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North Korea Watch: Here We Go Again With Missile Launch
This DigitalGlobe satellite image, obtained on March 30, shows Tongch’ang-ni Launch Facility on North Korea’s northwest coast. A rocket launch, purportedly to put a satellite into orbit, is set for sometime between April 12-16 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of founding president Kim Il-Sung
And, the United States has initiated its national missile defense system.
The Pentagon recently activated its global missile shield in anticipation of North Korea’s launch of a long-range missile, according to defense officials.
The measures include stepped-up electronic monitoring, deployment of missile interceptor ships, and activation of radar networks to areas near the Korean peninsula and western Pacific.
Three interceptor ships near Japan and the Philippines, as well as U.S.-based interceptors, are ready to shoot down the North Korean missile if space-, land-, and sea-based sensors determine its flight path is targeted at the United States or U.S. allies, said officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Obama administration will regard any launch by North Korea as a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions regardless of whether the North Koreans claim the rocket test is for space launch purposes, the officials said. The technology and rocketry used for a space launch is nearly identical to that used with ballistic missiles that carry a warhead, they said.
Also, because the payload or warhead of the test launch cannot be determined prior to launch, the Obama administration decided to activate the missile defense system.
According to U.S. officials, current intelligence assessments indicate the North Korean missile will be launched from a base called Tongchang-ri, located on a west coast peninsula north of Pyongyang between April 12 and April 15.
The Obama Administration has rightly activated the shield and remember when Vice President Joe Biden and other Democrats came out against the system and ridiculed President Ronald Reagan.
“This premise, that one day Kim Jong Il or someone will wake up one morning and say ‘Aha, San Francisco!’ is specious,” Senator Joe Biden told AP in May 2001.
Meanwhile in the Senate, Carl Levin (D., Mich.) offered in June to cut off funds for the ground-based interceptor program that Mr. Bush recently activated in Alaska in anticipation of the North Korean launch. Mr. Levin wants to stop new interceptors from being built, but Senate Republicans wouldn’t bring his proposal up for a vote. Mr. Levin has been waging his own private war against missile defenses for a generation, to the point of outflanking Russian objections on the political left.
In May 2001 the Boston Herald‘s Woodlief wrote that John Kerry “wants to croak the hugely costly nuclear missile defense system.” And just one day before the 9/11 attacks Joe Biden (D., Del.) gave a National Press Club speech outlining Democrat opposition to national missile defense.
In May 2001, John Kerry himself outlined some of these arguments on Meet the Press by saying that he wanted “a very limited…highly verifiable and mutually agreed-upon (missile) defense system.” And he complained about the cost. “We’ve already spent $68 billion and have almost nothing to show for it,” noted Kerry.
On May 3, 2001, John Kerry called national missile defense a “mythology” on Don Imus’s radio show.
On June 14, 2001, John Kerry told Hardball‘s Chris Matthews that a “missile shield that could defend the United States against any incoming missile is a fantasy, it is too expensive, it won’t work, and that’s what people believe will drive an arms race.”
If it had been left to them, there would be NO missile shield.
Stay tuned…..
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President 2012 Poll Watch: Obama 49% Vs. Romney 45%
According to the latest Gallup Poll.If asked to choose between them today, 49% of U.S. registered voters say they would vote for Barack Obama for president, while 45% would choose likely Republican opponent Mitt Romney. While Obama’s advantage is not statistically significant, it is the largest he has had over Romney in Gallup polling to date.
Obama has a larger, significant lead, 51% to 43%, over Rick Santorum, Romney’s chief rival for the Republican nomination, in the March 25-26 USA Today/Gallup poll. In mid-February, when Santorum led as national Republicans’ choice for the nomination, he and Obama were tied.
Obama leads both Romney and Santorum among independent voters, faring slightly better against Santorum than he does against Romney. Romney and Santorum currently fare about equally well among Republican voters.
National polls don’t mean much as I have said over and over because of big urban areas that are predominantly Democratic. Also, registered voters rather than likely voters will skew results as well.
Let’s look at Gallup’s key battleground states poll.
Obama has a 51% to 42% lead over Romney in USA Today/Gallup polling of registered voters in 12 key swing states, conducted March 20-26. This is the first time in five measurements that Obama has held an advantage over Romney in those states.
Obama also leads Santorum in the swing states, by 52% to 41%.
What does this all mean?
Momentum has shifted towards President Obama because Americans perceive the economy getting a bit better. Also, the contraception flap with Rush Limbaugh and Rick Santorum has sullied the GOP national brand and Romney is receiving the fall out with women voters and independents.
You see, most Americans are not that tuned into what the real issues are and when Jon Stewart and Jay Leno start the mocking, perceptions will shift – especially with this no win issue. But, will they shift in key battleground states?
The key battleground state poll, however, is not an accurate portrayal. There are at this point of the campaign really only six states in play: Virginia, Ohio, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire and North Carolina.
Romney will need to run the table with these states in order to win the Presidency.
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The Morning Flap: April 2, 2012
These are my links for March 29th through April 2nd:
- Senior citizens continue to bear burden of student loans – The burden of paying for college is wreaking havoc on the finances of an unexpected demographic: senior citizens.
New research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York shows that Americans 60 and older still owe about $36 billion in student loans, providing a rare window into the dynamics of student debt. More than 10 percent of those loans are delinquent. As a result, consumer advocates say, it is not uncommon for Social Security checks to be garnished or for debt collectors to harass borrowers in their 80s over student loans that are decades old.
- Palin to Couric: ‘Game On’ – When news broke that Katie Couric will be filling in for Robin Roberts next week on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” the country yawned. Or, at least we did, until we learned that NBC plans to pit “The Rogue Warrior” against “The Perky One”: Sarah Palin will be guest-hosting “Today” this Tuesday.
NBC’s decision to seat the former Alaska Governor-turned-multimedia star in their anchor chair should prove to be a fruitful one. Since coming onto the national scene in 2008, Palin has become one of the most charismatic figures in conservative America and will likely bring “Today” an entirely different demographic of viewers.
“I see this as a good opportunity to bring an independent, common-sense conservative perspective to NBC. We’re ‘going rogue’ and infiltrating some turf for a day,” Palin told Breitbart News.
- Top Obama campaign donor accused of fraud – A major donor to President Barack Obama has been accused of defrauding a businessman and impersonating a bank official, creating new headaches for Obama’s re-election campaign as it deals with the questionable history of another top supporter.
The New York donor, Abake Assongba, and her husband contributed more than $50,000 to Obama’s re-election effort this year, federal records show. But Assongba is also fending off a civil court case in Florida, where she’s accused of thieving more than $650,000 to help build a multimillion-dollar home in the state — a charge her husband denies.
Obama is the only presidential contender this year who released his list of “bundlers,” the financiers who raise campaign money by soliciting high-dollar contributions from friends and associates. But that disclosure has not come without snags; his campaign returned $200,000 last month to Carlos and Alberto Cardona, the brothers of a Mexican fugitive wanted on federal drug charges.
- Flap’s Dentistry Blog: The Morning Drill: April 2, 2012 – The Morning Drill: April 2, 2012
- Day By Day March 31- April 2, 2012 – Sam Gets a Grip | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Day By Day March 31- April 2, 2012 – Sam Gets a Grip
- How Keith ‘drove’ a network bonkers – What a way to treat broadcast royalty.
Keith Olbermann was fired from Current TV after complaining that one of the peasants who drove his limo had the effrontery to try to talk to him.
And that another one smelled.
Suits at Al Gore’s fledgling cable network sacked the temperamental man-of-the-people after a series of on-the-job clashes, including the diva’s outrageous run of car services, network sources told The Post yesterday.
“Current went through eight different [limo] companies with Keith. Each and every time . . . he didn’t like them,” a network insider said.
“One time it was that the drivers talked to him, he did not like that the driver saw fit to speak to him. The other time he complained that the driver smelled.”
Olbermann couldn’t even be bothered to put pen to paper, in exchange for his luxury rides.
- Bill Clinton says Romney needs ‘Etch A Sketch’ reboot to win general election – The Hill’s Video – RT @thehill: Bill Clinton: Romney will need an ‘Etch A Sketch’ reboot to beat Obama #tcot #obama #gop2012
- Romney speaks! My Q&A with Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney « The Enterprise Blog – Etcha Sketch flipper RT @JimPethokoukis ICYMI: My exclusive weekend interview with GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney
- GOP 12: Swing state poll makes key omissions – RT @GOP12: Why USA Today swing state poll is severely misleading.
- Poll: Obama pulling away from Romney in battleground states – President Obama has opened up a significant lead over GOP presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney in 12 swing states that will be critical in determining the outcome of the election, according to the latest USA Today-Gallup poll.
Obama leads Romney 51 percent to 42 percent in Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Virginia, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and New Hampshire.
- Former President Clinton on Mitt Romney: Etch-a-Sketch “Is What He’s Got to Do” – ABC News – RT @jaketapper Former President Clinton on Mitt Romney: Etch-a-Sketch “Is What He’s Got to Do” >
- Gallup: Obama leads Romney – 49 vs. 45 – President Barack Obama is pulling ahead with a 4-percentage-point lead over Mitt Romney in a general election matchup, according to a new USA Today/Gallup Poll Monday.
Almost half of all registered voters, 49 percent, said they would vote for Obama for president, while 45 percent said they would pick Romney. The 4-point lead is within the poll’s margin of error but is still the biggest advantage the president has had against Romney in Gallup polling to date. Also, Obama has a solid 8-point lead among independents against Romney, 48 to 40 percent.
- @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-04-02 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-04-02
- Twitter – Twitter
- Twitter – Twitter
- Twitter – Twitter
- Twitter – Twitter
- Untitled (http://getglue.com/Fullosseousflap/stickers/amc/the_killing_season_2_premiere?s=ts&ref=Fullosseousflap) – I unlocked the The Killing Season 2 Premiere sticker on @GetGlue!
- Untitled (http://getglue.com/Fullosseousflap/stickers/amc/the_killing_season_2_coming_soon?s=ts&ref=Fullosseousflap) – I unlocked the The Killing Season 2 Coming Soon sticker on @GetGlue!
- @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-04-01 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-04-01
- Twitter – Twitter
- Twitter – Twitter
- Gregory Flap @ Ronnie’s Diner – foursquare – A rainy morning in Marina Del Rey after our recovery 6 miler (@ Ronnie’s Diner)
- @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-03-31 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-03-31
- Update: Olbermann Responds – Keith Olbermann Fired by Current TV | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Update: Olbermann Responds – Keith Olbermann Fired by Current TV
- Untitled (http://getglue.com/tv_shows/whitechapel?s=tch&ref=Fullosseousflap) – On the DVR… @GetGlue #whitechapel
- Twitter – RT @ScottWGraves: MUST READ: 11 consecutive @KeithOlbermann tweets regarding his firing by @AlGore… #bitter #arrogant
- Unpaid bloggers’ lawsuit vs Huffington Post tossed – AOL Inc on Friday won the dismissal of a lawsuit by unpaid bloggers who complained they were deprived of their fair share of the roughly $315 million that the company paid last March to buy The Huffington Post website.
U.S. District Judge John Koeltl rejected claims by social activist and commentator Jonathan Tasini and an estimated 9,000 other bloggers that they deserved $105 million, or about one-third, of the purchase price.
The lawsuit contended that the work of unpaid content providers like bloggers gave The Huffington Post much of its value, and that the website’s sale allowed co-founder Arianna Huffington to profit at their expense. Tasini said he alone had made 216 submissions to the website over more than five years.
But Koeltl said “no one forced” the bloggers to repeatedly provide their work with no expectation of being paid, and said they got what they bargained for when their works were published.
“The principles of equity and good conscience do not justify giving the plaintiffs a piece of the purchase price when they never expected to be paid, repeatedly agreed to the same bargain, and went into the arrangement with eyes wide open,” the judge wrote.
- Police Recommend Medical Marijuana Delivery Service | NBC Bay Area – Daly City, California Police Recommend Medical Marijuana Delivery Service
- Daly City, California Police Recommend Medical Marijuana Delivery Service – Medical marijuana dispensaries are verboten in Daly City, Calif., following the City Council’s vote Monday to ban them. But delivery options are available to marijuana-seekers — just ask the police.
Cops gave several reasons why medical marijuana dispensaries should be banned in the San Mateo County city just south of San Francisco, according to SF Weekly. One is that 25 indoor pot farms were discovered in Daly City in 2011, according to police. Another is that cannabis patients can drive to San Francisco — or get their medicine delivered. The cops mentioned one service by name.
- Keith Olbermann Fired by Current TV | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Keith Olbermann Fired by Current TV
- CA-26: Handicapping Linda Parks and Tony Strickland | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – RE: @LPUN2KZ4AGZEEIQNC4W3ZSW3HY Joe,
The Democrats had a stellar (at least that is what they thought) in Ventura Co…
- CA-26: Handicapping Linda Parks and Tony Strickland | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – RE: @LPUN2KZ4AGZEEIQNC4W3ZSW3HY Joe,
What makes you think that Linda Parks will be able to bring both sides togethe…
- Flap’s Dentistry Blog: No Advantages for Low-Fluoride Toothpaste in Preventing Tooth Decay or Fluorosis – No Advantages for Low-Fluoride Toothpaste in Preventing Tooth Decay or Fluorosis
- Not-So-Smooth Operator – Obama increasingly comes across as devious and dishonest – Something’s happening to President Obama’s relationship with those who are inclined not to like his policies. They are now inclined not to like him. His supporters would say, “Nothing new there,” but actually I think there is. I’m referring to the broad, stable, nonradical, non-birther right. Among them the level of dislike for the president has ratcheted up sharply the past few months.
It’s not due to the election, and it’s not because the Republican candidates are so compelling and making such brilliant cases against him. That, actually, isn’t happening.
What is happening is that the president is coming across more and more as a trimmer, as an operator who’s not operating in good faith. This is hardening positions and leading to increased political bitterness. And it’s his fault, too. As an increase in polarization is a bad thing, it’s a big fault.
- Day By Day March 30, 2012 – Trash Talk | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Day By Day March 30, 2012 – Trash Talk
- Poll Watch: Oklahoma City Leads America in Job Creation for Metropolitan Areas – Pittsburgh Second | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Poll Watch: Oklahoma City Leads America in Job Creation for Metropolitan Areas – Pittsburgh Second
- @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-03-30 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-03-30
- CA-26: Democrat Assemblywoman Julia Brownley Picks Up Environmental Group’s Endorsement | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – CA-26: Democrat Assemblywoman Julia Brownley Picks Up Environmental Group’s Endorsement
- CA-26: Handicapping Linda Parks and Tony Strickland | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – CA-26: Handicapping Linda Parks and Tony Strickland | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog
- CA-26: Handicapping Linda Parks and Tony Strickland | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – CA-26: Handicapping Linda Parks and Tony Strickland | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog
- Gingrich hits new low in Gallup Poll – Gingrich hits new low in Gallup Poll
- CA-26: Handicapping Linda Parks and Tony Strickland | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – CA-26: Handicapping Linda Parks and Tony Strickland | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog
- Untitled (http://getglue.com/tv_shows/nba_on_tnt?s=tch&ref=Fullosseousflap) – Lakers vs OKC @GetGlue @nbaontnt
- Gingrich hits new low in Gallup Poll – Gingrich hits new low in Gallup Poll
- CA-26: Handicapping Linda Parks and Tony Strickland | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – CA-26: Handicapping Linda Parks and Tony Strickland | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog
- Adelson says Gingrich ‘at the end of his line’ – Adelson says Gingrich ‘at the end of his line’
- CA-26: Handicapping Linda Parks and Tony Strickland | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – RE: @LPUN2KZ4AGZEEIQNC4W3ZSW3HY No, Joe, I am not missing the point.
A number of Democrat activists have been quit…
- Gingrich hits new low in Gallup Poll – Gingrich hits new low in Gallup Poll
- Adelson says Gingrich ‘at the end of his line’ – Adelson says Gingrich ‘at the end of his line’
- Senior citizens continue to bear burden of student loans – The burden of paying for college is wreaking havoc on the finances of an unexpected demographic: senior citizens.
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Day By Day March 31- April 2, 2012 – Sam Gets a Grip
In this tough Obama driven economy, it is tough out there – and then the tough get going…. -
@Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-04-02
- Twitter http://t.co/RH0uEeqS #
- Untitled (http://t.co/9MTn2XE2) http://t.co/ogNUdgmB #
- Untitled (http://t.co/GVZ2ZUpk) http://t.co/by6Ldo9e #
- @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-04-01 | Flap's Blog – FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog http://t.co/rWAfl5rN #
- Twitter http://t.co/l0HdkmFf #
- I unlocked the The Killing Season 2 Premiere sticker on @GetGlue! http://t.co/ATRPWTVJ #
- Yay! Season 2 starts http://t.co/AK6IXYiR @GetGlue @TheKilling_AMC #
- I unlocked the The Killing Season 2 Coming Soon sticker on @GetGlue! http://t.co/ttsIjIpn #
- Season 2 starts soon! http://t.co/AK6IXYiR @GetGlue @TheKilling_AMC #
- @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-04-01 http://t.co/rFVgb4W7 #
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