Deflated- Environmental Protestors Accidentaly Make Case for Fossil Fuels in Ill-Advised Demonstration

Some of us like staying warm during the winter months. Those of us who don't apparently nag companies about replacing a proven reliable energy source such as coal with renewables like solar or wind.

For instance, a Wisconsin environmental group decided that Madison Gas and Electric [NASDAQ- MGEE] should no longer use coal and instead try to keep people warm through the harsh winter months with unreliable wind, solar or biomass.

To make their case, the set up an inflatable coal plant during a protest in front of the headquarters of Madison Gas & Electric, powered by renewable energy.



As the embedded video shows, the activists couldn't even keep their inflated coal-fired power plant for the duration of the protest with renewable energy. Yet they want Madison Gas and Electric to power southern and central Wisconsin with the same forms of energy that could even keep their prop inflated for fifteen minutes.

While Madison Gas and Electric does utilize wind turbines in Wisconsin and northern Iowa and solar panels in Madison, the company also utilizes both coal and natural gas fired power plants in Portage, Madison and Oak Creek, WI.

Former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg Insists Colorado's Second Largest City Doesn't Have Roads In Rolling Stone Interview

Gosh- where would anybody POSSIBLY get the farfetched idea that gun-control advocates are wealthy, out-of-touch, super-liberal busybody east coast elitists who hold vast swaths of the United States outside of Manhattan in utter contempt and disdain?

I mean, how could someone ever jump to such an absurd conclusion?

At least until somebody like former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg opens his mouth in a Rolling Stone interview.

The former New York City mayor said he was “sorry” about the recalls of two Democratic state senators last year over the state legislature’s passage of gun control laws, but said the districts in the recall races were so “rural” that “I don’t think there’s roads.”

“In Colorado, we got a law passed. The NRA went after two or three state senators in a part of Colorado where I don’t think there’s roads,” said Mr. Bloomberg in the interview with Rolling Stone published online this week.

“It’s as far rural as you can get,” said Mr. Bloomberg. “And, yes, they lost recall elections. I’m sorry for that. We tried to help ‘em. But the bottom line is, the law is on the books, and being enforced. You can get depressed about the progress, but on the other hand, you’re saving a lot of lives.”

The districts in question for last year's recall campaigns were in Colorado Springs and Pueblo- Colorado's second and seventh largest cities, respectively. State Senate president John Morse of Colorado's 11th State Senate district in El Paso county and state senator Angela Giron of the 3rd state senate district in Pueblo county- both Democrats- were successfully recalled by voters in their district just months after passing stricter gun control laws that limited magazine size and required a background check for all transfers of firearms [even among neighbors and relatives- NANESB!].

While no Manhattan, Colorado Springs is Colorado's 2nd largest city and is located some 75 miles south of Denver on Interstate 25. The city of roughly 400,000 is home to the United States Air Force Academy, the US Army's Ft Carson, the US Olympic Training Center and the Colorado Springs Sky Soxx- the Rockies AAA affiliate.

A little further south on I-25, Pueblo was once a key steel producing town and to this day remains an important rail town- not only for the southern terminus of the Joint Line which was once shared by the Rio Grande and Santa Fe, but also the FRA's Transportation Technology Center in which track, ballast, carbodies, rail, freight cars and locomotives undergo testing before being put into service.

The September 2013 recall election was the first of its kind in the state of Colorado and the threat of a 3rd recall against democrat state senator Evie Hudak of suburban Denver forced her to resign in November 2013 so that the Democrats could appoint her replacement instead of the party risking its slim majority in the Colorado state senate on a recall election.

Hudak also gained the ire of gun owners and rape survivors when she told rape victim Amanda Collins, who was testifying before the Colorado state senate in support of concealed carry on campus, that a gun wouldn't have spared Collins from her ordeal and she most likely would've been disarmed and killed by her rapist.

Bloomberg's comments in the Rolling Stone article titled Michael Bloomberg Isn't Afraid of the NRA that briefly disappeared [Rolling Stone claimed the article wasn't due to be published until a few days later- NANESB!].

More damning is that the article comes a few days after Democrat governor John Hickenlooper- who signed the sweeping gun control bill into law last year- met with Colorado's sheriffs last month, claiming that his office was in no way influenced by Bloomberg's gun control campaign. Initially, 55 of Colorado's 64 county sheriffs sued the Hickenlooper administration on the grounds that the magazine limit was unconstitutional and other provisions in the state laws were unenforceable- however, that suit was thrown out in November 2013 after a judge ruled the sheriffs couldn't sue the state while in office. Still, the judge left an opening for the sheriffs who were term limited to file suit against the state individually upon entering their final term.

As for Bloomberg's comments, both governor Hickenlooper and US Sen Mark Udall sought to distance themselves from the former mayor's comments while their Republican opponents jumped on Bloomberg's comments to portray the incumbents as more in touch with wealthy billionaire New York liberals than Coloradans.

In addition to gun control, Bloomberg also sought to limit the size sodas that are available in New York restaurants, citing health and obesity concerns. However, last year a 4-judge panel at the appeals court lever deemed the restrictions on soda sales was unconstitutional and struck it down last year.

What Do Cattle, Porn Starlets, Toyota and Hot Sauce Have in Common?

They're all getting out of Dodge California and heading for greener pastures- in some cases, literally.

Beset by higher taxes, above-average unemployment and among the highest cost of living in the USA, it's no secret that Californians have been moving out of state annually by the hundreds of thousands in recent years. This should come as no surprise with recent scandals and corruption involving California's political class coupled with onerous, intrusive and often absurd regulations for businesses passed on the state, county and municipal level.

Sensing discontent among Californians and business owners, Texas governor Rick Perry rolled out the welcome mat for Golden Staters with a PR blitz, offering lower taxes and a lower cost of living than California as well as business incentives for those companies who set up shop in the Lone Star state.

Although incumbent California governor Jerry Brown crassly dismissed Perry's efforts as 'barely a fart', it appears as though the Lone Star State's lobbying has been producing results. At the end of April, Japanese automaker Toyota announced that they would be moving their North American headquarters from the Los Angeles suburb of Torrance to Plano, TX starting in 2016. The move by Toyota [NYSE: TM] is expected to consolidate 4,000 employees from marketing, manufacturing and corporate operations to the suburban Dallas facility. In 2003, Toyota broke ground on a plant near San Antonio that produces the Tundra and Tacoma pickup trucks.

On a smaller scale, Irwindale, CA-based Huy Fong foods- maker of the Sriracha hot sauce- has been locked in a legal battle with the city council after the council threatened to declare Huy Fong a nuisance and threatening them with fines or closure after receiving complaints from four households regarding the fumes resulting from processing chili peppers. Although Huy Fong CEO David Tran stated publicly that he has no immediate plans to relocate the Irwindale facility, the company welcomed a delegation of Texas lawmakers in May. A company spokesman said that relocation wouldn't be as straightforward for Huy Fong because local producers of Sriracha ingredients such as chilis and vinegar couldn't pull up and move to Texas with them. However, botanists working on behalf of Tran have begun examining the soil in parts Texas to see if it's conducive to growing the variety of chilis used in Sriracha sauce. There's also concern over variables in the Texas weather such as flooding, hurricanes, drought and hail as well as competing bids from within California and other states.

However, not all the businesses exiting California have decided to head to the Lone Star state. Once considered the hub of the adult entertainment industry, California's San Fernando Valley has been hit hard by the advent of online pornography. The number of permits to film in the San Fernando Valley plummeted after a law requiring adult film stars to wear a condom while performing went into effect late last year. The measure was a Los Angeles county ballot initiative that was approved by voters in 2012. In response to the measure, studios and actors shipped themselves a few hours up Interstate 15 to Las Vegas where the cost of doing business was lower than in California and there were no regulations to mandate the wearing of condoms. Industry insiders say that its much cheaper to rent out warehouses for filming or mansions or hotel suites to accommodate talent for the duration of a shoot.

Nor are all the Californians leaving the state two-legged. Thanks to an ongoing drought and the closure of a massive slaughterhouse in the Imperial Valley town of Brawley, ranchers in California have been selling off cattle to Texas, Nevada and Nebraska. According to Reuters research, at least 100,000 head of cattle have left California in 2014- including breeding stock that's going to slaughter. Higher feed and transportation costs have also put pressure on California ranchers, although ranchers elsewhere are facing similar problems.

Although defenders of the current business climate in California often cite the entertainment industry and Silicon Valley as being the state's economic backbone as well as the primary source of fundraising for the state's democrat party, Hollywood has been shipping jobs out of state due to increased production and filming costs within the state. Special effects firm Sony Pictures Imageworks announced at the end of May that their headquarters will be moved from Los Angeles to Vancouver, Canada for post production work. Over the last 20 years, the area around Vancouver, BC has been dubbed 'Hollywood North' as British Columbia offered studios tax credits for filming on location. Although the exchange between the US and Canadian dollar isn't as favorable as it was in the 1990s, a number of studios are still drawn there for post-production work and location filming [the area around Vancouver can pass for a number of other settings depending on the type of film or scene- NANESB!].

The state's Democrat-controlled legislature also recently passed a bill that would raise the state's minimum wage to $13 an hour by 2017 and is expected to be signed into law by governor Brown. While the bill raises entry-level wages, many employers will likely end up cutting their workforce and retailers or restaurants will close down locations or increase prices to make up for any increased operating costs.

More damning, none of these jobs or businesses will be coming back or are unlikely to be replaced by new enterprise. Although California sits on considerable oil reserves in the Monterrey Shale, wealthy environmentalists with considerable backing from the entertainment industry are seeking to ban the hydraulic facture drilling process that has been so effective in recovering shale oil and gas in Texas, North Dakota and Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, state and local lawmakers continue to busy themselves with legislation concerning transgender bathrooms for schoolchildren or banning plastic bags and simply assume that they can get whatever revenue they need from the next Silicon valley startup such as Facebook.

New York Governor Cuomo- Conservatives Have "No Place in New York"

It's not surprising that Governor Andy Cuomo feels this way- it is a little surprising that Cuomo would be this brash and up-front about his disdain for some of his fellow New Yorkers in an election year.


In an interview with Syracuse PBS affiliate on Friday, Cuomo stated that conservatives have "no place in the state of New York, because that's not who New Yorkers are".

The Republican Party candidates are running against the SAFE Act — it was voted for by moderate Republicans who run the Senate! Their problem is not me and the Democrats; their problem is themselves. Who are they? Are they these extreme conservatives who are right-to-life, pro-assault-weapon, anti-gay? Is that who they are? Because if that’s who they are and they’re the extreme conservatives, they have no place in the state of New York, because that’s not who New Yorkers are.

If they’re moderate Republicans like in the Senate right now, who control the Senate — moderate Republicans have a place in their state.

Shortly after the remarks were made public, Cuomo backtracked and his supporters claimed that his remarks were merely 'taken out of context', instead. Some supporters highlighted Cuomo's qualifier of 'extreme' and pointed out the Governor's praise of 'Moderate' Republicans who have more or less rubber-stamped some or all of Cuomo's agenda. Cuomo attempted to walk back his statements by saying that New Yorkers prefer moderate politicians of either party running for office only a few weeks after avowed socialist and Sandinista supporter Bill DeBlasio was sworn in as mayor of New York City.

By 'anti-gay', Cuomo is apparently referring to anybody who held similar views on same-sex marriage as Pope Francis or President Obama prior to his 2012 re-election campaign. Meanwhile, the NY SAFE Act, a hastily written and almost confiscatory gun law rushed through a closed-door session of the New York state assembly in the immediate aftermath of the December 2012 Newtown, CT school shootings has proven extremely unpopular upstate. Opponents point out the law does nothing to deter crime and makes criminals out of law-abiding citizens who own previously legal firearms while prompting manufacturers and businesses to move out of state because of the increased restrictions.

Another issue that has residents upstate irate at the son of Democratic former governor Mario Cuomo is fracking. New York's Southern Tier sits atop the Marcellus Shale natural gas formation- in fact, the formation is named after the village of Marcellus outside of Syracuse. However, while there has been drilling activity in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia, Cuomo has dragged his feet on the issue since his 2010 election. Although drilling for natural gas could give the Empire State's economy a shot in the arm- particularly the economically hard-hit Southern Tier- hardline environmentalists and celebrity activists such as Yoko Ono or actor Mark Ruffalo seem to have the ear of Gov Cuomo's office, regaling his staff with liberally embellished horror stories of artificial earthquakes and tap water bursting into flames due to fracking. As the celebrities, environmentalists and wealthy Manhattan progressives do there utmost to ensure that no drilling takes place in New York, upstate counties atop the Marcellus Shale have unemployment rates of around 8%. To his credit, Cuomo floated a compromise where drilling would be confined mostly to the Southern Tier counties of Broome, Chemung, Tioga, Steuben and Chenango but that was quickly overruled by environmentalists. While the Governor and state officials have made no official decision on fracking, observers believe Cuomo and other Democrats are waiting for a more politically opportune time after the 2014 election to make an unpopular decision.

Meanwhile, as landowners in the Southern Tier have been hit with a double whammy of an economy that's been in decline since the 1970s and some of the highest property taxes in the USA, Governor Cuomo has been fundraising in Hollywood- for his re-election bid as governor of New York.

Between the push for same-sex marriage, gun control and abortion while obstructing a surefire means of reviving the Southern Tier's long suffering economy for political expediency, Cuomo's actions as governor have made it abundantly clear that he believes conservatives (or even moderates who disagree with him) have no place in New York. his statements in Friday's PBS interview simply made it official.

[Hat tip- Lonely Conservative; The Mental Recession

White House, Democrats Announce New 'Berate Your Family' Charm Offensive For the Holidays

If you're travelling to visit loved ones this Thanksgiving or Hanukkah, the Democrats and Obama Administration have made it clear that they would like you to incessantly pester your loved ones about the merits of 0bamacare (or gun control) in an attempt to sugarcoat the flailing 0bamacare rollout.

From Obama's own website which shockingly, actually works:

This holiday season, millions of Americans have a chance to get quality, affordable health insurance—many for the first time. If you have family members who are uninsured, you can play a big part in helping them find coverage that works for them. It might not always seem like it, but your family listens to you. So have the talk.

He's actually encouraging people to print up these lying points and to, I don't know, recite them at Thanksgiving dinner? This sort of flies in the face of his reassuring back-patting and confidence in you being your family's healthcare policy expert if you have to rely on pathetic propaganda you printed up. It's got pretty colors and paint-by-number instructions, so maybe this shit will fly over at the kids' table, but I wouldn't be so quick to try this in front of adults. Hungry and varying degrees of intoxicated adults who just want to watch football and be left alone.

If you can't catch the Chris Hayes "how to talk to conservatives about Obamacare at Thanksgiving dinner" special, don't worry, the same thing has already been printed in a number of newspapers and magazines across the country. From WaPo: A guide to surviving Obamacare debates at Thanksgiving.

That's the part of the health-care law that isn't working. But in some states that built their own insurance marketplaces, Obamacare is working--and the health law is meeting enrollment projections. California, for example, has signed up 80,000 people for coverage and Washington has enrolled nearly 12,000. These examples are limited, but the suggest that the problem isn't with demand but a technical one. We won't know whether this is true everywhere, though, until HealthCare.gov is fixed.

[What they neglect to mention is that an estimated 900,000 people in California have lost their individual health insurance policies under 0bamacare, so even if the 80,000 figure is accurate the ratio of those who lost their insurance plans still vastly outnumbers the enrolled under California's 0bamacare exchange- NANESB!]

Yeah, go with that.

Next up, Huffington Post, who is not even trying to hide what side of this debate they're on: Here's Every Argument You'll Need To Win Your Obamacare Debate This Thanksgiving.

We've all got a crazy uncle we love. He might not even technically be an uncle -- it's not something the family likes to get into -- but he's there at Thanksgiving every year just the same, getting heavy handed with the 1.5-liter wine bottle, insisting on calling the dog "bitch," starting with off-color jokes that made people uncomfortable even before the country "evolved" and finishing with a tea party-inspired screed about the Kenyan in the White House. We'll call him Uncle Hank.
...
Those plans were terrible anyway -- high deductibles, no hospital coverage, dropped you if you got sick, etc. It wasn't insurance if you actually needed it. Cite an example from a family member here who's gotten screwed by an insurer. Shouldn't be hard to find.

Your plan sucks Uncle Hank, you dumb slack-jawed hick. Get over it.

Slate jumps in as well. They're not content with just bringing up Obamacare, they actually want you to fight about it: How To Pick a Fight With Your Relatives This Thanksgiving

2) Getting Started. First off, you should wait until everyone's seated at the table before you try to get things started. That way you have a captive audience that has to watch the fireworks, and everyone is settled in for a nice long time. Getting the topic of conversation to politics shouldn't be too hard. Stick to short, sarcastic, tendentious remarks to get things going. "I'm thankful for all that free stuff Obama gave me." Once you've engaged the enemy, it won't take much effort to pivot to whatever particular subject you feel most comfortable with. A good Thanksgiving skirmish will scamper from topic to topic wildly and without warning, but it's best to begin by digging into one particularly contentious subject to get tempers flared.

"Get in their faces". I remember someone saying that once.

There are others out there, even in local papers like the Denver Post and the Pittsburgh Courier. I'm sure there will be more before Thursday. But what if you don't feel like talking about Obamacare, what with the steady, embarrassing and collapsing failure and all? Well don't you worry one bit, because there are other liberal causes you can awkwardly bring up as well! Michael Bloomberg wants you to start talking about gun control, for instance.

Lovely people, aren't they? And of course, all coincidental.

Perhaps completely unrelated, the White House had a closed-door meeting with select journalists from the Washington Post, MNSBC, the Huffington Post and Mother Jones last week, reportedly to coordinate damage control over the 0bamacare rollout. The media has also been attempting to find positive stories about the 0bamacare experience in the wake of last week's meetings.

Despite the happy talk by some media outlets, a number of state-run 0bamacare exchanges had only a fraction of the anticipated number of enrollees- in some cases falling well short of projected 'worst case scenario' numbers.

[Hat tip- Ace of Spades; Weasel Zippers]

Hugo Chavez's Successor Expropriates Venezuela Toilet Paper Factory

The logical end result of socialist economic policies:

A Venezuelan government agency has ordered the 'temporary' seizure of a paper mill that produces toilet paper in the state of Aragua in what it claims is an attempt to relieve ongoing shortages of consumer goods.

In a tweet on Thursday, Venezuela's Vice President, Jorge Arreaza, said authorities would 'not permit hoarding of essential commodities, or any faults in the production and distribution process'

'The action taken at the producer of toilet paper, sanitary napkins and disposable diapers corresponds to the obligation of the state to guarantee the normal supply of primary necessities,' price regulator Sundecop said in a statement.

President Maduro has cut dollar supplies for importers since winning election in April, creating shortages of goods including toilet paper and butter and stoking one of the world’s highest inflation rates.


Critics say the nagging shortages of products ranging from bathroom tissue to milk are a sign his socialist government's rigid price and currency controls are failing.


Annual inflation accelerated to 45.4 percent last month from 42.6 percent in July, while the scarcity index measuring the amount of goods out of stock on store shelves reached 20 percent, the central bank said.

The country devalued the official exchange rate to 6.3 bolivars per dollar from 4.3 bolivars in February.

President Nicolas Maduro and government agencies also reportedly ordered Venezuelan troops to 'safeguard' the factory during the 'temporary' takeover. Maduro was the hand-picked successor for socialist president Hugo Chavez, who passed away from cancer earlier this year.

In keeping with Chavez's 'Bolivar Revolution' theme, the government had to import more than 50 million rolls of toilet paper earlier this year to counter an ongoing shortage that was reportedly triggered by the socialist government's price controls. The controls have also led to similar shortages of basic consumer goods such as diapers, coffee, milk and butter.

Fears of a Clown- Rodeo Clown Recieves Lifetime Ban From Missouri State Fair For Mocking Obama

Several days after the fact, I have a hard time believing this is even a story.

The antics of a rodeo clown who donned an Obama mask at the Missouri State Fair this past weekend has left state officials scrambling to issue apologies and the progressive blogosphere fuming and comparing the scene to a latter-day minstrel show.

A clown wearing a President Barack Obama mask appeared at a Missouri State Fair rodeo this weekend and the announcer asked the enthusiastic spectators if they wanted to see "Obama run down by a bull."

The antics led the state's second highest-ranking official, Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, to denounce the performance in a tweet Sunday. He said it was "disrespectful" to the president.

"We are better than this," the Republican tweeted.

State Fair officials said the show in Sedalia was "inappropriate" and "does not reflect the opinions or standards" of the fair. "We strive to be a family friendly event and regret that Saturday's rodeo badly missed that mark," they said in a statement Sunday.

The furor started when fairgoer Perry Beam posted video of the clown in the Obama mask on Facebook and claimed that the crowd was little different from a Ku Klux Klan rally [which naturally begs the question of how many KKK rallies Beam has attended for his informed comparison- NANESB!].

Fairgoer Perry Beam of Higginsville, Missouri attended and snapped photos of the incident, which have spread rapidly via political blogs statewide.

Beam claims the announcer "whipped the audience into a lather" by repeatedly asking attendees if they wanted to see "Obama run down by a bull." Beam says another clown ran up and "started bobbling the lips on the mask and the people went crazy."

In an interview with NewsChannel 5, Beam called it a "racist" display.

Naturally, the 'political blogs' alluded to include far left forums such as Show Me Progress and the Daily Kos. The story gained further attention when AP writer and Salon.com contributor Maria Sudekum picked up on it and both Beam's account and the reactions of officials like Missouri governor Jay Nixon and Sen Claire McCaskill (both Democrats) were front page news for The Kansas City Star. Comments and op-eds in the Star's online edition drew thousands of remarks from across the region and country before the publication decided to suspend comments for the articles- this included a few pithy observations from yours truly that were reiterated in the Twitter format.

At least the #Obama rodeo clown at #MoStateFair isn't forcing me to buy health insurance or shutting down coal-fired power plants
— Fenway Nation (@Fenway_Nation) August 12, 2013

No long after, an op-ed where columnist Yael T Abouhalkah implied that the rodeo clown's antics warranted a Secret Service investigation [coz remember when John Hinkley tried trampling President Reagan with a rodeo bull to impress Jodie Foster? NANESB!].

It’s also borderline illegal; the U.S. Secret Service takes threats against the president seriously. While the president himself was in no danger here, it’s the kind of stupid activity that could give nuts ideas about harming the president.

Using Abouhalkah's logic, I suppose opposing Obamacare, gun control, amnesty, various 'green energy' boondoggles or Card Check could 'give nuts ideas about harming the President', so perhaps its best we stay quiet- otherwise President Obama might find himself on the wrong end of an irate bull someday. The Missouri chapter of the NAACP doubled down on the hand-wringing and have reportedly called for a federal investigation into rodeo clowns inciting violence against the President. Also continuing to use the 'logic' of Abouhalkah, the NAACP and those who comment on Show Me Progress or Daily Kos, the Occupy movement must be overtly racist for their practice of wearing Obama masks at various rallies as well.

In reaction to all of the hyperventilating, Missouri Rodeo Cowboy Association Mark Ficken stepped down. The clown- identified as Tuffy Gessling- has been hit with a lifetime ban from the Missouri State Fair on Monday. In the future, rodeo clowns who perform at the fair will be [I shit you not- NANESB!] required to undergo sensitivity training as well.

Meanwhile, in what's considered a mostly symbolic gesture, congressman Steve Stockman [R- TX 36] invited the clown to perform in Texas, adding that he'd be welcome any time.

Interestingly, the overwhelming majority of the articles describing events at the state fair rodeo rely heavily on quotes exclusively from Beam's perspective- although the Washington Post thoughtfully was able to track down other State Fair attendees who could vouch for the alleged racism of the mostly white crowd present at the time.

I must admit that I shrugged this off as a non-story when I heard it at first. However, the rebukes directed at the rural, blue-collar crowd from the media, coastal elitists and state party officials comes off as nothing less than tone-deaf, patronizing, thin-skinned hypersensitivity in their defense of a man who has been President for five years- yet anything bad that's happened on his watch is magically somebody else's fault. Seriously- look at the issues President Obama has made a priority and his accomplishments- how well do you think gun control, the repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' and the Obamacare individual mandate would go over in swing states like Virginia or Colorado- let alone the crowd in a darker red state like Missouri?

The same people who are wagging their fingers at the uneducated rubes and hillbillies in flyover land for guffawing at the antics of a rodeo clown in a President Obama mask raised were eerily quiet when novels and mockumentaries detailing a fictitious assassination of then-President George W Bush were published. They feel that Americans have an unspoken obligation to mock those in power- until they're the ones in power. Then talking about insensitive rodeo clowns becomes much more important than discussing the continuing turmoil in the middle east, the stagnant economy or those in charge using supposedly nonpartisan government agencies to harass political opponents.

I'm sure this could lead to renewed calls for a national 'dialogue' about race in this country, but to a liberal "dialogue" means you're supposed to quietly sit there and nod politely as they are informing you of how ignorant and racist you are. The 'dialogue' is also based on the somewhat laughable premise that folks in flyover country would be OK with higher taxes, gun control, gay marriage, abortion and shutting down the coal industry if it was a white liberal speaking in favor of all these things.

UPDATE- 6/16: Parson the pun, but when it comes to protecting Barack Obama from criticism, this isn't the Missouri Democrats' first rodeo. St Louis radio hostess Dana Loesch details Missouri's recent history of using the mechanisms of state to stifle dissent- starting with 'truth squads' comprised of sheriff's and prosecutors who were acting on behalf of then-candidate Obama in 2008.

Saudi Prince- US Shale Oil Could Undermine Kingdom, OPEC Nations

A Saudi prince and business investor has warned that the kingdom and other OPEC members that their economies were under a growing threat from the 'fracking revolution' in the USA that has shaken up the energy landscape in recent years.

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the country’s best-known global investor, said the business model of Middle East oil exporters risks unravelling rich industrial states find ways of cutting demand. “Our country is facing a threat with the continuation of its near-complete reliance on oil: 92% of the budget for this year depends on oil,” he said in a letter to Saudi oil minister Ali Al-Naimi.

Opec admits that new output from hydraulic “fracking” could chip away its dominant position in the market but the group is more worried about recession in Europe and a hard landing in China.

Prince Alwaleed said oil demand from OECD rich states is in “continuous decline”, and the Saudis will not be able to ratchet up their output from 12.5m to 15m barrels per day (bpd) to cover growing budget costs. “It is necessary to diversify sources of revenue, establish a clear vision, and start implementing it immediately,” he said.

A report last month by Leonardo Maugeri at Harvard University said US shale oil output could triple to 5m bpd by 2017, turning America into the world’s top producer once again.

If shale does deliver on its promise and keeps prices low for decades, it will be a mortal threat to OPEC states that rely on oil revenue to cover social spending and placate fast-growing populations.

Prince Alwaleed was ranked by Forbes magazine as the world's 6th richest man at one point and is most infamous for his comments urging that the United States "should re-examine its policies in the Middle East and adopt a more balanced stance toward the Palestinian cause" just weeks after the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks. Then-mayor Rudy Giuliani and other New York officials rejected a $10 million donation from Alwaleed after his remarks.

A trio of Dakota, Missouri Valley & Western units approach the Canadian Pacific interchange in Flaxton, ND as a recently-constructed oil pump works in the foreground in November 2012. Steven M Welch photo.

Hydraulic fracture drilling- also known as hydrofracking or fracking- uses a mix of water and chemically treated sand or 'mud' that's injected into the ground to get to otherwise inaccessible deposits of oil or natural gas. The 'Shale revolution'- as some have called it- has led to the formation of oil boomtowns in North Dakota and breathed new life into Rust Belt towns in Pennsylvania and Ohio. This in turn has led to increased manufacturing for components, mining for 'frac sand' and rail activity moving the supplies into the oilfields and the oil out and to refineries.

Drilling for natural gas in Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale has become particularly contentious recently, with environmentalists and movie stars weighing in on the purported dangers of fracking to groundwater supplies [although some wells were contaminated decades before fracking began in the area- NANESB!]. A 2012 movie titled Promised Land starring Matt Damon as an energy company representative who has a change of heart after being sent to a struggling Pennsylvania town to secure leases for wells was financed in part by the United Arab Emirates- another OPEC member.

The shale revolution isn't just limited to the United States or Canada, either. Earlier this year, there was a massive oil discovery in Australia's outback while fracking for both natural gas and oil began in Argentina in April. Energy companies believe that Poland may contain central Europe's largest reserves of natural gas, and development of that could reduce Europe's dependence on the Russian energy giant Gazprom. Meanwhile, data from the British Geological Survey indicates that the UK's own shale gas reserves are nearly twice the size of original estimates.

Former Congressman and New York City Mayoral Candidate Anthony Weiner Admits to Sending More Sexually Explicit Texts After Resignation

If you're a writer for one of the late-night TV talk shows, there's just not other way to put this: Anthony Weiner is simply the gift that keeps on giving.

It was two years ago that then-Congressman Anthony Weiner had resigned in disgrace after admitting to sending lewd photographs of himself to women on social networking sites like twitter and then lying about it to a media that seemed ready to give him the benefit of the doubt. The announcement took place shortly after conservative blogger and publisher Andrew Breitbart co-opted Weiner's press conference.

Since then, Weiner and his allies in the Democrat party who thought his political prospects could be salvaged began rehabilitating his image, with an emphasis on his wife- former Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin. His former District- NY-9- went Republican in a special election before it was redistricted out of existence. Less than two years later, Weiner's name kept coming up as a potential candidate for Mayor of New York- as though the original Weiner-gate had never taken place to begin with.

After a couple of fairly puffball interviews where Weiner contritely claimed he had learned his lesson and was going to a better husband and father from here on out, the Weiner for Mayor talk moved beyond punchlines and double entendre and into reality. However, the rollout of the Weiner for Mayor Campaign website was not without problems after Pittsburgh's skyline was used on the page instead of New York City's.

However, texts and images between Weiner and an unidentified woman surfaced this week on a tabloid blog called The Dirty. During a press conference on Tuesday, he admitted that not only were the pictures of him, but that the images and explicit texts were sent to the woman after his resignation and a number of sympathetic interviews where he swore he was a changed man.

The woman claims on the blog that she first started talking online with Weiner in July 2012 and it became intense by August 2012, when he offered to find a Chicago condo where they could meet up.

She also alleges that they had phone sex and that they exchanged nude photos of each other. She claims she received photos from Weiner of his penis sent from a Yahoo email account under the “Carlos Danger” name. The purported image was later posted on TheDirty.com.

Weiner released a written statement on Tuesday afternoon, which he read again at the press conference,admitting to additional raunchy conversations.

The unidentified woman, who approached The Dirty with Weiner's raunchy correspondence, said that the disgraced pol had offered her a job at Politico if she deleted the pictures and texts that he sent.

So far, Weiner has steadfastly maintained that he isn't dropping out of the mayoral race.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Dead At Age 58

Hugo Chavez- probably smelling sulfur right now

Less than a month after his return from unsuccessfully undergoing cancer treatment in Cuba, Venezuela's government announced the death of President Hugo Chavez on Tuesday.

News of Chavez's death was met with condolences and considerable sorrow from American leftists such as actor Sean Penn, former US president Jimmy Carter and filmmakers Michael Moore and Oliver Stone. Interestingly, while much of the US Media is giving Chavez a pass on his authoritarian rule and making no mention of his dubious allies- including the late Mummar Ghdaffi- the US chapter of his fan club has already started whining about how Chavez's legacy isn't being treated fairly by the 'corporate media'.

Hated by the entrenched classes, Hugo Chavez will live forever in history. My friend, rest finally in a peace long earned. 2/2
— Oliver Stone (@TheOliverStone) March 6, 2013

Longtime ally and Bolivian president Evo Morales reportedly stopped by Caracas on his way to the United Nations to visit Chavez in late February- just days after Chavez's return from Cuba- but was turned away by medical staff.

The populist and virulently anti-American socialist president ruled Venezuela for nearly 14 years while allying himself with Russia, China, Cuba's Fidel Castro, Iran's ruling Islamic clerics and socialist leaders throughout Latin America. While Chavez positioned himself as a champion of the poor and a bulwark against 'Yankee imperialsim' in Latin America, violent crime and inflation in Venezuela skyrocketed while the Chavez family used a subordinate media and state apparatuses to harass and intimidate political opponents. Venezuela's relatively small Jewish community was also subject to frequent anti-Semitic attacks in the later years of Chavez's Presidency.

As inflation in Venezuela reached as high as 30%, Chavez's family allegedly amassed a fortune worth $2 Billion and his regime seized or expropriated as many as 1168 different privately run companies throughout Venezuela. His family was particularly influential in the western state of Barinas, where both his father and elder brother served as governor and another brother was the mayor the city of Sabaneta.

Politicians once loyal to the president who have broken with him and his family here contend that Mr. Chávez’s family has amassed wealth and landholdings through a series of deals carried out by front men.

One opposition leader, Wilmer Azuaje, detailed to prosecutors and legislators what he said was more than $20 million in illegal gains by the family since the president’s father was elected governor in 1998. But in a brief review of those claims, National Assembly, under the control of Chávez loyalists, cleared the family of charges of illicit enrichment.

“In the meantime, while the family wraps itself in the rhetoric of socialism, we are descending into a neo-capitalist chaos where all that matters is money,” said Alberto Santelíz, the publisher of La Prensa, a small opposition newspaper.

More than a decade into the Chávez family’s rule in Barinas, the state remains Venezuela’s poorest, with average monthly household income of about $800, according to the National Statistics Institute. Kidnapping, once feared only by the wealthy, has spread in Barinas to include the poor. In one case this year of a 3-year-old girl kidnapped in the slum of Mi Jardín, the abductor, when told that the only thing of value owned by the girl’s mother was a refrigerator, instructed her to sell it to pay the ransom.

In addition to allying himself with socialist governments throughout Latin America, Chavez also aligned Venezuela with Islamist regimes and militias throughout the Middle East- even facilitating their presence at bases in Venezuela or allied nations such as Nicaragua.

Last year, a former Venezuelan Supreme Court Justice fled the country and was talking with the DEA on how the Chavez regime allegedly provided arms to FARC Guerrillas in neighboring Colombia and uses Venezuelan soil as a staging are for illicit cocaine flights to North America and Europe. In 2009, Chavez threatened to go to war with neighboring Colombia after a cross-border raid by the Colombian military on FARC encampments in Ecuador uncovered documents highlighting direct aid to the communist guerrillas from Caracas- a charge that Chavez had vehemently denied.

Chavez also sided with Syria's Bashr Al-Assad when he began his crackdown against anti-government demonstrators by providing the Assad regime with tankers full of diesel fuel beginning in June 2012.

Venezuelan government officials won't list the official cause of death, but it was reported in the 24 hours before his passing that Chavez was having difficulty breathing. Not to be outdone by his predecessor in the cray-cray department, Venezuela's Vice president Maduro took to the state-controlled TV network to accuse the USA of poisoning Chavez and expelled two US officials from the country.

According to Venezuela's foreign minister, a special election will be held within 30 days per Venezuela's constitution. Maduro- a former bus driver, union leader and legislator is expected to be challenged by center-right governor of Miranda Henrique Capriles. During last year's Presidential elections, Capriles was labelled a 'Zionist agent' by the state run media.

A number of the 189,000 Venezuelans living in the United States had expressed hope that Venezuela could return to free multiparty system with Chavez's death.

New York State Report Deems Hydrofracking Safe, Matt Damon Hardest Hit

Natural gas well in Wilcox, PA

An unreleased document from New York State's Department of Enviromental Conservation leaked to the press indicates that the state has reached the conclusion that hydrofracking can be done safely.

The document, first reported by the New York Times and Gannett News Service and published online Thursday by New York State public radio, references sections of DEC's draft environmental review that deal with health impacts from shale gas drilling and high-volume hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. The report concludes that adverse health impacts will be prevented if DEC's guidelines are followed.

The eight-page document references sections of DEC's 1,500-page environmental impact study of shale gas development. A final version of that study, which is expected to be released in February, will include revisions based on public comment and a health impact review now under way by the state Health Department and three outside experts, DEC has said.

Cuomo has said he'll lift the state's ban on fracking if it's shown to be safe. The state has had a moratorium in effect since July 2008, when DEC began its review of the impacts of fracking.

The document appears to have been written for inclusion in the larger environmental impact study. It describes potential health risks associated with fracking and shale gas development such as exposure to chemicals, contamination of drinking water sources, air pollution, and contact with radioactive elements brought up from deep underground.

DEC Commissioner Joe Martens in September rejected calls for a separate health study by outside experts. Instead, he said the Health Department and a panel of outside experts would review what DEC had already done.

The Marcellus shale formation extends from the southern tier region of New York State to southwestern Virginia and contains trillions of cubic feet in natural gas. Using a method known as hydraulic fracturing or simply fracking, drilling began five years ago in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Hydrofracking uses pressurized water, sand and a number of chemicals injected to the ground to drill through the shale and reach the natural gas trapped underground.

Some activists have expressed concern that fracking will contaminate drinking water or even cause earthquakes around the drilling areas. The Department of Environmental Conservation's report reportedly hasn't discouraged activists from protesting fracking from gathering in Albany this week.

Meanwhile, Matt Damon's United Arab Emirates-backed anti-fracking movie Promised Land fared poorly at the box office in its opening weekend nationwide.

The film, which Matt Damon co-wrote and stars in, took just 10th place at the weekend box office, with $4.3 million in ticket sales, according to The Los Angeles Times.

The top weekend spot, with $23 million, went to the slasher flick “Texas Chainsaw 3D.”

“Promised Land,” which cost $15 million to make and was directed by indie pioneer Gus Van Sant, delves into fears about water pollution from fracking

Damon denied the film had an anti-fracking message and that the writers and cast simply wanted to 'start a discussion' on the subject of fracking [which in liberal-speak usually means you're supposed to sit and not question anything they say- NANESB]

Blue State Graft Watch: Anti Gun Illinois State Senator Caught Trying to Board Plane With Pistol, Live Ammunition at O'Hare

I'm not sure if I could call this graft or just plain stupidity- or a combination of the two.

The Noisy Cricket, resplendent in all its .25 cal glory

An Illinois State Senator is free on $25,000 bail after his arrest at Chicago's O'Hare airport for attempting to bring a pistol and live ammunition on board a plane on Wednesday.

Donne Trotter, a 62 year old Chicago Democrat, claimed it was an innocent mistake and that he forgot to unload he pistol and magazine with live rounds from a garment bag after reportedly finishing up a shift as a security guard.

Curiously, few people were even aware that Trotter worked a second job as a securty guard or owned a gun until this week's arrest.

It all started on Wednesday morning at O'Hare, when Transportation Security Administration officers say they spotted a gun in Trotter's carry-on bag. [Trotter] said he forgot it was in his bag from the night before, when he told authorities that he had worked a security guard shift for a South Side company.

According to state records, All Points Security and Detective Company currently has more than 50 employees licensed under it to work as armed guards, among them Donne Trotter.

Although many of the state licensees on this list appear to have law enforcement backgrounds, Trotter is not known for that. His bio and campaign disclosures do not list his employment as a security guard, and he has declined to answer any questions about the matter.

All Points has not responded to questions either and has offered no explanation, context or proof of Senator Trotter's actual employment.

Public records reveal the firm has had government contracts, including a $5 million deal to provide armed escorts for CTA cash collections.

The gun was identified as a .25 cal Beretta- a much more compact, small caliber pistol from the manufacturer of the military's M9 9mm sidearm [Just an observation on my part, but unless that was some sort of 'backup' piece, a .25 cal pistol is woefully underpowered for security or protective work of any kind- NANESB!]. During the bail hearing, prosecutors said that although Trotter had an Illinois state Firearms Owner Identification Card for the gun, the Beretta was not registered with the city of Chicago as required by municipal ordinance. The city of Chicago has among the strictest gun control laws in the nation for decades, but that has done nothing to stem the skyrocketing murder rate in the Windy City.

Trotter, who has been in office since 1988, voted against a measure that would allow Illinois residents to carry concealed weapons in 1995 and voted in favor of a ban on high capacity magazines in 2007.

At the end of November, Trotter joined a crowded field of candidates when he announced he would be running for Congress to replace Jesse Jackson Jr, who had announced his resignation amid a federal misconduct probe and after a months-long absence from Congress after checking himself into the Mayo clinic.

Union-Sponsored Wal Mart Employee Black Friday Walkout 'Mostly a Fizzle'

A threatened Black Friday nationwide walkout by Walmart employees sponsored by Moveon.org, Occupy Wall Street and labor unions reportedly has done nothing to crimp the mega-retailer's sales on the busiest shopping day of the year.

Protests did take place at some stores, with SEIU members, MoveOn.org and Occupy Wall Street activists making noise, The Blaze reported, but very few Wal-Mart employees participated nationwide.

The Associated Press said that "nine people, including three employees, were arrested shortly after noon for blocking the street" outside the store in Paramount, Calif., but "more than 1,000 people" blocked traffic outside the store at one point in the protest.

"A union-backed group called OUR Walmart has said that it is holding an estimated 1,000 protests in 46 states. The exact number is unclear. Wal-Mart has refuted that estimate, saying the figure is grossly exaggerated and that the protests involved few of its own employees," the AP added.

Wal-Mart said that only 50 employees participated in the protests, but the United Food and Commercial Workers union disagrees, the Washington Examiner reported.

"It said 'hundreds and hundreds' joined in at events across the country," Sean Higgins wrote, but that number could not be verified.

"Even assuming the UFCW figure is correct, that is pretty small given that Wal-Mart is the nation’s largest employer, with 1.4 million people working at its stores," Higgins added.

A number of retailers, including Wal Mart [NYSE- WMT], didn't even wait for midnight on Thanksgiving to open their doors to hundreds of shoppers hoping to score Black Friday deals. Despite the threatened walkout sponsored by the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) or SEIU, Wal Mart reportedly had their best ever Black Friday with an increasing number of transactions taking place online.

A number of both online and brick and mortar retailers such as Amazon, Wal Mart, Best Buy, Sears are expecting 'Cyber Monday'- the Monday the weekend after Thanksgiving- to be the single busiest online shopping day of the year.

Food Fight! Papa John's CEO Catches Flack, Faces Liberal Boycott For Pointing Out 0bamacare Realities

Pizza chain Papa John's [NASDAQ- PZZA] has become the latest restaurant to catch flack from vindictive leftists and this time around the hot-button issue is 0bamacare.

After Papa John's CEO John H Schnatter announced last week that prices would be going up and employees hours would be reduced due to 0bamacare, liberal pundits threw a spectacular hissy fit accusing the Romney donor of being a sore loser and using his employees to play politics.

However, this was something Schnatter and others in the restaurant business had anticipated as early as August, pointing out that Papa John's had much more purchasing power than smaller restaurants. This means that Papa John's would be able to absorb the costs of 0bamacare as well as increased food costs due to a massive Midwestern drought over the summer much better than smaller restaurants.

While Schnatter was pointing out an unpleasant economic reality for himself and countless other restaurant owners, liberals started calling for a boycott of the chain, pointing out that the self-made millionaire  CEO dares to live in a nice mansion [because apprently they know how to spend Schnatter's money more than he does- NANESB!]. It's also worth pointing out that an organized widespread boycott by the shrieking progressives would harm the Papa John's employees whose well being they profess to care so very much about first and foremost.

On the flip side of the coin, a grassroots group called Rebooting America is calling for a Papa John's buycott on Friday.

Earlier this year, Chick-Fil-A CEO Dan Cathy- a devout Baptist- caught flack from gay and lesbian groups when he flatly stated in an interview with a Baptist publication that he did not support same-sex marriage. LGBT and Democrat calls for a widespread Chick-Fil-A boycott backfired when August 1st was declared Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day and the chain had shattered all previous sales records due to the high turnout.

ChickFilA Reportedly Enjoys Record Turnout & Sales on 'ChickFilA Appreciation Day'

Line at Chick-Fil-A in Houston, TX on August 1, deemed by some Traditional marriage and First Amendment supporters to be "ChickFilA Appreciation Day"

Atlanta-based ChickFilA reported that the single day sales record for their restaurant chain had been shattered on Wednesday, Aug 1st- in what many supporters had billed 'ChickFilA Appreciation Day'. Some ChickFilA locations were so crowded that extra employees were called in to direct traffic in the parking lots and other locations reportedly ran out of food hours before they were scheduled to close for the night.

The privately held company declined to give specific sales figures but released a statement confirming that frenzied sales of chicken sandwiches and cross-cut waffle fries had made for a record-setting day.

"We are very grateful and humbled by the incredible turnout of loyal Chick-fil-A customers on August 1 at Chick-fil-A restaurants around the country," said Steve Robinson, executive vice president of marketing, in the statement. "While we don't release exact sales numbers, we can confirm reports that it was a record-setting day."

The support for the chicken sandwich chain wasn't limited to the Bible Belt either, as lines were wrapped around the building at locations from New Hampshire to California on Wednesday. While some customers lining up on Wednesday no doubt disagreed with ChickFilA CEO Dan Cathy's statements opposing same-sex marriage, it became a First Amendment issue when the mayors of Boston and Chicago threatened to use their offices to block any attempt at ChickFilA to set up shop or expand in their respective cities.

Another line at a ChickFilA location in suburban San Deigo, CA on August 1

A video filmed at a ChickFilA Drive-Thru in Arizona- apparently shot on ChickFilA appreciation day- shows a motorist videotaping himself pulling up to the window and asking for a free cup of water before berating the cashier over the CEO's recent statements.



Although he quickly erased the original video, a number of unedited copies went up on YouTube under different accounts. Within 24 hours, the man was identified as Adam Smith, a Chief Financial Officer with Tuscon-based medical equipment manufacturer Vante. By Thursday afternoon, Vante had reportedly dismissed Smith after deciding the video of himself at ChickFilA demonstrated that he had shown poor judgement. Smith has subsequently apologized to the cashier in another video released onto YouTube, but in that same video, he holds himself blameless for the series of events leading up to the loss of his job.

I suspect most of the participants of the ChickFilA Same Sex Kiss-In DIDN'T look like this, but a guy can dream, can't he?

On Friday, although not as well attended as the ChickFilA Appreciation Day, gay marriage supporters staged a same-sex 'kiss-in' at some locations. On Thursday, a Chicago-based LGBT group filed suit against ChickFilA with the Illinois Department of Human Rights alleging that the resturant's "intolerant corporate culture" violates state law and a provision in Illinois' Human Rights Act, although the suit declines to specifically mention any instances of harassment or discrimination against homosexual customers and employees.

Eat Mor Chikin: Atlanta-Based Chick Fil A Under Fire From Leftists Over CEO's Stance on Gay Marriage

The president of an Atlanta-based fast food chain has drawn the ire of gay and lesbian activists as well as Democrat politicians looking for a big juicy distraction after stating this his restaurant supports traditional marriage in an interview with a Baptist website earlier this month.

Chick Fil A Cookies & Cream milkshake- yum!

Started in Atlanta by restaurateur and devout baptist S Truett Cathy in 1967, Chick Fil A has grown to a chain of more than 1600 restaurants across 39 states specializing in chicken sandwiches, chicken strips, chicken wraps and chicken salads. The company also is the title sponsor for the Chick Fil A Peach Bowl which is played between one ACC college football team and one SEC school each New Year's Eve at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

Neither S Truett Cathy nor his son Dan Cathy are shy about their Baptist faith or incorporating it into their business model. In keeping with Cathy's faith, the restaurant remains closed on Sundays.

As you might be able to figure out, most Baptists are opposed to same-sex marriage. With more than 30 states voting at the ballot box to define marriage as being between a man and a woman, that's a viewpoint that's hardly fringe or in the minority.

Have the liberals who want to start a Chick-Fil-A boycott really thought this through?

LGBT groups and various democrat politicians desperate for a distraction have chimed in on Chick Fil A's stance on same sex marriage.

Among the first was Boston mayor Tom Menino, who penned a letter threatening to block any attempt by Chick Fil A to open up a location in Boston.

“It sends a strong message that the habit of supporting hateful organizations that demonize LGBT Americans are out of step with not just Bostonians but a majority of fair-minded Americans,” Menino told WBZ NewsRadio 1030 Thursday.

In it he said,”There is no place for discrimination on Boston’s Freedom Trail and no place for your company alongside it.

“If they’re going to hurt people’s rights and social justice is involved. I’m going to speak up on that. No matter what it is. You might not like it, but I have to live with myself,” he said.

Curiously, Mayor Menino required no such ideological litmus test for the Islamic Society of Boston's mosque after selling them a city owned parcel of land for $175,000- far below the appraised $1.8 million. With two locations in the metropolitan Boston area, Chick Fil A was reportedly looking at opening a location on the campus of Northeastern university, which is inside Boston city limits.

Meanwhile, Obama's former-chief-of-staff now Chicago mayor Rahm Emmanuel was able to take time out from the escalating carnage in the Windy City to announce he would be protecting Chicagoans from the ever-encroaching menace of grilled chicken sandwiches.

"Chick-fil-A’s values are not Chicago’s values. They’re not respectful of our resident, our neighbors and our family members. And if you’re gonna be part of the Chicago community, you should reflect the Chicago values,” said Emanuel.

Ah- I see. Apparently if Chick Fil A wants to do business in Chicago, they need to have a storied tradition of turning a blind eye to gang violence and organized crime, selling off political appointments to the highest bidder and utilize drug gangs like the Vice Lords and Gangster Disciples for the get-out-the-vote effort and reward them by steering contracts to their families and friends later on.

In a display of even more staggering hypocrisy, a few days after chiding Cathy, Rahm Emmanuel would praise fringe antisemitic Nation of Islam preacher Louis Farrakhan for dispatching his followers- known as 'The Fruit of Islam' to some of the violence-plagued areas.

To hardly anybody's surprise, the mayor of San Francisco also chimed in, even though the nearest Chick Fil A is some 40 miles away.

So there you have it- at least three mayors of large American cities who have pretty much come right out and said they would use zoning requirement and government bureaucracy to block or revoke a private company from opening their doors within city limits because they disagreed with an opinion held by somebody in the management. Now for the progressives who might have a difficult time wrapping their heads around why this might be a bad thing, let's say a staunchly conservative mayor or county commissioner found out a business owned by a liberal supporter of gay marriage and gun control wanted to open up a business in the community and decided to stack the deck against the liberal business owner and put all sorts of zoning and regulatory hurdles in the path of this would be business because the conservative politician disagreed with something the hypothetical business owner had said.

Sucks- doesn't it? Yet that's exactly the kind of behavior that Menino and Emanuel are engaging in.

Not surprisingly, various Hollywood has-beens would also chime in on the issue in an attempt to make themselves feel relevant again and in the process, reveal their own rather skewed definition of 'tolerance'.

Enter bitter, corpulent 'comedienne', Occupy Wall Street supporter and failed Green Party presidential candidate Roseanne Barr:

Interesting how a few short months ago Barr was calling for the wealthy to be summarily executed or sent to re-education camps, yet decided to boast about her own materiel wealth as some sort of witty rejoinder before resorting to 2nd grade insults- apparently her writers bailed on her long before the 2007 writers strike.

As you could probably gather from the above exchange, I decided to stop by my nearest Chik Fil A last week and even though I already had lunch, I decided to get a cookies and cream milkshake [pictured at top- NANESB!] as part of a 'buycott'.

In fact, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee and other conservatives have encouraged people to go to Chick Fil A on August 1 as part of  "Chick Fil A Appreciation Day". Although the nearest Chick Fil A is some 35 miles away, I will probably be stopping by as it isn't too far out of my way for the commute to one of my temp jobs and I have some coupons that are expiring soon.

Cambridge, MA Weighs Ban on Soft Drinks

Following in the footsteps of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of Cambridge, MA is seeking to ban soda serving sizes of 16 ozs or more.

According to the Boston Globe, Mayor Henrietta Davis is considering limiting the size of sodas and sugar-sweetened beverages sold in city restaurants.

Health officials have long criticized the sugary drinks.

It’s a hard stance against soft drinks: the city of Cambridge wants to ban serving sizes of more than 16 ounces in restaurants and movie theaters.

Cambridge is a health conscious community, but is that enough to let the government determine what you drink and how much?

“I think the parents have to regulate what the kids drink today,” says Jim Kelley. “I think they drink far too many sugary drinks.”

“That’s all up to self control I feel,” says Kinsman. “If you feel you shouldn’t have soda, then don’t drink it.”

Once again, this is only a proposal at this time, but the Mayor has asked the city’s health department to make a recommendation.

I find it a tad difficult to believe that Cambridge has already become such a utopia-on-earth that every other problem within city limits has been solved to the point where the city feels it can start dictating how big a cup of soda people can order.

How exactly do they plan on enforcing this? Do they have any means of preventing people from arriving from the other side of the Charles with a 20 oz drink? And what's the threshold for 'sugary drinks'? What if somebody orders an 18oz coffee or iced tea and then ads sugar afterwards? Are they in violation of this proposed law? If it does in fact become law and the Cambridge PD is responsible for its enforcement, perhaps then we could ALL say "The Cambridge Police acted stupidly".

Of course, never one to be outdone as far as pushing the nanny-state envelope goes, New York's Bloomberg is eying a crackdown on popcorn and milkshakes being served in the Big Apple.

Anti-War Landlady in Boston Refuses To Rent Apartment to Veteran

To say this makes me angry would be the understatement of this relatively young 21st Century.

Remember this shit the next time the American left tries weaseling out of their blood libel of the US military over the last decade with the standard 'I support the troops, but not the war' platitudes.

Sgt. Joel Morgan, 29, tried to rent a two-bedroom apartment in the Savin Hill section of Dorchester from 63-year-old Janice Roberts.

“I’ve been deployed so many times, I really haven’t had much of a home,” he told WBZ-TV.

Morgan didn’t get the apartment.

According to the lawsuit, Roberts told Morgan his war service and her peace activism presented a “conflict of interest.”

“Because of what you told me about the Iraq war… we are very adamant about our beliefs… it’s just not comfortable for us… and I’m sure now that you know this, it would not be comfortable for you,” Roberts said in a voicemail to Morgan.

“I would suggest you do the right thing and look for a place less politically active or controversial.”

The divorced father has a young son and is training to be a Boston firefighter so he needs to live in town.

He was shocked and confused and that led him to sue.

“I’ve never been in that situation (being turned down for an apartment), so it was like, ‘I don’t understand what you mean, I just want to give you a check and rent an apartment,” Morgan told WBZ-TV.

“(It) just really, really disgusted me,” he said.

“It really freaked me out that ‘Is this what I’m going to be facing? Should I not let people know that I’m a combat vet?’

Military service members and veterans are part of a protected class in Massachusetts and, therefore, they cannot be discriminated against.

Since Sgt Morgan is studying to be a Boston firefighter, I wonder how Janice Roberts would feel about if her building caught on fire in the not-too-distant future and the first truck to show up had Morgan and another veteran on it. Would she stand by her principles and refuse their help knowing that at least one of them was a soldier who fought in a war she objected to?

How much do you want to bet that despite all the lip service being paid to 'honoring our returning vets', Janice Roberts and people with her worldview are perfectly happy voting for the politician whose idea to curb record unemployment among veterans is to dump them out in the wilderness in a rehash of the Depression-era CCC.

And for those of you who might object and say 'But Fenway- that's just one anti-war landlady. Don't you think it's unfair to paint a whole group with a broad brush based on the actions of one person?...where exactly were you with your objections when attendees at Tea Party raiilers were being judged on the basis of one or two birther signs? I've honestly stopped caring about the sensibilities of people who have made it quite unambiguous that they hate my guts LONG ago.

[Hat Tip: Weasel Zippers]

Cherokee Group Demands Elizabeth Warren Come Clean About Claims of Native Ancestry; Moveon.org Warns They May 'Pull the Plug' on Warren Campaign

Most likely NOT one of Elizabeth Warren's ancestors

While Massachusetts Democrats would like nothing more than the whole issue of Elizabeth Warren's bogus claims of Cherokee ancestry would go away, actual members of the tribe are keeping the issue alive and liberal fundraisers fear that it may be costing her campaign money.

A group consisting of more than 150 Cherokees have started up a blog and Facebook page titled Cherokees Demand Truth From Elizabeth Warren which includes a page highlighting her family's genealogy. From the 'About Us' section:

This is NOT a political group, but instead, a group that demands Elizabeth Warren and others like her understand OUR history belongs to us and no one has the right to try to rewrite it or make up fictitious stories so they can fit in it or take advantage of it. Only those who meet the requirements under Cherokee law should claim to be Cherokee. We hope to help educate the public on what is and is not true about our history and also why the false claims like Elizabeth Warren is making are harmful to the Cherokee people.

So far, Warren has replied to inquiries about whether or not she used her claims of minority status with boilerplate remarks about how she promises to help the middle class.

Also probably no relation to Warren, despite the high cheekbomes- but still worth looking at

Officials from progressive group move.org have cautioned members that they may have to pull the plug altogether on supporting Warren's campaign, citing a shortfall of cash and a primary challenge from immigration attorney Marisa DeFranco. Should DeFranco win at least 15% of the delegate's votes at the Massachusetts Democrat Party's Convention in Springfield, MA, she'll appear on the September primary ballot. While Warren has managed to raise millions of dollars, much of it from out of state, DeFranco has yet to surpass $50,000 in fundraising.

UPDATE- 6/1: This is too good to pass up- nervous Democrat delegates are being warned not to wander from the reservation ahead of the state convention in Springfield, MA this weekend.

Meanwhile, members from the Cherokee group have made plans to protest Warren outside the convention venue on Saturday.