Weekend Gazette 101114

Saturday October 11th 2014

Kobane: Islamic State battles to encircle Syrian Kurds

Islamic State fighters have launched fresh attacks in the Syrian border town of Kobane in an attempt to encircle the Kurdish defenders.

The IS militants attacked western parts of the town but have yet to take the border crossing point with Turkey.
The crossing point is a vital supply and exit route, correspondents say.
The US-led coalition is continuing air strikes against IS but the Kurds say they urgently need more weapons and ammunition.
The US has itself said that air strikes alone may not be able to save Kobane from IS.
Separately in Iraq, officials in western Anbar province made an urgent appeal for military help, saying the area could fall to Islamic State militants "in days".
'Massacre' The BBC's Quentin Sommerville, at the Syria-Turkey border, says the Kurdish militiamen have pushed back the latest advance by Islamic State inside Kobane.

ISIS bearing down on Baghdad even as world watches Kobani siege

Waves of U.S.-led air strikes against Islamic State fighters appear to have done little to stem the terrorist army’s advance in Syria, and now the militants are close to overrunning key positions on the outskirts of Baghdad.
With the world’s eyes on the terrorist army’s siege of the Syrian border city of Kobani, where U.S.-led airstrikes are backing Kurdish fighters, some 500 miles southeast, Islamic State fighters are within eight miles of the Iraqi metropolis. The Islamic militants have reportedly infiltrated the Baghdad suburb of Abu Ghraib, not far from the runway perimeter of Baghdad's international airport. The suburb is perhaps best known to the west as the site of an infamous prison operated by the U.S. military during the Iraq war.

“Daash is openly operating inside Abu Ghraib,” an Iraqi soldier told McClatchy news service, using a common Arabic term for the Islamic State. “I was at the 10th Division base there two days ago, and the soldiers cannot leave or patrol,” he said. “Daash controls the streets.”

Syria Airstrikes Failed To Cripple Khorasan Threat

WASHINGTON (AP) — The barrage of U.S. cruise missiles last month aimed at a Syrian terrorist cell killed just one or two key militants, according to American intelligence officials who say the group of veteran al-Qaida fighters is still believed to be plotting attacks against U.S. and European targets.
The strikes on a compound near Aleppo did not deal a crippling blow to the Khorasan Group, officials said, partly because many important members had scattered amid news reports highlighting their activities. Among those who survived is a French-born jihadi who fought in Afghanistan with a military prowess that is of great concern to U.S. intelligence officials now.
"The strikes were certainly effective in setting back the Khorasan Group, but no one thinks they were a permanent solution or a death blow to the threats that come from this cell," said Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., a member of the House Intelligence Committee.

US says Turkey will train moderate Syrian rebels but presses for details

White House says Turkish government has agreed to help but is yet to commit to allowing training on its soil

The White House is continuing to press Turkey on how it will train Syrian rebels for the fight against Isis but has said questions remain about the level of support Ankara is willing to give.
The US defence secretary, Chuck Hagel, said the US wanted to know how far Turkey was willing to go in helping train and equip moderate opposition fighters whose ultimate goal is to topple Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, including whether it will conduct training on its own land.
Turkey has agreed to support efforts to train and equip the Syrian opposition but the US has said it does not know whether Ankara is willing to do the training inside Turkey itself. Saudi Arabia has agreed to host training facilities for Syrian rebels on its territory. US officials are still discussing the details with Turkish officials.
“The specifics that go with train and equip locations, contributions, trainers will be part of that conversation,” Hagel said in Colombia during a tour of South America. “Part of those discussions will include how far Turkey is willing to go. Certainly one of those questions will be, will they be willing to provide training locations.”
Hagel said a joint team from US Central Command and US European Command would travel to Turkey in the coming week to meet with officials there and discuss the different ways Turkey could contribute to the effort to degrade the Islamic State group.
Assad’s forces continue to fight opposition forces but the Syrian civil war, now in its fourth year has, been eclipsed by the Isis militants’ onslaught and, in recent days, their battle to overrun the city of Kobani along Syria’s border with Turkey.
In recent months the extremists have taken control of territory across Iraq and Syria at lightning speed. US and coalition forces have been launching air strikes near Kobani, which officials believe could fall to the militants. 

Al-Qaeda convoy en route to Mali 'destroyed' by French

An al-Qaeda convoy carrying a shipment of weapons from North Africa to Mali has been destroyed by French forces, according to officials in Paris.

The convoy was transporting its cargo from Libya but was destroyed as it passed through neighbouring Niger.
French troops temporarily intervened in Mali in 2013 to fight al-Qaeda-linked militants.
UN peacekeepers are now stationed in the country but are being attacked by the Islamist insurgents.
"The intervention enabled a large quantity of weapons to be seized and to neutralise a number of those in the convoy, including some who were captured," a statement from the office of French President Francois Hollande said.
The statement added that the convoy belonged to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), a North African affiliate of the group founded by Osama Bin Laden.
It was not immediately clear how the shipment was destroyed or how many people were captured.
France and several African nations intervened in Mali in January 2013 to halt a southern advance by militants on Mali's capital Bamako.
French troops began to withdraw in May the same year and a 9,000-strong UN peacekeeping force was dispatched to the country.
Despite being pushed back from towns in northern Mali, Islamist militants have continued to launch deadly attacks against the peacekeepers.

Royal Australian Air Force takes fight to Islamic State jihadists in northern Iraq

Iraq: From high in the sky, the most notable feature of this bit of northern Iraq is Mount Sinjar, a weather-eroded ridgeline no one had heard of until Iraq's Yazidi Christian minority sought refuge from Islamic State (IS) forces.
Australia has been here before, air-dropping emergency food aid in a pair of mercy flights conducted by C-130 transport aircraft in August.
Now we're back again, this time in search of IS. Two RAAF Super Hornets are on patrol as part of the coalition air campaign, ready to hit IS targets with GPS- or laser-guided bombs.

There's also Australia's E-7A Wedgetail aircraft, directing traffic in this busy airspace.
And providing fuel for the Super Hornets is a RAAF KC-30A airborne refuelling aircraft.
"We are essentially a flying gas station," says Squadron Leader J (initial only for privacy reasons).
"But we try and be a bit more flexible than a gas station in that we will try and get our receivers, being our fighters, as close to the fight for as long as possible."
Modern combat aircraft are incredibly thirsty.
In a typical mission, which can run for eight to nine hours, the aircraft will repeatedly "tank" the two Super Hornets, dispensing some 50 tonnes of jet fuel.
The two Super Hornets accompany the KC-30A up the Persian Gulf. Soon after entering Iraqi airspace, the first top-up occurs so the Super Hornets can start their patrol with full tanks. They're back around every hour thereafter.
Below, the Euphrates slips by, as do the suburbs of Baghdad and the desert landscape of western Iraq, much of it dominated by the forces of IS.
Squadron Leader J says this is the first time they've been this far north. Nineveh Province below abuts the border with Syria. Most of their work so far has been around Baghdad.
For the RAAF, the KC-30A, which superseded elderly Boeing 707s, is a relative newcomer, so recent that not all systems are fully in use.
RAAF and coalition aircraft can be "tanked" from wing pods, from which hoses extend to connect to a fuel probe on the jet's nose.

Iraqi official: Islamic State group kills Iraqi cameraman in northern city of Tikrit

BAGHDAD –  The governor of Iraq's Salahuddin province says a journalist from a local television network has been killed by the Islamic State group.
Governor Raed Ibrahim says Raad al-Azzawi, who was a cameraman for Iraq's Salahuddin Television, was killed by militants on Friday in the city of Tikrit. Ibrahim said he wasn't able to provide any further details.

The Islamic State group, which holds large swaths of land stretching across the Iraq-Syria border, has beheaded a number of journalists in Syria, saying the killings are in retaliation to U.S.-led coalition airstrikes in Iraq and Syria.
Reporters Without Borders said last month that the militants had threatened to execute al-Azzawi, a father of three, for refusing to join the Sunni militant group.
The media watchdog said al-Azzawi was abducted on Sept. 7.

India evacuates 150,000 as cyclone Hudhud intensifies

About 150,000 people were evacuated on India’s eastern seaboard on Saturday as cyclone Hudhud bore down and grew in sheer force, threatening to devastate farmland and fishing villages when it hits the coast on Sunday morning.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) rated Hudhud as a very severe cyclonic storm that could pack gusts of 195 km/h (over 120 mph) and dump more than 24.5 centimetres (10 inches) of rain when it makes landfall.
The Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System (GDACS), run by the United Nations and the European Commission, forecast even higher peak wind speeds of 212 km/h. That would make Hudhud a Category 4 storm capable of inflicting “catastrophic” damage.
Around 150,000 people have been evacuated in the coastal state of Andhra Pradesh to high-rise buildings, shelters and relief centers, said senior disaster management official Hymabati. A further 50,000 may still be moved to safety, she added.
Authorities further north in Odisha state said they were monitoring the situation and would, if necessary, move 300,000 people most at risk to nearby shelters.
“We have already shifted about 10,000 people from low-lying areas and plan to evacuate 14,000 more,” N. Yubaraj, administrative chief of the coastal district of Visakhapatnam district, told Reuters.
Visakhapatnam, also known as Vizag, is the largest city in Andhra Pradesh and hosts a major Indian naval base.
In Pudimadaka, a coastal village where many are fishermen, locals have been reluctant to leave.
“People are adamant. They are not willing to go. For the past three days we have been convincing them. Thank God. Now they agreed,” Vasantha Rayudu, a local administrative officer, said while supervising the evacuation work.

UK police arrest 5th suspect in alleged terror plot

A fifth man has been arrested on suspicion of planning an act of terrorism, British police said Thursday.

All the men, ages 20 and 21, remain in custody at central London police stations. The warrant for further detention has been granted until October 14, police said.

The arrests come nearly two weeks after police arrested at least 10 other men in the United Kingdom on suspicion of terror offenses, including supporting a banned organization and encouraging terrorism.

A UK security source said Tuesday that authorities may have foiled a terror plot aimed at Britain in its early stages. Islamic terrorism was "the clear reason" for the plot, according to the source.

After four men were arrested earlier this week, Scotland Yard said they are being held on suspicion related to the "commission, preparation or instigation of act of terrorism."

Authorities have not detailed exactly where or when such terrorist attacks might have occurred or what or who they might have involved.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe, in an interview with BBC local radio, said many recent arrests are "linked back to Syria and Iraq."

In the latest arrests, authorities said they searched residences and vehicles in west and central London as part of the investigation.

UK police arrest 4 men suspected of terror plot

London mayor says security services monitoring 'thousands' of terror suspects

The mayor of London has disclosed that "thousands" of potential terror suspects are being monitored every day in the British capital, providing a broad glimpse of the threat of homegrown Islamic extremism against America's staunchest ally. 
Boris Johnson made the comments in an interview published in The Daily Telegraph Saturday, saying "In London we’re very very vigilant and very very concerned. Every day ... the security services are involved in thousands of operations."

British intelligence officials believe that approximately 500 British citizens have traveled to the Middle East to join the Islamic State terror group, commonly known as ISIS. However, Johnson's comments suggest that the terror threat in the U.K. goes beyond radicals returning to Britain. 
Of the "five or six hundred" who have joined ISIS, Johnson estimates that "we think a third, maybe more – maybe half – come from the London area. If and when they come back, we have a real job to deal with them."
British-bon ISIS fighters have acquired a reputation for particular brutality, bolstered by a fighter known as "Jihadi John," who has appeared in videos depicting the beheadings of American hostages James Foley and Steven Sotloff.  Johnson's comments were published in the same week that four men were arrested by police in London on suspicion that they were in the early stages of planning an attack in the city. Last month, police in Australia arrested 15 people accused of plotting to attack and behead randomly selected civilians on the streets of the country's cities.

Greek PM narrowly wins parliamentary confidence vote 

ATHENS: Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras late Friday won a parliamentary confidence vote, which he called in a bid to rally support, but which provided him with only a narrow majority.

The conservative prime minister secured the support of 155 of the 300 elected deputies, with not a single independent or opposition member backing him.

Out of the 288 deputies who voted, 131 opposed the confidence motion and two abstained.

The result throws into doubt the government's ability to pull together the 180 parliamentary votes needed to elect the next Greek president next February.

If it fails to do so then a general election will have to be called. Samaras, in power since 2012, urged parliament "not to allow the presidential election to provoke instability which would push us backwards".

The country, which has been through six years of trauma following a rescue from near bankruptcy and radical economic reforms, has just benefited from a highly successful tourism season.

The Greek debt crisis marked the beginning of a wider debt crisis which nearly tore the eurozone apart and has led to several big eurozone-wide reforms.

The Greek economy is set to return to growth this year, albeit at only 0.6 percent of GDP.

Deputy Finance Minister Christos Staikouras said Monday that Greece should climb strongly away next year from the recession which axed a quarter of its economy, turning in growth of 2.9 percent.

Alexis Tsipras, leader of the left-leaning opposition party Syriza, said the government had called the confidence vote "out of desperation", adding that he did not expect Samaras would rustle up the necessary 180 presidential votes.ntonis Samaras

New York's JFK airport starts Ebola checks

New York's JFK airport has started screening to try to stem the Ebola outbreak that has killed more than 4,000 people.

Passengers from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea - the worst-hit countries - will have their temperatures taken and have to answer a series of questions.
Checks at O'Hare in Chicago, Newark, Washington's Dulles and Atlanta's airport will begin in the coming days.
This comes after the first person died of Ebola in Texas on Wednesday.
Thomas Duncan had travelled to the US from Liberia, and was only diagnosed with the disease once he arrived in Dallas.
The latest figures released by the World Health Organization show the number of deaths attributed to the the haemorrhagic fever has risen to 4,033.
The vast majority of the fatalities - 4,024 - were in the West African nations of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

'I'm a free woman now,' says Calif. grandmother wrongfully convicted of killing 17 years ago

TORRANCE, Calif. –  A woman who spent 17 years in prison for the death of a homeless man hugged her grandchild for the first time and did a dance of happiness after she was judged innocent of murder and freed.
"I always knew that one day God would bring the truth to the light," Susan Marie Mellen, 59, told reporters Friday, after she was released from a Torrance courthouse shortly before 6 p.m.

About eight hours earlier, a Los Angeles County judge overturned her conviction, saying that her attorney failed to properly represent her and that a woman who claimed she heard Mellen confess was a "habitual liar."
"I believe she is innocent," Superior Court Judge Mark Arnold said. "For that reason I believe in this case the justice system failed."
The courtroom burst into applause after his ruling.
Based solely on witness testimony, Mellen was convicted of orchestrating the beating death of Richard Daly at a Lawndale home where Mellen and others lived.
The mother of three was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.
She was embraced by her three grown children after her release.
Mellen shrieked and clapped her hands as she kissed and hugged her 19-month-old grandson, Aiden.
"First time I held him," she told reporters.

Oil Prices Are Diving. Is That Good Or Bad For Canada?

Oil prices are coming down fast, and analysts say that’s bad news for Canada’s oil-producing provinces. But what’s bad news for the drillers is good news for Canadian consumers, who can expect to see lower gas prices this weekend and beyond.
Brent crude prices fell below $90 U.S. per barrel on the markets this week, hitting their lowest point in some two years.
With many oil projects in Canada only breaking even at the $80-a-barrel mark, we could see investment in Canadian oil drop off quickly if prices keep falling, CIBC economist Peter Buchanan wrote in a report released Friday. Western Canadian oil, which is somewhat cheaper than Brent crude, was trading at around $81 as of Friday.

So far Canadian oil drillers have avoided the worst of it, thanks to a sliding loonie which has made oil exports pricier when counted in Canadian dollars.
But BMO economist Robert Kavcic estimates Alberta will be out $1.2 billion in oil royalties if prices stay this low (though nearly half of that would be offset by the lower loonie). And Newfoundland “would have some serious thinking to do” about the future of its oil industry if prices stay at these levels, Kavcic wrote in a client note Friday.

World stock markets slide as bad news mounts up

Fears of a global economic slowdown, tensions in the Middle East and the spread of the Ebola virus weighed on world shares

Global stock markets came under renewed pressure on Friday in a widespread sell-off prompted by fears of a global economic slowdown, tensions in the Middle East and the spread of the Ebola virus.
After another volatile week, the FTSE 100 slumped to its worst level since 9 October last year, falling 91.88 points or 1.4% to 6,339.97. The index fell for the third week in succession for the first time since March.
Since its recent peak of 6,878 in September, the FTSE has dropped about 8%, close to the 10% level which stock market analysts label as a correction.
Meanwhile Germany’s Dax dropped 2.4% on Friday to 8,788 and France’s Cac closed 1.6% lower at 4,073. After European markets had closed, Finland was stripped of its top-notch triple A rating and France warned it faced the risk of further downgrade to its AA rating. S&P was the first of the major ratings agencies to cut Finland’s prized rating because of its fear the country could suffer “protracted stagnation” and its exposure to Russia and the eurozone. Only Germany and Luxembourg remain triple A rating in the eurozone.
On Wall Street the Dow Jones industrial average, which lost 334 points or nearly 2% on Thursday, made an uncertain start and closed down 0.69% on the previous day.
Emphasising the uncertainty facing US investors, the Vix volatility index jumped 8% to its highest level since December 2012.
Jasper Lawler, a market analyst at CMC Markets UK, said European markets had been hit by US investors liquidating their holdings. He said: “This week has seen the biggest weekly US outflow from European stocks in two months and total European assets held by US funds have dropped to $40bn (£25bn) down from nearly $50bn in June, according to Lipper data.”

Michael Brown: Hundreds attend new Ferguson demonstrations

Hundreds of protesters have joined the first march of a planned weekend of demonstrations in St Louis against police shootings.

The protests were sparked by the killing of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown by police in August.
Weeks of protests and violence in the St Louis suburb of Ferguson followed Mr Brown's shooting.
Tensions in St Louis are high after another black teenager was shot dead by a police officer on Wednesday.
Police in riot gear used pepper spray to try to dispel protesters angry at the shooting of Vonderrit D Myers, 18.
Police said Myers shot at an officer, but the victim's parents say he was unarmed and racially profiled.
Ferguson October Friday's protest saw hundreds of demonstrators line up against police in riot gear outside the office of the St Louis prosecutor Robert McCulloch.
Demonstrators chanted slogans calling for Mr McCulloch to charge Darren Wilson, the officer who shot Mr Brown in August.

Weekend of protests under way in St. Louis after new shooting

FERGUSON, Mo. – Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the Ferguson, Missouri police station late Friday, chanting against police violence and pushing forward a weekend of demonstrations after eight people were arrested in chaotic protests the previous night.
The crowd of roughly 300 people stood in the middle of the street chanting phrases such as "My hands on my head. Please don't shoot me dead" and "Who shuts it down? We shut it down!" Roughly 30 regularly uniformed police officers stood guard outside the department.
There were none of the clashes with police that have marked protests in the St. Louis area since a white police officer shot dead an unarmed black teenager in August.
Violence broke out again this week after another black teenager was shot dead by an off-duty police officer on Wednesday.
Civil rights organizations and protest groups have invited people from around the country to join vigils and marches from Friday to Monday over the Aug. 9 shooting of Michael Brown, 18, in the St. Louis suburb.
Brown's parents, Lesley McSpadden and Michael Brown Sr., on Friday asked that the protests to be peaceful.
"We understand first-hand the powerless frustration felt by people of all walks of life regarding their interactions with law enforcement," they said in a statement. "We ask that those coming to show support for our son do so within the law."
Earlier on Friday, hundreds of protesters peacefully marched for 90 minutes through the rain to the St. Louis County courthouse in Clayton, adjacent to St. Louis. Dozens of demonstrators later attended a candlelight vigil and held a moment of silence for Michael Brown in nearby Ferguson.
Ferguson Mayor James Knowles said authorities are planning for large crowds and possible violence.
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Dems returned $20G check to father of White House aide linked to prostitution scandal

The father of a White House advance team member connected to the Secret Service prostitution scandal was refunded a hefty Obama campaign donation, records show, around the same time additional details about that possible link were made public.
The $20,000 donation was made by Leslie Dach -- whose son Jonathan has been linked to the scandal -- on Sept. 19, 2012, to the Obama Victory Fund.

One day later, Leslie Dach had a meeting at the White House with a top presidential economic adviser, according to White House visitor logs. One day after that, the lead federal investigator into the Colombia prostitution scandal said for the first time that White House personnel may have been involved in the incident.
On Sept. 24, 2012, campaign finance records show, the Obama Victory Fund returned the $20,000 donation to Leslie Dach.
The chain of events might be coincidental, but nevertheless raises questions about Dach’s interactions with both the Obama administration and Democratic campaign officials.
The Federal Election Commission filing that listed the refund to Dach did not give a reason. But his attorney Richard Sauber told FoxNews.com in an email that the money was returned because Dach did not attend a fundraising event as planned -- and “so the check (he thought) was either returned or not cashed.”

Yet Another Senate Candidate Is Facing Residency Questions

The latest Senate contest to feature questions about local roots is in South Dakota, where Republican-turned-independent former Sen. Larry Pressler faced a Friday Politico report detailing how he maintains his principal residency in Washington, D.C.
Pressler, who is challenging Democrat Rick Weiland and former Gov. Mike Rounds (R) in the race to succeed retiring Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.), receives a homestead tax deduction for the condo he and his wife own in Foggy Bottom.
The independent told Politico that he and his wife are “longtime voters in South Dakota" and purchased the condo in 2003, because his wife works in the District. Pressler also owns an apartment in New York City and rents another in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. 
The Senate race has become increasingly competitive, despite the state's deep-red character. A recent SurveyUSA poll showed 35 percent of voters favoring Rounds, with 32 percent for Pressler and 28 percent for Weiland, leading the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee to announce a new investment of $1 million in the state. Other outside groups, including the campaign-finance oriented Mayday PAC and Every Voice Action, as well as Democracy for America, have also pitched in new support for the Democrat.
Weiland senior adviser Steve Jarding told The Huffington Post on Friday that the report isn't unexpected, as both Weiland and Pressler have received increased scrutiny, given Rounds' weak poll numbers.
"Everyone's gonna get looked at, and Larry's kinda had a free pass to date, so he's going to have to deal with people paying attention and let the chips fall where they may," Jarding said.
Though Pressler has refused to say which party he'd caucus with in Congress, he publicly endorsed President Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 and has said he'd be a "friend" of the president if he were elected. 

White House denies plan to close Guantánamo Bay with executive action

Obama administration spokesperson vehemently contradicts report that president seeks to override law and Congress

The White House on Thursday denied a report that President Barack Obama is putting together options for executive action to close the controversial US military prison at Guantánamo Bay in defiance of congressional wishes.
The Wall Street Journal, citing administration officials, reported that the White House was “drafting options” to close the facility by overriding a ban put in place by Congress that prohibits prisoners from being brought to the United States.
“Since the president came into office in 2009 the administration has been examining all possible ways we could get to closure of the facility, but we are not drafting options to override the law,” White House spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said.
“We are continuing to work on transfers [of prisoners] and calling on Congress to lift restrictions.”
Obama has vowed since his 2008 presidential campaign to close the prison camp, which critics say violates US principles by keeping detainees locked up without trial.
Many Republicans consider the prison, which still holds about 150 prisoners, essential in the fight against international terrorism because it allows prisoners to be held outside the United States.
John Boehner, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, said on Thursday an “overwhelming majority” of the American people opposed allowing prisoners from Guantánamo to enter the United States.
“Even as Islamic jihadists are beheading Americans, the White House is so eager to bring these terrorists from Guantánamo Bay to the United States that it is examining ways to thwart Congress and unilaterally re-write the law,” he said in a statement. 

Michelle Obama repeatedly flubs candidate's name while campaigning for him

What’s in a name? For Michelle Obama, a whole lot of confusion.
While campaigning in Des Moines, Iowa Friday for Democratic Senate candidate Bruce Braley, she referred to him multiple times as “Bailey” before she was corrected by someone shouting from the audience.

The flub came despite a huge array of signs in the hall where she was speaking, all spelling Braley’s name correctly.
The first lady also referred to Braley as a Marine Corps veteran, which he is not. Braley’s staff said she meant to refer to his late father, Byard Braley, a Marine who fought at Iwo Jima.
Braley’s opponent in the Senate race, Republican Joni Ernst, is a member of the Army reserve and National Guard.
After being corrected on her candidate’s name, Obama said contritely, “I’ve been travelling too much.” When she did pronounce it correctly, she drew a cheer from the audience.
It didn’t take long for web pranksters to capitalize on Obama’s error. Clicking on the website votebrucebailey.com immediately redirects the user to Ernst’s campaign site.

Hillary Clinton's Hinting Hard At A Presidential Campaign While Stumping For 2014 Candidates

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — As she explores another presidential campaign, Hillary Rodham Clinton often says anyone who seeks the White House needs a compelling message and an agenda for the country.

Clinton has announced no decisions about her political future but she is beginning to describe themes that could animate a future campaign.

At a Thursday night rally for Tom Wolf, the front-running gubernatorial candidate in Pennsylvania, Clinton described a Democratic Party that "stands for families, stands for working people, stands for fairness and justice."

Pointing to equal pay for women, a boost in the minimum wage and stronger family leave policies, she declared, "a 20th century economy will not work for 21st century families. It is past time for a fresh start."

Wolf, who faces Republican Gov. Tom Corbett in next month's election, has used the "fresh start" tagline during his campaign but Clinton adopted it, an indication of how she might campaign during President Barack Obama's final two years. It was Clinton's first appearance at a public campaign rally this fall and came before about 1,000 Democrats at an event near Philadelphia's Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was adopted and the U.S. Constitution was signed.
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