The Daily News endorses Mitt Romney for president

America’s heart, soul, brains and muscle — the middle- and working-class people who make this nation great — have been beset for too long by sapping economic decline.

So, too, New York breadwinners and families.

Paychecks are shrunken after more than a decade in which the workplace has asked more of wage earners and rewarded them less. The decline has knocked someone at the midpoint of the salary scale back to where he or she would have been in 1996.

Then, the subway fare, still paid by token, was $1.50, gasoline was $1.23 a gallon and the median rent for a stabilized apartment was $600 a month. Today, the base MetroCard subway fare is $2.25, gasoline is in the $3.90 range and the median stabilized rent is $1,050, with all the increases outpacing wage growth.

A crisis of long duration, the gap between purchasing power and the necessities of life widened after the 2008 meltdown revealed that the U.S. economy was built on toothpicks — and they snapped.

Nine million jobs evaporated. The typical American family saw $50,000 vanish from its net worth, and its median household income dropped by more than $87 a week. New Yorkers got off with a $54 weekly hit.

Our leaders owed us better than lower standards of living, and we must have better if the U.S. is to remain a beacon of prosperity where mothers and fathers can be confident of providing for their children and seeing them climb higher on the ladder.

Revival of the U.S. as a land of opportunity and upward mobility is the central challenge facing the next President. The question for Americans: Who is more likely to accomplish the mission — Barack Obama or Mitt Romney?

Four years ago, the Daily News endorsed Obama, seeing a historic figure whose intelligence, political skills and empathy with common folk positioned him to build on the small practical experience he would bring to the world’s toughest job. We valued Obama’s pledge to govern with bold pragmatism and bipartisanship.

The hopes of those days went unfulfilled.

Achingly slow job creation has left the U.S. with 4.3 million fewer positions than provided incomes to Americans in 2007. Half the new jobs have been part-time, lower-wage slots, a trend that has ruinously sped a hollowing of the middle class.

The official unemployment rate stands at 7.9%, marking only the second month below 8% after 43 months above that level. Worse, add people who are working part-time because they have no better choice and the rate leaps to almost 15%. Still worse, add 8 million people who have given up looking for employment and the number who are out of jobs or who are cobbling together hours to scrape by hits some 23 million people.

Only America’s social safety net, record deficits and the Federal Reserve’s unprecedented low-interest policies have kept the label Great Depression II on the shelf.

New Yorkers have fared no better. The state is alone among the 50 in suffering significantly rising unemployment over the last 12 months, with the rate now at 8.9%. The city’s pain index is 8.8%, and the five boroughs have been trading down in salaries.

New York, New Jersey May Get Hit By Snow Storm Around Election Day

With coastal communities in New York and New Jersey still reeling from the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy, the last thing the area needs is another storm. But that's exactly what it might get.

A nor'easter is predicted to potentially hit the East Coast next Wednesday (Nov. 7), and beach erosion experts are concerned about further damage to shorelines devastated by Sandy.

As Sandy came ashore, its record surge and pounding waves tore apart or eroded hundreds of miles of dunes and protective sea walls along the East Coast. Hundreds of homes and buildings, which also provided some protection, were destroyed.

The lack of protective dunes and damage to sea walls could lead to lowland flooding near the coast, depending on the wind direction and storm surge from the new storm, even one that isn't expected to approach Sandy's strength.

"The beaches and sand dunes are the first line of defense for coastal communities against storm surge and waves. They're going to take the first brunt of the storms," said Hilary Stockdon, a research oceanographer with the U.S. Geological Survey in Reston, Va. [Infograpic: Timeline of Sandy's Week of Destruction]

First line of defense

Many of the sandy beaches along the Atlantic Coast have become increasingly vulnerable to significant impacts due to erosion during past storms, including Hurricanes Ida (2009) and Irene (2011), as well as large storms in 2005 and 2007, according to the USGS.

Stockdon said Sandy caused extensive erosion to beaches and dunes. The USGS and other agencies are now running aerial and ground surveys to assess the damage.

"There are dunes that have been eroded away completely, so now their protection is gone," Stockdon told OurAmazingPlanet. "That will make these communities more vulnerable to future storms that may not be as strong."

Quick repair and restoration of the coast could be essential to minimizing damage from future storms, whether the one currently brewing or any others that could develop later in the winter. In New York, the Department of Environmental Conservation is issuing emergency permits for storm-related repairs in coastal areas and wetlands.

Natural repair weakened

Farther north, front-end loaders are already pushing sand back onto the beach, said Greg Berman, a coastal geologist with the Woods Hole Institute Sea Grant program in Falmouth, Mass.

During powerful storms like Sandy, surging waves throw sand up and over the beach, where it remains stuck. The beach can't restore itself without access to sand. However, this is also a natural process; beaches aren't stationary, and their location migrates with time, Berman told OurAmazingPlanet. "When you push it back onto the beach, you're circumventing that migration, and it gets harder and harder to do over time," he said.

Sandy's late October arrival also increased coastal vulnerability by removing sand that had been naturally stored offshore for summer beach replenishment, Berman said. During the winter, sand is stored in sandbars and comes back in the summer. "After Sandy, instead of going into a nor'easter system at our best, we're going into it at a weakened condition," Berman said.

Election night downpour

The new storm's path is predicted to move from the Southeast Tuesday night into New Jersey on Wednesday, said Brian McNoldy, a weather researcher at the University of Miami.

"It looks like your average Nor'easter that comes in off the coast," he told OurAmazingPlanet. The forecast is from the same European computer model that eyeballed the projected path of Hurricane Sandy. Its precise strength and route is still uncertain, but the storm will be nowhere near the level of Sandy's tropical-force winds.

Coastal communities hit by the Frankenstorm will see strong onshore winds and waves, though whether the storm will come on land or stay out at sea is still uncertain.

"I think by far the worst impact will be the coastal flooding and erosion, and that's a concern regardless of how far off the coast it is. You'll get pretty strong winds and enhanced swells and waves. I think that's looking pretty certain," McNoldy said.

History of erosion

Beaches on the East Coast have been steadily eroding for 150 years, according to a USGS report released in February 2011. On average, the beaches in New England and the Mid-Atlanticare losing about 1.6 feet (0.5 meters) per year. The worst erosion case was about 60 feet (18 m) per year at the south end of Hog Island, in southern Virginia.

According to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office, Rockaway Beach (on a peninsula in New York City's borough of Queens) was almost completely washed away and the boardwalk was destroyed. Jones Beach (a barrier island off Long Island) was overwashed by ocean. Gilgo Beach's dune system (on Long Island) was almost destroyed, and Ocean Parkway (which runs along the southern end of Long Island) was overwashed. [Video: Sandy's Flooding Aftermath]

In New Jersey, Long Beach Island, a barrier island and popular vacation spot, sustained severe damage, with boats and cars tossed into streets and several feet of sand piled against houses. The island was evacuated before the storm.

Before Sandy's landfall, USGS scientists predicted different types of coastal erosion. Collision is when waves attack the base of dunes and cause erosion. Overwash is when waves and water from storm surges rush over dunes and carry sand farther inland. Inundation is when the storm surge floods the beach and dunes.

Muslim clerics say Sandy is 'God's way of punishing America for anti-Muhammed film'

Some anti-American Muslim clerics have cast the deadly Superstorm Sandy as divine punishment for 'Innocence of Muslims,' a film mocking the Prophet Muhammad or for other perceived ills of American society.

The remarks by some on the fringe brought a backlash from other Muslims who said it was wrong to relish the suff1ering of others.

In Egypt, one radical cleric described the hurricane as revenge from God for the crude, anti-Islam film made in the U.S. that sparked waves of protests in the Muslim world in September.

Radical cleric Wagdi Ghoneim described Hurricane Sandy as revenge from God for the crude, anti-Islam film made in the U.S. that sparked waves of protests in the Muslim world in September

'Some people wonder about the hurricane in America and its causes,' Egyptian hardline cleric Wagdi Ghoneim tweeted twice this week in the aftermath of the storm.

'In my opinion, it is revenge from God for the beloved prophet,' he added, alluding to the film.

Some praised the post, but others condemned it.

'God, shake the earth under their feet,' read one comment, prompting the response: 'We have brothers and friends in America - I don't wish them any harm.'

 

Another Twitter response to Ghoneim compared Sandy to a divine wind sent to destroy a sinful nation and strike at the seat of the United Nations in New York.

'We ask God to destroy the U.N. building for its injustice, corruption, tyranny ... with Sandy.'

28 papers have quit Obama to endorse Romney

Do newspaper endorsements mean what they used to? Maybe not. But Mitt Romney has over one hundred of them, which is an impressive feat for a Republican.  However, Romney’s ability to convert editorial boards away from their decisions to endorse President Obama four years ago is truly impressive.

To date, twenty-eight large newspapers have decided to drop their endorsement record with President Obama and put their chips all in on Romney. The blunt explanations for their decisions often gives way to some blistering critiques of the president, leaving the reader no doubt why these papers lost their faith over the last four years.

According to Editor & Publisher, Republican Mitt Romney is stunning the newspaper world, earning 112 endorsements from editorial boards around the country compared to the President’s 84. Most large market newspapers like the The New York Times and The Washington Post have stuck with Obama, but have run less than glowing assessments of his accomplishments. So while a newspaper endorsement may not mean what it once did, these conversions could be telling of a national trend.

Read more:http://times247.com/articles/28-newspapers-abandon-obama-back-romney#ixzz2BCyulUqX

MOTHER OF SEAL: 'I BELIEVE THAT OBAMA MURDERED MY SON

Charles Wood

Charles Woods appeared on Fox News shows over the weekend to denounce decisions made by U.S. officials during the Libya attack.

“I’m a retired attorney, and I know that these actions legally do not constitute murder. But in my mind the people in the White House, all of them who have authority to send in reinforcements to prevent what they knew was going to be the death of my son, are guilty of murdering my son,” Woods said Sunday on Fox’s Sean Hannity show.

The older brother of Glen Doherty, a former Navy SEAL from Encinitas working as a U.S. security contractor, said Doherty and Tyrone Woods were part of the force that responded to the consulate attack.

“They rescued a bunch of people and brought them to the (consulate) annex, and then people defended the annex after Glen and Ty fell. All those people didn’t get overrun and wiped out. They had enough people to fight off that battle,” said Greg Doherty, who lives in Kensington in Northern California.

In that light, Doherty said the debate over needing more help doesn’t make sense to him, unless it might have been U.S. airstrikes against a mortar position used by attackers.

“But then you are getting into real specific strategy, and I don’t think it is civilians’ job to pick apart an actual battle and talk strategy, unless you are a general,” said Doherty, reached by telephone Thursday.

“It just seems like people are looking to direct their anger at Obama somehow.”

The debate about how the administration handled security for the Libya consulate is heating up in the week before the presidential election.

Despite that, Charles Woods, reached by U-T San Diego Thursday afternoon, said, “I don’t want this to become political and become dishonoring to Ty.”

He declined to answer any further questions.

The extended Navy SEAL community around San Diego is

talking about the details of the Libya attacks.

A father and a mother used the word “murder.” A brother said he won’t second-guess decisions made in the heat of battle.

The families of three Americans killed in the Sept. 11 U.S. consulate attack in Benghazi, Libya, are offering widely different reactions to recent reports that U.S. personnel issued several requests for help that were turned down.

Patricia Smith, the mother of slain State Department employee Sean Patrick Smith, is now blaming President Barack Obama for her son’s death.

“I believe that Obama murdered my son,” she said Thursday from the living room of her Clairemont home. “I firmly believe this.”

Patricia Smith, who voted for Obama in 2008 at the insistence of her son, said reporting by Fox News is the basis for much of her belief that Obama is ultimately responsible for her son’s death. She said Sean, who went to Mission Bay High School but lived abroad, was a fervent supporter of the president.

Smith’s view echoes that of Charles Woods, father of Tyrone Woods, the 41-year-old former Navy SEAL from Imperial Beach who died fighting in Benghazi.

Chris Christie Orders Gas Rationing

Motorists in 12 northern New Jersey counties will be allowed to buy gasoline just every other day under an order by Gov. Chris Christie.

Gas lines were long at some gas stations Saturday morning with motorists trying to make purchases before the noon switch to a gas rationing system.

Drivers with license plates ending in an even number will be allowed to buy gas on even-numbered days, and those with plates ending in an odd number can make gas purchases on odd-numbered days.

Christie hopes the rationing will ease long wait times at gas stations and prevent a fuel shortage in the state hard-hit by Superstorm Sandy.

A Christie spokesman tells the Star-Ledger newspaper in Newark that there currently are no restrictions on filling gas containers.

New York City Marathon canceled

NBC REPORTS THAT THE NEW YORK CITY MARATHON IS CANCELLED

The New York Marathon was canceled Friday in the wake of criticism that the race should not take place as the city struggles to recover from Hurricane Sandy.

Earlier Friday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg had insisted that the race would take place Sunday despite some New Yorkers saying that holding the race would be insensitive and tie up police, generators and other resources when many are still suffering.

Joan Wacks, whose Staten Island waterfront condo was swamped with 4 feet of water, had predicted authorities would still have been recovering bodies when the estimated 40,000 runners from around the world would have hit the streets for the 26.2-mile race. She had called the mayor "tone deaf."

"He is clueless without a paddle to the reality of what everyone else is dealing with," she said. "If there are any resources being put toward the marathon, that's wrong. I'm sorry, that's wrong."

At a news conference, Bloomberg had defended his decision as a way to raise money for the stricken city and boost morale six days after Sandy flooded neighborhoods, knocked out power to hundreds of thousands homes and businesses and killed at least 39 people.

Bloomberg said New York "has to show that we are here and we are going to recover" and "give people something to cheer about in what's been a very dismal week for a lot of people."

"You have to keep going and doing things," he said, "and you can grieve, you can cry and you can laugh all at the same time. That's what human beings are good at."

Noting that street lights should be back on in Manhattan by midnight Friday and parts of the transit system are up and running again, he had given assurances that the race would not take away police officers and other resources needed in the recovery.

He also pointed out that his predecessor, Rudolph Giuliani, went ahead with the New York Marathon two months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and "it pulled people together."

One of the world's pre-eminent road races, the New York Marathon generates an estimated $340 million into the city. This time, the marathon's sponsors and organizers had dubbed it the "Race to Recover" and intended to use the event to raise money for the city to deal with the crisis. New York Road Runners, the race organizer, will donate $1 million and said sponsors have pledged more than $1.5 million.

"It's hard in these moments to know what's best to do," NYRR president Mary Wittenberg said. "The city believes this is best to do right now." A short time later the call was made to postpone the race.

The New York course runs from the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge on hard-hit Staten Island to Central Park, sending runners through all five boroughs. The course was not to be changed, since there was little damage along the route itself.

The damage all around it, however, ultimately swayed the decision.

United States Unemployment

New York Mayor "Meshuganir" Bloomberg endorses Obama

Associated Press reports that the "crazy" New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is endorsing President Barack Obama for re-election, citing his leadership on climate change.

Bloomberg says in an online opinion piece that Hurricane Sandy made the stakes of Tuesday’s presidential election even clearer. He says the climate is changing and that Obama has taken major steps in the right direction.

An independent and former Republican, Bloomberg says GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney has reversed course on a number of positions.