Chennai: Girl ‘Married’ Off To A Frog

It was not a a fairy tale yanked out of a children’s story book but a real life ritual, where a minor girl was married off to a frog in a remote village in southern India, BERNAMA reported.

Hoping that the century-year-old ritual would ward off evil and bring good omen to Pallu Puthupattu village, located about 150 km from C hennai, eight-year-old R.Vigneshwari was chosen as the bride of the hour.

Last Friday, during the harvest festival, after much ordeal, the villagers ushered the frog, fished out of a local temple pond, to the venue where the bride, clad in bridal finery, was waiting.

All the Hindu wedding rituals were performed. Half the villager played the role of bridegroom’s relatives while the other acted as part of the bride’s entourage at the temple ceremony.

It is widely believed among villagers that the frog is a reincarnation of Lord Siva. Every year, this marriage is being organised. They believe that if they don’t do the annual ritual, girl children would die unnaturally or houses in villages would go up in flames and famine would attack.

‘We cannot deviate them from their belief. We could see that females aged 80 or 70 had performed such marriages in their childhood,’ S.Geetha, a local women’s rights activist, told Bernama.

The village priest tied the nuptial string on the bride on behalf of the groom and the villagers solemnly blessed the ‘newly married couple’ by showering rice and even offering small amounts of money as wedding gift.

After the marriage, the frog was returned to its natural habitat while the bride went home.

Geetha said it was customary for the village elders to select a girl who had yet to attain puberty for the ritual. Another 11-year old girl had been slated to marry next year.

The village legend goes that the people suffered from frequent natural calamities and sickness, like outbreaks of cholera, and this ritual was piously performed for divine blessing to help ease their hardship, she said.

P/S: There’s a Malay saying ‘Lain padang, lain belalang’ which brings the meaning that every place has its own ways of life and folk tales. In this case, tradition by cause makes this world more vibrant and colorful to be explored.

First-Day Whirldwind For Obama

US President Barack Obama holds talks with his White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. Obama is set to sign a series of executive orders to close the Guantanamo "war on terror" prison, end harsh interrogation tactics and shutter secret prisons, marking a dramatic reversal of policy from his predecessor. (AFP/White House/Pete Souza)

In a first-day whirlwind, President Barack Obama showcased efforts to revive the economy on Wednesday, summoned top military officials to the White House to chart a new course in Iraq and eased into the daunting thicket of Middle East diplomacy.

‘What an opportunity we have to change this country,’ said the 47-year-old chief executive, who also issued new ethics rules for his administration, hosted a reception at the presidential mansion for 200 inauguration volunteers and guests selected by an Internet lottery and even took the oath of office again after it was flubbed Tuesday.

The Associated Press(AP) reported as after dancing at inaugural balls with first lady Michelle Obama past midnight, Obama entered the Oval Office for the first time as president in early morning. He read a good luck note left behind by President George W. Bush, then began breaking cleanly with his predecessor’s policies.

Aides circulated a draft of an executive order that would close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, within a year and halt all war crimes trials in the meantime.

Closing the site ‘would further the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States and the interests of justice,’ read the draft prepared for the new president’s signature. A copy was obtained by The Associated Press, and an aide said privately that Obama would sign a formal order on Thursday.

Some of the 245 detainees currently held at Guantanamo would be released, while others would be transferred elsewhere and later put on trial under terms to be determined.

Obama’s Cabinet was moving closer to completion.

At the Capitol, the Senate confirmed Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state after a one-day delay forced by Republicans. The vote was 94-2, and spectators seated in the galleries erupted in applause when it was announced.

Treasury-designate Timothy Geithner emerged unscathed from his confirmation hearing, apologizing for having failed to pay $34,000 in taxes earlier in the decade.

To the evident anger of Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Republicans on the panel invoked long-standing rules to postpone a vote on Eric Holder’s appointment as attorney general.

Counting Clinton, seven Cabinet members have been confirmed so far, as have the two top officials at the Office of Management and Budget.

Obama’s schedule for the day included separate sessions on the economy and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The new president has pledged to take bold steps to revive the economy, which is struggling through the worst recession since the Great Depression. Last week, he won approval to use $350 billion in leftover financial industry bailout funds.

He presided over the White House meeting on the economy as the House Appropriations Committee moved toward approval of $358 billion in new spending, part of the economic stimulus package making its way to his desk.

The new commander in chief held his first meeting in the Situation Room, where he, Vice President Joe Biden and senior military and foreign policy officials discussed war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Obama campaigned on a pledge to withdraw U.S. combat forces from Iraq within 16 months, and to beef up the commitment in Afghanistan. Obama asked the Pentagon to do whatever additional planning necessary to “execute a responsible military drawdown from Iraq.”

The new White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, said Obama’s phone calls to leaders in the Middle East were meant to convey his ‘commitment to active engagement in pursuit of Arab-Israeli peace from the beginning of his term.’

Gibbs also that in conversations with Israeli, Palestinian, Egyptian and Jordanian leaders, the president emphasized he would work to consolidate the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

Obama intends to name former Senate Majority leader George Mitchell as a special envoy to the region.

Not everything was new at the White House.

In the Oval Office, Obama worked at a desk built from the timbers of a British naval vessel, the HMS Resolute, and used off-and-on by presidents since the 1870s, including Bush. It also appeared that the carpet that Bush used in his second term, a yellow sunbeam design, was still in place.

If some of the furnishings remained in place, there was no doubt that the new president meant to fulfill his campaign promise of change.

‘As of today, lobbyists will be subject to stricter limits than under any … other administration in history,’ Obama told reporters as he signed the new rules. The restrictions included a ban on gifts by lobbyists to anyone serving in the administration.

He also imposed a pay freeze for about 100 White House aides who earn $100,000 or more. Its implementation was unclear, since none of them was on the payroll before Tuesday’s noontime inauguration.

On Tuesday, within hours of Obama’s inauguration, his administration froze last-minute Bush administration regulations before they could take effect.

Among them was an Interior Department proposal to remove gray wolves from Endangered Species protections in much of the northern Rocky Mountains, and a Labor Department recommendation that would allow companies that manage employee retirement plans to market investment products to plan participants.

On Wednesday night, Chief Justice John Roberts administered the oath to Obama at the White House -a rare do-over. The surprise moment came in response to Tuesday’s stumble, when Roberts got the words of the oath a little off, which prompted Obama to do so, too.

The White House reassured that Obama has still been president since noon on Inauguration Day. But Obama and Roberts went through the drill again out of what White House counsel Greg Craig called ‘an abundance of caution.’

Obama also dropped by a party for his staff at a packed DC Armory, telling his supporters that they deserve credit for his historic election victory, in part because they didn’t know any better. He said they simply didn’t know that a guy like him shouldn’t win, that their fundraising model wasn’t typical and that the odds were stacked against them.

Obama and his wife began their day at a prayer service that is traditional for the first business day of a new administration. They were joined in front-pew seats by Biden and his wife, Jill, as well as former President Bill Clinton and his wife, hours away from confirmation as the nation’s top diplomat.

‘Grant to Barack Obama, president of the United States, and to all in authority your grace and good will. Bless them with your heavenly gifts, give them wisdom and strength to know and to do your will,’ prayed the Rev. Andy Stanley, one of numerous clerics from several religions to speak.

Obama and his wife also played host and hostess for a select 200 at an open house.

‘Enjoy yourself, roam around,’ a smiling Obama told one guest.

‘Don’t break anything.’

P/S: Can’t wait of what Obama wants to do to bring the toppled administration back to ‘normal’ after it was led by George W. Bush last time.

Israel: Last Troops To Pullout Form Gaza

Palestinian men, reflected in a broken mirror, look at the damage in a bedroom of their house, which was occupied by Israeli soldiers during the conflict, in Mughraka, central Gaza strip, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2009. Israel withdrew the last of its troops from the Gaza Strip before dawn Wednesday, the military said, and pursued diplomatic efforts to stanch the flow of arms into the Hamas-ruled territory. Some 1,300 Palestinians were killed, more than half of them civilians, Gaza health officials and the U.N. have reported. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

The last Israeli troops left the Gaza Strip before dawn Wednesday, the military said, as Israel dispatched its foreign minister to Europe in a bid to rally international support to end arms smuggling into the Hamas-ruled territory.

The AP reported that the timing of the pullout reflected Israeli hopes to defuse the crisis in Gaza before President Barack Obama entered the White House. The military said troops remain massed on the Israeli side of the border and are poised to take action if militants violate a fragile three-day cease-fire.

The troops’ exit marked the end of an Israeli offensive that ravaged Gaza and left a total of 1,284 Palestinians dead and 4,336 wounded, according to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights. The rights group, which has dispatched researchers to collect the names of the dead, said 894 of those killed were civilians.

The Israeli military says 500 Palestinian militants were killed in the fighting. Gaza’s militant groups claim only some 150 of the dead were armed fighters.

Israel launched the offensive to permanently halt years of militant rocket fire on growing numbers of Israelis and to halt the smuggling of arms that turned Hamas into a potent threat to much of southern Israel. But by Wednesday, some of the tunnels on the Egyptian border appeared to be back in business, with workers clearing blocked passageways, bulldozers carrying out other repairs, and fuel already being brought from Egypt into Gaza, according to AP Television News footage.

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was heading to Brussels on Wednesday, hoping to clinch a deal committing the European Union to contribute forces, ships and technology to anti-smuggling operations, Israeli officials said.

Last week, the U.S. signed an anti-smuggling deal with Israel calling for expanded intelligence cooperation between the two countries and other U.S. allies in the Middle East and Europe.

Gaza remained tense Wednesday. Israeli navy ships fired rounds of machine-gun fire at the beaches of northern Gaza, and the military said a Gazan fishing vessel had strayed into an area declared off-limits by the Israeli navy.

The death toll in Gaza has provoked international outrage. In Israel, however, the war has strong backing, because it is seen as a legitimate response to militants who now have one-eighth of the population within rocket range.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon left the region early Wednesday after touring Gaza and southern Israel. Ban called for an investigation into the Israeli shelling of U.N. compounds in Gaza during the fighting, which he termed ‘outrageous.’ He also called militant rocket attacks against Israel ‘appalling and unacceptable.’

The Israeli military said it has launched an internal investigation into allegations about its use of white phosphorus munitions. U.N. officials and human rights groups have alleged Israel used such weapons, typically employed to illuminate targets or create smoke screens. Amnesty International has said Israel’s firing of white phosphorus shells in densely populated residential areas of Gaza is a war crime.

Both sides declared cease-fires that went into effect Sunday, but the arrangements remain shaky. Israel reported mortar shelling from Gaza on Tuesday, and the Palestinians say Israeli troops shot and killed two Gaza farmers along the border after the truce took hold.

The fighting ended before Israel achieved its aims, though world leaders have pledged to assist in efforts to keep militants from restocking war-depleted arsenals.

The U.S. has promised to supply detection and surveillance equipment, as well as logistical help and training to Israel, Egypt and other nations in the region. The equipment and training would be used to monitor Gaza’s land and sea borders.

The Israeli-American agreement also calls for the U.S. to expand work with its NATO partners, particularly in the Red Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Gulf of Aden, Indian Ocean and eastern Africa.

At the signing ceremony in Washington, Livni described the deal as ‘a vital complement for a cessation of hostility’ in the troubled region. Shortly after, she said she hoped European countries, notably Britain, France and Germany, would work out similar agreements with the Israelis.

Although signed by the Bush administration on its last working day, the agreement is binding on the Obama administration.

Most of the smuggling was carried out through tunnels underneath the eight-mile (15-kilometer) border between Egypt and Gaza border. Egypt has proved unable or unwilling to halt the flow of weapons and medium-range rockets coming through the tunnels, alongside fuel and consumer goods.

Israel bombed most of the tunnels during the offensive.
Iran, one of Hamas’ main backers, rejected the international attempt to deny the militant group weapons. In statements reported Wednesday on the Web site of Iranian state TV, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said that as Israel is well-armed, it would be wrong to question the Palestinians about obtaining weapons.

Israel says Iran provides the group with cash, weapons and training. Tehran denies giving any weapons to Hamas.

P/S: FINALLY~

Obama: 10 Inaugural Balls

President Barack Obama, right, and first lady Michelle Obama, left, have their first dance of the evening during the Neighborhood Inaugural Ball in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle capped their historic day with a speedy tour through 10 inaugural balls before retiring, at last, for their first night in the White House.

The Etta James classic ‘At Last’ was the Obamas’ song of the evening, crooned by Beyonce at the Neighborhood Ball, the first of 10 inaugural celebrations they attended into the early hours of Wednesday, The Associated Press(AP) reported.

The president wore white tie, while Michelle shimmered in a white, one-shouldered, floor-length gown. It was embellished from top to bottom with white floral details and made by 26-year-old New York designer Jason Wu.

‘First of all, how good looking is my wife?’ Obama asked the crowd of celebrities and supporters.
The president pulled his wife close for a slow, dignified two-step to the song that marked the end of a long day of formal inaugural events and the two-year campaign that put them in the White House.

Obama cut loose in a faster groove a few minutes later, as Shakira, Mary J. Blige, Faith Hill and Mariah Carey sang along with Stevie Wonder to his “Signed, Sealed, Delivered.” The song was played at nearly all of Obama’s rallies throughout the campaign.

‘You could tell that’s a black president from the way he was moving,’ comedian Jamie Foxx joked following the dance.

At most of the balls that followed, the Obamas spent little more than the length of the song greeting supporters and whirling for the crowd. But the two seemed to share intimate moments nonetheless, smiling and laughing as Michelle pulled her dress out of the way.

Director Ron Howard said he sympathized with the long day Obama was having.
‘I feel bad for him,” Howard said in an interview with The Associated Press at the Western Ball. ‘He’s had a long day and now he has to do seven dances. This has got to be the grueling part for the first family.”
Obama and Vice President Joe Biden each saluted the nation’s military men and women at the Commander in Chief Ball via satellite. Biden said he wasn’t looking forward to his moment on the dance floor —a familiar refrain throughout the night.

‘The thing that frightens me the most (is) I’m going to have to stand in that circle and dance in a minute.’ At that, he laughed and did a quick sign of the cross.

The Obamas were more enthusiastic, splitting up to dance with Marine Sgt. Elidio Guillen of Madera, Calif. —who was shorter than dance partner Michelle— and Army Sgt. Margaret H. Herrera of San Antonio, Texas, who cried in the president’s arms.

Despite the formal attire and celebrity entertainment, the balls weren’t overly fancy affairs. Lines were long to get in, and the food was heavy on vegetables with dip and cheese cubes.

In a sign, perhaps, of the tough economic times, guests who already paid anywhere from $75 for a ticket to thousands more for a package deal had to buy their own drinks served in small plastic cups. Beer went for $6, cocktails for $9 and champagne for $12.

People were standing in line outside Union Station to get into the Eastern States Ball an hour and a half after it started. Because of very limited seating at the Western ball, a number of attendees in long gowns and fancy dress plopped cross-legged on the floor.

‘This is what happens in a down economy. No chairs, no highboys —it’s the floor and plastic cups,’ commented ballgoer Brig Lawson, 38, of Las Vegas.

At the Obama Home States ball, the dance floor was dominated by two little girls who skipped and twirled in matching red dresses while the grown-ups stood still, crowded around the stage waiting for Obama to appear.

Singer Sheryl Crow was greeted by a cheering crowd later for her appropriate hit, ‘A Change Would Do You Good.’ When hip-hop star Wyclef Jean asked the men at the Mid-Atlantic Ball to pull off their tuxedo jackets and swing them in the air to show their support for Barack Obama, thousands did.

At the Youth Ball, Kid Rock belted out songs as well-dressed 20-somethings mingled about. One of them walked up to a bartender, gave him a high five and said, ‘Barack Obama is president!’

The Obamas, following Kid Rock and Kanye West, got the real rock-star reception and launched into something of an awkward dance, laughing as they swayed. When they were done, the president grabbed a mic and said, ‘That’s what’s called old school.’

At the Midwestern Ball, he joked that it was time to ‘dance with the one who brung me, who does everything that I do except backwards and in heels.’

And though the mood was celebratory, the reality that the country remains at war hung over the festivities at the Commander in Chief ball and a separate Heroes Red White & Blue Ball.

‘Please know that you are in our thoughts and prayers today, every day, forever,’ Obama told troops at the Commander in Chief ball. ‘Tonight, we celebrate. Tomorrow, the work begins. … Together, I am confident we will write the next great chapter in America’s story.’

P/S: WOW~

Obama: To Improve U.S Ties With Muslims

U.S. President Barack Obama gestures while delivering his speech after taking the Oath of Office to become the 44th President of the United States, during the inauguration ceremony in Washington, January 20, 2009.

President Barack Obama promised to improve U.S. ties with the Muslim world in his inauguration address on Tuesday, after tensions that followed the September 11 attacks and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

‘To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect,’ said Obama, who became the first black president of the United States.

According to Reuters, Obama, a practicing Christian, spent several years of his childhood in Indonesia, the most populous Muslim nation. His American mother, Ann Dunham, married Muslim Indonesian Lolo Soetoro after the end of her marriage to Obama’s Kenyan father.

‘To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist,’ Obama said.

Under President George W. Bush, U.S. relations with Muslim nations have often been fractious, particularly after the September 11 attacks.

Many Muslims were angered by the U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the opening of a prison for foreign terrorism suspects at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, widely seen as a symbol of human rights abuses of mostly Muslim prisoners carried out in the name of the ‘war on terrorism.’

The Council on American Islamic Relations welcomed Obama’s promise on seeking better relations with Muslim nations.

‘We hope this encouraging statement, coupled with a change in America’s previous policies toward the Muslim world, will help improve our nation’s image and promote a safe and prosperous future for all of humanity,’ said Nihad Awad, executive director of the council.

The first Muslim to be elected to the U.S. Congress, Minnesota Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison, said Obama’s words were an important signal of goodwill to Muslims in the United States as well as the rest of the world.

‘I do believe it could undermine recruiting for al Qaeda,’ he told Reuters, because “their message depends on trying to demonize the United States as a country that is somehow hostile to Islam and the Muslim world.”

Ellison said Obama’s outreach would make it hard for al Qaeda to sustain its anti-American message.

Many Muslims are already excited about Obama, he said.

‘If you were to go to Damascus, or Cairo, or Jerusalem today, you could find an Obama tee shirt. People are excited about the possibilities for what this means around the globe.’

The population of Ellison’s district is three or four percent Muslim, he said. Since his election to Congress in 2006, another Muslim has also been voted in: Democrat Andre Carson of Indiana.

About 300 young Muslims from 76 countries signed a letter published in the Washington Post on Tuesday, urging the new president to make policy changes that could improve relations between the Muslim world and the West.

P/S: I hope Barack Hussein Obama WILL NOT let the muslims down by giving false hope. . .We can hope, right? Or It’ll be the same as George Bush’s and we have the chance of seeing another U.S President being thrown sandals at then.

Obama: First Black President

The U.S. Capitol is illuminated the night before the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Barack Obama in Washington January 19, 2009. REUTERS/Scott Andrews/Pool

Stepping into history, Barack Hussein Obama grasps the reins of power as America’s first black president in a high-noon inauguration amid grave economic worries and high expectations.

Braving icy temperatures and possible snow flurries, hundreds of thousands of people descended on the heavily guarded capital city Tuesday for the first change of administrations since the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

The capital city, a quick starter on even the most ordinary of days, took on the kind of frenetic predawn life rarely seen. The streets were becoming populated well before daybreak, and competition for space on the Metro subway system was fierce. Several suburban parking lots for subway riders were filled to capacity well before 6 a.m.

Two years after beginning his improbable quest as a little-known The Associated Press(AP) reported, first-term Illinois senator with a foreign-sounding name, Obama moves into the Oval Office as the nation’s fourth youngest president, at 47, and the first African-American, a racial barrier-breaking achievement believed impossible by generations of minorities.

Around the world, Obama’s election electrified millions with the hope that America will be more embracing, more open to change.

The dawn of the new Democratic era —with Obama allies in charge of both houses of Congress— ends eight years of Republican control of the White House by George W. Bush. He leaves Washington as one of the nation’s most unpopular and divisive presidents, the architect of two unfinished wars and the man in charge at a time of economic calamity that swept away many Americans’ jobs, savings, homes and dreams —leaving behind a sickening feeling of insecurity.

Bush —following tradition— is leaving a note for Obama in the top drawer of his desk in the Oval Office.
White House press secretary Dana Perino said the theme of the message —which Bush wrote on Monday— is similar to what he has said since election night about how Obama is about to start a ‘fabulous new chapter’ in the United States, and that he wishes him well.

The unfinished business of the Bush administration thrusts an enormous burden onto Obama’s shoulders. Pre-inauguration polls show Americans believe Obama is on track to succeed and are confident he can turn the economy around. He has cautioned that improvements will take time and that things will get worse before they get better.

Culminating four days of celebration, the script for Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden at the nation’s 56th inauguration was to begin with a traditional morning worship service at St. John’s Episcopal Church, across Lafayette Park from the White House, and end with dancing and partying at 10 inaugural balls lasting deep into the night.

By custom, Obama and his wife, Michelle, were invited to the White House for coffee with Bush and his wife, Laura, followed by a shared ride in a sleek, heavily armored Cadillac limousine to the U.S. Capitol for the transfer of power, an event flashed around the world in television and radio broadcasts, podcasts and Internet streaming. On Monday, Vice President Dick Cheney pulled a muscle in his back, leaving him in a wheelchair for the inauguration.

Before noon, Obama steps forward on the West Front of the Capitol to lay his left hand on the same Bible that President Abraham Lincoln used at his first inauguration in 1861. The 35-word oath of office, administered by Chief Justice John Roberts, has been uttered by every president since George Washington. Obama was one of 22 Democratic senators to vote against Roberts’ confirmation to the Supreme Court in 2005.

The son of a Kansas-born mother and Kenya-born father, Obama decided to use his full name in the swearing-in ceremony.

The Constitution says the clock — not the pomp, ceremony and oaths — signals the transfer of the office from the old president to the new one.

The 20th Amendment to the Constitution specifies that the terms of office of the president and vice president ’shall end at noon on the 20th day of January … and the terms of their successors shall then begin.’

To the dismay of liberals, Obama invited conservative evangelical pastor Rick Warren —an opponent of gay rights— to give the inaugural invocation.

About a dozen members of Obama’s Cabinet and top appointees —including Secretary of State-designate Hillary Rodham Clinton— were ready for Senate confirmation Tuesday, provided no objections were raised.

More than 10,000 people from all 50 states —including bands and military units— were assembled to follow Obama and Biden from the Capitol on the 1.5-mile inaugural parade route on Pennsylvania Avenue, concluding at a bulletproof reviewing stand in front of the White House. Security was unprecedented. Most bridges into Washington and about 3.5 square miles of downtown were closed.

Obama’s inauguration represents a time of renewal and optimism for a nation gripped by fear and anxiety. Stark numbers tell the story of an economic debacle unrivaled since the 1930s:

_Eleven million people have lost their jobs, pushing the unemployment rate to 7.2 percent, a 16-year high.

_One in 10 U.S. homeowners is delinquent on mortgage payments or in arrears.

_The Dow Jones industrial average fell by 33.8 percent in 2008, the worst decline since 1931, and stocks lost $10 trillion in value between October 2007 and November 2008.

Obama and congressional Democrats are working on an $825 billion economic recovery bill that would provide an enormous infusion of public spending and tax cuts. Obama also will have at his disposal the remaining $350 billion in the federal financial bailout fund. His goal is to save or create 3 million jobs and put banks back in the job of lending to customers.

In an appeal for bipartisanship, Obama honored defeated Republican presidential rival John McCain at a dinner Monday night. ‘There are few Americans who understand this need for common purpose and common effort better than John McCain,’ Obama said.

Young and untested, Obama is a man of enormous confidence and electrifying oratorical skills. Hopes for Obama are extremely high, suggesting that Americans are willing to give him a long honeymoon to strengthen the economy and lift the financial gloom.

On Wednesday, his first working day in office, Obama is expected to redeem his campaign promise to begin the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq under a 16-month timetable. Aides said he would summon the Joint Chiefs of Staff to the Oval Office and order that the pullout commence.

P/S: I hope Barack Hussein Obama, keeps HIS WORDS~

Ban Ki-moon Visited Gaza Strip

In this photo released by the Israeli Government Press Office, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, right, talks with U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon, during their meeting in Jerusalem, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009. Ban Ki-moon is visiting the Gaza Strip to inspect the devastation wrought by Israel's three-week onslaught. (AP Photo/GPO, Avi Ohayon, HO) ** ISRAEL OUT **

Confronted by stark scenes of destruction, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, and Israel was poised to withdraw its troops before the U.S. presidential inauguration later in the day.

Ban, on a Middle East tour, was the highest-ranking international figure to visit the territory since separately declared ceasefires by Israel and Hamas ended a 22-day Israeli offensive and Palestinian cross-border rocket attacks.

As reported by Reuters, ‘The secretary general was keen to express solidarity with the people of Gaza who have suffered so much over the past few weeks and the U.N. staff who have continued heroically to provide assistance despite the difficulties,’ said Ahmad Fawzi, a spokesman for Ban.

Israeli political sources said Israel planned to complete its troop pullout before Barack Obama’s inauguration, scheduled for 1700 GMT. Analysts saw the withdrawal as an effort to avoid any tension with the new U.S. president.

Amid crowds waving Hamas flags, Ban drove in a convoy to the compound of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in the city of Gaza.

Last Thursday, Israeli fire set ablaze the UNRWA facility’s food and fuel warehouse, an incident Ban described at the time as ‘an outrage.’ Israel apologized but said it was prompted by fire from gunmen at the compound.

Many Palestinians returned to the rubble of what used to be their homes in Gaza city suburbs that were hard hit during the fighting. They picked through debris, trying to salvage belongings.

Two children playing with unexploded ordnance were killed when it detonated, Hamas officials said.

Ban, who met Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert before traveling to the Gaza Strip, planned to visit southern Israel, an area hit by Palestinian rockets during the Gaza war, later in the day.

At the prime minister’s office, Ban said he wanted to help to make the ceasefire ‘durable.’

World leaders are keen to cement a truce and avoid any more bloodshed in Gaza where more than 1,300 Palestinians were killed in Israel’s air and ground strikes launched on December 27 with the declared aim of ending rocket attacks.

RUINED INFRASTRUCTURE

In a report denied by the Israeli military, Hamas said an Israeli force holding a position near the town of Jabalya shot and killed a 17-year-old Palestinian.

Residents of Maghazi refugee camp said Israeli tanks had shelled houses, causing several casualties. An Israeli military spokeswoman had no immediate comment.

Gaza’s infrastructure has been left in ruins and the repair bill was estimated by the Palestinian statistics bureau to be about $1.9 billion.

Hamas said 5,000 homes, 16 government buildings and 20 mosques were destroyed and that 20,000 houses were damaged. Israel has said militants hid weapons inside the mosques.

Palestinian militant groups said 112 of their fighters and 180 Hamas policemen were killed. Israel put its dead at 10 soldiers and said three civilians were killed in rocket attacks.

Gaza medical officials said the Palestinian dead included at least 700 civilians. Israel, which accused Hamas of endangering non-combatants by operating in densely populated areas, said hundreds of militants were among the dead.

In Geneva, World Health Organization head Margaret Chan warned of a looming health crisis in the Gaza Strip.

Saudi Arabia pledged $1 billion for rebuilding and the European Union said the bloc’s foreign ministers planned to meet in Brussels to discuss humanitarian aid and Israeli demands for the prevention of weapons smuggling to Gaza.

Israel had launched its offensive with a vow to ‘change the reality’ for southern border towns that had been the target of rocket fire from Hamas and other militant groups since 2001.

Olmert has declared the mission accomplished, noting diplomatic efforts by the United States, Egypt and European nations to prevent Hamas rearming. Israel has vowed to respond to any renewed flow of arms to Gaza.

The fighting ended just weeks before a February 10 Israeli election. Former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party is still the front-runner but Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s Labour party has gained in popularity.

Hamas proclaimed victory despite the destruction in Gaza, and its armed wing vowed to replenish its arsenal of rockets.

But Hamas official Mushir al-Masri said talks would continue on Egypt’s proposal for a long-term truce that would assure the reopening of crossings into Gaza, including the Rafah terminal with Egypt that was the main access to the outside world.

Hamas seized control of Gaza from Abbas’s Fatah forces in 2007 after winning an election the year before.
Israel and the West boycotted governments led by Hamas because the group rejects Israel’s right to exist.

P/S: In other words. . .Israel LOST. Hamas WINS. Is this over yet? I don’t thing so as ‘Israel has vowed to respond to ANY renewed flow of arms to Gaza’. I think the Israelis backed out alright, but just for a while until they find another ridiculous reason to attack Gaza again.

Burger King: Dump 10 Friends And Get A Whopper

Dump friends and get a whopper

Burger King said Friday that pressure from Facebook has caused it to yank an application that gave members of the hot social networking website a Whopper for every 10 friends they dumped, reported by The AFP.

Before the Whopper Sacrifice Campaign was halted, 233,906 friends were ’sacrificed’ by Facebook users more interested in relationships with the global fast-food chain’s specialty hamburgers, according to Burger King.

‘While Facebook was a great sport, they did ask for changes that would have resulted in a different approach to our application,’ a Burger King spokesperson said. ‘Ultimately, based on philosophical differences, we decided to conclude the campaign.’

The Burger King application could be installed free by Facebook users, who were then rewarded with a Whopper for every 10 names they removed from their rosters of friends at the website.

Changes sought by Facebook reportedly included ditching an application feature that sent deleted friends messages informing them that an online pal preferred a hamburger over them.

‘We encourage creativity from developers and companies using Facebook Platform, but we also must ensure that applications meet users’ expectations,’ said a spokesperson for the social-networking service.

‘After constructive conversations with Burger King and the developer of the application, they have decided to conclude their campaign rather than continue with the restrictions we placed on their application.’

The Whopper campaign website on Thursday offered an ‘Angry-gram’ service that people could use to send animated insulting burgers to ‘let someone know they annoy the hell outta you.’

Angry-grams are meant as jokes and not to be used for harassment, Burger King notes on the website.

P/S: NICE marketing strategy by Burger King!

Israel: First Air Strike After Unilateral Truce

First Israeli air strike after gaza unilateral truce

The Israeli military carried out an air strike against a rocket launching squad in the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday in the first such incident following a unilateral truce, the army said.

‘We carried out a strike against a rocket launching squad in Beit Hanun,’ a spokesman told AFP. ‘It was the same squad that launched (rockets) into Sderot this morning.’

Earlier Gaza militants fired a handful of rockets into Israel, with at least four of them landing inside the Jewish state without causing any injuries, the army said.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Sunday that Israel’s unilateral ceasefire in the Gaza Strip was fragile and was being reassessed on a minute by minute basis.

‘The government’s decision allows Israel to respond and renew the fire if our enemy in the Gaza Strip continues its strikes,’ he said.

‘This morning they again proved that the ceasefire is fragile and it has to be reassessed on a minute by minute basis,’ Olmert said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.

‘We hope that the fire ends. If it continues, the IDF (Israeli Defence Forces) will respond. It is prepared and deployed to do so.’

P/S: My hope has abandoned me. No ceasefire. I’m starting to get sick of all these things I might ignore the war completely. Stupid(mind my language) PRIDE!

Zimbabwe: A 100 Trillion Dollar Note!

Zimbabwe unveils 100 trillion dollar note

Zimbabwe will introduce a 100 trillion dollar note reported, in its latest attempt to keep pace with hyperinflation that has left its once-vibrant economy in tatters, state media said Friday.

As reported by The Agence France-Presse(AFP), the new 100,000,000,000,000 Zim-dollar bill would have been worth about 300 US dollars (225 euros) at Thursday’s exchange rate on the informal market, where most currency trading now takes place, but the value of the local currency erodes dramatically every day.

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is introducing three other notes in trillion-dollar denominations of 10, 20 and 50, the government mouthpiece Herald newspaper said.

‘In a move meant to ensure that the public has access to their money from banks, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has introduced a new family of banknotes which will gradually come into circulation, starting with the 10 trillion Zimbabwe-dollar,’ the bank said in a statement quoted by the Herald.

Just last week, the bank had introduced billion-dollar bills in denominations of 10, 20 and 50 with the same goal, but those notes are no longer large enough to keep up with hyperinflation.

The last official estimate put inflation at 231 million percent in July, but outside experts now believe it is many times higher.

When Zimbabwe’s leader Robert Mugabe first took power in 1980, following independence from Britain, the local unit was worth about the same as the British pound.

With the local currency in freefall, everyone from streetside vegetable vendors to mobile phone service providers are pegging their prices in foreign currency to hedge against losses.

Zimbabwe’s central bank has licensed at least 1,000 shops to sell goods in foreign currency in a move aimed at helping businesses suffering from a chronic shortage of foreign currency to import spare parts and foreign goods.

Other shops and service providers have followed suit although they have not been authorised by the government and have done so despite warnings that those arrested for flouting foreign exchange regulations would be prosecuted.

Even basic commodities are scarce in Zimbabwe, driving up their prices in US dollar terms and making life here more expensive than in neighbouring countries, while an estimated 80 percent of the population has been driven into poverty.

The crisis has left Zimbabwe’s health services in tatters, with government doctors and nurses on an indefinite strike to demand higher wages after hyperinflation turned their salaries into pittances.

Even if the doctors were on the job, public hospitals and clinics have no money to buy medicine or equipment, no clean water, and often scant supplies of electricity.

Most teachers have left the classroom to seek out a living elsewhere, and end-of-year examinations taken in November have yet to be graded after the markers demanded their wages in foreign currency, the Herald said Friday.

Schools were supposed to re-open this week for the new academic year, but government has already pushed back the start of classes by two weeks since students don’t yet know if they passed.

The breakdown in the national infrastructure has allowed a cholera epidemic to spread across Zimbabwe, claiming more than 2,100 lives, according to UN estimates.

Meanwhile chronic shortages of food are starting to bite again this year, as rural households’ supplies from last year’s harvest are running out months before the new crops will be ready.

The World Food Programme says five million people – nearly half the population -are dependent on food aid.

The crisis shows little sign of abating with government deadlocked after disputed elections last year. Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai signed a power-sharing deal four months, which has yet to be implemented.

P/S: Gosh, a trillion dollar note? I WANT THAT!