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WASHINGTON, Dec. 29, 2009 – U.S. forces are training and advising Iraqi officials in forensics, evidence collection, human rights and how a legal system is managed in a democracy. U.S. Marine Col. Darrel Halse serves as the Iraqi Training and Advisory Mission’s rule of law director. He discussed the Iraqi transition from dictatorship to democracy during a “DoDLive” bloggers roundtable Dec. 23. Halse said his directorate’s mission is to ensure that Iraq Ministry of Interior leaders and law-enforcement officials become stakeholders in Iraq’s post-Saddam, democratic legal culture. Halse said his legal advisors make an effort to see that Iraqis preserve...

Back in January, Hendrik Hertzberg, a senior editor at The New Yorker, confidently opined, “Obama’s transition has unspooled in much the same way his campaign did: smoothly, calmly, and on time.” Mind you, this was almost two weeks after the Richardson debacle. Exactly a month after Hertzberg’s assessment, the New York Times observed: “President Obama blasted through all sorts of speed records pushing a $787 billion economic plan through Congress, arguing it was too urgent to wait. But even after signing it into law Tuesday, he faces another problem: virtually no one is in place at his cabinet departments to...

BAGHDAD — The historic Ibn Sina Hospital will return to Iraqi Government control this fall. In accordance with the Iraq Security Agreement, U.S. forces are scheduled to return the facility to the Iraqis, October 1. Currently operated by the U.S. Army’s 10th Combat Support Hospital (CSH), the staff will continue to provide quality healthcare for all patients throughout the next two months of transition. Col. Raphael De Jesus, 10th CSH Commander, wants to reassure servicemembers and civilians that they need not worry about care. "The mission of the 10th CSH is sustaining,” says De Jesus. “Our ability to provide excellent...

The big DTV moment is here - like New Year's Eve, labor pains or the millennium.. For once, a technology change is not driven by the youn. Senior citizens are the most prepared, according to Neilsen. Yes, the old folks rule.

When President Obama took over the White House, thousands of campaign workers—who had abandoned the stability of education, careers, and even marriage to work for him—found themselves jobless. We spoke with a few of them. Politically, the timing of the economic crash was perfect. For the campaign staff, it couldn’t have been worse. Wandering a desolate economic landscape, many moved in with parents for the first time in a decade. A few were appointed to positions in the administration. Some got jobs in the White House. The others shared breakfast cereal with mom and dad and wondered if uncertainty elsewhere...

CAMP WESSAM, Iraq — Far to the southeast of the primary U.S. Marine Corps presence in Iraq’s Al Anbar province lies Camp Wessam, home of the 14th Iraqi Army Division and their U.S. Marine Corps advisors, Military Transition Team 14. MiTT-14 has supported the 14th division since April by advising them on tactical and logistical decision making. Among the Iraqi soldiers, U.S. Marine advisors and the U.S. Army support element that inhabit the joint Iraqi Army-Coalition base, three Marines from 2nd Marine Logistics Group (Forward) have found themselves operating far from the rest of 2nd MLG (Fwd) and supporting a...

DIYALA — Coalition leadership recently gathered to bid farewell to former Diyala provincial Governor Ra’ad Hameed Al-Mula Jowad Al-Tamimi here at Forward Operating Base Warhorse. The event was planned as a way to thank Tamimi for his service to the province and country while serving as the Diyala governor for the past four years. Soldiers from the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division worked for the last seven months with Tamimi, who has also partnered with four other Coalition brigades and interacted with countless servicemen and women, as well as members of the State Department, during his tenure...

Over the years I’ve read copiously on the subject of origins. I’ve noticed the media pronouncements on the subject of new fossils and evolutionary theory form a startlingly repetitive pattern. To save the over-worked and increasingly bankrupt news media I’ve undertaken to serve them with a generic news story that can be copy-and-pasted with few modifications and reused as frequently as desired. New Fossil Discovery Is Transition Form, Provides Proof of Evolution! University of ________ Scientists say they’ve found a “missing link” in the early evolution of ______ - the skeleton of a ______ that was evolving away from ______...

ScienceDaily (Apr. 19, 2009) — New evidence gleaned from CT scans of fossils locked inside rocks may flip the order in which two kinds of four-limbed animals with backbones were known to have moved from fish to landlubber. Both extinct species, known as Ichthyostega and Acanthostega, lived an estimated 360-370 million years ago in what is now Greenland. Acanthostega was thought to have been the most primitive tetrapod, that is, the first vertebrate animal to possess limbs with digits rather than fish fins. But the latest evidence from a Duke graduate student's research indicates that Ichthyostega may have been closer...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Prominent Wall Street lawyer H. Rodgin Cohen has withdrawn from consideration to become deputy U.S. Treasury Secretary, Democratic sources said on Thursday, dealing another setback to the department's efforts to fill critical positions. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said vetting issues came up in the final stages of considering Cohen for the job.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 10, 2009 – Military veterans transitioning from service to the classroom face challenges more complex than simply memorizing dates, learning theories and mastering equations. Adjusting to the college environment, in general, often is the most difficult part of the transition from military life, said John Schupp, who recently launched the Supportive Education for the Returning Veteran program at Cleveland State University in Ohio, specifically designed to help veteran students make those adjustments. The program is open to veterans only and is geared to ease them into student life rather than let them become overwhelmed, Schupp said. Campus life...

Hot seat: Obama transition

When a new president moves into the White House, think of all the details involved! There's some out there you might not think of... NOTE: The author of this comic requests that you visit his web site and please refrain from copying it within this thread. Thank you.

The battle lines have been drawn for what is shaping up to be a bruising confirmation battle for Attorney General nominee Eric H. Holder Jr. , though even his foes acknowledge he probably will be confirmed to lead the Obama administration's Justice Department. Partisan posturing continued Wednesday with some Republicans attacking Mr. Holder's prior work in the Justice Department and questioning whether he will show the independence necessary to succeed in its top post. Democrats and civil rights leaders defended Mr. Holder as eminently qualified and accused critics of playing politics. Confirmation hearings by the Senate Judiciary Committee are scheduled...

"[Killefer] The longtime senior partner at the giant global consulting firm McKinsey & Co. has previously worked at the Treasury to modernize the IRS and on a public-private oversight board to push the tax agency to more aggressively pursue corporate and high-income tax cheats. Killefer returns to government to take a new White House job Obama created — chief performance officer — to make federal programs more efficient and more responsive to those they serve and to help eliminate those that don't work."

President George W. Bush meets with former Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter and President-elect Barack Obama Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009 in the Oval Office of the White House. White House photo by Eric Draper. PRESIDENT BUSH: I want to thank the President-elect for joining the ex-Presidents for lunch. And one message that I have and I think we all share is that we want you to succeed. Whether we're Democrat or Republican, we care deeply about this country. And to the extent we can, we look forward to sharing our experiences with you. All of...

First, Obama's fellow Daley machine hack, Rod Blagojevich, tried to sell Obama's Senate seat. Obama's Chief of Staff, Rahm Emmanuel, discussed the future of the Senate seat with Blagojevich. Obama has since "cleared himself" of any wrongdoing. Then, Obama's advisor, Caroline Kennedy, tried to steal a Senate seat in New York, citing royal prerogative. Now, Obama's Commerce Secretary nominee, Bill Richardson, has withdrawn his nomination, amid speculation that he will be indicted for corruption. All this, and Obama hasn't even been sworn in!

The Barack Obama presidential transition office today finally released its own report on its own internal investigation of its own contacts with legally challenged Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. And you'll be comforted to know the Obama folks found no impropriety whatsoever by Obama folks. So go back to wrapping holiday presents or pretending you're working at your desk and checking out Obama's important abs. All is well with the coming World of Change. Speaking of tidy packages, the five-page report was not released in the morning as things are when public attention is desired. It was released at 4:30 Eastern...

I was reading in the net like I always do and I came across something really disturbing.As someone born in Ecuador with friends and relatives in Latin America, I’m terrified watching how people in the United States are being manipulated just like people in Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador to put a Marxist in power. The similarities between Rafael Correa’s campaign for president of Ecuador and that of Obama for U.S. president are amazing. Correa had no experience but was young, charismatic and had good speaking skills. Correa’s slogans were the same as Obama’s: CHANGE, YES WE CAN, etc. Once...

Well now we see why it is the Obama camp has made it such a priority to keep Joe Biden under wraps. After threatening the country in October with a promise of a "crisis" in the first days of an Obama administration, you would think that someone would learn to keep their mouth shut. Unfortunately, not if that someone is Joe Biden....

There's myriad details that go into a presidentil transition. There's personnel changes, ceremonies that need to be organized and thousands of details that need to be ironed out. Some of these details may surprise you... NOTE: The author of this comic requests that you visit his web site and refrain from copying the cartoon within this thread. Thank you.

Sen. John McCain paid a lighthearted visit to David Letterman on Thursday, joking: "I don't want to talk about the bleeping campaign." The former GOP presidential candidate also praised President-elect Barack Obama for some of his staff choices, including Secretary of State-designate Hillary Rodham Clinton, and shared Letterman's incredulousness at Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Letterman's "Late Show" was a land mine for McCain after the Arizona senator abruptly canceled a Sept. 24 appearance, saying he had to return to Washington to help with the nation's economic problems. Instead, he stopped by to see Katie Couric and Letterman mocked McCain mercilessly....

President-elect Barack Obama said Thursday that nobody in his transition office tried to make a deal with Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich on filling Illinois' vacant Senate seat, adding that he has not been contacted by federal authorities during their investigation of the governor...

There's an old Yiddish adage - man plans, God laughs.Never is it more applicable than in politics.When campaign-trail elocution eventually bumps heads with post-acceptance speech actuality, promises and propositions become the first casualties of political victory - even when the candidate happens to be a Messiah.Here it is, only a month since the presidential election - the one that supposedly reflected a mandate from the American people for "fundamental change" - and already, before the first puff of cigarette smoke is taken late at night in the Rose Garden (because there's no smoking allowed in the White House), some...

Barack Hussein Obama has begun assembling his team as we all know. Luckily we have the mainstream media here in the US, so we are all aware of just how moderate all of his appointments are, despite what conclusions we may come to if we got there on our own. First there is the matter of the questionnaire reported by World Net Daily earlier today. Apparently BHO is grilling his potential appointees on gun ownership. In a break from previous administrations and in a move that is sure to turn gun owners apoplectic with concern for the next four years,...

To my Conservative Friends: Do you remember about a year ago today leading up to the first primaries and caucuses? Hillary Rotten was ahead by double digits in every poll against her obviously unqualified, wet behind-his-BIG-ears, novice challenger Barack Hussein Obama... It was a foregone conclusion, the nomination for the Democruds was her destiny, her birthright. She was on top of the mountain singing: I am woman, hear me Shrill!!!!!! Look at her now - after having her pantsuit handed to her by this "kid" from the south side, she crawled away in shame..... I tell ya - that Barry...

Sen. Bill Clinton has an interesting ring to it, doesn’t it? While no one is certain if this is a creation of the press or an actuality, certainly there are many models for post-presidential life and a return to public office is one of them. Whether Bill Clinton is being seriously considered, or is seriously considering, a return to office via his wife Hillary's vacated New York U.S. Senate seat is certainly worth exploring. "John Quincy Adams is the most prominent instance of a return to political office" said Joel Goldstein, an expert on the presidency. "But William Howard Taft...

Less than 12 hours after George Stephanopoulos, on Good Morning America, glowed that “we have not seen this kind of combination of star power and brain power and political muscle this early in a cabinet in our lifetimes,” he popped up on World News to hail how Barack Obama's team recognized the Bush administration's “vacuum” and so decided to “step in and fill” it by showing “the President-elect taking action on the economy” day after day. Anchor Charles Gibson set up Stephanopoulos by marveling: “George, I don't think I've ever seen a President-elect getting so involved in policy so early....

President and Mrs. Bush couldn't be handling the transition more graciously. But rather than celebrating the peaceful transfer of power that is the hallmark of our democracy, Hardball has announced a new feature, "Final Daze," intended to mock W as we count down his last weeks in office. Mike Barnicle, sitting in for Chris Matthews, announced the new segment on this evening's show. MIKE BARNICLE: And that brings us to a new, regular item we're starting tonight called "Final Daze." President Bush has 57 days left in office, and many are asking "where's Dubya?" With the economy tanking and the...

For yea these last two years, the picture we have had of our president-elect has been, without exception, that of a gentleman, proud yet humble, with an inner centeredness and an outer composure that have fascinated and often mystified the nation. Where, we kept asking ourselves, did such a man come from? What elements of fate and nature merged in him to create this preternaturally poised leader? Moreover, he surrounded himself with people who seemed much like him. Never was there an argument in his campaign that saw the light of celebrity's voracious day; never did one of his assistants...

The Warren Institute at the University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law is teaming up with a group of liberal philanthropists to help minorities and women win jobs in President-elect Barack Obama’s administration. The Diversity in Democracy Project, also dubbed the Talent Bank Project, has already collected about 1,000 resumes as of Friday, according to Steve Phillips, a San Francisco employment lawyer and donor to progressive causes. “The enthusiasm is off the charts,” says Phillips, who also presides over PowerPAC, a nonprofit advocacy and political organization that has also chipped in with Phillips and others to pay for...

POSTED BY ED MORRISSEY Barack Obama has selected Gregory Craig as White House counsel, a move that will recall some controversial legal cases over the last few years. Craig has plenty of experience in politics as well as the courtroom, having served as Bill Clinton’s legal counsel during the impeachment hearings. Craig flipped from Hillary Clinton to Barack Obama early in the primaries, and Obama has repaid his support — but Craig’s caseload will raise a few eyebrows: Gregory B. Craig, a well-known Washington lawyer who quarterbacked President Bill Clinton’s impeachment defense, has been chosen White House counsel by President-elect...

Here is complete video of the 60 Minutes Interview Segment with President-elect Barack Obama and wife Michelle that discussed their personal transition to the White House. . . . (Watch Video)

By CARRIE BUDOFF BROWN CHICAGO — President-elect Barack Obama tapped a major campaign bundler and a former U.S. attorney who got caught up in Bill Clinton’s 2001 pardons scandal to serve on the 14-member Justice Department review team announced Friday. Alejandro Mayorkas, a former U.S. attorney in California, drew controversy in 2001 for calling the White House on behalf of Carlos Vignali, a convicted drug dealer who was seeking a presidential commutation. Mayorkas and a host of other California elected officials responded to pleas from Vignali’s father, Horacio, a wealthy Los Angeles businessman whom federal agents had suspected of drug...

Greg Craig Selected as White House Counsel By Michael D. Shear and Anne E. Kornblut President-elect Barack Obama has chosen Washington lawyer Gregory B. Craig, who served as President Bill Clinton's lead attorney during the 1998 impeachment proceedings, to be his White House counsel, according to an individual involved with the transition. Craig has been a longtime adviser to former president Clinton and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, but became a close adviser to Obama during the campaign, reportedly serving as the stand-in for Sen. John McCain during debate preparations. Transition officials declined to comment, and Craig did not return calls...

Not only did Obama name a White House chief of staff two days after the election, but he also began to fill 120,000 sq. ft. (11,000 sq m) of office space in downtown Washington with a transition operation that is ultimately expected to have a staff of 450 and a budget of $12 million, more than half of which must be raised from private funds. Obama's goal, says his old friend Valerie Jarrett, another co-chair of the transition operation, "is to be able to be organized, efficient, disciplined and transparent to the American people." More disciplined than transparent: Washington's quadrennial...

President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team leaders for the State Department are both Clinton-era department officials with links to the troubled mortgage giant Fannie Mae. Tom Donilon, a lawyer who was one of President Bill Clinton’s State Department spokesmen and its chief of staff, was a top lobbyist for Fannie Mae from 1999 to 2005. Obama’s other State Department team leader, Wendy Sherman, was president and CEO of the Fannie Mae Foundation from 1996 to 1997, between two tours at the State Department – one as a legislative liaison for Secretary Warren Christopher and another as counselor to Secretary Madeleine Albright....

WASHINGTON – President-elect Obama's transition chief said Sunday the incoming administration is looking to reverse President Bush's executive orders on stem cell research, oil and gas drilling and other matters. John Podesta said the president can use such orders to move quickly without waiting for Congress to act, highlighting the extraordinary powers a president can wield beyond signing legislation approved by Congress. Podesta said people should expect Obama to use those powers to reverse many policies of the Bush administration. "I think across the board, on stem cell research, on a number of areas, you see the Bush administration even...

The incoming administration is reviewing President Bush's executive orders on stem cell research, oil and gas drilling, and other matters, President-elect Barack Obama's transition chief said on Sunday. John Podesta said the idea is that a president can use such orders to move quickly without waiting for Congress to act. "I'm not going to preview decisions that he has yet to make. But I would say that as a candidate, Senator Obama said that he wanted all the Bush executive orders reviewed, and decide which ones should be kept, and which ones should be repealed, and which ones should be...

In his weekly radio address President Bush said, "So my Administration will work hard to ensure that the next President and his team can hit the ground running. For more than a year now, the White House and agencies throughout the Federal government have been preparing for a smooth transition. We've provided intelligence briefings to the President-Elect, and the Department of Justice has approved security clearances for members of his transition staff. In the coming weeks, we will ask Administration officials to brief the Obama team on major ongoing policy issues, ranging from the financial markets to the war in...

For Immediate ReleaseOffice of the Press SecretaryNovember 8, 2008 President's Radio Address   President's Radio Address  Audio  En Español       In Focus: Transition THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Earlier this week, more than 120 million Americans went to the polls and voted for a new President and Congress. No matter how we cast our ballots, all Americans have reason to be proud of our democracy. Our citizens have chosen a President who represents a triumph of the American story -- a testament to hard work, optimism, and faith in the enduring promise of our Nation. When I called President-Elect Obama to congratulate him...

Back to the future? Oh, say it ain’t so, Barack Obama. As the president-elect struggles to fill out his staff, there is concern among analysts and scholars of the presidency that the new president may be relying too much on the men and women who served Bill Clinton. The problem is that they are perceived as yesterday’s people and, worse, that Obama was elected on a clarion call of change. The stalwarts of the Democratic administration of the ’90s have about them the ghostly tinge of another time. In a parliamentary system of government, you know the likely players after...

Fresh off a smashing victory at the polls, President-elect Barack Obama is getting advice from across the political spectrum urging a cautious, moderate start to the new administration. That would be a huge mistake. Far from playing it safe, Obama must get early action on issues that are often dismissed as left-wing pet priorities - but are in fact vital to the well-being of working families. No. 1 on the list should be passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, which would make it easier to organize labor unions. Few moves would help middle-class families faster than getting a million...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 6, 2008 – President Bush warned today that terrorists could use the government transition under way as an opportunity to attack, and urged his staff to give the incoming administration the support it needs to “hit the ground running.” Bush addressed members of his Cabinet, including Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, and executive office staffers on the South Lawn of the White House. Terrorists might be tempted to take advantage of the first U.S. wartime presidential transition in four decades, he warned. “We're in a struggle against violent extremists determined to attack us, and they would like...

Here is video of an emotional President George W. Bush speaking to White House Staffers and Cabinet Members on the south lawn of the White House today. He thanked them for their faithful service through the years, and asked for their help in making a smooth and seamless transition to the administration of President-elect Barack Obama. . . . (Watch Video)

If Sen. Barack Obama wakes up as the president-elect on Nov. 5, he will immediately assume responsibility for fixing a shredded economy while the Bush administration is still in office. If Sen. John McCain wins the election, he will face an imminent confrontation over spending with a Democratic Congress called back into special session with the goal of passing a new economic stimulus package.

Senior aides to Barack Obama have been meeting George W.Bush's staff to begin planning a smooth transfer of power.Officials from both campaigns have been asked to briefings after warnings from US intelligence that terrorists and rogue states will seek to exploit the power vacuum following November's presidential election. For the first time in American history the FBI has begun vetting likely officials of the next administration before the election, to ensure they have security clearance to deal with crises on day one. Intelligence chiefs expect an attempt to emulate the terrorist strikes on Britain when Gordon Brown took power and...

President Bush on Thursday signed an executive order directing his staff to start preparing either John McCain or Barack Obama and their future staffs for the highest office in the land. Bush's executive order creates a Presidential Transition Coordinating Council, consisting of several high-ranking members of the president's staff and headed by White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten. White House press secretary Dana Perino told reporters Wednesday morning that the council "will help to coordinate efforts already under way to ensure a seamless presidential transition." "This is especially important as our nation is fighting a war, dealing with a...

Senior aides to Barack Obama have been meeting George W.Bush's staff to begin planning a smooth transfer of power. Officials from both campaigns have been asked to briefings after warnings from US intelligence that terrorists and rogue states will seek to exploit the power vacuum following November's presidential election. For the first time in American history the FBI has begun vetting likely officials of the next administration before the election, to ensure they have security clearance to deal with crises on day one.