10 Most Hated Jobs In America

Top Ten Hated Jobs by Workers in United States

At one time or another, we have all known at least one person who has hated his or her job. That person may have suffered silently or vented constantly, but at the end of the day there was no question this person was truly unhappy with where they spent at least 40 of his or her waking hours every week, for 51 weeks a year.

The reasons for job dissatisfaction vary. Low pay, irregular hours, and lack of a window seat are all assumed to be culprits, and to be sure they can all contribute to a bad attitude on the job. These are actually not the primary factors driving a worker to regard tomorrow morning at 9 o'clock sharp with dread and ill will, however, according to one resource.

CareerBliss is an online resource that bases job satisfaction on multiple factors, including workplace culture, coworkers, and the boss.

According a survey of hundreds of thousands of employees conducted in 2011, CareerBliss determined the 10 most hated jobs, rated on a scale of 1 to 10. In almost all cases, respondents reported that the factors causing the most job dissatisfaction were not lousy pay or a desk near the bathroom. CareerBliss found that limited growth opportunities and lack of reward drove the misery index up more than anything else.

Read about the 10 jobs with the highest levels of employee unhappiness. The results may surprise you.

1. Director of Information Technology

For all the press that teachers and nurses get for their long hours, low pay and thankless tasks, it may be surprising to see the most hated job was that of information technology director, according to CareerBliss. After all, the salary's pretty good and with information technology such a prevalent part of everyday business, an IT director can hold almost as much sway over the fate of some companies as a chief executive.

Still, IT directors reported the highest level of dissatisfaction with their jobs, far surpassing that of any waitress, janitor, or bellhop. Of those who responded to the survey, one simple, five-word response summed up the antipathy very well: "Nepotism, cronyism, disrespect for workers."

2. Director of Sales and Marketing

A director of sales and marketing plans implements efforts to promote companies and generate business. Responsibilities often include budget management, public relations, and employee training.

Sales and marketing directors reported the second-highest level of job dissatisfaction of all survey respondents. The majority who responded negatively cited a lack of direction from upper management and an absence of room for growth as the main sources of their ire.

3. Product Manager

"Product manager" is a wide-ranging job title that takes on many meanings, depending on the company and its sector. In some cases, the job requires simply evaluating what products are best suited to a company's business model, and in others marketing, resource management, and scheduling are involved.

The level of job dissatisfaction was very high for this position. One respondent complained that it restricted growth, saying that it was "very hard to grow up the ranks." Another was less polite and said "the work is boring and there's a lot of clerical work still at my level."

4. Senior Web Developer

Senior web developers design, maintain, and develop applications for the Internet. With every business expected to have some kind of Internet presence these days, developers are found working in every type of company, in a full-time, part-time, or freelance capacity.

A senior developer is expected to be fluent in client-side and server-side contexts, and know his or her way around Python, Ruby, or whatever other arcane technology requires taming. Senior developers reported a high degree of unhappiness in their jobs, attributable to a perception their employers are unable to communicate coherently, and lack an understanding of the technology.

5. Technical Specialist

A technical specialist "leads the analysis, definition, design, construction, testing, installation, and modification of medium to large infrastructures," according to CareerBliss. This means that if a company wants to design a project, the technical specialist evaluates it to see what's possible and what isn't.

The job is a lead position that requires intimate knowledge of engineering; familiarity with Linux helps, too. However, technical specialists reported that for all their expertise, they were treated with a palpable level of disrespect. They cited a "lack of communication from upper management" and felt their "input was not taken seriously."

6. Electronics Technician

Electronics technicians maintain, troubleshoot and collect monthly measurement data for electronic systems. They work in every sector and can be employed with the phone company, a chain of fast-food restaurants, or the U.S. Navy. Whatever the case, technicians work on-site and off-site, have constant contact with clients, and must have an ability to quickly solve complex technical problems under intense pressure.

Employee dissatisfaction in this job is attributable to several factors. One respondent complained of having "too little control," while another had a litany of complaints: "Work schedule, lack of accomplishment, no real opportunity for growth, peers have no motivation to work hard, no say in how things are done, hostility from peers towards other employees."

7. Law Clerk

Clerkships are among the most highly sought-after positions in the legal profession. A law clerk assists judges as they write opinions, and the ones who get the job are almost always near the top of their class at law school. Six justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, including Elena Kagan and current Chief Justice John Roberts, were all law clerks early in their careers.

The job clearly beefs up a resume. Yet law clerks still report high levels of dissatisfaction. The hours are long and grueling, and the clerk is subject to the whims of sometimes mercurial personalities. The Bureau of Labor Statistics also reported the job brings in a median salary of $39,780 a year—not exactly striking it rich—and those looking for advancement within the position simply will not find it.

8. Technical Support Analyst

Technical support analysts help people with their computer issues. This typically amounts to calmly communicating technical advice to panicked individuals, often over the phone, and then going on site to find the client simply hadn't turned the printer on.

Technical support analysts often work in a variety of environments, and they may be required to travel at a moment's notice, sometimes on holidays or weekends. After all, there's no telling when a client's computer-whiz nephew might make a minor tweak to his machine, with disastrous results.

In the words of one of the respondents, "You can do better, really."

9. CNC Machinist

CNC machinists operate computer numerical control machines. For the uninitiated, this is a machine that operates a lathe or a mill. On the upside, it renders obsolete processes that used to be performed by hand, at a slow pace and with high risk to the operator's life and limb.

Now that the CNC operator has had most of the physical hazards of manufacturing replaced by a machine, there's not a lot to do but push buttons and perform equipment inspections to make sure the coolant is at a safe level. Since it's a specialized skill, the job offers no room for advancement, which caused respondents to report a high degree of dissatisfaction.

10. Marketing Manager

A marketing manager is responsible for overseeing advertising and promotion. This involves developing strategies to meet sales objectives, based on the study of such factors as customer surveys and market behavior.

According to CareerBliss, respondents in this position most often cited a lack of direction as the primary reason for job dissatisfaction. The most optimistic respondent described it as "tolerable," and gave it the faintest praise possible by saying, "It's a job." (In this labor market, that's not such a bad thing.)

David Lindahl Scam

Rupee gains 12 paise versus dollar

The Indian rupee gained another 12 paise to Rs. 45.18 per US dollar in early trade on Friday on sustained selling of dollars by banks and exporters amid dollar weakness overseas and firm domestic equity markets.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange, the domestic unit opened higher at 45.19/20 per dollar as against Thursday’s closing level of 45.30/32 per dollar and improved further to 45.18 before quoting at 45.24/25 per dollar at 10.30 a.m.

It hovered in a range between 45.18 and 45.25 per dollar in morning deals.

Sustained selling of dollars by banks and exporters amid dollar weakness overseas and firm equity markets mainly boosted the rupee value against the dollar, a forex dealer said.

The euro rose against the dollar yesterday on the back of a report that China and other Asian investors are interested in buying Portuguese bailout bonds.

Meanwhile, oil was higher in Asian trade today as the U.S. currency weakened against the euro, boosting investor appetite for dollar-priced commodities, including crude, analysts said.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for July delivery, gained 29 cents to $100.52 a barrel.

Osama bin Laden Dead

Osama Bin Laden is dead Facebook Page goes viral.

Celebrations erupted in the United States over the news that Osama bin Laden, the most wanted man in the world, was killed by American forces in Pakistan. But the triumphant mood was tinged with caution as security forces braced for possible revenge attacks.

President Obama announced in a rare Sunday night televised statement to the nation that bin Laden, public enemy Number 1, was killed in a raid by Navy Seals in Abbotabad, a scenic military town just 100 miles away from the capital Islamabad.

"We will be true to the values that make us who we are," Obama said in a late night address Sunday. "And on nights like this one, we can say to those families who have lost loved ones to al Qaeda's terror: Justice has been done."

The United States first received a tip in August that the mastermind of the 9/11 terror attacks was hiding in a million-dollar mansion with 12 to 18 foot walls.

The evidence that bin Laden was hiding there was largely circumstantial and he had not been seen, sources told ABC News, and officials did not know where he may be in the sprawling compound that is located about 1,000 feet away from the Pakistan Military Academy.

In March, Obama authorized the development of a plan for the United States to bomb bin Laden's compound with two B2 stealth bombers dropping a few dozen 2,000-pound bombs, sources tell ABC News. But when the president heard the compound would be reduced to rubble, he changed his mind, because it would mean there would be no evidence to present to the world that the head founder and leader of al Qaeda was indeed dead. Plus, all 22 people in the compound including women and children and likely many neighbors would also be killed.

The president wanted proof, and he wanted to minimize collateral damage, sources say. So he instead authorized this risky operation, scheduled for a time of little moonlight, so U.S. helicopters could enter into Pakistan low to the ground and undetected.

The operation was authorized Friday morning and was originally planned for Saturday night, but on Friday, for weather reasons, it was pushed to Sunday.

Four helicopters swooped in to the compound and the Navy Seals fought a close quarters gunbattle. They ordered bin Laden to surrender, but the 54-year-old who had vowed he would not be caught alive, did not surrender. He was shot twice in the head, and his body was quickly taken away by U.S. forces for a DNA test to confirm his identity.

Bin Laden's DNA was matched with that of one of his sisters who died in Boston and whose brain was kept by the United States.

Sources tell ABC News he was buried at sea in accordance with Islamic law.

The news was marked by jubilance, as crowds gathered at Ground Zero in New York and outside the White House in droves, chanting "USA, USA."

Congratulations poured in, with even former vice president Dick Cheney, a leading critic of the Obama administration, congratulating the president.

"Today, the message our forces have sent is clear -- if you attack the United States, we will find you and bring you to justice," Cheney said in a statement.

There were even some unusual praises from groups denounced by the United States, like the Muslim Brotherhood.

"With bin Laden's death, one of the reasons for which violence has been practiced in the world has been removed," Essam al-Erian, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood's governing body, told Reuters.

Bin Laden's death of also prompted security alerts in the U.S.

In New York City, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly ordered the shift that was to go off duty at midnight be held over this morning to increase police presence in the subway system during this morning's rush hours. He also ordered that all members of the NYPD remain alert in the aftermath of the announcement of bin Laden has been killed.

Security was also stepped up at the site of the 9/11 attack and in New York subways.

Washington police were also put on heightened alert and officials said there would be a show of force, especially near transit hubs, hotels and government buildings.

Philadelphia's Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey instructed dispatchers to ensure there are hourly checks on all mosques and synagogues in the city and police were put a heightened alert until further notice.

U.S. embassies have been put on high alert since the news was revealed, and the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI are reminding security forces around the country to be vigilant for suspicious activity amid concerns about possible retaliation.

Barak Obama announces 2012 re-election bid

President Barack Obama on Monday formally announced his 2012 re-election bid, saying the country needed "to protect the progress" it had made.

"Today, we are filing papers to launch our 2012 campaign," Obama said in a statement.

He explained that as his administration and supporters across the country "fight to protect the progress we've made -- and make more -- we also need to begin mobilizing for 2012, long before the time comes for me to begin campaigning in earnest."
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Obama said that in coming days, his supporters will begin forging a new organization in cities and towns across the country.

"And I'll need you to help shape our plan as we create a campaign that's farther reaching, more focused, and more innovative than anything we've built before," he said.

The announcement was preceded by a video, which featured a group of presidential supporters talking about the importance of continuing the job the president started following his election in 2008.

"This will be my final campaign, at least as a candidate," Obama said in the statement.

"But the cause of making a lasting difference for our families, our communities, and our country has never been about one person. And it will succeed only if we work together."

White House Still in Dark?

After Study, White House Still in Dark?

Obama Ordered Secret Report on Political Unrest in Egypt Last Summer, White House Says

Faced with criticisms over its muddled response to the popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, the White House has revealed that President Obama last August ordered a secret report that concluded that without sweeping political reform, the Middle East and North Africa were ripe for revolution.

For several months, the White House held weekly interagency meetings examining questions of political reform across the region, a senior administration official confirmed to Fox News.

"That process has helped us respond quickly and effectively to the events in Tunisia and Egypt, and will help guide our regional focus on encouraging governments in the region to take on meaningful political reforms going forward," the official told Fox News.

The New York Times first reported on the existence of an 18-page classified report that identified likely flashpoints of potential unrest, including Egypt, and added another piece to the puzzle in efforts to assess, in retrospect, how well top policymakers were served by the intelligence community in the months preceding the revolutions in the Middle East.

According to the administration official, at that time the "presidential study directive" was ordered, Obama observed that there are risks to the status quo, just as there are risks to pursuing alternative policies. But, the official said, "continued support for increasingly unpopular and repressive regimes may pose long-term risks to regional stability and our interests."

But even as the administration was supposedly studying stability risks in places like Egypt, the U.S. intelligence community was mostly in the dark about the festering situation in Egypt.

National Intelligence Director James Clapper told a Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday that U.S. intelligence agencies lacked information about the agenda of the country's radical Islamists.

"Specific triggers for how and when instability would lead to the collapse of various regimes cannot always be known or predicted," Clapper said in the hearing. "What intelligence can do in such cases is reduce, but certainly not completely eliminate, uncertainty for decision-makers. But we are not clairvoyant."

Clapper and CIA Director Leon Panetta faced criticism from lawmakers who said the agencies' reports sometimes shed less light than media coverage.

Clapper acknowledged that the abilities of the intelligence community is limited.

"We're not like Sherman Williams paint. We don't cover the earth equally," he said. "So frankly Tunisia was probably not up there on our top 10 countries that we were watching closely. Obviously we are going to work on that."

The White House struggled to find the right response to the 18-day uprising in Egypt that toppled longtime leader Hosni Mubarak. The White House tried to balance its support for a pro-democracy movement with its fear of a new power hostile to Israel and the U.S. in a vacuum created by Mubarak's swift departure.

The State Department confirmed Wednesday that all the information streaming into the National Security Council hardly brought unanimity to the president's top advisers.

"There's one foreign policy in of the United States…and in the day-to-day interaction, whether it's in deputies' committees or in principals' committee, you know, there were different views on how to accomplish certain things," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said.

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Health Tip of The Day (2.15.2011)

Health Tips: 5 Myths of Health-Care Reform.

With confusion and misinformation coming from both sides of the spectrum, many Americans are trying to separate the facts from fiction regarding health-care reform and its influence on their pocketbooks.

Not only will this legislation affect millions of Americans, but will also have a long- lasting impact on businesses.

The majority of companies will now be required to provide health insurance for their employees, while some businesses will be able to use tax credits to offset the cost of this benefit, many companies will need to factor this expense into their business plan.

Here are some common myths regarding the health reform and a look at the law's financial repercussions for individuals and businesses.

1.) The Bill Will Not Impact Insurance Premiums: In the individual market, the cost of premiums will slightly increase due to subsidies and mandates of better coverage. The more comprehensive benefits design is required under federal law but the increased rates will apply to those who are newly enrolled.

2.) You Will Be Forced to Switch Coverage: Health-care plans in existence before the law’s adoption are exempt from certain requirements, but are mandated to provide certain benefits. If insurers restrict coverage of specific conditions, they risk losing their “grandfathered status.” For companies that do not meet the grandfather conditions, consumer protections will be added which may increase expenses. However, many grandfathered plans already offer the majority of consumer protections required of new plans.

3.) Seniors will Lose Medicare Benefits: There are no cuts to the traditional Medicare benefit but rather to the Medicare Advantage- a program that uses private insurance firms to deliver Medicare benefits. The law aims to capture productivity savings in the health system by adding coverage of preventative services such as annual wellness exams to help save Medicare money in the long run.

4.) Businesses Will be Required to Provide Coverage: Employers with 50 or more employees will be subject to “play or pay” rules. If qualified companies don’t provide “minimum essential coverage” to full-time employees they will have to pay a penalty. To ease the rising cost of care, employers will most likely provide coverage that encourages the most cost-effective treatments.

5.) Health Care Reform Will Increase Your Taxes: Health-care reform will not be funded by broad-based income or payroll tax increases but rather by a surtax that will only apply to the highest earning 1.2% of American households. However, more expensive health-care plans may be subject to a “Cadillac tax” where the expenses will likely be passed on to you or your employer.

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30 killed in Mexico's drug violence

At least 30 people have been killed in drug-related violence in Mexican cities of Monterrey and Guadalajara and the northern state of Chihuahua, police say.

At least 11 people were killed in separate murders in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico's deadliest city, across from the US city of El Paso between late Friday and Saturday, authorities said.

Gunmen shot dead five men together in an additional group killing on a highway between Chihuahua city, the state capital, and Ciudad Juarez, AFP reported.

Separately, around 4:00 a.m. (1000 GMT) a special unit of soldiers and police known as the Immediate Reaction Group stopped two suspicious vehicles in a suburb of the industrial city of Monterrey, the Secretariat of Defense said. The car occupants responded by pulling out weapons and opening fire.

"Seven alleged aggressors lost their lives" in the shootout, the secretariat said in a statement, adding that the attackers "struck the side of a vehicle, resulting in a civilian death.”

Three women and three men were also killed in the attack and more than 20 were wounded, police said.

Monterrey, a prosperous city and home to the local operations of several multinational corporations, is at the intersection of several highways -- often used as drug smuggling routes -- heading north into the United States.

Two rival drug organizations, the Gulf cartel and their former allies, the Zetas, are battling for control of the area.

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Suburban Mexico City shootout

7 dead, 1 injured in suburban Mexico City shootout

A state security official says a street shootout possibly between local drug gangs has killed seven people and injured one in suburban Mexico City.

Mexico state security agency spokesman Edgar Sanchez says the shooting occurred early Sunday morning in the northern part of Mexico state that borders Mexico City. He said the dead, six men and one woman, all suffered gunshot wounds, and none have yet to be claimed by family.

State Attorney General spokesman Alfredo Albiter said an investigation is under way on the cause of the killings, but he wouldn't discount a dispute between local street dealers.

A shooting between two suspected drug gangs killed eight in the same area last month.

Dave Lindahl Scam

25 arrested at California conservative meeting

Twenty-five people were arrested for trespassing Sunday as hundreds protested outside a strategy session of conservative political donors at a resort near Palm Springs, authorities said.

The mostly peaceful demonstration had been arranged with authorities, but some protesters crossed the street to the entrance of the Rancho Las Palmas Resort where they were met by deputies in riot gear, Riverside County Deputy Melissa Nieburger said. They were arrested without a struggle, booked at Indio Jail and released.

Sunday was the second day of the four-day, invitation-only conclave of about 200 wealthy conservative political activists. It was organized by brothers David and Charles Koch, whose Wichita, Kan.-based Koch Industries is one of the nation's largest privately held companies.

The brothers have held similar conclaves in the Palm Springs area and Aspen, Colo., for years, but this conference was met with increased scrutiny. Liberal groups have targeted the brothers for criticism because of their funding of the fight against global warming laws and their financial support of Americans for Prosperity, an organization that has worked closely with tea party groups.

The group did not say who was attending the conference, and reporters were not allowed inside the resort, but the strategy sessions in years past have included radio talkers Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh, and Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, according to The New York Times.

Organizer Samantha Corbin told City News Service the protesters were there to "voice opposition to the Koches' funding of climate denial groups, far-right political candidates and anti-health care reform efforts."

Protesters carried signs reading "Troops Home Now," ''Medicare for All" and "Tea Party Founded and Funded By The Kochs."

Several dozen people dressed in hazardous materials suits and held police tape and a banner that read "Quarantine the Kochs."

The protest, which had nearly 1,000 people at its peak, lasted about two hours.

Koch Industries defended the gathering as an exercise in democratic assembly and service to the country.

"This conference brings together some of our nation's most successful business leaders, job creators and those who make it a priority to support their communities and our country in significant ways," said Nancy Pfotenhauer, a spokeswoman for the company.

"We respect all Americans' rights to free speech and to peaceably assemble," she said in a written statement. "It is disappointing that some members of the group protesting today made the choice to not be respectful of the community or of our right to meet."

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US drops ISRO and DRDO from entities list

Obama administration removed nine Indian space, ISRO and DRDO.

Meeting the long pending Indian demand, Obama administration removed nine Indian space and defense related companies including those from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), from its export control 'Entity List'.

The decision that came out close to India's Republic Day, is said to be a move towards strengthening high technology trade between the two countries.

"Today's action marks a significant milestone in reinforcing the US-India strategic partnership and moving forward with export control reforms that will facilitate high technology trade and cooperation," said commerce secretary Gary Locke, after a notification was issued in the federal registry.

The announcement comes a week ahead of a high-profile visit of a US trade delegation which will visit New Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai. Locke will lead 24 US businesses on a high-tech trade mission to India. The delegation also includes senior officials from the Export-Import Bank (EX-IM) and the Trade Development Agency (TDA). This is the first step to implement the export control policy initiative announced on November 8,2010 by US President Barack Obama and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The DRDO companies removed from the entities list: Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BDL), Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE), Defense Research andDevelopment Lab (DRDL), Missile Research and Development Complex; Solid State Physics Laboratory. The ISRO companies to be dropped from the list are: Liquid Propulsion Systems Center, Solid Propellant Space Booster Plant (SPROB), Sriharikota Space Center (SHAR), and Vikram Sarabhai Space Center (VSSC).

The notification removes India from several country groups in the export administration regulations (EAR) resulting in the removal of export license requirements that were tied to India's placement in those country groups.

It further adds India to a country group in the EAR that consists of members of the missile technology control regime. The move recognises and communicates India's adherence to the regime, the US-India strategic partnership, and India's global non-proliferation standing.

"These changes reaffirm the US commitment to work with India on our mutual goal of strengthening the global non-proliferation framework," said under secretary of commerce Eric L Hirschhorn.

President Obama had assured India that he would remove the above companies from the 'Entity List' during his visit to India in November 2010.

"Commensurate with India's nonproliferation record and commitment to abide by multilateral export control standards, the United States will remove all civil space and defense-related entities from the department of commerce "entity list."

Inclusion on this list generally triggers an export license requirement for items that otherwise do not require an export license," said a fact sheet issued by the White House during the Obama visit.

Dave Lindahl Scam

WikiLeaks: 1 Percent of Trove Published

WikiLeaks has published just 1 percent of its massive trove of US diplomatic documents

Nearly two months after WikiLeaks outraged the U.S. government by launching the release of a massive compendium of diplomatic documents, the secret-spilling website has published 2,628 U.S. State Department cables — just over 1 percent of its trove of 251,287 documents.

Here's a look at what the consequences of the cables' release has been so far, and what the future could hold for WikiLeaks.

WikiLeaks has given the world's public an unprecedented, behind-the-scenes look at U.S. diplomacy. Among the most eye-catching revelations were reports that Arab countries had lobbied for an attack on Iran, China had made plans for the collapse of its North Korean ally, and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had ordered U.S. diplomats to gather the computer passwords, fingerprints and even DNA of their foreign counterparts.

Some of the most controversial cables dealt with a directive to harvest biometric information on a range of officials. U.S. diplomats have been forced repeatedly to deny spying on their counterparts — although none have specifically addressed the instructions to gather personal details, sensitive computer data, and even genetic material or iris scans.

Anthony Cordesman, an analyst for the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, cautioned that some cables were less explosive when taken in the context they were written. He noted that Arab belligerence toward Tehran has festered for years — and suggested the rhetoric was being ratcheted up at a time of high tensions over Iran's nuclear program.

As for the cables on scooping up fingerprints, frequent flyer numbers, and other personal information, Cordesman said that "there isn't a diplomatic service in the world that doesn't serve its intelligence community."

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Obama Approval Up, But Many Unhappy

Obama Falling Below Expectations at Two-Year Mark.

After two years in office, over half of American voters say President Obama is failing to live up to expectations, and a majority is dissatisfied with the way things are going in the country today.

Still, the president’s job approval rating is at its highest level in over six months. These are just some of the findings from a Fox News poll released Thursday.

Approval of Obama’s job performance stands at 47 percent, up from 40 percent in December.

The last time approval of the president was this high was late June 2010 (also 47 percent approval). The new poll found 44 percent disapprove of the job Obama is doing.

A year ago 50 percent approved and 42 percent disapproved (January 2010).

The improvement in Obama’s rating comes from a boost from his party faithful (87 percent of Democrats approve), as well as good ratings across the board for his handling of the Tucson shooting. Overall, 71 percent of voters approve and 10 percent disapprove of Obama’s handling of the shooting. Nineteen percent are unsure.

About 4 in 10 voters -- 42 percent -- think Obama is meeting or exceeding expectations. That’s unchanged from 42 percent who thought so last year, though a significant drop from the two-thirds who felt that way in early 2009.

A 53 percent majority thinks Obama is falling below expectations, up slightly from 50 percent at the end of his first year in office (January 2010). More than twice as many now say the president is missing the mark as in the early days of his term, when 23 percent said he was falling below expectations.

More than a third of Americans (37 percent) are satisfied with the way things are going in the country today, which is little improvement from 35 percent a year ago. Even so, nearly twice as many are satisfied today as were satisfied the week before Obama took office.

And while most voters -- 61 percent -- remain dissatisfied with the way things are going today, that’s a significant improvement from the 79 percent who felt that way in early 2009, days before President Obama took office.

By a 51-42 percent margin, more voters say they would vote for someone else if the 2012 presidential election were held today than would support re-election of President Obama.

Setting aside job performance and thinking about Barack Obama as a person, 56 percent of voters say they have a favorable opinion of him, up from 47 percent in late October. Forty percent have an unfavorable view today, down from 48 percent. In the week before Obama was inaugurated, his favorable rating soared to a high of 76 percent.

First Lady Michelle Obama has a higher favorable rating than her husband: 69 percent have a positive opinion of her (up 10 percentage points since October), while 20 percent have an unfavorable view and another 11 percent are unable to rate her.

Some 29 percent have a favorable opinion of the House Speaker John Boehner, up from 12 percent favorable in September. Twenty-one percent have an unfavorable view, and 50 percent are still unfamiliar with the new Speaker and unable to rate him.

Obama Becoming More of a Moderate?

After the president and Republican leaders came to a compromise in December on extending the Bush-era tax cuts, some Washington commentators suggested Obama was becoming more moderate. Across the country, 42 percent of voters think Obama is governing as a liberal, compared to 47 percent a year ago (October 2009).

Thirty-two percent think he is governing as a moderate, up just 3 percentage points from 29 percent previously.

The national telephone poll was conducted for Fox News by Opinion Dynamics Corp. of 900 randomly chosen registered voters from Jan. 18 to Jan. 19. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points for the total sample.

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US economic growth

US economic growth revised up to 2.6% for third quarter.

The US economy grew at an annualised pace of 2.6% in the third quarter of 2010, slightly faster than the previous estimate of 2.5%, figures have shown.

However, the rate was lower than expectations, with some analysts expecting a figure closer to 3%.

Earlier this month, the US Federal Reserve said the US recovery was still too slow to bring down the country's high level of unemployment.

Separately, figures showed home sales continuing to recover.

Sales of previously-owned homes rose by 5.6% in November compared with the previous month, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.68 million units last month, according the National Association of Realtors.

However, the increase was less than analysts had hoped for, and overall sales were down 27.9% from a year ago.

The GDP data from the Commerce Department showed that the third-quarter growth rate was revised up after an increase in the pace of businesses building up inventories.

However, this increase was offset by a downward revision to consumer spending, which grew at an annual pace of 2.4% in the quarter, down from a previous estimate of 2.8%.

Consumer spending is watched closely as it accounts for about 70% of the US economy's total economic output.

"Clearly the economy continues to improve and grow but at a slow, modest pace and that is restraining employment growth and a recovery in the housing market," said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer at Solaris Asset Management.

Figures released earlier this month showed the unemployment rate in the US rising to 9.8%, its highest rate since April.

High unemployment, along with a weak housing market, is undermining economic growth.

'Employment growth'

Last month, the Fed said it would pump $600bn (£390bn) into the economy.

The policy, dubbed QE2 because it is the second round of quantitative easing, is designed to boost the economy's fragile recovery.

The government has also done its part to stimulate growth, by extending tax cuts enacted by President George W Bush that were set to expire this year.

However, some analysts argue that there may be some reason for cheer in the current quarter.

"More recent data suggests we're seeing reasonably healthy retail sales growth, pretty healthy investment spending [and] some growth in employment," said Zach Pandl at Normura Securities in New York.

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US economic growth

The US economic recovery is still too slow to bring down the country's high level of unemployment, the Federal Reserve has warned.

The central bank made the comment as it reaffirmed its commitment to continue purchasing $600bn (£380bn) in bonds to stimulate the economy.

The Federal Reserve also kept US interest rates on hold at between 0% and 0.25%, as had been widely expected.

US unemployment hit 9.8% in November, its highest level since April.

Just 39,000 jobs were created last month, down from 172,000 in October, meaning 15.1 million people were without work.

The US unemployment rate has now been above 9% for 19 months, the longest stretch on record.

The most recent data showed that the US economy grew by an annualised rate of 2.5% between July and September.

However this is not sufficient growth to allow job creation to keep up with the growing US working-age population.

The Fed's latest $600bn stimulus package was announced at the start of November.

The central bank had already pumped $1.75tn into the economy since the recession.

Florida Plane Crash

3 Dead, 1 Injured in Florida Small Plane Crash

Florida News Updates! Airport officials say three people are dead and another seriously injured in a small plane crash in Florida.

The Federal Aviation Administration reports that the twin-engine Piper PA-44 crashed during takeoff and caught fire Thursday evening.

Neither the Palm Beach International Airport nor the FAA could immediately identify the pilot or the passengers. The survivor was taken by helicopter to an area hospital.

Records show the plane was owned by FIT Aviation LLC, a Melbourne flight school.

Barak Obama visit India

Obama visit: India for 'robust strategic framework' in ties.

Washington With progress on key issues, India hopes US President Barack Obama's visit will put in place a 'robust strategic framework' for a strong partnership bilaterally and on key global and regional issues.

Diplomatic sources said in the run-up to the visit that there has been progress in narrowing down differences on issues like US export controls, hiked US H1-B visa fee and India's nuclear liability legislation and India expects some 'concrete results'.

Taking note of US Undersecretary of State William Burns' statement that US wanted to see India as a 'partner and not a target', sources said talks were on for India specific easing of high-tech export controls, widely seen as a potential key deliverable during Obama's visit.

Besides easing of curbs on export of dual-use high tech items, which currently target India on ten of 16 counts, India is also hoping for removal of institutions like the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) from the banned entities list.

On the nuclear liability issue, while ruling out an amendment in the Indian laws, sources said talks were on between operators, suppliers and officials to find a way forward to realise the 'full potential' of the landmark India-US civil nuclear deal.

While declining to spell out contemplated steps that would ease US suppliers concerns, sources pointed out that in 2008 itself India had signalled willingness to sign the Convention on Supplementary Compensation (CSC) on nuclear damages, a global treaty that gives India access to global funds in case of a nuclear accident.

Besides discussions on nuclear cooperation and US export control, the 'rich agenda' will cover how to fulfil promises held out in areas like agriculture, health and clean energy, developments in the region and reforms in the architecture of global governance and international finance.

While Obama may not come out with an outright endorsement of India's case for permanent membership of the UN Security Council, sources noted an advance in the US attitude towards UN reforms.

Now the US seems to be willing for an expansion of the influential UN decision making body and wants a consensus to emerge, sources said. The US also wants the expansion to be country specific rather than geographic.

Diplomats noted that Obama has described India-US relationship as one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century and the new US national security strategy identifies India-US relations as one of three key global relationships for the US along with China and Russia.

With Obama choosing to start his Nov 6-9 visit with an address to a major business conference in India's financial capital of Mumbai, a key focus area would be trade, which after a dip during the global economic crisis, has seen a rebound.

Between January and August, bilateral trade touched $32.9 billion steadily moving towards a projected over $50 billion total this year.

President Obama a 'Jackass' called Limbaugh

Limbaugh Calls President Obama a 'Jackass'.

Derision of the president on his program is nothing new, but Rush Limbaugh’s tone today may have struck the ears of regular listeners as particularly disdainful, taking his contempt of the president to a new level.

The nation’s preeminent conservative talk radio host referred to Mr. Obama as a “jackass,” an “economic illiterate” and an “idiot, where capitalism is concerned.”

The rough stuff came during a monologue on the president’s position on extending the Bush tax cuts to all but the top two percent of wage earners.

Obama, Limbaugh says, is an "economic ignoramus" for not understanding how a "tax increase" on the wealthy won't stimulate growth.

Quoting an AP article from yesterday, Limbaugh pointed out Obama’s remarks at a meeting of his Economic Recovery Advisory Board that the wealthy would “take our ball and go home” if their tax cuts aren’t extended.

Limbaugh then addressed the following line to the president directly:

“Mr. Obama, our imam-child, they have already taken their trillion dollar ball home, and they’re sitting on it, you jackass.”

(Limbaugh’s been calling the president “Imam Obama” for several months now.)

"Extend the tax cut to everybody, and you'll inspire confidence," Limbaugh argued, saying that added degree of certainty would free business to spend some of the capital they’re holding onto and hire people, “which, once upon a time, we were told, was Obama’s top priority.”

For not getting this, "He's a jackass. He's an economic illiterate. He's an economic ignoramus.”

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Barack Obama bashes outsourcing again

Barack Obamaraises pitch against outsourcing.

Barack Obama News Updates! US President Barack Obama on Thursday once again targeted outsourcing of jobs overseas by American companies, increasing the pressure on local firms in an attempt to secure some benefit ahead of the crucial November elections in his country.

Obama, speaking at a rally in Parma, Ohio, the state which banned outsourcing of work overseas by government departments, said he remained firm on ending tax breaks for American firms that sent jobs abroad.

“One of the keys to job creation is to encourage companies to invest more in the United States. But for years, our tax code has actually given billions of dollars in tax breaks that encourage companies to create jobs and profits in other countries,” Obama said, flanked by Ohio governor Ted Strickland, who is trailing in the polls and is fighting to retain his governorship.

Obama’s party, the Democrats, faces a hugely disillusioned and angry electorate on November 2, and is widely expected to lose control of the House of Representatives. The US president has spent the last few days trying to rally his base with promises to protect jobs and spur economic growth.

His reference to ending tax breaks does not mean that US companies get tax breaks for shipping jobs overseas. Instead, the US tax code allows them to keep the income they earn overseas without incurring a tax liability.

In order to encourage more local hiring, Obama also gave a speech in January this year where he suggested a $5,000 credit for every job a company created (net new job) and an overall limit of $500,000 credit per company for availing such benefits.

Rosanne Altshuler, a Rutgers University economist specialising in international taxation, told ET in an interview earlier this year that the president could make it more difficult for firms to avoid US tax on income earned abroad by keeping it abroad.

“Obama wants to reform this part of the law (called ‘deferral’). He would make it more difficult for firms to avoid US tax on income earned abroad by keeping it abroad,” said Ms Altshuler, a former senior staff economist for President George W Bush’s advisory panel on federal tax reform.

While there is still no specific proposal elaborating how Obama plans to end the tax breaks, such measures could mean that large outsourcing customers such as GE and Citibank might have to pay certain taxes on their income from international markets, making it less attractive for customers to send IT projects to cheaper offshore locations such as India. To this end, Obama is proposing reforming the taxation of the overseas income of multinational corporations.

Under current law, firms don’t pay taxes to the US government on income earned abroad until they bring the money back to the United States, Ms Altshuler added. Many experts say that ending these tax breaks will not stop outsourcing. The economic logic of sending jobs to low-cost centres is so compelling that companies will keep doing it, they add.

“Let’s face it — companies will do whatever it takes to remain competitive, and offshoring of non-core activities is an important tool. We are already struggling to rival cheaper offshore locations in manufacturing, and sending IT projects to India will help us remain competitive,” said a senior official at one of the top US tech firms. He requested anonymity.

Experts such as Rodney Nelsestuen, senior research director at US-based TowerGroup, said while Obama’s policies could help the government reduce its unemployment costs, the companies would not just hire to get the credit, but also try and balance it with actual economic need.

“The proposal is only a part of a larger proposal that includes spending on infrastructure in the US, creating a permanent credit for R&D expenditures, and giving a 100% write off for capital improvements in the year they are made. Also, the potential to reduce tax revenue overall given that only those who would hire anyway will get the benefit is a significant concern,” Mr Nelsestuen said.

Nevertheless, the development is unwelcome and unpleasant for the $50-billion Indian outsourcing industry, which has had a hugely successful run since the millennium bug, or the Y2K problem.

More than 3 million jobs have been created and a huge infrastructure has sprung up to take care of the myriad needs and demands of the US companies. The industry has faced bad press since the Obama administration took office in January 2009 with the president himself declaring last year that he wanted jobs in Buffalo and not Bangalore.

Last month, the US Congress approved a measure to increase fees for the H1B visa applicants in order to raise money for building a fence on the US-Mexico border. About 65,000 Indians apply for H1B visas every year. The Ohio ban was also announced some time after that.

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New York battered by twin tornadoes

US weather experts say a freak storm with two tornadoes was to blame for a trail of destruction across New York City that left one person dead.

More than 1,000 trees were uprooted and power was cut to hundreds of homes when the storm struck on Thursday.

The woman who died was in a car hit by a falling tree and had just switched seats with her husband, who survived.

It was the ninth time New York City has been hit by a tornado since 1950, and the second this year, officials said.

The US National Weather Service said on Friday that the tornadoes had been part of a fast-moving storm, along with a fierce microburst with speeds up to 125mph (200 km/h).

The storm travelled from Staten Island, across New York harbour and then carved a 14-mile (22km) path of destruction from Brooklyn to the Bayside neighbourhood in Queens.

Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe said many more trees were so badly damaged they would have to be felled.

The woman who died was named as Aline Levakis, 30, who had been sitting in a parked car in Queens with husband Billy Levakis.

The couple, from Pennsylvania, had just switched seats when the tree fell on them, said their former business partner, Peter Markos.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg described the incident as "tragic", adding that there had been other stories of lucky escapes from falling trees across the city.

Resident Steve Carlisle, 54, described how he saw a 25ft tree branch fly up the street and then start spinning in the air.

"It was like a poltergeist," he said.

"Then all the garbage cans went up in the air and this spinning tree hits one of them like it was a bat on a ball."

New York City has suffered freak storms before. One in August last year toppled about 500 trees in Central Park, the New York Times reported.

gunbattle between Mexican soldiers and drug cartel

22 gunmen killed in battle with Mexican soldiers.

A gunbattle between Mexican soldiers and suspected drug cartel members left 22 dead at ranch near the U.S. border, the Defense Department said Thursday.

All the dead were suspected gang members, the department said in a statement. One soldier was injured.

The military said the drug suspects provoked the gunbattle Wednesday morning, opening fire on soldiers conducting reconnaissance patrols at a ranch on the outskirts of Ciudad Mier, a northeastern town about 18 miles (30 kilometers) south of the border with Texas.

Soldiers seized 55 grenades, 18 rifles, four handguns guns, 99 ammunition clips, 1,540 rounds of ammunition and vehicles at the ranch, the statement said. They also found military style uniforms, which are frequently used by drug gangs staging attacks.

The fighting erupted hours before celebrations started across Mexico for the bicentennial anniversary of its independence from Spain.

It did not disrupt festivities in the main cities in northeastern Mexico, where violence has reached war-like proportions this year amid a split between the Gulf cartel and its former gang of henchmen, the Zetas.

Gunbattles erupt frequently between soldiers and gang members, who sometimes stage road blockades to disrupt military operations or keep security forces from calling in reinforcements during shootouts. Sometimes, assailants steal buses and even motorists out of their cars to use in the blockades.

Across Mexico, drug-gang violence has claimed an unprecedented 28,000 lives since December 2006, when President Felipe Calderon deployed thousands of troops and federal police to fight the cartels in their strongholds along the U.S. border and in Pacific coast states.

In the border city of Ciudad Juarez, gunmen ambushed two newspaper photographers in their car Thursday, killing one and wounding the other.

Luis Carlos Santiago and Carlos Sanchez, of the Diario de Juarez, were driving to lunch when they were attacked, newspaper director Pedro Torres told The Associated Press.

Santiago, 21, was killed and Sanchez was in serious condition, Torres said.

Torres said he did not know why the photographers were targeted. He said Santiago had just started working for the newspaper two weeks ago, and Sanchez was an intern.

Mexican journalists are increasingly under siege from cartels seeking to control the flow of information.

The Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based watchdog group, said in a recent report that at least 22 Mexican journalists have been killed during the Calderon administration.