Fiorina to Clinton: ‘Flying is an activity, not an accomplishment’

Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard CEO who is flirting with a Republican presidential bid in 2016, took some tough shots Tuesday at the likely Democratic front-runner – effectively accusing Hillary Clinton of running for office on a record of air travel.
"Like Hillary Clinton, I too have traveled hundreds of thousands of miles around the globe,” Fiorina said. “But unlike Hillary Clinton, I know that flying is an activity, not an accomplishment.”
Fiorina spoke in Atlanta at a luncheon hosted by Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp. It marked at least the second time in as many months she has gone hard after Clinton; Fiorina previously criticized Clinton during an address last month at the Iowa Freedom Summit in Des Moines.
On Tuesday, Fiorina said that despite Clinton’s extensive travel as secretary of state, “every place in the world is more dangerous today than it was six years ago."
She also went after Clinton over recent reports on how the Clinton Foundation had lifted its own ban on foreign donations, and potential conflicts of interest that could arise from that should Clinton run for the White House.
“Really? This is the best we can do is to have yet another decade of campaign finance scandals?" Fiorina said.
Fiorina, who ran unsuccessfully for Senate in California in 2010, is often overshadowed by other big-name GOP presidential hopefuls, like former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. But she has been making the moves to prepare for a potential candidacy. 
Later Tuesday, Fiorina supporters announced they were launching a SuperPac entitled Carly for America to "help lay the groundwork for a potential presidential candidacy."
Fiorina's searing criticism was delivered shortly before Clinton herself spoke at a Silicon Valley women's conference, her first U.S. speech of the year.
Tuesday’s speech opens a stretch of public appearances in the next month ahead of an all-but-certain launch of her bid for the Democratic nomination.
The former secretary of state until now has steered clear of the spotlight -- her only two speeches in 2015 came in Canada last month -- choosing instead to huddle with advisers as a large field of Republican presidential hopefuls compete for attention.
Clinton was speaking Tuesday at the Watermark Silicon Valley Conference for Women in Santa Clara, Calif., an appearance before 5,000 attendees.
Clinton is scheduled to step up her public appearances in March, appearing at a gala for EMILY's List, which supports female Democratic candidates who support abortion rights, an awards ceremony in Washington for political journalists and a United Nations meeting on women's rights.

Former Marine found guilty in 'American Sniper' trial

A former Marine was found guilty late Tuesday of the 2013 shooting deaths of former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, the author of "American Sniper," and his friend Chad Littlefield.
It took an Erath County, Texas jury less than two hours to convict Eddie Ray Routh of capital murder. State District Judge Jason Cashon sentenced Routh to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Prosecutors had not sought the death penalty in the case. Routh's defense team said they would appeal the conviction.
"We have waited two years for God to get justice on behalf of our son," Littlefield's mother, Judy, told reporters outside the courthouse. "And as always, God has proven to be faithful, and we're so thrilled that we have the verdict that we have tonight."
Chris Kyle's widow, Taya, was not in the courtroom when the verdict was read. Earlier in the day, she had stormed out of the courtroom in the middle of the defense's closing arguments, whispering an expletive and slamming her hand on the wall as she walked out the door. At the time, attorneys were discussing how useful it would have been for Routh's mother to have told Chris Kyle about her son's history of violence. 
Routh showed no visible emotion as the verdict was read, while Kyle's brother and parents were among a group of the victims' families and friends who cried and held hands. They did not issue a statement.
Jerry Richardson, Littlefield's half-brother, told Routh that he "took the lives of two heroes, men who tried to be a friend to you, and you became an American disgrace." Routh had no reaction.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted "JUSTICE!" in response to the verdict.
Routh, 27, had admitted to killing Kyle and Littlefield at a gun range on Feb. 2, 2013 but pleaded not guilty. His attorneys and family members asserted that he suffers from psychotic episodes caused by post-traumatic stress disorder and other factors.
But prosecutors said Tuesday that whatever episodes Routh suffers are self-induced through alcohol and marijuana abuse.
In front of a packed courtroom, Erath County assistant District Attorney Jane Starnes and three defense attorneys made their case.
"That is not insanity. That is just cold, calculated capital murder," Starnes said. "(Routh) is guilty of capital murder and he was not by any means insane."
But defense attorneys contended that Routh could not have realized what he was doing.
"He didn't kill those men because of who he wanted to be, he killed those men because he had a delusion," Warren St. John said. "He thought that they were going to kill him."
Kyle and Littlefield took Routh, who had deployed to Iraq and earthquake-ravaged Haiti, to a shooting range after Routh's mother asked Kyle to help her son cope with PTSD and other personal demons. Interest in the trial had been partially driven by the blockbuster Oscar-nominated film based on Kyle's life.
Routh's attorneys also pointed to the gunman's use of Kyle's pickup truck after the shooting to purchase tacos at a drive-through window and run assorted errands as evidence of delusional behavior.
Had Routh been found not guilty by reason of insanity, the state could have moved to have him committed.
Routh's attorneys pointed out that they needed only a preponderance of evidence for jurors to conclude Routh was insane at the time of the shootings and therefore not guilty, a standard of proof well below what would be required to convict him of capital murder.
But prosecutors also noted that Routh had apologized to Kyle's family -- evidence, they said, of a guilty mind.
"This defendant gunned down two men in cold blood, in the back, in our county. Find him guilty," Erath County District Attorney Alan Nash said.
Kyle made more than 300 kills as a sniper for SEAL Team 3, according to his own count. After leaving the military, he volunteered with veterans facing mental health problems, often taking them shooting.

Obama vetoes Keystone XL pipeline bill

President Obama on Tuesday followed through on his vow to veto bipartisan-backed legislation authorizing the Keystone XL pipeline, marking his first veto of the Republican-led Congress and only the third of his presidency. 
The president, in a brief statement, claimed the bill would "circumvent" the existing process for reviewing the pipeline, which would extend from Canada to Texas. 
"The Presidential power to veto legislation is one I take seriously," Obama said. "But I also take seriously my responsibility to the American people. And because this act of Congress conflicts with established executive branch procedures and cuts short thorough consideration of issues that could bear on our national interest -- including our security, safety, and environment -- it has earned my veto." 
The decision, while expected, was met with tough criticism from Republicans -- and tees up another showdown with Congress in the coming days as GOP leaders try to override. 
"It's extremely disappointing that President Obama vetoed a bipartisan bill that would support thousands of good jobs and pump billions of dollars into the economy," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in a statement. "Even though the President has yielded to powerful special interests, this veto doesn't end the debate." 
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, called the veto a "national embarrassment." 
McConnell's office said the Senate plans to vote on overriding sometime before March 3. 
But so far, congressional leaders have not demonstrated they have the votes to override, which takes a two-thirds majority in both chambers. 
The Keystone bill garnered 62 yeas in the Senate, but they would need 67 to override. In the House, the bill got 270 votes -- but they would need 281 to override. 
It remains unclear whether moderate lawmakers could be swayed to switch in the coming weeks. 
While Tuesday's veto marked only the third of Obama's presidency -- fewer than any U.S. president since the 19th century -- his sparing use of the presidential tool is likely to change. With Republicans now in control of Congress, their efforts to chip away at the president's health care law and other legislative accomplishments are just as likely to be met with Obama's veto pen. 
To date, Obama rarely has used the veto in part because Democrats for six years controlled at least one chamber in Congress -- acting as a buffer to prevent unwanted bills from ever reaching the president's desk. That buffer is now gone. 
A look back at past presidencies, especially where control of the White House and Congress was split during at least one point, shows far more liberal use of that presidential power. 
In the Clinton presidency, the president issued 37 vetoes in his two terms. President Ronald Reagan issued 78. President George W. Bush issued 12. His father issued 44. 
Not since the Warren G. Harding administration has the number of vetoes been in the single digits; Harding issued six. 
The Keystone bill is as contentious an issue as any for Obama to fire his first veto shot of the new Congress. 
First proposed in 2008, the Keystone pipeline would connect Canada's tar sands to Gulf Coast refineries. 
The White House has said repeatedly it would wait to make its decision about whether to let the project go forward until after a State Department review. It regards the legislation as circumventing that process.

Islamists Cartoon

Alaska becomes third state to legalize recreational marijuana as ballot measure takes effect

Mother's Proud.

JUNEAU, Alaska –  Alaska on Tuesday became the third U.S. state to legalize the recreational use of marijuana, but organizers don't expect any public celebrations since it remains illegal to smoke marijuana in public.
In the state's largest city, Anchorage police officers are ready to start handing out $100 fines to make sure taking a toke remains something to be done behind closed doors.
Placing Alaska in the same category as Washington state and Colorado with legal marijuana was the goal of a coalition including libertarians, rugged individualists and small-government Republicans who prize the privacy rights enshrined in the Alaska state constitution.
When they voted 53-47 percent last November to legalize marijuana use by adults in private places, they left many of the details to lawmakers and regulators to sort out.
That has left confusion on many matters.
The initiative bans smoking in public, but didn't define what that means, and lawmakers left the question to the alcohol regulatory board, which planned to meet early Tuesday to discuss an emergency response.
That's left different communities across the state to adopt different standards of what smoking in public means to them. In Anchorage, officials tried and failed in December to ban a new commercial marijuana industry. But Police Chief Mark Mew said his officers will be strictly enforcing the public smoking ban. He even warned people against smoking on their porches if they live next to a park.
But far to the north, in North Pole, smoking outdoors on private property will be OK as long as it doesn't create a nuisance, officials there said.
Other officials are still discussing a proposed cultivation ban for the Kenai Peninsula.
In some respects, the confusion continues a four-decade reality for Alaskans and their relationship with marijuana.
While the 1975 Alaska Supreme Court decision protected personal marijuana possession and a 1998 initiative legalized medicinal marijuana, state lawmakers twice criminalized any possession over the years, creating an odd legal limbo.
As of Tuesday, adult Alaskans can not only keep and use pot, they can transport, grow it and give it away. A second phase, creating a regulated and taxed marijuana market, won't start until 2016 at the earliest. That's about the same timeline for Oregon, where voters approved legalizing marijuana the same day as Alaska did but the law there doesn't go into effect until July 1. Washington state and Colorado voters legalized marijuana in 2012 and sales have started there.
And while possession is no longer a crime under state law, enjoying pot in public can bring a $100 fine.
That's fine with Dean Smith, a pot-smoker in Juneau who has friends in jail for marijuana offenses. "It's going to stop a lot of people getting arrested for nonviolent crimes," he said.
The initiative's backers warned pot enthusiasts to keep their cool.
"Don't do anything to give your neighbors reason to feel uneasy about this new law. We're in the midst of an enormous social and legal shift," organizers wrote in the Alaska Dispatch News, the state's largest newspaper.
Richard Ziegler, who had been promoting what he called "Idida-toke" in a nod to Alaska's Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, reluctantly called off his party.
There's no such pullback for former television reporter Charlo Greene, now CEO of the Alaska Cannabis Club, which is having its grand opening on Tuesday in downtown Anchorage. She's already pushing the limits, promising to give away weed to paying "medical marijuana" patients and other "club members."
Greene -- who quit her job with a four-letter walkoff on live television last year to devote her efforts to passing the initiative -- plans a celebratory toke at 4:20 p.m.
Meanwhile, Alaska Native leaders worry that legalization will bring new temptations to communities already confronting high rates of drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence and suicide.
"When they start depending on smoking marijuana, I don't know how far they'd go to get the funds they need to support it, to support themselves," said Edward Nick, council member in Manokotak, a remote village of 400 that is predominantly Yup'ik Eskimo.
Both alcohol and drug use are prohibited in Nick's village 350 miles southwest of Anchorage, even inside the privacy of villagers' homes.
But Nick fears that the initiative, in combination with a 1975 state Supreme Court decision that legalized marijuana use inside homes -- could open doors to drug abuse.
Initiative backers promised Native leaders that communities could still have local control under certain conditions. Alaska law gives every community the option to regulate alcohol locally. From northern Barrow to Klawock, 1,291 miles away in southeast Alaska, 108 communities impose local limits on alcohol, and 33 of them ban it altogether.
But the initiative did not provide clear opt-out language for tribal councils and other smaller communities, forcing each one to figure out how to proceed Tuesday.

Flower Power: Christian florist rejects attorney general’s offer, won’t betray her religious beliefs

Barronelle Stutzman, a Washington State florist who declined to provide flowers for a gay wedding , has rejected a deal by the attorney general’s office that would’ve forced her to betray her religious beliefs – much like Judas betrayed Jesus.
“You are asking me to walk in the way of a well-known betrayer, one who sold something of infinite worth for 30 pieces of silver,” Stutzman wrote in a letter to state Attorney General Bob Ferguson. “That is something I will not do.”

Stutzman said she never imagined the day when what she loved to do would become illegal.

Ferguson had offered to settle the case if she paid a $2,000 penalty for violating the Consumer Protection Act, a $1 payment for costs and fees, and agreed not to discriminate in the future.
“My primary goal has always been to bring about an end to the defendant’s unlawful conduct and to make clear that I will not tolerate discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation,” Ferguson said in a prepared statement.
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On Feb. 18 a judge ruled Stutzman had violated the law by refusing to provide flowers for the same-sex wedding of a longtime customer. The state had not only gone after the flower shop but also Stutzman personally.
Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), the religious liberty law firm representing Stutzman, said legal bills could be as high as seven figures.
“He’s using the full power of his office to personally and professionally destroy her,” ADF attorney Kristen Waggoner told me.
But the 70-year-old Southern Baptist grandmother said she will not violate her religious beliefs – no matter what. If that means losing her house – so be it.
“I certainly don’t relish the idea of losing my business, my homes and everything else that your lawsuit threatens to take from my family, but my freedom to honor God in doing what I do best is more important,” Stutzman wrote in a letter to the attorney general. (You can read my earlier story on Stutzman’s case here.)
She said the attorney general simply does not understand her or what the conflict is all about.
“It’s about freedom, not money,” she said. “You chose to attack my faith and pursue this not simply as a matter of law, but to threaten my very means of working, eating and having a home.”
Stutzman’s attorneys said they plan to appeal the judge’s decision – meaning she won’t have to fork over any money just yet to Washington State.
In the meantime, she said she would continue to gladly serve the customer who filed the lawsuit.
“I truly want the best for my friend,” she wrote. “I’ve also employed and served many members of the LGBT community and I will continue to do so regardless of what happens with this case.”
Stutzman said she never imagined the day when what she loved to do would become illegal. And that in the state of Washington using your God-given talents and abilities would be against the law.
The Seattle Times reported that Judge Ekstrom determined that “while religious beliefs are protected by the First Amendment, actions based on those beliefs aren’t necessarily protected.”
In other words – it’s OK to believe in God – so long as you don’t follow the tenets of your faith.
“Our state would be a better place if we respected each other’s differences, and our leaders protected the freedom to have those differences,” she wrote. “Because I follow the Bible’s teaching that marriage is the union of one man and one woman, I am no longer free to act on my beliefs.”
This is one granny that you don’t want to dig in the dirt with.
Todd Starnes is host of Fox News & Commentary, heard on hundreds of radio stations. Sign up for his American Dispatch newsletter, be sure to join his Facebook page, and follow him on Twitter. His latest book is "God Less America."

Senate Dems block GOP effort to tie DHS funding to Obama immigration actions

Senate Democrats blocked legislation Monday that would have rolled back President Obama's executive actions on immigration in exchange for funding the Department of Homeland Security through September.
But soon after the early evening vote -- the fourth Senate attempt to block Obama's controversial decision to grant work permits to millions of illegal immigrants -- Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., suggested separate legislation to combat Obama's executive actions.
"The new bill I described offers another option we can turn to. It's another way to get the Senate unstuck from a Democrat filibuster and move the debate forward," McConnell said on the Senate floor after a vote to advance the House-passed bill failed 47-46, short of the 60 votes needed. Three previous attempts earlier in the month had yielded similar results.
It was not clear whether McConnell's gambit would succeed ahead of Friday's midnight deadline to fund the department or see it shut down. It was far from certain whether it would win any Democratic support, and House conservatives remain firmly opposed to any funding bill for the Homeland Security Department that does not also overturn Obama's executive actions on immigration.
If no funding deal is reached by the deadline, the DHS could partially shut down, resulting in the furloughs of roughly 30,000 DHS employees. About 200,000 others would continue to work, but they would receive no pay until Congress authorizes funding.
It's a reality that was on display during the 16-day government-wide shutdown in the fall of 2013, when national parks and monuments closed but essential government functions kept running, albeit sometimes on reduced staff.
Earlier in the day, Obama again warned that failing to act before Friday increases the risk of a domestic terror act.
At a White House gathering of governors, Obama accused Congress of creating “self-inflicted” wounds and said failing to pass the funding bill within the next several days “will have a direct impact on America’s national security.” Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson appeared on all five Sunday talk shows to make a similar case.
The Tea Party Patriots group is suggesting that Senate Republicans are backing down because they fear Americans will blame them for a partial DHS shutdown.
“Senate Republicans are about to cave in to President Obama,” the group said Monday. “It’s time … to ratchet up the pressure on wobbly Senators.”
A federal district court judge in Texas last week temporarily blocked the administration's plans to carry out an executive action that protects millions of illegal immigrants from deportation.
The Justice Department on Monday asked a federal judge to lift the judge’s temporary block and make a decision by Wednesday. If the judge fails to rule in the administration’s favor, the department is expected to turn to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, who leads the Senate committee that oversees the DHS, was not calling Monday for the immigration provision to be removed from the funding bill, but suggested that the courts, not Congress, will resolve the issue.
“Now that the judiciary branch is involved, the courts ultimately will decide the constitutionality of the administration’s ‘deferred action’ memorandum,” he said.

'NO EXCUSE': VA secretary admits special forces service claim was a lie

Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald has admitted that he lied about serving in the special operations forces in a conversation with a homeless veteran that was caught on camera earlier this year.
McDonald made the claim in January while he was in Los Angeles as part of the VA's effort to locate and house homeless veterans. During the tour, a homeless man told McDonald that he had served in the special operations forces. 
"Special forces? What years?" McDonald responded. "I was in special forces." The exchange was broadcast on "The CBS Evening News" Jan. 30. McDonald's misstatement was first reported by The Huffington Post.
McDonald graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1975 and completed Army Ranger training before being assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division until his retirement in 1980. According to the Huffington Post, while McDonald was formally recognized as a graduate of Ranger School, he never actually served in a Ranger battalion or other special operations unit.
"I have no excuse," the website quoted McDonald as saying in its report. "I was not in special forces."
In a statement released Monday by the VA, McDonald said: "While I was in Los Angeles, engaging a homeless individual to determine his veteran status, I asked the man where he had served in the military. He responded that he had served in special forces. I incorrectly stated that I had been in special forces. That was inaccurate and I apologize to anyone that was offended by my misstatement."
McDonald told the Huffington Post that he had "reacted spontaneously and ... wrongly" in response to the homeless man's claim. 
"As I thought about it later, I knew that this was wrong," McDonald said of his false statement. 
The White House released a statement Monday evening saying that it had accepted McDonald's explanation.
"Secretary McDonald has apologized for the misstatement and noted that he never intended to misrepresent his military service," the statement said. "We take him at his word and expect that this will not impact the important work he’s doing to promote the health and well-being of our nation’s veterans."
After leaving the Army, McDonald went on to a successful corporate career, eventually becoming Chairman, President, and CEO of Proctor & Gamble. He became VA secretary this past July, as the agency was dealing with the fallout from the scandal of long patient wait times at VA hospitals.

Biden Cartoon

John McCain: 'I'm ashamed of my country'

 Sen. John McCain says he's ashamed of the United States, President Obama and himself for how America has failed to help Ukraine defend itself from Russia.
"I'm ashamed of my country, I'm ashamed of my president and I'm ashamed of myself, that I haven't done more to help these people," the Arizona Republican and former presidential nominee, who spent six years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, said on CBS' "Face the Nation." "It is really, really heartbreaking."
McCain, who is chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, decried American and European leaders' unwillingness to provide Ukrainians with weapons they can use to stave off the Russian advance.
The senator predicted that Russian President Vladimir Putin will pull back some, but said Putin's next goal will be to establish a stronger land route into Ukraine, a move that would allow for an easier attack on that country.

Johnson warns about Congress not funding homeland security, gets support from GOP senators

A top Obama administration official warned several times Sunday about the potential, far-reaching perils of Congress allowing the Department of Homeland Security to run out of funding in several days and got some Republican support in the Capitol Hill stalemate.
Congressional Democrats and Republicans are in a standoff over legislation that will fund the agency through late September but also roll back President Obama's executive action on immigration.
Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said allowing the agency to lose its federal funding after Friday could jeopardize the U.S efforts to thwart a domestic terror attack by the Islamic State and will result in 30,000 employees being furloughed.
“It including people I depend on every day to stay one step ahead of" the Islamic State, he told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
He also appeared on “Fox News Sunday” and the three other major Sunday shows, arguing that failing to reach a deal would go beyond cutting off funding for the president’s efforts to defer deportation for millions of illegal immigrants to include cuts to the Federal Emergency Management Agency while parts of the country are still dealing with severe winter weather.
The legislation has already been passed by the GOP-controlled House but is stalled in the Senate.
Johnson disagreed with the argument that Senate Democrats have blocked the bill by filibustering, saying the problem is the legislation should be presented “clean” of any immigration language.
“I’m talking to every member of Congress who will listen,” Johnson told NBC. "It's absurd that we're even having this conversation about Congress' inability to fund Homeland Security in these challenging times."  
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has suggested that the House pass a bill on which Senate Democrats can agree.
However, the leaders of the lower chamber have been steadfast for weeks about having already done their job.
Kevin Smith, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, repeated that message Sunday by saying in an email: "The House has acted to fund the Homeland Security Department. Now it's time for Senate Democrats to stop blocking legislation that would do the same."
GOP Sens. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina, and John McCain, Arizona, said Sunday they would oppose linking the two issues in one bill.
Graham told ABC’s “This Week” that he was “willing and ready” to pass a funding bill, then let the immigration issue play out in court.
Last week, a federal district court judge in Texas temporarily blocked the administration's plans to protect immigrant parents of U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents from deportation. The decision came as part of a lawsuit filed by 26 states claiming Obama had overstepping his authority in taking the executive action.
Johnson repeated Sunday that the administration will appeal the ruling.
Even if Congress fails to fund their agency, the remain roughly 200,000 Homeland Security employees would continue to work.
However, they would receive no pay until Congress authorizes funding.
It's a reality that was on display during the 16-day government-wide shutdown in the fall of 2013, when national parks and monuments closed but essential government functions kept running, albeit sometimes on reduced staff.
Johnson on Sunday also linked the purported Mall of America warning from the Africa-based al-Shabaab terror group and other recent terror alerts to what he described as a "new phase" of challenges by extremist groups abroad that have used alarming Internet videos and social media to gain adherents in the U.S. and potentially prod some to action.
"This new phase is more complex, less centralized, more diffuse," he said, adding: "It encourages independent actors who strike with very little notice."

Homeland Secretary Johnson suggests term 'violent extremism' used at behest of Muslim leaders

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said on Sunday that President Obama’s decision not to say the actions of the Islamic State is a form of “radical Islam” is at the behest of the Muslim community.
“The thing I hear from leaders in the Muslim community in this country is ISIL is attempting to hijack my religion,” Johnson told “Fox News Sunday,” referring to the terror group also known as Islamic State, or ISIS.
Johnson said the leaders argue their religion is about peace and brotherhood and “resent” that Islamic State is “attempting to hijack that from us.”
Obama is facing sharp criticism, even from within his own party, for instead using the term “violent extremism” to describe the actions of ISIS and other terror groups that are based on a form of Islam.
“If we don’t identify our enemies, we cannot defeat them,” Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, told Fox News on Wednesday. “Unless you accurately identify who your enemy is, then you can’t come up with an effective strategy, a winning strategy to defeat that enemy.”
Obama on the same day defended his choice of words by saying the term "radical Islam" gives such groups religious legitimacy they don't deserve.
“I want to be very clear about how I see it: Al Qaeda and ISIL and groups like it are desperate for legitimacy. They try to portray themselves as religious leaders, holy warriors in defense of Islam,” he said. “We must never accept the premise they put forward.”
Johnson, who appeared on all of the major Sunday talk shows, also made a similar argument.
“To refer to ISIL as occupying any part of the Islamic theology is playing on a battlefield that they would like us to be on,” he said. “I think that to call them some form of Islam gives the group more dignity than it deserves frankly. It is a terrorist organization.”
Johnson also said he was more focused on the potential for Islamic State, with an estimated 30,000 fighters in Iraq and Syria, to recruit Americans and inspire them to carry out terror acts.
“Whether it's referred to as Islamic extremism or violent extremism, what it comes down to is ISIL is a terrorist organization that represents a serious potential threat to our homeland, which has to be addressed,” he said. “I’m more concerned about that frankly than I am about what two words we use to refer to them.”
Johnson also supported some of the arguments put forth last week at a White House summit on terror extremism including ones about having to defeat Islamic State and other groups through social media.
In addition, State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said, “We can't kill our way out of this war. We need to go after the root causes that lead people to join these groups -- the lack of opportunity and jobs among them.''
Johnson said Sunday the U.S. is attempting to defeat terror groups “militarily” through an international coalition.
However, the U.S. must also use social media and get involved in Muslim communities to thwart such groups' successful efforts to use the Internet to recruit foreign fighters, he said.
“We need to be involved in the relevant communities in this country to thwart their recruitment efforts and to help build the counter-narrative to the one that is being put out by ISIL right now," Johnson said. ... "It does involve a whole of government approach.”

Disney Cartoon

US considering slowing down troop withdrawal from Afghanistan

During his first visit to Afghanistan, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said the U.S. is considering slowing its military exit from the embattled country by keeping a larger troop presence in the country than previously planned because the new Afghan government is proving to be a more reliable partner.
President Obama plans to discuss a range of options for U.S. military withdrawal when Afghan president Ashraf Ghani visits the White House in March, Carter said at a news conference with Ghani. The two presidents plan to “rethink” the counterterrorism right in Afghanistan, he said.
There are 10,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, down from 100,000 from 2011. Carter did not say Obama was considering keeping troops in the country beyond 2016, but was only considering the pace of troop withdrawal for the next two years.
While the White House recently acknowledged it was reconsidering the exit plan, Carter's remarks were the most direct explanation by a Pentagon official amid criticism from opposition Republicans that the Democratic commander in chief is beating a hasty and risky retreat.
Ghani shad requested “some flexibility in the troop drawdown timeline” in February. The day after the request, Gen. John Campbell, a top U.S. commander in Afghanistan told the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee he had presented U.S. leaders with options that would allow him to continue training and advising Afghan forces through the summer.
Carter said the new thinking about the mission in Afghanistan has to do with the stabilized government in Afghanistan between Ashraf and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah. The unity offers new promise for a more effective partnership in stabilizing the country, Carter said.
Ghani has made it clear he thinks a slowdown of troop withdrawal would offer better support for Afghan forces battling the Taliban. Obama’s current plan calls for troop levels to cut in half from 10,000 by the end of the year.
Carter lauded the progress that Afghanistan has made during the 13 years since U.S. forces invaded and toppled the Taliban rule. Obama's goal, he said, is to "make sure this progress sticks" so that Afghanistan does not again become a launching pad for terrorist attacks on the U.S.
Carter also met in the Afghan capital with Campbell and Gen. Lloyd Austin, the commander of U.S. Central Command, which has responsibility for U.S. operations in Afghanistan and across the Middle East.

Slow start for program to reduce vets' waits at Veterans Affairs facilities, offer private medical care

Far fewer veterans than expected are taking advantage of a new law aimed at making it easier for them to get private health care and avoid the long waits that have plagued Department of Veterans Affairs facilities nationwide.
Only 27,000 veterans have made appointments for private medical care since the VA started mailing out "Choice Cards" in November, the VA said in a report to Congress this month. The number is so small, compared to the 8.6 million cards that have been mailed out, that VA Secretary Robert McDonald wants authority to redirect some of the $10 billion Congress allocated for the program to boost care for veterans at the VA's 970 hospitals and clinics.
Republicans and Democrats insist the problem is the department and that it needs to do a better job promoting the choice program. They also want to change a quirk in the law that makes it hard for some veterans in rural areas to prove they live at least 40 miles from a VA health site.
The government measures the distance as the crow flies, rather than by driving miles, leaving thousands of veterans ineligible.
"Veterans put their lives on the line to defend this country. The very least we can do is ensure they don't have to jump through hoops to receive the care they need and have earned," said Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., whose vast state has just one VA hospital.
The choice program was a key component of last year's sweeping law approved in response to reports that dozens of veterans died while waiting for appointments at a VA hospital in Phoenix, and that appointment records were manipulated to hide the delays. A series of government reports said workers throughout the country falsified wait lists while supervisors looked the other way, resulting in chronic delays for veterans seeking care and bonuses for managers who falsely appeared to meet on-time goals.
The law, signed by President Barack Obama in August, allows veterans who have waited more than 30 days for an appointment to get VA-paid care from a local doctor. It also allows veterans who live at least 40 miles from a VA hospital or clinic to get private care and makes it easier to fire VA employees accused of wrongdoing.
The choice program expands an existing program that allows veterans to get outside care for emergencies or procedures not available at the VA. Veterans have long complained about waiting months or even years to be reimbursed for private care, and many are skeptical the choice card will alleviate those problems, despite promises by the VA.
"I don't believe any of us thought that there would be a wholesale rush to leave the VA system at all, but we are still early in the program," Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, told reporters during a recent tour of the VA.
McDonald's bid to shift the money has met a bipartisan wall of opposition in Congress, where leaders said the landmark law they adopted last summer to overhaul VA has not been fully implemented. Taking money away from the choice program just three months after it was launched is premature, even irresponsible, lawmakers and veterans advocates said.
Miller called the plan a complete nonstarter. His Senate counterpart, Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., called it unacceptable. And Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., one of the law's chief authors, said Congress not only would reject the idea "but refuse to even consider" it.
Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the senior Democrat on the Senate veterans panel, said in an interview he would oppose any reallocation of funds "so long as there are delays and issues with quality of care" at VA.
McDonald counters that the proposal, which has not been formally submitted to Congress, would help ensure that "every veteran receives the care they have earned and deserve regardless of where they choose to get it from."
McDonald, who took over as VA secretary in July, said he never intended to "gut the choice program or somehow eliminate" it. Instead, he said, he simply seeks the kind of budget flexibility he enjoyed as Procter & Gamble CEO.
"Imagine your household. You are hungry, but you can't move the money from the gasoline account to the food account. Well, that is the situation I face," he said at a Feb. 11 budget hearing before the House Veterans Affairs Committee.
Louis Celli, director of veterans affairs and rehabilitation at The American Legion, the largest veterans service organization, called McDonald's explanation disingenuous.
"Draining funds from the bill short-circuits the program and ultimately hurts vets," Celli said, noting that VA officials had pushed for the choice program as a short-term way to expand patient access to care.
Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Kan., said a veteran in his rural district drives 340 miles one-way for cardiology treatment at a VA hospital in Kansas City.
"If the VA choice program can't provide something closer for him, then we need to relook at how we are implementing that," Huelskamp told McDonald at the Feb. 11 hearing.
McDonald said VA officials are willing to look at the 40-mile rule to see if it needs to be changed. The VA is committed to doing all it can to "make sure the program is robust," he said.

GOP governors in Maryland, Tennessee offer voluntary employee buyouts to reduce government

Republican governors in two states -- Maryland and Tennessee -- are offering voluntary employee-buyout programs as a way to reduce government beyond furloughs and cutting programs.
In Maryland, newly elected Gov. Larry Hogan is offering state employees in agencies in the executive branch a lump sum payment of $15,000, according to a letter dated Wednesday. They also would receive an additional $200 for each year of service.
The program is part of Hogan's balanced budget plan that was released last month and closed a budget shortfall of about $750 million.
"The goal of the program is to reduce the size of the state workforce by allowing employees to elect to voluntarily leave state service," David Brinkley, Hogan's budget secretary, wrote in the letter.
He also said that closing the shortfall “required some very tough decisions” but that the budget still managed to be structurally balanced without eliminating agencies and programs, imposing furloughs or eliminating filled state positions.
In Tennessee, Gov. Bill Haslam mentioned a voluntary buyout program during a budget presentation earlier this week. And the administration’s Department of Human Resources provided more details in a follow-up email to state employees.
According to the email, only those employees determined eligible for the buyout will be invited to participate in the program. Each department and agency is working to determine what classifications will be considered eligible.
A website, telephone line and email address have been established to update and inform people about the program, as well as give them an opportunity to ask questions.
Town hall meetings are also planned across the state to provide assistance to those interested.
In the Maryland program, the deadline to apply is March 13. People who apply and are selected by the state would have to leave no later than April 28.
The plan aims to save about $30 million.
Former Gov. Martin O'Malley included voluntary early separation in a package of budget cuts approved by the state’s Board of Public Works last month.
A Hogan spokesman said the governor is “simply following through with it."
O'Malley also offered voluntary separation in 2010 to help address a budget shortfall. More than 600 people accepted it in 2010.

Obama policy to bring Syrian refugees into US raises concern among Republicans, intelligence community

An Obama administration plan to allow Syrian refuges into the United States is raising concerns within the intelligence community and on Capitol Hill -- with one GOP House leader calling it a “federally sanctioned welcome party” to potential terrorists.
The State Department has defended the plan to welcome refugees from the war-ravaged western Asia country, saying the U.S. was founded on the principles of helping such people.
However, House Republicans are concern about members of The Islamic State, whose de facto headquarters is in Syria, infiltrating the refugee system and getting on American soil.
Mike McCaul, chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, said Friday night on Fox News’ “Hannity” show that the policy is “dangerous and reckless.”
The Texas lawmaker said he also recently wrote National Security Adviser Susan Rice about the policy, which includes brining in refugees from neighboring Turkey, where millions of Syrians have fled because of their civil war.
In the letter, he and fellow Republicans raised concerns about the U.S.’s screening process, which is hindered by the intelligence-gathering challenges in Syria.
"You have to have information to vet,” FBI Assistant Director Michael Steinbach, said in a Feb. 11 House homeland security hearing. “Databases don't [have] the information on those individuals, and that's the concern.”
McCaul suggested at the hearing that allowing Syrian refugees into the U.S. would be a “huge mistake.”
“Most of (the refugees) are women and children, but there are male actors that concern me,” he said. “This would be a federally sanctioned welcome party, if you will, to potential terrorists in the United States.”
An estimated 7 million Syrians are seeking refugee status, and 500 have reportedly already been allowed into the U.S.
"It's clearly a population of concern," Nicholas Rasmussen, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, said at the hearing.
Said Steinbach: "I'm concerned. We'll have to take a look at those (terror watch) lists and go through all of the intelligence holdings and be very careful to try and identify connections to foreign terrorist groups."
Steinbach and Rasmussen were joined at the hearing by Francis Taylor, who runs the Department of Homeland Security’s intelligence office.
Taylor acknowledged his agency was concerned about any group that might be coming to the U.S. for “nefarious purposes.” However, he said he was “not in a position” to agree or disagree with the refugee policy because it was under the offices of the secretary of State.
The State Department did not send a witness to the hearing. But Larry Bartlett, an agency director for refugee admission, told ABC News that the vetting process is "intensive," deliberate and includes information and guidance from the Defense Department and other U.S. intelligence agencies.
"We have a very slow process of moving refugees through our pipeline, and part of it is because of the security vetting component," he said.
Despite the concerns of Rasmussen and the others who testified, they vowed that the screen process would be as rigorous as possible.
"Any tasking we're given ... will be as thorough as we can make it," Taylor said.
Rasmussen said the U.S. intelligence community would put its “full weight” behind vetting refugee candidates.

Mother Jones' Trash Spout

ISIS Cartoon

State lawmakers weigh ending ‘unnecessary’ car inspections

Broken taillight? Soon, it might not be a problem. 
State lawmakers are revving up efforts to abolish or roll back car inspections -- arguing that the government-mandated check-ups amount to little more than a hassle and a tax. 
The Mississippi state Senate recently passed a bill that would eliminate vehicle inspections completely. 
State Sen. John Polk, a Republican and supporter of the bill, said states are going this way because they've found the inspections "unnecessary." 
"Cars have become much more reliable today," Polk said. The measure heads next to the Mississippi House for a vote. 
While safety advocates argue the inspections are still important, the proposal follows other efforts at the state level to roll back inspections. New Jersey, for example, eliminated their safety inspections back in 2010. And some Pennsylvania lawmakers are pushing anew to get rid of inspections for cars less than two years old. 
There are two types of regulated inspections: safety and emissions. A handful of states -- including Florida, Alabama and Hawaii -- don't require any. Today, at least 18 states require periodic safety inspections, and roughly three-dozen states require emissions inspections. 
Those considering moving away from inspections argue they're antiquated. 
In Mississippi, the inspections cost drivers $5 per year. The penalty for not having a valid inspection sticker is $50. 
Mississippi Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves believes the stickers are used to essentially collect a "$5 tax." 
"Many states are eliminating the inspection sticker as vehicles are manufactured with improved safety features, and I think we should join them," Reeves said in a written statement. He also complained that state troopers have to spend time inspecting inspection stations, when they are trained to "protect Mississippians' safety on the road." 
But some drivers think the inspections are worth it. "I think they're a good thing. They keep broken-down cars off the road, for safety reasons. It's not expensive either," said Long Beach, Miss., resident Cameron Hatch. 
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, Mississippi had more than 2 million registered vehicles -- which puts the state's annual revenue from safety inspections at more than $6 million. That's a tiny fraction of the state's budget, expected to be more than $6 billion for 2016. 
"This is not about money," state Sen. Billy Hudson told The Clarion Ledger. "I don't care if we are losing money on it or making money. It's a public safety issue." 
But AAA Public Affairs Vice President Mike Wright said some safety inspections are not worth it. 
"Nobody can prove with any degree of certainty that spending the money, suffering the inconvenience of getting your vehicle inspected, actually produces desired results," said Wright, who added only the smallest portion of car accidents are caused by motor vehicle defects. Driver error is the biggest cause, Wright said, while stressing that drivers should still get their vehicles inspected periodically. 
The Department of Transportation created a vehicle inspection program after Congress passed the Highway Safety Act in 1966. But in 1976, Congress allowed states to abandon their inspection programs. 
The safety inspection typically involves a driver bringing a car to an authorized shop for testing on the brakes, steering, suspension and headlights, among other factors. Drivers get a sticker on the windshield to show their car has passed. 
In Pennsylvania, state Sen. John Wozniak, a Democrat, is leading an effort to eliminate safety inspections for cars less than two years old. 
"When you look at accidents and crashes of states that have inspections to those that do not, their accident rates are not much different," said Wozniak, who plans to introduce a bill.   
Wozniak also wants to toss out emissions inspections in his state; he said there is a 99 percent passing rate for emission tests. "If you had your kids in school and that's the kind of grades they were bringing home, you'd say well done ... we don't need these inspections anymore," he said. 
An EPA spokesperson disagreed, saying: "The Clean Air Act's inspection programs are important tools for protecting public health by reducing smog pollution. Although newer vehicles have better emissions control technologies, a significant number of vehicles do not pass their emissions test -- up to 10 percent or more of the tested fleet." 
Some car maintenance shop owners say the inspections are just good for business. 
"A lot of [auto shops] don't do it because they think it's a nuisance, but I like them," said Hal Mardis, owner of the Goodyear Auto Service Center in Ridgeland, Miss. "It brings in a lot of traffic for me. We do 1,600 a month." 
But if Mississippi gets rid of the safety inspections, Mardis thinks his business won't be affected: "We are well-established enough that I don't think we're going to drop a lot of business because of it."

Biden Cartoon

CDC discovers new virus in Kansas

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced Friday the discovery of a new virus that may be spread through tick or insect bites. The virus may have contributed to the 2014 death of a Kansas man who was otherwise healthy.

Working with experts from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) and University of Kansas Medical Center (UKMC), researchers found that the virus is part of a group of viruses called thogotoviruses. The virus was named Bourbon virus for the county in which the patient lived. The case is the first time a thogotovirus has been shown to cause human illness in the U.S. and the eighth known case of it causing symptoms in people.
According to the report, the patient, who was over 50 years old, was working outside on his property in late spring 2014 when he received several tick bites and
found an engorged tick on his shoulder. Several days later, he fell ill with nausea, weakness and diarrhea. The next day, he developed a fever, anorexia, chills, headache, myalgia, and arthralgia. The patient visited his primary care physician on the third day, at which point he was prescribed an antibiotic for a presumed tickborne illness.  The next morning, his wife found him experiencing reduced consciousness and we was taken to the local hospital.
Test results for many infectious diseases came back negative and a sample of the patient’s blood was sent to the CDC, which found evidence of an unidentified virus. Researchers used Advanced Molecular Detection (AMD) and determined it was a new virus.
According to the news release, the CDC is working with KDHE and UKMC to identify additional cases of Bourbon virus disease, determine who gets sick and with what symptoms, and how people are getting infected. CDC experts are also working to better understand the virus itself to potentially prevent and control Bourbon virus.
CDC researchers believe other undiscovered viruses are likely causing illness, with this finding and recent discoveries of Heartland virus in Missouri and severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome viruses in China.

Beagle Cartoon

GOP senators demand answers over disclosure of mission to oust ISIS from Mosul

Top Republican senators Friday demanded answers after a military official revealed “detailed operational information” about a looming Iraqi mission to retake Mosul from the Islamic State, saying the disclosure has put the mission at risk.
“Never in our memory can we recall an instance in which our military has knowingly briefed our own war plans to our enemies,” Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said in a letter to President Obama.
“These disclosures not only risk the success of our mission, but could also cost the lives of U.S., Iraqi, and coalition forces.”
The senators asked who was responsible for the briefing, conducted Thursday by a military official, and whether they had White House approval. “Those responsible have jeopardized our national security interests and must be held accountable,” they wrote.
The letter follows criticism in other corners that the military may have revealed too much detail in previewing the operation.
On Thursday, the U.S. military official outlined plans to retake Mosul and said the “shaping” for the battle is currently underway. He said the Iraqi military hopes to begin operations in the “April, May timeframe” with the goal of retaking Mosul before Ramadan begins on June 17.
The official then went a step further and leaked that five Iraqi Army brigades will be used in the fight, as well as several smaller brigades, composing a total force of up to 25,000 Iraqi troops. Three brigades of Kurdish Peshmerga fighters will participate as well. 
But the details, disclosed at the close of a White House summit on combating violent extremism, raised some concerns. 
"That is pretty amazing that that information's out there," retired Gen. Jack Keane, former Army vice chief of staff and a Fox News military analyst, said Friday.  
A current and former military intelligence officer also told Fox News that the decision to publicly announce the plan was counterintuitive because it "telegraphs" the timing and number of units involved. The officers said it would allow Islamic State, also known as ISIS, or ISIL, to prepare for the battle by laying improvised explosive devices.
Both officers questioned whether political considerations on the part of the Obama administration factored into the decision to announce the offensive. 
The Obama administration wasn't the first to discuss plans to retake Mosul, however. Iraqi government leaders previously had talked about the looming offensive, and Defense officials are pushing back on the notion that anything tactical was revealed on Thursday. 
CENTCOM sources also stressed that the briefing on Thursday came from the military, not the White House. 
Keane suggested there should be nothing surprising about the fact that Iraqi forces are looking to retake Mosul before Ramadan. 
"ISIS is not stupid," he said, adding that their fighters already know that Mosul is the key to any counteroffensive and have likely been preparing for weeks. "This is not something new to ISIS."
However, Keane said the details about the force size and other elements were "surprising" to hear. 
ISIS militants overtook Mosul last June, as the group marched across large sections of Iraq and Syria, sending Iraqi forces fleeing. At this point, officials estimate there are between 1,000 to 2,000 ISIS insurgents in the city of Mosul. Military leaders have been talking about retaking the city for some time, but they have said they won't launch the operation until the Iraqi troops are ready.
Included in the force would be a brigade of Iraqi counterterrorism forces who have been trained by U.S. special operations forces. The brigades include roughly 2,000 troops each.
The CENTCOM official said the U.S. will provide military support for the operation, including training, air support, intelligence and surveillance. The official said there has been no decision made yet on whether to send in some U.S. ground troops to help call in airstrikes.
"But by the same token, if they're not ready, if the conditions are not set, if all the equipment they need is not physically there and they (aren't) trained to a degree in which they will be successful, we have not closed the door on continuing to slide that to the right," he said.
The official also revealed for the first time that Qatar has agreed to host a training site for coalition forces to train moderate Syrian rebels who would return to Syria to fight the Islamic State forces there. Other sites are in Turkey, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

Arab governments reportedly concerned about terms of Iran nuke talks

Arab governments are privately expressing their concern to Washington about the emerging terms of a potential deal aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear program, according to Arab and U.S. officials involved in the deliberations.
The direction of U.S. diplomacy with Tehran has added fuel to fears in some Arab states of a nuclear-arms race in the region, as well as reviving talk about possibly extending a U.S. nuclear umbrella to Middle East allies to counter any Iranian threat.
The major Sunni states, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, have said that a final agreement could allow Shiite-dominated Iran, their regional rival, to keep the technologies needed to produce nuclear weapons, according to these officials, while removing many of the sanctions that have crippled its economy in recent years.

'At this stage, we prefer a collapse of the diplomatic process to a bad deal,'- Arab official

Arab officials said a deal would likely drive Saudi Arabia, for one, to try to quickly match Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
"At this stage, we prefer a collapse of the diplomatic process to a bad deal," said an Arab official who has discussed Iran with the Obama administration and Saudi Arabia in recent weeks.
The Obama administration initially said its policy was to completely dismantle Tehran's nuclear infrastructure as a means to protect Washington's Mideast allies.
Now, however, U.S. officials say it is no longer plausible to eliminate all of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, suggesting that any final deal would leave some nuclear capability in place. Iran denies that it is seeking to build a nuclear bomb, but a final deal providing for nuclear enrichment capacity could prompt a competition.
Arab officials have increasingly spoken about a possible nuclear arms race in the Mideast as the negotiations have continued for 18 months, having been extended twice.
U.S. officials have declined to publicly disclose terms of the deal being negotiated with Iran. But they stress that they have closely consulted with Washington’s Arab allies about the diplomatic process.
The Obama administration believes an agreement with Iran will curtail the potential for a nuclear arms race in the Mideast, rather than fuel one.
"Only a good negotiated solution will result in long-term confidence that Iran won't acquire a nuclear weapon," a senior U.S. official said. "Given Iran already has the technical capability, our goal has always been to get to one-year breakout time and cut off the four pathways under a very constrained program."

Pipeline Cartoon

Newark mayor backs students occupying superintendent's office

Students holed up since Tuesday in the office of the Newark, N.J., school superintendent in an effort to force her to meet with them or resign gained a powerful ally Thursday -- the city's mayor.
"They're obviously frustrated about not being able to have a voice in what happens around their own education," Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said at a news conference outside of school district headquarters Thursday.
"As the mayor of this state's largest city, I am also frustrated that I do not have a say-so in what is happening in the education of the children that exist and live in these communities," he said.
At least eight students, who call themselves the Newark Student Union, seized Superintendent Cami Anderson's office Tuesday night during a public schools advisory board meeting, and have remained on the floor where Anderson and other administrators have offices. They're protesting Anderson's leadership of the school district, including school building assignments and her support for charter schools.
The students claim the district is trying to "starve out" the Newark Student Union by purposely depriving them of food.
"For anyone tuning in right now, right now we're giving a live stream explaining what's going on. We have a food situation," one student is heard saying in the background of the live stream. "They haven't given it to us yet."
Another student said the protesters are surviving on chips and candy they brought in themselves Wednesday night.
"They are knowingly detaining our food," the student says. "As students, as people, we have a right to food. And we have a right to protest in this office."
In a letter to parents on Wednesday, however, Assistant Superintendent Brad Haggerty said the district "will continue to provide her with water, food, and access to a bathroom until you retake custody of your child."
A phone call placed to the superintendent's office by FoxNews.com on Thursday went unanswered. Spokespeople for the district and state Department of Education didn't immediately return calls Thursday from The Associated Press seeking comment.
Shortly after 10 a.m. Thursday, three female students appeared on a live stream from the superintendent's office, stating their mission in a brief statement. They urged anyone listening in the Newark area to join them in protest.
The district, meanwhile, said it hand-delivered letters Wednesday to parents of six students to ask them to pick their children up. Newark public schools spokeswoman Brittany Chord Parmley said Tuesday night that the district has tried to engage and listen to the students' concerns for the past several months.
"Despite our best efforts to work together, they have repeatedly ignored district requests to meet and engage in a constructive dialogue," she said in a statement. "While we appreciate their passion, this is not the appropriate forum to engage in productive conversation."
Former television talk show host Montel Williams tweeted a copy of one of the letters and claimed the district had Newark police officers deliver them to parents.
"Great job #camianderson - u have cops deliver threatening letters to parents of @NewarkStudents #occupynps ? Wow," Williams tweeted.
"Newark School Superintendent response to MASS student/teacher protest is bizarre. Students this fired up about their education = commendable," Williams wrote.
The students' remarks were met with chants from others in office, yelling, "Cami's got to go!" and, "Tell me what democracy looks like! This is what democracy looks like!"  
At least one organizer of the student group is a college student from Rutgers University.
New Jersey has run Newark schools since 1995, and Baraka has said he wants New Jersey to return the district to the city's control. Anderson's administration and the One Newark plan involving the expansion of charter schools have met skepticism from city officials and Baraka.
Anderson, an ally of former Newark Mayor Cory Booker, was appointed by Gov. Chris Christie in 2011. On Thursday, Baraka said her contract was renewed Wednesday, though he didn't support the claim with specific details about his sources, The Star-Ledger reported.

Judge defies Texas law to wed same-sex couple under one-time order

Defying Texas' longstanding ban on gay marriage, a lesbian couple wed in Austin on Thursday immediately after being granted a marriage license under a one-time court order because one of the women has cancer.
The women said their union was the first legal same-sex marriage since voters approved the ban in the fiercely conservative state in 2005, though Texas' attorney general immediately appealed to the state Supreme Court. The court later issued an emergency stay that blocks other gay couples from obtaining marriage licenses but didn't address the Austin marriage.
Thursday's license was issued exclusively for and Suzanne Bryant and Sarah Goodfriend, who has ovarian cancer, in liberal-leaning Travis County. The Austin couple requested the license two days after a local probate judge ruled in an unrelated estate case that Texas' gay-marriage ban was unconstitutional. The couple — together for more than 30 years — cited the estate case, saying it should allow them to get married.
State District Judge David Wahlberg sided with the couple and directed the Travis County clerk to stop relying on "the unconstitutional Texas prohibitions against same-sex marriage as a basis for not issuing a marriage license." County Clerk Dana Debeauvoir said she issued the license, but that any other licenses must be court ordered.
Courts made a similar exception in Indiana for a lesbian couple in April because one of the women was dying of cancer and wanted her partner's name on her death certificate. A federal appeals court overturned Indiana's ban in September.
Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican who took office in January, filed for an emergency stay Thursday morning and took the unusual step of asking Texas Supreme Court justices to rule within the hour. Justices didn't heed the request.
"A stay is necessary to make clear to all county clerks that Texas marriage law remains enforceable until there has been final appellate resolution," Paxton wrote.
Texas' ban on gay marriage was ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge in San Antonio last year, but the judge put the ruling on hold amid the ongoing court fight. The state's appeal is currently before the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.
"We are all waiting for a final decision on marriage equality," Debeauvoir said. "However, this couple may not get the chance to hear the outcome of this issue because one person's health."
Goodfriend, policy director for state Rep. Celia Israel, said during a midday news conference that her last chemotherapy treatment was four and a half months ago. But, she added: "All of us wonder if the cancer grows back along with the hair growing back."
Bryant, an Austin lawyer who works on adoptions for same-sex couples, said the couple's two children were legally adopted by both her and Goodfriend years ago. But she said a legal marriage would affect their finances and property rights, and if one of them dies, the other would inherit the other's property and be able to make medical decisions and funeral arrangements for the other.
"Financially now, we're intertwined, and we will have community property that we will share," she said.
Bryant said she and her wife couldn't control what the attorney general does. "If they want to come in and try to nullify this, they will," she said. "But we have a valid marriage license, and I don't think they can."
Still, the women said they hoped other couples would follow their lead. Their advice: "Have hope and have faith."
The couple was joined by their two teenage daughters when they married Thursday morning in a ceremony presided over by a rabbi. Bryant later released a statement saying they wanted to open the door for all families to have the right to marry in Texas.
Mark Phariss, who along with his partner are among those fighting the ban in federal court, said he was "thrilled" by news of the nuptials even though it's unlikely to impact the federal lawsuit. But he said the marriage could prompt other same-sex couples to seek similar exceptions, saying Bryant and Goodfriend's case "is evidence of the harm the ban is having on the state."
Before the state Supreme Court ruling, two same-sex couples had inquired about getting a marriage license in Travis County, chief deputy clerk Ronald Morgan Jr. said. Morgan said both couples were told that Thursday's order applied only to the one couple, but that the office was "committed to abiding by any future court orders related to this issue."