This and That...

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"Hey Obuma... get your sh!t together"

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Even Bill Maher Admits It:
Liberals Are 'Useless Obuma Hacks Without A Shred Of Honesty'

(Has Maher looked in the mirror lately?)

Via BPR
In an extraordinary moment of sobriety, comedian Bill Maher confessed that his liberal co-religionists are sometimes "useless Obama hacks without a shred of intellectual honesty."

On his Friday show, "Real Time with Bill Maher," the man who personally donated $1 million to Obama's reelection campaign referred to a report recently concluded on National Security Agency eavesdropping.

"Many files, it says, described as useless by the analysts had a strangely intimate even voyeuristic quality," Maher said. "Stories of love and heartbreak, illicit sexual liaisons, mental health crises and disappointed hopes."

Laughing, he quipped that "this is exactly what they said they weren't going to do. Just be nosey and look into the lives of private people for their own chits and giggles."

And here Maher's conscience got the better of him:
"If this was happening under Bush, liberals would be apoplectic. I'm sorry, but liberals are just sometimes useless Obama hacks without a shred of intellectual honesty."

Guest U.S. Rep. Donna Edwards, D-Md., immediately interjected that she was apoplectic over the surveillance, and that a liberal advocate was needed on the court that oversees NSA surveillance.

But fellow liberal author and journalist Ron Suskind pointed out the spectacular growth in government snooping had occurred since 2009 – under Obama's watch — and that mega-leaker Edward Snowden "had provided the goods" to prove it. He said, "The question now is what are we going to do about it?"

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USDA Pushing 'Free' Food: Call '1-877-8-HAMBRE (For Spanish Speakers)'

(Oh, now I get it.... Obuma is bringing in the children Illegals for the summer food program)

Via CNS News
The U.S. Agriculture Department has set a goal of serving 178 million free meals to children now that school is out. That's 10 million more meals than were served last summer.

"Admittedly, this is an aggressive goal, and we can't do it alone," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a column posted on the USDA website. "With strong support from individuals, communities, local governments and advocates, we can reach more kids with nutritious meals during their time out of school."

USDA is urging Americans to "help spread awareness of summer meals in your community" by using the National Hunger Hotline at 1-866-3-Hungry or 1-877-8-Hambre (the latter number for Spanish speakers, it notes).

The government offers free summer meals to anyone 18 and under at approved sites in areas with significant concentrations of low-income children. USDA notes that teenagers "face the same risks of food insecurity in the summer, so make sure your teens are taking advantage of free summer meals, too!"

Most summer meal sites are "open sites," meaning they are open to the community and do not require advance sign-ups or even "check-in" at the site. "Children and teens must simply show up to get their meal," USDA says, but the meal has to be eaten at the place where it is served.

Summer meals are available regardless of what other government assistance children may receive; and parents are not required to give any personal information about their children to the meal servers.

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Iran Celebrates Hamas Using Their Rockets To Attack Israeli Civilians

Via Free Beacon:
Iranian military leaders on Monday celebrated Hamas' use of advanced long-range rockets that were supplied to the terror group by the Iranian regime.

Iran's role in arming Hamas militants with more sophisticated artillery capable of reaching deep into Israel has fueled concerns among lawmakers that U.S. negotiators are not doing enough to address Iran's support for terror during ongoing nuclear discussions.

Israeli and United Nations officials have confirmed that Hamas is firing rockets on civilians provided to it by Iran.

A Senior Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) general praised Hamas' rocket attacks on Monday and warned that between Hamas and other Iranian-backed terror groups, "all Zionists are within the range of the resistance's missiles."

"The defense capacity and capabilities of the Islamic resistance and Hamas forces has left no safe place for the Zionists in the occupied territories," General Ramezan Sharif, head of the IRGC's public relations department, said in public remarks Monday.

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Shotgun Maker Mossberg Moving Operations Out Of Connecticut

(Well, well, Conn... looks like Legislation has consequences)

Via NRO
Yet another storied firearms manufacturer is snubbing the Northeast. Frank Miniter explains over at Forbes:

America's largest shotgun manufacturer, O.F. Mossberg & Sons, Inc., decided not to expand in Connecticut. Sure it was founded there 1919 and still has its corporate headquarters in North Haven. But in 2013 Connecticut rushed through legislation to ban some of Mossberg's popular products. As a result, Mossberg CEO, Iver Mossberg, says, "Investing in Texas was an easy decision. It's a state that is not only committed to economic growth but also honors and respects the Second Amendment and the firearm freedoms it guarantees for our customers."

Mossberg follows Remington Arms, Kahr Arms, Les Baer Custom, Lewis Machine & Tool, American Tactical Imports, Ruger, Colt, Stag Arms, PTR Industries, Magpul, and Beretta in moving operations out of anti-gun states.

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Israel Attacked On Four Fronts On Same Day For First Time Ever:
Sinai, Lebanon, Syria, Gaza

Lebanon:
Also Monday, rockets were fired at Israel from southern Lebanon, reported Reuters, drawing retaliatory artillery fire from Israeli forces, Lebanese security officials and the Israeli army said, in the third such rocket attack from Lebanon since Friday.

An Israeli police spokeswoman said there was no immediate word of damage or casualties from the rocket fire. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Syria:
A rocket fired from Syria hit an open area on the Israeli side of the Golan Heights on Monday afternoon, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Spokesperson Unit confirmed in a statement.

The statement said according to initial reports, the launching was "deliberate." It is still not clear who is responsible for the attack, the Walla news website reported.

Gaza:
A Hamas drone capable of carrying weapons was shot down Monday with a Patriot missile along the southern Israeli coast.

"It was shot to smithereens," Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a spokesman for the Israeli Army, told reporters Monday.

Israeli officials said it was the first time Hamas militants had launched a drone since fighting escalated last week.

Israel reported that its so-called Iron Dome defense system intercepted several rockets fired from Gaza, including one Monday evening over Tel Aviv.

Sinai:
4 lightly injured in recent rocket attack on Eilat.

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GM is alive. Drivers are dead. Any questions?

By Oleg Atbashian | First published in PJ Media

Remember the arrogant 2012 bumper sticker based on Joe Biden's boast at the DNC? "GM is alive. Bin Laden is dead. Any questions?"

Actually, I do have a question. Was Bin Laden driving GM's Chevy Cobalt when he died?

It now appears that many American civilians with absolutely no connection to al-Qaeda have also become dead or injured while driving one of those small, fuel-efficient Chevrolet Cobalt, Pontiac G5, or Saturn Ion.
The Washington Post reports:

"An investigation into General Motors' failure to recall millions of small cars containing a deadly ignition switch defect found a corporate culture in which employees failed to take responsibility for the problem, which has been linked to at least 13 deaths, said GM chief executive Mary T. Barra."

This raises even more questions.

Notice the part about "a corporate culture in which employees failed to take responsibility for the problem." Was it because the employees knew that they were too big to fail?

How many of them were members of the United Auto Workers? Obama had rewarded this labor union's political shenanigans and donations to his campaign with 39 percent of General Motors. That alone should have taught the GM employees a lesson that real money comes, not from actual labor but from shady political dealings, and that honest work is for suckers.

General Motors waited more than a decade to recall their 2.6 million defective small cars worldwide. Obviously, the problem started long before the Obama administration decided to bail them out, thus rewarding bad behavior and costing Treasury a loss of roughly $10 billion.

That was yet another real-life lesson from which the GM employees could learn that withholding information is better than honest work, and that those who actually do honest work wind up paying for those who don't. Now GM is going to establish a compensation program for the victims and their families. How much of that cost will be covered by a taxpayer-funded bailout?

And now for the final question. Using GM chief executive's own language, who built that "corporate culture in which employees failed to take responsibility for the problem"?

According to her boss, the nation's chief executive, no one in particular. In president Obama's mind, businesses just happen to grow and develop their own cultures, like fungus. No one takes credit for a fungus culture; why should anyone take credit for a business culture? Whether you succeed or fail, the administration's credo is, "You didn't build that!"

GM officially confirms up to 13 deaths; trial lawyers are likely to raise the number to 60. Is that a fair cost of keeping GM alive? If so, how many lives and billions of taxpayer dollars will it take before the cost of this administration's meddling with the economy becomes prohibitive? At what point will it stop being fair and become criminal?

Ayn Rand's prophetic novel Atlas Shrugs has a chapter in which hundreds of people on a crowded train lose their lives because railroad employees have stopped taking responsibility for their actions. Their failure to take responsibility was a consequence of the nation's new culture of "fairness" and "equality" that was being promoted by an intrusive "progressive" government. In a twist of dark irony, all the participants in the story were fully supportive of that "fair" culture - from the corrupt government officials to the cowardly railroad executives to the clueless passengers who never figured out what had doomed them to die in a smoke-filled tunnel.

It seems that today the Obama administration, the "progressive" politicians, the unions, and all their low-information supporters, many of whom are driving GM's small, fuel-efficient cars, are writing an updated, real-life version of Atlas Shrugged, in which the story of General Motors is the latest contribution to this man-made dystopia.

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'Heroic' Archie to Be Shot Saving Gay Friend

LOS ANGELES — Jul 15, 2014

Archie Comics will kill off Archie in July

For most of Archie Andrew's life, the red-headed comic book icon's biggest quandary was whether he liked Veronica or Betty.

The character's impending death comes in Wednesday's installment of "Life with Archie," a spin-off series that centers on grown-up renditions of Archie and his Riverdale pals. It brings a bold conclusion to Archie Comics' four-year-old modern makeover of the squeaky-clean, all-American character.

Freckle-faced Archie will meet his demise when he intervenes in an assassination attempt on senator Kevin Keller, Archie Comics' first openly gay character, who's pushing for more gun control in Riverdale. Archie's death, which was first announced in April, will mark the conclusion of the "Life with Archie" series.

"I think Archie Comics has taken a lot of risks in recent years, and this is the biggest risk they've taken yet," said Jonathan Merrifield, a longtime Archie fan who hosts the Riverdale Podcast about all things Archie. "If it shakes things up a little bit, and people end up checking it out and seeing what's going on in Archie Comics, it will be a risk that was smartly taken."

While casual fans likely still associate Archie with soda shops and sock hops — and that's still holds true for the very much alive teenage character in the original "Archie" series — Archie was thrust into adulthood with the launch of "Life with Archie" in 2010. The series kicked off after alternate futures were envisioned where the love-struck do-gooder married both Veronica and Betty.

Over the past four years, storylines in the more socially relevant series aimed at adult Archie fans have included Kevin's marriage to his husband, the death of longtime teacher Ms. Grundy, Archie love interest Cheryl Blossom tackling breast cancer and Jughead and friends dealing with financial struggles.

It's been a shift not unlike other changes in the modern comic book landscape, where Spider-Man's alter-ego is a multi-racial teenager and Wonder Woman wears pants.

"Every few years, we see a comic book tackling an issue that could be considered provocative," said Dave Luebke, owner of Dave's Comics in Richmond, Virginia. "It's interesting that the ending of 'Life with Archie' involves multiple social issues, but it's not surprising." (Luebke sold his rare 1942 "Archie" No. 1 comic book in 2009 for $38,837 at a Dallas auction.)

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and several Archie fans praised Archie Comics' decision to have the character sacrifice himself to save Kevin, who is depicted in "Life with Archie" as a married military veteran turned senator.

"In recent years, 'Life with Archie' has become one of the most unique books on the shelves by using its characters to address real world issues — from marriage equality to gun control — in a smart but accessible way," said Matt Kane, GLAAD's director of entertainment media. "Though the story is coming to a close, we look forward to seeing Kevin and Archie's stories continue in their remaining titles."

Others have voiced their concern on Archie Comics' Facebook page and other online forums that the character's death was unnecessary or too politicized.

Jon Goldwater, Archie Comics publisher and co-CEO, defended Archie's demise being a lesson about gun violence and diversity.

"Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I don't agree," said Goldwater. "I think Riverdale is a place where everyone should feel welcome and safe. From my point of view, I'm proud of the stance we've taken here, and I don't think it's overtly political on any level."

Depending on the success of the final installments of "Life with Archie," Riverdale Podcast host Merrifield won't be surprised if Archie Comics takes on other topical issues in the near future.

"I'm sure there will be a tearful moment for me," he said of the character's death. "But this isn't goodbye. He'll be back in a couple of weeks in a book of reprints and the teenage 'Archie' will continue. Archie will still be around. He's always around."

"R.I.P. Archie ol' buddy"... see what happens when you get involved with politics.

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