Post-CNN Debate Straw Poll was a Sham; Ron Paul Supporter Threatened

As reported by St. Petersburg Times last week, Mitt Romney used his personal finances to buy himself another straw poll win, this time after the Youtube/CNN debate that consisted of around 1,500 possible votes cast. Organizers allowed people to buy tickets in bulk, with each ticket costing $20. The majority of Romney votes came from people funded by him and campaign, and many voted upwards to 20 times, probably more. The establishment candidates can't come close to the enthusiasm and momentum of Ron Paul, so the only way for them to win is to buy it with cold hard money. They don't have our interests in mind, so any person conspiring with these candidates like this is equally responsible for their actions. Some Ron Paul supporters allegedly voted extra also, but one would have to wonder if it was because of what they knew. Romney managed to buy up 893 votes even though the crowd was clearly of a Ron Paul majority, and Paul came in second with 534.

Now an attendee has come out and disclosed more wrongdoing by the event organizers. It turns out that county chairman of the REC Tony DiMatteo, a Giuliani supporter, doesn't want to play by the rules, mimicking the utter disrespect for the law by candidates like Giuliani and Romney. Apparently DiMatteo didn't want the public finding out about the complete fraud of this event, so when a Ron Paul supporter decided to call him up to discuss it, he threatened her. His words: "It's too bad for you, and if you start any trouble you will be hurt." The leader of the local Ron Paul Meetup group later told her when called that the same thing had happened to him before the event. There is only one thing Giuliani supporters hate more than the constitution, and that's Ron Paul supporters. Coincidentally, Ron Paul's fourth quarter fundraising has already surpassed both Giuliani and Romney, and the big fundraising drive in 2 weeks has yet to even happen.

Mitt Romney bought himself a victory in the straw poll for Republicans at a rain-shortened barbecue in Vinoy Park.

Romney got 893 votes, besting second-place Ron Paul's 534 -- despite Paul's shuttling in supporters on a rented trolley and shuttle. The campaign had a plane sporting pro-Paul slogans and a boat touting him, too.

In fact, Paul supporters dominated the crowd, which reached an estimated 1,000 people. Tickets for votes cost $20 each.

So how did Romney do it?

"I voted 20 times," Derek Gyongzois, 38, of St. Petersburg exclaimed after casting ballots.

He said he works as a volunteer for the Romney campaign (and begged a reporter not to print his 20-vote tally). Did he buy the tickets?

"I don't have that kind of money," Gyongzois said.

He wasn't the only person voting more than once. Paul supporter Mike Wagner, 57, of St. Petersburg: "This thing is rigged."

Before rain cut short the event, Paul supporters were voting multiple times, too.

"This is the best election money can buy, anywhere," said Pinellas County GOP chairman Tony DiMatteo, a Rudy Giuliani supporter. Giuliani received 39 votes, followed by Mike Huckabee's 37 and Fred Thompson's 21. John McCain had 12; Duncan Hunter, 4, Alan Keyes, 2; and Tom Tancredo, 1.

Trent Lott was a Target by Flynt; Lover Denies It

Adult entertainment titan Larry Flynt's desire to find out any and all closet secrets about GOP politicians has had many successes. The recent revelation is that Trent Lott might have had relations with a 15 year old male escort. Lott announced his upcoming resignation Monday, and Flynt says he's received a lot of inquiries since. The escort denied it of course in an e-mail to The Huffington Post, as if there is no conflict of interest whatsoever. Who wouldn't pick Trent Lott's money over Flynt's measly little offered reward?

Dana Perino's Response to McClellan Book: Bush Never Lies

The irony in this is quite amusing. As if on purpose, Press Security Dana Perino responded Monday in an off-camera dialogue at the White House to the subject of former secretary Scott McClellan's upcoming book, which is expected to unleash a lot of dirty secrets from his time there under the Bush administration. On cue, McClellan's book publisher quickly came out with a retraction that let everyone know that he doesn't mean to imply that Bush ever knowingly lied to him. Perino commented by saying that Bush does not and has not "knowingly" lied. This coming from Dana Perino... she sure shares Bush's arrogance, that's for sure. I wouldn't however, expect her to be writing any truthful books or memoirs after leaving the White House, being the soulless career-pushing liar that she is. They must have some kind of undefined explanation for these kinds of statements, because... Bush never lies/lied?

Today at the off-camera briefing, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said she has discussed Scott McClellan's forthcoming book with the president, and Perino said President Bush "has not and would not knowingly pass false information."

In the yet-to-be-published book, McClellan's publisher says the former press secretary claims five White House officials -- including the president and vice president -- were responsible for McClellan passing incorrect information on the CIA leak case. As White House press secretary, McClellan had stated that officials including Karl Rove were not involved in leaking the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson.

Evidence at the Libby trial showed that Rove had discussed war critic Joe Wilson's wife and her CIA employment with two reporters. Ari Fleischer did so as well, according to court testimony.

Trent Lott Bows Out

Everybody's favorite idiot in Congress is actually calling it quits. Trent Lott will be leaving his post by the end of the year, after which Mississippi will be able to vote in another idiot, albeit with much less clout in Washington at least. People will no doubt come up with their own numerous theories of why he decided to retire, but it really doesn't matter. The race-carders will do as they always do and only talk about him being a 'racist' for voicing his own displeasures a few years ago of the out of control non-Caucasian crime, but will ignore the bigger benefits of having him out of there. I guess his complete biased loyalty to Bush will somehow take a backseat to a few racial comments in the past, which certainly sums up the Democrats. When such a foolish and traitorous politician leaves office, it should be thought of as a good thing, but not when he/she comes from Mississippi. Now he will enjoy the many benefits of resigning after such a bad legacy, as he gets paid big bucks to lie about his career like all the rest of them have. Good riddance anyway.

More Layoffs on the Way at Citigroup

It appears Citigroup is preparing for another, much larger set of layoffs after the 17,000 cuts earlier this year. This comes after failed CEO Charles Prince resigned earlier this month, with a typically hefty exit package. The ball is in the Federal Reserve's court, with their move expected to come next month.

Citing people with knowledge of the matter, CNBC said the total number of employees affected could be as high as 45,000. Citigroup currently employs 275,000 staff, according to its website.

A Citigroup spokesman said the bank was assessing ways to cut costs.

"We are engaged in a planning process in anticipation of our new CEO and our business heads are planning ways in which we can be more efficient and cost effective to position our businesses in line with economic realities. Any reports on specific numbers are not factual," the Citigroup spokesman told AFP.

The banking giant is reeling from its exposure to the US housing slump and a related credit squeeze.

The banking behemoth is also searching for a new chief executive officer after former CEO Charles Prince stepped down on November 5 as Citigroup revealed it was facing likely investment writeoffs of between eight and 11 billion dollars.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs believe the company could be forced to absorb eventual writeoffs of up to 15 billion in the coming quarters as the housing and credit markets show no sign of improving anytime soon.

Archbishop Takes Fire at American Globalists

Rowan Williams is the Archbishop of Canterbury, and in an interview with a British magazine he lashed out at the imperialists that are the U.S. government, mainly the neocons, by comparing them to the British empire in India. He takes to heart particularly the fact that members of this administration still believe that America is the "chosen nation" in that they want people to think they know what is best for the rest of the world. He states the obvious when explaining that the U.S. has lost any sort of "moral high ground" since 9/11, and especially with the criminal war of Iraq. Williams knows that if the neocons were to have their way, war will be spread into Syria and Iran soon enough. It is alarming that so many Americans still believe this kind of objectivity is 'anti-American.' It is time to remind the country what liberty really means.

He went on to suggest that the West was fundamentally adrift: “Our modern western definition of humanity is clearly not working very well. There is something about western modernity which really does eat away at the soul.”

Williams suggested American leadership had broken down: “We have only one global hegemonic power. It is not accumulating territory: it is trying to accumulate influence and control. That’s not working.”

He contrasted it unfavourably with how the British Empire governed India. “It is one thing to take over a territory and then pour energy and resources into administering it and normalising it. Rightly or wrongly, that’s what the British Empire did — in India, for example.

“It is another thing to go in on the assumption that a quick burst of violent action will somehow clear the decks and that you can move on and other people will put it back together — Iraq, for example.”

Militants in Iraq Come From Allies; 41% From Saudi Arabia

As if you needed any more proof that you shouldn't believe much of anything the U.S. government says about Iran, there now appears to be evidence that the suspected insurgents in Iraq actually come from 'strategic' allies in the region, and not from Iran. As the pro-war establishment here continues to spread lies in their rhetoric for a strike on Iran, the American media chooses to ignore these kind of findings, because in this case the findings make Iran look quite good compared to what they would like you to think.

Around 60% of all foreign militants who entered Iraq to fight over the past year came from Saudi Arabia and Libya, according to files seized by American forces at a desert camp.

The files listed the nationalities and biographical details of more than 700 fighters who crossed into Iraq from August last year, around half of whom came to the country to be suicide bombers, the New York Times reported today.

In all, 305, or 41%, of the fighters listed were from Saudi Arabia. Another 137, or 18%, came from Libya. Both countries are officially US allies in anti-terrorism efforts.

In contrast, 56 Syrians were listed and no Lebanese. Previously, US officials estimated that around a fifth of all foreign fighters in Iraq came from these two countries.

US officials have also long complained about Iranian interference in the affairs of its neighbour, accusing Tehran of shipping weapons for militants over the border. However, any assistance does not appear to extend to people, the paper said, reporting that, of around 25,000 suspected militants in US custody in Iraq, 11 were Iranian. No Iranians were listed among the fighters whose details were found.

Ron Paul Dominates Recent Zogby Poll

A Zogby poll sponsored by Alex Jones' media company Jones Productions was done last week, and there were two separate polls. All were blind bio polls, which means they don't name any names, and simply recite each candidate's resume and views. One was done featuring calls to likely voters that are staunchly Republican, which means many whom foolishly want us in Iran, and still believe in what they've heard the past 6 years from their government about 'terrorists' and the like. Giuliani won that poll of 389 folks with 34%, with Ron Paul coming in at 13%, and 9% who were undecided.

The other poll repeated the echoes of Paul's increasing momentum, and was a mixture of 1009 voters featuring everyone from Republicans, Democrats, and independents. Paul won that with 33%, and next was Giuliani with 19%; 20% were undecided. This is significant because the typical Zogby and other phone polls done targeting likely Republican voters usually involve older folks that are really set in their ways, and don't exactly look at the big scheme of things. They are also part of the age group that have gotten the country into this mess, but that is another story. The older phone poll crowd also historically fails to show up big at the primaries, and lack of enthusiasm in other Republican candidates works very well in Paul's favor. Zogby decided to highlight the smaller poll of older conservatives in their article and on their main website, but it can be noted as always that Ron Paul supporters are located all over the political spectrum, and the opposition knows that they can't count on anyone from the Paul side to not show up come primary time. Jones plans to sponsor at least one other set of blind bio polls in the near future.

***Zogby article***

***Jones Productions article w/ graph***

Fox Host: Confronters of Bad Government Should be Tased and Beaten

Faux News' Brian Kilmead, just another greasy-headed neocon scumbag, said on the Fox and Friends morning show Monday (w/ video) that public confronters of politicians are somehow threatening, and they should be tased and "beaten to a pulp." He was directing that particularly towards the Code Pink activists, who just last week confronted Hillary Clinton at a forum in Los Angeles on global warming, heckling the neocon in disguise during a speech. Kilmead went on to include some recent incidents which were devised by the We Are Change group in his argument. Other completely stupid statements by this guy lately include proposing car bombs and other forms of terrorism in Iran.

In the world of Faux News and other mainstream establishment media, anyone who goes against the government should be punished accordingly. How they can still have the nerve to call that a democracy is beyond me. These are the real domestic enemies, and none care to pick up a history book anymore to truly see what they're repeating. What is 'threatening' is people like Kilmead in the mainstream media, who like to let everyone know on national television that they're fully aware of the bad deeds being conjured up by our government, and continue to spin it in ways that make it look legitimate to the unsuspecting layman. The info war with the mainstream media continues as they attempt to ridicule truth-seekers as terrorists. As you can see, they must be losing.

Economists Say They Expect the Fed to Cut Rates At Least a Quarter

Yesterday the Fed stated that they expect slower (artificial) economic growth for next year, of around 1.8-2.5 percent. What a bold statement to make, such as increased inflation would be. Economist Brian Bethune says that he believes because the Fed's growth outlook is actually a bit high, predicted rate cuts are a probability by early next year, and could be more than just another 0.25% cut. This is no new news, but is notable because the dollar is falling to all-time lows against other major currencies even this week, and rich celebrities and big oil states in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, are all dumping or thinking about dumping the U.S. Dollar, setting off a tidal wave of selling and diversifying; all happening to bail out the crooked corporate banks and irresponsible American consumers.

Bethune said despite the Fed's noncommital position, he expects the central bank to lower borrowing costs further after two reductions that brought the federal funds rate to 4.5 percent.

"The downside risks to the outlook far outweigh the upside risks," he said.

"Thus the Fed's central tendency forecast does look a little rich to us at the current conjuncture, and for that reason we are forecasting that the Fed will reduce the federal funds rate by at least an additional 25 basis points by early 2008."

Financial markets are largely pricing in a rate cut and many analysts see a reduction at the next Fed meeting in December.

"The next FOMC decision will depend on ongoing economic data. However, the minutes published today comfort us in our expectations" for a cut, said economist Marie-Pierre Ripert at Ixis Corporate and Investment Bank.

"We still believe that bad news on the macro side as well as on banks will trigger further easing in monetary policy. A 25 basis-point cut on December 11 remains the most likely scenario even though it could be a close call."

The Fed report projected core inflation expectation for 2008 to 1.70 to 1.90 percent, down from 1.75 to 2.00 percent.

Irony: Bush Says Musharraf Hasn't Crossed Any Lines

In a great deal of irony yesterday, dictator King Bush said in an interview that Pakistani dictator-in-chief Pervez Musharraf has not crossed the line in his enactment of martial law and arresting of any and all political opponents. The irony here is that this is exactly what our government has setup to happen here, especially with the passing of an 'ideological terrorist' thought crime bill (HR 1955) tallied 404-6 in the House by our traitor politicians, that is expected to pass easily through the Senate. It is getting increasingly tougher to question the decisions made by our criminals in congress. I invite Bush to visit Pakistan and stand up on a podium with a big loudspeaker, and proceed to tell the people there that their president has not crossed any lines. If it is done here, be sure that it will be under a false label of 'national security.' Democrats have come out to rip into Bush's comments, but they're only doing it one reason: votes. If they cared about democracy, they wouldn't have allowed things to get like this. When are all the political prisoners here going to be released, hypocrites?

Bush was asked in the interview if there is any line Musharraf should not cross. "He hasn't crossed the line. As a matter of fact, I don't think that he will cross any lines," Bush replied, according to an ABC transcript. ". . . We didn't necessarily agree with his decision to impose emergency rule, and . . . hopefully he'll get . . . rid of the rule. Today, I thought, was a pretty good signal, that he released thousands of people from jail."

Scott McClellan 'Tells All' in New Book

Former Bush puppet spin doctor, or White House Press Secretary, Scott McClellan made a living lying for the president after the whole Iraq WMD debacle, and now he wants to make some money writing about those lies. There is something infuriating about our government's ways when they get paid to lie, destroy our freedoms, and contribute to a criminal empire, then when they leave office they're able to seemingly redeem themselves by writing books and getting paid big money for ridiculous speeches. It is only till now that the traitorous leaders of this country have been confronted everywhere they go when they leave office, and rightly so. They have sowed their own fate in this country, and they will forever pay dearly for those retirement checks.

Anyway, McClellan has released an excerpt from his upcoming book, where he plans to allegedly tell the truth about his stay in the White House. That 'truth' will be certainly skewed in such a way to make the chubby weasel look like a good guy. One of the subjects he will bring up will be the Valerie Plame incident:

"The most powerful leader in the world had called upon me to speak on his behalf and help restore credibility he lost amid the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. So I stood at the White house briefing room podium in front of the glare of the klieg lights for the better part of two weeks and publicly exonerated two of the senior-most aides in the White House: Karl Rove and Scooter Libby.

There was one problem. It was not true.

I had unknowingly passed along false information. And five of the highest ranking officials in the administration were involved in my doing so: Rove, Libby, the vice President, the President's chief of staff, and the president himself."

Outgoing HLS Aide Compares Bush to George Washington

Francis Townsend, a 'top' aide to Bush in the homeland security department for more than three years, resigned this morning, and as always, political puffery followed. She implied her reasoning for resigning had nothing to do with Bush's failures as a president, and even wrote a letter to Bush putting him in the same light as George Washington. One can only feel the urge to vomit when reading it, as she implies that he has lifted up the lives of Americans, and the world we live in. I am sure Mr. Washington himself would agree. Sarcasm aside, it certainly leaves a sick feeling in your stomach to watch as our government destroys every ideal our founders worked so hard to put upon us, and then compare themselves to such great men in our history.

... "In 1937, the playwright Maxwell Anderson wrote of President George Washington: "There are some men that lift the age they inhabit, till all men walk on higher ground in their lifetime." Mr. President, you are such a man. ..."

***Read the Full Letter Here (PDF Format)***

Another Study Says a Key Compound in Marijuana Treats Forms of Cancers; Possible Alternative to Chemo

The argument that there are no medical benefits from marijuana have been cut down repeatedly over the years, from everything to substantially proficient pain relief of many ailments to possibly curing numerous diseases and cancers. The government repeatedly refuses to give the facts the light of day, putting their own profits and political agendas in front of simple citizens and their health, and continuing its imprisonment of millions of nonviolent, no-harm users. Until Americans wise up and realize that there is more to the war on drugs than they truly know with a plague of government profiteering and corruption, and put away their stubborn ideals like "well I don't like drugs, so there should be a law," all suffering and curable citizens with potentially beneficial factors are just plain out of luck. Our government repeatedly puts politics and profiting over any sort of medical treatment that could help the citizens they now RULE over, including banning treatments that have proven to work, that are allowed in many first world countries overseas. Anyone that sides with these government officials deserves the same harsh treatment, and that includes voting them into office.

The California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute team are hopeful that cannabidiol or CBD could be a non-toxic alternative to chemotherapy.

Unlike cannabis, CBD does not have any psychoactive properties so its use would not violate laws, Molecular Cancer Therapeutics reports.

The authors stressed that they were not suggesting patients smoke marijuana.

They added that it would be highly unlikely that effective concentrations of CBD could be reached by smoking cannabis.

CBD works by blocking the activity of a gene called Id-1 which is believed to be responsible for the aggressive spread of cancer cells away from the original tumour site - a process called metastasis.

Past work has shown CBD can block aggressive human brain cancers.

The latest work found CBD appeared to have a similar effect on breast cancer cells in the lab.

Lead researcher Dr Sean McAllister said: "Right now we have a limited range of options in treating aggressive forms of cancer.

"Those treatments, such as chemotherapy, can be effective but they can also be extremely toxic and difficult for patients.

"This compound offers the hope of a non-toxic therapy that could achieve the same results without any of the painful side effects."

Dr Joanna Owens of Cancer Research UK said: "This research is at a very early stage.

"The findings will need to be followed up with clinical trials in humans to see if the CBD is safe, and whether the beneficial effects can be replicated.

"Several cancer drugs based on plant chemicals are already used widely, such as vincristine - which is derived from a type of flower called Madagascar Periwinkle and is used to treat breast and lung cancer. It will be interesting to see whether CBD will join them."

Maria Leadbeater of Breast Cancer Care said: "Many people experience side-effects while having chemotherapy, such as nausea and an increased risk of infection, which can take both a physical and emotional toll.

"Any drug that has fewer side-effects will, of course, be of great interest."

But she added: "It is clear that much more research needs to be carried out."