Why is the CIA Fighting Release of Documents Relating to 4 Planes that Went Missing in 1980?

March 15, 2014

(by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov.com)
A federal judge has told the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and other federal offices to continue looking for records pertaining to the disappearance of four transport planes in 1980.
The case was brought before Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly by plaintiff Stephen Whitaker, who has attempted to obtain information about four DC-3 aircraft, one of which was flown by his father, Harold William Whitaker.
Stephen Whitaker filed Freedom of Information Act requests with the CIA, as well as the Department of Defense and the State Department, to learn if they possessed records that might explain what happened to the DC-3s.
The CIA refused to tell Whitaker if its archives held any relevant documents pertaining to his search. The agency cited various exemptions under federal law, including the CIA Act of 1949 (pdf), which allow it to avoid responding to certain FOIA inquiries.
Whitaker argued in his lawsuit that the CIA improperly invoked FOIA Exemption (b) (3) (pdf), which authorizes the agency to keep from revealing information on agency “functions” and “intelligence sources and methods.”

Kollar-Kotelly sided with Whitaker, ruling (pdf) that “the CIA has too broadly applied the CIA Act to withhold information pursuant to Exemption (b) (3).” However, she agreed with two other exemptions cited by the CIA that pertain to attorney-client privilege and the withholding of personnel and medical records.

The plaintiff’s search for information seems to be both personal and more.

He said the plane piloted by his father disappeared somewhere over Spain in October 1980. It had been purchased at auction from the Spanish Air Force and was being flown to Germany to become part of a museum.

A report from Spain’s Civil Aviation Commission on Accidents says the aircraft’s instruments may not have been fully functional, and that the radio may only have been capable of sending messages but not receiving them.

The report added that there was no record of a distress call from the pilot, or co-pilot Lawrence Eckmann, a major in the U.S. Army.

Stephen Whitaker also sought records from the government about Eckmann. The State Department claimed its search turned up nothing on Eckmann. The plaintiff challenged this assertion, and Kollar-Kotelly agreed that Eckmann had been excluded from the search, which was found to be “inadequate and should have been revised….”

The plaintiff seems to suspect that some of the DC-3s he has sought information on were used by the CIA in its covert operations.

His FOIA request to the spy agency asked for any information that would reveal whether

“any of these persons or aircraft were later found to be employed or contracted by the CIA for service in Central America or elsewhere.”

The CIA has a long history of using DC-3s that ranges from the Vietnam War to the recent conflict in Libya that ousted dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi.

Tit for Tat: Russia hits US officials with sanctions, as Obama expands penalties

Published March 20, 2014

FoxNews.com

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The Russian government slapped sanctions on top U.S. officials on Thursday, moments after President Obama imposed penalties on 20 Russians inside and outside the government -- as diplomatic efforts over Ukraine unraveled into a long-distance tit for tat.
The newest sanctions would bar nine American officials from entering Russia. The list includes House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio; Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.; and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
Just as Vladimir Putin's government shrugged off U.S. sanctions earlier in the week, so did the Americans targeted by Moscow.
"I guess this means my spring break in Siberia is off, my Gazprom stock is lost, and my secret bank account in Moscow is frozen," McCain quipped in a statement. "Nonetheless, I will never cease my efforts on behalf of the freedom, independence, and territorial integrity of Ukraine, including Crimea."
Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said the speaker "is proud to be included on a list of those willing to stand against Putin's aggression."
As each side imposes sanctions, left unclear is whether any of them will have an effect on the standoff over Russia's widely challenged annexation of Crimea.
Obama, warning of more costs to come for the Kremlin if the situation worsens, said he also signed an executive order that would allow the U.S. to penalize key sectors of the Russian economy. Officials said Obama could act on that authority if Russian forces press into other areas of Ukraine, an escalation of the crisis in Crimea.

FNR Special Coverage: POTUS Statement on Ukraine Crisis

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The president, speaking on the South Lawn of the White House, voiced concern that Russian military positioning could point to "further incursions" into southern and eastern Ukraine.
The president cautioned that the threatened economic measures if implemented could hurt the global economy, as well as the Russian economy, but "Russia must know that further escalation will only isolate it further from the international community."
For the time being, Obama said the U.S. will levy sanctions on more "senior officials of the Russian government," as well as "a number of individuals" supporting Russian leadership -- and a bank, Bank Rossiya, that is likewise providing "material support." The list includes Putin's chief of staff and his banker.
The president, in an interview a day earlier, effectively ruled out U.S. military action over Crimea. He and top officials, though, continue to assure NATO allies in the region that America's support is "unwavering."
Obama stressed Thursday that "diplomacy between the United States and Russia continues."
The new penalties mark the second round of economic sanctions the U.S. has levied on Russia this week. The first round of penalties -- on 11 Russian and Ukrainian officials -- had little impact in stopping Moscow from annexing the strategically important Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine.
Meanwhile on Thursday the European Union announced that it has slapped sanctions on 12 more people linked to Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, bringing the number of people facing EU sanctions to 33.
The 28-nation bloc did not immediately release the names of those it had targeted with travel bans and asset freezes, but they are expected to close in on members of President Vladimir Putin's inner circle to punish him in the escalating Ukrainian crisis.

ah boo hoo obama spy on you boo hoo join the club wait till you see what he has planned Spy wars on Capitol Hill: Feinstein vs. the CIA

Spy wars on Capitol Hill: Feinstein vs. the CIA

Her allegation that the CIA improperly searched Senate Intelligence Committee computers and tried to trigger a criminal investigation of committee staffers calls for a thorough investigation by the administration.

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Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Sen. Dianne Feinstein's allegation that the CIA improperly searched Senate Intelligence Committee computers and tried to trigger a criminal investigation of committee staffers calls for a thorough investigation by the Obama administration. (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press / March 13, 2014)

• Dianne Feinstein outraged that CIA spied on her Senate staff
• Dianne Feinstein emerges as defender of spy agencies
• Obama's NSA reforms: A significant step

By The Times editorial board

March 20, 2014

Some calming words from Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. may lower the political temperature of a confrontation between Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and the CIA. But Feinstein's allegation that the agency improperly searched Senate Intelligence Committee computers and tried to trigger a criminal investigation of committee staffers still calls for a thorough investigation by the Obama administration.

Moreover, President Obama needs to intervene personally to ensure that the public finally gets to see the document at the center of the controversy: a voluminous report by the committee on the CIA's detention and interrogation of suspected terrorists after 9/11, a policy that we already know involved waterboarding and other acts of torture.
On Wednesday, Holder commented on two issues that have been referred to the Justice Department for a possible criminal investigation: the search of Intelligence Committee computers by CIA employees and the allegation that committee staffers improperly accessed an internal CIA report about the detention and interrogation program. Holder said the department hadn't decided whether to pursue either.
In a speech on the Senate floor last week, Feinstein, the committee chair, criticized the CIA's former acting general counsel, Robert Eatinger, for referring the conduct of the staffers to the FBI for a possible criminal investigation, noting that Eatinger had been a lawyer in the unit that carried out the interrogation and detention program. She said she viewed the referral as "a potential effort to intimidate this staff."
In the same remarks, Feinstein accused the CIA of searching Senate computers containing not only agency documents but also the committee's notes. "I have grave concerns that the CIA search may well have violated the separation-of-powers principles," she said. Even if Holder decides that a criminal investigation of the CIA isn't warranted, someone in the executive branch needs to scrutinize the agency's conduct in this affair. The Intelligence Committee should be monitoring the CIA, not the other way around.
Feinstein's accusations were especially dramatic given her previously staunch support for the intelligence community, particularly in connection with the National Security Agency's electronic surveillance activities. But the senator also has been a critic of the detention and interrogation program, and presided over an investigation that resulted in the 6,300-page report approved by the Intelligence Committee on a mostly party-line vote in December 2012.
Those who have read the report describe it as a blistering indictment that concludes the CIA's notorious "enhanced interrogation techniques" yielded little valuable intelligence. The agency, however, has claimed that the report contains "significant errors," and it seems content for it to remain under wraps. It's long past time that the report was declassified and released so the public can draw its own conclusions. Obama, who has said he is committed to declassifying the report, can and must make that happen.

Man found decapitated, police suspect suicide Wife found the body of her husband

Man found decapitated, police suspect suicide

Wife found the body of her husband

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Chris Cordt

House near 46th and Sheridan

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By Rick Couri

The incident happened near 46th and Sheridan.
Police say a woman who lives in the home found her husband dead in the garage.
His hands and feet were tied and the body had been decapitated.
Tulsa police told KRMG news, the death was due to suicide.
Cops gave no other details at the time but continue to investigate the matter.

Riccardi: “Here’s who’s standing up to Pope Francis”

Bishops

"Vatican Insider" interviews Italian historian Andrea Riccardi: “The famous honeymoon period has not ended, a sign that the relationship between Francis and faithful is more than just a passing attraction. But there is defiance from bishops and the clergy”

Andrea Tornielli vatican city “Never before in the 20th century has a Pope faced so much resistance as Francis has” and “the fact that there is so much resistance shows that the Pope really is changing the Church.” These strong and in some ways surprising words came from Professor of Church history, Andrea Riccardi, in his latest commentary published in Italian weekly magazine Famiglia Cristiana. Vatican Insider asked him some questions about his above remarks.

You wrote that no Pope in the last century has faced so much resistance as Francis. Don’t you think that’s a bit of an exaggeration? 
“I made these observations as a historian. Francis is facing internal opposition from within ecclesiastical bodies, the episcopates and the clergy. But his alliance with the people is clearly strong.”

What about the opposition to Paul VI and the recent and famous opposition faced by Benedict XVI?
“The only Pope who faced strong opposition was Paul VI, that’s true. But the Church and also society at the time were going through a period of general protest. In the case of Benedict XVI, which you rightly mentioned, the opposition came form the outside, from the international public, than it did from the inside. As I said, the resistance Francis is facing is stronger and it’s coming from within the Church.”

Could you give some examples? 
“Some resistance has been public, whilst in other cases it has been muttered or not expressed at all, if not through silence and detachment. There are some who can’t stand it when papal preaching insists even slightly on ethical issues. But then there’s Francis’ pastoral approach which calls bishops’ method of leadership into question as they hear people asking: “Why don’t you do as the Pope does?” I don’t want to generalise too much but I am certain that there is resistance. Francis laid down his thoughts and the areas that needed to be worked on and changed, in the first six months of his pontificate. Unlike Paul VI who was a man of many words and tried to make balanced statements. Resistance comes from those who don’t want to be questioned and are averse to change.”

Why do you see silence as a form of “resistance”? 
“It’s a way of pretending nothing happened, as if the Pope had not set an example to be followed. There are some who claim the Pope is not much a “theologian”. It makes me smile when I think back to when people used to say Benedict XVI was too much of a theologian, which is proof that a Pope’s predecessor is always seen as the “good” Pope. It is also worth noting that those who are showing resistance now, went on for years about the importance of the Pope’s authority and of showing obedience to the Pope. Strangely enough, some believe that if the Pope is not how they think he should be or do what they think he should do, he is only half a Pope. But Catholicism is not an ideology; it is an energetic force that grows throughout history. I repeat: I do not wish to generalise because there are also many enthusiastic bishops and when Francis’ message gets through (let us remember it doesn’t always get through and doesn’t always reach everyone), there is a really positive reaction and people’s faith is revived.”

Some of the most fiery attacks against the Pope appear on so-called traditionalist websites and blogs but are also launched by intellectual media circles, such as some articles published by Italian newspaper Il Foglio …
“Yes, but the articles you are referring to express opinions that are shared by certain ecclesiastical circles. These kinds of reactions spring from an unfulfilled vision of how secularised society should be a society in which the Christian minority is struggling to defend certain ethical values.  But what Francis is talking about is a people’s Christianity, a missionary Christianity.”

How do you view the movements’ reaction to the new pontificate?
“Christianity isn’t an ideology; the Church doesn’t change its line of thinking but grows throughout history as I said. Catholics are faithful to the Pope, from Pius XII to Francis. This is what being Catholic is about. Otherwise we are just a bunch of ideologists. Today there are ideological visions that are collapsing. The movements should also get in tune with the “Evangelii Gaudium” instead of self-reproducing.”
 
In the early months of Francis’ pontificate some predicted and in some cases actually hoped that the Pope’s so-called honeymoon with the media and the people would come to an end. But it seems to be continuing…


 

03/18/2014 

Riccardi: “Here’s who’s standing up to Pope Francis”

“The honeymoon isn’t over because it’s much more than just a media phenomenon. What the Church needs to do is to recognise the example Francis is setting and the evangelisation and pastoral care model he is proposing. It is a model that rises to the challenges of the modern world we live in and it is being proposed by a Pope who was born, lived and served as a bishop in a city like Buenos Aires.”

I Announced Obama's Homosexuality 4 Years Ago

U.S. deports Saudi director of Virginia Muslim charity

A Saudi national who served as director of the Virginia office of the Muslim World League (MWL) has been deported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on immigration charges.
ICE spokesman Dean Boyd said Abdullah Alnoshan, 44, of Falls Church, was returned to Saudi Arabia over the weekend. He was arrested in July by ICE and FBI agents assigned to the Joint Terrorism Task Force. A criminal complaint charged Alnoshan with conspiring to commit immigration fraud by using fake employment documents to enter, exit and live in the United States.
Alnoshan also was accused of seeking to deter law-enforcement agents from discovering his true immigration status.
His arrest was made after a raid by ICE and FBI agents on his Falls Church offices in an investigation into the MWL’s purported terrorist ties. The offices also were searched in 2002 as part of a raid on several Muslim organizations in Northern Virginia whose charitable operations were watched by federal authorities investigating links to terrorist groups.
The charity has not been charged, but agents searched Alnoshan’s home and office, removing computers, photographs and immigration documents. The MWL is purported to have provided funds to al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden.
The MWL, one of the largest nongovernmental organizations in the world, has denied any wrongdoing.
Also named in the criminal complaint was Khalid Fadlalla, a Sudanese citizen who worked at the MWL office in New York. The complaint said Mr. Fadlalla conspired to commit immigration fraud in connection with Alnoshan. He was arrested in New York City in July.
In September, Mr. Boyd said, a federal grand jury in Virginia returned a four-count indictment charging Alnoshan with criminal immigration law violations. Last month, Alnoshan pleaded guilty to one count of immigration fraud and was sentenced to time served, agreeing to a stipulated order of removal. An immigration judge later ordered him removed from the country.
“Arresting, prosecuting and deporting those who commit criminal immigration violations is a critical part of ICE’s efforts to restore integrity to the nation’s immigration system,” said Mary Loiselle, field operations director for ICE’s detention and removal operations in the Washington area.
The MWL was mentioned in the 2003 federal probe of Soliman S. Biheiri, an Egyptian national named by the Justice Department as a material witness in terrorism investigations. An affidavit by ICE agent David Kane said investigators also were looking into the MWL and the International Islamic Relief Organization.
In October 2003, Biheiri was convicted in a Virginia federal court of immigration law violations and sentenced to 12 months of confinement, fined $15,000 and ordered to serve three years of supervised release.

Geller: When Did Pope Francis 'Become An Imam'?

Submitted by Brian Tashman on Wednesday, 11/27/2013 11:25 am

In case you needed more proof that right-wing activists have qualms about Pope Francis, Pamela Geller attacked the new pope on her Islamophobic blog yesterday over his call for “affection and respect” toward Muslims. Geller writes that the pope’s new document, Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel), is a “disgrace” and that Francis “sanctions savagery.”
“When did he become an imam?” Geller asked.

POPE FRANCIS SANCTIONS SAVAGERY

At a time when Christianity worldwide is under siege by Islamic jihadists, the leader of the Catholic Church claims that the quran teaches non-violence. As Christians across the Muslim world live in abject terror and fear kidnapping, rape and slaughter to the bloodcurdling cries of "Allahu akbar," the pope gives papal sanction to the savage.

APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION EVANGELII GAUDIUM OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS TO THE BISHOPS, CLERGY, CONSECRATED PERSONS AND THE LAY FAITHFUL ON THE PROCLAMATION OF THE GOSPEL IN TODAY’S WORLDVatican.va November 24, 2013:

253. In order to sustain dialogue with Islam, suitable training is essential for all involved, not only so that they can be solidly and joyfully grounded in their own identity, but so that they can also acknowledge the values of others, appreciate the concerns underlying their demands and shed light on shared beliefs. We Christians should embrace with affection and respect Muslim immigrants to our countries in the same way that we hope and ask to be received and respected in countries of Islamic tradition. I ask and I humbly entreat those countries to grant Christians freedom to worship and to practice their faith, in light of the freedom which followers of Islam enjoy in Western countries! Faced with disconcerting episodes of violent fundamentalism, our respect for true followers of Islam should lead us to avoid hateful generalisations, for authentic Islam and the proper reading of the Koran are opposed to every form of violence.

How does he know that? When did he become an imam?

"So when you meet those who disbelieve [in battle], strike [their] necks..." quran 47:4 "And prepare against them whatever you are able of power and of steeds of war by which you may terrify the enemy of Allah and your enemy and others besides them whom you do not know [but] whom Allah knows." quran 8:60

"Indeed, Allah has purchased from the believers their lives and their properties [in exchange] for that they will have Paradise. They fight in the cause of Allah , so they kill and are killed." quran 9:111

Nothing will be gained by this refusal to face reality. Christians will still be slaughtered in the name of Islam and jihad all over the Muslim world. And now the Pope has forbidden Catholics to speak honestly about what is happening and why. It's a disgrace.

Signs say IRS targeted tea party

By STEVE HUNTLEY February 10, 2014 4:44PM

Cleta Mitchcell (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Updated: March 12, 2014 6:14AM

President Barack Obama maintains there’s “not even a smidgen of corruption” in the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of tea party and conservative groups, that it was just the result of “bone-headed decisions” by low-level IRS technocrats.

But testimony at a congressional hearing last week raised red flags about IRS abuse of conservatives that should trouble Americans no matter what their political leanings.

When the IRS revelations broke, Obama promised a full investigation. Yet Cleta Mitchell, an attorney for a number of tea party and conservative groups targeted by the IRS, testified, “None of my clients have received a single contact from the FBI, the DOJ [Department of Justice] or any other investigator regarding the IRS scandal.”

She detailed for a House oversight subcommittee several areas worthy of criminal investigation into the taxman’s singling out conservative groups for special scrutiny and intrusive questioning regarding their nonprofit tax status.

In 2012, then IRS commissioner Doug Shulman told Congress there had been no targeting of tea party groups even though we now know it had been going on since 2009. “The last time I checked, lying to Congress is a felony,” Mitchell said.

Confidential donor information about several conservative groups, including the National Organization for Marriage, the Texas Public Policy Foundation and the Republican Governors Public Policy Council, were leaked to their political foes or the public. “That is a crime,” she noted.

And Mitchell pointed to the elephant in the room in the IRS controversy: former IRS executive Lois Lerner invoking her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination before the same subcommittee. “She apparently knows of criminal acts involved in this scandal.”

Also testifying was one of Mitchell’s clients, Catherine Engelbrecht, owner of a small Texas manufacturing firm who organized two non-profits, one of them True the Vote.

In running a business for two decades, she had never been investigated by the federal government. But since the beginning of her political activism in 2010, “my private business, my nonprofit organizations, and family have been subjected to more than 15 instances of audit or inquiry by federal agencies.” Those include the IRS, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol and Firearms, and the FBI.

I guess the administration wants us to believe that is all coincidence.

The top Democrat on the panel, Elijah Cummings, tried to discredit Engelbrecht by accusing True the Vote of sending poll watchers to minority districts. Engelbrecht said her group only trains election volunteers and doesn’t send them anywhere.

Conservatives are outraged that the mainstream media and many civil rights groups swallow hook, line and sinker the White House position that the IRS is a “phony scandal.”

It is unimaginable that IRS special scrutiny of liberal groups during a Republican administration would be written off as bureaucratic bungling.

To many conservatives, Obama’s assertion of “not even a smidgen of corruption” sounds a lot like another White House’s claim that Watergate was “a third-rate burglary.”

Email: shuntley.cst@gmail.com

Exclusive: U.S. Sanctions Actually Target Putin’s Domestic Rivals

While the move was sold as a clear message to Russian officials responsible for the current Ukraine crisis, the end result seems to bear little resemblance to that goal...

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B. Christopher Agee — March 17, 2014

Barack Obama announced a series of sanctions against officials in Russia who he claims have played a role in the continued unrest in the Crimean peninsula of Ukraine. The move came one day after a majority voters in the region supported a referendum to unite with Russia.
In a statement Monday, Obama said the U.S. would not recognize the referendum. He went on to blame a number of officials within the Russian government for the development.

“We are imposing sanctions on specific individuals for undermining the sovereignty, territorial integrity and government of Ukraine,” he asserted. “We are making it clear that there are consequences for their actions.”
The White House – along with numerous media outlets – is touting the sanctions as a direct response to Russian President Vladimir Putin. While Putin is not named directly in Obama’s reaction, a White House statement indicates the U.S. will “seek to hold accountable individuals who use their resources or influence to support or act on behalf of senior Russian government officials.”
One senior White House advisor, however, questioned Obama’s selection, suggesting the seven Russian officials facing sanctions are not Putin allies at all. The source, who requested anonymity in discussing the developing story, offered a background for each of the individuals targeted by the White House.
Sergey Glazyev reportedly mounted a presidential campaign against Putin in 2004 and has been excluded from the inner workings of the Russian government since. Another target of sanctions, Vladislav Surkov, reportedly resigned from the Putin regime last year following accusations that he would not enforce the Russian president’s policies.
A third official, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitiry Rogozin, is reportedly being blamed for bungling Russia’s advancement in the region by backing recently ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. By defying Putin’s wishes, the source claims, Rogozin has been ostracized by Russian leadership.
Former Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, who currently serves as the nation’s prime minister, did consider some of the targets to be close confidants. Putin apparently feels differently. According to the White House source, Leonid Slutsky and Valentina Matviyenko both held positions of power in Russia until they fell out of favor with Putin. Furthermore, Andrei Klishas is reportedly feuding with a Putin ally.
The final Russian official facing U.S. sanctions, Yelena Mizulina, likely made it on the list due to her anti-gay policy positions rather than any connection to Ukraine policy.
While the move was sold as a clear message to Russian officials responsible for the current Ukraine crisis, the end result seems to bear little resemblance to that goal. Instead, Obama seems to have targeted individuals Putin himself would have approved. As a result, the U.S. action has had little noticeable effect on Russia’s economy as of this writing. In fact, the Russian market rose today on the news of these weak sanctions.
U.S. allies in the European Union have similarly refused to acknowledge the recent Crimean vote to secede from Ukraine. It remains to be seen whether the EU’s sanctions, which are expected to be announced Tuesday, will have any legitimate effect on Russian leadership.
–B. Christopher Agee
Have an idea for a story? Email us at tips@westernjournalism.com

What The Media Doesn’t Want You To Know About Obama’s “Sanctions”

The problems with the sanctions on Russia are two-fold... they don't matter to Russia, and they'll end up hurting America.

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Floyd Brown — March 20, 2014

In response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea, the Obama administration responded by levying sanctions. The spin machine has been running nonstop at the White House, claiming these are “the toughest sanctions against Russia since the Cold War.”
But the Russians have responded with sustained laughter. The hapless Obama looked like a robot as he read, “We are imposing sanctions on specific individuals for undermining the sovereignty, territorial integrity and government of Ukraine.”

He sounded unconvinced as he scolded Putin, saying “We are making it clear that there are consequences for their actions.”
The truth is that the sanctions are insignificant, and they’ll have no economic impact whatsoever on Putin. But Obama’s earlier decisions make it impossible for him to do more, and they show that the president is in fact more vulnerable than Putin.
Meanwhile, conservatives aren’t the only ones judging Obama’s response as weak.
The liberal Washington Post called the sanctions a “slap on the wrist.” The problem is that they only sanction individuals, not institutions or the Russian government itself.
On the other side of the aisle, FOX News commentator Charles Krauthammer depicted Obama’s reaction as “humiliating.” He rightly told his audience that the Russians were ridiculing Obama while the entire world watches.
One of the targeted Russians, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, tweeted for all to read, “Comrade Obama, what should those who have neither accounts nor property abroad do? Have you not thought about it?”
A Policy of Ineptitude
The real tragedy is that Obama hasn’t thought about it. He doesn’t have a plan.

The list of targeted individuals was all wrong. Several of the targeted people are actually Putin’s opponents. As Chris Agee from the Western Center for Journalism reported, there’s a real disconnect concerning the people targeted.
Agee wrote: “Leonid Slutsky and Valentina Matviyenko both held positions of power in Russia until they fell out of favor with Putin. Furthermore, Andrey Klishas is reportedly feuding with a Putin ally. The final Russian official facing U.S. sanctions, Yelena Mizulina, likely made it on the list due to her anti-gay policy positions, rather than any connection to Ukraine policy.”
And that’s not even the worst part. You see, the sanctions may actually hurt Americans, too, which proves my Obama theorem that “Obama only takes actions that hurt America.”
Sergey Glazyev, a Putin economic advisor, told the Voice of Russia radio that Russia would have to switch to other currencies to curb its dependence on the U.S. dollar; and sanctions could prevent Russia from repaying loans extended by American banks. “We have wonderful economic and trade relations with our Southern and Eastern partners,” Glazyev emphasized. “We will find a way not just to eliminate our dependence on the U.S. but also profit from these sanctions… Indeed, sanctions are a double-edged weapon, and if the U.S. chooses to freeze our assets, then our equities and liabilities in dollars will also be frozen. This means that our banks and businesses will not return the loans to American partners.”
The U.S. dollar has remained the world’s reserve currency because it’s used to settle international commercial transactions, especially in the energy markets. But if Russia moves away from the dollar in the sale of commodities and oil, it could roil international markets. If carried out by Putin, these moves could possibly trigger a dollar collapse.
Obama is economically dependent on foreign money to keep his spending binge going. At the same time, he’s also slashed military spending and left us with little to back up his bellicose statements. In the end, such weakness always empowers a bully like Putin.

This commentary originally appeared at CapitolHillDaily.com and is reprinted here with permission.

EXCLUSIVE) IRS Currently Employing Convicted Terrorist Associate

(EXCLUSIVE) IRS Currently Employing Convicted Terrorist Associate

A former policeman convicted of tipping off a terror suspect is now a senior official at the IRS. Calls to the IRS for comment have not yet been answered.

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While IRS officials were targeting Tea Party groups for special scrutiny of their 501(c)3 tax exempt applications, the IRS also hired a policeman who had been prosecuted by the Justice Department — and convicted in federal court — of using his access to the FBI’s NCIC system to tip off a terror suspect about the bureau’s surveillance. The leak wrecked a major terror investigation.
He is still at the IRS.

Weiss Russell (he has changed his name from “Weiss Rasool,” the name under which he was convicted), is currently employed as a financial management analyst in the IRS Deputy Chief Financial Officer’s Office.
In 2008, Russell/Rasool was prosecuted for his role in tipping off Abdullah Alnoshan, a close associate of al-Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaki and a friend of Russell’s from their mosque. According to the Justice Department’s Statement of Facts filed at the time of Russell’s indictment, Alnoshan provided license plate numbers to Russell for cars he believed were conducting surveillance on him. Russell then checked those plate numbers in the FBI’s NCIC database, which came back to a leasing company which federal prosecutors claimed would have tipped off Russell to the bureau’s surveillance.
He left a phone message for Alnoshan that the FBI intercepted.
Prosecutors also claimed that on more than a dozen instances, Russell checked his name, the names of relatives, and other friends to see if they were listed on the Violent Crime and Terrorist Offender File on NCIC without an authorized reason for doing so.
According to the Washington Post, Russell’s tip-off to Alnoshan actively obstructed their investigation:

The target was arrested in November 2005, then convicted and deported, according to court filings in Rasool’s case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeanine Linehan said that the target and his family were already dressed and destroying evidence at 6 a.m. when agents arrived to make the arrest, indicating that they had been tipped off.

Alnoshan was deported to Saudi Arabia in December 2005. Russell was indicted in January 2008, and pleaded guilty in April 2008.
While prosecutors had requested jail time for Russell after he failed a polygraph just a week before sentencing, the judge sentenced him to two years of probation. He continued on the Fairfax County police force while an internal affairs investigation was conducted. Reportedly, he was eventually given the choice to resign or be fired. He resigned in August 2008.
Chris Farrell, director of investigations at Judicial Watch, told PJ Media:

Somebody like Russell who betrayed his oath as a police officer and was convicted in court essentially for aiding and abetting the subject of an open terror investigation has absolutely no business with any position of trust and responsibility with the government.
If as reported he holds a top financial analyst position within the IRS, it’s not just a disgrace to a discredited agency but an insult to the American public. Russell has already betrayed his country and shown that he can do enormous damage and abuse his authority and powers, which he is now free to do within the IRS.

Farrell said that Judicial Watch would be opening their own line of inquiry into Russell’s hiring and employment with the IRS.
An IRS official speaking anonymously to PJ Media said that Russell’s financial management analyst position would have required him to fill out the Standard Form 86 questionnaire for national security positions and to be subjected to a background check.

There’s no way anyone with his conviction for abusing access to a government database and damaging a terror investigation could have been vetted and approved without outside intervention. Changing his name shouldn’t have mattered.
I’ve never even heard of a case like this.

SHOCKING: Al-Qaeda Operatives Inside the IRS

ANYONE WITH BRAINS IS JUMPING SHIP FAST!!!

ANYONE WITH BRAINS IS JUMPING SHIP FAST!!!
Anonymous insiders with access to the White House and close personal contacts have leaked word that White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, who replaced Robert Gibbs in 2011, is probably on his way out. He reportedly has said so himself and that it will be fairly soon.
One can imagine that the job hasn’t been a picnic of late, having to cover and make excuses for the inexcusable, but it has enabled him to gain the notoriety and nimbl...
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Anonymous insiders with access to the White House and close personal contacts have leaked word that White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, who replaced Robert Gibbs in 2011, is probably on his way out. He reportedly has said so himself and that it will be fairly soon.

One can imagine that the job hasn’t been a picnic of late, having to cover and make excuses for the inexcusable, but it has enabled him to gain the notoriety and nimbleness. He’s also enhanced his resume and contacts, none of which will hurt in the hunt for future employment.
Speculation grew recently when Carney plugged his wife, Claire Shipman’s book during a recent press briefing. That might be the kind of thing someone would do if they knew they were a short-timer.
No official verification has come from the White House, which issued a statement to the Daily Caller saying, “We routinely decline to comment on speculation about personnel matters.”
Rick Wells

The Pope Claims to be God on Earth

The Pope Claims to be God on Earth

Author: Amazing Discoveries™

Publish date: Feb 24, 2009

Summary: Read proof that throughout the Roman Church's history, the Papacy has often claimed that the Pope is divine.

 

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Throughout the centuries of Rome's existence, the popes have regularly claimed to be divine. As the supposed successor of Peter, the Pope claims infallibility, the position of God on Earth, and ability to judge and excommunicate angels.

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Cardinal Sarto, who became Pope Pius X, said this:

The Pope represents Jesus Christ Himself...ⁱ

This belief has so assimilated into society's thinking that it is believed by many beyond Catholic circles. According to TIME, Pope John Paul II's assassination attempt prompted a young Jewish man to say, "shooting the Pope—It's like shooting God."ⁱⁱ

Further Quotes from Vatican Documents show the Papacy's belief in Papal Infallibility:

This ancient Catholic document, Extravagantes Johannes, refers to the Pope as "Our Lord God... read more.

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In 1512 Christopher Marcellus said this to Pope Julius II:

Take care that we lose not that salvation, that life and breath which thou hast given us, for thou art our shepherd, thou art our physician, thou art our governor, thou art our husbandman, thou art finally another God on earth (emphasis added).ⁱⁱⁱ

Just recently, in 2004, Bishop Patrick Dunn of Auckland said this:

"It seems that Pope John Paul II now presides over the universal Church from his place upon Christ's cross.^iv

The Gloss of Extravagantes of Pope John XXII says this:

But to believe that our Lord God the Pope the establisher of said decretal, and of this, could not decree, as he did decree, should be accounted heretical (emphasis added).^v

Words from the Popes themselves:

In 1302 Pope Boniface said this in a letter to the Catholic Church:

Furthermore, we declare, we proclaim, we define that it is absolutely necessary for salvation that every human creature be subject to the Roman Pontiff.^vi

Papal coin of Pius VI from the 1700s, with the title "Pius VI Pontifex Maximus."

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A coin of the Vatican state says this about Pope Pius VI:

Pius Sextus Pontifex Maximus.^vii

Pope Leo XIII said these things about the role of the Papacy and the Roman Church:

Our thoughts went out towards the immense multitude of those who are strangers to the gladness that filled all Catholic hearts: some because they lie in absolute ignorance of the Gospel; others because they dissent from the Catholic belief, though they bear the name of Christians.

This thought has been, and is, a source of deep concern to Us; for it is impossible to think of such a large portion of mankind deviating, as it were, from the right path, as they move away from Us, and not experience a sentiment of innermost grief. But since We hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty...^viii

But the supreme teacher in the Church is the Roman Pontiff. Union of minds, therefore, requires, together with a perfect accord in the one faith, complete submission and obedience of will to the Church and to the Roman Pontiff, as to God Himself.^ix

And more recently, Pope John Paul II wrote that names like "Holy Father" are applicable to the Pope, even though calling him that is counter to the Gospel:

Have no fear when people call me the "Vicar of Christ," when they say to me "Holy Father," or "Your Holiness," or use titles similar to these, which seem even inimical to the Gospel.^x

In 1996 he also gave his ascent to calling the Pope "Lord" and "Christ on earth":

we readily understand the devotion of Saint Francis of Assisi for "the Lord Pope",the daughterly outspokenness of Saint Catherine of Siena towards the one whom she called "sweet Christ on earth", the apostolic obedience and the sentire cum Ecclesia of Saint Ignatius Loyola,and the joyful profession of faith made by Saint Teresa of Avila: "I am a daughter of the Church" (emphases added).^xi

Many Compare the Pope with Jesus

The Papacy is not the only source of papal infallibility doctrine. Many Catholics and others use the titles of Christ to describe the Pope, as seen in the video below. This video is featured in the lecture That All May Be One by Professor Walter Veith. Purchase the DVD from the Amazing Discoveries™ webstore or view the lecture on Amazing Discoveries™ TV.
 

 

The Doctrine of Papal Infallibility is UnBiblical

It is clear that "the Popes have never reproved or rejected this title"^xii of blasphemy and flattery, but the Bible does not support the belief of papal infallibility. It declares that "all of sinned and come short of the glory of God" (Roman 3:23). This includes the Pope. These boasts of the Papal State fulfill the Bible's prediction of what the Antichrist power would do:

And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws...(Daniel 7:25).

And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven (Revelation 13:5-6).

Read about the Catholic Church's similar position on the power of their priests  

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i. Cardinal Sarto, as quoted in Publications of the Catholic Truth Society Volume 29 (Catholic Truth Society: 1896): 11.
ii. George J. Church et. al, "Hands of Terrorism," TIME (May 25, 1981).

iii. Christopher Marcellus addressing Pope Julius II during the Fifth Lateran Council which began in 1512, as quoted in Alexander Hislop, The light of prophecy let in on the dark places of the papacy (London: William Whyte and Co., 1846): 91 and Letters between a Catholic and a Protestant on the doctrines of the Church of Rome originally published in Borrow's Worcester Journal (Worcester Journal, 1827): 29. Find the original Latin version here
iv. "Auckland Bishop Says Pope Presides From the Cross" (Zenit, September 20, 2004).
v. The Gloss of Extravagantes of Pope John XXII, Cum. Inter, title 14, chapter 4, "Ad Callem Sexti Decretalium", Column 140 (Paris, 1685). In an Antwerp edition of the Extravagantes, the words, Dominum Deum Nostrum Papam ("Our Lord God the Pope") can be found in column 153. View extracts here.
vi. Pope Boniface VIII, Unam Sanctam (Rome: 1302).
vii. Vatican Coin of 1795.
viii. Pope Leo XIII, Praeclara Gratulationis Publicae—The Reunion of Christendom (Rome: 1894).
ix. Pope Leo XIII, Sapientiae Christianae: On Christians as Citizens (January 10, 1890).
x. Pope John Paul II, Crossing the Threshold of Hope (New York: Alfred A. Knoff. 1995): 6.
xi. Pope John Paul II, Vita Consecrata (March 25, 1996): vatican.va.
xii. António Pereira de Figueiredo, "Tentativa theologica: Episcopal rights and ultramontane usurpations" (J. Masters, 1847): 180.

Disclaimer: The contents of this article and website are not intended to accuse individuals. There are many priests and faithful believers in Roman Catholicism who serve God to the best of their ability and are seen by God as His children. The information contained herein is directed only towards the Roman Catholic religio-political system that has reigned in varying degrees of power for nearly two millennia. Under the influence of its successive popes, bishops, and cardinals, this system has established an increasing number of doctrines and statements that clearly go against Scripture.

It is our sincere desire to lay the clear Word of God before you, the truth-seeking reader, so you may decide for yourself what is truth and what is error. If you find herein anything contrary to the Word of God, you need not accept it. But if you desire to seek for Truth as for hidden treasure, and find herein something of that quality, we encourage you to make all haste to accept that Truth which is revealed to you by the Holy Spirit.

Iranian state media: MH370 hijacked and landed at top-secret military base

Picture source: Iranian Press TV

Mar 19, 2014

Two of the passengers with stolen Austrian and Italian passports were Iranian citizens. Iran had worked with countries like North Korea on numerous classified projects in the past. Ironically today the Iranian media reports about a recent scenario suggests the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 might have been hijacked and taken to a secret location.
Iranian Press TV reporter Nasser Namvar stated on this Iranian state sponsored news network:
“What counts is that some individual or individuals were on board with malice aforethought. Then they took control of the plane and made it steer off course, it is assumed.”
The presumed location where the jetliner might have landed could be digitally protected to block any incoming signals that might be able to detect the aircraft, the journalist further writes.
“The airliner could have been taken to a top-secret location heavily protected by state-of-the-art electronic systems which send out beams to create a digital shield, a protective dome which not only traps any outgoing signal, but holds back incoming ones, making the area impenetrable to any digital transmission,” says the Press TV contributor.
He suggests the presumed location must be a major military base to be able to accommodate the giant plane.
“Note that the airliner was a Boeing 777-220ER, which is six stories high and 209 ft (64 meters) long, with a wingspan of 200 ft (61 meters),” Namvar explains.
“Such a monster needs a colossal runway to land, which suggests the supposed location must be a massive structure. That would mean the location, which supposedly enjoys overarching digital protection, could be something of a gigantic military base,” he further notes.
The motive behind the presumed hijacking is still anybody’s guess, he says.
eTN picked up reports on numerous occasions from various sources about the aircraft may have been hijacked and landed in North Korea. Spy agencies in North Korea may be very interested in the state of the art Boeing 777 technology.
Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 vanished from radar screens without a trace on March 8. Search and rescue teams from over two dozen countries have been combing large swaths of sea and land in the hope of finding a trace of the missing airliner, but all investigations have drawn a blank so far.