The James Rosen incident is indicative of a trend, in recent years, of chipping away at First Amendment rights. In the Rosen case, the Justice Department claimed that it did not violate the press freedom of the Fox News Correspondent  as he isn’t press. Instead, the DOJ argued, he was an “aider and abettor and/or co-conspirator” in a spy ring for having receiving classified information about North Korea from an intelligence analyst.

Evidence of Rosen’s spying consisted of an e-mail to Rosen’s source stating that he wanted to break “news ahead of my competitors” and that they could “expose muddle-headed policy when we see it—or force the administration’s hand to go in the right direction, if possible.”

The day after the September 11, 2012 Benghazi attacks president Obama said: “Make no mistake. We will work with the Libyan government to bring justice to the killers who attacked our people.” But, more than seven months later, there are no indictments and no arrests. According to a House Republican Conference report on the Benghazi attacks, FBI investigators have made “very little progress.”

In fact, the only one who has actually been apprehended and locked up is the filmmaker who, it was determined, was not responsible for inciting the violence in Benghazi. Meanwhile, the actual suspects are still at large.

Al Jazeera, the Qatar-based international cable network, will open 12 new bureaus in various locations across the U.S.  The goal of the news outlet’s aggressive expansion is to become a household name in America.

The launch of the new bureaus will begin in the summer. In addition to expansion in New York City, bureaus will open in Nashville, Denver, New Orleans, San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Dallas, Seattle, Detroit and Washington, D.C.

Dawud Walid, executive director of Hamas-Linked Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), said he believes Al Jazeera America in Detroit is a positive development for the local Muslim community. “I believe Al Jazeera coming here to the heart of Muslim America can play a productive role in showing a clearer image of who we are as Muslims.”

While the U.S. was still reeling from the devastation caused by the Boston bombing and before it was known who was responsible for the act, there were those on the left who assumed, even hoped, that it was an act of right-wing terrorism.  When their hopes were dashed, they took a detour from grieving for the victims and began instead to focus on, as they imagined it, the probability of backlash against Muslim Americans. Apparently, they anticipated a string of retributive attacks against Muslim Americans. These speculators tend to be very selective about which victims deserve their attention and empathy.  And, their ideology is based on the belief that “Islamophobia” like its cohort, racism, is a prevalent force in the world.

The 8-year-old boy who was mercilessly killed at the Boston Marathon has been identified as Martin Richard.  Martin was in attendance in order to watch his father race; he was waiting at the finish line so that he could give his father a hug.

Martin was accompanied by his mother, brother and sisters. After the explosions, his mother and 6-year-old sister were taken to a hospital to be treated for serious injuries. It has been reported that his mother underwent surgery for an injury to the brain and his sister suffered the loss of a leg.

Beginning in 2014, patients’ overall health, eating habits and body mass index (BMI) will be part of an electronic record, shared with various government bureaucracies, in addition to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Doctors will be required to record your BMI, which measures whether or not you are overweight. This will be done every you receive any type of medical treatment.  This information will be sent to HHS who will keep track your BMI and your updated information will be forwarded to various other agencies.

There’s also a good chance your employer will try to bait you into enrolling in a wellness program in which employees will need to reveal their height, weight, body fat percentage and other personal data.  A fine will be imposed on those who refuse to do so.  The employer will not have access to the employees’ personal health information—it will be sent to a third party administrator.  According to Health Affairs:

School districts and universities in Michigan rushed to sign last-minute contract extensions that effectively bypass the new right-to-work law.

The right-to-work law went into effect last Thursday, but prior to the law going into effect at least 41 school districts and five colleges had approved contracts that circumvent the new law, for a few years.  There may be a price to pay, however; Republicans in the Michigan House of Representatives are threatening to apply costly sanctions on these districts and institutions.  The Detroit Free Press reports:

“House Republicans have voted for budgets that cut funding for the institutions and districts that signed contracts between Dec. 10, 2012 — the day that the right-to-work bills received final passage and a signature from Gov. Rick Snyder — and Thursday.

Anger and frustration continue to mount as Americans express alarm at the direction in which the country is headed.  In order to turn the tide and boost mid-term and general election results, conservatives must significantly increase political activity at the local level—the precinct.  As the precinct leader, the committee person (or captain) is the only party official directly elected by voters.  An individual serving in this capacity is the primary contact between voters, candidates and elected officials; the precinct committee person votes directly for the leadership of the party.

What are the responsibilities of a committee person?  The following is a general checklist which may vary depending on the precinct:

Sequestration, expected to kick in on March 1, would result in $85 billion in cuts in financial year 2013 and a total of $1.2 trillion spread out over ten years.  The sequestration is almost a certainty.

The approach of potentially disastrous cuts to the military did not stop Congress from authorizing $60.2 billion in additional deficit spending for Hurricane Sandy relief–a pork-filled measure which includes billions of dollars for road construction, FBI salaries, Head Start, Smithsonian roof repairs, the National Park Service and the Kennedy Space Center.

And now, President Obama is now pushing a $50 billion stimulus plan as automatic budget cuts while at the same time blaming Republicans for the looming sequester; the sequester that was his idea.  Obama has had plenty of opportunities to avert sequestration, but has failed to do so.