Source - Rahm Emanuel involved in Cain sexual harassment accuser attacks

Herman Cain's campaign is revealing suspicions about who is behind the story regarding the former unidentified employees who accused Mr. Cain of sexual harassment in the late 1990's.

According to a source who is friends with the Cain campaign, not only is the Rick Perry campaign involved but also the Mayor of Chicago and former Obama White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is likely involved with the sexual harassment accuser attacks. A friend of the Cain campaign believes a National Restaurant Association (NRA) employee out of the Chicago office leaked the story to the Perry campaign via information and influence from Mayor Rahm Emanuel's office.

According to Politico's Jonathan Martin, Curt Anderson, the Perry advisor who the Cain campaign is accusing of leaking the damaging information, is denying the charges:

"I’ve known Herman Cain for about 7 years. I was one of several consultants on his Senate race in 2004 and was proud to help him. I'd never heard any of these allegations until I read them in Politico, nor does anything I read in the press change my opinion that Herman is an upstanding man and a gentleman. I have great respect for Herman and his character and I would never speak ill of him, on the record or off the record. That's true today and it's not going to change."

A military war of nerves against Iran: The US leads, Israel and UK go along

The sudden rush of military news Wednesday, Nov. 2, was part of an orchestrated Western performance to persuade Tehran that the US, Britain and Israel are on the verge of a military operation against its nuclear installations. The show, directed from Washington, was meant to warn Iran that military punishment was in store unless it gives up its drive for a nuclear weapon. If Tehran continues to hold out, President Barack Obama may decide to strike Revolutionary Guards Corps, the bulwark of the Islamic regime, as well as its strategic infrastructure, thereby removing key props holding up the regime of the ayatollahs.
Contributing to the menacing climate hanging over Iran were four headline events involving Israel – all on the same Wednesday: Israel conducted a successful test launch of a new intercontinental ballistic missile, Jericho 3, which foreign sources report is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead 7,000 kilometers.

After that, the IDF released photographs of Israeli Air Force squadron leaders reporting from Italian air base runways to the media on joint exercises they had conducted in long-range maneuvers with the Italian air force "and other NATO nations," to familiarize the IAF with NATO military tactics.

The inference was clear: The Israeli Air Force was strengthening its cooperation with Western allies in preparation for a NATO assault on Iran. The IAF also got a chance to study the lessons Western alliance air force tacticians had drawn from the eight-month Libyan operation which ended on Oct. 31.
Next, the IDF's Home Command announced a large-scale anti-missile exercise in central Israel starting Thursday morning, Nov. 3.
Finally, Defense Minister Ehud Barak left for an unscheduled trip to London shortly after a secret visit to Israel by the British chief of staff General Sir David Richards earlier this week as guest of Israel's top soldier Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz.
If the British general was in Israel only this week, why was Barak is such a hurry to visit London?

The answer came from the British media, which reported as soon as he arrived that the Ministry of Defense in London had accelerated and upgraded its contingency planning for participation in a US-led assault on Iran. They carried an account of plans for deploying large naval units including submarines to the Persian Gulf.

The UK was reported to have asked Washington for permission to station its fighter-bombers on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia for launching bombing sorties against Iran.

This whirlwind of military activity was said to have been prompted by the approaching publication of the International Atomic Energy Agency's Iran report next Tuesday, Nov. 8 and the conclusion the nuclear watchdog had reached: Inside 12 months, Iran will have tucked all its nuclear and ballistic missile facilities away in deep underground tunnels where they will be invulnerable to attack.
A potential US-British strike to pre-empt this move would also be timed for the run-up to America's next presidential election in November 2012.

debkafile's military sources report that if the US, Britain and other NATO nations, such as France, Italy and Germany, participate in the attack, Israel will not. Its army, air force and navy will defend the home front, be available to engage Iran's allies to prevent them from striking the assault forces from the rear, and act as a strategic reserve. The danger would come from Syria, the Lebanese Hizballah, and the Palestinian Hamas and Jihad Islami in the Gaza Strip.

These contingency plans are subject to changes, especially if President Obama and other NATO allies decide after all against attacking Iran in the coming year. The hyperactivity will then subside and Israel will be thrown back on the dilemma of having to decide whether or not to conduct a lone military operation against Iran.

There is not much time for contemplation. Syria and Hizballah are reported by debkafile's military sources to be in the throes of separate preparations for attacking Israel if their respective grips on power are shaken. For now, those sources rate the chances of Israel facing a military clash with Syria and/or Hizballah much higher than a NATO-Israeli showdown being mounted against Iran.

BMW Profit Lead May Evaporate as 3-Series Eats Earnings: Cars

Nov. 2 (Bloomberg) -- The Ultimate Driving Machine may no longer be the ultimate profit machine.

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, the world’s largest maker of luxury vehicles, is poised to lose its profitability lead to Volkswagen AG’s Audi as slowing sales growth and increased spending on the new 3-Series erode margins. BMW’s operating margin may slip to 9.5 percent in the third quarter, below Audi’s 13 percent and down from 16 percent in the previous three months, analysts estimate.

“It’s a signal that the very good quarters are over,” said Juergen Pieper, a Frankfurt-based analyst at Bankhaus Metzler, who recommends selling the shares. “Audi has the better momentum and that will likely continue for the next two to three quarters.”

The Munich-based company is spending about 500 million euros in the second half of 2011 to introduce next generations of the 1-Series compact and the best-selling 3-Series sedan. Slowing demand for high-end cars may further erode earnings.

BMW is projected to report earnings before interest and taxes of 1.59 billion euros ($2.17 billion), when it releases third-quarter figures tomorrow, according to the average estimate of 16 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Sales are forecast at 16.8 billion euros.

Slowing Sales

H.R. Owen Plc, a London dealer of BMW, Aston Martin, Ferrari and Lamborghini vehicles, predicted a loss in the second half because “demand conditions in the luxury-car market have deteriorated in recent weeks” on turbulence in financial markets, the company said.

BMW stock has dropped 16 percent since reporting second quarter earnings on Aug. 2. Over the past quarter, sales growth slowed to 9 percent from 18.5 percent in the second as the 1-and 3-Series get renewed and the aging X5 sport-utility vehicle faces the revamped Mercedes-Benz M-Class. Deliveries of all three models declined in the period, according to BMW data.

BMW and Daimler AG’s Mercedes have recently emphasized their ability to adapt to slowing markets. Daimler Chief Executive Officer Dieter Zetsche said Oct. 27 that the automaker’s production flexibility means it “can react quickly to future developments.” BMW’s production chief Frank-Peter Arndt said last week that the company is prepared to reduce production volumes 20 percent to 30 percent if necessary.

Climbing Discounts

“In our increasingly austerity-driven world, prestige badges such Mercedes, BMW and Audi could become a real negative,” said Simon Empson, managing director of Broadspeed.com, a U.K. discount auto website. Softer demand is leading to price cuts for luxury cars.

BMW’s 3-Series, which will be replaced by a new version in February, is being offered at discounts of 20 percent to 25 percent, and the new 1-Series compact is already getting marked down by about 11 percent, said Empson. Discounts on Mercedes vehicles are rising and currently range from 15 percent to 25 percent, while Audi cars are being offered at 5 percent to 8 percent off list price, he said.

Mercedes’s third-quarter Ebit fell 15 percent to 1.11 billion euros on spending for new models such as the B-Class compact. Audi’s Ebit rose 51 percent to 1.42 billion euros, boosted by demand for the Q5 and Q7 SUVs, according to VW data. BMW’s Ebit, which includes its motorcycle unit and financial services operations, is projected to jump 34 percent from last year’s 1.19 billion euros, according to the estimates.

BMW’s auto unit posted record margins of 14.4 percent in the second quarter, beating Audi’s 11.8 percent and Mercedes’s 10.7 percent.

Widening Lead

Even with profit margins narrowing, BMW has widened its sales lead over Audi and Mercedes, which have both vowed to overtake the luxury-car leader. The company delivered 1.02 million BMW-brand vehicles after the first nine months of 2011, compared with Audi’s 973,200 and Mercedes’s 919,288. The luxury- car maker is targeting record sales of more than 1.6 million BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce autos this year.

The overhauled 3-Series should help BMW maintain its sales lead. The best-seller is projected to help boost the brand’s deliveries by 9.3 percent to 1.47 million next year, according to IHS Automotive. As a result, Audi’s gap to BMW will likely widen to 139,700 autos from 97,400 in 2011. Mercedes may get closer, buoyed by a new line of compacts. IHS forecasts Mercedes trailing BMW by 108,700 vehicles in 2012, closer than the 110,500 this year.

Slowdown Opportunities

All three manufacturers are better positioned to weather a slowdown because they have more opportunities to boost sales because of their image with consumers, said Juergen Meyer, who manages about 790 million euros for SEB Asset Management in Frankfurt.

“In a market contraction premium carmakers can woo customers away from mass-market brands with cheaper special editions; the reverse isn’t possible,” said Meyer, who counts BMW as one of his top holdings. “Compared with VW, Toyota and Daimler, BMW has lower fixed costs, which would be a clear competitive advantage in the event of a recession.”

--Editors: Chad Thomas, Heather Harris

To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Reiter in Berlin at creiter2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chad Thomas at cthomas16@bloomberg.net

Syms, Filene’s Basement Seek to Liquidate in Bankruptcy

Nov. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Syms Corp. and its Filene’s Basement LLC affiliate filed for bankruptcy in Delaware, the third time Filene’s, the century-old clothing chain, has sought protection from creditors.

The company listed assets of $236 million, including $97.7 million in real estate inventories, and liabilities of $94 million, according to a statement filed with the Chapter 11 petition today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware.

Syms, which operates 46 stores under Filene’s Basement and its namesake brand in the U.S., said it plans to liquidate the business during the holiday season. The company said it received no “viable bids” from anyone willing to operate the business.

Syms, based in Secaucus, New Jersey, bought Filene’s Basement in an auction for $63 million in June 2009. The company has 25 Syms stores and 21 Filene’s Basement locations. The company plans to conduct going-out-of-business sales before Black Friday, the beginning of the U.S. holiday shopping season, according to court papers. Black Friday, the day after the Thanksgiving Holiday, falls on Nov. 25 this year.

Edward Filene opened his Boston bargain basement in 1909 to clear out merchandise from his family’s department store, eventually leading other retailers to bring their unsold goods to him, according to the store’s website.

The case is In re Filene’s Basement LLC, 11-13511, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware (Wilmington).

--With assistance from Bill Rochelle in New York. Editors: Andrew Dunn, Stephen Farr

To contact the reporters on this story: Christopher Scinta in London at cscinta@bloomberg.net; Sophia Pearson in Philadelphia at spearson3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: John Pickering at jpickering@bloomberg.net.

In Praise of Papandreou's Referendum Decision; Eurocrats Terrified of Democracy; Parade of Cowards

I do not know what motivated Greek Prime minister George Papandreou to call for a voter referendum on the Greek bailouts (and no one else does either) with the exception of Papandreou himself.

However, there are some rather interesting possibilities (as well as a simple explanation).

The Slog outlines a scenario that Papandreou’s bailout referendum bombshell was inspired by Merkel in order to trigger major losses in French banks, causing France to lose its AAA rating, culminating in a total Merkel victory and German revenge over France.

Wow.

As convoluted and conspiratorial as that sounds, it makes for highly entertaining reading (and it's also well presented). On the other hand, my readers know I am a firm believer in "Occam's Razor" which suggests the simplest explanation (the one making the fewest assumptions) is likely to be the correct one.

Certainly, one should never rule out stupidity when that is one of the possibilities. An even simpler explanation is that Papandreou is simply tired of the beatings, and the meetings, and the riots, and has simply decided to "walk away" from the mess by handing the decision over to the voters.

I believe that is the "most likely" explanation even though The Slog presents a very good case that Papandreou Planned this Referendum in Advance with help of his interior minister.

However, planning for a referendum and being prepared for one in advance (if necessary) are two different things. Thus, I suggest (and so would Occam's Razor) that Papandreou saw a potential need for a referendum down the road, and that potential need turned into reality.

One final puzzling aspect to this mess is that just three days ago Papandreou affirmed his commitment to the EU/IMF Troika solution. So what's up with that? Once again no one knows except Papandreou but I will stick with the assessment there is a simple explanation that is not readily apparent right now.

In Praise of Democracy and Choices

With that backdrop, and with the statement I do not like Papandreou personally, I praise Democracy, and by implication, Papandreou's decision.

Is there any reason Greek voters should not be given a choice? I think not. They may not make a wise choice but what is the likelihood that political hacks and political opportunists will?

Iceland Referendum a Winner

Take a good look at Iceland. In repeated attempts, political hacks (with banker's interests in mind) attempted to sell Icelandic citizens into debt slavery. A referendum saved the day. Sadly, voters were forced to repeat the referendum, and once again voters made the correct decision.

Iceland is now in full recovery simply because it told the EU and IMF to go to hell.

No Easy Way out for Greece

Greece does not have an easy way out. However, its problems are no doubt far worse than if it told the EU and the IMF to go to hell two years ago.

Greece should have gone bankrupt long ago. Heck, it should not be in the EU in the first place, and the EU is primarily to blame even though Greece lied to get in.

Speaking Against Political Hypocrisy

Peter Tchir at TF Market Advisors (and one of the best authors on Zero Hedge) also praises democracy. Yesterday he pinged me with this set of comments.

If a leader in the Middle East finally gave into months of protest and decided to give the people a real say on an important issue, the Western leaders would be rejoicing. Obama would have a podium and be uttering his support for the Courage of the people who stood up and give the Arab spring his full blessing.

But if a fellow Western leader dares let his people express their wishes more directly than via "their representatives" they are all shocked and outraged. In the meantime other Greek politicians are busy taking advantage to gain power rather than helping their citizens.

Eloquent Praise for Democracy

Pater Tenebrarum at the Acting Man blog eloquently discusses democracy in his post Papandreou Calls For Referendum On Bailout

Embattled Greek prime minister Papandreou has found a way to stick it to the eurocrats in a most elegant manner: instead of continuing to serve as everyone's favorite whipping boy, he has decided it is time to let the Greek people themselves speak out on the future of their country. In a surprise announcement yesterday, he told parliament that Greece is to hold its first referendum since 1974 and that the population would be asked whether it wants to accept the conditions of the bailout plan or not.

The eurocracy is at its heart deeply undemocratic – if it were up to the 'technocrats' leading it, national subsidiarity would have long ago become a relic of the past and democratic interference with their plan to erect a socialist super-state would be kept to a bare minimum.

This can be seen by the fate suffered by previous referendums: when the Irish and French e.g. said 'no' and 'non' respectively to the Lisbon treaty, the referendums were simply repeated to get the 'right' result. As Stalin once sagely remarked, it doesn't matter who votes for what anyway – what matters is who counts the votes. So far, the eurocrats have always gotten the results that they wanted, by hook or by crook. Lately this has become a bit more difficult, as evidenced by recent decisions of the German constitutional court, whose chief justice Andreas Voßkuhle even went as far as demanding a referendum for German citizens as well if the government wanted to cede any more of its fiscal sovereignty to the eurocracy in Brussels.

Greece is the cradle of Western democracy - it is only fitting that it should upset the EU applecart by means of actually practicing it.

Eurocrats are Terrified of Democracy

Tenebrarum certainly hit the nail on the head and so did Daniel Hannan on The Telegraph with his post Eurocrats are Terrified of Democracy

Shall I tell you the truly terrifying thing about the EU? It’s not the absence of democracy in Brussels, or the ease with which Eurocrats swat aside referendum results. It’s the way in which the internal democracy of the member states is subverted in order to sustain the requirements of membership.

George Papandreou, the luckless Greek leader, is the latest politician to find himself being chewed up because he stands in the way of the Brussels machine. On Monday afternoon, Papandreou announced a referendum on whether to accept the EU’s bail-out terms. He had evidently had enough of the antics of the opposition party, New Democracy, which kept insisting that Greece remain in the euro, while opposing all the austerity measures necessary to that end – an outrageous stance given that New Democracy ran up the deficit in the first place. Papandreou hoped to force his opponents off the fence: in favour of the spending cuts or against euro membership. Perhaps he also hoped to put pressure on the EU to offer more generous terms.

I wish I could convey the sheer horror that his proposal provoked in Brussels. The first rule of the Eurocracy is “no referendums”. Brussels functionaries believe that their work is too important to be subject to the prejudices of hoi polloi (for once, the Greek phrase seems apposite). Referendums are always seen as irresponsible; but, at a time when the euro is teetering on the brink, Papandreou’s proposal was seen as an act of ingratitude bordering on treason.

Eurocrats are prepared to pay any price rather than admit that the single currency was a mistake – or, more precisely, to expect their peoples to pay, since EU officials are exempt from national taxation. The peripheral countries are to suffer poverty, unemployment and emigration, the core countries perpetual tax rises, so that supporters of the euro can save face.

It’s chilling to write these words, but EU leaders are evidently prepared to vitiate Greek democracy and wreck the Greek economy rather than allow the euro to break apart. Yet even if they succeed in Greece, they may find that their efforts are for nothing. Italian bond spreads yesterday were back at the level that usually triggers bail-outs. We are about to see quite how far the Brussels apparat will go in defence of its privileges.

Parade of Cowards

In contrast to Hannan, Tchir, and Tenebrarum, the parade of bureaucratic cowards terrified of democracy is nearly endless. Here are some prime examples.

• French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in a rare televised address on the steps of the Elysee palace in Paris. "The plan ... is the only way to solve Greece's debt problem." (Reuters)
• Daniel Knowles writing for The Telegraph has this story headline - Peace in Europe lasts just five days as Greece turns to blackmail
• Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he would try to prevent the referendum plan, saying he would "attempt to see that it doesn't happen." (AP)
• Socialist deputy Hara Kefalidou said "I cannot back a referendum which is a subterfuge by a government that appears unwilling to govern." (AP)
• French lawmaker Christian Estrosi said on France-Info radio that the move was "totally irresponsible." "I want to tell the Greek government that when you are in a situation of crisis, and others want to help you, it is insulting to try to save your skin instead of assuming your responsibilities," Estrosi said. (AP)
• Nicolas Sarkozy’s spokesman described Papandreou’s announcement as “irrational and dangerous” (Telegraph)
• Constantine Michalos, the president of the Athens Chamber of Commerce, called the proposal “an act of political blackmail” (Telegraph)
• Antonis Samaras, the leader of New Democracy, vowed – with splendid disregard for his party’s name – to prevent a referendum “at all costs” (Telegraph)

Ultimate Irony: Papandreou a Fervent Euro-Enthusiast

Here is one more clip by Daniel Hannan on The Telegraph worth reading.

Euro-enthusiasts in Brussels and in Athens are ready to bring down an elected government rather than allow a referendum. Yet the funny thing is that Papandreou is a Euro-enthusiast. He fervently wants to remain in the euro, and had been planning to campaign for a Yes vote. His sin, in the eyes of Brussels, was not to hold the wrong opinions, but to be too keen on democracy. Leninists had a term for people who, while they might be committed Bolsheviks, none the less behaved in a way which endangered the movement. They were called “objectively counter-revolutionary”. Poor Papandreou finds himself in this category.

Help?! What Help?

Of all the cowards, the statement by French lawmaker Christian Estrosi is the most galling: "when you are in a situation of crisis, and others want to help you, it is insulting to try to save your skin instead of assuming your responsibilities."

Whose Skin Are We Saving?

No eurocrat or politician outside of Greece gives a rat's ass about helping Greece. The only skin they want to save is their own.

That realization coupled with my earlier proposal that Papandreou was tired of beatings, meetings, and riots is by far the most likely reason Papandreou decided to "walk away" from the mess via referendum.

It's a pity he did not do so long ago.

NATO squeezes Assad: A Syrian uranium enrichment plant "discovered"

The disclosure Tuesday, Nov. 1, by the International Atomic Energy Agency - that a spinning factor built in the northeastern Syrian town of Hasaka in 2003 was in fact designed for developing nuclear weapons from enriched uranium - had a purpose: It was intended to crowd Bashar Assad into talking to the leaders of the revolt against him instead of slaughtering them. debkafile's intelligence sources report that Syria procured the enriched uranium and equipment for the plant from Iraq when its ruler Saddam Hussein in early March 2003 when he decided to dispose of the bulk of his nuclear plant and weapons of mass destruction by spiriting them out to Syria, then his closest ally.

The IAEA sources revealed that the Syrian government worked on the secret Hasaka complex with Abdel Qader Khan, father of Pakistan's atomic bomb, basing it on the same technology he designed for Muammar Qaddafi's nuclear bomb project. Khan also provided Iran and North Korea with the basics for their nuclear weapons programs.

They also disclosed correspondence between Khan and a Syrian government official Muhidin Issa after Pakistan's nuclear test in 1998 requesting scientific cooperation and asking to visit Khan's laboratories.
debkafile sources add: The cotton spinning plant at Hasaka could have been used as a facility for uranium enrichment by centrifuges. Yet the IAEA inspectors who visited the site two years ago found no traces of nuclear activity there. Aerial photos accompanying this article show long, disused structures standing at a distance from the factory alongside water pools, which would not be used for cotton spinning.
This group of buildings, which look like ammo stores, would confirm the presence of a large military complex at the site which may well have served a secret uranium enrichment project run in parallel to the clandestine plutonium reactor which Israel demolished in 2007.

The timing of the nuclear watchdog's revelations points to two objectives:

1. A broad hint that the atomic agency has more information about the Hasaka site which it is holding back for now. If it reacts to the disclosure, Damascus may give away more than it intends.

2. To squeeze Bashar Assad into bowing to the opposition's demands for democratic reforms and a share in government. He was given to understand that further damaging disclosures about his illegal nuclear activities will be calibrated according to his continuing rejection of political dialogue and abuses. They will pave the way towards tougher sanctions.

Sunday, Oct. 31, the Syrian ruler threatened to "burn the Middle East" if the West intervened in Syria.

Monday, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said firmly: "NATO has no intention [to intervene] whatsoever. I can completely rule that out."

According to the information reaching debkafile's military and intelligence sources, this negative applies to the alliance as a body, not its individual members. Turkey for example is directly involved in supporting the Syrian revolt against the Assad regime by laying on weapons and training and allowing rebel leaders to operate cross-border command centers on its soil.

Qatar, which is not a NATO member but was closely associated with the alliance operation in Libya, is a major purveyor of arms and funding for Syria's anti-regime fighters. In the operation against Muammar Qaddafi, the Qataris became expert in the management of revolts against Arab dictatorships and accustomed to working in close sync with NATO intelligence and military arms.
Whether or not NATO intervenes in Syria is no longer a question. It already has, in one way or another. The question is when will Assad decide that Western intervention has reached a level warranting delivery on his threat to burn the Middle East?

Google Maps taking viewers inside shops

Google's free online map service is letting shops, gyms, restaurants and other small businesses provide viewers glimpses of what lies behind facades seen on Street View.

A test program launched in April of last year was bearing fruit in a growing array of panoramic images taken inside businesses that volunteered to be part of the project.

"We've been seeing renewed interest in the past few days because, as promised, we're getting more imagery online," Google spokeswoman Deanna Yick told AFP on Monday.

"The 360-degree views are really visually engaging, so we're glad users are excited," she continued.

Small businesses in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States have been able to invite Street View photographers into their shops or eateries to capture images then served up with Google online maps.

"With this immersive imagery, potential customers can easily imagine themselves at the business and decide if they want to visit in person," Google Maps product manager Gadi Royz said in a blog post early this year.

Google is blurring faces of bystanders in pictures to allay privacy concerns that have arisen with Street View, which lets people click spots on online maps to see recently-taken images of locations.