3 Hour Documentary explaining a portion of the information about media censorship, consolidation and propaganda.

Breaking from two decades of tradition, this year’s election exit poll is set to include surveys of voters in 31 states, not all 50 as it has for the past five presidential elections, according to multiple people involved in the planning. - Dan Merkle, director of elections for ABC News, and a member of the consortium that runs the exit poll, confirmed the shift Thursday. The aim, he said, “is to still deliver a quality product in the most important states,” in the face of mounting survey costs. The decision by the National Election Pool — a joint venture of the major television networks and The Associated Press — is sure to cause some pain to election watchers across the country. (For a full list of the states that won’t have exit polls, check HERE.)

Turkey’s parliament on Thursday authorized the Turkish government to take military action against Syria, as the international community scrambled to defuse tensions heightened by a Syrian artillery strike a day earlier in which five Turkish civilians died.

Syria told the United Nations that two of its soldiers had been injured in retaliatory shelling launched overnight by Turkey against a military base near the Syrian town of Tal Abyad. The shelling, which continued until dawn Thursday, marked the first instance of international military action against Syria since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad’s rule began 19 months ago. The Turkish parliament’s measure did not mention Syria by name, but it gave the government blanket approval to conduct operations beyond Turkey’s borders for the coming year, potentially opening the door to unilateral Turkish military intervention in the bloody civil war unfolding next door. Neither Turkey nor Syria has expressed any appetite for war, however, and there was no indication that the allies of either country would be prepared to support one. World powers sought to calm both sides, amid growing concerns that the trajectory of events risks fulfilling long-standing prophecies that the Syrian war could ignite a wider regional confrontation.

PressTV: US wants to see Syria, Turkey going to war: Iran cmdr.

Hürriyet Daily News: Russia warns Turkey, Syria over tensions near border - Russia has urged restraint between Turkey and Syria so as to avoid possible cross-border conflicts while telling world powers that they should not seek ways to intervene in the Syrian war. Both Syrian and Turkish authorities “should exercise maximum restraint” since radical members of the Syrian opposition might deliberately provoke cross-border conflicts for their own benefits, Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said yesterday. The diplomat said Moscow has been worrying about the situation on the Syria-Turkey border. Ankara has repeatedly complained of artillery and gunfire spilling over its border and last week signaled it would take action if there was a repeat of a mortar strike on its territory from inside Syria. Turkey has sent a diplomatic note to Syria over the mortar bomb that hit the southeastern province of Akçakale on Sept. 28.

Although the European Parliament recently adopted a motion stating that "the Palestinian presence in the West Bank, with special regard to Area C, and in East Jerusalem has been undermined by Israeli Government policies", there is a clear discrepancy between condemning Israel's violations in the OPT and increasing trade links with Israel. The EU has become Israel's biggest importer to the tune of 16.8 billion Euros in 2011 and the second largest market for Israeli exports. On 24 July 2012, during a meeting of the EU Association Council in Brussels, Israel was offered 60 new activities of cooperation with the EU. Human rights campaigners are clear that Israel should not be rewarded for its aggression in any way under any agreements, protocols or action plans. All such agreements must be suspended until such a time that Israel complies with fundamental international law and human rights law standards.

After anti-Muslim ads hit NYC subways last month, Jewish and Christian groups respond with a message of love – hanging pro-Muslim posters to condemn intolerance and celebrate the city’s diversity. Rabbis for Human Rights – North America and the Sojourners Christian group will place their adverts right next to the anti-jihad messages that were released by pro-Israel group, the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI).The organization covered 10 Manhattan stations, despite strong objection by the city’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The original text by the AFDI declared "In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel. Defeat Jihad." The ad by Rabbis for Human Rights- North America will say “In the choice between love and hate, choose love. Help stop bigotry against our Muslim neighbors.” “Love your Muslim neighbors,” is the message on the Sojourners’ ad. “Our subway platforms and buses should not be the platform for messages of hate that divide friends, neighbors, and colleagues,” read a message on the Rabbis for Human Rights – North America’s website. Last week the United Methodist Women Church unveiled its response to the AFDI posters with an ad saying “Hate speech is not civilized. Support peace in word and deed.”

Former US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has warned that an Israeli or US military strike on Iran could have disastrous consequences which could haunt Washington’s dealings in the Middle East for years to come. - "The results of an American or Israeli military strike on Iran could, in my view, prove catastrophic, haunting us for generations in that part of the world," Gates said on Wednesday in a speech in Norfolk, Virginia. The United States, Israel, and some of their allies have accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program with the Israeli regime repeatedly threatening to attack Iran's nuclear facilities based on the unsubstantiated allegation. Iran rejects the allegations, arguing that as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. In addition, the IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities, but has never found any evidence showing that the country's civilian nuclear program has been diverted towards nuclear weapons production. The former Pentagon chief also noted that Washington must make it clear to Israeli officials that "they do not have a blank check to take action that could do grave harm to American vital interests."

Scores of American peace activists and foreign journalists are set to join a mass rally in Pakistan to protest against US assassination drone attacks. - The protestors are planning to march from the Pakistani capital city, Islamabad, to South Waziristan - the tribal region hit hard by the American drones. The peace activists have described the US assassination drone attacks as clear violation of international law and human rights. The rally is expected to attract tens of thousands of Pakistanis. Pakistani tribal regions are the target of US terror drones, with Washington claiming that its unmanned aircraft are targeting militants. However, casualty figures clearly indicate that Pakistani civilians are the main victims of the assaults. [+ DronesWatch]

CodePink: News about the Pakistan Delegation
CodePink: Tell US Ambassador to Pakistan: End Drone Strikes! [Petition]
CodePink: 40 Americans are in Pakistan to learn more about the effects of drone strikes

Russian parliamentarians say the recent so-called “Russian spy scandal” in the US has suspiciously coincided with the final stage of the US presidential campaign and could cause problems for Barack Obama. - The elections campaign in the United States is in the full swing and as always they use the topic of their ‘love to Russia’, one senior MP has said. Head of the Duma Security Committee Irina Yarovaya said the presidential poll and the generally uneasy internal political situation caused by the scandal with the infamous movie Innocence of Muslims make it especially suspicious that people with Russian names would suddenly appear and allegedly start to export military-related technology. Jumping to conclusions in this case is hardly recommended, she added. [...] Upper House member Viktor Ozerov claimed that the US special services were the side that gained the most from the spy scandal as they always seek to remind of their importance and then demand, yet another time, to increase the financing for their activities.

“We remember the previous spy scandal that broke out exactly at the moment when President Dmitry Medvedev was on an official visit to the United States and met with Barack Obama. The new scandal is now on the eve of presidential elections,” the senator said, noting that such timing is never coincidental.

Ozerov claimed that many representatives of the US power structures have negative attitude towards the US-Russia “reset” policy and are criticizing Obama’s administration for it.