They’re tearing it down now, but Yankee Stadium was the scene of a great and long-lasting geopolitical drama.  For well over a year Jimmy Carter would show up at high noon on second base, remove his trousers, bend over, and be sodomized by a strange, bearded Persian person.  This, for all the world to see, every day, for 440 days.

And all the world did see.  And Al Qaeda was born.  In a very real way Jimmy Carter was their Lafayette.

We are not saying George Bush is as small as Jimmy Carter. But in a Vaguely similar way an Arabian person has made a fool of him for over six years.  Osama Bin Laden is not sticking anything in the president…but he is sticking his Tongue out.   “Hey.  I’m over here.  Come get me.  Or must I kill another three thousand of you pukes?”

Is that an October surprise?  The head of Osama?

It would certainly be a mood breaker.  If you have a large part of the nation mesmerized, you don’t want that.

Suggest passing it along. It's going viral.

# # # # #

So now you are telling me that Obama's friend of more than 10 years is spilling the beans?  Why would he do something like this?  He has been watching Obama's back for the last 4-5 years.  If he wanted to come out with something he would have did it a long time ago.  Right?

Is this Obama's "October surprise"?  Some feel that way   For instance, The website HillBuzz, for instance, reported on Saturday that its information led it to believe that Obama could potentially face charges.  The Chicago political landscape has always faced scrutiny especially when elections were held in the 60s and dead people rose to vote for Kennedy. 

Mark Hemingway too explained for NRO’s the Corner:

So Obama chose to have him associated with his campaign. This was well after it became public that Giannoulias had loaned $11.8 million to Michael Giorango, a convicted bookmaker and
prostitution promoter. Giannoulias first denied he personally approved the loan, then Chicago Tribune reported that Giannoulias personally oversaw $11.8 million in mortgage loans to Giorango in 2005. Then
Giannoulias said the money had not gone to finance Casinos for organized crime. He appears to have lied again: “But newly obtained records show that $3.6 million of the recent loans were used by
Giorango and another convicted felon to acquire a casino boat marina in Myrtle Beach, S.C.,” reported the Tribune.

It’s not like the Obama campaign can credibly say they didn’t know about this before he was out raising money for the campaign. But I’d like to believe major news agencies might want to pull a few reporters
out of dumpsters in Wasilla (probably starting to get really cold up there anyway) and get them to Chicago to look into a potential Rezko-Giannoulias connection toot sweet. Maybe there’s nothing there,
but it’s worth looking into right?

Honestly, if this happens, it will be huge news.  Problem is Obama seems teflon these days.  Nothing sticks to him and he has a great spin meister in David Axlerod who also hails from Illinois and has his own problems too.

]]> http://canarypapers.wordpress.com/?p=1545 Sat, 11 Oct 2008 16:14:57 +0000 canarypapers http://canarypapers.wordpress.com/2008/10/11/its-october-and-im-surprised-should-i-also-be-scared/ Let's see....  

1. Our economy -- that venerable house of cards -- is collapsing, and the architects show no signs that they intend to do anything but stack more cards into the rafters (to hell with the foundation, to hell with the people below).

2. The news media essentially serve as a 24-7 infomercial for McCain-Palin, and yet Obama is still ahead -- by double digits, according to some polls --  which means that people aren't lining up anymore to buy the Bush-Cheney line of bullshit.

3. And, lastly, according to a Sept. 30 article in Army Times, George Bush has officially done the utterly unprecedented: He ordered a brigade of troops to to begin patrolling U.S soil, beginning on Oct. 1st, as part of the new NorthCom force. Bush dispatched the brigade in case our country needs help with "civil unrest and crowd control or to deal with potentially horrific scenarios such as massive poisoning and chaos in response to a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive, or CBRNE attack."

Should I be scared? I am.

But it's a safe bet that -- since this post isn't about Sarah Palin -- no one will read it, which means that, on the topic of fearful things, I can plant my tin foil hat firmly on my head and talk without fear of reprimand.

According to the Army Times article, the 3rd Infantry Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team goes by the incredibly adorable name, "Sea Smurf" -- which is the phonetically-correct moniker for it's official name: CCMRF (the CBRNE Consequence Management Response Force). Their mission is slated to last for a year, during which time we can all take comfort in the words of Sea Smurf commander, Col Roger Clouter: "We're going in to help American citizens on American soil, to save lives, provide critical life support, help clear debris, restore normalcy and support whatever local agencies need us to do, so it's kind of a different role."

Different, indeed. The brigade is equipped to use "the first ever nonlethal package that the Army has fielded," which includes, "equipment to stand up a hasty road block; spike strips for slowing, stopping or controlling traffic; shields and batons; and, beanbag bullets."

If the idea of soldiers patrolling your neighborhood with shields, batons and rubber bullets makes you nervous, take comfort in this: The Army Times article did issue a correction in early October, regarding the use of their non-lethal package. Accordingly, "A non-lethal crowd control package fielded to 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, described in the original version of this story, is intended for use on deployments to the war zone, not in the U.S., as previously stated."

Rubber bullets aside, one strategic problem with the Sea Smurf's NorthCom mission is that, according to an April 2008 GAO report, Northcom has not bothered to involve local and state officials and governments -- much less the National Guard -- in their emergency preparedness planning and coordination efforts. In other words, NorthCom appears set to go it alone, leaving legislators, governors, mayors, the National Guard and the media,  to -- I don't know -- step in line? 

The unprecedented pre-emptive deployment of NorthCom military troops onto U.S. soil was paved in October 2006 when Bush signed the John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007.  A few lawmakers, such as Sen. Patrick Leahy, protested -- as did governors across the country, who saw blazing red flags in the bills provisions. The governors banded together and repeatedly petitioned leaders on Capitol Hill with letters of protest, which were met, one by one, with silence. One such letter, signed by every member of the National Governors Association, read, in part:

This provision was drafted without consultation or input from governors, and represents an unprecedented shift in authority from governors . . .to the federal government..... We urge you to drop provisions that would usurp governors' authority over the National Guard during emergencies from the conference agreement on the National Defense Authorization Act. 

So much for democracy. The bill passed like a hot knife through butter.

The roles of traditional emergency preparedness team workers seem to have been usurped by Air Force engineer and medical units, the Marine Corps Chemical, Biological Initial Reaction Force, a Navy weather team and members of the Defense Logistics Agency and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. Whatever that means.

On this topic, the bi-partisan group of legislators that released the aforementioned April 2008 GAO report had a few things to say:   

I remain convinced that almost seven years after 9/11, the U.S. Northern Command, as presently structured, serves no real purpose and is a waste of taxpayers' money. The only hope to transform this sham command into a viable asset for the American people would require major changes.  -- Gene Taylor, D-Mississippi 

The United States Northern Command is supposed to be out in front in the Pentagon's efforts to support civil authorities in emergencies. It should be planning and identifying possible equipment shortfalls. Above all, it should be working closely with state and local communities. Instead, the command is doing very little of this core activity. -- Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont

Clearly, a bias against playing a supporting role to civilian authorities has resulted in large gaps in NORTHCOM's ability to fulfill its stated mission. The fact is, governors and their National Guard are and will continue to be our nation's first domestic military responders. And until they and NORTHCOM can work together more seamlessly, NORTHCOM's ability to be of assistance in homeland response will continue to face significant challenges. -- Chris Shays, R-Connecticut

NORTHCOM's duty is to provide military support to States and the Department of Homeland Security, but it hasn't fully figured out this emergency support mission. Any crack in our emergency preparedness capability today will become a gaping hole in our catastrophic response tomorrow. -- Bennie Thompson, D-Mississippi

Instead of working with the governors, the National Guard Bureau and the State Adjutants General, Northern Command has held the country's historic first military responders at arm's length. Northern Command needs to accept its supporting role or get out of the way. -- Tom Davis, R-Virginia
 

It is a curiosity. I mean, For more than 100 years - since the end of the Civil War - deployment of the U.S. military inside the U.S. has been prohibited under The Posse Comitatus Act (the only exceptions being that the National Guard and Coast Guard are exempted, and use of the military on an emergency ad hoc basis is permitted, such as what happened after Hurricane Katrina). Unless I missed something, a major hurricane has not hit the mainland in recent days, nor has a spate of riots broken out  in our major cities. And there's no imminent threat of an impending chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high explosive. Is there?  

Not that there's a damned thing we can do about it. But I'm just saying....

Of course, it's my prerogative to speculate on such things. After all, I am part of the tin-foil hat brigade, and have been since falling prey to tertiary Lyme Disease in 2002. Ever since, I've been on the vanguard with those who have long-believed in such unspeakable things as a Wall Street catastrophe, not to mention bizarre theories about bio-warfare pandemics, a second (and maybe a third) stolen election, 9-11 as a false flag operation, the Patriot Act, Dick Cheney's oil imperialism agenda, the ascent of mercenary armies, martial law, internment camps, government-controlled media, geophysical warfare and so on -- complete with all the legislative frills and scary, terrorist-bullying jargon necessary to making these newworldorder-ish things alternately possible, invisible, overt, covert and, ultimately, unstoppable.

Granted, a single brigade of Sea Smurfs dispatched to the blood red soils of Georgia, USA hardly seems like an overwhelming threat. But it is unprecedented, and it is also, um, un-American. So it's only natural that I'd jump on board, in full-tin regalia, fully unsurprised -- yet as surprised as the next person -- by the house of cards, the McCain-Palin infomercials and the Sea Smurf Brigade. Only, unlike the steadfast tin soldier, I don't feel so brave. And my heart's not doing so well, either.    

_________________________________

by Mantis Katz for the canarypapers

_________________________________

Army Times: (Sept. 30, 2008)  Brigade Homeland Tour Starts October 1st

Salon.com: (Sept. 24, 2008) Why is a U.S. Army Brigade Being Assigned to the "Homeland"?

Patrick Leahy: (April 16, 2008) GAO: NORTHCOM Failing in Civil Support Mission

CQ.com: (Dec. 1, 2006)  Fine Print in Defense Bill Opens Door to Martial Law

Global Research: (October 9, 2008) FEMA Sources Confirm Coming Martial Law

The Progressive: (October 7, 2008)  Leahy Concerned About NorthCom's New Army Unit

_________________________-

Having created the conditions that produced history's biggest bubble, America's political leaders appear unable to grasp the magnitude of the dangers the country now faces. Mired in their rancorous culture wars and squabbling among themselves, they seem oblivious to the fact that American global leadership is fast ebbing away. A new world is coming into being almost unnoticed, where America is only one of several great powers, facing an uncertain future it can no longer shape. -- From Asia Times  (October 10, 2008)  Wall Street: A New Iraq War

Gateway Pundit has more.  Roger Kimball asks, "Is that all they've got?"

Ann Althouse, on the other hand, thinks this is a red flag:

Lots of us like Sarah Palin and have high hopes for her in this election and the next, but let's resist the impulse to slough off this report. It means something.

She doesn't say what that something is, and I must admit I'm at a loss to say what it means myself, at least regarding Palin.  Link to the full report, highlighting of the nut graphs, and implications below the break.

Steve Branchflower, the investigator working under the employ and direction of Sen. French, came up with the following lead conclusions (here is the complete report, in PDF format):

Finding Number One

For the reasons explained in section IV of this report, I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act. Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) provides

The legislature reaffirms that each public officer holds office as a public trust, and any effort to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action is a violation of that trust.

Finding Number Two

I find that, although Walt Monegan’s refusal to fire Trooper Michael Wooten was not the sole reason he was fired by Governor Sarah Palin, it was likely a contributing factor to his termination as Commissioner of Public Safety. In spite of that, Governor Palin’s firing of Commissioner Monegan was a proper and lawful exercise of her constitutional and statutory authority to hire and fire executive branch department heads.

In other words, she abused her power, but she had every right to do so.  WTF, Steve?  Or, as Beldar put it a little less bluntly:

Please understand this, if you take nothing else away from reading this post: The Branchflower Report is a series of guess and insupportable conclusions drawn by exactly one guy, and it hasn't been approved or adopted or endorsed by so much as a single sub-committee of the Alaska Legislature, much less any kind of commission, court, jury, or other proper adjudicatory body. It contains no new bombshells in terms of factual revelations. Rather, it's just Steve Branchflower's opinion — after being hired and directed by one of Gov. Palin's most vocal opponents and one of Alaska's staunchest Obama supporters — that he thinks Gov. Palin had, at worst, mixed motives for an action that even Branchflower admits she unquestionably had both (a) the complete right to perform and (b) other very good reasons to perform.

Sadly, this flimsy piece of witch-hunting will nevertheless put the McCain campaign back (or more accurately, further back) on the defensive.  Allahpundit is of the opinion that the damage will be limited to a few isolated independents falling off here and there, but I think he's viewing this development in a vacuum.  McCain/Palin's momentum is already southbound, and while the Branchflower Report by itself would do little to halt an upward trend, or to begin a downward one, but it's not all that hard to accelerate a decline already in progress.

The McCain campaign should either go into full-out spin mode to undermine this report, stressing its lack of substantive findings and total absence of support among the rest of the Alaskan government, or blow it off completely.  (The latter is more risky, but since there isn't much in the report for the news media to grab onto, there is merit to the idea of denying it any oxygen.)  In either case, whatever they decide to do, they should do it fast.  They're going to need all the time they can scrape together to try to pin the Wall Street collapse on Obama and congressional Democrats (something else they need to get moving on very soon).

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Sarah Palin unlawfully abused her power as governor by trying to have her former brother-in-law fired as a state trooper, the chief investigator of an Alaska legislative panel concluded Friday. The politically charged inquiry imperiled her reputation as a reformer on John McCain's Republican ticket.

Investigator Stephen Branchflower, in a report to a bipartisan panel that looked into the matter, found Palin in violation of a state ethics law that prohibits public officials from using their office for personal gain.

The inquiry looked into her dismissal of Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan, who said he lost his job because he resisted pressure to fire a state trooper involved in a bitter divorce and custody battle with the governor's sister. Palin says Monegan was fired as part of a legitimate budget dispute.

Monegan's firing was lawful, the report found, but Palin let the family grudge influence her decision-making -- even if it was not the sole reason Monegan was dismissed.

This goes back to McCain campaign's VP vetting process and ultimate decision in asking Palin to be on the ticket. Why the hell did they think it was a good idea to have a candidate who was under an active investigation whose final report was due weeks before the election? It wasn't a big secret, a simple Google search would have uncovered it. Even though this is the sort of thing the Right used to scream bloody murder about during the Clinton presidency, the GOP base will still love Palin anyway, come hell or high water, and I don't think it's going to change any minds among Democratic voters who weren't going to vote for her anyway.

The ultimate damage to this may be long term, after this campaign is over. If McCain loses and Palin goes back to being governor of Alaska, the rest of her term will be clouded by this investigation. When she's up for reelection in 2010, it will come back to haunt her, either in the form of a primary challenge or from her Democratic opponent. If she had been exonerated and if she were a genuine asset to the GOP ticket right now, she would have been the frontrunner for her party's nomination in 2012. Instead, this will be her first, and likely only, shot at national office.

This is a tale of two campaigns.  An honest tale that involves a young, newly elected United States Senator named Barack Obama and a Kenyan cousin from the African Luo tribe named Raila Odinga.

Obama took his family on what was an official United States “fact finding mission” to Kenya in 2006. What facts were to be found on this taxpayer funded expedition are not clear to me, but they are also unimportant when compared to the facts about the trip itself.

While in there, Barack Obama not only found facts he found a candidate that wanted his support. That candidate was his cousin, Raila Odinga, the leader of Kenya’s largest opposition party. A socialist party called the Orange Democratic Movement and Raila Odinga was the ODM’s nominee for President.

Odinga is the son of the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga , the former Kenyan communist opposition leader. Before the end of the Cold War , he was educated in the communist nation of, what at the time, was called East Germany. He even named his eldest son after Cuba’s communist leader, Fidel Castro.

All of this gives you a clue as to where Raila Odinga’s political allegiances lie, at least it would to most people, but not to Barack Obama. No, apparently Barack didn’t know, or if he did, he didn’t care because Obama decided to go out and campaign for Odinga. This sitting United states Senator actually used the money of American taxpayers for a trip in which he campaigned for another nation’s President. Not only that but all along the way, at each and every campaign event for Odinga, Barack Obama handed out American flags with his own face imprinted on them.

If you are wondering what the big deal is, let me spell it out for you.

Barack Obama used a taxpayer funded, government sanctioned, fact funding trip to campaign for a presidential nominee in another country. Not only was that wrong, it was poor judgment, especially when you consider the fact that the candidate he campaigned for was the communist leader of a socialist party.

But it goes much deeper than that.

Ralia Odinga did not win his election. He ran a campaign that oddly enough was quite similar to the one that Obama is running now. Official ODM campaign documents, which were shared with Obama, run with the themes of change and hope, among other things.

Odinga lost by 231,728 votes. Out of about 9 million votes cast, it was a close race but a defeat nonetheless. However, Odinga did not accept the results of the election. Instead he actually called for demonstrations which led to ethnic warfare. In regards to Raila Odinga’s efforts, the group Human Rights Watch stated there is “evidence that the ODM formented post election violence” and as a result thousands were killed and more were injured and displaced.

Because of Odinga’s refusal to accept the results of the election, his tribal faction participated in an ethnic cleansing of the Kikuyu opposition and Christians who did not support Odinga.  With chants of ‘No Raila, No Peace", a church was even overtaken and it’s inhabitants beaten and stabbed and left to burn as they set it on fire. Those who were able to flee were tracked down and killed.

The violence raged on for weeks until the duly elected President, Mwai Kibaki caved in and in an attempt to save his people, entered into a power sharing arrangement in which Kibaki kept the title of President but Odinga was named prime Minister.

Since then the conditions have been tenuous. And the two have agreed to split the selection of cabinet ministers but Odinga has been operating on his own and those actions have not been in the best of democracy. In August of 2007 Odinga signed an agreement with the National Muslim Forum.  In exchange for their support he vowed to end Kenya’s support with the U.S. in the war On Terror.

All of this begs to question why Barack Obama used taxpayer’s money in an attempt to promote Raila Odinga’s elevation to President of Kenya? How could he use a government sanctioned event to elect a communist leader to a nation that was allied with us in the War On Terror? The issue calls into question, not only his judgment, but his ethics.

There are some quarters, which I am not among, that call into question whether or not this would-be-President of the United States ’s actions for Odinga, violated the law and if he should be indicted.

The Logan Act (18 U.S.C.A. § 953 [1948]) prohibits citizens from negotiating with other nations on behalf of the United States without authorization. That being the case one, must now ask, what arrangement was made between Raila Odinga and Barack Obama?

I do not see this as meeting the legal standards of an impeachable offense that could strip Obama of his senate seat, but others do. Such a determination, in my opinion, would hinge on the fact that at the time, any arrangement that Obama made with Odinga cannot be construed as one being conducted with “the nation” (of Kenya), as explained in the Logan Act. Odigna was not President at the time. He was only running for President so I do not believe that it can be said Obama negotiated or made a deal with Kenya.

Even if my determination is correct and the Logan Act does not apply to this case, my greatest concern is Barck Obama becoming President Obama. As President, will he carry out the same kind of judgment that he did in endorsing Ralia Odigna for President of Kenya? Will Obama apologize for working to put a murderous despot like Ralia Odinga into power? And even if he did, can we trust that he will not take the side of those who enter into opposition of freedom and the United States?

I have consistently repeated that Barack Obama has no record of accomplishment. Well I was wrong. From unrepentant domestic terrorist Bill Ayers to Raila Odigna, Barack Obama has a consistent record of tying himself to those who work against America. To those whom oppose all that we represent and strive for. Barack Obama has a consistent record of being wrong and if you want proof, all you have to do is look to Kenya and Raila Odnga.

You're also looking around for Captain Caucasian. Captain Caucasian and the Raging Idiots? Seriously? You sure it's not something else?

Just so you know, hemorrhagic fever is a fever triggered by any of a wide variety of RNA viruses, and are characterized by fever and bleeding. Yummy!

It's apparently a big problem in South Africa right now.

James T. Harris, who complained that McCain isn't doing enough to hit Obama and try and actually, I dunno, win the election is very popular search term right now. In addition to being a talkshow host, he's also a motivational speaker and consultant. Way to go, James!

In financial doom--I mean, news--you're all searching for the GM Stock Price. Um, given the market, what do you think it's doing. Peoples are saying GM's stock price hasn't been this low since 1951. Is that an inflation adjusted figure?

In other gloom, GE's earnings fall for the 3rd straight quarter. It's the End Times, people! Cash in the mattress, bury gold in the backyard, and make sure you have plenty of canned foods, water, and ammunition.

Oh, and then there's Troopergate. No, not the one with Bill Clinton that the news media dismissed and ignored, and not the one where Eliot Spitzer had cops spying on his political enemies. Instead, the press is all on about the one where Sarah Palin might have tried to get an unstable, violent trooper who had threatened to kill his wife off the streets before he did serious damage. That witch! Want a reasonably fair take on the story, check The Weekly Standard Blog. Don't forget, Democrat State Senator Hollis French already promised that the Trooper Gate report would deliver a lovely October Surprise for the Democrats. Fancy That! And did he deliver or what?

Sarah Palin has been cleared of any wrongdoing in the firing of the Alaska Public Safety Commissioner by... the McCain-Palin campaign.  Feel free to make your own jokes.

The Republicans goals are simple:

• To suppress voter turnout for Obama
• To discredit and destroy a community organization that gives poor people too much power for the Republicans taste
• To smear Obama
• To hurt Obama's campaign without blatantly going after the campaign it's self
• To find an easier target than the campaign, but an equally important one.
• Ultimately, to elect McCain

I know it’s a national investigation because ACORN is suddenly being investigated in multiple states simultaneously, which would be practically impossible if it’s not being directed from a national level. So far the police have raided one of our offices in Nevada; there are also investigations in the other key swing states of Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The Republican media wants to make it look like these are all independent investigations, but I know for a fact that the cards being investigated in at least two of these states are old, meaning they were ignored for months after being turn in to the board of elections, and are suddenly being investigated now, therefore someone ordered a national investigation. The only person who has the authority and the motive to order such an investigation is the Bush administration, so the Bush administration is unquestionably behind this.

We’re legally obligated to turn in all VR cards even if they’re incomplete or we suspect a problem with them, all we can do is flag card that are potently problematic. Voter Registration cards turned in if the person isn't ineligible won't get that person registered to vote. The investigations which are being conducted now use cards the Board of Elections have had for months, but they haven't begun to investigate until now. This is no coincidence; it’s a plot by the Bush administration to sabotage our organization and to disenfranchise Black and lower-income predominantly Democratic voters.

The easiest way for McCain to get elected now is through disenfranchising Obama voters, particularly those in the most vulnerable parts of society, such as lower-income African Americans, or if something was wrong with Obama’s GOTV (Get Out The Vote) effort. By sabotaging ACORN both of those objectives are achieved simultaneously. It’s a brilliant plot on the part of the Republicans; now help me stop it by donating to ACORN now.

I discussed this with a high level Republican strategist and a "Perot" independent corporate affairs communications expert.

This will give Hillary Clinton PUMAS another good reason to vote for McCain.

It saves America from total Democrat control of all branches of government and no check and balance to slow down the Democrats push to transform to a socialist system. The Democrats are on the verge of capturing a 60 percent (filibuster proof) majority. And there is no one there to veto a sweeping socialist bill anyway.

This will also give Sarah Palin four years of on the job training.

"Obama was eager to bail out his buddies at Freddie Mack, Fannie May and AIG, but he didn't want to bail you out on your inflated mortgages," John McCain

I’ve been told by two sources that Kazeminy has in the past covered the bills for Coleman’s lavish clothing purchases at Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis. The sources were not certain of the dates of the purchases; if they were made before Coleman joined the Senate in 2003, he obviously would not be required to report it under Senate rules. But having a private businessman pay for your clothing is never a good idea if you’re a public official (Coleman was mayor of St. Paul from 1994 to 2002).

Kazeminy did not respond to a request for comment. I’ve been trying unsuccessfully since last week to get Coleman’s press office to give me a direct answer about the matter.

The story hit the Minnesota political press, and they wanted answers immediately. This painful press conference with Coleman campaign manager Cullen Sheehan ensued.

Things were not looking good for Coleman to begin with. Al Franken's poll numbers have picked up and he's been getting ahead in recent weeks. After a post-St. Paul convention bounce for John McCain in Minnesota, Barack Obama has been surging in the polls and my guess is Al Franken will be riding his coattails to the U.S. Senate on November 4. The story won't automatically sink Coleman's campaign, but it's an unwelcome distraction that opens up his friendships and business arrangements to further scrutiny.

And for the record - Yes, I did jack the title from The Silence of the Lambs.

Karl's response was predictable.  George, I don't think any surprise can save McCain at this point.  Even if you went out to the press room and tossed Bin Laden's head on the floor, I don't think it'll help.  McCain is done.  Stick a fork in the old guy.  He needs Obama to make a mistake, like may be incriminating photos of him with Bin Laden or a sex scandal or some such thing, but Obama is squeaky clean.

I suppose I expect that kind of response from Karl.  After all, he is a political strategist and that's all he thinks about.  So I told him, no, not at all, I didn't have a political October Surprise in mind.  I had more of a financial one.  Since Congress was so good in passing the "rescue package," I thought I would put it to good use.  I had sat down with Paulson a couple of weeks ago, and told him that the US government needs to pull itself out of deficit spending.

Hank naturally agreed.   So, I outlined the plan.  He was to buy gold on the open market through secondary agents, and then start selling it off as the weeks went on.  Instantly flipping for a profit.  Paulson was naturally incredulous when he first heard this.  He started babbling something about this is not the role of the government, this is not the right thing to do... blah blah blah.

Now, in spite of all my comments about Paulson earlier, I really do like ol'baldy.  He is trying so hard, but like all the government types, he can't think out of the box.  A year ago, I told him to start shorting stocks like Citigroup, Bear Sterns and so forth.  But he said the same thing.  Look at how much money the government would've made if we did that.  But the past is the past.  This time I was more persuasive.

I told Paulson - Look Hank, we need to straighten things out, when I told you to short those financials last year, you didn't listen, if you had, we'd have made a fortune, it would have started getting us out of our deficit, which caused some of the problem.  Of course, it would've also ensured that we don't do more deficit spending on the rescue plan.  On top of that, do you think those soverign wealth funds aren't spending their time shorting our stocks like crazy last year?  Now, I am telling you to go ahead and buy gold.  You have some discretionary funds, so start doing it, and I'm about to get you $700 billion, so start the buy now, buy gold because that's what everybody want to keep their money in.  Then when the $700 billion comes in, buy more gold, except in small increments, like may be two to three billion a day.  Then hedge your position by doing a slow sell off say a month or so from now, remember, you're a Goldman Sachs guy, if you can't make a profit now, you never deserved the title of CEO for that illustrious company.  By the time October ends, the deficit would be much better off because government would have more money.

Hank argued, but we told the banks we'd buy the bad mortgages.

I responded, and we will, we're gonna wait on the sidelines and watch the value of those mortgages dip even lower.  Then you can initiate the buy around December or so, slowly of course, because gold wouldn't have run its course yet.  That way, the taxpayers make a bundle on their returns, because down the road, eventually this housing market will turn around, and we can use this to make some profit and everything will be more to our advantage.  Besides, this is the free market, what we're doing now with this rescue is more socialism, we don't want that kind of an economy for America, do we?

Hank mulled this over, but I knew I had him.  Poor Hank was already desparate trying to convince the losers on the hill we need to pass this bill.  So he agreed.  No surprise there, Hank can be very reasonable once he sees the light of day.  Anyway, we've been slowly buying gold for the last two weeks, and Hank has already taken some profits, just a few hundred million or so thus far.  But, I figure by the end of October, our investments should be worth more than the $700 billion we got from the stupid rescue plan.  Then we'll have gone a great way to both alleviate the deficit and get things calmed down, because we would've bought those bad mortgages at even cheaper prices with more moeny than we were given.

Heh heh, like I always said, capitalism and the free market works best when you're not acting like a government trying to bail out everybody.  And now, I feel much better too.  See Barack, I'm definitely going to leave you a better hand than you'd have otherwise, and you know why, cause I'm George Bush, and I rock.

]]> http://undernews.wordpress.com/?p=169 Tue, 07 Oct 2008 23:35:06 +0000 undernews http://undernews.nl.wordpress.com/2008/10/07/octobersurprise/ UnderNews hates when those with interesting, and potentially damaging information like holding it back until the last minute, it's just...you know...not fair to have a man (old) like McCain waste so much time and precious energy trying to snake his way into the presidency, for it to be ruined by.....The Iran-Contra Scandal.

It seems that McCain should have known that raising questions about Obama's connection to Bill Ayers (now a professor) would have caused those on Obama's side to respond in kind.

So here's the synopsis. In the early 80s, young McCain was on the board of a group (though not an active member, to his credit) called the World Anti-Communist league. That, of course, is forgiveable... the 80s were a time that people were still coming off of their cocaine highs because they hadn't gotten the memo that coke went passe sometime around 78. But let's not stray from the point. This group was caught red-handed in a scandal which sounds like something Hunter S Thompson would start a "rumor" about. The WACL had sold weapons to the Iranians and used the profits to fund right-wing Contras in Nigeria. Of course, the plan for global domination began to experience FAIL in 1986 when a plane connected to WACL was shot down over Nigeria.

It was only then, in 1986 that Mr. McCain tendered his regination and asked for his name to be removed from the group's letterhead.

Scandal ensued.

Regardless, it seems that the McCain campaign will have quite a difficult time fending off this particular set of news, since the American people would be kind of mad that McCain was aiding two terrorist groups at the same time.

Clearly a man who knows when to get out of a potentially sticky situation (read: Iraq).

Oh and if you're wondering.....

this is kind of huge.

Legitimate news @

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081007/ap_on_el_pr/mccain_iran_contra

1. What idea/policy that was discussed (by Obama or McCain) are you most interested in?  Even if you're not an Obama or McCain supporter - which one were you MOST interested in?
2. Support why you think so with a few sentences.  Not what mom and dad (or brother or sister, or your friends) think, but why do YOU think that this idea/policy is so important, so interesting.  Do you want more information?  What do you want to know?

Keep this positive, and keep them your OWN thoughts!

Write/type your paragraph (6-8 sentences) and turn it in with your quiz tomorrow.  Do it secretly, if you want! Or - post a comment below that fits the criteria listed above!  I understand that some may have a need for privacy, so a paper copy is fine if you'd like.

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=77268

 

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DISPATCH FROM KENYA
Kenya detains Corsi during Obama probe
Officials scuttle WND reporter's news conference on investigation

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Posted: October 07, 2008
7:26 am Eastern

© 2008 WorldNetDaily

 

WND senior staff writer Jerry Corsi

NAIROBI, Kenya – The government of Kenya is holding WND senior staff reporter Jerome Corsi in custody at immigration headquarters after police picked him up at his hotel just prior to a scheduled news conference in which he planned to announce the findings of his investigation into Barack Obama's connections in the country.

Corsi, the author of the No. 1 best-selling book "The Obama Nation," was picked up by authorities at his hotel at 9:45 a.m. and detained at Nyayo House, the provincial headquarters for Nairobi.

"Just as we were about to start the 10 a.m. press conference at the Grand Regency Hotel in Nairobi, Kenyan immigration approached us and detained us," Corsi told WND by telephone this morning. "Tim Bueler, my publicist, and I are now in the immigration offices, with our passports taken. The immigration officer told the press, 'There is no problem, and Dr. Corsi is a friend of Kenya.'"

"There are unconfirmed reports from on the ground in Nairobi that Jerome Corsi and his traveling partner and publicist, Tim Bueler, have left Kenya," said Joseph Farah, editor and chief executive officer of WND who was in touch with Corsi by telephone and email until 9:30 a.m. Eastern today. "However, we have not been able to reach either Corsi or Bueler for several hours, and we are concerned. Officials in Kenya have not been responsive to our requests for information. We also hear unconfirmed reports from the government claiming it has 'deported' Corsi. Since Corsi was scheduled to leave the country today, this would seem to be a strange action from a government that was well aware of Corsi's presence, his travels and his activities in the country for the last week."

Corsi had extensive meetings with top Kenyan officials upon his arrival. His visit and his activities during his stay have been well-known to authorities at the highest levels.

(Story continues below)

A senior immigration official in charge of investigations, Carlos Maluta was quoted by the Associated Press as saying: "We still haven't decided what to do with him."

Despite reports elsewhere to the contrary, Corsi has not been arrested or charged with any offense.

An official with the Embassy of Kenya in Washington said he was unaware of Corsi's detention. The Ministry of Immigration in Nairobi could not be reached for comment. WND tried again, later, to contact a spokesman for the embassy and was told by a receptionist the official word is that Corsi was not detained. "He's enjoying his holiday in Kenya," she said.

Get the book that started it all – Jerome Corsi's "The Obama Nation," personally autographed, for only $4.95, only from WND and only today!

Obama has a long history of connections in Kenya, where his father worked as a government economist. Corsi documented this history in his book and went to Kenya to find answers to lingering questions – particularly about the links between the presidential candidate and Kenya Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

Corsi had promised a news conference today that would "expose details of deep secret ties between U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and a section of Kenya government leaders, their connection to certain sectoral groups in Kenya and subsequent plot to be executed in Kenya should Senator Obama win the American presidency."

Meanwhile, the management of the hotel where Corsi was scheduled to hold the press conference has repudiated its plans to provide the facility.

In a press release, the hotel said: "We would like to assure our business partners and the public at large that Laico Regency Hotel is a law-abiding institution and does not condone any smear campaigns. The management cannot allow such activities to take place."

Sen. Barack Obama with Raila Odinga

Corsi told WND he has been assured he will be released soon. He had planned to leave the country tomorrow, arriving in London first and the U.S. Friday.

A hotel worker in Nairobi told Reuters Corsi was picked up as soon as he walked into the hotel for the scheduled press conference: "He was walking in and then some immigration officers who were following him snatched him. It happened so fast, they just vanished with him."

"Obama is revered in Kenya for his paternal roots here and as a flagbearer for Africa on the international stage," explained the Reuters dispatch.

Kenyan TV station KTN said Corsi may be sent home due to lack of a work permit. However, Corsi met with top officials in Nairobi earlier this week explaining in detail the purpose of his visit and sharing copies of his news releases and books.

Corsi told WND Editor Joseph Farah by telephone that Kenyan authorities claimed they were holding him because the immigration forms his party filled out for customs had been lost.

Corsi was set to show Obama and Odinga have been in direct contact since the senator's visit to Kenya in 2006. He was to claim Obama advised Odinga on campaign strategy and helped him raise money in the U.S. for the Kenya presidential campaign.

Corsi was to report Odinga's 2007 presidential campaign strategy called for exploiting anti-Kikuyu tribal sentiments, claiming victory and charging voter fraud even if the campaign knew the election had been legitimately lost. Odinga, Corsi said, also was willing to fan the flames of ethnic tribal tensions and use violence as a last resort by calling for mass action that led to the destruction of properties, injuries, loss of life and the displacement of over 500,000 Kenyans. The purpose was to compel the Electoral Commission of Kenya to declare him the winner or enable him to declare himself the winner by force.

Even though Odinga has not fulfilled his campaign promises to the Muslims who voted for him, he continues to cause concern among Kenyans because he has not declared his position on Shariah law, Corsi said.

Corsi said Obama remained in active phone contact with Odinga through the New Hampshire Democratic Party primary in January. The Illinois senator continued to support Odinga, he said, turning a blind eye to an agreement signed with Muslims and the post-election violence instigated as part of the campaign strategy.

I hope Mr. Corsi makes it out of Kenya in one piece and with even more damning information on Obama!

CQ

Is this the "October Surprise?" US Warplane Plays Chicken in Iran's Airspace. A VERY BAD IDEA.

James Stephens here Tuesday, October 7, 2008. Woke up to breaking news on KNX1070 News Radio in Los Angeles this morning at 5:30 that 'a US warplane had illegally crossed over Iran's airspace and was brought down by the Iranians who were interrogating five US officers who were then released. Is it true? Or just political spin? The timing is just too political on our part as this evening is the McCain-Obama Debate. The State Department just reported, "All our planes are accounted for." Who do you believe? Is this a "wag the dog" Iranian style?

Didn't plan on rolling out of bed to write this WARNING article as I had strangely stayed up until 1:30 AM listening to Fresh Air, a NPR podcast interview of Robert Baer, a former CIA Analyst who has specialized in Iran for the last thirty plus years. It is well worth a careful listen.

One thing that was of deep concern to me that Baer mentioned towards the end of the interview pointing to the Achilles heal in our own country's foreign policy regarding the Middle East was that even if the CIA provides A1 intelligence, sometimes the President, as in President Reagan's tragic policy in Beruit, he didn't listen to their prudent counsel and acted for political reasons that actually backfired on the ground. Baer did say that because Senator McCain is sinking in the polls because he's not hit the economic meltdown effectively, that an attack on Iran would be an "October surprise."

And although Israel in some ways does want to knock out the nuclear facilities in Iran, they recognize that it would immediately precipitate retaliatory strikes and the Persian gulf would be on fire, make the US Economic meltdown look like a walk in the park and throw the world into a thirty year war and a Great Depression of immense magnitude.

Very insightful analysis on the Shia vs. Sunni issues from an expert who has worked in the middle east for thirty plus years. Clear minded analysis.

James C. Stephens was invited to Fuller School of Intercultural Studies in 1996 and mentored by one of the world's leading Islamicists Dr. Dudley Woodberry. He received a MA in Intercultural Studies with a dual concentration was in Leadership Development and Christian-Buddhist Studies, his study in Woodberry's class on Islam produced a paper on Peacemaking in Ladakh, India in an attempt to address a complex religious conflict between Islam and Tibetan Buddhism which has arisen after the Dalai Lama's followers had evidently firebombed an Islamic mosque in Leh. He is the Executive Director of Sonrise Center for Buddhist Studies located at http://www.sonrisecenter.org.

October surprise?
Friday, October 03, 2008 by Dave Winer.
I just listened to a chilling but fascinating edition of FreshAir. Permalink to this paragraph
So chilling and thought-provoking it will certainly help you forget Sarah Palin, and might just get you to forget the subprime meltdown crisis depression, etc. Permalink to this paragraph
http://bit.ly/3AQzbV Permalink to this paragraph
The big question -- will an October Surprise, one that gives us four more years of Republican rule in the US be an American attack on Iran, or an American-approved attack by Israel? Permalink to this paragraph
The subject of the interview, Robert Baer, is absolutely sure that if that happens, the Iranians will shut down the flow of oil to the world from the entire Persian Gulf. Permalink to this paragraph
A picture named straits.gif Permalink to this paragraph
That's the Straits of Hormuz, the place all the arrows are pointing at. It's tiny. All the oil from Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, etc flows through there. If Iran wants they can shut that down at any time. Attack Iran, they say, and that's the end of oil. Baer says that would start a depression that makes the subprime meltdown look like a day in the park. He calls it a Hail Mary Pass, one that Bush might throw, one last chance to save his legacy and keep the White House in Republican hands. Permalink to this paragraph
Have a listen, if you have the time. It's riveting radio. Permalink to this paragraph

- McCain or Obama? Stay updated on coverage of the Presidential race while you browse

There could be photographs.

He was young. He "needed the money" kind of photographs.

Or Obama’s American Communist Party membership card surfaces. His secret heroin addiction revealed. Some dead woman live man kind of thing.

None of that happening, it feels like the only way McCain can win is if American really is a nation of racial bigots. Isn’t that something? John “Why can’t we all just get along and cross the aisle” McCain’s last best hope is the worst possible country.

Don’t think he did that on purpose. That campaign can’t do much of anything on purpose.

And how do you like your blue-eyed boy now Mr. Death?

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Today they seem to be reaching out to this voter, and others like him. It's sad. But at some point we must draw the line.

So today at a rally in Florida, when Sarah Palin started talking about Barack Obama someone in the crowd yelled "kill him!" Seriously? I hope that person got singled out by the Secret Service and questioned, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

Is that really how you want to win? And is this really someone we're going to elect President? Someone who stands by while his fellow American, his fellow colleague from the Senate gets called a "terrorist" and he says nothing. A man who has his own questionable associations, but allows his running mate to accuse Obama of 'palling around with terrorists.' Come on, now. We deserve better than that. And our grandchildren, who are going to inherit this mess that this kind of shamelessness created, deserve better than that.