YouTube videographer dutchsinse has just released the video below in which he puts out an urgent earthquake watch for Yellowstone, the New Madrid area, California AND the East Coast of America. We are warned here that the earthquake uptick that we are now watching is clearly along the edge of the North American craton and that we should all be paying close attention for something much larger to strike in the near future.
I do not issue this “watch” lightly, and hope things calm down very soon.
However, until things begin to cool off, I’m left having to issue an urgent ‘earthquake watch’ for certain areas along the edge of the North American Craton.
This screenshot below shows the past 48 hours of earthquakes in the continental United States and Canada … alongside there is a diagram of the North American Craton.
Clearly, heavy activity building upon the Western portion of the plate, and we’re seeing a massive area become displaced — from Southern California, to Yellowstone — from Yellowstone to Oklahoma.
- See more at: http://www.patriotnetdaily.com/urgent-earthquake-watch-yellowstone-new-madrid-california-and-the-east-coast/#sthash.GRC6crOq.dpuf
Just when you thought you had seen it all, the White House has now vowed to regulate cow flatulence as part of its climate agenda. According to the Daily Caller, as part of its plan to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, the Obama Administration is targeting the dairy industry to reduce methane emissions in their operations. Forget about the fact that methane emissions are at all time lows, we need to spend time and resources targeting gassy cows.
“So out of all the things in the country we have to fix, all the problems that are facing us… Where does – and I’m just asking you this off the top of your head – where does cow flatulence rank,” Glenn asked on radio this morning.
“Right at the top,” Pat joked. “Number one.”
In a press release entitled “FACT SHEET: Climate Action Plan – Strategy to Cut Methane Emissions,” the White House laid out its “all-of-the-above approach to develop homegrown energy and steady, responsible steps to cut carbon pollution” as to ensure “a cleaner, more stable environment for future generations.”
One of the “key steps” formulated by the Obama Administration involves working in partnership with the dairy industry, the USDA, EPA and DOE to release a “Biogas Roadmap” outlining “voluntary strategies to accelerate adoption of methane digesters and other cost-effective technologies to reduce U.S. dairy sector greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2020.”
When you consider food prices are already up a staggering 19% in 2014, the consequences of the President’s climate agenda could truly be dire.
“Milk and meat are up 19%. This is before the regulation of the cow farts,” Glenn concluded. “So we have to regulate the cow farts, which means you will not have dairy – because this is dairy cows. Your dairy – your milk, your cheese – will go through the roof. Your meat will go through the roof. It’s already up 19%. I will give you this promise: Your dairy products and your meat products will necessarily skyrocket. Congratulations.” Front page image courtesy of the AP
THIS IS HAPPENING RIGHT HERE IN AMERICA! WATCH THIS AMAZING VIDEO!
A Detroit judge has awarded over $100,000 in attorney’s fees in the case of a Christian, George Saieg, who was attacked and arrested at the festival.
“This case is a stunning example of the pernicious influence of stealth jihad and Shariah law in America. The city of Dearborn is now a serial violator of Christians’ constitutional rights and has wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees and costs defending its insidious conduct. Apparently, in Dearborn, where Shariah and jihad is advocated openly, it is a crime to preach the Christian gospel. AFLC is committed to stopping this attack on our Constitution. And the ruling today allows us to do just that,” said Yerushalmi, an AFLC attorney.
A federal judge in Michigan has decided to allow a civil-rights claim against the city of Dearborn by four Christians arrested at the city’s Arab festival to move forward.
In that case, the city was told to pay the fees on behalf of Christian Pastor George Saieg, who had been arrested at the 2009 event. Magistrate Judge R. Steven Whalen said his recommendation was for fees and costs totaling $103,401.96 to be awarded in the case that was handled by attorney Robert J. Muise.
The American Freedom Law Center said the four Christians were arrested by Dearborn police officers while speaking about their faith to Muslims.
The Christians spent the night in jail and were accused of “breaching the peace.” However, Muise won acquittals from a jury for all the defendants in a criminal trial.
After the trial, Muise, along with Yerushalmi, filed a 96-page civil rights lawsuit against the city, Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Chief of Police Ronald Haddad, 17 police officers and two executives from the American Arab Chamber of Commerce. The plaintiffs are Acts 17 Apologetics, Nabeel Qureshi, David Wood, Paul Rezkalla and Josh Hogg.
“The judge’s ruling today is a huge victory for these Christians,” Muise said. “It allows the civil rights claims for the most egregious constitutional violations to proceed against the city and its officials. AFLC is committed to ensuring that our Constitution and not Shariah law, which makes it a crime to preach the Gospel to Muslims, is the supreme law in this country.”
The city had argued that festival worker Roger Williams’ complaint to police about the Christians gave officers a reason to arrest them.
Muise and Yerushalmi, on behalf of the Christians, argued the ruling does not preclude the civil rights claims because it was based upon fabricated allegations, and the Christians did not have a full and fair opportunity to challenge the claims in the police reports prior to the ruling.
The federal judge agreed with the AFLC attorneys.
U.S. District Court Judge Stephen J. Murphy III stated, “It is a reasonable inference from their allegations that [city officials] knew Williams’ complaint was pretextual.”
The federal judge noted that “[t]he indirect evidence of this conspiracy that was developed in state court and is already a part of the record in this case — including the videos and the testimony given by [city police officers] at their trial — elevates [the Christians'] accusations above the threshold of plausibility. ”
The federal judge also said, “The [state] district judge appears to have presumed the police reports submitted were truthful, and staked his probable cause determination on that presumption. Plaintiffs had no opportunity to either cross-examine the officers or take the stand themselves to contest the reports.”
And he ruled, “Finally, the district court was inattentive to the effect plaintiffs’ claims of First Amendment protection might have on the probable cause determination. . . . The Sixth Circuit has warned on previous occasions that Michigan’s ‘breach of peace’ statute is prone to such abuse.”
“This case is a stunning example of the pernicious influence of stealth jihad and Shariah law in America. The city of Dearborn is now a serial violator of Christians’ constitutional rights and has wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees and costs defending its insidious conduct. Apparently, in Dearborn, where Shariah and jihad is advocated openly, it is a crime to preach the Christian gospel. AFLC is committed to stopping this attack on our Constitution. And the ruling today allows us to do just that,” said Yerushalmi.
SEE MORE FROM HolyLandCrusaders
The U.S. Army’s top leaders defended their proposal to strip the Army National Guard of its AH-64 Apaches attack helicopters as part of a cost-saving move.
Army Secretary John McHugh and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond Odierno said the proposal would help the service avoid some $12 billion in costs — a significant level of savings in an era of automatic budget cuts known as sequestration.
“It’s about the budget,” Odierno said on Thursday during a hearing of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee. “The issue is, we can no longer afford to sustain the amount of aircraft that we have.”
McHugh agreed, saying, “The money’s gone.”
Under the plan, the Army would retire the OH-58 Kiowas and use Apaches for the armed scout and reconnaissance mission instead. Because the service lacks money to buy enough of the attack helicopters to do both missions, it would transfer the Guard’s entire fleet of 192 Apaches to the active component. In return, the Guard would receive 111 UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopters from the active component.
In addition to Apaches, the Guard would also lose 30 OH-58D Kiowa Warriors and as many as 104 UH-72 Lakotas.
The proposed aviation overhaul has stirred controversy among Guard leaders and lawmakers, including Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., a retired colonel in the Arkansas Army National Guard.
Besides creating a “contentious debate” between the active and reserve components, “I just think it’s flawed from a sense that we have taken some of our strategic depth out of the Reserve Component that we believe is a very important component in our ability to prosecute missions around the world,” Womack said of the idea.
Odierno acknowledged it was a difficult decision. He noted that the active component is losing three aviation brigades, while the reserve component isn’t losing any. He also pointed out that Black Hawks flew more than any other combat aircraft during the last decade of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“It is the centerpiece of everything we do,” he said. “I need that capability in the Guard.”
Womack agreed that the utility helicopter will better serve governors and adjutants general during emergencies and natural disasters, but questioned the wisdom of using the Apache for the scout mission and suggested there was a better way to restructure the aviation fleets.
McHugh said the Army will follow the will of Congress, but warned that maintaining the status quo will force the service to find the $12 billion elsewhere in the budget.
“That’s a lot of money,” he said. “That’s a lot of end-strength. That’s a lot of readiness.”
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Tell those idiots like McHugh to find it elsewhere starting with his salary and staff. This is a lame idea by brass who is throwing a fit that AAS program had to be cancelled. The OH-58 can still scout better than the Apache and both were made into a hunter killer pair not to replace each other in there roles. Like the retirement of the A-10 this shows military narrow mindedness and greed as they want AAS no matter what. Hope this Budget fails to pass BIG TIME.
Curious about the long term costs of flying AH-64's in lieu of OH-58's. You eliminate an supply chain for an aircraft and associated equipment but replace it with theoretically more expensive aircraft in terms of flight hours?
Guard is losing its Kiowas just like the AC, and I guess the Lakotas are going too since only the Guard has them. Won't flying more expensive helicopters like the Blackhawk instead of the Lakota add flight costs to the guard? Isn't that why they wanted a smaller helicopter in the first place?
I don't think even the most optimistic members of the HASC think they can find $12b in cuts from Secretary McHugh's staff. Sorry. Congressional Republicans and Democrats looking for a less expensive military that is equally capable will not be having their cake and eating it too.
Well, let's see, how to save 12 billion. Considering that a National Guard Attack Recon Battalion can save 1 billion a year, and that the Active Component plans on having the equivalent of 20 ARBs of Apaches...transfer 12 of them to the National Guard! You keep aircraft while SAVING defense capability AND money. Seems like a no brainer.
You all should know this was a proposal that the Army Aviation Center of Excellence put together under the leadership of MG Magnum and his team, it was not designed at the Pentagon or within the Sec Army. Comments on here that you can find the money some where else are characteristic of the issues across America and our government. "Don't tax you, don't tax me, tax that fellow behind the tree." There is no money anywhere else, this plan offers the best chance to retire the Kiowa while still preserving combat power across active, reserve and guard. I've seen enough pilots burn it it trying to make the Kiowa do something it can't which is armed recce against an armed enemy; any counter proposals that include the Kiowa as part of the future force would be a disservice to those who put their lives in that airframe. Times change, stop clinging to the past and either move forward with the plan or do something else.
The real solution is to lay out an balanced force at 80% of the current force structure. Then make 1/3rd of that Guard units. Change the two weeks a year, one weekend a month training regimen to 3 months active (that includes that 90-day workup for deployment), with a paid for backfill to the employer, and you have an Active/Reserve force more like what the Founding Fathers envisioned. Applied across ALL services would save more like $30 to $50 billion a year 9Including equipment changes). Within that plan, pay well (meaning freezing officer pay and bumping junior and mid-grade enlisted by 20%), modernize (buy the better helos), and train hard. Still saves at least twice the sequestration targets.
Majr0d - as a proponent of the status quo, please answer a few questions. You say a trained unit should not need a predeployment period. How exactly do you think any Army unit prepares to go overseas with out a predeployment train up and how many actual training days does that train up require? For that matter, how do you think the Marines, Navy or Air Force prepares for deployment with out a predeployment train up? How many active Army brigades do you think are ready to deploy right now in 18 hours from alert? My guess is zero. 30 days? I guess 1 or 2. 60 days? Maybe 6. 90 days? I will be generous and guess 10 BDE would meet Army readiness standards 90 days after alert. Which is fine because there is not enough lift available to move more than 7-8 BDE anywhere we might fight in 90 days anyway. There are not enough ranges or training areas or operational equipment to train up faster either. So the question is, why have so much force structure on active duty when no more than 1/3 at best could be brought to bear with in this mythical 90 day window the Active Army clings to? For that matter, why does it take Guard units 30-90 days to prepare? Isn't that because that is how the Army has programmed resources for the Guard and that is the standard the active Army has asked the Guard to meet? If the Army wants more highly trained units available on a more timely basis why not resource the guard more and change the ARFORGEN cycle to 4 or 3 years for Guard BCT? If we need to reinvest in our equipment and technology why don't we reduce our personnel costs by moving more personnel to part time status? Makes sense especially given the vast majority of those full timers are not actually ready to deploy anyway.
Rethink it all! Break it down to active, ready reserve and inactive reserve. Active to be on location within 1 week, ready reserve on location within four weeks, inactive reserve on location within eight weeks. Keep each ready with training as needed.
Putin took the Crimea with what? 30,000 probably special ops troops in less than two weeks. We couldn't take and hold either Iraq or Afghanistan with the "most powerful military the world has ever seen" in 10 years!
Our military is OVERSIZED for the task its assigned. It doens't need to be EVERYWHERE! Its only job is to defend the homeland, which is set between two ocean barriers. How tough is that? We need a military to what? Invade China? Leave China to itself. It's army can't cross the ocean without us sending it to the bottom of the Pacific. That should have been our strategy in Vietnam.
As a cost cutting measure, all land based combat troops should be only outfitted with pitchforks and machetes. Air squadrons should fly remote controlled model P-51 Mustangs, and our naval service can sail a fleet of Sunfish with solar powered water cannons for our maritime defense.
What has happened to our once great nation? Oh yes, Owebama was elected twice - that says it all. Enjoy it while your can Vlad.
Prominent attorney Alan Dershowitz is offering to help the parents of 15-year-old Justina Pelletier reclaim custody of their daughter.
Image source: Fox News via The Right Scoop
“I’d like to help out…” the Harvard Law professor and media figure said during an appearance on “Huckabee” Saturday night, noting he’s a member of the Massachusetts bar and could offer his legal expertise.
“When you hear about a case like this you scratch your head and you say ‘something else must be going on,’” he noted.
Pelletier was removed from her parents’ custody in February 2013 following accusations of medical child abuse. Lou and Linda Pelletier had been treating Justina for mitochondrial disease, but when they brought her to Boston Children’s Hospital with the flu, doctors there said she had somatoform disorder, a psychiatric disorder, instead. The commonwealth stepped in when the hospital raised concerns after the Pelletiers disagreed with the new treatment plan, which would shift to treatment for somatoform.
Justina Pelletier with her parents, Linda and Lou. Justina has been in the custody of the state of Massachusetts since last year. (Image source: Facebook)
Lou and Linda Pelletier have been fighting to regain custody ever since, appearing in court many times and arguing that they had been treating their daughter for mitochondrial disease at the direction of a doctor.
Dershowitz cautioned that he’s not certain where Justina would get the best care or who is “right,” but added that “under our legal system when there’s a conflict between medical opinion, the parents get to resolve that for a 15-year-old, not the state.”
“The gag order is clearly unconstitutional,” he also insisted. “You can’t stop parents form bringing a petition about their grievances” to anyone.
Dershowitz added that if what the parents are saying is true, then the Pelletier case is a “horrible abuse of human rights, of civil liberties.”
Here’s the Fox News clip via The Right Scoop:
<![CDATA[
A parent posted this in the Utahns Against Common Core Facebook group (join here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/utahnsagainstcommoncore/). She got off the phone with a friend whose 11th grade daughter took the SAGE test yesterday and said one of her essay questions in the exam was:
“How are books bad and why should we focus more on video games because you can control them unlike books? Books discriminate against those who cannot read well and they dictate what you should think.”
Lets see, what’s the purpose of this question? Are you going to argue against the statement given to you? Or are you going to play along and write what the SAGE folks have given you? What’s going to be recorded in this child’s P20W database that SAGE tests provide behavioral data for?
A couple years of these tests and the government will know exactly who the resistor’s and the sheep are. It’s no wonder they don’t want parents and teachers to see these exams. Nothing should be in-between the tester and the testee to introduce a bias against the questions being presented. They need that behavioral data.
Another parent posted:
“A Davis County mother told me her 4th grader has been practicing in class and each prompt gives them three “facts” that they then have to write a 5 paragraph essay on. One prompt was about the Flu off 1918 and these were its facts (with my paraphrasing): 1. Many people died from the flu of 1918 2. The flu virus can mutate 3. It is important that I get the flu vaccine Basically, it was two facts and one opinion. Not trying to start a debate about flu shots , but should #3 really be a “fact”?”
“In April 2014, ACT will launch our new student readiness assessment system—ACT Aspire™—the first computer-based, longitudinal assessment system that connects student growth and progress from the elementary grades through high school in the context of college and career readiness.”
“To meet this challenge, ACT is developing ACT Aspire—the first digital, longitudinal assessment system to fully connect student performance from elementary grades through high school. ACT Aspire will provide educators and parents with the insights they need to help students get and stay on track by better connecting assessment to teaching and learning.
ACT Aspire will include summative assessments that measure how much students have learned over time, as well as aligned classroom-based assessments that help educators better understand students’ learning needs in individual classes throughout the school year. The aligned assessments will inform teachers about students’ progress toward specific learning standards, so they can better tailor their instruction and resources to help students learn.
ACT research shows the direct link between early assessment and intervention and the improved likelihood of students succeeding in school and reaching their college and career goals. ACT Aspire will help educators identify foundational skill deficiencies earlier, which will provide the opportunity to quickly address weaknesses and build on strengths.”
Why is there such an alignment of standards, testing, curriculum, and intervention taking place? [Get out your tin-foil hat and put it on...] Can you imagine an essay question on evolution where it is presented a fact that man evolved from pond scum and asked students to write an essay taking that single-sided point of view? What if a child resists and states a belief in God? Will there eventually be an intervention to help children not believe in God and “fairy tales” and straighten them out? Presenting one sided arguments and having children write from that perspective does NOT lead to critical thinking skills. It’s the exact opposite. It is indoctrinating and stupifying (to borrow a term from Harry Potter).
Homeschooling and private schools that do not receive state or federal money and don’t participate in Common Core, are your only safe havens. But even with that, most colleges require students take the ACT or SAT in order to get in. There are a number of colleges that don’t require those things, and even BYU has let students in without those tests.
The first step for safety is opting your children completely out of all computer adaptive tests including practice tests. Get off them now. If your charter school has a contract you signed, get out of the charter school. They are worried about their school’s grade from the state more than what is wrong with the system. If you can’t do it this year, do it next. Move toward homeschooling if you can. It’s easier than you think and there are some great programs available online that are totally independent of Common Core. http://www.utahnsagainstcommoncore.com/the-great-escape-homeschooling/
SAGE tests affect grades 3 and up. AIR that provides this test, is a behavioral testing company. They are not an academic testing company. They are trained psychologists looking for behavioral information in the midst of academics. http://utahnsagainstcommoncore.com/the-air-stinks-of-sage/
Here’s more reasons why you must opt your child out now, including more inappropriate SAGE questions. http://www.utahnsagainstcommoncore.com/why-you-must-opt-your-child-out-of-all-computer-adaptive-tests/
If you have questions and fears about opting out and what it means for your child, check out this post and the 2 links at the bottom for Q&A with Alpine SD Board member Wendy Hart. http://www.utahnsagainstcommoncore.com/sage-tests-will-my-child-be-labeled-non-proficient/
Some districts are pressuring parents to not pull their children out.
I’ve had a couple emails asking about Dr. Menlove’s letter he said he would write, regarding opting out. He emailed me yesterday and he’s waiting to see if the governor signs SB 122 on parental rights which includes the opt-out for parents. IF YOU HAVEN’T CALLED THE GOVERNOR’S OFFICE YET, DO IT IMMEDIATELY. IF HE DOESN’T SIGN THIS BILL IT SIGNIFICANTLY HURTS THE ABILITY OF PARENTS TO OPT-OUT. Call 801-538-1000 between 8 and 5.
This is Dr. Menlove’s full reply. Again, call the governor to sign SB 122. Then go to the April 4th state board meeting and tell them you want schools and teachers to have no penalty for parents that opt out.
Mr. Norton,
Let me update you on my response to your request.
I prepared a document and shared it with State Board leadership as I previously indicated.
As the Legislative session came to an end, the State Board and USOE leadership identified bills passed by the 2014 Legislature that may be problematic to implement or create some other concern with State Board members. This list included S.B. 122. The concern with this legislation is section (9)(b) that basically says that opting-out by a student does not negatively impact school grading or employee evaluations. Our current policy on opting-out could negatively impact both school grading and teacher evaluations. As such it would be impossible to implement this new Code under our existing opt-out policies. In fact, I am not certain what policy we may adopt that would fully support this new section of the Code.
Last Friday the State Board met to consider possible action on this S.B 122 and a couple of other bills. The result of the discussion on this Bill was that the Board would revisit the USOE policy on opting-out. Yesterday State School Board leadership met to set the agenda for the State School Board meeting on April 4, 2014. It was determined that this item should be considered by the Board on April 4th. Whereas Board action on April 4th may alter the current opt-out policies, I have determined that it is best for me to wait until after the April 4th meeting to issue any statement.
I apologize for this unintended delay. I recognize that there continues to be confusion and inconsistency in information being shared about opting-out. However, for me to issue a statement now and then have to alter that after April 4th, in my opinion, would only add to the existing confusion.
I will issue a clarifying document ASAP following the April 4th State Board meeting.
Martell Menlove
After asking him to encourage the state board to decouple SAGE exams from school and teacher ratings, he replied:
State law requires that student achievement data be use for both school grading and teacher evaluations. As such, I do not see any way to decouple SAGE from these State law mandated activities. This is my major concern with how to implement these programs fairly while honoring the right of parents to opt-out. Although opting-out has the potential for impacting federal reporting and funding, my major concern is with grading schools and evaluating teachers as mandated in Utah Code.
Martell
I replied that “I’m certain there are alternatives like NAEP or the IOWA tests or the old California Achievement Tests we could use. The computer adaptive tests and SAGE in particular are a real problem for a lot of people.”
State Code 53A-1-603 requires the administration of criterion referenced tests or online computer adaptive tests and then goes on to allocate funding for computer adaptive tests and outlines how those tests are to be administered. I do not believe the State Board has the option of not administering computer adaptive tests.
Martell
To which I replied: “But under state law, parents have a fundamental liberty interest in the education of their children and if they choose to opt them out of tests, that is up to them. Schools are to play a secondary and supportive role. So regardless of SB 122, the state board should fully support the ability of a parent to opt their child out of tests. Parents are the consumers and have the authority and responsibility to determine what is in their child’s education interest.”
Get your SAGE opt out form here: http://www.utahnsagainstcommoncore.com/action-list/opt-out-forms/
Logging you in...
Like the retirement of the A-10 this shows military narrow mindedness and greed as they want AAS no matter what. Hope this Budget fails to pass BIG TIME.
Any suggestions?
Guard is losing its Kiowas just like the AC, and I guess the Lakotas are going too since only the Guard has them. Won't flying more expensive helicopters like the Blackhawk instead of the Lakota add flight costs to the guard? Isn't that why they wanted a smaller helicopter in the first place?
http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/blog/lists/posts/post.aspx?ID=1374
What's not mentioned is the plan to use drones to augment Apaches. Who and what is paying for the drones?
Yet there will still be claims of unfairness in 3...2...1...
(and I'll get a bunch of negatives for telling the uncomfortable truth)
Our military is OVERSIZED for the task its assigned. It doens't need to be EVERYWHERE! Its only job is to defend the homeland, which is set between two ocean barriers. How tough is that? We need a military to what? Invade China? Leave China to itself. It's army can't cross the ocean without us sending it to the bottom of the Pacific. That should have been our strategy in Vietnam.
What has happened to our once great nation? Oh yes, Owebama was elected twice - that says it all. Enjoy it while your can Vlad.