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July 2009

Niagara Falls says 'no' to world publicity contest (AP)

Wed, 07/22/2009 - 05:54 — admin

NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. – Niagara Falls will not be among the "New 7 Wonders of Nature."
It's not even a finalist in the global polling under way to choose them.
Tourism officials on the U.S. side of the Falls said they passed on the opportunity because of worries their cash-strapped community might be on the hook for costly promotional activities.
Swiss organizers of the contest announced the 28 finalists Tuesday. Among them are the Grand Canyon, Amazon rain forest, Dead Sea and Ecuador's Galapagos Islands. People can vote for the final seven by Internet or phone and the winners will be announced in 2011.
Canadian tourism officials had formed the required supporting committee to make Niagara Falls eligible for the poll by the nonprofit New 7 Wonders organization, but without American support the bi-national attraction was taken out of the running.
"There was a great deal of concern that the resources that were being asked, and not in a very direct manner, would be more than our challenged economy could bear," said Kate Scaglione, spokeswoman for the Niagara Tourism and Convention Center.
"It's not made quite clear, if you're selected, what you're going to be required to do," said Scaglione, who said the decision not to participate was made in consultation with Mayor Paul Dyster's office. The top seven winners are required to participate in a documentary, world tour and other events, she said.
Reached Tuesday in Zurich, a spokeswoman for New 7 Wonders said the financial concerns were unfounded. The only upfront cost is an administrative fee of $199, Tia Viering said, and sponsors pay any other expenses.
"If we are going to do a world tour, which is in the plan, and visit each of the 28 finalists, yes we would expect part of the cost to be covered, and that is easily done usually with sponsors," Viering said. "We get lots of calls, companies interested in a place to support their local nominee. This is kind of a no-brainer. Every single site out there is marketing itself anyway."
She said New 7 Wonders' research has found that participating in one of its campaigns, like one that determined the seven manmade wonders in 2007, can generate about $5 billion in tourism revenue for the sites themselves.
The idea, according to the organization, is to promote cultural diversity by supporting, preserving and restoring monuments and natural sites.
"Global awareness rises so much that it's almost unquantifiable," Viering said, adding the program is "trying to reach people who may be not aware of whether it's Niagara Falls or Halong Bay (Vietnam) or the Masurian Lake District in Poland. We're trying to expand people's horizons."
John Percy, who leads the Niagara Falls tourism bureau, said Niagara Falls doesn't need a poll to get attention as a natural wonder.
"We have a brand that stands out on its own," he said.
Victor Ferraiuolo, interim administrator of Niagara Falls Tourism in Ontario, said he was fine with the U.S. decision to pass on the polling. Although Canada took steps to participate, there was no pressure to get the U.S. to do the same, he said.
"We've had decades of visitors come to the area and spread (by) word-of-mouth the kind of experience they've had here," he said.
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On the Net:

Full list of the finalists on: http://www.new7wonders.com/

Friends Opt Out Of Couple's Spouse-Swapping Parties (Dear Abby)

Wed, 07/22/2009 - 05:54 — admin

DEAR ABBY: Our friends "Andy" and "Corinne" live out of state in Michigan. We visit them about twice a year. Our visits are planned weeks in advance. The last three times, on Saturday night they hosted a "swingers party."

The first time it happened we thought it was a joke, until the guests -- after "tossing back a few" -- started picking partners. We saw them begin to caress one another, then start going into other rooms and outside. One of the attendees came on to my wife. We informed him we're not swingers. His response? He told us it was OK to "watch" the first time or two.

Abby, we're not prudes, but we feel uncomfortable visiting these friends. We now return to our bedroom when the swingers arrive. In contrast, when Andy and Corinne come to visit us in Tennessee, we have dinner, play cards and go to church on Sunday.

We have spoken to them about this. They tell us they "keep their relationship fresh" this way. We don't want to lose them as friends, but we don't know what to do. Can you help? -- SATISFIED WITH EACH OTHER

DEAR SATISFIED: I'll try. Because you like Andy and Corinne every other day of the week when you visit them, schedule an outside activity -- dinner and a movie, a play -- anything that will get you out of their den of iniquity on Saturday night. Either that, or leave for home on Friday.

DEAR ABBY: After 13 years of marriage, my wife has stopped wearing her wedding rings. First she said her fingers had shrunk and her rings kept falling off. Then she claimed that the "golf club had bent them." Now she refuses to wear them out of spite because I told her the rings are a sign of commitment, and I feel she's "advertising" that she's not married.

Am I reading too much into this? In many ways she is still a dutiful wife, but this ring thing is becoming an issue. Any pearls of wisdom? -- FEELING INSECURE IN MIDWAY, GA.

DEAR FEELING INSECURE: Your problem isn't the "ring thing." It's that your wife is lying to you and acting out of spite. It is very important that you quickly get to the root of what's really bothering her because the rings are only a symptom of an underlying problem.

DEAR ABBY: My wife leaves knives lying around our house -- and not just on countertops. She also leaves the dishwasher wide open and then goes to take a shower.

We have a 4-year-old son who is curious about everything. I have tried to no avail to get her to understand that what she's doing is dangerous, but it turns into a fight, or she says I'm scolding her and treating her like a child.

Please help. I don't want anything to happen to our son, and I can't seem to get my wife to pay attention. -- WORRIED SICK, RICHMOND, VA.

DEAR WORRIED SICK: She may be careless, or she may have some kind of disorder. Your wife really should be evaluated to determine what's going on. If she resists the suggestion, please remind her that if her child is hurt by a sharp object left lying around or within his reach, he will probably need to be taken to the emergency room. And the doctors there will be required to report his injury to the authorities -- even if it doesn't kill him or maim him for life.

Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Write Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

Abby shares more than 100 of her favorite recipes in two booklets: "Abby's Favorite Recipes" and "More Favorite Recipes by Dear Abby." Send a business-size, self-addressed envelope, plus check or money order for $12 (U.S. funds)

to: Dear Abby -- Cookbooklet Set, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447. (Postage is included in price.)

New ambush near world's largest gold mine; 2 dead (AP)

Wed, 07/22/2009 - 05:42 — admin

JAKARTA, Indonesia – Gunmen opened fire Wednesday on buses carrying employees of U.S. mining company Freeport in Indonesia's impoverished Papua province, killing two people in the latest attack on the world's largest gold mine, witnesses and the state news agency said.
The state news agency Antara reported two dead, but it did not identify the victims or say if they were shot.
An Associated Press reporter was told by a policeman who witnessed the shooting that a police vehicle escorting the convoy flipped. He declined to be named because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
Several injured officers were taken to a local clinic, the AP reporter said, one of them in critical condition. Two body bags were later seen being removed. The police officer did not think any Freeport employees had been hurt.
Since July 11, at least a dozen people have been killed or wounded in ambushes along a road leading to the mine, prompting a massive security operation in the militarized zone that is off limits to foreign journalists.
Freeport declined comment, referring inquiries to police who did not return phone calls.
Arizona-based Freeport has been targeted with arson, roadside bombs and blockades since production began in the 1970s during the U.S.-backed Suharto dictatorship.
Freeport CEO Richard Adkerson said Tuesday that 15 arrests had been made in connection with the shootings in which a Freeport guard, an Australian mining expert and a policeman died. He said six people had been charged, including a man who apparently acknowledged being a sniper.
"We have been assured from the highest levels of government in Indonesia they are committed to provide safety for our people and for our operations," Adkerson said in a conference call detailing their latest earnings.
Freeport staff were ordered to stop traveling the road last week, and hundreds have been unable to return to work. The buses were turned back when the firing began, Antara reported.
A PT Freeport spokesman in Indonesia, Mindo Pangaribuan, said early Wednesday morning that "secure transportations have been arranged to transport personnel and deliver supplies."
Papua is home to a four-decade-old, low-level insurgency against the government, and members of the Free Papua Movement — who see Freeport as a symbol of outside rule — were initially blamed by authorities for the latest violence.
Some analysts, however, believe the shootings resulted from a rivalry between the police and military over multimillion dollar illegal gold mining or protection businesses at the mine. Others blame criminal gangs.
The shootings were the worst violence at Freeport since the killing of three schoolteachers, including two Americans, in August 2002 that sparked widespread protests by locals who feel they are not benefiting from the depletion of Papua's natural resources.
Freeport employs about 20,000 people in Papua, where it has extracted billions of dollars worth of gold and copper and still has some of the largest reserves in the world. Freeport is one of the top taxpayers to the Indonesian government, which is also a minority stake holder.
Papua, a desperately poor mountain province, lies on the western half of New Guinea island, some 2,100 miles (3,400 kilometers) east of the capital, Jakarta.

'Apprentice' winner: Would consider lt. gov. gig (AP)

Wed, 07/22/2009 - 05:36 — admin

TRENTON, N.J. – Reality TV star Randal Pinkett says he'll consider running for lieutenant governor in New Jersey if — and when — an offer is made.
The season 4 "Apprentice" winner tells The Associated Press he's met with Gov. Jon Corzine, but the governor has not asked him to be his running mate.
Pinkett is an African-American businessman who co-chaired Newark Mayor Cory Booker's transition team.
Corzine reportedly backed off Pinkett after the choice received negative reaction from some Democrats and newspaper editorial pages.
Corzine must make his lieutenant governor selection by Monday.
Republican Chris Christie has picked Monmouth County Sheriff Kim Guadagno (gwah-DAHN'-oh) as his running mate.

Nigerian rebels free six foreign tanker crew (AFP)

Wed, 07/22/2009 - 05:15 — admin

LAGOS (AFP) –
Nigerian militants have freed six foreign crew members of a chemical tanker seized more than two weeks ago in the restive Niger Delta, the rebels and the ship's owners said Wednesday.

"All the six hostages comprising of three Russians, two Filipinos and one Indian were released at the same time last night to agents of their employers," the main armed group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), said in an email.

The Oslo-based operators of the Singapore-flagged "Sichem Peace", the vessel from which the crew were taken hostage in early July, said in a statement that the men were safe.

"The seafarers ... will proceed to Lagos where they will receive full medical checks before flying back to their respective countries and homes," EMS Ship Management said.

Obama may have to wait for health care passage (AP)

Wed, 07/22/2009 - 05:06 — admin

WASHINGTON – After more than a week of tirelessly pressuring Congress to move his top domestic priority, President Barack Obama may have to settle for a fallback strategy on health care overhaul.
Instead of votes in the House and Senate by August, the best Democrats may be able to hope for this summer is action by the full House by the end of the month and some sort of agreement on a bipartisan plan in the Senate before lawmakers head home for vacation.
Not only are Republicans honing their opposition, but some Democrats in both chambers are voicing doubts about moving such complex and costly legislation too quickly.
"No one wants to tell the speaker (Nancy Pelosi) that she's moving too fast and they damn sure don't want to tell the president," Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., a key committee chairman, told a fellow lawmaker as the two walked into a closed-door meeting Tuesday. The remark was overheard by reporters.
Obama has scheduled a prime-time news conference Wednesday, expected to focus on health care. It's turning into a major test of his leadership. One Republican senator says if the party can stop Obama on health care, it will break him.
In an interview with CBS News on Tuesday, the president insisted on action by lawmakers, even as he conceded some of the criticism was valid. Referring to objections from a group of conservative Democrats in the House, Obama said, "I think, rightly, a number of these so called Blue Dog Democrats — more conservative Democrats — were concerned that not enough had been done on reducing costs."
Obama said those issues can be addressed as the legislation keeps moving forward. Congress has already spent years studying and debating the problems in the health care system, he said.
Meanwhile, a conservative South Carolina Republican, Sen. Jim DeMint, refused Wednesday to back away from his earlier assertion that the health care overhaul will prove to be Obama's "Waterloo."
Interviewed on NBC's "Today" show, DeMint said the statement was "not personal." But he also said someone must "put the brakes on" Obama, accusing the president of engaging in "a spending spree."
DeMint said he agrees that health care changes are needed but that it would be a mistake to push through such complex legislation before the August congressional recess, as Obama has demanded.
House Democrats put their divisions on display over the details and timing of health care legislation Tuesday. The Democratic leadership juggled complaints from conservatives demanding additional cost savings, first-term lawmakers upset with proposed tax increases and objections from members of the rank-and-file opposed to allowing the government to sell insurance in competition with private industry.
Pelosi, D-Calif., vowed weeks ago that the House would vote by the end of July on legislation to meet two goals established by Obama. The president wants to extend health coverage to the tens of millions who now lack it, and at the same time restrain the growth in health care costs far into the future. The upfront costs, however, could reach $1 trillion to $1.5 trillion over 10 years.
The president also has vowed that the legislation will not swell the deficit, although a senior administration official told reporters Tuesday that the pledge does not apply to an estimated $245 billion to increase fees for doctors serving Medicare patients over the next decade.
Peter Orszag, the White House budget director, said that was because the administration always assumed the money would be spent to avert a scheduled cut of 21 percent in doctor's fees.
At the White House, Obama and moderate and conservative Democrats verbally agreed on a council of experts to find savings in Medicare, coupled with a mechanism to force Congress to act on the recommendations. The cost curbs may help woo some of the conservatives.
In the Senate, a small, bipartisan group of lawmakers on the Senate Finance Committee met behind closed doors, pursuing an elusive agreement. The negotiations, led by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., have taken on new urgency. But it's unclear whether they will produce a breakthrough — or peter out in frustration.
Obama has spoken in public nearly every day for more than a week on health care, some times more than once. At the same time Republicans have upped the political stakes.
On Monday, Michael Steele, the Republican Party chairman, likened Obama's proposals on health care to socialism, and said the chief executive wanted to conduct a "risky experiment" that will damage the nation's economy and force millions to lose the coverage they now have.

Last week, DeMint was quoted as telling fellow conservatives: "If we're able to stop Obama on this, it will be his Waterloo. It will break him."

Given the struggle, the polls show slippage for Obama, although he remains popular. The president is battling the impression if not the reality that his proposal is stalled. In the CBS interview, Obama recognized that perception.

"There have been so many times, during my political career ... where people have said, 'Boy, this is make or break for Obama,'" he said. "When the stock market went down everybody was saying, 'This is a disaster.' And what I found is that as long as we are making good decisions, thinking always what's ... best for the American people, that, eventually, as long as we're persistent and we're listening to the American people, that things get done."

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Associated Press writers David Espo, Erica Werner, Charles Babington and Ben Feller contributed to this report.

Charges dropped against black Harvard professor (Reuters)

Wed, 07/22/2009 - 03:33 — admin

BOSTON (Reuters) –
Authorities in Cambridge, Massachusetts on Tuesday dropped disorderly conduct charges against a preeminent black scholar stemming from an incident that drew fresh attention to police treatment of minorities in the United States.

Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates was arrested at his home in the Boston suburb of Cambridge last Thursday by a white police officer after a woman called police to report that a man was trying to force his way into the house.

Gates, 58, had merely experienced difficulty opening his own front door after returning from a trip to China, according to his lawyer. But police said Gates exhibited "loud and tumultuous behavior," including accusing police of racism.

A statement on the Cambridge police department's Web site said, "The City of Cambridge, the Cambridge Police Department, and Professor Gates acknowledge that the incident of July 16, 2009 was regrettable and unfortunate."

"This incident should not be viewed as one that demeans the character and reputation of Professor Gates or the character of the Cambridge Police Department," the statement said, adding that the charges were dropped.

Gates is the director of Harvard's W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African & African American Research and is one of the most prominent black scholars in the United States.

The incident renewed a debate over "racial profiling" and whether police in the United States treat blacks and other minorities differently than whites -- even after the election of the first black U.S. president in Barack Obama.

"I'm outraged that this could happen to me in my own home but I'm outraged that it could happen to any individual," Gates said in an interview with the Washington Post.

Gates, who is seeking an apology, called the incident "deeply painful and traumatic," and told the newspaper he would use it as the basis for a documentary on "racial profiling."

A statement from his lawyer, Charles Ogletree, released on Monday said Gates had been unable to enter his damaged front door after returning home from a trip to China. Ogletree, also a Harvard professor, said Gates managed to enter the house through the rear door, and his driver carried in his luggage.

After police arrived at the house, Ogletree said, Gates showed his Harvard identification and driver's license, and asked the policeman for his name and badge number. The police officer walked away, and when Gates followed him to the porch, he was arrested, Ogletree's statement said.

A police report said Gates initially refused to provide identification and after the officer explained he was investigating a reported break-in, shouted "this is what happens to black men in America."

The report said Gates made threats against the policeman, then followed the officer outside and yelled at him. He was then arrested.

(Reporting by Jason Szep and JoAnne Allen; Editing by Stacey Joyce and Will Dunham)

Clinton fears NKorea-Myanmar nuclear links (AFP)

Wed, 07/22/2009 - 00:20 — admin

PHUKET, Thailand (AFP) –
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed concerns Wednesday that North Korea could be sharing nuclear technology with Myanmar, posing a worrying new threat to regional security.

Clinton issued the warning as she arrived in the Thai resort island of Phuket for a major security forum at which the United States was to sign a treaty signalling its renewed commitment to Southeast Asia.

She was due to meet her counterparts from Russia, China, Japan and South Korea for talks later Wednesday on restarting their stalled multilateral dialogue with Pyongyang over its increasingly aggressive nuclear programme.

"We worry about the transfer of nuclear technology" from Stalinist North Korea to military-ruled Myanmar, Clinton said in an interview with Thailand's Nation TV.

On Tuesday, she said Washington was taking "very seriously" reports of conventional military cooperation between the two pariah states, adding that it would be "destabilising for the region."

Myanmar and North Korea, both isolated and under international sanctions, are set to dominate Clinton's two days of discussions with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and broader ASEAN Regional Forum.

Clinton was later set to sign a friendship pact with Southeast Asia in a sign of Washington's renewed interest to the region after nearly a decade in which it has been distracted by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

After arriving in Thailand Tuesday from New Delhi, Clinton said President Barack Obama's administration wants to send a strong message of engagement with the region after it was neglected by his predecessor George W. Bush.

US influence over ASEAN has been largely supplanted by China, which inked the same treaty with the 10-country bloc six years ago.

US officials said a key thrust of Clinton's debut at the forum would be to crank up pressure on North Korea to return to the nuclear disarmament talks after its recent missile and nuclear weapons tests.

North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui-Chun declined to attend the meeting, instead sending a roving ambassador to Phuket, and Southeast Asian officials say the Pyongyang delegation is concerned about coming under pressure.

ASEAN had asked China to play a key role in bringing North Korea back to the negotiating table, a Thai official said after the bloc's foreign ministers met their counterparts from China, Japan and South Korea on Wednesday.

Washington is currently focused on implementing tough new UN sanctions, but officials said the US and its allies were ready to offer incentives to Pyongyang if it changed course -- something they did not expect any time soon.

Suspicions about military cooperation between Myanmar and North Korea escalated after a US Navy destroyer last month began tracking a suspect North Korean ship that was reportedly heading for Myanmar.

The vessel came under scrutiny under new UN sanctions designed to punish Pyongyang over its recent underground nuclear test and a series of rocket launches including a long-range projectile.

Separately, a group of exiled Myanmar activists last month released pictures of what they said was a secret network of tunnels built by North Korean experts inside Myanmar.

Clinton, meanwhile, also expressed concerns about the rights record of Myanmar, which has been slapped with US sanctions for its detention of political prisoners including pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Myanmar has sparked outrage by putting the Nobel Peace Prize winner on trial over an incident in which an American man swam to her lakeside house.

Clinton said Wednesday in her television interview that expelling Myanmar from ASEAN "would be an appropriate policy change to consider" if the ruling junta does not release Aung San Suu Kyi.

Obama has described the court proceedings as a "show trial", while talk of a revised US policy towards Myanmar has been on hold since the trial began.

Climate change: Bye-bye, black sheep? (AFP)

Tue, 07/21/2009 - 23:17 — admin

PARIS (AFP) –
Another clue has been found in the Case of the Shrinking Sheep, an animal mystery in which climate change features as the principal culprit.

The tale of scientific sleuthing is unfolding on two Scottish islands, Soay and Hirta, in the remote Outer Hebrides.

Their sole inhabitants are wild sheep which probably arrived there with the first human settlers some 4,000 years ago.

The sheep's isolation and lack of predators make them terrific candidates for studying the impact of weather, food and genetics on a wild animal population. The flock, suffering occasional surges and crashes in numbers, has been closely scrutinised since the 1950s.

Two years ago, researchers came across a strange thing: The average size of the Soay sheep was progressively falling.

That finding ran counter to Darwinian intuition. Evolutionary theory said that, given the cold, rough winter on the islands, bigger sheep had the better chance of survival, so their genes should progressively dominate the flock.

The solution to this enigma, suggested Imperial College London scientists earlier this month, lies in global warming.

Milder winters in recent decades have enabled smaller lambs, which otherwise would have died after birth, to survive into adulthood and then reproduce, they said.

The climate whodunnit has now been backed by a trio of Australian experts, who have matched weather and population records with the colour of the sheep's coats.

The smaller sheep that now dominate the flock are also lighter-haired ones, a link that has been proven by gene analysis. Bigger sheep tend to be darker.

Why would coat colour make a difference?

The answer, suggests the team led by University of Western Australia's Shane Maloney, is that, in colder times, sheep with darker coats have an advantage.

Mammals with darker coats absorb more solar radiation and thus need to expend less food energy to keep warm than do their lighter counterparts.

But, as the climate has warmed in the North Atlantic, this advantage has diminished, which gives more of a chance for lighter-haired (and smaller) rivals in the struggle to survive.

"If environmental effects are the cause of the decline, then we can expect the proportion of dark-coloured Soay sheep to decrease further," the fleece police add soberly.

The study appears on Wednesday in Biology Letters, published by the Royal Society, Britain's de-facto academy of sciences.

AP-GfK Poll: Great hopes for Obama fade to reality (AP)

Tue, 07/21/2009 - 22:41 — admin

WASHINGTON – That was fast. The hope and optimism that washed over the country in the opening months of Barack Obama's presidency are giving way to harsh realities.
An Associated Press-GfK Poll shows that a majority of Americans are back to thinking that the country is headed in the wrong direction after a fleeting period in which more thought it was on the right track.
Obama still has a solid 55 percent approval rating — better than Bill Clinton and about even with George W. Bush six months into their presidencies — but there are growing doubts about whether he can succeed at some of the biggest items on his to-do list. And there is a growing sense that he is trying to tackle too much too soon.
The number of people who think Obama can improve the economy is down a sobering 19 percentage points from the euphoric days just before his inauguration. Ditto for expectations about creating jobs. Also down significantly: the share of people who think he can reduce the deficit, remove troops from Iraq and improve respect for the U.S. around the world, all slipping 15 points.
On overhauling health care, a signature issue for Obama, hopes for success are down a lesser 6 points.
Add it all up, and does it mean Obama has lost his mojo? Has yes-we-can morphed into maybe?
"I think it's just reality," said Sandy Smith, a 48-year-old public relations worker from Los Angeles. "He's not Superman, right?"
Indeed, it's not unusual for approval ratings to slide once presidents actually get to work. They're pulled down by things going on in the real world, by people who don't agree with the ways they're addressing problems, by criticism from political opponents.
In Obama's case, the problems he's confronting domestically and internationally are legion, and his ability to blame them on his predecessor is fading. Challenges still abound in Iraq and Afghanistan. Unemployment, at 7.6 percent in January, hit 9.5 percent in June and is expected to keep rising well into next year. Almost 4 percent of homeowners with mortgages are in foreclosure, and an additional 8 percent are at least a month behind on payments — the highest levels since the Great Depression.
The president is deep into the debate over how to overhaul the nation's health care system, and people are nervous about how their own insurance could be affected. Obama's critics are accusing him of conducting a risky "grand experiment" that will hurt the economy and could force millions to drop their current coverage.
It's all taking a toll on expectations. The number of people who think it's realistic to expect at least some noticeable improvement in the economy during Obama's first year in office dropped from 27 percent in January to 16 percent in the latest survey.
There's been slippage, as well, in how people view the president personally, although he's still well regarded. About two-thirds now think he understands the problems of ordinary Americans, down from 81 percent in January. Sixty-nine percent think he's a strong leader, off from 78 percent before the inauguration.
"He doesn't know enough about any of this," says Michelle Kelsey, a 37-year-old student in Breckenridge, Mo., who gives Obama a three for leadership on a 10-point scale. But then again, Kelsey says, "Nobody could have done better."
"I just feel like people haven't given him enough time. It's going to take longer for the economy to come around."
In an interview aired Tuesday on "The CBS Evening News," Obama linked high poll numbers to inaction.
"The easiest way to keep your poll numbers up, and to garner good press, is to do not that much here in this town, and not to cause a lot of controversy. And there's some people who would probably advise that that's the approach you should take. But that's not why the American people sent me here. They sent me here to solve problems," he said.
It's not just Obama who's feeling the drag. Approval of Congress — already low — has gotten lower, slipping 6 percentage points to 32 percent.
Overall, the number of people who think the country is going in the wrong direction hit 54 percent in the latest AP-GfK poll, up from 46 percent in June.

That's not necessarily surprising. In years past, the public has tended to be more pessimistic than optimistic about the country's future. Recent exceptions have been short-lived, at the start of the Iraq war, after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, after the capture of Saddam Hussein and late in the Clinton administration.

Perhaps most troubling for Obama may be where he is losing ground. His approval rating was down 9 points among Americans overall but 20 percent among independents. Similarly, the increase in those who think the country is headed in the wrong direction came mostly from independents and Democrats.

Dissatisfaction among independents grew disproportionately on Obama's handling of a range of issues, including the economy, taxes, unemployment, the environment and more.

Independents are "the ones to watch," according to Professor Robert Shapiro, a Columbia University expert on public opinion. "The Republicans were more pessimistic from the outset. The Democrats are going to be more resistant to negative information."

Overall, Obama still can feel good about a 55 percent approval rating, Shapiro said, but "the fact that it is on the downswing is something to be concerned about. That's going to affect how members of Congress, and in particular people in his own party, may respond to him."

The AP-GfK Poll was conducted July 16-20 by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media. It involved interviews on landlines and cell phones with 1,006 adults nationwide. The survey had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

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Associated Press News Survey Specialist Dennis Junius contributed to this report.

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On the Net:

http:/ /www.ap-gfkpoll.com.



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