More extreme weather. A rare October snow storm has bombed its way up the East Coast this weekend, leaving millions without power.
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … PAST AS PROLOGUE, AND PRESENT: SUPERHERO MOVIES AFTER A BIG YEAR, ON THE VERGE OF A BIGGER YEAR.
** OBAMA TODAY – SUNDAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington.
Obama has received the daily intelligence and economic briefing and met with senior advisors in the Oval Office.
He has no scheduled public events.
The Des Moines Register published its Iowa poll for the first in the nation Republican presidential caucuses.
Despite gaffes, Herman Cain is holding up as the national frontrunner in the contest.
He and Mitt Romney lead the pack in Iowa, with 23% and 22%, respectively. Cain is up 13 points since the last such poll, in June, despite spending virtually no time in the state. Romney, mindful of the state’s large numbers of fundamentalist voters, and of his own loss there in 2008 after investing heavily in the state, also hasn’t campaigned there much.
Ron Paul is third with 12%, followed by Michele Bachmann at 8% and Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich both at 7%. Rick Santorum has spent the most time in Iowa, and is at 5%. Jon Huntsman, who isn’t contesting the state, is at 1%.
If Romney makes a big move in Iowa, he might wrap up the nomination quickly. But if he tries and loses again, his chances elsewhere will be heavily affected.
What does the poll mean? That the state is up for grabs.
Things can move very quickly in presidential primaries and caucuses, which makes investing too much significance in polls beforehand problematic.
For example, when I flew to Des Moines in January 1984, having just attended Apple’s public unveiling of the first Macintosh computer, Gary Hart was running fifth in polling in the Iowa Democratic caucuses.
Four weeks later, he finished second, which established him as a major presidential contender and provided him the needed springboard to win the New Hampshire primary eight days after that.
What does the US do post-Iraq, with the Iraqi parliament refusing to allow immunity from prosecution for US troops but concerns continuing about post-pull-out stability (and counter-weights to Iran)? Load up some elsewhere in the Gulf, with a potential rapid response force in Kuwait and added naval and air assets coordinating in a tighter alliance with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
The GCC being the regional alliance that assisted heavily in Libya, comprised of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates.
Violence has continued in Syria over the past few days, with Assad regime forces gunning down at least 40 more protesters. Anti-regime demonstrators have begun calling for a no-fly zone over Syria, similar to that in Libya.
President Bashar Assad warned today that any intervention by the West would cause an “earthquake” that would “burn the whole region.”
Protesters have begun calling for a no-fly zone as army units defect from the Assad regime, thus making them targets of Assad regime air assets.
Obama is monitoring a variety of other geopolitical crises, mostly related to the Arab awakening, AfPak, and Iraq.
War Zone Times: Libya is nine hours ahead of Pacific time, Iraq is ten hours ahead of Pacific time, and Afghanistan is eleven and a half hours ahead of Pacific time.
** FROM THE JERRY FILES – SUNDAY. Governor Jerry Brown is in Northern California.
He has no scheduled public events as of this morning.
In his weekly video/radio address, President Barack Obama discusses reports of sharp rises in income inequality, talks up his economic proposals, and hones his do-nothing Congress theme.
** “OUT OF CONTEXT”: HILLARY’S P.R. OFFENSIVE. It’s been a tumultuous time lately for the Obama Administration in geopolitics, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is more prominent than ever. The polls are strong for her, but the reality is more problematic.
It makes sense for Clinton to be so prominent now. Even when people believed in the economic recovery, President Barack Obama’s extensive early foreign travel had quickly diminishing returns in PR terms. And Hillary brings the Clinton clout which she and Bill have built over many years.
But, aside from Libya, to which she paid a happy visit on October 18 having championed the limited U.S. intervention policy over opposition from then Defense Secretary Bob Gates, she’s been busy spinning up some unsuccessful/highly unconvincing stuff. …
** OBAMA TODAY – SATURDAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington.
Obama has received the daily intelligence and economic briefing and met with senior advisors in the Oval Office.
At 2:45 PM Pacific, Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama welcome local children and military families to trick-or-treat at the White House on the North Portico.
At 5:20 PM Pacific, Obama delivers remarks at the National Italian American Foundation Gala at the Washington Hilton.
The Des Moines Register publishes its Iowa poll of Republican presidential candidates Saturday evening. That will be very interesting.
Despite gaffes, Herman Cain is holding up as the national frontrunner in the contest.
A Taliban terrorist attack Saturday morning in the Afghan capital Kabul killed 17 people, including 13 US soldiers.
The Taliban struck with several deadly attacks today across Afghanistan, the most damaging of which was in central Kabul where 13 US soldiers and four Afghans were killed in a suicide bombing of their bus outside the entrance to American University.
It was the largest single loss of American life in the conflict since the August shootdown of a helicopter containing dozens of Navy SEALs.
In Libya, the new government and the International Criminal Court are at odds over Seif Gaddafi, who wants to surrender to the ICC, which has charged him with crimes against humanity. The Libyans want him kept in the country, not that they have been able to catch him themselves.
Obama is monitoring a variety of other geopolitical crises, mostly related to the Arab awakening, AfPak, and Iraq.
War Zone Times: Libya is nine hours ahead of Pacific time, Iraq is ten hours ahead of Pacific time, and Afghanistan is eleven and a half hours ahead of Pacific time.
** FROM THE JERRY FILES – SATURDAY. Governor Jerry Brown is in Northern California.
He has no scheduled public events as of this morning.
The loose-knit Occupy Wall Street forces’ Oakland affiliate is going ahead with an attempted general strike in Oakland on November 2nd. But it will be hard for there to be an actual general strike without most people going on strike. Which seems very unlikely. Labor has contracts, for one thing, and seems to be going with solidarity motions in lieu of actual strikes.
But there could be substantial symbolic disruption next Wednesday, which happens to be the first anniversary of the election of Oakland’s former mayor, one Jerry Brown, as governor of California.
The day before that, on Tuesday, the California High-Speed Rail Authority will unveil its revised business plan in an event at the historic California Railroad Museum in Old Sacramento, not far from the Western terminus of the Pony Express. There had been an earlier plan to unveil it at a Sacramento Press Club luncheon, which made absolutely no sense.
** STEVE JOBS: HARDLY A PERFECT PERSON, PERHAPS A PERFECT ICON. As Apple CEO Tim Cook noted again at last week’s memorial service, Steve Jobs liked to say that he modeled his business after the Beatles. So it was interesting to have been around when the Beatles broke up, i.e., when Jobs was fired in the ’80s from the company he so famously co-founded and led. … From my October 26th essay.
** SIGNS: JERRY BROWN AFTER A DISAPPOINTING LEGISLATIVE YEAR. After a rather disappointing legislative year, Governor Jerry Brown is looking ahead to 2012. Brown and his appointees are digging into future economic and energy policy, the prospects for major water and high-speed rail projects, the possibility of mid-course cuts in the current state budget, and the 2012 elections. … From my October 20th essay.
** AFGHAN WAR AT 10, 9/11 AT 10+: DID OSAMA BIN WIN AFTER ALL? … From my October 7th essay.
** CALIFORNIA’S WILD RIDE: OF ARNOLD, JERRY, AND VANITIES FAIR (AND OTHERWISE). … From my October 4th essay.
** MAD MEN‘S FEAT. … From my September 28th essay.
** FROM GOVERNATOR TO MOONBEAM. … From my January 3rd, 2011 feature.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th, 2009 Huffington Post column.
** PAN AMERICAN GAMES LIVE. The Pan American Games, bringing together athletes from 41 nations across North, Central, and South America and the Caribbean contesting in 36 sports, have their opening ceremony tonight in Guadalajara, Mexico. The Pan Ams run until October 30th.
You can watch the action on ESPN Deportes.
A new Mission Impossible picture hits theaters in December.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in three wars in the region, and the Arab awakening underway, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** TRACK GLOBAL AND NATIONAL ENERGY PRICES IN NEAR REAL TIME VIA BLOOMBERG ENERGY MARKET WATCH. Having crashed over $147 for yet another record on July 11th, 2008, crude oil closed on Friday at $93.32 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Energy markets are closed on the weekend.
This is up about $59 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity, and down $21 from the price at the time of the Osama bin Laden raid.
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| Comments (29) |
Good weekend address by President Obama on economic inequality.
Good bad news news video of the Americans killed in Kabul.
The Mission Impossible movie looks good.
Barack’s on message in a really good way in this speech.
Jonas Blane says:
October 29, 2011 at 12:02 pm
Good weekend address by President Obama on economic inequality.
Sigh…
Jonas Blane says:
October 29, 2011 at 12:05 pm
Good bad news news video of the Americans killed in Kabul.
Cool!
Jonas Blane says:
October 29, 2011 at 12:10 pm
The Mission Impossible movie looks good.
He’s finally getting it.
Capitol Boy says:
October 29, 2011 at 12:53 pm
Barack’s on message in a really good way in this speech.
Jonas Blane says:
October 29, 2011 at 12:02 pm
Good weekend address by President Obama on economic inequality.
Our Bay Area teams are in big trouble in LA!!
Whoo, I’m wiped out from Stanford and SC just watching!! What a relief, 3 OT, 56-48.
Cal, oh well…
That was a great game. I always enjoy watching USC lose. But I think we’d better enjoy while we can, because the Trojans are going to be very tough over the next few years.
Hillary Clinton finds fortune in your media’s foolishness.
That’s a situation that’s not improving, unfortunately.
The game was incredible. I was for Stanford going on, mainly because I want them to get their shot at the national title, but also like USC and was impressed by how they battled.
Actually, I think SC should have won the game in regulation. First TJ McDonald had that dumb penalty after the incomplete pass late in the game on 3rd and 10. Then Robert Woods forgot that they had two time-outs left and ran across the field to try to get out of bounds at the end of the game.
But what a great contest, and Andrew Luck showed he is a very big-time QB in front of 94,000 screaming fans in the Coliseum, one of the great venues in sport.
>Pat Skipper says:
October 30, 2011 at 8:37 am (Edit)
That was a great game. I always enjoy watching USC lose. But I think we’d better enjoy while we can, because the Trojans are going to be very tough over the next few years.
Cal, yeesh, I don’t know what’s gone wrong there the past few years.
>Capitol Boy says:
October 29, 2011 at 10:08 pm (Edit)
Whoo, I’m wiped out from Stanford and SC just watching!! What a relief, 3 OT, 56-48.
Cal, oh well…
Perhaps.
>Requiem says:
October 29, 2011 at 4:50 pm (Edit)
He’s finally getting it.
Capitol Boy says:
October 29, 2011 at 12:53 pm
Barack’s on message in a really good way in this speech.
Jonas Blane says:
October 29, 2011 at 12:02 pm
Good weekend address by President Obama on economic inequality.
Indeed.
>Capitol Boy says:
October 29, 2011 at 12:58 pm (Edit)
Cool!
Jonas Blane says:
October 29, 2011 at 12:10 pm
The Mission Impossible movie looks good.
Despite it all, Tom Cruise is still one of the biggest movie stars in the world, and he does a good job with these movies.
>Jonas Blane says:
October 29, 2011 at 12:10 pm (Edit)
The Mission Impossible movie looks good.
Good news video of the big storm.
Looks pretty scarey, so early in the year…
A really great game!!!
Pat Skipper says:
October 30, 2011 at 8:37 am
That was a great game. I always enjoy watching USC lose. But I think we’d better enjoy while we can, because the Trojans are going to be very tough over the next few years.
Tedford doesn’t have the quarterbacking he used to.
Bill Bradley says:
October 30, 2011 at 10:05 am
Cal, yeesh, I don’t know what’s gone wrong there the past few years.
>Capitol Boy says:
October 29, 2011 at 10:08 pm (Edit)
Whoo, I’m wiped out from Stanford and SC just watching!! What a relief, 3 OT, 56-48.
Cal, oh well…
The Niners win again!! Its a great year for Bay Area football (except Cal)…
re the Robert Woods snafu at the end of the Stanford win: I’d say that’s more of a coaching thing. These guys are kids. The coaches have to be very clear about what they’re trying to accomplish.
You’re right, of course, he’s only a sophomore. And coaches can’t anticipate everything and talk into everybody’s ears immediately. Mistakes will happen.
Cal was coming along, but regressed badly. The 49ers are for real. After so many mirages in the last seven or eight years.
>Capitol Boy says:
October 30, 2011 at 5:45 pm (Edit)
The Niners win again!! Its a great year for Bay Area football (except Cal)…
New York City has been getting hammered by extreme weather. Then today it turned out clear, even as millions elsewhere were left without power.
>Capitol Boy says:
October 30, 2011 at 11:47 am (Edit)
Looks pretty scarey, so early in the year…
The family values Black man Republican running for your Presidency faces sex charges.
Libyan transition video today?
…Visitor recommendations…
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