Monday Links - Again

Once again, Monday appears to be a good time to round up some stories in the news.  So here we go:

From The Guardian, as tensions rise in the wake of an apparent chemical weapons attack in Syria, the United Kingdom moves military equipment to a base in Cyprus.

From the Boston Globe, the full text of Secretary of State John Kerry's statement in response to these attacks.

From the Jerusalem Post, according to Israeli International Relations Minister Yuval Steinitz it is "crystal clear" that Syrian President Bashir Assad's forces used chemical weapons in an attack five days ago.

From CBS News, worries about Syria are affecting Wall Street.

From the Washington Post, the prospect of American intervention in Syria is very unpopular.

From Town Hall, the story of Shin Dong-Hyuk, who escaped the North Korean GULAG.

From Mashable, Bloomberg beat Reuters in web traffic for this past July.

From WRAL(dot)com, a charitable group in Raleigh, North Carolina has been threatened with arrest for feeding the homeless without a permit.  (via Breitbart's The Conversation)

From Breitbart's Big Government, the media ignore the killing of Americans by illegal aliens.

From Forbes, Donald Trump is being sued for fraud.

From Fox News, two House Democrats propose a bill to increase taxes on guns and ammunition.

From the Mail Online, investigators have requested the school records of the Sandy Hook shooter.

From Talking Points Memo, according to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, the federal government will reach the latest debt ceiling in mid-October.

And from the Times Union, the best and worst dressed at the MTV VMAs.

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Monday Links

Some things going on out there:

From the Sporting News, Major League Baseball hands out 50-games suspensions to 12 players, and a much longer one to Alex Rodriguez.

From the Washington Post, a 15 million-year-old whale skull has been found on the banks of the Potomac, near the birthplace of Robert E. Lee.

Speaking of the Washington Post, it will soon be sold to Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com.

From Bare Naked Islam, Egypt has banned Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan from entering Gaza.  (via Barracuda Brigade)

From Frontpage Mag, the Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir admits their belief that Sharia law is imposed on Christians.

From the Washington Free Beacon, the new Iranian president Hassan Rowhani has appointed a holocaust denier as his country's foreign minister.  This, of course, makes his no worse than Rowhani's predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.  (via Pat Dollard)

From the Daily Caller, a conservative group has given their support to the Justice Safety Valve Act.

The American Thinker presents "The Dependably Unfaithful Colin Powell".

From Fox News, the U.S. military is spending $772 million on aircraft for Afghanistan, for which the Afghan military does not have the capacity "to operate or maintain".

From Reuters, a unit of the Drug Enforcement Agency is funneling information to authorities across the United States to help them start criminal investigations.

From the New York Post, the new owner of the Drake's Cakes brands has announced that Coffee Cakes, Devil Dogs, Ring Dings and Yodels will return next month.

And to finish with some humor, my blogosphere buddy Holger Awakens presents the Dem's poster boy.

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Postal Service Photographing All U.S. Mail

The U.S. Postal service has confirmed that is photographs every letter and package mailed within the United States.  While the images are used mainly to sort mail, and are not kept in any single database, according to Postmaster Patrick R. Donahoe, they have been "used a couple of times" by law enforcement.  The program is called the Mail Isolation and Tracking system, and was created after the anthrax attack in late 2001, which resulted in the deaths of five people, including two postal workers.

Read the full story at the New York Times.

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Tuesday Links

I'll be away for a few days visiting family for the 4th of July, so here are some stories to pass on before I go:

From Canada Free Press, millions of Egyptians are protesting against their president - and ours.

From Al Arabiya, the Egyptian army has drafted a plan to suspend the country's parliament and contsitution.

From CBS News, Egyptian President Morsi refuses to step down.

Also from CBS News, Pope John Paul II, who died in 2005, is on track for sainthood.  Are you ready for Święty Jan Pawel, a.k.a. Święty Karol Wojtyła?

From Investor's Business Daily, electric cars aren't all that clean.

From Fox News, the Obama administration has announced that the employer mandate provision of Obamacare will be delayed until 2015.

From Science Recorder, a 15-year-old student invents a flashlight that runs on body heat.

From AMOG, Aaron Hernandez and the ten most infamous athletes.

From Israel National News, Canadian police have arrested two British Columbia residents for an alleged terror plot.

From The Corner at National Review Online, abortion-rights activists and their signs.

From Bare Naked Islam, the British government, who recently decided to ban Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller from entering their country, had already stopped an American Jew from doing so.

From The Blaze, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has apologized to Congress for lying to them earlier this year.

From Time, alleged leaker Edward Snowden just can't find a country that will give him asylum.

From the Swampland section of Time, President Obama and his immediate predecessor meet in Tanzania.

And from The Guardian, beware of the Mongolian neo-nazi environmentalists.

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SCOTUS Gay Marriage Decisions And Other Stories

Earlier today, the Supreme Court struck down part of the Defense of Marriage Act, commonly referred to by its acronym DOMA, and dismissed an appear of a lower court ruling against California's Proposition 8, a state constitutional amendment that had defined marriage as being between a man and a woman.  DOMA had first been enacted during the presidency of Bill Clinton.  Here are some related stories:

From the Washington Post, a report on the DOMA decision.

From CNN, how the court ruled on standing with respect to Proposition 8.

From The Examiner, President Obama promises not to force churches to perform gay weddings.

From CBS Local, the National Cathedral rings its bells to celebrate the court's decisions.  (via Weasel Zippers)

From Breitbart's The Conversation, how the rulings could further polarize our politics.

The Blaze reminds us that most of DOMA still stands, including a provision that could lead to another court battle.

In other news:

From Forbes, Democrat legislators in Massachusetts are trying to force Governor Deval Patrick to seek a waiver from Obamacare.  (Is this another case of "just words"?)

From Politico, a second IRS staffer pleads the Fifth when summoned before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.  (via Red State)

From the Military Times, accused NSA leaker Edward Snowden, having flown from Hong Kong to Russia, may or may not be hanging out at Moscow's Sheremetchevo Airport.

From Biz Pac Review, Obama-Corps could be on its way to becoming reality.  (Will the participants be called "Obama-Corpsemen"?)

From The Times Of Israel, the US is considering sending training teams to Lebanon and Iraq, to help those countries deal with possible spillover from the civil war in Syria.

From Yahoo Sports, New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez has been arrested and charged with murdering his neighbor.  Metrodesk at Boston(dot)com has more.

From CNN Tech, three newly discovered planets, just 22 lightyears away, might be able to support life.

And from the Richmond Times-Dispatch, diplomas given out by Radford University in Virginia misspell "Virginia".

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Monday News And Links

Some things going on out there:

From Life News, the IRS is caught on tape telling a pro-life organization, "Keep your faith to yourself." (via Weasel Zippers)

From CBS DC, according to recently uncovered documents, the State Department "may have covered up allegations of illegal behavior ranging from sexual assaults to an underground drug ring".

From the Washington Examiner, sales of George Orwell's book 1984 have gone up 69%.  Hmmm, it does kinda seem like Big Brother is watching us these days.

From the Guardian, an interview with Edward Snowden, the NSA leaker/whistleblower.

From Fox News, a flight from Los Angeles to Austin was diverted to Phoenix after a bomb threat.

Fox News asks, "Can the US arm the 'right' Syrians?"  I would first ask if there are any "right" Syrians.

From the American Spectator, a possible reason to refrain from arming the rebels in Syria.

From ENCA, 10 people in Kenya are wounded in two attacks, one coming against a church.

From ESPN, it appears that rumors of the end of Tim Tebow's career might just be a bit exaggerated.

From Campus Reform, the University of Chicago has removed pews from a chapel to accommodate Islamic prayers.

From the Florida Times-Union, a homeowner in Brunswick, Georgia uses a gun to defend himself from a knife-wielding masked man.  (via Guns Save Lives)

From KSAT(dot)com, a gunman is in custody after a shooting at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston.

From Popular Science, there may be an underground ocean on Dione, one of the moons of Saturn.

And from PJ Media, some congressmen are looking into claims that the EPA is favoring liberal groups in regard to Freedom of Information Act requests.

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Links To Start The Long Weekend

The Memorial Day weekend, one of those "anchors" on the calendar, has just started.  This coming Monday, Americans will pay tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice to keep us free.  Today, here are some things recently in the news:

From the New York Post, a homeless teenage girl living near Atlanta has just become her high school's valedictorian.

From Fox News, the Boy Scouts of America have voted to accept openly gay members.

From Breitbart's Big Hollywood, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie gets into a confrontation with Jersey Shore cast member Snooki.

From Biz Pac Review, polling expert Scott Rasmussen says that the recent scandals are bringing bad news for President Obama.  (Isn't that what scandals normally do to a president?)

CNS News reports on Obama's commencement speech as the U.S. Naval Academy, where he blamed the "misconduct of a few" for eroding the public's trust in the government.

From CBN News, an American missionary in Africa has gone missing.

From NBC News, the Department of Justice confirms that the search warrant for Fox News reporter James Rosen's e-mails was approved "at the highest levels".  One writer at National Review suggests that reporters "should just CC Eric Holder" from now on.

From The Hill, Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) says that the "Gang of Eight" immigration bill does not have the votes to pass the Senate.

From the Washington Examiner, a former president of Guatemala has been extradited to the United States to face money-laundering charges.

Reason gives us three reasons, other than Lois Lerner, to fear the IRS.

From CNN, yesterday's collapse of a section of the Skagit River bridge on Interstate 5 in Washington state is believed to have been caused by an 18-wheeler hitting an overhead tress (and not from GOP obstruction, as reported by Mediaite).

And from Wired, on the 30th anniversary of Return of the Jedi, 30 things you didn't know about the movie.

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IRS To Pro-Lifers: Tell Us About Your Prayers

Two pro-life organizations seeking tax-exempt status were allegedly asked by the IRS about the content of their prayers, according to the Thomas Moore Society, whose help both groups had sought.  The Coalition for Life of Iowa received a letter asking such questions in June 2009.  The other group was Christian Voices for Life of Fort Bend County, Texas.

Read more at Yahoo News and Fox News.

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Thursday News And Links

A few stories out there:

From ABC News, the IRS official in charge of the division that deals with tax-exempt organizations when Tea Party groups were targeted for extra scrutiny now runs their Affordable Care Act office.

From the American Thinker, a lawsuit against the IRS accuses it of seizing the medical records of 10 million people.

From the Associated Press, an arrest warrant has been issued for former NFL player Chad "Ochocinco" Johnson.

From The Corner at National Review, the Speaker accuses President Obama and his administration of "remarkable arrogance".

From Fox News, the manager of the Fort Campbell sexual assault prevention program has been arrested for allegedly violating an order of protection against his ex-wife.

From the Washington Post, an investigation finds that terrorists who had entered the witness protection program and were given new identities were allowed to board airplanes in the United States.

From the Washington Examiner, Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley has signed legislation passed by the state legislature that has "some of the toughest new gun restrictions in the nation".

The Daily Caller asks if the IRS gave presidential candidate Mitt Romney's tax returns to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

From Newsmax, Catholic League director Bill Donohue claims that his organization was targeted by the IRS.

From Gateway Pundit, the IRS granted applications for tax-exempt status much more quickly for Muslim groups than for Christian or Jewish groups.

From Politico, a second federal court has ruled that President Obama's NLRB appointments were unconstitutional.

From The Guardian, Venezuela has been experiencing a shortage of toilet paper.

Continuing with the British media, a study reported by the Mail Online claims that strong men tend to have rightwing political views.

And from the International Business Times, Canada appears to be the place to watch for UFOs.

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Tuesday Links

Some recent news and opinion:

From ABC News, according to a study done by the Kaiser Family Foundation, 42% of Americans don't know that Obamacare is the law.

In Townhall, John Hawkins gives us 30 reasons to dislike President Obama.

From Breitbart's Big Government, Tea Party Patriots gets ready to rally against the "Gang of Eight" immigration bill.

From the Washington Free Beacon, extremists with ties to Al Qaeda have been using the Boston area as a base ever since 1993.

From Yahoo News, many in the Muslim world want Sharia as the official law of their lands.

From The Examiner, a study finds that over a quarter million Somalis have died from famine and terrorism.

From The Blaze, the FDA has approved over-the-counter sales the "morning after" pill - to girls as young as 15.

From the Washington Post, some officials say that Obama is "moving toward" sending weapons to Syrian rebels.

The American Thinker asks, is Obama working hard or hardly working?

From CNS News, a Miami archbishop says that establishing gay marriage would spread "moral relativism" and eventually bring about tyranny.

The American Spectator tells the story of the "Pigs of Pigford".

From USA Today, a D.C. councilman has introduced a resolution calling for the Washington Redskins to change their name to the Redtails.

And from CBS Sports, San Diego cartoonist Steve Breen welcomes soon-to-be-Charger Manti Te'o.

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Riddle Me This #2

This one comes from the Tipsheet at Townhall:

Why, especially with the Sequester going on, does the Department of Homeland Security need, of all things, bagpipes?

Does this mean that we're headed for our version of the Highland Clearances?  (To learn more, you can also go here and here.)

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Maryland To Tax Rain

When George Harrison wrote his 1966 song Taxman, he did not come up with anything as outlandish as what my state has enacted.  As the saying goes, truth is stranger than fiction.  Here in Maryland, starting this July, we will tax the runoff from rain, to pay for a project intended to decrease the amount of runoff that ends up in the Chesapeake Bay.  (H/T a12iggymom)

Read the story at the Daily Finance (including video below), the Gazette and Intellihub.

UPDATE:  Sorry to say, but the video is no longer available.

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Wednesday Links

Some stories in the news from earlier today:

From Human Events, a crook invades the home of a Colorado prosecutor and meets the Second Amendment.

From Investors Business Daily, as Obamacare crumbles, its namesake goes back to fundraising.

From CNN Money, most individual health insurance plans don't cover everything required by Obamacare.

From the New York Post, basketball player Kobe Bryant praises Magic Johnson's son EJ for coming out.

Also from the New York Post, and from the "you can't make this up" department, five schools in Norway have rescheduled their mid-term exams to allow students to attend a Justin Bieber concert.

From My Fox NY, a school in Ohio has taken down a portrait of Jesus which had been displayed since 1947.

From World Net Daily, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad goes on trial (in absentia) for crimes against humanity.

From the Washington Times, an Islamic cleric has given permission for Syrian rebels to rape non-Sunni women.

From the Jerusalem Post, Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu promises a strong response if rockets are fired into Israel from Gaza.

From the Military Times, North Korea has stopped workers from South Korea from entering an industrial complex in the north, but used by both countries.

From Fox News, the U.S. Military will deploy a missile defense system in Guam, in response to threats from North Korea.

From WKRG, the Carnival Triumph has broken away from her dock.

From the Daily Currant, Egypt has issued an arrest warrant for American comedian Jon Stewart.

And from the Canada Free Press and my neck of the woods, at a hearing by the Maryland legislature, a 15-year-old witness testifies in favor of gun rights.

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Obamacare Draft Application Includes Voter Registration

Representative Charles Boustany (R-LA), who leads the Ways and Means subcommittee on Oversight, while reviewing a draft application for Obamacare benefits, found something that in his view seemed to be a bit odd.  On page 59 of the 61-page draft, there was the question "Would you like to register to vote?"  Nowhere in the healthcare law is voting or registration mentioned.  Boustany apparently believes the question to be misleading in that it could cause some applicants to believe that they must register to vote in order to receive the healthcare benefits.  Currently under the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, states must offer voter registration through any office that provides public assistance.  This application, however, was drafted by the Department of Health and Human Services, part of the federal government.

Read more at the Washington Examiner and The Hill.

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Tuesday News & Links

Some items recently in the news:

From ABC News, in California, environmentalists have proposed a bill that would ban lead ammunition.  (via Gateway Pundit)

From the Daily Caller, gay couples in Colorado will soon be able to have civil unions.

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Missouri State House has passed a "conscience rights" bill.  (via the Rational Review News Digest)

Also from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, a golfer becomes the victim of a very unusual hole-in-one.

From Israel Defense Forces, soldiers with special needs serve in the IDF.

From BBC News, Venezuela will investigate whether their recently-dead president was poisoned.

From MSN News, a "mysterious website" has allegedly hacked and leaked personal information about a variety of well-known people, including the current First Lady.

From Fox News, a New York City cop has been convicted of plotting to kill and eat women.

From Judicial Watch, the president has named the first "African American education czar", and given him the task of reducing "resegregation".  (via Weasel Zippers)

From the Washington Examiner, a picture showing the relative size of the Obamacare law and the regulations being derived it.

From Quartz, a Chinese provincial government is investigating Coca Cola for illegal mapping.

And from Crashdaily, some sequesterial satire.  (What would be the adjective corresponding to the verb or noun "sequester"?  "Sequestrial"?  "Sequesteral"? "Sequestrian"?)

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Court Strikes Down NYC Soda Ban

Via Patriot Update:

Today, New York state Supreme Court judge Milton Tingling has halted New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's ban on serving large size "sugary drinks", which would mainly include sodas, in restaurants and some other establishments.  Under the ban, which would have taken effect tomorrow, the largest available size would be 16 ounces.  In his opinion, Judge Tingling wrote that the "loopholes in this rule effectively defeat the stated purpose of the rule."

Having moved away from New York state a long time ago, I don't know much about its Constitution, and the power that it gives state courts to rule on laws passed by cities and towns.  But for the time being, score one against the nanny state.

Read the story at the Wall Street Journal.

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Riddle Me This

Under the recently-started sequestration, why didn't we have the money to allow the DHS to continue detaining several thousand illegal aliens at their detention centers (setting aside the question of why they couldn't find other places to save money) forcing their release, yet we still can pledge $450M to Egypt?  And do we still intend to grant $307B for research, development and education to expand Internet use in Africa, including a private-public partnership headquartered in Kenya?

The respective sources for these stories are CNS News, BBC News and The Big Bad Bank.

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Monday News And Links

Featuring the impending Sequester and other topics:

From Reason, a report from the Office of Management and Budget includes a section about sequestration's effect on an agency that no longer exists.  (A federal agency was discontinued?  Merged into another one, maybe?)

From the Daily Caller, House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy says that the Sequester amounts to less than what the federal government borrows in a month.

CNS News reports that some government personnel will not be effected by the Sequester - Barry and his predecessors.

From the American Clarion, the Republicans in the Virginia legislature have voted to implement a 3.5% sales tax and to expand Medicaid in accordance with Obamacare. Looks like Virginia now has two tax-and-spend parties.

From Operation Rescue, over on my side of the Potomac, the Maryland Board of Physicians has placed an abortionist on probation after complaints of "substandard care and verbal abuse".

From Slate, the story of a cholera epidemic in Haiti that has claimed over 8,000 lives, and was caused by the UN.

From Rightwing News, 20 of the best pictures from last weekend's "Day Of Resistance" rallies.

From the Washington Times, Mayor Michael Bloomberg calls for New York State to adopt the same ban on large-container sodas now in effect in New York City.

From Weasel Zippers, Vice President Joe Biden says that Americans are "no longer worried" about the economy.  He may be right.  Many of us might either be angry as hell, or just scared out of our minds.

From Business Insider, Secretary of State John Kerry talks about an Asian country that does not exist.

From the Guardian, when First Lady Michelle Obama presented the Oscar for Best Picture to the movie Argo, about a rescue of hostages from Iran, the Iranian media photoshopped her image.

And from SFGate, a man in Portland Maine, charged with disorderly conduct for loud whistling, has reached an agreement with city officials.

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Sunday News & Links

A few items in the news:

From the Jerusalem Post, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu states in a cabinet meeting that the primary objective of the newly-elected government will be "to stop the weaponization of Iran's nuclear program".

From Newsbusters, former Labor Secretary Elaine Chao blasts President Obama's blaming the Republicans for the state of the economy.

From the Guardian, the Internet's creator says that American democracy has been hacked.

From Guns(dot)com, one of the last interviews by former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, who was shot and killed yesterday at a gun range in Texas.

From Breitbart's Big Government, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) backs off on his defense of Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), accused of messing around with underage prostitutes in Colombia.

Let's give Harry a two-fer.  From Breitbart's Big Journalism, Senator Reid admits that he has not read Senator Diane Feinstein's (D-CA) proposed gun legislation.

From the New York Post, city council Speaker Christine Quinn (D) has been filling in on some ceremonial appearances for Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R), whom she hopes to succeed.

From Renew America, a list of military exercises in American cities.

From the Charlotte Observer, Baltimore Ravens linebacker Vonta Leach gives back to his home town of Rowland, NC.

And to finish with some hilarity from Duh Progressive, the career of  famous weather-forecasting groundhog Punxsutawney Phil has come to an end.

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Sunday News And Links

Some items recently in the news:

From Reuters, President Obama says that football needs to become "less violent", invoking the "if I had a son" clause. (via Weasel Zippers)

From Fox News, lawsuits over the Obamacare birth control mandate appear headed to the Supreme Court.

Also from Fox News, Iran sentences Christian pastor Saeed Abedini to eight years in prison.

From the Brenner Brief, an explosion has reportedly occurred at the Fordo nuclear facility in Iran.

From the Weekly Standard, Obama violates his own "Stimulus" law.

From Breitbart Sports, two Egyptian soccer players were shot dead in a riot, which broke out in response to a judge's sentence in a trial of people accused of rioting over a soccer game.  (Perhaps it's this type of football that needs to be less violent, Mr. President.)  In a related story from Middle East Online, 22 people have died in these riots in Port Said.  Al Arabiya News reports 27 people dead.

Back to the American variety of football, and more violence, the New York Post tells the tale of Ray Lewis' homicide case.

From Yahoo News, Obama expresses his respect for the "tradition of hunting".  (via Gateway Pundit)

From the Independent, January 27th is Holocaust Memorial Day.  (via Infidel Blogger's Alliance)

From Newsbusters, a woman explains to Pierce Morgan why she needs an AR-15.

From Dawn, an intense battle rages in the Khyber region of Pakistan between a faction of the Pakistani Taliban and the "pro-government" group Ansar ul Islam.  (via Holger Awakens)

From National Review, the transcript of Congressman Paul Ryan's (R-Wis) speech at the NRI summit.

From the Daily Caller, about 2/3 of polled gun owners said that they would defy a law requiring them to give up their guns.

And to finish, something to eat for breakfast:  Crapola.

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