The kicker: Her mother was born in Florida.

This is why we call him Tingles.

“I think that smile of his is worth five to ten points in the general.”

Via Newsbusters

Sounds vaguely familiar, eh?

(Reuters) — Anti-government extremists opposed to taxes and regulations pose a growing threat to local law enforcement officers in the United States, the FBI warned on Monday.

These extremists, sometimes known as “sovereign citizens,” believe they can live outside any type of government authority, FBI agents said at a news conference.

The extremists may refuse to pay taxes, defy government environmental regulations and believe the United States went bankrupt by going off the gold standard.

Routine encounters with police can turn violent “at the drop of a hat,” said Stuart McArthur, deputy assistant director in the FBI’s counterterrorism division.

“We thought it was important to increase the visibility of the threat with state and local law enforcement,” he said.

In May 2010, two West Memphis, Arkansas, police officers were shot and killed in an argument that developed after they pulled over a “sovereign citizen” in traffic.

Last year, an extremist in Texas opened fire on a police officer during a traffic stop. The officer was not hit.

Legal convictions of such extremists, mostly for white-collar crimes such as fraud, have increased from 10 in 2009 to 18 each in 2010 and 2011, FBI agents said.

Keep reading…

HT: greaterthepete

The more the Obama regime digs their heels in on this one the more it’s going to hurt in November.

Via CNS News:

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Monday that American women “deserve” to have their employers buy them health insurance plans that cover sterlizations and all FDA-approved contraceptives, including those that cause abortions, with no fees or co-pay, even if the employer is a Catholic or Catholic organization that adheres to the church teaching that sterilization, artificial contraception and abortifacients are morally wrong and that Catholics cannot be involved in them.

“I understand that there have been objections and that some people disagree with us and we are going to work with institutions that have concerns here,” Carney told reporters. “But I think it’s important to note here that we believe these services are important and that American women deserve to have access to that kind of insurance coverage regardless of where they work.”

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops told HHS in September that the regulation was an “unprecedented attack on religious liberty” and has urged the administration to rescind it in its entirety. Carney has said that President Barack Obama supports the regulation.

Keep reading…

Time to rumble.

NEW YORK (CBS NY) — Catholic leaders upped the ante Monday, threatening to challenge the Obama administration over a provision of the new health care law that would require all employers, including religious institutions, to pay for birth control.

As CBS 2’s Marcia Kramer reports, it could affect the presidential elections.

Catholic leaders are furious and determined to harness the voting power of the nation’s 70 million Catholic voters to stop a provision of President Barack Obama’s new heath car reform bill that will force Catholic schools, hospitals and charities to buy birth control pills, abortion-producing drugs and sterilization coverage for their employees.

“Never before, unprecedented in American history, for the federal government to line up against the Roman Catholic Church,” said Catholic League head Bill Donohue.

Already Archbishop Timothy Dolan has spoken out against the law and priests around the country have mobilized, reading letters  from the pulpit. Donohue said Catholic officials will stop at nothing to put a stop to it.

“This is going to be fought out with lawsuits, with court decisions, and, dare I say it, maybe even in the streets,” Donohue said.

Keep reading…

And they’re actively seeking a pardon for him.

(NY Times) — Two American brothers of a Mexican casino magnate who fled drug and fraud charges in the United States and has been seeking a pardon enabling him to return have emerged as major fund-raisers and donors for President Obama’s re-election campaign.

The casino owner, Juan Jose Rojas Cardona, known as Pepe, jumped bail in Iowa in 1994 and disappeared, and has since been linked to violence and corruption in Mexico. A State Department cable in 2009 said he was suspected of orchestrating the assassination of a business rival and making illegal campaign donations to Mexican officials.

When The New York Times asked the Obama campaign early Monday about the Cardonas, officials said they were unaware of the brother in Mexico. Later in the day, the campaign said it was refunding the money raised by the family, which totaled more than $200,000.

As recently as January of last year, one of Mr. Cardona’s brothers in Chicago, Carlos Rojas Cardona, arranged for the former chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party to seek a pardon from the governor for Pepe Cardona, according to prosecutors in that state. None was forthcoming.

Last fall, Carlos Cardona and another brother in Chicago, Alberto Rojas Cardona, began raising money for the Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee. The Cardona brothers, who have no prior history of political giving, appeared seemingly out of nowhere in the world of Democratic fund-raising, Democratic activists said.

Keep reading…

The fruits of unchecked UK-style multiculturalism.

(Sun) — Al-Qaeda is trying to recruit women to carry out suicide bombings in the UK, MPs warn today.

It is using extremist websites to radicalise the angels of death, says their chilling report.

The Commons home affairs committee says it has heard evidence the terror group is “specifically launching and targeting women for violent acts”.

It is already a deadly tactic in the Middle East, where growing numbers of Palestinian women are volunteering for suicide missions against Israel. The MPs’ report comes days after four Islamic extremists admitted plotting to bomb the London Stock Exchange.

Woolwich Crown Court heard how the gang — who also had London mayor Boris Johnson on a hit list — had been brainwashed by the twisted ideology of Anwar al-Awlaki, an al-Qaeda leader until the US killed him in Yemen last year.

His attempts to recruit UK Muslims were exposed by The Sun. Last night the committee chairman, Labour’s Keith Vaz, said the gang’s admissions show “we cannot let our vigilance slip”.

Inappropriate? No. Fact? Yes.

(The Hill) — Vice President Biden attacked GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich on Monday, calling the former House Speaker “inappropriate” for labeling President Obama the “food stamp president.”

Appearing at campaign stop in Tallahassee, Fla., Biden took aim at Gingrich and Republican front-runner Mitt Romney, saying the two Republicans are showing their true colors in their remarks in recent months.

“These are the same guys who are calling the president a ‘food stamp president,’ a thinly veiled — I don’t know what it is, but it’s inappropriate,” Biden said. “It’s inappropriate.”

The vice president went on to mock the GOP candidates for saying how they really feel.

“For the first time, the Republicans are not — to use a football metaphor, hiding the ball. They’re saying exactly what they believe. For real, no, it’s good. It’s good because for the first time we can have an honest debate. These guys aren’t out there saying, ‘We’re compassionate conservatives, we want to fight to protect Medicare and Medicaid.’ They’re just being straight up, saying what they believe.”

Nice job, Barack.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama said the U.S. has a “very good estimate” of when Iran could complete work on a nuclear weapon, but cautioned that there are still many unanswered questions about Tehran’s inner workings.

“Do we know all of the dynamics inside of Iran? Absolutely not,” Obama said. “Iran itself is a lot more divided now than it was. Knowing who is making decisions at any given time inside of Iran is tough.”

Obama said that while he believes the standoff with Iran over its nuclear program can still be resolved through diplomacy, the U.S. has done extensive planning on a range of options.

The gloves are finally off.

(CNS News) — Archbishop Timothy Broglio, who leads the Roman Catholic Archdiocese for the Military Services, wrote a letter to be read at all Sunday Masses for U.S. military personnel around the world that said that a regulation issued by the Obama Administration under the new federal health care law was “a blow” to a freedom that U.S. troops have not only fought to defend but for which some have recently died in battle.

“It is a blow to a freedom that you have fought to defend and for which you have seen your buddies fall in battle,” the archbishop wrote.

Another line in his letter said: “We cannot—we will not—comply with this unjust law.”

The message from the archbishop touched off a controversy both in and outside the military when the Army’s Office of the Chief of Chaplains told the service’s senior chaplains that Catholic priests serving as Army chaplains should be told not to read the archbishop’s letter from the pulpit.

The Archdiocese for the Military Services has described that move as a violation of the archbishop’s First Amendment rights as well as the First Amendment rights of the Catholic chaplains involved and their congregations.

The regulation the archbishop spoke about was finalized by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Jan. 20. It mandates that all health-care plans in the United States cover sterilizations and all FDA-approved contraceptives, including those that cause abortions. A “religious” employer exemption included in the regulation only applies to organizations that primarily focus on inculcating the tenets of the church in question, primarily employ members of the church, primarily serve members of the church, and is organized under the section of the Internal Revenue Code used by actual parishes.

Catholic hospitals, universities and charitable institutions would not be exempt from the regulation, nor would Catholic individuals, business owners, or insurers.

Archbishop Broglio’s letter minced no words in telling Catholics in the Armed Forces that the federal government was not only violating their constitutional rights through the new Obamacare regulation but was also violating the constitutional rights of all Catholics, while harming the freedom of religion generally.

“It is imperative that I call to your attention to an alarming and serious matter that negatively impacts the Church in the United directly, and that strikes at the fundamental right to religious liberty for all citizens of any faith,” wrote the archbishop.

“The federal government, which claims to be ‘of, by, and for the people,’ has just dealt a heavy blow to almost a quarter of those people—the Catholic population—and to the millions more who are served by the Catholic faith,” wrote the archbishop.

“And, as a result, unless the rule is overturned, we Catholics will be compelled to choose between violating our consciences or dropping health care coverage for our employees (and suffering the penalties for doing so),” said the archbishop.

Keep reading…

INDIANAPOLIS, IN — FEBRUARY 05: MIA performs during the Bridgestone Super Bowl XLVI Halftime Show at Lucas Oil Stadium on February 5, 2012 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Not all that surprising, Eastwood leans to the right, has previously said he’s “no fan” of Obama and is on record as opposing the auto bailout.

Via Fox Nation:

Following the fall out over the controversial Chrysler Super Bowl halftime ad, Clint Eastwood spoke exclusively with O’Reilly Factor producer Ron Mitchell:

“I just want to say that the spin stops with you guys, and there is no spin in that ad. On this I am certain.

l am certainly not politically affiliated with Mr. Obama. It was meant to be a message about just about job growth and the spirit of America. I think all politicians will agree with it. I thought the spirit was OK.

I am not supporting any politician at this time.

Chrysler to their credit didn’t even have cars in the ad.

Anything they gave me for it went for charity.

Keep reading…

You may remember Fisker Automotive as the Goracle-connected company given a huge taxpayer loan to build its cars in Finland.

(Politico) — In another setback for President Obama’s clean energy loan programs, the recipient of more than a half-billion dollars in federal loan guarantees is laying off workers at their Delaware and California operations.

Delaware’s News Journal reports that Fisker Automotive, a California-based electric car start-up company, is laying off an undisclosed number of staff to try to reserve enough capital in order to qualify for more federal help from the Department of Energy, according to a Delaware state development official.

“They’re trying to preserve the cash that they have,” said Alan Levin told the News Journal. “And unfortunately, until they meet the milestone that DOE continues to set … they’re not able to access the additional capital that they need.”

The company also came under fire last year for taking federal loans while producing cars in Finland. Company officials told ABC News at the time that “there was no contract manufacturer in the U.S. that could actually produce our vehicle.” The company was working on reopening a shuttered General Motors plant in Wilmington to produce vehicles — an effort that top Obama administration officials lauded.

Keep reading…

Pretty obvious considering the massive body count Boko Haram has racked up recently.

(Telegraph) — Al-Qaeda operatives in North Africa have helped to transform Boko Haram into a terrorist group capable of killing hundreds in sophisticated attacks.

The radical Islamist group, based in northern Nigeria, once specialised in robbing banks and attacking defenceless Christian congregations. In the past month, however, its gunmen or suicide bombers have struck 21 times, killing at least 253 people.

The Daily Telegraph understands this transformation has come about partly because of the help Boko Haram has received from al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), a branch of the international terrorist network based in the Saharan states of Mali, Niger and Algeria.

Boko Haram demonstrated its new potency on Jan 20, when at least 100 of the movement’s fighters executed eight assaults in Nigeria’s northern city of Kano, overwhelming the security forces and killing 185 people.

This operation bore all the hallmarks of al-Qaeda: a mixture of suicide bombers and gunmen, some in police or army uniform, carried out multiple, carefully coordinated attacks on hard targets.

Boko Haram destroyed two police stations and the regional police headquarters, and damaged the local office of the State Security Service, Nigeria’s version of MI5.

Sounds good to me. We shouldn’t be giving them money we don’t have in the first place.

(Gallup) — About 7 in 10 Egyptians surveyed by Gallup in December 2011 oppose U.S. economic aid to Egypt, and a similar percentage opposes the U.S. sending direct aid to civil society groups. This rebuke of U.S. financial support may be a challenge for Egypt’s newly elected parliament and its future president as the government attempts to bolster the nation’s financial stability.

Senior U.S. officials announced in January at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that President Barack Obama plans to speed up aid to Egypt as the nation transitions from the Mubarak era. Congress already approved $1.3 billion in military aid and $250 million in economic aid for the current fiscal year. Some of the conditions attached to this aid, including that it may not be spent unless Egypt meets all obligations under the 1979 Israel-Egypt peace treaty, may help explain its unpopularity in certain Egyptian circles. Some Egyptian activists say such restrictions encroach upon Egypt’s sovereignty.

Thanks to the Arab Spring he may get his wish.

Following are excerpts from a public address delivered by Egyptian cleric Mazen Sirsawi, which aired on Al-Hekma TV:

Mazen Sirsawi: The Caliph Al-Mahdi, the Emir of the Believers, was like a sword on the necks of the infidels, apostates, and heretics. Whenever he heard of a heretic, he summoned him, no matter what. Even when he was on his deathbed, they brought before him some treacherous heretics, who toy with religion.

One of them was brought before the Caliph, who was drawing his last breath. The Caliph said: “By Allah, if I have only two words left, I say: Kill him! I will seal my life with “Kill him!” He said: “Kill him, and chop off his limbs, one by one, so that I will please my Lord.” They did as he wished, and the Caliph counted the limbs and said: “Allah, I have done with him what pleases You. Enable me to do the same to all his ilk.”

Anyone who wants to affront the shari’a and become a heretic, anyone who behaves stupidly, thinking that this is a game, should not think that this will go unpunished. Today, these criminals want us to become used to this. They want us to hear this and remain silent. When someone curses our Lord, [they want us to say]: “Never mind, this is democracy, freedom, and so on. Let’s keep quiet about it.” Absolutely not! This will never be. One must never remain silent before the people of Falsehood. When Allah made a covenant with the people of knowledge, “You shall make it known to people and not hide it.” Beheading them should be easier than cutting the buttons off their shirts.

Keep reading…

You can’t make this stuff up.

Via Weekly Standard:

One of the most popular Super Bowl advertisements last night was the Chrysler ad featuring Clint Eastwood, titled “Halftime in America.”

The spot is supposed to be encouraging, as it focuses on the resilience of Detroit. “It’s halftime. Both teams are in their locker room discussing what they can do to win this game in the second half,” Eastwood says in the spot. “It’s halftime in America, too. People are out of work and they’re hurting. And they’re all wondering what they’re going to do to make a comeback. And we’re all scared, because this isn’t a game. The people of Detroit know a little something about this. They almost lost everything. But we all pulled together, now Motor City is fighting again.”

But contrary to what the might ad suggest, the spot was actually filmed in New Orleans and Los Angles. “Yes, part of it was filmed in New Orleans . . . and some was filmed in various parts—such as Los Angeles,” Dianna Gutierrez said. She specifically points to the tunnel scenes as being taken at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, while the stadium shots were in New Orleans.

Asked whether any part of the ad was filmed in Detroit, Gutierrez said that previously taken footage from various parts of the Motor City was used. No image of Detroit was shot for the specific use in this ad.

Keep reading…

Zip it, Magic Boy, nobody cares what you think.

Via The Guardian:

. . . The actor — who is straight — also used the interview to call for gay marriage, relationship education in schools that would cover both gay and straight relationships, and attacked some of the US Republican presidential candidates.

Radcliffe said that he wished more educational establishments, especially in the US, were not in thrall to religion, stating: “I’m not religious, I’m an atheist, and a militant atheist when religion starts impacting on legislation. We need sex education in schools.

Radcliffe went on to say that he has been “disgusted, amazed, stunned” by candidates seeking the Republican presidential nomination, such as Rick Santorum or Michele Bachmann, who have been openly hostile to gay rights.

“But they disgusted me less than candidates like Rick Perry, who made that ridiculous advert wearing ‘the Brokeback jacket’, and I think pretend to be homophobic just to win votes.”

Asked if he wished that Barack Obama would publicly back gay marriage, he replied: “Yes, I do, but can he really? Of course he’s in favour of it, but he has to be careful about saying so. I’d rather have someone like him in the White House than the alternative.”

Keep reading…

You mean government intervention in the free markets system has adverse effects? – Who knew?

Via BBTV:

At Florida State University in Tallahassee Monday morning Vice President Joe Biden responded to a student stating that, “…artificially increasing availability of student loans is at least partially responsible for rising tuition costs…” Biden admitted that government subsidies offsetting the power of the free market have contributed to the increase in college tuition.

Which means by law the U.S. government can no longer give the Palestinian Authority aid money because Hamas is a designated terror group. Why do I get the feeling these laws will be ignored?

JERUSALEM — The rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas have agreed that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will head a joint government that will prepare for new elections, ending a prolonged stalemate over how to mend their bitter split.

The deal announced Monday removed a major stumbling block to implementing a reconciliation accord signed last year. The deal was reached during talks between Abbas and Khaled Meshal, the exiled political leader of Hamas, brokered in Doha, Qatar by Emir Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani.

In a statement, both sides said Abbas would lead an interim government “of independent technocrats … whose task will be to facilitate presidential and parliamentary elections and begin the reconstruction of Gaza.”

Fatah and Hamas had been deadlocked for months over who would be prime minister for the interim government. Hamas rejected Salam Fayyad, the Western-backed prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, on the grounds that he had led a crackdown on Hamas in the West Bank.

Having Abbas at the helm of the joint government, holding the title of prime minister as well as president, means the Palestinians stand a good chance of preserving the Western financial aid and other support that the Fatah-governed Palestinian Authority currently receives.

Typical British lunacy.

(Telegraph) — Abu Qatada, a radical Muslim cleric accused of posing a grave threat to Britain’s national security, will be back on the streets within days after judges granted him bail.

Mr Justice Mitting released Qatada despite the Home Office arguing he remains a risk to national security.

His defence team had argued his detention of six and a half years while fighting deportation was unlawful because he did not face any imminent prospect of being removed.

The cleric is wanted in Jordan to stand trial for alleged terror offences and Home Secretary Theresa May battled to keep him behind bars while British diplomats continue to seek assurances from the Jordanian authorities that evidence gained through torture would not be used against him.

Ed Fitzgerald QC, representing Qatada, who is being held in high security conditions, said his client had now been held for six-and-a-half years while fighting deportation – more than anyone else in such a position.

He told the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac) that that was “against a background of almost nine years detention without charges on the grounds of national security”.

Probably because they envisioned a future president like yourself.

“Our Founders designed a system that makes it more difficult to bring about change than I would like sometimes.”

HT: Townhall

That makes one person.

WASHINGTON — Observing that Michelle Obama has been a “good First Lady”, US President Barack Obama on Monday said that he feels proud of his spouse when he sees her rigorously taking up issues of national importance.

“Michelle has been as good a first lady as I think anybody can imagine. When I watch her making a difference all across the country in terms of changing how kids are getting exercise and eating and the passion she brings to military families, I could not be prouder of her,” Obama told the NBC news in an interview.

The interview, taken yesterday, was aired by the NBC news channel today.

Obama said Michelle initially had some reservations about taking on this whole process, going on this journey, at the beginning of it.

“She’s admitted that. She’s talked about it. She’s turned out to be really good,” he said adding that the First Lady now believes that he needs to get another term.

Keep reading…

I’m sure in his feeble mind this makes sense.

(NewsOK) — White House Press Secretary Jay Carney explained that the number of people dropping out of the work force, which artificially depresses the unemployment rate, can be regarded as an “economic positive.”

“A lot of that is due to younger people getting more of an education, which is an economic positive,” Carney said. He had been asked what would happen when people “inevitably” raise the unemployment rating with their return to the work force.

He also noted that “an aging population” going into retirement has contributed to the number of people dropping out of the work force.

Carney suggested that the focus on the number of people dropping out of the work force is politically motivated.

This is the same DHS that won’t say Islam is a factor in terrorism.

Via PJM’s Patrick Poole:

A recently published “lexicon” distributed to thousands of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) targets citizens concerned about their Second Amendment rights and the steady encroachment of the federal government, categorizing such as “militia extremists.”

The “lexicon,” marked Unclassified/For Official Use Only (FOUO), is dated November 10, 2011, and was sent out by email to law enforcement and homeland security agencies on November 14 by LaJuan E. Washington of the DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis.

We have exclusively posted the DHS “lexicon” here.

Its definition of “militia extremists” states:

(U//FOUO) Groups or individuals who facilitate or engage in acts of violence directed at federal, state, or local government officials or infrastructure in response to their belief that the government deliberately is stripping Americans of their freedoms and is attempting to establish a totalitarian regime. These individuals consequently oppose many federal and state authorities’ laws and regulations, (particularly those related to firearms ownership), and often belong to armed paramilitary groups. They often conduct paramilitary training designed to violently resist perceived government oppression or to violently overthrow the US Government. (Page 2 of 3, emphasis added)

So what drives militia extremism according to DHS now is “belief that the government deliberately is stripping Americans of their freedoms.” It is demonstrated by opposing “many federal and state authorities’ laws and regulations, (particularly those related to firearms ownership).” Would writing about those topics (as I am now) fall under “facilitation”? On its face, it’s hard to see how it could be excluded under DHS’s broad definition.

Keep reading…

More like, when are you going to leave us alone?

Matt Lauer, NBC: Maybe the better is question is ‘how will you spend the money?’ By all accounts you can raise a lot of money for this campaign. Some people say up to a billion dollars.

We’ve just seen in Florida, on the Republican side, a lot of money spent. About a 100% of it spent on extremely negative personal ads. If you raise a billion dollars to keep this job, can we expect the same kind of negativity coming from that money?

President Barack Obama: What I can tell you is that in 2008 part of the reason that we were successful is that we ran an affirmative campaign about my vision for where the United States should go. And I think what Americans what to hear more than anything else is ‘how are you going to help me right now?’

If they’re hearing a persuasive argument about we are going to recreate a solid path for middle-class success in this country then I think I’ll win regardless of the negative –

Via Fox Nation