National Security Brief: Turmoil In Egypt

post from ThinkProgress on 22 June 2012 09:00:04 AM. © ThinkProgress

– Thousands of protesters filled Cairo’s Tahrir Square overnight as Egypt’s rival presidential candidates accused each of trying to steal an election whose result is still not known five days after polling ended.

– Twenty people were killed when seven Taliban militants shot their way into a much-visited lakeside resort near Kabul and took scores of hostages during an 11-hour siege. A Taliban spokesman said they attacked the compound because Afghans drank alcohol there and that there was prostitution and dancing. Afghan security forces killed all seven attackers.

– House Armed Services Chairman Buck McKeon (R-CA) said yesterday that Congress isn?t ?mature enough? to reach a deal to reverse the sequestration military spending cuts, and suggested Congress should ?kick it down the road? to resolve uncertainty.

– Libya’s fragile democracy is being undermined by volunteer militias who operate outside the control of state institutions. Human rights groups have documented a series of cases of militias going to people’s houses, spiriting them away and, often, beating and torturing them.

– House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) cast doubt on reports that the Stuxnet and Flame viruses were the work of the U.S. and Israel. “Don’t believe everything you read in the newspaper,” he said. “I would be very, very cautious about assigning any nation-state originator to any of the [viruses]. … There was as much wrong in those [articles] as there ever was right.”

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On This Day In History June 22

post from Docudharma - Front Page on 22 June 2012 09:00:00 AM. © Docudharma - Front Page

Cross posted from The Stars Hollow GazetteThis is your morning Open Thread. Pour your favorite beverage and review the past and comment on the future.Find the past "On This Day in History" here.Click on images to enlarge.June 22 is the 173rd day of the[...]

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In Swing States, Obama Wins Big with Latinos

post from The American Prospect on 22 June 2012 08:59:23 AM. © The American Prospect

The latest poll from Latino Decisions?which surveys five Latino-heavy swing states?suggests that President Obama has gained in a big way from his immigration order. Fifty-four percent of Latino voters are now more enthusiastic about voting for Obama than they were before the order, with a particular increase in Arizona and Nevada, where 62 percent and 60 percent of Latinos say they are more enthusiastic about voting for Obama in November.

Overall, according to Latino Decisions, Obama holds strong support among Latinos in Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Virginia, and Florida:

Compared to 2008, this is a mixed picture. In Virginia, the president's support has dropped from 65 percent; in Florida it?s dropped from 57 percent; and in Nevada it?s dropped from 76 percent. On the other hand, Obama is winning like gangbusters in Arizona; his support has increased by 18 percentage points. That?s certainly enough to make the state a possible win for the Obama campaign, even if he loses white voters by a greater percentage than he did four years ago. Likewise, his support has increased by 9 points in Colorado, making it more likely that he holds on to the state.

Indeed, for Obama, this poll provides two welcome pieces of news. First, he still has room to grow in both Florida or Virginia. If he can bring his Latino support to 2008 levels, or somewhere close?and also maintain his current support among white voters?he?s in a decent position to win both states. Second, and more broadly, is the fact that Obama is in some ways a beneficiary of polarization. Latinos have largely made up their minds about the GOP, and are willing to give the bulk of their support to Obama. In fact, with the exception of college-educated whites, the same is true for most demographics, which?as Nate Cohn explains at The New Republic?is largely responsible for the fact of Obama?s surprisingly resilient approval rating.

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Calculating 'House Effects' of Polling Firms

post from FiveThirtyEight on 22 June 2012 08:52:39 AM. © FiveThirtyEight

One of the ways that our forecast model seeks to make polling data more robust is by calculating and adjusting for "house effects," which are systematic tendencies for polling firms to favor either the Democratic or Republican candidate.

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Pootiehead Romney Likes the Poop Head Bit

post from The Omnipotent Poobah Speaks! on 22 June 2012 08:00:57 AM. © The Omnipotent Poobah Speaks!

5000 Mittflies Can’t Be Wrong

Using the word “human” and Mitt Romney in the same sentence is such a weird concept that his campaign’s mission is to “humanize” him. When the man is a 1 percenter who brags of joy in firing people, describes corporations as people, and needs an elevator for his cars, it’s a tough order. Not everyone comes to comedy naturally – like Sarah Palin.

Mention the word “funny” in the same sentence as Mitt Romney and you get something wholly different. The man is funny, but not in that sharp-witted Jon Stewart way. No, he’s more of a crazy George Bush smirking, millionaire bumbler, accidentally scary sort of way.

However, Mitten’s sons may have found the trick to humanize him. They’ve revealed his humor is normal and all American. Two funny-assed birds with one hilarious…a human funny guy. This could change the election.

The crew of last election’s Five Brother Bus tour sat down with Conan O’Brien, a funny fellow himself, and revealed Mitt really loves poop jokes – specifically the one featuring a Will Ferrell-Cheri Oteri cheerleader skit on Saturday Night Live.

“Taco! Burrito! ” and then Mitt says, “What?s coming out of your Speedo?”

Even if you’re the stuffy, high nosed Miss Manners type, you have to agree that shite jokes are quintessentially American. No one in the world guffaws at a good old fashioned dog rocket joke than we folks in the land of the free and the home of the infantile. That 9-year old boy at the center of the American psyche just can’t suppress the twittering mirth after someone cracks wise about cutting the cheese.

“Hee, hee. Mitt said poop.”

Until now, mention Romney and “poop” in same sentence and it is probably someone comparing him to an actual turd, in much the same way George the Lesser referred to Karl Rove as, “Turd Blossom“.

“AH, HA, HA, HA, HA…oh. good times!”

You have to love the crapulent Mitt for his love of crap. He always said he was a mischievous little dickens. Remember that , “hold the kid down and shave him bald” incident? Mitt himself said it was just hijinks, nothing more. Hijinks just like writing “HE” “LP” on the shoes of a friend gettinig married so “HELP” appeared when he knelt at the altar.

That’s funnier than shit. Bwah, haw, haw!

Now that the boys have bailed Dad out of the Stepford Dad box he was in, he’s all prepped to, “Win One with No. 1 and No. 2″. Just another happy go lucky man of the people, able to laugh at immigration reform and give a sheepish grin when he explains his wife wrote off $77,000 on her “dress-age” horse.

The change will all but clinch the teabag fringed hat wearing, misspelled sign carrying Tea Bagglers and sew up the “Back to Bush” crowd that so ardentally follows him. Every one loves a good giggle. Except…

…those damn no-humor Democrat bums. Come on! These are people who don’t find job loss, firing teachers, or tapping phones one damn bit funny. WTF democrats? Jump on the Five Bothers Express and laugh a little.

If you don’t, you’ll be forced to cry.

Son reveals Romney was obsessed with Will Ferrell poop joke (rawstory.com)
On Conan, Mitt Romney’s Sons Reveal Which Poop-Centric Will Ferrell Skit Their Dad Loves To Sing (mediaite.com)
MSNBC Slammed for Creating Romney ‘Gaffe’ (newser.com)
Mitt Romney Is Terrified Of Talking About Immigration (businessinsider.com)
Romney: Rubio being ‘thoroughly vetted’ for VP role, ABC’s sources ‘know nothing’ (twitchy.com)
Rich Hosts Slam Romney Wealth (foxnews.com)
Mitt Romney’s Sons Explain More of their Dad’s Totally-Not-Evil ‘Pranks’ [Video] (jezebel.com)
Romney sons joke about dad with Conan O’Brien (content.usatoday.com)
Who is Mitt? The ‘Romney Boys’ Reveal Their Father’s Secrets (usnews.com)
Is Poop Funny in Movies? (tdylf.com)
Mitt Romney Sons Prank Dad on Conan (thehollywoodgossip.com)

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Washington Post finds that Romney was a job
creator at Bain... for India and China

post from US Politics | AMERICAblog News on 22 June 2012 08:00:17 AM. © US Politics | AMERICAblog News

Oops. So I guess it was relevant for the President to bring up Romney's involvement in Bain. And it was anyway, since Romney is claiming that this experience proves he's a job creator. And in fact, we now know that he was a job creator.In India and China.Washington Post:Mitt Romney?s financial company, Bain Capital, invested in a series of firms that specialized in relocating...

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Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest: Is Sen. Jay
Rockefeller eyeing the exits

post from Daily Kos on 22 June 2012 08:00:07 AM. © Daily Kos

Want the scoop on hot races around the country? Get the digest emailed to you each weekday morning. Sign up here.Leading Off:

? WV-Sen: Politico's Charlie Mahtesian makes the case for why he thinks Dem Sen. Jay Rockefeller, who is 77 years old, won't seek re-election in 2014. The prime piece of evidence is a remarkable speech Rockefeller gave on the Senate floor on Wednesday, which is causing quite a stir back home. Rockfeller directly took on the coal industry, a sacrosanct institution in West Virginia, as he spoke out in opposition to an ultimately unsuccessful effort to block the EPA from enforcing new rules on mercury emissions:

Rockefeller, D-W.Va., accused the coal industry of scare tactics. He said after years of industry opposition to new environmental regulations, the "bitterness of the fight has taken on more importance than any potential solution."
"The dialogue on coal, its impact and federal government's role has reached a stunningly fevered pitch?carefully orchestrated messages that strike fear into the hearts of West Virginians and feed uncertainty about coal's future are the subject of millions of dollars of paid television ads, billboards, break room bulletin boards, public meetings, letters and lobbying campaigns," he said.
"A daily onslaught declares that coal is under siege from harmful outside sources and that the future of the state is bleak unless we somehow turn back the clock, ignore the present and block the future."

These remarks are reminiscent of an equally surprising speech given by Rockefeller's former Mountain State colleague, the late Sen. Robert Byrd, who in 2009 accused the coal industry of using "fear mongering, grandstanding and outrage as a strategy." Byrd, of course, died the next year at age 92, though it's not clear whether he would have run for re-election when his seat was next up in 2012. But as Mahtesian points out, Byrd was a singular presence in West Virginia and could well have taken on Big Coal and won; Rockefeller's standing is a different matter altogether. You may recall that PPP poll (PDF) last year which showed him losing a hypothetical 2014 matchup with GOP Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, 48-44.

Speaking of Capito, Mahtesian flags this passage from the Charleston Daily Mail's writeup:

Members of the business community were shocked by Rockefeller's speech, said West Virginia Chamber of Commerce President Steve Roberts said.
When a reporter called, Roberts answered his phone, "This is Capito for United States Senate headquarters."

I have to agree with Mahtesian: Keep this one on your watch lists.

Senate:

? FL-Sen: Quinnipiac's new Florida poll is out, and it shows Dem Sen. Bill Nelson leading GOP Rep. Connie Mack by a 43-39 margin?which is actually up from their very bearish May poll that had Mack on top, 42-41. They also show Barack Obama with a four-point lead over Mitt Romney, a big swing from Romney's six-point edge last time. Click through for all the numbers (including GOP primary results, where Mack leads) as well as our complete analysis.

? IN-Sen: Hah, dumbass.

? MA-Sen: Sometimes, someone in politics says something so hilarious and breathtaking that it just leaves you with nothing to say. So god bless Scott Brown for this:

In the interview, Brown also fired back at suggestions that the campaign is lacking in substance, pointing out that he ran a radio ad about military base closings. He also said he is engaged in substantive issues on a daily basis, some that involve royalty.
"Each and every day that I've been a United States senator, I've been discussing issues, meeting on issues, in secret meetings and with kings and queens and prime ministers and business leaders and military leaders, talking, voting, working on issues every single day," he said.

When asked for confirmation of this startling claim, a spokesman for His Majesty King Scott I would "not say whether, or how often, Brown had actually met with royalty." put it, "I meant that every day I watch 'King of Queens.'"

One king did get in on the action, though: Matt Ortega, King of the Microsites, instantly put together a Tumblr site chronicling many of Brown's meetings with kings and queens... with pictures! (Hat-tip: Blue Mass Group)

? UT-Sen: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is out with a new ad that claims that GOP Sen. Orrin Hatch is the "consistent conservative we can count on to knock down barriers to energy exploration" and is working to repeal "government-run healthcare." Size of the buy (including production costs): $95K. (James L)

? VA-Sen: Republican George Allen is out with his first two ads, a pair of similar spots featuring a couple of elected official-moms who praise Allen's character and interest in children in utterly anodyne terms. So content-less are these ads you might even conclude Allen has an image problem that he's trying to patch up. But that can't be right. I mean, George Allen, an abrasive jerk? No way.

? WI-Sen: Democrat Tammy Baldwin is out with her first TV ad, in which she says Wisconsin "lead[s] the entire nation in paper industry jobs," but China "lead[s] the world in cheating." So, says Baldwin, she put on her bipartisanship hat and led an effort to impose sanctions on China for "breaking trade rules." The spot, filmed in a paper factory, features a somewhat distracting hum of machinery in the background. (I also have to wonder how fellow Democrat Jamie Wall feels about the fact that Baldwin's press release touts her work with WI-08 Republican Rep. Reid Ribble on these issues.)

Gubernatorial:

? NH-Gov: Democratic ex-state Sen. Jackie Cilley reports raising $175K for her gubernatorial bid so far, though there's no immediate word on her cash-on-hand. That compares to $700K for primary rival Maggie Hassan, though Hassan entered the race at the end of October while Cilley didn't get in until the beginning of February. These reports include all fundraising to date, so it's not a perfect apples-to-apples comparison.

House:

? FL-19: The National Association of Realtors, whose Florida chapter endorsed state Rep. Gary Aubuchon last week in the Republican primary to replace Connie Mack in the House, is starting to put their money where their mouth is. Their initial expenditures, totaling $33K, are dedicated to website-related expenses, but you can probably bet that they'll be putting series ad dollars into this race, based on the PAC's track record. (Their most recent effort was a successful spending spree to push GOP Rep. Gary Miller through CA-31's nightmarish top-two primary.) Aubuchon faces businessman Chauncey Goss, the son of former CIA director/ex-Rep. Porter Goss, in the Republican primary. (James L)

? NY-08: WTF?

? NY-13: We've got a pair of dueling expenditure reports in the Democratic primary. Campaign for Our Future, a Super PAC funded mostly by Reggie Van Lee, an executive at the consulting firm Booz Allen & Hamilton, is spending another $22K on mailers supporting their candidate, ex-Bill Clinton aide Clyde Williams. Meanwhile, the New York chapter of the League of Conservation Voters is matching that amount on mailers and newspaper ads supporting embattled incumbent Rep. Charlie Rangel. (James L)

Grab Bag:

? RNC/DNC: In the month of May, the RNC raised $34.3 million, of which $25.9 million was a transfer from "the Romney Victory Inc. joint fundraising operation." Meanwhile, the DNC took in $20 million, which included $13.3 million from the Obama Victory Fund, "a joint committee of the DNC and the Obama reelection campaign." The DNC has $30 million cash-on-hand, the RNC $60.8 million.

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orning-Digest-Is-Sen-Jay-Rockefeller-eyeing-the-exits

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Cities pull tooth-protecting fluoride to save
money

?Adding fluoride to drinking water is among the greatest public health achievements of the 20th century,? says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The benefit of fluoridated water is one of those issues that, until recently, seemed settled. But in the right-wing-fomented political free-for-all that is 21st century America, many seemingly long-settled issues [women?s [...]Related posts:

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http://www.occasionalplanet.org/2012/06/22/cities-pull-tooth-protecting-fluoride-
to-save-money/

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Mike's Blog Round Up

First Draft: The country we deserve.

Tales of the Freeway Blogger: How to get your message out.

Mad Kane: Wawa-gate reinterpreted.

Scarabus: Can these dots be connected?

Margaret and Helen: Vagina is a six-letter word.

Wonkette: SC Governor Nikki Haley changes mind, loves girls getting cervical cancer now.

Guest post by Batocchio. Email tips to mbru AT crooksandliars DOT com.

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Lakeside Diner

A variety of links to articles/interviews/speeches on current topics that may be of interest.[...]

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