JG55

Watch Interview with his Lawyer: Seems this is happening more than we may know. http://web.gbtv.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=24154837&topic_id=24584158

Radford business owner declines request from Joe Biden's entourage to stop in store The owner of Crumb and Get It says he doesn't agree with the Obama administration's polici WDBJ7 New River Valley ReporterWDBJ7 5:59 p.m. EDT, August 15, 20Would you say no to the Vice President?One New River Valley business owner turned Vice PresidentJoe Biden down. This might happen more than youthink from both political parties, most businesses just don't talk about it. The owner of "Crumb and Get It" - did. Chris McMurray's bakery has been open only since May, barely three months. Wednesday morning, advance teams for Vice President Joe Biden walked in. "I approached her she said Joe Biden is coming to town today," McMurray said. "Crumb and Get It" is a mom and pop store. Literally. Chris and his wife Kelly run the place and need all the business they can get. McMurray said the Vice President's entourage got to the point and made its pitch."She said they have selected 'Crumb and Get It" to be his stop on his way to Blacksburg and was wondering if that was ok." Here's the part that might make other business owners crazy. "This is an opportunity of a lifetime but essentially I said 'No offense to you or the campaign but I just decline you guys coming in here. At that time she said 'Are you sure? There's going to be a lot of press, a lot of activity,’" McMurray said. Why in the world would a new business owner say "no" to a photo op with the Vice President of the United States? McMurray said it was President Obama's recent remarks about small business and who built what. "Very simply, ‘you didn't build that’†McMurray said. “Speaking of small businesses and entrepreneurs all across this country and actually last night my wife was up all night. No sleep, she's worked a full 24 hours." When "Crumb and Get It" said 'no', “River City Grill,†just around the corner, said 'yes' and has the pictures to prove it, and didn't care about the politics. "If you want to throw in some libertarians as well that's fine too. Stop in as well,†Chris Bell said. “Just bring your money. Sure, right! Back at the bakery, a couple of guys said they'd hoped to see Biden and didn't care that the VP had been turned away. "I mean it really doesn't matter to me. Everyone has their own views so I love the food here anyway. I agree. Everybody's different so I could care less," said Spenser Critterton of Radford. Here's the back story, we’re told that shortly after Crumb and Get It told Biden’s advance people 'no' -- the secret service walked in and told Chris McMurray ''Thanks for standing up and saying 'no' -- then they bought a whole bunch of cookies and cupcakes. McMurray said he's hoping folks will understand he just didn't want to be part of a photo op for an administration whose policies he doesn’t agree with.[/color]

Rated A+ by NRA. Avid Fisherman & Hunter. Excellent Choice...

Fr. Dwight Longenecker went to a Chick-fil-A yesterday in a cassock, and he saysyesterday was a revolutionary day in protest-theory: Yesterday’s Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day was the sort of ‘revolt’ this country needs, but it was even better than the non violent revolutions and peaceful protests which have changed the world because it was so ordinary. It was just plain, ordinary Americans getting in their cars and doing a plain, ordinary American thing: going out for lunch to a fast food joint. It was just plain, ordinary Americans doing something plain and ordinary, but positive and joyful and good. In buying an ordinary tasty chicken sandwich at their corner fast food emporium ordinary Americans were expressing the wish to be left alone to be ordinary Americans. CFA Appreciation Day – The Triumph of the Ordinary August 2, 2012 By Fr. Dwight Longenecker 40 Comments Welcome Instapundit readers! +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day yesterday was historic. It was historic because it marks a new method of mass protest. I even hesitate to use the word ‘protest’ because it wasn’t a protest. There wasn’t any anger. There wasn’t any hate. There wasn’t any bullying. There were no unwashed crowds of unhappy people holding a sit in and causing other people stress, inconvenience and expense. There were no protest signs, no marches, no noise makers and attention grabbers. There were no revolutionary slogans, no clenched fists, no class warfare, no sullen adolescents in a stroppy mood. The classic signs of a protest movement were absent. If they were not actually violent revolutions, the great protest movements in history have often had violent undertones. Subtle threats were made. Bullying tactics, financial and political pressure was exerted. Guns were wielded. Behind the scenes in smoke filled rooms men did deals and crossed swords to determine the future of millions. In the great revolutions hoardes of unhappy people filled the streets, rioting and on the rampage they took what they wanted, killed who they wanted and in misplaced zeal for justice overturned an established order. Even the non-violent protests pioneered by Gandhi and the American civil rights movement had an undercurrent of threat. Nevertheless, they avoided violence and they opened the way to other peaceful revolutions in which ordinary people stood up against injustice and tyranny without resorting to violence themselves. In his great biography of Pope John Paul II, George Weigel shows how the Catholic Church, during John Paul’s papacy, inspired this sort of non violent revolution across the globe. The Solidarity movement in Poland lit the fuse which brought down the Communist Empire with little or no violence. The revolution of Cory Aquino in the Phillipines, and numerous other smaller scale non-violent revolutions in Africa and Central and South America were all inspired by the people and for the people–and most of them were also inspired by people of faith–working from the grass roots upward to change their society for the better. Yesterday’s Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day was the sort of ‘revolt’ this country needs, but it was even better than the non violent revolutions and peaceful protests which have changed the world because it was so ordinary. It was just plain, ordinary Americans getting in their cars and doing a plain, ordinary American thing: going out for lunch to a fast food joint. It was just plain, ordinary Americans doing something plain and ordinary, but positive and joyful and good. In buying an ordinary tasty chicken sandwich at their corner fast food emporium ordinary Americans were expressing the wish to be left alone to be ordinary Americans. There were no protest signs (except from a few glum pro-gays who said we were eating ‘hate’ sandwiches) There were no noisy, angry scenes. Folks in the drive through lines did not honk their horns or proclaim their Christianity with bullhorns. There were no statements against homosexuals or homosexuality. (Indeed, the only statement put out by Chick-Fil-A affirmed their commitment to serve and employ all people equally without notice of race, gender, age or sexual orientation.) The brilliance of the event that it used the network of a nationwide fast food chain as the foundation for a visible, peaceful, creative nationwide statement. There was no bullying, no hateful anti-homosexual loud mouthed preachers. This grace, patience gentleness and community good humor contrasted with the ugly and spiteful comments from the ‘other side’. Nobody wished their enemies to get cancer the way ‘comedian’ Roseanne Barr proclaimed. Nobody was using back room political and financial pressure to bully the majority of Americans the way mayors of Boston, DC and Chicago were doing. For all the talk of the traditional marriage supporters being full of hate, there was not hatred apparent. It was just ordinary suburban Americans sticking up for their way of life by buying a chicken sandwich with their friends and neighbors. These were not scary people like the folks from Westboro Baptist who tote guns and hate homos. They were the folks next door. Yesterday’s demonstration was a truly American form of revolution. Where else could it happen but the USA? Read More.

There’s a Crack in THE DOME. How’s it Going to End? Posted by checkmate2012 (Diary) Saturday, August 4th at 4:30PM EDT51 Comments Cameras in place, cue the lights, turn up the mics. And action. Into our view is the most elaborate stage ever seen for a political convention with the enormous Greek columns flanking the stage with two huge video screens displaying colossal images of the Democratic nominee, inevitably our new presidential American idol. Indeed a monumental stage built in the image of ancient times for a Greek God overlooking his sacrificial sheep. The plot thickened from that historic and gluttonous night like a Greek tragedy. Hope and Change is the mantra of the great idol. Yes we can is chanted from coast to coast, speeches are heard from the One like no other: â€This was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to healâ€. Commentators get thrills up their legs and can’t believe what a great orator Obama is and how he transcends race and time. The smartest man to ever run for office is elected President of the United States and is sworn in on Inauguration Day, Jan. 20, 2009. After that historic day, something unexpected happened to America. Something that many refuse to believe to this day, although many tried to sound the alarm before election day. With soda and popcorn in hand, the American people were ready or were they? Here’s how the movie plays out. The country finally comes down from their high like a climber from Mt. Olympus, only to find out that the radicals from the 1960′s have infiltrated the White House, but peacefully as appointed Czars. What’s a Czar and how did they get their positions without Senate approval? You are not to question those upon high that know what’s best for all. The economy is bleeding jobs by the hundreds of thousands. The markets and banks are failing. TARP to the rescue to save the banks and prevent the greatest financial meltdown since the Great Depression. We must pass the huge Stimulus Bill that was touted as the panacea to job creation with shovel ready jobs in infrastructure, education and training and more police and firemen. The answer to keeping the unemployment rate below 8% with promises of 5% soon. Focused like a laser on jobs and many nights of going to bed at night with the last thought being jobs and the first thought upon waking being jobs, the President and the Democratic lead House and Senate spent the next two years on health care for all. What a noble thought when the only thing the people wanted was a job. Arms were twisted, deals were made behind doors, and religious convictions were compromised like a deal with the devil. Plans and programs were implemented in the name of saving the economy and getting people back to work. Cash for clunkers, EPA regulations galore, man made contingencies, the war on terror is over, terrorists released from Gitmo, government takeover of industries, bankruptcy laws lay in heap of dust, oil and gas leases suspended indefinitely, CIA interrogators to be tried for waterboarding terrorists, rising gas prices, DOJ sues states for voter id laws and attempts at stemming illegal immigration, FBI manuals scrubbed for references to Muslims, skyrocketing gas prices, apologies to our enemies, animosity towards our friends, pipeline refused, DOMA not recognized, gay marriage is ok, war on women, contraceptives for all without regards to religion, amnesty granted, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell no longer applies, green energy loans to donors, TSA to unionize, the capitol of Israel is not Jerusalem, Muslim Brotherhood invited to White House, Christian businesses are to be boycotted. Yet still no jobs and it’s getting worse. This is the Obama Show. Sound familiar? It should. The American people are the puppets of this administration and have been choreographed with excruciating detail as if we were actors being filmed in, “The Truman Showâ€: This president has put a dome over the American people with a script for transforming this country into something we never wanted. We have been made to be prisoners in our own country with the directors of this film controlling our every move. From the onerous regulations to the omnipresent image of the ruler on high on our TV 24 hours a day. There is no escaping it. This is akin to Woodrow Wilson’s ministry for propaganda called the Committee on Public Information. Today we might call it the thought police. The president even told us as much when he said in an interview with Charlie Rose a couple of weeks ago, “The mistake of my first couple of years was thinking that this job was just about getting the policy right,†he said. “But, you know, the nature of this office is also to tell a story to the American people that gives them a sense of unity and purpose and optimism.†And like Truman in the movie, the people saw the first crack in the dome on July 13th in Roanoke, VA when the idol famously said, “if you have a business, you didn’t build thatâ€. It has taken nearly four years for the majority of true believers to see that maybe something isn’t quite right with this president and his way of governing. The symbolism of the Greek temple backdrop at his Democratic Convention speech should have been a warning to all watching. Greek temples are a symbol of idolatry, for raising one up above all of humanity to be worshipped. But sacrificial offerings must be made to appease the Gods. We are the sacrificial sheep and must submit to those that know best for us unless we choose to stand up now and refuse. Our only hope of escaping this B-rated bad movie known as our fate, is to vote him out of office on Nov 6th in an overwhelming fashion to account for the margin of fraud. There is no other way out of this nightmare we have been cast into without our consent. End The Obama Show this November or we may witness the worst Greek Tragedy ever: America as we know and lo

It might be understandable for a company that was especially developed to market just to women might drop Limbaugh for the Sandra Fluke dustup. . But it's a tech company. Carbonite's CEO should be replaced for stupidity, He has cost his share holders

Carbonite CEO admits dropping Limbaugh hurt growth more than expected Posted by William A. Jacobson Friday, August 3, 2012 at 12:13pm Carbonite famously dropped Rush Limbaugh on a Saturday Nightat the height of the Sandra Fluke controversy. Carbonite became the poster child for the Rush boycott movement organized by Media Matters, whichcoordinated the effort with so-called independent groups. At the time I examined Carbonite’s SEC filings, and how Carbonite had built its business model based on high growth driven, in significant part, by the promotion of Carbonite by Limbaugh. I predicted that Carbonite had shot itself in the foot, and put political correctness before the interests of its shareholders. Since that time the Stop Rush effort has imploded, with backstabbing and accusations among the participants. Limbaugh has had better numbers than ever, and the hype surrounding Mike Huckabee as a Limbaugh replacement has gone flat. Yet what became of Carbonite? On August 1 Carbonite released its 2d Quarter 2012 results, the first full quarter after dropping Limbaugh in March. The results shocked Wall Street, as Carbonite did not meet its growth targets, causing multiple analysts to drop the target price. The stock dropped 15% in a day. (h/t reader W) Most important, in a conference call held on August 1, the CEO David Friend admitted that dropping Limbaugh damaged Carbonite’s growth, and is likely to do so for at least one or two more quarters. The full audio is available here. The key passage is embedded below. (Transcription mine, official transcript not available yet) (3:10) CEO Friend: â€There were four factor that contributed to this slower growth. First, in March we stopped working with one of our top producing radio endorsers. While we recently contracted with three new radio personalities, it takes 3-6 months to ramp up new radio hosts so we probably won’t see the full effect of this for another quarter or two.†(24:15) Q: “I guess I’m a little surprised that you were caught by surprise by the radio host change ’cause I know we’ve talked and I guess my impression was that it wouldn’t be that impactful but I guess it was quite impactful. CEO Friend: “Yeah, I’d say it turned out to be a bigger issue than we had anticipated. Because you know at the time there was a lot of noise, I mean we had a huge spike in web traffic around that time just because of all the interest in the whole subject. And it took close to a month for that to sort of die down. And meanwhile our metrics were, we really couldn’t see what was going because there was so much noise around the website that we had no idea what the ultimate impact was going to be. It turned out to be a bigger hole in our revenue than we had thought when we initially did this. However, I don’t think there was any, I’m not regretful of the decision, I think things would have been worse had we not done that. (added) The analyst asking the question indicates that Friend previously had indicated in private conversations that there would not be a substantial impact. This demonstrates how Friend misjudged the situation. Additionally, Friend says the “metrics†could not be known for a month after dropping Limbaugh and that Carbonite had no way of judging the impact. Yet I don’t recall any statements from Carbonite reflecting the disarray in its ability to measure its own business model. The last statement by Friend, that the damage would have been worse had Carbonite not dropped Limbaugh is laughable. Friend has been cause doing serious damage to shareholders based on a political decision which was taken precipitously on a Saturday night. It’s too convenient now to say things would have been worse, when Friend completely misjudged the impact of dropping Limbaugh. Update: Carbonite shareholders have another reason to worry. Friend has just starteda potentialy competitive online storage company with a recently departed executive.

August 2, 2012 The Man Is a Sneak By Richard Butrick President Obama claims that he is an "ardent believer" in the free market: Contrary to the claims of some of my critics-and some of the editorial pages-I am an ardent believer in the free market. ... Government has a vital, if limited, role to play in fostering sustained economic growth and creating the foundations for you to succeed. Obama is definitely not a socialist in the sense that he believes in government takeover of private companies. From Halliburton to McDonalds, from Exxon to Old Navy, Obama is not proposing government ownership. The GM takeover, rather than being a contrary example, enforces the point, as the company was returned to private ownership. GM went from Government Motors back to General Motors. Obama is not proposing any form of government takeover of private industry. But claiming that he sees that the legitimate role of government is limited to that of fostering economic growth is a deception of the first order. Obama sees the role of government as that of ensuring everyone gets his fair share. That is what his "you didn't build that" rant was all about. While the Wright brothers used bicycle parts to build their airplane, they didn't invent or make the bicycle parts. In short, Obama does not believe that the "hands off" private-enterprise, free-market system distributes wealth fairly. But with that said, it is hard not to come to the conclusion that as far as Obama is concerned, his vision of social justice and supervised "hands on" capitalism cannot be successfully argued and sold to the American public. In this he agrees with the Alinskyites, and indeed, the pedigree of this line of thinking goes back to the Fabian Socialists. He can't package and sell his vision, but he knows he is right, so he is going to use subterfuge and sleight-of-hand to implement his vision. In that, he is a grifter for social justice. While publicly professing ardent admiration for the free market, Obama and his myrmidons are busy behind the scenes using the regulatory power of government to nudge its citizens to the land of the dependent and home of the drone. Social justice regulations are smuggled in under banking regulations, under consumer protection regulations, under food and drug regulations, under commerce regulations. ObamaCare is rife with social justice regulations. Here are some headlines and opening passages that openly use the term "sneak": "Obama sneaking in legislation again to serve his own personal agenda": Obama signed a defense policy bill today, and in the midst of that, slipped in hate crime legislation. The two are totally unrelated, and the fact that he used the defense policy to serve his own agenda is not only disrespectful to our military personnel, but also our country. In addition, I fear down the road it could be construed in such a way it would prevent us from defending the country against terrorism. If the language is in with this policy, it could be deemed applicable to our military combat against terrorists. True to typical behavior, Mr. Obama can't get support by any other means, so he goes behind our backs like a spoiled toddler trying to slip his hand in the cookie jar before dinner, hoping no one will catch him. "Energy Department sneaks offshore moratorium past public. Jobs and oil-supply potential are shut down" "Obama Sneaks Anti-Gun Laws Past Congress" "Obama sneaks in UN Treaty by Executive Order" "Sneaking end-of-life consultations into Obamacare" "Obama's budget is a sneak attack on our Second Amendment ..." Mitt Romney has raised the issue of Obama's secret intentions. He told a group of newspaper editors recently that Obama "doesn't want to share his real plans before the election, either with the public or with the press, ... His intent is on hiding; you and I are going to have to do the seeking. ... He wants us to reelect him so we can find out what he'll actually do." In a preview of Stanley Kurtz's forthcoming book, Spreading the Wealth: How Obama is Robbing the Suburbs to Pay for the Cities, Ron Radosh is convinced that Kurtz is correct that a central goal of a second Obama term will be to incorporate suburbs and their wealth into city budgets by annexation. The Obama team is convinced that those who make their money in business in the cities have no right to flee to the suburbs, take their money, and keep it in suburban schools and infrastructure. It is racist and greedy. As Kurtz points out, the plan must be carried out gradually, through stealth regulations and Orwellian language ("Sustainable Communities Initiative," "Building One America"). Kurtz's claim is heavily documented, but as Radosh notes, such a plan could never be made public. In other words, sneak the whole program past the American public and congress. The man is a sneak. There is no other word for it. Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/08/the_man_is_a_sneak.html#ixzz22NmCrVmL

Newsbusted: IOC To Award Obama 3 Gold Medals Perhaps the worldwide worship of Barack Obama is not over. You may remember that the US President was awarded the Nobel peace prize for...well...nothing. Now the International Olympic Committee has decided to award Obama three Olympic Gold medals. Newsbusted Anchor Jodi Miller is back from vacation with the exclusive report. There is no date for the medal ceremony, but unlike the Nobel committee the IOC is recognizing the President for things he accomplished. The medals are for Jobs Lost, Record Deficits, and a new category for American presidents, Israel Bashing. Other news items covered in the latest installment of Newsbusted the twice-weekly faux news feature from Newsbusters.orginclude; new liberal charges against Chick-Fil-A, Obama's latest and strangest demand of Israel, the White Houses latest international apology, and much, much more. So make sure to watch the video below. You never now what can happen if you don't. Last week Ryan Lochte forgot to press play and it screwed up his Olympic performance. If you want to do your best, you better press play. Oh and if you cannot see the video player below please click here Posted by Jeff Dunetzat Tuesday, J http://yidwithlid.blogspot.com/2012/07/newsbusted-ioc-to-award-obama-3-gold.html

Not mine

Should of double checked after posting

http://matadornetwork.com/bnt/60-insane-cloud-formations-from-around-the-world-pics/

TUESDAY, 24 JULY 2012 The Heaviest Oppression By James V. Schall. S. J. 28 On Saturday, August 17, 1751, in The Rambler, Samuel Johnson wrote: “Politicians remark that no oppression is so heavy or lasting as that which is inflicted by the perversion and the exorbitance of legal authority.†We might wonder: “Why is this?†Surely crooks and tyrants are more dangerous than legal authority? No: “the robber may be seized and the invader repelled whenever they are found; they who pretend no right but that of force, may by force be punished or suppressed,†Johnson continued. “But when plunder bears the name of impost, and murder perpetrated by judicial sentence, fortitude is intimidated and wisdom confounded; resistance shrinks from alliance with rebellion; the villain remains secure in the robes of the magistrate.†This insightful passage of Johnson antedates the American Revolution by a quarter of a century. It is remarkably pertinent when “legal†abortion and tax-powers have few constitutional limits. No oppression is more dismaying and more difficult to confront than civil power gone wrong. We can deal with robbers and invaders. But unjust judges, legislators, and executives are another thing. They represent the law on which we rely to carry out our lives in justice and good sense. We hate to embrace rebellion. Are we wiser than the rulers? Yes, impeachment, recall, grand juries, elections, civil and criminal suits were designed to deal with such aberrations. Looking about the world, including at ourselves, we often conclude that civil corruption in constitutional bodies may well be the world’s principal political issue. Ultimately, the problem is virtue, not political structure. Decades ago, while I was teaching at the University of San Francisco, a university directive came out stipulating that all campus clubs must be open to everyone. I do not remember the motivation for such a requirement. The decree was controverted by the school’s Filipino Club. With some logic, it thought that opening their club to non-Filipinos would make it a “Non-Filipino Club.†Why a non-Filipino would want to join such a club is beyond me except perhaps to disrupt it. The odd logic of such a requirement remained in my memory. This last year, the Catholic Club at Vanderbilt University, a recognized university organization under the name “Vanderbilt Catholic,†decided to leave campus and give up its name. The university imposed a rule that all university clubs had to have a non-discriminatory policy. Anyone could be a member of any club and run for offices in that club. It does not take a genius, even in academia, to imagine what such a policy means. No club can be itself. We are in the age of what must be called “non-discriminatory discrimination.†Dr. Johnson by his friend Joshua Reynolds This move at Vanderbilt, a private university, might seem a private affair except that the university claims to be following a court decision about groups at a University of California Law School. So behind it all are the robes of the magistrates as well as those of the compliant academics. We have become used to states that have open elections so that one need not be a member of the party to vote in its primary elections. We are beginning to see indications that one does not even need to be an American to vote in our elections. With the doctrine of non-discrimination, nothing holds, not even the center. Logically, on this basis, we can all be members of Phi Beta Kappa. Excellence is by definition discriminatory. So is just about everything else. A common good, however, means not that everything becomes everything else, but that the parts of the society have the authority and duty to remain what they are. When everything is absorbed into a non-discriminatory mode, nothing is really left. Most of this thinking, as in the case at Vanderbilt, originates in homosexual problems. A Protestant group expelled a gay. The response of the university was that everything must be open to everyone. I suppose the homosexual clubs must be open to non-homosexuals. One could conceive, on this hypothesis, of a homosexual club taken over by right-to-lifers or vice versa. Were not the whole thing absurd, we could let it go. A university president who imposes a rule whereby any club can be controlled by anyone must have a philosophy of complete relativism. Nothing much matters. But distinctions do matter. We were once allowed to be what we held. Catholics were Catholics. Jews were Jews. It was all right. We now have an overarching “law†that tells us that we cannot be what we are. The university, once a place that respected distinctions and diversity of ways of life, is now an engine that allows nothing but its own definition of diversity. And diversity means that nothing can be diverse. Johnson would be amused at what the colonials have wrought, though the same thing happens in his Britain. James V. Schall, S.J., a professor at Georgetown University, is one of the most prolific Catholic writers in America. His most recent books are The Mind That Is Catholic and The Modern Age. © 2012 The Catholic Thing. All rights reserved. For reprint rights, write to: info@frinstitute.org The Catholic Thing is a forum for intelligent Catholic commentary. Opinions expressed by writers are solely their own.

Seasoned To Death —LauraW. You've Contaminated Your Last Cheeto, Vermin This one is too fun to stay in the sidebar. I love the dubbed-in 'thud' every time a fly hits the dirt: Frickin' COOL. Getting one for every member of my extended family, including the babies. Our previous pest-control efforts were fun and effective too, but it will be so nice to finally be able to spackle over all those #8 birdshot holes in the kitchen walls. Thanks to Andy.

Navy SEAL Lessons Learned From Aurora Colorado by Brandon Webb · July 23, 2012 · Posted In: Special Operations As I continue to read about the terrible tragedy in Aurora, Colorado, I can’t help but think there’s some lessons from my time as a Navy SEAL that I can pass on to the average citizen. So here goes… Don’t Make Yourself an Easy Target When at sporting events, concerts, and the movies, choose seats that give you a tactical advantage always. What do I mean? Choose seats that allow good and east vantage points and a hasty exit point. Always stack the odds in your favor. It’s the reason I still combat park (back in to a space) and sit with my back to the wall when I’m eating. Active Shooter Scenario Advice Take cover and not concealment. Concealment hides, cover hides AND protects. It’s the difference between hiding behind a movie seat or a concrete wall. Don’t lie there with your eyes closed and get shot. Think and move. A good decision executed quickly is better than a great one never executed. Violence of action, as we call it in the Spec Ops community, will often change the odds in your favor. For close quarter combat drills we’d draw a gun with someone over 20 feet away running at us. In most cases you can be on someone before they can draw and take a shot. I’m not advocating running straight at someone but if you have the tactical advantage (jam, re-loading, distraction or the shooter isn’t paying attention) then take the shooter down or get the hell out of there. Deal with the situation with your eyes wide open. In Aurora, the shooter was severely weighted down with armor and his helmet would have also limited his vision. You can use all this to your advantage. Flashlight anyone? I have one for daily carry and take it everywhere with me. It’s become another extension of me and has diffused at least two potentially violent confrontations in a non-lethal way. I recommend the Surefire P2X Fury Dual Output LED. How to use it in this situation? I would have pulled my high lumens pocket flashlight and blinded this guy. The high powered beam would have taken away his vision for 3-4 seconds, which is an eternity and enough time to flight or fight. There’s also no shame in surviving and getting you and your loved ones out of harm – especially little ones. Be a Hero to your kids and family for surviving, nobody can expect more of you than that. Like we say in Survival Escape Evasion Resistance (SERE) school, “Survive with Honor.†Concealed Carry If you’re lucky enough to live in a state like Texas that not only allows concealed carry, but supports the use of deadly force, then train to use it. Think seriously about whether it’s worth a Carry Concealed Weapon (CCW) permit in states where you’re likely to get screwed by a jury if you use it. Example: I can get a CCW in CA but I’m likely screwed if I shoot somebody. The mostly liberal (I’m a registered independent for the record) jury will be sure to have my ass and it’s why I own a dog that’s trained to bite and protect (another good option). Nothing makes me happier then visualizing PETA pitted against other wild-eyed liberals. Bottom line is that if you own a gun and have it as daily carry, you’d better rehearse your use scenarios both physically and mentally, and the same with the gun in the home. Mental practice is extremely valuable after you’ve mastered the basics. FYI, shooting paper at the local range will not prepare you for a defensive shooting situation. Rehearsing defensive scenarios is the only thing that will prepare you. For most of you, the best bet is to buy a good tactical flashlight, there are plenty on the market. Specs: At least 200+ lumens, waterproof, LED, and a 3volt lithium battery. Use and carry your light with you at all times. It’s the best non-lethal and practical option available, in my opinion. You can take it anywhere – including on an airplane – and if it’s a high lumen model it will blind people in broad daylight. I can’t recommend this purchase enough. Learn From an Expert There are plenty of former Military and Law Enforcement that have great self-defense skills. Just vet your instructor carefully, ask for references and proof of service. While there are many solid instructors out there, there are also a plethora of wannabe Rex-Kwon-Do types who are self-proclaimed experts and worse – lie about their service. Alter Your Lifestyle, and it May Save Your Life Avoid opening night and large crowds (e.g. go to Disney World during off-peak) that make easy targets. FYI, most domestic and foreign terrorists want the biggest bang for their buck. They want Yankee stadium sold out and not Padre stadium at 60% capacity. It sucks to live this way sometimes but ask the survivors from Colorado if it’s worth a minor lifestyle change. I say it is, and it’s the main reason I’m watching the Olympics on TV and not attending this year. London is too much of a risk for a variety of reasons that I will not go into on this post. Don’t Be a Victim Rehearse emergency scenarios before there’s an emergency, the time to practice is NOT when it’s happening. The world is a dangerous place these days. Be prepared. A great book I’d also recommend is, Escape The Wolf by Clinton Emerson. My condolences to the victims and their families in Aurora Colorado. -Brandon Brandon is a former Navy SEAL, and worked as a Special Operations intelligence & security specialist in Iraq during 2006-07. He is also author of the New York Times Best Seller, “The Red Circleâ€. Read more: http://sofrep.com/96.../#ixzz21XQHI1Pi

Editorials» Presidential busts: The worst of all: Barack Obama (2009-?) By U-T San Diego Editorial Editor's note: It's a presidential election year, so we thought we'd weigh in with our list of the five worst presidents. We start with, yes, the current incumbent. See our other choices at U-T Opinion online. He took office at a time when the U.S. economy was on its worst slide in 75 years, but pushed policies using borrowed money that were more meant to preserve government jobs than broadly help the private sector where the great majority of Americans work, ensuring the jobs crisis continued. He railed against the heavy spending and big deficits of his predecessor, but blithely backed budgets that had triple the deficits ever seen in American history. He promised a smart, sweeping overhaul of the U.S. health care system, but ended up giving us a Byzantine mess promoted to the public with myths: that offering subsidized care to tens of millions of people would save money; that people would keep their own doctors; that access to care wouldn’t change; and that rationing would never happen. He promised a more sophisticated approach to the economy than that of his predecessor, but had so little common sense that his health law actually gave businesses a big financial incentive to discontinue providing health insurance to their employees. He offered hosannas to genius entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs in his prepared remarks, but when speaking off the cuff betrayed his faculty-lounge view of the world, saying of businesspeople, “if you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own.†He swore to bring overdue oversight and honest accounting to the corporate world, but made flagrantly dishonest claims about General Motors paying back its government loans that would have triggered a criminal fraud investigation in the private sector. He promised to set a high new standard for ethics in the White House, but used a baffling claim of executive privilege to shield his embattled attorney general from the repercussions of a cover-up involving the death of a federal law enforcement officer. He denounced his predecessor for permitting harsh interrogation tactics with suspected terrorists, but once in office somehow concluded that a better, more moral approach would just be to use drones to assassinate such suspects without getting any information from them. He presented himself as a shrewd student of Washington politics, but once in office displayed a counterproductive standoffishness to many Democratic lawmakers eager to embrace him, never developing the broad range of personal relationships that often mark a successful presidency. He ran as a unifying force who would bring in a new era of civility and racial healing to Washington, but once in office embraced ugly, Chicago-style political hardball that saw nothing wrong with his supporters’ loathsome practice of depicting opposition to his policies as being driven by racism. He constantly offered praise for the wisdom and insights of the American public, but reacted to the broad discontent over Obamacare, high unemployment and vast deficits by saying it was a failure of his administration to properly explain its glorious record to a confused populace – not a predictable reaction to his struggles and ineffectiveness. And in December 2011 – at a time in which one-quarter of American adults who wanted full-time work couldn’t find it, after a year in which the federal deficit was a staggering $1.3 trillion – here was what Barack Obama had to say for himself in a CBS interview: “I would put our legislative and foreign policy accomplishments in our first two years against any president, with the possible exceptions of Johnson, FDR and Lincoln.†Unbelievable. If self-reverence were a crime, our current president would be facing a life sentence. For the good of America, let’s pray we have someone else in charge of the federal government come Jan. 20, 201

When political correctness runs amok, it will look like the Mayor of Boston Posted by William A. Jacobson Saturday, July 21, 2012 at 12:36pm The Mayor of Boston thinks he has the right to deny business permits to a business if he doesn’t like the views of the owners of the business on gay marriage. From The Boston Herald: Mayor Thomas M. Menino is vowing to block Chick-fil-A from bringing its Southern-fried fast-food empire to Boston — possibly to a popular tourist spot just steps from the Freedom Trail — after the family-owned firm’s president suggested gay marriage is “inviting God’s judgment on our nation.†“Chick-fil-A doesn’t belong in Boston. You can’t have a business in the city of Boston that discriminates against a population. We’re an open city, we’re a city that’s at the forefront of inclusion,†Menino told the Herald yesterday. “That’s the Freedom Trail. That’s where it all started right here. And we’re not going to have a company, Chick-fil-A or whatever the hell the name is, on our Freedom Trail.†Read the whole article. There is no allegation that Chick-fil-A discriminates either in employment or in servicing customers on the basis of sexual orientation. In fact, Chick-fil-A affirms that it does not discriminate, but that’s not good enough for the Mayor: “The Chick-fil-A culture and service tradition in our restaurants is to treat every person with honor, dignity and respect — regardless of their belief, race, creed, sexual orientation or gender,†the statement [from Chick-fil-A] read. “Going forward, our intent is to leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena.†But that isn’t cutting the mustard with Menino. He said he plans to fire off a letter to the company’s Atlanta headquarters “telling them my feelings on the matter.†“If they need licenses in the city, it will be very difficult — unless they open up their policies,†he warned. While a governmental entity may be able to regulate employment and business conduct as regards various groups, what gives the Mayor of Boston the right to punish a business because of what its owners think or the views they express? There is a pernicious side to the political correctness which is being enforced on the issue of gay marriage. The topic has been manipulated so that support for the unique status of traditional marriage in society has been equated with being “anti-gay.†A writer at Mediaite plays the card: Because, hey, who doesn’t love their chicken seasoned with delicious, unrepentant bigotry. Once the issue was so formulated in the media and academia, it has become unacceptable on campuses and now in the City of Boston to express a view that traditional marriage is unique and worthy of a special status. Regardless of your view on private boycotts of Chick-fil-A, such private boycotts are qualitatively different from a government official threatening the power of the state not because of the conduct of a company, but because of the thoughts expressed by its owners. When we involve government as thought police we are in dangerous territory which supporters of the Mayor of Boston’s threats ignore. If it is acceptable for the Mayor of Boston to deny business permits to a business whose owners express support for traditional marriage, would it also be acceptable for the Governors of and Mayors in the 30 states which have passed legislation or constitutional amendments rejecting gay marriage to deny business permits to companies whose owners support gay marriage?