Link: http://www.democracynow.org/2010/10/29/from_murder_to_congress_unrepentant_tea

A former US Marine who killed two unarmed Iraqis is running for a congressional seat in North Carolina and has received backing from the Tea Party. Ilario Pantano has said he has no regrets about fatally shooting the two at point-blank range after detaining them near Fallujah in April 2004. Despite his admission, the military cleared Pantano of wrongdoing in 2005. He is now in a tight race with incumbent Democrat Rep. Mike McIntyre in North Carolina’s 7th Congressional District. For more on this story, we talk to Salon.com reporter Justin Elliott, who has been following this race closely.

Link: http://fightingforliberty.ning.com/profiles/blog/show?id=2881777:BlogPost:49989&xgs=1&xg_source=msg_share_post

The TSA investigator arrived and asked for my account of the situation. I explained that the agents weren’t allowing me to pass through the checkpoint. He told me he had been advised that I was refusing security screening, to which I replied that I had willingly walked through the metal detector with no alarms, the same way I always do when commuting to work. He then briefed me on the recent screening policy changes and, apparently confused, asked whether they would be a problem for me. I stated that I did indeed have a problem with the infringement of my civil rights and liberty. His reply: “That’s irrelevant.”

Link: http://ironboltbruce.com:80/

In our dying democracy, those with power and the puppets they parade in election charades every two years are above the law and think nothing of breaking it. And in our raped republic, those with wealth from stealing the Sheeples’ tax money and savings by the billions have no problems paying millions in penalties for doing so. But in this wasteland of unbridled greed and moral decay, those of you with character and courage can still prevail...

Link: http://www.a-w-i-p.com/index.php/2010/10/29/barack-obama-the-oligarchs-president

The director of "Inside Job" writes about Obama's depressingly rational decision to give in to Wall Street. When I first decided to make a documentary about the financial crisis, in late 2008, my biggest question was how to handle Barack Obama. Alas, the answer rapidly became all too clear, as my film "Inside Job" shows in painful detail.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2010/oct2010/pers-o29.shtml

With only a few days remaining in the 2010 election campaign, one thing is certain: the Obama administration and the Democratic Party are preparing a further lurch to the right. Four years after a massive turnout at the polls to repudiate the Republican-controlled Congress and give the Democrats the majority, and two years after the election of Barack Obama to the White House by a margin of 7 million votes, the administration’s right-wing policies have shattered the popular illusions raised by Obama’s vague appeals to “hope” and “change.”

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2010/oct2010/fran-o29.shtml

Millions of workers and students took to the streets across France Thursday to protest final approval by the National Assembly of President Nicolas Sarkozy’s pension “reform” bill. The French economy was still crippled by gasoline shortages due to ongoing refinery and port strikes.

Link: http://www.alternet.org/news/148658/bluegrass_tea%3A_how_rand_paul%2C_tea_party_darling%2C_learned_to_love_mitch_mcconnell_and_the_gop_establishment/

Rand Paul came to to the GOP table as an outsider, but there's no way to win without holding hands with the ultimate insider -- the Senate minority leader. So he is.

Link: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2010/1029/1224282234551.html

FTSE 100 company directors saw their total earnings soar by an average of 55 per cent during the past year in a startling recovery from short-lived restraint during the recession, according to research to be published today.