Holder Ignores Grand Jury, Says Federal Investigation “Remains Ongoing”

Holder Ignores Grand Jury, Says Federal Investigation “Remains Ongoing”. (Matzav).

Attorney General Eric Holder released a statement after news came down that Darren Wilson would not be indicted for the murder of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri:

“While the grand jury proceeding in St. Louis County has concluded, the Justice Department’s investigation into the shooting of Michael Brown remains ongoing. Though we have shared information with local prosecutors during the course of our investigation, the federal inquiry has been independent of the local one from the start, and remains so now. Even at this mature stage of the investigation, we have avoided prejudging any of the evidence. And although federal civil rights law imposes a high legal bar in these types of cases, we have resisted forming premature conclusions.

“Michael Brown’s death was a tragedy. This incident has sparked a national conversation about the need to ensure confidence between law enforcement and the communities they protect and serve. While constructive efforts are underway in Ferguson and communities nationwide, far more must be done to create enduring trust.

The Department will continue to work with law enforcement, civil rights, faith and community leaders across the country to foster effective relationships between law enforcement and the communities they serve and to improve fairness in the criminal justice system overall.

In addition, the Department continues to investigate allegations of unconstitutional policing patterns or practices by the Ferguson Police Department.

“Though there will be disagreement with the grand jury’s decision not to indict, this feeling should not lead to violence. Those who decide to participate in demonstrations should remember the wishes of Michael Brown’s parents, who have asked that remembrances of their son be conducted peacefully. It does not honor his memory to engage in violence or looting. In the coming days, it will likewise be important for local law enforcement authorities to respect the rights of demonstrators, and deescalate tensions by avoiding excessive displays-and uses-of force.”

Sharpton: "We were not surprised" at the grand jury's decision, which is why we wanted to take it to federal gov't at the start. #Ferguson

— Conflict News (@rConflictNews) November 25, 2014

ADL To Kerry: 'Your Threats Destroy Peace Talks'.

ADL To Kerry: 'Your Threats Destroy Peace Talks'.(INN).

In yet another backlash, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) issued a letter slamming the boycott threats against Israel from US Secretary of State John Kerry Tuesday.

Kerry's comments at the Munich Security Conference Saturday have sparked an immense backlash from the Israeli government. 

He said then, "today’s status quo absolutely, to a certainty, I promise you 100 percent, cannot be maintained. It’s not sustainable. It’s illusionary," Kerry stated. 

"You see for Israel there’s an increasing de-legitimization campaign that has been building up [. . .] there are talk of boycotts and other kinds of things. Are we all going to be better with all of that?" 

The ADL's response strongly condemns Kerry's comments. 

The full text reads: 

Dear Mr. Secretary:

We are writing to you at this moment with great respect for the exemplary and devoted efforts you are putting in to try to move peace forward between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

We have all witnessed the suffering and loss on all sides as the conflict continues year after year, decade after decade. We welcome your perseverance and optimism in trying to accomplish something that has eluded others time and again.

It is with this perspective in mind that we regretfully read of your comments this past weekend in Munich. In speaking about the price Israel will pay if the peace talks break down and Israel is blamed, you may have thought you were merely describing reality. But as the key player in the process, the impact of your comments was to create a reality of its own.

Describing the potential for expanded boycotts of Israel makes it more, not less, likely that the talks will not succeed; makes it more, not less, likely that Israel will be blamed if the talks fail; and more, not less, likely that boycotts will ensue. Your comments, irrespective of your intentions, will inevitably be seen by Palestinians and anti-Israel activists as an incentive not to reach an agreement; as an indicator that if things fall apart, Israel will be blamed; and as legitimizing boycott activity.

What is particularly troubling about your comments is the absence of similar tough talk about the consequences for Palestinians should the talks fail. We make this comment not in search of some theoretical balance. Rather, its absence suggests a historical amnesia about why there has been no peace and no solution all these years. Israel always must be willing to compromise for peace and at different times it is not unreasonable to ask Israel to do more.

But the core of the conflict was and remains Palestinian unwillingness to accept Israel's legitimacy and permanence as a Jewish state. That is why the Palestinians rejected the 1947 partition, that is why they rejected recognizing Israel after the 1967 war, and that is why Israeli offers at Camp David in 2000 and Annapolis in 2008 were rejected or allowed to go unanswered.  It is Palestinians who must hear the message that not only has their rejectionism been the major obstacle to peace, but it has also been the main source of their suffering and misery over the years. It is time for them to make the qualitative leap toward peace and acceptance of the legitimacy of the Jewish state.

It is encouraging that reportedly in the talks you are raising these matters with the Palestinians. Your comments in Munich, however, threaten to undo all this by ignoring the historic compulsion of the Palestinians to look for ever new reasons and incentives to reject the Jewish state. Concerns of the kind you expressed therefore would have been better left unsaid or at most discussed in private conversations with Israeli representatives.

We wish you continued success in moving this process forward. We urge you to understand, however, that those who are most against peace are the ones who will benefit the most from the unintended encouragement in the comments you expressed in Munich.

Abraham D. Foxman, ADL National Director.

The letter joins a chorus of resistance against Kerry's boycott claims, which elicited outrage from Israeli officials and Jewish American leaders alike. Some public figures - including Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and US State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki - continue to defend Kerry's comments. Despite this, a clear backlash continues - and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is not buying the threat.

"Attempts to impose a boycott on the State of Israel are immoral and unjust," Netanyahu stated, at the opening of his weekly cabinet meeting. "Moreover, they will not achieve their goal."

Pentagon Under Fire Over purchase of Russian Helicopters for Afghanistan.

Pentagon Under Fire Over purchase of Russian Helicopters for Afghanistan.(RN).

The US Defense Department is facing allegations that it misled Congress over the purchase of Russian helicopters for Afghan security forces amid revelations that a Pentagon study recommended an American-built aircraft for the job, the Associated Press reported.

The United States has bought dozens of Russian military transport helicopters for use in Afghanistan in the past two years, at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars, arguing that Afghan forces are more familiar with the aircraft.
But unclassified excerpts from a top-secret Pentagon study describes the US Army’s Chinook helicopter as “the most cost-effective single platform type fleet for the Afghan Air Force over a 20-year” period, the AP reported.

“Why are we buying Russian helicopters when there are American manufacturers that can meet that very same requirement?” US Senator John Cornyn of Texas was quoted by the AP as saying.

Cornyn has been leading a push in Congress to oppose the Russian helicopter deals because of Moscow’s weapons shipments to the government in Syria of President Bashar Assad, whose forces are fighting a brutal civil war against armed rebel groups.
Russia has insisted that it is fulfilling existing contracts with Syria and that the deliveries are legal under international law. Moscow has also raised questions about the composition and goals of the various armed groups fighting the Assad regime.
Congress recently received a copy of the report with the description of the Chinook helicopters, produced in Pennsylvania by US aerospace giant Boeing, the AP reported. A senior Pentagon official was quoted by the AP as saying that the report was focused on long-term requirements and not the immediate needs of Afghan security forces.
The US has purchased 63 Mi-17V-5 military transport helicopters from state-run Russian arms exporter Rosoboronexport for use by the Afghan National Army.
The Pentagon said last month that it had scrapped plans to purchase additional helicopters from Rosoboronexport, a move it said was made after a re-evaluation of requirements for Afghan forces “in consultation with Congress.”

Cornyn has described purchases of hardware from the Russian arms maker as a “morally bankrupt policy” tantamount to “subsidizing Assad’s war crimes in Syria.”

The US and several other countries accuse the Assad regime of being behind an August 21 chemical weapons attack outside Damascus that Washington claims left more than 1,400 dead.
The Syrian government has blamed the attack on rebel groups it has been battling since March 201. It has since agreed to a Russia-brokered deal to destroy its chemical weapons arsenal.Hmmm.....Cmon guys...let's be 'Flexible'

Fisker Karma files for bankruptcy, U.S. Taxpayer looses another 139 Million Dollar? OBAMA ‘STIMULUS INVESTMENT’.

Finnish automaker files for bankruptcy, U.S. Taxpayer looses another 139 Million Dollar OBAMA ‘STIMULUS INVESTMENT.HT: GreenAutoblog.

After 18 months of not building any vehicles, plug-in vehicle company Fisker finally threw in the Chapter 11 towel today, filing for bankruptcy protection. 

The Department of Energy sold its Fisker assets to Hybrid Tech Holdings LLC for $25 million, at a reported $139-million loss. Other reports say the DOE invested $192 million in Fisker, and only got around $53 million back. The DOE put Fisker up for auction last month. Fisker also apparently owes creditors up to a billion dollars. Whatever the exact figures, the point is that the Fisker saga now enters a new phase.Hmmmm.....I thought it was more like HALF A BILLION TAXPAYER MONEY.

Related:

Justin Bieber's new birthday 'TOY' - A Fisker Karma Car Costs $112,000, but Costs Taxpayers $529,000,000.

Fisker Automotive, a California based company with an Al Gore venture capital firm connection was given a $529 million loan from the Department of Energy to provide manufacturing jobs and produce these high-tech electric cars.
But there is only one problem — the cars are built in Finland.
Why Finland?
Here is the answer provided by Fisker Automotive company founder Henri Fisker. “There was no contract manufacturer in the U.S. that could actually produce our vehicle,” he told ABC News, “They don’t exist here.”
Given the dismal state of U.S. manufacturing, Fisker’s statement does not surprise me. But what does surprise and infuriate me is $529 million of our hard earned tax money went into building this lavish product that only one half of one percent of our population could ever dream of driving.
Tuesday night when President Obama gave his State of the Union message he conveniently forgot to include this tawdry tale of economic excellence in his “America is Back” themed speech.
Obama-nomics means the smallest fraction of the population — the same ones Obama says need to pay more taxes — now have the opportunity to pay $112,000 for sporty new set of electric wheels. Meanwhile, the rest of us already paid $529 million for a car we have never heard of, let alone can afford, while the Fins got the jobs.Hmmmm.......'Cheap' advertising ...."Leanardo Di Caprio and Justin Bieber".Read the full story here.

Video - Rep. Louie Gohmert: White House Using 'Al Capone' Tactics.

Video - Rep. Louie Gohmert: White House Using 'Al Capone' Tactics.HT: Newsmax.

The Obama administration is guilty of "Chicago thuggery" in its shutting of national monuments, which cost the government more closed than they do open, Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas says.

"We've got inquiries . . . to find out how much did you spend to close down open-air monuments and parks and roads that you don't spend a dime of money on," Gohmert, a Republican, told "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV.

"But we know he is willing to spend money just to inflict hurt . . . and it has more to do with Chicago thuggery. You know, Al Capone was willing to make people hurt if they didn't go along with the proposals," he said Tuesday.

President Obama and the case of the missing 'INSPECTORS GENERAL'.

President Obama and the case of the missing 'INSPECTORS GENERAL'.HT: AlwaysOnWatch.
About Inspectors General:

...Established by the Inspector General Act of 1978, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) examines all actions of a government agency or military organization. Conducting audits and investigations, either independently or in response to reports of wrongdoing, the OIG ensures that the agency’s operations are in compliance with the law and general established policies of the government. Audits conducted by the OIG are intended to ensure the effectiveness of security procedures, or to discover the possibility of misconduct, waste, fraud, theft, or certain types of criminal activity by individuals or groups related to the agency’s operation. Misuse of agency funds or equipment are often revealed by OIG audits....

Obama's approach to inspectors general:

...Over the past few years Barack Obama has attempted to starve the beast by refusing to fill vacancies in the ranks of Inspectors General as they have arisen. The White House been routinely chided for years over its negligence. Timothy Smith of the Washington Post reported in May of 2011 that "there were 10 IG vacancies, including five at cabinet-level agencies. Four of them had been vacant for more than 3 years."...

America's system of government has many checks and balances. Obama is deliberately thwarting our system of checks and balances and, at the same time, declaring that Americans need not worry about tyranny.

Wake up, America! This is who you've got sitting in the Oval Office.

Report: Top IRS officials knew of Tea Party targeting two years ago.

Report: Top IRS officials knew of Tea Party targeting two years ago. HT: TheHill.Senior officials with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) knew the agency was targeting Tea Party groups as early as 2011, according to a report.

The Associated Press reported Saturday that an upcoming report from a federal watchdog will find that top officials were aware of the targeting two years ago.

The report from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) is slated to be released next week — the AP obtained a draft copy of the report.

According to that draft, the head of the IRS division that overseas tax-exempt groups became aware that conservative groups were being targeted for scrutiny in June, 2011. The report does not say whether Douglas Shulman, IRS commissioner at the time, was aware of it.

In 2012, Shulman testified before Congress alongside other senior IRS officials, and vowed that the agency was above politics, and was not targeting any groups on a partisan basis. Shulman left the IRS at the end of 2012.

The news comes as the IRS is facing criticism from all sides for a decision to place additional scrutiny on groups that described themselves using the words "tea party" and "patriot." The IRS apologized for the action on Friday, and laid blame for the decision on lower-level employees based in Ohio.

“We made some mistakes,” said Lois Lerner, director of the agency's tax-exempt team. “For that, we apologize.”

Lerner maintained Friday that the decision to carve out groups with Tea Party affiliations for review was not due to partisan motives, but rather a misguided attempt to streamline applications by sorting them into issue groups.

Lerner said the employees behind the decision were "less sensitive than they should have been about the impact this might have."

The apology, which came after Tea Party groups accused the IRS of targeting them, set off a cascade of criticism from Capitol Hill, as well as the White House.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) called for a top-to-bottom review by the administration of the federal government to ensure such "thuggish practices" are not in place elsewhere. Top Republicans in the House said they would be independently investigating the matter.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney called the action "inappropriate" and said it would be thoroughly investigated by TIGTA. However, he also added that the IRS is an "independent enforcement agency" with only two political appointees at its head.Read the full story here.

"Chicago Politics" - Reagan's home could become a parking lot for Obama's library.

"Chicago Politics" - Reagan's home could become a parking lot for Obama's library.(WT).By William Kelly.CHICAGO, Illinois, January 25, 2013  - A new Cold War is brewing here in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood and it has nothing to do with the frigid temperature.
The apartment building at 832 E. 57th Street was once the Chicago home of a boy who would become a President.It was at the apartment’s first floor window that a young Ronald Reagan looked out upon the world.
But some powerful Chicagoans are planning to demolish Reagan’s historic home. Is it politically motivated? Is Mayor Rahm Emanuel behind the move?
It was a different world back in 1915. Reagan's family had moved here from Tampico, Illinois. His father had gotten a job at the famed Marshall Field’s – now only a memory. A coin-operated gas lamp was the only home’s only source of heat. But it didn’t stop a young “Dutch” Reagan from dreaming.
What makes a man great? And what makes a great president? Historians pen large tomes about that. Every man is the sum of his experiences – his loves, his losses, his achievements, and failures. How he sees the world and how the world sees him. And this place – this place was a part of Reagan’s formative years – what he discovered and experienced here in Chicago helped him on the way to greatness. Now, the University of Chicago Medical Center has announced plans to turn Reagan’s Chicago home into a parking lot.
In 2012, the Commission on Chicago Landmarks denied Reagan’s home landmark status. The University of Chicago set demolition for January and the bulldozers quickly moved in. The wrecking balls are ready.
A "plaque" could mark the historic spot instead, say university representatives.
In January, Reagan’s home was granted a last minute stay of execution by the City of Chicago, at least for now. But the clock is ticking and it could be 90 days or less before demolition begins.
While the university is planning to kill Reagan’s home, University of Chicago is also aggressively lobbying to be the site of President Barack Obama’s presidential library.
Could the Reagan site become a parking lot for Obama’s library? Opponents of the demolition say yes.
There is good reason for them to be suspicious.
First Lady Michelle Obama and the president’s close advisor Valerie Jarrett are former top executives of the University of Chicago Medical Center. President Obama was a lecturer at the law school for twelve years. And let’s not forget, Obama’s Hyde Park home is here too.
This is still Chicago. Barack Obama’s Chicago. Rahm Emanuel’s Chicago. It is safe to say that Democrats don’t want any reminders of a Republican president named Reagan and his glory days a stone’s throw from a future Obama Presidential Library.
Better to raze the building now, than later. But do they have the right to erase Ronald Reagan from Chicago history?Hmmmm......'Rewriting History' isn't enough for them it seems. Now it's 'This town ain't big enough for the both of us"?Read the full story here.

William J. Kelly is an Emmy award-winning TV producer and conservative columnist. He is also a contributor to the American Spectator and Breitbart.com. He is a native from Chicago's Southside.

Attorney General Holder to Stay into Second Term ‘About a Year,’ Source Says.

Attorney General Holder to Stay into Second Term ‘About a Year,’ Source Says.(PU).Attorney General Eric Holder will honor President Obama’s request to stay into the second term and but will remain on the job only “for about a year,” Fox News confirmed Monday.

A senior administration official told Fox News that Obama does not want a mass exodus at the start of his second term, especially with his national security team going through major changes. And Secretary of State Hillary Clinton already has said she will leave soon.The Wall Street Journal reported earlier that Holder has accepted the president’s request to stay temporarily.Hmmmmm.........God forbid he gets nominated to the SCOTUS or maybe both?Read the full story here.

"Chicago Politics" - ARMED FORCES BALLOTS MAILED FROM AFGHANISTAN: Yep. They Were "Lost".

"Chicago Politics" - ARMED FORCES BALLOTS MAILED FROM AFGHANISTAN: Yep. They Were "Lost".(DougRoss).
But I'm sure Eric Holder will launch a thorough investigation any second now:
Postal officials are investigating the apparent loss of some absentee ballots mailed from Afghanistan.
A contractor who sent an email to Military Times said his county elections clerk in Texas had not received his ballot or his co-worker’s ballot by Thursday, although they mailed the ballots Sept. 27. “The Bagram Airfield Army post office placed Express mail tracking numbers on them, placed the ballots in an orange ‘Ballot Box,’ and probably in a dedicated mail bag. “If our ballots got lost, how many other ballots are lost as well?” he wrote. 
Military Postal Service Agency officials are working with the U.S. Postal Service to resolve the issue, said James Clark, chief of the operations division of the Military Postal Service Agency. It’s unknown whether other ballots may have been affected. The contractor stated the tracking information shows their ballots are still in Bahrain, and have been sitting there since Sept. 30. Once again, the votes of our best and brightest are suppressed, while the Obama administration tacitly encourages illegal immigrants, felons and the dead to vote Democrat.Hmmmm......."Don't think we're not keeping score, brother." That's what President Barack Obama said to Rep. Peter DeFazio in a closed-door meeting of the House Democratic Caucus last week, according to the Associated Press.Read the full story here.

A Cancer at the Center of the Presidency: Robert Roche a Chinese Agent-Of-Influence?

A Cancer at the Center of the Presidency: Robert Roche a Chinese Agent-Of-Influence?HT: Breitbart.Agent-of-Influence (def.): a well-placed, trusted contact who actively and consciously serves a foreign interest or foreign intelligence services on some matters while retaining his integrity on others. On August, 19, 2011, during the heat of the Obama Administration’s trade negotiations with China, Vice President Joe Biden huddled with his top trade advisors at the St. Regis Hotel in Beijing, China. One seat away from Mr. Biden sat Robert Roche.
Mr. Roche is a mysterious figure, an American expatriate and Obama bundler living in Shanghai, China. Mr. Roche’s company, Acorn International, is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange and is in partnership with Hu Jintao’s government.
The importance of this partnership was exemplified at the 2011 State Dinner for Chinese President Hu Jintao (above), where something rare and virtually unprecedented in American politics occurred.

Three living presidents--Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter--all attended the event and were seated at the head table. Also seated at the power table were Sen. John Kerry and his billionaire wife, Theresa Heinz Kerry; General Electric chief Jeffrey Immelt; Coca Cola Chairman and CEO Muhtar Kent; and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Joining them was Robert Roche--a man whose inconsequential infomercial business hawks everything from cell phones, to exercise equipment, to breast enhancement products. Telegraphing his influence, Mr. Roche received the most coveted honor of all, a seat just one seat away from President Obama. 

Left in the cheap seats were former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and numerous other titans of politics, finance, and business with billions of dollars in assets in China, including JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon, CEO of Disney Robert Iger, and Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein.
How does a person like Roche--of such little consequence--rate a seat at the power table of the decade? Simple: it was to give Mr. Roche “face” in front of Chinese senior officials--the most valuable currency in Asia.
Since 2009, the name Robert Roche has appeared in the White House Visitor Logs 19 times, despite the fact that Mr. Roche does not reside in Georgetown but in Shanghai, some 10,000 miles away. Those visits include a December 21, 2009, private meeting with President Obama in the Oval Office; two meetings with then-Chief of Staff William Daley; a meeting with Deputy Chief of Staff Kristen J Sheehey in the West Wing; and a West Wing meeting with Assistant to the President Pete Rouse.Breitbart News has learned that a major television network tried to track Robert Roche down with no luck. Newsweek contacted Mr. Roche by email but he declined comment. On Sunday, the New York Post reports that efforts to reach Mr. Roche for comment had been unsuccessful. "Roche’s mother in Chicago referred calls to the Obama campaign," wrote the Post's Isabel Vincent and Melissa Klein. "The campaign declined to comment." But Americans deserve to know immediately why an infomercial executive with direct business ties to the Chinese regime has gained such influence and proximity to power inside the Obama White House.Read the full story here.

"Chicago Politics" - Obama Campaign Shakedown Email.

"Chicago Politics" - Obama Campaign Shakedown Email.HT: BarracudaBrigade. The title of the email makes it even creepier: “Drew: Here’s your personal record of support”.

Hmmmm........I'm surprised they don't end with "The IRS will be Grateful to see your contribution, you don't want to upset them....... do you?"Read the full story here.

Police: Apparently drunken Secret Service officer arrested after Obama trip, hit Miami police.

Police: Apparently drunken Secret Service officer arrested after Obama trip, hit Miami police.(Yahoo).MIAMI - A Secret Service officer was arrested early Friday after being found passed out and apparently drunk on a Miami street corner several hours after President Barack Obama left the state following day trip to the city, police in Florida said.
A Miami police officer found Aaron Francis Engler around 7 a.m., lying near an intersection not far from a popular night spot in downtown Miami. According to an arrest affidavit, Engler had bloodshot eyes, slurred speech and a strong odour of alcohol. He was arrested on two misdemeanour counts after becoming combative with the arresting officer. Police say Engler started throwing his arms around while he was being searched and hit the officer in the chin.
Miami police say Engler has been released to members of the Secret Service's Miami field office.
The Secret Service in Washington said the case will be turned over to the agency's Office of Professional Responsibility.
A law enforcement official said Engler was assigned to the agency's uniformed division and was in Miami in a support role while the president was visiting. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the officer's job with the agency.
Obama was in Miami Thursday for a campaign rally at the University of Miami and an evening fundraiser.Hmmm........How does the song go again?"What shalll we do with a drunken S......."Read the full story here.

Chairman of the Republican National Committee asks for FBI investigation of Obama’s online donations.

Chairman of the Republican National Committee asks for FBI investigation of Obama’s online donations.(DC).The Republican National Committee is spotlighting campaign-season worries that Team Obama is in covertly violating campaign laws by accepting online donations from foreigners. Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, announced today he’s asking Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate the president’s fund-raising system. “The President’s campaign committee does not use the industry standard practices to guard against receiving fraudulent or excessive contributions via the internet… I therefore call on the Department of Justice to investigate this troubling pattern of behavior by the President’s campaign,’ said Priebus in a Oct. 11 letter to Holder.The request follows an investigation by the Government Accountability Institute, which highlighted the campaign’s low-grade anti-fraud measures, the large amount of online traffic between the campaign’s fundraising pages and overseas Internet users, plus foreigners’ claims they had donated to the campaign.

“This new report suggests that the President’s campaign did not take the appropriate measures to correct for the vulnerabilities uncovered during the previous election cycle, in which reports surfaced that the president’s campaign accepted a large number of excessive contributions and contributions from donors using fake names, suggesting a pattern of questionable behavior that is troubling,” Priebus wrote to Holder.Few Republicans think Holder will launch an investigation, but the request may spur coverage by the established media of the fund-raising concerns, which appear to be a repeat of Obama’s fund-raising practices in 2008.

In 2008, Obama’s campaign declined to use commonplace online anti-fraud services, received donations from foreigners and accepted donations from unidentifiable sources.Hmmmm....Anyone believing Holder will 'investigate' .... I've got a bridge for sale.Read the full story here.

Hmmmm: Obama Campaign Allowing IP Proxies for Donors.

Hmmmm: Obama Campaign Allowing IP Proxies for Donors.HT: TheJawaReport.
Quite frankly, four years ago the Obama campaign had a lot of illegal foreign donations and it didn't affect the outcome of the election one iota, so why waste our time on it?
However, this time it's getting interesting.
John E. has this about the weak security that Obama uses to match donor information from redirects which are mostly foreign, and Doug Ross now sees evidence in the websites html that Obama's people are intentionally allowing proxy IP's to be used by their donors.
That last bit? That's more than a little fishy.

Hmmm......Website "Obama.com" Redirects Visitors To Obama's Official Donation Page, Despite 68% of Its Visitors Being Overseas And Presumably Ineligible to Donate To An American CampaignRead the full story here

Confirmed Spanish firm to provide overseas military ballots.

Confirmed Spanish firm to provide overseas military ballots.(WND).By Aaron Klein.During one of the most hotly contested elections in recent U.S. history, the number of military absentee ballot requests is strangely down by staggering numbers compared to the 2008 election. The information comes as WND confirmed today that SCYTL, an international firm headquartered in Spain, has been contracted by seven states to provide secure online ballot delivery for overseas military and civilian voters for the upcoming presidential election. Michelle M. Shafer, SCYTL’s director of communications and government affairs, told WND that her company has been contracted by New York, Arkansas, Alabama, West Virginia, Alaska, Puerto Rico and Mississippi to provide the overseas ballots. She said the ballots will be delivered via online PDF files by SCYTL and not by the company’s U.S. subsidiary, SOE Software.
In January, SCYTL purchased SOE Software, the leading U.S. electronic voting firm. Next month’s election marks the second time SCYTL will provide overseas balloting. During the 2010 midterm elections, the company was contracted by the Defense Department’s Federal Voting Assistance Program to support overseas military and civilian voting in nine of the 20 States that agreed to participate in the program. SCYTL was the provider with the highest number of participating states during that election.
The Defense Department has been coming under fire after reports of an exponentially low number of requests for military absentee ballots this year compared to the 2008 election. The Military Voter Protection Project last week released the results of a study listing the number of requests in key states such as Virginia, where military absentee ballot requests are down 92 percent compared to 2008. In Ohio, only 9,700 absentee ballots have been requested as of late September compared to more than 32,000 in 2008.Hmmmm.....Something smells here and it ain't manure.Read the full story here.

Sen. Graham: Obama move on defense layoff notices 'patently illegal'.

Sen. Graham: Obama move on defense layoff notices 'patently illegal'.(TheHill).Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) says that he will do anything he can to block the Obama administration from reimbursing defense contractors for severance costs if the firms don’t send layoff notices to employees. The Obama administration issued guidance Friday that said defense firms’ costs would be covered if they have to layoff workers due to canceled contracts under the across-the-board cuts set to take effect Jan. 2.The layoff notices have become a politically charged issue because they could have come just four days ahead of the election because of a 60-day notice required by federal law for mass layoffs. Graham and other Republicans were livid after the Obama administration issued the guidance on Friday telling contractors that their legal costs would be covered due to canceled contracts under sequestration, but only if they did not issue layoff notices before sequestration occurs — and before the November election. “I will do everything in my power to make sure not one taxpayer dollar is spent reimbursing companies for failure to comply with WARN Act,” Graham told The Hill in a phone interview Monday. “That is so beyond the pale — I think it’s patently illegal.”
Graham said Monday he was “very surprised” that Lockheed decided not to issue the notices, which could have come as early as Wednesday in states with a 90-day notice requirement. “This is a complete turnaround,” Graham said. “This reeks of politics, and quite frankly the legally reasoning being pushed by OMB makes no sense for me.” Democrats argue that the contractors’ threats to issue mass layoff notices just ahead of the election was a political move.Read the full story here.

Emails show Obama Admin involvement in killing Non - union Auto Pensions.

Emails show Obama Admin involvement in killing Non - union Auto Pensions.(HE).By: John Hayward.Matthew Boyle of the Daily Caller reports that internal emails show Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner was “the driving force” behind terminating the pensions of 20,000 non-union retirees from the Delphi auto parts manufacturing company, as part of the government’s bailout plan for General Motors. Union workers, on the other hand, “saw their pensions topped off and made whole.” This decision was supposed to be made by the independent Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, which is meant to be free of political influence, so it can represent the interests of private-sector pensioners. Instead, the Daily Caller unearthed a string of emails that show extensive involvement by the Treasury Department and the White House.
In one email, PBGC staffer Joseph House told his associates that he had just spoken with Treasury official Matt Feldman, who said he had “made progress discussing our proposal with a number of key folks in Treasury and at [the] White House, but he has not yet wrapped up his coordination. He indicated that there is an 8 AM call tomorrow that he’ll use to close the communication-loop, and he’s confident he’ll have a fully-vetted Treasury view after that call.” This is problematic not only because of appearances, but because Treasury officials have testified under oath that the PBGC terminated those pensions, not the Administration. It’s tough to read the correspondence between PBGC and Treasury without concluding that Administration officials were running the show. Especially troubling is a series of emails that show PBGC staffers were actually disinvited from a key early meeting of the Administration’s auto bailout team. The meeting was clearly intended to include a discussion of the pension situation, but Joseph House told other staffers that the Treasury department had “uninvited” them. This is more than merely controversial, because as Boyle notes, “without a PBGC representative in the room, Treasury officials were legally prohibited from making decision about pensions – or even from moving toward them.” Despite this effort to save money at the expense of non-union employees, the GM bailout remains a titanic loss to the taxpayers, currently standing at roughly $35 billion with the recent dip in stock prices.Hmmmm......."Impeachable acts"?Read the full story here.

"Chicago's love for Baseball Bats" - Some Turks call foul over Obama-Erdogan bat photo

"Chicago's love for Baseball Bats" - Some Turks call foul over Obama-Erdogan bat photo.(AA).A photograph of U.S. President Barack Obama holding a baseball bat while talking on the phone to Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan was intended to show their close relationship, a White House spokeswoman said, after the photo caused a stir in Turkey. The two leaders spoke on Monday to discuss the crisis in Syria, after which the photograph of Obama seated at his desk, talking on the phone while holding a bat autographed by black-American baseball great Hank Aaron, was released by the White House.
“The photo reveals from whom our Prime Minister receives orders to rule the country,” Metin Lutfi Baydar, a lawmaker with Turkey’s main opposition party the Republican People’s Party (CHP), said in a statement. CHP vice president Umut Oran asked through parliament if Erdogan had seen the picture and if he would take action against “an implicit insult to Turkey and its citizens”. Some newspapers took a more lighthearted view, with columnist Ahmet Hakan of Hurriyet writing: “We need to do something - retaliation seems to be the most reasonable method.” “Our prime minister needs to hold something in his hand as he’s calling Obama,” he added, suggesting as possible candidates a slipper, a belt or a rolling pin. White House spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said in a written statement on Friday that her department had seen the commentary and speculation about the photo in the Turkish media. “We released the photo with only one purpose in mind, to highlight the President’s continuing close relationship with Prime Minister Erdogan and draw attention to the important conversation they had about the worsening situation in Syria,” she said. Hmmm....."Chicago Politics"?Read the full story here.

                                            Al Capone - "The Untouchables".

Mayor Rahm Emanuel wins the award Chicago named "The Deadliest Global City".

Source: Crime in Chicago.