McDonald's said Tuesday it will open its first burger restaurant in Vietnam after awarding the franchise to the son-in-law of the Communist-ruled nation's prime minister. The fast-food chain is a relative latecomer to Vietnam where other Western consumer brands such as Starbucks, Subway and Pizza Hut have already opened stores. Despite a slowdown in growth from torrid levels, Vietnam's youthful population is a strong lure for foreign companies. It also represents the latest chapter in the march of McDonald's across the world, including countries with which the United States shares a bloody history. The company said it will open its first restaurant early next year in Ho Chi Minh city, where the U.S.-backed government was based until it fell to Communist forces 38 years ago. http://bit.ly/16HbtVe In the small Colorado town of Deer Trail, residents may soon be allowed to shoot down flying robots. The town board is considering an ordinance that would not only permit people with hunting licenses to fire bullets at drones, but would also pay them $100 for each mechanical hide with federal markings. Sidestepping the fact that destroying government drones like this is a federal crime, bullets fired skyward have a very poor public health record when they plummet back to the ground. Federal policy already rules out armed drone strikes against American citizens within the U.S. (provided the Americans are not enemy combatants) so there's a very real chance that more people would die from missed anti-drone bullets than would be killed by drones domestically. http://bit.ly/16JQ9yp Illinois lawmakers overrode Gov. Pat Quinn's veto of concealed carry legislation on Tuesday, but it will likely be 2014 before any firearm owners are permitted to pack handguns in public. The last state to adopt a concealed carry law, Illinois now has to set about building a bureaucracy to process applications — which could number in the hundreds of thousands in the first year — screening out people with prohibitive criminal records or conditions of mental illness that police believe could make them dangerous if armed http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-07-10/news/ct-met-illinois-concealed-carry-whats-next-0709-2-20130710_1_gun-law-gun-owners-concealed-carry-law We are a conservative news and views channel ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmTqmUi7OX8

How To Show Americans Lockdowns Are Killing More People Than The Virus You see it every night on the news: a ticker with the cumulative death toll from the coronavirus. Yet you don’t see the other side of the equation: the number of deaths resulting from the lockdowns imposed ostensibly to fight the coronavirus. More and more medical professionals are recognizing the severe damage the lockdowns have caused to present and future public health. A worldwide collection of medical and public health experts has just issued a declaration stating that current “lockdown policies are producing devastating effects on short and long-term public health” and that to keep “these measures in place until a vaccine is available will cause irreparable damage, with the underprivileged disproportionately harmed.” https://thefederalist.com/2020/10/21/how-to-show-americans-lockdowns-are-killing-more-people-than-the-virus/ German Minister: Lockdown Will Kill More Than Covid-19 Does Germany’s Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development, Gerd Muller, has warned that lockdown measures throughout the globe will end up killing more people than the Coronavirus itself. In an interview with German newspaper Handelsblatt, Muller warned that the response to the global pandemic has resulted in “one of the biggest” hunger and poverty crises in history. https://summit.news/2020/09/25/german-minister-lockdown-will-kill-more-than-covid-19-does/ Head of CDC Admits Lockdown Killing Way More Americans Than COVID! Urges Masks. When Will These People Be Held Accountable for the Carnage They've Caused? CDC director Robert Redfield dropped some bombshell news during a talk he gave two weeks ago. But despite its significance, hardly anyone knows about the sickening bit of data he let slip: “We’re seeing, sadly, far greater suicides now than we are deaths from Covid. We’re seeing far greater deaths from drug overdose, that are above excess, than we had as background, than we are seeing deaths from Covid.” https://redstate.com/michael_thau/2020/07/27/head-of-cdc-lockdown-suicides-drug-ods-killing-way-more-americans-than-covid-n248959 There is a socialist coup unfolding in Canada, and we taxpayers are funding it Canada is quietly going through a socialist coup. If I had written these words just one year ago, it would have been deemed conspiratorial. But I have heard from too many Canadians over the past six months about what they have seen taking place. Ever since Justin Trudeau tried to grant himself king-like powers at the beginning of the COVID crisis, what we have been witnessing in Canada is a socialist coup that we, the taxpayers, are funding. https://nationalpost.com/opinion/leslyn-lewis-there-is-a-socialist-coup-unfolding-in-canada ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbig9wkemgA

Shush! L.A. Times Editor Asks “Departees” Not to Criticize California on Their Way Out In an editorial fit for The Onion or the Babylon Bee, Los Angeles Times’ letters editor Paul Thornton wrote a column this week entitled “If you want to leave, fine. But don’t insult California on the way out.” The column acknowledges an exodus from the state, but sees the problem as former Californians sharing their experiences about what drove them from the Golden State. It is like Captain William Bligh asking the mutinous crew of the Bounty for a reference as they head for the lifeboats. Thornton wrote that “more than 800,000 Californians moved away in 2022, and many thousands more left last year. Often, the departees, cash in hand from the sale of their $1-million bungalows, feel the need to express disdain for their home state, and even some anger too.” https://jonathanturley.org/2024/01/23/l-a-times-editor-please-do-not-criticize-california-on-your-way-out/ California's exodus continues, with population dropping for the third year in a row, putting its political influence at risk California's population has dropped for the third year in a row. The high-cost of living and an increase in remote work are likely driving factors Some fear the demographic changes could cause the state to lose political clout. California's population has dropped for the third year in a row, raising concerns about the effects of an exodus of residents from the Golden State. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/californias-exodus-continues-with-population-dropping-for-the-third-year-in-a-row-putting-its-political-influence-at-risk/ar-AA1lWT5U 'Severe revenue decline': California faces a record $68B deficit — here's what is eating away at the Golden State's coffers California lawmakers convened for the first session of 2024 on Wednesday and are tasked with tackling the state's record $68 billion budget deficit. The enormous shortfall is largely attributed to a “severe revenue decline,” the California Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) reported last month. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/severe-revenue-decline-california-faces-133000258.html Lab-Grown Meat Has a Big Problem Very Few People Know About Their life-cycle assessment of current meat-growing processes – which has yet to be peer-reviewed – found cultured meat production could emit between four to 25 times more carbon dioxide per kilogram than regular beef and all its hidden costs, depending on the techniques used. https://www.sciencealert.com/lab-grown-meat-has-a-big-problem-very-few-people-know-about Big Farma: How lab-grown meats are a costly, unhealthy tool of the globalist elite The answer to food safety and security lies in a decentralized food system that connects communities with farmers growing real food sustainably and distributing it locally. https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/big-farma-how-lab-grown-meats-are-a-costly-unhealthy-tool-of-the-globalist-elite/ Italy becomes the first country in the world to ban lab-grown meat https://nypost.com/2023/11/18/news/italy-becomes-the-first-country-in-the-world-to-ban-lab-grown-meat/ Florida lawmakers look to ban lab-grown ‘cultivated’ meat products https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2024/01/24/lab-grown-cultivated-meat-ban-danny-alvarez/ ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMmDYMmD050

Common Sense Firearms Licensing Act has been mixed, but mostly very positive. Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney's July 23 announcement has landed in the middle of criticism emanating from both pro-gun and anti-gun extremists, which means it is probably very close to where the Harper government wants it to be. According to social media blogs and widespread media coverage, there appears to be overwhelming support for the minister's initiatives from gun owners and freedom-loving Canadians. • Merge the Possession Only License (POL) and the Possession and Acquisition license (PAL) • End the Authorization to Transport system for target shooting • Restrict the ability of Chief Firearms Officers (CFO's) to make arbitrary decisions • Create a grace period at the end of a five-year license expiry to prevent criminal charges for expired paperwork • Create mandatory firearms safety courses for first time gun owners • Strengthen firearms prohibitions for those who are convicted of domestic violence offences CFO to stupid for Office? Ottawa’s proposed changes to firearms legislation could possibly mean owners of restricted or prohibited guns would be permitted to carry them around at will, says Prince Edward Island’s chief firearms officer. Vivian Hayward says she knows very little about the changes, as the province has not been consulted on the proposed federal Common Sense Firearms Licensing Act. But from what she has read in media reports, Hayward says she is concerned over the proposed easing of restrictions for firearms transportation. “(It’s) just basically one step away from the U.S.-style having the gun on their hip authorization to carry, which people in this country don’t have,” Hayward said. http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/News/Local/2014-07-27/article-3813813/Restricted,-prohibited-guns-could-be-carried-on-P.E.I.,-warns-official/1 ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ok9pPy3kfOM