George H.W. Bush attend event Obama White House

WASHINGTON--President George H.W. Bush returns to the White House for an event in honor of the granting of voluntary service which created 24 years ago.

President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, are organizing the event on Monday in recognition of the daily point of light award number.

The first President Bush established the prize in 1990 to honor Americans for voluntary service. The name comes from her description of the inaugural speech of 1989 of Americans citizens to serve as "1 thousand points of light".

Bush plans to attend to his wife, Barbara; son of Neil and other members of his family, although his son, former President George W. Bush, is not scheduled to come. Also scheduled to attend is the CEO points of light, Michelle Nunn, whereas a democratic campaign for the United States Senate in Georgia.

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George Hobica: TSA PreCheck Expanding, Breezes You Through Airport Security

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Since 2001, multiple schemes have been floated to get passengers through lines at security and customs more quickly. Some were marginally successful, others failed, some never got off the ground. But with Global Entry, a customs fast-track solution in the making forever and finalized this past year, are we finally getting it right? Let's take a look at this increasingly popular program, which has travelers saying nice things about airports for a change.

What is it?

Global Entry is a voluntary program, co-developed by United States Customs and Border Patrol that offers you expedited service when re-entering the country via customs and immigration. This means no more dreading the immigration or customs lines in the arrivals hall when you return home from overseas - just walk up to the automated kiosk, check-in and go on your way - no filling out paperwork, no nothing. In addition, Global Entry members are automatically eligible for the increasingly popular TSA PreCheck service, developed by the Transportation Security Administration, designed to whisk low-risk types through the security checkpoints with less hassle: no removing laptops, shoes, jackets or liquids/gels.

Where do I sign up?

Head to www.globalentry.gov, fill out an online application and pay your $100, non-refundable application fee. Note, however, that you will be required to schedule an in-person interview at one of the Enrollment Centers, located at airports around the country. (Make sure you live close to one of them, the complete list is located on the Web site.) An official will sit with you, ask you a lot of personal questions (don't get nervous) and then you'll either be approved or rejected for the program; membership lasts for five years.

Who qualifies?

The program is not only open to American citizens, permanent residents will also qualify, along with Mexican nationals and citizens of The Netherlands and South Korea. (The list of qualifying countries is expected to grow in future.) Also, Canadian citizens can sign up for the pre-existing NEXUS border crossing program available there and receive the same benefits.

Who shouldn't bother?

If you've got a criminal record, have ever been in arrears, customs-wise, in any country on the face of the earth or have previously tangled with US immigration, save yourself the trouble of signing up.

How to beat the system

There's no way around the interview process, but there are ways to avoid paying the application fee. Got an American Express Platinum card? They'll reimburse you the $100, and the $100 paid by any additional cardholders on your account. Citibank's Citi Prestige cardholders also qualify for this benefit, as do Global Services, Premier 1K and Platinum members of United's MileagePlus program. Also, if you're already a member of the existing programs that the U.S. government operates in partnership with the Canadian (NEXUS) and Mexican (SENTRI) governments, you're set. Designed to get you and your car over the border faster, membership in these programs also allows you to use Global Entry at any American airport. The NEXUS program only costs $50 for five years, so join that and you'll save a nice chunk of change. (All in, SENTRI ends up costing a little more than Global Entry, but at least if you're a member, you don't have to pay another $100.) With both programs, make sure to check that you've got the correct fingerprints and documentation on file before attempting to use Global Entry, or you'll be kicked to the next available immigration agent for the standard screening.

Oh, and a little more about PreCheck...

Again, Global Entry members are automatically enrolled in the program; all you have to do is make sure you enter your known traveler number when booking your flight - you'll get that once you're admitted to Global Entry. Once again, you're at an advantage - passengers without membership in Global Entry have to be invited to participate in PreCheck by their airline (if their airline is participating), and access is generally determined by their frequent flyer status.

Why it's worth it

It shouldn't be too difficult to see the benefits. With both Global Entry and PreCheck, you've very nearly eliminated all of our least favorite things about airports - waiting in line at security, being forced to take off shoes and remove little baggies of toothpaste from our luggage, waiting in line at immigrations, waiting in line at customs. Talk about VIP status.

More tips on skipping airport lines:

Skip The Lines With Priority Boarding

Global Entry Gives You VIP Immigration When Entering U.S. Airports

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Obama Confuses U.K. Finance Minister George Osborne With Soul Singer Jeffrey Osborne

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US President Barack Obama repeatedly called British finance minister George Osborne "Jeffrey" at the G8 summit, media reported on Thursday.

The US president said three times that he agreed fully with "Jeffrey" during his presentation on G8 host Britain's plans to crack down on tax avoidance, leaving Osborne red-faced.

Realising his blunder afterwards, Obama joked that he had mistaken Britain's chancellor for the US soul singer Jeffrey Osborne, The Sun and the Financial Times reported.

"I'm sorry, man. I must have confused you with my favourite R and B singer," Obama was quoted as saying.

The chancellor, 42, bears little resemblance to Jeffrey Osborne, a 65-year-old African-American hit singer-songwriter known for his 1982 classic "On the Wings of Love".

Jeffrey Osborne told Sky News television: "I was really delighted actually. I was really not aware that (Obama) was that much of a fan that he would call the chancellor Jeffrey Osborne.

"Tell the chancellor when I come over I will have to hook up with him and we will do a duet of 'On The Wings Of Love'."

The Sun quoted an onlooker at the session as saying: "Osborne looked really put out" by what was a "visually crushing blow".

"The first time Obama did it was bad enough, but then he kept on repeating the error throughout the presentation. It got really cringe-worthy by the end."

George Osborne's real first name is Gideon, but he switched to George after being teased as a teenager.

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George P. Mitchell, the Texas oilman and the 'father of hydraulic fracturing,' dies at 94

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Former Mitchell Energy & Development Corporation chairman George P. Mitchell Wednesday, March 9, 2011, in Houston. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)

HOUSTON -- George P. Mitchell leveraged a penchant for hard work, an appetite for risk and dogged persistence in the face of futility into a technological breakthrough that reshaped the global energy industry and made the wildcat oilman a billionaire.

Mitchell, the developer and philanthropist who also is considered the father of fracking, doggedly pursued natural gas he and others knew were trapped in wide, thin layers of rock deep underground. Fracking brought an entirely new – and enormous – trove of oil and gas within reach.

Mitchell died Friday at age 94 his home in Galveston, his family said.

The son of a Greek immigrant who ran a cleaning and shoeshine business in Galveston, Mitchell became one of the wealthiest men in the U.S. While his technological breakthrough transformed economies in states like North Dakota, Texas and Pennsylvania and is expected to migrate around the world, many environmentalists have attacked the practice over concerns about air and water pollution.

For the entire oil and gas age, drillers had searched for hydrocarbons that had seeped out of layers of sedimentary rock over millions of years and collected into large pools. Once found, they were easy to produce. Engineers merely had to drill into the pools and the natural pressure of the earth would send huge volumes of oil and gas up to the surface.

These pools are exceedingly rare, though, and they were quickly being tapped out as the world's consumption grew, raising fears that the end of the oil and gas age would soon be at hand and raising prices to alarming levels.

Mitchell's idea: Go directly to the sedimentary rock holding the oil and gas, essentially speeding up geological processes by thousands of millennia.

He figured out how to drill into and then along layers of gas-laden rock, then force a slurry of water, sand and chemicals under high pressure into the rock to crack it open and release the hydrocarbons. This process, horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, is the now-common industry practice known generally as fracking.

Engineers after Mitchell learned to adapt the process to oil-bearing rock. The U.S. is now the world's largest producer of natural gas and is on track to overtake Saudi Arabia as the world's biggest oil producer by the end of the decade, according to the International Energy Agency.

Daniel Yergin, the energy historian and author of "The Quest: Energy, Security and the Remaking of the Modern World" said in a statement that Mitchell "Changed the world energy outlook in the 21st century and set in motion the global rebalancing of oil and gas that is now occurring."

The fracking boom sent natural gas prices plummeting, reducing energy costs for U.S. consumers and businesses. And by boosting U.S. oil production, it has sharply reduced oil imports.

Electric utilities used more natural gas to generate power because of its low price, while reducing the use of coal. This has led to a substantial reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide and toxic chemicals such as mercury by U.S. utilities.

But the practice has also sparked powerful antagonism, especially in the Northeast, from residents and environmentalists opposed to increased industrial activity in rural areas and concerned that the fracking process or the wastewater it generates can contaminate drinking water supplies.

New York, which is thought to have considerable natural gas resources, has imposed a moratorium on high-volume hydraulic fracturing and star-studded activist groups have staged countless rallies and events to generate opposition to the practice.

In some areas fracking has been blamed for air pollution and gas leaks that have ruined well water, but the Obama administration and many state regulators say the practice is safe when done properly.

Mitchell's family, on the family foundation website, said he died of natural causes while surrounded by relatives.

"His story was quintessentially American," the family statement said. "George P. Mitchell was raised as a child of meager means who, throughout his life, believed in giving back to the community that made his success possible and lending a hand to the less fortunate struggling to reach their potential."

George Phydias Mitchell and his wife, Cynthia, who died in 2009, had 10 children. Their work together was "dedicated to making the world a more hospitable and sustainable place," the family said.

Mitchell graduated first in his class of 1940 at Texas A&M University with degrees in petrochemical engineering and geology. He helped pay for his school costs by running a tailoring and laundry business in College Station and selling candy and stationery to his fellow student Aggies, then in later years became the school's largest benefactor with donations topping $95 million.

This year, the annual Forbes list of wealthiest Americans ranked him 239th with a net worth of $2 billion.

Mitchell spent four years in the Army Corps of Engineers during World War II. Afterward, he struck out on his own with a brother and a partner as a wildcatter operation.

Over his career, he participated in drilling some 10,000 wells, including more than 1,000 wildcats – wells drilled away from known fields. His company, Mitchell Energy & Development, was credited with more than 200 oil and 350 natural gas discoveries.

The firm spent nearly two decades developing horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, finally finding success in North Texas' Barnett Shale formation in the 1990s.

"There's no point in mincing words. Some people thought it was stupid," Dan Steward, a geologist who began working with the Texas natural gas firm Mitchell Energy in 1981 told The Associated Press in an interview last year. Steward estimated in the early years, "probably 90 percent of the people" in the firm didn't believe shale gas would be profitable, and that Mitchell's company didn't even cover the cost of fracking on shale tests until the 36th well was drilled.

But he credited the company namesake as a tenacious visionary.

"There's not a lot of companies that would stay with something this long," he said. "Most companies would have given up."

"Because of Mitchell's persistence ... we are today witnessing an unprecedented boom in domestic energy production and the associated economic benefits in Texas and nationwide," Texas Railroad Commission Chairman Barry Smitherman agreed Friday.

Mitchell sold his energy company in 2002 for $3.1 billion.

Over the years, he spent tens of millions rebuilding his hometown of Galveston, resurrecting a long-dormant annual Mardi Gras celebration and providing money to restore the city's historic downtown Strand District.

He donated the land for Texas A&M University at Galveston.

"To say he was a great man with foresight and generosity isn't enough," Adm. Robert Smith III, the school's president, said. "His contributions to this university literally made this institution possible."

His Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation, founded in 1979, has made more than $400 million in gifts.

In the early 1970s, Mitchell began developing The Woodlands, a suburban Houston master-planned community designed as a place for mixed-income residential development with jobs and amenities nearby while preserving the East Texas forest and other natural resources that covered the 27,000 acres. He later would call it his most satisfying achievement.

The Woodlands is now home to about 100,000 people, and one of the nation's busiest outdoor performing arts and entertainment venues there carries his wife's name, the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion.

"His ambition and success have transformed our region," Houston Mayor Annise Parker said. "He was a visionary, and showed his love for Houston through his work and hometown pride."

Funeral arrangements were not immediately released.

___

Fahey reported from New York. Associated Press writer Kevin Begos in Pittsburgh contributed to this report.

___

Online:

Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation http://cgmf.org/p/family-statement.html

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Peggy Wallace Kennedy, daughter of George Wallace, lives in the shadow of the father

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — 50-year-old Peggy Wallace Kennedy has lived in the shadow of his father, the Governor of Alabama George C. Wallace, when he stood in a door and attempted to stop two black students integrating the University of Alabama.

That single episode in the civil rights movement us - his infamous "stand in the door of the school" - attached an asterisk to his name, he says. It is a permanent marking that can not delete never, despite their own history as a moderate Democrat who supported early candidate Barack Obama for President in 2008.

"If you're the daughter of George Wallace, think that the asterisk will always be there. '"Oh, his father standing at the door of the school,' "he said in a recent interview.

Kennedy was only 13 at the time. His mother, Lurleen Wallace, had disappears you to a cabin of fishing from the Lake with his three brothers that day, thus would be far the wrenching historical drama in which her father had a prominent role.

George Wallace, a pragmatic politician and a populist, may or not have been a true believer in the segregation - while it was appointed in 1963 with a promise: '' segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever".

On June 11, 1963, he stood at the door of the Auditorium of the University of Alabama Foster that Vivian Malone Jones and James Hood enroll for classes.

Wallace stepped aside after President John F. Kennedy federalized the Alabama National Guard.

Jones and campaign registered, and Wallace became a national political figure that would be candidate for President the following year.

On the 50th anniversary, all the major players - Wallace, Jones, campaign and Nicholas Katzenbach, representative of the administration of Kennedy in Tuscaloosa - are dead.

Wallace died in 1998 after serving four terms as Governor, but he has never discussed the events of June 11, 1963, with his daughter.

Kennedy says that their motivations will then remain a mystery for her so far.

"Never he talked with me about it. Even I do not know that talking with my mother about it. I never heard them talk about the school gates are in everything, "said Kennedy.

Looking back 50 years, Peggy Kennedy recalled that she was a young teenager who was terrified of what could happen to his father in the midst of the tensions and the violence of the conflict. And as the years passed, somehow is only an issue that could not discuss.

"When the issue was raised was brushed aside," told a hearing last March.

It is speculated that perhaps he was keeping only a political promise, but she cannot say with certainty.

Culpepper Clark, author of the 1993 book "the school gate: Last Stand of segregation at the University of Alabama," believes daughter of Wallace is correct in its assumption.

"Clearly strengthened Wallace e identified with white voters in Alabama and kept a promise", Clark said.

Kennedy said that the actions of his father were difficult to understand because his mother, who also became Governor, raised not to think she was better than anyone else.

"At" that time that simply did not understand why he just stand and two African-Americans have not entering a University, he said.

But he said the episode marked a change irreversible for the Wallace family.

"That day was the end of our hopes of a simple life. It was really the beginning of our life under the shadow of the door of the school for the rest of my life."

He visited his ill father frequently in the last few years before his death. The conversations were short, due to his health, and he wanted to talk about policy, not the past. After all, "politics was the family business," he said.

But he never discovered why he felt that he had to stand in front of the school. "Definitely I regret that," said.

Know about Kennedy is that his father changed after an assassination attempt during his presidential campaign of 1972. A bullet fired by Arthur Bremer - whose self-proclaimed intention was to assassinate the then President Richard Nixon or Wallace - Wallace left paralyzed from the waist down and constant pain for the rest of his life.

"What it did for him, he realized how much he had made the African-American community suffer and realized that I needed to be forgiven, truly forgiven," said.

Wallace went to black churches to apologize for his segregationist views and he won a fourth term as Governor in 1982 with wide support from black. It honored Jones and campaign and welcomed leaders of civil rights as Jesse Jackson at his home in Montgomery.

"He was a different man when he died. I assure you of, "said Kennedy.

Kennedy is also a different woman. For years, stayed in the background as her husband, lawyer Mark Kennedy, rose through the hierarchy political up to a justice in the Supreme Court of Alabama. Only after his retirement she step from the shadows, first by supporting Obama in 2008. He told voters that United States had still healing and "with Barack Obama to direct our power to heal will we turn."

Then in 2009, he attended events in Selma "Bloody Sunday" - remember the day in 1965 when police of the State of his father attacked voting rights of protesters at the bridge of Edmund Pettus.

In Selma, she introduced Attorney General Eric Holder - Jones's brother-in-law - and they shared a desire that Jones had lived to see the time. Then marched through the bridge hand-in-hand with Congressman John Lewis of Georgia, who was brutally beaten during the "Bloody Sunday".

Kennedy said that she crossed bridges many in his life, but none as important as that one.

Last March, he joined Lewis and other members of Congress in a pilgrimage of civil rights at the University of Alabama, and walked through the doors of wood and glass which his father tried to block. The daughter of the Governor, who promised "segregation forever" saw a campus with a student body that is nearly 13 percent black.

Kennedy, 63, said that she has tried in recent years to get out of the shadow of the door of the school and show that families can change.

"Perhaps someone gave a glimmer of hope," said.

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George Zimmerman trial live updates: jury selection begins

Jury selection begins trial in Florida on Monday of murder in the second degree of George Zimmerman.

Zimmerman is in court more than 15 months after he shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

The trial, before Judge Debra Nelson in Seminole County Circuit, expected to last more than one month.

Nelson previously ruled that faces of the jury will not be shown by means of communication, and shall refer to number only.

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Zimmerman shot and killed Martin as the teenager walked to the House of the bride of his father from a convenience store in Sanford, Florida, with a bag of sweets on the night of February 26, 2012.

Defence lawyers argue that Zimmerman, then for 28 years, was attacked by Martin while serving as guards of the volunteer neighborhood. Zimmerman's camp argues that Zimmerman, who is Hispanic, acted in self defense when filmed the African-American teenager in the chest at point-blank range. Prosecutors have considered an instance of murder the death of Martin in second grade.

Lawyer Mark O'Mara representing Zimmerman and lead for Florida State Prosecutor is Bernie the Rionda.

CLICK HERE FOR THE CASE TIMELINE

The Defense has not decided yet if Zimmerman will have the support. That decision probably will be when the prosecution presents its case.

He faces life imprisonment if convicted.

The trial is scheduled to begin at 9:00 a.m. EST.

Read below for minute-by-minute updates on court Monday:

The Huffington Post is testimony to the blogging on Monday. Look here for updates.

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George R.R. Martin makes No apologies for the 'bride' massacred in 'Game Of Thrones' (VIDEO)

'Conan': George R.R. Martin has no apologies there for 'Game of Thrones' bloodbath

George R.R. Martin wrote the script "Red wedding" years ago for his series "A song of ice & fire", but that was facing the fire again after the scene that played out in the last episode of "Game of Thrones". He made no apologies for it during his appearance on "Conan" this week, no matter how much fans were freaking out about it.

"Always I like unexpected things and I always like the suspense to be real," said Martin. "I want to my readers - and I want my viewers - be afraid when my characters are in danger." I want you to be afraid to turn the next page, because your next character cannot survive it."

He admitted that while he did not have any guilt for killing the characters in the book series, it is a little different now that their decisions are putting actors out of work. However, the actors could always anticipate their fate by reading his books.

Of course, Martin needs to get moving at the end of the series. Took it him two decades to write the first five books of the series, but three seasons, the HBO series is approaching quickly. It is apparently choosing their pace to try to finish the last two books to get ahead in the television program.

Meanwhile, fans can tune at the end of the season - and fallout "Red wedding" - of "Game of Thrones" this Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on HBO. "Conan" airs on weeknights at 11 PM ET on TBS.

TV Replay runs through the landscape of the big TV to find the most interesting, fun and on a good day, incredible moments and delivered right to your browser.

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George Zimmerman Lawyer Mark O'Mara Fabricated Evidence, Martin Family Lawyer Claims

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With less than a week left before the Trayvon Martin trial begins, an attorney for Martin's family now claims that George Zimmerman's lawyer Mark O'Mara fabricated evidence in an attempt to sway both the public and the jury.

Since Zimmerman's fatal confrontation with the 17-year-old Martin more than a year ago, both the judge and the public have been presented with an overwhelming amount of evidence during numerous court appearances and hearings. During a hearing last Tuesday, Zimmerman's defense team claimed that they had obtained video footage of "two buddies of [Martin] beating up a homeless guy." In a statement on Zimmerman's website, O'Mara later apologized for mischaracterizing evidence that in fact showed two homeless men fighting over a bike.

However, the law office representing Martin's family said this mistake was much more serious than a simple misstatement.

"The video, to me, is one of the clearest examples of a pure fabrication," Jasmine Rand, managing attorney and head of the civil rights division of Parks and Crump's South Florida office, told The Huffington Post. "I have no idea where that information came from. It's inaccurate, and to spread that type of information on such an important case was a clear fabrication of the evidence. I think that the behavior of the defense, to me, would call into question their veracity as a whole. And if you fabricate evidence once, I don't trust that you wouldn't fabricate evidence twice."

Shawn Vincent, a spokesperson for O'Mara's law firm, told HuffPost that the defense apologized for spreading misinformation and addressed the mistake quickly to continue its commitment to sharing accurate information with the public.

The footage is just a small part of a slew of evidence released by the defense, including photos and text messages from the teen's phone, that it's offered in support of its theory that Martin was the aggressor on the night of the fatal encounter. Judge Debra Nelson later ruled that the defense cannot mention Martin's drug use, school suspensions, text messages or history of fighting during its opening statement.

But simply releasing the evidence to the public could have a major effect on this trial and others, Rand said.

"This case doesn't occur in a vacuum, and the manner in which we conduct ourselves as legal professionals has an impact that lasts beyond the Trayvon Martin case itself, and has larger societal implications," she said. "A lot of the evidence that they've brought forward is completely irrelevant, and it's a very clear attempt to assassinate Trayvon Martin's character publicly in the media by mischaracterizing certain evidence."

In the past, O'Mara has justified using such evidence by suggesting that it helps to prove his client acted in self-defense.

"There is certainly enough evidence ... that's going to suggest Trayvon Martin involved himself ongoingly [sic] with fighting with other people," O'Mara said during last Tuesday's hearing, adding that it was his team's responsibility to bring forward any information that would be helpful to their client's case.

"I think it's a very dangerous message to send the public, when you're trying to justify killing somebody because of the way they look," Rand said. "It's different when you're bringing information before the court, as opposed to allowing this misinformation to go viral online. That's not his responsibility, that was a choice and a conscious decision he made to spread misinformation to the masses. He's killing his own credibility in the process."

UPDATE: Tuesday, June 4 -- Mark O'Mara told HuffPost, "It was a mistake, I've acknowledged it, it happened and I'm sorry. I only wish that those who are so willing to condemn would be without fault first."

"I said something wrong, and I apologize," O'Mara added. "What they're doing is trying to make more out of it because they have, for the past year, put Trayvon Martin up on a pedestal where he shouldn't have been, because he's a regular 17-year-old kid and they knew all this information about him."

"Quite honestly, I'm not sure there's any impact at all because no one has seen the video," O'Mara noted. "They're entitled to their opinions. I would only hope that they apologize for their mistakes as quickly as I have."

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