CNN Apologizes over Palin “Stupid Girls” Intro but omits story from website (+video)

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CNN has issued an apology for playing Pink’s “Stupid Girls” before a story on former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s support for fast-food restaurant Chick-fil-A and its homophobic president Dan Cathy.

In what is known in the broadcasting industry as a ‘bumper,’ CNN played part of Pink’s 2006 hit “Stupid Girls” before a Sunday morning segment about Palin and her husband dining at a Chick-fil-A restaurant in Texas.

“Sarah Palin is apparently hungry for chicken and controversy,” CNN hard news anchor Randy Kaye said, segueing into the story about how the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee not only ate at Chick-fil-A but posted about her visit on Twitter and Facebook as well.

“Stopped by a Chick-fil-A in The Woodlands to support a great business,” Palin tweeted.

CNN has since apologized for what it called a “poor choice” of music, but the network denied intentionally linking “Stupid Girls” to Sarah Palin.

Read more from this story HERE.

Publisher’s note:  Good luck finding the CNN apology on its web site.  At the time of this posting, the story is nowhere to be found.  Also, if you haven’t seen the CNN segment introducing the Palin story with “Stupid Girl”, here it is here:

Fast & Furious: Issa’s report holds 5 ATF Officials Responsible but not Holder

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WASHINGTON — Republican congressional investigators have concluded that five senior ATF officials — from the special agent-in-charge of the Phoenix field office to the top man in the bureau’s Washington headquarters — are collectively responsible for the failed Fast and Furious gun-tracking operation that was “marred by missteps, poor judgments and inherently reckless strategy.”

The investigators, in a final report likely to be released later this week, also unearthed new evidence that agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Phoenix initially sought to hide from the Mexican government the crucial information that two Fast and Furious firearms were recovered after the brother of a Mexican state attorney general was killed there.

According to a copy of the report obtained Monday by The Times, the investigators said their findings are “the best information available as of now” about the flawed gun operation that last month led to Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. being found in contempt of Congress for failing to turn over subpoenaed documents.

Two more final reports, they said, will deal with “the devastating failure of supervision and leadership” at the Department of Justice and an “unprecedented obstruction of the [congressional] investigation by the highest levels of the Justice Department, including the attorney general himself.”

The first report did allege some Justice Department involvement, however, notably that Kenneth E. Melson, then acting ATF director, was made into a “scapegoat” for Fast and Furious after he told congressional Republicans his Justice Department supervisors “were doing more damage control than anything” else once Fast and Furious became public.

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Democratic Party moves to include Gay Marriage in Platform

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Democrats appear ready to embrace same-sex marriage as part of their party platform, a policy shift that reflects the rapidly growing acceptance of gay rights in mainstream politics.

Party officials met over the weekend in Minneapolis and approved the first step to amend their platform. In two weeks, the entire platform committee will vote on the matter at a meeting scheduled in Detroit. Then, if approved as expected, it would move on to convention delegates in Charlotte, N.C., for final approval in September.

According to Democrats who were briefed on the vote in Minneapolis, there was no objection when the issue came up. Though the language that was voted on still could be revised, party officials do not anticipate any major obstacles going forward.

The platform language approved over the weekend also included a condemnation of the Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibits the federal government from recognizing legal same-sex marriages.

The Democratic Party’s move comes more than two months after President Obama personally backed the rights of same-sex couples to wed, making the action decidedly less controversial than it could have been had the party been in conflict with its leader.

US Postal Service preparing for first-ever default, will miss billions in payments

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Photo credit: Gerry Dincher

The U.S. Postal Service is bracing for a first-ever default on billions in payments due to the Treasury, adding to widening uncertainty about the mail agency’s solvency as first-class letters plummet and Congress deadlocks on ways to stem the red ink.

With cash running perilously low, two legally required payments for future postal retirees’ health benefits — $5.5 billion due Wednesday, and another $5.6 billion due in September — will be left unpaid, the mail agency said Monday. Postal officials said they also are studying whether they may need to delay other obligations. In the coming months, a $1.5 billion payment is due to the Labor Department for workers compensation, which for now it expects to make, as well as millions in interest payments to the Treasury.

The defaults won’t stir any kind of catastrophe in day-to-day mail service. Post offices will stay open, mail trucks will run, employees will get paid, current retirees will get health benefits.

But a growing chorus of analysts, labor unions and business customers are troubled by continuing losses that point to deeper, longer-term financial damage, as the mail agency finds it increasingly preoccupied with staving off immediate bankruptcy while Congress delays on a postal overhaul bill.

Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe has described a “crisis of confidence” amid the mounting red ink that could lead even once-loyal customers to abandon use of the mail.

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Iran prepping for final confrontation with West, arrival of Islamic messiah, 12th imam

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The Quds Forces, a special Iranian unit of thousands of operatives tasked with exporting Iran’s Islamic revolution, are being told to step up preparations for terrorism for the coming of the last Islamic messiah and the destruction of the West.

Ali Saeedi, the Iranian supreme leader’s representative to the Revolutionary Guards, emphasized during a Friday sermon in Tehran that the Islamic republic must directly confront America so that the necessary environment is created for the reappearance of Mahdi, the Shiite’s 12th imam, who will kill all infidels and raise the flag of Islam in all corners of the world.

“In three points of history, God directly confronts the will of unruly humans in which, of course, the Right will overcome the False,” Saeedi said, according to the Sepah News, the Guards’ official publication. “The first point in history was during the era of pharaoh, the second era was Bani Abbas, and the third is our current era in which it seems that God has willed us to enlighten the world with the coming of Imam Mahdi.”

Saeedi, “Many of the signs [necessary] for the coming have taken place during the previous years; however, the main sign will take place right before the coming.”

There are five levels of readiness that have to be prepared for the coming, he said: “Individual readiness, the readiness for creating the environment, systematic readiness, the readiness in the region and the international readiness. This means Occupy Wall Street must take place, the Americans must lose hope with the Democratic Party and others, and lose faith in the U.N., while at the same time the unraveling in the Middle East, which was not ripe before, must have taken place before the coming.”

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After Aurora, Obama now considering banning ammo sales online

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Photo credit: kcdsTM

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Monday that President Obama will “evaluate” a new bill that would ban online ammunition sales in the wake of the shooting massacre in Aurora, Colo. That left 12 dead and dozens more injured.

During the daily press briefing, Mr. Earnest was asked whether Mr. Obama supports the measure, which aims to end sales of unlimited amounts of ammunition on the Internet and other mail orders. The bill also would force ammunition dealers to report large sales of bullets and other munitions to law enforcement authorities

At first Mr. Earnest said he didn’t know if Mr. Obama was aware of a bill sponsored by Sen. Frank Lautenberg, Democrat from New Jersey, and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, a Democrat from New York. He later amended this remarks to say the White House would evaluate the measure.

“The president’s view that have been relayed quite frequently over the last few days, you know, is that he believes in the Second Amendment of the Constitution, in the right to bear arms but he also believes that we should take robust steps within existing law to ensure that guns don’t fall in the hands of criminals or others [who] shouldn’t have them,” he said, referring to gun-control comments Mr. Obama made during at speech at the National Urban League.

The reporter followed up by asking whether the president’s push for enforcing existing law would prevent him from supporting the bill banning online munition sales.

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Ambassador Bolton’s Blunder

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Photo credit: Gage Skidmore

I received a form letter from the Honorable Ambassador John R. Bolton, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (2005-2006) and member of the Board of Directors of The American Conservative Union (ACU). A FOX-news contributor, he has been a tenacious and outspoken advocate of US efforts to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

Below the bold red lettering at the top, “Stop Iran’s Nuclear 9-11,” Bolton confirmed his belief that the future of our American cities are in imminent danger from an Iranian atomic-bomb threat. He described Iran as the rogue, terror-sponsoring regime that calls America “the Great Satan” and vows to wipe our ally, Israel, off the face of the Earth. He reminded me, the reader, of his testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, when he expressed his concern about “the Obama Administration’s inept and dangerous policy failure in the Middle East.”

But it was the petition that disturbed me. The heading included the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, naming the Honorable John F. Kerry, chairman, and Honorable Richard C. Lugar, ranking member. The petition’s conclusion was, “Therefore, I believe we ought to give Israel our full support for a preemptive strike against Iran’s nuclear weapons program if we don’t do it ourselves.”

I never quite grasped the phrase, “I have your back,” but now it was clear. It means “You go in front to meet the enemy head-on, and I’ll bring up the rear. And if you don’t survive the first full surge of the battle, I’ll be in a good position to make a hasty retreat.”

It seems to me that Bolton can’t promise much from his position as past ambassador, and that the once-great United States of America has been brought down several pegs so as to no longer warrant the title of Leader of the Free World. Therefore, in an effort to thwart Iran’s objectives, Bolton will send the tiny Jewish nation, which is no bigger than one of our smallest states, to lead an attack on Iran, to which he hopes — but can’t promise — to provide some undetermined support.

Read more from this story HERE.

Liz Cheney: Dad’s wrong, Palin more qualified than Obama & Biden combined

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This past week, former Vice President Dick Cheney suggested that Sarah Palin was not qualified for the vice presidency and that John McCain had not properly vetted her.  His daughter, Liz Cheney, disagreed publicly by issuing this tweet:

Here’s more on what Dick Cheney said and his daughter’s reaction here:

Former Vice President Dick Cheney told ABC‘s Jonathan Karl Sunday that Senator John McCain’s decision to pick Sarah Palin as his running mate in 2008 was a “mistake,” and one that Mitt Romney can’t repeat.

“I like Governor Palin. I’ve met her. I know her. She – attractive candidate. But based on her background, she’d only been governor for, what, two years. I don’t think she passed that test…of being ready to take over. And I think that was a mistake,” Cheney explained.

But now, Liz Cheney– who many respect as a conservative mind independent of her father’s former position– has amicably announced that she disagrees with her father’s position.

“Rarely do I disagree with best VP ever but @SarahPalinUSA more qualified than Obama and Biden combined. Huge respect 4 all she’s done 4 GOP,” Liz Cheney wrote.

And this isn‘t the first time Liz Cheney has come to Palin’s defense:

 

Read more from this story HERE.

Photo credit: david_shankbone

DHS gearing up for “significant” unrest prior to presidential election

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Photo credit: vonderauvisuals

The Department of Homeland Security has ordered masses of riot gear equipment to prepare for potential significant domestic riots at the Republican National Convention, Democratic National Convention and next year’s presidential inauguration.

The DHS submitted a rushed solicitation to the Federal Business Opportunities site on Wednesday, which is a portal for Federal government procurement requisitions over $25,000. The request gave the potential suppliers only one day to submit their proposals and a 15-day delivery requirement to Alexandria, Virginia.

As the brief explains, “the objective of this effort is to procure riot gear to prepare for the 2012 Democratic and Republican National Conventions, the 2013 Presidential Inauguration and other future similar activities.”

The total amount ordered is about 150 sets of riot helmets, thigh and groin protectors, hard-shell shin guards and other riot gear.

Specifically, DHS is looking to obtain:
– “147 riot helmets” with “adjustable tactical face shield with liquid seal”
– “147 sets of upper body and shoulder protection”
– “152 sets of thigh and groin protection”
– “147 hard-shell shin guards” with “substantial protection from flying debris, non-ballistic weapons, and blows to the leg” and “optimized protective design for severe riot control or tactical situations.”
– “156 forearm protectors”
– “147 pairs of tactical gloves”
The riot gear will be worn by Federal Protective Service agents who are tasked with protecting property, grounds and buildings owned by the federal government.

Read more from this story HERE.

CIA “Manages” Drug Trade, Mexican Official Says

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Photo credit: DonkeyHotey

The Central Intelligence Agency’s involvement in drug trafficking is back in the media spotlight after a spokesman for the violence-plagued Mexican state of Chihuahua became the latest high-profile individual to accuse the CIA, which has been linked to narcotics trafficking for decades, of ongoing efforts to “manage the drug trade.” The infamous American spy agency refused to comment.

In a recent interview, Chihuahua state spokesman Guillermo Terrazas Villanueva told Al Jazeera that the CIA and other international “security” outfits “don’t fight drug traffickers.” Instead, Villanueva argued, they try to control and manage the illegal drug market for their own benefit.

“It’s like pest control companies, they only control,” Villanueva told the Qatar-based media outlet last month at his office in Juarez. “If you finish off the pests, you are out of a job. If they finish the drug business, they finish their jobs.”

Another Mexican official, apparently a mid-level officer with Mexico’s equivalent of the U.S. Department of “Homeland Security,” echoed those remarks, saying he knew that the allegations against the CIA were correct based on talks with American agents in Mexico. “It’s true, they want to control it,” the official told Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity.

Credibility issues with employees of the notoriously corrupt Mexican government aside, the latest accusations were hardly earth shattering — the American espionage agency has been implicated in drug trafficking from Afghanistan to Vietnam to Latin America and everywhere in between. Similar allegations of drug running have been made against the CIA for decades by former agents, American officials, lawmakers, investigators, and even drug traffickers themselves.

Read more from this story HERE.