Romney called Obama to concede after the president’s victories in the crucial state of Ohio and heavily contested swing states of Virginia, Nevada, Iowa and Colorado carried the Democrat past the 270 electoral votes needed for victory.

“This is a time of great challenge for our nation,” Romney told disappointed supporters gathered at a Boston convention center. “I pray that the president will be successful in guiding our nation.”

He warned against partisan bickering and urged politicians on both sides to “put the people before the politics.”

Obama, America’s first black president, won by convincing voters to stick with him as he tries to reignite strong economic growth and recover from the worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s. An uneven recovery has been showing some signs of strength but the country’s 7.9 percent jobless rate remains stubbornly high.

Obama’s victory in the hotly contested swing state of Ohio – as projected by TV networks – was a major step in the fight for the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the White House and ended Romney’s hopes of pulling off a string of swing-state upsets.

Obama scored narrow wins in Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire – all states that Romney had contested – while the only swing state captured by Romney was North Carolina, according to television network projections.

The nationwide popular vote remained extremely close.

Romney delayed his concession as some Republicans questioned whether Obama had in fact won Ohio despite the decisions by election experts at all the major TV networks to declare it for the president.

The later addition of Colorado and Virginia to Obama’s tally – according to network projections – meant that even if the final result from Ohio were to be reversed, Romney still could not reach the needed number of electoral votes in America’s state-by-state system of choosing a president.

While Obama supporters in Chicago were ecstatic, Romney’s Boston event was grim as the news was announced on television screens there. A steady stream of people left the ballroom at the Boston convention center.

At least 120 million American voters had been expected to cast votes in the race between the Democratic incumbent and Romney after a campaign that was focused on how to repair the ailing U.S. economy.

With just eight weeks remaining before the election, the president has gained points in eight of the top nine battleground states.  However, Mitt Romney is still within striking distance and can still make a difference come election day.

The two frontrunners in the presidential race were in equal footing before the conventions.  If Romney make use of the remaining three presidential debates and vice presidential debate in October properly, observers believe the race would be right back to even.

The news of Obama’s lead was downplayed by Romney’s camp, describing it as “a sugar high” and predicting “economic realities would bring the race back to the tight margins that have characterized it for months.”

But the CNN poll also found that the number of likely voters who viewed Romney favorably dropped from 50 percent before the two conventions to 48 percent. On the other hand, the number who viewed Obama favorably rose from 52 percent before the conventions to 57 percent.

Gary Johnson – Libertarian Party
He was Governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003 as a Republican. He ran his own construction company before entering politics. He lists climbing Mt. Everest and Ironman Triathlons among his personal accomplishments.

Jill Stein – Green Party
Dr. Jill Stein is a physician and medical school professor who  focuses on environmental health issues.  She has run for political office in Massachusetts twice for the Green-Rainbow Party, that state’s branch of the Green Party.

Virgil Goode – Constitution Party
Virgil Goode became a Virginia state senator as an independent, then joined the Democratic Party. Goode later represented Virginia in congress from 1997 to 2009, initially as a Democrat. He switched to independent in 2000, and still won re-election. For the 2006 election, he ran as a Republican and was again re-elected — for a sixth term. Goode was defeated in 2008. Selected as the presidential candidate for the Constitution Party, Goode’s campaign seeks to restrict immigration and reduce the size of the federal government.

Rocky Anderson – Justice Party
A lawyer from Salt Lake City who also served two terms as mayor, from 2000 to 2008. Anderson renounced the Democratic Party in August of last year, and accepted the nomination of the new Justice Party in January of 2012. The party’s platform includes the end of war, universal health care, and international cooperation on dealing with climate change.

Peta Lindsay – Party for Socialism and Liberation
Peta Lindsay represents a political party that formed by splitting off from the left-wing Workers World Party in 2004. Lindsay is an anti-war activist. She was born in 1984, so if elected, she would be ineligible to serve as president. The U.S. Constitution states that presidents must be at least 35 years old.

Tom Hoefling – America’s Party
He is the national chairman of America’s Party which seeks to end the income tax, outlaw abortion, beef up the military, and outlaw gay marriage. Hoefling’s presidential campaign does not seek or accept campaign donations.

Roseanne Barr – Peace and Freedom Party
Yes, the former sitcom actress is running for office. Her campaign platform includes the legalization of marijuana, an end to war, and forgiveness of student debt. Barr’s candidacy has gained the endorsement of NORML, the Green Party Black Caucus, and 2008 Green Party nominee Cynthia McKinney.

Stewart Alexander – Socialist Party USA
Stewart Alexander is a community and consumer activist and an NAACP member. He ran for mayor of Los Angeles in 1988 and for Lieutenant governor in California in 2006 on the Peace and Freedom Party ticket. He was the Socialist Party candidate for vice-president in 2008.

James Harris – Socialist Workers Party
Aside from this upcoming election, Harris was also the Socialist Workers Party’s candidate in 1996 and 2000 elections. Harris rose through the ranks by campaigning for workers’ rights and union organization, particularly in the union-averse state of Georgia.

Andre Barnett – Reform Party USA
Barnett served with the U.S. Army and was wounded in Sarajevo in 2000. Told he would not be able to engage in heavy physical activities again, he rehabilitated himself and became a fitness model. He then founded an information technology business. Barnett’s platform includes pulling the military out of foreign countries to concentrate on homeland security, implementing tariffs on imports, lowering the corporate tax rate, and regulating the cost of health care.

Tom Stevens – Objectivist Party
An activist lawyer who founded the Objectivist Party, which was formed to promote the philosophy of Ayn Rand. He is also chairman of the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania.

Merlin Miller – Third Position Party
An independent film producer and the first ever presidential candidate for the Third Position Party. He has been linked to the the Council of Conservative Citizens, which the Southern Poverty Law Center lists as a White Nationalist hate group. The Third Position Party platform focuses on law enforcement and victim’s rights.

Jerry White – Socialist Equality Party
His party follows the philosophy of Leon Trotsky. His campaign platform involves issues of jobs, workers’ rights, and quality of life issues like universal healthcare, guaranteed minimum income, an end to foreclosures, and universal pensions.

Jim Carlson – Grassroots Party
Carlson is the owner of a Duluth head shop, Last Place on Earth. His party shares a philosophy with the Green Party with an added emphasis on the legalization of marijuana.

Will Christensen – Independent American Party
He is representing the very conservative Independent American Party.

President Barack Obama, who introduced a home-brewing kit last year to the White House kitchen, has been talking about the White House brew for weeks but refused to divulge the details of how it’s made. The home brews have become objects of fascination for beer drinkers everywhere and an online petition for the recipe ensued.

Obama is clearly taking advantage of being identified as a beer drinker to connect with votes from beer lovers all over the country. His Republican rival Mitt Romney, doesn’t drink, being an active Mormon.

On Saturday, White House press secretary Jay Carney announced the beer recipe on Twitter, linking to a blog post entitled “Ale to the Chief” written by White House assistant chef Sam Kass on the official White House website. According to the article, the brews contain honey from the first-ever bee-hive on the South Lawn.  Check out the recipes below:

White House Honey Porter

Ingredients

2 (3.3 lb) cans light unhopped malt extract
3/4 lb Munich Malt (cracked)
1 lb crystal 20 malt (cracked)
6 oz black malt (cracked)
3 oz chocolate malt (cracked)
1 lb White House Honey
10 HBUs bittering hops
1/2 oz Hallertauer Aroma hops
1 pkg Nottingham dry yeast
3/4 cup corn sugar for bottling

Directions

•     In a 6 qt pot, add grains to 2.25 qts of 168˚F water. Mix well to bring temp down to 155˚. Steep on stovetop at 155˚F for 45 minutes. Meanwhile, bring 2 gallons of water to 165˚F in a 12 qt pot. Place strainer over, then pour and spoon all the grains and liquid in. Rinse with 2 gallons of 165˚F water. Let liquid drain through. Discard the grains and bring the liquid to a boil. Set aside.
•     Add the 2 cans of malt extract and honey into the pot. Stir well.
•     Boil for an hour. Add half of the bittering hops at the 15 minute mark, the other half at 30 minute mark, then the aroma hops at the 60 minute mark.
•     Set aside and let stand for 15 minutes.
•     Place 2 gallons of chilled water into the primary fermenter and add the hot wort into it. Top with more water to total 5 gallons if necessary. Place into an ice bath to cool down to 70-80˚.
•     Activate dry yeast in 1 cup of sterilized water at 75-90˚ for fifteen minutes. Pitch yeast into the fermenter. Fill airlock halfway with water. Ferment at room temp (64-68˚) for 3-4 days.
•     Siphon over to a secondary glass fermenter for another 4-7 days.
•     To bottle, make a priming syrup on the stove with 1 cup sterile water and 3/4 cup priming sugar, bring to a boil for five minutes. Pour the mixture into an empty bottling bucket. Siphon the beer from the fermenter over it. Distribute priming sugar evenly. Siphon into bottles and cap. Let sit for 1-2 weeks at 75˚.

White House Honey Ale

Ingredients

2 (3.3 lb) cans light malt extract
1 lb light dried malt extract
12 oz crushed amber crystal malt
8 oz Bisquit Malt
1 lb White House Honey
1 1/2 oz Kent Goldings Hop Pellets
1 1/2 oz Fuggles Hop pellets
2 tsp gypsum
1 pkg Windsor dry ale yeast
3/4 cup corn sugar for priming

Directions

•     In an 12 qt pot, steep the grains in a hop bag in 1 1/2 gallons of sterile water at 155 degrees F for half an hour. Remove the grains.
•     Add the 2 cans of the malt extract and the dried extract and bring to a boil.
•     For the first flavoring, add the 1 1/2 oz Kent Goldings and 2 tsp of gypsum. Boil for 45 minutes.
•     For the second flavoring, add the 1/2 oz Fuggles hop pellets at the last minute of the boil.
•     Add the honey and boil for 5 more minutes.
•     Add 2 gallons chilled sterile water into the primary fermenter and add the hot wort into it. Top with more water to total 5 gallons. There is no need to strain.
•     Pitch yeast when wort temperature is between 70-80˚F. Fill airlock halfway with water.
•     Ferment at 68-72˚F for about seven days.
•     Rack to a secondary fermenter after five days and ferment for 14 more days.
•     To bottle, dissolve the corn sugar into 2 pints of boiling water for 15 minutes. Pour the mixture into an empty bottling bucket. Siphon the beer from the fermenter over it. Distribute priming sugar evenly. Siphon into bottles and cap. Let sit for 2 to 3 weeks at 75˚F.

President Obama, together with first lady Michelle Obama and their daughters, Sasha and Malia, attended mass at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Lafayette Square, just across the White House. The last time the president publicly attended church with his family was on Easter Sunday this year, also at St. John’s.

Rev. Michael Angell mentioned what he called “a summer of violence” during the sermon and spoke about the tragic shootings in a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado late last month as well as the one in a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin.  A total of 18 people were killed in both incidents. After the sermon, the first family took Communion from Angell.

According to the White House, the president and his family has attended nine different churches in Washington during his almost four years in office. Aside from St. John’s Episcopal Church, the other D.C.-area congregations the first family attended are the 19th Street Baptist Church, the Washington National Cathedral, Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church, Vermont Avenue Baptist Church, Metropolitan A.M.E. Church, Shiloh Baptist Church, Zion Baptist Church, and Evergreen Chapel at Camp David in Maryland.

Mitt Romney, who is an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also took a rest from the campaign yesterday morning and attended a Mormon sacrament meeting in Wolefboro, N.H. with his wife, Ann, his son Tagg, daughter-in-law Jen and their six children. Romney and his family listened intently to the speakers, which included members of the Marriott family, owners of the famous hotel chain.

The Romney family also took part in singing hymns and exchanging pleasantries with other worshipers. At one point during the service, his wife and daughter-in-law joined about 40 other women to sing “Because I Have Been Given Much,” a popular Mormon hymn about using the blessings you have been given.

Romney is the first Mormon to clinch the presidential nomination of the Republican Party, or any other major U.S. political party for that matter, and he doesn’t speak often to voters about his faith in any great detail.

“You know, we did all the right things to prevent a Great Depression and to get the economy growing again and to get job creation going again,” he explained. “But it hasn’t made up for the hole that was created in those six, nine, 12 months before my economic policies took effect.”

The president also pushed back on claims that his speech on Tuesday in Osawatomie, Kansas, called for the redistribution of wealth, saying he’s just asking “What’s happened to the American deal that says, you know, we are focused on building a strong middle class?”

“This is not because I’m interested in punishing the rich, I want everybody to be rich, that’s great,” he said. “It has to do with the fact that the less I’m asking you or me to do, the more I’m asking somebody who’s in a much tougher position to sacrifice. And that is basic math.”

Obama expressed frustration that any serious conversation about wealth devolves into charges of “class warfare.”

“Our politics has gotten to the point where we can’t have an honest conversation about the greatest income inequality since the 1920s,” he said. “And we can’t have an honest conversation about the irresponsibility that resulted in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, without somebody saying that somehow we’re being divisive.”

Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez, of  Idaho Falls, Idaho, was arrested Wednesday afternoon at a hotel near Indiana, Pa., after a desk clerk recognized his picture and immediately called authorities. At his first appearance in court in Pennsylvania, Ortega sat quietly, his hands free but his feet shackled. He said only, “Yes, ma’am” when he was asked if he understood that he would be going back to Washington to face the charge.

Ortega will remain in federal custody at least until a magistrate in Washington can determine if he should remain jailed until his trial on the charge, which carries up to life in prison.

Ortega sat quietly as the hearing began, his hands free but his feet shackled. The 21-year-old said only, “Yes, ma’am” when he was asked if he understood that he would be going back to Washington to face the charge.

Authorities said a man clad in black who was obsessed with Obama pulled his car within view of the White House on Friday night and fired shots from an assault rifle, cracking a window of the first family’s living quarters while the president was away.

Soon after, U.S. Park Police found an abandoned vehicle, with an assault rifle inside it, near a bridge leading out of the nation’s capital to Virginia. The car led investigators to Ortega.

The FBI took custody of Ortega’s car Thursday afternoon to continue the process of reviewing evidence, said Lindsay Godwin, a spokeswoman for the FBI’s Washington field office.

Maria Hernandez, Ortega’s mother, said that her son has no history of mental illness. “He has different ideas than other people, just like everyone, but he was perfectly fine the last time I saw him,” Hernandez said. “He might be saying weird stuff that sounds crazy, but that doesn’t mean (he) is crazy. He might be confused and scared,” she added.

The incident was reported shortly after 9 p.m., according to Sgt. David Schlosser, spokesman for the Park Police. Responding officers found an abandoned vehicle in the vicinity of the reported incident and were searching it “trying to figure out what happened.”
Schlosser noted that “no evidence” has been recovered to indicate shots were actually fired.

“I think, obviously, the thing that makes it of interest is simply the location, you know, a bit like real estate,” Schlosser told reporters. “The fact that this occurred outside the White House area. At this point, we don’t think that there’s any link to the White House.”
A Secret Service official who asked not to be identified reported that gunshots rang out as two cars sped on the National Mall. Agents stationed on 16th Street heard the shots, then saw the cars heading west on Constitution Avenue, the official said.

At least one witness saw that someone had “jumped out of the vehicle and ran,” but no one was captured, the official said.
An AK-47-style rifle was recovered in or near the abandoned vehicle, the official said.

In a brief appearance before reporters, Schlosser said he was not aware of any gun having been found.

Source: www.CNN.com

The dig in the area have begun more than a year ago and construction is still ongoing. According to the General Services Administration which has been supervising the work, the project is to upgrade the building’s antiquated utilities, including sewer lines, electrical systems and air-conditioning units.

While meatier details of the construction remain confidential, a report say that it is part of a $376 million project that will last for four years and progress across the North Lawn all the way to the East Wing. The West Wing portion alone is costing $86 million.

Meanwhile, people have different speculations regarding the mysterious hole. Some believe it’s an expansion of the the Presidential Emergency Operations Center, while others guess the construction is to add underground access from the White House to the Old Executive Office Building, or to the Treasury Building.

Funnier speculations include “It’s a burial site for the American dream;” “A tunnel to China!” and “They need to put the debt somewhere.”