Swine flu creates controversy on Twitter

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(CNN) -- The swine flu outbreak is spawning debate about how people get information during health emergencies -- especially at a time when news sources are becoming less centralized.

Buzz about swine flu on Twitter is stirring conversations about how people get health news.

Some observers say Twitter -- a micro-blogging site where users post 140-character messages -- has become a hotbed of unnecessary hype and misinformation about the outbreak, which is thought to have claimed more than 100 lives in Mexico.

"This is a good example of why [Twitter is] headed in that wrong direction, because it's just propagating fear amongst people as opposed to seeking actual solutions or key information," said Brennon Slattery, a contributing writer for PC World. "The swine flu thing came really at the crux of a media revolution."

Twitter's popularity has exploded in recent months, and Slattery said it's a new development that a wide number of people would turn to the site in search of information during an emergency.

A spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, however, said that the online buzz about swine flu is a good sign. It means people are talking about the issue, and that's the first step toward learning how to reasonably protect yourself.

Obama at 66 percent, Michelle at 76 percent

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President Barack Obama holds a healthy 66 percent job approval rating in the latest national ABC News/Washington Post poll, but the president's positives trail those of his better half by 10 percent.

Michelle Obama scored a 76 percent approval rating in the survey, up 28 percent from last summer.

Despite the continuing recession, 60 percent of those surveyed approve how Obama
is handling the economy. Fifty-two percent approved of the president's approach to the deficit.

"At this early stage in his presidency, Obama continues to benefit from a broadly held perception that others should bear the bulk of responsibility for the severe economic problems that confront his administration," the Post concluded.

As Obama Takes First Overseas Trip, More See U.S. Image Abroad Improving

With Barack Obama on his first presidential trip overseas, far more Americans now say the United States' image abroad is improving rather than worsening, a sharp turnaround from views under George W. Bush. But significant international challenges face Obama – including skepticism at home about negotiations with Taliban elements in Afghanistan.

Obama gets 62 percent approval for handling international affairs overall, and just 14 percent say the United States' image is worsening under his presidency.

(ABC News Photo Illustration)

Obama gets 62 percent approval for handling international affairs overall, and just 14 percent say the United States' image is worsening under his presidency – down from 61 percent under Bush in late 2003. Instead 43 percent now say the United States' image is improving, up from 10 percent under Bush. The rest say it's staying the same.

GM's future at stake as Obama's team steps in

 

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President Obama left a big question mark over the future of the U.S. auto industry Monday when he made it clear he is willing to offer limited aid to General Motors and Chrysler but warned they must restructure much faster or end up in bankruptcy court.

Obama blamed a "failure of leadership, from Washington to Detroit" for bringing the automakers so close to collapse. But his auto task force, he said, had determined that turnaround plans laid out by GM and Chrysler had failed to prove they can turn the automakers around. And over the weekend, the administration signaled its willingness to have the government intervene more directly in their future when it forced out GM CEO Rick Wagoner.

READERS REACT: Shopper Panel weighs in on plan

The president's plan balances two competing forces that are swirling around Americans' economic anxieties: growing public outrage over corporate bailouts and fear that if the auto industry sinks, it will take millions of jobs and the fragile economy down with it.

The White House also has given different courses of action for the two automakers: It made clear it will try to save GM (GM), but Chrysler essentially is being cut loose.

Obama takes step over the line that separates government from private industry

FACTBOX: Obama's presidential debut on world stage

Sun Mar 29, 2009 2:56am EDT

 

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama will make his debut on the world stage this week with his first major foreign trip since taking office on January 20.

Here are some details of his travels plus his objectives for each leg:

G20 SUMMIT - LONDON

Obama's first stop: an April 2 summit of the Group of 20 top economies, a follow-up to a meeting hosted by predecessor George W. Bush, to tackle the global economic crisis.

Obama, who has pledged to repair America's image abroad after eight contentious years under Bush, will set the tone for his administration's relations with the rest of the world even as he is tested in his first encounter with global summitry.

He "is going to listen in London, as well as to lead," said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.

In the final run-up to the trip, Obama's aides seemed to back away from earlier calls for other G20 countries to act quickly to ramp up spending to match the United States. The White House said Obama would not seek specific commitments.

European leaders, reluctant to build up more debt, had already spurned the idea and made clear they wanted to make a top priority of overhauling global financial regulations.

Obama will meet British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Queen Elizabeth on Wednesday before the summit. Talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will be watched for how he handles two world powers whose relations with Washington have often been tense.

Obama tells allies that public supports his agenda

Obama tells allies that public supports his agenda

WASHINGTON (AP) — Reassuring House Democrats that "we are in this together," President Barack Obama predicted that unity will help their party maintain its high standing with the public as they pursue an ambitious agenda in the face of economic turmoil.

The House and Senate are set this week to take up companion budget outlines that constitute Congress' initial response to the $3.6 trillion fiscal plan for 2010 that Obama proposed last month.

On the eve of his first trip to Europe, the president rallied lawmakers Monday in a closed-door session in the Capitol. He said they must deal with education, health care and clean energy in spite of the weak economy.

Obama said the reason his budget predicts such large deficits is not because of new spending for those three top agenda items but because of structural deficits that he inherited.

Speaking to fiscal hawks in the House, Obama said he is "serious as a heart attack" about addressing the nation's long-term deficit problems, according to notes taken by a House aide who required anonymity to describe the private session.

"We are in this together," Obama said.

Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said Obama said his administration remains focused primarily on the economy but added that "'we can do more than one thing at a time.'"

Obama appeared before Senate Democrats last week, where he received supportive questioning as moderates queasy over big deficits and rapidly rising debt held their tongues.