Category Archives: World News
So where are we with General Petraeus?
What on earth is happening when an American who has been trusted as much as General Petraeus has his little love affair exposed (which doesn’t seem to have effected his CIA leadership at all) and feels the need to resign?
This article is from Truthdig… I’m putting it all here:
How the David Petraeus-Paula Broadwell Affair Was Uncovered
AP/Cliff Owen Former CIA Director David Petraeus. Modern technology apparently cost ex-CIA Director David Petraeus his job. The retired general’s affair with his biographer Paula Broadwell was discovered by the FBI while it was investigating harassing emails she sent to Jill Kelley, a 37-year-old woman who serves as an unpaid social liaison to MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla. A former associate of Petraeus says he and Kelley are just friends.
After news of the FBI investigation that uncovered the affair, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper stepped in and asked Petraeus to resign.
Clapper was told by the Justice Department of the Petraeus investigation at about 5 p.m. on Election Day, and then called Petraeus and urged him to resign, according to a senior U.S. intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly.
…Concerned that the emails he exchanged with Broadwell raised the possibility of a security breach, the FBI brought the matter up with Petraeus directly, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss the investigation.
Petraeus decided to quit, though he was breaking no laws by having an affair, officials said.
In the wake of Petraeus’ resignation, members of Congress are asking for more information about the investigation, including why they weren’t alerted sooner and whether the probe had any impact on national security.
Now here are my thoughts. Given the world situation, why in hell are we letting a man with this amount of military and foreign policy and management experience leave this job over a little penis stimulation? You can’t tell me that the Congressfolk who would sit over his situation if he hadn’t resigned haven’t been involved in the same kind of stuff.
If I were Obama, I would have, at least temporarily, refused Petraeus’ resignation and let him go ahead with his testimony about Libya (which he should do anyway, whether he has resigned or not.)
If we really let him go we are more stupid than I already think.
Related articles
- Congress wants answers on Petraeus affair (cnsnews.com)
- Woman connected to Petraeus scandal seeks privacy (cnsnews.com)
- Friend: Petraeus began affair after taking CIA job – Boston.com (boston.com)
- Info emerges about 2nd woman in David Petraeus affair (bostonherald.com)
- Identity of second woman emerges in Petraeus’ downfall (sfluxe.com)
- Woman who sparked Petraeus probe ID’d by U.S. army official (cbc.ca)
- L’affaire Petraeus: second woman identified, and Gmail location data outed Broadwell and Petraeus (boingboing.net)
- David Petraeus Resigns From The CIA Over An Affair. (stirringtrouble.wordpress.com)
It looks like the Obama/Netanyahu relationship is not the one the Republicans tried to establish…
Here is Israel‘s Prime minister with the US Ambassador, congratulating Obama and reinforcing the two countries’ “rock solid” relationship:
Related articles
- Netanyahu in damage-control mode after Obama re-election (maddowblog.msnbc.com)
- ‘Those claiming PM interfered in election harm US ties’ (jpost.com)
- PM says conducting ‘business as usual’ with US – Jerusalem Post (jpost.com)
Here’s a video treat from ALL HAT NO CATTLE…
…the one blog I try to view every day. This is a video that Lisa put together Called “Back in the Good Old Days” which is a good indicator that Romney will bring Bushiness back to us.
Hope you enjoy it. I sure did!
With the exception of Pakistan, most of the world wants us to elect Obama
Our foreign policy is much easier, I think, when the countries of the world like us and our leadership. What does it suggest that most of the world backs Obama? Certainly it backs up the notion that Romney is no foreign policy master.
Given the amount of investment that Romney has made in companies that benefit China, I find it very interesting that the Chinese are on the Obama backing side,
But what is it about Romney that makes him nore favorable to Pakistan?
Related articles
- The wider world wants Obama – except Pakistan (standard.co.uk)
- You: Romney has no policy to deal Pakistan: John Kerry (nation.com.pk)
- Poll finds 20 of 21 countries strongly prefer Obama (exception: Pakistan) – Washington Post (blog) (washingtonpost.com)
- BBC poll finds Pakistan is only country in the world that prefers Romney (o.canada.com)
- Polls Show Obama Would Cream Romney in Every Country in the World–Except Drone-Bombarded Pakistan and Israel (alternet.org)
- World Favors Obama Over Romney (drudge.com)
- World Overwhelmingly Rejects Romney And Favors Obama In BBC Poll (addictinginfo.org)
- The Least Enlightening Debate – Bloomberg (bloomberg.com)
- Nahlah Ayed: Why the world wants Obama to win (cbc.ca)
Educator and Cultural Critic Jacques Barzun Dies at 104;
Historian, essayist, cultural gadfly and educator Jacques Barzun, who helped establish the modern discipline of cultural history, was probably best known for viewing the West as sliding toward decadence. He died Thursday night at his home in San Antonio. He was 104.
His remarkable curiosity and manifold interests and accomplishments, encompassed both Berlioz and baseball (and many other subjects.) He stood with Sidney Hook, Daniel Bell and Lionel Trilling as one of the mid-20th century’s most wide-ranging scholars. He tried to reconcile the achievements of European philosophy and culture with the very different American intellect and culture.
He wrote dozens of books across many decades, demonstrating that old age did not necessarily mean intellectual decline. He published his most ambitious and encyclopedic book at the age of 92 (and credited his productivity in part to chronic insomnia). That work, “From Dawn to Decadence,” is an 877-page survey of 500 years of Western culture in which he argued that Western civilization itself had entered a period of decline.
Unlike many of his contemporaries, Barzun showed little interest in taking political positions. This was partly because he became a university administrator and had to stand above the fray, and partly because he approached the world with a detached civility and a sardonic skepticism about intellectual life.
He traced periods of rise and fall in the Western saga, and contended that another fall was near — one that could cause “the liquidation of 500 years of civilization.” It looks like he won’t be around to see it.
Related articles
- Cultural historian, author Jacques Barzun dies (cnsnews.com)
- Cultural historian, author Jacques Barzun dies (news.yahoo.com)
- Cultural historian, author Jacques Barzun dies (miamiherald.com)
- Author, thinker Barzun dies at 104 (mysanantonio.com)
- Cultural Historian Jacques Barzun Dies At 104 (wnyc.org)
- Jacques Barzun: Historian who believed that Western culture was descending into trivia (independent.co.uk)
- Jacques Barzun, RIP (samizdata.net)
- Jacques Barzun (telegraph.co.uk)
Some words about this blog and me…
I often get e-mail from folks out there in the web world who want to know about Under The LobsterScope and why 
I keep it going and put a major part of each day into it. It is for that reason that I’ve decided to say a few things that will clarify my relationship with UTL and, perhaps, encourage you to get involved as a commentor.
I started this blog through another editing site, Blogspot, during the 2004 presidential election year. I did several thousand entries over five years or so and then something happened. For some reason, someone got into my blog at Blogspot and did some fairly confusing stuff leaving it impossible for me to post on. I cancelled my relationship with Blogspot and over 4000 posts ago I started UTL up again through WordPress where it remains today.
While I was interested in electoral politics (originally in Maryland before my wife and I moved to West Virginia), my biggest interest at the time – and even now, a little – was in theatre directing. I got to do a couple of musicals and some plays at local community theatres and spent a lot of time attending theatre events (one of the reasons we moved to the Shepherdstown, WV, area was to be closer to the Contemporary American Theater Festival which we attend every year.
I also have a great interest in the visual arts… Elly’s background is as a painter and visual artist. That means heading off to galleries locally, in DC and other places. Add to the visual stuff an interest in music and poetry and dance. The arts in general are very important parts of my life.
As to politics, during the past couple of years beginning with the election of Barack Obama, I have become more and more an active Democrat and have felt it is my obligation, since this is a published item read by thousands of people a week, to expose the really awful things Republicans and extreme conservatives are trying to pull off.
Several of you have also noted that I often expose dangerous things being done by religious organizations. As you probably know I am a non-believer… an atheist, a humanist… and cannot understand how people with developed intellectual capacity can believe this stuff. I have no problem exposing things that might make readers see what I see. I am, however, as opposed to pushing my atheism on others as I am of them pushing their religious beliefs on me.
Now that my current age and health keeps me in the house most of the days of the week, I have much time to read other web sites, magazines and other publications, many of which I quote or comment on in the blog. On an average day I do at least 5 posts.
I have established some regular features in this blog that I hope you enjoy. Cartoon(s) of the Week is the one people think of first when I talk about regular features. I have been interested in editorial cartoons for many years. During the current election I have regularly been posting poll results which I see by the search term roundups many of you are looking for. And, of course, there is my regular posting of celebrity obituaries.
If there is any kind of post I do that you would like to see become a regular feature, just let me know and it’s likely to happen.
- Bill
Related articles
- Saturday Morning and I’m getting ready for the 11 o’clock show… (underthelobsterscope.wordpress.com)
- CATF Plays in Running for National Critics’ Award (prweb.com)
- I REALLY need your help to continue the blog… (underthelobsterscope.wordpress.com)
Did you know that converting “Frenchies” to Mormonism is equivalent to military service in wartime?
If you are interested in Ann Romney‘s response to Whoopi Goldberg on The View (which Mitt avoided making an appearance on… scared of Whoopi apparently) when she brought up the fact that Mitt hadn’t served his country in the Viet Nam War, take a look at this statement:
“Mitt certainly did serve his country during the war. He just served in a different way than most during that period. Sure, while many poor and minority young people were involuntarily drafted and soon found themselves knee-deep in cholera-infested rice paddies, you must remember that Mitt was also in a difficult spot serving Jesus, who as everyone knows made a special trip to America.”
“He roamed around the mean streets of Paris, riding a bike, and looking like a royal imbecile. You think he looks ridiculously uncool now, you should have seen him then! And it was a real hell-hole. Of course, he wasn’t being shot at or tripping any landmines, but he had to eat at 3 star restaurants! And he was doing just as important of a job as the Army was when they were fighting for Jesus and America.”
“He was out trying to baptize people in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Do you know how hard it is to get anyone to swallow this ridiculous shit? Especially French people! They’ve got all of this good food, wine, and they just LOVE to smoke and have sex all of the time. And you have to tell them to give that stuff up! Darn near impossible! Well, you don’t tell them that right away, only after you get them baptized. We aren’t idiots, you know!”
“So I’d like everyone in the media to stop pretending that Mitt didn’t serve during the war. He baptized 103 Frenchies by all by himself. How many conversions did any of those so-called “soldiers” perform? I rest my case.”
Hey… did you ever think of how dangerous it is to eat in 3-star restaurants?
Thanks to Ye Olde Soapbox for leading me to this one.
Related articles
- Whoopi Goldberg faces Twitter hate after Ann Romney ‘View’ interview (thegrio.com)
- Whoopi shut down by Ann Romney on ‘The View’ (abc4.com)
- Ann Romney Thinks a Mormon Mission is the Same as Serving in the Military (politicususa.com)
- Whoopi Presses Ann Romney On Sons’ Lack Of Military Service: Does Mormonism Not Allow It? (mediaite.com)
- Whoopi Goldberg to Ann Romney: Hey, isn’t it true that Mormons don’t serve in the military? (hotair.com)
- Ann Romney: Mormon missions and U.S. military are ‘different ways of serving’ (rawstory.com)
- Awkward Moment Between Ann Romney and Whoopi Goldberg on “The View” (newstalkcleveland.com)
A sample of Romney’s misunderstanding of foreign policy…
… like where the middle east countries are located. This statement on Iran and Syria seems to be typical of Romney’s lack of understanding:
I guess Romney doesn’t realize that Iran has it’s own coastlines and doesn’t need Syria to get to the sea. Fortunately, Obama pointed this out to him, making the debate a part of Romney’s education.
Related articles
- Romney praises Obama foreign policy rather than burying it (reuters.com)
- The final presidential debate: 4 memorable moments (VIDEO) (washingtonpost.com)
- Watch: Obama: Romney Proposes ‘Wrong and Reckless Policies’ (abcnews.go.com)
- Poll: Ahead of third debate, Obama leads on foreign policy (cbsnews.com)
- Romney’s muddled Middle Eastern geography (themoderatevoice.com)
Here’s a sign of the new embodiment of journalism…
Newsweek will discontinue it’s printed edition with the December 31st Issue. All of Newsweek’s information and branded publications will be on line after that, making it the leading news publication to make its entire presence on the web.
The all digital format is being adopted after more than 80 years in print. Newsweek Global, as the all-digital publication will be named, will be a single, worldwide edition targeted for a highly mobile, opinion-leading audience who want to learn about world events in a sophisticated context. It will be a paid subscription site (like the NY Times) and will be available on both tablets and the Web, with select content available on its current bl9g, The Daily Beast. The Daily Beast, which depends on Newsweek’s editorial content, now attracts more than 15 million visitors a month.
Tina Brown is the editor-in-chief of The Daily Beast and Newsweek. Baba Shetty is CEO of The Newsweek Daily Beast Co.
Related articles
- A Turn of the Page for Newsweek (thedailybeast.com)
- Newsweek to cease print edition (bbc.co.uk)
- Newsweek going digital-only by year-end (todayonline.com)
- After 80 Years, Newsweek Is Abandoning Print (businessinsider.com)
- Newsweek ending print edition, job cuts expected (miamiherald.com)
- Big news on the publishing front: Newsweek is going all-digital, two years after its merger with The Daily Beast. (shortformblog.com)
- Newsweek Will Stop Print Edition, Go All-Digital Next Year [Newsweek] (gizmodo.com)
What is it about Republicans and their need to create wars?
Here’s where to look for a World News Daily article by Jamal Abdi: New Senate Push to Pledge Unconditional Support for Israeli “Preventive” War on Iran.
Before reading it, here’s the first couple of sentences:
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is planning to press the Senate next month to pledge U.S. troops, money, and political support to Israel should Bibi Netanyahu launch a preventive war on Iran.
Graham claims his effort would merely make explicit that the U.S. has Israel’s back. But when your friend is drunk, you don’t hand them the keys. If Graham has his way, he will hand Bibi the keys and lend him our car, while the rest of us ride shotgun.
If this gets you at all nervous about creating a new major mideast war at the behest of Israel (and Lindsay Graham), then get ready to write your senator.
Related articles
- New Senate Push to Pledge Unconditional Support for Israeli Preventive War on Iran (fromthetrenchesworldreport.com)
- Lindsey Graham Introduces Bill To Commit US Troops to Israel (dailypaul.com)
- New Senate Push to Pledge Unconditional Support for Israeli Preventive War on Iran (whitenewsnow.com)
- Lindsey Graham alleges Election-Driven WH cover-up on Benghazi, Calls Obama ‘misleading’ or ‘incompetent’ (riehlworldview.com)
- U.S. Senate Joins Bibi In Push For War (addictinginfo.org)
I’m watching the VP Debate…
If you listen to Ryan, if we are going to deal with Iran‘s coming nuclear capacity (the capacity of which both the 
candidates disagree on) we are going to have to insert troops. This means a new war – probably in partnership with Israel.
Biden brings up the fact that Iran has been weakened during the Obama administration – primarily in cutting back their oil sales by 20% or so. They don’t yet have a completed delivery mode, either.
Ryan is also going after Russia as an enemy… especially if we go to war in the middle east. In his opinion, Russia is the leasing supporter of the Arab countries. Biden, of course, gets back to the fact that Russia is currently our ally.
I’m curious as to how many of the current questions of the Romney / Ryan campaign get answered. I hand it to Biden that he has already put up the 47% as an issue related to taxes. Ryan seems to ignore it.
This is going to be an entertaining night.
Related articles
- 10 things to watch in tonight’s Biden-Ryan debate (firstread.nbcnews.com)
- Biden looks to avenge Obama in VP debate (metronews.ca)
- Joe Biden, looking to avenge Obama, goes head to head with Ryan in VP debate (vancouversun.com)
- 5 things to watch in VP debate (politico.com)
- Why the Biden-Ryan VP debate will be must-see TV for the healthcare industry (medcitynews.com)
- Iran In The US Campaign’s Crosshairs – OpEd (eurasiareview.com)
- War on Iran – Failing on Its Own Terms (antiwar.com)
Foreign Facts ( I was led into this from Dave Barry’s Blog)
One in three busy Brits believe it’s acceptable to answer a mobile phone call during sex, it has been revealed.
Read the whole article HERE.
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- Dosh Express Announce How to Make Money from Old Mobile Phones (prweb.com)
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- Study Shows 66% Of People Suffer From Nomophobia (philadelphia.cbslocal.com)
- Smartphones To Become Largest Segment Of Mobile Phone Market In 2013 – HIS (misco.co.uk)
- The Complete Mobile Music Experience (mycricket.com)
- MI5 agent Dr. Barrie Trower: dangerous radiation everywhere (msarroub.wordpress.com)
How about a foreign policy statement from Mitt…
That video from the secret fundraiser is sure providing tons of revelations of the presidential talents of Mitt Romney – or the fact that there are no such talents present.
Here is a statement that gives us a real view of how he sees tyhe middle east:
“If I were Iran – a crazed fanatic, I’d say let’s get a little fissile material to Hezbollah, have them carry it to Chicago, and then if anything goes wrong, or America starts acting up, we’ll just say, “Guess what? Unless you stand down, why, we’re going to let off a dirty bomb. I mean this is where we have – where America could be held up and blackmailed by Iran, by the mullahs, by crazy people. So we don’t have any option but to keep Iran from having a nuclear weapon.”
- Mitt Romney
Hey… I’ll bet he’ll start another war if he gets the chance. Let’s not give it to him.
Related articles
- Magazine: Romney suggested Iran could threaten Chicago with ‘dirty bomb’ – Chicago Sun-Times (suntimes.com)
- Romney Wants To Attack Iran To Prevent A Dirty Bomb (thedailybeast.com)
- Hidden Camera Video Shows Mitt Romney Is A Dangerously Gullible Mark (mediaite.com)
- Mitt Romney does not understand how one creates a “dirty bomb” (boingboing.net)
- Hidden Camera Video: Romney on Iran, Israel-Palestine (antiwar.com)
- SECRET VIDEO: On Israel, Romney Trashes Two-State Solution (motherjones.com)
- Magazine: Romney suggested Iran could threaten Chicago with ‘dirty bomb’ (suntimes.com)
- Mitt Romney struggles to keep on track as further video revelations emerge (telegraph.co.uk)
An article you must read: Romney and Ryan – The Haters in Chief
This article by Hrafnkell Haraldsson is in PoliticusUSA today. I’m giving you the first couple of paragraphs, but this is a long, well-thought out piece which continues the thinking I started earlier about religion and politics. In fact I was startled to discover a quote from Jefferson from the same document!
As you read it you discover that in a Romney America, “my god is bigger than your god. And your god doesn’t get any First Amendment protections because, well, it really isn’t a religion in the first place, is it? It’s a cult. Cults aren’t protected.” That certainly puts Islam in the gut bucket.
Anyway – here’s the start:
Can you imagine a United States where the president and vice president hate the world’s second largest religion and invite into White House councils those who advocate military action against whoever we feel might be a threat, including, particularly, Iran.
That’s the scenario being faced, incredibly enough, by the people of the United States. President Obama’s pragmatic, sober approach to diplomacy has restored the reputation of the United States and we are on the verge of escaping both long wars embarked upon by the Bush administration.
But Mitt Romney wants to abrogate control of America’s foreign policy – to Israel – which wants to attack Iran. He may have noticed we just got done with a nearly-ten-year-long-war in Iran’s neighbor, Iraq. He may have noticed that we are still engaged in Afghanistan, a place even Alexander the Great could not entirely subdue, a place that was a graveyard and charnel house for the mighty Soviet Union.
And now he wants to involve us in an attack on Iran.
OK… read the rest of it HERE. You’ll be glad you did.
Related articles
- Liberal Smear: Romney’s War for the Jews (commentarymagazine.com)
- Romney campaign quickly distances itself from Mitt’s statement of support for Obama’s Iran policy (dailykos.com)
- Romney and Obama Share Iran ‘Red Line’ (abcnews.go.com)
- Romney Struggles to Distinguish Iran Red Line From Obama’s (nytimes.com)
A quote for the morning – what does England think of Romney?
Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein said that he had personally heard British Prime Minister David Cameron say the following about Willard:
David Cameron
“I witnessed Prime Minister saying to a group of people, myself included, that Mitt Romney had that unique distinction of uniting all of England against him with his various remarks. On behalf of my love of England, I have to support the President who is anything but making faux-pas.”
- Harvey Weinstein
Hmmm. Elect Romney and turn off our number one European ally. This will help re-establish our position in the world.
Related articles
- Mitt Romney Dismissed England As “Just A Small Island” (buzzfeed.com)
- Quote of the Day – Romney knows how people feel about him… (underthelobsterscope.wordpress.com)
- Romney Adviser Admitted Libya Flub Before New York Times Scrubbed Story (nymag.com)
- Romney Once Called England “Just a Small Island” (politicalwire.com)
- Romney’s Media Problem (boomantribune.com)
- Lyin Mitt Romney’s Foreign Policy: Insult England And Piss Off The Entire U.K. (theobamacrat.com)
Even Conservatives are criticizing and condemning Romney’s comments on the mid-east tragedy yesterday…
A morning where Joe Scarborough, Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal and dozens of other conservatives are appearing on television and the press stating their disappointment in the anti-Obama words of Romney 
yesterday. That he politicized an incident where Americans should all evaluate the circumstances and support each other and the President, Romney seems to be trying to show Rush Limbaugh that he is a tough competitor. He has an inappropriate way of showing his ability to lead if he were in office.
Reince Priebus
This is more than a gaffe (although we’ve had a number of these, and it spread through his whole campaign staff… especially Republican National Committee chair Reince Priebus, someone whose comments throughout the election process has been unapprovable. Here’s a guy who should be canned rather than be allowed access to the Press.
Making a political broadside against the Commander In Chief in this situation does not even come close to understanding foreign policy. The Republicans circling the wagons does very little to support his election possibility.
Related articles
- Foreign Policy Moves Front Burner in 2012 Presidential Election With Death of American Ambassador, Libya and Egypt Attacks and Netanyahu Tiff (themoderatevoice.com)
- Romney doubles down on criticism of White House’s response to Egypt, Libya attacks (tarpon.wordpress.com)
- Joe Scarborough On Romney: ‘A Real Conservative Would Be Winning Now’ (mediaite.com)
- “Libya Surprise” Could Be Death Knell for Romney Campaign (newyorker.com)
- Has Romney Erred on Obama Criticism? (commentarymagazine.com)
- Mitt Romney Is a Guy Who Doesn’t Know When to Quit (motherjones.com)
- On Libya/Egypt attacks, it’s Ryan vs. Romney (seattlepi.com)
- Peggy Noonan concern trolls Romney: ‘Not doing himself any favors’ with remarks on embassy attacks (twitchy.com)
- Romney criticizes Obama administration for “sympathizing” with attackers. Did it? (miamiherald.typepad.com)
- Cataloguing Romney’s Lies On The Libya Tragedy (alan.com)
Waking up to horrible news from Libya and Egypt…
There are two upsetting I got from the news when I turned it on at 6:00 AM and which has made this the start of a very bad day.
1. Attacks at the US Embassies by Islamic terrorists in Egypt and Libya. Our Libyan Ambassador Chris Stevens was killed with 
three other Americans, at least one was a diplomat. The Egyptian Embassy was breached, the American flag was taken and destroyed and replaced with an Islamic flag.
The provocation for these attacks was apparently an internet post of an amateur video satirizing the Prophet Muhammad. It seems that the Islamic press claimed this as a major Hollywood film done as revenge against Islamists for 9/11.
2. Although the two Presidential campaigns had come to an 
agreement that there would be no attacking each other on 9/11, Mitt Romney blasted the President and his administration for being “sympathetic” to the embassy attackers – calling Obama’s response to the incidents “disgraceful”. He did this at 10 PM last night defying the agreement between his and Obama’s campaigns.
“Obama sympathizes with attackers in Egypt. Sad and pathetic.”
- Republican National Committee chair Reince Priebus
Obama waited to respond until after midnight when the day of remembrance was over. He announced his consolation to the families of the victims and his outrage at the incidents. Then he made everyone aware of his aggravation with Romney’s statement.
“We are shocked that, at a time when the United States of America is confronting the tragic death of one of our diplomatic officers in Libya, Governor Romney would choose to launch a political attack.”
- Obama’s campaign press secretary Ben LaBolt
I would have to agree that I think Romney’s remarks were both unfortunate and representative of his unknowledgable command of foreign policy. That he showed lack of support for his country and its administration at a time of National crisis and at a time in which he had pledged to remain in non-attack mode in his campaign, would make Romney less than reliable as a President.
Related articles
- 1 Dead as Islamists Storm US Missions in Libya, Egypt (Guest Voice) (themoderatevoice.com)
- ” Disgraceful ! “ (warsclerotic.wordpress.com)
- Romney: Obama handling of Libya, Egypt violence ‘disgraceful’ (politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com)
- American ambassador to Libya killed by protesters, Al Arabiya reports (warsclerotic.wordpress.com)
- Romney slams Obama over attacks on US officials in Libya, Egypt (nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com)
- Attacks and protests in Libya and Egypt over Prophet Muhammad film (oddonion.com)
- U.S. Embassy Attacked: CNN Breaking News @ 14:06 EDST, From Egypt… Then Libya, No Comments From Obama (askmarion.wordpress.com)
- Romney Slams the Obama Administration’s Response to Embassy Attacks (nationalreview.com)
- American killed in Libya protest over anti-Muslim film – CBC.ca (cbc.ca)
- Breaking: US ambassador to Libya dead, 3 staff members also reportedly killed in rocket attack (riehlworldview.com)
A day I have not looked forward to… have you?
It’s the eleventh anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy and it will be the subject of all of today’s talk shows. The very thought of everything involved in the event… from the destruction of the World Trade Center, the crash into the Pentagon and the plane that went down in a Pennsylvania field. I remember the father of one of Buddy’s friends when we lived in Marlborough,CT, who had made his monthly business trip to NYC and died in the attack… which means not only did it happen, but I knew someone killed in the tragedy.
We are at war in the Middle East… still going after Al Qaeda. It is the longest war in our history and seems to go on forever. After the loss of citizens on 9/11, we continue to lose even more Americans because of the attack. I ask my self: what have we become?
I will try to put the day out of my mind. I have thought about it so much over the past eleven years. I am just crestfallen to find it on my mind again.
Related articles
- Six words for 9/11 (pbs.org)
- The Morning of September 11, 2001 Through My Eyes (re-post) (pumabydesign001.com)
- “The things I wish I hadn’t learned” (thethingsihavelearnedblog.com)
- When Death Came From The Sky (poemsandponderings.wordpress.com)
- Patriot Day 2012 (nebraskaenergyobserver.wordpress.com)
- US Commemorates 9/11 Attacks on 11th Anniversary (news92fm.com)
- WTC Building 7: controlled demolition? Hardly (halfbyteblog.wordpress.com)
For those in favor of a Sustainable economy:
Passed on to me by John Case:
The *Daly News*<
http://dalynews.org
>is where we question some of the most deeply ingrained (and deeply flawed) myths of mainstream economics. The *Daly News* is named in honor of one of our authors, Herman Daly, a true leader in alternative economic thinking.His most recent essay provides a counterpoint<
http://steadystate.org/eight-fallacies-about-growth/
>to the clamor for continuous economic growth. Our current essay is a doozy. Brian Czech attacks the nonsense spouted by George Will<
http://steadystate.org/george-will/
>, but surprisingly Czech agrees with Will on a critical point that has ramifications for the transition to a sustainable and fair economy. I hope
you’ll take a look.
“Eye-opening.” “Beautifully written.” “Insightful.” Those are just a few reader responses to our essays on the *Daly News*. Please subscribe via email<
http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=DalyNews&loc=en_US
>or RSS feed <
http://feeds.feedburner.com/DalyNews
>.
I’ve put the Daly News on my bookmark list and will be referring to it when required.
Related articles
- Nationalize Money, Not Banks by Herman Daly (americankabuki.blogspot.com)
- Debunking economic growth (beyondmoney.net)
- Nationalize Money, Not Banks by Herman Daly (positivemoney.org.uk)
- Hermany Daly’s proposal for 100% reserve banking (p2pfoundation.net)
- The Triumph of Fantasy over Science, Part 2 (energybulletin.net)
Robert Hughes, art critic & historian, dies at age 74.
I remember him most for The Shock of the New, his evaluation of 20th century art, and The Fatal Shore, his history of the settling of his native Australia.
Hughes attended Sydney University, an architecture major, where he was academically undistinguished. In his words:
“I actually succeeded in failing first year arts, which any moderately intelligent amoeba could have passed.”
A the age of 28 he wrote The Art of Australia, which he later dismissed as “juvenalia.” After its publication the popular historian Alan Moorehead advised him to go to Europe.
Hughes traveled around the great art capitals of the world, landed in London and wrote art criticism for the Sunday Times. He wrote a book called Heaven and Hell in Western Art (1969) that bombed. However, a Time magazine executive read it, and promptly hired Hughes as art critic. In 1970 he moved to Manhattan and wrote for Time for the rest of the century.
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- Art critic, historian Robert Hughes dies at 74 (cbsnews.com)
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- Renowned Art Critic Robert Hughes Dead In NY At 74 (huffingtonpost.com)
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Mitt and the Press on his journey… only 3 questions?
Sarah Jones has written a fine article in Romney’s overseas excursion and his relationship (or lack of it) with the press. I have condensed and commented below:
According to the BBC, Mitt Romney took a total of three questions from the American press the entire six-day tour. Three. It’s called unilateral, one-way communication.
And the only reason he took those questions as he left his scolding by British Prime Minister Cameron is that Romney had to publicly walk back his previous Olympic preparedness gaffe with a do-over that would get reported in the press. Those three questions were it for the entire six days according to the BBC:
“But US media have been complaining that Mr. Romney only took three press questions – outside Downing Street in London – during the entirety of his six-day trip.”
Let us not forget that after his disastrous run in Britain, Romney closed his fundraising event to the press in Israel as if he could hide from the press forever. That decision caused even more of an uproar; after all, our press sent their reporters overseas to cover him. So he changed his mind and let them in.
So this is how the Mittster is dealing with the gaffes made on the overseas trip. Romney blames the press for blowing his gaffes into a major explosion. He apparently thought they would ignore his comments as they do in the USA, but the British press got him, as did the Israeli press. And then the world.
Romney thinks the press should focus on other issues when he is making world headlines like “Mitt the Twit”, “Worse than Sarah Palin”, “Racist” and “Kiss my ass”. In Mitt Romney’s mind, he is the victim here – not the British that he insulted, not the Palestinians that he insulted or the Jews that he insulted or the U.S reporters that his press secretary told to “kiss my ass.” Mitt Romney is the victim.
The conservative media has been pushing the meme
Mitt Romney is running for leader of the free world, but he isn’t strong enough to take more than three questions from the press during an entire 6-day tour. Three questions. that the Romney camp was just insisting on respect and that’s why his press secretary told a Politico reporter to “shove it”.
Three questions, and for that we are getting the whine fest of the year courtesy of Mitt Romney and his defend-the-king-from-you-people-with-moats-of-whine campaign. It is exactly this kind of whining that earned Mitt the Newsweek cover hailing him as a wimp. They ask, “Is he just too insecure to be President?” Mitt responds by blaming the media, which amounts to an answer in the affirmative.
Yes, Mitt Romney is too insecure to be President.
Since joining PoliticusUSA in February of 2009, Sarah Jones has been quoted by The Atlantic Wire, The Week, The Richard Dawkins Foundation and more. Along with her life long interest in feminism and social justice, Sarah has a background in TV/Film (TV host, news anchor, producer & writer) and has written and produced award winning documentaries. Sarah graduated Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a major in Psychology & Latin.
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Best part of the Olympics Opening Ceremony: James Bond Escorts The Queen…
It was a pre-recorded skit — directed, of course, by Danny Boyle (the celebrated filmmaker helming the entire ceremony) — Daniel Craig in character as James Bond arrives Buckingham Palace, where he is taken to the Queen… the actual Queen Elizabeth… and her corgis. Private rooms within the residence were shown, a testament to the nation’s commitment to making the evening a special one (Boyle pulled off aan awful lot of amazing things in the overall event.)
Take a look at the video and see how Bond gets the Queen to the Olympic stadium:
Great, no?
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So how is the British press reacting to Mitt?
Take your pick… some in London prefer Palin
Romney is certainly giving the English Press a lot to talk about on center spreads, while Olympic coverage takes the front pages. Their reaction to Mitt has gone from openness, to skepticism, to mocking, to concluding that Mitt Romney is worse than Sarah Palin.
Take Daily Mail Political Editor James Chapman, whose cen6ter spread was topped with a two page headline: Romney is a Party Pooper. He has been providing the world a play by play of Romney’s British implosion via his Twitter account, starting off by criticizing London’s preparedness for the Olympics, then forgotname of British Labour Leader Ed Miliband, and then he admitted that he had been given a secret briefing by MI6. This led the British to ask aloud if they have another George W. Bush on their hands:
“Romney blunders again by revealing he’s had (supposedly) top secret briefing by John Sawers, MI6 boss. Do we have a new Dubya on our hands?”
After his visit to Whitehall, Chapman offered two of the kinder reviews of Mitt Romney:
“Serious dismay in Whitehall at Romney debut. ‘Worse than Sarah Palin.’ ‘Total car crash’. Two of the kinder verdicts. Another verdict from one Romney meeting: ‘Apparently devoid of charm, warmth, humour or sincerity’”
The Telegraph is reporting that London Mayor Boris Johnson mocked Romney’s readiness comment:
“Quite a moment from the Mayor of London Boris Johnson. Shortly after Rix had lit the flame he really went for it in Hyde Park. He referenced Mitt Romney’s ‘London isn’t ready’ quip and shot back in style. “Are we ready?” he called and the crowd went wild. There may even have been a hint of the Obama-friendly “Yes we can!” in there – he may have jumped into a winning scenario but I’ve not heard a politician get that reaction before.”
… and this in front of a crowd of over 200,000 Londoners.
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Is Romney Ready for Foreign Policy?
If you’ve been watching the news concerning Willard’s visit to London, you may have heard that he has made a number of gaffes – enough so that the Mayor of London has compared him to Sarah Palin, and thought Palin was the more accomplished candidate.
You can review all the gaffes so far HERE, including videos and statements. It makes you a little ashamed to be an American since the Brits are now looking at Romney as an example of us all.
Here’s one of the gaffes that hit on Mitt’s preparedness for the whole thing:
BBC News quoted Romney:
“To look out of the back side of 10 Downing Street and see a venue having been constructed, knowing that athletes will be carrying out their activities almost in the back yard of the prime minister is really quite an accomplishment.”
So what’s wrong with that, you say. Well… The Guardian responds:
Firstly, in Britain, “backside” means “ass”. As in the part of the body. Secondly, “10 Downing Street” is often used in political reporting as a synonym for a press spokesman for the prime minister, in the same way as “the White House” can say things or have opinions.
Imagine what he’s going to do (or say) in Poland and Israel.
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