Bank execs vow to work with Obama on recovery plan

WASHINGTON – Top executives of the nation's biggest banks said Friday after meeting with President Barack Obama that they will work with the administration on its economic recovery plans, but want more specifics from the White House. In an interview with CBS News, Obama said his overarching message was this: "Show some restraint. Show that you get that this is a crisis and everybody has to make sacrifices. They agreed and they recognized it. Now, the proof in the pudding is in the eating."

Bankers said an administration proposal to jump-start lending, a problem at the heart of the industry's crisis, is encouraging.

"People are looking at that. It's positive," Morgan Stanley's John Mack told The Associated Press in an interview. "We think it's the right thing to do and now we just need to get the details."

The administration announced a program this week to help banks free themselves of so-called toxic assets. These investments have tied up capital and kept them from resuming more normal lending to consumers and businesses.

The plan calls for the administration to partner with private investors, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to buy as much as $1 trillion in toxic assets from banks. But one concern is whether private investors will participate and whether banks would be willing to sell the assets at the reduced prices they will be offered for them.

Bankers described a positive meeting and pledged to work with Obama on restoring the economy's health.

"We want to see the American recovery," said Robert Kelly, of Bank of New York Mellon Corp.

Obama invited chief executives from the 15 largest banks to the White House to discuss the economy and other issues.

Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase & Co., Vikram Pandit of Citigroup Inc., Ken Lewis of Bank of America Corp., John Stumpf of Wells Fargo & Co., John Koskinen of Freddie Mac and Kenneth Chenault of American Express Co., were among those who attended. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner met privately with the CEOs on Thursday night, and sat in on Friday's meeting.

Obama urged the CEOs to deal with their toxic assets. Obama and the executives also discussed the administration's plan to stem the rise in home foreclosures, its proposal for tighter regulation of the financial industry, executive compensation, the financial bailout program and the "importance of recognizing what the American public is going through in this economic crisis," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said.

Gibbs said Obama generally was pleased with the meeting. It lasted more than an hour.

"The president emphasized that Wall Street needs Main Street and Main Street needs Wall Street," Gibbs told reporters.

He said the president stressed "that he had no agenda beyond working to get a solution, the right solution for our financial system and to get it stabilized and working again for the American people."

The administration also has proposed tighter regulation of the financial system. That includes giving the government broad power to take over major financial institutions that are not banks, such as American International Group, the giant insurer whose collapse would threaten the entire system, administration officials have said.

AIG has received several infusions of federal bailout money, more than $170 billion in all, because the administration says its failure would have far-reaching and devastating consequences around the world.

Gibbs said "it's fair to say that they agreed on the need to update the framework of regulation."

Obama also has announced a program to help millions of homeowners refinance their mortgages to avoid foreclosure.

Friday's meeting capped a period marked by public outrage and Obama's sharp language over Wall Street business practices and $165 million in bonuses that financially struggling AIG paid to some employees.

Obama last week assailed AIG for "recklessness and greed" in its business practices, but he has since toned down his rhetoric. The administration needs industry cooperation for its economic plans to work.

Richard Davis, of U.S. Bancorp, said Obama raised issues that have fueled the public's outrage.

"He's not surprised by it. We reported back to him that we're not surprised either," Davis told the AP.

READ MORE - Bank execs vow to work with Obama on recovery plan

Road condition report for Colorado from CDOT

The following is an announcement from the Colorado Department of Transportation regarding road conditions on state highways:

Winter conditions are hitting the high country hard with chain laws in effect on most mountain passes. CDOT crews are out in full force throughout much of the state. The worst conditions exist along the I-70 corridor with icy, snowpacked and slushy conditions. (Updated road conditions listing)

The snow is picking up in the Denver metro area where most of the roads are currently wet and slushy in some areas. Motorists should be prepared for tough driving conditions across much of the state and are encouraged to call 511 or visit www.cotrip.org for up to date road and weather information.

The following closures are in place:
> US 6 over Loveland Pass as of approximately 2:50 a.m. on March 26th

> Eastbound I-70 at Glenwood Springs is closed due to accidents in the Canyon- closed at approximately 7:25 a.m. on March 26th

The following chain laws are currently in effect:

> Eastbound and westbound I-70 at Floyd Hill/Mount Vernon Canyon
> Eastbound and westbound I-70 at the Eisenhower Tunnel
> Eastbound and westbound I-70 over Vail Pass- Truckers without chains should not proceed past the Dotsero Exit 133 until the Vail Pass chain law has been lifted.
> Southbound SH 9 over Hoosier Pass
> US 24 over Tennessee Pass (Leadville)
> US 50 over Monarch Pass
> US 550 over Coal Bank Pass- all vehicles must have chains, snow tires or 4WD
> US 550 over Molas Pass- all vehicles must have chains, snow tires or 4WD
>US 550 over Red Mountain Pass- all vehicles must have chains, snow tires or 4WD
> SH 139 over Douglas Pass

There's also another unique timing with the storm. Due to budget issues, Denver City workers are expected to take a furlough day on Friday, this includes crews with public works. A spokesperson for the department says if the storm requires additional clean up on Friday, workers will stay on and will reschedule the furlough day.

READ MORE - Road condition report for Colorado from CDOT

Spiritual Entrepreneur Gives Creative Solution to Unemployment & Other Bad News

When we can learn to focus on bad news from a positive state of being, we can bring solutions like never before. We must transcend our problems to solve them. Learn how w/ The Value of Worry.

United States of America (Press Release) March 26, 2009 --

“Unemployment rates are going to get to 12%,”

This is a statement that was made on the news recently. When you have unemployment rates rising, mixed in with the bleak information the media gives us, it's no wonder that more and more people are worrying about losing their jobs.

A creative entrepreneur named Mr. Jared James has actually come up with a way for people to use worry to get what they want in Life.

“It's all about your State of Being as you watch the news,” Jared says.

We may already know this, but Jared likes to remind us that one of the only things we can control is our mind. “We can control what we think, even though many people like to let their brain run on auto pilot, based on what is already around them,” Jared explains.

What Jared is doing, and quite cleverly I might add, is using what people are doing (watching the news, reading the newspaper, etc.) and he is showing people how they can begin to feel at peace and actually feel joyful while watching these sobering stories in the news.

If you worry about losing your job and you fear unemployment, bankruptcy, and all of the other fear inducing things that we hear about on a daily basis, then you may be in luck.
source: FPR


Jared's theory is that since we can choose our thoughts and feelings, we can choose to be joyful, even while watching the news. Doing this, Jared says, “will allow you to bring forth solutions that you may have never seen or thought of before.”

Even spiritual teachers like Eckhart Tolle have talked about this.

This new wave of information is not only drawing a lot of attention, but is really changing people's lives. More and more people are now realizing their inner power and the truth in the words of spiritual teachers like Eckhart Tolle and Mr. Jared James. Through their simple teachings, the people in this country are beginning to awaken.

So if you find yourself worrying about the future of your family, and you continue to be fearful while watching or listening to the news regularly, you should really take a look at what this spiritual entrepreneur has created. Jared's teachings can really bring you the solutions you've been secretly seeking.

And, in closing, to quote Jared, “Use The News to Get What You Choose”

To learn more about The Value of Worry and to watch Jared explain it to you, simply go to his website at http://www.TheValueofWorry.com

READ MORE - Spiritual Entrepreneur Gives Creative Solution to Unemployment & Other Bad News

Obama to add US troops in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON – Concerned about the faltering war in Afghanistan, President Barack Obama plans to dispatch thousands more military and civilian trainers on top of the 17,000 fresh combat troops he's already ordered, people familiar with the forthcoming plan said Thursday.

Obama also will call for increasing aid to neighboring Pakistan as long as its leaders confront militants in the border region. The president plans to lay out his revamped strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan on Friday.

Several sources told The Associated Press the strategy includes 20 recommendations for countering a persistent insurgency that spans the two countries' border, including sending 4,000 military trainers to try to increase the size of the Afghan army.

"It is an integrated military-civilian strategy," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told reporters in Monterrey, Mexico. "We are convinced that the most critical underpinning of any success we hope to achieve, along with the people and government of Afghanistan, will be looking at where civilian trainers, aid workers, technical assistance of all kinds can be best utilized."

Clinton declined to go into details to avoid pre-empting Obama's announcement.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs also would not discuss specifics of the plan, but said Obama is beginning to discuss its findings with members of Congress and others. Obama's top military advisers briefed key lawmakers Thursday.

In broad terms, Obama will define U.S. objectives as eliminating the threat from al-Qaida to undermine or topple U.S.-backed elected governments or to launch attacks on the United States, its interests and allies, the sources said.

They described the recommendations on condition of anonymity because the final wording was not complete. The new plan identified al-Qaida as the target in a larger network of insurgents who threaten U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan, often from sanctuaries across the border in Pakistan.

The written outline of Obama's plan describes a "strategy for success," as opposed to an exit strategy, but the goal is the same: Stability on both sides of the border that would allow a reduction and eventual withdrawal of U.S. combat forces from Afghanistan. To do that, Obama proposes a greatly expanded commitment to improving and enlarging the Afghan army and Pakistan's frontier forces.

The additional 4,000 troops devoted to training and advising the Afghan armed forces would head to Afghanistan this spring and summer. They come on top of about 17,000 combat and support troops Obama wants in place by the end of the summer.

Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said the training group is needed because there aren't enough U.S. military advisers there now.

"We've got to increase the size," of the Afghan army more quickly than contemplated, said Levin, D-Mich. "The trainers are the key to that."

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said it seemed like a viable strategy as long as the manpower is there.

"I know we need more than the 17,000," he said.

As a candidate, Obama said the Afghan war should have been the U.S. priority all along, and that the Bush administration wrongly diverted U.S. attention and resources to the war in Iraq. As president, Obama has been under pressure to say how he plans to address the sharp increase in violence in Afghanistan while prodding anti-terrorism ally Pakistan to deal with the militant threat on its soil.

"I'm comfortable that key policy makers on all levels are not minimizing the difficulties and are not missing anything," said Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash. "What I'm less confident about is that there is a solution to this problem."

He added that Congress cannot shrink from a long-term commitment, including providing money.

A pillar of the strategy for Afghanistan will be greater engagement with local and provincial leaders, as opposed to a focus on the central government, according to officials familiar with the document.

Officials said there will be a directed campaign to focus attention on tribal and provincial leaders across the expansive country. With the bulk of the population living outside urban centers in small, far-flung villages, U.S. officials believe it will be more productive to build support, foster development and break down extremist ties district by district.

The plan will not abandon the central government in Kabul, said officials, but it will also not rely on bolstering efforts to govern from the capital.

Levin said the strategy will identify benchmarks to measure success in Afghanistan. "Uncertainty is not the kind of commitment they need to succeed."

The forthcoming White House review also says the U.S. will add hundreds of civilian advisers to those already in Afghanistan. The so-called civilian surge would concentrate on improving life for ordinary Afghans, and would include experts in agriculture in a country where subsistence farming is the norm. The civilians are also meant to help extend government services and the administration of justice.

The plan notes that the top U.S. general in Afghanistan still wants some 10,000 or 11,000 additional U.S. forces next year, but does not say whether Obama intends to fulfill that request now, sources said. That decision would come by the end of this year.

The plan also broaches dramatically increasing the size of Afghanistan's security forces. It calls for a study to determine the size of the police and military force capable of securing the country. Several defense officials said that could entail doubling the Afghan security force to almost 400,000. However, the strategy review does not recommend any specific figure.

In fact, the Obama strategy document deliberately avoids specific numbers and timelines, a senior defense official said. He said the intent is to set goals and a new direction, with specifics of implementation to be worked out in coming months.

The plan strongly backs legislation by Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Richard Lugar, R-Ind., that would triple humanitarian aid to $1.5 billion to Pakistan for five years. The bill had been proposed last year by now Vice President Joe Biden.

Kerry, who took over for Biden as chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, said he also supports placing conditions on military aid to Pakistan. Biden's original bill threatened to cut military funding for Islamabad unless the government did more to fight Taliban forces.

Kerry said he planned to introduce next week an updated version of the measure that would slightly increase the $1.5 billion.

READ MORE - Obama to add US troops in Afghanistan

Mississippi Tornados Leaves At Least 15 Injured

Two tornados touched down in Mississippi early Thursday morning, leaving at least 60 homes damaged, several buildings destroyed and at least 15 injured.

One tornado hit outside of Jackson in Magee, Mississippi around 4 a.m. while the other struck in Lauderdale County. Tress and power lines were down throughout the state.

Two people were airlifted to the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson. At least a dozen others were being treated at Magee General Hospital. No deaths have been reported.

Governor Haley Barbour has declared a state of emergency.

Magee Mayor Jimmy Clyde said Thursday he received no reports of any deaths from the early morning storm. He says search and rescue teams are still scouring heavily damaged neighborhoods.

Heavy fog hampered rescue teams as they tried to determine the extent of the damage. Thunderstorms rumbled across several Southeast states on Thursday, causing power outages, downing trees and producing scattered flooding.

Downed power lines and scraps of metal and fallen tree limbs littered roads and highways leading from the Mississippi town of Magee, prompting state transportation officials to warn motorists to stay off affected routes as rescue crews sought to reach any victims. The tornado struck on a day when a powerful series of thunderstorms rumbled across several Southeast states.

"We'd like to have some helicopters in the air pointing us in the right direction, but we can't do that until this fog lifts," state Public Safety Commissioner Steve Simpson said.

Other reports of downed trees, power lines and damaged homes came in across the Deep South, caused by the band of heavy thunderstorms and high winds moving across the region. In Louisiana, storms knocked out electricity to about 40,000 customers.

At least 60 homes suffered varying degrees of damage. Gunby said the nearby Corinth Baptist Church was destroyed: "Only the doors to its sanctuary were left standing."

Officials were concerned that the storms' timing could mean there are more injuries.

"Tornadoes are such powerful, fast storms and when they hit at this time of year at night when people are sleeping, people might not have been able to get to interior rooms, safe places or shelters fast enough," Gunby added. "So we are going to be watching out for that and I suspect we will be taking more people to hospitals today."

Members of the 100-year-old Corinth Baptist Church stepped around the rubble of the red brick building perched on a hilltop overlooking the pine forests of south-central Mississippi, consoling one another.

Others walked through a nearby cemetery littered with broken tree limbs and tombstones knocked to the ground. Shredded pieces of artificial flowers from the gravesites were strewn all about and a white church van was overturned nearby.

A tearful Maegan Errington, 23, said Thursday was her birthday and she was to be married in the church on Saturday. Church member Charlene Loyd, 58, hugged her and patted her on the back.

"Our church is still here, because our church is the people, but the building is gone," Loyd said.

Magee Mayor Jimmy Clyde told NBC's "Today" show that the town about 40 miles southeast of Jackson was in "dire straits."

"We have no power," he said. "Most of the roads into and out of our city are blocked. It damaged our water supply. We don't know the extent of the damage as of yet, because we're waiting for daylight."

Another reported tornado touched down in Mississippi's Lauderdale County on Wednesday night, heavily damaging nine homes and a business, but no injuries were reported, MEMA officials said.

High winds blew down trees overnight in central Alabama, damaging at least three homes in two counties, but no injuries were reported.

In Louisiana, power companies worked to restore electricity to thousands of customers after severe thunderstorms raked the state. There were some reports of damage to rooftops from high winds and flood roads after heavy amounts of rain fell in some areas in a short period. The National Weather Service also warned that tides pushed up by blustery winds would be higher than normal along the state's Gulf Coast.

READ MORE - Mississippi Tornados Leaves At Least 15 Injured

Kelly Clarkson on Oprah : Oprah Has Attitude Problem?

Pop sensation Kelly Clarkson appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show this week where she talked about how she has managed to remain a down-to-earth person.

It seemed Oprah Winfrey had a bit of an attitude problem when Kelly mentioned that some of her rescue dogs (she has 8 dogs)were left behind during Hurricane Katrina. She commented that she doesn't understand how people could have left their dogs behind.

Oprah quickly remarked "Well, some people had to" before attempting to change the subject. Kelly then said she could never do that to her dogs - which is something many dog owners agree with. When you own a dog, they become a part of your family - so leaving a dog behind in a storm is like leaving behind a family member.

Still, Oprah, who owns dogs as well, seemed agitated by Kelly's comment.

hahaha.... its funny comment's right?. but I love Kelly Clarkson forever....

yeah, you know why... because she perfect women.

READ MORE - Kelly Clarkson on Oprah : Oprah Has Attitude Problem?