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WASHINGTON (AFP) – US President Barack Obama said Friday that talks between Israel and the Palestinians here last week "exceeded expectations" and vowed to stand with both sides in peace moves. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas "came with a sense of purpose and seriousness and cordiality that frankly exceeded lots of people's expectations," Obama told a press conference. Obama recalled that the two leaders affirmed the goal of creating two states living side by side and set up a schedule to meet every two weeks.

FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, N.J. — A momentous deal to cap property taxes was all but done, but Gov. Chris Christie was taking no chances, barnstorming the state to commiserate with squeezed homeowners and keep pressure on the Legislature.

Getting the Israelis and Palestinians to agree to negotiate, or even to agree to the framework in which negotiations will take place, "is just really hard," US President Barack Obama said in an interview with Time magazine published Thursday, as the president was completing his first year in office. Obama admitted that the administration "overestimated our ability to persuade [both sides] to [negotiate] when their politics ran contrary to that. Both sides - the Israelis and the Palestinians - have found that the political environment, the nature of their coalitions or the divisions within their societies, were such that it...

August and September were the weakest months in Obama's presidency, at least as measured by his job approval numbers. However, in October Obama seems to be making a comeback even as the economy takes a turn for the worse and as Democrats try to cram through Congress a deeply unpopular Health Care reform. Despite the embarrassment of losing the Olympics to Rio and winning the Nobel Peace Prize though nominated only eleven days into his presidency, Obama's approval rating have stabilized and even begun to tick up. This is happening even though 57% of the American public believes that the...

ABC news just reported that California has been spared from the EXPECTED mud slides that were to have caused catastrophic conditions brought on by recent rainfall. Dadgum, a scare crisis lost to reality.

In May of 2008, Times Online ran an article entitled, Barack Obama: the New Great Redeemer. The author, Gerard Baker, recognized something many American voters at that time were unwilling to admit, which was, The idolatry of Mr. Obama is a shame...The Illinois senator is indeed, an unusually talented, inspiring and charismatic figure...But he is not a saint. He is a smart and eloquent man with a personal history that is startlingly shallow set against the scale of the office he seeks to hold... If the past 40 years have taught us anything they have surely taught that premature canonization...

POLOKWANE, South Africa - The newly elected leader of South Africa's ruling party rose to power on the backs of trade unionists, communists and the poor. The challenge now is to satisfy his supporters without sacrificing the nation's economy. Cynthia Tokwe, a maid in Cape Town, was typical of supporters of Jacob Zuma, the son of a maid. "He understands poverty," she said. "He understands us." Zuma, whose political career has survived sex and corruption scandals, routed President Thabo Mbeki to win the presidency of the African National Congress at a divisive party convention Tuesday. Zuma loyalists also won all...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 15, 2007 – The people of Iraq are aligned with the United States in expecting the Iraqi government to do its part in moving the war-torn country forward, President Bush said here today. In a speech to the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research that also detailed progress in Afghanistan, Bush said the new policy he’s pursuing in Iraq places more demands on Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his government, and that the Iraqi people want it that way. “Not only do we demand more from the Iraqi government, but so do the Iraqi people demand...

While US airlines cut and slash service -- care and feeding -- of their travelers, the Asian airlines have been buying new planes, installing elaborate entertainment systems, and allowing passengers in-flight e-mail and web surfing options. Add to that plush seats and meals created by celebrity chefs, and the result is that America doesn't know service. Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines services beat all American carriers, hands down. On the long-haul flights, choices of movies, frequent meals (America doesn't need this) -- Western or Asian style -- and friendly service are the standard. Not only are the US airlines behind,...

Jack Welch gives advice on how the new graduate can succeed in American companies. It seems to be good advice to succeed in any company -- anywhere. His number one piece of advice: OVERDELIVER - This is very un-American -- and very un-student-like. In school, students learn to meet certain objectives -- answer certain questions within certain time parameters. In the workforce -- it's not that way anymore. To get an A+ in business, Welch says, a person -- 22 years old or 62 years old -- needs to: 1. Expand the organization's expectations of what you can do --...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 17, 2005 – The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff today dismissed rhetoric that the United States has lowered its expectations in Iraq. Speaking with Matt Lauer in Baghdad, Iraq, on NBC's "Today" program, Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers blamed the rhetoric on people hoping to expose a rift between military leaders in Iraq and officials in Washington. Emphasizing that plans in Iraq are "on track," the United States' top military officer said those who say otherwise are "are trying to find some divide between the military leadership over here and the folks back in Washington...

Union riveter Chester A. Riley would know what to say: What a revoltin’ development this is. Two major unions broke away from the AFL-CIO this week with others likely to follow. When the dust settles, the labor federation stands to lose a third of its membership. After 50 years of dominance in representing unionized workers, the AFL-CIO will now confront that which it abhors, competition. Union power is predicated on monopoly. Use our members or go out of business, Mr. Employer. Pay our dues or go without a job, Mr. Worker. Protect us from overseas competition, Mr. President. AFL-CIO boss...

For several years, conservatives have complained bitterly about the liberal bias in the media. That such a bias exists isn't even denied any longer. Rather, the liberal media has begun its own counter-offensive, complaining about the prominence of conservative talk radio and the conservative-leaning "new media". Instead of the former practice of the liberals dominating and the conservatives complaining, the trend has become a contest of complaints. Both sides whine like spoiled children about the opposition's dominance. Whether conservatives have the edge, or liberals, is immaterial. Nothing has ever been accomplished by complaining. There has been a change in the...

The rampant confusion and dismay among Democrats in the wake of Tuesday's election shows that they have no idea as to why they lost. And if they continue in this state of ignorance and denial, they are unlikely to turn such defeat into future victories. Unfortunately, an equivalent danger faces the Republican Party. If it fails to recognize the reasons for its success during this election cycle, it may once again stumble at a crucial time, and face dire consequences in upcoming elections. With the grim specter of a Hillary candidacy looming in 2008, America can ill afford such a...

Here is an article on the "science of luck," based on a ten-year study. It provides some very interesting reading. Apparently the author found consistent patterns of behavior between people who would be considered lucky in life and those considered unlucky. Over the years I have interviewed these volunteers, asked them to complete diaries, personality ques-tionnaires, and intelligence tests, and invited them to my laboratory to participate in experiments. The findings have revealed that luck is not a magical ability or the result of random chance. Nor are peo-ple born lucky or unlucky. Instead, although lucky and unlucky people have...

<p>US Senator Hillary Clinton came to the city yesterday where Democrats will gather in four months to nominate their candidates for president and vice president and said she isn't interested in being on the ticket.</p> <p>Clinton, 56, who was elected in 2000, is the first woman to win statewide office in New York and the first former first lady elected to the US Senate. Her high-profile tenure in both roles has led to speculation she would be chosen as Senator John Kerry's running mate at July's Democratic National Convention.</p>

Expectations A Problem The dangerous part of the mess we are making of the occupation in Iraq is expectations. The Iraqi people expected that the world's superpower, with its incredibly high-tech weaponry and enormous wealth, would easily get the electricity and water running in no time. In fact, 100 days after the so-called end of the war, we are producing less electricity and clean water than Saddam Hussein did before the war. The Iraqi people cannot accept the fact that we are incompetent. They believe we are doing it on purpose to punish them and to make them subservient. They're...

<p>While British Prime Minister Tony Blair has taken a pounding on the Iraq war, President Bush has worked to harvest a political dividend from it, hoping to help brush aside deepening questions over deposed President Saddam Hussein's arms programs.</p> <p>The war's outcome changed the dynamics and the thinking of leaders in the Middle East, which offered Bush an opportunity to seize the moment and step up his involvement in trying to forge a comprehensive peace between the Israelis and the Arabs.</p>

Worthwhile reading for anyone. Love him or hate him, he sure hits the nail on the head with this! (OMED: This was sent to us by a friend. The founder of Microsoft made these points in a speech to students at Mt. Whitney Highschool in Visalia, California.)Rule 1: Life is not fair -- get used to it.Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.For complete article click here.