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Online Town Hall

Online Town HallPresident Obama today held what the White House says is the first-ever "online town hall" meeting by a president. As we've been reporting, the administration solicited questions at WhiteHouse.gov, and the president answered some of them during his live webcast.

You can watch here. We'll be updating this post with highlights. Click your refresh button occasionally to be sure you're seeing our latest additions.

1:05 p.m. ET: The town hall has generated many comments on this post. If you prefer a slightly different type of discussion about how it went, head over to our Forum.

12:51 p.m. ET. Obama concludes with an appeal:

"Thanks for paying attention," the president says as he wraps up, "and we need you guys to keep paying attention in the months and years to come."

According to White House spokesman Nick Shapiro, about 67,000 viewers were watching online as the town hall finished.

12:50 p.m. ET. Last question:

A member of the White House audience asks about the problem of "pre-existing conditions," which prevents some people from getting health insurance.

"Reform of the health care system has to address this issue and say 'we are going to allow anybody to get health insurance,' " Obama says. "And if you can't obtain it through a private plan there's going to be a public plan. ... That's a principle" of any reform.

Town_hall 12:42 p.m. ET: USA TODAY's Rich Wolf reports he's been told by White House spokesman Nick Shapiro that the current online audience for the town hall is about 64,000 viewers.

12:38 p.m. ET. The president continues to take questions from the invited guests at the White House. A teachers asks if members of her profession will be involved in discussions of how to improve the education system:

"Absolutely," says the president. "The teachers are the most important persons in the education system." Without teachers' input and buy-in, he adds, any reforms are "not going to work."

12:35 p.m. ET. Nurses:

Asked by a registered nurse from Maryland if members of her profession will be involved in developing plans for health care reform, Obama assures her they will.

"Frankly, it was the nurses that were there with us," he says about the birth of his daughters and seven-year-old Sasha's bout of meningitis when she was three months old.

"The more that we can deploy nurses as the troops on the front lines" of health care reform, the better, he says.

12:25 p.m. ET. The first question from someone in the audience at the White House: What specific steps do you see your administration taking to help the auto industry?

"I'm going to be making some announcements in the next several days about the auto industry," Obama says. It will be "an extensive answer."

Then he says that "it is appropriate for us to say, are there ways we can provide help for the U.S. auto industry? ... But the price is (they must) finally restructure to deal with (their) long-term problems."

If U.S. automakers aren't willing to make structural changes, Obama says, "then I'm not willing to have taxpayer money chase after bad money" by giving them additional help.

12:17 p.m. ET: Ohio college students ask in a video question about what can be done to reduce the cost of higher education.

The president talks about his administration's efforts to "make the student loan and student grant programs that are already in place work better."

One thing he wants to see done, Obama says, is to eliminate the system where banks act as middle men between government-guaranteed loans and the students who get them. "Let's make all these direct loans," from the government, he says. "That then allows us to lower student loan rates or expand grants" -- making college more affordable.

Obama_2

(Photo by Mandel Ngan of AFP/Getty Images.)

12:13 p.m. ET. Veterans' benefits:

What will he do to make sure members of the military and veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan get the help they need?

"They have earned these benefits that all too often we fail to give them," Obama says. In an effort to change that, "we are increasing veterans' funding by more than any time in the last 30 years."

12:10 p.m. ET. A "no" to legalizing marijuana:

Obama notes that one of the most popular questions posed online was "whether legalizing marijuana would improve the economy and job creation."

"I don't know what that says about the online audience," the president says with chuckle.

"The answer is no, I don't think that is a good strategy to grow our economy."

12:08 p.m. ET: Addressing the health care crisis, the president says that "I don't think the best way to fix our health care system is to scrap what everybody is accustomed to," most importantly a system built on employer-provided insurance. Instead, he says, the nation should "build on what we have ... and fill in the gaps."

12:01 p.m. ET: Continuing to talk about employment, Obama says that "I don't think we've lost all the jobs we're going to lose in this recession."

"Employment is typically a lagging indicator" of the economy's strength, he says, because businesses typically don't start hiring again until after they're sure that demand and other key indicators are on the rise.

The nation's jobless rate stood at 8.1% in February.

11:58 a.m. ET. A video question is shown from a woman who wants to know what the president is doing to keep jobs from going overseas:

Obama_1 "By fixing our education system ... reducing costs of health care ... (and) going after clean energy jobs" to put the economy on a more solid footing, Obama says, the U.S. can increase the number of high-skill, high-wage jobs.

"Our economy, if it's dependent on low-wage, low-skill labor, it's very difficult to hold on to those jobs," he says. "We've got to go after the high-skill jobs."

"The answer to the question is not all of these jobs are going to come back," he says of lower-wage positions.

(Photo by Ron Edmonds of the AP.)

11:53 a.m. ET. What benefits are in his programs "to those of us paying our mortgages, but living paycheck to paycheck," an online questioner has asked.

"There are whole lot of folks out there who aren't going to walk away from their homes ... but are getting killed" by falling home values, Obama says.

His efforts, says the president, have created a climate that has lowered mortgage rates and opened up FHA loans to give more homeowners a chance to refinance.

11:51 a.m. ET. The first question comes from Boston and is on the topic of education. How does the president plan to restore education as a right and a core cultural value?

"Too many of our children aren't getting (the) kind of education" they need, Obama says, for two reasons. "One, in many cases our schools are under-resourced. ... There's a second problem and it's one that money alone cannot solve. ... We have a school system designed for the agricultural era" that gives children three months off in the summer.

"The key thing to understand about our education system is that we need more resources and we need reform," Obama adds.

He stresses the importance of early childhood education, investing in teachers and investing in science. "It's going to take more money and more reform," and "openness to things like charter schools," the president says.

11:43 a.m. ET: The president continues with his opening remarks, which have focused on the steps his administration has taken in an effort to get the economy going again and the $3.6 trillion 2010 budget he's proposing. The message (he appears to be reading it) is very similar to recent speeches he's given and to the opening statement he gave at Tuesday night's prime-time news conference.

11:41 a.m. ET: The president says to those watching online that, "what matters to you is how you're going to find a job ... medical bills ... how you're going to put your child through college."

11:40 a.m. ET: Obama just came into the room. "I am thrilled that all of you here in the White House and everybody who is viewing this online is participating in this experiment we're trying out," he says.

11:38 a.m. ET: Jared Bernstein, Vice President Biden's chief economist, just came to the microphone. He's the emcee today. "Today, the president will focus on the economy," he says.

11:34 a.m. ET: "The program will begin in two minutes," the audience at the White House was just told.

11:32 a.m. ET: Things should be starting shortly.

Original Source : http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2009/03/64660185/1



Dan Seals

Dan SealsDan Seals, country-music star, dies at 61.

Sad news for country music fans: Daniel Wayland Seals, the Texas-born, CMA-award-winning singer who piled up 11 No. 1 songs between 1985 and 1990, passed away yesterday after a battle with mantle cell lymphoma. Initially known to pop fans as the "England Dan" half of England Dan and John Ford Coley, who had a No. 2 single in 1976 with the soft-rocking classic "I'd Really Love to See You Tonight," he went on to forge an impressive solo career in Nashville.

Over 16 studio albums, the gentle, bearded crooner in the ten-gallon hat produced some 20 hits, including "Bop," the duet "Meet Me In Montana" with Marie Osmond," "Everything That Glitters (Is Not Gold)" and "You Still Move Me." Music clearly runs in the family: Older brother Jim was in Seals & Crofts, and several cousins are well-known country singers and songwriters. Seals' final studio album, Make It Home, was released in 2002. Messages of condolence are being forwarded to his family at dansealsfanpage.com.

Original Source : http://news-briefs.ew.com/2009/03/dan-seals-count.html

Peloop

Peloop™ is a revolutionary new form of male enhancement.
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The use of Tourmaline and Germanium contained within the Silicone ring itself help by emitting negative ions, which work to neutralize acidic levels in the bloodstream, and Far Infra-Red Rays which cleanse and increase the production of cells inside your penis. The ring is very comfortable to wear and easily adjustable.

Throughout the ages there has always been the question of “Does Size Matter?” Well, many people have aired their opinions on the subject, some say that size does matter and some say that it doesn’t. It all depends on the individual, if size matters to YOU, then peloop™ could be the solution you have been waiting for.

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Denver International Airport

Denver International AirportPoor weather conditions are causing delays at Denver International Airport today. Denver International Airport weather for today is the following:

Delays by Destination [DENVER]:

* Due to WEATHER / LOW CEILINGS, departure traffic destined to Newark International Airport, Newark, NJ (EWR) is currently experiencing delays averaging 1 hour and 27 minutes.
* Due to WEATHER / LOW CEILINGS, departure traffic destined to La Guardia Airport, New York, NY (LGA) is currently experiencing delays averaging 55 minutes.
* Due to WEATHER / LOW CEILINGS, departure traffic destined to Philadelphia International Airport, Philadelphia, PA (PHL) is currently experiencing delays averaging 2 hours and 32 minutes.

General Departure Delays: Traffic is experiencing gate hold and taxi delays lasting 15 minutes or less.

The National Weather Service is reporting the following conditions:

Conditions at

2009.03.26 1601 UTC
Wind from the ENE (070 degrees) at 24 MPH (21 KT) gusting to 29 MPH (25 KT)
Visibility 1 mile(s)
Sky conditions overcast
Weather Light snow
Mist
Precipitation last hour A trace
Temperature 26 F (-3 C)
Windchill 10 F (-12 C)
Dew Point 24 F (-4 C)
Relative Humidity 92%
Pressure (altimeter) 29.7 in. Hg (1005 hPa)

Original Source : http://news.lalate.com/2009/03/26/denver-international-airport-weather/

Angela Lansbury

Angela Lansbury'BLITHE' Star Angela Lansbury Featured in WSJ.

Angela Lansbury is appearing in the current revival of Blithe Spirit which began preview performances on Thursday, February 26, 2009 and had an official opening on Sunday, March 15, 2009 at The Shubert Theatre (225 West 44th Street).

Stage legend Lansbury is profiled in an a wonderful article in the Wall Street Journal, she gives a witty and candid interview on her return to Broadway.

She tells the WSJ that, "To have this opportunity at my time of life and career, it was too good to pass up,"adding "Having done the other roles I have -- let's say it was a natural for me."

To read the full article click here.

Angela Lansbury, who last appeared on Broadway in Deuce, has enjoyed a career without precedent. Her professional career spans more than a half-century, during which she has flourished, first as a star of motion pictures, then as a four-time Tony Award-winning Broadway musical star and most recently as the star of "Murder, She Wrote," the longest-running detective drama series in the history of television. The actress made her Broadway debut in 1957 when she starred as Bert Lahr's wife in the French farce, Hotel Paradiso. In 1960, she returned to Broadway as Joan Plowright's mother in the season's most acclaimed drama, A Taste of Honey, by Shelagh Delaney. One year later, she starred on Broadway in her first musical, Anyone Can Whistle. Lansbury returned to New York in triumph in 1966 as Mame, for which she won the first of her unprecedented four Tony Awards as Best Actress in a Musical. She received the others as the Madwoman of Chaillot in Dear World (1968), as Mama Rose in the 1974 revival of Gypsy and as Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd (1979). From 1984-1996 she starred as Jessica Fletcher, mystery-writing amateur sleuth, on "Murder, She Wrote," for which she won four Golden Globe Awards. In 1982, she was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame, and in 1994 she was named a Commander of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II. Angela and her husband Peter were married in 1949. They worked together until Peter's death in January 2003. Angela has three grown children, Deirdre, Anthony and David, and three grandchildren.

Tickets for Blithe Spirit can be purchased by visiting telecharge.com or calling 212-239-6200 in the New York area, and 800-432-7250 outside the New York metro area,

Original Source : http://broadwayworld.com/article/BLITHE_Star_Angela_Lansbury_Featured_in_WSJ_20010101