• Charlie Hebdo Mohammad Cartoons

    After Firebombing French Magazine Returns with Gay Muhammad Cover

    November 10, 2011 /

    Here we go again.

    Showing no fear after getting its offices firebombed soon after printing an issue ridiculing radical Islam, French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, has fired back with a cover depicting a gay Muslim man passionately kissing another man under the headline: “L’Amour plus fort que la haine,” French for “love is stronger than hate.”
    Charlie Hebdo is a caustic and controversial satire magazine that uses vulgar humor and illustrations to lampoon anything its writers and artists feel is fair game, usually in the realm of politics and religion, with everyone at equal risk of being a target. French president Nikolas Sarkozy is perpetually ridiculed in its pages, as well as leftist politicians like Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Recently, a cover had a drawing of the Bible, Koran, and Torah swirling in a toilet bowl with a headline that read: “In the toilet, all the religions.”

    So, when the magazine’s editors recently announced that Muhammad would be a “guest editor” and the magazine was temporarily renamed “Charia Hebdo” (a play on the word, “Sharia”), it was according to protocol. However, as is well-known, depicting Islam’s prophet Muhammad is extremely offensive to some Muslims, and there has been violent retaliation, evidenced by the infamous 2005 Danish cartoon scandal in which riots flared up as a response to a newspaper’s publications of cartoons ridiculing Muhammad.

    Since then, other newspapers and media outlets have adopted self-censorship when it comes to images of Muhammad, such as Comedy Central choosing to edit out the image of Muhammad in a “South Park” episode in 2006 and Yale University choosing not to include the Danish comics of Muhammad in an anthology of controversial cartoons entitled, “The Cartoons that Shook the World.”

    Charlie Hebdo, however, was undeterred, and published its “Charia Hebdo” with a drawing of a bearded Muslim man on the cover (there was no specific reference to Muhammad), saying “100 lashes if you don’t die of laughter.” Inside were caricatures and comics that mocked the recent events in Libya and Tunisia where certain Sharia laws are being implemented and Islamist politicians getting elected.

    Stephane Charbonnier, editor-in-chief of the humor magazine, told reporters: “What motivated us to publish this edition were events in Libya and Tunisia. It was a joke. The idea was to imagine a world where Sharia would be applied, but as everyone says to not worry about Libya or Tunisia, we wanted to explain what a ‘soft’ version of Sharia could look like.”

    And, what was the result of Charia Hebdo?

    The French magazine had its website hacked,death threats to employees and their office was completely destroyed by a firebomb (nobody was injured).

    Here is the video:

    But, undeterred Charlie Hebdo is now come out with the gay Muslim man cover. Some say this is Muhammad, but it has not been confirmed.

    What could possibly go wrong?

  • American Economy,  Hunger,  Polling

    Poll Watch: Americans Ability to Afford Food Falls to Near Three Year Low

    November 10, 2011 /

    According to the latest Gallup Poll.

    The percentage of Americans reporting that they had enough money to buy the food they or their families needed continued to decline in October, nearing the record low seen in November 2008. The percentage who did not lack money for food in 2011 fell to 79.8% from 80.1% in September, continuing a decline that began in April.

    This is only the second time since Gallup and Healthways began tracking this measure as part of the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index in January 2008 that less than 80% of Americans reported that they had enough money to buy food throughout the past year. The record low was in November 2008, at the start of the economic crisis, when 79.4% reported that they had enough money to buy food for themselves or their families.

    This measure — which asks if one had enough money to buy food in the past 12 months — has decreased to its lowest level of the calendar year each October since 2009. The reason for this pattern is unclear and does not appear to be related to world food prices. In 2008, fewer Americans reported that they had enough money to buy food in August and November than in October, likely affected by high gas prices in the former case and the onset of the economic crisis in the latter. Still, this October finds fewer Americans saying that they had enough money to buy food over the past year than in each October for the past three years.

    Americans’ Access to Basic Needs Falls to New Record Low

    Americans’ access to basic needs is now at the lowest level recorded since Gallup and Healthways began tracking it in January 2008. The Basic Access Index — which comprises 13 measures, including Americans’ ability to afford food, housing, and healthcare — declined to a record-low score of 81.2 in October. This means Americans’ access to basic needs, though still high in an absolute sense, is now worse than it was throughout the economic crisis and recession, including the prior record lows recorded in February and March 2009.

    I wonder when some of these poor economic conditions in America will be referred to Obama creaations or the Occupy encampments as Obamavlles?

    With the left-wing media, probably never. But, American voters understand and will take action accordingly.

  • Polling,  President 2012

    Poll Watch: Most Republicans See Mitt Romney as the Presidential Nominee

    November 10, 2011 /

    According to the latest Gallup Poll.

    Republicans are most likely to predict that Mitt Romney will be their party’s 2012 presidential nominee. The 45% who believe Romney will win the nomination exceeds the combined 35% who think any other candidate will win, including 13% who say Herman Cain and 9% who say Rick Perry.

    These results are based on a Nov. 2-6 Gallup poll, conducted after sexual harassment allegations against Cain surfaced. The poll shows Romney and Cain tying at 21% as the candidate Republicans say they are most likely to support for the nomination. Thus, Republicans are more than twice as likely to believe Romney will win the nomination as to prefer he be the nominee at this time.

    Romney supporters overwhelmingly believe he will win. But Cain supporters are about as likely to believe Romney will win as to believe Cain will. Those who support other candidates, or who have no preference, are also inclined to believe Romney will emerge as the winner.

    Frankly, after Rick Perry’s implosion last night, unless Newt Gingrich or Jon Huntsman can catch fire, the race is over – before it starts or an election occurs.

    Mitt Romney will be the 2012 GOP Presidential nominee.

  • Pinboard Links,  The Morning Flap

    The Morning Flap: November 10, 2011

    November 10, 2011 /

    These are my links for November 9th through November 10th:

    • Senate Dems preserve FCC’s ‘net neutrality’ rule– Senate Democrats banded together to block a measure seeking to invalidate the Federal Communication Commission’s so-called “net neutrality” rule to regulate Internet service providers.The resolution of disapproval, which was pushed by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, R-Tex., failed in a 46 to 52 vote, with Democrats voting to preserve the rule.

      “Under these mandates, broadband companies would lose control over the traffic and technology flowing through their infrastructure,” Hutchinson and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell had argued in an op-ed. “Government bureaucrats would tell companies what is and is not a “reasonable” way to operate their systems. These regulatory burdens would discourage Internet service providers from innovating and investing, inject uncertainty into a thriving sector of our economy, and jeopardize the information industry’s vast potential for growth.”

    • Cain Sinking in Iowa – Private polling shared with the Associated Press shows Herman Cain’s support in Iowa “has declined since last month. Internal polls of likely Republican caucus-goers showed Cain’s support consistent with The Des Moines Register’s poll in late October, which showed him narrowly leading in the state with 23 percent. The private polls showed Cain still in double digits in Iowa, but markedly lower.”
    • Will Perry’s Stumble Lead to the End of His Campaign?– Almost immediately after what will probably be remembered as the Bill Buckner moment of primary debates, when Gov. Rick Perry of Texas literally forgot which governmental agencies he would cut and concluded his answer with a sheepish “Oops,” Mr. Perry’s stock on the betting market Intrade dropped in half. Tabbed as having about a 9 percent chance of winning the Republican nomination before the debate, the market revised his odds downward to 4 percent just moments after the gaffe.This seems like a sensible enough reaction. The primary debates are not watched by all that many people, but the big moments are replayed for days afterward by the news networks and on the Web. This was a big moment; the presidential scholar Larry Sabato wrote that it was “the most devastating moment of any modern primary debate.” It will reinforce some core negative perceptions about Mr. Perry: that he is a bad debater, that he is a lightweight, and that he is someone who is not quite ready for prime time. Had another candidate made the same mistake, that candidate might have gotten a mulligan. But Mr. Perry used his mulligans up long ago after stammering answers and poor overall performances in several of his previous debates.

      At the same time, it should be remembered how volatile the Republican primary process has been. This week’s comeback kid — Newt Gingrich — once had a campaign so moribund that many assumed it would end at some point during the summer. Herman Cain’s numbers had slumped in the summer, before he suddenly rocketed toward the front of the pack five or six weeks ago.

    • Why MSNBC Analyst Pat Buchanan Won’t be on MSNBC to Promote his Book– Buchanan is doing the rounds promoting his new book Suicide of a Superpower. He’s been on CNN, with Erin Burnett, and on Fox News, with Sean Hannity and Megyn Kelly and he was on FBN last night (anchor David Asman called it “a terrific new book”). But the MSNBC political analyst has not — and will not — be on MSNBC to talk about the book, which is #18 on the New York Times Best Seller list.An MSNBC executive told HuffPo‘s Michael Calderone that there had been a conscious decision not to have Buchanan on air because of the views expressed in the book which is described this way on Amazon.com:

      America was born a Western Christian republic but is being transformed into a multiracial, multicultural, multilingual, multiethnic stew of a nation that has no successful precedent in the history of the world.

      The groups CREDO Action and ColorofChange.org — which took credit for the beginning of the end of Glenn Beck on Fox News — is going one further. Today the groups announced they have delivered 275,000 signatures on a petition demanding the network fire Buchanan for his “long history of bigoted rhetoric.”

    • President 2012 GOP Florida Poll Watch: Cain 30% Vs. Romney 24% Vs. Gingrich 19% | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – President 2012 GOP Florida Poll Watch: Cain 30% Vs. Romney 24% Vs. Gingrich 19% #tcot #catcot
    • President 2012 GOP South Carolina Poll Watch: Romney 22% Vs. Cain 20% Vs. Gingrich 10% Vs. Perry 9% | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – President 2012 GOP South Carolina Poll Watch: Romney 22% Vs. Cain 20% Vs. Gingrich 10% Vs. Perry 9% #tcot #catcot
    • Ohio Voters Choose To Opt Out Of Health Care Mandate | Fox News – Ohio Voters Choose To Opt Out Of Health Care Mandate | Fox News
    • Ohio Voters Choose To Opt Out Of Health Care Mandate | Fox News – Ohio Voters Choose To Opt Out Of Health Care Mandate | Fox News
    • Ohio Voters Choose To Opt Out Of Health Care Mandate | Fox News – Ohio Voters Choose To Opt Out Of Health Care Mandate | Fox News
    • A Vaccine Against Breast and Ovarian Cancer? | Smiles For A Lifetime – Temporary (Locum Tenens) Dentistry – A Vaccine Against Breast and Ovarian Cancer?
    • President 2012 GOP Poll Watch: 51 Per Cent Say Accusations Against Herman Cain Likely Serious and True | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – President 2012 GOP Poll Watch: 51 Per Cent Say Accusations Against Herman Cain Likely Serious and True #tcot #catcot
    • Ohio Voters Choose To Opt Out Of Health Care Mandate | Fox News – Ohio Voters Choose To Opt Out Of Health Care Mandate
    • The Morning Flap: November 9, 2011 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – The Morning Flap: November 9, 2011 #tcot #catcot
  • Polling,  President 2012

    President 2012 Poll Watch: Obama and Romney Tied in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania

    November 10, 2011 /

     

    According to the latest Quinnipiac Poll.

    • FLORIDA: Obama 42 – Romney 45 
    • OHIO: Obama 45 – Romney 42 
    • PENNSYLVANIA: Obama 44 – Romney 43 

    One year before the presidential election, President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney are running neck and neck in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, the three states that for the past half-century have predicted the presidential winner, according to the first Quinnipiac University “Swing State Poll” of the 2012 cycle released today. The president leads the other top GOP contenders, although half the voters in each state say he does not deserve a second term. Since 1960, no candidate has won the presidency without carrying at least two of these three states.

    In my Electoral College likley scenario above, I already have Romney (the likely nominee) beating Obama in Ohio and Florida. Pennsylvania is a bit of a surprise. 

    If Pennsylvania goes to Romney, then Obama loses in other states too. But, it is early and I predict Obama will win Pennsylvania.

    The race will be close, but if the election were today, Romney could win in the Electoral College.

  • Twitter

    @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-11-10

    November 10, 2011 /

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