InfoAnda - 100 days of Obama: Energy aplenty, no miracles

Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case
Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They

Taiwan denies boycotting Australian film festival
Thursday, August 6, 2009

AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e

Merkel's support dips, regional ally resigns International
Thursday, September 3, 2009

By Sarah Marsh and Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German

Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who

Asian markets mixed after Wall Street rally
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an

Playwright Edward Albee to receive MacDowell medal | | 13 April 2011
Taiwan dollar flat ahead of U.S. jobs report | 8 January 2010
US embassy accused of spying in Norway, Oslo demands answers | 5 November 2010

Feb 11 Highlights Of Low Points In U.S. Economy | 12 February 2009

">Forum Views () ">Forum Replies ()

Read more with google mobile : 100 days of Obama: Energy aplenty, no miracles

Yahoo! My Yahoo! Mail Yahoo! Search Search: Sign InNew User? Sign Up News Home - Help Navigation Primary Navigation Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Top Stories Most Popular Secondary Navigation Africa Europe Latin America Middle East North America Search Search: 100 days of Obama: Energy aplenty, no miracles By NANCY BENAC,Associated Press Writer AP - 2 hours 21 minutes ago WASHINGTON - Barack Obama opened his presidency by drawing an unflinching portrait of the challenges. Then he set about turning those perils into possibilities. ADVERTISEMENT In a dizzying dash to the 100-day mark, Obama made a down payment on the changes he'd promised and delivered a trillion-dollar wallop to wake up the moribund economy. He put the country on track to end one war, reorient another and redefine what it means to be a superpower. All this with a cool confidence that has made increasing numbers of Americans hopeful that the country may at last be heading in the right direction. The public couldn't get enough of it, fixating on Team Obama's every move: the arrival of family dog Bo; the president showing up for work in his shirt-sleeves; the first lady's moxie in baring her arms; Sasha and Malia's swing set; even a visit to the White House by the surviving Grateful Dead. Obama says it is a "weird fishbowl" that he has jumped into. Not everyone's impressed. For all that went right with the president's liftoff (after that small matter of the flubbed oath of office), Obama's opening moves have fallen short in the eyes of many, and have left others wondering where it all will lead. Republicans largely stiffed the president on his call for bipartisanship and cast him as a weak leader on the world stage. Liberals groused that he could have done more and wondered whether he's too prone to compromise. Deficit hawks worried that he's blown a gaping a hole in the budget. Obama himself seems energized. "The decision-making part of it," he says, "actually comes pretty naturally." As for the critics, Obama says, Washington is "a little bit like 'American Idol' _ but everybody is Simon Cowell." Almost overlooked in all the hoopla is the historic nature of Obama's tenure as the first black president. There's been little time to even think about that issue, which commanded so much attention during the campaign, as Obama has grappled with a seizing economy and has rushed pell-mell to reverse the legacy of eight years of Republican rule. "You'd be hard put to find another president facing those kinds of challenges who has acted as intelligently and aggressively to meet the challenges head on," said presidential historian Andrew Polsky, a professor at Hunter College in New York. "He hasn't pushed things to the back burner. Of course, whether any of this works is another question, and it's too soon to know that." Others are less hesitant to draw conclusions. Ted Sorensen, a former speechwriter for President John F. Kennedy, says Obama "seems likely to be one of the great presidents in our history." Former House Republican leader Newt Gingrich says Obama's foreign policy moves have been looking "a lot like Jimmy Carter," a one-term president regarded as a weak leader. Whatever the record so far, it's clear Obama's biggest challenges are still to come. The pledge to overhaul health care will make his successful expansion of children's health coverage look like child's play. While there have been hints the recession may be easing, Obama still needs to stabilize the shaky banking system and get credit flowing again. The clock is ticking on his promise to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center within a year, and each detainee poses his own set of problems. Obama's ability to wind down U.S. operations in Iraq and reshape efforts in Afghanistan hinges in large part on factors beyond his control. Obama had hoped that his early actions to ban torture and release top-secret details of past interrogation practices would end a "dark and painful chapter in our history." Instead, they have only inflamed passions and sparked new calls for more investigation and prosecution that are likely to be more than a passing distraction. ___ Change has arrived at a head-snapping rate, a product both of the troubled times and the president's ambitious agenda. There's been the monstrous economic stimulus package that funneled billions into Obama priorities such as health care and renewable energy; a new law to provide 4 million more children with health insurance; another making it easier for workers to sue over discrimination on the job; the easing of Bush-era restraints on stem-cell research; jaw-dropping revelations about past interrogations; plans to put 21,000 more troops in Afghanistan; the White House-orchestrated ouster of General Motors Corp.'s top executive. In smaller ways, too, evidence of change is everywhere. Obama was the first president to host a White House seder to mark Passover. His administration set aside tickets to the annual Easter Egg Roll for gay and lesbian parents. He was the first sitting president to do NBC's "Tonight" show. His weekly radio address airs on YouTube. There have been blunders along the way. It took three nominations for Obama to get his commerce secretary right, two to find a health secretary. Obama apologized after making an off-key joke suggesting that his lame bowling skills made him Special Olympics material. Through it all, the economy has been Job One. For a while, the news was only grim and grimmer. The Dow Jones Industrials average closed at 7,949 on Inauguration Day. By early March, it was closer to 6,500. Job losses piled up in staggering increments: 598,000 in January, 651,000 in February, 663,000 in March. Obama went pedal-to-the-metal to throw money at the problem, first with billions of bailout dollars, next with billions of stimulus dollars, then with a proposed budget expected to produce $9.3 trillion in deficits over the next decade. House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio calls it "a spending spree the likes of which our nation has never seen," and polls pick up growing concern on that front. About half of all Americans say they're "very worried" that the rising national debt will hurt their children and grandchildren, according to an AP-GfK poll. Taxpayers seethed when word surfaced that insurer American International Group Inc., the recipient of billions in bailout money, had paid millions of dollars in bonuses, and it was all Obama could do to keep out in front of the anger and not get flattened by it. By mid-April, tensions had eased, and the president was pointing to economic "glimmers of hope." The Dow was back in same range as around Inauguration Day. For all his focus on the economy, Obama also devoted considerable effort to repairing the nation's tarnished image abroad. His sat down for his first formal TV interview with an Arabic-language station, telling Muslims that "Americans are not your enemy." In Europe, he said America in the past had "shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive." He carried the same message to Latin America, entertaining overtures from isolated Cuban President Raul Castro and Venezuela's anti-American president, Hugo Chavez. Breaking with the unyielding tone of the Bush years, Obama said he was rejecting the notion "that if we showed courtesy or opened up dialogue with governments that had previously been hostile to us, that that somehow would be a sign of weakness." Republicans said that was naive, calling the president "a timid advocate of freedom at best," in the words of former Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney. ___ The 44th president starts his day with a workout in the White House gym (usually with his wife, Michelle). Then it's breakfast and the morning papers _ he likes the feel of newsprint in his hands. When Obama gets to the Oval Office, he finds a stack of 10 letters on his desk, culled from the 40,000 to 50,000 that arrive daily. The letters are "one of the really important rituals of his day," says senior adviser David Axelrod. Also each morning, Obama gets a briefing on national security, and a second on the economy. "Between 7 and 10, I sort of know what I'm doing," the president says. "After that, who knows?" For all of the problems that Obama knew awaited him, new ones arrived out of left field. "I'm pretty sure that he hadn't boned up on piracy any time recently before he came here," says Axelrod, who credits his boss with moving smoothly from one challenge to the next _ "usually a few furlongs ahead of the others in the room." The trappings of the office, though, still take some getting used to. Like that button next to him that can be used to summon people. "It took him awhile to recognize what that was," says Axelrod. Obama says one of the hardest adjustments has been dealing with the isolation that comes with the presidency. He chafes a little "being inside this bubble," Obama said in one early interview. To fight that, the president negotiated with his security people to keep using his BlackBerry, although his contacts list got chopped down to about 30 close friends and advisers. Known for his even temper, Obama keeps things loose even in meetings on tense subjects, aides say. What annoys him? Axelrod mentions "the scorecard politics of Washington" and takes note of a proliferation of "bloviators" on television. "He doesn't have one of these in his office," Axelrod says, gesturing toward a TV. ___ Axelrod says Obama has settled into the presidency more easily than he did his candidacy. The president seem unafraid to admit he's wrong. Or right. "I screwed up," Obama said after his nomination of former Sen. Tom Daschle for health secretary failed. "On this one I think I'm right," he said to critics of his friendly exchange with Chavez. The president, whose aides dismiss the whole notion of the 100-day yardstick as the equivalent of a "Hallmark holiday," came to office imbued with sky-high expectations from the public and emerged three months later with his approval ratings intact, at a solid 64 percent in the AP-GfK poll. But it's all been too much for many Republicans: Seven out of 10 now disapprove of his job performance, compared with 58 percent in February. And there are still a lot of pages to be written. Though Obama is on TV almost every day, Stanley Renshon, a political psychologist at the City University of New York who is writing a book about the president, says he's still hard to read. Sometimes, he says, "it's hard to get a handle on whether Obama's being prudent or radical." Or, in the view of some liberals, too cautious. Justin Ruben, executive director of MoveOn.org, a liberal advocacy group, said members are thrilled to have a president who's making health care and clean energy priorities. "But on the financial front, the jury's still out and folks are looking to see whether the president is really prioritizing Main Street over Wall Street." Axelrod shrugs off the critics from both ends, saying: "He doesn't work off anybody's checklist." Sorensen, the former Kennedy speechwriter, said some of the Americans who invested such high hopes in "an unknown black man elected president in an overwhelmingly white country" now expect too much, too soon. "He's a very good leader with all the instinctive skills of leadership, including superb judgment," says Sorensen, "but that doesn't make him a miracle worker." "There are no miracle workers." ___ Having inherited two wars and an economy in crisis, Obama talks often about the high stakes for the nation in getting things right. Only rarely does he allude to the stakes for him personally. "I will be held accountable," he said a few weeks into his presidency. "You know, I've got four years. ... If I don't have this done in three years, then there's going to be a one-term proposition." Email Story IM Story Printable View Blog This Recommend this article 0 users recommend Sign in to recommend this article » Most Recommended Stories » Related Articles: World Belatedly, White House aide pays for renovationAP - 23 minutes ago Obama urges new cost-saving initiativesAFP - 26 minutes ago Tsvangirai sees no going back on Zimbabwe unityReuters - 37 minutes ago Turkey says Obama failed to mention slain TurksAP - 43 minutes ago Interior secretary announces $500M for tribesAP - 46 minutes ago Most Popular – World Viewed Charred meat linked to pancreatic cancer risk Downturn hits Elton John, Paul McCartney Albino buffalo a first for Kenya Fertility doctor on brink of cloning human: report Ford sees light at end of tunnel View Complete List » Search: Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Top Stories Most Popular Copyright © 2009 Yahoo! Southeast Asia Pte Ltd. (Co. Reg. No. 199700735D). All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - Community - Intellectual Property Rights Policy - Help

Other News on Saturday, 25 April 2009
U.S. weighs Zimbabwe reform pace, no aid yet | International |
Poor countries pushed into danger zone: World Bank | International |
U.N. council to Sri Lanka: Let U.N. into conflict zone | International |
Two die in new violence in Madagascar capital: reports | International |
NATO extends anti-piracy mission off Somalia | International |
Conficker virus begins to attack PCs: experts | Technology |
Facebook surfing while sick costs Swiss woman job | Technology |
Blagojevich still hopes for a part in TV show | Entertainment |
Meryl Streep to be honored at Rome film festival | Entertainment |
Cyndi Lauper shares screen with husband | Entertainment |
Cocteau memorabilia up for auction in Paris | Entertainment |
Beyonce says definitely wants Broadway role | Entertainment |
Clinton makes surprise visit to Iraq
Female suicide attackers kill 58 near Baghdad shrine
U.N. council to Sri Lanka: Let U.N. into conflict zone | International |
60 killed in double bombing at Iraqi shrine
US stars rake in funds for fight on malaria
India presses for Sri Lanka truce as casualties rise | International |
Sixty die in Iraq shrine attack
Chrysler reaches agreement with Canada union workers
Canadian soldier found dead in Afghanistan
Group of Seven sees crisis begin to unwind by year-end
Baghdad shrine attack kills 55
Economic activity to pick up this year: G7
Major attacks in Iraq since Jan. 1
'Gaps' remain as G8-led climate talks move towards global pact
Ford sees light at end of tunnel
Tsunami aid often bypassed conflict victims: report | International |
Albino buffalo a first for Kenya
U.N. committee puts 3 North Korea firms on blacklist | International |
New momentum for global climate pact despite 'gaps'
Gore pleads for unity on climate, despite divide
'Gaps' remain as G8-led climate talks move towards global pact
Dalai Lama: Economic crisis teaches money's limits
Concern grows in Mexico, US over killer flu
Murder brings scrutiny to fast-growing Craigslist
Microsoft to release version of Windows 7 next week | Technology |
Northern Mariana Islands official convicted
Twitter a global sensation: Hitwise
Lost laptops cost companies dearly: study
Plane diverted to Boston after man rushes cockpit
Cell phone vital, air conditioning not so much | Technology |
Latin American banks look to mobiles to battle crisis
Murder brings scrutiny to fast-growing Craigslist | Technology |
US military told torture yields 'unreliable' info
Cell phone vital, air conditioning not so much
DVD software backups challenged in U.S. court | Technology |
EU's Barroso says he has Sarkozy's support to stay
NYC Heath Department: 75 kids sickened at 1 school
Facebook democracy debuts to low voter turnout
NYC house explosion shakes block; 1 dead, 6 hurt
Medvedev sacks military intelligence chief
Former Facebook executive named MySpace CEO
Penniless German couple abandoned their children
Finance leaders want cooperation to end recession
Finland allocates new 4G mobile frequencies
Estonia plans broadband for all by 2015: report
BULLETIN KILL
Facebook surfing while sick costs Swiss woman job
Lost laptops cost companies dearly: study
Bus-truck crash in China's southwest kills 18
Wounded Thai protest leader discharged
UN humanitarian chief to press Sri Lanka on civilians
Chronology of NKorea's nuclear, missile programs
Simon Cowell to Susan Boyle: Get yourself together | Entertainment |
Taliban withdraw from Pakistan's Buner: officials
Fox faces uncertainty over fate of Idol judges | Entertainment |
US aid threatened by missile range row: ambassador
Taiwan envoy heads to China for talks
NKorea restarts nuclear programme
Thai 'Yellow Shirt' protest founder leaves hospital
HK university students oust union president
Forbes names Madonna Hollywood's hardest working mom
Japanese banks Shinsei, Aozora in merger talks
Forbes names Madonna Hollywood's hardest working mom | Entertainment |
MSFG wins priority in talks to buy Nikko
Pakistani c.bank buys 32.75 bln rupees of T-bills
China bans foreign firms from express mail market
Reports: Sumitomo likely to buy Japan Citigroup
'Quiet' Copenhagen cracks down on deadly gang war
China Construction Bank 1Q profit down 18 percent
Torrent of bitterness on the Turkey-Armenia border
G7 hails China's crisis actions, pledges support
US-ENTERTAINMENT Summary
China buys half interest in Kazakh energy company
"Gossip Girl" star Meester signs record deal
World finance chiefs discuss crisis amid recovery signs
'Lost' actor and ABC face sex harassment claim
Toshiba says to cut British jobs, focus on Poland
Late night TV host Jay Leno released from hospital | Entertainment |
Rihanna seeking return of pricey jewelry
Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp to tour | Entertainment |
'Secret' Stone lawsuit was routine fees matter
Rob Thomas readies new album | Entertainment |
Nas says Grammy nod shows he's on right track
Page Not Found |
Simon Cowell to Susan Boyle: "Get yourself together"
Americans battle their bulge on TV dance show | Entertainment |
Fox faces uncertainty over fate of "Idol" judges
DVD software backups challenged in U.S. court | Entertainment |
Iran hits at U.S., Clinton sees progress in Iraq | International |
3 arrested in Lebanon on Israel spy charges
North Korea begins extracting plutonium | International |
Triple suicide attack kills five Afghan police
Flux in Pakistani valley after Taliban retreat | International |
Toyota's Trulli on pole for Bahrain Grand Prix
5 Palestinians injured in West Bank clash
South Africa's ANC wins huge poll victory | International |
Turkey objects to Obama's view of Armenian killings | International |
No going back on Zimbabwe unity government: Tsvangirai | International |
India says Pakistan still aiding Kashmir rebels | International |
U.N. dispatches top humanitarian to Sri Lanka | International |
Thaksin red shirts gather again in Bangkok | International |
Drilling drives a wedge at climate change summit
Somali pirates seize German vessel, crew unhurt | International |
Protesters, police clash near IMF meetings in DC
WHO chief calls swine flu outbreak 'serious'
Obama: Give me ideas on tightening federal belt
Quotes from Obama's first 100 days
Key events in Obama's first 100 days
100 days of Obama: Energy aplenty, no miracles
A glance at states covered by Voting Rights Act
High court test for voting rights in Texas case
Independent streak flashed by newest Democrats
Clinton says US will back Iraq after troop pullout
Thai protesters hold new rally in Bangkok
India says Pakistan helped Kashmir rebels
Fear a high school reunion? Hire a stripper | Entertainment |
UN humanitarian chief to press Sri Lanka
Thaksin "red shirts" gather again in Bangkok
Asia protests, Beijing quiet on Falungong anniversary
India says Pakistan still aiding Kashmir rebels
A look at North Korea's nuclear program
Profit at top Chinese state firms down 42 percent
Asia takes precautions after swine flu outbreak
North Korea begins extracting plutonium
Newspaper columnist takes stage in The Soloist | Entertainment |
UN humanitarian chief: Sri Lanka situation 'dire'
Fear a high school reunion? Hire a stripper
Newspaper columnist takes stage in "The Soloist"
Guests for the Sunday TV news shows
Rob Thomas readies new album
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights

USD EUR - 1 year graph		BlogMeter 1.01