Obama at White House - Inauguration day 2009

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Barack and Michelle Obama were at the White House on Tuesday to meet with President Bush, as hundreds of thousands gathered at the Capitol for Obama's inauguration.

The Obamas attended a prayer service at St. John's Episcopal Church on Tuesday morning and then headed to the nearby White House for a meeting with the outgoing president and first lady Laura Bush.

Vice President-elect Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, arrived at the White House shortly before the Obamas. The Obamas, Bushes and Bidens were expected to have coffee at the before heading to the Capitol.

The 9 a.m. church service kicked off a day of events for the man who will become the nation's 44th president at noon ET.

As many as 2 million people are expected to crowd into the area between the Capitol, the White House and the Lincoln Memorial as Obama takes the oath of office.

Gerrard Coles of Norwalk, Connecticut, had staked out a position in front of St. John's.

"Everyone's down here -- hopefully to catch a glimpse of Barack, just for a split second," he said. "I think this was a beautiful thing. It's something I always wanted to do. It's not every day that you get to be a part of history. Rather than just watch it on TV, you actually get to partake in it and you have a story to tell your kids."

A crowd gathered at a barricade near the church was letting children and shorter onlookers move to the front of the crowd so they could get a better view.

Some spectators will be more than a mile from the swearing-in ceremony, watching on giant TV screens erected along the National Mall.

Thousands arrived before daylight Tuesday in standing-room-only trains. They carried blankets and wore Obama scarves to ward off the wind chills of minus 15 degrees Fahrenheit.

Suburban Washington train stations were jammed. A four-story parking deck at the Springfield, Virginia, station was filled at 5 a.m. Trains rolling into the stop about 15 miles south of the Capitol had no room for the hundreds on the platform.

The Metro rail system's Red Line was shut down about 9 a.m. after a pedestrian was hit by a train, further snarling the already overloaded train service, fire officials said.

On Monday night, visitors wandered around the Mall, snapping pictures and shooting video of the Capitol and monuments.

The scene around Lafayette Square was almost chaotic, with cars turning around in the street as they were confronted with barriers to closed-off areas and clots of pedestrians crossing streets against the light.

The visitors' excitement rubbed off on some of the jaded locals, one of whom said D.C. residents were "cynical of government."

"The energy on the streets is something I've never seen before," said Nancy Wigal, a 45-year-old technical writer who lives in the Mount Vernon Square area. "People are walking lighter, standing taller and are reaching out to one another. It feels like hope. It feels like shared happiness."

The morning began at 4 a.m. for many as those without tickets made a land grab on the Mall, rushing to stake out positions for the ceremony.

After Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden take their oaths of office on the western front of the Capitol, Obama will deliver his inaugural address, which Obama aides say will emphasize that America is entering a new era of responsibility.

In the approximately 20-minute speech, Obama will say America has been hurt by a "me-first" mentality that contributed to the current economic crisis, aides say, and he will call on individuals -- as well as corporations and businesses -- to take responsibility for their actions.

After a formal farewell to President George W. Bush and lunch with congressional leaders, Obama will head up Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House, where he and his family will watch the inauguration parade from a reviewing stand. The parade begins at 3:45 p.m. ET.

The new president and first lady will then close the night by attending 10 official inaugural balls.

Officials say they really don't know how many will show up, but estimates range from 1 million to 2 million.

Organizers have said about 280,000 people can fit into the secure zones around the Capitol and roughly 300,000 into the area around the parade. A mere 28,000 seats are available on Capitol grounds.

Those with tickets to the inauguration will undergo tight screening, including passing through magnetometers, when they enter the seating area in front of the Capitol.

Spectators without tickets will be routed to the Mall, which for the first time will be open from end to end for an inauguration. Security there will be less stringent.

Jeri Pickett of Rochester, New York, was one of the few who got a ticket.

"I'd just like to see the inspiration of America," said Pickett, when asked what he was expecting from Inauguration Day. "There's so much warmth here now, and excitement -- rejuvenation."

Transportation officials say they will run subway trains on rush-hour schedules starting at 4 a.m. as well as extra buses. The Metro expects more than 1 million riders.

Inauguration events have already drawn record crowds. A crowd attending an inauguration concert Sunday was estimated between 300,000 and 400,000 and stretched from the Lincoln Memorial all the way to the Washington Monument, which stands at the midpoint of the Mall.

While Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan said Monday there was "no credible threat" to the inauguration events, a security cordon has been put in place around the city's core, turning much of downtown Washington into a pedestrian-only zone.

In addition to Secret Service, the security effort will involve 8,000 police officers from the District of Columbia and other jurisdictions, 10,000 National Guard troops, about 1,000 FBI personnel, and hundreds of others from the Department of Homeland Security, the National Park Service and U.S. Capitol Police.

Another 20,000 members of the National Guard are ready to respond if there is an emergency, according to outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.

Inauguration Day 2009 - Barack Obama

WASHINGTON – The streets of the nation's capital pulsed with expectation Tuesday as crowds determined to witness the swearing-in of President-elect Barack Obama overwhelmed mass transit lines and clogged security checkpoints.

Energized by the historic moment, tens of thousands of people turned this city's orderly grid of streets into a festive party scene. Ready to endure below-freezing temperatures, they streamed up from subway stations and thronged past parked buses, emergency vehicles and street vendors, bound for Pennsylvania Avenue and the National Mall for the inauguration.

"This is the culmination of two years of work," said Obama activist Akin Salawu, 34, of Brooklyn, N.Y., who helped the candidate as a community organizer and Web producer. "We got on board when Obama was the little engine who could. He's like a child you've held onto. Now he's going out into the world."

By 4 a.m., lines of riders formed in suburban parking lots for the Metro transit system, which opened early and put on extra trains for the expected rush. Many parking lots filled up and had to be closed.

Streets around the Capitol quickly filled with people, and security checkpoints were mobbed. The cold registered at 21 degrees Fahrenheit at 7:45 a.m.

Warming tents and other facilities on the Mall were late opening because traffic and crowds delayed staffers from reaching them. Ticket holders approaching the Inaugural site on Capitol Hill awaited security sweeps in a line estimated at thousands.

Connie Grant of Birmingham, Alabama, said she got up at 3:30 a.m. after coming to Washington with a group. Three hours later she was still on 7th street waiting for police to clear the way into the Mall.

She said the wait didn't matter. "I sacrificed and came here. To me, this is very historic. I just wanted to be here."

Christian Alderson of Berryville, Va., went to Memphis, Tenn., in 1968 to support the sanitation workers strike and said he was there when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.

"That day was sorrowful," Alderson, 73, said as he stood near the mall. "This is a dream come true for me."

At the opposite end of town, Georgetown University students chanted "Obama!" and "Fired up Ready to Go!" as they walked down M Street toward the Mall.

A flea-market atmosphere prevailed on downtown streets, with white tents set up to sell Obama T-shirts and mugs as well as food, bottled water, snacks, scarves and footwarmers. The scent of grilled coiled sausages and steaming Chinese food greeted those who walked toward the parade route, more than six hours before Obama would pass by.

As the first waves of people began moving through security screenings, they scrambled for prime viewing spots along Pennsylvania Avenue — sitting on the curb, staking out plots of grass, or clambering on to cold metal benches.

Suburban subway riders also seemed to be in a jubilant mood, despite the early hour. In Fredericksburg, Va., an hour south of Washington, chants of "Obama! Obama!" rang out at a commuter rail station when the line started moving at 5 a.m. for the first trip into Washington.

World history teacher Calvin Adams of Arlington, Va., said he got up extra early so he could witness history being made first-hand and teach it to his classes.

"Eventually I'll teach American history," said Adams, 23. "I'll say, 'This is how it works because I've been there, I've seen it.'"

The joyous mood was tempered only by delays and by the dashed expectations of revelers eager to get an up-close look at history.

Alice Williams, a 51-year-old teacher of gifted children from Kansas City, Mo., had the coveted purple ticket that would placed her in front of the Capitol, but she got caught in the crowd bottleneck and instead was stuck a half mile away.

"We got blocked off; there was too much traffic and no guidance," she said forlornly. "I've been walking for an hour and a half. All I want to do is see my president sworn in"

One parade entrance was supposed to open at 7 a.m. The crowd, which was one-block deep, counted down at 7 a.m. The gate did not open. The chants got louder at 7:30 a.m., but the gates remain closed.

D.C. police have projected inaugural crowds between 1 million and 2 million. Planners say attendance could easily top the 1.2 million people who were at Lyndon B. Johnson's 1965 inauguration, the largest crowd the National Park Service has on record.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs Takes Medical Leave of Absence

Well this doesn't sound good at all for Apple. I know that Apple Stock has dropped almost 10 % in after hours trading which is to be expected right after news like this. It will be interesting how Apple moves foreward from this. They should have some new gizmo in their back pocket that they can unveil while Jobs is out so it will show more confidence that Apple can survive without Jobs in the Long run. And who knows maybe Apple has that up their sleeve. It will also be interesting to see if Apple now goes through Layoffs or if Jobs even comes back at all. It doesn't sound good for the future of the company. But Jobs should of made a strong foundation that should have Apple running lightyears after he passes anyways.

By Mike Musgrove and Peter Whoriskey

Washington Post Staff Writers

Apple chief executive Steve Jobs today announced that he will take a leave of absence as a result of health concerns.

"During the past week I have learned that my health-related issues are more complex than I originally thought," Jobs wrote in an e-mail sent to all Apple employees.

He said he intends to return to the company at the end of June.

Speculation about Jobs's health has swayed the company's share prices during the past year as his increasingly gaunt appearance left some investors worried. The iconic tech leader, who is often viewed as the main driving force for his company's recent successes, was treated for pancreatic cancer several years ago.

Jobs did not deliver a keynote at the recent Mac-centric trade show this year, citing a hormone imbalance. The company's share price rose 4 percent on the news, a result of investor relief that Jobs was not suffering a recurrence of cancer.

Apple products, particularly the iPod and iPhone, have gained a rare kind of loyalty from customers, and much of the credit is given to Jobs's demanding leadership. He is reputedly relentless in his demands that Apple engineers make products that simplify technology, an approach that often gives the company's products a minimalist chic.

In 2004, Jobs received a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer and had surgery, which apparently was successful. Last June, however, Jobs appeared gaunt and the uncertainty over his health created new worries for investors. Stock prices suffered as a result.

Concern about Jobs's health heightened Dec. 16, when the company announced that he would not attend Macworld, a conference that he has addressed in his trademark black turtleneck for several years. Instead, the company sent marketing chief Philip Schiller to make a presentation.

Apple's stock fell as much as 10 percent after the company made that announcement.

Jobs was forced to address the rumors last week. In recent months, Jobs and the Apple board had declined to provide more information about the chief executive's health.

"Unfortunately, my decision to have Phil deliver the Macworld keynote set off another flurry of rumors about my health, with some even publishing stories of me on my deathbed," he wrote on Jan. 5. "I've decided to share something very personal with the Apple community so that we can all relax and enjoy the show tomorrow.

"As many of you know, I have been losing weight throughout 2008," his note said. "The reason has been a mystery to me and my doctors."

Jobs said that the cause of his troubles was a "hormone imbalance."

But many health professionals said then that hormone imbalance is not a specific medical diagnosis

While Jobs is away from the company he founded, Apple will be steered by chief operating officer Tim Cook.

Macy's will shutter 11 stores in 9 states

Looks like macy's is hurting even worse than most originally thought. It has yet to be said if they will continue to host the thanksgiving parade in the future. Hopefully within time they will be able to reclaim their lost stores.

Macy's will close 11 underperforming stores in 9 states; Dec. same-store sales fall 4 percent

* Mae Anderson, AP Retail Writer

NEW YORK (AP) -- Department-store operator Macy's Inc. said Thursday it will close 11 underperforming stores in nine states -- affecting 960 employees -- and lowered its forecast for the fourth quarter after one of the weakest holiday seasons in years.

Stores slated to close include locations in Los Angeles, West Palm Beach, Fla., Nashville, Tenn., and St. Louis, among others. Cincinnati-based Macy's Inc. says the closures will cost about $65 million, most of which will be booked in the 2008 fourth quarter.

Clearance sales at the stores begin next week.

"These closings are part of our normal-course process to prune underperforming locations each year in order to maintain a healthy portfolio of stores," said Macy's Chief Executive Terry J. Lundgren in a statement.

Employees at the stores that are closing may be considered for open positions at other Macy's stores, the company said.

Department-store operators have been among the harder-hit in the retail sector as consumers cut back amid the recession, hunting for bargains and trading down to discounters.

Macy's reported Thursday that its December sales at stores open at least a year, or same-store sales, fell 4 percent -- still not as bad as the 5.3 percent drop analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters were expecting.

Total sales for the five-week period ended Jan. 3 fell 5 percent to $4.4 billion from $4.61 billion last year.

Same-store sales fell 7.5 percent during the combined November and December holiday period. Macy's said the holiday season ended with improving sales in the fourth and fifth weeks of December but that sales were sluggish before that.

The company said it marked items down sharply in the fourth quarter to gain sales and reduce its inventories, but that hurt its margins and led it to lower its profit forecast for the fourth quarter and full year.

Macy's now expects earnings of 90 cents to $1 per share in the fourth quarter, down from its previous guidance of $1.10 to $1.30 per share. Analysts expect earnings of $1.11 per share.

For the full year, the company now expects to earn $1.10 to $1.20 per share, down from its previous forecast of $1.30 to $1.50 per share. Analysts expect a profit of $1.35 per share.

Hackers Post Faked Report of Steve Jobs's Death

Wow I wonder who is behind this. Can somebody tell me where Bill Gates was at this time. I wonder if this was just another hacker trying to be funny, corporate espionage, or somebody who was trying to short on Apple stock and found a way to try and make some big money. Anyway you slice it, it is pretty bad that you are trying to tell the world that the person who brought us the ipod is dead. Steve Jobs is alilve of course.

by Mitch Marconi

Surfacing rumors of Steve Jobs death have been going around the internet as of late. MacRumors, one of many cover sites for Apple's annual Macworld prodcut launches, was apparently hacked.

The people who hacked MacRumors made false news of Steve Jobs' death. Valleywag.com had posted an image of what the hacked page looked like. Steve Jobs is still alive, despite is weight loss he is working on himself currently according to reports.

Could the hackers been trying to spook people? Many fix the stocks? Who knows, but hopefully the criminals are caught.

FBI Now Hiring, Looking for 850 new FBI agents

I might have to apply there myself. I bet there is good benefits and I don't think the goverment would layoff people. Well if they did then there wouldn't be many jobs anywhere else anyways.

By Terry Frieden

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Despite a bleak economic environment featuring wide-ranging layoffs and rising unemployment, the nation's premier law enforcement agency is touting "one of the largest hiring blitzes in our 100-year history."

The FBI is about to embark on its biggest hiring spree since immediately after the September 11, 2001.

The FBI posted openings for 850 special agents and more than 2,100 professional support personnel. Officials say it's the largest FBI job posting since immediately after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The FBI's unexpectedly large number of job openings results more from attrition and a wave of retirements than from growing government appropriations, Bureau officials told CNN.

The FBI routinely advertises openings for individuals with critical skills in computer science and language fluency. But John Raucci, assistant director of the FBI's Human Resources Division, says current needs are much more wide-ranging.

"We're also looking for professionals in a wide variety of fields who have a deep desire to help protect our nation from terrorists, spies and others who wish us harm," Raucci said.

The lengthy list of openings includes positions in finance and accounting, security, intelligence analysis, training and education, nursing and counseling, physical surveillance, electrical engineering, physical and social sciences, and auto mechanics.

Procedures for applying and a full listing of available positions are posted on the Web site fbijobs.gov.

"This is a great time to apply for a great job in the FBI," said the bureau's chief spokesman, Richard Kolko.

Officials note at least a few jobs are currently available in every one of the FBI's 56 field offices across the nation.

The FBI lists openings throughout the year, but seldom has anything close to the current number of available positions.

The present job postings expire on January 16, but a new, possibly smaller set of openings will be posted shortly thereafter, the agency said.

S&P upgrades Atmos Energy's rating

I should buy some of their stock. Not because they have been upgraded or anything like that. It is because I use Atmos as my gas company. They always say invest in things you use. Plus I don't think any utility company is ever going to go under. hmm now I am curious.

Standard and Poor's Ratings Services on Tuesday raised its rating on Atmos Energy Corp. and said the outlook for the company is "Stable" due to improved financial performance and rate case decisions that increased cash flow.

S&P lifted its corporate credit rating on Atmos to "BBB+" from "BBB," pushing the company's rating further up on the investment-grade rating scale.

Kenneth Farer, a credit analyst with S&P, said the company's favorable treatment in recent rate cases regarding weather-related risks over the past several years helped improve cash flow for the company. Other factors that helped boost the company's rating included management's success in integrating the TXU Gas Co. acquisition and in executing its overall business strategy.

"The outlook on Atmos is stable and reflects our expectation that the company will maintain its current level of financial performance," Farer said.

Shares of Atmos fell 18 cents to $23.46 on Tuesday. The 52-week share price range is between $19.68 and $29.29.