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Time To Appreciate & Rejuvenate

Presently I am taking a complete break from writing to recharge my batteries. In the meantime I will continue to post news articles of interest re Obama transition matters and will let you know about the future use of the site by inauguration time in January.

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A collection of the latest web articles being read by John.

• Blair House Mystery Solved: It’s John Howard / Washington Post
  The veil is lifted. We now know who is booked at Blair House, kicking President-elect Barack Obama and his family to the waiting list and across Lafayette Park to the Hay-Adams Hotel. 7/1
• Mr. Bush’s Monument / Editorial / The New York Times
  It’s strange but true. Mr. Bush, who has been monumentally indifferent to the health of continents and the atmosphere, is going down in history as a protector of the oceans. 7/1
• Sweet on Caroline / Maureen Dowd / The New York Times
  After a lifetime of shying away from the public spotlight, Caroline Kennedy asked herself what she could do for her country. 7/1
• Panetta to lead CIA suggests shake-up is coming / Miami Herald
  The selection suggests that Obama intends to shake up the CIA, which has had little public accounting of its role in detaining top terror suspects and transferring others to regimes known to use torture. 6/1
• Obama: Trillion-Dollar Deficits ‘for Years to Come’ / Washington Post
  After meeting with his economic team earlier today, President-elect Barak Obama predicted this afternoon that the United States would have trillion-dollar budget deficits “for years to come.” 6/1
• Burris Is Blocked From Taking Senate Seat / The New York Times
  Mr. Burris, who shortly before his arrival had insisted he was “certainly not looking for drama,” found himself caught up in a comedy of sorts. 6/1
• Feinstein On Panetta: Spoken To Obama, Biden / Huffington Post
  The change in tone came as other Democrats on the Intelligence Committee offered support — however premature — for Panetta’s candidacy. 6/1
• Dianne Feinstein Not Too Pleased With Panetta Pick / Washington Independent
  “I was not informed about the selection of Leon Panetta to be the CIA Director. I know nothing about this, other than what I’ve read,” said Senator Feinstein, who will chair the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in the 111th Congress. 5/1
• Souza Named Obama’s White House Photographer / Huffington Post
  It won’t be Souza’s first time in the Oval Office. He was also a White House photographer during President Ronald Reagan’s second term. 5/1
• Obama Arrives in DC Area 2 Weeks Before Inaugural / The New York Times
  ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE (AP): President-elect Barack Obama landed in the Washington area Sunday evening, setting up the final march toward his Jan. 20 inauguration. 5/1
• President-Elect Obama to Arrive in D.C. This Evening / Washington Post
  A tourist gaped at the historic Hay-Adams Hotel, where the president-elect and his family will be staying. Some Washingtonians, rerouted their jogs to casually pass by and take in the scene 4/1.
• A President Forgotten but Not Gone / Frank Rich / The New York Times
  The NBC/Wall Street Journal poll on Bush’s presidency found that 79 percent of Americans will not miss him after he leaves the White House. He is being forgotten already, even if he’s not yet gone. 4/1
• Transition to Power: Obama flying ‘Air Force One’ backup / CNN
  Reporters arriving at Midway Airport for Mr. Obama’s afternoon flight to Washington were greeted by an Air Force 757 with a crew wearing jackets that say “Air Force One” in script on the front. 4/1
• Helen Suzman, Anti-Apartheid Leader, Dies at 91 / The New York Times
  The African National Congress paid tribute to Mrs. Suzman saying she “became a thorn in the flesh of apartheid by openly criticizing segregation of Blacks by a Whites-only apartheid system.” 1/1
• Coming Soon: The 21st Century / E J Dionne Jnr / Washington Post
  Embrace the words of one of Barack Obama’s favorite presidents. “As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew,” Abraham Lincoln declared in 1862. “We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country.” 30/12
• Add Up the Damage / Bob Herbert / The New York Times
  When Bush officially takes his leave in three weeks (in reality, he checked out long ago), most Americans will be content to sigh good riddance. I disagree. I don’t think he should be allowed to slip quietly out of town.30/12
• Fifty Herbert Hoovers / Paul Krugman / The New York Times
  The nation will be reeling from the actions of 50 Herbert Hoovers — governors who are slashing spending in a time of recession, at the expense both of their most vulnerable constituents and of the nation’s economic future. 29/12
• Forced to Pass on a Front Seat to History / Washington Post
  Officials are warning that Inauguration Day is typically cold. Anyone unprepared to stand for several hours in that kind of weather might be rethinking the swearing-in ceremony, parade and hoopla surrounding the event. 28/12
• Win, Win, Win, Win, Win / Thomas L Friedman / The New York Times
  I could only cringe when reading this article from CNNMoney.com on Dec. 22: “After nearly a year of flagging sales, low gas prices and fat incentives are reigniting America’s taste for big vehicles. 28/12
• Obama and Family Venture Out in Hawaii / Washington Post
  Hawaii : President-elect Barack Obama interrupted what has been a reclusive Hawaiian vacation Friday by taking his daughters and a caravan of family friends to a marine amusement park and to a mobbed shopping center. 27/12
• Stop Being Stupid / Bob Herbert / The New York Times
  We’ve wrecked the economy and mortgaged the future of generations yet unborn. We don’t even know if we’ll have an automobile industry in the coming years. It’s time to stop the self-destruction.27/12
• Barack Be Good / Paul Krugman / The New York Times
  President-elect Barack Obama, riding a wave of revulsion over what conservatism has wrought, has said that he wants to “make government cool again.” 25/12
• Obama’s Zen State, Well, It’s Hawaiian / The New York Times
  Even at the end of his long journey to win the White House, one question about Barack Obama came up again and again: How did he appear to stay even-tempered and levelheaded while traveling such a grueling road? 25/12
• Obama scatters grandmother’s ashes / Honolulu Advertiser.com
  Barack Obama spent much of today honoring the memory of the grandmother who raised him and then scattering her ashes at LÅna’i Lookout, the same spot where Obama scattered the ashes of his mother in 1995. 25/12
• Clinton Moves to Widen Role of State Dept./ The New York Times
  Even before taking office, Hillary Rodham Clinton is seeking to build a more powerful State Department, with a bigger budget, high-profile special envoys to trouble spots and an expanded role in dealing with global economic issues. 23/12