Security around Obama Beefed up

SECURITY has been beefed up around the United States president-elect, Senator Barack Obama even though he will not move into the White House until 20 January - his inauguration day.

Consequently, his street has been fortified and Hyde Park Boulevard, near his family house, has been closed. The Boulevard has beeen closed for a block on either side of the house in addition to Obama's own street being closed off.

The home is exposed to traffic on the busy Hyde Park Boulevard. His house also faces a variety of apartment windows on the Hyde Park side.

Pool report from Abdon Pallash, Chicago Sun-Times talked about stepped up security for the president-elect, who wrapped up a day of planning for his transition at the office of his friend, John Rogers, Ariel financial founder.

Although election automatically requires the state to provide him with security, the issue of race, which has been a common subject of discussion in the past months, may have necessitated further security measures being put in place.

Reports revealed during the presidential race that there were about 500 threats against his life from white supremacists, including Ku Klux Klan.

There are also fears that he may face threats from anti-American groups such as Al-Qaeda and other Islamic extremists. He has already been the target of two assassination plots from the group.

That explains why bulletproof glass shields were provided for him for his victory speech at Grant Park, Chicago, on Tuesday. He delivered the said speech from behind two-inch thick bullet proof glass.

Dailymail’s Paul Thompson wrote: “The clear protective screens he was sandwiched between at Grant Park in Chicago were the first visible sign of the fears he will be the target of an assassination attempt.

‘The bulletproof glass was not visible to the millions of people worldwide watching his speech on TV. “Also unseen were the dozens of Secret Service agents who had taken up position in the crowd and the high rise buildings overlooking the park.”

Thompson added that prior to Obama coming on stage, security operatives had posed as the president-elect “ to 'test' his exposure to an assassin's bullet,” aside from imposing a no-fly zone over the area.

He said ”A red laser dot was 'fired' on to the chest of the agents from others posing as snipers in the skyscrapers overlooking the park. “After the test was carried out it was decided to install the 10 feet high and 15 feet long screens. A marquee housing the TV cameras meant he was not at risk from the front of the park.

“A no-fly zone was also imposed over the area, with only police helicopters allowed in the air.” Fears that he will be targeted by white supremacists have led to his Secret Service detail to double in size overnight.

From 12 agents the number usually assigned to a vice president, he will have a full complement of 30 agents to provide round-the-clock protection.

While race hate groups are thought to pose the most risk, there are a number of organisations and individuals who pose a threat from within the US.

British Nobel prize winner, Doris Lessing, provoked outrage earlier this year when she predicted Obama would be assassinated if he was elected president.

In January, the term “Obama assassination” appeared on the top 100 Google search terms. The Secret Service has looked into at least 500 assassination threats against Obama. While the majority were dismissed, at least a dozen have been investigated.

Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) said it would work with Senator Obama in the effort to realise the country's goals. EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), Mr. Javier Solana said this in a statement following the conclusion of the US presidential election that “Europe is willing and able to help. There is a high number of very complex global problems: from the Middle-East to Iran and Afghanistan and Pakistan, from climate change to non-proliferation. We need to address those problems together with determination and creativity.”

With the election of Obama, he noted, Europeans and Americans were keen to open a new chapter in their relations.

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BARACK OBAMA: 10 SUPRISING FACTS ABOUT OBAMA

Obama is one funny dude. I hope he wins. Go Obama!!! Biden!!! 2008

SHOCKING: Nigerian Man shot three times for wearing Obama t-shirt

A man told today how he was shot three times in a London street for wearing a Barack Obama T-shirt.

Dube Egwuatu was buying a mobile telephone top-up card in an off-licence when the gunman confronted him and glared at the top, which carries an image of the Democrat US presidential candidate underneath the legend 'Believe'.

The man then launched into a tirade of racist slurs, shouting 'I f***ing hate n*****s' and urging 36-year-old Mr Egwuatu to leave the shop with him.

The man then left the shop but when Mr Egwuatu re-emerged, the attacker was waiting for him in broad daylight with a threatening-looking dog and holding a gun behind his back.

Realising what had sparked the increasingly violent assault, the terrified Mr Egwuatu zipped up his jacket to cover the image of Mr Obama and walked to his car.

But the shaven-headed man, who was white, followed Mr Egwuatu and after pulling open the passenger door pointed the gun at him.

After pleading with the man to leave him alone, the married former street warden put the keys in the ignition and turned the engine on.

The attacker then fired the gas-powered ball-bearing pistol three times, hitting the civil servant in the face, hand and shoulder.

Fearing for his life and bleeding heavily, Mr Egwuatu raced away in his car and found somewhere safe to call for help.

He was taken to hospital and later sent to have a piece of metal removed from his jaw.

Mr Egwuatu, a data analyst with Croydon Council, said: 'The venom in his voice was frightening.

'He was telling me that he was going to kill me.

'I couldn't believe it was happening - and just because I was wearing an Obama T-shirt. He was trying to make me walk somewhere quieter, saying: 'I've got something for you,' and 'I'm going to kill you.'

He added: 'Obama inspires me, his educational track record alone is quite unbelievable - that is why I was wearing the T-shirt.

'I did not think for one minute it could stir up such powerful feelings of hatred and I never said a word to him.'

Mr Egwuatu's wife, Angela, 35, said neither of them had experienced anything like it during their childhood in Nigeria.

Mrs Egwuatu, an immigration officer, said: 'At first my feelings were pure horror and now it is pure anger.

'If he had been carrying a real gun I would have been a widow. It is just ridiculous.

'I don't know how a person's mentality works. Why would a T-shirt get you to the point where you want to shoot someone.'

To the untrained eye, ball-bearing guns like the one used in the attack look every bit like a real firearm.

The potentially lethal weapons are often converted by criminals to fire real bullets, and can be bought easily in high-street shops and on websites.

The Met said it was investigating the incident, which took place in South Norwood, and that police searched a nearby house which the attacker was seen going into.

No one has been arrested.

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Polls: Obama leads in critical trio of states

WASHINGTON - Recently trailing or tied, Democrat Barack Obama now leads Republican John McCain in a trio of the most critical, vote-rich states five weeks before the election, according to presidential poll results released Wednesday.

The Democrat's support jumped to 50 percent or above in Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania in Quinnipiac University surveys taken during the weekend — after the opening presidential debate and during Monday's dramatic stock market plunge as the House rejected a $700 billion financial bailout plan.

Combined, these states offer 68 of the 270 electoral votes needed for victory on Election Day, Nov. 4.

Pollsters attributed Obama's improved standing to the public's general approval of his debate performance, antipathy toward GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin and heightened confidence in the Illinois senator's ability to handle the economic crisis.

The fresh polling is the latest troublesome turn for McCain, the Arizona senator who is trying to regain control of the campaign conversation amid increasingly difficult circumstances for Republicans. It comes on the eve of a debate between Palin and her Democratic counterpart, Joe Biden, and as the financial crisis shapes the presidential race in unpredictable ways.

For now and probably for the next month, the race will be entirely about who can best handle an economy in peril.

The war in Iraq, national security and foreign policy issues — McCain's strengths — have largely fallen by the wayside as each campaign tries to chart a course to the presidency in extraordinarily choppy economic waters.

The new surveys show Obama leading McCain in Florida 51 percent to 43 percent, in Ohio 50 percent to 42 percent and in Pennsylvania 54 percent to 39 percent.

Since 1960, no president has been elected without winning two of those three states.

The results are notable because they show Obama in a strong position in the pair of states that put Bush in the White House in 2000 and kept him there four years later — Florida and Ohio, with 27 and 20 electoral votes, respectively.

Obama has been struggling to break into a comfortable lead in both states; for weeks he had been mostly about even with McCain in Ohio while lagging for months in Florida, even after being the only candidate on the air and spending some $8 million on advertising.

Pennsylvania, with 21 electoral votes, is a different story.

Obama is trying to hang onto the state Democrat John Kerry won four years ago, though McCain has mounted a stiff challenge as he seeks to benefit from his rival's trouble with working-class voters who question his liberal voting record and, perhaps, his race.

The telephone polls, which were taken before and after last week's McCain-Obama debate, have margins of error ranging from plus or minus 2.8 percentage points to plus or minus 3.4 points.

NEWS UPDATE: Obama and McCain Unite for 9/11

NEW YORK - Presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama are honoring the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, paying a joint visit to ground zero.
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The Republican and Democrat walked down a ramp to the site where the World Trade Center once stood, and threw flowers into a reflecting pool.

Cindy McCain and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg accompanied the two candidates. Obama and McCain greeted family members of the victims.

Beforehand, McCain spoke briefly at a ceremony in rural western Pennsylvania. The event was held on a large hilly field close to where United Airlines Flight 93, the third of four airliners commandeered by terrorists, crashed.

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Bill O'Reilly Vs. Barack Obama (Part 3 of the 4 part Series)

my bad i said three part series. this is the third part. i'll post up the last one tomorrow

Bill O'Reilly Vs. Barack Obama (Part 2 of the 4 part Series)

Robin Hood 'Obama LOL. Bill O'Reilly is funny. even though i don't like the way he goes at these rappers these days. interesting interview

Barack Obama vs. Bill O'Reilly

interesting interview. Bill O'Reilly didn't go off the mouth with this one