Shocking ATF Gun Running Allegations!

Remember the ATF gun running scandal?

The scandal centered around the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tabacco and Firearms) program Operational Fast and Furious which began in 2009. Based in the Phoenix, AZ field office, the ATF encouraged American gun dealers to sell guns to Mexican criminals so the bureau could track them and take out a cartel. Yet, there was no method of tracing the weapons and they ended up being used in a myriad of murders in Mexico. Thanks to ATF, 2,000 weapons hit the streets of Mexico and two of them were used at the murder scene of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.
 
ATF agent and whistleblower, John Dodson blew the lid off of the entire situation in 2011. The ATF even stopped him from releasing a book on the topic. Now, Dodson is saying that the Mexicans thugs that killed Brian Terry, were sent to the border to do a drug rip off with information provided by the DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency). But it all went bad. According to Dodson, these guys were known criminals who were armed by the ATF and directed by the FBI.

 And this is the government that wants more gun control?

Questions.

1. Why hasn't Attorney General Eric Holder been fired?
2. Why was the DEA, FBI and ATF supporting these murderous criminals?
3. Why didn't we find this out sooner?


Read the article...



 

‘Duck Dynasty’: Phil Robertson FIRED for Anti-Gay Remarks

By Reginald Kaigler (DEMCAD)

I maybe the only man in America that hasn't seen the hit A&E reality television show "Duck Dynasty." But I really don't watch as much TV as I used to. Recently, one of its stars, Phil Robertson, was removed from the show after blasting an anti-gay rant in GQ magazine.

 “...start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men... It seems like, to me, a vagina — as a man — would be more desirable than a man’s anus. That’s just me. I’m just thinking: There’s more there! She’s got more to offer. I mean, come on, dudes! You know what I’m saying? But hey, sin: It’s not logical, my man. It’s just not logical...”
From GQ Magazine.

Needless to say, A&E released a statement rejecting Robertson's ignore rant. The man wantonly used his religion to justify his anti-gay rhetoric and I completely disagree with his message. I'm heterosexual, but I don't think any of us should be judging anyone based on their sexual orientation. If someone wants a dick up their ass, so be it. it's none of my business.

Now the question is should Robertson be fired for expressing an opinion that his employer fully rejects? A lot of people are calling this a violation of the second amendment. But it's clearly not. Robertson has the freedom to say whatever he wants, but the network reserves the right to fire him for whatever legal reason they want. And in this case, the network executives felt that he embarrassed them and hurt their brand.

If I were the head executive, would I have fired Robertson? If I were a corporate office manager, I would fire an employee for making a public statement like this.
However, in this case, they made a deal with him for a reality show. They knew what they were getting. They hired him so they could make money off of Roberston being himself. And now they're firing him for being himself. 

So in this context, no, I wouldn't fire him. The comment was more ignorant than hateful. He's a reflection of what is preached about throughout the bible.

“...don’t be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers — they won’t inherit the kingdom of God. Don’t deceive yourself. It’s not right...”

 I'm not a Christian, but most Americans claim to be. So why is political correctness is such contrast with what's written in the bible?

The producers had to know that putting devoted Christians on the network would mean that at least some of them would share this viewpoint. And if so, why fire one for speaking out. Did the network hope that they would be politically correct, because of the large sum of cash they were making?

Probably so.

But it didn't happen. So why did they really fire him? Did they fire him because of what he said or because he actually said it publicly.

Although, I don't agree with his foolish comments, I definitely respect the fact that he wasn't willing to sell out. He spoke his mind and didn't seem to care if it was politically correct. And with this much money on the line, he may have been the only guy in America who was willing to do that.

Retail Sales Up in November, Down on Black Friday Weekend!

By Reginald Kaigler (DEMCAD)


Although, the media is still celebrating strong retail sales in November, the numbers are clear that the most important shopping days were indeed a disaster.

Census Bureau said November sales rose 0.7% throughout November (which includes Black Friday), but the biggest shopping days of the year were very disappointing.

Retail sales raise hopes for 2014

Retail sales in the brick and mortar stores during the Black Friday weekend (including Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Saturday and Sunday) were down nearly 3% nationwide with a loss of $1.7 billion from last year. the average amount of money spent by an American during the four day weekend dropped to $407.02 from $423.55. The total sales dropped to $57.4 billion, drop 3% from last year’s $59.1 billion.

Gloomy Numbers for Holiday Shopping’s Big Weekend


Even the seemingly optimistic report was misleading. Here's a section of USAToday's article,

"....A "temporary reprieve from pump prices, and a lingering wealth effect from rising home prices and record-high equity markets have helped support consumer confidence and consumer spending,'' Piegza wrote in a note to clients. "Going forward, however, temporary factors can only do so much.''
The growth was highly unbalanced, said Diane Swonk, chief economist at Mesirow Financial. Cuts in food-stamp benefits held down food sales, and apparel sales are so weak that clothing prices are falling amid a highly promotional holiday season.
"People are buying big things — but they aren't buying clothes,'' Swonk said. "Grocers are complaining.''..."

Tim Mullaney, USA TODAY 

These numbers can't be used to justify Dow 16,000.
 

Last week, jobless claims surged by 68,000 to 368,000 new people filing for initial unemployment benefits. I don't find this to be very alarming, because the only reason why the numbers drop is because of seasonal jobs. Simply put, there weren't any jobs to begin with. 



Initial jobless claims surge to 2-month high amid holiday volatility