4-30-13 Expert Commentators for Your Show

1. Joseph Klein: Grim Alternatives in Syria

2. Dave Bego: Big Labor Bosses Fear Employee Incentives

3. John LeBoutillier: Are D.C.'s Leaders Adrift and Awash in Self-Dealing and Hypocrisy?

4. Kyle Olson: What Students Won't Learn During California’s Labor History Month

Grim Alternatives in Syria

By Joseph Klein

The crisis in Syria is going from bad to worse. Civilians continue to be killed, injured, detained and abducted every day, including most recently the kidnapping of two prominent clerics in northern Syria. Both sides in the conflict are to blame for the unspeakable carnage. As terrible as the bloodshed is, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the resolution to this scenario rests with two grim alternatives. Although Assad, a reliable Iranian ally, has proven his monstrous capabilities, it is becoming indisputable that al-Qaeda-linked rebel forces stand to usher in an equally unworthy regime. Another erratic Islamist theocracy is certainly something the West can ill afford in the rapidly deteriorating region. [more...]

Big Labor Bosses Fear Employee Incentives

By Dave Bego

Control is the most pressing priority for the leadership of Big Labor. They need to control the masses; and in order to do that, they must control the terms of employment, and they must control the benefits of employment. For this reason, the Big Labor bosses oppose employee incentive raises. They create discord and jealousy, and thus, the union’s ability to control its membership. But such incentives also create ambition, initiative and increased productivity. While important to the employer, these traits are potentially damaging to the union. Complacency, mediocrity and sameness benefit the union; the results are that it takes more employees to produce the end product, translating into more union members and more union dues, which is the ultimate objective. [more...]

Are D.C.'s Leaders Adrift and Awash in Self-Dealing and Hypocrisy?

By John LeBoutillier

Are we witnessing an Administration adrift and a Capitol awash in self-dealing and hypocrisy? Why can’t our leaders do anything correctly? The Russian warnings about Tamaran Tsarnaev, the air traffic controllers and the Sequester, Syria and ObamaCare are all examples of our government caring more about themselves than about doing their jobs. And what is going on with former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford’s campaign for Congress on May 7th? [more...]

What Students Won't Learn During California’s Labor History Month

By Kyle Olson

California lawmakers don’t simply like labor unions. They love them. So much, in fact, that they recently eliminated Labor History Week from the state law books and replaced it with Labor History Month, with the first scheduled for this May. That means starting tomorrow, Californians (particularly school children) will be getting a steady diet of pro-labor propaganda, displaying the history of the union movement in only the most flattering light. That’s where EAGnews comes in. We believe it’s necessary to balance that stream of happy history with the rest of the story. [more...]

'Duck Dynasty' Scores Big with Faith, Family and Firearms

By James Hirsen

Even those few folks who had never heard of the hit reality series “Duck Dynasty” recently saw some of the cast of the reality show in attendance at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.

CALL 516-735-5468 or e-mail Sandy to schedule interviews with James Hirsen.

A&E’s reality television series follows the lives of the Robertson family, who became wealthy as a result of the success of a family-operated business, Duck Commander, which is headquartered in West Monroe, Louisiana.

The show routinely includes scenes exhibiting time-honored American values, which, incidentally, certain current-minded television executives previously had a difficult time believing were marketable. Some of the values that are seamlessly woven into many of the episodes include fervent faith, family loyalty, dedication to the work ethic, and valuing of our Constitutional rights, Second Amendment rights in particular. [more...]

Republicans Have the Perfect Opportunity to Win On Obamacare By Using Obama's Tactics Against Him

By Doug Johnson

The Republicans squander most every opportunity to get the upper hand, but if they play their cards right, this time they have a golden opportunity to beat Obama at his own game.

President Obama and the Democrats have tried to make the country feel pain as they selectively choose what services to cut back while blaming it on the Sequester to make Republicans look like the bad guys. They've hoped that the citizenry will revolt and demand that Republicans give in and spend more money that we don't have. Now the Democrats are giving the Republicans the perfect opportunity to strike back in a bigger and more powerful way using those very tactics with Obamacare. [more... ]

4-25-13 EAGNews.org Updates

By Kyle Olson

Bill Clinton calls AFL-CIO leaders the ‘best businesspeople in America’

Back in 2011, union leaders announced a plan to use pension dollars set aside for union retirees to fund real estate development. The New York Times reported the AFL-CIO in particular wanted to work with banks and pension systems to come up "with hundreds of millions of dollars to retrofit large commercial buildings." Such investments, of course, are risky. And the unions are clearly willing to risk their members’ retirement benefits to fund these projects. Could taxpayers be left holding the bag if things don’t work out and retirees need their pension funds suddenly restored by the government? This week, the AFL-CIO walked the talk by announcing that it will retrofit its own building to make it more “green.” Officials didn’t announce how much pension money will be needed to complete the job. Former President Bill Clinton was on hand to herald the announcement.  [more...]

Sequester jester: Taxpayers fund trombone festival, project on Ukrainian wedding rituals

Budget problems? What budget problems? While airline passengers prepare to stand in multi-hour security lines and Iowa 6th graders are blocked from touring the White House, arts groups are laughing all the way to the bank. The National Endowment for the Arts has released its latest round of grants, this one totaling $26.3 million. [They include...] The full list can be found on the NEA Web site.

Chicago activist teacher group circulates two-week ‘lesson plan’ on school closures

Is this what Common Core-compliant school lessons are going to look like? Activists with the Chicago group “Teachers for Social Justice” have produced a two-week lesson plan to teach students about Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan to close 54 schools in the city. While the lesson plan will supposedly be balanced in the way it addresses the issue, it was produced by activists staunchly opposed to any school closures, regardless of the validity of the reason. Does anyone really expect a group that has been at the forefront of the effort to stop school closures to give students a lesson that isn’t politically-charged? [more...]

4-24-13 Expert Guests for Your Show

1. Carl Schramm: Helping Cities Fix Themselves

2. Ryan Mauro: Boston Bomber's Mosque Has Muslim Brotherhood Ties

3. John LeBoutillier: How Does the Boston Attack Impact Our View of Government?

4. Anne Speckhard, Ph.D.: Delving into the Minds of Terrorists to Try to Understand their Motivations

5. Doug Johnson: PC Endangering America

Helping Cities Fix Themselves

By Carl Schramm

There is no compelling narrative in our public discourse today about what to do with cities that are no longer economically viable - that are losing their populations in the wake of losing their economies. In every such place, and there are dozens of them, the talk is of recovery, restoration, often "renaissance." The alternative of seeing some of our cities as smaller, operating on a different and more diminutive scale, is never heard. Instead consultants bring bright visions that politicians and citizens know in their hearts can't be realized. So how should we think about the re-development of cities if the reality of de-development is ever to be turned around? [more...]

Boston Bomber's Mosque Has Muslim Brotherhood Ties

By Ryan Mauro

Dzhokar Tsarnaev, arrested for the terrorist bombings in Boston, attended the Islamic Society of Boston (ISB) in Cambridge, a mosque with strong Muslim Brotherhood links. The ISB Cultural Center, which is at a separate location, is even run by a group that federal prosecutors said in 2008 “was founded as the overt arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in America." An ISB attendee reports last seeing Tsarnaev there during Ramadan last year. It is unclear if his brother, the other bomber, also attended the mosque. The ISB has links to the Muslim Brotherhood, has had radical leadership and promotes anti-Western themes. [more...]

How Does the Boston Attack Impact Our View of Government?

By John LeBoutillier

How does the Boston attack impact our view of government? Does it change our politics, immigration reform and gun control? How does it impact our civil liberties? Watch The POLITICAL INSIDERS - Pat Caddell, Doug Schoen and John LeBoutillier - Sunday: Part 1 - Part 2 - Monday [more...]

Delving into the Minds of Terrorists to Try to Understand their Motivations

By Anne Speckhard, Ph.D.

The two Chechen brothers who are suspects in the Boston bombings raise important questions of how the terrorism in the Chechen conflict appears to have ended up being played out here as well. Having interviewed over four hundred terrorists, their family members, close associates and even hostages worldwide - including those from Chechnya, I have some ideas as to how these young boys may have been radicalized. [more...]

PC Endangering America

By Doug Johnson

It is blatantly clear that the Boston Marathon bombing was an act of terrorism. Of course, the term "terrorism" isn't well received by the left because it's politically incorrect, but political correctness endangers us and only truth can protect us. Led by President "politically correct" Obama, the left wants us to be careful not to use phrases like "Radical Islam," especially when it involves such groups as Muslims. Heaven forbid that we might offend someone! No, they think that it's far better to reduce our safety and make sure no one is offended. [more... ]

Robert Redford's Latest Film Romances Radicalism

By James Hirsen

Robert Redford has a new agenda driven film out. Unfortunately for him, the timing of his latest release is terrible. As the nation struggles to recover from the recent tragic events that took place in Boston, moviegoers have little appetite for flicks that are sympathetic to terrorism and its evil machinations.

Redford produced, directed, and stars in “The Company You Keep,” a political action thriller that is derived from a script, which was adapted from Neil Gordon’s revisionist novel of the same name. In the movie, Redford plays widower and single dad Jim Grant, who is an anti-Vietnam War radical and former member of the Weather Underground. Grant is being sought by law enforcement in relation to a bank robbery and murder.

For three decades, Grant has posed as an Albany attorney in order to hide from the FBI. He finds himself in the position of being forced to flee, after an aggressive reporter (played by Shia LaBeouf) exposes his true identity. Sharon Solarz (played by Susan Sarandon) is another fugitive who readies herself to surrender to the law. Replete with hippie-era cliches, the dialogue of the film puts a positive spin on sixties' radicalism. "We made mistakes, but we were right," Solarz says at one point. The line is reminiscent of an interview that Bill Ayers, former real-life radical and associate of President Obama, had given a while back to The New York Times. [more...]

Boston Bombers' Chechnyan Past

By Anne Speckhard, Ph.D.

“Victory or Paradise!” is the rallying cry of the Chechen suicide terrorists who took over the Beslan School and the Moscow Theater (holding over one thousand and eight hundred hostages respectively). Chechen terrorists acting from inside Chechnya launched more than 112 suicide attacks inside Chechnya and are still active spreading their movement outside Chechnya into the region. Likewise because of the devastating wars of independence, Chechens refugees dispersed all over the world - to Europe, Canada, U.S. and elsewhere. As refugees, they fled Chechnya and the surrounding region with deep traumas seared into their souls - death, torture, rapes, carpet bombings, complete and total devastation. A few of these became terrorist instigators and actors in Belgium, in France and now it looks like also the U.S.

The young men identified as suspects in the Boston bombings are Chechens who came here as children fleeing two devastating wars of independence in Chechnya. As such, they likely grew up hearing stories of Russian atrocities there and may have also been exposed to stories glorifying rebel fighters in Chechnya that have been involved in militant jihadi activities. [more...]

Anne Speckhard, Ph.D. is a professor of psychiatry, has studied the Chechens intensively, is an expert on PTSD and the author of Talking to Terrorists.