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The paltry turnout in the Republican Presidential contests over the last week reflects what we've seen in our recent national polling: Democrats are now more excited about voting this fall than Republicans are, reversing the enthusiasm gap that plagued the party in 2010. Our last national survey for Daily Kos found that 58% of Democrats were 'very excited' about voting this fall, compared to 54% of Republicans. Six months ago the figures were 48% of Democrats 'very excited' and Republicans at the same 54%. Generally you would expect voters to get more excited as the election gets nearer. That trend...

A friend of mine pointed out this morning that Mitt Romney has outspent Newt Gingrich $7 million to $.0008 million in Florida just to watch his 15 pt lead implode overnight. The Republican base does not trust Mitt Romney. Because they do not trust him, they do not like him as a candidate. His campaign, all too clever to try to sit on an ephemeral lead that any outside observer could see was more vaporware than reality, has decided to go fully negative now against Gingrich. In other words, Mitt Romney who no one much cares for outside of well...

Honduras will inaugurate a new naval base on Guanaja Island next month. The base, which was financed by the U.S., will be used to support joint U.S.-Honduras counternarcotics efforts.

ATLANTA (CBS Atlanta) – The home base for Occupy Atlanta has tested positive for tuberculosis. The Fulton County Health Department confirmed Wednesday that residents at the homeless shelter where protesters have been occupying have contracted the drug-resistant disease

The homeless shelter that Occupy Atlanta protesters have been camping out in has been confirmed for housing two cases of drug-resistant tuberculosis. (Spencer Platt/CBS Atlanta) Jesse Jackson just spoke at the TB camp four days ago. Public health officials in Atlanta confirmed today that the Occupy Atlanta camp has tested possitive for tuberculosis. CBS Atlanta reported: The home base for Occupy Atlanta has tested positive for tuberculosis. The Fulton County Health Department confirmed Wednesday that residents at the homeless shelter where protesters have been occupying have contracted the drug-resistant disease. WGCL reports that a health department spokeswoman said there is...

ATLANTA (CBS Atlanta) – The home base for Occupy Atlanta has tested positive for tuberculosis. The Fulton County Health Department confirmed Wednesday that residents at the homeless shelter where protesters have been occupying have contracted the drug-resistant disease. WGCL reports that a health department spokeswoman said there is a possibility that both Occupy Atlanta protesters and the homeless people in the shelter may still be at risk since tuberculosis is contracted through air contact. “Over the last three months were have been two persons who have resided in this facility who have been diagnosed with confirmed or suspected infectious tuberculosis...

ATLANTA (CBS Atlanta) – The home base for Occupy Atlanta has tested positive for tuberculosis. The Fulton County Health Department confirmed Wednesday that residents at the homeless shelter where protesters have been occupying have contracted the drug-resistant disease. WGCL reports that a health department spokeswoman said there is a possibility that both Occupy Atlanta protesters and the homeless people in the shelter may still be at risk since tuberculosis is contracted through air contact. “Over the last three months were have been two persons who have resided in this facility who have been diagnosed with confirmed or suspected infectious tuberculosis...

A suspicious package at the mail center of an Illinois Air Force base prompted the evacuation of several buildings, officials said Wednesday, and three people were taken to a hospital. The report of the package at Scott Air Force Base came in at 9:26 a.m. (10:26 a.m. ET), said Lt. Benjamin Garland, base spokesman. The building containing the mail center was evacuated, along with surrounding buildings (Snip) The three people were taken to the hospital as a result of possible chemical exposure, said another base spokesman, Thomas Kistler. Thirteen people were being decontaminated on the scene as a precaution, Garland

With all of the spotlights on the high-stakes debt maneuverings by President Obama and Speaker John Boehner the last few days, few people noticed what Vermont's Sen. Bernie Sanders said: "I think it would be a good idea if President Obama faced some primary opposition." This is political treason 469 days before a presidential election. Now, comes a new ABC News/Washington Post poll with a whole harvest of revelations, among them, strong indications that Obama's liberal base is starting to crumble. Among the nuggets: Despite those hundreds of billions of blown stimulus dollars and almost as many upturn promises from...

RUSH: I asked the question last hour: "Where in the world are the Republicans feeling this pressure to do a deal with Obama? Where is the pressure to cave to Obama on raising the debt ceiling? Where's the pressure coming from?" P at Buchanan has the answer in a recent post at the Drudge Report. "By refusing to accept..." By the way, the title of his piece is: "An Establishment in Panic -- By refusing to accept tax increases in a deal to raise the debt ceiling, Republicans are behaving like 'fanatics,' writes David Brooks of The New York Times,"...

Obama reaches out to liberal groups to shore up Democratic base after tax dealBy Peter Wallsten Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, December 19, 2010; 8:01 PM In the wake of President Obama's tax-cut deal with Republicans, the White House is moving quickly to mend its strained relationship with the Democratic base, reassuring liberal groups, black leaders and labor union officials who opposed the tax compromise that Obama has not abandoned them. On Friday morning, hours before the president signed into law the $858 billion package extending George W. Bush-era tax cuts as well as jobless benefits, White House aides e-mailed...

Rachel Maddow’s Anger At U.S. Senate: ‘Game Over’ For Support From Obama Base?by Colby Hall | 10:22 am, December 17th, 2010 Last night the U.S. Senate voted on a bill that will extend the current Tax Cuts first put into place by President Bush after Senator Harry Reid appeared to capitulate to the threat of a Republican filibuster. This appeared to frustrate, if not anger MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow last night, and not only because it messed up the rundown of her show. It understandably irked the self-described progressive because it was just another example of, as she put it, “this...

Obama’s job approval rating hits a new lowBy Holly Bailey Mon Dec 13, 10:44 am ET Is President Obama in serious danger of losing re-election in 2012? A new McClatchy/Marist Poll released over the weekend found Obama's job approval rating at just 42 percent — the lowest number of his presidency. One reason Obama's numbers have taken a turn for the worse: The president has lost ground with Democrats in recent weeks. According to the poll, 74 percent of Democrats approve of the job Obama is doing — a sign that he remains enormously popular with his base. But that...

Dean tells AP Obama must reclaim progressive baseBy Beth Fouhy, Associated Press Tue Nov 30, 2:47 pm ET NEW YORK – Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean has a message for President Barack Obama: Reclaim progressive voters or risk both re-election and the future of the Democratic Party for years to come. **SNIP** He dismissed Obama's efforts to court conservatives as "a waste of time" even as the president was meeting with Republican congressional leaders at the White House for the first time since the midterm elections. Dean noted that Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has vowed to make Obama a...

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has overseen the signing of an amendment to a US-Polish agreement on the basing of missile interceptors in Poland. Repeating a theme the Russians have consistently rejected, Mrs Clinton said Moscow has nothing to fear from a Nato-endorsed missile defence system based in Europe because it will be aimed at Iran's missile arsenal. "This is a purely defensive system," she said, with her Polish counterpart, Radek Sikorski, at her side. "It does not threaten Russia." Moscow views the project as a potential threat to its own missile arsenal. Mr Sikorski said his country fully...

Japan's parliament elected outspoken populist Naoto Kan as prime minister Friday, handing the political veteran the immediate task of rallying his party and reclaiming its mandate for change before elections next month. Kan succeeds Yukio Hatoyama, who stepped down Wednesday after squandering the public's high hopes with broken campaign promises, including moving a U.S. Marine base off Okinawa island, and financial scandals.

The United States and Japan agreed yesterday to relocate a controversial U.S. air base to a less densely populated area on the Japanese island of Okinawa. The future of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma had been a subject of intense political debate in Japan that led to the possibility of the base being moved off the island entirely, despite a 2006 agreement to relocate it on Okinawa. Talks between Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates for the United States and Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa for Japan addressed a range...

TOKYO, June 1 (UPI) -- Embattled Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama announced his decision to step down Wednesday after only eight months in office. The leader of the Democratic Party of Japan, which he helped come to power last September after the August elections, announced his decision at a general assembly of party lawmakers, Kyodo News reported. The prime minister's ruling coalition has seen its public approval ratings plunge in recent months. Things came to a head after the Social Democratic Party, a coalition partner, decided to leave over the government's accord allowing the U.S. Marine base's air station to...

TOKYO - Japanese prime minister Yukio Hatoyama has said he intends to resign, a media report said Wednesday. Public broadcaster NHK said that Hatoyama told his party executives he intended to step down over his broken campaign promise to move a U.S. Marine base off the southern island of Okinawa.

Japan's base dispute with America Futenma farce There is little to cheer in a shoddily executed about-face on Okinawa May 6th 2010 | TOKYO | From The Economist print edition Hatoyama loses another future voter YUKIO HATOYAMA, Japan’s leader, does not exude political gravitas. So it was dispiritingly in-character that when he made an announcement on May 4th that could make or break his premiership, he did so on a national holiday, speaking unpersuasively to the very people most likely to disapprove of what he said. The bombshell he dropped on his first visit as prime minister to the island...

I have just watched the special video on YouTube of a speech given by President Barak Obama, making another campaign speech not only for a young Democratic canidate by the name of Claudia Schulz. I SEE signs of desperation on the part of President Obama, KNOWING FULL WELL that November 2010 is SHAPING UP to be a replay of one November “1994″.

Russia to help Vietnam build submarine base Tuoi Tre Russia will provide technical assistance to build a base for the six diesel-electric Kilo-class submarines Vietnam has ordered, the Voice of Russia quoted Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov as saying Thursday. Russia would also help Vietnam build a repair dockyard for Russian ships, he said after returning from a three-day trip to Hanoi March 25. He pledged Russian support to modernize Vietnam’s Air Force, including multibillion-dollar contracts for military equipment, he told the radio station. Military cooperation between Moscow and Hanoi has increased in recent years along with Vietnam's arms purchases from...

Link only - Obama's liberal base 'disengaged'

3/2/2010 - HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. (AFNS) -- Holloman Air Force Base Airmen began the movement of approximately 150 truckloads of assets that will directly support joint and coalition forces in Afghanistan Feb. 24 here. Members of the 49th Materiel Maintenance Group, the Air Force's only Basic Expeditionary Airfield Resources base, have been working countless hours to prepare the equipment for movement since they were notified of the tasking in December 2009. BEAR base is supplying 480,000 square feet of AM-2 matting that will be used to expand the expeditionary aircraft operations throughout Afghanistan. The amount of AM-2 matting...

Courtesy UK Ministry of DefenceHaving launched an airborne assault into a Taliban-controlled area, Royal Welsh and Afghan soldiers have held shuras with the local population and set up a new patrol base to ensure enduring security. This particular offensive by soldiers from Fire Support Company, 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh (1 Royal Welsh), and their partner troops from the Afghan National Army, was one of many which took place this weekend as part of Operation MOSHTARAK.The soldiers from Fire Support Company, 1 Royal Welsh, launched an airborne assault on Saturday morning from Camp Bastion, landing in three waves of...

Here is video of Michael Goldfarb, of The Weekly Standard, talking with Glenn Beck yesterday about a source who told him that President Obama's team has threatened Democrat Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska to get him to support the Senate Health Care Bill. Goldfarb said a source told him they threatened to put Offut Air Force Base in Nebraska on the Base closing review list if Nelson does not support ObamaCare. Twenty GOP Senators are now reportedly calling for an investigation into the threat. Goldfarb says it is not a credible threat, and shows the White House does not even...

A forklift pushes the remains of several Hesco barriers onto the back of a 7-ton truck aboard Al Asad Air Base, Nov. 20. The base-wide cleanup effort is dubbed “Operation Blue Spoon,” and the goal is for Marines with Multi National Force - West to leave the base in good order as they wind down their role in Operation Iraqi Freedom. U.S. Marine Corps photograph by Cpl. Meg Murray. AL ASAD AIR BASE — As the clouds and drizzle of the rainy winter season roll into Iraq, many Marines with Multi National Force - West are rolling out. The gradual...

LOGAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan, Nov. 10, 2009 – Soldiers here continued the renovation of their base by relocating and resizing the fuel point area at Forward Operating Base Altimur, Nov. 7. Army Sgt. Luke Morrow pulls the liner of a new fueling system tight at Forward Operating Base Altimur, Afghanistan, Nov. 7, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Rob Frazier   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Several months ago, soldiers from 3rd Squadron, 71st Cavalry Regiment, implemented a new program called “Operation Extreme Make Over.” The goal was to coordinate quick, Afghan-led projects to improve areas in local villages, instill...

“Welcome to the GREAT place,” reads the sign outside the main entrance of Fort Hood, Texas, set in rolling lawns just off US Route 190... It certainly looks like a pleasant spot to live. In fact, it is hard to believe this 340 square mile, self-contained city of 70,000 people, which resembles a vast, sleepy university campus, is actually the world’s largest military facility.*** There is a certain open-mindedness to Fort Hood as well, as evidenced by the closed-circuit television footage of Major Hasan, in Muslim dress, buying his morning coffee on Thursday about an hour before he allegedly opened...

The United States has been hollowed out. It no longer manufactures goods. Once the factory of the world, the U.S. now manufactures debt. The high wage manufacturing jobs have been out-sourced to low wage economies. The demise of U.S. manufacturing is at the core of the decline of America, its chronic trade deficits and growing international indebtedness. It makes the world’s savers reluctant to be exposed to the U.S. dollar.There is one problem with this widely held view: It is factually wrong.The value of U.S. manufacturing output in real terms (adjusted for inflation) was a little more than $3 trillion...

INGLESIDE — Naval Station Ingleside came one step closer to shutting its gates Tuesday, decommissioning the base’s Mine Warfare Training Center. The center served to train more than 42,000 sailors for shipboard mine counter measures. The facility was decommissioned as a result of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure round, which ordered the consolidation of the center with Fleet Anti-submarine Warfare Training Center San Diego, Calif.

9/3/2009 - CAMP UR, Iraq (AFNS) -- Operations continue as normal at Camp Ur. The focus remains the same: keep the base running and the mission on target. Iraqi army soldiers routinely work with their U.S. counterparts, but one important difference now is that the Iraqis have taken command of the controls. "It's a historic time for anyone serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom," said Lt. Col. Steven Ramsay, the Tallil Logistics Military Advisory Team senior adviser. "We have committed to turning over all operations to the Iraqi people and they are committed to taking over and succeeding." Colonel Ramsay and...

Several Australian men have been arrested in a series of counter-terrorism raids across Melbourne after police uncovered a plot by Islamic extremists linked to al-Qaeda to mount a suicide attack on an Army base. Four men were under arrest this morning and several others were assisting police with inquiries after 400 police officers and members of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) swooped on 19 properties shortly before dawn. Authorities believe the group, of Somalian and Lebanese background, was at an advanced stage of preparing to storm an Army barracks in retaliation for Australia’s military involvement in Muslim countries. Members...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE BASRA, Iraq, July 13, 2009 – The landscape of this base is changing rapidly. Some buildings already have been built to improve the operational capability of Multinational Division South, with others planned for the near future. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jeffrey Ratliff, from the 557th Expeditionary RED HORSE Squadron, helps build a new hall for the Red Bull Band at Contingency Operating Base Basra, Iraq, in June 2009. The squadron plans to start construction on a post chapel soon. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Frank Vaughn   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The progress evident throughout...

WASHINGTON, June 24, 2009 – The Kyrgyz parliament is expected to vote in the coming days on agreements reached between the United States and Kyrgyzstan governments to extend U.S. access to Manas Air Base, a logistics hub that supplies troops in Afghanistan, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell confirmed today. While emphasizing that the United States is “not counting our chickens before they are hatched,” Morrell expressed hope that the deal will go through. If ratified, the agreements would provide for a transit center at Manas International Airport, operated by the United States, to provide logistical support to coalition forces in...

"The fed is planning moves that would more than double its balance-sheet assets by September to $4.5 trillion from $1.9 trillion. Whether expressing approval or concern over the fed’s move, most commentators fail to understand the real magnitude of the projected expansion of the US monetary base because they don’t take into account the amount of dollars circulating abroad......................The fed’s planned balance sheet expansion results in a 15-fold increase in the base money supply. 262 Billion = US monetary base as of September 2008 (minus dollars held abroad) 3,818 Billion = projected US monetary base in September 2009 (minus dollars...

Just a vanity thread - I have been interested in locating some current photos of the former MCAS(H) Tustin base area located about 2 miles west of I-5 on Red Hill Avenue in Tustin, CA. I served there from 1988-1992 as a member of HMH-462 - Google earth shows some pre-construction demo in the area; however, this was most likely some time ago, as the base went up on the base closure list in 1997. I would be most appreciative if someone that lives in the area could take some pictures of what it looks like now (one of the...

COLUMBIA, South Carolina (CNN) -- For all Americans, this election represents another glass ceiling broken, and in the words of my 16-year-old, "That's very cool." The election of the first black president is an inspiring and transformational moment for our country. I am happy for President-elect Barack Obama, and for many who supported him. They and, in many cases, their ancestors fought for this day for centuries as they experienced first-hand the unthinkable wrong of segregation. As an American, I wish him every success. Beyond the presidential race, it goes without saying the Republican Party took a shellacking nationally. Some...

(IsraelNN.com) Four Arabs from the Judean Mountains area managed to enter the IAF's Nevatim Air Force Base Wednesday without tripping any alarms and without arousing suspicion. They seem to have been looking for work. The Arabs managed to pass multiple security rings monitored by closed circuit cameras and wandered about the base, passing near advanced jets, bombs and advanced weaponry and in clear sight of officers and soldiers who did not take special notice of them. Only after they approached a contractor for work was the base's command notified of their presence. The IDF says the incident will be investigated.

People started queuing before 7am for a front row spot at John McCain's campaign rally in Lebanon, Ohio, this week. By the time the senator appeared with Sarah Palin, his running mate, three hours later, more than 5,000 people had crammed into the town centre, with hundreds more locked outside the security cordon. Similar scenes have greeted the Republican presidential ticket at events across the country this week, marking the first time that Mr McCain has rivalled Barack Obama for pulling power. Scanning the crowd in Lebanon, a commuter town of 17,000 people outside Cincinnati, the catalyst for surging Republican...

KABUL -- U.S. troops have pulled out of a remote outpost in northeastern Afghanistan, the NATO-led security force has said, three days after Taliban militants tried to overrun the base and killed nine U.S. soldiers. NATO played down the significance of the withdrawal, but Taliban militants are sure to claim victory in driving foreign forces out of the wooded valley, close to the Pakistani border. Taliban militants briefly breached the incomplete defenses of the newly established base in the Wanat district of Konar Province on July 13 and hours of fierce fighting ensued that killed nine U.S. soldiers and many...

All indications are the Democrats will pick up seats in both the House and Senate, with the Senate likely being a couple of RHINOs away from the magic 60. McCain is no Reagan but he's the only thing standing in the way of the most liberal Senator in Senate becoming President with a clear majority in Congress and at a critical time with decisions to be made on the war on terror, the war in Iraq, heath care, taxes, illegal immigration and likely the Supreme Court. Sometimes you do have to pick the lesser of two evils. This is one...

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet officially re-opened on Wednesday the Arturo Prat base in Antarctica which was the first to be established by the Chilean Navy in 1947 but was later closed in 2004. The event was described in Chile as a reaffirmation of the country’s rights over Antarctica. The eleven permanent members of the base, which is being refurbished --and eleven degrees below zero--, received President Bachelet, Defence minister Jose Goñi and the Commander of the Navy Admiral Rodolfo Codina. “This base is going to guarantee Chilean rights and territorial integrity, which is undoubtedly the duty of the Armed Forces”,...

A Soldier with the 535th Engineer Company operates a front-end loader to fill Hesco barriers at Patrol Base Vanderhorn March 6. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Jason Stadel, 2nd BCT, 3rd Inf. Div. FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU — Construction of Patrol Base Vanderhorn began in early March near Sayifiyah, a region formerly controlled by insurgents. The patrol base will be home to a company from 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). PB Vanderhorn is named after Staff Sgt. Christopher Vanderhorn, a 1-187th Inf. Regt. Soldier killed in an improvised explosive device attack...

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, showing no signs of giving up in his quest for the GOP nomination, on Tuesday questioned presumptive nominee Sen. John McCain’s (Ariz.) ability to turn out conservatives in a general election. Huckabee, who has repeatedly bested McCain in conservative, Southern states, said he is the candidate winning the “states that are essential to being elected as a Republican.” “Republicans are not going to be elected because they carried Delaware, Connecticut, New York and California,” Huckabee said, referring to some of the states McCain has won. He added that the question is whether the Arizonan will...

Q: How much support do you think he has among the base of the Republican Party? Roberta McCain: “I don’t think he has any. I don’t know what the base of the Repub–maybe I don’t know enough about it, but I’ve not seen any help whatsoever.�

-- snip --The elected delegates, though virtually unknown, are at least selected by the voters and pledged to the candidate those voters chose. Most of the super delegates aren't chosen by the general populace, and they are not bound by the votes in their respective states. If they end up making the difference in the nomination -- especially if the winner came into the convention in second place -- there is a strong possibility of disenchanting a good portion of the party's base, potentially costing the party the election...

(IsraelNN.com) A year-end report by the General Security Services (GSS; Shabak) states that the Gaza region has become the leading source of anti-Israel terrorism in recent years. This includes rocket and mortar attacks by Gaza-based Palestinian Authority terrorists and the export of terrorist know-how and funds to the PA in Judea and Samaria. 1,200 Rocket and Mortar Attacks PA terrorists in Gaza launched more than 1,200 rockets at Israeli targets in 2007, the PA terrorists in Gaza launched more than 1,200 rockets at Israeli targets in 2007. Shabak reported. Of those, 800 struck inside pre-1967 Israel. Two people were killed...

NAPLES (Reuters) - Ecuador's leftist President Rafael Correa said Washington must let him open a military base in Miami if the United States wants to keep using an air base on Ecuador's Pacific coast. Correa has refused to renew Washington's lease on the Manta air base, set to expire in 2009. U.S. officials say it is vital for counter-narcotics surveillance operations on Pacific drug-running routes. "We'll renew the base on one condition: that they let us put a base in Miami -- an Ecuadorean base," Correa said in an interview during a trip to Italy. "If there's no problem having...

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