The Death of European Socialism - Angela Merkel: Multiculturalism has failed in Germany

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One of the most powerful, respected and popular females to ever head a European nation, Angela Merkel of Germany, stunned the liberal world and socialist advocates worldwide by declaring Multiculturalism has failed in Germany.

Yet another example of the breakdown of European socialism that is being under reported in main stream American media, Merkel shattered the world of political correctness that seems to prevail here in America.

The Guardian newspaper in the UK reports that the Chancellor's assertion that onus is on new arrivals to do more to integrate into German society stirs anti-immigration debate.

Chancellor Angela Merkel says multiculturalism in Germany has 'failed utterly'. She tells a conference of the youth wing of her Christian Democratic Union party that Germans and foreign workers could not 'live happily side by side'. The speech has been interpreted as a dramatic shift to the right.

The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, has courted growing anti-immigrant opinion in Germany by claiming the country's attempts to create a multicultural society have "utterly failed".

Speaking to a meeting of young members of her Christian Democratic Union party, Merkel said the idea of people from different cultural backgrounds living happily "side by side" did not work.

She said the onus was on immigrants to do more to integrate into German society.

"This [multicultural] approach has failed, utterly failed," Merkel told the meeting in Potsdam, south of Berlin, yesterday.

Her remarks will stir a debate about immigration in a country which is home to around 4 million Muslims.

Last week, Horst Seehofer, the premier of Bavaria and a member of the Christian Social Union – part of Merkel's ruling coalition – called for a halt to Turkish and Arabic immigration.

In the past, Merkel has tried to straddle both sides of the argument by talking tough on integration but also calling for an acceptance of mosques.

But she faces pressure from within the CDU to take a harder line on immigrants who show resistance to being integrated into German society.

Yesterday's speech is widely seen as a lurch to the right designed to placate that element in her party.

Merkel said too little had been required of immigrants in the past and repeated her argument that they should learn German in order to cope in school and take advantage of opportunities in the labour market.

The row over foreigners in Germany has shifted since former central banker Thilo Sarrazin published a highly-controversial book in which he accused Muslim immigrants of lowering the intelligence of German society.

Sarrazin was censured for his views and dismissed from the Bundesbank, but his book proved popular and polls showed Germans were sympathetic with the thrust of his arguments.

One recent poll showed one-third of Germans believed the country was "overrun by foreigners".

It also found 55% of Germans believed that Arabs are "unpleasant people", compared with the 44% who held the opinion seven years ago.

In her speech, Merkel said the education of unemployed Germans should take priority over recruiting workers from abroad, while noting that Germany could not get by without skilled foreign workers.

The chancellor's remarks appear to confirm a suspicion that she has sympathy with Sarrazin's anti-immigrant rhetoric. On Friday, he declared: "Multiculturalism is dead".

Other members of Merkel's government disagree. In a weekend newspaper interview, her labour minister, Ursula von der Leyen (CDU), raised the possibility of lowering barriers to entry for some foreign workers in order to fight the lack of skilled workers in Europe's largest economy.

"For a few years, more people have been leaving our country than entering it," she told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.

"Wherever it is possible, we must lower the entry hurdles for those who bring the country forward."

The German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) has said Germany lacks about 400,000 skilled workers.

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The Death of European Socialism - France in Flames over Pension Funding

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In what should come as a warning to the socialist leaning Obama administration, the great socialistic experiment in Europe the Obama policies seem so inclined to pursue has suffered two more nails in the coffin in terms of being a viable economic experiment.

Much of the liberal leaning main stream media in America does not want you to know about the events that are rocking Europe but we need to take notice for it could be but a harbinger of the future we face under adoption of the Obama agenda.

Early this year Greece, Spain, Ireland and England faced huge budget deficits and took extremely unpopular moves to bring the debt and economies under control. Now the focus moves to France where they are finally forced to deal with the long ignored runaway spending driven by socialism.

In France the issue is the retirement age. In order to avoid economic bankruptcy the retirement age has to be raised from 60 to 62 and full retirement benefits from 65 to 67. That does not seem like a big deal to save the national pension system. All workers in France already are guaranteed 4 weeks of vacation a year compared to 2 weeks in America.

The response has been a national wide union strike that has crippled the economy, shut down the transit system, and threatens to polarize the people and police. Rioting has always been the union tactic in European nations to force the agenda.

The problem is there are a lot of disgruntled people in France because of the long standing social promises for more benefits, more vacations, less work and earlier retirement. The riots over retirement have now given the social activist youth, even high school students, to join the riots even though they will have to pay for any excess benefits throughout their lives.

There are a lot of radical elements in the socialist countries just looking for the opportunity to use the cause of someone else, like the retirees, as a cover to discredit the government and police authority. In France the latest poll of workers supporting the police is around 70% approval while teens are around the 15% approval range.

Youth groups and other radical groups have seized on the unrest to escalate the protests to full blown riots as you will see from the following reports.

Some three million people took to the streets throughout France on Saturday to protest President Nicolas Sarkozy’s pension reform, unions said, as a strike by transport and oil refinery workers went into its fifth day.

As usual, the Interior Ministry saw substantially fewer demonstrators in the streets, saying in a statement that about 825,000 people protested against the reform.

The demonstrations in some 260 cities took place as strikes at all 12 of France’s refineries raised fears that airports would soon run out of fuel.

On Friday, fuel stopped running through a pipeline feeding Paris’s two major airports, Orly and Charles de Gaulle.

While Orly has reserves for 17 days, the stockpiled fuel at Charles de Gaulle could run dry by Monday or Tuesday, the junior minister for transport, Dominique Bussereau, said.

However, Finance Minister Christine Lagarde told RTL radio Saturday that the government has options to provide them with fuel.

“We are confident,” she added.

Railway traffic remained disrupted throughout the country, with about half of all scheduled trains not operating Saturday, the state— run rail network SNCF said.

The pension reform would gradually raise the retirement age from 60 to 62 by the year 2018. It has already passed the National Assembly and is scheduled to be voted on in the Senate on Wednesday.

Unions have called for another nationwide day of strikes and demonstrations on Tuesday, just ahead of the Senate vote.

French truck drivers staged go-slow operations on highways, trains were cancelled and gas stations ran out of fuel yesterday as strikers dug in ahead of a key government vote this week on an unpopular pension overhaul.

Riot police used tear gas and rubber pellet guns in the Paris suburb of Nanterre to break up a crowd of youths who set fire to cars near an anti-reform protest by secondary school students. They intervened for similar reasons in the city of Lyon.

The interior ministry said police arrested 290 rioters in various towns.

Wider strikes will hit everything from air travel to mail today when unions opposed to President Nicolas Sarkozy's plan to raise the retirement age to 62 from 60 have called for another street protest.

With a final Senate vote on the legislation expected tomorrow, this could be a make-or-break week for Sarkozy.

The centre-right government, which has stood firm through months of anti-pension reform protests, assured that public infrastructure would not freeze up despite a week-long strike at refineries that has dried up supplies at hundreds of France's 12,500 gas stations.

"The situation is critical," a spokeswoman at Exxon Mobil said. "Anyone looking for diesel in the Paris and Nantes [western France] regions will have problems."

Sarkozy, in the northern seaside town of Deauville for talks with the leaders of Germany and Russia, said he would not back down. "The reform is essential and France is committed to it and will go ahead with it just as our German partners did," he told reporters after meeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Workers at France's 12 refineries were in their seventh day of a strike and protesters blocked access at many fuel distribution depots around the country.

The French aviation authority urged airlines to reduce flights to Paris's Orly airport by 50 per cent and to all other airports by 30 per cent today.

Today will be the sixth major work stoppage and street demonstration since June, but the unrest has intensified.

As many as 1,800 service stations have run short of fuel in recent days. At an empty station on Paris's Champs Elysees avenue, the manager said she spent much of her morning trying to stop drivers unhooking fuel pumps.

Los Angeles Times

By Devorah Lauter, Los Angeles Times
October 19, 2010

Reporting from Paris —

Camille Maupas, a 14-year-old high school student, stood in the middle of a major intersection in the center of Paris, took a deep breath, smiled and sat down.

So did about 150 fellow students, who spontaneously decided to block the intersection at Rue de Rivoli and Rue du Renard, causing a traffic jam near City Hall on Monday, to protest against a government plan to raise the retirement age.

With no pension at stake, the students are a worrisome wild card in the eyes of the government, and a recent addition to an intensifying protest movement against President Nicolas Sarkozy's promise to help reduce the state deficit by forcing workers to legally retire at 62, instead of 60.

Students have blocked entrances to their schools with large objects, and on Monday some youths clashed with riot police and burned cars. The violence was blamed on youths who are not part of the student protest.

As authorities prepared for another national strike Tuesday, a larger swath of the population was already feeling the effect of nearly a week of continuous strikes by workers, especially in the energy sector, who were joined early Monday by truck drivers who blocked major roads around France, driving at a snail's pace in "escargot operations."

Despite government assurances, fears of gasoline shortages pushed drivers to fill up their tanks, causing more than 1,000 of France's 12,500 gas stations to temporarily run dry.

"The most serious concern is fuel," said Richard Laisne, 58, a Paris taxi driver. "Because if there's a fuel problem, there's no work for me." He said he filled up his tank Sunday.

Government leaders continue to assure the public that there was no reason to fear a shortage, and Prime Minister Francois Fillon said Sunday, "I won't let our country be blocked."

A spokesman for the Energy Ministry said trucks were on their way to restock gas stations that ran out of fuel.

Flight cancellations and delays are expected Tuesday as airport and public transport workers plan to strike. The government again advised airlines to reduce the number of flights they have planned to Paris and to arrive with their fuel tanks as full as possible, despite insisting there was no risk of fuel shortages at France's major airports.

With striking workers blocking roads, trains, gasoline depots and refineries, there could be a long delay before hard-hit gas stations are able to function normally.

A crisis unit was created Monday by the Interior Ministry, and key gasoline depots and pipelines have been unblocked by authorities, who said they did not use force. Days after certain depots were opened, others were blocked by new protesters Monday. Workers at all of France's 12 oil refineries are on strike too.

The Senate is expected to pass the retirement overhaul bill by Thursday or Friday, but protesters say they will continue striking.

"It's a political success. Everyone is involved," said Josiane Jousset, 62, of the strikes. "The government got a good slap in the face."

Media coverage of the student protests showed images of burned cars, shattered storefront windows and glass walls at bus stations in various towns across France, and were reminiscent of 2005 riots in the country's low-income suburbs.

In the center of Paris, participants said their intentions were peaceful.

"We are pacifists. We just want to be heard," said Hugo Behar, 16.

Though the Sarkozy government contends that the French need to work longer in order to finance future pensions, Hugo said the reform would mean fewer jobs for younger people, because aging employees wouldn't be able to leave their posts open for the next generation. "I don't want to be out of work at 30," he said.

"We aren't doing this to get out of class. … We hope to prevent the vote" in favor of pension overhaul, said Camille, the 14-year-old student.

Lauter is a special correspondent.
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Saviors of the 20th Century Hitler & Stalin - Table of Contents

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The war of annihilation between the Nazis and Communists

A number of people have asked for more details on the contents of my book Saviors of the 20th Century now available worldwide on Amazon Kindle books.  The table of contents follows so you can grasp the full scope of the book from the origins of Communism to Nazism and the lives of Hitler and Stalin.

Of particular interest may be the relationship of Jews to both the Communist and Nazi movements as well as the mindset of Hitler and Stalin that led to 220 million deaths at their hands.

ISBN 0964599317

LCCN 2004095812

Available worldwide through Amazon Kindle books.

http://www.amazon.com/Saviors-20th-Century-Hitler-ebook/dp/B0040ZNU76/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1285077808&sr=1-1

Saviors of the 20th Century - Hitler & Stalin

Table of Contents

• Prologue

Why Saviors?
Where is Truth?
Maya - The Illusion of Earth
Those that Fear Prophecy lack Faith
Journey to the Past
Searching for Stalin’s Secrets
Adventures in Motherland
To the Russian Frontier
Beyond the Looking Glass

1. A Search for Truth

Introduction
Striking Similarities
Hard Facts Discovered
Strange Truths Revealed
The Fallacy of History
Warning Signs

2. A World in Turmoil

Revolutionary Fervor
Legacy of Revolutions
Legacy of Wars

3. Communist Evolution - Germany

Origin of the Term “Communist”
Hegel - German Socialist Philosopher
Early German Socialist Revolutionaries
Influential German Writers
German Marxist Communism
Karl Marx (1818-1883)
Friedrich Engels (1820-1895)

4. Communist Evolution - Russia

Pre-revolution Anti-Tsarist Political Movements - Russia
Russian Jewish Revolutionaries
Mikhail Bakunin and the Anarchists
Sergi Nechayev - Bakunin Disciple
Anti-Semitism Prevails
Jewish Political Parties
Russia - Motherland of the Social Experiment
Lenin - The Soul of Communism
The Early Years
Socialist Organizer
Revolutionary Leader
Leon Trotsky (1879-1940)
Early Political Life
Revolutionary Leadership
Life & Death in Exile
Communist Party Timetable
Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP)
Bolsheviks & the 1905 Revolution
The Revolution of 1917
Jewish-Bolsheviks
Jewish Treatment by Soviets
Russian Jewish Money from America

5. Financing Wars and Revolution

Emergence of Jewish Moneylenders
The Jewish Banking Houses
The International Bankers
Bankers Role in American Civil War
Post Civil War -- American & African Monopolies
Financing the Communist Revolution
The Bolshevik Re-revolution

6. Josef Stalin – The Man of Steel

The Early Years
The Young Revolutionary
Lenin and Stalin
Russian Revolution of 1905
Lenin’s Counter-Revolution
Bolshevik Revival of 1911
February Revolution of 1917
October Revolution of 1917
The Civil War of 1918
Battle for Succession 1920
Illnesses Sweep the Leadership
Stalin Consolidates Control

7. Adolf Hitler – Messiah of the Third Reich

The Early Years
Hitler Loses Faith
A Bohemian in Vienna
Military Life & Honors
The German Marxist Revolution
Hitler’s Communist Subversive Bureau
Hitler and the Occult
Aleister Crowley - The Beast “666”
Other Occult Advisors
Himmler - High Priest of the SS
Hitler’s Miraculous Escapes
Hitler & the Jewish Bolsheviks
Protocols of the Wise Men of Zion
The Communist Manifesto
Jewish Declaration of War
The Rise of the Nazis
Hitler & His Doctors
Anti-Semitism Explodes
Poland - Armageddon of WWII
Dancing with the Devil

8. World War II (1939-1945)
Hitler Saves the English
The Devil’s Triangle
Himmler’s Death Squads
The Jewish Relocation Program
Tearing the Lid off Hell
Resistance Intensifies
The Final Solution
Concentration Camps - Labor & Death
Nazi Occupation of Eastern Europe
The Angel Among Demons
Hitler’s Reign Ends
Hitler’s Mysterious Death
Why Stalin Stole Hitler’s Body
Deaths in the European War

9. The “Other” Holocaust

Jewish Population Trends
Jewish Migration Patterns
Chart - Population Distribution
Chart - 20th Century Migration
The Nazi Holocaust
The Other Nazi Holocaust
The Soviet Holocaust
Bolshevik Extermination Leaders
Missing Population of the Soviet Union
Communist Genocide Program

10. Conclusion

The Devil’s Advocates
War & Revolution
Ancient German History
American Isolation
Hitler - The Great Dilemma
Ancient Jewish History
Stalin - Gravedigger of the Revolution
Lost Souls of the Atrocities
20th Century Paradox

Appendixes

1. Communist Manifesto
2. Protocols of the Wise Men of Zion
3. Selected Bibliography
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Susan G. Komen Foundation - Secrets that may turn them Pink

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There is no doubt the Susan G.Komen Foundation for Breast Cancer Research is one of the most successful non-profit groups raising money in America.  Over the years it has raised over $1.5 billion for breast cancer research and has the most successful fund raising techniques in existence.

The darling of Hollywood and entertainers, the Pink campaigns of the Foundation are everywhere as they raise about $55 million every year.  But is there a secret aspect to their cancer research efforts that allows funds to be diverted to other more controversial causes that are unknown to those pouring in millions of dollars?

It is one thing to support your own cause, but the Komen Foundation might be funneling millions of dollars into much more controversial causes without telling the full story of how they spend donations.  Recently the web site indicated that the Foundation gave about $780,000 to the right to abortion group Planned Parenthood.

Intense media questioning resulted in the fact the local chapters of the Komen group will actually funnel $7.5 million into Planned Parenthood and their pro-abortion campaigns this year, ten times more than previously reported.

How much more cancer research donations have been diverted to Planned Parenthood and related programs over the years if they received over $7.5 million this year alone?  That is not the charter of the Komen Foundation and certainly is not part of the mission or appeal of the group.  A lot more details must be revealed by the foundation about the secret funding of pro-abortion and other work in the name of cancer research.

Here is the mission of the Foundation according to their web site.  Note there is no reference to giving money to pro-abortion groups.

About Us

Susan G. Komen fought breast cancer with her heart, body and soul. Throughout her diagnosis, treatments, and endless days in the hospital, she spent her time thinking of ways to make life better for other women battling breast cancer instead of worrying about her own situation. That concern for others continued even as Susan neared the end of her fight. Moved by Susan’s compassion for others and committed to making a difference, Nancy G. Brinker promised her sister that she would do everything in her power to end breast cancer forever.

That promise is now Susan G. Komen for the Cure®, the global leader of the breast cancer movement, having invested nearly $1.5 billion since inception in 1982. As the world’s largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists, we’re working together to save lives, empower people, ensure quality care for all and energize science to find the cures. Thanks to events like the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure®, and generous contributions from our partners, sponsors and fellow supporters, we have become the largest source of nonprofit funds dedicated to the fight against breast cancer in the world.

Message from our Founder

As I look back over the more than 25 years since I founded Susan G. Komen for the Cure, I am amazed at our accomplishments. What began as a promise to my dying sister, Susan G. Komen, has evolved into the world’s largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists fighting to save lives, empower people, ensure quality care for all and energize science to find the cures.

I am in awe of our victories over the last two decades. We began the global breast cancer movement. We started the Komen Race for the Cure®, the most successful fundraising and education event for breast cancer ever created; pioneered cause-related marketing; created Komen Affiliates serving the breast health needs of millions in their communities; developed educational tools to reach people in more than 200 countries; and became the world’s largest source of private funds for breast cancer research and community outreach programs with nearly $1.5 billion invested to date.

We’re proud of the fact that we don’t simply dump funds and run. We create activists – one person, one community, one state, one nation at a time – to try and solve the number one health concern of women. I am so proud of the work done by the Komen Affiliates who reach into their communities to keep the subject of breast cancer high in the public consciousness. With the help of Komen Affiliates, corporate partners, individual donors, Komen staff and activists, we’ve saved millions of lives, making the 2.5 million breast cancer survivors the largest group of cancer survivors today.

The sad reality is there is still tremendous work to be done. We don’t know what causes breast cancer, and we don’t know how to prevent it. Women are still dying unnecessarily in our own backyards. And on the global front, the situation is worse. Ten million women around the world could die from breast cancer in the next 25 years. Cancer already claims twice as many lives as AIDS worldwide. At least seven million people die of cancer each year and close to 11 million new cases are diagnosed. That's more than AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined.

We have come a long way in our fight. When we started, the five-year survival rate was just 74 percent when breast cancer was diagnosed before it spread beyond the breast. Today, that survival rate is 98 percent. Nearly 75 percent of women over the age of 40 now receive regular mammograms compared to just 30 percent in 1982. Now it's time to take an even more aggressive stance. We must raise the expectations of science, of institutions and ourselves.

We are so close to creating a world without breast cancer. The science is there. Now is the time for us to see this fight through so that no one ever has to fear breast cancer again.

We’re on a mission, but we can’t get there without you. We have a multitude of ways you can support Komen and our cause. Please take a moment to peruse our website to find a way that is comfortable for you to participate. Thank you for your consideration and continued support.

With love and gratitude,

Ambassador Nancy G. Brinker
Founder and CEO
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Inside Political Campaigns - Who Wins in Elections Too Close To Call?

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No one can claim to have all the answers when it comes to campaign strategy but experience in local, state and federal elections can give one a perspective that helps them see the light, sometimes. Over the years I have been involved in many capacities in campaigns for Republicans, Democrats and Independents in partisan and non-partisan races.

From local city council to county commissioner, small to big city mayors races, governors, congressmen, senators and presidents and when it comes to a race too close to call, there are two elements that will often tip the race to one candidate or the other. First the absentee ballot effort can provide the winning margin and it takes place before the first vote election day. Second is the strength of the get out the vote effort by the campaign.

Many of the unsung heroes of political campaigns are the volunteers who man the phones and do the leg work for campaigns. These are the people who diligently and patiently must take the often shabby records of the voting history from the election office and build lists that often can win or lose elections.

You see, as the lists of primary and general election voters, turnout during presidential and off-year elections and degree of enthusiasm of the voters are checked, cross checked, and analyzed during the campaign, they become the basis for planning the absentee and get out the vote strategies in the final days of the campaign.

A good campaign will never rely solely on media to win. If it is close, the ground campaign, those efforts that bring the campaign in direct contact with voters, can often provide the winning margin. The thousands of hours of voter research and analysis form the basis for the strategy to be implemented.

Most absentee voter ballots are distributed 2-4 weeks before the election. They have to be requested by the voter in most states. When a list of potentially favorable voters is identified the campaign must find out if they need to vote absentee because if they are disabled or out of town election day that vote might be lost. So the campaign must identify who needs absentee ballots, get them to the voter, and get them sent back in to be counted. In some races there are thousands of absentee votes cast and it can be the difference in the election.

On election day weather can be a huge factor in voting. Highly motivated voters will turn out rain or shine and that gives the Republican and Tea party candidates a big advantage. Right now all polls show the Democrats are not enthusiastic. The campaigns and political parties must make sure their supporters get to the polls to vote rain or shine and that takes a major organizational effort to achieve. If you do not do the massive research in advance it cannot be successful.

Watch the campaigns in the too close to call elections. If they had the foresight to use the time tested techniques of mounting major absentee and get out the vote campaigns, they should win the tightly contested races. It takes planning, knowledge of campaigns and money to support the effort but it is often the best money spent during the campaign.

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First BCS Poll Shows Oklahoma on Top!

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Here are the results of the first BCS poll and as we noted, Oklahoma leaped to first place.  Remember, this is the poll that weighs the strength of schedule in determining results.  We thought you would like to see how the various polls compare.

As you consider the early standings remember Oklahoma still must get past unbeaten Missouri and Oklahoma State and once beaten Nebraska to reach the national championship game.

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College Football - Another #1 Bites the Dust as Boise State (WHO?) Climbs Charts

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For the second week in a row a number 1 team lost, Ohio State, along with two more of the top ten, Nebraska and South Carolina. It is starting to look like all the marquee teams are going to beat each other during the season so either the national championship will be decided between teams with at least 1 or 2 losses, or it will be Boise State versus TCU for the national championship.

Only unbeaten Oregon and Oklahoma stand between Boise State and being number 1 at the moment but threatening in the wings are unbeaten major conference teams like Michigan State, Missouri and Oklahoma State while Utah is also unbeaten.

Looks like bigtime football to me.

While Boise State still faces Nevada (19) TCU must face Utah so at least one more unbeaten will fall. Michigan State, Missouri and Oklahoma State all must face other Big Ten or Big 12 powerhouses so it is highly unlikely they will survive the season unbeaten.

It just might be the year the surprise small team from a small conference slips through the cracks and steals the national championship while the big boys are busy beating up each other. If so Boise State is the most likely champion.

Who and where is Boise State you might ask? It is in Boise, Idaho, capitol of the state with a metro area of 590,000 and about 20,000 students attend Boise State. It is a regional university founded as a junior college in 1932 and upgraded to four year in 1965 with a football program for the top jocks who don't go to the elite football programs but want to show they belong with the big boys.

So, the Boise State Broncos have only lost one game this season and the past two seasons combined, the best record in Division 1 football. When the BCS poll comes out today, which measures teams by strength of schedule, don't be surprised in Boise State isn't #1 for the first time in school history. They will not stay #1 because their schedule is weaker than bigger schools so they need to stay unbeaten and hope the Oklahoma, Alabama and Ohio State teams lose a couple of games.

If there was ever a year a small school might play for the title this could be it. I mean stranger things than that have happened this past year. Stay tuned. Since all my top teams have already lost one game, I am making Boise State #1 until someone knocks them off.

Go Broncos!!!
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Was CNN Unfair in Delaware Senate Debate with Christine O'Donnell?

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Yesterday I made note that I thought the CNN panel was unfair in how they coddled Chris Coons while not treating Christine O'Donnell the same.  Apparently I was not the only one to notice the treatment.  Here is what another website had to say about the coverage.

American Thinker

October 14, 2010

Delaware debate moderator tells Coons, 'Go for it'
Mark J. Fitzgibbons

Nancy Karibjanian, member of the Delaware media and a University of Delaware supplemental faculty member, was co-moderator of the O'Donnell-Coons debate on CNN.

Not long into the debate, Karibjanian zeroed in on O'Donnell's financial and education controversies.

KARIBJANIAN: Let's open the discussion on correcting some of the financial issues here by talking about some of your own personal financial problems. And most people know about it by now, including an IRS lien that was for about $12,000 in taxes and penalties from '05. There was the '08 mortgage default judgment on your home. You just received your bachelors degree, as you said, because it took a decade to pay off the tuition.

Despite Karibjanian's factual inaccuracies, that's fair game for a U.S. Senate candidate. But then comes the impropriety.

KARIBJANIAN: The question, then is, how can voters rely upon your thoughts on how to manage the deficit if you're having such personal financial issues of your own?

O'DONNELL: Well, first of all, that IRS tax lien, the IRS already admitted that it was a computer error and my opponent should not be bringing that up, because as I've gone up and down the campaign trail, I've discovered there are thousands of Delawareans who have faced the same thing. An IRS mistake has caused them greatly, which is all the more reason why we need to reform the IRS, not put them in control of our health care.

Second of all, you mentioned education. I don't have a trust fund. I didn't come from a privileged, sheltered background as my opponent says he did...

KARIBJANIAN: Let's stay to the issue of paying bills...

ODONNELL: I am. I paid for my own college education. I also have a graduate fellowship in constitutional government from the Claremont Institute. I know how hard it is to earn and keep a dollar. And one of the reasons why the Delawareans should be able to trust me is because when I did in this economy, I worked for nonprofit groups. Nonprofit groups were the first to have been hurt. When I fell upon difficult times, I made the sacrifices needed to set things right. I sold my house. And I sold a lot of my possessions in order to pay of my personal debt and to become in a stronger position.

I have worked hard in order to get to the position that I am. So I can relate to the thousands of Delaware families that are suffering right now. And I'm stronger for it. I made it through to the other side. And that's where -- leadership doesn't count in whether or not you fall, it counts in whether or not you've gotten up and that's what I've done.

Karibjanian then turned to Coons like a lawyer to her own witness.

KARIBJANIAN: Let's just remember we're in the discussion portion so if you have anything you want to address on things that have been said on this topic thus far, go for it.

COONS: Well Nancy, I frankly think . . .

I suspect most people outside Delware, as I, had never heard of Nancy Karibjanian before last night. She may be a lovely person. My first impression, though, is that she's a ruling class troll who should never moderate another debate.
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Swiss Complete Another Mining Miracle to Celebrate with Chile Miracle

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Just as the people of Chile were celebrating a technological miracle when they pulled the 33 trapped miners from their tomb a half a mile below the ground halfway around the world in Switzerland another equally important technological miracle of sorts was being achieved by the Swiss.

Today Swiss engineers powered through a mountainside creating the world's longest tunnel and completing an engineering marvel 60 years in the making. As the mighty drill smashed the last rock out of the way the Swiss completed a 35.4 mile long tunnel thus eclipsing the former record of Japan's 33.46 mile long Seikan Tunnel as the longest on earth.

While no lives were saved like in Chile the Swiss wonder, called the new Gotthard Tunnel, will bring about environmental and economic savings of untold millions of dollars to this Alpine nation along with huge infrastructure savings by shifting millions of tons of truck traffic over the Alps to trains running under the mighty mountains.

First conceived in1947 by engineer Eduard Gruner, it will establish an important economic link between the Dutch Port of Rotterdam and Italy's Mediterranean Port of Genoa. It will also eliminate the heavy truck traffic through the Alps proving protection of Switzerland's pristine Alpine landscape for future generations.

Television stations throughout the Swiss nation and Europe showed the break through live along with the joyous celebration by engineers and miners in hard hats and bright orange work gear along with VIPs. It was yet another moment when technology was harnessed for good and people had a chance to celebrate what is right in the world rather than despair in what is wrong.

As trumpets sounded, cheers reverberated and tough miners wipe away tears of joy, foreman Eduard Baer lifted a statue of Saint Barbara, the patron saint of miners through the hole thousands of feet underground in central Switzerland.

The miners, engineers, politicians and people of Switzerland should be proud and should join them in their pride.
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Obamaville October 14 - Ask Pelosi not Republicans for Budget Cuts!

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Why do the liberal media and Democrats in the House and Senate keep complaining that Republicans will never give ideas on how to cut the budget? They make it sound as if there is some conspiracy of silence as a result.

If I were a Republican, which I am not, I would remind the liberal media and incumbents who are running scared that Nancy Pelosi, yes the Democratic Speaker of the House, is responsible for passing the federal budget, not the Republicans. I would also remind them that Nancy Pelosi has been in charge of the budget FOUR years running, not just two since Obama got elected.

They seem to forget the last two years of the Bush Administration it was Speaker Pelosi and a Democratic majority in the House in charge of the largest deficit increase in history before Obama took office and promptly shattered the record the last two years.

Okay, so the Democrats have been in charge all through the massive deficits of the last two Bush years and first two Obama years. What about the current budget for next year that was due last October 1, what cuts did the Democrats approve now that they control EVERYTHING in Washington?

My friends, the United States of America, under the leadership of Obama, Pelosi and Reid, has NO APPROVED BUDGET for the current fiscal year. No budget, no cuts, no guts to even pass a budget. Why doesn't the liberal media attack this truth? Why doesn't Obama demand itemized cuts from his fellow Democrats who are Constitutionally responsible for passing the budget and have ignored their duties?

Truth seems to be in awfully short supply in our nation's capitol. I trust at least the people know the truth.
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Cable News Watch - Blowing the Chilean Rescue - What Fools...

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After spending almost 24 hours glued to the tube watching one the of most heart warming and tear jerking stories in ages, last night as the last miner was being pulled from his tomb nearly half a mile underground, where he had been trapped for a record 70 days, I watched in astonishment as all three of our cable news networks blew the golden ratings goose that had been handed them on a silver platter.

I have worked with television a long time and have a pretty good idea what qualifies as quality news coverage.  What I saw was a pathetic joke.  I mean the entire world was watching the events unfold and come to a climax.  Don't you think the cable networks would have had their best news anchors and reporters handling this historic moment?

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera, center with tie and no sunglasses, poses Thursday with the 33 rescued miners at the hospital in Copiapo where they are undergoing medical exams.

First let us look at CNN where they blew it beyond belief.  Here is the self-proclaimed most popular cable news network who has brought us incredible coverage of major news events over the years from Viet Nam to Afghanistan.  Yet they scheduled a Senate debate in Delaware instead.  To add insult to injury, just when the debate was beginning to get intriguing they cut off the debate broadcast and pick up the mine rescue.

For some really odd reason this network with some exceptioal reporters like Anderson Cooper and others had new political anchors Eliot Spitzer and his co-host Kathleen Parker, both who are new to television and oblivious to news coverage, handle the conclusion of this historic moment and they made a shambles of it.

CNN had no English translation of the Chilean ceremony marking the successful conclusion so rather than let the audience watch and listen the two talked over the ceremony with senseless and classless blabber that had nothing to do with the history being made.  No mention of incredible human interest stories about the miners.  No mention of all the American contractors who were unsung heroes in the rescue.  No mention of the exceptional job by the President and Mining Director of Chile who took over full responsibility for the rescue and directed every step of it.

No mention that this was the second major disaster in Chile this year, with the massive earthquake just last spring, that had been successfully handled by the nation.  No mention of the contrast with American disasters like the BP Spill where our president barely had time for soundbites, let alone leading the disaster rescue efforts.

The crackpot CNN team told senseless jokes during the solemn activites making light of the moment and assuring I will never again watch CNN during a disaster.  The sad part was CNN had by far the best coverage until they turned it over to the ill-informed political pundits rather than legitimate reporters.

So I flipped to MSNBC who was committing the same mistakes when they had access to the entire NBC news team.  It was a joke as well.  Finally I went to Fox News and there was Sean Hannity, yet another political hack, anchoring the final coverage.  At least Fox had a Spanish interpreter giving a translation yet it was only a matter of time before Hannity, used to hearing only his own voice as the voice of authority on TV, could not resist interrupting the broadcast and translation for more trivia.

It was a sad commentary on our cable news media when none allowed the events unfolding to dictate the coverage and when they did talk, it had nothing to do with the amazing stories surrounding the miners, the government of Chile and it's leaders, or the American heroes who played a key role in the historic rescue of the miners.

What a shame the only news on cable is 15 second sound bites and senseless babble.  America used to be better than that.
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Delaware Debate - Another CNN Fiasco - O'Donnell didn't bring her broom but sure did cast a spell.

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Like many others I tuned in out of curiosity to watch the CNN debate between Republican Christine O'Donnell and Democrat Chris Coons. The lead up to the debate on CNN and MSNBC had me waiting for the witch to appear on a broom and cast a spell on her opponent. Pre-debate liberal hype left me wondering how long it would take before the undertaker appeared to haul away a shattered O'Donnell.

At first I wondered if the panel was really as stacked against O'Donnell as it appeared. While Coons carefully spouted the Obama party line, O'Donnell keep trying to focus the often bizarre questions on the issues rather than the idiotic.

The moderators, CNN's Wolf Blitzer and longtime Delaware news anchor Nancy Karibjanian of Delaware First Media, seemed to be pressing O'Donnell and interrupting her far more than they did Coons as if CNN had a vested interest in proving their latest poll showing O'Donnell far behind was the gospel truth.

The more O'Donnell spared with the moderators the more they cut her off and before long it was a contest whether the moderators or the Democrat would lose their cool first. It was obvious Karibjanian was of the liberal elitists who seem to hate Sarah Palin and Nancy was out to prove O'Donnell a dunce as if it would make Palin less as well.

But I agree with the New York Times, normally a liberal bastion, who wrote of the debate the following.

But the Republican Senate candidate, Christine O’Donnell, used the 90-minute debate to present a different image to the country than the ones captured on comedy show videos from her youth.

On a range of issues, Ms. O’Donnell offered answers familiar to conservatives.

Ms. O’Donnell’s opponent, Democrat Chris Coons, sought to rebut Ms. O’Donnell, but appeared frustrated, repeatedly telling the moderators that “there’s so much there.”

What really makes me wonder about CNN besides the obvious bias against O'Donnell was how they cut off the debate midway through just when O'Donnell was beginning to dominate the debate and leave Coons flustered. It seems his canned and well rehearsed responses were not holding up to the withering attacks from O'Donnell.

Now long before the debate CNN knew there was a chance the last miners would be rescued. CNN could easily have run the debate in it's entirety on CNN Headline news and still not interrupted the debate. Why stop it just when O'Donnell was clearly starting to dominate? It was as if someone in the production booth suddenly came to the realization O'Donnell had cast a spell and she was starting to win points with the audience. Pull the plug and protect the liberals.

I believe O'Donnell clearly connected with the public mood and her feisty debate with the moderators, not the Democrat, was just becoming good theater.

If it is true O'Donnell is not a viable candidate then why in the world is President Obama, his wife Michelle and Vice President Biden all coming to Delaware to raise money and campaign for Coons, the Obama mouthpiece? With Democrats in trouble all across the country why waste all their time on a race already in the bag?

Maybe there is more going on in Delaware than we have been told.
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