Voice recorder aren't illegal. Why would they confiscate something for looking like a voice recorder?

In an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, Barack Obama acknowledged that the United States had "brokered a deal to transition power in Ukraine," thus admitting to the highest level of democratic impropriety imaginable.

Before we consider Obama’s stunning remarks, and how the Ukrainian people sold their country for a song, let’s rewind to November 2013, when then-President Viktor Yanukovich had shocked western capitals (and, more importantly, western markets) by suspending plans for an association agreement with the European Union.

As if on command, thousands of Ukrainians suddenly poured into the streets of Kiev to protest the decision. Such a rapid reaction should not have come as a surprise. After all, a multitude of US government agencies – most notably, USAID - had been operating in Ukraine since the collapse of the Soviet Union, investing billions on its latest "democratic" pet project.

This is no conspiracy theory. On December 13, 2013, Assistant Secretary of State Victoria "F*ck the EU" Nuland, following her third trip to Ukraine in five weeks, told the National Press Club: "Since Ukraine's independence in 1991 the United States has…invested over $5 billion to assist Ukraine in needs and other goals."

Jim Clifton, the Chairman and CEO of Gallup, says that the percentage of Americans that are employed full-time has been hovering near record lows since the end of the last recession. But most Americans don’t realize this because the official unemployment numbers are extremely misleading. In fact, Clifton says that the official 5.6 percent unemployment rate is a “big lie”. Gallup regularly tracks the percentage of U.S. adults that are employed for 30 or more hours per week, and it is currently at 44.2 percent. It has been hovering between 42 percent and 45 percent since the end of 2009. This is extremely low. As I discussed the other day, there are 8.69 million Americans that are considered to be “officially unemployed” at this point. But there are another 92.90 million Americans that are considered to be “not in the labor force”. Millions upon millions of those Americans would work if they could. Overall, there are 101 million U.S. adults that do not have a job right now. But you won’t hear that number being discussed by the mainstream media, because it would make Barack Obama look really bad.

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Joe Biden, the vice president and an underdog for the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, is scheduled to be back in Iowa next week.

Biden will speak in Des Moines on Thursday, sources familiar with preparations for his trip told The Des Moines Register. His office later confirmed that he will deliver remarks at Drake University and do a roundtable at Des Moines Area Community College on college affordability.

The news comes in the wake of the release this past weekend of a new Iowa Poll that shows Biden trails both Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren in the horse race for most popular presidential pick among likely Democratic caucusgoers.

Biden's timing suggests he wants to keep his name in circulation as presidential material - any time top-shelf politicians make a trip here it reinforces the notion that they harbor aspirations for the top job. He is currently in Belgium, meeting with European leaders in part to talk about sanctions against Russia and security and aid to Ukraine. He'll also attend a security summit in Germany.

Democrats generally think the 2016 Democratic nomination is Clinton's if she wants it, although she has yet to announce an official candidacy. In September, Biden made headlines for chasing Clinton here just three days after she made her Iowa comeback after a seven-year absence; she spoke before an audience of 10,000 and a horde of media at the Harkin Steak Fry.

Biden's event Thursday, like the one in September, will be an official White House trip to talk about the Obama administration's economic policies. Biden remarks in September, with the Iowa Capitol in the background, had the air of a campaign stump speech, as he called for raising the minimum wage and making life better for the middle class.

The Republican 2016 presidential field includes three politicians — George Pataki, Jim Gilmore and Bob Ehrlich — who last won election when the flip phone was hot technology. Also making moves to run are John Bolton, who is best remembered as an architect of George W. Bush’s WMD strategy and has never held elected office, and Peter King, the longtime Long Island congressman who’s made his biggest headlines hitting conservatives.

And don’t forget about former Hewlett-Packard CEO and failed California senatorial candidate Carly Fiorina — another accomplished figure who’s perceived to have next to no chance of becoming the Republican standard-bearer.
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Welcome to 2016’s “Why not me?” primary: a low-stakes, little-covered tussle among below-the-radar Republicans who say they could be president. After seeing other presumed has-beens like Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich become real factors in 2012, they see little downside in taking a shot.

But for the GOP, which is already wrestling with a large group of would-be contenders, the presence of these former governors and senators and prominent officials presents an extra complication. They’re trying to avoid the circus-like atmosphere, fueled by candidates desperate for attention, that tainted many of the 2012 primary debates.

WASHINGTON, February 7, 2015—New Mexico’s Eddy County Sheriff Scott London notified the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) via letter that the sale of county resident Kent Carter’s property is canceled until Carter receives due process of law and his appeal is heard. The certified letter dated February 4 received an immediate response from the Undersecretary of the Treasury’s office. According to the Treasury’s website, however, the public auction is still slated for February 19.

“Many officers have stood up over the years for the rights of citizens being victimized by the federal government,” said Sheriff Mack, founder of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, “But Sheriff London is the first one to stand up to the IRS since the early 1990s.” Mack said, “His actions show courage and humility. London is setting a good example for the rest of our sheriffs.”

Approximately ten days before Christmas, U.S. Marshals broke in the door of Carter’s rental property with their guns drawn. The tenant was a young mother with a new baby—home alone while her husband was at work. Sheriff London was called to the property to intervene. He advised the Marshals that Carter’s case was in appeal and he deserved due process. They threatened to arrest London, but he stood his ground and they backed off.

Carter has battled the IRS for decades over taxes on the earnings of his modest construction business. One court document listed his debt at $145,000, a figure Carter says an assessing agent “pulled out of thin air.” Every time he challenged them, his bill would shoot up a few hundred thousand dollars. His legal complaints state that the IRS failed to adhere to its own tax code, did not use proper accounting methods, and that the collection activity was unlawful because no notices of deficiency were given. Carter says his private and confidential information, including his social security number, was filed in public records and given to third parties. The IRS countered that it can publish and disperse the private information of Americans if it is trying to collect their money or property. A judge agreed.

Carter says the IRS is currently claiming he owes $890,000, a figure that “doubled with the stroke of a pen.”

The Taxation & Revenue Department ordered Carter to cease “engaging in business in New Mexico” until his arbitrary tax debt was paid. Carter appealed this injunction on the grounds that it was both unconstitutional and vague, as it deprived him of his right to make a living and also prohibited him from, “carrying on or causing to be carried on any activity with the purpose of direct or indirect benefit.”

“The IRS fabricates evidence against citizens by pulling numbers out of a hat and adding fees,” said Mack, “They wear people down emotionally and financially until they can’t take it anymore. No citizen should ever have to fight the IRS for decades in order to keep his land.”

“The IRS is a lie. The income tax is a lie,” said Carter. “Why should they be able to take anything? They’re worse than the mafia.”

The Carter properties have liens placed against them. A locksmith was instructed to change the locks. The IRS authorized the United States Marshal Service to arrest/evict anyone found on the premises. London, however, physically stood in front of Carter’s gate until the Marshals backed down. A public auction on the front steps of the Eddy County Courthouse is scheduled, but the local county sheriff—trained in the Constitution—resisted.

Carter voluntarily vacated his property and relocated his mobile home to an undisclosed location. “I chose to leave to keep it from escalating to something ugly—like Ruby Ridge, Idaho,” he said. Carter said he advised the Marshals and IRS Agents who publicly claimed he had armed friends on his land, “If there is going to be any violence, it is going to be you who starts it.”

Carter says 100% of his Social Security benefits is seized each month by the IRS, in addition to $2,800 the agency drained from his bank account. Legally, he says, the IRS can take no more than 15% of Social Security benefits.

Mack says banking institutions quiver when faced with the IRS’ gestapo tactics and generally hand over customers’ personal banking information, including access to accounts, without requiring a warrant or even any documentation. He encourages county sheriffs to brief every bank in their jurisdiction to refer inquiries from IRS agents to them.

Sheriff Mack is calling for the IRS to start following the law, including no “random” audits without probable cause, as they violate the Fourth Amendment. He asks them to stop committing crimes and rewarding IRS employees with bonuses for cheating on their personal taxes. “I agree with Senator Ted Cruz and others who say the IRS should be abolished,” said Mack. “It’s time they got off the backs of the American people.”

Carter says he prays daily for wisdom, and that he is surviving to be able to look into his grandchildren’s eyes and tell them he fought for their future and for America.

London is the first Republican to ever be elected sheriff in Eddy County. He distributes Bibles on behalf of Gideon International and met his wife in choir practice.

AMES, Ia. – Rand Paul looked reserved, if not slightly uncomfortable, throughout the boisterous Iowa State men's basketball game Saturday.

Paul, a likely candidate for president of the United States, had one of the best seats in the house — a midcourt floor seat secured by Republican agribusiness leader Steve Sukup, a big Iowa State booster and past candidate for Iowa governor.

Paul, a 52-year-old U.S. senator from Kentucky, gamely posed for photos with Iowans who kept running out of the stands during timeouts. He applauded the Cyclones at the appropriate moments, and at times leaned sideways in his chair to give the ebullient Sukup room to jump up and shout. When the cheerleaders did a routine almost directly in front of him, Paul didn't look their way, appearing deep in thought.
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And Paul locked in at least one influential vote Saturday.

"I'm supporting Rand Paul," Sukup announced during a private fundraiser he organized for Paul at Hunziker House at Reiman Gardens. The Register was given exclusive access.

Sukup, who served in the Iowa House from 1994 to 2002, is the chief financial officer for the Sheffield-based Sukup Manufacturing, which sells its agribusiness products in all 50 states and 100 countries. He has credibility in Iowa agriculture, and Iowans can't drive far without seeing grain bins marked with the family's last name.
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Asked why he's endorsing Paul, and so early, Sukup told the Register: "He has broad appeal. The last time around, they cornered us in with an 'us against them' type deal. Dr. Rand Paul is, 'Hey, I take care of everybody.' "

Sukup said he agrees with Paul's stances on limited government, individual responsibility and a fair tax system. "He's very principled, and that's what I think the country's looking for."

The fundraiser audience of 30 people was full of business leaders — the owner of a chain of McDonald's restaurants, a real estate company owner, the owner of multiple ethanol plants, an insurance company owner — who mentioned "electability" when asked what they're seeking in a candidate. None aside from Sukup seemed ready to commit to anyone — it's a year out from Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucuses, and no one has even officially declared a candidacy yet.

Sen. Rand Paul , a hero to libertarians, has spent months trying to broaden his political appeal ahead of a likely presidential campaign. He got a bracing lesson this week in how tricky the political balancing act may be.

Some libertarian conservatives were thrilled by his statement that most childhood vaccines should be voluntary. They included home-schoolers and other grassroots activists who could play an important role in the early voting state of Iowa, where Mr. Paul will be this weekend.

“Rand’s comments on vaccinations were a hit,” said Joel Kurtinitis, co-founder of Liberty Iowa, the group sponsoring a Des Moines rally to call for auditing the Federal Reserve, which Mr. Paul (R., Ky.) is headlining Friday. “The parental rights movement is built on the presupposition that parents know better than government.”

But other Republicans worried Mr. Paul’s message would undermine public-health protections. That could undercut the senator’s efforts to confront a more pressing political challenge: To convince a wider array in the party that he isn’t a fringe ideologue, and that he will have broader appeal than his father, former Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, who ran multiple long-shot campaigns for president on strict libertarian principles.

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“The great challenge for the Paul campaign is for people to really get to know Rand Paul, so that you don’t have the assumption that he is just the mini-me of Ron Paul,” said Steve Munisteri, chairman of the Texas Republican Party, who will be stepping down to become a senior Paul adviser.

Mr. Paul wants to be judged on his own merits. “I think we’ve spent about four years really trying to create an agenda, a platform, putting it forward, so there is plenty for people to judge based on who I am,” Mr. Paul said in an interview.

The vaccine debate underscores the risk that, on occasion, Mr. Paul’s libertarian instincts will lead him into stands that could alienate other voters he has been courting.

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Mr. Munisteri said he was unconcerned about political fallout about vaccines because he believed it didn’t register with the broader public or hurt him with activists in early voting states.

Mr. Paul’s trip to Iowa this weekend will give him a chance to work on both parts of his political strategy. He will continue efforts to expand the GOP appeal by meeting Saturday with college students at the Iowa State University in Ames. And at the “Audit the Fed” rally, he will be reconnecting with a marquee issue for libertarians and his father’s supporters.

His stance on vaccines has been “received well” among libertarians in Iowa, said Adil Kahn, executive director of Liberty Iowa, because many of them are home-schoolers who have been advocates for parents rights.

Mr. Munisteri said the Iowa trip gives Mr. Paul a good chance to make sure “his existing base is shored up and fired up.”

I'm pretty annoyed with Rand Paul right now. He's right that vaccinations should be a personal choice, but joining in with the anti-vaxxers claims that vaccines are unsafe?

"Anybody here want to audit the Fed?" likely presidential candidate Rand Paul yelled as he took the stage in Des Moines Friday night.

"Yeah!" answered the audience of libertarian-leaning activists at the $15-per-ticket event.

Paul, a U.S. senator from Kentucky, has already logged nine days in Iowa this election cycle as he ramps up for a 2016 White House bid.

But this was the first speech that Paul has tailored to Iowans whose core issues are non-interventionism, a constitutionally-limited government and more stringent oversight of the Fed, the bank of the U.S. government.

Those were some central themes pitched by his father, Texas U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, who ran for president three times before he retired from Congress two years ago. The elder Paul developed a very loyal following in Iowa, placing third in the 2012 GOP presidential caucuses with 21.5 percent of the vote.

Polling shows Paul's strength is growing here. His favorability has risen 5 percentage points in the last three months as more GOP likely caucusgoers have begun to view him positively, Iowa Polls show. In the horse race for first choice for president, Paul is currently in second place behind Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. And among five anti-establishment contenders, likely Republican caucusgoers think Paul would be best to defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton, as well as to reduce government.

n a survey of investigative reporters that makes Richard Nixon’s enemies list look like child's play, nearly seven in 10 said they believe that the Obama administration has spied on their phone calls, emails and online searches.

According to a Pew Research Center survey of 454 media figures, 64 percent “believe that the U.S. government has probably collected data” from their calls and email and eight in 10 believe just being a journalist jumps the chance Uncle Sam is spying on them.

The survey follows multiple reports of actual spying by federal officials on reporters, and the White House’s effort to track down those who leak information to reporters despite long-forgotten promises to be the most transparent administration ever.

Still, most reporters said that they continue to plug away.

“Just 14 percent say that in the past 12 months, such concerns have kept them from pursuing a story or reaching out to a particular source, or have led them to consider leaving investigative journalism altogether,” said the survey of members of Investigative Reporters and Editors by Pew in association with Columbia University’s Tow Center for Digital Journalism.

The spotlight on Rand Paul may help more Americans fully embrace their libertarian ideals

Rand Paul’s leadership in the Senate – on the budget, regulation, privacy, criminal justice, and foreign policy – and his likely presidential campaign are generating new attention for libertarian ideas.

“Libertarianism is hot,” headlined the Washington Post in 2013. From an almost-forgotten part of American political culture, libertarianism has grown into a respected and much-discussed political faction and a compelling set of ideas that challenge the conventional wisdom. Tens of millions of Americans are fiscally conservative, socially tolerant, and skeptical of American military intervention.

The growth of the libertarian movement is a product of two factors: the spread of libertarian ideas and sentiments, and the expansion of government during the Bush and Obama administrations, particularly the civil liberties abuses after 9/11 and the bailouts and out-of-control spending after the financial crisis. As one journalist noted in 2009, “The Obama administration brought with it ambitions of a resurgence of FDR and LBJ’s active-state liberalism. And with it, Obama has revived the enduring American challenge to the state.”

President Obama is expected to formally ask Congress to authorize the use of military force against the Islamic State terror group in the coming days, even as lawmakers said crafting and passing such a measure would be a challenge.

The U.S. has been carrying out airstrikes against the terrorists, most commonly known as ISIS, in Iraq and Syria since August and September, respectively. In doing so, Obama has been relying on congressional authorizations that President George W. Bush used to justify military action after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Critics have called the White House's use of post-9/11 congressional authorizations a legal stretch, though Obama has previously argued that a new authorization isn't legally necessary.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Thursday that the administration is dedicated to getting a new authorization with bipartisian support. He declined to comment on specific provisions, including how long the authorization will last, what geographical areas it will cover and whether it will allow for the possibility of ground troops. Earnest said those details were still being worked out.

"When it comes to fighting a war, the Congress should not tie the president's hands, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, told reporters Thursday morning. However, Boehner later added, "It's also incumbent on the president to make the case to the American people on why we need to fight this fight. This is not going to be an easy lift."

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said talks with the administration are focusing on an authorization time frame of three years, while the other issues are still being worked out. Pelosi added that she ultimately expects a compromise on the outstanding issues to be reached and added that she hopes Congress will repeal the 2002 congressional authorization for the war in Iraq while retaining the 2001 authorization for military action in Afghanistan.

"I'm not saying anybody's come to an agreement on it," Pelosi said. "I think it's going to be a challenge, but we will have it."

ANTIMEDIA) No matter how one feels about police brutality, it is a fact that cops are rarely indicted when accused of murder and violence. This became crystal clear in the lack of indictments in the killings of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and John Crawford last year. Less than 2% of New York police officers are indicted for similar killings.

So what does it take for a brutal cop to actually earn an indictment (which does not even declare guilt)?

Enter New York Police Department Officer Joel Edouard.

He made headlines last summer (days after Eric Garner’s murder) for stomping on the head of 32-year-old Jahmiel Cuffee, who allegedly possessed a joint of marijuana. The video evidence clearly showed Edouard kicking the handcuffed Cuffee. After it went viral, Edouard was placed on desk duty and this week, he was indicted by a grand jury for his actions. He is charged with third-degree assault, third-degree attempted assault, and official misconduct. All three are misdemeanors.

Normally, such an act of violence would be dismissed by the justice system, but several factors likely contributed to Edouard’s indictment (bear in mind that there are undoubtedly other reasons, but the following are the most glaring):

First, the victim, Cuffee, was not guilty of the marijuana charge leveled against him by officers at the scene in Brooklyn. The justification for Edouard’s brutality was that Cuffee was spotted throwing away a joint, which was never found.

Unfortunately, the average American’s sense of justice has been diluted by the “good guy vs. bad guy” mentality that the government has propagandized both in law enforcement and foreign intervention. In the cases of Eric Garner and Michael Brown, cop apologists argued that the victims deserved what they got because they were breaking the law. As one popular cop-produced t-shirt said, “Breathe Easy, Don’t Break the Law.”

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More girls in America are having their genitalia mutilated as immigration increases the vibrant diversity of U.S. neighborhoods, says a new report by a D.C.-based nonprofit.

In 2013, “there were up to 507,000 U.S. women and girls who had undergone [genital mutilation] or were at risk of the procedure… the rapid increase in women and girls at risk reflects an increase in immigration to the United States,” said the Friday report by the Population Reference Bureau.

“We’re seeing a lot more F.G.M.,” Dr. Gretchen Heinrichs, a gynecologist, told The New York Times. FGM stands for female genital mutilation.

The new report, titled “Women and Girls at Risk of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting in the United States,” did not specify how many girls in America aged 15 to 19 are now at risk from the culturally diverse practice, which is generally directed by their immigrant parents.

The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) issued a sharp condemnation of Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-Ky.) opposition to Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch on Thursday.

Paul said he opposed confirming Lynch because she supports civil forfeitures, a controversial law enforcement tactic, but the chairman of the CBC dismissed those concerns.

“Senator Paul is using the issue of civil forfeitures to block a well-qualified federal prosecutor from heading the Department of Justice,” said CBC Chairman G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.) in a statement. “Senator Paul also has the audacity to suggest that Loretta Lynch should have more concern for people living in poverty.

“The Congressional Black Caucus recognizes Senator Paul’s unfounded argument as nothing but an excuse to keep an African American legal scholar from holding this high position, and we directly call on him and Republicans to allow the nomination of Loretta Lynch to proceed to an up or down vote in the Senate,” he added.

On Wednesday, Paul said that he was opposing Lynch because she had said during her confirmation hearing that asset forfeiture laws are a “wonderful tool.”

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