Police: Concealed Carry License Holder Kills Armed Gunman

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An armed man attempting to rob a neighborhood store was shot and killed by a customer who had a concealed carry license, Chicago police said Sunday.

A masked man, later identified as 55-year-old Reginald Gildersleeve, walked into the store and currency exchange about 7 p.m. Saturday on the city’s southwest side, displayed a handgun and announced a robbery to an employee, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. The gunman next pointed his weapon at another employee and forced her to the back of the store.

The armed customer then fatally shot the man multiple times, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Gildersleeve was pronounced dead on the scene at 7:10 p.m., according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. He had an extensive criminal history, including prior arrests for robbery, the Sun-Times reported. Gildersleeve was set to have an autopsy performed on Sunday, according to the Chicago Tribune.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether the customer, who has not been identified, will face charges. Guglielmi said the case is under review by local prosecutors, but the preliminary details suggest that the customer was not at fault. (Read more from “Police: Concealed Carry License Holder Kills Armed Gunman” HERE)

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For First Time, Most Democrats View Insane, Failed, Murderous Political Philosophy Favorably

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Over at Rasmussen, the pollsters have discovered that — for the first time in history — self-identified members of the Democrat Party now view socialism favorably.

The man currently running a distant second for the Democratic presidential nomination, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, is a self-declared socialist, and most of his party’s voters now have a positive view of socialism. They are almost evenly divided as to whether they like capitalism or socialism more.

Socialism, Communism, Maoism, and National Socialism (e.g., the Nazi Party) are all offshoots of Marxism. They are all branches of the same defective tree.

Marxism has failed in literally every venue it has been tried, despite progressives’ laughable efforts to claim certain countries have implemented it successfully.

No country has and no country ever will, because — as Margaret Thatcher sagely observed — “[the] problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money”.

And those who point to the “success” of European countries that still maintain the semblance of civil societies have yet to see the Marxist endgame play out:

• All of these states have rung up immense and unsustainable levels of debt thanks to the socialists’ endless wealth redistribution schemes. Only a series of elaborate can-kicking exercises have kept the European Union from economic collapse.

• Thanks to open borders policies, courtesy of Left-leaning do-gooders, Europe faces demographic upheaval, seen most recently in countries accepting swarms of Islamic immigrants.

Where “Marxism Light” — socialism — gave way to its more extreme flavors (e.g., Communism, Nazism, Maoism) the inevitable result was mass murder by government.

According to a study conducted by academics at the University of Hawaii, Communism in the 20th century alone led to the murders of 110 million men, women and children.

Isn’t it ironic? When it comes to their own ideologies like climate change, progressives like to shut off debate by claiming that “The science is settled.”

In this case, the record of history is settled. Marxism and it descendents have failed in every situation and in very region across the world.

That the majority of Democrats could embrace such a twisted political philosophy is an indictment of not only our media, but also our failed, union-controlled educational system.

They can’t or won’t appreciate the intricate system of government created by our Framers that inarguably built the most magnificent economic miracle in human history. They live in the lap of luxury, unappreciative and stupefied, unable to explain how even the lowly pencil is made in our society. (For more from the author of “For First Time, Most Democrats View Insane, Failed, Murderous Political Philosophy Favorably” please click HERE)

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Former U.S. Senator, GOP Presidential Candidate Dies at 73

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Fred Thompson, a former U.S. senator from Tennessee, GOP presidential candidate, Watergate attorney and actor who starred on the television drama “Law and Order,” died on Sunday in Nashville. He was 73.

Mr. Thompson died after a recurrence of lymphoma, according to a prepared statement issued by the Thompson family. Mr Thompson, who had recently purchased a house in Nashville to return to Tennessee, was first diagnosed with cancer in 2004.

“It is with a heavy heart and a deep sense of grief that we share the passing of our brother, husband, father, and grandfather who died peacefully in Nashville surrounded by his family,” the Thompson family’s statement reads.

“Fred once said that the experiences he had growing up in small-town Tennessee formed the prism through which he viewed the world and shaped the way he dealt with life,” his family said. “Fred stood on principle and common sense, and had a deep love for and connection with the people across Tennessee whom he had the privilege to serve in the United States Senate. He enjoyed a hearty laugh, a strong handshake, a good cigar, and a healthy dose of humility. Fred was the same man on the floor of the Senate, the movie studio, or the town square of Lawrenceburg, his home” . . .

Standing at least 6 feet, 5 inches with a booming voice, Mr. Thompson and his larger-than-life persona played a role in several key moments that shaped the U.S. and Tennessee political landscape. (Read more from “Former U.S. Senator, GOP Presidential Candidate Dies at 73” HERE)

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Poll: Clinton Hits 50 Percent Support

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Hillary Clinton has hit 50 percent support for the Democratic presidential nomination for the first time since April, around the time she launched her campaign, according to a new national poll.

Clinton’s support among Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters has ticked up 9 points since mid-September, based on the latest NBC News/Survey Monkey online poll.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Clinton’s primary rival in the Democratic race, now stands at 30 percent support in the poll, relatively unchanged over the past six weeks.

Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and Harvard Professor Lawrence Lessig took 1 percent apiece in the online poll released Friday.

The survey, conducted on Tuesday and Wednesday, comes on the heels of Vice President Biden’s decision last week to not run for the White House in 2016. (Read more from “Poll: Clinton Hits 50 Percent Support” HERE)

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Obama Admin Split Goes Public: FBI Director and President Disagree on Ferguson

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President Obama and his FBI director are sparring over whether the so-called “Ferguson Effect” is real, complicating the president’s push to loosen the nation’s sentencing laws.

The dispute could threaten the growing bipartisan momentum behind a criminal justice reform effort that Obama sees as a top second-term priority.

The question of whether police are reluctant to enforce the law because they are afraid of being videotaped has become the subject of fierce debate, as experts struggle to explain an uptick in violent crime in some U.S. cities.

FBI Director James Comey, a Republican, amplified the argument twice over the past week, suggesting anti-police sentiment fueled by the killings of unarmed black men in places such as Ferguson, Mo., has resulted in a crime spike.

“Some part of the explanation is a chill wind blowing through American law enforcement over the last year. And that wind is surely changing behavior,” Comey said in an October 23 speech at the University of Chicago Law School. (Read more from “Obama Administration Split FBI Director and President Disagree on Ferguson” HERE)

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Think Gay Marriage is Wrong? Prepare to Lose Your Guns

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Editor’s note: The feds are taking an increasingly aggressive stance with respect to gun ownership by those with perceived “mental issues.” For example, this past summer it was announced that the Social Security Administration is developing a plan to report some Social Security beneficiaries to the federal background check system to prevent gun ownership by them. Gun rights groups estimate that over 4,000,000 Americans could be barred from gun ownership by this new approach.

Additionally, federal law prohibits the sale of firearms to anyone who is found to be “a mental defective.” See 18 USC 922(g)(4). In view of recent developments like the frightening “study” below, it’s no stretch to imagine some time in the not-so-distant future when Christians and other traditionalists will be stripped of their Second Amendment rights.

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Diagnosing Dissenters: IS HOMOPHOBIA A DISORDER?

By Eric Metaxas. This summer, the Supreme Court narrowly redefined marriage and handed the gay-rights movement a major victory: full “equality” and recognition by the government. With that box checked, the gay-rights movement can now focus on its ultimate goal: silencing those who disagree. . .

In just thirty years, America went from a country where homosexuality was a diagnosable disorder to one where you can be fined for refusing to bake a gay “wedding” cake. Now things are going a step further. New research published in “The Journal of Sexual Medicine” suggests that homophobia, not homosexuality, is the psychological disorder.

“Live Science” reports that researchers at the University of Rome Tor Vergata asked 560 university students to report their feelings about homosexuality, then gave them a standard psychiatric evaluation.

Participants who exhibited what the researchers called “healthy attachment styles” tended to show less animosity toward homosexuals. They also showed more “mature coping mechanisms” in “scary or unpleasant situations,” and were generally less angry. But those who showed the highest animosity toward homosexuals exhibited a host of warning signs like inability to trust others, passive-aggressive behavior, and denial.

Lead researcher Emmanuele Jannini concluded, “After discussing for centuries if homosexuality is to be considered a disease, for the first time we demonstrated that the real disease to be cured is homophobia.” (Read more from “Think Gay Marriage is Wrong, You May be Mental” HERE)

U.S. To Deploy Special Operations Forces in Syria

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The U.S. will send a small number of U.S. special operations forces into Syria as part of a shift in its strategy against ISIS, White House officials announced Friday.

President Barack Obama has authorized a contingent of fewer than 50 commandos to deploy into northern Syria and work with moderate opposition forces who are fighting the militants.

While the White House has consistently said it would not put U.S. boots on the ground, spokesman Josh Earnest insisted that they will be there in a “train, advise and assist mission” — and not in a combat role.

“It will not be their responsibility to lead the charge up the hill,” he said. But he acknowledged they will be in a perilous situation: “There is no denying the amount of risk they are taking on here.”

Earnest called the additional forces an “expansion” but not a “change” in U.S. strategy against ISIS. He was unable to detail what the special operators will do, citing security concerns. (Read more from “U.S. To Deploy Special Operations Forces in Syria” HERE)

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19-Yr-Old Just Compared Obama to Carson, Discovers Exactly What NO Lib Wants to See [+video]

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Markeece Young, 19, who describes himself as a “former Democrat now Conservative Republican,” has put together a meme to answer the question whether presidential candidate Ben Carson, as opposed to President Obama, is somehow a traitor to his race by advocating for conservative principles.

As reported by Western Journalism, Carson directly addressed the question of whether he is an “Uncle Tom” in August. “I’d say they need to actually listen, not only to what I’m saying, but look at my life and look at what’s been done,” the retired neurosurgeon told TheBlaze. “It is the things that are done that elevate people, not things that repress people and make them dependent.”

Carson was asked why, traditionally, Democrats have gotten most of the African American vote and what the Republican Party can do to change that.

“Well, I think it’s because the Democratic Party has ascribed to the Lyndon Johnson philosophy. I don’t know if you know, but Lyndon Johnson said, ‘If you give those N-words such and such, they’ll vote for us for the next 200 years,’” the candidate responded.

“What the Republican Party needs to do is come out and discuss more the kinds of relationships and the programs that will actually bring people out of poverty, that will give them the ability to use their God-given talents to rise, rather than to simply be satisfied in a dependent position in society,” Carson added.

The Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient gained national political prominence for his articulation of conservative principles at the National Prayer Breakfast in 2013, with Barack Obama sitting only feet away.

He warned the United States to be wary of going the way of Rome, which destroyed itself from within through “moral decay” and “fiscal irresponsibility.”

(Read more from “19-Yr-Old Just Compared Obama to Carson, Discovers Exactly What NO Lib Wants to See” HERE)

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White House Aims to Stop Release of Obama-Clinton Emails

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The White House will try to block the release of a handful of emails between President Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, citing longstanding precedent invoked by presidents of both parties to keep presidential communications confidential, officials said Friday.

The State Department discovered the emails between Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton as part of its effort to release the former secretary’s emails, several thousand more of which were made public on Friday. A review of those emails showed Mrs. Clinton engaged in conversations with various aides about security in Libya, discussing talking points after the 2012 attack on the American compound in Benghazi, Libya, and — on a lighter note — complaining about the lack of emoticons on her phone.

Mr. Obama’s direct correspondence with Mrs. Clinton was forwarded by the State Department to the White House, which has decided against release, a move likely to intensify the struggle between Mrs. Clinton and congressional Republicans, who have pressed for disclosure of her emails as part of an investigation into the administration’s handling of the Benghazi events.

The contents of the emails between Mrs. Clinton, who is running for president, and Mr. Obama have not been disclosed, but their presumed existence has not been a secret. The White House press secretary, Josh Earnest, acknowledged in March that the two “did have the occasion to email one another” when Mrs. Clinton was secretary of state.

Mr. Obama told CBS News in March that he learned about Mrs. Clinton’s use of a private email server “the same time everybody else learned it — through news reports.” Mr. Earnest later clarified that the president was aware that she sometimes used a private email address but did not know the details about how the server was set up. (Read more from “White House Aims to Stop Release of Obama-Clinton Emails” HERE)

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This GOP Candidate’s Chief Operating Officer Just Quit the Campaign

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Christine Ciccone, the chief operating officer for Jeb Bush’s campaign, is leaving the team as the former Florida governor dramatically cuts costs and asserts himself as the Republican establishment frontrunner.

Ciccone was being paid roughly $12,000 a month but is departing the campaign after the campaign notified employees that they were reducing their payroll by 40 percent, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal . . .

After leaving a government job, Ciccone became the Vice President of Government relations at the lobbying firm Honeywell before moving to a position as Senior Vice President of External Relations for the USEC. (Read more from “This GOP Candidate’s Chief Operating Officer Just Quit the Campaign” HERE)

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