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Meet Great Barack

Early Years

Barack Obama was born in Hawaii on August 4th, 1961. His father, Barack Obama Sr., was born and raised in a small village in Kenya, where he grew up herding goats with his own father, who was a domestic servant to the British. Barack's mother, Ann Dunham, grew up in small-town Kansas. Her father worked on oil rigs during the Depression, and then signed up for World War II after Pearl Harbor, where he marched across Europe in Patton's army. Her mother went to work on a bomber assembly line, and after the war, they studied on the G.I. Bill, bought a house through the Federal Housing Program, and moved west to Hawaii. It was there, at the University of Hawaii, where Barack's parents met. His mother was a student there, and his father had won a scholarship that allowed him to leave Kenya and pursue his dreams in America. Barack's father eventually returned to Kenya, and Barack grew up with his mother in Hawaii, and for a few years in Indonesia. Later, he moved to New York, where he graduated from Columbia University in 1983. The College Years Remembering the values of empathy and service that his mother taught him, Barack put law school and corporate life on hold after college and moved to Chicago in 1985, where he became a community organizer with a church-based group seeking to improve living conditions in poor neighborhoods plagued with crime and high unemployment. The group had some success, but Barack had come to realize that in order to truly improve the lives of people in that community and other communities, it would take not just a change at the local level, but a change in our laws and in our politics. He went on to earn his law degree from Harvard in 1991, where he became the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. Soon after, he returned to Chicago to practice as a civil rights lawyer and teach constitutional law. Finally, his advocacy work led him to run for the Illinois State Senate, where he served for eight years. In 2004, he became the third African American since Reconstruction to be elected to the U.S. Senate. Political Career It has been the rich and varied experiences of Barack Obama's life - growing up in different places with people who had differing ideas - that have animated his political journey. Amid the partisanship and bickering of today's public debate, he still believes in the ability to unite people around a politics of purpose - a politics that puts solving the challenges of everyday Americans ahead of partisan calculation and political gain. In the Illinois State Senate, this meant working with both Democrats and Republicans to help working families get ahead by creating programs like the state Earned Income Tax Credit, which in three years provided over $100 million in tax cuts to families across the state. He also pushed through an expansion of early childhood education, and after a number of inmates on death row were found innocent, Senator Obama worked with law enforcement officials to require the videotaping of interrogations and confessions in all capital cases. In the U.S. Senate, he has focused on tackling the challenges of a globalized, 21st century world with fresh thinking and a politics that no longer settles for the lowest common denominator. His first law was passed with Republican Tom Coburn, a measure to rebuild trust in government by allowing every American to go online and see how and where every dime of their tax dollars is spent. He has also been the lead voice in championing ethics reform that would root out Jack Abramoff-style corruption in Congress. As a member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, Senator Obama has fought to help Illinois veterans get the disability pay they were promised, while working to prepare the VA for the return of the thousands of veterans who will need care after Iraq and Afghanistan. Recognizing the terrorist threat posed by weapons of mass destruction, he traveled to Russia with Republican Dick Lugar to begin a new generation of non-proliferation efforts designed to find and secure deadly weapons around the world. And knowing the threat we face to our economy and our security from America's addiction to oil, he's working to bring auto companies, unions, farmers, businesses and politicians of both parties together to promote the greater use of alternative fuels and higher fuel standards in our cars. Whether it's the poverty exposed by Katrina, the genocide in Darfur, or the role of faith in our politics, Barack Obama continues to speak out on the issues that will define America in the 21st century. But above all his accomplishments and experiences, he is most proud and grateful for his family. His wife, Michelle, and his two daughters, Malia, 9, and Sasha, 6, live on Chicago's South Side.

Watch Sixth Sense Movie

Watch The Sixth Sense Movie online - Directed by M. Night Shyamalan - Director, Starring Bruce Willis

Hurricane Hanna

Hanna hits US coast with Hurricane Ike looming 2 days ago MIAMI (AFP) — Tropical Storm Hanna raced across the southeastern United States on Saturday, battering the coast with powerful waves, rain and wind as Florida and Cuba kept a wary eye on a dangerous hurricane. Hanna, which killed hundreds in Haiti , crashed into the border of North Carolina and South Carolina packing winds of 110 kilometers (70 miles) per hour before weakening as it moved up quickly along the coast. The storm's winds blew at 85 kph (50 mph) as it churned over Virginia, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said in its 1800 GMT advisory. The hurricane center warned that Hanna could trigger isolated tornadoes in the states of North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and New York. The storm was expected to produce four to six inches (10 to 15 centimeters) of rain across the northeast from North Carolina to New York state. "These rainfall amounts could produce flash flooding across these regions," the center said. Hanna could also produce huge, dangerous waves with a storm surge of one to three feet above normal tide levels, the hurricane center said. The governors of North Carolina and Virginia declared states of emergency. South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford called for people to evacuate two counties. Several southern US states have endured a battery of storms in recent weeks, including Tropical Storm Fay late last month and Hurricane Gustav this past week. Officials expressed concern that people along the coast were not taking Hanna seriously. "The response is not what we would want it to be," Sam Hodge, emergency manager for Georgetown, South Carolina, told CBS News. "We feel there should be more people evacuating." As Hanna pounded the US coast, Florida and Cuban officials were closely monitoring the more formidable Hurricane Ike out in the Atlantic. Haiti's northern coast, which is still recovering from devastating flooding from Hanna, was under a tropical storm warning as Ike approached. But Haiti was not expected to get a direct hit from Ike. The poorest country in the Americas is already reeling from the destruction inflicted by three storms in as many weeks, including Hanna, which has left more than 500 people dead. Ike was on course to pass over or near the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Bahamas on Saturday before slamming into northeastern Cuba, another island nation recently battered by this hurricane season's conga line of storms. Florida Governor Charlie Christ warned that Ike could strike southern Florida by Tuesday. "Ike has grown rapidly into a dangerous, powerful storm," Christ told a news conference. "I urge all ... Floridians to use the next few days to prepare. Our ability to prepare now will ensure everyone's safety later," he said. We must be prepared, we must be smart, and we must be vigilant." Densely populated south Florida, including the cities of Miami and Fort Lauderdale, has not been hit by a major hurricane since Hurricane Andrew in 1992 -- the costliest natural disaster in US history until it was topped by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Cuba, reeling from Hurricane Gustav, which damaged or destroyed 140,000 homes, was also on alert. "Almost our entire country is in the danger zone," Jose Rubiera, the head of the country's Insmet forecast agency, told Cuban television. Ike weakened a little before regaining Category Three strength, the mid-level on the five-level Saffir-Simpson scale, with sustained winds of 185 kilometers (115 miles) per hour, the US hurricane center said. At 1800 GMT, the hurricane was 215 kilometers (135 miles) east of Grand Turk Island, the center said.

USA TODAY survey: We're in recession, economists say

By John Waggoner and Barbara Hansen, USA TODAY
The U.S. economy is in recession, or soon to be in one, according to USA TODAY's quarterly survey of leading economists. Two-thirds of the 52 economists polled said the U.S. economy is in recession. Add those who believe the economy will be in recession soon, and 79% believe that the economy will contract at some point in 2008. The good news: The recession will be short and shallow, and inflation will abate, say the 52 economists surveyed. In general, they expect the nation's gross domestic product to shrink by half a percentage point in the second three months of the year. The survey comes in a key week for economic data. The Commerce Department reports Wednesday its initial measure of gross domestic product for the first quarter. On the same day, the Federal Reserve will set a target for its key fed funds rate, which broadly affects borrowing costs. In the survey, 87% predict the Fed will cut the short-term rate by a quarter-percentage point, to 2%. Most economists surveyed think the recession will be short and shallow. Unemployment, one of the hallmarks of a recession, will probably rise to about 6%, says David Berson, chief economist for the PMI Group. "That's pretty low for a recession," he says A few feel the economy will weaken but not fall into recession. "A recession, by definition, is a broad-based decline in GDP that lasts more than a few months," says Ken Mayland of ClearView Economics. Even if there were a decline in the first quarter, it's not certain there will be a decline in the second, Mayland says. Economists think the inflation rate, which in March was 4% on a year-over-year basis, according to the consumer price index, will decline throughout the rest of the year. That's because they also think the economy will slow. "Recessions usually bring inflation down," Berson says. A slower economy means less demand for goods and services, which makes it harder for companies to raise prices. That doesn't mean prices will fall, Berson cautions. It means they will rise at a slower rate. Economists say there's still plenty to worry about. Allen Sinai, chief global economist for Decision Economics, gives the Federal Reserve top marks for its actions but says many things are outside the Fed's control — such as the prices of food and oil. "We think inflation will stay sticky high," Sinai says. "It's driven by forces outside the U.S." One big force: the huge demand for food and energy by India and China. The other big worry: real estate. "Given the drop in home prices, there's a big risk that foreclosures will go up more than expected," Berson says.

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