SO, WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Good afternoon,

I need your help.

Earlier this year, I promised to speak at a high school's graduation somewhere in the United States. To be considered, we asked schools to tell us how they achieve three important criteria:

•Set a positive example for other high schools around the Country;
•Engage students in learning and foster personal responsibility and academic excellence; and
•Prepare students to graduate college to help meet my 2020 goal that America have the highest proportion of college graduates of any nation in the world.
We've narrowed down more than 1,000 entries to six finalists that each have a three-minute video and short essay you can review and rate. From now until Thursday, anyone can participate. Once the voting is over, I'll choose the winner from the top three.

Check out the six finalists:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/commencement

We're calling this process the Race to the Top Commencement Challenge, and it's just the beginning. I'm planning to speak at a high school graduation every year I'm in office to keep the focus on our commitment to our Nation's schools, and to motivate teachers, principals, and students to keep improving. And of course lifting up American education will take parents getting more involved in their child's education.

This is also an opportunity to discover and highlight schools like these six finalists: excellent examples of the kinds of effective approaches to teaching and learning that I know are happening around the country.

Let me know what you think of the choices:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/commencement

Thank you,
President Barack Obama

P.S. The deadline is Thursday at midnight EDT, so take a moment to give your input on these six deserving finalists:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/commencement







This email was sent to rtnsh_dwivedi@yahoo.com.


The White House • 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW • Washington, DC 20500 • 202-456-1111

RAMPING UP EARTH DAY

Good afternoon,

We’ve been celebrating Earth Day for 40 years now, but the truth is that tomorrow may be the first one when we are truly able to say that we have started down the road to a real clean energy economy -- and a better world for our kids.

Today I am kicking off the Administration’s celebration of Earth Day in advance by announcing $452 million in Recovery Act “Retrofit Ramp-Up” awards. These awards will help make energy efficiency affordable for hundreds of thousands of homeowners and businesses, and are expected to create tens of thousands of jobs in the process.

And this is just a tiny sliver of what we’ve done. As the President’s point man on the Recovery Act, which included America’s biggest investment ever in clean energy, I’ve visited countless communities that have seen jobs come back through these kinds of initiatives.

You can learn more about all our efforts at WhiteHouse.gov/EarthDay, and also join Carol Browner, Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change, for a special online video chat tomorrow at 12:00PM EDT at WhiteHouse.gov.



Of course Earth Day is about more than just government action to protect our air, water and environment. Since the first Earth Day forty years ago countless Americans have taken action to make their local communities cleaner and healthier and to have a positive impact on our planet.

This year, President Obama is calling on all of us to pitch in and participate in the Earth Day of Service. On Serve.gov/EarthDay you can find thousands of Earth Day Service events in communities across the country.

Whether you pick up trash at a local park, plant trees, or clean up the river or stream in your hometown, there are plenty of ways to get involved. I hope you’ll join President Obama and me in celebrating the 40th anniversary of Earth Day.

Sincerely,

Joe Biden

Vice President of the United States

This email was sent to rdx_5k2000@yahoo.com.


The White House • 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW • Washington, DC 20500 • 202-456-1111

DETECTING AL-QAEDA

AL QAEDA (“THE BASE”)

(Osama Bin Laden Network; the World Islamic Front for Jihad against Jews and Crusaders; Islamic Army for the Liberation of the Holy Places)
ORGANISATION AND LEADERSHIP

Until he is captured or confirmed killed, Osama bin Laden remains the symbolic leader of al Qaeda. Under him are the “shura al-majlis”; an advisory body made up of bin Laden’s lieutenants. His closest advisor is Ayman al-Zawahiri, an Egyptian physician who formerly led the Egyptian Islamic Jihad group. The fate of al-Zawahiri also remains unknown. A tape attributed to Zawahiri appeared on May 21, 2003, and several tapes purportedly made by bin Laden have surfaced since the war in Afghanistan.

Al Qaeda now functions on several different levels. First, there is the core leadership that developed around bin Laden and his lieutenants. The U.S.-led war in Afghanistan essentially dismantled this central hierarchy and at least temporarily hindered its ability to carry out attacks. The terrorist training camps were destroyed, thousands of fighters were captured or killed, and those that escaped were scattered. Subsequent U.S. intelligence successes, such as the March arrest of al Qaeda’s operational commander Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, have further pushed al Qaeda’s leadership to the brink of collapse. Still, new leaders may be emerging - Saif al-Adel, a weapons expert involved in the 1998 embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya, has apparently filled the role of operational chief in the wake of Mohammed’s arrest.

Another element of al Qaeda is comprised of increasingly autonomous terrorist cells scattered across the globe. These groups, essentially cut off from the core organization, are now attempting to coordinate attacks on their own. Some intelligence experts view the May 2003 bombings in Saudi Arabia and Morocco as an indication that al Qaeda’s hierarchy has reconstituted itself, but more likely it is a sign that local cells now have the means to carry out operations without the financial or logistical involvement of the leadership.

In addition to the core group and the independent cells, al Qaeda’s model of Jihad has now evolved into a global ideological movement. The British shoe-bomber Richard Reid is an example of this type – a sympathizer who has no actual connection with al Qaeda, but performs a small-level operation in its name. The bombers who carried out the Bali bombings in 2002 also cited al Qaeda as an inspiration, though no formal connections have been established.

Recent events indicate al Qaeda still poses a significant threat to the U.S. and its allies. For the time being it seems likely that cells of the group will attack so-called soft targets in the Middle East, North Africa, and perhaps central Asia. The New York Times reported on May 17, 2003 that al Qaeda’s had reestablished operational bases and recruitment efforts in Kenya, Sudan, Pakistan and Chechnya. The Saudi government believes there are still two or three cells still operating inside the kingdom.

There have been no attacks on U.S. soil since September 11, but al Qaeda appears to be persevering in its efforts. The New York Times quotes a U.S. intelligence official who says that six Arab men have been secretly arrested in the U.S. on suspicion that they were scouting new targets to hit. The chief worry remains that al Qaeda will somehow obtain weapons of mass destruction and strike a major blow within the U.S.

IDEOLOGY

Osama bin Laden and members of al Qaeda follow a fundamentalist form of Islam known as Wahhabism. Believers, who prefer the term Muwahhiduns or Salifis, adhere to a puritanical reading of the Koran and consider all other forms of Islam to be heretical. Wahhabism is the dominant sect on the Arabian Peninsula and its influence has steadily grown since the Saudi government began to fund Wahhabi schools, known as “madrassas”, in the late 1970’s. These schools were formed throughout the Islamic world, most extensively in Pakistan where they left their mark on the future leaders of the Taliban.

Wahhabism traces its roots to the mid-1700s and its founder, Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab. Wahhab had traveled throughout the Ottoman Empire and had concluded that the ruling Turks had corrupted Islam. He espoused an austere interpretation of the Koran that included restrictions on many practices common throughout the Islamic world. These practices included the use of music during worship, the commemoration of Muhammad’s birthday, and the ornamentation of Mosques. Wahhab allied his movement with an aspiring conqueror named Muhammad ibn Saud. This close alliance with the house of Saud remains to this day.

Al Qaeda demands an end to the U.S. military presence in Saudi Arabia because that country hosts many Muslim holy sites. It also condemns the United States for supporting Israel in the Palestinian conflict and wants to overthrow U.S.-supported regimes in the Middle East that it considers to be illegitimate (i.e. Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Algeria), and replace them with Islamic governments. Al Qaeda’s stated goal is to "unite all Muslims and to establish a government which follows the rule of the Caliphs." It is fiercely opposed to the followers of Shia Islam, though this is secondary to its antagonism to Jews and the West.

Al Qaeda’s targets in the 9/11 attacks were symbolically linked to what it perceives to be the three pillars of U.S. power that “oppress” the Islamic people of the Middle East: The Pentagon representing military power, the World Trade Center representing financial hegemony, and the failed attack on the U.S. Capitol, which represents American political power.

For a more complete statement of Al Qaeda's ideology and goals, see this 1998 Fatwa that bin Laden and other radicals issued which declares a jihad against “Jews and Crusaders”.


THE ACTIVITIES OF AL QAEDA

The Al Qaeda has a long history of terrorist activity which dates back to the early 1990s. Many of their earlier operations failed to achieve the desired effect; however, experience has enabled the organization to develop a more sophisticated approach.
• Thirty-four are killed in Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh when several bombs target compounds housing foreign nationals (May 12, 2003)
• Forty-one people are killed in a succession of bomb attacks in Casablanca, Morocco. The attackers are linked to Al Qaeda (May 16, 2003)
• Suicide bomber attacks U.S. consulate in Karachi. Fourteen Pakistanis are killed, several vehicles are destroyed, and embassy windows are shattered (September 5, 2002)
• Turkish citizen Osman Petmezci and his German-American girlfriend Astrid Eyzaguirre are arrested by German authorities for plotting bomb attacks against American military installations in Germany. Though not members of Al Qaeda, they claim inspiration from the terrorist organization (2002)
• American embassies in Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and Cambodia are closed after a plot is uncovered by U.S. intelligence. Indonesian group Jemaah Islamiah, affiliated with Al Qadea, is suspected of planning to bomb one or more of the embassies (September 11, 2002)
• A small boat carrying explosives crashes into the French oil tanker ‘Limburg’ in the port of Ash Shihir off the coast of Yemen. Al Qaeda is believed to be responsible for the attack that killed one crewmember (October 6, 2002)
• Two gunmen with suspected links to Al Qaeda attack a U.S. Marine unit on the island of Faliaka, near Kuwait City, killing Lance Cpl. Antonio J. Sledd. The gunmen are later killed after attempting a second attack (October 8, 2002)
• Nearly 200 people are killed by a pair of bombings at a nightclub in the Balinese resort town of Kuta. Several members of the Indonesian terrorist group Jemaah Islamiah, linked to Al Qaeda, are arrested for the attacks (October 12, 2002)
• Israeli-owned Paradise Hotel is bombed in Mombassa, Kenya, killing ten Kenyans and three Israelis. A statement from Al Qaeda claims responsibility for the attack, and also for an unsuccessful attack on an Israeli charter jet at the Mombassa airport (December 3, 2002)
• American Laurence Foley, an officer with the U.S. Agency for International Development, is assassinated in Amman Jordan. Al Qaeda members Salem Saad bin Suweid, a Libyan and Yasser Fathi Ibrahim, a Jordanian are later arrested (December 14, 2002)
• Suspected in September 11 plot to hijack planes and destroy the World Trade Center, Pentagon, and other unspecified targets (2001)
• Plotted an unsuccessful effort to attack U.S. and Israel tourists during millennial celebrations (2000)
• Implicated in bombings of U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania that killed over 300 (1998)
• Accused by the US of bomb attacks on American military personnel in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia (1996)
• Linked to unsuccessful plot to assassinate President Clinton in the Philippines (1995)
• Linked to unsuccessful plot to bomb multiple U.S. trans-Pacific flights (1995)
• Linked to unsuccessful plot to bomb U.S. and Israeli embassies in Manila (1994)
• Linked to unsuccessful plot to assassinate Pope John Paul II in Manila (1994)
• Claims to have downed U.S. helicopters and killed US servicemen in Somalia (1993)
• Attempted bombing of U.S. troops in Aden, Yemen (1992)

Written and Researched by Ratnesh Dwivedi in May 2009

FIGHTING NUCLEAR TERRORISM

Good morning,

I'm writing you from the largest gathering of world leaders that the United States has hosted since the founding of the United Nations 65 years ago. Forty-seven countries are joining forces at President Obama's Nuclear Security Summit to address the most daunting security threat of our time: nuclear terrorism.

Securing loose nuclear materials is a good example of some of the immediate challenges being discussed, but the focus is also on how we get to a place where the threat of nuclear weapons to humanity is eliminated altogether.
To go over the progress that's been made, President Obama will hold a press conference at 4:30 p.m. EDT that you can watch live on WhiteHouse.gov. But you don't need to wait until then: Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes will answer your questions in a live web chat at 1:00 p.m. EDT.

So tune in to http://www.WhiteHouse.gov/nuclear-security-summit later today for both the web chat and the press conference.

Three very important things have happened recently to make our Nation – indeed the world – a safer place.

Last week the Defense Department released the President's Nuclear Posture Review, laying out a vision to, as the President put it, "reduce the role of nuclear weapons in our national security strategy and focus on reducing the nuclear dangers of the 21st century, while sustaining a safe, secure and effective nuclear deterrent for the United States and our allies and partners as long as nuclear weapons exist."

Two days after that, President Obama and Russian President Medvedev signed the landmark New START Treaty, which requires the United States and Russia to reduce -- by 30 percent below the levels in a treaty signed in 2002 -- the number of nuclear warheads they have deployed on intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-based ballistic missiles, and bombers.

Then, beginning on Sunday of this week, the President engaged in a steady stream of bilateral meetings before personally welcoming every delegation last night and holding a working dinner. Today, the President is chairing plenary sessions all day long to work toward solid, consensus approaches to this issue.

It's been a very busy, but productive few weeks, and there is much to talk about. So bring your questions to the live chat and tune in after that for the press conference:

1:00 p.m. EDT: Web chat with Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes
4:30 p.m. EDT: Press Conference with President Barack Obama
Both will be live on: http://www.WhiteHouse.gov/nuclear-security-summit.
Thank you,

Denis McDonough
Chief of Staff, National Security Staff









This email was sent to rtnsh_dwivedi@yahoo.com.


The White House • 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW • Washington, DC 20500 • 202-456-1111

SOME ENCOURAGING NEWS IN TOUGH TIME

Good afternoon,

These have been very tough years for our country. Millions of our family members, friends and neighbors have lost their jobs in the great recession. Plummeting home values closed out what had already been a lost decade of stagnant wages and rising costs.

But today we got an encouraging sign of better times ahead. We learned that the economy is now actually producing a substantial number of jobs instead of losing them -- there were 162,000 new jobs created in March, the most positive jobs report we have had in three years.

One community where we've seen these glimmers of hope is Charlotte, North Carolina, where the President spoke today. An advanced battery company, one of those industries at the forefront of the emerging clean energy economy, has also been at the forefront of our recovery in no small thanks to a boost from the Recovery Act. We had a chance to check it out a few days before the President headed down. Watch a quick video to get a sense of what hope looks like for our economy:

Pulling America back from what many experts warned could be another Great Depression and putting us on a course towards new jobs and new industries has been the President's top priority since Day 1. That's why he made signing the Recovery Act his first task when he came into office. Two million more Americans are on the job today because of the Recovery Act, and we have broken the back of the worst recession in a generation.

We are gratified for that. But we are not satisfied. Not by a long shot.

We know we have a lot of work in front of us to repair the damage and rebuild our economy. We also know that there will be some additional bumps in the road ahead.

But today's news is a positive sign post along that road.

And I want you to know that the President and all of us in the Administration will continue to work day and night to pursue a recovery that strengthens the middle class and reaches all our communities and lays a lasting foundation for a better future.

Sincerely,

David Axelrod
Senior Advisor to the President


This email was sent to rtnsh_dwivedi@yahoo.com

The White House • 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW • Washington, DC 20500 • 202-456-1111