Some stay warm, some like the cold, some cuddle just because. As the polar vortex effect sweeps most of the country, see how #animals elsewhere are facing the winter weather. (Photo: YouTube/yupi520)
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Bao Bao, the Smithsonian’s giant panda cub, on Nov. 29.
Abby Wood/Smithsonian Institution
Bao Bao, the Smithsonian’s giant panda cub, on Nov. 29.
Abby Wood/Smithsonian Institution
The 100-day-old female panda cub at the National Zoo in Washington, now has a name: Bao Bao (宝宝) — meaning precious or treasure — was the most popular of the five names put up for a popular vote by Zoo.
The name was announced during a ceremony at the Zoo on Sunday afternoon.
Cui Tiankai, ambassador of the People’s Republic of China, wrote the name in calligraphy on scrolls, which were unfurled at the ceremony.
Tiankai said that both sides of the Pacific are excited today. In a recorded video message first lady Michelle Obama said: “Our two nations have worked hand in hand in this crucial and successful effort.”
As the AP points out, this is only the second cub to survive since the pandas first became a symbol of happy diplomacy between the two countries in 1972, after President Richard Nixon’s historic visit to China.
The AP adds:
“Mei Xiang’s only other surviving cub, a male named Tai Shan, was born in 2005 and was returned to China in 2010 for breeding. Male panda Tian Tian is the father of both cubs.”
The zoo says that Bao Bao will make her public debut in early January 2014.
If you’re ready to take back your town, it’s time to roll.
Tuesday; October 22, 2013 – Los Angeles – 10:00 am
The Pete Santilli Show With Special Guest: Dan Johnson (PANDA UNITE)
Dan Johnson is 20 years old, an Eagle Scout, and has been recognized as one of the top 30 impromptu speakers in the United States. He is a Political Science Major at Bowling Green State University, and speaks a moderate amount of Japanese. He was always interested in politics, and was appalled when he saw the direction our country was heading in.
He founded PANDA (People Against the National Defense authorization Act). PANDA is supported by groups across the political spectrum, and is now one of the fastest growing liberty movements in the nation; with over 30 state teams across the country.
Recognized by many as an upcoming expert on the subjects of Liberty vs. National Security, the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act, the 2001 AUMF, and the gradual slide toward an American Police State, Dan Johnson has spoken at the Northwest Ohio Conservative Conference, the Oathkeepers Midwest Regional Conference and P.A.U.L. Fest, writes for many online publications including the Huffington Post, Policy Mic, and Western Journalism and has been interviewed on multiple radio shows including Coast to Coast AM, Liberty Roundtable, and Red Ice Radio.
Read more at http://pandaunite.org/aboutus/invite-panda/#hlZ6cYfWqvgP3Vg7.99
What’s all the fuss about the NDAA?
It’s a big deal.
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is a bill that normally funds the military. However, in 2012, two sections (1021 & 1022) made the NDAA the most dangerous law since the U.S. Civil War. Repeating the mistakes of WWII, when we detained 120,000 Japanese-Americans on race alone, this law authorizes the indefinite military detention of any person suspected of an affiliation with terrorism. This law applies to American citizens in America, non-citizens in America, and American citizens abroad. It doesn’t matter.
No charge. No trial. No day in court. Passed 93-7 in the Senate, 283-136 in the House.
How does it affect you?
The government just redefined a “terrorist.” It’s not someone convicted of blowing up buildings anymore. It’s everyone. According to multiple documents from the FBI, department of Homeland Security, and other agencies, It’s people who are “reverent of individual liberty,” “suspicious of centralized authority,” and “antifederalists.” It’s people who carry cash instead of credit. It’s people who are against fracking. It’s Constitutionalists, Ron Paul supporters, Democrats, Republicans, tea partiers and occupiers. It’s everyone.
What can you do?
The problem is big, but there’s an easy solution. All politics is local. We’ve forgotten that. It’s time to go local. Your police, sheriff, city council, they all took an oath to protect your rights. It’s time to hold them to it. We’ve been fighting this battle for almost two years. And now, we’re created the tools for you to do it too.
If you’re ready to take back your town, it’s time to roll. There are 3 steps: Learn, Build, and Act. Here’s how you do it.
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-
Learn
About the NDAA
The 2012 NDAA is the most dangerous law since the U.S. Civil War, and America’s politicians don’t want you to find out about it…using every trick in the book to stop you from understanding. Know your enemy, and you can fight it.
About your local government
First, you must know your public servants. Secondly, you must know your process. Research your local government; know when they meet, the rules for public comments, and how to get legislation introduced, voted on, and passed.
Build
Your team
Start small. Hand out a basic flyer to coworkers, family, and friends, and ask them to join you in defending liberty and justice. Gather a core team of at least 4 people, ready to stand with you to stop the NDAA in your community.
Your coalition
Go to local Tea Party meetings, occupy assemblies, and activist groups. Reach out to neighborhood groups, local parties, and activists groups. Show them how this endangers their group. Ask them to join your coalition.
Act
Inform
Flyer your neighborhood with your core team. Write letters to the editor. Create a website: takeback(yourcity).com
Pressure
Meet with your representatives/commissioners/councilmen. Speak out at public comment. Videotape it. Upload the video to this website and inspire the nation. (Upload link coming soon.) The law of war is the backbone of the NDAA. Pressure your officials until they introduce, and vote on, a law blocking it in your community. A prewritten sample is below.
Win
Win. Get your city council, county commission, or sheriff to pass a law blocking the NDAA, protecting activists, families, and businesses everywhere in your city/county. Hold your representatives accountable. They will try to trick you. They will ridicule you. They will try to refer it to committee. They will stall. The police will refuse to enforce it. Go back. Over and over again. Never give up. If they try to weaken your law, stop them. Do not compromise. Do not accept defeat. Know that you are on the cutting edge of the revolution.
——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-
That’s how we win. It’s that simple. Learn, Build, Act. You have been looking for something that works. You see the path our country has traveled down. You want a future for your children. You are ready.
We’ll provide extra support when you need it. We’ll provide advice, and you have the power to take back your town. Thousands of people stand behind you.
With liberty and justice for all.
Read more at http://pandaunite.org/takeback/#PhvIKh728Cf1qUJy.99
************
Adam Kokesh UPDATE
Joining Pete today was Anthony Antinello, media representative for Adam Kokesh, with an update on Adam’s status while being held a political prisoner in Washington DC.
Broke on: October 4th 2013
by: jeffrey
Filed under: Blog
On July 4th Adam Kokesh did the most epic civil disobedience in modern history because he believes in liberty and that
self-defense is a civil right. click here to see the video.
On July 9th his home was raided and ransacked for 5 hours by over 50 officers with a tank and helicopters. click here to see the aftermath.
Since then, Adams team was sabotaged, all the money raised for legal defense was stolen.click here for the details.
Despite all that, he has been podcasting from jail. click here to see the podcast’s.
He and his team are working hard to use this opportunity to spread the message & raise awareness of jury nullification. for more info click here.
We need all the help we can get, email kim@adamvstheman.com if you want to volunteer.
Adams trial is coming up on Oct.24th & we are hosting a rally that evening in DC, to help out with that email salvi@adamvstheman.com & RSVP on the FB event page.
******************
FRESH OFF THE 21ST CENTURY WIRE
Andrew McKillop
21st Century Wire
Keep an eye on this latest market move, as it indicates where inflation could be heading in the run up to 2014…
MEMORIES OF THE 1986 PRICE CRASH
Like the US debt ceiling saga – with the only possible result being more debt – the ultra-magic triple-digit dollar oil price of US WTI, and of course more for European Brent, needs extraordinary measures to stay that overblown. In the case of the US debt mountain the Fed does the extraordinary (over)blowing, but for oil WTI counts on heavy lifting by leading members of Wall Street’s oil market manipulator clique – often referred to as “investors” – who not so long ago forecast WTI as easily able to attain $ 125 per barrel by December 31st.
So the shading of New York oil prices below $ 99.99 on 21 October was something of an historic event…
Even by mid-morning, New York time, on 21 October the plunge protection team was clearly at work trying to repair the damage – because falling oil prices are a challenge to New Normal.
The nightmare for new normal oil and its unreal pricing – totally unrelated to natural gas and coal prices due to oil being so “noble” – would be a repeat and remake of the 1986 price crash. This featured plenty of the parameters, and the same Mid Eastern and other actors, we have today.
The official story for what happened in 1986, which resulted in a cool 67% or two-thirds reduction of the oil price through 6 months, followed by 13 years of low prices, can be given but doesn’t have to be believed. The story says Saudi Arabia “abandoned its swing producer role”, cutting back its production from a little over 10 million barrels a day (Mbd), close to today’s claimed 11 Mbd, to just 2.3 Mbd by August 1985, because of increasing price weakness signals in the market, or at least clear signs of reduced Saudi revenues. The story continues that Saudi Arabia had been tinkering with pricing options and alternatives, from compensation-offset trade deals, to increased refining action to reduce crude as a percentage of exports, to netback-pricing concepts tying the crude price to the value of refined petroleum products in certain markets, in a global refining system like today’s but more extreme – beset by high costs, overcapacity, outdated technology, and so on.
In fact the most basic problem was soft global demand for crude, which had not recovered from the 1979-83 recession. The Saudi action of hiking its production above 10 Mbd had spurred other OPEC members to increase crude production and offer their own barter-offset and netback-pricing deals for buyers. World supply and stocks of crude and products rose through late 1985 and continued into 1986. The average per-barrel FOB (free on board) price for OPEC crude oil dropped from around $ 23.45 in December 1985 to $ 9.85 in July 1986 and for some crudes, and some buyer markets, it dropped further than that. Prices for crude oil from nonOPEC countries of course followed the same track. A 13-year price decline ensued
ENERGY ECONOMICS VERSUS GEOPOLITICS
Rather similar to today, the US-Saudi prime concern of the day was the Iranian menace, even if Syria’s al-Assad of the day, called Hafez was less of a problem than his son Bashr. In 1985 the Iraq war effort against Iran in their war which started in 1980 was weakening by the day. The war was partly financed by Saudi Arabia and mostly armed by the US, including the supply of chemical weapons to Iraq, but by late 1985 was failing and tapering down. Iran had not been beaten. There was stalemate.
Through the period to late 1985 and into 1986 the Middle East “war risk premium” on oil was often estimated at around $ 10 a barrel, or more. Today’s estimate is about the same. By late 1985 however the taper-down of the Iran-Iraq war was becoming hard to ignore, eroding the risk premium, but Saddam Hussein’s demands for financing, loans and weapons, and even fighting men to throw at Iran were higher than ever. A collapse in oil prices was about the worst thing possible for keeping the war popping – but the war popped its clogs and fizzled out, in major part due to insufficient funding, made worse by falling oil prices!
The impact of the oil price collapse on the US oil sector was dramatic. Crude prices 60% lower reversed the upward trend in US oil production that had operated for the previous 5 years. High-cost wells, made economic by the doubling of oil prices in 1978-1980, became unprofitable and were shut in. US oil imports soared, from 3.2 Mbd in 1985 to over 8 Mbd by the late 1980s, and peaked at 9.1 Mbd in year 2000 except for imports from the Gulf Arab states, which peaked in 2003, according to US EIA data.
Through 1986-99 the collapse of world oil prices had most and first affected OPEC crude. OPEC oil exports to the US grew and overall oil consumption of the US rose from in those 13 years by nearly 4 Mbd, from 15.7 Mbd to 19.5 Mbd.
The energy economics of the crash were drastically simple. When oil prices decline, Saudi Arabia pumps less and the US imports more. When oil prices rise Saudi Arabia pumps more and the US imports less but as the 1986-99 period showed, OPEC producers apart from Saudi Arabia taper down less, or not at all, to try conserving oil revenue totals. Non-OPEC producers can also react this way, even in high cost oil provinces like the North Sea where oil output went on rising as prices crashed and stayed high throughout the 1986-99 period. The USSR’s production through the 1980s was rarely below 11.6 Mbd, and only seriously declined from 1990.
Oil geopolitics in no way has to converge and comply with the energy economics. Mainly for internal domestic political reasons, Saudi Arabia soon threw in the towel on its production-cutting effort or “price discipline” role, defending prices by producing less. From 1989 to 1991 it hiked average daily output by 3.1 Mbd, to 8.1 Mbd, and throughout the 1990s with prices often down to $ 10 – $ 15 per barrel it held its average output at around 8.1 – 8.4 Mbd. The claimed “target price” agreed by OPEC and promoted by Saudi Arabia, was $ 18 per barrel, but this was rarely attained for a period lasting 13 years from 1986.
WILL IT HAPPEN AGAIN?
Theoretically it would be totally impossible to have a comparable more-than-60% fall of oil prices, today, with prices cut to around $ 40 per barrel, and held at that low level for over a decade. The crash of oil prices in 2008-2009 was a radically rapid decline-and-rebound event.
Today, both Saudi Arabia and Russia work on short national financial and economic fuzes, and the US economic fuze is so short that any massive cut in oil prices – creating a wave of panic in the US domestic oil industry – would likely not bolster economic growth or lead to a big uptick in US oil consumption. In 1986 world oil production and refinery overcapacity was huge, but the overhang is not so large today. The price crash of 2013-14 would therefore be more restrained, and could not feature a cut of oil prices by more than about 33% from present prices.
Nevertheless, today, both Saudi and Russian oil output are at record highs – and US output also. The smaller OPEC producers, and a host of small non-OPEC producers are often at or near record output. The potential for oil stocks growing radically outside the US, and potentially also in the US, certainly exists and reporting disclosure of radically rising crude and refined products stocks will always add further downward pressures on prices if and when they are already falling.
The Middle East war risk premium, assuming it is around $ 10 per barrel can be heavily cut given the basic US-Russian entente or deal to not bomb Syria and remove its chemical weapons, whatever Saudi Arabia might think of that. This would take oil prices to about $ 89 per barrel for WTI. About another $ 10 below that price level we start approaching actual US shale oil producer prices, making further declines less easy, but still possible.
The likely sustainable floor price – meaning a long term depressed price level – could be as high as $ 70 – $ 75 per barrel, after trading swings and plays have turned down.
HELPED OR HINDERED BY THE DOLLAR?
Conventional oil analysts and trader lore says that if the USD declines, oil prices in dollars normally rise “mutatis mutandis” but even if we forgot our Latin, the outlook for the USD plunging – against what? – presents a lot of intellectual problems. Against oil is what the oil bulls hope.
Quoted on Pravda.ru, October 16, scholar Mikhail Khazin said: “Those who are professionally engaged in economic matters, in one voice say that there are not years, but months or even weeks left before the collapse.” To be sure he meant a collapse of the USD and its role in world trade – especially oil trade. Conversely, Khazin said nothing at all about the Russian ruble becoming the world’s new petrodollar, nor the CNY-RMB, nor gold – and we can tell him that oil-gold trades will be hampered by persistent weakness inside the bullion market, upstream corporate debt for miners hitting extremes, but revenues declining, and soft gold mining stock prices being sure and certain for some while forward.
Forecasts that the USD is going to tank – against what? – face so many hurdles in the real world we can bet with the contrarians that the world value of the dollar will rise a little, if not a lot, in coming days and even weeks. Dragging down the oil price.
In a normal world, nothing like New Normal, as pointed out by Alistair Macleod in a long interview with Chris Martenson on ‘Peak Prosperity’, October 19, the role of QE worldwide and whether this concerns the US Fed, the ECB, the BOE or the BOJ, has reached a saturation effect in artificial wealth creation. It is now only a wealth transfer operation. Only those players close to the money spigot will now get the spinoff or “trickle down” from printed money.
This is a deflation crisis, likely or certainly followed by hyperinflation, but presently a deflation crisis. Outside the trickle down, everywhere else in the economy, local and global, we get deflation. Oil prices will therefore deflate – not inflate.
****
Episode 5 of Sunday Wire Radio Show with host Patrick Henningsen aired Sunday Oct 6th…This week’s theme: ‘Spies, Lies and Common Law’ This week THE SUNDAY WIRE talked with former MI5 whistleblower and author David Shayler, for a frank discussion about 9/11 and 7/7, as well as realities of Common Law in the 21st century, followed by regular contributor and pundit Basil Valentine and his rant on elitists in Britain. The final hour we spoke with Brian Gerrish of the UK Column to discuss the shadow state in Britain and elite’s plans for a OneWorld Government who are now constructing a corporate state in Europe and the US – this show is guaranteed to stimulate the mind!
LISTEN IN EVERY SUNDAY: 5pm-8pm BST (GMT) | 12pm-3pm EST | 9am-12pm PST
Previous Episodes: The Sunday Wire with Patrick Henningsen – September 29th – Episode #004 The Sunday Wire with Patrick Henningsen – September 22nd – Episode #003 The Sunday Wire with Patrick Henningsen – August 25th – Episode #002 The Sunday Wire with Patrick Henningsen – August 18th – Episode #001
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OHIO CLOCK TICK-TOCK: ANATOMY OF A SHUTDOWN – POLITICO’s John Bresnahan, Manu Raju, Jake Sherman and Carrie Budoff Brown spoke to dozens of sources on Capitol Hill and at the White House for this behind-the-scenes account: “House Speaker John Boehner just wanted to sneak out of the White House for a smoke. But President Barack Obama pulled him aside for a grilling. Obama wanted to know why they were in the second day of a government shutdown that the speaker had repeatedly and publicly pledged to avoid. ‘John, what happened?’ Obama asked, according to people briefed on the Oct. 2 conversation. ‘I got overrun, that’s what happened,’ Boehner said. …
– “It became clear almost from the moment the government closed Oct. 1 that it would stay that way for awhile. The White House received intelligence from an unlikely source: Boehner’s former chief of staff Barry Jackson. A lobbyist who spoke with Jackson passed on a detailed download to top administration officials. Chief among the insights was that Boehner would have to fight right up to the Oct. 17 debt limit deadline. Shortly after the White House meeting Oct. 2, a ragged Boehner filled in his closest allies about his talk with Obama, telling them that the president had confronted him in the room that former President George W. Bush called the ‘Lewinsky suite.’ …
– “Sitting around a conference table in the Roosevelt Room, Obama hammered the Republicans about reopening the government, demanding repeatedly to know ‘what is it going to take’ to get it done. A frustrated Ryan finally stood up and urged them to come together and craft something lasting. But what senior administration officials aides heard was a Freudian slip. ‘We’re going to have six weeks to negotiate the debt limit,’ Ryan said. Nobody challenged him, but White House aides mentally filed it away. …
– “Even though [Sen. Susan] Collins was picking up support, she never had the full buy-in of party leaders from either side. It was a veteran Republican senator, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, who McConnell instead leaned on closely for some critical advice. Several sources said that Collins was upset when she learned Alexander was given this role, given that she had been working aggressively to cut a deal. McConnell aides later said Collins was critical to the end-result and nothing was meant as a slight against her. But Alexander was important because his politics are more conservative than Collins’ and he has a tight relationship with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Reid’s closest ally.” http://politi.co/H4RcE8
– POLITICO Editor in chief John Harris declares President Obama and the Democratic and Republican leaders of the House and Senate as members of the “Shutdown Winners Club.” “The past three weeks are widely, and correctly, understood as a reflection of the weakness of Washington leaders, who in both parties hoped to avoid the confrontation that just ended but proved powerless to prevent it. At the same time, however, the episode clearly highlighted that these leaders got to their positions for a reason — through skill at partisan maneuver and acutely sensitive instincts for self-protection.” http://politi.co/18s33Wp
– The end of the shutdown means the Senate’s beloved Ohio Clock is ticking again: http://politi.co/19b7yEv
– And the National Zoo’s Panda Cam is back: http://wapo.st/15LVLfb. Watch the pandas here: http://bit.ly/1dQ9PEI
** A message from TransCanada: Tired of the U.S getting energy from unfriendly countries halfway around the world? The TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline can provide energy from a friendly, reliable neighbor, and with increased domestic production can end reliance on unstable energy sources. Learn more at www.Keystone-XL.com.
McCONNELL: CRUZ STRATEGY ‘WAS NOT A SMART PLAY’ – Manu Raju caught up with the Senate Republican leader a day after the deal: “At the end of the day, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says he had no good option in the 16-day government shutdown fight. House Speaker John Boehner’s strategy collapsed. Ted Cruz’s push to use a shutdown to defund Obamacare was ‘not a smart play’ and a ‘tactical error,’ he said. And the country was staring at the threat of a prolonged shutdown and a potentially disastrous default on a nearly $ 17 trillion national debt. Using a football analogy, McConnell said he got the ball on his own two-yard-line with a ‘shaky’ offensive line and had to cut a last-ditch deal with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to end the crisis, no matter how unappealing to many in his party. Despite acting as a chief deal-maker in recent years during government crises, it was unclear the role McConnell would play until the final days of the bitter fight.
– “‘Given the card I was dealt at that point, what I had hoped to have achieved was to punt the ball to a better place on the field without raising taxes or busting the [spending] caps,’ McConnell told POLITICO in a phone interview Thursday. ‘We got off track with a tactical error earlier starting in July and August that diverted our attention away from what was achievable,’ McConnell said bluntly of the defund Obamacare push. ‘And so we’ll be back at it in January and February, which is why the best you can say is, ‘It’s a punt.’’” http://politi.co/1atqJar
– McConnell told National Review’s Robert Costa that Republicans will not push another shutdown in another few months: “One of my favorite sayings is an old Kentucky saying, ‘There’s no education in the second kick of a mule.’” http://bit.ly/19UvQW3
BUT TED CRUZ refused to rule out another shutdown in an interview with ABC News’ Jonathan Karl: http://bit.ly/1i1t9Rz
– National Journal’s Beth Reinhard and Alex Roarty have dueling stories titled: “Ted Cruz is Finished” and “Ted Cruz is Just Getting Started”: http://bit.ly/18qaa1M and http://bit.ly/18qacGN
MINORITY LEADER NANCY PELOSI asks if the GOP “temper tantrum” was worth a $ 24 billion hit to the economy. The Hill: http://bit.ly/17wsoLv
CAN BUDGET CONFERENCE DELIVER? – Jonathan Weisman and Jackie Calmes write on A1 of the New York Times: “Congressional negotiators on Thursday plunged into difficult budget talks to avoid a repeat crisis within months, and quickly agreed to lower their sights from the sort of grand bargain that has eluded the two parties for three years. After approval late Wednesday of the agreement ending the standoff, the deal-making mantle shifted overnight from the leaders of the Senate to the Budget Committee leaders, Senator Patty Murray, Democrat of Washington, and Representative Paul D. Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin, two less senior lawmakers who nonetheless could make very effective salespeople since they command loyal followings in their parties. The political pressure lifted as well, for now. … The question of what a new House-Senate budget conference can deliver by its Dec. 13 deadline — in time for Congress to act by Jan. 15 on funding to keep the government open — remained the subject of deep skepticism, well earned by past failures at reaching so-called grand bargains for deficit reduction and spending investments in the past three years.” http://nyti.ms/1c1BHdP
GOOD FRIDAY MORNING, OCT. 18, 2013, and welcome to The Huddle, your-play-play preview of all the action on Capitol Hill. Send tips, suggestions, comments, complaints and corrections to swong@politico.com. If you don’t already, please follow me on Twitter @scottwongDC.
My new followers include @LaurenTrager and @jamesoliphant.
TODAY IN CONGRESS – The House is out and will return next week. The Senate is on recess until Monday, Oct. 28.
COOK REPORT SHIFTS 14 HOUSE RACES IN DEMS’ DIRECTION – Cook’s David Wasserman writes: “Mostly as a result of the damage House Republicans sustained during the 16-day government shutdown, we are making changes to our ratings in 15 House seats, all but one in Democrats’ direction. Democrats still have a very uphill climb to a majority, and it’s doubtful they can sustain this month’s momentum for another year. But Republicans’ actions have energized Democratic fundraising and recruiting efforts and handed Democrats a potentially effective message.”
– Ratings Changes: CA-31 Gary Miller (R) Toss Up to Lean D; CA-41 Mark Takano (D) Likely D to Solid D; CO-06 Mike Coffman (R) Lean R to Toss Up; FL-22 Lois Frankel (D) Likely D to Solid D; MI-03 Justin Amash (R) Solid R to Likely R; MI-07 Tim Walberg (R) Likely R to Lean R; MT-AL Steve Daines (R) Solid R to Likely R; NE-02 Lee Terry (R) Likely R to Lean R; NJ-02 Frank LoBiondo (R) Solid R to Likely R; NJ-03 Jon Runyan (R) Solid R to Likely R; NM-02 Steve Pearce (R) Solid R to Likely R; NY-23 Tom Reed (R) Likely R to Lean R; OH-06 Bill Johnson (R) Likely R to Lean R; PA-08 Mike Fitzpatrick (R) Likely R to Lean R; WV-03 Nick Rahall (D) Lean D to Toss Up. Subscription required: http://bit.ly/19V18w4
DCCC CITES SHUTDOWN IN RECORD SEPTEMBER HAUL – Alex Isenstadt reports for the hometown paper: “The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee raised an eye-popping $ 8.4 million in September, the month preceding the government shutdown, according to figures provided to POLITICO and to be made public Friday. The figure stands as the DCCC’s best September ever in a year before an election, and is nearly double the committee’s August haul. Of the total, $ 3 million came from online donations — making it the top off-year online month for any party committee in history. Some $ 2 million alone came in the six days after Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) launched his 21-hour anti-Obamacare marathon speech.” http://politi.co/H1kOC9
HUDDLE FIRST LOOK: NRSC HITS LANDRIEU FOR OBAMACARE SPEECH – Republicans will blast a news release later this morning knocking Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) for a floor speech this week in which she suggested her 2014 race will be a referendum on Obamacare – a law she voted for. “We did not wake up one morning and declare this the law. The people of the United States declared this through us as their Representatives. If they do not like it, they can unelect us. Believe me, they will have a great chance because I am up for reelection right now. They will be able to do that. But that is the way you do it,” she said. The NRSC cites polls that show more than 60 percent of Louisianans oppose Obamacare. Here’s the release: http://bit.ly/1bDcTo5.
CONSERVATIVE GROUPS RALLY AROUND COCHRAN TEA-PARTY CHALLENGER – The Washington Post’s Sean Sullivan: “A trio of conservative groups announced Thursday they will back Mississippi state Sen. Chris McDaniel (R), who is running for the seat held by Sen. Thad Cochran (R). The Club For Growth, Senate Conservatives Fund and the Madison Project each announced endorsements. ‘Chris McDaniel is a constitutional conservative who will fight to stop Obamacare, balance the budget, and get America working again,’ said Senate Conservatives Fund executive director Matt Hoskins. Added Club For Growth President Chris Chocola: ‘Senator Chris McDaniel represents the next generation of conservative leadership that Mississippi Republicans are waiting for.’ Cochran has not yet definitively said whether he will run for reelection.”
THE ROGERS REPORT: RETURN OF THE CHAIRMEN? – David Rogers explains how we got into this big mess in the first place: “The rise of the modern House speaker began 40 years ago as party caucuses became more unified and members demanded stronger central leadership — often at the expense of committee chairmen. The late Tip O’Neill, the first of the modern speakers, approached this task with caution. Newt Gingrich went a huge step further, even channeling Oliver Cromwell. Nancy Pelosi created her own global warming panel. And upon becoming speaker in 2011, John Boehner wasted no time before kicking the House Appropriations Committee out of its Capitol offices.
– “But this concentration of power in the speakership comes at a price. It diminishes not just the chairmen but the speaker’s identity as a constitutional officer for the whole House. It tilts the scales more in favor of party interests and away from the institution. Instead of presiding over legislation, speakers take ownership. More and more, measures are rewritten on the second floor of the Capitol, not committee offices. … All this history comes to bear, looking back at the bedlam of the past few weeks. And what Washington saw was the concentrated power of the modern speakership turned onto itself — reduced to dysfunction by deep divisions inside the GOP.” http://politi.co/1gpD1ZW
PAUL’S SOFTER SIDE EMERGES IN SHUTDOWN FIGHT – Katie Glueck reports for POLITICO: “Rand Paul is no wacko bird. Just ask Lindsey Graham. ‘Rand Paul’s been incredibly responsible,’ Graham (R-S.C.), who has clashed with Paul in the past, said just before the Senate voted to end the government shutdown. ‘I’ve seen a side of Rand I haven’t seen before. That’s one of the pluses of this whole deal. He’s been great.’ According to many moderate GOP observers, the Kentucky Republican and likely 2016 contender has deftly maneuvered the past several weeks of shutdown politics, toeing the conservative line without alienating the rest of the party — especially compared to his frequent sidekick, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). A key challenge for Paul if he runs would be to make himself acceptable to — if not win over — traditional Republicans. His low-key approach to the shutdown and debt limit drama could help that cause.” http://politi.co/1gQGvm3
OBAMA TO TAP EX-PENTAGON LAWYER AS HOMELAND SECURITY CHIEF – The AP’s Alicia Caldwell writes that the pick marks a shift from immigration to national security: “President Barack Obama’s selection of a former top Pentagon lawyer to head the Homeland Security Department suggests the agency will be stepping back from its preoccupation with immigration to focus more on protecting the nation from attack. Jeh C. Johnson, if confirmed by the Senate, would replace Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who left the DHS last month to become president of the University of California system. Obama was expected to announce Johnson’s nomination [at 2 p.m.] Friday. Unlike Napolitano, Johnson has spent most of his career dealing with weighty national security issues as a top military lawyer. Issues he handled included ending the military’s don’t-ask-don’t-tell policy for gay service members and changing military commissions to try terrorism suspects rather than using civilian courts. He also oversaw the escalation of the use of unmanned drone strikes during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as general counsel at the Defense Department.” http://bo.st/17Q7aHE
THURSDAY’S TRIVIA WINNER – Neil Townsend was first to correctly answer that the brother of President William Howard Taft, former Rep. Charles Phelps Taft, was an owner of the Chicago Cubs the last time they won the World Series in 1908.
TODAY’S TRIVIA – Claude Marx has one more question for this week: The son of President Theodore Roosevelt’s secretary went on to become a newspaper publisher and power broker. Name the father and son, as well as the newspaper? The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day’s Huddle. Email me at swong@politico.com.
GET HUDDLE emailed to your Blackberry, iPhone or other mobile device each morning. Just enter your email address where it says “Sign Up.” http://www.politico.com/huddle/
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The government shutdown has taken out the panda cam, Yosemite National Park and much more. Find out what cool stuff you can’t have now.
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This undated handout photo provided by the National Zoo shows a red panda that has gone missing from its enclosure at the zoo in Washington. National Zoo spokeswoman Pamela Baker-Masson says animal keepers discovered the male red panda named Rusty was missing on Monday morning. Red pandas are in a separate family from giant pandas and are listed as vulnerable in the wild. They are highly territorial, so Baker-Masson says it’s unlikely that Rusty traveled far from his home. He is likely hiding high in a tree branch. (AP Photo/Smithsonian’s National Zoo, Abby Wood)
This undated handout photo provided by the National Zoo shows a red panda that has gone missing from its enclosure at the zoo in Washington. National Zoo spokeswoman Pamela Baker-Masson says animal keepers discovered the male red panda named Rusty was missing on Monday morning. Red pandas are in a separate family from giant pandas and are listed as vulnerable in the wild. They are highly territorial, so Baker-Masson says it’s unlikely that Rusty traveled far from his home. He is likely hiding high in a tree branch. (AP Photo/Smithsonian’s National Zoo, Abby Wood)
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Animal keepers from the National Zoo have captured a red panda in a Washington neighborhood after it went missing from its enclosure at the zoo.
National Zoo spokeswoman Pamela Baker-Masson says the male named Rusty was captured Monday afternoon in a bush in the Adams Morgan neighborhood.
The red panda is being taken to the zoo’s animal hospital for a checkup.
Unlike giant pandas, red pandas are not members of the bear family. Red pandas are slightly bigger than a domestic cat and look similar to a raccoon. They are listed as vulnerable in the wild.
Rusty arrived at the zoo in April from the zoo in Lincoln, Neb., and was in quarantine for several weeks until he went on exhibit in early June.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.
Zookeepers are searching for a red panda that has gone missing from its enclosure in Washington.
National Zoo spokeswoman Pamela Baker-Masson says animal keepers discovered the male named Rusty was missing Monday morning. They began searching the zoo at 8 a.m.
Unlike giant pandas, red pandas are not members of the bear family. Red pandas are slightly bigger than a domestic cat and look similar to a raccoon. They are listed as vulnerable in the wild.
Red pandas are highly territorial, so Baker-Masson says it’s unlikely that Rusty traveled far. He is likely hiding high in a tree branch to hide in the tree canopy.
“Everybody continues to look for him,” Baker-Masson said. “As the day heats up, he will likely sleep and hide.”
Animal keepers last saw him Sunday evening about 6 p.m. when he was fed and appeared healthy. They believe he may stay in hiding during the day. They are also looking at the possibility that Rusty is sick or that someone took him.
Rusty arrived at the zoo in April from the zoo in Lincoln, Neb., and was in quarantine for several weeks until he went on exhibit in early June. Rusty is vaccinated and is not aggressive, but he is a wild animal and could bite if he became cornered and scared, Baker-Masson said.
The zoo began sending out messages about his disappearance Monday morning on Twitter in case someone sees him at the zoo.
“Unless he was very motivated, he would not wander far from his habitat,” Baker-Masson said. “This red panda is not down on the (National) Mall.”
