“The [CBS/National Journal] Commander-In-Chief Debate” From South Carolina

Image Credit: CBS News via Politisite


“The [CBS/National Journal] Commander-In-Chief Debate” From South Carolina

With the focus on National Security and Foreign policy, CBS News and National Journal partners with the South Carolina GOP to present the first Republican Presidential Primary debate on broadcast television.

The debate, the second in the last four days, is scheduled to be broadcast live for one hour only [given the local schedule] starting at 8:00 pm ET and is to be broadcast on all CBS stations nationally.

“The South Carolina Republican Party is excited to be a partner on the first nationally televised, broadcast network debate of the Presidential Primary season,” said Chad Connelly, Chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party. “Presidential candidates and Republican activists across our nation know South Carolina’s historic tradition of successfully choosing the Republican nominee, a tradition uninterrupted for over thirty years. We look forward to the debate on Wofford College’s beautiful campus and continuing to demonstrate that in South Carolina, ‘We Pick Presidents.’”

The expectation is that these topics of National Security and Foreign Policy should play to the benefit of former Utah Governor, John Huntsman (also, former ambassador to China for the Obama Administration, he also served as ambassador to Singapore under George H.W. Bush and as a Deputy Trade Representative under George W. Bush.), Former leader of the House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich, and Former Senator, Rick Santorum. The rest of the field, it is assumed, will be coming in with a crash course understanding of the issues and there lays the entertainment ... and the challenge of moderators, Scott Pelley (anchor and managing editor of the CBS EVENING NEWS WITH SCOTT PELLEY) and Major Garrett (former Fox News standout and current congressional correspondent for National Journal).

A short but possibly sweet debate #10 for the Republican field of presidential/Commander-In-Chief hopefuls.

In order for all to see the debate in total, we were instructed by Scott Pelley to see the last 30 minutes of the 90 minute debate by going to one's computer and log on to CBS.com.

The biggest contention with this format and debate is the adherence to time. Of course, Rick Santorum has trouble with this right away because he gets bogged down in the tall grass with describing policy.

Huntsman's first answer is short and probably the most popular. He looks to isolation and extraction from current involvement save some small force for intelligence and training the government forces of the country we are leaving.

Gingrich hits the problem on the head recognizing this problem is much larger and complex than the way we are addressing it. Then Gingrich goes on to make the case for defending Christians throughout the world from Muslim persecution.

Perry turns the focus back to Foreign Aid and spending as the first issue that informs our foreign policy.

Bachmann on Pakistan - A difficult area and harbors terrorism. They have Nuclear weapon and worldwide connections are aligned against Israel ... we need to stand with Israel.

Gingrich agrees with the Perry approach starting with Foreign Aid at zero every year and have countries that we currently support argue for its maintenance.

Santorum on the Nukes - Pakistan must be handled as a friend because they have the bomb. It is important to keep a solid and stable relationship. Money on foreign aid is spent here in this country first on the manufacture of weapons before they are used to secure our relationships.

BREAK

Gingrich stiff arms Major Garrett on a question relating to how he characterized Romney [as a good manager] on a national radio show - Laura Ingraham | 9:00am to 12:00pm ET - by shaking his head NO! "We are here to replace Barack Obama" as president and we all would be better than the current president.

Parry makes a pitch as being a decision maker [over others hopefuls] as Commander-In-Chief.

Bachmann - Obama has the ACLU managing the activities of the CIA.

Paul - Water boarding is torture. Torture is uncivilized.

Huntsman - Recites his resume then comes down on the side that water boarding as torture.

Pelley then asks Romney about Obama's killing of an American born terrorist in Yeman by an unmanned missile ... Was Obama correct in this act?

Pelley begins to argue with the people taking part in the debate about the Rule-Of-Law. Gingrich fires back that individual people who are creating war with America are defined by a panel as "Enemy Combatants" and therefore not subject to America's Rule-Of-Law (to uproarious crowd applause in agreement with Newt's point of order).

Major Garrett gains control of the direction of the debate by asking Foreign Trade questions of Romney and Perry.

Pelley allows himself a follow up question with Romney on Foreign Trade ... taking precious time away from other respondents.

Huntsman - We do not need a trade war with China. We need to engage the younger, internet connected generations in China on issues of trade for them to have an effect on the Ruling Class ... Author comment - this does not make sense.

BREAK

A Twitter question asks of Gov. Perry if Israel would start at zero in foreign aid? Perry said YES and that this should be applied to the budgets of all of the Federal Departments he had trouble naming in an earlier debate.

BREAK - most people throughout the nation either miss this part of the debate or they tune in to CBS.com on their computers.

In Palm Springs, the affiliate cut away for local news and so the internet came into play.

There was a problem with the transmission and it seems that the internet connection did not have enough bandwidth to handle the demand – choppy video and consequently, choppy audio. Further investigation found that this bandwidth problem was actually with the main server contracted for use by CBS ... REALLY?!

CBS is a bush-league outfit to schedule a Republican presidential debate, title it “The Commander-In-Chief Debate”, and broadcast only a portion of the debate on a national basis, then provide inadequate internet service to carry the balance of the debate.

Hey CBS, why sponsor and hold a debate if you are not serious enough to carry the whole debate?

If this were a Democrat Political Party debate with eight contenders, would you have only enough television broadcast time slot bandwidth to carry a percentage of the whole debate and after debate spin?

Why on Earth would the South Carolina GOP [and the NRCC] agree to such a half-handed set-up … is this the best they could negotiate?

How weak.

WOW!

Baylor University's Sponsored Illegal Immigrant Activism ... Sparks Response

Baylor University school of Law has 89.8% of graduates get job offers upon graduation. Image Credit: law-school.findthebest.com

Baylor University's Sponsored Illegal Immigrant Activism ... Sparks Response

Hispanic leaders in Texas are joining a student’s fight against a political culture they say seeks to pigeon-hole minorities as reliably liberal. Daniel Cervera, a senior at Baylor University, filed legislation at his school’s student government in response to what he describes as selective enforcement of university policy. “The school essentially sponsored a speaking platform to an illegal immigrant enrolled in our law school, who then used that platform to speak in favor of civil unrest to push a political agenda,” said Cervera.

Greg Torres, a member of the student senate, agrees to the proposition the University’s decision to sponsor illegal immigration activism violates established policy and precedent, “It’s embarrassing for all Hispanic students whose families have worked hard to make a name for themselves, as opposed to doing it illegally and in a way that university policy clearly opposes.”

One university official defended the school's decision claiming that Cervera’s proposal threatens to stifle debate on campus. Dr. Elizabeth Palacios, Baylor University’s Dean for Student Development, is quoted in the November 3, 2011 edition of the campus newspaper with the following, “As a university, we are never going to be Tier 1 if we censor thoughts that are incongruent [with our beliefs].”

Garrett referenced a report from the March 4, 2011 edition of the campus newspaper, with Palacios defending the private Christian school’s decision to deny the Sexual Identity Forum, a GLBT-advocacy group, an official charter.

“When it’s apparent that there is a stance being taken by the language, by the spirit or by the intent of a group, then it takes on a different purpose and it takes on a different slant,” said Dr. Palacios, explaining the school’s decision to deny a student group charter.

Duke Machado, president of the Hispanic Republican Club, says Cervera’s action marks the importance of minorities becoming more independently engaged. “It needs to start with us,” said Machado, “It’s important that minorities aggressively counter abuses of racial identity for political gain.”

Felipe Reyna, a retired appeals court justice and Baylor Law graduate, also weighed in on the matter, “For a Baylor Law student to speak favorably of engaging in unlawful activity to push a political view is really shameful. I sincerely hope university administrators will rethink their decision to defend sponsoring such an event.”
(ht: Baylor YCT)

We, at MAXINE, believe it is time for all citizens to embrace the concept of defending legal immigration and the right of citizens to pour value back into the proposition of actually being a citizen of the country they wish to have protected and defended.

<Article first seen as Baylor University's Sponsored Illegal Immigrant Activism ... Sparks Response at Technorati>

Tea Party vs Occupy Movement - Boston Herald's Confusing Take

The Media’s Guide to Protestors - Image Credit: William Warren via Liberty Features (2011)

Tea Party vs Occupy Movement - Boston Herald's Confusing Take

Over the weekend, the Boston Herald posted an article that tried to make the case of commonality between the Tea Party Movement and the Occupy (wherever) Movement. The proposition that the article tried to make from a national poll with 1,005 American adults (no background on demographic ... assume random) was that people were becoming tired of public political activism.

While the title of the article delivered a direct comparison and linkage of the Occupy Movement to the Tea Party Movement, the first five paragraphs were devoted to the Occupy Movement, the next three paragraphs were devoted to the Tea Party Movement, and the balance of the analysis placed the two movements side-by-side with the conclusion as follows:

This excerpted and edited from the Boston Herald -

Thumbs down for Occupy, Tea Party in new nationwide poll
By Joe Battenfeld - Originally posted November 6, 2011

The Occupy Wall Street movement may be starting to lose its luster with the American public, with four in ten now saying they have an unfavorable view of the protests, a new nationwide UMass Lowell/Boston Herald poll shows.
----
But the UMass Lowell/Herald poll shows one clear trend — that Americans have a more negative view of the Tea Party movement than the Wall Street protests.
----
More than 71 percent of all American adults have an unfavorable impression of the federal government, including 72 percent of Occupy Wall Street supporters and 86 percent of Tea Party sympathizers. And about three-quarters of all Americans say that political action committees and large corporations have too much influence in politics.

This indicates the most successful strategy for winning office in 2012 would be running against both Washington and Wall Street — a strategy already being tested in Massachusetts by Democratic Senate challenger Elizabeth Warren and the current incumbent, Republican Sen. Scott Brown.

But while Tea Party and Occupy supporters may share some views, they don’t have much else in common, according to the UMass Lowell/Herald poll.

Nearly two-thirds of Tea Party sympathizers describe their political views as conservative, while just 14 percent of Occupy Wall Street backers call themselves conservative.

A third of those who have a favorable view of the Occupy movement say they are liberals, while just 5 percent of Tea Party backers describe themselves as liberal.
[Reference Here]

The following poll was featured in the sidebar on the right side of the Boston Herald article:

Herald Pulse

Where do you stand on the Occupy and Tea Party movements?

27% - Occupy campers annoy me
14% - I back what Occupy has to say
7% - The Tea Party annoys me
36% - I’m all for what the Tea Party stands for
4% - I like them both
12% - I dislike them both

Total Votes: 2,018

What if the poll answer choices were arranged a little differently as in like-with-like questions:

Positive
36% - I’m all for what the Tea Party stands for
14% - I back what Occupy has to say

Negative
7% - The Tea Party annoys me
27% - Occupy campers annoy me

General Attitude
4% - I like them both
12% - I dislike them both

When arranged in this way, one comes away with a completely different picture of the attitudes of the two thousand plus Boston Herald reader respondents.

For those having a positive view of either approach, just add "I like them both at 4%" to the affirmative question posed for each movement.

For those having a negative view of either approach, just add "I dislike them both at 12%" to the negative question posed for each movement.

Tea Party Movement
Positive - 40% / Negative - 26%
(66% response attention)

Occupy Movement
Positive - 18% / Negative - 39%
(57% response attention)

Last Comparison
TP Positive - 40% | OM Negative - 39% = 79% similar attitude camp

OM Positive - 18% | TP Negative - 26% = 44% similar attitude camp

Sorry, it just seems that the Boston Herald has its focus on the wrong set of information numbers and thereby performs a disservice to its readers with the conclusions they choose to highlight and put forward. The media seems bent on using polls to shape opinion as opposed to inform opinion.

Why doesn't the Boston Herald look at their own reader respondent poll which seems to be as vetted and directed (with twice as many responses - over 2,000) as the poll they used for the development of the original article that ultimately tries to paint the Senate seat contest between Democratic Senate challenger (OM attitude camp) Elizabeth Warren and the current incumbent, Republican Sen. (TP attitude camp) Scott Brown as ... wait for it ... a toss-up.

A deeper look at the sidebar poll seems to suggest a different projected outlook.



<Article first appeared as Tea Party vs Occupy Movement - Boston Herald's Confusing Take at Technorati>

Homes Of The Progressive And Occupy Protest Minded

Robin Leach, after reviewing the photo slideshow of the home of the progressive and occupy movement arrested, would wonder where's the script for the next show of the "Lifestyles Of The Rich And Famous"! Image Credit: wikipedia.com


Homes Of The Progressive And Occupy Protest Minded
If one reviews the public information available through arrest records, one finds out that folks who get arrested at an Occupy Movement protest rally might be good candidates for a reality TV revival of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.

In an investigative report and slideshow originally issued by the Daily Caller, it becomes pretty eye-opening to see just who the self-called 99% of the people really are if arrest records are any gauge.

District of Columbia: An Occupy Wall Street protester arrested on October 1 — presumably penniless and from a blue-collar family — lives in this $850,000 home in the nation’s capital. Caption and Image Credit: Daily Caller

This excerpted and edited from the Daily Caller -

NYC arrest records: Many Occupy Wall Street protesters live in luxury
By Will Rahn - Published: 12:45 AM 11/02/2011 | Updated: 10:32 AM 11/02/2011

For each of the 984 Occupy Wall Street protesters arrested in New York City between September 18 and October 15, police collected and filed an information sheet recording the arrestee’s name, age, sex, criminal charge, home address and — in most cases — race. The Daily Caller has obtained all of this information from a source in the New York City government.

Among addresses for which information is available, single-family homes listed on those police intake forms have a median value of $305,000 — a far higher number than the $185,400 median value of owner-occupied housing units in the United States.

Some of the homes where “Occupy” arrestees reside, viewed through Google Maps and the Multiple Listing Service real estate database, are the definition of opulence.

Texas: This mansion has five bedrooms and, from the looks of it, plenty of space for a drum circle. Its economically disadvantaged occupant was arrested while “occupying” Wall Street on October 5. Caption and Image Credit: Daily Caller

Using county assessors and online resources such as Zillow.com, TheDC estimated property values and rents for 87 percent of the homes and 59 percent of the apartments listed in the arrest records.

Even in the nation’s currently depressed housing market, at least 95 of the protesters’ residences are worth approximately $500,000 or more. (RELATED SLIDESHOW: Opulent homes of the ’99 percent’)

The median monthly rent for those living in apartments whose information is readily available is $1,850.

Of the 984 protesters arrested, at least 797 are white. The median age of “Occupy” protesters taken into custody is 27 years.
[Reference Here]

New York: The pricey brownstone with the red door on a street where homes go for $850,000? It’s home to an impoverished Occupy Wall Street protester arrested on October 15. Caption and Image Credit: Daily Caller

Exposed to this type of eye-opening information, one could easily project that this Occupy Movement is NOT what the protesters say it is about. This protest action is just Progressive Chaos Creation 101 for a big, bigger, biggest federal government thanks to the SEIU, AFL-CIO, any public sector union, community organizing groups formally known as ACORN, and the Democrat Political Party. This is just another episode in the Lifestyles of the Progressive And Occupy Protest Minded rich people!

Socialistic "champagne wishes and caviar dreams" ... where is Robin Leach when we need him?


<Article first published as Homes Of The Progressive And Occupy Protest Minded at Technorati>

Herman Cain Accused ... It Is Time To "Occupy Politico"

Fearing the message of Herman Cain who is shaking up the political landscape in Washington, Inside the Beltway media have begun to launch unsubstantiated personal attacks on Cain. Since Washington establishment critics haven't had much luck in attacking Mr. Cain's ideas to fix a bad economy and create jobs, they are trying to attack him in any way they can. Caption Credit: hermancain.com | Image Credit: Politico.com

Herman Cain Accused ... It Is Time To "Occupy Politico"

We have seen this type of dust up before, remember Clarence Thomas about twenty years ago?

The internet political news source, Politico (not known for a fair and balanced stance) broke a story of sexual harassment by Herman Cain that happened while he was the head of the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s. According to the Jonathon Martin of Politico, at least two female employees complained to colleagues and senior NRA association officials about inappropriate behavior by Cain, according to Martin, multiple (unnamed) sources confirm to Politico the following happened.

"The women complained of sexually suggestive behavior by Cain that made them angry and uncomfortable, the sources said, and they signed agreements with the restaurant group that gave them financial payouts to leave the association. The agreements also included language that bars the women from talking about their departures."
[Reference Here]

Politico states that it has confirmed the identities of the two female restaurant association employees who complained about Cain but, for privacy concerns, is not publishing their names.

In America, except in politics, people have the right to face their accuser. If Herman Cain can not have the right to meet his accusers, voting people from the Tea Party, to independents, to just plain Herman Cain supporters should stand at the door of Politico and "Occupy Politico" until the people behind these accusations are revealed. The sources that disclosed this information to Politico, the two female restaurant association employees who complained about Cain, and the full disclosure of what actually happened needs to come to public light just as the Congress forced the American people to witness nearly 20 years ago with the "High Tech Lynching" accusations of Clarence Thomas as he was being confirmed as a Supreme Court Justice.

The Congress and Anita Hill could not prove that Clarence Thomas was a pervert and it is suspected that these accusations of Herman Cain would amount to be as consequential and valid as the accusations on Thomas.

It is time to refuse to play this Inside the Beltway media game. Demand the sources, demand that the accusers reveal themselves, demand the evidence ... "OCCUPY POLITICO"!


<Article first published as Herman Cain Accused … It Is Time To “Occupy Politico” at Technorati>

Good Morning America Asks Will Obama's Lower College Loan Payments Plan Help?

Good Morning America (GMA) is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now. Its current one-hour weekend edition debuted in 2004. Image Credit: ABC News via ShareTV.org


Good Morning America Asks Will Obama's Lower College Loan Payments Plan Help?
or ... Why Corporate Media Gets It's Label "Lame Stream Media" - Polling Question Analysis

About 20 hours ago, Good Morning America posted up this question at the polling centered social web portal known as SodaHead:

Obama Unveils New Plan to Lower College Loan Payments. Will It Help?
by Good Morning America - Posted October 26, 2011 (20 hours ago)

The answers were posed/written as follows:

Yes, I think it will make a difference to students. - 1,917 responses

No, the plan doesn't go far enough! - 1,562 responses
[Reference Here]

A SodaHead "Thumbs-Up" graphic that people click on if they like an answer to a poll question. Image Credit: SodaHead

The most popular answer to a question as per the number of "thumbs up":

By - Tinka123 (edited) / 19 hours ago

Q) No, the plan doesn’t go far enough!

A) These answers aren't skewed. I guess we know what answer Good Morning America wants - too bad they didn't include us [people who are not liberal or progressive] in their poll. How about NO - it won't work?

A YES answer offered this opinion (it was the only opinion left by a YES answer respondent out of 26 total opinions offered in 3479 total poll answers):

State Street / 19 hours ago

Yes, it will help tremendously. Education should be affordable to everyone. A society that's healthy, educated, and confident is harder to control than one that isn't. That I believe is why there are many elements on the right that don't want something like that to come to fruition.

One person decided not to answer but just leave a comment on someone else's NO answer as a REPLY:

Lanikai / 7 hours ago

I refused to pick one of the two BIASED answers. So I am tagging on you, if you don't mind. The break down I saw this morning on MSNBC, showed that a $212,000.00 private college education for 4 years, would mean the student eventually paid back just under $29,000.00 and the taxpayers eat the rest. UNFAIR on every level.

What is SodaHead? - SodaHead informs and entertains a loyal and passionate following that visits our site to discover, debate, and discuss the day's hottest issues. We offer marketers new and innovative ways of engaging with young, hip, and digitally savvy consumers. We enable partners to leverage SodaHead’s product suite to enhance their offerings. Image Credit: SodaHead

We, at MAXINE, left the following response to the Good Morning America Poll:

I voted NO ... but it is not a matter if The Executive Branch's plan goes far enough or not.

Instead of punishing banks and other money lenders of student loans … make the Colleges issue a REBATE – on behalf of those having trouble meeting the terms of their loans – to the Banks! Isn’t it time that the real gougers of students/society be made to pay for their own action of pricing themselves out of a formally stable market?

Instead of punishing banks and other money lenders of student loans … make the Colleges issue a REBATE – on behalf of those having trouble meeting the terms of their loans – to the Banks! Isn’t it time that the real gougers of students/society be made to pay for their own action of pricing themselves out of a formally stable market?

Just asking.

Hey, ABC! … Nice posed/written poll answer choices … NOT!


[Article first published as Good Morning America Asks Will Obama's Lower College Loan Payments Plan Help? at Technorati]

Tea Party, Or Progressive Agenda Movement Declaration Document?

A flag is waved during a rally Saturday at Los Angeles City Hall where "Occupy LA" activists protested Wall Street practices and the distribution of wealth in the United States. The demonstration was modeled after a similar movement in New York that has been staging a sit-in on Wall Street for almost two weeks ... without much incident. Image Credit: Christina House / For The Times / October 1, 2011

Tea Party, Or Progressive Agenda Movement Declaration Document?

This weekend, some noise and attention was trying to be made here in Los Angeles. Just as some organized people were trying to make for the last couple of weeks or so in New York. This organized group of people are also attempting to create the look of a grassroots movement - much like the Tea Party Movement evolved - but this creation is, in fact, a creation of people who have a decidedly different '60's radical agenda.

One might call this a "put up" job in order to manipulate folks into acts of chaos and agitation ... but I will let the reader decide what to make of this declaration of accusations and indictment.

Are these points of declaration from Tea Party politicos who are amazed at how the U. S. Government has grown out of control or are they connected directly to an organization that is backed by the efforts of a major politically progressive stalwart as an American labor union showing a decided dislike to Corporations in general ... judge for yourself.

Loki Freeman, left, and Brad Baudot participate in a demonstration at Pershing Square. Which organizations are stronger here ... the Corporations or the United States Government? Has anyone seen the new GE microwave oven with a USDA "My Plate" button programming selection? Image Credit: Christina House / For The Times / October 1, 2011

This excerpted and edited from "Declaration of the Occupation of New York City" -

Start each sentence with "They Have":

• taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage.
• taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses.
• perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age, the color of one’s skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.
• poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.
• profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless nonhuman animals, and actively hide these practices.
• continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions.
• held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right.
• consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers’ healthcare and pay.
• influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility.
• spent millions of dollars on legal teams that look for ways to get them out of contracts in regards to health insurance.
• sold our privacy as a commodity.
• used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press.
• deliberately declined to recall faulty products endangering lives in pursuit of profit.
• determine[d] economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce.
• donated large sums of money to politicians supposed to be regulating them.
• to block generic forms of medicine that could save people’s lives in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantive profit.
• purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit.
• purposefully kept people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.
• accepted private contracts to murder prisoners even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt.
• perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad.
• participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas.
• continue[d] to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive [or issue] government contracts.

[reference here]

END

Ok, here are the goods ... as it were. The fact of the matter these declaration points were issued in a document entitled "Declaration of the Occupation of New York City" by a (they would have you believe) two week old Occupy America Movement - right now it is recognized by the name "Occupy (insert name of city here)" like Occupy Wall Street, or Occupy Los Angeles, Occupy Hawaii, and etc.

This groundswell of haphazard activity is the supported brainchild of a high official in the SEIU labor union who is known to be a major supporter of the Democrat Political Party and progressively socialist political views by the name of Stephen Lerner (the one source that had been able to get the word out on this movement was cultural and political observer Glenn Beck who originally reported this information back in March 22, 2011).

Tim Ottman of Los Angeles prepares to participate in the demonstration. At City Hall, protesters set up an open microphone and speakers took turns urging one another to take action against government policies and to pressure lawmakers for reforms. Image Credit: Christina House / For The Times / October 1, 2011

This excerpted and edited from The Blaze -

Who Is Behind the ‘US Day of Rage’ to ‘Occupy’ Wall Street this September 17th?
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 11:20am by Tiffany Gabbay

A US Day of Rage is the title given to a day of ostensibly “non-violent” civil disobedience orchestrated by a group of radicals — that reportedly include SEIU’s Stephen Lerner and ACORN founder Wade Rathke (who, coincidentally, formerly served as president of SEIU’s local New Orleans branch) — targeting Wall Street and U.S. capitalism.

It’s worth noting that the title of the movement — if its intentions are indeed non-violent in nature — appears to contradict itself slightly.
----
You may recall that back in March The Blaze exposed Lerner for stating his aspirations to destroy JP Morgan Chase and cause the collapse of the entire stock market.
----
Some Day of Rage organizers are even calling on activists to squat in Manhattan’s financial district for months at a time. The Blaze’s report on Lerner, who serves on SEIU’s International Executive Board, caught the union agitator stating:

"So, a bunch of us around the country are thinking about who would be a really good company to hate? We decided that would be JP Morgan Chase. ….

And so we’re going to roll out over the next couple of months what will hopefully be an exciting campaign about JP Morgan Chase that is really about challenge the power of Wall Street.

And so what we’re looking at is in the first week of May, we get enough people together – we’re starting now – to really have a week of action in New York with the goal of … I don’t want to go into any details because I don’t know which police agents are in the room, but the goal would be that we would roll out in New York the first week in May."

[Reference Here]

This weekend's crowd that gathered from a metropolis of about 8 million people who rallied at the Occupy LA event was maybe 50 to 100 or so people. The media is reporting this activity as if it is credible.

Do you think it might be that people know a single U.S. Government has more power than even a whole industry of connected corporations … that within the Obama Administration, THEY HAVE taken over corporations (GM & Chrysler) and turned over ownership of the assets to Labor Unions in the face of established business law?


[Article first published under Tea Party, Or Progressive Agenda Movement Declaration Document? at Technorati]

MSNBC's Programming Double Down - Up With Chris Hayes, Weekends

UP with Chris Hayes - ctrl-click image here to see a 9 minute and 14 second opinion piece conducted by Chris on Solyndra entitled - Why the Solyndra failure isn’t a “scandal”. Image Credit: thepoliticalcarnival.net



Here, at MAXINE, we are prone to fall asleep with the TV on. It is a habit groomed from a life with frequent travel and a desire to keep up with information that might be developing during the night ... if we happen to wake up. In the early ninties we had live reports from Gulf War I on CNN. The growth of Cable TV and Gulf War II just cemented this habit not to mention that once this process was embraced, every hotel room around the world was comfortable with the same type of background noise as a home bedroom no matter the outside ambient difference.

This morning, however, was a little different - Oh, to be rudely woken up to the sound of the voice of new TV opinion show host, Chris Hayes - a self-described Communitarian & Egalitarian ... read this as 60's radical socialist, as he puts forward his unchallenged logic followed by a cast of talking-heads that would make an echo chamber shatter was too much for a half-awake, personal-freedom focused 4:30am PT brain could take.

This penchant for some Cable TV "News" stations to construct a monolith of liberal talk shows with hosts who have a progressive agenda (examples - CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 and Fareed Zakaria GPS - Global Public Square and author of "The Post-American World", MSNBC's Morning Joe ... that's pretty much it for this outlet) is not new, but most, at least try to bring a shadow of an alternative balance of opinion with the dais that joins the host in a discussion ... even if it is to only give another point of view the grace of being mentioned. Do not expect this on "UP, with Chris Hayes".

This excerpted and edited from The Huffington Post -

Chris Hayes, the Washington editor for "The Nation" and a longtime contributor to MSNBC, is getting a weekend morning show. Hayes made the news official on Twitter on Monday, and MSNBC released its official announcement shortly after.

The show starts on September 17. It will air on Saturdays from 7-9 AM and on Sundays from 8-10 AM. Alex Witt, MSNBC's regular weekend anchor, will see her show pushed back on both days. The launch of the show marks another attempt by MSNBC to successfully program weekends—something it has not been known for in the past.
[Reference Here]

The round table of talking-heads included:

Reihan Salam, Columnist - The Daily.com / National Review Online - Salam is an unorthodox conservative. He has written that he intends to "pump ideas into the bloodstream" of American conservatism." ... read this as a person who has very little problem with a big, bigger, biggest government approach and will consider looking into, and discussing changes in the Constitution. He advocates policies that strengthen traditional family structure but has supported gay marriage for years.

Anne-Marie Slaughter, Princeton University International Affaires Professor - Former Director of Policy Planning for the United States Department of State in the Obama Administration from 2009-2011 (more on her POV below having to do with the petition by the Palestine Authority to become a recognized state by the United Nations).

Liliana Segura, Columnist - The Nation - this, from the About on her blog - I'm an independent journalist and editor with a focus on social justice, prisons & harsh sentencing.

Ezra Klien, Columinst - The Washington Post - In February 2007 Klein created a Google Groups forum called "JournoList" for discussing politics and the news media. The forum's membership was controlled by Klein and limited to "several hundred left-leaning bloggers, political reporters, magazine writers, policy wonks and academics."Posts within JournoList were intended only to be made and read by its members. Klein defended the forum saying that it "[ensures] that folks feel safe giving off-the-cuff analysis and instant reactions". JournoList member, and Time magazine columnist, Joe Klein added that the off-the-record nature of the forum was necessary because “candor is essential and can only be guaranteed by keeping these conversations private”.

Topics Covered:

Topic - The Politics Of Tax Raises - about 3 segments - Not one comment about the possibility that the size and scope of Federal Government ... ANY government ... might be too large and out of control on how it manages its charter and the spending of tax monies collected.

Topic - Killed By The State - at least 2 segments - A pure anti-death penalty discussion that surrounded the execution of Troy Davis. They lamented that this execution may not be a game-changer for the death penalty but they wanted it to become part of a growing conversation about ensuring that innocent people aren't killed or die in prison. A good question is - Why have a justice system with 12 jurors and several automatic judicial reviews and retrials before a sentence is carried out if there is no final justice ... the justice of a sentence carried out?

Topic - GOP 2012 - 1 segment focused on Perry's statement on immigration and heart. Actual citizenship of the United States did not seem to have any weight in this conversation at all. Further, it was stated and the view was shared by all sitting around the table that they were surprised that some in the audience of Conservatives would actually BOO soldiers in the military when some in the crowd gave a less than accepting response to a YouTube question about upholding the elimination of Don't Ask Don't Tell if they became President. None of these folks ever came to the conclusion that the Conservatives in the audience were booing the policy ... not the solider.

Topic - The State Of Palestine - Change in contributors - Anne-Marie Slaughter plus via remote, Diana Buttu The Dubai Initiative, Harvard University. Highlight - the former Obama State Department official, Slaughter, stated that the Palestine leadership had every right to ask the UN for a ruling on a declaration of Statehood / the Obama Administration has not been able to bring the parties to the table - the UN should not take the petition for a vote but use it to get the parties back to the negotiation table. - 1 segment

Topic - Israel & The GOP ... Word Cloud which had Israel as the largest word - derided as identity politics and as the only international relations topic covered in the debate, Reihan brings on the historic point of the previous Republican debates on the Panama Canal during the end of the Carter era ... Slaughter smiles with glee at the comparison and dilution of the topic through the linkage. - 1 segment

Topic - Update (a short segment on corrections in statements made on a previous show - this probably could at least be an hour of a show in itself if they actually understood what the definition of counterpoint was).

Topic - "Now We Know", subtitle - What We Do Know Now We Didn't Know A Week Ago - Highlights snark points about anything non-liberal like the Koch Brothers new increased ranking in the list of America's richest people ... right, no mention of the fact that George Soros also had an increase in ranking and broke into the top 10 for the first time since he has been on this list. Coming in at No. 7, Soros had a fortune of $22 billion after adding $7.8 billion to his net worth thanks to investments in gold and related securities as well as equities. Soros switched to cash in the spring, allowing him to preserve his gains and miss market turmoil caused by the sovereign debt crisis in Europe.

END ... thank, God.

One more note in fairness - Fox News has a round table hour that replaced Glenn Beck called "The Five". This show has at least one committed Democrat liberal on the dais at all times.

Also - do not confuse political opinion shows that are headed by a single personality like Glenn Beck (who now has moved on from Fox News to internet subscription streaming with GBTV.com), Chris Matthews, Rachael Maddow, Bill O'Reilley, Sean Hannity, Larry O'Donnell, and the like because these are pure personality driven, subject exploration shows with some of these programs making it a point to interview people from all different points of view regardless of the POV of the personality.

Question: Why was the bedroom TV on MSNBC (BSLSD - self-explanatory) at all?

Answer: Must have rolled over on the remote and reset the channel.


(Article first published as MSNBC's Doubling Down - Up With Chris Hayes, Weekends at Technorati)

"Restoring Courage" - Glenn Beck Launches A Week Of Rally Events From Israel

Glenn Beck Launches "Restoring Courage" Week Of Rally Events From Israel - These photos are from the first night of events on Sunday 8-21-2011 [ctrl-click image above to see videos of event]. Image Credit: The Blaze


"Restoring Courage" - Glenn Beck Launches A Week Of Rally Events From Israel

Last year before the 2010 elections, those who were paying attention to movements in our American Culture were treated to an exhibition of the power of like-minded people gathering just to recognize and affirm that this American concept of self-rule was still alive.

Glenn Beck held a rally entitled "Restoring Honor" on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, situated at one end of an area in Washington D.C. known as The Mall. On August 28, 2010, people came from all over the country to stand and listen to Glenn Beck and others talk about Restoring Honor and raise money for scholarships to be applied to the children left behind by their fathers who had died defending our country.

Glenn Beck Launches "Restoring Courage" Week Of Rally Events From Israel - These photos are from the first night of events on Sunday 8-21-2011. Image Credit: The Blaze

What was one of the most amazing elements of this Restoring Honor (honor equals TRUTH) rally is that it was estimated, through aerial photography of The Mall, that this crowd of like-minded people gathered around the Reflecting Pool and the adjacent open field was at least 500,000 people strong.

This year, Glenn Beck has taken his awareness show on the road, as it were, to Israel in the form of a week of themed presentation/rallies entitled "Restoring Courage". Glenn announced this effort soon after he split with Fox News and it is suspected that this world outreach effort may have been the main point of the split between the news channel and the one hour daily program they aired featuring Glenn Beck. Roger Ailes, the General Manager and one of the architects of Fox News, stated at the time that they wanted to broadcast ... personalities that wanted to deliver a daily hour show on a weekly basis.

Glenn Beck Launches "Restoring Courage" Week Of Rally Events From Israel - These photos are from the first night of events on Sunday 8-21-2011. Image Credit: The Blaze

The event, “Restoring Courage,” serves as a step forward from last summer’s “Restoring Honor” rally held on 8/28 in Washington, D.C.

Said Glenn Beck at the time of the announcement -

“I believe I’ve been asked to stand — in Jerusalem,” Beck told his audience recounting a list of times in history when people and nations failed to stand with the Jewish people. Beck explained, as he has often in the last year, how the life and thinking of the German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer has influenced him: “He asked people to stand for the Jewish people.” He told of Bonhoeffer’s call for pastors to stand with him. Only six did.

Glenn Beck Launches "Restoring Courage" Week Of Rally Events From Israel - These photos are from the first night of events on Sunday 8-21-2011. Image Credit: The Blaze

Beck detailed current challenges facing the nation — “Things in Israel are going to get bad…it’s only a matter of time.”

“They are going to attack the center of our faith, our common faith, and that is Jerusalem. And it won’t be with bullets or bombs. It will be with a two-state solution that cuts off Jerusalem, the old city, to the rest of the world.”

“It is time to return inside the walls that surround Jerusalem and stand with people of all faiths all around the world.”

Glenn Beck Launches "Restoring Courage" Week Of Rally Events From Israel - These photos are from the first night of events on Sunday 8-21-2011. Image Credit: The Blaze

The "Restoring Courage" week of presentations and gatherings will be broadcast on GBTV, a subscription internet television service. Last night, as the sun eased it’s way into the Mediterranean horizon, Glenn Beck greeted an enthusiastic crowd of over 3,000 at the Caesarea Amphitheater: “Welcome to the land of milk and honey!”

Beck’s week of “Restoring Courage” events began Sunday with a religiously themed evening entitled “The Courage to Love.”

Read More Here



[Article first published as "Restoring Courage" - Glenn Beck Launches A Week Of Rally Events From Israel on Technorati]

Senna - Dirty Champion?, You Decide!

Three-time world Formula One driving champion Ayrton Senna, as he sits in his Williams F1 racing machine. Image Credit: Working Title Productions

Senna - Dirty Champion?, You Decide!

Senna, the documentary-style movie, is a beautiful work of taking existing film footage and piecing together a seamless reflection of the passionate pursuit of a talented race car driver. It exposes us to a life pursuit where driving, and winning at the highest pinnacle of a discipline, is the only thing that mattered to a life couched in a strong spiritual connection with GOD. In Ayrton Senna's case, rightfully so.

This excerpted and edited from the producer's release notes -

For producer Eric Fellner, co-chairman of Working Title, SENNA proved a true labor of love and added a new dimension to the company by being the first documentary it would make.

"I used to be a fan like a lot of people and then lapsed, but from this period in the mid-1980s to mid-1990s, I was absolutely fascinated and intrigued by Formula One," he says. "I just really wanted to make a film about that world and had met with Bernie Ecclestone to try to find to find a way in and couldn’t. We have never done a documentary before but this seemed the best medium to make a film about Formula One."

When the producers brought director Asif Kapadia on board, they knew they were hiring a talented filmmaker. The director of BAFTA winning feature ‘The Warrior’ and the thriller ‘Far North’, Kapadia is a graduate of the Royal College of Art, and has an eye for exquisite composition. Pandey says, "We interviewed a lot of directors for this. There was a lot of interest to do this project, but Asif got it right away."

Kapadia, while a sports fan, was not an F1 enthusiast and proved to have a completely unbiased approach to the producers’ subject matter. "Before the film, I had never read a book on Senna, never looked at one motor sports web site and never read a book on Formula One," begins the director. "I had never been to a race. So that’s where I came in to it – having a fresh set of eyes on the material."

"I could see that Senna was an amazing driver and had this deep spiritual side, which was really fascinating, and it became all about paring the film down to the bare minimum so that somebody who has never heard of Senna will get the film, understand the character and actually be moved by his story." He smiles. "It’s all about character."

"His story is amazing, and we have this great three-act structure to work with," says Kapadia. "You have his rise, his success, and then the challenges he faces when he gets to the top. There is the ‘bad guy’ Jean-Marie Balestre (France’s head of F1 racing), and the rival with four World Champion titles Alain Prost. Then there’s Senna’s personal side – his family, his girlfriends, the relationship he has with Brazil. There’s tension, drama, tragedy. It is absolutely what films should be, and it is all real."

"If you had written this story as fiction, you would say that it is a clever piece of writing," smiles the director. "One year Prost crashes into Senna at the slowest point of the track, in such a way that his own car was not even damaged. The following year, Senna crashes into Prost at one of the fastest points of the track, saying, ‘I don’t care what happens, I am going for it.’ It is very interesting how you are what you do and Senna and Prost’s characters are revealed by these two accidents."
END

A re-creation of a Senna helmet design sighted at the pre-premiere pizza party put on by MAZDASPEED Motorsports. The helmet was the work of Scott A. Crawford - SAC Design. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2011)

Before going into last night's pre-release screening of Senna at the EDWARDS WESTPARK8 in Irvine (arranged by Dean Case and the folks at MAZDASPEED Motorsports), one conversation that was overheard stated that it was too bad that Ayrton Senna needed to intentionally take out Alain Prost in order to achieve a world championship in the last race of the season at the Japan GP ... it was a dirty move. This was a remarkable statement to overhear going in ... because it expressed the passion of someone who had decided exactly what had happened on the track during the second contact accident the two rivals shared.

The surprise and artful twist in this presentation brings this perception into question - Was Senna a dirty champion, or not?

There is an sage and age old adage in Hollywood that states ... "the camera never lies!" This adage, of course, is based on non-CGI (computer generated images) and relates to the truth that film images can, and will deliver.

Senna is a very wonderful movie and story well told, especially when one considers all of the film images that were gleaned from archives (the on-board shots were gold) in order to make this 104 minute PG-13 movie. Go see Senna for yourself and at the end, after seeing the film images, development, and exposure of the three time Formula One world champion, ask yourself ... Was Ayrton Senna a dirty champion? ... then decide!

You will never regret the experience.

Set for release in specific theaters on the following schedule:

August 12 - Los Angeles, CA - The Landmark

August 12 - New York, NY - Landmark Sunshine Cinema

August 19 - Austin, TX - Violet Crown Cinema

August 19 - Berkeley, CA - Landmark Shattuck Cinemas

August 19 - Cambridge, MA - Landmark Kendall Square Cinema

August 19 - Chicago, IL - Landmark Century Centre Cinema

August 19 - Detroit, MI - Landmark Main Art Theater

August 19 - Irvine, CA - Edwards Westpark 8

August 19 - Miami, FL - AMC Sunset Place 24

August 19 - Nashville, TN - Belcourt Theater

August 19 - Philadelphia, PA - Landmark Ritz at the Bourse

August 19 - San Francisco, CA - Landmark Embarcadero CTR

August 19 - San Rafael, CA - Rafael Film Center

August 19 - Washington, DC - Landmark E Street Cinema

August 26 - Atlanta, GA - Landmark Midtown Art Cinema

August 26 - Dallas, TX - Angelika Film Center

August 26 - Denver, CO - Landmark Chez Artistes

August 26 - Indianapolis, IN - Landmark Keystone Art Cinema

August 26 - Minneapolis, MN - Landmark Uptown Cinema

August 26 - Palm Springs, CA - Cinémas Palme d'Or

August 26 - Palo Alto, CA - Aquarius Theater

August 26 - Portland, OR - Regal Fox Tower Stadium

August 26 - San Diego, CA - Landmark Hillcrest Cinema

August 26 - Scottsdale, AZ - Harkin's Camelview 5

August 26 - Seattle, WA - Landmark Varsity Theater

September 2 - Charlotte, NC - Park Terrace

September 2 - Knoxville, TN - Regal Downtown West Cinema

September 2 - St Louis, MO - Landmark Tivoli Theater

September 16 - Kansas City, MO - Tivoli Theater

September 16 - Las Vegas, NV - Regal Cinemas Village Square

September 16 - Milwaukee, WI - Landmark Downer Theatre

September 23 - Santa Fe, NM UA - DeVargas Mall

For more information, go to - http://sennamovie.com

Universal Pictures and Producers Distribution Agency Present
in association with ESPN Films
a Working Title Production
in association with Midfield Films

SENNA

Directed by Asif Kapadia
Written by Manish Pandey

WINNER
Audience Award World Cinema Documentary
2011 Sundance Film Festival

WINNER
Audience Award for Best International Feature
2011 Los Angeles Film Festival

Trailer: www.youtube.com/sennamovie

... notes from The EDJE


[Article first published as Senna - Dirty Champion? You Decide! on Technorati]

In Iowa, Barack Obama Ups His Game

President Barack Obama talks with patrons during a stop for lunch at Ross’ Restaurant in Bettendorf, June 28, 2011. Image Credit: Official White House Photo by Pete Souza

In Iowa, Barack Obama Ups His Game

This week saw the President of the United States travel to Iowa for a fund raiser over the same time period the loyal opposition of the Republican party were campaigning to become the choice of the American people to unseat him.

Barack Obama scheduled this manufacturing plant speech for his run to get re-elected over the same time he is wanting to up the nations debt ceiling so that he, and the Democrat party can saddle the American citizenry with more Government spending and debt.

In the speech he came to Iowa to deliver, he made this statement, "You [Alcoa Davenport Works] had to up your game. And that’s what we’ve got to do as a country as a whole."

Before Barack Obama admonished the people of the United States for not playing hard enough and taking their life situations seriously enough, he showed his commitment to his wife's agenda for all Americans to eat healthier by dropping by for lunch at Ross’ Restaurant in Bettendorf.

My Plate replaces the food pyramid as the symbol of Government guidance on eating. Image Credit: choosemyplate.gov

This excerpted and edited from the Des Moines Register -

Obama makes good on promise to stop at Iowa diner
Des Moines Register - 1:47 PM, Jun 28, 2011
By Ed Tibbetts, Quad-City Times

The president then made good on a 2008 campaign promise today, making a quick stop at Ross’ Restaurant in Bettendorf. The diner is off Interstate-74 on the way to Alcoa, which is in nearby Riverdale.

Three years ago, Obama talked with an owner, Cynthia Freidhof, at a town hall meeting, in August, 2008, and pledged to come here.
----
“You are so awesome,” Cynthia told the president as they hugged.

The president explained what had happened at the town hall, and that he’d been told about the Magic Mountain.
----
The president ordered four Magic Mountains and two Volcanoes. A Magic Mountain has grilled loose meat hamburger on texas toast, covered with french frieds and cheese sauce. Topped with onions, which is called a “snowcap on the mountain.” It becomes a volcanoe by adding chili on the top.

“I think he’s a man of his word, always, and he’s doing the very best job that he can and I just can’t believe he’s here, but it’s real,” Freidhof said.

The president challenged the press with him to eat a Magic Mountain, saying he’d buy it if they ate it. (I’m not sure if anyone took him up on it). The president said the orders he placed were for people on the plane[as if!] .
[Reference Here]

So the President upped his game on eating poorly (or just feeding his staff poorly) in Iowa against the lecturing of his wife's, Michelle, My Plate Campaign upon which the USDA invested over $2,000,000 on the website alone. One has to ask themselves, why did we throw away the food pyramid in favor of a multi-million dollar USDA eat healthy campaign just to have it officially ignored by the people who choose to shove this agenda down our throats? ... all the while being admonished and told to "UP OUR GAME".

Two words:

Up Yours!

Oh! ... and stop (EPA up 125% alone since Obama took office in 2009), STOP spending our money.

(Article first published as In Iowa, Barack Obama Ups His Game on Technorati)