News New Mexico: National News

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The White House knew within two hours

Ambassador Chris Stevens

Newsmax - Officials at the White House and State Department were advised two hours after attackers assaulted the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11 that an Islamic militant group had claimed credit for the attack, official emails show.

The emails, obtained by Reuters from government sources not connected with U.S. spy agencies or the State Department and who requested anonymity, specifically mention that the Libyan group called Ansar al-Sharia had asserted responsibility for the attacks.

The brief emails also show how U.S. diplomats described the attack, even as it was still under way, to Washington. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Democratic Governor Martin O'Malley Admits We Are NOT Better Off After Four Years of Obama

Democratic Gov. Martin O’Malley of Maryland, finally admitted what everyone else already knows. O'Malley contradicted other Obama supporters making the rounds on the Sunday political talk show circuit when he openly conceded that the country was not better off now than it was four years ago.
Appearing on CBS's Face the Nation, host Bob Schieffer asked O'Malley: “Can you honestly say that people are better off today than they were four years ago?”
O’Malley's reply was as follows: “No, but that's not the question of this election. The question, without a doubt, we are not as well off as we were before George Bush brought us the Bush job losses, the Bush recession, the Bush deficits, the series of desert wars -- charged for the first time to credit cards, the national credit card.” Apparently even Democratic sympathizer Schieffer was not impressed. Rather than immediately ask another question he told O'Malley, “George Bush is not on the ballots.”

Obama Fundraiser Recycles Solyndra Players

Washington Times - President Obama rubbed elbows Monday night with two men at the center of the Solyndra loan scandal at an exclusive fundraiser in California. Steve Westly, a financier whose money-raising prowess helped to snag him a post on the administration’s energy advisory board, and Matt Rogers, a former Energy Department senior adviser who helped to approve the Solyndra loan, were spotted by reporters at the $35,800-per-person fundraiser for the president’s re-election campaign.

Mr. Westly sent warnings to the president not to attend an event at Solyndra's headquarters in the Bay area because of shaky finances at the solar energy company, which had received a fast-tracked $535 million federal loan guarantee in 2010 as part of the administration’s economic stimulus program. Mr. Rogers was partly responsible for overseeing stimulus awards at the Energy Department.

They were among about 60 wealthy donors who attended the fundraiser at the swanky home of progressive activist Quinn Delaney and real estate developer Wayne Jordan, a big Obama bundler, in Piedmont, Calif., near Oakland. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Texas to Obama's Medicaid Scheme: Nope

Rick Perry

Washington Times - Texas Gov. Rick Perry said Monday his state won't expand Medicaid or set up an insurance exchange, joining a growing number of Republican governors who are rejecting two key parts of President Obama's health care law.

"I will not be party to socializing health care and bankrupting my state in direct contradiction to our Constitution and our founding principles of limited government," Mr. Perry said.

He joins more than half-dozen GOP governors who have already said they won't increase the size of their Medicaid programs to cover Americans up to 133 percent of the poverty level, after the Supreme Court upheld most of the law last month but said states could opt out of the Medicaid expansion. Read full story here: News New Mexico

EPA Using Drones to Spy on Ranchers

Infowars - Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency is using aerial drones to spy on farmers in Nebraska and Iowa. The surveillance came under scrutiny last week when Nebraska’s congressional delegation sent a joint letter to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson. On Friday, EPA officialdom in “Region 7” responded to the letter.
“Courts, including the Supreme Court, have found similar types of flights to be legal (for example to take aerial photographs of a chemical manufacturing facility) and EPA would use such flights in appropriate instances to protect people and the environment from violations of the Clean Water Act,” the agency said in response to the letter.

“They are just way on the outer limits of any authority they’ve been granted,” said Mike Johanns, a Republican senator from Nebraska.

In fact, the EPA has absolutely zero authority and is an unconstitutional entity of an ever-expanding and rogue federal government. Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution does not authorize Congress to legislate in the area of the environment. Under the Tenth Amendment, this authority is granted to the states and their legislatures, not the federal government. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Heavy Polar Ice Delays Arctic Drilling, Obama Blocks Extension of Drilling

NewsNM note (Spence) - This week the U.S. employment numbers revealed a grim jobs picture. This story below is several days old. It is unlikely to ever be reported anywhere except on Fox News because it simply does not serve the climate change/global warming narrative of the majority of media outlets. Plus, news "producers" at NBC, CBS, ABC, MSNBC, and CNN realize this news item would help voters understand the White House is actively blocking the extension of high paying jobs and also thwarting domestic oil production on federal land. New Mexicans should recognize the president has the support of Jeff Bingaman, Tom Udall, Martin Heinrich, and Ben Ray Lujan on these policies.

PHY-ORG - The heaviest polar ice in more than a decade could postpone the start of offshore oil drilling in the Arctic Ocean until the beginning of August, a delay of up to two weeks, Shell Alaska officials said. Unveiling a newly refurbished ice-class rig that is poised to begin drilling two exploratory wells this summer in the Beaufort Sea, Shell executives said Friday that the unusually robust sea ice would further narrow what already is a tight window for operations. The company's $4-billion program is designed to measure the extent of what could be the United States' most important new inventory of oil and gas. Shell has pledged to end its first season of exploratory drilling by Oct. 31 in the Beaufort Sea and 38 days earlier in the more remote Chukchi Sea to remain within the relatively ice-free summer season.

Meeting with reporters and Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, on board the Kulluk drilling rig in the Seattle shipyards, Shell's vice president for Alaska operations, Pete Slaiby, said the company had given up on its controversial attempt to win permission from the federal government to extend Chukchi drilling through October as well. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Acton & Dystel and WhiteHouse.gov pdf posters, You Have Some Splaining to Do

NewsNM note (Spence) - We'll cop a plea to suppressing the "birther" debate. Unlike the debate over man-made global warming which we realized has clearly been squelched, we thought the birther debate was a non-starter. In the last thirty-six hours we have run across two compelling pieces we submit for you without any additional comment. The first is video produced using the White House birth certificate document at WhiteHouse.gov. You should watch this video very carefully here if for no other reason than an education on editing in Adobe.
Breitbart News has obtained a promotional booklet produced in 1991 by Barack Obama's then-literary agency, Acton & Dystel, which touts Obama as "born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia and Hawaii." The booklet, which was distributed to "business colleagues" in the publishing industry, includes a brief biography of Obama among the biographies of eighty-nine other authors represented by Acton & Dystel. It also promotes Obama's anticipated first book, Journeys in Black and White--which Obama abandoned, later publishing Dreams from My Father instead. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Taxpayer Funded Debt Collectors

From bloomberg.com -Joshua Mandelman made $454,000 in a single year as a student-loan debt collector -- more than twice the pay of the U.S. secretary of education. His boss, Richard Boyle, chief executive officer ofEducational Credit Management Corp., received $1.1 million in 2010, including commuting expenses from his ranch in New Mexico. Five other managers each took home more than $400,000. ECMC, a Minnesota nonprofit group, owes its success to an 18-year-old agreement with the U.S. government. The company charges fees to borrowers and earns commissions from taxpayers-- totaling as much as 31 percent -- when it collects on defaulted student loans. Those rich rewards, which are approved by Congress, are sparking criticism that ECMC and similar collection agencies are reaping a bonanza from former students’pain. The loan program “is enriching collection agencies and undermining a goal we all want for society -- to encourage people to go to college,” Robert Shireman, a former deputy undersecretary of education under President Barack Obama, said in a telephone interview. More News New Mexico

Serial Basher of Palin's Intellect, Chris Matthews Stinks it Up on Jeopardy Game Show

Chris Matthews

Newsbusters - On at least four occasions, MSNBC's Chris Matthews mocked Sarah Palin for how he felt she'd do if she were ever on the hit television game show Jeopardy!.
In a delicious example of instant karma, the self-proclaimed brainiac got his chance to show America how smart he was in a special "Power Players" version of the show Monday, but came up quite short finishing dead last with the paltry sum of only $2,300. For those that missed it, Matthews was matched up against CNN's Lizzie O'Leary and former Obama White House press secretary Robert Gibbs. Read full story and watch video here: News New Mexico

Feds Nab 28 NM Gang Members Linked to Trafficking

From Arizona Daily Star -Federal agents and local police have arrested 28 suspected gang members and associates in New Mexico as part of a national roundup of gang members linked to drug and human trafficking. Officials with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations announced Wednesday that members and associates affiliated with the South Side Locos and Brown Pride gangs in Albuquerque, southern New Mexico and the Four Corner's region were in federal custody following a quick probe of the area.Authorities also seized heroin, cocaine and meth with a street value of close to $300,000. In addition, federal agents and local authorities seized more than a dozen or so illegal firearms and two expensive vehicles."This was a coordinated effort that resulted in the arrests of a number of high ranking gang members," said Dennis Ulrich, Homeland Security Investigations Acting Special Agent in Charge of West Texas and New Mexico. "We believe they were involved in drug trafficking and human smuggling." The roundup was part of a national operation known as "Project Nefarious" which nabbed more than 600 gang members with outstanding warrants across the country. Read more

US Cracks Down on Border Corruption

From foxnews.com -US state and federal agencies are cracking down on border town corruption as part of the larger effort to battle Mexican drug cartels. That's a relatively new idea for Sunland Park, New Mexico, a small dusty city reeling from their latest scandal involving their mayor-elect, a topless dancer, and extortion. The only U.S. city on the Mexico side of the Rio Grande shed light on corruption that seems endemic to border towns thanks to a mix of small-town politics, an influx of corrupt government practices from across the border, and, of course, the rise of the cartels and their endless supply of cash. While much of New Mexico is west of the Rio Grande, this dusty enclave of 14,000 residents is the only U.S. city located on the Mexico side of the river, on the same side as — and just across the border fence from — Juárez. Read more

AZ Illegals Moving to NM Because of SB1070

From npr.org -. Arizona's Legislature passed SB 1070 two years ago, but much of it has been put on hold pending the court's decision. Still, supporters say the law has achieved one of its stated goals: Thousands of illegal immigrants have self-deported, leaving the state on their own. The real reason — and consequence — of such a demographic shift may be more complex, however. Jossie was one of those illegal workers who decided to leave. When police cars drove behind her in traffic, she says, she would start shaking and wouldn't be able to breathe. Jossie is still afraid of getting deported, so she asked that her last name be withheld. The summer that SB 1070 became law, she left the Phoenix area with her husband, two children and a cockatoo, Bernie. The most controversial part of SB 1070 would require police to check the immigration status of those they believe are in the country illegally. A federal judge has blocked that provision, but Jossie was still so nervous driving to work she says she once hyperventilated and lost consciousness on the road. She moved to New Mexico, where illegal immigrants can get driver's licenses. Her husband rekindled his catering business, and Jossie is cleaning houses again. She says there's a "big difference" between Arizona and New Mexico. "New Mexico [offers] me opportunities. ... I am going to do something for New Mexico. I am going to tell my kids to do something good for New Mexico," she says. More here

Walmart Lifts Lid on Mexican Bribery Allegations

From reuters.com - Whether you are the world's No. 1 retailer or a humble street vendor, paying public officials a bribe may be the quickest way to get your business growing in Mexico. The New York Times reported this weekend that Wal-Mart Stores Inc investigators probing its Mexican operations found a paper trail of hundreds of suspect payments worth more than $24 million made to grow its business there, and that the company then quashed the investigation. Wal-Mart said it was "deeply concerned" about the allegations, which have lifted the lid on a culture of corruption in Mexico that many of its residents take for granted. One global study said Mexican firms were perceived to be the third most likely behind those in China and Russia to pay bribes abroad. When 40-year-old market stall owner Adrian Martinez decided to open a second spot to sell his wares in Mexico City, he said he figured it was better to pay a bribe to a "gestor", or intermediary, to get a permit than wait for authorities to process his request. More here

Shuttle Discovery Makes Final Voyage

From Sci-Tech Today -Space shuttle Discovery soared around the Washington Monument and the White House in a salute to the nation's capital Tuesday before landing for the last time near its new museum home. The world's most traveled spaceship took off at daybreak from Cape Canaveral, Fla., bolted to the top of a modified jumbo jet for the trip. Three hours later, the pair took a few spins around Washington at an easy-to-spot 1,500-foot altitude before the retired shuttle was grounded for good. The combo landed at Dulles International Airport in northern Virginia. Discovery will be towed Thursday to the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum annex near the airport. More News New Mexico

93 Drug Resistant Bacteria Found in Carlsbad Caverns

From latimes.com -No place on Earth demonstrates the resilience or inventiveness of life quite like Lechuguilla Cave, whose subterranean tunnels stretch for 130 miles through Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico. Deep in the cave's most arid recesses, deprived of all sunlight and mostly starved of life-giving water, a lush garden of bacteria grows. Untouched by humans for all of their 4 million years, these strains of bacteria thrive on the harsh minerals of the geological formations to which they cling and fend off other life forms that would prey on them. It is a simple life. But new research suggests it could tell us volumes about the medicines doctors rely upon to combat infection and why, increasingly, they are failing. Scientists who collected 93 strains of bacteria from the forbidding depths of Lechuguilla found that all were resistant to at least one of the antibiotics that modern medicine uses to fight bacterial infections and some were resistant to at least 14. In addition, virtually all of the 26 antibiotics tested as part of the study proved useless in killing at least one of the strains of bacteria collected. More here

George Zimmerman to be Charged in Martin Shooting

From washingtonpost.com - Florida special prosecutor Angela Corey plans to announce as early as Wednesday afternoon that she is charging neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman in the shooting of Trayvon Martin, according to a law enforcement official close to the investigation. It was not immediately clear what charge Zimmerman will face. Corey told reporters Tuesday night that she would hold a news conference about the case within 72 hours. A news release from her office said the event will be held in Sanford or Jacksonville, Fla. More here

Indy 500 Winner Pleads Guilty for DWI in NM

Al Unser Jr.

From foxnews.com - Retired American race car driver and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Al Unser Jr. has pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated and racing on a New Mexico freeway. Unser entered his plea Wednesday in Albuquerque Metro Court, a day before he was set to go to trial for aggravated DWI, drag racing and reckless driving. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail but a judge deferred jail time in favor of 364 days of supervised probation. Unser was arrested in September after he was accused of racing another car in his Suburban and driving over 100 miles per hour near Albuquerque. He was charged with reckless driving and aggravated driving while intoxicated. His attorney, Sam Bregman, says Unser completed 30 days of inpatient treatment for alcohol abuse.

Border Patrol Agent Charged With Gun Smuggling

From chron.com - Authorities say a West Texas Border Patrol agent and his girlfriend are in custody after they were charged with conspiracy to buy firearms and more than 20,000 rounds of ammunition to be smuggled into Mexico. Ricardo Montalvo and Carla Gonzalez-Ortiz, both of El Paso, Texas, were arrested Monday after a federal grand jury returned a 20-count indictment. They're accused of acting as straw purchasers of at least nine firearms between November 2010 and January 2011, along with more than 100 high-capacity magazines and thousands of high-caliber bullets of the type used by Mexican cartels. They're also accused of knowing the munitions would be exported illegally to Mexico.

Court documents list no attorneys for the pair. Montalvo had been on administrative desk duty since the investigation started in January 2011.

Obama Admin Blocking Fast and Furious Witness Testimony

From dailycaller.com -Utah Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz told the Fox News Channel’s Megyn Kelly on Friday that although a key White House witness in the ill-fated Operation Fast and Furious gun-walking program is willing to testify about what he knows, the Obama administration won’t let him appear before Congress. White House Counsel Kathryn Ruemmler sent a letter Thursday to Republican lawmakers Rep. Darrell Issa and Sen. Chuck Grassley, refusing their request to speak with Kevin O’Reilly, a former National Security staff member whose emails place him in the middle of the unfolding scandal. Issa and Grassley had written to Ruemmler on March 28, asking the White House to step aside and let O’Reilly talk to investigators. Grassley is the GOP ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Issa chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, whose members include Chaffetz. “[O’Reilly’s] personal attorney indicated that he’s more than willing to talk to the committee, on the record, under oath”” Chaffetz told Kelly during her Friday afternoon broadcast. “It is only the White House and the White House Counsel that is saying they will not make him available.” More here

NM Water Official Rejects San Augustin Application

From Wall Street Journal -The state's top water official has denied a request from a New York-based commercial venture that sought to drill more than three dozen wells in western New Mexico.
Rural residents, one of the state's largest irrigation districts and others had described the application by Augustin Plains Ranch as a modern-day water grab. They argued it flew in the face of a western water doctrine that has been in place for more than a century to keep speculators from profiting off the sale of water to thirsty users. State Engineer Scott Verhines announced Monday that he denied the request because it was vague, too broad and the effects of granting it could not be reasonably evaluated. He said he considered the overall impacts the proposal would have on New Mexicans. More News New Mexico

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