Beyonce- Single Ladies SPOOF (Barack Obama)

Egypt's attorney general forbids Mubarak from leaving country

Cairo, Egypt (CNN) -- Egypt's attorney general issued an order Monday freezing the assets of former President Hosni Mubarak and his family and prohibiting them from leaving the country.
Attorney General Abdel Maguid Mahmoud ordered the moves after Mustafa Bakri, a member of Egypt's parliament who lost his seat after filing corruption cases against various officials, provided documents indicating Mubarak's family has secret bank accounts totaling more than 200 million Egyptian pounds ($147 million), according to EgyNews.
"I submitted the corruption documents on Sunday night and on Monday morning I was called in by the public prosecutor for investigation, and he asked me to rush to his office." Bakri told CNN. "The attorney general, himself, went over the documents in my possession and then issued his orders to bar Mubarak and his family from travelling and to impound their assets."
Mahmoud ordered the freeze for property owned by Mubarak, his wife Suzanne, his two sons Alaa and Gamal Mubarak, and their wives and children, EgyNews reported. The seizures include "movable properties, real estate, stocks, bonds and various financial assets."
It wasn't immediately clear how the order differed from a similar one reported last week.
Mubarak, through his attorneys and in official filings, has described reports of immense wealth as "fabrications and baseless rumors."
But Bakri said the documents he provided to Mahmoud "are the first solid and concrete evidence on the fortune collected illegally by Mubarak and his family."

Mubarak, who resigned February 11 after 18 days of protest against his rule, is believed to be staying at his residence in Sharm el-Sheikh.

Obama condemns Libyan violence, calls for international response

Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama said Wednesday that the United States strongly condemns the use of violence on protesters in Libya and said a unified international response was forming.
"The suffering and bloodshed is outrageous and it is unacceptable," Obama said in his strongest and most direct statements to date on the unrest in Libya. "So are threats and orders to shoot peaceful protesters and further punish the people of Libya. These actions violate international norms and every standard of common decency. This violence must stop."
Flanked by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Obama said Libya's government "must be held accountable" for its failure to meet its responsibilities, and he emphasized a growing international chorus of condemnation against the situation.
"The entire world is watching," Obama said.
He announced that Clinton would travel to Geneva, Switzerland, on Monday to join a Human Rights Council meeting. The group, part of the United Nations, is negotiating a resolution on Libya, according to European diplomats who spoke to CNN.
Among the elements under consideration for the resolution are a call on Libya to protect its citizens, condemnation of the violence and a demand for an international inquiry and access for humanitarian groups.
Obama emphasized the first priority of his administration was protecting U.S. citizens in Libya, where the State Department is trying to help Americans and their family members get out on a ferry from Tripoli, the capital. He called for all Americans in Libya to leave the country immediately.
He also said a range of possible U.S. actions were under consideration, including unilateral steps and efforts in concert with other nations and international groups.
"In a volatile situation like this one, it is imperative that the nations and peoples of the world speak with one voice, and that has been our focus," Obama said.
The president's public statement before television cameras was considered part of an administration effort to counter impressions of inaction and presidential silence involving Libya, with U.S. officials saying the government is considering a range of options to pressure Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.
Read Ed Henry's piece on hostage fears playing a key factor
Earlier Wednesday, Clinton told reporters that the Libyan government "will be held accountable" for the acts of violence taken against protesters.
"Everything will be on the table," she said in remarks at the State Department. "We will look at all the possible options" to end the violence.
"This is now the moment for the international community to act together," Clinton said.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney had defended the administration's response to the Libya situation at a briefing with reporters Wednesday, saying the United States was consistent in condemning any violence in Libya, Egypt, Bahrain and other North African and Middle Eastern nations where protests have erupted in recent weeks.
He also noted that a range of possible steps against Libya were under consideration.
"We continue to work with the (United Nations) in reviewing various options for actions that can be taken to compel Libya to ... end this terrible bloodshed," the spokesman said. Asked specifically about imposing a no-fly zone over Libya, Carney said, "A lot of options are under review: sanctions, other options."
At the same time, Carney stressed that while reform was necessary, "we are not dictating outcomes, and we are not telling the people of any country who their leaders should be or should not be."
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley also said the United States is considering a range of "tools," including sanctions, against Libya to end the violence and "respect the rights of the Libyan people."
"That certainly includes looking at sanctions that could be imposed either bilaterally or multilaterally," Crowley told journalists at the State Department on Wednesday. "We believe it's important to coordinate our efforts with the international community, our European allies, the United Nations and organizations like the Arab League. We will be consulting broadly about these issues in the coming days."
The European Union said it was considering a host of sanctions against Libya, Reuters reported on Wednesday. Crowley said freezing the assets of the Libyan leader and government is also a possibility.
"That is in the toolbox," Crowley said.
Both Crowley and Carney insisted the United States would not ask for Gadhafi to step down.
"There are lots of actions that we can prospectively take. Many of these actions require legal orders, executive orders to be undertaken," Crowley said. "They've got to have a standard of due diligence to be able to support prospective actions to be taken. We are in the process of fully understanding and documenting what is occurring in Libya."
The United States has been struggling to evacuate its own citizens from the country. On Tuesday, the Libyan government refused permission for a U.S. charter sent to fly out Americans to land in Tripoli.
On Wednesday, a chartered ferry, with a maximum capacity of 575 passengers, was docked in Tripoli and had loaded U.S. citizens and 35 members of the embassy, including nonessential staff, in addition to citizens from some other countries, Crowley said.

However, the ferry set to travel to Malta was held up by heavy seas, according to a tweet from Crowley later Wednesday, and its departure time was uncertain.

http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/3131351/SOTU_

Rallies Over Ground Zero Mosque Get Heated

NEW YORK -- The proposed mosque near ground zero drew hundreds of fever-pitch demonstrators, with opponents carrying signs associating Islam with blood, supporters shouting, "Say no to racist fear!" and American flags waving on both sides.

Opponents demand that the mosque be moved farther from the site where more than 2,700 people were killed on Sept. 11, 2001.

The two leaders of the construction project, meanwhile, defended their plans, though one suggested Sunday that organizers might eventually be willing to discuss an alternative site.

The other, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, said during a Middle East trip that the attention generated by the project is actually positive and that he hopes it will bring greater understanding.

Around the corner from the cordoned-off old building that is to become a 13-story Islamic community center and mosque, police separated the two groups of demonstrators. There were no reports of physical clashes but there were some nose-to-nose confrontations, including a man and a woman screaming at each other across a barricade under a steady rain.

Opponents of the $100 million project two blocks from the World Trade Center site appeared to outnumber supporters. Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA" blared over loudspeakers as mosque opponents chanted, "No mosque, no way!"

Signs hoisted by dozens of protesters standing behind police barricades read "SHARIA" -- using dripping, blood-red letters to describe Islam's Shariah law, which governs the behavior of Muslims.

Steve Ayling, a 40-year-old Brooklyn plumber who carried his sign to a dry spot by an office building, said the people behind the mosque project are "the same people who took down the twin towers."

"They should put it in the Middle East," Ayling said.

On a nearby sidewalk, police chased away a group that unfurled a banner with images of beating, stoning and other torture they said was committed by those who followed Islamic law.

A mannequin dressed in a keffiyeh, a traditional Arab headdress, was mounted on one of two mock missiles that were part of an anti-mosque installation. One missile was inscribed with the words: "Again? Freedom Targeted by Religion"; the other with "Obama: With a middle name Hussein. We understand. Bloomberg: What is your excuse?"

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has fiercely defended plans for the proposed mosque, saying that the right "to practice your religion was one of the real reasons America was founded."

The mosque project is being led by Rauf and his wife, Daisy Khan, who insist the center will promote moderate Islam. The dispute has sparked a national debate on religious freedom and American values and is becoming an issue on the campaign trail ahead of the midterm elections. Republicans have been critical of President Barack Obama's stance: He has said the Muslims have the right to build the center at the site but has not commented on whether he thinks they should.

Rauf is in the middle of a Mideast trip funded by the U.S. State Department that is intended to promote religious tolerance. He told a gathering Sunday at the U.S. ambassador's residence in the Persian Gulf state of Bahrain that he took heart from the dispute over the mosque, saying "the fact we are getting this kind of attention is a sign of success."

"It is my hope that people will understand more," Rauf said without elaborating.

Democratic New York Gov. David Paterson has suggested that state land farther from ground zero be used for the center. Khan, executive director of the American Society for Muslim Advancement, expressed some openness to that idea on ABC's "This Week with Christiane Amanpour," but said she would have to meet with the center's other "stakeholders" first.

"We want to build bridges," Khan said. "We don't want to create conflict, this is not where we were coming from. So, this is an opportunity for us to really turn this around and make this into something very, very positive. So we will meet, and we will do what is right for everyone."

But Khan also said the angry reaction to the project "is like a metastasized anti-Semitism."

"It's not even Islamophobia. It's beyond Islamophobia," she said. "It's hate of Muslims."

At the pro-mosque rally, staged a block away from opponents' demonstration, several hundred people chanted, "Muslims are welcome here! We say no to racist fear!"

Dr. Ali Akram, a 39-year-old Brooklyn physician, came with his three sons and an 11-year-old nephew waving an American flag. He noted that scores of Muslims were among those who died in the towers, and he called those who oppose the mosque "un-American."

"They teach their children about the freedom of religion in America -- but they don't practice what they preach," Akram said.

John Green, who lost a friend in the attacks, said that although organizers have the right to build the project, "I think if they moved it, they would get the respect of more Americans than if they play hardball." He was demonstrating in the group of mosque opponents.

Gila Barzvi, whose son, Guy, was killed in the towers, stood with mosque opponents, clutching a large photo of her son with both hands.

"This is sacred ground and it's where my son was buried," the native Israeli from Queens said. She said the mosque would be "like a knife in our hearts."

She was joined by a close friend, Kobi Mor, who flew from San Francisco to participate in the rally.

If the mosque gets built, "we will bombard it," Mor said. He would not elaborate but added that he believes the project "will never happen."

Rauf, in an interview with Bahrain's Al Wasat newspaper, said America's sweeping constitutional rights are more in line with Islamic principles than the limits imposed by some Muslim nations.

"American Muslims have the right to practice their religion in accordance with the Constitution of the United States," Rauf said. "I see the article of independence as more compliant with the principles of Islam than what is available in many of the current Muslim countries."

A portion of the Al Wasat interview -- to be published Monday -- was seen Sunday by The Associated Press.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/08/22/supporters-opponents-ground-zero-mosque-hold-dueling-rallies/#ixzz1DRi6uNsn

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/08/22/supporters-opponents-ground-zero-mosque-hold-dueling-rallies/#ixzz1DRhzDLDP

Layoffs become rarer even with unemployment high

WASHINGTON –  The U.S. labor force has been split into two groups: the relieved and the desperate.

If you have a job, you can exhale; you're less likely to lose it than at any point in at least 14 years.

If you're unemployed? Good luck. Finding a job remains a struggle 20 months after the recession technically ended. Employers won't likely step up hiring until they feel more confident about the economy.

A result is that people who are unemployed are staying so for longer periods. Of the 13.9 million Americans the government says were unemployed last month, about 1.8 million had been without work for at least 99 weeks — essentially two years. That's nearly double the number in January 2010.

Yet the deep job cuts of the recession have long since ended. In January, companies announced plans to trim fewer than 39,000 jobs, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. That was 46 percent fewer than a year earlier. More strikingly, it was the fewest number of planned layoffs in January since Challenger began keeping track in 1993. For all of 2010, planned layoffs hit a 13-year low.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/02/07/layoffs-rarer-unemployment-high/#ixzz1DLXif32a

Egypt's Brotherhood to Hold Talks With Government

CAIRO -- Egypt's largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, said it would begin talks Sunday with the government to try and end the country's political crisis.

The announcement by the fundamentalist group came on the 13th day of mass demonstrations calling for the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's authoritarian ruler of nearly 30 years. Mubarak has said he would not run for the presidency again in elections slated for September, but has insisted he will serve out the remaining seven months of his current term to supervise a peaceful transfer of power.

The outlawed Brotherhood said in a statement that its representatives would meet with Vice President Omar Suleiman to press its "legitimate and just demands."

Senior Brotherhood leader Mohammed Mursi said the group was sticking to the protesters' main condition that Mubarak step down. He told The Associated Press the talks will take place later Sunday.

These would be the first known discussions between the government and the Brotherhood in years, suggesting the group could be allowed an open political role in the post-Mubarak era.

Some opposition leaders met with Suleiman on Saturday but said there was no breakthrough.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/02/06/egypts-brotherhood-hold-talks-government/#ixzz1DAQADZZ5

NFL, Union Meet for Contract Talks on Eve of Super Bowl

Representatives from the NFL and the players' union met for two hours today in Dallas, as both sides step up the effort to reach a new agreement and avoid a lockout next season. In a joint statement issued today, the two sides said the meeting was a "continuing effort to narrow the differences and reach a fair agreement that will benefit the players, teams and fans."
"We plan to increase the number, length and intensity of bargaining sessions so that we can reach agreement before the March 4 expiration of the current [collective bargaining agreement]," the statement read.
The meeting, which included NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and officials from the NFL Players' Association, was the first formal negotiating session since November.
The NFL commissioner met with the head of the players union, DeMaurice Smith, in New York Monday.
On Sunday millions of people around the world will tune in to watch the Pittsburgh Steelers play the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XLV, but the apparent lack of progress in the talks has made many people wonder whether this be the last NFL game for some time? The current labor contract between the league and the NFL Players Association, the players' union, expires March 4. Unless a new agreement is reached, the league could be headed for a work stoppage.
That means no spring practice, no free agency deals and, potentially, no 2011 season.
Goodell said repeatedly in Dallas Friday that the owners and league are committed to reaching an agreement before the deadline.
"I think that's only going to happen when there's intense negotiations from your union and the owners," he said. "This is the window of opportunity to get this done right."
The standoff between the league, team owners and players centers on two key issues.
First, there's revenue sharing. NFL players currently receive 60 percent of the league's $9 billion in annual revenue, but team owners say that's unsustainable, given the economic downturn. They want to reduce the players' share by 9 percent to 18 percent.

Chaos, Violence Intensifies at Central Cairo Square

CAIRO –  Protesters and regime supporters fought in a second day of rock-throwing battles at a central Cairo square while new lawlessness spread around the city. New looting and arson erupted, and gangs of thugs supporting President Hosni Mubarak attacked reporters, foreigners and rights workers while the army rounded up foreign journalists.

As bruised and bandaged protesters danced in victory after forcing back Mubarak loyalists attacking Tahrir Square, the government increasingly spread an image that foreigners were fueling the turmoil and supporting the unprecedented wave of demonstrations demanding the ouster of Mubarak, this country's unquestioned ruler for nearly three decades.

"When there are demonstrations of this size, there will be foreigners who come and take advantage and they have an agenda to raise the energy of the protesters," Vice President Omar Suleiman said in an interview on state TV.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton condemned "in the strongest terms" the pro-government mobs that beat, threatened and intimidated reporters in Cairo.

Attacks on peaceful demonstrators, human rights activists, foreigners and diplomats were "unacceptable under any circumstances," she said.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/02/03/gunfire-pounds-anti-mubarak-protest-camp-cairo/#ixzz1CwzXy8PA

Mubarak tells ABC his resignation would cause chaos

Cairo, Egypt (CNN) -- Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Thursday blamed the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood for the violence unfolding in Cairo and said he would like to step down right away, but cannot because he does not want to risk plunging his nation into chaos, ABC News reported.
Mubarak told ABC correspondent Christiane Amanpour that he was troubled by the bloody clashes that broke out Wednesday in Tahrir Square, the center of anti-government demonstrations.
As the United States and other countries condemned increasing attacks on journalists and diplomats, Mubarak rejected the notion that government instigated the violence in the country, instead blaming the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist umbrella group that is banned in Egypt.
"I don't care what people say about me," Mubarak told ABC. "Right now I care about my country, I care about Egypt.

Egypt VP: 'Your demands have been met'

Fireballs, clashes continue into night

Mubarak 'borrowing from book of Saddam'?

Military leaves, clashes heat up again

"I was very unhappy about yesterday. I do not want to see Egyptians fighting each other," he said in the interview, which was conducted at the heavily guarded presidential palace where the embattled leader has been staying with his family.
Mubarak told ABC that U.S. President Barack Obama is a very good man but bristled at the notion of an ally's interference in internal problems. He said he told Obama: "You don't understand the Egyptian culture and what would happen if I step down now."
Obama has said he told Mubarak a transition must take place, and it "must be meaningful, it must be peaceful and it must begin now."
Mubarak said he never intended to seek re-election. Nor did he intend his son, Gamal, who was believed to be groomed as Mubarak's successor, to seek the post. He made the comment to Amanpour in his son's presence.
The Obama administration had no comment on the interview. A White House aide told CNN the only thing that caught the administration's attention from the interview was Mubarak's comments on his son.
Vice President Omar Suleiman, tapped as Mubarak's vice president last Saturday, publicly announced Thursday that Gamal Mubarak will not stand in September elections.
Hosni Mubarak, who has ruled Egypt for three decades, announced this week that he would not run for re-election. But that concession has not been enough for tens of thousands of protesters demanding immediate change.
Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, told CNN's John King that negotiations on new leadership and elections are crucial. "The longer that this transition is delayed the likelihood of further escalation and violence is increased," he said.
Although Alexandria, Egypt's second-largest city, was largely calm Thursday, there are concerns about possible clashes when anti-Mubarak demonstrators mark a "Day of Farewell," a reference to the president, after Friday prayers, according to CNN's Nic Robertson.
Mubarak's regime moved Thursday to quell the deadly revolt, telling protesters their demands had been met and cracking down on journalists and human rights activists bearing witness to the crisis.
All day long, Mubarak's supporters and foes clashed to retain control of Tahrir Square, the central city plaza that has become the symbol of the 10-day Egyptian uprising. Many looked like medieval warriors, toting handcrafted shields while throwing stones and other objects.
Top government leaders vowed to hold accountable perpetrators of the bloodshed and told protesters to return home.
"I want to thank the youth for all you have done," Suleiman said on state-run Nile TV. "You are the lights that have ignited reform in this period. Please give the (government a) chance to play its role. All of your demands have been met."
Suleiman told ABC that Egyptian troops will not force anti-Mubarak protesters to leave Tahrir Square.
Mubarak supporters, some believed to be paid government thugs, converged with anti-government crowds Wednesday in a confrontation that quickly evolved into continuing mayhem in Tahrir Square. At least eight people were killed and 836 injured, including 200 wounded within one hour Thursday morning, according to the health ministry.
Journalists covering the crisis also became targets -- beaten, bloodied, harassed and detained by men, most all in some way aligned with Mubarak.
Numerous news outlets -- including the BBC, ABC News, Fox News, the Washington Post and CNN -- reported members of their staffs had either been attacked or arrested. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch also reported that staffers were detained.
In several cases, news personnel were accused of being "foreign spies," seized, whisked away, and often assaulted.

Health care class discussion

The health care contreversy we had in class on friday was very interesting to listen to. There was a lot of good explained points people made. One thing that caught my attention for the most part of this discussion was if health care was a privilege or not. In my opinion I believe it is a privilege because, we live in a place of freedom. The country that has it all, and health care is a privilege because, not everyone can get coming as an illegal immigrant, it is very hard to get health care. We as Americans can go to our doctor, get helped but it takes time, the good thing is our insurance will pay it. Unlike china, you don't need to make an appointment but, you do have to pay cash and sometimes it is very hard for many. That is why I believe we should be thankful for what we have and where we live. Another very important topic is immigrant crossing over to the U.S. Many come for success, a better future for them and their families but, there is some who come for the bad. I believe they should just stay where they're from. Something we know is that it will never happen and they keep coming. Another thing that is going on right now is the health care reform which is trying to be passed. Many are outraged because it ain't going fast enough but, what they don't know is that it takes time. They think that it's easy to just pressure them and get it done. If they were in the governments place they would be the same. Sometimes I believe people are afraid to change and don't know what's going to happen. Many are like this because, going back to what has happened in the past like, 9/11 and many wars has kept peoples minds afraid and not knowing what is going to happen keeps them away. Something else is that older people have adapted to the modern technology and are following the past. Maybe, if they tried things from now it would different. This big health care controversy was very fascinating to listen to. It changed my way of thinking, and the way I saw see world. Before, I didn't really care of what happened around me but now, it makes me think when something happens.