6 hrs ago

When the going gets tough, the tough get going … to Martha's Vineyard, apparently. According to the Boston Globe, Michelle, Sasha and Malia Obama are planning to jet off to the Massachusetts island for an "extended period." The whole Obama fam has spent three previous summers on the Vineyard, unpacking their suitcases at the lush Blue Heron Farm (and break out the tiny violins, because a British architect has since bought the $21M property, so it might not be available). The Obamas are said to be eyeing a different rental in quiet Farm Neck. The POTUS is expected to drop in on the weekends and possibly for two weeks in late August. [Source]

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GRAPEVINE, TX - Family Research Council (FRC) expressed deep disappointment at the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) for changing their long-standing position today on membership regarding open homosexuality within the Scouts.

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins made the following comments:

"Sadly, the Boy Scouts' legacy of producing great leaders has become yet another casualty of moral compromise. Unfortunately, Boy Scout delegates capitulated to strong-arm tactics and abandoned the timeless values that have served the organization well for more than 100 years.

"The delegates succumbed to a concerted and manipulative effort by the national BSA leadership despite the BSA's own survey showing 61 percent of its members in opposition to changing the policy.

"The Boy Scouts has for decades been a force for moral integrity and leadership in the United States. BSA councils, Scouting parents, and leaders of the faith-based organizations that charter over two-thirds of the packs and troops, must now decide how to respond to this moral compromise. Many will separate from the organization so that they can continue to foster character among boys and respect the right of parents to discuss issues of sexuality with their sons.

"It is clear that the current BSA leadership will bend with the winds of popular culture, and the whims of liberal special interest groups. There is little doubt that God will soon be ushered out of scouting. Now is the time for new leadership. In the meantime, we will stand with those BSA Councils who will now act to protect boys from a new policy that only creates moral confusion and disrespects the views of the vast majority of Scouting parents," concluded Perkins.

On Friday at 5:05 PM ET, Texas Governor Rick Perry will appear on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins to offer his reaction to the outcome of the resolution. Listen online at www.tonyperkins.com.

To set up an interview with a member of FRC's staff on any of these topics, contact J.P. Duffy or Darin Miller at (866) FRC-NEWS or Media@FRC.org.

Liberty is Personal - "Collateral Damage" told by Gina L.
Video: http://youtu.be/Fqo4nmNHDMY

Published on May 21, 2013
Two girls are left desperate to survive after their mother is jailed in the War on Drugs. Gina's behind-the-scenes account of the War on Drugs exposes shocking aftermath in targeted neighborhoods.

NOTE: The following story is true, but the names have been changed in order to protect the identity of those involved.

"Liberty is Personal" is an experiment in education based on what really shapes us— real life experiences. Learn Liberty provides learning resources from top-notch educators and aspires to inspire.

Special thanks to Students for Liberty. This story series was filmed at the 2013 International Students for Liberty Conference in Washington, DC.

Learn more about Students for Liberty at https://www.studentsforliberty.org

Sweden's image as a generous, happy country is challenged as riots rage for the fourth day in immigrant suburbs of Stockholm.

STOCKHOLM — Hundreds of youth have torched cars, burned down a restaurant and attacked police in four nights of riots in immigrant suburbs of Sweden's capital, shocking a country that dodged the worst of the financial crisis but failed to solve youth unemployment and resentment among asylum seekers.

Police spokesman Kjell Lindgren says at least 30 cars were set ablaze across western and southern Stockholm early Thursday. Firefighters said they have "never before seen so many fires raging at the same time," the Associated Press reported.

Rioting youth also burned down a restaurant in Skogas, south of Stockholm.

Lindgren says a 16-year-old girl was briefly detained on suspicion of preparing an arson attack, but was later sent home to her parents, the AP said.

Violence spread from the north to the south of the city Wednesday as groups of youth pushed through Stockholm's suburbs casting stones, breaking windows and setting cars alight.

Local media said a police station office was set on fire in the southern suburb of Rågsved, where several people were detained. No one was hurt and the fire was quickly put out.

The attackers waited for nightfall before setting out, defying a call for calm from the country's prime minister and damaging stores, schools, a police station and an arts and crafts center in the four days of violence.

"I think there is a feeling that we need to be in more places tonight," said Towe Hagg, spokeswoman for Stockholm police. One police officer was injured in the latest attacks and five were arrested for attempted arson.

Selcuk Ceken, who works at a local youth activity center in Hagsatra, said between 40 and 50 youths threw stones at police and smashed windows, then ran off in different directions. He noted the people were in their 20s and seemed well organized.

"It's difficult to say why they're doing this," he said. "Maybe it's anger at the law and order forces, maybe it's anger at their own personal situation, such as unemployment or having nowhere to live."

The riots appear to have been sparked by the police killing of a 69-year-old man wielding a machete in the suburb of Husby this month, which prompted accusations of police brutality. The riots then spread from Husby to other poor Stockholm suburbs.

"We see a society that is becoming increasingly divided and where the gaps, both socially and economically, are becoming larger," said Rami Al-khamisi, co-founder of Megafonen, a group that works for social change in the suburbs.

"And the people out here are being hit the hardest ... We have institutional racism."

The riots were less severe than those of the past two summers in Britain and France but provided a reminder that even in places less ravaged by the financial crisis than Greece or Spain, state belt-tightening is toughest on the poor, especially immigrants.

"The reason is very simple. Unemployment, the housing situation, disrespect from police," said Rouzbeh Djalaie, editor of the local Norra Sidan newspaper, which covers Husby. "It just takes something to start a riot, and that was the shooting."

IDENTITY CHECKS

Djalaie said youths were often stopped by police in the streets for unnecessary identity checks. During the riots, he said some police called local youths "apes."

The television pictures of blazing cars come as a jolt to a country proud of its reputation for social justice as well as its hospitality towards refugees from war and repression.

"I understand why many people who live in these suburbs and in Husby are worried, upset, angry and concerned," said Justice Minister Beatrice Ask. "Social exclusion is a very serious cause of many problems, we understand that."

After decades of practicing the "Swedish model" of generous welfare benefits, Stockholm has been reducing the role of the state since the 1990s, spurring the fastest growth in inequality of any advanced Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) economy.

While average living standards are still among the highest in Europe, successive governments have failed to substantially reduce long-term youth unemployment and poverty, which have affected immigrant communities worst.

Some 15 percent of the population are foreign-born, and unemployment among these stands at 16 percent, compared with 6 percent for native Swedes, according to OECD data.

Youth unemployment in Husby, at 6 percent, is twice the overall average across the capital.

The left-leaning tabloid Aftonbladet said the riots represented a "gigantic failure" of government policies, which had underpinned the rise of ghettos in the suburbs.

As unemployment has grown, the anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats party has risen to third in polls ahead of a general election due next year, reflecting many voters' worries that immigrants may be partly to blame.

ASYLUM NUMBERS RISING

While many of the immigrant population are from Nordic neighbors closely tied to Sweden by language or culture, the debate has tended to focus on poor asylum seekers from distant war zones.

Out of a total 103,000 immigrants last year, 43,900 were asylum seekers, up almost 50 percent from 2011. Nearly half of these were refugees from fighting in Syria, Afghanistan or Somalia, and will get at least temporary residency.

Among 44 industrialized countries, Sweden ranks fourth in the absolute number of asylum seekers, and second relative to its population, according to U.N. figures.

Policing in Stockholm has already been the focus of controversy this year, with allegations that police were picking out darker-skinned immigrants for identity checks in subway trains.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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