Sept. 2, 2009

Obama post-vacation plans:

U.S. President Barack Obama's vacation ends next week and the White House says we can expect the president to be more detailed about his legislative desires.

Obama's time away from Washington was interrupted by news -- both generated by the White House (reappointing of Ban Bernanke to the Fed) and beyond its control (death of Sen. Ted Kennedy; continuing backlash on healthcare reform legislation).

But the vacation is officially over next week and a more hands-on approach from Obama is expected, rather the general cheerleading role he's played so far on healthcare reform. Many people, notably former Sen. Bob Dole, D-Kan., have called on the president to present his own healthcare reform ideas. He may be ready to do that.

The White House said Obama is planning a "major speech" that could help guide the returning U.S. Congress to the path the president wants reform to take.

Politico reported that Obama's plans won't push for the "public option," which the more liberal members of his caucus are demanding as stridently as opponents are against.

The more aggressive stance from the Obama administration could be linked to sagging poll figures. The Rasmussen Reports Daily Presidential Tracking Poll released Wednesday indicates an approval index of minus 12 (40 percent "strongly disapprove" compared to 28 percent "strongly approve") and Obama's overall approval rating is 46 percent, the just more than the lowest of his short tenure in the White House

Afghanistan opium:

Opium production has decreased by about 10 percent over the last year, a U.N. panel concluded.

The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crimes issued a report indicating poppy crops were off 22 percent and that drop was also reflected in a drop in opium production. Funds from opium trafficking are often used to support insurgencies and Afghanistan is the source of 90 percent of the heroin produced in the world.

The Helmand province is the center of poppy cultivation in Afghanistan, accounting for more than half of the opium production in the country. But the U.N. report cited anti-drug efforts but U.K. personnel in the region who are distributing wheat seeds to farmers to plant rather than poppies.

Afghanistan is still a dangerous place as shown by a suicide bombing attack Wednesday that killed more than 20 people, including an intelligence official and several local leaders at a mosque in Laghman province. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the bombing.

The country is also dealing with allegations of pervasive vote rigging in the Aug. 20 presidential elections. Incumbent President Harmid Karzai leads in the vote counting, but may not cross the 50 percent threshold to avoid a runoff.

Good Australian economic news:

Australia, one of the few major economies not to slip into recession in the last year, showed better-than-expected economic growth in the second quarter of 2009.

Australia's gross domestic product grew at a 0.6 percent rate -- three times what analysts predicted -- from April through June. A rise of 0.8 percent in consumer spending was credited with spurring the GDP rate and that was apparently fueled by stimulative spending of $35 billion by the Australian government.

Exports grew 1 percent to account for the rest of the growth but export prices were down 15.8 percent in the quarter, after being off 10 percent in the first three months of the year.

Analysts said the economic news could signal a rise in interest rates set by the Australian Reserve Bank. An increase of 0.25 percentage points is predicted by the end of the year. The current rate is 3 percent.

Legislative fight against body odor:

A bill that would make it illegal to take "odors" -- whether they come from animals, clothes or a person -- on public transit is under consideration by the Honolulu City Council.

The bill's sponsor, Councilman Rod Tam, told the Honolulu Advertiser that Hawaii is becoming "inundated with people from all over the world" and they often have different ideas about hygiene.

"Some people, quite frankly, do not take a bath every day and therefore they may be offensive in terms of their odor," Tam told the newspaper.

Another member of the City Council suggested there could be problems enforcing such a measure. He asked, "How smelly does a person have to be?"

Violators of the proposed legislation would be ordered to leave public transit property and given a summons by police. They could be sentenced to six months in jail and fined $500 if found guilty, the Advertiser said.

The Honolulu bill comes on the heels of action by operators of the Thorpe Park in the United Kingdom who established rules this summer banning the raising of arms by riders of roller coasters, since that ritual brought complaints of body odor. Penalties for violating that rule include being asked to leave the theme park.