Obama library battle heats up

March Madness is here, and the competition is getting intense.

And the battle for President Obama's library appears to have boiled down two finalists: Chicago and Hawaii.

Universities and community groups in both places are busy lobbying the president's people for the facility that the contestants see as an economic and cultural boon.

"It is a tough choice, but it's not one that I've made yet," Obama told an interviewer last month.

In the meantime, the Associated Press reported:

"In December, top officials from the University of Chicago, where Obama once taught law, traveled to Dallas and met with archivists at The George W. Bush Presidential Library at Southern Methodist University. At the meeting was Susan Sher, first lady Michelle Obama's former chief of staff and longtime friend and now a senior adviser to the University of Chicago's president. ...

"In Honolulu, where the president was born, University of Hawaii officials have visited nearly all the 13 official presidential libraries to talk to officials involved in setting them up. An American studies professor, Robert Perkinson, is leading a statewide effort coordinated by the university, with support from Gov. Neil Abercrombie and other state and federal officials. The state Legislature has passed two resolutions urging Obama to pick Hawaii; one resolution calls it 'a matter of great state pride that President Obama is the first Hawaii-born citizen to hold that high office.' ...

"Advocates for placing the library in Chicago speak of Obama's coming of age as a community organizer there and his service in the Illinois Senate and as the state's U.S. senator. They say a presidential library on the city's South Side could revitalize the community and be a force for economic growth. ...

"The emerging consensus in Honolulu is that the state university is best prepared to house the library. But there's no such sense of agreement in Chicago, where a host of groups are publicly stumping on behalf of other sites on Chicago's South Side, where Michelle Obama grew up, voters first sent Barack Obama to public office and the Obama family has their home."

Source  http://www.usatoday.com/story/theoval/2013/03/17/obama-library-chicago-hawaii/1994011/

Premier rules out SA police budget top-up

The Premier has ruled out any top-up funds for the South Australian police budget.

Police and Finance Minister Michael O'Brien earlier told reporters police were likely to struggle to meet their $150 million savings target.

He spoke of possibly approaching Treasury for budget relief if the force was to meet a Government pledge to recruit hundreds of extra officers.

Mr Weatherill, who is also Treasurer, said he would not be providing police with a budget top-up.

"We'll be insisting on the savings targets, but the position I made the other day is very clear, that we'll also be pursuing the increase in police numbers that we're committed to," he said.

Mr Weatherill conceded recruitment might be slowed and said the Government's target was set to be achieved by 2016.

Mr O'Brien appears to have back-tracked on his earlier comment that a budget shortfall for police might see him ask Treasury for more money.

He now said he had been misunderstood and police could be entitled to 'modest' new funding if they put a proposal to the Government aimed at creating safer neighbourhoods.

It could well be that within that context, which is very, very specific, SAPOL come to us with a spending proposal that aligns with the safer neighbourhood proposition," he said.

"But, as for meeting their savings objectives, we are determined that all agencies will do what is required of them."

Shortfall

Police Commissioner Gary Burns said the budget savings target would have to be significantly reduced to guarantee police numbers.

Mr Burns said $60 million of the $150 million target still needed to be found.

He said it was putting in doubt 184 promised police positions, on top of 116 filled so far.

"The savings that we're expected to get can only come from removing police positions, particularly in the numbers to do with the increased numbers of 184 through R300 (recruitment target of 300)," he said.

The Police Association has urged the Government reduce its police savings target by $50 million, a sum it added to the original $100 million target last December.

Union official Mark Carroll said some small country police stations might be in the firing line.

"We'd want to make sure that if any police stations did close that there would be proper community consultation in relation to it," he said.

"[We hope] we wouldn't lose the resource and that may be relocated to a neighbouring station to increase the size of that station, as opposed to losing that resource in the country."

Source  http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-02-13/premier-rules-out-sa-police-budget-top-up/4516434?section=sa

Conservatives Take on Obama Over Gay Scouts

A conservative group that wants the Boy Scouts to keep their ban on gays today released an ad apparently countering President Obama’s remarks this weekend urging the scouts to drop the ban.

“To compromise moral principles under political and financial pressure would teach the boys cowardice, not courage,” says the ad by the Family Research Council and a number of other religious and socially-conservative organizations.

In an interview aired Sunday before the Super Bowl, Obama expressed his hope that the ban would become a thing of the past.

“My attitude is that gays and lesbians should have access and opportunities, the same way  as everyone else does, in every institution and walk of life,” Obama told CBS’ Scott Pelley. “And you know the Scouts are a great institution, that are promoting young people and exposing them to opportunities and leadership that will serve people for the rest of their lives. And I think nobody should be barred from that.”

A spokesperson for the scouting organization has said BSA leadership was “discussing potentially removing the national membership restriction regarding sexual orientation” but that decision would not come until after today, Feb. 4.

The scouting organization has not said whether the push from the president will sway their decision.

“We appreciate President Obama’s opinion and his recognition of the positive impact Scouting makes on our nation,” BSA spokesperson Deron Smith said.

According to Smith, groups that oversee scouting would still have the freedom to implement policies that suited their beliefs without the rule in place.

Repealing the ban “would mean there would no longer be any national policy regarding sexual orientation, and the chartered organizations that oversee and deliver Scouting would accept membership and select leaders consistent with each organization’s mission, principles, or religious beliefs,” Smith wrote in a statement a week ago. “BSA members and parents would be able to choose a local unit that best meets the needs of their families.”

In his first term,  the president worked to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the rule that kept gay and lesbian Americans out of the military. Early in his second term, Obama seems to be making advancing rights for that same group an even bigger priority.

President Obama took one of his strongest ever stances in favor of expanding rights for gay and lesbian Americans in his second inaugural address.

“Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well,” Obama said in his address on the Capitol steps after his swearing in. It was the first time a U.S. president mentioned gay rights during inauguration.

Source  http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/02/conservatives-take-on-obama-over-gay-scouts/

Obama: Media is to blame for promoting gridlock

How the media shapes the debate is “one of the biggest factors” in determining whether his second-term priorities have a fighting chance of survival in Washington, President Obama said.

In a sit-down interview with The New Republic, Obama covered an array of themes likely to define the beginning of his second term, and reflected on the role of the media in shaping the political conversation during his first four years in office. Lawmakers, he argued, would be more willing to compromise if they did not have to worry about their media image.

“Nobody gets on TV saying, ‘I agree with my colleague from the other party.’ People get on TV for calling each other names and saying the most outlandish things,” Obama said.

To prove his point, the president said he felt House Speaker John Boehner “genuinely wanted to get a deal done” on the fiscal cliff, but had his hands tied in balancing the expectations of extremists within his caucus. Obama said lawmakers during the negotiations were unwilling to compromise for fear of becoming vulnerable to attacks from members of their own party.

“If a Republican member of Congress is not punished on Fox News or by Rush Limbaugh for working with a Democrat on a bill of common interest, then you’ll see more of them doing it,” he added.

The president went on to warn of false equivalencies in how reporters cover the Beltway under the guise of impartiality and objectivity. While Democrats can also be culprits of partisan gridlock, Obama argued they could not be equally compared to the obstructionism seen on the right.

“I think the difference is just that the more left-leaning media outlets recognize that compromise is not a dirty word,” he said. “And I think at least leaders like myself—and I include Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi in this–are willing to buck the more absolutist-wing elements in our party to try to get stuff done.”

Source  http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/01/27/obama-media-is-to-blame-for-promoting-gridlock/

Obama taking heat from some backers over deal

President Obama is taking heat from some supporters on the fiscal cliff deal.

One of the critics' biggest complaints: The agreement doesn't address the soon-to-be-topped debt ceiling, setting up yet another budget fight with Republicans over the next two months.

Some liberals also said Obama settled for too high a threshold for higher income taxes. The agreement ends the George W. Bush-era tax cuts only for individuals who make more than $400,000 a year, and couples who make more than $450,000.

It also ends the payroll tax holiday, so that tax went up 2% on Tuesday.

In urging Democrats to reject the agreement, Timothy Noah of The New Republic wrote: "Your president has sold you out … The White House means well, but it has bargained incompetently."

Noah and other critics said Obama would have had more leverage over Republicans if the nation had gone off the fiscal cliff Tuesday and been hit with the automatic tax hikes and budget cuts that came along with it. Now, said Noah, "the deal gives Republicans carte blanche to take America hostage all over again in a month or two over raising the debt limit."

All that said, the Senate easily approved the measure early Monday by a vote of 89-8. Only three Democratic senators voted against it.

The Republican-run House is expected to take up the measure on Tuesday.

In a statement issued after the Senate vote, Obama noted that "neither Democrats nor Republicans got everything they wanted," and that the agreement "is the right thing to do for our country."

Obama and aides also noted that the deal increases taxes on Americans making more than $400,000 a year, the first such tax hike in more than 20 years. They said the plan also sets a template for future debt reductions.

"We will continue to reduce the deficit through a combination of new spending cuts and new revenues from the wealthiest Americans," Obama said.

Of course, Republican congressional leaders are also taking some heat over the fiscal cliff agreement, their backers saying the party gave up too much. They noted that it includes tax increases, but no meaningful spending cuts.

"I am a Republican," tweeted Donald Trump. "But the Republicans may be the worst negotiators in history."

Trump also said: "Obama and the Democrats are laughing at the deal they just made...the Republicans got nothing!"

Five Republican senators opposed the agreement. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., a potential Republican presidential candidate in 2016, said the plan "just postpones the inevitable, the need to solve our growing debt crisis."

Source  http://www.usatoday.com/story/theoval/2013/01/01/obama-fiscal-cliff-liberal-critics/1802219/

Top 3 Health Tips: 3 Cold Treatments That Really Work

So despite all of your hand-washing and good hygiene, you've caught a cold. Instead of reaching for a multi-symptom cold remedy, consider a more targeted treatment that won't leave you groggy or overmedicated. Rodale's Prevention magazine recommends these three products to help you recover faster and keep your illness from morphing into something worse:

CUT YOUR COLD SHORT

1 Zinc lozenges such as Cold-Eeze can reduce your sick days. Researchers believe that the zinc ions bind to the same receptors in your throat and chest as the cold virus, which helps keep the bug from spreading.

STOP SINUS INFECTIONS

2 Ocean Saline Nasal Spray can be used to keep your nasal passages moist, and saline can help stop mucus from congealing and causing congestion and prevent germs from turning your cold into a sinus infection.

BANISH BRONCHITIS

3 Trials have shown that Halo Oral Spray's antiseptic ingredients can keep your throat free of opportunistic bacteria, such as those that cause bronchitis, for up to six hours.

Source  http://articles.mcall.com/2012-12-21/health/mc-top-3-health-tips-allentown-1222-20121221_1_zinc-lozenges-cold-virus-cold-eeze

Tips for Talking to Children About the Shooting

First, find out what they have heard. 

Through Facebook, Twitter, or friends, most youngsters will know about the mass shooting that took place on Friday morning at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn. 

Listen to their fears. Dispel rumors. And be honest, sharing as much detail as a child is able to handle.

Therapists who treat childhood trauma said on Friday that parents talking to their children about the mass shooting should address the news directly and soon, allowing the child to lead with questions and concerns. Parents can no longer control what their children know by simply turning off the television. Many children will know what is happening from mobile devices and social media; now is the time to turn those devices off, these experts said. 

“It’s important to open up the discussion,” said Melissa Brymer, director of terrorism and disaster programs at the National Center for Child Traumatic Stress, based at the University of California, Los Angeles, and Duke University. “There’s a lot of talk on Facebook and Twitter, and it’s important to clarify what’s rumor and what’s not.” 

Dr. Andrew J. Gerber, a child psychiatrist at Columbia, said that parents should come to terms with their own feelings about the massacre before talking to a child. They should "essentially metabolize the awfulness of the event so that what they pass on when they have a discussion with their children conveys a certain amount of thoughtfulness and understanding, rather than raw trauma," he said in an e-mail. 

If a child is frightened, determine the precise source of the fear. It may be a worry that their classroom isn’t safe; or about how to escape school when under threat. “If you say, ‘This bad man can’t hurt you,’ you’ve introduced another fear,” said Dr. Robert H. Abramovitz, a child psychiatrist at Hunter College. “Ask what their worst fear is, and address that.” 

Dr. Abramovitz said that parents can be so eager to reassure that they make unrealistic promises, like “this will never happen to you.” “Better to validate the child’s fear, to say that it’s natural to feel that way, and tell them, ‘I’m going to do everything I can to keep you safe,'” he said. 

And reinforce coping skills the child may have already used. Dr. Abramovitz suggested asking, “Remember the last time you were afraid? Remember what you did to calm down?” He said, “This gives the child a feeling of having some agency, some control.” 

If possible, other therapists said, parents should use family or holiday routines as a comforting structure. Spend extra time with children at bedtime. Read them a book. Engage traditions that remind them what they are thankful for. 

Practical questions will soon arise, if not today then soon. Does a child know his or her school’s emergency procedures? What is the family’s communication plan, should something happen? 

“For example, texting is a better strategy then calling,” Dr. Brymer said. “The phone lines clog up fast. It may be a matter of children knowing to text, ‘I’m OK.'” 

And they should be, especially if their parents check in with them and listen. And remind them of something important: that the world is a good place, even if some people do very bad things. 

Source  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/15/health/tips-for-talking-to-children-about-the-elementary-school-mass-shooting.html