Earl Smith is the man behind a military patch that President Obama prizes

AUSTIN — That February morning in 2008 found Barack Obama decidedly out of sorts.

He was locked in one battle with Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic nomination that showed no signs of ending — and another with a vicious cold that felt the same way.

As he rode the service elevator in the backway of a convention hotel here, the snowy-haired African American operating it turned suddenly. He held out a black-and-gold bit of fabric embroidered with a screaming eagle.

“Senator Obama, I have something I want to give you,” the man said. “I’ve carried this military patch with me every day for 40 years, and I want you to carry it, and it will keep you safe in your journey.” Obama tried to refuse, but the older man persisted.

Big endeavors can find their meaning in small moments.

Later that day, Obama and his aides discussed the encounter. The future president pulled the patch from his pocket, along with about a dozen other items people had pressed upon him.

“This is why I do this,” he said. “Because people have their hopes and dreams about what we can do together.”

Two American stories intersected that morning in that elevator. The more famous, of course, is the one that begins its next chapter on Monday, as the nation’s first black president takes the oath of office for a second term.

But the other story also tells a lot about where this country has been and how far it has come.

No one in Obama’s small party that day noticed the man’s name tag or, if anyone did, the fact that it said Earl Smith was quickly forgotten.

No one knew how much of Smith’s life had been woven into a patch that, over four decades, found its way from the shoulder of an Army private to the pocket of a future commander-in-chief.

It was the only shred of cloth he had saved from the uniform of a nightmarish year in Vietnam. Smith fired artillery with a brigade that suffered 10,041 casualties during the course of the war. The brigade’s soldiers received 13 Congressional Medals of Honor.

The patch was waiting among his possessions when Smith was pardoned by the state of Georgia in 1977 after spending three years in prison for a crime he claimed was self-defense.

Smith kept it close as his lucky charm while he rebuilt his life and his reputation, starting with a job vacuuming hallways and changing sheets in an Atlanta Marriott. He carried it with him as he traveled halfway around the world again, to positions in hotels far from home, Riyadh in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

Along the way, as he tended to travelers and made sure VIP gatherings went smoothly, he met three U.S. presidents.

His instincts told him Obama would make it four.

Like just about anyone else who was alive on Nov. 22, 1963, Smith can describe exactly where he was when he heard the horrific news: He was coming off a high school football practice field in his home town of San Benito, Tex.

Though not yet old enough to have voted for the man slain in Dallas, “I was devastated — a lot of us young people were — because John Kennedy was the young president,” recalled Smith, now 68.

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SNCF to launch grant framework for social entrepreneurs

SINGAPORE: To facilitate the growth of co-operatives, the Singapore National Co-operative Federation (SNCF) will launch a comprehensive grant framework that gives budding social entrepreneurs the support they need to set up new co-operatives to deal with social needs that have yet to be met.

Existing co-operatives will also be able to use the grant to improve productivity, expand their services, and for staff development.

This was announced by SNCF Chairman Chan Tee Seng at an awards ceremony on Saturday to recognise 22 co-operatives, co-operators and supporters for their contributions toward improving the welfare of Singaporeans.

The awards commend those who have helped grow the Singapore Co-operative Movement, which includes areas such as thrift and loan, aged care, childcare, employment, and insurance.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Lim Swee Say and former Singapore President SR Nathan were also among those recognised as co-op champions for the support they have rendered to the co-operative movement.

Mr Lim praised the role of co-operatives here, calling them both competent and competitive.

"Here at home, our co-operatives and social enterprises are doing your best as active citizens. It's in your DNA to do good -- passion to help others to live a better life. It's in your DNA to do well -- competent and competitive, to be financially viable. How can we help others, if we're not able to help ourselves? Most of all, it's in your DNA to do more, and to do more together," he said.

Mr Lim urged individual co-operatives here to work as a network, and in partnership with other like-minded enterprises so as to meet the ever-increasing needs of the community.

As a way to encourage co-operatives to come together, the SNCF also plans to facilitate and co-pay a shared services platform that will allow these co-operatives to collaborate and develop shared services in the areas of IT, marketing, book-keeping and accounting.

-CNA/ac

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Rahul Gandhi gets bigger role in Congress, appointed party vice-president

JAIPUR: Rahul Gandhi was formally elevated to the number two position in the Congress party on Saturday after being appointed its vice-president, but his role in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls would be decided later.

The anointment of the 42-year-old leader nine years after he entered politics was formalised at the meeting of the party's highest policy making body, the Congress working committee (CWC), which unanimously adopted a resolution for this moved by defence minister AK Antony.

The decision ends prolonged speculation about a bigger role for Rahul, so far one of the 11 general secretaries of the Congress. The speculation focussed on the possibility of his being made working president or secretary general of the party.

It was clear that the party has stopped short of naming Rahul either as its face in the 2014 polls or as its prime ministerial candidate, obviously, giving itself time to see how the political scenario pans out in the run up to the polls.

Janardhan Dwivedi, chief spokesperson of the party, who made the much-awaited announcement, told reporters as to what will be Rahul's role in the next election or whether he will lead the election campaign will be decided later.

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Attack at Algeria Gas Plant Heralds New Risks for Energy Development

The siege by Islamic militants at a remote Sahara desert natural gas plant in Algeria this week signaled heightened dangers in the region for international oil companies, at a time when they have been expanding operations in Africa as one of the world's last energy frontiers. (See related story: "Pictures: Four New Offshore Drilling Frontiers.")

As BP, Norway's Statoil, Italy's Eni, and other companies evacuated personnel from Algeria, it was not immediately clear how widely the peril would spread in the wake of the hostage-taking at the sprawling In Amenas gas complex near the Libyan border.

Map by National Geographic

Algeria, the fourth-largest crude oil producer on the continent and a major exporter of natural gas and refined fuels, may not have been viewed as the most hospitable climate for foreign energy companies, but that was due to unfavorable financial terms, bureaucracy, and corruption. The energy facilities themselves appeared to be safe, with multiple layers of security provided both by the companies and by government forces, several experts said. (See related photos: "Oil States: Are They Stable? Why It Matters.")

"It is particularly striking not only because it hasn't happened before, but because it happened in Algeria, one of the stronger states in the region," says Hanan Amin-Salem, a senior manager at the industry consulting firm PFC Energy, who specializes in country risk. She noted that in the long civil war that gripped the country throughout the 1990s, there had never been an attack on Algeria's energy complex. But now, hazard has spread from weak surrounding states, as the assault on In Amenas was carried out in an apparent retaliation for a move by French forces against the Islamists who had taken over Timbuktu and other towns in neighboring Mali. (See related story: "Timbuktu Falls.")

"What you're really seeing is an intensification of the fundamental problem of weak states, and empowerment of heavily armed groups that are really well motivated and want to pursue a set of aims," said Amin-Salem. In PFC Energy's view, she says, risk has increased in Mauritania, Chad, and Niger—indeed, throughout Sahel, the belt that bisects North Africa, separating the Sahara in the north from the tropical forests further south.

On Thursday, the London-based corporate consulting firm Exclusive Analysis, which was recently acquired by the global consultancy IHS, sent an alert to clients warning that oil and gas facilities near the Libyan and Mauritanian borders and in Mauritania's Hodh Ech Chargui province were at "high risk" of attack by jihadis.

"A Hot Place to Drill"

The attack at In Amenas comes at a time of unprecedented growth for the oil industry in Africa. (See related gallery: "Pictures: The Year's Most Overlooked Energy Stories.") Forecasters expect that oil output throughout Africa will double by 2025, says Amy Myers Jaffe, executive director of the energy and sustainability program at the University of California, Davis, who has counted 20 rounds of bidding for new exploration at sites in Africa's six largest oil-producing states.

Oil and natural gas are a large part of the Algerian economy, accounting for 60 percent of government budget revenues, more than a third of GDP and more than 97 percent of its export earnings. But the nation's resources are seen as largely undeveloped, and Algeria has tried to attract new investment. Over the past year, the government has sought to reform the law to boost foreign companies' interests in their investments, although those efforts have foundered.

Technology has been one of the factors driving the opening up of Africa to deeper energy exploration. Offshore and deepwater drilling success in the Gulf of Mexico and Brazil led to prospecting now under way offshore in Ghana, Mozambique, and elsewhere. (See related story: "New Oil—And a Huge Challenge—for Ghana.") Jaffe says the Houston-based company Anadarko Petroleum has sought to transfer its success in "subsalt seismic" exploration technology, surveying reserves hidden beneath the hard salt layer at the bottom of the sea, to the equally challenging seismic exploration beneath the sands of the Sahara in Algeria, where it now has three oil and gas operations.

Africa also is seen as one of the few remaining oil-rich regions of the world where foreign oil companies can obtain production-sharing agreements with governments, contracts that allow them a share of the revenue from the barrels they produce, instead of more limited service contracts for work performed.

"You now have the technology to tap the resources more effectively, and the fiscal terms are going to be more attractive than elsewhere—you put these things together and it's been a hot place to drill," says Jaffe, who doesn't see the energy industry's interest in Africa waning, despite the increased terrorism risk. "What I think will happen in some of these countries is that the companies are going to reveal new securities systems and procedures they have to keep workers safe," she says. "I don't think they will abandon these countries."

This story is part of a special series that explores energy issues. For more, visit The Great Energy Challenge.

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Te'o Denies Involvement in Girlfriend Hoax

Notre Dame star linebacker Manti Te'o told ESPN that he "never, not ever" was involved in creating the hoax that had him touting what turned out to be a fictional girlfriend, "Lennay Kekua."

"When they hear the facts, they'll know," Te'o told ESPN's Jeremy Schaap in his first interview since the story broke. "They'll know that there is no way that I could be a part of this."

"I wasn't faking it," he said during a 2 1/2-hour interview, according to ESPN.com.

Te'o said he only learned for sure this week that he had been duped. On Wednesday, he received a Twitter message, allegedly from a man named Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, apologizing for the hoax, Te'o told Schaap.

The sports website Deadspin, which first revealed the hoax this week, has reported that Tuiasosopo, a 22-year-old of Samoan descent who lives in Antelope Valley, Calif., asked a woman he knew for her photo and that photo became the face of Kekua's Twitter account.

Te'o told Schaap that Tuiasosopo was represented to him as Kekua's cousin.

"I hope he learns," Te'o said of Tuiasosopo, according to coverage of the interview on ESPN.com. "I hope he understands what he's done. I don't wish an ill thing to somebody. I just hope he learns. I think embarrassment is big enough."

Click Here for a Who's Who in the Manti Te'o Case

AP Photo/ESPN Images, Ryan Jones

Manti Te'o Hoax: Was He Duped or Did He Know? Watch Video

Manti Te'o Hoax: Notre Dame Star Allegedly Scammed Watch Video

Tale of Notre Dame Football Star's Girlfriend and Her Death an Alleged Hoax Watch Video

Te'o admitted to a few mistakes in his own conduct, including telling his father he met Kekua in Hawaii even though his attempt to meet her actually failed. Later retellings of that tale led to inconsistencies in media reports, Te'o said, adding that he never actually met Kekua in person.

Te'o added that he feared people would think it was crazy for him to be involved with someone that he never met, so, "I kind of tailored my stories to have people think that, yeah, he met her before she passed away."

The relationship got started on Facebook during his freshman year, Te'o said.

"My relationship with Lennay wasn't a four-year relationship," Te'o said, according to ESPN.com. "There were blocks and times and periods in which we would talk and then it would end."

He showed Schaap Facebook correspondence indicating that other people knew of Kekua -- though Te'o now believes they, too, were tricked.

The relationship became more intense, Te'o said, after he received a call that Kekua was in a coma following a car accident involving a drunk driver on April 28.

Soon, Te'o and Kekua became inseparable over the phone, he said, continuing their phone conversations through her recovery from the accident, and then during her alleged battle against leukemia.

Even so, Te'o never tried to visit Kekua at her hospital in California.

"It never really crossed my mind," he said, according to ESPN.com. "I don't know. I was in school."

But the communication between the two was intense. They even had ritual where they discussed scripture every day, Te'o said. His parents also participated via text message, and Te'o showed Schaap some of the texts.

On Sept. 12, a phone caller claiming to be Kekua's relative told Te'o that Kekua had died of leukemia, Te'o said. However, on Dec. 6, Te'o said he got a call allegedly from Kekua saying she was alive. He said he was utterly confused and did not know what to believe.

ESPN's 2 1/2-hour interview was conducted in Bradenton, Fla., with Te'o's lawyer present but without video cameras. Schaap said Te'o was composed, comfortable and in command, and that he said he didn't want to go on camera to keep the setting intimate and avoid a big production.

According to ABC News interviews and published reports, Te'o received phone calls, text messages and letters before every football game from his "girlfriend." He was in contact with her family, including a twin brother, a second brother, sister and parents. He called often to check in with them, just as he did with his own family. And "Kekua" kept in contact with Te'o's friends and family, and teammates spoke to her on the phone.

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Earl Smith is the man behind a military patch that President Obama prizes

AUSTIN, Tex. — That February morning in 2008 found Barack Obama decidedly out of sorts.

He was locked in one battle with Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic nomination that showed no signs of ending — and another with a vicious cold that felt the same way.

As he rode the service elevator in the backway of a convention hotel here, the snowy-haired African American operating it turned suddenly. He held out a black-and-gold bit of fabric embroidered with a screaming eagle.

“Senator Obama, I have something I want to give you,” the man said. “I’ve carried this military patch with me every day for 40 years, and I want you to carry it, and itwill keep you safe in your journey.” Obama tried to refuse, but the older man persisted.

Big endeavors can find their meaning in small moments.

Later that day, Obama and his aides discussed the encounter. The future president pulled the patch from his pocket, along with about a dozen other items people had pressed upon him.

“This is why I do this,” he said. “Because people have their hopes and dreams about what we can do together.”

Two American stories intersected that morning in that elevator. The more famous, of course, is the one that begins its next chapter on Monday, as the nation’s first black president takes the oath of office for a second term.

But the other story also tells a lot about where this country has been and how far it has come.

No one in Obama’s small party that day noticed the man’s name tag or, if anyone did, the fact that it said Earl Smith was quickly forgotten.

No one knew how much of Smith’s life had been woven into a patch that, over four decades, found its way from the shoulder of an Army private to the pocket of a future commander-in-chief.

It was the only shred of cloth he had saved from the uniform of a nightmarish year in Vietnam. Smith fired artillery with a brigade that suffered 10,041 casualties during the course of the war. The brigade’s soldiers received 13 Congressional Medals of Honor.

The patch was waiting among his possessions when Smith was pardoned by the state of Georgia in 1977 after spending three years in prison for a crime he claimed was self-defense.

Smith kept it close as his lucky charm while he rebuilt his life and his reputation, starting with a job vacuuming hallways and changing sheets in an Atlanta Marriott. He carried it with him as he traveled halfway around the world again, to positions in hotels far from home, Riyadh in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

Along the way, as he tended to travelers and made sure VIP gatherings went smoothly, he met three U.S. presidents.

His instincts told him Obama would make it four.

Like just about anyone else who was alive on Nov. 22, 1963, Smith can describe exactly where he was when he heard the horrific news: He was coming off a high school football practice field in his home town of San Benito, Tex.

Though not yet old enough to have voted for the man slain in Dallas, “I was devastated — a lot of us young people were — because John Kennedy was the young president,” recalled Smith, now 68.

Read More..

Football: 'Guardiola to City' talk did not faze Mancini

MANCHESTER, United Kingdom: Roberto Mancini on Friday said that he was never concerned about the prospect of Pep Guardiola taking his job at Manchester City, despite speculation before the Spaniard joined Bayern Munich.

Guardiola, the former Barcelona coach, was said to be lined up for a move to Eastlands should Mancini fail to deliver a trophy this year, despite leading the club to the English Premier League title last term.

The arrival at City of former Barca directors Ferran Soriano and Txiki Begiristain as chief executive and director of football only fuelled the rumours that the champions were building a backroom team for Guardiola.

But Guardiola is now set to take over at the German giants from next season, after signing a three-year contract earlier this week.

"I think that after one year out of work he decided to go to an important team," he told a news conference. "Bayern Munich is one of the world's top clubs because of its history. He decided this because it was the best solution for him.

"I did not have any problems about (the speculation of a move to City)," he added. "I understand the newspapers write that every day every manager wants to come here because it's a good place. But I think we work very well here.

"I have a five-year contract," he said, adding that he did not think it was likely that that he would be replaced in the meantime.

Mancini, whose side are currently seven points behind league leaders and local rivals Manchester United, said that although he wants to add to his squad, he may only be able to sign young players instead of big names in the transfer window.

"I think in January it is difficult to take good players because there is not one club who can sell good players," he explained.

"Maybe we can find some young players if we get a chance. In the last 12 days we probably can do something but I am not sure."

Mancini also welcomed a move to rescind a red card handed to City defender Vincent Kompany for a challenge on Jack Wilshere in last weekend's win over Arsenal, allowing him to escape a three-match ban.

"I am very pleased because I think it (the decision) is correct," said the manager. "I think the referee managed the game very well but in that situation he did not get to see well. After, I think he did very well.

"I don't think that tackle was a red card. Sometimes it's not."

Mancini meanwhile revealed that Sergio Aguero will return to action in City's home game against Fulham on Saturday, as the Argentina international has completed his recovery from a hamstring injury.

Aguero has not played since City beat Stoke on New Year's Day.

Mancini said he was relieved City appear to have overcome several recent injury problems, with the manager blaming the Premier League's hectic schedule for the club's fitness problems.

"We don't have time to recover, this is the reason," he added. "If every player play every two days for one year then they go and play international football there is no time to recover."

- AFP/de

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Lalu bats for Rahul Gandhi as PM candidate

KOLKATA: RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav today batted for Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi to be the Prime Ministerial candidate for the 2014 general elections, and said Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi's "dream of becoming PM will never come true".

"Modi's prime ministerial dream is not going to come true... His dream of coming to Hastinapur will never materialise," he said, retorting, "What is wrong with Rahul Gandhi, tell me?"

Prasad was talking to reporters on the sidelines of a FICCI Ladies Organisation programme here.

A dozen people were being projected as Prime Minister, but it did not mean that they would become the one, he said.

He also ruled out formation of a third front during the Lok Sabha polls in 2014 and said, "I have been in politics for a long time now and I can tell you a third party has never come to power, nor will it ever come to power...

"There will be only two compartments, communal compartment and secular compartment, and the secular compartment will form the government," he said.

Prasad praised Congress President Sonia Gandhi's leadership and her move for making Manmohan Singh the Prime Minister in 2004.

"She is not a foreigner. She is the daughter-in-law of India. She has proved her large heartedness by refusing the post of prime minister in 2004," he said.

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First Human Contact With Large Emperor Penguin Colony

One of the largest emperor penguin colonies in Antarctica was discovered last month by a team from the International Polar Foundation's Princess Elisabeth station.

The penguin colony had previously been identified through satellite imagery by researchers from the British Antarctic Survey. The penguins themselves didn't show up very clearly, but their excrement stains on the ice did.

Expedition leader Alain Hubert, who has spent seven seasons in Antarctica, long suspected a colony existed somewhere along the vast coast near Princess Elisabeth station. "When you go on the coast," explained the Belgian explorer, "after ten minutes, penguins come out of the water to look at who you are and what you are doing."

The satellite images gave Hubert and his team a rough idea of where to start looking. When ice research brought them within 37 miles (60 kilometers) of the probable location, they hopped on their snowmobiles for a side trip. The team traversed steep crevasses from the continent's cliffs down to the ice shelf, which has been shifting 650 feet (200 meters) toward the sea each year. "We were lucky to find it," said Hubert.

They finally came upon the colony at midnight in early December, when the sun was still shining during the Antarctic summer. Spread out on the ice were 9,000 emperor penguins, about three-quarters of them chicks. Despite his polar experience, Hubert had never seen a full colony before. "You can approach them," he said. "When you talk to them, it's like they are listening to you."

Researchers hope penguins will tell them—through population numbers and colony locations—how they are faring with climate change. Emperor penguins breed on the sea ice. If the ice breaks up early, before the chicks can fend for themselves, the chicks die and the future of the colony is imperiled.

Hubert has high hopes for his newly met neighbors because they located their nursery on top of an underwater rift, where the sea ice is less likely to melt. "They are quite clever, these animals."

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A nomination fight at ATF; McDonough’s swearing skills; fed offices brave the snow (read this roundup)

Acting ATF Director Todd Jones is President Obama’s pick to permanently lead the agency.
(Charles Dharapak - AP)

Gunning for a confrontation — Seems President Obama is picking a nomination fight. ... The Senate for six years has blocked nominees to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, but Obama named a new director Wednesday
in an effort to strengthen the depleted agency.

Oh, #@**! — Denis McDonough, who’s likely to be named White House chief of staff, has at leastt one thing in common with another guy who’s held that job. He is “is not adverse to cursing those who have frustrated or angered him,” which sure reminds us of Rahm Emanuel.

Open for business — Washington is doing the predictable pre-snow freak-out routine, but federal offices are bravely staying open, despite a small chance there will be a light blanketing of the white stuff.

Meanwhile, the scramble for inauguration tickets is on.

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