"I have not yet begun to fight!"

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Saturday, October 11, 2014

AMS Calls on U.S. Defense Department to Review Army Reserve Training Material for Anti-Religious Content

AMS Calls on U.S. Defense Department to Review Army Reserve Training Material for Anti-Religious Content

Concern raised by brief citing Catholicism as example of “religious extremism”

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Archdiocese for the Military Services (AMS) issued the following statement today on the mischaracterization of “Catholicism” as an example of “religious extremism” on slide #24 of this U.S. Army Reserve training brief:

Statement

The Archdiocese for the Military Services and Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty recently became aware of a U.S. Army Reserve Equal Opportunity training brief that expressly listed “Catholicism,” “Evangelical Christianity” and other religious groups as examples of “religious extremism” alongside groups such as “Al Qaeda”, “Hamas” and the “KKK.”
The Archdiocese is astounded that Catholics were listed alongside groups that are, by their very mission and nature, violent and extremist.

According to an investigation and reply from the Army Chief of Chaplains office, the training in question appears to have been an isolated incident not condoned by the Department of the Army. The Archdiocese and the Chaplain Alliance explained that the Army can and should take steps to prevent such incidents in the future.
The Archdiocese calls upon the Department of Defense to review these materials and to ensure that tax-payer funds are never again used to present blatantly anti-religious material to the men and women in uniform.

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The AMS was created as an independent archdiocese by Pope John Paul II in 1985 as the only Catholic jurisdiction responsible for endorsing and granting faculties for priests to serve as chaplains in the U.S. military and VA Medical Centers.

AMS-endorsed priests serve at more than 220 U.S. military installations in 29 countries, making the AMS the nation's only global archdiocese. AMS-endorsed chaplains also serve at 153 VA Medical Centers throughout the U.S.

The AMS service population also includes American Catholic civilians working for the federal government in 134 countries, but currently, due to limited resources, the AMS cannot adequately serve this population.

Worldwide, an estimated 1.8 million Catholics depend on the AMS to meet their spiritual and sacramental needs.

For more information on the Archdiocese for the Military Services, visit www.milarch.org, the only official Web site for Catholics in the military and for the Cause of Father Vincent Capodanno, M.M.

Pravda West: Washington Post uses Soviet officer to promote Veterans Day

By Paul Bedard | October 10, 2014 | 5:28 pm

“Honor your veteran in a special way,” reads the somber ad promoting a special section of death notices scheduled for the Veterans Day edition of the Washington Post Magazine to be published Nov. 9.
It features a composite death notice of a naval officer imposed over an image of the Iwo Jima Memorial. It reads: “In Remembrance of Gramble. Norman Gramble, U.S. Navy 1943-1946.”
But a closer look at the man shows that he isn’t from the U.S. Navy, but is likely a Soviet military officer.
A worker in the Post’s death notice department said the ad was a composite, and it appears the picture was taken from the photo-hosting website Shutterstock. Its version of the photo includes instructions on how to download it in English and Russian.
The Post cropped the photo so just the officer's face and hat show, but the Shutterstock photo shows all of his communist medals, 13 in all, and many with dates from the 1960s and 1970s when the Kremlin was threatening the United States with nuclear attack.
A Navy expert said the mistake reminded him of when a Russian warship was used at a Democratic National Convention in a tribute to the U.S. military and Parade Magazine used a Nazi battleship in a feature about a Navy cook.
“It seems to me that someone hasn't done their homework, unless we prefer to honor foreign veterans rather than our own,” said Bill Panagopulos, president of Alexander Historical Auctions in Chesapeake City, Md.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner's "Washington Secrets" columnist, can be contacted at pbedard@washingtonexaminer.com.

I QUIT FUCK THIS NATION CANT WAIT TILL THE MUSLMS KILL YOU ALL

FBI Chief: Citizens Should Be 'Deeply Skeptical' of Government

Saturday, 11 Oct 2014 01:50 PM

By Todd Beamon

Americans should be "deeply skeptical" of government power, says FBI Director James Comey, adding that law enforcement should be able to access someone's telephone only with a court order,

"I believe that Americans should be deeply skeptical of government power," Comey told CBS News' Scott Pelley in an interview for "60 Minutes" that will air on Sunday. "You cannot trust people in power.

"The Founders knew that," he said. "That’s why they divided power among three branches, to set interest against interest."

Comey, 53, who became FBI chief in September 2013, cautioned that courts must grant law-enforcement agencies permission to telephones if the information is deemed to be critical to a criminal case or national security.

His comments come in light of numerous leaks since last year by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden revealing that agency's extensive telephone and Internet surveillance programs and cell phones introduced last month by Apple Inc. that were designed to avoid surveillance by law enforcement.

Apple's new iOS8 operating system for its cellphones and other devices contains personal encoding software to prevent anyone outside of the phone's owner from accessing its data. Apple will not be able to access the data, Arstechnica.com reports.

"The notion that we would market devices that would allow someone to place themselves beyond the law, troubles me a lot," Comey said. "As a country, I don’t know why we would want to put people beyond the law.

"That is, sell cars with trunks that couldn’t ever be opened by law enforcement with a court order, or sell an apartment that could never be entered even by law enforcement," he continued. "Would you want to live in that neighborhood? This is a similar concern.

"The notion that people have devices, again, that with court orders — based on a showing of probable cause in a case involving kidnapping or child exploitation or terrorism — we could never open that phone?" Comey asked. "My sense is that we’ve gone too far when we've gone there."

Related Stories:

Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12: Policy for a Common Identification Standard for Federal Employees and Contractors

HSPD 12 Abstract

There are wide variations in the quality and security of identification used to gain access to secure facilities where there is potential for terrorist attacks. In order to eliminate these variations, U.S. policy is to enhance security, increase Government efficiency, reduce identity fraud, and protect personal privacy by establishing a mandatory, Government-wide standard for secure and reliable forms of identification issued by the Federal Government to its employees and contractors (including contractor employees). This directive mandates a federal standard for secure and reliable forms of identification.
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HSPD 12 Full Text

Homeland Security Presidential Directive-12
August 27, 2004
SUBJECT: Policies for a Common Identification Standard for Federal Employees and Contractors

Wide variations in the quality and security of forms of identification used to gain access to secure Federal and other facilities where there is potential for terrorist attacks need to be eliminated. Therefore, it is the policy of the United States to enhance security, increase Government efficiency, reduce identity fraud, and protect personal privacy by establishing a mandatory, Government-wide standard for secure and reliable forms of identification issued by the Federal Government to its employees and contractors (including contractor employees).
To implement the policy set forth in paragraph (1), the Secretary of Commerce shall promulgate in accordance with applicable law a Federal standard for secure and reliable forms of identification (the "Standard") not later than 6 months after the date of this directive in consultation with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. The Secretary of Commerce shall periodically review the Standard and update the Standard as appropriate in consultation with the affected agencies.
"Secure and reliable forms of identification" for purposes of this directive means identification that (a) is issued based on sound criteria for verifying an individual employee's identity; (b) is strongly resistant to identity fraud, tampering, counterfeiting, and terrorist exploitation; (c) can be rapidly authenticated electronically; and (d) is issued only by providers whose reliability has been established by an official accreditation process. The Standard will include graduated criteria, from least secure to most secure, to ensure flexibility in selecting the appropriate level of security for each application. The Standard shall not apply to identification associated with national security systems as defined by 44 U.S.C. 3542(b)(2).
Not later than 4 months following promulgation of the Standard, the heads of executive departments and agencies shall have a program in place to ensure that identification issued by their departments and agencies to Federal employees and contractors meets the Standard. As promptly as possible, but in no case later than 8 months after the date of promulgation of the Standard, the heads of executive departments and agencies shall, to the maximum extent practicable, require the use of identification by Federal employees and contractors that meets the Standard in gaining physical access to Federally controlled facilities and logical access to Federally controlled information systems. Departments and agencies shall implement this directive in a manner consistent with ongoing Government-wide activities, policies and guidance issued by OMB, which shall ensure compliance.
Not later than 6 months following promulgation of the Standard, the heads of executive departments and agencies shall identify to the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and the Director of OMB those Federally controlled facilities, Federally controlled information systems, and other Federal applications that are important for security and for which use of the Standard in circumstances not covered by this directive should be considered. Not later than 7 months following the promulgation of the Standard, the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and the Director of OMB shall make recommendations to the President concerning possible use of the Standard for such additional Federal applications.
This directive shall be implemented in a manner consistent with the Constitution and applicable laws, including the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a) and other statutes protecting the rights of Americans.
Nothing in this directive alters, or impedes the ability to carry out, the authorities of the Federal departments and agencies to perform their responsibilities under law and consistent with applicable legal authorities and presidential guidance. This directive is intended only to improve the internal management of the executive branch of the Federal Government, and it is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, entities, officers, employees or agents, or any other person.
The Assistant to the President for Homeland Security shall report to me not later than 7 months after the promulgation of the Standard on progress made to implement this directive, and shall thereafter report to me on such progress or any recommended changes from time to time as appropriate.

GEORGE W. BUSH

# # #

Last Published Date: July 22, 2013

Report: DHS won’t screen chemical plant workers for terror links

by Staff Reports
Source: SecurityInfoWatch.com
Created: August 2, 2012

DHS undersecretary provides update on CFATS program at congressional hearing

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has reportedly scrapped plans to screen workers at chemical facilities for links to terrorism as part of the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) initiative, according to a story recently published by Government Executive.
Testifying before Congress last week, Suzanne Spaulding, deputy undersecretary for the DHS’ National Protection and Programs Directorate, confirmed that the plan - which would have required companies to submit personal information of employees with access to high-risk facilities to the agency to be screened against an FBI terror database - had been shelved. According to the story, Spaulding didn’t say why the plan was dropped or if it would be replaced.
Spaulding did, however, provide the House Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee with an update on the progress of CFATS. According to a written statement submitted to the subcommittee by Spaulding, the Infrastructure Security Compliance Division (ISCD) has received more than 41,000 "Top-Screens" (an initial consequence-based screening tool submitted by chemical facilities possessing a chemical of interest) submitted by chemical facilities to date.
As of July 20, 2012, Spaulding said in the statement that CFATS covers 4,425 facilities determined to be high-risk across the country, of which 3,662 are currently subject to final high-risk determinations and submission of a site security plan (SSP) or alternative security program (ASP). She said that ISCD has completed its initial review of all Tier 1 SSPs and has begun to review Tier 2 SSPs.
Spaulding went on to say in the statement that the president’s budget for 2013 fiscal year could detrimentally impact the DHS’ ability to implement CFATS. She said the appropriations bill approved the subcommittee would cut the Infrastructure Security Compliance Program’s budget by more than half of what was enacted in 2012.

"An appropriation of $45.4 million would drastically curtail DHS’s ability to: 1) implement the statutory and regulatory requirements for the security of high-risk chemical facilities as specified in CFATS; 2) continue development of the proposed Ammonium Nitrate Security Program; and 3) fully implement the program improvements identified in the ISCD Action Plan," she wrote "DHS estimates that, after expending approximately $35 million for salaries and benefits for 242 (full-time employees), approximately $12 million would remain for implementing CFATS and completing development of the proposed Ammonium Nitrate Security Program. DHS would be forced to cease virtually all activities under CFATS other than those directly related to reviewing SSPs and performing facility inspections—which means those other activities would be significantly delayed. At the proposed $45.4 million funding level, the Department’s ability to conduct the most basic CFATS functions would be impacted."
Click here to read Spaulding’s entire written statement to the committee.

U.S. Immigrant Population Record 41.3 Million in 2013

Asian, Caribbean, and Middle Eastern immigrant populations grew most since 2010

By Karen Zeigler, Steven A. Camarota September 2014

Download a PDF of this Backgrounder

Steven A. Camarota is the Director of Research and Karen Zeigler is a demographer at the Center for Immigration Studies.

The Census Bureau recently released some of the data from the 2013 American Community Survey (ACS). The data show that the nation’s immigrant population (legal and illegal) grew by 1.4 million from July 2010 to July 2013. The data also imply that 3.3 million new immigrants settled in the country in that same period.¹ These new arrivals were offset by return migration and deaths among the existing population. The immigrant population, referred to as the foreign-born by the Census Bureau, includes all those who were not U.S. citizens at birth, including illegal immigrants.
Among the findings from the new data:

The nation’s immigrant population (legal and illegal) hit a record 41.3 million in July 2013, an increase of 1.4 million since July 2010. Since 2000 the immigrant population is up 10.2 million.
The 41.3 million immigrant population (legal and illegal) in 2013 was double the number in 1990, nearly triple the number in 1980, and quadruple that in 1970, when it stood at 9.6 million.
The sending regions with the largest increases from 2010 to 2013 were South Asia (up 373,000, 16 percent growth); East Asia (up 365,000, 5 percent growth); the Caribbean (up 223,000, 6 percent growth), the Middle East (up 208,000, 13 percent growth); and sub-Saharan Africa (up 177,000, 13 percent growth).
The sending countries with the largest increases 2010 to 2013 were India (up 254,000, 14 percent growth); China (up 217,000, 10 percent growth); the Dominican Republic (up 112,000, 13 percent growth); Guatemala (up 71,000, 9 percent growth); Jamaica (up 55,000, 8 percent growth); Bangladesh (up 49,000, 32 percent growth); Saudi Arabia (up 44,000, 97 percent growth); Pakistan (up 43,000, 14 percent growth); and Iraq (up 41,000, 26 percent growth).
Between 2010 and 2013, four million new immigrants settled in the United States; and since 2007, when the Great Recession began, at least 7.5 million immigrants have settled in the country.²
As a share of the population, immigrants (legal and illegal) comprised 13.1 percent of U.S. residents (about one out of every eight), the highest percentage in 93 years. As recently as 1980, 6.2 percent of the country was comprised of immigrants.
Immigrants comprised 16 percent of the adult population (18-plus) in 2013, nearly one out of every six adults.
Mexicans accounted for the largest immigrant population in the United States by far, with 11.6 million legal and illegal immigrants living in the United States in 2013. However, the number of Mexican immigrants in the country declined 1 percent from 2010 to 2013.
The number of immigrants from Europe also declined.
States where the number of immigrants grew the most since 2010 were Texas (up 227,240); California (up 160,771); Florida (up 140,019); New York (up 85,699); New Jersey (up 81,192); Massachusetts (up 62,591); Washington (up 57,402); Pennsylvania (up 57,091); Illinois (up 47,609); Arizona (up 39,647); Maryland (up 38,555); Virginia (up 37,844); North Carolina (up 30,289); Michigan (up 29,039); and Georgia (up 28,020).
States with the largest percentage increase since 2010 were North Dakota (up 27 percent); West Virginia (up 17 percent); and Wyoming (up 14 percent). In South Dakota, Nebraska, and Idaho the immigrant population increased 10 percent. It grew 8 percent in New Hampshire, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania and 7 percent in Iowa, Delaware, and Minnesota.

Data Source. On September 18, the Census Bureau released some of the data from the 2013 American Community Survey (ACS). The survey reflects the U.S. population as of July 1, 2013. The ACS is by far the largest survey taken by the federal government each year and includes over two million households.³ The Census Bureau has posted some of the results from the ACS to American FactFinder.⁴ It has not released the public-use version of the ACS for researchers to download and analyze. However a good deal of information can be found at FactFinder. Unless otherwise indicated, the information in this analysis comes directly from FactFinder.
The immigrant population, referred to as the foreign-born by the Census Bureau, is comprised of those individuals who were not U.S. citizens at birth. It includes naturalized citizens, legal permanent residents (green card holders), temporary workers, and foreign students. It does not include those born to immigrants in the United States, including to illegal immigrant parents, nor does it include those born in outlying U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico. Prior research by the Department of Homeland Security and others indicates that some 90 percent of illegal immigrants respond to the ACS.⁵ Thus, all the figures reported above are for both legal and illegal immigrants.

End Notes

¹ The 3.3 million arrivals number is necessarily an estimate because the growth number of 1.4 million measures July 2010 to July 2013. The arrival data in Factfinder, on the other hand, shows four million arrivals for January 2010 to July 2013. This is the only level of detail available in Factfinder for year of arrival. However, the 2010 public-use ACS is available and shows 700,000 immigrants in the country who arrived in the first half of 2010. Subtracting that from the four million implies that 3.3 million new immigrants arrived July 2010 to July 2013, the period in which the immigrant population grew 1.4 million.
² The 2013 ACS shows four million immigrants living in the United States in July 2013 who indicated that they arrived in the United States in 2010 or later. (Unlike the public-use data, FactFinder does not report immigrants’ detailed years of arrival. Instead, results are grouped by decade.) The 2010 public-use file of the ACS showed 3.5 million immigrants in the country who arrived in 2007, 2008, or 2009. (We exclude those who indicated they came between January and July 2010.) Therefore, in total 7.5 million immigrants arrived 2007 to 2013. The actual total is higher because the 7.5 million figure does not include those who arrived after 2007, but died or went home by 2013.
³ Detailed information on the survey methodology, questions, and other information on the American Community can be found here.
⁴ FactFinder can be found here.
⁵ The Department of Homeland Security uses the ACS as the basis for its estimates of the illegal immigrant population. See the most recent iteration of the unauthorized immigrant population, “Estimates of the Unauthorized Immigrant Population Residing in the United States: January 2012”.

Karen Zeigler, Steven A. Camarota