what to do in order to make the tunnel longer.”
It goes on to describe back-breaking labor performed in unventilated shafts, with Hamas overseers screaming and even assaulting workers not deemed to be working hard enough. In the end, after the workers were taken back home and paid meager wages for their work, “We didn’t know where we’d been, or what tunnel we dug,” the letter said.
Earlier this week, The Times of Israel reported that Hamas killed dozens of tunnel diggers after their work was done to prevent leaks to Israel about the locations of the underground shafts. In addition to tunnelers purposely killed, The Journal of Palestine Studies in 2012 reported that Hamas leaders had admitted that, "at least 160 children have been killed in the tunnels," reflecting the fact that many children are also used as forced labor to dig the terror tunnels.
The writer, who sources told FoxNews.com lives in Gaza City, had the handwritten, Arabic letter smuggled out by courier to Itzik Azar, a resident of central Israel and friend of the writer’s late father.
In the letter, the writer also claims his father’s metalwork shop was commandeered by the U.S.-designated terrorist group soon after it came to power in Gaza in 2006, and used from that point on to turn out rockets.
“They [Hamas] set the prices and [placed the orders] from the workshop,” he wrote. “From that day, every morning an armed Hamas member used to come to the shop and give us orders to make winged metal pipes. Straight away I understood that they were used to launch rockets. One day a pickup truck came and the Hamas members took my father from the shop. We never saw him again. Later I learned they killed him and threw his body into a pit.”
The death of his father and the seizure of the family shop drove the man to jump at the chance to earn money, he said. When the latest hostilities between Israel Defense Forces and Hamas broke out more than two months ago, he realized his own work had played a role.
“We heard about the tunnels that Hamas dug and I understood that I helped them,” read the letter. “We pray that the world will help to free us from the fearful and cruel Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip. I pray for death to all Hamas members and that we will get freedom and a chance to live a normal life for our children in Gaza. Inshalla.”