Friday, July 26, 2013

So Much For The 10th Amendment

You might not agree with marijuana and that is OK (we don't either), however, when the federal government raids a store that is LEGAL under Washington law, that is wrong. At least it is wrong under the Constitution as we read it.


We find nothing in the Constitution that gives the Federal government the right to regulate drugs or more specifically, marijuana. In fact, the Tenth Amendment clearly empowers the state to control those activities outside those granted the Feds, which we believe is essentially this case.

This bold, in your face, denial of state's rights by the Federal government should be litigated   If not, the Feds will take over state responsibilities for everything and make the state legislatures nothing more than a knitting society. It is time for the states to resurrect their rights under the Constitution.

Conservative Tom


Feds Raid Legal Medical Marijuana Dispensaries In Washington

July 25, 2013 by  
Despite State legalization and promises from President Barack Obama that raiding medical marijuana facilities was not a priority of the Federal government, medical marijuana dispensaries in Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia and Gig Harbor, Washington were raided by Drug Enforcement Agency agents on Wednesday.
Casey Lee, the owner of one of the facilities, said Federal agents took 16 marijuana plants, edible marijuana products, employees’ cellphones and paperwork from the store during the raid.
“I kept saying, ‘We don’t feel like we’ve done anything wrong. Why are you guys here?’ And they said, ‘Well, you guys are state legal, but you are still not federally legal,’ that’s all they could tell me,” said Lee.
According to DEA officials, the raid of several dispensaries in Washington was part of a two-year investigation.
Via KIRO 7:

Free Speech In America Today

College Republicans Banned From Obama’s Campus Speech

July 25, 2013 by  
A group of College Republicans who held tickets to an on-campus economy speech by President Barack Obama was denied admittance after civilly protesting the President’s fiscal policies in the hours leading up to the event.
According to The College Fix, “security personnel” Wednesday at the University of Central Missouri turned away the students, who were wearing a variety of Republican accessories and/or Tea Party T-shirts, after they put away their protest signs and attempted to join the 2,500 other ticketholders who’d waited hours to hear the President.
Why? Well, the “security personnel” (never named in the article as the Secret Service or campus security) told the students their political views weren’t the problem, but the President’s safety was.
Wait – isn’t that essentially telling them, in totalitarian fashion, that their political views werethe problem?
“It just didn’t make any sense,” said one College Republican official. “A lot of us traveled several hours to watch the speech. We were very disappointed not to be able to attend.”
The College Republicans had joined with others from the State Republican Party for a 60-person protest that, according to the article, consisted of holding signs and talking to people passing through. Their protest was held in a “public speech area” of the campus and was nowhere within sight, or earshot, of the building where Obama delivered the speech, nor of those ticketholders who had already queued up to be let inside. The report indicates that no other groups or individuals who held tickets were scrutinized or turned away in similar fashion.
Obama’s speech Wednesday marked one stop along his newly-launched Nationwide tour to evangelize the President’s economic policy and stump on jobs growth.

Monday, July 22, 2013

Why Buy US Helicopters When Russian Choppers Are Available?



Remember Obama's open mike????
Russian Helicopters for sale... 
         
Does anyone remember Barack Obama's great promise of the campaign of 2012?  He did not make a promise to America nor to Americans.  He did not make a promise to fellow politicians.  Unlike so many of his promises, he is keeping this one.  His promise was to Vladimir Putin of Russia.What is Obama doing to keep his promise to Putin?  Everyone remembers the hot mike incident in 2012 when Barack Obama pleaded with Russian President Dmitri Medvedyev to give him time until the election.  After the election, he promised Vladimir Putin, through Medvedyev, he would be more "flexible." 
Now we have seen this flexibility.  
Barack Obama is going to spend almost $700 million dollars of taxpayer money to buy  Russian helicopters for the Afghan Air Force.  But wait. Just like those TV commercials, this gets better.  When Congress passed the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act, it had an interesting provision.  Congress included, as a part of that law a prohibition on the 
United States buying helicopters from Rosoboronexport, the Russian manufacturer of the Mi-17 helicopter.
Unfortunately as always happens, when such laws are passed, Congress always gives the Regime an escape hatch. The law stated that Obama could buy from Rosoboronexport if the Secretary of Defense certified it was in the interest of National Security.  And of course, the  Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel , a man committed to destroying the 
US military immediately signed off on that certification.  Where do we even start with this one?
Congress is outraged over this with Senators and Representatives from both parties writing letters about this. Of course, this is Congress' fault for allowing a law to be written with such an escape hatch.  More importantly, Americans need to be asking just what the hell the Obama Regime is doing. 
Why are we spending $700 million dollars with a Russian arms manufacturer?  Why are we even giving the Afghans these helicopters?
If we are going to give them helicopters, which we really shouldn't, then 
why not give them American made helicopters and put Americans to work? 
if we are going to give the Afghans Russian helicopters, the ones we are giving them are an old Cold War design. There are hundreds of used MI-17 helicopters floating around  the world.  Why are we paying to give the Afghans brand new helicopters?
In the era of the Sequester, isn't there something better we can do with $700 million?   American Medicare cancer patients are being turned away from hospitals and are being denied life saving treatment because of budget cuts. The American military is being gutted to the point of ineffectiveness because of budget cuts.
Or consider this.    
The United States Air Force is grounding 17 squadrons because of $591 million dollars in budget cuts.   Our Air Force is not able to do its mission because it lacks the money to fly but we have the money to give Afghanistan $700 million dollars in Russian helicopters. 
And this is where Barack Obama thinks we should spend our money?  Most people  reading this story will not have heard about it.  Why?
Because the Obama Propaganda Media is moving in lock step to make sure there is no bad news that might damage Obama's presidency.This is a story that should damage him and outrage every American.
The only way we will ever stop Obama is if the American people know what he is doing.  

click for confirmation:  
http://en.rian.ru/military_news/20130405/180451358.html 

Dunces Galore--Another Name For American Education

When 36% of Americans 18 to 30 could not name one right guaranteed under the First Amendment, you have to conclude that the teaching of American history or civics (what we used to call knowing about the US government) has failed. This can only lead to one end, the end of the American experience.


Once you have a sizable portion of the public who cannot name one right that the Founders gave us in the Constitution, it won't be long before government finds a way to eliminate all of your rights. What was guaranteed is only as good as those who will stand up and fight for them. 

Additionally when nearly half of these future leaders believe that the First Amendment goes too far--we are in deep trouble. That number is scary but once again our education system is giving us what the elites want and that is not an educated populace.  Kids know all about celebrities, how to put on a condom or what snail is stopping progress, however, they don't know reading, writing and 'rithmatic nor do they know how this nation became great and what rights made it happen. 

Teachers, Administrators and government bureaucrats who created this mess should be proud of their accomplishments, however, the country will suffer greatly from their malfeasance.

Conservative Tom

A Nation Of Ignoramuses

July 22, 2013 by  
A Nation Of Ignoramuses
PHOTOS.COM
The United States is devolving into a Nation of ignoramuses, its citizens increasingly ignorant of U.S. and world history and particularly uninformed regarding the Nation’s founding documents and what led to the creation of their Nation.
The government’s public (non)education system, the agenda-driven mainstream media propaganda system, Hollywood’s disinformation, campaigns promoting bread and circuses and the infusion of millions of aliens into the country are doing the job the collectivist progressive elites envisioned. The goal is to manufacture a populace too ignorant of their rights and too preoccupied to fathom even most repressive tyranny.
A recent national poll by the Newseum Institute’s First Amendment Center revealed that almost half (47 percent) of 18- to 30-year-olds agree with the statement that the 1st Amendment goes too far in the rights it guarantees.
The poll sampled 1,006 American adults from the 48 contiguous States. Its findings are astonishing and maddening.
The 1st Amendment reads:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or of the right of the people to peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
When asked to name the five specific freedoms in the 1st Amendment, 36 percent of those polled were unable to name any. Freedom of speech was named by 59 percent, followed by freedom of religion (24 percent), freedom of the press (14 percent), right to assemble (11 percent) and right to petition government (4 percent).
The survey found that that while the percentage of Americans who can name the five 1stAmendment rights has generally increased since the organization began annual polling in 1997, the overall awareness of the 1st Amendment has decreased.
Among all those surveyed, 64 percent say the 1st Amendment does not go too far. But 52 percent of blacks and 50 percent of Hispanics say the amendment does go too far. That number drops to 29 percent of the white population.
The poll was conducted in May as stories about the government’s spying on journalists withThe Associated Press and FOX News were coming out. It showed that Americans were split over whether reporters should reveal their sources if doing so made the country safer. Fifty-one percent opposed government requiring journalists to reveal their sources, while 44 percent supported it. That number is up from 37 percent in 2008.
And although only slightly more than half opposed journalists being forced to reveal their sources, 80 percent expected the news media to act as a government watchdog. How journalists are supposed to do that if they can’t keep their sources confidential was not asked. The question would probably not have been understood by the 49 percent.
The (non)education system and schools — predominantly run and staffed by socialists, progressives, collectivists and Marxists — omit teaching on the Nation’s origins and vilify the Founders and their struggle — demonizing the great explorers and the likes of Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry while glorifying Marxist criminals like Che Guevera.
Regimes — Presidential, Congressional and judicial — past and present have trampled the Bill of Rights almost out of existence. The 1st Amendment is no exception.
Christians are a main target of the statist elected class, media punditry and Hollywood, all of which are working overtime to destroy the value system and morality that has existed in this country since its inception.
The Barack Obama regime has targeted Christian-owned businesses for special persecution by requiring, through the unConstitutional Obamacare deathcare system, the inclusion of birth control and abortion services in their employee healthcare plans in direct contravention of their religious beliefs against them.
It has foisted upon the country, through court sanction, abetted by an ongoing propaganda campaign and against the wishes of the majority, homosexual marriage: a union that is anathema to Christian teachings.
Freedom of speech, assembly and redress are under attack in myriad ways. The Department of Justice’s targeting of reporters, the regime’s persecution of whistle-blowers, attempts by the government to gain control of the Internet, the National Defense Authorization Act’s Section 1021, the creation of “thought crimes” through hate crime laws and the massive Orwellian surveillance state all bespeak of a regime that is becoming increasingly fearful, lacking in legitimacy and totalitarian.
In ways subtle and overt, Hollywood is destroying the moral fabric of society and the masses lap it up. Hollywood portrays the family matrix as dysfunctional, glorifies perversion and strips males of all dignity, portraying them as idiotic buffoons, lazy, incompetent and in constant pursuit of base animalistic pleasures.
Hollywood demonstrates a misogynistic attitude toward women. They are sexualized, often scantily clad and presented as “eye candy” and sexual objects; and if their bodies and features aren’t perfect, their characters are subject to ridicule and/or presented as inviting abuse or being either villainous or simpleton. A UNESCO report on the portrayal of women in the media describes the litany of common images of women: “the glamorous sex kitten, the sainted mother, the devious witch, the hardfaced (sic) corporate and political climber.”
The regime, aided and abetted by the mainstream media, constantly inflames passions, creates conflict and feeds the public distractions and bread and circus that serves to obfuscate and cover up its crimes.
Meanwhile, the Nation and the republican system are in a state of collapse — that collapse being staved off temporarily through welfare, never-ending unemployment benefits, food stamps, free telephones and other free “stuff” and money printing. The dumbed-down public remains unaware that the regime and its elite puppet masters are stealing its wealth and enslaving it, binding the chains tighter by the day.
The 2nd Amendment is under constant assault. Even though it is the Amendment by which all others can be preserved, the public is increasingly buying into the lie that guns are objects to be scorned as if they’re scorpions that sting on their own. The media and the Obama Administration overhyped the George Zimmerman trial in an agenda-driven effort to stir racial conflict and create a flashpoint of violence over which it can push for stricter gun laws or, worse, martial law.
The 4th Amendment is long gone, crushed under the so-called USA Patriot Act, NDAA, the ever-expanding Department of Homeland (in)Security and the massive National Stasi Agency spying apparatus.
Fifth Amendment rights are being eroded by the courts and the regime daily. Now Americans can be targeted for drone attacks and murdered without due process. More and more the courts are allowing the law enforcement apparatus to use all your words against you so that it’s no longer safe to even have a conversation with a police officer. And, as the ongoing DOJ persecution of Zimmerman shows, double jeopardy provisions are non-existent.
These and other rights are pushed aside and thrown into history’s trash heap. They’ve disappeared with hardly a whimper.
Important issues like the criminal “Gang of Eight’s” amnesty bill, Internal Revenue Service targeting, Benghazi terror attacks, Fast and Furious gunwalking scandal, long-term high unemployment, payoffs to and thefts by the banksters and Wall Street, ongoing money debasement and the regime’s illegitimacy are ignored while the masses occupy themselves with prescription drugs, wall-to-wall coverage of celebrity escapades, sporting events and falsely created racial issues.

New Royal Born--Does It Make Any Difference

In a world that has enough problems, why does the birth of a child in England deserve so much press coverage?  Would it not be better to worry about the Obama Scandals, the failing economy in both Europe and the US and the growing violence in Middle East?

While we are happy for the parents Kate and William, we do not understand the need to make this story one where the whole world was betting on the date and time while sitting on the edge of their seats for the delivery.  The time could have been better spent.

Conservative Tom

Duchess of Cambridge Has Given Birth to a Baby Boy, Palace Says
The Duchess of Cambridge, the former Kate Middleton, has given birth to a baby boy, Kensington Palace announced. The baby was delivered at 4:24 p.m. local time at St. Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, west London, weighing 8 pounds, 6 ounces. Following tradition, news of the birth was posted on an easel on the grounds of Buckingham Palace.
The announcement came more than 12 hours after it was announced early Monday morning that the 31-year-old duchess had gone to the hospital in London in the early stages of labor.

READ MORE »

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/23/world/europe/royal-baby.html?emc=edit_na_20130722

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Bad News--NSA Monitoring Again

Secret Court Renews NSA's Phone Records Collection

Friday, 19 Jul 2013 07:03 PM
By Todd Beamon
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The secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court gave the green light to the Obama administration by recertifying a court order allowing the NSA to collect telephone records in bulk on millions of Verizon customers, the White House said Friday.

The court order was to expire at 5 p.m. Friday.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence said its authority to maintain the program expired July 19 and the government sought and received a renewal from the secret surveillance court.

The FISA Court in Washington oversees U.S. surveillance programs. It consists of 11 federal judges, all whom have been appointed by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.

The White House disclosed the FISA's stamp of renewed approval of the court order in an effort at greater transparency after former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden leaked details of the National Security Agency's secret U.S. surveillance programs to the media.

But bipartisan criticism continues to mount on Capitol Hill over the NSA's collection and stockpiling of millions of Americans' phone records without individual warrants or suspicions of connections to terrorism.

"By renewing the FISA court order, the Obama administration would reconfirm its support for the dragnet collection of telephone metadata, despite public outcry," Rep. James Sensenbrenner, a Wisconsin Republican and a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee, told The Guardian newspaper of London.

Meanwhile, Sen. Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat, said the White House should have let the Verizon order expire.

"This type of secret bulk-data collection is an outrageous breach of Americans' privacy," he also told The Guardian. "If the administration feels this program is vital to our national security, it should declassify the secret court interpretations that justify broad data collection so Congress and the American public can debate it in the light of day."

Judge Roger Vinson, until recently a member of the FISA Court, approved the order for "all call-data records or telephony metadata" from customers of Verizon Business Services on April 25, The Guardian reports.

The court has reauthorized the bulk phone records collection, in secret, every 90 days for about seven years.

At least two other major telecoms, AT&T and Sprint, have reportedly received similar orders. The dates of their expirations are unclear, The Guardian reports.

Administration and intelligence officials describe the collection of the phone records — detailing telephone numbers dialed, duration of the calls, and the times they occurred — as critical to uncovering terrorist plots.

While the court orders allow the NSA to collect and store tens if not hundreds of millions of American phone records, NSA director Gen. Keith Alexander has cited the phone records collection as contributing to the discovery of about 10 domestic terrorism plots.

Officials argue that American liberties are protected because court criteria forbids the searches of the phone-records database, absent "reasonable articulable facts," The Guardian reports, although NSA officials decide themselves when those criteria are met.

The agency claims to have searched through the database fewer than 300 times in 2012, The Guardian reports.

Reuters contributed to this report.


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Hobby Lobby Gets Stay On ObamaCrapCare Mandate

It's about time that a court realizes that Americans have the Freedom Of Religion!
Conservative Tom
Image: Hobby Lobby Wins Stay Against Birth Control Mandate(AP)
hobby | lobby | birth | control

Hobby Lobby Wins Stay Against Birth Control Mandate

Friday, 19 Jul 2013 05:06 PM

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A federal judge has temporarily exempted Hobby Lobby Stores Inc from a requirement in the 2010 healthcare law that it offer workers insurance coverage for birth control, which the retailer said violated its religious beliefs.The preliminary injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Joe Heaton in Oklahoma City, where Hobby Lobby is based, covers the arts and crafts chain and its affiliated Mardel Christian bookstore chain.
He put the case on hold until Oct. 1, giving the federal government time to decide whether to appeal.
"There is a substantial public interest in ensuring that no individual or corporation has their legs cut out from under them while these difficult issues are resolved," Heaton said at a hearing, according to the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a nonprofit law firm representing Hobby Lobby.
A U.S. Department of Justice spokesman had no immediate comment. The government has said contraception coverage is needed to promote public health and gender equality.
The Green family, which owns Hobby Lobby, said that providing coverage to workers for the morning-after pill and similar contraceptives violated its Christian beliefs.
It also said it could have under Obamacare faced $1.3 million in daily fines by not providing such coverage. Hobby Lobby has 556 stores in 45 U.S. states.
On June 27, a federal appeals court in Denver let Hobby Lobby challenge the mandate on religious grounds, and said there was a good chance the company would prevail.
It said Hobby Lobby had "drawn a line at providing coverage for drugs or devices they consider to induce abortions, and it is not for us to question whether the line is reasonable."
The Becket Fund said there are 63 lawsuits challenging the mandate. It called Heaton's decision a victory for "the religious liberty of all for-profit businesses."

© 2013 Thomson/Reuters. All rights reserved.


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