Obama calls Romney ‘all over the map’ in foreign policy debate

President Barack Obama portrayed rival Gov. Mitt Romney as "all over the map" and inexperienced on key national security issues in the third and final debate of the presidential election Monday night in Boca Raton, Fla. Each candidate attempted to paint the other as an untrustworthy commander in chief, but Romney's performance was less aggressive than Obama's, and the governor was often on defense in the 90-minute exchange.

"I know you haven't been in a position to actually execute foreign policy—but every time you've offered an opinion, you've been wrong," Obama said, referencing Romney's initial support for the Iraq war.

The president in general was harshly critical of Romney, and landed a few well-placed zingers. "The Cold War's been over for 20 years," he said in response to Romney's comment from several months ago that Russia is America's primary geopolitical foe.

He later said, "Well, Governor, we also have fewer horses and bayonets," in response to Romney's criticism that America has fewer Navy ships than in the past. "We have these things called aircraft carriers, where planes land on them. We have these ships that go underwater, nuclear submarines," the president added, a touch of mockery entering his voice.

Romney frequently pivoted to domestic issues and the economy, including the high number of Americans in poverty, his education record in Massachusetts, and his plans for reducing the deficit and creating jobs.

On foreign policy, Romney did not criticize how Obama handled the murder of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens in Libya, a topic he brought up in last week's town hall-style debate. Instead, Romney said the Middle East is in "tumult" and "chaos," and suggested Obama's strategy of killing Al Qaeda leaders in drone strikes is not enough to bring stability to the region.

"We can't kill our way out of this mess," Romney said. "We're going to have to put in place a very comprehensive and robust strategy to help the ... world of Islam and other parts of the world reject this radical violent extremism, which certainly [is] not on the run."

Romney also slammed Obama for what he called his "apology tour" in the Middle East, which he said projected weakness abroad. "The president began what I've called an apology tour of going to nations in the Middle East and criticizing America. I think they looked at that and saw weakness," Romney said. Obama called this a "whopper" and criticized Romney for fundraising on his trip to Israel. "When I went to Israel as a candidate, I didn't take donors," Obama said. "I didn't attend fundraisers. I went to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum there, to remind myself of the nature of evil and why our bond with Israel will be unbreakable."

Despite the crossfire, the candidates seemed to agree on many key foreign-policy issues, including the use of drone strikes to kill people believed to be terrorists, harsh sanctions on Iran (though Romney said the sanctions should be even stricter), and a strategy of avoiding military involvement in Syria.

After Romney seemed to avoid specifics on how he would handle Syria's civil war differently from Obama, the president retorted: "What you've just heard Gov. Romney say is that he doesn't have different ideas."

Obama and Romney are statistically tied among voters in the most recent polls, with Romney able to catch up with the president on the strength of his performance in the first debate in Denver. On foreign policy in particular,

Obama's lead over Romney, in the double digits only a few months ago, has shrunk to just four points, Americans considered President Obama the loser in the first debate in Denver by historic margins, and Romney's poll numbers soared after his strong performance there. When the candidates met for a rematch at Hofstra University on Long Island last week, a much more assertive Obama showed up, and snap polls showed he was considered a narrow winner of the night.

It remains to be seen if this debate will provide a "bounce" for either candidate in the last few weeks of the campaign. Voters overwhelmingly say the economy and jobs are the most important issues for them in this election.

 

ZITTO KABWE AFUNGUKA

" Hakuna uhalali wowote wa kuendelea na vitendo vya uvunjifu wa sheria na amani kwa visingizio vya dini au siasa. Taifa letu linafuata mfumo wa 'secularism' na yeyote anayetaka kutupeleka kwenye kuanza kuangaliana kwa misingi ya dini zetu lazima tumwambie hapana. Vyombo vya dola vimekuwa laini mno kushughulikia masuala yenye 'sentimenti' za kidini. Lazima Dola ionekane ipo na hatua kuchukuliwa. Masuala yanayoendelea Zanzibar na Dar es Salaam yanapaswa kulaaniwa na kila Mtanzania maana yanayofanyika sio Utanzania"

WAKAZI WA MBEYA WAINGIWA NA HOFU BAADA YA NDEGE ZA KIVITA KUPITA KATIKA ANGA LA JIJI LA MBEYA

Ndege kama hii zikiwa mbili zimeonekana kwenye anga la jiji la Mbeya huku zikipita kwa kasi wakazi wa jiji la Mbeya waingiwa na hofu kubwa wakidhani ndio mambo ya Malawi yameivaaaaa............!kutokana na mvutano uliopo wa nchi hizi mbili kuingia kwenye vita ya mpaka wa ziwa nyasa

Meneja wa viwanja vya Ndege Mbeya EZEKIEL MWALUTENDE ameuambia mtandao huu kuwa kinachofanyika sasa ni mazoezi ya ndege kwenye uwanja huo na kusema kuwa pamoja na ndege za kivita pia zipo ndege za abiria 5 ambapo zoezi hilo linatarajia kukamilika Jumanne wiki ijayo.

Ndege ya kwanza kutua katika Uwanja Wa Ndege Wa Kimataifa Wa Songwe mkoani Mbeya Jumapili Julai 22 2012, ilikuwa ndege aina ya Forker 28 ambayo alikuwemo Rais Jakaya Kikwete na msafara wa watu wengine 31.

Uwanja huo ambao aujakamilika na kudaiwa kuwa matengenezo yake yamefikia asilimia 95 tu bado aujaanza kutumika rasmi.

Baada ya kutua kwenye uwanja huo majira ya saa tano na dk 15 , rubani wa ndege hiyo, Kapteni Dominick Boman, akiongozwa na Meneja wa Uwanja wa ndege wa Mbeya ilipotua, Valentine Kadeha, aliusifia kuwa una sifa zote za kurusha ndege kubwa zinazobeba abiria na kuhoji kwa nini haujaanza kutumika.

“Uwanja ni mzuri sana, sehemu ya kurukia ndege ni pana na uwanja ni mrefu hakika wananchi wana kila sababu ya kuufurahia, sijui kipi kinakwamisha kuanza kutumika kwa abiria labda vituo vya mafuta havijajengwa, suala la sehemu ya kushukia abiria si tatizo; marubani tunahitaji uwanja mzuri,” alisema Bomani.

HATIMAYE MWILI WA MAREHEMU VICKY MACHA KUSAFIRISHWA LEO KWA MAZIKO HUKO MOSHI

October 15, 2012

KWAKHERI VICKY MACHA 

Wanahabari  Iringa  wakilia kwa uchungu wakati  wa kuaga mwili wa marehemu Vicky Macha leo kabla ya kuondoka kwenda Moshi

                                           Simanzi na uchungu kwa wanahabari

                              Mlezi wa IPC Salim Abri (kushoto) akiaga mwili  wa Vicky Macha leo

                              Waombolezaji  wakiuaga mwili wa marehemu Vicky Macha leo

                              wanahabari wakifanya juhudi za kumpepelea mwanzao alieanguka kwa mshtuko

                               mwanahabari Zulfa shomali akiwa ameanguka kwa mshituko

Wananchi  na  wanahabari  wakiwa wameubeba mwili wa marehemu Vicky Macha tayari kwa safari ya kwenda katika gari ili kuondoka kwenda Moshi mkoani Kilimanjaro kwa Mazishi hapo kesho.

BREAKING NEWS MWANDISHI WA HABARI WA NIPASHE IRINGA VICKY MACHA AFARIKI DUNIA USIKU WA KUAMKIA LEO

TAARIFA zilizotufikia asubuhi hii zinadai  kuwa aliyekuwa mweka hazina  wa chama cha  waandishi  wa habari  mkoa  wa Iringa (I.P.C) na mwandishi wa magazeti ya Nipashe mkoa  wa Iringa Vicky Macha (pichani) amefariki dunia asubuhi hii.

Vicky Macha kabla ya kifo chake alikuwa amelazwa katika hospitali ya mkoa wa Iringa akisumbuliwa ugonjwa wa Maralia na kulazwa katika Hospitali ya mkoa  wa Iringa kabla ya leo asubuhi kufariki dunia.
Vicky Macha katika uhai  wake  alipata  kufanya kazi kwa karibu na marehemu Daudi Mwangosi ambaye alikuwa ni mwenyekiti wa (IPC)  .

KAMANDA WA POLISI MKOA WA MWANZA AUAWA NA MAJAMBAZI

Habari za uhakika zinadai kwamba kamanda  wa Polisi Mkoa wa Mwanza Liberatus Barlow ameuawa kwa kupigwa risasi usiku wa kuamkia leo maeneo ya Kitangiri jijini Mwanza. Chanzo bado hakijafahamika kwa habari zaidi endelea kuchungulia humu ndani 

Mom gets 99 years in prison for gluing tot's hands

By NOMAAN MERCHANT | Associated Press – 11 hrs ago

• 
  Enlarge Photo
  Associated Press/Tony Gutierrez, File - FILE - In a Thursday, Oct. 11, 2012 file photo, Elizabeth Escalona, 23, breaks down as she responds to a line of questions in the sentencing phase of her trial, in Dallas. …more  Escalona was sentenced Friday, Oct. 12, 2012 to 99 years in prison for beating her toddler and gluing the child's hands to a wall. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File)  less 

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• Enlarge Photo FILE - In a Thursday, Oct. 11, …
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DALLAS (AP) — A Dallas woman who beat her 2-year-old daughter and glued the toddler's hands to a wall was sentenced Friday to 99 years in prison by a judge who described his decision as a necessary punishment for a brutal, shocking attack.

Elizabeth Escalona did not immediately react as State District Judge Larry Mitchell pronounced the sentence at the end of a five-day hearing. Prosecutor Eren Price, who originally offered Escalona a plea deal for 45 years, had argued that she now thought the 23-year-old mother deserved life.

Mitchell said his decision came down to one thing.

"On Sept. 7, 2011, you savagely beat your child to the edge of death," Mitchell said. "For this you must be punished."

The beating left Jocelyn Cedillo in a coma for a couple of days.

Escalona's other children told authorities their mother attacked Jocelyn due to potty training problems. Police say she kicked her daughter in the stomach, beat her with a milk jug, then stuck her hands to an apartment wall with an adhesive commonly known as Super Glue.

Jocelyn suffered bleeding in her brain, a fractured rib, multiple bruises and bite marks, a doctor testified. Some skin had been torn off her hands, where doctors also found glue residue and white paint chips from the apartment wall.

Escalona pleaded guilty in July to one count of felony injury to a child.

Price said Escalona would be eligible to apply for parole in 30 years.

Mitchell could have sentenced Escalona to anywhere from probation to life in prison. A sentence as long as 99 years is rare for felony injury to a child cases in Texas, but not unheard of. According to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, about 2,100 inmates are serving prison sentences for felony injury offenses involving a child, elderly or disabled victim. Just fewer than 5 percent of those inmates are serving sentences of 99 years or more, including life.

Defense attorney Angie N'Duka said afterward that the sentence was "way too harsh" and suggested the widespread attention her client's case had received contributed to the sentence.

"It's a lot of pressure, a lot of pressure on the parties," N'Duka said.
Price said prosecutors decided to ask for a longer sentence after receiving more evidence they wouldn't have had if Escalona had taken a deal for 45 years.
"We feel like the judge listened very carefully to a very difficult week of testimony, and we feel like he did exactly what the evidence called for," Price said.
Throughout the hearing, Price sought to portray Escalona as a liar, a monster and an unfit mother. She forced Escalona Thursday to look at enlarged photos of the bruises her attack left on Jocelyn.
Price argued Friday that if a stranger had beaten Jocelyn the same way, no one would hesitate to give that person life in prison. Escalona had mishandled a "beautiful gift" of a daughter and failed to recognize what she had done, Price argued.

"The 45-year recommendation was for somebody who was going to take ownership of what she did, appreciate what she caused," Price said.

Sending her to prison for decades would protect her children's future, Price argued.

"You can give Jocelyn and her brothers and sister peace," she said. "You can give them peace, so that when they're sitting around the dinner table at Thanksgiving with their big family, they're not worried that their mother is going to come walking through the door."

Defense attorney Angie N'Duka asked for probation or a prison sentence shorter than 10 years. N'Duka argued that her client was a "train wreck" waiting to happen before the attack, the product of a broken home, abuse and a childhood that included illegal drugs and hanging out with gang members.

N'Duka repeated that she did not want to minimize the injuries from the attack.

"They are despicable, but then the question is, 'What is justice for Jocelyn?'" she said, adding later: "Giving Elizabeth the opportunity to be a better mother, giving her the opportunity to get counseling services, will be justice for Jocelyn."

Escalona's five children, including Jocelyn and a baby born after the attack, are in the care of their grandmother, Ofeila Escalona.
Mitchell listened to both lawyers and took a short break before delivering his sentence.

The judge said he believed many of the allegations that Escalona was abused as a child. "And again, outside of the context of this trial, I think even the state would find you to be a sympathetic figure, because they prosecute people for what was done to you," Mitchell said. "But I can't consider that evidence outside of the context of this trial."

He then announced the sentence. A family member of Escalona began sobbing and screaming, "No!"

N'Duka told reporters that Escalona had asked afterward, "What about my children?"

Ofelia Escalona had asked for leniency for her daughter. After the sentencing, she left the courtroom with a solemn expression, ignoring reporters' shouted questions.

___
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