Fat, Poor, Liberal, and Stupid

A recent study of obesity in children suggests that being overweight when young reduces the child’s intelligence. Researchers at the NYU Langone School of Medicine claim to have found that obese toddlers wind up being, well, stupid teenagers.

I would be apt to dismiss this Federally-funded study (see abstracthere ) as junk science, since the researchers do not simply claim a statistically small difference in I.Q. between obese children and their peers but a whopping 5 to 15% test score difference. Still, it does dovetail with other studies that give similar results, so for the sake of argument let us assume it is accurate.

(Interestingly enough, little was made of a recent study showing similar effects on children from high levels of fluoridation of water.)

The research was funded by the National Institute for Health and the lead author is founder of the BODY Project :

“Dr. Convit’s focus on combating and raising awareness about the impact of childhood obesity led him to create the The BODY Project, a program that works with New York City schools and parents to evaluate students’ height, weight, blood pressure, test for insulin resistance and record other measures of health, giving parents an overview of their child’s health status”

Which leads one to believe that perhaps Dr. Convit and his team are perhaps crusaders. Increasingly, science - particularly government funded science - serves political purposes and finds what the paymasters want them to find. This is particularly evident in Climatology where researchers produce voluminous bodies of work showing that the world is doomed when the actual world conditions show nothing of the sort. The way it works is simple; liberal activists get into controlling positions in science journals and professional organizations and reject papers that do not comport with their views, while promoting those that do. Once a paper is published it is used as a building block for another piece of research finding the same results, and the whole house of cards grows like a cancer, with no rebuttals allowed in the establishment system. Researchers understand this, and tailor their work to fit the new paradigm. It ultimately goes back to an excess of government funding.

Via: Canada Free Press

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Report: Government employees work less than private sector employees

New research suggests that there is something to the stereotype that government employees work less than their private sector counterparts.

A study from the conservative Heritage Foundation shows that government employees work three hours less per week and roughly one month less per year than private sector workers.

“The ‘underworked’ government employee should be of concern to taxpayers who expect private-sector levels of work in the public sector in exchange for private-sector levels of compensation,” the report says.

During a typical work week, private sector employees work 41.4 hours while federal government employees only work 38.7 hours. State and local government employees work even less, only 38.1 hours during a typical work-week.

This adds up over time and means that federal employees work 3.8 weeks less than private sector workers and state and local employees work 4.7 weeks less than those in the private sector.

“More generally, work time differences are a reminder to lawmakers that they should ensure that public employees’ work time and compensation are generally in line with those of private-sector employees,” the study concludes.

Via: The Daily Caller

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ANTI-ISLAM FILMMAKER DONATED MILLION DOLLARS TO OBAMA CAMPAIGN

Blame the movie.

Blame the movie.

Blame the movie.

Even though "the movie" was on YouTube for months prior to the collective indignation of thousands of Middle Eastern Islamists all coming together on the eleventh anniversary of September 11th  (through a wild coincidence, no doubt), we are being told by our government and our media overlords that we must blame the movie.

You see, if we blame the movie for the burning of our foreign outposts and the brutal murders of four Americans (including our Libyan ambassador who was reportedly raped), we won't blame the burners and the looters and the murderers and the rapists.

You see, if we blame the movie for the Middle East burning, we won't blame the Islamists who are doing the burning and looting and raping and murdering.

Which means we won't further connect the dots and blame Obama's failed Middle East policy; the Obama Doctrine of backing away from the region and allowing events to unfold as America stands idly by -- as the Islamists in the Muslim Brotherhood grab hold of power in Egypt, a country that was once our largest and closest ally.

Blame the filmmaker.

Hunt him.

 Out him.

Demonize him.

Burn the straw man!

Via: Breitbart

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State Of California Asking Hollywood To Write Obamacare Into TV Show Plots…

California Tries to Guide the Way on Health Law

SACRAMENTO — The meeting came to order, the five members of the California Health Benefit Exchange seated onstage with dozens of consumer advocates and others looking on. On the agenda: what to name the online marketplace where millions of residents will be able to shop for medical coverage under President Obama’s health care law.

An adviser presented the options, meant to be memorable, appealing and clear. What about CaliHealth? Or Healthifornia?

Or Avocado?

“I am kind of drawn to Avocado,” declared Kim Belshé, a member of the exchange’s board of directors, which is hustling to make dozens of decisions as the clock ticks toward deadlines set by the law.

Delay and outright resistance to the health care overhaul might be the norm in much of the country, but not here. California — home to seven million uninsured people, more than any other state — is at the forefront of preparations for January 2014, when a controversial requirement that most Americans have medical coverage or pay a penalty takes effect.

So far, only 13 states and the District of Columbia have told the Obama administration they intend to set up the insurance exchanges that are supposed to provide a marketplace for people to buy health plans. None are being watched as closely as California, whose singular challenges, from the size, diversity and geographic spread of its uninsured population to its vast budget problems, make it stand out. Many feel a successful rollout here could convince other states with high numbers of uninsured residents that the law can be made to work for them.

“We are the example,” said Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access California, an advocacy group. “If it can be done here, it can be done anywhere.”

The California Health Benefit Exchange has already hired 50 employees and is poised to hire 50 more. Construction of the Web portal through which some three million people are expected to buy insurance by 2019, and through which many others will likely enroll in Medicaid, is under way.

Via:NYT

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Jewish senator lashes out at Netanyahu for attacking Obama on Iran

Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) says she’s deeply disappointed over remarks that call into question US support for Israel

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Barbara Boxer, a top Jewish U.S. senator and the sponsor of major pro-Israel legislation, blasted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for lashing out at President Obama on Iran.

“I write to you as one of Israel’s staunchest supporters in Congress to express my deep disappointment over your remarks that call into question our country’s support for Israel and commitment to preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons,” Boxer (D-Calif.) said in a letter sent Wednesday in a rare instance of a pro-Israel lawmaker making public an unhappiness with an Israeli leader. “Your remarks are utterly contrary to the extraordinary United States-Israel alliance, evidenced by President Obama’s record and the record of Congress.”

Boxer apparently was referring to Netanyahu’s remarks in Jerusalem on Tuesday in which he decried a lack of clarity from the “international community” — seen in Israel as code for the Obama administration — for failing to make clear what would trigger a U.S. strike on Iran as that country reportedly nears obtaining a nuclear weapon.

“The world tells Israel, ‘Wait, there’s still time’,” Netanyahu said in English at a ceremony in which he greeted Bulgaria’s prime minister. “And I say, ‘Wait for what? Wait until when?’ Those in the international community who refuse to put red lines before Iran don’t have a moral right to place a red light before Israel.”

Boxer, rebuking Netanyahu, cited a law signed by Obama this summer that enhances security cooperation between Israel and the United States. Boxer authored the legislation. She wrote that the law addresses many of Israel’s top security priorities, including extending loan guarantees to Israel and increasing the U.S. weapons stockpile in Israel, “which is available for Israel’s use in the event of a crisis.”

The California lawmaker listed other actions by Obama, including his leading increased isolation of Iran and his recognition of Israel’s right to defend itself as it sees fit against any Iranian threat.

Via:The Times of Israel

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Obama: ‘One Of The Proudest Things Of My Three Years In Office Is Helping To Restore A Sense Of Respect For America Around The World’

President Obama has said that elevating the image of the United States around the world was one of his proudest foreign policy accomplishments, but those remarks could boomerang and hamper his reelection bid.

The violence and anti-American protests throughout the Middle East are bringing fresh attacks on the president’s foreign policies as Muslim rage is intensifying in the region.

The protests that have spread could undercut one of the key tenants of Obama's foreign policy argument that he has restored the U.S. image in the Middle East.

In February, Obama said, “One of the proudest things of my three years in office is helping to restore a sense of respect for America around the world, a belief that we are not just defined by the size of our military.”

Three years ago in Cairo, Obama stressed his leadership would be dramatically different than former President George W. Bush’s: “I have come here to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world; one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect; and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive, and need not be in competition.”

Via: The Hill

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OBAMA DOCTRINE: MIDDLE EAST CHAOS, SOARING OIL PRICES SPARK GLOBAL RECESSION FEARS

The turmoil in the Middle East, the Federal Reserve's decision to further devalue the U.S. dollar through a third round of "quantitative easing" (QE3), and rising oil prices are combining to create a toxic economic brew that could send the global economy into recession. 

That was the assessment of International Energy Agency chief economist Fatih Birol. "I see the [oil] prices today, in this economic context, as unbearable for consumers," said Birol on Friday. "High prices together with other factors could push the global economy back into recession." 

Mr. Birol's comments come as U.S. oil prices hit a four-month high on Friday:

Since late June, the price of crude oil has climbed about 25 percent, fueling a 16-cent increase in the average price of regular gasoline and adding to the economic headwinds facing President Obama in the final weeks of the election campaign.

Industry experts believe that President Barack Obama may use the Middle East uprisings and soaring fuel costs to justify tapping the nation's 700 million-barrel emergency Strategic Petroleum Reserve, similar to what Mr. Obama did last year to no lasting effect.

But it was the Federal Reserve's decision to pump $40 billion so-called "stimulus" dollars a month into the U.S. economy in the form of buying mortgage-backed securities that ultimately may prove to be the match that lit the economic powder keg. As the value of the U.S. dollar goes down, oil prices go up. That means slower economic growth and higher consumer prices. 

As Reuters explains, the confluence of all these economic factors is producing a chain reaction of higher consumer prices, plunging industrial production, and soaring gas prices:

Highlighting the risk to the economy from surging oil prices, a jump in gasoline costs pushed up U.S. consumer prices in August at the fastest pace in more than three years and squeezed spending on other items, threatening to slow economic growth.

Industrial production dropped 1.2 percent in August, the biggest decline since March 2009. The consumer price index increased 0.6 percent, the first rise in five months and the biggest since June 2009.

Gasoline prices, which also recorded their largest increase since June 2009, accounted for about 80 percent of the rise in consumer inflation last month, the Labor Department said.

Via: Breitbart
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’12 Million Illegals need documents so they can unionize’- Rep Sherman

As this week wore on, the news kept getting grimmer. So many topics, so little time, and how many care. But I shall buck up today. It is a beautiful day here at the Bunker. Crystal blue skies, a nip in the air.

As if our country cannot go down the tubes fast enough what with Bernanke insuring rampant inflation, and who knows what all, I bring this good news. As if our unemployment rate was not high enough, lets bring in more illegals and by the way, by all means have them unionize. What a strange world we are living in. Here we go:

California Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman said at a press conference on  immigration outside the Capitol Friday afternoon that America needs immigration  reform to help those here illegally while also allowing them unionize for better  wages.

“We need a regular process by which the 12 million people who are part of our  society can be fully part of our society, and they need documents,” the  congressman said. “It’s important for the labor market of this country because  as long as there are 12 million people without documents, there are 12 million  people who can’t stand up for their rights as workers, and that means there are  12 million people who can be used by unscrupulous employers to keep down wages  and to prevent unions from organizing.”

Sherman was joined at the press conference by Rep. Judy Chu, Rep. Sheila Jackson  Lee and Rep. Lloyd Doggett. Each member thanked President Obama for his  executive order to stop the deportation of certain illegal immigrants, but they  said it was only the first step in a process Congress needs to finish.

Video at link below:

Read more:  Daily Caller

Rep.  Sherman: 12 million illegals ‘need documents’ to be able to unionize [VIDEO]

Via: Bunkerville

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Sounding and Acting Like Reagan, Romney Has Them Terrified

I knew Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan was a friend of mine. And Mitt Romney is reminding me an awful lot of Ronald Reagan.

The comments for which Romney is being so relentlessly and viciously scorned by Barack Obama and his merry band of media puppets sounds to me exactly like comments Ronald Reagan would have made.

It is indeed "disgraceful" for the US government to respond to the threat of an attack against an American embassy by issuing a statement condemning "the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims" and denouncing hurting their feelings as an "abuse" of free speech - and then as the embassy was being overrun and our flag burned issuing another statement saying they stand by that.

"It's disgraceful that the Obama Administration's first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks."

Mitt Romney was simply but forcefully expressing, as Ronald Reagan so often did, what most Americans think and how they feel. And you can bet the Obama campaign realized this and found it frightening.

They said that they were "shocked" that Romney "would choose to launch a political attack" -- the usual and expected sort of political statement gibberish -- but isn't it revealing what they did?  The Obama White House asked its media allies to report that the statement that Romney took such exception to "doesn't reflect the views of the U.S. government."

What? Isn't a U.S. Embassy an important part of the U.S. government, and all the more so when that embassy happens to be located in a country of great consequence to U.S. national interests? Isn't the U.S. Ambassador who leads that embassy - as anyone who is or ever has been one loves to remind people - the personal representative of the President of the United States?  Wasn't the Obama Administration claiming that the U.S. government does not reflect the views of the U.S. government?

No matter. The media fell in line and trumpeted the charade.

Via: American Thinker

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House Republicans scrub climate change concerns from EPA bill

The latest House bill aimed at thwarting climate change regulations drops previous language that acknowledged scientific concerns about global warming and evidence of rising temperatures and sea levels.

The House is slated to vote next week on several bills aimed at battling what Republicans call a White House “war” on coal — a package that includes previously passed legislation to block greenhouse gas rules from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

But the new version of the greenhouse gas bill from House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) omits a “sense of Congress” section that describes scientific concerns about climate change while casting it as an international issue.

The earlier version, which the House passed in April of 2011, said the United States has a “role to play in resolving global climate change matters on an international basis.”

The “sense of Congress” in the version of the bill approved last year stated: “There is established scientific concern over warming of the climate system based upon evidence from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global average sea level.”

The prior version of H.R. 910 also said Congress should ensure the United States fulfills its international climate role by developing policies that don’t hurt the economy, energy supplies or jobs. 

Upton, asked about the change, noted there are a “couple little differences” in the revised version of the bill.

“I can’t give you a specific reason why, but we are aware of it,” Upton told The Hill in the Capitol Thursday evening.

The updated version of the bill is available on the House Rules Committee website. 

Republicans are packaging the bill to block EPA rules with several other bills, which have also passed the House, that thwart or delay federal policies affecting the coal industry. The are being rolled into a single bill that lawmakers will debate and likely pass.

Via: The Hill

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U.S. CREDIT RATING DOWNGRADED AFTER FED PUMPS MORE MONEY

A prominent ratings firm downgraded the U.S. Government's credit rating from "AA" to "AA-" one day after the Federal Reserve announced it would pump more money into the economy by buying more than $40 billion of mortgage-backed securities per month until the economy improves. 

Ratings firm Egan-Jones said it cut its credit reating on the U.S. government because it felt the Federal Reserve's quantitative easing "would hurt the U.S. economy and the country's credit quality" by devaluing the the dollar while doing nothing to "raise the U.S.'s real gross domestic product."

The ratings firm said the Fed's action would increase the cost of commodities and reduce consumer purchasing power.

This is the second time this year Egan-Jones downgraded the U.S. government's credit rating. In April, the ratings firm downgraded America's credit rating from "AA+" to "AA" and gave the country's credit a negative outlook.

The ratings firm's pessimism then was correct, as Obama has mismanaged the country's economy like he has its foreign policy, spiraling the country into more debt and potentially taking it over the so-called fiscal cliff that looms after the November elections. 

Via: Breitbart

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Hillary Celebrates End of Ramadan at State Department with Libyan Ambassador

(CNSNews.com) – At an event officials say was planned before the attacks in Libya that killed four Americans on Sept. 11, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the Libyan Ambassador to the U.S., Ali Aujali, celebrated the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan at the State Department on Thursday.

The Eid ul-Fitr reception was heldalmost a month after the official end of the month on Aug. 19, delayed, officials say, because of Clinton’s travel schedule.

“The date [of the reception] was set purely because of scheduling considerations, especially given lengthy travel abroad recently,” a State Department spokesman told CNSNews.com via email.

The spokesman provided a copy of the Secretary’s schedule, showing that Thursday’s event was scheduled about 24 hours ahead of the attack on the U.S. embassy in Benghazi that resulted in the death of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

“Although I am many weeks overdue in saying it: Eid Mubarak,” Clinton said. “No matter how belated we are honoring Eid and the end of Ramadan, this is a cherished tradition here at the State Department.”

Clinton acknowledged the deaths, saying, “Tonight, our gathering is more somber than any of us would like. This comes during sad and difficult days for the State Department family.

“We lost four Americans,” Clinton said. “They were good and brave men. They were committed to the cause of building a brighter future for the people of Libya.

“And we condemn the violence in the strongest terms, the violence against our posts in Benghazi, in Egypt, and now in Yemen,” Clinton said.

Via: CNS News

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How Federal “Stimulus” Didn’t Help California’s Economy

How has the stimulus program of President Obama affected California? Have things gotten better?

We can see the answer for the whole state by looking in detail at how stimulus money was spent in Pasadena. City Finance DirectorVic Erganian said the city borrowed money at lower than normal interest rates and the funds opened the door for projects and jobs the city otherwise could not support.

Now winding down, the federal stimulus program pumped $133 million into Pasadena in 10 separate bond issues under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The renovation of the 89-year old Rose Bowl consumed $114 million of the funding by Build America Bonds at a blended interest rate of 4.8 percent.  But the price tag for renovation has now run up to $162 million, leaving the city with a $39 million financing gap.  The Rose Bowl is a revenue generator for the local Old Town restaurant district in Pasadena, as well as for tourism and hotels.

The National Football League may consider “temporarily” locating a team in the Rose Bowl until a new stadium can be built elsewhere.  Speculation is that the Rose Bowl may well become the permanent stadium for whatever NFL team finds a home in the Los Angeles area.

And $7.4 million of stimulus money went to subsidize a 43-unit low-income senior housing project with a total cost of $17 million.  That reflects a whopping cost of $395,000 for each one-bedroom unit, or $296 per square foot of building area. The units now rent at $416 per unit per month. Market rates would be at least $1,200 a month, probably higher.

Other projects funded with stimulus funds include $4.3 million on roads; $2.8 million on employment and training programs; $2.25 million on energy efficient upgrades; $1 million on water and power infrastructure; and $908,000 to homeless housing programs.

Arguably, what the stimulus funded in Pasadena was just more luxury improvements to the Rose Bowl than could have been conventionally financed anyway, a windfall to a low-income housing developer for a financially dubious project, and a smattering of other projects that didn’t do much to generate the local economy on a permanent basis.

Via: CA Political Review

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JUSTICE DEPT QUIETLY DROPS CHALLENGE TO FLORIDA VOTING LAW

(YAHOO NEWS) Florida has received a green light to implement its new early voting schedule for the November presidential election, including a Republican-backed plan that eliminates early voting on the Sunday before Election Day.

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division agreed to end its challenge to the new early voting scheme in Florida, considered a critical battleground in the upcoming election.

The department notified state officials late Wednesday that it would approve the state’s plan for early voting, provided election supervisors in five designated counties agree to offer 96 hours of early voting over an 8-day period. “The Attorney General does not interpose any objections to the specified changes,” the letter says in part.

Two weeks ago, a federal judge in Ohio, another key battleground state, ordered Ohio officials to restore early voting during the three days prior to Election Day.

The Ohio ruling came at the request of lawyers for the Obama presidential campaign. They argued that a Republican-backed law that cutoff early voting for most voters three days prior to Election Day, but allowed military personnel to continue to vote during those three days, was unfair and unconstitutional.

The judge agreed. His decision is being appealed by the state of Ohio.

At issue in the Florida case was a voting law change passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature that eliminated early voting on the two days prior to the election – including the Sunday immediately before Election Day.

Via: Pat Dollard

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Obama and Clinton Must Resign – NOW!

Purported President Barack “Barry Soetoro” Hussein Obama, and so-called Secretary of State Hillary Clinton must resign immediately. No ifs, ands, or buts. Pack up their things and get the h*ll out of Washington, today. This woman, The Smartest Woman in America, and her boss, The Smartest Man in the Room, have just shown the world that they are anything but.

The unmitigated arrogance and stupidity of this pair was on display this week, for all the world to see. These two apostles of Marxist agitator Saul Alinsky clearly see themselves as leaders of an elite intelligencia, far smarter than us of the Unwashed Masses, and therefore, ordained to lead, with We, the People, as blind, sheep-like followers. Thus, they were flabbergasted to discover that Muslims have not been won over by Obama’s endless apologies and bowing a scraping before Islamic royalty. They were stunned that Libyans were not grovelingly grateful that we had “liberated” their country from Muammar Gaddafi.

“We came, we saw, he died,” gloated Clinton.

Obama, too, has made a spectacle of himself, repeatedly, publicly bragging the He, the Anointed One, killed Osama bin Laden. He bragged, too that He, and only He, was in charge of the government’s “kill list,” containing the names of Islamist terrorists that are targeted for death.

Via: Canada Free Press

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US Credit Rating Cut by Egan-Jones ... Again

Ratings firm Egan-Jones cut its credit rating on the U.S. government to "AA-" from "AA," citing its opinion that quantitative easing from the Federal Reserve would hurt the U.S. economy and the country's credit quality.

Getty Images

The Fed on Thursday said it would pump $40 billion into the U.S. economy each month until it saw a sustained upturn in the weak jobs market. (Read more: Fed's 'QE Infinity' — Four Things That Could Go Wrong)

In its downgrade, the firm said that issuing more currency and depressing interest rates through purchasing mortgage-backed securities does little to raise the U.S.'s realgross domestic product, but reduces the value of the dollar.

In turn, this increases the cost of commodities, which will pressure the profitability of businesses and increase the costs of consumers thereby reducing consumer purchasing power, the firm said.

In April, Egan-Jones cuts the U.S. credit rating to "AA" from "AA+" with a negative watch, citing a lack of progress in cutting the mounting federal debt.

Via: CNBC

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David Limbaugh Column: Liberal Media Might As Well Wear Obama Buttons

The liberal media gave the ceaselessly political President Obama a pass for campaigning instead of performing his presidential duties when they were most needed, while they castigated Mitt Romney for being political when he was the only one of the two acting presidential.

To be sure, Obama is a political candidate for re-election to the presidency, but do we have to remind ourselves — as he often reminds us — that he also currently holds that office and that it includes duties that supersede his political activities?

After remaining silent for hours after the attacks in Egypt and Libya, Obama called a news conference to issue a brief statement on the matter and, in response to the first question, turned on his heels and walked off. Yet the liberal media, feigning outrage over Romney's alleged political exploitation, are neither curious nor critical about Obama's refusal to answer questions about the attacks, such as whether he considers them an act of war and what responses he is considering.

Via: Newsbusters

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Obama's Twitter Feed Hawks Campaign Sweatshirts During Ambassador's Casket Transfer Ceremony

AP/FNC

9/14/2012 | FOXNATION.COM

At 2:20 PM, as flag draped coffins that carried the bodies of U.S. Embassy attack victims were being carried by Marines, President Obama's twitter feed was hawking campaign sweatshirts. 

As of the publishing of this article, the original tweet (http://twitter.com/BarackObama) is still present on the President's twitter feed.

Via: Fox News

Israel leader says US may not act against Iran

JERUSALEM (AP) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insinuated in an interview published Friday that Israel cannot entirely rely on the U.S. to act against Iran's suspect nuclear program, a sign that the Israeli leader is not backing down from the sharp rhetoric that strained relations this week with the Obama administration.

Netanyahu has been arguing in recent weeks that Iran is getting close to acquiring nuclear weapons capability, a claim Iran denies. He has been pushing the U.S. to commit to the circumstances under which the U.S. would lead a strike on Iran's nuclear facilities. Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders have repeatedly hinted that if the United States does not attack, Israel will.

"I hear those who say we should wait until the last minute. But what if the U.S. doesn't act? It's a question that must be asked," Netanyahu told Israel Hayom, in an interview marking the Jewish New Year.

The paper, a free mass-circulation daily, is funded by Netanyahu's billionaire Jewish-American supporter Sheldon Adelson.

The Obama administration also suspects Tehran is seeks to become a nuclear power and says it is committed to preventing a nuclear Iran, but insists more efforts must be made before resorting to military action. Washington is refusing to be specific about what exactly would necessitate a strike on Iran and has rejected an Israeli demand for "red lines" that cannot be crossed.

Earlier this week Netanyahu issued a rebuke of the U.S. cautious stance, perceived as an indirect swipe at the Obama administration. He said that "those in the international community who refuse to put red lines before Iran don't have a moral right to place a red light before Israel."

Via: Chron

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Michelle Obama: ‘No One Gets Where They Are on Their Own’

(CNSNews.com) – In a campaign speech on Thursday in Fredricksburg, Va., first lady Michelle Obama said that “no one gets where they are on their own” because there is a village of people “lifting us up,” including teachers and janitors.

In her speech about the Obama family’s values, Mrs. Obama said, “We learned that the truth matters, so you don’t take shortcuts, you don’t game the system, you don’t play by your own set of rules. And we learned that no one gets where they are on their own; that each of us has a community of people who are lifting us up -- from the teachers who inspire us to the janitors who keep our schools clean.”

Mrs. Obama spoke at the University of Mary Washington, telling the crowd that she and the president learned about citizenship and service from their parents.

“And we were taught to treat everyone with value, and everyone with respect,” she  said. “We learned about citizenship and service, that we’re all part of something bigger than ourselves; that with our freedoms come obligations, and with our blessings come a duty to give back to others who have less.

“See, these are the values that make Barack such an extraordinary husband and partner to me, but more importantly, such a phenomenal father to our girls,” Obama said.

Mrs. Obama said the president is “struggling” along with the American people and that progress has been made over the past four years.

Via: CNS News

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