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The Nonsensical Alleged Iranian Plot and the End of All Reason

Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps

In order to believe the latest flight of fancy promulgated by Washington, one must suspend any and all logic, reason and plain old common sense. Let's not forget that one must also ignore any knowledge of Iranian strategy, the operations of the Quds Force and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in general.

Even the U.S. government seems to realize these allegations are wildly unrealistic, including State Department Victoria Nuland who said, "When you look at these details, it seems like something out of a movie".

No, Nuland, it seems like something out of a bad movie written by writers who know little to nothing about Iran or terrorism in general, for that matter.

Megaphone

US: Clashes as Occupy protesters march on Wall Street

Image
© Mary Altaffer/AP
A New York City police officer shoves a demonstrator affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street protests as they march through the streets in the Wall Street area, Friday.
Clashes broke out between bottle-throwing demonstrators and police on horses and scooters as Occupy Wall Street protesters marched on the Stock Exchange on Friday, NBC News reported.

At least 10 people were arrested amid what was initially described as a celebratory march, which began when it was revealed the owners of Zuccotti Park - where the protesters had set up camp - had ditched cleanup plans that some claimed were a pretext to evict them.

NBC News reported that police used the scooters to try to force protesters off of the street at several locations on Wall Street and Broadway.

In some cases, police rode scooters directly at people who stopped traffic and refused to move away.

Demonstrators threw bottles and one threw a garbage can at police, according to reporters on the scene.

WNBC reported that at least 10 people had been arrested as police tried to stop about 500 people, with brooms raised in the air, from marching on Wall Street.

People

NY postpones clearing of anti-Wall Street square

occupy wall street
© AFP Timothy A. Clary
On Thursday the protesters cleaned the
square themselves

New York - Anti-Wall Street protesters declared victory on Friday after a last-ditch deal saw New York authorities postpone evacuation of the park turned tent city that has become their home in the past month.

The owners of the property suspended their request for the city to clear it for routine cleaning and said they believed they could reach an agreement with the protesters, Deputy Mayor Cas Holloway said in a statement.

The demonstrators had vowed a pre-dawn show of strength to prevent their eviction from the makeshift base that is the symbolic epicenter of their fledgling but growing movement which has spread nationwide in recent weeks.

But it never came to pass. "Our position has been consistent throughout: the city's role is to protect public health and safety, to enforce the law, and guarantee the rights of all New Yorkers," Holloway said.

USA

Gap Plans Store Closures in US, While Opening New Locations in China

Image
© AP Photo
New York - Gap Inc. plans to close stores in the U.S., while expanding in China.

The struggling retailer, which runs the Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic chains, detailed plans on Thursday to close 189 locations, or 21 percent of its namesake Gap stores in the U.S., by the end of 2013. At the same time, the largest U.S. clothing chain said it plans to triple the number of Gap stores in China from about 15 by the end of the year to roughly 45 by the end of next year.

The moves are related to the company's previously stated goal of reducing its overall square footage in the U.S. by 10 percent from 2007 to the end of 2013, while roughly doubling revenue from outside of the U.S. to 30 percent by the end of the same year.

"The combination of our global strategy and formidable growth platform puts us in a strong position to expand our reach into the top 10 apparel markets worldwide," said Glenn Murphy, Gap's CEO, in a statement. "In North America, we're taking a number of steps to improve sales in the near-term, and I'm confident that with a strong management team in place, we're well positioned for sustained growth across the business."

People

US: 30 girls assault another girl in Jersey City park

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© Google Map
A 15-year-old Hoboken girl was accosted by as many as 30 girls in a Wayne Street park in Jersey City, according to a police report.
A 15-year-old Hoboken girl was assaulted in a Downtown Jersey City park Friday night by a group of roughly 30 girls who stole her cellphone, police reports said.

Police were called to the park on Wayne Street between Barrow Street and Jersey Avenue at 9:57 p.m. on the report of a large, disorderly group and after dispersing the group of up to 30 people, police noticed the 15-year-old girl standing at the corner of the park with a bloody nose, swollen lip and bloody ear, reports said.

The victim said she was walking in the park with her cousin when the pack of teenage girls swarmed around her and assaulted her before stealing her cellphone, reports said.

The girl's mother, who was called to the scene, told police that just as she was arriving, she came across the group, asked for the phone back and one of the girls returned it to her, reports said.


Light Saber

US: Warren Jeffs' Wife Escapes Polygamist Community

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© ABC News
Warren Jeffs' Wife Escapes Polygamist Community
One of the wives of polygamist leader Warren Jeffs, who is currently serving a life sentence for child sexual assault, has escaped the confines of the isolated Arizona community where his 85 other wives live.

Arizona authorities have said that the 25-year-old woman who fled the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which was led by Jeffs, is now undergoing counseling and psychiatric care at a women's shelter. She was reportedly barefoot when she was found.

The secluded community of the church in Colorado City, Ariz., contains about 5,000 residents and is a world where outsiders are not welcomed. Now a woman that is highly familiar with the isolated community and its controversial former leader has escaped.

Willie Jeesop, a former FLDS spokesman who was kicked out of the religion by Jeffs, said that the unidentified woman was under duress when she sought refuge with Jeffs in Colorado City.

Megaphone

US: New York - Occupy Wall St. Prepares for Crackdown - Will Bloomberg Try to Tear It All Down?

Free health care, a sanitation team, a public library, solar power, and free childcare are just a few of the services the Occupy Wall Street protesters are providing.
"If Bloomberg really cared about sanitation here he wouldn't have blocked portapotties and dumpsters."
Image
© Unknown
On Thursday afternoon Occupy Wall Street called an emergency General Assembly down at Liberty Plaza to deal with the announcement that Friday will see a cleanup of the park by the City, starting at 7 am. Representatives of Brookfield, the company that owns the park, said in the clean-up notice that everything left behind will be thrown away. On Thursday it was also revealed that Brookfield had sent a letter to police commissioner Ray Kelly asking the NYPD help clear out the protestors. A group of New York civil liberties lawyers warned the CEO of Brookfield that forcing protestors from the park violates their first amendment rights, stating, "Under the guise of cleaning the Park you are threatening fundamental constitutional rights. There is no basis in the law for your request for police intervention, nor have you cited any. Such police action without a prior court order would be unconstitutional."

Che Guevara

I AM NOT MOVING - Short Film - Occupy Wall Street

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© N/A

The powerful "I Am Not Moving" juxtaposes Occupy scenes with footage of the Arab Spring alongside a righteous-sounding Hillary Clinton and Obama on the people's rights of expression and assembly. Watch it, post it. The powerful "I Am Not Moving" juxtaposes Occupy scenes with footage of the Arab Spring alongside a righteous-sounding Hillary Clinton and Obama on the people's rights of expression and assembly. Watch it, post it.

Info

Gallup: More Americans "Struggling" to Afford Food Than Chinese

For all the discussion of "knowledge economies" and the associated rise in overall standard of living, the country that makes our iPads seems to be better off these days than the country that dreamed them up.

According to a new Gallup survey, "the percentage of Americans saying they did not have money for food in the previous 12 months more than doubled from 9% in 2008 to 19% in 2011."

By comparison, the percentage of Chinese surveyed who said they "did not have enough money to buy food that they or their family needed" over the past 12 months, dropped from 16% to 6%.

Gallup Survey_1
© Minyanville
From Gallup's Rajesh Srinivasan and Bryant Ott:

Stop

In A Down Economy, Drinking Goes Up

Alcohol Consumption
© redOrbit

Researchers from the University of Miami and the University of Colorado find a connection between macroeconomic conditions and excessive alcohol drinking

Previous studies have found that health outcomes improve during an economic downturn. Job loss means less money available for potentially unhealthy behaviors such as excessive drinking, according to existing literature on employment and alcohol consumption. A new study by health economist Michael T. French from the University of Miami and his collaborators has concluded just the opposite - heavy drinking and alcohol abuse/dependence significantly increase as macroeconomic conditions deteriorate.

French and his team found that binge drinking increased with a rise in the state-level unemployment rate. Driving while intoxicated and alcohol abuse and dependence also increased for both genders and across ethnic groups. The study is relevant considering that many economists predict the unemployment rate in the United States to remain above pre-crisis levels for several years.

"The study is timely, technically advanced, and original," says French, professor of health economics, director of the Health Economics Research Group at the UM College of Arts and Sciences and principal investigator of this study. "We are one of the first to show that, even though incomes decline for most people during an economic downtown, they still increase problematic or risky drinking."