My News Blackout Is Over

I had a self-imposed news blackout so I could watch the Usain Bolt excitement "NBC Live!". And wow.

But we ought to have an open thread on the tragedy in Wisconsin.

Comments

[Army of Davids]

Come to California.

Home of Nancy Pelosi, Babs Boxer and Antonio Villagairosa.

We need your taxdollars to keep Oakland, Los Angeles and Sacramento from going bankrupt. In exchange we will give you social, economic and environmental justice along w/ a lot of sunshine.

Sure Compton and San Bernadino bankruptcies are ripe w/ shell games and accounting fraud. But that doesn't mean that a state or municipal bureaucrat doesn't deserve a good pension and a lifetime of generous healthcare coverage.

[tcb]

Chicago Values: At least 4 dead & 25 shot over the weekend. Shootings about average for a Chicago weekend. Kill rate down slightly.

[DebinNC]

Why does every headline note the Milwaukee shooter was an Army vet? Why did Obama rush to the mic to express sympathy for the 6 shot dead in Milwaukee, but remain mute on Chicago's continuing weekly carnage?

[Jim,MtnViewCA,USA]

Some West Texas photography.
http://player.vimeo.com/video/22132017?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0

[Sue]

Of course he won, but did he have the unfair advantage of being a double amputee?

[Sue]

They are treating the shooting as a domestic terrorist event. They have identified the shooter as ex-Army (92-98, Clinton years, btw, which matters about as much as his ex-Army status). He had white supremest tattoos, the significance of which they don't know but hey, at least he didn't shout Allah Akbar.

[DebinNC]

Shootings overnight in Chicago leave 3 dead-7 wounded "in separate incidents" "across the city". And Obama stands mute. I wonder if Milwaukee's gun laws are as strict as Chicago's?

[Dave (in MA)]

Meanwhile, here's an inside look at the ABC News analysis of the story. Brian Ross is preparing a report.

[Danube of Thought]

I blacked myself out also, and watched Bolt via DVR delay an hour ago. Fun to watch the guy; hope he takes the 200.

[henry]

Deb, the Milwaukee gun laws used to be as tight as Chicago's, but not any more thanks to recent concealed carry and castle doctrine laws.

[Granny Jan]

Shoooter was dishonorably discharged from the army 14 years ago. He was in a band called End Apathy. They still have a Spacebook page which has a nazi swastika in the background of some photos.
They all look like a bunch of either long-haired or skinhead, tatooed loosers swimming in the low end of the gene pool. Wanabees.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Gibson Guitar ordered to pay $300K fine over their wood.

Punishment for donating to the wrong party. Sheldon Adelson is next.

[DebinNC]

Thanks, henry. Hopefully, this will be an abberation then. Meanwhile, the saddened preezy is working hard today with 2 fundraisers in CT.

[maryrose]

MR:
Hopefully in a Romney administration Gibson will be reinstated to their former glory despite this administration's efforts to demonize them.

[Danube of Thought]

Excerpt from Politico:

POLITICO’s Manu Raju wrote Friday that Reid remained unruffled by the flap, and “has calculated that the frenzy created by his charge has accomplished exactly what he sought to do: Turn the focus back onto the GOP nominee’s unreleased tax returns.”

Now, though, the GOP has indicated it plans to make it personal. Between the loaded language and Priebus’s pointed reference to Reid’s Ritz-Carlton abode – an issue that surfaced in the senator’s 2010 re-election campaign – Republicans just sent the clearest signal to Reid yet that he needs to either produce the evidence, stand down or prepare for an extended public discussion of his own finances.

[PaulY]

A governor of Sikh descent will speak during prime time at Republican convention.

[Charlie Martin]

http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2012/08/05/in-honor-of-the-sikhs-of-wisconsin/

[Clarice]

We had a rather substantial sikh contingent at college with whom I was friends. Very good people.

[Jim Ryan]

Mel, is that the feds backing down? $300K sounds like "Okay you win, just a slap on wrist."

[Janet]

Why does every headline note the Milwaukee shooter was an Army vet?

Yeah, Deb. I hate that. Posted on the other thread -
I'm pretty sick of only certain professions or ex-professions getting highlighted after crimes.
If the criminal's job history is important (& it might be) then I want that info for every criminal....not just veterans.
For all we know, plumbers might be the most prone to violent crime...

or at least if it is pointed out when they ARE a veteran...then I want it pointed out in LARGE TYPE when they ARE NOT a veteran.

[Dave (in MA)]

David Burge ‏@iowahawkblog
Justice Dept fines Gibson Guitars $1000 for every Mexican killed by Justice Dept

[bgates]

Now, though, the Gop has indicated it plans to make it personal.

Reid throws around the completely baseless smear that Romney is a felon, yet if I shackled the Senator and this Politico reporter to an electrical transformer and set them on fire, somehow I'd be the bad guy. What a world.

[Melinda Romanoff]

JR-

Nope.

It's "After a lengthy review of the documents you gave us covering the legal procurement of said exotic wood, we find your lack of other contributions, wanting, so you will now pay us instead." sort of scam. In short, sure you thought it was legal and had the paperwork when you bought it, but now we don't like it because shut up.

[AliceH]

Here's link to article including lengthy quotes from the govt - nothing from Gibson.

Frankly, I couldn't force myself to wade through most of the stuff in the middle.

[Melinda Romanoff]

AliceH-

It was a WSJ piece that I got a feed from., and now the #s going up.

[rse]

Aliceh-I replied to your question to me on previous thread. And to anyone else who is interested in reading I give a link to the book I refer teachers and parents to most often. It is what ed schools do not teach because they do not want children to be fluent readers.

Time to put the ice back on the chipmunk.

[jimmyk]

but now we don't like it because shut up.

Heh, Mel. Unfortunately it's too true. We're so overregulated that any business can be found guilty of something. Hard to believe unemployment's only 8.3%.

[Dave (in MA)]

Via the U of Ariz., a shot of the Curiosity landing as taken from orbit.
http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/releases/msl-descent.php
WAY cooler than the CGI we had to settle for early this AM.

[Minimalist Poster]

"Why does every headline note the Milwaukee shooter was an Army vet?"

because they couldn't tell if he played a Gibson:

http://www.myspace.com/endapathyband

[narciso]

Btw, what kind of freaky sample are they working off here;

http://bangordailynews.com/2012/07/12/politics/poll-confirms-huge-lead-for-king-in-maine-senate-race/

[Appalled]

If Harry Reid seeks to emulate Joe McCarthy, he should reflect on how McCarthy was ultimately destroyed. What's next: hearings on rich people who don't pay taxes, followed by a subpoena of personal tax records?

My guess if anybody really knows that Romney "paid no taxes", they have access to the tax returns, and those returns will be leaked. Which sources the rumor with (i) the IRS or (ii) Romney's tax preparer and maybe (iii) the person at Bain who coordinated getting all the tax returns done for primary investors. (This could have happened in the days prior to the passage of Sarbanes Oxley).

Mostly, I think this is some failed stunt to get Romney to release his taxes, and give the press the opprtunity to misconstrue tax law as they wander through Romney's returns. I think the Dems habitually underestimate Romney's toughness on things like that, and I think they overestimate the media's willingness to amplify slander.

[Dave (in MA)]

http://www.lvrj.com/business/amonix-closes-north-las-vegas-solar-plant-after-14-months-heavy-federal-subsidies-162901626.html
David Burge ‏@iowahawkblog
NV Solar plant where alleged pederast Harry Reid was photographed possibly burying victims mysteriously shuts down

[Melinda Romanoff]

narciso-

rcwhalen had quite the counterargument at ZeroHedge on just that subject. I'll dig it up later, but it's not all the picture from the ground there, but I'd wait for marlene on that stuff.

[Jane - Get off the couch your country needs you!]

I thought this was a fascinating article on how the media got Obama elected in 2008 and its strategy in 2012.

[(Another) Barbara]

OT: I am shocked to learn that "daddy" is not the actual first name of our upcoming guest, he now claims. What to do? I just can't imagine myself being able to switch to the pseudonym he employs for emails. Kaaaaaaay-RO!

The contest judges have apparently not voted yet so I'm going to assume they will elect to use the historic and honorable "Present." Jealousy, is my guess. I hereby declare myself the winner and will get to work on the Spam Musabi. Yum!

Can't wait for Thursday!

[bgates]

Time to put the ice back on the chipmunk.

Best euphemism ever.

Back to the "wow" of the post, here's a measure of how fast those guys were going:

2.5m is a bit over 8'2". Imagine taking one stride - toe to toe - and covering that distance. (Standard ceiling height in a lot of places is 8', which might help to visualize the distance involved.)

Now instead of taking that 8'2" stride as an ungainly leap, you repeat it four times per second.

This isn't a perfectly fair comparison to the 100m dash, because if all of your strides are the same length then you're not starting from a dead stop like the sprinters are. But figure you start back a little, you get up to full speed - 8'2" strides, 4/sec - before you reach the starting line, then you hit the line at the instant the starter's pistol goes off. (BTW the rest of the field can't start moving at the instant the pistol goes off. By rule if they move within 0.1 sec it's a false start.) If you did all that in the men's 100m final...

...you would get smoked. 2.5m/stride, 4 strides/sec means 10 seconds to cover 100m, good for eighth place.

[NK]

Jane/Appalled-- your last 2 posts are related. The PJ Media story Jane linked to is spot on. 'Bam/Legacy Media's play is distraction -- "Look Squirrel!!" 'Bam/media can't talk about the reality of 'Bam's Presidency, it's been a disaster. So all they have is distraction and attack Romney. Harry Reid's McCarthyism is the latest example. McCarthyism worked for McCarthy for about a year before he self-destructed, and Harry Reid only has to keep it going for 4 months with the media's help. It won't work-- so as desperation gets worse, the smears will be uglier and stupider.

[narciso]

Found it, I just found the 'surveyed' voters,
by Zombie Richard Dawson? a tipoff;

http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2012-08-04/american-liberalism-infantile-disorder

[Extraneus]

I think they overestimate the media's willingness to amplify slander.

Impossible.

[caro]

Yes,Jane's link says it all. The really scarey thing is that once Mitt overcomes this election assault, there will be four more years of the same garbage in the M!F!M!

It will be excruciating.

[Dave (in MA)]

Occasional FNC contributor Jeff Birnbaum was on a local talk radio station here this AM and he pointed out that if Harry Reid knows what's in Romney's tax returns like he claims, either he or his source has committed a crime.

[Danube of Thought]

Against Reid's claim, we have (a) Romney asserting that he did in fact pay substantial taxes in each of those years, and (b) McCain saying he was given the returns up through 2007 during the 2008 campaign and there is nothing remarkable about them. I seriously doubt that either man would make such a statement if there were even the remotest chance of its being proved false.

I continue to believe that Romney should allow Reid a bit more rope, then release for each of the ten years the single page of the Form 1040 on which the total tax is shown. After that, any cries for further parts of the returns, and any assertions about what might be in them, would elicit very little public support.

[narciso]

Speaking of gelatinous nazguls,

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/08/06/CFJ%20Video

[jimmyk]

2.5m/stride, 4 strides/sec means 10 seconds to cover 100m, good for eighth place.

I got that Bolt averaged over 23 mph from a dead stop. Must have been close to 30 after the first few seconds.

Of course I'm as wowed by the marathoners, who essentially do 26 consecutive sub-five-minute miles. I'm quite certain I could not do one sub-five-minute mile if my life depended on it.

[centralcal]

It will be excruciating.

I agree, Caro. We had 8 years of GWB and an hysterical rabid media. I imagine now it will be even worse, especially if the Congress is also Republican majority in both houses.

[Jane - Get off the couch your country needs you!]

The really scarey thing is that once Mitt overcomes this election assault, there will be four more years of the same garbage in the M!F!M!

That is the reason the MFM must be destroyed.

[Danube of Thought]

The lonely juvenile delinquent returns. For those who might not be aware, "charlie prude" is Dana Gilbert Ward of Pitzer College.

[narciso]

Anyone for a fresh cup of crazy, from Costello of the RT set,

[Melinda Romanoff]

Carney nudged Dingy Harry towards the oncoming bus this AM. "Reid speaks for himself", says ex-reporter now competitive spokesmodel.

[JM Hanes]

From the April, 2009 Tea Party here in NC:

[Appalled]

NK:

The way the story is playing out, this looks like it is more about Harry Reid's desperation. If there is a story, it's because of someone behaving unethically at the IRS or a Big 4 and/or relying on fallible memory. And, these returns could go back to the 90s or early this decade, meaning somebody could be remembering "he didn't have any tax" when what he meant was that he did not have Box 1 w-2 income, or he had no taxes, because he overwithheld and got a refund.

Plus, I'm sure that whatever he was told (if anything) has been massively misstated by Harry.

[Jim,MtnViewCA,USA]

via PoliPundit, worries about filling the 80,000 seat stadium for Obama.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/dems_dire_seat_uation_fmAoyhrs70AUiq5qpFKJXO

"Top aides on President Obama’s re-election team are terrified that there will be scores [scores? or scores of thousands?] of empty seats when he makes his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, party insiders said."

[Danube of Thought]

MagazinesAbout:

"Esquire has a circulation of 52,468." (That's where the c&p came from.)

[Appalled]

DoT:

That's a pretty good suggestion at 2:01. Problem is that the page also shows AGI and also how much was taxed at the capital gains rate. I do not think Romney wants to show that.

How did McCain get copies of the returns?

[daddy]

Good Morning!

Just listened to hour 1 of Rush's show wherein he discusses George Will's latest pronouncement to Ban American Football: Football Can't Be Fixed.

I am sick to death of George Will. I am sure I won't be the first or the last to do this but I will take his statements to Stephy on ABC yesterday and simply apply them to a topic that is doing more damage to America and American's than NFL Football, namely Professional American Political Punditry.

Professional American Political Punditry Can't Be Fixed:

"In his Washington Post column this morning, George Will writes powerfully about the long-term problems facing the Professional American Political Punditry Class, saying, “Punditry is gladiatorial combat in which the audience is expected to get angry as hell listening to biased, ignorant bloviators verbally engaging in discussions that a growing portion of the audience knows may cause the listeners degenerative brain disease.”

STEPHANOPOULOS: George, You write that Professional American Political Punditry just can’t be fixed.

WILL: The human mind is no longer built for the verbal kinetic energy of Professional American Political Pundits on the Alphabet Networks and even further down to MSNBC and NPR and the Washington Post. In 1980, George, there were three MSM Media outlets, ABC, NBC, CBS, spouting over 300 inane Pundit comments per day. Today there are three MSM outlets spouting over 600 inane, ignorant and idiotic untruths per day, and over 352 Cable Shows spouting obnoxious, arrogant and aggravating lies more than 700 times per day.

WILL: Over 30 minutes, which is where a lot of Punditry is spouted, these guys are as fatuous as cats, ferocious as junkyard dogs, and the kinetic verbal energy they are producing is called chronic traumatic encephalopathy, CTE, get used to that, because it’s going to be the subject of lawsuits and other things. The crucial word is chronic. Repeated, small but repeated blows to the head, the brain floating in the pan in the skull, which now we know causes early dementia and other problems to the audience.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So what’s to be done about it? Because right now, there’s no evidence that the American public is ready to turn away.

WILL: It will start down below. It will start at the small level of Tea Party kids turning off the Tiffany Networks and listening to Rush. We now in our hyper-cautious Society put crash helmets on children riding tricycles. How many of these parents are going to let their children go out and listen to MSNBC or NPR once they learn, again the chronic, the cumulative effect of small brain trauma?

George Will. Get the hell out of Washington. Get off my TV. Get a life and quit being such a prissy wimp. Shut up and get lost.

[Jane - Get off the couch your country needs you!]

That's great Daddy. You should send it to Insty.

[JM Hanes]

caro:

"... there will be four more years of the same garbage in the M!F!M! It will be excruciating."

And/or irrelevant!

[Danube of Thought]

"How did McCain get copies of the returns?"

Romney provided them.

[Appalled]

DoT:
Romney provided them.

OK -- as part of the VP vetting back in 2008. Got it.

[Porchlight]

Gallup:

John McCain voters from 2008 are supporting Republican candidate Mitt Romney this presidential election year to a slightly greater degree than 2008 Barack Obama voters are supporting Obama again this year, 92% vs. 86%.

[Danube of Thought]

"...or he had no taxes, because he 'overwithheld'and got a refund."

If your quarterly estimated tax payments end up exceeding the amount you were required to pay, you get a refund but that doesn't mean you had no taxes. I get some back almost every year, but my "tax" line still shows a large number.

Appalled, I see no reason why Romney should feel skittish either about a large AGI or lots of capital gains. The only people who give a damn about that are journalists and the losers who vote the straight Left ticket anyway.

[Ignatz]

The reason Reid says outrageous, defamatory stuff is because he can.
He has made a career of it and has never had to pay a price.
Until he does he'll continue.

[narciso]

Ah. Charlie 'If Mary Jo Kopechne had lived' Pierce, raw hackery can rarely be surpassed,

[Sue]

Oh my. I had a moment of panic. I thought dear leader was going to shut off comments.

[NK]

Ig@240-- that is correct. That plus Harry has NO CHOICE but to go all in outrageous for 'Bam. 'Bam winning and the Dems having 51+ seats is the ONLY way Harry gets to stay Majorty Leader. If the Dems lose the Senate, the Senate Dems will make Schumer the Minority Leader, he's their biggest cash cow - that plus, craven politicians always need someone to blame, so the Senate Dems will blame Harry. The only way the Senate Dems win is for 'Bam to win-- so Harry does whatever the Troika tell him to do. No matter how badly he beclowns himself

[Sue]

If I were Romney, I would only release more tax returns as Obama releases his transcripts and passport information. Because I've heard he traveled to Pakistan as an Indonesian. And that is all that is needed to have those records released.

[narciso]

A besotted squirrel is occasionally on point;

http://hotair.com/archives/2012/08/06/cohen-harry-reid-is-exactly-whats-wrong-with-washington/

[AliceH]

I recall reading several places that in addition to two actual tax return years, Romney also released 10 (?) years of summary tax data. I can't find that now - any one know about this one what or the other? Link?

[NK]

BTW-- I think the speculation above that Romney paid estimated taxes in EXCESS of his ultimate year end tax liability meant that he got a refund and didn't write an April 15th check.

[Clarice]

I think this guy is right on the money about Obama, the Romney tax records and Columbia.
http://www.theblaze.com/contributions/obama’s-college-classmate-the-obama-scandal-is-at-columbia/

[Rick Ballard]

"there will be four more years of the same garbage in the M!F!M!"

Caro,

Not according to their financial statements. They're bleeding out quite nicely, as they should. They've certainly earned the losses they're incurring.

[Tom Maguire]

He had white supremest tattoos, the significance of which they don't know but hey, at least he didn't shout Allah Akbar.

Just as well. Had he done so he would have totally derailed the investigation and the Feds would be looking at the Sikhs for possible hate crimes while the press resumed obsessing on Romney's taxes.

[Clarice]

Actually, i think after Romney wins the media will be less rabid ...because more of them will be unemployed. I think it only a matter of a shor time before the alphabets can no longer afford their unwatchable news divisions, CNN, WaPo and NYT are operating on Obamaconomics..deep red.

[Sue]

Clarice,

Exactly. Put Obama on the defensive. But maybe it needs to be someone other than Romney to start this ball rolling. Say, Donald Trump maybe?

[Clarice]

Would anyone here who expresses the least shred of doubt that there's anything at all to Reid's charges--I beg you send me your name and address because SCAM has some outstanding investment opportunities for you.

[Manuel Transmission]

Home and hosed. What a great week in spite of no Internet and almost no cell coverage. Thanks to DrJ for coordinating things during my comms blackout. Getting to hang with Iggy twice was great. Even got to see his lumps of stainless with holes in front.

The brunch with the gang on the flightline was wonderful. One of the busiest little airports I've seen in a while. A rare time when waiting 30 min for seating and another 45 for food to arrive was not a problem. I took the perfect pictures of our secret meeting. All is revealed or not! Of course Elliott being out there in the golf world makes his anonymity kinda moot.

A side note for daddy: I discovered that we were sharing our abode with Wilson. Don't think he rode in on the tsunami, though.

[NK]

From Wayne Root's post explaining 'Bam's refusal to discuss or release college records:
"A) He rarely ever attended class.

B) His grades were not those typical of what we understand it takes to get into Harvard Law School.

C) He attended Columbia as a foreign exchange student.

D) He paid little for either undergraduate college or Harvard Law School because of foreign aid and scholarships given to a poor foreign students like this kid Barry Soetoro from Indonesia." That's been my exact opinion since summer 2008, and various other JOMers as well-- including --I believe- Mr. Maguire. Hey Tom-- don't bother taking the family to Sherwood State Park today, Bam, Harvey Meyerson and Anna Wintour have that locked up today.

[NK]

So MT-- who's who in the photo?- a very attractive crew BTW.

[Jane - Get off the couch your country needs you!]

I agree with Root, and I absolutely think someone should stand up on the senate floor and says they know what's in them and why he won't release them.

[Sheldon Lefkowitz]

NYT

There are two things that set Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign apart: his caution and his secretiveness.

The presumptive Republican nominee refuses to release his pre-2010 tax returns, will not identify his major fundraisers and bundlers and wiped all computer records of staff emails clean at the end of his term as governor of Massachusetts in 2006.

Romney’s rationale is that material like this could be used by the Obama campaign to discredit him. In an interview published a few weeks ago, Romney told National Review:

In the political environment that exists today, the opposition research of the Obama campaign is looking for anything they can use to distract from the failure of the president to reignite our economy. And I’m simply not enthusiastic about giving them hundreds or thousands of more pages to pick through, distort, and lie about.
So what was this ever-so-guarded, moralistic (“I want to clean up the moral pollution on TV and the Internet”) politician doing at a $50,000-a-couple fundraiser in Jerusalem with Sheldon G. Adelson — proprietor of one of the largest, if not the largest, gambling and casino operations in the world — seated in the honored position at his side?

Adelson and his company are under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice on allegations of foreign bribery. In addition, the United States Attorney’s office in Los Angeles is investigating whether Adelson’s Las Vegas Sands Corporation failed to alert authorities to millions of dollars transferred to casinos in violation of money-laundering laws, the Wall Street Journal reported on August 4.

In its 2011 Annual Report, the Sands Corp., of which Adelson is chairman and C.E.O., disclosed that

On Feb. 9, 2011, L.V.S.C. received a subpoena from the S.E.C. requesting that we produce documents relating to our compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. We have also been advised by the Department of Justice that it is conducting a similar investigation. Any violation of the F.C.P.A. could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition.
Adelson and other officials of the Sands Corp. have denied they have done anything wrong.

There is a succinct answer to the question of why Romney would take the risk of closely associating himself with the immensely controversial Adelson: 10 million dollars — the amount Adelson and his wife have contributed to the super Pac supporting Romney, Restore Our Future.

The Adelsons are the largest donors to the Romney PAC. They have providing just over 12 percent of the $82.2 million Restore Our Future has raised so far. Romney’s personal wealth is an estimated $250 million, but the former governor is determined not to self-finance his quest for the presidency.

Adelson’s cash is more than enough to persuade Romney to swallow his pride and embrace the man who, earlier in the campaign, spent millions on a different candidate. It was Adelson who financed Newt Gingrich’s populist attack ads, which portrayed Romney, the former C.E.O. of Bain Capital, as a “predatory capitalist.” The Adelson-financed attacks were instrumental in bringing about Romney’s defeat in the South Carolina primary in January and they laid the groundwork for the attacks Obama is subjecting Romney to now.

The source of Adelson’s huge campaign contributions would appear to create a conflict with Romney’s Mormon convictions. The official website of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints states: “The Church opposes gambling in any form, including government-sponsored lotteries.”

What Mormons Believe, an unofficial web site explicating the positions of the Church declares:

The Mormon Church has always opposed gambling in every form, including government-sponsored lotteries. Mormon prophets and leaders have counseled the members over time, to avoid gambling of any type. Doing so, leads one away from righteousness and into the hands of Satan. The Mormon belief is that it is an addictive behavior and leads only to destructive habits and practices. It undermines the value of work and motivates one to think that they can get something for nothing. In time, the gambler will deny themselves, as well as their family the basic needs of life. They will oft times steal from others to finance their addiction, which in turn leads to stealing, robbery, etc.
Adelson is number eight on the Forbes 400, a list of the 400 richest people in America, with a fortune of $21.5 billion amassed largely through an international collection of gambling venues.

Romney has been fortunate that the reporting on the inquiries into Adelson’s finances by the S.E.C. and the Justice Department has been limited in scope. Most coverage of Adelson’s contributions has not included any reference to either of these investigations.

Much of the most interesting reporting on the investigations has been done by ProPublica, working jointly with “Frontline” and the Investigative Reporting Program of the University of California at Berkeley.

The majority of the allegations against Adelson emerged in connection with an ongoing wrongful dismissal lawsuit against Sands filed in 2010 by Steven Jacobs, former C.E.O. of Sands China. Emails and other documents posted by ProPublica on July 16 raised questions about the role of Leonel Alves, a legislator and lawyer in Macau who was hired as an outside counsel to Las Vegas Sands.

These emails revealed concerns among Adelson’s legal advisers that a large payment for legal services to Alves would set off warning bells in the sections of the Securities and Exchange Commission and Justice Department that watch out for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

The anti-bribery provisions of the F.C.P.A., according to the Department of Justice, “make it unlawful for a U.S. person, and certain foreign issuers of securities, to make a corrupt payment to a foreign official for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business for or with, or directing business to, any person.” Alves is a member of the local Macau legislature, serves on a 10-member council that advises Macau’s chief executive, and is a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, which advises the government of China.

In a Sept. 30, 2009 email, Alves wrote to Jacobs that at the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China “someone high ranking in Beijing approached me before the official dinner and invited me 2 handle issues related to the Venetian’s projects in Macau.” Alves wrote Jacobs, “There is an amount to be agreed by Mr. Adelson to settle the 2 issues. The amount to be paid to resolve the serviced apartments issue will be paid to a mutually accepted escrow agent and delivered to the gentleman upon official approval in the Official Gazette authorizing the sale of the serviced apartment.”

On Dec. 10, 2009, in another email to Jacobs, Alves wrote that he was returning to Beijing the next day and “will have chance to talk with my friends there.” Alves warned, however, that “what they request is extremely expensive (US300 m, which includes closing the Taiwanese case).”

It is not clear from the email what was done about the request for $300 million.

In a separate matter, Jacobs, in a March 11, 2010 email to Al Gonzalez, who was then general counsel at Las Vegas Sands, said that he had told Alves that a bill for services at three times the normal rate could not be paid in full because “we were worried that there could be F.C.P.A. issues related to this.” Roughly three weeks later, Jacobs wrote, “I was instructed by SGA [Adelson’s initials] and MAL [Michael A. Leven, president of Las Vegas Sands] to pay and close out the matter,” ProPublica, Frontline and Berkeley investigators disclosed.

The next day, March 12, 2010, Gonzalez wrote back to Jacobs: “You know from various conversations we’ve had and emails we’ve exchanged that I did not believe it appropriate to pay LA [Leonel Alves] three times his normal rates,” before adding, “I wish you would have advised me so I could have intervened.”

A month later, in April of 2010, Gonzalez resigned as general counsel to Sands. On July 23, Sands fired Jacobs as C.E.O. of Sands China, and soon the battleground shifted to the courts.

Ron Reese, Sands vice president for public relations, declined to comment, but pointed me to stories of past denials of wrongdoing by company officials, including Adelson. On March 28, Adelson declared in a speech in Macau that the Jacobs suit “is pure threatening, blackmailing and extortion. That is what it is all about.” Speaking at the J.P. Morgan Gaming, Lodging, Restaurant & Leisure Management Access Forum, Adelson said:

When the smoke clears, I am 1,000 percent positive that there won’t be any fire below it. What they will find is a foundation of lies and fabrications that were designed for the sole purpose of trying to make a settlement for a lot more money than what he [Jacobs] felt he was entitled to.
The Adelson-Jacobs feud turned up hotly-disputed allegations even more out of sync with Romney’s religious and moral convictions after Jacobs filed a request for documents charging that Adelson had initiated a “prostitution strategy” to draw customers to the Macau facilities. The Jacobs filing read:

As background, shortly after my arrival to Macau in May 2009, I launched “Operation Clean Sweep,” designed to rid the casino floor of loan sharks and prostitution. This project was met with concern as L.V.S.C. Senior Executives informed me that the prior prostitution strategy has been personally approved by Adelson.
Adelson denied the allegation, telling Forbes: “Would I jeopardize being the 7th richest man in the US and the 14th or 15th richest person in the world to push prostitution? For what? I’m already the most profitable company in consumer services ever. What do I have to win?”

By July 20, the situation got even messier. Adelson sued Jacobs in Florida for defamation for making statements that “impugn Mr. Adelson’s integrity and harm his reputation.” In addition, Adelson threatened to sue the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for issuing press releases linking Adelson’s contributions to “Chinese prostitution money.”

On August 2, the D.C.C.C. backtracked, publicly declaring “In press statements issued on June 29 and July 2, 2012, the D.C.C.C. made unsubstantiated allegations that attacked Sheldon Adelson, a supporter of the opposing party.” The D.C.C.C. said, “This was wrong. The statements were untrue and unfair, and we retract them.”

On the legal front, Nevada District Court Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez will hold a hearing on August 30 to determine whether Las Vegas Sands Corp withheld key documents in Jacobs’ wrongful termination case.

It would be interesting to know what Romney has to say about Adelson’s gambling business and his difficulties with the S.E.C., the Justice Department and the D.C.C.C., but Romney’s campaign did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

The toughest charges leveled against Romney as a politician have been distinctly personal: that he lacks authenticity; that he is “a phony”; that “there are two Mitt Romneys”; that he is duplicitous; that he is a hypocrite and a flip-flopper, even on the most serious issues.

Romney is currently polling ahead of Obama on a number of key questions. Voters prefer Romney’s approach to the deficit (51-41), jobs (50-44) and taxes (49-45). But when it comes to questions of character, Obama crushes Romney: on likability (60-30); on understanding the problems faced in voters’ daily lives (50-39); and on honesty and trustworthiness, two issues that go to the heart of Romney’s problems, Obama holds an 8 point advantage (47-39).

Perhaps the least effective tools with which to address this liability are the caution and secretiveness that have become Romney’s trademarks. At a minimum, Romney could tell us how he reconciles the values he says he stands for with the basis on which Adelson’s fortune is built.

[Americanus Ignoramus]

In 2010, Page, then the leader of the band End Apathy, gave an interview to the white supremacist website Label 56. He said that when he started the band in 2005, its name reflected his wish to “figure out how to end people’s apathetic ways” and start “moving forward.” “I was willing to point out some of my faults on how I was holding myself back,” Page said. Later, he added, “The inspiration was based on frustration that we have the potential to accomplish so much more as individuals and a society in whole.” He did not discuss violence in the interview.

Page told the website that he had been a part of the white power music scene since 2000, when he left his native Colorado on a motorcycle. He attended white power concerts in Georgia, North Carolina, West Virginia and Colorado. At various times, he said, he also played in the hate rock bands Youngland (2001-2003), Celtic Warrior, Radikahl, Max Resist, Intimidation One, Aggressive Force and Blue Eyed Devils. End Apathy, he said, included “Brent” on bass and “Ozzie” on drums; the men were former members of Definite Hate and another band, 13 Knots.

In 2000, the Southern Poverty Law Center has found that Page also attempted to purchase goods from the neo-Nazi National Alliance, then America’s most important hate group.
The Anders Breivik pattern re-emerges. Although the National Alliance remains viciously anti-Semitic, the current crop of neo-Nazis seems to be more energized by anti-Muslim hatred than by rage against the Jews. The Sikhs are not Muslims, of course, but their distinctive dress would no doubt make them appear so to a jackass like Page.

Two points worth noting:

1. The cops are seeking a second "person of interest." Apparently, this person videotaped the killing spree.

2. Page served in the military in the 1990s as a psy-ops officer. He was last stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

One report says that Page lived near Fort Bragg until fairly recently. CBS says that Page lived in his current apartment in Wisconsin for only two weeks. His band's MySpace page gives his location as North Carolina (last login: February 21 of this year). If we combine these reports with the allegations of a second person taping the scene, then provisionally -- provisionally -- I would say that it is starting to look as though some group in WI recruited Page to come to town and take action.

I am sure that conspiracy-minded commentators will use the military connection as their excuse to shout vague accusations of mind control. No doubt we will all be hearing a lot about Fort Bragg's parapolitical history -- about the Jeffrey MacDonald murders, the shipment of heroin along with G.I. corpses coming in from Vietnam, the inexplicable series of infant deaths, and more.

But I don't think that anyone connected with that base "brainwashed" Page.

The real brainwashers, in my view, probably have nothing to do with the military or "the gummint." The true mind-warpers are the fanatical haters who have thrived on the internet.

Other predictions:

1. The conspiracists will claim that Page did what he did as part of a plot to engineer the mythical Great Gun Round-Up. I'm old enough to recall when right-wingers said the same thing about Sirhan Sirhan. Yawn.

2. The right's normal knee-jerk response -- "The victims should have been packing heat!" -- will be muted in this case. Many rightists won't like the mental image of brown-skinned "towel heads" carrying guns in American towns.

You want co-conspirators? Here they are... The comments on this CBS News site offer a view of American madness that is almost as frightening as the massacre itself:
So because the shooter is a white Army Vet, there is no problem calling this an act of "Domestic Terrorism" but when Major Nidal Hassan guns down unarmed Soldiers in the name of Allah or when an OWS protester kills 12 innocent people in a crowded theater those are random acts of insanity. Got it.
The last reference goes, of course, to the rumor that James Holmes was an OWS "black bloc" protestor. He was no such thing; this rumor was started by a right-wing maniac in Florida who admits that he has no evidence. But in the sick alternative universe of the conservative media, this baseless allegation will never die.

Incidentally, the cops labeled the Sikh Temple massacre a likely act of terrorism even before they knew Page's background. They made that presumption based on his tattoos. (It's easy to guess what sort of tats a racist skinhead might sport.) Their deduction had nothing to do with his being a "white Army vet."

Let us return to the comments on that CBS site. Again and again, right-wing psychos try to pin this incident on OWS or liberalism -- with no evidence whatsoever.
Any second now we will learn that he was another left wing nut. At that exact second the lame stream media will lose interest.
He is kkk - that means that his politics are old school Democratc
AT THIS POINT LIBERALS ARE ANARCHISTS.
I wonder if he was another "Occupy" type that went haywire. That seems to be happening a lot these days with the very tolerant folks on the left.
Obama wouldn't want to kill his own. Since this is a DNC frame-up, it makes sense that they would use an ethnic group that has always wholeheartedly supported the U.S.
white supremacists, like new black panthers, are leftists.
Someone needs to start suing minorities for hate crimes against whites and see how they like it.
CBS & all the alphabet channels are white haters!
My favorite:
Your'e reply is incomprehensiveable...typical libretard
There are times when right-wing illiterates churn out garbled prose that reminds me of page one of Finnegan's Wake.

If you want to know who Page's co-conspirators are, look to the writers of the above comments. Psychologically -- spiritually -- Page marched alongside every "conservative" who fills our political discourse with the type of fear-addled inanity sampled above. These right-wing creeps all bear responsibility, although they never will confess their culpability.

The bizarre, intoxicating subculture of the right-wing conspiracy-mongers has driven much of our nation mad. Reason itself has come under constant assault. On a daily basis, the right fills our national body with the deadly smack of inchoate rage and paranoia -- and the doses keep getting heavier. With that kind of junk in our system, acts of obscene violence should come as no surprise.

[Sue]

Wow. Mark Cuban and Magnet Distributing Occupy Unmasked. Is Cuban trying to redeem himself?

[Chubby]

((Ignatz: The reason Reid says outrageous, defamatory stuff is because he can.))

exactly

when you think about it, Yes we can! is a quite a sinister motto -- just do anything we can get away with, nevermind, the right or wrong of it

[Clarice]

Must be getting Dana Ward nervous..he's gone off the meds again.

[NO_LIMIT_NIGGA]

It's a crying shame that we didn't listen to people like NK after the Aurora massacre and immediately outlaw "assault rifles" and "high-capacity magazines". Because blatantly disregarding the 2nd amendment like that would of course have prevented this latest lunatic's criminal attack.

And thank God that no one at the temple was armed, so there was no risk of anyone being caught in a dangerous crossfire from victims defending themselves against the cold-blooded murderer who was stalking them.

[Captain Hate]

Actually, i think after Romney wins the media will be less rabid ...because more of them will be unemployed. I think it only a matter of a shor time before the alphabets can no longer afford their unwatchable news divisions, CNN, WaPo and NYT are operating on Obamaconomics..deep red.

The local fishwrap has shrunk to the size of a strip mall's non-holiday weekend shopping flyer; and it's not as toploaded with loonies as Pinch's asylum.

I see the turd vac has been dispatched.

[Sue]

The WaPo gives 2 Pinocchios to the ad that says Obama hasn't visited Israel while president. Not because Obama has visited Israel while president but because other presidents hadn't visited Israel either. Got that? The old fake but accurate. And they wonder why they are going down the tubes.

[Rick Ballard]

I don't have a single word of advice for the well run Romney Campaign. The 30 day average of Gallup's Daily Presidential Approval Rating was 47.42 on May 1st when it was first certain Governor Romney would be the GOP candidate. Today it's 45.72. President Obama has already spent over $400 million, reaped from a group of suckers which has turned the entire SCAM Inc. board green with envy. No political campaign in history has spent so much for so little and there is absolutely no evidence the Pinhead Troika will change anything between now and the President's defeat in November.

Did you know the current unemployment rate is 8.3% while the price of gasoline has increased by 10% in the past month?

President Obama did that, even if he somehow neglects to take the appropriate credit for it.

[Janet]

Even if Reid backs off of his slander of Romney, the Army of Davids on the right should make him pay a price for his behavior.

[jimmyk]

No political campaign in history has spent so much for so little

Popularity saved or created? Perhaps he'd be below 40 without the $400M.

[Jim,MtnViewCA,USA]

For those with smaller kids or knowing parents of same. Since in the POR economy, we need every break we can get :)

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2012/08/01/blog-free-haircuts-for-kids-at-jcpenney-in-august/
Free haircut for K thru 6th grade at J.C. Penney’s during August.

confirmed here:
http://www.jcpenney.com/dotcom/jsp/browse/category.jsp?id=cat100300164

[bio mom]

Of course, the Dems know Romney has payed his taxes. How ridiculous to believe someone could have run twice for elective office in Massachusetts (senator, against Ted Kennedy no less, and governor that he won) and then run for president last time as well and somehow this tax evasion was never discovered? And for some reason the IRS just let it all happen? No, it is more likely that 1. Reed is a dirty liar (my vote); or 2. as suggested above, he overpayed and then got a refund or 3. what they mean by no taxes is that he had sufficient tax shelters not to pay any and may have had some audits to insure all was okay with that. This man is a financial genius. He is not going to knowingly just not pay taxes and then expect to run for public office with no problems. Only an idiot would believe that.

[Chubby]

An American Motto

The Founders didn't make the break just because they "could"
Their unwritten motto was "Yes we should."

[Extraneus]

Only an idiot would believe that.

There's the rub.

[NK]

Fascinating Gallup survey about vote switching. IF-- IF-- the 2008 electorate were repeated today, Bam wins by 3+Million votes-- RATHER THAN 9+Million. BUT, the 2012 electorate will not be the same as 2008-- first off, Bam's turnout will be down significantly because he's done nothing for black or young voters. They drop down 2-4 Million to historical turnout. More importantly, the 2-4 million 2004 Bush voters who didn't bother voting in 2008 will vote in 2012. IMO, Obama will get about 62M votes-- ABO should be 65-68M.

[caro]

JMH

"... there will be four more years of the same garbage in the M!F!M! It will be excruciating."

And/or irrelevant!

It will be irrelevant. I need to be tougher.

And thanks for the great Rover coverage last night. I was on the NASA iPad app and it was amazing to have the whole control room in my hands. It was thrilling and very emotional. We have not had a US moment like that for a long time.

Rick and Clarice, I trust you on the future of the MFM. Faster,please.

[Jane - Get off the couch your country needs you!]

Uh - say not says.

[NK]

No Limit-- hey you're a really smart dude, whooping it up a day after 6 people were slaughtered exercising their 1st Amendment rights of religious observance. You are the equally moronic flip side of the Southern Poverty Law Center.

[matt]

Clinton was just in South Africa promising $2 Billion in soft loans for green energy products. The article mentioned GE by name, presumably for their windmills.

It pays to be a crony capitalist.

[marlene]

narciso...Angus King's statewide name recognition is my guess as to why he's doing well in the polls.Dill(D)is unknown in central and northern Maine,Summers(R) was Snowe's state director for a period of time.I think I mentioned previously that Summers and Snowe are having a feud and she has been lukewarm in supporting him.She's very supportive of Kevin Raye,the R candidate for the 2nd district. Anyway,King being coy about which party he'd caucus with is just silly.