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<?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/rss.xsl" media="screen"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"><channel><title>Color from Obama's meeting with Pope</title><link>http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/07/10/1992463.aspx</link><description>From NBC's Scott Foster and Mark MurrayAccording to the traveling pool report, during their meeting, the Pope said to President Obama (in English), "Mr. President, welcome."
Obama replied, "Thank you so much. It is a great honor for me... Thank you so</description><dc:language>en-US</dc:language><generator>CommunityServer 2.0 (Build: 60608.1)</generator><item><title>Color from Obama's meeting with Pope</title><link>http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/07/10/1992463.aspx#1992466</link><pubDate>Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:34:44 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:1992466</guid><dc:creator>Ali Baba</dc:creator><description>Stop the fawning over the poop I mean pope Mr. President. Most of us aren't even catholic or want our young men anywhere near the clergy. Yech</description></item><item><title>Color from Obama's meeting with Pope</title><link>http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/07/10/1992463.aspx#1992469</link><pubDate>Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:36:40 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:1992469</guid><dc:creator>Bad Chihuahua </dc:creator><description>Mark Sanford&lt;br&gt;John Ensign&lt;br&gt;Newt Gingrich&lt;br&gt;David Vitter&lt;br&gt;Larry Craig&lt;br&gt;etc.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Things are what they are. You are what you is.&lt;br&gt;Deal with it.&lt;br&gt;</description></item><item><title>Color from Obama's meeting with Pope</title><link>http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/07/10/1992463.aspx#1992474</link><pubDate>Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:39:56 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:1992474</guid><dc:creator>St. Eleutherius of Nicomedia</dc:creator><description>A sad remark from Juan on a previous post-&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;quot;Who cares what the Catholic Church Bishops have to say considering they were complacent in covering up and moving around pedophile priests. Juan, Ft Lauderdale, Fl (Sent Friday, July 10, 2009 9:34 AM)&amp;quot;&lt;br&gt;------------------------------------------------------&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;MSNBC allows anti-Catholic rants but I forgive them. They even stray from their own rules, let alone those of the Almighty: &lt;br&gt;&amp;quot;PLEASE READ: All comments must be approved before appearing in the thread; time and space constraints prevent all comments from appearing. We will only approve comments that are directly related to the blog, use appropriate language and are not attacking the comments of others.&amp;quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Just remember, there are PLENTY of insults, jokes and ill remarks people could make about Barack Obama, Rahm Emanuel and Barney Frank but the gutless PC press would not repeat them even if you waterboarded their senior editor!&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;</description></item><item><title>Color from Obama's meeting with Pope</title><link>http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/07/10/1992463.aspx#1992475</link><pubDate>Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:40:21 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:1992475</guid><dc:creator>matt</dc:creator><description>Somehow the Pope wasn't as outraged as those frenzied conservatives who went bonkers over Obama's Notre Dame visit...&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;a rel="nofollow" target="_new" href="http://www.political-buzz.com/"&gt;http://www.political-buzz.com/&lt;/a&gt;</description></item><item><title>Color from Obama's meeting with Pope</title><link>http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/07/10/1992463.aspx#1992477</link><pubDate>Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:41:20 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:1992477</guid><dc:creator>MSierra, SF</dc:creator><description>Here’s a FUN FACT for YOU !!&lt;br&gt;In cas you DIND’T KNOW the F-22 is PORK BARREL&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The F-22 Fighter is a WASTE OF TAX PAYER MONEY &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;‘…pushing its hourly cost of flying to more than $44,000…..’&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;And, yet IT’S NEVER BEEN USED IN IRAQ of AFGHANISTAN !!&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;‘…pushing its hourly cost of flying to more than $44,000…..&lt;br&gt;Every hour &amp;nbsp;it flys costs you $44,000 !!!&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;From ThinkProgress (7/10/09):&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;‘…Confidential Pentagon test results reveal that the F-22 requires “more than 30 hours of maintenance for every hour in the skies, pushing its hourly cost of flying to more than $44,000.” Despite such shortcomings and Defense Secretary Robert Gates’s stated desire to end the F-22 program, committees in both houses Congress voted to continue funding the program last month after being lobbied by the manufacturer. …’&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;no joe, no bo, nj: ‘…What he SHOULD have done was what Bill Clinton did when the tech bubble burst-nothing. ..’&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;GREAT !!&lt;br&gt;‘nothing’&lt;br&gt;The old ‘Herbert Hoover no step’ !!&lt;br&gt;Herbert Hoover was the original Libertarian&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Look how well that policy worked for Hoover !!&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Paul Krugman suggested that Obama SPEND MORE and Direct his spending towards the staes and infrastructure&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Krugman is a Nobel Laureate in Economics&lt;br&gt;How many Nobel Prizes in Economics do you have, Nojo ?&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;‘…Just askin’: By the way, how has it gotten lost in the public debate that about 40% of the stimulus consisted of tax cuts?...’&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;And, Krugman opposed this&lt;br&gt;The three ‘moderate’ Republicans forced the Democrats to remove aid to the states from the Stimulus&lt;br&gt;THAT was the most important part of the stimulus in jump starting the economy&lt;br&gt;Keeping teachers, firemen and police on the job….&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;But, we NEEDED the three Republicans to get the Stimulus passed&lt;br&gt;Democracy is messy&lt;br&gt;Bi-Partisanship SUCKS&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Ron Indiana: ‘…President Obama may want to keep this activity, whatever it is, a secret. &amp;nbsp;Why? &amp;nbsp;I suspect that whatever Cheney’s CIA was doing was unlawful. &amp;nbsp;If exposed it would likely cause more chaos and bitterness than we are currently observing. (Which is already too much.) &amp;nbsp; &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Obama is a pragmatist and my guess is that it is more important to him that we have healthcare and improve the economy than expose whatever Cheney’s CIA was doing. &amp;nbsp;A tough call, but for now, the right call. &amp;nbsp;Someday…someday we need to look over our shoulder and prosecute those who broke our laws. &amp;nbsp;Looking at you Cheney, Rove, Gonzales, and a host of others. …’&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;It’s a close call, Ron&lt;br&gt;He probably doesn’t want to stir up a hornet’s nest on torture&lt;br&gt;I think that’s why he’s not moving on LGBT rights, either&lt;br&gt;He doesn’t want to distract attention from the Economy and Health Care&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;But, at some point these issues MUST BE RESOLVED&lt;br&gt;Exposing torture will prevent it from being used again&lt;br&gt;Otherwise future Presidents will think they can get away with it&lt;br&gt;There’s also the question of Justice and International Law&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Human beings were TORTURED&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;How many ways can you say STUPID, IRRESPONSIBLE or IDIOTIC ??&lt;br&gt;How about Newt ?&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Let’s ‘Sabotage Iran !!!&lt;br&gt;We don’t have enough wars, already ?&lt;br&gt;We haven’t destabilized the Middle East enough ?&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;From MyDD:&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;‘…Newt Gingrich Urges 'Sabotage' of Iran &lt;br&gt;by Charles Lemos, Fri Jul 10, 2009 at 01:54:45 AM EST&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;In an interview with Qatar's Al Jazeera network scheduled for release on Friday, Newt Gingrich, the former Speaker of the House and possible GOP contender for the Presidency, calls for the United States to &amp;quot;sabotage&amp;quot; Iran's oil and gas infrastructure as part of a broad-based effort to bring down the Iranian regime. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;In an interview with Al Jazeera's Avi Lewis for the Fault Lines programme, Republican Newt Gingrich said targeting Iran's refinery would spark an economic crisis that would destabilise the government in Tehran.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;He said the US should &amp;quot;use covert operations ... to create a gasoline-led crisis to try and replace the regime&amp;quot;.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;quot;I think we have a vested interest, the world has a vested interest, in a responsible Iranian government, just as we have a vested interest in a responsible North Korean government,&amp;quot; he said.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;While Barack Obama, the US president, has attempted diplomatic engagement with Iran following years of icy relations, some of his administration's critics have been calling for destabilisation instead.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;But Gingrich qualified that such a tactic to destabilise would only be &amp;quot;one piece out of many&amp;quot;.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;quot;I think that the Reagan strategy in Eastern Europe in the late 1980s is the right strategy: we use economic, diplomatic, psychological pressures to try to change the regime.&amp;quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Despite being oil-rich, Iran is dependent on gasoline imports to meet about 40% of its domestic consumption. Iran lacks sufficient refining capacity to meet its domestic gasoline needs, forcing Tehran to import large volumes of the motor fuel which it then sells at heavily subsidized prices domestically.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Though the United States is not currently sabotaging Iran's oil and gas industry, late last month the House Appropriations Committee approved by voice vote a measure prohibiting the US Export-Import Bank from helping companies that export gasoline to Iran or support its production inside Iran. The Swiss firm Vitol, the Swiss/Dutch firm Trafigura, France's Total, the Swiss firm Glencore, and British Petroleum, as well as the Indian firm Reliance are the main suppliers of gasoline to Iran. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The measure was sponsored by GOP Congressman Mark Kirk of Illinois as an amendment attached to the annual spending bill to cover the expenses of the US State Department and other US foreign operations. I suspect what Newt Gingrich means by 'sabotage' is more than just cutting off trade financing to foreign companies that do business with Iran…’.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Let’s all sing: ‘BOMB, BOMB, BOMB…… BOMB, BOMB IRAN !!&lt;br&gt;Wasn’t THAT fun ??&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Imagine a foreign Policy where you’re LOOKING FOR ENEMIES&lt;br&gt;Where you’re LOOKING FOR A FIGHT&lt;br&gt;Where you’re STARTING FIGHHTS&lt;br&gt;Permanent WAR&lt;br&gt;PARADISE FOR WEAPONS MAKERS&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Ronald Reagan DID NOT bring down the Soviet union&lt;br&gt;It was an internal collapse&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Reagan began America’s INTERNAL COLLASPE&lt;br&gt;Reagan SPENT US INTO THE POOR HOUSE&lt;br&gt;Reagan, Bush and Bush created NINETY PERCENT of our NATIONAL DEBT&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Imagine Newt Gingrichserving divorce papers on the wife who got him out of the draft and put him through school….&lt;br&gt;She’s coming out of cancer surgery and still groggy from the anesthetic as Newt gives her the divorce papers&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Does he have a busty babe on his arm ?&lt;br&gt;The term SCOUNDREL comes to mind&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Newt DIDN’T PAY CHILD SUPPORT&lt;br&gt;He was a DEAD BEAT DAD !!&lt;br&gt;His wife and children depended on charity to make ends meet&lt;br&gt;Newt’s children depended upon charity to EAT &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Because they had a DEADBEAT DAD </description></item><item><title>Color from Obama's meeting with Pope</title><link>http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/07/10/1992463.aspx#1992478</link><pubDate>Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:41:29 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:1992478</guid><dc:creator>Scooter</dc:creator><description>The Holy See then asked,&amp;quot;Did that guy Ensign's parents really pay off his mistress?&amp;quot;To which the President replied, &amp;quot; That's nothing, did you read Sanford's emails?&amp;quot;. To which the Holy Father replied,&amp;quot;Yeah, those guys are a bunch of freaks.&amp;quot;&lt;br&gt;</description></item><item><title>Color from Obama's meeting with Pope</title><link>http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/07/10/1992463.aspx#1992479</link><pubDate>Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:42:54 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:1992479</guid><dc:creator>MSierra, SF</dc:creator><description>&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Was Father Guido Sarducci also one of your correspondents ??</description></item><item><title>Color from Obama's meeting with Pope</title><link>http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/07/10/1992463.aspx#1992481</link><pubDate>Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:44:10 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:1992481</guid><dc:creator>Feisty Redhead Roselle, IL</dc:creator><description>Oh Boy… I can’t wait for the smart ass comments to start flowing from the right wing whack jobs on this one!&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Plenty of fodder for the clever clowns to salivate over!&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;I swear to god if President Obama somehow cured cancer tomorrow they would still pi$$ moan!&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;What truly pathetic lives the lonely right wing loons must LEAD! &amp;nbsp;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Screw HRC let’s chatter on about looking at someone’s a@@ shall we… If you want to go ‘there then let’s all remember McDinasour and his leering lecherous looks at Fertile Myrtle’s butt when he unleashed the pitbull complete with lipstick on the civilized world!&lt;br&gt;Loved the fiddling with the wedding ring touch!&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;</description></item><item><title>Color from Obama's meeting with Pope</title><link>http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/07/10/1992463.aspx#1992485</link><pubDate>Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:45:15 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:1992485</guid><dc:creator>Bill, Fairfax, VA</dc:creator><description>&amp;quot;When Reagan was president unemployment was at 15%.&amp;quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Anita, Birmingham, Alabama (Sent Friday, July 10, 2009 10:03 AM)&lt;br&gt;================&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;You’ve been called on this before, but you still keep repeating the lie. &amp;nbsp;The unemployment rate under Reagan peaked at 10.8% in 1982 – and then declined dramatically throughout the remainder of his term.&lt;br&gt;Get your facts straight and stop with the lies.&lt;br&gt;</description></item><item><title>Color from Obama's meeting with Pope</title><link>http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/07/10/1992463.aspx#1992486</link><pubDate>Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:45:34 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:1992486</guid><dc:creator>Drew, Cincinnati, Ohio</dc:creator><description>Finally we see to men who do not agree on everything, but are willing to sit down respectfully and work together on what they do agree on. I hope the Republicans and the Religious Right take note and stop all of this nonsense. Bill O'Reilly should wake up and see what common sense and teamwork can accomplish. Notre Dame looks a whole lot smarter now!</description></item><item><title>Color from Obama's meeting with Pope</title><link>http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/07/10/1992463.aspx#1992488</link><pubDate>Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:47:25 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:1992488</guid><dc:creator>Eric, Salinas, CA</dc:creator><description>Dang must be a slow news day today if this is all Frist Read can post after First Thoughts. &amp;nbsp;I sure hope that First Read can find some good stuff to report. &amp;nbsp;Anything new on the scandal front for Ensign Sanford and Palin?&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;quot;Eric in Salinas, You're contempt for &amp;quot;rich&amp;quot; people seems to drive just about all your comments. All rich people are not greedy and they are the job producers in this country.&amp;quot; DG, Houston, TX&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Hey DG - time for you to open your mind that this economic collapse all started with Ronny Raygunz's VooDoo Tinkle Down Economics that have left the vast majority of us all wet from the wrong kind of golden shower. &amp;nbsp;The richest and greediest get that way by being money addicts who never have enough and always want more, they're just money junkies and it's time to give them the cold turkey treatment. &amp;nbsp;Rich people do not create jobs, Demand creates jobs and it's the rich and greedy who have all the money to take advantage of when Demand demands more goodies so more jobs get created. &amp;nbsp;Wake up and stop screwing yourself so the rich and greedy can make you pay higher taxes so they don't have to.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Demand Creates Jobs not Rich People!</description></item><item><title>Color from Obama's meeting with Pope</title><link>http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/07/10/1992463.aspx#1992489</link><pubDate>Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:48:28 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:1992489</guid><dc:creator>Binney Munson</dc:creator><description>In addition to increase manufacturing, I beleive green jobs will fill a portion of the gap. Imagine if all the work done overseas getting oil out of the ground, were moved over to America. Maintaining turbines, solar arrays,installing a smarter electric grid, landfill methane processing.... &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;These are my ideas to address your concern anyway. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Good thought, and good day. &lt;br&gt;Ted, Mid Michigan&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;--------------&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Great ideas all. The next thing need to do is create a company, present your business plan to venture capitalists to get your funding, sell stocks and bonds if you choose to go public, and off you go. You'll probably make millions. You can also check in with T Boone Pickens for initial funding. He has time now seeing his wind farm in Texas failed. You may want to discuss the problems he encountered so you don't make the same mistakes. And now because it's your company, you have the control over where you hire people to do the work, and you can have them all in the USofA if you like. Make sure you comply with all the government regulations, requirements, and taxes for your employees. And, good luck.</description></item><item><title>Color from Obama's meeting with Pope</title><link>http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/07/10/1992463.aspx#1992491</link><pubDate>Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:49:22 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">8a5d2dbc-a0e4-4c7a-979f-3188051f228e:1992491</guid><dc:creator>Jody, Iowa</dc:creator><description>What a pleasant sense of humor the Pope has. &amp;nbsp;That makes events like this easier for the guest. &amp;nbsp;Would like to have been a fly on that wall, too. &amp;nbsp;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Glad I don't have to decide on appropriate gifts for the Pope and world leaders. &amp;nbsp;Late to the FR table this morning so I don't think my first thoughts made it past the cutting room. &amp;nbsp;But I've enjoyed reading the ones that did, most of them anyway! &amp;nbsp;</description></item></channel></rss>