U.S. special operations forces early this summer launched a secret, major rescue operation in Syria to save James Foley and a number of Americans held by the extremist group ISIS, but the mission failed because the hostages weren’t there, senior administration officials told ABC News today.
President Obama authorized the “substantial and complex” rescue operation after the officials said a “broad collection of intelligence” led the U.S. to believe the hostages were being held in a specific location in the embattled Middle Eastern nation.
When “several dozen” U.S. special operation members landed in Syria, however, they were met with gunfire and “while on site, it became apparent the hostages were not there,” one of the officials said. The special operators engaged in a firefight in which ISIS suffered “a good number” casualties, the official said, while the American forces suffered only a single minor injury.
The American forces were able to get back on helicopters and escape.
“Intelligence is not a perfect science,” the senior official said. As to how the intelligence failed and why the hostages were not there, the official said, “The truth is, we don’t know. And that’s the truth. When we got there, they weren’t there. We don’t know why that is.”
A police officer got a bit carried away on Tuesday night in Ferguson, as he charged after the media with his semi-automatic weapon drawn, his gun pointed at the shocked people he was supposedly to be serving.
In a move straight out of Rambo, the officer is seen with his weapon pointed, tells the media, “I will fucking kill you, get back! Get back!” When asked for his name the officer replied, “Go fuck yourself!”
If that is their mentality, one must wonder if Darren Wilson was any different when encountered the man he eventually killed.
UPDATE: The officer in question has been”suspended indefinitely.”
In the video below, the officer had to be physically removed from the media members by his Sergent, as angry media members screamed at the officer for him to lower his gun.
By now, I’m sure you’ve seen many of your friends and family do the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. You’ve probably seen your favorite actor, musician or athlete do it too. In fact, there is a good chance that you have also completed the Challenge. Your Facebook time line is probably clogged with people pouring ice cold water on themselves. Are you bored of it yet? Well don’t be.
Despite the fact that you have seen it everywhere, many don’t know how it became about ALS and even more don’t know the correct way to complete the challenge.
This is Pete Frates. He was 27 when he was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. He was 27 when a doctor looked him in the eyes and told him he has a disease that was a death sentence and has no cure and no course of treatment.
You wouldn’t blame the guy for giving up. You wouldn’t blame him for feeling sorry for himself or being angry. That’s not what happened though. You see, Pete was a hard nosed baseball player. He was the captain of the Boston College team. Giving up wasn’t something he was accustomed to. So he charged at the problem and began speaking and raising money for the ALSA which is an association that aides research in the hopes of finding a cure for ALS.
It was Pete’s friends that had seen others doing this ice bucket challenge to benefit various charities and decided to do it in honor of Pete. Well, it took off and now Pete has achieved what he set out to do. Pete is the reason that since July 29th of this year, ALSA.org has raised $31.5 million. And just to point out how incredible that actually is, that’s 16 times more than what the foundation received in the same time period last year.
Still, we can all do better. There are still many who don’t quite grasp how the challenge works. If you are nominated to complete the challenge, you are expected to dump a bucket of ice water over your head AND donate an amount of your choice to The ALSA . You can choose to not dump the water over your head and donate no less than $100. Either way, the foundation should be receiving a donation.
The whole point of dumping the ice water is to add a little fun to donating for a good cause. It keeps the cause circulating and getting bigger because each person nominates 3 others to complete the challenge.
I have to admit, I was one of the people who did not believe this challenge was helping anyone because I just didn’t understand it, but now that I do, I am amazed by how such an amazing cause has spread like wildfire. And it’s all thanks to a wonderful man names Pete Frates and his awesome friends. Thanks Pete!
After confirming that the ISIS video showing the beheading of American journalist James Foley was real, President Obama gave this statement, calling ISIS a “cancer” that America will continue fighting, saying that America will be “diligent and relentless” in this fight.
“The whole world is appalled by the brutal murder of James Foley,” the President said. And he denounced the so-called religious “cause” these terrorists are on. “No faith teaches people to massacre innocents. No just God would stand for what they did yesterday and what they do every single day.”
Three big trends have decisively changed the Republican Party over the past decade, weakening its ability to win presidential elections and gravely inhibiting its ability to govern effectively if it nevertheless somehow were to win.
First, Republicans have come to rely more and more on the votes of the elderly, the most government-dependent segment of the population — a serious complication for a party committed to reducing government.
Second, the Republican donor class has grown more ideologically extreme, encouraging congressional Republicans to embrace ever more radical tactics.
Third, the party’s internal processes have rigidified, in ways that dangerously inhibit its ability to adapt to changing circumstances. The GOP can overcome the negative consequences of these changes and, in time, surely will.
The ominous question for Republicans is, How much time will the overcoming take?”
This really brings it all back to reality. A lot of people have taken this challenge, some being successful others, not so much. But when David McClain accepted his challenge, it was something special.
For the past 12 years, David has suffered the debilitating effects of Lou Gehrig’s Disease, rendering him unable to speak and paralyzed from the neck down. But David is a trooper and the ice bucket challenge is obviously nothing compared to what he’s been through over the last decade.
Using a voice synthesizer David volunteered to take the challenge, asked all his Facebook friends to do the same.
Rick Perry, one of the potential Republican candidates to run for president in 2016 got his official Republican ID card today – his mug shot.
Perry’s mug shot is compliments of an abuse of power indictment, a corruption charge and on his way to get his Republican ID taken, Perry promised that he “will fight the charges” with every fiber of his body. Perry also called the indictment “a political act.”
“This indictment is fundamentally a political act that seeks to achieve at the courthouse what could not be achieved at the ballot box,” Perry told a crowd in Austin Texas before he got his fingerprints and mug shot.
The Ice Bucket Challenge has been great for charity, specifically ALS. But there are apparently those out there who don’t know how to dump a bucket of ice water on their heads. A simple task, yea I know, but you’d be surprise how complicated this is for some.
I’ve made it easy for you. Here are the 10 best worse Ice Bucket Fails so far. There is no particular order.
This is actually good news, and it is exactly what we should expect from the people hired to protect and to serve.
Instead, we see them administering choke holds on an innocent man leaving that man dead. We see a police officer beating a grandmother on the streets of LA as if she was a harden criminal, and we see another officer shooting to kill, simply because the teenager walked on the street.
Then there are officers like Tom Ondecker of Ohio. The officer was seen helping a disabled man with his groceries.
A passerby snapped Officer Tom Ondecker walking alongside the disabled man for about half a mile on Ohio’s State Route 14 to his nursing home on Saturday.
Darren Wilson, the trigger-happy Ferguson police officer who gunned down an innocent teenager last weekend, is now using those fingers to text his friend of 14 years.
According to his friend, Jake Shepard, Wilson texted to thank him for all the support his friend is giving, after Shepard went on CNN to defend Wilson. Wilson informed Shepherd that he has 24 hour security and cannot go outside, presumably because of all the fuss his trigger-happy finger is causing the people in Ferguson Missouri.
Shepard told MailOnline that he is coming forward with this information to shed a different light on his good ole pal Darren Wilson.
Shepard also told MailOnline he thinks Wilson did the right thing according to his training. But he believes that the police in general should have better training to use non-lethal force before opening fire.
He said: ‘It’s sad for Mike Brown and his family. Darren could have just Tasered him and Mike would have spent six months in jail or something and maybe got his act together after that.
‘Darren could have gone on with his life too but now both of their lives are over. It sucks.
‘I’m sure Mike’s family is having a hard time but at least they have the support of the whole nation behind them, openly. Darren doesn’t get that’.
The Republican Boogieman called Obamacare is dying. The gimmick is up as millions if Americans are seeing the benefits of affordable health care.
Bloomberg is reporting that across the nation, Republicans’ anti-Obamacare lies broadcast on radio and television are being cut.
Republicans seeking to unseat the U.S. Senate incumbent in North Carolina have cut in half the portion of their top issue ads citing Obamacare, a sign that the party’s favorite attack against Democrats is losing its punch,” Bloomberg reports.
The shift — also taking place in competitive states such as Arkansas and Louisiana — shows Republicans are easing off their strategy of criticizing Democrats over the Affordable Care Act now that many Americans are benefiting from the law and the measure is unlikely to be repealed.
The party had been counting on anti-Obamacare sentiment to spur Republican turnout in its quest for a U.S. Senate majority, just as the issue did when Republicans took the House in 2010. Now, Republicans are seeking a new winning formula for an election less than three months away
No, he wasn’t injured. It was actually a rather lame effort by the person throwing the projectiles. However, at least two stones with thrown in Chris Hayes’ direction at yesterday’s protest in Ferguson Missouri.
As the stones were being hauled over a fence protecting the MSNBC host, a protester is heard in the background telling Hayes to “tell the true story!” Hayes replied that he was reporting the truth.
“People are angry man, they are real angry,” Hayes said, as he nervously glanced back and forth in the direction of the thrower.
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