Flu season fuels debate over paid sick time laws

NEW YORK (AP) — Sniffling, groggy and afraid she had caught the flu, Diana Zavala dragged herself in to work anyway for a day she felt she couldn't afford to miss.

A school speech therapist who works as an independent contractor, she doesn't have paid sick days. So the mother of two reported to work and hoped for the best — and was aching, shivering and coughing by the end of the day. She stayed home the next day, then loaded up on medicine and returned to work.

"It's a balancing act" between physical health and financial well-being, she said.

An unusually early and vigorous flu season is drawing attention to a cause that has scored victories but also hit roadblocks in recent years: mandatory paid sick leave for a third of civilian workers — more than 40 million people — who don't have it.

Supporters and opponents are particularly watching New York City, where lawmakers are weighing a sick leave proposal amid a competitive mayoral race.

Pointing to a flu outbreak that the governor has called a public health emergency, dozens of doctors, nurses, lawmakers and activists — some in surgical masks — rallied Friday on the City Hall steps to call for passage of the measure, which has awaited a City Council vote for nearly three years. Two likely mayoral contenders have also pressed the point.

The flu spike is making people more aware of the argument for sick pay, said Ellen Bravo, executive director of Family Values at Work, which promotes paid sick time initiatives around the country. "There's people who say, 'OK, I get it — you don't want your server coughing on your food,'" she said.

Advocates have cast paid sick time as both a workforce issue akin to parental leave and "living wage" laws, and a public health priority.

But to some business owners, paid sick leave is an impractical and unfair burden for small operations. Critics also say the timing is bad, given the choppy economy and the hardships inflicted by Superstorm Sandy.

Michael Sinensky, an owner of seven bars and restaurants around the city, was against the sick time proposal before Sandy. And after the storm shut down four of his restaurants for days or weeks, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars that his insurers have yet to pay, "we're in survival mode."

"We're at the point, right now, where we cannot afford additional social initiatives," said Sinensky, whose roughly 500 employees switch shifts if they can't work, an arrangement that some restaurateurs say benefits workers because paid sick time wouldn't include tips.

Employees without sick days are more likely to go to work with a contagious illness, send an ill child to school or day care and use hospital emergency rooms for care, according to a 2010 survey by the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center. A 2011 study in the American Journal of Public Health estimated that a lack of sick time helped spread 5 million cases of flu-like illness during the 2009 swine flu outbreak.

To be sure, many employees entitled to sick time go to work ill anyway, out of dedication or at least a desire to project it. But the work-through-it ethic is shifting somewhat amid growing awareness about spreading sickness.

"Right now, where companies' incentives lie is butting right up against this concern over people coming into the workplace, infecting others and bringing productivity of a whole company down," said John A. Challenger, CEO of employer consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

Paid sick day requirements are often popular in polls, but only four places have them: San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, D.C., and the state of Connecticut. The specific provisions vary.

Milwaukee voters approved a sick time requirement in 2008, but the state Legislature passed a law blocking it. Philadelphia's mayor vetoed a sick leave measure in 2011; lawmakers have since instituted a sick time requirement for businesses with city contracts. Voters rejected a paid sick day measure in Denver in 2011.

In New York, City Councilwoman Gale Brewer's proposal would require up to five paid sick days a year at businesses with at least five employees. It wouldn't include independent contractors, such as Zavala, who supports the idea nonetheless.

The idea boasts such supporters as feminist Gloria Steinem and "Sex and the City" actress Cynthia Nixon, as well as a majority of City Council members and a coalition of unions, women's groups and public health advocates. But it also faces influential opponents, including business groups, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who has virtually complete control over what matters come to a vote.

Quinn, who is expected to run for mayor, said she considers paid sick leave a worthy goal but doesn't think it would be wise to implement it in a sluggish economy. Two of her likely opponents, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and Comptroller John Liu, have reiterated calls for paid sick leave in light of the flu season.

While the debate plays out, Emilio Palaguachi is recovering from the flu and looking for a job. The father of four was abruptly fired without explanation earlier this month from his job at a deli after taking a day off to go to a doctor, he said. His former employer couldn't be reached by telephone.

"I needed work," Palaguachi said after Friday's City Hall rally, but "I needed to see the doctor because I'm sick."

___

Associated Press writer Susan Haigh in Hartford, Conn., contributed to this report.

___

Follow Jennifer Peltz at http://twitter.com/jennpeltz

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Left Turn? Obama Speech Invigorates Progressives

A presidential campaign that was largely about jobs and the economy gave way during Monday's inaugural ceremonies to a sweeping affirmation of progressivism and call for "collective action."

Now, liberal allies of President Obama say they're closely watching to see whether the second-term president follows through on issues with which he has struggled before.

Obama's groundbreaking references to climate change and gay rights in his second inaugural address particularly surprised many progressive interest groups, which said their first-term frustrations have been replaced by a new sense of optimism.

"We are hopeful that the president's progressive speech signals a major strategy shift for the Obama administration," said Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee.

Green's group and other liberal Democrats have openly expressed disappointment in Obama since 2009, saying his agenda has fallen short. Many have cited his failure to advance an assault-weapons ban, as promised, enact climate change legislation or overhaul the nation's immigration system.

J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo

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Other progressives have chafed at Obama's extension of the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy in 2010 and move last month to make some of the cuts permanent, while putting changes to Social Security and Medicare on the table as part of a deficit-reduction deal.

During the election campaign, Obama ran no paid TV advertising that mentioned gays or gay rights, or the term "climate change," for example. Only four of his ads mentioned environmental issues, and two explicitly portrayed Obama as a defender of the coal industry, something anathema to many environmentalists.

"If the president's inaugural words and action on guns are the template for his governing strategy in a second term, that will allow the president to win big victories and secure a legacy of bold progressive change," Green said, responding to Obama's inaugural address.

In interviews with ABC News, advocates stressed that success on many liberal priorities remains a big "if," with a politically divided Congress and a record of failure by the White House to bridge the divide.

On the environment, activists say they are most closely watching the president's upcoming decision on the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline project, which would carry oil from the tar sands of Alberta to the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Obama delayed a decision on the project in January 2012, ordering a new environmental-impact study. But with that study nearing completion, he will be forced to weigh in on an issue that has pitted a need for jobs and cheaper energy with environmental and health concerns.

"The decision on the Keystone XL pipeline will be the first indicator about how seriously he's taking climate change over the next four years," said Erich Pica, president of Friends of the Earth, an environmental advocacy group opposed to the pipeline. "We'll know in the next month and a half to two months whether he does."

Bill McKibben, an author and leading environmentalist, said in a blog post that he is not holding his breath. "With words like that, it's easy to let ourselves dream that something major might be about to happen to fix the biggest problem the world has ever faced," he wrote.
"And given the record of the last four years, we know that too often rhetoric has yielded little in the way of results."

McKibben is organizing a major environmental rally in Washington on Feb. 17.

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Algeria accuses Canadian, puts hostage toll at 38

ALGIERS (Reuters) - Algeria said on Monday it had confirmed the deaths of at least 38 workers, all but one foreign, at the Sahara gas plant its forces stormed two days ago and said the Islamist gunmen had been led by a man with Canadian citizenship.

Named only as Chedad, a surname found among Arabs in North Africa, the Canadian was among 29 assailants from a local al Qaeda group killed during the four-day siege, Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal said. Another three were detained.

Among hostages confirmed dead by their own governments were three Americans, seven Japanese, six Filipinos and three Britons; others from Britain, Norway and elsewhere were listed as unaccounted for. Sellal said 37 foreigners died, of whom seven were unidentified, and a further five were missing.

Though nearly 700 Algerians and 100 other foreigners escaped or were rescued, the apparent ease with which a group could race over the nearby border from lawless Libya and seize a heavily defended and economically strategic facility has raised doubts for investors on the security of Algeria's vital energy sector.

An Algerian security source said investigators pursuing the possibility that the attackers had inside help to map the complex and gain entry were questioning at least two employees.

Claimed by an Algerian al Qaeda leader as a riposte to France's attack on his allies in neighboring Mali the previous week, the four-day siege also drew global attention to Islamists in the Sahara and Sahel regions and brought pledges of support to African governments from Western powers whose toppling of Libya's Muammar Gaddafi helped flood the region with weapons.

Sellal, whose government ruled out negotiation with the hostage-takers from the start, vowed that Algeria, scarred by a bitter civil war against Islamists in the 1990s, would prevent the rise of an Afghan-style power base for al Qaeda in the south - there would be no "Sahelistan", he told a news conference.

Prime Minister David Cameron told parliament in London that Britain would increase its help to Algeria's intelligence and security forces and might do more for France in Mali, though he ruled out sending many of its stretched armed forces to Africa.

Noting a shift in the source of threats to British interests from Afghanistan to Africa, he also noted Sellal's rundown of a multinational group of assailants and said the region was becoming "a magnet for jihadists".

Alongside a "strong security response", however, he called for efforts to address long-standing grievances, such as poverty and political exclusion, which foster support for violence. Some militants in Algeria want autonomy for the south and complain of domination by an unchanging establishment in Algiers.

DEATH AND SURVIVAL

As Algerian forces combed the Tigantourine plant near the town of In Amenas for explosives and the missing, survivors and the bereaved told tales of terror, narrow escapes and of death.

"The terrorists lined up four hostages and assassinated them, shot them in the head," a brother of Kenneth Whiteside told Sky News, in an account of the Briton's death given to the family by an Algerian colleague who witnessed it. "Kenny just smiled the whole way through. He'd accepted his fate."

Filipino survivor Joseph Balmaceda said gunmen used him for cover: "Whenever government troops tried to use a helicopter to shoot at the enemy, we were used as human shields."

A Frenchman man hid for more than a day under his bed as jihadist fighters searched the residential complex.

Another Briton, Garry Barlow, called his wife from within the site before he was killed and said: "I'm sat here at my desk with Semtex strapped to my chest."

Several hostages died on Thursday when Algerian helicopters blasted jeeps in which the militants were trying to move them.

Others were able to flee: "We cut the wire with clippers and ran for it, all together, about 50 of us," one told the Times.

A Romanian said he walked 30 km (20 miles) across the desert with little water before running into an Algerian police patrol.

Citizens of nine countries including Algeria died, Sellal said, among them seven Japanese, six Filipinos, two Romanians, an American, a Frenchman and four Britons. Washington later name three dead Americans; Britain said only three Britons were dead but three plus a London-based Colombian were also believed dead.

Norway said the fate of five of its citizens was unclear; in addition to seven Japanese dead, Tokyo said three were missing.

CANADIAN ACCUSED

An Algerian security source had earlier told Reuters that documents found on the bodies of two militants had identified them as Canadians: "A Canadian was among the militants. He was coordinating the attack," Sellal said, adding that the raiders had threatened to blow up the gas installation.

That Canadian's name was given only as Chedad. Algerian officials have also named other militants in recent days as having leadership roles among the attackers. Veteran Islamist Mokhtar Belmokhtar claimed responsibility on behalf of al Qaeda.

In a video distributed on the Internet, the one-eyed veteran of Afghan wars of the 1980s, of Algeria's civil war and of the lucrative trans-Sahara cigarette smuggling trade, said: "We in al Qaeda announce this blessed operation."

Dressed in combat fatigues and standing in front of a black Islamist banner, Belmokhtar demanded an end to French attacks on Islamist fighters in Mali. These began five days before the fighters swooped before dawn and seized a plant that produces 10 percent of Algeria's natural gas exports.

U.S. and European officials doubt such a complex raid could have been organized quickly enough to have been conceived as a direct response to the French military intervention. Sellal said it had been two months in the planning. However, French action could have triggered an operation that had already been planned.

It was not clear what evidence the Algerian authorities had for some of their information, including on the nationalities of the attackers; 11 of them, they said, were Tunisian, while only three were Algerian. Others came from Egypt, Mali, Niger and Mauritania, as well as from Canada.

In Ottawa, Canada's foreign affairs department said it was seeking information. Security experts noted that some Canadian citizens had been involved with international militants before.

The jihadists had planned the attack two months ago in neighboring Mali, Sellal added. They had traveled from there through Niger and Libya, hence evading Algeria's strong security services, until close to In Amenas. Their aim, he said, had been to take foreign hostages to Mali, and they made a first attempt to take captives from a bus near the site early on Wednesday.

He said special forces and army units were deployed against the militants, who had planted explosives in the gas plant with a view to blowing up the facility. Normally producing 10 percent of Algeria's natural gas, it was shut down during the incident.

The government now aims to reopen it this week, although officials at Britain's BP and Norway's Statoil, which operate the plant with Algeria's state energy firm, were less certain.

MALI CONFLICT

An Algerian newspaper said they had arrived in cars painted in the colors of state-owned Sonatrach but registered in Libya, a country awash with heavy weaponry since Western powers backed a revolt to bring down Gaddafi in 2011. Using Libya's oil wealth, Gaddafi had exercised a degree of influence in the region and the consequences of his death are still unfolding.

In a sign of the complexities wrought by the Arab Spring revolts, Egypt, a former military dictatorship now led by one of the generals' Islamist foes, criticized France's intervention in Mali on Monday. President Mohamed Mursi called instead for more spending to address rebels' grievances and warned that the military moves would "inflame the conflict in this region".

The bloodshed also added strains to Algeria's long fraught relations with Western powers, where some complained about being left in the dark while the decision to storm the compound was being taken. Algiers portrayed the operation as a success.

And this week, Britain and France both defended the military action by Algeria, the strongest military power in the Sahara and an ally the West needs in combating the militants.

"This would have been a most demanding task for security forces anywhere in the world and we should acknowledge the resolve shown by the Algerians in undertaking it," British Prime Minister Cameron told parliament on Monday.

Chafik Mesbah, a former Algerian presidential security adviser, said: "The West did not criticize Algeria because it knows an assault was inevitable in the circumstances ... The victims were a minimum price to pay to solve the crisis."

(Additional reporting by Balazs Koranyi in Oslo, William Maclean in Dubai, d Daniel Flynn in Dakar, David Ljunggren in Ottawa and Ed Klamann in Tokyo; Writing by David Stamp and Alastair Macdonald; Editing by Giles Elgood)

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Football: Platini disagrees with Blatter over Boateng

PARIS: UEFA president Michel Platini differed with his FIFA counterpart Sepp Blatter on Monday in applauding Kevin-Prince Boateng leading his AC Milan team-mates off the pitch after receiving a torrent of racial abuse in a friendly earlier this month.

Blatter had said players should not take matters into their own hands although he has since said that clubs whose fans are guilty of racial abuse could end up facing either points deductions or even demotion.

However, Platini told French radio station RTL on Monday he had been delighted by Ghanaian international midfielder Boateng's gesture in walking off after some fans of Italian fourth division side Pro Patria showered him with racial abuse.

"It is wonderful, I appreciated it enormously," said the 57-year-old former French playing great.

"It was excellent, in fact I later called Milan to congratulate them."

Platini, though, said that UEFA already had regulations in place should racial abuse take place during matches.

"We implemented rules for Champions League and Europa League matches for the referees to follow," he said.

"If they hear racist chants, there is an appeal for them to desist over the public address system and the match is stopped for a minute. After that if the chanting resumes there is a stoppage of two minutes and a new appeal for them to stop.

"A third time and the referee can call the match off. It is the referee who is the boss in the stadium."

- AFP/ac

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Bhagat Singh Koshyari likely to be next Uttarakhand BJP chief

DEHRADUN: BJP national vice-president Bhagat Singh Koshyari is all set to be unanimously nominated as the next BJP chief in Uttarakhand with Tirath Singh Rawat and Trivendra Singh Rawat, two of the top contenders, withdrawing their nomination papers on Monday.

Both the Rawats withdrew their nomination papers a day after they filed it for the poll for the post of state BJP chief.

A source in BJP said as there will be no elections now and Koshyari may be nominated as chief on Tuesday.

Tirath is a BJP legislator from Chobbathakhal in Uttarakhand's Pauri district and Trivendra was a minister in previous BJP government. Tirath was backed by former CMs B C Khanduri and Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank while Trivendra was Koshyari's candidate.

BJP state Spokesperson Satish Lakhera said that Rawats withdrew their nomination papers after an order from BJP's central leadership saying that in view of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in 2014, only a leader with mass support will be nominated as next state chief.

While former BJP state chief B S Chufal's term in the second week of December, he has been officiating as the acting state chief.

Lakhera said Koshyari is most likely to be nominated as next BJP state chief. He served as the Uttarakhand CM from 2001 to 2002. Koshyari is widely known as a leader of masses inside the Uttarakhand BJP.

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Flu season fuels debate over paid sick time laws

NEW YORK (AP) — Sniffling, groggy and afraid she had caught the flu, Diana Zavala dragged herself in to work anyway for a day she felt she couldn't afford to miss.

A school speech therapist who works as an independent contractor, she doesn't have paid sick days. So the mother of two reported to work and hoped for the best — and was aching, shivering and coughing by the end of the day. She stayed home the next day, then loaded up on medicine and returned to work.

"It's a balancing act" between physical health and financial well-being, she said.

An unusually early and vigorous flu season is drawing attention to a cause that has scored victories but also hit roadblocks in recent years: mandatory paid sick leave for a third of civilian workers — more than 40 million people — who don't have it.

Supporters and opponents are particularly watching New York City, where lawmakers are weighing a sick leave proposal amid a competitive mayoral race.

Pointing to a flu outbreak that the governor has called a public health emergency, dozens of doctors, nurses, lawmakers and activists — some in surgical masks — rallied Friday on the City Hall steps to call for passage of the measure, which has awaited a City Council vote for nearly three years. Two likely mayoral contenders have also pressed the point.

The flu spike is making people more aware of the argument for sick pay, said Ellen Bravo, executive director of Family Values at Work, which promotes paid sick time initiatives around the country. "There's people who say, 'OK, I get it — you don't want your server coughing on your food,'" she said.

Advocates have cast paid sick time as both a workforce issue akin to parental leave and "living wage" laws, and a public health priority.

But to some business owners, paid sick leave is an impractical and unfair burden for small operations. Critics also say the timing is bad, given the choppy economy and the hardships inflicted by Superstorm Sandy.

Michael Sinensky, an owner of seven bars and restaurants around the city, was against the sick time proposal before Sandy. And after the storm shut down four of his restaurants for days or weeks, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars that his insurers have yet to pay, "we're in survival mode."

"We're at the point, right now, where we cannot afford additional social initiatives," said Sinensky, whose roughly 500 employees switch shifts if they can't work, an arrangement that some restaurateurs say benefits workers because paid sick time wouldn't include tips.

Employees without sick days are more likely to go to work with a contagious illness, send an ill child to school or day care and use hospital emergency rooms for care, according to a 2010 survey by the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center. A 2011 study in the American Journal of Public Health estimated that a lack of sick time helped spread 5 million cases of flu-like illness during the 2009 swine flu outbreak.

To be sure, many employees entitled to sick time go to work ill anyway, out of dedication or at least a desire to project it. But the work-through-it ethic is shifting somewhat amid growing awareness about spreading sickness.

"Right now, where companies' incentives lie is butting right up against this concern over people coming into the workplace, infecting others and bringing productivity of a whole company down," said John A. Challenger, CEO of employer consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

Paid sick day requirements are often popular in polls, but only four places have them: San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, D.C., and the state of Connecticut. The specific provisions vary.

Milwaukee voters approved a sick time requirement in 2008, but the state Legislature passed a law blocking it. Philadelphia's mayor vetoed a sick leave measure in 2011; lawmakers have since instituted a sick time requirement for businesses with city contracts. Voters rejected a paid sick day measure in Denver in 2011.

In New York, City Councilwoman Gale Brewer's proposal would require up to five paid sick days a year at businesses with at least five employees. It wouldn't include independent contractors, such as Zavala, who supports the idea nonetheless.

The idea boasts such supporters as feminist Gloria Steinem and "Sex and the City" actress Cynthia Nixon, as well as a majority of City Council members and a coalition of unions, women's groups and public health advocates. But it also faces influential opponents, including business groups, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who has virtually complete control over what matters come to a vote.

Quinn, who is expected to run for mayor, said she considers paid sick leave a worthy goal but doesn't think it would be wise to implement it in a sluggish economy. Two of her likely opponents, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and Comptroller John Liu, have reiterated calls for paid sick leave in light of the flu season.

While the debate plays out, Emilio Palaguachi is recovering from the flu and looking for a job. The father of four was abruptly fired without explanation earlier this month from his job at a deli after taking a day off to go to a doctor, he said. His former employer couldn't be reached by telephone.

"I needed work," Palaguachi said after Friday's City Hall rally, but "I needed to see the doctor because I'm sick."

___

Associated Press writer Susan Haigh in Hartford, Conn., contributed to this report.

___

Follow Jennifer Peltz at http://twitter.com/jennpeltz

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Live Updates: Obamas Watch Inaugural Parade

Four years and one day after President Obama first took his first oath of office, America is once again celebrating his Inauguration. This time the schedule includes performances by Beyonce and Katy Perry, a parade with more than 2,000 members of the military and two Inaugural balls.

Refresh here for updates throughout the day.

Tune in to the ABC News.com Live page on Monday morning starting at 9:30 a.m. EST for all-day live streaming video coverage of Inauguration 2013: Barack Obama. Live coverage will also be available on the ABC News iPad App and mobile devices.

Read Obama’s second Inaugural address here.

All times are in Eastern Standard Time.

5:42 p.m. – The Cheese Stands Alone

The ladies of the Obama clan have left the Presidential Reviewing Stand. The president remains there to watch the rest of the parade, including a group of uni-cyclists from Maine called the “Gym Dandies.”

5:28 p.m. – Obama Inauguration: Who’s Who?

Who were those people sitting behind the president this morning anyway? Click the photo below to see an infographic with a guide to Obama’s family, colleagues and dignitaries.

(Image Credit: Scott Andrews/AP Photo)

5:22 p.m. – Biden 2016?

Vice President Joe Biden got very friendly with members of the crowd watching the inaugural parade, prompting some to wonder if this isn’t a prelude to his own presidential run.

4:55 p.m. – POTUS on His Blackberry Before the Parade

(Image Credit: Frank Franklin II/AP Photo)

It may be a day-long celebration for President Obama, but that doesn’t mean he has left work at the office.

Just before members of the military began streaming by the Presidential Reviewing Stand as part of the inaugural parade, Obama could be seen working on what looks like his specially-secured Blackberry.

Beside him, Sasha and Malia whipped out their iPhones, taking photos of their mother and interrupting their father to make him pose with the first lady. The first family had removed their coats, thanks to heat inside the reviewing stand.

And it was also clear President Obama was chewing gum as he head-bobbed along to the marching bands. Today more than ever he looked like Obama: the gum-chewing, Blackberry-checking president of the people.

What’s not clear – who emails the president on inauguration day? And was it Nicorette gum?

4:30 p.m. – Wrapping Up the Route

(Image Credit: Charles Dharapak/AP Photo)

ABC’s Devin Dwyer reports the President, the first lady, the Vice President and Dr. Biden will soon make their way to the reviewing stand on Pennsylvania Ave. where they will be joined by Congressional leaders, Supreme Court Justices, governors, the Joint Chiefs and White House staff as well as area elementary school students and some of the Tuskegee Airmen and their families, according to the White House.

4:00 p.m. – Obama, Roberts Sign King Bible

ABC’s Avery Miller reports President Obama and Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts signed Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Bible today, at the request of the family.

In his life time, it was King’s “traveling Bible,” according to the Presidential Inaugural Committee.

“An avid reader who was constantly on the road, Dr. King typically traveled with a selection of books that included this Bible,” the PIC wrote in a statement about the Bible written when they announced Obama would use it in his ceremony. “It was used for inspiration and preparing sermons and speeches, including during Dr. King’s time as pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama.”

Read more about President Obama’s choice of Bibles here.

3:56 p.m. – Justice Scalia and the Mystery of the Funny Hat

Michelle Obama wasn’t the only one drawing eyes with her fashion choices at the inaugural ceremonies today. Many on Twitter – including Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., – remarked on Associate Justice Antonin Scalia’s choice of headgear during President Obama’s swearing-in.

Some compared it to Aretha Franklin’s extravagant hat at the 2009 inauguration. Others simply wondered where it came from.

To find that answer, ABC’s Sarah Parnass spoke with Scalia’s former clerk, Kevin Walsh.

Walsh, who now teaches at University of Richmond School of Law, said the association of Catholic lawyers to which he belongs, St. Thomas More Society of Richmond Va., presented Scalia with the hat in 2010.

The hat is a replica of one worn by St. Thomas More in his most iconic portrait, done by Hans Holbein, according to Walsh.

When giving Justice Scalia the hat, the members of the St. Thomas More Society thought it would be a nice memento. “If nothing else it would be suitable for university functions,” Scalia said.

Walsh said the significance of Scalia’s wearing the hat likely doesn’t go beyond function. In the past, Scalia has worn a skull cap, much like the one Justice Breyer sported today. But the skull cap doesn’t have earflaps – the More hat does.

“That one’s warmer,” Walsh said, comparing the hat Scalia wore today with the one he wore to the 2009 inauguration. “I’d say it’s more functional.”

ABC’s Bob Murphy adds this historical background:

Thomas More was the Lord Chancellor or Chief Legal Officer of England when Henry VIII was King. He famously lost his head (the one the hat was made for) rather than reinterpret the laws of divorce and allow the King to dispatch his Queen. He is a hero to the Catholic legal community for his commitment to moral and legal authority over the whim of the chief temporal power.

The ultraconservative Catholic jurist may or may not be making a statement but the significance is interesting.

3:39 p.m. – Inauguration Day in Pictures

Click the picture below for a slideshow of some of the 2013 inauguration’s most memorable moments so far.

(Image Credit: Jonathan Ernst-Pool/AP Photo)

3:33 p.m. – Obama Pauses for Final Glimpse of Fans

ABC’s Devin Dwyer reports:

After a bruising campaign, and unusually contentious post-election period, President Obama savored his second and final Inauguration Day as a brief respite from political storms and celebratory moment for his hundreds of thousands of adoring supporters.

As he walked off the inaugural platform on the west front of the U.S. Capitol, Obama turned and paused to look out at the crowd on the National Mall, even as his family and other guests continued ahead without him.

“I want to take a look one more time,” Obama was heard saying. “I’m not going to see this again.”

Read more on that poignant moment with the president here.

3:22 p.m. – Obama Makes History Citing Gay Rights in Inaugural Address

ABC’s Shushannah Walshe reports:

President Obama made history in his inaugural address today mentioning the word “gay” and the issue of gay rights for the first time in a speech at the presidential swearing in.

“Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well,” Obama said in his address on the Capitol steps after his swearing in.

Obama also mentioned the word Stonewall when citing milestones of the civil right struggle. It was a reference to a riot and subsequent protests over a police raid in June 1969 of the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City’s Greenwich Village. The president mentioned it along with the first women’s rights convention held in Seneca Falls, N.Y., in 1848 and the civil rights march in Selma, Ala., in 1965.

“We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths – that all of us are created equal – is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall,” Obama said.

Brian Ellner who led the successful campaign to make same sex marriage legal in New York state called the speech “historic.”

Read more from Walshe here.

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3:12 p.m. –  Obama Sticks to His Script in Second Inaugural Address

ABC News’ Michael Falcone reports:

By their very nature, the texts of presidential inaugural addresses become historical documents as soon as they are delivered. Obama’s speech, like all the others before, will be scrutinized for years to come.

So, how closely did President Obama, who is known for his oratorical prowess, hew to the prepared text of his remarks? With the exception of a few minor words,

It turns out he stuck almost exactly to the script.

“We must harness new ideas and technology” became “So we must harness…” and “Let each of us now embrace, with solemn duty and awesome joy, what is our lasting birthright” ended up as “Let us, each of us, now embrace…” He sprinkled in an extra “and” at the beginning of one paragraph and turned a “that is” into “that’s.”

Otherwise, the president delivered the speech he had in front of him with almost no changes.

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2:26 p.m. – Tell the President What You Want

Whether you voted for him or not, tell President Obama what you’d most like to see him tackle in his second term and why.

Upload a video or photo, or send your comments telling the president what is most important to you in the next four years.

The best submissions may be featured today on ABCNews.com.

Click the photo below to see how you can participate.

(Image Credit: ABC News Photo Illustration)

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2:11 p.m. – Obama Address References Civil Rights, Gay Marriage, Immigration

Univision’s Jordan Fabian reports:

Obama, the nation’s first black president, delivered his address on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and drew strong parallels between the civil rights battles of King’s generation to the social issues facing today. Perhaps most notable was Obama’s reference to gay rights, believed to be a first for a presidential inaugural address.

“Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law,” he said. “For if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well.”

The president also made a forceful statement in support of comprehensive immigration reform, a campaign pledge from 2008 that remains unfulfilled. Obama has repeatedly pledged to make it one of his top legislative priorities this year.

“Our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity; until bright young students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled from our country,” he said.

Read more from Fabian here.

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2:05 p.m. – Obama’s Inaugural Declaration: ‘Our Time’ for Changing Nation

(Image Credit: Win McNamee/AP Photo)

Analysis by ABC’s Rick Klein:

President Obama used a brief pause in the partisan warfare that’s scarred his time in office to return to the ideals of the Declaration of Independence, with his own declaration of urgency and a call to action that reflects shared sacrifice and responsibility.

This was no centrist conciliator. It was the speech of a committed, unapologetic progressive, an Obama doctrine for domestic policy that included concrete commitments in areas he made little progress on over his first four years. Above all, he was speaking to a changing America – the nation that propelled him to a second term, and whose voices he will need to channel to be effective over the next four years.

“My fellow Americans, we are made for this moment, and we will seize it – so long as we seize it together,” the president declared.

Read more on what Obama meant and what opportunities he sees going forward here.

1:30 p.m. – More on Inaugural Poet Richard Blanco

Univision’s Jordan Fabian reports:

There has not been another inaugural poet like Richard Blanco.

Out of the five people selected to read an original poem at a presidential inauguration, the 44-year-old Blanco is the first Latino, first gay man, and youngest person to serve the role. The presidential inaugural committee officially announced the choice of Blanco, the son of Cuban exiles, last Wednesday.

Read more from Fabian here.

Blanco wrote the poem he read, called “One Today,” in the past 11 days. It included several references to America’s workers, including the following:

One sky: since the Appalachians and Sierras claimed
their majesty, and the Mississippi and Colorado worked
their way to the sea. Thank the work of our hands:
weaving steel into bridges, finishing one more report
for the boss on time, stitching another wound
or uniform, the first brush stroke on a portrait,
or the last floor on the Freedom Tower
jutting into a sky that yields to our resilience.

Read the full poem here.

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1:24 p.m. – Sen. McCaskill Calls Out SCOTUS Hats

1:24 p.m. – Terry Moran: Inauguration Fits ‘Next America’

In response to remarks about Obama’s reference to gay marriage, Nightline’s Terry Moran analyzes the firsts of this inauguration:

Has Spanish been spoken before? Has there ever been a bigger crowd for a second inaugural?

To me, Obama’s speech, this crowd, the whole program, seemed deliberately designed to confirm the “next America”–younger, more diverse, more non-native, socially liberal–as the source of authority, even legitimacy in the nation going forward.

That’s what the election was really about, deep down. And the feeling out here seems more than the usual inaugural victory lap of the party in power. It seems cultural–and historic. It’s their moment. And so is tomorrow–not in a partisan sense. In a factual one.

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1:14 p.m. – Inaugural Performances

Kelly Clarkson, James Taylor and Beyonce sang during the inaugural ceremonies this year.

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1:09 p.m. – What’s On the Menu?

President Obama now joins members of Congress and the Supreme Court for the inaugural luncheon.

ABC’s Devin Dwyer reports the inaugural luncheon menu from the JCC:

First Course: Steamed lobster with New England chowder

Wine: Anthony Road Winery, Fox Run Vineyards & Newt Red Cellars, Tierce 2010 Dry Riesling, Finger Lakes, N.Y.

Second Course: Hickory grilled bison with wild huckleberry reduction and red potato horseradish cake

Wine: Bedell Cellars, 2009 Merlot, North Fork, Long Island, N.Y.

Third Course: Hudson Valley apple pie, sour cream ice cream, aged cheese and honey

Wine: Korbel Natural, Special Inaugural Cuvée Champagne, Calif.

NOTE the New York food/wine: Water in the holding rooms is to be Saratoga Springs (a NY label), per a PIC official. And the wines to be served at the inaugural luncheon are from New York vineyards —- all thanks to NY Sen. Chuck Schumer, who chairs the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies

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12:46 p.m. – Timing Is Everything: Chris Christie Makes Announcements Minutes Before Obama’s Speech

ABC News’ Michael Falcone reports:

During the very same hour of President Obama’s second inauguration, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who is often mentioned as a potential 2016 Republican presidential contender, sent out two separate announcements.

The first from his gubernatorial campaign: “Governor Chris Christie will be visiting the Hilton Newark Airport on Tuesday morning to accept the second major endorsement of his campaign.” (The campaign did not provide information about who will be endorsing him). And the second, a statement commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. (Christie, who praised President Obama’s efforts in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, which devastated portions of coastal New Jersey, did not mention the president’s inauguration):

“Dr. King was the paradigm of strength in triumphing over adversity and racial injustice to achieve what seemed impossible to so many for so long. His legacy stands as an eternal reminder of his sacrifice and the progress he achieved and which we are obliged to protect for every citizen of our state and nation. I join New Jerseyans in honoring Dr. King’s life and work and his uncompromising commitment to peacefully working toward freedom and equality for all Americans,” Christie said in the statement.

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12:16 p.m. – Richard Blanco Delivers Inauguration Poem

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12:09 p.m. – Obama Gives Shout Out to Same-Sex Couples in Inaugural Address

In his inaugural address today, President Obama called for treating same-sex couples equal under the law. ABC News’ Arlette Saenz reports:

Of the group of 215 members in the Lesbian and Gay Band Association marching in the inaugural parade, four couples are legally married.

Leslie Becker and Lindsay Famula of Hackensack, N.J., met when Famula joined the band in 2006, and the two women, who are both percussionists, were married in May.

“It’s validation. The fact that we have been denied this right for so long when really all we want to do is be seen in the government as a couple means a lot,” Becker said. “‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ was repealed. We’re making big advancements in civil rights for gay couples, and it means a big deal to be one of the few married couples to march in this parade.”

New Jersey has allowed civil unions since 2006, but New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie vetoed a same-sex marriage bill in February.

Becker played at President Bill Clinton’s inauguration in 1997, but the LGBA only played on the side of the parade. During President Obama’s first inauguration in 2009, the LGBA, including Becker, marched in the actual parade.

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11:56 a.m. – Hundreds of Thousands Turn Out for Inauguration

(Image Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

As of 11:00 a.m., Washington Metro Area Transit Authority reported 308,000 people used their rail service this morning. Metro was preparing last week for an estimated 600,000 to 800,000 people to come to D.C. for the events.

In 2009, 1.8 million people gathered to welcome in Obama’s first term.

Around 11:30 a.m., the U.S. Park Police released a statement about the crowding: “The National Mall is now full and closed. All visitors not on the Mall should proceed to the overflow area at the Washington Monument.”

11:50 a.m. – Obama Takes Oath for Fourth Time

(Image Credit: ABC NEWS)

With his hand on two Bibles held by his two daughters, President Barack Obama took the inaugural oath for a fourth time. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts administered the oath.

11:38 a.m. – Evers-Williams Delivers Invocation

11:33 a.m. – ABC Correspondent Tweets from Pakistan

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11:30 a.m. – Ryan Congratulates Obama

ABC’s Elizabeth Hartfield reports:

No word from Mitt Romney, but his running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan sent out a congrats to President Obama.

Ryan posted a longer congratulations on his Facebook page.

I congratulate President Obama on his inauguration, and I join the country in celebrating this American tradition.

The president and I were political opponents. We had strong disagreements over the direction of the country—as we still do now. But today, we put those disagreements aside. Today, we remember what we share in common.

We serve the same country, one that is still in need of repair—and is still the freest on earth. We serve alongside men and women from both parties, who govern in good faith and good will. Finally, we serve the same people, who have honored us with their charge.

We may disagree on matters of policy. But today we remember why we take those matters so seriously—because we seek the public good. It’s our highest duty—one that we share—and one for which we’re grateful.

I’m happy to mark this historic occasion—for the president and for the country. And I look forward to tackling the big challenges ahead.

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11:20 a.m. – A Look Back at Obama’s First Inaugural Address

ABC’s Elizabeth Hartfield reports:

As Obama’s prepares to give his second inaugural address, a look back at the first: Obama’s speech in 2009 ran 2,395 words.

According to a handy word count breakdown from the Wall Street Journal, Obama used the word “people” eight times, the word “God” five times, and the word “government” four times. We can expect that those words will pop up again in today’s speech, as the president is expected to talk about unity and finding common ground among our nation’s leaders.

A word he only uttered once in 2009, that we might expect him to bring up again more this time- “war” – as the president looks back on the drawdown of America’s military presence in Iraq, and ahead to the drawdown in Afghanistan.

Today’s speech is expected to be shorter than his speech four years ago – but by how much will remain to be seen. The high bar of second inauguration speeches is Abraham Lincoln’s address in 1965- where he managed to say a lot, in just a few words- 698 to be exact.

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11:16 a.m. – Obama Enters Arena

President Obama has entered the Capitol. Vice President Joe Biden and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi are close behind.

ABC’s Michael Falcone points out President Obama will be getting down to business shortly after he delivers his second inaugural address, officially submitting the names of his nominees for the posts of CIA Director, Secretary of Defense, Secretary of State and Secretary of the Treasury, according to a White House official.

Today, at the Capitol the President will be signing:

1. A Proclamation to commemorate the inauguration titled, “National Day of Hope and Resolve, 2013.”
2. Four Nominations:
a. John Owen Brennan to be Director of the CIA
b. Charles Timothy Hagel to be Secretary of Defense
c. John Forbes Kerry to be Secretary of State
d. Jacob J. Lew to be Secretary of the Treasury

ABC’s Devin Dwyer notes that four years ago, Obama signed a similar proclamation and nominations to the Senate. This occurs in the President’s Room, just off the Senate chamber, immediately following the address.

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11:15 a.m. –

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11:08 a.m. – The Biden Family Bible

(Image Credit: Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo)

A large Bible being carried in is attracting some attention for its size. The Bible belongs to the Biden family, and it’s the one Vice President Joe Biden will use to swear his oath of office, as he did four years ago.

The 120-year-old book has a Celtic cross on the front and has been passed down through the Biden clan. It is 5 inches thick, according to the Presidential Inaugural Committee.

Biden also used it Sunday in his private swearing-in ceremony at the Naval Observatory.

Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo

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11:04 a.m. – Powell Slams GOP’s ‘Idiot Presentations’

ABC’s Michael Falcone reports:

In an interview with ABC’s Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos during ABC’s special inauguration day coverage this morning, former Secretary of State Colin Powell lashed out at people in the Republican Party who spent the last four years spreading “birther nonsense” and other “things that demonize the president,” calling on GOP leaders to denounce such talk — publicly.

“Republicans have to stop buying into things that demonize the president. I mean, why aren’t Republican leaders shouting out about all this birther nonsense and all these other things? They should speak out. This is the kind of intolerance that I’ve been talking about where these idiot presentations continue to be made and you don’t see the senior leadership of the party say, ‘No, that’s wrong.’ In fact, sometimes by not speaking out, they’re encouraging it. And the base keeps buying the stuff.

“And it’s killing the base of the party. I mean, 26 percent favorability rating for the party right now. It ought to be telling them something. So, instead of attacking me or whoever speaks like I do, look in the mirror and realize, ‘How are we going to win the next election?”

Read more from Falcone here.

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10:59 a.m. – Former President Carter Enters

Thirty-ninth President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, entered the Capitol to applause from the crowd. The former president shook hands and exchanged greetings with others awaiting President Obama. Carter is 88 years old and one of two former presidents expected at today’s ceremony.

The second, former President Bill Clinton, entered moments later with Sec. of State Hillary Clinton by his side.

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10:56 a.m. – How to Crash a Party

Not invited to any of the official inaugural shindigs? No sweat.

ABC’s Chris Good got the scoop on how to sneak into the festivities from Fred Karger, former 2012 Republican presidential candidate and self-proclaimed party-crasher extraordinaire.

“Karger says he has crashed an inauguration party before, plus the Oscars and Fashion Week. He has fooled rope-line workers, he says, and even the Secret Service,” Good reports.

“He twice found himself onstage at the Oscars, he says, once singing the final number alongside Liza Minnelli.”

A few of Karger’s tips: call ahead under a fake name, blend in with the entourage and don’t look back. Find all of Karger’s tips and more reporting from Chris Good here.

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10:52 a.m. – Presidential Limo: Belly of the Beast

President Obama got an upgraded presidential limo when he took office four years ago.

Pierre Thomas got an exclusive look at the unveiling back then. Take a look:

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10:41 a.m. – POTUS Departs

(Image Credit: DC Vote)

President Obama has left the White House and entered his motorcade, on the way to the Capitol.

The president’s limo is sporting special plates today, in support of the D.C. statehood movement. Read more about those plates here.

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10:39 a.m. – First Lady and Vice President on Their Way

First lady Michelle Obama left the White House, followed shortly by Vice President Joe Biden.

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10:34 a.m. – Obamas Leave White House

President Obama’s daughters, Sasha and Malia, left the White House in their pink and purple coats just a moment ago. They’re headed for the Capitol, where they will watch their father take the presidential oath for the fourth time.

They were followed minutes later by a band of Marines, then by Dr. Jill Biden, Vice President Joe Biden’s wife.

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10:31 a.m. – Events Heating Up

Members of Congress can be seen streaming into the Capitol. The inaugural pre-show began at 9:30 a.m., but Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., won’t begin introducing the president for another hour.

Across the National Mall, attendees are waving American flags, in a sea of red, white and blue.

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10:17 a.m. – Presidential Imperfections

It’s a not-so-secret understanding that even the most well-respected president’s weren’t perfect. Turns out neither were their inaugural ceremonies.

Find the funniest and quirkiest inaugural slip ups here.

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9:58 a.m. – How Do You Spell the Event of the Day?

(Image Credit: Joanna Stern / ABC News)

ABC’s Joanna Stern reports:

Nope, it’s not inaugration. Not inaguration either. Inaugiration? Not correct. And it’s definitely not innoguration or anauguration.

Inauguration. That’s the correct spelling of the word for that big event today, at which, you know, the president officially becomes the president again.

But don’t be embarrassed if you spelled it incorrectly. It turns out it’s a pretty popular thing to do.

Over 2,500 people have tweeted about the “inaguration,” according to Topsy, which tracks tweets on Twitter. Topsy says 866 of those tweets have been in the last 30 days. “Inaugration” has been used in over 700 tweets.

Read more from Stern on the many misspellings of this historic event here.

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9:42 a.m. – Obamas on the Move

The Obama family has left church services at St. John’s Episcopal Church and headed back to the White House.

To see where the president will go next, check out ABC’s interactive map here.

Pastor Andy Stanley from the North Point Community Church in Alpharetta Georgia delivered the sermon, according to pool reports, calling the president “pastor in chief.”

This tweet from the president posted while the Obama family was still in church.

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9:15 a.m. – Obama’s View

ABC’s Jonathan Karl is on the platform at the West Front of the Capitol Building where Obama will give his inaugural address later today. He’s got the best view of the crowds, which won’t come close to the 1.8 million of four years ago, but which already number hundreds of thousands.

9:11 a.m. – Members of Congress Honor MLK on Twitter

Today America remembers the legacy of another great leader: Martin Luther King, Jr. Members of the House and Senate are taking to Twitter to express their admiration for King this morning.

9:04 a.m. – On the Ground with Good Morning America.

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9:03 a.m. – Best and Worst Inaugural Addresses

(Image Credit: Getty Images)

ABC’s Chris Good reports on the best and worst inaugural speeches of all time:

Inaugural addresses, it is said, are usually not very good. Most have been long forgotten, and historians themselves point to few as memorable.

It’s not entirely clear why, but the moment might have something to do with it. Book-ending divisive national campaigns, inaugural addresses offer token unity sentiments, hopefulness but not always specific hopes, and even some good ones sound myopic.

“Most inaugural addresses are not remembered,” said Princeton University professor and noted presidential historian Eric Foner. “Grover Cleveland? I have no idea what he said in his.”

“I have actually read every single inaugural, and it was a really boring experience,” said Robert Lehrman, a former speechwriter for vice president Al Gore, who now teaches the craft at American University in Washington. “Most of the speeches are terrible. Even the ones we remember, I don’t think there is any reporter working anywhere that couldn’t write language as crisp or concrete as the majority of them.”

Read the rest of the worst and the best here.

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8:56 a.m. – Outfits of the Inauguration: Obama Style

ABC’s Mary Bruce reports:

The President, First Lady, in a dark blue jacket, and daughters Malia, in a pink overcoat, and Sasha, in dark purple, arrived just after 8:40 a.m. at St. John’s Episcopal Church for morning services.

The First Lady is wearing a navy Thom Browne coat and dress. The fabric was developed based on the style of a man’s silk tie. The belt she is wearing is from J.Crew and her earrings are designed by Cathy Waterman. She is also wearing J.Crew shoes. At the end of the Inaugural festivities, the outfit and accompanying accessories will go to the National Archives.

Malia Obama is wearing a J.Crew ensemble. Sasha Obama is wearing a Kate Spade coat and dress.

The Bidens arrived moments later.

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8:47 a.m. – Tailor to the Presidents: Republicans Dress Better

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8:45 a.m. – Great American Quotes

Inaugural addresses are an opportunity for presidents on the nation’s front lawn – a place that Americans come to in turns inaugurate their leaders, protest their government and mourn their dead – to place a marker for their legacy.

There have been some weighty and remarkable things said as presidents took the oath of office looking down on the Mall and also, from nearby, as other Americans have looked up and let their voices be heard at gatherings as varied as the March on Washington and the Promise Keepers.

What can Barack Obama say, come Monday, as he begins a second term with lower expectations and less inspiration, to place himself on this list of great American words?

Click below for an interactive look at the competition:

(Image Credit: ABC News: Ma'ayan Rosenzweig)

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8:38 a.m. – Aretha Franklin’s Hat Makes a Comeback

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8:22 a.m. – Martha Raddatz: Women Rule

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8:08 a.m. – Eva Longoria Wakes Up to with the White House

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Curated by ABC’s Z. Byron Wolf and Sarah Parnass

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Algeria hostage crisis death toll hits 80, could rise further

ALGIERS, Algeria (Reuters) - Algerian troops found 25 bodies of hostages at a bomb-littered gas plant deep in the Sahara desert on Sunday, a day after ending a four-day siege, a security source said, raising the death toll of militants and their captives to at least 80.

Around 30 foreigners - including American, British, French, Japanese, Norwegian and Romanian citizens - are among those missing or confirmed dead after the siege, one of the worst international hostage crises in decades.

Algeria had given a preliminary death toll of 55 people killed - 23 hostages and 32 militants - on Saturday and said it would rise as more bodies were found.

The security source said that toll did not include the 25 bodies found on Sunday, which meant the total number of hostages killed - foreign and local - was at least 48. The search was not over, and more could yet be found, he said.

He also said six militants were captured alive, including two found hiding on Sunday. Troops were still searching for others. Earlier, the authorities had said all the fighters had been killed.

Among foreigners confirmed dead by their home countries were three Britons, one American and two Romanians. The missing include at least 10 Japanese, five Norwegians, three other Britons, and a British resident. The security source said at least one Frenchman was also among the dead.

Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal is expected to release more details at a news conference on Monday.

One-eyed veteran Islamist fighter Mokhtar Belmokhtar claimed responsibility on Sunday for the attack on behalf of al Qaeda.

"We in al Qaeda announce this blessed operation," he said in a video, according to Sahara Media, a regional website. He said about 40 attackers participated in the raid, roughly matching the government's figures for fighters killed and captured.

The fighters swooped out of the desert and seized the base on Wednesday, capturing a plant that produces 10 percent of Algeria's natural gas exports, as well as a nearby residential barracks.

They demanded an end to French air strikes against Islamist fighters in neighboring Mali that had begun five days earlier. However, U.S. and European officials doubt such a complex raid could have been organized quickly enough to have been conceived as a direct response to the French military intervention.

The siege turned bloody on Thursday when the Algerian army opened fire saying fighters were trying to escape with their prisoners. Survivors said Algerian forces blasted several trucks in a convoy carrying both hostages and their captors.

Nearly 700 Algerian workers and more than 100 foreigners escaped, mainly on Thursday when the fighters were driven from the residential barracks. Some captors remained holed up in the industrial complex until Saturday when they were overrun.

The bloodshed has strained Algeria's relations with its Western allies, some of whom have complained about being left in the dark while the decision to storm the compound was being taken. Nevertheless, Britain and France both defended the Algerian military action.

"It's easy to say that this or that should have been done. The Algerian authorities took a decision and the toll is very high but I am a bit bothered ... when the impression is given that the Algerians are open to question," said French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius. "They had to deal with terrorists."

British Prime Minister David Cameron said in a televised statement: "Of course people will ask questions about the Algerian response to these events, but I would just say that the responsibility for these deaths lies squarely with the terrorists who launched this vicious and cowardly attack.

"We should recognize all that the Algerians have done to work with us and to help and coordinate with us. I'd like to thank them for that. We should also recognize that the Algerians too have seen lives lost among their soldiers."

LAST WORDS?

Alan Wright, now safe at home in Scotland, said he had escaped with a group of Algerian and foreign workers after hiding for a day and a night. While hiding inside the compound, he managed to call his wife at home with their two daughters.

"She asked if I wanted to speak to Imogen and Esme, and I couldn't because I thought, I don't want my last ever words to be in a crackly satellite phone, telling a lie, saying you're OK when you're far from OK," he recalled to Sky News.

Despite the incident, Algeria is determined to press on with its energy industry. Oil minister Youcef Yousfi visited the site and said physical damage was minor, state news service APS reported. The plant would start back up in two days, he said.

The Islamists' assault has tested Algeria's relations with the outside world and exposed the vulnerability of multinational oil operations in the Sahara.

Algeria, scarred by the civil war with Islamist insurgents in the 1990s which claimed 200,000 lives, insisted from the start of the crisis that there would be no negotiation in the face of terrorism.

France especially needs close cooperation from Algeria to crush Islamist rebels in northern Mali.

French troops in Mali advanced slowly on Sunday towards the town of Diably, a militant stronghold the fighters abandoned on Saturday after punishing French attacks.

The apparent ease with which guerrillas swooped in from the desert to take control of an important energy facility has raised questions over the country's outwardly tough security measures. Yousfi said Algeria would not allow foreign security firms to guard its oil facilities.

Algerian officials said the attackers may have had inside help from among the hundreds of Algerians employed at the site.

Security in the half-dozen countries around the Sahara desert has long been a preoccupation of the West. Smugglers and militants have earned millions in ransom from kidnappings.

The most powerful Islamist groups operating in the Sahara were severely weakened by Algeria's secularist military in the civil war in the 1990s. But in the past two years the regional wing of al Qaeda has gained fighters and arms as a result of the civil war in Libya, when arsenals were looted from Muammar Gaddafi's army.

(Additional reporting by Balazs Koranyi in Oslo, Estelle Shirbon and David Alexander in London, Brian Love in Paris and Daniel Flynn in Dakar; Writing by Peter Graff; Editing by Myra MacDonald)

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Football: Madrid hand Valencia five-goal thrashing

MADRID: Real Madrid put their dismal first half of the season behind them as they tore Valencia apart for the first 45 minutes to win 5-0 and ease the pressure on coach Jose Mourinho.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Angel Di Maria both hit braces and Gonzalo Higuain was also on target in a first-half goal romp.

But there is still little hope of them retaining their title as they trail Barcelona by 15 points despite the Catalan side losing 3-2 against Real Sociedad on Saturday, their bitter rivals' first league defeat of the season.

They are also seven points off neighbours Atletico Madrid who beat Levante 2-0 earlier Sunday.

Madrid arrived at the Mestalla having beaten Valencia 2-0 in a stormy Spanish Cup quarter-final first leg tie in mid-week and Mourinho decided against resting players ahead of the second leg on Wednesday.

There has been plenty of tension in the Madrid camp following their poor form but there were no repercussions from an argument between Mourinho and Ronaldo after the first leg of the cup.

Furthermore, Iker Casillas was preferred in goal to Adan Garrido who had controversially replaced the Spain international before being suspended.

Still they had important absentees at the back with Pepe, Sergio Ramos and Marcelo all missing and they faced a rejuvenated Valencia side under Ernesto Valverde who had won their previous three league games.

After a cagey opening spell Madrid were suddenly presented with a gift for Higuain which he failed to take advantage of in front of goal.

He was left unmarked but side-footed an Alvaro Arbeloa cross wide from six yards.

Higuain was given the chance to make amends a minute later and this time made no mistake. Again it was a case of poor defending as Di Maria scampered clear and set up Higuain who slotted into the corner.

Valencia attempted to respond but they fell apart midway through the first half as their defence was once again exposed.

Keeper Diego Alves twice denied Sami Khedira and Raphael Varane headed wide from a corner before Di Maria got the second.

Ronaldo teased makeshift right-back Ricardo Costa, standing in for Joao Pereira, and crossed for the Argentine to tuck the ball home from close range.

Valencia were in disarray at the back and Ronaldo split them open again as he burst into the left of the area and beat Alves at his near post.

Ronaldo got his second after 41 minutes when he cracked in an Ozil pass from 12 yard and then Ozil was again the provider as he put Di Maria clear for the fifth still before half-time.

Valencia showed character to come back at Madrid after the restart with Pablo Piatti hitting the crossbar and Adil Rami had a header cleared off the line by Fabio Coentrao but Madrid remained organised and managed to keep a clean sheet.

Atletico Madrid equalled their best ever winning streak at home in La Liga in a memorable season for the club with their win over Levante.

Goals from Adrian Lopez and Jorge Resurrecion 'Koke' saw Atletico win their 12th straight league game at the Calderon and match the club record dating back to a run between the 1939-40 and 1940-41 seasons.

Elsewhere on Sunday, Osasuna beat Deportivo La Coruna 2-1 and Valladolid won 2-0 against Zaragoza.

-AFP/ac

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Siddis celebrate as Obama formally becomes US President

GOLEHALLI, HALIYAL TALUK: Golehalli, a sleepy village tucked in the forested Haliyal taluk of Uttara Kannada district in Karnataka, wore a festive look on Sunday to mark Barack Obama's swearing-in as US president for the second time. The Siddi community, which believes that Obama shares their genetic roots, came together to celebrate this achievement in full force.

Golehalli was decked with vibrant festoons and buntings. The nearly 1,000-strong community, including women and children from different parts of Uttara Kannada district, participated with zeal and vigour to mark the event.

The celebration began with a colourful procession in which men, women and children participated. Throughout their procession, they were singing their traditional song, 'Oho Ranga Rangami' while performing Pugadi, Siddi's traditional dance form on the streets. The procession that passed through every street in the village culminated at the main venue. The whole village was in an upbeat mood and charged with festive spirit.

A huge cake was cut on the dais by a few children of Siddi community in the presence of guests.

Diog Siddi, president of Siddi Welfare Committee and Backward Development Forum, Haliyal, MLA Sunil Hegde, and others also released a letter addressed to the US President on the occasion. The letter will be sent to Obama through the American embassy at Chennai.

The letter details the history of the Siddi community, and urges improvement in the bilateral relation between India and US. The letter also wished Obama success in his second tenure as president and in his fight against global terrorism.

Diog Siddi said, "Government of India should make arrangements to enable the Siddi community members to meet US President Obama when he visits India in future." He also requested Obama to meet the Siddis to understand their socio-economic status in India.

After Obama's formal inauguration, beats of traditional dhamaal (drum) Pugadi, Dolki, Singmo and other traditional dance forms of Siddi community reverberated in the village. Siddis, attired in their traditional clothes, entertained people with various cultural programmes.

To mark the occasion, Siddi people were also taught about their legal rights and the importance of education to join the mainstream of society. They were advised to send their wards to schools and to take Barack Obama as their role model in life.

The Siddis mostly work as daily wage labourers in construction or in agricultural fields. Each family contributed Rs 80-Rs 100 to celebrate the victory of Obama.

Honey and herbs for Obama

Golehalli, Haliyal taluk: Natural honey and rare herbs. This is what the Siddis hope to send to Barack Obama as gift on being sworn in US president. And they hope it reaches his hands this time. For, they plan to send them through proper government channels. Last time their hope of sending natural honey from the forests of Uttara Kannada didn't materialize due to technical reasons when Obama was sworn in as US president for the first time in 2008.

Speaking to TOI, the Siddis said they will approach American embassy in Chennai and the state government. "We are now exploring right channels to send honey and herbs. We are also planning to put pressure on the government to clear hurdles," said Imamhusain Siddi and Mingel Francis Siddi.

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