Netanyahu deputy disagrees on setting Iran "red line"

Source: REUTERS

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Benjamin Netanyahu's deputy for intelligence and atomic affairs on Thursday broke with the Israeli prime minister's call for Iran to be confronted with a "red line" beyond which its disputed nuclear program would face military attack.

In a broadcast interview, Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor appeared to side with the United States in balking at Netanyahu's repeated demand that it set Iran an ultimatum or risk seeing Israel launch region-rattling unilateral strikes.

Meridor's remarks also underscored debate within the leader's inner circle about potentially exacerbating the rift with Washington with a war that polls show most Israelis, including several senior security figures, would oppose.

"I don't want to set red lines or deadlines for myself," Meridor, one of several Netanyahu deputies who form the core of his security cabinet, told Israel's Army Radio when asked how much time remained before force against Iran should be used.


Read more: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/netanyahu-deputy-disagrees-setting-iran-red-line-032843354.html

The Romney campaign in 17 seconds....

Poll shows Obama up five on Romney in Colorado

Source: kwgn Colorado

DENVER – The first poll of Colorado voters since the Democratic National Convention shows President Barack Obama with a five point lead over Republican Mitt Romney, FOX31 Denver is first to report.

The new survey by OnSight Public Affairs and Project New America, showing Obama with a 49-44 percent lead over Romney, was released Thursday morning, just hours before Obama’s campaign is set to rally supporters in Golden.

-snip-

Notably, Obama broadened his advantage with unaffiliated voters, which stood at 50-36 back in August and is now at 55-32, according to OnSight’s pollster, Chris Keating.

And, for the first time in months, Obama is above water with a favorability rating of 51 percent in Colorado. Romney, by comparison, has a favorability rating of 47 percent.

OnSight Public Affairs is run by Melanson and Ben Davis, both Democratic operatives who ran Gov. John Hickenlooper’s successful 2010 campaign and managed Sen. Mark Udall’s campaign in 2008.

The poll was conducted this Monday and Tuesday by telephone with 503 likely Colorado voters.

It’s margin of error is 4.4 percent.


Read more: http://kwgn.com/2012/09/13/poll-shows-obama-up-five-on-romney-in-colorado-5/

Senator Jon Kyl compares embassy statement to blaming a rape victim

Source: New York Daily News

Mitt Romney wasn’t the only Republican who had a bad day on Wednesday.

In the wake of deadly protests in Libya and Egypt, Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl also caught some flak for saying a statement released by the U.S. embassy in Cairo was like blaming a rape victim.

Kyl was referring to a statement released by the Cairo embassy — and disavowed by Washington — that attempted to defuse tensions by criticizing an anti-Islamic movie that fueled protests in Egypt.

In that statement, first released hours before the U.S. ambassador to Libya was killed in Benghazi, the embassy condemned "the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims."

Kyl told reporters Wednesday that the embassy’s statement “was like the judge telling the woman, ‘You got raped, you asked for it because of the way you dressed.’”


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/senator-jon-kyl-compares-embassy-statement-blaming-a-rape-victim-article-1.1158754

Movie that set off violence in Middle East produced by Southern California nonprofit

Source: AP



An inflammatory anti-Muslim film that has been blamed in this week's deadly attack on U.S. diplomats in Libya was produced by a Duarte-based Christian non-profit, officials said.

Media for Christ, which has its administrative offices south of the 210 Freeway in Duarte, took out a film permit for the production, according to City Manager Darryl George.

The producers also used Blue Cloud studios in Santa Clarita, also known as Blue Cloud Movie Ranch, as the film's location, George said.

It was filmed in Santa Clarita George said. He said he obtained the information from the L.A. County Sheriff's Department.



Read more: http://www.willitsnews.com/ci_21529045/anti-islam-movie-filmed-southern-california

Mitt Romney caught up in billboard affair

Source: Boston Herald

A Southie billboard advertising a website for adulterers, which slammed White House wannabe Mitt Romney over his tax returns, disappeared less than 24 hours after it went up after the media company got complaints from fans of the ex-gov.

“It didn’t even survive 24 hours,” AshleyMadison.com founder Noel Biderman told the Track. “This doesn’t feel like America to me. It’s like something that would happen in some Central American dictatorship.”

OK, so here’s the deal: Biderman rented a billboard in Southie to advertise his website, which promises to hook up people who are in relationships but looking for some side action.

The billboard features a pic of the ex-Mass. governor with his fingers to his lips in a “Shhhh” pose. The caption read: “If cheating on your taxes is OK ... so is AshleyMadison.com.”



Read more: http://news.bostonherald.com/track/inside_track/view/20220913mitt_caught_up_in_billboard_affair/srvc=home&position=also

‘Saturday Night Live’ elects a new Obama; Jay Pharoah to take over role from Fred Armisen

Source: Washington Post

NEW YORK — “Saturday Night Live” has elected a new Barack Obama: Jay Pharoah will take over the plum role of impersonating the president.

“SNL” creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels announced the casting switch in an interview with The New York Times posted Wednesday. Michaels said it was time “to shake it up.”

Veteran cast member Fred Armisen has played Obama since 2008. Pharoah joined the show in 2010, and has since stood out for his impressions of Denzel Washington, Eddie Murphy and Will Smith.

Michaels also said that Jason Sudeikis will remain with the show at least until January, and will continue to play Obama’s Republican opponent, Mitt Romney.

The 38th season of “SNL” premieres Saturday with host Seth MacFarlane, creator of “Family Guy,” and musical guest Frank Ocean.


Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/saturday-night-live-elects-a-new-obama-jay-pharoah-to-take-over-role-from-fred-armisen/2012/09/12/a8c36362-fd51-11e1-98c6-ec0a0a93f8eb_story.html

7 Things that will Destroy Us ~ MKG

THE FACT CHECK: Romney misstates facts on attacks

This is in wide release MSM http://seattletimes.com/html/politics/2019138908_apusembassyattacksfactcheck.html

WASHINGTON —

The gunfire at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, had barely ceased when Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney seriously mischaracterized what had happened in a statement accusing President Barack Obama of "disgraceful" handling of violence there and at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo.

"The Obama administration's first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks," Romney said in a statement first emailed to reporters at 10:09 p.m. Eastern time, under the condition it not be published until midnight.

In fact, neither a statement by the U.S. Embassy in Cairo earlier in the day nor a later statement from Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton offered sympathy for attackers. The statement from the Cairo Embassy had condemned anti-Muslim religious incitement before the embassy walls were breached. In her statement, issued minutes before Romney's, Clinton had offered the administration's first response to the violence in Libya, explicitly condemning the attack there and confirming the death of a State Department official.

"I condemn in the strongest terms the attack on our mission in Benghazi today," Clinton said in a written statement received by The Associated Press at 10:08 p.m. "As we work to secure our personnel and facilities, we have confirmed that one of our State Department officers was killed. We are heartbroken by this terrible loss."

Then, at 10:24 p.m., a Romney spokeswoman lifted the release restriction on the Republican's statement, and it was widely published.

At the time, the Romney campaign did not know that the U.S. ambassador, Christopher Stevens, had been killed, nor did the Obama administration. Libyans told American officials around midnight that the ambassador had died, but Americans were unable to confirm his identity until hours later.

"I strongly condemn the outrageous attack on our diplomatic facility in Benghazi, which took the lives of four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens," Obama said in his first statement at 7:21 a.m. Wednesday, the next morning.

A closer look at the day's events and rhetoric:

--

Tuesday, Sept. 11, Cairo, Egypt

Early Tuesday morning, the U.S. Embassy in Cairo got word that demonstrators, angry about an anti-Islamic film produced in the U.S., were gathering in the streets. It issued a safety warning to Americans: Stay out of the streets.

As the situation became increasingly tense- but while the crowd was still peaceful - the U.S. Embassy in Cairo issued a statement condemning what it called "religious incitement" as it worked to calm the tensions.

"The Embassy of the United States in Cairo condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims - as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions," the embassy said at 6:18 a.m. EDT, shortly after noon Cairo time.

That's the statement that Romney referred to as the administration's "first response." By Wednesday morning, the Republican nominee was at a podium in Jacksonville, Fla., saying that statement "appeared to be an apology for American principles." It's a theme Romney has hammered against Obama throughout his presidential campaign, including in his campaign book, "No Apology."

But the embassy's condemnation of religious incitement hardly amounted to an apology.

Romney also said Wednesday that the Cairo Embassy "put out a statement after their grounds had been breached. Protesters were inside the grounds. They reiterated that statement after the breach."

Not quite. Almost five hours after the Cairo Embassy issued its statement - at about 11:15 a.m. EDT - Associated Press images show protesters atop the Cairo Embassy's walls. At about 11:33 a.m. EDT, the American flag there had come down.

The embassy did use its Twitter account to say, at about 8 p.m. EDT, that "this morning's condemnation ... still stands." The tweet was later deleted.

The Obama administration later backed away from the embassy's statement entirely. "That statement was not coordinated with Washington. It was taken down," a senior administration official said.

--

Tuesday, Sept. 11, Benghazi, Libya

As the protests in Cairo were winding down, the situation in Benghazi was getting worse. At about 4:15 p.m. EDT, senior administration officials said, attackers had entered the compound, firing at officials and setting the consulate's main building on fire. Three Americans were trapped inside, including Stevens, the ambassador. They became separated from each other; one made it out before going back inside to search for the others.

No one could find Stevens.

They took refuge in a second, smaller building around 4:45 p.m. EDT. More shooting started at 5 p.m., and two additional U.S. personnel were killed. Two more were wounded. It wasn't until 8:30 p.m. EDT that Libyan security forces helped the Americans regain control of the compound. Still, no one knew where Stevens was.

That was less than two hours before Romney's initial 10:10 p.m. statement.

At midnight, Libyans told American officials that Stevens was dead. But they had to wait until dawn to identify him.

At 10:43 a.m. EDT Wednesday, Obama was standing in the White House's Rose Garden, offering a tribute.

--

Wednesday, Sept. 12, Jacksonville, Fla.

Just minutes before Obama appeared in the Rose Garden, Romney spoke to reporters at a hastily arranged news conference at his Jacksonville campaign office, walking to the podium at about 10:15 a.m. What was supposed to be a small rally was abruptly turned into a statement of condolence for the deaths in Libya - and a doubling down on the previous night's criticism of Obama.

Romney was pressed about whether he would have made his Tuesday night statement if he'd had complete information about the situation in Benghazi.

"I'm not going to take hypotheticals about what would have been known what and so forth," Romney said. "I - we responded last night to the events that happened in Egypt."

But his statement had referenced both countries, referring to "attacks on our diplomatic missions."

In Washington, Republican foreign policy veterans called Romney's initial statement premature and rushed, with limited facts and an incomplete understanding of what was happening in Egypt and Libya. Romney's team also was unclear about the timeline of when the Obama administration weighed in.

One Republican official advising Romney's campaign on foreign policy and national security issues painted a picture of a Romney campaign more focused on ensuring Romney's evening statement made it into morning news stories than on waiting for details about what had happened.

This official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid angering Romney's campaign, said that as word of violence spread, campaign aides late Tuesday watched tweets coming out of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo that were criticizing the filmmaker rather than condemning the attackers, and saw an opportunity to criticize Obama.

It wasn't until Wednesday morning, when the U.S. confirmed the death of the U.S. ambassador to Libya, that Romney's team recognized the severity of the situation - and that, the night before, it had opened itself up to criticism for politicizing a diplomatic crisis.

--

Associated Press writers Steve Negus in Cairo and Philip Elliott and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

New monkey discovered

Source: CNN


Nairobi, Kenya (CNN) -- Scientists are claiming they have discovered a new species of monkey living in the remote forests of the Democratic Republic of Congo -- an animal well-known to local hunters but until now, unknown to the outside world.

In a paper published Wednesday in the open-access journal Plos One, the scientists describe the new species that they call Cercopithecus Lomamiensis, known locally as the Lesula, whose home is deep in central DR Congo's Lomami forest basin. The scientists say it is only the second discovery of a monkey species in 28 years.

-snip-

The team came across a strange looking monkey tethered to a post. It was the pet of Georgette, the daughter of the local school director.

She adopted the young monkey when its mother was killed by a hunter in the forest. Her father said it was a Lesula, well-known to hunters in that part of the forest. The field team took pictures and showed them to Hart.

"Right away I saw that this was something different. It looked a bit like a monkey from much further east, but the coloring was so different and the range was so different," said Hart.



Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/12/world/africa/dr-congo-new-monkey/index.html?hpt=hp_c3