A police official said the 39-year-old man died immediately after he jumped Wednesday from the 11th floor of the building in the southeastern port city of Busan. The girl died later from brain damage and broken bones.

The official who spoke Friday declined to be named because the case is still under investigation.

The official says it’s unclear why the man jumped. He says witnesses saw the man jumping but there was no suicide note.

South Korea has the developed world’s highest suicide rate.

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Hezbollah flag (File)

The FBI recently arrested a San Antonio man on charges that he lied to gain entry into the U.S. and then attempted to obtain a sensitive position at the Department of Defense.

The man, identified as Wissam Allouce, 44, appeared in court for an initial hearing on Friday afternoon, the San Antonio Express-News reports. He supposedly shook his head as U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry Bemporad read the charges against him in a federal indictment. The judge ordered Allouche be held pending a bail hearing and his arraignment, which is scheduled for Tuesday.

FBI special agent Erik Vasys said the man “allegedly tried to cover up his affiliation with Hezbollah.”

“It is believed he was looking to secure a sensitive position with the U.S. government at some point,” he added.

The federal indictment revealed Allouche had married a U.S. citizen and was going through the naturalization process when he was arrested. When asked by officials if he had ever been associated with a terrorist organization, he replied no. That apparently turned out to be a lie.

According to the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, he was a militant with the Amal militia in Lebanon in the early to mid-1980s. He was reportedly captured as a Israeli prisoner of war, but was later released to become a commander of the Amal militia.

“News reports at the time said Hezbollah was formed by religious members of the Amal movement,” the Express-News notes.

In addition to lying about his terror ties, Allouche is also accused of lying about his relationship with his ex-wife. He falsely claimed on his application forms in 2009 that he and his wife were married and living together for the past three years. In reality, they had no lived together since May 2007 and they filed for divorce in December of 2007.

Last but not least, Allouche is accused of making a false statement on Oct. 14, 2009, on a questionnaire required to obtain security clearance from the Defense Department. The indictment says he allegedly claimed to never have participated in militias for paramilitary groups. However, the document did not say what position he was applying for or why.

Allouche faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

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Case in point: A Los Angeles hospital reportedly became the first in the world to live-tweet a brain surgery using Vine, Twitter’s new video sharing app. Even more incredible, the hard-to-believe footage shows patient Brad Carter strumming his guitar while doctors at the UCLA Medical Center are still operating on his brain.

The 39-year-old was reportedly receiving a pacemaker implant in his brain to fight the effects of Parkinson’s disease.

Doctors had to awaken Carter to make sure they were implanting an electrode emitter to affected areas of his brain, according to Yahoo! News. In the uploading video, Carter is seen happily strumming the strings of his guitar while doctors operate.

After the electrodes were in place, Carter was able to write and hold cup of water without shaking.

While the video is incredible and essentially the first of its kind, it does contain brief but graphic images. Be advised:

Carter, an actor and singer, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease after he noticed hand and eye tremors in 2006. He was no longer able to play guitar.

Doctors insist that the electrode emitters do not provide a cure to Parkinson’s disease, however, it can control a patient’s tremors and stiffness.

Either way, Carter seems to be very grateful to be able to play music again.

Here are some of the tweets from UCLA Health that night:

(H/T: Daily Mail)

All screengrabs via Daily Mail

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The scandal has also given the comedic minds at TheBlaze TV’s B.S. of A. some inspiration. They sent us this sketch from Saturday night’s new episode, and we wanted to share it with you.

Tax Doctor – from The B.S. of A. – Saturday nights 10:30 ET on TheBlaze TV

The B.S. of A. and The Wonderful World of Stu – part of TheBlaze TV’s Saturday night comedy block.

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Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., joins other members of the committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, May 20, 2013, as lawmakers work on a landmark immigration bill to secure the border and offer citizenship to millions. The panel is aiming to pass the legislation out of committee this week, setting up a high-stakes debate on the Senate floor. Credit: AP

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) had some strong words for President Barack Obama over his decision to meet with illegal aliens after refusing to sit down with the union representing immigration officers.

In a statement to Fox News on Friday, Sessions said Obama’s decision to host the illegal immigrants after snubbing immigration officers “says it all.”

“The White House will not even grant ICE officers a low-level White House meeting but invites illegal immigrants into the Oval Office,” the senator added.

Obama and Vice President Joe Biden reportedly med with eight pro-amnesty advocates at the White House on Tuesday. Three of the visitors were listed as having received “deferred action.” In other words, they were likely granted reprieve via Obama’s 2012 executive order that allows some illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children to avoid deportation.

Meanwhile, the ICE union has been attempting, unsuccessfully, to sit down with the president for three months to talk about immigration reform.

On Thursday, Sessions and Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) sent a letter to the White House asking why it has not responded to repeat meeting requests from the National ICE Council, which represents upwards of 7,000 immigration officers.

“To be effective any immigration reform bill must heed the warnings from our federal immigration agents,” the letter states. “Unfortunately, far from being included in the process, ICE officers have been shut out and have even had their day-to-day operations handcuffed by DHS officials to the point of being unable to carry out their sworn duties.”

Featured image via Getty

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BURY, ENGLAND – MAY 24: Rebecca Rigby, the wife of murdered soldier Lee Rigby, grieves during a family press conference at the Regimental HQ of his unit, the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers on May 24, 2013 in Bury, Greater Manchester, England. Drummer Rigby was murdered by suspected Islamists near to his regiment’s Woolwich Army Barracks. The UK’s security services are facing a Commons inquiry after confirmation that the two men – who were shot and arrested at the scene and remain in police custody – were known to MI5. Credit: Getty Images

LONDON (TheBlaze/AP) — London is still reeling from the horrific terror attack that took place earlier this week.

Both of the suspects accused of butchering a British soldier during broad daylight on a London street had long been on the radar of Britain’s domestic spy agency, though investigators say it would have been nearly impossible to predict that the men were on the verge of a brutal killing.

Still, counter-terrorism officials said they are reviewing what – if any – lessons can be gleaned from the information they had leading up to the slaying Wednesday.

Authorities in the U.S. have similarly pledged to review their procedures in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing, with the Boston police commissioner saying that cities should consider deploying more undercover officers and installing more surveillance cameras.

The British review comes amid an outpouring of grief over Wednesday’s slaughter of 25-year-old Lee Rigby of the 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. Rigby, who had a two-year-old son, had served in Afghanistan. Detectives say they do not believe the attackers knew him or that he was specifically targeted, but they are still investigating.

His anguished widow, Rebecca Rigby, spoke of her loss Friday at a news conference at his unit’s headquarters. “I love Lee and always will,” she said, sobbing and struggling to speak.

Watch the brief press conference below:

His stepfather, Ian Rigby, read a statement on the family’s behalf, including the final text the soldier had sent to his mother, who was too upset to speak.

“The last text he sent to his mum read, ‘Goodnight mum, I hope you had a fantastic day today because you are the most fantastic and one in a million mum that anyone could ever wish for. Thank you for supporting me all these years, you’re not just my mum, you’re my best friend. So goodnight, love you loads,” Ian Rigby said.

BURY, ENGLAND – MAY 24: Family members of murdered soldier Lee Rigby, (left to right) Sara McClure , sister, his mother and stepfather Lyn and Ian Rigby, Rebecca Rigby, mother of their two-year-old son Jack, Susan Metcalfe (mother-in-law) and Ray Dutton (brother-in-law) mourn as his stepfather reads out a family statement to the media during a press conference, at the Regimental HQ of his unit, the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers on May 24, 2013 in Bury, Greater Manchester, England. Credit: Getty Images

BURY, ENGLAND – MAY 24: (L-R) The mother and stepfather of murdered soldier Lee Rigby, Lyn and Ian Rigby and his wife Rebecca Rigby, grieve as his stepfather reads a family statement, at the Regimental HQ of his unit, the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers on May 24, 2013 in Bury, Greater Manchester, England. Credit: Getty Images

BURY, ENGLAND – MAY 24: Lyn Rigby (R), the mother of murdered soldier Lee Rigby, is supported by her daughter Sara McClure, whilst she holds a teddy bear bought by Lee for his son, Jack, during a press conference at the Regimental HQ of his unit, the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers on May 24, 2013 in Bury, Greater Manchester, England. Credit: Getty Images

BURY, ENGLAND – MAY 24: Rebecca Rigby, the wife of murdered soldier Lee Rigby, grieves during a family press conference at the Regimental HQ of his unit, the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers on May 24, 2013 in Bury, Greater Manchester, England. Credit: Getty Images

“We are looking at decisions that were made and reviewing whether anything different could have been done,” said a British counter-terrorism official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the investigation. “But you can’t put everyone under surveillance who comes on to the radar.”

Prime Minister David Cameron said Thursday that the Intelligence and Security Committee would review the work of agencies such as Britain’s domestic spy agency, MI5, in the wake of the attack “as is the normal practice in these sorts of cases.”

In Britain, security officials operate under the “principle of proportionality,” which means there needs to a compelling reason before any type of surveillance is undertaken.

Surveillance can range from watching a person’s movements to intercepting phone calls and electronic communication. The greater the level of intrusion into a person’s privacy, the higher the level of government approval needed.

Although British police have not named either suspect – both are recovering from their injuries after being shot by police after the killing – they had been known to law enforcement officers for as long as six years, the counter-terrorism official said.

One of the suspects had been photographed at multiple raucous demonstrations by the banned extremist group al-Muhajiroun.

The extremist group, whose name means “The Emigrants” in Arabic, captured attention shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, when it organized an event celebrating the airline hijackers who slaughtered thousands in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

But attending such demonstrations, investigators say, is generally not enough to put someone under surveillance or to lead authorities to believe men or women will turn violent. Trolling the Internet for extremist sites is also no proof a person will turn to violence.

Britain is already one of the most heavily watched countries in the world with more than 4.3 million CCTV cameras around the country.

Europol Director Rob Wainwright cautioned against changes that could disturb the balance struck by the “principle of proportionality.”

“Investigators have to prioritize their work,” Wainwright told The Associated Press. “There are limited resources, but it’s not just a question of resources.”

Technological advances, for instance, help investigators but also have led to a deluge of data for them to sift through, he said, noting, “The more data you have, the more potential you have for suspects.”

Britain, meanwhile, was bracing for potential clashes with right-wing activists, who have promised demonstrations, as well as possible copycat terror attacks in the wake of Wednesday’s killing.

Some 1,200 extra police have been put on alert in London.

Wednesday’s attack was captured on video by passersby and made for gruesome viewing – one man is seen with his hands stained red with blood and holding two butcher’s knives as he angrily complained about the British government and troops in foreign lands.

Analysts say the attackers wanted the publicity to inspire copycats. Already, there has been increased chatter on militant sites, they said.

“We can see the tempo being raised,” said Maajid Nawaz, a former jihadist who is now with the London-based anti-extremist Quilliam Foundation. “One of the reasons why these guys acted in this theatrical way was because of the propaganda effect so others would be inspired to do the same thing.”

A British government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak about the ongoing investigation, confirmed the increase in chatter since Wednesday’s attack but said no specific or credible plots had been detected.

Britain’s terror threat level has remained unchanged at “substantial” – the middle of five possible rankings – since the slaying of Rigby.

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(YouTube)

Henry, a member of the Santee Historical Society (SHS) in San Diego, was reportedly taking pictures of the famous Edgemoor Barn, a 100-year-old building apparently known for “paranormal activity,” the Huffington Post notes.

“I was at the Edgemoor property, in the middle of the day, to take pics of the barn to update the SHS barn logo. I was constantly looking up and around the area, including the sky’s background, so I can get it just right, and not at anytime did I see anything in the sky or heard a sound of an aircraft,” Henry said.

It was after she had already taken the picture that she realized her camera had captured something unexpected.

“I noticed a ‘speck’ on my LCD screen after I took the shot to check for clarity, and only realized it wasn’t a speck when I downloaded it on my computer,” she explained.

Watch ABC 10 News’ report on the so-called Santee UFO:

The local news station reportedly contacted Gillespie Field and MCAS Miramar, but neither could explain the photo.

Henry is convinced that it was not a “commercial aircraft.” She seemed to indicate that it could have possibly been a drone but added, “I have not seen any drones that were round or oval, and lacking wings, rudders or propellers.”

“Another unusual thing happened: Henry reports that right after she snapped the UFO, her camera mysteriously stopped working,” HuffPost concludes.

Of course, it would be foolish not to consider the possibility that the photo has been Photoshopped or altered in some way.

Based on the available evidence, do you think this is a UFO sighting or a hoax?

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(YouTube screen shot)

The video from inside Dunbar Vocational Career Academy, a Chicago public school, appears to depict the guard “grabbing and tossing the 16-year-old student and then standing over the fallen girl at the base of the stairs,” WGN-TV said.

(YouTube screen shot)

Someone appears to approach the girl to help her…

(YouTube screen shot) 

…then the girl apparently lunges at the guard and is pushed back to the floor. Other students seem to yell and mill around the scene.

CBS Chicago said school officials “have not yet identified the employee, or said whether he works for the district or for a private security firm” and that that the girl’s family has retained an attorney for possible legal action.

“The safety of our students is our top priority. CPS takes matters of employee misconduct very seriously, especially when it involves an employee whose job it is to ensure the safety of students. Once CPS was made aware of this incident, immediate action was taken to remove this individual from his position while the investigation continues,” a CPS spokeswoman said.

Check out the raw cell phone video here from WGN-TV (warning – rough language):

The local news report is from CBS Chicago:

(H/T: CBS Chicago, WGN-TV)

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WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 15: U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder takes his seat during a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee on oversight of the U.S. Department of Justice May 15, 2013 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Holder faced questions on reports of the subpoena of two months worth of Associated Press journalists’ phone records and the Internal Revenue Services’ scrutiny of conservative organization’s tax exemption requests. Credit: Getty Images

The Justice Department on Friday admitted that Attorney General Eric Holder personally signed off on the search warrant relating to Fox News reporter James Rosen’s personal emails.

That revelation has led many to speculate that Holder may have lied under oath while testifying before Congress last week. Michelle Malkin, Townhall’s Katie Pavlich and Hot Air’s Ed Morrissey have all asked that very question.

So, did Holder actually mislead Congress? Let’s examine the evidence.

During last week’s hearing, Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) asked Holder about the potential to prosecute reporters under the Espionage Act of 1917.

“You’ve got a long way to go to try to prosecute the press for publication of material,” Holder answered.

He later added: “In regard to potential prosecution of the press for disclosure of material, this is not something I’ve ever been involved in, heard of, of would think would be wise policy.”

Hot Air explains why that statement could prove troublesome for the attorney general:

As it turns out, Holder not only heard of it, he personally approved it.  The warrant in the Rosen case specified that he was considered a potential suspect in the leak of classified material, the reason that the DoJ didn’t bother to follow the existing Watergate-era statute in coordinating the records request with Fox News.  And note that Holder’s testimony in this case wasn’t produced by some sophisticated perjury trap sprung by a Republican, but as a freely-offered representation to no particular question during the question period of a Democrat.

There is no other way to view this except as a lie.  Even if Holder wasn’t under oath, that would constitute a felony punishable by up to five years in prison.  It certainly should produce at least a resignation, and almost assuredly would require the appointment of a special prosecutor, especially since the next person down in the organization, James Cole, is suspected of doing the same thing with reporters.

However, Hot Air’s Morrissey goes on to point out that there is an argument to be made that he was certainly under oath and any “no oath” courtesy was waived.

There has been some bipartisan agreement that it may be time for Holder to go. The Huffington Post called for the attorney general’s resignation with a huge splash on its front page. The headline read: “Time To Go: Holder OK’d Press Probe.”

Others have pointed out that the Justice Department may try to claim they never actually intended to prosecute Rosen so Holder never mislead Congress. However, that argument is apparently flawed as well.

“I’m sure Holder and his allies will say that they never intended to prosecute Rosen, but that’s 1) not the point and 2) even worse. If that’s their defense, they knowingly lied to the judge who would, hopefully, reject the request if they admitted it was just a fishing expedition for information,” The Right Sphere’s RB writes. “They’re stuck. Either he (by signing the request for the records) lied to the judge or Holder lied directly to Congress.”

What do you think — Did Holder mislead Congress, a federal judge or both? Or do you think he was honest in his testimony?

(Read on TheBlaze blog: Did Attorney General Eric Holder Lie Under Oath?)

–

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Rep. Marsha Blackburn (AP Photo)

After a month in Washington where media focus was dominated by the Benghazi attack investigation, the revelation that the Department of Justice has been seizing the phone records of journalists and the IRS was unfairly targeting conservative groups – yet another scandal is brewing within the Obama administration, this time at the Department of Health and Human Services.

Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) says the growing controversy involving HHS Secretary Kathy Sebelius trying to raise money from companies that her department regulates ranks among the major scandals that are plaguing the administration. The funds raised would go to nonprofits that help people enroll in and get excited about Obamacare.

“A lot of people have said it sounds like Iran-Contra — to me, I think it’s probably a little bit worse,” Blackburn said in a video interview (below) with TheBlaze contributor Mallory Factor, who noted the difference to Iran-Contra where Oliver North raised funds for organizations he did not regulate.

As reported by The Washington Post earlier this month, Sebelius has been calling on health industry officials to make large financial donations to help implement ObamaCare after Congress repeatedly rejected administration requests for additional funding. Enroll America, a nonprofit group that the Post reports many of Sebelius’s calls have gone to, is led by a former White house staffer.

Blackburn told TheBlaze that scandals have “snowballed” through the Obama years, now coming to a head with the controversy surrounding the administration’s actions leading up to and after the Sept. 11, 2012 attack on a U.S. consulate in Benghazi, the Department of Justice caught surveilling lawful media outlets like the Associated Press and Fox News, the Internal Revenue Service targeting conservative groups, and this latest controversy with Sebelius and the HHS. Blackburn told TheBlaze that she has even heard of more whistleblowers set to step forward regarding scandals at the EPA.

Blackburn said that along with colleagues in Congress she will investigate these cases methodically and responsibly, subpoena individuals when necessary, and “make certain power grabs like this don’t take place.”

In the full interview with TheBlaze posted bellow, Rep. Blackburn talks to TheBlaze about a new piece of cyber security legislation she has introduced, The Secure IT Act; how the American people are pushing Democrats in the Senate to work with Republicans on the budget, how ObamaCare is destroying jobs in her district, and the latest progress on the Keystone XL Pipeline.

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In an image made from video, actress Amanda Bynes, center, wearing sweats and a blonde wig, is escorted after a Manhattan criminal court appearance on Friday May 24, 2013 in New York. Bynes was arrested Thursday evening and charged with reckless endangerment after police say she heaved a marijuana bong out of out of her Manhattan apartment building. Credit: AP

NEW YORK (TheBlaze/AP) — Actress Amanda Bynes appeared disheveled in a long blond wig and sweats Friday in a criminal court where she was charged with reckless endangerment after police said she heaved a marijuana bong out the window of her 36th-floor Manhattan apartment.

The 27-year-old former child star was arrested Thursday evening, after building officials at her midtown apartment called police to complain she was rolling a joint and smoking pot in the lobby.

The officers went to her apartment where they said they saw heavy smoke and a bong sitting on the kitchen counter. They said she tossed the bong out the window in front of them, prosecutors said.

She then said to police: “It was just a vase,” according to Manhattan assistant district attorney Chikaelo Ibeabuchi.

“My client completely denies illegally throwing anything out of her window,” said Andrew Friedman, her attorney for the arraignment.

TMZ provides a copy of Bynes’ mugshot, in which she looks almost unrecognizable with short hair and an angry glare:

(TMZ)

The judge released her on her own recognizance and gave her a July 9 court date.

Thursday, Bynes was held overnight at a police precinct. She pulled up to court Friday morning in a squad car where she was greeted by a crush of media. She was also charged with attempted tampering with evidence and unlawful possession of marijuana, all misdemeanors.

“I’m asking you I don’t want any pictures,” she said to a photographer.

“I don’t want any photos. No press are allowed in here,” she announced to the public courtroom.

Bynes rose to fame starring in Nickelodeon’s “All That” and has also starred in several films, including 2010′s “Easy A.” But she has been in the news more recently because of several scrapes with the law and bizarre public behavior.

Her lawyer said she had no record in New York, but the judge noted she had several out-of-state cases. In California in December, the former “Hairspray” star resolved a misdemeanor hit-and-run case after entering into a civil settlement with other drivers.

Also in California, she was charged last fall with driving on a suspended license after it was temporarily taken away from her after two hit-and-run cases where she was accused of leaving the scene without providing proper information. She has also pleaded not guilty to drunken driving in a separate case.

In releasing her, Chief New York County Judge Neil Ross gave her a stern warning not to make trouble or miss any court dates.

“I do want to make sure you understand,” he said. “If you get arrested again … I’m going to be setting very, very significant bail.”

“OK,” she replied.

“You’re in a very, very challenging situation right now,” he said.

Assistant district attorney Ibeabuchi had asked for $1,000 bail. He said no bong was recovered from the street below – a sign, her attorney said, that Bynes was telling the truth.

“There was nothing recovered from the sidewalk, clearly a search was made for the bag,” said Friedman of the New York County Defender Services. He said she was followed illegally into her apartment and has made a complaint about police wrongfully entering.

As the judge dispensed with her case, she said, “Thank you sir, have a nice day.”

The star then got into a waiting yellow cab ringed with photographers and TV cameras and left.

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One of them, Milo, even plays personal toothpick, cleaning Bonedigger’s teeth.

Bonedigger and Milo (Image: Barcroft TV/YouTube screenshot)

According to a News OK in-depth story, Bonedigger was bottle fed as a cub because he had a calcium deficiency that was crippling to his growth — hence the otherwise intimidating name. The lion first became friends with John Reinke, a man who lost both legs in a bungee jumping accident and later came to the G.W. Exotic Animal Park where he found comfort helping rescued large animals.

Bonedigger, Reinke and the dogs (Image: Barcroft TV/YouTube screenshot)

While Bonedigger was still a cub he became friends with the dachshunds as well.

Watch the dogs and Bonedigger interact in this video, which seems to be missing its “Fox and the Hound” Disney theme song:

Here’s another feature video from a couple years ago showing Reinke interacting with the animals at the zoo and talking about his relationship with Bonedigger:

(H/T: Daily Mail)

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A group of thugs figured it would be easy to overpower one Kansas City woman. After all, her husband had just left to run an errand, leaving her all alone in the home.

They couldn’t have been more wrong.

The woman, later identified as Shirley Roberts, 52, immediately retrieved her gun after she heard someone jiggle the knob of the front door. She also witnessed two additional men heading to the back door.

Looking through the blinds, Roberts saw the men putting on gloves and preparing to force their way into her home. So she trained her firearm on the men and opened fire.

shutterstock.com

The criminals, scared silly, reportedly took off running. However, they also fired shots toward the house they attempted to break into.

Robert’s husband, Oscar Roberts, later said he and his wife have been going to the gun range to prepare for just that type of situation. “You’ve got to protect yourself,” he told KMBC-TV.

“I told her she’d done the right thing. We practiced that. She’s shook up, though. That’s the only thing about it, she’s very shook up,” Oscar added.

The practice at the shooting range seemingly paid off as police later arrested three men who went to the Research Medical Center, one of which was treated for a gunshot wound to the chest.

Police said the shooting seems to be justifiable self-defense.

“If you’re in fear for your life, most definitely we want you to protect yourself. We don’t want any harm to come to anyone,” Sgt. Marisa Barnes of the Kansas City Police Department told KMBC-TV.

This story has been updated.

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Attorney General Eric Holder personally vetted the search warrant for Fox News reporter James Rosen’s personal emails, the Justice Department confirmed Friday.

The DOJ “took great care in deciding that a search warrant was necessary in the Kim matter, vetting the decision at the highest levels of the Department, including discussions with the Attorney General,” the department said in a statement.

Read the DOJ’s full statement below:

“The Department takes seriously the First Amendment right to freedom of the press. In recognition of this, the Department took great care in deciding that a search warrant was necessary in the Kim matter, vetting the decision at the highest levels of the Department, including discussions with the Attorney General. After extensive deliberations, and after following all applicable laws, regulations and policies, the Department sought an appropriately tailored search warrant under the Privacy Protection Act. And a federal magistrate judge made an independent finding that probable cause existed to approve the search warrant.”

“Attorney General Holder understands the concerns that have been raised by the media and has initiated a reevaluation of existing Department policies and procedures. This review will include extensive engagement with representatives of the media. The Department must strike the appropriate balance between its obligation to enforce the laws preventing leaks of classified information and First Amendment rights, and, through a new media shield law and appropriate updates to the Department’s internal guidelines, we are committed to achieving that balance.”

In other words, Holder will soon be investigating himself and his department.

Additionally, documents revealing warrants and related materials for the email accounts of State Department adviser Stephen Kim and Rosen were unsealed this week after an 18-month delay. But more details are coming out regarding how and why these warrants for information were kept secret from Rosen.

Kim faces charges of leaking secret information about North Korea to Rosen, which spurred the investigation.

Rosen’s emails were seized, with a judge’s approval, as part of the prosecution of Kim. In addition to a delay unsealing the documents for warrants, there was also a delay unsealing chief judge of the U.S. District Court in Washington  Royce Lamberth’s 2010 order that the government wasn’t required to notify Rosen that his emails had been the subject of a warrant. Although that order was posted on the court’s website, it was not available on the public docket until now.

Lamberth apologized for these delays Wednesday this week saying a ”series of administrative errors by the court’s staff” caused them.

The documents reveal that two judges had said the Justice Department was required to notify Rosen of the warrants, the New Yorker reported. But U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen, Jr., requested in 2010 that the court exercise its power to keep sealed the warrants and related documents in this case as there “exists an extraordinary situation and compelling government interest, which justify such a sealing.”

Ronald Machen, Jr., U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, right, listens to a questions during a news conference in Washington, Tuesday, April 23, 2013. (Photo: AP/Jacquelyn Martin)

Machen also requested the court order Google not to notify Rosen of the warrant either.

Lambert overturned the two judges who declared the Rosen was to be notified of the warrants, granting Machen’s request that the documents remain sealed.

President Barack Obama said Thursday that the Justice Department will review the policy under which it obtains journalists’ records in investigations of the leak of government secrets.

Obama acknowledged he is “troubled by the possibility that leaks investigations may chill the investigative journalism” that he says holds government accountable and said he has expressed his concerns to Mr. Holder.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder testifies during a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee on oversight of the U.S. Department of Justice May 15, 2013 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Holder faced questions on reports of the subpoena of two months worth of Associated Press journalists’ phone records and the Internal Revenue Services’ scrutiny of conservative organization’s tax exemption requests. (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Holder personally approved the search warrant for Rosen’s emails as a “possible co-conspirator.”

Read more about the documents and see them in the New Yorker here.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

(H/T: Mediaite)

–

Related:

• NY Times Defends Fox News’ James Rosen
• Flashback: Want to See the Article Fox’s James Rosen Wrote That Led to DOJ Snooping?
• Roger Ailes: Obama Administration Creating ‘McCarthy Era’ ‘Climate of Press Intimidation’

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(YouTube)

Dr. Anthony Levantino, a New Mexico doctor who previously performed 1,200 abortions, testified before Congress on Thursday and asked lawmakers to pass a bill that would ban abortions nationwide after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Some of the abortions Levantino performed were after 20 weeks, he revealed.

It was after his daughter died in a tragic car accident that the physical reexamined his beliefs on abortion.

“During my residency training and during my first five years of private practice, I performed both first and second trimester abortions,” Levantino testified. He went on to describe the abortion process in excruciating detail.

“If you refuse to believe that this procedure inflicts severe pain on that unborn child, please think again,” he said.

Watch his testimony below:

You can read Levantino’s testimony in full at LifeNews.com, here.

(H/T: Fox Nation)

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A worker cleans the street in front of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) building on May 24, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo: Getty Images)

After weeks of harsh criticism over their admitted targeting of conservatives, the Internal Revenue Service is one of four government agencies purportedly forced to shut their doors today, Friday May 24. The agencies blame sequestration and “the current budget situation.”

A memo on the IRS’ website states that additional closures are planned for June 14, July 5, July 22 and Aug. 30, 2013.

“Due to the current budget situation, including the sequester, all IRS operations will be closed on those days. This means that all IRS offices, including all toll-free hotlines, the Taxpayer Advocate Service and the agency’s nearly 400 taxpayer assistance centers nationwide, will be closed on those days. IRS employees will be furloughed without pay. No tax returns will be processed and no compliance-related activities will take place,” the IRS announcement reads.  “…Taxpayers should continue to file their returns and pay any taxes due as usual.”

The Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Office of Management and Budget are also closed today, giving roughly 115,000 federal workers the day off, according to the Hill.

The Daily Caller notes: “Despite the tax agency’s claim, the IRS has not seen any actual budget cutting. The IRS budget request for 2013 came in at $12.8 billion, an increase of $944.5 million increase, or 8 percent, over its enacted 2012 budget. The service’s 2013 budget request [is] $13,358,007.”

Cynics might point out that, with most federal employees also getting Monday off for Memorial Day, the agencies have just given themselves an extra day on a long weekend.  But they say this is the way to create the smallest negative impact, since many of the groups they work with are also on vacation.

Though President Obama proposed the sequester, he has loudly warned about the impacts of the cuts, claiming they put “our entire economy at risk.”

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The Huffington Post provides this devastating infographic that brings the military suicide epidemic into focus:

Infographic by Jan Diehm for The Huffington Post.

Many veterans who commit suicide are over the age of 50, however, the hundreds of thousands of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan have trouble adjusting to civilian life due to the mental and physical toll of war. Couple that with a relentlessly high unemployment rate and you’ve got a recipe for disaster.

Sadly, some veterans commit suicide before they even return home. Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta labeled active military suicides an epidemic after 349 soldiers took their lives in 2012 — a record high.

Featured image via AFP/Getty

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What exactly is a rocket bike? In short, it’s a bike that uses a hydrogen peroxide-powered rocket engine.

Francois Gissy taks off on a rocket-powered bike to set a new land speed record. (Image: YouTube screenshot)

The bike was built by Gissy with the propulsion part being developed by Swiss engineer Arnold Neracher who owns Exotic Thermo Engineering, DNA.fr reported.

Gizmodo has more on how such an engine works:

Concentrated liquid hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)—about 90-percent concentrate, compared to the 3-percent stuff sold in drug stores—is fed from a storage tank into secondary chamber filled with a catalyst, typically silver. This causes the chemical bonds to break down and the hydrogen peroxide to decompose into heat, water (H2O) in the form of 650 degree F steam, and oxygen (O). The steam is then forced through a rocket nozzle to provide thrust.

Watch the new record for rocket-powered bikes being set in this video (Note: Skip to 0:55 to see the bike get going):

Here’s the run at another angle:

Gizmodo also pointed out that Gissy was only 5 KPH off from beating a 1995 speed record for overall powered bike.

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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Gun owners in the only state still banning concealed weapons would win that right under a plan approved by the Illinois House on Friday, but the governor and other powerful Democrats oppose the plan because it would wipe out local gun ordinances – including Chicago’s ban on assault weapons.

The proposal, which passed 85-30, was brokered by House Speaker Michael Madigan, a Chicago Democrat, as a way to abide by a federal appeals court’s ruling that ordered the state to adopt a concealed-carry law by June 9. But the plan has drawn strong opposition, with Gov. Pat Quinn calling it a “massive overreach” because of the way it would curb local firearms regulations.

Chief among those regulations is Chicago’s ban on assault-style weapons, which would be stricken from the books. That’s a deal-breaker for Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who backs tough restrictions to curb gun violence in the nation’s third largest city.

FILE – In this April 10, 2013 file photo, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Credit: AP

“This legislation is wrong for Illinois. It was wrong yesterday in committee, it’s wrong today, and it’s wrong for the future of public safety in our state,” Quinn said in a statement after the House vote.

The legislation is being sponsored by Rep. Brandon Phelps, a southern Illinois Democrat and ardent gun-rights supporter whose more permissive plan failed by seven votes last month.

Madigan took the rare step on the floor of describing how he had worked against that Phelps plan in April – legislation which still got double the number of votes Chicago Democrats garnered on a more restrictive measure.

“Those vote counts are very telling,” Madigan said. “They tell the reason why I stand before you today, changing a position I’ve advocated for well over 20 years. But that’s what happens in a democracy, where there’s free and open debate.”

He said the state needed one uniform firearms law to reduce the potential confusion for gun owners packing weapons and traveling throughout the Prairie State. There are 220 “home rule” communities which are free from state oversight to devise local guidelines on any issue, including guns. If June 9 comes and goes without a law, each of those municipalities could write its own restrictions, he said.

“The effect of not taking any action would be to open up the possibility that there could be up to 220 different sets of rules on the question of carrying weapons, so that as people attempted to move about the state, they would contemplate the possibility that there would be a change in the rules up to 220 times,” Madigan said.

Illinois Speaker of the House Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, argues concealed carry gun legislation while on the House floor during session at the Illinois State Capitol Friday, May 24, 2013, in Springfield Ill. Credit: AP

The measure would require Illinois State Police to issue a permit to any applicant who has a Firearm Owners Identification card, completes required training, passes a background check, and pays a $150 fee. But it significantly broadens the places where guns would be prohibited, including mass-transit buses and trains, which was a demand of Chicago Democrats.

In addition to the Chicago assault-weapons ban, it would pre-empt any city or county gun regulation, such as taxes on gun sales or requirements for reporting lost or stolen guns. Phelps and Madigan argue that it would be best to have one statewide law to reduce confusion and have future restrictions get state legislators’ approval in Springfield.

But Quinn’s office said the pre-emption would jeopardize public safety.

The legislation also is opposed by Senate President John Cullerton, a Chicago Democrat like Quinn and Madigan. The Senate’s plan would only pre-empt local laws by requiring them to adopt concealed-carry laws. Opponents of Phelps’ plan note that the only issue that the federal court addressed was conceal-and-carry, not other gun provisions.

The legislation was forced by a 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in December that decreed the state’s ban on concealed carry unconstitutional. The court gave lawmakers until June 9 to enact a law.

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The bill is SB2193

Featured image via Shutterstock.com

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But now the family of the young girl she was dating is finally speaking up. And their account differs drastically from the one being touted by the Hunt family.

Laurie and Jim Smith (Photo Credit: WPEC-TV)

Laurie and Jim Smith told WPEC-TV that they aren’t the type of people who would normally go to the media and, to date, they have been silent regarding the alleged scandal that involves their 15-year-old daughter. The young, unnamed girl was, until earlier this year, dating Hunt.

Their comments are intriguing, as WPEC-TV claims that the Smith family’s revelations include a “bombshell that will likely turn this investigation on its head.”

And here it apparently is: “Our daughter was 14, and this girl was 18,” Jim told the outlet, clarifying previous inconsistencies surrounding the teens’ ages at the time of their relationship (previously, Hunt’s mother, Kelley, had written in a Facebook post that her daughter was 17 when the relationship began).

According to Laurie, she and her husband told Hunt that the relationship wasn’t right and, by their account, the older teen refused to listen. The “Free Kate” mantra, the Smiths maintain, hasn’t been an accurate one thus far.

“It’s not the way it was. It was quite different,” she said. “We had actually told Miss Hunt that this was wrong.”

The high schooler was allegedly warned twice.

“Another adult, a mother, came to me and said ‘Ms. Smith you need to know this…we told Miss Hunt to leave your daughter alone. But they are in a relationship, and she’s 18.’ 18? My daughter is only 14.”

Photo Credit: Facebook/Free Kate page 

When their daughter began acting out, as many teens do, she ran away. Jim called the shock “the worst thing” that he has ever experienced. Assuming that she wouldn’t have willingly fled, the parents initially assumed that someone took her — but that wasn’t the case.

After being told to stay away from their daughter, Kate purportedly picked up the 14-year-old. Because the relationship apparently didn’t stop, despite the aforementioned warnings, the Smiths said they had no choice but to turn to the law.

As far as the issue of homosexuality goes, Laurie and Jim seemed perplexed in their WPEC-TV interview. While they have been painted as anti-gay in media and slapped with allegations that they blame Hunt for their daughter’s sexuality, the embattled parents said that this isn’t how they feel about the issue.

“They made me seem as if I’m a monster,” Laurie said of bloggers’ attacks, noting that she and her husband have turned to the media to get their story out. “That’s why I’m talking to you…The stories that people are saying…I love my daughter and I am willing to do whatever to protect her.”

Watch the parents describe their side of the Kaitlyn Hunt story here. Earlier today, the 18-year-old refused a plea deal, which would have given her two years house arrest, one additional year of probation and a charge of child abuse. Hunt will have a June 20 court hearing; she could face up to 15 years behind bars (read more about the story).

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While dramatic, the question is one that is currently being asked in the wake of the organization’s decision to allow openly-gay children to be members. In the end, the reality is that the policy will likely have both positive and negative effects on the traditional group — an organization that, quite interestingly, plans to simultaneously uphold its decision not to allow gay scout leaders.

News of Thursday’s vote was welcomed by gay rights advocates and derided by many Christian groups who stand firmly against homosexuality. Among the voices of opposition was Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage, a group that opposes same-sex marriage.

In a statement, he decried the lift on the gay ban, calling Thursday “a sad day for the Boy Scouts of America.”

Jennifer Tyrrell (L) of Bridgeport, Ohio, speaks at a news conference as Pascal Tessier, 16, of Kensington, Maryland, wipes his eyes at a news conference held at the Great Wolf Lodge May 23, 2013 in Grapevine, Texas. Credit: Getty Images

Rather than making a decision based upon values, Brown accused the organization of buckling under political pressure and steering away from its traditional and historic roots. And he warned that this action will lead the BSA down a path in which courts will order the allowance of gay scout leaders.

“Unfortunately, what they have done is said to the world that their oath no longer means much,” he said of the BSA. “Their decision to admit openly gay scouts will end up sexualizing the organization.”

Ultimately, Brown warned that the group could collapse as a result of churches pulling their support. He called the move “the beginning of the end” for the BSA.

And he wasn’t alone, as others mirrored this sentiment. David Cortman, a lawyer with Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian group, also decried the decision to admit children of any sexual orientation, The Christian Post reports.

“Sadly, the Boy Scouts Executive National Council’s decision disregards not only the nearly 19,000 Americans who signed a petition urging BSA to ‘uphold the values that have defined the organization for over 100 years,’ but also the millions of Americans who have supported the program,” Cortman said.

“With its decision today, BSA has rejected its freedom to promote and practice the values that have served to shape our nation’s boys into leaders for the last century,” he added.

John Stemberger, an Eagle Scout and Orlando, Fla. based attorney speaks out during a news conference against the Boy Scouts of American decision allowing openly gay scouts to participate in scouting Thursday, May 23, 2013, in Grapevine, Texas. Local leaders of the Boy Scouts of America voted Thursday to ease a divisive ban and allow openly gay boys to be accepted into the nation’s leading youth organization one of the most dramatic moves the organization has made in a century. Credit: AP

These views come in stark contrast to those who support the BSA’s evolution on the issue. Groups like GLAAD are praising the move, but maintain that they would also like to see the gay scout leader ban be lifted. Some gay rights leaders and organizations are still accusing the organization of sending a mixed message in the affirmation that gay children can participate, while gay adults cannot. The battle over the latter restriction will likely continue.

While some conservative and religious groups are giving some harsh assessments, others who oppose gay marriage seem to be taking a more measured tone. In the wake of the decision, the National Catholic Committee on Scouting said it is going to explore how the change will impact its associated scouting groups. And the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also released a statement about the decision.

“The Church appreciates BSA’s reaffirmation of its commitment to ‘duty to God,’ which includes service to others and moral behavior — central principles of our teaching to young men,” the release read. “As in the past, the Church will work with BSA to harmonize what Scouting has to offer with the varying needs of our young men.”

“We trust that BSA will implement and administer the approved policy in an appropriate and effective manner,” the group added, offering a more measured response to the decision.

Credit: AP

As TheBlaze previously reported, local Scout leaders voting at the group’s annual meeting in Texas supported the change by more than 60 percent; the new policy will go into effect on January 1, 2014. The restriction on openly-gay members was in effect for 103 years before being amended this week.

Now, definitively answering how this will impact the organization’s future isn’t possible at this point, as only time will tell. But if conservative groups make good on their threats to abandon the group, it’s likely that membership will take a hit.

Then again, individuals who previously felt excluded may warm up to the BSA (but that could depend on how the scout leader issue is handled). In sum: The BSA’s future is uncertain.

What do you think? Take the poll, below.

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John McCain Lectures Tea Party Senator on How ‘Business’ Gets Done in Congress: ‘That’s What We’ve Been Doing for a Couple Hundred Years’

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Let’s play a little game. Can you spot all the errors in the graphic used during the fan interactive portion?

(Source: Yahoo’s Big League Stew blog)

Stumped?

We’ll give you a few more chances.

Give up?

Okay, let’s point them out:

(Source: TheBlaze/Yahoo’s Big League Stew blog)

Yahoo’s Big League Stew blog explains:

• That Bryce Hunter of the Detroit Tigers sure has similar numbers to the Bryce Harper that plays for the Washington Nationals, doesn’t he? Even looks exactly like him, come to think of it. Wonder if he’s available on my league’s waiver wire?

• Well, it’s nice to see Matt Jones has found another career since bouncing his way out of the NFL. Oh, that’s not the former Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver, you say? It’s actually a picture of Matt Harvey, who pitches for the New York Mets and not the Baltimore Orioles? Welp.

• I’m sure the Chicago White Sox would love to have Manny Machado. He’d come a lot cheaper than Jeff Keppinger, at least. (It really is a wonder, though, that they nailed Machado’s name while bungling the much-simpler Harper and Harvey.)

• Oh c’mon. Mike Trout is at least a few years from signing with the New York Yankees.

All you can do is chuckle. And hope someone’s boss isn’t having a bad day.

P.S. Any errors in this article are intentional. I swear.

P.S.S. My intentional error in the headline was lost on many. Alas, I’ve changed it.

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A local sailboat, known as faluka, sails in the River Nile on the outskirts of Cairo on May 18, 2010. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)

LUXOR, Egypt (TheBlaze/AP) — A mother and two daughters were allegedly killed by male relatives in southern Egypt who believed they’d had affairs, the latest apparent example of so-called “honor killings” in which women are slain for violating traditional Islamic morals in the conservative region, a security official said Friday.

Police believe the 10 men stormed the house of the women, strangling them and beating them with sharp tools, the official said, based on the alleged confession of one of the suspects. The men then wrapped the women’s bodies in blankets, weighted them with stones and throw them in the river Nile, the official added.

He said one of the men, who was arrested on Thursday, gave a detailed account of the killings and said they were intended to protect the family’s honor.

One woman’s body was seen floating on the surface of the Nile near the town of Esna close to the ancient city of Luxor, the official added. Police are searching for the two other bodies and nine remaining suspects.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.

Egyptian papers frequently chronicle crimes in which fathers, brothers or even sons kill their female relatives on suspicions that they are having affairs outside marriage.  The word “affairs” should be interpreted loosely in such cases — a glance perceived to be flirtatious can sometimes be enough to warrant the death of a young woman.

Such  “honor killings” are especially common in the conservative south and in the countryside, where women’s actions are considered to bring shame on the family.

The practice is against Egyptian law, and perpetrators are prosecuted if they are arrested.  Courts are sometimes sympathetic to the accused, though, and give lighter sentences.

Many times, however, the murder is not reported, or the gruesome deaths are spun as suicide.

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Related:

• Report: Islamic Honor Killings on the Rise in the West
• Women in Chechnya Terrified as Government Openly Backs Honor Killings
• American Professor Reportedly ‘Stabbed in the Neck’ in Egypt

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Image source: ITV

A brutal terrorist attack in London shocked the world this week after an off-duty soldier who served in Afghanistan was publicly beheaded in the neighborhood of Woolwich.

The murdered soldier has been identified as Lee Rigby, reportedly known as “Riggers” to his friends.  He leaves behind his wife and two-year-old son, and has been described as “larger than life,” “at the heart” of his unit, “experienced and talented,” and easily identifiable by the “huge smile” he always displayed, according to CNN.

Glenn Beck opened his radio program today in a state of shock at how Londoners have reacted to the brutal slaying.

Noting that world leaders have referred to the murder with words like “divisive” and “senseless violence,” Beck said with disgust that calling someone a “bitter clinger” or a “Marxist” is divisive.

“Chopping someone’s head off in the middle of the street is not divisive, it’s a terrorist act,” he said.

But what shocked him most was the reactions of those on the scene during the attack.  If they did anything at all, it seemed only to be to reach for their camera phones.

This undated image released Thursday May 23, 2013, by the British Ministry of Defence shows Lee Rigby, identified by the MOD as the serving member of the armed forces who was attacked and killed by two men in the Woolwich area of London on Wednesday. Credit: AP

“I started looking for the men in the crowd, and they were all standing there like sheep,” Beck said.  “And I thought to myself, ‘Nobody? Nobody?’  Then I thought, let me go back to the greatest American generation…The British citizens weren’t mice, they were men!  There’s no way a German would’ve walked in the streets in the 1940′s, taken a gun or a knife to a soldier during a war, and walked in the middle of the street and said, ‘Everybody film this! Everybody watch!’  There’s no way that guy would’ve ever, ever gotten away from the scene,” Beck said.

Maybe the people wouldn’t have been able to save the soldier, he added, but they certainly would’ve apprehended the murderer — they wouldn’t be standing around taking pictures.

But Beck noted that there was one person who confronted the murderer — a 48-year-old Christian woman, who said she was not scared because “better me [be the next victim] than a child.”

“Where were the rest of the sheep?” Beck demanded to know. “Why do you think these people are so bold?  Because you have been taught to be silent!”

Beck said the scene paints a dangerous picture for the next generations, describing a world run by the Muslim Brotherhood and Islamic extremists.

Describing flight 93, which crashed in a field on September 11, 2001 after the passengers stood up against the hijackers, Beck said: “I will never forget Todd Beamer’s name.  I will never forget ‘Let’s roll.’  And I am ashamed to say I will never forget the sheep in the streets of London.”

“Choose today, what the future is you want your children to live under,” Beck concluded.  “Freedom — where yes at times we can be divisive — or death, because that is your choice,” he concluded.

Watch Beck’s entire monologue below:

–

Related:

• Shock Video Surfaces: Meat Cleaver-Wielding Man Shouts ‘You People Will Never Be Safe!’ Moments After Gruesome London Attack
• ‘War in London Tonight’: Rioters Clash With Police Over ‘Cleaver’ Terror Attack (Plus: Read About Hero Mother Who Reportedly Confronted Killers)
• ‘Islamic Jihad, Islamic Jihad!: Michelle Malkin Rips Progressives, Clashes With Lib Radio Host Over Islamic Terrorism and the London Machete Attack

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A baby born with a condition that frequently collapsed his windpipe has been saved thanks to 3D printing being able to make a custom splint out of a material that would eventually dissolve safely into the body.

Kaiba, while still an infant, had a condition that collapsed his lungs when he breathed out. Doctors were able to use 3D printing technology to make a splint. (Image: YouTube screenshot)

Doctors at the University of Michigan were able to apply for an emergency clearance from the Food and Drug Administration to make a tracheal splint for the then infant, Kaiba Gionfriddo.

Before receiving the splint, Kaiba would stop breathing frequently and would need to be resuscitated. Doctors said in his current state before the operation, even with some treatments, he “was imminently going to die.”

The splint surgically implanted into the now 20-month-old was sewn in such a way that it would expand the collapsed bronchus and give it the support it needed to grow properly and strong.

This is a model of Kaiba’s trachea and bronchi. The splint was slipped over one of the bronchus. (Image: YouTube screenshot)

Here’s what the splint looks like. (Image: YouTube screenshot)

“It was amazing. As soon as the splint was put in, the lungs started going up and down for the first time and we knew he was going to be OK,” U of M associate professor of pediatric otolaryngology Glenn Green said according to the university’s website.

Not only that, but the material the splint was made out of – a biopolymer called polycaprolactone — is designed to be reabsorbed into the body over a period of three years, at which point Kaiba’s own bronchus should be fully functional.

Kaiba at 20 months has not had to go back on a respirator since the operation. (Image: YouTube screenshot)

“The material we used is a nice choice for this. It takes about two to three years for the trachea to remodel and grow into a healthy state, and that’s about how long this material will take to dissolve into the body,” professor of biomedical engineering and mechanical engineering and associate professor of surgery Scott Hollister said, according to U of M. “Kaiba’s case is definitely the highlight of my career so far. To actually build something that a surgeon can use to save a person’s life? It’s a tremendous feeling.”

“He has not had another episode of turning blue,” Kaiba’s Ohio mother April Gionfriddo told the university. “We are so thankful that something could be done for him. It means the world to us.”

Watch U of M’s video about the innovative material that helped save Kaiba:

Publishing the success in the New England Journal of Medicine, the doctors believe the biomaterial they used to 3D print the custom splint could be used for a variety of medical functions, such as to help rebuild bones.

(H/T: Popular Science)

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Tennessee Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander says President Barack Obama needs to make a deal with Republicans sooner than later to avoid another political showdown and address the nation’s biggest issue: Debt.

“If we don’t fix the debt this country is going to be in deep, deep trouble — It’s our number one issue,” the former Tennessee governor said in an interview with TheBlaze contributor Mallory Factor

Alexander said Obama is speaking with Republicans on the debt in a way now that he wishes the president had done three or four years ago.

“The president needs to put a proposal on the table,” Alexander said in a video interview (below) from TheBlaze newsroom in New York. “If I were him I’d work it out with a few Republican senators so that when he does it he knows he has some support on our side of the aisle, then it needs to go through the regular process in the open light of day.

“This is the kind of presidential leadership we need, of the kind that President Johnson gave on civil rights, of the kind that President Nixon did on China, that President Carter did on the Panama Canal, that President Clinton did on welfare reform that  President Reagan did on social security — it’s unpopular stuff,” Alexander continued. ”Particularly for President Obama to change the benefit structure for payments for medicare for his own party, but that’s why we have presidents.” 

During the interview, Alexander elaborated on his support of the Marketplace Fairness Act, which would allow states to require online and catalog out-of-state retailers to collect sales tax. Civil libertarian groups have come out in strong opposition to the legislation. 

Alexander explains he supports the act because “it’s a states rights bill,” and would be a tax on what’s already owed.

“I trust our Republican governor and legislature to make the decisions about Tennesee tax policy a lot more than I do Washington D.C.”

Over the last two weeks Alexander, has been calling attention to another scandal brewing within the Obama administration, this time at the Department of Health and Human Services.

As The Washington Post reported earlier this month, HHS Secretary Kathy Sebelius has been calling on health industry officials to make large financial donations to help implement ObamaCare after Congress repeatedly rejected administration requests for additional funding. Enroll America, a nonprofit group that the Post reports many of Sebelius’s calls have gone to, is led by a former White house staffer.

Alexander is the ranking member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, and has said Sebelius’s private fundraising with Enroll America may be in violation of the Anti-Deficiency Act, comparing the new HHS scandal to the Iran-Contra affair.

“Thats not allowed by the Constitution, and that’s illegal under a number of federal statutes,” Alexander told TheBlaze.

Watch the Tennessee Senator’s full interview below where he also addresses the state of bipartisanship in Washington, the filibuster, recent Obama recess appointments, and outstanding student loans:

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“Many (threats) are coming out of the Middle East but one of the bigger threats I talk about is the narrative being spun out of this administration that the war against Al Qaeda and radical Islam is over,” McCaul said in an interview at TheBlaze newsroom in New York. ”After bin Laden was killed, they want to close the case on al-Qaeda and radical Islam…The idea that somehow this is all over is really preposterous.” 

McCaul cited the killing of the U.S. Ambassador and other citizens in Benghazi, which “was not an attack of terrorism according to them,” the 2009 shooting at Ft. Hood in Texas, which was called a case of  ”workplace violence” and the Boston Bombings, which McCaul thinks the Obama administration treated like “a domestic event that we can sweep under the rug.”

“That kind of narrative and rhetoric is very dangerous because it underplays and undercuts the threat itself,” McCaul said in a video interview (below) with TheBlaze contributor Mallory Factor. “If you can’t identify the enemy, you can’t defeat the enemy.”

In the ongoing investigation of the events leading up to the Sept. 11, 2012 attack on a U.S. consulate in Benghazi, McCaul said that as chair of his committee and a leading Republican examining the issue, he and his colleagues are trying to operate methodically and in a responsible way.

“If we get too inflammatory, I think people are going to question us on this,” he said.

McCaul noted the points he raised during the congressional hearing with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, when the secretary and State Department were scrutinized for not responding in a stronger way after they were briefed multiple times from the consulate about the need for more security before the attack. McCaul said he and his colleagues will continue to investigate who was involved in manipulating administration talking points on the issue from a political standpoint.

In defending against homegrown terrorism, like the Tsarnaev brothers responsible for the Boston Marathon bombings, McCaul told Factor that it becomes very important to leverage state and local law enforcement, to spot when people radicalize on a local level and stop them.

Given fears that increased homeland security measures could impact traditional American civil liberties, McCaul said there must be a balance between respecting those rights and national security.

“I would argue anything on the public domain is fair use to look at” McCall said for investigating homegrown terrorism. If not, we need to look at Fourth Amendment protections and get a search warrant, but a lot is available in public domain,” he said.

In the case of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, McCaul said there were many signs when he came back from the Chechen region that he had become radicalized. From the Iman at his mosque wanting to throw him out, friends discussing his behavior to Tamerlan’s YouTube website, flags were all over the place, McCaul said.

McCaul also addressed the issue of improving U.S. border security and cyber security, comparing the budget cost of defense spending versus mandatory spending, and where he would like to see the Homeland Security Department three years from now.

Watch the full interview with Congressman Michael McCaul below:

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Such were activities that Baltimore City Schools spent using federal stimulus and Title I funds, a federal audit discovered.

WJZ13 spoke to Baltimore City Schools CEO Andres Alonso; he downplayed the “errors.”

“Anytime there’s an audit of Title I dollars, you’re going to see errors at the school level because schools spend money for what they need, and then sometimes they worry about if it fits the parameter of the grant later,” Alonso said.

Baltimore City Schools CEO Andres Alonso (Credit: WJZ13)

“We’re talking $15 million out of $112 million, and what we see are school events to engage parents, but when the auditors came to look at it they said, ‘Wait a second. This should have been paid out of general funds, rather than Title I,” said Alonso.

The U.S. Department of Education is reviewing 2009 and 2010 expenses that showed more than $4,300 were spent on dinner cruises…

(Credit: WJZ13)

…more than $2,400 for fried chicken and biscuits at a PTA meeting to discuss the budget…

(Credit: WJZ13)

…$1,300 to attend a theater performance, and $500 on a mother/daughter makeover.

(Credit: WJZ13)

“I’m appalled this sort of stuff is going down because you can’t educate the children by taking things for your own pleasures,” said George Downs.

“I’m appalled this sort of stuff is going down,” said George Downs. (Credit: WJZ13)

“It’s mismanagement. It’s negligent,” said Pat McDonough (R) of the Maryland House of Delegates.

The victims, according to state lawmakers, are Maryland taxpayers and Baltimore City school children.

“Funding for some of Baltimore’s neediest children was simply squandered and transparency requirements were completely disregarded. This abuse of tax dollars is one example of why many Americans mistrust government,” said Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger in a statement.

“Who’s responsible? There needs to be a serious investigation,” said McDonough.

“Of course we don’t want schools to make mistakes, but I think error is a little different than the way it’s being portrayed,” said Alonso.

Here’s the full report from WJZ13:

(H/T: WJD13)

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(Image: Mark Knoller/Twitter)

(Image: Mark Knoller/Twitter)

Indeed, the press pool report notes the same thing:

In-town pool report #1
South Lawn departure for Annapolis

Under gray skies and intermittent drizzle, President Obama boarded Marine One at 9:30 a.m. EDT in an open press event.

A few White House regulars were atwitter (and on Twitter) when the President walked directly up the steps of Marine One without saluting the Marine on duty. He soon came out of the helicopter,  walked down the steps, shook hands with the Marine and engaged in a brief conversation.

Here’s a photo sequence of the president’s departure Friday morning:

President Barack Obama boards Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House, Friday, May 24, 2013, in Washington. (Photo: AP/Carolyn Kaster)

(Photo: AP/Carolyn Kaster)

(Photo: AP/Carolyn Kaster)

(Photo: AP/Carolyn Kaster)

Now, you might be confused by the second photo in the sequence, as it does show the president offering some sort of salute. Even the Associated Press caption to the photo says, “President Barack Obama salutes at the top of the step as he boards Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House.”

So what’s that about? We contacted the journalist – Rick Dunham of the Houston Chronicle — who filed the report and he told us while the president may have offered some salute at the top, he definitely broke with normal and accepted procedure.

In fact, video of the series of events seems to show that the salute was offered to someone already on the chopper. Watch via ABC’s footage of the event:

That all raises the question: Even if the president did completely forget to return a salute are they obliged to even do so? Is this even a potential protocol gaffe like the controversy that surrounded Obama recently requesting two Marines hold umbrellas during a White House press conference, which some said put them at odds with uniform code (we showed that the president can make such requests, by the way)?

In 2008, David Alexander with Reuters reported that presidents saluting is actually a “thorny debate.” Alexander wrote that the military has long had a practice of saluting the commander in chief, but the president saluting back didn’t start until President Ronald Reagan.

“Dwight Eisenhower, a former five-star general, did not return military salutes while president. Nor had other presidents,” Alexander noted.

Carey Winfrey, the editor of Smithsonian magazine who was in the Marine Corps, has more on the history of military salutes in a 2009 New York Times article. The piece discusses whether presidents should salute as Marines are taught never to salute out of uniform and he didn’t quite regard the president’s suits a uniform. Ultimately, Winfrey called the president’s salute “impeccable in every way.” Here’s more on Reagan’s salutes that started it all:

Presidents have long been saluted, but they began returning salutes relatively recently. Ronald Reagan was thought to be the first, in 1981. He had sought advice on the matter from Gen. Robert Barrow, commandant of the Marine Corps. According to John Kline, then Mr. Reagan’s military aide and today a member of Congress from Minnesota, General Barrow told the president that as commander in chief he could salute anybody he wished. And so it began.

Mr. Reagan’s successors continued the practice, and I continued to be conflicted — believing that when it comes to salutes (and one or two other matters), presidents deserved to be cut some slack, but also feeling a little uneasy about the whole thing.

Alexander for Reuters noted historian John Lukacs writing in 2003 that the president saluting “represents an exaggeration of the president’s military role.”

Let us know what you think of presidents returning salutes by taking our poll:

Update 1: The latest round of press pool report notes states that Obama did salute a group of the Marines before heading back onto Marine One for his return trip to D.C. after delivering the commencement address to the graduates of the U.S. Naval Academy.

Update 2: The press pool report’s latest update states that when the president touched down around 1 p.m. ET, Obama again made sure to salute the Marine waiting for him at the bottom of the choppers stair’s.

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Those fears were highlighted Wednesday when two Islamic jihadists slaughtered a British soldier in the streets of London and the recent bombings at the Boston Marathon by Chechen born Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his brother Tamerlan. These terrorist attacks have left investigators – on both sides of the Atlantic – with more questions than answers. Were these groups acting alone or were they following orders from al-Qaeda central, or one of its fringe groups?

Rebel fighters in Syria. Credit: AP

One thing is certain: this will not be the end of these seemingly random and difficult to predict terror attacks, say U.S. officials. And with the war escalating in Syria and Islamic extremists groups gaining momentum in Africa, Western law enforcement will have to contend with more trained fighters returning from these war zones to the U.S. and other European nations.

“We know young men are leaving London, U.S. and other parts of Europe with medical bags, tactical gear and other supplies to Syria, and some are heading to Africa to fight in places like Somalia, Algeria and Mali,” said a Western official, with direct knowledge of the terror investigations. “Unfortunately, the rebel groups they are fighting with have strong ties to al-Qaeda and other extremist groups. This is where they will be indoctrinated – what happens when they come home trained, ready to fight and hating the west?”

The problem is that many of these fighters are skilled enough not to be detected by law enforcement “and therefore slip through the cracks – Syria isn’t the only country we’re concerned with,” the official added.

War on Terror

In President Obama’s speech on Thursday, he narrowed the definition of the “war on terror” saying “beyond Afghanistan, we must define our effort not as a boundless ‘global war on terror’ – but rather as a series of persistent, targeted efforts to dismantle specific networks of violent extremists that threaten America.”

Steven Bucci, a former a deputy assistant defense secretary under Donald Rumsfeld, said a major problem is that the Obama Administration downplays the seriousness of the threat.

The administration explains many of these incidents as “lone-wolf” actions and Obama’s speech Thursday, reiterated the administration’s inability to understand the capabilities of the enemy.

“He is totally delusional about “winding down the war,” Bucci said. “I don’t know if he noticed that the bad guys don’t want to stop – think about London (Wednesday.)”

FBI Spokeswoman Kathleen Wright acknowledged that law enforcement is aware of the threat, referring to testimony given to Congress by FBI Director Robert Mueller in March, where he explained why radicalization in the U.S. is more prevalent now than in the past.

In 2010, the FBI and DHS were closely monitoring the U.S. Mexico border when information that 23 Somalis, some with ties to Al-Shabaab, were plotting to illegally enter the United States after being mistakenly released from custody by Mexican officials, a confidential federal law enforcement report said.

U.S. officials don’t have a number on how many young men may have left the U.S. to fight alongside Syrian rebel groups but in Europe hundreds of young men have gone to their homeland to fight, according to European intelligence officials and news reports from the region.

Recruiting Terrorists

Al-Qaeda groups work together in war zones overseas – sharing information and recruiting new members, according to U.S. Intelligence officials who spoke to The Blaze and Bucci.

Claims by Obama that al-Qaeda is “disseminated,” gives power to the terrorists here at home and lowers the guard of Americans and Europeans who are the group’s primary targets, Bucci said.

“To say al-Qaeda is diminished, and try to be so specific you have sound bites for it, is disingenuous,” said Bucci, who is now director of the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies at the Heritage Foundation. “These AQ fringes work together in Mali, Libya, Algeria, Yemen, Syria, Somalia, Iraq and make connections with followers all over the world. They are transnational terrorist groups who swap expertise and narratives.”

“Every time they succeed in an attack, regardless of the regional venue, it makes their job more successful to radicalize people here.”

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Photo Credit: MSNBC 

In responding to President Barack Obama’s counter-terrorism speech on Thursday, MSNBC’s Martin Bashir was joined on-air by Chris Hayes, another host at the network. In addition to speaking about the president’s proposals and plans, the two had a curious conversation about the horrific machete attack that unfolded in London on Wednesday.

Bashir and Hayes both maintained that the attackers are merely “murderers” and likely not al-Qaeda operatives and that they — and others like them — cannot be used to justify an ongoing War on Terror.

“Two lunatics out of nowhere with no connection to any terrorist nexus or any organization decide to hack a British soldier to death in the name of Allah, as they said,” Bashir noted, going on to connect this scenario back to national security and America’s ongoing war against extremism and asking, “Where does the war end?”

Using the Tsarnaev brothers’ — suspects in the Boston Marathon terror attack — as examples, Hayes noted that they were not connected to larger terror cells. He compared their lack of a link to a larger umbrella group to the suspects in the London attack.

“They may say that they’re some affiliate or something,” Hayes said of the machete murderers. “These are just murderers. These are murderers.”

Then, the two went on the lament the fact that anecdotal incidents perpetuated in the name of Islamic extremism, but absent of any larger-scale plot on behalf of an organization like al-Qaeda, are sometimes used to bolster efforts associated with the War on Terror.

“Those individuals are used by people to justify the fact that the War on Terror continues,” Bashir said.

Hayes, who maintained that these men are mere murderers throughout the exchange, said that their actions should not force the U.S. into perpetual war. In Britain, though, Prime Minister David Cameron and other officials have dubbed the deadly assault an act of terror.

“We may never be able to create a world in which there are no Tsarnaev brothers,” Bashir added.

Watch the exchange, below:

(H/T: Mediaite)

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Whether it be detecting potential infidelity or making sure a babysitter or elderly caregiver is treating their charges appropriately, Allen Walton, the president of the Cheaters Spy Shop, an online store selling such surveillance gadgets, said everyone from your average Joe to professional athletes, celebrities and politicians have used products from the site.

Although the name of the site might suggest the technology is to catch cheaters in the act, which some of it is, Walton said there are many more uses. Hidden cameras have been used to catch abuse of Alzheimer’s patients in an elderly care home and of an autistic student being verbally abused. Walton said they’re also used for activities like secret shoppers being sent in by businesses to evaluate if a store’s operations are up to snuff.

“Most people don’t really know products like this exist that are readily available to them,” Walton said.

The shop breaks down technologies by intended use, which includes infidelity detection, child, teen, elderly and office safety, and home security.

Here are some of the coolest products:

• iPhone and Android recovery sticks, which help recover data from these devices that might have been deleted.

iRecovery Stick. (Image: Cheaters Spy Shop)

• A phone call recorder, which Walton said is popular among those who, for legal reasons, need to keep records of their calls and voicemails.

(Image: Cheaters Spy Shop)

• An audio recorder that looks like an actual pen.

(Image: Cheaters Spy Shop)

• Would you believe the products will actually record video footage?

A camera disguised in as a coat hook. (Image: Cheaters Spy Shop)

This isn’t really an MP3 player. (Image: Cheaters Spy Shop)

And this keychain will not unlock a car. (Image: Cheaters Spy Shop)

• This outdoor camera is actually the exact opposite of the hidden cameras pictured above. It’s a fake meant to deter people from conducting nefarious activity for fear that they might be filmed.

(Image: Cheaters Spy Shop)

• Sprinkle a little UV powder on whatever you don’t want touched and then use a UV light to reveal who might have been messing with something they shouldn’t have.

(Image: Cheaters Spy Shop)

In addition to the items that can be used for spying/safety, Walton said they also have counter-surveillance products as well. These would include items like those that detect if a space has a hidden camera or bug.

Being in the spy/surveillance technology field for several years now, Walton said recent advancements that have made gadgets smaller and cheaper, allowing more people to take on the role of a private detective, which can be expensive, themselves.

Everything sold on the site, Walton said, he has tested himself to make sure it works as it’s claimed.

“If it works, then our customer will be happy with it,” he said.

When it comes to the legal issues of some of the products — like planting a GPS tracker on someone’s car, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year violated the Fourth Amendment — Walton first noted that all products on Cheaters Spy Shop have a legitimate purpose.

“If people choose to use a them in a different way, that’s their choice,” he said.

Now if the website’s customer service line is contacted and a person divulges how they plan to use the technology illegally, he said the operators are trained to let the customer know that their activity sounds like it could be against the law and that they should call a lawyer.

“We get so many calls from people who don’t realize what they want to do is completely illegal,” Walton said.

Any shop that carries tools that claim to help people spy — even if it’s in the name of safety — is sure to see some sort of criticism from privacy advocates. Walton’s response: go online.

“The sort of stuff we carry and that we use [...is] nothing compared to the sort of information that is being collected about you online,” he said. “Anyone that criticizes us should check their Facebook account and make sure it’s hidden.”

He also pointed out data companies like cellphone providers and Internet service providers are continually giving up information about their users, obliging law enforcement requests. This is something the FBI has been trying to facilitate more of, while civil liberties and privacy advocates have been calling for a reform in outdated laws that allow such requests to be fulfilled.

Featured image via Shutterstock.com. 

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“Deranged or alienated individuals — often U.S. citizens or legal residents — can do enormous damage. Particularly when inspired by larger notions of violent jihad.” Obama said during the speech. “That pull towards extremism appears to have led to the shooting at Fort Hood and the bombing of the Boston Marathon.”

By linking the Boston bombing, which has officially been called terrorism, with Fort Hood, Obama essentially admitted that the former is a comparable act that could (or should) be given the same designation. This is notable for a number of reasons.

President Barack Obama (Photo Credit: AP) 

For quite some time, the government has taken criticism from liberals and conservatives, alike, for officially calling the 2009 shooting (the only prime suspect is former U.S. Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan) “workplace violence” instead of terrorism. Contention over this designation continues to run rampant.

Earlier this month, ABC News reported that at least one Democrat is joining the chorus of those who are discontented with the Obama administration’s failure to use the terrorism label:

A long-serving Pennsylvania Democrat has joined Republican colleagues to ask Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to overturn the “indefensible” decision by the military to designate the Fort Hood massacre “workplace violence” rather than terrorism.

“This designation has since resulted in an embarrassing lack of care and treatment by our military for the victims and their families,” said Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-Penn.), Rep. Thomas Rooney (R-Fla.) and Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Virg.) in a later dated May 6 and obtained by ABC News.

In the letter, the trio of lawmakers blame “considerations of ‘political correctness’” not only for the “workplace violence” designation, but for allowing the attack to unfold in the first place.

Fattah’s entrance into the controversy comes after Republicans in Congress have generally taken the lead in pressing the White House for answers about the victims’ treatment, as chronicled in an ABC News investigation.

Watch Obama’s comments about Fort Hood, below:

Following the speech, Rep. Tom Rooney (R-Fla.) noted the importance of Obama’s words, claiming that they may help push through efforts for a reclassification of the shooting.

“When he put Ft. Hood in the same breath as Boston… he was basically making our case for us,” Rooney said in an interview with Fox News.

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RAF Typhoons were deployed to escort the re-routing of a Pakistan International Airline’s plane in U.K. airspace Friday. (Photo: Wikimedia)

Fighter jets of the Royal Air Force escorted the re-route of a Pakistan International Airlines’ passenger plane destined for Manchester Airport in the U.K., according to Sky News.

The airline confirmed the diversion of the plane with 297 passengers was for security reasons. The plane was re-routed near York toward the North Sea and traveled south to Stansted, Sky News reported. It was confirmed that the aircraft landed at Stansted Airport, where two men were arrested on suspicion that they would have endangered the aircraft.

The plane, flight PK709, had departed from Lahore, Pakistan, Friday morning.

“An incident has occurred on an aircraft. Police and partners are responding,” Essex police spokeswoman said, according to Sky News.

The diversion of the flight occurred just 10 minutes before the plane was due to land at its original destination, according to Channel 4 News, which also noted that the same plane and flight plan was diverted to Stansted on Sept. 7, 2011, after a bomb scare.

“Typhoon aircraft from RAF Coningsby were launched today to investigate an incident involving a civilian aircraft within UK airspace; further details will be provided when known,” NBC News reported defense officials saying.

Philip Baum with Aviation International called the incident “significant” to BBC but noted the RAF planes scrambling to intercept was not an unusual occurrence.

“We don’t know what the incident was: fighter jets are scrambled when there is a bomb threat, when there is a hijack, when the wrong transponder code is used or if an aircraft cannot communicate with the ground. Often the result is when there is an unruly passenger on board,” Baum told BBC. ”What is interesting in this case is that it would appear that the aircraft was only 10 minutes from landing – these are initial reports coming in – when they decided to divert to Stansted. So to actually change a destination 10 minutes from landing would certainly imply that there was some serious incident taking place.”

News of this incident occurs after a British soldier was killed in London in an attack that has been called terrorist activity earlier this week.

Sky News reported its security sources saying it does not appear at this time that the plane was the target of a terrorist attack though. The aircraft is currently isolated but the rest of the airport is operating normally.

Update: Passenger Nauman Rizvi told Pakistan’s GEO TV that two men who had tried to move toward the cockpit during the flight were handcuffed and arrested once the plane landed. Rizvi said that after the men were taken away, the flight crew told passengers there had been a threat and that the pilot had raised an alarm.

As the police investigation continued on the ground, no suspicious items were found on the plane, but “this incident is being treated as a criminal offense,” the police statement said, which is an indication it was not being seen as a terror case.

This is a developing story. We will continue to update it as more information becomes available.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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Such language as “Satanic Jews” and “Synagogue of Satan” is nothing new for the Nation of Islam leader, but when prominent politicians are in attendance while he’s making these comments, the dynamic presents an intriguing, and some would argue troubling, situation. As previously reported by TheBlaze’s Sharona Schwartz, the May 17th event, held at Fellowship Chapel in Detroit, Michigan, had some popular leaders in the audience.

Among them: Rep. John Conyers (D-Michigan) and Detroit City Councilwoman JoAnn Watson. The Detroit Free Press said that Conyers and Watson nodded in agreement during portions of Farrakhan’s speech, although the exact comments they appeared to be agreeing with weren’t divulged.

Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) (L) and Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX) (R) hold a news conference on H.R.1962, the ‘Free Flow of Information Act of 2013′, May 22, 2013 in Washington, DC. The bill would protect reporters from having to reveal their sources in federal court, with some exceptions including specific threats to national security. Credit: Getty Images

Now, nearly one week after the speech, Conyers is denouncing the faith leader’s “racist” and anti-Semitic remarks. On Thursday, the congressman issued a statement, CBS Detroit reports. He also called the minister’s comments “homophobic” and said that he condemns them “in the strongest possible terms.” Here is Conyers’ statement, as published by the Detroit Free Press:

“Farrakhan made unacceptable racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic statements, which I condemn in the strongest possible terms. It was my expectation that Minister Farrakhan’s speech would focus on the many challenges facing the city of Detroit. In previous days, he had discussed efforts to revitalize our city by purchasing property and investing in blighted neighborhoods. Regrettably, he used this opportunity to promote views that have no place in civilized discourse.

The fact that Minister Farrakhan has engaged in important charitable work aimed at expanding economic opportunities for underserved communities does not excuse these statements. I sincerely offer my apologies to my constituents and others who also may have been offended by the minister’s words.”

While he apologized for being at the speech, some will likely still be wondering at which points he was purportedly nodding his head — and how much negative public reaction to the speech played a role, if at all, in his apology.

Sharon Lipton, president of the Jewish Community Relations Council, applauded Conyers for saying he was sorry, but noted that he shouldn’t have been at the speech in the first place. Lipton also noted that it wasn’t good that it took the congressman nearly a week to apologize.

Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan speaks to Detroit City Council on Friday, May 17, 2013 in Detroit. Farrakhan said it’s time for his movement to join others to invest in the struggling city where it was founded more than 80 years ago. He called on residents and religious leaders to “pool their resources” to buy distressed properties and create economic opportunities. Credit: AP

“I think that people in public office have to be very aware of where they’re going, what they’re doing, and what the perception might be for being in a certain place at a certain time,” Lipton told CBS Detroit.

Read the original report about Farrakhan’s controversial sermon.

(H/T: CBS Detroit)

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Or consider this: You’re using your toilet when all of the sudden the shampoo bottle sitting on the bathtub explodes, and when the lather settles there’s a bullet hole in your wall. What would you do?

That’s what allegedly happened to two separate men who took to Reddit to post pictures of their unbelievable bullet and gun stories.

The bookcase bullet

Redditor p_morrow7, who appears to live in San Francisco, said he was just sitting at his dining room table on Wednesday when he heard a few “pops” outside.

“Next thing there’s a loud bang, dust everywhere and the cabinet glass shatters,” he explained. “Took me a second to figure out what happened, dropped to the floor, called the cops.”

Here’s what it looked like:

(Source: p_morrow7 via Reddit)

(Source: p_morrow7 via Reddit)

(Source: p_morrow7 via Reddit)

According to the post, when police arrived and investigated they found, “a single shooter with a rifle about 2 blocks away, shooting down the street.”

But that’s not all: “A woman was hit in the back, not fatally wounded thankfully. Police said it might have been gang related, but one guy with a rifle shooting randomly down the street? Seems more like some whacko. They didn’t get the guy, but apparently have his car.”

The incident has been confirmed by the local media. Here’s how the San Francisco Appeal described the incident:

A woman was wounded in a shooting near San Francisco’s Alamo Square on Wednesday night, police said today.

The shooting was reported at 10:13 p.m. in the 1600 block of McAllister Street, near Divisadero Street.

The 26-year-old victim was walking in the area when she was struck in the torso by a bullet fired from about a block away, according to police.

The shooter then fled in a black vehicle last seen traveling west on McAllister Street toward Broderick Street, police said.

The woman was taken to San Francisco General Hospital to be treated for her injuries, which are not considered life-threatening.

For the record, the poster — identified on Twitter after posting the pictures there as Patrick Morrow — says the book that stopped the bullet is “the Lonely Planet guide to South Africa.”

The bathroom bullet

But the California case isn’t the only botched bullet story to hit Reddit this week.

Redditor stevensquared claimed on Thursday that he was sitting on the toilet in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, when his shampoo bottle exploded.

While you might not know what you would do if that happened, stevensquared decided to post his experience to the Internet for everyone to see.

“If I had been standing it would have hit me,” the title of his post says.

Here’s what he says he experienced:

(Source: Reddit via stevensquared)

(Source: Reddit via stevensquared)

(Source: Reddit via stevensquared)

Apparently the police and crime scene investigators that showed up to investigate have a sense of humor, telling the poster “Looks like you dodged the bullet this time.”

He also says they arrested his neighbor in the incident — the neighbor who was allegedly a felon but had a gun and claimed to have accidentally fired it.

A local news search could not confirm this incident. And so far reports indicate the crime scene investigators will not be performing at the local comedy club this weekend.

–

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This story has been updated.

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Although much of the 3D-printed gun controversy has surrounded the company Defense Distributed and its founder Cody Wilson, the new plastic shotgun slugs were designed by 50-year-old Tony Griffy of Tennessee and tested on 48-year-old Jeff Heeszel’s YouTube channel Taofledermaus.

(Image: YouTube screenshot)

Why make the 3D-printed slugs? Griffy told Wired’s Danger Room “I might be a redneck from Tennessee, but I love the technology.” He printed the slugs for pure enjoyment. For this reason, he asked Heeszel to test them out on his channel, which Wired describes as “Nickelodeon-style entertainment with firearms.”

“You have to spend six hours printing a barrel that you’re going to use one time, and it’s not as much fun. It’s more about the enjoyment and the sport. And if you’re having to labor that much, then the enjoyment goes away,” Griffy told Wired.

The slugs were made using a $300 Solidoodle 3 3-D printer and take between 30 minutes to an hour to print, depending on size. A metal ball was put on the tip of the slugs to add weight. The slug is used with a standard shotgun shell.

How did it perform? Heeszel and the sharp shooter who helped him out tested the slugs on a dart board, plank of wood and a mannequin.

Here are a few screenshots showing how the materials and the slug itself held up.

Here’s the leftover slug after going through the dart board and the plastic container behind it. (Image: YouTube screenshot)

(Image: YouTube screenshot)

This is what the slug looked like after going through the wood board. (Image: YouTube screenshot)

Damage to the board. (Image: YouTube screenshot)

The slug design used to shoot the mannequin resulted in only the wadding hitting the head. (Image: YouTube screenshot)

“I didn’t think it would go through the first piece of wood at all, much less hit anything,” Heeszel told Wired.

In general though, he called the slugs “kind of crappy little rounds” and more of a novelty than anything else.

Watch the tests:

Unlike the statements made with 3D-printed firearms, which to Defense Distributed/Wiki-Weapons founder Cody Wilson said have both First and Second Amendment  implications, those involved with the 3D-printed slugs said they don’t have a political message with them.

After Wilson demonstrated earlier this month the first fully functional 3D-printed firearm, the lawmakers were quick to call for bans on 3D-printed guns and the federal government within days sent him a notice that resulted in the take down all 3D printable gun designs for now while legal issues are worked out.

Wilson was recently featured on the Glenn Beck Program to discuss his innovation and how government is controlling technology.

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Water tower cross in Roberts, Idaho (Photo Credit: KI

Once again, water tower crosses — this time in Roberts, Idaho — are sparking intense debate.

A local resident, identified by KIDK-TV as Joe Cohea, recently took issue with the fact that the city’s tower was adorned with three crosses. While it’s unclear whether his angst is rooted in atheism, Cohea has certainly made known his views about the expression of religious sentiment on government property.

Worrying that the symbols gave an impression that Roberts favors Christians over other religious people, he took his concerns to city hall and to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

“My opinion is no kind of religious symbol belongs on city property, period,” Cohea told KIDK-TV.

The city agreed that the population is certainly diverse, but Mayor Robert Berlin said that Roberts has always been welcoming to everyone, regardless of religious of cultural viewpoints. The politician also said that anyone is allowed to post a religious symbol on the water tower — so long as it isn’t offensive.

This, though, according to KIDK-TV, isn’t satisfying Cohea or the ACLU. For the moment, the controversy has tempered, as the crosses have been removed and replaced with American flags — clearly more universal symbols of national unity.

But the debate may not be over. Cohea claims that he will, once again, go after the crosses if they are posted. Additionally, he plans to take his grievances to the town when a nativity scene that is displayed each year in the city park re-emerges next Christmas. He will, again, appeal to the ACLU for assistance.

The take away: Some towns apparently have a penchant for allowing Christian crosses on water towers. Just the same, atheist activists and church-state separatists have an affinity for challenging the constitutionality of these symbols on public land. These elements, when combined, are a recipe for contentious debate.

This isn’t the first time a water tower cross has sparked intense controversy. The scenario that unfolded back in 2011 in Whiteville, Tennessee, took some interesting turns, as atheists and the mayor similarly clashed over the presence of the religious symbol (although the town was a bit more unrelenting in this previous situation).

(H/T: KIDK-TV)

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Screen grab.

Karl Stefanovic, the host of Australia’s “Today” show, is famous for regularly pranking his co-hosts and chasing after bizarre and entertaining gimmicks. And it’s a winning strategy — the show’s ratings prove it.

However, in their attempt to amuse their TV audience, Stefanovic and his co-host Ben Fordham every now and then take on more than they can handle.

“[T]his week [they] were challenged to eat a meat pie billed as ‘the world’s hottest,’” MSN reports. “Karl, boasting he’s already eaten the world’s hottest curry and world’s hottest chili, laughed off the challenge — until he bit into the pie.”

About a minute in to the challenge, the pies start to have a deeply unsettling affect on both Stefanovic and Fordham.

But, hey, it’s what you do for ratings:

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Featured image screen grab.

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A fellow White Elementary School employee saw Daniel Nagel, 31, in possession of a firearm at the school and called 911.

Daniel Nagel (Credit: KCWH)

A USD 259 spokesperson said the gun was not loaded, and there was never any threat to anyone at the school, according to KAKE.

A family member tells Eyewitness News that Nagel was carrying the gun to protect students and never intended to do any harm, adding that Nagel has a concealed carry permit.

But Wichita Police say it’s a moot point since the school is within a gun-free zone. Nagel faces a misdemeanor charge of carrying a concealed firearm and a $50 fine if it’s a first-time offense.

Nagel has been taught physical education at White for five years and is on paid administrative leave pending completion of the school district’s investigation.

You can watch the KCWH report here.

The initial report from KAKE:

(H/T: KAKE, KWCH)

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But some unions leaders have grown frustrated and angry about what they say are unexpected consequences of the new law – problems that they say could jeopardize the health benefits offered to millions of their members.

The issue could create a political headache next year for Democrats facing re-election if disgruntled union members believe the Obama administration and Congress aren’t working to fix the problem.

“It makes an untruth out of what the president said, that if you like your insurance, you could keep it,” said Joe Hansen, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. “That is not going to be true for millions of workers now.”

Credit: AP

The problem lies in the unique multiemployer health plans that cover unionized workers in retail, construction, transportation and other industries with seasonal or temporary employment. Known as Taft-Hartley plans, they are jointly administered by unions and smaller employers that pool resources to offer more than 20 million workers and family members continuous coverage, even during times of unemployment.

The union plans were already more costly to run than traditional single-employer health plans. The Affordable Care Act has added to that cost – for the unions’ and other plans – by requiring health plans to cover dependents up to age 26, eliminate annual or lifetime coverage limits and extend coverage to people with pre-existing conditions.

“We’re concerned that employers will be increasingly tempted to drop coverage through our plans and let our members fend for themselves on the health exchanges,” said David Treanor, director of health care initiatives at the Operating Engineers union.

Workers seeking coverage in the state-based marketplaces, known as exchanges, can qualify for subsidies, determined by a sliding scale based on income. By contrast, the new law does not allow workers in the union plans to receive similar subsidies.

Bob Laszewski, a health care industry consultant, said the real fear among unions is that “a lot of these labor contracts are very expensive and now employers are going to have an alternative to very expensive labor health benefits.”

“If the workers can get benefits that are as good through Obamacare in the exchanges, then why do you need the union?” Laszewski said. “In my mind, what the unions are fearing is that workers for the first time can get very good health benefits for a subsidized cost someplace other than the employer.”

However, Laszewski said it was unlikely employers would drop the union plans immediately because they are subject to ongoing collective bargaining agreements.

In this Sept. 7, 2009, file photo President Barack Obama speaks at the AFL-CIO Labor Day picnic at Coney Island in Cincinnati. Some labor unions that initially backed Obama’s health care overhaul are now frustrated and angry about what they say are unexpected consequences of the plan that could hurt their members. Credit: AP

Labor unions have been among the president’s closest allies, spending millions of dollars to help him win re-election and help Democrats keep their majority in the Senate. The wrangling over health care comes as unions have continued to see steady declines in membership and attacks on public employee unions in state legislatures around the country. The Obama administration walks a fine line between defending the president’s signature legislative achievement and not angering a powerful constituency as it looks ahead to the 2014 elections.

Union officials have been working with the administration for more than a year to try to get a regulatory fix that would allow low-income workers in their plans to receive subsidies. But after months of negotiations, labor leaders say they have been told it won’t happen.

“It’s not favoritism. We want to be treated fairly,” said Hansen, whose union has about 800,000 of its 1.3 million members covered under Taft-Hartley policies. “We would expect more help from this administration.”

Sabrina Siddiqui, a Treasury Department spokeswoman, declined to discuss the specifics of any negotiations between the administration and union officials. But she said the law helps bring down costs and improve quality of care.

Katie Mahoney, executive director of health policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said employers were concerned about possible increases in health care costs and would do what was needed to keep their businesses running and retain worker talent. The Chamber has not taken a position on the union concerns, but Mahoney said it was highly unlikely that the administration would consider subsidies for workers in the union plans.

“They are not going to offset the expense of added mandates under the health care law, which employers and unions are going to pay for,” Mahoney said.

Unions say their health care plans in many cases offer better coverage with broader doctors’ networks and lower premiums than what would be available in the exchanges, particularly when it comes to part-time workers.

Unions backed the health care legislation because they expected it to curb inflation in health coverage, reduce the number of uninsured Americans and level the playing field for companies that were already providing quality benefits. While unions knew there were lingering issues after the law passed, they believed those could be fixed through rulemaking.

But last month, the union representing roofers issued a statement calling for “repeal or complete reform” of the health care law. Kinsey Robinson, president of the United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers, complained that labor’s concerns over the health care law “have not been addressed, or in some instances, totally ignored.”

Photo Credit: AP 

“In the rush to achieve its passage, many of the act’s provisions were not fully conceived, resulting in unintended consequences that are inconsistent with the promise that those who were satisfied with their employer-sponsored coverage could keep it,” Robinson said.

Harold Schaitberger, president of the International Association of Firefighters, said unions have been forceful in seeking solutions from the Obama administration, but none have been forthcoming. While Congress could address the problem by amending the health care law, Schaitberger said Senate Democrats told union leaders earlier this month that any new legislation was highly unlikely.

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Hiroyuki Yamada of Tokyo, Japan, winner of the TGI Friday’s World Bartender Championship at the House of Blues in Dallas TX Wednesday March 6, 2013. Credit: Richard W. Rodriguez

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — At one bar, a mixture that included rubbing alcohol and caramel coloring was sold as scotch. In another, premium liquor bottles were refilled with water – and apparently not even clean water at that.

State officials provided those new details Thursday on raids they conducted a day earlier as part of a yearlong investigation dubbed Operation Swill.

Twenty-nine New Jersey bars and restaurants, including 13 TGI Fridays, were accused of substituting cheap booze – or worse – for the good stuff while charging premium prices.

As part of Operation Swill, investigators collected 1,000 open bottles of vodka, gin, rum, scotch, whiskey and tequila from the wells of the bars, state Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa said.

New Jersey Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa, right, talks about an investigation dubbed “Operation Swill,” in which 29 bars and restaurants in New Jersey are accused of putting cheap booze in premium brand liquor bottles and selling it, during a news conference, Thursday, May 23, 2013, in Trenton, N.J. Thirteen of the restaurants cited are TGI Fridays located in central and northern New Jersey. Credit: AP

“This alleged scheme is a dishonest ruse to increase profits and is a slap in the face of the consumer,” Chiesa said.

Within seven days, the establishments must turn over records to help state authorities determine how many patrons were overcharged and by how much. They also will have to inform the state which employees were at work the days samples were covertly taken earlier this year.

State officials would not say what establishment used the rubbing alcohol or which one used dirty water, or water not from a tap. They said no health issues were reported.

TGI Fridays Inc. said it was conducting its own investigation, working with the franchisee that owns the 13 restaurants cited, The Briad Group.

Briad, based in Livingston, said it “takes great pride in the quality of food and drink” served at its TGI Fridays franchises and was troubled and surprised by the allegations. It said in an emailed statement it would take immediate steps to correct any problems it identified.

“We want every assurance possible that our guests can continue to feel confident in the great food and drink they order at our T.G.I. Friday’s restaurants,” said Rick Barbrick, president of The Briad Restaurant Group.

Operation Swill started after the state began receiving more complaints than usual about possibly mislabeled drinks, said the director of the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control, Michael Halfacre. An informant with knowledge of the industry contacted the agency in the fall to help in the investigation, he said.

In January and February, investigators went to 63 establishments they suspected were scamming liquor customers. They ordered drinks neat – that is, without ice or mixers – and then covertly took samples for testing.

Of 150 samples collected, 30 were not the brand as which they were being sold.

The establishments face suspensions of their liquor licenses and possible revocations if there are enough violations.

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The two are charged with third-degree murder in the April death of their 8-month-old son, Brandon. Previously, the Schaibles were convicted of involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment after 2-year-old Kent died in 2009 and were ordered afterward to get their children medical care. Considering that this was part of their probation deal, the notion that another child was denied care could land them 14 years in prison — or more.

Catherine, left, and Herbert Schaible arrive to turn themselves in at police headquarters in Philadelphia on Wednesday, May 22, 2013. The couple who believe in faith healing over medicine and who were on probation in their son’s pneumonia death were charged with murder Wednesday after a second young child died under what a prosecutor called “eerily similar” circumstances. Credit: AP

Rather than comply with this order, the parents purportedly followed the same steps that they took in handling Kent’s illness. Prosecutors claim they prayed over Brandon as his condition worsened instead of seeking the assistance of a doctor who might have been able to save the child; he suffered from diarrhea and breathing issues for at least a week and was reportedly not eating.

Brandon’s death has landed the couple’s seven surviving children in foster care and has created yet another legal conundrum for the family. While First Assistant District Attorney Ed McCann said that the parents are perfectly entitled to practice their religious beliefs, a line is crossed when their children are endangered.

“How many kids have to die before it becomes extreme indifference to human life? They killed one kid already,” McCann said as the murder charges were announced.

Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams, left, accompanied by 1st Assistant District Attorney Ed McCann, center, and Assistant District Attorney Joanne Pescatore, speaks during a news conference, Wednesday, May 22, 2013, in Philadelphia. Williams announced Herbert and Catherine Schaible who believe in faith healing over medicine have been charged with murder after a second child died of pneumonia. Credit: AP

The Schaibles, according to the Associated Press, are members at the First Century Gospel Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The church’s website, the outlet notes, quotes Bible verses purportedly forbidding Christians from visiting doctors or taking medicine and suggests it’s a sin to trust in medicine over faith.

A judge set bail Thursday at $250,000 apiece, but prosecutors had the decision stayed until a hearing Friday. While the family clearly violated the court’s previous determination, their defense lawyers say the Schaibles have no ill intent, and they hope to have the bail reduced. Prosecutors want the couple held without bail until trial.

This obviously opens up a major discussion about the limits of religious freedom. Should parents be allowed to decline their children’s medical care? Does the government have the right to ensure that kids get proper, life-enhancing or life-saving treatment? These are just two of the many questions surrounding this case. Take the poll, below, and let us know your views.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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(Credit: Vice)

In the film Klan members are dressed in robes and wear pointed white hoods and assemble in broad daylight…and deep in the woods in the dead of night.

(Credit: Vice)

“Anybody who doesn’t think the KKK is alive and well today in America,” whispered a Vice reporter standing in a circle of hooded men gathered around a flaming cross, “I encourage you to go to the woods of Mississippi and see for yourself.”

(Credit: Vice)

Check out the trailer:

(H/T: Daily Mail)

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Hill acknowledged early in the interview that someone at the top of the IRS echelon must be fired over the severity of the agency’s overreach in targeting conservatives, saying that the scandal “stinks,” but he wouldn’t budge when it came to Obama’s responsibility for what the IRS has done wrong.

Hill believes Obama likely didn’t know anything in advance of news reports; O’Reilly wasn’t exactly buying it, although he noted that the president’s staff may have hid things from him to keep “the big kahuna from the real nasty stuff.”

(Credit: YouTube)

When O’Reilly shifted to Obama’s national security speech, things got tense…though not immediately. Hill again took the approach that Obama’s is a “very dangerous foreign policy” and that his speech today was essentially used to “distract us” from the scandal trifecta within the beltway.

But when the subject of drones came up, the gloves came off. Hill vehemently blasted the government’s drone policy, to which O’Reilly responded with skepticism.

Watch the pair’s latest fiery debate below:

(H/T: Mediaite)

-

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The Thursday evening bridge failure dumped vehicles and people into the water.

Marcus Deyerin (DayERin), a spokesman for the Northwest Washington Incident Management team, said there were no fatalities or suspected fatalities. He said three people were rescued from the water and sent to area hospitals. He didn’t know the extent of their injuries.

A search of the river continues and a dive team was on scene as well as several rescue boats still on the river.

–

The Interstate 5 bridge over the Skagit River at Mount Vernon collapsed on Thursday evening, sending cars and people plunging into the water below, KOMO-TV reports. The bridge is just north of Seattle.

Washington State Patrol trooper Mark Francis told KOMO that the northbound and southbound portions of the bridge collapsed into the river at around 7 p.m. Thursday.

Francis also said there were several cars on the bridge when it went down, and many vehicles are now in the river.

Francis said he had no immediate estimate of how many people were in the water or whether there were any injuries or deaths.

He did not know what caused the collapse.

(KING5)

(KING5)

(KING5)

(KING5)

(KING5)

(Photo courtesy of Dan Peterson/KOMO)

(KXLY, Twitter)

A Skagit Valley Herald reporter at the scene said a sheriff’s office rescue boat has arrived and rescue crews were looking for people in the water.

The reporter saw one person sitting atop one vehicle in the water and could see a second vehicle as well.

Crowds of people lined the river to watch the scene unfold, the newspaper reported.

Xavier Grospe, 62, who lives near the river, said he could see three cars with what appeared to be one person per vehicle. The vehicles were sitting still in the water, partially submerged and partly above the waterline, and the apparent drivers were sitting either on top of the vehicles or on the edge of open windows.

“It doesn’t look like anybody’s in danger right now,” Grospe said.

Washington state was given a C in the American Society of Civil Engineers’ 2013 infrastructure report card and a C- when it came to the state’s bridges. The group said more than a quarter of Washington’s 7,840 bridges are considered structurally deficient of functionally obsolete.

This story has been updated. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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A Montana man returned home on Wednesday afternoon to find a burglar inside his home. The homeowner, also a gun owner, was able to retrieve one of his firearms and shoot the intruder once in the chest.

That one shot proved to be fatal.

Lewis & Clark County Sheriff’s investigators say the alleged burglar may have burglarized two additional homes in the area before the was killed, KXLH-TV reports.

The incident occurred at around 2:40 p.m. on Wednesday. Police received a 911 call from the homeowner who informed the dispatcher that he had just shot a home intruder who was trying to burglarize his home.

After being shot once in the chest, the homeowner says the intruder broke through a window in a desperate bid to escape the armed man. He managed to make it to his getaway car but drove into a chain link fence. He died in the car from his injuries, police said.

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“The homeowner is not injured, and it’s unknown as to whether or not the intruder had a firearm or any type of weapon on his person at the time of the confrontation,” said Captain Jason Grimmis of the Lewis & Clark County Sheriff’s Department.

Detectives found evidence that may tie the deceased intruder to additional burglaries.

Featured image via shutterstock.com

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Kayla Earl, 19, was charged with false reporting after making false claims that she was raped.

Break-ups are tough for anyone. Different people have various ways of coping with the loss of a boyfriend or girlfriend.

Kayla Earl, a 19-year-old aspiring model suffering from heartbreak and denial, reportedly chose to throw herself in a ditch with a plastic Walmart bag over her head and claim she was raped — all in an effort to win back her ex-boyfriend. Definitely not a healthy way of coping.

Earl was arrested by police in Pleasant Grove, Ala., and charged with false reporting after her story was discovered to be a hoax, AL.com reports.

“Investigators said Earl, of Hueytown, was trying to lure back her estranged boyfriend with sympathy when she told lawmen she was attacked in a Pleasant Grove cemetery. A Jefferson County sheriff’s deputy on patrol spotted the woman about 5 a.m. in the dirt just off the road near Five Acre Road. She appeared unconscious,” the report adds.

The woman was taken to UAB Hospital, checked out and released. Earl told police that she was visiting a friend’s grave at the cemetery when a man approached her from behind and put a bag over her head. Her car was found parked in a cemetery.

She claimed a struggle ensued and she was able to get free and run to the roadway, where she said she passed out.

Detectives were eventually able to get the truth out of her.

“She even said she put the bag on her head to make it look like someone tried to suffocate her,” Pleasant Grove Detective Jason Davis said. “She is going through some personal problems. Between that and wanting attention, it turns out none of this happened.”

(H/T: Daily Mail)

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But in lieu of her father, hundreds of Phoenix Police Department officers showed up to be in attendance for her graduation in a touching display of support.

(Photo: AZ Family/Tess Rafols/Facebook)

AZ Family reported Officer James Holmes calling the moment for his fallen comrade’s daughter “absolutely amazing” but “bittersweet and [...]overwhelming for all of us.”

AZ Family described the auditorium as “standing room only with a sea of blue in the back and along the side of the room.”

“We tried to keep this small. We tried to keep this to Daryl’s squad and his precinct,” Holmes told AZ Family. “But the word got out that this was happening and it went viral within the department and there was absolutely no way that you could keep officers who could be here away from here. They came, even with their families.”

(Photo: AZ Family/Tess Rafols/Facebook)

The 29-year-old officer, who was also a veteran of the war in Iraq, was killed in a hit-and-run while investigating a DUI early Sunday. The vehicle that struck him has been identified by police, but AZ Family reported no arrest has been made in the case yet. Although, the owner of the SUV was arrested on drug charges.

This undated photo provided by the Phoenix Police Department shows Officer Daryl Raetz. Raetz was struck by another vehicle, which was traveling northbound on 51st Avenue Sunday May 19, 2013. Raetz was transported to a local hospital, where he died of his injuries. (Photo: AP/Phoenix Police Department)

Police Chief Daniel Garcia described the loss as “gut-wrenching.”

“This is every officer’s nightmare,” he said. “I honestly don’t have the words to describe the sorrow in my heart for Daryl Raetz and his family. He was one of Phoenix’s finest, one of our heroes who was out there every day (serving) the community.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

(H/T: Reddit)

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State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland listens to US Secretary of State John Kerry and Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida speak to the press prior to a meeting at the State Department in Washington on February 22, 2013. Credit: AFP/Getty Images

President Barack Obama has nominated Victoria Nuland, a State Department official who played a key role in editing the administration’s Benghazi talking points, to be then next assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, the White House announced in a press release on Thursday.

It is was later discovered that the talking points used by U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice when she appeared on several Sunday shows days after the deadly Benghazi attack were loaded with faulty information.

Emails show that Nuland expressed “serious concerns” about an early draft of the talking points and passed along the State Department’s request to scrub references to al-Qaeda and the CIA’s warnings about the threat of such groups to U.S. diplomats in Libya from the document.

Nuland, “a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Career Minister,” has served as the State Department spokesperson since 2011.

Obama’s former traveling press secretary Jen Psaki has replaced Nuland as the top State Department spokesperson. She conducted her first on-camera press briefing last week, Politico reports.

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