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Violence Erupts In Jerusalem After Deadly Terror Attack
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Page 6: Politix
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Home Front: Politix
Audience Laughs At Shaheen For Ducking Question On Obama
[BREITBART] Sen Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) was laughed at by the audience at the New Hampshire Senate Debate on Tuesday when she would not give a clear answer on whether she approved of the job President B.O. is doing.

When asked to give a simple, yes or no response to a hypothetical pollster asking, "do you approve of the job President B.O. is doing?" Shaheen responded, "in some ways I approve, and some things I don't approve," a line that caused the audience to start laughing. She continued "like most questions that we deal with as policymakers there aren't simple answers, yes or no."

Shaheen was then asked how she could reconcile voting with the president 99% of the time and President B.O.'s low approval rating in New Hampshire. She stated "I work for New Hampshire. And Scott Downtown Scotty Brown talks a lot about one survey and 99% of the time that I voted with the president," before talking about her record getting a prison in New Hampshire opened, her work with residents who were facing foreclosure, and language she added to a veterans' reform bill with Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH).

She then concluded, "what we need is a senator who's going to work for New Hampshire, who;s going to make sure we address the concerns we hear from our constituents, who's going to be willing to work with Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, anybody in Washington who can help us get the job done for this state."
Posted by: Fred || 10/23/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  A bit of a drag that Brown still isn't leading (consistently) in recent polls. He was leading by the margin of error about two weeks ago, but Shaheen (who my cousin met ten years ago and described as 'dumb as a box of rocks') pulled ahead in a poll a few days ago.

Remember that NH used to be solid red when I was living there; that started changing in the late 1980's.
Posted by: Raj || 10/23/2014 14:48 Comments || Top||

#2  "Live Free or Die" meets Intigo Montoya.
Posted by: gorb || 10/23/2014 15:12 Comments || Top||

#3  Mean Jeanne has been running attack ads only for months. Her campaign can't find a positive thing to say about her.

Unfortunately Scott Brown is too much of a gentleman to respond in kind, because he doesn't want to "bully."
Posted by: regular joe || 10/23/2014 15:58 Comments || Top||


Party Preparations: Senate Maneuvering Begins
[ONLINE.WSJ] With Republicans looking increasingly likely to take control of the Senate, politicians on both sides of the aisle are already considering how they will operate in the chamber if the levers of power are reversed.

For Republicans, the prospect of controlling the Senate is sparking an early debate over whether to change the rules of the road, particularly those guiding nominations and the budget. Such rule changes are arcane but could have a big impact on legislation and who is confirmed to judicial- and executive-branch posts.

Democrats, too, would face choices, including how much of an impediment they want to be to a GOP-run Congress and who will lead them in that fight.

As the election gets closer, many politicians on both sides of the aisle have remained hesitant to publicly expound on how a GOP-run Senate would operate. Democrats are unwilling to concede they might lose control of the chamber, while Republicans are reluctant to look like they are taking victory for granted.

According to aides and strategists from both parties, however, the senators are already actively engaged on the topic in anticipation of decisions to be made next year.

Republicans' leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, has delivered speeches about improving the Senate's ability to function by, for example, holding more amendment votes and expanding the chamber's workweek.
Posted by: Fred || 10/23/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
Posted by: Big Thromoth3646 || 10/23/2014 7:43 Comments || Top||

#2  ForRepublicans, the prospect of controlling the Senate is sparking an early debate over whether to change the rules of the road, particularly those guiding nominations and the budget.

Reid had no problem doing it. Do on to others as they have done on to you.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 10/23/2014 12:16 Comments || Top||

#3  Two words you bastids! Keystone Pipeline !!!
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/23/2014 15:59 Comments || Top||


Michelle Obama To Students: 'Bring The Folks You Met At The Party Last Weekend' To Vote
[WASHINGTON.CBSLOCAL] First lady Michelle Obama stumped for Democrats in Iowa and Minnesota Tuesday, calling on the young and minority voters who powered her husband's rise to the presidency to help the party avoid a potentially bruising midterm election.

Mrs. Obama first urged college students and supporters at the University of Iowa to vote early and volunteer for Bruce Braley, who is in a tight Senate race against Republican Joni Ernst. She delivered a similar rallying cry to a mostly black crowd later Tuesday at a high school in Minneapolis, where Sen. Al Franken and fellow Democrat Gov. Mark Dayton are counting on turnout from those groups.

Tuesday's stop in Iowa City was Mrs. Obama's second trip to this month to shore up support for Braley, whose win may be crucial to Democrats' maintaining control of the Senate.

Braley, a four-term congressman, had once been a favorite to win the seat held for 30 years by retiring Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin, one of his mentors. Now he's running even with Ernst, a first-term state senator and commander in the Iowa National Guard.

Mrs. Obama said it would be up to younger voters to "step up" and help deliver the state for Braley, as they did for her husband, Barack Obama
I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody...
, during his presidential campaigns of 2008 and 2012.

"For just three hours of your time, you will get six years of an outstanding senator who will carry on Tom Harkin's legacy," Mrs. Obama said. "If we all keep stepping up and bringing others along with us, I know we can elect Bruce Braley as the next senator from Iowa."

She said students should take anyone they know to the polls with them, joking, "Bring the folks you met at the party last weekend!"

In Minnesota, Franken and Dayton have leads in public polling over their GOP challengers. The first lady's visit was just the most recent in a parade of Democratic stars -- including former President Bill Clinton
...former Democratic president of the U.S. Bill was the second U.S. president to be impeached, the first to deny that oral sex was sex, the first to have difficulty with the definition of is...
and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren -- who have stumped for the two candidates, all stressing the importance of voting in the midterm election.

Republicans in both states used Mrs. Obama's visits to tie Democratic candidates to the president and his waning approval ratings. The campaign of Mike McFadden, Franken's Republican challenger, called Tuesday "a reminder that President B.O.'s policies are on Minnesota ballots this fall in the form of Al Franken."
Posted by: Fred || 10/23/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Because the very best Democratic Party voters are student binge drinkers who won't remember what they did today when they wake up tomorrow.
Posted by: ed in texas || 10/23/2014 7:44 Comments || Top||

#2  Don't admit you made a mistake voting for hope 'n' change - not once, but twice. Keep voting for Champ and his Nobel-Peace-Prize-winning policies! Give him another mandate for forgiving your student debt and sharing the wealth!
Posted by: Bobby || 10/23/2014 7:51 Comments || Top||

#3  Michelle Obama To Students Freedom Riders: 'Bring The Folks You Met At The Party In Juarez Last Weekend' To Vote

FIFY
Posted by: Procopius2k || 10/23/2014 12:14 Comments || Top||

#4  Yeah, the guy who gave you chlamydia last week? Bring him to the polls for a bowl, a quickie and a miss-spent vote...
Posted by: regular joe || 10/23/2014 16:02 Comments || Top||

#5  ....calling on the young and minority voters who powered her husband's rise to the presidency

Insanity: Doing the same thing over again, expecting different results.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/23/2014 16:08 Comments || Top||

#6  Just exit quietly and don't let the door hit you in the booty on the way out Moochelle. And no, contrary to what you say, people don't like either of you.
Posted by: JohnQC || 10/23/2014 18:10 Comments || Top||


Republican opens biggest lead yet in Colorado Senate
[THEHILL] Rep. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) leads Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) by 7 points in a new Suffolk University poll, the biggest lead he's seen all month.
Wait until all the mail in ballots are counted. The Donks have a surprise...
The poll gave Gardner 46 percent support to Udall's 39 percent support among likely voters. That's a significant shift from Suffolk's last survey, conducted in September, when Gardner led Udall by just 1 point, 43 percent to 42 percent.
Gardner has posted a lead over Udall in nearly every public poll released this month, and his lead has consistently widened, though this is the first poll to show him with a 7-point advantage in the race.

Udall has made Gardner's position on women's issues -- and particular his previous support for a state measure that would effectively ban abortion -- his main focus in the race. The tactic has drawn criticism and contributed to his loss of The Denver Post's endorsement, which accused him of running an "obnoxious one-issue campaign."

Democrats are projecting confidence, however, even as Udall's own internals have shown a tightening race. They're promising that their ground and data operations, which helped drive Democrats to improbable wins in the state in 2010 and 2008, will again help Udall come out on top.

The live poll was conducted among 500 likely voters Oct. 18-21 and has a margin of error of 4.4 percentage points.
Posted by: Fred || 10/23/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Udall is fucking slime. He and the donks will do whatever they can to steal this one.
Posted by: DarthVader || 10/23/2014 12:37 Comments || Top||


Grimes and her family's Hugh Jass Burgers
[EDITION.CNN] In her race to defeat Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, Alison Lundergan Grimes has barnstormed Kentucky, talking up her support for raising the minimum wage and criticizing the GOP's so-called war on women.

But the restaurant owned by Grimes' family doesn't always practice what she preaches, and Kentucky Republicans have been happy to point that out.

On the campaign trail, Grimes said recently, "I'm fighting for all Kentuckians, all working Americans across this nation. I don't believe $7.25 an hour raises a family of four above the poverty level."

But documents and interviews with employees reveal that, like many restaurants, her family's burger joint pays some tipped staffers minimum wage.

We caught up with Grimes in Kentucky and asked how she can advocate for raising the minimum wage, when that's all her family's restaurant pays some workers.

"Listen, my family is not in this race. I'm on the ballot. And as much as Mitch McConnell wants to attack my family, he has from the beginning, I'm going to stay focused on the issues," she told CNN. "And for me, it's about making sure that hard working Kentuckians have a bright future. And that future includes having not just a minimum wage, but a living wage."

Of course, servers can often make more than minimum wage after tips. And while Grimes doesn't own the restaurant, she did do legal work for the business, signing incorporation documents and representing it in a lawsuit.

But minimum wage isn't the only issue dogging Grimes' family business. Hugh Jass Burgers -- say it out loud to get the joke -- has menu items like "Charlotte's Rack, sure to be voted biggest rack" named after Grimes' mom and "Abby's Hugh Jass," a burger named after her sister. They also sell souvenirs like an apron with "Check Out My Buns" emblazoned across it.

The restaurant's approach has raised eyebrows, especially since Grimes' camp accused the GOP of sexism.

"I am the Kentucky woman who my Republican colleagues in this state so gentlemanly refer to as an empty dress," Grimes said.

When we tried to ask Grimes about her family's use of double entendre, she refused to answer, letting her security detail lead her away from reporters.
Posted by: Fred || 10/23/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Furthermore, I have a Honduran maid, and I don't pay her minimum wage. She's happy to be here and vote."
Posted by: ed in texas || 10/23/2014 8:28 Comments || Top||

#2  She's happy to be here and vote as many times as I tell her to!
FIFY
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 10/23/2014 9:22 Comments || Top||


'Calibration error' changes GOP votes to Dem in Illinois county
[FOXNEWS] Early voting in Illinois got off to a rocky start Monday, as votes being cast for Republican candidates were transformed into votes for Democrats.

Republican state representative candidate Jim Moynihan went to vote Monday at the Schaumburg Public Library.

'I tried to cast a vote for myself and instead it cast the vote for my opponent,' Moynihan said. 'You could imagine my surprise as the same thing happened with a number of races when I tried to vote for a Republican and the machine registered a vote for a Democrat.'

The conservative website Illinois Review reported that 'While using a touch screen voting machine in Schaumburg, Moynihan voted for several races on the ballot, only to find that whenever he voted for a Republican candidate, the machine registered the vote for a Democrat in the same race. He notified the election judge at his polling place and demonstrated that it continued to cast a vote for the opposing candidate's party. Moynihan was eventually allowed to vote for Republican candidates, including his own race.

Moynihan offered this gracious lesson to his followers on Twitter: 'Be careful when you vote in Illinois. Make sure you take the time to check your votes before submitting.'

Cook County Board of Elections Deputy Communications Director Jim Scalzitti, told Illinois Watchdog, the machine was taken out of service and tested.

'This was a calibration error of the touch-screen on the machine,' Scalzitti said. 'When Mr. Moynihan used the touch-screen, it improperly assigned his votes due to improper calibration.'
And I weigh 150 pounds and have a full head of hair. Women throw their undies at my feet. Vicious dogs turn on their owners when I approach. I made 13 holes in one the first time I played golf.
Posted by: Fred || 10/23/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Apparently my bullshit detector doesn't need any more calibration.
Posted by: DarthVader || 10/23/2014 0:04 Comments || Top||

#2  It doesn't matter who is running. It only matters who is counting the votes.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/23/2014 0:34 Comments || Top||

#3  Like there's a gear, spring, bolt, bushing, or vacuum tube that just needs a small tweak with a wrench? Oh I know. They got the voting machines mixed up with the time machines again.
Posted by: RandomJD || 10/23/2014 6:00 Comments || Top||

#4  Don't know who Calibration is but he sure makes sure that when he makes an error, it is in favor of the Dems.
Posted by: Ebbomosh Hupemp2664 || 10/23/2014 7:30 Comments || Top||

#5 
Posted by: Big Thromoth3646 || 10/23/2014 7:38 Comments || Top||

#6  Calibration? That's like how much finger pressure it takes to register a choice (or ohms or millifarads or quantum foopoos) or how big the active area is.

Now if the (D) vote button is calibrated to be five times the size of the (R) button, that's a calibration error!

But if the machine was calibrated, you should be able to find out who did the calibration, FOXNEWS.
Posted by: Bobby || 10/23/2014 7:57 Comments || Top||

#7  Funny how all these calibration errors all ways seem to benefit democrats.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 10/23/2014 9:15 Comments || Top||

#8  I suspect this is one of those alignment errors, where the index 'ballot' with the names and boxes on it is not directly over the buttons that need to be pressed to register the vote. I've had that happen, where I push the box & nothing happens (rather than something different happening) - had to press around the box until I got it to register the vote I wanted. Of course that assumes that the registering indicator is aligned close enough to tell what vote you did cast. I did prefer those old mechanical marvels where the candidate name was attached to a lever - but even then one never really knew whether those gears counted the vote to the candidate you chose.
Posted by: Glenmore || 10/23/2014 10:55 Comments || Top||

#9  Just a tad more to the right, Jim!
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 10/23/2014 11:48 Comments || Top||

#10  Calibration=programming
Posted by: Procopius2k || 10/23/2014 12:12 Comments || Top||

#11  Simple solution, don't use touch screen voting machines. Strain yourself to mark a paper ballot, which also leaves a 'paper trail' if there is a recount. Touch screens do not.
Posted by: Zorba de Medici9541 || 10/23/2014 12:20 Comments || Top||

#12  This is Illinois, #8 Glenmore, making your supposition touchingly naive.

More realistic supposition: They're all set up to cheat. >:-(
Posted by: Barbara || 10/23/2014 12:44 Comments || Top||

#13  I am surprised at this point that the Republican was even on the ballot as a selection choice.
Posted by: airandee || 10/23/2014 13:07 Comments || Top||

#14  The only people who need 'instant' returns is the media for hype, drama, and commercial dollars. F'em. Paper and you put your thumb print on the ballot.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 10/23/2014 14:58 Comments || Top||

#15  "#14: F'em. Paper and you put your thumb print on the ballot". I also favor a short and easy quiz in order to get registered to vote like "name the three branches of the federal government". If you don't know the answer to that you have no business voting.
Posted by: irishrageboy || 10/23/2014 15:49 Comments || Top||

#16  I favour a 'short-arm' check and a copy of last years tax return proving you were a contributor.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/23/2014 15:56 Comments || Top||

#17  Wouldn't work - a lot of people file their tax return only to get the earned income credit and haven't paid a dime.

Unless you require it to show that you actually paid more than you 'received'.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 10/23/2014 16:41 Comments || Top||

#18  This seems to be a recurring problem in Chicago. It is also a problem when your aunt's dead husband can vote multiple times in several precincts, your little dog Fifi shows up on the list of eligible voters, and the guy down the street has a 164 year old relative who is voting. Chicago, a microcosm of what's currently wrong with the country--thugs, scoundrels, and crooks.
Posted by: JohnQC || 10/23/2014 18:07 Comments || Top||



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Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has dominated Mexico for six years.
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Two weeks of WOT
Thu 2014-10-23
  Violence Erupts In Jerusalem After Deadly Terror Attack
Wed 2014-10-22
  Soldier, security guard shot in Parliament Hill attack
Tue 2014-10-21
  Al Qaeda attacks kill at least 33 people in Yemen
Mon 2014-10-20
  IS Takes Heavy Losses In Battle For Kobani
Sun 2014-10-19
  LNA claims advance in Warshefana district
Sat 2014-10-18
  Cameroon Soldiers Kill 107 Boko Haram Fighters
Fri 2014-10-17
  ISIS Retreats From Kobani
Thu 2014-10-16
  Kurdish fighters gain ground in Kobane
Wed 2014-10-15
  Six top TTP commanders announce allegiance to Islamic State's Baghdadi
Tue 2014-10-14
  Kurds, IS in Heavy Fighting near Turkish Border
Mon 2014-10-13
  21 militants killed in Khyber, Waziristan strikes
Sun 2014-10-12
  Al-Qaeda convoy en route to Mali 'destroyed' by French
Sat 2014-10-11
  Islamic State Advances Deeper Into Syrian Town Of Kobani
Fri 2014-10-10
  Operation Dignity sinks ship attempting to enter Benghazi Port
Thu 2014-10-09
  Sanaa suicide bomber kills at least 40


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