Afghan President Karzai will arrive in Washington this Wednesday

Afgan President Hamid Karzai will be welcomed to the United States this Wednesday by Barack Obama. The two are expected to try to warm relations between both countries.

In public they are expected to exchange smiles and handshakes. Behind doors willl be another matter, as the United States wants to start pulling troops out of Afghanistan starting in July 2011.

Washington has been critical of Karzai under Obama stating he needs to do a better job concerning government issues and also stomping out corruption.

Currently, 30,000 additional U.S. troops are expected in Afghanistan by August in an attempt to take full control of Kandahar in the south.

Today, President Barack Obama honored 16 Agents of Change in the East Room of the White House.

The 16 honored included the top contributors in arts,science,sports,and humanities. President Obama kicked off the ceremony by saying,”The true test of a person’s life is what we do for one another.”

Those honored included:

* Nancy Goodman Brinker
* Pedro Jose Greer, Jr.
* Joanne Kemp, accepting award on behalf of her deceased husband, Jack Kemp
* Kara Kennedy, accepting award on behalf of her father, Senator Edward M. Kennedy
* Billie Jean King
* Reverend Joseph Lowery
* Joe Medicine Crow – High Bird
* Stuart Milk, accepting award on behalf of his deceased uncle, Harvey Milk
* Sandra Day O’Connor
* Sidney Poitier
* Chita Rivera
* Mary Robinson
* Janet Davison Rowley
* Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu
* Muhammad Yunus
* Stephen Hawking

The award, which was established by President Truman in 1945 to honor civilian service during World War II, is not limited to U.S. citizens and may be awarded more than once.

Here you can watch Stephen Hawking being honored.

President Obama said during his speech in Cairo that he would talk with Tehran “without preconditions on the basis of mutual respect” to resolve issues between the two countries.

The biggest issue between Iran and the United States is Iran’s emerging nuclear ambitions, which Iran says is solely for civilian energy uses.

Obama also publicly announced that the United States was responsible for the overthrow of Iran’s democratically elected government in 1953.

Obama outlines views on abortion

Just recently, President Obama gave his views during a speech to Notre Dame University

You can view President Obama giving his speech below. Since Notre Dame is the largest catholic university, the president did face some heckling from the audience.

Swine Flu continues to scare

Swine Flu Pictue

The recent outbreaks of swine flu, or H1N1, continue to be reported in the main stream media. The internet is also abound with discussion related to the influenza outbreak.

So, what is the hype all about? Not that much really. H1N1 is a type of influenza. No it will not strike you dead in 24 hours. The symptoms of swine flu or H1N1 are typically the same as any other influenza. Only those who are very young, elderly, pregnant, or have a weak immune system need to worry.

The outbreak, which started in Mexico, has now spread to other nations and states within the U.S. Some rural areas have reported cases of swine flu.

The medical community does have concerns about the virus mutating to something more resistant. This can happen with any virus though over time.

The swine flu theatrics seems similar to a past pandemic named SARS.

Like anything, criminals have found a new way of taking peoples money by such scams as bogus swine flu kits.

The 2009 Stimulus checks have started to arrive for eligible people.

As I wrote before, only certain people will receive stimulus checks. You can see if you are eligible for an economic stimulus check here.

2009 Federal Stimulus Check Arriving

Those not eligible will continue to see a decrease in federal taxes withheld up to 2010. Most individuals receiving the stimulus check will receive $250.

President Obama,who went to the fifth Summit of the Americas, met controversial Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. Chavez has been a harsh critic of the United States. Chavez even went so far as to call former president Bush the devil.

Chavez stated he would like to extend a hand of friendship to the new president and the people of the United State. Chavez also gave Obama a cope of a book, Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent by journalist Eduardo Galeano. The book basically blames nations such as the United States of exploiting the people and resources of Central and South America.

Some have criticized Obama for having a friendly conversation with the controversial Chavez so soon.

You can watch as Obama talks about his recent meeting with Chavez.

The economic stimulus plan-what is means to you

The recent passing of the economic stimulus plan provides the following benefits:

That is the breakdown for what the economic stimulus package does for an average American. This economic stimulus package will surely not be an end all solution for the current economic crisis in this country, but atleast it is a start.

Outgoing president, George W. Bush, gave his final farewell address to the nation last night. Bush mentioned what he believed were some of his accomplishments including Afghanistan and Iraq, where today he said “conditions are for the better”.

Bush also believes he did well in protecting the country from any serious terrorist threat since 9/11.

As far as the economy, Bush responded by saying “decisive measures were taken to safeguard it”.

Bush also responded to his critics by saying he made choices that he believed were morally right, although unpopular.

George W. Bush finished out his farwell speech by citing that indeed, during his administration, he had both good days and tough days.

I have included Bush’s Farewell Video below.

Part 1 of Bush’s Farewell Speech

And Part 2 of Bush’s Farewell Speech

President-elect Barack Obama says he expects Timothy Geithner to win Senate confirmation as treasury secretary despite revelations of tax problems. The Senate Finance Committee has scheduled a hearing next Wednesday on the nomination.