Today's have been paid out, sorry we're a bit inconsistent as to the time of day when we pay them out; but it should always be before 23:59 CS time (and usually a good bit before) unless there's a problem.

Divs were paid about 8 hours ago.

Michigan Congressman Justin Amash, a 34-year-old Republican, has lots of opinions.
The correct name for Star Trek fans? "Trekkies" -- not "Trekkers." The latest installment of Captain America? A "fantastic" indictment of government surveillance. Using hashtags on Twitter? Soooo 2008.

But those aren't the beliefs that have put Amash in the cross-hairs of his fellow Republicans, who have called him a "wacko bird," an "egregious asshole," someone who "votes more with the Democrats than with the Republicans," and most recently, "al Qaeda's best friend in the Congress." Some GOP lawmakers have gone so far as to donate money to his primary opponent. Amash, in turn, uses Twitter and Facebook to call out other Republican lawmakers by name and accuse them of sacrificing core GOP beliefs for political gain.

The fight stems from Amash's uncompromising belief that the federal government has grown far too large and far too powerful, especially when it comes to national security. He has reserved particular fury for the National Security Agency (NSA), which he sees as an out-of-control spy agency that has run roughshod over the Constitution and the privacy rights of ordinary Americans. Amash wants to sharply rein in the NSA's powers, and -- to the surprise and consternation of many in his own party -- the young lawmaker may help determine the makeup of the historic NSA reform bill cobbled together by powerful lawmakers from both parties.

The farce is complete...

Burisma Holdings, Ukraine’s largest private gas producer, has expanded its Board of Directors by bringing on Mr. R Hunter Biden as a new director.
[...]
R. Hunter Biden will be in charge of the Holdings’ legal unit and will provide support for the Company among international organizations. On his new appointment, he commented: “Burisma’s track record of innovations and industry leadership in the field of natural gas means that it can be a strong driver of a strong economy in Ukraine. As a new member of the Board, I believe that my assistance in consulting the Company on matters of transparency, corporate governance and responsibility, international expansion and other priorities will contribute to the economy and benefit the people of Ukraine.”

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of Burisma Holdings, Mr. Alan Apter, noted: “The company’s strategy is aimed at the strongest concentration of professional staff and the introduction of best corporate practices, and we’re delighted that Mr. Biden is joining us to help us achieve these goals.”

R. Hunter Biden is a counsel to Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP, a national law firm based in New York, USA, which served in cases including “Bush vs. Gore”, and “U.S. vs. Microsoft”. He is one of the co-founders and a managing partner of the investment advisory company Rosemont Seneca Partners, as well as chairman of the board of Rosemont Seneca Advisors. He is an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University’s Masters Program in the School of Foreign Service.

The following guests will appear with FNC's Bret Baer:

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY)
General Michael Hayden, Former Director of NSA (1999 – 2005)
General Keith Alexander, Former Director of NSA (2005 – 2014)
James Bamford, Author of “The Puzzle Palace” and “The Shadow Factory”
Matthew Aid, NSA Historian and author of “The Secret Sentry”
Bart Gellman, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Intelligence Reporter
Thomas Drake, Former Senior Executive of NSA, Whistleblower
Dennis Kucinich, Former U.S. Representative D-OH)

Yeah, I read it's not easily spread human-human. From what I've read the only way for it to spread is through close contact with someone or something infected.

WASHINGTON — I BELIEVE that killing an American citizen without a trial is an extraordinary concept and deserves serious debate. I can’t imagine appointing someone to the federal bench, one level below the Supreme Court, without fully understanding that person’s views concerning the extrajudicial killing of American citizens.

But President Obama is seeking to do just that. He has nominated David J. Barron, a Harvard law professor and a former acting assistant attorney general, to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

While he was an official in the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, Mr. Barron wrote at least two legal memos justifying the execution without a trial of an American citizen abroad. Now Mr. Obama is refusing to share that legal argument with the American people.

On April 30, I wrote to the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, urging him to delay this nomination, pending a court-ordered disclosure of the first memo I knew about. Since that letter, I have learned more. The American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter to all senators on May 6, noting that in the view of the Senate Intelligence Committee chairwoman, Dianne Feinstein, “there are at least eleven OLC opinions on the targeted killing or drone program.” It has not been established whether Mr. Barron wrote all those memos, but we do know that his controversial classified opinions provided the president with a legal argument and justification to target an American citizen for execution without a trial by jury or due process.

I believe that all senators should have access to all of these opinions. Furthermore, the American people deserve to see redacted versions of these memos so that they can understand the Obama administration’s legal justification for this extraordinary exercise of executive power. The White House may invoke national security against disclosure, but legal arguments that affect the rights of every American should not have the privilege of secrecy.

I agree with the A.C.L.U. that “no senator can meaningfully carry out his or her constitutional obligation to provide ‘advice and consent’ on this nomination to a lifetime position as a federal appellate judge without being able to read Mr. Barron’s most important and consequential legal writing.” The A.C.L.U. cites the fact that in modern history, a presidential order to kill an American citizen away from a battlefield is unprecedented.

The Bill of Rights is clear. The Fifth Amendment provides that no one can be “deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” The Sixth Amendment provides that “the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury,” as well as the right to be informed of all charges and have access to legal counsel. These are fundamental rights that cannot be waived with a presidential pen.

In battle, combatants engaged in war against America get no due process and may lawfully be killed. But citizens not in a battlefield, however despicable, are guaranteed a trial by our Constitution.

No one argues that Americans who commit treason shouldn’t be punished. The maximum penalty for treason is death. But the Constitution specifies the process necessary to convict.
 
Anwar al-Awlaki was an American citizen who was subject to a kill order from Mr. Obama, and was killed in 2011 in Yemen by a missile fired from a drone. I don’t doubt that Mr. Awlaki committed treason and deserved the most severe punishment. Under our Constitution, he should have been tried — in absentia, if necessary — and allowed a legal defense. If he had been convicted and sentenced to death, then the execution of that sentence, whether by drone or by injection, would not have been an issue.

But this new legal standard does not apply merely to a despicable human being who wanted to harm the United States. The Obama administration has established a legal justification that applies to every American citizen, whether in Yemen, Germany or Canada.

Defending the rights of all American citizens to a trial by jury is a core value of our Constitution. Those who would make exceptions for killing accused American citizens without trial should give thought to the times in our history when either prejudice or fear allowed us to forget due process. During World War I, our nation convicted and imprisoned Americans who voiced opposition to the war. During World War II, the government interned Japanese-Americans.

The rule of law exists to protect those who are minorities by virtue of their skin color or their beliefs. That is why I am fighting this nomination. And I will do so until Mr. Barron frankly discusses his opinions on executing Americans without trial, and until the American people are able to participate in one of the most consequential debates in our history.

Moscow (AFP) - Russia's state energy giant Gazprom warned on Monday that it may halt natural gas shipments to Ukraine on June 3 in a move that could impact the supplies of at least 18 EU nations.

Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller said Ukraine must pay upfront for its June deliveries because of outstanding debts. He added that Kiev had until the morning of June 3 to make the payment "or Ukraine will receive zero cubic metres (of gas) in June," Interfax reported.

At least 100 Pyongyang citizens have been internally exiled to remote mountainous areas after searches revealed they had viewed or were in possession of South Korean video content or other recorded materials, a Pyongyang-based source told Daily NK over the weekend.

According to the source, crackdowns on filmed content produced overseas have been intensifying of late, and a group formed especially for the purpose of conducting house raids has played a part in the exile of over 100 citizens since early March.

“The formation of groups to suppress video content thought to incite 'anti-socialist elements,' like South Korean dramas, is not a new thing. However, it’s now common for teams to show up unexpectedly at someone’s home late at night to search for these recordings,” the source reported.

British government ministers have admitted they are powerless to stop the European Union forcing car manufacturers to put GPS tracking chips in all cars sold in the UK by October 2015.

The chips, called 'eCall', will record every movement the car makes and alert emergency services in the event of a crash.

Privacy campaigners, however, have warned that the technology could be abused by police and insurance companies in order to track car journeys.

The government also believes that the technology will add at least £100 to the cost of vehicles, without providing any real security improvements.

The European Commission has commanded that every car throughout Europe must have the chips by 2015, but the Mail on Sunday reports that British ministers are sceptical of the changes. Transport Minister Robert Goodwell wrote to MPs saying: "The basis for our opposition is that costs to the UK outweigh the benefits.

Militiamen and woman camping on Cliven Bundy’s cattle ranch are packing up and heading to Utah where another protest against the Bureau of Land Management will happen Saturday.

Ryan Payne, a Montana resident who had been staying at the ranch for a month, said he drove eight hours to arrive in the eastern Utah town this morning. Three militia members from the ranch and a handful of people from a group called Citizens Action Network came to Utah, too, he said.

"This is where it’s happening Saturday,” he said.

They and others Saturday will be armed, he said, and ride ATVs into Recapture Canyon, an area the BLM declared off-limits to motorized vehicles in 2007. The ride is organized by San Juan County, Utah, Commissioner Phil Lyman.

Payne met Friday morning with the San Juan County, Utah, Sheriff Rick Eldridge. Afterward, he said he expects Saturday’s protest to be peaceful because Eldridge pledged to “protect us from the BLM.”

Payne characterized their discussion, saying Eldridge has contacted other sheriff’s departments who “stated that if he needed support to get the BLM out of there, they would help.”

Armed men identified as Ukrainian national guard opened fire Sunday on a crowd outside a town hall in eastern Ukraine, and an official for the region's insurgents said there were fatalities.

The bloodshed in the town of Krasnoarmeisk occurred hours after dozens of armed men shut down voting in a referendum on sovereignty for the region. One of them identified the group as being national guardsmen.

An Associated Press photographer who witnessed the shooting said two people were seen lying unmoving on the ground and insurgent leader Denis Pushilin was quoted by the ITAR-Tass news agency as saying there were an unspecified number of deaths.

Several hours earlier, the men came to the town about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the regional capital, Donetsk, and dispersed referendum voting that was taking place outside the town hall and they took control of the building. In the evening, more arrived in a van and a scuffle broke out with people who were gathered around the building. Then they fired shots.

Cantor’s campaign had bought out all of the rooms in the hotel so his challenger, conservative college professor Dave Brat had to plan his rally across the street from the hotel at a Honey Baked Ham store. Cantor’s team bused in delegates on tour buses who lived some distance from Richmond.

The convention was severely divided. Lynwood Cobb, the incumbent who was supported by Cantor, was challenged by Fred Gruber, a Tea Party favorite.
Dave Brat

Dave Brat

The first course of business was to elect a temporary chairman for the convention. Eric Cantor’s team supported Virginia Delegate Manoli Loupassi. Gruber’s team nominated one candidate, Russ Moulton, who was ruled to be ineligible for the office. The team scrambled to find a second candidate who lost the vote.

As Loupassi took the podium, it looked like Cantor and his forces would carry the day.

As the vote for Chairman happened, Cantor’s challenger was given the opportunity to speak to the convention. His supporters cheered him loudly, to the surprise of the Cantor people. Brat challenged Cantor on his dishonest ads and his refusal to debate.

Then Cantor was given the opportunity to speak.

Any illusions that the convention was going his way were quickly dissolved as Cantor was loudly booed by Tea Party activists and others supporting Dave Brat and Fred Gruber. Chants of “Liar” and “Debate” were heard through the large convention room.

Cantor was visibly flustered and very visibly angered at the reception he received. Immediately after his speech, he left.


The ultimate shock came when the votes were counted. The Republican Party of Virginia uses a weighted voting system that favors counties that have larger Republican turn out.

When the votes were counted, Fred Gruber had defeated Cantor’s hand picked Chairman Lynwood Cobb, 675.8 to 630. (The .8 is because of the weighting formula).

After the convention, some Cantor supporters left gracefully, congratulating Gruber supporters for the win. Others stormed away. More than one was heard to threaten to pull their money from the GOP because Cantor’s hand picked Chairman lost.

Many in the grassroots have neither forgotten about nor forgiven the establishment for not supporting the conservative Republican ticket for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general last year. All three lost.

For Cantor, this can be nothing short of a red alert moment. The base of his power in Virginia has been cracked. Cantor’s team could not turn out enough voters for his people to keep control of the 7th District.

On June 10th, Virginia will hold its congressional primaries. It is the live or die moment for Eric Cantor. There is no Democrat on the ballot so the winner of the primary wins all.

Audit the Fed Surpasses 218 Cosponsors

by Megan Stiles on MAY 7, 2014

Today, Campaign for Liberty announced that H.R. 24, Ron Paul’s “Audit the Fed” bill, which was reintroduced this Congress by Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA), is now cosponsored by a bipartisan majority of the House of Representatives for the third Congress in a row. Audit the Fed calls for a full audit of the Federal Reserve.

“I am pleased to see such wide support for Audit the Fed, and I hope the House moves quickly to pass this important piece of legislation,” said Campaign for Liberty Chairman Ron Paul.

Audit the Fed not only has broad support with members of Congress, but it has gained majority support with the American people. Nearly 75 percent of the American people support a full audit of the Federal Reserve.

About Audit the Fed

Ron Paul’s “Audit the Fed” bill, H.R. 459, gained 274 cosponsors and passed the House of Representatives in the 112th Congress on July 25, 2012, by an overwhelming three-fourths majority of 327-98, after a nationwide grassroots mobilization effort led by Campaign for Liberty. The legislation calls for a “full audit of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Reserve banks by the Comptroller General of the United States.”

Last Congress, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced companion legislation, S.202, which gained 37 cosponsors. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid refused to allow Audit the Fed to be brought to the floor for a vote despite repeatedly calling for an audit of the Federal Reserve throughout his career.

Congressman Paul Broun (R-GA) reintroduced Dr. Paul’s Audit the Fed bill in January of 2013 as H.R 24, “The Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2013,” in the 113th Congress. The bill currently has 223 cosponsors. Senator Rand Paul has again introduced companion legislation, S. 209, which currently has 29 cosponsors.

^^^ WTF? So they should refund the Bitcoin contributions if it is made anonymously? Then what is the use of doing Bitcoin donations. We use Bitcoin for the anonymity it provides. This news is no good for us.