ST. LOUIS • A group of Ferguson protesters are vowing to disrupt MetroLink service during St. Louis Cardinals playoff games.
Eric Vickers, a state senate staffer who has led various acts of civil unrest in St. Louis, has sent a letter to Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig asking for the league to pressure St. Louis officials in the unarmed shooting death of Michael Brown.

left – Anthony Shahid,  center – Eric Vickers, right – Zaki Baruti,

Ferguson professional agitators

“I wish I could communicate to you an upbeat message of fun and joy as many parts of the St. Louis community now rightfully feel with our beloved Red Birds headed back into the playoffs and undoubtedly the Series,” Vickers wrote. “However, all is not joy in Cardinal Nation, as you most certainly must be aware, because of the shooting of Michael Brown, and the deep seeded feeling of enough is enough in the black community it has unearthed.”
In an interview, Vickers said Major League Baseball has a role to play in the Ferguson situation.
“They are coming into the midst of this controversy,” Vickers said. “They need to influence the business community.” (more…)

Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron does an effective job  describing the danger of “extremism“, not just “violent extremism“, all extremism.  (Cameron Speech Here)
However, anyone interested in actually following, researching and analyzing international action, against radical Islamist extremism, must also note that Egypt’s President Fatah El-Sisi is about two years ahead in confronting the extremist ideology.

Almost everything both Obama and Cameron have stated in the past month can be viewed curiously against their unwillingness to hold such public views while El-Sisi was pushing back against extremism, and doing something about it.
Readers and visitors to the Treehouse community know full well we have watched Egypt intently.  We continue to share that no international leader has done more to confront ALL the tentacles of radicalism than El-Sisi.
Yet he has also been the recipient of marginalization – at best, and admonishment – at worst, as he has carries out a challenging mission to provide secular stability not only to Egypt, but also to the entire region.
When David Cameron says “all extremism” must be confronted, he need to look no further than Egypt to see it confronted not only on the streets but also in politics, in the media, and within the places of worship where hatred is the tenet that fuels the congregation.
Both Cameron and Obama correctly identify and define extremism yet fail to acknowledge the root.   Extremism stems from a culture of hatred, that culture exists because the West will not confront it.   El-Sisi confronts the culture of hatred head-on.
El-Sisi is by no means perfect, nor is Egypt as a whole; however, the intellectual and cultural center of the Middle-East is once again rising like a Phoenix thanks -in no small part- to the grit and policy of one principled man. A man thoroughly committed to the stability of his nation, and to the broader, predominantly Muslim, nations surrounding it.
(more…)

Because hundreds of beheadings, horrific crucifixions, mass murder, rape, brutality and tens of thousands of Ferguson refugees have been seen fleeing Missouri for the safer venues of the Illinois mountains…..  or something.

Full Text of Speech

Trying to Manage/Police A Cultural Safari Park

Notes:
•  Johnson unable to understand residents who find more pride in destroying community than living in it. A culture of community pride is non-existent amid a significant portion of the residents and those view a greater value, greater personal credibility, in destroying it.
•  No outside agitators, these are Ferguson residents.
•  Mike Brown “shrine” was recorded burning for 11 minutes and could have easily been initially put out with simple cup of water. The person recording did not want to put it out and then went door to door saying the police started it. (more…)

One of the inconvenient truths liberals and progressive-minded Obama supporters seem to be overlooking is the 2001 and 2002 Authorization’s for the Use of Military Force (AUMF), that President Obama is now using to justify his 2014 attacks inside Syria, was a direct result of President George W Bush going to congress and asking for authorization (ie. a vote) prior to launching attacks on terror entities.
Despite the anxiety it produces for Democrats the fact remains. George W Bush never went to war, or used the military as an offensive weapon, without consulting with congress and seeking approval. Regardless of opinion, no amount of spin can remove this obvious fact.
When Obama uses the military for his versions of “the war on terror” he does not consult with congress.
President Obama used the U.N. to authorize his military campaign in Libya, and never did consult congress even after the legally required 30 day timeline of the War Powers Act. And for Syria, well, President Obama is relying on the Bush AUMF’s without further consult.
For this reason we find ourselves in agreement with the New York Times.

Wrong Turn on Syria: No Convincing Plan – President Obama has put America at the center of a widening war by expanding into Syria airstrikes against the Islamic State, the Sunni extremist group known as ISIS and ISIL. He has done this without allowing the public debate that needs to take place before this nation enters another costly and potentially lengthy conflict in the Middle East. (more…)

Just to put an exclamation point on concerns of witness validity, reliability and/or even stability. Ms. Piaget Crenshaw, the witness who claims she saw Officer Darren Wilson murder Mike Brown, is now claiming she witnessed the Ferguson Police Department burn down a Mike Brown memorial constructed of “candles and plush bears”.
It couldn’t be the candles and the Teddy bears came into contact.  No, that wouldn’t be nefarious enough for the Ferguson crew.
Just like the shooting that spurred the actual memorial itself, Ms. Crenshaw had to quickly ramp up the drama and proclaim it was intentionally set by the Ferguson Police Department.   A statement so ridiculous it would be funny were it not taken seriously by the professional agitators who need such provocations.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HDTT6s_MdU
Now there are hundreds of angry Ferguson residents demanding justice for the victimized plush bears.   The plush were also rumored to have been fearfully holding their hands up just prior to the arsonist’s flamethrower targeted at their stuffing.  (more…)

OK, now it’s all beginning to make sense. Let’s take a look at this pretzel logic legal authority to attack inside Syria shall we.    Sheesh.

Unlike Libya in 2011, the U.N. did not have a resolution permitting President Obama to launch offensive military attacks inside a foreign and sovereign nation, Syria. Without a U.N. resolution there was no international law permitting President Obama to attack ISIS inside Syria.
Without a legal basis in international law, President Obama needs to use U.S. law for his Syria ISIS campaign.
So unlike Libya in 2011, and absent of international law to support the legality, for his 2014 Syria attacks to be legal President Obama needed to use US law; specifically, the War Powers Act.
President Obama is using two constructs. #1) The War Powers Act -and- #2) AUMF The 9-11-01 Authorization for the Use of Military Force.
But there’s a catch or two.
First, because President Obama is going to use the War Powers Act, and is not acting to defend the U.S. homeland, and is engaging in offensive military actions, he has to notify congress in writing immediately – and then update in writing within 30 days. It’s how the law works. But note what’s missing.

There is no mention of ISIS, because legally there can’t be. In order for Obama to use the 2001 AUMF he has to be attacking “al-Qaeda”, specifically “al-Qaeda”.
The AUMF only applies to al-Qaeda, not ISIS or any other group or state. (more…)

Tomahawks into Syria as Turkey remains chicken

Just so we are clear on this – There is a HUGE difference between President George W. Bush attacking al-Qaeda (‘War on Terror’) within Pakistan, Afghanistan and Yemen, and what President Obama is doing now.
The most notable difference is President Bush had authorization and agreement, with each sovereign nation, to attack the terror entity within it’s border; Obama has no such agreement with Syria.
And remember, according to President Obama 2013, the “2003 George Bush war on terror is over“.   OVER!   Not to mention the post 9-11 AUMF was specifically only for al-Qaeda, and ISIS is admittedly, by Obama and al-Qaeda, not al-Qaeda.   So what exactly is the “legal authority” President Obama is using?

Secretary of State John Kerry would not answer that question to congress last week. Senior White House National Security and Foreign Policy advisor Susan Rice would not answer that question last Friday. White House spokesperson Josh Earnest would also not answer that question last Friday.  President Obama’s chief of Staff, Denis McDonough, would not answer that question on Saturday, and U.N. Ambassador Samantha Power would not answer that question on Sunday.
The mysterious “legal authority” is said to exist, but has never been outlined.
Yet on Monday the attacks began.
Under what legal authority? We are not under attack, this is not a defensive decision. This is 100% offensive. (more…)

There’s a big difference between thinking of the IRS Targeting Scandal as originating within the IRS, and reconciling the origin as actually within the DOJ.
When you make that mental reconciliation, it all begins to make sense:

How the targeting originates with the Department of Justice is Outlined HERE. What substantive difference it makes is outlined HERE.

How can the DOJ conduct an investigation into unlawful aspects of the IRS targeting of specific 501(c)(4) groups, when the DOJ is the initiating body for the illegality they are seeking to investigate ?