Where's the Outrage, Mr. President?

It's only been a day since the monstrous murder of a promising 16-year-old honors student, Derrion Albert. But as of yet there has been no comment by President Obama, or any other "national leader," on this tragic death.

Maybe the President is busy with healthcare reform. But you should be able to find a minute to express horror over what happened in your adopted home city, Chicago.

You found the time to go to Europe to lobby for that city to become the host of the 2016 Olympics.
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Russian Journalist in hiding after Soviet Critique

This person needs to be in fear. And there isn't any country to run to. Any doubt democracy is dead in Russia?

A Russian journalist says he fears for his life and has gone into hiding after angering a nationalist pro-Kremlin youth group by writing an article criticising Russia's Soviet past.

Alexander Podrabinek says he has received threats after publishing an editorial on the Internet about a Moscow restaurant changing its name from "Anti-Soviet" under pressure from local officials who said it was offensive to "Soviet veterans."

The article on www.ej.ru recalled the prison camps and crimes of Stalinism, and accused the current Russian authorities of trying to burnish the image of the Soviet Union.

Podrabinek, a former anti-communist dissident and freelance journalist, has since been criticised by Nashi, a nationalist youth movement that began under former President Vladimir Putin.

US Income Gap Widens

The gap between rich and poor grew during the boom and widens during the recession.

The recession has hit middle-income and poor families hardest, widening the economic gap between the richest and poorest Americans as rippling job layoffs ravaged household budgets.

The wealthiest 10 percent of Americans — those making more than $138,000 each year — earned 11.4 times the roughly $12,000 made by those living near or below the poverty line in 2008, according to newly released census figures. That ratio was an increase from 11.2 in 2007 and the previous high of 11.22 in 2003.

Household income declined across all groups, but at sharper percentage levels for middle-income and poor Americans. Median income fell last year from $52,163 to $50,303, wiping out a decade's worth of gains to hit the lowest level since 1997.

Poverty jumped sharply to 13.2 percent, an 11-year high.

Chicago Teen's Beating Death Fuels Anger

This evil has to stop. Where is that good for nothing Mayor Daley. Where is the President? Send the national guard if necessary to stop the gang violence. Something must be done now before it is too late. Mob violence is the worst kind of violence. People do things when part of a mob they wouldn't when alone.

Cell phone footage showing a group of teens viciously kicking and striking a 16-year-old honors student with splintered railroad ties has ramped up pressure on Chicago officials to address chronic violence that has led to dozens of deaths of city teens each year.

The graphic video of the afternoon melee emerged on local news stations over the weekend, showed the fatal beating of Derrion Albert, a sophomore honor roll student at Christian Fenger Academy High School. His death was the latest addition to a toll that keeps getting higher: More than 30 students were killed last school year, and the city could exceed that number this year.

Prosecutors charged three teenagers on Monday with fatally beating Albert, who was walking to a bus stop when he got caught up in the mob street fighting, authorities said.

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Facebook Poll: Should President Obama be Assassinated

This is the kind of madness that is going on out there. If it continues enough psychos will continue to try until they succeed in assassinating the President:

The Secret Service is investigating the origins of a poll that appeared on Facebook that asked whether President Obama should be killed.

Posted over the weekend, the poll was removed by Facebook after the Secret Service received a tip and contacted the company, which was not aware of the survey, sources tell ABC News.

"When the Secret Service became aware of the poll we worked with Facebook to have it taken down and are conducting an investigation," said a spokesman for the Secret Service.

'FOX News Sunday' Transcript (9-27-09)

Krauthammer predictably (read the complete show transcript) accuses the President of undermining peace:

WALLACE: Charles, let me bring up another aspect of the policy of engagement, the Middle East.

The president has tried mightily since he took office to engage with the Palestinians and the Israelis to try to jump-start the peace talks. You can them shaking hands there this week up in New York. So far, nothing.

KRAUTHAMMER: Well, that’s because he undermined the idea of negotiations when he came in and decided he would reinvent the world as he does in this issue.

He imposed a demand on the Israelis of a settlement freeze. And the Israelis left, right and center will not accept a freeze, which involves Jerusalem. The president insisted.

And the Palestinians and the Arab states looked at this and said if the Americans are putting these unilateral demands on the Israelis, we are not going to negotiate. Abbas himself, the leader of the Palestinians, was in Washington a few months ago and he said, “We will not lift a finger until Israel complies.”

And the reason it’s a -- it’s a policy that makes no sense is because for 16 years, the Israelis and the Palestinians had negotiated without any preconditions. All of a sudden Obama imposes this, and negotiations have stopped.

What happened in New York this week is that the Obama administration caved in and has now abandoned this precondition. The Israelis are ready to negotiate and the Palestinians are still holding out wanting the freeze on settlements, which is not going to happen.

WALLACE: Yeah, and let me talk about that, because Charles is exactly right, Juan. Now the president says, “All right, enough with the preconditions because they’re not getting us anywhere. Let’s go immediately, directly, to final status talks.” What are the chances that’s going to work?

WILLIAMS: Well, the chances, if you look at it now, are pretty minimal, but the -- but that doesn’t negate the idea that something needs to be done. You’ve got to have some progress in this area.

We’ve been talking about Iran. We’ve been talking about engagement, about getting the world together, to say, “You know what, it’s not just up to the U.S., you can’t just wait for the lone superpower to take action.”

Much of the world’s grievances, especially the Iranian grievance coming from Ahmadinejad, has to do with what’s taking place between the Palestinians and Israel. Doesn’t seem unreasonable to me to say to Israel, “Settlements are a bad thing. We can’t -- you can’t be an occupying power if you are truly serious about negotiation.”

WALLACE: Do you really think if there were Middle East peace, the Iranians wouldn’t be pursuing nuclear weapons?

WILLIAMS: No. I think the Iranians are acting like outlaws. I don’t have any question in my mind about that. But I think they use this as a pretext. And so many others use it as a pretext, including Osama bin Laden. So it’s time to remove it. It’s time to settle the issue.

And Charles argues for simply maintaining the status quo. “Oh, they’ve always -- they’ve been negotiating. No need for the -- any change. Why is the Obama administration going on to this arid ground?” It seems to me to the credit of any American administration to say, “Time to end this farce.”

WALLACE: Ten seconds for Mr. Krauthammer to respond to that personal attack. KRAUTHAMMER: Well, I’m in favor -- I’m in favor of negotiations. The Israelis and Palestinians were talking up until Obama came into office. He’s the one who undermined it by imposing a precondition. It makes no sense at all.

WILLIAMS: Yeah, I see we have peace in the Middle East, huh?

WALLACE: All right.

KRAUTHAMMER: We don’t even have talks.

Candidate Raffles off AK-47 at Campaign Rally

This might explain Joe Wilson. What this jerk doesn't understand is that this AK will be used to kill innocent American citizens. He needs to read the 2nd amendment. I talks about a "well regulated militia.":

A candidate to be South Carolina's next National Guard leader skipped the fiery speeches for firepower, launching his campaign with what he called a "machine-gun social."

The Greenville News reports some 500 people came out to a shooting range Saturday for Republican Dean Allen's political rally. He wants to be the next adjutant general, the person who leads the state's National Guard.

- source

Video: Secretary Clinton on 'Face The Nation' (9-27-09)

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Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi Makes More Racist Remarks About the Obama's

The reason this corrupt peace of garbage gets away with his "excesses" can be traced to his control of the press in Italy. Who will be the first to demand an apology? Anybody?:

Premier Silvio Berlusconi is still talking about President Barack Obama's "tan," and this time the gaffe-prone Italian leader has made a wisecrack about Michelle Obama's skin color as well.

Berlusconi told a Milan rally of conservative supporters on Sunday that he was bringing greetings from the United States from "What's his name? Some tanned guy. Ah, Barack Obama!"

Shortly after Obama's election in November 2008, Berlusconi raised eyebrows by saying the victor was "young, handsome, and even has a good tan."

'Meet The Press' Video, Transcript (9-27-09)

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Bill Clinton gave his views on Iran (Complete show transcript here):

PRES. CLINTON: Well, I--my answer is both. That is, you know, I know what I read in the newspaper, but my impression is that the United States knew about this for some time and then a couple of days ago, you know, Iran gave a kind of half-hearted notification to the International Atomic Energy Agency about this site. Then the U.S. must have shared what they knew, because you got the very tough statement from President Medvedev from Russia at the U.N., then the British and French leaders, Prime Minister Brown and President Sarkozy, joined with President Obama in issuing his statement. The Chinese, I'm assuming, have been notified, because they've been working closely with the Russians and the Americans on the North Korean nonproliferation issue to constrain the ability to spread whatever technology they have or to allow the North Koreans to add to their stock.

So I think when the secretary of state kept saying, "Iran's got a choice to make, Iran's got a choice to make," it now looks, reading in the newspaper, that what they were saying is, "We want to talk to you. You can't avoid talking about this. We have to resolve this." And I believe the president has now said by the end of the year, and I think Hillary had said something like December. So my view is this is the very time to talk to them, because we're in a difficult situation now. And it's not a question I want to emphasize about whether we trust them or not, because we've demonstrated that we have the ability to verify. And I think, I think the U.S. wanted to talk because they knew about this and they knew that Iran was about to get in a position where they might be irreversibly putting themselves on a conflict course not only with us but, as you now see, with the Europeans--the Germans endorsed a statement with the Russians--and presumably with the Chinese. Just because they haven't said anything, we shouldn't draw any negative conclusions. They normally take a little longer.

Also on the program was David Paterson. Who insists was not pressured into not running for Governor of New York:

MR. GREGORY: Has it made--been made clear by the president or others working for him that they would like you not to seek re-election?

GOV. PATERSON: I mean, I've had conversations with them, but I don't--I think that the people of the state of New York are the ones who should choose their governor.

MR. GREGORY: All right. But let's be very clear here about what happened. The president's team and others speaking on their behalf said to you, you should not run. Isn't that right?

GOV. PATERSON: I can't say that, David. There are people who've told me not to run. They're are a lot of people who've told--have told me not to run.

MR. GREGORY: Bu the White House specifically said don't run?

GOV. PATERSON: I don't know that.

MR. GREGORY: You don't know that? You certainly know you don't have their support.

GOV. PATERSON: Well, David, the White House has a country to run and I have a state to run. And there's politics that, that go on all the time. I'm blind, but I'm not oblivious. I realize that there are people who don't want me to run. I've never gotten an, an explicit indication authorized from the White House that I shouldn't run. But what I would say is what I think I should be doing is managing the affairs of my state and, when I run, making my case to the people and letting them decide who the next governor should be.

MR. GREGORY: But, but, but--fair enough. But I just want to be clear on this point. They certainly sent the message, did they not, that you would not have their support if you ran and they have concerns about you running, and that you should not run.

GOV. PATERSON: They certainly sent a message that they have concerns, and I appreciate that. But let me just tell you at the outset, I am running for governor in 2010. I don't think that this is an issue other than for the people of the state of New York to decide.

Video Spoof: Teebaggers Showe Howh Educatidid Thay Reelly Arre

Teabaggers are not exactly known for their political sophistication. This video shows why.

Georgia Bank 95th US failure in '09

"Regulators on Friday shut down Atlanta-based Georgian Bank, the 95th U.S. bank to fail this year as loan defaults rise in the worst financial climate in decades.

In coming months, more banks are expected to buckle under the weight of commercial real estate and other loans that go sour. Those failures could imperil the insurance fund for deposits, already at the lowest point in nearly 20 years."

"SNL" Newbie Drops the F-Bomb On Air

Saturday Night live likes to push the envelope. And they will do whatever the show can get away with. Profanity and vulgarity are pervasive. The scum that control the media want to get ratings.

And they know that shock sells. This is the same show that had skits about giving a gift box with a penis inside, or friends sleeping with each other's mothers. So should we be shocked by this? The question is will they get away with it? If they do, expect the bottom to drop. America will turn into one large F-Bomb:

"Saturday Night Live" newbie Jenny Slate marked her Saturday night debut by dropping the f-bomb on air, uttering the four-letter word during a sketch she shared with veteran Kristen Wiig.

Slate, a New York comedian, was performing in "Biker Chicks Chat," playing a foulmouthed motorcycle-driving woman clad in leather, when she dropped the curse word, which slipped by censors and was heard by East Coast viewers of the show.

"You frickin' just threw an ashtray full of butts at my head. You know what, you stood up for yourself and I f***in' love you for that," Slate said to Wiig's fellow biker chick in the skit.

Whether Slate's expletive was intentional wasn't clear, but the actress did puff out her cheeks after the swear word to indicate her embarrassment and apparent regret at her slip-up.

- Discuss this topic here

Def. Secretary Gates on ABC's 'This Week', Transcript (9-27-09)

Read the complete transcript. Excerpt below:

STEPHANOPOULOS: Now, this was clearly a carefully considered strategy. And now the president is telling us -- he told me last week that he can't approve General McChrystal's request until we get the strategy right.

Why the second thoughts on the strategy?

ROBERT GATES, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: I don't think there are second thoughts so much as when he made his decisions at the end of March, he also announced that he would -- we would be reviewing the policy and the strategy after the elections...

STEPHANOPOULOS: But he said the tool was in the tactics, not the strategy.

GATES: Well, I -- I think that he -- he clearly felt that we would have to reassess where we are after the election. Now, in addition to having a flawed election in Afghanistan, we now have General McChrystal's assessment. When the president made his comments at -- at the end of March, his decisions, obviously, General McChrystal was not in place. We now have his assessment. He has found the situation on the ground in Afghanistan worse than he had -- then he anticipated.

And so I think what the president is now saying is in light of the election, in light of McChrystal's more concerning assessment of the situation on the ground, have we got the strategy right, were the decisions in -- that he made at the end of March, the right ones?

Do we need to make some adjustments in light of what we've found?

And once we've decided whether or not to make adjustments in the strategy, then we will consider the additional resources.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But did -- but didn't General McChrystal take these problems of the election into account?

He didn't even deliver his report until August 30th, which was after the elections. Dennis Blair, the head of National Intelligence, said back in February or March that we could foresee that there would be problems with this election.

GATES: Well, I think -- I think that the potential magnitude of the problems in the election really didn't become apparent until the vote count began in early September. So -- so I think it was really after he submitted his -- his assessment.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So now we have a real dilemma.

Does that mean that the United States is re-thinking whether it can even -- whether it can bolster President Karzai's government or whether we have to give up on it?

GATES: Well, I -- you know, the Afghan people have gone to the polls and we have the two election commissions, one internal and one international, that could still come to conclusions, even if they throw out some fraudulent ballots or a number of fraudulent ballots, that there was a clear winner.

The key is whether the Afghans believe that their government has legitimacy. And everything that I've seen in the intelligence and elsewhere indicates that remains the case.

- Rebeller Discussion Forum:
We Must Pull out of Afghanistan

Militants' Threats Hover Over German Vote

There is reason for concern. al Qaeda was successful in influencing the election in Spain several years ago. They hope to repeat their success. Bin laden is looking for some kind of attack in the West. Especially, since they are failing at attacking the United States. Qaeda likes to hit "soft" targets. And that's because they are cowards.

Ignoring threats by Islamic militants, Chancellor Angela Merkel and her main rival held their final political rallies Saturday before Germany's national election, focusing on the key domestic issues of jobs and economic recovery.

Two videos surfaced Friday - one by al Qaeda and another by the Taliban - threatening retaliation for Germany's military presence in Afghanistan. The Taliban video showed top German landmarks like the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin and Munich's world-renowned Oktoberfest.

In response, authorities on Saturday banned all flights over Oktoberfest until it ends on Oct. 4. The annual 16-day beer festival, which was targeted by terrorists in 1980, draws some 6 million visitors from around the globe.

Security had been already tightened around the country after the first Islamic threats two weeks ago, with many more officers now visible at airports and train stations.

U.S. Drone Crashes into Iraq Political Party Office

This symbolism is ironic. Just more propaganda for the insurgents:

An unmanned U.S. reconnaissance drone crashed in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul early on Saturday, hitting the offices of one of Iraq's biggest political parties, the U.S. military said.

No injuries were reported, and there was no indication the aircraft was shot down, said Major Derrick Cheng, a military spokesman in northern Iraq.

Cheng said it was a coincidence that the drone struck the local offices of the Iraqi Islamic Party, Iraq's biggest Sunni Arab political group, the military said.

More bad news from Iraq:

Iraq's president says new sanctions against Iran won't work and warns that Iraq will never allow Israel or any other country to use its airspace to carry out an attack.

Cab Driver: Slayings Suspect, Girlfriend had Fight

This has to be drug related. This kind of senseless violence can't be explained otherwise:

A cab driver who drove an aspiring rapper suspected of killing four people to the airport says he talked about fighting with his girlfriend over a text message from another man.

Richard "Sam" McCroskey of Castro Valley, Calif., was arrested at the airport the next day. He was charged with killing his girlfriend's father, Presbyterian minister Mark Niederbrock.

Authorities expect to charge McCroskey with killing his girlfriend, 16-year-old Emma Niederbrock; her mother, Longwood University professor Debra Kelley; and Emma's friend, 18-year-old Melanie Wells of Inwood, W.Va.

Video: FBI Stings Jihadist Wanting to Bomb Dallas Bank

The FBI should do many more of these stings. It is the best way to prevent terrorism, and other crimes.

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Video: Rush Limbaugh on Jay Leno

Part 1


Part 2

Kennedy Replacement in Senate is Lobbyist for Pharmaceuticals

"A longtime Democratic party insider Paul G. Kirk, Jr., who was appointed Thursday to fill the late Sen. Edward Kennedy's vacant seat in the U.S. Senate, has made tens of thousands of dollars during a brief tenure as a lobbyist.

Team 5 Investigates Kelley Tuthill reported Thursday that Kirk earned $80,000 in 1998 and 1999 working as a lobbyist for the pharmaceutical industry."

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