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Nevada is dropping its defense of a state ban on gay marriage. This despite Nevada’s voters approving a state constitutional amendment by wide margins in back-to-back elections in 2000 and 2002 barring same-sex marriage, establishing that “only a marriage between a male and a female person shall be recognized and given effect.”

The move, made by the state’s Democratic attorney general with the support of its Republican governor, does not legalize gay marriage in Nevada but removes the state as an opponent of those fighting to overturn the ban in federal court.

A group of eight same-sex couples sued to challenge the ban as unconstitutional, saying the state’s domestic-partnership statute relegates them to second-class status. They lost at the district court level, but appealed to the 9th Circuit.

State Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto says after careful review, the state has filed a motion to withdraw a brief filed last month in support of the ban in a case pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. That ruling was issued the same day Masto filed her earlier brief in defense of Nevada’s same-sex marriage ban, on January 21st.

In supporting Masto’s move, Governor Brian Sandoval, who is seeking re-election this year, says the state’s ban would not hold up to legal scrutiny.

Seventeen states as well as the District of Columbia now recognizing same-sex marriage. Federal court rulings could add Utah and Oklahoma to that group if legal decisions overturning gay marriage bans in those states are upheld.

The passing of Shirley Temple at the age of 85 brings to close the University of Nevada, Reno’s history during the golden age of Hollywood. Shirley played the part of ‘Ellen Baker,’ a journalism student enrolled at ‘Clemens University,’ in “Mr. Belvedere Goes to College.”

The make-believe school in reality is the campus of UNR. The 1949 film features Clifton Webb as snobbish writer Lynn Belvedere, who enrolls at the university with the plan to get a four-year degree in only a year.

After rising to fame at the age of six in 1934 with her performance in ‘Bright Eyes,’ Shirley starred in a series of films, that saw her become the top grossing star at the American box-office during the height of the Depression. In all, she starred in 14 short films and 43 feature films between 1931 and 1961.

In early 1950, while vacationing in Hawaii, Shirley met and fell in love with Charles Alden Black, who passed away in 2005.  In later life, she became a United States ambassador to Ghana and later Czechoslovakia.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

Sometimes I find myself completely surprised by the responses I get from articles I’ve posted. For instance,  I wrote and shared an angry ‘obituary,’ in November 2011, for my brother, Adam because neither his widow or children had.

Because of that ‘obituary,’ I’ve learned more about Adam than I ever thought possible. There is the fact that he had a child with a woman while he was in the service.

That child is now a 27-year old man and is my nephew. His mother and I are in contact having spent time sharing our memories of Adam with one another.

Furthermore, I’ve learned of the ‘tender’ side my brother had when it came to romance from a letter I recently received. I feel it’s only right to share it with you this St. Valentines Day:

Dear Tom,

I have just learned of Adam’s death. I am so very heart-sick and sad. I have cried a little all day today. I out of the “blue” today just looked up Adam’s name to see his whereabouts and I just wondered about him. I have very fond, loving, innocent memories of Adam because he was the 1st boy I  kissed.

When I was 15-years-old I met Adam at Camp Marigold, right behind his house there in Klamath, California. That is when we were both so young and innocent. He would try to impress me with his strong muscles and would take me and my brothers and sisters up in the woods. We were the same age, but he had told me he was 18. I learned this later on. At the time of our long family vacation Adam would talk to us girls through the back window of the “Hunting Lodge” cabin at Camp Marigold. I was so impressed with him and how beautiful the redwoods were because I was from San Diego, California. Adam took me on a picnic at “Hidden Beach” which was just past “The Trees of Mystery” and around the bend of the Lagoon pond. Adam made us a lunch and we had a magical, sweet, clean romantic time for 15-year-old kids. He was so funny, sweet and good. I am so sure God will bless him for his gentlemanly behavior.

I was the eldest of 10 kids and my Dad was a California Highway Patrol Officer.  So as all my sisters and brothers were running about Camp Marigold Adam planted a kiss on my lips as I leaned against the cabin, but four of my sisters came out of hiding squealing as they witnessed that tender moment of ours. I was very dismayed at them, but it was probably good they were around.

Adam and I wrote little love letters and sent presents to each other for 3 years by mail. I truly thought I loved him. And i suppose I always will in a very special way. His letters were so very sincere and I would cherish each one as they came in the mail. I would always enjoy writing him back. I think I still have a heart pendant made of Tiger’s eye stone. My father and mother kept me hoping for another vacation at Camp Marigold, but they never made it possible. I have since been there several times throughout the years with my husband and kids. I even looked up in the woods, thinking of Adam. We were not in contact at all when I was married.

I am at least glad that you posted about Adam’s life. Much here I did not know. I did not know how he suffered with depression. At age 19 I was looking at the time to be a cloistered Discalced Carmelite Nun, the ones that wear the conservative brown habit, but God had a different plan for me. While I still am a Discalced Carmelite, I am a 3rd order, which means single or married. (The 1st are the priests and 2nd order are the sisters.) I have been a Carmelite for 30 years, now at age 50. Our vocation is we pray for the world and others.

I was contacted by Adam at two different times after I was already married with two children at the time. I was 22 or so and was conflicted about reciprocating contact. I did not write him back. I am still married and now have four children who are grown. We live in Missoula, Montana. I am glad that you mentioned that Adam was a Catholic as a child. And as you know, I too am a practicing Catholic. I am sure you know that we Catholics believe in Praying for the Dead. Adam was a very, very special person in my life and I am so sure that even though life was difficult for him and he is not “here”, Adam benefits from our prayers. I will have lots and lots of Masses said for Adam. I offered one up today for him.

Thank You, Tom.

Love and Prayers, Theresa

No, Theresa — thank you and God bless!

A federal judge granted a request to move the trial against a Reno man accused of supporting terrorist groups in India and Pakistan to February 2016. This after both the prosecution and defense asked for more time to prepare their cases.

In December, a federal grand jury indicted Balwinder Singh on six charges, including conspiracy to murder, kidnap and maim people in a foreign country; conspiracy to support terrorists and immigration fraud. A judge has also ruled Singh to be a flight risk and a danger to public safety and ordered he be detained until his trial.

A citizen of India when he fled to the U.S. in 1997, Singh claimed asylum, obtaining a permanent resident card in 1999. However in 2012, the leader of Babbar Khalsa International in Pakistan named Singh as the leader of the BKI in the United States.

Singh sent wire transfers of money to several members of the group in India. Telephone conversations between Singh and members of the group revealed their plans to commit acts of terrorism using code words for weapons, ammunition and explosives.

Documents say Singh is also a member of the terrorist organization Khalistan Zindabad Force. Both the BKI and KZF are trying to set up an independent Sikh state in part of the Punjab region of India called Khalistan by using bombings, kidnappings and murders to try to intimidate the Indian government.

But Singh may never face a jury after the Obama administration recently adjusted its policies for allowing asylum-seekers into the country. It will now grant asylum to those who have provided a low level of monetary support to terrorist groups. Justice Department statistics show in 2012, the U.S. granted asylum to 12,000 out of 44,000 people who sought it.

A Department of Homeland Security internal review found at least 70 percent of asylum cases showed signs of fraud. Only 12 percent of those showed clear evidence of fraud, while the remaining 58 percent showed some signs but not enough evidence to make a definitive judgment.

Here’s an example of what’s wrong with our society today: When asked what she’d do if she had a son misbehaving like Justin Bieber, First Lady Michelle Obama says, “I would pull him close. You know, I don’t know if it would be advice as much as action. I would be very present in his life right now. And I would be probably with him a good chunk of the time, just there to talk, to figure out what’s going on in his head, to figure out who’s in his life and who’s not, you know.”

She adds, “…he’s still a kid. He’s still growing up.”

Please do not blame Bieber’s troubles on the fact that he’s only 19-years old, not when there are 19-year-olds like Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Myles Kerr, who while running in his military gear, slowed his pace to motivate Brandon Fuchs struggling to finish ‘The 2013 Jeff Drenth Memorial 5K’ in Michigan, last August.

Beiber’s age is jus’ a lame excuse to allow him off the hook for his piss-poor behavior.

With the increase in surplus-military equipment and centralized information hubs, called ‘Spectrum Centers,’ local law enforcement agencies appear to be growing dark-hearted. The news is filled more and more with agencies and their personnel doing things that defy common sense or are outright illegal, if not unconstitutional.

FAILURE TO AID

A Florida police officer is under fire for failing to help dying car crash victims and it was all caught on tape by a dashboard camera. Off-duty Miami Police Sergeant Javier Ortiz came upon the car crash scene that ended up killing two University of Miami graduate students, Ying Chen and Hao Liu.

Ortiz jumped into action to try and help the victims. Pinecrest Officer Ana Carrasco arrived on the scene shortly afterward and Ortiz directed her to work on trying to resuscitate the man.

“I got no response. She just stood there,” Ortiz says.

PRIVATE PROPERTY TAKE-OVER

Also in Florida, homeowner Deborah Franz was outraged after a SWAT team used her home to gain a tactical advantage — without her permission and without notifying her — during a six-hour standoff with her neighbor. This is nothing new.

In 2011, A Henderson Nevada Police SWAT TEAM broke down Anthony Mitchell’s front door with a battering ram in during a neighborhood-wide lockdown after Mitchell refused to allow his home be used for police purposes in a domestic violence response. Officers entered his home, fired pepper spray pellets at him and his dog, and then arrested him for obstruction of justice.

A SIX-BIT ARREST

How about the man who was arrested in Houston moments after he gave a homeless man 75 cents?

Greg Snider was on business when a homeless man approached his car window and asked for spare change. As Snider gave the man some change and as he pulled onto the highway, a police car came up behind him and started flashing its lights and sirens.

After Snider came to a stop, the police officer rushed at him, screaming and yelling. Snider was pulled from his car, handcuffed and thrown in the back of the police cruiser as ten more police cars showed up at the scene.

It turns out the police thought he had exchanged drugs with the homeless man. The police then asked if they could search his car and he gave them permission.

Authorities brought out drug-sniffing dogs to search Snider’s car and found nothing. They then allowed him to go free.

NO-KNOCK RAID

In Ankeny, Iowa, police officers executed a search warrant at a family’s home looking for $1,000 in merchandise purchased with a stolen credit card. Police claim they knocked on the door, but a surveillance video shows an officer pounding on the side of the house seconds before officers used a battering ram to bust through the front door.

Sally Prince says if they had only knocked first, she would have consented to a search of her home. Police are also seen destroying a security camera outside the home and covering another with some sort of fabric.

It could have gotten worse as Prince’s son, Justin Ross, has a permit to carry a firearm on his person. When he heard commotion, he says he drew his weapon while in the bathroom and prepared for an intruder to come through the door.

Luckily, he heard one of the officers say “police” before they kicked in the door, so he re-holstered his weapon, sat back down and placed his hands in his lap away from his gun. In the end a search of the home did not result in the recovery of the items police believe were bought with stolen credit cards.

EMERGENCY VEHICLE NO PARKING ZONE

And while responding to a rollover accident in Chula Vista, a California Highway Patrol officer handcuffed a firefighter after a dispute over where the fire engine should park. The officer ordered Engine Operator Jacob Gregoir to move the fire truck off the center divide or he would be arrested.

As he worked the scene and checked the overturned car for more victims, Gregior told the unidentified CHP officer that he would have to check with his captain. That’s when the officer arrested him.

Gregoir had parked the truck behind an ambulance to provide protection for the emergency responders from oncoming traffic. This is a standard safety procedure most fire crews are taught.

IT TAKES A VILLAGE

A California couple had their five-month-old baby taken by police last year, after they took the infant to get a second opinion on a medical procedure. Anna and Alex Nikolayev took their baby, who has a heart murmur, to Sutter Memorial Hospital in Sacramento when he started exhibiting flu-like symptoms.

After giving her child an antibiotic she didn’t authorize, Anna decided to get a second-opinion. The doctors at Sutter Memorial argued against consulting other health experts, pressuring her to stay put, but Anna remained firm.

She took her baby from the hospital without a proper discharge, and went straight to Kaiser Permanente Hospital. While at Kaiser, the police showed up to take the child into protective custody but leaving after doctors said the baby was safe to go home with his parents.

The following day the police arrived at the family’s home, and without a warrant, took Sammy. The baby remains in protective custody.

NEVADA’S THOUGHT-POLICE

Finally, Californian Tan Nguyen was driving on Interstate 80 through Northern Nevada, when Humboldt County Sheriff Sergeant Lee Dove pulled him over for speeding, but instead of getting a ticket, Dove confiscated $50-thousand in cash Nguyen had in the vehicle.

In this incident report, Dove writes that he observed Nguyen seemed “nervous”, was “argumentative”, and that the car smelled of marijuana.  Nguyen was not cited for doing anything illegal, although Dove wrote in his report, “I felt he was not part of the legal traveling public,” which he cited as justification for taking Nguyen’s money.

Nguyen has filed a lawsuit in federal court against the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office and the District Attorney’s office. Meanwhile, Assistant District Attorney Kevin Pasquale responded by saying, “If we think the money was obtained illegally, we have a right to seize it.”

My ability to remain self-reliant has been on my mind for the past three or four weeks, with no answers coming forward. But then I turned on the television and as I flipped through the channels, I saw John Ratsenberger (Cliff Clavin on Cheers, Toy Story’s Hamm the Piggy Bank, and Yeti from Monsters University) on the ‘700 Club,’ and what he was saying caught my ear:

“We used to be a country of self-reliant people. As individuals, we were self-reliant. Regardless of your job, you could be a pastor, you could be an attorney, you could be a stockbroker, but you still had other skills,” Ratzenberger told CBN host Wendy Griffith. “You could change a car tire, mend your roof, do some gardening, you knew something about horses, something or farming. But that’s all changed. So we’ve gone from being a self-reliant country to a self-deluded country. And then we  assume someone else is going to take care of this problem for us.”

His comments ‘hit the nail on the head’ so to speak for me and I realize – I’ve nothing to worry about when it comes my ability to be self-reliant.

A purse snatching attempt in the parking lot of the Cannery Casino in North Las Vegas left a 79-year-old woman injured January 18th. She held on to the purse, even after being knocked to the ground and dragged, forcing the would-be robber to give-up and jump into a silver Volkswagen Jetta, where he and the driver sped away.

Brothers, Brent and Raymond Cline were arrested after police received a call from their step-father. Sean Schmitt told investigators who they were, that the car used in the robbery attempt was his, when the two young men would be home, and when to come get them.

As the investigation progresses, a number of people have tried to connect the brothers to a hit and run that happened Halloween night last year involving another silver Jetta. In the incident, 6-year-old Brazyl Ward was critically injured.

Brazyl needed emergency brain surgery, suffered a broken femur, and was put into a medically induced coma. She was released from University Medical Center in late December and still has limited movement in the right side of her face, and will have to relearn how to chew, eat, and walk.

Investigators continue to look for the other vehicle, which they suspect has damage to its front right side. They are also search for the driver, whose described a Latino male.

The pair’s mother, Lyn Schmitt says Raymond was with her and her youngest son, in the Jetta, trick-or-treating at the time of the hit and run. Meanwhile, Brent was at home with his step-father, handing out candy.

They remain in jail, charged with conspiracy to commit robbery and attempted robbery.

For the last couple of months I’ve been avoiding writing about politics as it effects our American society, because I’ve been wanting to find a way to give my opinion without completely ticking people who disagree with me off. I came to the idea that my thoughts should be integrated with history lessons, not jus’ commentary.

At first it appeared as if this new approach would solve my dilemma, but then I looked at the news this morning and I found myself lost. There is so much negative news (in my opinion) that it is overwhelming.

For instance, police in Florida forced a woman out of her home because SWAT was conducting an operation against her neighbor. They didn’t ask her for the usage of the house – but rather threatened to arrest her if she refused to comply.

How do I teach a history lesson out of that?

Sure, I can point out that it is unconstitutional to “quarter soldiers” in private citizens home without their permission. But Progressives will be quick to point out the police are not ‘soldiers,’ and thus render my argument moot.

This is because of how ‘complicit,’ our ‘free’ media has become with the Progressive movement. I found two examples that have left me shaking my head and in complete fear.

The first is from the publication ‘Salon,’ which earlier this week published an essay in defense of Communism.  The second is from ‘Rolling Stone,’ which lauds the same ideal.

While neither publications position is a surprise to me, it has left me shaken. The idea that ‘Communism,’ is being mainstreamed is frightening to me.

There is no way for me to combat this and it leaves me hopeless and empty.

Finally, the number of ‘newspeak’ incidents that both the administration and the media are engaged in has become a daily nightmare. The latest comes from the Congressional Office of Budget and Management report which says more Americans will find themselves either underemployed or unemployed due to ‘ObamaCare,’ than initially reported when the law was conceived.

However that is not how NBC or ABC chose to tell it. Instead they went with what Adminatration spokesman Jay Carney claimed the CBO report said, “…more Americans will now be able to choose whether they want to work full-time or not.”

In the end all I know is what is right and what is wrong. Forcing a person to give up their property, whether temporary or not, is wrong; claiming communism is good for a society is wrong; and lying to the American people is wrong.

“Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the Communist party?”

McCarthyism, named after Wisconsin Republican Joseph McCarthy, was a period of intense anti-communism, also known as the ‘Red Scare,’ which occurred in the U.S. from 1948 to about 1956, when the government actively persecuted those suspected of being communists. Loyalty tests were required for government and other employment and lists of subversive organizations were maintained.

This ‘Red Scare’ affected many in Hollywood, resulting in arrests of various figures in the film industry. Many were also ‘blacklisted,’ unable to work in the industry (although some screenwriters were able to work under pseudonyms).

In the Senate, the primary committee for investigating Communists was the ‘Senate Internal Security Subcommittee,’ formed in 1950 and charged with ensuring the enforcement of laws relating to “espionage, sabotage, and the protection of the internal security of the United States.”

The SISS was headed by Nevada Democrat Pat McCarran, who gained a reputation for careful and extensive investigations. However McCarran’s character is questionable  according current Nevada Democrat Senator Harry Reid.

“Pat McCarran was one of the most anti-Semitic — some of you might know my wife’s Jewish — one of the most anti-black, one of the most prejudiced people who has ever served in the Senate,” claims Reid.

McCarran passed away in 1954.

“Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the Tea Party?”

An actress is facing backlash in San Francisco’s Latino community, after she voiced support for a conservative candidate for California governor. Maria Conchita Alonso starred in a campaign ad for Assemblyman Tim Donnelly of San Bernardino County, a Tea Party favorite who is seeking the Republican nomination.

Donnelly has voiced strong views against illegal immigration and was once involved with the Minutemen Project, a group that patrolled the border with Mexico to catch immigrants coming across. Alonso received an earful from listeners of Spanish-language radio station, after she said in an interview that she supported many of Donnelly’s views on illegal immigration.

“Are you now, or have you ever been critical of President Obama?”

Conservative commentator and best-selling author Dinesh D’Souza has been indicted by a federal grand jury for arranging $20,000 in campaign contributions to a candidate for the U.S. Senate. According the indictment, around August 2012, D’Souza reimbursed people who he had directed to contribute $20,000 on behalf of Wendy Long, a lawyer and Republican who sought to unseat Democratic incumbent Kirsten Gillibrand as New York’s junior senator.

Long is not named in the indictment.

D’Souza is charged with one count of making illegal contributions in the names of others, and one count of causing false statements to be made. Federal law in 2012 limited primary and general election campaign contributions to $2,500 each, for a total of $5,000, from any individual to any one candidate.

He also directed a 2012 film critical of President Barack Obama, “2016: Obama’s America,” and has written books including “The End of Racism,” “Life after Death: The Evidence” and “Obama’s America: Unmaking the American Dream.”

“Are you now, or have you ever been a spokesperson for an Israeli-based company?”

Actress Scarlett Johansson is the latest casualty of a widening campaign to boycott her.  This after, she agreed to become the spokeswoman for SodaStream, a Tel Aviv-based company that makes home soda machines and has its main plant in an Israeli industrial park next to the West Bank settlement of Maaleh Adumim.

Johansson’s decision ticked-off Oxfam International, a humanitarian aid organization that she had served as global ambassador for eight years. They forced her to resign, saying they oppose all trade with Israeli settlements, deemed illegal by most of the international community.

“Are you now, or have you ever owned a fire arm in your home?”

ABC News wants you and me to spy on our neighbors. In an ‘investigative report,’ by Diana Sawyer called ‘Young Guns,’ she recommends parents go to their next door neighbor and ask if they had guns in the house and to find out if they are locked up or not.

Furthermore they use children to demonize guns but placing unloaded and unattended weapons in view of children at play. ABC used these instances to scare parents and try to prove firearms in the home are merely death wishes.

In one of the few instances in which the boys didn’t play with the gun, an older boy acted as the voice of reason and warned them not to touch the firearm. Afterwards, producers removed the 10-year-old from the classroom and as soon as the older boy left, the two younger ones grabbed the gun and played with it.

Not used in the ‘report’ are these Center for Disease Control facts: 81 children between the ages of one and 14, were killed accidentally by a gun. Suffocation is number one with 174 for the same age group during the same time period and third is poisonings with only 10.

“Are you now, or have you ever dissented?”

Dissent is to disagree with a current government policy, an individual or a political party. In some political systems, dissent may be formally expressed by way of opposition politics, while politically repressive regimes may prohibit any form of dissent, leading to suppression of dissent and the encouragement of social or political activism.

Though often misattributed to founding-father Thomas Jefferson, the quote “Dissent is the highest form of patriotism,” argues that a healthy society needs not only to protect, but also to encourage disagreement to remain at liberty.