Parker County Blog

Joining Race for Mayor, Weiner Finds Few Allies

parkercountyblog — Fri, 24 May 2013 20:21:29 +0000

It may be the loneliest mayoral campaign in memory.

Anthony D. Weiner was holed up in his Manhattan apartment Wednesday as reporters waited.

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From The New York Times, By MICHAEL BARBARO, 05/22/13 Anthony D. Weiner, whose once promising career in government imploded over his lewd private life online, is seeking to lead a city of eight million where close to half the voters are opposed to his running and the leadership of his own political party has written him off.

He has virtually no campaign infrastructure, no labor unions leaping to his side, no army of on-the-ground foot soldiers eager to evangelize on his behalf.

But, curiously enough, he says it may be better that way.

The improbable campaign that Mr. Weiner, a Democrat, unveiled on Wednesday hinges on his image as a shunned outsider whose political solitude has unburdened him from coddling New York’s powerful special interests and freed him to speak uncomfortable truths, according to those close to him.

A scrappy political street fighter, never known for forging alliances or sharing the limelight, Mr. Weiner said in an interview that “to some degree, this is my most natural footing.”

Of the endorsements that his rivals are collecting like trophies this year, he said, “I’ve never really structured a campaign that way.”

Instead, after a self-imposed two-year exile, the 48-year-old former congressman will initiate a series of neighborly public outings intended to showcase him interacting with ordinary New Yorkers and send a clear message: The scandal has passed, and a tough city is prepared to hear him out. That process is expected to start on Thursday, when Mr. Weiner visits a subway station in Harlem.

“There may be, or are, many New Yorkers who would never vote for me,” he said. “Even those New Yorkers, I want to have a conversation with.”

But his on-the-fly, go-it-alone campaign, run with a skeletal staff, already has an erratic quality, which spilled out into public view on Wednesday morning. Around 1 a.m., a two-minute video announcing his candidacy popped up on his campaign Web site, then briefly disappeared. For most of the morning, the page introducing his candidacy contained outdated links and images from his days in Congress.

Much about his mayoral run seems in flux. Asked how many campaign offices he planned to open across the city, Mr. Weiner replied, “I don’t know.”

When would he begin running television advertisements? “I don’t know that either,” he said. His campaign will be managed by Danny Kedem, whose last brush with a mayoral race was running the re-election bid of New Haven’s 10-term leader. But there is little doubt that Mr. Weiner will be his own chief of strategy and operations.

On the opening day, he sought to address, but not belabor, the pattern of behavior that forced him to resign from Congress: befriending women online and sending them sexually explicit messages, including a photograph of himself in boxer shorts with an obvious erection.

Mr. Weiner dealt with it obliquely and glancingly. “Look, I made some big mistakes, and I know I let a lot of people down,” he says on the video, peering straight at the camera. “But I’ve also learned some tough lessons.”

In keeping with his reputation for provocation, Mr. Weiner released the video on a morning when his Democratic rivals were to speak at a forum in Midtown before an influential audience of civic and business leaders, ensuring that news of his candidacy would overshadow the event.

It did. Inside, his agitated rivals offered Mr. Weiner a grudging welcome to the race. “He loves the cameras,” Sal Albanese, a candidate from Brooklyn, said. “I know how he works. He is addicted. It’s a malady.”

In a sign of how quickly Mr. Weiner had reordered the political landscape, a top campaign aide to William C. Thompson Jr. quickly sent supporters a fund-raising pitch with the subject line “Anthony.”

“There are some folks out there who want to turn this race into a circus,” the e-mail read. “We can’t let that happen.”

Those who have spoken to Mr. Weiner predicted that he would try to seize the ground that has been all but neglected by his Democratic rivals: the common-sense centrism of former Mayor Edward I. Koch. Flush with about $5 million in campaign cash, he is likely to depict his opponents as machine liberals bent on mollifying unions and unprepared for the kind of tough financial decisions confronting the city. (Mr. Weiner said he would try to meet with union leaders even if they had already endorsed his opponents.)

In a year when the party’s mayoral candidates have squabbled over the purity of their progressivism, such a strategy could pay dividends for Mr. Weiner in places outside of Manhattan and brownstone Brooklyn, both longtime bastions of the left.

In his campaign video, Mr. Weiner seemed to make a direct appeal to those working-class areas, recalling a childhood playing stickball in Brooklyn and taking in a Mets game in Queens.

Mr. Weiner is hardly blind to poll numbers, which show a deep distaste for his candidacy. A Quinnipiac University survey released on Wednesday revealed that 49 percent of city voters opposed his entry into the race. Among women, the figure was even higher — 52 percent.

His campaign video sought to counter those objections by evoking a new image of Mr. Weiner as matured family man, seen on-screen feeding his newborn son, Jordan, as his wife, Huma Abedin, sits by his side. “It’s the best part of my day,” he says.

Ms. Abedin, a press-shy aide to Hillary Rodham Clinton, stands in as a character witness. “We love this city, and no one will work harder to make it better than Anthony,” she said, turning her head to look at her husband.

Those close to Mr. Weiner say he believes that the unease about him can be overcome and that he can rise above an uninspiring field. First, they say, he will reassure voters that his family has made peace with his conduct, and then he will do what he does best: show up tirelessly and ubiquitously, becoming such a constant presence in the city and on television screens that his troubles blend into the background.

“I hope that just as my wife has forgiven me, that I get a second opportunity to talk to New Yorkers about the challenges they face,” he said in the interview.

Mr. Weiner has long relished his reputation as a gifted political combatant, skilled at putting opponents on the defensive. (“He hits so hard and so clean,” his friend Ben Affleck, the actor, once gushed.)

But with so many voters now viewing him negatively, there are perils to being seen as belligerent, and Mr. Weiner seemed to suggest that his appetite for such jousting had abated. “I’m not interested in attacking anybody,” he said. “I think that the things I have to say and the ideas that I have will set me apart.”

And even in the first few hours of his campaign, as he sought to re-emerge as a public figure and start a robust debate about the city’s future, he remained holed up inside his apartment in the Gramercy Park neighborhood of Manhattan. His campaign seemed determined that the warm images from the video be the ones that dominated the day. Given his relationship with the city’s aggressive tabloid press, which recently chased after him into a subway car, a more spontaneous schedule seemed risky. So he held no public events.

But even Mr. Weiner needs friends. At lunchtime on Wednesday, his new press secretary, Barbara Morgan, engaged in a bit of political bridge building.

She appeared before a group of reporters and photographers camped in front of the candidate’s apartment building with three boxes of hot pizza.

“These are for you,” she told the reporters. “I know it’s hard to be out there.” Then she walked away.

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Michael M. Grynbaum contributed reporting.

Google Needs Extra Time to Spy on Your Kids

parkercountyblog — Fri, 24 May 2013 11:28:29 +0000

From RedState.com, By: Ben Howe, May 22nd, 2013 – It seems that Google is constantly falling afoul of conservatives, consumers, pundits, regulators and really everyone else on earth (except for the Obama campaign) for its privacy-infringing tendencies.

It got hammered for “alleged” spying in the Safarigate scandal, where it wound up agreeing to a record-breaking $22.5 million fine in connection with charges it surreptitiously tracked Apple Safari users who Google had said could opt out of tracking, and did what Google said was necessary to opt out. This spying of course enabled Google to grab data it shouldn’t have had, to improve its highly profitable targeted ad business, and do it in a way that amounted to a violation of its contract with users.

There has also been a bunch of hubbub about the ability of Google Glass to be used for surveillance purposes, whether it is having shopping “watchers” covertly track what shoppers buy or enabling people to illicitly spy on bathroom users, in circumstances where the spying would be hard to spot given the nature of the technology.

There has been controversy about Google “streamlining” involving different Google properties and the concurrent, resultant ratcheting down of privacy standards to the lowest common denominator.

Now, in a little-noticed piece of news (which is why I’m writing on this now), it looks like Google, via a front group, has been fighting to keep its access to your kids’ private information for as long as they can. And by “your kids,” I mean 8 year-olds, not 17 year-olds.

The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) restricts websites from knowingly collecting information from children younger than 13 years of age. The FTC’s revision, scheduled to take effect on July 1, expands the regulations to cover games, apps and ad networks.

App developers have asked the FTC to delay the implementation of the rules until Jan. 1, 2014, saying they need more time to ensure their products are in compliance.

The App Developers’ Alliance “represents both large and small app developers, including Twilio and Google” (my emphasis.)

Google discloses its funding of the App Developers’ Alliance here.

Conservatives, including me, aren’t generally fans of regulation. And to be sure, ensuring kids are not inadvertently enabling themselves to be virtually “spied on,” if you object to that kind of thing, by disabling cookies and tracking and so on is called good parenting. (Though it’s worth noting that if you’re an Apple and Safari user, that kind of became impossible at a certain point, not that Google bothered telling you so, they just kept tracking your web browsing and collecting data on your usage).

But it is a little creepy that Google, via this group, seems to be trying to preserve its ability to scour your 12 year-old’s email or web browsing history or YouTube viewing history to build even better consumer profiles on your kids to use to market to them– or help better build out OFA or the DNC’s voter/donor/volunteer targeting list– throughout their lifetimes.

Luckily, they only want to be able to do it for an extra six months or so. But that may not console conservatives who take a skeptical view of Google given its ties to the Obama administration, or parents, who are getting more and more concerned about their kids’ online privacy and security, whether it be from marketers or more nefarious types.

It’s the ‘Wacko Birds’ vs. the Wackos Again

parkercountyblog — Thu, 23 May 2013 14:58:18 +0000

From RedState.com By: Daniel Horowitz, May 22nd, 2013 - If I were granted one wish about the state of today’s politics it would be for the Democrats to be saddled with their own version of John McCain. Once again, McCain is working to score points for Democrats and undermine Cruz/Paul and Lee – the “Wacko Birds” – in their attempt to prevent a free debt ceiling increase.

Back in January, Republicans and conservatives got together at Williamsburg and agreed to “suspend” the debt ceiling law until May 18 in return for the Senate passing a budget. I never liked the idea because, among other reasons, a Senate-passed budget is not such a good thing. Yes, they are not so excited about publicizing their blueprint for more debt, and yes, the fact that they didn’t pass a budget for over 3 years was a good talking point. But do we really want them to have a vehicle for fast-tracking tax increases, debt ceiling increases, and other nefarious policies through reconciliation?

That concern is shared by Senators Cruz, Lee, and Paul. They are also concerned that if the Senate goes to conference with the House on the FY 2014 budget, they will slip in a debt ceiling increase. Once that becomes part of the conference report, it would be privileged and inoculated from the filibuster or the amendment process. To that end, they have decided to block Harry Reid’s unanimous consent request to go to conference over the budget until they agree not to slip in a debt ceiling increase. Needless to say, the Democrats have not made that commitment. I wonder why.

In comes John McCain, Obama’s newest ally, along with Susan Collins to chide the actions of the conservative senators as bizarre and unprecedented. He’s right. It is unprecedented for new members of the Senate to take a leadership role in defending the country from the bipartisan statism that he has propagated so fervently over the past two decades.

It’s about time we send some reinforcements to our guys. We’re going to have solid opportunities in red state like Alaska, Kentucky, Louisiana, South Carolina, Arkansas, Montana, Nebraska, and South Dakota – just to name a few. There are already some solid prospects on the horizon. The real question is if the professional conservatives are going to blithely ignore another primary cycle and let McCain and his ilk destroy the party.

Over 150 conservative leaders, groups sign letter opposing Gang of 8 bill

parkercountyblog — Tue, 21 May 2013 21:56:54 +0000

From The DailyCaller.com, by Caroline May, 05/21/2013 - Over 150 conservative leaders, groups and grassroots activists have signed an open letter opposing the Senate immigration reform bill.

“We write to express our serious concerns regarding the Gang of Eight’s immigration bill, S. 744. We oppose this bill and urge you to vote against it when it comes to the Senate floor,” the letter to be released Tuesday and obtained by The Daily Caller reads. ”No matter how well intentioned, the Schumer-Rubio bill suffers from fundamental design flaws that make it unsalvageable. Many of us support various parts of the legislation, but the overall package is so unsatisfactory that the Senate would do better to start over from scratch.”

Signed by conservatives leaders and group representatives including radio host Laura Ingraham, Fox News personality Monica Crowley, Red State’s Erick Erickson, radio host Mark Levin, Hoover Institution’s Victor Davis Hanson, and The Daily Caller’s Mickey Kaus, the letter highlights a number of issues the signers have with the legislation including their concerns that the bill:

Is bloated and unwieldy along the lines of Obamacare or Dodd-Frank;
Cedes excessive control over immigration law to an administration that has repeatedly proven itself to be untrustworthy, even duplicitous;
Legalizes millions of illegal immigrants before securing the borders, thus ensuring future illegal immigration;
Rewards law breakers and punishes law enforcement, undermining the rule of law;
Hurts American job-seekers, especially those with less education;
Threatens to bankrupt our already strained entitlement system;
Expands government by creating new bureaucracies, authorizing new spending, and calling for endless regulations;
Contains dangerous loopholes that threaten national security;
Is shot through with earmarks for politically connected interest groups;
Overwhelms our immigration bureaucracy, guaranteeing widespread fraud.

The letter also argues that while immigration reform is important, the Senate’s immigration reform bill will only make matters worse.

“Reforming our immigration system is an important priority. But S.744 is such a defective measure that it would do more harm than good. We urge you to vote against it and against any cloture vote to bring up the bill. Only then can a constructive, measured debate take place on how to improve America’s immigration policy,” the letter reads.

Ingraham, one of the letter’s signers, elaborated on her decision to sign the letter in an email to TheDC, noting that she read the entire bill and has seen most of the amendments to close loopholes and improve enforcement be discarded in mark-up. According to her, the “heroes of battle for our sovereignty” have been Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley and Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions “who are fighting every day in the Senate to expose the glaring inadequacies of this legislation, which affords huge and unreviewable discretion to DHS to waive admissibility and deportation rules.”

“The Republicans who parrot the mindless ‘we must do something’ mantra might wish to review how the Democrats responded to Obamacare criticism in 2010. I recall the liberal cries of ‘We must do something…the health care system is broken….’” Ingraham continued in her email to TheDC. “What is broken is our system of government whereby the elites in both parties consistently ignore the will of the people on an issue as important as border enforcement. This bill will make life more difficult for middle class Americans and legal immigrants who are already struggling to find decent-paying jobs that cover the bills. Some Republicans are desperate to agree to anything in hopes of winning the Latino vote. They are on a fools errand, will infuriate their grass roots supporters, and will compromise their remaining credibility as a ‘law and order’ party.”

Tuesday’s open missive comes on the heels of a letter to all Members of Congress from immigration enforcement unions and law enforcement officials warning that the legislation will act as a barrier to a safe legal immigration system.

The complete letter and signers are to be posted at http://www.stopgangof8.com/.

Letter signers include:

National Conservative Leaders

Barbara Anderson, Citizens for Limited Taxation

Gary Bauer, Campaign for Working Families

Rev. C.L. Bryant, One Nation Back to God

Howie Carr, New England Talk Radio Host

Ann Corcoran, Refugee Resettlement Watch

Monica Crowley, Ph.D., Nationally Syndicated Radio Host

Glynn Custred, Professor Emeritus CSU East Bay

Jim Eagan, Sumner United for Responsible Government (Tennessee)

Elaine Donnelly, Founder and President, Center for Military Readiness

John Eastman, former Dean Chapman University Law School

Ken Eldred, CEO, Living Stones Foundation

Erick Erickson, Editor of RedState

Maria Espinoza, Houston Eagle Forum, The Remembrance Project

T. Willard Fair, President & CEO, Urban League of Greater Miami, Inc.

John Fonte, Hudson Institute

David Frum, Frum Forum

Brigitte Gabriel, President and Founder, Act for America

Frank Gaffney, President Center for Security Policy

Victor Davis Hanson, Hoover Institution, Stanford University

Donna Hearne, Constitutional Coalition, St. Louis, Missouri

Roger Hedgecock, Nationally Syndicated Radio Host

John Hinderaker, Powerline.com

David Horowitz, David Horowitz Freedom Center

Laura Ingraham, Nationally Syndicated Radio Host

Mickey Kaus, Columnist, Daily Caller, author The End of Equality

Roger Kimball, Encounter Books and The New Criterion

Cliff Kincaid, President, America’s Survival

Mark Krikorian, Center for Immigration Studies

Stanley Kurtz, Senior Fellow, Ethics and Public Policy Center

Kelly Monroe Kullberg, Christians for a Sustainable Economy

Lars Larson, Radio Host, Compass Media Networks

Mark Levin, Author and Radio Host

David Limbaugh, Lawyer and Author

Herb London, President, London Center for Policy Research

Dr. Gina Loudon, Nationally Syndicated Radio Talk Show host and Author

Rich Lowry, Editor, National Review

Michelle Malkin, author of Invasion and syndicated columnist

Ed Martin, Chairman, Missouri Republican Party

Jenny Beth Martin, Co-Founder and National Coordinator, Tea Party Patriots

Ken Masugi, Senior Fellow, The Claremont Institute

Andy McCarthy, Executive Director, Philadelphia Freedom Center

Eric Metaxas, Author and Speaker

Paul Mirengoff, Powerline.com

Frank L. Morris, Sr., Ph. D.

Mike Needham, CEO, Heritage Action

C. Preston Noell, President Tradition, Family, Property, Inc.

Peter K. Núñez, Former U. S Attorney, Southern District of California; Former Assistant Secretary for Enforcement, Department of the Treasury

Rev. Rick Scarborough, President, Vision America Action

John O’Sullivan, Editor-at-Large, National Review

Daniel Pipes, President, Middle East Forum

Judson Phillips, Founder Tea Party Nation

Andy Ramirez, Law Enforcement Advocate and Journalist

Sandy Rios, Vice-President, Family PAC Federal and Morning Host for AFR Talk

Phyllis Schlafly, President and Founder, Eagle Forum

Dimitri K. Simes, President & CEO, Center for the National Interest

Smart Girl Politics Action

Carol Swain, Professor of Political Science and of Law, Vanderbilt University

Tea Party Nation

Peter Thomas, The Conservative Caucus

Virginia Thomas, Liberty Consulting

Brad Thor, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author

Phil Valentine, Nationally Syndicated Conservative Radio Host

Richard Viguerie

Former Congressman Allen West

Tom West, Professor, Hillsdale College

Tim Wildmon, President of the American Family Association and American Family Radio

Activist Leaders throughout the Country

Cathie Adams, President, Texas Eagle Forum; Former Chairman, Republican Party of Texas

Alabama Federation of Republican Women

American Grizzlies United (Wisconsin)

Will Anderson, Conservative Radio Host, WBHP-AM, Huntsville, Alabama

Angela Bean, Coordinator South Atlanta Tea Party Patriots (Georgia)

Michael Berry, Conservative Radio Host, KTRH-AM, Houston, Texas (Syndicated)

Blanchard Tea Party (Idaho)

Jack and Joan Billman, Greencastle Defenders of Liberty, Greencastle, Indiana

Michael Brown, Conservative Radio Host, Denver, Colorado

Martha Brewer, Lamar County Tea Party Patriots (Alabama)

Melody Burns, Conservative Radio Host, WGDJ-AM, Albany, New York

Canton T.E.A. Party (Georgia)

Sam Clovis, President Serious Civics for America, Inc. (Iowa)

Common Sense Campaign of South Alabama

Carroll County Tea Party Association (Georgia)

Darin Danielski, Lake County Area Defenders of Liberty, Oconomowoc, Wisconsin

Dyersville Tea Party (Iowa)

Dave Elswick, Conservative Radio Host, KARN-FM, Little Rock, Arkansas

Kay Edmonds, Precinct Delegate, Clinton, MI, l9.12 Forum Steering Committee Member, Lenawee GOP Executive Committee Member, Veteran (Post Korea)

Empower Indiana (Indiana)

Bill & Prudence Fields, Eagle Forum, Virginia

Friends of Idaho

Greg Garrison, Conservative Radio Host, WIBC-FM, Indianapolis, Indiana

Georgia Conservatives in Action

Helen Glover, Conservative Radio Host, WHJJ-AM, Providence, Rhode Island

Kay Godwin and Pat Tippett, Co-Chairs, Georgia Conservatives in Action

Becky Gerritson, President Wetumpka TEA Party, Wetumpka, Alabama

Donna Goeddaeus, Northwoods Patriots Tea Party, Conover, Wisconsin

Green Bay (Brown County) Wisconsin TEA Party

Greencastle Defenders of Liberty (Indiana)

Ron Hei, Tea Party Patriots of Covington County

Wally Hauck, Ph.D., President of Optimum Leadership, Member of Milford, CT Republican Town Committee

Hamilton County Patriots (Indiana)

Mark Herr, The Midsouth Tea Party (Tennessee)

Marcia Hora, Iowa Grassroots Coalition

Dustin Inmman Society, Georgia

Illinois Tea Party

Danny B. Joyner, Commander, Alabama Patriots, Brewton, Alabama

Joyce Kaufman, Conservative Radio Host, WFTL-AM, Palm Beach, Florida

Dave Kramer, Dyersville Tea Party (Iowa)

Las Vegas Valley Tea Party (Nevada)

Janna Loar, State Leader Ohio Counts

Bill McLain, Conservative Radio Host, WORD, Greenville, South Carolina

Michigan Eagle Forum

Montgomery Tea Party (Alabama)

Matt Murphy, Conservative Radio Host, WAPI, Birminigham, Alabama

Reid Mullins, Conservative Radio Host, KTOK, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Lisa Nancollas, Pennsylvania State Coordinator, Tea Party Patriots and Mifflin County Tea Party Patriots

Sara Jo Odom, Eagle Forum of Oklahoma

Patriots of Liberty TEA Party, Auburn, Alabama

Bobbie Patray, President, Eagle Forum of Tennessee

Carol Payne, Eagle Forum, Lubbock, Texas

Pennsylvania Coalition for Responsible Government

Bill Post, Conservative Radio Host, KYKN, Salem, Oregon

John Putnam, Chairman, Jasper County Republican Central Committee (Missouri)

Merre Putnam, State Committeewoman, 32^nd Senatorial District

Steve Ramey and David Hancock, Gwinnett Tea Party (Atlanta)

Russell Ramland Park Cities/Preston Hollow Leadership Forum, Dallas, Texas

Jennifer Schubert-Akin, Activist, Steamboat Springs, Colorado

Janet Smith, Local Coordinator, Greenfield Area Tea Party, Greenfield, Indiana

Standpoint Tea Party Patriots (Idaho)

Rainy Day Patriots (Alabama)

Rob Schilling, WINA-AM, Charlottesville, Virginia

Jeff Schwilk, San Diegans for Secure Borders Coalition

Kim Simac and Shirley Kufeldt, Northwood Patriots, Eagle River, Wisconsin

Todd Isaac “Ike” Skelton, Lebanon Tea Party (Missouri)

Janet Smith, Greenfield Area Tea Party (Indiana)

Loretta and Ricky Short, Wetumpka TEA Party (Alabama)

Eunie Smith, President, Eagle Forum of Alabama

South West Pennsylvania Eagle Forum

Pam Stout, Idaho State Coordinator, Tea Party Patriots

Barbara Susco, Florida Eagle Forum

Taxed Enough Already Party, Barbour County, Alabama

Taxed Enough Already Party, Quitman County, Georgia Tea Party North (Indiana)

Brian Tilton, Conservative Radio Host, WTPL-FM, Concord, New Hampshire

Joe Thomas, Conservative Radio Host, WCHV-AM, Charlottesville, Virginia

Vanderburgh County Tea Party Patriots (Indiana)

Dawn Wildman SoCal Tax Revolt Coalition, Inc.

Lynn Woolley, Lynn Woolley Show, Syndicated, Texas

Don and Skeet Workman, Eagle Forum, Lubbock, Texas

Sally Zelikovsky, Founder of Bay Area Patriots and Coordinator of San Francisco Tea Party

Dennis Zellaha, Tea Party Patriots and Iowa Grassroots Coalition (Iowa)

–

Follow Caroline on Twitter

Gang of Eight Betrays Americans

parkercountyblog — Tue, 21 May 2013 18:54:44 +0000

The Gang of Eight immigration bill can be summed up as amnesty now, border closing never. The Department of Homeland Security is not required to build a fence (which was ordered by the Secure Fence Act signed by President George W. Bush). DHS is required only to submit a plan.

If the DHS Secretary decides she has not reached 90 percent of border security, a “trigger” kicks in: the creation of a Southern Border Security Commission empowered (horrors!) to make recommendations. After six months of pondering its mission, the Commission automatically self-liquidates, so there will never be border security.

The Gang of Eight bill will give legal residence to 11 million illegal aliens, which is the actual goal for which they undertook their journey and broke U.S. law. Their new U.S. legality will be concealed under the pompous bureaucratic title, Registered Provisional Immigrant (RPI) status.

This amnesty will cost the U.S. taxpayers $6.3 trillion over the lifetimes of the amnestied persons, mostly outside the 10-year window used for CBO calculations. This horrendous sum, which includes all forms of public benefits less the taxes they pay, was copiously documented by the Heritage Foundation.

The Gang of Eight authorizes the issuance of 33 million lifetime work permits (for 11 million amnesties plus accelerated chain migration) over the next 10 years. This enormous influx of job seekers will flood our labor markets and communities, thus continuing the high unemployment of Americans, driving down the wages of those who do have jobs and eliminating their hope of ever rising to the middle class and achieving the American dream.

Every amnestied person will become eligible for Obamacare upon receiving a green card, and within five years will be able to cash in on our 79 means-tested welfare benefits. The timetable for these generous benefits will almost certainly be advanced because of Senator Chuck Schumer’s demands, Obama’s executive orders or lawsuits brought before judges who believe in a “living” Constitution.

The promises made about E-Verify have a loophole for existing employees and even for those who steal American identities to get a job. Members of the Gang of Eight even included special provisions (earmarks) to import cheap labor to work in their own state’s industries.

The Gang of Eight’s so-called requirement that those amnestied will have to pay back taxes is a sham. They will be asked to pay only any taxes already computed and assessed by the Internal Revenue Service and, since the many years the illegals worked off the books never came to the attention of the IRS, those years will not be counted.

There are so many loopholes and exemptions to the so-called requirement that amnestied aliens speak English that it’s a total farce.

All 11 million amnestied immigrants are supposed to have a background check, but the mere recital of such a requirement sounds like a joke.

Our FBI and CIA missed so many obvious clues that the Boston Marathon bomber Tamarlan was a potential terrorist that government background checks on 11 million persons should provoke an “are you kidding?” laugh.

IRS bureaucrats testified in the congressional hearing that the IRS was so overwhelmed by the copious paperwork involved in a few hundred Tea Party applications that the IRS had to perform “triage.” So how can the IRS cope with 11 million applications for RPI status from people whose paperwork is mostly forged or stolen?

Any government program managed by the liberals always includes a “follow the money” segment. The Gang of Eight’s claim to promote “immigrant integration” is a ruse to give taxpayers’ money to leftwing and Islamist activist groups such as CASA, La Raza, MALDEF and CAIR.

The Gang of Eight bill defines these groups as “nonprofit organizations including those with legal advocacy experience working with immigrant countries.” They are actually Alinsky-style community organizers that focus on recruiting and politicizing immigrants.

Current U.S. law provides for the yearly admission of more than one million persons, more than any nation in the world, and the Gang of Eight’s bill will double that number. Because of our government’s failure to enforce so many existing laws, such as using a biometric entry-and-exit system to track visitors, we should have a pause in legal immigration until current laws are obeyed.

One big fraud in the current admission of legal immigrants is illustrated by the entry of the Boston bomber’s family as refugees. Remember, they were given welfare benefits worth $100,000.

The Gang of Eight bill will reduce Republicans and conservatives to a permanent minority status. For the last century, immigrants who came in big waves voted at least 2-to-1 Democratic, in recent years it was 3-to-1, and there is zero evidence that the amnestied persons believe in Republican principles such as limited government and balanced budgets.

King sponsored bill signed by Governor

parkercountyblog — Tue, 21 May 2013 15:45:50 +0000

For Immediate Release – For More Information

May 21, 2013 Contact: (817) 381-8282

Governor Signs King Bill to Protect Texas Landowners

AUSTIN – This past weekend Governor Perry signed SB 655, sponsored by State Representative Phil King (R-Weatherford), into law. This legislation clarifies and strengthens existing law related to eminent domain in Texas to prevent certain entities from exercising eminent domain for improper purposes.

“The legislature has made good strides over the past several years in protecting Texas landowners from abuses in the use of eminent domain,” King stated, “S.B. 655 adds to these protections by limiting the circumstances under which the ever-growing water and wastewater districts in Texas may exercise this authority. These districts will now be limited to exercising eminent domain only if the property they plan to take will be used for a public use, as opposed to ‘public purpose.’ The public use requirement is a much higher burden for the condemning authority to meet.”

S.B. 655 received more than a two-thirds vote in both chambers of the legislature, and is therefore effective immediately.

_______________________________

Phil King Campaign

PO Box 1913

Weatherford, TX 76086

Add us to your address book.

WISD Purchases Land

parkercountyblog — Mon, 20 May 2013 23:27:57 +0000

From WISDbond.com, May 20, 2013 -

In a quick and somewhat hushed up special board meeting last Friday the Weatherford Independent School District Board of Trustees did one good thing by swearing in their newest board member Dr. Joshua Tarbay. However, they also granted Superintendent Dr. Jeffrey Hanks with the ability to finalize a land purchase deal in the amount of $1.25 million.

Weatherford isd contracted to purchase three tracts of real property, totaling approximately 15.197 acres, directly to the south of Weatherford High School for “district expansion”.

The total purchase price for all three tracts wass $1,250,000.00. (yes 1 and ¼ million dollars for 15.197 acres — close to $100,000.00 per acre)

Tract One consists of unimproved property and more properly described as 4.667 acres out of the John Hibbons survey and located at the east end of Narry Lane. The contracted sales price of tract one is $264,000.00. The price is more than $56,500.00 per acre with no improvements land in the John Hibbons survey is valued by our local CAD at approximately $16,000.00 per acre

Tract Two consists of improved property and more properly described as 5.183 acres out of the Alfred T. Obenchain survey and located between B.B. Fielder road and Narry Lane. The contracted sales price of tract two is $436,000.00. The price is more than $84,000.00 per acre with improvements land in the Alfred T. Obenchain survey is valued by our local cad at approximately $50,000.00 per acre

Tract Three consists of improved property and more properly described as 5.347 acres (Hanna Gerald 302 Narry Lane) out of the Alfred T. Obenchain survey, having a street address of 302 Narry Lane, Weatherford, Texas 76087. The contracted sales price of Tract Three is $550,000.00. CAD value of Tract III including all improvements – $164,760 (FMV). WISD is paying more than double the fair market value (FMV).

What happened to the so called “immediate need for funds”, when they are paying this outrageous price for land we do not presently need with “cash available”????

Obama’s biggest fans abandoning ship?

parkercountyblog — Sun, 19 May 2013 13:21:22 +0000

From WND.com, by Drew Zahn, 05/18/2013 -

They used to think him a ‘thrill,’ but latest scandals smell more of ‘tyranny’

Barack Obama once enjoyed a Teflon reputation in the mainstream media, where his allies were quick to deflect criticism of his presidency and bad news never seemed to stick.

But as scandal upon scandal have washed over his administration in recent weeks – first a floundering response to attacks in Benghazi that led to the death of U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, then reports the IRS targeted his political opponents, then news the Justice Department seized phone records of Associated Press reporters – even some of Obama’s most ardent supporters in the media are turning critical.

MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, for example – he of the infamous “thrill up my leg” comment during Obama’s 2008 campaign – offered unusually harsh words earlier this week, complaining the president “obviously likes giving speeches more than he does running the executive branch.”

Politico – certainly not a conservative-leaning news source – described Matthews’ remarks as “a rare, unforgiving grilling of the president as severe as anything that might appear on Fox News.”

On another occasion this week, Matthews blasted testimony from former IRS chief Steve Miller, who suggested the agency’s behavior was inappropriate but denied any political targeting.

“That Mr. Miller guy,” Matthews said, “It’s like he didn’t see what he knew people certainly right, left and center could see, that when you target particular groups, you’re targeting particular groups. I mean, if this were on the other foot, and this was a George W. administration, they were targeting groups that were calling themselves progressives, I would say it’s prima facie evidence of targeting. I don’t think it’s complicated.”

As WND reported, even CNN talk-show host Piers Morgan paused in his relentless crusade for stricter gun-control laws to comment, “I’ve had some of the pro-gun lobbyists on here, saying to me, ‘Well, the reason we need to be armed is because of tyranny from our own government,’ and I’ve always laughed at them. I said, ‘Don’t be ridiculous! Your government won’t turn itself on you.

“But, actually, this is vaguely tyrannical behavior by the American government,” Morgan concluded. “I think what the IRS did is bordering on tyrannical behavior. I think what the Department of Justice has done to the AP is bordering on tyrannical behavior.”

An Investor’s Business Daily editorial commented, “Many in the dominant press are indeed turning. Politico ran a chilling story headlined ‘The IRS Wants You to Share Everything’; NBC’s Andrea Mitchell accuses Obama of ‘the most outrageous excesses I’ve seen’ in her years in journalism, going back before Watergate; the Washington Post’s Dana Milbank accuses Obama of ‘a full frontal assault on the First Amendment.’”

“Let me tell you how bad it’s gotten,” NBC “Tonight Show” host Jay Leno quipped. “Fox News has changed its slogan from ‘Fair and Balanced’ to ‘See, I Told You So!’”

MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow further noticed it’s not just the media, but also congressional allies jumping off the Obama bandwagon. When Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., announced plans to retire in 2014, he became the sixth Democrat to step down two years from now instead of running for re-election.

“Tell us if something is wrong there,” Maddow said rhetorically. “What is the secret about this place that has you fleeing like rats from a sinking ship?”

The trend, which may have begun when some Democrats started ducking for political cover from fallout over Obamacare, has only continued in the wake of Obama’s recent scandals.

Even Democrat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid bristled over the AP phone-records story, telling Salon he “can’t really defend the Department of Justice at all” and, “I just think this has been handled so wrong.”

Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., agreed, telling MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program, “I don’t think anyone truly believes that the president has given a sufficient answer for America, much less our press [about the AP scandal]. The president has to come forward and share why he did not alert the press that they were going to do this. He has to tell Americans, including me, what was this national security question? You just can’t raise the flag and expect us just to salute it every time without any reason, and the same thing applies to the IRS. We’ve got to give him an opportunity to root out any wrongdoing, whether it’s just negligence or it’s criminal.”

Other examples of criticism coming from typically left-leaning allies include the following:

Even in the middle of a WND column defending the administration on Benghazi and the IRS scandal, left-wing author and journalist Bill Press declared, “The Justice Department’s raid of AP phone records is nothing less than a totally unjustified, wholesale trashing of the First Amendment.”
The Daily Beast – a website merged with Newsweek – ran a column from James Goodale, the attorney who defended the New York Times against President Richard Nixon in the famous Pentagon Papers trial, who asserted, “President Barack H. Obama’s outrageous seizure of the Associated Press’s phone records, allegedly to discover sources of leaks, should surprise no one. Obama has relentlessly pursued leakers ever since he became president. He is fast becoming the worst national security press president ever, and it may not get any better.”
In an interview with the New York Observer, Goodale added, “Obama has all these things that he’s done to the press on national security matters that Nixon never did.”
Lanny J. Davis, a former crisis manager for President Clinton who admits he voted for and backs Obama, told National Public Radio, “[Obama's] crisis-management communications team is absent without leave. Ever since we lost the message on health care, I’ve wondered if there’s anybody there trying to get out in front on the facts.”
NPR further reported Davis saying the IRS story goes to the heart of government abuse of power: “The president of the United States should hold a press conference and commit to a full, 100-percent investigation in concert with the Republican leadership of the House and say, ‘I want to have on my desk the list of anybody who recommended doing this. In the government, in the White House, or anywhere else.’”
Time political columnist Joe Klein wrote of the IRS news, even before the AP scandal broke, “Yet again, we have an example of Democrats simply not managing the government properly and with discipline. … This is just poisonous at a time of skepticism about the efficacy of government. … [Obama's] unwillingness to concentrate – and I mean concentrate obsessively – on making sure that government is managed efficiently will be part of his legacy.”
Dana Milbank of the Washington Post penned similar criticism of Obama. “President Passerby needs urgently to become a participant in his presidency,” Milbank wrote, arguing Obama was reacting to the scandals with a portrayed ignorance reminiscent of “just some bloke on a bar stool, getting his information from the evening news.”
Jim Kuhnhenn of the Associated Press leveled his criticism at White House Press Secretary Jay Carney at a May 14 press briefing: “The White House right now is confronting a confluence of issues – Benghazi talking points, IRS reviews of political groups, Justice Department review of journalists’ phone records. And in every instance, either the president or you have placed the burden of responsibility someplace else. On the Benghazi talking points, it’s been political motivations on the Hill. On the IRS, it’s been the bureaucrats at the IRS. And on the Justice Department issue, yesterday in your statement you said those matters are handled independently by the Justice Department. But it is the president’s administration, so I wonder, doesn’t responsibility for setting tone and setting direction ultimately rest with the president on these matters?”
Other reporters at the same press briefing passed up softball questions for tougher lines of inquiry, including whether news of the IRS scandal was “withheld until after the election,” whether or not the AP subpoena’s constituted an “overreach,” whether the administration “might be hiding something,” if the IRS is being “truthful” and how the president feels about “being compared to President Nixon.” The press corps also grilled Carney relentlessly on the president’s reputation for prosecuting those who leak information to the press.
Michigan’s Rep. Sander Levin, ranking Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, said in Friday’s hearings before the committee the IRS and its employees “have completely failed the American people” by “singling out organizations for review based on their name or political views, rather than their activity. … All of us are angry about this on behalf of the nation.”
“As you know, it’s casual Friday, which means at the White House they’re casually going through everyone’s phone calls and records,” joked Leno on Friday. “Love him or hate him, you got to admit President Obama is a new kind of Democrat. I mean, think about it. He’s embroiled in three scandals, not one of them involves sex. That has never happened before. … It’s been a tough week for President Obama. In fact, this morning he called Mitt Romney and said, ‘Look, if you still want the job.’”

Despite the media’s change in tone from easy forgiveness to legitimate criticism of Obama, the Media Research Council’s Brent Bozell warns the media are not really “up in arms” with the Obama administration, but are simply having a “lover’s quarrel,” particularly over the AP flap.

“The Bill Clinton syndrome is going to be upon us,” Bozell predicted on CNBC’s May 16 “The Kudlow Report” program, “where it’s time to move on, we’ve covered it [the media will say] and they’re going to turn the fire right on Republicans as being obstructionists. … The zeal of going after Watergate with Woodward and Bernstein, that hasn’t been there.”

–

Drew Zahn

Drew Zahn is a WND news editor who cut his journalist teeth as a member of the award-winning staff of Leadership, Christianity Today’s professional journal for church leaders. A former pastor, he is the editor of seven books, including Movie-Based Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching, which sparked his ongoing love affair with film and his weekly WND column, “Popcorn and a (world)view.”

Come And Take It Temple -Armed March

parkercountyblog — Sun, 19 May 2013 01:32:49 +0000

From DontComply.com - We will be gathering for a legal armed open carry march in response to the Temple Police Department violating the Second and Fourth Amendment rights of Active Duty MSGT Christopher J. Grisham. Please join us all. We will be exercising our rights as free men and women. Be part of the solution. All permits and armed march route has been approved and coordinated with the city and local authorities. Come out for music, great speakers, food and a march around the police station.

When: June 1st Where: Temple, TX Venue: Community Market 212 S. Main St. Time: 10:00am-4:00pm

“While out hiking with my son through backcountry roads to help him earn his Eagle Scout rank, I was illegally arrested and disarmed without cause. I was thrown in jail and my lawfully owned weapons were confiscated without receipt or notice,” -Grisham

That’s right! Get your guns and get to Temple, TX. They forgot we have rights and we must remind them. If we don’t stand up for fellow Texans today then we will stand alone when it happens to us in our hometown. Just a reminder on legal open carry in Texas: It must be a long gun and can be strapped or hung on your person. Holding it could be considered “calculated to alarm” and this will be a peaceful march. We will be taking up donations for the 2nd Amendment Legal

Defense Fund for Christopher J. Grisham. Anyone that wants to help with the event contact Murdoch at murdoch@dontcomply.com

Speakers: Christopher J. Grisham Jay Stang – Oath Keepers State Chapter President for Texas Mike Vanderboegh -THREE%ER Black Rain Ordinance -Presentation of gun to C.J. Grisham Murdoch Pizgatti – Dontcomply.com Statement from Rep. Ralph Sheffield (R) Statement from Senator Ted Cruz

Music: Nolan Pick Band

Food: Fat Boys BBQ

Facebook Event Page HERE Download FLYER HERE Download Half Page Flyer HERE Download Press Release HERE

MOΛΩN ΛABE

SAFETY:For those concerned about safety we will be implementing the “Solidarity Of Safety” (S.O.S.) program at the event. Well qualified people will ask to perform a chamber check and flag it with a red straw half inserted into the bolt. This of course is voluntary and does not render your weapon useless like a zip tie at a gun show. We ask everyone proficient in guns to do this as well as a good example for the new people. Not having a bullet chambered will prevent any unwanted fire. Thanks for helping this event to be remembered for the right reasons.

We thank you for the support so many of you have already shown. The Come And Take It Temple event is growing everyday. With live music, food, great speakers, topped off with the open carry march we will show the power of the people and the support of our right to bear arms is in full swing. Please donate to help us make this a day to remember!

Let’s make sure we are heard across America! Please donate to The Come And Take It Temple Event!Donation Amount: (Currency: USD)

Put my Donation on the Recognition Wall

Name:

Email:

Website:

JERUSALEM-ON-THE-LINE

parkercountyblog — Sat, 18 May 2013 18:44:39 +0000

JNN NEWS, P.O. Box 7411, Jerusalem 91073, Israel,

News Update May 18th 2013 -

“He will bring justice to the poor of the people; He will save the children of the needy, and will break in pieces the oppressor.” Ps 72:4

____________________________________

REPORT: RUSSIA SENDS WARSHIPS TO SYRIAN COAST: Russia has sent a dozen or more warships to patrol waters near its naval base in Syria, a buildup that US and European officials see as a newly aggressive stance meant partly to warn the West and Israel not to intervene in Syria’s devastating civil war, according to reports on Friday. On Thursday, Syria’s official news agency SANA reported that five Russian warships had crossed the Suez Canal and entered the Mediterranean Sea.

A Russian Navy spokesperson said this was the first time in decades that Russian warships sail in the area. The Russian defense minister said: “The Russian Defense Ministry started setting up a special force of warships in the Mediterranean in order to protect Russia’s interests in the region.” Meanwhile, the New York Times disclosed Russia has sent advanced anti-ship cruise missiles to Syria. The missiles are an improved version of the Yakhonts, which Russia has previously provided to Syria and have been outfitted with advanced radar that makes them more effective. (Ynet) Be alert in prayer to the ever-increasing military threats against Israel resulting from the spiraling Syrian crisis.

RUSSIA CONTINUES WITH PLANS TO SELL S-300 TO ASSAD: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced Thursday that Russia would remain committed to previously signed arms deals “regarding agreements pertaining to aerial defense weapons.” Despite the fact that PM Benjamin Netanyahu flew for a lightning visit to Russia with the clear intent of preventing the sale of S-300 missiles to Assad’s regime, the Russians reiterated two days later that they refused to budge from their contracts. According to Lavrov, Russia will not sign any new deals with the Syrian government, but is nonetheless obligated to previous commitments. “We do not want to break any international law, but also do not want to hurt our good name as arms suppliers.” Sources in Jerusalem said what counts is actions and not statements, noting that implementation of the 2010 agreement between Russia and Syria has been delayed a number of times. They said Israel has already expressed its message, that new weapons in Syria undermine the area and there’s a danger they will be transferred to Hizbullah.(Ynet/INN)

US WARNS RUSSIAN MISSILES MAY PROLONG SYRIAN CONFLICT: A Russian shipment of anti-ship missiles to Syria could strengthen President Bashar Assad’s forces and extend the conflict, the top US military officer said on Friday. “It’s at the very least a regrettable decision that will embolden the regime and prolong the suffering, so it’s ill-timed and very unfortunate,” said General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Dempsey was referring specifically to the anti-ship missiles sent by Russia. The missiles,
called Yakhonts, are equipped with advanced radar that renders them more effective. Also on Friday, United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon voiced
disappointment over Syria’s refusal to let UN inspectors enter the country to check reports about the use of chemical weapons. (Ha’aretz)

TERROR GROUP: ROCKET FIRE ON THE GOLAN NOT AN ACCIDENT: A Syrian group took responsibility for firing two mortars at Israel Thursday. The rockets were fired at the Hermon ski site. No one was injured. This is the first time since the beginning of the civil war in Syria that the Hermon was targeted. The upper section of the Hermon has been closed to visitors, but the lower section was still open, officials said. The IDF has increased its patrols and surveillance in the area. There have been several recent incidents of mortar shells fired from Syria hitting different areas of the Golan. Until now, it was thought those shells were fired by accident, but the notification by the “Shahid Brigades” – a part of another terror group called “Free Palestine Movement” – has triggered a reevaluation of those incidents by defense officials. The group apparently works in coordination with the Syrian government, which declared recently it would encourage terror attacks against Israel, in the wake of the bombing of convoys that were transporting chemical weapons from Syria to Hizbullah terrorists. In a video message, the group said that it fired the rockets on the occasion of “Nakba Day,” the date Arabs have chosen to mourn their defeat when Israel was established in 1948. “We tell the Zionists that we are opening a campaign of revenge.” (Arutz-7) “Arise, O Lord, do not let man prevail; let the nations be judged in Your sight.” Ps 9:19

ISRAEL HINTS: WE’LL STRIKE SYRIA AGAIN: A senior Israeli official signaled this week that Israel was considering further military strikes on Syria to stop the transfer of advanced weapons to Islamist Hizbullah – and warned President Assad against any kind of retaliation against the Jewish state. He said, “Israel is determined to continue to prevent the hand-over of advanced arms to Hizbullah. The transfer of such weapons to Hizbullah will destabilize and endanger the entire region. If Syrian President Assad reacts by attacking Israel, or tries to strike Israel through his terrorist proxies, he will risk forfeiting his regime, for we will retaliate. Israel has so far refrained from intervening in Syria’s civil war and will maintain this policy as long as Assad refrains from attacking Israel directly or indirectly,” the official added. (INN/Ha’aretz) Pray that Israel’s warning to Syria will be recognized and heeded. Pray for the continued exposure and obstruction of advanced weapons transfers to the Lebanon-based Hizbullah terrorist group and other rouge terrorist entities.

OECD: ISRAEL IS POOREST OF ALL DEVELOPED COUNTRIES: Israel has the highest poverty rate among OECD countries, according to a report released by the 33-nation Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development this week. The data revealed that Israel’s poverty rate stood at close to 21% of the population in 2011, compared to the 11.1% average among the rest of the members. Labor MK Itzik Shmuli said, “This report only reinforces what we have all been feeling in our stomach for a while: There are too many poor among us and the gaps between the haves and the have-nots are increasing,” he said. The finance minister’s plan “is worsening the situation and puts another 50,000 children and 20,000 elderly below the poverty line,” said Shmuli.(J.Post) “I am poor and needy, yet the Lord thinks upon me. You are my help and my deliverer. Do not delay, O my God.” Ps 40:17

LAPID: WELFARE DOESN’T END POVERTY, WORK DOES: Finance Minister Yair Lapid on Thursday said the answer to poverty is work, not government welfare support. Responding to criticism of his recently approved budget, which cut child allowances, and an OECD report that pegged Israel’s poverty level in 2010 as the highest among developed countries, Lapid told Israel Radio, “Allowances don’t take people out of poverty, they keep people in poverty. Work brings people out of poverty.” Lapid pointed out that in Israel, two groups contributed to overall poverty more than any other: the ultra-Orthodox and the Arabs. “It is already sad that there are groups that are predefined as poor,” he said, arguing that his budget and upcoming reforms would push those populations into the workforce in greater numbers. (J.Post)

TENS OF THOUSANDS OF HAREIDIM PROTEST ENLISTMENT: An estimated 30,000 hareidi Jews took part Thursday in a Jerusalem protest against plans to conscript hareidi men into the military. The multitudes gathered next to the IDF’s Jerusalem enlistment center. Protesters set garbage cans on fire, threw rocks, glass bottles and other objects at police, injuring at least eight officers, two of whom were hospitalized with moderate wounds. Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovich said he was appalled by the protesters’ violence and vowed the rioters would be punished. He stressed that “Criminal behavior, illegal protests and assault of officers will not change the equal share of the burden law and the government’s firm stand on the issue.” Police said all eight arrested during the violence will be prosecuted. (J.Post/Ynet) Pray Israel’s hareidi sector will be willing to shoulder its part in the temporal responsibilities of the nation. This can be achieved by doing stretches of national service in lieu of active military duty, and working like others – a biblical injunction – rather than insisting on special government benefits or resorting to welfare in order to support large families, while men study Torah. “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work.” Exod 20:9,10

BOSTON MARATHON SUSPECT: MY BROTHER BECAME A MARTYR: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who is being held on suspicion of last month’s bombing and shooting attacks in the Boston area, wrote on the wall of the boat where he hid from police that the bombing at the finish line of the Boston Marathon was revenge for the killing of Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to sources cited Thursday. He wrote, “When you attack one Muslim, you attack all Muslims,” and referred to the Boston victims as “collateral damage.” Tsarnaev wrote that he did not mourn his brother Tamerlan, who was killed in a shootout with police, calling him a martyr. (Arutz-7)

CELEBRATING SHAVUOT IN THE RAIN: Across the country, thousands of Israelis celebrated the holiday of Shavuot Wednesday. However, heavy rains extinguished the barbeque fires and drenched traditional cheeses, prompting many to return home and enjoy the holiday in the comfort of their balconies instead of in national parks. The rain began late Tuesday, starting in the north. During the night it steadily moved southwards, leading residents all over the country to report heavy lightening storms throughout the night. “This is real winter, it looks like we’re in February not May,” one meteorologist said. The best news the rain brought was the 15-25 mm recorded in the Kinneret region, filling Israel’s ever depleted reservoirs. (Ynet)

SAVE THE DATES FOR THE 2013 ROOTS & REFLECTIONS TOUR – UK JUNE 2-10 – US JUNE 1-11: Due to high demand, we have decided to open up a second bus for the fourth annual Roots & Reflections tour this June: Journey to the Center of the Earth. We have 10 places left and would love to see you come and have a great time. Join Barry Segal for this exciting excursion that will mingle ancient as well as modern Israel at its very heart. Together, we will explore sites ranging from the ultra-modern beaches of Herzliya to the archaeological wonders of the City of David – plus much more. The full tour price for UK residents, including airfare and hotel accommodations, is £1599 per person. To book your UK reservations now contact Polly at Arch Tours – Telephone: 01372 843678 – Mobile: 07971 169639 – email: polly@archtours.co.uk. The USA price including flights and hotels is $3575 per person. For flights from the US contact Heather at JDI Travel – Tel: 248-340-9191 ext. 10 – Fax: 248-340-0307 – email: info@jditravel.com . For further information visit our website at http://www.josephstorehouse.co.uk/events/roots-and-reflection-tour.html

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The suggestions, opinions and scripture references made by JNN writers and editors are based on the best information received.

Blessings from Jerusalem,
Barry Segal with the Editorial Staff

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