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chemical weapons Politics

German Intelligence – Assad May Not Have Authorized Chemical Weapons

To add even more confusion to this whole Syrian conflict, German intelligence is now coming forth claiming that they have proof that Basher al-Assad may not have authorized the use of chemical weapons.

Syrian government forces may have carried out a chemical weapons attack close to Damascus without the personal permission of President Bashar al-Assad, Germany’s Bild am Sonntag paper reported on Sunday, citing German intelligence.

Syrian brigade and division commanders had been asking the Presidential Palace to allow them to use chemical weapons for the last four-and-a-half months, according to radio messages intercepted by German spies, but permission had always been denied, the paper said.

This could mean Assad may not have personally approved the attack close to Damascus on August 21 in which more than 1,400 are estimated to have been killed, intelligence officers suggested.

Germany’s foreign intelligence agency (BND) could not be reached for comment.

Bild said the radio traffic was intercepted by a German naval reconnaissance vessel, the Oker, sailing close to the Syrian coast.

Last week the head of the BND, Gerhard Schindler, gave confidential briefings to the German parliament’s defense and foreign affairs committees. Bild said Schindler told the defense committee that Syria’s civil war could continue for years.

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Politics Syria

Syria: Three Days of Bombings Planned

The Pentagon is readying more intense and longer attacks on Syria than originally planned, set to last three days, the Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday.

War planners now aim to unleash a heavy barrage of missile strikes to be followed swiftly by additional attacks on targets that may have been missed or remain standing after the initial launch, the Times cited officials as saying.

Two US officers told the newspaper that the White House has asked for an expanded target list to include “many more” than the initial list of around 50 targets.

The move is part of an effort to obtain additional firepower to damage Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s dispersed forces.

Pentagon planners are now considering using Air Force bombers, as well as five US missile destroyers currently patrolling the eastern Mediterranean Sea, to launch cruise missiles and air-to-surface missiles from far out of range of Syrian air defenses, according to the report.

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Politics Syria

Sec. Kerry – It’s Not Obama’s Red Line, it’s “a global red line”

US Secretary of State John Kerry says he and Arab League foreign ministers have agreed that the Syrian president’s alleged use of chemical weapons had crossed a “global red line“.

Mr Kerry, speaking in Paris, is in Europe to muster support for action against President Bashar al-Assad.

“Assad’s deplorable use of chemical weapons crosses an international, global red line,” he said.

The Arab countries are divided on the question of military strikes on Syria.

The BBC’s Hugh Schofield reports from Paris that some like Saudi Arabia and Qatar are in favour while others like Syria’s neighbours Jordan and Lebanon are far more cautious, worried about the conflict spreading across their borders.

The US accuses Mr Assad’s forces of killing 1,429 people in a sarin gas attack on 21 August.

Mr Assad’s government blames the attack on rebels fighting to overthrow him in the country’s two-and-a-half-year civil war, which has claimed some 100,000 lives, according to UN estimates.

There are reports that rebel forces have taken control of the historic Christian town of Maalula, north of Damascus.

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Politics Texas

Texas Sign Company Shows Woman Hogtied in Truck

It is either a horrible joke and a sick plea for business, or a marvelous idea that is sure to bring business. What ever the reason, this image at the back of a pickup truck has everyone talking.

Even the owner of the sign company seems shocked by the different responses to his ad.

“I wasn’t expecting the reactions that we got,” said Hornet Signs owner Brad Kolb. “Nor was it anything we condone or anything else, but it was just something more or less that we just had to put out there and see who notices it.”

Some people even called the police, thinking they were witnessing a crime in progress.

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Politics weekly address

President’s Weekly Address: The Case For Attacking Syria

President Obama used this week’s address to call in Congress and the American people to authorize military action in Syria.

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Anthony Weiner Celebrities Joan Rivers Politics

Joan Rivers: Anthony Weiner is a “piece of garbage”

Joan Rivers tells TMZ … she doesn’t believe Anthony Weiner is fit to hold public office … ’cause he’s a total “piece of garbage.”

Joan was in NY yesterday — and wished us a happy Rosh Hashanah — when the topic turned to the most famous Jew vs. Jew battle since Cain and Abel … Anthony Weiner vs. The Jewish guy in the deli.

“[Weiner] was like, ‘Don’t judge me!'” Joan said … adding, “No, we don’t, we just judge your penis.”

There’s a pretty good “pulling out” joke in the clip too.

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Politics

White House: Bombing Syria “Unthinkable” without Congressional Approval

President Barack Obama isn’t likely to launch a military strike on Syria if Congress votes against doing so, a top national security official said Friday.

During an interview on NPR’s “Morning Edition,” Tony Blinken, Obama’s deputy national security adviser, said “the president of course has the authority” to take limited military action in Syria with or without the approval of lawmakers, but “it’s neither his desire nor intention to use that authority absent Congress backing him.”

While some White House officials have previously, and anonymously, suggested it would be “unthinkable” for Obama to strike Syria without the support of Congress, Blinken’s comments are the most direct confirmation to date that how Congress votes on Syria is more than just political posturing. Thus far, the overriding message coming out of the White House is that Obama doesn’t need Congress to proceed, but he’d sure appreciate their support.

A White House official said Blinken’s comments are consistent with what the president has been saying all along.

“There is no change in our position. As the president has said, he has the authority to act, but his intention is to do so with the approval of the Congress,” said the official. “He believes they will vote to authorize the use of military force.”

The official added, “I’m not going to speculate on the president’s decision-making if they don’t approve; we think they will.”

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Politics

Vladimir Putin Calls Sec.Kerry a Liar on Syria

Things aren’t exactly warming up between the Obama administration and Vladimir Putin, even as President Obama arrived in St. Petersburg for the G-20 summit.

Putin called Obama Secretary of State John Kerry a liar over Kerry’s testimony this week before Congress.

The question may be al-Qaeda’s influence on the Syrian rebels, an issue Kerry has downplayed.

Speaking to his human rights council Wednesday, Putin said, “This was very unpleasant and surprising for me. We talk to them (the Americans), and we assume they are decent people, but he is lying and he knows that he is lying. This is sad.”

Putin has criticized Obama administration claims that Bashar Assad’s government attacked the rebels with chemical weapons.

Last month, Obama canceled a summit meeting with Putin after a series of U.S.-Russian disputes, including Russia’s decision to grant asylum to National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden.

As for the new flap over Kerry’s testimony, the Associated Press reported:

“It was unclear exactly what Putin was referencing, but Kerry was asked Tuesday while testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee if the Syrian opposition had become more infiltrated by al-Qaeda.

“Kerry responded that that was ‘basically incorrect’ and that the opposition has ‘increasingly become more defined by its moderation.’ …

“In testimony Wednesday, Kerry said he didn’t agree that ‘a majority (of the opposition) are al-Qaeda and the bad guys.’ Extremists amount to 15 to 25% of the opposition, he said, including al-Nusra and many other groups that are ‘fighting each other, even now.'”

Asked about Putin’s comments, National Security Council spokesman Ben Rhodes said, “Well, we certainly would side with Secretary Kerry in that back-and-forth.”

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Politics trayvon martin

Rapper Plies Honors Trayvon Martin

The death of Trayvon Martin has had a huge impact on the African-American community and while some honored the teen by blacking out their profile pictures on social media and wearing hoodies, rapper Plies went an entirely different route.

In a video message to his fans, the Florida rapper reveals his new gold Trayvon Martin chain. While unorthodox, Plies appears to be sincere with his gesture.

“I wanted to make sure the little homie was with me at all times,” he said. “He impacted my life just that much.”

Plies went on to pay his respects to the Martin family for the loss of their child and promised that Trayvon will never be forgotten.

“Trayvon, I’m gonna keep you around my neck at all times…It’s just that important to me.”

The “Bust It Baby” emcee isn’t the only rapper to honor the memory Trayvon Martin. West Coast emcee The Game showed of his portrait tattoo of Travyon earlier this year

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Barack Obama Politics

It’s All Smiles and Handshakes for Obama and Putin -PIC

Russian President Vladimir Putin greeted American President Barack Obama today as Russia plays host to the G 20 Summit. Unlike past impressions of what seemed to be a rocky relationship between the two leaders, this meeting brought smiles, handshakes and brief pleasantries.

Small gestures indeed, but considering that the two leaders are on opposite sides of the spectrum on any possible bombing of Syria, these gestures speak volume.

All eyes will be on these two as the Summit proceeds.

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ObamaCare Politics

New Study Finds Obamacare Premiums “Lower Than Expected”

A new Kaiser Family Foundation study found “lower than expected” premiums for the new Obamacare health insurance exchanges.

“While premiums will vary significantly across the country, they are generally lower than expected. For example, we estimate that the latest projections from the Congressional Budget Office imply that the premium for a 40-year-old in the second lowest cost silver plan would average $320 per month nationally. Fifteen of the eighteen rating areas we examined have premiums below this level, suggesting that the cost of coverage for consumers and the federal budgetary cost for tax credits will be lower than anticipated.”

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Politics

GOP Sources Say Boehner Will Step Down after Midterm Elections

His two terms as Speaker of the House has been a tremendous failure. Now sources are saying that John Boehner will step aside after the midterm elections.

Former aides to John Boehner and other high-level GOP operatives are increasingly convinced that the House speaker will step aside after the 2014 midterm elections, according to interviews with a dozen Republican sources.

All summer, rumors have been swirling around the Hill and K Street that the speaker has had enough and that 2014 would be his last year with the gavel. Then the message went out in July: Boehner (R-Ohio) is not leaving.

Boehner told his inner circle at dinner that there was no truth to the talk, and authorized his people to spread the word around town. A story appeared in Politico the next day, reaffirming Boehner’s stated commitment to stay past 2014.

“These inside-the-Beltway parlor games take place every two years. The speaker has made clear publicly he intends to remain in his position in the next Congress,” Boehner spokesman Michael Steel told HuffPost.

But not everyone close to the 63-year-old speaker is so sure. “He has to say that. He can’t not say that. The minute you say [you’re leaving], you’re done,” said one former GOP leadership aide who is part of Boehner’s circle. “Everybody around him thinks this is his last term.”

Despite the effort by Boehner to tamp down speculation that he will depart the House after the 2014 midterms, multiple cooks in Boehner’s kitchen cabinet think the Republican is still strongly considering making his exit just over a year from now.

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