Discurso Radial del Presidente a la Nación 11/22/08

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Suscribir a nuestro canal de Podcast de Odeo o del podnova y recibir la dirección de radio presidencial semanal en inglés y español con informes selectos del departamento del estado. Ofreciendo transcripciones audio y con texto completo verdaderas, más fuentes contentas agregaron a menudo así que la estancia templó.

Buenos Días.

Este fin de semana estoy en Lima, Perú, reuniéndome con líderes de países de la región de Asia y el Pacífico en nuestra cumbre anual.

Esta cumbre tiene lugar en un momento de mucha conmoción en la economía mundial. También tiene lugar en un momento de cooperación sin precedente. Hace una semana en Washington, fui anfitrión de la primera en una serie de reuniones internacionales para hacerle frente a la crisis financiera. Examinamos las medidas que hemos tomado para controlar la crisis. Y nos pusimos de acuerdo sobre principios y medidas específicas a fin de modernizar nuestras estructuras financieras para el siglo XXI y tratar de evitar otra crisis.

A la vez que nos esforzamos para que vuelva a haber confianza en nuestros sistemas financieros a corto plazo, también debemos dedicarnos a promover el crecimiento económico a largo plazo. Juntos, nuestros países deben concentrar esfuerzos en tres grandes fuerzas que impulsan ese crecimiento: la libertad del mercado, la libertad del comercio y la libertad de los pueblos.

Ninguna región del mundo demuestra más claramente el poder de dichas fuerzas que la región de Asia y el Pacífico. El libre mercado ha ayudado a millones a salir de la pobreza por sí solos. El libre comercio ha ayudado a países pequeños a convertirse en potencias económicas a nivel mundial. Cuanto más personas hay en la región de Asia y el Pacífico libres de desarrollar su talento e ir en pos de sus sueños, más ha aumentado la prosperidad en toda la región. Enfrentamos un gran desafío, y se vienen días difíciles. Pero en base a estos principios, podemos sentirnos seguros sobre el futuro de nuestro país y el mundo.

En Estados Unidos, uno de los desafíos económicos más serios que enfrentamos es la situación del sector automotor. Los fabricantes de automóviles del país están pasando por un severo y urgente déficit económico. A principios del otoño, promulgué un proyecto de ley que autorizó préstamos por hasta $25,000 millones para ayudarlos a producir vehículos que usen combustible más eficientemente. Conforme a la ley, este dinero no está a disposición de las empresas automotrices para ayudarlas a solucionar dificultades financieras inminentes. Por lo tanto, la semana pasada, los senadores Bond, Levin y Voinovich presentaron una nueva propuesta que permitiría que las empresas automotrices obtengan los préstamos que necesitan, siempre y cuando estén dispuestas a reestructurarse para ser económicamente viables.

Esta propuesta fue respaldada por miembros de ambos partidos en el Capitolio. Desafortunadamente, los líderes del Congreso levantaron sesión sin siquiera permitir que esta medida fuera sometida a votación.

Mi posición es clara: Si los fabricantes de autos están dispuestos a tomar las difíciles decisiones que son necesarias para su viabilidad, deben poder recibir los fondos que el Congreso ya les ha asignado para otros propósitos. Éste es un asunto crucial para nuestra economía y para el país. El pueblo estadounidense espera que sus líderes electos hagan lo necesario para resolverlo.

Gracias por escuchar.

Para su publicación inmediata Oficina del Secretario de Prensa 21 de noviembre de 2008

Etiquetas De Technorati: Discurso Radial del Presidente a la Nación, y Presidente Bush

Timothy F. Geithner Biography

(Born August 18 1961) Timothy Franz Geithner became the ninth president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on November 17, 2003.. In that capacity, he serves as the vice chairman and a permanent member of the Federal Open Market Committee, the group responsible for formulating the nation's monetary policy.

Geithner was born in Brooklyn, New York City, to Mr. and Mrs. Peter F. Geithner of Larchmont, New York. Mr. Geithner graduated from Dartmouth College with a bachelor’s degree in government and Asian studies in 1983 and from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies with a master’s in International Economics and East Asian Studies in 1985. He has studied Japanese and Chinese and has lived in East Africa, India, Thailand, China, and Japan.

After completing his studies, Geithner worked for Kissinger and Associates in Washington, DC, for three years and then joined the International Affairs division of the US Treasury Department in 1988.

Mr. Geithner joined the Department of Treasury in 1988 and worked in three administrations for five Secretaries of the Treasury in a variety of positions.

1997, As Assistant Secretary for International Affairs, Mr. Geithner advised the Secretary, Deputy Secretary, and Under Secretary for International Affairs in the formulation and execution of U.S. International economic policy. Specifically, Mr. Geithner was responsible for developing and executing U.S. Policy in the areas of international ecomny and financial diplomacy; international monetary policy issues, including exchange rate policy; economic policy cooperation among industrial nations (G-7); U.S. Participation in the international financial institutiuons; financial services negociations and policy issues affecting international financial markets; and international trade and investment policy.

He was at Treasury during the emerging-markets crisis in 1997 and was under secretary of the Treasury for international affairs from 1998 to 2001. He played a significant role in the negotiation of assistance packages for South Korea and Brazil. He served as Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs from 1999 to 2001 under Secretaries Robert Rubin and Lawrence Summers.

He was director of the Policy Development and Review Department at the International Monetary Fund from 2001 until 2003.

Mr. Geithner serves as chairman of the G-10’s Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems of the Bank for International Settlements. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Group of Thirty.

He and his wife, Carole Sonnenfeld (Carole Marie Sonnenfeld ) were married June 8, 1985 at his parents' summer home in East Orleans, Mass. The Rev. Thomas Keehn, a United Church of Christ minister, officiated. both are graduates of Dartmouth College they have two children.

Mrs. Geithner, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Sonnenfeld of Princeton, N.J., was a research associate for Common Cause, a public-affairs lobbying group in Washington. Her father was a professor of French and comparative literature at Princeton University. Her mother, Portia Sonnenfeld, was conductor of the Chamber Symphony of Princeton.

SOURCES

• Timothy F. Geithner, President of the New York Fed
• Wikipedia Timothy F. Geithner
• TIMOTHY F. GEITHNER CONFIRMED AS ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS:
• I.M.F. Official Is Named President of New York Fed
• CAROLE M. SONNENFELD WED TO T. F. GEITHNER

Department of State Working To Address Piracy VIDEO

Daily Press Briefing Sean McCormack, Spokesman Washington, DC November 20, 200810:42 a.m. EST.

MR. MCCORMACK: Good morning, everybody. I don’t have anything to start off with, so I can --

QUESTION: Can you tell us what the discussions are like on the Somalia piracy issue, what’s going on now? There seems to be some movement at the UN or --

MR. MCCORMACK: Well, there’s --

QUESTION: The Secretary General’s report yesterday --

MR. MCCORMACK: Right, there’s a – there’s a renewal of a Security Council resolution, and I can get the exact number for you – 1816, which was passed specifically to deal with Somali piracy. I guess we passed two of these up at the UN, 1816 and 1838. So – and that’s coming up for renewal. We’re working on the text of the renewal internally. As I’ve said over the past couple days, we’ve – the Secretary got together a little group led by Eliot Cohen to try to take a look at what might be done. Once you start digging into this issue, it’s very complex and it’s a very complicated issue in terms of finding the right solutions.

Just to review, we are participating in a NATO task force that is escorting humanitarian shipments into Somalia. We do have ships in the air, as do other countries. You’re still dealing with a million square miles of ocean to cover, and it’s still a very difficult problem. When ships encounter, you know, piracy and the pirates are firing on those ships, then they’re free to fire, as we saw with the Indian Government yesterday.

So we’re trying to, as a government, working with other governments, get a handle on this. It’s a serious issue. It’s not going to be something the United States solves alone. And it’s something that the international community truly has to grapple with, and we’re – we’re trying to. We’re trying to via the Security Council as well as other mechanisms.

QUESTION: The Secretary General is talking about a UN peacekeeping force to replace the --

MR. MCCORMACK: In Somalia?

QUESTION: Yeah.

MR. MCCORMACK: Well, clearly --

QUESTION: -- to replace the current UN-authorized --

MR. MCCORMACK: Right.

QUESTION: It’s an African Union force.

MR. MCCORMACK: Right. We have – we’ve been supportive of that and --

QUESTION: Supportive of his --

MR. MCCORMACK: Of – we --

QUESTION: -- desire to make it a UN force?

MR. MCCORMACK: Of having a peacekeeping force in there. I have to admit I have not seen the proposal to make them blue-helmeted, and I’ll look into that particular question for you. But you raise an important point, and that is that the chaos in Somalia certainly has an effect on what’s happening out in the Gulf of Aden. And we want to try to address both issues. You could say that the piracy is a symptom of what’s going on in Somalia, so there are no easy answers to either of those.

One step in the right direction is getting some peacekeeping forces in there. I know the Ethiopians are still there and they want to leave, so to try to help stabilize the situation in Somalia, which we think over time will have some effect – positive effect on what’s going on in the Gulf of Aden. So we’re working – as you point out, we’re working on a number of different fronts here. And I’ll check for you on the blue helmet question.

QUESTION: What’s the current condition under which U.S. forces, U.S. Naval forces, can fire? I mean, can they go seek out --

MR. MCCORMACK: You have to talk --

QUESTION: -- these small vessels?

MR. MCCORMACK: Talk to DOD about the rules of engagement. You know, I – really, I am not well versed in maritime law, and DOD probably will want to talk about their own rules of engagement.

Okay. Gollust, there you go.

QUESTION: There has been kind of a surge of reports in recent days about political unrest in Nicaragua following an election that is disputed.

MR. MCCORMACK: Right.

QUESTION: And now, there are reports that forces loyal to Ortega are using strong-arm tactics against opponents. I’m just wondering whether that’s a matter of concern for --

MR. MCCORMACK: Yeah, it is, and it’s clearly – that’s clearly a negative development. There are real concerns about the integrity of the vote. I think we’ve talked about that, and others have talked about that as well. And the solution – the solution is not to try to rally pro-government forces to suppress peaceful dissent, people who are merely trying to raise legitimate questions about how the vote proceeded and the counting, the post-election activities.

So that’s not the answer. The answer is to consider seriously what might be done to address the legit – these legitimate concerns, whether or not that involves a recount with international observers, that kind of thing. So that is the proper pathway to go down, not to try to encourage nongovernmental forces sympathetic to the government to try to suppress peaceful dissent.

Nina.

QUESTION: Sean, on Iran, The New York Times is reporting today that they have this – enough --

MR. MCCORMACK: Right.

QUESTION: -- fissile material for one – potentially one nuclear bomb.

MR. MCCORMACK: Right.

QUESTION: Any reaction to that?

MR. MCCORMACK: Well, it’s concerning, and this is a matter that will be taken up next week at the IAEA Board of Governors meeting. And we would urge the Board of Governors to send a very strong message to Iran that they must comply with the demands of the international community. Certainly, we will be working within the Security Council to determine what else might be done. And of course, we will continue to look at ourselves - what further steps might be taken in the financial sanctions area to try to prevent – cut off that pathway for Iran to develop a nuclear weapon, and work with other countries to do that as well.

You know, in terms of the estimates, how much LEU, low enriched uranium, do you need potentially for a – one nuclear weapon, I’m going to leave that to the experts. I think there are varying estimates just in that news article that you cited. You know, some said it was enough, others said it was not enough but close. In any case, you don’t want Iran to get close, and that’s why we’ve been pursuing the policy that we have been.

QUESTION: Where are we with the P5+1? Can we expect a ministerial level meeting anytime soon?

MR. MCCORMACK: Nothing scheduled at this point. You know, we continue to consult and to urge action. But you know, at this point, I don’t have anything to report in that regard.

Sue.

QUESTION: Ukrainian President Yushchenko today said that they still want a Membership Action Plan --

MR. MCCORMACK: Right.

QUESTION: -- for NATO. Have you decided what approach you’re going to take on that at the foreign ministers meeting coming up?

MR. MCCORMACK: I don’t think we’ve changed our approach. Let me see if there’s anything more we’ll want to say about that. Obviously, we’re going to have the NATO ministerial coming up in the first week of December.

QUESTION: Do you support a Membership Action Plan for Ukraine?

MR. MCCORMACK: We haven’t changed our position.

Yes, sir.

QUESTION: Are there details on the Secretary’s meeting with Seif al-Islam Qadhafi?

MR. MCCORMACK: Yeah, I don’t – I don’t have a whole lot of details. I talked to David Welch just briefly about the meeting. They talked about the broad range of U.S.-Libya relations. They also talked about developments within Libya itself. The Secretary did raise the case of Fathi al-Jahmi, as did David Welch earlier this week. And it’s an issue that we have raised consistently over time, and we will continue to raise it.

QUESTION: Is there any reason behind the timing of the meeting? I guess his visit to Washington was a private visit.

MR. MCCORMACK: Right.

QUESTION: Was there any specific reason behind his visit right now or why the Secretary chose to meet with him?

MR. MCCORMACK: Well, this was his initiative. He decided to come to the U.S. He’s having a variety of meetings. The Libyan Embassy or he can describe those meetings for you, but I think meeting with sort of the spectrum of people you might expect here in Washington in the Executive Branch, up on the Hill, as well as in the NGO community. So the decision to come here was his, his alone, and the Secretary decided to meet – take the opportunity to meet him while he was here.

QUESTION: Can I ask just one more on that?

MR. MCCORMACK: Yeah, sure.

QUESTION: I mean, is the Secretary in the habit of meeting with the sons of leaders who have no official positions in government and raising --

MR. MCCORMACK: It --

QUESTION: -- and raising cases of political prisoners?

MR. MCCORMACK: It happens. You know, it happens from time --

QUESTION: Well, why would she raise a case with someone who has no official role in government?

MR. MCCORMACK: (Laughter.) Right, Matt. Look, he has – he’s the son of the leader of Libya.

QUESTION: And is she running around seeing, you know --

MR. MCCORMACK: Look, I can point to – I can point examples to you where family members who are important figures in their own societies meet with Executive Branch officials. I think there’s a long record of Republican and Democratic doing that. He is head of the Qadhafi Foundation, which is an important institution within Libya. So again, while he may not hold an official government position, clearly, he is a person of influence within Libya. And --

QUESTION: So she asked him to use his influence with his father to get --

MR. MCCORMACK: No, she didn’t. That’s not what we do in these meetings as the Secretary of State. You don’t proscribe something. You say, look, this case is an issue of concern, we urge this person’s release. The Secretary has done – did that today. David Welch has done it this week, and he has – she and others have consistently raised the case, as they do in countries around the world, whether it’s, you know, China or any other country around the world where we have human rights concerns and we have an ongoing bilateral relationship. That’s – you know, that’s how the business of diplomacy works.

And you know, I get asked about this question, and I try to inform you as best I can about what we’re doing. But our attitude isn’t to stand up here and try to make headlines and get headlines while we raise this issue and -- you know, and to beat people over the head in public. Sometimes that’s – sometimes that’s an effective strategy. But our focus is on effective action, actually accomplishing things rather than trying to get up here and grandstand.

QUESTION: No, understood. But I guess my question is: When was the last time the Secretary met with the son of a leader and raised a – raised any case of policy?

MR. MCCORMACK: I can’t – I can’t give you a specific example. I can, you know – I don’t want to single anybody out, but I can think of a couple examples of a time Executive Branch senior officials have met with family members who happen to be influential within their own society.

Yeah.

QUESTION: More on her meetings with Moratinos and Solana, can you give us any details what she will discuss?

MR. MCCORMACK: With both, I think they’ll talk about the transatlantic relationship. With Mr. Solana, there’s a lot on the plate there, and talk about the Balkans, talk about Iran, talk about the Middle East. I think the Middle East will be the topic of conversation with Foreign Minister Moratinos. I know that’s a particular area of interest for him as well. So it will cover – it’s – there’s no shortage of things to talk about in these meetings. But that’s sort of the general palette.

QUESTION: We’ll get a readout afterwards?

MR. MCCORMACK: We’ll try to get you something, sure.

Yeah.

QUESTION: South Africa says it’s going to withhold aid from Zimbabwe until they have a representative government. Do you approve of that sort of punitive measure by a regional government?

MR. MCCORMACK: Well, what we approve of it is countries in the region or around the globe using their leverage to try to bring about some change of behavior in Zimbabwe. And I think you just had Ambassador McGee up here. I wasn’t here for the briefing, but I suspect he probably gave you the same message.

QUESTION: Do you have any readout from the Geneva talks on Georgia?

MR. MCCORMACK: Yeah, Dan Fried – I think there’s a transcript, and I don’t really have anything to add to what he said; that’s the firsthand account. I mean, it’s basically a first step. That’s the bottom line.

Yeah.

QUESTION: Are you aware of any travel plans for Sung Kim to Seoul next week? And is there any prospect for a heads of delegation meeting before the end of the year?

MR. MCCORMACK: Yeah, still working on the timing with the Chinese on the heads of delegation meeting. In terms of Ambassador Kim’s travel, I’ll be happy to check for you.

QUESTION: Is there anything – can I have this last one?

MR. MCCORMACK: There you go.

QUESTION: The daily transition question: Has there been anything new on, you know, meetings, briefings scheduled?

MR. MCCORMACK: Just, you know, the -- continuing, you know, the business of the transition. Look, I’m going – I’ll leave it to the transition folks to describe what they’re doing. You know, things like meeting with the Secretary, I’ll obviously try to keep you informed of those – those kind of high-level interactions by providing material, briefings going on. You know, we’re committed to making sure that they have the information they think they need to do the job.

QUESTION: Have you released the text of the Iraqi SOFA?

MR. MCCORMACK: I don’t believe we have. You can check with the White House.

QUESTION: It has to come from there?

MR. MCCORMACK: Check with the White House.

QUESTION: Didn’t you all negotiate it or --

MR. MCCORMACK: We participated. That was – it was a broad interagency effort.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MR. MCCORMACK: Yep.

(The briefing was concluded at 10:55 a.m.)

dpb # 197

Released on November 20, 2008

Cast your vote for the National Thanksgiving Turkey

Popcorn & Cranberry Yam & Jam Dawn & Early Light Roost & Run Pumpkin & Pecan Apple & Cider

Cast your vote for the National Thanksgiving Turkey which the President will pardon in a Rose Garden Ceremony next week. This year marks the 61st anniversary of the National Thanksgiving Turkey presentation. Though live Thanksgiving turkeys have been presented intermittently to presidents since the Lincoln administration, the current ceremony dates to 1947, when the first National Thanksgiving Turkey was presented to President Harry Truman.

The presentation at times has brushed against broader history. For example, the November 1963 event was one of President Kennedy's last in the Rose Garden. The first President Bush conducted the 1990 ceremony just before leaving for Thanksgiving with the troops in the Persian Gulf region. President Clinton in 1996 returned from an Asian summit and literally went directly to the ceremony.

The 2008 National Thanksgiving Turkey and its alternate are from Ellsworth, Iowa and were raised under the direction of National Turkey Federation Chairman Paul Hill. The 20-week old turkey, weighed about 45 pounds, when he was driven to Washington.

The National Thanksgiving Turkey was raised using normal feeding and other production techniques. The one exception is they were provided increased interaction with people so that they would be prepared for their role at the White House Ceremony.

After the presentation, the turkey will be flown first class to Disneyland Resort in Southern California, where he will be the grand marshal of "Disney's Thanksgiving Day Parade." After the parade, guests will be able to visit the turkey in Frontierland section.

Tags: President Bush and White House

Eric H. Holder Jr. Biography

Mr. Holder, was born in New York City the Bronx and grew up in East Elmhurst.

A child of a middle class family, his father emigrated from Barbados when he was about 12 joined the Army during World War II and was in the real estate industry. His mother was a telephone operator and secretary to an Episcopal priest. Until he was 10 years old he attended public schools there, then, in the fourth grade, he was selected to participate in a program for intellectually gifted kids. Holder's score was good enough to get him into Stuyvesant High an hour and a half commute away in Manhattan, graduating in 1969 he earned a Regents Scholarship.

In 1969 Holder entered college at Columbia, majored in American History, and graduated in 1973. Mr. Holder then attended Columbia Law School. While in law school, working for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc. after his first year and the U.S. Department of Justice after his second 1974 and 1975, respectively. He graduated in 1976.

After graduating from Columbia Law School, Eric moved to Washington, DC and began his career of by joining the Department of Justice as part of the Attorney General's Honors Program. He was assigned to the Public Integrity Section in 1976 and was to investigate and prosecute official corruption on the local, state and federal levels. Mr. Holder participated in a number of prosecutions and appeals involving such defendants as the Treasurer of the state of Florida, the Ambassador to the Dominican Republic, a local judge in Philadelphia, an Assistant United States Attorney in New York City, agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and a "capo" in an organized crime family in Pennsylvania.

In 1988, Mr. Holder was nominated by President Reagan to become an Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. He was confirmed by the Senate and his investiture occurred in October of that year. Over the next five years, Judge Holder presided over civil and criminal trials and matters. Many of the trials involved homicides and other crimes of violence.

In 1993, President Clinton nominated Mr. Holder to become the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia. Mr. Holder was confirmed in October of that year and served as the head of the largest U.S. Attorney's Office in the nation for nearly four years. As U.S. Attorney, Mr. Holder created a Domestic Violence Unit, implemented a community prosecution pilot project to work with residents and local government agencies, supported enforcement on hate crimes, a strategy to improve the manner in which agencies handle cases involving the abuse of children, community outreach program to connect the U.S. Attorney's Office with the citizens, and "Operation Ceasefire," an initiative designed to reduce violent crime.

On April 14, 1997, President Clinton nominated Mr. Holder to be the Deputy Attorney General. As Deputy Attorney General, Mr. Holder was responsible for the supervision of the day-to-day operation of the Department of Justice. As Deputy Attorney General Mr. Holder was at that time the highest-ranking black person in law enforcement in the history of the United States. Deputy Attorney General Holder was active in the organization Concerned Black Men, which seeks to help the youth of the District of Columbia with the problems they face.

Mr. Holder supervised the Department's litigating, enforcement, and administrative components in both civil and criminal matters. The Department developed and issued guidelines on the criminal prosecution of corporations and issued guidelines on the use of the False Claims Act in civil health care matters. A task force developed the regulation concerning the appointment of special counsels to investigate allegations involving high-level federal officials. He began the Department's Children Exposed to Violence Initiative and made Department priorities enforcement efforts in health care fraud, computer crimes and software piracy. At the request of the President, Lawyers for One America a multi-agency, public/private partnership designed to diversify the legal profession and to increase the amount of pro bono work done by the nation's attorneys.

In 1998 Mr. Holder had been considered a possible challenger to Washington's mayor, Marion S. Barry Jr.

On January 19, 2001, the last full day of the Clinton administration, a pardon application for a commodities trader named Marc Rich was not the most pressing issue, Holder believed the application had such a small shot at being granted. When the White House asked for his view on the pardon he gave it: "neutral leaning towards favorable."

The decision turned out to be a costly one for Holder. On Jan. 20, President Clinton issued 140 pardons, including one for Rich -- whose ex-wife turned out to have donated large amounts of money to the Clinton Presidential Library while Clinton was in office. Critics claimed that Rich's freedom had been bought.

For the first time in his career, Holder faced an assault on his reputation and integrity.

Later in 2001 Holder joined the firm of Covington and Burling as a litigation partner handling civil and criminal cases, domestic and international advisory matters and internal corporate investigations. A partner in the law firm Holder has had many high-profile clients, including the National Football League in its investigation of dog-fighting charges against Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick.

Eric Himpton Holder, Jr. Born: 21, January 1951 Queens, NY. Covington & Burling LLP, Partner eholder@cov.com or Download V-card, Covington & Burling LLP 1201 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20004-2401, Tel: 202.662.5372

Mr. Holder is a litigation partner who handles, among other matters, civil and criminal cases, domestic and international advisory matters and internal corporate investigations.

Holder argued in 2002 that detainees in the "war on terror" are not technically entitled to protection under the Geneva Conventions.

In a CNN interview in 2004, Holder was critical of the Bush Justice Department's use of the Patriot Act, saying it had been enforced in less-than-transparent way.

In late 2007, Holder joined Senator Barack Obama's presidential campaign as a senior legal advisor. He served on Obama's vice presidential selection committee. In June 2008, Holder was considered to be a leading candidate for Attorney General under an Obama Administration. On November 18, 2008, President-elect Barack Obama selected Eric Holder as his Attorney General. His nomination approved by the U.S. Senate, he was be the first African-American to head the Justice Department.

Mr. Holder's community activities include philanthropic boards including, Columbia University, the Meyer Foundation, Save the Children, and his long time membership in the organization Concerned Black Men, a group that seeks to help the youth of the District of Columbia with problems ranging from teenage pregnancy to sub-par academic achievement. He has received numerous awards and honorary degrees and is featured in The Best Lawyers in America 2007. Mr. Holder was profiled in the June 2008 issue of The American Lawyer and was recognized as one of "The Most 50 Influential Minority Lawyers in America" by The National Law Journal. He has also been identified by Legal Times as one of the "Greatest Washington Lawyers of the Past 30 Years."

He has also served on the board of MCI prior to and during its merger with Verizon. Mr. Holder was a member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission Ad Hoc Advisory Group that examined, and made recommendations to revise, the organizational sentencing guidelines and was Chairman of Eastman Kodak's External Diversity Advisory Panel.

In 1989, Holder met his wife to be, Sharon Malone, at a fundraiser for Concerned Black Men and the Coalition of 100 Black Women. Mr. Holder lives in Washington, DC with his wife, Dr. Sharon Malone an obstetrician-gynecologist and a graduate of Harvard University and Columbia Medical School and their three children, Maya, Brooke and Eric.

TEXT RESOURCES:

• 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Eric Holder
• Prosecutor No Stranger To Corruption in Politics
• Making History With Obama
• Breakout Moderator Biography
• Covington & Burling LLP, Biographies, Eric H. Holder Jr.
• Eric H. Holder, Jr.
• USDOJ: Deputy Attorney General: Bio
• Eric Holder - Wikipedia
• The HistoryMakers® Video Oral History Interview with Eric H. Holder, Jr.
• Obama picks Caroline Kennedy, Holder, Johnson to lead VP search
• Nominee Confirmed For Deputy Position At the Justice Dept.
• Eric H. Holder Jr., Attorney General - Council on Foreign Relations

President Bush Hosts Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy PODCAST VIDEO

President George W. Bush delivers his remarks following the conclusion of the Summit with Financial Markets and the World Economy Leaders Saturday, Nov. 15, 2008, at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. President Bush stated in his remarks, "The United States, in the midst of this financial crisis, will not abandon our commitments to people in the developing world." White House photo by Joyce N. Boghosian

President Bush Hosts Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy FULL STREAMING VIDEO National Building Museum Washington, D.C. In Focus: Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy and Fact Sheet: Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy 2:11 P.M. EST PODCAST OF THIS ARTICLE PRESIDENT BUSH: Welcome. Good afternoon. We just had a very productive summit meeting. Thinking about three weeks ago, when I was talking to President Sarkozy and Barroso at Camp David -- some of you were there -- I don't think we could have predicted then how productive and how successful this meeting would have been.

The first decision I had to make was who was coming to the meeting. And obviously I decided that we ought to have the G20 nations, as opposed to the G8 or the G13. But once you make the decision to have the G20, then the fundamental question is, with that many nations, from six different continents, who all represent different stages of economic development -- would it be possible to reach agreements, and not only agreements, would it be possible to reach agreements that were substantive? And I'm pleased to report the answer to that question was, absolutely.

One of the things we did, we spent time talking about the actions that we have taken. The United States has taken some extraordinary measures. Those of you who have followed my career know that I'm a free market person -- until you're told that if you don't take decisive measures then it's conceivable that our country could go into a depression greater than the Great Depression’s. So my administration has taken significant measures to deal with a credit crisis. And then we worked with Congress to deal with the credit crisis, as well.

We're beginning to see some positive results. One of the things people around the table were interested in is, are you beginning to see the results of your actions? And our credit markets are beginning to thaw, having been severely frozen; businesses are beginning to get access to short-term credit. It's going to take more time for the measures we have put in place to take hold. No question about that. As a matter of fact, we just started, for example, on the $700 billion fund to start getting money out to our banks. So it's going to take more time.

But I was pleased to tell the folks around the table that the significant actions we've taken are beginning to work. All of us committed to continue to work on pro-growth economic policies. It's phrased different ways -- fiscal plans -- but the whole point was, was that we recognize that, on the one hand, there's been a severe credit crisis, and on the other hand, our economies are being hit very hard. And so there was a common understanding that all of us should promote pro-growth economic policy.

We also talked about broader reforms -- so in other words, the discussions were focused on today and what we're doing about it, but what are we going to do to make sure it doesn't happen tomorrow.

One of the key achievements was to establish certain principles and take certain actions for adapting our financial systems to the realities of the 21st century. Part of the regulatory structures that are in place were 20th century regulatory structures. And obviously, you know, the financial industry went way beyond them. And the question is, how do we establish good regulatory structure without destroying the incentive to innovate, without destroying the marketplace.

Our nations agree that we must make the markets -- the financial markets more transparent and accountable. Transparency is very important so that investors and regulators are able to know the truth -- considered improving accounting rules, so that investors can understand the true value of the assets they purchase. We agree that we need to improve our regulations and to ensure that markets, firms, and financial products are subject to proper regulation and oversight.

For example, credit default swaps -- financial products that ensure against potential losses -- should be processed through centralized clearinghouses. That's a significant reform. Heretofore, the credit default swaps were traded in over-the-counter, unregulated markets.

Yesterday the Working Group on Financial Markets, which is -- which is obviously associated with the White House, announced an initiative to create these kinds of clearing houses. And I know that other nations are working on them as well. This process will help expedite credit default swaps and other types of instruments not being traded in unregulated, over-the-counter markets.

By bringing greater stability to this important sector, we will help with liquidity, but also mitigate risk.

Third, we agreed that we must enhance the integrity of the financial markets. For example, authorities in every nation should take a fresh look at the rules governing market manipulation and fraud to make sure that investors in all our countries are properly protected. We agree that we must strengthen cooperation among the world's financial authorities. There was a lot of discussion about the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, for example.

Leading nations should make regulations consistent. As well, we should reform the international financial institutions. Again, these institutions have been very important -- the World Bank, IMF -- but they were based on an economic order of 1944. And so to better -- we agreed that to better reflect the realities of today's global economy, both IMF and World Bank should modernize their governance structures. They ought to consider extending greater voting power and representation to developing nations, particularly those who have increased their contributions to the institutions.

All this is an important first step -- in other words, this is a beginning of a series of meetings. People say, well, why don't you have one meeting and, you know, call it Bretton Woods II. Well, Bretton Woods I took two years to prepare. I don't know what you want to call this one, but whatever name comes from this meeting, it took three weeks to prepare. And so it makes sense to come out of here with a firm action plan -- which we have.

It also makes sense to say to people that there is more work to be done and there will be further meetings, sending a clear signal that a meeting is not going to solve the world's problems. A meeting will help begin a process so that we can say over time that we will have a regulatory structure in place that will make this less likely to happen in the future.

And so we've directed our finance ministers to work with other experts and consult with officials in other economies and then report back to the leaders with detailed recommendations. Whatever we do, whatever reforms are recommended, we need to be guided by this simple fact: that the best way to solve our problems and solve the people's problems is for there to be economic growth. And the surest path to that growth is free market capitalism.

Leaders at this summit agreed on some other matters of importance. One is to reject protectionism and refrain from erecting new trade barriers. This is a very important part of this summit. The temptation in times of economic stress will be to say, oh, trade isn't worth it, let's just throw up protective barriers. And yet that attitude was rejected, thankfully. And matter of fact, not only rejected, there is a determined effort to see if we can't complete the modalities for Doha by the end of December.

One of the things I stressed as well is that the United States, in the midst of this financial crisis, will not abandon our commitments to people in the developing world; that the HIV/AIDS initiative, known as PEPFAR, will remain strong and vibrant; that our deep desire to significantly reduce malaria deaths in countries on the continent of Africa will not be diminished; that our obligation to help feed the hungry will not stop; that in the midst of all this turmoil and financial crisis, we will meet our obligations. These obligations are in our national security interests and our economic security interests and they in -- are in our moral interests.

And so I will tell you that I thought this was a very successful summit. And they're going to meet again. I keep saying "they" because some of you may not have heard yet, but I am retiring. But I told the leaders this: that President-Elect Obama's transition team has been fully briefed on what we intended to do here at this meeting. I told them that we will work tirelessly to make sure the transition between my administration and his administration is seamless. And I told them that I hope he succeeds, that it's good for our country that people see a peaceful transfer of power. And I hope it was good for them to hear that even though we're from different political parties, that I believe it's in our country's interest that he succeed.

So I want to thank you for giving me a chance to come and visit with you. Thanks for covering this summit. Goodbye.

END 2:23 P.M. EST

For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary November 15, 2008

Biology enters “The Matrix” through new computer language

Dr. Jeremy Gunawardena (left) and Dr. Aneil Mallavarapu

BOSTON, Mass. — Ever since the human genome was sequenced less than 10 years ago, researchers have been able to access a dizzying plethora of genomic information with a simple click of a mouse. This digitizing of genomic data—and its public access—is something that would have been unthinkable a generation earlier.

But as molecules go, DNA is pretty straight forward. With its simple composition and linear structure, it easily lends itself to mathematical models. Not so with proteins. In fact, proteins are an order of magnitude more complex than DNA. It is proteins, not DNA, that carry out the cell's heavy lifting. However, with their intricately folded three-dimensional shapes determining a seemingly endless range of possible functions and their manifold interactions with other proteins and with DNA, the leg-work required to mathematically capture the protein universe seems absurd.

And it is.

That is why a team of Harvard Medical School researchers have decided to attack this issue from an entirely new angle. Rather than build a mountain range of proteomic data one grain of dirt at a time, they have developed a computer program that can take on the responsibility of assembling such a gargantuan model.

Enter Little b, a computational language that can penetrate the "mind" of a cell.

“Through incorporating principles of engineering, we’ve developed a language that can describe biology in the same way a biologist would,” says Jeremy Gunawardena, director of the Virtual Cell Program in Harvard Medical School’s department of systems biology. “The potential here is enormous. This opens the door to actually performing discovery science, to look at things like drug interactions, right on the computer.”

These findings will be published in the July 23 issue of Journal of the Royal Society Interface.

Most current computational methods of modeling biological systems are not unlike writing a document with pen and paper. Each new project starts from scratch; there are no facilities for cutting and pasting, for linking to other texts, for including images, etc.—things that come so "naturally" to electronic documents.

Harvard Medical School researcher Jeremy Gunawardena, a mathematician by training, teamed up with Aneil Mallavarapu, a cell biologist and computer scientist, to lead a project that would bypass these limitations.

"We knew that the secret to doing this would be to assimilate fundamental concepts of engineering, concepts like modularity and abstraction, into the biological realm," says Mallavarapu, who was recently awarded the Merrimack prize by the Council for Systems Biology in Boston for developing this program.

Modularity involves breaking a problem down into separate modules and constructing each module so that it can interact with the others. Abstraction refers to extracting generic biological properties and incorporating them into the modules, so that they can use this abstract information in concrete contexts. Put another way, abstraction means that, unlike the old days of pen and paper, each new model does *not* need to be built from scratch. Models can be built upon each other and their individual modules refined and re-used.

To do this, Mallavarapu used the programming language LISP, a language widely used in artificial intelligence research. LISP is famous among computer scientists due to its ability to write code that, in turn, can write code, enabling a programmer to derive new mini-languages.

"LISP isn't like typical programs, it's more like a conversation," says Gunawardena. "When we input data into Little b, Little b responds to it and reasons over the data."

For example, Gunawardena's lab works on kinases, a kind of protein that transfers phosphate chemicals to other proteins in order to regulate their activity. While this property is common to all kinases, there is a great deal of variety in how particular kinases carry this out. Little b, however, understands this basic property of kinases, this abstraction.

Here, the researchers demonstrated how they were able to interact with Little b to build complex models of kinase activity, using Little b as a kind of scientific collaborator, and not simply a passive tool.

On a larger scale, the researchers also used the program to query the development of fruit fly embryos. As a result, they discovered levels of complexity in these embryonic structures that previous research had missed.

"This language is stepping into an unknown universe, when your computer starts building things for you," says Gunawardena. "Your whole relationship with the computer becomes a different one. You've ceded some control to the machine. The machine is drawing inferences on your behalf and constructing things for you."

The researchers sometimes admit, half-joking, that Little b sometimes feels a little bit like "The Matrix"—referring, of course, to the film trilogy in which human beings lived in a computer-generated virtual world.

Mallavarapu and Gunawardena have a pretty clear vision for this project: they want every biologist in the world to use it.

But in order to bring the program out from the early adopter community, where it is currently being used by colleagues in the Harvard community, it needs to be more accessible.

"The next step is to create an interface that's easy to use," says Gunarwardena. "Think of web page development. Lots of people are creating web pages with little or no knowledge of HTML. They use simple interfaces like Dreamweaver. Once we've developed the equivalent, scientists will be able to use our system without having to learn Little b."

And the more people use it, the smarter it gets. As researchers around the world input their discoveries into Little b, the program will assimilate that information into its language.

The ultimate goal is to have an in silico, virtual cell—a dynamic biological system living in software.

"Sure, it's a long way off," says Gunawardena, "but we're getting there." ###

This research was funded by Harvard Medical School. The funding and data sources for this study had no role in study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; and in the writing of the report.

Written by David Cameron

CITATION: Journal of the Royal Society Interface, online publication, July 23, 2008
“Programming with models: modularity and abstraction provide powerful capabilities for systems biology” Aneil Mallavarapu, Matthew Thomson, Benjamin Ullian, and Jeremy Gunawardena Harvard Medical School, Department of Systems Biology, Boston, MA

Contact: David Cameron david_cameron@hms.harvard.edu 617-432-0441 Harvard Medical School

Harvard Medical School has more than 7,500 full-time faculty working in 11 academic departments located at the School's Boston campus or in one of 47 hospital-based clinical departments at 18 Harvard-affiliated teaching hospitals and research institutes. Those affiliates include Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Cambridge Health Alliance, Children's Hospital Boston, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Forsyth Institute, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Hebrew SeniorLife, Joslin Diabetes Center, Judge Baker Children's Center, Immune Disease Institute, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Massachusetts General Hospital, McLean Hospital, Mount Auburn Hospital, Schepens Eye Research Institute, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, and VA Boston Healthcare System.

Freedom Calendar 11/15/08 - 11/22/08

November 15, 1983, President Ronald Reagan’s nominee to Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Susan Meredith Phillips, confirmed as first woman to serve as Chairman. November 16, 1948, Death of California Republican Florence Kahn, first Jewish woman to serve in U.S. House of Representatives, 1925-37.

November 17, 2003, First generation immigrant, Austrian-American Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger, sworn in as Governor of California.

November 18, 1872, Susan B. Anthony arrested for voting, after boasting to Elizabeth Cady Stanton that she voted for 'the Republican ticket, straight'

November 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln delivers Gettysburg Address, calling for 'a new birth of freedom.'

November 20, 1953, Birth of Matt Fong, Chinese-American Republican elected Treasurer of California in 1994; Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in 1998.

November 21, 1991, President George H. W. Bush signs Civil Rights Act of 1991 to strengthen federal civil rights legislation.

November 22, 1865, Republicans denounce Democrat legislature of Mississippi for enacting “black codes,” which institutionalized racial discrimination.

“It’s that expression of the individual and a willingness to put the educational opportunities before me that led to who I am. Who you are is who you are as an individual.”

Condoleezza Rice Secretary of State

Technorati Tags: President Bush and Freedom Calendar or Booker T. Washington and Republicans or African-Americans and Brown v. Board of Education or Ronald Reagan and Michael Steele or Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass or 40 acres and a mule or Martin Luther King and Voting Rights Act of 1965 or Dred Scott

Bush radio address 11/15/08 PODCAST TEXT TRANSCRIPT

DOWNLOAD THE MP3 FILE HERE

bush radio address 11/15/08 full audio, text transcript. President's Radio Address In Focus: Economy

Subscribe to Our Podcast feed or online podnova Podcast Channel and receive the weekly Presidential Radio Address in English and Spanish with select State Department Briefings. Featuring real audio and full text transcripts, More content Sources added often so stay tuned.

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This weekend I am hosting a summit on the global financial crisis with leaders of developed and developing nations. By working together, I'm confident that with time we can overcome this crisis and return our economies to the path of growth and vitality.

I know many of you listening are worried about the challenges facing our economy. Stock market declines have eroded the value of retirement accounts and pension funds. The tightening of credit has made it harder for families to borrow money for cars, homes, and education. Businesses have found it harder to get loans to expand their operations and create jobs. Many nations have suffered job losses and have serious concerns about the worsening economy.

Nations around the world have responded to this situation with bold measures, and our actions are having an impact. Credit markets are beginning to thaw and businesses are gaining access to essential short-term financing. It will require more time for these improvements to fully take hold and there will be more difficult days ahead, but the United States and our partners are taking the right steps to get through the crisis.

As we address the current crisis, we also need to make broader reforms to adapt our financial systems to the 21st century. So during this summit, I will work with other leaders to establish principles for reform, such as making markets more transparent and ensuring that markets, firms, and financial products are properly regulated.

All these steps will require decisive actions from governments around the world. At the same time, we must recognize that government intervention is not a cure-all. While reforms in the financial sector are essential, the long-term solution to today's problems is sustained economic growth. And the surest path to that growth is free markets and free people.

This is a decisive moment for the global economy. In the wake of the financial crisis voices from the left and right are equating the free enterprise system with greed, exploitation, and failure. It is true that this crisis included failures by lenders and borrowers, by financial firms, by governments and independent regulators. But the crisis was not a failure of the free market system. And the answer is not to try to reinvent that system. It is to fix the problems we face, make the reforms we need, and move forward with the free market principles that have delivered prosperity and hope to people around the world.

The benefits of free market capitalism have been proven across time, geography, and culture. Around the world free market capitalism has allowed once impoverished nations to develop large and prosperous economies. And here at home, free market capitalism is what transformed America from a rugged frontier to the greatest economic power in history.

Just as important as maintaining free markets within countries is maintaining the free movement of goods and services between countries. There are many ways for nations to demonstrate their commitment to open markets. The United States Congress can take the lead by approving free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea before adjourning for the year.

In the long run, Americans can be confident in the future of our economy. We will work with our partners around the world to address the problems in the global financial system. We will strengthen our economy. And we will continue to lead the world toward prosperity and peace.

Thank you for listening. # # #

For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary November 14, 2008

Tags: President Bush and White House radio address

Discurso Radial del Presidente a la Nación 11/15/08

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forre el audio de la dirección de radio 11/15/08 por completo, transcripción del texto. (nota de los redactores: ninguna lengua española mp3 lanzó esta semana, apesadumbrada) PODCAST

Suscribir a nuestro canal de Podcast de Odeo o del podnova y recibir la dirección de radio presidencial semanal en inglés y español con informes selectos del departamento del estado. Ofreciendo transcripciones audio y con texto completo verdaderas, más fuentes contentas agregaron a menudo así que la estancia templó.

Buenos Días.

Este fin de semana, seré anfitrión de una cumbre sobre la crisis financiera global con líderes de naciones desarrolladas y en vías de desarrollo. Yo confío que, trabajando juntos, podremos con el tiempo superar esta crisis y regresar nuestras economías al camino del crecimiento y de la vitalidad.

Yo sé que muchos de ustedes que escuchan hoy están preocupados por los desafíos que enfrenta nuestra economía. Bajas en el mercado de valores han hecho disminuir el valor de cuentas de retiro y fondos de retiro. La contracción del crédito ha hecho más difícil para familias prestar dinero para automóviles, casas y educación. Para los negocios ha sido más difícil obtener préstamos para ampliar sus operaciones y crear empleos. Muchas naciones han sufrido pérdidas de empleos, y tienen serias inquietudes sobre la economía que se empeora cada vez más.

Las naciones alrededor del mundo hemos respondido a esta situación con medidas audaces - y nuestras acciones están teniendo un impacto. Los mercados de crédito comienzan a descongelarse. Y los negocios están logrando acceso a financiamiento esencial de corto plazo. Hará falta más tiempo para que estas mejoras tengan pleno efecto, y quedarán más días difíciles por delante. Pero Estados Unidos y nuestros socios estamos tomando los pasos debidos para superar la crisis.

A medida que abordemos la crisis actual, también necesitaremos llevar a cabo reformas más amplias para adaptar nuestros sistemas financieros al siglo 21. Por lo tanto, durante esta cumbre, trabajaré con otros líderes para establecer principios para reforma - como por ejemplo hacer más transparentes los mercados y asegurar que los mercados, empresas y productos financieros estén bien reglamentados.

Todas estas medidas exigirán acciones decisivas por parte de los gobiernos en todo el mundo. Al mismo tiempo, debemos reconocer que la intervención del gobierno no es una panacea. Aunque son esenciales reformas en el sector financiero, la solución a largo plazo para los problemas actuales es el crecimiento económico sostenido. Y el camino más seguro hacia ese crecimiento es el de mercados libres y pueblos libres.

Este es un momento decisivo para la economía global. A raíz de la crisis financiera, hay voces de la izquierda y la derecha que igualan al sistema de empresa libre con la codicia, la explotación y el fracaso. Es cierto que esta crisis incluyó fracasos - por prestamistas y prestatarios... por empresas financieras... por gobiernos y reguladores independientes. Pero la crisis no fue un fracaso del sistema de mercado libre. Y la respuesta no es tratar de re-inventar ese sistema. Es más bien arreglar los problemas que enfrentamos, llevar a cabo las reformas que necesitamos, y seguir adelante con los principios de mercado libre que han entregado prosperidad y esperanza a pueblos en todo el mundo.

Los beneficios de capitalismo de mercado libre han sido comprobados a través del tiempo, de la geografía y de la cultura. Alrededor del mundo el capitalismo de mercado libre ha permitido a naciones una vez empobrecidas a desarrollar economías fuertes y prósperas. Y aquí en casa, el capitalismo de mercado libre es lo que transformó a Estados Unidos de una frontera inhóspita al más fuerte poder económico en la historia.

Tan importante como mantener mercados libres dentro de los países es mantener el libre movimiento de bienes y servicios entre países.

Hay muchas maneras para que las naciones demuestren su compromiso a mercados abiertos. El Congreso de Estados Unidos puede tomar la delantera aprobando tres acuerdos de libre comercio con Colombia, Panamá y Corea del Sur antes de suspender su sesión para este año.

A largo plazo, los estadounidenses podemos confiar en el futuro de nuestra economía. Trabajaremos con nuestros socios alrededor del mundo para resolver los problemas del sistema financiero global. Fortaleceremos nuestra economía. Y seguiremos dirigiendo el mundo hacia la prosperidad y la paz.

Gracias por escuchar.

Para su publicación inmediata Oficina del Secretario de Prensa 14 de noviembre de 2008

Etiquetas De Technorati: Discurso Radial del Presidente a la Nación, y Presidente Bush

STS-126 Space Shuttle Endeavour FULL MISSION COVERAGE (LIVE VIDEO)

LIVE LAUNCH AND MISSION VIDEO NASATV: REAL MEDIA PLAYER amd WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER LIVE STREAMING VIDEO

Hign Resolution Image On the 225-foot level of Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the STS-126 crew poses for a group photo.

From left are Mission Specialists Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper and Steve Bowen, Pilot Eric Boe, Commander Chris Ferguson, and Mission Specialists Sandra Magnus, Donald Pettit and Shane Kimbrough. They earlier took part in a simulated launch countdown as part of the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test.

Image credit: NASA/Troy Cryder Oct. 29, 2008

High Resolution Image Palmetto trees frame space shuttle Endeavour as it rolls toward Launch Pad 39A after earlier moving off Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Endeavour is set for the STS-126 mission, the 27th mission to the International Space Station. The shuttle will carry the Lightweight Multi-Purpose Experiment Support Structure Carrier and the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo, which will hold supplies and equipment, including additional crew quarters, additional exercise equipment, spare hardware and equipment for the regenerative life support system.

Image credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett Oct. 23, 2008

This is a virtual replica of the official countdown clock at the launch site at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. It begins 43 hours before launch and mirrors the real clock by pausing during the various built-in holds during the countdown.

Technorati Tags: NASA or STS-126 and space shuttle Discovery or Kennedy Space Center and Live Video or VIDEO and Kennedy Space Center or International Space Station and astronauts or space shuttle and Endeavour or orbiter and physics or Space and astronomy or Jet Propulsion Laboratory

President Bush Discusses Financial Markets and World Economy 11/13/08 VIDEO

President Bush Discusses Financial Markets and World Economy FULL STREAMING VIDEO Federal Hall National Memorial 11/13/08 New York, New York In Focus: Economy 1:58 P.M. EST.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Please be seated. Thank you. Larry, thank you for the introduction. Thank you for giving Laura and me a chance to come to this historic hall to talk about a big issue facing the world. And today I appreciate you giving me a chance to come and for me to outline the steps that America and our partners are taking and are going to take to overcome this financial crisis.

And I thank the Manhattan Institute for all you have done. I appreciate the fact that I am here in a fabulous city to give this speech. (Applause.) People say, are you confident about our future? And the answer is, absolutely. And it's easy to be confident when you're a city like New York City. After all, there's an unbelievable spirit in this city. This is a city whose skyline has offered immigrants their first glimpse of freedom. This is a city where people rallied when that freedom came under attack. This is a city whose capital markets have attracted investments from around the world and financed the dreams of entrepreneurs all across America. This is a city that has been and will always be the financial capital of the world. (Applause.)

And I am grateful to be in the presence of two men who serve ably and nobly New York City -- Mayor Koch and Mayor Giuliani. Thank you all for coming. Glad you're here. (Applause.) I thank the Manhattan Institute Board of Trustees and its Chairman Paul Singer for doing good work, being a good policy center. (Applause.) And before I begin, I must say, I would hope that Ray Kelly would tell New York's finest how much I appreciate the incredible hospitality that we are always shown here in New York City. You're the head of a fabulous police force, and we thank you very much, sir. (Applause.)

We live in a world in which our economies are interconnected. Prosperity and progress have reached farther than any time in our history. Unfortunately, as we have seen in recent months, financial turmoil anywhere in the world affects economies everywhere in the world. And so this weekend I'm going to host a Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy with leaders from developed and developing nations that account for nearly 90 percent of the world economy. Leaders of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations, and the Financial Stability Forum are going to be there, as well. We'll have dinner at the White House tomorrow night, and we'll meet most of the day on Saturday.

The leaders attending this weekend's meeting agree on a clear purpose -- to address the current crisis, and to lay the foundation for reforms that will help prevent a similar crisis in the future. We also agree that this undertaking is too large to be accomplished in a single session. The issues are too complex, the problem is too significant to try to solve, or to come up with reasonable recommendations in just one meeting. So this summit will be the first of a series of meetings.

It will focus on five key objectives: understanding the causes of the global crisis, reviewing the effectiveness of our responses thus far, developing principles for reforming our financial and regulatory systems, launching a specific action plan to implement those principles, and reaffirming our conviction that free market principles offer the surest path to lasting prosperity. (Applause.)

First, we're working toward a common understanding of the causes behind the global crisis. Different countries will naturally bring different perspectives, but there are some points on which we can all agree:

Over the past decade, the world experienced a period of strong economic growth. Nations accumulated huge amounts of savings, and looked for safe places to invest them. Because of our attractive political, legal, and entrepreneurial climates, the United States and other developed nations received a large share of that money.

The massive inflow of foreign capital, combined with low interest rates, produced a period of easy credit. And that easy credit especially affected the housing market. Flush with cash, many lenders issued mortgages and many borrowers could not afford them. Financial institutions then purchased these loans, packaged them together, and converted them into complex securities designed to yield large returns. These securities were then purchased by investors and financial institutions in the United States and Europe and elsewhere -- often with little analysis of their true underlying value.

The financial crisis was ignited when booming housing markets began to decline. As home values dropped, many borrowers defaulted on their mortgages, and institutions holding securities backed by those mortgages suffered serious losses. Because of outdated regulatory structures and poor risk management practices, many financial institutions in America and Europe were too highly leveraged. When capital ran short, many faced severe financial jeopardy. This led to high-profile failures of financial institutions in America and Europe, led to contractions and widespread anxiety -- all of which contributed to sharp declines in the equity markets.

These developments have placed a heavy burden on hardworking people around the world. Stock market drops have eroded the value of retirement accounts and pension funds. The tightening of credit has made it harder for families to borrow money for cars or home improvements or education of the children. Businesses have found it harder to get loans to expand their operations and create jobs. Many nations have suffered job losses, and have serious concerns about the worsening economy. Developing nations have been hit hard as nervous investors have withdrawn their capital.

We are faced with the prospect of a global meltdown. And so we've responded with bold measures. I'm a market-oriented guy, but not when I'm faced with the prospect of a global meltdown. At Saturday's summit, we're going to review the effectiveness of our actions.

Here in the United States, we have taken unprecedented steps to boost liquidity, recapitalize financial institutions, guarantee most new debt issued by insured banks, and prevent the disorderly collapse of large, interconnected enterprises. These were historic actions taken necessary to make -- necessary so that the economy would not melt down and affect millions of our fellow citizens.

In Europe, governments are also purchasing equity in banks and providing government guarantees for loans. In Asia, nations like China and Japan and South Korea have lowered interest rates and have launched significant economic stimulus plans. In the Middle East, nations like Kuwait and the UAE have guaranteed deposits and opened up new government lending to banks.

In addition, nations around the world have taken unprecedented joint measures. Last month, a number of central banks carried out a coordinated interest rate cut. The Federal Reserve is extending needed liquidity to central banks around the world. The IMF and World Bank are working to ensure that developing nations can weather this crisis.

This crisis did not develop overnight, and it's not going to be solved overnight. But our actions are having an impact. Credit markets are beginning to thaw. Businesses are gaining access to essential short-term financing. A measure of stability is returning to financial systems here at home and around the world. It's going to require more time for these improvements to fully take hold, and there's going to be difficult days ahead. But the United States and our partner are taking the right steps to get through this crisis.

In addition to addressing the current crisis, we will also need to make broader reforms to strengthen the global economy over the long term. This weekend, leaders will establish principles for adapting our financial systems to the realities of the 21st century marketplace. We will discuss specific actions we can take to implement these principles. We will direct our finance ministers to work with other experts and report back to us with detailed recommendations on further reasonable actions.

One vital principle of reform is that our nations must make our financial markets more transparent. For example, we should consider improving accounting rules for securities, so that investors around the world can understand the true value of the assets they purchase.

Secondly, we must ensure that markets, firms, and financial products are properly regulated. For example, credit default swaps -- financial products that insure against potential losses -- should be processed through centralized clearinghouses instead of through unregulated, "over the counter" markets. By bringing greater stability to this large and important financial sector, we reduce the risk to our overall financial systems.

Third, we must enhance the integrity of our financial markets. For example, authorities in every nation should take a fresh look at the rules governing market manipulation and fraud -- and ensure that investors are properly protected.

Fourth, we must strengthen cooperation among the world's financial authorities. For example, leading nations should better coordinate national laws and regulations. We should also reform international financial institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank, which are based largely on the economic order of 1944. To better reflect the realities of today's global economy, both the IMF and World Bank should modernize their governance structures. They should consider extending greater voter -- voting power to dynamic developing nations, especially as they increase their contributions to these institutions. They should consider ways to streamline their executive boards, and make them more representative.

In addition to these important -- to these management changes, we should move forward with other reforms to make the IMF and World Bank more transparent, accountable, and effective. For example, the IMF should agree to work more closely with member countries to ensure that their exchange rate policies are market-oriented and fair. And the World Bank should ensure its development programs reflect the priorities of the people they are designed to serve -- and focus on measurable results.

All these steps require decisive actions from governments around the world. At the same time, we must recognize that government intervention is not a cure-all. For example, some blame the crisis on insufficient regulation of the American mortgage market. But many European countries had much more extensive regulations, and still experienced problems almost identical to our own.

History has shown that the greater threat to economic prosperity is not too little government involvement in the market, it is too much government involvement in the market. (Applause.) We saw this in the case of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Because these firms were chartered by the United States Congress, many believed they were backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government. Investors put huge amounts of money into Fannie and Freddie, which they used to build up irresponsibly large portfolios of mortgage-backed securities. And when the housing market declined, these securities, of course, plummeted in value. It took a taxpayer-funded rescue to keep Fannie and Freddie from collapsing in a way that would have devastated the global financial system. And there is a clear lesson: Our aim should not be more government -- it should be smarter government.

All this leads to the most important principle that should guide our work: While reforms in the financial sector are essential, the long-term solution to today's problems is sustained economic growth. And the surest path to that growth is free markets and free people. (Applause.)

This is a decisive moment for the global economy. In the wake of the financial crisis, voices from the left and right are equating the free enterprise system with greed and exploitation and failure. It's true this crisis included failures -- by lenders and borrowers and by financial firms and by governments and independent regulators. But the crisis was not a failure of the free market system. And the answer is not to try to reinvent that system. It is to fix the problems we face, make the reforms we need, and move forward with the free market principles that have delivered prosperity and hope to people all across the globe.

Like any other system designed by man, capitalism is not perfect. It can be subject to excesses and abuse. But it is by far the most efficient and just way of structuring an economy. At its most basic level, capitalism offers people the freedom to choose where they work and what they do, the opportunity to buy or sell products they want, and the dignity that comes with profiting from their talent and hard work. The free market system provides the incentives that lead to prosperity -- the incentive to work, to innovate, to save, to invest wisely, and to create jobs for others. And as millions of people pursue these incentives together, whole societies benefit.

Free market capitalism is far more than economic theory. It is the engine of social mobility -- the highway to the American Dream. It's what makes it possible for a husband and wife to start their own business, or a new immigrant to open a restaurant, or a single mom to go back to college and to build a better career. It is what allowed entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley to change the way the world sells products and searches for information. It's what transformed America from a rugged frontier to the greatest economic power in history -- a nation that gave the world the steamboat and the airplane, the computer and the CAT scan, the Internet and the iPod.

Ultimately, the best evidence for free market capitalism is its performance compared to other economic systems. Free markets allowed Japan, an island with few natural resources, to recover from war and grow into the world's second-largest economy. Free markets allowed South Korea to make itself into one of the most technologically advanced societies in the world. Free markets turned small areas like Singapore and Hong Kong and Taiwan into global economic players. Today, the success of the world's largest economies comes from their embrace of free markets.

Meanwhile, nations that have pursued other models have experienced devastating results. Soviet communism starved millions, bankrupted an empire, and collapsed as decisively as the Berlin Wall. Cuba, once known for its vast fields of cane, is now forced to ration sugar. And while Iran sits atop giant oil reserves, its people cannot put enough gasoline in its -- in their cars.

The record is unmistakable: If you seek economic growth, if you seek opportunity, if you seek social justice and human dignity, the free market system is the way to go. (Applause.) And it would be a terrible mistake to allow a few months of crisis to undermine 60 years of success.

Just as important as maintaining free markets within countries is maintaining the free movement of goods and services between countries. When nations open their markets to trade and investment, their businesses and farmers and workers find new buyers for their products. Consumers benefit from more choices and better prices. Entrepreneurs can get their ideas off the ground with funding from anywhere in the world. Thanks in large part to open markets, the volume of global trade today is nearly 30 times greater than it was six decades ago -- and some of the most dramatic gains have come in the developing world.

As President, I have seen the transformative power of trade up close. I've been to a Caterpillar factory in East Peoria, Illinois, where thousands of good-paying American jobs are supported by exports. I've walked the grounds of a trade fair in Ghana, where I met women who support their families by exporting handmade dresses and jewelry. I've spoken with a farmer in Guatemala who decided to grow high-value crops he could sell overseas -- and helped create more than 1,000 jobs.

Stories like these show why it is so important to keep markets open to trade and investment. This openness is especially urgent during times of economic strain. Shortly after the stock market crash in 1929, Congress passed the Smoot-Hawley tariff -- a protectionist measure designed to wall off America's economy from global competition. The result was not economic security. It was economic ruin. And leaders around the world must keep this example in mind, and reject the temptation of protectionism. (Applause.)

There are clear-cut ways for nations to demonstrate the commitment to open markets. The United States Congress has an immediate opportunity by approving free trade agreements with Colombia, Peru*, and South Korea. America and other wealthy nations must also ensure this crisis does not become an excuse to reverse our engagement with the developing world. And developing nations should continue policies that foster enterprise and investment. As well, all nations should pledge to conclude a framework this year that leads to a successful Doha agreement.

We're facing this challenge together and we're going to get through it together. The United States is determined to show the way back to economic growth and prosperity. I know some may question whether America's leadership in the global economy will continue. The world can be confident that it will, because our markets are flexible and we can rebound from setbacks. We saw that resilience in the 1940s, when America pulled itself out of Depression, marshaled a powerful army, and helped save the world from tyranny. We saw that resilience in the 1980s, when Americans overcame gas lines, turned stagflation into strong economic growth, and won the Cold War. We saw that resilience after September the 11th, 2001, when our nation recovered from a brutal attack, revitalized our shaken economy, and rallied the forces of freedom in the great ideological struggle of the 21st century.

The world will see the resilience of America once again. We will work with our partners to correct the problems in the global financial system. We will rebuild our economic strength. And we will continue to lead the world toward prosperity and peace.

Thanks for coming and God bless. (Applause.)

END 2:22 P.M. EST

*Panama

For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary November 13, 2008

Tags: President Bush and Financial Markets and World Economy