Russia Skewers US Election as Undemocratic, ‘The Worst in the World’

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photo credit: Mitya AleshkovskyThe Russian government is lambasting the U.S. presidential race as an undemocratic spectacle amid growing concerns about the country’s own commitment to free and fair elections.

The Foreign Ministry this week accused America of hypocrisy following reports that some U.S. states would turn away international election monitors at the polls.

The Kremlin-funded Russia Today television station, meanwhile, is serving up a steady stream of outraged U.S. election coverage, reporting on topics such as the lack of polling places in Indian country and the short-shift given to third-party candidates by the American media.

The U.S. electoral system, Russian elections chief Vladimir Churov declared this week, “is the worst in the world.”

Observers say the attacks against America’s election system are largely fueled by domestic politics in Russia.

Read more from this story HERE.

Conservatives’ Opening Salvo: Senator Vitter Vows to Block Potential Romney EPA Chief

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photo credit: RETECH Conference and ExhibitionIf Mitt Romney wins the election on Tuesday, he can expect another battle to begin almost immediately: The fight to block his moderate allies from key administration positions.

Conservatives are quietly making preparations to begin lobbying for these posts to be filled by reliable conservatives. Of course, this may also entail opposing some of Romney’s first choices — a fight whose opening salvo has already begun.

Sen. David Vitter is already sending signals he would attempt to block James Connaughton – Romney’s likely choice to head the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). (This is significant; Vitter is in line to become ranking member in the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.)

According to The Hill, Vitter cited “emissions limits, potential restriction of offshore drilling and green energy funding — reflect an increasingly uniform GOP energy platform that Romney also has embraced,” as concerns about Connaughton.

Vitter also said “he could not support Connaughton’s previous backing for cap-and-trade rules for various types of emissions.”

Read more from this article HERE.

Video: Outrage Over Diver Who “Strangles,” Eats Huge Octupus For Art Project

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By James Nye. A rising tide of outrage is forming after pictures emerged of a 20-year-old diver who dragged a giant Pacific octopus from its watery home and then killed and ate it for his friends art project.

Angry fellow divers from the shore of Seattle took photographs of Dylan Mayer proudly standing with the large octopus and then watched in disbelief as he and his friend tossed the still live 30 pound female onto the bed of his truck before driving off.

Their shock turned to horror as a grinning Mayer posted images of himself measuring the now dead octopus onto his Facebook account and now is in the position of having to justify to the diving community why he hunted the gentle and intelligent animal.

‘As they were coming in you could tell the octopus was alive. It was writhing around and they were wrestling with it,’ said Bob Bailey who witnessed Mayer bring the octopus to shore.

‘Its just not done. It’s bad form. Even if you can do it, you shouldn’t do it.’ Read more from this story HERE.

Obama Demonizes Tea Party in Final Days of Campaign

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After failing to mention the Tea Party by name on the stump in 2012, President Barack Obama mentioned the movement during at least five stump speeches on Thursday and Friday.

Running against the Tea Party movement that successfully stymied his grassroots agenda and energized conservatives and independents to give Republicans in the House a majority, Obama said Mitt Romney would “rubber-stamp the Tea Party agenda in Congress.”

Jenny Beth Martin, National Coordinator of Tea Party Patriots, said Obama was continuing to divide Americans by badmouthing “millions of grassroots” Tea Party activists across the nation.

“In a single speech today, our current President demonized Americans who have achieved the American Dream and badmouthed millions of grassroots Tea Party activists in every state in the nation,” Martin said on Thursday. “If he spent as much time uniting Americans as he does dividing Americans and attacking them, his presidency might have been a success.”

Politico reviewed a transcript of all of Obama’s speeches and found Obama had only mentioned “tea party” once — in a campaign appearance in Virginia in October — on the stump in 2012 before this week.

Read more from this story HERE.

Merkel: Euro Crisis Will Last at Least Another 5 Years; Shipments of Life-Saving Drugs to Greece Halted

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Merkel: Euro Debt Crisis to Last at Least Five More Years

By Associated Press. German Chancellor Angela Merkel says Europe’s sovereign debt crisis will last at least five more years.

Merkel says the continent is on the right path to overcome the crisis but “whoever thinks this can be fixed in one or two years is wrong.”

Two years ago some heavily indebted European countries were dragged into the turmoil that first gripped global financial markets in 2007.

Greece in particular has been struggling with the austerity conditions imposed on it by countries such as Germany. Read more from this story HERE.

Germans stop shipment of life-saving cancer drug to Greece as Euro crisis deepens

By the Daily Mail Reporter. The spiralling decline of the Greek economy took an even more brutal turn today with the news that German pharmaceuticals firm Merck KGaA has ceased deliveries of a life-saving cancer drug to Greek hospitals.

The drug, Erbitux, is an effective treatment for both colorectal cancers and head and neck cancers

A number of industrial giants have shied away from accepting orders from the crisis-hit Greeks.

Another German-based pharma giant, Biotest, suspended shipments to Greece because of unpaid bills in in June of this year.

Matthias Zachert, Merck’s chief financial officer, told the German newspaper paper Boersen-Zeitung that publicly-owned hospitals in several euro-zone countries had been struggling to pay their bills. Read more from this story HERE.

Another Pedophile Ring Involving Top Political Leader Alleged

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Yet another allegation of a pedophile ring involving a top political leader was made, this time in England. Allegedly, one of the top conservatives in the Tory Party, closely linked to Thatcher, was involved in the violent rapes of young boys over a number of years. This allegation follows the recent reports about the current Dutch Minister of Justice — defended by the US State Department — who ostensibly was involved in an international child sex ring, as well as similar allegations made about top political officials in the United States in the 1990’s. Additionally, the new head of the New York Times allegedly covered for another child rapist who worked for the BBC years before.

Regarding the Tory politician, the Daily Mail reports:

BBC’s Newsnight has sensationally claimed that a ‘leading politician from the Thatcher years’ was embroiled in a widespread paedophile ring – and repeatedly raped boys from a children’s home.

Alleged victim Steven Messham told reporters he was raped ‘more than a dozen times’ by the man, described on the programme as a ‘shadowy figure of high public standing’.

But despite a string of damning allegations, Newsnight reporters said it didn’t have ‘enough evidence’ to name the politician, sparking angry claims on Twitter that the Beeb ‘bottled it’.

The revelation came just hours after MPs suggested the Corporation aired the controversial programme to act as a ‘smokescreen’ after it failed to broadcast allegations that Jimmy Savile was a paedophile last year.

Mr Messham, now 49, was one of hundreds of children horrifically abused in children’s homes in North Wales during the 1970s and 1980s

Read more from this story HERE.

Washington Post: October’s Higher Unemployment Shows ‘Job Growth’

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Just before Election Day, the Washington Post is super excited about Friday’s unemployment numbers showing “job growth” for October, despite unemployment increasing from 7.8% in September to 7.9%. The paper describes this change as the unemployment rate staying “flat.”

The Post tries to give Obama cover even as it ultimately notes that there really wasn’t much improvement in jobless figures for October. In fact, the Post almost admits that its report is intended to help Obama right in its first paragraph.

The U.S. jobs market in October sustained its slow trudge toward better times, the government reported on Friday, in the last major report card on the economy before the presidential election.

Despite all the happy talk sprinkled through the article, the Post is forced to note that much of this “good news” is closer to treading water as opposed to any “slow trudge toward better times.”

Absurdly, the Post tried hard to spin the actual increase in unemployment as a good thing.

The unemployment rate in October did rise to 7.9 percent, up from 7.8 percent, but the reason behind the uptick suggested an improved job market: More Americans decided to look for work, though not all of them found jobs.

Read more from this story HERE.

Study: 83% of Retirees Believe They’ll Lose Their Social Security

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photo credit: 401(K) 2012A recent survey by BMO Retirement Institute found 83 percent of retirees were influenced to start their benefits because they were concerned about the viability of the program.

But for Americans nearing retirement age, knowing when to pull the trigger on government retirement benefits is more complicated—or should be.

“People believe that Social Security is something they get when they turn 65. They think there’s only one calculation: I’ll apply when I stop working,” said Rebecca Hall, a private wealth adviser with Ameriprise Financial in Reston, Va., in a recent interview.

How and when you take your benefits, however, can make a difference of thousands of dollars in how much money you draw from the system over the course of your retirement.

And for many Americans, that difference can be crucial. Some 60 percent of Americans 65 and older depend on Social Security for the majority of income, according to an Economic Policy Institute study published last year.

Read more from this story HERE.

Senator Inhofe Says Obama Won’t Release Regulatory Agenda Because of ‘Terrible’ Impact on Jobs

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President Obama will not comply with a federal law requiring him to release his regulatory agenda because he doesn’t want Americans voters to know the “terrible cost” it would have on the economy should he win re-election — include the loss of an estimated 887,000 jobs annually, says Sen. James Inhofe, ranking Republican on the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.

Inhofe cites the Regulatory Flexibility Act that requires federal agencies to assess the impact of their regulations on small businesses. He says Obama failed to comply with the law twice over the past year – specifically the April and October deadlines.

“President Obama is refusing to comply with the law that requires him to publish forthcoming regulations because he doesn’t want the American public to know the terrible cost of the regulatory barrage he plans to unleash in a second term,” Inhofe said. “So instead of being honest with the American people about what’s in store if he wins, he’s been trying to hide the fact that he intends to move forward with a slew of rules that will destroy hundreds of thousands of jobs and dramatically raise the cost of energy on American families.”

The Oklahoma senator sent a letter to the president Sunday asking him to publish the administration’s agenda before Oct. 31.“Businesses and communities need to understand the future regulatory landscape,” he wrote.

The projected loss of 887,000 jobs annually is from a National Economic Research Associates report last month. The international economic firm in its 129-page report states the coal industry would be hit hard and the job losses would continue through 2034.

Read more from this story HERE.

If Romney Supporters Don’t Vote in Record Numbers, Obama Will Win-Page 4

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Missouri
Recent polling shows the embattled but staunchly conservative Todd Akin well within striking distance of Claire McCaskill. This is a state Romney should win by as many as 10 points, and I think that will be enough coat-tails to carry Akin across the finish line. Prediction: Republican

Montana
Republican Denny Rehberg just pulled ahead of his Democrat opponent in the RCP average, and he should benefit from Romney coat-tails as well. Prediction: Republican

Nevada
Republican Dean Heller has led most of the way here in the RCP average, but he’s up against the Harry Reid political machine. Prediction: Republican

North Dakota
It’s an open seat in a Republican state that Romney will win handily. Prediction: Republican

Virginia
This race has become as close as the presidential race, so I don’t think either candidate will receive any coat-tails. I’ll go with Tim Kaine on likability here. Prediction: Democrat

Wisconsin
No credible polling currently has former Republican Governor Tommy Thompson in the lead, and unless Romney has a surprise surge I don’t expect that to change on Election Day. Prediction: Democrat

Barring any unforeseen upsets, I think the U.S. Senate will remain in Democrat hands—but just barely:

Democrats: 50
Republicans: 49
Independents: 1

Iowa
I believe Obama’s early voting advantage in my home state will be too much for Romney to overcome, but if my scenario holds but I’m wrong about Iowa, then we end up in the doomsday scenario of a 269-269 tie in the Electoral College.

Little Birdies tell me the Republicans could actually add to their 60-seat majority in the 100-seat Iowa House. Republicans are also expected to claim the majority in the State Senate from the Democrats, and little birdies have told me they are expecting the GOP to end up with 28-30 seats in the 50-seat chamber. Remember four years ago the GOP only had 18 seats in that chamber. One of those seats the Republicans think they can realistically pick up is none other than powerful Democrat Leader Mike Gronstal’s, the man that has singlehandedly thwarted every good piece of legislation from becoming law for the past four years.

Every little birdie I talk to expects Iowans to make David Wiggins the fourth State Supreme Court Justice to be fired by voters for his role in the controversial and unpopular Varnum v. Brien opinion.

Little birdies are also confident the GOP can win three of the state’s four Congressional seats: Steve King, Tom Latham, and John Archer.

Marriage
The issue of marriage is 32-0 when it’s on the ballot, and remains the only undefeated issue in American politics. However, little birdies tell me they’re not confident that streak will continue with marriage on the ballot in four states that Obama is expected to win. I’m told pro-marriage forces are confident they can win Minnesota and Maryland, but not as confident about Maine and Washington.

Conclusion
For Mitt Romney to win the presidency, the polling in the Real Clear Politics average has to be historically wrong and biased. Frankly, to make the race as close as I’m making it is already giving Romney the benefit of the doubt on several fronts.

The most likely scenario is voters giving both parties something to feel good about with a split decision that includes Obama being re-elected—albeit narrowly.

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