Threat Assessment: October 31st-November 4th
AGAINST US
Perry used private jets for public duties
The GOP presidential candidate accepted – free – more than 200 flights worth a total of $1.3 million from corporate executives and wealthy donors during 11 years as governor. Some, reports the Times, "involved governmental functions, including some that were of interest to the planes’ owners." [NY Times]
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WITH US
'Food Stamp Challenge' Gives Lawmakers a Taste of Poverty
Advocates for the poor are getting lawmakers to try eating on $4.50 a day, just as some 46 million food-stamp recipients have to. The "food stamp challenge" is aimed at drawing attention to the program’s paltry benefits, which may be in line for further cuts. [NY Times]
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AGAINST US
Pakistan transports its nukes in everyday vans
A cover story in the latest issue of The Atlantic contains lots of alarming revelations about our "ally from hell," Pakistan. Among them: The country’s nuclear weapons are often ferried around in regular trucks through busy traffic. [The Atlantic, via The Atlantic Wire]
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WITH US
China to phase out energy-inefficient light bulbs
China says it will phase out incandescent light bulbs within five years, a move estimated to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide by 48 million tons annually.[AP ]
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AGAINST US
Chicago trader dumps McDonald’s apps on OWS protesters
Some jokester at the Chicago Board of Trade showered Occupy Chicago protesters with hundreds of McDonald’s job applications, the latest in a series of stunts by CBT workers aimed at mocking the protesters (har, har). [ThinkProgress ]
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WITH US
Americans Join Credit Unions in Droves
In keeping with the 99-percenter spirit abroad in the land, 650,000 Americans ditched their banks and joined CUs in October — more than in all of 2010 combined. On average, they'll save about $70 a year in fewer or no fees, lower rates on loans and higher return on savings, says the credit union trade association. [ThinkProgress]
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AGAINST US
Food prices soar, but food stamp program is under threat
Even as food prices are predicted to rise 3.5 to 4.5 percent this year — nearly double the core inflation rate — lawmakers are considering curbing the food stamp program, designed to keep poor people from going hungry, as a way to control spending. [Politico ]
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WITH US
Japanese official drinks Fukushima puddle water
To prove the safety of water from near the crisis-stricken Fukushima Daiichi plant, parliamentary secretary Yasuhiro Sonoda drank a glass of water from a puddle located inside the building. [Wall Street Journal]
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AGAINST US
Painkiller deaths a growing problem
The rate of deaths caused by prescription painkiller overdose has tripled in the last decade, says the CDC, outpacing deaths from heroin and cocaine overdoses combined. [National Journal]
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WITH US
US students making gains in math
Fourth- and eighth-graders scored their best ever in recent math and reading tests. (Still, progress is relative; a little over one-third of students are considered proficient in the subjects. [AP ]
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AGAINST US
Congress gets richer
While most Americans have struggled to hold on to their homes and pay their bills, the net worth of Washington lawmakers has risen by 25 percent over the past two years, says a new report. [Roll Call]
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WITH US
Banks back off plans for debit card fees
After outcries from customers, banks including Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Chase are nixing plans to charge monthly fees for debit card use. [TIME ]
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WITH US
Crack Sentences Reduced
As of today, inmates serving time for possession of crack cocaine start getting sprung from jail under a new law that could benefit 12,000 prisoners over the next three years. The policy change builds on the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, whose purpose was to bring harsh crack sentences (slapped disproportionately on crack-smoking African-Americans) in line with the more lenient penalties meted out powder cocaine users, who tend, in the main, to be white. [AP]
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AGAINST US
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Execs Get Big Bonuses
The Federal Housing Finance Agency has approved $12.79 million in bonus pay after 10 Fannie and Freddie executives, even thought the two government-sponsored corporations last year only "met modest performance targets tied to modifying mortgages in jeopardy of foreclosure." [Politico ].
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WITH US
Sesame Street comes to Pakistan
One of the key goals of the U.S.-funded show (tailored to appeal to a Pakistani audience) is to increase tolerance toward groups like women and ethnic minorities. [AP ]
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AGAINST US
Panel: Global Warming Will Bring More Extreme Weather
A soon-to-be-published report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change also says there's a high probability that climate extremes have already gotten worse due to man-made greenhouse gases. [AP ]
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WITH US
Twice-Wrong End-Times Prophet Breaks His Silence
Radio preacher Harold Camping, who prophesied the end of the world on May 21 and again on Oct. 21, based on his reading of the Bible, says he is "checking my own notes more carefully than ever." [Washington Post]
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AGAINST US
GOP Haloween Email Shows Ghoulish Obama
The missive from a county Republican group in Virginia features the President with a bullet hole in his head and a bulging eye. [Politico ]
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AGAINST US
NYPD REPORTEDLY SENDING IN HOMELESS TO SABOTAGE OWS
Stories are circulating of drunks and drug addicts being urged by police to "take it to Zuccotti."[Gawker]
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WITH US
CLIMATE SKEPTIC CHANGES MIND
Prominent physicist spent two years trying to find out if mainstream climate scientists were wrong. Found they were right. [AP ]
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AGAINST US
VIOLENCE MORE COMMON AMONG KIDS OF VETS
New study suggests they're more than twice as likely to carry a weapon, join a gang or be involved in fights. [AP ]
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WITH US
BOWLING ALLEY BRINGS SOME NORMALCY TO KABUL
In the month since it opened, the 12-line Strikers — Afghanistan's only bowling alley — has become a big hit. [AP ]
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AGAINST US
GEORGIA UNIVERSITY REQUIRES ANTI-GAY PLEDGE
Employees have to swear they're not gay. If they don't sign new 'personal lifestyle pledge,' they risk getting fired. [NY Daily News]
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WITH US
PROSECUTIONS UP IN WAR ZONES
As the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan wrap up, more are indicted and convicted by the U.S. for bribery, theft and other reconstruction-related crimes. [Politico ]