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The Obama campaign has been reeling since losing the first Presidential debate of this election cycle in front of 67 million viewers. They've tried--and thus far failed--to craft a narrative to explain away the debacle in Denver. Previously, we reported to you that Obama Senior Advisor David Plouffe, who ran the President's successful 2008 campaign, (falsely) accused Mitt Romney of lying. In a rare comedic moment from the typically robotic former Vice President Al Gore, he suggested on Current TV that the Mile High City's altitude was the reason Obama was low on energy and enthusiasm. Neither of those caught...

There is an accepted wisdom about the first Presidential debate between Obama and Romney. I didn’t watch it live. I rarely watch debates or conventions because I find these events almost painful to watch. I don’t need to watch two people debate to find out who’s the candidate that most closely reflects my values. There are other, better ways of doing that. I don’t need to hear dozens of people give carefully scripted speeches to form an opinion of parties and candidates. It’s like watching non-stop commercials. Who wants to subject themselves to that? The morning after the debate I...

There has been plenty of discussion of the presidential debates: moderators, topics, format and so on. While I was lurking on one such thread here on FR tonight, it occurred to me to look for information about how they are setting up the upcoming town hall debate on October 16 by going to the website of the Commission on Presidential Debates. While there, I came across a section regarding eligibility to participate in the debates and lo and behold, they require the participants to be Natural Born Citizens and the rest of the constitutional qualifications to run for President. See...

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — Police say a man who jumped from a four-story parking structure impaled himself on a wrought-iron fence Saturday in Lincoln Heights. Authorities said about an hour before the unidentified man jumped, they had shooed him out of the parking structure. The man reportedly impaled himself in the midsection. Firefighters cut away the section of fence the man was impaled on and took him and part of the fence to a hospital after the roughly 3:40 a.m. jump, a witness told a videographer who arrived after the man was taken away. The incident occurred at 1143 Mission...

In a tragic and bizarre incident a University of Alabama student who was naked has been fatally shot after charging a campus police officer early on Saturday morning. University officials said that the confrontation occurred after the officer went outside the police station to investigate a banging noise that was coming from his office window. Confronted with 18-year-old Gilbert Thomas Collar who was acting erratically and wearing no clothes, the officer shot the student once in the chest after he repeatedly charged. Authorities said that the officer attempted to retreat several times in an attempt to defuse the situation but...

Friday Interview: Poor Economy Thrashes Young AdultsGeneration Opportunity president documents impact on those 18 to 29 By CJ Staff Oct. 5th, 2012 RALEIGH — Young adults largely supported Barack Obama’s message of hope and change during his 2008 presidential campaign. Now, four years later, many young people are struggling with the impact of the nation’s economic changes. Paul Conway, former chief of staff for both the U.S. Department of Labor and Office of Personnel Management, is president of the group Generation Opportunity. Conway described his group’s work with young adults during an interview with Mitch Kokai for Carolina Journal Radio....

Contrary to conventional wisdom that debates are rarely, if ever, game-changers, the first presidential debate was a demolition derby. And no amount of post-debate fact-checking, spinning or dances of one’s choice (Barack Obama has cited Mitt Romney’s tap-dancing and soft-shoe) is going to alter the impression of Romney’s winning-ness. It was quite simply a knockout performance by the Republican challenger. Or, as Notre Dame professor and political observer Robert Schmuhl put it, “Romney gets a gold medal, and Obama wasn’t even in the same competition.” Schmuhl, a professor of American studies and the author of “Statecraft and Stagecraft: American Political...

Abu Hamza The infamous Arab Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masry, dubbed the 'hate cleric,'[1] in 1994, he began traveling back and forth to Bosnia in order to support Jihadist activities there. And, in 1995, he founded the Jama'at Ansar al-Shari'a (Supporters of Sharia, SOS), organization in order to promote the establishment of Sharia law worldwide.[2] In 2006, he was jailed in Britain for inciting murder and racial hatred.[3] He has been charged with 11 counts of criminal conduct related to the taking of 16 hostages in Yemen in 1998, advocating violent jihad in Afghanistan in 2001 and conspiring to establish...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. A private company is on the verge of launching another cargo ship to the International Space Station. On Sunday night, California-based SpaceX will attempt to send a Dragon capsule to the orbiting lab and its three-member crew. Liftoff of the company's unmanned Falcon rocket is scheduled for 8:35 p.m. EDT. Forecasters put the odds of acceptable weather at 60 percent. Thick clouds and rain are the main concerns. A Dragon cargo ship successfully docked to the space station last May, but that was considered a test flight. The coming mission is the first under a $1.6 billion...

Sorry, I don't subscribe to newspapers any longer so I was wondering about the Doonsbury cartoon. I remember during Reagan's terms in office, the cartoonist had street people sitting on manhole covers for heat. Since O'bummer has more homeless street people in US history and is the 'foodstamp' president, how has the cartoonist portrayed this ???

Detective Hassan Hamdy made the split-second decision to fire a single fatal shot at an unarmed motorist during an early morning traffic stop on a highway in Queens because he thought the driver was reaching for a gun, according to the detective’s lawyer. The driver, Noel Polanco, 22, did not comply with Detective Hamdy’s orders to put his hands up, instead reaching “down in a quick motion, down on the floor of the car,” said lawyer Philip Karasyk, representing the detective. Detective Hamdy twice yelled “Police!” and was wearing a heavy vest with the word “police” written across it, Mr....

One night over dinner, a friend of mine told me that he had seen a very pregnant homeless woman on the corner of a busy Austin intersection. I knew the intersection he was referring to…there is a huge non-denominational church on the corner. I felt confident that she had probably received some assistance from them. Maybe they were in the process of trying to help her find resources. One of the friends with us at dinner, Heather, is the executive director of the Austin Coalition for Life, a non-profit group who holds daily vigils outside of Austin’s four abortion clinics....

The “EPA has admitted to a federal court that it asks human guinea pigs to sacrifice their lives for regulatory purposes—and $12 per hour.” That was a recent news item reported by JunkScience.com’s founder, Steve Milloy. “EPA has responded to our emergency motion for a temporary restraining order against its ongoing human experiment (called ‘Captain’) involving the air pollutant” known as “fine particles” ...

Concerning Obama’s Hampton University speech, just one observation. I don’t care so much about the down-home accent and style. Lots of people slip into different skins, for different purposes. It isn’t necessarily hypocritical or wrong. (That said, I’m not eager to hear Hillary Clinton’s “black voice” again. Will we be treated to it when she runs in 2016?)What is damnable about Obama’s Hampton speech is this: It perpetrates a racial lie. It furthers racial grievance and alienation. It hardens division in our society. It increases bitterness and mistrust.The charge that President Bush and Republicans generally were indifferent to black...

MEXICO CITY (AP).- Mexican archaeologists said Friday they uncovered the largest number of skulls ever found in one offering at the most sacred temple of the Aztec empire dating back more than 500 years. The finding reveals new ways the pre-Colombian civilization used skulls in rituals at Mexico City's Templo Mayor, experts said. That's where the most important Aztec ceremonies took place between 1325 until the Spanish conquest in 1521. The 50 skulls were found at one sacrificial stone. Five were buried under the stone, and each had holes on both sides — signaling they were hung on a skull...

The Drudge Report is cheekily labeling an article about the outrageous gas prices and gas shortage in Southern California the "October Surprise." While it's unlikely even $4-$5 (and up) a gallon gas prices will turn Californians into Romney fans, CNBC is reporting that gas prices are likely to keep rising in October: "It will only take another refinery issue and a bit more of geopolitical noise to have the first U.S. election at a US average gasoline price of $4 a gallon," says energy analyst Olivier Jakob of Petromatrix Also contributing to the problem in California were issues at different...

They can spend all the time at all the camps they want and it won’t wipe the FAIL off the last four years, but they’ll try anyway: To remedy this, there will be more extensive preparation for Obama before the next showdown — now much higher stakes for Obama — at Hofstra University. Obama will set up debate camp at the end of next week in Williamsburg, Va.Obama may not be adding more rehearsal time — but as senior adviser David Axelrod says, he’s going to be more strategic about how he uses it.And on Obama’s debate sparring partner...

PPP's newest Wisconsin poll finds a big debate bump for Mitt Romney in the state. Two weeks ago he trailed Barack Obama by 7 points there, 52-45. Now he's pulled to within two points, with Obama's lead now just 49-47.

Turkey returned fire after Syrian mortar bombs landed in a field in southern Turkey on Saturday, the day after Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan warned Syria that Turkey would not shy away from war if provoked. It was the fourth day of Turkish retaliation for firing by Syrian forces that killed five Turkish civilians on Wednesday. Turkey has nearly 100,000 Syrian refugees in camps on its territory, has allowed rebel leaders sanctuary and has led calls for Assad to quit. Its armed forces are far larger than Syria's.