Hoop Dreams: Obama puts on full-court press at White House
Forget about Afghanistan, healthcare and the economy. President Barack Obama took time out on Thursday to indulge in his favorite sport as he hosted cabinet members and lawmakers for a round of pickup games on the White House basketball court.
It was the biggest day of hoop dreams at the White House since Obama took office, and reporters disappointed at being kept away went one-on-one with Press Secretary Robert Gibbs before the opening tip-off.
As for why were journalists being barred: “To protect the privacy and the statistics of any of those involved,” he quipped at his daily briefing.
As for who would referee between political friends and foes: “I assume they call their own fouls, which I’m sure is a point of contention at any given point,” Gibbs said.
As for why no women made the cut: “The point is well taken,” Gibbs said, conceding that as the father of two young daughters Obama would have to seek gender equality next time.
The roster included Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, and 11 members of Congress, including two Republicans.
Earlier in the day, Obama also dropped by to watch a game on the White House court played by the Marine Wounded Warrior basketball team from the National Naval Medical Center.
8 years after 9/11, Flight 93 memorial moves forward
Eight years after the Sept. 11 attacks, the U.S. government and landowners in Somerset County have reached an agreement that will allow the building of a memorial to the passengers and crew of hijacked Flight 93 that crashed into the fields of rural Pennsylvania.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says the memorial will cost about $20 million, which includes $9.5 million for the land.
“The fields of western Pennsylvania, where the heroes of Flight 93 perished, are hallowed ground for a grateful nation,” Salazar said.
“We have reached this important milestone in properly honoring the courage and sacrifice of the men and women who gave their lives that day,” he said. “The Flight 93 Memorial will soon stand in their honor.”
The National Park Service signed agreements with eight landowners and expects construction to begin after groundbreaking in November with an eye to completing the memorial by Sept. 11, 2011.
Photo Credit: Reuters/Jason Cohn (Flight 93 temporary memorial)
I think it is churlish to criticise the land owners for requiring reimbursment for the land on which the memorial will be situated. The land is very valuable.
It is reasonable that the land owner’s require compensation. They are innocent victim’s too.
Team Obama’s Environmental Irony Tour
Okay, so it’s August in Washington. It’s hot. Congress has gone home. Even the summer interns are packing up and getting out of town. So it’s not surprising that top members of the Obama administration might be ready for a road trip.
That’s basically what the White House announced in a statement headlined: “Obama Administration Officials Travel America, Talk Clean Energy Economy.” President Obama went to Indiana to announce $2.4 billion in funding for advanced battery and electric drive projects; Energy Secretary Steven Chu headed for Minnesota to look at renewable energy projects and North Carolina to announce a big grant to a lithium battery firm, finishing up the week in Massachusetts to talk about clean energy jobs at Harvard; Interior Secretary Ken Salazar went to a solar panel company in Colorado; EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson was in Florida and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke traveled to Missouri.
Probably only a crank would wonder just how much greenhouse gas all this official travel spewed into the atmosphere. There’s no hybrid Air Force One, after all. But it does seem like an exquisite irony that, with the best of environmental intentions, the Obama team may have stomped all over the United States with a heavy-duty carbon footprint.
Is it fair to ask that when they talk the talk, they walk the walk — or offset emissions by funding windmills or other projects that supply renewable energy? Let us know what you think.
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Photo credits: REUTERS/Jason Reed (President Obama speaks in Wakarusa, Indiana, August 5, 2009); REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (Windmill turbines on Backbone Mountain in West Virginia, August 28, 2006)
Could we apply in bright paint the phrase “350 ppm.” on the sides of all government planes? Including those that the State Department, Pentagon and Military use? It is called consciousness raising…sky’s the limit. Don’t get it? Go to the internet, please.
First Draft: Jobs, jobs, jobs
Today, as ever, it’s all about jobs. War, pestilence (in the form of the H1N1 flu), a big gas explosion at a shopping mall outside Washington, the re-opening of the Statue of Liberty’s crown – all these take a back seat to jobs, especially in a recession. And especially after this week’s “stress test” results for banks, when the unemployed might well be asking, “OK, the big banks got their bailout. Where’s ours?”
The latest jobless numbers offered some signs of relief: U.S. employers cut 539,000 jobs in April, thousands fewer than the 590,000 jobs analysts predicted. But the unemployment rate rose to 8.9 percent from 8.5 percent in March, the highest in more than a quarter-century.
President Barack Obama is largely out of sight today, but is due to emerge for a late-morning speech on job creation and job training.
That’s clearly the administration’s theme for the day. When Interior Secretary Ken Salazar traveled to New York Harbor for a televised appearance inside the crown of the Statue of Liberty, to announce the crown will open to the public on July 4, he played up the job-creation angle.
“This Statue of Liberty really is about hope and optimism for America,” Salazar told NBC’s “Today” program. “It’s also about jobs that come with tourism all over this country and it’s about President Obama’s agenda …”
Regular Reuters readers already figured the Statue of Liberty’s crown would open on Independence Day, because Salazar told correspondent Jasmin Melvin that this was possible in an interview on March 24.
Photo credit: REUTERS/Joshua Lott (The Statue of Liberty is seen as a woman sits on a bench and another walks by in New York, March 5, 2008.)
there were 100 000 thousand temporary jobs created by the government to help with the census ,that made the figures look better than they were.employment is still getting worse,the Uaw running chrysler and possibly GM this is an indication of the doctrinaire policies of this government.the only glimmer of common sense is obamas cabinet going after tax cheats,they will have a good insight to the various dodges because they have tried them.
More pictures of President Obama Playing basketball at Image Overflow