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Barack Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States on November 4, 2008, and sworn in on January 20, 2009.

The Republican Party is one of the two major political parties in the US along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the Grand Old Party (GOP). The party’s platform generally reflects American conservatism in the political spectrum, in contrast to the more “liberal” or “progressive” Democrats. The Republican Party has the second most registered voters as of 2004 with 55 million, encompassing roughly one-third of the electorate.

The Democratic Party is one of two major political parties in the US along with the Republican Party. The party’s liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the US political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous operation in the country and had 72 million registered voters in 2004. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) provides national leadership for the US Democratic Party. The DNC is responsible for developing and promoting the Democratic political platform as well as coordinating fundraising and election strategy.

Media is the system of producing, packaging, distributing and consuming information. The major media are TV, film, radio, electronic, and print.

This tag is applied to diaries that have been Rescued by the Rescue Rangers, who arrange to read every diary on the site each day and highlight good diaries that slipped below the radar before they were noticed by the community at large.

Economy refers to all of the activities by humans and exchanges between humans that are necessary to sustain and improve life. Etymologically, the word economy comes from the Greek oikos (home) and nomos (managing). While ecology has similar origins, too often they are not directly linked. Economy is conventionally treated as the summary of the current soundness of financial indicators like jobs and job growth, economic productivity and output, and can be measured by a wide range of other factors such as the national debt and the trade deficit, unemployment rates, and GDP.

Formerly part of the Ottoman Empire, Iraq was occupied by Britain during the course of World War I; in 1920, it was declared a League of Nations mandate under UK administration. In stages over the next dozen years, Iraq attained its independence as a kingdom in 1932. A “republic” was proclaimed in 1958, but in actuality a series of strongmen ruled the country until 2003. The last was SADDAM Husayn. Territorial disputes with Iran led to an inconclusive and costly eight-year war (1980-88). In August 1990, Iraq seized Kuwait but was expelled by US-led, UN coalition forces during the Gulf War of January-February 1991. Following Kuwait’s liberation, the UN Security Council (UNSC) required Iraq to scrap all weapons of mass destruction and long-range missiles and to allow UN verification inspections. Continued Iraqi noncompliance with UNSC resolutions over a period of 12 years led to the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003 and the ouster of the SADDAM Husayn regime. US forces remained in Iraq under a UNSC mandate through 2009 and under a bilateral security agreement thereafter, helping to provide security and to train and mentor Iraqi security forces. In October 2005, Iraqis approved a constitution in a national referendum and, pursuant to this document, elected a 275-member Council of Representatives (CoR) in December 2005. After the election, Ibrahim al-JAFARI was selected as prime minister; he was replaced by Nuri al-MALIKI in May 2006. The CoR approved most cabinet ministers in May 2006, marking the transition to Iraq’s first constitutional government in nearly a half century. On 31 January 2009, Iraq held elections for provincial councils in all provinces except for the three provinces comprising the Kurdistan Regional Government and Kirkuk province. Iraq held a national legislative election in March 2010, and after nine months of deadlock the CoR approved the new government in December. From the CIA World Fact Book.

Environment mostly relates to environmental policy, or action human beings take (or do not take) to prevent or moderate our impact on nature.

Joe Biden is the President-elect of the United States.

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