NEWS AND VIEWS THAT IMPACT LIMITED CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT
"There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with
power to endanger the public liberty." - - - - John Adams
(Real Clear Politics) - Jeb Bush wanted to talk about tax reform, which he hopes to make central to his presidential bid.
But, at a National Review summit in Washington on Thursday, the discussion pivoted to Bush’s refusal to sign Grover Norquist’s anti-tax pledge.
"Is there any circumstance in which you would take that pledge?" asked National Review Editor Rich Lowry.
“No,” Bush said firmly— and began, as he does when he is asked this question, to lay out his record: as Florida governor, he reminded Lowry, he cut taxes every year.
"My record is clear," Bush concluded. "In fact, my record is as good or better than any."
But Lowry pressed Bush on the pledge. "So, it’s a principled opposition to pledges of that sort?"
"Yeah," Bush said.
"So, will you promise not to raise taxes?" Lowry tried, to laughter from the crowd.
This week, Sen. Marco Rubio signed the pledge as a presidential candidate, as he has during previous campaigns. Sens. Ted Cruz and Rand Paul, too, have signed on the dotted line.
The pledge has its roots in 1986, and during the 1988 presidential election, every Republican candidate except Bob Dole signed it. Since then, it has gained influence as a litmus test for Republicans, a dynamic apparently not on the wane in this election cycle.
“Those who refuse to take the pledge are, rightly, seen as suspect to Republican primary voters," said one senior Republican operative.
But Bush will not sign this pledge — or any other, for that matter.
"If Gov. Bush decides to move forward, he will not sign any pledges circulated by lobbying groups," spokeswoman Kristy Campbell told CNN earlier this year.
Coming soon to an American city near you courtesy of the open borders Democrat and Republican parties.
Open borders Republicans will huff and puff about immigration for the TV cameras, but the borders are never closed.
(World Net Daily) - The multicultural transformation of Idaho will continue with a planned infusion of hundreds of refugees from Muslim countries over the next one to three years.
But WND has learned the numbers will be much larger statewide and include refugees from Syria, Iraq, the Democratic Republic of Congo and possibly Somalia.
Sources tell WND that community leaders learned of the plans for up to 2,000 refugees at a recent conference at Boise State University attended by church groups, social services providers and other “stakeholders.”
“That’s the number they put out that they’re planning for, a total of about 2,000 over the next one to three years, with 70 percent going to Boise and 30 percent in the Twin Falls area,” said Shahram Hadian, a former Muslim turned Christian pastor in eastern Washington who said he spoke with a conference attendee.
WND reported two weeks ago that Spartanburg, South Carolina, has also been selected for the seeding of a Syrian refugee community.
Unlike Boise, residents in Spartanburg have mustered an organized opposition to the infusion of 65 Syrian refugees over the next year, saying the town already has high crime and poverty and isn’t prepared to absorb hundreds of poor Syrians.
Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., wrote a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry demanding answers to 17 questions about the refugee program, such as what benefits will be expected to be offered and what the cost will be. That was two weeks ago. WND contacted Gowdy’s press secretary, Amanda Duvall, Thursday and was told he has still not received a response from Kerry, whose State Department heads up the refugee program nationwide.
Christina Jeffrey ran against Gowdy in the 2010 Republican primary and is a former historian for the U.S. House of Representatives.
“When the governor came out in favor of the refugees, our (Republican) legislators said it would all turn out OK and that they had faith in the vetting process,” Jeffrey said. “But this refugee thing makes us all very nervous, especially if the governor’s office is on board."
Stock up on food, water and ammo. Then put your hands behind your head, your head between your legs and kiss your ass goodbye.
By Ambassador HENRY F. COOPER and PETER VINCENT PRY
The Pentagon is moving the headquarters for the North American Aerospace Defense Command (Norad) back into Cheyenne Mountain near Colorado Springs, Colo., a decade after having largely vacated the site.
Why the return? Because the enormous bunker in the hollowed-out mountain, built to survive a Cold War-era nuclear conflict, can also resist an electromagnetic-pulse attack, or EMP. America’s military planners recognize the growing threat from an EMP attack by bad actors around the world, in particular North Korea and Iran.
An EMP strike, most likely from the detonation of a nuclear weapon in space, would destroy unprotected military and civilian electronics nationwide, blacking out the electric grid and other critical infrastructure for months or years. The staggering human cost of such a catastrophic attack is not difficult to imagine.
The primary headquarters for Norad, which provides early warning and command and control for the defense of the U.S. against nuclear attack, has for a decade been at nearby Peterson Air Force Base. Critical Norad operations are being moved back into Cheyenne Mountain, and the Pentagon recently awarded a $700 million contract to Raytheon to upgrade electronics through 2020.
At an April 7 Pentagon news conference, Norad Commander Adm. William Gortney noted that Norad is going back underground “because of the very nature of the way that Cheyenne Mountain’s built. It’s EMP-hardened.” He explained that North Korea now has mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles, the KN-08, armed with nuclear warheads, that can strike the U.S. While the KN-08 is inaccurate, it could be used to launch a high-altitude nuclear EMP attack.
Solar Flares, EMP & Nuclear Armageddon
Cheyenne Mountain Complex Blast Doors
Adm. Gortney reassured those at the news conference that the U.S. can defend itself from a nuclear-missile threat from North Korea—or from Iran “if we get our assessment wrong,” he said, referring to the current nuclear negotiations. U.S. missile defense, he said, is “able to defend the nation against both those particular threats today.”
That is true as far as it goes—but only if an attack on the U.S. comes from the northern skies. Former senior Reagan administration officials warn that the U.S. is unprepared to cope with nuclear EMP strikes from North Korea and Iran if their missiles’ trajectory takes a southern route.
We are among those former Reagan officials. We joined William Graham (President Reagan’s science adviser and subsequent chairman of the Congressional EMP Commission) and Fritz Ermarth (a former chairman of the National Intelligence Council) in warning in Newsmax in February that Iran should be regarded as already having nuclear missiles capable of making an EMP attack against the U.S. Iran and North Korea have successfully orbited satellites on south-polar trajectories that appear to practice evading U.S. missile defenses, and at optimum altitudes to make a surprise EMP attack.
The U.S. has no ballistic-missile early-warning radars or ground-based interceptors facing south and would be blind to a nuclear warhead orbited as a satellite from a southern trajectory. The missile defense plans were oriented during the Cold War for a northern strike from the Soviet Union, and they have not been adapted for the changing threats.
The Pentagon was wise to move Norad communications back into Cheyenne Mountain and to take measures elsewhere to survive an EMP attack. But how are the American people to survive? In the event of a yearlong nationwide blackout, tens of millions of Americans would perish from starvation and societal chaos, according to members of the Congressional EMP Commission, which published its last unclassified report in 2008.
Yet President Obama has not acted on the EMP Commission’s draft executive order to protect national infrastructure that is essential to provide for the common defense. Hardening the national electric grid would cost a few billion dollars, a trivial amount compared with the loss of electricity and lives following an EMP attack. The U.S. also should deploy one of its existing transportable radars in the Philippines to help the ground-based interceptors at California’s Vandenberg Air Force defend the country against an attack from the south.
Congress also has failed to act on the plans of its own EMP commission to protect the electric grid and other civilian infrastructure that depends on a viable electric grid—such as communications, transportation, banking—that are essential to the economy. In recent years, the GRID Act, the Shield Act, and the Critical Infrastructure Protection Act have gained bipartisan and even unanimous support in the House, yet they died in the Senate.
States are not waiting for Washington to act. Maine and Virginia have enacted legislation and undertaken serious studies to consider how to deal with an EMP attack. Florida’s governor and emergency manager are considering executive action to harden their portion of the grid. Colorado legislators are holding hearings on legislation to protect their citizens. Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Indiana, Idaho and New York have initiatives in various stages to deal with an EMP attack.
When ancient Rome could no longer protect its empire from barbarians, cities tried to protect themselves by building walls. Now Washington, unable or unwilling to protect its people, is making it necessary for states to build their own defenses against the electromagnetic-pulse barbarians of the 21st century.
Amb. Cooper is the former director of the Strategic Defense Initiative. Mr. Pry is executive director of the EMP Task Force on National and Homeland Security and served in the EMP Commission, the House Armed Services Committee, and the Central Intelligence Agency.
(Breitbart News) - Perak Mufti Tan Sri Harussani Zakaria, a Malaysian Islamic scholar, first claimed that marital rape does not exist but took it a step further when he insisted a man can enjoy sex with his wife even on a camel.
“Even the Prophet says even when they’re riding on the back of the camel, when the husband asks her, she must give,” he exclaimed. “So there’s no such thing as rape in marriage. This is made by European people, why should we follow?”
The only time a woman can refuse sex is when she is on her period, just gave birth, or is sick. He said the Koran “states that it will be ‘haram’ or forbidden to have sexual intercourse with a woman who is menstruating.” Muslim preacher Wan Ji Wan Hussin agrees with Zakaria.
“That term (marital rape) is not accurate in the practice of Islam because rape in Islam is defined as forced sexual intercourse outside of marriage,” he said.
Hussin asserted the husband cannot force his wife to have sex, but continues to say “the key issue is not getting consent, but revolves how men can show love and create a romantic atmosphere to change their spouses’ minds to willingly agree to sexual intercourse.” If a man does this, the woman still rejects him, and he forces himself upon her, it cannot be considered rape. Instead it is “considered not polite (beradab) in Islam.”
Taliban fighters with a captured Afghan Army Humvee in Kunduz province, Afghanistan
Afghanistan - The Neverending Story
(The Long War Journal) - The Taliban released a video today titled “Kunduz and Renewed Resolve” that shows its fighters in control of Afghan security forces’ outposts, captured security personnel, and vehicles and weapons seized during the fighting. The title of the video is a play on the the name of the Taliban’s newly-launched spring offensive, which is called Azm and means resolve or determination. [See LWJ report, Afghan Taliban announces new ‘spring operations’.]
The five minute and thirty-seven second long video was produced by Al Emarah Studio, which is “part of the Multimedia Branch of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s Cultural Commission,” the Taliban stated on its website, Voice of Jihad. The video highlights “the recent victories, conquests and war booty attained by Mujahideen in the initial days of annual spring campaign dubbed ‘Azm’ (Resolve/Determination).”
Taliban fighters are shown patrolling in the Imam Sahib district, which is said to be under the group’s control. Taliban fighters are also videotaped inside and outside of several military and police outposts that were captured during the recent fighting.
The Taliban also displayed several US-supplied Humvees used by the Afghan Army and Ford 150 pickup trucks used by the Afghan police that were taken during the fighting. Also shown were captured assault rifles, machine guns, and an assortment of ammunition.
Additionally, the Taliban briefly showed at least 10 Afghan security personnel who were captured. Days after the fighting began in Kunduz, the jihadist group said that it had captured 55 security personnel, most of whom were Arbakis, or members of the tribal police.
The Taliban launched its offensive in the districts of Imam Sahib, Aliabad, and Qala-i-Zal as well as other areas of Kunduz late last week. The jihadist group is said to have advanced to within miles of the provincial capital of Kunduz city.
After the Taliban offensive was launched, the head of the provincial council estimated that more than 65 percent of the province was under Taliban control. [See LWJ report,Taliban launch offensive in northern Afghan province.]
(Daily Mail) - A students' union has backed a welfare and diversity officer's decision to ban white people and men from an event to promote equality.
University College London Union has released a statement saying it 'stands in solidarity' with Bahar Mustafa, the officer at Goldsmiths Students' Union, who sparked controversy last week.
Goldsmiths students were invited to the meeting to discuss 'diversifying the curriculum', but were shocked when Miss Mustafa told white people and men ‘not to come’ as it was only open to BME [black and minority ethnic] women.
Goldsmiths' union eventually backed down after backlash from students, one of whom described the exclusive policy as ‘patronising beyond belief’.
In a statement on its website, University College London Union says: 'We at UCLU stand in solidarity with Bahar Mustafa and the network and are disappointed in the decision to now allow ‘white allies’ to attend such events.
'Self-defining spaces are so important because the reality is it is not possible to have the discussions that need to be had with your oppressors in the room – even if they are not saying anything.'
Miss Mustafa, 27, wrote on Facebook: ‘Invite loads of BME Women and non-binary people!! Also, if you’ve been invited and you’re a man and/or white PLEASE DON’T COME just cos i invited a bunch of people and hope you will be responsible enough to respect this is a BME Women and non-binary event only.’
Non-binary is a term used to describe people who do not consider themselves exclusively male or female.
Ads featuring slim, beautiful models, promoting a “beach body” image are banned by Big Brother government as sexist.
(UK Independent) - A formal investigation has been launched into an advertisement for Protein World after a campaign asking viewers if they were "beach body ready".
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) confirmed it had launched an investigation to establish whether the advert breaks harm and offense rules or is socially irresponsible. The advert has also been banned from appearing again in its current form.
The ASA said: "We've met with Protein World to discuss its "Are you beach body ready?" ad campaign.
"It's coming down in the next three days and, due to our concerns about a range of health and weight loss claims made in the ad, it can't appear again in its current form.
"Although the ad won't appear in the meantime, we've launched an investigation to establish if it breaks harm and offence rules or is socially irresponsible.
"We will now carefully and objectively explore the complaints that have prompted concerns around body confidence and promptly publish our findings."
A mass demonstration in Hyde Park, London, was planned against the advert over claims that it was "body-shaming" and that it "aimed to make [individuals] feel physically inferior to the unrealistic image of the bronzed model". Protein World’s chief executive, Arjun Seth, labelled those against the advert "terrorists". He added that the people campaigning against the ads were "extremist, they shout a lot, these people are irrational and extremist", and said that "vandalising adverts" amounted to criminal activity.
How on earth did American children manage to learn before Big Brother started taking over the local schools?
Might I add, in the olden days I graduated high school without having to take insane mandated tests. Somehow the world managed to go on.
Follow the Money - Mandated tests are created for one reason only. Lovers of Big Government use tests to argue for more spending because "District A" happens to be 4% behind "District B". Think of the children! We must spend more money to close the gap and save the children of "District A".
(Washington Examiner) - Potential presidential candidate Jeb Bush advised parents against opting out of Common Core tests Thursday, saying not taking the tests would make it harder for students to graduate high school and go to college.
"If [opting out is] going to make it harder for you to graduate, it's going to make you harder to get into college, I think you need to rethink [opting out]," Bush said when asked what he would say to a parent who was considering opting their child out of Common Core tests. "The idea that you're opting out of a test because it's stressful — what's the world like?"
Bush's remarks came during an interview at the conservative National Review Institute's Ideas Summit in Washington, D.C.
Bush said Common Core was not to blame for the standardized tests, and that schools had to give standardized tests well before Common Core was in place.
This spring, tens of thousands of parents across the country have opted out of Common Core-aligned standardized tests.
Big Government GOP Socialism , The so-called "Conservative" George Bush Administration, backed by a "Conservative" GOP Congress, worked to unconstitutionally Federalize local education and violate the 10th Amendment of the Bill of Rights. . Since taking control of Congress in 1995 the GOP controlled Congress has consistently voted to grow the size and scope of the Federal government with no thought at all about the Constitution.
The open borders Democrats are Leftist whores. That is fact of life #17. But it fascinates me that people who claim to be "Conservative" actually think the GOP wants to control the border and reduce immigration.
The open borders Wall Street crowd "invests" hundreds of millions in campaign money into the coffers of Democrats and Republicans to make sure wages are kept low by an endless flood of legal and illegal labor.
Neither party gives a damn about the American citizen worker.
(CNSNews.com) - "Immigration is a key element of our country's success," Jeb Bush, a possible contender for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, told the National Christian Hispanic Leadership Conference in Houston on Wednesday.
An advocate of immigration reform, Bush said the 11 million people who are in the country illegally "should come out from the shadows and receive earned legal status."
He said the United States is the only country that "has the chance to become young and dynamic again," all because of immigration. "This is not the time to abandon something that makes us special and unique," he added.
Bush opened his speech by telling the crowd, in Spanish, that they are "the hope of the country."
. And we keep importing more workers.
He then introduced himself to the crowd as a loving son and proud husband of a Latina wife (who inspired him to get a degree in Latin American studies). He described his faith, including his conversion to Roman Catholicism; and he generally outlined his position on the issues, including the economy, education, and immigration -- the platform on which he seems likely to run.
Of the Republicans mulling a run for President, Bush is the most liberal on immigration. In fact, his views are the same as President Obama's.
In January 2013, Obama said, "We have to deal with the 11 million individuals who are here illegally. We all agree that these men and women should have to earn their way to citizenship. But for comprehensive immigration reform to work, it must be clear from the outset that there is a pathway to citizenship. We’ve got to lay out a path — a process that includes passing a background check, paying taxes, paying a penalty, learning English, and then going to the back of the line, behind all the folks who are trying to come here legally."
On Wednesday, this is what Bush said:
"Immigration is a key element of our country's success. We're a nation of immigrants. This is not the time to abandon something that makes us special and unique."
". . . that means making legal immigration easier than illegal immigration; that means creating a catalyst for economic growth for sure, but it also means dealing with the 11 million undocumented workers that are here in this country -- 11 million people that should come out from the shadows and receive earned legal status . . . ", said Bush.
Magazines featuring articles about late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping (L) and
late Soviet leader Joseph Stalin (R) are seen at a newsstand in Beijing, Aug. 27, 2014.
(Radio Free Asia) - China's censorship authorities have warned a cutting-edge political magazine that dozens of its recent articles, including some about late supreme leader Deng Xiaoping, are in breach of government guidelines, telling its editors they must submit the next issue for approval before going to press, sources told RFA on Monday.
The State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT) told the editors of Yanhuang Chunqiu that 37 articles it has published since the beginning of the year are in breach of political guidelines, a source close to the magazine said.
"The SAPPRFT issued them with a written warning four or five days ago, telling them how many of their articles had contravened the regulations in issues 1, 2, and 3 this year," the source said.
"If there are similar problems in the next issue, they will probably cancel the magazine's business license and publication number," the source said.
"That is the serious situation they are in now."
The source said deputy editor Yang Jisheng would likely be forced to resign from the magazine.
"A number of retired officials from [state-run] Xinhua news agency and the [ruling Chinese Communist Party's] Central Commission for Discipline Inspection went to visit Yang Jisheng at his home last week," the source said.
"They wanted him to leave the magazine this month, but after some negotiation, it was agreed that he would leave in June."
Forbidden to speak
Yang declined to comment on the report on Monday.
"I have to tell you, I am Yang Jisheng, but I have been ordered not to give interviews to the foreign media," he said.
"Xinhua news agency has ordered me not to speak to foreign journalists."
The reports that Yang will resign come after the magazine was forced to cancel its annual spring conference on March 18.
Yanhuang Chunqiu's annual conferences typically gather revolutionary elders and their descendants, editors, readers, and contemporary historians.
According to former top Communist Party aide Bao Tong, this year's guest-list was to have included revolutionary elders and nonagenarians Li Rui and He Fang; legal scholars Guo Daohui and Jiang Ping; Marxist theorist Du Guang; retired politician Yang Rudai; and Ye Xiangzhen and Xi Ganping, descendants of two of the founders of the People's Republic of China. Read More . . . .
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