8/27/2015

Notations On Our World: On the "Moves" In Washington re: #IranDeal (w/a late breaking update)

Our team has been On the" prowl" during the morning Daily Roundup.    This is an excerpt from the Daily 202 that +Washington Post publishes with their take on the state of the deal with Iran right now and as it featured a recent image of Khameini at a recent speech in Tehran:



Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on August 17 (EPA/Posted on the Supreme Leader’s official web site)
— Increasingly, on the Iran deal, it’s very likely that Senate Democrats will muster the votes necessary to block a veto override. Privately, some leading deal critics acknowledge they’ve steeled themselves for this outcome. Republicans think they can probably secure the 60 votes for a resolution of disapproval but not two-thirds to overcome the president’s rejection.
The new D.C. parlor game is: who will be the 34th senator that clinches the win for Obama? PowerPost’s Karoun Demirjian notes that some of the “undecided” Democrats will almost certainly support the agreement, but they don’t want to be the decisive vote because of the political risks. Someone like Michael Bennet, the former DSCC chairman, probably fears drawing heavy fire from outside groups during his 2016 reelection campaign in Colorado, for example. Senators like Connecticut’s Richard Blumenthal or Michigan’s Gary Peters might be more willing to speed the White House momentum.
Among the undecided Democrats are several members with aspirations to take on bigger leadership roles, such as Maryland’s Ben Cardin, Delaware’s Chris Coons and Virginia’s Mark Warner. Obama did a round of local TV interviews on the deal yesterday, targeting the undeclared Democrats, including on D.C. stations (which reach Cardin and Warner’s constituents).

The next big question, once Obama gets to 34, is if the president can reach 41. That would allow Senate Democrats to filibuster and spare Obama the need to use his veto pen. But that’s a much heavier lift: 12 of the 15 undecided Senate Democrats would need to rally behind a deal that’s still very controversial.

All indications are that the deal will be approved not withstanding the concerted lobbying effort against the deal.    Wendy Sherman was on MSNBC's The Last Word last night refuting assertions by the current GOP front runner, Donald Trump, on the Iran deal.   She underscored how it is very hard to "hide" evidence of nuclear activity as repeatedly underscored by the leading experts in the World.

However, as we went to press, a report just came in from +i24news EN  on an +International Atomic Energy Agency statement on Iran having built an extension at Parchin--one of the disputed military sites.  

As our team has continued its' on-going assessment, this from the UK Foreign Secretary was telling:





This was as Donald Trump spoke about what he has deemed a "bad" Iran deal and plans he has for a joint rally with Ted Cruz in Washington to oppose the deal.


8/26/2015

Notations On Our World: As Prominent Iranians Speak up For the Iran Deal, A Note on the True Realities

This is a major development:




What is critical to understand is that many of these prominent Iranians have suffered at the hands of the Islamic Republic--and yet they have come out in support of the deal.   We also wanted to underscore this true picture of Iran Today that speaks volumes:


“Things are getting freer.  Even a few years ago, I couldn’t wear what I’m wearing now without inviting a rebuke.  The...
Posted by Humans of New York on Wednesday, August 26, 2015





NotationsOn Our World: Horrific Scenes From Macedonia

The refugee crisis in Europe is becoming more acute by the minute.    As we have been assessing the situation, we are seeing estimates of some 800,000 refugees that will be expected to arrive at Europe's shores.   There seems to be no clear answer.

Our team was shocked beyond words as we saw this On the Grid from Macedonia: 

Macedonia – Greece border, 21 August 2015 – video by f.bytyci
Posted by Fatos Bytyci on Friday, August 21, 2015

How long before the cries of the Children are heard?  How long before the World truly musters the courage to change? 


8/25/2015

Notations On Our World: An #outsider newssflash ( The Latest From Washington)

We just received this from the Congressional Budget Office as Congress is in recess and the budget battle is about to be back in the news when they return to Washington.    As we continue to assess the US Political scene (with the campaign heating up ever more), we will have updates over the ensuing days.

A developing story.....

New From CBO


    Presentation on CBO’s Updated Budget and Economic Projections

    Remarks by Keith Hall, CBO Director

    View of the Week: On #Israel Watch w/ #TheIranDeal & #War

    For today's edition of  "View of the week", we wanted to feature this from Starfor that has an interesting take on recent disclosure by the former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak as the debate over the Iran Deal continues throughout the World:

    "Israel: The Case Against Attacking Iran is republished with permission of Stratfor."

    Our team released the late breaking news on it in our Daily Twitter Curation yesterday.   It is quite startling how this was released in spite of the strict controls in Israel today as the Congress of the United States builds up to the pivotal vote on September 17.


    8/24/2015

    Notations On Our World: On A Challenging W-End In Our World....

    It has been quite a weekend here throughout the World.   During our "daily roundup on the Web, we ran across this courtesy of +Haaretz הארץ published on the Web on Sunday:

    Embedded image permalink
    This depicted the very challenging relationship between the Jews and Arabs.      This is as Daesh (known as IS in the West), blew up the temple in Palymria  shortly after it executed the local head of antiquities.  We remembered this hero in our edition of "Notations" Published last week.   What we also found of curious interest was Israeli Oil Imports as reported by +i24news EN .    It was noted that 77% of Israeli Oil Imports came from Iraqi Kurdistan which has helped to underwrite the war effort against Daesh.     

    In addition to the challenging history as depicted above, an article on the Israeli Prime Minister, (available by clicking here) also reported in +Haaretz הארץ painted a devastating picture of a Prime Minister who seems only in continuing in office at all cost--as epitomized by his appointment of the UN Ambassador.    This is as the Former Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Barak, has called the current Prime Minister weak and indecisive.   This is also as the Mayor of Jerusleaum, Nir Barkat, has announced a bid for the Likud leadership.    He believes in the unity of Jerusleaum and underscored this repeatedly.   This was underscored in the BBC Documentary that is available here for the next 11 Months.   The Train that dividies Jerusleaum is the symbolic status of the true nature of the City and the challenging history the World has been witness to.

    We have also been assessing the situation in Lebanon.   Lebanon has no defacto government and the rubbish problem in Beirut has led to demonstrations against the Government.   This is as Hezbollah has continued to be the de facto government in the South and as it continues its' war supporting Bashar Assad.       We also were quite surprised to see reports of Mahmoud Abbas planning a visit to what he deemed the Sister State of Iran especially as the debate over the Iran Agreement continues.  It was quite a development as US Senator Reid of Nevada announced his support on Sunday.     

    It is also quite disconcerting as we went to press with our first edition of Notations for the week as to how the markets have continued to be devastated by the uncertainty in World Markets.    The Sensex in India has tanked some 1,000 points and the Nifty is below 8,000.    This is as we reported on our Twitter feed on the carnage in Chinese Markets.   China is especially worrisome as the slowdown in the Economy is worst than Chinese leaders have feared especially as the fight over corruption continues.  This New York Times article lays out a worrisome picture of the reality in China today.    Furthermore, Our team released a Twitter Feed on the carnage on China's markets on the Daily Outsider Twitter Feed.  As we assessed the continued carnage, it shows that China Officialdom is also concerned.

    Challenging Times.....





    8/23/2015

    Notations For the weekend: Happy Ibn Sina Day.....

    Today is Ibn Sina Day.   

    We wanted to honor Ibn Sina, known as  (Avicenna)  in the West on his day.     It has been noted that his work has influenced Christian Philosophers including St. Thomas Aquanius. He was also a pioneer in Medicine as well with his Book, The Cannon of Medicine.   

    We look forward to sharing perspective on him in the "Education Channel" here @ #Outsiders over the ensuing weeks and months.