• Pinboard Links,  The Morning Flap

    The Morning Flap: November 2, 2011

    These are my links for November 1st through November 2nd:

    • Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu Considers Pre-Emptive Attack On Iran To Prevent Nuclear Capability– Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to rally support in his cabinet for an attack on Iran, according to government sources.The country’s defence minister Ehud Barak and the foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman are said to be among those backing a pre-emptive strike to neutralise Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

      But a narrow majority of ministers currently oppose the move, which could trigger a wave of regional retaliation.

      The debate over possible Israeli military action has reached fever pitch in recent days with newspaper leader columns discussing the benefits and dangers of hitting Iran.

      Mr Lieberman responded to the reports of a push to gain cabinet approval by saying that “Iran poses the most dangerous threat to world order.”

      But he said Israel’s military options should not be a matter for public discussion.

    • Attorney says Cain violated deal, allowing accuser to speak– The lawyer for one of the women who accused Herman Cain of sexual harassment said his client might get a chance to speak publicly about the allegations because the GOP presidential candidate violated the confidentiality agreement between the two.Attorney Joel Bennett told CBS’s “The Early Show” on Wednesday that his client hasn’t spoken publicly because of the confidentiality agreement, but that Cain’s comments might have cleared a path.

      “There was more than one incident that my client received sexual harassment,” Bennett said. “She would like to speak out for the record, only because Mr. Cain has stated that he didn’t sexually harass anyone, that there wasn’t any substance to the allegations, and basically made it look like she was some type of frivolous claimant looking for money.”

      According to Bennett, one of the stipulations of the confidentiality agreement was that neither party could make disparaging remarks about the other. Bennett said Cain violated that agreement on Fox News on Monday when he said that he had been told that the accuser’s performance in the workplace “was not up to par.”

      “I think she’s upset about his statements and would like the record to be balanced and clear,” Bennett said.

      The New York Times reported Wednesday that Cain’s other accuser received a full year’s salary, worth between $35,000 and $40,000, as a part of her severance package.

      Cain was accused of sexual harassment by two female employees when he headed the National Restaurant Association in the late 1990s.

    • French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo firebombed after prophet Mohammed announcement– The offices of French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo have been destroyed by a petrol bomb, a day after it named the Prophet Mohammed as its “editor-in-chief” for this week’s issue.The fiercely anti-clerical magazine said the move, which included renaming the publication “Sharia Hebdo”, was intended to “celebrate” the victory of Islamist party Ennhada in Tunisia’s election.

      Charlie Hedbo’s editor-in-chief, known as Charb, told France Info radio: “We no longer have a newspaper. All our equipment has been destroyed or has melted.”

      No injuries have been reported

      A single Molotov cocktail was thrown at the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris’s 20th arrondissement at around 1am. The ensuing fire was rapidly put out, but a large amount of material in the office was destroyed, police said.

      “We cannot, today, put together a paper,” said Charb. “But we will do everything possible to do one next week. Whatever happens, we’ll do it. There is no question of giving in,” he said, adding that the magazine is filing a legal complaint against persons unkown.

    • Herman Cain Accuser Got a Year’s Salary in Severance Pay– The National Restaurant Association gave $35,000 — a year’s salary — in severance pay to a female staff member in the late 1990s after an encounter with Herman Cain, its chief executive at the time, made her uncomfortable working there, three people with direct knowledge of the payment said on Tuesday.The woman was one of two whose accusations of sexual harassment by Mr. Cain, now a Republican candidate for president, led to paid severance agreements during his 1996-99 tenure at the association. Disclosure of the scale of the severance further challenged his initial description of the matter as a “witch hunt,” as did new descriptions from the woman’s friends and colleagues of her level of discomfort at work.

      Adding to the pressure on Mr. Cain, a lawyer for the second woman called on the restaurant association to release her from a confidentiality agreement signed as part of her settlement, raising the prospect that she could publicly dispute Mr. Cain’s account of what happened. The lawyer said the confidentiality agreement had left her unable to respond to Mr. Cain’s denials of any inappropriate behavior toward the women.

      “He’s basically saying: ‘I never harassed anyone. These claims have no merit,’ ” said the lawyer, Joel P. Bennett of Washington, who represented the woman in her initial agreement. “And I’m sure my client would have a comeback to that.”

      There will be more…..

    • President 2012 Poll Watch: North Carolina remains close– North Carolina continues to look like a toss up for 2012, with Barack Obama unpopular but none of his prospective Republican opponents setting the world on fire either.45% of voters in the state approve of Obama with 50% disapproving, numbers pretty much in line with where he’s been for the last 3 months. Obama’s big issue continues to be with independents, only 38% of whom think he’s doing a good job to 56% who give him poor marks. He’s been consistently right around the 80% mark with Democrats (78/16 this month) and favor from Republicans is still virtually nonexistent (6/91).

      Despite his weak approval numbers Obama trails only one Republican for reelection in the state, Mitt Romney, and even then it’s just a 1 point margin at 46-45. That represents a simple flip from last month’s poll when Obama led Romney 46-45. We’ve been polling these guys head to head every month for a year now and their head to head has continuously been in the margin of error.

      Each candidate has a couple of things going for him in this match up. Romney’s up 49-34 with independents and gets 16% of the Democratic vote, more than any of the other candidates. Obama’s benefiting from in migration to the state. 79% of North Carolinians consider themselves to be Southerners. They go for Romney 48-44. But with the 21% of voters who don’t identify with that label, Obama’s up 50-43. The folks moving into North Carolina are a big part of why the state’s become more competitive at the Presidential level. The other key thing for Obama is that he’s showing little slippage with the two key groups that drove his victory in the state in 2008: he’s up 89-8 with African Americans and 64-28 with voters under 30.

      Against the non-Romney potential Republican candidates Obama hold leads ranging from 3-8 points. It’s impossible to say what impact the last three days will have long term on Herman Cain’s candidacy but he was the only other GOP hopeful to really come close to Obama on this poll, trailing 47-44. Obama has pretty healthy leads right now against the rest of the Republicans- it’s 7 points over Newt Gingrich at 50-43, and 8 points over Michele Bachmann, Ron Paul, and Rick Perry at 50-42, 48-40, and 50-42 respectively. It’s probably good news for GOP hopes of beating Obama that no one in that last quartet except for Gingrich is looking like a particularly strong candidate for the nomination right now.

      Increasingly it looks like Newt Gingrich will be contending with Mitt Romney or be teamed up with him.

    • Mr. Herman Cain’s former employer making this statement « Gretawire – Mr. Herman Cain’s former employer making this statement
    • Rice: Cain shouldn’t play the “race card” – CBS News Video – Condi Rice: Cain shouldn’t play the “race card”
    • Perry wasn’t drunk at speech, says host – The Hill’s Ballot Box – Perry wasn’t drunk at speech, says host
    • Herman Cain waived confidentiality: accuser’s lawyer – CBS News Investigates – CBS News – RT @daveweigel: RT @CBSEveningNews: Cain accuser’s lawyer speaks out, says #HermanCain waived confidentiality:
    • Poll: Cain, Romney Tied in Florida – Washington Wire – WSJ – RT @WSJWashington: Poll: Cain, Romney Tied in Florida
    • Posting negative comments on social media sites will get you fired at Apple | 9to5Mac | Apple Intelligence – RT @briansolis: Reading “Posting negative comments on social media sites will get you fired at Apple”
    • The Afternoon Flap: November 1, 2011 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – The Afternoon Flap: November 1, 2011 #tcot #catcot
  • Day By Day,  Newspapers

    Day By Day November 2, 2011 – Cash Only

    Day By Day by Chris Muir

    The MSM or Lamestream media, especially the print newspapers, have been in decline for some time now. Cash only to say the least with some of these bankrupt business enterprises.

    In fact, the latest circulation figures were released this morning.

    The Left-wing biased of media and their strangle-hold on what Americans read has been broken. Thanks to the internet, blogs and social media for making America’s free press – really free.

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