Obama spends day raising campaign money
SEATTLE, Sept. 25 (UPI) -- President Obama spent Sunday refilling his campaign war chest, traveling to Washington state and California to solicit donations from Democratic supporters.
In Seattle, Obama used some sports star power to bolster his fundraising efforts with retired NBA greats Bill Russell and Lenny Wilkens expressing their support for the president and his jobs bill while introducing him to the audience at Paramount Theater estimated by organizers at about 1,700 people who paid $100 apiece to his Obama Victory Fund.
The president urged the crowd to get involved in his 2012 campaign.
"I've come because I need you to help me finish what we started in 2008," he said.
"I need you guys to shake off any doldrums. I need you to decide right here and right now, talk to your friends and neighs and co-workers and tell them, 'You know what? We're not finished yet.'"
He plugged his legislation aimed at putting people to work rebuilding the nation's infrastructure and chided Republicans in Congress for opposing it.
"What happened? Republicans used to like roads," he said. "Some think they don't like roads because Democrats are proposing it."
At an earlier $35,800-a-head fundraiser at the Medina home of former Microsoft executive Jon Shirley that was attended by about 65 people, Obama said if he isn't re-elected next year, a Republican president would usher in "an approach to government that would fundamentally cripple America in meeting the challenges of the 21st century."
Obama acknowledged the campaign will be "especially hard because a lot of people are discouraged" but said he would "keep drawing a clear contrast" between his vision and that of the Republican Party.
Bullfighting ends in Catelonia
BARCELONA, Spain, Sept. 25 (UPI) -- Barcelona's Monumental bullfighting ring was packed with 20,000 spectators Sunday for the final confrontations between man and bull to be held there.
Bullfighters Tomas and Safin Marin were carried from the ring into the streets by exuberant fans after the toreadors dispatched their four-legged foes, The New York Times reported. Some spectators rushed into the ring to grab some sand for souvenirs.
The end of bullfighting in the region was written last year when the Catalan Parliament, bowing to pressure from animal rights activists, voted to ban the corrida events, the Times said.
While still a popular summer festival activity in many communities across Spain, government statistics show the number of bullfights has dropped from 2,622 in 2007 to 1,724 last year, coinciding with the country's economic woes, the Times said.
The Times said the cost of the events has forced cancellations of not only bullfights but entire festivals.
The slump has been particularly hard on the Spanish farms that breed fighting bulls. A number of such farms were opened recently as investment properties by businessmen who were thriving in the boom times a few years ago.
BP showing signs of life in Gulf of Mexico
NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 25 (UPI) -- British oil producer BP has asked the U.S. government for a permit to drill four oil wells in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana, officials said.
The application is the first for BP since the 2010 Macondo well blowout that fouled a wide swath of the Gulf Coast with more than 200 million gallons of crude and left 11 Deepwater Horizon oil platform workers dead.
BP said in the application it wants to sink four wells in nearly 6,000 feet of water about 250 miles off the Louisiana coast. Federal regulators have 30 days from Sept. 21 to evaluate the plan.
The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune reported Sunday that oil industry analysts see the permit as a step in what has been a slow-moving process to get BP back in business in the gulf.
"They are taking it very, very slowly, so that the activity level is going to be quite low," said Mark Gilman of Benchmark Co. Gilman told The Times-Picayune he expected BP to tread lightly well into next year.
BP has not been completely sidelined in the gulf. The newspaper said the corporation held major stakes in current exploration projects led by Chevron and Noble Energy.
It was also announced last week that a drilling company working for BP had tapped into a reservoir estimated at 4 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
Pope draws large crowds in Germany
FREIBURG, Germany, Sept. 25 (UPI) -- Tens of thousands of Catholics gathered at a church in Freiburg, Germany, to celebrate Pope Benedict's final mass Sunday at the end of his four-day visit.
The large crowd shows that faith in Germany is still very strong, despite the anger of many German Catholics over child abuse scandals, Euronews.com reported.
Along with large crowds throughout the pope's visit to his native Germany, the pontiff also drew small protests from victims of abuse and groups supporting them.
On Friday, Benedict met with a group of people who had been sexually abused by clergymen and church personnel in Germany, CNN reported.
"Moved and deeply shaken by the sufferings of the victims, the spiritual leader of the world's Roman Catholics expressed his deep compassion and regret over all that was done to them and their families," said a statement from the Vatican press office. "He assured the people present that those in positions of responsibility in the church are seriously concerned to deal with all crimes of abuse and are committed to effective measures for the protection of children."
The pope concluded his visit to Germany with meetings with bishops and judges.
