The top news long-term, continues to be the following ISSUES:
* Financial Crisis
* Cultural War (between the left and right)
* Global War on Terror
Short-term top news centers on the following EVENTS:
· Final jockeying for election day Nov. 2
· Life’s Rich Pageant
Financial Crisis: A couple stories combine to paint a ‘slow recovery’ picture for the next few years:
· Reuters reports the Commerce Department announced third quarter gross domestic product at 2.0 percent (Economy grew modestly in third-quarter), after a 1.7 percent rate in the second quarter. The anemic pace wasn’t enough to reduce unemployment and isn’t expected to have much, if any, effect on the Fed’s monetary easing plans expected to be announced next week.
· The Obama Administration spin campaign to kick-start the economy continues with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner saying in a Sept. 22 speech the bailouts “are completely behind us” (SPIN METER: Despite claims, bailouts not over yet). "The idea that TARP is dead is just not accurate," said Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general overseeing the program, in an Associated Press interview. "People can write its obituary, people can declare that it's been put out of its misery, but there's still close to $180 billion of TARP money outstanding, and $82 billion obligated to be spent."
Cultural War: Tom Tancredo’s longstanding opposition to the Federal Reserve is resonating with Tea Party members who are opposed to the Fed (Tea Party groundswell signals challenges to Fed). The Tea Party will probably have a vehement reaction once they become aware of HR 5741, the “Universal National Service Act,” introduced July 23 by Charlie Rangel to give Obama the "Civilian National Security Force as big and as well-funded as the $650 billion-plus U.S. military” cited in his 2008 Colorado Springs campaign speech (Rangel plan gives prez 'civilian security force').
TAKE ACTION: Please visit e-VotingBooth.com, setup your FREE account, login, type "5741" in the Quick Search field and vote on the Universal National Service Act (HR5741). Why vote a bill already enacted? Because we’re currently building our Voting Scorecard. This tool is effectively a report card and will list all your votes alongside your representative, senators, VP and President, where applicable. The bottom line number for each public servant will be a percentage indicating how each voted with or against your personal legislative desires. For example, 80% means the public servant, or potential public servant, voted with you 80% of your total votes. This is powerful information every American should have and use when making future election decisions. Though not live on the site yet, the database has been built and is current with all Roll Calls to-date.
You have to question the intelligence of judges who bought the story of a man who admitted using someone else’s Social Security Number to obtain a loan but claimed he wasn’t really trying to assume a false identity (Court allows use of fake Social Security Number). These judges, who reversed the conviction, just happen to be members of the Colorado Supreme Court!
The degree politics played in Obama’s Supreme Court selection is apparent in MSNBC’s report that Laurence Tribe of Harvard, one of the nation's most respected Supreme Court scholars, recommended against appointing Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court because she's not smart enough (Letter to Obama: Sotomayor not that smart). “’Bluntly put, she's not nearly as smart as she seems to think she is,’ Tribe wrote in a letter to Obama in May 2009, the day after it became public that Justice David Souter intended to step down.”
The extreme inappropriateness of putting a mosque at Ground Zero is exemplified by a Saudi Arabian prince who aided the imam driving the project, saying "Those people behind the mosque have to respect, have to appreciate and have to defer to the people of New York," Prince Alwaleed bin Talal was quoted as saying by the Dubai-based Arabian Business magazine, which said the full interview will be published Sunday (Saudi Prince Backs Moving Planned NYC Mosque). "The wound is still there. Just because the wound is healing you can't say, 'Let's just go back to where we were pre-9/11."'
Global War on Terror: North Korea’s egomania reared its ugly head again when border guards fired two rounds toward South Korea (South Korea: North Korea opens fire at border). Apparently they must have felt left out from the G20 summit!
Al-Qaeda seems to be working overtime to de-stabilize Pakistan and South Asia, as The Jamestown Organization reports “It appears increasingly clear al-Qaeda is intent on striking in India” (Al-Qaeda Exploits Kashmir Conflict to Expand Operations to India).
2010 election: Obama’s ego is catching up with him in Europe too as many don’t understand the situation: "They're very confused as to how [Americans] could vote for Obama and then two years later turn around and vote for a completely different set of policies," Sarah Oates, professor of political communication the University of Glasgow, told MSNBC (Europe 'dismayed' as midterms highlight Obama's struggles). His supersized ego clearly got in the way of managing expectations during the 08 campaign and demonstrates he’s much better suited to campaigning than actually serving as President.
Democrats are taking the low road, if not the sewer, in the final days before elections (Democratic Closing Argument: Personal Attacks), while Republicans focus on policy and voters focus on fraud and coercion (Concerns grow about election fraud, voter intimidation). Apparently voters are justified, as the Justice Department setup a toll-free number (800-253-3931) for complaints about ballot access!
Political hypocrisy continues too as Sen. John Kerry cries “obstructionism” against the GOP and talk-show hosts (Kerry voices frustration with US political scene). The Massachusetts GOP responded, saying “Instead of listening to the concerns of voters upset about the reckless spending that has pushed our national debt to an all-time high; the failed stimulus that has not created jobs and the unpopular government takeover of our health care system that hurts our seniors, Senator Kerry chooses to insult the intelligence of Americans who believe that our country is headed down the wrong path,” wrote Jennifer Nassour, chairwoman.
Life’s Rich Pageant: The Internet must be everywhere, because even mountain climbers at the top of Mount Everest have connectivity (Internet Reception Reaches Summit of Mount Everest). Having connectivity is one thing, but will the batteries survive the cold and altitude!
Talk about surviving, a 35-year-old Sri Lankan was arrested at the Chennai (India) airport with 2,060 pieces of diamonds and other precious stones in his stomach (Man on diamond diet' nabbed). Mohamed Rafi was acting as a human courier and was paid only Rs 10,000 ($225) for the job. He had stored the precious stones in 42 condoms and had swallowed all of them. It took the police six hours to retrieve the stones after they fed him with laxatives and bananas.
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