“The Secretary of Defense said about a week ago that he was postponing any decision on a location of AfriCom until 2012,” says Vince Crawley, spokesman for AfriCom in Stuttgart, Germany, where the command is currently located. “There is long range interest in a base on the [African] continent, but also in having a substantial number of staff based somewhere not on the continent.”

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"There may be nearly a half million outstanding ballots in Georgia alone, and thousands more in other states — including the one with the largest turnout, California — that are still being counted." (Full article and comments)

Video shows two alleged members of the "new" Black Panthers wielding a night stick to scare away anyone who looked like they weren't voting for Obama at a polling station in Philly. I say "alleged" because although they are black and they are wearing militant garb, we don't know if they are actually members of the Panthers or just wannabes. Not that it matters much when it comes to wielding a deadly weapon at a polling station. Does Philly not have any cops?  Here's the video made by a University of Pennsylvania student as posted on politico.com:
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Last week, Democratic Congressman Barney Frank told the editorial board of the Standard-Times newspaper in New Bedford, Mass., that he supports an expansion of entitlement programs. Where will the money come from? Some of it may come from cutting the military’s budget by 25 percent, the rest will come from higher taxes.       

Here’s an excerpt and a link:

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On Friday, Oct. 24, the Eleventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted a stay of execution for Troy Davis who was convicted of the Aug. 19, 1989 murder of 27-year-old Savannah police Officer Mark Allen MacPhail.
 The stay was granted on the same day that more than 100 members of the clergy sent a letter to Gov. Sonny Perdue stating, "We are distressed by the inability of the appeals courts to provide a hearing or new trial to examine evidence that Troy Davis did not murder Mark MacPhail. We are distressed that in a case based solely on witness testimony the unprecedented number of witness recantations has not impressed the courts enough to re-examine the case. 

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Doug Blackmon over at the Wall Street Journal has written a fascinating article about  the descendants of slaves owned by John McCain's family in Mississippi. It is a heartwarming story about the "black McCains" and the "white McCains" reaching out to each other to come to grips with the past. 
Here's a link and an excerpt:  "When George McCain was killed in a traffic accident in 2003, Frank Bryant, the aged former sharecropper, invited to the funeral Bill McCain, the senator's cousin, who owns the remaining 1,500 acres of Teoc plantation and lives nearby. It was the beginning of a modern dialogue between the two families as equals. At the service, Mr. McCain stood in the family section with the black McCains."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122419511761942501.html?mod=article-outset-box
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Georgia Congressman John Lewis has sent out a statement to clarify an earlier statement that seemed to draw comparisons between GOP presidential candidate John McCain along with vice presidential running mate Sarah Palin and notoriously racist /segregationist Alabama Gov. George Wallace. In his statement today, Lewis says he did not compare the two to Wallace. So, here are both statements for you, the readers, to review in order to draw your own conclusions:

Statement #1

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 11, 2008

Rep. John Lewis On Hostility of McCain-Palin Campaign

“As one who was a victim of violence and hate during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, I am deeply disturbed by the negative tone of the McCain-Palin campaign. What I am seeing reminds me too much of another destructive period in American history. Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse.

“During another period, in the not too distant past, there was a governor of the state of Alabama named George Wallace who also became a presidential candidate. George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights. Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama.

“As public figures with the power to influence and persuade, Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are playing with fire, and if they are not careful, that fire will consume us all. They are playing a very dangerous game that disregards the value of the political process and cheapens our entire democracy. We can do better. The American people deserve better.”

Statement #2

Rep. John Lewis Clarifies Misinterpretations of his Earlier Comments

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 11, 2008


"A careful review of my earlier statement would reveal that I did not compare Sen. John McCain or Gov. Sarah Palin to George Wallace. It was not my intention or desire to do so. My statement was a reminder to all Americans that toxic language can lead to destructive behavior. I am glad that Sen. McCain has taken some steps to correct divisive speech at his rallies. I believe we need to return to civil discourse in this election about the pressing economic issues that are affecting our nation." (Full article and comments)

The U.S. House has passed the $700 billion "Wall Street bailout," bill formally known as the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, by a vote of 263 to 171 today. When the bill was first introduced in the House on Sept. 29, only two of Georgia's 13 members of Congress supported it, Rep. Sanford Bishop of Columbus and Rep. Jim Marshall of Macon, both Democrats. It was defeated. Today when it returned to the House laden with incentives for passage after its approval by the Senate on Oct. 1, two more Georgians, also Democrats, voted yes, Congressman John Lewis and Congressman David Scott, both of Atlanta. Lewis sent out a press statment quoting the speech he made explaining his vote switch: 
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In this week’s edition of The Sunday Paper (the “Cash Crisis” issue), we explore the Wall Street debacle. We also talk with finance experts Alexander Barinov at the University of Georgia and Ivo Welch at Brown University about the economic plans of Republican presidential candidate John McCain and his opponent, Democrat Barack Obama. Here's what they told us about the proposed $700 billion Wall Street bailout:

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This Saturday, Sept. 27th 12 noon to 4 p.m.in Centennial Olympic Park. Vaccinations are FREE for the whole family.
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