According to the latest opinion polls, Cruz is trailing behind the big five (Paul, Huckabee, Bush, Christie, and   Ryan) by wide margins. I think that he will drop out of the race soon.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/us/2016_republican_presidential_nomination-3823.html

As long as you continue to have faith in and continue to participate in the political process, I'm happy.

Michele Bachmann is another war crazy Republican politician. Their arguments are just laughable. Even if Iran want to nuke the USA, how they are going to do it? They don't even have any long range missiles.

Don't worry.  When you vote for the lesser of two evils, you are still voting for evil.  For that, I must thank you.

Nigel Farage inflicted another body blow on the three main political parties on Sunday night as Ukip scored a stunning victory in the European Parliament elections.

The anti-EU party dramatically built on its success in the local elections in England last Thursday when the results of the Euro poll on the same day were announced. A jubilant Mr Farage hailed the outcome as “an earthquake because never before in the history of British politics has a party seen to be an insurgent party ever topped the polls in a national election.”
The Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats conceded that Ukip would come first. It looked on course to double the 13 seats it won in the last Euro elections in 2009. The Tories, who came first last time with 25 seats, faced the humiliation of dropping to third place for the first time ever in a national election. The Liberal Democrats suffered a disastrous result, conceding that they could lose all 12 of their MEPs, which would increase the grassroots pressure on Nick Clegg to stand down as party leader. Early results suggested the Lib Dems could come an embarrassing fifth behind the Green Party.
Lib Dem fears of a total wipeout were confirmed when they lost their seat in their one-time stronghold of the South West. Sir Graham Watson, president of the Liberal group in the European Parliament, was ousted by the Greens.
After results in six of the 12 regions, Ukip had won 29.2 per cent of the votes (up 12.1 points since the last Euro elections); Labour 24.5 per cent (up 8.8 points); the Tories 23.5 per cent (down 3.5 points); the Greens 7.6 per cent (down 0.5 points) and the Lib Dems 6.8 per cent (down 6.9 points).
Across the EU, nationalist and Eurosceptic parties made big gains amid predictions that they would double their strength in the European Parliament. In France, Marine Le Pen's Front National topped a nationwide poll for the first time in its history, with the anti-immigrant party predicted to take 25 per cent of the vote and win as many as 24 seats in the European Parliament.

Ms Le Pen said France had “shouted loud and clear” that it wanted to be run “by the French, for the French and with the French” and not by “foreign commissioners” in Brussels. Manuel Valls, France’s Socialist Prime Minister, said the victory was “more than a shock, it's an earthquake”.

ALPINE, TX — Federal agents violently raided a tobacco shop, unnecessarily broke down a door, tampered with surveillance cameras, and allegedly cracked a woman in the neck with a rifle stock. In the process, they also raided a neighbor’s home, only to later cover their tracks by acquiring a warrant retroactively. The carnival of injustice was completed when witnesses were ordered to recant their stories under penalty of law.

Forced to change her story

Business owner Ilana Lipsen was arrested and charged with a first-degree felony, for allegedly selling a controlled substance, synthetic cannabis, in a drug-free zone. The charge is so draconian that it could result in a potential life-sentence in prison; not unlike the Texas teen who faces a similar charge for baking pot brownies. (Read more)

As a condition of her release from jail, U.S. Magistrate Judge B. Dwight Goains ordered her to pay $10,000.00 and publicly recant her story, which she had already televised to the media. The handwritten orders required that she request that pictures of her sister’s injuries be removed from the internet, and that she write an apology letter to the DEA for impugning their reputation. Specifically, the judge ordered that Lipsen “will advise media that her sister, Ariel Lipsen, was not beaten by agents… and her sister instigated/assaulted agents.”

Nicholas Branson is a 30 year old student at Sul Ross University, studying for a degree in geology. Now this student and former Eagle Scout is afraid for his future, for his career and even for his life.

Branson had the unfortunate fate of living adjacent to the Purple Zone, a business that was raided by local and federal agents on May 7, in Alpine, Texas. Branson witnessed the alleged attack on Arielle Lipsen, an act that was denied by the district attorney’s office.

Branson’s apartment is separate from the Purple Zone. It is a place to sleep and study and is close to campus. The only thing Branson states he has ever purchased from the Purple Zone is an occasional can of Red Bull when he stops over to pay his rent.
[...]
One agent, realizing they did not have a warrant for that address, directed other agents to leave the premises. Then, according to Branson, another agent, the one who allegedly choked Arielle Lipsen, told Branson he had to leave. At that point, Branson asked to see a warrant.

“He said, ’I don’t need to show you a F—–g warrant.’”

Branson said, “I need to see a warrant, based on the fourth amendment…”

“The agent answered ‘Oh you’re a F—–g lawyer now. We can do this the easy way or the hard way and put his finger on the trigger of his M16. That’s when I just backed up,” Branson said.
[...]
Branson’s account matches reported accounts by the Lipsens and Tom Cochran. He recounts how Lipsen’s sister Arielle started asking questions. Then, things got ugly.

“The same guy who cussed me out comes walking up. He’s about my size in full tactical gear with an M16 strapped to his chest, with what looked like four extra clips. He comes walking up real aggressive and she starts to back off. He says, ‘You need to shut up.’

“She says, ‘What are you going to do, shoot me?’

“At that point the officer grabbed her by the neck. She flinched and said, ‘get your hands off me.’ The officer then said ‘that’s resisting.’

“He threw her to the ground.

“As she tried to get up, he grabbed her and threw her down again and her foot hit him. It wasn’t a kick. It is what happens when you get your legs kicked out from underneath you and get thrown to the ground.

“The officer said, ‘You just assaulted a police officer’ and then started choking her (with the butt of the gun). I saw it. I was standing right in front of the Purple Zone.”

Branson was there when Tom Cochran arrived and witnessed them being very rude to Cochran.

The DEA eventually did get a warrant for Branson’s house. It was issued at approximately 11:58am, well after agents had entered the premises.

Agents seized all Branson’s hard drives, flash drives, camera disks and his grandfather’s shot gun.

Branson is not originally from Alpine, he is a student at the university. He states that he does not shop at the Purple Zone except to buy the occasional Red Bull energy drinks. He rents from the Lipsens, and that is as far as his relationship with them goes.

The agents broke his gate. Agents totally destroyed a beehive that he maintains. They broke plates and ransacked his apartment. Branson said, “I’m afraid they are going to threaten me.”
[...]
“I’m deathly afraid to come out. They said they suspected I had mushrooms, which is a federal crime. I’m a college student. If I get indicted I lose my Pell grant, my scholarship money, my student loan money. If they charge me I will lose everything I have been working for the last five years. But I can’t put up with it. It’s Un-American.”

“When I told them this was my house, they said, ‘well, that’s the price you pay for choosing to live where you live.”

RENTON, WA — A SWAT team spent hours firing “mortars, grenades, and teargas canisters” at an empty home. The 4-hour siege destroyed windows, doors, and walls and left the home in ruin. The suspect didn’t even live at the address, and the innocent homeowner was left homeless for months and ultimately was stuck with over $100,000 in repair bills, which the responsible parties have refused to pay.

The wild raid took place on April 25, 2012. Police entered a gated community and surrounded a condo they believed to contain a robbery suspect.

Instead of knocking on the door or getting a visual on the suspect and arresting him, police decided to execute a dramatic siege in a residential neighborhood in hopes of causing anyone inside to surrender. Police surrounded the condo, closed off the street, and evacuated the neighbors.

For four hours, police shot “rockets and grenades filled with pepper gas” at the home, breaking every window and making a mess of everything inside. Teargas was fired from 40-mm canisters into the home, pumping everything inside full of caustic chemicals. After hours of using their toys, SWAT placed explosives on the front door and blew it off the hinges.

Rest at link...

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The bodies of 28 veterans at the L.A. County Morgue were finally moved Friday for burial to the Riverside National Cemetery.

CBS2/KCAL9 pressed the L.A. County Coroner’s Office Thursday to find out why the bodies had not yet received a proper burial after a source indicated there may have been as many as 60 veterans at the morgue for the past year and a half.

The morgue says the bodies were unclaimed and they don’t know how long the veterans were there.

The law states veterans are supposed to receive a proper burial.

The Veterans Administration says they were never notified the bodies were processed and ready to be buried.

More than two dozen bodies were transported to the Riverside National Cemetery Friday afternoon and more could be moved as they are identified.

On Friday evening, KCAL9′s Stacey Butler reported the LA County Morgue and the Veteran’s Administration were blaming each other for the mistake.

Butler reported from the National Ceremony where the bodies are scheduled for burial.

She spoke to citizens who were outraged at how the deceased vets were treated.

“I think its incomprehensible,” said Richard Burns, a Marine veteran.

“It’s kinda sad that these people don’t get the proper care that they deserve,” Burns said. “Even after death.”

Every Wednesday morning, Butler reports former Marine Corporal Burns goes to the Riverside National Cemetery and volunteers to lead memorial services for the unclaimed and often indigent vets.

Often Burns and a handful of volunteers are the only people in attendance.

By email, a spokesperson for the LA County Morgue pointed the finger at the VA.

They wrote, “…there are about 60 decedents of probable veteran status that have awaited disposition for about a year as a result of a personnel change in the Veterans Affairs office and stringent identification/eligibility processes required by the VA.”

Cindy Van Bibber, a VA spokesperson said, “There’s personnel changes every day but that certainly doesn’t take away from the service that we provide any veteran.”

She says “at no point” did the City Morgue contact the VA and tell them about the bodies piling up there.

“We definitely weren’t contacted or we would have had a service for the veteran,” she added.

Van Bibber said the process to get a proper burial should take about three days, not a year and a half.

Not sure what you mean here:
They look about the same to me!

Good news from Carla Gericke [South African immigrant and lawyer], current president of the Free State Project (which encourages libertarians to move to New Hampshire and help turn it into a more libertarian land).



Gericke had been arrested in 2010 by Sgt. Joseph Kelley of the Weare, New Hampshire, police department, for, among other charges, allegedly violating the state's wiretapping statues by attempting to film his actions after he'd pulled over a friend Gericke was driving behind. (The camera she aimed at him wasn't actually working.)

Gericke never went to trial, as the city declined to go ahead with the prosecution. But Gericke went ahead and sued the officer, the department, and city, claiming that the wiretapping charge, as today's decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit said, "constituted retaliatory prosecution in violation of her First Amendment rights."

After multiple court decisions favoring Keene liberty activists, now with the US Court of Appeals (1st Circuit) ruling in favor of Free State Project president Carla Gericke in her case against multiple Weare police officers, the Weare PD, and the Town of Weare.

The case dates back to 2010 where Carla was arrested for recording a traffic stop in Weare (home of notoriously corrupt police who have arrested other activists for the same). Police dropped the charges against Carla before trial, which included a “wiretapping” charge. Carla, with the help of liberty attorney Seth Hipple, sued in federal district court. Her suit alleged the Weare police violated her rights, particularly those ostensibly protected by the 1st amendment to the US constitution. Weare PD motioned the district court for “summary judgement” based on claimed “qualified immunity” protecting the officers from liability. The district court denied them qualified immunity, so Weare’s attorneys filed an “interlocutory appeal” to challenge the district court’s decision.

Oh, and guess who is Weare’s attorney in this case? None other than Charles P. Bauer, the very same Charles Bauer who cashed in (and continues to cash in) on the City of Keene’s failed lawsuits against Robin Hood of Keene.

The 1st Circuit US Court of Appeals is the same court from which the Glik decision emanated. Glik is cited multiple times in the 21-page Gericke decision as evidence that the right to record government workers, especially police, is protected by the 1st amendment. The court’s decision makes it clear that the officers do not have “qualified immunity” because they, were they acting as reasonable officers, should have recognized Carla’s right to record the scene.

The appeals court ruled in Carla’s favor and now the case goes back to federal district court to proceed ahead in civil court, with the officers not protected from liability by “qualified immunity”, a protective shield typically given to bureaucrats supposedly to protect them from personal liability from mistaken decisions. Unless the case is settled by the town of Weare or PD, it will proceed. Stay tuned for the latest.