[Breitbart] Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) told Breitbart News Wednesday that documents the Obama administration may be forced to produce regarding Operation Fast and Furious could implicate former Attorney General Eric Holder and his staff.
On Tuesday, a federal judge invalidated President Barack Obama's use of "executive privilege" to prevent the documents from being provided to a congressional investigation, saying that some of the material had already been cited by the administration in public. The judge will hear more arguments before ordering the documents released.
Issa told Breitbart News that his continuing investigation into Fast and Furious could uncover possible criminality by former Attorney General Eric Holder and his staff, thereby providing a new incoming administration with the facts they would need to bring charges.
Issa said:
The next administration could well choose to deal with people's crimes, particularly the conspiracy to cover this up, to falsely mislead the American people. There were a number of areas in which criminal activity could alleged, and as it stands right now the biggest question is that Eric Holder swore he didn't know about this a number of times. And some of that has been proved wrong.
If we're able to see that his hand-picked US Attorney Dennis Burke was involved in communicating to people in the justice department that would indicate a number of people testified falsely.
He stressed that he believes it is important to remember the Republican candidates are the ones most likely to pursue charges relating to Fast and Furious. He said they would do this both out of a commitment to enforcement of the rule of law, and also because evidence of "false statements"--if such evidence is found--would mean that those who made them "knowingly let felons gain access to weapons for crimes."
#9
Wouldn't the perjury numbers start at the end of an investigation? They are designed so you can drag people back in after something is resolved but shouldn't apply to encourage foot dragging.
#10
I have never been able to determine if there are limits on the ability of a President to pardon, Can he just wave a wand and an entire class of people be excused from criminal conduct? Illegal aliens, all black drug criminals, every member of the US government, all the members of the Democratic Party? Surely there must be some limiting factor beyond shame, cause this jackass doesn't know the meaning of the word!
The Navy on Wednesday launched its first carrier strike group powered partly by biofuel -- a mix made from beef fat -- calling it a milestone toward easing the military's reliance on foreign oil. I thought we didn't depend on foreign oil anymore . . . .
The maritime branch touted the warships as the centerpiece of its "Great Green Fleet" -- part of a Navy-wide initiative that aims to draw 50 percent of its power from alternative energy in four years. We used to have a Navy that depended entirely on wind power a couple hundred years ago. What on Earth were we thinking when we switched to coal?
For now, the mix fueling the ships is only 10 percent biofuels and 90 percent petroleum. The Navy originally aimed for a 50-50 ratio, but the cost was too high, though that could change as competition grows in the alternative fuel industry, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus told The Associated Press. Yeah, I guess $50/gallon for boondoggle "green" fuel is still a bit steep.
Mabus and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack inspected the carrier group's ships Wednesday off San Diego, where the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier the USS John C. Stennis and the guided-missile destroyer USS Stockdale were preparing for a seven-month deployment. The Stockdale and three other ships are the first to begin operating regularly with a blend of biofuels and petroleum.
"It gives us a strategic advantage," Mabus said of the Navy weaning off fossil fuel. Turning to alternative energy will give the military options so it is no longer at the mercy of fluctuating oil prices and oil-producing nations that may not have U.S. interests in mind, he said. All we have to do is triple the amount of beef production. Uh oh, vegetarians might not like this.
Vilsack called the Navy's "Green Fleet" a "tremendous opportunity" for the biofuel industry that will benefit farmers and create thousands of jobs. And raise the price of corn everywhere.
The officials boarded a helicopter to watch the USS William P. Lawrence replenish its tanks with the blend of biofuel, which is made from beef fat from Midwestern feedstock and produced by California-based AltAir Fuels. I wonder what kind of fuel that helicopter had in its tank.
Critics, including environmentalists, say biofuel production is too costly and on a large scale may do more harm than good if it requires the a lot of farmland, fertilizer and fuel to produce.
Mabus contends no land for food production will be used for the biofuels.
The Defense Department is the world's largest consumer of energy, and the Navy uses more than a third of that, but Mabus said going green is not just about reducing the Navy's carbon footprint.
"In 2010, we were losing too many Marines in convoys carrying fossil fuels to outposts in Afghanistan, and the prohibitive cost of oil was requiring us to stop training at home in order to keep steaming abroad, a dangerous and unsustainable scenario," he said in a statement. Why don't we just invent a fuel made from poppy plants?
All military branches are looking to cut their ties to foreign oil as part of a national security strategy. The federal government has invested more than $500 million into drop-in biofuels, which can be used without reconfiguring engines. I think I could make a killing buying fuel for $1.50/gallon and re-selling the same stuff to the Navy for $2.03/gallon.
All ships and aircraft in the Navy have been certified to use biofuels. The fleet also includes nuclear vessels and hybrid electric ships. Nuclear vessels?
The Navy bought 77 million gallons of the 10 percent biofuel mix at $2.05 a gallon to fuel its ships off the West Coast this year. Similar contracts are in the works to fuel ships elsewhere. Hey, let's sell this stuff to the Chinese.
The purchase comes after a 2012 demonstration on the Navy's use of alternative fuels drew fire from lawmakers outraged at the $26-per-gallon price tag. Legislators passed a law prohibiting the Pentagon from buying biofuels in mass unless the price is competitive with that of petroleum. Well, the money was good while it lasted.
Retired Navy Capt. Todd "Ike" Keifer, who has published a study on the Navy's plan, said adding 10 percent biofuels into the mix will not help the environment. He said he does not believe the Navy will ever get "any meaningful quantities of cost-competitive biofuels." Especially when it seems that any time they start screwing with true petroleum fuel, my mileage goes down.
Mabus said the technology is evolving quickly and, in the future, biofuel made from landfill waste, wood chips and even food waste may usher in lower prices for a blend with a higher content of biofuels. Let's experiment with throwing a few congressmen into the mix and see if that helps with the mileage.
"That's going to continue to expand as the biofuel industry ramps up," he said.
#2
Only once in 35 years of living in the same plac ein snow country has anyone every knocked on the door & offered to shovel my walk. My city used to provide free shoveling for those over 65, but they discontinued the offer as soon as I became eligible.
#4
Shoveling snow provides a financial opportunity for high schoolers. But when I was a kid my brother and I would shovel snow of the widow on the block for free. She owned a corner house so twice the side walk. My mother insisted.
Posted by: Sven the pelter ||
01/21/2016 20:27 Comments ||
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#5
I've heard that they will replace those nasty shells or bullets with spitballs (made from 100% organic paper) and harsh (but Politically Correct) language.
#3
The impressive (and not in a good way) part of this is that NJ "fixed" the problem by creating an even more complicated rule set that only applies to snow shoveling and even then only if the deal is made 24 hrs before snowfall.
So you still need a license for leaf-raking. For lawn-mowing, you need the license, an OSHA inspection sticker showing proper protective gear, and a Hazardous Agricultural Chemicals permit for spritzing Roundup on the dandelions.
The right to bear shovels is the right to be free.
The Government will provide all.
The Government is Mother!
The Government is Father!
The Government will wipe your nose,
The Government will wipe your ass!
The Government will teach you to put condoms on cucumbers,
The Government will provide birth control in case you insist on riding bareback.
And of you don't want the Government to pollute your body with Birth Control...
The Government will provide Abortions.
You won't have to be responsible for your actions
The Government will make sure someone else is held responsible or nobody will be held responsible.
You won't have to make any decisions,
The Government will tell you what to do, what to eat, what to drink, what to watch, and what to like and what to hate, who to fight, who to fuck, what to think, and, most important, how to vote.
The Government is all...
[WASHINGTONPOST] The latest forecast data are insistent that a severe winter storm will unleash crippling snow and strong winds over much of the D.C. area Friday through Saturday night.
On Wednesday morning, the National Weather Service issued a blizzard watch for the entire metro region due to the potential blinding combination of snow and powerful winds. "Potential life-threatening conditions [are] expected Friday night into Saturday night," the National Weather Service says. "Travel is expected to be severely limited if not impossible during the height of the storm Friday night and Saturday."
They're having wintry weather in the Middle East, too, because it's winter. Stay safe and warm, ladies and gentlemen.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/21/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
the usual sources are preparing to blame this on global warming because the Atlantic near the MD/VA coast is a bit above normal in temperature
Posted by: lord garth ||
01/21/2016 7:25 Comments ||
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#2
When I hear the phrase "Potential life-threatening conditions. . . " as it relates to DC, I naturally assume our Administration is dorking with us and the world by means of the State Department. Or the DOD. Or DOE. Or the EPA. Or, well, you get the idea.
#6
Speaking of global warming claims, yesterday it was released that the NOAA and NASA think this is the hottest year since record keeping began 136 years ago, fourth year in a row for records... though El Nino is admitted to also be a factor deep in the article. No mention of significant differences between ground and satellite measurements, or the NOAA again getting caught modifying raw data, or the fact that some 90% of American temperature stations not meeting the rules for placement, and therefore reading higher than they ought.
I'm going out early tomorrow morning to pick up bird seed and gas, both of which were on the list and I need anyway. Already been to the library, and picked up a few items at the grocery store (& liquor store ;-p ), none of which was bread or milk. (Did stock up on hot chocolate mix, though.)
Already have kerosene in case we lose power (we might get a "wintry mix" Friday night on top of the snow, then more snow over it).
Other than that, I'm good to go - will scoop the cat box again at the last minute. (Gotta take care of the really important stuff.)
Everybody in the path of the latest "Snowmageddon" stay safe and warm. :-D
Posted by: Barbara ||
01/21/2016 15:58 Comments ||
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#10
For the fact we still have blizzads, I blame AlGore....obviously he's still failing to eat enough beans to doom the world with methane.
The Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara smashed again requests by supporters who want him to change the constitution to be able to stand for another third term in office.
“Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and I concerted each other and we said no, we don’t need that,” President Alassane Ouattara said in the presence of the Liberian President.
He'll change his mind. Reluctantly. He'll be persuaded that the country needs him. Always happens...
President Ouattara who just won a second election in 2015 has always maintained that he will not stand for another third election even though voices within his own coalition and supporters urge him to do so.
Reports say President Ouattara was angered by his former Minister of Civil Services Bacongo Cisse who openly suggested that the country’s constitution be altered so that President Ouattara can run for another term, citing lack of charismatic leaders to take over from him when he wraps its current term in 2020.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/21/2016 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[11125 views]
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[AnNahar] Faced with a massive decline in oil revenues, Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... 's King Salman ...either the largest species of Pacific salmon or the current Sheikh of the Burnin' Sands, Cutodian of the Two Holy Mosquesand Lord of Most of the Arabians.... marked his first year in power by taking steps to end his kingdom's generous welfare system.
Continued on Page 49
#1
"Adopting populist policies in the past decades made economic reforms difficult. Now, we must tighten our belts, cut spending, downsize babus government employees and adopt privatization," Bu-Halaiga said.
#5
Yes, grom, I know. But they're the ones who would get Iranian support in what would potentially evolve into a multi-sided civil war like Lebanon endured or is going on in Syria now.
[RT] Women in the Danish cities of Thisted, Sonderborg and Haderslev reported they were groped and approached with inappropriate offers from foreign men.
"Many of the refugees and asylum seekers who go out at the weekend do not know the rules. When they see a girl, they go crazy, trying to grope her or grab her clothes," Haderslev night club owner Rafi Ibrahim, himself an immigrant from Syria who has been living in Denmark for several years, told the Copenhagen Post.
A number of Sonderborg clubs introduced the language requirement back in autumn. Now, more and more Danish nightspots are considering following suit.
"If you have a group of guests that comes in and displays threatening behavior, then it presents some security-related challenges if you cannot enter into a dialogue," Torben Hoffmann Rosenstock, managing director of the Danish Restaurants & Cafes Association (DRC), told TV2.
However, the measures came under heavy criticism from a local Amnesty International branch, which called the ban discriminatory.
"You can't make a general rule that states that you can't come in if you come from a certain country that has created problems before," Claus Juul, a consultant with the organization, was quoted by The Local as saying.
The scandal over sexually-related offences has been gathering pace since the Cologne mass sexual assaults took place on New Year's Eve, following which police registered over 500 cases - 40 percent of which were of a sexual nature. The police chief of Cologne subsequently stepped down amid allegations of covering up refugee involvement in the attacks.
Similar cases have been reported in other German cities such as Berlin, Frankfurt and Stuttgart as well as in the Danish cities of Thisted and Sonderborg. Police were also accused of covering up migrant attacks in Sweden, after groups of young Afghan men reportedly molested girls at a teen music festival.
At the end of last year Denmark started tightening the screws on migrants. It aims to strip refugees of valuables, including cash and jewelry, to cover the costs the country bears in connection with housing them. The recently introduced bill would allow Danish authorities to claim individual items whose combined value exceeds 10,000 kroner (âŹ1,340, $1,450).
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) commented on the controversial proposal, describing the move as a "deeply concerning response" to the refugee problem.
In what way? And remember, this is the UNHCR, who would turn all the refugees into Paleostinians...
The Danish parliament is set to vote on the bill Thursday next week.
#1
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) commented on the controversial proposal, describing the move as a "deeply concerning response" to the refugee problem.
"Deeply concerning"... but entirely necessary for survival.
#6
This will only end when the authorities arrest gropers or Europeans shoot/knife/thrash gropers. It's up to the authorities to decide which result they prefer.
#7
INtersting that knowing French doesn't get them in. The Dutch figure folks could live in France for generations and still not be civilized? That about sums it all up.
When every damn one of these idiots takes home an invader a "refugee" or 10 to live with them and their wife/kids (male invaders "refugees" only, of course), then I might listen. Until then, drop dead - and take your "refugees" with you.
Cordially,
Normal People
Posted by: Barbara ||
01/21/2016 15:48 Comments ||
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#9
This will only end when the authorities arrest gropers or Europeans shoot/knife/thrash gropers.
A third possibility: the authorities arrest the Euros who are doing the shooting/knifing/thrashing of the aforementioned gropers on the grounds they are disrupting public order. This works for awhile - right up until the whole mess boils over explosively like a super-heated liquid.
#10
Does Amnesty International ever protest alleged War Crimes committed by Isis?
I have never heard about any such protests.
I never read about Amnesty protests against knife attacks in Israel; only about protests against reactions to them.
[Iran Press TV] Angry protesters have stormed the parliament building in the Moldovan capital of Chisinau following the appointment of the pro-EU politician Pavel Filip as the prime minister.
Police incarcerated Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! several protesters after they clashed with security forces and broke into the parliament building on Wednesday, according to local media reports.
The demonstrators gathered in front of the parliament to protest against the politician's decision to approve Pavel Filip's pro-EU cabinet.
The politicians appointed Moldova's third prime minister in less than a year by 57 votes out of 78, backing a man chosen by the president as a compromise candidate in the hope of ending months of political deadlock.
Moldova has been locked in a political turmoil since up to USD 1.5 billion went missing from three banks prior to the 2014 parliamentary elections.
The country's opposition has been objecting to Filip's appointment.
"The people of Moldova don't need a government that says pleasant things, but a government that solves their problems," said Filip after his appointment.
Filip is the vice-chairman of the major pro-European Democratic Party and has close ties with its leader Vladimir Plahotniu, a former politician, who was one of the major targets of massive public protests over a corruption and banking fraud scandal that came to light in October 2015.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/21/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
Moldovan capital of Chisinau
Used to be a much nicer place when most of the population were Russian and Jews.
[AnNahar] Three alleged German far-left snuffies armed with automatic weapons are believed to be behind a failed robbery of a money transporter, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Investigators found DNA at the scene of the crime matching that of three runaways of the disbanded Red Army Faction (RAF), they said.
The anti-capitalist RAF, also known as the Baader-Meinhof Gang, emerged out of the late 1960s student protest movement and rocked Germany with a wave of bombings, killings and kidnappings targeting political and business leaders that lasted to the early 1990s.
In last June's attempted robbery, masked gunnies armed with AK-47 automatic rifles and a grenade-launcher opened fire but fled without cash when security guards locked themselves inside the armored vehicle.
The three suspects, wanted on attempted murder and robbery charges, were Daniela Klette, 57, Ernst-Volker Wilhelm Staub, 61, and Burkhard Garweg, 47, prosecutors said.
"There is no evidence to suggest... a terrorist background," said the Lower Saxony state prosecutors. "Rather it must be presumed the crime aimed to help finance their underground lives."
No one was injured in the attack near the northern city of Bremen.
Police said the assailants may have used a jamming device to disable mobile phone communications of the two guards driving the security van which was carrying about one million euros ($1.1 million).
All three runaways have long been suspects in a 1993 explosives attack against a prison in Hesse state and other attacks by the RAF, which declared in 1998 it had disbanded.
#3
"There is no evidence to suggest... a terrorist background"
Do you know anything about the Baader-Meinhofs, you idiot?
I was there, jackass, and I remember.
Posted by: Barbara ||
01/21/2016 22:59 Comments ||
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#4
A lot of terrorists seem to turn into criminal gangs if they can't make enough money from their terrorism. IIRC, that's what happened in Northern Ireland - a lot of the groups turned into plain old hoodlums.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
01/21/2016 23:09 Comments ||
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[DAWN] ISLAMABAD: National Accountability Bureau Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry was informed on Wednesday that the NAB's Rawalpindi region could not take action in cases against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... and Punjab 1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots.... Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif ...Pak dynastic politician, brother of PM Nawaz Sharif, chief minister of Punjab... because they had obtained stay orders.
During his annual visit to the NAB Rawalpindi Regional Headquarters, Mr Chaudhry was told that the Sharif brothers had again taken a fresh stay order from the Lahore High Court.
A source told Dawn that the Sharif brothers had taken advantage of stay orders since their cases were reopened in 2007 when the Supreme Court allowed Nawaz Sharif to return to Pakistain from exile.
Three corruption references and at least six inquiries have been pending with NAB and accountability courts against the Sharif brothers and other members of their family.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/21/2016 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] Scientists say they have almost discovered the ninth planet of the Solar System, a Neptune-sized world orbiting in an extremely elongated elliptical trajectory in far reaches of our Sun. Ahah. Yes. I've almost lost sixty pounds, too.
In an article published in the Astronomical Journal on Wednesday, planetary scientists Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown from the Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, Institute of Technology (Caltech) announced that though the Planet Nine still has not been observed directly, strong evidence based on mathematical modeling and computer simulations clearly suggest that it really exists far beyond the dwarf planet Pluto. That was how they discovered Pluto, wasn't it? Was the math off that much?
According to the findings, the new family member has a mass of about ten times that of the Earth, orbits about 20 times farther from the Sun than Neptune (which revolves round the Sun at an average distance of about 4.5 billion kilometers (2.8 billion miles)), and takes between 10,000 and 20,000 Earthly years to circle our star. So just wait a while. It'll come around.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/21/2016 00:00 ||
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#2
The hypothetical Nemesis supposedly orbits on a 27-million year cycle.
There's also lots of stuff in the Oort Cloud that we're probably not seeing and don't know about, either.
Maybe we're due.......
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
01/21/2016 8:23 Comments ||
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#3
"(T)he Sun is not part of a binary star system. There has never been any evidence to suggest a companion. The idea has been disproved by several infrared sky surveys, most recently the WISE mission. If there were a brown dwarf companion, these sensitive infrared telescopes would have detected it."
— David Morrison, Astrobiology Senior Scientist, October 17, 2012
As soon as some thought leader says something IS NOT, I begin to believe.
#4
A brown dwarf is a failed star, not a planet. It would be warm to the touch so it should appear in an infrared search. The new object is suspected to be a planet 10 times or so bigger than the earth and at least 200 times further from the sun. It just wouldn't reflect much light. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof. The jury is still out.
Posted by: Sven the pelter ||
01/21/2016 11:34 Comments ||
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#5
Closest approach would be 700 AU. Farthest spaceship has just reached 130 AU after 37 years of flight. So with a chemical rocket you could send something that might get in the general area of Planet X (if it exists) by mid 2400's.
#8
It's a Utopian planet called Liberalia. In case anyone wants to go there, Earth will be building three large ships to colonize the planet. The first one will be leaving in 2020, and will be taking all the liberals. The next two will be built and will take off in the following 20 years or so . . . .
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
