President Obama Firmly States That "Waterboarding Is Torture"!

President Obama says that he believes that "waterboarding was torture" & that "whatever legal rationales were used...it was a mistake." He believes that we should stick to what makes this country great.Because if we torture people in America,then we no longer can claim to have moral authority over the rest of the world.

And despite what some pundits claim,torturing human beings does not make us safer.It only adds more anti-American fuel to the fire that the terrorists have kept burning.Here's more from the The AP:

"President Barack Obama said Wednesday night that waterboarding authorized by former President George W. Bush was torture, and the information gained from terror suspects through its use could have been obtained by other means.

"In some cases it may be harder," he conceded at a White House news conference marking a whirlwind first 100 days in office.

Obama also expressed optimism that Chrysler could remain a "going concern," possibly without filing for bankruptcy. He said "unions and creditors have come up with a set of potential concessions that they can live with," adding, "All that promises the possibility that you can get a Chrysler-Fiat merger."

The prime-time news conference was the third of Obama's presidency, and the first not dominated by the economy that has thrown millions of Americans out of work.

At a town-hall style meeting in Missouri earlier in the day, as well as in the White House East Room, Obama said progress has been made in rebuilding the economy, yet more remains.

"And all of this means you can expect an unrelenting, unyielding effort from this administration to strengthen our prosperity and our security — in the second hundred days, and the third hundred days, and all the days after."

He called on Congress to enact his ambitious agenda, including health care legislation, a new energy policy and steps to impose new regulations on the financial industry to prevent a recurrence of the collapse that recently brought the economy to its knees.

Obama also said he was "absolutely convinced" he had acted correctly in banning waterboarding, an interrogation technique that simulates drowning, and approved making public the Bush administration memos detailing its use as well as other harsh methods used on terrorist suspects. "Not because there might not have been information that was yielded by these various detainees ... but because we could have gotten this information in other ways, in ways that were consistent with our values, in ways that were consistent with who we are."

Obama has come under heavy criticism from former Vice President Dick Cheney and other Republicans for his actions, who have questioned whether they have rendered the country less safe.

Cheney as well as some congressional Republicans have urged Obama to release memos they say will show waterboarding was successful in obtaining information. But the president, in a White House exchange with House Republican leader John Boehner last week, said the record was equivocal.

Obama told reporters he has read the documents Cheney and others are referring to."(END OF EXCERPT)Read the rest here.

Watching CNN "Assessing The Swagga" Of President Obama Was An Uncomfortable Moment For Me!

I know CNN anchors,Kyra Phillips & T.J. Holmes were attempting to do a cute,lighthearted story about President Obama,but one segment concerning his first 100 days was painful for me to watch.They decided to do a segment called "Assessing The Swagga".

I mean,Kyra Phillips even acknowledged that "they were not going to be politically correct" & boy was she right!The ridiculous story on President Obama's "swagga" was like watching a bad blaxploitaion movie with the typical black stereotypes in them.

And Ms. Phillips even said that they should have the "Shaft" theme playing in the background.The segment consisted of a round table type discussion with T.J. Holmes & some other black men who gave their expertise on the cultural identifiers that President Obama displays.

Even though she said that it was not "politically correct",it still was a very uncomfortable segment for me to look at.Because whenever people who are not black attempt to adapt some of our lingo,they appear to be mocking our expressions & culture.And the fact that Kyra Phillips asked T.J. Holmes if she was pronouncing "swagga" right is the perfect example of that!

It all just rubbed me the wrong way! Maybe I'm too sensitive when it comes to racial issues.But,I feel that this was one story that should never have been told.What was their point?!!

We All Better Brace Ourselves For An "Imminent Pandemic"

What is known as the swine flu outbreak or the(H1N1)virus is spreading like rapid fire all over the world.Because of this Dr. Margaret Chan of the World Health Organization has stopped just short of calling it a pandemic.But,that's what it appears to be.So,we all better prepare for what lies ahead.Limit contact with people & wash your hands repeatedly with either alcohol-based sanitizer or soap & water.

Here's more from ABC News:

"The World Health Organisation (WHO) has raised its pandemic flu alert level to five, signalling that a global swine flu pandemic is imminent.

WHO director-general Dr Margaret Chan urged all countries to take immediate action, saying a pandemic would put "all humanity under threat".

The WHO said the alert level hike was a signal to governments, pharmaceutical industry and the business community to take action.

Dr Chan said countries should immediately activate their pandemic preparation plans but said the world was better prepared than ever to deal with a flu pandemic.

"No matter what the situation is, the international community should treat this as a window of opportunity to ramp up ... response," Dr Chan said.

"It is really all of humanity that is under threat during a pandemic."

But she warned that current WHO antiviral stocks were too low and said the organisation needed more donations from companies and governments.

Phase five, one step short of a full pandemic on a six-point scale, is characterised as a "strong signal that a pandemic is imminent and that the time to finalise the planned mitigation measures is short," according to the WHO's global emergency planning.

A phase five alert means human-to-human transmission has happened in at least two countries."(END OF EXCERPT)Read the rest here.