todayspulse.net

Posts Tagged ‘barack obama’

BP says effort has started to try to stop leaking Gulf oil well by filling it with mud

COVINGTON, La. (AP) — BP on Wednesday launched its latest bid to plug the gushing well in the Gulf of Mexico by force-feeding it heavy drilling mud, a maneuver known as a “top kill” that has never before been tried 5,000 feet underwater.

The oil giant’s chief executive earlier gave the procedure a 60 to 70 percent chance of working, and President Barack Obama cautioned Wednesday there were “no guarantees.”

BP spokesman Steve Rinehart said the company will pump mud for hours, and officials have indicated it may be a couple of days before they know whether the procedure is working. the top kill involves pumping enough mud into the gusher to overcome the flow of oil, and engineers plan to follow it up with cement to try to permanently seal the well.

A live video stream showed pictures of the oil gushing and the blowout preventer, the five-story device the mud was being pumped into. a weak spot in the device could blow under the pressure, causing a brand new leak.

Gene Beck, a petroleum engineering professor at Texas A&M in College Station, said the endeavor would likely fail quickly if the mud could not overcome the pressure of the oil.

Obama tackles border security with plan to send 1,200 National Guard troops to US-Mexico line

PHOENIX (AP) — President Barack Obama’s plan to send as many as 1,200 National Guard troops back to the U.S.-Mexico border quelled demands that he must do more to battle illegal immigration and drug smuggling, but advocates for tougher enforcement say the troops need authority to make detentions.

The new plan looks similar to the National Guard initiative under former President George W. Bush, but on a much smaller scale: Troops will work on intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support, and will eventually be replaced by more border patrol and customs agents. the plan at this point doesn’t call for the ability to round up suspected illegal immigrants and smugglers.

U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Carlos Pascual, speaking to journalists Wednesday in Mexico City, said the troops will serve as a bridge until the American government can get more agents on the border. he emphasized that the troops won’t be working on the front lines or interacting with people crossing the border.

“It’s much more back office functions of receiving reports that are coming in from other intelligence entities,” he said. the troops will “review and analyze” intelligence, then “feed that to the people who are actually the presence on the border itself.” In addition, he said the troops will observe the border from remote surveillance points, then communicate with Customs and Border Protection officers.

The comments came a day after the Mexican government issued a statement saying it hoped the troops would be used to fight drug cartels and not enforce immigration laws. Mexico has traditionally objected to the use of the military to control illegal immigration.

Clinton says world must respond to ‘unacceptable provocation’ in sinking of South Korean ship

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday the world must respond to the “unacceptable provocation” represented by the sinking of a South Korean warship blamed on Pyongyang, as the regime shelled out more blistering rhetoric against Seoul and Washington.

Tension on the divided Korean peninsula has risen dramatically since international investigators said last week that a torpedo fired by a North Korean submarine tore apart and sank the South Korean warship Cheonan on March 26, killing 46 sailors.

Relations are at their lowest point in a decade, when South Korea began reaching out to the North with unconditional aid as part of reconciliation efforts. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has taken a harder line against Pyongyang since taking office in 2008 amid delays in the North’s promised denuclearization and has suspended aid.

South Korea, backed by the U.S., Japan and other allies, began implementing a package of punitive measures against the North on Tuesday — ranging from slashing trade, resuming propaganda warfare and barring the North’s cargo ships. those were seen as among the strongest it could implement short of military action.

“This was an unacceptable provocation by North Korea, and the international community has a responsibility and a duty to respond,” Clinton told reporters in Seoul, the final leg of a three-nation Asian tour.

44 civilians reported dead in Jamaica raids on gang chief’s stronghold

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Jamaican security forces claimed a tenuous hold over the slum stronghold of a gang leader sought by the U.S., but only after battles that killed at least 44 civilians, the country’s official ombudsman said Wednesday.

Officers and soldiers were still fighting holdout defenders of Christopher Coke, known as “Dudus,” in pockets of the Tivoli Gardens area. he was still at large after nearly three days of street battles.

Bishop Herro Blair, Jamaica’s most prominent evangelical pastor, told the associated Press that independent evaluations have put the number of civilian dead at 44 in West Kingston alone. Police have said that at least four soldiers and police officers also have died in fighting in West Kingston and elsewhere around the capital.

Police earlier reported at least 26 civilian deaths and the country’s embattled Prime Minister Bruce Golding promised an independent investigation into all civilian deaths during the operation.

Blair and Jamaica’s public defender were escorted by security forces into Tivoli Gardens, where supporters of Coke began massing last week after Golding dropped his nine-month refusal to extradite him to the U.S.

Stocks give up early gains and end lower after the euro sinks again; Dow closes under 10,000

NEW YORK (AP) — a drop in the euro set off a late-day slide in stocks Wednesday and sent the Dow Jones industrial average to its first close below 10,000 in nearly four months.

The Dow, up 135 points in morning trading, ended down about 69. It was the eighth drop for the Dow in 10 days. Wednesday’s trading extended a streak of volatility since stocks went to their highest level of the year in late April.

The late reversal underscored how jittery traders are about Europe. they are worried that heavy debt loads in European countries and more rounds of cost-cutting will hamper a recovery there, which could spread quickly to other regions.

“We had a nice rally all day and we expected it to have had legs,” said Phillip Orlando, chief equity market strategist at Federated investors in new York, which manages about $400 billion. the sudden sell-off, he said, suggests “that investors are as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a roomful of rocking chairs.”

The euro fell in late trading, pulling major stock indexes lower, following a Financial Times report that China is reviewing its holdings of European government bonds because of the crisis in government debt there.

Facebook, acknowledging many users `upset,’ to simplify privacy controls in coming weeks

NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook is simplifying its privacy controls amid growing unrest from many of its users.

Protesters have been organizing campaigns to quit Facebook and privacy groups have complained to regulators after Facebook announced new features last month, including “instant personalization” that tailors other websites to users’ Facebook profiles.

“A lot of people are upset with us,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged at a news conference Wednesday at the company’s Palo Alto, Calif., headquarters.

One complaint has been over the fact that while Facebook allows users to hide their list of interests on their personal profile pages, the user would still show up elsewhere as “liking” that band, company or hobby. Zuckerberg said that under the simplified controls, privacy preferences will be extending to those other places as well.

Zuckerberg said the company is also making it easier for users to decline the instant personalization feature.

Google Earth tool offers online preview of World Trade Center memorial site

NEW YORK (AP) — Visitors to the website of the planned World Trade Center memorial can explore a 3-D model of it, thanks to a partnership between the National Sept. 11 Memorial & Museum and Google Earth.

Museum officials said Wednesday that the model will help the public visualize the memorial and its lower Manhattan setting. Visitors can zoom in and look at each tree and cobblestone or zoom out and look at the entire project.

Those who visit the museum in person will see recreations of the vigils and makeshift memorials that sprang up around the city after the attacks. they also will see portraits of the victims.

The museum is scheduled to open in 2012.

Art Linkletter, host of ‘People are Funny’ and ‘House Party,’ dies at LA home, son-in-law says

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Art Linkletter, who as the gently mischievous host of TV’s “People are Funny” and “House Party” in the 1950s and ’60s delighted viewers with his ability to get kids — and grownups — to say the darndest things on national television, died Wednesday. he was 97.

Linkletter died at his home in the Bel-Air section of Los Angeles, said his son-in-law, Art Hershey, the husband of Sharon Linkletter.

“He lived a long, full, pure life, and the Lord had need for him,” Hershey said.

Linkletter had been ill “in the last few weeks time, but bear in mind he was 97 years old. he wasn’t eating well, and the aging process took him,” Hershey said.

Linkletter hadn’t been diagnosed with any life-threatening disease, he said.

Flood of ‘millions’ of frogs forces Greek officials to close major northern highway for hours

THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — Greek officials say a horde of frogs has forced the closure of a key northern highway for two hours.

Thessaloniki traffic police chief Giorgos Thanoglou says “millions” of the amphibians covered the tarmac Wednesday near the town of Langadas, some 12 miles east of Thessaloniki.

“There was a carpet of frogs,” he said.

Authorities closed the highway after three car drivers skidded off the road trying to dodge the frogs. No human injuries were reported.

Thanoglou said the amphibians probably left a nearby lake to look for food.

On day of dreams and defeat, Beasley, Buddle & Gomez make US World Cup roster; Ching cut

BRISTOL, Conn. (AP) — the phones started ringing at 2 a.m., and players were told to come down to the third floor for a meeting. as Herculez Gomez pressed the elevator button on 17, his mind raced.

Were his dreams about to be fulfilled — or crushed?

This is the way the U.S. World Cup team was finalized, in the dead of night in a Hartford hotel.

“It’s been such a crazy and unbelievable journey,” Gomez said.

And the big trip hasn’t even begun.

Reuters At West Point, Obama offers new security strategy Washington Post President Barack Obama told graduating cadets who soon will head to war that their country needs allies standing with the US in Afghanistan and around the world at a time when many countries are questioning their commitment to that fight.

Here is the original post:
At West Point, Obama offers new security strategy – Washington Post

Tags: a-offers-new, afghanistan, after-obama, country, daily-news, point, point-grads, standing-with, table-border

this entry was posted on Saturday, may 22nd, 2010 at 5:59 pm and is filed under Google News. you can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. you can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Joined by his First Lady wife Michelle Obama and their gracious girls Malia and Sasha, President Barack Obama kicked off the annual White House Egg Roll under warm, sunny Washington skies today (April 5).

“Is everybody having a good time?” he asked the thousands of children and their parents on the South Lawn for games, musical acts, special readings and visits from the Easter Bunny and other furry friends.

Barack said he was “not going to make a long speech, because we’ve got the best speaker, the smartest and best-looking of the older Obamas — and that would be the First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama.”

Michelle went on to thank “Mother Nature” for the weather and talked about the theme of this year’s event, “Ready, set, go!” which is tied to her campaign against childhood obesity.

She later noted the celebs who’ll be reading books to the crowd, including Reese Witherspoon and J.K. Rowling, and singers Justin Bieber and Sara Bareilles, on hand to perform. About 30 000 people are on the White House grounds for the event.

The president read the popular Dr. Seuss book, Green Eggs and Ham, to a group of about 25 children and told the kids that reading goes hand-in-hand with moving their bodies. “You’ve got to exercise your brain just like you exercise your body,” Obama said. He proceeded to gesture wildly as he read.

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama helped celebrate International Women’s Day yesterday (March 8 ) with some one-liners reminiscent of the old vaudeville routines.

“So, I get so speak first while he stands and watches — I love this!” Michelle said of her hubby to the mostly female audience in the East Room at the White House.

“Look at me adoringly!,” Mrs. O. told the president.
“I can do that …,” he said. “… with sincerity!”

Meanwhile, President Obama said the history of women in the United States, like the history of the country itself, has had peaks and valleys, but the line has always had “an upward curve.”

He later praised his spouse. “I’m biased, I acknowledge,” he said, “but I think she’s a pretty good first lady.”

Giving no ground, President Barack Obama and Republican leaders fought forcefully for their competing visions of historic health care reform Thursday in an exhausting, often-testy live-on-TV debate. far from any accord, Obama signaled the Democrats were prepared to push ahead for an all-or-nothing congressional vote.

The marathon, 7 1/2-hour session did reveal narrow areas of agreement on the topic that has vexed Congress for months and defied U.S. leaders for decades. but larger ideological differences overwhelmed any common ideas, all but cementing the widely held view that a meaningful bipartisan health care bill is not possible as time grows short in this election year.

Obama rejected Republican preferences for starting over, discussing the issue much longer or dealing with it in a limited, step-by-step fashion.

“We cannot have another yearlong debate about this,” Obama declared. “I’m not sure we can bridge the gap.”

Party officials said March is probably the last chance to act.

It has been more than a year since he proposed his overhaul, which would be important to virtually all Americans in remaking the way they receive and pay for health care. The version he embraces, basically tracking legislation passed by the Senate, would expand health coverage to some 30 million people who lack it and stop insurance companies from dropping people for questionable reasons or denying coverage to people who have certain illnesses.

Obama and the Democrats portray the current situation as a major crisis, with tens of millions of people left with no health insurance at all and health care costs threatening to bankrupt the nation. The Republicans see problems as well, but seek more modest steps to deal with them and say Obama’s plan would run up the federal deficit — despite his claims to the contrary.

Obama strongly suggested that Democrats will try to pass a sweeping overhaul without GOP support, by using controversial Senate budget rules that would disallow filibusters. and then, he said, this fall’s elections would write the verdict on who was right.

Yesterday, the American people chose Barack Obama as the country’s 44th president, promising a sea change in US policy that could affect not just the US, but the whole world.

Here we take a look at what Obama has pledged over the lengthy presidential campaign, to see what his administration will mean for science and technology.

In September, Obama unveiled a comprehensive Science and Technology Policy (pdf).

In it he promised to lead a new era of scientific innovation in America and to restore integrity to US science policy. this would be achieved by doubling the federal investment in basic research and by addressing the “grand challenges” of the 21st century, he said. The rhetoric gained him the public endorsement of 61 Nobel laureates.

Obama lacks a science background, though, and over the past 50 years it has been Republican, rather than Democratic administrations, that have tended to spend more on science. whether Obama and his team can buck this trend in the current dire financial situation remains to be seen.

Key adviser

Although he consulted a range of Nobel prize winners during his presidential campaign, it is also crucial that Obama chooses his presidential scientific adviser early in his term, Joanne Carney of the American Association for the Advancement of Science told New Scientist in September.

“Having the science adviser in place early is going to be critical,” Carney said. “It means that an individual can play a role in placing other key scientists throughout the federal agencies.”

The outgoing Bush administration took 10 months to appoint John Marburger as the presidential science adviser – a position that didn’t exist until Russia sent Sputnik into space 50 years ago.

to the heavens

We already have some idea of Obama’s own position on the big scientific issues – at the beginning of September he answered 14 questions posed by a consortium of scientific organisations.

Obama promised to lift the current ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research and support recommendations on genetic engineering as proposed by the Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee.

Technology could benefit under the Obama administration too, with promises to re-establish the National Aeronautics and Space Council – scrapped in 1993 by George Bush senior. The move would “expand our reach into the heavens and improve life here on Earth,” said Obama.

Obama’s attitude to the problem of climate change appeals to many in the scientific community – he aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, and expand research funding into energy resources that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Read our environmental analysis of what the Obama victory will mean for the fight against climate change.

Health of the nation

Obama’s policy on healthcare will be among the most carefully scrutinised. The US spends twice as much per head on healthcare as many other developed nations, but has little extra benefit to show for it.

With a healthcare bill that currently stands at over $2 trillion per year and is rising rapidly, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that the US’s health spending will soar to 49% of GDP in 2082 – it currently stands at 16%.

Shannon Brownlee, a specialist in health policy with the new America Foundation, a non-partisan think tank in Washington DC, told New Scientist that the antidote to soaring costs is more research into the comparative effectiveness of medical interventions.

That, coupled with greater use of electronic medical records and information technology, could help reduce the likelihood of duplicated diagnostic tests and minimise errors in drug prescribing.

Obama has already pledged billions of dollars for such systems, and supports further biomedical research into disease and responses to bioterror attacks.

Playing catch-up?

For too long the US has “[reduced] support for science at a time when many other nations are increasing it,” Obama said in September. “A situation that already threatens our leadership in many critical areas of science.”

That comment prompted New Scientist to wonder whether Obama feared America was falling behind in the scientific rat-race.

Whether or not Obama’s scientific motives are to improve the world we live in, or to play science and technology catch-up with the other leading nations, the new US president has certainly been making the right noises for those that value science and technology. now we have to wait and see if he can deliver.

If you would like to reuse any content from new Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. new Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to.

Just in: Look for a new bio of President Barack Obama.

This one, titled The Bridge: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama, is by New Yorker editor and best-selling author David Remnick and will be published by Alfred A. Knopf on April 6.

Remnick conducted hundreds of on-the-record interviews and uses conversations with family, friends, teachers, professors, mentors, donors, and Obama rivals, as well as with the President himself.
The Bridge also includes letters from his mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, which are being published for the first time.

A Connecticut delegate to the Democratic National Convention is calling on state party officials to remove U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, aka, Zell Loserman, from the party rolls.

CT State Rep. Jason Bartlett said Loserman’s decision to speak at the Republican National Convention next week is the final straw in a long list of disappointments.

“It’s time the State Central Committee takes a stand and looks into taking him off the rolls,” Bartlett said Tuesday during a phone interview with the News-Times.

Bartlett’s efforts so far have been thwarted by the Connecticut Democratic Party Chairwoman Nancy DiNardo. DiNardo(pictured above) is also a delegate to the convention in Denver.

DiNardo in a canned response said, “Nobody is more disappointed or frustrated with Sen. Lieberman than I am, but we also have to look at the big picture. It’s far more important to keep control of the Senate and focus on the Democrats winning in November than paying attention to Lieberman.”

If Nancy DiNardo is so disappointed with Loserman why is she protecting him? He was given a prominent time slot to speak at the Republican convention, has endorsed John McCain and is on the short list for McCain’s VP pick.

He regularly bashes the Democratic nominee, Barack Obama, in the media. Loserman is anything but a Democrat.

The only facts that you need to know about Loserman’s character and integrity as a man is that when he was in a dog fight for his political life over his pro war policies in the 2006 Connecticut Democratic primary , Obama brazenly stood up for him.

“I am absolutely certain Connecticut is going to have the good sense to send Joe Lieberman back to the U.S. Senate so he can continue to serve on our behalf.”Loserman eventually lost the primary to Ned Lamont and ran as an independent but the anti war, popular Senator Obama still had Loserman’s back by not fully supporting Lamont’s general election efforts.

Loserman went on to victory and now repays Obama’s efforts by despicably calling him unpatriotic during Obama’s historic run for the presidency.

Loserman is a crappy friend who sold out Obama and ruins the reputation of Al Gore on a daily basis. This selfish opportunist and blood thirsty war monger should have no affiliation with the Democratic party in any capacity whatsoever.

To have the State Party Chair defend him is disgusting and a clear conflict of her role as head of the state party. it is time for new leadership in the Connecticut Democratic Party, starting with the removal of Nancy DiNardo.

If you support Rep. Bartlett’s call to remove Joe Lieberman from the roll of the Connecticut Democratic Party, please use the contact information below to put pressure on the Lieberman Protectionists at the Connecticut Central Committee.

Lieberman Protectionist Nancy DiNardo’s email NDiNardo@ctdems.org
The Connecticut Democrats
179 Allyn Street, Suite 301
Hartford, CT 06103
p: 860 560-1775 f: 860 560-1522

My Left Nutmeg interviewed Bartlett about his attempts to kick Loserman to the curb.

RTD’s FasTracks could get the boost it is looking for this afternoon, when the Federal Transit Administration makes an announcement about a key chunk of funding needed to redevelop Union Station as a hub for the regional transportation plan.

FTA Administrator Peter Rogoff is scheduled to “announce some news about Union Station” at 1:30 p.m. today at the historic train depot in Denver.

FasTracks is a $6.5 billion project that would build six metro light-rail lines and extend three existing lines, with Union Station as a hub for buses, trains and light rail that service much of the metro area.

FasTracks has applied for a $300 million federal loan to help fund the $480 million Union Station project.

The $300 million loan, which Denver’s City Council agreed to guarantee last week with the use of general funds if necessary, is one of the last hurdles before the redevelopment can get started.

The money is not available from the private investment market and would have to be loaned by the federal government for the project to become feasible, organizers have said.

President Barack Obama’s budget proposal for fiscal 2011 includes recommendations to spend $40 million each on the proposed Gold Line corridor from Union Station to Wheat Ridge and the east line from Union Station to Denver International Airport.

Compared with the $1 billion in federal funding the Regional Transportation District has requested for a public-private partnership that would complete those two lines, $80 million seems like small change.

But FasTracks spokeswoman Pauletta Tonilas said the recommendations “signal that the federal government intends to fully fund those corridors.”

“Typically, the federal government will not recommend any money for projects they will not fully fund,” she said.

Mike McPhee: 303-954-1409 or mmcphee@denverpost.com

Addressing the National Prayer Breakfast today (February 4), President Barack Obama made a passing reference to the “birther” movement that alleges he is not a U.S. citizen.

His comments came in a passage about the need for more civility in politics.

“Surely you can question my policies without questioning my faith,” he said, pausing before adding: “Or for that matter my citizenship.”

The audience burst out into laughter which was then followed by a smile from the president.

For doubters and skeptics, Obama is a Christian who was born in Hawaii.