Will Tea Parties Awaken America’s Moral Culture?
Tea parties are changing the face of political participation, but critics of the tea party movement point to these grassroots upstarts as “extreme,” “angry,” “racist” and even “seditious.” Yet The Christian Science Monitor reported that tea party rallies are so orderly police have given them more latitude than other protest groups. Are tea parties really seditious or do they instead invoke a genuine American tradition of protest—such as when civil rights leaders too made appeals to the Founding Fathers?

Congress makes too many vague laws
A conservative think tank and criminal defense lawyers are forming an unusual alliance to try to get Congress to quit writing criminal laws so loosely that they subject innocent people to unjust prosecution and prison. A new study by the Heritage Foundation and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers finds that nearly two dozen federal laws enacted in 2005 and 2006 to combat nonviolent crime lack an adequate provision that someone accused of violating the laws must have had a "guilty mind," or criminal intent. "It is a fundamental principle of criminal law that, before criminal punishment can be imposed, the government must prove both a guilty act and a guilty mind," the groups said in the report.

TSA Allows Times Square Terrorism on Plane
The no-fly list failed to keep the Times Square suspect off the plane. Faisal Shahzad had boarded a jetliner bound for the United Arab Emirates Monday night before federal authorities pulled him back.

'Scheme' to 'peddle abortions' investigated
Iowa authorities have launched an investigation into a "scheme" by Planned Parenthood, the nation's abortion industry leader, to "peddle abortions" by setting up computer-link visits for patients instead of allowing them to meet with the doctor ordering the abortion chemicals for them.

Governor’s veto of late-term abortion overturned
The Kansas House on Monday voted to revive legislation vetoed by Gov. Mark Parkinson that would require more information from doctors who perform late-term abortions. The House voted 86-35, two votes more than the two-thirds majority required to override a veto. “There was an aggressive effort at the grassroots level,” said Rep. Lance Kinzer, an Olathe Republican who championed the bill.

Mexico's illegals laws tougher than Arizona's
Mexican President Felipe Calderon denounced as "racial discrimination" an Arizona law giving state and local police the authority to arrest suspected illegal immigrants and vowed to use all means at his disposal to defend Mexican nationals against a law he called a "violation of human rights." But the legislation, signed April 23 by Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, is similar to Reglamento de la Ley General de Poblacion — the General Law on Population enacted in Mexico in April 2000, which mandates that federal, local and municipal police cooperate with federal immigration authorities in that country in the arrests of illegal immigrants.

Illegal Immigration March: Let’s Riot
After months of warning that Tea Party protests would erupt into violence, a wave of vandalism and violence crested in Santa Cruz this weekend. Masked protesters wielding torches swarmed through the business district, smashing windows and chanting “the streets are on fire!” and “Revolution!” It’s exactly the kind of armed uprising that Tea Party critics predicted … except that it didn’t erupt at a Tea Party, it was the May Day March for Illegal Immigration.

Defending Freedom is a Choice
President Barack Obama was asked if he subscribed to the school of American exceptionalism that sees America as uniquely qualified to lead the world, or do you have a slightly different philosophy?” President Obama then responded: “I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism.” In other words, the President does not see anything unique about America’s role in history or the world.

Town Bans Bottled Water Sales
The town of Concord has banned the sale of bottled drinking water in town beginning in 2011. "We only have one planet and I just don't want to see it spoiled," said Jean Hill, who introduced the measure at Concord's Town Meeting.

Conservative: Kansas GOP 2010 State Platform
The Kansas Republican Party affirms the Kansas Constitution in stating that “We the people of Kansas [are] grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious privileges.” Since man is created in God’s image, each person’s dignity, freedom, ability, and responsibility must be honored.

Firearms Industry Releases?Economic Impact Report
At a Capitol Hill breakfast briefing today, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the trade association for the firearms and ammunition industry, released a newly commissioned report detailing the significant economic impact the firearms and ammunition industry has on the nation's and each state’s economy.

Mr. Global Warming Pays $8M for Extra Home
Former Vice President Al Gore and his wife, Tipper, have added a Montecito-area property to their real estate holdings, reports the Montecito Journal. The couple spent $8,875,000 on an ocean-view villa on 1.5 acres with a swimming pool, spa and fountains, a real estate source familiar with the deal confirms. The Italian-style house has six fireplaces, five bedrooms and nine bathrooms. Carbon Credits, the biggest Pyramid Scheme in the history of man!

New Book on War Hero, Col. John W. Ripley
Marine Col. Ripley is most commonly known for his heroics in Vietnam during the Easter Offensive of 1972, where Col. Gerald Turley ordered him to "hold and die," in the face of over 30,000 North Vietnamese and 200 enemy tanks. Praying to God for help, Ripley proceeded to blow up the Dong Ha bridge, preventing the enemy from crossing. For this act of valor he earned the Navy Cross, the nation's second highest honor.

Kobach Receives Endorsement
The Kansans for Government Reform PAC has endorsed Republican candidate Kris Kobach for Kansas' next Secretary of State. Kobach is a former Overland Park City Councilman, White House Fellow, a UMKC law professor, and the former state chairman for the Kansas Republican Party.

Franklin Graham Warns of Persecution
Graham called revoking his invitation to the prayer service "a slap at all evangelical Christians." "I'm being restricted from my religious rights, and from what I believe," Graham warned, as he complained of a growing “secularization” in the government. He also warned Christians of “coming” persecution for believing in Jesus Christ.

Fr. Corapi: "Be Not Afraid - There is Truth”
Speaking to a crowd of more than 7,000 faithful during an intense day-long event in St. Louis. Fr. John Corapi warned, "The day for fence-sitting is over; the days to be a lukewarm Catholic are rapidly coming to an end." He urged the faithful to put their full trust in Jesus Christ who is Truth itself. “Truth is not something, Truth is somebody,” he said.

Sandra Bullock Adopts
According to one estimate, as many as 1,450 black babies are aborted each day in the U.S. A black baby is five times more likely to be killed in the womb than a white baby. This hidden holocaust is an atrocity that deserves attention so that more "Sandra Bullocks" will have the opportunity to adopt.

Chinese Accused of Vast Trade in Organs
China's hidden policy of executing prisoners of the forbidden quasi-Buddhist group Falun Gong and harvesting their organs for worldwide sale has been expanded. Chinese Vice Minister of Health Huang Jiefu acknowledged that 95 percent of all transplanted organs come from executions. Organs from just one person can fetch a total of $100,000 on the worldwide market, he added.

Compulsory Sterilization Drive in China
The campaign aims to achieve 9,559 sterilizations over 20 days in Puning, the most populous county in the province with 2.24 million residents. Coercive strategies for those families who do not comply in Puning include rejecting building permits applied for by families who have illegal children, and refusing residency registration for illegal children, which denies them access to education and healthcare.

Women Forcibly Sterilized in Uzbekistan
The Times reports that a program of systematic sterilization of poor farmers’ wives is a policy of the Uzbek dictator President Islam Karimov. Human Rights Watch has pointed the finger at the U.S. and the European Union for their increasing silence on human rights abuses. Goldston said the event creates “an impression of the EU and the U.S. effectively giving up any serious effort to promote human rights as part of their engagement with Uzbekistan.”

Babies' Bodies Found Dumped in Chinese River
The bodies of 21 infants were found floating or lodged in the mud of a river near the eastern Chinese city of Jining, according to a China Daily report. The bodies—some in diapers, some in plastic bags marked "medical waste"—were found under a bridge over the Guangfu river.

300 Urns Dumped in Lake Zurich
Local authorities in Zurich are asking questions about the assisted suicide facility Dignitas, after 300 urns containing human ashes were found in Lake Zurich this week.

Sister Mary Beth is No Ordinary Nun
Sister Mary Elizabeth Lloyd will run in all 50 states to raise awareness about AIDS orphans. For the past two decades, she's dedicated her life to helping orphans -- first war orphans and then AIDS orphans -- in Albania, Brazil, Ethiopia, Eritrea, India and the U.S.

Marvel Comics Illustrator Creates Good Superhero
Lawlis has worked on characters like Spiderman, the Hulk, X-Men and more. The main character, “Paul Roman” wears an orange jumpsuit with a “3” emblazoned on the front – a reference to the Trinity - drives a futuristic roadster called “Orange Peel,” and engages in sharing the Good News with a bunch of alien thugs on Godderth, who call themselves “the Red Menace.”

Seattle Boy With Cancer Turns Into Superhero
Erik, who is living with liver cancer, has always wanted to be a superhero. On Thursday, the regional chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation granted him that wish with an elaborate event that involved hundreds of volunteers in Bellevue and Seattle.

MSNBC: Bummed Shahzad wasn’t Tea Partier
MSNBC Commentator Contessa Brewer tells Stephanie Miller that she’s really unhappy that she couldn’t use the Times Square bombing attempt to prove Tea Party “bigotry.” Never mind that this clip shows the bigotry of Brewer in relation to conservatives.

Gospel of St. John 15:1-8

1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he will take away. And each one that does bear fruit, he will cleanse, so that it may bring forth more fruit. 3 You are clean now, because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. Just as the branch is not able to bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so also are you unable, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit. For without me, you are able to do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me, he will be cast away, like a branch, and he will wither, and they will gather him and cast him into the fire, and he burns. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, then you may ask for whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. 8 In this, my Father is glorified: that you should bring forth very much fruit and become my disciples.

When Mexican drug traffickers need someone killed or kidnapped, or drugs distributed in the United States, they increasingly call on American subcontractors - U.S.-based prison gangs that run criminal enterprises from behind bars, sometimes even from solitary confinement.

Prison gangs have long controlled armies of street toughs on the outside. But in interviews with The Associated Press, authorities say the gangs' activity has expanded beyond street-level drug sales to establish a business alliance with Mexican cartels.

"They'll do the dirty work that, say, the cartels, they don't want to do" in the United States. "They don't want to get involved," said a former member of Barrio Azteca, a U.S. prison gang tied to Mexico's Juarez cartel.

The partnership benefits both sides: The gangs give drug traffickers a large pool of experienced criminals and established distribution networks in the U.S. And the cartels provide the prison gangs with discounted drugs and the logistical support of top criminal organizations.

To carry on their gang activity, imprisoned gang members resort to elaborate subterfuge: using sign language, sending letters through third parties, enlisting corrupt prison officials, holding conference calls using contraband cell phones. Some even conduct business in an ancient Aztec language to foil censors.

FBI special agent Samantha Mikeska spent nearly a decade investigating the Barrio Azteca. Last year, three leaders got life sentences, but she questioned the real value of sending them back to prison. "I think I've made them stronger," she said.

The latest annual National Drug Threat Assessment, released in February by the Justice Department, said prison gangs were operating in all 50 states and were increasing their influence over drug trafficking along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Federal authorities have documented numerous links between most of the major U.S. prison gangs and Mexican drug trafficking organizations.