October 2012

Archives: October 2012



New Jersey Governor Chris Christie: ‘We will rebuild it, but for those of us who are my age, it won’t be the same, because many of the iconic things that made it what it was are now washed into the ocean…’


50 dead, 8.2 million without power,
16,000 flights canceled, over $30 billion in damage…


Rebuilding could boost economy in coming quarters…


Stock market reopens today…


Nuclear power plants handled storm better than other parts of grid…


Sandy supercharged by highest ocean temperatures on record off East Coast…


Downed power lines and a battered road is what superstorm Sandy left behind as people walk off the flooded Seaside Heights island, Oct. 30, 2012. (Julio Cortez/AP Photo)


ASSESSING SANDY…





Syrian airstrikes intensify…


A general view shows destruction in the Suleiman al-Halabi nieghbourhood, now under full army control according to state media, in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on October 30, 2012. Credit: AFP


More than 120 killed Tuesday…


Qatari prime minister: ‘What is happening in Syria is not a civil war but a war of extermination against the Syrian people…’


Obama administration crafting new Syrian opposition council…



Why are US troops still stationed in Europe?


Mainstream German political parties ‘regret that the US focus is shifting away from the European continent…


A US soldier participates in a training exercise at the US Army's Joint Multinational Readiness Center near Hohenfels, Germany. Credit: Getty Images


PDF: Foreign policy under either Obama or Romney ‘would have a lot in common…’



488,136 absentee ballots mailed but not counted in 2008…


15-min video: Easy ways to steal an election…


Is Romney confident because the GOP is stealing the election?


No: 5 reasons Karl Rove is not going to electronically steal this election…



Disney to buy Lucasfilm, rights to Star Wars for $4 billion…


Disney CEO Robert Iger, left, an actor portraying the movie character Darth Vader, center, and Star Wars creator George Lucas, third from right, stand onstage at the Disney Hollywood Studios theme park during the re-opening celebration of the Star Tours motion simulation ride in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., Friday, May 20, 2011. Credit: Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP


George Lucas will receive half in cash, half in stock…


Disney vows to make three more Star Wars movies…



Presidential leadership lessons from Lincoln…


What would Lincoln do? Credit: Time


‘No American president has ever been as hated as Abraham Lincoln…’


New Spielberg Lincoln film ‘has nothing to do with the current politics…’




MTA chairman: ‘The New York City subway system is 108 years old, but it has never faced a disaster as devastating as what we experienced last night…’

14 dead, 6 million without power, 12,000 flights canceled


Sandy fits pattern of more extreme weather attributed to climate change…


‘The irony is that the two presidential candidates decided not to speak about climate change, and now they are seeing the climate speak to them…’


Labor Dept plans to release final pre-election jobs report on time Friday…


Hurricane Sandy floods Avenue C and 20th St. in Manhattan, Oct 29, 2012. Credit: Twitter user @GoogleFacts


SANDY SETS IN…


SnapSheet lost power in Hurricane Sandy and went offline on Tuesday, October 30, 2012.




National Weather Service warning: ‘Potential to be an historic storm…
If you are reluctant [to evacuate], think about your loved ones,
think about the emergency responders who will be unable to reach
you when you make the panicked phone call to be rescued…’


FEMA: ‘The time for preparing and talking is about over…’


NOAA environmental prediction chief:
‘This is the worst-case scenario…’


Google Crisis Center on Hurricane Sandy…


Photos 1-min apart from the New York Times building…


5 reasons Sandy is a superstorm…


New York stock market closed…


A man takes a photograph as seas build off New Jersey. Sandy will strike the US East Coast in the evening of Monday, Oct 29, 2012. Credit: Reuters


SANDY TO HIT EAST COAST TONIGHT…





Ohio governor predicts Romney will win the key state…


Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan sing along with Janna Ryan as the Oakridge Boys perform during a campaign rally at the Marion County Fairgrounds in Marion, Ohio on Sunday, Oct 28, 2012. Credit: Getty Images


Obama has lost independents; signs of defeat ‘too clear to ignore…’


Is the race really down to just Ohio?


Don’t believe any early predictions on the outcome – the race is tight…



Syrian bombardment resumes as ceasefire crumbles…


‘This conflict has now taken a dynamic of its own which should be worrying to everyone…’


A handout picture released by the Syrian opposition's Shaam News Network on Oct. 27, 2012 shows a Syrian man walking on the rubble of a destroyed building following an attack by regime forces in Arbeen in the outskirts of Damascus. Syrian rebels announced the failure of a truce declared for Eid al-Adha, as fighting raged, warplanes buzzed key cities and at least 150 people were reported killed since a ceasefire came into effect. Credit: AFP/Getty Images


Amateur videos appear to show government airstrikes aiming at suburbs…



Only Iran and Iraq are considered riskier investments than Greece…


The president of Greece's Association of Judges and Public Prosecutors Vassiliki Thanou-Christophilou (R) attends a meeting of Greek judges at the supreme courthouse in Athens. Credit: AFP


Greek journalist arrested for revealing names on ‘Lagarde list’ of tax evaders…


‘Instead of arresting the tax evaders and the ministers who had the list in their hands, they’re trying to arrest the truth and freedom of the press…’



Chinese protest new Sinopec chemical plant despite assurances it will be halted…


Papers note an increase in environmental protests as Chinese citizens grow tired of sacrificing healthy living for relentless economic growth. Credit: Reuters


If citizen interests ‘are properly protected, public attitudes toward heavy chemical programs will change…’


Demonstrates ‘two conflicting tendencies: citizens’ awakening environmental awareness and some local authorities’ obsession with economic growth, even if it comes at the cost of the environment…’



‘A modern man of above-average build would have an excellent chance of defeating a Neanderthal in hand-to-hand combat…’


The skull scientists in the UK used to create a life-size reconstruction of a Neanderthal. Credit: AFP / Getty Images


DNA scientist: ‘[Neanderthals] are not just some extinct group of related hominids. They are partially ancestors to people who live today…’




Hurricane specialist: ‘The size of this alone, affecting
a heavily populated area, is going to be history making…’


‘A freakish and unprecedented monster’
threatening 60 million Americans…


Could breach flood walls in Manhattan…


NY, NJ, Connecticut declare states of emergency,
NYC opens 65 shelters in public schools…


Google cancels Nexus 4 smartphone event in New York…

5-day forecast cone, Nat’l Hurricane Center, FEMA prepare page


Large waves generated by Hurricane Sandy crash into Jeanette's Pier in Nags Head, North Carolina. Credit: AP/Gerry Broome


SUPER SANDY ARRIVES TOMORROW…



Why Obama will win…


Romney has a ‘decided leg up’ on Obama…


Barack Obama versus Mitt Romney for the White House 2012.


Obama deserves a second term…


Romney is a stronger candidate…



Behind the fiscal cliff scare, the economy is improving…



No, it’s actually weaker than it looks…


How long until the recession ends?




South African finance minister: ‘As a country we face
difficulties, but please, we are not in a terminal
crisis. Let us prove the pessimists wrong…’


Slow growth, worsening budget deficit, low tax receipts…


Fitch warns: ‘This erosion contributed to our decision to
revise the outlook on South Africa to negative in January…’


Bond investors punishing nation
with steepest yield curve on record…


South Africa is sliding downhill while much of the rest of the continent is clawing its way up. Credit: EPA/The Economist


SOUTH AFRICA SLIDING…



Obama targets young voters on MTV…


President Barack Obama. Credit: Hollywood Reporter


Bob Shrum: Why Obama will win…


Rick Wilson: Actually, Obama knows this is over…


Nate Silver: No, Obama is on track to take the Electoral College…


Jennifer Rubin: Really? Then why is he panicking?



Obama/Romney race is all about Ohio’s 18 electoral-college votes…


Ohio's political statistics. Credit: The Economist


Obama barely ahead of Romney in Ohio…



Iran filling nuclear bunker with centrifuges…


Iranian public supports government’s nuclear program…


The Iranian public supports its government's nuclear program, despite crippling sanctions from the West. Credit: The Middle East Channel


President Obama is convinced that his handling of the US-Iran conflict is some radical and hopeful departure from past presidents, but ‘this latest prostration affirms Ayatollah Khomeini’s prediction, issued at the height of the 1979 hostage crisis, that ‘America can’t do a damned thing against us…”



Windows 8 ushers in ‘a new era at Microsoft…’

Unlike systems from Apple and Google, Win 8 was designed for creating content, not just consuming it…


Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer hands out Windows 8 and tablets from on high. Credit: Dave Simonds/The Economist


Is anyone impressed? Not really…


Still, with 670 million PCs waiting to be upgraded, it’s too big to fail…



Google’s Android will be used on more devices than Microsoft’s Windows within four years…




Neil Clark: Current humanitarian catastrophe in Libya ‘much worse’
than under Gaddafi… ‘The number of people killed since NATO
intervened has gone up by ten to twenty times…’


Public deserves a White House response to Benghazi…


Thomas Sowell: ‘An ‘on-going investigation’ sounds so much
better than ‘stonewalling’ to get past election day…’

Ousting pro-Western governments in Egypt and Libya, only to
bring anti-Western Islamic extremists to power, would be
‘a foreign policy disaster of the first magnitude…’


Men and materiel flowing across Libya’s borders…


Libyan security forces gesture as they head to a compound which had been taken over by an armed group in Tripoli September 23, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Anis Mili Getty Images


LIBYAN BLOWBACK FROM US MEDDLING…



‘Frankenstorm’ Sandy could be worst in 100 years to hit Northeast US…


Bracing for Frankenstorm Sandy.


‘Could be a natural disaster for the record books…’


‘Rare mix of three big merging weather systems over a densely populated region…’


How to prepare…



North Korea’s Kim Jong Un recalibrating power from military to his regime…


Young leader still a mystery…


S Korean defense minister: ‘When the time comes for a political decision… may resort to third nuclear test…’


Kim Jong Un is shown inspecting the Seoul Ryu Kyong Su 105 Guards Tank Division of the Korean People's Army earlier this year in this photo taken by North Korea's official news agency.


Will the US, S Korea, and China step in when N Korea collapses?



CIA torture whistleblower, John Kiriakou, sentenced to 2.5 years in prison…


Former Central Intelligence Agency officer John Kiriakou. Credit: RT screenshot from YouTube user Healingitnow1


Officially due to leaking an agent’s identity, but activists think real reason was revealing torture details…


‘It’s like arguing that outing a Nazi guarding a concentration camp would hurt the national security of Germany…’

‘Kiriakou will be going to jail, while [the torturer] happily enjoys retirement…’




PIMCO chief operating officer: ‘The big event that lies before us
is the fiscal cliff… We need policy that reigns in some of the
spending in the deficits, that delivers consistent revenues, and
that promotes growth, and we are suffering on all three right now…’


Earth to Obama, Romney: Remember the fiscal cliff?


Not so bad: Likely to slow growth, but not cause recession…


Mark Bertolini of Aetna and Randall Stephenson of AT&T on America's fiscal challenge. Credit: WSJ


80 CEOs URGE FISCAL ACTION…



AP poll: Romney 47, Obama 45…


Romney has erased Obama’s lead among women…


Mitt Romney is pulling ahead of Barack Obama in polls. Credit: Washington Post


Is Romney campaign faking this late-stage poll surge?… No, ‘a clear trend in Romney’s favor…’


6-min video: Romney still faces a ‘narrow road’ to 270 electoral votes…



WikiLeaks to release US DoD docs detailing procedures at Gitmo, Abu Ghraib, others…


A 'non-compliant' detainee is escorted by guards after showering inside the US military prison for 'enemy combatants' in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.


‘The Detainee Policies’ is more than 100 once-secret files in chronological order since 2002…


Julian Assange: Why has WikiLeaks published three years of Gitmo procedures, while all other media have published none?



Indiana Sen. Richard Mourdock attacked for saying “even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape that it is something God intended to happen…”

Clarified: ‘I did not mean to suggest that God wants rape… I want to assure every woman who hears this and who reads the stories of this [that] I abhor [rape] and that God abhors it…’


Indiana Republican Senate candidate Richard Mourdock gestures during a news conference in Indianapolis, Oct. 24, 2012, to explain the comment he made during last night's Senate debate. Credit: AP


EMILY’s List president: ‘Richard Mourdock is not an outlier… no one is surprised to hear yet another dangerously out of touch statement from a Republican about rape…’


Even John McCain pounces on Mourdock’s quote, demands apology…


But Romney stands by endorsement of Mourdock…



Hurricane Sandy a potential super storm for US…


Waves, brought by Hurricane Sandy, crash on a house in the Caribbean Terrace neighborhood in eastern Kingston, Jamaica, Wednesday, October 24, 2012. Credit: AP


Hits Cuba as a category two hurricane…


Projected path of Hurricane Sandy, October 25, 2012. Credit: National Hurricane Center



White House ‘disposition matrix’ lists kill targets for years to come…


US-led drone strikes - the targeted executions of suspected insurgents using remote-controlled, killing machines from tens of thousands of feet above the Earth - are not about to end. Credit: AFP, NASA


Timeline suggests US only at midpoint of war on terrorism…


Making counterterrorism a permanent part of US policy…



China paying rewards for planned Tibetan self-immolation tip-offs…


Police in China's Gansu province are offering rewards for information about planned self-immolations by Tibetans. Credit: AP


‘Extreme suicidal behavior… part of a political conspiracy by the Dalai clique that means to split China and undermine national unity…’




Syrian: ‘I don’t support the regime, but
I am crying rivers of blood for my country…’


Syria kills 20 at Aleppo bakery…


7-min graphic video…


Fighting has continued in Syria despite efforts by UN-Arab League envoy Brahimi to negotiate a ceasefire. Credit: Reuters


NO TRUCE IN SYRIA…



Fungus found at pharmacy linked to meningitis outbreak…


Raises questions about oversight of customized drug mixing industry…


Cases and deaths with fungal infections linked to steroid injections. Credit: CDC


308 cases, 23 deaths, 16 states…



Third-party candidate views inserted into third Obama/Romney debate…


Comments from Jill Stein of the Green Party and Rocky Anderson of the Justice Party were inserted into the third debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, on foreign policy. Credit: Democracy Now


90-min video: Third-party debate moderated by Larry King…


Third-party candidate debate. Credit: Getty Images


Obama, Romney show US to be ‘intellectually adrift’ on foreign policy sea…


Hawks of a feather flock together for ‘a foreign policy that has cost many thousands of lives and injuries and plunged the nation deeply into debt…’



As expected, last debate did not shift voting trends…


Obama won final debate, but Romney won overall debate series…


Concluded with ‘a bold bet that boldness was not required…’


R’s final debate plan: Agree with O, move to middle, veer to high unemployment…


Where the candidates are spending their time in the final two weeks of the race for the White House. Credit: Washington Post


Home stretch strategies: Obama as underdog, Romney as inevitable…


Race remains very close ‘because Obama never adopted a new and daring economic proposal for his second term…’


Gallup: Romney 51, Obama 46; ABC/WaPo: Romney 49, Obama 48; Ipsos/Reuters: Obama 47, Romney 46…


But Obama favored by only count that matters: electoral college…



Apple unveils thinner, smaller, iPad mini…


Apple senior vice president of worldwide product marketing Phil Schiller announces the new iPad Mini during an Apple special event at the historic California Theater on Oct. 23, 2012, in San Jose. Credit: Getty Images


At $329 to $659, expensive enough for competitors to sell tablets more cheaply…


A holiday hit…


Which mini tablet is right for you?



Growth potential in a green economy…


Which states have the most green jobs? Credit: Economic Policy Institute


USA must ‘eliminate fossil fuel subsidies, put a price on carbon,’ grow green investments…




Line of the night, from Obama: ‘You mentioned the Navy, for example, and
that we have fewer ships than we did in 1916. Well, Governor, we also have
fewer horses and bayonets, because the nature of our military’s changed.’


Obama was ‘assertive’ and belittled ‘Romney’s lack of hands-on national
security experience… Romney began ‘awkwardly’ but ‘shook off his
jitters’ for ‘a pleasant, conversational tone…’


Obama expressed views forcefully, Romney echoed them…


Dissent: Romney won unequivocally.
He just need to continue momentum from first debate, and he did…


RedState: Obama looked like ‘a man who knows the gig is almost up…’


Won’t matter, anyway: Voters care about economy, not foreign policy…


The least enlightening debate…
‘A faux debate on tactics,’ no substance…

Fact checks: Annenberg, National Journal, NY Daily News, Politico, Salon


Biggest flub: Romney saying Syria is Iran’s ‘route to the sea.’
Fact: Iran’s southern coastline accesses the Persian Gulf
and the Gulf of Oman, and it has no land border with Syria…


Full transcript and 83-min video
, 2-min highlight reel, 7 takeaways


Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney speaks as US President Barack Obama listens intently during the final presidential debate in Boca Raton, Fla., Oct. 22, 2012. Credit: Reuters


OBAMA WINS ROUND 3…



‘Obsession over Iran’s nukes is a grave mistake…’

The mullahs are the problem: ‘The regime is an incorrigible enemy of the US…’


Iranian Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei


Leading state sponsor of terrorism…



Google searches provide insight into eurozone interest rate pressures…


Children in Sevilla wave flags through smoke thrown by firemen and policemen during a Sept. 29 demonstration of public service workers against spending cuts. Spain had the region's highest unemployment rate at 25.1 percent in August. Credit: Getty Images


Spanish and Italian bond prices rising…


Posters in Madrid: ‘The rescue is coming!’



China apparently escalating crackdown on Tibet…


A tibetan man burns himself to death at the Labrang monastery in Sangchu. He was the 57th to self-immolate since February 2009. Credit: Freetibet.org


Tibetans still burning themselves to death…


Geography is destiny: ‘England certainly is an island, and it was water, as much as will, that stopped Hitler…’




‘So far, Romney is batting zero when it comes to landing
a punch on foreign policy or national security…’

Close: Obama 47%, Romney 47%… Reasons either could win…


Topics for tonight’s foreign-policy debate:
red lines in Iran, terrorism, rise of China…


Six 15-min segments, questions from CBS anchor Bob Shieffer…


Obama’s terrorism-fighting record strong,
Romney will attack with Benghazi accusations…


Obama to emphasize killing Bin Laden but,
‘There’s only so much blood you can
squeeze from a dead Osama bin Laden…’


Romney should go easy on Benghazi, say something nice about
the Palestinians, concede that Iraq was a mistake, open
the door to a deal with Iran, and cool it on China…


Getting set: An Obama campaign employee works on the set for the spin corner for the final presidential debate between the president and Mitt Romney at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida. Credit: AP


ROUND 3 TONIGHT…



Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) exposes Libyan nationals in Benghazi document dump…


David Axelrod: ‘The way [Issa and the GOP] handled this issue is disgraceful…’


John Kerry: ‘A moment of real incompetence and irresponsibility…’


John Kerry’s panel is one of several investigating the Benghazi attacks. Credit: AP


Issa defends revealing identities of Libyan nationals…


Has Benghazi opportunism run its course?


Fake Benghazi scandal a waste of time: ‘There’s not much there there…’



Lebanon boiling over after funeral of assassinated intelligence officer…

Army: ‘Tension in some regions is rising to unprecedented levels…’


The Lebanese army vows firm action to curb violence following deaths in the wake of intelligence chief's assassination. Credit: Al Jazeera


Sniper fire, gun shots, soldiers on the streets…


Crisis underscores concern 19-month-old uprising against Assad dragging in Syria’s neighbors Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan…


The Syrian vortex…



‘Lance Armstrong has no place in cycling…’ stripped of all seven Tour de France titles…


Lance Armstrong. Credit: Cycling News


Greg LeMond becomes only American to win the tour…


Armstrong banned from cycling for life…


Doping investigation ‘exposed the rot in a popular sport… quite an achievement…’


Time for Armstrong to come clean…



How Wall Street rigs the game…


The American flag is hung on the exterior of the New York Stock Exchange in New York City, Oct. 19, 2012. Credit: Getty Images


Less than 1/3 of new laws implemented, 3/4 of deadlines missed by regulators…



Google’s massive global data centers…


Explorable via Street View…


Council Bluffs, Iowa — Hovering above the floor in Council Bluffs, Iowa, the scale of the data center begins to take shape. Huge steel beams both support the structure and help distribute power. Credit: Google


Anyone online can peer into its data centers, but Google closely guards physical access to buildings…




National Security Council Spokesperson: ‘It’s not true that the
United States and Iran have agreed to one-on-one talks
or any meeting after the American elections…’


US denies New York Times report that it has agreed to
bilateral negotiations with Iran about its nuclear program…


Israel knows nothing of the breakthrough…


US asks India to pressure Iran toward international talks…


Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, has the last word on whether talks should occur. Credit: Reuters


US, IRAN TO DISCUSS NUKE PROGRAM…



11 ways the economy still isn’t fixed…


President Obama and Bill Clinton confer.


BLS: Only one million more jobs now than in Feb 2009…


Where’s Obama’s second-term agenda?



Lebanese angered by Syria killing intelligence officer…


Thousands gather for ‘day of rage’ against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Lebanon…


Lebanese gather for day of rage.


Roads blocked, people confined to homes…



Walter Russell Mead: ‘Romney and Obama share a propensity to meddle in the lives of the poor in the effort to uplift them.

‘President Obama would take away their bologna, their Twinkies and their gas guzzlers—not to mention their guns and their right to whop their kids as they see fit;

‘Romney would force them to jump through hoops for their welfare checks and their food stamps…’


Wilsonianism abroad is Bostonianism at home, and both 2012 presidential candidates have a bit of Boston in them.



This Silver-winning International one-sheet poster for


The year’s best movie posters…




Iraqi prime minister to US:
‘Speed up the arming of the Iraqi army…’


From being Iraq’s top trading partner,
US now fifth after Iran, Russia, Turkey, and China…


‘Simply put, Russia is suddenly all over the Middle East…’


US policy is failing…


Russian President Vladimir Putin. Credit: Getty Images


PUTIN TO IRAQ: OIL FOR ARMS?



World economy looking up for a change…


Fear of eurozone catastrophe ramping down…


German Chancellor Angela Merkel and ECB President Mario Draghi.


Too hopeful? ‘All we have is the commitment of action at some point in the future from an entity with an unlimited balance sheet…’



Tech stocks deliver disappointing earnings, sink stocks…


A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (AFP/Getty Images/File, Spencer Platt)


Biggest drop since June… ‘People got spooked when Google went negative…’




Criminal law expert: ‘This is a blowout that will
have ripple effects in many directions…’


Boy Scouts of America releases suspected pedophile records…


‘Perversion list’ reveals 20 years of sex abuse…


‘Police chiefs, prosecutors, pastors’
shielded suspected abusers…


Search the database…


In this file photo, Kerry Lewis, left, leans into his lawyer, Paul Mones, in a Portland, Ore., courtroom after a jury found the Boy Scouts of America negligent for repeated sexual abuse by an assistant Scoutmaster in the 1980s. Files released Thursday reveal that local Boy Scout leaders and town officials helped hush up numerous child sex abuse allegations. Credit: AP


1,200 BOY SCOUT MOLESTERS…



Popular vote swings Romney’s way, electoral vote still Obama’s…


Either can still win… paths to 270:


What Romney and Obama need to do to win.



Another nationwide strike in Greece…


Protesters clash with riot police in Athens. Photo: Getty Images


Taxes and wage cuts so bad families ‘can no longer afford to bury their dead…’


65-year old protester collapses and dies…



Strikes on Iran will not be ‘surgical…’

‘Expect casualties in the range of 12,000 – 70,000 people…’


More like ‘a battlefield amputation, not modern surgery…’


An Israeli mobile artillery cross a road during a military exercise in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, north of Israel on Sepetember 19, 2012. (Jack Guez / Getty Images)


Is the US ‘igniting a military conflagration in the Middle East’?



15 financial CEOs warn Obama, Congress to avoid ‘fiscal cliff…’

Tax hikes and spending cuts could spike interest rates…


The US Capitol Building on Saturday, November 19, 2011. Credit: AP


Obama will veto solution that does not include higher taxes on wealthy…


Consequences of inaction on markets, growth, employment ‘would be very grave…’



Is Clinton planning to run for President in 2016? ‘You know? I am not…’


Caption: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has disputed claims that she berated a former staffer who bemoaned the difficulty of balancing motherhood and demanding jobs. She also said she will not run for President in 2016. Credit: AP


Finished with politics at the end of Obama’s current term…



In a comparison of strengths, the USA beats China 3-2, falling short in education. Conclusion: ‘The US needs to rethink its education policies if it’s going to stay ahead of China’s explosive growth!’




Syrian rebel ‘minimum’ needs list: 1,000 rocket-propelled grenades,
500 SAM-7 surface-to-air missiles, 750 machine guns,
50,000 gas masks, 250 vehicles…


Opinion: ‘Left on its current course, America’s sensibly cautious policy
toward Syria is unfortunately going to come to an unhappy end:
The jihadist wing of the opposition will just get stronger
and gain more power to shape Syria’s future…’


Why are anti-war activists silent on Assad’s killing?


Obama administration’s ‘decision to sit on the
sidelines is causing unwanted blowback…’


Rebels getting weapons from extremists,
including al Qaeda-like groups…


Now toting anti-aircraft missiles…


A Free Syria Army fighter takes position in a house on the Lebanese-Syrian border prior to a nighttime operation on January 2 2012. Monitors say more than 9 000 people have been killed in the Syrian unrest that started with peaceful protests in March 2011 before turning into an armed revolt. (AFP)


SYRIAN REBELS DOWN HELICOPTER…



For second debate in a row, Obama and Romney ‘sparred over who, if elected, could get the country burning more fossil fuels…’


Coal is our dirtiest fuel. ‘Letting coal production fall would be a good thing for the environment and the economy. But neither candidate wants to say so…’


‘Both campaigns have apparently decided that climate change is a loser. Romney doesn’t want to admit that it even exists… After the Copenhagen talks failed and cap-and-trade became cap-and-tax, [Obama] pretty much gave up on it…’


Despite the obviously changing climate, neither candidate for the White House has adequately addressed the issue. What will it take?


Obama in 2008: ‘Few challenges facing America – and the world – are more urgent than combating climate change… Delay is no longer an option.’ At Tuesday’s debate, Obama boasted of ‘increases in coal production’ in his first term…


‘In the midst of what will almost certainly be the warmest year on record, climate change has become to the Obama Administration the Great Unmentionable…’ The next president must ‘move beyond the tired arguments of the past and act as if the future matters…’


Meanwhile, Australia and India begin drafting civil nuclear power cooperation…



Bangladeshi man attempts to blow up Federal Reserve Bank of NY…


Tricked into dialing fake cell phone detonator, proving intent…

Wanted to do ‘something big, that will shake the whole country… that will make us one step closer to run the whole world…’


Courtroom sketch shows Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis (Center). Credit: AP


‘We will not stop until we attain victory or martyrdom…’

Held without bail…



Annual welfare spending now $1 trillion… Food stamp spending up most…


The US ‘spends more on federal welfare than any other program in the federal budget…

‘The administration ludicrously argues that every five dollars in food stamp spending results in nearly 10 dollars in economic benefit…’


One million more Americans on food stamps now than one year ago…


Number of non-citizens on food stamps quadrupled since 2001.


Senate Budget Committee GOP members: ‘USDA has engaged in an aggressive outreach and promotional campaign to boost food stamp enrollment. Among these efforts are an ongoing partnership with the Mexican government to advertise food stamps to Mexican nationals, migrant workers, and non-citizen immigrants. Partly as a result of these efforts, the number of non-citizens on food stamps has quadrupled since 2001…’



Student loan debt among new grads up 5%…


Student loan indebtedness summary. Credit: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


$1,350 average increase. Debt for BA degrees highest in New Hampshire at $32,440, second-highest in Pennsylvania at $29,959, lowest in Utah at $17,227…


Limbaugh: Crowley was worse than Jim Lehrer, ‘In the media world I grew up in, her career would be finished…’


Beck: ‘As soon as [Romney] begins to win, she shuts him down…’


Goodman: ‘When Obama followed up with ‘Say that again, Candy’ and the audience of ‘undecided voters’ cheered, the image was of a moderator and the president ganging up on the Republican candidate…’


Second presidential debate moderator Candy Crowley. Credit: Getty Images


7-min video: Crowley explains the debate from her perspective…


Clarifying the contentious Libya point: In the Rose Garden the day after the attack, Obama ‘did not say ‘terrorism’ – and it took the administration days to concede that it was an ‘act of terrorism’ that appears unrelated to initial reports of anger at a video that defamed the prophet Muhammad…’



Nathaniel Philbrick thinks you should read Moby-Dick not only because ‘the level of the language is like no other,’ but because ‘it’s as close to being our American Bible as we have…’




Fournier: ‘Likely did nothing to reshape the closely fought race…’


Barro: ‘Neither candidate made a remotely convincing case that
he can fix America’s economy… If Obama had a serious economic
agenda, he would presumably be working to implement it… If
Romney has a serious economic agenda, he has worked very hard
to ensure that nobody finds out what it is…’


Tamny: ‘It was like two beginners playing tennis with each other,
neither able to hit the ball over the net. Both deserve to lose…


Sargent: ‘Obama accomplished something of a turnaround…’


Lowry: ‘Mitt Romney has established himself
as a plausible alternative with a plausible plan…’


Seib: ‘Surely the most lively and least decorous debate
ever seen in an American presidential campaign…’

Fact checks: Annenberg, CBS, Chicago Trib, HuffPo, Wonkblog
90-min video, transcript, 10 best lines, 7 best moments


Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, left, addresses President Obama directly during their debate at Hofstra University on Oct. 16, 2012, in Hempstead, NY. Photo: AP


A ‘CRACKLING’ SECOND DEBATE…



Sanctions won’t stop Iran from getting nukes…


Netanyahu: ‘Have not yet rolled back the Iranian program…’


The Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran. Photo: Getty Images


Iranians blame inflation, unemployment on government squandering of oil profits…


‘The American government has never understood the Middle East and fundamental Islam, and it probably never will…’



Mediator: Syria’s civil war could spread across borders into ‘all-consuming’ conflict…


International mediator Lakhdar Brahimi. Credit: Reuters


Suggests ceasefire around Muslim holiday…


Syrian Christians skeptical of both rebels and Assad regime…



Feds raid lab linked to deadly meningitis outbreak…


Moldy ceiling tiles? Dusty shoes of a careless employee? An ingredient?


Now a criminal matter…


A Framingham Motorcycle Unit officer stands by while federal agents search New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Massachusetts October 16, 2012.Credit: Reuters/Dominick Reuter


Expert: ‘We’re nowhere near the end of this problem…’



US housing starts rise to 4-year high in September…


Construction workers finish a roof in Chicago. Oct. 12, 2012. Photo: AP


Up 15% in one month…



Green party candidates arrested for trying to enter site of Obama/Romney debate…


Police arrested Green Party Presidential candidate Jill Stein and her running mate, Cheri Honkala, after they tried to enter the site of tonight’s presidential debate at Hofstra University. Credit: longislandreport.org


‘We are here to bring the courage of those excluded from our politics to this mock debate, this mockery of democracy…’


Obama/Romney two sides of same coin…



Nike cuts ties with Lance Armstrong on evidence of doping…


Lance Armstrong is stepping down as chair of Livestrong. Credit: Getty Images


‘When Nike drops an athlete, you know he or she has done something terribly, irreparably wrong…’


Armstrong steps down as chairman of Livestrong…



Shift of power from West to East would not be proceeding smoothly without deterrence of nuclear weapons…


Remembering the nuclear red line.




Farrakhan to Obama: ‘You aren’t going to win any more white
votes by being kind and gracious. Be a little black.’


Obama to pitch tax breaks for middle class, increases for wealthy…


Needs more of ‘the vision thing…’


Romney to emphasize ‘a clear choice on debt and deficits…’


Town-hall format will help Obama, hinder Romney…


Moderator Candy Crowley a concern to both sides…


President Obama speaks during a recent campaign event in Miami earlier this month. (Larry Marano / WireImage via Getty Images)


ROUND 2:
Make or Break for Obama…



Hillary Clinton on Libya attack: ‘I take responsibility… I knew Chris Stevens. I asked him personally to be in Benghazi…’


Libya turning into ‘a spectacular scandal that keeps growing more outrageous every day…’


NY Times: GOP ‘more interested in attacking President Obama than in formulating an effective response…’


3-min video: Romney ‘cravenly trying to exploit’ Libya attack…


In this Oct. 2, 2012 file photo, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks at the State Department in Washington. Photo: AP


Bill gathering informal legal team in case Obama officials continue blaming Hillary…

Stain on her reputation ‘could seriously damage her chances for election’ as president in 2016…



Soros: The EU could be destroyed by the ‘nightmare’ euro crisis, a self-created ‘lasting depression,’ and Germany must step up…


Soros Fund Management Chairman George Soros waits to deliver a speech at the Central European University in Budapest, November 3, 2011. Credit: Reuters/Bernadett Szabo.


True, ‘current German policies… are not consistent with the survival of the eurozone,’ which must ‘be reformed decisively or… break up in acrimony…’


No, the eurozone is here to stay: ‘Survived three years of incessant financial turmoil… not going to break up… could very well keep all its 17 members and add more…’


It was a bad idea, poorly executed, now hard to fix: ‘Will continue to muddle along from crisis to crisis… likely to be an extended period of poor economic performance…’



Switzerland preparing for violent unrest across Europe…

Conducting army exercises against the possibility of riots along its borders…


Members of Switzerland's Army Forces (Reuters / Thomas Hodel)


Defense minister: ‘I can’t exclude that in the coming years we may need the army…’



EU tightens anti-nuke sanctions on Iran…


Oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. Photo: AP


Secret ‘Murky Water’ plan: Iran plots ‘massive environmental catastrophe’ by crashing oil supertanker in Strait of Hormuz…



Whither the bookstore? Shopper to clerk: ‘I’m just going to run to the store to do the weekly food shopping. I’m just going to leave my sons here, is that okay? They’re three and five. They’re no trouble….’

Book cover: Weird Things Customers Say in Bookstores, by Jen Campbell


Conservative book editor: Market is saturated… Readers, ‘including not a few conservatives, have just grown tired of the arguments…’


Back in the US from Europe, editor ‘can’t find nonfiction books that I want to read…’



The challenge and joy of not speaking…


Still grieving my divorce, I went to a Buddhist retreat and discovered the challenge -- and joy -- of not speaking. (Credit: Mykhaylo Palinchak via Shutterstock)


‘Our culture is hostile to silence… one reason lots of us have trouble putting into practice the productivity tips we find in books, seminars and blog posts…’




Clarence Page on Obama: ‘Let’s face it, he did screw up,
and Democrats were angrier at him than Republicans were.’


Swing state poll review…


Obama to ‘come out swinging’ in second debate…


Romney campaign not worried…
‘He can’t change his record, he can’t change his policies…’


Obama advantage evaporating…
Must find a way to alter the direction of the race…


Obama's lead, in blue, vanished in the wake of his poor debate showing against Romney.


OBAMA GAVE IT ALL BACK…



Former senator Arlen Specter dead at 82…


Photo gallery…


Sen. Arlen Specter may best known for switching parties, from Republican to Democrat in 2009. Specter switched parties with a suddenness that stunned the Senate, leaving Democrats one seat shy of a 60-vote filibuster-resistant majority. Photo: AP


‘Will be remembered as one of the great independents…’



5 Royal Marines charged with murder in Afghanistan…

Def Sec: ‘Everybody serving in theatre knows the rules of engagement…’


The Royal Marines from 3 Commando Brigade in Afghanistan.


Professor: The rules ‘are very complicated for troops,’ sometimes interpreted ‘ in split second situations…’



Roubini: QE3 reduces risk of recession, but ‘unlikely to lead to a sustained recovery…’


Bernanke: ‘By boosting US spending and growth, [Fed stimulus] has the effect of helping to support the global economy as well…’


Global economy triple threat: EU debt, US fiscal cliff, Asian slowdown…


Senators maneuvering into position for fiscal cliff showdown…


Sen. Charles Schumer speaks on the fiscal cliff issue Tuesday. | M.Scott Mahaskey/POLITICO


Strong September jobs numbers ‘not as bad as feared nor as good as hoped…’


Fed should keep rates low until unemployment falls below 5.5%…



Microsoft builds Xbox streaming music service into Windows 8…

Free with ads, $9.99/mo without, challenges Pandora and Spotify…


The software giant sets its sites on Spotify and Pandora, making its new streaming music service the default way to hear tunes in Windows 8. The service will extend to mobile phones and its video game console.


iOS, Android versions to arrive within a year…


Cloud-based connectivity will allow access to playlists and music collections across devices…



Jesse Jackson Jr. accused of using campaign money to decorate home…


May also have used campaign funds to fly swimsuit model in for visit…


Local Chicago media revealed Friday that a new federal investigation of Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL) is under way. Did Jackson use campaign cash to repeatedly fly this former swimsuit model from Washington to Chicago?


On leave since June for treatment of bipolar disorder…



The corporatization of society requires a population that accepts control by authorities, and so when psychologists and psychiatrists began providing techniques that could control people, the corporatocracy embraced mental health professionals…


Those who rise to power in the corporatocracy are control freaks, addicted to the buzz of power over other human beings, and so it is natural for such authorities to have become excited by behavior modification.



Baumgartner breaks sound barrier in jump from 24 miles above Earth…


Felix Baumgartner hit Mach 1.24, or 833.9 mph, according to preliminary data, and became the first person to reach supersonic speed without traveling in a jet or a spacecraft after hopping out of a capsule that had reached an altitude of 128,100 feet above the Earth.


9-min descent, half in free fall of 119,846 feet…




With ‘few opportunities to recover from
slip-ups in what remains an exceedingly close
race,’ Obama must recover from ‘listless first debate…’


Romney on a roll in Ohio…
‘A growing crescendo of enthusiasm…’


Romney ad buys soaring in key states…
For first time since summer, Obama trailing in ad spending…


‘It’s starting to look like Mr. Obama is behind the eight ball…’


Debates this Tuesday and next Monday…


Presidential contender Mitt Romney is drawing larger crowds as Election Day nears. In this Reuter's photo, he's seen speaking at a campaign rally in Lebanon, Ohio on October 13, 2012.


A CRITICAL 8 DAYS AHEAD…



Iran crows about Hezbollah’s drone launch into Israel…


The Israeli Air Force shot down a Hezbollah drone that entered Israeli air space.


Beamed back live images of secret Israeli military bases…



Syrian torture victim describes brutal techniques…

‘They put my arms and legs in a tire, like a roasted chicken, and then beat me…’




Consumer sentiment highest since 2007…


This chart shows consumer sentiment since 2000 according to the Reuters/University of Michigan Survey of Consumers. Consumer sentiment reached a high not seen since 2007 in October 2012.


‘A combination of rising home prices and higher equities…’


Really? Only half of Americans own stock, lowest since 1999…


Top 20% of households own 90% of stock wealth…

‘The stock market simply has little or no direct financial importance to the majority of US households…’



Does China care that Tibet’s ‘wave of immolations’ has reached 54?


Jampa Yeshi self-immolates in March to protest China’s policies. (K Asif / India Today Group-Getty Images)


Blames the Dalai Lama…



23-mile-high, speed-of-sound skydive today…


An Austrian daredevil suited up on Sunday in the hopes of making his long-delayed skydive from a balloon flying 23 miles above the planet and breaking the sound barrier.



Why can’t you vote online?


Making internet voting secure is a big challenge, but American elections have bigger demons.




Gingrich: ‘Biden on Benghazi was so wrong last night,
it’s going to haunt them from now until the next debate…’


GOP goes after White House on mishandling of Libya attack…


Romney: ‘The vice president directly contradicted
the sworn testimony of State Department officials…’


Clinton: ‘Nobody wants to know more about
what happened, and why, than I do…’


Why did two officials draw different conclusions from the same briefing?


GOP congressmen blaming White House
voted to cut diplomatic security funding…


Benghazi-gate becomes a GOP attack line against the White House.


BENGHAZI-GATE…



Syrian civil war intensifies… hundreds killed each day…


In this Reuters photo, members of the Free Syrian Army in Aleppo City, Oct. 11, 2012.


Assad not giving the West an excuse to attack…


Turkey moves tanks to hilltop overlooking Syria… 500 Syrian officers desert to Turkey…



Nobel Peace Prize goes to the EU…


For transforming ‘most of Europe from a continent of war to a continent of peace…’

‘An absolute disgrace…’


In this European Pressphoto Agency file, Thorbjorn Jagland, the chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, announces the winner of the peace prize on Friday, Oct. 12, 2012 in Oslo.


‘First Al Gore, then Obama, now this. Parody is redundant…’



US deficit over $1T for fourth year in a row…

Total government debt now $16.12T, just shy of $16.39T debt ceiling…


US will hit debt ceiling again in late December…


The US deficit has been shrinking slowly since 2009.


Party out of power always makes deficit a big issue: Dems in 2008, GOP now…

Whoever is the next president, he’ll have his hands full…



Low rates from Fed helping banks more than borrowers…


The Housing Market by Keith Negley, for The Los Angeles Times, October 13, 2012.


JPMorgan, Wells Fargo: Housing market has turned the corner…



Government close to suing Google…

Allegedly using search dominance to stifle competition, boost ad prices…


100-page memo sums up 19-month investigation…


Google's domination.


FTC questions Google’s use of AdWords, smartphone business…




Biden: ‘I love my friend here.’ He says now the stimulus
was a mistake, but he sent me two letters asking, ‘Can you send
me some stimulus money for companies here in the state of Wisconsin?’


Interruptions, talking over each other, smirks, raised voices…
Biden: ‘That’s just a bunch of malarkey… Not a single thing he said is accurate…’
Ryan: ‘I know you’re under a lot of duress to make up for lost ground,
but I think people would be better served if we don’t keep interrupting each other…’


Biden goes all in on Romney’s 47% comments…


1-min video: Biden busting up…


1-min videos: 6 must-see moments…


Complete 90-min video and full transcript…

Fact check rundown: CBS, National Journal, Washington Post


CBS poll: 50% think Biden won, 31% Ryan…


CNN poll: Essentially a draw…


But most talk is about Biden…


‘One of the best debates I can remember. It was a great service to all Americans…’


In this AP photo, Republican vice-presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and Democratic Vice President Joe Biden shake hands after the vice-presidential debate at Centre College in Danville, Ky on October 11, 2012.


SHARP WORDS IN RYAN, BIDEN DEBATE…





IMF’s Lagarde: Give Greece two more years to meet budget targets…


Christine Lagarde of the IMF speaks in Tokyo on October 11, 2012.

Calls for ‘decisive action’ on US debt ceiling…



France ‘uncovers biggest bomb plot in years…’


Police investigate after bomb-making materials were found in a Paris suburb on Tuesday night.


Detains 7 Islamic extremists, 19-25 years old, French-born…

Discovered weapons and materials ‘useful in the making of what are known as improvised explosives’ in Paris suburb…



Japan’s Softbank hopes to buy 70% of Sprint…


Japan's Softbank hopes to buy 70 pct of Sprint.


Would disrupt a US wireless industry dominated by AT&T and Verizon…

‘This must be causing chills to run down the spines of AT&T and Verizon executives…’


On Tokyo exchange, Softbank crashes 17 pct, Japanese market hits two-month low…



Space Shuttle Endeavour completes final journey – through LA streets…


The Space Shuttle Endeavour gets a ride to LAX.


From LAX to Calif Science Center on widest boulevards…


The challenge of moving the Space Shuttle Endeavour 12 miles through Los Angeles.


2-min video: Logistical challenge over 12-mile route… 3 types of turns…


5 potential disasters en route…



US first-class stamp to rise 1 cent to 46 cents on Jan 27…


In this Dec. 5, 2011 AP photo, a customer places first class stamps on envelopes at a U.S. Post Office in San Jose, Calif. It'll cost another penny to mail a letter in 2013.



What do contemporary artists have to say, and to whom are they saying it? Too many artists have retreated to an airless echo chamber…

For the arts to revive in the US, young artists must be rescued from their sanitized middle-class backgrounds…




Tonight’s VP debate ‘could be the Obama campaign’s last, best
chance to tie the Republican ticket to some of
Ryan’s more controversial proposals…’


Four possible Bidens: Uncle Cornball, Dan Quayle the Second,
Bazooka Joe, Delaware Joe…


Both men must avoid outshining their bosses, inconsistent messages…


‘If everybody’s talking about you, you’re doing it wrong…’


Romney/Ryan lead CO, VA…
Obama/Biden lead FL, MI, OH, VA, WI…


Vice presidential candidates Joe Biden and Paul Ryan will debate at 9 pm tonight.


BIDEN vs RYAN TONIGHT…



S&P downgrades Spain’s credit rating two notches to BBB- from BBB+…

Just one notch above ‘junk’ status, with a ‘negative outlook…’


Rating agency Standard & Poor's has downgraded Spain's credit rating by two notches, warning that the deepening economic recession is limiting the government's options.


Bonds inch toward the critical 6% mark…


Worst-case scenario: Spiraling unemployment, secession of Catalonia, permanent ECB life support…



German Finance Minister: No one in the eurozone is thinking of giving up on the euro…


Poll: More Germans want Greece in eurozone than out…


The flags of Germany, Greece and European Union flutter in the wind before a meeting between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras in Berlin, August 24, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Tobias Schwarz


Eurozone leaders: No retreat…



Nordstrom, who requested more security for Libya: ‘It was abundantly clear we were not going to get resources until the aftermath of an incident…’

Lamb, who evaluated the request: ‘We had the correct number of assets in Benghazi at the time of 9/11…’

Ambassador Kennedy: ‘Under that kind of lethality, we’re never going to have enough guns. We’re a diplomatic service. We are not an armed camp…’


Libyan guard: ‘We were not expecting such a massive attack. We were not ready for it…’


(From left to right) Lt. Col. Andrew Wood of the Utah National Guard, Eric Nordstrom, Regional Security Officer at the U.S. Department of State, Charlene R. Lamb, Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Programs at the U.S. Department of State, and Ambassador Patrick Kennedy, Under Secretary for Management at the U.S. Department of State, are sworn in before testifying on Capitol Hill on October 10, 2012 in Washington, DC. The hearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee focused on the security situation in Benghazi leading up to the September 11 attack that resulted in the assassination of U.S. Ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens. (Brendan Hoffman / Getty Images)


Kennedy defends Rice: ‘The information she had… is the same that I had…’


Not enough: House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa requests classified briefing…


Why are left-wing bloggers ‘trying to ignore’ the Libya scandal?


4-min video: Mother of slain agent says government telling her ‘outright lies…’



Jobless claims fall to 339,000 – lowest in 4.5 years…


In this Reuters photo, people wait in line at an August 2011 job fair in New York.


CNNMoney: ‘Less than a week after a strong monthly jobs report raised eyebrows and unleashed a political firestorm, with former GE CEO Jack Welch alleging that the numbers were manipulated…’


Tempered enthusiasm: ‘One large state didn’t report additional quarterly figures as expected, accounting for a substantial part of the decrease…’



Lance Armstrong engaged in ‘the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen…’


USADA report: 26 witnesses, 11 former teammates, 200 pages…


US cyclist Lance Armstrong was engaged in a 'sophisticated' doping program.


2-min video: Attorney says report one-sided, USADA ‘out to get Lance…’


Armstrong ‘unaffected…’



‘Whether you end up on the right or the left of the political spectrum turns out to be just as heritable as most other traits:

Genetics explains between a third and a half of the variability among people on their political attitudes. Being raised in a liberal or conservative household accounts for much less…’




Opinion: ‘Even as military power has proven itself a bust
again and again, our policymakers have come to rely ever more
completely on a military-first response to global problems…’

War game reveals high odds of US involvement if Israel attacks Iran…

Sobering conclusion: ‘Washington could quickly lose control
of events after an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities…’


Ahmadinejad: ‘Iran’s response to any aggression will be crushing…’


In this AP photo: The military complex at Parchin, Iran, in 2004.


US AND ISRAEL TO STRIKE IRAN?



50,000 Greeks violently protest Merkel visit…


Anti-Merkel protests in Athens turned violent.


Merkel: ‘There is progress every day… We are partners and we are friends…’


Little EU progress: ‘Lacks teeth…’ ‘even in Germany, hardly anything was implemented…’


Germany should dump the euro and return to the Deutsche mark…


Prosperous European regions demanding independence…



Embassy security officer: Libya was ‘not an environment where post should be directed to ‘normalize’ operations and reduce security resources in accordance with an artificial timetable.’


230 ‘security incidents’ recorded in run-up to attack…


Aftermath of September 11, 2012 Libya attack that killed US Ambassador Chris Stevens.


State Dept denies linking Libya attack to anti-Muslim video…


Official: ‘That was not our conclusion, that’s not saying we had a conclusion, but we outlined what happened…’



Romney pulls ahead in Ohio…


30-sec video: ‘You have to scratch your head when the president spends the last week talking about saving Big Bird…’


Sesame Workshop: We have ‘requested that both campaigns remove Sesame Street characters and trademarks from their campaign materials…’


Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney talks to the crowd in Cuyahoga Falls on October 9, 2012. (Scott Shaw/Plain Dealer)


Romney’s new cheer for Obama supporters: ‘Four more weeks’ not ‘four more years…’


Son, Tagg Romney, created ‘let Mitt be Mitt’ makeover to refresh dad’s image…


1-min video: Ryan quits local TV interview when reporter ties gun violence to tax cuts…



Nobel Prize in medicine to Briton and Japanese for stem cell work…


Gurdon and Yamanaka honored for ‘the discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed’ to return to a very early state of development…


Nobel Prize in medicine winners in 2012 John Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka.


Specialized cells can turn back the developmental clock under certain circumstances…


This mouse was born from an egg cell, made from indiced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells of a mouse, and was able to reproduce.


Japanese scientists used Yamanaka’s approach to turn skin cells from mice into eggs that produced baby mice…



Arab journalist: Arab leaders caused ‘the starvation, the killings, and the destruction…’

‘Who is the real enemy of the Arab world?’


Journalist Abdulateef Al-Mulhim.


Author: ‘Leaderships have used religion as a means of projecting the image of legitimacy as well as controlling the populations…’


Book cover: It's Not About Religion



Meningitis death toll rises to 12…


All were injected with a pain drug shipped from a pharmacy in Massachusetts…

Officials scrambling to notify 13,000 more who may have received the drug…


Tracking an outbreak.


Doctors reconsidering use of custom pharmacies…


In this AP photo, George Cary and daughters at a memorial service in Howell, Michigan, Tuesday for his wife, Lilian Cary, 67 years old, whose death was linked to fungal meningitis from steroid injections.


Sandusky gets 30 years…


In this Getty Images photo, Jerry Sandusky walks into the Centre County Courthouse before being sentenced in his child sex abuse case on Tuesday morning.

Judge: ‘The crime is not only what you did to their bodies but to their psyches and their souls and the assault to the well-being of the larger community in which we all live…’



Handwriting involves us in a relationship with the written word that is sensuous, immediate, and individual. It should have some place in our lives…

‘We enhance the quality of our lives by going for the slow option, the path which takes a little bit of effort…’




Editorial: ‘Four Americans are dead, and the White House
tried to hide the circumstances of their deaths to
help a president in a tough re-election fight…’


Spec-Ops team requested ‘more, not less’ reinforcement…


The day he died, Ambassador Stevens warned Washington
about local Libyan militia feud, no mention of anti-Muslim video…


3-min video: Woods ‘was constantly concerned about the
threats to not just himself but the entire staff there,’ yet,
‘There was pressure to reduce the number of security people…’


Warning: Chris Stevens told officials that militia groups providing security in Benghazi had turned against the US.


LIBYAN LETDOWN:
White House ignored requests for security,
covered up in wake of ambassador’s death…



Protesters prepare for Merkel to visit Athens…


Snipers, helicopters, and water cannons in place…


No red carpet for Merkel as she visits Athens.


Merkel to offer encouragement: ‘I know that Greece is not going through an easy time at the moment…’


Greeks skeptical: ‘Her policies have brought [Greece] to the brink… She comes to save the corrupt, disgraced and servile political system…’



One in five Americans reports no religious affiliation…


According to the Pew Research Center, one-fifth of US adults say they are not part of a traditional religious denomination.


‘Nones’ a growing force: ‘I prefer to stress the importance of acting with compassion rather than choosing a predetermined system of beliefs…’


Pew: Only 10% of ‘nones’ are looking for religion…



Obama lead vanishes after debate…

Pew poll reversal ‘devastating, just devastating…’

‘Before the debate, Obama had a 51 – 43 lead; now, Romney has a 49 – 45 lead. That’s a simply unprecedented reversal for a candidate in October…’


President Obama suffered an unprecedented reversal for a candidate in October after his poor debate performance.


Gallup: Romney debate victory biggest ever…


Not a bad debate night for Obama, a bad four years in office…


Obama on notice to bring more clarity to Oct 16 debate…



IMF: Recession risk alarmingly high, confidence in financial system exceptionally fragile…


Cuts world growth forecast to 3.3% from 3.5%, sees lower growth in 2013…


In this Reuters photo, International Monetary Fund Economic Counsellor and Director of Research Department Olivier Blanchard enters a news briefing in Tokyo October 9, 2012.


US growth dependent on avoiding fiscal cliff…



100-million-year-old spider attack fossil discovered…


The fossil of the attack, in the Hukawng Valley of Myanmar, occurred between 97-110 million years ago.


Professor: ‘This juvenile spider was going to make a meal out of a tiny parasitic wasp, but never quite got to it…’

‘The wasp was watching the spider just as it was about to be attacked, when tree resin flowed over and captured both of them…’


Both spider and wasp species now extinct…




Chavez: ‘What has taken place here
is a democratic and peaceful revolution…’


Capriles: ‘I hope a political movement
that has been in power for 14 years understands
that almost half the country does not agree with it…’


With 90% tallied: Chavez 54%, Capriles 45%…


Health in question, but Chavez expects 20 years in office…


A final victory for Fidel Castro?


Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez defeated challenger Henrique Capriles for another 6 years in power.


VIVA CHAVEZ



Eurozone kicks off €500B permanent bailout fund, focus on Spain…


Greece: ‘There are no cars in the streets… People don’t go out anymore…’


In this New York Times photo, People wait outside Medicins du Monde, a free clinic, in Athens, Greece, September 3, 2012.


World’s economic recovery ‘on the ropes…’


Global economic momentum is sliding.



Putin turns 60…

Daily routine: swimming and weight-lifting exercises, a breakfast of porridge, drive to work, late-night work sessions…


13-year legacy: Economy entirely dependent on oil and gas, political dissent stifled…


AP photo: Putin on a 2010 hunting trip in Siberia.


Documentary: Tireless, no-nonsense leader contemptuous of criticism…


Brown, Warren battling hard for Massachusetts’s US Senate seat…


Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren and Senator Scott Brown marched through East Boston on Sunday as part of the annual Columbus Day parade, held in advance of the Monday holiday.


Warren leads by 5 points, but unfavorability rising…


Listen: Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS backing Brown with robocalls… ‘Warren supports President Obama’s healthcare takeover that will cut over $700 billion for Medicare spending…’



NASA contractor SpaceX launches 1,000-lb payload to space station…


AP photo: A 71-second exposure as seen from Port Canaveral, Florida of the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch on October 7, 2012.


1-min video: Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral…


First of 12 SpaceX cargo flights under $1.6B NASA deal ‘critical’ to the space station…




Challenger Capriles: ‘President Chavez, your time
is over… You abused your position of authority…’


Venezuelan election focuses on a rising murder rate,
redistribution of oil wealth, and Chavez’s 13-year reign…


Chavez facing biggest challenge yet…


46-sec Video: Chavez’s red rally in the rain…


Henrique Capriles Radonski is the first to challenge Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in the 13 years that Chavez has held office.


WHO WILL LEAD VENEZUELA?



Turkey and Syria exchange fire again…


Reuters photo: Buildings damaged in the Turkey-Syria conflict.


Panetta: ‘May escalate and spread to neighboring countries…’


5-min Video: ‘The kind of flashpoint that can create World War III…’


Syrian living in Damascus: Weeped convulsively, ‘My people, my country…’



7 killed by rare fungal meningitis outbreak across 9 states…


Those affected fell ill after receiving steroid injections…


CDC outbreak map:


CDC meningitis outbreak map.


Roughly 75 clinics in 23 states received the recalled lots…



Is Obama tired of being president?


Is Obama tired of being president?


How Romney won the week…


Rasmussen: Romney 49%, Obama 47%



O’Reilly vs Stewart debate spirited…

‘My friend Bill O’Reilly is completely full of sh*t…’

Entitlement society: ‘They advertise on the radio for food stamps!…’


The OReilly vs Stewart debate was not as good as their shows, but was spirited.


Not as good as their shows, but at least it ‘wasn’t moderated by Jim Lehrer…’




Allen West: ‘Somehow by manipulation of data
we are all of a sudden below 8% unemployment,
a month from the presidential election…’


Romney: The reason unemployment has come down
is that ‘more and more people have
just stopped looking for work…’


Business Insider: ‘He’s correct…’


Obama happy to discuss economy:
Decline in unemployment since December
largest in election year since 1984…


Jack Welch: ‘Unbelievable…can’t debate so change numbers…
these numbers defy logic…’


Goldman Sachs: ‘Looks like a genuine move…’


Barron’s: ‘Vastly overstates the meager
improvement in the labor market…’


Net payrolls versus economists' expectations.


UNEMPLOYMENT FALLS TO 7.8%
First time below 8% since Obama took office…



Iran’s plan to end nuke crisis farcical: ‘They could restart the program in a nanosecond…’


In this Reuters photo, Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.


Sanctions working, low likelihood of Israel attack, Persian Spring rising?


But history of sanctions suggests Iran is far from collapse…



Border Patrol agent probably killed by friendly fire…


US Border Patrol Agent Nicholas Ivie was probably killed by friendly fire along the US-Mexico border.


14th agent killed in the line of duty since 2008, including three this year…



Island dispute leads China banks to pull out of financial meetings in Japan…


‘China is playing a dangerous game…’


‘Such boycotts are pointless. They only harm China and make it out to be a unstable and unreliable partner…’


The Tokyo branch of Agricultural Bank of China.


Japanese companies diversifying away from China to Southeast Asia…



California gasoline averages $4.48/gal, many places over $5…


In this UPI photo, a price board advertises gas above five dollars a gallon at a Shell station on El Camino Real in San Mateo, California.


Video: Some stations shutting down…



What you need to know about gerrymandering…


Gerrymandering is the science of denying voters a meaningful choice by distorting the shapes of Congressional districts to make them safe for one side or the other.


Rigged for Republicans…


What’s on the line in Maryland…



Bill O’Reilly vs Jon Stewart tonight, 8pm Eastern…


OReilly vs Stewart, debate, October 6, 2012 at 8pm ET.


‘The debate you really want to watch…’


Training for it as presidential candidates would… ‘will have many fireworks…’




UN: Syrian shelling of Turkey ‘highlighted the grave impact
the crisis in Syria has on the security of its neighbors
and on regional peace and stability…’


Turkey’s parliament authorizes military action against Syria…


Thousands protest war in Istanbul’s Taksim Square…


Every country bordering Syria facing
‘threat to internal stability and national security…’


Syrian crisis straining US-Turkey relations,
a storm ‘appears almost unavoidable…’


In this AP file photo, Turkish commandos stand near the Turkey-Syria border in Akcakale, Turkey, after Ankara authorized military action in early October 2012.


A TURKISH-SYRIAN WAR?



Russia’s most famous human-rights workers ‘threatened and killed in broad daylight…’


Human Rights Watch will double ‘efforts to do our work in Russia…’


Tanya Lokshina, a senior Russia researcher for Human Rights Watch, received severe text-message threats containing details of her life, ‘listening in,’ following her ‘every move…’


Tanya Lokshina, a senior Russia researcher for Human Rights Watch, said she received direct and severe threats via text messages mentioning specific details of her life, including her pregnancy.



EU austerity plan ‘based on a false premise. This disastrous error is now clear beyond any reasonable doubt…’


Is the EU austerity plan a disastrous error?


Companies borrowing dollars and euros at record-low interest rates…


European Central Bank President Draghi: ‘Significant progress’ in struggling economies, ‘So, not bad…’


Is this a rescue of the eurozone, ‘or a permanent drip feed?’



Obama on offense after debate setback: ‘I met this very spirited fellow who claimed to be Mitt Romney…’


Requisite fact-check of the debate: Who lied?


Pat Buchanan wets himself: Romney ‘turned in the finest debate performance of any candidate of either party’ in 52 years…’


Reasons Obama could recover: Electoral map favors him, he’ll learn from mistakes, Romney will make mistakes…


In this Getty Images file photo, President Obama gestures to supporters as he arrives for a rally at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, returning to the campaign trail after his Wednesday debate against Mitt Romney.


Peggy Noonan: ‘The next Obama-Romney debate will be different. The same Obama will not show up…’


Obama skipped Romney’s 47% flub because ‘We’ve got that on the air at a heavy dollar amount in key states…’


SpaceX Dragon capsule cargo mission set for launch Oct 7…

First commercial resupply mission to the Int’l Space Station…


Gets own mission patch…


The official insignia for the SpaceX NASA-contracted resupply mission to the International Space Station, CRS-1. The mission is the first of its kind.


‘Privately funded space exploration is becoming a routine…’



Analyst note: iPad Mini 4-6 weeks delayed, supply constraints hold back full sales potential…


‘Could look absolutely stunning…’


Most probably, the black iPad Mini will be the top seller.


How it compares with Google Nexus 7 and Microsoft Surface Pro…



Facebook tops 1 billion users…


For his first interview since Facebook went public, Mark Zuckerberg joined Matt Lauer of NBC in early October 2012.


Zuckerberg on 8-min NBC piece: ‘We’re in a tough cycle now… The future is really going to be about mobile…’



Founder of TED: It’s become too orchestrated, too ‘slick… Now, every speech is auditioned, rehearsed, edited, rehearsed again. The spontaneity is gone and there’s a lot of selling of charities. There’s the selling of being PC.’




Andrew Sullivan: ‘A disaster for the president…
he may even have lost the election…’


Will Wilkinson: Obama’s ‘lead
in question, if not actually in peril.’


Two-min Video: Chris Matthews unloads,
‘Where was Obama tonight?… He went in there disarmed…’


James Joyner: Romney cogent, Obama tired…


Joe Klein: ‘One of the most inept performances
I’ve ever seen by a sitting president…’


Bill Kristol: ‘The best debate performance by a Republican
presidential candidate in more than two decades…’


‘Romney vastly exceeds expectations…’


‘It wasn’t a TKO, it was a knockout…’


Most pundits concluded that Mitt Romney defeated Barack Obama in the first Presidential Debate of the 2012 campaign, held on October 3, 2012 in Denver, Colorado.


ROMNEY WINS DEBATE ONE:
New race Chris Christie predicted…



Turkey launches artillery attacks against Syria…

Retaliation for mortar strike…


‘Our armed forces…responded immediately to this abominable attack…’


Turkey retaliated against Syrian mortar strikes with an artillery strike on Syrian soil.


Hillary Clinton outraged, ‘very, very dangerous situation…’



Eurozone crisis could come to a head this month…


Survey: Back in recession, ‘inevitable…’


Pressure mounting on the European Central Bank to take action…


But is its unlimited bond-buying program illegal?


Austerity in Spain is cutting deep into the morale of citizens.


ECB waiting for Spain to request aid…



Ex TSA agent: We steal from travelers all the time… X-ray scanners used to find valuable items…


In this Reuters file photo, a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) security agent takes luggage for a second security check at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York.


ABC stings agent for theft of iPad…


Video: New TSA ‘freeze drill…’


Agents grabbed camera, erased checkpoint footage…



Chinese surveillance ships enter Japanese territorial waters… second day in a row…


A Chinese marine surveillance ship, foreground, runs side by side with a Japan Coast Guard vessel in waters off Kubashima island, one of the five Senkaku islands, on September 14, 2012. Uotsurishima island is in the background.



Debate: ‘Jim Lehrer may be the worst moderator in the history of moderation…’


What can I do? Moderator Jim Lehrer turns to the audience before the Presidential Debate began on October 3, 2012 in Denver, Colorado.


‘Fairly quickly in, he seemed to give up… lost control, early and often…’


But could ‘anyone without a mute button or buzzer’ have done better?



Occupy protesters couldn’t fill Denver intersection on debate night…




‘History has not been especially kind to trailers
who thought they were going to use the
debates to turn races upside down…’


For moderator Jim Lehrer, like ‘a walk down a knife blade…’


Video: 10 moments from debates past…


Breaking down the vulnerabilities on both sides…


Two men on equal footing…


Barack Obama and Mitt Romney will debate head-to-head for the first time at 9pm Eastern, October 3, 2012 in Denver, Colorado.


HEAD-TO-HEAD TONIGHT!



US hunting down Benghazi killers, may use drone strikes…


Joint Special Operations Command preparing ‘target packages…’


The Libyan government has approved the FBI to investigate the site of the September 11, 2012 attack on the US consulate in Benghazi.


Libya approves FBI for attack site investigation…ironing out details…


Local witness not yet contacted by investigators… ‘nobody has called, nobody cared…’


US removed all officials who could offer insight…efforts to understand are ‘all too little and way too late…’


Benghazi consulate bombed twice in five months before 9/11 anniversary…


US diplomats in Libya made repeated requests for higher security…denied in Washington…


Jon Stewart asks members of the Obama administration if they ever talk to each other, in reference to their mixed messages on the Benghazi attack.


Jon Stewart on White House’s mixed messages: ‘So, you guys talk to each other, or…?’


If Benghazi was a scandal, what was 9/11?



Iranian economy in free fall, currency at record low, people switching to hard assets…


Will not abandon nuclear program despite ‘enormous pressure…’



Report: Homeland Security ‘fusion centers’ providing ‘shoddy’ intelligence…


Joint Regional Intelligence Center in Norwalk, California.


Threatened civil liberties while doing little to combat terrorism…



Nearly 48,000 killed in Mexican drug-war violence since Dec 2006…


Manhunt for killers of US agent along Arizona-Mexico border…


US Embassy vehicle targeted by Mexican organized crime?


In this August 24, 2012 AP file photo, an armored US Embassy vehicle is checked by military personnel after it was attacked by unknown assailants on the highway leading to the city of Cuernavaca, near Tres Marias, Mexico.


New film offers a ‘more contemplative’ view of the carnage in Mexico…


Presidents of Mexico, Colombia, and Guatemala question US-led war on drugs… ‘serious shortcomings…’


Total failure: Price of cocaine 74% cheaper now than 30 years ago…



Occuflop: Tens of protesters gather one year after Occupy DC…


__


Swirled in hula hoops and chatted while the DJ played Prince’s 1999




Libya assault ‘contradicts’ Obama campaign slogan,
‘Osama bin Laden is dead, al Qaeda’s done,
everything’s fine in the Middle East…’


Romney op-ed: Obama ‘allowed our leadership to atrophy,’
thinks weakness will win favor with rivals…


Op-ed ‘sets a new bar for its vacuity,
aimlessness and lack of coherence…’


Change of focus because attacks on bad economy not working?


The GOP plans to portray Obama as a helpless, Jimmy Carter-like president and to equate the tragedy in Libya with Carter's failed attempt to rescue American hostages in Iran in 1980


A ‘JIMMY CARTER STRATEGY’
to make Obama look weak on defense…



Bernanke: $2T stimulus no green light for ‘bad fiscal policy…’


Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke: His latest money-printing plan has proved controversial in the US with the Presidential Election just a month away


Ross Perot: The last thing I ever want to see is ‘our country taken over because we’re so financially weak we can’t do anything, and we’re moving in that direction…’


Senate begins tiptoeing around the fiscal cliff…


Inaction raises taxes on 90% of Americans… average $3,500 per household…


Good news: includes an 8.2% cut in funding for Congress…



Polls tight: Obama 50%, Romney 47%…


40% will vote before Election Day…


Residents wait in line to pick up ballots at the courthouse in Waterloo, Iowa, when early voting in the state started on September 27, 2012


Obama can’t convince Americans he’s ‘just OK’ in a debate…


David Frum: 10 questions for Obama…


Eliot Spitzer: 2 questions for each…


Who cares? Obama’s lead in Ohio means it’s over, ‘just running out the clock…debates hardly matter…Obama will get re-elected…’



Eurozone unemployment hits record highs: 11.4% overall, 24.4% Greece, 25.1% Spain…


Cross border claims leave Germany on hook for €1T if eurozone breaks up…


German Chancellor Angela Merkel: Germany is already sharing much eurozone debt


Greek recession entering sixth year…


Athens debt talks deadlock as lenders reject €2B in spending cuts…


Goal remains to rescue Greece, keep it in the eurozone…


Europe taken by a ‘cult of austerity…belief that budget deficits, not mass unemployment,’ are the danger…


A fire bomb explodes among riot police during clashes in Athens, Greece, on September 26, 2012


‘To be settled on streets…’



Google’s stock market value passes Microsoft’s…


US search market share: Google 66%, Microsoft 16%…


Google ‘got into mobile before it became an important computing platform…’


Web more crucial than hardware…PC channel in chaos…


Google understood the importance of the mobile market early


Yet, Taiwan-based notebook ODMs shipped 30-50% more in September ahead of Windows 8…



Apple Maps fiasco: canary in the coal mine?


CEO-in-waiting ‘Scott Forstall should be fired over this mess…’


Scott Forstall demoing the poorly received new Maps app from Apple

Come on: The ‘this wouldn’t have happened under Steve Jobs’ jab is ‘the tiredest cliche in all tech writing…’



The gray tsunami: The world faces a wave of aging…

Wrenching social and economic changes on the way…



Bleached coral at the Keppel Islands on the southern Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Australia. Coral cover in the Great Barrier Reef has dropped by more than half over the last 27 years.


Great barrier reef cut in half due to acidification of oceans, other factors…




Christie: It’ll be a whole new race Thursday morning…


Facts will matter in Wednesday’s debate…sample questions…


Obama adviser Plouffe: Romney will get
‘more benefit out of this debate’ than Obama…


Challengers do better in first debates…
Sharing a stage with the president is elevating…


Romney better prepared ‘than any candidate in modern history…’


Romney is favored to win this week's debate, but will it revive his candidacy?


OBAMA LOWERING EXPECTATIONS…



Bureau of Labor Stats adjusting data in Obama’s favor?


Chris Christie to Obama: ‘Stop lying’ about Romney’s economic plan…


Fed’s Fisher: US ‘drowning in unemployment,’ recovery ‘quite disappointing…’


Richard Fisher, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, speaking at Harvard University, February 2009


Obama should stop eyeing the ‘far-distant’ future and notice GDP going from ‘barely detectable’ to ‘comatose…’

Maybe Obama’s future will be ‘peachy’ but ‘we have to live in his present…’


Consumers spending more than they earn, lots on gasoline, ‘unsustainable…’


Durable goods orders down 13.2% in August, pointing toward new recession…



The Obama-Romney map is turning blue…


In almost all of the competitive states where the election will be decided, recent surveys show Barack Obama widening his lead, moving ahead, or closing on Mitt Romney


David Brooks: Romney running ‘the most insincere campaign I think I’ve ever seen…’


Path to victory narrowing…needs ‘the upper hand’ in nearly all nine nail-biter states…



Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer


Yahoo CEO: Anything not doable in six months isn’t worth doing…

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