0 Politics Suggest Prospects Dim For Obama's Gun Plan

President Obama's historic plunge Wednesday into the politics and realities of gun control in America has mobilized advocates on both sides of the issue.
But though his major proposals, from banning assault rifles to more stringent background checks and ammunition limits, are being rolled out in the shadow of the school massacre in Newtown, Conn., their Capitol Hill prospects remain highly uncertain given long-standing resistance to such efforts.
Both Obama and Vice President Biden, head of the president's task force on gun violence, said as much during their televised announcement of the gun violence prevention initiative.
"I have no illusions about what we're up against or how hard the task is in front of us," Biden said. "But I also have never seen the nation's conscience so shaken [as] by what happened at Sandy Hook."
Said Obama, nodding to the reality of politics, pundits, and politicians: "This will be difficult."
The powerful National Rifle Association unveiled its own campaign in advance of Obama's, referring to him as an "elitist hypocrite" in an online video that also noted that there are armed guards at the school the president's daughters attend.
Obama acknowledged that action he plans to take through his executive powers — including ending the freeze on federal spending on gun violence research and attention to mental health issues — is "no way a substitute for action from Congress."
"Congress must act, and Congress must act soon," he said, adding that "this will not happen unless the American people demand it."
Obama said his administration will not propose any action to reduce the number of weapons, estimated at around 300 million, already in circulation in the U.S, or address existing troves of high-capacity magazines.
The White House also stayed away from proposing purchase waiting periods or federal gun licensing or registration requirements that in the past have generated heated opposition from those who oppose controls on guns.
"The gun policy package that President Obama announced today shows his genuine respect for the Second Amendment rights of law abiding Americans," said Jonathan Cowan, head of the Third Way, a center-left think tank, in a statement. "But it also makes clear that the Second Amendment does not extend to terrorists, criminals, or the severely mentally ill, and it does not apply to weapons of warfare."
House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte, a Virginia Republican, said, however, that "good intentions do not necessarily make good laws" and that any action must not "trample on the rights of law-abiding citizens to exercise their constitutionally guaranteed rights."
The White House announced that the president will immediately initiate 23 executive actions, including incentives to help schools hire "resource officers" and nominating a top federal prosecutor to fill the long-vacant position of director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
But, again, the tough, polarizing issues are the ones that the highly polarized Congress — and one where the GOP-controlled House will wait for action first from the Democratic-controlled Senate — has to consider.
Depending on where you sit, Obama's push is either a common-sense strategy to keep high-powered guns out of criminals' hands or an executive power grab that seeks to restrict a constitutional right.

0 Dhoni again proves he is the master of one-day batting

You cannot but marvel at MS Dhoni's resourcefulness and mind control. Despite being under immense pressure as captain, player and strategist of Team India, with his unit going through a horror run over the last one and a half years, Dhoni's batting in recent one-day Internationals has once again established his phenomenal prowess in this format.

One can question his leadership, his Test performance, his tactics and so on but the way he has almost single handedly battled for India in the series against Pakistan and the ongoing one against England can only draw admiration.

It didn't surprise anyone when England skipper Alastair Cook described Dhoni as "probably the best batsman in the world when it comes to batting in the end overs" after his knock in Kochi on Tuesday.

"He is probably the best player in the world in those situations, in these conditions. He does it time and time again. Dhoni is incredibly hard to bowl at and with that extra man in the circle, it's very hard to stop him on these flat wickets," Cook said.

The pressure has been mounting but Dhoni, back in his favourite format, has not let it affect his game. Pushed into a corner, the Indian skipper has come out with all guns blazing.

Dhoni stood tall amidst the ruins as India lost the series to Pakistan 1-2. His scores in the three-match series read 113*, 54* and 36 at an astounding average of 203.00. But he was waging a lone furrow as he got very little support from his fellow batsmen.

Dhoni has carried on the momentum against England. He followed a quickfire 32 in the first ODI in Rajkot with a brilliant 72 in Kochi on Tuesday.

But it's just not the runs but the manner in which he responded to the high-pressure situation that needs to be praised. Each time that Dhoni has walked out to bat on the last five occasions, he has seen his top-order perish cheaply.

Whether it is rebuilding the innings or going for the slog in the end overs, the Indian skipper has not missed a trick in the bag. Dhoni reads the game shrewdly when he has the bat in his hand.

He has made the new fielding regulations work to his advantage. Often in the past, when doing a resurrection job, Dhoni avoided taking risks till the very last overs.

But with that extra man in the circle now, Dhoni is now willing to go over the in-field much earlier. It has yielded handsome results. Often in the past, a slide in the fortunes of the team has led to a slump in individual form of captains leading India.

Mohammad Azharuddin, Sourav Ganguly, Kapil Dev have all experienced that. But Dhoni has avoided the fate, at least in ODIs. Despite being in the dock as the team has floundered, Dhoni has averaged 83.82 in is last 27 innings in ODIs after the 2011 World Cup win with a strike rate of 92.39.

Former chairman of selectors Kiran More, who first picked Dhoni for India, said pressure brings out the best in Dhoni. "He has been facing a lot of criticism off late. But I think Dhoni works criticism to his advantage.

Look at how well he has been performing. He is one the best wicketkeeper-batsmen India has produced. I think right now he is best man to lead the Indian side in all formats too.

I think the only place where he needs to abdicate his captaincy is IPL. That will give him a bit of relief," said the former India stumper.

0 Watch Live Kelly

The show began in 1983 as "The Morning Show", a local New York program on WABC-TV with Philbin and Cyndy Garvey as co-hosts. They were previously co-hosts on a similar program on KABC-TV in Los Angeles, "A.M. Los Angeles". In 1985, Gifford, then known as Kathie Lee Johnson, replaced Garvey (and her successor, Ann Abernathy), and the show—which had held its own against Phil Donahue's show in the local market—took off. In 1988 Buena Vista Television (which would eventually become co-owned with WABC, as ABC, WABC's parent, would be acquired by Disney, BVTV's parent, in 1996) began syndicating the show nationwide. The title was also renamed to "Live with Regis and Kathie Lee". Viewers embraced the show, making it a popular staple of daytime TV. On July 27, 2000, Gifford decided to leave the show amidst several personal scandals. Philbin wanted to continue with the show and also wanted to search for another co-host. The show was renamed "Live with Regis", as Philbin hosted alone or with varying guest hosts including everybody from the cast of "Survivor" to "The Daily Show"'s Jon Stewart. During this time, Philbin won the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Talk Show Host, and was also hosting ABC's enormously popular Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. During "auditions" for co-hosts, Ripa became a favorite and front-runner, especially after a segment where psychic Char Margolis correctly predicted that Ripa was pregnant. Ripa had only told a small circle of friends about the pregnancy, and not ABC (as she was an actress on "All My Children" at the time) or the public. Ripa was named the permanent co-host on February 5, 2001, and began her duties on February 12. Since Ripa took over, the show's ratings have increased to much higher levels, according to E!/. The show is still owned and produced by WABC-TV, and shares the same studio as WABC's venerable Eyewitness News broadcast. Not seen in the nationally syndicated show is a "WABC Eyewitness News" update, which is produced from its newsroom, as are all of its updates during "Good Morning America" due to the shared studio situation.