16 for '16: The Most Talked-About GOP Presidential Contenders

By Todd Beamon and Bill Hoffmann

NEWSMAX

 

With former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's announcement this month that he would "actively explore" a run for the White House in 2016, the race for the Republican nomination has begun.

Bush is among many possible contenders. They span the full conservative spectrum, from tea party-based legislators like Texas Sen. Ted Cruz to former three-time New York Gov. George Pataki and other moderates and liberals including New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

The winner may possibly square off against former Democrat Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She is expected to announce her decision early next year.

"It is going to be a big field," Kyle Kondik, a political analyst for the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, recently told Newsmax. "There's going to be a lot of capable people in the field."

Here's a snapshot of 16 possible contenders (listed alphabetically) for the 2016 Republican nomination:

John Bolton

Personal: Age: 66; U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under former President George W. Bush; married, one child.

Pros: Strong foreign policy credentials; considered honest, straightforward and direct.

Cons: Seen as lacking in charisma; considered a neoconservative and a war hawk.

Related Story: John Bolton: 'Let's Keep the North Koreans Guessing'

Jeb Bush

Personal: Age: 61; former two-term governor of Florida; son of former President George H.W. Bush and brother of former President George W. Bush; married, three children.

Pros: Regarded as a successful and popular governor in a key battleground state; member of the Bush political dynasty; has high Latino support; speaks Spanish.

Cons: Has the electorate had enough of the Bush family? If he runs against Hillary Clinton, one could ask the same question about that surname. Backs Common Core and immigration reform, two unpopular issues with Republicans.

Related Story: Jeb Bush Continues to Resign from Boards as 2016 Run Talk Grows

Dr. Ben Carson

Personal: Age: 63; retired director of pediatric neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University Hospital; married, three children.

Pros: Rational, plain speaking; brilliant medical background; gained national attention with biting speech against Obamacare at the 2013 National Prayer Breakfast, as President Barack Obama sat on the dais.

Cons: Has never held political office and lacks political experience on any level; likely considered a one-trick-pony opposing Obamacare.

Related Story: Ben Carson: Obama Helping Illegals While Appalachia, Cities Rot

Obama Admin Apparently Considers Israel One of Most ‘Unacceptable’ Countries

Leah Barkoukis / Townhall Tipsheet

In an article explaining why North Korea is not a state sponsor of terrorism, Foreign Policy calls for the U.S. to do away with this old classification in favor of a new designation: the “Unacceptables List.”

“This category would cover all foreign governments whose actions U.S. officials routinely deride as “unacceptable,” but then do very little in response to prevent or deter those actions from reoccurring,” the article states before going on provide a few examples.

This would provide diplomatically interesting results. For example, using the State Department search engine, the top 10 countries for whom “unacceptable” was most often used in conjunction with since the start of the Obama administration: Syria (147), Iran (118), North Korea (115), Israel (87), Pakistan (83), Russia (78), Egypt (77), China (74), Afghanistan (66), and Iraq (63).

Hmm, notice how our “strongest ally and greatest friend” is sandwiched nicely between a communist dictatorship and a safe haven for terrorists? Israeli news website Ynetnews did:

Most of the condemnations relating to Israel involved building in settlements or the announcement of plans to construct additional housing behind the Green Line. Government spokespeople also castigated Israel for civilian casualties during Operation Protective Edge. […]

The US State Department is not the only entity in the international diplomacy arena that tends to recycle certain phrases. Ynet found that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon used the word "concerned" 140 times in 2014 in statements responding to events. Israel and Palestine were the most concerning places of 2014, with 19 press releases using the term.

"The absurd and arbitrary way in which the United States condemns her allies more than her enemies only serves to render Washington’s pronouncements meaningless in the eyes of most Israelis," Israel Today's David Lazarus writes.  

After all, he observes, "How can building homes in Jerusalem be condemned on par with the actions of nations repeatedly engaged in aggressive and murderous violence towards their own civilian populations with absolutely no regard for human rights?“

Obamacare's Annus Horribilis
Michelle Malkin / Townhall Columnist

There's no candy coating the truth: Obamacare has had a very terrible, horrible, crappy, none-too-happy year. What it really means is that the victims of Obamacare -- taxpayers, health care consumers, health care providers, employers and employees -- have had a hellish, nightmarish 2014.

Let's start with premiums. President Candy Land promised that he'd "lower premiums by up to $2,500 for a typical family per year." But premiums for people in the individual market for health insurance have spiked over the last year. In fact, Forbes health policy journalist Avik Roy and the Manhattan Institute analyzed 3,137 counties and found that individual market premiums rose an average of 49 percent.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services itself admitted this month that average premiums will rise at least five percent for the lowest-cost plans offered by federal Obamacare health care exchanges. Democrats' reaction? Obamacare rate shock doesn't matter ... because government is redistributing the burden and taxpayers are footing the bill! HHS crowed this week that nearly 90 percent of exchange enrollees received public subsidies in order to pay their premiums.

"Affordable" doesn't mean what White House truth-warpers says it means -- just like everything else they've spewed about the doomed federal takeover of health policy in America.

As the White House tries to hype year-end enrollment numbers and hide Obamacare-imposed cancellations, just remember that the administration got caught this fall cooking the books by including 380,000 dental plan subscribers that have never been counted before. Innocent oopsie? The "erroneous" inflation just happened to push the Obamacare enrollment figures over the president's 7 million goal, while fudging the attrition of more than 1 million enrolled in Obamacare medical insurance plans.

Obama’s See-No-Islam Policy Forces Military Rethink, “We do not understand the movement, and until we do, we are not going to defeat it”

 Pamela Geller / Atlas Shrugs

As I have said every day for the past decade, you can’t defeat an enemy that you refuse to name or speak of (in accordance with Obama’s sharia-compliant restrictions on jihad).  Just this morning I said (yet again) that the political, cultural and media elites still fail to grasp the theological issues that drive this savage movement.

Now a General is admitting it.

It is good that someone in a position of power and influence finally understands that the rivers of blood will not stop under Obama’s see-no-Islam, hear-no-Islam, speak-no Islam edict. What took so long?

“We do not understand the movement, and until we do, we are not going to defeat it,” said Maj. Gen. Michael Nagata. They do not understand...

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Living on Mars is un-Islamic, and five other weird fatwas from 2014

By Robert Spencer / Jihad Watch

 

This post could be entitled The Wacky Side of Sharia were it not for the unaccountable human suffering caused by #2 (and the beliefs that it echoed and reaffirmed) in the Islamic State, as well as in Nigeria. “Six weirdest fatwas of 2014,” Egypt Independent, December 30, 2014:

“God’s agents” — that was the term that famed 13th-century Islamic Jurist Ibn al-Qaayyim al-Jawziya gave to reflect how critical and sensitive it is to be a mufti, an Islamic scholar approached for religious opinions pertaining to all matters of Muslims’ lives.

Despite that sensitivity, several fatwas (religious edicts) that were issued throughout 2014 not only stirred controversy, but also inspired biting sarcasm from observers. Here are a number of those opinions that are believed to have failed to live up to the earnestness of the position.

1. Take a stealthy look at your bathing fiancee
Social network users circulated a video of preacher Ossama al-Quosy, who said it was permissible for a man to take a quick, stealthy look at his fiancee while she is showering, only on the condition that he has an earnest intention of getting married to her.

Literal interpretation of Islamic teachings prohibit women from showing any parts of their bodies, except the face and the hands, to men other than their husbands.

2. The return of concubation
A video was also trending on Youtube of Jordanian preacher Yassin al-Aglouny, in which he stated that female Syrian refugees are allowed to ask financially-able Muslim men to shelter them as “concubines.”

RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS...LIVE...TODAY

Today, Wednesday, December 31st, on RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS on CPR Worldwide Media from 2 to 4pm EST, Craig and Diane will wrap-up the years major events and give their predictions for 2015 as we start the countdown to the 2016 presidential elections.

Hope you can join us...http://cprworldwidemedia.com/live-radio/
and chat with live shows at
https://www.facebook.com/groups/cprworldwidemedia/

Op-ed:
Playing on the Game Board that is the Middle East
By: Diane Sori

“We have come close to the motherland of corruption – the cursed Israel. With Allah’s help, we will trample over their bodies.”
One of many messages posted to a twitter account connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps @ IRGCnetwork

On Monday, Pamela Geller posted on her blog 'Atlas Shrugs' a piece about Iranian soldiers being photographed about a week and a half ago in both the Bekaa Valley and Baalbek in southern Lebanon near the border of Israeli-occupied Palestine (http://pamelageller.com/2014/12/iranian-...) and if you do NOT think this is serious folks you have NO clue about the grave ramifications this has NOT only for Israel but for the U.S. as well. And with other recent yet still unfolding events pointing to the fact that soon there will most likely be a war between Israel and Iran, and with Hezbollah...controlled by their puppet masters Iran right there on the front lines of the attack...we will see a tandem effort by both to try and wipe Israel off the map.

Notice I say 'try.'

And what of the photos themselves...photos of soldiers that are a sad yet scary harbinger of things to come...photos of soldiers wearing generic military fatigues but with patches of the flags of both Iran and Hezbollah upon them. And remember too that Iran has freely admitted sending military advisers to assist Syria and Iraq in their fight against Sunni-led rebels as they are probably the staunchest ally that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has. In fact, just this past October...and kept for the most part hidden from us by the Obama-controlled media...Iran actually told us of its plan to send a large weapons shipment to the Lebanese Army and to Hezbollah “in order to improve security in Lebanon and the region, and to combat terrorists.”

Terrorists combating terrorists...NO I do NOT think so...terrorists aiding terrorists is more like it.

But while admitting to one plan Iran denies...with fingers crossed behind their back of course...the most serious aspect of this equation...that being their sending of combat forces to both countries. And to that affect isn't it anything but coincidental that now all of a sudden terrorist/jihadist acts have increased in both countries.

So with this latest influx of Iranian weapons being sent to Hezbollah, Hezbollah can prepare itself for an Iran orchestrated attack against Israel, ignoring the fact that Israel will then be obligated to retaliate against them and they will do so with more strength than they ever have before, because with Iran in the mix their very survival as a Jewish state would depend on it. And this time know there will be NO returning to the table to have 'so-called' peace talks NO matter the words, wishes, wants, demands, or hissy-fits made by the likes of Barack HUSSEIN Obama or his buffoon of a side-kick John 'Swiftboat' Kerry.

And hovering above all and casting a very ominous shadow remains Iran's still continuing nuclear ambitions...nuclear ambitions that if successful could then fall into the hands of simply put...very bad people.

So as the players move their pieces into place on the board known as the Middle East are we now on the cusp of World War III. Some might say we are in the Biblical sense, but since I deal only in the tangible here are now I believe the end can still be avoided through the actions, strength, and courage of one man and one man alone...that being Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu...a man whom I and my RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS radio partner Craig Andresen consider to be the world's last great statesman for what is a statesman but a leader whose wisdom and integrity win them respect whether you agree with their stances or NOT and Netanyahu most assuredly personifies both qualities.

And while Barack HUSSEIN Obama does NOT respect Netanyahu...as he respects NO one except maybe his fellow brother in hate the anything but Reverend Al Sharpton...he does fear him for he knows BiBi will only allow himself and Israel to be pushed just so far.

And a great statesman knows when others who play on the political stage must be publicly admonished, and to that affect Benjamin Netanyahu is the only one who has stood steady and strong in condemning the U(seless)N(ations) for its in-your-face obvious bias against Israel, as evidenced by their placing resolution after resolution against the Jewish State yet nary a word is said against those who perpetrate violence against Israel. “We will continue to insist on our truth and we will also continue to vigorously rebuff attempts to force terms on us that would endanger our security and our future. We expect national unity on this national issue,” Netanyahu has said, and those are fighting words with NO room for placating the enemy. Unlike the words and actions of Barack HUSSEIN Obama, the very man who coddles, placates, and then acquiesces to America's enemies...the very man who has eased sanctions on Iran thus allowing them the time and monies needed to move forward...and NOT so secretively I might add...with their nuclear ambitions...thus willingly paving the way for Iran to be on the threshold of developing a nuclear weapon...if NOT actually securing one.

And Netanyahu alone seems to understand that Iran must be completely neutralized of its ability to assume any and all nuclear capabilities, all while Obama continues to stress that he is open to Iran continuing to enrich uranium for their who-are-they-trying-to-kid 'civilian use' scenario NO matter that the dismantling deadlines regarding their enrichment of uranium...deadlines they themselves have agreed to...have come and gone. And as Netanyahu has said on more than one occasion, "...a nuclear-armed Iran would pose a far greater threat to the world than ISIS fighters ever could." And that threat includes Iran's goal of also securing ballistic missiles for its ballistic long-range missiles that deliver nuclear warheads and it's ballistic missiles that could easily reach the U.S. as they do NOT need them to reach close-by Israel.

And lest we forget that Iran by their very actions...actions that include now having soldiers reportedly being positioned on Israel's borders...actions that include their recently having deployed a so-called 'suicide drone' (which can strike targets on land, in the air, or on the sea) in its still ongoing 13,000 man military drills near the ubber strategic Strait of Hormuz at the entrance to the Persian Gulf...actions that let the U.S., Israel, and the world know that its nuclear weapons...if gotten...would become an 'end times' of sorts in all tangible meaning for both the Jewish state and the 'Great Satan.'

So while Israel and most assuredly Netanyahu sees Iran's actions for what they are, know that Obama while seeing them simply does NOT care, while the rest of the world just looks away.

And like I previously said, the players are in place, but know that circumstances have forced Israel...have forced Netanyahu...to be the one to stop Iran’s nuclear ambitions as Obama simply will NOT do it nor does he want to do it. And know that Israel under Netanyahu's leadership will do it unilaterally if need be as he does NOT need Obama's nor anyone else's permission to do what needs to be done to assure Israel's survival and that he is also ready militarily to get that job done.... translation: Benjamin Netanyahu will NEVER allow a nuclear armed Iran...period.

And that is what makes Benjamin Netanyahu a great statesman for only a great statesman knows when the sword is mightier than the pen...or a phone for that matter.

**************************************************************

Today, Wednesday, December 31st, on RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS on CPR Worldwide Media from 2 to 4pm EST, Craig and Diane will wrap-up the years major events and give their predictions for 2015 as we start the countdown to the 2016 presidential elections.

Hope you can join us...http://cprworldwidemedia.com/live-radio/
and chat with live shows at
https://www.facebook.com/groups/cprworldwidemedia/

WILL OBAMA DEFY CONGRESS ON GITMO PRISONERS?

Byron York / Townhall Columnist

 

President Obama has long advocated closing the U.S. terrorist prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He likely would have done it long ago, had Congress not stopped him.

Now, however, Obama is not in the mood to abide by anything Congress says. And he is again talking about closing Guantanamo.

The result could be an ugly and protracted fight between the president and lawmakers of both parties. But it's also possible Obama will avoid a conflict and simply use his executive authority to release a prisoner here, a prisoner there, until Guantanamo is very nearly empty -- all done without any meaningful debate.

Meanwhile, as he has done with immigration, the environment and Cuba, Obama will essentially dare Congress to do anything about it. It's all part of the new executive-action presidency.

Back in 2010, when the House and Senate were still controlled by Democrats, huge bipartisan majorities opposed Obama's plan to close Guantanamo and transfer its inmates to the United States. A defense spending bill passed unanimously by the Senate in December 2010 barred the president from spending any funds to transfer inmates to the United States or to close the prison.

Here Comes the Obama Veto Pen

Kevin Glass / Townhall Tipsheet

 

President Obama has pledged to the GOP that he won't hesitate to be obstructionist when Republicans pass legislation to affect positive change in the country. 

 

As the Associated Press reported, President Obama made those remarks in an NPR interview:

Since taking office in 2009, Obama has only vetoed legislation twice, both in fairly minor circumstances. But with Republicans set to take full control of Congress next year, Obama is losing his last bulwark against a barrage of bills he doesn't like: the Senate.

"I haven't used the veto pen very often since I've been in office," Obama said in an NPR interview airing Monday. "Now, I suspect, there are going to be some times where I've got to pull that pen out."

He added: "I'm going to defend gains that we've made in health care. I'm going to defend gains that we've made on environment and clean air and clean water."

Emphasis added. And in that first paragraph is the key of what establishment journalists miss when they talk about "Republican obstructionism." Harry Reid has acted as President Obama's proxy in the Senate to kill bills that even both Republicans and Democrats have agreed on that would have made it uncomfortable for Obama and made it look unseemly for him to use his veto pen. Mitch McConnell promised that he won't protect his members in the Senate from taking uncomfortable votes, and that also means that President Obama will be placed in more of those uncomfortable situations.

California Mosque Christmas Day Attack Turns Out Not as Police, Media, ‘Islamophobia’ Grievance Industry Expect, it was a Muslim

Pamela Geller / Atlas Shrugs

More faked hate. And still no media mea culpa.

As I pointed out yet again last week when the latest FBI released the latest hate crime stats, claims about “Islamophobia” are false. Most religiously motivated hate crimes were anti-Jewish, and Muslims suffered fewer total incidents than many groups and fewer per capita than gays or Jews.

The myth of islamophobia is an industry, the big lie, to silence critics of jihad and Islam. And every time another mosque is “attacked,” media heads explode with cries of racism (Islam  is not a race) and hate. They never report the follow-up story — the kicker — that the perp is Muslim. More often than not, the attacker is Muslim — so as to give proof to the...

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US Special Ops commander on Islamic State: “We do not understand the movement, and until we do, we are not going to defeat it”

By Robert Spencer  / Jihad Watch

 

What Major General Nagata says is absolutely correct: the U.S. government and military does not understand the Islamic State, and as long as that continues, the U.S. will never defeat the Islamic State. But why don’t they understand the Islamic State? Because the Obama Administration has forbidden investigation of Islamic doctrine in connection with terrorism. The Obama Administration wants to pretend that jihad terror has nothing to do with Islam. As long as it persists in this delusion, the U.S. will never understand — or defeat — the Islamic State.

“In Battle to Defang ISIS, U.S. Targets Its Psychology,” by Eric Schmitt, New York Times, December 28, 2014 (thanks to Bill):

WASHINGTON — Maj. Gen. Michael K. Nagata, commander of American Special Operations forces in the Middle East, sought help this summer in solving an urgent problem for the American military: What makes the Islamic State so dangerous?

Trying to decipher this complex enemy — a hybrid terrorist organization and a conventional army — is such a conundrum that General Nagata assembled an unofficial brain trust outside the traditional realms of expertise within the Pentagon, State Department and intelligence agencies, in search of fresh ideas and inspiration. Business professors, for example, are examining the Islamic State’s marketing and branding strategies.

“We do not understand the movement, and until we do, we are not going to defeat it,” he said, according to the confidential minutes of a conference call he held with the experts.

“We have not defeated the idea. We do not even understand the idea.”

Oklahoma City beheader's mosque imam claims he has a "certificate of 'Apostolic Succession'"

Germany: Muslims storm church on Christmas Eve, shout "shit Christians"

 

Krauthammer: GOP Congress Should Tell Obama to 'Bring It On'

By: Greg Richter / NEWSMAX

The newly elected Republican Congress should use its power to differentiate itself from President Barack Obama, conservative commentator Charles Krauthammer told Fox News Channel on Monday.

Obama told National Public Radio recently that he's pretty likely to bring out his veto pen during his last two years in office as Republicans send him bills he doesn't like.

"I think the Republicans ought to say bring it on, Mr. President," Krauthammer told "On the Record with Greta Van Susteren." 

The party can best position itself for the 2016 presidential election by showing that it controls the House and Senate now that Democrat Sen. Harry Reid will no longer be acting as "blocking guard" for Obama, Krauthamer said. Reid's refusal to take up controversial legislation kept Obama from having to use his veto pen until now, he said.

With Republican Mitch McConnell running the Senate, the GOP will be able to enact its agenda, Krauthammer said, "And they should be willing to pass whatever they can and to dare the president to go ahead and to veto."

He suggested first passing legislation they know Obama will sign, such as trade negotiating authority, which both Obama and Republicans favor.

"But then they should begin to work on stuff and challenge the president," Krauthammer said, pointing specifically to the Keystone XL pipeline, tax reform and repealing the medical device tax and the employer and individual mandates of Obamacare.

"Let the president show where the party stands, and let the country know that with a new president —  a Republican president — this stuff, which is very popular, will be able to get through," he said.

The IRS Needs More of Your Money So They Can Tax More of Your Money

Michael Schaus / Townhall Columnist

 

 

The favorite government agency of statists, liberals, and progressives is worried that it might not have enough funding to adequately separate Americans from their hard earned money. The IRS commissioner John Koskinen complained to congress that the agency may not have budgeted enough next year to effectively carry out its duties. According to the AP: 

 

Budget cuts at the IRS could delay tax refunds, reduce taxpayer services and hurt enforcement efforts, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said Thursday.

Apparently 11 billion dollars just won’t cut it for the Federal Revenuers. In addition to needing billions of dollars to pay pensions, target conservative non-profits, and purchase almost $100 million worth of office furniture, the agency is arguing it needs a couple billion more to do its actual job. Koskinen is terribly worried that all us commoners won’t be able to receive our refunds in a timely manner. (You know what a refund is, right? It’s all that money you overpaid to the IRS, which they kept all year long without paying you interest… Yeah, he’s worried you won’t get that back on time.)

"Everybody's return will get processed," Koskinen told reporters. "But people have gotten very used to being able to file their return and quickly getting a refund. This year we may not have the resources, the people to provide refunds as quickly as we have in the past." In recent years, the IRS says it was able to issue most tax refunds within 21 days, if the returns were filed electronically.

Whoa… Twenty one days! Holy cow! We should slow things down a bit. I mean, we don’t want the general public expecting the type of efficiency generally associated with newfangled technology, like steam engine mail delivery or anything.

New Al Qaeda Magazine Urges Bombing More Planes, Lone Wolf Attacks

Leah Barkoukis / Townhall Tipsheet

 

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is out with a new issue of Inspire, its online English language magazine that’s dedicated to promoting ‘jihad in America.’ And predictably, the group continues to be fixated on airplanes.

“Destination airport, and Guess What’s on the Menu?” is the title to the opening spread of the cover story about how to bomb passenger planes in the slick, professionally designed new issue ofInspiremagazine published by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Releasing the digital magazine on Christmas Eve is unlikely a coincidence; it’s the 5th anniversary of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's Christmas Day 2009 bombing attempt on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 as it was on its landing approach to Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport.

The entire issue is devoted to inspiring lone wolf jihadists in the US and the West, and especially urges attacks on commercial passenger planes. A lengthy section provides detailed instructions on how to build a new bomb AQAP purports can be “hidden” not only on aircraft, but also to blow up other targets with the intent of causing ripples throughout US and Western economies.

The magazine, titled “Neurotmesis: Cutting the Nerves and Isolating the Head,” lists several domestic and international airlines as targets, as well as “direct economic targets,” “economic personalities” and “wealthy entrepreneurs or company owners.”

Also notable in this issue is their detailed instructions for how to make “The Hidden Bomb” and turn kitchens into the new lab for doing so.

“Initially, what we faced as a main problem was: How can a lone Mujahid acquire the required explosive materials. For several months, we conducted a number of experiments. As a result we came up with these simple materials that are readily available around the globe, even inside America - and this is our goal,” AQAP said.


“We spared no effort in simplifying the idea in such we made it 'another meal prepared in the kitchen' so that every determined Muslim can prepare.”
Detailed instructions such as these were used by the Boston Marathon bombers in 2013 to carry out their attack. Dzokhar Tsarnaev admitted to investigators that he and his brother learned to make pressure cooker bombs from an Inspire issue, which ran a feature article titled “How to Build a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom.”

Report: North Korea Blackmailed Politicians, Journalists
By Todd Beamon / NEWSMAX

In an elaborate scheme dating back to the father of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the government has blackmailed possibly hundreds of high-level visitors with female agents who later became pregnant, according to a former elite North Korean politician.

"They will do anything they need to in order to keep the regime going," Jang Jin-sung, who defected to South Korea in January 2004 and later founded the New Focus dissident website, told The Telegraph of London.

He was the official poet to the North Korean government and was among the nation's elite known as "The Admitted," according to the Telegraph. He discussed the scheme — known as "the seed-bearing program" — in his recent book about the Pyongyang government, "Dear Leader."

"It doesn't matter to them if something is criminal and, to be honest, the seed-bearing program is nothing compared to what they are willing to do," Jang said.

The scheme began under Kim's father, Kim Jong-il, after efforts to capture foreign nationals and turn them into spies in the 1970s failed, he said. It targets politicians, executives — even journalists.

This is how it works, according to Jang:

"The regime mainly targets foreigners who go to Pyongyang and, over time, build up a friendship with the woman who has been assigned to them as a translator or assistant. But these women are in reality agents of the regime.

"The men don't want to believe they have been fooled," he told The Telegraph. "They want to think that it is a genuine relationship.

"Some months later, when the man has left Pyongyang, he is told that the woman has had a baby.

"These men are specifically targeted because of their value to the North," Jang said.

"Politicians are good because they have a lot of influence, wealthy businessmen can provide economic benefits and religious figures can give them money through their charities."

Journalists have been forced to write positive stories about Pyongyang, while executives have created ventures with local companies, he told The Telegraph.

The program has been active all these years, Jang said.

"There are districts in Pyongyang where the half-foreign children are kept, effectively as hostages," he said.

The children are monitored by an office of the Worker's Party's Strategic Command, Jang told the Telegraph — and all their needs are addressed by the North Korean government.

Iranian Soldiers Photographed on Israel’s Border: ‘with Allah’s help, we will trample their bodies’
Pamela Geller / Atlas Shrugs

More of the poison fruit of Obama’s savage sanction and legitimacy of the Iranian mullocracy. Disaster looms under the terror president.

“Iranian Soldiers Photographed on Israel’s Border,” By Cynthia Blank INN, December 28, 2014

Iran’s military published photos of soldiers on Israel’s border with the message: ‘with Allah’s help, we will trample their bodies.’

The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) has published a report documenting photographs of Iranian Revolutionary Guard soldiers “killing time” at the Lebanon-Israel border.

Preliminary information suggests the pictures were taken in October, but were released only recently, along with verbal threats against...

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Netanyahu: Iran increasing efforts to deepen jihad activities in West Bank

By Robert Spencer / Jihad Watch

 

Iran is Shi’ite, but the Iranian mullahs hate Israel and the Jews more than they hate the Sunni jihadists in Judea and Samaria. Also, by aiding Sunni jihad activity, the Iranians continue to try to position themselves as the world leader of Muslims — a position for which they have a good deal of competition.

“Netanyahu: Iran increasing efforts to deepen terrorist activities in West Bank,” by Herb Keinon, Jerusalem Post, December 28, 2014:

Prime Minister Netanyahu condemns UN for not responding to PA official who said he is “excited” by Iranian directives to send weapons to West Bank.

Iran is increasing its efforts to “deepen” its terrorist activities in the West Bank, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the cabinet at its weekly meeting on Sunday.

“No less a personage than the Palestinian Authority’s ambassador in Tehran said that he is excited by the directives of Iran’s ruler [Ali] Khamaeni to send weapons to the West Bank,” Netanyahu said.

The prime minister directly quoted the Palestinian envoy as saying, “The Zionist entity is an aggressive cancerous growth that sooner or later must be eliminated,” he said.

Netanyahu emphasized that these were not the words of a Hamas representative, but rather that of the Palestinian Authority’s official in Iran.

“Now what does the UN do in response?” Netanyahu asked. “Instead of dealing with this incitement, it gives it a place of honor, the same incitement that leads in the end to the terror acts that we have experienced lately.”…

Nigerian Muslim leader: "Islam stands for peace," Boko Haram un-Islamic

German Finance Minister: "People are right to fear Islamist terrorism. But not Islam"