Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Barker's Newsbites: Wednesday, October 24, 2012


Well, folks... don't forget to scroll back to my Texas Travelogue now and then so as to follow my recent adventures in the Great State of Texas!

 (I just got through posting about Tuesday, October 9th!)

 Anyway... enjoy today's newsbites!

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11 comments:

William R. Barker said...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/24/us-usa-benghazi-emails-idUSBRE89N02C20121024

Officials at the White House and State Department were advised two hours after attackers assaulted the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11 that an Islamic militant group had claimed credit for the attack, official emails show.

Spokesmen for the White House and State Department had no immediate response to requests for comments on the emails.

The records obtained by Reuters consist of three emails dispatched by the State Department's Operations Center to multiple government offices, including addresses at the White House, Pentagon, intelligence community and FBI, on the afternoon of September 11.

The first email, timed at 4:05 p.m. Washington time - or 10:05 p.m. Benghazi time, 20-30 minutes after the attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission allegedly began - carried the subject line "U.S. Diplomatic Mission in Benghazi Under Attack" and the notation "SBU", meaning "Sensitive But Unclassified."

The text said the State Department's regional security office had reported that the diplomatic mission in Benghazi was "under attack. Embassy in Tripoli reports approximately 20 armed people fired shots; explosions have been heard as well."

The message continued: "Ambassador Stevens, who is currently in Benghazi, and four ... personnel are in the compound safe haven. The 17th of February militia is providing security support."

A second email, headed "Update 1: U.S. Diplomatic Mission in Benghazi" and timed 4:54 p.m. Washington time, said that the Embassy in Tripoli had reported that "the firing at the U.S. Diplomatic Mission in Benghazi had stopped and the compound had been cleared." It said a "response team" was at the site attempting to locate missing personnel.

A third email, also marked SBU and sent at 6:07 p.m. Washington time, carried the subject line: "Update 2: Ansar al-Sharia Claims Responsibility for Benghazi Attack."

The message reported: "Embassy Tripoli reports the group claimed responsibility on Facebook and Twitter and has called for an attack on Embassy Tripoli."

While some information identifying recipients of this message was redacted from copies of the messages obtained by Reuters, a government source said that one of the addresses to which the message was sent was the White House Situation Room, the president's secure command post.

October 24, 2012 at 10:38 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://myfox8.com/2012/10/23/guilford-county-voters-say-they-voted-for-the-wrong-candidate/

The presidential election is just around the corner and voting issues have already become a problem in Guilford County, NC.

On Monday, several voters complained that their electronic ballot machine cast the wrong vote. All the complaints were made by people who voted at the Bur-Mil Park polling location.

One of the voters, Sher Coromalis, says she cast her ballot for Governor Mitt Romney, but every time she entered her vote the machine defaulted to President Obama.

“I was so upset that this could happen,” said Coromalis.

Guilford County Board of Elections Director George Gilbert says the problem arises every election.

* AND, YET... THE MACHINES WEREN'T CHECKED PRIOR TO BEING PUT IN ACTUAL USE THIS YEAR...???

It can be resolved after the machine is re-calibrated by poll workers.

* BUT... BUT... BUT... WOULDN'T THE TIME TO "RE-CALIBRATE" BE... er... PRIOR TO ACTUAL VOTE RECORDING USE...?!?!

“It’s not a conspiracy it’s just a machine that needs to be corrected,” Gilbert said.

* SOUNDS KINDA FISHY TO ME...

(*SHRUG*)

October 24, 2012 at 10:45 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1012/82772.html

Bob Woodward says President Barack Obama got some of his facts wrong on sequester at Monday night’s debate.

(*SMIRK*)

* OR... IN PLAIN ENGLISH... OBAMA LIED.

(*SHRUG*)

Woodward’s book “The Price of Politics” has been the go-to fact check source for the president’s answer, in which he claimed the idea of using deep, automatic, across-the-board domestic and defense spending cuts to force Congress to address the nation’s burgeoning federal deficit originated from Congress, not from the White House.

“What the president said is not correct,” Woodward told POLITICO Tuesday. “He’s mistaken. And it’s refuted by the people who work for him.”

* "NOT CORRECT...?" (*SNORT*)

* "MISTAKEN...?" (*GUFFAW*)

* HOW'BOUT THIS: "OBAMA IS A FUCKING LIAR!"

“First of all, the sequester is not something that I've proposed. It is something that Congress has proposed,” Obama said, adding his strongest pronouncement to date on its future: “It will not happen.”

* UNFORTUNATELY FOR MR. LIAR-LIAR-PANTS-ON-FIRE... (*GRIN*)

Woodward reports in his book that White House Office of Management Director Jack Lew and Legislative Affairs Director Rob Nabors took the proposal for sequestration to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and then it was presented to congressional Republicans.

* OH... BUT GET THIS! (MAKE SURE YOU'RE SITTING DOWN FOR THIS ONE!)

Woodward said there’s a possibility the president was unaware of how the idea came about.

(*FALLING OFF MY CHAIR FROM LAUGHING SO HARD*)

* FOLKS... NOTE... THE DEBATE WAS ON MONDAY NIGHT. IT ENDED AROUND 10:30 P.M. I'M GUESSING WOODWARD WAS WATCHING IT. TODAY IS WEDNESDAY. AND EVEN THOUGH POLITICO IS COVERING IT... THE ABOVE WOODWARD LINE FROM THE INTERVIEW TELLS YOU PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT WHERE SYMPATHIES LAY! (OR SHOULD I SAY "LIE?")

* FOLKS... WHY WASN'T WOODWARD ALL OVER THE POST-DEBATE ANALYSIS WITH THIS INFO?! (OR AT LEAST ON THE TUESDAY MORNING NEWS SHOWS...?!?!)

Still, briefing reporters Tuesday aboard Air Force One, White House press secretary Jay Carney continued to blame sequestration on Congress.

* IS ANYONE SURPRISED...? ANYONE...???

* OH... AND LOOK HOW POLITICO TRIES TO COVER IT'S OWN ASS REGARDING THE "TIMING" QUESTION:

This article first appeared on POLITICO Pro at 3:53 p.m. on October 23, 2012.

* WHICH IS A SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE! NOT GEARED TO INFORMING THE GENERAL PUBLIC!

October 24, 2012 at 11:03 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Hollywood/2012/10/24/Weinstein-s-Bin-Laden-Film-Had-Romney-as-Villain

The New York Times reveals today - in a classic buried lede - that Harvey Weinstein's film about the killing of Osama bin Laden, set to air on the National Geographic Channel two days before the election, originally included a scene showing Gov. Mitt Romney "appearing to oppose the raid," a complete fabrication of history.

* WELL, WELL, WELL... LET'S TURN TO SAID NYT STORY, SHALL WE?

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/24/arts/television/obama-is-prominent-in-seal-team-six-weinstein-film.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&

* PARAGRAH 4: "...promotional materials and a copy of the movie provided to The New York Times this week also show that the film has been recut, using news and documentary footage to strengthen Mr. Obama’s role..."

* PARAGRAPH 5: "Some of the Obama moments were added at the suggestion of Mr. Weinstein, they said, using material gathered by Meghan O’Hara, a producer who worked closely with the documentarian Michael Moore on politically charged projects like 'Fahrenheit 9/11' and 'Sicko.'”

* PARAGRAPH 6: "Howard T. Owens, the chief executive of the National Geographic Channel, who joined the call, said his company had insisted on removing a scene that showed Mitt Romney appearing to oppose the raid."

* FRANKLY... READING THE WHO STORY... I CAN'T FAULT THE TIMES' REPORTING. NOR DO I AGREE WITH BREITBART THAT THE TIMES "BURIED" THE LEDE. STILL... HERE'S THE THING: THIS STORY RAN TODAY IN THE NYT. WILL IT BE ECHOED ACROSS THE NETWORK NEWS...? ECHOED IN THE MORNING TALK SHOWS SUCH AS "TODAY" AND "THE VIEW?" DOUBTFUL...

October 24, 2012 at 11:20 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/army-suicides-year-exceed-2012-combat-deaths-afghanistan

The number of suicides among U.S. Army active duty and reserve personnel in 2012 is higher than the total combined military fatalities from Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan over the same time frame.

* FOLKS... SOMETHING IS CLEARLY WRONG. VERY... VERY... VERY WRONG.

October 24, 2012 at 11:25 AM
William R. Barker said...

* TWO-PARTER... (Part 1 of 2)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/plan-for-hunting-terrorists-signals-us-intends-to-keep-adding-names-to-kill-lists/2012/10/23/4789b2ae-18b3-11e2-a55c-39408fbe6a4b_story.html?hpid=z1

Editor’s note: This project, based on interviews with dozens of current and former national security officials, intelligence analysts and others, examines evolving U.S. counter-terrorism policies and the practice of targeted killing. This is the first of three stories.

Over the past two years, the Obama administration has been secretly developing a new blueprint for pursuing terrorists, a next-generation targeting list called the “disposition matrix.”

U.S. officials said the database is designed to go beyond existing kill lists, mapping plans for the “disposition” of suspects beyond the reach of American drones.

The United States’ conventional wars are winding down, but the government expects to continue adding names to kill or capture lists for years. Among senior Obama administration officials, there is a broad consensus that such operations are likely to be extended at least another decade.

Obama has institutionalized the highly classified practice of targeted killing, transforming ad-hoc elements into a counter-terrorism infrastructure capable of sustaining a seemingly permanent war.

* AND HERE'S THE PROBLEM, FOLKS... AMERICAN CITIZENS HAVE BEEN AND I'M GUESSING WILL CONTINUE TO PUT ON THE "KILLS LISTS" WITH NEITHER CONGRESS NOR THE SUPREME COURT MOVING TO RESTORE OUR CONSTITUTIONAL LIBERTIES.

* FOLKS... AS I'VE NOT MANY, MANY TIMES... IF THE PRESIDENT CAN "DECLARE" AN AMERICAN CITIZEN A "TERRORIST" AND ORDER HIS OR HER DEATH... WHY NOT GO TO THE NEXT "LOGICAL" STEP OF ALLOWING THE PRESIDENT TO ORDER THE EXECUTIONS OF ANYONE AND EVERYONE HE CONSIDERS "AN ENEMY OF THE STATE," OR AS IT WOULD APPLY TO ALLEGED CRIMINAL ELEMENTS, "AN ENEMY OF SOCIETY."

Before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the United States recoiled at the idea of targeted killing. The Sept. 11 commission recounted how the Clinton administration had passed on a series of opportunities to target bin Laden in the years before the attacks...

* FOLKS... AGAIN... BUSH CHOSE NOT TO CEMENT THE DISGRACE OF BILL CLINTON AFTER COMING INTO OFFICE (REFUSING TO DECRY THE MARC RICH PARDON FOR INSTANCE) AND ACTUALLY EMBRACED CLINTON ("COVERING" FOR CLINTON'S FAILURE TO "GET" BIN LADEN) AFTER 9/11. HE DID THIS BECAUSE HE FELT IT WAS THE BEST THING TO DO FOR THE NATION. HE WANTED TO UNIFY THE COUNTRY. (HIS GAMBIT WAS A MISTAKE... BUT IT WAS SINCERE AND SELFLESS.) THE TRUTH IS, THOUGH, THAT BILL CLINTON IS PROBABLY MORE RESPONSIBLE FOR ALLOWING 9/11 TO HAPPEN THAN BUSH HIMSELF, EVEN THOUGH BUSH WAS OF COURSE THE NEW PRESIDENT AT THE TIME.

* TO BE CONTINUED...

October 24, 2012 at 12:42 PM
William R. Barker said...

* CONCLUDING... (Part 2 of 2)

Targeted killing is now so routine that the Obama administration has spent much of the past year codifying and streamlining the processes that sustain it.

* AND, AGAIN, FOLKS... THE FOREIGN POLICY REPURCUSSIONS OF SUCH POLICY ARE A MATTER FOR THE EXECUTIVE AND LEGISLATIVE BRANCHES TO DEAL WITH IN THE CONTEXT OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL BALANCE OF POWERS... BUT WHAT'S NOT "UP FOR DISCUSSION" IS THE NEW PARADIGM WHEREBY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES CAN SIMPLY DECLARE AMERICAN CITIZENS "ENEMY COMBATANTS" AND STRIP THEM OF THEIR CIVIL RIGHTS... THEIR CIVIL LIBERTIES... THEIR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS.

(* AND I KNOW THIS DOESN'T BOTHER MOST OF YOU... THUS... MY BELIEF AMERICA IS IN TERMINAL DECLINE.)

Obama approves the criteria for lists and signs off on drone strikes outside Pakistan, where decisions on when to fire are made by the director of the CIA. But aside from Obama’s presence at “Terror Tuesday” meetings — which generally are devoted to discussing terrorism threats and trends rather than approving targets — the president’s involvement is more indirect.

* SOUNDS LIKE THE WAY A MAFIA FAMILY FUNCTIONS... OR HOW HIMMLER HANDLED THE "DETAILS" OF THE "FINAL SOLUTION."

During Monday’s presidential debate, Republican nominee Mitt Romney made it clear that he would continue the drone campaign.

* YES HE DID. AND FROM WHAT I GATHER, ROMNEY SHARES OBAMA'S VIEW... AND BUSH'S VIEW... THAT THE PRESIDENT ULTIMATELY HAS THE POWER NOT JUST OF THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF A REPUBLICAN UNDER A CONSTITUTION OUTLINING SPECIFIC CIVIL LIBERTIES, BUT INSTEAD, ROMNEY SEEMINGLY BELIEVES - AS DO OBAMA AND BUSH - THAT UNDER THE COVER OF "NATIONAL SECURITY" A PRESIDENT CAN ACT AS KING... AS JUDGE, JURY, AND EXECUTIONER.

* AGAIN... FOLKS... I UNDERSTAND THAT PROBABLY 90% OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ACCEPT THIS OBSCENITY. THAT DOESN'T MAKE IT ANY LESS OBSCENE. IT ONLY GOES TO MY PESSIMISM CONCERNING THE FUTURE OF THE GREAT AMERICAN EXPERIMENT.

October 24, 2012 at 12:43 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.sj-r.com/top-stories/x2053812816/City-gives-up-on-Obama-Biden-bill

Springfield, Illinois' budget director says the city is out of options to be reimbursed for expenses associated with hosting then-Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign stop in the fall of 2008.

* 2008...

“Short of suing the campaign, which isn’t really going to do anything — it would drag on forever — there’s really nothing we can do,” said Bill McCarty. “We’ve tried.”

* OH, BULL... YOU SHOULD SUE 'EM AND COURT COSTS WOULD BE TACKED ON!

Obama introduced his running mate, Joe Biden, at the Old State Capitol in August 2008. About 160 police officers and nine civilians helped provide protection for Obama’s visit, according to an invoice from the city.

Obama’s presidential campaign was sent a bill for $68,139, but still owes $55,457.

* HAVE THEY DISPUTED THE CHARGE...???

The city has tried for years to collect.

There’s been debate over who is responsible for the bill — the White House, the Secret Service or the campaign.

* SO... THE CHARGE ITSELF ISN'T IN DISPUTE... WHAT'S THE PROBLEM? OBVIOUSLY "CANDIDATE" OBAMA COULD ORDER HIS CAMPAIGN TO PAY AND JUST AS OBVIOUSLY "PRESIDENT" OBAMA COULD ORDER THE GOVERNMENT TO PAY EITHER VIA THE WHITE HOUSE OR SECRET SERVICE PROTECTION DETAIL ACCOUNTS.

When Ward 1 Ald. Frank Edwards was mayor, he wrote the president asking for his help. “As you know, sometimes only the executive himself can cut through such inter-departmental differences of opinion,” Edwards wrote in March 2011.

The letter didn’t help, either.

October 24, 2012 at 1:16 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444734804578063650361070668.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEFTTopOpinion

* YOU SHOULD READ THIS ESSAY. IF THE LINK DOESN'T WORK... GOOGLE "TREVOR BUTTERWORTH + THE HIDDEN CAMPUS CRISIS" AND NO DOUBT YOU'LL FIND A BACK DOOR OR REPUBLICATION AT A SITE WITH NO PAY WALL.

October 24, 2012 at 2:20 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/san-375479-bernardino-bankruptcy.html

The California city of San Bernardino filed for bankruptcy protection three months ago, and shortly afterward was reported to be under investigation by the federal Securities and Exchange Commission, allegedly for hiding deficits by diverting money intended for sewers, roads and construction to pay ongoing bills instead.

Now, the Wall Street Journal reports the Inland Empire city of about 210,000 residents "has stopped making its regular payments to the California Public Employees Retirement System" and owes $5.3 million toward its employees' pensions.

A San Bernardino official told the Journal the city needs to be put on a payment plan because it doesn't have enough cash to pay its bills.

October 24, 2012 at 4:27 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-10-24/putting-it-perspective-one-week-qe-3-minimum-wage-job-terms

* YA REALLY GOTTA CHECK THIS ONE OUT, FOLKS...

October 24, 2012 at 4:37 PM

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