Florida Cop orders woman to lift Shirt & Shake Bra during Traffic Stop

A Lakeland, Florida, police officer told a woman to lift her shirt, expose her stomach, and then pull her bra away from her body and shake it — all during a traffic stop.

The incident happened in Lakeland, Florida.

Officer Dustin Fetz pulled over Zoe Brugger and her boyfriend on May 21st because she was driving with a broken headlight, the Ledger of Lakeland reported.

Fetz told her to lift up her shirt, pull her bra away from her body and shake it out so he could see if she was hiding any drugs.

Believe it or not, according to the Lakeland Police Department, their officers have done this in the past to search for drugs. Imagine that!

The Florida State Attorney’s Office wrote a letter to Lisa Womack, Lakeland Police Chief, detailing the investigation.

The letter said that Zoe Brugger was pulled over because one of her front headlights was out.

After being asked to step out of the car, police searched the car, Brugger, and her passenger.

Brugger was sobbing as she followed orders. She said, "It was really, really humiliating."

She continued, "He said to pull out your bra and just shake it a little bit."

Apparently, the officer then asked her to do it again. "He said he was sure that I had drugs," she said.

Yes, believe it or not, he then ordered her to do it again and asked permission to search her car.   Brugger agreed, but changed her answer to "no" before he started, but Fetz searched the vehicle anyway. No drugs were found on her, on her boyfriend or in her car.

"[Fetz] made me go through the whole humiliating ordeal with shaking my bra out right there in the middle of this parking lot," Brugger said, according to WFLA.

"He told me that he was taking me to Bartow Jail for driving on a suspended license and that they had an x-ray machine there and they were definitely going to find what I had hidden inside me there."

Imagine this guy! Who the Hell does he think he is?

The incident happened in a parking lot of an apartment complex around 11pm. Brugger and the cops were in plain view of the public eye.

According to the Florida State Attorney’s Office, Officer Dustin Fetz had no reason to think Brugger had drugs on her. Remember, she was pulled over because of an inoperable headlight.

State Attorney Jerry Hill sent a letter to the LPD this week, calling Fetz's behavior "egregious" and "demeaning."

The letter added that Brugger did not believe Fetz's demands were sexually motivated, but that he was "on a power trip."

Hill noted there is evidence of other LPD officers using the bra-shake method in the past.

The letter called the search method “demeaning, ineffective and possibly dangerous.”

State Officials said this search method is not taught at the law enforcement training academy at Polk State College, where Fetz attended.

Despite this, the method appears to be an accepted practice among the police in that area.

Brugger said, "I really hope that nothing like this happens to any other women out there."

Investigator Mike Brown filed a report stating that Fetz's actions "went beyond the police actions that are permissible under law" and "violated the constitutional rights afforded to Zoe Brugger," according to WFLA.

Officer Dustin Fetz  was placed on a four-day administrative leave due to the incident, but he is currently back on duty.

Yes, Fetz was placed on paid administrative leave for only four days - that's it, four days - while a supposed "investigation" took place. He return to work June 18th.

The Lakeland Police Department says they will review the department’s search procedures and decide if changes should be made.

Lakeland Police Chief Lisa Womack called the incident "highly questionable" in a statement obtained by Fox 13.

Womack added that "this department does not condone [Fetz's] alleged actions."

"Highly questionable"? "Alleged"? What's "highly questionable" or "alleged" about it? It is on video with Fetz ordering her to do it so there isn't any "alleged" about it!

And as for Chief Lisa Womack saying its "highly questionable," we should all write the Chief to explain to her the difference between questionable and out-and-out wrong!

Its no wonder this jerkweed cop is on a power trip, his department sounds just as unprofessional as he is - and apparently supports his bullshit behavior.

So let's understand this correctly, no threat, no sign of drugs, no drugs found in her vehicle or on her boyfriend in the car with her, yet this asshole cop has the nerve to humiliate and violate this woman.

And what was his punishment? Go sit at home with pay!

They apparently support this bad cop ordering a woman to shake her bra during a totally unjustified search for drugs during a routine traffic stop.

Thankfully an acquaintance of Brugger's wrote a letter to the editor of the Ledger about the incident.  That letter, which was published on June 2nd, prompted the investigation by the State Attorney's Office.

Brugger is still not sure if she will pursue legal action against the department.

I hope she files suit against Fetz, Womack, and the Lakeland Police Department.

I would think a lawsuit would get this bad cop Fetz off the department and change the way they are treating their citizens.  


Story by Tom Correa

Crossing the Plains, 1865

It took approximately 300 years from 1500 to 1800 for European population to extend from the East Coast of America to the Mississippi River.

Popular wisdom at the beginning of the 19th century hypothesized it would take at least another 300 years, or most likely longer, to fill the area between the Mississippi and the Pacific coast.

Of course, it didn't take 300 years to settle the West. A number of factors accelerated the pace of change.

Beginning with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the US government acquired domain over the land to the west of the Mississippi through war, treaty or purchase.

The discovery of gold in California and the promise of fertile land lured an estimated 300,000 to the Pacific Coast prior to 1860.

In the midst of the Civil War, Congress enacted the Homestead Act entitling any head of family, anyone over the age of 21, or any veteran of military service to 160 acres of land.

With the end of the war, many took advantage of the offer filling the westward trails with wagon trains loaded with all their worldly possessions.

Before the end of the century America's frontier had been extended to the Pacific and then officially declared closed.

The decision to make the trek could not have been an easy one - motivated no doubt by hard times at home and the promise of better times to the west.

Sarah Raymond was one of those who made the journey along with her father, mother and brothers.

Her diary doesn't reveal her age, but we can assume she was young, probably a teenager.

The family began their journey on May 1, 1865 in Missouri and arrived at their destination in Virginia City, Montana Territory on September 6. Sarah details each day's adventures - accidents, sickness, river crossings, Indian encounters, mud, dust, monotony, and terror.

We don't know much about Sarah beyond what appears in her journal except that she married and stayed in Virginia City the rest of her life.

She first published her journal at the request of friends in a local newspaper, the "Rocky Mountain Husbandman," in the early 1880s.

Her diary was published in book form in 1902.

Eleven Graves

On June 12, 1865 - about 6 weeks after leaving Missouri - Sarah's group of wagons arrives at Fort Kearney, Nebraska Territory, a major way station on the road west.

There, the pioneers are confronted with evidence of the hazards of their journey:

"Monday, June 12

We stood by the graves of eleven men that were killed last August by the Indians.

There was a sort of bulletin-board about midway and at the foot of the graves stating the circumstances of the frightful tragedy.

They were a party of fourteen, twelve men and two women, wives of two of the men.

They were camped on Plum Creek, a short distance from where the graves are.

They were all at breakfast except one man who had gone to the creek for water, he hid in the brush, or there would have been none to tell the tale of the massacre.

There had been no depredations committed on this road all Summer, and emigrants had become careless and traveled in small parties.
They did not suspect that an Indian was near until they were surrounded, and the slaughter had commenced.

All the men were killed and scalped, and the women taken prisoners.

They took what they wanted of the provisions burned the wagons and ran off with the horses.

The one man that escaped went with all haste to the nearest station for help.
The soldiers pursued the Indians, had a fight with them and rescued the women.

One of them had seen her husband killed and scalped and was insane when rescued and died at the station.

The other woman was the wife of the man that escaped. They were from St. Joe, Missouri."

Killed on the Road

"Sunday, July 16

Just after we crossed the bridge, and where there is a sudden turn in the road, as it winds around the mountain, we saw where two men had been killed and two wagons burned last week.

The tire became loose on a wheel of the next to the last wagon in a freight train, the men stopped to tighten it, while the rest of the train moved on, not thinking of danger, and was out of sight in a few minutes.

An hour later some of the men came back to see what kept them.

There they were - dead and scalped - horses gone, and wagons on fire.

The Indians had taken all the freight they could use, piled wood under the wagons, and set it on fire.

We saw quantities of white beans scattered over the ground, also the irons from the wagons."

The Dust

"Wednesday, July 26

...I did not awake this morning until everything was ready for a very early start.

Mother had kept my breakfast warm by keeping the stove until the last minute.

I sat in the wagon and ate my breakfast after the train had started.

When through, I climbed out and went to see how Neelie [Sarah's friend] was. I found her feverish and restless; her symptoms unfavorable.

Oh, the dust, the dust; it is terrible.
I have never seen it half as bad; it seems to be almost knee-deep in places.

We came twenty miles without stopping, and then camped for the night.

We are near a fine spring of most excellent water - Barrel Spring it is called.

I do not know why; there are no barrels there.

When we stopped, the boys' faces were a sight; they were covered with all the dust that could stick on.

One could just see the apertures where eyes, nose and mouth were through the dust; their appearance was frightful.

How glad we all are to have plenty of clear cold water to wash away the dust."

Murder in Camp

As Sarah rides along with the wagon train she is approached by a friend - Frank - from a portion of the train that had split off to travel on its own. Her friend has news:

"Saturday, August 5

'Frasier was shot and killed day before yesterday evening.'

'Oh Frank; how did it happen?'

'Hosstetter did it, but I think he was not much to blame'

Frasier is the man who spoke to Cash, Neelie and I, as we were watching the wagons ferried across the Missouri River, whose son ran away from his mother, and home, to come to his father, and go with him to Montana.
Frasier had teams and wagons for freighting and Hosstetter some capital to invest in freight, to take to Montana.

Frasier advised the purchase of flour, and he would freight it to Virginia City for fifteen dollars per cwt.

He said flour was worth fifty and sixty dollars per hundred in Virginia City.

(So it was in the Spring of 1864, and as high as seventy-five and one hundred dollars per one hundred, which was the cause of a bread riot in Virginia City.)

No doubt Frasier was honest in his advice, and would have invested in flour for himself.
He charged more freight than was right, for ten and twelve cents is the prevailing price; but then Hosstetter should have found that out himself.

When he found he had been imposed upon and learned that flour is retailing at Virginia City for $15 per hundred, he was angry, dissatisfied, and perhaps quarrelsome.
Frasier was no doubt very aggravating.

They had quarreled several times, and the evening of the 3d, Frasier was heard to say to Hosstetter in a threatening tone:

'You may consider yourself lucky if you ever see Montana. You need not expect to get any of this flour. It will take it all to pay the freight.'

It was getting dark, and Fraser stood with one hand on a wheel as he talked.
He then got into the wagon and out again, with something in his hand, which Hosstetter thought was a revolver in the gathering darkness.

He came back to the wheel where he had been standing when he made the threat, and Hosstetter thought he had come to shoot him, and fired twice, as he thought, to save his own life, Frasier fell, shot through the brain, and died instantly.

Then it was found he had a hatchet in his hand and had come to tighten a tire on the wheel, which he had found loose when he laid his hand on it.
Frasier's eldest son of fourteen years is here.

There are five children and their mother at home. Hossteter has three children and a wife.

Eleven innocent persons to suffer, no one knows how intensely, for that rash act.

Frasier's son knelt beside his father's dead body and placing his hand on his breast, he swore a fearful oath that he would have but one purpose in life until his father's death is avenged.
Oh, what a shocking ambition for so young a boy."

Later in her diary, Sarah describes the trial of Hosstetter:

"...The men from these four trains elected judge, jury, prosecuting attorney and lawyer for the defense, and have tried Hosstetter for murder.

The jury brought in a verdict of 'Not guilty.'

He shot in self-defense, as Frasier had threatened to kill him."

Sarah's diary entry a day later notes that a squad of soldiers came and took Hosstetter to a fort near Green River (Wyoming) for an official trial.

However, she does not reveal the outcome of that trial.

River Crossing

"Thursday, August 24

We came to a toll bridge over the Blackfoot this morning, where the toll was one dollar per team and fifty cents for horseback riders.
There had been an excellent ford just below the bridge.

The men collecting the toll had spoiled it by digging ditches on both sides near the bank.

The water was clear, and they were plainly visible.

Hillhouse [Sarah's brother] mounted Dick [Sarah's horse] to see if we could ford it.

One of the men screamed out at him: 'You will mire your horse if you try that.'

'I'll risk it.' And he rode in below where the ditches were dug.
The pony's feet were not muddy.

Hillhouse found we could easily ford he creek below the ditches, which we did without accident.

It does seem a shame that we should have to pay toll for crossing a stream like that, after fording South Platte, North Platte and Green River.

The Missourians refused to pay the exorbitant price, and offered them fifty cents per wagon.
They swore they would not take a cent less than one dollar.

But the travelers were too many for them, and they drove over and did not pay a cent.

The toll men were fearfully angry, and made great threats, but the men dared them to do their worst and laughed at them.

I do hope we will get ahead of these people to-morrow. They are not the kind of people I like to travel with."

This eyewitness account is from Sarah Raymond Herndon's Days On The Road (1902).

Yes, she was there!

School Gun Policy Hysterics?

Do "make-believe" guns bother you?

How about orange water-pistols and lime green cap-guns? Do they make you uneasy, nervous, apprehensive?

Do you go into hysterics at the mere sound of a car backfire?

How about me pointing my index finger at you, feel threatened do you?

Did you feel that cold chill run up your spine knowing full well that my finger could be loaded?

Do the words "gun," or "shoot" make you wet yourself with fear and worry?

Does the term, "Shoot! It's good to see you, you old Son-of-a-gun" have you grabbing a phone and dialing 911?

If so, your sense of reality is screwed up! And yes, you too qualify as a School Administrator!

Want more? Well, do you think the quote, " The right to defend one's home and one's person when attacked has been guaranteed through the ages by common law" comes from one of those horrible Tea Party radicals?

How about the quote, "But if someone has a gun and is trying to kill you ... it would be reasonable to shoot back with your own gun"?

Does that sound scary to you? Do you think it came from one of those evil NRA members? Do you think either quote came from a racist?

What if you were an educator, would you stand for any of those types of quotes being tossed around your classroom?

Would you have the student who repeated such quotes sent to the Principal's office and the police called in to question the child?

Would you apologize to that student and express to him or her how truly sorry you are if that student told you that he got those two quotes while studying Martin Luther King Jr. and the Dalai Lama. Both are from them respectively!

What would you the educator do if a student wrote and essay on George Orwell and included his quote, "That rifle on the wall of the labourer's cottage or working class flat is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see that it stays there"?

What if a teenager recited  D. H. Lawrence who said, "Men fight for liberty and win it with hard knocks. Their children, brought up easy, let it slip away again; poor fools. And their grand-children are once more slaves" - what would you as an educator do?  

Would you have that kid suspended or thrown in jail or sent to see the school shrink?

While it seems most schools in the United States of America are on high-alert ready to pounce on any kid that merely says the word "bang," one school board has had enough of this insanity coming from so-called "teachers" and wannabe "educators."  

One school understands that there is no such thing as a one-size fits all when it comes to understanding the nuances of society and especially children in our schools.  

Finally, we have common sense in at least one of our public schools, in at least one Virginia school district anyway.

After two boy were suspended for "using pencils like guns", not to be confused with "using pencils like knives" which I still have a pencil point in my arm some 50+ years later, the Suffolk School Board decided to review their current "weapons policy" which was a very strict zero tolerance policy which left no room for interpretation.

Believe it or not, under the revised policy, school administrators can actually use their judgement and really look at factors such as intentions of harm and whether the object is listed as a weapon to determine the punishment.

And yes, believe it or not, other than kindergartners who have received Navy SEAL training, ordinary objects will no longer be considered weapons.

Yes, thank God, there is a school in America  that understands that a pen is a pen, a pencil is just a pencil, and a Pop Tart shaped like a capital "L" is not a pistol but only a half-eaten Pop Tart!

All index fingers will now be relegated to pointing and picking and poking, all of which do not enable them to discharge a single shot!

A local television station reports that school board members voted unanimously to approve the revised policy last week.

This comes on the heels of numerous students being suspended, expelled, and also arrested for cases involving toy guns at schools, talking about guns at schools, or wearing what some are calling "gun related" clothing such as an NRA t-shirt, and pointing their finger and saying "bang!"

Within the last few months, ever since the senseless killings by one maniac at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, the majority of teachers and school officials in America have proven they know absolutely nothing about guns, index fingers, pencils, drawings, and Pop Tarts!

Actually, it appears most so-called educators and school administrators don't know their ass from a hole in the ground and have proven as much lately - especially when it comes to discerning a "real threat" - keywords "real threat" - and some youngster making a gun out of a Pop Tart!

No, whether vigilant teachers and school officials would like to think they are heading off another Columbine or Sandy Hook - a "child" with a Pop Tart eaten to look like the letter "L" or any other chewed up pastry pistol is not a threat to anyone.

As shocking as it may seem to some dim witted teacher out there who is afraid of water pistols and index fingers, their over-reaction is more detrimental to children than any pistol shaped Pop Tart or the word "GUN!"

Have teachers and school officials gone insane? Well, in a word, yes.

The definition of the word "insane" is not hard to understand and it fits the lunacy and distorted behavior of teachers and school officials perfectly.

in·sane /inˈsān/Adjective

1. In a state of mind that prevents normal perception, behavior, or social interaction; seriously mentally ill.

2.(of an action or quality) Characterized or caused by madness.

Synonyms: mad, crazy, demented, lunatic

Caused by madness? Can hysteria cause madness? Do you want to talk about the cognitive distortions of those we put in charge of our children these days?

Do you want proof of their insane reactions to children who merely "talk" about guns, produce "paper" guns, bring in cap guns and water guns?

Take a look at these headlines:

11 Year Old Suspended, Family Questioned by Law Enforcement Because The Student TALKED About Guns

Multiple Students Suspended for Playing With Nerf Guns AFTER Teacher OK’d Them

Kindergartner Disciplined for Bringing LEGO Gun the Size of a Quarter to School

7 Year Old Suspended for Holding Pencil “Like a Gun”

6 Yr Old Suspended for TALKING About TOY Guns

Michigan Schools Shut Down because Former Student, Now Working For Air Force, Entered School Wearing His Work Camo

3 FL High School Students Tackle Gunman on School Bus, All 3 Are Suspended From School

7 Year Old Suspended For Chewing Pastry Into Shape of Gun

7 Year Old Boy Suspended After Tossing Imaginary Grenade at Imaginary Evil Forces

Student Suspended for Photo of Gun Set as Computer Desktop Background

Kindergartner Suspended, Forced to go to Psychologist for Threatening Student – With Pink Bubble Gun

Maryland School Suspends 6 Yr Old Student For Making Gun Shape With His Hand & Saying “Pow”

Middle School Student Suspended and Arrested For Wearing NRA T-Shirt to School

Girl in Elementary School Searched in Front of Classmates for Bringing Paper Gun to School

5 Yr Old Who Brought Cap Gun to School Interrogated for 2 Hours Without Parents Until He Peed Himself

This is called Hysterics! And yes, it has to stop!

Back when I was a kid, my parents taught me that teachers and policemen were my friends!

My mom used to say if I were in trouble that I can always find a policeman, and that they would help.  Yes, they were portrayed as people who would help me and not lose it emotionally.

Never did she say that I or my siblings would be "interrogated"!

Yes, interrogated! Even the word "interrogated bothers me - as should others - either by teachers, school officials, or police officers.

Never did she say that any of us should refrain from answering any questions until we have a lawyer present - if a teacher decides to question us about our actions.

Never did I think that I'd see the day when a child should be advised that they have the right to remain silent and not say a word until a lawyer is present. Because yes, our children too have rights as citizens.

Being interrogated until you pee you pants out of fear is something that I never thought I'd see in America - especially over something as non-threatening as a plastic cap gun.

Hysteria? Are teachers and school officials demonstrating an uncontrollable fear of guns or anything that their minds can imagine be used as a weapon? Are they facing a sensory deficit and simply can't think straight when it comes to making mountains out of molehills?

Damn right they are!

A few days ago, it was reported that the suspension of the 5 year old interrogated over a cap gun who then peed his pants won’t be removed from his record.  

School officials in Calvert County, Maryland have denied a request to expunge the suspension of the kindergartner who brought a plastic cap gun on a school bus last month and then wet his pants during a subsequent interrogation.

The unidentified kindergartner had brought the toy gun in his backpack because his friend had brought a water gun the previous day. He later told his mother that he “really, really” wanted his friend to see it.

The school's refusal came in the form of a letter, reports The Washington Post.

The letter stated that the five-year-old “did bring a cap gun in his book bag.”

The letter also stated that some other children were frightened and told school officials that they couldn’t discern if the orange-tipped cowboy-style gun was real or fake.

The idea of a 5 year old child being "interrogated" really bothered me. It is a sad commentary on those people at that school.

They interrogated a 5 year old child for 2 hours? What could you possibly ask a 5 year old for 2 hours and still call yourself an educated adult?

But also what really bothered me was the notion that "children were frightened and told school officials that they couldn’t discern if the orange-tipped cowboy-style gun was real or fake."

This makes me wonder if their fears were being heightened by way of the over-reactions from the teachers and school officials.

Is it possible that the teachers could have defused the situation by telling the other children that it is only an plastic cap gun and not a real gun?

Could have intelligent adults handled the situation differently? Of course they could have!

Is it possible that they didn't because it doesn't fit their political agenda to teach children that ALL guns, even toy guns - completely non-lethal by nature - are things to be frightened of.

School officials at Dowell Elementary School in the town of Lusby grilled the 5 year old for over two hours before finally calling his mother at 10:50 a.m.  

By that time, the little boy had wet his pants out of fear.

The school officials just let the child sit there in his urine soaked trousers and kept questioning him!

One report said that the school's principal — Jennifer L. Young, according to Dowell Elementary’s website — told the boy’s mother that things would have been even worse for the boy if had the toy gun been loaded with caps.

Believe it or not, if the plastic pistol actually had caps in it, then in that case the school would have regarded the plaything as an explosive and called the police "bomb squad".

Imagine the insanity! These people are idiots!

The original suspension handed down May 29th was for 10 days. After a disciplinary conference and the intervention of local attorney Robin Ficker, the suspension was reduced to three days.

School officials considered — and denied — the request to eradicate the punishment separately.

The boy’s mother, believe it or not also a teacher in Calvert County,  expressed frustration that a seemingly serious offense for a look-alike gun will now be part of her son’s permanent record.

“Why would you do that to a five-year-old who brought an obvious toy?” the teacher added

Attorney Robin Ficker said the family will now appeal the request to expunge the suspension to the Board of Education of Calvert County.

For me, I want to see everyone who terrorized this child fired, sued, and forbidden from teaching or working in schools where common sense and mature judgement is called for.

I want to see justice for the little girl who was searched in front of her entire class, humiliated and made to feel like a criminal because she had a "paper" gun.

I want to see people sued and money taken from their persons. I want to see their teaching credentials pulled and have them banned from school grounds.

I want those who don't have the maturity and know-how to understand the difference between an index finger and a real gun removed from our schools.  They have no business teaching our kids if they can't discern the difference!

I find it a shame that our kids have to be protected against over-zealous school officials. 

It seems common sense is completely absent at our schools. And yes, until it returns, I hope parents and friends will fight back. Fight back with everything they have!

Story by Tom Correa

Elbert Guillory: "Why I Am a Republican"

Published on YouTube Jun 16th, 2013

Louisiana Senator Elbert Guillory (R-Opelousas) explains why he recently switched from the Democrat Party to the Republican Party.

Sen. Guillory holds a Bachelor of Arts from Norfolk State University and a J.D. law degree from Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey. He is a practicing lawyer.

He previously served as state representative for District 40.

He discusses the history of the Republican Party which was founded as an Abolitionist Movement in 1854.

Guillory talks about how the welfare state is only a mechanism for politicians to control the black community.

He's saying things Democrats wish he wouldn't!

And yes, it's all about people being educated about the truth.

The Rotten Egg Bill

Right now, Democrats and the Obama Administration have American Farmers in their sights

This week the US House of Representatives is considering the 2013 Farm Bill — the agriculture policy tool for the federal government.

Of all of the amendments that will be debated, there is one in particular that has Conservatives fighting to stop.

If passed, "The Egg Bill" amendment will result in an unfunded government mandate on millions of American family farmers.

The Egg Bill was introduced in the Senate by Sen. Dianne Feinstein. That alone should have you understanding who is in favor of such a bill - PETA and those yo-yos!  

The amendment calls for federal requirements on the size and structure of egg producing facilities.

This mandate could have significant consequences for farmers — especially the smaller, family run businesses.

It would likely force farmers to shut down their operations or significantly increase their production costs, which will inevitably be passed on to consumers at the grocery stores and at restaurants.

This complete overhaul of our nation’s egg producing facilities is expected to increase the price of eggs and any food containing eggs, such as baked goods.

The Egg Bill amendment is being pushed on Capitol Hill by Liberal animal activist groups, such as PETA and the Humane Society of the United States, who have made it their mission to end animal agriculture as we know it.

The Egg Bill amendment is opposed by Conservative groups, such as Americans for Prosperity, and a majority of the US agriculture industry.

Opponents say that similar mandates in Europe have cut food supplies and driven up costs, without any evidence of improved food safety, animal welfare or other social benefits.

It is also widely believed that the Egg Bill amendment sets a dangerous precedent for government control of all family farms – including those that produce meat, poultry and dairy products.

Furthermore, it needlessly replaces the family farmer’s traditional values and good judgment with Federal bureaucratic mandates from Washington, DC.

This looming move by Congress comes on the heels of scandals at the Internal Revenue Service and the Justice Department, and would continue the precarious trend of the federal government overreaching and compromising Americans’ freedoms.

One organization is standing up to big government and working to keep The Egg Bill off the Farm Bill.

Keep Food Affordable is a coalition that brings together consumers, farmers and food security organizations to support policies and practices that will allow America’s farmers to produce food safely, efficiently and without any unnecessary financial burdens so that all Americans can have access to safe and affordable food.

The Keep Food Affordable coalition brings together consumers, farmers, and food security organizations to keep food safe, affordable, and available for all Americans.

 Food prices are escalating in the United States and throughout the world, all because of many factors out of our control: a booming global population; high oil prices; and the rising standards of living in emerging nations.

Keep Food Affordable aims to influence the factors that are in our control.

They support policies and practices that will allow America’s farmers to produce food safely, efficiently, and without any unnecessary financial burdens so that all Americans can have access to safe and affordable food.

Farmers are between a rock a hard place when it comes to surviving in today's America.

Being a Farmer takes toughness and determination, the like of which have never been seen before.

Why you ask?

Well, besides traditional burdens like lousy weather and horrible market prices, the cost to produce food is going up, financial burdens are piling on, and the radical environmentalist and animal activist who pour money into re-election campaigns of liberals throughout the nation are using the power of the Federal Government to try to destroy the American Farmer through Federal over-regulation and unrealistic mandates.

Yes, over-regulation and unrealistic mandates, all of which are backed by outrageous fines, confiscation of property, and even possible imprisonment.

Keep Food Affordable has a mission to keep food safe, affordable and abundant for all Americans.

They, like other pro-Farmer groups, need our support!  

Keep Food Affordable is made up of agriculture groups, including National Pork Producers Council (NPPC),  National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), and Egg Farmers of America, as well as thousands of consumers who support their mission of keeping food affordable and accessible.

The coalition hopes that with enough input from constituents, the House will act in the best interest of those most at risk of being hurt by the Egg Bill.

If the Farm Bill passes with the Egg Bill attached as an amendment, farmers will lose income, American families will be forced to spend even more money on food, and Congress will emerge with egg on its face.

Keep Food Affordable is helping Americans voice their opposition to the Egg Bill and communicate their desire to keep Washington D.C. bureaucrats off family farms directly to their members of Congress through an online advocacy tool.
  You can help by going to the link below and taking a stand!

Stop The Rotten Egg Bill!

Horse: Laminitis

The terms "laminitis" and "founder" are used interchangeably.

However, founder usually refers to a chronic (long-term) condition associated with rotation of the coffin bone.

Whereas, acute laminitis refers to symptoms associated with a sudden initial attack, including pain and inflammation of the laminae.

THE CAUSES

While the exact mechanisms by which the feet are damaged remain a mystery, certain precipitating events can produce laminitis.

Although laminitis occurs in the feet, the underlying cause is often a disturbance elsewhere in the horse's body.

The causes vary and may include the following:

• Digestive upsets due to grain overload or abrupt changes in diet

• Sudden access to excessive amounts of lush forage before the horse's system has had time to adapt; this type of laminitis is known as "grass founder"

• Toxins released within the horse's system

• High fever or illness; any illness that causes high fever or serious metabolic disturbances has the potential to cause laminitis, e.g., Potomac Horse Fever

• Severe colic

• Retained placenta in the mare after foaling

• Consumption of cold water by an overheated horse

• Excessive concussion to the feet, often referred to as "road founder"

• Excessive weight bearing on one leg due to injury of another leg or any other alteration of the normal gait

• Various primary foot diseases

• Bedding that contains black walnut shavings

• Prolonged use or high doses of corticosteroids

RISK FACTORS

Factors that seem to increase a horse's susceptibility to laminitis or increase the severity of the condition when it does occur include the following:

• Heavy breeds, such as draft horses

• Overweight

• High nutritional plane

• Ponies

• Unrestricted grain binges, such as when a horse breaks into the feed room. If this happens, do not wait until symptoms develop to call your veterinarian.

Call immediately so corrective action can be taken before tissue damage progresses.

SIGNS

Signs of acute laminitis include the following:

• Lameness, especially when a horse is turning in circles

• Heat in the feet

• Increased digital pulse in the feet

• Pain in the toe region when pressure is applied with hoof testers

• Reluctant or hesitant gait ("walking on eggshells")

• A "sawhorse stance," with the front feet stretched out in front to alleviate pressure on the toes and the hind feet "camped out" or positioned further back than normal to bear more weight.

• Signs of chronic laminitis may include the following:

• Rings in hoof wall that become wider as they are followed from toe to heel

• Bruised soles or "stone bruises"

• Widened white line, commonly called "seedy toe," with occurrence of seromas (blood pockets) and/or abscesses

• Dropped soles or flat feet

• Thick, "cresty" neck

• Dished hooves, which are the result of unequal rates of hoof growth . This is where the heels grow at a faster rate than the rest of the hoof, resulting in an "Aladdin-slipper" appearance.

TREATMENT

The sooner treatment begins, the better the chance for recovery.

Treatment will depend on specific circumstances but may include the following:

• Diagnosing and treating the primary problem (Laminitis is often due to a systemic or general problem elsewhere in the horse's body.)

• Dietary restrictions

• Treating with mineral oil, via a nasogastric tube, to purge the horse's digestive tract, especially if the horse has overeaten

• Administering fluids if the horse is ill or dehydrated

• Administering other drugs, such as antibiotics to fight infection; anti-endotoxins to reduce bacterial toxicity; anticoagulants and vasodilators to reduce blood pressure while improving blood flow to the feet.

Coiticosteroids are contraindicated in laminitis, as they can actually cause laminitis or exacerbate existing cases.

• Stabling the horse on soft ground, such as in sand or shavings (not black walnut), and encouraging the horse to lie down to reduce pressure on the weakened laminae

• Opening and draining any abscesses which may develop

• Cooperation between your veterinarian and the farrier (Techniques that may be helpful include corrective trimming, frog supports, and therapeutic shoes or pads.)

LONG-TERM OUTLOOK

Many horses that develop laminitis make uneventful recoveries and go on to lead long, useful lives.

Unfortunately, others suffer such severe, irreparable damage that they are, for humane reasons, euthanized.

Your equine practitioner can provide you with information about your horse's condition based on radiographs (x-rays) and the animal's response to treatment.

Radiographs will show how much rotation of the coffin bone has occurred.

This will help you make a decision in the best interest of the horse and help the farrier with the therapeutic shoeing.

MANAGEMENT

Importantly, once a horse has had laminitis, it may be likely to recur.

In fact, a number of cases become chronic because the coffin bone has rotated within the foot and because the laminae never regain their original strength.

There may also be interference with normal blood flow to the feet, as well as metabolic changes within the horse.

Extra care is recommended for any horse that has had laminitis, including:

• A modified diet that provides adequate nutrition based on high-quality forage and without excess energy, especially from grain

• Routine hoof care, including regular trimming and, in some cases therapeutic shoeing (Additional radiographs may be needed to monitor progress.)

• A good health-maintenance schedule, including parasite control and vaccinations to reduce the horse's susceptibility to illness or disease

• Possibly a nutritional supplement formulated to promote hoof health.  

From one horse owner to another - Good luck! 

Horses: Grass Founder

To protect your horse's health, you may need to limit his access to sugar-rich grass.

Why? Well, because lush spring pastures can be dangerous temptations for horses.

Especially during Spring, lush green grass begins to grow, it could be the beginning of serious founder problems – laminitis.

Laminitis is inflammation of the laminae of the horse’s foot.

Laminae make up the delicate, accordion-like tissue that attaches the inner surface of the hoof wall to the coffin bone - the bone in the foot.

The sensitive laminae cover the bone and interlock with the insensitive laminae lining the inside of the hoof wall to keep the coffin bone in place within the hoof.

A horse suffering from laminitis experiences a decrease in blood flow to the laminae, which in turn begin to die and separate.

The final result is hoof wall separation, rotation of the coffin bone and extreme pain.

Laminitis is a word no horse owner wants to hear associated with her horse.

It is a crippling disorder that takes weeks or even months for the horse to recover from, and that is if all causative factors are removed and the best equine husbandry is provided.

It can be permanently debilitating if not dealt with properly and promptly, leading to much pain and suffering for the horse.

In severe cases, the coffin bone can actually rotate through the sole of the horse’s hoof where it becomes infected and usually results in the death of the horse.

Laminitis is triggered by a variety of causes, including repeated concussion on hard ground (road founder); grain overload; retained placenta; hormonal imbalance (Cushing’s disease or metabolic syndrome); certain drugs (corticosteroids); obesity; and lush grass.

Veterinarians and nutritionists have known for some time that plants store energy in their seeds in the form of starch that can cause laminitis if the horse is introduced to grain too quickly or eats too much grain.

Only recently have researchers discovered that grasses not only store energy in their seed heads as starch, they also store energy as sugar.

In the spring, as grass is growing rapidly, it stores more sugar than it needs for growth, and horses consume the sugar as they graze.

Later in the year, when the daylight and nighttime temperatures are more consistent and grass growth rates decrease, the plant uses up most of the sugar produced during the day each night.

Here are some tips for avoiding grass founder:

• Keep horses off lush, fast-growing pastures until the grass has slowed in growth and produces seed heads.

• Graze horses on pastures containing a high percentage of legumes. Legumes, such as alfalfa or clover, store energy as starch, not sugar.

• Avoid grazing horses on pastures that have been exposed to bright sunny days followed by low temperatures, such as a few days of warm sunny weather followed by a late spring frost.

• Avoid grazing horses on pastures that have been grazed very short during the winter and are growing rapidly.

• Keep overweight horses in stalls or paddocks until the pasture’s rate of growth has slowed, then introduce them to pasture slowly.

• Turn horses out on pasture for a few hours in the early morning when sugar levels are low, not at night when levels are at their highest.

• Allow horses to fill up on hay before turning them out on grass for a few hours.

At Risk

Horses that are over the age of 10, “easy keepers,” overweight or those with crested necks seem especially vulnerable to grass founder and should be the focus of your preventive program.

After the horses are turned out on pasture, check them often for early signs of laminitis such as heat in the feet and a pounding pulse at the back of the pastern.

Foundered horses also assume a characteristic “sawhorse” stance with their hind feet up under their body and their front feet placed farther forward than normal.

This is because the horse is trying to shift its weight off its painful front feet to its hind legs.

Grass-foundered horses also move gingerly, as if walking on eggshells, and are often unwilling to turn or move at all.

In severe cases, the horse may refuse to stand. If your horse demonstrates these signs after being turned out on grass, immediately pull him off the pasture and call a veterinarian.

If you have horses that are prone to grass founder, visit with your veterinarian or equine nutritionist to develop a strategy for introducing them to spring grass.

This is truly a situation where an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Laminitis vs. Founder

What is the difference between acute laminitis and chronic laminitis, or founder?

If my horse has laminitis, does that mean he has foundered?

The term laminitis is often used interchangeably with founder, but technically the two are different, though related, phenomenon.

Laminitis is inflammation of the laminae in the hoof.

The laminae are the velcro-like connections that attach the coffin bone to the inner hoof wall, holding the foot together; because the laminae are trapped between a rock (the coffin bone) and a hard place (the inner hoof wall and sole), any inflammation is painful for the horse.

Chronic inflammation over time, or a catastrophic laminitis episode, will lead to degeneration of the blood vessels that feed the laminae and necrosis of the laminae themselves.

This breakdown of the laminae results in the coffin bone separating from the hoof wall and “rotating”; this stage of laminitis is properly called founder.

In very advanced cases of founder, it is possible for the entire hoof to slough off, or the coffin bone to penetrate the sole.

Acute laminitis usually lasts for only a few days.

External causes, like concussion on hard footing (commonly called “road founder”), chemicals like nitrate fertilizer, infections, colitis, pneumonia or retained placenta in a mare can all cause laminitis.

But those cases often heal and don’t result in chronic laminitis. A horse can have laminitis, heal and not founder.

When the laminae in the foot become so inflamed and damaged that they no longer support the coffin bone, which then rotates and sinks, the condition is then called chronic laminitis or founder.

That is when a long-term maintenance program provides the best possible outcome for the horse living with laminitis.



The signs

The signs can be subtle and confused for something else, like laziness, muscle soreness or arthritis.

Remember, laminitis is usually associated with the horse not wanting to bear weight on the front hooves and rocking his weight back on his haunches.

Not only do the hooves hurt terribly, but this posture quickly becomes painful as well; the horse was designed to bear more standing weight on the forelimbs, and extended periods of weight bearing on the hindquarters stress the joints and create chronic muscle tension.

What isn’t as well recognized is that there are usually early warning signs that a horse is developing laminitis; unless the horse broke into a fifty pound bag of grain, most cases develop over a few days, weeks, or even months.

For example, in early stage laminitis, a good footed horse will start to mince on gravel and walk slowly on concrete for no apparent reason.

A horse with a Grand Prix trot may begin to shuffle like a peanut-rolling pleasure horse.

Another horse may not want to pivot on his front feet.

A horse that would normally race out to pasture now walks or jogs.

While many laminitic horses exhibit the classic signs of heat in the feet and a bounding digital pulse, there are some horses, and especially early stage laminitics, that don’t present these symptoms.

Things to remember

Most laminitis cases are preventable, as they are related to the horse’s diet. Grain overload and too much pasture are very common culprits.

Most all grain products are very high in sugar content, and pasture can fluctuate from moderate to high sugar levels.

This leads to the reason for writing this article at this time of year; many horse owners realize the potential for grass founder in the spring, but don’t know that fall grasses can be just as problematic, as the climatic conditions that produce such rich forage are basically identical in spring and fall.

What is even less known is that some hays may be causing laminitis problems as well, as many of the hays commonly available have been hybridized for maximum sugar content to meet the demands of the dairy industry.

Horse owners wanting to understand the effects of sugar on the horse’s metabolism and how difficult it is to predict sugar content in a particular grass or hay should understand that whether its from grain, grass or hay, this diet rich in sugar triggers the inflammation, and therefore pain, in the hoof.

Other laminitis triggers are not quite as obvious.

Some horses react to certain medications, vaccines and wormers.

Infectious diseases or a retained placenta are also possible causes.

Metabolic disorders such as Cushing’s and insulin resistance can cause chronic laminitis and can be particularly difficult to treat.

And laminitis is not just for obese horses. While obesity may make a particular horse an easier target for a laminitis attack, a thin horse can still be susceptible.

If your horse is suddenly moving differently, and there’s no evidence of injury, take note of what may have changed in the last few weeks.

Is she being fed a different hay?

Has she been put out on pasture?

Has there been any other change in the feeding routine?

Have any medications been administered?

Provide this information to your veterinarian, as these may be clues that the horse is dealing with laminitis.

If laminitis is suspected, contact your veterinarian immediately, remove any identifiable triggers, and make sure the horse is transitioned to a low sugar diet.
An ounce of prevention goes a long way, attacking laminitis before it gets a foothold will save a lot of agony for horse and owner.

Every day veterinarians across the country see hundreds of cases of laminitis, a painful disease which affects the horse's feet.

What's especially alarming is that some cases are preventable. In fact, it may be that we are killing our horses with kindness.

Consider that a common cause of laminitis is overfeeding, a management factor that is normally within our control.

By learning more about laminitis, its causes, signs and treatments, we may be able to minimize the risks of laminitis in your horse, or control the long-term damage if it does occur.



 

Cattle Diagrams - Retail Beef Cuts Chart

BEEF CUTS  

(Courtesy of the Certified Angus Beef® brand)

Beef is divided into sections called primal cuts.

From these large areas, the meat cutter makes smaller portions suitable for individual or family-sized packaging.

Different cuts of beef require unique cooking methods.

A chuck, for example, makes an excellent roast but isn't as pleasing when pan-broiled. With these details in mind, we have prepared the following information for you to use as a guide when selecting and preparing Certified Angus Beef ® cuts.

Chuck

Meat is basically muscle, and the chuck happens to be a heavily exercised area.

Luckily, this area contains a great deal of connective tissue, including collagen. Collagen melts during cooking, making the meat intensely flavorful.

Cuts from this area benefit from slow, wet cooking methods like stewing, braising or pot-roasting.

■Blade Roast - An inexpensive cut which lies next to the ribs; more tender than most chuck; makes an excellent roast.

Alternatively, the roast can be cut into a rib-eye steak, with meat above and below the bone excellent for stir-fry dishes

■Chuck Steak -A good choice for kabobs if well marinated

Rib

Tender and flavorful ribs can be cooked any number of ways. Most recipes call for ribs to be roasted, sauteed, pan-fried, broiled, or grilled.

■Rib Roast - Known as a standing rib roast (bone left in), or without the bone for convenient slicing. Excellent when dry roasted.

A seven-bone prime rib roast can be quite a hefty addition to the dinner table. It is great for a crowd, but for a small family a bone roast will do.

Many butchers will cut a roast to order for you

■Rib Steak -Also cut from the rib section, these tender steaks can be purchased bone-in or as boneless rib-eye

Short Loin

This area boasts extremely tender cuts and can be prepared without the aid of moist heat or long cooking times.

Cuts from the short loin may be sauteed, pan fried, broiled, pan broiled or grilled.

■Porterhouse Steak - A very popular steak cut from the rear end of the short loin; the name originated from the days when it was served in public alehouses that also served a dark beer called porter.

The porterhouse consists of both tenderloin and sirloin tip. The tenderloin is often served separately as filet mignon

■T-bone Steak - Cut from the middle section of the short loin; similar to the porterhouse steak; has a smaller piece of the tenderloin; usually grilled or pan-fried

■Tenderloin - Often considered the most tender cut of beef; responds well to sauces, meaning the meat does not overpower the flavor of the sauce.

It can be cut as the whole strip, or into individual steaks for filet mignon

Sirloin

"The backbone's connected to the - hipbone"- not a song, but a sirloin.

These tender cuts respond well to sauteing, pan-frying, broiling, pan-broiling or grilling.

■Sirloin Steaks - These steaks are available in a variety of boneless and bone-in steaks

■Sirloin Tip Roast - Excellent when dry roasted or marinated

Flank

This meat is lean, muscular and very flavorful. Flank is primarily used for flank steaks and rolled flank steaks. It can also be used for kabobs.

■Flank Steak - This steak has a great flavor, and should be sliced thin against the grain for maximum chewability.

Use to make the classic London broil

Short Plate

This section is best used for stew meat, where its rich, beefy flavor can be appreciated.

Round

The round consists of lean meat well-suited to long, moist cooking methods.

■Top Round - This is the most tender part of the round; it can be prepared as pot roast or cut into thick steaks for braised dishes

■Rump Roast - A very popular cut for pot roast, but can also be roasted at low temperatures

Shank/Brisket

Traditionally used for corned beef, brisket is best prepared with moist heat. Suitable preparation methods include stewing, braising and pot-roasting.

■Foreshank - Excellent stew meat

■Brisket First Cut -A leaner cut of the brisket, for those who want the flavor but not the fat of a brisket pot roast

■Brisket Front Cut -Fork tender and succulent, a Certified Angus Beef ® pot roast made with this cut is truly mouthwatering.

 

California To Pass “Gender Bill”

This is the sort of thing that makes California look like a land of stupidity!

Only in California can a young boy decide that he's really a girl when he is young and still developing mentally.

And yes, with the help of the politically powerful Gay Lobby - the state is now coaxing kids to be what they are not!

A new California State Law will allow students to choose if they are boys or girls - and give them access to girls and boys locker rooms and bathroom facilities.

Yes, believe it or not, it won't matter how you were born - male or female - California wants to give freaks and predators access to our kids.

Though this California liberal insanity will probably pass and subsequently become law, presently, under California law, men are not allowed in the women’s locker rooms and shower areas, for obvious reasons.

These are places where women are partially or wholly undressed and completely vulnerable, and that’s true whether the guy is planning on getting a quick peek or is hoping to engage in even more nefarious behavior.

Nevertheless, the California Senate is currently contemplating – and will almost certainly pass – a bill from California assembling that allows boys to announce that their gender identity is female for purposes of athletic programs, an announcement that gains them full access to girls’ locker rooms at elementary and high schools.

AB-1266 has passed through the California assembly - and since it is a completely Democrat controlled state legislature they didn't need a single Republican vote - and is now waiting for a California Senate vote.

It’s supposedly intended to amend California Education Code section 221.5 "Sex Equity in Education Act".

As currently written, California Education Code section 221.5 states that no elementary or high school students can be barred from classes or forced into classes because of their sex.

The proposed amendment, however, adds a whole new dimension, by letting the students define what their sex is with regard to sports and then giving them access to whatever locker room they prefer.

As insane as this sounds, a pupil shall be permitted to participate in sex-segregated school programs, and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, and use facilities consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s records.

To put this another way, a guy, complete with guy biological equipment, can announce that he’s really a girl and then gain unlimited access to the girls’ locker room.

That locker room, of course, is the place in which adolescent girls take off their clothing to change before and after athletic activities.

Robert Tyler, general counsel for Advocates for Faith & Freedom has spoken to several girls who fully understand the possibilities for abuse.

Taylor says that his organization has spoken to numerous public school girls who feel very vulnerable when they think about a boy announcing that he’s a girl and walking into their locker room.

With this California Law, and don't kid yourself, it will be a law, a boy could choose to be on the girls’ swimming team or a boy could choose to be on the girls’ basketball team based upon his own desire to identity with that sex.

So in other words, so-called "Gender Liberation" for a small minority of people means a high risk potential for a majority of girls.

Yes, a psychologically screwed up individual can claim he is gender-confused and gain access to our children's locker rooms and bathrooms.

As one writer put it, "we continue to believe that people whose brain and body have different gender identities should be treated with compassion. That does not mean, however, that their rights should trump the rights of the majority."

Reasonable accommodation is reasonable. Unreasonable accommodation, however, becomes bullying."

And yes, I agree. This is utter bullshit! There is no reason for this to be taking place in our schools - even in ass backwards California!

It's no wonder more and more people are pulling their kids out of public schools to home school their children.

Besides the drugs and the violence, besides the lack of education, besides the liberal indoctrination which is apparently the top priority for so-called "educators," now California parents will have to worry about the privacy and safety of their children even in the school locker rooms and bathrooms.

Potential predators will have access to our children because the liberal maniacs in the State capital in Sacramento have gone crazy with their forced social-engineering for the worse!

That's how I see it!

Did the NSA target Conservatives as Terrorists?

Was the NSA used to treat Conservatives as Terrorists Suspects?

These are sad days for America.

Especially when a citizen has to ask if anyone has questioned who specially did the NSA gathered records from? Who did they go after?

Did the National Security Agency target Conservatives as "terrorist suspects"?

It's an easy question. Yet, I don't hear anyone asking it.

Back in 2009, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said she knew about an intelligence assessment which lists returning veterans among terrorist risks to the U.S.

At the time, politicians were saying that the report raised significant issues involving the privacy and civil liberties of many Americans - including war veterans.

Napolitano defended the report, which said "rightwing extremism" may include groups opposed to abortion and immigration policies.

“The document on right-wing extremism sent last week by this department’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis is one in an ongoing series of assessments to provide situational awareness to state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies on the phenomenon and trends of violent radicalization in the United States,” Ms. Napolitano said in her statement at the time.

When this took place, Napolitano insisted that the Department of Homeland Security was not planning on engaging in any form of "ideological profiling."

She said, "Let me be very clear: We monitor the risks of violent extremism taking root here in the United States. We don’t have the luxury of focusing our efforts on one group; we must protect the country from terrorism whether foreign or homegrown, and regardless of the ideology that motivates its violence."

She went on to say, "We are on the lookout for criminal and terrorist activity but we do not - nor will we ever - monitor ideology or political beliefs."

The Washington Times reported that the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) issued the April 7th, 2009, nine-page document titled -

"Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment."

At the time, Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said, "This report appears to raise significant issues involving the privacy and civil liberties of many Americans - including war veterans."

Mr. Thompson’s letter to Napolitano said,

"I am particularly struck by the report’s conclusion which states that I&A 'will be working with its state and local partners over the next several months to ascertain with greater regional specificity the rise in rightwing extremist activity in the United States with a particular emphasis on the political, economic, and social factors that drive rightwing extremist radicalization.' "

He demanded to know what types of activities the Homeland Security Department had planned for “the next several months.”

“Rightwing extremism,” the report said in a footnote on Page 2, goes beyond religious and racial hate groups and extends to “those that are mainly anti-government, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely.”

“It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration,” said the report.

How about opposition to radical Islam, environmental extremeist, ObamaCare, the running of guns in Mexico illegally, the IRS treatment of Conservatives, gun-control, over-taxation, over-regulation, giving billions of tax dollars to foreign countries not friendly to the United States yet cutting services for Americans?

Would opposition to these issues warrant us being investigated by Homeland Security and the NSA?

It certainly is a "red flag" for the IRS, the EPA, and a host of other government agencies.

The 2009 report also listed gun owners and veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars as potential risks.

How did we know that these are the people that the Obama administration haven't been targeting all along? We don't, but its more than possible that that is the case.

The assessment was the first Homeland Security report under the Obama Administration  that examined threats based on political conservative affiliation. 

At the time, even the ACLU said, "Certainly, the right-wing report is focused far too much on rhetoric and things people say and things people think rather than on criminal activity and the people involved in criminal activity. There is plenty of crime out there for federal, state and local law enforcement to worry about. They don’t need to invent threats that they have no factual basis for supporting."

The American Legion, an organization that I am proud to belong to, said that the report unfairly stereotypes veterans.

Back then, Napolitano and the agency she heads characterized men and women returning home after defending our country as potential terrorists.

So now, we need to know, did Homeland Security and the National Security Agency conspire against a single segment of the American population since 2009 when Obama took office?

As offensive and unacceptable as that was, one can't help but wonder if conservatives and returning veterans have been targeted by the Department of Homeland Security and the NSA.

On this weekend’s “Fox News Sunday,” Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul suggested taking the government to court over its tracking of private citizens’ phone records.

According to Paul, going after specific individuals with a search warrant was reasonable. However, he said "trolling" billions of records was not acceptable.

"My suspicion is, and a lot of this is classified — the other side gets to promote their case and we don’t get the information — but my suspicion is that this gentleman was targeted because they suspected him for being a terrorist," Paul said.

"I have no problem if you have probable cause and you target people who are terrorist and people who they are communicating with, and you get a warrant. But we’re talking about trolling through billions of phone records."

For me, I want to know, who did those phone records belong to?

Was their search based on someone's political conservative ideology and affiliations with the Tea Party and other Conservative groups and individuals?

Did they in fact use that Homeland Security report back in 2009 and run with it?

Remember, this has been going on a long time now!

I cannot find another time in our nation's history when so many government agencies and employees at every level have been so driven by the liberal ideology.

Yes, their venomous hate for conservatives has corrupted their sense of reason.

But corrupt or not, we need answers as to who the NSA targeted and why? Was it because they are conservatives?


Story by Tom Correa