Morning Shinbun Sunday October 3




Sunday’s Headlines:

Americans tread water in gulf between rich and poor

Jon Stewart, TV scourge of America’s right, turns his satire against Barack Obama

USA

Traumatic brain injury leaves an often-invisible, life-altering wound

Democrats playing on opponents’ words

Europe

Venice’s historic buildings ‘violated’ by billboards, say cultural experts

Ireland’s young are on the march again

Middle East

PLO demands settlements freeze before peace talks

Syrian leader attacks direct talks

Asia

Host shuts down for opening

Plaintiffs’ attorneys hunt for North Korea’s money

Africa

Nigeria bombings: SA police arrest man in Jo’burg

Millennium Goals: How Far Have We Come?

Latin America

Ecuador U-turn on controversial austerity law

Americans tread water in gulf between rich and poor

Faces of new census report reflect frustration and resignation

By JIM FITZGERALD, VICKI SMITH

MOUNT VERNON, N.Y. – A Wall Street adviser leaves early for work to avoid panhandlers at his suburban train station. In coal country, a suddenly homeless man watches from a bench as wealthy women shop for dresses. A down-and-out waitress sits glumly on her stoop across the street from a gleaming suburb. A freshly elected politician loses his day job.

They’re the faces of a census report released this week showing that the gap between the richest and poorest Americans is wider than ever.

Jon Stewart, TV scourge of America’s right, turns his satire against Barack Obama

Daily Show host spearheads liberal discontent with the president’s failure to deliver radical change

Paul Harris in New York

The Observer, Sunday 3 October 2010


Jon Stewart, the famously smart host of the satirical Daily Show and habitual scourge of rightwing Americans, has embraced a remarkable new role as one of the fiercest critics of President Barack Obama and someone who is spearheading a wave of liberal discontent with the Democratic party.

The turnaround is a remarkable one for a man whose show soared to national and international fame during the George W Bush era, on the back of incessant ridicule of Republican policies and personalities.

USA

Traumatic brain injury leaves an often-invisible, life-altering wound



By Christian Davenport

Washington Post Staff Writer


The doctor begins with an apology because the questions are rudimentary, almost insultingly so. But Robert Warren, fresh off the battlefield in Afghanistan and a surgeon’s table, doesn’t seem to mind.

Yes, he knows how old he is: 20. He knows his Army rank: specialist. He knows that it’s Thursday, that it’s June, that the year is 1020. Quickly, he corrects the small stumble: “It’s 2010.” He knows that his wife is Brittanie, that she’s due with their first child any day now, and that they “got married two to three weeks before I went to that country.”

Democrats playing on opponents’ words

This election season, they are turning Republicans’ oddball statements – on topics such as witchcraft and the president’s religion – into campaign fodder. And, at least in some races, the tactic seems to be working.

By Kathleen Hennessey, Tribune Washington Bureau

Reporting from Washington – In Kentucky, a candidate is accused of being soft on drug abuse. In Delaware, it appears it was evolution the candidate was soft on. In Florida, a House race is resurrecting debate over a 97-year-old amendment to the Constitution.

This in an election that was supposed to be all about the economy and jobs.

But in contests across the country, Republican candidates – particularly those aligned with the “tea party” movement – are finding themselves knocked off topic as they try to explain and revise a barrage of prior statements.

Europe

Venice’s historic buildings ‘violated’ by billboards, say cultural experts

Leading architects and museums slam Italian government for allowing advertisements to cover world-famous palazzi

Tom Kington

The Observer, Sunday 3 October 2010


A group of the world’s leading cultural experts have launched a stinging attack on the Italian government over the use of giant advertisements placed on some of Venice’s most historic sights.

The directors of the British Museum, the V&A and the Museum of Modern Art in New York are among the signatories of a letter demanding that Italy’s culture minister, Sandro Bondi, outlaw the billboards, which “hit you in the eye and ruin your experience of one of the most beautiful creations of humankind”.

Ireland’s young are on the march again

The financial meltdown is turning it into a land of emigrants once more

By David Sharrock Sunday, 3 October 2010

It’s a journey that every Irish family knows but thought was consigned to the past: the farewell trip to Dublin airport and economic exile. Frank O’Brien has recently bid goodbye to both his sons at the departures gate; his wife Mary was too upset to go with him.

“What really hurts is that my boys are the cream of the crop. We raised them well, we gave them the best education we could, both of them graduated with excellent degrees. Neither of them is frightened of hard work. And they are the ones who are now having to leave,” said Frank, his voice breaking with bitterness and anger.

Middle East

PLO demands settlements freeze before peace talks

Palestinian leadership blames Israel for being obstructive as US mediators seek compromise

By Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem Sunday, 3 October 2010

Leaders of the main moderate Palestinian factions yesterday voted to oppose further negotiations while building continues in Jewish settlements, amid increasing US frustration at Israel’s refusal to prolong a 10-month moratorium on construction.

The Palestinian Liberation Organisation executive decided that any resumption of direct peace talks – the first for 21 months – “requires tangible steps, the first of them a freeze on settlements”. A senior PLO official, Yasser Abed Rabbo, said after yesterday’s meeting in Ramallah: “The Palestinian leadership holds Israel responsible for obstructing the negotiations.”

Syrian leader attacks direct talks

Speaking in Tehran, Bashir al-Assad says the current Israeli-Palestinian negotiations are aimed at bolstering Obama.

Aljazeera

During a visit to Iran, Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, has said direct Israeli-Palestinian peace talks were only aimed at bolstering domestic support for the US president.

“Nothing has changed in the Palestinian peace process [which] only aims to garner support for [Barack] Obama [the US president] inside America,” Assad was quoted as saying after meeting Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, his Iranian counterpart, in Tehran on Saturday.

Assad was speaking at the start of an official visit to Iran, during talks with Ahmadinejad who also criticised the United States and Israel, saying “America’s facade has crumbled and the Zionist regime has been exposed,” without specifying whether he was referring to US mediated peace talks.

“The Syrian government and nation, at the forefront of resistance, have for years stood up against the expansionism and aggression of the Zionist regime,” Ahmadinejad said in reference to Israel, according to Iran’s official IRNA news agency.

Asia

Host shuts down for opening



Matt Wade DELHI

October 3, 2010


BAZAARS and shopping malls in Delhi will shut down today and access to airspace restricted as the city goes into lockdown ahead of tonight’s opening ceremony for the 19th Commonwealth Games.

At least 3000 heavily armed security personnel will be on hand at the main Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, backed by specialist anti-terrorism units and air support. Tens of thousands more police will be stationed around the city.

One of India’s top security officials, Home Secretary G.K. Pillai, told The Sun-Herald he was very confident the main stadium would be secure.

Plaintiffs’ attorneys hunt for North Korea’s money

Lawyers for those wronged by the secretive regime find it hard to collect on court judgments. In such cases against other countries, Washington often stands in the way, fearful of setting a precedent that could work against it.

By John M. Glionna, Los Angeles Times

October 3, 2010


Reporting from Seoul –

Plaintiffs’ attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner was in her Jerusalem office in July when she got news of the Puerto Rican court’s verdict.

A judge there had just issued a $378-million civil judgment for her clients: the families of 17 Puerto Rican missionaries killed by Japanese Red Army militants at an Israeli airport in 1972.

Yet her euphoria was tempered by pragmatic reality: She would have to try to collect the judgment from a defiant North Korea, which the judge ruled had decades ago given training and support to the assailants.

Africa

Nigeria bombings: SA police arrest man in Jo’burg

South African authorities have arrested an ex-leader of a militant group that claimed responsibility for a dual car bombing that killed 12 people in Nigeria, a Nigerian secret police spokesperson said.

LAGOS, NIGERIA Oct 03 2010 07:31

The arrest of Henry Okah, a former leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, came as Nigeria’s secretive State Security Service acknowledged it received a warning about the impending attack long before the bombs exploded on Friday.

Nonetheless, the militant group was still able to detonate the explosives only a 10-minute walk away from a ceremony in Nigeria’s capital Abuja attended by the president and other dignitaries in the oil-rich nation.

“Unfortunately, there’s no way security can be 100% foolproof,” State Security Service spokesperson Marilyn Ogar told the Associated Press on Saturday.

Millennium Goals: How Far Have We Come?



BY CHARLES ABUGRE

A MOTHER cradles her newborn baby girl, with joy where there might have been grief. During labour, the baby was in a dangerous breech position, putting both mother and child at risk of death. But a skilled birth attendant turned the baby, saving their lives.

Thanks to the United Nations (UN) Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), standards world leaders agreed on in 2000 to lift the poor, the sick and the hungry by 2015, professionally-attended births are at an all-time high in Africa. Republic of Benin is most improved, and even war-scarred Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Angola have risen to the challenge, with Angola halving maternal deaths.

Thanks to the impetus of the Millennium Development Goals, the expectant mother and this baby received free prenatal care, and free medical visits will continue through the breastfeeding period, strengthening the child’s body and mind – a low-cost policy Ghana, Malawi, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Rwanda all began. She is likely to escape Africa’s child-killing diseases, because cadres of health workers have been hired and trained to distribute essentials, such as bed nets and improved malaria medicines (in the countries with free prenatal care, plus Zambia and Niger).

Latin America

Ecuador U-turn on controversial austerity law

A senior minister in the Ecuadorean government says parts of a law which provoked a police rebellion earlier this week will be rewritten.

The BBC  3 October 2010

Policy Minister Doris Soliz also told Reuters news agency President Rafael Correa would not now dissolve Congress.

President Correa had reportedly suggested he could rule by decree to push through his austerity measures.

The president said Thursday’s unrest amounted to a coup attempt.

Under Ecuador’s constitution, President Correa could have disbanded Congress and ruled by decree until new elections were held.

Ignoring Asia A Blog  

Stiglitz: Dear Tea Bag Party, Government is Absolutely Essential

(4 pm. – promoted by ek hornbeck)

President Obama, this is the man who should head your Economic Council along with Robert Reich, Paul Krugman and Nouriel Roubini. Watch the entire video, it is an education in the current economic situation and how we got here.

Complete video at: Joseph Stiglitz: Freefall Commonwealth Club

What would Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz say at a Tea Party convention? Stiglitz says he would defend the role of government in economic affairs, positing that the bank bailout saved the country from depression.

Joseph Stiglitz, winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize Winner for Economics and author of Freefall sits down with Andrew Leonard, Senior Technology and Business Writer for Salon.

Stiglitz argues that America exported bad economics, bad policies and bad behavior to the rest of the world. Stiglitz outlines a way forward building on ideas that he has championed his entire career: restoring the balance between markets and government; addressing the inequalities of the global financial system; and demanding more good ideas (and less ideology) from economists. – Commonwealth Club of California

Joseph Stiglitz was chief economist at the World Bank until January 2000. Before that he was the chairman of President Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisers. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in economics in 2001. He is currently a finance and economics professor at Columbia University. He is most recently the author of Freefall: America, Free Markets, and the Sinking of the World Economy.

Prime Time

Lots of College Throwball, Notre Dame @ Boston College or Stanford @ Oregon, and Florida @ Alabama.

Speed has the conclusion of The Petit Le Mans this season’s final race in the American LeMans series.  They started at 11 am and it’s a 10 hour or 1000 mile race so I expect the field and Class winners to be pretty well sorted out by the time you tune in.  They have 2 Classes of GP cars, GP and GP 2 (which are the 2 seat open cockpit cars), and GT and GT 2 (which are both recognizable ‘street machine’ based classes with marques like Porsche and Corvette), that all race at the same time so there’s a lot of overtaking.  Since the races are so long there’s often time to repair quite a bit of damage and I suspect all the most spectacular crashes will be long forgotten.

And on Vs. the much more thrilling conclusion (if you like open wheel Turn Left racing) of the IndyCar (think Danica Patrick) racing season at the Miami Indy 300.

Oh, and the Mets won today.  Season Finale tomorrow.

Dueling Stallones

Later-

SNL has Bryan Cranston and Kanye West.  GitS: SACAg2O and Angel’s Share (Episodes 16 & 17).

Zap2it TV Listings, Yahoo TV Listings

Evening Edition

Evening Edition is an Open Thread

From Yahoo News Top Stories

1 French unions up ante with latest pension protest

by Frederic Jeammes, AFP

1 hr 51 mins ago

PARIS (AFP) – French unions on Saturday brought millions of protestors onto the streets, they said, shunning strikes for rallies in their latest salvo against President Nicolas Sarkozy’s pensions reform plan.

“Around 2.9 million” demonstrators have taken part, the CFDT union’s deputy leader Marcel Grignard told AFP, “roughly the same number” as during the last day of action against raising the retirement age from 60 to 62 on September 23.

“This is a successful mobilisation. We expect the government finally to pay attention to this popular expression and take action on it’s plan,” Grignard said.

2 British dignitaries stayed away from Nigeria parade

by Ola Awoniyi, AFP

2 hrs 30 mins ago

ABUJA (AFP) – British dignitaries due to attend Nigerian independence celebrations stayed away from the event marred by two nearby car bombs, a spokesman said Saturday, amid a report there were warnings of attacks.

The confirmation that the Duke of Gloucester and the rest of the British delegation did not attend came after a Nigerian newspaper reported that British intelligence warned Nigerian officials of the possibility of an attack.

At least 12 people were killed after two car bombs went off about a 10-minute walk away from Eagle Square, where the main celebrations, including a military parade, occurred on Friday.

3 Mix of sadness, triumph as Brazil’s Lula makes his exit

by Anella Reta, AFP

1 hr 42 mins ago

SAO BERNARDO DO CAMPO, Brazil (AFP) – Brazil’s outgoing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva displayed both triumph and melancholy Saturday as he stumped for his chosen successor on the eve of elections marking the beginning of the end of his term in office.

As he was being driven around his hometown of Sao Bernardo do Campo on Sao Paulo’s southern outskirts in an open car with his candidate Dilma Rousseff, Lula — Brazil’s most popular president ever — received accolades from residents with tears in his eyes.

“He is very moved because he did so much for us… He suffered what we suffered,” said Cleila Santos, a 54-year-old health worker wearing the red of a Lula campaigner.

4 Monty inspires Europe fightback at Ryder Cup

by Rob Woollard, AFP

1 hr 49 mins ago

NEWPORT, Wales (AFP) – Europe roared back into contention at the Ryder Cup here Saturday, staging a dramatic late rally after the United States opened up a two-point lead on a gripping second day.

Leading by one point after completion of the rain-delayed opening fourballs earlier Saturday, the ice-cool Americans kept their nerve to take a 6-4 lead over Colin Montgomerie’s men following the foursomes at Celtic Manor.

But after receiving a rallying cry from a furious Montgomerie — who accused his players of lacking passion — the Europeans came blasting out of the blocks as the third session got under way at Celtic Manor.

5 US open up 6-4 lead at Ryder Cup

by Rob Woollard, AFP

Sat Oct 2, 12:37 pm ET

NEWPORT, Wales (AFP) – The United States surged into a two-point lead over Europe at the Ryder Cup here Saturday as the battle for the golfing showpiece intensified in a gripping second session of foursomes.

Leading by one point after completion of the rain-delayed opening fourballs earlier Saturday, the ice-cool Americans kept their nerve to open up a 6-4 lead over Colin Montgomerie’s men following the foursomes at Celtic Manor.

Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker wrapped up a comfortable four-up win over Peter Hanson and Miguel Angel Jimenez as Zach Johnson and Hunter Mahan downed Italian brothers Edoardo and Francesco Molinari.

6 India poised to stage biggest C’wealth Games

by Penny MacRae, AFP

Sat Oct 2, 10:54 am ET

NEW DELHI (AFP) – India raced Saturday to put finishing touches to preparations for the biggest Commonwealth Games, with the start just a day away — hoping to make the event a success story after a shambolic run-up.

Organisers promised a Bollywood-inspired opening extravaganza on Sunday with singers and dancers showcasing India’s diverse culture with dazzling sound and light effects and a performance by Oscar-winning composer A.R. Rahman.

“We’re sure the Games will be a huge success,” Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit after inspecting sites. “We’re working around the clock.”

7 Dior’s tropical mists meet Miyake’s fashion ‘spirits’

by Emma Charlton, AFP

Fri Oct 1, 11:37 am ET

PARIS (AFP) – A misty sensuality wafted through Paris Friday, as captain John Galliano steered Christian Dior’s new summer collection to a lost Pacific island, and Issey Mikaye drew its new look from a haunted house.

American supermodel Karlie Kloss was first to stride out from a desert island decor, complete with white sand and ruined beach villa, in a sailor’s cap, hooded parka in crisp white nubuck leather, paired with stiletto boots.

Followed an upbeat roll-call of catwalk sailors in cotton print day dresses and sarong twists, patterned with bright hibiscus and orchids, worn with peacoats and white caps cocked to one side.

8 Summer collections look to misty isles and spirits

by Emma Charlton, AFP

Sat Oct 2, 5:59 am ET

PARIS (AFP) – A misty sensuality wafted through Paris, as captain John Galliano steered Christian Dior’s summer collection to a lost Pacific island, and Issey Mikaye drew its new look from a haunted house.

Vivienne Westwood also looked to lost civilisations — from Egypt to Peru — for inspiration, while Japan’s Yohji Yamamoto channelled the spirit of a modern-day icon, Jimi Hendrix, with a tribute 40 years after his death.

At Dior, designer Galliano chose a deserted South Pacific naval base for his setting and pumping 80s pop for his soundtrack.

9 Greece picks up Chinese support as Wen visits

by Helene Colliopoulou, AFP

Sat Oct 2, 12:00 pm ET

ATHENS (AFP) – China’s Premier Wen Jiabao pledged Saturday badly needed investment and support to cash-strapped Greece, boosting Chinese influence in the country battling to emerge from an unprecedented debt crisis.

After signing bilateral agreements on investment and tourism with his Greek counterpart George Papandreou, Wen announced the creation of a five-billion-dollar (3.6-billion-euro) fund to help finance the purchase of Chinese ships by Greek shipping companies.

China also pledged to back Greece, which nearly defaulted earlier this year when investors sniffed at Greek debt, in future issues of long-term bonds.

10 Nigeria hunts militants after bombs kill 12

by Ola Awoniyi, AFP

Sat Oct 2, 11:34 am ET

ABUJA (AFP) – Nigerian authorities hunted oil militants on Saturday who claimed responsibility for two car bombs that killed at least 12 people near independence celebrations in the first such attack in the capital.

Friday’s car bombs close to where Nigerian leaders and foreign delegations had gathered escalated militant group MEND’s “oil war” and came despite a lull in attacks after thousands of rebels signed up to an amnesty programme last year.

MEND issued a warning an hour before the blasts went off and later blamed government officials for the deaths, saying they “acted irresponsibly by ignoring our forewarning.”

11 US drones kill 15 as Pakistan blocks NATO supplies

by Hasbanullah Khan, AFP

Sat Oct 2, 10:01 am ET

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (AFP) – Two US drone strikes killed 15 militants Saturday in a lawless tribal belt in Pakistan, where a land route for NATO supplies was blocked for a third consecutive day, officials said.

Officials in Washington say its drone strikes in the region have killed several high-value targets, including Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, and help protect troops in Afghanistan from attacks plotted across the border.

However, drone attacks are a sensitive issue in Pakistan as the attacks also fuel anti-American sentiment in the conservative Muslim country.

12 BofA suspends foreclosures in 23 states

By Jonathan Stempel and Maria Aspan, Reuters

Sat Oct 2, 7:07 am ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Amid growing public anger over home seizures, Bank of America Corp has suspended some of its foreclosures and JPMorgan Chase & Co has come under investigation in California and Connecticut.

Bank of America said on Friday it is delaying foreclosures in 23 states to review whether it has been conducting them properly. Two other big lenders — JPMorgan and Ally Financial Inc’s GMAC Mortgage — have already suspended foreclosures.

Also, a Maine state court judge reprimanded GMAC Mortgage for how it repossesses homes. The judge concluded that GMAC submitted a company official’s affidavit to support a foreclosure “in bad faith.”

13 Wen says some in Congress politicize trade gap

Reuters

1 hr 22 mins ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao criticized members of Congress in an interview set to air on Sunday for “politicizing” the U.S. trade imbalance with China because they do not know China well.

Wen, in an interview with U.S. TV news network CNN taped on September 23, also said he hoped for a “quick recovery of the U.S. economy” and said the Obama administration’s economic stimulus package was the right move to help the U.S. economy.

The Chinese premier’s comments were made before the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed legislation to pressure China to let its yuan currency rise more quickly.

14 Rousseff ends Brazil campaign in Lula heartland

By Hugo Bachega, Reuters

Sat Oct 2, 2:03 pm ET

SAO BERNARDO DO CAMPO (Reuters) – Brazil’s ruling party candidate Dilma Rousseff ended her presidential campaign on Saturday with a heavily symbolic rally in the industrial base that launched the presidency of her mentor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Rousseff has a strong chance of becoming the first woman elected president of the Latin American giant when Brazilians vote on Sunday, largely thanks to Lula’s energetic support and his staggeringly high popularity amid an economic boom.

Lula and Rousseff, his 62-year-old former chief of staff, rode on the back of car through cheering supporters in the manufacturing hub of Sao Bernardo do Campo on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, where Lula made his name as a fiery union boss.

15 Risk council takes first steps on Dodd-Frank

By Dave Clarke, Reuters

Sat Oct 2, 12:42 am ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A new council of U.S. regulators charged with identifying risks to the financial system acted on Friday to begin implementing the new financial regulatory overhaul law.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council held its first meeting and voted to seek public comment for a period of 30 days on the Volcker rule, which restricts risky bank trading.

The panel also sought comments on what criteria should be used to decide which large non-bank financial companies should be supervised by the Federal Reserve.

16 Tortuous path ahead to form Iraq government

By Muhanad Mohammed, Reuters

Sat Oct 2, 11:39 am ET

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Attempts by Nuri al-Maliki to form a new government could be weeks, if not months, away from fruition because the prime minister is struggling to secure support from Kurdish and Sunni factions.

Maliki was picked on Friday as the nominee for the top government job from his Shi’ite-led National Alliance after he secured support from Moqtada al-Sadr, an anti-American Shi’ite cleric whose militia once fought against U.S. troops in Iraq.

But the Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc is threatening to boycott a Maliki government at a time when Iraq is struggling to tame insurgent violence.

17 Kyrgyzstan tense as parliamentary vote nears: OSCE

By Dmitry Solovyov, Reuters

Sat Oct 2, 10:24 am ET

ALMATY (Reuters) – Kyrgyzstan is highly volatile after June’s ethnic clashes and there are widespread fears an election next weekend could trigger new violence, Europe’s leading vote monitoring group has said.

The interim government of Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet nation hosting U.S. and Russian military air bases, has struggled to control southern parts of the country since assuming power after a bloody revolt on Apr. 7 that toppled the president.

Nearly 400 people were killed, and possibly hundreds more, during several days of violence in southern Kyrgyzstan in June. Clashes between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in the region also left many thousands of people homeless.

18 Single trade helped spark May’s flash crash

By Jonathan Spicer and Rachelle Younglai, Reuters

Fri Oct 1, 11:49 pm ET

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A computer-driven sale worth $4.1 billion by a single trader helped trigger the May flash crash, setting off liquidity shocks that ricocheted between U.S. futures and stock markets, regulators concluded in a report.

The report by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission did not name the trader. Reuters, citing internal documents prepared by exchange operator CME Group Inc, in May identified the trader as money manager Waddell & Reed Financial Inc.

The long-awaited report focused on the relationship between two hugely popular securities — E-Mini Standard & Poor’s 500 futures and S&P 500 “SPDR” exchange-traded funds — and detailed how high-frequency algorithmic trading can sap liquidity and rock the marketplace.

19 North Korea’s Kim Jong-il no lame duck, in U.S. view

By Phil Stewart, Reuters

Fri Oct 1, 9:46 pm ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – North Korea’s Kim Jong-il will not become a lame duck leader and is expected to keep a firm grip on power until his death, despite having unveiled his successor, current and former U.S. officials say.

After years of speculation, Kim’s youngest son, Kim Jong-un, was rolled out to North Koreans this week and appointed to senior political and military posts in the isolated state.

Kim Jong-un, whose very existence had not been previously acknowledged in North Korea, was made a four-star general and named second-in-command to his father at the Workers’ Party’s powerful Central Military Commission.

20 No end in sight to Pakistan-NATO supply standoff

By NAHAL TOOSI, Associated Press Writer

Sat Oct 2, 1:03 pm ET

ISLAMABAD – Pakistan kept a vital border crossing closed to U.S. and NATO supply trucks for a third day Saturday, a sign that Islamabad’s desire to avoid a domestic backlash over a NATO incursion that killed three Pakistani troops is – for now – outweighing its desire to stay on good terms with America.

Two U.S. missile strikes that killed 16 people in a northwest Pakistani tribal region, meanwhile, showed that America has no intention of sidelining a tactic it considers highly successful, even if it could add to tensions.

The closing of the Torkham border crossing to NATO trucks has exposed the struggles and contradictions at the heart of the U.S.-Pakistan alliance against Islamist militancy.

21 DC rally shows support for struggling Democrats

By PHILIP ELLIOTT, Associated Press Writer

1 hr 29 mins ago

WASHINGTON – Tapping into anger as the tea party movement has done, a coalition of progressive and civil rights groups marched Saturday on the Lincoln Memorial and pledged to support Democrats struggling to keep power on Capitol Hill.

“We are together. This march is about the power to the people,” said Ed Schultz, host of “The Ed Show” on MSNBC. “It is about the people standing up to the corporations. Are you ready to fight back?”

In a fiery speech that opened the “One Nation Working Together” rally on the National Mall, Schultz blamed Republicans for shipping jobs overseas and curtailing freedoms. He borrowed some of conservative commentator Glenn Beck’s rhetoric and vowed to “take back our country.”

22 US may tell US citizens to be vigilant in Europe

By EILEEN SULLIVAN and MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press Writers

15 mins ago

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration is considering telling U.S. citizens to be vigilant as they travel in Europe, updated guidance prompted by fresh al-Qaida threats, American and European officials told The Associated Press on Saturday.

Such a move could have negative implications for European tourism if travelers fear there’s a possibility of terror attacks.

The State Department may issue a travel alert as early as Sunday advising Americans to stay vigilant as they travel through Europe because of fresh threat information, U.S. officials told the AP.

23 Dems, GOP recalibrate strategy a month to election

By LIZ “Sprinkles” SIDOTI, AP National Political Writer

38 mins ago

WASHINGTON – Democrats have all but written off at least three Senate seats – in North Dakota, Indiana and Arkansas – and at least six House seats in Tennessee, Louisiana, New York and elsewhere as they embark on a final-weeks advertising push to minimize congressional election losses.

Emboldened by their prospects, Republicans are throwing $3.4 million into West Virginia in hopes of winning a Senate seat that was long thought out of reach. It was the GOP’s latest move to expand a playing field already heavily tilting its way.

In the one-month dash to Election Day, both parties are zeroing in on races they have the best chances of winning, recalibrating strategies and shifting advertising money by the day. The state of play could change repeatedly between now and Nov. 2.

24 Nigeria: Ex-militant leader arrested over bombings

By JON GAMBRELL, Associated Press Writer

1 hr 22 mins ago

LAGOS, Nigeria – South African authorities have arrested an ex-leader of a militant group that claimed responsibility for a dual car bombing that killed 12 people in Nigeria, a Nigerian secret police spokeswoman said Saturday.

The arrest of Henry Okah, a former leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, came as Nigeria’s secretive State Security Service acknowledged it received a warning about the impending attack long before the bombs exploded Friday.

Nonetheless, the militant group was still able to detonate the explosives only a 10-minute walk away from a ceremony in Nigeria’s capital Abuja attended by the president and other dignitaries in the oil-rich nation.

25 New Delhi goes into lockdown for C’Wealth opener

By JOHN PYE, AP Sports Writer

Sat Oct 2, 11:11 am ET

NEW DELHI – New Delhi will go into a security lockdown Sunday for the opening of the biggest and most trouble-plagued Commonwealth Games.

An estimated 100,000 police and military personnel have been enlisted to keep the athletes, visitors and games venues safe. Foreign governments have issued travel advisories highlighting a risk for terror attacks in India during the games.

The Delhi government used a law enacted in 1954 as authority to enforce the closure of shops and markets on Sunday for the opening ceremony and the closing ceremony on Oct. 14, announcing it to businesses two days ahead.

26 Osama bin Laden softens tone, but to what end?

By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press Writer

1 hr 32 mins ago

CAIRO – Softening his tone, al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden issued a humanitarian appeal on Saturday urging Muslim governments to do more to help Pakistan’s flood victims and expressing worry about climate change. It was his second purported audiotape in as many days.

The less aggressive approach contrasted with al-Qaida’s previous calls for a violent response in what experts say could be a “good cop, bad cop” ploy to exploit anger over the flooding and rally support for the terror network.

Al-Qaida is under pressure to refurbish support among Pakistanis as it faces a surge in U.S. missile strikes and government crackdowns on insurgents who easily move between Afghanistan and Pakistan’s porous border. American officials have asserted for months that the core of the network has been weakened and is struggling to raise money and attract recruits.

27 Europe eyes big Ryder Cup comeback as night falls

By DOUG FERGUSON, AP Golf Writer

11 mins ago

NEWPORT, Wales – The Americans stood behind the 18th green with smiles rarely seen on European soil as they watched yet another match go their way Saturday in the Ryder Cup.

They won the opening two sessions. They had a 6-4 lead over Europe. They grabbed lunch and headed back out to the golf course.

And then, it all changed.

28 Free speech cases at top of Supreme Court’s agenda

By MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press Writer

Sat Oct 2, 10:30 am ET

WASHINGTON – First Amendment cases top the Supreme Court’s docket as it begins a new term with a new justice and three women on the bench for the first time.

The court will look at provocative anti-gay protests at military funerals and a California law banning the sale of violent video games to children. These cases worry free speech advocates, who fear the court could limit First Amendment freedoms.

The funeral protest lawsuit, over signs praising American war deaths, “is one of those cases that tests our commitment to the First Amendment,” said Steven Shapiro, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union.

29 9/11 conspiracy theories rife in Muslim world

By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA, Associated Press Writer

Sat Oct 2, 7:09 am ET

ISTANBUL – About a week ago, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared to the United Nations that most people in the world believe the United States was behind the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

To many people in the West, the statement was ludicrous, almost laughable if it weren’t so incendiary. And surveys show that a majority of the world does not in fact believe that the U.S. orchestrated the attacks.

However, the belief persists strongly among a minority, even with U.S. allies like Turkey or in the U.S. itself. And it cannot be dismissed because it reflects a gulf in politics and perception, especially between the West and many Muslims.

30 Whitman looks to regain momentum in second debate

By JULIET WILLIAMS, Associated Press Writer

Sat Oct 2, 7:09 am ET

FRESNO, Calif. – Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman had hoped Saturday’s debate in the heart of California’s Central Valley would showcase her economic credentials and help siphon the support of independent and Hispanic votes away from Democrat Jerry Brown.

Instead, Whitman finds herself on the defensive and seeking to regain momentum with those voters after a tumultuous week in which she was forced to explain how she had an illegal immigrant housekeeper on the payroll for nine years and, according to her, didn’t know it.

She also is addressing allegations from the housekeeper’s attorney that she and her husband should have suspected the worker’s status because of a Social Security Administration letter mailed to their home in 2003.

31 Beet it: To exercise longer, try beetroot juice

By MARIA CHENG, AP Medical Writer

Sat Oct 2, 7:10 am ET

LONDON – When Chris Carver ran an ultra-marathon in Scotland last year, which challenges athletes to run as far as possible within 24 hours, he ran 140 miles (225 kilometers).

Determined to do better in this year’s race, Carver added something extra to his training regime: beetroot juice. For a week before the race, he drank the dark purple juice every day. Last month, Carver won it by running 148 miles (238 kilometers).

“The only thing I did differently this year was the beetroot juice,” said Carver, 46, a professional runner based near Leeds, in northern England.

32 Nobel experts predict low-key prize after Obama

By KARL RITTER and BJOERN H. AMLAND, Associated Press Writers

Sat Oct 2, 7:10 am ET

STOCKHOLM – As the secretive Nobel Prize committees huddle for their final deliberations to select the 2010 winners, the question looms large: Are the jurors preparing another Obama-style shocker?

After the unusual ruckus caused by honoring Barack Obama less than nine months into his presidency, Nobel experts believe the peace prize committee will opt for a more low-profile choice.

“I do not foresee a similar level of risk-taking as last year,” says Kristian Berg Harpviken, Director of the Peace Research Institute in Oslo.

33 Bank of America delays foreclosures in 23 states

By ALAN ZIBEL, AP Real Estate Writer

Sat Oct 2, 5:42 am ET

WASHINGTON – Bank of America is delaying foreclosures in 23 states as it examines whether it rushed the foreclosure process for thousands of homeowners without reading the documents.

The move adds the nation’s largest bank to a growing list of mortgage companies whose employees signed documents in foreclosure cases without verifying the information in them.

Bank of America isn’t able to estimate how many homeowners’ cases will be affected, Dan Frahm, a spokesman for the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank, said Friday. He said the bank plans to resubmit corrected documents within several weeks.

34 Rahm’s gone: New day, new tone for the White House

By BEN FELLER, AP White House Correspondent

Sat Oct 2, 4:26 am ET

WASHINGTON – Reshaping the tone and tenor of the White House, President Barack Obama on Friday replaced the colorful and caustic Rahm Emanuel with the private Pete Rouse as his chief of staff, shifting to a new phase of his presidency with a drastically different aide as trusted gatekeeper.

Emanuel’s decision to quit the White House and run for Chicago mayor had been so well known that even Obama mocked the lack of suspense. But it still felt like the most important transition to date for the Obama operation, which has been fueled for nearly two years by Emanuel’s demands, drive and discipline.

At an emotional farewell, Obama said, “We are all very excited for Rahm, but we’re also losing an incomparable leader of our staff.” Emanuel choked up as he said his goodbye.

35 Iraq’s Kurds hold political cards for al-Maliki

By YAHYA BARZANJI and BRIAN MURPHY, Associated Press Writers

2 hrs 7 mins ago

SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq – Kurdish lawmakers began Saturday to plot their course as Iraq’s kingmakers with enough seats to secure a second term for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and press key demands, including a greater say over the oil riches in the country’s north.

The Kurds, who control a semiautonomous northern enclave, emerged as the pivotal votes after al-Maliki’s Shiite-led coalition received a major boost Friday from a powerful Shiite cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr, who once opposed him. The support pushed al-Maliki close to a majority grip in the 325-seat parliament, but he needs help from other factions to break a nearly seven-month impasse.

A Sunni-backed coalition led by a former prime minister, Ayad Allawi, narrowly won March elections, yet without enough clout to control parliament and oust al-Maliki, leaving the country in political limbo.

36 Photos show US soldiers posing with Afghan corpses

By GENE JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer

Sat Oct 2, 1:52 am ET

SEATTLE – Those who have seen the photos say they are grisly: soldiers beside newly killed bodies, decaying corpses and severed fingers.

The dozens of photos, described in interviews and in e-mails and military documents obtained by The Associated Press, were seized by Army investigators and are a crucial part of the case against five soldiers accused of killing three Afghan civilians earlier this year.

Troops allegedly shared the photos by e-mail and thumb drive like electronic trading cards. Now 60 to 70 of them are being kept tightly shielded from the public and even defense attorneys because of fears they could wind up in the news media and provoke anti-American violence.

37 Photos show US soldiers posing with Afghan corpses

By GENE JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer

Sat Oct 2, 1:52 am ET

SEATTLE – Those who have seen the photos say they are grisly: soldiers beside newly killed bodies, decaying corpses and severed fingers.

The dozens of photos, described in interviews and in e-mails and military documents obtained by The Associated Press, were seized by Army investigators and are a crucial part of the case against five soldiers accused of killing three Afghan civilians earlier this year.

Troops allegedly shared the photos by e-mail and thumb drive like electronic trading cards. Now 60 to 70 of them are being kept tightly shielded from the public and even defense attorneys because of fears they could wind up in the news media and provoke anti-American violence.

38 US apologizes for ’40s syphilis study in Guatemala

By LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP Medical Writer

Sat Oct 2, 1:51 am ET

WASHINGTON – American scientists deliberately infected prisoners and patients in a mental hospital in Guatemala with syphilis 60 years ago, a recently unearthed experiment that prompted U.S. officials to apologize Friday and declare outrage over “such reprehensible research.”

The discovery dredges up past wrongs in the name of science – like the infamous Tuskegee syphilis study in this country that has long dampened minority participation in medical research – and could complicate ongoing studies overseas that depend on cooperation from some of the world’s poorest countries to tackle tough-to-treat diseases.

Uncovering it gives “us all a chance to look at this and – even as we are appalled at what was done – to redouble our efforts to make sure something like this could never happen again,” said Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health.

39 Navy scrambles after subs shed stealthy coating

By DAVID SHARP, Associated Press Writer

Sat Oct 2, 2:02 pm ET

KITTERY, Maine – The USS Virginia shed pieces of its sonar-absorbent skin while on patrol, giving the submarine’s hull a pockmarked appearance as it arrived for repairs at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.

The stealthy submarine could become easier to detect by enemy sonar if it lost too much of the special coating. But the Navy insists that the sub never lost enough of the material to rise to that level and that it has moved aggressively to fix the problems in newer models of nuclear-powered attack submarines.

“We’ve been aware of the issues, we’re making improvements in the process, and we’re seeing results already,” said Alan Baribeau, spokesman for the Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, D.C. There has been “no measurable impact on the ship’s performance,” he said.

40 On paper, NY Islamic center looks modern, secular

By DAVID B. CARUSO, Associated Press Writer

Sat Oct 2, 1:38 pm ET

NEW YORK – Conceptual sketches of the Islamic center planned two blocks from ground zero envision a futuristic-looking building wrapped in a honeycomb of abstract shapes, with a core containing far more space for secular pursuits than religious worship.

The renderings, some of which were posted on the project’s website this week, are preliminary, but they project the development team’s desire to build something cosmopolitan and fun on a site now known only for controversy.

“I don’t think that once this thing gets built, anyone will be picketing,” said Sharif El-Gamal, the project’s developer.

41 Finding history: Web, vets help unearth war wrecks

By CHRIS CAROLA, Associated Press Writer

Sat Oct 2, 1:35 pm ET

HYDE PARK, N.Y. – Justin Taylan boots up his laptop computer in the climate-controlled comfort of a cafe and clicks on photographs of a World War II airplane lying in pieces amid a steamy jungle on the other side of the world.

He browses through a series of digital images of the vine-entangled wreckage of the American C-47B Dakota, which slammed into a mountain in Malaysia during a supply mission in November 1945. The cockpit, believed to still contain the remains of the three-member crew, lies embedded in the mountainside.

Taylan’s computer file with the C-47 photographs, e-mailed to him last fall, is just one of thousands he has compiled for his website, the key component of his effort to document World War II airplane crash sites in the Pacific.

42 Chicago mayor’s race may be battle of shoe leather

By DON BABWIN, Associated Press Writer

Sat Oct 2, 1:19 pm ET

CHICAGO – It used to be that getting elected in Chicago meant relying on the ward boss, the precinct captain and the small armies they deployed to fix potholes, hand out frozen turkeys and even drive people to the polls.

Court rulings and corruption convictions have ended the primacy of the Machine, leaving get-out-the-vote efforts in the hands of what officials say are volunteers. But the city’s first real mayor’s race in more than two decades will test how far Chicago has advanced since the Machine’s heyday, and how badly big-name, well-funded candidates like Rahm Emanuel still need that old street-level help.

“Never underestimate the power of the precinct worker,” said Tom Manion, a longtime political operative who directed Mayor Richard M. Daley’s first re-election campaign in 1991. “This is going to be a Generation X campaign with Facebook, Twitter and all that … but you should never forget the power of friend talking to friend, neighbor talking to neighbor.”

43 San Francisco Supes vs. Ronald McDonald

By TREVOR HUNNICUTT, For The Associated Press

Sat Oct 2, 12:30 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO – There was a showdown at City Hall this past week, big guns drawn on both sides, with McDonald’s iconic Happy Meal square in the middle.

A proposed city ordinance would require the giant hamburger chain to either stop putting little toys for kids in those Happy Meal boxes, or otherwise make them healthier by adding fruit and vegetable portions and limiting calories.

Supervisor Eric Mar said in proposing the law that he was trying to protect the health of his constituents.

44 Stop-sign cameras catch SoCal drivers off guard

By DAISY NGUYEN, Associated Press Writer

Sat Oct 2, 12:30 pm ET

LOS ANGELES – Ashley Wilson’s mission to drive to a park above Beverly Hills and hike every morning for a week came with a cost that eclipses the burg’s famously pricey lifestyle.

After assuming that only wild creatures would witness her car roll through a remote stop sign, Wilson was stunned weeks later to get four tickets in the mail totaling $700. A hidden camera had captured her infractions on video.

“I was totally shocked,” Wilson said. “I knew there were signs there. I didn’t think they’d be that strict and be that expensive.”

45 Farmer Jon: US Sen. spends weekends plowing fields

By MATT GOURAS, Associated Press Writer

Sat Oct 2, 12:30 pm ET

BIG SANDY, Mont. – Even for a Montana grain farmer, the ripped and greasy clothes worn by Jon Tester on a typical weekend back home are a bit ragged. For a U.S. senator, they are downright grubby.

Tester is a bit of an anomaly in what has been dubbed the nation’s “most exclusive club,” and it’s not likely he would have ever received an invitation to join on satorial considerations alone.

Montana voters sent him to the Senate in 2006, but he flies home almost every weekend to plow his fields, fix his farm machinery and tend to his relatively modest 1,800 acre farm in the rolling hills of wheat country north of Great Falls.

46 Brand pastor built fosters fierce member loyalty

By ERRIN HAINES, Associated Press Writer

Sat Oct 2, 12:28 pm ET

ATLANTA – A billboard near an Atlanta highway reads, “Love Like Him, Live Like Him, Lead Like Him.” The motto refers to Jesus Christ, but the smiling face next to it is that of Bishop Eddie Long.

Long built a humble suburban Atlanta congregation into a giant TV ministry on the strength of his charisma and his interpretation of the Gospels, including the magnetic idea that the faithful will be rewarded with wealth. It’s a doctrine the architect and leader of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church embodies with his own luxury lifestyle, including a private jet, jewels, a luxury automobile and a mansion.

“It’s like the ‘in’ church to be associated with,” said Terry Belton of Charlotte, N.C., who has attended the New Birth church there with his wife. “You feel like you’re going to prosper by being associated with that church. A lot of people go there because of him. We went … because of him.”

47 Psychiatric experts assess parental alienation

By DAVID CRARY, AP National Writer

Fri Oct 1, 11:38 pm ET

NEW YORK – The American Psychiatric Association has a hot potato on its hands as it updates its catalog of mental disorders – whether to include parental alienation, a disputed term conveying how a child’s relationship with one estranged parent can be poisoned by the other.

There’s broad agreement that this sometimes occurs, usually triggered by a divorce and child-custody dispute. But there’s bitter debate over whether the phenomenon should be formally classified as a mental health syndrome – a question now before the psychiatric association as it prepares the first complete revision since 1994 of its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

“We’re gotten an enormous amount of mail – more than any other issue,” said Dr. Darrel Regier, vice chair of the task force drafting the manual. “The passions on both sides of this are exceptional.”

48 DA to look into suicide of teen said to be bullied

By JUAN A. LOZANO, Associated Press Writer

Fri Oct 1, 11:08 pm ET

HOUSTON – Prosecutors said Friday they will look into what led to the suicide of a 13-year-old Houston boy whose parents say was relentlessly bullied at his middle school for two years because of his religion and sexual orientation.

Asher Brown’s parents, who claim school officials ignored their pleas for help, said they hope “justice will be served” by the investigation by the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.

“Once they find out what’s been hidden, we would want the people responsible to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” said Asher’s stepfather, David Truong.

49 Mich. worker’s blog sparks debate on free speech

By KATHY BARKS HOFFMAN, Associated Press Writer

Fri Oct 1, 10:26 pm ET

LANSING, Mich. – An assistant attorney general in Michigan who used his personal blog to attack the openly gay student body president at the University of Michigan has spurred debate about the right of public employees to say terrible things on their own time.

Andrew Shirvell, 30, started a blog in April in which he regularly lambasted 21-year-old Christopher Armstrong as a racist with a “radical homosexual agenda.” Shirvell, one of about 250 lawyers in the attorney general’s office, has said that when he’s not at work, he has a right to say whatever he wants.

First Amendment expert Cliff Sloan said public employers must be careful because the Constitution says government can “make no law abridging the freedom of speech.” Still, judges and state officials have some discretion when it comes to dealing with workers, he said.

50 Choice of CEO signals new direction for HP

By ANDREW VANACORE, AP Business Writer

Fri Oct 1, 5:48 pm ET

NEW YORK – The appointment of a German software executive as Hewlett-Packard Co.’s next CEO sends an unmistakable signal that the board of the world’s largest technology company is prepared to gamble big on an aggressive push into the software business.

And analysts say it will need to do just that to avoid being left behind in its core personal computer and printer businesses that no longer offer much room for growth or big profits.

In a conference call that served as his formal introduction to Wall Street on Friday, former SAP AG CEO Leo Apotheker called software the “glue” that will hold together the different parts of the company. “Software is how we can make sure that the various parts of our technology actually fit well together,” he said.

All Gallup Indicators Point to Democratic Debacle in Midterms

(2 pm. – promoted by ek hornbeck)

Crossposted from Antemedius

The Edge… There is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over.” — Hunter S. Thompson

Leading up to the 1994 midterm elections, Bill Clinton’s job approval measured by Gallup was 46%. The Democrats subsequently lost 53 seats in the midterms that year.

Barack Obama’s presidential job approval for the last week of September was 44%. Historically in any midterm year with a president with a job approval below 50%, his party has suffered major midterm losses.

Congressional job approval measured by Gallup for the last week of September was 18% – the lowest congressional approval measured by Gallup going back through 1974.

Leading up to the 1994 midterm elections, Congressional job approval measured by Gallup was 23%. Again, the Democrats subsequently lost 53 seats in the midterms that year.

Gallup’s generic ballot – simply asking registered voters which party they plan to vote for – was tied for the last week of September at 46% for each party. Galllup’s historical data indicates that when the generic ballot is tied, Republicans are more likely than Democrats to turn out at the polls.

29 Sept. 2010 | Gallup’s Editor-in-Chief Dr. Frank Newport reviews four key indicators of midterm election results – all of which suggest the Democrats are likely to lose a significant number of House seats in November:

I and many others, including Michael Moore the other day, have many times stressed that the only way the Democrats can turn things around and not only save themselves but the country too in November is to start producing progressive results.

Obama and the Democrats have a month. I’d suggest they get busy.

The biggest mistake I see many make when trying to sell the Democrats is to call the prospects stupid, and tell them buying the product is the only way they can stop being stupid, apparently thinking the prospects will immediately reach for their wallets and say “where do I sign“?

Of course, that result only happens in salespeople’s dreams – and is the reason 90 percent of people who go into sales never make any money at the job.

There is also a (real life) tried and true technique in sales and marketing that the democrats could try: the top sales producers in any industry constantly critique themselves and ask themselves “If I’m not getting the results I want to get, what am I doing to get the results I am getting?

Instead of asking themselves what they are doing to produce the results they are getting (dropping support) – and they are producing those results whether they want to or not – Democrats and their supporters are taking the easy route of blaming the voters (their prospects) and treating the voters as if they are stupid.

People want to hear why they should buy a product, they want to hear what it will do for them. AND they want a demonstration and a history of it doing what it is claimed it will do. People don’t buy products simply because salespeople tell them another product is crap.

Obama himself could not only save the Democrats in the midterms but he could probably give them a larger majority – but he can only do that with action – by starting to produce something, anything, progressive that it was expected they would produce but haven’t – and the votes Democrats need to save their Congressional majority would immediately follow.

Obama and the Democrats could have independents and liberals all across the country rewarding them for results instead of turning their backs on empty promises, and the largest landslides in history this November with just a few simple moves.



Five Ways the Democrats Can Avoid a Catastrophe and Pull Off the Mother of All Upsets

By Michael Moore, October 01, 2010

The election is one month from tomorrow and, yes, it looks hopeless. November 2nd — the day the Dems are expected to crash and burn.

Sadly, it’s a situation the Democrats have brought upon themselves — even though the majority of them didn’t create the mess we’re in. But they’ve had over a year and a half to start getting the job done to fix it. Instead, they’ve run scared ever since they took power. To many, the shellacking they’re about to receive is one they deserve.

But if you’re of a mindset that believes a return to 2001-2008 would be sheer insanity, then you probably agree we’ve got no choice but to save the Democrats from themselves.

Memo To: President Obama and the Democratic Party Leadership

From: Michael Moore

Subject: 5 Things Dems Can Do to Turn It Around by November 2nd

1. Immediate Wall-to-Wall TV Ads, Internet Videos, and Appearances Hammering Who the Hell Put Us in the Misery We’re In.

We Americans have very short attention spans (Quick: Who Won the Oscar for Best Picture last year? The World Series? Exactly.). People need to be reminded over and over that it was the REPUBLICANS who concocted and led the unnecessary invasion of two countries, putting us in our longest war ever, wars that will eventually cost us over $3 trillion. Bush and Co. also caused the biggest collapse of our economy since the Great Depression. I don’t know a single person in Hollywood who wouldn’t shoot and produce those spots for you for FREE. Dems: Do not pull a single punch on this. Quit being a bunch of wusses and let the bastards have it! The public will be astonished that you’ve found your courage and your spine. We expect you to be Muhammad Ali, not Ally McBeal.

2. Indict the Criminals.

Announce that the Justice Department will seek indictments against both those who caused the economic collapse and those who became war profiteers. Call it for what it is: organized crime. Use the RICO statutes. Use the basic laws that make fraud of any kind a crime. Get in the face of those who stole the billions, make them pay for it — and the people will love you. We want Dirty Harry, not Dirty Dancing.

3. Announce a Moratorium on All Family Home Foreclosures.

Last month (August) there were more home foreclosures than in any month in U.S. history. Worse than any month in the worst year ever, 2009. The bleeding hasn’t stopped — it’s only gotten worse. And now, this week, two of the largest crime organizations who are throwing hundreds of thousands of people out of their homes (GMAC and JPMorgan Chase) have been forced to momentarily stop doing this. It turns out, they don’t really have the paperwork to prove they actually own these houses! It’s madness. So if you do one thing for the middle class this week, do this. It will take an hour of your time to draw up the decree and issue it. We’d rather watch “It’s a Wonderful Life” than “Poltergeist.”

4. Announce a New 21st Century WPA.

“Who’s hiring? THE GOVERNMENT IS HIRING!” Put together a simple plan to hire enough people to repair our roads, fix up our aging schools, and rebuild our infrastructure. Fund this by taxing the richest 1% who have more financial wealth than 95% of Americans combined! Unemployment will drop to 5%. Can you pass it? Well, you sure can’t unless you try! And as you’re trying, announce that you will force the Republican senators (who until now simply have had to say they “intended” to filibuster in order to kill a bill) to have to actually filibuster! Make them stand on the floor of the Senate and read from the phone book 24/7. They won’t last a day. And America will see them for who they really are.

5. Declare That No Democrat Will Accept ANY Wall Street Money in the Next Election Cycle.

Pick a day in the coming week. Have all your fellow Democrats in Congress stand in front of the Capitol (with President Obama) and pledge that if America allows you to retain control of Congress, none of you will take a penny from Wall Street for the 2012 election. Instead, promise to accept donations of only $2, $5 and $10. You will also pledge not to take a job as a lobbyist or lawyer for ANY corporation for ten years after you leave Congress. The message will be a powerful one to the average American fed up with corrupt political hacks. Act like Honest Abe, not Fast Freddie — and see what happens.

And here are two bonus suggestions: Use what sense of humor you have and go after these candidates and their agenda with all the hilarious ridicule they deserve. And quit complaining about “the base” not doing enough to help you. You want help? Do something this week to earn it. I’ve offered five suggestions. I’m sure the rest of “the base” has a few more.

Health and Fitness News

Welcome to the Stars Hollow Health and Fitness weekly diary. It will publish on Saturday afternoon and be open for discussion about health related issues including diet, exercise, health and health care issues, as well as, tips on what you can do when there is a medical emergency. Also an opportunity to share and exchange your favorite healthy recipes.

Questions are encouraged and I will answer to the best of my ability. If I can’t, I will try to steer you in the right direction. Naturally, I cannot give individual medical advice for personal health issues. I can give you information about medical conditions and the current treatments available.

For Better Pastas, Try Rice Noodles

Photobucket

Rice Sticks With Uncooked Tomato Sauce, Tuna, Capers and Olives

Rice Sticks With Walnut and Basil Pesto and Green Beans

Rice Noodles With Zucchini, Tomatoes and Fresh Mint

Rice Stick Salad With Shredded Vegetables

Stir-Fried Noodles With Tofu and Peppers

General Medicine/Family Medical

Moderate kidney disease linked to hearing loss

Reuters Health) – Older adults with moderate kidney disease may require screening for hearing loss, according to the authors of a new study.

In the study, of adults aged 50 years and older, 54 percent of people with moderate kidney disease had some extent of hearing loss, while 30 percent of those with the disease suffered severe hearing loss.

That’s higher than in the general population: According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, hearing loss affects 18 percent of U.S. adults aged 45 to 64.

U.S. researchers make stem cells quickly from skin

(Reuters) – Researchers have found a surprisingly quick and apparently safe way to transform ordinary skin cells into both stem cells — the body’s master cells — and muscle cells.

They said on Thursday their method may provide a way to generate tissue in a new science called regenerative medicine, which doctors hope will eventually lead to ways to repair injuries and eventually perhaps even replace whole organs.

Reporting in the journal Cell Stem Cell, Dr. Derrick Rossi of Harvard Medical School and colleagues said they were working on new ways to make induced pluripotent stem cells or iPS cells.

Twin study may quiet doubts over PTSD-trauma link

(Reuters Health) – Trauma really is the trigger of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, suggests a new study that could help settle an ongoing debate.

“It’s been argued by some that PTSD is not a bona fide disorder, that these people are just maladjusted and the trauma doesn’t have anything to with it,” senior researcher Dr. Roger Pitman of Boston’s Harvard University told Reuters Health.

Less costly home dialysis just as effective

(Reuters Health) – Patients with failing kidneys who need to undergo dialysis will do equally well if they perform dialysis at home or if they go to a dialysis center, according to the largest study to date comparing the two approaches.

Based on the findings, patients who require dialysis to clean their blood should choose a method based on their own lifestyle and preferences, Dr. Rajnish Mehrotra of Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, told Reuters Health.

Blood test for colon cancer promising: study

(Reuters) – A simple blood test correctly identified most colorectal cancers in an early trial of the technology, offering the possibility of a convenient screening test that could be done during routine checkups, the company which developed it said on Wednesday.

The test, being developed by Danish biotech company Exiqon, worked well at both identifying colon cancers and at ruling them out, the company said at an American Association for Cancer Research meeting in Denver.

Acupuncture not helpful for stroke recovery

(Reuters Health) – Acupuncture does not help speed recovery after stroke, according to an analysis of 10 trials using fake or “sham” acupuncture as a control.

“Our meta-analysis of data from rigorous randomized sham-controlled trials did not show a positive effect of acupuncture as a treatment for functional recovery after stroke,” Dr. Jae Cheol Kong of Wonkwang University in Iksan, South Korea, and colleagues conclude in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ).

Warnings/Alerts/Guidelines

Mattel’s Fisher-Price to recall 10 million products

The products, including Little People Wheelies Stand ‘n Play Rampway; Fisher-Price tricycle models; Healthy Care, Easy Clean and Close to Me high chairs; and various infant toys with inflatable balls, were recalled after some injuries, including lacerations and choking hazards, were reported.

J&J admits misleading U.S. Motrin recall

(Reuters) – Already battered by a wave of product recalls, Johnson & Johnson acknowledged on Thursday it had misled consumers and U.S. regulators as it quietly removed its Motrin painkiller from the market.

Company officials underwent another grilling in Congress with the consumer giant facing a widening criminal probe and struggling to move beyond a damaging series of recalls that has pulled nearly 200 million bottles of its medicine from U.S. shelves this year, including top-selling children’s medicines.

FDA to ban unapproved oral colchicine products

(Reuters) – U.S. regulator the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) intends to ban unapproved oral colchicine products to treat gout, according to a document posted online by the U.S. Office of the Federal Register.

Shares in Hikma Pharmaceutical, a company that will be impacted by the move, closed down 4.2 percent at 688.5 pence, after earlier falling as much as 7.5 percent, after analysts cited the document.

Oral colchicine has been available since the nineteenth century, but was only approved by the FDA last year when it cleared Mutual Pharmaceutical’s Colcrys product, which is based on the drug.

Tests may detect mesothelioma, pancreatic cancer

(Reuters) – U.S. researchers have discovered specific changes in the blood of patients with two deadly cancers that may allow doctors to diagnose them at an earlier stage.

Using new screening technology developed by privately held Somalogic Inc, company researchers said on Tuesday they could detect early signs of pancreatic cancer and a type of lung cancer called mesothelioma in people who had been diagnosed but not treated for the diseases.

“Currently these cancers are detected at an advanced stage, where the possibility of cure is minimal,” said Rachel Ostroff, clinical research director of Somalogic Inc, who presented the findings on Tuesday at an American Association for Cancer Research meeting in Denver.

Seasonal Flu/Other Epidemics/Disasters

Angola polio outbreak threatens neighbors: WHO

(Reuters) – A persistent outbreak of polio in Angola is now a matter of international concern and health authorities there must step up their efforts to stamp it out, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Friday.

The WHO’s spokeswoman on polio eradication, Sona Bari, said an outbreak of the crippling virus, which started in 2007 after Angola had been polio-free for six years, now has “international consequences” if it is not stopped.

Tamiflu may have prevented pneumonia in young adults

(Reuters) – The drug Tamiflu may have protected young adults who caught the H1N1 swine flu virus in 2009 from developing pneumonia, a study in China has found.

Although the H1N1 swine flu pandemic is over, the virus has joined the mix of seasonal influenza viruses and it is known to affect young adults and children more severely than seasonal flu, which kills more elderly people.

The Chinese study found that early treatment with Tamiflu, known generically as oseltamivir, may have prevented young adults from developing full-blown pneumonia.

H1N1 flu virus can mutate in immunosuppressed patients: study

(Reuters) – Patients with suppressed immune systems can quickly develop H1N1 flu infections that resist all known drugs, doctors in the Netherlands reported on Wednesday.

The case of a 5-year-old leukemia patient who died from swine flu after the virus mutated in his body showed that people with weakened immune systems may be at greater risk of developing dangerous drug-resistant infections, and illustrated the risks of using current drugs to treat these patients, the researchers said.

The H1N1 virus infecting the boy mutated to resist all three drugs approved to treat it, Dr. Charles Boucher of Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam wrote in a letter to the New England Journal of Medicine.

Malaria vaccine trial disappoints

(Reuters) – The numbers were so bad that Dr. Stephen Hoffman did not even want to say them out loud.

“It was a low number,” he said. Pressed, he added, “Only a handful.” Finally he squeezed the numbers out. “We had five.”

Out of 80 volunteers vaccinated with Sanaria’s experimental malaria vaccine, only five were protected from infection in the company’s first clinical trial.

The Maryland-based company, which opened its doors in 2007, has not given up. But its disappointing results illustrate the uphill battle to develop a vaccine against an infection that kills 800,000 people a year, most of them young African children.

Women’s Health

Study hints multivitamins aid women’s heart health

(Reuters Health) – Taking multivitamins may help women without cardiovascular disease to ward off a heart attack, new research shows.

But vitamin pills seemed to have less of an effect in women with heart disease, Dr. Susanne Rautiainen of the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, and her colleagues found.

The results don’t settle the question of whether it’s actually the vitamin pills that are protective, Rautiainen told Reuters Health via e-mail.

China experts design gel to protect women from HIV

(Reuters) – Scientists in China and Hong Kong are designing a gel containing an experimental drug which they hope can reduce HIV infections in women.

The search for such a prophylaxis is gaining urgency in China with sex becoming the number one mode of HIV transmission and new HIV infections rising sharply among Chinese women.

The gel acts as an “entry inhibitor” — blocking the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) from gaining entry into host cells, Chen Zhiwei, director of the AIDS Institute at the University of Hong Kong, said in an interview.

IVF won’t up birth defect risk: Chinese study

(Reuters Health) – Birth defect rates among children conceived with the help of IVF and other techniques are no higher than for the general population, according to the first large study to look at the issue among Chinese children.

Some research has raised concerns that children conceived through assisted reproductive technologies (ART) are more likely to have birth defects than children conceived naturally, Dr. Junhao Yan of Shandong University in Jinan and colleagues note in their report.

Fertility treatment may alter gender balance: study

(Reuters) – Certain types of assisted fertilization appear to result in more male than female babies being born, a large study in Australia and New Zealand has found.

The researchers have no answer why it is so, but they warn that their findings should not be exploited for sex selection.

All fertility clinics that took part in the study comply with Australia’s national guidelines that ban gender selection, the researchers wrote in their findings published on Wednesday in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

Study demonstrates plunge in breast cancer deaths

(Reuters) – Sixty years ago, a woman had just a 25 percent chance of living 10 years if she got a breast cancer diagnosis. Now the survival rate is more than 75 percent, U.S. doctors reported on Wednesday.

The study of women treated at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center demonstrates how improvements in treatment and screening have transformed the disease from a virtual death sentence, experts said.

Dr. Aman Buzdar will present the study at a meeting in Washington of breast cancer specialists sponsored by the American Society of Clinical Oncology later this week.

Caffeine may not up preterm birth risk

(Reuters Health) – A new analysis adds to evidence that pregnant women can have a morning cup of coffee without fearing they will raise their risk of preterm delivery.

Combining the results of 22 previous studies, researchers found no evidence that pregnant women who downed the most caffeine — roughly equivalent to three to four cups of coffee per day — had a higher risk of preterm birth than women who avoided caffeine throughout pregnancy.

Nor did they find any link between the amount of coffee the women drank and their odds of an early delivery.

Approximately 12 percent of births in the U.S. and 7 percent of births in Europe are pre-term — occurring before the 37th week of gestation – according to the authors, whose report appears in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Men’s Health

Low-income men show more high-risk prostate tumors

(Reuters Health) – Low-income men treated for prostate cancer are likelier to have a more aggressive disease at diagnosis compared with their better-off counterparts, a study at one U.S. public hospital suggests.

Researchers found that compared with prostate cancer patients seen at U.S. academic medical centers and private practices, an elevated rate of higher risk prostate cancer was seen among men treated at San Francisco General Hospital — a publicly funded “safety net” hospital that primarily serves the low-income and uninsured.

Early prostate test study gives hope for accuracy

(Reuters) – British scientists say they have developed a lab test that can accurately distinguish prostate cancer from healthy tissue and other prostate conditions — a finding that may in future help men avoid unnecessary treatment.

Researchers at a genetics and diagnostics firm Oxford Gene Technology (OGT) say the set of biological signals, or biomarkers, they have identified was able to distinguish healthy tissue and benign prostate disease from prostate cancer with 90 percent accuracy in initial laboratory sample tests.

Pediatric Health

Stop using baby sleep devices, U.S. tells parents

(Reuters) – Sleep positioners marketed with the promise of helping babies sleep safely are too dangerous to use and should not be sold, U.S. officials warned on Wednesday.

“The deaths and dangerous situations resulting from the use of infant sleep positioners are a serious concern,” Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Chairman Inez Tenenbaum said in a joint statement with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Parents’ drinking may be risk factor for SIDS

(Reuters Health) – Parents and caretakers who drink alcohol may put infants at a higher risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), new research suggests.

Researchers at the University of California-San Diego found that SIDS cases occur 33 percent more often on New Year’s Day than any other day of the year, which is also when more people drink alcohol than at any other time of year.

Because the rate of SIDS has dropped since the 1990s to some 2,500 cases per year-about 7 per day-that 33 percent spike translates to only two more cases of SIDS on New Year’s than any other day. However, the researchers report finding other links between caretaker drinking and incidence of SIDS, in the journal Addiction.

Aging

Exercise has lasting benefits for older women

(Reuters Health) – Older women with thinning bones who exercise regularly have sustained improvements in their balance and walking speed that may protect them from fractures and even extend their lives, new research shows.

The researchers found that just 20 minutes of at-home exercise daily, interspersed with six months of supervised weekly training every year, over the course of five years helped increase women’s gait stability and cut their risk of fracture by 32 percent.

The improvements persisted for two years after the exercise program ended, with exercisers also being at lower risk of sustaining hip fractures or dying during follow-up, Dr. Raija Korpelainen of the department of sports and exercise medicine at Oulu Deaconess Institute in Oulu, Finland, and colleagues found.

Mental Health

Middle-aged suicides on rise in U.S., study finds

(Reuters) – Suicide rates for middle-aged people are edging up — particularly for white men without college degrees — and a combination of poor health and a poor economy may be driving it, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

Middle-aged people usually have a relatively low risk for suicide as they seek to support their families, but baby boomers are bucking this trend, sociologists Julie Phillips of Rutgers University in New Jersey and Ellen Idler of Emory University in Atlanta found.

“If these trends continue, they are cause for concern,” Phillips and Idler wrote in the journal Public Health Reports.

Antidepressant use tied to increased diabetes risk

(Reuters Health) – People who use antidepressants for the long term may be more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than non-users — including other individuals with severe depression, two new studies suggest.

The findings, reported in the journal Diabetes Care, add to evidence linking antidepressant use to a modest elevation in type 2 diabetes risk.

They do not, however, prove that the medications are the cause, researchers say.

It’s possible that antidepressant users have other characteristics that raise their odds of developing diabetes, according to Dr. Mika Kivimaki of the University College London in the UK, the lead researcher on one of the studies.

New depression guidelines favor tailored treatment

(Reuters) – New depression treatments favor a tailored approach and include recommendations for the use of shock therapy and other alternatives, including exercise when people fail to get relief from drugs.

The guidelines, issued on Friday by the American Psychiatric Association, are the first update on depression treatment in more than a decade.

“The five-year process of intense review, discussion and thoughtful revision-making has led us to today’s release of new guidelines that we believe will improve patient care,” Dr. Alan Gelenberg, an Arizona-based psychiatrist who led the group that drafted the guidelines, said in a statement.

Study finds first evidence that ADHD is genetic

(Reuters) – British scientists have found the first direct evidence attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a genetic disorder and say their research could eventually lead to better treatments for the condition.

Researchers who scanned the gene maps of more than 1,400 children found that those with ADHD were more likely than others to have small chunks of their DNA duplicated or missing.

Anita Thapar, a professor psychiatry at Cardiff University who led the study, said the findings should help dispel the myths that ADHD is caused by bad parenting or high-sugar diets.

Heightened suicide risk after weight-loss surgery

(Reuters Health) – Severely obese people who undergo weight-loss surgery may have a higher-than-average risk of suicide in the years following the procedure, a new study finds.

The report, in The American Journal of Medicine, adds to evidence that patients who have bariatric surgery to lose weight have an increased risk of suicide compared with the general population.

But the reasons for the pattern, researchers say, remain unknown.

Nutrition/Diet/Fitness

Gym culture not working out for the French

(Reuters) – The French may love to look good but few are willing to work up a sweat over it.

Despite increasing awareness of the benefits of healthy eating and physical exercise, going to the gym in France is still a niche activity that has yet to capture the mainstream.

France’s generous healthcare system, its cultural preference for outdoor sports and its lack of affordable good-quality clubs are seen as reasons behind the country’s low rate of gymgoers, even relative to laid-back neighbors Spain or Italy.

Punting the Pundits: Sunday Preview Edition

Punting the Punditsis an Open Thread. It is a selection of editorials and opinions from around the news medium and the internet blogs. The intent is to provide a forum for your reactions and opinions, not just to the opinions presented, but to what ever you find important.

The Sunday Talking Heads:

This Week with Christiane Amanpour: Ms. Amanpour will be hosting a special town hall debate: Holy War: Should Americans Fear Islam?

The plans to build an Islamic center near Ground Zero has unleashed an international debate – raising questions about America’s uneasy relationship with Islam.

Nine years after 9/11, is rising Islamophobia a threat to religious freedom and to Muslims in America. Does Islam foster extremist ideology, even violence? Where are the moderate voices?

Join the discussion. Share with us your questions or e-mail us directly at [email protected]. A producer may also contact you to send a video message or question.

Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer: Sen. Bernie Sanders will be a guest Sunday morning. Bernie will join a panel discussion with New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell.

The Chris Matthews Show: Joining M. Matthews will be Dan Rather, HDNet Global Correspondent, Katty Kay, BBC Washington Correspondent, Gloria Borger, CNN Senior Political Analyst and John Harris, Politico Editor-in-Chief. They will be discussing these questions:

How New Media Have Radically Changed Politics?

The Effects of Cell Phone Cameras and YouTube?

Meet the Press with David Gregory: No “Lurch” this Sunday. Meet the Press will not air this Sunday, Oct. 3, due to NBC’s coverage of the Ryder Cup

State of the Union with Candy Crowley: With the Senate adjourned and less than one month left until midterm elections, we talk to the two men in charge of getting their fellow senators re-elected, National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-New Jersey).

Then, a conversation about the politics of the week, including Rahm Emanuel‘s departure from the White House, with two political veterans: former Gore presidential campaign manager Donna Brazile, and former aide to President George W. Bush, Ed Gillespie.

And we talk to the Pakistan ambassador to the United States, Husain Haqqani, about the stability of the country and its role as a partner in fighting terrorism.

Fareed Zakaris: GPS: This week on GPS: a rare and exclusive interview with Wen Jiabao, the Premier of China. The last time Premier Wen spoke to Fareed Zakaria was in 2008. He hasn’t spoken to a Western reporter since. Until now that is.

The Chinese Premier speaks to Fareed about censorship in China; the ongoing controversy over China’s currency; his views on the U.S. economy — has he lost faith in American finance? Is the U.S. ripe for a double-dip recession?; the state of US-China relations; whether real political reform can come to China; and what he sees as the future of China as he prepares to leave office in 2 years.

Also, a war is ending after nearly a century. You’ll be surprised which one it is.

And finally a look at a political laugh track.

David Sirota: The Real Democratic Whiners

The way Democratic leaders tell it, their party’s current “enthusiasm gap” comes from rank-and-file voters who are irrational and pessimistic complainers. . . .

No doubt, Democratic politicians would have us believe that Republican obstructionism makes a vote pointless and that those saying otherwise are back to “glass half empty” whining. This, of course, has been the same excuse on nearly every issue.

But who are the self-defeating whiners here-politicians who don’t even attempt to fulfill their own promises, or voters who expect those politicians to at least make a minimal effort? The honest answer to that question shows who is really responsible for the enthusiasm gap.

Eugene Robinson: Who Really Thinks We’ll Win in Afghanistan?

Could somebody please remind me just what it is that we’re achieving in Afghanistan? Don’t all speak at once. No, I mean what good things we’re accomplishing. Anybody? Hello?

The more we learn about the war-both from the battlefield and from the White House-the more depressing it all becomes. The portrait that emerges is of a failing military campaign whose course is being determined by momentum, not by logic. Everyone seems to appreciate this fact, but no one is willing to stop the madness. So on we go.

For me, the most striking revelation from über-journalist Bob Woodward’s new book, “Obama’s Wars,” is the extent to which the officials who are planning and prosecuting this war recognize how unlikely it is to end well.

Michael Moore: Five Ways the Democrats Can Avoid a Catastrophe and Pull Off the Mother of All Upsets

The election is one month from tomorrow and, yes, it looks hopeless. November 2nd — the day the Dems are expected to crash and burn.

Sadly, it’s a situation the Democrats have brought upon themselves — even though the majority of them didn’t create the mess we’re in. But they’ve had over a year and a half to start getting the job done to fix it. Instead, they’ve run scared ever since they took power. To many, the shellacking they’re about to receive is one they deserve.

But if you’re of a mindset that believes a return to 2001-2008 would be sheer insanity, then you probably agree we’ve got no choice but to save the Democrats from themselves.

Steven Thrasher: White America Has Lost Its Mind

The white brain, beset with worries, finally goes haywire in spectacular fashion

About 12:01 on the afternoon of January 20, 2009, the white American mind began to unravel.

It had been a pretty good run up to that point. The brains of white folks had been humming along cogently for near on 400 years on this continent, with little sign that any serious trouble was brewing. White people, after all, had managed to invent a spiffy new form of self-government so that all white men (and, eventually, women) could have a say in how white people were taxed and governed. White minds had also nearly universally occupied just about every branch of that government and, for more than two centuries, had kept sole possession of the leadership of its executive branch (whose parsonage, after all, is called the White House).

But when that streak was broken-and, for the first time, a non-white president accepted the oath of office-white America rapidly began to lose its grip.

Paul Krugman: Japan’s Horror Story Not So Scary After All

The tale of Japan’s economic woes is a nuanced one, despite its unearned reputation as a horror story.

It is fairly amazing how much of the nation’s slide since the early 1990s can be explained not by economics, but by demography.

I’m not the first person to make this point, but it comes to mind because I recently took a look at the Total Economy Database from The Groningen Growth and Development Center in the Netherlands. I found that from 1992 to 2007 (the eve of the global economic crisis), Japanese gross domestic product per capita – or the approximate value of goods produced in a country, divided by its total population – fell from 88 percent to 76 percent, as compared to the United States’s G.D.P. per capita.

Robert Reich: Why It’s Foolish to Weaken the Dollar to Create Jobs

keep hearing the only way we’re going to get jobs back any time soon is with a weak dollar.

Baloney.

Here’s the theory. As the dollar falls relative to foreign currencies, everything we export becomes less expensive to foreign consumers. So they buy more of our stuff, creating more jobs in the U.S. At the same time, everything they make costs us more. So we buy less from them and more from each other. Again, more jobs here at home.

Washington is actively pursuing a weak dollar as a jobs policy. (The dollar just plunged to a six-month low against the euro.)

How? The Fed is keeping long-term interest rates so low global investors are heading elsewhere for high returns, which bids the dollar down. Every time another Fed official hints the Fed will start printing even more money (“quantitative easing” in Fed speak) the dollar takes another dive.

Bob Herbert: The Campaign Disconnect

One in five American kids was living in poverty in 2009. Across the country, once solidly middle-class families are lining up at food pantries and soup kitchens for groceries or a hot meal. In New York City, a startling indicator of the continuing economic stress is the rise in the number of homes that don’t have kitchens.  

Election Day is approaching, but neither party cares to focus on the nightmare facing millions of Americans who have been laid low by unemployment, home foreclosures, personal bankruptcies, and jobs that offer only part-time work, lousy pay and absolutely no benefits.

In an era of extreme economic inequality (which is another way of saying economic unfairness), Wall Street can be on a roll and corporate profits can streak toward the moon at the same time that ordinary American families are stuck in depressionlike conditions with precious little hope of relief.

Les Leopold: Wall Street Brings Class War to America?

As thousands of demonstrators marched in European capitals on Wednesday to protest recent austerity measures, officials in Brussels proposed stiffening sanctions for governments that fail to cut their budget deficits and debt swiftly enough. (“Workers In Europe Protest Austerity Measures”, New York Times, 9/30/2010)

Oh, do the super-rich hate the sound of “class struggle.” Dare to utter the words and they’ll reach for their red-baiting paint guns and spray you silly with invective. It’s un-American. It’s socialistic. It’s an insult to democracy and freedom.

But try as they might, they can’t paint over the reality, which the new Fortune 400 listings make so clear: Wall Street billionaires have more money than they’ll ever be able to use–at a time when more than 29 million of us don’t have that most basic necessity, a full-time job. A hidden class war got us to this point. It’s not hidden anymore.

On This Day in History: October 2

This is your morning Open Thread. Pour your favorite beverage and review the past and comment on the future.

October 2 is the 275th day of the year (276th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 90 days remaining until the end of the year.

On this day in 1959, “The Twilight Zone” premiered on CBS television. The Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964. The series consisted of unrelated episodes depicting paranormal, futuristic, dystopian, or simply disturbing events; each show typically featured a surprising plot twist and was usually brought to closure with some sort of message. The series was also notable for featuring both established stars (e.g. Cliff Robertson, Ann Blyth, Jack Klugman) and younger actors who would later became famous (e.g. Robert Redford, William Shatner, Mariette Hartley, Shelley Fabares). Rod Serling served as executive producer and head writer; he wrote or co-wrote 92 of the show’s 156 episodes. He was also the show’s host, delivering on- or off-screen monologues at the beginning and end of each episode. During the first season, except for the season’s final episode, Serling’s narrations were off-camera voiceovers; he only appeared on-camera at the end of each show to promote the next episode (footage that was removed from syndicated versions but restored for DVD release, although some of these promotions exist today only in audio format).

The “twilight zone” itself is not presented as being a tangible plane, but rather a metaphor for the strange circumstances befalling the protagonists. Serling’s opening and closing narrations usually summarized the episode’s events in tones ranging from cryptic to pithy to eloquent to unsympathetic, encapsulating how and why the main character(s) had “entered the Twilight Zone”.

 1187 – Siege of Jerusalem: Saladin captures Jerusalem after 88 years of Crusader rule.

1263 – The battle of Largs is fought between Norwegians and Scots.

1535 – Jacques Cartier discovers Montreal, Quebec.

1552 – Conquest of Kazan by Ivan the Terrible.

1780 – John Andre, British Army officer of the American Revolutionary War, is hanged as a spy by American forces.

1789 – George Washington sends the proposed Constitutional amendments (The United States Bill of Rights) to the States for ratification.

1814 – Battle of Rancagua: Spanish Royalists troops under Mariano Osorio defeated rebel Chilean forces of Bernardo O’Higgins and Jose Miguel Carrera.

1835 – The Texas Revolution begins with the Battle of Gonzales: Mexican soldiers attempt to disarm the people of Gonzales, Texas, but encounter stiff resistance from a hastily assembled militia.

1851 – The pasilalinic-sympathetic compass is demonstrated but proves to be a fake.

1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Saltville – Union forces attack Saltville, Virginia, but are defeated by Confederate troops.

1889 – In Colorado, Nicholas Creede strikes it rich in silver during the last great silver boom of the American Old West.

1919 – US President Woodrow Wilson suffers a massive stroke, leaving him partially paralyzed.

1924 – The Geneva Protocol is adopted as a means to strengthen the League of Nations.

1925 – John Logie Baird performs the first test of a working television system.

1928 – The “Prelature of the Holy Cross and the Work of God”, commonly known as Opus Dei, is founded by Saint Josemaria Escriva.

1938 – Tiberias massacre: Arabs murder 20 Jews.

1941 – World War II: In Operation Typhoon, Germany begins an all-out offensive against Moscow.

   * 1944 – World War II: Nazi troops end the Warsaw Uprising.

1950 – Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz is first published

1958 – Guinea declares its independence from France.

1959 – The anthology series The Twilight Zone premieres on CBS television.

1967 – Thurgood Marshall is sworn in as the first African-American justice of United States Supreme Court.

1968 – A peaceful student demonstration in Mexico City culminates in the Tlatelolco massacre.

1990 – A Chinese airline Boeing 737-247 is hijacked; after landing at Guangzhou, it crashes into two airliners on the ground, killing 132 people.

1996 – The Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments are signed by U.S. President Bill Clinton.

1997 – European Union: The Amsterdam Treaty is signed.

2001 – NATO backs US military strikes following 9/11.

2001 – Swissair liquidates and the airline is replaced by SWISS.

2002 – The Beltway sniper attacks begin, extending over three weeks.

2004 – American Samoa joins the North American Numbering Plan.

2005 – Ethan Allen Boating Accident: The Ethan Allen tour boat capsizes on Lake George in Upstate New York, killing twenty people.

2006 – Five school girls are murdered by Charles Carl Roberts in a shooting at an Amish school in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania before Roberts commits suicide.

2007 – President Roh Moo-hyun of South Korea walks across the Military Demarcation Line into North Korea on his way to the second Inter-Korean Summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

2009 – Rio de Janeiro is elected the host city of the 2016 Summer Olympics and Paralympics.

2009 – The Twenty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland is approved at the second attempt, permitting the state to ratify the European Union’s Treaty of Lisbon.

Morning Shinbun Saturday October 2




Saturday’s Headlines:

Fears of Chinese land grab as Beijing’s billions buy up resources

On eve of Commonwealth Games, India’s persistent red tape is in spotlight

USA

The Political Wild Card

SBA suspends major contractor GTSI from government work

Europe

Ukrainian leader tacks back towards EU from Russia

Unification still a work in progress after 20 years

Middle East

The battle for the Middle East narrative

Ominous signs in Iran under siege

Asia

Court accused of bias over mosque verdict

Japan poured oil on troubled waters

Africa

Mystery surrounds award for Swazi prime minister

Eight Die, Others Injured In Abuja Blast

Latin America

A Dangerous Journey for Brazil’s Illegal Migrants

I’m sorry for not posting the Morning Shinbun on Friday

Fears of Chinese land grab as Beijing’s billions buy up resources



By Sarah Arnott Saturday, 2 October 2010

China is pouring another $7bn (£4.4bn) into Brazil’s oil industry, reigniting fears of a global “land grab” of natural resources.

State-owned Sinopec clinched the deal with Spain’s Repsol yesterday to buy 40 per cent of its Brazilian business, giving China’s largest oil company access to Repsol Brasil’s estimated reserves of 1.2 billion barrels of oil and gas. The whopping price tag for Repsol Brasil – which values the company at nearly twice previous estimates – is a sign of China’s willingness to pay whatever it takes to lock in its future energy supplies and avoid social unrest. It will give the company enough cash to develop all its current oil projects, including two fields in the Santos

On eve of Commonwealth Games, India’s persistent red tape is in spotlight



By Rama Lakshmi

Washington Post Foreign Service

Saturday, October 2, 2010; 12:15 AM


IN NEW DELHI It didn’t take long for the first athletes arriving in New Delhi last week for the upcoming Commonwealth Games to catch a glimpse of modern India’s two faces.

Their gateway to the country was the capital’s gleaming new international airport terminal, built by a privately led consortium and opened in June four months ahead of schedule.

But the official wristbands that the visitors were handed at the airport turned out to be an emblem of India’s famous red tape and government inefficiency.

USA

The Political Wild Card



By MARK LEIBOVICH

Published: October 1, 201  


WILMINGTON – Before she was a Tea Party cause célèbre, liberal laughingstock and perhaps the embodiment of a can-you-top-this-for-bizarre political season, Christine O’Donnell grew up in a “Brady Bunch” household of six kids (three Democrats, three Republicans), two parents (one of each) and an appreciation for the dramatic, the eccentric and the media spotlight.

“We were a big noisy family with a lot of backyard skits and carnivals,” said Ms. O’Donnell, whose mother, Carole, called her Chrissy the Pooh and whose father, Daniel, worked a series of small television roles before scoring his signature gig – playing Bozo the Clown.

SBA suspends major contractor GTSI from government work



By Robert O’Harrow Jr.

Washington Post Staff Writer  


Federal officials on Friday suspended one of the nation’s largest government contractors from receiving new work, alleging that the Northern Virginia company inappropriately went through other firms to gain access to contracts set aside for small companies.

The U.S. Small Business Administration’s action imperils hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for GTSI Corp., a top-50 contractor that has relied on the Pentagon and the rest of the federal government for more than 90 percent of its sales in recent years.

Europe

Ukrainian leader tacks back towards EU from Russia



By Mary Dejevsky in Yalta Saturday, 2 October 2010

The President of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, denied yesterday that his country’s EU ambitions had been put on the back burner, insisting that Ukraine’s “European choice” remained an “unchanged priority for his government”.

His choice of words suggested a very deliberate attempt to counter claims that Ukraine’s hopes of EU membership had been sacrificed to a rapprochement with Russia.

His remarks were given extra weight by the setting: the opening of an annual Europe forum at the Livadia Palace in Yalta, where Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin carved up Europe in 1945.

Unification still a work in progress after 20 years

The Irish Times – Saturday, October 2, 2010

DEREK SCALLY in Berlin

Despite growing satisfaction with the fruits of unity, fissures remain in German society

FERGUS PYLE would have been highly amused. In 1994 the late, former Irish Times German correspondent visited the eastern industrial city of Eisenhüttenstadt – literal translation: Ironworks Town. He described in depressing detail the struggling steel mill and the exodus of people to the west. The “harsh contours” of four decades of socialism had, he wrote, “barely been dented by the hesitant signs of new prosperity”.

“Eisenhüttenstadt,” he surmised, “is not a place where tourists go.”

Middle East

The battle for the Middle East narrative

Israel has military might and diplomatic influence, but is under pressure on a third front of its conflict with the Palestinians: how the world sees it, writes Paul McGeough.

October 2, 2010

A single word shrieked from the car radio, as US National Public Radio reported the uncertain fate of the latest round of Middle East peace talks, in light of last Sunday’s expiry of what has been billed as a moratorium on Israeli settlement expansion on Palestinian land.

In quoting no less a figure than the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, the reporter did not use the word settlement. Instead she attributed to him the dreaded C-word: colonies.

Ominous signs in Iran under siege



By Kaveh L Afrasiabi

Iran is increasingly under siege. From cyber-attacks on its nuclear infrastructure to biting economic and financial sanctions, to overt support for (armed) opposition groups, to a military build-up of neighbors, it appears that outside powers are making a concerted effort at regime change in the Islamic Republic.

If unchecked, this will likely yield growing regional tensions instead of dialogue that reduces them. For all practical purposes, United States President Barack Obama’s “Iran engagement” policy has turned into a subversive engagement with pro-democracy and opposition groups, tantamount to a new level of interference in Iran’s internal affairs under the veneer of democracy and human rights.

Asia

Court accused of bias over mosque verdict



Matt Wade October 2, 2010

DELHI: There was an anxious mood among the worshippers during Friday prayers at Delhi’s Jama Masjid, one of India’s biggest mosques.

A day after a court ruled that a disputed plot of land in the north Indian town of Ayodhya should be split between Muslims and Hindus some worshippers were angry.

“This is a black day for India,” said Mazharima Imam.

The imam of the Jama Masjid, Syed Ahmed Dukhari, appealed for peace five times during his address yesterday “This was one of the most sensitive Friday prayers in recent years,” his spokesman said

Japan poured oil on troubled waters



By Peter Lee  

In the fuss over Japan’s detention of the Chinese fishing vessel and its captain, Zhan Qixiong, after a scuffle near the Diaoyutai/Senkaku Islands, the world received a foretaste of how World War III might break out in the China Sea.

All it takes is a confrontation at some contested but otherwise insignificant rock, a combustible combination of rhetoric, provocation, and retaliation, an American propensity for meddling, and the participation of a credulous and obliging media …

… and, perhaps, the active involvement of Japan, which already has some experience in igniting world wars in doomed attempts to extract itself from strategic and economic cul de sacs.

Africa

Mystery surrounds award for Swazi prime minister

The kingdom of Swaziland says its prime minister is receiving an award for “contributions to humankind” on Saturday, but the group apparently bestowing the honour appears to be little more than a Florida phone number and website.

DONNA BRYSON | JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – Oct 02 2010

The decision to recognise Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini with a “World Citizen Award” has prompted outrage from human rights groups who have criticised the poor records on human rights and resistance to democratic reform in sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarchy.

The prime minister, who has recently gained attention for comments in the Swazi media that anti-government protesters should be tortured, already has flown to the Bahamas to pick up the award, his office said.

Eight Die, Others Injured In Abuja Blast

We’ll Get You, Jonathan Tells Bombers

MEND Sent  Bomb Alert Shortly Before Blasts

Henry Orkah Arrested, Released In South Africa Over Incident


SATURDAY, 02 OCTOBER 2010 00:00 FROM MARTINS OLOJA, JOHN -ABBA OGBODO (ABUJA) AND ALEX OLISE (LAGOS)

NIGERIANS expected the sky to be lit up with fireworks. But what they heard at the venue of the celebration was boom – and the sky was filled with rolls of smoke from an explosion.

It was the 50th independence anniversary of the nation turned into a tragedy. It left behind eight dead persons and several others who were injured.

But that was apparently because the security agents did not take the threat of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) seriously.

In a statement shortly before the explosions, MEND issued what it called bomb alert. The statement read in part:

Latin America

 A Dangerous Journey for Brazil’s Illegal Migrants

Leaving Valadares

By Jens Glüsing

Juliard Aires Fernandes had been warned. His friends had told him he could easily die while attempting to cross the border between Mexico and the United States unaided. Acquaintances who had recently returned said it was no longer even worth the journey. The dollar wasn’t worth anything any longer. His father, 66-year-old Alirio Aires, distinctly remembers their words: “They urged him to stay in Brazil. ‘Here at least you have a future,’ they said.”

But 19-year-old Juliard, who was born and grew up in the village of Sardoa near the city of Governador Valardares in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, refused to listen to the warnings. The US was his dream, his father recalls: “Nothing could stop him.”

Ignoring Asia A Blog  

In Real Time

What Rick Sanchez said about CNN and Jews

By  Greg Sargent, October 1, 2010; 2:16 PM ET

I’m telling you that everybody who runs CNN is a lot like Stewart, and a lot of people who run all the other networks are a lot like Stewart. And to imply that somehow they — the people in this country who are Jewish — are an oppressed minority? Yeah.

UPDATE, 3:04 p.m.: Let me try to be a bit clearer. The charitable interpretation of what he said — and I mean charitable  — is that Sanchez’s mind was on the white liberals he’d been ranting about. In the first half of the offending quote he was referring to them:

I’m telling you that everybody who runs CNN is a lot like Stewart, and a lot of people who run all the other networks are a lot like Stewart.

Then, in the second half, he addressed what his questioner had said about Jews:

And to imply that somehow they — the people in this country who are Jewish — are an oppressed minority? Yeah.

The problem is that even if he meant these comments in the less offensive way, he used the word “they” in that second half before saying “the people in this country who are Jewish.” This will be impossible for him to clarify. And, again, he very well have meant the comments in the worst way.

UPDATE, 6:23 p.m.: CNN fires Sanchez in a terse, two-sentence statement.

Today’s theme?  Bigotry got nothing to do with it.

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