Joe the Plumber running for Congress, possibly against Dennis Kucinich

Joe the Plumber, real name Samuel J. Wurzelbacher, became famous during the 2008 presidential campaign when he asked now-President Barack Obama, "I'm getting ready to buy a company that makes 250 to 280 thousand dollars a year. Your new tax plan's going to tax me more, isn't it?"

Now Joe the Plumber is throwing his hat in the political ring. He filed papers Friday (Oct. 7) to run as a Republican in Ohio's Ninth Congressional District. This seat will sort of be former presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich's old seat - due to redistricting after the 2010 census, Kucinich's 10th Congressional District was combined with the Ninth Congressional District and now Kucinich has to run in a Democratic primary against the current Ninth District representative Marcia Kaptur. Joe the Plumber is the only Republican in the race, so far.

This new district stretches along Lake Eric from Kucinich's hometown of Cleveland to Kaptur's base in Toledo. Both Kucinich and Kaptur have served their respective districts for quite some time - Kucinich since 1997 and Kaptur since 1983. Their longtime tenure could make it hard for Joe the Plumber as the Republican candidate.

Roman Schroeder, a consultant to Wurzelbacher, says the final decision whether to run will be made on Oct. 25.

"People are looking for jobs, and there's a certain amount of desperation in this part of the country," Schroeder tells the New York Times. "Joe thinks he can do a better job and wants to know if other people feel the same way."

Photo/Video credit: Getty Images

Christmas Day underwear bomber trial begins in Detroit

By Tresa Baldas, and David Ashenfelter

Updated

DETROIT – Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is going to trial Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Detroit, nearly two years after authorities say he tried to blow up an airliner on Christmas Day with a bomb hidden in his underwear.

• SITE Intelligence Group, AFP/Getty Images
  Accused underwear bomber in what was supposed to be his farewell message.
  

SITE Intelligence Group, AFP/Getty Images

Accused underwear bomber in what was supposed to be his farewell message.

The highly-anticipated terror trial will begin with opening statements from the government, which has a stockpile of evidence, including incriminating statements from the defendant and a planeload of witnesses who will testify against him.

Abdulmutallab is charged with trying to blow up a Detroit-bound jetliner carrying more than 300 people using explosives hidden in his underwear. The plot was foiled when passengers and crew members overcame the suspect, who suffered burns to his genitals and legs in the incident.

Anthony Chambers, who is serving as stand-by counsel to Abdulmutallab, will deliver opening statements for the defendant. Although Abdulmutallab is representing himself, he decided on Friday to let Chambers deliver the opening statement to the jury.

The defense has said it may call two airline passengers who were on the flight that Christmas Day to testify on Abdulmutallab’s behalf. Those passengers are Kurt and Lori Haskell, both attorneys with offices in Taylor.

Kurt Haskell has claimed that he saw an older, well-dressed Indian man help Abdulmutallab board the Detroit-bound flight in Amsterdam, Netherlands, without a passport. Authorities have discounted Haskell’s theory, but Haskell is adamant that the government is covering something up, and has claimed so at several pretrial hearings that he has attended.

During the trial, which is expected to last four weeks, the government will present a stockpile of evidence to the jury, including testimony from several airline passengers and an incriminating statement from the defendant, in which he admits to being an al-Qaida operative and talks about becoming radicalized.
The government also will show the jury:

• A replica of the explosive used in the foiled plot.

• A video demonstration of the bomb — a plastic bag filled with chemicals and a syringe — being detonated.

• A clip of an al-Qaeda-produced video, America and the Final Trap, in which al-Qaeda leaders praise Abdulmutallab for his efforts.

Among the government’s key pieces of evidence is a statement that Abdulmutallab made to agents in a hospital room, in which he admitted that he was an al-Qaida operative from Yemen, talked about how he had become radicalized and about how he and others discussed ways to attack the U.S.

The defense tried to get the statement thrown out. U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds kept it in.

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Occupy Wall Street moves uptown

News: 'Occupy' protesters march on Anaheim bank | bank, protesters, chase, protest, america, anaheim, march, banks, fees, closed.

The Occupy Wall Street movement, like the Tea Party, is a sign of a broader "anxiety" among middle-class Americans, Jon Corzine, ex-Goldman Sachs chief executive and Governor of New Jersey, told CNBC Tuesday. "It happens to have a more left-wing point

COM STAFF Speaking to a crowd of several hundred at Westlake Center gathered to support the "Occupy Seattle" protests, Mayor Mike McGinn said the group needed to "fight to get jobs, fight to get justice" as the effects of the Great Recession continue.

So, Kanye West stopped by Occupy Wall Street. Nobody´s quite sure why, as he was wearing his usual very expensive gear, and just showed up and then proceeded to leave. After Russell Simmons
Protesters with Occupy San Francisco, an offshoot of the Occupy Wall Street movement, rally against the financial industry Friday outside the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. San Francisco — As kooky as the Occupy Wall Street protesters may seem.

NATO: Ongoing resistance by pro-Gadhafi forces in Libya is ‘surprising’

Instead, in places such as Sirte, Gadhafi loyalists are still fighting, even though they can no longer be resupplied after the new government’s units won control of key parts of the town’s center, Lavoie said.

“So from that perspective, it just does not make sense to see what these few remaining forces are doing,” he said. “This could certainly be qualified as surprising both from military and political point of view.”

Critics of NATO’s campaign have warned of the danger of protracted armed resistance against the new governing authority led by the National Transitional Council. The NTC has refused repeated attempts by the African Union and others to mediate between the warring parties.

NATO has said it would end its 7-month-long bombing campaign once it is clear pro-Gadhafi remnants no longer present a significant threat. But for the time being it is keeping up airstrikes, mainly against targets in Sirte, Gadhafi’s hometown, and the town of Bani Walid, where pro-Gadhafi forces remain in control.
The alliance has been criticized for allegedly misusing a U.N. resolution in March authorizing the use of force to protect civilians in Libya to justify months of airstrikes aimed at overthrowing Gadhafi’s regime. NATO warplanes have flown about 9,500 strike sorties during that period.

After a long stalemate, the air raids paved the way for the advance of opposition forces and the capture of Tripoli and other major population centers in the past two months. Opposition forces are now moving on Bani Walid, Lavoie said.

“We have no evidence of significant pro-Gadhafi presence or activity in the rest of the country,” he said.
The operation in Libya has been cited as proof that the Cold War alliance remains relevant to international security. But the campaign also has revealed deep rifts within the military bloc, only eight of whose 28 members participated. The others stayed away — mostly out of concern of how the new mission would affect the alliance’s commitment to Afghanistan.

Lavoie also said NATO has no information about the thousands of portable surface-to-air missiles that are reportedly missing in Libya.

Last week, the German news magazine Der Spiegel said the alliance has lost track of at least 10,000 surface-to-air missiles from Libyan military depots. These include the small SAM-7 shoulder-launched, surface-to-air missiles which the U.S. and other Western nations fear could be used by terrorists to target civilian airliners.
Lavoie said that since NATO did not have forces on the ground, it’s up to Libya’s new authorities to account for such munitions.


Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Article source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle-east/nato-ongoing-resistance-by-pro-gadhafi-forces-in-libya-is-surprising/2011/10/11/gIQAhRDVcL_story.html

Seattle’s self-styled superhero arrested

Seattle (CNN) — Instead of the traditional bad guys, it was the costumed, self-styled superhero that ended up behind bars after an altercation Sunday in Seattle.

Phoenix Jones, the moniker used by a man who dons a skintight black-and-gold rubber suit and mask, was arrested on four counts of assault after allegedly trying to break up a fight with pepper spray, the Seattle Police Department said.

According to the statement, a group of men and women were leaving a downtown Seattle club at 2:32 a.m. Sunday and “were dancing and having a good time” when an “unknown adult male suspect came up from behind and pepper sprayed the group,” the statement said.

“He inserted himself and sprayed them with pepper spray,” Seattle Police spokesman Mark Jamieson told CNN. Jones was arrested and charged with four counts of assault, Jamieson said.

But Jones claimed he used the pepper spray only to break up a fight and to protect himself. “I would never hurt or harm another person if they were not causing harm to another human being,” read a message from Jones on his Facebook page.

For about a year, the masked Jones has patrolled the streets of Seattle, often with a film crew in tow, looking for crime and generating international headlines.

Jamieson said it is unclear how many — if any — crimes Jones has assisted police with. Police urge people to call 911 rather than take the law into their own hands, he added.

On a video released by Jones of the incident that led to his arrest, Jones is heard telling the film crew to call 911, then rushes into a crowd of people who appear to be engaged in an altercation.

A spokesman for Jones said he had no recourse but to get involved. “The fight was a huge group of people against a smaller group,” said Peter Tangen. “It was an unfair fight, he went there to break it up.”
A chaotic scene unfolds on the 13-minute video after Jones runs toward a man and woman who appear to be fighting. The man walks away and the woman then tries to hit Jones with her purse but instead falls onto the street.

“What is this, Halloween?” another woman calls out to rubber-suited Jones.
Eventually Jones is seen spraying several of the individuals with what appears to be a can of pepper spray.
Police spokesman Jamieson said Jones’ actions were overkill. “If you see something that warrants calling 911, call 911. You don’t need to dress up in a costume to do that.”

Tangen asked CNN and other media not publish Jones’ real name, which is listed in his police booking. “His family is at risk of retaliation from criminals,” he said. Many, but not all, news outlets were going along with the request.

After he was arrested Sunday and before he was released without bond, Tangen said, Jones was roughed up by two men in the cell he was being held in. The spokesman said Jones was wearing his costume but police had taken away his mask.

Tangen said Jones was shoved but was not seriously hurt and plans to keep fighting crime despite his run-in with police.

“He will always be an activist,” Tangen said

Rihanna says she’s happy for Chris Brown’s success

In this cover image released by Esquire, singer Rihanna is shown on the Nov. 2011 issue of “Esquire.” The issue is available on newsstands nationwide on Oct. 16. (AP Photo/Esquire)

NEW YORK (AP) — Rihanna says she resented Chris Brown for a time, but has put that behind her and is happy that her former boyfriend has found success in music again.
Rihanna tells Esquire magazine that disliking Brown “was taking up too much of my time” and that she has moved on from that.

“It was too much anger,” the 23-year-old said. “I’m really excited to see the breakthrough he’s had in his career.”
Brown, 21, is serving five years of probation after pleading guilty to felony assault for the attack on Rihanna in the early morning hours before the 2009 Grammys. “Graffiti,” the album he released 10 months after the attack, was a commercial disappointment. But his latest release, “F.A.M.E. (Forgiving All My Enemies),” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart in March; it reached gold status and has multiple pop and R&B hits with songs like “Look at Me Now” and “Deuces,” among other tracks.

“It’s incredible to see how he pulled out the way he did. Even when the world seemed like it was against him, you know?” Rihanna said. “I really like the music he’s putting out. I’m a fan of his stuff. I’ve always been a fan.”
Rihanna has done well musically, too: Her albums following the attack — “Rated R” and “Loud” — have both gone platinum, and she’s releasing a new album, “Talk That Talk,” next month. Her latest single, “We Found Love,” is her 20th song to hit the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart since she debuted in 2005.

Overall, she says she wants to see Brown do well.
“I would never wish anything horrible for him. Never. I never have,” she said.
Esquire named Rihanna as its Sexiest Woman Alive for 2011. The November issue of the magazine hits newsstands on Oct. 16.
____
Online:
http://www.rihanna.com
http://www.esquire.com

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

A Golden Opportunity

By Robert Romano
Ever since the U.S. gold standard was weakened in 1913 with the creation of the Federal Reserve system, then again during the Great Depression, when the domestic supply of gold was confiscated in 1933, and finally eliminated all together by Richard Nixon in 1971, when international convertibility was suspended, debate has raged over whether we are better off with the system that replaced it: The dollar standard.
Or, more specifically, the debt standard.

The debt standard

Now, instead of the expansion of gold stocks, the contraction of new debt — by governments, financial institutions, businesses, and consumers — is the primary mechanism by which new dollars are created. Conversely, debt repayment decreases the money supply, leading to deflation, an economic malady policymakers have ever since the Depression era sought to avoid.

For that reason, politicians have almost always sought to avoid repayment at any cost, instead causing a perpetual expansion of debt on all fronts to fund everything imaginable — war, entitlements, corporate and social welfare, you name it. This has been used as a means of facilitating inflation — incentivizing deficit-spending by government, credit expansion by financial institutions, and excessive leveraging by households, all in order to expand purchasing power.

This has led to the explosion of the national debt to over $14.7 trillion, helped facilitate the uncontrolled credit bubble of the 1990’s and 2000’s that finally wrecked the global economy in 2008, and today, still haunts us in the form of Europe’s sovereign debt crisis. It has caused a 95 percent devaluation of the dollar from its levels in the 1910’s, eroding the purchasing power of American families, furthering incentivizing the contraction of yet more debt.

Restoration of value
Now, 40 years later, after the gold standard’s demise, the nation is coming to a moment of reflection — to examine the fallout of that decision, and the chaos that has reigned ever since.

“The problem is that we have severed money from value,” Americans for Limited Government (ALG) President Bill Wilson observed recently, adding, “To get back to price stability and robust economic growth, we must restore money as a reliable store of value.” But how?

One author may have an answer. Lewis Lehrman of The Lehrman Institute has penned a new book, The True Gold Standard, to provide a basis for restoring convertibility — both at home and abroad — of dollars into a fixed weight of gold, defined by law.

Today, dollars, and dollar-denominated assets — such as U.S. treasuries — are held in reserve by foreign governments and financial institutions all over the world. That system, writes Lehrman, must come to an end.
Lehrman points to the explosion of the nation’s balance of payments deficit with foreign nations — the trade deficit plus financial transfers — and extreme budget deficits as primary evidence that the world’s dollar standard system is a failure. By establishing the dollar as the word’s reserve currency, other nations were incentivized to depreciate their own currencies, cheapening the value of their exports.

Writes Lehrman, “since World War II, free trade has often been at the expense of United States businesses, manufacturing, and labor,” adding, “In the long run, free trade without stable exchange rates is a fantasy.” Harsh words, but they are not without basis. After all, the U.S. cannot control the value of foreign currencies, leaving the nation vulnerable to what Lehrman termed “mercantilists” who know how to game the system to their advantage.

He writes, “Under the world dollar standard, other nations gain desired reserves only as the U.S. becomes an increasingly leveraged debtor through balance-of-payment deficits.”
Instead, under an international gold standard, trade could be facilitated without these structural imbalances with a single, agreed-upon unit of measurement to the mutual benefit of all who participate.
Get full story here.

Time to end the first-class mail monopoly

By Rebekah Rast


The United States Post Office lost $8.5 billion last year. If that were any private business, well, it wouldn’t exist any longer.
But not the post office.

Despite a 20 percent decrease in mail volume from 2006 to 2010, and package-delivery competition from UPS and FedEx, somehow the post office stays afloat. But if it weren’t for the federal government propping up the USPS and its first-class mail monopoly, today’s mail system would look much different.

In an op-ed to the Wall Street Journal, Gary MacDougal, writes, “With a well-managed Postal Service wind-down, Fedex, UPS and others could easily and efficiently pick up much of the volume. Some could also be handled by a host of local delivery companies now serving most major cities. Fedex, UPS, DHL, cargo airlines and others can handle long-distance and international shipments. Entrepreneurs will see the demise of the USPS as an opportunity, and new companies will emerge.”

Maybe cutting off the USPS and letting it run as an independent business is just what this country and the post office needs.

As it is structured, it will be nearly impossible for the post office to pull itself out of debt. If mail volume continues to fall while at the same time there is an increase in the number of postal addresses, the cost to deliver each piece of mail will continue to rise and revenue levels will not be able to keep up. On top of this, the USPS had financial liabilities and unfunded obligations of $88 billion in 2009. And its latest mess was only partially resolved when Congress saved the post office from going into default by extending the due date for a $5.5 billion payment due to the U.S. Treasury for retiree health benefits. Also not mentioned are the labor union costs and payouts and the fact that postal workers earn an average of 15 to 20 percent more per hour than comparable workers in the private sector.
Get full story here.