Official apologizes for Obama chimpanzee email

A California Republican official has apologized for sending an email that depicts President Barack Obama as a young chimpanzee.

"To my fellow Americans and to everyone else who has seen the email I forwarded and was offended by my action, I humbly apologize and ask for your forgiveness of my unwise behavior," Marilyn Davenport said in a statement obtained by CNN.

Davenport, who is a Tea Party activist and an elected member of the central committee of the Republican Party of Orange County, said she felt the email was a joke, CNN affiliate KTLA reported.

The email contains a doctored photo of what appears to be a family portrait of two adult chimpanzees posing with a young chimpanzee with Obama's face pasted on it.

Local GOP chair weighs in on Obama email

The caption that ran with the photo says "Now you know why no birth certificate," the affiliate reported.

Davenport said she would not repeat her error in the apology that included two Bible passages.

"I am an imperfect Christian lady who tries her best to live a Christ-like honoring life," the statement said. "I would never do anything to intentionally harm or berate others regardless of ethnicity. So I ask for your forgiveness, for I am truly sorry."

Despite criticism, Davenport told the affiliate that she does not need to resign her position because of the e-mail.

Source http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/04/19/california.apolgoy/

Blagojevich wants notes from FBI interview of Obama

Rod Blagojevich’s lawyers on Monday moved to have prosecutors turn over FBI notes from an interview with President Obama – something a judge turned down a year ago.

It’s a request that at least one legal observer says is unlikely to be met.

Still, defense lawyers say insight into Obama’s interview will help them cross-examine union leader Tom Balanoff in Blagojevich’s retrial, set to begin April 20.

Testifying at the former governor’s first trial last summer, Balanoff said he received a call from Obama the night before the presidential election, which he saw as a signal to have discussions with Blagojevich about the possible appointment of Valerie Jarrett to Obama’s soon-to-be-open U.S. Senate seat.

Blagojevich’s team says that contradicts an Obama team report that was issued Dec. 23, 2008. That report stated “President Obama did not direct anyone to speak on his behalf regarding the White House’s preferences for the Senate seat appointment,” Blagojevich lawyers wrote.

In Dec. 2008, FBI agents and prosecutors interviewed Obama, then President-elect, along with his then chief-of-staff-in-waiting Rahm Emanuel and advisor Jarrett as they transitioned into the White House. Investigators were interested in their interactions with Blagojevich, who had been arrested earlier that same month with scheming to sell Obama’s vacant Senate seat.

A White House spokesman said, “We’re not going to comment on an ongoing criminal proceeding.” Balanoff’s lawyer could not be reached for comment.

Defense lawyers complain that if Obama were anyone else but the president, they would have the FBI notes from the interview, called a “302.”

“Based upon the content contained in the disclosed 302s of other individuals that were tendered by the government, the Obama 302s at issue would almost certainly have been disclosed if the interviewee was anyone other than the President,” Blagojevich’s lawyers wrote.

Ronald Safer, a former federal prosecutor, said the government would only be required to release the interview notes if they contained information showing a defendant’s innocence or called into question a witness’s testimony. Since Obama is unlikely to be called as a witness in the case, “there’s no obligation to turn it over,” Safer said.

Last year, Blagojevich’s attorneys asked U.S. District Judge James Zagel to subpoena Obama and release the interview notes, requests the judge denied.

Blagojevich’s lawyers could, as an intermediate step, ask Zagel to review the 302 to verify that it contained no information exonerating Blagojevich, Safer said. But the judge could grant or deny that request, too.

Source http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/4656078-418/blagojevich-wants-notes-from-fbi-interview-of-obama.html

Obama lacks authority to shutter Yucca site, court told

Lawyers for Washington state and South Carolina on Tuesday accused President Barack Obama of exceeding his constitutional power in closing the Yucca Mountain nuclear-waste repository.

Washington state Assistant Attorney General Andrew Fitz told a federal appellate court that Obama's refusal to fund continued development of the Nevada site violates the 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act.

"He's acting unconstitutionally under the separation of powers doctrine because he doesn't have the authority under the statute," Fitz told a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. "He had no authority to reverse it."

In 1987 amendments to the nuclear-waste law, Congress designated Yucca Mountain as the central site for radioactive debris from the nation's 104 commercial reactors - and from nuclear-weapons sites that have held even more toxic waste since the Cold War.

The government has spent $10 billion developing the Yucca site, but Obama has stripped funding for it from his last two budget proposals to Congress.

Republicans, who have proposed legislation to revive the repository, accuse Obama of making a political gesture to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, whose residents dislike the notion of burying radioactive debris from across the country at a subterranean site 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Washington, home to the Hanford nuclear reservation in the eastern part of the state, and South Carolina, which hosts the Savannah River Site on its border with Georgia, sued Obama. Aiken County, S.C., where Savannah River is located, and three businessmen in Washington state joined the lawsuit.

Other large former nuclear-weapons complexes include the Idaho National Laboratory and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.

Chief Judge David Sentelle and Judge Brett Cavanaugh repeatedly challenged Fitz on whether the lawsuit by Washington and South Carolina is premature.

Sentelle and Cavanaugh said three administrative judges in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in June rejected a bid by Energy Secretary Steven Chu to withdraw the Energy Department license to build and operate the Yucca repository.

The case has been before the NRC since then, with no indication of when the full commission will rule on the license withdrawal.

The judges and lawyers didn't address the merits of the case, avoiding the complex scientific and environmental issues tied to the Yucca site.

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson echoed Fitz's courtroom claims in comments after the hearing.

"The government's decision to arbitrarily break federal law and derail Yucca Mountain is wrong and unconstitutional," Wilson said. "Congress passed laws to build Yucca Mountain as a safe repository for America's nuclear waste."

At Obama's direction, Chu set up the Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future in January 2010 and gave it two years to come up with an alternative to drilling deep tunnels beneath Yucca for nuclear -waste disposal.

"Nuclear-waste storage at Yucca Mountain is not an option," said Lee Hamilton, the commision's co-chairman and a former Indiana congressman. "The commission will be looking at better alternatives."

Source http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/03/22/2128979/obama-lacks-authority-to-shutter.html

Putting the 'world' back into WGC

WHEN THE top four players in the world rankings and 10 of the top-20 are European, it seems a little incongruous that a World Golf Championship (WGC) event hasn’t been played on European soil since 2006, when Tiger Woods won the American Express Championship at The Grove.

But world number four Graeme McDowell, who is among the favourites for this week’s WGC Cadillac Championship over the famed TPC Blue Monster at Doral, Florida, acknowledges that finding alternative venues outside the US creates a logistical nightmare for the players and the International Federation of PGA Tours.

The demise of the World Cup as a WGC event and the promotion of the HSBC Champions in Shanghai to WGC status at the end of 2009 means three of the four events in the series are now staged in the US.

Yet despite that move, and with 33 of the world’s top-50 hailing from outside the US, the grumbling about a US-centric golfing world goes on.

Just two weeks after the Accenture Matchplay in Tucson, and with the WGC Bridgestone Invitational set for Firestone Country Club in Ohio the week before the US PGA Championship in August, finding a non-US venue is a headache that won’t go away any time soon.

McDowell is not a fan of the course at Dove Mountain, where he was ousted from the matchplay in the third round just two weeks ago.

Tucson’s four-year contract is up, but while the event still appears likely to go ahead there again next year, McDowell sees no way of moving it out of the US in the near future.

“My feelings are that the matchplay is the wrong one to do that with,” McDowell said of a possible move to Australia, Europe or Asia. “It is a long way to fly to China to get beaten in the first round.

“Of course, Tucson is a long way to go for everyone, but at least you have Los Angeles the week before and the Florida swing the week afterwards.

“A lot of the top-50 in the world will be going on to play the Florida swing anyway.

“Having the matchplay in the States makes geographical sense, but with the international flavour of golf right now it is important that the WGCs become world events.”

Making that happen will be difficult in the extreme with the PGA Tour about to enter negotiations on a new television contract, with the current one due to expire next year.

Attracting major sponsors is increasingly difficult and staging an event outside US prime time TV slots is not attractive to the powers at Ponte Vedra Beach.

“It’s pretty hard when you start thinking about it as an overall schedule,” McDowell said. “Scheduling is a problem because you have got to think about WGCs as top-50 events and the guys in the top-50 are going straight to the majors.

“It’s difficult to take them anywhere else.

“Maybe they could turn the likes of the Scottish Open into a WGC, the week before the British Open. It’s tough to get the blend right.

“But there seems to be a kind of rivalry there between the tours. I understand the PGA Tour want to protect themselves and their members, and so do the European Tour. It is the eternal debate and it is tough to get it 100 per cent right.”

Source http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2011/0308/1224291585677.html

WGC-Cadillac Championship to honor military and their families

The World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship will honor members of our U.S. Armed Forces and their families throughout tournament week as part of the Birdies for the Brave military outreach initiative. Program highlights include free tournament admission, complimentary hospitality and a military appreciation ceremony. The 2011 Cadillac Championship will feature the world's best golfers at the TPC Blue Monster at Doral Golf Resort & Spa in Doral, Fla., March 9-13.

As part of Birdies for the Brave, all active duty, retired, and Reserve military members and their dependents will be invited to attend the tournament all week free of charge. Complimentary tournament tickets for military members may be downloaded at www.birdiesforthebrave.com. Veterans interested in attending this year's event may purchase a discounted ticket through the Miami VA by contacting Bill Bray at (305) 324.4455, extension 3619.

Once inside the gates, all military guests and veterans will enjoy complimentary access to the Birdies for the Brave Patriots' Outpost presented by Lockheed Martin, a military hospitality chalet located on the 17th green on the TPC Blue Monster. The Patriots' Outpost will be open from Thursday, March 10, through Sunday, March 13, with complimentary lunch provided each day by Applebee's.

"Attending the Cadillac Championship is a terrific way for our U.S Armed Forces and their families to spend time together," says Don Butler, VP Cadillac Marketing. "Birdies for the Brave is one of many worthy initiatives associated with the tournament and Cadillac is proud to be a part of it all."

This year's tournament will kick off with opening ceremonies on Thursday, March 10, at 10 a.m. on the first tee of TPC Blue Monster, where festivities will include a dedication by representatives from United States Southern Command, an aerial demonstration by the U.S. Army Black Daggers, ceremonial tee shots, and a special presentation to wounded warrior retired Lieutenant Ben Baar, a second generation service member who was injured in Iraq following 21 years in the U.S. Army. Other military outreach activities during the tournament will include the opportunity for uniformed military personnel to serve as announcers on the 9th and 18th greens throughout the week.

Sponsors who are making military outreach activities possible during the Cadillac Championship include Lockheed Martin, Applebee's, Blue Bell Ice Cream, VBrick, Timbar, Tanberg/Cisco, Nature Valley, Johnny Rockets and Pepsi.

For more information on the Cadillac Championship, visit www.worldgolfchampionships.com.

Source http://www.pgatour.com/2011/tournaments/r473/02/21/WGCCadillac-Birdiesforthebrave/

Mickelson to Play in Match Play

Phil Mickelson says he has decided to compete in the Match Play Championship.

Mickelson, who skipped the World Golf Championship event in Arizona a year ago, had said last November he was contemplating sitting out again becauase it might conflict with a family vaction. He said after his final round at Pebble Beach that he would be there.

Lee Westwood will be the No. 1 seed at Match Play, which starts Feb. 23 at Dove Mountain north of Tucson. Martin Kaymer will be the No. 2 seed, followed by Tiger Woods and Mickelson.

The 64-man field is determined by the world ranking that was to be published later Sunday.

Source http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory?id=12907760

Wilson and Bjorn both enter top 60

Mark Wilson won for the second time this season on Monday and moved up 40 places in this week's official world rankings.

Wilson's playoff victory on Monday got him up to 50th in this week's rankings.

Thomas Bjorn claimed a win on the European Tour Sunday at the Qatar Masters. The victory moved the Dane up a staggering 74 spots to No. 60 this week.

Lee Westwood stayed in the first spot, followed by Martin Kaymer, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Graeme McDowell. Kaymer can once again wrestle that No. 1 spot from Westwood this week in Dubai, where Woods is also teeing it up.

Paul Casey remained in sixth, but Rory McIlroy inched up one to seventh. Steve Stricker fell one to eighth, while Luke Donald and Jim Furyk switched rankings this week with the Englishman in ninth and the American in 10th.

Ernie Els, Ian Poulter, Matt Kuchar and Dustin Johnson held their places from last week. Robert Karlsson climbed one notch to 15th, while Retief Goosen sank one to 16th.

Francesco Molinari, Bubba Watson, Louis Oosthuizen and Edoardo Molinari rounded out the top 20.

Source http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/02/07/2054951/tseng-up-to-second-in-rolex-rankings.html