FBI: Burgeoning gangs behind up to 80% of U.S. crime

Criminal gangs in the USA have swelled to an estimated 1 million members responsible for up to 80% of crimes in communities across the nation, according to a gang threat assessment compiled by federal officials.
The major findings in a report by the Justice Department's National Gang Intelligence Center, which has not been publicly released, conclude gangs are the "primary retail-level distributors of most illicit drugs" and several are "capable" of competing with major U.S.-based Mexican drug-trafficking organizations.
"A rising number of U.S.-based gangs are seemingly intent on developing working relationships" with U.S. and foreign drug-trafficking organizations and other criminal groups to "gain direct access to foreign sources of illicit drugs," the report concludes.
The gang population estimate is up 200,000 since 2005.
Bruce Ferrell, chairman of the Midwest Gang Investigators Association, whose group monitors gang activity in 10 states, says the number of gang members may be even higher than the report's estimate

Obama signs equal-pay bill

WASHINGTON — President Obama signed his first bill Thursday, a gender pay equity law that had been a hallmark of his campaign for the White House.
The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act makes it easier for workers to sue companies for pay discrimination and effectively reverses a 2007 Supreme Court decision that had given workers 180 days to file a lawsuit after the pay inequity allegedly first took place.
"It is fitting that with the very first bill I sign … we are upholding one of this nation's first principles: that we are all created equal and each deserve a chance to pursue our own version of happiness," Obama said.
Like his predecessors, Obama signed his name in stages, inscribing part of his signature before handing a pen to a supporter. "We can always get more pens," he assured the dozen or so lawmakers arrayed behind him.
The last one went to the bill's namesake, Alabama resident Lilly Ledbetter

Army recalls 16,000 body armor sets amid testing disputeStory Highlights

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. Army is recalling more than 16,000 sets of body armor even though the secretary of the Army disagrees with a Department of Defense report that some of the ceramic plates failed testing and might not offer the protection required for troops on the battlefield.
At issue are the removable bullet-proof ceramic plates that are part of a soldier's body armor.
The report by the Department of Defense inspector general's office, expected to be released officially on Friday, says the Army had flawed testing procedures before awarding contracts to make the armor plates.
"DoD does not have assurance that its body armor provides a standard level of protection," according to the report.
Army Secretary Peter Geren denied any problems with testing but said the armor is being recalled as a precaution and will be replaced with other plates that are not part of the recall, according to Army officials.
The recall represents only about 1.6 percent of the 1.9 million sets of body armor that have been put in the field since 2001, Army officials said. Ceramic plates are the bullet-proof part of a soldier's body armor that slide into the front and back of the vest.
In a letter of response to the report from Inspector General Gordon Heddell, Geren said he did not agree with the findings and was supported by the military's preeminent testing expert.
"According to the DOT&E (director of operational test and evaluation), the plates at issue passed the tests. Again, that is not only the conclusion of the Army, but of the Department of Defense experts in the highly specialized field of ballistic testing," Geren wrote.
Because there is a disagreement between two Department of Defense entities, Geren is forwarding the matter to the deputy secretary of defense to make a final ruling on whether the questioned armor should be discarded or returned to the inventory for possible use, according to Army officials.
The report focused on a number of issues, many of which the Army agreed with. However, the Army and the inspector general are at odds over a testing step called "first article testing," initial testing of a product to meet Army standards. The inspector general says the Army did not perform the tests correctly on some of the plates. Army officials said there is no evidence of any imperfections in the plates.
The inspector general's report also questioned why the Army had different criteria than the U.S. Special Forces in its testing of the equipment.
"The criteria differed significantly, even when testing against the same threats," the report said. "Differences included the number of plates tested (sample size), the shot pattern, the environmental conditions, the type of tests, and the pass/fail guidelines."
Army officials close to the issue said not one soldier had been killed because of an armor defect. Officials said the Army has X-ray machines in the field to examine damaged plates to look for problems and build an information database to improve on the armor technology.
Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-New York, who requested the audit and has been pressing the issue of looking into body armor since 2006, said that while the recall represents a relatively low percentage of plates, there is still a potential danger.
"It is way too high for me. We don't know how many soldiers could not live or escape being egregiously wounded because their body armor did not work," she said.
The inspector general audit is the second requested by Slaughter, who did not like the initial findings and thinks the Army is wrong in its thinking about the current findings. She called the report "devastating."
"It was their responsibility to make sure that [the body armor] is state of the art and it will do everything it can to protect that soldier," she said. "I am anxiously awaiting the results of this dispute."

Top Obama envoy in Gaza peace mission

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- U.S. President Barack Obama's top envoy to the Middle East spent Thursday conferring with Palestinian and Israeli officials in an attempt to maintain the Hamas-Israel cease-fire and regenerate a static peace process.

George Mitchell met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah and with Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi as sporadic fighting continued in the Gaza, still smoldering in the aftermath of warring between Israeli soldiers and Hamas militants.
A tentative cease-fire between Israel and Hamas-ruled Gaza began on January 21 after Israel's three-week military operation in the region. More than 1,300 Palestinians died and about 5,400 others were wounded, while 13 Israelis, including 10 soldiers, were killed.
Speaking to reporters in Ramallah, Mitchell held a "lengthy discussion" with Abbas and spoke of the need to pursue "a sustainable and durable cease-fire."
Mitchell said he passed on to Abbas the "deep concern" of President Obama over "the loss of Palestinian life and the humanitarian needs in Gaza."
"Lasting peace is our objective, and the United States will sustain an active commitment to reaching the goal of two states living side by side in peace, stability and security," Mitchell said.
Israeli forces, which attacked militants in Gaza to stop the constant barrage of rockets on Israeli communities outside Gaza, say Hamas has used weapons smuggled into Gaza through tunnels between Egypt and the southern Gaza town of Rafah. Palestinians have decried Israeli military actions depriving the territory of much-needed goods and aid.
"To be successful in preventing the illicit trafficking of arms into Gaza, there must be a mechanism to allow the flow of legal goods. And that should be with the participation of the Palestinian Authority," he said.
In Tel Aviv, Ashkenazi talked with Mitchell about the "main points" of Israeli security operations in the West Bank and the "goals of the recent Israeli operation in Gaza. In addition, they discussed the security challenges faced by the IDF and Israel, the strategic situation in the Middle East and the need to face the global threat of terror," the Israel Defense Forces said.
The statement said Ashkenazi "praised the strategic and security cooperation and relationship between the United States and Israel and wished Mr. Mitchell luck in his mission to the region."
The meetings are among those Mitchell is conducting on what is described as a "listening tour" of the region.
This is an attempt by the new U.S. administration to help foster peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Mitchell's stop in Israel is part of an eight-day tour, which includes visits to Egypt, the West Bank, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, the State Department said.
On Wednesday Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Mitchell that the cease-fire between Israel and Gaza would hold only if Hamas -- which rules Gaza -- ends weapons smuggling into Gaza and halts rocket fire into Israel.
One of Israel's key demands in peace talks has been for international help shutting down tunnels into Gaza, which Israel says Hamas is using to smuggle weapons into the territory from Iran.
Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and Israel.
Sporadic fighting in Gaza continued as the IDF said it had launched an aerial strike on a terror operative trained by Hamas. An IDF statement said they believed the man was connected to the recent killing of one of its officers.

Nearly half of all Americans want to live elsewhere, study finds

(CNN) -- Nearly half of Americans would like to live someplace else, according to a national survey.
And Denver, Colorado, was the top choice of people surveyed by the Pew Research Center.
Yes Denver, with its low humidity, eight professional sports teams and proximity to the Rocky Mountains.
Forty-three percent of those surveyed said they'd prefer living in the Mile-High City. San Diego and Seattle were other top locales among the nation's largest 30 metropolitan areas.
Detroit, Cleveland and Cincinnati were the least favorite.
The study released Thursday asked people where they'd prefer to live, whether they favor cities or suburbs, and what they think about American cities.
Researchers polled 2,260 adults during telephone interviews.
The study also found that Republicans would like to live in Phoenix and Democrats prefer San Francisco.
The survey also found that more men than women would like to live in Las Vegas. Men living in rural areas said they are much happier living there than women. Most people who live in cities said they'd rather live someplace else.
Some of the most and least popular cities in the survey:
Most Popular:
• Denver (43 percent)
• San Diego (40 percent)
• Seattle (38 percent)
• Orlando (34 percent)
• San Francisco (34 percent)
• Tampa (34 percent)
Least Popular
• Detroit (8 percent)
• Cleveland (10 percent)
• Cincinnati (13 percent)
• Kansas City (15 percent)
• Minneapolis (16 percent)
• Pittsburgh (17 percent)

With no job and 5 kids, 'better to end our lives,' man wrote

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- It was described as one of the most grisly scenes Los Angeles police had ever encountered: the bodies of five young children and their parents, all shot to death, in two upstairs rooms of the family's home.

"The reaction on their faces was not a pretty sight," neighbor Jasmine Gomez told CNN. "There was an officer who came out of the house throwing up."
But even more incomprehensible to some was the story that emerged after the bodies were found Tuesday: A father who, in a last desperate act after he and his wife were fired from their jobs, killed all six family members before turning the gun on himself.
In a letter faxed to Los Angeles television station KABC before his suicide, Ervin Antonio Lupoe blamed his former employer for the deaths, detailing his grievance against Kaiser Permanente's West Los Angeles Medical Center, where he and his wife, Ana, had worked as technicians.
Lupoe, 40, claimed the couple was being investigated for "misrepresentation of our employment to an outside agency for the benefit to ourselves's (sic), childcare." He said the initial interview was held on December 19, and when he reported for work on December 23, "I was told by my administrator ... that 'You should not even have bothered to come to work today. You should have blown your brains out.'"
"Oh lord, my God," the letter concludes. "Is there no hope for a widow's son?"
Kaiser Permanente said in a statement Tuesday night that although the company is "saddened by the despair in Mr. Lupoe's letter faxed to the media ... we are confident that no one told him to take his own life or the lives of his family.
The company followed its initial statement with another, saying the couple was fired for forging the signatures of supervisors and misrepresenting their income on documents they gave to agencies that provide help with child care.
"They were terminated for good cause ... ," the statement said. "Throughout that process, the Lupoes were treated with dignity and respect."
Lupoe wrote in the fax, "after a horrendous ordeal my wife felt it better to end our lives and why leave our children in someone else's hands ... we have no job and 5 children under 8 years with no place to go. So here we are."
Ana Elizabeth Lupoe was 38, according to the Los Angeles County coroner's office. The children were identified as 8-year-old Brittney Nicole; 5-year-old twins Jaszmin Lissette and Jassely Lisbeth; and 2-year-old twins Christian De Shawn and Benjamin Ryan.
Lupoe and the girls were found in what appeared to be an upstairs bonus room, police said Wednesday. Ana Lupoe and the boys were found in the master bedroom.
Police think Lupoe also called KABC and threatened suicide, prompting the station to notify police. About the same time that KABC contacted police, Lupoe called 911 and reported returning home and finding his family dead.
Among those struggling to comprehend the news were Lupoe's relatives. His 83-year-old grandmother, Josephine Lupoe of Atlanta, Georgia, sobbed as she told CNN, "I just can't believe it."
She said Lupoe was born in Atlanta but moved to Detroit, Michigan, with his parents as a child before moving to California. She recalled visiting the family when they lived in San Jose, California, "but that was years ago," she said. "I hadn't been to visit them since he got married and moved."
She said she last heard from him when he called her to say they were having a second set of twins.
"Every time I called, he was at work," she said. "He worked a lot, and even when I talked with him, he would be at work." But she said she had no indication of problems within the family.
She said she had spoken with Lupoe's mother a couple of days ago, and they discussed his sending pictures of the boys. "And then I hear this," she said tearfully.
Lupoe's mother was on the way to California on Wednesday, she said, but Josephine Lupoe said she is unable to travel.
Lupoe's co-workers told the Times they remembered the Lupoes as cheerful, good workers and caring parents.
Ana Lupoe was "always talking about the kids," said co-worker Hamlet Narvaez.
On Ervin Lupoe's Facebook page, which displayed pictures of the family, he described himself as a graduate of the University of Southern California.
The page could not be found Wednesday. In a written statement, Facebook spokeswoman Rebecca Hahn told CNN, "When it comes to our attention that a user has passed away, we put the profile in a memorial state. In the memorial state, certain profile sections and features are hidden from view to protect the privacy of the departed. We encourage users to utilize groups and group discussions to mourn and remember the deceased."
Cherise Pounders-Caver, principal of the children's school, Crescent Heights Elementary, said Lupoe showed up to check the three older children out of school about two weeks ago and told her the family was moving to Kansas, the Times reported.
Police said Wednesday that school administrators were notified several weeks before the deaths that the children would no longer be attending.
The deaths sent shock waves across the city and beyond.
"No matter how desperate you are, no matter how frustrated you are, to think this was the only answer -- to take your whole family with you in death -- is just too much to understand," said Councilwoman Janice Hahn, who represents the city's Wilmington neighborhood, where the slayings took place. She and other city officials urged those who may be despondent to seek help from available resources.
"It's sad that this happens anywhere, you know?" neighbor Jose Rodriguez told KABC. "You see it on the news, but you never really become accustomed to it.
"I have kids, too, and grandkids," he said. "It hits home."

Obama Thanks Troops, Pledges Support Following Meeting With Joint Chiefs

WASHINGTON, Jan. 28, 2009 – In his first visit to the Pentagon as commander in chief, President Barack Obama today thanked U.S. troops and pledged to provide the resources they need to accomplish their missions.
Obama spoke to reporters here after meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates to discuss military readiness, “difficult decisions” on Iraq and Afghanistan and other national security threats and objectives. “I want to first of all thank all of the men and women in uniform who are represented here. They are the best that this country has to offer,” Obama said after he and Vice President Joe Biden shook hands with a row of troops from all service branches who lined an E-ring Pentagon hallway. “All of you who are serving in the U.S. armed forces are going to have my full support, and one of my duties as president is going to be to make sure that you have what you need to accomplish your missions,” he said. Obama said the first point he addressed with the Joint Chiefs -- the senior-ranking officers of each military service branch -- was gratitude for the service and sacrifice of troops and military families, who he said were responsible for national freedoms that sometimes are taken for granted. He also suggested that he would relieve some of the pressure placed on the military by more evenly distributing responsibility among other U.S. government elements. “We have for a long time put enormous pressure on our military to carry out a whole set of missions, sometimes not with the sort of strategic support and the use of all aspects of American power to make sure that they’re not carrying the full load,” he said. “And that’s something that I spoke to the chiefs about and that I intend to change as president of the United States.” The president added that those involved in this afternoon’s meeting in “The Tank,” the secure area in the Joint Chiefs of Staff wing of the Pentagon, agreed to make sure “the health of our force is always in our sights.” Participants included Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the chiefs of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps. The commandant of the Coast Guard, though not a member of the Joint Chiefs, also participated. “I know [they] are constantly thinking about what we need to do to make sure that people who are in uniform for the United States are getting the kinds of support that they need and that [their families need], and that’s something that I absolutely am committed to, and I know that Vice President Biden is as well,” he said. Some of the most urgent issues facing White House and Pentagon officials include the ways forward in Iraq and Afghanistan. “We’re going to have some difficult decisions that we’re going to have to make surrounding Iraq and Afghanistan most immediately,” Obama said. “Obviously, our efforts to continue to go after extremist organizations that would do harm to the homeland is uppermost in our minds. “I have every confidence that our military is going to do their job, and I intend to make sure that the civilian side of the ledger does its job to support what they are doing,” he added. Obama added that he a “wonderful discussion” with the Joint Chiefs about short- and long-term threats facing the United States. “We talked about some of the broader, global risks that may arise, and the kind of planning and coordination that’s going to be required between our military and our civilian forces in order to accomplish our long term national security agendas,” he said. The president has been engaged with Defense Department and military officials since taking office Jan. 20. During a meeting at the White House on his first full day in office, Obama directed key defense and military officials to plan for a “responsible military drawdown in Iraq.” The participants included Gates and Mullen, as well as Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of U.S. Central Command. Army Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, commander of Multinational Force Iraq, also joined the Jan. 21 meeting via teleconference. U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan C. Crocker, key Cabinet members and senior national security officials also participated, collectively providing what Obama called “a full update on the situation in Iraq.”

By John J. KruzelAmerican Forces Press Service

'Difficult decisions' on Iraq, Afghanistan ahead: Obama

WASHINGTON (AFP) — President Barack Obama said he had "difficult decisions" to make on Iraq and Afghanistan after his first meeting as commander-in-chief at the Pentagon with military brass.

No decisions were made at the more than 90-minute session with the military chiefs, officials said, and Obama gave no clue whether he intends to stick with a 16-month timetable for the withdrawal of US combat troops from Iraq.
"We're going to have some difficult decisions we're going to have to make surrounding Iraq and Afghanistan, most immediately," he said after speaking with the heads of joint chiefs of staff and the military services.
"Obviously our efforts to go after extremist organizations that do harm to our homeland is uppermost on our minds," he added.
Obama must balance the risk of a rapid drawdown in Iraq against commanders' requirements for up to 30,000 more US troops in Afghanistan, which would nearly double the US military presence there, in response to worsening security conditions.
The president emerged from the meeting in a secure conference room known as "the Tank" with Vice President Joe Biden.
They shook hands and chatted and joked with senior enlisted leaders and officers who lined the wood paneled corridor to meet the new commander-in-chief.
Obama told reporters he had a "wonderful" discussion with the chiefs, which went longer than the hour allotted for the session, his first at the Pentagon with the joint chiefs since he became president.
"We had discussions about Iraq, as well as Afghanistan. We talked about some of the broader global risks that may arise, and the coordination that may arise between our military and civilian forces," he said.
"We also talked about making sure the health of the force is always in our sights," he said.
Acknowledging the strains on soldiers, he said the military has been under "enormous pressure" to carry out a whole set of missions, sometimes without the backing of all other aspects of American power.
"And that's something that I spoke to the chiefs about and that I intend to change," he said.
The military consultations were set in motion a week ago when he met at the White House with the defense secretary, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the top US military commander in the Middle East.
Obama will also, at a later date, make time for in-depth talks with General David McKiernan, commander of NATO forces and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.
McKiernan has asked for some 30,000 more troops for Afghanistan, but US commanders in Iraq have urged a slower paced drawdown in US troops there, which would make fewer troops available for the Afghan mission.
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates declared Afghanistan the top US military priority on Tuesday, but he told lawmakers that the military is drawing up a range of options, including a 16 month drawdown, and the risks associated with each one.
Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary, described Obama's discussion with the chief as "elevated" and wide-ranging and not focused on deployment orders.
"He came here to engage them in a conversation about the threats we as a nation face and the risks that face us around the world," Morrell said.
Earlier, the White House spokesman said Obama would come to a decision on the withdrawal from Iraq "relatively soon, I don't want to set an exact date, though I think it will be relatively shortly."
"I think the president ... has received a lot of information" to make a decision on the withdrawal, Gibbs said. "The Pentagon has been planning for quite some time, partly because of the new agreements."
He was referring to the agreements reached in 2008 between Washington and Baghdad on the conditions under which US troops can remain in Iraq. They call for the withdrawal of all US forces from Iraq by the end of 2011.
"We are no longer involved in a debate about whether, but how and when," Gibbs told reporters.
There are 142,000 US troops in Iraq and 36,000 in Afghanistan.
The first of four combat brigades that had been promised for Afghanistan has just arrived in country, and Gates said two more will there by mid-summer -- a boost of more than 10,000 troops.
But the full complement of additional forces will not be in place before next fall because bases and other installations need to be build to receive them, Gates said Tuesday.

Obama to discuss Iraq in Pentagon

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama will discuss Iraq and Afghanistan with U.S. defense officials at the Pentagon on Wednesday, part of ongoing talks with military leaders before making final troop deployment decisions, the White House said on Tuesday.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Obama had initiated a process of defining a new mission in Iraq the day after he took office last week. The new U.S. president has called for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq within 16 months.
"That process that started at the beginning of this administration continues tomorrow at the Pentagon," he said. "I think they'll talk about a number of issues and obviously one of them will be Iraq and Afghanistan."

House passes $819 billion stimulus bill

Obama lobbied for the bill aggressively, but it garnered no Republican support. Senate likely to take up its version next week.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The House on Wednesday evening passed an $819 billion economic stimulus package Wednesday on a party-line vote, despite President Obama's efforts to achieve bipartisan support for the bill.
The final vote was 244 to 188. No Republicans voted for the bill, while 11 Democrats voted against it.
The Senate is likely to take up the bill next week.
"I hope that we can continue to strengthen this plan before it gets to my desk," Obama said in a statement after the vote. "We must move swiftly and boldly to put Americans back to work, and that is exactly what this plan begins to do."
In floor debate earlier, House Democrats offered near-unanimous support for the bill, touting the package's ability to quickly create jobs and jumpstart economic growth.
"One week and one day ago, our new President delivered a great inaugural address ... which I believe is a great blueprint for the future," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. "With swift and bold action today, we are doing just that -- with this vote today, we are taking America in a new direction."
But Republicans, who are outnumbered in the House, have pushed back, expressing concern about the large amount of spending in the bill, and have criticized the tax cut provisions for not going far enough.
"The underlying bill, while it has some good provisions, has a lot of wasteful provisions and slow-moving spending in it," said House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio. "We have to act -- we have to heal the ailing economy. The question is how to do it best; we think that fast-acting tax relief is the way to get it done."
The House voted down a Republican amendment, which would have cut a significant portion of the bill's spending and greatly expanded the amount of tax cuts in the bill.
Obama spent much of his first week as president rallying support for the bill. After meeting with congressional leadership of both parties on Friday, he met with Republican congressional leaders on Tuesday and a dozen CEOs on Wednesday.
Obama and House Democrats etched out plans for a stimulus package in the weeks leading up to the president's inauguration. Two House committees amended and added some provisions, resulting in $607 billion in direct pending and appropriations and $212 billion in tax cuts.
The fact that 11 Democrats voted against the House package is significant, said Dan Clifton, the head of policy research at Strategas Research Partners.
"First, it gives Republicans cover," Clifton said. "And it gives extreme leverage to the Senate."
Next week, the full Senate will vote on its version, which differs in some significant ways from the House bill. The two chambers will then need to reconcile their differences before each vote on the final version. To pass the package in the Senate, Democrats will need 60 votes -- meaning at least two Republicans.
Senate passage is expected, Clifton said. "But it's a question of whether you get 60 votes or 80 votes."
Congress has put the legislation on a fast track, as many lawmakers on both sides of the aisle agree that swift action is needed to help pull the economy out of a deep recession. Both Democratic and Republican leaders have said they aim to get the bill to Obama's desk for him to sign before lawmakers' Presidents Day recess in mid-February.

U.S. warns of possible attack on embassy in Yemen

(CNN) -- The U.S. Embassy in Yemen warned Americans there Monday it has received a report of a possible attack against its compound in Sanaa.

The embassy, in a warden message, said it "has received a threat against the embassy compound regarding a possible attack which could take place in the foreseeable future."
It advises Americans "to exercise caution and take prudent security measures in all areas frequented by Westerners." It urges Americans there to avoid crowds and demonstrations and maintain "a low profile."
The message said Americans should vary times and routes, and make "contingency emergency plans such as ensuring travel documents are current."
Embassy spokesman Ryan Gliha confirmed the threat but had no more details available.
A U.S. intelligence official said there was enough credible information to suggest the threat was "not just bravado" and warranted "being very cautious." The official declined to be named because the official was not authorized to speak for the record.
Yemen has a strong Islamic militant presence and is in a strategically important region, bordering Saudi Arabia and Oman on the Arabian peninsula.
The United States has criticized the Yemeni government for not doing enough to combat terrorism and has repeatedly warned of violence that it attributes to Islamic extremists in Yemen.
U.S. and Yemeni officials say suspected Islamic insurgents disguised as Yemeni forces attacked the U.S. Embassy in Yemen's capital in September, killing 10 Yemeni police and civilians.
A U.S. counterterrorism official last week said a Saudi national released from U.S. detention at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in September 2007 is believed to be a key leader in al Qaeda's operations in Yemen and may have been involved in the attack.
The official said the freed detainee, Ali al-Shiri, traveled to Yemen after being released to Saudi Arabia.
"He is one of a handful of al Qaeda deputies in Yemen," the official said. "He is one of the top terrorists."
In the September incident, six attackers -- including one wearing a suicide vest -- also were killed.
The attack involved at least four explosions -- including at least one car bomb -- and sniper fire. The attackers, disguised as Yemeni forces, bombed the outer wall of the embassy and opened fire on first responders.
In April the embassy and an expatriate residential compound in the Hadda neighborhood were attacked by mortar fire.
Suspected extremists fired two mortar rounds toward the Yemen Customs Authority and Italian Embassy in April, as well, but no one was hurt.
In March, three mortar rounds landed near the embassy wounding Yemeni students at a nearby school and Yemeni government security personnel.
The United States believes al Qaeda is responsible for the October 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in the Yemeni port of Aden. The attack killed 17 U.S. Navy sailors and wounded 39.
Yemen also borders the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, the region near Somalia where pirates have been hijacking commercial vessels traveling from countries all over the world.

Bloody Monday: Over 71,400 jobs lost

Seven companies announce massive job cuts in a scary start to the week.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The final week of January began with a bloodbath for the job market, as over 71,400 more cuts were announced on Monday alone.
At least six companies from manufacturing and service industries announced cost-cutting initiatives that included slashing thousands of jobs.
More than 200,000 job cuts have been announced so far this year, according to company reports. Nearly 2.6 million jobs were lost over 2008, the highest yearly job-loss total since 1945.
"It's all about the consumer, and the consumer's been hit hard," said Robert Brusca, chief economist at Fact and Opinion Economics. "It's a vicious circle as weakness begets layoffs, which beget more spending weakness."
Construction machinery manufacturer Caterpillar (CAT, Fortune 500) said Monday it will cut 20,000 jobs amid a "very challenging global business environment." The company had already planned to cut 15,000 workers since the fourth quarter of 2008, but added another 5,000, bringing the total to 20,000.
Pfizer (PFE, Fortune 500) said in an earnings report it would cut 10% of its staff of 81,900 and close five of its manufacturing plants. And a second round of cuts will shed about 15% of employees from the combined Pfizer/Wyeth staff of 120,000. That makes a total of 26,000 jobs lost. The company already cut 4,700 jobs in 2008.
Sprint Nextel Corp. (S, Fortune 500) will cut a total of about 8,000 jobs by March 31, the company said in a release. The telecommunications company's plan is to reduce internal and external labor costs by about $1.2 billion on an annual basis.
Home Depot (HD, Fortune 500), the world's largest home improvement retailer, announced Monday it will eliminate its EXPO design center business and cut 7,000 associates, or approximately 2% of the company's total workforce. The company blamed a lack of demand for big ticket design and decor projects.
Texas Instruments (TXN, Fortune 500) said it will slash its workforce by 3,400 employees to cope with weak demand and the slowing economy. More than half of those cuts will be layoffs while "voluntary retirements and departures" will make up the rest.
Dutch financial group ING said Monday it will take a 2008 loss of $1.3 billion and cut 7,000 jobs. The company could not comment on where the cuts would take place. ING employs around 130,000 people across 50 countries.
Deere& Co. (DE, Fortune 500) , the world's top farm-equipment maker, said it would cut nearly 700 jobs between factories in Brazil and Iowa.
The job cuts across sectors didn't surprise Brusca, as nearly all are weak, he said.
"The services sector is shedding jobs at a horrific pace, because that's where most of the jobs are," Brusca said. "When the consumer is in tough shape it's hard for business to do well, because it all depends on consumption or investments."
Continuing the scary trend
The cuts mark a horrific start to the week, and a brutal start to 2009. In the previous week, around 40,000 cuts were announced across multiple industries.
Wednesday, in particular, was littered with a slew of job cuts: BHP Billiton, Clear Channel Communications, Intel, Rohm and Haas Co., UAL Corp. and Williams-Sonoma all announced job cuts totaling over 27,000 positions.
Schlumberger said Friday that it will cut 5,000 jobs worldwide, with 1,000 of the cuts taking place in North America.
Also last week, Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. Entertainment said it would cut about 800 jobs, or 10% of its worldwide staff in the upcoming weeks, while Microsoft unveiled its plan to cut up to 5,000 jobs - 5.5% of its global workforce.

Small bank's meteoric rise eclipsed by collapse

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (CNN) -- Sitting back in his leather chair, working as a consultant for a small Las Vegas bank, Tod Little is sure of one thing: Practically anyone, he says, could have made money as a banker in the go-go days of real estate in Nevada. Go-go days that lasted until the fall of 2008.
"It didn't take a rocket scientist to run a bank in this town for the past 10 years," Little told CNN.
Silver State Bank grew impressively under CEO Tod Little. He says he was forced out for favoring slow growth.
CNN's Special Investigations Unit and the online investigative journalism organization ProPublica.org got a brief look inside the collapse of a regional bank. What the two organizations learned was both old and new: bankers giving themselves large salaries and generous bonuses, at the same time they are lending millions of dollars on what, according to one lawsuit, were essentially parcels of bare dirt with little potential of big income.
Silver State Bank had been in business in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson for 10 years when Little, the bank's founder and CEO left. The bank had grown impressively under his guidance, but Little said his managers wanted more and he was forced out.
"They wanted bigger salaries, bigger lifestyle, fancier offices. Whatever. However you want to view that," Little told CNN.
One of those managers was new bank president Corey Johnson, who declined to answer any questions. Three other managers declined comment to CNN, as well.
Silver State and others loaned money on the promise of Las Vegas' commercial real estate boom with the belief that undeveloped land would be turned into shopping centers, hotels and offices. Records show that land and houses were being "flipped" or resold over and over at huge profits.
Bill Martin, a Las Vegas banker who once worked as a regulator for the Comptroller of the Currency in Washington, said what was happening to Silver State was clear.
"They were over-advancing on construction, you know, more liberal advances on construction," Martin said. "It all worked last year [and] the year before and the year before. So they just kept doing it."
Banking regulators issued repeated so-called "mild" warnings to banks concerned they were amassing large amounts of commercial development loans and lowering lending standards. But Martin says those warnings -- delivered by Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation personnel often on a quarterly or semi-annual basis in their field visits to Silver State -- were ignored.
One Silver State loan that turned out to be especially poor was to a Las Vegas developer who had been a longtime customer of the bank. According to bank records, a developer named Thomas Jurbala, received almost $100 million from Silver State during a 10-year period.
In 2008, Jurbala came calling again and the bank approved a $24 million loan for a piece of ground in North Las Vegas far from the Last Vegas strip, supposedly valued at $48 million. It was a so-called "interest reserve loan" in which the bank not only loaned the principle amount but the interest, as well. Then, according to bank records, it booked the interest as revenue.
Regulators say those sorts of deals are not uncommon in construction loans. But this particular piece of land was undeveloped with only a permit to build a casino there one day. It is near the Las Vegas Speedway and in court papers the developer said he hoped a casino could be built. However, the entire project was scrapped before a spade was ever turned, and the land sits empty surrounded by a fence. The project was scrapped because Silver State went under.
Doug French, the man who made that loan, reluctantly agreed to sit down with CNN for a taped interview. He is now vice president at a Libertarian think tank in Auburn, Alabama. French told CNN that at "the time" he believed the land was "very valuable." But when it all went up in smoke, he says, "It's very humbling, believe me."
French says mistakes at Silver State Bank were "preventable," but according to a lawsuit filed by the developer, the loans were part of a series of loans, each one preceding the other -- to different corporations.
At the time French left Silver State Bank, the bank told reporters he had resigned for "personal reasons." But French told CNN he was fired from Silver State.
According to Securities and Exchange Commission documents, he sold $1.8 million in Silver State stock from November 2007 through February 2008. That was on top of his $650,000 in salary and bonuses, according to bank records. He left the bank in March 2008.
In September 2008, when Silver State Bank collapsed, a group of elderly Las Vegas deaf residents was especially hurt. The local chapter of the Deaf Seniors Association put an estimated $400,000 into certificates of deposit sold by Silver State. That money was to be used to help fund the group's annual national convention in Las Vegas in 2009. The group lost half of its money. The FDIC said after it seized Silver State that it did not have enough capital to cover business activities.
"I just can't believe it happened," one woman told CNN through a sign language interpreter. "We're just so frustrated."
The group is trying to raise funds in a more traditional manner by making quilts. They have a very long road ahead, its members say.
Silver State Bank was the 25th bank to fail in the United States in 2008. As a result, the FDIC was left to cover more than a half-billion dollars in Silver State liabilities. Already this year, three U.S. banks have collapsed and experts predict many more will tumble as the economy continues to suffer.

Barack Obama's Stance on Education

A World class education
No Child Left Behind Left the Money Behind: The goal of the law was the right one, but unfulfilled funding promises, inadequate implementation by the Education Department and shortcomings in the design of the law itself have limited its effectiveness and undercut its support. As a result, the law has failed to provide high-quality teachers in every classroom and failed to adequately support and pay those teachers.
Teacher Retention is a Problem: Thirty percent of new teachers leave within their first five years in the profession.
Soaring College Costs: College costs have grown nearly 40 percent in the past five years. The average graduate leaves college with over $19,000 in debt. And between 2001 and 2010, 2 million academically qualified students will not go to college because they cannot afford it. Finally, our complicated maze of tax credits and applications leaves too many students unaware of financial aid available to them.
Early Childhood Education
Zero to Five Plan: The Obama-Biden comprehensive "Zero to Five" plan will provide critical support to young children and their parents. Unlike other early childhood education plans, the Obama-Biden plan places key emphasis at early care and education for infants, which is essential for children to be ready to enter kindergarten. Obama and Biden will create Early Learning Challenge Grants to promote state "zero to five" efforts and help states move toward voluntary, universal pre-school.
Expand Early Head Start and Head Start: Obama and Biden will quadruple Early Head Start, increase Head Start funding and improve quality for both.
Affordable, High-Quality Child Care: Obama and Biden will also provide affordable and high-quality child care to ease the burden on working families.
K-12
Reform No Child Left Behind: Obama and Biden will reform NCLB, which starts by funding the law. Obama and Biden believe teachers should not be forced to spend the academic year preparing students to fill in bubbles on standardized tests. He will improve the assessments used to track student progress to measure readiness for college and the workplace and improve student learning in a timely, individualized manner. Obama and Biden will also improve NCLB's accountability system so that we are supporting schools that need improvement, rather than punishing them.
Support High-Quality Schools and Close Low-Performing Charter Schools: Barack Obama and Joe Biden will double funding for the Federal Charter School Program to support the creation of more successful charter schools. An Obama-Biden administration will provide this expanded charter school funding only to states that improve accountability for charter schools, allow for interventions in struggling charter schools and have a clear process for closing down chronically underperforming charter schools. An Obama-Biden administration will also prioritize supporting states that help the most successful charter schools to expand to serve more students.
Make Math and Science Education a National Priority: Obama and Biden will recruit math and science degree graduates to the teaching profession and will support efforts to help these teachers learn from professionals in the field. They will also work to ensure that all children have access to a strong science curriculum at all grade levels.
Address the Dropout Crisis: Obama and Biden will address the dropout crisis by passing his legislation to provide funding to school districts to invest in intervention strategies in middle school - strategies such as personal academic plans, teaching teams, parent involvement, mentoring, intensive reading and math instruction, and extended learning time.
Expand High-Quality Afterschool Opportunities: Obama and Biden will double funding for the main federal support for afterschool programs, the 21st Century Learning Centers program, to serve one million more children.
Support College Outreach Programs: Obama and Biden support outreach programs like GEAR UP, TRIO and Upward Bound to encourage more young people from low-income families to consider and prepare for college.
Support College Credit Initiatives: Barack Obama and Joe Biden will create a national "Make College A Reality" initiative that has a bold goal to increase students taking AP or college-level classes nationwide 50 percent by 2016, and will build on Obama's bipartisan proposal in the U.S. Senate to provide grants for students seeking college level credit at community colleges if their school does not provide those resources.
Support English Language Learners: Obama and Biden support transitional bilingual education and will help Limited English Proficient students get ahead by holding schools accountable for making sure these students complete school.
Recruit, Prepare, Retain, and Reward America's Teachers
Recruit Teachers: Obama and Biden will create new Teacher Service Scholarships that will cover four years of undergraduate or two years of graduate teacher education, including high-quality alternative programs for mid-career recruits in exchange for teaching for at least four years in a high-need field or location.
Prepare Teachers: Obama and Biden will require all schools of education to be accredited. Obama and Biden will also create a voluntary national performance assessment so we can be sure that every new educator is trained and ready to walk into the classroom and start teaching effectively. Obama and Biden will also create Teacher Residency Programs that will supply 30,000 exceptionally well-prepared recruits to high-need schools.
Retain Teachers: To support our teachers, the Obama-Biden plan will expand mentoring programs that pair experienced teachers with new recruits. They will also provide incentives to give teachers paid common planning time so they can collaborate to share best practices.
Reward Teachers: Obama and Biden will promote new and innovative ways to increase teacher pay that are developed with teachers, not imposed on them. Districts will be able to design programs that reward accomplished educators who serve as a mentor to new teachers with a salary increase. Districts can reward teachers who work in underserved places like rural areas and inner cities. And if teachers consistently excel in the classroom, that work can be valued and rewarded as well.
Higher Education
Create the American Opportunity Tax Credit: Obama and Biden will make college affordable for all Americans by creating a new American Opportunity Tax Credit. This universal and fully refundable credit will ensure that the first $4,000 of a college education is completely free for most Americans, and will cover two-thirds the cost of tuition at the average public college or university and make community college tuition completely free for most students. Recipients of the credit will be required to conduct 100 hours of community service.
Simplify the Application Process for Financial Aid: Obama and Biden will streamline the financial aid process by eliminating the current federal financial aid application and enabling families to apply simply by checking a box on their tax form, authorizing their tax information to be used, and eliminating the need for a separate application.

Zakaria: Obama must 'laser' focus on economy

NEW YORK (CNN) -- President Barack Obama offered more detail on his plan to restore economic growth Friday, saying the economic stimulus program being debated in Congress is just one of at least three parts to his recovery plan.
In a meeting to discuss the stimulus proposal with Vice President Joe Biden and Democratic and Republican congressional leadership, Obama said America also needs an improved financial system stability program as well as an overhaul of financial market regulation.
CNN talked to world affairs expert and author Fareed Zakaria to get his thoughts about the most pressing issues facing the new president.
"Banks are still reporting large losses, credit remains tight, home prices continue to fall," notes Fareed Zakaria.
CNN: What should be President Obama's first order of business?
Zakaria: Oh, without question, the economy. This is a problem that isn't going away. Banks are still reporting large losses, credit remains tight, home prices continue to fall.
It's difficult to tell whether the measures enacted have not had time to work, or that they are not working. But the basic reality remains -- the financial system is in crisis, and as a result, the American economy is in a dangerous paralysis. President Obama needs to focus like a laser beam on this issue above and beyond everything else.
CNN: Does that mean foreign policy takes a back seat?
Zakaria: Not a back seat, but if I were advising him, I would suggest that he save his presidential time, energy and political capital for the economy. He will probably need to go to Congress soon and ask for more money and more authority.
Now, having said all this, the trouble with foreign policy is that it doesn't wait around for you until the time is convenient. Things happen and you have to react to them -- like the violence in Gaza. That's probably why the president called the foreign leaders he did on his first day -- [Palestinian President Mahmoud] Abbas [Israeli Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert, [Saudi] King Abdullah and [Egyptian President Hosni] Mubarak. He had to make sure that the situation didn't spiral downward.
CNN: What's the first major foreign policy problem President Obama should address?
Zakaria: Afghanistan. This is his war; the one he said was the right war. And it isn't going well. The Taliban is gaining strength and the central government is losing power and legitimacy.
CNN: The Taliban is back? I thought we defeated them.
Zakaria: The Taliban was not defeated: They retreated. They retreated into the rural areas of Pakistan. If you remember, the Taliban was born in Pakistan and supported by the Pakistani military as a tool to destabilize Soviet-controlled Afghanistan and India.
Since they retreated, they have been able to slowly reassert their influence. Rory Stewart, who was just in Afghanistan, is on our show this week and he mentions that in the past, the Taliban only had a presence in southern Afghanistan. But they now can be found in Kabul. The fact they have such a presence in the capital, an area we considered secure, is very troubling.
CNN: Why are they experiencing this support within the country?
Zakaria: There are many reasons. But you have to remember, this is still a very poor country that is very fragmented. Security and the rule of law are missing and the Taliban provides it.
Barney Rubin remarked that the first thing the Taliban creates when they go into an area is courts. It may not be the type of justice we would like; but for the Afghans it's better than the corrupt system that exists.
Also, we shouldn't assume our image of the Taliban is correct. It is a very dynamic organization and changes. We may need to find a way to negotiate with them.
CNN: Negotiate with the group that harbored al Qaeda?
Zakaria: It may be a political necessity. Rory Stewart said, "It's not 'what ought we do,' but 'what can we do.'" He argues that at some point, the reality of troops and money will force us to revaluate our goals and we should start that process now.
And there are many other crises America must deal with -- Iraq, Pakistan, sub-Saharan Africa, Iran -- so we can't be obsessed with Afghanistan.
Barney Rubin added: The question is, whether we can separate the terrorist al Qaeda connections from the political issues of the Taliban.
If that can occur, then it may be possible to find a solution in Afghanistan as [Gen. David] Petraeus helped broker in Iraq. We'll have to wait and see what Gen. Petraeus advises the president and what he decides to do. Done in [the president's] spare time, when he's not handling the economy.

Will Obama's Economic plan stimulate Bipartisan support?

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Barack Obama, who arguably won a large chunk of political capital in the 2008 election, is now looking to cash in as he urges Congress to pass a massive economic stimulus package.
President Obama is urging Congress to pass a massive economic recovery package by February 16.
But questions about how to spend the money and concerns about the last stimulus package under former President Bush, may create a roadblock.
It's something the newly minted president is hoping to avoid. But like most things in Washington, cooperation doesn't come easy.
And that may be why Obama painted an extremely grim portrait of the nation's economy on Saturday -- just hours before he met with his economic team, and days before he meets with Republicans leaders on Capitol Hill.
"We begin this year and this administration in the midst of an unprecedented crisis that calls for unprecedented action," he said in his weekly radio and Internet address. "Just this week, we saw more people file for unemployment than at any time in the last 26 years, and experts agree that if nothing is done, the unemployment rate could reach double digits."
Obama pleaded for quick action, warning, "a bad situation could become dramatically worse." The president urged congressional members to quickly pass an $825 billion economic stimulus package, which he hopes will create up to 4 million jobs over the next two years.
Obama said he plans to take a three-pronged approach to recovery: Stabilize the financial system, fix market regulation and pass the stimulus plan.
Negotiations are set to continue this week, as the House is expected to hold a vote on its stimulus plan on Wednesday. The Senate is set to begin its deliberation over its stimulus proposal, after announcing its own plan on Friday.
The president hopes to have the plan passed by Congress and on his desk for signing by February 16, which is Presidents Day.
On Sunday, Obama's director of the National Economic Council, Lawrence Summers, said greater accountability will be a part of the new plan.
"But there is one other thing that we are also very mindful of, which is money has to be spent well. And that's why the president's put new emphasis on accountability," Summers said on NBC's "Meet the Press."
After a stimulus bill is passed, a Web site, www.recovery.gov, will show taxpayers how their money is being spent, Obama said Saturday.
But not everyone is on board just yet -- including an influential Democrat.
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-North Dakota, is skeptical about the job numbers.
"I think we have to have some question about the number, simply because most of the models that determine you can create that number of jobs are based on the financial system working normally," he said on CNN's "State of the Union with John King" on Sunday.
Conrad said while he thinks Obama's stimulus plan is "wise," other key questions need to be answered: "Are we doing enough to help the financial sector? Are we doing enough about housing?"
"Because if we don't get those two right, we're not going to see the kind of lift out of this downturn that we need," he added.
But a new national poll suggests that a majority of Americans think it will take the country two years or longer to recover from the current recession. Only 13 percent of those questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released Wednesday think the economy will recover within a year.
Twenty-seven percent think it will take up to two years and 59 percent feel it will take two years or longer to recover from the current recession, which has already lasted 13 months.
While Obama extended the proverbial olive branch to Republicans during a meeting last week, there is still skepticism over key fundamental differences.
"The American people know we cannot borrow and spend and bail our way back to a growing economy," said Rep. Mike Pence, R-Indiana Sunday.
House Minority Leader John Boehner, who was critical of former President Bush's economic bailout program, said Friday the proposed $825 billion House plan won't go over well with many Republicans.
"I think a lot of Republicans will vote no, because they see this as a lot of wasteful Washington spending, padding the bureaucracy and doing nothing to help create jobs and preserve jobs," Boehner said on NBC Sunday.
Boehner cited in the past a recent non-partisan Congressional Budget Office review of the nearly $355 billion in spending aimed at infrastructure. The report indicated that less than half the amount would actually be spent in the next two years.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi argued Sunday that the CBO report doesn't paint the whole picture.
"First of all, the Congressional Budget Office only looked at 40 percent of the investments in the bill, by their own admission. They didn't even take a complete look at the bill. We have a letter from the administration that says 75 percent of the -- of the investments will be paid out in the first 18 months," Pelosi said on ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos."
Former Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain said Sunday that if the stimulus plan were up for a vote today, he would not support it -- though stopped short of saying whether or not he'd filibuster it.
"We need to have a permanent moratorium on new taxes and we also need to provide and not spend money on programs that will not have an immediate effect on our economy -- and it's [Obama's plan] filled with billions of dollars worth of spending that will not stimulate the economy. ... Right now I could not vote for the stimulus package as it's been presented."
But CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll numbers released January 18 indicate that nearly 6 in 10 Americans support an increase in government spending to rev up the economy.
Fifty-eight percent of those questioned favor increased government spending to stimulate the economy compared with 4 in 10 who oppose it.

President Obama pushes Economic stimulus Package

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Barack Obama painted a bleak economic picture of the country on Saturday, hours before he is to meet with his economic team.

President Obama delivers his weekly radio and Internet address, which focused on the economy.
"We begin this year and this administration in the midst of an unprecedented crisis that calls for unprecedented action," he said in his weekly radio and Internet address.
"Just this week, we saw more people file for unemployment than at any time in the last 26 years, and experts agree that if nothing is done, the unemployment rate could reach double digits," Obama said.
The president pleaded for urgent action, saying, "If we do not act boldly and swiftly, a bad situation could become dramatically worse.”
Obama's remarks came as he is lobbying for quick congressional passage of an $825 billion stimulus package to pump up the economy.
The president revealed more details of his stimulus package, which he said would add more than 3,000 miles of electric lines to transport alternative energy across the country.
Obama also said the plan would save taxpayers $2 billion by making three-quarters of federal buildings more energy efficient and would "save the average working family $350 on their energy bills by weatherizing 2.5 million homes."
The White House also released a report on the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan," which calls for greater investment in Pell Grants for college students, a $2,500 college tax credit for 4 million college students and the tripling of the number of fellowships in science to help spur innovation.
Obama promised full accountability for government spending. After a stimulus bill is passed, a new Web site, www.recovery.gov, will show taxpayers how their money is being spent, he said.
The $800 billion plan largely ignores the fact that we cannot keep borrowing and spending our way back to prosperity," said McMorris Rodgers, R-Washington.
"Instead of letting American families keep more of their hard-earned tax dollars, this plan proposes to spend additional money -- billions -- on such programs as new government cars, global warming studies and a billion extra dollars for the U.S. Census."

Barack Obama and Joe Biden's Plan to Strengthen Civil Rights

The Problem
Pay Inequity Continues: For every $1.00 earned by a man, the average woman receives only 77 cents, while African American women only get 67 cents and Latinas receive only 57 cents.
Hate Crimes on the Rise: The number of hate crimes increased nearly 8 percent to 7,700 incidents in 2006.
Efforts Continue to Suppress the Vote: A recent study discovered numerous organized efforts to intimidate, mislead and suppress minority voters.
Disparities Continue to Plague Criminal Justice System: African Americans and Hispanics are more than twice as likely as whites to be searched, arrested, or subdued with force when stopped by police. Disparities in drug sentencing laws, like the differential treatment of crack as opposed to powder cocaine, are unfair.
Barack Obama and Joe Biden's Plan
Strengthen Civil Rights Enforcement
Obama and Biden will reverse the politicization that has occurred in the Bush Administration's Department of Justice. They will put an end to the ideological litmus tests used to fill positions within the Civil Rights Division.
Combat Employment Discrimination
Obama and Biden will work to overturn the Supreme Court's recent ruling that curtails racial minorities' and women's ability to challenge pay discrimination. They will also pass the Fair Pay Act to ensure that women receive equal pay for equal work and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.
Expand Hate Crimes Statutes
Obama and Biden will strengthen federal hate crimes legislation, expand hate crimes protection by passing the Matthew Shepard Act, and reinvigorate enforcement at the Department of Justice's Criminal Section.
End Deceptive Voting Practices
Obama will sign into law his legislation that establishes harsh penalties for those who have engaged in voter fraud and provides voters who have been misinformed with accurate and full information so they can vote.
End Racial Profiling
Obama and Biden will ban racial profiling by federal law enforcement agencies and provide federal incentives to state and local police departments to prohibit the practice.
Reduce Crime Recidivism by Providing Ex-Offender Support
Obama and Biden will provide job training, substance abuse and mental health counseling to ex-offenders, so that they are successfully re-integrated into society. Obama and Biden will also create a prison-to-work incentive program to improve ex-offender employment and job retention rates.
Eliminate Sentencing Disparities
Obama and Biden believe the disparity between sentencing crack and powder-based cocaine is wrong and should be completely eliminated.
Expand Use of Drug Courts
Obama and Biden will give first-time, non-violent offenders a chance to serve their sentence, where appropriate, in the type of drug rehabilitation programs that have proven to work better than a prison term in changing bad behavior.
Barack Obama's Record
Record of Advocacy: Obama has worked to promote civil rights and fairness in the criminal justice system throughout his career. As a community organizer, Obama helped 150,000 African Americans register to vote. As a civil rights lawyer, Obama litigated employment discrimination, housing discrimination, and voting rights cases. As a State Senator, Obama passed one of the country's first racial profiling laws and helped reform a broken death penalty system. And in the U.S. Senate, Obama has been a leading advocate for protecting the right to vote, helping to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act and leading the opposition against discriminatory barriers to voting.
From Obama's Office site

Will have to spur initiatives across the entire Economic landscape

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The scope and intensity of problems facing President Obama are similar only to those that Franklin D. Roosevelt faced in 1933.
Roosevelt in his first 100 days pushed through 15 pieces of legislation that transformed financial regulation and created a social safety net that has endured.
Obama won't get that many bills passed.
But he will make decisions and implement policy changes between now and April 29 that will not only color the rest of his presidency but likely those of his successors for years to come.
Here are six issues on the economy that Obama and his team will have to tackle in their first 100 days at the White House.
Get recovery package passed and implemented
Topping Obama's economic to-do list will be getting an economic stimulus bill through Congress.
Obama has gone out of his way to tamp down expectations. He's noted in several speeches that the economy will likely get worse before it gets better. And even his top economic advisers say that the best his proposals (most of which are included in the House Democrats' $825 billion stimulus bill) can do is to create or save between 3 million and 4 million jobs. That's enough to keep the unemployment rate from getting worse by 2010, they estimate, but not enough to actually reduce it from where it is today, at 7%.
Implement foreclosure prevention program
Lawmakers last week gave Obama $350 billion to work with - and his first legislative victory before even taking office - when they voted to allow the Treasury to access the second half of the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program. But they also made it clear they expect some of that money to be used to prevent foreclosures.
In a letter to Democratic leaders in the House and Senate, top Obama economic aide Larry Summers promised that the administration would commit between $50 billion to $100 billion "to a sweeping effort to address the foreclosure crisis." He said the new administration would implement policies to "reduce the number of preventable foreclosures by helping to reduce mortgage payments for economically stressed but responsible homeowners."
Improve bank bailout efforts
The Obama team has promised lawmakers new and improved efforts to stabilize the financial system. Call it TARP 2.0.
Obama and his advisers have vowed to demand more from financial institutions receiving TARP money and to provide greater transparency and oversight of every investment Treasury makes with the funds.
They've also vowed to do something different and fast. One option: creating a "bad bank" into which the federal government will stockpile illiquid assets that it will buy from banks.
If, as promised, Obama devotes $50 billion to $100 billion to a new foreclosure prevention program, that leaves him with between $250 billion and $300 billion of TARP money to address the continuing credit crisis. That's not going to be enough to turn things around, some say. And they suggest the next administration might need up to a trillion dollars to adequately recapitalize banks.
Turn in a budget request
Peter Orszag, Obama's nominee to head the White House Office of Management and Budget, has promised to submit to Congress the president's fiscal year 2010 budget policy outline by late February.
That outline will map out Obama's priorities for how federal money should be spent over the next five to 10 years.
In addition, the administration will have to deal with this year's budget as well, since Congress has yet to wrap up its appropriations decisions for fiscal year 2009. If the two branches don't address the issue in January and February, the government will run out of funding by March 6 under the terms of the current continuing resolution.
Decide automakers' fate
It will be do-or-die time for General Motors (GM, Fortune 500) and Chrysler LLC starting in February.
That means the Obama administration will need to make a series of critical judgment calls.
As a condition of the $13.4 billion in government loans that GM and Chrysler received under the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the automakers must produce a plan for viability by Feb. 17 and have that plan in place by March 31.
Obama's team will have to determine whether the plans submitted in February meet the sniff test. If so, then they'll have to assess whether the companies have adequately met a series of targets the government has set for them by March 31. Those targets include getting pay concessions from union workers and changing the way the companies fund their retiree health programs.
Meet with world leaders to rethink regulation
In April, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will host what will be the second in a series of meetings of the G-20 countries to address the global economic crisis.
At the first meeting, hosted by President Bush in November, participants agreed to work toward stimulating economic demand, improving oversight of credit rating agencies and minimizing the risk of the mostly unregulated market of credit default swaps.
Antiquated and inconsistent regulation of markets across countries has long been a source of frustration for lawmakers.
But the interconnectedness of the world's financial systems became painfully obvious this fall as one country after the other fell prey to the credit crisis following the downturn in the United States. And the credit market woes soon sparked crises in economies across the globe.
Selling his plans
Roosevelt, in his first 100 days, "changed the psychology of the country to make people think, 'We can deal with this,' " said Cary Covington, a professor of political science at the University of Iowa.
Getting the public on board with his initiatives will be one of Obama's chief tasks as well.
"If he can sell this message of 'Yes, we can,' then he might restore confidence again," Covington said. "A lot will depend on how he packages what we're experiencing."
Obama's first act as president was to do just that. "Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time," Obama said Tuesday after taking the oath of office. "But know this, America -- they will be met."

Barack Obama shout 'Hindus' in his Inaugural Address

Nevada (United States), Jan.22 (ANI): Hindus the world over have applauded American President Barack Obama for including "Hindus" in his inaugural address in Washington on Tuesday.
Obama said in this address, "We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers".
Rajan Zed, in a statement, commended Obama for recognizing Hindus and for his inclusiveness approach.
Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, pointed out that serious and honest interfaith dialogue was the need of the hour. Religion was the most powerful, complex and far-reaching force in our society, so we must take it seriously. And we all knew that religion comprised much more than our own particular tradition/experience. In our shared pursuit for the truth, we could learn from one another and thus could arrive nearer to the truth, Zed stressed.
Zed offered Obama wholehearted Hindu support in his worldwide efforts in the areas of human improvement, peace, ecological responsibility, social and economic development, etc. (ANI)
(Collect from Web)

US will not torture, says Obama

Washington, Jan 23 (IANS)
US President Barack Obama who ordered to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility within a year said Thursday that 'US will not torture', demonstrating a clean break from the Bush administration's war on terror policy.
Speaking at the State Department following the announcement of special envoys to Middle East, and Afghanistan and Pakistan, Obama said: 'First, I can say without exception or equivocation that the United States will not torture.'
'Second, we will close the Guantanamo Bay detention camp and determine how to deal with those who have been held there.'
'We have no time to lose,' he said as he welcomed the newly confirmed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the special envoys to Middle East, and Afghanistan and Pakistan - former senator George Mitchell and Richard Holbrooke, a former UN ambassador, respectively.
'We can no longer afford drift, and we can no longer afford delay, nor can we cede ground to those who seek destruction,' he said, stressing that his administration is committed to lead.
Earlier in the day Obama signed three executive orders, including one requiring the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention centre.
During the signing ceremony at the White House, Obama said he was issuing the order to close the detention facility in order to 'restore the standards of due process and the core constitutional values that have made this country great even in the midst of war, even in dealing with terrorism'.
The second order formally bans torture by requiring that the Army field manual be used as the guide for terror interrogations. That essentially ends the Bush administration's CIA programme of enhanced interrogation methods, CNN reported.
'We believe that the Army field manual reflects the best judgment of our military, that we can abide by a rule that says we don't torture, but that we can still effectively obtain the intelligence that we need,' Obama said.
The third executive order Obama signed Thursday calls for setting up a task force to review detention policies and procedures.
(Collect from Web)

Guantanamo's closure within a year

President Barack Obama ordered the closing of Guantanamo prison on Thursday and named veteran troubleshooters for the Middle East and Afghanistan as he moved swiftly to repair America's tarnished image abroad.
In a flurry of activity focused squarely on rolling back some of predecessor George W. Bush's policies, Obama set a one-year deadline for shutting Guantanamo, barred harsh treatment of terrorism suspects held there and closed secret CIA jails overseas.
The prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba -- where prisoners have been detained for years without charge, some subjected to interrogation that human rights groups say amounted to torture -- had damaged America's moral standing in the world.
(In this photo, reviewed by the U.S. Military, a guard stands near the shadow of a detainee at Guantanamo's Camp 5 detention center, at the U.S. Naval Base, in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, January 21, 2009. )
"The world needs to understand that America will be unyielding in its defense of its security and relentless in its pursuit of those who would carry out terrorism or threaten the United States," Obama said after signing a series of orders.
(U.S. President Barack Obama speaks after signing an executive order closing the military prison at the U.S. military base in Guantanamo, Cuba, in the Oval Office on second official day at White House in Washington, January 22, 2009. REUTERS/Larry Downing)
But he said his new administration wanted to send "an unmistakable signal that our actions in defense of liberty will be (as) just as our cause."
While working behind closed doors with advisers to confront the worst financial crisis in decades, Obama used his early public appearances to put foreign policy and national security on the front burner.
"We can no longer afford drift and we no longer can afford delay," Obama said as he waded into the thicket of diplomacy with a visit to the State Department to preside over the announcements of new conflict envoys.
Former Sen. George Mitchell, a seasoned diplomat, was named to help revive stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts, which Bush was criticized for failing to give enough attention.
Obama seized the opportunity to pledge to "actively and aggressively seek a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians, as well as Israel and its Arab neighbors" and work to ensure a durable ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
He made a point of backing Israel's "right to defend itself" against cross-border Hamas rocket fire, but also said it was "intolerable" for Palestinians, who want a state of their own, to face a "future without hope."
Former U.N. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke was appointed the first U.S. envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, a region he called "the central front" in the battle against terrorism.
Obama has ordered a full review of U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, where he has pledged to boost troop levels. Osama bin Laden is believed to be hiding in the remote, mountainous border region of Pakistan near Afghanistan.
McCain: Closing Guantanamo Bay prison is the easy part

(CNN) — President Obama is facing greater challenges than any other president and may have made a hasty decision to close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp without considering all of the repercussions, Sen. John McCain told CNN’s Larry King Thursday night.
“When Franklin Delano Roosevelt came to the presidency, it was economic challenges. We clearly faced the rise of Hitler and fascism, but early on it was mainly domestic issues,” McCain said.
But Obama has in front of him two wars, a crisis in the Middle East and a domestic economic crisis.
“This president faces domestic challenges and the national security challenges, so he’s got a big job,” said McCain, appearing on “Larry King Live.”

Facts on Past US President Inaugurations

The Presidential inauguration ceremony has had many alterations since 1789, when George Wasington was first sworn in. Technology also changed how the nation has seen the new president take office. Get below to learn more about past inaugurations.

The First on 1789

George Washington's inauguration took place on the balcony of Federal Hall in New York. Robert Livingston, chancellor of the state of New York, administered the oath of office.

Date and time

Under the original terms of the Constitution, the president and vice president were inaugurated on March 4 of the year after their election.

The 2oth Amendment states that the term of the President expires at noon January 20. The amendment was ratified in 1933.

Shortest

George Washington's second inaugural address was only 135 words and lasted about two minutes.

Oath of Office on 1797

John Adams was the first to receive the oath of office from the chief justice of the United States. (Oliver Ellsworth in Philadelphia)

Technology on 1845

James K. Polk's inauguration was the first to be covered by telegraph. This was also the first known inauguration featured in a newspaper illustration (Illustrated London News).

Chief Justices

Chief Justice John Marshall presided over nine inauguration, from Thomas Jefferson in 1807 to Andrew Jackson in 1833, the most by any chief justice.

Parades on 1809

James Madison had the first organized inaugural parade.

From CNN