Report- VA Intentionally Kept Veterans Seeking Treatment on Clandestine Waiting List

Let me just say here and now that this shit really pisses me off.

A CNN report alleges that veterans seeking medical care at the VA's Phoenix, AZ facility were instead placed on secretive waiting lists, languishing and in some cases dying as the agency and bureaucrats withheld treatment for months. According to a VA whistleblower, the delays were designed to make it appear as thought the VA center in Phoenix was cutting through its backlog quicker than it really was.

At least 40 U.S. veterans died waiting for appointments at the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Health Care system, many of whom were placed on a secret waiting list.

The secret list was part of an elaborate scheme designed by Veterans Affairs managers in Phoenix who were trying to hide that 1,400 to 1,600 sick veterans were forced to wait months to see a doctor, according to a recently retired top VA doctor and several high-level sources.

Internal e-mails obtained by CNN show that top management at the VA hospital in Arizona knew about the practice and even defended it.

Dr. Sam Foote just retired after spending 24 years with the VA system in Phoenix. The veteran doctor told CNN in an exclusive interview that the Phoenix VA works off two lists for patient appointments:

There's an "official" list that's shared with officials in Washington and shows the VA has been providing timely appointments, which Foote calls a sham list. And then there's the real list that's hidden from outsiders, where wait times can last more than a year.

According to Foote, the elaborate scheme in Phoenix involved shredding evidence to hide the long list of veterans waiting for appointments and care. Officials at the VA, Foote says, instructed their staff to not actually make doctor's appointments for veterans within the computer system.

Instead, Foote says, when a veteran comes in seeking an appointment, "they enter information into the computer and do a screen capture hard copy printout. They then do not save what was put into the computer so there's no record that you were ever here," he said.

According to Foote, the information was gathered on the secret electronic list and then the information that would show when veterans first began waiting for an appointment was actually destroyed.

"That hard copy, if you will, that has the patient demographic information is then taken and placed onto a secret electronic waiting list, and then the data that is on that paper is shredded," Foote said.


"So the only record that you have ever been there requesting care was on that secret list," he said. "And they wouldn't take you off that secret list until you had an appointment time that was less than 14 days so it would give the appearance that they were improving greatly the waiting times, when in fact they were not.".

While the problem of lengthy waits and delays at Veterans Affairs facilities throughout the USA is nothing new, the reports out of Phoenix are among the first by a former VA official to suggest that the prolonged waits are by design.

An outspoken critic of the Iraq campaign during the Bush administration, retired General Eric Shinseki was appointed head of the Veterans Affairs by President Obama in January 2009. However, under Shinseki's tenure, wait times have increased due to delays and red tape involving simple medical procedures. However, the VA claims that the backlog has been reduced by 44% over the last year.

Newark Mayor and NJ Senate Candidate Cory Booker Unloads Floundering Waywire Startup Ahead of Election

A video-sharing site affiliated with social-media savvy Newark, NJ mayor Cory Booker was sold to cloud video provider Magnify.net just days before a special election in which Booker is running for the US Senate seat left vacant after the death of Democrat Senator Frank Lautenburg.

People familiar with the transaction say that Magnify, which helps websites manage, curate and distribute video, is buying Waywire primarily with equity.

It’s unlikely that the deal placed a high value on Waywire, which had previously raised $1.75 million

Booker announced that he would give the proceeds of his share of the sale to charity once the transaction was completed.

Waywire was started by Booker and former Yahoo [NASDAQ- YHOO] executive Sarah Ross in April of this year. The startup received a substantial cash infusion from Booker's wealthy supporters including Oprah Winfrey and Google [NASDAQ- GOOG] executive Eric Schmidt. Perplexingly, Booker stated a number of times that he "had YouTube in his sights", despite receiving startup money from the video platform's parent company, Google.

That wasn't the only thing about Booker's Waywire that was off- the 15 year old son of CNN President Jeff Zucker was on Waywire's payroll as an adviser before stepping down once new of his involvement was made public.

After somehow scoring a seat on the advisory board of the rising Democratic star’s Waywire video-sharing site, 15-year-old Andrew Zucker abruptly quit yesterday amid questions over his qualifications.

The rich kid’s consulting career as a “millennial adviser” ended just hours after it was revealed that he had been granted stock options in the firm co-founded by Booker, the Newark mayor who polls show is a shoo-in for the US Senate after a special election.
“Despite the fact that his affiliation with Waywire was extremely limited to only an advisory capacity, in order to avoid even the perception of a conflict, Jeff’s son has resigned from the Waywire advisory board, effective immediately,” CNN said in a statement.
News of Andrew’s stock deal lit up social media yesterday, with critics on Twitter branding it a “gross nepotism alert.”
Corporate-governance experts also called his hiring highly unusual, saying they’d never before heard of anyone so young getting such a cushy gig.

Advisory boards are usually stocked with “seasoned folks who have been through the process of making that kind of a start-up work, or enhancing the capacity of a company so it can move to an IPO [initial public offering] or the next level of business,” said Eleanor Bloxham, CEO of The Value Alliance. “So you’re not generally looking in the high-school age range.”

The funding from wealthy donors for a startup with a poorly defined purpose and appointing the teenage sons of network CEOs to lucrative positions has led to accusations that Booker was looking to enrich himself or sell access in anticipation of winning the Senate seat while former employees say that Booker and others in the company were simply looking to keep it afloat until after the election to stave off a potentially embarrassing and politically damaging bankruptcy.

Although Booker's poll numbers have been slipping before this month's special election, the Newark mayor still enjoys a sizeable lead over Republican challenger and former Bogota, NJ mayor Steve Lonegan.

CNN Founder Ted Turner: High Suicide Rate Among US Servicemen in Afghanistan is "Good"

Between 'Superstorm Sandy', the closing week of the 2012 election and the White House's deceptive narrative on the 9/11 terrorist attacks in Benghazi unrabelling, i though this short but rather telling snippet of video from CNN last week seems to have been lost in the shuffle.

In an interview with his own network's Piers Morgan, the TV show host pointed out to Mr Turner that the rate of suicides among American soldiers in Afghanistan was actually higher than combat-related casualties.

This is what billionaire media mogul Ted Turner had to say in response:



If you notice around the 9 second mark, after Morgan asks "Shocking, isn't it?" he begins to say "No, I think it's ter-" before apparently correcting himself and saying "I think its good" before spouting some touchey-feeley New Age crapola about how people are inherently hard wired to be compassionate and helpful to one another.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Turner issued an 'apology' through a spokesman shortly afterwards.

During my recent interview on CNN's Piers Morgan Tonight, I inadvertently used the word "good" when asked for my thoughts on the increasing rate of suicide among U.S. military soldiers in the Middle East. It was certainly not my intent to imply that suicide is "good." Rather, I was implying that it is good that the public is more aware of these tragedies and is more averse to war and war-related fatalities.

My message has always been one of peace, I believe that we're born programmed to love and help each other, not to kill or hurt each other. I strongly support our U.S. troops and would never intentionally say anything to harm the brave men and women serving our country. I deeply apologize for any misunderstanding caused by this comment

I'm really not sure what I could possibly write to follow this up, other than I've gone from pitying CNN in their race to the bottom of the ratings heap to openly despising them.

Belated Post-Debate Musings

Well, here it is a few days after the second (and second to last) of the 2012 Presidential Debates and lord knows most of the other places on my blogroll have already commented, but I figured I should weigh in before the third and final debate on Monday night.

I missed the first debate at Denver University earlier this month- partly because I typically work evenings and partly because I was becoming burned out on politics altogether [not because I think Mitt Romney is such a shoddy candidate, but because I find it hard to believe there are people out there willing to defend President Obama's record over these last 3 years- NANESB!].

Apparently I missed a doozy, though. Romney repeatedly hammered President Obama over his economic record while Obama looked disinterested and even asked the moderator Jim Lehrer to change the subject at one point. Since then, Romney has been surging in the polls and gaining ground or pulling away in a number of battleground states while Obama's high-profile supporters have been blaming everything from the high altitude in Denver to the notion that Obama was being 'nice' and pulling his punches.

There was also a debate last week between VP Joe Biden and Romeny's VP nominee Paul Ryan that seemed to de derailed by the Vice President's facial tics and wierd grinning at the most inappropriate times.

The second Presidential debate took place on Tuesday night at Hofstra University in Long Island. The town hall format for this debate was different from the first, with Obama and Romney taking questions from an audience in a Q and A session that was moderated by CNN's Candy Crowley. I missed the first part of the debate- and I was told after the fact I didn't miss much at the time- but I caught most of the second half on radio.

I caught the moment everybody [who was paying attention- NANESB!] was talking about after the fact. Fielding a question about last month's terrorist attacks in Libya. Almost as soon Romney pointed out that it took nearly 2 weeks for the White House to acknowledge the attacks were the result of a planned terrorist action, not a spontaneous demonstration over a YouTube video, Crowley jumped in and said that Romney was wrong and at the Presiden't urging, produced a transcript of a September 12th statement to the press in the Rose Garden of the White House before flying off to a fundraiser in Las Vegas. After the debate, Crowley later walked back her words and said the Romney's statement was in fact correct.

Ignoring the fact that either the President and his proxies were lying to the press about the first terrorist attack to have killed an American diplomat in more than 30 years or he was callous enough to jet off to a high-end Sin City fundraiser while our diplomatic mission in Benghazi was still burning, there was something else I noticed that seemed to be overlooked by others in light of Crowley's blatant attempt to run interference for Obama.

Referencing the theater shooting in Aurora, CO, a member of the audience asked both candidates about revisiting the assault-weapons ban, which had lapsed under George W Bush. Gov Romney gave a fairly lengthy answer that mentioned enforcing laws already already on the books, before bringing up the Department of Justice's Operation Fast and Furious gunwalking program. Romney basically took a minute or so to explain what exactly was Fast and Furious to the audience of undecided voters, but as soon as he started mentioning the Obama Administrations' role in the ATF's gunwalking program, Crowley interrupted the governor in an attempt to steer the discussion back towards domestic gun control policy [most likely the original intent of Fast & Furious, according to some- NANESB!].

Apparently taking a cue from Joe Biden, President Obama apparently decided to start smiling at REALLY inappropriate times before Crowley allowed him to speak. Obama's long and rambling answer sidestepped Fast and Furious altogether and instead talk about the need for more teachers and funding for community colleges.

This likely won't be the last we hear from Fast and Furious at the debates- the third and final debate is scheduled for Monday, October 22nd and is slated to revolve around foreign policy. While some feel that this may be a strong suit for the President, there is not only the matter of Fast and Furious, the Libya terrorist attacks as well as the proposed KeystoneXL pipeline from Canada, there's also President Obama's persistent refusal to meet with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, the continuing threat from Iran's nuclear program, an increasingly aggressive Russia and China and deteriorating situations in Pakistan, Yemen, Syria and Turkey

Benghazi Update: As Obama Addresses UN, White House And State Department Change Stories on Benghazi Attacks; Brazilian Court Orders Anti-Islam Video Removed From You Tube

One day after President Obama delivered a harsh rebuke of those who would insult Islam while offering a tepid- if nonexistent- defense of free speech, The Daily Beast published an in-depth article detailing how within a day of the September 11th, 2012 attacks on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya that killed the Ambassador and three diplomatic and security staff, US intelligence officials knew that Al Qaeda affiliated operatives in Eastern Libya were behind the attacks.

The intelligence officials who spoke to The Daily Beast did so anonymously because they weren’t authorized to speak to the press. They said U.S. intelligence agencies developed leads on four of the participants of the attacks within 24 hours of the fire fight that took place mainly at an annex near the Benghazi consulate. For one of those individuals, the U.S. agencies were able to find his location after his use of social media. “We had two kinds of intelligence on one guy,” this official said. “We believe we had enough to target him.”

Another U.S. intelligence official said, “There was very good information on this in the first 24 hours. These guys have a return address. There are camps of people and a wide variety of things we could do.”

A spokesman for the National Security Council declined to comment for the story. But another U.S. intelligence official said, “I can’t get into specific numbers but soon after the attack we had a pretty good bead on some individuals involved in the attack.”

It’s unclear whether any of these suspected attackers have been targeted or arrested, and intelligence experts caution that these are still early days in a complex investigation.

The Daily Beast article was published days after an unnamed Libyan source claimed that there was no protest in front of the US Consulate just prior to the bloody assault.

An intelligence source on the ground in Libya told Fox News that there was no demonstration outside the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi prior to last week's attack -- challenging the Obama administration's claims that the assault grew out of a "spontaneous" protest against an anti-Islam film.

"There was no protest and the attacks were not spontaneous," the source said, adding the attack "was planned and had nothing to do with the movie."

The source said the assault came with no warning at about 9:35 p.m. local time, and included fire from more than two locations. The assault included RPG's and mortar fire, the source said, and consisted of two waves.

The account that the attack started suddenly backs up claims by a purported Libyan security guard who told McClatchy Newspapers late last week that the area was quiet before the attack.

"There wasn't a single ant outside," the unnamed guard, who was being treated in a hospital, said in the interview.

A spokesman for Libya's nascent post-Ghdaffi government said local eyewitnesses claimed that the attack came in two waves- RPG and machine gun fire directed at the consulate followed by mortar fire directed at one of the safehouses. The eyewitness accounts directly contradict statements from the Obama Administration and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that the consulate was torched as a result of a spontaneous protest or heavily-armed Al Qaeda operatives blending in among a massive demonstration in front of the US consulate.

US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice had made the Sunday morning talk-show circuit repeating the White House claim that there was a spontaneous demonstration- directly contradicting a number of reports to the contrary.

Despite sending FBI agents and forensic teams to Libya to examine the crime scene and interview local witnesses, the FBI agents still hadn't reached the city of Benghazi more than 2 weeks after the consulate attacks took place- meaning that the scene of the assault has been compromised and even if forensic teams were arrived today, there would be little evidence of value remaining. In fact, a stringer for CNN reportedly discovered Ambassador Stevens' diary in a charred hallway in the Benghazi consulate- CNN subsequently came under harsh criticism for not mentioning their find earlier and using the journal as a source without notifying the ambassador's family or the State Department, although they eventually returned the diary to the Stevens family after transcribing information they thought was pertinent.



Since June of this year, there had been at least four previous attacks targeting foreign diplomats or NGOs in Benghzai, including an IED targetting the US Consulate and an RPG fired at a British diplomatic convoy. Ambassador Stevens reportedly expressed a growing concern in his journal about the deteriorating security situation in the eastern part of Libya.

Another indicator that the attack in Libya required a considerable amount of advanced planning was the fact that CIA documents regarding post-Ghdaffi contacts in Libya and detailed dossiers on Islamist militias were missing from the consulate after the attack. As one analyst put it "We got our eyes poked out".

The missing intelligence along with the timing of the attack and use of heavy weapons- as well as reports from local eyewitnesses that there were no massive protests leading up to the attack- would give even the most casual observer every indication that the murder of Ambassador Stevens and three other Americans were the result of a calculated, well planned raid- not a random gaggle of Muslims irate over a YouTube clip who just happened to have heavy weapons on them when they decided to lash out at the USA.

ELSEWHERE- The Obama Administration's insistence that a YouTube trailer somehow provoked the violence that led to Ambassador Steven's has spread to Brazil, apparently. Not only that, it reportedly has the weight of a Brazilian court ruling behind it.

Sao Paulo-based judge Gilson Delgado Miranda gave the site 10 days to remove video clips from "Innocence of Muslims," which has angered many Muslims around the world by its depiction of the Prophet Mohammed and his followers as thugs. After the 10-day window, Google will face fines of $5,000 a day for every day the clips remain accessible in Brazil, according to the statement on the court's website.

The company did not respond to requests Wednesday for comment about the case.

The "Innocence of Muslims" ruling resulted from a lawsuit by a group representing Brazil's Muslim community, the National Union of Islamic Entities, which claimed the film violates the country's constitutional guarantee of religious freedom for all faiths.

In a statement on the group's website, Mohamad al Bukai, the head of religious matters for the Sao Paulo-based organization, hailed the ruling.

"Freedom of expression must not be confused with giving disproportionate and irresponsible offence, which can provoke serious consequences for society," al Bukai said.

Attempts by courts and officials in several countries to remove the clips have revived the debate over freedom of expression.

The judge in the Brazilian case acknowledged that banning content from sites like YouTube is a thorny issue, according to excerpts of the ruling cited in the National Union of Islamic Entities' statement.

"This type of jurisprudence cannot be confused with censorship," Miranda is quoted as writing. In the excerpts, the judge defines censorship as "the undue restriction of the civic consciousness."

YouTube routinely blocks video in specific countries if it violates laws there. It also removes video deemed to infringe copyrights, show pornography, contain hate speech or violate other guidelines. However, none of those restrictions had been applied in Brazil to the "Innocence of Muslims."

Google is now selectively blocking the video clips in countries that include Libya and Egypt. Google has said it made the decision to block the video in such places due to "the sensitive situations" there.

Galperin of the Electronic Frontier Foundation questioned whether a ban was really necessary in Brazil, which has seen no protests or rioting that have swept the Muslim world in recent weeks.

"The notion that there's a need to take it down to prevent violence is ludicrous," she said.

Miranda's ruling came on the same day that Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff addressed the United Nations and urged an end to prejudice against Muslims.

In a separate ruling, a top official for Google Brazil was ordered detained and fined due to a breach of Brazilian electoral law. The arrest of Fabio Jose Silva Coehlo by federal police in Brazil was initially reported as stemming from the Innocence of Muslims short film.

Earlier this month, the White House had requested Google remove the movie.

Charlotte's Web- A Look in at the First Two Days of The Democrat National Convention

The Democrat Party's 2012 convention got underway on Tuesday from Charlotte, NC. Even before the convention, there was some doubt to the viability of the Tarheel state venue, as Charlotte was one of the smallest cities to host a convention from either political party, North Carolina is a right-to-work state and voters had passed a ballot measure that would define marriage as between one man and one woman in the state constitution- angering a number of LGBT groups that are part of the party's base. Mayor Anthony Foxx's decision to use out-of-state union labor for at least some of the projects leading up to the 2012 DNC convention angered some locals in a city where the unemployment rate remains at nearly 9%.

Visitors to the DNC in Charlotte will see an unconvincing facsimilie of a leader with little substance to it and ready to crumble under exposure to the slightest of stress. Then there's this nifty sand sculpture of President Obama, too.

The convention opened up with workers frantically trying to prevent a sand sculpture of President Obama from collapsing during some scattered rainstorms. The sand was reportedly trucked in from Myrtle Beach, SC and the sand-Obama is urging visitors to see Myrtle Beach.

An introductory video for the convention caused a stir when the narrator said "Government is the only thing we all belong to..". The statement was the polar opposite of what actor and director Clint Eastwood had mentioned in his remarks towards the end of the GOP convention in Tampa, FL last week- he reminded those in attendance that politicians work for the American people, not the other way around. The gaffe in the video was fairly minor compared to what had taken place on Wednesday.

As First Lady Michelle Obama attempted to make the case for her husband's re-election in a speech on Tuesday night, word had gotten out that the DNC had omitted any mention of Jerusalem being recognized as the Israeli capital or any mention of 'God' from the official Party platform. After a number of reports that the Democrat party had made no mention of this on the platform, DNC leadership took a procedural vote on the two subject with the gathered delegates. By rule, the measure needed a two-thirds majority for approval. When the delegates voted 'Aye/Nay' the first time around, Los Angles mayor Anthony Villaraigoso called for two more votes on the same subject. Even though the crowd sounded like it was split 50/50 over the issue- not enough for the revised language- Villaraigos hesitated and declared the amended language passed amid a chorus of boos.

The biggest winners of that vote were most likely Republican party candidates. Their opposition is now on record as boo-ing Israel and any mention of God and as a bonus, there is now video of the DNC leadership basically holding a vote over and over until they could get their desired results- even though it went against the wishes of many of the delegates.

Speaking of Israel, DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Shcultz was caught in multiple lies while being interviewed on CNN. The south Florida congresswoman had reportedly told supporters and campaign workers that the Israeli ambassador had said the Republican Party posed a grave threat to Israel's security. However, when word of Wasserman-Schultz's statements became public, Israel's ambassador to the USA- Michael Oren- categorically denied making any such statement. Wasserman-Schultz then claimed she was intentionally misquoted by a conservative-leaning media outlet, but then the audio of her remarks in question began to surface. Earlier on Wednesday, Wasserman-Schultz denied that there was any tension or rancor on the convention floor regarding the revised platform language and subsequent votes.

The fiasco eventually gave way to a fairly well-executed speech by former president Bill Clinton, however the main event was up against the start of the 2012 NFL season- starting off with the Cowboys vs Giants. The speech was well recieved by a number of pundits, but the question remains how many tuned in to the convention rather than the football game.

And while on the topic of footballs and stadiums, the Democrats announced that Obama's acceptance speech scheduled for Thursday will be moved from 73,778-seat Bank of America Stadium [which had reportedly been temporarily renamed Panthers Stadium because the Democrats and Obama campaign feared a backlash over the bailouts and tough talk on big banks- NANESB!] to 19,077 seat Time Warner Cable Arena. The campaign cited the possibility of showers on the night President Obama's speech was scheduled. However, a local forecaster said that with a 20%-30% chance of showers, Thursday night was actually the best possible night during the convention to hold a massive outdoor event. A number of pundits believe that the costly change of venue has more to do with the optics of Obama addressing a mostly-empty stadium when his campaign is supposed to be gaining momentum.

Curiously, with more than 3 consecutive years of 8% or more unemployment and the fact that the national debt reached $16 trillion on the first day of the Charlotte convention, the topic that seemed to dominate the DNC was contraception and abortion.

Mayor Bloomberg Declines to Invite First Responders, Clergy To City's 9/11 Memorial

Oh my- isn't Micheal Bloomberg one of the founding luminaries of the 'No Labels' party? I guess those labels also include "FDNY" and "NYPD".

For the first time since the September 11th terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, first responders from the New York Police Department and New York Fire Department were not invited by the city to the 9/11 Ground Zero memorial ceremonies.

The first responders are not invited to this year's September 11 memorial ceremony at ground zero, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's office confirmed Monday.

It's a painful insult for many of the approximately 3,000 men and women who risked their lives, limbs and lungs on that monumental day, puncturing another hole in a still searing wound.

In a statement, Bloomberg spokesman Andrew Brent said the commemoration ceremony is for the victims' families.

"While we are again focused on accommodating victims' family members, given the space constraints, we're working to find ways to recognize and honor first responders, and other groups, at different places and times," Brent said.

But first responder John Feal, founder of an advocacy group for the police officers, firefighters, civilian volunteers and others who worked at ground zero, assailed Brent's response, saying Bloomberg "lives in his own world."

"The best of the best that this country offered 10 years ago are being neglected and denied their rightful place," Feal said.

Denise Villamia, a first responder who worked at ground zero for several months, cried over the phone as she recalled her "totally heartbroken" reaction to the news that she could not attend the memorial service.

"I'm crying because it's really a big betrayal on the part of the city, to rob me from my way to pay homage and to find that comfort and healing," she said. "I feel that I have been robbed of my way to pay tribute."

In addition to the victims' families, several politicians, including two presidents, are expected to be in attendance

In New York City, 343 firefighters, 60 police officers and 8 paramedics were killed in the attacks. Some of the first responders and their loved ones have been circulating a petition hoping to persuade the Mayor's office to reverse course on their decision.

The mayor of New York City also declined to invite any clergy from the ceremony, defending his decision as a matter of separation of church and state.

CNN Talking Head And Self Proclaimed Obama Foreign Policy Advisor: Founding Fathers, Constitution & American Exceptionalism Overrated

Last month, former Newsweek editor and current CNN talking head Fareed Zakaria had boasted that he had been advising President Obama on foreign policy matters concerning the Middle East.

One could be forgiven if one thought Zakaria's claims were mere bluster or hot air in an attempt to establish some credibility among peers in the media.

However, one look at this interview and I'm wholly convinced.

Note the derision and condescension directed at America's founding in Zakaria's smug monotone. After viewing that brief clip, I'm almost certain that not only is Zakaria advising President Obama on a number of domestic policy issues.

Although I'm just a lowly blogger and Zakaria is a highly-respected intellectual (who served as editor of a magazine that sold for $1), I would like to challenge Zakaria to find me what countries out there we're supposed to be learning from.

The European Union is an even bigger basketcase than the USA as far as finances and sovereign debt is concerned, with more productive countries like Germany and Holland having to bail out pseudo-welfare states like Spain or Greece.

While economic forces to be reckoned with, half the countries in the BRIC (Brazil/Russia/India/China) axis have an inglorious history of citizens being murdered by the millions in the last century- by their own governments, no less. While post-Apartheid South Africa didn't bring the full-fledged race war that so many had feared, high crime and the staggering murder rate has led to a massive 'brain drain' as sought-after professionals both black and white leave for more secure locales.

But like I said, as an intellectual Zakaria probably has an answer all lined up...perhaps even one of the aforementioned countries that he might view as a flawed gem. But I have one question for the naturalized citizen of America- and to be fair, it's the same question I ask of other American who hold similar views as he does: Why stay in America if you want it so badly to be like other countries?

Egypt Unrest Continues- Natural Gas Pipeline Attacked; Egyptian VP's Bodyguards Killed in Assassination Attempt? Foreign Reporters Attacked in Cairo

Egyptian state TV is reporting that saboteurs taking advantage of near lawlessness in some parts of the country have attacked a natural gas pipeline that runs between Egypt and Israel.

Residents of the El Arish area in the North Sinai region of Egypt reported a loud explosion on Saturday. It's not clear the immediate impact the blast had on supplies to Israel, but a state TV correspondent blamed the act on terrorists.

Earlier in the week, President Hosni Mubarak had promised to step down after the September 2011 elections, but that was not enough to assuage most of the demonstrators.

The protests in and around Tahrir Square in Cairo escalated on Thursday when Mubarak supporters approached the square and occupied rooftops above, clashing with the anti-Mubarak demonstrators and pelting them with rocks and chunks of pavement from above.

By Friday morning,the scene had become even more surreal when more pro-Mubarak demonstrators mobilized by horse and camelback [way to live up to the stereotype, gentelmen- NANESB!] and charged into the assembled crowds, whipping and beating some of the anti-Mubarak demonstrators. Some in the crowd had managed to pull the riders off of their mounts and said that their would-be assailants were carrying Police ID. By nightfall, each side was hurling Molotov cocktails at each other and Egyptian soldiers were attempting to disperse crowds by firing warning shots into the air.

There were also incidents of Western journalists being attacked and some news agencies offices being torched. FOX News' Greg Palkot and Olaf Wiig and CNN's Anderson Cooper and his camera crew were repeatedly punched and kicked by pro-Mubarak crowds that had descended on them in separate incidents in the capital [Just putting this out here, CNN- How about sending Joy Behar to Cairo??- NANESB!]. The Cairo offices of al Jazeera were torched and it's website was hacked on Friday as well while a Swedish TV reporter was recovering from stab wounds in a Cairo hospital.

Reports are also circulating that there was an unsuccessful assassination attempt this week against Egypt's newly-appointed Vice President, Omar Suleiman. The office of Vice President was vacant when Mubarak appointed him to the position on January 29- Suleiman is also chief of Egypt's intelligence services and would likely be the head of an interim govern. It wasn't immediately clear who was behind the attempt, but Egyptian officials said that two of Suleiman's bodyguards were killed and that his motorcade was the target of the would-be assassins.

Cuppa Sports Chowdah Runneth Over- Pats Get Past Ravens W/Help of Sturdy Branch; B's Off to Capital Start; BC's Woes Continue

NFL: Well, that was pretty awesome. I managed to tune in just in time for the 4th quarter of Sunday's Baltimore/New England game with the Ravens leading 20-10. That was answered by a drive that started on the Pat's own 40 and was capped by a Brady TD pass to Deion Branch (who hardly looked as though he missed a practice) to make it a 3 point game. The Ravens would get as far as mid-field on their next possession, but punted it away on 4th and 1.

The game-tying drive for New England started on their own 14 yard line and threatened to sputter when the Pats were penalized 15 yards after advancing the ball to the Ravens 35 yard line, but a 24 yard completion from Brady to TE Rob Gronkowski brought up 2nd and 1, where the Pats would drive the ball inside the Baltimore 10, but have to settle for the game-tying field goal to cap off a methodical drive that burned nearly 7 minutes off of the clock.

After going three and out from their own 20, Baltimore punted and Wes Welker had a 22 yard return to put the ball at mid-field with 45 seconds left in regulation. However, Brady would get sacked by Haloti Ngata before Brady's hail-mary pass was intercepted in the end zone for a touchback as regulation expired with the game tied at 20-20.

Overtime started off with each team going three and out, although Baltimore was able to string together some first downs, they still ended up punting. However, they were able to keep the Patriots pinned deep on their own end of the field- at least until rookie Romanian punter Zoltan Mesko booted the ball 65 yards from their own 14 to put the Ravens inside their own 20. The Ravens subsequently went three and out, giving the Pats good field position for another sustained drive, distributing the ball between Welker, Branch and Algie Crumpler before Stephen Gostkowski kicked a relatively easy field goal (with just under 2 minutes left in OT) to give New England the 23-20 win.

Tom Brady went 27-44 with 292 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions and got sacked three times. In his first game for New England since Superbowl XXXIX, Deion Branch had 9 receptions for 98 yards and a touchdown. For Baltimore, Joe Flacco went 27-35 with 285 yards and 2 TDs and getting sacked three times. Ray Rice was the Ravens leading receiver with 88 yards and Derrick Mason had 100 yards on 8 carries to lead Baltimore's rushing game.

Not a bad way to come off of the bye week. The Patriots have won 3 in a row and are now 4-1. This weekend, they'll travel to southern California to take on the San Diego Chargers at 4PM ET, 1 PM Pacific.

OTHER PATS NEWS: Brandon Merriweather issued an apology to Ravens TE Todd Heap after a helmet-to-helmet hit. Merriweather and two others were fined earlier this week for what the NFL called dangerous and flagrant hits. Merriweather was fined $50,000 for the his but faces no suspension

ELSEWHERE IN THE NFL: Speaking of Southern California, former Pats, Chargers and Dolphins linebacker Junior Seau was released from a La Jolla, CA hospital with minor injuries after the SUV he was driving plunged off of a seaside cliff in Carlsbad, CA on Monday night. The accident came within 12 hours of his arrest and release by police in Oceanside, CA on domestic violence charges after an argument with his 25 year old girlfriend. Seau told investigators he fell asleep at the wheel- Carlsbad police say that the lack of skidmarks on the seaside highway are consistent with Seau's account. Moreover, they say that no drugs or alcohol were present.

Greg Fiume/Getty

NHL: The Bruins are back in the continental United States and off to a pretty good start. I caught most of their 4-1 win over New Jersey on Saturday, and on Tuesday night, they travelled to Washington DC to take on the Caps in which the game was quasi-nationally televised on Versus. David Krejci and Milan Lucic got the scoring started for Boston with a goal each and just over two minutes apart in the 1st. Washington's Marcus Johansson managed to cut the Bruins lead in half in the 2nd period, but Matt Hunwick put the game away with some insurance in the 3rd to make it 3-1. Caps netminder Michal Neuvirth was pulled after allowing the two Boston goals in the first and has since been listed as day-to-day with flu-like symptoms while Tim Thomas stopped 35 of 36 shots faced.

The Bruins head back for their home opener Thursday night against the Caps with a 3-1-0 record. The puck is scheduled to drop at 7PM ET/4 Pacific.

NCAA FOOTBALL: Damn- they played better than the last three weeks, but Boston College couldn't get off the schnide against Florida State. Turnovers by the Seminoles nearly cost them the game, but with a little over 11 minutes to go, a 42 yard TD run by 'Noles WR Bert Reed put them up for good by a score of 24-19. At least 10 of those points for BC came off of turnovers from Florida State QB Charlie Ponder, but it obviously wasn't enough for the W. Montel Harris had 26 carries for 191 yards, but no TD's.

The Eagles head back to Chestnut Hill and will host 4-2 Maryland on Saturday.

OTHER BOSTON COLLEGE NEWS:

Credit where credit's due, CNN ran this story on BC linebacker Mark Herzlich's overcoming bone cancer to return to the lineup this season. Kinda puts a disappointing 0-4 slide into perspective.

OTHER NCAA FOOTBALL NEWS: Rutgers defensive tackle Eric LaGrande suffered a spinal cord injury during last weekend's game against the Army Black Knights and is said to have no movement below his neck. The junior was rushed to Hackensack University Medical center where he underwent emergency surgery and remained in the intensive care unit. Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano says that LeGrande is in good spirits and is aware "...of the new set of challenges ahead of him". As of Wednesday night, there was no further updates on his condiditon.

UConn QB Cody Endres has been suspended for the remainder of the season for an unspecified violation of school rules. Redshirt freshman Michael Box is listed as Endres' backup. Endres replaced the erratic Zach Frazier halfway through the September 25 game against Buffalo and could also be a possible replacement.

MLB: Holy crap! These games are just flying by, aren't they? The Giants are one game away from their pursuit of their first World Series title since moving out to San Francisco, taking a commanding 3-1 series lead in the NLCS.

Meanwhile, the Texas Rangers have a 3-2 series lead on the Yankees after splitting the first two games at Arlington, TX and winning the first two games at Yankee stadium. The Yankees won Wednesday's game by a margin of 7-2, setting up a Game 6 back in Arlington with Colby Lewis tenatively scheduled to start against the Yankee's Phil Huges on Saturday.

Unfortunate Headline Watch

From CNN:

Canadian folk singer died doing something she loved, mother says

Um.....hell no. I don't care how into nature you are, nobody loves getting mauled by a pack of coyotes.

Having said that, the whole affair of 19 year-old folk singer Taylor Mitchell getting attacked by a pack of coyotes in Nova Scotia's Cape Breton National Park is bizarre enough to start off with. Couple this with a public statement from the mother where she seems to be mourning the offending coyotes as much as she was her own daughter.

"When the decision had been made to kill the pack of coyotes, I clearly heard Taylor's voice say, 'please don't, this is their space.' She wouldn't have wanted their demise, especially as a result of her own. She was passionate about animals, was an environmentalist and was also planning to volunteer at the Toronto Wildlife Centre in the coming months," Emily Mitchell said in a statement Thursday

[Oh, and thanks for the map of Eastern Canada, CNN. My tiny pea-brain wouldn't have been able to locate Nova Scotia without your visual aides- NANESB!]