Are American’s Rights Threatened? Obama signs controversial defense bill into law by Bill Noles Jr. Opponents cried foul as President Obama rung in the New Year by signing into law the National Defense Authorization Act. Drawing the ire of civil rights advocates, Obama signed the fiercely contested bill over a holiday weekend when the attention of most people is not on politics. The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), enacted for each of the past 49 years, specifies the budget and expenditures of the United States Department of Defense. Always a debated bill in Congress, this year’s $662 billion version is undoubtedly the most controversial – not so much for the price tag but as to what legislation it contains. In the past the NDAA has provided funding details for the Department of Defense, but for 2012 the bill included provisions that can be seen as an extension of the Patriot Act. The Act greatly expands the power and scope of the federal government to fight the war on terrorism. One of the most controversial aspects of the law is codifying the authorization of indefinite detention of terrorist suspects – including American citizens. Under the new measure, the U.S. military has the power to carry out domestic anti-terrorism operations on American soil. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) supported and made arguments for this provision. “Why in the world wouldn’t it make sense to hold somebody who’s joined with al-Qaeda to gather intelligence about the next attack?” “Section 1022’s use of the word ‘requirement’ also has been misinterpreted as allowing U.S. citizens to be detained, but this provision does not in any way create this authority,” added Rep. Tim Griffin (R-AR), a supporter of NDAA. “The term ‘requirement’ does not mean that detention of U.S. citizens is optional under this provision.” But Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), an opponent to the provision, counters, “We should not sacrifice our liberty to be safe. This bill explicitly says ‘that no part of this bill is to imply any restriction on the authorization of force.’ Detaining citizens without a court trial is not American.” Originally opposed to the bill, the White House strangely reversed its course and Obama signed the bill into law. The president issued a signing statement defending his approval. “I have signed the Act chiefly because it authorizes funding for the defense of the United States and its interests abroad, crucial services for service members and their families, and vital national security programs that must be renewed.” “President Barack Obama’s apparent decision to not veto a defense spending bill that codifies indefinite detention without trial into U.S. law and expands the military’s role in holding terrorism suspects does enormous damage to the rule of law both in the U.S. and abroad,” Human Rights Watch stated in a press release. Presidential signing statements are comments by the president on how the administration intends to implement a law. However, they do not legally restrict current or future presidents or administrations from interpreting and enforcing the law differently. The president’s statement also expressed his concerns: “The fact that I support this bill as a whole does not mean I agree with everything in it. In particular, I have signed this bill despite having serious reservations with certain provisions that regulate the detention, interrogation, and prosecution of suspected terrorists.” “President Obama’s action today is a blight on his legacy because he will forever be known as the president who signed indefinite detention without charge or trial into law,” said Anthony D. Romero, American Civil Liberties Union executive director. “The statute is particularly dangerous because it has no temporal or geographic limitations, and can be used by this and future presidents to militarily detain people captured far from any battlefield.” “By signing this defense spending bill, President Obama will go down in history as the president who enshrined indefinite detention without trial in U.S. law,” added Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. “In the past, Obama has lauded the importance of being on the right side of history, but today he is definitely on the wrong side.” With opposition sentiment growing among the general public and civil rights groups, the controversy as to the constitutionality of the law will continue way into this New Year. This week pray: For the nation’s Senators and Representatives as they struggle with protecting American freedom. That the Obama administration would wisely enforce the nation’s laws. That future laws will not negatively impact American civil rights. Bill Noles Jr. is an entrepreneur, author and writer. Married for 30 years, he is a father of two sons and grandfather of three children. He and his wife Diann live in Tucson, AZ.  www.presidentialprayertream.com   Christians Outraged Over Obama Admin's Decision on Contraception Mandate Evangelical and Catholic groups on Friday blasted the Obama administration over its decision not to expand religious exemption from the new health care law that will require them to provide insurance plans covering contraceptives, sterilization and some abortion-causing drugs. Christian Colleges Urge Obama to Remove Contraceptive Mandate

Falkland Islands: Royal Navy packs considerable punch, warns Hague

Foreign Secretary makes stark warning to Argentina as the Navy’s most sophisticated warship HMS Dauntless is prepared for deployment to the So...

www.Telegraph.co.uk

---

 

New Petition! Stop Muslim Sharia and Foreign Law from enforcement in American courts by activist judges. Select here, sign petition, we will fax all 535 Congressmen and Senators (saving you time!) to pass H.R. 973 and protect our Constitution. Sharia Law: Muslim "honor killing" of 3 North American teen girls. Take action! Our friends at OneNewsNow.com broke a shocking story of how Muslim Sharia Law is privately enforced in North America with "honor killings" of children. This give us yet another reason to petition Congress to ban Sharia law in American courts, excerpts follow: KINGSTON, Ontario - A jury on Sunday found an Afghan father, his wife and their son guilty of killing three teenage sisters and a co-wife in what the judge described as "cold-blooded, shameful murders" resulting from a "twisted concept of honor." The jury took 15 hours to find Mohammad Shafia, 58; his wife Tooba Yahya, 42; and their son Hamed, 21, each guilty of four counts of first-degree murder in a case that shocked and riveted Canadians from coast to coast. First-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years. After the verdict was read, the three defendants again declared their innocence in the killings of sisters Zainab, 19, Sahar 17, and Geeti, 13, as well as Rona Amir Mohammad, 52, Shafia's childless first wife in a polygamous marriage. Their bodies were found June 30, 2009, in a car submerged in a canal in Kingston, Ontario, where the family had stopped for the night on their way home to Montreal from Niagara Falls, Ontario. Prosecutors said the defendants allegedly killed the three teenage sisters because they dishonored the family by defying its disciplinarian rules on dress, dating, socializing and going online. Shafia's first wife was living with him and his second wife. The polygamous relationship, if revealed, could have resulted in their deportation... Judge Robert Maranger was unmoved, saying the evidence clearly supported their conviction for "the planned and deliberate murder of four members of your family." "It is difficult to conceive of a more despicable, more heinous crime ... the apparent reason behind these cold-blooded, shameful murders was that the four completely innocent victims offended your completely twisted concept of honor ... that has absolutely no place in any civilized society."... The family had left Afghanistan in 1992 and lived in Pakistan, Australia and Dubai before settling in Canada in 2007. Shafia, a wealthy businessman, married Yahya because his first wife could not have children... The prosecution said her parents found condoms in Sahar's room as well as photos of her wearing short skirts and hugging her Christian boyfriend, a relationship she had kept secret. Geeti was becoming almost impossible to control: skipping school, failing classes, being sent home for wearing revealing clothes and stealing, while declaring to authority figures that she wanted to be placed in foster care, according to the prosecution... The prosecution presented wire taps and cell phone records from the Shafia family in court to support their honor killing theory. The wiretaps, which capture Shafia spewing vitriol about his dead daughters, calling them treacherous and whores and invoking the devil to defecate on their graves, were a focal point of the trial. "There can be no betrayal, no treachery, no violation more than this," Shafia said on one recording. "Even if they hoist me up onto the gallows ... nothing is more dear to me than my honor."... [CHAPS COMMENT: Murder, honor killings, polygamy, child abuse, this is how the Koran teaches families to behave under Sharia law, which is secretly enforced by Muslim communities through their mosques all over North America. We must demand Congress act now, to stop Sharia law from being enforced in any American courts.] Please select here to sign urgent petition, and we will fax all 535 Congressmen and Senators (saving you time!) to Stop Activist Judges from enforcing Sharia or Foreign Law in American courts. Ask Congress to pass H.R. 973 today! Congresswoman: Stop judges who promote Sharia and Foreign Law over Constitution. Conservative Congresswoman Sandy Adams (R-FL) has taken a stand for liberty and to defend the U.S. Constitution and US law, by sponsoring a bill that stops liberal activist judges from enforcing Muslim Sharia law, or foreign laws, in American Courts. Adams wrote an op-ed article explaining her bill, saying in part: "Imagine waking up one Sunday morning and reading the headline in your local newspaper: 'Supreme Court rules that the press can’t question the president,' and imagine that their ruling cited international case law from nations like China or Cuba, where it is illegal to question the word of the executive branch. While this idea may seem far-fetched, it is a daunting possibility. "Foreign law poses a very real threat to the American judicial system...Our Constitution laid the foundation for our nation’s judicial system, and referencing or using foreign law in American courts will lead to its erosion... "That is why I have introduced legislation to protect our Constitution and federal court systems from this type of practice. My two-page bill, H.R. 973, simply states that 'in any court created by or under Article III of the Constitution of the United States, no justice, judge, or other judicial official shall decide any issue in a case before that court in whole or in part on the authority of foreign law, except to the extent the Constitution or an Act of Congress requires the consideration of that foreign law.' "Not only is using international precedent a transparent disregard for the Constitution, but it could be used to advance a judge’s personal political agenda over the best interests of the nation. Judges have a responsibility to interpret the laws of the land, not legislate from the bench, and the practice of referring to foreign law puts their underlying motives into question. There are three particular Supreme Court cases where judges have cited foreign and international precedent: Lawrence v. Texas, where the court overturned state anti-sod omy statutes; Atkins v. Virginia, where the court held against the execution of mentally retarded capital defendants; and Roper v. Simmons, where the court outlawed application of the death penalty to offenders who were under 18 when their crimes were committed. International and foreign laws were cited in all three cases by our Supreme Court justices in reaching their decisions, setting precedent for future rulings..." [Chaps comment: Passing HR 973 could reverse Lawrence, and help ban sod omy!] Please select here to sign urgent petition, and we will fax all 535 Congressmen and Senators (saving you time!) to Stop Activist Judges from enforcing Sharia or Foreign Law in American courts. Ask Congress to pass H.R. 973 today! Adams continued: "Currently there are over a dozen states that have introduced legislation banning foreign law on the state level — including the state I represent, Florida...[it has] become a fixture of the confirmation process for Supreme Court justices. In her 2010 confirmation hearing, Elena Kagan was questioned by Senator Charles E. Grassley, an Iowa Republican, who asked if she thought international law should factor into a federal court’s decision-making process. She confirmed that she did, stating: 'I think it depends. There are some cases in which the citation of foreign law, or international law, might be appropriate.' "This kind of practice begs the question: Are we going to allow our court systems to dictate our policymaking process based off of foreign sources or are we going to go through the proper channels prescribed by our Constitution? We must remember that we have an American judicial system in place for a reason; it is based off of our country’s rich history and it is intentionally unique to our great nation. As we move forward as a country, we must work to protect it." --Rep. Sandy Adams represents Florida’s 24th Congressional District. [Chaps comment: Let's stand with Congresswoman Sandy Adams, and petition all 535 Congressmen and Senators to co-sponsor and pass her bill to stop Sharia in US courts.] God Bless you, in Jesus' name, Chaplain Gordon James Klingenschmitt For media interviews, select here. Please select here to sign urgent petition, and we will fax all 535 Congressmen and Senators (saving you time!) to Stop Activist Judges from enforcing Sharia or Foreign Law in American courts. Ask Congress to pass H.R. 973 today! Prefer to donate by mail? Please write: The Pray In Jesus Name Project, PO Box 77077, Colorado Springs, CO 80970.

Pres. John Tyler's Grandchildren Are Still Alive

Aol News  

America's 10th president, John Tyler, born in 1790, has two living grandsons.

diggredditstumble

Try to do the math on this: John Tyler, born in 1790, became the 10th president of the United States, taking office in 1841 after the death of William Henry Harrison. And two of his grandchildren are still alive!

Of course, not much from Tyler's time is still around. In the year of his birth, President George Washington gave the first State of the Union address and Thomas Jefferson served as his secretary of state.

In Europe, a young upstart 2nd lieutenant named Napoleon Bonaparte was making a name for himself in the French Revolution.

And in the realm of technological innovation, one of the most successful innovators of that age, Harvey Kennedy, invented the shoelace.

In Tyler's life between 1790 and 1862, he fathered 15 children, and two of his grandsons are still living, reports mentalfloss.com.

With 15 children under his belt, Tyler became the most prolific American president, according to his genealogy.

Apparently, one of Tyler's children, Lyon Gardiner Tyler, born in 1853, fathered Lyon Gardiner Tyler Jr. in 1924 as well as Harrison Ruffin Tylerin 1928, as reported by sherwoodforest.org.

 

King David Museum Opens in Tel Aviv

Teresa Neumann (January 13, 2012)

Museum's founder is a descendant of King David and believes many descendants of David are walking the streets today and don't even know it.

(Tel Aviv)—The King David Museum opened this week in Tel Aviv, a veritable treasure trove of ancient Biblical history.

As reported in Israel National News, the founder of the museum, Susan Roth, is a descendant of King David who was raised in a theatrical family and attended university in America.

The museum, explained Roth, is "for people to understand who King David was, what he was all about, and that we are not just a country which is 63 years old, as the world would like us to believe. This is absolute proof that we are a nation that was put together out of 12 tribes 3,000 years ago."

"I think that is one of the main issues that this museum brings out," she added. "It is also an outgrowth of the Davidic dynasty and when you see all of the names of the descendants of King David, you realize that King David is still alive in his descendants."

Roth was also quoted as saying many descendants of King David are walking the streets today and don't even know it.

"If they come here and they see their names, they'll realize that King David's blood is flowing through their veins," Roth said. "While King David is not with us physically, he is still alive spiritually in his descendants."

Source: Elad Benari & Yoni Kempinski - Israel National News