Obama in Indonesia (video)

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New York Marathon

NEW YORK – A Chilean miner ……………..…… (run) and ……………………… (walk) his way to the finish line of the New York City Marathon on Sunday, showing the passion that ………………………..(help) him survive more than two months trapped underground.

Edison Pena ………………………(cross) the Central Park finish line at 3:24 p.m., with a time of 5 hours, 40 minutes, 51 seconds. He was draped in a Chilean flag as Elvis music .............................. (play) over the speakers.

The 34-year-old survivor ……………………………….(beat) his own goal — to complete the course through the city's five boroughs in six hours.

Bags of ice …………………………(cover) his swollen knees as Pena …………………………… (walk) the second half of the marathon, but he ………………………….(summon) enough energy to run the last stretch along Central Park West.

"In this marathon I ………………………….(struggle) with myself and with my own pain," he said " but I ……………………………….. (make) it to the finish line. I ………………………………………… (want) to motivate other people to also find the courage and strength to transcend their own pain."

Pena's personal victory ………………………………… (come) just weeks after he was still training in near-darkness, jogging each day 2,300 feet underground in heat and humidity.

He …………………………… (say) running was his salvation — his way of proving how much he .................................................... (want) to live.

On this sunny day in Manhattan, it …………………………………….. (not matter) to the world whether No. 7127 actually ………………………………………… (finish) the race running into Central Park. To the cheering crowds, he ……………………...... (be) already a winner among the 45,000 runners, including some of the world's best marathoners.

At a post-marathon news conference, reporters ……………………………………… (ask) Pena to compare his hours in the New York race with the days in the mines

"In the mine, I ……………………….. (run) alone," he said. He …………………………….. (call) the marathon "an incredible dream" — because of "how warm and welcoming and supportive the Americans are here," with signs along the route reading "Go, Edison!" and "Go for it!"

Pena said he also …………………….. (be) "motivated" by Chileans shouting and waving his country's flag.

Pena ………………………………….. (begin) running in Staten Island at 9:40 a.m. The trouble …………………………………. (start) about an hour into the marathon, when he …………………………………………… (slow) a bit, apparently already in pain. But surrounded by supporters , he ……………………………………… (keep) running.

Shortly after noon, "The Runner" …………………………… (make) his way into Queens, reaching the 14-mile mark of the race. Suddenly, he ………………………………………. (leave) the course, going into a medical tent for help. He ……………………………. (emerge) around 1 p.m., bags of ice tied to both his knees.

He …………………………………….. (say) later he ………………………………………… (have) a bad left knee even before the mine cave-in, which …………………………………. (worsen) it. But he …………………………… (run) anyway.

"I …………………………….. (want) to show that I …………………………… (can) do it," Pena said

NYC Marathon officials ………………………………….. (hear) about Pena's subterranean training and ………………………………………….. (plan) to invite him as an honored guest. But he ………………. (want) to actually run the race.

The miner ……………………………………… (cut) his electrician's boots down to ankle height to train each morning and afternoon along the rocky, muddy 1,000-yard corridor where the men ……………………. (be) trapped. He ………………………….. (build) up strength by dragging a large piece of wood that was attached to a cord tied to his waist.

At the news conference in Manhattan's Mandarin Oriental hotel, a very happy and tired Pena at first …………………………………….. (decline) to sing some Elvis music, but eventually …………………………………. (give in) and ……………………………. (sing) "Don't Be Cruel."

He now ……………………………………… (have) his eyes on the next prize — another marathon to "improve my time. ... I know that's a possibility."

adapted from Yahoo News

An Italian in Washington (video)

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Proposition 19 Audio Follow Up

Marijuana legalization measure loses in California

LOS ANGELES – California voters declined to make their state the nation's first to legalize marijuana use and sales

"Today, Californians recognized that legalizing marijuana will not make our citizens healthier, solve California's budget crisis, or reduce drug related violence in Mexico," White House Drug Policy Director Gil Kerlikowske said.

Voters in three other states cast ballots on medical marijuana-related measures.

In South Dakota, voters rejected for the second time a measure to legalize marijuana for medical use — a step taken by California in 1996 and 13 other states since. Oregon voters refused to expand their state's medical marijuana program to create a network of state-licensed nonprofit dispensaries where patients could have purchased the drug.

California's marijuana proposal would have allowed adults 21 and over to possess up to 28 grams, consume it in nonpublic places as long as no children were present, and grow it in small private plots.

AP photo