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Mitt Romney has been spending some time in his hometown of Belmont, Massachusetts, preparing for the second of the Presidential debates. The next debate takes part in Hempstead, New York, on Tuesday 16th October.
Also in the Boston area, the Dalai Lama has just finished a visit to MIT, where he has been talking on Ethics, Values and Wellbeing.
Muslims protest ‘age of mockery’ as thousands descend on Google HQ – Telegraph.
Muslim’s from across the United Kingdom have descended on London to protest outside the British Head Quarters of Google.
The protesters are demanding Google remove the anti-Muslim movie, “The Innocence of Muslims”, off YouTube. The organiser of the rally, Masound Alam has warned of further protests outside Google offices world wide until the movie is banned, adding “This is not freedom of expression, there is a limit for that. This insult of the Prophet will not be allowed.”
Protests held up banners saying “Freedom of Speech = Hatred to Muslims?”, and are arguing that we are in an “Age of Mockery”.
One of the speakers, Sheikh Faiz Al-Aqtab Siddiqui, told The Daily Telegraph: “Terrorism is not just people who kill human bodies, but who kill human feelings as well. The makers of this film have terrorised 1.6 billion people.
“Organisations like Google are key players and have to take responsibility for civility. You can’t just say it doesn’t matter that it’s freedom of speech. It’s anarchy.”
YouTube have responded saying the video does not violate any of their terms of usage, and will therefore stay on their site. What is offensive to one person, or in one country is not in another.
This teaching in the afternoon at the request of the Tibetan and Kalmyk Communities at the Lincoln Center.
The Dalai Lama will be returning to India on October 22.
SUBJECT: Town meeting format including foreign and domestic policy
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SUBJECT: His Holiness will be having a one-day discussion on Contemplative Practice and Health: Laboratory Findings and Real World Challenges organized by the Mind & Life Institute at the Caspary Auditorium, Rockefeller University. Contact Website: http://www.mindandlife.org
The university’s main entrance is at 1230 York Avenue (at East 66th Street) on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.
Many of our benefactors consider an involvement with The Rockefeller University one ofthe soundest investments they can make in the future of medical science.
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1230 York Avenue, New York, NY 10065 (212) 327-8000 |
October 22, 2012 Topic: Foreign policy Air Time: 9:00-10:30 p.m. Eastern Time Location: Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida (Tickets) ato Sponsor: Commission on Presidential Debates Participants: President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney Moderator: Bob Schieffer (Host of Face the Nation on CBS)
Address. Lynn University | Official Host, 2012 Presidential Debate 3601 N. Military Trail,Boca Raton, FL 33431 1-561-237-7000 or 1-800-888-5966
Campaign advisers to President Barack Obama promised on Sunday he would be more aggressive and energetic on Tuesday in his second debate against Republican challenger Mitt Romney after a passive, heavily criticized performance in their first showdown.
Since that first debate in Denver on October 3, polls indicate Romney has erased Obama’s lead heading into the November 6 election. Obama and Romney debate again on Tuesday October 16th, at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York.
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The third and final presidential debate will take place on October 22 in Florida.
“Obviously, the president was disappointed in his own performance. He didn’t meet his expectations,” Obama campaign adviser Robert Gibbs told the CNN program “State of the Union,” referring to the first debate.
“He knew when he walked off that stage and he also knew as he’s watched the tape of that debate that he’s got to be more energetic. I think you’ll see somebody who’s very passionate about the choice that our country faces – and putting that choice in front of voters,” Gibbs added.
The Romney team sounded unimpressed. “Well, the president can change his style. He can change his tactics. He can’t change his record. And he can’t change his policies. And that’s what this election is about,” Romney campaign adviser Ed Gillespie told CNN.
“I think the race is very close. I think the wind is at Governor Romney’s back, and there’s clearly momentum. You can see it on the trail, you can see it in the data,” Gillespie said in a separate appearance on “Fox News Sunday.”
In contrast to Obama’s listless debate performance, Vice President Joe Biden was far more assertive in his debate on Thursday night with Romney’s running mate Paul Ryan in Danville, Kentucky.
Another Obama campaign adviser, David Axelrod, told the “Fox News Sunday” program: “I think he’s going to be aggressive in making the case for his view of where we should go as a country, a country that’s built around a growing, thriving middle class, not this top-down theory that Governor Romney has.”
“But the other thing he’s going to certainly do – I mean, we saw Governor Romney sort of serially walk away from his own proposals – certainly the president is going to be willing to challenge him on it as we saw the vice president challenge Paul Ryan,” Axelrod said.
more Obama team promises more aggressive president in second debate | Reuters.
The Kalmyk Three Jewels Foundation and The Tibetan Community of New York and New Jersey announced that the Fourteenth Dalai Lama will present a teaching in New York City on Sunday, October 21, 2012 from 1:30pm to 3:30pm.
The Dalai Lama will speak on the “Essence of Buddhism” at Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, 10 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY. The event will be open to the public, and tickets will go on sale later this year.
The Dalai Lama has spread his message of non-violence, tolerance, compassion and wisdom around the world in over 62 countries and across 6 continents. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, the Dalai Lama has received over 84 humanitarian commendations including the Congressional Medal of Honor in 2007, and most recently the 2012 Templeton prize from the John Templeton Foundation, London, England. He has written more than 72 books.
The Kalmyk Three Jewels Foundation and The Tibetan Community of New York and New Jersey represent two distinct, cultural heritages that share a common spiritual tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, of which the Dalai Lama is considered the supreme head.
The Dalai Lama recognizes both the Kalmyk and Tibetan communities in the United States and celebrates their religious freedoms here and we appreciate the opportunity to pray for the same right for all people in the world.
Kalmyks, whose ancestors come from the Kalmyk Republic in the northwest corner of the Caspian Sea, are largely settled in the New Jersey, Pennsylvania metropolitan areas. The Kalmyk Three Jewels Foundation, a Section 501c3 organization, was founded in 2009 to help maintain and strengthen Kalmyk culture, language and traditions in the United States and around the world.
The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to the European Union, the move has left many baffled. The committee who decides on the winners of the Nobel Prize said it was recognising the work the EU has done to transform Europe from a continent of war, to one of peace.
However, many have been quick to point out the peace of Europe, after the Second World War, was not won by the EU; but by the work of Britain, America and even Russia- and later by NATO – with America picking up much of the bill. Within Germany itself the nation transformed itself out of the devastation left by Hitler to reject fascism and build a peaceful society and a robust economy.
The awarding of the prize to the EU has caused further anger because of the deep divisions that exist across the continent at this time. As violent riots erupt across European cities, and many see the actions of the EU to be robbing nation states of their democratic rights, questions have been asked as to why the EU is worthy of this accolade.
The award was all the more surprising given the Nobel Prize committee are based in Norway, one of the few European countries not to be a member of the EU. However, it has now emerged the most eurosceptic member of the committee, Aagot Valle, was ill this week, and therefore not part of the decision. Had Valle been present he would have almost certainly vetoed the decision. The committee now has questions to answer as to it’s political ethics in awarding the prize to the EU.
“The award of the prize will stir a massive controversy in Norway,” Kristian Berg Harpviken, head of the Oslo-based Peace Research Institute, told Reuters on Friday. “Many politicians here would see this as undue meddling in the internal affairs of Norway by the Nobel Committee.”
This is not the first time the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded controversially. In 2009 Barak Obama was given the prize, and in 1994 Yasser Arafat.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are currently coordinating a multistate investigation of fungal meningitis among patients who received an epidural steroid injection with a potentially contaminated product.
This form of meningitis is not contagious.
Several patients also suffered strokes that are believed to have resulted from their infection. The investigation has expanded to include fungal infections from other steroid injections.
The current case count has risen from 64 cases 6 days ago to 170 cases reported as of today, with 14 deaths so far.
Medicines associated with three lots of preservative-free methylprednisolone acetate (80mg/ml) from the New England Compounding Center (NECC) were recalled on September 26, 2012. The potentially contaminated injections were given starting May 21, 2012.
Persons with Fungal Infections Linked to Steroid Injections, by State
| State | Case Count | Deaths |
| Florida (FL) | 7 | 2 |
| Idaho (ID) | 1 | 0 |
| Indiana (IN) | 21 | 1 |
| Maryland (MD) | 13 | 1 |
| Michigan (MI) | 39 | 3 |
| Minnesota (MN) | 3 | 0 |
| New Jersey (NJ) | 2 | 0 |
| North Carolina (NC) | 2 | 0 |
| Ohio (OH) | 3 | 0 |
| Tennessee (TN) | 49 | 6 |
| Virginia (VA) | 30 | 1 |
| TOTALS | 170 | 14 |
Map and data showing the swing States and considered safe States for Romney and Obama as at 11th October 2012.
| RCP POLL AVERAGE | ELECTORAL VOTES | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| States | Obama | Romney | Obama | Romney |
| Colo. | 47.0% | 47.6% | 0 | 9 |
| Fla. | 47.5% | 47.5% | 0 | 29 |
| Iowa | 48.6% | 45.4% | 6 | 0 |
| Nev. | 48.2% | 46.6% | 6 | 0 |
| N.H. | 49.8% | 45.3% | 4 | 0 |
| N.C. | 46.0% | 49.3% | 0 | 15 |
| Ohio | 47.6% | 46.3% | 18 | 0 |
| Va. | 48.2% | 47.6% | 13 | 0 |
| Wis. | 50.0% | 47.7% | 10 | 0 |
| Swing-State Votes | 57 | 53 | ||
| Leaning/Likely State Votes | 237 | 191 | ||
| Total Overall Votes | 294 | 244 | ||
| On October 11th, while Vice President Biden and Vice Presidential Candidate Ryan are preparing to debate serious US issues, in Kentucky, another statesman – the Dalai Lama from Tibet, will be visiting neighboring state Virginia at the joint invitation of The Foundation for American Heritage Voices (their Tibetan American Cultural Division), the Tibetan Association of Charlottesville, the UMA Institute for Tibetan Studies, and the City of Charlottesville.
The Dalai Lama will be speaking on “Compassionate Care in 21st Century Medicine” and “Beyond Religion: Ethics for a Whole World.” His choice of topics are very poignant considering the current debates around Obamacare. The city of Charlottesville is also headquarters to the National Ground Intelligence Center (the security command for the US Army), GE Intelligent Platforms (including Aerospace, Defense/Military, and Communication Systems), and SNL Financial LC (a provider of breaking news, financial data and expert analysis on business sectors critical to the global economy). While there, Charlottesville’s Mayor will be presenting the Dalai Lama with the distinguished Key to the City, giving him freedom of the city status.
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There has been much talk in the media in the run up to these elections about the use of voter ID in order to cast a ballot. Democrats have argued that requiring voters to show photographic ID will make it harder for people to vote, and will stop people voting from minority groups, or poorer backgrounds- thus weakening democracy. They have also argued that it is not necessary, that cases of voter fraud are so rare as to make it’s impact negligible. Those in favor of implementing voter ID argue that ID is required to obtain government entitlements, gain access to government buildings etc so it ought to be required when casting a vote in an election- that it strengthens democracy.
Groups like Veritas and True the Vote have been cataloguing cases of voter fraud. True the Vote report that in a recent Wisconsin recall election a bus was seen offloading people at a voting station, “Magically, all of them needed to register and vote at the same time,” Ms. Engelbrecht, of True the Vote, said. “Do you think maybe they registered falsely under false pretenses? Probably so.” She also cites a similar report from a 2010 election in San Diego. Election officials say there is no evidence to collaborate True the Vote’s claims.
The Pew Center on the States, who provide non-partisan research, reporting and advocacy, issued a report in February finding that more than 1.8 million dead people remained on voter rolls and about 2.8 million people were registered in more than one state, while another 12 million registrations contained flawed addresses.