Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Old Jarhead's Political SitRep for October 31, 2012

Old Jarhead's Political SitRep for October 31, 2012
Robert A. Hall

The Press Watchdogs
Cartoon

Acting Presidential
Cartoon from a paper that used to cover me. ~Bob.

Worth Sharing: The American Decline

Worth Sharing: Two Paths

Worth Reading: No October surprises, please. By Chet Nagle, former CIA agent
Excerpt: The Obama administration is accused of failing to protect the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, and of failing to rescue American diplomats being murdered by Islamist terrorists. Guilty on both counts only weeks before the election, the White House is now planning an “October surprise” to make the president look tough. Maybe two surprises.
The buzz in the U.S. diplomatic community for weeks has been the Obama administration’s plans for a deal with Iran, and secret high-level meetings. (I missed this when published. Nagle is the author of the terrific thrillers The Iran Covenant and The Woolsorter’s Plague. ~Bob.)

Worth Sharing: American Crossroads: "Debate"

Worth Reading: 'Cooling Out' the Voters. By Thomas Sowell
Excerpt: Confidence men know that their victim — "the mark" as he has been called — is eventually going to realize that he has been cheated. …So part of the confidence racket is creating a period of uncertainty, during which the victim is not yet sure of what is happening. This delaying process has been called "cooling out the mark." …We are currently seeing another "cooling out" process, growing out of the terrorist attack on the American consulate in Benghazi on September 11th this year.

Exodus: Inner city Blacks Fleeing Obama, Democrats
Wishful thinking, I fear. ~Bob. Excerpt: After his meteoric ascent to the top of the American political arena in the country’s history, we are now in the midst of witnessing one of the most stunning collapses of any man ever to hold the office of President of the United States. Over the past few weeks we have begun to see the ultimate unraveling of support for the president, with women and youth fleeing from his side. But what is even more surprising and perhaps unimaginable to the president and his faithful media cult is that he is now also losing members of his normally deemed “untouchable” base of support—poor, inner-city black Americans.

Note that Barack Obama is running not on his liberal record, but as a challenger against incumbent Mitt Romney who has done all sorts of terrible things like causing the 2008 meltdown and outsourcing jobs to China. In Obama’s view, given the supposedly tranquil world abroad, we must try nation building at home, and thus concentrate on bold new initiatives like stimulus, infrastructure, green jobs, and federalized health care — none of which have been envisioned before, much less funded. 

Why the Gender Gap Won't Matter in this Election: The gender gap doesn't matter: it never has. By Linda Hirshman
http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/10/28/why-the-gender-gap-won-t-matter-in-this-election.html
Excerpt: Although Founding Father John Adams’s uppity wife, Abigail, told him he’d better include women in the new nation, they did not “foment a rebellion,” as she warned they would. It took them almost 150 years to get the vote, and for 60 years after that, they voted mostly the way their men did. In 1980—cue the trumpets—women voted more for the Democratic candidate than men did.

VIDEO: Former SEIU Worker: I was "required" to do political work. By David Martosko
Excerpt: In a case that could have wide-ranging implications for the political future of the Service Employees International Union, a former SEIU organizer told a right-to-work group and a best-selling author recently that the union forced him and other workers to volunteer their time for Democratic political campaigns. On a video segment provided exclusively to The Daily Caller, the organizer says he and other SEIU staff “had to do some political work. We were required as staff to do that.”

Michelle Obama’s Vacations During The Last Four Years
Excerpt: Michelle’s way of helping the less fortunate: Using tax payer dollars to fund her vacations.

Media Cover Up: Aside from FOX, Sunday Shows Fail to Raise Benghazi
Excerpt: The mainstream media's silence on the Benghazi disaster reached deafening levels on Sunday, as hosts of four out of the five major news shows--with the exception of Fox News Sunday--failed to raise the issue. Only Bob Schieffer of CBS gave it serious consideration, and only after it was raised by Sen. John McCain.

Obama needs to come clean on Benghazi. By 
Jennifer Rubin
Excerpt: The Benghazi debacle has three parts: how we neglected security while al-Qaeda was building a presence in Libya; whether the administration tried to mislead the public as to the nature of the attack; and now whether the administration denied pleas for help from operatives on the ground at the consulate. Now, presumably at the behest of Gen. David Petraeus — who has been remarkably tight-lipped and not defended his agency against White House accusations that senior officials’ misstatements were the fault of the CIA — the CIA threw the hot potato right back in the politicians’ laps.

Obama Campaign Strategy: Vandalize Cars of Romney Supportershttp://politicaloutcast.com/2012/10/obama-campaign-strategy-vandalize-cars-of-romney-supporters/
Excerpt: Two owners’ cars were hit by the vandals who keyed “OBAMA” into a couple cars and slashed the car seats. The cars were targeted because there were “Romney/Ryan” signs in the owners’ front yards. Ironically, one of the victims Ken Slown is an Obama supporter whose family was staying with his Romney-supporting in-laws. I don’t think he’s feeling the love from his fellow Obama supporters. (Nothing new. Our car with a Bush sticker was keyed in Madison, WI in 2004. ~Bob.)

Al Qaeda leader Rashid Rauf killed in drone strike, family says
Excerpt: A senior al Qaeda operative who had been plotting terror attacks in Europe and had escaped Pakistani custody in December 2007 was killed in a drone strike, according to family members who are planning to sue the British government.

Many Students Lack Basic Academic Skills to Succeed in College
Excerpt: More and more students are graduating high school and entering college unprepared. The reason is that many high school students lack basic academic skills to succeed in college course. In response to this, many two-year and four-year colleges have begun screening students to see if they need remedial courses, say researchers with the National Bureau of Economic Research. Half of all undergraduates will take one or more remedial courses. Remedial coursework is one of the largest interventions to help underprepared college students, costing $7 billion annually. The vast majority of institutions use brief, standardized tests before registration to determine who needs remediation. (We spend more on education than ever before and get worse results. Thank a teachers’ union near you. ~Bob.)

Glenn Reynolds: Americans of all political persuasions are now comfortable criticizing the president
Excerpt: Last week, I speculated that we may be seeing a "preference cascade," as people who previously supported Obama now feel safe about publicly changing their minds. It seems that we're seeing more of that this week as word of the Benghazi debacle spreads. The Obama campaign no doubt hopes you'll be distracted from this by hurricane news, but that's probably a vain hope on its part.

2013 State Business Tax Climate Index. By Scott Drenkard, Joseph Henchman
Excerpt: In reality, tax-induced economic distortions are a fact of life, so a more realistic goal is to maximize the occasions when businesses and individuals are guided by business principles and minimize those cases where economic decisions are influenced, micromanaged, or even dictated by a tax system. The more riddled a tax system is with politically motivated preferences, the less likely it is that business decisions will be made in response to market forces.

The Real Stimulus: Low-Cost Natural Gas
Excerpt: The United States is experiencing a revolution in oil and gas. Half a decade ago, it was assumed that the United States would become a large importer of liquefied natural gas; now the domestic natural gas market is oversupplied, thanks to the ability to produce shale gas through hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling technologies, says Daniel Yergin, vice chairman of IHS, a global market information and analytics company. Shale gas is now 10 percent of the overall U.S. energy supply. As many as 1.7 million new jobs have been created. In addition, the energy revolution is expected to add $62 billion to federal and state revenues this year. This growth in shale gas will save the United States from spending $100 billion on imported liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Important: The looming shortfall in public pension costs. By Robert Novy-Marx and Josh Rauh
Excerpt: How much will the underfunded pension benefits of government employees cost taxpayers? The answer is usually given in trillions of dollars, and the implications of such figures are difficult for most people to comprehend. These calculations also generally reflect only legacy liabilities — what would be owed if pensions were frozen today. Yet with each passing day, the problem grows as states fail to set aside sufficient funds to cover the benefits public employees are earning. (The public pension crisis is just one of many factors I cite in my book, “The Coming Collapse of the American Republic.” If we elect Mitt Romney next Tuesday, we have a very slim hope of staving off fiscal collapse, followed by social and political collapse. If we reelect Barack Obama, we have no hope at all, and I really believe the Republic is finished. ~Bob.)

Book Review: The Generals: American Military Command from World War II to Today by Thomas E. Ricks. Review by Neil Sheehan
When I first came into the Marine Corps, there were still senior officers/Generals from WWII. These were tough guys, at least in the USMC. I got to know General Westmoreland after retirement and when he was fighting Alzheimer’s. He still could remember some things about Vietnam. Being a Vietnam Veteran, it was very obvious to me that we had a failed policy in Vietnam, which caused the loss of many lives. Various Commander in Chiefs have also failed this Nation by being more concerned about political correctness and future elections (selfish behavior). Cases in Point is Lyndon Johnson and Barack Obama. Obama has been a disaster in Iraq by failing to negotiate a Status of Forces Agreement so we could leave a small contingent of forces in Iraq to continue to train the Iraqi Army, and serve as a counter balance to Iran, the most dangerous rogue nation in the world. His policy in Afghanistan by saying “Afghanistan is the good war and he will be successful where George Bush had failed” is naïve at best and certainly a political statement. To then have a surge of forces and in the next sentence tell the enemy when we are leaving is once again playing politics. The stage has been set for our forces to leave without a victory, which will result in loss of national prestige, which is exactly what happened in Vietnam. I’m critical of current Generals for not resigning out of protest, and failed counterinsurgency plan when we could have accomplished our initial objective operating out of lily pad bases in friendly Arab nations using drones, fixed wing aircraft, and Marines. There would be no need for a large footprint of US forces in Afghanistan and far fewer casualties. Libya is another example of an Obama failure, which has cause the loss of life of an Ambassador and 3 others to include two former Navy Seals. A case of leadership failure and cowardly behavior. –GBH. (GBH is a retired USMC Major General, and reader/contributor to this blog. ~Bob.)

10 Catalysts for World War Three
In case you don’t have enough to worry about. ~Bob.

Vietnam jails two dissident songwriters
Excerpt: Vietnam has jailed two musicians for spreading anti-state propaganda, after they wrote songs critical of government policy. Tran Vu Anh Binh and Vo Minh Tri were both convicted by a court in Ho Chi Minh City and sentenced to six and four years in prison respectively. (I’m sure that John Kerry, Jane Fonda and other friends of the oppressive Vietnamese Communist government will be speaking out about this any minute. ~Bob.)

Bolivian journalist Fernando Vidal set alight on air
Excerpt: A Bolivian radio journalist has been attacked while he was conducting a radio show in the southern city of Yacuiba. Staff at Radio Popular said four masked men broke into the studio, poured petrol over presenter Fernando Vidal and set him alight.

Why Iran Wants to Attack the United States: The Islamic Republic's terror plots may look bumbling today, but what about tomorrow? By Matthew Levitt
Excerpt: An Iranian-American used car salesman pleaded guilty this month to conspiring with Iranian agents to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States. Mansour Arbabsiar's guilty plea would appear to be the end of this story, but in truth it raises more questions than it answers.

Omaha firm ES&S plans for the worst on Election Day: No power
Excerpt: With much of the coast bracing for damage and prolonged power outages from the storm called Sandy, election officials and providers of voting equipment, including Omaha-based Electronic Systems & Software, spent Monday hashing out contingency plans, backup contingency plans and backup-backup contingency plans in case polling places remain without power on Nov. 6. (I can hear Obama's excuses already...no power to vote for me...However, it sounds like this company has lots of contingency plans in the event of long term power outages on the east coast. --Laura)

Lies, damned lies, and green statistics - in Germany
http://www.thegwpf.org/lies-damn-lies-and-green-statistics/
Excerpt: Almost all predictions about the expansion and cost of German wind turbines and solar panels have turned out to be wrong – at least by a factor of two, sometimes by a factor of five.

Excerpt: I watched all of the GOP debates, I watched the Biden-Ryan debate and I even sat through all three of the presidential debates, and I don’t think it’s fair that I only get one vote that can be canceled out by the vote of one of those louts who got a free cell phone, thanks to Obama, or one of the guttersnipes who befouled our streets as a member of the Occupy Wall Street movement. In spite of that, I am feeling pretty confident about the upcoming election.

Worth Reading: Deserted in the Desert. By Thomas Hall, Racine, WI
Once upon a time a man named Martin Koszta was kidnapped in Smyrna, Greece, by agents of the Austrian Empire. Mr. Koszta had earlier led a failed attempt to win his native Hungary's independence from Austria, then fled to the still-young United States. There he applied for citizenship and opened an import business. It was that business that led him to return to Europe, and to his presence in Smyrna. By happenstance, USS sloop St. Louis was in port at Smyrna when Koszta was seized. Its captain, Duncan Ingraham, immediately demanded action from the US Consul, who declined to act. Koszta, after all, had only applied for citizenship. Captain Ingraham took a different view of the situation and proceeded to board the Austrian ship upon which Koszta was being held, demanding to see the man. By all accounts, their interview was short. “Do you ask the protection of the American flag?” asked Ingraham. Koszta nodded and Ingraham replied “Then you shall have it.” Later that day three more Austrian ships arrived and it became clear that the flotilla was preparing to leave port. Captain Ingraham sent word that he would oppose the removal of Koszta with force, and ordered his ship prepared for battle, despite being out numbered and out-gunned. In response, the Austrians surrendered Koszta. Aware that some might question his actions, Captain Ingraham promptly drafted and submitted his resignation: “I did what I thought my oath of office required, but if I have embarrassed my country in any way, I resign.” His resignation was rejected by the Senate. Sadly, the recent deaths of four Americans in Benghazi suggest that the enterprise, courage and commitment to one's countrymen that motivated Captain Ingraham cannot be found in the current Administration. (Tom is a friend, but no relation as far as we know. ~Bob.)

This guy doesn't pull any punches. I've seen several other videos by this guy... he's good in all of them. –Steve.

Sandy: ConEd Explosion
Excerpt: The initial explosion at the Con Ed Plant, E14th and FDR in New York City.
Released under Creative Commons License. Please credit: TrillianMedia. (Thankfully I understand it’s coal powered. ~Bob.)

Worth Sharing: Thrill Is Gone? Matthews Turns On Obama; 'I Hear Stories That You Would Not Believe'

Benghazi: The Set-Up and the Cover-Up. By Clare M. Lopez
Excerpt: Data points continue to accumulate about the September 11, 2012 attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya. The picture that is beginning to emerge from connecting those dots is deeply concerning on multiple levels. Two related issues dominate this analysis: The systematic stripping of security protection from the Benghazi mission prior to the 9/11 anniversary attack and the cold-blooded refusal to send or even permit local help the night of the attack. … Clare Lopez is a senior fellow at RadicalIslam.org and a strategic policy and intelligence expert with a focus on the Middle East, national defense and counterterrorism. Lopez served for 25 years as an operations officer with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Watch What You Say About FEMA
Excerpt: FEMA exists solely to support states and cities that need help preparing for and recovering from storms, floods, or tornados. It does not take on that coordinating role in states unless they are invited by a governor who has declared a state of emergency. In effect, FEMA now functions as a big checkbook. It provides money to states and cities that need resources to evacuate people, set up shelters, or sandbag. (Another "Slanting the News 101" example. Really?!? Isn’t it funny how the media changes its tune when the President is from the favored party? There have been no changes to the mission or laws governing FEMA since Katrina hit New Orleans. Why wasn’t the media pointing this out then? Oh, right. That evil man Bush was President, then, wasn’t he? That changes everything. And, OF COURSE there’s no media bias. Ron P.)

Excerpt: Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., and his Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren were scheduled to face off for the fourth time Tuesday night. But Monday afternoon, Brown's campaign sent out a statement saying he would not participate in the debate. Warren's campaign later sent a statement saying Warren believes it shouldn't be held tomorrow. (Brown is slightly ahead in some polls. The Dems have a much larger organization to get out their voters, and a long history of playing fast and loose with “assisting others to vote at their request.” I think it will be a nail-biter, and I’m making no bets. Ron P.)

Excerpt: I have a feeling that Middle America is going to respond in waves on November 6th...and send millions of liberals to the therapist couch. America has always been a "center right" nation politically, and they're getting damn tired of the arrogant "tyranny of the minority"; the liberal brown shirts who try to destroy Chik Fil A because the owner supports the traditional family, who tell you Gays will determine what America's values will be, who tell you what and when to eat and how much to drink, and how much to fork out to support liberal interest groups.

Muslim Cleric Condemns Christianity for Teaching Gender Equality
The War on Women. ~Bob. Excerpt: A recent talk show on the Egyptian station Al Hafiz partially explains why it is that Islam’s clerics are staunchly against discussing Christian or biblical teachings in Egyptian schoolrooms—even as the teaching of the Quran is mandatory, for both Muslim and Christian students. Discussing Christianity’s teachings concerning women, one of the guests, a sheikh dressed in traditional cleric garb, said they “truly stab the rulings of Islam.” To exemplify, he read from a text that said “the Christian religion does not differentiate between women and men, but it confirms their perfect equality: it gives them an equal share in inheritance, it bans divorce, and it bans polygamy.” 

Huffington Post, Gawker brought down by Superstorm Sandy
Excerpt: In addition to cutting power to millions and causing massive flooding in New York City, Superstorm Sandy also brought down several high-profile websites, including Huffington Post and Gawker. Those sites, along with Buzzfeed and Mediaite, apparently all went offline after 7 p.m. Monday….According to the statement, Buzzfeed received a text message from an official at Datagram, which read, "Basement flooded, fuel pump off line - we got people working on it now. 5 feet of water now."

Obama's EPA Plans for 2013
Excerpt: The November elections will determine the direction of US climate policy—and therefore also energy policy and the pace of economic growth: jobs, standards of living, budget deficits and inflation. Obama has already promised to make climate change the centerpiece of his concern—with all that implies: "Green" energy policy, linked to loss of jobs (Keystone pipeline disapproval), rising gas prices (ethanol mandates), and crony capitalism (Solyndra). By contrast, Romney is a climate skeptic—and Ryan has been quite outspoken: the perfect anti-Gore. (A quick count of the major regulations listed in this article that have been delayed until after 6 November is 13. A “major” regulation is one that will cost the economy more than $100 Million to comply with. Every one of these will impact jobs, too, and in all sorts of industries, farming, for example. There may be a “per-animal tax” based on how much CO2 the critter produces (farts, in other words). If you don’t read the article, you won’t believe it. Ron P.)

The Week That Was: 2012-10-27 (October 27, 2012)
Excerpt: APS: In 2007 the American Physical Society (APS) issued an absolutist statement on Climate Change that greatly disturbed a number of its senior fellows. (…) Roger Cohen, a Fellow of the Society has posted on the web site of Anthony Watts his expression of dissatisfaction with the APS. (…) The exchange is an excellent read on what is wrong when a few in a science society take an absolutist position concerning a subject that requires open investigation and debate. (The excerpt is taken from Ken Haapala’s summary at the beginning. There are many articles worth reading this week, especially including the numbered articles reprinted in full at the end of the listing. --Ron P.)

Obama’s Sequester Proposal Slashes Funds For FEMA, Disaster Relief. By Joel B. Pollak 
Excerpt: As Hurricane Sandy approaches the northeast United States, the left is attempting to politicize the storm, attacking Republican nominee Mitt Romney and his running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), for wanting to shift more responsibility for disaster relief from the federal government to the states. They ignore the fact that President Barack Obama's proposal for the upcoming budget sequester would cut nearly $900 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, including disaster relief, food and shelter, and flood management at both the federal and state levels….As Bob Woodward notes in his definitive account of the debt ceiling negotiations, such a bargain was within reach in July 2011, before President Obama destroyed it.

MILITARY INSIDER: “Do The Math…Left On Own To Die Out There”
Excerpt: A longtime Military Insider gives a brief and searing response regarding whether or not U.S.military could have successfully been deployed in time to save Americans under attack by terrorists on September 11th at the American consulate in Benghazi. (Looks like Obama, Clinton, and Panetta have some explaining to do. Doubt this will happen before the election. Shameful. -GBH)

Pro-Obama ad: We will burn this motherf—- down and c-ck punch Romney
Hard to believe this could be true, and not an anti-Obama forgery, which I suspect. ~Bob. Excerpt: Whoever thought this was a good idea should be fired immediately. The liberal group Moveon.org teamed up with liberal filmmaker Michael Moore and created a new anti-Romney ad that features elderly voters threatening to c***punch Romney and “burn this motherf***er down” if Romney wins in November.

The European Left and Its Trouble With Jews
Excerpt: LAST week, Twitter shut down a popular account for posting anti-Semitic messages in France. This came soon after the firing of blanks at a synagogue near Paris, the discovery of a network of radical Islamists who had thrown a hand grenade into a kosher restaurant, and the killing of a teacher and young pupils at a Jewish school in Toulouse earlier this year. The attacks were part of an escalating campaign of violence against Jews in France.

In U.S., 15% of Registered Voters Have Already Cast Ballots
Excerpt: Romney currently leads Obama 52% to 45% among voters who say they have already cast their ballots. However, that is comparable to Romney's 51% to 46% lead among all likely voters in Gallup's Oct. 22-28 tracking polling. 


Obama only at 47% in … Oregon? By Ed Morrissey
Earlier, Mark Halperin told the Morning Joe audience that Team Obama has shifted to defense along a rather long blue line, including Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Minnesota. Perhaps we should include Oregon in that mix. (Very doubtful OR is in play. ~Bob.)


Ground Breaking Paper Refutes the Greenhouse Gas Theory
Excerpt: International team of researchers confirms peer-reviewed new paper refutes the greenhouse gas theory, the cornerstone of science that claims human emissions of carbon dioxide dangerously warms the Earth. 

Report: Fast and Furious a product of DOJ ‘deliberate strategy’ laid out by Eric Holder, other senior Obama officials. By Matthew Boyle
Excerpt: The latest congressional report on Operation Fast and Furious found that the gunwalking-program-turned-scandal was the result of a “deliberate strategy created at the highest levels of the Justice Department aimed at identifying the leaders of a major gun trafficking ring.”

NPR: 8-point swing puts Romney in front
Excerpt: A new National Public Radio poll, which had President Obama leading Mitt Romney 51 percent to 44 percent four weeks ago, now has Mitt Romney on top, 48 percent to 47 percent, with the Republican benefiting from his debate performances.

Tweet from @iowahawkblog
Your daily reminder: all political polls are still garbage. #9percentresponserate

GOP Rout In Pennsylvania Absentee Ballot Returns
Excerpt: This morning President Obama’s campaign indicated they are going on the air in Pennsylvania and sending Joe Biden to the state trying to protect a state that just one week ago was considered to be safe ground. One possible reason? The enormous GOP edge in absentee ballot returns in the state, creating an enormous and unexpected hole for the President’s campaign to dig out of. 

Excerpt: This may be the best/simplest explanation of the Obama administration’s abortion-drug, contraception, sterilization religious-liberty eroding HHS mandate yet:
Majority Blame National Debt On High Spending, Not Low Taxes
But will they vote that way? ~Bob.

Fatah FB page posts pic of mother placing suicide belt on her child
Excerpt: The Facebook page for Fatah in Lebanon has posted this picture of a mother dressing her young son with a suicide belt. This picture was posted on the Fatah Facebook page together with an imaginary conversation between the son who is being sent to his death and the mother encouraging it. “Why me and not you?” the child innocently asks his mother, who answers that she will continue to have more children “for the sake of Palestine.

New Orleans is sending a relief team to New Jersey to show people how to loot.

Share with Ohio voters: In Ohio, Obamacare to Increase Individual Insurance Premiums by 55-85%
Excerpt: With the Presidential election one week away, it’s worth reviewing how Obamacare will impact the residents of key swing states. In Ohio, as elsewhere, Obamacare will drive up the cost of private health coverage, especially for those who buy insurance on their own.


Internet FAIL: The truth about that Tea Party sorority girl you saw on Facebook
Excerpt: Her name is Kim Stafford. And far from being from Alabama, she grew up in Boston. She's not in a sorority. The liberal arts university she attends in western Massachusetts doesn't even have a Greek system. (For this interview she asked not to disclose which college she attends because of the threats she's received since the photograph went viral). And come November she intends to vote for President Barack Obama.

Thank You Barack Obama… 1/3 of Adult US Males Are Out of Work. By Jim Hoft
Excerpt: Thanks to the failed Keynesian economics of Barack Obama, one-third of adult men are out of work. And, he has the nerve to ask for 4 more years? Really?

Examiner Editorial: Benghazi is not about politics, it's about the truth
Excerpt: Immediately after Sept. 11, when Mitt Romney weighed in prematurely on the simultaneous Egyptian embassy riots, the nation's political reporters managed to turn it into a seven-day "gaffe" story. Maybe those same newshounds could pursue a real story now -- why, after seven weeks, is the most transparent president in American history still dodging questions about what happened in Benghazi?

They got it right: America is their enemy. Barry Rubin
http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=288722
Excerpt: In other words, no matter what the United States does it will not be interpreted – especially by the [Islamic] masses – based on the US government’s statements or intentions but through the filter of a very different culture and worldview that has a good deal of hostility in it and is prone to xenophobia and conspiracy theories. By the same token, to be hated the United States doesn’t have to do anything wrong. It just has to be itself and pursue its own legitimate interests.

What Could Happen In The First 12 Hours of A US Dollar Collapse
Excerpt: This is the scenario nobody thinks is possible, but, really at the end of the day, it’s not like the US can print money and live on debt forever, right? So when something cannot go on forever what happens when it stops? So says Mark Jeftovic (http://wealth.net/) in edited excerpts of his introduction to a 7 minute video (see below) presented by www.inflation.us entitled The First 12 Hours of a US Dollar Collapse.

Worth Reading: Unemployment 7.8% to 22% - Is There A Better Method?
Excerpt: Recently I wrote "Why The Real Unemployment Rate Is 16.9%"which sparked quite a few e-mails revolving around the issue of the way the Bureau of Labor Statistics measures unemployment. In that article we discussed the differences between the U-3 and the U-6 rates and showed what unemployment would look like if you included those that had been out of work longer than 52 weeks. In reality the problem is far worse - as I stated previously:

Wasserman Schultz Involved in Police Altercation Outside Voting Precinct. By Javier Manjarres
Excerpt: A group of sign-waving campaign ralliers comprised of both Democrat and Republican supporters outside an Aventura, Florida polling location witnessed Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schulz involved in a heated altercation with an Aventura policeman after she apparently took issue with his request to not engage in campaign activities in the street which were holding up oncoming traffic. (A little oversold, maybe. ~Bob.)

Worth Sharing: Crushed By Your Policies
Tweet from Lauren Zelt Tate ‏@LaurenZeltTate: @BarackObama has kept his promise to "bankrupt" coal plants and Pennsylvania coal paid the price.

One week to go, and there is no good news for Obama. By Ed Rogers
Excerpt: It's one week before election day, and the Obama campaign is having to use heavy artillery to defend what should be safe and secure territory. Former President Bill Clinton, who is more appealing on the stump than is President Obama, is in Minnesota. Minnesota should be deep blue, and the state shouldn't even be mentioned one week before the election. 

Russia Caucasus: Imam shot dead in Derbent, Dagestan
Excerpt: Attackers have shot dead an imam and two of his male relations, as they drove to a mosque in the Russian North Caucasus region of Dagestan. … The cleric was named as Kalimulla Ibragimov, 49, who is said to have delivered sermons calling for peace.

Downstate Newspapers Diss Obama, Endorse Mitt
Excerpt: But while Obama has his hometown newspaper in his pocket, it’s a different story Downstate. In another indication that Illinois politics has become polarized between the Chicago area and the hinterlands, most newspapers outside the city seem to be backing Mitt Romney -- including two, the Daily Herald and the Quad City Times, which endorsed Obama in 2008.

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