Obama Administration Negotiates With Terrorists And Release 5 Taliban Prisoners From Guantanomo Bay, Cuba

Since when do we negotiate with terrorists?  We simply release 5 terrorists from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba? For 1 U.S. soldier?

Does this now not increase the risk of our soldiers, especially female soldiers from being kidnapped and tortured?  

Is this not a violation of American law by bypassing the required 30 day notice that must be given to Congress?  Is this an impeachable offense?

Did the Obama administration do this to deflect the attention that has been on Obama for the Veteran Administration scandal? 

U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has been freed after being held prisoner

in Afghanistan for nearly five years. Officials said the Taliban agreed to turn him over in exchange for the release of five Afghan detainees from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

In 2008 it was reported the 5 Afghan detainees were senior members of Al Qaeda and responsible for many American deaths.  

U.S. officials say the only American soldier held prisoner in Afghanistan has been freed and is in U.S. custody.

The officials say Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's  release was part of a negotiation that includes the release of five Afghan detainees held in the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The negotiation between the U.S. and the Taliban was mediated by the government of Qatar.

The 28-year-old Berghdal had been held by the Taliban since June 30, 2009. The officials say he is in good condition and able to walk.

The officials insisted on anonymity in order to describe the details on Bergdahl's release.

You Are Never To Young To Be Taxed By Liberals: Democrats Want To Tax And License Lemonade Stands

You can’t make this stuff up. Democrats trying to kill entrepreneurial spirit anyway they can.

From the Illinois Review:

It could soon cost $200 for kids to set up a lemonade stand, have a bake sale or sell cupcakes in Illinois.

“This is absolutely insane!” State Senator Jim Oberweis (R-Aurora) said at a Capitol press conference Friday. “Somebody in Madison County went crazy and decided to enforce a law against an 11 year old kid who was baking cupcakes. That was a mistake, but it happened.”

In the House, the little girl Oberweis referred to – Chloe Stirling of Troy’s State Representative Charlie Meier tried to do the right thing by introducing a law that would help those in her situation and exempt up to $1000 in sales.

“Then what happened? It came to the Senate… We ‘Illinois-ized’ the bill – doing things the way we do in Illinois, which is everything we can to discourage entrepeneurism to discourage business interests,” Oberweis told reporters.

Meier’s bill, which would have exempted food product entrepeneurs making less than $1000 from burdensome health department regulations, passed the Illinois House and was picked up by Democrat Senator Donne Trotter (D-Chicago).

Trotter amended the bill to require anyone selling food products to take an 8 hour food service sanitation course costing $145, obtain a county health department permit costing $25, label the food products to indicate ingredients and the fact that they are homemade, plus another $35 fee.

For liberal Democrats, you are never to young to get screwed by the government. 

Christian Wedding Cake Maker Being Forced To Make Cake For Gay Couple Or Go To Jail

Jack Phillips is a baker who declined to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple because his Christian belief is that marriage exists only between a man and woman. Now a Colorado judge has ordered him to bake cakes for same-sex marriages, and if Phillips refuses, he could go to jail.

Phillips owns a small business, Masterpiece Cakeshop, in Lakewood, Colorado. A homosexual couple—Charlie Craig and David Mullins—visited Phillips’s store on July 19, 2012, asking him to bake them a cake to celebrate their wedding. Although the Colorado Constitution defines marriage as between only one man and one woman, these men claimed to have been already married in Massachusetts and wanted to celebrate the wedding in Colorado.

Phillips is an Evangelical Christian who holds to the belief that marriage is between a man and woman. When Phillips bakes a wedding cake, he interprets it as participating in the wedding celebration, and he explained that, therefore, he does not make cakes for gay marriages.

The Colorado Civil Rights Commission ruled that Jack Phillips, owner of a cake shop in a suburb of Denver, must bake cakes for gay couples — even though gay marriage is illegal in the state.

Associated Press:Colorado’s Civil Rights Commission on Friday ordered a baker to make wedding cakes for same-sex couples, finding his religious objections to the practice did not trump the state’s anti-discrimination statutes.
 The unanimous ruling from the seven-member commission upheld an administrative law judge’s finding in December that Jack Phillips violated civil rights law when he refused to make a wedding cake for a gay couple in 2012. The couple sued.
 “I can believe anything I want, but if I’m going to do business here, I’d ought to not discriminate against people,” Commissioner Raju Jaram said.
 Phillips, a devout Christian who owns the Masterpiece Cakeshop in the Denver suburb of Lakewood, said the decision violates his First Amendment rights to free speech and free exercise of his religion. “I will stand by my convictions until somebody shuts me down,” he told reporters after the ruling.
 He added his bakery has been so overwhelmed by supporters eager to buy cookies and brownies that he does not currently make wedding cakes.
 The couple who sued Phillips, Dave Mullins and Charlie Craig, were pleased that the commission roundly rejected Phillips’ arguments. “We’re just thrilled by that,” Mullins said.
Gay marriage remains illegal in Colorado. Mullins and Craig were married in Massachusetts and wanted a wedding cake for a reception to celebrate their union back home in Colorado.
State law prohibits businesses from refusing to serve customers based on their sexual orientation.

The panel issued its ruling verbally. It ordered Phillips to stop discriminating against gay people and to report quarterly for two years on staff anti-discrimination training and any customers he refuses to serve.

The “Civil Rights Commission” is a kangaroo court. Their mandate is to find people brought before it guilty of discrimination. 

Obamacare premiums renewing with double digit premium hikes!

Obamacare premiums in Ohio will rise by 13 percent on

average in 2015, the state’s insurance department announced Thursday.

Overall, that will mean the average health insurance premium will cost $374.42 per month next year, compared to $332.58 each month for coverage in 2014.

Small businesses will be hit with an 11 percent average premium hike, bringing up the average monthly cost to $446.78, up from $401.99 for comparable health policies this year.

“It’s bad news, no doubt, but it’s what we expected and it’s what the research we did in advance predicted would happen,” said Ohio Lt. Governor Mary Taylor in a statement. “Ohio has traditionally had a very competitive insurance market which meant our rates were lower than a lot of other states. That means that Obamacare is hitting us harder and driving our costs us significantly.”

Ohio is one of the first states to release insurance companies’ proposals for 2015 premium rates. Virginia, Washington and Indiana have all announced significant premium hikes for next year.

Virginia, the first to release rates, saw insurers request premium increases ranging from 3.3 percent to 14.7 percent

Democrat Senate To Push To Repeal The 1st Amendment - Freedom of Speech and Religion

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) a told gathering of Christian conservatives this past Thursday that Democrats intended to amend the Constitution to limit free speech.

 

“When you think it can’t get any worse, it does,” Cruz warned at the Watchmen on the Wall gathering of pastors sponsored by the Family Research Council.

“This year, I’m sorry to tell you, the United States Senate is going to be voting on a constitutional amendment to repeal the First Amendment,” Cruz said as the crowd sit in shock!

“I am telling you, I am not making this up,” Cruz said. “Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has announced the Senate Democrats are scheduling a vote on a constitutional amendment to give Congress the authority to regulate political speech, because elected officials have decided they don’t like it when the citizenry has the temerity to criticize what they’ve done.”

“They don’t like it when pastors in their community stand up and speak the truth,” he stated.

 “I’ll note this amendment, which has 41 Democratic senators as co-sponsors – 41 Democrats have signed on to repealing the First Amendment,” Cruz said, as an audience member loudly protests. “It explicitly says nothing in this new amendment shall abridge the freedom of the press.”

“So the New York Times is protected, but it doesn’t say the same thing about the freedom of speech,” Cruz said. “It doesn’t say the same thing about religious liberty, what is says it that politicians in Washington have unlimited constitutional authority to muzzle each and every one of you if you’re saying things the government finds inconvenient.”

Cruz had not been scheduled to appear at the conference, but he showed up to introduce his father, Rafael Cruz, an ordained minister who spoke at the conference.

Catholic NOTRE DAME UNIV. Refuses To Recognize Campus Group Called "Traditional Marriage"

In order to continue to getting preferential treatment from the government as well as public funding, Notre Dame has

chosen to sell it's Catholic soul. 

The National Catholic Register broke the most shocking cultural news of the week:

“A group of students at the University of Notre Dame has generated a campus-wide controversy by advocating that marriage between one woman and one man is better suited for children than same-sex ‘marriage.’”

Welcome to campus controversy 2014, where the subversives are traditionalists and, as we will see, the subversives control the establishment.

The Register continued:

“The group – known as Students for Child Oriented Policy (SCOP) – elicited negative letters to the campus newspaper and prompted hundreds of students to sign a petition calling upon the university not to recognize it as an official campus club.”

What comes next may not be surprising, but it remains gasp-worthy: Notre Dame refused to recognize the group favoring what we now know as “traditional marriage” as an official campus club. Why? The administration offered a thin excuse, saying the new club would duplicate the mission of two other campus groups that promote Catholic doctrine – one of which, it turns out, hasn’t updated its website since 2005. Meanwhile, according to SCOP’s prospective president, Tiernan Kane, his group doesn’t identify itself with a specifically Catholic mission, coming together instead as a non-sectarian effort to “focus on public policy as it relates to issues that specifically affect children.”

The Register reported that planned club activities would have included “presentations on Common Core and Indiana education policy, marijuana’s effect on young people’s brains, the United Kingdom’s anti-pornography policy and the problems associated with no-fault divorce.” The club’s position that traditional marriage is good policy is what drew campus fire.

There’s a lot here, so let’s take it from the top. First, we have just learned that on the campus of one of the leading Catholic universities in the country, the concept of same-sex marriage isn’t just popular, it’s entrenched to the point where it is controversial to prefer the traditional model – even to argue that heterosexual marriage is better social policy for children. In fact, the belief that a child is better off with a mother and a father rather than two mothers or two fathers is so unpopular that 630 students signed their names on a petition to prevent it from being promoted by an official campus club.

So much for the ancient consensus on heterosexual monogamy from which Western civilization evolved. That’s out the window at Notre Dame. Indeed, the Register further reported that a university official “expressed disapproval” over the prospective club’s call for Notre Dame President Father John Jenkins to “make a clear stand” for heterosexual marriage. Once upon a time, of course, heterosexual marriage didn’t require a university president or anyone else to make a “clear stand.” Today, a leading Catholic academic doesn’t want to “come out” as its supporter, let alone advocate.

This topsy-turvy episode at Notre Dame marks as another defeat in what used to be thought of as the culture wars. Once again, elites have deserted the religious and societal bastions even as foot soldiers still maneuver. What is more dispiriting to watch even than the increasing “inclusion” of homosexual and lesbian unions in the definition of marriage – and I expect one day that polygamous and perhaps even incestuous unions will similarly be normalized – is the demonization of traditional belief.

Notre Dame has an open mind, all right – at least when it comes to the GLBTQ group. That club received official club status. Not so SCOP. “It’s the new political correctness,” explained Patrick Reilly, president of the Cardinal Newman Society, a traditional Catholic group. “Very often the same students who scream censorship in nearly every other instance are the ones who would silence those who promote Catholic teachings. Those who advocate difficult teachings are shunned or ridiculed.”

The best and brightest call that progress.

Via: WND

Fed Up Army Ranger’s Stark Response to #BringBackOurGirls Shows the Vanity of ‘Hashtag Activism’

Fed Up Army Ranger’s Stark Response to #BringBackOurGirls Shows the Vanity of ‘Hashtag Activism’

Democrat U.S. Senate Candidate Steals Credit For Work Of Republican State Senator

In typical Gary Peter's fashion he portrays himself to be something he is not.  This time he attempts to take credit for work of another elected official.

The Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful is using  the hard work of a State Senator, Phil Pavlov (R) of St. Clair Township.  The story in the Traverse City, Michigan newspaper "The Record" states that five Michigan lawmakers are sponsoring measures designed to pressure Canada not to let a power company bury radioactive waste less than a mile from Lake Huron.

 State Sen. Phil Pavlov, of St. Clair Township, says the package will be introduced Tuesday. It asks U.S. officials to seek intervention from the International Joint Commission, which advises both nations on issues affecting the Great Lakes and other shared waterways.

 He and four other Republicans from districts near Lake Huron also are offering bills to toughen Michigan's prohibition of permanent nuclear waste disposal in the state by including "Class C" waste — the most potent form of low-level radioactive material — in the ban. Low-level waste consists of contaminated clothing, floor sweepings, mops and other items, as opposed to highly radioactive spent fuel rods

 Another measure asks the Great Lakes Commission to get involved. The commission represents the states and Canadian provinces within the Great Lakes watershed.

 Ontario Power Generation wants to store low-level nuclear waste in rock chamber deep underground. The company says it would be safe, but opponents fear radioactivity could eventually reach Lake Huron.

 A Canadian government panel has announced plans for more hearings.

 Way to go Gary! You never cease to amaze on how low you can go!

Teacher Required Kids To Pay To Use The Potty

A school district in Vancouver, Washington is investigating a

third-grade teacher accused of using a "pay to potty" policy that required students to spend their fake classroom cash for bathroom breaks.
    
Two parents complained after their children came home from Mill Plain Elementary School in clothes they were given after wetting themselves.
    
The teacher manages the class with fake money that students earn and can spend on toys, treats or going to the bathroom.
    
Evergreen School District spokeswoman Gail Spolar says "pay to potty" is not district policy and students are not prevented from going to the restroom when they must. Spare clothes are kept at schools for accidents.
    
A substitute is teaching the third-grade class while the teacher is under investigation.

Hate The Sin, Love The Sinner

I saw a post of a Catholic today on Facebook, whose name I won't mention, who has a few followers that are in the same circles as mine. After reading this person's post, as a Catholic myself, I felt compelled to set the record straight on Catholicism.

Father Migeul Marie.

The post in question pertained the Catholic teachings of "Hate The Sin, Love The Sinner". Our Church recognizes homosexuality as a sin and does not condone it.

Our Church also states that we should be merciful to those who sin and to help them change their ways. If you practice anything different, then you are not a Catholic.

Last week I heard a wonderful homily by Father Miguel Marie. In his homily he reaffirmed the church's teachings on homosexuality.

Father Miguel stated in his homily that God made both man and woman for a reason. As individuals we are incomplete.

" A man can not give all of himself to another man nor can a woman give all of herself to another woman. It is only when man and woman come together that they can give all of themselves and become one in matrimony in the eyes of God."

God made both men and women with different strengths and weaknesses. Man has weaknesses that can only be taken care of by a woman and a woman has weaknesses that can only be taken care of by man. Man and woman are emotionally different and only when they come together do they reach the level of understanding that God has designed.

God does not make flaws so no man can achieve what God intended by being with another man and no woman can achieve what God intended by being with another woman. Again, if you don't believe this teaching of the Catholic Church, then you are not a Catholic. To accept communion and not recognizing the Catholic teaching is a mortal sin in the Catholic church. One that could have serious implications upon judgement day.

As a side note, it is also a sin to use God, Jesus and to twist the teaching of the Church for a political agenda.

Colorado Governor Signs Nation’s First ‘Right To Try’ Bill Into Law

With the governor’s signature Colorado is now the first state to

Gov John Hickenlooper

allow terminally ill patients to have access to medication that is not approved by the government.

Gov. John Hickenlooper stated he doesn’t want patients to die knowing there may have been a drug in existence to help them that they couldn’t have.

Ron Patterson is a former engineer who never imagined he could become one of the 600,000 people who die each year from cancer.

“They did blood work, and when he got the results he called me and said, you better get into Poudre Valley Hospital right now. You got something really bad,” said Patterson.

His only option was chemotherapy but Hickenlooper’s signing of the nation’s first “Right To Try” bill into law will provide Patterson with more options.

“Patients should be able to try a treatment even though it hasn’t been approved if it’s an attempt to save their life if they’re in a terminal situation,” said Hickenlooper.

Right now there are over 20,000 safe medications making their way through the Food and Drug Administration approval process but only 3 percent of the sickest patients are eligible for clinical trials.

Grace Taylor with Poudre Valley Hospital says the law could open new doors for terminally ill patients.

“It is frustrating, at times there is regulation that we do have to go through with reason, so hopefully this new bill will help navigate that path a little bit more cleaner, and a little bit more proactively now going forward,” said Taylor.

“It will definitely give people a sense of hope.”

At this point Patterson says he has nothing more to lose in order to gain a fighting chance.

“It just gives me another tool in the war chest to try,” said Patterson.

Hickenlooper also passed another bill into law that educates people on how to take their prescription medications safely.

Think The T.E.A. Party Is Racist? Have You Been To One??

The next time you run into someone saying "the T.E.A. Party is racist", ask them this simple question; "How many T.E.A. Party meetings, events, rallies or presentations have you ever attended?" Ask them to please be absolutely, 100%, brutally honest. My personal experience has been that not a single one of the people running around making this claim have so much as set foot into a single T.E.A. Party event or venue.

That being the case, Mr./Mrs. T.E.A. Party Hater, what you are essentially saying is that you are fine allowing others to do your thinking for you." If you've never been to a T.E.A. Party meeting, never endeavored to spend time in the company of those who self-identify as T.E.A. Partiers, yet you claim to know how they act, feel & believe - then where do you get that belief, accusation and information from? Answer. Someone other than yourself. You just admitted you haven't & don't got to T.E.A. Parties. So you have no personal, first-hand experience. That means you are allowing others to spoon feed you information which you then regurgitate as truth. In essence, you are willingly admitting that you neither do your own thinking nor form your own opinions. You allow others to do that for you.

And you're admitting this in public? You're admitting this on the internet? What, you're actually PROUD of this fact?

Here's an idea. Rather that prostituting yourself out by running around repeating the information you've been fed - educate yourself and speak from personal experience.

Tea Party Candidate Wins Senate Primary In Nebraska

Tea Party candidate Ben Sasse won the Republican nomination for an open Senate seat in Nebraska Tuesday night, after a heated and costly primary battle that drew heavy national attention.

Sasse, a university president, was able to hold off former state treasurer Shane Osborn, and dark horse candidate Sid Dinsdale who had begun to surge in recent weeks. Sasse grabbed 48 percent of the vote with Dinsdale finishing second and Osborn finishing third, according to preliminary returns.

"We were never doing this because we need another job," said Sasse. "We were only going to do this if we were going to talk about big bold conservative ideas."

The win makes Sasse favorite in November's general election, where he'll face Democrat Dave Domina, an Omaha attorney. The winner will replace Republican Mike Johanns, who didn't seek a second term.

Sasse, the president of Midland University, had steadily gained the backing of some of the most influential conservative groups and figures. His victory is a huge win for the Tea Party.

Osborn had the backing of allies of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and ran an aggressive campaign.

Further scrambling the race, Pinnacle Bank President Dinsdale had sought to capitalize on the Sasse-Osborn fight and had climbed in the polls.

In recent weeks, big names gravitated to Sasse's side, including Sarah Palin and Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz. Sasse also has the backing of the Club for Growth, the Tea Party Patriots, the Senate Conservatives Fund and FreedomWorks. Sasse also benefited from more than $1 million in spending from outside groups.

Should they have taken the money?

80's Iconic Rock Band Takes $10,000 & Walks Away From Tornado Benefit Without Playing Leaving All Stunned.

A benefit gone wrong was held Saturday for Washington, Illinois tornado victims that took place at Freakster’s Roadhouse in Pontiac, Illinois.

The 1980’s band Warrant was hired to play for the benefit, but apparently that never happened.

The band showed up at Freakster’s Roadhouse, set up their gear on stage, took their $10,000 guarantee, and never played. The band claims there was an issue with the contract they signed.

However, people still paid $25 to see a show that never occurred.

The band eventually packed up and left.

On Freakster's Roadhouse's Facebook page, they state:

"Alright . . . take a blow and you get back up, right ?!?! That's what we do. We really do not want to focus on anything negative, but we will say that what happened on Saturday night was unfortunate for all parties involved . . . We have to move on and recoup what we can. We are truly sorry to all our rockers that came out for the show. We will also put it out there for everyone, come on in and bring us your ticket stub and wristband, we will give you your $25 refund if you didn't get it."

The benefit was for the tornado that hit Washington last fall.

New Obama Mandate: Schools Must Accept Children Of Illegal Aliens

The Obama administration issued guidelines Thursday to ensure children can enroll in public schools even if they or their parents are living illegally in the United States.

Schools can't ask for proof of citizenship, block students if parents can't prove legal residency

The legal guidance from the Justice and Education departments allow school districts and states to ask for proof of students' age or that they are residents in the jurisdictions where they attend school. But schools can't require proof of citizenship or block students if parents can't prove their legal residency.

Attorney General Eric Holder said the legal guidance is in reaction to reports from around the country that some school districts have identification requirements that create hurdles for undocumented children to enroll in public schools, in violation of federal law.

School administrators can only ask for utility bills or apartment lease agreements to show a student lives in the district where they are attending school. They may ask for a parent's driver's license. But only to establish residency, not to determine legal immigration status, the guidelines say.

They also may ask for legal certification to show a child's age. But schools can't turn away students who can't provide a birth certificate or whose parents refuse to provide a Social Security number for the child or parent.

Did Marines Catch A UFO Attack The Taliban In March Of This Year? They think so.

Is it a drone, a plane or a UFO? The video reportedly filmed by U.S. Marines in Afghanistan has alien theorists and military tech followers debating just what it was in the sky causing massive explosions on the ground.

Remember The Keating Five? One Remains In Office From The Financial Scandal, John McCain

The Keating Five were five United States Senators accused

Dennis DeConcini

Alan Cranston

of corruption in 1989, igniting a major political scandal as part of the larger Savings and Loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s. The core allegation of the Keating Five affair is that Keating had made contributions of about $1.3 million to various U.S. Senators, and he called on those Senators to help him resist regulators. The regulators backed off, to later disastrous consequences.

John Glenn

The five senators – Alan Cranston (Democrat of California), Dennis DeConcini (Democrat of Arizona), John Glenn (Democrat of Ohio), John McCain (Republican of Arizona), and Donald W. Riegle, Jr. (Democrat of Michigan) – were accused of improperly intervening in 1987 on behalf of Charles H.

Donald Riegle

Keating, Jr., Chairman of the Lincoln Savings and Loan Association, which was the target of a regulatory investigation by the Federal Home Loan Bank Board (FHLBB). The FHLBB subsequently backed off taking action against Lincoln.

Lincoln Savings and Loan collapsed in 1989, at a cost of over $3 billion to the federal government. Some 23,000 Lincoln bondholders were defrauded and many investors lost their life savings. The substantial political contributions Keating had made to each of the senators, totaling $1.3 million, attracted considerable public and media attention. After a lengthy investigation, the Senate Ethics Committee determined in 1991 that Cranston, DeConcini, and Riegle had substantially and improperly interfered with the

John McCain

FHLBB's investigation of Lincoln Savings, with Cranston receiving a formal reprimand. Senators Glenn and McCain were cleared of having acted improperly but were criticized for having exercised "poor judgment".

All five senators served out their terms. Only Glenn and McCain ran for re-election, and they both retained their seats. McCain would go on to run for President of the United States twice, including being the Republican Party nominee in 2008.

McCain and Keating had become personal friends following their initial contacts in 1981, and McCain was the only one of the five with close social and personal ties to Keating.  Like DeConcini, McCain considered Keating a constituent as he lived in Arizona.  Between 1982 and 1987, McCain had received $112,000 in political contributions from Keating and his associates. McCain and his family had made several trips at Keating's expense. McCain did not pay Keating (in the amount of $13,433) for some of the trips until years after they were taken, when he learned that Keating was in trouble over Lincoln. In 1989 Phoenix New Times writer Tom Fitzpatrick opined that McCain was the "most reprehensible" of the five senators.

The only member of the Keating Five remaining in the U.S. Senate today is John McCain, who had an easier time gaining re-election in 1992 in his first try after the scandal than he anticipated. He survived the political scandal in part by becoming friendly with the political press.

Is One Man Stopping the Keystone Pipeline? Has This Man Bought Our Politicians?

The American people want Keystone XL pipeline built as shown over and over again by survey after survey.  However Obama has now said the pipeline will not start being built until after the 2014 election , if at all.    

This pipeline would transport 830,000 barrels of crude oil a day from Canada’s oils sands to the refineries in Port Arthur Texas.

s

In addition, the undertaking would create short-term and long-term middle class jobs for both the Canadian and U.S. economies. Precisely, economic studies have found that the project would create 20,000 manufacturing and construction jobs and an additional 118,000 spin-off jobs.

The Wall Street Journal reported a week ago that Obama and Democrats are feeling pressure from liberal billionaire Tom Steyer who has recently emerged as one of the biggest opponents against Keystone XL. Through his organization, NextGen Climate Action, Steyer has vowed to raise at least $100 million to back vulnerable Democrats in November in an effort to help them keep the Senate as long as they oppose the pipeline.

In recent months, Gary Peters, a candidate to for U.S. Senate in Michigan, has been tied to the billionaire. Back in February, Steyer hosted a fundraiser for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Among the 70 guests in attendance at Steyer’s home that included Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Al Gore, was Peters. The attendees reportedly enjoyed grass-fed beef from Steyer’s ranch in addition to salmon.

Meanwhile, the administration’s latest decision comes after an exhausting five years and two investigations into the pipeline’s potential impact on the environment by the State Department which have concluded that the effects are minimal.

Peters voted against the bipartisan North Route Approval Act, H.R. 3 which passed the House 241-175 last May and would have expedited the process and declared that a presidential permit not be required for approval of the Keystone XL pipeline’s northern route. Meanwhile, Harry Reid, whose Senate Majority PAC has already spent millions backing Peters and others in hopes of maintaining a majority, has refused a vote in the Senate with the intentions of not forcing the hand of those vulnerable Democrats in states where it would be politically unpopular to vote against the pipeline.

One has to ask, whose is Peters representing us or his billionaire buddy Tom Steyer? He claims to be a champion of the middle class yet his actions are more in line with that of a career politician beholden to special interests who do not support what of both Michiganders and the American people want. A poll released recently by Rasmussen revealed that 61 percent of the American people favor building the Keystone pipeline.

The Real History Of Cinco De Mayo

Literally "the Fifth of May," Cinco de Mayo is a Mexican Holiday celebrating the Battle of Puebla, which took place on May 5, 1862. In 1861, France sent a massive army to invade Mexico, as they wanted to

collect on some war debts. The French army was much larger, better trained and equipped than the Mexicans struggling to defend the road to Mexico City. It rolled through Mexico until it reached Puebla, where the Mexicans made a valiant stand, and, against all logic, won a huge victory. It was short-lived, as the French army regrouped and continued; eventually taking Mexico City, but the euphoria of an unlikely victory against overwhelming odds is remembered every May fifth.

Today Cinco de Mayo has become more of an American holiday than a Mexican one.

But most non-Mexican Americans have "no idea" about the day's history.

Isn’t it Mexico’s Independence Day?:

That's a common misconception. Mexico celebrates its independence on September 16, because it was on that day in 1810 that Father Miguel Hidalgo took to his pulpit in the village church of the town of Dolores and invited his flock to take up arms and join him in overthrowing Spanish tyranny. Independence Day is a very important holiday in Mexico and not to be confused with Cinco de Mayo.

How Big a Deal is Cinco de Mayo?:

Cinco de Mayo is a big deal in Puebla, where the famous battle took place but it really isn't as important as most people think. September 16, Independence Day, is a much more important holiday in Mexico. For some reason, Cinco de Mayo is celebrated more in the United States of America, by Mexicans and Americans alike, than it is in Mexico. One theory for why it is more popular in the USA is that at one time, it was celebrated in all of Mexico and by Mexicans living in former Mexican territories such as Texas and California. 

Michigan Residents Lose Their Right To Farm

Michigan residents lost their “right to farm” this week thanks to a new ruling by the Michigan Commission of Agriculture and Rural Development. Gail Philburn of the Michigan Sierra Club told Michigan Live, the new changes “effectively remove Right to Farm Act protection for many urban and suburban backyard farmers raising small numbers of animals.” Backyard and urban farming were previously protected by Michigan’s Right to Farm Act. The Commission ruled that the Right to Farm Act protections no longer apply to many homeowners who keep small numbers of livestock.

Kim White, who raises chickens and rabbits, said, “They don’t want us little guys feeding ourselves. They want us to go all to the big farms. They want to do away with small farms and I believe that is what’s motivating it.” The ruling will allow local governments to arbitrarily ban goats, chickens and beehives on any property where there are 13 homes within one eighth mile or a residence within 250 feet of the property, according to Michigan Public Radio. The Right to Farm Act was created in 1981 to protect farmers from the complaints of people from the city who moved to the country and then attempted to make it more urban with anti-farming ordinances. The new changes affect residents of rural Michigan too. It is not simply an urban or suburban concern.

Shady Grove Farm in Gwinn, Michigan is the six and a half acre home to 150 egg-laying hens that provide eggs to a local co-op and a local restaurant. The small Michigan farm also homes sheep for wool and a few turkeys and meat chickens to provide fresh healthy, local poultry. “We produce food with integrity,” Randy Buchler told The Blaze about Shady Grove Farm. “Everything we do here is 100 percent natural — we like to say it’s beyond organic. We take a lot of pride and care in what we’re doing here.” Shady Grove Farm was doing its part to bring healthy, local, organic food to the tables of Gwinn residents, and it mirrors the attitudes of hundreds of other small farming operations in Michigan and thousands of others popping up around the nation. The ruling comes within days of a report by The World Health Organization that stated the world is currently in grave danger of entering a post-antibiotic era. The WHO’s director-general Dr. Margaret Chan argued that the antibiotic use in our industrialized food supply is the worst offender adding to the global crisis. “The Michigan Agriculture Commission passed up an opportunity to support one of the hottest trends in food in Michigan – public demand for access to more local, healthy, sustainable food,” Gail Philbin told MLive.

Meanwhile, neighboring Indiana Governor Mike Pence signed Senate Bill 179 a few weeks before which freed up poultry and egg sales from local and state regulation. Yesterday, the USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack announced massive funding to support research about small and medium-sized family farms, such as small farms ability to build-up local and regional economic systems. “There’s a lot of unnecessary legal action being taken against small farms who are doing good things in their communities,” said Randy Buchler, who is also on the board of directors for the Michigan Small Farm Council. The Michigan Small Farm Council actively fought to support Michigan farming freedom, but ultimately the Commission voted to approve the new restrictions.

“Farm Bureau has become another special interest beholden to big business and out of touch with small farmers, and constitutional and property rights of the little guy,” Pine Hallow Farms wrote to the Michigan Small Farm Council. The Michigan Farm Bureau endorsed the new regulatory changes. Matthew Kapp, government relations specialist with Michigan Farm Bureau, told MLive that the members weighed in and felt that people raising livestock need to conform to local zoning ordinances. The Farm Bureau did not feel Michigan’s Right To Farm Act was meant to protect the smaller farms, and ultimately the Michigan Commission of Agriculture and Rural Development agreed.

[Photo courtesy of City Chickens Gone Country]

Black Basketball Player, With Past Racist Tirades, Demands An All-Black League

Larry Johnson

Larry Johnson, who played in the NBA for ten years, has called for an “All-Black” basketball league in the wake of racist remarks made by the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers.

Johnson, who now works in the front office of the New York Knicks, tweeted, “Black people your Focusing on the wrong thing. We should be focusing on having our own, Own team own League! To For Self!!”

Johnson was known for making racial comments during his playing years. In 1999 he told reporters, “We’ve got a lot of rebellious slaves on this team.”

Can you imagine, if a white person said, "Let's have an "All-White" team?  Can you imagine the chaos that would ensue?

Racism is a two way street and needs to end on both sides.

Does The City of Detroit Have A Justified Homicide Problem?

On April 29th, on the steps of the Capital Building in

Rick Ector
addressing the attendees on the Capital steps.

Lansing, Michigan a Pro-2nd amendment rally was held .  One of the speakers was Detroit resident and owner of Rick's Firearm Economy of Detroit.   While at the pro-2nd amendment rally, Rick had encounter with a State Senator who represents a portion of Detroit.  This is what Rick had to say about his in encounter in his own words on his facebook page.

While I was in attendance at the "Second Amendment March" at the Michigan Capitol Building on this past Tuesday, I ran into a State Senator who represents Detroit residents. After we exchanged pleasantries, he immediately stated to me that we should talk about doing something about Detroit's "justified homicide problem."

Rick Ector
Working To Teach People Not To Be Victims

Without hesitation, I countered by telling him that justified homicides are not a problem. I then asked him, "Why do you think that we need to focus on reducing justified homicides?" I may have caught him off guard because I did not get an immediate response.

I went on to tell him that a justified homicide only occurs when a person is faced with a reasonable and imminent threat of great bodily harm, rape, or death and that victim uses lawful self-defense which results in the death of the assailant. All shootings are investigated and vetted by the local police department and the results are submitted to the County Prosecutor to determine if criminal charges should be levied.

Detroit has already recorded roughly 12 justified homicides this year. Most of those cases involved a predator forcing himself into an occupied dwelling without permission, announcement, or notice. Under the "Castle Doctrine," the presumption - legally speaking - is that the invader of a home presents both a reasonable and imminent danger to the occupants. However, the presumption can be overcome but that burden rests with the Prosecutor.

Apparently, there are too many criminals being shot and killed while they are attacking citizens. No, I do not see justified homicides as a problem. Rather, it is a legal solution for selected victims to defend themselves and their families against danger. However, we definitely DO have a violent crime problem in Detroit and until that issue has been resolved will we see less citizens needing to defend their families.

Some anti-self-defense activists believe that home owners should not be allowed to shoot invaders. One such person suggested to me during a live airing of a local news show that invaded citizens should attempt to guide the attackers in prayer. Moreover, this same "activist" a few days later tried to chastise the local police chief because he referred to home invaders as predators. In my opinion, they are predators and a few other choice expletives that come immediately to my mind.

The bottom line is that the political agendas of some anti-gun people have become so desperate and amoral that they now seek to absolve violent criminals for their actions. If they had their way, home owners would face prosecution for nothing more than safe-guarding their families.

In any case, the aforementioned state senator made an overture to meet with me on the subject. If it happens, I will hear him out but I doubt he'll change my mind. Coddling invading predators will never make sense to me. I'll keep you updated.

You can follow Rick Ector on his Facebook Fan Page  HERE

As Democrats go after the Koch Brothers, even bigger money flows to the Democrat Party from those richer than the Koch Brothers

Obama and Harry Reid sharing a laugh

The Washington Times editorial hits the nail on the head with Democrat hypocrisy regarding Big Money.

Tom Steyer : Principles in politics often fade even before all the election returns are in. Once elected, candidates can feel liberated from inconvenient campaign promises.

President Obama, more than anyone, has “grown” so big in office he isn’t bound by anything he said before the day before yesterday. He was once the passionate, bright-eyed reformer who talked the talk, even becoming the first presidential candidate to disdain public funding of his campaign. But when a gaggle of liberal billionaires gathered in Chicago last week to plot how to buy a liberal Congress in November, the president wasn’t at all offended by all that money walking.

Businessman Tom Steyer

Mr. Obama dispatched his most powerful deputy, Valerie Jarrett, to join the discussions with the secretive “Democracy Alliance.” They’ll have hundreds of millions of dollars in unrestricted contributions to spend between now and Election Day. Convictions and principles are nice, but holding on to control of the Senate by any means necessary is nicer.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has spent the past few months deriding, insulting and calling the Koch brothers, more libertarian that orthodox conservative, “un-American” for participating in democracy through contributing money to free-market groups. When Tom Steyer, the newest liberal rich kid on the block, pledged to spend $100 million to defeat the Keystone XL pipeline and keep the Senate in Democratic hands, Mr. Reid applauded, and flew off to San Francisco for a fundraiser at Mr. Steyer’s mansion.

Vulnerable Democrats have even formed a political action committee to “Stop the Koch Brothers,” pleading for support because, they say, the brothers have contributed a “jaw-dropping $30 million to buy elections.” Some of the Democrats should help the Koch critics find their jaws because that’s less than a third of what Mr. Steyer pledged. Even outside groups that make money raising money to support new campaign-finance laws look the other way when rich liberals do what they tell others not to do. People for the American Way devotes eight pages on its website to the sins of the Koch brothers, but nary a paragraph to examine where Mr. Steyer sends his largesse.

Common Cause doesn’t get a mention, either. Mr. Steyer’s money, hundreds of millions of dollars of it, is deemed sanitary, and the ethics inspectors of the left are careful to “see no evil.” The Koch brothers fight the establishment in both political parties, and Mr. Steyer leverages his checkbook to get insider Democratic power. His chief adviser, Chris Lehane, threatens to close the money tap if the president approves the Keystone pipeline. “If we’re collectively going to put $100 million into this cycle,” he told the Bloomberg news service, “how much will go into key races depends on Keystone.”

The extortion is working. The president quickly issued another delay in the project and he is expected to kill it after the elections, leaving many of his blue-collar union supporters out of luck and out of work. The First Amendment continues to irritate those who want to shut down debate. Sen. Charles E. Schumer, New York’s senior Democrat, says he will draft a constitutional amendment to put limits on the First Amendment. He wants to give Congress the ability to set limits on campaign contributions.

This would effectively overturn the McCutcheon and Citizens United decisions and give politicians the power to game the system. “The First Amendment is sacred,” says Mr. Schumer, “but the First Amendment is not absolute, and by making it absolute you actually make it less sacred to most Americans.” That’s just the sort of thing a politician who has “grown” too much in office might say. William F. Buckley Jr. must have had Mr. Schumer in mind when he told a critic, “I won’t insult your intelligence by suggesting that you really believe what you just said.”