The mission-accomplished banner still cannot be raised in the strife for civil liberties in the U.S., said Susan Herman, president of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), at a lecture yesterday titled “Civil Liberties in the Age of Obama.”

In what some have called a dramatic shift in foreign policy, the Obama administration announced yesterday that they will decommission plans for two Bush-era missile shield defense bases in Eastern Europe. The bases were scheduled to be built in Poland and the Czech Republic in response to the perceived threat of Iranian procurement of nuclear weapons.

Vice President Joseph Biden stated in an interview with CNN that there is less concern about the “Iranian potential” as he called it; he believes they do not have the ability to launch a long-range missile at the U.S. now or in the near future.

Prof. Christopher Way, government, expounded on the potential risk.

Those young and inexperienced are ripe for manipulation. Santa, E. Bunny, T. Fairy, etc. Little kids will believe anything, and they’re cute that way. But we forget that youth and inexperience don’t end after we slip out of puberty. No, that manipulation continues, only this time it’s not so cute.

Manipulations cut deeper now. Our realizations are no longer about night-riding, jelly bean-giving bunnies; they’re about how honesty and hard work don’t mean anything. They aren’t about where babies come from; they’re about how that presidential candidate we believed in so adamantly, for whom we campaigned so tirelessly, turned out to be a total fuckin’ fraud.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama on Monday defended before his most skeptical audience his decision to release Bush-era memos outlining interrogation techniques, telling CIA employees it will make the country more safe, not less.

"I know that the last few days have been difficult," Obama said during brief remarks in the lobby of CIA headquarters at Langley, Va. He also met privately with senior CIA officials.

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (AP) — Defending his brand of world politics, President Barack Obama said Sunday that he "strengthens our hand" by reaching out to enemies of the United States and making sure that the nation is a leader, not a lecturer, of democracy.

Obama's foreign doctrine emerged across his four-day trip to Latin America, his first extended venture to a region of the world where resentment of U.S. power still lingers. He got a smile, handshakes and even a gift from incendiary leftist leader Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, and embraced overtures of new relations from isolated Cuban President Raul Castro.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Aiming to assert control over the nation's economic debate, President Barack Obama on Tuesday warned Americans eager for good news that "by no means are we out of the woods" and argued his broad domestic agenda is the path to recovery.

In a speech at Georgetown University, Obama aimed to juggle his recent glass-half-full takes on the economy with a determination to not be stamped as naive in the face lingering problems. He summarized actions his administration has taken to steady the limping economy and coupled that with a fresh overview of his domestic goals.

Festus Mogae, the former president of Botswana, said that Africans love President Barack Obama. They expect a lot from him, especially in encouraging African development of democratic governments, as well as helping to improve Africa’s economies and to respond to climate change.

In the talk in the Biotech Auditorium yesterday, Mogae said that he expects the Obama administration to create a “pro-democracy initiative — one that provides incentives to democratization in Africa.”

“If America believes democracy is good for Africa, it should put its money where its mouth is,” he said. “We want to be helped, not attacked militarily.”

Last night, the Cornell Cinema did not screen a new film or an old classic, but rather a compilation of clips of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign accompanied by a personal presentation by the current White House videographer, Arun Chaudhary ’97. The Cornell alumnus, who was the director of field production for Barack Obama during his campaign, spoke of his experiences filming the then-presidential candidate, the thousands of clips he recorded and how his work evolved as Obama’s campaign spread across America.

During his lecture, Chaudhary emphasized the importance of “new media” and how the recordings that he and his team created helped introduce Obama to the public.

In advance of their full meeting Friday, Cornell’s Board of Trustees met in committees yesterday to discuss a range of topics, including federal research funding and a re-examination of the University’s policy on conflicts of interest and standards of ethical conduct.

In accordance with New York State’s Open Meetings Law, several committees held open sessions yesterday before subsequently convening in closed sessions, which were not available to the media.

At the trustees’ Committee on Governmental Relations, Cornell’s office of government and community relations updated members about how the University will be impacted by recent federal legislation.

Along with the global economy, America’s reputation as the beacon of democracy is also facing critical crossroads, according to Tom Carothers of the Carnegie Endowment of International Peace.

Carothers, a leading democracy expert and author of the most cited article on democracy promotion in the English language, lectured on the future of “U.S. democracy promotion under the new Obama administration.”

“[Obama] wants to rebuild America’s reputation as a global partner, and show that the U.S. can work with other countries productively to solve problems,” Carothers said.It’s like this...: Thomas Carothers lectured yesterday on the future of democracy under the Obama administration.