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VINEYARD HAVEN, Massachusetts (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has taken heat for taking a vacation when the U.S. economy is struggling, but aides are striving to make clear he is not neglecting the country's finances during his break. On Monday, Obama met with a top economic adviser and spoke to investor Warren Buffett and Ford Motor Co. chief executive Alan Mulally about the economy, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said. Earnest also announced that Obama will travel to Detroit in two weeks to discuss the economy on the U.S. Labor Day holiday on September 5, setting up a major address...

Maybe we can call this Generation U — for unemployed. Three decades ago, the US experienced a dramatic shift in culture and economics as women entered the workforce in record numbers, and our economy expanded to meet the labor supply. As USA Today reports, we have now returned to the same working percentage of the population as we had at the beginning of the expansion, an astonishing decline that doesn’t appear to be slowing much: The share of the population that is working fell to its lowest level last year since women started entering the workforce in large numbers three...

IS the gym passé? For all their ads promising to stir motivation, gyms have failed to do so. “Up until the last six years, it’s been relatively easy to sell memberships, and to replace people going out the back door with people coming through the front door,” said Michael Scott Scudder, a consultant who advises health clubs and conducts up to 15 industry surveys annually. “Not so anymore. We’ve come to a point that we can’t sell enough membership in the industry to cover the attrition rate.” Blame the gym’s now-ubiquitous flat-screen TVs and the fact that iPods are de...

Foreclosures, plant closings, offshored jobs, underwater mortgages, miserable rates of unemployment, stagnating incomes: Is there any end to the woes of the struggling American middle? Apparently not, because now comes news of a trend guaranteeing trouble ahead for the more than half of the nation that make up the moderately educated and moderately earning middle — even if the economy improves. That seismic shift, outlined in a new report from the National Marriage Project and the Institute for American Values, is towards more divorce, more out of wedlock births and, ipso facto, fewer kids with a hopeful future. Family breakdown,...

Celebrating LGBT pride month at the White House this evening, President Obama declared that the nation has never been closer to ending the “discriminatory policy” of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and promised to keep working until the bill is signed into law. “We have never been closer to ending this discriminatory policy. And I’m going to keep on fighting until that bill is on my desk and I can sign it,” Obama said in the East Room this evening. “That is a promise I made as a candidate. It is a promise that I reiterated as president. It’s one that...

BALTIMORE (AP) -- Disgraced Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff has landed a job at a kosher pizzeria in Baltimore soon after his release from prison. The owner of Tov Pizza, Ron Rosenbluth, said Abramoff began working there Monday. He is learning about the business and will eventually help with marketing. Abramoff is an orthodox Jew. He was released this month from a minimum-security prison camp in western Maryland after serving about 3 1/2 years for fraud, corruption and conspiracy. The former Washington power broker's activities led to the conviction of a congressman.

receive quite a few emails that pique my interest and occasionally I like to share. This one entitled "An American working in Mexico" is said to be written by Tom O'Malley who was a director with Southwestern Bell in Mexico City. It provides us an inside look at the rigorous process a person must go through in order to work legally in Mexico, including corruption and bribes. - - - - - "I spent 5 years working in Mexico. I worked under a tourist Visa for 3 months and could legally renew it for 3 more months. After that you...

BAGHDAD – A U.S. Army company commander here is working to increase security and build stronger ties between various Iraqi divisions so they may better combat insurgents across Anbar and Baghdad. Capt. Guy Girouard, commander of Company C, 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, devised a plan encouraging Iraqi divisions to communicate better and fight the insurgency along the Anbar-Baghdad border as one force. The 1st Iraqi Army Division leads the security effort in eastern Anbar province while the bordering area of western Baghdad province falls under the 6th IA Div.  With the...

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5 / AP) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the federal economic stimulus package is working in her home state despite California's high unemployment rate. Pelosi was joined Wednesday in San Francisco by city government leaders, small business owners and workers to praise the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on its one-year anniversary. Mayor Gavin Newsom said the federal money has created more than 2,900 jobs in the city and saved thousands more.

Yet, they cannot comprehend what would motivate Middle America to distrust its government, for it surely does, as Ron Brownstein reports in the National Journal:

Yesterday, Fox News reported the hearings held by Senator Joe Lieberman with cabinet officials concerning a shortage of flu vaccine. I'm sitting in Afghanistan not getting much broadcast TV news. I wanted to find out more, so I searched Google News for related articles. It turns out that as of this writing, the rest of the media is not reporting this event, at least in print. Try this. Go to the Google search page, click on the "News" tab. Now enter "Joe Lieberman".

President Bush has signed into law three tax bills in the past three years; these tax cuts amounted to $1.3 trillion in 2001, $96 billion in 2002, and $330 billion in 2003. Democratic opponents criticized the tax cuts (particularly the first one in 2001) as fiscally irresponsible and weighted primarily toward the wealthy, while Republican supporters claimed that the tax cuts would stimulate economic growth and return money to taxpayers across the board. Major Provisions of the Tax Cuts The 2001 Economic Growth and Recovery Tax Act, by far the largest of the three tax cuts, was intended to provide...

1st Lt. John Reed, a platoon leader with 15th Brigade Support Battalion, attempts to evade Capka, a military working dog, during a demonstration at Forward Operating Base Warrior, Kirkuk, Aug. 1. The demonstration was to not only entertain Soldiers but to educate leaders on the capabilities of the military working dogs. Photo by Staff Sgt. Jason Douglas, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs. FOB WARRIOR — No matter how fast the dozen or so Soldiers ran, they couldn't outrun Buli and Capka, a pair of German Sheppard military working dogs, during a demonstration here, Aug. 1. Soldiers from the 15th Brigade...

Skimpy supplies of flu vaccine and public panic are not the only concerns among officials charged with managing a potential pandemic. Some vital caregivers could be no-shows.

Can't log on to Hotmail. Really can't. Anyone else having this kind of trouble?

Facts and Myths about the Financial Crisis of 2008 Download the PDF to read the paper. Obviously, the authors are not very happy with what has gone on... thus the name of the paper.

Are you a "kid-sick" parent? If so, have hope. You've been diagnosed. And all you need is a good "parent-ectomy" to cheer you up. The Associated Press reported July 12 that many American parents are afflicted with a malady some experts dub "kid-sickness." Contrary to what you might think, this "sickness" is not about parents who are sick of their kids. It's about parents who actually want to spend time with their kids. And it's considered an ailment needing a cure. This summer, more than 10 million children are attending recreational camps across America. And according to Boston-based family therapist...

Members of the Iraqi Army practice how to enter and exit the Riverine Patrol Boat on Lake Qadisiyah, Iraq, Friday. The soldiers were given classes prior to entering the boats on the boats themselves and how to successfully complete an operation on water. 3rd Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 5, and Riverines with Riverine Squadron 2, Detachment 3, are working extensively with the IA and transferring more control of the area. Riverines with Riverine Squadron 2, Detachment 3, perform an unexpected emergency stop while traveling 30 knots on Lake Qadisiyah, Iraq, Friday. Coalition forces are training units...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 14, 2008 – Coalition forces, Iraqi troops, and “Sons of Iraq” security volunteers are working together to rebuild areas south of Arab Jabour, Iraq, a senior military official in Baghdad said this morning. Coalition forces recently completed Operation Marne Thunderbolt, which focused on the disruption of al Qaeda activities in Iraq, Army Colonel Terry R. Ferrell, commander of 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, in Multinational Division Center, said in a conference call with online journalists and “bloggers.” “We’ve focused on moving to places we haven’t been before,” said Ferrell, who has been in the Arab Jabour...

Be Our Guest 'War is just like boxing," said Gen. George Patton. "When you get your opponent on the ropes, you must keep punching the hell out of him and not let him recover." Today in Iraq, the enemy is on the ropes. Our Air Force has pummeled Al Qaeda with 40,000 pounds of bombs. Soldiers and Marines have reduced northern Al Qaeda safe havens to rubble. Contractors are delivering tons of supplies and securing our diplomats. One-time insurgent strongholds are returning to peace. One would expect aspiring political leaders not only to laud our troops for their great work...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 8, 2008 – As the troop surge in Iraq approaches its one-year anniversary, the commander of Multinational Force Iraq said he’s buoyed by successes made and momentum built, but recognizes the job is far from over. Army Gen. David H. Petraeus told the Pentagon Channel the new strategy in Iraq -- with more coalition and Iraqi troops helping quell violence in and around Baghdad and operations that promote closer cooperation with the Iraqi population -- has helped stabilize once-violent areas. President Bush announced the strategy during a Jan. 10, 2007, televised speech to the nation. The plan included...

BAGHDAD, Dec. 5, 2007 – Field commanders deployed throughout Iraq gathered here today to tell Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates firsthand that the U.S. strategy in Iraq is working and to urge vigilance in seeing it through. Gates called the commanders to Camp Victory, home of the Multinational Force Iraq headquarters, during his visit here to hear about their operations. “I think he wanted to hear from us what we are experiencing out here, and I think each one of us told him we’re having success in our individual areas,” said Marine Col. Richard Simcock, commander of Regimental Combat Team...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU — Since May security in Hawr Rajab and Arab Jabour has improved to the point where Coalition Force missions are no longer solely “kill or capture” missions. Now, many missions focus on developing the infrastructure, which means there are more civilians on the battlefield helping to rebuild Iraq. To be prepared for battlefield operations, Soldiers of the 2-3rd Brigade Troops Battalion (BTB), 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division took time to train American civilians on the basics of first aid and combat patrol operations, Nov. 26. The 2-3rd BTB combat patrols that consisted solely of...

AS the fires roared across the region this week, so did California's governor. Arnold Schwarzenegger zipped from Malibu to Orange County to San Diego to Santa Clarita to Lake Arrowhead, and then back again. He visited fire-command and evacuation centers. He got briefings on firefighting efforts from local officials. He personally thanks fire crews. On Thursday, he played guide to President George W. Bush, who toured the devastation. And if the governor was working hard during this time, so was his image-making machine - making sure each and every one of his good deeds were duly noted by the media....

NEW YORK -- THE CALCULUS OF LIVING PAYCHECK TO PAYCHECK IN AMERICA IS GETTING HARDER. What used to last four days might last half that long now. Pay the gas bill, but skip breakfast. Eat less for lunch so the kids can have a healthy dinner. Across the nation, Americans are increasingly unable to stretch their dollars to the next payday as they juggle higher rent, food and energy bills. It's starting to affect middle-income working families as well as the poor, and has reached the point of affecting day-to-day calculations of merchants like Wal-Mart, 7-Eleven and Family Dollar. Food...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 3, 2007 – The surge of additional forces into Baghdad and other areas of Iraq is working, a top general commanding coalition forces there said yesterday. Even as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan continues, levels of violence in Iraq have dropped, Army Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, commander of Multinational Corps Iraq, said at the National Press Club here. The surge allowed Iraqi and coalition officials to wrest whole provinces from extremist grasp. In December, President Bush accepted recommendations of military leaders to place five more combat brigades and their supporting complements in and around Baghdad. More...

AL ASAD AIR BASE, Iraq, Sept. 3, 2007 – The military surge into Iraq is working, President Bush told troops today during a surprise visit here. President Bush shakes hands with troops during a surprise Labor Day visit to Iraq, Sept. 3, 2007. The president thanked about 700 U.S. troops at Al Asad Air Base for their hard work . Defense Dept. photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. D. Myles Cullen  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The president said he came to Anbar province so he could see the success in the war on terror and thank...

  Military Working Dogs Get New Digs Four-legged war fighters receive new kennels. By U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Ryan R. Jackson2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (FWD) AL ASAD, Iraq, Aug. 10, 2007 — Throughout the theatre service members are continually asking for and receiving operational gear they need to accomplish their mission. The latest troops on Al Asad to get new mission essential equipment were the four-legged war fighters, more commonly known as military working dogs, of Task Force Military Police, 1st Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment, who received new kennels during a ribbon cutting ceremony, July 18. "Now, when we...

Exclusive: Pulitzer Prize Winning NY Times Writer: Pelosi, Reid are Wrong, The Petraeus Surge is Working The EditorsAuthor: The EditorsSource: The Family Security Foundation, Inc.Date: August 9, 2007  John Burns, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, recently commented about fears of a Tet-like offensive by al Qaeda’s fighters and possible attacks by radical Shiia militias prior to the Petraeus report. Radio host Hugh Hewitt asked Burns if there have been warnings about such threats. Pulitzer Prize Winning NY Times Writer: Pelosi, Reid are Wrong The Petraeus Surge is Working  By the Editors Radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt recently conducted an extensive interview with...

Washington, D.C. - There’s good news from Iraq, which has produced almost nothing but bad news since the 2003 invasion. The U.S. military surge, widely denounced as a last-ditch effort by an embattled, lame-duck president fighting an un-winnable civil war, is working. Even as vocal a war critic as Deputy Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin, D-Ill., has now acknowledged as much, telling CNN that the U.S. military is “making real progress.” Gen. David Petraeus, commander of the multi-national force in Iraq and author of the counterinsurgency surge strategy now underway, told Talk Radio host Allen Colmes that during the past...

IDAHO CITY -- Fourteen illegal immigrants were arrested and face deportation after being picked up at an Idaho City hotel. It happened late Tuesday night and now they're in the Ada County Jail. The men were working for a contracted employee of the U.S. Forest Service. They had been working for about 10 days, with one week left. According to the Forest Service, the contracted employer is Cutting Edge Forestry Inc. out of Talent, Oregon. The contractor is required to turn over paperwork regarding their employees and then the Forest Service sends that paperwork to the immigration office. It’s there...

WASHINGTON, April 30, 2007 – “Operation Give” is working to help the military win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people. “Our philosophy is that we want to be part of a solution, a solution of helping the soldiers build a bridge and build that bond with the people,” Paul Holton, the group’s founder, said. “Winning the hearts and minds is a difficult task.” Operation Give is a member of America Supports You, a Defense Department program that connects citizens and corporations with members of the military and their families at home and abroad. The group was founded...

EAST GRAND RAPIDS, United States (AFP) - US President George W. Bush said Friday it was too soon to judge whether a US-led security push in Iraq would work, but asserted it was already turning the tide of the war. "There are still horrific attacks in Iraq, such as the bombings in Baghdad on Wednesday, but the direction of the fight is beginning to shift," Bush said in a speech two days after those attacks killed more than 200 people. The US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, "reports that it will be later this year before we can judge...

WASHINGTON - The head of the Environmental Protection Agency said Monday the growth of greenhouse gases by less than 1 percent in 2005 shows the administration's program to address global warming "is delivering real results." The pronouncement by EPA Administrator Dave Johnson brought a quick response from some environmentalists. "Things have come to a pretty sad state of affairs when the EPA tries to spin increased greenhouse gas emissions as a victory," said Frank O'Donnell, president of Clean Air Watch, an environmental advocacy group. The EPA said its annual greenhouse gas assessment showed that 7.26 billion metric tons of carbon...

WASHINGTON, March 31, 2007 – Coalition and Iraqi forces are working with city leaders to secure the Iraqi city of Tal Afar after a bombing at a market killed more than 80 people earlier this week, a military official said today in a briefing from the city. “It’s been a tremendously busy four days, tremendously stressful four days,” Army Lt. Col. Malcom Frost, commander of 3rd Squadron, 4th U.S. Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, told journalists from Forward Operating Base Sykes in Tal Afar. “But … the city is now secure and going back to...

'Zimbabwe is still working' James (not his real name) is 30 years old and works as an IT professional in Zimbabwe's second city Bulawayo. He explains why life under President Robert Mugabe is not difficult for everyone and how the Western media often portray the situation within Zimbabwe incorrectly. Life is not a struggle to survive for everyone in Zimbabwe People outside Zimbabwe seem to think that life under Mugabe is all bad. The Western media portrays complete desperation; that it is a war-like situation here and that the country is ungovernable and unstable. But it is not. Isolated incidents...

WASHINGTON, March 16, 2007 – Moving coalition forces out of big forward operating bases and into smaller community-based combat outposts as part of the Baghdad Security Plan has reduced violence and helped to stabilize northwestern Baghdad, a senior Army officer serving there said today. Murders are down by more than half since January in the densely populated 93-square-kilometer area controlled by the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, said its commander, Army Col. J.B. Burton. His troops have found only 10 planted improvised explosive devices this month. That’s down from 36 in January, when 89 IEDs were detonated....

WASHINGTON - Sen. Tim Johnson (news, bio, voting record) is reading news clippings and starting to do some office work from the hospital, almost two months after suffering a life-threatening brain hemorrhage. "At this point, he has requested more contact with office and is looking for updates from staff," his office said in a statement Friday. Spokeswoman Julianne Fisher said the South Dakota Democrat is starting slowly. "We do not anticipate him back (in the Senate) for several weeks," Fisher said. "We are bringing work to him rather than him coming to us. His first priority still is rehabilitation." Johnson...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 1, 2006 -- With its 4th annual “Holiday Hugs to Our Heroes” drive officially concluded, the SI Yellow Ribbon Campaign is unofficially still working to meet the group’s goal of providing holiday packages to 1,000 troops. SI Yellow Ribbon Campaign is a member of America Supports You, a Defense Department program highlighting ways Americans and the corporate sector support the nation’s servicemembers. “Our goal was to try and hit about 1,000 troops, but it doesn’t look like we’re going to make that,” Amy Oxford, the group’s founder, said. “It’s just so important to me not to give...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 29, 2006 – Military spouses facing a permanent change of station into or out of the Fort Riley, Kan., area can relax about at least one aspect of their pending move. A $500,000 Workforce Investment Act grant through the Department of Labor will help them with job training and placement, Lesa Crockett, a career counselor with Heartland Works, Inc., said. “It’s not something you’ve probably seen before,” Crockett, who’s also a military spouse, said. “It’s something that I’m very excited for because … military spouses normally don’t get anything unless it’s provided by the (military).” Heartland Works, Inc....

BAGHDAD — Combined operations by Iraqi and Coalition forces continue to target al-Qaida terrorists at the same time as reconstruction projects continue throughout Iraq, Coalition officials told reporters on Thursday. In a joint press conference, Multi-National Force – Iraq spokesman Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell, IV, and Maj. Gen. William H. McCoy Jr., commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Gulf Region Division, discussed progress being made on both the operational and reconstructions fronts. Since August 30th, over 150 focused operations have been conducted in Iraq, Caldwell said. The operations resulted in 66 terrorists killed and over 830 suspected...

LOS ANGELES -- This city is the main front in the pitched battle over the No Child Left Behind Act. Like many large urban school districts across the nation -- though more brazenly -- the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is resisting the law's core command: that no child be forced to attend a failing school. In LAUSD, there are over 300,000 children in schools the state has declared failing under NCLB's requirements for adequate yearly progress. Under the law, such children must be provided opportunities to transfer to better-performing schools within the district. To date, fewer than two...

Kyoto isn't working, prepare for climate change, say scientists By Roger Highfield, Science Editor (Filed: 04/09/2006) The Kyoto agreement to cut greenhouse emissions is "ineffectual" and the world should prepare for the effects of climate change, the nation's biggest general science meeting will be told tonight. Developing drought-tolerant crops, constructing flood defences, improving building insulation or banning building close to sea level are as important as cutting emissions, according to Frances Cairncross, the president of the British Association and chairman of the Economic and Social Research Council. "We need more sheltered public spaces. It is going to be either sunnier...

Woman Taught Sunday School For 54 Years WATERTOWN, N.Y. -- The pastor of a church that has stopped letting women teach Sunday school said that won't affect his decisions as a city councilman in upstate New York. The First Baptist Church in Watertown dismissed Mary Lambert Aug. 9 after adopting what it called a literal interpretation of the Bible. The reverend recently dismissed Lambert, who had taught Sunday school for 54 years, citing the biblical advice of the apostle Paul: "I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent." Lambert...

WASHINGTON, August 2, 2006 – The Army is taking significant steps to ensure soldiers and families of the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team are taken care of now that the unit’s deployment to Iraq has been extended four months. U.S. Army, Alaska leaders are working with higher headquarters to ensure support programs, including financial compensation and personnel support, are available to the soldiers, Army and Defense Department officials said. “We are responding rapidly to provide all the appropriate support and services to these outstanding patriotic professionals and their families, who continue to inspire us all with their unwavering commitment to...

SAN DIEGO – Nine hundred soldiers of the California National Guard are at work along the U.S.-Mexico border as part of Operation Jump Start – improving roads, repairing fences, manning surveillance cameras. Just about everything, in fact, except patrolling the border. Called Joint Task Force Vista, the force is expected eventually to grow to about 1,100 soldiers covering the border from the Pacific Ocean to the Arizona state line, said Col. Kevin Ellsworth, task force commander. On Wednesday, Ellsworth and his staff gave reporters a peek at their operations along the border, which began last month. “We've had an amazing...

AL QA’IM, Iraq (June 27, 2006) -- More than 300 local Iraqis from Euphrates River towns near the Iraqi-Syrian border lined up at the Marines’ outpost June 27, 2006, in hopes of becoming policemen in one of Iraq’s newest police districts. The enlistment drive marked the largest turnout of police recruits in recent months. More than 100 Iraqis were accepted for enlistment. The drive was held just days after police here were paid months of back-pay by Iraq’s Ministry of Interior. A lack of consistent pay has been the primary cause for the high attrition rate within fledgling Iraqi police...

SAN DIEGO U.S. agents arrested 22 illegal immigrants Wednesday who worked for a company that provided services to the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base. The workers, all Mexican men, were arrested at their homes by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers during an early morning sweep. Agents were looking for 72 illegal workers employed by Burtech Pipeline, Inc., an Encinitas-based business that had a contract at Camp Pendleton, the base near Oceanside that is home to some 40,000 military personnel, ICE spokeswoman Lauren Mack said. None of those arrested had worked at Camp Pendleton, but Mack said some of the...

CAMP AL QAIM, Iraq, June 13, 2006 – A Marine Corps police transition team is working here to equip and train Iraqi police. While there are many obstacles to surmount, there are signs of progress, U.S. officials here said. When Marine Maj. Robert Marshall, the officer in charge of the Police Transition Team here, arrived in April, there were two half-built police stations and three or four officers. Now there are hundreds of police on the rolls and officers to lead them. The coalition team has 17 members split between U.S. military active-duty and reserve personnel and civilian police officers...

WASHINGTON, June 7, 2006 – The Defense Department is working to determine exactly how many active duty and Reserve servicemembers could be affected by the recent theft of personal information from a Department of Veterans Affairs employee's home, a DoD official said here today. DoD is working equally hard to ensure servicemembers are informed about the issue and protected, said Bill Carr, deputy undersecretary of defense for military personnel policy. "We're going to make it easy by working with VA for servicemembers," he said. "There's nothing that could be done for the military that the Defense Department won't do on...