Judge refuses to block Florida voter purge

http://www.gopusa.com/news/2012/06/27/judge-refuses-to-block-florida-voter-purge/?subscriber=1 

Judge refuses to block Florida voter purge

By Gary Fineout June 27, 2012 1:08 pm

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - A federal judge has refused to stop Florida from removing potentially non-U.S. citizens from its rolls.

The U.S. Department of Justice sued the state to halt the purge, arguing it was going on too close to a federal election.

U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle said Wednesday that there was nothing in federal voting laws that prevent the state from identifying non-U.S. citizens even if it comes less than 90 days before the Aug. 14 election.

Hinkle ruled that federal laws are designed to block states from removing eligible voters close to an election. He said they are not designed to stop states from blocking voters who should have never been allowed to cast ballots in the first place.

Gov. Rick Scott praised Hinkle's decision, saying "irreparable harm will result if non-citizens are allowed to vote."

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Don't be nosy about Fast and Furious - CNN.com

Just wow.

--S.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/26/opinion/granderson-fast-furious/index.html?c=&page=1

Don't be nosy about Fast and Furious

Rep. Darrell Issa insists that Attorney General Eric Holder needs to hand over more documents about the Fast and Furious operation.

Editor's note: LZ Granderson, who writes a weekly column for CNN.com, was named journalist of the year by the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association and is a 2011 Online Journalism Award finalist for commentary. He is a senior writer and columnist for ESPN the Magazine and ESPN.com. Follow him on Twitter: @locs_n_laughs

(CNN) -- We are a nosy country.

Though to be fair, it's not entirely our fault. Between the 24/7 news cycle, social media and reality TV, we have been spoon fed other people's private business for so long we now assume it's a given to know everything. And if there are people who choose not to disclose, they must be hiding something. Being told that something's "none of your business" is slowly being characterized as rude, and if such a statement is coming from the government, it seems incriminating.

Times have changed. Yet, not everything is our business. And in the political arena, there are things that should be and need to be kept quiet.

I know that's hard to digest in a society where pregnancies and marriages of D-list celebrities make the cover of People magazine, but there comes a point where the public's right to know needs to take a back seat to matters like national security and diplomacy.

Heads should roll because of the Fast and Furious debacle. We don't need every detail of that operation to be made public in order for that to happen.

If it were an isolated sting, maybe. But it is at least the third incarnation of a gun-running scheme stretching across two administrations, which means we could be pressing to open Pandora's Box. We do not want to open Pandora's Box, not about this and certainly not about a bunch of other potentially scandalous things the federal government has been involved with.

Fast and Furious? Please.

We still don't have access to all of the messy facts surrounding the Iran-Contra scandal that erupted during the Reagan administration. All we know is that weapons were sold to Iran in exchange for hostages and that the proceeds from those sales were used to illegally fund rebels in Nicaragua who were supposedly fighting Communism.

Lt. Col. Oliver North took one for the team back then, and there's a good chance Attorney General Eric Holder will have to take one for the team in the Fast and Furious controversy. And by team, I'm not referring to Republicans or Democrats, but rather Americans.

You see, freedom isn't entirely free.

It also isn't squeaky clean.

And sometimes the federal government deems it necessary to get its hands a little dirty in the hopes of achieving something we generally accept as good for the country.

Such as the death of Osama bin Laden. We danced, we cried, but we did not make a big deal about a secret operation that was executed in Pakistan without the permission of the Pakistani government. The Obama administration did what it thought was in the best interest of America.

Much in the same way, Project Wide Receiver and Project Road Runner -- the earlier versions of Fast and Furious under President Bush -- were executed with the hope that they will do more good than harm. Hardly anyone in the public knows the finer points of these programs.

Were they legal?

Hell no.

Were they effective?

Who knows?

Were they done as a way to keep America safe?

Yes.

North was a fall guy. Not for President Reagan but for all of us. Just as Holder has become a villain to many who are pointing fingers at him.

But to go much beyond the criticism of these men runs the risk of learning that this great nation of ours is heavily involved in doing some things that are not so great.

Think about it: We have allowed weapons to cross the Mexican border and into the hands of criminals for years. Many of these weapons were involved in killing innocent Mexicans. There's nothing very admirable about that. But the truth is, it's very American.

By allowing guns to infiltrate Mexico's drug cartel, we thought we could trace them up the ladder to the leaders. Take off the head and the body dies. As for the innocent people who lost their lives? Collateral damage. That's the uncomfortable backstory to this scandal. And there are likely other operations like it in our nation's history that we don't even have a clue about.

And maybe it's better for us not to be so nosy, not to know everything because, to paraphrase the famous line from the movie "A Few Good Men," many of us won't be able to handle the truth.

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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of LZ Granderson.

Are the BRIC Nations Cracking?

Are the BRIC Nations Cracking?

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-06-26/are-the-bric-nations-cracking

By Roben Farzad on June 26, 2012Brazil, Russia, India, China. Group these developing nations together, as Goldman Sachs’s (GS) Jim O’Neill so presciently did in 2001, and you have the BRICs—perhaps the past decade’s most famous macro investing call.

The bloc’s subsequent ascent has been breathtaking. Its output has grown more than fourfold. China has dinged Japan to become the world’s second-largest economy. Brazil, which long sported a comparative advantage in hyperinflation, has become such an economic powerhouse that the Economist bestowed upon the nation this classic cover. According to the International Monetary Fund, the BRICs’ combined gross domestic product soared to $13.3 trillion last year, from $2.8 trillion just 10 short years ago. The MSCI BRIC index has gained more than eight times what the S&P 500 index returned during the past decade. Good call, Jim.

But like all fine investment bull runs, this one could be drawing to an end. According to Bloomberg data, for the first time in 13 years Brazil’s real, Russia’s ruble, and India’s rupee are weakening the most among emerging-market currencies, while China’s yuan has fallen the most since authorities devalued it in 1994. The rupee is at a record low against the dollar, while India is being cited by Standard & Poor’s (MHP) and Fitch as potentially the first BRIC country to lose its investment-grade rating.

Last month investors pulled $6.3 billion out of Brazil’s stocks and bonds and $5.8 billion from Russia’s. Brazil’s consumer default rate is at a three-year high; its stock market has round-tripped to where it was in 2009. Even though Brazil’s government has slashed interest rates to a record low while extending tax breaks and subsidizing credit, its economy is growing nowhere near the 7.5 percent clip it enjoyed in 2010; last year it managed a 2.7 percent gain. Russia’s oil exports—its economic mother’s milk—are at an 18-month low. Home values fell in a record 54 of 70 cities tracked by China’s government; growth in industrial production, China’s economic staple, slowed recently to a three-year low.

“In the absence of well-developed domestic consumption, the emerging markets—and by extension, their equities—are heavily dependent upon exports,” says Jason Trennert of Strategas Research. “With Europe in recession and the U.S. flirting with one, many investors might see BRICs stocks as a bridge too far.”

BRIC governments are now working overtime to staunch capital outflows and stoke their citizens’ spending. While all eyes are on the regressing “developed” economies of Europe, will these developing giants find a way to keep growing? Possibly. Still, the BRIC troubles represent another knock against the idea of decoupling—the fantastic notion that emerging markets can thrive, no matter what befalls the rest of the world.

Data on earthquakes and tornado tracks

Tornado tracks over the years
http://uxblog.idvsolutions.com/2012/06/animated-tornado-tracks-over-61-years.html

earthquakes
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/heres-what-a-map-of-114-years-of-earthquake-epicenters-looks-like/

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ATF AGENT RUNS FROM U.S. GOVERNMENT, NOT Cartels...

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/06/25/Fraudulent-and-Foolish-The-Real-Story-Behind-Fast-and-Furious

Fraudulent and Foolish: ATF Agent on the Run from U.S. Government, Not Cartels

---

Print ArticleSend a Tip

by Gary A. “Rusty” Fleming Jr.25 Jun 201230post a comment

Reckoning day is quickly approaching for the debacle known as Fast and Furious, but not soon enough for the family of CBP Agent Brian Terry and many other victims of the doomed federal gun sting operation, but it will get here soon.

People closely related to the investigation have said that Fast and Furious was all part of an agenda that this administration had from the day Obama took office. The President made no secret of his desire to reinstate the assault weapons ban and other firearm restrictions, and he was going to do that by any means necessary. As it turns out, the drug war in Mexico was just the vehicle he needed.

Like a chess game, the pieces started moving into place when President Obama came out with the statement that “90% of the weapons the cartels use are coming from the United States,” referring to a June 2009 U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report to Congress on U.S. efforts to combat arms trafficking to Mexico.

I remember where I was when I first heard this; I had been in Juarez all day and was about to drive over the Bridge of the Americas back into El Paso when I listened to a press conference on my radio where Secretary of State Clinton made this statement. I had just taken a swig of water and when she said that; I spit all over my dashboard and through my nose in disbelief. “Are you kidding me?!!” I yelled. I’m sure the boys at the port of entry thought I was a crazy man because I was talking to myself and screaming at the radio all at once.

Any of us that have covered the cartels for the past few years knew that assertion was “90% B.S.” The statement was proven many times over to be false and misleading, but that really didn’t seem to matter to anyone in the administration. However, they did quit talking about it in public.

Then comes Fast and Furious. I have spoken to many of the agents and other insiders directly related to the F&F investigation, including one of the agents overseeing the OP. Every ATF agent I have spoke to has told me virtually the same thing--that to allow those “guns to walk” went against everything they had ever been trained or taught to do. And, in fact, they were not made aware that these guns were going to be allowed to walk until the last moment. The operation was deliberately designed and executed as to not allow anyone, including the agent in charge, to know the end game.

Several ATF agents have since left the agency. Some were quickly transferred and promoted to Washington and other parts of the country—even Mexico. The point is, if the agents on the ground were allowed to talk, which two have so far, it would lead to the steps of the Attorney General Holder’s office and, as it turns out, the White House, as evidenced by the President claiming Executive Privilege over the matter.

I have a source that works for the Juarez cartel and its subsidiaries--Barrio Azteca gang, La Linea, etc. At the that time, he was in charge of weapons procurement, and more recently he worked with ATF agents on the F&F operation as an ATF informant. He carries dual citizenship and spends a great deal of time in El Paso, but he will not anymore.

When I met with him to talk about the F&F Op, he told me that he would not be crossing over back into the U.S. When we did finally meet outside of Juarez, he explained to me that his involvement with the F&F Op had put his life and the lives of family in danger. Oddly enough, it wasn’t the cartel he’s afraid of. He’s more afraid of what the U.S. government will do to him because of the information he has. Nearly one half of the weapons that were allowed to walk came thru the El Paso corridor, and he was instrumental in that process. But now he’s on the run from the same people that paid him to do what he did.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out where all of this is going. The Constitution of the Unites States is slowly but surely eroding at the hands of the very people that swore to protect and defend it. I can only hope that enough of us will stand up in November and take the power away from those that are abusing it to enact their own agendas.

Hellary, Huma and the Muslim Sisterhood

 (Jun 26, 2012) > Hillary, Huma and the Muslim Sisterhood

June 26, 2012

All Audio & Video »

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: I checked the e-mail during the break, "You were going to tell us about Egypt." I am going to tell you about Egypt. It's not as important right now as it was at the end of the program. Here's all you need to know about it. Huma Abedin, Mrs. Anthony Weiner, Mrs. Huma Weiner, she is Hillary Clinton's number one aide. And Huma's mother is best friends with the new First Lady of Egypt, the wife of the new Muslim Brotherhood guy, Morsi. That's really all you need to know. But there's much more to know.

That's why Hillary is out celebrating the brotherhood. That's why Hillary is joining Obama in telling the military to give it up for the Brotherhood guy. Because Huma's mom, there's actually a group, the Muslim Sisterhood, essentially, that is an offshoot of the Brotherhood. And Huma's mom is best friends with the new so-called First Lady of Egypt, who is also a member of the Sisterhood. Folks, it's Peyton place. It's too much to keep up with.

END TRANSCRIPT

Obama Administration Undermines Arizona’s Immigration Control Efforts

http://www.ijreview.com/2012/06/8947-obama-administration-undermines-arizonas-immigration-control-efforts/?utm_source=EmailElect&utm_medium=Email&utm_content=Subscriber%2350369&utm_campaign=06-26-2012%20IJ%20Reviw

Bert Atkinson Jr. June 25, 2012 3:36 pm

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down three parts of Arizona’s immigration law, the Obama administration announced they would be severely limiting federal assistance to the state.

[Click here to read more about the Supreme Court's decision on the immigration law]

Basically, under the current laws reflected through the Supreme Court’s decision this morning, Arizona cannot enforce immigration laws, but they can check the immigration status of anyone they suspect is in the state illegally while they have stopped them for another reason like a traffic violation or any other crime. At that time, they would have to simply call federal authorities to take the matter over because local and state police would in no way be able to arrest or detain the illegal immigrants.

So that means we should start catching a lot more illegal immigrants who illegally take jobs and benefits from American taxpayers, right?

Actually, no. Because the Obama administration and virtually all Democrats believe this raises “racial profiling” concerns, the White House announced they would limit federal enforcement cooperation with local and state authorities. As in: they won’t be making an effort to catch the criminals…knowingly.

According to Fox News:

Federal officials said the program known as 287(g) would be immediately suspended. That program was a partnership between federal and local governments, and allowed local authorities to make immigration-based arrests.

Officials also said Immigration and Customs Enforcement will be selective in responding to the expected increase in calls from Arizona and other police agencies about immigration status of people they pull over. Officials said ICE will not respond to the scene unless the person in question meets certain criteria — such as being wanted for a felony.”

This seems pretty clear to me: Obama wants the Latino vote so bad he will tell authorities to stop enforcing written laws.

I’m telling you that Arizona police can pull a man over for running a stop sign, then find he is an illegal immigrant, call federal authorities, and be forced to let him go along his merry way because the Obama administration wants to lower deportation rates in hopes of getting more Latino votes this fall.

Why else would a president let knowingly let criminals go?

The first thing I thought after reading about the Supreme Court’s decision this morning was, ‘Well, this means no one really loses too badly; Obama and the federal government get to take control of arrests like they’ve wanted, but at least local authorities can greatly assist the feds in tracking down illegal residents.” But this new move from the Obama administration seems like it would be tough to vouch for from a legal standpoint. Obviously you don’t want any racial profiling going on, but you want to catch people that are mooching off of our system illegally. If not, what is the point in having the laws at all?

This is just very clearly another stunt to get Latino votes. Then again, hasn’t everything been a publicity stunt from day one? Any arguments – see: economy.

Click SHARE if you want AMERICANS having jobs first

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