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Obama family tie has [Oklahoma] town buzzing
ROOTS IN OKLAHOMA
Barack Obama: The president-elect has distant ancestors from Oklahoma.
By MICK HINTON World Capitol Bureau
Published: 12/21/2008 2:44 AM
Last Modified: 12/21/2008 3:03 AM
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20081221_16_A1_Astory746781

Graphic
http://www.tulsaworld.com/articleimages/2008/20081221_Obamatree1221.jpg

A story is circulating throughout Wellston that an ancestor of President-elect Barack Obama's is buried in its cemetery.

The news spread after a woman visited Wellston's Town Hall a few weeks ago. She said she was on her way to the cemetery to check out the tombstone of Obama's great-great-great-grandmother. ...

The news gives Obama two sets of great-great-great grandparents who lived in Oklahoma.

Everyone has two parents and four grandparents. The geometric progression in ancestry means that a person has eight great-grandparents, 16 great-great-grandparents and 32 great-great-great-grandparents.

Therefore, Obama's having four great-great-great-grandparents with Oklahoma ties means that his ancestry is one-eighth Okie.

Two map versions of the same data to compare...

Map
http://myngp.com/BCEImages/UploadImages/1788/e0bb7259-67a6-43b3-bdd2-628cb4a4eef5.jpg

Cartogram
http://f9g.yahoofs.com/groups/g_6298918/.HomePage/__sr_/b094.jpg?grA0sUJBYhjobnGQ

Print-your-own: President Obama! sign
http://tinyurl.com/PresidentObamaSign
8 1/2 by 11 inch, horizontal, color

Prosecution of Bush officials for war crimes would be difficult
By Marisa Taylor, McClatchy Newspapers
Fri Dec 19, 3:17 pm ET
http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20081219/pl_mcclatchy/3127246

WASHINGTON -- Emboldened by a Democratic win of the White House , civil libertarians and human rights groups want the incoming Obama administration to investigate whether the Bush administration committed war crimes. They don't just want low-level CIA interrogators, either. They want President George W. Bush on down.

In the past eight years, administration critics have demanded that top officials be held accountable for a host of expansive assertions of executive powers from eavesdropping without warrants to detaining suspected enemy combatants indefinitely at the Guantanamo Bay military prison. A recent bipartisan Senate report on how Bush policies led to the abuse of detainees has fueled calls for a criminal investigation.

However, many of the retired military officials who were early critics of administration's legal justification of harsh interrogations aren't on board. They argue that criminal prosecution would be too difficult legally and politically to succeed.

Without wider support, the campaign to haul top administration officials before an American court is likely to stall.

In the end, Bush administration critics might have more success by digging out the truth about what happened and who was responsible, rather than assigning criminal liability, and letting the court of public opinion issue the verdicts. ...

President-elect Obama Introduces Labor Heads
By ChangeDotGov
December 20, 2008
On December 19 in Chicago, the President-elect announced his picks for four labor related positions.
16:58
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYMqeBHHQx4

---
05:40-06:58 Obama on Ron Kirk
13:44-15:02 Comments by Ron Kirk

Trade deals must protect workers, environment: Obama
By Doug Palmer
Fri Dec 19, 5:10 pm ET
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081219/pl_nm/us_usa_obama_trade

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States will insist on strong protections for workers and the environment in future trade deals, President-elect Barack Obama said on Friday as he introduced his nominee to be chief U.S. trade negotiator.

Former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk "will help make sure that any agreement I sign as president protects the rights of all workers, promotes the interests of all Americans, strengthens American businesses, and preserves the planet we all share," Obama said at a news conference in Chicago.

The focus on what Kirk described as a "values-driven" trade agenda is a nod to labor groups who helped elect Obama and have fought many losing battles against trade deals that they believe encourage U.S. companies to move jobs overseas.

Obama has promised one of his first acts as president would be to call the president of Mexico and prime minister of Canada to begin negotiations to "fix NAFTA" by adding stronger labor and environmental provisions.

But Obama's stance could complicate efforts to complete the seven-year-old Doha round of world trade talks if it means the United States will be adding new demands to those already difficult negotiations. ...

Although Kirk is little known in global trade circles, Obama said the 54-year-old lawyer's experience as a big city mayor from 1994 to 2001 prepared him to be U.S. trade representative.

"Ron helped steer one of the largest economies. He's seen the promise of trade, but also its pitfalls, and he knows there is nothing inconsistent about standing up for free trade and standing up for American workers," Obama said. ...

Could Texas Lose Its Solidly Republican Identity?
by Wade Goodwyn
Politics
Day to Day, December 19, 2008
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=98388035

Listen Now
5:58
http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=98388035

Graphic: GOP Losing Hold on Texas Politics?
http://media.npr.org/design/comps/voters.gif

Day to Day, December 19, 2008 · The Republican Party in Texas holds every statewide elected office, including both U.S. Senate seats, the governor's mansion and majorities in the Texas House and Senate. There's no reason to be worried, right?

Except that Indiana used to be considered safely Republican — as did Iowa, Nevada, Virginia, Colorado and North Carolina, all states won by President-elect Barack Obama last month.

Although Arizona Sen. John McCain carried Texas by a double-digit margin, some Democratic organizers believe that, with enough money and staff, the Lone Star State could be flipped. This imagined realignment would not happen immediately; it would take between two and four election cycles.

But if Democrats could flip Texas, the ramifications for the Republican Party could be traumatic, making GOP politicians vulnerable to a decades-long exile from power at the national level. ..

Aretha Franklin to sing at Obama inauguration
By Associated Press Writer Pauline Jelinek
42 mins ago [Dec 17th, 2008 at 6:24 pm EST]
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081217/ap_on_el_pr/inauguration_program

WASHINGTON -- Aretha Franklin will sing, the Rev. Rick Warren will pray and more than 11,000 U.S. troops will be watching over inauguration ceremonies in case of an attack during President-elect Barack Obama's swearing-in on Jan. 20.

As many as 4 million visitors are expected to be on hand when Obama takes the noontime oath from Chief Justice John Roberts on the steps of the Capitol.  ...

Also Wednesday, officials announced the list of participants for the inauguration.

The program is to feature poet Elizabeth Alexander; the Rev. Joseph Lowery, a veteran civil rights leader; the U.S. Marine and Navy bands; and the San Francisco Boys Chorus and the San Francisco Girls Chorus.  ...

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma, violinist Itzhak Perlman, pianist Gabriela Montero and clarinetist Anthony McGill will perform a new work composed by John Williams, who also provided music for Obama's election night rally in Chicago's Grant Park. The committee did not release a title for the work by Williams, who is best known for his film scores such as "Star Wars" and "Jaws."

Vice President-elect Joe Biden will take his oath from Justice John Paul Stevens.

Others on the schedule were a nod to Obama's election as the country's first black president.

Lowery, who co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with Martin Luther King, Jr., was scheduled to offer the event's benediction.

Franklin, a living legend with 21 Grammies, performed for President Bill Clinton in 1993, but this would be her first Inauguration. During a Labor Day weekend rally in Detroit, Obama sang a bit of Franklin's "Chain of Fools" to her.

Alexander, a 2005 Pulitzer Prize finalist and Yale University professor, centers her poems and essays on race relations and social movements.

She is only the fourth poet to have a speaking role at a presidential Inauguration. Robert Frost, who was 86 at the time, wrote a poem for Kennedy's inaugural in 1961 but couldn't make out the words of the poem in the sun's glare. Instead, he recited an earlier work. Clinton chose Maya Angelou to write a poem for his first inaugural in 1993, and Miller Williams read "Of History and Hope" at his second inaugural.  ...

AP: Name by name, Obama's Cabinet taking shape
By The Associated Press
Tue Dec 16, 6:46 pm ET
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081216/ap_on_go_pr_wh/obama_appointees

Day by day, name by name, President-elect Barack Obama's Cabinet is taking shape, and other top jobs are being filled.

A look at who has made the list and who is being talked about for jobs that are still open:

NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED:

TREASURY SECRETARY:
Timothy Geithner, president of Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

SECRETARY OF STATE:
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y.

ATTORNEY GENERAL:
Eric Holder, former deputy attorney general.

DEFENSE SECRETARY:
Robert Gates, holdover from Bush administration.

HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY:
Gov. Janet Napolitano, D-Ariz.

NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER:
Retired Marine Gen. James Jones.

COMMERCE SECRETARY:
Gov. Bill Richardson, D-N.M.

NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL DIRECTOR:
Lawrence Summers, former treasury secretary.

OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET DIRECTOR:
Peter Orszag, director of Congressional Budget Office.

HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY:
Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D.

VETERANS AFFAIRS SECRETARY:
Retired Gen. Eric K. Shinseki.

HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT SECRETARY:
Shaun Donovan, New York City housing commissioner.

ENERGY SECRETARY,
Steven Chu, director of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

EPA ADMINISTRATOR,
Lisa P. Jackson, former commissioner of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT FOR ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE,
Carol Browner, former EPA administration.

WHITE HOUSE COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY CHAIR,
Nancy Sutley, deputy mayor for energy and environment in Los Angeles.

EDUCATION SECRETARY,
Arne Duncan, Chicago schools superintendent.

---
[named since this story; moved from below]

INTERIOR SECRETARY
Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo.

AGRICULTURE SECRETARY
Tom Vilsack, former Iowa governor.

NPR: Oklahoma Republicans Shift Political Expectations
by Linda Wertheimer
NPR 12-15-08
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=98290100

Listen Now [5 min 16 sec]
http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=98290100

Map: Election night results from Oklahoma
http://media.npr.org/news/images/2008/dec/15/map.jpg
On this map of the Oklahoma results, the dark red indicates that Obama got less than 30 percent of the vote. The intermediate pink color shows that he got 30 to 35 percent of the vote. The lightest color shows where he got more than 35 percent. -Robert Benincasa/NPR

All Things Considered, December 15, 2008 -- On a recent biting cold night in the small city of Durant, Okla., residents held their annual Christmas Day parade: a small-town tradition with many floats, bands and young children on a flatbed trailer towed by a giant green John Deere tractor.

But despite the festivities, Durant will not get the president it wanted for Christmas.

Oklahoma is a conservative state, where voters focused on issues such as small government and abortion rather than the president-elect's mantra of "change." In fact, Oklahoma was the reddest state in the union in this election, with Republican John McCain carrying every single county. No other state can make that claim.

Now, residents are shifting their political expectations as Obama prepares to take office. While some say they are concerned that Obama is more rhetoric than action, others say they have been impressed by his choices so far.

Electoral College meets TODAY to elect 44th President

Presidential electors meet today in each of the 50 state capitol cities and in Washington, DC, to officially elect the next US President.

If all vote as expected, there will be 365 for Obama and 173 for McCain.

I predict that at least one of the McCain electors will vote instead for Sarah Palin!

Mike W
Tulsa+
Who expects all 365 to be faithful electors for Obama

Obama to announce environment, energy team
By Deborah Charles Deborah Charles
45 mins ago [Dec 14th, 2008 at 5:35 pm EST]
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081214/pl_nm/us_usa_obama

CHICAGO (Reuters) – President-elect Barack Obama, who has vowed to adopt an aggressive approach to global warming and the environment, will hold a news conference on Monday to announce his picks to lead the effort.

Obama will hold a news conference at 5 p.m. EST on Monday to talk about "the nation's energy and environmental future," his transition office said on Sunday.

At the news conference Obama is expected to name Nobel physics laureate Steven Chu as his energy secretary and former Environmental Protection Agency chief Carol Browner as the head of a new council that will coordinate White House policy on energy, climate and environment, Democratic sources have said.

Obama is also expected to announce he has chosen Lisa Jackson, the chief of staff for New Jersey's governor, to run the EPA and Nancy Sutley, a deputy mayor of Los Angeles, as head of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. ...

Obama has said energy and environmental matters would be important to his administration, and he wants to spend billions of dollars to promote alternative energy sources and create millions of green energy jobs.

News of who would make up Obama's energy and environment team began trickling out last week and the choices were applauded by environment groups.

The team will be charged with developing policies to reduce carbon emissions blamed for global warming. They will also work on developing new sources of energy and creating new jobs. ...

PIC Announces Theme and Preliminary Information about Schedule of Official Inaugural Events
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
http://www.pic2009.org/pressroom/entry/theme_and_preliminary_information

The Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC) today unveiled the official theme for the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama, "Renewing America's Promise," a vision that underscores the President-elect and Vice President-elect’s commitment to restoring opportunity and possibility for all and re-establishing America’s standing as a beacon of hope around the world.

“At this moment of great challenge and great change, renewing the promise of America begins with renewing the idea that in America, we rise or fall as one nation and one people,“ said President-elect Obama. “That sense of unity and shared purpose is what this Inauguration will reflect.“

The PIC also outlined a preliminary schedule of official inaugural events that underscores a commitment to organizing activities that are inclusive and open to the public. The following events will take place in the nation’s capital between Sunday, January 18th and Wednesday, January 21st:

For a mere 50K, you get a 4-day inauguration trip
By PETE YOST, Associated Press Writer 42 mins ago [Dec 12th, 2008 at 7:38 pm EST]
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081213/ap_on_go_pr_wh/selling_the_inaugural

WASHINGTON -- The inauguration committee of President-elect Barack Obama, who ran on a platform to change the way business is done in Washington, is selling four-day packages of four tickets to his historic swearing-in ceremony and parade plus some extras in exchange for $50,000.

The deal does represent a change. President Bush charged $250,000, selling his supporters a much bigger menu of inaugural goodies that featured candlelight dinners.

On Friday, members of the Obama National Finance Committee were spreading the word about their package to friends and associates around the country.