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Russian spy ship docked in Havana
A Russian warship was docked in Havana Wednesday, without explanation from Communist Cuba or its state media.
The Viktor Leonov CCB-175 boat, measuring 91.5 meters (300 feet) long
and 14.5 meters wide, was docked at the port of Havana's cruise ship
area, near the Russian Orthodox Cathedral.
The Vishnya, or Meridian-class intelligence ship, which has a crew of
around 200, went into service in the Black Sea in 1988 before it was
transferred seven years later to the northern fleet, Russian media
sources said.
Ukraine leader warns Russia after armed men seize government HQ in Crimea
Armed men seized the regional government headquarters and parliament in
Ukraine's Crimea on Thursday and raised the Russian flag, alarming
Kiev's new rulers, who urged Moscow not to abuse its navy base rights on
the peninsula by moving troops around.
"I am appealing to the military leadership of the Russian Black Sea
fleet," said Olexander Turchinov, acting president since the removal of
Viktor Yanukovich last week. "Any military movements, the more so if
they are with weapons, beyond the boundaries of this territory (the
base) will be seen by us as military aggression
Arizona Governor veotes Controversial Senate Bill
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer silenced the vitriolic outcry over Senate Bill
1062 with a veto early Wednesday evening, eliciting relief from
opponents who said it would lead to discrimination and hurt the state’s
economy and reputation, and disappointment from supporters who
maintained the bill’s intent had been distorted.
A somber Brewer announced her decision in a rare news conference in the rotunda outside her office.
Brewer Blackmailed Into Veto?
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer caved into pressure and "blackmail" from
moderate GOP leaders, large corporations, the NFL and gay rights
activists when she vetoed a controversial bill allowing business owners
the right to refuse service to same-sex couples on the grounds of their
religious conviction, critics of the move told Breitbart.
"This really was a media and partisan witch hunt," Professor Gerald
Bradley of the University of Notre Dame School of Law told Breitbart.
"Brewer caved to nothing less than high-tech blackmail: 'If you sign
this bill, we will make you [Arizona] pay."
Convicted Terrorists Worked as Obamacare Navigator
Woman involved in deadly terror bombings kept her past secret from authorities in President's home state.
A terrorist from Jordan briefly worked as an Obamacare navigator in
Illinois while authorities remained unaware of her conviction for
involvement in a deadly grocery store bombing and two other attacks.
Rasmieh Yousef Odeh was convicted in Israel for her role in several
bombings, including the 1969 attack on an upscale Shufersol grocery
store, which killed two Hebrew University students who had stopped in to
buy groceries for a hiking trip in the Jerusalem hills. Leon Kanner and
Eddie Joffe were killed by a bomb hidden in a candy box tucked on a
shelf, which also injured nine or 10 others, according to a website
maintained by the Israeli government to commemorate terror victims.
Reining In the IRS
The House GOP unveils its plan.
A comprehensive tax-reform plan House Republicans will unveil this
morning takes dead aim at what Republicans perceive to be the IRS’s
persistent abuse of its authority. According to Republican aides
familiar with the plan, it will curb the power of the nation’s
tax-collecting agency, something Republicans have attempted to do since
the agency admitted to improperly singling out conservative non-profit
groups last May.
The legislation, authored by Ways and Means Committee chairman Dave Camp
(R., Mich.), introduces reforms that directly address the circumstances
that led to last year’s scandal. The specter of Lois Lerner looms large
in the minds of many Republicans, and the plan mandates the termination
of any IRS employee found to have taken official action for political
purposes. The 1988 bill that restructured and reformed the IRS spells
out ten actions for which the IRS commissioner must terminate an agency
employee after an “administrative or judicial determination” that the
employee has committed the prohibited action — among them, providing a
false statement under oath on a matter involving a taxpayer and
violating the rights of a taxpayer. Today’s bill would add the
commission of politically motivated acts to the list.
Attorney General Eric Holder hospitalized
Attorney General Eric Holder was hospitalized Thursday morning after
experiencing “faintness and shortness of breath” at a meeting of senior
Department of Justice staff.
“During his regular morning meeting with senior staff, the attorney
general began experiencing symptoms including faintness and shortness
of breath,” DOJ Director of Public Affairs Brian Fallon wrote in a
statement.
“As a precaution, the attorney general was taken to MedStar Washington
Hospital Center to undergo further evaluation. He is currently resting
comfortably and in good condition. He is alert and conversing with his
doctors. Additional information will be provided as it becomes
available.”
Yellen Says Rethinking Bond Pullback Is Possible
Fed Chairwoman Adds Winter's Impact on Growth Remains Unknown
Janet Yellen testifies before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban
Affairs Committee hearing Thursday. European Pressphoto Agency
Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen said she isn't sure how much of
the recent deterioration in U.S. economic growth is due to weather,
adding the central bank might consider a pause in its reduction of bond
buying if the weakness persists.
"Asset purchases are not on a preset course, so if there's a
significant change in the outlook certainly we would be open to
reconsidering, but I wouldn't want to jump to conclusions here," Ms.
Yellen told the Senate Banking Committee Thursday.
9-11 Investigators Never Leanred About FBI, CIA al-Qaida Mole
al-Qaida operatives in Bosnia killed an FBI mole who met with Osama bin
Laden and provided intelligence on al-Qaida after suspecting he was
with the CIA, but the man's death came several years before the Sept.
11, 2001 terrorism attacks and the FBI did not report the informant's
existence to investigators.
The dead informant, was a Los Angeles-based "driver and confidante" of
"Blind Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, the cleric in prison for masterminding
the first attempt on the World Trade Center in 1993, NBC News reported
Thursday.
Reid Slammed for 'Horror Stories' Claims
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, while calling "horror stories" about
Obamacare lies, "attacked the character and integrity" of Americans who
are not afraid to show how Obamacare is hurting them, Americans for
Prosperity President Tim Phillips says.
On Wednesday, Reid said on the Senate floor that there are "plenty of
horror stories" being told about Obamacare that are untrue.
Later in the day, the Nevada Democrat amended his statement, saying he
wasn't referring to stories told by everyday Americans, but the "vast
majority" of advertising financed by the conservative Americans for
Prosperity, which was founded by billionaires Charles and David Koch,
Fox News reported.
Spike-Lee-Brooklyn-wSpike Lee Rants About White Influx in Brooklyn
Film director Spike Lee's once blighted childhood Brooklyn neighborhood
is cleaner, whiter, and safer than when he lived there — and he's not
happy about it.
In a profanity-laced rant at New York's Pratt Institute in honor of
Black History Month, Lee excoriated the gentrification of Fort Greene
and other parts of the city that did not see services and schools
improve until an influx of white "mother---kin' hipsters."
Kerry: US Must Pursue Iran Talks Before Considering Going to War
The United States has an obligation to pursue nuclear negotiations with
Iran before it considers going to war with Tehran to force it to give
up its nuclear activities, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on
Wednesday.
"We took the initiative and led the effort to try to figure out if
before we go to war there actually might be a peaceful solution," Kerry
told a group of reporters.
Iran reached a landmark preliminary agreement with six world powers,
including the United States, in November to halt its most sensitive
nuclear operations, winning some relief from economic sanctions in
return.
Connecting the Dots in the IRS Scandal
The 'smoking gun' in the targeting of conservative groups has been hiding in plain sight.
The mainstream
press has justified its lack of coverage over the Internal Revenue
Service targeting of conservative groups because there's been no
"smoking gun" tying President Obama to the scandal. This betrays a
remarkable, if not willful, failure to understand abuse of power. The
political pressure on the IRS to delay or deny tax-exempt status for
conservative groups has been obvious to anyone who cares to open his
eyes. It did not come from a direct order from the White House, but it
didn't have to.
First, some
background: On Jan. 21, 2010, the Supreme Court issued its ruling in
Citizens United v. FEC upholding the right of corporations and unions
to make independent expenditures in political races. Then, on March 26,
relying on Citizens United, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld
the rights of persons (including corporations) to pool resources for
political purposes. This allowed the creation of "super PACs" as well
as corporate contributions to groups organized under Section 501(c)(4)
of the Internal Revenue Code that spend in political races.
Pressure for Supreme Court to take up Drake case and rule on concealed carry laws for nation
Split between 9th Circuit in California and 3rd Circuit New Jersey cases
John Drake just
wants to legally carry a gun to defend himself in New Jersey since he
has been chased by robbers after refilling ATMs with thousands of
dollars in cash. His application for a concealed carry permit was
denied because the state does not consider self-defense a “justifiable
need.”
Mr. Drake is
taking his case all the way to the Supreme Court. If the high court
decides to hear it, the ruling could change the laws related to the
individual’s right to bear arms from coast to coast.
After retiring
from Sprint, Mr. Drake decided to buy 50 ATMs to put in stores, some of
which are in high-crime areas. He generally carries about $30,000 in
$20 bills to fill up 10 machines at one time. He was sneaking the cash
under his shirt and racing in and out of the stores but has still been
pursued by criminals to his car three times.
Medal of
Honor
The
Medal of Honor is the highest award for valor in action
against an
enemy force which can be bestowed upon an individual serving
in the
Armed Services of the United States.
GeneTrerally presented
to its recipient by the President of the
United States of America in the name of Congress.
The
first award of the Medal of Honor was made March 25, 1863 to
Private
JACOB PARROTT.The last award of the Medal of Honor was made
September 15, 2011
to Sergeant DAKOTA MEYER.
Since
then there have been: •
3458 recipients of the Medal of Honor.
•
Today there are 85 Living Recipients of the
Medal of Honor.
Sgt Dakota Meyer
US Marine Corps
Corporal
Meyer maintained security at a patrol rally point while other members
of his team moved on foot with two platoons of Afghan National Army and
Border Police into the village of Ganjgal for a pre-dawn meeting with
village elders. Moving into the village, the patrol was ambushed by
more than 50 enemy fighters firing rocket propelled grenades, mortars,
and machine guns from houses and fortified positions on the slopes
above. Hearing over the radio that four U.S. team members were cut off,
Corporal Meyer seized the initiative. With a fellow Marine driving,
Corporal Meyer took the exposed gunner's position in a gun-truck as
they drove down the steeply terraced terrain in a daring attempt to
disrupt the enemy attack and locate the trapped U.S. team. Disregarding
intense enemy fire now concentrated on their lone vehicle, Corporal
Meyer killed a number of enemy fighters with the mounted machine guns
and his rifle, some at near point blank range, as he and his driver
made three solo trips into the ambush area. During the first two trips,
he and his driver evacuated two dozen Afghan soldiers, many of whom
were wounded. When one machine gun became inoperable, he directed a
return to the rally point to switch to another gun-truck for a third
trip into the ambush area where his accurate fire directly supported
the remaining U.S. personnel and Afghan soldiers fighting their way out
of the ambush. Despite a shrapnel wound to his arm, Corporal Meyer made
two more trips into the ambush area in a third gun-truck accompanied by
four other Afghan vehicles to recover more wounded Afghan soldiers and
search for the missing U.S. team members. Still under heavy enemy fire,
he dismounted the vehicle on the fifth trip and moved on foot to locate
and recover the bodies of his team members. Corporal Meyer's daring
initiative and bold fighting spirit throughout the 6-hour battle
significantly disrupted the enemy's attack and inspired the members of
the combined force to fight on. His unwavering courage and steadfast
devotion to his U.S. and Afghan comrades in the face of almost certain
death reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest
traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service.
