Month: May 2015

Obama’s DOJ To Circumvent Congress With ‘More Than A Dozen’ New Gun Controls

Obama’s Department of Justice is working on “more than a dozen” new gun control regulations it plans to begin implementing apart from Congress. Some of the regulations are set to be put in place by November, others simply by the end of the Obama administration. According to The Hill, “the regulations range from new restrictions on high-powered pistols to gun storage requirements” and the issuance of “new rules expanding criteria for people who do not quality for gun ownership.” Part and parcel to this new “criteria” will be an ATF-implemented ban on gun ownership for anyone “convicted of a misdemeanor domestic violence.” Gun Owners of America’s Michael Hammond warns that under this rule the person barred from gun ownership “could be [someone] who spanked his kid, or yelled at his wife, or slapped her husband.” The new regulations will also include ATF enlargements on mental health-based gun ownership bans. Hammond summed this up by saying, “The Obama administration is trying very hard to disqualify people from owning a gun on the basis that they are seeing a psychologist.” And the NRA pointed out that because most mentally ill persons pose no threat to society, the new regulations will actually become “snares [for] masses of mostly harmless individuals.” The NRA added: “Not only is this unjust and stigmatizing, it creates disincentives for those who need mental health treatment to seek it, increasing whatever risks are associated with untreated mental illness.” In other words, people who might actually need some minor mental health attention may refuse to pursue it for fear of losing their guns. The ATF is also working on “rules that would require gun dealers to report gun thefts, provide gun storage and safety devices.” In March the NRA warned that then Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch would be “Eric Holder 2.0.” Yet in April, ten Republican Senators sided with Democrats and confirmed Lynch as AG. The Hill reports that those Republicans included Sens. Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) 42% , Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) 49% , Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) 40% , and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) 54% . Lynch’s DOJ now has the Second Amendment in its sights.

Indeed…  It would seem that the Senate confirmed another fascist, anti-gun, Obama-appointee, nazi as the next AG.  So, basically a female version of her predecessor.  Be afraid..

At least 4 Americans reportedly held by Yemen’s rebels

At least four Americans are reportedly being held by rebels in Yemen who toppled the U.S.-backed government, and the State Department said Saturday it is “doing everything we can to get these individuals released.” The Washington Post, citing unnamed sources, reported that attempts to free the Americans have failed. The four are believed to be imprisoned in the Yemen capital of Sanaa, which Saudi Arabia has repeatedly bombed in a campaign to oust the Houthi rebels from power, the newspaper reported. “We have seen reports that several U.S. citizens have recently been detained in Yemen,” the State Department said in a statement. “We are doing everything we can to get these individuals released. “Due to privacy considerations, we do not have any further personal details or information to share,” the agency said. “The protection of U.S. citizens abroad is a top priority.” The State Department did not provide an exact number of U.S. prisoners detained. The Houthis had cleared one of the prisoners for release, but the Post report says members of the rebellion reversed the decision. Three of the four prisoners held private sector jobs and fourth holds dual American-Yemeni citizenship. None is a U.S. government employee, according to the Post. U.S. officials and relatives requested that the Post withhold details about the four citing safety concerns. Another American, Sharif Mobley, is also being held in Houthi custody. He’s been held for more than five years on terrorism-related charges brought by the previous government. The Post report said those most recently detained are among dozens of Americans who were unable to leave Yemen or who chose to remain in the country after the U.S. closed its embassy.

And why haven’t we heard about this??  Obama’s policies in Yemen, like everywhere else, are a total disaster..

Power pairings: Eat these foods together for a nutritional boost

If you kept a food diary, we trust you’d get gold stars for all the clean-eating foods you consume. But get this—there’s a way you can bump your nutrition to the next level, with no extra work, and it’s as simple as knowing which foods to eat together. (Remember when we learned about the game-changing better way to eat avocados?) Whether it’s fat-soluble vitamins or anti-inflammatory spices, here are some food pairings that’ll help you reap the benefits of everything you’re eating. Breakfast: Oatmeal with Strawberries- Iron is essential to keeping our bodies running smoothly—but it’s also the top nutritional deficiency among Americans. Particularly for women who are active, having even low iron levels can translate to feeling sluggish and weak. But tweaking your diet can be as easy as adding strawberries to your iron-packed oatmeal. Vitamin C and iron are a match made in nutritional heaven: the vitamin helps our bodies absorb non-heme iron, which is the more difficult type to process. Lunch: A Veggie-Packed Salad with Olive Oil-Based Dressing- Vitamins A, D, E and K are fat-soluble, meaning you need to pair them with a fat in order for your body to get the most out of them. While some people skip the dressing to “be healthy,” if your salad includes a lot of Vitamin A-rich veggies like carrots, red bell pepper and baked sweet potatoes, be sure to drizzle it with a generous amount of dressing that includes healthy fat sources like olive, walnut or sesame seed oil to maximize your body’s ability to absorb the vitamins. Snack: Garlicky Hummus- According to a 2010 study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, the sulfur compounds found in vegetables like onions, garlic and leeks (either cooked or raw!) allow your body to absorb more iron and zinc from grains and legumes, like chickpeas. Vegans and vegetarians might especially benefit from this power pairing since they are often more often deficient in iron and zinc than their meat-eating counterparts. Takeaway for all: If you’re making your own hummus (or adding mix-ins to any store-bought variety) toss in extra garlic for increased mineral absorption. Dinner: Spicy Carrot Soup with Tumeric and Black Pepper- Tumeric (also known as Indian saffron or yellow ginger) called. It wants to hang out with black pepper on the spice shelf. A potent herb, tumeric is poorly absorbed in your digestive system, but has been linked in numerous studies to combating many chronic disease. By pairing it with black pepper, which contains piperine, your body is better able to absorb it. Try this spicy carrot soup; your body will thank you for all the antioxidants. Couldn’t be any easier, right? No wonder garlic and hummus always taste so good together. Your body knew all along.

Opinion: Hillary’s Libya Emails

A little more than three hours after the State Department released 848 pages of Hillary Clinton’s emails, the Daily Beast had seen enough to render its judgment: “Sorry GOP. There’s No Smoking Gun In Hillary Clinton’s Benghazi Emails.” The subhead: “Conspiracy-minded conservatives, be warned: The trove of Clinton emails doesn’t prove much about her culpability for the infamous 9/11 anniversary attacks.” It’s the media version of Frank Drebin: Please disperse, there’s nothing to see here. Trey Gowdy, pack your bags and go home. Of course, no one actually believed that this batch of emails would produce a smoking gun on Benghazi. Hillary Clinton has sought to avoid public scrutiny of her emails since before she was sworn in as secretary of state. When she did turn over some of her emails to the State Department, it was Clinton and her lawyers who decided which ones they would make available and which they would withhold. While it might be useful for Clinton defenders to pretend otherwise, there was no expectation that Clinton would voluntarily share incriminating emails, especially now, in the first weeks of her presidential campaign. Yet for journalists interested in reporting on Clinton’s emails rather than hastily exonerating their author, the hundreds of pages released last week included a number of disclosures, some of them inadvertent, that raise new questions about Hillary Clinton, the State Department, Libya, the Benghazi attacks, and presidential politics. The good news: Some journalists are looking for answers. And so are the investigators who work for the House Select Committee on Benghazi. Sidney Blumenthal is at the heart of those new questions. A noted conspiracy monger and longtime Clinton confidant, Blumenthal provided Clinton a steady stream of outside intelligence on Libya while she was secretary of state. Some of his information was accurate and some of it was not, but Clinton thought enough of Blumenthal to circulate his reports to top State Department advisers, sometimes with notes ordering them to take some kind of action in response. Clinton downplayed the Blumenthal emails as “unsolicited” thoughts from an old friend. That doesn’t quite capture the dynamic. For Blumenthal, friendship with the Clintons came with considerable benefits. Blumenthal had been banned from State Department employment by the Obama administration, and it appears that if he couldn’t collect a government check for advising the Clintons, he would collect one from the Clintons directly. Politico’s Ken Vogel reports that Blumenthal was paid $10,000 a month as an employee of the Clinton Foundation from 2009 to 2013 and the same sum as a consultant after he left the payroll in 2013 through March 2015. According to the New York Times, Blumenthal had access to private intelligence on Libya because he was advising “business associates .  .  . as they sought to win contracts from the Libyan transitional government.” The deteriorating security situation in Libya generally, and Benghazi specifically, was a dominant theme in the emails. Clinton defenders have sought to insulate her from criticism of inadequate security before the attacks by suggesting that decisions about security for U.S. diplomatic personnel were made well below her level. There are many reasons to be skeptical of those claims. The emails make clear that Clinton was deeply involved in virtually every aspect of Libya policy; one internal State Department email lays out the many ways she drove administration decision-making on Libya. Was Clinton a deeply engaged, hands-on manager of every aspect of Libya policy other than security? If Clinton wasn’t involved in security decisions, the emails make clear that she should have been. Reports that Clinton received and circulated, from both official and unofficial channels, demonstrate the dire security challenges for Americans in Libya.

To read the rest of this outstanding op/ed by Stephen F. Hayes, click on the text above.  This is just the beginning of what is buried in Hillary’s emails.  And just think.. this is what she’s allowing everyone to see.  Stay tuned!

Beau Biden dies after brain cancer battle, vice president’s son was 46

Beau Biden, the 46-year-old son of Vice President Joseph R. Biden, died Saturday night after a battle with brain cancer. A former attorney general of Delaware, Mr. Biden was an Iraq war veteran. His death was announced by his father Saturdaynight.

To read the rest of the article, click on the text above.  While we here at The Daily Buzz often beat up on VP Joe Biden for some of the things he says, there is a time to put politics aside.  This is one of those times.  Cancer in any form is dreadful, and what a horrible way to go.  Our sympathies to the Biden family, and thanks to Beau for his service to his state, and in the Army National Guard as a Captain who deployed to Iraq.  R.I.P.

The Gospel According to Nancy Pelosi

Jesus and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) 7% seem to have different ideas of what it means to be a good Catholic. On Friday evening, Pelosi lashed out at Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) 81% for being a “polarizing” figure and not a good “mainstream” Catholic like her. When Rubio expressed his (very Catholic) opposition to same-sex marriage, Pelosi responded by pulling out her purported superior Catholic credentials, crowing that she had grown up in a “mainstream” Catholic family. She expressed her belief that Rubio’s opposition to same-sex marriage is “polarizing,” which threatens “mainstream Christian thinking.” Pelosi’s reasoning presents two enormous problems, which seem to be lost on her and other “mainstream” Catholics. First, over the centuries Jesus Christ has been called many things by admirers and adversaries alike, but “mainstream” is not one of them. And no one—to my knowledge—has ever suggested that Jesus was anything other than “polarizing.” Both those who loved him and those who hated him did so precisely because he was polarizing. He was the One, after all, Who said, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.” One cannot get more “polarizing” than that. “Mainstream,” on the other hand, sounds remarkably similar to “mediocre,” “middle of the road,” and “lukewarm”–three other adjectives to which serious Christians have never aspired. Famously, in the book of Revelation (the Apocalypse), Jesus said to halfhearted Christians, “Would that you were hot or cold, but because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of my mouth.” Christians who aspire to nothing more than being “mainstream” and mirroring the society around them seem to be abhorrent to Jesus. The second problem is that if by “mainstream” Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) 7% really means “orthodox,” or “with the program,” she is wrong again. The Catholic position on gay marriage is unambiguous, allowing no wiggle room whatsoever. According to the Catholic Church, the only moral position concerning same-sex marriage is opposition. In its most authoritative teaching on the question to date, the Vatican asserted that there are “absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God’s plan for marriage and family. Marriage is holy, while homosexual acts go against the natural moral law.” While insisting that men and women with homosexual tendencies “must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity,” the Vatican also urged Catholic politicians to acknowledge their particular responsibility to publicly oppose homosexual marriage. “If it is true that all Catholics are obliged to oppose the legal recognition of homosexual unions, Catholic politicians are obliged to do so in a particular way, in keeping with their responsibility as politicians,” it said. If Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) 7% is looking for a church to justify her support of same-sex marriage, it will have to be some other church. Many “mainstream” Christian churches do now, in fact, allow gay marriage, so she may just feel more at home there than in the “polarizing” institution in which she now claims membership. Ms. Pelosi is free to believe whatever she wants about same-sex marriage–or anything else for that matter. She may not, however, do so in the name of the Catholic Church, which teaches nothing of the sort.

Thomas D. Williams, PhD is the author of this outstanding article.  He’s exactly right!  While I’m not a Catholic, I have several friends who are, and well aware of that church’s opposition to same-gender marriages, and homosexuality in general.  She would be better suited as an Episcopalian, methinks.  it’s sorta like Catholic-light…and more, well, “mainstream,” to use her phrase.

Democrat Says School Choice Advocates Are ‘Raping’ Children, Compares Reforms to Jim Crow Laws

The Republican-led Wisconsin State Legislature has been steadily working to include several school-choice-related measures in the 2015–17 biennial budget, and not everyone is happy about it. During a round of emotionally charged meetings held by the legislature’s Joint Committee on Finance, state Rep. Dale Kooyenga (R-Brookfield) outlined his proposed school reforms, which include a plan that would allow the takeover of up to five of Milwaukee’s worst-performing schools per year, according to the MacIver Institute. Those schools would then be transformed into private schools or charter schools, forcing all teachers to reapply for their positions. Other proposed school reform measures include expanding school choice and requiring students to pass a civics test prior to graduation. After the announcement of the proposed reforms, state Sen. Lena Taylor (D-Milwaukee) lashed out at those proposing the reforms, accusing Kooyenga of thinking of himself as a “great white hope” for minority students in the Milwaukee Public School (MPS) system and linking the proposed reforms to rape. “For years, individuals who sit on this committee and in this building have known that they have been raping the children of MPS,” said Taylor. Kooyenga responded, saying, “This is the second time in the conversation of these issues… that we use the word ‘rape.’ I mean I just find that sick, absolutely sick.” “I get it,” Taylor responded. “The word ‘rape’ sounds offensive, but when you consider the fact that 15 out of 100 kids can read on grade level while $89 million have been skimmed from the education of kids, and that you don’t invest it, in even the crisis areas, who are you fooling?” Taylor also referred to the proposal to require students to pass a civics exam as analogous to Jim Crow laws. Taylor’s controversial comments have garnered a strong reaction from advocates of school choice who say that their policies are designed to help children, not harm them. “Sen. Lena Taylor’s remarks are despicable for two reasons,” said Heather Kays, a research fellow for The Heartland Institute and school choice advocate. “First, comparing the cutting off of educational funding to the ‘raping of children’ is disrespectful to the children she speaks of and to every survivor of sexual assault. Being a survivor herself, you would think Sen. Taylor would have more tact, empathy and understanding than that. “Second, she is just flat-out wrong about the policy issue she is discussing. If throwing more money at a broken public education system worked, we’d see better graduation rates and testing scores every year as we spend more and more money per pupil.”

Exactly!!  And, pause a moment to appreciate the irony of a black Democrat invoking the term “Jim Crow laws.”  After all, those laws were put in place in the south after Reconstruction by DEMOCRATS…and then later implemented by Pres Woodrow Wilson, a DEMOCRAT…and enforced by the “Red Shirts” which were southern DEMOCRATS.  I’m guessing this brain trust hasn’t read much American history.. Shes probably the product of the educational system she’s trying so hard to protect…along with the powerful teachers unions….and that the Republicans in Wisconsin are trying to reform in spite of those obstacles.

5 women drop out of Army Ranger School after second chance

All five women who were given a second chance to complete Army Ranger School have officially dropped out and will not move forward to the next phase of the course, officials from Fort Benning, Georgia said Friday. A total of 195 students from the class — all of them men — will move on to Dahlonga, Georgia, for the mountain phase of the program, Army Times reported Friday. Three women and two male students were given the opportunity to start Ranger School over with the next class on June 21, officials said, Army Times reported. This is referred to as a Day One Recycle, a normal course procedure that’s used when students struggle with one aspect of the course but excel at others. The other five women, who started Ranger School April 20 and were recycled back into the Darby Phase along with 101 of their male classmates on May 8, will return to their units and will not be recycled back again, the newspaper reported. A total of 29 students were dropped from the program for failing to meet the standards of the first phase. Nineteen female and 381 male soldiers started Ranger School on April 20, the newspaper reported. The women were part of a one-time integration experiment for the notoriously difficult program. The assessment is part of a wider effort to determine whether and how to open combat arms jobs to women. Until now, Ranger School has only been open to men. But Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno said Thursday that the Army is considering conducting more assessments in the future. “We’ll probably run a couple more pilots,” Mr. Odierno said, Army Times reported. “It’s been a real success for us, and we’ll see how it goes from there.” The students that were cut Friday did not meet the standard for a number of reasons, including leading patrols, poor peer evaluations, too many negative spot reports, or a combination of all three, Army Times reported.

Of course GEN Ray Odierno is demanding more “pilots” because he’s being told by his boss, Obama, to get a female graduate of the U.S. Army’s famous Ranger School.  Thus far, the women who have tried haven’t made the grade…which REALLY has to be driving the White House crazy.  Regardless, the Army should NOT lower it’s standards in Ranger School, or ANY combat arms school, so that a female can get through.  We’ll be keeping a close eye on this, and other similar stories regarding the U.S. military.

SecDef Carter vows U.S. will continue, even step up operations over disputed South China Sea island

Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Saturday urged China to stop trying to convert artificial reefs in the South China Sea into a military airfield but also made clear the U.S. has no intentions of ending air-and-sea operation in that region. Carter made his comment at an international security conference filled with Asia-Pacific leaders and also said the United States has been flying and operating ships in the region for decades and opposes “any further militarization” of the disputed lands. He also said the reclamation project is out of step with international rules and that turning underwater land into airfields won’t expand Beijing’s sovereignty. A Chinese military officer in the crowd immediately slammed Carter’s comments as “groundless and not constructive.” Arizona GOP Sen. John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, who also is attending the Singapore conference, said he agreed with Carter’s assertion that America will continue flights and operations near the building projects, but “now we want to see it translated into action.” He also told reporters that the U.S. needs to recognize that China will continue its activities in the South China Sea until it perceives that the costs of doing so outweigh the benefits. Defense Department officials said they discovered several weeks ago that China had put two large artillery vehicles on one of the islands, inciting fears that the reefs will be for military purposes. However, the Pentagon will not release photos to support its contention that the vehicles were there.

The Who’s Pete Townshend opens up about past alcohol abuse

The Who legend Pete Townshend described his past alcohol abuse and how the “ridiculous job” of being a rock star fuels addiction before a starry crowd including Joan Jett and Bruce Springsteen at the MusiCares MAP Fund benefit. “I didn’t do drugs for a long, long time,” British guitarist and frontman Townshend told the audience, which also included his bandmate Roger Daltrey, Billy Idol and Willie Nile. “When I was at art school, I smoked a bit of grass . . . I realized — and I don’t want to offend any pot smokers in the audience because I know it’s the great new thing — but it felt to me like every time I listened to a record, I went back to the same place . . . Then LSD came along, and I had two or three trips that weren’t particularly good. I saw those funny colors,” Townshend said. “So for the next 15 years, I just drank a lot. And anybody that did a lot of drugs, I used to feel a bit superior to them. Filthy drug addicts. At one time I was doing about three bottles of brandy a day . . . I didn’t drink any water, I didn’t drink any tea, I didn’t drink Coca-Cola. I don’t think I ate. I just lived on cognac.” The now-sober Townshend — who was honored with manager Bill Curbishby told The New York Post, “I think . . . people that are famous often have other s - - t going on. If you look at Hollywood, if you look at Robin Williams . . . it’s like you have to accept that possibly there was something he was carrying in him that had never ever been dealt with, and maybe that’s what made him so funny . . . As rock performers, it’s a lonely job, and there are times when it’s a ridiculous job . . . And that can cause a tremendous feeling of being . . . isolated, even neglected. So you can be in front of a huge audience and . . . you find yourself saying, ‘Would they really like the real me?’” Roger Waters, Joe Walsh, Ronnie Wood, Mick Jagger and Elton John gave video tributes. The finale included Townshend bringing Springsteen, Idol, Daltrey and Nile onstage to jam while Steven Van Zandt was seen furiously urging the crowd to get on their feet.

Congrats to Pete for this major achievement/award!  Glad he’s beaten his deamons, and continues to keep on rockin after recently turning 70!  Go Pete!   🙂