Book bombshell: Obama canceled Bin Laden ‘kill’ raid three times at Valerie Jarrett’s urging

◼ In ”Leading From Behind: The Reluctant President and the Advisors Who Decide for Him,“ Richard Miniter writes that Obama canceled the “kill” mission in January 2011, again in February, and a third time in March. Obama’s close adviser Valerie Jarrett persuaded him to hold off each time, according to the book.

Miniter, a two-time New York Times best-selling author, cites an unnamed source with Joint Special Operations Command who had direct knowledge of the operation and its planning.

Obama administration officials also said after the raid that the president had delayed giving the order to kill the arch-terrorist the day before the operation was carried out, in what turned out to be his fourth moment of indecision. At the time, the White House blamed the delay on unfavorable weather conditions near bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

But when Miniter obtained that day’s weather reports from the U.S. Air Force Combat Meteorological Center, he said, they showed ideal conditions for the SEALs to carry out their orders.

“President Obama’s greatest success was actually his greatest failure,” Miniter told The Daily Caller Friday. ”Leading From Behind,“ he said, traces the arc of six key Obama administration decisions, and shows how the president made them — and, often, failed to make them....

◼ Leading from Behind: The Reluctant President and the Advisors Who Decide for Him - at Amazon

No supervisors meetings until Aug. 14

◼ The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors isn't meeting again until Aug. 14. The supervisors aren't meeting Tuesday because it's the fifth Tuesday of the month, and they're not meeting Aug. 7 because it's been scheduled as a summer break day. County offices will remain open Aug. 7. - Times-Standard

BIG INVESTOR BAILING FROM NEWSWEEK/DAILY BEAST

◼ A big publishing story of 2010 was when stereo equipment magnate Sidney Harman bought financially troubled Newsweek Magazine for $1 in the hopes of revitalizing the venerable old publication into the "thought leader" it once was. Now, since Mr. Harman's death, his family seems poised to bail on the old man's publishing charity case along with the left-leaning Daily Beast website. - Warner Todd Huston/Breitbart

Now, the Harman family has announced that it is pulling back and has stopped investing in the Newsweek Daily Beast joint venture with Barry Diller's InterActiveCorp (IAC).

The Daily Beast, launched to great fanfare in 2008 by Barry Diller and Tina Brown, quickly built a readership on the Internet. But, as Reuters notes, "advertising sales never caught up with the buzz, and media reports have estimated losses at The Daily Beast at around $10 million annually."

...Insiders claim that the Harman family is also unhappy that Newsweek has not developed into a intellectual publication but has instead driven for sensationalism. The magazine has fallen from its one-time height of 4 million readers to somewhere around 1.5 million today.

Related: ◼ CNN President Jim Walton, who has been with the company for 30 years, has announced that he’s resigning. He will remain with the network until the end of the year. “CNN needs new thinking,” Walton wrote in a note to staff this morning. “I have interests to explore, I need to give myself time to do [them].” - MediaBistro

REPORT: 'HOMELAND SECURITY' GEARS UP FOR CIVIL UNREST PRIOR TO ELECTION

◼ The Department of Homeland Security has ordered masses of riot gear equipment to prepare for potential significant domestic riots at the Republican National Convention, Democratic National Convention and next year’s presidential inauguration. - RT.com (image source)

The DHS submitted a rushed solicitation to the Federal Business Opportunities site on Wednesday, which is a portal for Federal government procurement requisitions over $25,000. ...As the brief explains, “the objective of this effort is to procure riot gear to prepare for the 2012 Democratic and Republican National Conventions, the 2013 Presidential Inauguration and other future similar activities.”
The total amount ordered is about 150 sets of riot helmets, thigh and groin protectors, hard-shell shin guards and other riot gear.

◼ DRONES TO BE USED FOR 'PUBLIC SAFETY' -DHS Prepares for Civil Unrest as Obama Poised to Destroy 2nd Amendment - Infowars via Drudge

Surveillance drones have a new mission. According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) they will be used for “public safety”. Janet Napolitano, Secretary of the DHS, told a House Committee meeting on Homeland Security that the more than 30,000 drones that will be deployed into American skies are just arbitrarily watching out for US citizens.

Napolitano stated : “With respect to Science and Technology, that directorate, we do have a funded project, I think it’s in California, looking at drones that could be utilized to give us situational awareness in a large public safety [matter] or disaster, such as a forest fire, and how they could give us better information.”
Secretly, DHS have been taking bid for contractors who can install “aerial remote sensing” which uses light detection and ranging (LIDAR) that would be part of the unmanned drone missions within domestic US territory.

◼ Practice range planned for N Dakota...

Operators of the Predator drones will be aiming lasers at targets on the ground. The lasers are used on the battlefield to designate targets for guided missiles and bombs.

Predators are capable of flying at high altitudes for long periods for surveillance, and they also can be equipped to carry missiles.

"People may hear airplanes flying above, but there will be no lights visible and no explosions," Gibney told the Grand Forks Herald.

In Israel, Romney takes tough stance on Iran... (w/transcript of remarks)

◼ Romney has said he has a "zero tolerance" policy toward Iran obtaining the capability to build a nuclear weapon. - AP

Romney, like Obama, believes the option of a U.S. attack should also be "on the table." He has said he will do "the opposite" of what Obama would do in his approach to Israel.

"Make no mistake: the ayatollahs in Tehran are testing our moral defenses. They want to know who will object, and who will look the other way," Romney plans to say later Sunday in a speech in Jerusalem. "My message to the people of Israel and the leaders of Iran is one and the same: I will not look away; and neither will my country."

The Obama administration hasn't ruled out the military option, but Obama has so far been relying on economic sanctions and diplomatic negotiations to discourage Iran from building a nuclear bomb.

◼ PM Netanyahu Disputes Obama Camp: “All of the Sanctions and Diplomacy Have Not Set Back the Iranian Program by One Iota” (Video) - Gateway Pundit
◼ Gov. Romney addresses crowd in Israel - NoQuarter

Google News is offering “Real-Time Coverage” of Mitt Romney’s trip. The second I saw that feature, I clicked and was wowed by the actual “dynamic” appearance of news stories the second that Google’s massive search engines find them. Try it. Neatly clustered at the bottom of the page are various videos and still shots of Romney in Israel, including video and stills of his meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu, his friend since the 1970s. (Romney meets with Netanyahu for a second time shortly, and he and Ann Romney will dine tonight with the Netanyahus sans staff and media.)

◼ Mitt Romney in Israel - Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion

◼ Mitt Romney Delivers Remarks In Jerusalem - mittromney.com

Mitt Romney today delivered remarks to the Jerusalem Foundation in Jerusalem, Israel. The following remarks were prepared for delivery:

100 days

◼ As presidential campaign heads into final 100 days, undecided voters still struggle - Matt Zapotosky, Emma Brown, Laura Vozzella, Joshua Hicks and David A. Fahrenthold/Washington Post

The conversations with voters also show how little the daily media circus of gaffes and campaign ads and surrogate attacks actually moves its intended targets. After months of heavy advertising by Romney, many voters knew only that he is Mormon, rich and not Obama.

This weekend, the Obama campaign kicks off the last 100 days of campaigning with 4,600 small events around the country, including Olympics-watching parties, house parties and “Barbecues for Barack.”

The Romney campaign is taking a different approach. The candidate is in Israel this weekend as part of an overseas tour designed to enhance his image as an international statesman.

“I’m not sure that 100 days out is going to feel much different than 105 days out or 95 days out,” said Ed Gillespie, a senior Romney adviser. He said the campaign thinks that less than 10 percent of the electorate should be considered truly “undecided.” Still, Gillespie said, in comparison with the Obama camp, “we’d rather play our hand than theirs.”