Notations On Our World: On #Israel & #Afghanistan

Taliban Fighters in Kunduz (Source: Al Jazeera/AP) 

Israeli Security Forces on Patrol in the Old City in Jerusalem

#Afghanistan continues to also be of continued concern.    Our team has been monitoring reports on Kunduz still not safe despite claims by the Afghan Presidency to the contrary.    +Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has announced that it is pulling out of Kunduz and is re-evaluating its' entire service in Afghanistan right now.  We will be assessing this continually which is ever so becoming challenging.    

Our team has been assessing the latest as attacks have continued with no apparent end in sight as some horrific murders have occurred.    As we assessed the latest, one telling comment was from Amir Oren from +Haaretz הארץ as he noted that the challenges faced are due to moves by the right wing in Israel and as The Israeli Prime Minister's image continues to suffer--especially as the Right Wing Leaders are defying him with visits to the Temple Mount--exactly like what Ariel Sharon Did 15 years ago which led to Sharon being Prime Minister.       The Possibility of a Palestinian Third Intifada seems to be on the horizon.

Notations On Our World: An #Outsider Newsflash From Washington (Updated)

As our team continues its' daily "curation", we have been monitoring the latest from Washington.    The House Majority Leader, Kevin McCarthy of California, has taken himself out of the running to replace the House Speaker.    He has said that he did not see a path to getting the necessary 218 Votes.  It will be an interesting few weeks especially as there are very crucial deadlines forthcoming in light of the power that the so-called House Freedom Caucus seems to be pushing.  

The interesting perspective our team ran across from the Fortune's Geoff Colvin is quite telling--The issue of Governing is quite a challenge which our team will be assessing because the issue of governance is ever so crucial: 

Daily insights on leaders and leadership By Geoff Colvin

October 8, 2015

America is desperately seeking Cincinnatus, and the search isn’t going well. Cincinnatus was, you’ll recall, a highly regarded Roman aristocrat of the fifth century B.C. who was forced by misfortune to support himself by working on a small farm. When the Romans faced a crisis, an impending invasion, the Senate in a panic named him dictator and sent a delegation that, in a famous scene, called him away from his plow and asked him to rescue Rome. He rallied a Roman army, personally led it in battle against the invaders, and defeated them. Then, his job done, he voluntarily surrendered his all-powerful post after just two weeks and returned to his farm. While obviously no one wants a dictator today, Americans badly want a non-leader leader, someone who disdains the ugly infighting of the capital but has the abilities to lead the nation through serious problems. The latest evidence: -House Republicans will vote today on their choice for Speaker to succeed John Boehner, resigning at the end of the month. Kevin Murphy of California is the favorite over Jason Chaffetz of Utah and Daniel Webster of Florida. But that’s only because the potential Cincinnatus – Paul Ryan of Wisconsin – refuses to consider the job. As the New York Times observes this morning, “Mr. Ryan is a singularity in the fractious House, a figure revered in most conservative circles and respected by virtually everyone else in the House Republican Conference. In a body defined by division, he is a unifying presence anchored in equal parts by strict supply-side budget dogma, social conservatism, appeals to address the poor, and old-fashioned charisma.” Trey Gowdy of South Carolina may not have realized he was practically describing Cincinnatus when he told the Washington Post on Tuesday, “If I had one draft choice and I was starting a new country, I would draft Paul to run it.” Many colleagues, like the Roman delegation, have asked him to run for Speaker. But he won’t.

Notations From The Grid: On #Iran

:   

Our team ran across an image of General Soleimani, the Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp Quds Force as he was at the front of the War with the Islamic State earlier this year.   This is as Iran continues its active and engaging role in Syria as it helped spreahead the intervention by Russia that is continuing ever so as we went to press with new bombings and attacks planned.   Our team released a very revealing story from Reuters on the efforts which is also available by "clicking here" on this endeavor with General Solemaini at the forefront of the war

As Iran is at the forefront of the War with the Islamic State and proxy wars with other powers in the Gulf,   change continues to occur in Iran before our very eyes.    One continued indication of it has been the continued prominence of the Iranian Foreign Minister, Dr. Zarif.    As Robin Wright notes in this New Yorker article, he is truly in demand:

My interview in The New Yorker: Iran’s foreign minister, Javad Zarif, is in demand these days. On the sidelines of the...
Posted by Robin Wright on Tuesday, October 6, 2015

 This is also ever so evident as the New York Times Bureau Chief in Tehran reported on the continued subtle changes going on (that our founder relesaed on his personal Twiter Feed earlier) and as the BBC's Kim Ghatas also underscored the changes that continue before our very eyes which our founder also released on his personal Twitter Feed on the transition which is fascinating to be witness to: 

On the perilous #Vote4Peace quest as Cautiously Iranians Reclaim Public Spaces and Liberties Long Suppressed :-) :-) http://t.co/zuPTfBUiJO

— Mike Pouraryan (@mikepouraryan) October 6, 2015

On @DailyOutsider & saw this courtesy of @vali_nasr on #Iran Identity Crisis ..beautifully done by @BBCKimGhattas http://t.co/SlCTMC3H8H

— Mike Pouraryan (@mikepouraryan) October 6, 2015

Notations On Our World: On Guns in America

The debate over the Gun Violence seems to have taken a new urgency in the United States.   It was ever so disturbing as an 11 Year Old Boy shot an 8 Year old Girl in Tenessess because the girl refused to share her teddy bear.    This is as Presidential Candidate Ben Carson advocated having Teachers be armed in Kindergardens and implicity blamed the victims of the #UCCShooting.    In this entire debate,  the original purpose of the Second Amendement seems to have dissipated especially with decisions like what the US Supreme Court did with the Heller Decision in 2008.

Notations On Our World: ON the "Virtual Prowl" On US Politics

It has been a very busy weekend on the Political Front.  Our team was busy assessing the appearance by the US Political Personalities on the US Public Affairs channels as the Daily "Poll War" was on-going by what we here at #Outsiders call the "Polling-Industrial" Complex.    Despite some who note that this is "Early",  it is the polls that drove Rick Perry and Scott Walker to drop out and continues to dodge some of the early so-called establishment favorites as they continue to linger in the single digits.   One poll had Governor Kasich of Ohio dropping by 6 points in New Hampshire.

This month will see the first debate for the major Democratic Candidates.     This was a 'call to action" sent out for Democrats which was of note:

Since Friday over 87,000 Democrats.com subscribers have voted in our 2016 Presidential Straw Poll - but you're not one of them!

Here are the results so far:

Hillary Clinton only: 20%
Bernie Sanders only: 49%
Joe Biden only: 6%
Clinton or Sanders or Biden: 22%
Larry Lessig only: 1%
Martin O'Malley only: 1%
Jim Webb only: 0%
Lincoln Chafee only: 0%
Green Party: 1%
Republican Party: 0%
Not eligible to vote: 0% 

Make sure your vote is counted too! Just click the best answer below, and if you change your mind click the better answer. (Only your last click will be tallied.)

Hillary Clinton only

Bernie Sanders only

Joe Biden only

Clinton or Sanders or Biden

Larry Lessig only

Martin O'Malley only

Jim Webb only

Lincoln Chafee only

Green Party only

Republican Party only

Not eligible to vote

We will periodically update the total results in our blog.

Thanks for all you do!

Bob Fertik

As for the "Republicans", Here is a "sampling of what some of the candidates were up to this week with this from  Jeb being on the forefront of calls to action to supporters:   

 

Putting a face to a name is important, especially with all the emails I send you.

As you know, I’m not the only culprit. Mom and Dad have been emailing as well and I want you to be able to put a face to a name for them, too.

So I talked with them, and we’re going to give you the chance to do just that. Today we’re launching a contest to fly one lucky winner down to Texas at the end of the month to meet Mom and Dad. All you have to do is chip in $1.

We’ll have other contests on the campaign, but I can’t promise we’ll have another one like this.

Enter now for your all expenses paid trip to meet “The Enforcer” and the 41st President of the United States, or as I call him, the world’s greatest dad.

Oh, and one more thing, mom is insisting on getting a photo with our biggest supporters, so I hope you’re ready to pose with the family.

Mike, don’t forget, your flight and hotel is on us. All you have to do is pack your suitcase and enter now: Jeb2016.com/Houston-Sweepstakes-Donate/

See you in Houston,

This is from the Jindhal campaign as he is continuing an aggresive ground campaign: 

I hope you had a great weekend. I wanted to send you a quick email with some highlights from Governor Jindal’s week campaigning in Iowa.

New poll: Jindal surging in Iowa
NBC/Marist released a new poll that shows Governor Jindal has moved up to 6% in Iowa, tied with Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio for 5th place.The new poll puts him ahead of Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum, among other conservative candidates. It also put Governor Jindal 1 point behind Jeb Bush and 2 points behind Carly Fiorina, well within the margin of error.

Top Photo: Bobby & Olympic champion Dan Gable in Des Moines.


Follow the Governor on Instagram for more great photos from the campaign trail.

Top read: "Louisiana record makes Bobby Jindal worthy of White House”
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has done most of the things conservatives want the next president to do.

Louisiana has been the most pro-life state for six straight years. Jindal defunded Planned Parenthood. And when Planned Parenthood supporters protested, he simply put the undercover videos on loop outside to show exactly what they were supporting.

He's the only governor running who actually cut the size of government. He cut Louisiana's state government by 26 percent.

Read more at DesMoinesRegister.com

Top listen: Special edition Ace of Spades Podcast with Bobby Jindal
The Governor had a great 40 minute interview talking about policy, his childhood, and you guessed it… Bradley Cooper. Listen here.

New Store Item: Jindal for President t-shirt
A new item was added to the campaign store. You can order one of the new shirts here.


Have a great week,
Kyle Plotkin
Communications Director, Jindal for President

Beyond the Presidency, though, there is the race for House Speaker.   The House Speaker is the third in line to the Presidency.      There is a race now as of Sunday: 

Jason Chaffetz Bids to Replace Boehner for House Speaker

The Utah Republican will face off against the current frontrunner, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Fla.Read More

The question as the key vote comes up is what the House Freedom Caucus does.    Rich Lowry of the National Review noted on NBC's Meet the Press Sunday that Congressman McCarthy, the Current Majority Leader, has 190 solid votes for Speaker.  The problem is that he needs 218 on the floor.    There is a question as to who is going to be speaker and Jason Chaffetz's bid will complicate things.    

It will be an interesting few days......

Notations On Our World (Special Edition): Countdown to Election Day in #Canada (The View From the NDP)

We here @ #Outsiders have been on the "Prowl" assessing the elections in Canada.    On Friday October 2, the last of the debates were held in Canada as the pivotal day approaches.  The elections seems to be a dead heat and any of the three key leaders may end up pulling it off.

The NDP, Canada's Official Opposition, sent this out over the weekend to get their supporters galvanized as they provided a strategic update on it.   Watch this space for updates......

We need just 35 more seats to defeat Stephen Harper. That puts us closer than ever to achieving what generations of Canadians before us have worked so hard for. Watch the full briefing from Brad Lavigne for more on our path to victory: // Election countdown: 16 days What a week, Mike. While Tom was on the road sharing our plan to fight climate change and taking on Stephen Harper in the final two leaders’ debates of this campaign, you made history with a new fundraising record. $9,011,321.85 (and counting) to help defeat Stephen Harper and elect Tom Mulcair prime minister. That’s the best quarter for any Canadian political party on record. Thank you so much for all your work to build this campaign. To find out what’s next, check out the latest strategy update from Senior Campaign Advisor Brad Lavigne – and share it with your friends: We need just 35 more seats to defeat Stephen Harper. That puts us closer than ever to achieving what generations of Canadians before us have worked so hard for.Watch the full briefing from Brad Lavigne for more on our path to victory: https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=893839844037222 Sixteen days to get the job done. Keep up the great work. Thanks, Canada’s New Democrats

Notations On Our World (weekend edition): On #Iran, #Afghanistan, #US & Other Thoughts

The last 24 hours has been yet again quite challenging in the Middle East.    Russia has stepped up its' campaign in a major way in Syria to support Assad as Iran has also apparently deployed additional troops.     We also saw reports that apparently Iran warned Russia on Assad's impending fall and how Iran was not in a position to prop him up as everyone who can escape is escaping and even Damascus is not safe anymore.

We have also been continuing to assess the aftermath of the Hajj Stampede.    This is as the first of the over 400 of the fallen as a result of the Haj Stampede in Saudi Arabia were officially received in Iran as the President, the Parliament Speaker, the Chief Justice and the Supreme Guide (leader's) Chief of Staff looked on:

The Saudi Foreign Minister accused Iran of "politicizing" the issue after the Health Minister earlier said that it was the fault of the pligrims because they did not follow directions.        Our team will be continuing to assess this especially as the Vice President for Legal Affairs for Iran said that all legal matters are being pursued to hold Saudi Arabia Accountable.

The situation in #Kunduz was also worrisome as our team reviewed the Statement from Doctors Without Borders earlier. Condemnations have been forthcoming from all corners including the UN as the hospital was bombed despite all parties having been informed of the GPS coordinates.  This report from the Chief of the Hospital (available by clicking here) is telling on the carnage as this from the Hosptial as fighting began and as the Emergency Room was burning:

We here @ #Outsiders salute all the brave souls of Doctors Without Borders who are at the forefront of conflicts all around the World and extend our heartfelt condolences to the families of the fallen.  We also pray that their sacrifice is not in vain.

There are truly challenging times especially as we also continue to assess  the troublesome job creation report that adds to on-going broad global worries as the wars around the World rage on.

Truly challenging times.....

The Friday Musical Interlude: Herb Alpert Performs......

It is time for the Friday Musical Interlude here in #Outsiders.       We hope all enjoy this double "oldie" from our artist of the week, Herb Alpert:

Notations From the Grid: On the Aftermath of #UCCShooting in Oregon

Chris Mintz

This morning, leaders gathered at the site of the carnage yesterday to remember the fallen and to underscore the need to heel.  Congressman Peter DeFazio was ever so eloquent in underscoring that there will be time to discuss solutions although the debate has begun already.

Our team was in full agreement as we worked on the Daily Social Media Curation and the editorial plan with this from the Daily Beast' Michael Daly  as he paid tribute to Chris Mintz who with his heroic action saved countless lives: 

FORGET OREGON’S GUNMAN. REMEMBER A HERO BY MICHAEL DALY

No amount of murder seems likely to result in gun control any time soon. So let’s do what we can to stop the lunacy—by reserving the limelight for the vet who rushed Thursday’s shooter. In line with the President's Call to Action, one of the multitude of Media Outlets who worked on publishing the statistics on the number of the fallen due to Gun Violence was done by The Nooner in Sacramento which we hereby note here for reference--The commentary is in and of itself telling as he is ever so evident of the hundreds of thousands of responsible Gun Owners: In the last ten years, 313 people have been killed by terrorists in the U.S. Meanwhile, 316,545 have been killed by gun violence in the United States, and unfortunately far more often in schools. As I have stated, I grew up around guns, love spending time with my dad and family members on our family ranch in Texas with responsible gun use and hunting. While there are plentiful deer on the ranch, we use a very responsible wildlife preservation program. And, now with great Longhorns on the ranch, it's just a wildlife Mecca. Before you think of this a glamarous place, it is very rustic! Of course, the wild hogs are a different story since they have 10-15 piglets per year! Feel free to take as many you like! (Sorry Jennifer Fearing.) We were taught early on about very safe gun use. I have no problem with hunting shotguns and rifles. But, 9 deaths and 7 injuries at a community college in my home state of Oregon is just horrifying. #BROKENHEARTED Fourteen guns "legally purchased" have been recovered at both the school and the shooter's residence. WTF? "Are you Christian? Okay, you're going to die--shot to the head." (Fortunately, I am Buddhist.) Folks, we have to address this. Our team could not agree with him more:  We have to and "MUST" address this.     Jeb Bush, though, noted that, "Stuff Happens" as others also weighed in which was just reported out by +The Guardian within the past hour as we went to press here.   (Update: President Obama was asked about it at his news conference that is still going on as we went to press.   He said he had no reaction and would leave it up to the voters.     This depiction on the Guardian was also quite telling as the horrific tragedy in Syria continues with no end in sight:

Notations On Our World: On The #UCCShooting in Oregon

It has been a tragic day in Oregon.    As we have gone to press, the local Sherrif held a conference with a brief note before he headed out to a candlelight vigil with the President of the Local College--the 45th Shooting this year.

We here @ #Outsiders join all in extending our condoloscnes to the Community of Douglas County and are with the Sheriff in noting that the name of the shooter must never be mentioned although some media have mentioned the name.   Although we have seen reports that the same Sheriff wrote a letter to Vice President Biden stating that Federal Gun Safety regulations will not be enforced by his deputies due to their own obligations.     It is ironic as this happened in his own community.

The story continued to develop in a major way throughout the day as the Governor of Oregon spoke earlier on this tragedy: 





The President's statement was simply powerful: 

THE WHITE HOUSE

The President just delivered a statement on today's shooting in Oregon. And one thing he said is certainly ringing in the minds of Americans across the country right now, no matter their politics: "We are the only advanced country in the world that sees these shootings every few months." As the details surrounding today's tragedy continue to unfold, this is something every American should watch. Watch now.

Bill O"Reilly of Fox News took exception with the President's Statement by noting the current spike in Violence in Chicago and interestingly how gun violence is "framed' as the price of Freedom--and as the aftereffects of the Supreme Court's Heller decision becomes even more evident.    Prayers are fine--but prayers will not bring all who have fallen back.     There are 30,000 who lose their lives every year--with 10,000 a year just in homicides.   The idea of having a "license" for a gun should not be a big deal.

The team @Vox worked on putting together 17 telling charts that a clearly visible Vox Editor in Chief, @Ezra Klein, underscored on his own Facebook page--here is one of them:

America has 4.4 percent of the world's population, but almost half of the civilian-owned guns around the world

Image credit: Javier Zarracina/Vox

 Charles P. Pierce of Esquire was even more blunt during an appearance on +The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell  when he noted that one of the parties in the United States is simply run by "Crazies" as it blocks infrastructure investment and blocks mine safety all in the name of "Freedom". 

Will the courage actually exist to transform this as Mrs. Clinton shared her thoughts as well:    
  

Notations From the Grid: On the Virtual Road @ #UNGA70

It has been a rather busy 24 hours as the United Nations General Assembly continues.  Yesterday saw the raising of the flag of the State of Palestine.    Mahmoud Abbas spoke and noted that he did find himself bound by the Oslo Accords.

Today was also a day that the Israeli Prime Minister spoke.    He spent the majority of his speech blasting the Iran Deal.     The analysis from +Haaretz הארץ is noted below:

Netanyahu's UN moment of Silence is the ultimate expression of his policy, @BarakRavid says http://t.co/8QF03ek0En pic.twitter.com/NhMS8lL4Yk

— Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) October 2, 2015

This from the Electronic Intifada was even more blunt:

Video remixes of Netanyahu's long, awkward UN stare-down of world leaders.
Posted by The Electronic Intifada on Thursday, October 1, 2015

Notations On Our World As A New Quarter Begins....

Our team has been working on the Daily Social Media Curation and it has been a challenging day already with all that has been going in Syria and Afghanistan.     We have also seen the tragic reporting from Iran on the death toll from the Hajj Stampede rising to over 400 Pilgrims.   A number of Iranian Diplomats are among the fallen.    It appears that the War of Words has subsidied a bit and that the bodies of the fallen will be arriving in Tehran tomorrow to be received by The President, The Speaker and the head of the Judiciary.

We wanted to share this "simple thought" as we begin the Quarter though that our team released earlier to the Daily Outsider Twitter Feed which drives us daily as we look forward to the continued privilege to serve:

Great #inspirationalquote from the @Simple_Truths Sunrise Inspiration app: http://t.co/LySdCnBVc0 pic.twitter.com/pMWunpmUdJ

— The Daily Outsider (@DailyOutsider) October 1, 2015

An #Outsider Newsflash: The US Federal Government Will Remain Open......

As we have been planning out the new Quarter, we have also been keeping an eye on Washington and received an update that the Government will continue operating through December 11.   This is the latest we received on this from the team @Government Executive--This is only temporary though....

We will be assessing this as we are on the verge of electing new leadership in the US House of Representatives: 

GovExec Breaking News     September 30, 2015

A Shutdown Has Been Avoided ... For Now // Sarah Mimms and Alex Rogers Con­gress has aver­ted a mid­night shut­down, as the House on Wed­nes­day af­ter­noon fol­lowed the Sen­ate's ex­ample by eas­ily passing a tem­por­ary spend­ing bill fund­ing the gov­ern­ment through Decem­ber 11. The stop­gap meas­ure passed the Sen­ate 78 to 20 and then cleared the House on a 277-151 vote, des­pite the op­pos­i­tion of dozens of con­ser­vat­ives with ob­jec­tions to any pack­age that con­tin­ues to fund Planned Par­ent­hood. Videos re­leased by a pro-life group charge that the or­gan­iz­a­tion is il­leg­ally selling fetal tis­sue for a profit; the or­gan­iz­a­tion vig­or­ously denies the al­leg­a­tions. Click here for the entire story.

The #Outsider Quarter-End Musical Interlude: Kygo - Firestone ft. Conrad Sewell

It is Quarter-End here in the #Outsider network.    It has been a challenging three months to say the least.    As our team has tried to do what it can to help "transform" the conversation, we have also tried to "light up the World" that at times has seemed as dark as ever.     It was in this spirit that we decided to feature Kygo as our "Artist" as we end the Quarter here throughout Outsiders and gear up for a new Quarter as we are reminded of St. Sera's admonition to "Sempre Adelante" (Always Forward):  

Notations On Our World (Special Edition) : @POTUS & @JZarif shake hands :-) :-)

As our team was working on its' daily assessments of the UN General Assembly, the Clinton Global Initiative and all the latest on the US Political Front with the latest on Planned Parenthood gearing up for the  4th Quarter, we jumped with joy at this scene:

For those who do not know the players, it is the President of the United States shaking the hands of the Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif as the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon looked on.    Although the image apparently was "doctored" based on reports we've seen, the  handshake by Dr. Zarif caused some deep controversy in Iran.     Our founder made it a point of sending a "Bravo" Tweet" out on this as he also rebuked the Iranian Parliament member who raised objections on his Instagram account.  

It is a challenging world as we enter a new quarter begins.