World News Korner

Courtesy of HuffPo:

Chili’s and Sonic became the latest national chains to wade into the gun debate on Friday, announcing in apparently coordinated statements that firearms are no longer welcome in their restaurants.

In separate statements to The Huffington Post, the companies said that they were asking customers not to openly carry firearms in their eateries, following a similar move by Chipotle earlier this month.

“We recognize that the open carry of firearms creates an uncomfortable atmosphere and is not permitted under many local liquor laws,” Ashley Johnson, a spokeswoman for Chili's' parent company, Brinker International, said in an email. “So, we kindly ask that guests refrain from openly carrying firearms into our restaurants and we will continue to follow state and local laws on this issue.”

A Sonic spokesman said the company will defer to local laws with respect to storing guns in vehicles, but said it will no longer permit firearms in its dining areas.

“We’re asking that customers refrain from bringing guns onto our patios or into our indoor dining areas,” said Patrick Lenow, Sonic's vice president of public relations.

What did I say about the outcome from having all of these open carry dipshits walking around with their metal penis extenders on display? And I hope that many other eating establishments will follow suit.

Yesterday somebody provided a link that labeled these 2nd Amendment fetishists, "Ammosexuals."

THAT is going to be my new label going forward.

Damn I don't have a Sonic up here to reward with my business, and the Chili's up the street just closed, but I'm sure there are a few more in town so I think I will plan to eat there sometime this week.

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Courtesy of the Daily Beast:

At a rally for longshot Senate candidate on the bayou, Sarah Palin got choked up on Thursday.

Sarah Palin, a former reality television star, appeared at rally for Rob Maness, the Tea Party candidate for Senate in Louisiana in New Orleans today, and promptly mocked President Obama for that “hopey-changey stuff.”

But moments later, Palin’s eyes welled with tears at a very Obama-esque notion, when Maness, a retired colonel in the Air Force, describing spending 32 years “soaring above our fruited plain and seeing our purple mountains majesty. Because when you are high above the land of the free there is simply no red or blue states, just the United States of America.”

Maness choked up as well, while it took Palin, standing to his side, several moments to dry her eyes and compose herself.”

Okay let me get this straight.

Sarah Palin did NOT get choked up when Native Alaskans were freezing and starving to death during the winter of 2009, her eyes did not "well up with tears" over news of the shooting deaths at Sandy Hook (After which she claimed to have bought Todd a new gun in response to all the "anti-gun chatter coming from Washington.") and she certainly was not overcome with emotion when Gabby Giffords was shot in the head.

Yet when some nobody Tea party candidate in New Orleans regurgitates a line originally used by President Obama she suddenly remembers she has tear ducts?

Yeah, I call bullshit on that.

I found the video of the event (The remarks in question start at the 9:00 minute mark.) and the camera did not catch Palin's tears, and until I see video proof to the contrary I think I will remain skeptical.

The only emotions I have witnessed from this woman are anger, hate, and almost overwhelming jealousy. And I am convinced that is about the depth of her emotional sensitivities.

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Courtesy of The Hill:

Secretary of State John Kerry late Thursday dismissed former Vice President Dick Cheney's comments knocking the Obama administration’s Afghanistan withdrawal plan.

“Any advice from him really has no meaning to me with respect to what we’re doing today,” Kerry said on PBS Newshour.

Kerry said he’s not surprised Cheney would say something “negative” and “wrong.” “Dick Cheney was completely wrong about Iraq, and we are still struggling with the aftermath of what Dick Cheney and his crew thought was the right policy: To go in and start a war of choice for the wrong reasons. And they turned topsy-turvy the entire region with respect to Sunni and Shia and the relationships there,” Kerry said.

The Bush administration, Kerry said, was “deeply, deeply wrong” in the policy it pursued.

This needs to be repeated by members of the administration, Democrats, and journalists, over and over again.

Just the fact that Dick Cheney is still out free, and allowed to criticize this administration's handling of the two wars that he helped start, is a slap in the face to every veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, and to the families of the soldiers who died fighting for a lie.

P.S. You can watch the entire interview with Gwen Ifill here.

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Courtesy of TPM:

Iowa state Sen. Joni Ernst (R), a candidate for U.S. Senate, said Thursday that the recent mass shooting near the University of California, Santa Barbara was an "unfortunate accident."

During a televised primary debate, a moderator asked Ernst about the shooting because of an ad she ran that shows her firing in a shooting range and promising to "unload" on Obamacare.

"Mrs. Ernst, a viewer wrote us saying in light of the shooting of Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, the shootings at the Aurora, Colo., theater, and most recently at the UC Santa Barbara campus, 'we have a Joni Ernst in the television ad that is running continuously on all local television stations that contains violent imagery pointing a gun directly at the viewer and vowing to quote ‘shoot them down’ and hateful language directed toward their opponents. Is this really what politics has become in this country?'" the moderator said. "Mrs. Ernst, what do you say to this viewer?"

"Yes, I would say to this viewer that what happened in that shooting and that stabbing is an absolute tragedy," Ernst said. "However, I remain firm in my commitment to the Second Amendment. I have been endorsed by the NRA in this race, and again, just because of a horrible, horrible tragedy, I don’t believe we should be infringing upon people’s Second Amendment rights."

Ernst was then asked if she would go back and change her political advertisement cited above.

"I would not -- no. This unfortunate accident happened after the ad, but it does highlight that I want to get rid of, repeal, and replace Bruce Braley’s Obamacare," Ernst replied, referring to a Democratic Senate candidate. "And it also shows that I am a strong supporter of the Second Amendment. That is a fundamental right."

Yeah let's continue to protect the rights of people to murder our fellow citizens because they were cut off in traffic, hated their job, or could not lose their virginity.

Remember with the Right Wing our right to walk the streets safely always takes a back seat to their right to walk around with weaponry so that they can live out their childish Rambo fantasies.

No wonder Sarah Palin rushed to endorse her.

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Courtesy of Odd News:

A Georgia man who allegedly had too much to drink and then started shooting at a Memorial Day Weekend rodeo was taken out of action by a cowboy's lasso.

Celestino Moras wounded three people after he allegedly shot into a crowd with a pistol at an annual church picnic and rodeo in Bartow County.

The incident began after Moras, who was not invited to the event and showed up intoxicated, was asked to leave. Moras became agitated and started firing, causing as many as 300 people to run off, WSB TV reported.

After Moras ran out of bullets, a cowboy lassoed him and others guests beat on him until law enforcement officials arrived.

Since this happened in Georgia, who also have the stand your ground laws, I am very surprised this guy got away with a simple beat down.

I guess Wayne LaPierre was wrong.

It's not a good man with a gun that stops a bad man with a gun. It's a good man with a lasso.



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Courtesy of Politico:

Benghazi — and a pointed rebuttal to Republican critics who’ve laced into her over the incident — in a much-anticipated chapter of her forthcoming book, “Hard Choices,” obtained by POLITICO.

“Those who exploit this tragedy over and over as a political tool minimize the sacrifice of those who served our country,” Clinton writes in the gripping chapter, “Benghazi: Under Attack.”

Casting doubt on the motivations of congressional Republicans who have continued to investigate the attacks, including with an upcoming House select committee, Clinton continues: “I will not be a part of a political slugfest on the backs of dead Americans. It’s just plain wrong, and it’s unworthy of our great country. Those who insist on politicizing the tragedy will have to do so without me.”

The 34-page chapter is Clinton’s most complete account to date of the attack and its aftermath. Her tone is less defensive than defiant: Clinton takes responsibility for the “horror” of the loss of life in Benghazi, but puts it in the context of “the heartbreaking human stakes of every decision we make” — and she accuses adversaries of manipulating a tragedy for partisan gain.

There has been, she writes, a “regrettable amount of misinformation, speculation, and flat-out deceit by some in politics and the media,” but new information from “a number of reputable sources continues to expand our understanding of these events.”

Boy you KNOW this is going to cause the Right Wing to become apoplectic in response to this chapter.

Politico goes on to suggest that Clinton is offering a blueprint for Democrats to use against the Benghazi allegations.

After reading this I am even more excited about Hillary's upcoming appearance on Fox News in June.

I think it very likely might be a blood bath.

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Courtesy of WSVN:

Authorities are investigating after a 6-year-old boy shot his grandfather during a family barbecue, Sunday.

Police arrested Juan Manuel Martinez, Jr. after his 6-year-old nephew discharged Martinez' unattended rifle and killed Martinez' father, Juan Manuel Martinez, Sr. "It's not his fault. He didn't know what he was doing. He's just a little boy. I love him. He's my family. I love all my family," said Martinez as he was embraced by his brother Marco Martinez.

The victim's family describe Martinez, Sr. as a hardworking man who made his money driving trucks after he arrived in the U.S. from Mexico. His family said he also volunteered his time as a youth baseball couch.

On Sunday, Martinez, Sr. and his son were having a barbecue with family and friends at their home off Northwest Fourth Street and Eighth Avenue in Homestead. According to police, Martinez, Jr. was showing off his assault rifle. He then passed the gun to his father who then set the loaded gun on a table and left it unattended for a moment. During that time Martinez, Jr.'s 6-year-old nephew gained access to the rifle and pulled the trigger fatally shooting his grandfather in the chest.

You know at our family picnics we usually have potato salad and burgers. And everybody leaves their weaponry at home.

The idea that these people thought it was appropriate to bring out a loaded firearm and pass it around with children milling about, is completely indefensible to me.

But this is the kind of country we live in now, where it is apparently reasonable to have deadly firearms around small children and beloved family members.

And if somebody dies? Well that is just the price you pay to live in America.

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Hannity interviews Palin at the Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans.

Of course the first questioning Hannity asks is about the VA scandal.

Let the word salad begin!

"I think there's a lack of understanding on our commander-in-chief's part, what the mission of the military is, and why it is that we owe a debt of gratitude that's manifested in benefits paid to those who already earned them. When it comes to what our military's all about. And you know that was really evident in his speech the other day to the cadets at West Point. Weak speech where truly it was...it was illustrated by his words that he just doesn't understand why our young troops especially are those who would volunteer to sacrifice all for the freedoms in this country."

Yes, of course it is the PRESIDENT who does not understand the military mission. You know the guy who ended two wars and is trying to get our troops home to their families, and out of war zones that they had no business being in in the first place. (For a much better take on the President's West Point speech I refer you to this article over at Slate.)

And by the way you lunatic, cadets do not enter the military to "sacrifice all." They really hope to survive their military careers, and someday retire with a chestful of medals and some stories to tell their grandchildren, NOT to bleed out on foreign soil so that America can gain access to their oil.

Next Hannity asks the moron about the "Obama Doctrine."

She starts with a snide comment, "What is the Obama Doctrine? And do you believe in it?" Which brings laughter from the crowd, at which point she asks them if they remember that, alluding to her 2008 interview with Charlie Gibson (Whose name she forgets. "Mr. Reporter, from wherever.") and her terrible response to the question about the Bush Doctrine.

Then another helping of word salad.

"No it's beyond isolationist even. Again he not being a believer in American exceptionalism. In what it takes to remain a superpower. And not for any kind of arrogance in our country, but to actually be that shining light, that...that beacon upon a hill that other countries can look at and count on to be an example, they wishing to emulate it, and that was the Reagan Doctrine."

Hannity then brings up Dick Cheney's remarks about the President being weak, whihc of course Palin is happy to chime in on.

"Yeah and that was a great interview with the former Vice President when he said that..uh..this is a very, very weak president, and it's not that we are weak as a country, but we are so unreliable now under Obama. But even more than the effect that it has on other countries, my concern is the effect that his doctrine, his policies, his attitude has on those volunteering to serve this country. To those whom we owe a debt of gratitude."

Of course this leads to talk about the VA which allows Hannity to ask the question that Palin has been waiting all night to answer, "Is the VA a death panel for many?"

"That's a great point!" (Well of course it is.)

Hannity then asks for a show of hands among his handpicked audience as to how many think it's death panel, and of course hands shoot up all through the crowd.

Of course Palin is loving this.

"Well that is what government run health care will result in. It's inefficient. It takes away choices. And isn't it ironic that that those who are willing to sacrifice all, to put their life on the line, to allow the freedom of choices in health care, and economic decisions, and everything else, our soldiers, our airmen, our Marines, they're the ones getting screwed by the VA and our commander-in-chief is in charge of this ultimately."

Wait, the military is killing people overseas, and risking their lives, so that we can have better healthcare choices, and so that we can decide whether to open an IRA or not? Has anybody told them this?

Hannity and Palin then agree that the prisoners at Gitmo and illegal aliens in this country are receiving better benefits than the veterans, which of course is nonsense.

There is more to the interview during which Hannity and Palin discuss upcoming primaries and their vision for the Republican party moving forward, but seriously it is all bullshit, that I do not feel like transcribing.

The nicest thing I can say about this interview is that at least Palin managed to shower and get her wig under control for this one.

Update: By the way the President just, very reluctantly, announced the resignation of VA Secretary Eric Shinseki.

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