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Freedoms of religion, speech, press and peaceful assembly are among the most important human rights we have. There is no “human right” to compel anyone to agree with one’s political, religious or other views.

To my regret, I did not dine at Chick-Fil-A yesterday. I live in the somewhat remote and rural highlands of the Republic of Panama and the nearest Chick-Fil-A is probably more than a thousand miles distant; going to one would have been inconvenient. However, many more people than usual apparently did find it convenient to go, judging by abundant photos on the internet. Here is one:

I have seen no customer counts; perhaps they will come later. It seems reasonable to assume that there were many more Chick-Fil-A customers than normal, that some were expressing agreement with the owners’ views on the nature of marriage and that perhaps more were expressing disagreement with the positions of various government officials.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s former chief of staff, said: “Chick-fil-A’s values are not Chicago values. They’re not respectful of our residents, our neighbors and our family members. And if you’re gonna be part of the Chicago community, you should reflect Chicago values.”

Freedom of speech and religion are alien to Chicago values? Verry Interesting.

Other officials said that they would use governmental pressures — denials of licensing, abnormal frequencies of inspections and the like to keep the Bible humping thumping un-American jerks away from their cities. Fascism? Nazism? Librulism? I don’t know. They all have means, some obvious and some easily concealed, to have their way.

The First Amendment, when last I read it, provided that Congress shall make no laws infringing our freedoms of religion, speech, press or peaceful assembly. Through the Fourteenth Amendment, those limitations on Federal authority apply to State and local governments. I am unaware of any amendment to the First Amendment, or even of an Executive Order expressly abrogating it (as distinguished from several nibbling away various bits and pieces).

An interesting collection of photographs of various (unrelated) right and left protests is presented here. The differences may be a tad subtle, so do look closely. Hint: those on the left tend to encourage violence and to manifest quaint (perhaps even antiquated) sensitivity to matters of personal hygiene.

There have been many reports of the Chick-Fil-A protests (I question the use of the word “protests,” but it seems to be the descriptor most commonly used. “Appreciation” seems a better choice). Here’s a thoughtful report from Fire Dog Lake. It offers a remarkably unbiased and level-headed analysis.

There was a huge colon-clogging, gizzard glutting eat-in at Chick-fil-A on Sunset and Highland Wednesday for the Mike Huckabee-called, frothy Rick Santorum-embraced, Sarah Palin-endorsed, Rush Limbuagh-hyped “National Chick-fil-A Chick-fil-hAte Appreciation Day.” Two lines of cars snaked into the drive through ordering stations, backing up traffic onto Sunset Boulevard. I wish I had been able to take a snapshot of the woman in a nose job bandage eating a frozen dessert cone as she drove out. Very L.A.

The parking lot was full, and there were more people in line and on the patio than I had seen cumulatively in all the years I had driven by the deep-fried food scented corner. Groups holding a rainbow flag and pro-LGBTQ signs stood on the corner with two (female) LAPD officers who were very nice. The protestors were out-numbered by the gluttons easily 1:10.

Consistently(?), this was a sign proudly carried by one protester and published at the Fire Dog Lake site:

Many if not most patrons dining at Chick-Fil-A would probably agree with the sentiment expressed by the sign; the report did not deal with that possible dichotomy.

Here’s a piece from The Daily Beast reflecting on the situation. The first paragraph was written by a Lesbian Chick-Fil-A employee four days ago, when there was talk of boycotts:

So when people boycott Chick-fil-A, it means I don’t get hours. Which means I don’t get money. Not just me, but ALL of the LGBT employees at Chick-fil-A. Yes, CFA hires LGBT people. No one’s been fired for being gay or coming out. It’s a job. A job that can’t be taken for granted when work is scarce across the country. We have to eat too. So sure, boycott Chick-fil-A because you don’t agree with the CEO. Will you change his mind? No. Will it change the amount of money my LGBT peers and I can earn? Probably. Boycotting Chick-fil-A doesn’t hurt the company. It hurts the employees. And it’s hard enough working for a place that doesn’t think you should get married. But it’s work. Don’t take it away because you feel righteous. (Emphasis added.)

Following yesterday’s Chick-Fil-A “protest” she had something of a change of heart:

Oh well. Hypocrisy is bad and it’s encouraging that she has none of it. Still, perhaps she shouldn’t eat at Chick-Fil-A, even if the food there is provided to employees free or at a discount. It’s her choice.

In the meantime, here’s a statement from Chick-Fil-A’s extremist, rabble-rousing, hate-spewing moral dictator wannabe and Executive Vice President for Marketing:

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. We congratulate local Chick-fil-A Owner/Operators and their team members for striving to serve each and every customer with genuine hospitality.

While we don’t release exact sales numbers, we can confirm reports that it was a record-setting day.

Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day was not a company promotion; it was initiated by others. The Chick-fil-A culture and service tradition in our restaurants is to treat every person with honor, dignity and respect — regardless of their belief, race, creed, sexual orientation or gender. We understand from news reports that Friday may present yet another opportunity for us to serve with genuine hospitality, superior service and great food. (Emphasis added.)

The vile hatred evidenced there is remarkable, particularly in contrast to the love and good will shown in the Fire Dog Lake post quoted and linked above. The reference to an event on Friday is probably to a National Same-Sex Kiss Day in support of the homosexual community.

Activist Carly McGehee told GLAAD she was inspired to call for the “kiss in” because an economic boycott of Chick-fil-A didn’t go far enough.

I wonder how much additional business Chick-Fil-A got because of the boycott.

“Change will not come if we are sitting at home behind closed doors,” she said. “We need to show not just the Chick-fil-a company, but the rest of the country that our numbers are great. By participating in the kiss in, thousands of people will get out of the house and show their support for LGBT equality.”

On Fox, Huckabee said, “If they believe that this will help their cause – to put people of the same sex kissing each other in front of families – if they believe that will encourage people to be more sympathetic, then more power to them.” (Emphasis added.)

Former Governor Huckabee refrained from saying that if they believe that people of the same sex kissing each other in front of families will encourage others to be more sympathetic they may be in for some big surprises. It was kind of him to avoid diminishing the surprises awaiting them. He did say that

he has no problem with gay rights supporters organizing a counter-protest for Friday.

“That’s America,” Huckabee said on Fox News Thursday morning. “As long as they’re orderly. As long as they don’t disrupt the flow of customers and traffic.”

If Same Sex Kiss Day proceeds on Friday as contemplated (It has not yet been declared a national holiday; if President Obama gets a second term, who knows?), here are some excellent but probably unnecessary suggestions from Red State.

Same sex couples are staging a “kiss in” Friday at various Chick-Fil-A restaurants. If you think this is to demonstrate a widespread level of support for gay marriage, you’re wrong.

The purpose is to bait someone on the right into doing something stupid.

The left would like nothing more than to capture on camera someone:

• yelling at a gay couple
• assaulting (shoving, hitting, etc…) a gay couple
• telling a gay couple to “go to hell” or using other obscene language
• getting in a gay couples face
• employees forcibly escorting someone from the premises (call the police if feel this is required)
• giving a gay couple the middle finger
• angrily scowling at a gay couple

I don’t know any conservatives who would do that sort of thing. They will instead use the most grievously cruel insult to obnoxious attention seekers known to modern humanity: ignore the buggers.

Sticks and stones may break my bones
but words can never hurt me.

In the present context, abusive words hurled at them will inflate their egos, not diminish them. If you have young children, perhaps consider not taking them. Ignoring the protesters’ pitiful pleas for attention in all other respects will insult and hurt them and their supporters more grievously than anything else could. It will show not one iota of respect for them, but much for your own dignity and restraint. Boycott them. Don’t even “turn the other cheek;” walk past or if necessary around them without looking at them. Look instead at a flower, the sky, your spouse or even the Chick-Fil-A menu.

Then, on Saturday (Chick-Fil-A is closed on Sundays) and later,

First published at Dan Miller’s Blog.

Source: TPT Submission

By: Anita Christy from GilbertWatch.com

Posted: April 11th, 2012

Russell Pearce goes before the Supreme Court on 4/25 to argue in favor of the constitutionality of SB1070. Also, at the invitation of Senator Charles Schumer, he will be testifying on 4/24 before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Immigration, Refugees, and Border Security at a hearing entitled “Examining the Constitutionality and Prudence of State and Local Governments Enforcing Immigration Law.”

It is shocking to me that the mere right of an individual state to enforce federal immigration law, to protect the jobs and lives of lawful citizens, has become a federal case.

I’m willing to bet that Russell Pearce’s “style” at both of these hearings will be very impressive. He will be presenting his argument to the most powerful entities in the United States of America. He will tell the truth, and he won’t falter. He won’t embarrass or apologize for Arizona. SB1070 is his legacy, all the way to the Supreme Court.

Russell Pearce has always stood for substance and truth over style and whim. When you hear someone say that Russell Pearce has been bad for Arizona, they are lying.

The truth is that Arizona’s economy is far better compared to other states; the truth is that companies are moving to Arizona not leaving; the truth is that Arizona’s tourism and the dollars it brings has increased, not decreased. The truth is that it is the leftists, not the constitutional conservatives, in other states that decry Arizona’s horrible reputation. The truth is that law abiding citizens admire Arizona and have introduced legislation that imitates SB1070. The truth is that Phoenix has experienced a 30-year low crime rate. All since SB1070.

The leftists did all possible to boycott Arizona over SB1070. They failed. Yet, the leftists and their sympathizers continue to lie about the success of Arizona after SB1070.

Meanwhile, California (Leftist Community Agitator Randy Parraz’s home state) has laws favorable to open borders and illegal aliens. Employers are leaving California by the trainload. Yes, there are many other variables (such as California’s tax and regulatory environment) that play a role. But when you consider the leftist mantra in Arizona, all of their trumped up negatives are the result of just one thing: laws that protect its legal citizens.

Russell Pearce’s words, actions, and votes have always lined up to protect individual liberties of law-abiding citizens. He has done this in spite of unrelenting attacks upon him by the leftists, their sympathizers, and the liberal media, and in spite of attacks from Eric Holder’s Department of “Justice.”

Upholding our country’s immigration laws should be supported by every American citizen.

Read the article below to add another cataclysmic layer to our “apocalyptic” discussion. The number one goal of AQ, et.al., is the FINANCIAL destruction of America. Looks to me like they have their guy in place and the program is proceeding as planned.

It is becoming increasingly apparent that the U.S. economy is heading for complete and total disaster. State and local governments across the nation are uncontrollably bleeding red ink. The federal government has accumulated the largest debt in world history. Every year we buy hundreds of billions of dollars more from the rest of the world than they buy from us. That means that we are getting hundreds of billions of dollars poorer as a nation every single year.

Meanwhile, thousands of factories and millions of jobs continue to be sent overseas as American cities turn into post-industrial wastelands. Incomes are down, unemployment remains at depressingly high levels and very few of our politicians seem to have any idea how to fix things. Yes, things are really, really bad. So what are some things that we can all be doing to prepare for the coming financial apocalypse?

Well, the truth is that we all need to start becoming less dependent on “the system”. If the economy does completely fall apart at some point, your employer is probably not going to take care of you. Neither is the federal government – just look at what happened in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. In the end, you are going to have to take care of yourself and your family.

So are you ready?

Now is the time to prepare. If you wait until things totally fall apart it will be far too late.
The following are 12 simple things that you can start doing right now to prepare for the coming financial apocalypse….

#1 Become Less Dependent On Your Job

Many people define a job as the state of being “just over broke”. The truth is that it is incredibly difficult to become financially independent working for someone else. Now, the truth is that most Americans would not be able to survive without a job, but what would you do if someday you suddenly lost your job during a financial apocalypse? Now is the time to start investigating alternate sources of income and different ways to build wealth. Today it takes the average unemployed American over 33 weeks to find a job. You may not always be able to count on being able to get a good job, and the economy is only going to get worse over the long-term. All of us should be operating under the assumption that any jobs we now have will someday be taken away.

#2 Get Out Of Debt

Some people disagree with this, but unless society degenerates into complete chaos or we experience Weimar Republic-type hyperinflation, the truth is that your debts are going to continue to hang over you wherever you go. Getting out of debt can be completely and totally liberating. It will give you much more freedom and will make you far less dependent on your job. In fact, it looks like a lot of Americans are already moving in this direction. It was recently announced that 8 million Americans have stopped using their credit cards over the past year. Why not join them? When things start really falling apart and it is incredibly difficult for anyone to get a job, the last thing you want is a huge amount of debt hanging over your head.

#3 Reduce Expenses

For decades, most Americans have been living far beyond their means. In the future, times are going to be really tough and we are all going to have to learn to tighten our belts. Do you and your family waste money right now? If you can eliminate that, you can live on a smaller income and you will have more money to invest in the things that are really going to matter.

#4 Purchase Land

Real estate is still priced too high in most areas of the United States, but the truth is that you don’t want to wait forever to get your hands on a piece of land. If a “financial apocalypse” does happen, you don’t want to be stuck in a big city with no place to go. You always want to have somewhere that you can “bug out” to. The U.S. real estate market is continuing to struggle right now, so hopefully prices will come down even more and there will be some really great deals available over the next couple of years.

#5 Learn To Grow Food

Another reason why you want to purchase some land is so that you will have somewhere to grow food if you need to. 100 years ago almost all Americans knew how to grow their own food, and most of them also knew how to raise farm animals. Today, relatively few Americans have those skills. A great way to begin is by starting your own “survival garden”. If you are not already doing this, then why not start this upcoming year?

#6 Find A Reliable Source Of Water

Water is going to become a very, very valuable resource in the years to come. It will be absolutely key for you and your family to have a dependable source of clean drinking water. If you do not have water you will not be able to survive for long. In the event of an economic meltdown, basic services such as power and water may not be there. So be certain that you and your family have an alternate source of water to depend upon.

#7 Explore Alternative Energy Sources

This point is similar to the one above. Do you think that if a financial apocalypse happens that you will always be able to depend on the power company? The truth is that there is a good reason why so many Americans have been trying to go “off the grid”. Without power, life gets really difficult very quickly. But if you are generating your own power then you won’t have to worry about that.

#8 Store Supplies

In the event of a major disaster or emergency, store shelves are going to empty really fast. If supplies are disrupted on a permanent basis, you may have to get by on what you already have in your home. So do you and your family have enough warm clothes, personal hygiene products and medical supplies to last for an extended period of time? Hopefully your local stores will always be able to supply what you need, but we need to prepare as if that is not guaranteed.

#9 Protect Your Assets With Gold And Silver

The way that the Federal Reserve is abusing the U.S. dollar, it is only a matter of time before rampant inflation sets in. Even now, the U.S. dollar has already been seriously declining and precious metals like gold and silver have been shooting into the stratosphere. In the future, your paper money may not buy much for you at all, but if you have some gold or silver coins you can always exchange them for the things that you are going to need.

#10 Learn Self-Defense

Did you see what happened at stores from coast to coast this past Black Friday? Americans were literally trampling one another just to get their hands on some cheap foreign-made plastic crap. So what do you think is going to happen once these people have been without food for two or three days? Now is the time to think about how you will defend your home and your family from crazed looters. It is not a fun thing to think about, but unfortunately we are heading for times that will not always be pretty.

#11 Keep Yourself Fit

As Americans, we live such “cushy” lives. But when times get hard things will not be so cushy. In fact, the years ahead are likely to demand quite a bit of physical activity. So keep yourself in good physical condition right now. In the future you will be very glad that you did.

#12 Make Friends

It is really, really hard to “survive” by yourself. Those who will thrive the most in the future are those who will have a community that they can depend on. Americans are always at their best when they work together. Don’t be afraid to reach out to your family and friends. In the times ahead the world will be a very cold place, and a little love and compassion will go a long way.