Fire Fighting C130 Crashes

The military has grounded their fleet of seven fire fighting C130s after the eighth crashed in South Dakota.

At least one of it's crew was killed in the crash, which is being blamed on fatigue cracks in the wings.

The remaining planes will be cleared once they all have been thoroughly checked.

It is a really bad time for the planes to be missing from action, due to the amount of fires across the country.

With the eight gone, only fourteen C130s, which are all contracted to the federal government, remain in the fight.

Nieto Elected President of Mexico

Enrique Pena Nieto was elected President of Mexico in Sunday's election.

A few problems did occur during the voting yesterday, including armed men breaking into a Monterrey polling station and stealing ballot boxes.

In Rincon Chamula troops had to be called out to stop violence between supporters of the PRI and the Green Party.

Reports from there list several as being injured and three dead.

Nieto brings the Institutional Revolution Party back to power after twelve years of the National Action Party.

Before that the PRI had held power for over seventy years.

The PRI is also expected to end up with governors in twenty-one of the thirty-one states.

During the course of out going President Calderon's term, more than sixty thousand Mexicans are believed to have lost their lives in the drug war.

Drug lords gained a lot of territory during the time that PAN ran the country, causing many people to want the old powers back in hopes of returning stability.

Mexico's economy is however growing strongly, with only 4.5% unemployment, and a blossoming middle class.

Astronauts Return From International Space Station

Three of the astronauts aboard the International Space Station returned to earth Sunday.

NASA astronaut Don Pettit, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, and Dutch astronaut Andre Kuipers had been on board the ISS since December 2011.

They returned to earth via a Russian Soyuz capsule, landing in Kazakhstan.

During their time aboard they accepted the arrival of SpaceX's Dragon Capsule, the first commercial vehicle to dock with the station.

On July 14, three new crew members are scheduled to replace them.

Russian cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Sergei Revin remain on board with NASA astronaut Joe Acaba, and are scheduled to come back to earth in September.

Spain Wins Euro 2012

In a less one sided match than it sounds, Spain took down Italy with a final score of 4-0.

Italy played the last twenty-seven minutes short handed, and until the final few minutes were still playing strong.

No matter what the did during the game, Spain just seemed to have the answer.

Spain showed themselves to be the better team, becoming the first team to win three Euro Cups in a row.

They left the game having not allowed a goal in more than 510 minutes.

One of the most notable things about the Spanish team, is that there is no super star, they are a team, rather than a single person back by his team.

The Spanish will likely be the team to beat for at least the next few years.

Turkey Scrambles Jets in Response to Syrian Aircraft

Less than a week after promising to do so, Turkey scrambled jets in response to approaching Syrian Aircraft.

On Sunday, Turkey said that during the course of Saturday there were three separate incidents.

In each case Turkey scrambled two jets in response to Syrian helicopters nearing the border.

Syrian forces did not cross the border, so there were no violent results.

Remembering: Canadian Independence

Throughout much of the 1800s Canadian dependence on Britain shrunk, and autonomy seemed more an eventuality.

Then in the 1860's, with much of the world focused on the civil war happening to the south, calls for secession from the empire began.

In 1864 the Maritime provinces held a conference to discuss forming their own country. Delegates from Ontario and Quebec came as well.

Later in the year, a second conference was held in Quebec, with talks increasingly focusing on how to have a peaceful secession from Britain.

The conferences resulted in a delegation being sent to London in 1866, to discuss things with the British government.

On July 1, 1867, through the British North America Act, Britain established the Dominion of Canada, a self governing country that was still part of the empire.

Storms Kill 13 in Eastern US

A series of violent storms left thirteen dead and more than three million without power, in the mideast and eastern United States, on Saturday.

Most of the deaths were caused by falling trees, though some were heat related.

Six were killed in Virginia, two in New Jersey, two in Maryland, and one each in Kentucky, Ohio and Washington DC.

The states of Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Ohio were joined by Washington DC in declaring themselves disaster areas.

It is expected to take several days to restore power to all those effected.

Mexican Elections Sunday

Nieto, Mota, Orbador

On Sunday Mexico will vote for it's new President, as well as many other positions in congress, the senate, governors, and local ones as well.

Former governor Enrique Pena Nieto is seen as the leading candidate, but it is still up for grabs.

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Josefina Vazquez Mota are both seen as still having possibilities of winning.

Nieto formerly was the Governor of Mexico state, and belongs to the Institutional Revolutionary Party, which held power for more than seventy years, until 2000.

Obrador is the former Mayor of Mexico City and belongs to Party of the Democratic Revolution, and almost won in 2006. His campaign has seen a recent surge of support from students.

Mota, a businesswoman and former education secretary, belongs to the National Action Party, which currently holds the presidency.

A lot of focus has gone into how each candidate pledges to end corruption, work on the nation's poverty, and deal with the war on drugs.

At least 55,000 people have been killed in drug related violence, since the last Presidential elections, in 2006.

Mexico faces a population with more than one third below the poverty line, this whilst only having a 4.5% unemployment rate.

Morsi Sworn in as Egypt's President

Mohmaed Morsi was sworn in as Egypt's President on Saturday.

Morsi is the first freely elected President in Egyptian history.

He belongs to the Muslim Brotherhood, a party which until recently had been banned in the country.

The new President has very little actual power, as the military still controls all decisions until a constitution can be written.

In his inaugural, President Morsi took a conciliatory tone with the military, upsetting some supporters, but he also encouraged the military to speed the process towards establishing the rest of the new government.

Previously Morsi had been one of the most vocal opponents of any military involvement.

SCOTUS Refuses Stay: 9th Circuit Supports Voter Fraud

Several weeks ago, Arizona won on many provisions of Proposition 200, a state voter integrity law. However, one key provision of the law was qualified and restricted by the 9th Circuit Court. The 9th Appellate upheld the ruling on that one provision.

Arizona Secretary Of State Ken Bennett issued this official statement on June 28, 2012:

Supreme Court Rejects Stay

The United States Supreme Court has denied Arizona's request for a stay from the 9th Circuit Court's ruling that federal voter-registration law supersedes Arizona's voter registration requirements. Arizona filed the request in advance of the forthcoming appeal to the ruling in which the 9th Circuit struck down Arizona's requirement that residents provide proof of citizenship when they register to vote on the federal form.

The court fight stems back to 2004 when Arizona voters passed Proposition 200 which would help ensure that only US citizens vote in elections.

Those registering to vote in Arizona are required to prove citizenship by providing one of the following documents: a driver's license, passport, birth certificate, tribal identification or naturalization certification number. Voters seeking to register online must provide a driver's license number, where eligibility is verified through Arizona’s motor vehicle system.

"Today’s disappointing action by the Supreme Court seemingly flies in the face of the text of the NVRA which uses the term 'citizen' repeatedly," said Secretary of State Ken Bennett. "Arizonans clearly believe that people should provide proof of citizenship when they register to vote."

"There isn’t a corner of this state where people are not concerned with voter fraud and opposition to the simple act of providing proof that you are legally eligible to participate in our elections is hard to fathom. We look forward to the day when we'll make our case for fair and fraud free elections to the Supreme Court. Until then, we await the mandate from the 9th Circuit and will be working with the 15 counties as to a practical application."

The law requires voters to present valid identification at polling places in order to cast a ballot.

The law, however, does little to prevent absentee ballot fraud or Permanent Early Voter List (PEVL) fraud. Those ballots are cast via the mail or courier, usually in advance of the actual election date. However, voter fraud and perjury statutes apply to those ballots if deemed in violation. Anybody casting a PEVL ballot can be called to testify, in person, they cast that ballot. they can also be compelled by Arizona courts to demonstrate they are eligible to cast that ballot, if it should come into question.

To a law-abiding citizen, that makes sense and should not be a questionable issue. If you are doing the right thing, you have nothing to worry about.

The law also included provisions for providing proof of residency, eligibility, and citizenship when registering to vote. Those provisions are already in place when registering through the "Motor-Voter" act of 1993. Many other rights protected by both the US Constitution and the State of Arizona also require valid identification. The US Second Amendment is one such example. Arizona law requires a valid, government-issued ID card in order to carry a firearm. If you are an Arizona Resident (and a US Citizen), a state ID or Driver's License serves that purpose.

In the Supreme Court Decision Bush v Gore in 2001, the USSC determined that there is no constitutional right to vote in presidential elections. In fact, there are no provisions for a "right to vote" in the US Constitution at all. The US Constitution dictates that voter eligibility is determined by the sovereign states. Those determinations are restricted by several amendments in the US Constitution. However, within those parameters, the states determine who can vote in their states. Those parameters are dictated by the 14th Amendment, the 15th Amendment (no restrictions for race or condition of servitude), the 17th Amendment (changes election of senators to a popular vote), The 19th Amendment (no restrictions due to gender), the 24th Amendment (prohibition of poll taxes), and the 26th Amendment (minimum voting age set at 18).

However, the 9th Circuit Court stated  that Arizona cannot mandate proof of citizenship in order to register for federal elections, especially when using the federal voter registration form in lieu of the state registration form. This means that if somebody wants to fraudulently register, they just use the federal form instead of the state one. Under the decision, Arizona State election officials cannot ask for proof of citizenship. The court stated that by signing the self-verification affidavit on the federal form, they fall under federal perjury statutes. They claim that is enough to prevent voter fraud.

Please stop laughing. This is serious.

The "Motor-Voter" Act of 1993, further bolstered by the HAVA of 2002 (both of which Eric Holder violated in his attempt to stop Florida from cleaning voter rolls) mandate that the states complete audits of voter rolls removing ineligible voters no later than 90 days prior to an election. Ineligible voters are felons of a certain classification or higher (as deemed by state law), deceased, and non-residents. Read that last classification again. Non-residents are not eligible to vote. This is meant to keep people from voting from multiple states. If you move from Illinois to Arizona, you cannot vote in both states. You have to claim one as your legal residency. However, illegal immigrants are NOT legal residents of ANY state, as they are not legal residents of the US.

So, the 9th Circuit Court has ruled to impede Arizona from effectively auditing and maintaining a lawful voter registration roll. They are mandated to purge the rolls of non-residents, but are prohibited from verifying citizenship at the time of registration, if the registrant utilizes the federal registration form.

Proposition 200 does not prevent any lawfully eligible voter from registering and voting. In fact, it protects the votes of those eligible by insuring their ballots are not devalued by fraudulent ballots and registrations.

Arizona requested a stay of this ruling from the USSC pending a USSC ruling on the case. The 9th court of Appeals already stated the rest of the law is constitutional. The USSC denied that stay, leaving open the opportunity for fraudulent voter registration and voter fraud.

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