The Highlands Tea Party

Rampant INjustice v2

America is in trouble patriots, it is time our Representatives step up to the oath of office they took,  and start doing their job, This President has to go and they have the necessary information to accomplish it, they just don’t have the you know whats!

“I, AB, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely,

No one twisted their arm to take this job and the responsibilities that come along with it.

We have an enemy within, it is time that they address this enemy, and impeach him!

Those on the left can deny this as much as you want, Folks it is on video, and hundreds of witnesses.

I hope you like living under this NAZI regime, but beware it may happen to you any day, just because you voted for Obama does not mean you are protected!

IRS Audits have soared 32% under Eric Holder and the Obama Administration, many businesses stating that most all of the raids  have been Para-Military fully armed raids.

This is happening to small business with great reputations and having never been in trouble .

What has happened to Habeas Corpus where you are not allowed to be retained anywhere without proper legal process and a lawyer.

The states need to step in and bring a halt to this within their borders.

This president is ruling under the Emperor, King like order, circumventing the written law and the Constitution.

JEN

HEADLINE NEWS
News you will not see on ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC

NEWS LINKS FROM THE FLORIDA 2104 LEGISLATIVE SESSION

Click on the Blue Headline to read the story

• Florida Senate Marks Signing of the Florida GI Bill – 3-31-2014
• Senator Don Gaetz Update 03/31/2014
• Senate Budget Prioritizes K-12 Education Funding, Tax Relief, Reserves

Click on Blue Headline for the story   Updated 04/18/2014

• Denver changing the rules to hire undocumented immigrants as teachers 04/18/2014
• New Dem Strategy: Stop Running From Obamacare - 04/17/2014

LAST UPDATED 04/06/2014

Click on links to sign letters/petitions

• PLEASE CLICK HERE AND SIGN THE PETITION Stop federal control of Florida’s education system through Common Core! 04/06/2014
• It’s Time for Real Leadership – FIRE THE SPEAKER! – SIGN THE PETITION CLICK HERE – 03/12/2014.
• It is our duty to impeach a Lawless President Click here to sign the petition - LIBERTY COUNSEL – 02/03/2014

Check out the “RED” side bars for Interesting links.  
“COMMON CORE” “INFO VIDEOS” , “POLLS”, “HEADLINE NEWS & ACTION ITEMS”,”AGENDA 21″,
“LETTERS TO EDITOR” “KRISSANNE HALL”, ” A VOICE FOR FREEDOM”, and many more.

Link up to the Highlands Tea Party, Contact Jeanne: jlparz@comcast.net,  Join our mailing list get the  latest alerts and web page updates. The Highlands Tea Party meets each Tuesday evening 6:00 PM at Homers Smorgasbord, 1000 Sebring Square, Sebring, FL 33872

The Highlands Tea Party is a member of the following organizations

Common Core Lesson Teaches that America is a Racist Nation

April 8, 2014 By Jennifer Burke

The United States Constitution gives no authority to the federal government over education. In fact, since education is not listed as an enumerated power within the authority of the federal government, by law, the authority of education is left in the hands of state and local governments. But, that has not stopped the federal government from attempting to get their grubby hands all over the education of youth.

Ever since the establishment of the Department of Education by then President Jimmy Carter, we have witnessed states scrambling to meet the requirements as set forth by the feds. Republican presidents have even infringed on the state’s authority over education. A prime example is George W. Bush’s ‘No Child Left Behind’ law.

With the introduction of Common Core ‘standards’, schools around the nation have witnessed not only a decline in the academic standards expected of children under the guise of improving problem solving skills, but we have seen numerous examples of children being exposed to very disturbing and dangerous lessons.

Much has been made of the nonsensical Math lessons courtesy of Common Core and the elimination of the great classics of literature in favor of informative, progressive pieces. However, one lesson that should concern Americans comes courtesy of Barack Obama himself. His biography has been, not surprisingly, designated as an approved piece of Common Core literature. As a result, 4th graders in some parts of America are being taught a narrative as reality that we have witnessed the President and his lackey media push over the last 5 years. Our children are being taught that America is, at its core, a racist nation.

This shouldn’t come as a great surprise since one can’t disagree with the policies or actions of Barack Obama without being labeled as a racist or bigot. But, this indoctrination of our youth should have Americans everywhere worried.

The story was initially underreported last fall, so it bears bringing to the forefront again. The website BeforeItsNews.com reported on this disturbing revelation.

Children at Bluffview Elementary who have been assigned to read the book, entitled “Barack Obama,” published by Lerner Publications and a part of Scholastic’s “Reading Counts” program, were informed on page 40 that despite Obama being a “nice fellow,” many allegedly believed that no white American would vote for him in 2008 based solely on the color of his skin.

“But some people said Americans weren’t ready for that much change. Sure Barack was a nice fellow, they said. But white voters would never vote for a black president,” the book reads.

The book, approved for children as young as seven years old, also goes on to specifically mention controversial comments made by President Obama’s former pastor Jeremiah Wright, while also claiming that the president has worked to bring whites and blacks together.

The book’s comments were brought to the attention of the “Moms Against Duncan” Facebook page, a group of parents and education activists opposed to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan who recently claimed that “white suburban moms” only opposed Common Core because it showed that their children weren’t as smart as they thought, attempting to paint the nation-wide backlash against the curriculum as a race based issue.

“Would it have been possible for him to be elected (twice) without the support of vast numbers of white Americans?” one member stated.

The book appears to follow the viewpoint that all opposition to the president is based purely on race, which has reached near-comedic levels in its absurdity. Some are now even claiming that opposition to Obamacare is pure racism, despite 55 percent of the public being opposed to its disastrous roll out as millions get dropped from their current providers.

Be aware of what is being taught in your neighborhood schools. This type of dangerous indoctrination can have serious effects on the mindset of our youth and the direction of this country.

Florida and Alaska Officially Pass Convention of States Application

Mark Meckler April 23, 2014 News
From sea to shining sea, the Convention of States movement is sweeping the nation.

I’m pleased to announce that Florida and Alaska have both officially passed the Convention of States application to limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government.

The Alaska Senate passed the Convention of States application (HJR 22) on Saturday by a vote of 12-8, and the Florida House passed the Convention of States application (SM 476) yesterday by a voice vote.

Our deepest thanks go to our volunteers in these two states. Their commitment to write letters, make phone calls, and attend committee hearings made this victory possible. Their voices were heard, and we’re now two steps closer to calling the first-ever Article V Convention of States.

It’s been an amazing year so far, and we predict even more states will follow Florida and Alaska’s lead. If you’d like to get involved in your state, you can do so by signing up in the Action Center.

Thank you, once again, for your hard work, dedication, and love for these United States.

Florida’s Voters Number One Political Issue- Stopping the Machine
Common Core

The political tsunami has began against those politicians who refuse to listen to Florida’s voters (parents and grandparents of our children). In a landslide, “the outsider, Curt Clawson” beat the establishment’s political machine in congressional district 19 ‘s special election, republican primary for Congress, with a simple but honest message. As The Shark Tank editoralized “The political newbie’s genuine pro-life, anti-Common Core, and economic prosperity message,which garnered him the endorsement of the conservative Eagle Forum and Senator Rand Paul, proved to much for Lizbeth Benacquisto, Paige Kreegel, and Michael Dreikorn to collectively overcome.” The Shark Tank. Michele Maulkin along with endorsements coming from various organizations, created the contrast between Curt Clawson and Lizbeth Benacquisto as the Common Core issue. Benaquisto was a major endorser of the common core standards and as a state senator, she sponsored several pro-common core bills in the last legislative session. In her congressional race she flipped in opposition to CC and actually sponsored Representative Mayfield’s companion Senate bill. The voters weren’t buying the “re-package” and found a candidate that understood the issues of the federal overreach of Florida’s education system and by a 38% to Benacquisto’s 26%, Curt Clawson won by a statistical landslide.

THIS SHOULD BE A WAKE-UP CALL. TODAY,THE VOICES OF THE VOTERS SHOULD HAVE BEEN HEARD LOUD AND CLEAR.

This should be a warning that Florida voters will not accept :
Changing the name of Common Core to deceive the public.
Changing less then 5% of the standards to call them “our standards”
Informing the public that the state is no longer excepting federal funding for common core. ( the “Race to the Top” grant is running out)
Choosing America Institutes for Research (AIR) for the state’s testing , which is a social engineering organization is not an academic testing organization. They have more expertise on how to “sell” the LGBT lifestyle then academic testing.
Deceiving the public by announcing that Florida is out of Common Core.
The House and Senate leadership blocking and preventing any bill to even be heard that would truly pause or stop Common Core in the state.
A CALL TO ACTION:

Call the Governors Office at (850) 717-9337
Ask the Governor to repeal the Common Core in the State of Florida.
Reinstate the previous Sunshine State Standards until we are able to truly develop our own.
Repeal the contract with America Institute for Research (AIR) and hold those accountable for contracting with this type of organization.
“WE, AS A FREE SOCIETY MUST HOLD THOSE ACCOUNTABLE WHO REPRESENT US”

Senator Introduces Bill to Silence Christians and Conservatives

By David Jolly

Two hundred and fifty years ago, American colonists who criticized King George III would find themselves arrested and thrown into prison. Sometimes they lost their businesses, homes and families because of their sedition to the crown. The colonists had no freedom of speech to criticize the king, parliament or even a British citizen.

When James Madison and George Mason penned the Bill of Rights, there was a reason why they made the freedom of speech part of the First Amendment. It was the right to speak freely and openly criticize the government that was a right they fought for. They knew that in order to have a republic, not a democracy, the freedom of speech was a vital importance to its success. (In a democracy, people don’t need the right for free speech as the people elect their own dictators.)

Over recent years, we have seen our freedom of speech being challenged and diminished by the whining’s of a liberal minority. Now, we are on the verge of losing our First Amendment right to freedom of speech.
Massachusetts Senator Edward Markey (D) and New York Representative Hakeem Jeffries (D) have introduced the Hate Crime Reporting Act of 2014. The opening of the bill reads:

“To require the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to update a report on the role of telecommunications, including the Internet, in the commission of hate crimes.”

“The report required under subsection (a) shall— “

‘‘(1) analyze information on the use of telecommunications, including the Internet, broadcast television and radio, cable television, public access television, commercial mobile services, and other electronic media, to advocate and encourage violent acts and the commission of crimes of hate, as de-scribed in the Hate Crime Statistics Act (28 U.S.C. 534 note);”

‘‘(2) include any recommendations, consistent with the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, that the NTIA determines are appropriate and necessary to address the use of telecommunications described in paragraph (1); and”

‘‘(3) update the previous report submitted under this section (as in effect before the date of enactment of the Hate Crime Reporting Act of 2014).’’

Commenting on the bill,
Markey states:
“We have recently seen in Kansas the deadly destruction and loss of life that hate speech can fuel in the United States, which is why it is critical to ensure the Internet, television and radio are not encouraging hate crimes or hate speech that is not outside the protection of the First Amendment. Over 20 years have passed since I first directed the NTIA to review the role that telecommunications play in encouraging hate crimes. My legislation would require the agency to update this critical report for the 21st century.”

Jeffries added:
“The Internet has proven to be a tremendous platform for innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship. However, at times it has also been used as a place where vulnerable persons or groups can be targeted. I commend Senator Markey for his longstanding leadership with respect to combating Hate Crimes in America. He understands that in the digital era it is important to comprehensively evaluate the scope of criminal and hateful activity on the Internet that occurs outside of the zone of First Amendment protection. With the introduction of Senator Markey’s bill, we have taken a substantial step toward addressing this issue.”
By hate speech, they mean anything that offends someone else. Speaking out against homosexuality in any way could be considered to be hate speech. The televised sermon of a preacher quoting the Bible in his sermon could be considered hate speech if someone hears it and becomes offended because they are being convicted of their of the sins.

Anyone writing or posting on the Internet that criticizes homosexuals, liberal Democrats, Muslims or illegal aliens could be considered to be engaging in hate crimes. In fact, Alex Nogales, President & CEO of the National Hispanic Media Coalition supports the bill, saying:

“I thank Senator Markey for his career-long commitment to ensuring that we have the data necessary to confront and combat hate speech in the media that targets our most vulnerable communities. NHMC has long-recognized that an update to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s 1993 report, ‘The Role of Telecommunications in Hate Crimes’, is long overdue and desperately needed given the incredible evolution of our communications systems over the past 21 years as well as the ever-increasing numbers of hate crimes targeting Latinos and others. As the author of the original piece of legislation directing the 1993 report, there is nobody better than Senator Markey to join Congressman Hakeem Jeffries and others in calling on the NTIA to study this pressing issue once again.”

If Markey’s bill becomes law, we will find ourselves in the same situation as our Founding Fathers were in under British rule. We won’t be allowed to speak out against the government, homosexuals, illegals or dangerous religious extremists. We won’t be able to publicly teach the biblical principles on sin, homosexuality, fidelity, adultery, fornication, greed, lying, coveting and more become someone will be offended, making our words hate language.
This website and many others will be forced to shut down. Churches will be forced to compromise the Word of God or close their doors and go into hiding and meeting at underground locations.

Markey’s Hate Crime Reporting Act of 2014 is a direct attack on the First Amendment and our freedom of speech and it must be stopped in the US Senate and never allowed to become law. Contact your Senator and urge him/her to make sure this bill never sees its way out of committee because I’m certain if given the chance, Obama would sign it into law in a heartbeat.

This can all be verified at: http://yucalandia.com/answers-to-common-questions/new-rules-and-procedures-for-immigration-visiting-and-staying-in-mexico/

Mexico welcomes only foreigners who will be useful to Mexican society:

Foreigners are admitted into Mexico “according to their possibilities of contributing to national progress.”

Immigration officials must “ensure” that “immigrants will be useful elements for the country and that they have the necessary funds for their sustenance” and for their dependents.

Foreigners may be barred from the country if their presence upsets “the equilibrium of the national demographics,” when foreigners are deemed detrimental to “economic or national interests,” when they do not behave like good citizens in their own country, when they have broken Mexican laws, and when “they are not found to be physically or mentally healthy.”

The Secretary of Governance may “suspend or prohibit the admission of foreigners when he determines it to be in the national interest.”

Mexican authorities must keep track of every single person in the country:

Federal, local and municipal police must cooperate with federal immigration authorities upon request to assist in the arrests of illegal immigrants.

A National Population Registry keeps track of “every single individual who comprises the population of the country,” and verifies each individual’s identity.

A national Catalog of Foreigners tracks foreign tourists and immigrants and assigns each individual with a unique tracking number.

Foreigners with fake papers, or who enter the country under false pretenses, may be Imprisoned. Foreigners with fake immigration papers may be fined or imprisoned.

Foreigners who sign government documents “with a signature that is false or different is subject to fine and imprisonment.

Foreigners who fail to obey the rules will be fined, deported, and/or imprisoned as Felons. Foreigners who fail to obey a deportation order are to be punished.

Foreigners who are deported from Mexico and attempt to re-enter the country without authorization can be imprisoned for up to 10 years.

Foreigners who violate the terms of their visa may be sentenced to up to six years in prison . Foreigners who misrepresent the terms of their visa while in Mexico — such as working with out a permit — can also be imprisoned.

Under Mexican law, illegal immigration is a felony. The General Law on Population States…”A penalty of up to two years in prison and a fine of three hundred to five thousand pesos will be imposed on the foreigner who enters the country illegally.”

Foreigners with legal immigration problems may be deported from Mexico instead of being imprisoned. Foreigners who have contempt against national sovereignty or security” will be deported.

Mexicans who help illegal aliens enter the country are themselves considered criminals .Under the law, A Mexican who marries a foreigner with the sole objective of helping the foreigner live in the country is subject to up to five years in prison.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23, 2014

Obama’s Muslim Brotherhood Agenda

By Alan Caruba

It is a task just to keep up with the conflicts dividing America, so it is no surprise that many Americans are unsure of what occurred during the “Arab Spring” that began in 2011 and its aftermath since then. It is likely, too, that most do not know who or what the Muslim Brotherhood is, but it has been around a long time seeking to control events in the Middle East and North African nations. It also plays an astonishing and frightening role in America.

“The Brotherhood’s peak in the United States came with the victory of Barack Obama in the U.S. presidential election of 2008,” says Walid Phares in his book, “The Lost Spring; U.S. Policy in the Middle East and Catastrophes to Avoid” ($27.00, Palgrave Macmillan). “The network, via its front groups, supported the campaign, not as a formal entity, but as a prelude to receiving influence within American bureaucracies and the new administration when Obama took office.”

“The factions within the global lobby had an overarching common interest: to push back against the forces of secular democracy in the Arab world and Iran, and thus against their representatives and friends within the United States and Europe, for the real threat to the Islamists in the East was a secular liberal revolution backed by the West.”

Phares is an internationally acknowledged and respected expert on terrorism, the Middle East, and events that reflect Islamism, the movement to impose strict Islamic law—Sharia—and other cultural restrictions globally, but most specifically in nations where Islam is the dominant faith.

It’s important to know that the Muslim Brotherhood has been around in the U.S. for decades, as often as not working through front organizations like the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Muslim Student Association, and others. Using petrodollars, it has supported the creation of Islamic studies departments in universities and maintains a communications program to present through the U.S. media its interpretation of events and thus influence public perceptions and opinion.

Obama and the Muslim Brotherhood members who joined his administration after he took office in 2009 were caught completely off guard, however, by the Arab Spring, the name given to a number of revolutions to cast off despots ruling the Middle East. It began in Tunisia, spread swiftly to Egypt, then to Libya, and affected events in other nations of the region. It was led initially by the youth that were connected to one another by communications technology such as iphones and the Internet. They were joined by secular groups, Muslims who did not wish to live under the repression of fanatical Islamists. Swiftly, ordinary Muslims, women, and others joined them.

In retrospect, a nation whose embassies from Lebanon to Tanzania had been under attack by al Qaeda for decades and which had suffered 9/11, an act of Islamic terrorism on its homeland, would seem unlikely to elect a man whose father was a Muslim, who had spent some of the years of his youth in Muslim Indonesia, and whose brother was an active member of the Brotherhood, to be President. But he was. Twice. This represents almost suicidal stupidity.

From the very beginning of his first term, the White House announced that he would take steps to change America’s image in the Arab and Muslim world. Pharas noted that his first interview was with al Arabiya TV on January 29, 2009 to assert that “The United States was the aggressor in the region” and that “the Jihadists were not the aggressors against humanity.”

There was no denying that the U.S., in the wake of 9/11, had been at war with the Taliban in Afghanistan since 2001 and in 2003 had waged a war in Iraq to rid it of Saddam Hussein. Both wars had the intention to introduce and help establish democracy in those nations. By 2009 Americans were war-weary and Obama made it clear in his campaign that he would pull our troops out and talked of shutting down Guantanamo detention center where the worst captured terrorists were being held.

Within two months of taking office, Obama went to Cairo where he identified America as the cause of the ills afflicting the Middle East. “When millions of young men and women hit the streets of Tehran in mid-June 2009, they initially protested voter corruption and the forced reelection of Mahmoud Ahmadinijad as president. Later they pushed against the entire regime. The world,” said Pharas, “witnessed a moment in which the regime in Iran was very close to crumbling.” Obama’s response was not to support the democracy movement, saying he did not want to “meddle” in Iranian elections.

This was repeated during the Arab Spring as, time and again, Obama withheld support for the outpouring of desire for democracy in the affected nations, waiting until the Muslim Brotherhood, the only organized faction, was able to seize the movements in order to impose their own control. In Egypt, the people had to fill the streets of Cairo and other cities a second time to oust them from power.

How successfully has the Brotherhood infiltrated the circles of power in the U.S.? Huma Abedin was the Deputy Chief of Staff to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; Azizh Al-Hibri serves on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom; Areef Alikhan serves in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) along with Mohamed Alibiary and Kareem Shora who are members of the Homeland Security Advisory Council; and Mohamed Magid who is a member of the DHS Countering Violent Extremism Working Group. There are others. Too many others.

Obama made sure that the word “terrorism” disappeared from the government’s vernacular. When soldiers at Fort Hood were murdered by a jihadist, it was classified as “workplace violence” and the whole concept of the “War on terror” disappeared. It was replaced by the charge that any criticism of al Qaeda and other jihadist groups was “Islamaphobia.”

Obama would tell Americans that “I consider it as my responsibility as President of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear.” Instead, we had a President who would seek to make a deal with Iran, the foremost supporter of terrorism worldwide and a nation determined to make its own nuclear weapons to intimidate the Middle East and the world.

We have a President who turned his back on the forces in the Middle East seeking to install democratic governments. That struggle is far from over, but they and the world must wait until Obama leaves office before real progress can be made against the Muslim Brotherhood and the jihadists.

For now, one of the most powerful Islamist in the world resides in the White House.

© Alan Caruba, 2014

Want to see what a protest against the Keystone XL pipeline in Washington, DC looked like this morning? Here’s a photo taken this morning by a friend of mine. He reported that a mere handful of people attended.

There was a gathering in Washington, DC this morning to protest the Keystone XL pipeline and celebrate Earth Day. Here’s a photo a friend took. If you look real hard, you will see a mere handful of people. Is the movement running out of steam? We can only hope so.

Alan Caruba

Alan Caruba’s blog, http://factsnotfantasy.blogspot.com, also known as “Warning Signs”, has received more than 3.4 million visits.

Patriots Then And Now by Chuck Baldwin, April 18, 2014

Patriots Then And Now
By Chuck Baldwin
April 18, 2014
This column is archived here.
April 19,was Patriot’s Day. On this day in 1775, about 70 men stood armed on Lexington Green as over 800 British troops descended on the town in route to Concord for the purpose of seizing a cache of arms known to be stored there and arresting two outspoken proponents of American independence: John Hancock and Sam Adams. Seeing the Minutemen (as they came to be called) standing on the green with muskets in hand, British officers commanded the men to throw down their arms, which they refused to do. Almost simultaneous to the command to disarm, the British soldiers opened fire upon the colonists, killing eight men instantly. This became known as “the shot heard ’round the world,” as it was the event that ignited America’s Revolutionary War.

The British troops easily marched through Lexington but were met by hundreds of armed and determined patriots at the Concord Bridge. A fierce battle ensued, which resulted in a bruising British defeat and the retreat of the Crown’s troops to Boston. The Colonists were done talking; the brutal killings of the men at Lexington, along with the British attempt to confiscate the firearms of the people and to arrest Hancock and Adams, was the straw that broke the camel’s back. From that point onward, the issue would be decided on the battlefield.

Remember that the Colonists had patiently endured the harassment and haranguing of the British Crown for decades. Resentment and righteous indignation were deeply imbedded in the souls of those beleaguered “children of the Pilgrims.” And the killings at Lexington were not the first time innocent Americans were shot down by British troops. Some five years earlier, on March 5, 1770, a squad of British soldiers had opened fire on unarmed American civilians killing seven of them. The Boston Massacre (as it came to be called) was still very fresh in the minds of the Colonists as British troops advanced upon Lexington. And with the massacre of the men of Lexington, the last line in the sand had been crossed.

In my mind, it is no coincidence that a similar line in the sand took place here in the middle of April, 2014, in the Nevada desert at a place strikingly similar in name to a famous Revolutionary War battlefield: a place called Bunkerville.

At this point, I’ll let Paul Joseph Watson report the story:
“Judge Andrew Napolitano appeared on Fox News to denounce the federal government’s operation against Nevada cattle rancher Cliven Bundy, asserting that BLM agents should have been arrested for seizing his property and that the case represents a ‘line in the sand’ for Americans who have had enough of big government tyranny.

“Napolitano said the feds were forced to back down because they had suffered a public relations nightmare, pointing out that Bundy lost his case in a federal court but that the case should have been tried in a state court.
“‘The federal judiciary should not be deciding what land the federal government owns,’ said Napolitano, adding that the feds should have placed a lien against Bundy’s property to collect grazing fees and not conducted a raid backed up by armed agents to seize his private property.”

The report continued saying, “Napolitano also chastised the BLM’s ludicrous creation of a ‘First Amendment Area’ outside of which free speech was banned. Protesters completely ignored the zone and it was quickly torn down by BLM officials after being widely derided in the media.

“‘They established something utterly repellent in America, a First Amendment Zone….the square was three miles away from where these events were going–this is the federal government emasculating the First Amendment rights of the protesters,’ said the judge.

“Napolitano characterized the resistance shown by Bundy supporters as a clear example of how Americans feel, ‘enough is enough with the federal government, we’re drawing a line in the sand right here–and it drew people from all around the country who basically said “quit your heavy handed theft of property and act like you’re a normal litigant and not God almighty.

See the report at:
Judge Napolitano: Ranch Rebellion Was Americans’ “Line in the Sand”
Judge Napolitano is right.
No matter what you hear from the likes of Joe Scarborough and Glenn Beck (or your pastor), if the line in the sand at Lexington Green in April of 1775 was righteous, the line in the sand at Bunkerville, Nevada, in April of 2014 was equally righteous.

In fact, the grievances that the “children of the Patriots” have against the federal government today make the grievances that the “children of the Pilgrims” listed in the Declaration of Independence against the British Crown look pale by comparison. We have been tolerating abuse after abuse, encroachment after encroachment, usurpation after usurpation for decades. And one thing those patriots in Nevada were not going to allow to happen was another Waco. As the Boston Massacre burned deeply in the hearts of the American Colonists at Lexington, so, too, the Waco massacre burned deeply in the hearts of the patriots in Nevada last Saturday (April 12–one week to the day from April 19).

Hundreds of patriotic Americans (most of whom were well-armed) looked down the gun barrels of the BLM and fearlessly defied the orders to stand down and physically took back Mr. Bundy’s cattle that had been illegally confiscated by the Feds. Fortunately, BLM agents acted more wisely than did the Crown’s troops at Lexington in 1775. I shudder to think what would be happening right now if they had not.

There has not been a day in American history like last Saturday since–well–since April 19, 1775.
And make no mistake about it: this is what the Second Amendment has always been about: the ability of the citizenry to defend itself against oppressive, overreaching government. Had we no Second Amendment for the last 200-plus years, had the people’s right to keep and bear arms not been engrained in the very heart and soul of America for the last 200-plus years, Mr. Bundy’s land and cattle would be the property of the federal government, and Mr. Bundy and his family would either be in jail or six feet under right now. In fact, without the Second Amendment, the liberties enshrined in the Bill of Rights would have been thoroughly expunged from this country many decades ago. The only thing standing in between your right to freely do anything and the heel of the tyrant’s boot over your throat is a watchful, determined, and resolute armed citizenry–known to America’s founders as the citizen militia. That’s what British troops encountered at Lexington Green; and that’s what BLM agents encountered at Bunkerville.

Not only did hundreds of armed citizens show up in Bunkerville, so did dozens of local and State officials. There were county commissioners, assemblymen, and State legislators there from several western states, including Nevada. Had BLM agents opened fire on the people assembled in front of them, they, no doubt, would have killed several elected public servants. I don’t think the federal government really wants its agents to murder State and local officials.

And I must hasten to add that among the elected public officials on the front line of that confrontation–along with the hundreds of everyday citizens assembled there–were women. And make no mistake about it: these ladies were there of their own volition; no one asked them to be there. And practically everyone there–men and women–had some sort of camera or recording device. Again, I don’t think the federal government wants its agents on videotape slaughtering ladies and even children. Yes, I know that is exactly what they did at Waco.

In fact, most of the citizens killed at Waco were elderly men, women, and children. But there were no cameras present; no cell phones; and no elected officials. The federal government was able to completely cut off the Branch Davidians from the outside world so there would be no recorded testimony as to what happened. At Bunkerville, the combined presence of hundreds of armed militia, hundreds of ladies, dozens of elected officials, and cameras galore helped convince BLM to be civil.

We have turned a page. The rules of engagement have forever changed. And I think the federal government knows it.
Does this mean it’s over? Not on your life. The militia will be on site in Nevada for the foreseeable future. And there are examples of the federal government’s overreach taking place all over America–especially in the western states. As Thomas Jefferson noted, “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” Indeed.

I arrived in Bunkerville early Monday morning, the 14th. I participated in the press conference conducted by the Bundy family that afternoon. I met with the militia, several elected officials, citizens of Nevada, and the Bundy family. I was even honored to be invited to speak to the militia and their families and supporters at the militia command center. I conducted a prayer service for those folks and delivered a 20-minute Bible message to them. The local ABC affiliate also sent a reporter and cameraman with us; and they filmed the entire service. Here is the video of that service:

Bundy Ranch Sermon & Prayer

There is absolutely no question that there are nefarious backroom deals involving Senator Harry Reid that were in play at the BLM siege against the Bundy ranch. The people of Nevada should demand the truth about these deals and after the truth is put in the sunlight, run Harry Reid out of the State on a rail. Harry Reid is symbolic of everything that is wrong in Washington, D.C.

I caution folks to not believe everything you read about the Nevada situation in the media or on the Internet. There is a lot of exaggeration and misinformation floating around. That is a major problem for those of us in the freedom movement. For example, there is no indication at this point that BLM is planning a violent assault against the ranch. As of the time that I left the ranch, BLM agents had totally withdrawn. If the federal government launched a violent assault against the Bundys, it would escalate resistance a thousand-fold. They don’t want that to happen.

But this war against property and water rights in the west is becoming increasingly onerous. We desperately need a determined and concerted effort to demand that State legislatures and local governments pass ordinances and legislation removing federal control of State lands. These lands do not belong to the federal government; they belong to the States and to the People. If you truly want to do something to help preserve our future liberties, convince your local and State legislators to pass legislation to remove control of State land from the federal government.

We also desperately need legislation disarming federal bureaucracies. Agents of the federal government are not soldiers; and the American people are not the enemy. Except for a very few and specifically enumerated crimes, the Constitution declares that law enforcement is the venue and responsibility of the States and of the People. Federal agents have proven–and continue to prove–that they are not anywhere near trustworthy enough to be given a badge and a gun. As private citizens, they deserve the right to keep and bear arms along with the rest of us. But as agents of the federal government, they have no right to usurp the law enforcement authority of State and local officials.

And speaking of State and local officials, the governor of the State of Nevada and the sheriff of Clark County, Nevada, should be absolutely ashamed of themselves! What’s more: the people of Nevada should be ashamed of them–and vote them out of office, if not impeach them before their reelection–for their refusal to assist the citizens of their State during this time of crisis. All we need is for a governor and sheriff to interpose on behalf of the citizens of their State and county and all of this federal abuse of power would come to a screeching halt. Boy, do we need some constitutional governors and sheriffs!

We also need pastors to grow some man-stuff and start taking a stand in the pulpits as did the pastors of Colonial America. As I told the people at Bunkerville, if the pastors of America were doing their jobs on Sunday, all of this would never be taking place. How long will the Christians of America tolerate these spineless preachers?
Tomorrow, the 239th anniversary of Lexington and Concord, I will be speaking at a local Patriot’s Day rally honoring the brave Minutemen of 1775; I will also be honoring the brave patriots of 2014 who fought the Battle of Bunkerville: the shot not fired heard ’round the world.

P.S. Last Sunday, I  celebrated Resurrection Day in my pulpit at Liberty Fellowship in Kalispell, Montana. To watch the message online, go to:

Liberty Fellowship Live Stream
(c) Chuck Baldwin

Obama’s War on U.S. Energy

By Alan Caruba

A nation without adequate energy production is a nation in decline and that has been the President’s agenda since the day he took office in 2009. He even announced his war on coal during the 2008 campaign even though, at the time, it was providing fifty percent of the electricity being utilized.

It’s useful to know that the U.S. has huge coal reserves, enough to provide energy for hundreds of years and reduce our debt through its export to nations such as Japan. It increased coal-fired power generation by ten percent in 2013 while Germany’s coal use reached the highest level since 1990. Both China and India are increasing the use of coal. So why is coal unwelcome in the U.S.? Because Obama says so.

On April 15, the White House held a “Solar Summit” to continue promoting subsidies for solar panels and the Obama Energy Department has announced another $15 million in “solar market pathways” to fund local government’s use of solar energy. Its “Capital Solar Challenge” is directing federal agencies, military bases, and other federally subsidized buildings to use solar power.

According to the Institute for Energy Research, “solar energy provides two-tenths of one percent of the total energy consumed in the United States. While the amount of solar electricity capacity in the U.S. has increased in recent years…it still only accounts for 0.1% of net electricity generated…the least among the renewable sources of hydroelectric, biomass, wind and solar.”

So, in addition to the millions lost in earlier loans to solar companies like Solyndra that failed not long after pocketing our tax dollars, Obama is using the power of the federal government to waste more money on this unpredictable—the Sun only shines in the daytime and clouds can get in the way—source of energy whose “solar farms” take up many acres just to provide a faction of what a coal-fired or natural gas powered plant does.

This isn’t some loony environmental theory at work although the Greens oppose all manner of energy provision and use whether it is coal, oil or natural gas.  This is a direct attack on the provision of energy, fueled by any source, that America needs to function and meeting the needs of its population, manufacturing, and all other uses.

The most recent example of this is the further extension of the delay on the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to refineries on the Gulf Coast. That too is part of Obama’s war on energy for the nation, but it may also have something to do with the fact that the Burlington Santa Fe Railroad owns all of the rail lines in the U.S. connecting to western Canada. They haul 80% or more of the crude oil from Canada to the Midwest and Texas, earning a tidy sum in the process. It is owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, a major contributor to Democrat causes and candidates. The Keystone XL pipeline could divert more than $2 billion a year and if its delay is not crony capitalism, nothing is.

This is what the Sierra Club is telling its members and supporters as of Monday, April 21: “Keystone XL means cancer. It means wolf blood spilled. And it’s nothing short of a climate disaster.” It is a lie from start to finish.

Keystone has become a political issue and the announcement by the Obama State Department that is giving agencies “additional time” to approve its construction due to ongoing litigation before the Nebraska Supreme Court that could affect its route brought forth protests from red-state Democrats in Congress who even threatened to find ways to go around the President to get the project approved. Eleven Democratic senators have written to the President to urge him to make a final decision by the end of May. Some of them will be up for reelection in the November midterm elections.

Even Congress, though, seems incapable of over-ruling or overcoming Obama’s war on the provision of energy sources. In early April, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released new data showing that federal onshore oil and natural gas leases and drilling permits are at the lowest levels in more than a decade. Leases to companies exploring the potential of oil and natural gas reserves were down in 2013 from 1.8 million acres the year before to 1.2 million, the smallest area since records began to be maintained in 1988!

We have a President who gives daily evidence of his contempt both for those who voted for him and those who did not. His anti-energy agenda impacts on the creation of jobs, causes manufacturing to delay expansion or to go off-shore, reduces the revenue the government needs to reduce its debts and deficits, and drives up the cost of energy for everyone.

And he is doing this in one of the most energy-rich nations on the planet.

Editor’s Note:
For the latest, updated information on energy visit http://www.energydepot.us/

© Alan Caruba, 2014

http://factsnotfantasy.blogspot.com/2014/04/obamas-war-on-us-energy.html

ACaruba@aol.com
7:57 AM (2 hours ago)

to ACaruba
Try to Ignore Earth Day

By Alan Caruba

Try to ignore Earth Day, April 22. It won’t be easy. The print and broadcast media will engage in an orgy of environmental tall tales and the usual end-of-the-world predictions. It will scare the heck out of youngsters and bore the heck out of anyone old enough to know that we have had to endure the lies that hide the agendas that have driven the Greens since 1970 when the event was first proclaimed.

The Earth is 4.5 billion years old. It is the third planet from the Sun and fifth-largest of the eight other planets that orbit it. It is the only planet in our galaxy that has life on it and it has an abundance of mineral resources as well as water and the fecundity to grow crops and maintain livestock to sustain the human race.

The climate on Earth is entirely dependent on the natural cycles of the Sun. Despite four decades of being told that the Earth was going to heat up due to greenhouse gas like carbon dioxide and methane, we are currently in a cooling cycle and no child born since 1997 has ever experienced a single day of the dreaded “global warming.”

Humans play a very small role affecting the Earth’s climate although, for example, deforestration is one way it has affected it.  Other than cutting down trees, another way is to put the government in charge of vast acres of forest. It has a long record of failing to manage them well to the point where diseases and pests render the trees so weak that wildfires wipe out what would otherwise have thrived.

Otherwise, the Earth is and always has a been a very volatile place, subject to a variety of extraordinary natural events such as hurricanes, tsunamis, blizzards, floods, droughts, tornadoes, and earthquakes. The only thing humans can do is clean up and rebuild.

What has mostly changed for humans has been the discovery of energy sources that have transformed and enhanced their lives. Coal, initially, followed by oil and natural gas. All are carbon based, but then, so are humans and other life forms.

The Greens call them “fossil fuels” and some refer to “dirty coal” or seek to demonize “Big Oil.” Between 2007 and 2012, three U.S. oil companies paid a total of $289.7 billion in corporate income taxes. Until the Obama administration took power, coal provided fifty percent of all the electricity Americans used. Completely bogus “science” cited by the Environmental Protection Agency has been used to shut down coal-fired plants and close down coal mines. And, in concert with costly, unpredictable and unreliable “renewable” energy, wind and solar, have driven up the cost of electricity for everyone.

According to a study by the Heritage Foundation, released in March, over the next two decades the EPA’s climate rules aimed at reducing “global warming” (which is not occurring) will cost the economy $2.23 trillion. An estimated 600,000 jobs will be lost. The jobs that would be created by the Keystone XL pipeline have been waiting five years for the White House to approve the project.

As mentioned, it has been the many inventions that utilize the energy sources the Greens want to “leave in the ground” that have totally transformed the lives of Americans and others throughout the world. What Earth Day is really about is not the improvement of life, but limits that will reduce the world’s population. The one thing all environmentalists agree upon is that there are too many humans. This is a form of fascism that goes back to the creation of the communist/socialist economic systems, none of which have provided the level of prosperity that capitalism has. Even Communist China has adopted the capitalist model.

The other agenda Greens agree upon is that the government should own and control every square inch of the nation’s (and world’s) landmass. That is why climate change is part of the United Nations’ intention to become the single world government. It is home to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that has clung to the global warming hoax since they invented it in the late 1980s.

Recently, the IPCC released another report claiming “climate change” will melt polar ice, cause the oceans to rise dramatically, generate extreme weather conditions, et cetera. There have always been extreme weather conditions somewhere and the rest of the IPCC claims are just great big lies that have been around for decades.

Along the way, environmental organizations such as Greenpeace, Sierra Club, and Friends of the Earth, among countless others of comparable or lesser size have received millions in membership dues, donations, the sale of products, and from the assets that many own. Many, like Greenpeace, enjoy a non-profit status. For example, in 2011, Greenpeace took in $27,465,948 and had assets of $4,653,179. Multiply that against all the others and it adds up to billions.

Green organizations represent a very big business that is constantly at war with legitimate businesses in the energy, manufacturing, and agricultural sectors, seeking to impose laws and regulations that cost them and consumers billions every year.

If you’re a parent take some time to explain to younger children that the Earth is very old and not going to suffer the claims Greens repeat and repeat. As for everyone else, just try to ignore the Earth Day deluge. It won’t be easy, but it will be worth it.

© Alan Caruba, 2014