The Right To Shoot Back: Another “Gun-Free-Zone” Fail

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Colorado is a concealed-carry state, as a noted film critic points out, but so was Virginia when a college campus there was racked by violence. Like the school, the theater chain was also “gun-free.”

In December 2007, two church members were shot to death and three others injured after a gunman opened fire outside the New Life Church in Colorado Springs as Sunday services were wrapping up.

That tragedy could have been much worse, but the gunman was shot by a church security officer and was found dead when police arrived at the scene.

On April 22 of this year a just-released felon went to the New Destiny Christian Church in Aurora, Colo., and killed the mother of Pastor Delano Strahan before being killed himself by a congregant carrying a gun.

Unlike the tragedies at Columbine High School and the movie theatre in Aurora, there was someone at these venues willing and able to shoot back.

Read more from this story HERE.

Photo credit: Miserlou Behind The Aperture

Pro-Family, Anti-Gay Marriage? Chick-fil-A President: “Guilty as Charged,” Huckabee incensed

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By Tiffany Hsu.  Chick-fil-A is “very much supportive of the family,” according to Dan Cathy, president of the popular fast food chain. That is, “the biblical definition of the family unit,” he said.

And that doesn’t include Adam and Steve, suggests Cathy, whose father S. Truett Cathy founded the Atlanta-based company.

In a new interview with Baptist Press, Cathy puts on the record what critics say his company’s actions have indicated for years. “Well, guilty as charged,” he said in the interview when asked about Chick-fil-A’s backing of families led by a man and a woman.

“We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives,” Cathy said.

The chain, according to the report, has 1,608 restaurants, sales of more than $4 billion and employees who are trained “to focus on values rooted in the Bible.” Chick-fil-A’s across the country shut down on Sundays.

Read more from this story HERE.

Chick-fil-A’s stance has spawned an onslaught of media and celebrity attacks.  As a result of this, Mike Huckabee posted the following on his Facebook:

I have been incensed at the vitriolic assaults on the Chick Fil-A company because the CEO, Dan Cathy, made comments recently in which he affirmed his view that the Biblical view of marriage should be upheld. The Cathy family, let by Chick Fil-A founder Truett Cathy, are a wonderful Christian family who are committed to operating the company with Biblical principles and whose story is the true American success story. Starting at age 46 Truett Cathy built Chick Fil-A into a $4 billion a year enterprise with over 1600 stores. At 91, he is still active in the company, but his son Dan runs it day to day as CEO. It’s a great American story that is being smeared by vicious hate speech and intolerant bigotry from the left.

The Chick Fil-A company refuses to open on Sundays so that their employees can go to church if they wish. Despite the pressure from malls, airports, and the business world to open on Sundays, they still don’t. They treat customers and employees with respect and dignity.

I ask you to join me in speaking out on Wednesday, August 1 “Chick Fil-A Appreciation Day.” No one is being asked to make signs, speeches, or openly demonstrate. The goal is simple: Let’s affirm a business that operates on Christian principles and whose executives are willing to take a stand for the Godly values we espouse by simply showing up and eating at Chick Fil-A on Wednesday, August 1. Too often, those on the left make corporate statements to show support for same sex marriage, abortion, or profanity, but if Christians affirm traditional values, we’re considered homophobic, fundamentalists, hate-mongers, and intolerant. This effort is not being launched by the Chick Fil-A company and no one from the company or family is involved in proposing or promoting it.

There’s no need for anyone to be angry or engage in a verbal battle. Simply affirm appreciation for a company run by Christian principles by showing up on Wednesday, August 1 or by participating online – tweeting your support or sending a message on Facebook.

Publisher’s note:  Boston’s Mayor just announced that he was blocking a new Chick-Fil-A franchise in his city because of Chick-Fil-A’s “homophobic” attitude.

Obama’s Failures Mount: Ranks of US poor highest in 50 years

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The ranks of America’s poor are on track to climb to levels unseen in nearly half a century, erasing gains from the war on poverty in the 1960s amid a weak economy and fraying government safety net.

Census figures for 2011 will be released this fall in the critical weeks ahead of the November elections.

The Associated Press surveyed more than a dozen economists, think tanks and academics, both nonpartisan and those with known liberal or conservative leanings, and found a broad consensus: The official poverty rate will rise from 15.1 percent in 2010, climbing as high as 15.7 percent. Several predicted a more modest gain, but even a 0.1 percentage point increase would put poverty at the highest level since 1965.

Poverty is spreading at record levels across many groups, from underemployed workers and suburban families to the poorest poor. More discouraged workers are giving up on the job market, leaving them vulnerable as unemployment aid begins to run out. Suburbs are seeing increases in poverty, including in such political battlegrounds as Colorado, Florida and Nevada, where voters are coping with a new norm of living hand to mouth.

“I grew up going to Hawaii every summer. Now I’m here, applying for assistance because it’s hard to make ends meet. It’s very hard to adjust,” said Laura Fritz, 27, of Wheat Ridge, Colo., describing her slide from rich to poor as she filled out aid forms at a county center. Since 2000, large swaths of Jefferson County just outside Denver have seen poverty nearly double.

Read more from this story HERE.

Related to the increasing US poverty rate, Paul Wiseman of the Associated Press also reported today that the world is suffering the worst economic slowdown since “the dark days of 2009”:

Six of the 17 countries that use the euro currency are in recession. The U.S. economy is struggling again. And the economic superstars of the developing world – China, India and Brazil – are in no position to come to the rescue. They’re slowing, too.

The lengthening shadow over the world’s economy illustrates one of the consequences of globalization: There’s nowhere to hide.

Economies around the world have never been so tightly linked – which means that as one region weakens, others do, too. That’s why Europe’s slowdown is hurting factories in China. And why those Chinese factories are buying less iron ore from Brazil.

As a result of this global economic slowdown, the International Monetary Fund has reduced its forecast for world growth this year to 3.5 percent, the slowest since a 0.6 percent drop in 2009. Some economists predict the global economy will grow a full percentage point less.

For now, few foresee another global recession. Central banks in China, Britain, Brazil, South Korea and Europe have cut interest rates in the past month to try to jolt growth. European leaders have begun to focus more on promoting growth, not just shrinking debt and cutting budgets.

Read more from this story HERE.

Pro-life Democrat congressional candidate barred from forum, forced to leave building

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Democrats in Michigan are facing criticism from pro-life advocates for silencing a pro-life candidate wanting to participate in a candidate event.

On July 16, Right to Life of Michigan PAC-endorsed candidate Bob Costello was prevented from speaking at a forum for congressional candidates in the 14th Congressional District and was forced to leave the forum after attempting to speak. The forum was supposed to be an open forum for the Democratic congressional candidates of the 14th District but Costello (who is one of the five Democratic candidates on the ballot) wasn’t invited.

As RLM indicates, “Costello, a prolife Democrat, was one of four congressional candidates who attended the event even though he was threatened with arrest if he attempted to speak at this event by the president of the Grosse Pointe Democratic Club. Costello believes his pro-life beliefs were the reason he wasn’t invited to the event and was prevented from speaking.”

“The main focus of Costello’s campaign is the protection of religious freedom which Obamacare’s HHS mandate violates by forcing religious institutions which operate schools and hospitals to violate their beliefs by providing coverage for services they object to,” RLM said. “The other candidates who attended the forum (Gary Peters, Mary Waters and Brenda Lawrence) remained shamelessly silent as their co-candidate was prevented from speaking.”

Costello has been very public with his opposition to the Obama HHS mandate: “As an attorney, a Catholic, and an American, I am stunned, angered, and worried by the federal government ordering Catholics and the Catholic Church to violate our long held religious and moral values . . .”

Read more from this story HERE.

Photo credit: Steve Rhodes

Colorado Gun Club Owner Rejected Aurora Shooter’s Membership Application Last Month

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Shooting suspect James Holmes applied to join a Colorado gun range last month but never became a member because of his behavior and a “bizarre” message on his voice mail greeting, the range’s owner said Sunday.

Police said James Holmes began buying guns at Denver-area stores nearly two months before Friday’s shooting. He also received at least 50 packages in four months at his home and the University of Colorado that authorities are investigating to see whether they contained materials for the potentially deadly booby traps that police found in his apartment.

At the same time, the quiet 24-year-old was in the final weeks of the first year of a rigorous Ph.D. neuroscience program, where he took a three-part final exam required for students to progress in the program and was scheduled to give a presentation on MicroRNA Biomarkers before abruptly leaving in June.

Holmes is being held without bond on suspicion of multiple counts of first-degree murder after a shooting rampage minutes into a premiere of “The Dark Knight Rises” in Aurora early Friday that left 12 people dead and 58 injured.

He is scheduled for an initial hearing Monday and has been assigned a public defender.

Read more from this story HERE.

Photo credit: Rob Jung

 

Obama demands Romney’s tax returns; why hasn’t Romney demanded Barry’s college records?

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White House spokesman Jay Carney dismissed Donald Trump’s position earlier this week that should Obama keep insisting Mitt Romney release his tax returns, Romney should demand that Barry Soetoro, Barrack Hussein Obama, or whatever his name is, first make his college records public information.

Of course, rather than address the issue at hand, the administration consciously chose to launch into an Alinsky style personal attack on Trump. Carney called the suggestion “preposterous,” dismissing Trump as the “guy who insisted that he didn’t believe the president was born in the United States.”

Never mind that the current White House occupant signed an Executive Order hiding every last one of his personal documents from public view on his first day in office. For “the most transparent administration in history,” transparency is meant for everyone else, not themselves.

In typical Progressive “do as I say, not as I do” fashion, the White House has launched repeated attacks on the presumptive GOP presidential nominee over questions about the timing of his departure from private equity firm Bain Capital. One campaign spokeswoman even suggested that Romney committed a felony.

The White House and fellow Democrats keep insisting that several companies filed for bankruptcy and/or shipped jobs overseas under Romney’s Bain leadership. They’re obviously trying to create the theme that Romney only wants to help fellow millionaires, not working people.

Romney has maintained he is not responsible for many of those decisions because they took place after he took a leave of absence in February 1999 to oversee the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Winter Games. According to recently released documents, regulatory filings show that Romney was still in charge of Bain through 2002. However, Bain officials, including Democrats, say that he was not involved with the company’s day-to-day operations during that time.

The White House is also criticizing Romney for setting up offshore bank accounts and refusing to release additional information concerning his personal fortune, estimated to be as much as $250 million.

Romney countered this week that, “John McCain ran for president and released two years of tax returns. John Kerry ran for president, and his wife, who has hundreds of millions of dollars, she never released her tax returns. Somehow this wasn’t an issue. The Obama people keep on wanting more and more and more, more things to pick through, more things for their opposition research to try and make a mountain out of and distort and to be dishonest about.”

But Progressives keep insisting that Romney’s supposed secrecy goes to the “trust factor.” This is the absolute height of hypocrisy. When it comes to secrecy and the trust factor, how on earth can policy wonks who insist on hiding the Oval Office occupant’s entire past claim even a sliver of the moral high ground? Perhaps Progressives need a lesson on how trust is a two way street. They should start with answering the following:

Why was the “Affordable Care Act” passed without Congress reading it first?

Why weren’t the New Black Panthers prosecuted for the voter intimidation that was clearly documented?

Why did the NLRB sue Boeing?

Why has the administration stifled the production of cheap energy through EPA regulations and denial of permits?

Why has the administration abandoned national border security while suing States attempting to enforce federal law and granting blanket protection from prosecution for breaking immigration laws to millions of illegal aliens?

Why is the administration suing States that passed Voter ID laws intended solely to protect the integrity of America’s voting process?

Why has the counting of American votes in the November 2012 election been outsourced to a Spanish company?

Why does the White House continue insisting that average, everyday Americans are not being taxed by the “Affordable Care Act” when enforcement of the “penalty” falls to the IRS?

When did the IRS suddenly leave the Department of Treasury and move to the Department of Health and Human Services?

Why did so many millions of taxpayer dollars go to green energy companies whose executives just happened to have been big time Progressive bundlers for the 2008 Democratic presidential campaign?

Where is the justification for using Executive Privilege to hide the truth about Operation Fast and Furious which resulted in the murder of American Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry?

The White House calling for transparency from the Mitt Romney campaign might make more sense if Obama practiced what his administration has preached. But he has not. “The most transparent administration in history” has practiced anything but transparency. The American people won’t suffer this level of horrendous duplicity much longer.

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Michael Fell is a former MCA recording artist from the seminal punk rock era who toured America from coast to coast. Today, he’s a leading voice in the L.A. Tea Party movement, active since the February 2009 inception. Mr. Fell currently chairs the Westwood Tea Party, is a founding member of the L.A. Metro Tea Party Coalition, serves as the Vice Chairman of the Westside Republicans Club in L.A. CA, and is an elected Republican delegate to the L.A. 47th AD Central Committee. He’s been Campaign Manager for a primary winning Congressional candidate, as well as Santa Monica and L.A. City Council candidates. Mr. Fell is a contributing writer for https://conservativedailynews.com/, https://rightwingnews.com/, https://www.hollywoodrepublican.net/, https://beforeitsnews.com, https://www.redcounty.com/, https://www.uspatriotpac.com and, https://westsiderepublicans.com/. His opinions on today’s news events and political climate can be found on his blog: https://mjfellright.wordpress.com/

Photo credit: Chude

Obama’s Ramadan Message: “Islam is part of the fabric of our nation” (+video)

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As the new crescent moon ushers in Ramadan, the President extends his best wishes to Muslim communities in the United States and around the world.

Each Ramadan, the ninth month on the lunar calendar, Muslims fast daily from dawn to sunset for 29 or 30 days. Fasting is a tradition in many religious faiths and is meant to increase spirituality, discipline, thankfulness, and consciousness of God’s mercy. Ramadan is also a time of giving and reaching out to those less fortunate, and this summer, American Muslims have joined their fellow citizens in serving communities across the country. Over the course of the month, we will highlight the perspectives of various faiths on fasting and profile faith-based organizations making real impacts in American cities and towns.

This month is also a time of renewal and this marks the first Ramadan since the President outlined his vision for a new beginning between America and the Muslim world. As a part of that new beginning, the President emphasizes that our relationship with Muslim communities cannot be based on political and security concerns alone. True partnerships also require cooperation in all areas – particularly those that can make a positive difference in peoples’ daily lives, including education, science and technology, health, and entrepreneurship – fields in which Muslim communities have helped play a pioneering role throughout history.

The President’s message is part of an on-going dialogue with Muslim communities that began on inauguration day and has continued with his statement on Nowruz, during trips to Ankara and Cairo, and with interviews with media outlets such as Al Arabiya and Dawn TV.

As this dialogue continues and leads to concrete actions, the President extends his greetings on behalf of the American people. Ramadan Kareem.

The foregoing is directly from WhiteHouse.gov.

And here’s Obama’s Ramadan video message:

Photo credit: sacmclubs

Democrats demand that Romney release taxes but refuse to release their own

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Members of Congress are demanding that U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney give full disclosure of all of his tax returns, but most are refusing to publicize their own.

The presumptive presidential nominee has disclosed his 2010 tax return and 2011 tax return estimate, but refuses to publicize any more. His refusal is generating critical responses from Congressional members, who claim his secrecy makes him unfit to run for president.

However most members of Congress do not think that this same level of transparency should apply to them. While senators and representatives are required to publicize their sources of income, they are not required to disclose their tax returns, which contain additional financial data like spousal income.

McClatchy has asked all 535 members of Congress for full disclosure of their tax returns, but only 17 have complied.

Among those who refused are Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Harry Reid – both of which have heavily criticized Romney for his limited transparency.

Read more from this story HERE.

Photo credit: dannymac15_1999

Ft. Hood Massacre Report blames “Political Correctness” for slaughter; & GOP wants Bachmann to shut up?!

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In emails to a known terrorist, the man charged with killing 13 people in a 2009 attack at Fort Hood, Texas, expressed his support for suicide bombings and killing civilians — glaring signs that the FBI did not act on but should have, a report has claimed.

Army Maj. Nidal Hasan told a radical Islamic cleric that he advocated using suicide bombers and that he believed it was OK to kill civilians.

And the terrorist, Anwar al-Awlaki, a man well-known to the U.S. intelligence community, told Hasan in an email that the Army psychiatrist should keep his contact details handy.

But the agents on the FBI’s Washington anti-terrorism task force thought the issue of a Muslim soldier talking to extremists was too sensitive to bring up with the Defense Department, Rep. Michael McCaul said after he was briefed on the findings of the independent review on Wednesday.

‘It shows you the length of the political correctness stuff going on,’ he told the Associated Press.

Read more from this story HERE.

Read my column about the Establishment’s War Against Bachmann HERE.

Read this recent story entitled “Republicans line up to rip Michele Bachmann” HERE.

Read the actual Fort Hood massacre report HERE.

Huckabee stands his ground: “Boy Scouts made ‘right decision’ to exclude gays”

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[David Edwards reporting]:  Fox News host Mike Huckabee on Wednesday said that the Boy Scouts of America’s policy of discriminating against LGBT Americans was the “right decision” to protect young boys from being molested.

After a two-year review, Boy Scouts spokesperson Deron Smith on Tuesday announced that the discriminatory rule was “absolutely the best policy for the Boy Scouts.”  See story below.

“That is a right decision for the Boy Scouts,” Huckabee insisted on his radio show Wednesday as he took a call from a man who claimed he had been “molested” by Scout leaders as a boy.

“I believe that homosexuals try to target groups like that to try to get a leadership area in,” the man explained. “If there hadn’t been a homosexual in my troop, I wouldn’t have been traumatized for about three years.”

Huckabee recalled that Scout leaders had done the “same thing” in his troop when he was a boy.  Read more from this story HERE.

After review, Boy Scouts reaffirm ban on gays

[Associated Press reporting]: After a confidential two-year review, the Boy Scouts of America on Tuesday emphatically reaffirmed its policy of excluding gays, ruling out any changes despite relentless protest campaigns by some critics.

An 11-member special committee, formed discreetly by top Scout leaders in 2010, “came to the conclusion that this policy is absolutely the best policy for the Boy Scouts,” the organization’ national spokesman, Deron Smith, told The Associated Press.

Smith said the committee, comprised of professional scout executives and adult volunteers, was unanimous in its conclusion — preserving a long-standing policy that was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2000 and has remained controversial ever since.

As a result of the committee’s decision, the Scouts’ national executive board will take no further action on a recently submitted resolution asking for reconsideration of the membership policy.

The Scouts’ chief executive, Bob Mazzuca, contended that most Scout families support the policy, which applies to both leaders and Scouts.  Read more from this story HERE.

Photo Credit:  Joe Miller, All Rights Reserved.