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Tag: Barack Obama

  • Derek Jeter Golfs With President Obama…Who Won?

    Former Yankee shortstop and future Hall of Famer Derek Jeter traded swings with President Obama last Saturday in Las Vegas. The dynamic duo played 18 holes at Shadow Creek, an exclusive golf course in the desert built by Steve Wynn and Tom Fazio.

    Obama and Jeter were joined by Las Vegas Sun newspaper owner Brian Greenspun and businessman/Democratic donor Stephen Cloobeck. Even though the foursome’s round took over five hours to play, they presumably had such a good time that they went another nine holes.

    The question everyone is asking, “who came out on top?” Was it the President or the Captain? Unfortunately, that information was not released. However, we can make some speculations.

    First and foremost, Jeter is not a big golfer. We know he played a round with Tiger Woods in 2013, but he has devoted much of his time and attention to the diamond, not to the links. In fact, a 2006 Golf Digest ranking of athletes who play golf revealed that Jeter’s handicap was a very mediocre 30. Even though that was over eight years ago, he’s only been retired since September. Is that enough time to significantly improve a golf game?

    Obama, on the other hand, has reportedly played over 200 rounds of golf since taking over the Oval Office in 2009. The President is also a great athlete, tales of his pickup games are legendary. He also reportedly led Occidental College’s basketball team in scoring in 1979.

    Of course, Jeter was a professional athlete up until a few months ago. He has always maintained a svelte frame and has clearly dedicated himself to keeping in the best possible playing shape.

    All thing considered, sounds like Obama probably had the upper hand on the links last weekend. The President is an avid golfer, while Jeter has dedicated himself to baseball. However, if Derek Jeter decides that he wants to be a great golfer, then Derek Jeter will be a great golfer.

    Let’s see this matchup again in a year.

    What do you think? Did Obama outscore Jeter on the links?

  • Obama Condemns Furguson Violence

    President Barack Obama harshly criticized protesters Tuesday night for the racially charged violence in Ferguson, Missouri, after mayhem erupted after a grand jury refused to indict a white police officer who shot a black teenager.

    Speaking from Chicago, Obama declared, “To those who think that what happened in Ferguson is an excuse for violence, I do not have any sympathy for that. I have no sympathy at all for destroying your own communities.”

    The President also conveyed his understanding of why citizens were so upset by the outcome of the shooting investigation.

    “The frustrations that we’ve seen are not about a particular incident. They have deep roots in many communities of color who have a sense that our laws are not always being enforced uniformly or fairly,” Obama said.

    The President added, “There are productive ways of responding and expressing those frustrations, and there are destructive ways of responding. Burning buildings, torching cars, destroying property, putting people at risk. That’s destructive and there’s no excuse for it. Those are criminal acts and people should be prosecuted if they engage in criminal acts.”

    Furguson police officer Darren Wilson, 28, shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown on August 9, during an altercation.

    Protesters in Furguson began burning police cars, smashing and looting storefront windows and firing gunshots, shortly after the verdict was read.

    Obama added, “My message to those people who are constructively moving forward, trying to organize, mobilize and ask important questions about how we improve the situation, I want all those folks to know that their president is going to work with them.”

    Obama remarked, “The frustrations people have generally are rooted in some hard truths that have to be addressed. Those who are prepared to work constructively, your president will work with you. So don’t take the short-term, easy route and just engage in destructive behavior.”

  • John McCain Disapproves of Obama and Ted Cruz

    Back in the 2008 presidential election race, John McCain hammered at then-candidate Barack Obama for his lack of experience in military matters, especially compared to McCain himself, a veteran.

    During one of the debates between the two men, McCain said of Obama, “I’m afraid Senator Obama doesn’t understand the difference between a tactic and a strategy.”

    Obama shot back at McCain, “I absolutely understand the difference between tactics and strategy. And the strategic question that the president has to ask is not whether or not we are employing a particular approach in the country once we have made the decision to be there.”

    Recently, McCain was asked about his opinion on President Obama’s record as Commander in Chief over the years since that election. McCain told this sobering story.

    “I was in Louisiana campaigning for our candidate there and we went to a bunch of veterans’ events. At one of them, a young man came up to me and said, ‘Senator McCain, I was at the Second Battle of Fallujah’ — as you know, that was the bloodiest single encounter when the surge began; we lost 86 soldiers and Marines, [and] I think 400 were wounded — and he said, ‘I lost four guys in my platoon. Now the black flags of ISIS fly over Fallujah. Tell me, Senator, what do I tell my friends’ mothers?’”

    McCain sees the current presence of ISIS in the region as entirely President Obama’s fault.

    “That’s was a tough one for me to answer, and as you know, I believe that this could have been avoided by leaving a residual force behind, a stabilizing force behind. History will make that judgment; I’m growing a little weary of arguing it, but… We have to perform in a way that is worthy of these people’s sacrifice.”

    McCain was asked about the plans for the incoming GOP-majority Senate.

    “I was very pleased when one of the first things Mitch McConnell said yesterday was, ‘We’re not going to shut down the government again.’”

    Word on the street is that this once again puts McCain at odds with Senator Ted Cruz, who has already promised to block Obama’s nominee for Attorney General.

  • Rick Perry: Next President Will Not Be a Senator (Wink)

    When Breitbart News asked Texas Governor Rick Perry recently if he thought the next president of the United States would be a senator, his answer was simple.

    “No.”

    And that would be the exact answer he should give, especially if he wants to be the man in the White House. If he had said “Yes,” it would have been tantamount to saying, “I don’t have a chance at this.”

    Rick Perry famously flamed out of the 2008 GOP presidential primary after making several public flubs that undermined party voter confidence in him as a candidate who could beat Barack Obama in his reelection bid. Republican voters tried on candidate after candidate week after week, looking for someone who could stop Obama. In the end, no one could.

    Now, Perry wants to position himself early on as a viable candidate who can be the cure for what the GOP sees as an Obama malaise. Of course, Barack Obama is not up for reelection. But if the recent midterm elections are any indication, the GOP strategy will probably stay much the same. After all it worked.

    All they need to do is paint any Democrat candidate as “the next Obama” or as having been friendly and allied with Obama. Republican strategists have revealed since the midterms that their strategy only worked because Democrat candidates believed it would, and therefore spent a lot of effort to distance themselves from the president. But any coach knows, if a play keeps getting your team points, keep running it.

    Perry touts his experience as governor, comparing the duties of that office to those of president of the nation.

    “If you’re in the Senate or if you’re in the House, you can give a speech and then go home. Governors can’t. We have to govern,” Perry said. “And the president of the United States, historically, has had to operate that way, too; the ones that were successful. And one of the reasons why this President is not successful is because he’s never had that experience.”

    Perry used his position as governor to deploy the National Guard to handle the steady stream of illegal immigrants in Texas. He says this qualifies him to handle wars overseas.

    “It is absolutely no different that if you would have left a residual force in Baghdad,” he claimed. “Same mentality, same concept. When you move your law enforcement or your military, or both, away from a place, the vacuum is going to be filled.”

    Perry listed several natural disasters that occurred on his watch as governor, suggesting that his experience in those incidents qualified him to handle national-level crises and even wars as president.

    “Disasters are not unlike war. The first things that occurs in war is that chaos reigns and you throw out your battle plan,” he added.

  • Should The Internet Be Reclassified As Obama Requests?

    Should The Internet Be Reclassified As Obama Requests?

    In an effort to protect an open Internet, President Obama announced that he’s asking the FCC to reclassify Internet service under Title II of the Telecommunications Act.

    “In plain English, I’m asking them to recognize that for most Americans, the Internet has become an essential part of everyday communication and everyday life,” he said, noting that the FCC is an independent agency, and that ultimately, it’s their decision.

    Do you agree with the President? Share your thoughts on the matter in the comments.

    “The public has already commented nearly four million times, asking the FCC to make sure that consumers – not the cable company – gets to decide which sites they use,” the President said.

    In the official statement, the President notes that this should all be extended to mobile broadband as this is increasingly how Americans are accessing the Internet.

    Earlier this year, the FCC said it was working on rules that could end up giving priority to big companies. As you may recall, most people on the Internet weren’t incredibly thrilled.

    More on Title II of the Telecommunications Act here.

    The President’s full statement is as follows:

    An open Internet is essential to the American economy, and increasingly to our very way of life. By lowering the cost of launching a new idea, igniting new political movements, and bringing communities closer together, it has been one of the most significant democratizing influences the world has ever known.

    “Net neutrality” has been built into the fabric of the Internet since its creation — but it is also a principle that we cannot take for granted. We cannot allow Internet service providers (ISPs) to restrict the best access or to pick winners and losers in the online marketplace for services and ideas. That is why today, I am asking the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to answer the call of almost 4 million public comments, and implement the strongest possible rules to protect net neutrality.

    When I was a candidate for this office, I made clear my commitment to a free and open Internet, and my commitment remains as strong as ever. Four years ago, the FCC tried to implement rules that would protect net neutrality with little to no impact on the telecommunications companies that make important investments in our economy. After the rules were challenged, the court reviewing the rules agreed with the FCC that net neutrality was essential for preserving an environment that encourages new investment in the network, new online services and content, and everything else that makes up the Internet as we now know it. Unfortunately, the court ultimately struck down the rules — not because it disagreed with the need to protect net neutrality, but because it believed the FCC had taken the wrong legal approach.

    The FCC is an independent agency, and ultimately this decision is theirs alone. I believe the FCC should create a new set of rules protecting net neutrality and ensuring that neither the cable company nor the phone company will be able to act as a gatekeeper, restricting what you can do or see online. The rules I am asking for are simple, common-sense steps that reflect the Internet you and I use every day, and that some ISPs already observe. These bright-line rules include:

    No blocking. If a consumer requests access to a website or service, and the content is legal, your ISP should not be permitted to block it. That way, every player — not just those commercially affiliated with an ISP — gets a fair shot at your business.

    No throttling. Nor should ISPs be able to intentionally slow down some content or speed up others — through a process often called “throttling” — based on the type of service or your ISP’s preferences.

    Increased transparency. The connection between consumers and ISPs — the so-called “last mile” — is not the only place some sites might get special treatment. So, I am also asking the FCC to make full use of the transparency authorities the court recently upheld, and if necessary to apply net neutrality rules to points of interconnection between the ISP and the rest of the Internet.

    No paid prioritization. Simply put: No service should be stuck in a “slow lane” because it does not pay a fee. That kind of gatekeeping would undermine the level playing field essential to the Internet’s growth. So, as I have before, I am asking for an explicit ban on paid prioritization and any other restriction that has a similar effect.

    If carefully designed, these rules should not create any undue burden for ISPs, and can have clear, monitored exceptions for reasonable network management and for specialized services such as dedicated, mission-critical networks serving a hospital. But combined, these rules mean everything for preserving the Internet’s openness.

    The rules also have to reflect the way people use the Internet today, which increasingly means on a mobile device. I believe the FCC should make these rules fully applicable to mobile broadband as well, while recognizing the special challenges that come with managing wireless networks.

    To be current, these rules must also build on the lessons of the past. For almost a century, our law has recognized that companies who connect you to the world have special obligations not to exploit the monopoly they enjoy over access in and out of your home or business. That is why a phone call from a customer of one phone company can reliably reach a customer of a different one, and why you will not be penalized solely for calling someone who is using another provider. It is common sense that the same philosophy should guide any service that is based on the transmission of information — whether a phone call, or a packet of data.

    So the time has come for the FCC to recognize that broadband service is of the same importance and must carry the same obligations as so many of the other vital services do. To do that, I believe the FCC should reclassify consumer broadband service under Title II of the Telecommunications Act — while at the same time forbearing from rate regulation and other provisions less relevant to broadband services. This is a basic acknowledgment of the services ISPs provide to American homes and businesses, and the straightforward obligations necessary to ensure the network works for everyone — not just one or two companies.

    Investment in wired and wireless networks has supported jobs and made America the center of a vibrant ecosystem of digital devices, apps, and platforms that fuel growth and expand opportunity. Importantly, network investment remained strong under the previous net neutrality regime, before it was struck down by the court; in fact, the court agreed that protecting net neutrality helps foster more investment and innovation. If the FCC appropriately forbears from the Title II regulations that are not needed to implement the principles above — principles that most ISPs have followed for years — it will help ensure new rules are consistent with incentives for further investment in the infrastructure of the Internet.

    The Internet has been one of the greatest gifts our economy — and our society — has ever known. The FCC was chartered to promote competition, innovation, and investment in our networks. In service of that mission, there is no higher calling than protecting an open, accessible, and free Internet. I thank the Commissioners for having served this cause with distinction and integrity, and I respectfully ask them to adopt the policies I have outlined here, to preserve this technology’s promise for today, and future generations to come.

    FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has issued a response.

    “The President’s statement is an important and welcome addition to the record of the Open Internet proceeding, ” he began. “Like the President, I beleve that the Internet must remain an open platform for free expression, innovation, and economic growth. We both oppose Internet fast lanes. The Internet must not advantage some to the detriment of others. We cannot allow broadband networks to cut special deals to prioritize Internet traffic and harm consumers, competition and innovation.”

    “The more deeply we examined the issues around the various legal options, the more it has become plain that there is more work to do,” he said later in the statement. “The reclassification and hybrid approaches before us raise substantive legal questions. We found we would need more time to examine these to ensure that whatever approach is taken, it can withstand any legal challenges it may face. For instance, whether in the context of a hybrid or reclassification approach, Title II brings with it policy issues that run the gamut from privacy to universal service to the ability of federal agencies to protect consumers, as well as legal issues ranging from the ability of Title II to cover mobile services to the concept of applying forbearance on services under Title II.”

    You can read the whole thing at the link above.

    Verizon has released a statement in response to the President’s words: “Verizon supports the open Internet, and we continue to believe that the light-touch regulatory approach in place for the past two decades has been central to the Internet’s success. Reclassification under Title II, which for the first time would apply 1930s-era utility regulation to the Internet, would be a radical reversal of course that would in and of itself threaten great harm to an open Internet, competition and innovation. That course will likely also face strong legal challenges and would likely not stand up in court. Moreover, this approach would be gratuitous. As all major broadband providers and their trade groups have conceded, the FCC already has sufficient authority under Section 706 to adopt rules that address any practices that threaten harm to consumers or competition, including authority to prohibit ‘paid prioritization.’ For effective, enforceable, legally sustainable net neutrality rules, the Commission should look to Section 706.”

    AT&T said the White House’s announcement, if acted upon by the FCC, would be a “mistake that will do tremendous harm to the Internet and to the U.S. national interests.”

    Comcast said, “To attempt to impose a full-blown Title II regime now, when the classification of cable broadband has always been as an information service, would reverse nearly a decade of precedent, including findings by the Supreme Court that this classification was proper. This would be a radical reversal that would harm investment and innovation, as today’s immediate stock market reaction demonstrates. And such a radical reversal of consistent contrary precedent should be taken up by the Congress.”

    TechCrunch has longer statements from these providers. Then you have organizations like the ACLU and Internet Association weighing in.

    “Today, President Obama is a free speech champion,” the ACLU said. “He deserves an enormous amount of credit for unequivocally calling on the FCC to adopt rules that will finally allow the agency to protect the free and open internet. Preventing ‘fast lanes’ and discrimination against some content producers on the internet is one of the most important free speech issues of the digital age. Large broadband providers should not be allowed to slow or block content from their competitors or because the content may be controversial.”

    “The Internet Association applauds President Obama’s proposal for the adoption of meaningful net neutrality rules that apply to both mobile and fixed broadband,” said the Internet Association. “As we have previously said, the FCC must adopt strong, legally sustainable rules that prevent paid prioritization and protect an open Internet for users. Using Title II authority, along with the right set of enforceable rules, the President’s plan would establish the strong net neutrality protections Internet users require. We welcome the President’s leadership, and encourage the FCC to stand with the Internet’s vast community of users and move quickly to adopt strong net neutrality protections that ensure a free and open Internet.”

    Netflix, which just posted its monthly ISP speed rankings data, has also voiced support for the President.

    Well, you’ve heard a lot from both proponents and opponents of Obama’s request, as well as the FCC itself, which as the President says, ultimately has to make the decision. Where do you land on the debate? Let us know in the comments.

    Image via YouTube

  • Samantha Power Visits Ebola-Stricken Countries To Drum Up Health Care Support

    US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power has flown to West Africa to encourage international support for the fight against Ebola. Power traveled through Guinea on Sunday and landed on Monday in Sierra Leone. She also plans to visit Liberia before flying to Brussels in Belgium, meeting health care workers, volunteers and public officials at every stop.

    According to NBC, more foreign medical workers will need to travel to West Africa in order to beat the disease, but restrictions in the US have made some health care workers think twice about helping the efforts to stop Ebola. “The last thing we want is to stigmatize people. There is a category of people that we need to be effective in persuading to come, who are kind of hanging back and wondering,” said Power.

    Power is currently checking out the situation in West Africa so that she can drum up more international support for the fight against Ebola. “In visiting the three affected countries and getting a detailed grasp of the gaps I hope to use my knowledge of those gaps to shake the trees and really push other countries to do more,” Power said. She also plans to make a stop in Ghana to visit the United Nations Ebola response mission, which is coordinating global efforts to stop Ebola.

    Powers revealed that many countries who expressed support for the fight against Ebola and commended the US for its role in it have yet to send their own contingents of medical workers to help out in West Africa. “You have countries at the UN where I work every day who are signing on to resolutions and praising the good work that the US and the UK and others are doing, but they themselves haven’t taken the responsibility yet to send docs, to send beds, to send the reasonable amount of money,” she said.

    The fact that Power was sent to these countries even if she was a member of the US President’s cabinet means that people who want to help shouldn’t be afraid, she added.

  • Medium Now Counts Barack Obama Among Its Users

    The White House announced that the president has joined Medium, the blogging platform Twitter co-founder Evan Williams launched roughly a year ago.

    Lindsay Holst and Kori Schulman wrote in a post on The White House blog on Thursday:

    We’re really excited to announce that the White House joined Medium, a new, self-publishing platform that encourages people to share ideas and stories that matter. And today, ahead of his visit to a tech hub in Los Angeles, the President published his very first post. The post talks about the new American economy and the innovations that are driving it forward — and, specifically, what that economy looks like for Millennials…

    You can read Obama’s first post here.

    “On Medium, you can expect to hear more from President Obama and his administration on issues from technology and innovation to education and the economy,” wrote Holst and Schulman. “Here at the White House, we’re continually looking for new and innovative ways to connect with people where they are. That’s where Medium comes in – and why you can find us on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, and more.”

    Obama is surely the highest profile user Williams’ service has, and could be just the thing it needs to really generate more interest from the public. It’s a fine platform, and there is plenty of good content on it, but let’s be honest. It’s not exactly another Twitter at this point.

    It will really be interesting if the president starts using Jelly, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone’s Q&A service.

    Image via Medium

  • Narendra Modi Brings Thoughtful, Personal Gifts To Obama

    Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi brought gifts for Monday’s state visit with US President Barack Obama.

    Modi personally chose the thoughtful, personal gifts for Obama — keeping in mind the two people the president most admires, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. — including “Gita by Gandhi” in Khadi cover, as well as audio and video clips from King’s 1959 visit to India.

    “The prime minister has brought several gifts. At the personal level, he has brought a special edition of Gita by Gandhi Ji. This is Gandhi Ji’s interpretation of Gita. The book was published many years ago,” said External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin.

    “The prime minister had specifically ordered a special edition of the book and copies of it were specially done up with a certain getup as Khadi on its cover these were prepared in Delhi and were brought and were handed over to the president.”

    “Also, he has given some other personal gifts. He is aware that President Obama has great regard for Martin Luther King and there is a Gandhi link between President Obama, the King and the prime minister, so he (Modi) had looked up and asked All India Radio to provide a recording of Martin Luther King’s speech which he gave in India in 1959 when he visited India. In addition, there are some other memorabilia of Martin Luther King,” he said.

    “There is a photograph of the King at the Rajghat, which the prime minister has framed and given to Obama. There is a small clip which goes back to 1959. The Photos Division was able to track back a video clip of Martin Luther King‘s visit to India. All these were prepared by the prime minister’s Office in advance and presented to President Obama today,” he said.

    “These were personal gifts. Official gifts would be presented tomorrow,” Akbaruddin said.

    The prime minister also generously brought gifts for Obama‘s two daughters, Sasha and Malia, according to the sources.

  • Kerry Washington on Her Baby Girl: ‘She’s Awesome’

    Kerry Washington is mad in love with her beautiful baby daughter.

    The Scandal star keeps very private when it comes to her personal life, so the fact that she even mentioned little Isabelle Amarachi Asomugha says so much about the joy she is experiencing as a new mother.

    “My little girl is four months! She’s fantastic,” she gushed to E! News on the 2014 Emmys Red Carpet. “She’s great. She’s awesome!”

    Washington told the Los Angeles Times last month that her life couldn’t be more perfect these days.

    “I feel really blessed,” said the actress. “I know how extraordinary my life is right now, and how the opportunities I have are, so I’m very, very, very grateful.”

    The Scandal star is also looking fantastic just four months after giving birth, and her weight loss secret is not really a big secret.

    “A lot of working out,” she said. “That’s it!”

    Note that girls!

    Washington recently enjoyed the pleasure of meeting President Barack Obama at a fundraiser held at the home of Scandal creator, Shonda Rhimes, and had only good things to say about the Commander-in-Chief.

    “He’s so kind. Shonda Rhimes had a wonderful fundraiser at her home that I cohosted and he was there,” she told E! News. “He was being very kind and thanked us for being supportive of the Democratic Party.”

    The 37-year-old actress also gave a few hints about the upcoming season of Scandal. According to Washington, the relationship between her character, Olivia Pope, and Abby Whelan, played by Darby Stanchfield, will have a lot of surprises.

    “There’s a lot of Abby this season, which is really good because Abby and Olivia Pope have a very complicated relationship,” she told E! News. “That’s going to be yummy.”

    The fourth season of Scandal premieres Sept. 25 on ABC.

  • Obama Approval Rating Hits New Low in California

    With unrest increasing throughout many parts of the world and in the U.S., President Obama’s national approval ratings continue to hover in the low 40s. In addition, new polling data is showing that the president may be losing support in Democrat strongholds as well.

    A new poll released today by the Field Research corporation shows that Obama’s approval rating has reached a new low in California. Just under 45 percent of those polled said that they approve of the way the president is handling his job, while over 43 percent disapprove.

    The poll also shows that a majority of Californians think things are going poorly in the U.S. Just 36 percent of those polled said that the country is headed “in the right direction,” while nearly 51 percent believe that things are “seriously off on the wrong track.”

    The president’s national approval numbers also hit an all-time low recently. Near the end of October 2013 an NBC News poll pegged Obama’s approval rating at just 42%. The low number came one month after the botched rollout of the Affordable Care Act’s (Obamacare’s) online marketplace website.

    October was also the month that congressional Republicans shut down the federal government in protest over Obamacare, contributing to low approval ratings for congress as well. The president has been battling low poll numbers since that time, despite increasingly positive news for Obamacare.

    Obama’s image problem is also being affected by foreign policy problems in the Middle East and Ukraine. Conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza last month raised tensions in the Middle East, as did the ongoing Syrian civil war. Meanwhile, Russia appears to have launched an invasion of Ukraine, causing headaches for NATO and its allies.

    With midterm elections just months away, Republican congressional candidates are seizing on President Obama’s unpopularity in their campaigns. With Republicans expected to increase their hold on the House and possibly gain control of the Senate, it seems clear that Washington will be as gridlocked as ever during the final two years of the Obama administration – a reality that could continue to push approval ratings down even further.

  • Osama bin Laden Expressed Fear of I.S. in 2011

    When the death of Osama bin Laden, former leader of Al-Qaeda, was announced in May 2011, the western world was assured that it had rid itself of the last great terror to plague the Earth for quite some time. After all, who or what would be able to cause more devastation than bin Laden when he orchestrated the attacks on the World Trade Centers, ultimately resulting in two wars and the loss of millions of people. Unbeknownst to the western world at the time, though, were bin Laden’s private fears. With the recent discovery of a 21-page article found in bin Laden’s final hiding place, those fears have been reified.

    First unveiled by the Daily Mail, a British news publication, Osama bin Laden’s fears in 2011 centered around the rising power of the Islamic State of Israel and Syria (ISIS) – now simply referred to as the Islamic State (IS).

    The letter, the exact details of which having not been released yet, was apparently written by one of bin Laden’s top officials, cites IS’s extreme violence as the reason why bin Laden feared the group so much – acts such as the use of chlorine gas, mosque bombings, and the brutal massacre of Christians. In fact, Osama bin Laden was so worried about the reputation of IS ruining the already-tarnished reputation of Al-Qaeda so much that he pushed for the two organizations to part ways and cease support of one another – a move which Al Qaeda finally made earlier this year.

    On June 29, 2014, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of IS, proclaimed a caliphate for the organization and was named its caliph. As it currently stands, IS holds a chunk of land in Iraq bigger than the nation of England and has some six million people under its control. The objective of IS is to bring as much land and people under its caliphate as possible, with Syria and northern Iraq being the group’s immediate targets.

    The United States has responded to the threat of ISIS by sending air strikes to northern Iraq in hopes of protecting the US embassy nearby. However, President Obama has stated that the bombing will not expand past the area of northern Iraq.

    If Osama bin Laden was worried about the evil, brutal nature of the IS, then perhaps the United States should be, too.

    Image via YouTube

  • Janelle Monae Has Secret Video Of Obama Dancing

    Janelle Monae has some serious blackmail on President Barack Obama!

    While at the Democratic National Committee fundraiser on Wednesday, July 23, Obama revealed that Monae has a “secret” video of him dancing with R&B singer Usher. The event took place at Shonda Rimes’, the creator of the hit show Scandal and ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy, home where Monae and Obama were just a few of the many guests in attendance.

    Obama had the opportunity to speak at the event, and had nothing but nice things to say about the 28-year-old singer. He sang Janelle’s praises and said that he and his wife Michelle both love her and live having her perform at the White House. “Janelle has performed at the White House, like, 15 times,” Obama told the crowd. “There’s going to be an official Janelle Monae room in the White House. We love her. Michelle and I love Janelle. We love her energy. We love her talent. But we most of all love her character. And anybody who gets a chance to talk to her, this is just a remarkable, strong, smart young lady.”

    He then jokingly admitted that Janelle was the only person in possession of a secret video of him breaking it down on the dance floor. “And I have to say nice things about her because she may be the only person in possession of a video in which I try to keep up with her and Usher on the dance floor,” he added. “Now, this is top secret. She has promised that this will never be released. But she can blackmail me at any time.”

    Janelle admitted that she still had the video, and was asked by Obama to testify to his dancing skills.

    “Now, tell the truth now, though, Janelle — I wasn’t bad, though, was I?” he asked. “I’m just saying. Go ahead, testify just a little bit … Let me say I did not drop in splits. But I did bust a move. That I did.”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Kim Jong-Un Furious Over Viral Dance Video

    North Korea’s Great Successor Kim Jong-un is said to be very displeased over a parody video, which features the Supreme Leader dancing his way through absurd situations to a Chinese pop song.

    According to South Korean newspaper The Chosunilbo, North Korea asked China to stop the spread of the YouTube clip, as it “seriously compromises Kim’s dignity and authority.” China was somehow unable to stifle the virulence of the video.

    The clip was edited by a Chinese man surnamed Zhang, from Suzhou, who reportedly studied at Kyonggi University in South Korea. The video features despot Kim dancing with Russian President Vladimir Putin, skipping hand in hand with Osama bin Laden, being kicked to the ground by President Obama after pirouetting through a ballet studio, being kicked into a pool with a garbage can over his head, dancing on a baseball field and finally riding off on the back of a pig.

    The video, which has so far garnered over two million views, is set to a song named Little Apple by a Chinese pop group called Chopstick Brothers.

    Here is a loose translation of some of the lyrics from Little Apple:

    Never think you hate
    Everything you love
    There you are fresh every day
    There you, more brilliant sunshine

    While Kim has yet to explicitly threaten to rain hellfire upon China, his North Korean regime is unhappy. After all, Jong-un has been picked on quite a bit lately. Video game developer Moneyhorse is set to release Glorious Leader!, an old-school shoot-’em-up which features scenarios that describe Kim’s life-facts generated by the propaganda machine of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

    Here is the trailer for Glorious Leader!:

    Kim Jong-un has held the titles of the First Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea, the Chairman of the Central Military Commission, First Chairman of the National Defense Commission of North Korea, the Supreme Commander of the Korean People’s Army and presidium member of the Politburo of the Workers’ Party of Korea. He was officially declared the Supreme Leader following the state funeral for his father Kim Jong-il on December 28, 2011.

    Here is Kim’s submarine:

    Here is Kim in his submarine:

    The world should perhaps be more mindful of mocking the DPRK.

    Image via YouTube

  • Texas Woman Gets 18 Years for Sending Obama Ricin

    Texas actress Shannon Guess Richardson, 36, who plead guilty in December to sending President Barack Obama ricin in a letter, was sentenced to 18 years in prison Wednesday, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

    Richardson, who also sent a ricin-laced letter to then-New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, was also given a $367,000 fine. The The Walking Dead bit player was originally looking at life, but cut a deal to get the 18 years.

    Records show that Richardson ordered castor beans and lye, synthesized the ricin, and mailed the letters from Shreveport, Louisiana, in May 2013.

    Ricin is a highly toxic, naturally occurring lectin (a carbohydrate-binding protein) produced in the seeds of the castor oil plant Ricinus communis. A dose the size of a few grains of sand can kill an adult, and acts as a toxin by inhibiting protein synthesis. Ricin causes severe diarrhea, and victims can die of circulatory shock. Symptoms typically don’t present themselves for a few hours to a full day after exposure, and most victims die within 3-5 days. Survivors typically experience long-term organ damage.

    Twitter ricin humor:

    Most acute ricin poisoning cases due to overdose are attributed to the ingestion of whole castor oil beans. Just 5-20 beans can be fatal to an adult, though those who survive experience nausea, diarrhea, tachycardia, hypotension and seizures persisting for up to a week.

    Ricin is listed as a schedule 1 controlled substance under both the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention and the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention, and has been viewed as a domestic threat, as castor beans are easy to come by.

    The FBI revealed that the ricin letters contained very small amounts of the substance, and were intercepted before causing any harm. The letters also issued a threat – “You will have to kill me and my family before you get my guns. The right to bear arms is my constitutional God-given right. What’s in this letter is nothing compared to what I’ve got planned for you.”

    Image via Youtube

  • Demi Lovato Lauded by Fifth Harmony

    Demi Lovato wrapped up a tour earlier this year during which she was accompanied by the up and coming girl band Fifth Harmony. The opening act–which formed on the second season of The X Factor USA–spoke recently to the Huffington Post about their new single, ‘BO$$,’ and how its title describes Demi Lovato perfectly.

    “To be honest, she’s a real boss. She’s a real boss with dollar signs,” Fifth Harmony member Dinah Jane Hansen.

    The ladies noted that not only is Demi Lovato an amazing musical performer, she stands up for what she believes in, too–like marriage equality. They admire how confident she is in turning her beliefs into actions.

    “She just stands up for everything she believes in, wholeheartedly,” 5H’s Lauren Jauregui added.

    It’s very clear that Demi Lovato loves and misses ‘her girls.’

    The girls of Fifth Harmony are likely missing Demi Lovato now that her tour has ended and they are presently touring with heartthrob Austin Mahone. They are also putting the finishing touches on their latest album, due out later in the year.

    “It’s definitely a bit more sassy and rhythmic and, I don’t know, sexy in a way,” Ally Brooke Hernandez said of the album. “But it’s also something that we can all really relate to. And it ranges from fun and girl-empowering to vulnerable. So it’s pretty different.”

    Fifth Harmony’s admiration of Demi Lovato has likely grown even greater in the past week since Demi and boyfriend Wilmer Valderrama joined President Barack Obama for pizza to discuss what most believe was Latino empowerment.

    There’s definitely a lot of substance to Demi Lovato. She has battled drug and alcohol abuse–as well as other destructive behaviors in her past–and has emerged a stronger, far more confident woman. And she’s shared that strength with the girls of Fifth Harmony, too. With them looking up to a mentor like Demi, the sky’s the limit with how far they can grow and go.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Mitt Romney Crushes New Hampshire Poll; 2016 Bid?

    If someone was to grab you on the street and ask you who you thought the leading candidate for the 2016 Republican nomination for President would be, a plethora of names could tumble from your mouth – Chris Christie, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, Rand Paul, etc. etc. The last name many would expect to hear on that list would be two-time failure Mitt Romney. However, in a recent poll released by the University of New Hampshire, Romney would win the presidential nomination by a landslide if the vote was held today.

    The poll, conducted by WMUR, showed that despite 20 percent of the people in New Hampshire not even knowing which party they would vote for in the 2016 election, 39 percent of them would vote for Mitt Romney. Romney’s next closest challengers, Rand Paul and Chris Christie, finished at seven percent, while Jeb Bush pulled in six percent of the vote.

    The poll comes on the heels of another poll from Quinnipiac University in which 45 percent of voters believed that the United States would be better off today if Romney would have been elected in 2012 instead of Barack Obama.

    There is one bit of information most sources are leaving out of the New Hampshire poll, however. The study was conducted by calling 669 New Hampshire adults and asking them who they supported. 669! A number that barely scratches the surface of eligible voters in the state, and a number that is not near big enough to extrapolate national trends.

    Unfortunately, though, there is more than one source which suggests Romney would have a successful 2016 bid if he chose to do so. Much like the New Hampshire and Quinnipiac polls, a website in the state of Alabama conducted a poll which resulted in Romney accruing 63.67 percent of the vote when people were asked, “Who should be the presidential nominee for the Republican Party in 2016?”

    There is also a petition online right now with the purpose of “drafting” Romney to become the next Republican presidential nominee. Surprisingly, the poll has 54,382 supporters at the current moment.

    While many would not consider Romney a front-runner for the nomination by any means, the proof is in the pudding. And who knows? Perhaps the third time’s the charm for good ol’ Mittens. Only time will tell.

    Image via YouTube

  • Stacey Dash: ‘Clueless’ Star Says Bill O’Reilly is Her Celebrity Crush

    Stacey Dash has scored a spot on Fox News as a paid contributor, and the actress has more than one reason to be excited to join the news team — her crush on network co-worker Bill O’Reilly.

    The former Clueless star made an appearance on Wednesday’s Access Hollywood Live and admitted her crush on the O’Reilly Factor host to Billy Bush, Kit Hoover and guest co-host Brooke Burns.

    “I’m just a huge fan. He is [my celebrity crush],” she gushed. “[I’m attracted to] the strength, the power, the intelligence, the wit.”

    Dash‘s new gig with Fox News came about after she experienced a backlash on social media for backing Mitt Romney for President over Barack Obama.

    “[The backlash was] because I didn’t back the black guy, and I’m black,” she said.

    “Were the Tweets mostly from black people do you think?” Bush asked.

    “Yes – I don’t ‘think,’ I know. It’s absurd,” she replied. “I don’t respond. Everyone’s entitled to their opinion, but I’m still going to stand for what I believe in.”

    The actress said her Twitter account blew up with hate-filled responses after coming out in support of Romney, but it didn’t daunt her in the least.

    “People told me to kill myself, stuff like that. But I’m from the South Bronx – I don’t scare easily,” she said.

    It’s amazing what one tweet can do.

    “I tweeted my opinion and when I woke up the next morning, my life had changed,” the 47-year-old conservative told Elle magazine. “And since then, anything I say has been newsworthy. I say something and then it’s newsworthy.”

    Image via YouTube

  • Sarah Palin Calls for Obama Impeachment

    In an op-ed piece for Breitbart Big Government, Sarah Palin has laid out her case for removing President Obama from office.

    Palin’s beef with Obama at this time? What she terms “his unsecured border crisis.”

    “Because of Obama’s purposeful dereliction of duty an untold number of illegal immigrants will kick off their shoes and come on in, competing against Americans for our jobs and limited public services. There is no end in sight as our president prioritizes parties over doing the job he was hired by voters to do. Securing our borders is obviously fundamental here; it goes without saying that it is his job.”

    “Opening our borders to a flood of illegal immigrants is deliberate,” Palin says, referencing a news story about California Border Patrol union representative Ron Zermeno. Zermeno says he is under a gag order because he wanted to make a statement about the thinning ranks of border patrol agents because of manpower being used to handle underage immigrant children processing into Murietta, California. Zermeno seemed particularly concerned about diseases these immigrants may be carrying, such as head lice and scabies.

    Palin’s piece makes it sound like President Obama has deliberately pulled agents from the border and is allowing anyone who wants to walk in to the U.S. to do so unimpeded. She compares his ‘dereliction of duty’ to an abusive husband.

    “Discrediting the price paid for America’s exceptionalism over our history, he’s given false hope and taxpayer’s change to millions of foreign nationals who want to sneak into our country illegally… His unsecured border crisis is the last straw that makes the battered wife say, ‘no mas.’”

    Pat Dollard says, “Thousands of children and families have arrived on the Texas border in recent months fleeing violence, murders and extortion from criminal gangs in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. Since October, more than 52,000 unaccompanied children have been detained.”

    President Obama has called this a “humanitarian crisis”, and has promised to shift billions of dollars in resources to help stem the problem.

    Nonetheless, Palin has called for action against any candidate for office who does not vow to vote for impeachment of the President.

    “It’s time to impeach; and on behalf of American workers and legal immigrants of all backgrounds, we should vehemently oppose any politician on the left or right who would hesitate in voting for articles of impeachment. The many impeachable offenses of Barack Obama can no longer be ignored. If after all this he’s not impeachable, then no one is.”

    Image via Sarah Palin Facebook

  • Elizabeth Warren Won’t Run For President

    Senator Elizabeth Warren has left little room for doubt that she has no plans to run for President in 2016. In fact, many Democrats are now shifting to hope that she might run with Hillary Clinton as veep choice. But even that is in shadow as many point out that Warren, smart and fiery as she may be, lacks the legislative or executive experience to do the job.

    That’s not to say that she won’t position herself for a run at some point in the future. But Warren is staying pretty faithful to a cause that she has championed since her days as a Republican: the financial straits of the middle class, particularly lately that of students saddled with outrageous loans.

    There are some people out there who want to keep the notion alive that Warren might challenge Hillary in the Dem primary. Perhaps they are looking for a good challenger to take Hillary down a peg before she hits the general election against whoever manages to make it there from the GOP side.

    Edward Klein, who wrote a book about what he describes as a contentious relationship between Hillary and President Obama is quoting unnamed sources within the White House as saying that Obama will back Warren in a race against Hillary, even going so far as to order his staff to pressure Warren into a run rather than back Hillary.

    Many of Klein’s claims in his book have been challenged and found unreliable. He relies on anonymous assertions and some of his material has been outright disproven. Yet he continues to press that Obama hates Hillary, despite his appointing her Secretary of State, that Bill Clinton hates Obama, and that Obama would rather back Warren that see Hillary win.

    As for Klein’s claim that Obama is backing Warren, White House press secretary Josh Earnest says that Obama is not paying attention to the 2016 race yet.

    Klein says Warren has not delivered a final statement on running.

    Warren told The Boston Globe, “No, no, no, no, no.”

    While it is true that Barack Obama was a Freshman Senator when he ran for President, he had already worked in legislation within the state of Illinois. While Warren may be seen as “populist” by some, she is seen as “far left” by the GOP. Chances are she will position herself, but only for those ends that she wants to achieve, namely, helping the poor and middle class who are squeezed in this economy.

    Image via YouTube

  • George W. Bush a Better President Than Obama, According to New Poll

    President Obama’s approval poll numbers have been sitting at low levels for months now. The botched roll-out of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) healthcare markets hit his approval numbers hard. The government shutdown of 2013, though caused by House Republicans, dragged down the president’s approval numbers as Americans grew ever-more tired of legislative gridlock. Foreign policy headaches such as the Russian invasion of Crimea and civil wars in both Iraq and Syria have also driven down the president’s foreign policy approval numbers.

    Now a new poll shows just how little some Americans think of President Obama. The poll, released on Wednesday by the Quinnipiac University Poll, shows that nearly one-third of Americans believe Obama is the worst U.S. president since World War II.

    This compares to 28% of those polled who said that George W. Bush is the worst U.S. president since that time. Perhaps even worse, 45% of those polled said that they believe the country would be better off if Mitt Romney had won the 2012 presidential election and a majority (54%) said that the current administration is not competently running the U.S. government.

    “Over the span of 69 years of American history and 12 presidencies, President Barack Obama finds himself with President George W. Bush at the bottom of the popularity barrel,” said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.

    Well into his second term, President Obama’s approval ratings now sit at an all-time low for this president. The percentage of Americans who approve of the president’s job record hit just 42% last October, and that number has dipped to 41% in subsequent months.

    At the other end of the spectrum, many Americans are pining for a return of the Gipper. Over one-third (35%) of those polled by Quinnipiac said that Ronald Reagan was the best president of the past seven decades. Other (relatively) popular presidents include Bill Clinton (18%) and John Kennedy (15%). Obama finished fourth-best in the poll with just 8% of Americans calling him the best president since FDR.

    Image via the White House

  • Benghazi Suspect Stirs Up US Justice System

    On June 15, special operations forces in Libya captured Ahmed Abu Khatallah, the suspected mastermind behind the September 11, 2012 terrorist attack on the American embassy in Benghazi, Libya – an attack which resulted in the deaths of four Americans, including US Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens. Following his capture, Khatallah was transported via Naval ship to New York. During his ten day ride across the Atlantic, Khatallah was interrogated heavily – both before and after he was read his Miranda Rights. Now, Khatallah currently awaits trial in a civilian court – a decision which has brought much controversy in Washington.

    The prosecution has charged Khatallah with the conspiracy to provide material support and resources to terrorists, a claim to which Khatallah has pleaded not guilty. If found guilty, Khatallah will not face a death sentence for this offense. However, the US Justice Department has not shown all of its cards yet. Khatallah is still expected to face charges of murdering Americans and discharging a firearm in the commission of the attack – charges for which Khatallah could be executed.

    It’s not the charges which have brought controversy in this case, but rather the means by which Khatallah is being tried.

    The first spark of controversy came with the decision to read Khatallah his Miranda Rights. When President Obama decided to try Khatallah in a civilian court instead of a military tribunal, it meant that he must be granted his legal rights granted by the Constitution of the United States. The decision to Mirandize Khatallah was a mistake, according to most Republicans:

    “We do know that he’s been talking, but ten days is not sufficient to fully debrief a terrorist in terms of the intelligence value. Rather than prosecuting a war, we’re prosecuting criminal cases,” stated House Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas.

    For McCaul, “… the military intelligence value outweighs a criminal case.”

    Many Republicans, such as Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, have corroborated McCaul’s opinion: “If they bring him to the United States, they’re going to Mirandize this guy, and it would be a mistake for the ages to read this guy his Miranda rights.” For many, that mistake is the loss of intelligence which could be gathered through harsh interrogation.

    “I have serious concerns that conducting a rushed interrogation onboard a ship and then turning Abu Khatallah over to our civilian courts risks losing critical intelligence that could lead us to other terrorists or prevent future attacks,” remarked Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte from New Hampshire.

    For most, the solution is simple – try Khatallah in a military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay. However, since he has been in office, President Obama has not sent one person to Gitmo due to his belief that the United States justice system will do the right thing regardless.

    Fortunately for Khatallah, US Attorney General Eric Holder believes the same: “Now that Ahmed Abu Khatallah has arrived in the United States, he will face the full weight of our justice system. We will prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, the defendant’s alleged role in the attack that killed four brave Americans in Benghazi.”

    The controversy comes as campaigning for the 2016 presidency heats up. Hillary Clinton, who many people criticize due to her handling of the Benghazi situation during her tenure as Secretary of State, continues to press toward a Democratic nomination, despite the challenge from Elizabeth Warren. If Khatallah is fond guilty of all three counts and receives the death penalty, then perhaps Clinton will be relieved of the Benghazi monkey on her back. If the justice system does not sentence Khatallah to death, though, Clinton will most likely see an end to her presidential run, as the GOP will continue to rail the Benghazi gaffe as the reason as to why Clinton is unfit for the presidency.

    Image via YouTube