Obama Repeals Anti-Propaganda Law: Feds To Broadcast Regime-Manufactured ‘News’ On TV, Radio

Obama Repeals Anti-Propaganda Law: Feds Will Broadcast Regime-Manufactured ‘News’ On TV, Radio

Jul 15, 2013 1 Comment Toro520 Excerpted from Foreign Policy:
For decades, a so-called anti-propaganda law prevented the U.S. government’s mammoth broadcasting arm from delivering programming to American audiences. But on July 2, that came silently to an end with the implementation of a new reform passed in January. The result: an unleashing of thousands of hours per week of government-funded radio and TV programs for domestic U.S. consumption in a reform initially criticized as a green light for U.S. domestic propaganda efforts. So what just happened?
Until this month, a vast ocean of U.S. programming produced by the Broadcasting Board of Governors such as Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks could only be viewed or listened to at broadcast quality in foreign countries. The programming varies in tone and quality, but its breadth is vast: It’s viewed in more than 100 countries in 61 languages. The topics covered include human rights abuses in Iran; self-immolation in Tibet; human trafficking across Asia; and on-the-ground reporting in Egypt and Iraq.
The restriction of these broadcasts was due to the Smith-Mundt Act, a long standing piece of legislation that has been amended numerous times over the years, perhaps most consequentially by Arkansas Senator J. William Fulbright. In the 70s, Fulbright was no friend of VOA and Radio Free Europe, and moved to restrict them from domestic distribution, saying they “should be given the opportunity to take their rightful place in the graveyard of Cold War relics.” Fulbright’s amendment to Smith-Mundt was bolstered in 1985 by Nebraska Senator Edward Zorinsky who argued that such “propaganda” should be kept out of America as to distinguish the U.S. “from the Soviet Union where domestic propaganda is a principal government activity.”
Zorinsky and Fulbright sold their amendments on sensible rhetoric: American taxpayers shouldn’t be funding propaganda for American audiences. So did Congress just tear down the American public’s last defense against domestic propaganda?

Fukushima 2013: “Remaining Radioactive Mass”, “Dangerous Leaking Radioactive Water”, All Four Reactors are “Getting Worse”

 

The first thing to know about the danger from the radioactive mass remaining on site in the three reactors that melted down at Fukushima is that nobody knows how much radioactive material there is, nobody knows how much uranium and plutonium it contains, and nobody knows how to make it safe — so no one knows how great the continuing danger is.

In order to prevent nuclear material from being diverted to use in weapons, the International Atomic Energy Agency of the U.N. requires each country to report regularly on the volume of nuclear materials in its nuclear power plants. At Fukushima, this is currently impossible with the cores of the three reactors that melted down.

 

Diversion of this material to weapons use is not a problem at the moment, since the level of radioactivity is high enough to kill anyone who comes close to it, which is why it hasn’t been moved. On the other hand, it is necessary to move it in order to measure it, and even if it was movable now, the technology to measure it does not yet exist.

 

 Cooling the Cores Keeps Them from Burning, but Creates Radioactive Water

The Japanese Atomic Energy Agency has joined with the U.S. to develop the necessary new technology, which it hopes to begin using within a decade. The Japanese agency calls this collaboration the “world’s first” attempt at such technology, since a similar U.S. initiative to measure the melted core from the 1979 Three Mile Island accident failed.

 As long as Fukushima’s owner, the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), keeps the three melted cores and the fuel rods in three other storage pools sufficiently submerged in cooling water, the radioactive material will not overheat, burn, and spew radioactive debris as far as wind or water might take it.

 

  Watertight fuel pools are used effectively at nuclear power plants around the world, including Fukushima before the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.  Now the reactor structures are no longer watertight and TEPCO has pumped millions of gallons of fresh and “least contaminated” into the structures since then, and continues to do so.

 

  Radioactive Water Is Dangerous, And It Has To Go Somewhere

  Water used to cool nuclear fuel and waste becomes radioactive itself, as does the groundwater that infiltrates the structures. This radioactive water continues to reach the Pacific Ocean in varying quantities, as TEPCO attempts to keep it in check.

As of May 7, the Japan Times reported that TEPCO had installed 290 huge storage talks at Fukushima to hold more than 78 million gallons (290,000 tons) of radioactive water, with another 25 million gallons still uncollected.  Fukushima is generating an estimated 100,000-plus gallons (400 tons) of radioactive water every day

 TEPCO estimates that groundwater is entering the complex at a rate of at least 54,000 gallons per day. In May 2012, the Japanese government ordered TEPCO to build a wall deep into the ground around the plant to keep groundwater out, a plan that might become operational by early 2015.

TEPCO is expanding its storage capacity to about 1.9 billion gallons by clearing forest and other areas around the compound.  While this would probably suffice for another three years, the site is running out of storage space. Additionally, some of the storage tanks have begun to leak and contaminated water is leaking into the soil.

In the Nuclear Business, Truth Has a Limited Half-Life 

To address these difficulties, TEPCO is proposing to treat its radioactive water to remove some of the radioactivity, and then release the rest into the Pacific Ocean. There is local opposition to this plan, especially from fishermen.

 In July 2012, as some officials were assuring the public that fish from the Pacific were safe to eat, the Japan Fisheries Agency compiled statistics showing the opposite. As reported by a Canadian website, Vancouver’s straight.com:

“The numbers show that far from dissipating with time, as government officials and scientists in Canada and elsewhere claimed they would, levels of radiation from Fukushima have stayed stubbornly high in fish.

“In June 2012, the average contaminated fish catch had 65 becquerels of cesium per kilo. That’s much higher than the average of five Bq/kg found in the days after the accident back in March 2011, before cesium from Fukushima had spread widely through the region’s food chain.  In some species, radiation levels are actually higher this year than last.”

What We Know is Dwarfed by What We Don’t Know About Radioactivity

In March 2013, researchers from the Stanford University Hopkins Marine Station issued a report on Bluefin tuna caught off the California coast and tested for radioactive cesium. The report found that Bluefin tuna were 100 per cent contaminated, that not one was cesium-free. The report did not address such questions as whether cesium would continue to accumulate in tuna or whether it was appearing in other fish species.

The important aspect of this research, according to the Stanford News, was that:

“The work supports the idea that the Fukushima radioisotopes can be used to reliably determine the previously unknown trans-oceanic movements of juvenile Pacific bluefin tuna. This information could be used to prevent tuna from being overfished.”

Would You Like a Side of Hot Seaweed With Your Hot Tuna? 

Reporting on the same information, the Two Rivers Tribune in northern California noted:

“On the coast of California, there is a deep sea kelp forest at Corona del Mar that now contains concentrations of radiation that are 250 times higher than levels found in kelp prior to the Japanese nuclear accidents. A research article published in Scientific American reports that radiation accumulated in fish that ate near the kelp…. Presently, there is no research as to what is the exact effect on fish and their offspring will be from the increased levels of radiation that are being found….

“The Japanese government has banned both the domestic sale and international export of most fish that are caught off the Fukushima coast. Radiation levels are still rising two years after the nuclear accidents. In January of 2013 the tested levels of cesium were about 2,540 times what is considered safe for human consumption. Strontium levels are 240 times the legal limit.”

  It’s Not a Cover-up If Governments Gather No Useful Information, Is It?    

Apparently there is no comprehensive, Fukushima-related radiation testing being carried on by the U.S. Canadian, or other governments whose people are directly affected. Nor is there any international body publicly performing this work.

The Global Monitoring Division of the Earth System Research Laboratory of the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the U.S. Dept. of Commerce monitors global levels of “carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, nitrous oxide, surface and stratospheric ozone, halogenated compounds including CFC replacements, hydrocarbons, sulfur gases, aerosols, and solar and infrared radiation.”

Worldwide nuclear weapons programs and nuclear power generation add ionizing radiation to the atmosphere continuously. NOAA’s website offers five different safety programs related to ionizing radiation. But if NOAA (or any other government entity) is measuring ionizing radiation in the atmosphere, that information is not easily found.

  What if “National Security” Depends on Citizens’ Insecurity? 

Search the NOAA website for strontium-90 or cesium-137 (one of the more common and more serious products of the Fukushima meltdowns with a half-life of 30 years) and there is one result, which begins promisingly:

“The Environmental Measurements Laboratory (EML) has maintained a global network of deposition sampling sites for nearly 40 years. Through CMDL support, American Samoa (SMO) and Mauna Loa (MLO) have been a part of this network for many years. This network was initiated to investigate the transport and fate of radioactivity produced from atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons. Strontium-90 was the radionuclide of primary interest due to the relatively high quantity released and its physical and chemical properties that made it a concern to human health.”

  But this posting dates from 1996 and includes no data later than 1996.

Radiation Dose So Far Not Harmful, U.N. says – But It’s Not Over Yet 

In February the World Health Organization (WHO) of the U.N. released an almost 200-page assessment of the health risks from the Fukushima disaster, “the first-ever analysis of global health effects due to radiation exposure” from Fukushima. In a press release issued in Geneva, WHO concluded that: “for the general population inside and outside of Japan, the predicted risks are low and no observable increases in cancer rates above baseline rates are anticipated.”

Using preliminary dose estimation data to make its predictions, the WHO report also found “that the estimated risk for specific cancers in certain subsets of the population in Fukushima Prefecture has increased and, as such, it calls for long term continued monitoring and health screening for those people.”

The release quotes Dr Angelika Tritscher, Acting Director for WHO’s Food Safety and Zoonosis Department, saying that: “In addition to strengthening medical support and services, continued environmental monitoring, in particular of food and water supplies, backed by the enforcement of existing regulations, is required to reduce potential radiation exposure in the future.”

  And the WHO report “notes that the psychosocial impact of Fukushima] may have a consequence on health and well-being. These should not be ignored as part of the overall response.”

If decommissioning of Fukushima ever starts, it will take decades. 

According to Natural News reporter Ethan Huff, the lack of reliable information — at least in Japan — may be less the fault of government than mainstream media:

“New data released by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) shows once again that the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster is far from over. Despite a complete media blackout on the current situation, levels of Cesium-137 (Cs-137) and Cesium-134 (Cs-134) found in produce and rice crackers located roughly 225 miles (~ 362 km) away from Fukushima are high enough to cause residents to exceed the annual radiation exposure limit in just a few months, or even weeks.

“According to Fukushima-Diary.com, which posts up-to-date information about the Fukushima disaster, rice crackers and tangerines produced in the Shizuoka prefecture are testing high for both Cs-137 and Cs-134.”

Meanwhile in recent weeks, TEPCO reportedly dumped contaminated groundwater into the Pacific, then announced that radiation levels in the seawater near Fukushima had reached record levels, probably because the radioactive water “leaked.”

At the Fukushima site, Energy News reports, workers are expecting the situation with all four reactors to get worse.  While there are somewhat credible contingency plans for three of the reactors, the fourth – reactor #2 – has radiation levels that are already so intense, one worker said, that in an emergency, “a prepared squad is likely to perish before it accomplishes its mission.”

  Another said, “We are clueless about reactor #2.”

OBAMA & THE SHOREBANK CORRUPTION TIES - BAILOUT MONEY GOING TO HELP OBAMA FRIENDS

No more bailouts, no more greed, how many profits do you need?" That's been a signature chant of the community organizers and Big Labor thugs who have stormed bank offices and financial executives' private homes decrying corporate welfare over the past several months. But now that the federal government and a coalition of big banking interests are poised to bail out a crony Chicago bank with longtime ties to the Obama administration, Saul Alinsky's avenging angels are nowhere to be found.

ShoreBank is a Windy City investment bank with all the right (or, rather, left) ties. Its stated progressive mission isn't merely to make good lending decisions, but to engage in Barack Obama--esque social engineering to "create economic equity and a healthy environment." The ShoreBank corporate slogan: "Let's change the world."

The company website features a video of Obama in Kenya championing ShoreBank microlending projects overseas. ShoreBank has also touted itself as a "green" bank from its founding days — promoting dubious carbon-credit programs, subjecting new borrowers to eco-litmus tests ("we look at how you use water, how you recover water and clean it, how you use energy, if you produce clean energy, how you manage CO2, whether you are offsetting CO2 that your product produces, if you are using sustainably produced materials"), and encouraging customers to participate in "EcoDeposits" to "directly support the green agenda."

Social and environmental justice may make for good Volvo bumper stickers. They do not, however, make for a good bottom line. While the bank was on do-gooder missions around the world, business at home was in trouble. As the Wall Street Journal reported, "Losses racked up during the recession have left the bank facing a demand to raise new capital or face likely closure by regulators."

Enter the Chicago political friends and family of ShoreBank. The ties are long and deep, as the Central Illinois 9/12 Project has been chronicling for months:

ShoreBank co-founder Jan Piercy was a Wellesley College roommate of Hillary Clinton's, who has long supported the bank along with former president Bill Clinton.

Former ShoreBank vice chairman Bob Nash worked for Mrs. Clinton's presidential bid as deputy campaign manager. Board of directors member Howard Stanback is a Hyde Park neighborhood pal of President Obama, and served with Stanback on the board of the radical Woods Fund (where Weather Underground terrorist Bill Ayers also sat).
White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett served on the board of Chicago Metropolis 2020 with ShoreBank director Adele Simmons, former president of the liberal MacArthur Foundation, where she focused on "climate change" and "global governance" issues.

The bank and its employees donated some $12,000 to the Obama 2008 presidential campaign, and co-founder Mary Houghton reportedly gave advice to Obama's late mother about small-business lending issues

'Fascism!': Bob Beckel Explodes At Obama Administration Over NSA Phone Records Grab - The Five

There was a bit of a role reversal on Fox News’ The Five Thursday afternoon with liberal host Bob Beckel tearing into the Obama administration for allowing the NSA to obtain phone records from millions of American Verizon customers and the more conservative hosts defending the agency’s right to do everything it can to protect the country from terrorism. Beckel exploded with rage over the breach of privacy, accusing the government of sliding into “fascism.”
“I think it is one of the most outrageous examples of the stepping on the Constitution I’ve heard,” Beckel began. “They have no right to the phone records… It is illegal, it is unconstitutional and it is deplorable. I didn’t like it when they did it during the Bush administration and I don’t like when they’re doing it now.”
“They have taken this PATRIOT Act, which I think was the most dangerous act passed, and they have taken it and abused it,” Beck added. “You talk about fascism? You’re getting damn close to it.”
But at the same time, Eric Bolling, who no one would accuse of being an apologist for President Obama, had trouble condemning the administration this time. “This is tough one,” he said. Echoing the sentiments of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Bolling explained, “Personally, and I’ve said this before, I don’t do anything wrong so I don’t really care if you snoop on me. I’m worried about the bad guys.” He acknowledged that “government overreach” is also a concern and recognized that “a lot of people are going to be upset” by his comments.
When Beckel called on the NSA to come before Congress and prove that terrorists acts have been stopped by the “intrusion on millions of Americans,” Dana Perino pointed out that Sen. Mike Rogers (R-MI) did claim today that the program has thwarted a terrorist attack. “I trust that the government is doing the right thing on this,” she said.
“If there was a terrorist attack and it killed your son,” Perino proposed to Beckel, “and you found out that the government hadn’t done everything it could to try to find out the intel to prevent that,” he would feel differently.
“It would be terrible for my son, certainly,” Beckel said, standing firmly on principle, “but do I think that the government has the right to intrude on our personal lives? No.”

Billionaires Dumping Stocks, Economist Knows Why

Despite the 6.5% stock market rally over the last three months, a handful of billionaires are quietly dumping their American stocks . . . and fast.

Warren Buffett, who has been a cheerleader for U.S. stocks for quite some time, is dumping shares at an alarming rate. He recently complained of “disappointing performance” in dyed-in-the-wool American companies like Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, and Kraft Foods.

In the latest filing for Buffett’s holding company Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett has been drastically reducing his exposure to stocks that depend on consumer purchasing habits. Berkshire sold roughly 19 million shares of Johnson & Johnson, and reduced his overall stake in “consumer product stocks” by 21%. Berkshire Hathaway also sold its entire stake in California-based computer parts supplier Intel.

With 70% of the U.S. economy dependent on consumer spending, Buffett’s apparent lack of faith in these companies’ future prospects is worrisome.

Unfortunately Buffett isn’t alone.

Fellow billionaire John Paulson, who made a fortune betting on the subprime mortgage meltdown, is clearing out of U.S. stocks too. During the second quarter of the year, Paulson’s hedge fund, Paulson & Co., dumped 14 million shares of JPMorgan Chase. The fund also dumped its entire position in discount retailer Family Dollar and consumer-goods maker Sara Lee.

Finally, billionaire George Soros recently sold nearly all of his bank stocks, including shares of JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Goldman Sachs. Between the three banks, Soros sold more than a million shares.

So why are these billionaires dumping their shares of U.S. companies?

After all, the stock market is still in the midst of its historic rally. Real estate prices have finally leveled off, and for the first time in five years are actually rising in many locations. And the unemployment rate seems to have stabilized.

It’s very likely that these professional investors are aware of specific research that points toward a massive market correction, as much as 90%.

One such person publishing this research is Robert Wiedemer, an esteemed economist and author of the New York Times best-selling book Aftershock.

Editor’s Note: Wiedemer Gives Proof for His Dire Predictions in This Shocking Interview.

Before you dismiss the possibility of a 90% drop in the stock market as unrealistic, consider Wiedemer’s credentials.

In 2006, Wiedemer and a team of economists accurately predicted the collapse of the U.S. housing market, equity markets, and consumer spending that almost sank the United States. They published their research in the book America’s Bubble Economy.

The book quickly grabbed headlines for its accuracy in predicting what many thought would never happen, and quickly established Wiedemer as a trusted voice.

A columnist at Dow Jones said the book was “one of those rare finds that not only predicted the subprime credit meltdown well in advance, it offered Main Street investors a winning strategy that helped avoid the forty percent losses that followed . . .”

The chief investment strategist at Standard & Poor’s said that Wiedemer’s track record “demands our attention.”

And finally, the former CFO of Goldman Sachs said Wiedemer’s “prescience in (his) first book lends credence to the new warnings. This book deserves our attention.”

In the interview for his latest blockbuster Aftershock, Wiedemer says the 90% drop in the stock market is “a worst-case scenario,” and the host quickly challenged this claim.

Wiedemer calmly laid out a clear explanation of why a large drop of some sort is a virtual certainty.

It starts with the reckless strategy of the Federal Reserve to print a massive amount of money out of thin air in an attempt to stimulate the economy.

“These funds haven’t made it into the markets and the economy yet. But it is a mathematical certainty that once the dam breaks, and this money passes through the reserves and hits the markets, inflation will surge,” said Wiedemer.

“Once you hit 10% inflation, 10-year Treasury bonds lose about half their value. And by 20%, any value is all but gone. Interest rates will increase dramatically at this point, and that will cause real estate values to collapse. And the stock market will collapse as a consequence of these other problems.”

See the Proof: Get the Full Interview by Clicking Here Now.

And this is where Wiedemer explains why Buffett, Paulson, and Soros could be dumping U.S. stocks:

“Companies will be spending more money on borrowing costs than business expansion costs. That means lower profit margins, lower dividends, and less hiring. Plus, more layoffs.”

No investors, let alone billionaires, will want to own stocks with falling profit margins and shrinking dividends. So if that’s why Buffett, Paulson, and Soros are dumping stocks, they have decided to cash out early and leave Main Street investors holding the bag.

But Main Street investors don’t have to see their investment and retirement accounts decimated for the second time in five years.

Wiedemer’s video interview also contains a comprehensive blueprint for economic survival that’s really commanding global attention.

Now viewed over 40 million times, it was initially screened for a relatively small, private audience. But the overwhelming amount of feedback from viewers who felt the interview should be widely publicized came with consequences, as various online networks repeatedly shut it down and affiliates refused to house the content.

“People were sitting up and taking notice, and they begged us to make the interview public so they could easily share it,” said Newsmax Financial Publisher Aaron DeHoog.

“Our real concern,” DeHoog added, “is the effect even if only half of Wiedemer’s predictions come true.

“That’s a scary thought for sure. But we want the average American to be prepared, and that is why we will continue to push this video to as many outlets as we can. We want the word to spread.”

Read Latest Breaking News from Newsmax.com http://www.moneynews.com/MKTNews/billionaires-dump-economist-stock/2012/08/29/id/450265?PROMO_CODE=1393F-1#ixzz2Wj8HCZjv
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SHOCKING: OBAMA INTENDS TO COLLAPSE US ECONOMY - Ann Barnhardt

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ACLU Files Lawsuit Over NSA's Massive Phone Record Grab

ACLU's Alexander Abdo explains why his group is suing the federal government over the NSA's surveillance program.

ABDO: "The government should be able to surveil people when it has a reason to do so,but it shouldn't be indiscriminately sweeping up the communications of millions of innocent Americans. We learned last week of a sweeping program of surveillance. The ACLU is a customer of Verizon business and has been targeted under this law and it's simply unconstitutional and un-American."

Bill O'Reilly Slams 'Unconstitutional' NSA Surveillance: 'Should Be Shut Down Immediately'

Bill O’Reilly admitted tonight he is conflicted about the revelations of widespread NSA surveillance, and while he does support the collection of cell phone metadata, he drew the line at the NSA’s internet monitoring and collection of private e-mails. O’Reilly declared that “seizing actual words of Americans” is “clearly unconstitutional,” saying that there’s too much danger in the government potentially abusing its power and declaring that the program “should be shut down immediately.”
O’Reilly said that Edward Snowden should be arrested, even if what he did ends up being a good thing, because it would set a bad precedent for people who leak secret government information. He explained the specifics of the program for viewers, warning that like in the IRS case, “corrupt government officials” could potentially exploit the information collected.
RELATED: Judge Napolitano To Shep Smith: NSA Leaker An ‘American Hero’ Who Exposed ‘Extraordinary Violations’
He pointed out that while the feds say they won’t go after individuals without probable cause, they can’t find probable cause unless they’re already looking through e-mails. O’Reilly noted how this story has made some very strange bedfellows, and told liberals who are surprised that President Obama is behind this that his entire administration is about “accumulating power for the feds.”
O’Reilly called the storage of phone metadata “questionable” but “permissible,” while “seizing actual words of Americans [is] clearly unconstitutional.” O’Reilly cited the Fourth Amendment and declared, “You can’t just seize everything and say you’re doing so to try to root out terrorism.” While O’Reilly does generally support the PATRIOT Act and aggressively fighting the war on terror, he warned there is too much risk of government abuse and called on the NSA program to be “shut down immediately.”

First Head to Roll? New Report Claims Top IRS Official Fired, Has ‘Dropped Off the Edge of the World’

Holly Paz. (ABC)

An Internal Revenue Service official at the center of the agency’s political targeting scandal has reportedly been fired and has since “dropped off the edge of the world,” according to a new report from National Review Online.

Holly Paz, the director of the agency’s Rulings and Agreements office, was fired last Friday, according to the NRO report, and her agency-issued computer, phone, and Blackberry have shown no activity since.

“As of Thursday, the voice mail on Paz’s work phone remains active and callers are asked to leave a message for Paz, though nobody answered repeated calls placed to that number,” the report notes.

“Calls to the mobile phone number listed under Paz’s name in the IRS’s internal directory are sent straight to voice mail, and indicate her mailbox has not yet been set up,” it adds.

Paz’s alleged connection to the IRS’ targeting of conservative groups became public knowledge during a Congressional hearing in May

Here’s some NRO background on her role as director of the Rulings and Agreements office:

As the director of Rulings and Agreements, Paz served as the first line of management in Washington, D.C., that oversaw both the tax-law specialists who provided guidance to agents in Cincinnati reviewing tea-party applications and the Determinations Unit in Cincinnati charged with processing those applications. Paz has served in that position since January 2011, reporting directly to Lois Lerner, with the exception of a four-month period between October 2011 and January 2012 when she reportedly was on maternity leave. Lerner, the director of the IRS’s Exempt Organizations division was on May 23 placed on paid leave.

Paz, as mentioned in the above, recently became a person of interest when it was revealed that she was aware of an internal investigation into the IRS’ targeting of conservative groups (one year before the release inspector general’s report) and failed to notify Congress.

“Lawmakers have also raised eyebrows at the fact that Paz was present when members of the inspector general’s team interviewed her subordinates during the course of their investigation,” the NRO report continues.

“In a May 23 Oversight Committee hearing, chairman Darrell Issa expressed his astonishment, saying he was ‘shocked’ to find that Paz ‘participated in virtually every one of the interrogations or interviews with her own subordinates,” the report adds.

Rep. Issa said: “In those, of course, one of the questions the IG had to ask was, ‘Did anyone tell you to do this?’ If that question was asked, their own superior was in the room.”

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) was also surprised at Paz’s actions.

“It sounded like Ms. Paz felt like she needed to be in the room because she wanted to be able to defend herself – or the agency, I don’t know – based on what may have been said or the information gathered in that interview,” Cummings told inspector general J. Russell George.

“Usually when you are conducting an investigation . . . you want to keep your witnesses separate because you’re in search of the truth and you are trying to make sure there’s no advantage of a person hearing what somebody else said,” he added.

Paz, according to Rep. Issa, told the committee that neither she nor Lois Lerner requested be present during the investigation interviews.

“I can’t remember if I made the request or Lois Lerner made the request, but we discussed that in order for the IRS to be able respond to the report, we had to understand what information [the inspector general] had and what they were being told,” Congressman Issa said, quoting Paz.

As of this writing, the IRS has neither confirmed nor denied Paz’s firing.

But if the NRO report proves accurate, Paz’s firing would be the first head to roll in the IRS scandal.

Sean Hannity Displays Hypocrisy On NSA Surveillance (VIDEO)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/12/sean-hannity-nsa_n_3431346.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

Sean Hannity sure has changed his tune.
The rambunctious Fox News host on Monday lashed into the Obama administration over the revelations of widespread Internet and phone surveillance by the National Security Agency, warning that "anarchy and tyranny will follow."
But back in 2006, when a similar NSA spying scandal was unearthed during President George W. Bush's administration, Hannity wasn't so concerned. He came out as a staunch defender of the NSA then, saying it was "staggering to me we are even debating the use of these techniques in this country even at this time."
Media Matters put together a mashup of Hannity's comments, comparing his position then and now.