Underground stories 05-26-14

Karzai refuses to meet Obama at Bagram Airfield

The Afghan president refused to visit the Bagram military base when US President Barack Obama made a surprise visit there to meet troops on May 25. Similarly, the American president turned down a proposal for talks at Karzai’s palace in downtown Kabul.
Air Force One flew all night to bring Obama from Washington, DC, to the airstrip of Kabul’s international airport in Bagram.
Officially, the American president had come to the US largest military base in Afghanistan to address troops ahead of the end of Afghan campaign.
“I'm here on a single mission, and that is to thank you for your extraordinary service,” Obama said in a speech before some 32,800 American service personnel, practically all of the US contingent in Afghanistan, making their probably last tour of duty to the country.
“Our combat mission [in Afghanistan] will be over,” Obama said, promising that “America's war in Afghanistan will come to a responsible end.”
White House officials also made an arrangement to organize a tete-a-tete between Barack Obama and the outgoing Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who has been stubbornly refusing to sign a security forces agreement throughout the last year of his term in office.
The Obama administration needs this agreement to justify presence of reportedly 10,000 troops in Afghanistan after the longest military campaign in American history will be officially over.
For Obama this could become the last attempt to talk Hamid Karzai into singing the security agreement, because on May 28, Afghan voters will choose between Abdullah Abdullah, the presidential candidate from National Coalition of Afghanistan, and independent candidate Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai in the runoff election for the next president of Afghanistan.
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Vet Allegedly Beaten To Death At VA Hospital

A California woman says Veterans Administration hospital guards beat her husband to death after he waited four hours for dialysis.
Norma Montano says her husband of 44 years, Jonathan, died of a stroke on June 11, 2011, after he was beaten and had his carotid artery stomped by VA guards. Montano says the hospital also lied to her about what happened to her husband.
Montano’s son and daughter are also plaintiffs in the suit.
Montano says he husband was tired of waiting, but when he tried to leave and go to another facility, he “was told by the nursing staff not to leave.”
"Jonathan Montano told the nurse that he was leaving and was going to the VA Hospital in Long Beach, California, [and that] he wanted to leave the needle apparatus [a shunt] in his arm, so they wouldn't have to put a new one in at the Long Beach VA Hospital,” the complaint states.
When he insisted on leaving, the staff at the Loma Linda, Calif., facility called VA Police.
"The summoned VA Police Department police officers then stopped Jonathan Montano from leaving the VA Hospital in Loma Linda, by tackling him to the floor, slamming his head on the floor, and kneeing and stomping on his neck, and otherwise brutalizing and restraining him,” the suit says.
"This kneeing and stomping on his neck by the VA Police Department police officers caused the dissection of his carotid artery, that resulted in immediate (or very soon thereafter) blood clotting, which resulted in [his] suffering a stroke,” it says. “Moreover, the brutalization of Jonathan Montano resulted in him suffering other serious physical injuries, and associated physical, mental and emotional pain, suffering and distress."
Her husband had sent her to get the car and Norma Montano sat outside during the struggle wondering where he was. She finally went inside and "she was told by a member of the nursing staff that Jonathan Montano suffered a stroke.”
An ER doctor told her "that her husband had fallen down and suffered a stroke, an untrue statement.”

Kim Jong-un has engineers behind deadly North Korean apartment collapse 'executed by firing squad'

Leader Kim Jong-un 'unable to sleep' following tragedy in Pyongyang

More than 500 people, including members of the State Security Department, were believed to have been living in complex when it came down

Shoddy construction blamed as builders often sell materials on black market

Four engineers reportedly executed and military official sent to prison camp

Kim was seen touring a glass factory in pictures released today

Kim Jong-un has rounded up the engineers and architects behind the deadly collapse of a North Korean apartment block and executed them by firing squad, it is claimed today.
More than 500 people, including high-ranking intelligence and police officials, are thought to have died when the 23-storey building crumbled in the capital, Pyongyang.
Kim, who was pictured touring a glass factory in photographs released today, was reportedly unable to sleep after learning of the tragedy last week, thought to have been caused by poor workmanship.
According to a Japanese newspaper with sources in North Korea, the key officials and engineers behind the building of the apartment complex have been rounded up and handed down deadly or severe punishment.
Four design and construction engineers were executed by firing squad and a military official in charge of the project was sent to a prison camp, a source told the Tokyo Shimbun newspaper.

Sen. Ted Cruz: 41 Democrat Senators Want to ‘Repeal the First Amendment!’

Senator Ted Cruz stung Democrat Senator Chuck Schumer (NY), and 40 other Democrats, saying that the Democrat-controlled legislative body wants to “repeal the First Amendment.”

“I’m not making this up,” said Cruz, speaking at the Family Research Council event on Thursday. “Senator Chuck Schumer has announced the Senate Democrats are scheduling a vote on a constitutional amendment to give Congress the plenary power, the unlimited authority, to regulate political speech,” Cruz told the audience, who sounded quite disgruntled to hear the news (Watch Video Below).

Cruz then explained why Democrats are pushing for the anti-free speech measure: 

“Because elected officials have decided they don’t like it when the citizenry has the temerity to criticize what they’ve done. They don’t like it when pastors in their community stand up and speak the truth. And it makes their lives inconvenient when they’re not standing for principle and actually that’s pointed out back home.”

Cruz went on to explain that the amendment, which has 41 co-sponsors (all Democrats) would specifically protect organizations like the New York Times, but would be an attack on religious liberty and would “muzzle” citizens from “saying things that government finds inconvenient.” 

Michelle Obama has “Had Enough“ And Might Divorce Barack

The marital bond between the President and the First Lady doesn’t seem as strong as the two portray it to be.  In an effort to look as family oriented and honorable as possible the couple has worn a facade for quite some time.  It appears as if the two, or at least Michelle, are gearing up to part ways—after the President’s second term is up of course.
There are a lot of eyes on Obama, so every move he makes is highly scrutinized, analyzed, and often, speculated on.  One thing is clear however, and that as he continues his rein in office, the true love and affection he has for his wife, may actually be non-existent.
(See also: Danish Prime Minister Justifies Selfie With Obama: We’re “Just People Who Have Fun”)
There is much speculation around the President and how he miraculously surrounds himself with “
“relevant” and “necessary” people of the female variety.  Often in the company of women such as Vera Baker, and Kerry Washington, it appears as if Michelle has been desperately fighting for the attention of her spouse.
As his relationships continue to grow, there has always been some form—albeit weak at times—explanation why Obama was in the company of these women.  But his newest stunt where he acted like a pubescent school boy openly flirting with Helle Thorning-Schmidt at the Mandela memorial, has not only the American public speaking out against Obama, but his wife as well.

Paul Ryan gives his Strongest Signal yet about 2016

Rep. Paul Ryan told a group of business elites and donors at a New York City fundraiser that he’s asking friends and supporters “to keep their powder dry” as he mulls a 2016 presidential bid, two attendees told POLITICO. 

It was among the most explicit statements Ryan has made to a crowd about his process with regards to a presidential run. And it came at a time when political insiders have questioned how eager he is to run.

Ryan made the remark last week during a breakfast fundraiser for his re-election campaign for his House seat. The event was held at the Metropolitan Club in Manhattan, with about 40 attendees, including hedge fund executive Dan Loeb; GOP donors Wilbur Ross and Wayne Berman; and New York Jets owner Woody Johnson.

The Scandals That Will Doom The Democrats In November

WASHINGTON - President Obama reluctantly went to the White House press room Wednesday to deal with yet another scandal that has hit his dysfunctional presidency.
This one is as bad as scandals get: our veterans were dying because they weren't getting timely care at the VA hospitals that would have saved their lives. And there were leaked memos suggesting the long delayed appointments were rewritten to make the wait time seem shorter.
Making matters worse, the president took his sweet time to publicly address the life-or-death issues that have been festering in the VA for a number of years.
The White House's chief of staff said last weekend that Obama was "madder than hell" about the reports. But the president's remarks Wednesday were the first he's made about the subject since the scandal came to light late last month that 40 veterans had died as they waited for care at their local VA facility in Phoenix.
As I reported in my last column, this scandal goes a lot deeper into a long-broken, underfunded, incompetent VA system that has been ignored at the White House as well as on Capitol Hill.
But this happened on Obama's watch and it's one more scandal on a growing pile of scandals over the course of his troubled presidency that is reaching critical mass in the midst of a game-changing midterm election year.

New Emails Reveal Obama White House Worked on Concocting Benghazi Lie DURING the Attacks

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa said on Thursday that the Obama White House was contacting YouTube owner Google during the Benghazi terrorist attacks, working on the false narrative even before Americans were out of harm’s way and before the intelligence community examined available evidence.

The still classified Obama State Department email, according to Issa, shows that the Obama White House rushed to settle on the false narrative of the anti-Islamic YouTube video instigating the attacks, which was completely at odds with the conclusions reached by reports from the ground.
This new evidence destroys the Obama White House claims, communicated by Obama spokesman Jay Carney, that the White House obtained the false narrative from CIA talking points, since, according to Congressman Issa, the communication with YouTube was conducted by the Obama White House before  any CIA talking points were concocted.
The subject line of the email, ironically sent at 9:11 p.m. (the attacks took place on 9/11/12) on the night of the attack, was “Update on Response to actions – Libya,” hours before  the attack had ended.

Corruption probes hitting Dems across the country

A wave of corruption arrests and investigations is roiling Democratic politicians, posing a potential image problem in an election year. 
The latest were a pair of arrests earlier this week, snagging Charlotte Mayor Patrick Cannon, who later resigned, and California state Sen. Leland Yee. The latter involved a tangled web of allegations including claims that the gun control-pushing lawmaker tried to connect an undercover agent with an international arms dealer. 

So far, these cases are confined to the state and local levels, so it remains to be seen whether Democrats running in the congressional midterms will be tarnished. 
In fact, the only major arrest of a U.S. congressman since the beginning of 2013 was that of a Republican, Florida Rep. Trey Radel, who was convicted for cocaine possession and resigned early this year. Each party typically is careful to throw stones when the other side finds itself on the wrong side of the law, because corruption and other misbehavior is a bipartisan problem. 
For every Anthony Weiner, there's a Mark Foley. 
But since Radel's October arrest, the bulk of the corruption cases have involved Democrats.
Related story: Carr: Democrats sinking in sea of charges

Laughable: Guess Who The President Of Iran Wants A Bailout From?

In an interview with China’s CCTV network, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that the U.S. Government should pay Iran reparations for “hostile policies” that have cost the Iranian people “much loss and damage.” He also said that not only would this compensate Iran for past wrongs, it would strengthen ties between the nations and it would allow improved good faith in negotiations between the countries.
Further comments from Rouhani:

“The Iranian people have suffered a lot as a result of the hostile policies of the U.S.”

“I expect White House politicians to abandon their past behavior of ignoring Iranians’ interests.”

“The U.S. should take steps in the direction of respecting the rights of the Iranian nation and at the same time undertake to compensate for the losses inflicted on Iran.”

It would be easy to laugh at this, as was the intention implied by the headline of this article, but Rouhani’s proposal does have some merit and there is historical basis for it. For the progressive left, financial inducements have a long and extraordinarily successful track record: think General Motors bailout, Obamaphones, the Affordable Health Care Act, and just about anything done by the departments of Education, Labor, and Commerce.
Furthermore, given Obama’s belief in the economic stimulative effect of any sort of federal spending, the benefits of paying off Tehran could be simply presented as a new social justice and fairness program.
Of course, we would need to get a new bank account that would recognize the signature “The Great Satan” on the checks we would send, but as Tim Geithner is back working on Wall Street, setting that up should be easy peasy.

Mitt Romney: I Might Run for President in 2016 [VIDEO]

Over the past several months, former MA governor and 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has been making waves as he has gone after Obama and his disastrous administration.
He has hit the President’s failed leadership on the world stage, the unmitigated mess that is Obamacare, and his failure to stand up to Putin and assert American strength in the Middle East and eastern Europe.
He’s been so outspoken recently that it has caused quite a bit of speculation on whether Romney will run yet again for the Republican nomination for President.  We’re seeing recent reports that he may intend to do just that.
Via The Washington Post:

Mitt Romney has said time and time again that he has no interest in running for president a third time.
But, on Sunday morning, CBS’ Bob Schieffer said not to write off the idea of a 2016 campaign by Romney so quickly.
“I have a source that told me that if Jeb Bush decides not to run, that Mitt Romney may actually try it again,” Schieffer said.

VIDEO HERE

Obama To Remove “In God We Trust” From All Currency Beginning July 1st

Washington, DC — Beginning July 1st the Federal Reserve along with the United States Department of the Treasury will begin printing all currency, which includes all notes and coins, without the words ‘In God We Trust‘. This modification comes under strict orders from President Barack Obama and his administration.
Obama held a press conference this morning to explain the impending change and to answer questions.
“As our country grows and changes, so must our money,” Obama said. “There is now too many individuals living in this great nation of ours that do not worship the same God as most of us. In fact some folks don’t believe in a God at all. This currency adjustment is truly change we can believe in.”
“America is a God-fearing Christian nation; it is now and always has been,” said 31-year-old Michael Anthony Claypool, a journalist with Al Jazeera. “Obama is the antichrist and this is just more proof to support that claim.”

Junking clunkers: China will destroy 5,000,000 cars this year to battle air pollution

China is going to make air cleaner by taking 5.33 million ageing cars off its roads, according to a government document. The move is part of a broader campaign for battling deep environmental crisis that’s gripped world’s second-biggest economy.
The vehicles in question are so-called ‘yellow label’ cars that do not meet Chinese fuel standards and are thus meant to be ‘eliminated’ this year, the Chinese State Council document published on Monday and cited by Reuters, says.
Chinese authorities, spurred by overwhelming public outcry, have lately boosted efforts for tackling the growing ecological crisis, a byproduct of decades of massive economic growth amid neglect for environmental protection.
The plan for cutting the number of old vehicles is part of a broader action plan to cut emissions over the next two years. Chinese authorities say the country had not been able to catch up with its pollution reduction plan for 2011-2013 period and now had to come up with some tougher measures.

Eric Holder Tried to Find a Way to ARREST Tea Party Leaders

When the IRS targeting of conservative groups scandal first broke, Attorney General Eric Holder declared his outrage along with President Obama and everyone else.  We now know that the IRS was ordered by people in Washington to target certain groups.
When it was discovered that the IRS was giving the confidential tax information of 501(c) applicants to various Democrats in order to help them win elections, a felony crime, many wondered who was the “mystery man” in Washington that would give such a criminal order.
Since then, it has been discovered that the Justice Department did nothing to stop the IRS abuse when they knew about what was going on, and in fact was complicit in the targeting as they considered arresting Tea Party leaders to send a message to other conservative groups.
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