WASHINGTON DC – Charlene Lamb, cited for failures in leadership from the Department of State’s own Accountability Review Board report, has been promoted to Regional Security Officer. We’ve heard rumor that she’s slated for international duty in Canada. She started the security officer training last week, much to the dismay of many within the State Department.

For those not keeping track, Charlene Lamb was in charge of the office that denied extra security personnel to the U.S. Ambassador in Libya before the Sept. 11, 2011 attacks.

The problem, as SOFREP has pointed out before, is not that we have four dead American heroes killed in the line of duty. The world is a dangerous place, and bad stuff happens, we get it. The issue is that nothing was done afterwards to hold people accountable or learn from our mistakes in order to reduce risk to other Americans serving in dangerous places. (read more)

NEW YORK (TheBlaze/AP) — Dinesh D’Souza, the conservative scholar who made the documentary “2016: Obama’s America,” pleaded not guilty on Friday to charges that he violated campaign finance laws and was released on $500,000 bond. His travel was also reportedly restricted to the United States.  (link)

The Blaze follows-up:   The filmmaker behind the anti-Obama documentary “2016: Obama’s America” was released on $500,000 bond, which some — even in the legal community — argue was excessive.

We looked into these claims and uncovered a number of violent and disturbing offenses that resulted in bail amounts less than D’Souza was required to put up. While it’s not a comprehensive list by any means, here are nine cases where violent suspects had to put up less for bail than D’Souza:  (continue reading)

Jim Hoft at GateWayPundit asks:

Democrats are hemorhaging over Obamacare and the destruction of the US health care system. One-sixth of the economy is affected and millions of Americans were repeatedly lied to by Democrats in order to get the law passed. So what do Republican leaders plan to do this year? Pass amnesty.

On its face it does seem ridiculous.   However, there really is a good reason for The Republican Party to approach it.   Notice it’s the “Republican Party Leadership” doing this push -meaning, John Boehner and Mitch McConnell- not the rank and file.

“There is definitely a growing mood of confusion and aggravation among conservatives in the House over the immigration issue right now,” one House GOP aide said in an email to Breitbart News, adding that many on the right find the “political logic” of riling up the party’s base so close to a low-turnout midterm election baffling.  “Do we really want to just give up the midterms like this?” the aide asked.   (via Breitbart link)

Here’s what’s going on. (more…)

Nothing for nothing, but at a certain point you just gotta say George Zimmerman is stuck on an escalator built like an Escher Staircase.    Current Destination – Hateville.    

Get a flipping grip world – it’s a painting.   Get that?  

A Painting !

(Via Daily Mail)  George Zimmerman’s recent foray into the art  world hasn’t exactly earned him much critical praise. But it’s definitely  garnered him some attention – so much so that it could potentially get him sued  by one of the largest news-wire services on earth.

For his latest painting, the man acquitted of  murder in the shooting death of unarmed Florida teen Trayvon Martin has painted  a portrait of Florida State Attorney General Angela Corey, who is the woman who  decided to charge Zimmerman with murder in Martin’s death. (more…)

TEXAS – A dating service that pairs wealthy “sugar daddies” with “sugar babies” for  “mutually beneficial dating arrangements” has endorsed Texas Democratic  gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis.

SeekingArrangement.com’s Friday announcement followed a recent report in the  Dallas Morning News which detailed a number of discrepancies in Davis’  personal narrative, including that she left a man 13 years her senior the day  after he made the last payment for her Harvard Law School education.

“Wendy Davis is proof that the sugar lifestyle is empowering,” seeking  arrangements founder and CEO Brandon Wade said in his endorsement. “It can take  a single mom from squalor to scholar, or in this case from the trailer park to  Harvard, and a seat in the Senate. The sugar lifestyle creates an opportunity  for women to transcend the single mother stereotypes.”  (LINK)

Color me not shocked.  After the fiasco in New York last year I’m actually surprised it took this long for a bunch of pontificating progs to go in this direction….

(Via Fox News)  A national newspaper chain with nearly 100 publications and 1.6 million readers is considering building “state-by-state databases” on concealed weapons permit holders, according to an internal e-mail.

The plan, laid out in an email from a top editor at North Carolina-based Civitas Media, could be similar to a controversial project a New York state newspaper carried out in 2012 which included an online map that identified gun owners in two counties by name and address. Civitas’ database project was detailed the plan in a Jan. 19 e-mail to newsrooms in 11 states, including Ohio, Illinois and Pennsylvania.

“The second project examines the explosion of ‘conceal and carry’ gun permits across the U.S.,” wrote Jim Lawitz, Civitas’ director of content, in an e-mail first obtained by the Buckeye Firearms Association. “Through public records act requests, we will attempt to build state-by-state databases that list those who have the right to carry a concealed weapon.”  (read more)

MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell interviewing Congresswoman Jane Harmon about a recent NSA review board determination. The report concluded the NSA collection raises “constitutional concerns” with regard to U.S. citizens’ rights of speech, association and privacy.

Congresswoman Harmon along with numerous representatives from both sides of the political spectrum are highly concerned. The NSA surveillance program is at the top of current concerns for 70%+ of Americans….   Now watch:

#1   –  Federal prosecutors are now in New Jersey conducting a preliminary inquiry into accusations that aides to Gov. Chris Christie shut down access lanes to the George Washington Bridge as political retribution.  And have issued grand jury subpoenas to Mr. Christie’s re-election campaign and to the state Republican Party, the lawyer for the campaign and the party said Thursday.   (link)

#2  –   Dinesh D’Souza, a conservative commentator, best-selling author and the director of the anti-Obama film “2016: Obama’s America” was indicted by a federal court today. The movie, the second highest domestic grossing political documentary in the United States since 1982, was a huge success before the 2012 elections.  Indicted by a federal grand jury for arranging excessive campaign contributions to a candidate for the U.S. Senate.   According to an indictment made public on Thursday in federal court in Manhattan, D’Souza around August 2012 reimbursed people who he had directed to contribute $20,000 to the candidate’s campaign. The candidate was not named in the indictment.  (link)

(more…)

DETROIT (WWJ) – He’s been dubbed the “Blow Torch Rapist” and Detroit police say he’s struck again.

The latest attack occurred just before 7 a.m. Wednesday in a largely abandoned neighborhood near Plymouth and Meyers roads the city’s west side.

A 43-year-old woman told police she was leaving a gas station when a man came behind her and put a gun to her head. The woman said her attacker forced her into a car, ripped off her clothes and began burning her face with a blow torch.

Police say the victim stabbed the man in the eye with a screwdriver and was able to get away and call for help. She’s currently hospitalized in stable condition. (more…)

GREG HICKS – Shifting blame to our dead ambassador is wrong on the facts. I know—I was there.

Last week the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence issued its report on the Sept. 11, 2012, terrorist attacks in Benghazi, Libya. The report concluded that the attack, which resulted in the murder of four Americans, was “preventable.”

Some have been suggesting that the blame for this tragedy lies at least partly with Ambassador Chris Stevens, who was killed in the attack. This is untrue: The blame lies entirely with Washington.

The report states that retired Gen. Carter Ham, then-commander of the U.S. Africa Command (Africom) headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, twice offered to “sustain” the special forces security team in Tripoli and that Chris twice “declined.”

Since Chris cannot speak, I want to explain the reasons and timing for his responses to Gen. Ham. As the deputy chief of mission, I was kept informed by Chris or was present throughout the process. (more…)