Monthly Archives: October 2012
WHO WINS OHIO WINS THE PRESIDENCY
Yet again Ohio is key to another Presidential election.
Ohio is regarded as the most important of all the swing states at election time. This is not only due to demographics but also because Ohio has 18 electoral votes. History shows no republican has ever been elected President without winning Ohio- it decided the election for George W Bush in 2004, and in 2000. And this year is no exception.
Ex Libya Security Officer to State Department “For Me The Taliban is on the Inside…”
“For me, the Taliban is on the inside of the building”. Eric Nordstrom, the former Libyan regional security officer for the State Department, said in his testimony on Capitol Hill on Wednesday regarding the attack on the U.S. Embassy in Libya.
“It’s not the hardships, it’s not the gunfire, it’s not the threats. It’s dealing and fighting against the people, programs and personnel who are supposed to be supporting me… For me, the Taliban is on the inside of the building.”
Both Eric Nordstrom and Lt. Col. Andrew Wood, former head of a 16-member U.S. military team that helped protect the embassy in Tripoli, in testimony to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee described their frustrations in performing their jobs.
“We were fighting a losing battle. We couldn’t even keep what we had,” stated Wood in relation to having asked for further security forces to defend the Libyan Embassy before it was attacked on September 11, 2012.
Angela Merkel recoils from Greek showdown on Spain contagion fears – Telegraph
Angela Merkel recoils from Greek showdown on Spain contagion fears – Telegraph.
The German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been visiting Athens today, for the first time in three years. She comes at a time when Greece is looking for the next €31.5bn tranche of aid. Without the aid Greece will run out of money by the end of November. Recent figures show Greece has been in recession for 5 years, it’s economy has shrunk by 22%, and youth unemployment is currently at 55%.
Mrs Merkel was met with angry protestors and required 6,000 police officers to protect her. Greeks, and the Greek media, greeted her with Nazi insults.
Both the EU and IMF have been insistent that Greece steps up austerity measures in order to receive the money. However, Mrs Merkel came to Athens with a softer tone than Athens has previously heard.
There has been mounting pressure on Germany not to allow Greece to default, thus forcing her out of the eurozone. If Greece were to exit, then Spain would likely follow, and the euro would break up. Also tougher austerity measures could result in the collapse of the pro-Europe ruling coalition. If the Greek government collapses it would likely be replaced by either a far-right or far-left alternative. That could destabilise the entire region, affecting the Balkan region and Turkey, something no one wants to see.
It is likely Greece will receive the next instalment of money, however the €31.5bn will only keep Greece afloat a few more months. And as time passes both Spain and Portugal are edging closer to requiring more bailouts.
Man Falls Down- OMG !
Study: Protestants no longer the majority in US
Americans without a stated religious affiliation is on the rise and for the first time in U.S. history, Protestants are not a majority.
The study was performed by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. They found that Protestants now make up a new U.S. low of 48%.
There also appears to be a shift in Christians’ classification of themselves. More of them are stating they do not belong to any denomination.
Apple Addresses iPhone 5 Lens Flare Issue
Remember that purple lens flare issue with the iPhone 5’s camera?
Upon the release of the iPhone 5 last month, some users began reporting a strange issue with the iPhone 5 camera where a purple flare or haze appears when taking a photo near a bright light source such as a lamp or the sun. The issue was first reported by a forum user going by “Kaido” on the tech review site AnandTech who posted several different photos taken inside and outside that showed a purple haze.
Later, Fisher found that the iPhone 5 was in fact particularly vulnerable to lens flare of the sort Kaido and others had described. Interestingly, PCMag’s digital camera analyst found that Apple’s previous-generation handset, the iPhone 4S, was one of the best at minimizing the reproduction of flare caused by out-of-shot light sources (the Galaxy S III was another phone that handled lens flare well, he found).
Video Comparison between iPhone 5 & iPhone 4S
The bottom line from iMore: “There isn’t that big of a difference between the cameras on the iPhone 4S and iPhone 5. There is improvements to the iPhone 5′s camera, but if you were wondering if you should upgrade because of the camera, the answer is definitely no.”
But, if you’re still not convinced that the iPhone 5 isn’t quite a DSLR-replacer just yet, take a look at it compared to a Canon 5D Mark III. That ought to change your mind.
Obama did not ‘underperform’: we saw the real man – Telegraph Blogs
By Thomas Pascoe Economics Last updated: October 4th, 2012
Barack Obama was dreadful in the first presidential debate. He seemed confused and hesitant; his thoughts were incoherent.
There seems to be confusion among the Left as to how this could have happened. How could such a celebrated orator underperform? The answer is simple: Obama did not underperform.
Mr Obama is in the midst of an election campaign he is attempting to win without policies. He claims he will cut debt despite having ruled out reductions to the most significant area of spending, welfare entitlements. He wants to avoid war in the Middle East, which is commendable, but not, in itself, a policy. He is against a “war on women”, he is against the Boy Scouts of America banning gays. This isn’t anywhere close to being a prospectus for governing the world’s most important country through a period of crisis – it’s a manifesto for election to a student union.
The argument has always been that we should not expect Mr Obama to share his innermost thoughts with us. The man, so we are told, is such an intellectual giant that we would not understand him if he did.
That is one explanation. The other is that Mr Obama’s intellectual development froze around the time he first encountered socialism. He is exceptionally good at reading out from a teleprompter, be that on the campaign trail or when addressing an audience of 12-year-olds. When he is left to articulate complex thoughts of his own, he fails.
The fact is that Mr Obama has a talented, cynical team around him who have been succesful in constructing a narrative in which Mr Romney is a comic villan who wants to ruin the poor and open windows on aeroplanes. Stripped of these people, he has no memorable policies and very few discernible convictions. The emptiness we saw on Wednesday was the real thing.
via Obama did not ‘underperform’: we saw the real man – Telegraph Blogs.
President Obama returns to Los Angeles
President Obama is scheduled to arrive at Los Angeles International Airport after 1 p.m. Sunday, October 7. His Sunday evening is scheduled to include a backstage reception, concert and dinner. The concert, called “30 Days to Victory” at downtown L.A.’s Nokia Theater, will feature Katy Perry, Stevie Wonder, Jennifer Hudson, Earth Wind and Fire, and Jon Bon Jovi. Presidential pal Clooney will make a special appearance to introduce Wonder. After the concert, Obama will head next door for a $25,000-per-plate dinner at Wolfgang Puck’s chic WP24.
Obama is scheduled to depart from LAX on Monday morning and head to a midday ceremony in Keene, near Tehachapi, where he will dedicate the new César E. Chávez National Monument. The President will then continue north to San Francisco for a fundraising dinner hosted by superstar chef Alice Waters, and a concert headlined by John Legend.
SAND MANDALA AT PASCO HERNANDO COMMUNITY COLLEGE, FLORIDA
View Pasco Hernando Com. College, FL in a larger map
SAND MANDALA AT PASCO HERNANDO COMMUNITY COLLEGE FLORIDA
Pasco Hernando Community College
Spring Hill, Florida
October 6, 2012
A sand mandala is created for Peace Week at the Pasco Hernando Community College.
The ceremony was led by a buddist monk, Ningpo, who is originally from Tibet, now lives in Wesley Chapel, Florida
Jerusalem: 4000 Years in 5 Minutes
Turkey’s Parliament Votes to Attack Syria at Will
Residents over the Syrian border in Turkey have become used to the rumble of war over the border, they have even become accustomed to stray missiles falling on Turkish soil. Mosques along the border issue warnings to residents to remain indoors at times when there is a risk of mortars.
However, after a mortar hit a civilian house on Wednesday, killing five people, the Turkish parliament has voted to launch an attack on the Syrian regime.
“The bombardment continued this morning,” said FRANCE 24’s Jasper Mortimer, reporting from the Turkish capital of Ankara early Thursday. “Turkey is signalling that last night’s retaliation was not simply a knee-jerk reaction. Turkey is very angry with Syria over its repeated violations of its borders.”
Although the international community sympathise with Turkey, and understand their anger at these violations, they are urging for restraint. No one wants to see the situation escalate into war between the two nations.
For more information see France 24
A “Misunderstanding” Over Islamic Art nearly sparks a riot in Toulouse, France
Moroccan artist Mounir Fatmi was taking part in the month long “Printemps de Septembre” art festival in Toulouse. His artwork: Projections of stylised calligraphy showed extracts from the Koran and “Hadiths” (sayings) of the Prophet Mohammed.
Fatmi had planned the projections be cordoned off, to stop people walking over them, however a text was projected onto the cities busy 16th century Pont Neuf bridge by mistake. Walking on text from the Koran is considered blasphemous by Muslims.
Quickly young Muslim’s from the city gathered to stop pedestrians walking on the writings, one woman was slapped by protestors. Only when Imans from the local Mosque arrived to calm the crowd, did tensions ease and the art exhibit stopped. In response to the incident Fatmi said that the piece, called “Technologia”, was owned by the Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha, Qatar. “When it was shown there for the first time, just a few kilometres from Saudi Arabia, no one was shocked…That people were shocked in Toulouse is astonishing. I just don’t get it.”
Toulouse was the location of a shooting by a young Islamic extremist earlier this year. The incident left seven people dead at a Jewish school in the city.
For more information see France 24
George Zimmerman Considering Suing NBC
NBC’s “Today” and NBC’s Miami station involved with editing George Zimmerman’s phone call are being considered as recipients of a lawsuit for defamation.
Three employees of NBC or the NBC owned Miami station, lost their jobs due to changes they made, which emphasized certain descriptions that Zimmerman reported of Trayvon Martin, in a phone call to police dispatchers.
Megan Kopf, NBC’s spokeswoman has not commented.