Fallenmonk has been watching Rudy and discusses Keeping it Honest.

Rudy has a new ad out in which he says: “You and I should be making the decisions about what kind of health care we get with our doctors, not with a government bureaucrat.”

He makes claims about prostate cancer survival rates in various countries which makes it rather clear that the Japanese have a much lower rate of prostate cancer than Westerners, and no matter where you live in the West, or what your health care system looks like, between 26 and 30 men per 100,000 die of prostate cancer.

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Dave Johnson at Seeing The Forest notes that both Edwards and Obama are carrying Repub water on Social Security.

How many times do these people have to be told that the only problem with Social Security is that the Repubs have been raiding the trust fund to give their friends and supporters tax breaks, and now they are going to be forced to pay it back. The money has been paid by the people who will receive the benefits and Congress has to put back what they have taken. The Repubs have been looting the trust fund to drive the system under and they need to be called on it, not supported in their alibis by Dems.

The BBC notes: IAEA findings on Iran dismissed

France and the US have dismissed a finding by the head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog Mohammed ElBaradei that there is no evidence of Iran building a bomb.

French Defence Minister Herve Morin challenged Iran to allow UN inspectors unlimited access to sites.

A White House spokeswoman said Iran was “enriching and reprocessing uranium, and the reason that one does that is to lead towards a nuclear weapon”.

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Just so you know: Argentina’s first lady wins poll

Argentina’s current first lady, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, has secured victory in the country’s presidential election.

With most of the ballots counted, Mrs Kirchner had an unassailable lead with 44.9% of the votes.

Her nearest rival, former lawmaker Elisa Carrio, has admitted defeat, trailing on 23% of the vote.

Mrs Kirchner will succeed her husband Nestor Kirchner and become Argentina’s first elected female president.

Argentina wants you to know that this had nothing to with Eva Perón, but they wouldn’t say no to a visit from Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Maybe Exxon will be able to pay the fine in a week: Oil price settles at record high

By close of trade in New York, US light crude for December delivery rose by $1.67 to $93.53 a barrel, marking a record settlement price.

We have to attack Iran because the oil market responds so well to things going boom in the region. This is the price for December delivery, but it will be reflected in your price at the pump tomorrow.

The BBC tells us that if you are a big oil company, the Supreme Court feels your pain: Exxon can appeal $2.5bn oil fine

Exxon Mobil has won the right to appeal against a $2.5bn (£1.21bn) damages bill relating to a 1989 Alaskan oil spill.

The US Supreme Court said it would hear the appeal against record damages due to victims of the Valdez oil spill.

The case has dragged on since 1994 with the US oil giant fighting to reduce the bill, which it has called excessive.

In what was one of the biggest ever oil spills, 11 million gallons of crude were released into Alaska’s wilderness after the Exxon tanker hit a reef.

About 1,300 miles (2,080km) of coastline was contaminated as a result of the oil spill.

It takes Exxon a couple of weeks to earn the money for the fine, and people have been waiting for 13 years to settle this case. Maybe Congress will grant them immunity to make the whole thing go away.

Position: 21.2 N 75.0 W. [10PM CDT]
Movement: Northwest [315°] near 13 mph.
Maximum sustained winds: 50 mph.
Wind Gusts: 60 mph.
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 175 miles.
Minimum central pressure: 1000 mb.

TS Noel is about 305 miles South-Southeast of Nassau in the Bahamas.