Barack Obama

Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii to Barack Obama, Sr. (born in Nyanza Province, Kenya) and Ann Dunham (born in Wichita, Kansas). Barack Hussein Obama (born August 4, 1961) is the junior United States Senator from Illinois and a member of the Democratic Party.

Obama grew up in culturally diverse surroundings. He spent most of his childhood in the majority-minority U.S. state of Hawaii and lived for four years in Indonesia. Obama delivered the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention while still an Illinois state legislator. Since announcing his candidacy in February 2007, Obama has emphasized ending the Iraq War and implementing universal health care as campaign themes.

As a member of the Democratic minority in the 109th Congress, Obama co-sponsored the enactment of conventional weapons control and transparency legislation, and made official trips to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Obama's parents separated when he was two years old and later divorced. His father went to Harvard University to pursue Ph.D. studies, then returned to Kenya, where he died in an auto accident when the younger Obama was twenty-one years old.

[1]Iraq Wiretap Delay Not Quite as Presented

Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell told Congress last week that a May wiretap that targeted Iraqi insurgents was delayed for 12 hours by attempts to comply with onerous surveillance laws, which slowed an effort to locate three U.S. soldiers who had been captured south of Baghdad.

link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/28/AR2007092801858.html?nav=rss_print/asection

Dan Eggen Sat, 29 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EDT

[1] <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/28/AR2007092801858.html?nav=rss_print/asection>

In early May 2007, the U.S. Secret Service announced that Obama had been placed under their protection.

"President Bush signs the "Coburn-Obama" Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006. In Dreams from My Father, he ties his maternal family history to possible Native American ancestors and distant relatives of Jefferson Davis, president of the southern Confederacy during the American Civil War. His parents met while both were attending the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where his father was enrolled as a foreign student. President Bush signed the Secure Fence Act into law in October 2006, calling it "an important step toward immigration reform. Obama left for his third official trip in August 2006, traveling to South Africa and Kenya, and making stops in Djibouti, Ethiopia and Chad. Ehrenstein says these films are popular because they offer U.S. audiences a comfort for "white guilt. In December 2006, Obama spoke at a New Hampshire event celebrating Democratic Party midterm election victories in the first-in-the-nation U.S. presidential primary state.

Former presidential candidate Gary Hart describes the book as Obama's "thesis submission" for the U.S. presidency: "It presents a man of relative youth yet maturity, a wise observer of the human condition, a figure who possesses perseverance and writing skills that have flashes of grandeur.

Through the fall of 2006, Obama had spoken at political events across the country in support of Democratic candidates for the midterm elections.

" At the Save Darfur rally in April 2006, he called for more assertive action to oppose genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan. He flew his wife and two daughters from Chicago to join him in a visit to his father's birthplace, a village near Kisumu in rural western Kenya. Asked to name a "hidden talent," Obama answered: "I'm a pretty good poker player. " The audio book edition earned Obama the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album. But I've got news for them too. In early May 2007, the U.S. Secret Service announced that Obama had been placed under their protection.