Secretary Rice says Obama deserves 'our silence'

Former secretary of State Condoleezza Rice tells NBC-TV's Jay Leno "My view is we got to do it our way; we did our best. We did some things well, some things not so well. Now, they get their chance. And I agree with the president. We owe them our loyalty and our silence while they do it. Because I know what it's like to have people chirping at you when they perhaps don't know what's going on inside. These are quality people. I know them. They love the country. And they won't make the same decisions, perhaps, that we did. But I believe they'll do what they think is best for the country and I'll give my advice privately and keep it to myself."


Native American tribal issues to be a priority for Pres. Obama

"Barack has pledged to honor the unique government-to-government relationship between tribes and the federal government," she said. The new senior staffer "will be tasked to work with tribes (on) issues such as sovereignty, health care (and) education — all central to the well-being of Native American families and the prosperity of tribes all across this country."


Pliot Hailed As Hero of US Air Crash Landing

Federal investigators will be working through the remains of the US Airways Airbus A320, which is tethered to a pier in Manhattan. Both engines are believed to have been disabled by a flock of birds. The pilot has been hailed as a hero after his smooth landing enabled all 155 passengers and crew to be rescued. Captain Chesley Sullenberger was praised by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg for his "masterful" landing.


Ex-Oakland transit officer is arrested in Nevada

A white former transit police officer accused of killing an unarmed black man on an Oakland train platform has been arrested on a murder warrant in Nevada, 12 days after the shooting, which sparked violent street protests. Johannes Mehserle, 27, was in custody Tuesday evening under a fugitive warrant issued from California, law enforcement officials said.


Prince and the New Resolutions: 3 Albums in 2009

Prince says he is releasing three albums—likely through an exclusive deal with a major retailer—in 2009, including an electro-pop effort tentatively titled MPLSOUND and Lotus Flower, tracks from which were featured on L.A. indie station 103.1 FM this year. He has been experimenting with "new ways of recording," the quirky Purple One told the Los Angeles Times in a recent interview. Prince said, he didn't cast a ballot for Barack Obama, because of his religion (he doesnt vote).


Music industry drops effort to sue song swappers

The group representing the U.S. recording industry said it has abandoned its policy of suing people for sharing songs protected by copyright and will work with Internet service providers to cut abusers' access if they ignore repeated warnings.


Obama named 'Person of the Year'

Time magazine has given its annual Person of the Year award to US President-elect Barack Obama. Mr Obama was awarded the title "for having the confidence to sketch an ambitious future in a gloomy hour," said the US-based magazine.


Obamas & Bidens to Arrive By Train to Kick-Off Inauguration Weekend

The Obama’s will start the inaugural weekend with an event in Philadelphia. They will then travel by train and pick up Vice President-elect Biden and his family in Wilmington, Delaware – hometown to the Biden family. The families will travel together via train to Baltimore where they will have a whistle stop event and then proceed onward to Washington D.C. for the weekend's festivities leading up to Inauguration Day on the 20th.


Lisa Jackson in line to be first black EPA chief

Lisa Jackson is in line to become the first African-American to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. President-elect Barack Obama intends to announce Jackson as EPA administrator in the coming weeks, barring unforeseen circumstances that derail his plans, according to Democratic officials close to the transition.


4 days of inaugural events feature day of service

President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration will be a four-day affair, replete with the traditional balls but also featuring service projects to honor Martin Luther King's holiday, aides said Wednesday. The events are expected to draw millions of visitors to Washington to witness the swearing-in of the country's first black president. The preliminary schedule also includes a national prayer service the day after Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden take office on Jan. 20.


Governor 'tried Obama seat sale'

US prosecutors have charged Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich with trying to sell the Senate seat left vacant by President-elect Barack Obama. FBI investigators said telephone intercepts showed he was trying to sell or trade the seat for personal benefit. Prosecutors said Mr Obama, who is not close to Mr Blagojevich, was not involved in the alleged wrongdoing.


The Most Stolen Cars in the U.S.

The 2007 Cadillac Escalade ESV, a full-size luxury SUV, has the highest theft-claim frequency of any vehicle by a long shot. It's 15 times more likely to end up in the hands of thieves than the least-stolen car, the luxurious Mercedes E Class sedan, according to the theft-claim frequency report for 2005-07 model year cars, SUVs and light trucks, produced by the Highway Loss Data Institute (an affiliate of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety). The E Class, Buick Rainer and Subaru Forester have the lowest theft-claim frequency reports.


Black Businessman offers splashy inauguration package — for free

Virginia businessman Earl Stafford has spent $1 million to give hundreds of poverty-stricken and terminally ill Americans, along with wounded men and women in uniform, an inauguration experience that would ordinarily run each of them thousands of dollars or more.

The 60-year-old black businessman has one of the splashiest inauguration packages out there - including high-end hotel rooms and luxury suites, food and drink, a (heated) viewing spot right above the parade route, even gowns and tuxedos to wear to celebratory balls, and a beautician to help you get ready for it - is going for the most eye-popping price of all: absolutely nothing.


Oprah filming in DC for inauguration week

The talk show host told Access Hollywood that she will tape her inauguration week shows in the nation’s capital, and has rented the Kennedy Center’s lush Opera House – which seats roughly 2,300 — to serve as her studio for the week. “There are not even words to talk about what this night means,” Oprah told Access Hollywood that night. “Everybody keeps using the word historic — there’s never been a night like this on the planet earth… Nothing can compare to this.”


Obama names Richardson to head Commerce Department

President-elect Barack Obama named New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson as commerce secretary on Wednesday, filling a top economic post in troubled times and placing a second former campaign rival in his new Cabinet. Talking optimistically despite the recession, Obama also said, "We have everything we need to renew our economy, we have the ingenuity and technology, the skill and commitment - we just need to put it to work."


(Hatian Born) Canada head weighs crisis options

Canada's governor general, Michaelle Jean, has cut short a trip to Europe to deal with a growing political crisis. Opposition parties have united in a bid to topple the minority conservative government of Stephen Harper less than two months since a general election. "The prime minister and myself need to have a conversation... I have to see what the prime minister has to say to me and what he is actually thinking of doing." Ms Jean told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.


Ala. county sets 'Barack Obama Day' as new holiday

A small central Alabama county has created an annual holiday in honor of the president-elect. The Perry County Commission voted 4 to 1 to observe the second Monday in November as "The Barack Obama Day." County offices will close and its roughly 40 workers will get a paid holiday.


Obama Popular Vote Margin Largest Ever for Non-Incumbent: site 538

President-Elect Obama has received at least 68,724,397 popular votes for the Presidency. It's "at least" because they're still counting in California and several other states, and so Obama's total should wind up comfortably over 69 million. This total represents 22.62 percent of the population. The victory margin from November 4th now stands at 9,124,522 votes.


Clinton named secretary of state, Susan Rice Name UN Ambassador

US President-elect Barack Obama has nominated his former rival Hillary Clinton as his secretary of state. Mr Obama described the former first lady as a woman of "tremendous stature" who had his "complete confidence". Mr Obama said the time had come for a "new dawn of American leadership to overcome the challenges of the 21st century, and to seize the opportunities embedded in those challenges".


NYC bridge renamed for Robert F. Kennedy

Several generations of Robert F. Kennedy's family have gathered for a ceremony renaming New York City's Triborough Bridge in honor of the slain senator and U.S. attorney general. The bridge will be the first major public work dedicated to Kennedy in the state he represented from 1965 to 1968. It is a complex of three spans that connect Manhattan, the Bronx and Queens.


Prostitute to wife of former NY gov.: `I'm sorry'

The prostitute at the center of the scandal that brought down former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer has apologized to his wife. Ashley Alexandra Dupre tells People magazine she was stricken by the pained expression on Silda Wall Spitzer's face on March 12 as the governor left office. Her message: "I'm sorry for your pain."


Obama's Rise Forces Brazil to Look At Racial Divide

Barack Obama's rise to power in the United States has exposed cracks in Brazil's self-image as a racially integrated society. With almost half the population considered black, Brazilians often boast that their country is a more harmonious melting pot than the United States. But analysts say that is only because blacks in Brazil have never posed a threat to the dominance of the white elite in politics and business. Brazil was the last country in the Americas to abolish slavery in 1888 and is home to the largest black population outside of Africa.


SC priest: No communion for Obama supporters

A South Carolina Roman Catholic priest has told his parishioners that they should refrain from receiving Holy Communion if they voted for Barack Obama because the Democratic president-elect supports abortion, and supporting him "constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil." The Rev. Jay Scott Newman said in a letter distributed Sunday to parishioners at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Greenville that they are putting their souls at risk if they take Holy Communion before doing penance for their vote.


Secret Service Releases Code Names

The new First Family has been issued code names by the Secret Service. Barack Obama's is "Renegade," Michelle Obama's is "Renaissance," Malia Obama's is "Radiance," and Sasha Obama's is "Rosebud." Joe and Jill Biden also received code names, though it's tough to top "Renegade" and "Renaissance." Joe Biden's is "Celtic," and Jill Biden's is "Capri."


Obama Wins Omaha, NE Electoral Vote; Final Tally Looks to be 365-173

The Omaha World-Herald and several other news organizations have called Nebraska's Second Congressional District, which incorporates Omaha and some of its suburbs and exurbs, for President-Elect Barack Obama. This brings Obama's haul from Tuesday evening to 365 electoral votes, a similar total to the 370 that Bill Clinton won en route to his first term in 1992. Obama's victory, however, might have more symbolic power than Clinton's because of the success that he has had in flipping formerly ruby-red territories like Indiana, North Carolina and Omaha, Nebraska over to the blue team.


Ahmadinejad offers congratulations to Obama

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has congratulated Barak Obama on his election win — the first time an Iranian leader has offered such wishes to a U.S. president-elect since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Ahmadinejad sent a message to Obama in which he congratulated the Democrat on "attracting the majority of voters in the election."


Much of the World Applauds Obama

From Kenya to Britain, Indonesia to Korea, Many People See Signs of Hope. "I applaud the American people for their courage and the great morality that they showed," Afghan President Hamid Karzai said. French President Nicolas Sarkozy was even more glowing in a letter to Obama: "In choosing you, the American people have chosen the path of change, openness and optimism. Your election raises immense hope in France, Europe and beyond: the hope of an open America." Nelson Mandela, as qualified as he is complimentary in his comments, gushed, "Your victory has demonstrated that no person anywhere in the world should not dare to dream of wanting to change the world for a better place."


Kenya declares holiday for Obama

Kenya has declared Thursday a public holiday to celebrate the election of Barack Obama to the US presidency. Mr Obama's father was from Kenya and his victory has prompted jubilation across the country. "We the Kenyan people are immensely proud of your Kenyan roots," President Mwai Kibaki said. Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first black president, welcomed Mr Obama's victory as a sign of hope for everyone. "Your victory has demonstrated that no person anywhere in the world should not dare to dream of wanting to change the world for a better place," he said in a letter of congratulations.


Former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan

Almost three years after stepping down as chairman of the Federal Reserve, a humbled, 82 yr old, Alan Greenspan admitted that he had put too much faith in the self-correcting power of free markets and had failed to anticipate the self-destructive power of wanton mortgage lending. “Those of us who have looked to the self-interest of lending institutions to protect shareholders’ equity, myself included, are in a state of shocked disbelief,” he told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.


Black buying power to reach $1.1 trillion by 2012

A new report from Packaged Facts, “The African American Market in the U.S.,” forecasts that the buying power of 39 million Blacks will hit $1.1 trillion by 2012. According to the report, there are 2.4 million affluent Black households with incomes of $75,000 or more. This group accounts for 17 percent of all Black households, but 45 percent of total Black buying power.