President Obama's Visits Korea...

---

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

President Obama's trip to South Korea on Thu. was peculiar for an Yank president in that there were no major anti-American protests. Some dozen antiwar activists gathered in busy downtown Seoul to pose for reports photographers while demonstrating South Korea's plan to dispatch troops to Afghanistan to help the U.S.-led mission.

But they were overwhelmed by thousands chanting "Welcome, Obama, U.S.A." and waving US and South Korean flags. The greeting was in opposition to noisy anti-US protests during visits by other US leaders, including former President George W Bush. An approximate three thousand activists lined the streets close to the US Consulate Thu. as Mr Obama's motorcade passed by on the way to a meeting with President Lee Myung-bak at the presidential Blue House.

They held posters reading "We love Obama" and "We support powerful U.S.-Korea alliance," as about thirteen thousand police and squaddies utilized to protect Mr. Obama looked on. "Let me just say we've been so gratified by the friendly welcome by which we were received here," Mr. Obama said. "I think which has each indication that our coalition is strong.". It was Mr. Obama's first visit to South Korea as president, a 22-hour stop at the end of a tour of East Asia that contained stops at an Asia-Pacific peak in Singapore and visits to China and Japan. South Korean officers had was hoping Mr Obama would travel to the border area with the North, just 30 miles from Seoul, to urge North Korea to come out of its isolationist and aggressive shell.

In early 2002, Mr. Bush went to the South's border station of Dorasan to urge the North to move toward peace and disarmament. The most important regret was that Mr Obama didn't stay longer. Last week, the intrusion by a patrol ship from the North into the South's territorial waters led straight to an exchange of naval gunfire in a heads up that the divided peninsula remains a Cold War flash point.

The violation of the sea border was thought to be a worked out move to raise army tensions on the headland ahead of Mr Obama's visit. "Though his Seoul trip was short, President Obama offered a more clear message by officially pronouncing a scheme to send his attach to Pyongyang to meet its wish for high-level private contact," Mr Kim announced. If North Korea is prepared to take concrete and irrevocable steps to satisfy its duties and eliminate its nuclear weapons program, the U. S. will support industrial assistance and help promote its full integration into the community of nations," Mr Obama related.

Mr. Obama and his South Korean opposite number agreed to push for the ratification of a free-trade agreement between their 2 states.

Waterboarding And President Obama

---

The Christian Science Monitor is reporting today that "The ongoing debate over the ethics and usefulness of interrogation techniques such as waterboarding received new fuel on Sunday night, with a New York Times report that two Al Qaeda suspects were subject to the method, which simulates drowning, a combined 266 times.

That number is higher than previously reported, and will no doubt cast a long shadow over President Obama's first scheduled visit to CIA headquarters today, where he will publicly address employees."

The New York times is reporting that the that former C.I.A. officer, John Kiriakou, told ABC News and other news media organizations back in 2007 that Abu Zubaydah, one of the terror suspects from the 9/11 attacks had endured waterboarding for only 35 seconds before agreeing to tell everything he knew.

However that is not the case. As pointed out by the Christian Science Monitor "The new information came out over the weekend thanks to the investigative work of bloggers like Marcy Wheeler, who found it in the footnotes of Bush administration interrogation memos released last week and posted it to her blog emptywheel."

President Obama will visit the CIA today, his first visit; and he will speak to its employees.

Sources: Christian Science Monitor

New York Times

President's Dog...Obama Makes Good On Promise

---

On inaguration night President Obama told his daughters, Malia and Sasha that the puppy that they wanted was indeed in route...

The New Your Times reports...

"In a long-anticipated decision, the Obamas have chosen a 6-month-old Portuguese water dog — a gift from Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts and his wife, Victoria, to Malia and Sasha Obama.

The girls have named the dog Bo because they have cousins with a cat of the same name and because Mrs. Obama’s father was nicknamed Diddley, after the musician Bo Diddley.

“We couldn’t be happier to see the joy that Bo is bringing to Malia and Sasha,” the Kennedys said in a statement. “We love our Portuguese water dogs and know that the girls, and their parents, will love theirs, too.”

The paper said further..."The dog is officially due to arrive at the White House on Tuesday, although the White House Web site on Sunday featured pictures of the first family and their pet in what was described as a getting-acquainted visit earlier at the White House."

So it appears that the President made good on his promise to his daughters, and that the lovely young girls will soon have have the promised puppy.

Source: New York Times

What Is G20 Summit

---

US President Barack Obama said the international community "can only meet this challenge together," speaking at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Gordon Brown in London. He called reports of a split between nations "vastly overstated."

But, in Berlin, Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was "travelling to London with a mixture of confidence and concern." Her anxiety is over whether the group of the world's 20 wealthiest nations would "suppress the problems and paint things in a brighter light than they are." Read Entire Story HERE

White House Easter Egg Roll 2009

---

First Lady Michelle Obama is opening up the White House for everyone with the annual Easter Egg Roll.

New rules from the white house Easter Egg Role Roll will permit those from out of town to get tickets in advance for the event whch is scheduled for April 13.

The theme is this year is let's "Let's go play!"

Prior to the new rules of this administration, peole had to stand in line the weekend before to get tickets.

This year the tickets will be distributed online. Check out www.whitehouse.gov/eastereggroll beginning Thursday.

The day long egg roll is keyed towards children. "The White House will open the South Lawn to children age ten and under, along with their families, to enjoy sports, cooking classes, live musical performances, storytelling and the traditional Easter egg roll."

Activities this year will also includes sports, cooking classes, musical performances and storytelling.

A maximum of six tickets will be issued per order, and there may be no more than two adults per group.

For more information, call 202-456-7041.

Source Baltimore Sun

Obama Press Conference March 24 ...Media Says Boring?

---

"Discussing President Obama's then-upcoming press conference on the March 24 edition of Fox News' Special Report, when asked what he was looking for, Fox News contributor Fred Barnes stated: "I hope there are no more of these five-minute answers."

This same line was heralded by Matt Drudge from the Drudge Report, as well as from BillO'Reilly and Shawn Hannity.

On the March 24 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, host Bill O'Reilly said, "While the president was authoritative tonight, he was also dull and repetitive".

Additionally, On the March 24 edition of his Fox News show, Sean Hannity called Obama "boring and dull and uninspiring and unconvincing."

Even the "Liberal" New York Times , in a March 24 article, by Times reporters Peter Baker and Adam Nagourney stated that President Obama "sound[ed] like the teacher speaking in the stillness of a classroom where students are restlessly waiting for the ring of the bell."

And today a March 25 post on the Los Angeles Times' Top of the Ticket blog, Andrew Malcolm wrote: "Professor Barack Obama showed up.... ZZZZ."

What do you think if you saw the news conference?

Obama Op Ed To The World?

---

President Barack Obama published an op-ed today that was aimed more at the entire world than the United States. Obama has already been delivering op-eds during recent television appearances, where he tried to explain how he will tackle our current crisis.

However, if newspaper readers in the United States want to read Obama's op-ed, they may have better luck on the Internet. The Obama op-ed ran in 30 papers today, 27 of which are outside of the United States.

We are living through a time of global economic challenges that cannot be met by half measures or the isolated efforts of any nation," Obama wrote in a commentary published in more than 30 newspapers around the world.

"Now, the leaders of the Group of 20 have a responsibility to take bold, comprehensive and coordinated action that not only jump-starts recovery, but also launches a new era of economic engagement to prevent a crisis like this from ever happening again."

What would you ask president Obama if you could tonight during his press conference tonight

Answer HERE in a CBS pole