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		<title>PC Perspective Forums - The Lightning Round</title>
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			<title>PC Perspective Forums - The Lightning Round</title>
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			<title>IRS vs. The Tea Party</title>
			<link>http://forums.pcper.com/showthread.php?480703-IRS-vs-The-Tea-Party&amp;goto=newpost</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 14 May 2013 03:14:47 GMT</pubDate>
			<description>No big surprise that this went beyond a few lower rung folks in Cincinnati... 
 
 
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Internal Revenue Service officials in Washington and...</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>No big surprise that this went beyond a few lower rung folks in Cincinnati...<br />
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			Internal Revenue Service officials in Washington and at least two other offices were involved with investigating conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status, making clear that the effort reached well beyond the branch in Cincinnati that was initially blamed, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post.<br />
<br />
IRS officials at the agency’s Washington headquarters sent queries to conservative groups asking about their donors and other aspects of their operations, while officials in the El Monte and Laguna Niguel offices in California sent similar questionnaires to tea-party-affiliated groups, the documents show.
			
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</div><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-denounces-reported-irs-targeting-of-conservative-groups/2013/05/13/a0185644-bbdf-11e2-97d4-a479289a31f9_story.html" target="_blank">http://www.washingtonpost.com/politi...1f9_story.html</a><br />
<br />
The big surprise was hearing Obama claim he only heard about this extra attention paid to Tea Party applications a couple of days ago.  This isn't exactly shocking news, at least for folks following the Tea party or anyone who pays attention to Mark Levin.<br />
<br />
Benghazi...<br />
<br />
Tea Party targeted by the IRS...<br />
<br />
AP phone records seized by the DOJ...<br />
<br />
What's next?</div>

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			<category domain="http://forums.pcper.com/forumdisplay.php?56-The-Lightning-Round">The Lightning Round</category>
			<dc:creator>Dutchcedar</dc:creator>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://forums.pcper.com/showthread.php?480703-IRS-vs-The-Tea-Party</guid>
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			<title>Just observations about the whole Boston bombing</title>
			<link>http://forums.pcper.com/showthread.php?480676-Just-observations-about-the-whole-Boston-bombing&amp;goto=newpost</link>
			<pubDate>Fri, 03 May 2013 04:42:44 GMT</pubDate>
			<description><![CDATA[Hey, y'all, long time, no see.  I dunno what made me think of this forum but I did and I saw the other Boston bombing thread.  Being a MA native,...]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>Hey, y'all, long time, no see.  I dunno what made me think of this forum but I did and I saw the other Boston bombing thread.  Being a MA native, living outside of Boston, having many friends in town and working there every day, this was obviously a personal event.  I don't really have a political stance or argument to make.  I just thought I'd share some of the things that I've thought about and discussed since this event happened.<br />
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			Just heard what sounded like two large bangs... And tons if police cars. Nothing on the news yet...
			
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</div>Words of my friend on Facebook who lives in Watertown.  She lives right down the street from where the first shootout occurred.  I read that when I was getting ready for work on that Friday morning.  I quickly found out that I wouldn't be going into work because all public transportation had been closed.  My phone got lit up shortly after as just about everyone I know on this planet was texting me to make sure I wasn't in town and that I was ok.<br />
<br />
The rest of the day went by in a blur.  I was glued to Reddit, a locally streamed police scanner, the news, anything that was covering the event.  The suspects names were released and I hit google immediately.  I found out one was a wrestler.  I found out one had won a scholarship.  I found an online petition to have ducks in your backyard in Cambridge that Dzhokhar had signed.  It was surreal.  <br />
<br />
Usually, these villainous characters are something separate from us, someone we have little personal insight into.  The authorities have all the information and we are spoon fed by our local news stations.  The information we found out about the attackers before any official news outlet had even covered it was nothing short of shocking.  I was reading Tamerlan's Amazon wishlist which read like a terrorist manifesto.  I saw his YouTube channel full of crazy clerics shouting about the evils as such awful things as Harry Potter.<br />
<br />
This was incredibly significant to me.  Here, in the information age, we can see anyone, find anyone.  Thanks to the petabytes of images taken at the Marathon, it was easy to find more pictures of the attackers, better than the ones even the FBI had issued.  Thanks to the internet, we could get a glimpse of the people perpetrating this attack.  In a sense it's a bit unnerving.  Everything you do is captured somewhere and computers never forget.<br />
<br />
I didn't get much of anything done that day.  When they finally cornered and caught Dzhokhar, it was a relief I can't possibly describe.  To say that it was tense in town the week of the bombing would be an understatement.  I work in the financial district and, without even an ounce of exaggeration, there were 2-4 men posted at every city block each outfitted with M4s and bullet proof vests.  South Station was riddled with every flavor of police, federal agent and attack dog.  I wish I could say that terror didn't win but I'd be lying if I said I didn't tense up when I walked past trash cans and mail boxes, wondering if they contained explosive devices.  Friday night, when it was all over, the entire city celebrated and gave a hero's welcome to their local law enforcement (as well as buying pizza for just about every precinct).<br />
<br />
Finally, I'll leave you with an incredibly insightful thought about the circumstances of Dzhokhar's capture that my friend had.  I'd love to claim it as my own words but, alas, I must quote his instead. <br />
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			I think it's important to note in all this that shutting down everything, locking down the city, bringing an army into the streets of Boston and coming into every house without a warrant did NOT yield the suspect's capture. It was literally moments AFTER they let people come out of their homes again that the suspect was discovered...and not by cops, but by a civilian who had just regained the freedom to leave his home, which is when he spotted the suspect in his boat in his own backyard. That ultimately lead to the live capture of the suspect, which is fantastic. <br />
<br />
I don't mean this to be a criticism of the police tactics and I definitely don't mean it to come off as a police-bashing post, because that's not at all my intention -- they did an incredible job in all this. I'm just saying that this victory was a result of civilians and authorities working together and not the authorities taking total control over everything. There's been a lot of &quot;conspiracy&quot; talk about how this was all a ploy to pass laws that will take away more civil liberties of Americans in the name of national security, but the way this suspect was ultimately captured is really a testament in direct contrast to that idea. He was captured the second people's freedoms were returned to them, not during the time they were taken away.
			
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			<category domain="http://forums.pcper.com/forumdisplay.php?56-The-Lightning-Round">The Lightning Round</category>
			<dc:creator>Snowball 2</dc:creator>
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			<title>Obama Sends Troops Back To Iraq....</title>
			<link>http://forums.pcper.com/showthread.php?480666-Obama-Sends-Troops-Back-To-Iraq&amp;goto=newpost</link>
			<pubDate>Wed, 01 May 2013 00:13:19 GMT</pubDate>
			<description>...after a great trip to the George W. Bush library! 
 
http://www.theonion.com/articles/obama-orders-reinvasion-of-iraq-after-illuminating,32202/ 
...</description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>...after a great trip to the George W. Bush library!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.theonion.com/articles/obama-orders-reinvasion-of-iraq-after-illuminating,32202/" target="_blank">http://www.theonion.com/articles/oba...inating,32202/</a><br />
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			DALLAS—After taking an “eye-opening” tour of the newly dedicated George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in Dallas Thursday, President Barack Obama reportedly ordered the United States military to reinvade Iraq.<br />
<br />
The president told reporters that the museum’s numerous displays provided illuminating information concerning the ongoing threat posed by Iraq and the necessity of re-deploying combat troops in order to bring stability and lasting democracy to the troubled country.<br />
<br />
“I have no doubt in my mind, after spending some time in Mr. Bush’s library and museum, that the United States simply must intervene in Iraq in order to temper volatility in the Middle Eastern region as a whole,” Obama said, noting that bombers and approximately 250,000 ground troops were currently en route to the Middle Eastern nation. “The way I now see it, we have a responsibility as Americans to create that kind of change and to lead the world by example.”<br />
<br />
“Though it will not be easy, our work in Iraq will ensure a better life for the Iraqis,” Obama continued. “And they will, I am confident, greet us as liberators.”<br />
<br />
Pointing to the array of informational displays and exhibits housed in the former president’s 226,000-square-foot educational facility, Obama said he was “absolutely convinced” that al-Qaeda has established a major foothold in Iraq and that the people of Iraq deserved to live in a society that is “free of fear and free of want.”<br />
<br />
“Let me go a step further and say that if we do not act now to enact a regime change in Iraq, the consequences will be dire,” Obama said, adding that, as evidenced by documents he read in the Bush museum, Iraq was likely the axis upon which the entire Middle Eastern region turns. “It is a hotbed for terrorism, and, as demonstrated by the Bush archives, invading Iraq will allow us to put a stop to those religious extremists who actively seek to harm the U.S. and hold America hostage.”<br />
<br />
“They hate our freedoms,” Obama continued.<br />
<br />
Obama added that though engaging Iraq might result in a protracted conflict, he was confident upon further researching the library’s materials that the United Nations and the international community would come together to support such a necessary, morally justifiable endeavor.<br />
<br />
“Working together with our numerous allies, we can and will be an agent of change,” the president said, thanking his predecessor for making a “truly convincing case” for military intervention in Iraq. “Through our noble efforts, we will transform Iraq into a bastion of democracy and cause peace to spread throughout the region, ensuring stability and prosperity in the Middle East for generations to come.”<br />
<br />
“I stand by this decision because I know it is the right thing to do,” Obama added before leaving the museum. “And I think history will judge me accordingly.”
			
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			<category domain="http://forums.pcper.com/forumdisplay.php?56-The-Lightning-Round">The Lightning Round</category>
			<dc:creator>Keven</dc:creator>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://forums.pcper.com/showthread.php?480666-Obama-Sends-Troops-Back-To-Iraq</guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[The "Shooting Random Crap With Really Cool Guns" Thread]]></title>
			<link>http://forums.pcper.com/showthread.php?480662-The-quot-Shooting-Random-Crap-With-Really-Cool-Guns-quot-Thread&amp;goto=newpost</link>
			<pubDate>Tue, 30 Apr 2013 13:57:13 GMT</pubDate>
			<description><![CDATA[In an effort to bring us all together, I submit to you, the first ever "Shooting Random Crap With Really Cool Guns" Thread in TLR.  Please feel free...]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div>In an effort to bring us all together, I submit to you, the first ever &quot;Shooting Random Crap With Really Cool Guns&quot; Thread in TLR.  Please feel free to add as necessary.<br />
<br />
My first submission:<br />
<br />
<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/cIkUlsNoI2g&amp;"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/cIkUlsNoI2g&amp;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent"></embed></object><br />
<br />
I love how the bullet is bigger than the ginormous phone.</div>

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			<category domain="http://forums.pcper.com/forumdisplay.php?56-The-Lightning-Round">The Lightning Round</category>
			<dc:creator>BlackDragon24</dc:creator>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://forums.pcper.com/showthread.php?480662-The-quot-Shooting-Random-Crap-With-Really-Cool-Guns-quot-Thread</guid>
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