In the News: 23rd October 2008

CT
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Top Iran officials recommend preemptive strike against Israel

By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent-Senior Tehran officials are recommending a preemptive strike against Israel to prevent an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear reactors, a senior Islamic Republic official told foreign diplomats two weeks ago in London.

The official, Dr. Seyed G. Safavi, said recent threats by Israeli authorities strengthened this position, but that as of yet, a preemptive strike has not been integrated into Iranian policy.

Safavi is head of the Research Institute of Strategic Studies in Tehran, and an adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The institute is directly affiliated with Khamenei's office and with the Revolutionary Guards, and advises both on foreign policy issues.Safavi is also the brother of Yahya Rahim Safavi, who was the head of the Revolutionary Guards until a year ago and now is an adviser to Khamenei, and holds significant influence on security matters in the Iranian government. Read more...

Preemptive strike against Israel? Yeah that's smart. I sure hope the insurgent backing government of Iran isn't listening to this guy. Big Bad, aka the United States, would cause it to start raining steel if Israel got whacked. I can think of no other way to put it.
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ELECTION REJECTION: NETWORK NEWS SLUMPS;VIEWERSHIP FADES

The Obama-McCain match-up is proving to be a lackluster election ticket for the Big 3 network news programs, according to NIELSEN MEDIA RESEARCH.

As the shouting from the trail and the frantic spinning from the anchor desks intensify, the audience is voting with their remotes.

All 3 evening news shows experienced audience drops year-to-year for the week of Oct. 13-19, 2008.

CBSNEWS w/ Couric shed a half a million viewers, falling from 6.4 million to 5.9 million; ABCNEWS dropped from 8.1 million to 7.6 million; NBCNEWS slumped from 8.2 million to 7.8 million.

I don't know why but for some strange reason I don't feel sorry for them.
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Oil falls below $67 on US recession fears

By Madlen Read, AP-Oil prices tumbled below $67 a barrel to 16-month lows Wednesday after the government reported big increases in U.S. fuel supplies -- more evidence that the economic downturn is drying up energy demand.

he Energy Information Administration said crude inventories jumped by 3.2 million barrels last week, above the 2.9 million barrel increase expected by analysts surveyed by energy research firm Platts. Gasoline inventories rose by 2.7 million barrels last week, and inventories of distillates, which include heating oil and diesel, rose by 2.2 million barrels. Read more...

Remember the good ole' days, about a month or two ago, when this was all we had to worry about? My how things change from week to week. And let me tell you I am so worried about those poor folks in OPEC starving to death. What will they do?

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Larijani: Iran prefers Obama

YnetNews-Iranian parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said Wednesday that Iran would prefer Democrat Barack Obama in the White House next year. Larijani also dismissed any idea that the US would attack Iran.

"We are leaning more in favor of Barack Obama because he is more flexible and rational, even though we know American policy will not change that much," Larijani said at a press conference during a visit to Bahrain. Read more...

I would prefer him too. He has absolutely no foreign policy experience and his mentor is Joe Biden, the Iranians must be jumping for joy over his possible election.

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Cred to the Drudge Report for stayin' up late providing all the cool links. Thanks!

-CT

"Happy Hunting!"