Live online debate: Computing Almost 75% of voters believe computing was the most significant development of the 20th century, but comments from the floor contradict this Full article
"There is nothing more painful to me at this stage of my life than to walk down the street and hear footsteps and start thinking about robbery — then look around and see somebody white and feel relieved."
— Rev. Jesse Jackson, speaking at the PUSH convention in 1993
"When I get on the plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous."
— Juan Williams, on Bill O'Reilly's show, for which he was fired
I wish I didn't get nervous seeing black men behind me on the street. I wish there was no correlation between race and crime.
I wish 100 percent of the terrorists who attacked us on 9/11 had not been members of one religion. I wish we didn't hear diatribes on a daily basis threatening our children and us in the name of Allah. I wish I didn't get nervous seeing Muslims on a plane.
But firing Juan Williams won't make it so.
What exactly was he fired for? According to National Public Radio, "His remarks on 'The O'Reilly Factor' this past Monday were inconsistent with our editorial standards and practices, and undermined his credibility as a news analyst with NPR."
Come again?
I've known Juan for decades. He is not a bigot. He went on to warn O'Reilly against blaming all Muslims for the actions of extremists, just as all Christians should not be blamed for the likes of Timothy McVeigh or all Catholics for the death of Dr. George Tiller or all Jews for the death of Prime Minister Rabin.
Is it really inconsistent with "editorial standards and practices" for a "news analyst" to honestly express his opinions on another network? Or was it because it was Fox News?
Juan and I have been contributors to Fox News for more than a decade. We're part of the "balance" in "fair and balanced." I've taken heat for it from my Democratic friends, and he's taken heat from others at NPR.
My answer — and I expect his, as well — is that because of the strong conservative voices heard on Fox, it is all the more important for there to be strong voices expressing other views.
You could certainly make a case that reporters should stick to reporting and not cross the line between reporting the news and expressing opinions about it. But that line gets crossed every Sunday morning and most days in between.
Besides, Juan's title at NPR was "analyst." On O'Reilly's show, he was clearly expressing an opinion — one shared, painfully, by many people.
Others are free to disagree, on both Fox News and NPR. But to fire an analyst for expressing an honest opinion violates the very principles of free expression and the First Amendment on which NPR so often prides itself.
I have no doubt that Juan will be just fine. I'm sure there will be plenty of room for him at Fox. I'm sure conservatives will rush to make him their hero and use his firing as a weapon with which to attack NPR.
As an NPR listener, that saddens me. Public radio doesn't have to be politically correct radio. NPR does many wonderful things. This was not one of them. I fear that in the end, NPR — and its listeners — will pay the price.
WASHINGTON — One in three people has yet to lock onto a choice in the Nov. 2 congressional elections, according to an Associated Press-GfK Poll. Yet in this year of the fed-up voter, even these folks offer little hope to... Read more
Health officials in Haiti say the cholera outbreak is gradually stabilising, but that they are preparing for the worst as the death toll tops 250 amid fears the disease may spread to the slums and refugee camps of the capital, Port-au-Prince.
Strikers resurrected a blockade at a major fuel depot in the south of France on Monday, in fresh opposition to President Nicolas Sarkozy's unpopular pension reform. A quarter of France's petrol stations continue to run dry.
Iraq's highest court ordered the country's parliament to get back to work on Sunday, since sessions stalled after politicians failed to agree on a new government seven months after an inconclusive election.
Mahamadou Danda, Niger's prime minister, told RFI radio on Sunday that all seven hostages, including five French nationals, taken by an al Qaeda affiliate in September are alive and attempts are underway to secure their release.
Britain’s deputy prime minister has called for an investigation into allegations of gross misconduct during the Iraq War as the US and its allies come under increasing international pressure to probe claims made by whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks.
As G20 finance ministers meet for talks in South Korea, US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner urged G20 nations with trade surpluses to review their currency regimes and those with deficits to boost savings and exports for the sake of global growth.
Japanese automaker Honda Motor Co. said it would recall more than 500,000 vehicles worldwide Friday due to a faulty brake fluid cylinder. The move comes just a day after Toyota announced a safety recall of 1.5 million vehicles for a similar fault.
The whistleblower website WikiLeaks has announced on its Twitter page that a "major announcement" is to be expected on Saturday. Rumour has is that the site will release something concerning the war in Iraq.
Germany raised its forecast for the economic growth of Europe's biggest economy for this year and next on Thursday, predicting an expansion of 3.4 percent for 2010 and slightly lower growth in 2011.
Japanese car maker Toyota's woes continue, with the world's largest auto maker on Thursday announcing that it would recall some 1.5 million cars worldwide because of a brake problem. Toyota has already faced a similar problem.
Paris Saint-Germain squandered a chance to move up the table in France's Ligue 1 as they slumped to a 3-2 home defeat against Auxerre on Sunday. Whilst Marseille moved into second place with a 3-1 win over Lille.
Switzerland's Roger Federer beat Florian Mayer of Germany in straight sets on Sunday to win the Stockholm Open and level with Pete Sampras on 64 career titles.
Ferrari's Fernando Alonso moved to the top of the driver's championship on Sunday after winning a chaotic South Korean Grand Prix in which both Red Bull drivers failed to cross the finish line.
Citroen's Sébastien Loeb picked up a sixth consecutive win at the Rally of Catalunya on Sunday, having already wrapped up a seventh straight drivers' championship.
Arsenal were in top form beating Manchester City at their home ground 3-0. Samir Nasri, Alex Song (pictured, left) and Nicklas Bendtner all scored to round off a convincing display. Elsewhere, Manchester United secured a 2-1 victory against Stoke.
Top art dealer Larry Gagosian opened a gallery in Paris this week, calling it a sign the French capital is "reclaiming" its role on the world art scene. The opening came just ahead of the launch of the FIAC contemporary art fair (photo) on Thursday.
At British artist David Hockney’s new exhibit in Paris, iPads and iPhones take the place of canvas. Using the "Brushes" application, which allows users to paint with their fingers, Hockney created a series of colourful landscapes and still lifes.
The US non-profit group TED has awarded 100,000 dollars to the French photography artist known as "JR" for putting a "human face on some of the most critical social issues while redefining how we view, make and display art."
A new exhibit that opened in Berlin on Friday features Nazi memorabilia -- from propaganda posters to Christmas tree ornaments -- to explore the personality cult surrounding Adolf Hitler that enabled him to keep a tight grip on the German nation.
Nelson Mandela never wanted to become South Africa's president and would have preferred a younger person to become the country's first black ruler, according to his memoirs released on Thursday.
An accident at an Alumina factory in Hungary smothers three villages with a toxic sludge, leaving 9 dead and scores of others burned and badly injured. HEALTH meets those burned by the alkaline mud which ate deep into their skin. At Budapest’s hospitals doctors still rely on results from Greenpeace to see what metals or toxic materials are present in the mud.
A network of suspected Armenian gangsters used means such as setting up fake medical clinics to try and cheat the government's medical insurance programme out of $163 million, the largest fraud by a criminal enterprise in the programme’s history.
The sixth edition of the French capital’s international science film festival served up a tribute to biodiversity in its various forms – and a warning about the difficulty of preserving it.
The 2010 Global Hunger Index released Monday says that nearly one in six people go hungry, with child malnutrition causing lifelong harm to health and productivity. South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa fared the worst. (Photo: Philip Flämig/IFPRI).
HEALTH visits the world’s largest operating theater, a temple of high tech surgery the IRCAD in Strasbourg where tiny tools and robotic arms enable surgeons to make precise incisions’. Meanwhile a 3D image of your internal organs allows doctors to get to the heart of your problems while over in the UK a woman who was told she would have to have her leg amputated should soon walk again thanks to a ground breaking stem cell operation.
Strikers resurrected a blockade at a major fuel depot in the south of France on Monday, in fresh opposition to President Nicolas Sarkozy's unpopular pension reform. A quarter of France's petrol stations continue to run dry.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy outlined his agenda for France's forthcoming presidencies of the G20 and G8 on Saturday at the opening of a summit of French-speaking nations in the Swiss town of Montreux.
L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt (pictured), France's richest woman, lodged a suit against her daughter Wednesday alleging psychological abuse. Her daughter's lawyer, Olivier Metzner, has called the suit a public relations stunt.
The French - if they’re not on strike, they’re taking long holidays or having extra days off thanks to the 35-hour week. That’s a widespread view, as can be seen from comments on RFI’s reports of the strikes against President Nicolas Sarkozy’s pension reforms. But do the statistics bear it out?
EU justice chief Viviane Reding will recommend that the European Commission drop a threat of legal action against France over its Roma crackdown after the French government vowed to change national legislation, an EU official has said.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy outlined his agenda for France's forthcoming presidencies of the G20 and G8 on Saturday at the opening of a summit of French-speaking nations in the Swiss town of Montreux.
The skipper of a small passenger ferry was feared missing on Friday after his vessel capsized when a German cargo ship collided with it on a canal near Amsterdam, police sources said. Traffic on the canal has been halted.
King Albert II of Belgium has tasked Flemish socialist senator Johan Vande Lanotte (pictured left) with bringing about "conciliation" between feuding political parties, four months on from deeply divisive elections.
Ending a case that has gripped Belgium, a Belgian woman was convicted on Wednesday of murdering a love rival by sabotaging her parachute ahead of a skydive.
British Finance Minister George Osborne (photo) announced a raft of spending cuts Wednesday involving eye-watering sums of cash that would impact most UK government departments. FRANCE24 presents a guide to the key points at a glance.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange told a press conference in London on Saturday that the publishing of 400,000 classified military documents on the Iraq war was an attempt to reveal the extent of human suffering caused by the conflict.
Bahrain's Shiite opposition picked up 18 out of 40 parliament seats in Saturday's legislative elections, one more than in the previous polls, with nine seats still up for grabs in a second round of voting next week.
Jewish settlers have begun building at least 600 homes since the end of a West Bank building ban on September 26, the NGO Peace Now said on Thursday. The group said new construction was taking place four times faster than before the freeze.
A UN tribunal carried out a controlled explosion at a French military base Wednesday as part of its investigation into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Hundreds of fighters in Iraq, once allies of the US military, may have joined al Qaeda, The New York Times reported on Sunday. The paper said the fighters are lured in part by al Qaeda recruitment efforts and anger at Iraq's Shiite-led government.
Guinean leaders appealed for calm Saturday amid reports of further clashes between supporters of the two rival candidates in the country's presidential runoff vote, which has been delayed twice due to simmering ethnic tensions.
Mahamadou Danda, Niger's prime minister, told RFI radio on Sunday that all seven hostages, including five French nationals, taken by an al Qaeda affiliate in September are alive and attempts are underway to secure their release.
In an interview with France24.com, a top official of the government of South Sudan insisted that an independent South would protect citizens of all faiths, as it has done since gaining autonomy in 2005.
United Nations officials have called for urgent aid for the west African nation of Benin, where devastating floods have triggered a deadly cholera outbreak and left some 680,000 people homeless.
Seven football fans were killed after a frenzied crowd stampeded Kenya's Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi to watch a match between two of the country’s most popular teams, the Red Cross said Saturday.
Health officials in Haiti say the cholera outbreak is gradually stabilising, but that they are preparing for the worst as the death toll tops 250 amid fears the disease may spread to the slums and refugee camps of the capital, Port-au-Prince.
Health officials in Haiti say the death toll from a cholera outbreak has risen to more than 250 but is gradually stabilising, amid fears that the disease may spread to the sprawling slums and refugee camps of the capital, Port-au-Prince.
Britain’s deputy prime minister has called for an investigation into allegations of gross misconduct during the Iraq War as the US and its allies come under increasing international pressure to probe claims made by whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks.
US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner (pictured) arrived in China Sunday to discuss bilateral economic issues, including the value of China’s currency, the yuan, a topic that has recently strained relations between the two countries.
Thai authorities say the death toll from nearly two weeks of devastating floods has climbed to 38, with rising waters now threatening to overrun the capital, Bangkok.
Rescuers in Taiwan are still searching for two dozen missing people after Typhoon Megi struck the island, killing at least 11 and causing massive landslides. The storm was forecast to make landfall in southeast China on Saturday.
Rebuilding and aid efforts in Afghanistan are being compromised by a ban on private security guards that goes into effect on Dec. 17, with some foreign firms and development groups already winding down operations over security concerns.
China has dismissed as "groundless" a UN report saying bullets from China were used in attacks on peacekeepers in Sudan's Darfur region. The report is under review by a UN committee monitoring sanctions against Sudan, including a 2005 arms embargo.
David Cameron: "It is a plan to completely update and modernise our infrastructure"
David Cameron has promised a "forensic, relentless approach" to ensuring the UK's future economic growth.
The government would offer help to ensure new companies can prosper, the prime minister told the CBI conference.
He also hinted at making the cap on skilled non-EU migrants able to work in the UK more flexible amid concerns from business it will hamper the recovery.
Labour leader Ed Miliband said the coalition government lacked a credible plan for boosting growth.
The government argues that, while 490,000 public sector positions are forecast to close as public spending is cut, new jobs will be created by the private sector. Continue reading the main story Related stories
* Private sector 'key to UK prosperity' * Cable to urge corporate rethink * Cameron announces infrastructure plan
Immigration cap
Mr Cameron said he wanted to help new companies break into existing markets and pledged funding for a network of centres to make research more commercial and to help spur job creation.
On immigration, he stressed the need for it to be brought down to a "manageable level" but told business leaders that "we will not impede you from attracting the best talent from around the world". Continue reading the main story Analysis Danny Savage BBC News
The irony of what the prime minister said today will not be lost on many people in South Yorkshire.
The Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre stands next to one of the most symbolic sites in Britain's history of industrial relations. This is where the Battle of Orgreave took place during the miners' strike.
Police and miners clashed in the most violent scenes - part of a dispute in which a Tory prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, was trying to break the NUM.
A quarter of century later, a new Conservative prime minister is singing the praises of a new generation of workers here. The staff here are some of the best brains in British engineering.
When the likes of the plane-making giant Boeing want a manufacturing problem solved, they come here. This is where a solution is found and big companies pay handsomely for the service.
Now the prime minister wants more centres of excellence like this.
When people say Britain is not a manufacturing force anymore, the people of the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre beg to differ. They know some of the biggest challenges in the world of modern engineering can still be solved in this corner of South Yorkshire.
The Conservatives say they will fulfill a manifesto pledge by introducing a permanent cap on the number of people from outside the EU able to take up work in the UK from next April.
However, a temporary limit of 24,100 which came into force this summer - to apply until April - has already caused anger with banks and other multinational businesses arguing that it is restricting their ability to recruit the best candidates at a time of need.
Business Secretary Vince Cable has repeatedly called for flexibility in how the cap is administered - seen as calling for it to be set as high as possible.
But No 10 said Mr Cameron's remarks did not signify there was a "rethink" on the permanent cap - currently the subject of consultation.
"We will be looking obviously at the level of that cap and at the way in which it operates and making sure that works in a way that allows business to bring the people that they need into the UK," a No 10 spokesman said.
On the wider issue of how to boost growth and job creation in the private sector, Mr Cameron said his commitment to sharply reduce borrowing over the next four years would provide a stable climate for business to invest.
"This is an incredible opportunity for Britain, for new start-ups to flourish, for innovations to drive growth and create jobs," he said.
"To build that new dynamism in our economy, to create the growth, jobs and opportunities Britain needs, we've got to back the big businesses of tomorrow, not just the big businesses of today."
Although the economy picked up over the spring and early summer, some economists expect figures out on Tuesday to show a slowdown during the third quarter. 'Complacency'
The prime minister said the UK had sometimes been "complacent about our competitive advantages", whereas the coalition wanted a change in attitude.
He told business leaders a "forensic, relentless focus on growth is what you will get from the government". Continue reading the main story “Start Quote
We are at risk of - at best - sleepwalking back to an economy riddled with the same risks as we saw before the recession hit”
End Quote Ed Miliband Labour leader
Unveiling what he said was the UK's "first-ever national infrastructure plan", Mr Cameron said countries such as China had been investing massively in new roads and rail links while the UK had "stood still".
"Even in this very constrained time, we will invest over £30bn in transport projects over the next four years," the prime minister said, adding that he wanted government action to help "unlock" £200bn in total public and private sector investment in transport, energy, telecommunications and other critical sectors.
CBI director general Richard Lambert said Mr Cameron showed an understanding "that only business will create growth".
"There was a welcome emphasis on the need to re-boot the country's infrastructure, with a coherent vision of what needs to be done over the next five years to secure economic growth," he said. 'Hostage to fortune'
Mr Miliband, in his first major speech on business since becoming opposition leader, said Mr Cameron had failed to learn lessons from the financial crisis and the government could become a "hostage to fortune".
He said: "As much as I am worried about the job cuts and pace of retrenchment in the government's deficit reduction plan, I am equally worried about its failure to provide any sort of wider economic policy.
"Without profound change in the way we manage our economy, we are at risk of - at best - sleepwalking back to an economy riddled with the same risks as we saw before the recession hit."
The TUC said business investment had been to low and biased towards property and finance.
"Some in government seem to think that public sector cuts will automatically spur private sector growth, but with cuts hitting both public purchasing and consumer confidence, it is more likely that the cuts will take down important parts of the private sector too," TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said. More on This Story UK Economy: The Recovery Background and Analysis
* Economy tracker: GDP
Economy tracker: GDP - measuring UK economic growth * What shape is a recession? * Austerity: a double-edged sword? * What's changed for the UK economy?
Top Stories
* UK retail sales fall in September * Bank split three ways on polic
Mr Karzai said the cash was used to maintain the presidential palace and run his office
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has acknowledged that his office has received cash from Iran, but insists it was part of a "transparent" process. Continue reading the main story Taliban Conflict
* Who are the Taliban? * Q&A: Fighting the Taliban * Challenges for Afghan forces * Suspicion over Nato tanker attacks
Mr Karzai was responding to a report in the New York Times that Tehran had been passing bags stuffed full of cash to Mr Karzai's aides.
The cash was intended to promote Iran's interests in Kabul, the report said.
However, Mr Karzai said the money was not for an individual but to help run the president's office.
Speaking at a news conference, he said many countries had given money to Afghanistan in this way, including the US.
"The government of Iran has been assisting us with five or six or seven hundred thousand euros once or twice every year, that is an official aid," he told reporters, according to the AFP agency.
He said his chief of staff, Umar Daudzai, "is receiving the money on my instructions".
"The cash payments are done by various friendly countries to help the presidential office and to help dispense assistance... in various ways to the employees around here, to people outside, and this is transparent," he said.
"This is something that I have also discussed... at Camp David with President Bush. This is nothing hidden. Continue reading the main story Iranian-Afghan relations
* Iran opposed the Taliban government of 1996-2001 and backed opposition group the Northern Alliance. * In 1998 the Taliban killed eight Iranian diplomats and an Iranian reporter * Iran concerned about drug trafficking across shared border * More than one million Afghan refugees and many illegal migrants still in Iran * Iran says it is a major investor in Afghanistan. It has built roads, bridges, power lines and border stations * Iranian influence in Afghan affairs is a growing concern to the US and its allies
"We are grateful for the Iranian help in this regard. The United States is doing the same thing, they're providing cash to some of our offices."
The New York Times report said that last August, at the end of an official visit to Iran by Mr Karzai, a large bag of euro notes had been passed to Mr Daudzai by Iran's ambassador to Afghanistan, Feda Hussein Maliki.
It was part of a "secret, steady stream of Iranian cash to buy the loyalty of Mr Daudzai and promote Iran's interests in the presidential palace", the report said, citing Afghan and Western officials.
The officials alleged that the payments, totalling millions of dollars, had been used to pay Afghan politicians, tribal elders and even Taliban commanders to secure their loyalty.
"It's basically a presidential slush fund," one Western official is quoted as saying.
The BBC's Quentin Sommerville says Mr Karzai's comments will do little to reassure many of his foreign supporters who are concerned about fraud within his government as well as Iran's growing influence in the country.
Despite billions of dollars in international aid, Afghanistan remains one of the poorest countries in the world, he adds. President Karzai and Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tajikistan in 2006 Western states are uneasy about growing Iranian influence in Afghanistan
On Monday, the Iranian embassy in Kabul strongly denied the report, describing the claims as "ridiculous and insulting".
"Such baseless speculations are being spread by some Western media outlets in order to confuse public opinion and damage the strong ties between the governments and nations of the Islamic republics of Afghanistan and Iran," a statement said.
Meanwhile, Nato said on Monday that at least 15 militants had been killed in an overnight air strike in southern Helmand province.
Some unconfirmed reports said civilians had died in the attack, but a spokesman for the Helmand governor's office told the BBC that there were no civilian casualties. More on This Story Taliban Conflict
* Who are the Taliban? * Q&A: Fighting the Taliban * Challenges for Afghan forces * Suspicion over Nato tanker attacks * Fraud fears over election * Unusual poll contenders * Civilian toll shows Nato dilemma
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- The president of FINA said Sunday that "overexertion" led to the death of US national team swimmer Fran Crippen at a race in the United Arab Emirates and that swimming's governing body has launched an investigation into ...
By the CNN Wire Staff (CNN) -- The storm known as Richard intensified in the Caribbean from a tropical storm into a Category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph, the National Hurricane Center reported.
This is the what-in-the-World Series. Two teams that were losers in 2008. Two teams that were last in their divisions in 2007. One goal: That ultimate Tiffany bling-bling, the 2010 Commissioner's Trophy,...
Oct. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Michael Steele, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, said he expects his party will win the US House of Representatives in the midterm election while having difficulty taking control of the ...
The screaming you hear is merely the sound of Paramount Pictures celebrating. According to early estimates, the studio's Paranormal Activity 2 not only won the weekend with $41.5 million from 3216 locations, but it also set the record for ...
The Food and Drug Administration said it cannot approve the obesity drug lorcaserin from Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. because of potential safety risks and data showing the drug has a "minimal" effect on weight loss.
Ex-NPR analyst Juan Williams said Sunday that his firing over a comment about Muslims amounts to "censorship," adding that it was "despicable" for an NPR executive to later suggest he was "unstable.
The US treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, said he believes China is now "committed" to allowing its currency to rise in value, as he attended hastily arranged talks with officials in the port city of Qingdao today.
Meg Whitman trails Jerry Brown in a new poll of likely California voters. The episode involving her illegal Mexican housekeeper is hurting her, especially among Latino voters.
Bahrain's main Shi'ite opposition group has won 18 out of 40 seats in the first round of parliamentary elections. The results follow accusations of voter irregularities and mounting tension between the country's ruling Suni and Shi'ite minority.
Though a moot point now for consumers, in 2004 Sony came out with a razor-thin wedge-shaped laptop that was a progenitor of the MacBook Air, particularly Apple's 2010 incarnation.
San Francisco has been under pressure to make a change at quarterback with Alex Smith having been inconsistent, and that move was forced on the 49ers when Smith suffered a left shoulder sprain on the second play of the second half Sunday against ...
News Analysis: HP rolls out its Slate 500 at the Gartner Symposium/IT Expo, while RIM shows off PlayBook. Both companies say their tablets are aimed at the enterprise market.
Monsters and Critics.com - April MacIntyre - 15 minutes ago
A celebrity baby boom happened this past week as singer Celine Dion and her husband welcomed twin baby boys, and actor Matt Damon and his wife had another baby girl.
Folk dancing, a tiger safari, elephants and a fortune-telling parrot were among the highlights at Katy Perry and Russell Brand's lavish Indian wedding ceremony, People.
Suspected Somali pirates have seized a vessel with 17 crew members off the coast of Kenya. The European Union's anti-piracy force says the MV York was hijacked Saturday about 90 kilometers east of the Kenyan port of Mombasa.
Matt Damon and his wife, Luciana, have welcomed their fourth child, a rep for the actor confirmed to Access Hollywood. The baby girl, Stella Zavala Damon, was born on Wednesday in New York.
JERUSALEM - Palestinian youths and Israeli police clashed on Sunday in a flashpoint east Jerusalem neighbourhood after city officials served home demolition orders on residents, witnesses said.
Finally, Obama likely to focus on deficit from now on... Topic: obama, biodun iginla, bbc news
by Melissa Gruz, Chief US Correspondent for the BBC's Biodun Iginla
WASHINGTON – Preparing for political life after a bruising election,President Barack Obama will put greater emphasis on fiscal discipline, a nod to a nation sick of spending and to a Congress poised to become more Republican, conservative and determined to stop him.
He is already giving clues about how he will govern in the last two years of his term.
Obama will try to make gains on deficit reduction, education and energy. He will enforce his health care and financial overhauls and try to protect them from repeal should Republicans win control of CapitolHill. He will use executive authority when blocked by Congress, and steel for scrutiny and investigations if the GOP is in charge.
While trying to save money, Obama will have to decide whether to bend to Republican and growing Democratic pressure to extend Bush-era tax cuts, even for the wealthy, that expire at year's end. Obama wants to extend them for people making less than $200,000 and married couples making less than $250,000, but a broader extension is gaining favor with an increasing number of Democrats.
Moving to the fore will be a more serious focus on how to balance the federal budget and pay for the programs that keep sinking the country into debt.
In other times, that discussion might seem like dry, Washington talk. Not now. People are fed up with federal spending, particularly as many remain jobless.
The White House refuses to talk about how the president will have to adjust his style or goals if power in Congress tilts right, for fear of undermining what Obama is still campaigning hard to do: keeping Democrats in power. There is no conceding as Obama recruits voters and rallies supporters all the way to Nov. 2.
Yet if polls and analysts are on target, Republicans are poised to win big, possibly taking control of the House and gaining seats in the Senate, where Obama's party already lacks the votes to overcome bill-killing delay tactics. Obama probably will operate in an environment with even fewer moderate Republicans.
The president has signaled that at the start of the new year, he will speak more directly to the country about the financial choices ahead. "If we're going to get serious about the deficit, then we're going to have to look at everything: entitlements, defense spending, revenues. ... And that's going to be a tough conversation," he said.
It's one that will be framed by a bipartisan debt commission, whose ideas this December will give Obama political cover on where to suggest unpopular cuts.
Obama says the most frustrating part of his presidency is that he had to keep spending money and adding to the deficit in his first six months in office "to save the economy." He has from the start called deficit reduction a goal, but one that had to get bumped in favor of sparking the economy.
Almost 60 percent of likely voters now say cutting the yearly budget shortfall is the priority, even if that means the government can't spend on new education programs, develop alternative energy sources or enact his health care overhaul or alternative energy policies, an Associated Press-GfK poll found.
Obama defends the huge economic stimulus plan and the bailout of U.S. automakers, and doesn't blame people for getting tired of all the spending. But he does accuse Republicans of showing a lack of genuineness about fixing the systemic problems that have driven up the debt long before he won the White House.
And there rests the true trouble.
Even though Obama and the Republicans ostensibly share the goals of reducing debt and creating jobs, they disagree fundamentally on their approaches. That problem appears to be worsened by the lack of a serious working relationship among the leaders. If divided government simply leads to more division over the budget and economy, newly empowered Republicans and a Democratic president seeking re-election may both pay the price.
"It's going to be very hard to find common ground," said James Thurber, a professor of government at American University. "To a certain extent, (Obama's) strategy depends on the strategy of majority of the House, and what can be found in the Senate, where's he's basically going to be deadlocked."
House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio said if Obama and his team are going to work with the new Congress, then they must accept the end of government stimulus efforts as a means for creating jobs. Boehner and fellow Republicans have outlined a plan for governing that includes deep spending cuts and a repeal of Obama's health care law, among other changes. Boehner is likely to ascend to House speaker if his party wins a majority.
"They're going to have to signal some kind of willingness to work with Republicans to cut spending," Boehner told The Associated Press. "Cutting government spending is what the American people want, and it's an approach neither party has tried yet."
The yearly budget deficit stands at $1.3 billion.
Obama may succeed in getting Republican support for trade pacts on a new education law that insists on school reforms. He will go for an immigration overhaul and energy legislation, but have to accept smaller, piece-by-piece results. Capping of greenhouse gas emissions, for one, seems to be going nowhere.
"It's a very different reality for the president for the next two years, which is not to say that nothing gets done," said Norman Ornstein, a political scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. "Even in a rancorous and nasty environment, it seems to me there may some areas of opportunity."
Either real compromise or political pressures may pull Obama and enough Republicans together to get some priorities done. President Bill Clinton managed to rebound and work with Republicans after they swept into office in 1994, teaming up on welfare and balanced-budget legislation.
Never to be ignored are the core Democrats who helped get Obama elected and who, in some cases, are disgruntled about the pace of progress. "He's got to be careful to manage his base," said Ann Crigler, a professor of political science at the University of Southern California. "His election is going to start Nov. 3."
The couple spoke to reporters while handcuffed in the Government of Canada Building
The couple were arrested in Vancouver on Thursday on US warrants related to vandalism charges, issued last week after they missed a court appearance.
"We feel our lives are in danger," Evi Quaid told an immigration adjudicator.
Their lawyer showed the media a handwritten statement, in which the Quaids said they were "requesting asylum from Hollywood 'star whackers'."
Last month the Quaids were charged by US police with illegal occupation of their former home in Santa Barbara, California.
When they failed to show up in court to answer those charges last Monday, a warrant was issued for their arrest.
Their handwritten note refers to unspecified "star whackers"
The Quaids have been released from custody in Canada and are expected to attend a hearing later in the next week.
Quaid, 60, is best known for his roles in The Last Picture Show, Independence Day and National Lampoon's Vacation, and for being the older brother of actor Dennis.
At Friday's immigration hearing, Evi Quaid alleged that a number of her husband's actor friends - among them Heath Ledger and David Carradine - had been killed in recent years.
"Randy has known eight close friends murdered in odd, strange manners," she said in what the Reuters news agency called a "rambling" presentation. "We feel that we're next."
Ledger, with whom Quaid appeared in Brokeback Mountain, died in January 2008 from an accidental overdose.
Kung Fu and Kill Bill star Carradine was found dead in a Bangkok hotel room last year. A pathologist concluded he had died from asphyxiation.
The Quaids are alleged to have caused more than $5,000 (£3,188) in damage to the property in Santa Barbera, which they claim belongs to them.
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