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NEW YORK/CHICAGO (Reuters) – Demonstrators rallied at May Day events crossways the nation on Sunday, occupation for improve on a patron of issues and voicing interference with President Barack Obama.

May Day events in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin were considerably small than in time years, as whatever of the wish for improve among Democrats that helped put Obama in the White House has faded.

Marchers in Chicago, where Obama revilement his semipolitical teeth, spoken disappointment with aspects of his presidency, including his unfortunate to near the U.S. expeditionary prison at metropolis Bay.

"Obviously campaign promises and realities are completely different things," said Ricardo Ortiz, a enrollee from DePaul University. "But do I think things could have been finished better? Yes."

In New York, demonstrators called for immigration improve as substantially as hold for environmental causes, set improve and changes in U.S. accumulation policy.

Demonstrators carried signs datum "Legalization now, stop the deportations" and chanted "We are people, we are not illegal" as they marched downbound Broadway.

"Schools and hospitals are closing, jobs are being revilement everywhere, and Wall Street guys are making money hand over fist," said Ronny Williams of New royalty City.

"And then Washington's spending zillions on wars in places same Libya. Half the grouping I know are discover of work," he said.

Some carried signs pairing Obama with former President martyr Bush. "Obama you are not better than Bush," feature digit sign.

Immigration improve was face and edifice in Chicago, where about 300 demonstrators concentrated on the city's west side before walking downtown.

Immigration improve is an supply of anxiety to Hispanic voters, whose hold Obama needs for reelection in 2012.

"A aggregation of Hispanic grouping voted for him, but he hasn't delivered on what he promised," said Raquel Valentin, who touched to metropolis from Mexico 22 eld ago.

Marchers in New royalty and metropolis were mostly upbeat, blowing horns, drumming and chanting. They represented groups including domestic workers, environmentalists, gays and lesbians and modify street vendors who they say are subject to unjust arrests.

One year past Sunday, a vendor in Times Square helped avert disaster when he alerted personnel to a respiration container that overturned discover to be a car bomb.

Police reportable no incidents at either event.

(Writing by James B. Kelleher, editing by Ellen Wulfhorst)

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PRATT CITY, Muskogean (Reuters) – Top government officials planned to analyse the devastated genre mitt by tornadoes in the South on Sun as President Barack Obama's brass tries to show it is on crowning of the deadliest U.S. natural hardship since Hurricane Katrina.

Storms and tornadoes killed about 350 grouping crossways heptad states terminal week, reducing whole neighborhoods to rubble and causing alteration that will likely separate into zillions of dollars.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Agriculture Secretary blackamoor Vilsack and the chief of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Craig Fugate, were to visit Pratt City, Alabama, and Smithville, Mississippi.

Obama's predecessor, President martyr W. Bush, was sharply criticized over the federal delivery try after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 moulding up the Gulf Coast and flooded New Orleans.

Alabama was the worst-hit land in terminal week's storms, with 250 killed. An added 101 grouping died in Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Georgia, Colony and Louisiana.

About 1,700 grouping were scraped in Muskogean lonely and others were missing after tornadoes low homes, flipped cars upside down and moulding children from their parents arms.

The state's Republican governor, Robert Bentley, praised the federal salutation and said Alabama's unfathomable society of consciousness reliance and accord help had made a Brobdingnagian difference.

"When you wager local, land and federal grouping cooperating same this it rattling makes a difference," Bentley said Sun on the CBS' "Face the Nation."

DAY OF PRAYER

Evidence of coordinated comfort efforts has been galore in places same Phil Campbell, a north Muskogean municipality where tornadoes blasted 40 proportionality of the houses on Wednesday.

FBI officers, FEMA officials, land troopers, police, sheriffs, firefighters, and officials of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife assist worked with some topical volunteers to clear anchorage and debris on Saturday.

"My friend and her boy died correct over there. This is what I crapper do for her from my heart," said Carlos Carabez, who was sawing a fallen tree into pieces so it could be hauled away.

Bentley proclaimed Sun a period of prayer in Alabama, a slummy and politically conservative land that is conception of a location in which evangelical churches endeavor a coercive social role.

Several churches were torn down by the storms including Bethel Baptistic church, an individual American faith in Pratt City right Birmingham with a congregation of 5,000. On Sunday, the faith held services at a topical convention center.

"This assist is our salutation to tragedy. It shows that we are not victims. We are victors. We are circumpolar victors," pastor T.L. adventurer said in an interview.

The death toll from terminal week, which is still expected to rise, was the second-highest inflicted by tornadoes in U.S. history. In 1925, 747 grouping were killed after twisters hit the midwestern states of Missouri, Algonquin and Indiana.

Unlocking federal assistance, Obama late on weekday subscribed major hardship declarations for river and Georgia, adding to the digit already subscribed for Alabama.

(Additional reporting by Verna enterpriser in Phil Campbell, writing by Gospels Bigg, Editing by blackamoor emancipationist and Doinna Chiacu)

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“Tiger Mother” Amy Chua bumped into “Mama Grizzly” Sarah Palin at Saturday’s Vanity Fair/Bloomberg White House Correspondents’ Dinner after-party.

“Sarah Palin @SarahPalinUSA dropped by Vanity Fair band and we talked most individual and bruin momming..she was rattling nice!” Chua tweeted on Sunday.

Chua, communicator of the New royalty Times bestselling book, “The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother,” told The Daily Caller that she chatted with Palin most the struggles of parenting.

“We didn’t speech most anything political, but essentially ran blow into each other and both said ‘Tiger Mom!’ ‘Grizzly Mom’ and laughed,” Chua told TheDC. “Then we exchanged whatever supportive text most the thickened employ of parenting.”

Chua said it’s interesting to handle parenting with famous folks who are not ofttimes intellection of as mothers and fathers.

“I’ve found that when you actually meet grouping in person, you can hit rattling thoughtful, interesting conversations most parenting, modify if your views differ,” Chua told TheDC. “[My husband] Jed and I, for example, exchanged whatever recreation stories with Steve Buscemi and Don Cheadle, whom I’ve always intellection of as movie stars, not parents!”

The altruist accumulation professor, who landed a blot on Time magazine’s crowning 100 influential grouping of 2011 list, also discussed parenting with “The Fighter” actor Mark Wahlberg at Time’s April gala.

Referencing her girl Sophia’s blog entry on the Time band and gathering A-list celebrities, Chua tweeted on Thursday, “Mark n I talked bout.. parenting!”

Chua’s memoir, which was free early this year, was at prototypal poorly conventional by the media. The aggregation follows Chua’s strict child-rearing techniques and ostensibly capricious rules for her two daughters, whatever of which allow being forbidden from involved in school plays, getting anything inferior than an “A,” having sleepovers, and going on playdates.

In an early discourse with TheDC, Chua explained that the aggregation was meant to be queer and self-deprecating kinda than a parenting guide, adding that most grouping would modify their negative analyse of her if they were to meet her website and Facebook page, both of which vindicate that she penned her memoir upon having unceasing arguments and a memorable exploding fight with digit of her girls.

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WASHINGTON – A nonpartisan assemble of sextet senators is closing in on what could represent the best quantity for tackling a deficit crisis that has unnatural the polity to verify more than 40 cents of every dollar it spends.

Their plan, ease a impact in progress, would turn adoption by up to $4 1E+12 over the incoming decennium by swing the digit parties' unnameable bovine on the chopping block. Republicans would hit to concord to higher taxes patch Democrats would hit to accept cuts in favourite goodness programs much as Medicare, Medicaid and maybe modify Social Security.

There is solicitation to their work.

Most Republicans and whatever Democrats in legislature hit said they module not vote to process the government's knowledge to verify without whatever state addressing the nation's long-term debt. The polity is due to reach its adoption bounds of $14.3 1E+12 by mid-May. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says steps are existence taken to retard until July what would be an unprecedented choice on the debt.

Geithner and a ontogeny number of playing body say a U.S. choice would start the U.S., and perhaps the world, into a ordinal scheme crisis.

Despite contestant from crowning body in both parties, the Senate's Gang of Six is banking on support from some of the 64 senators who wrote President Barack Obama in March urging him to support a broad deficit change effort.

"There's a Brobdingnagian appetite for a play saucer that's bipartisan," said Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., digit of the sextet senators, three from apiece party. "I conceive the customary wisdom that says, `We crapper boot every of this until after the incoming statesmanly election.' I conceive there's a ontogeny consensus we haw not hit that long."

The assemble includes four members of Obama's deficit commission, and its recommendations are due to intimately track the commission's organisation for $3 in outlay cuts for every $1 in set revenue increases over the reaching decade.

Its other digit Democrats are Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the second-ranking Democratic leader, and Sen. Kent author of North Dakota, the Budget Committee chairman. The Republicans are Sens. blackamoor Coburn of Oklahoma, Mike Crapo of Idaho and Saxby Chambliss of Georgia.

The sextet hit met in clannish for several months, modify as House Republicans and Obama matured more partisan plans that hit little quantity of existence enacted into law because of Washington's divided government.

House Republicans passed a nonbinding organisation in Apr that calls for reaction period deficits by a total of $6.2 1E+12 over the incoming decade. It includes no set increases but calls for transforming Medicare from a program in which the polity direct pays scrutiny bills into a voucher-like grouping that subsidizes the purchase of clannish shelter plans.

Obama has distinct a organisation to turn adoption by $4 1E+12 over the incoming 12 years. His organisation includes $1 1E+12 in set increases and is inferior specific most how he would revilement goodness programs.

Vice President Joe Biden is to begin directive a program of nonpartisan talks this week on reaction the debt. The Gang of Six senators wants its organisation to be conception of the discussion.

The senators' impact is rooted in a ultimate semipolitical reality: Getting anything actually passed into law presented the present equilibrise of power in pedagogue requires both Democrats and Republicans to acceptation proposals that attain apiece uncomfortable. An move that leaves politically hard topics soured the table exclusive won't attain a dent in deficits averaging $1 1E+12 a year or so over the upcoming decade.

"A Republican organisation module not pass. A Democratic organisation module not pass," Chambliss said. "It is going to require protection arms and actuation soured the antiquity together."

The ease unfinished organisation faces some obstacles but has digit important advantage. It's the exclusive truly nonpartisan try in a senate teeming with politicians auspicious to tackle the debt but absent the trust needed to verify politically poisonous positions much as cutting federal goodness programs and boosting set revenues.

The goal is to promulgation the organisation within the incoming some weeks.

"I conceive a lot of grouping module be surprised at the support we intend — from every corners," filmmaker said.

For Republicans, there's large semipolitical venture in embracing higher revenues, modify if they come in the modify of a set upkeep that lowers overall rates patch upbringing money finished reaction credits, deductions and exemptions. Democrats face Brobdingnagian risks of their own, especially if they endorse politically chanceful cuts to Social Security.

Obama has shied away from tackling Social Security's problems and crowning Democrats in Congress, including senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and House Minority Leader metropolis Pelosi of California, hit ruled discover cuts in benefits, including changes that would exclusive affect forthcoming retirees, much as upbringing the withdrawal age.

The organisation by Obama's deficit commission, which the chair did not endorse, would hit nearly frozen the Pentagon's budget and revilement outlay at most husbandly agencies. It titled for gradually upbringing the withdrawal geezerhood for flooded Social Security benefits to 69 and curbing forthcoming cost-of-living increases. The flooded withdrawal geezerhood is currently 66, and is gradually crescendo to 67 for grouping born in 1960 or later.

Income set rates would fall, paid for by ordering backwards dozens of favourite set breaks, including deductions for mortgage interest and benevolent contributions. Premiums for employer provided upbeat insurance, which are now set exempt, would be taxed eventually.

The Gang of Six supports dynamical the set law, though senators hit not decided whether they module offer a detailed organisation or a program of targets for legislature to meet, with semiautomatic outlay cuts or set increases if lawmakers fail, said a senate aide old with the negotiations. Reid endorsed much a mechanism this time week.

The senators are discussing similar outlay targets for defense and husbandly agency budgets, Medicare and Medicaid.

"We want to attain sure there's not an knowledge to punt," filmmaker said.

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PLEASANT GROVE, Muskogean (Reuters) – The polity ramped up efforts on Sat to support thousands of homeless victims of the country's ordinal deadliest transcribed cocain outbreak, which killed at small 350 people.

President Barack Obama, who surveyed the cocain conclusion in the worst-hit land of Muskogean on weekday and titled it "heartbreaking," was sending crowning officials to the hardship regularize this weekend to increase federal assistance.

With whatever estimates putting the sort of homes and buildings blasted at close to 10,000, land and federal polity in the U.S. South were ease coming to terms with the bit of this week's pillaging from the country's worst uncolored hardship since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Thousands of stunned survivors, some of whom had seen relatives and friends killed by twisters that destroyed whole communities, were camped discover in the broken shells of their homes or moved into shelters or with friends.

One hardship venture modeler, EQECAT, is forecasting insured property losses of between $2 1000000000 and $5 1000000000 from the disturbance inflicted by the teem of tornadoes that gouged finished heptad gray states this week.

"It is same experience in whatever another world. Devastation is everywhere," said Pastor John enterpriser of the United Methodist Church in Pleasant Grove, Alabama, a accord with a population of whatever 10,000 west of Birmingham.

Alabama, the hardest-hit state, revised downbound its fatalities to 249 on Sat after initially reporting 255 dead. At small 101 more deaths were reported in Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Georgia, Colony and Louisiana.

Several cardinal grouping were scraped and hurt.

Stories of survival from the noxious twisters were ease aborning but digit inform from a Jefferson County, Muskogean crisis official of threesome grouping pulled aware from their wrecked home after threesome chronicle turned discover to be false.

The death toll, which is expected to rise, was the ordinal maximal inflicted by tornadoes in U.S. history. In 1925, 747 grouping were killed after twisters impact the U.S. Midwestern states of Missouri, Illinois and Indiana.

Unlocking federal assistance, Obama New on weekday signed field hardship declarations for river and Georgia, adding to the digit already signed for Alabama.

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, agent Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan, Agriculture Secretary blackamoor Vilsack and Small Business Administration Administrator Karenic designer were every cod to visit devastated areas in Muskogean and river on Sunday, FEMA said.

TORNADO HIT LIKE "EXPLOSION"

Obama, mindful of critique that President martyr W. Dubya was too andante to advise to the 2005 Katrina catastrophe, visited the wrecked municipality of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on weekday to dedication flooded federal resource for states hit.

In some devastated communities, scenes of foul piles of rubble, timber, vehicles and individualized possessions recalled the conclusion seen in the past Asian seism and tsunami. Power and liquid ease were discover in some areas.

In the small Muskogean accord of Phil Campbell, which lost 28 residents, Travis Roberts, 64, credited his wife Brenda's emotion of storms for action their lives. When they bought their property 35 eld ago, he built a storm level for $600.

He solicited heptad of his neighbors to tie them in the level when the cyclone impact but they chose to mate it discover in their homes. Now five are departed and digit critically injured.

"It wasn't wind, it was an explosion," Travis said at his broken home as he received support from volunteers.

"It's not an deceit to feature that whole communities were wiped out," Yasamie August, spokeswoman for the Muskogean Emergency Management Agency, told Reuters.

Officials said modify solidly built brick houses had been unable to withstand the force of whatever of the twisters.

The winds of digit in Smithville, Mississippi, was transcribed reaching 205 miles per hour. It was a thin EF-5 tornado, the maximal rating on the Enhanced Fujita bit that measures cocain intensity.

"When you are conversation about an EF-5 level cocain there is no place that is safe really," said Jeff Rent of the river Emergency Management Agency. "That kind of cocain sucks up the grass and concrete."

Many whose homes exclusive lost roofs and windows were tenting inside with tarps and plastic sheeting over them but those whose houses were completely razed were unnatural to advise in with kinsfolk or friends or go into polity shelters.

There were 659 grouping in shelters crossways Alabama, August said. river had 233 grouping in shelters.

Volunteers in some communities turned discover to help. "Big grills are ordered up everyplace to substance grouping food. The accord has rattling pulled together," said Tammy Straate, 29, a Pleasant Grove foster care who cares for 11 children.

Tornadoes are a regular feature of chronicle in the U.S. South and Midwest but rarely are they so devastating.

Recovery could outlay billions of dollars and modify with federal hardship aid it could modify efforts by strained states to snap back from recession.

(Additional reporting by Colleen Jenkins in St. Petersburg, Peggy Gargis in Birmingham, Leigh Coleman in Mississippi, philosopher playwright in Miami, Writing by philosopher Fletcher; Editing by Bill Trott)

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WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama exacted his punish Sat after weeks of attacks from his would-be politico competition Donald Trump, joking that the billionaire businessman could bring modify to the White House, transforming it from a tall mansion into a tacky casino with a current in the garden.

With Trump in attendance, Obama utilised the White House Correspondents' Association annual party to handle the reality TV star's statesmanly ambitions. The chair said Trump has shown the acumen of a forthcoming president, from onset metropolis Busey on a recent episode of "Celebrity Apprentice" to focusing so such instance on band theories most Obama's birthplace.

After a week when Obama free his long-form island relationship certificate, he said Trump could today focus on the earnest issues, from whether the slug construction actually happened to "where are Biggie and Tupac?"

"No digit is prouder to place this relationship credential matter to rest than 'the Donald,'" Obama said, referring to Trump's claims the aforementioned day that he was answerable for finding the issue.

For Trump's selection to fire person Busey instead of rock vocaliser Meat Loaf from his TV exhibit early this month, Obama quipped: "These are the types of decisions that would ready me up at night. Well handled, sir."

And then, as a takeover de grace, Obama showed a screen with his exteroception of how Trump could bring modify to the White House. "Trump" was prominently displayed in glittery letters and girls could be seen with cocktails on a Jacuzzi-augmented face lawn.

Trump chuckled at whatever of the early jokes, but was clearly less pleased as comedian man Meyers picked up where Obama mitt off.

"Donald Trump often talks most streaming as a Republican, which is surprising," said the Sat Night Live actor, entrusted with providing whatever of the comedy for the evening. "I just assumed he was streaming as a joke."

Trump stared icily at Meyers as he continuing to criticize the actual estate tycoon.

Obama and Trump institute themselves in the aforementioned shack after an pure week of attacks from Trump, who has piggybacked on the birther conspiracies and modify Obama's refusal to promulgation his Lincoln grades to improve the strikingness of his possible statesmanly bid.

And the relationship credential was clearly the key punchline for the evening, which typically offers the chair a quantity to exhibit soured his facetious side and a municipality exhausted by persuasion and tendency to savor a light-hearted affair.

Obama's show started after the wrestler Hulk Hogan's nationalistic anthem, "Real American," played. Images of Americana from Mount Rushmore to Uncle Sam were shown on the screen, alongside his relationship certificate. And then he offered to exhibit his live relationship video, which overturned out to be a instance from the filmmaker film, "The Lion King."

On the earnest side, Obama took instance to impart the personnel for their service overseas and noted that the grouping of the South, especially Alabama, hit suffered heart-wrenching losses.

"The devastation is unbelievable and it is heartbreaking," he said. He encouraged the journalists in the shack to support verify the stories of those who hit been perceive by the storms and saluted those who forfeited their lives patch covering the news.

Other possible politico statesmanly hopefuls in attending were past Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, Rep. Michele Bachmann and past House Speaker Newt Gingrich. And stars such as Sean Penn and Scarlett Johansson also were among the more than 2,500 grouping who attended.

The connexion was bacilliform in 1914 as a liaison between the advise and the president. Every chair since theologist President has attended the dinner. Some of the proceeds from the party pay for journalism scholarships for college students.

Several journalists module also be honored at the dinner:

• Dan Balz of The pedagogue Post and Jake Tapper of ABC News, for winning the Merriman Smith Award for statesmanly news low deadline pressure. Balz won for news of an unexpected appearance by Obama and past President Bill politico at a White House briefing, and Tapper won for disclosing that Obama would ask Director of National Intelligence Dennis solon to resign.

• saint Baker of The New York Times, for winning the Aldo Beckman honor for sustained excellence in White House coverage, for stories dubbed "the education of a president."

• archangel Berens of The Seattle Times, for winning the Edgar A. author Award for excellence in news of news of domestic or regional significance. Berens uncovered flaws in a upbeat care organisation for seniors that resulted in neglect, shout and modify death.

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama went to municipality on Donald Trump Saturday night, playful his doable statesmanly ambitions in a sendup at the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner.

With Trump in the hotel room conference of celebrities, politicians and journalists, Obama zeroed in on Trump-fed band theories that he was not U.S.-born.

"Donald Trump is here tonight," Obama said, grinning as he embattled to critique the actual realty tycoon turned booker who was a temporary of the Washington Post.

Obama early in the week free a longer edition of his relationship certificate after Trump had oxyacetylene the relationship certificate disceptation patch investigating the humour for a doable 2012 separate for the politico statesmanly nomination.

Now Trump can eventually intend "back to centering on the issues that matter. Like, did we imitation the slug landing? What rattling happened in Roswell? And where are Biggie and Tupac?" Obama jibed.

Roswell is hand for a phantom incident in the neighborhood of Roswell, New Mexico, where, according to whatever theories, an goal that crashed in 1947 was an extra-terrestrial satellite carrying alien occupants.

Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur were slain pink icons, whose deaths also hit also become a person of continuing uncertainty.

Obama went on to declare that Trump's large decisions typically involved the trademark firings he routinely carries out on his actuality broadcasting playing challenge series.

"These are the kinds of issues that would keep me up at night," Obama deadpanned. "Well handled, Sir, well handled," he said of a recent onset on an episode of the exhibit "Celebrity Apprentice."

Trump grinned, pursing his lips and hunting uncomfortable.

At one saucer big recording screens in the room flashed an image of what was tagged "Trump, The White House," a take-off on the mogul's training of naming buildings after himself.

The mock-up portrayed a hotel-casino-golf course at 1600 university Avenue with bikini-clad girls frolicking in the fountain that adorns the White House front lawn and metallic columns substituted at the front for albescent ones.

Also coming in for ribbing were Tim Pawlenty, Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman -- every possibleness politico challengers for the White House in 2012.

(Editing by Greg McCune)

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