A New Perspective on Constantine

(Worthy News) – Government watchdog group Judicial Watch has filed a new election integrity lawsuit against the Maryland State Board of Elections and Montgomery County for denying the group access to voter registration files requested under a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit.

Maryland was one of 11 states Judicial Watch sent notice letters to in April explaining how there were more registered voters in some counties than there were citizens over the age of 18.

“Maryland doesn’t want us to expose its voter roll mess, and we hope the courts move quickly so we can begin the process of cleaning up the rolls,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said. “This is a national problem, and Maryland is the scene of one of many legal battles we must be prepared to fight for clean elections.” [ Source:World Tribune (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Hezbollah said its forces seized a strategic valley from Sunni Muslim militants on Monday, the latest advance in an offensive to oust jihadists from their last foothold along the Syria-Lebanon border.

The Shi’ite Muslim Hezbollah said it had advanced from several directions in the Wadi al-Kheil valley in Juroud Arsal, a barren mountainous border zone that has served as a base for militants linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State.

The advance gave Hezbollah control over what had been “the most important base for Nusra Front” in the area, Hezbollah’s military media unit said in a statement. [ Source:Reuters (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – A right-leaning fact-checker is fighting critics on the left who say its conclusion that a lot of noncitizens vote illegally is bunk.

Just Facts President James D. Agresti issued a blockbuster report in June. Using previous research, polling data and Census Bureau figures, his team concluded that as few as 594,000 noncitizens or as many as 5.7 million voted in the 2008 presidential election. If accurate on the high side, it would vindicate Mr. Trump’s contention that a lot of illegal ballots were cast in his race for the White House last year with Democrat Hillary Clinton.

As background, Mr. Agresti points to a scientific survey by the marketing consultancy McLaughlin & Associates. In a poll of Hispanics for the California wine industry, 13 percent of noncitizens said they were registered to vote. Matched against the country’s noncitizen population, that means 800,000 to 2.2 million aliens were registered to vote, Just Facts concluded.

About 20 million noncitizens, including 11.8 million Hispanic adults, are living in the U.S., the Census Bureau said in 2013. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Key parts of the Republican health care bill, including defunding Planned Parenthood and barring the use of tax credits for abortion coverage, are not eligible for the fast-track process Republicans are using to prevent a Democratic filibuster, says the Senate’s referee, throwing yet another roadblock in front of President Trump’s attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare this week.

Already, Republican leaders are struggling to gather enough support from the party’s rank and file for their replacement bill or a straightforward repeal of the 2010 law, even though they are leveraging “budget reconciliation” rules to carve Democrats out of the process.

In new guidance, the Senate parliamentarian made their task tougher by saying key parts of the plan should require 60 votes to pass, according to Senate Democrats on the Budget Committee. [ Source:Washington Times (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The day national security planners feared and anticipated arrived this month when Kim Jong Un’s regime successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile theoretically capable of hitting Alaska. But with the North’s threat looming larger than ever, the high ground for U.S. ICBM defenses might not be ground at all.

Space-based missile defense has caused political scuffles and faced skepticism in the halls of Washington since the Reagan administration’s ill-fated Strategic Defense Initiative, more infamously known as Star Wars.

Now, the concept is getting new life as North Korea’s fast-paced pursuit of nuclear ICBMs has spurred talk of more missile defense in general. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill see an opening this year to push forward with the long-debated expansion of America’s missile shield in space, including sensors and even interceptors reminiscent of President Reagan’s proposal. [ Source:Washington Examiner (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected to speak by phone with Jordan’s King Abdullah on Monday in an attempt to ease tense relations between their two countries after an attack at the Israeli embassy in Amman, Channel 2 reported.

Late on Sunday night, an Israeli security officer at the Israeli mission in Jordan was stabbed in the stomach by an assailant with a screwdriver. According to the Foreign Minister, the Israeli guard responded to the attack by shooting the attacker, killing him and another Jordanian in the vicinity. [ Source:Jerusalem Post (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) –
Congress will vote this week on codifying Obama-era sanctions against Russia, pursuing a bipartisan deal that will mark lawmakers’ first major show of independence from President Trump.

In a deal announced Saturday, both Republican and Democratic leaders said they had worked through hurdles and came up with a final bill that includes penalties for Russia, Iran and North Korea. The three hot spots have bedeviled American policymakers for years.

But it’s the Russia sanctions that are likely to test Mr. Trump, who has sought flexibility to work with Moscow while lawmakers push for a harder line. [ Source:Washington Times (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened the Diplomatic-Security Cabinet on Sunday in the wake of the deadly terrorist attack in Halamish Friday evening and ongoing riots over tensions on the Temple Mount.

On Saturday, Netanyahu sent his condolences to the family of the victims of the attack in Halamish.

“This is a terrorist act carried out by an animal, incited by unfathomable hatred,” the prime minister said. “Security forces are doing all they can to maintain security, and will employ all the required resources for this purpose,” he added. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – A rocket launched from the Gaza Strip late on Sunday night landed in open territory near Israel’s security fence in the Eshkol Regional Council.

In response to the rocket attack, Hebrew media reported that an IDF tank struck a Hamas position in the southern Gaza Strip.

This is the second rocked launched from the Gaza Strip towards Israel in the past two days. [ Source:Jerusalem Post (Read More…) ]

(Worthy News) – The Arab League will hold an urgent meeting on Thursday to discuss the escalating crisis surrounding Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, amid widespread unrest in the Israeli capital and the West Bank.

In a series of tweets, Safadi said Jordan was working to “protect [and] restore calm” to the holy site in Jerusalem.

He said the metal detectors must be removed and the “historic status quo respected.”

Palestinians view the new security measures as an Israeli attempt to assert further control over the site, the holiest site in Judaism and the third holiest in Islam. Israel says the detectors are necessary to prevent another incident in which illegal weapons are taken into the compound and turned against Israeli forces. [ Source:Times of Israel (Read More…) ]