‘Evening, all!

International Developments

❖ “Turkey Forces Syrian Airplane to Land at Ankara Airport”. It’s a passenger plane which Turkish intelligence suspected of carrying “non-civilian cargo”.

❖ Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu couldn’t reach agreement on the country’s budget, so has called for parliamentary elections in January, 9 months early.

International Finance

❖ Ireland has struck oil off the Cork coast, some 280 million barrels of it, which “could run into billions of pounds.”

Money Matters USA

❖ “From 2008 to 2010 at least 30 Fortune 500 companies–including PepsiCo, Verizon, Wells Fargo and DuPont–paid more for lobbyists than they did in taxes.” They reported $164 billion in profit–and “received $10.6 billion in rebates”.

❖ Corrections Corporation of America “has failed to meet state standards in food quality, sanitation, hygiene, and many other areas, according to a recently concluded audit” of an OH prison owned by the corporation–47 violations total. Nonetheless, CCA is looking to buy more prisons from cash-strapped states, though they typically require states to guarantee them 90% occupancy for a specified number of decades.

❖ Unaware that Gawker just published almost “1,000 pages of Bain Capital’s confidential financial records”, Bain Capital Ventures emailed Gawker’s “corporate overlord” Nick Denton , inquiring about possible future “synergies between Gawker and Bain Capital Ventures”. An awkward moment ensued during the follow-up phone call.

Politics USA

❖ “Romney’s Stake in Chinese Stocks: The GOP candidate invested in 10 Chinese companies recently–including ones that embezzled, partnered with Iran, and stole US trade secrets.”

❖ When asked during a town hall in OH yesterday about the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Mitt Romney said he’d be “happy to take a look at that”.

❖ Romney was briefly pro-choice yesterday, but a few hours later changed his mind back to a previous position.

❖ Romney’s now embracing Medicaid since he can say that poor people get Medicaid as part of their choice of “the type of health care plan we might choose”. No mention of the millions upon millions of Americans who can’t afford to buy insurance but who aren’t poor enough to qualify for Medicaid.

❖ Romney told an “emotional” story about meeting former Navy SEAL Glenn Doherty, who was killed during the vicious attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi, Libya in September. Turns out, there’s another version of that story, told by a close friend of Doherty’s. And now Doherty’s mother “Tells Romney To Stop Talking About Her Son”.

❖ Amazing tale of how Mitt Romney’s American Ramblers purchase ad air-time for their candidate. Example: Obama’s ad on a 3-day stint of “Wheel of Fortune” cost $500/spot, while Mitt’s cost $2,800. Just think how this would play out in the US budget.

❖ “Why exactly should the government fund PBS and NPR?” Chief among the pro arguments are the educational benefits and the outreach into rural areas which, otherwise, are a “vast wasteland” in terms of children’s programming. At least 55% of the public polled recently wanted public broadcasting to stay.

❖ Palm Beach County, FL Supervisor of Elections, Susan Bucher, is upset about the optical scan system she’s required to use since it’s yielded wrong results in two races. Bucher isn’t alone in her concerns, either, and says the state should be held accountable since it certifies the machines, having opted-out of the federal certification system.

❖ SC’s voter ID law can go into effect, according to a federal judge panel–but not until 2013.

❖ The 9th! The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals overruled a lower court and “reinstated Montana’s campaign donation limits“, though the federal judge who was overruled was told to “outline his full reasoning so the panel can review the case.”

❖ ProgressNow New Mexico alerted NM Attorney General Gary King (D) of a video which “allegedly shows Republican officials giving volunteer poll watchers false information about state election law”. King has begun an investigation. NM’s House Rep Steve Pearce (R) is involved, “We’re simply saying . . . we’re going to take it back . . . into our hands.”

❖ Oh, nooos. The FBI kept a file on Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. Some tidbits are here, including mention that some pages of the file were destroyed.

❖ “Leadership according to Rahm Emmanuel”. Quite a little nugget digby’s uncovered.

❖ Ex-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX)’s lawyers will appear before the 3rd Court of Appeals today, “looking to overturn his 2010 conviction on money laundering and conspiracy charges.” He’s supposed to be serving 3 years but you know how that goes.

❖ Bruce Fleming, an up-and-coming Republican in Fort Bend County, TX seems to have voted twice in 2006, 2008 and 2010–”in person in Fort Bend County and by mail in Pennsylvania in the same general election.” So did his wife. Says the commentator, “real voter fraud is happening right here in their own front yard.”

❖ WI Republican Gov Scott Walker’s former aide (while Walker was Milwaukee County Executive), Kelly Rindfleisch has entered into a plea deal. Rindfleisch was scheduled for trial next week, 4 felony charges “from a long-running secret John Doe investigation”. Darlene Wink, another aide, earlier pled guilty. Moving up the chain, it seems.

❖ TN Republican Tea-party Congressman Scott DesJarlais, also a physician, was caught cheating on his wife with a patient (and without using a condom), “pushed” his mistress to have an abortion, and recorded the telephone call he made to the mistress.

❖ Fl Republican Gov Rick Scott mistakenly gave out the number for an “‘adult’ hotline” instead of the number for the state’s meningitis hotline during a recent meeting. The incorrect number was also posted on the state’s Department of Health website.

❖ IL Republican Joe Walsh, running against Democrat Iraq veteran double-amputee Tammy Duckworth, flashed a picture of Duckworth shopping for a dress prior to the Democratic convention. Whatever his point, the public stage seems better served by this Joe Walsh.

The War on Women

❖ Planned Parenthood Votes, a PAC, is releasing a third round of mailers in VA–anti-Romney and Republican George Allen who is running for the senate.

❖ Malala Yousufzai, the 15-year old girl who has spoken out on behalf of education of girls in Pakistan and who was shot by the Taliban yesterday in retaliation, is said to be in stable condition after doctors removed a bullet from her head. This makes tomorrow an even more special day: October 11th, International Day of the Girl.

Working for A Living

❖ “After four years of layoffs, teaching jobs are finally coming back. Public school hiring rose this summer to its highest level in six years”–79,000 education jobs were added.

❖ General Motors has announced it intends to “‘insource’ 90 percent of the company’s IT operations within three years”. Only 4% of US companies have similar plans.

❖ Some unemployed workers will be receiving extended benefits through Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC), a complex system of “tiers” and rules. States meeting the EUC criteria include GA, MS, MI, MD, TX, WI, WY and UT.

Heads Up!

❖ Is your city among those participating in GlobalNoise?

Latin America

❖ Jose Dirceu, one of former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s top aides, has been found guilty of corruption by the Brazilian Supreme Court.

❖ 7500 Brazilian soldiers are being sent to the “long, porous border with Peru and Bolivia as part of an operation to combat drug trafficking, and any other illicit actions . . ..” Both Peru and Bolivia were invited to participate.

Mixed Bag

❖ Affirmative action is back before the US Supreme Court, this time in a case from TX where a white applicant to the University of TX was rejected, and claimed it was due to her race

❖ Talk about mistaken identity!

❖ Yekaterina Samutsevich, one of three imprisoned Pussy Riot members, was unexpectedly freed, though the other two still face “harsh punishment” for their protest in Moscow’s main cathedral.

Break Time

❖ It’s a wonderful day in Mr. Romney’s neighborhood. Scroll down.
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