Sunday Breakfast Menu, Dec. 29

Stephen Crowley/The New York Times

The political talk shows will air their final editions of the year on Sunday, mostly looking back at a couple of issues that dominated the news in 2013 and won’t likely be forgotten in the new year.

In June, Edward J. Snowden, a former contractor for the National Security Agency, released documents that revealed the extent to which the N.S.A. collects information about Americans’ phone and e-mail communications. On Wednesday, Mr. Snowden appeared on British television to warn about the dangers of this kind of surveillance.

CBS’s “Face the Nation” will discuss the N.S.A. revelations with Barton Gellman, a Washington Post reporter to whom Mr. Snowden leaked documents, Jesselyn Radack, one of Mr. Snowden’s legal advisers and Thomas Drake, a former N.S.A. whistle-blower. Gen. Michael V. Hayden, a former director of the N.S.A. and the Central Intelligence Agency, will also appear.

Ben Wizner, another of Mr. Snowden’s legal advisers, will appear on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

On “Fox News Sunday,” Representative Mike Rogers, Republican of Michigan and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and Representative Adam Schiff, a Democrat from California who also sits on that committee, will discuss the future of the N.S.A.

The shows will also focus on the struggle of President Obama’s administration to implement the Affordable Care Act. HealthCare.gov, the nationwide exchange for health insurance, began running in October, but was overwhelmed by the amount of users, many of whom had to wait hours or days before successfully enrolling. Mr. Obama has also been criticized for claiming that people with insurance would not lose it, when in practice, many who were previously insured had to sign up for new coverage. Mr. Obama admitted earlier this month that these problems were his biggest mistake of 2013.

One of Mr. Obama’s most prominent critics, Representative Darrell Issa, Republican of California and chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, will be on “Meet the Press” to discuss the future of the health care law. Representative Joaquin Castro, Democrat of Texas, will also appear.

The health care law will also be a topic on “Fox News Sunday,” when Howard Dean â€" former Vermont governor, a presidential candidate in 2004 and a medical doctor â€" appears, along with Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a former official in the Food and Drug Administration and a fellow with the American Enterprise Institute.

On ABC’s “This Week” and CNN’s “State of the Union,” year-end roundups will discuss these issues and others, including schisms in the Republican Party, the “nuclear option” in the Senate, and Pope Francis, the new head of the Roman Catholic church.

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, will discuss education and standardized testing on C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers.”

The author and philosopher Michael Novak appeared Friday on Bloomberg television’s “Political Capital,” to discuss the beginning of Pope Francis’ tenure. The show airs throughout the weekend.

Obamas Go Out on the Town in Hawaii

HONOLULU â€" When President Obama left Washington on Friday, he said he was eager to soak up the sun and relax during his 17-day vacation in Hawaii. But on Sunday, the president â€" accompanied by his wife, Michelle, and his daughters, Sasha and Malia â€" hit the town, venturing out twice from their private vacation reteat on the windward side of Oahu.

First, the Obamas headed to the University of Hawaii, where the Oregon State Beavers were taking on the Akron Zips as part of Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic basketball tournament. Mrs. Obama’s brother, Craig Robinson, is the head coach at Oregon State, and the Obamas cheered on his team.

But the First Family did not bring any basketball magic; the Beavers, who never held the lead, lost, 83-71.

That, however, did not prevent the Obamas from enjoying the game from their courtside seats just behind the Oregon State bench. Mr. Obama, who was greeted with cheers when he entered the arena, high-fived fans during half-time, and was joined by his in-laws â€" Marian Robinson, Mrs. Obama’s mother and the “First Grandmother,” who lives in the White House with the family; and Mr. Robinson’s wife and children.

Also in attendance was Josh Earnest, a White House spokesman; Sam Kass, the White House chef; and Robert Titcomb, a childhood friend of the president’s who in 2011 pleaded guilty to soliciting a prostitute.

At one point, a man and a woman entered the arena to protest the Keystone pipeline, the man dressed in a polar bear suit. (“Beavers Hate Pipelines,” read their sign). The pair danced to the music during a second-half time-out, though it was unclear whether Mr. Obama noticed them.

Later in the day, the First Family headed out again, this time to dinner at Morimoto Waikiki, an upscale restaurant from Masaharu Morimoto, the star of “Iron Chef” and “Iron Chef America.”

No word on what the Obamas ordered, though the restaurant boasts a $140-per-person “omakase” chef’s choice tasting menu.

Obama Says ‘Further Action’ Possible in South Sudan

HONOLULU â€" After an attack on three United States aircraft attempting to evacuate American citizens from South Sudan, President Obama sent a letter Sunday to top congressional leaders in which he said he might take “further action” to support United States citizens and interests in the contested region.

In a letter to Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio and Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont and the Senate’s president pro tempore, Mr. Obama, who is on vacation in Hawaii, wrote, “As I monitor the situation in South Sudan, I may take further action to support the security of U.S. citizens, personnel, and property, including our embassy, in South Sudan.”

Mr. Obama’s letter is consistent with the War Powers Resolution of 1937, which requires the president to inform Congress within 48 hours of committing armed forces to military action, and does not necessarily mean that the administration plans further increases in its military operations in the region.

On Saturday, Mr. Obama sent Special Operations forces to Bor, the capital of Jonglei State, where roughly 14,000 refugees had gathered in a United Nations compound surrounded by armed rebel forces. The mission was aborted after all three aircraft took small-arms fire and were damaged. Four service members were injured, one seriously.

Though the United States had been evacuating American citizens from the country, Saturday’s mission was the first time military forces ventured into rebel-controlled territory. All four service members were reported in stable condition.

A White House official said the president was updated on the situation Sunday, after a meeting that Susan E. Rice, his national security adviser, held with senior members of the administration’s national security team. Mr. Obama had also been briefed by Ms. Rice in a conference call on Saturday.

On Sunday morning, the United States continued to evacuate United States citizens from Bor on United Nations and United States civilian helicopters. The State Department, in a statement, said that they have so far evacuated approximately 380 United States officials and private citizens, as well as roughly 300 citizens of other countries, to Nairobi, Kenya, and other locations outside the country.

“The U.S. government is doing everything possible to ensure the safety and security of United States citizens in South Sudan,” said Jen Psaki, a State Department spokeswoman, in an email statement. “We are working with our allies around the world to connect with and evacuate U.S. citizens as quickly and safely as possible. For their safety and security, we will not outline specific evacuation plans.”

Sunday Breakfast Menu, Dec. 22

Stephen Crowley/The New York Times

This week, a White House-appointed panel recommended that President Obama rein in the National Security Agency and impose more oversight. Also, a United States District Court judge ruled Monday that an N.S.A. program that systematically collects records of American phone calls is probably unconstitutional, but he stayed his order while the case is appealed.

But four House and Senate Intelligence committee leaders rejected the White House report, arguing that the call data program was a valuable tool for catching terrorists.

Representative Mike Rogers, Republican of Michigan, and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee,  will defend that message on ABC’s “This Week.” Senator Mark Udall, Democrat of Colorado, and a member of the Senate Intelligence committee, will join Mr. Rogers.

On CBS’s “Face the Nation,” the former C.I.A. director Michael J. Morell, one of the members of the N.S.A. review panel, will talk about the 46 recommendations it made to Mr. Obama on curbing the agency’s power.

Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, and Representative Peter T. King, Republican of New York, will weigh in on domestic surveillance on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund, will also appear on the show to analyze the state of the global economy and the strength of the ongoing financial recovery. As many Congressmen head home for the holidays, Senators Charles Schumer, Democrat of New York, and Tom Coburn, Republican of Oklahoma, will stick around to discuss what is ahead for the Senate in the new year.

On CNN “State of the Union” Senator Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia, will talk about the budget deal, the future of the health care law and the chances of passing gun control legislation during the next year. Leaders of the Congressional Future Caucus, a bipartisan group of millennials, will also appear on the show. Representatives Tulsi Gabbard, Democrat of Hawaii, and Aaron J. Schock, Republican of Illinois, will explain how they want to get things done on Capitol Hill.

On CSPAN’s “Newsmakers,” Senator David B. Vitter, Republican of Louisiana and ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, will lay out his criticisms of the Obama administration’s environmental policies and discuss a possible gubernatorial run in 2015. Gov. Bobby Jindal cannot seek re-election due to state term limits.

Will you run? That’s another question on “Fox News Sunday,” where former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas will talk about  2014 and 2016 election prospects, and his plans, if any, to run.

Representative Ileana Ross-Lehtinen, Republican of Florida, is also looking forward to legislative priorities in 2014, especially immigration reform, on Univison’s “Al Punto.” The program airs 10 a.m. Eastern.

Senator Rob Portman, Republican of Ohio, appearing on Bloomberg’s “Political Capital,” discussed the budget deal, the debt ceiling deadline and entitlement reform. The program aired on Fridays, but repeats through the weekend.

On Telemundo’s “Enfoque,” Senator Roger Wicker, Republican of Mississippi, and Representative Juan Vargas, Democrat of California, will debate immigration reform. They will be joined by Pablo Alvarado, director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, and Tania Unzueta, an immigration activist.

Obamas Arrive in Hawaii for Vacation

HONOLULU â€" After an end-of-the-year news conference whose first question â€" “Has this been the worst year of your presidency?” â€" offered a trenchant reminder of President Obama’s troubled 2013, the president seemed especially ready for a break from the nation’s capital.

And so it was, less than 24-hours later, that Mr. Obama touched down in Hawaii, his boyhood home, for his annual holiday vacation. Accompanied by his wife, Michelle, his two daughters, and the First Family’s two Portuguese Water Dogs, Sunny and Bo, Mr. Obama walked off Air Force One and into the muggy Hawaiian darkness just before midnight Friday.

Already in vacation-casual â€" clad in khakis and blue button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up (no tie) â€" the president greeted the several dozen well-wishers and servicemen and women who had gathered at Hickam Air Force Base to watch his arrival.

He was also met by Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie; Kirk Caldwell, the mayor of Honolulu; Representative Tulsi Gabbard, Democrat of Hawaii (who Tweeted a photo of Mr. and Mrs. Obama exiting Air Force One); and Admiral Samuel Locklear, the commander of the United States Pacific Command.

The responsibilities of the Oval Office have often followed Mr. Obama to his Pacific retreat. (Think the fiscal crisis of 2012, or the Christmas day bomber of 2009.) But the president’s aides said that barring any unexpected surprises, they were hoping to keep his two-week island vacation low-key and largely news-free.

After all, a bit of rest and relaxation is just what their boss called for at his news conference. “So, you know, the end of the year is always a good time to reflect and see what can you do better next year,” Mr. Obama said Friday afternoon. “That’s how I intend to approach it. I am sure that I will have even better ideas after a couple days of sleep and sun.”

Live Coverage of Obama’s News Conference

President Obama will hold a news conference at 2 p.m. on Friday before he departs with his family for a two-week vacation in Hawaii, and Times reporters will provide updates and analysis during the event.

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Scott Brown Plans New Hampshire Move

So Scott Brown is moving to New Hampshire, he confirmed Thursday. The former senator from Massachusetts said his reasons for moving were “strictly personal,” and that they had more to do with empty-nesting than with his political future.

But he did not take the opportunity to quash the rampant speculation that he was moving from Massachusetts for political purposes â€" to challenge Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat, in her bid next year for re-election.

“Both Gail and I love Massachusetts and like many parents whose children have grown and are moving on with their own lives, we are making personal choices that will reflect our new lifestyle without the kids,” Mr. Brown said in a statement.

By stressing the personal over the political, he only teased the tea-leaf readers who are looking for signs that he is ready to jump back into the political fray after having lost his Senate seat last year to Elizabeth Warren.

“For those who have read my book, you know that my first home was in New Hampshire,” he said. “My family and I have long and strong ties to the Granite State that go back many generations.”

He added: “I am looking forward to being close to my mom as she gets older and needs assistance from my sister and me. I am also looking forward to being closer to my immediate and extended family.”

His message was received by the tea-leaf readers with a great deal of skepticism, especially since it coincided with a $70,000 attack ad against Senator Shaheen from a Super PAC that is urging Mr. Brown to get into the race.

His statement came in advance of his appearance Thursday night at the state Republican Party’s holiday reception in Nashua. Several demonstrators showed up, including strong backers of the Second Amendment who were protesting Mr. Brown’s support for a federal ban on assault weapons.

As he has said for many months, he reiterated that has no immediate deadline by which he expects to make a decision about whether to become a candidate.

Scott Brown Plans New Hampshire Move

So Scott Brown is moving to New Hampshire, he confirmed Thursday. The former senator from Massachusetts said his reasons for moving were “strictly personal,” and that they had more to do with empty-nesting than with his political future.

But he did not take the opportunity to quash the rampant speculation that he was moving from Massachusetts for political purposes â€" to challenge Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat, in her bid next year for re-election.

“Both Gail and I love Massachusetts and like many parents whose children have grown and are moving on with their own lives, we are making personal choices that will reflect our new lifestyle without the kids,” Mr. Brown said in a statement.

By stressing the personal over the political, he only teased the tea-leaf readers who are looking for signs that he is ready to jump back into the political fray after having lost his Senate seat last year to Elizabeth Warren.

“For those who have read my book, you know that my first home was in New Hampshire,” he said. “My family and I have long and strong ties to the Granite State that go back many generations.”

He added: “I am looking forward to being close to my mom as she gets older and needs assistance from my sister and me. I am also looking forward to being closer to my immediate and extended family.”

His message was received by the tea-leaf readers with a great deal of skepticism, especially since it coincided with a $70,000 attack ad against Senator Shaheen from a Super PAC that is urging Mr. Brown to get into the race.

His statement came in advance of his appearance Thursday night at the state Republican Party’s holiday reception in Nashua. Several demonstrators showed up, including strong backers of the Second Amendment who were protesting Mr. Brown’s support for a federal ban on assault weapons.

As he has said for many months, he reiterated that has no immediate deadline by which he expects to make a decision about whether to become a candidate.

Senate Confirms New Homeland Security Chief

The Senate on Monday evening confirmed Jeh C. Johnson as President Obama’s secretary of homeland security.

Mr. Johnson’s nomination was held up in the Senate fight over filibusters. In the end, however, his appointment was approved, 78 to 16, after the relaxed filibuster rules forced by the Democrats allowed a final vote.

It will not be the first time that Mr. Johnson has a significant influence on the Obama administration’s national security policies. He framed many of them as the Defense Department’s general counsel during Mr. Obama’s first term.

“Jeh has been a critical member of my national security team,” Mr. Obama said in a statement on Monday night. “As secretary of homeland security, Jeh will play a leading role in our efforts to protect the homeland against terrorist attacks, adapt to changing threats, stay prepared for natural disasters, strengthen our border security, and make our immigration system fairer.”

Mr. Johnson, 56, will fill the vacancy left by Janet Napolitano, a former governor of Arizona. She resigned in July to lead the University of California system.

He does not come to the job with Ms. Napolitano’s credentials on border security and immigration. But Mr. Johnson â€" whose first name is pronounced Jay â€" was a legal adviser to Mr. Obama during his first presidential campaign and shares many of the president’s ideas about counterterrorism operations.

In the first term, Mr. Johnson helped Mr. Obama reshape President George W. Bush’s counterterrorism policies. Mr. Johnson influenced the administration’s approach to the detention of terrorism suspects and drone strikes in Yemen and Somalia. And he was a leading force in the drive to end the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law and to allow gay men and lesbians to serve openly in the military.

He has also said that the United States must not be too quick to declare that the fight with Al Qaeda is over. In speeches over the last several years, he has stressed that Qaeda affiliates in Yemen and in North and West Africa continue to pose threats to the United States’ security.

Yet, he has criticized the Obama administration for being too secretive, especially when it comes to drone strikes. “The problem is that the American public is suspicious of executive power shrouded in secrecy,” Mr. Johnson said in a speech at Fordham University this year. “In the absence of an official picture of what our government is doing, and by what authority, many in the public fill the void by imagining the worst.”

Sunday Breakfast Menu, Dec. 15

Stephen Crowley/The New York Times

Things are looking up on Capitol Hill this week after the House approved a bipartisan budget deal to fund the government into 2015. The Senate is expected to pass it next week. But the compromise left some Tea Party groups grumbling.

The architects of the deal â€" the Budget Committee chairmen Representative Paul D. Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin, and Senator Patty Murray, Democrat of Washington â€" will lay out their bipartisan budget on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” The former head of the National Security Agency, Gen. Michael V. Hayden, will also appear on the show to discuss the leaks by the former N.S.A. contractor Edward J. Snowden, as American officials admitted Saturday they may never know the entirety of the files he extracted.

Mr. Ryan will also discuss his bipartisan handiwork on “Fox News Sunday.” In light of the one-year anniversary of the Newtown school shootings, Capt. Mark Kelly, husband of former Representative Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot during an event in her Arizona district, and Larry Pratt, director of Gun Owners of America, will debate gun control.

ABC’s “This Week” will feature an interview with Secretary of State John Kerry, who will discuss his efforts to find Robert Levinson â€" the former F.B.I. agent who went missing in Iran seven years ago. This week, Mr. Levinson’s family confirmed he was working for the C.I.A. when he disappeared and accused the government of betraying him.

Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona and a member of the Foreign Relations committee, will also talk on international affairs when he appears on both CNN’s “State of the Union” and CBS’s “Face the Nation.” Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, will join Mr. McCain on CBS to discuss the budget deal. The show will also show a tribute to the victims of the Newtown shooting.

On C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers,” Representative Harold Rogers, Republican of Kentucky, will weigh in on the budget compromise. Mr. Rogers, the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, had put pressure on Mr. Ryan and Ms. Murray to make a deal by early December.

The Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, and Representative Chris Van Hollen, Democrat of Maryland, discussed the budget and the 2014 midterm elections on Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital” on Friday. The program will be repeated throughout the weekend.

On Univision’s “Al Punto,” the president of Uruguay, José Mujica, will talk about the legalization of marijuana in his country. Representative Henry Cuellar, Democrat of Texas, will stop by the show to talk about immigration reform, which may gain more traction now that Congress has passed a budget. The program will air at 1 p.m. Eastern.

App Smart: Playing in Ice and Snow, Without Ever Venturing Outdoors

Playing in Ice and Snow, Without Ever Venturing Outdoors

App Smart: Winter Games: Apps for iOS and Android let you enjoy winter-themed games, including skiing and snowboarding, from the comfort of the indoors.

Yes, it's cold outside. And yes, it's getting slushy and dark and snowy and wet.

Ski Challenge 14 is one of the winter-themed games available as apps for iOS and Android.

Crazy Snowboard places you in control of a snowboarder navigating a downhill terrain peppered with obstacles and jumps.

In Icycle: On Thin Ice, the player is a tiny, naked cartoon figure riding a bicycle.

Fear not, winter also means playing in the snow and skating, skiing and building snowmen. And if you really don't want to go outside, you can enjoy some of this fun with winter-themed games, played on your phone.

Fresh on iOS is the hilarious and highly addictive icycle: on Thin Ice. The app is a 2-D action game that blends traditional gaming genres like platforms and ladders with racing.

But this description does not do the game justice. What other game lets you play a tiny naked cartoon guy riding a tiny bicycle over difficult terrain? The graphics are fabulously cute, and as the gameplay changes from level to level it requires different skills. In some levels, you have to carefully time moves to dodge falling icicles. In others, you have to navigate through mazelike obstacles.

Icycle: On Thin Ice is great fun. But it's not easy, and you'll find yourself revisiting levels to complete challenges like finding hidden items. I can't find much to criticize in this game apart from how much time it may eat up. Also, be careful of the in-app purchases if you give it to your children to play, because those purchases can cost up to $20. The nudity in the game is definitely cartoonish and should be of the safe-for-work variety in most cases. The app costs $1.

For a more winter-sports-like game that may remind you of the fabulous snowboarding game SSX on gaming consoles, try out Crazy Snowboard, free on iOS or Android. This pseudosimulation game places you in control of a snowboarder navigating a downhill terrain peppered with obstacles and jumps. You steer your phone in the air to make turns and tap on the screen to spin or do tricks like grabbing your snowboard in any one of a number of impressive ways.

The game has 3-D graphics, engaging music and sounds and such extras as changeable boards and snowsuits. There are several playing modes, like free play or mission-based downhill runs, to keep your interest. And as you earn more points, you can buy more outfits or more impressive tricks.

But amusing as the game is, it lacks some of the compelling sizzle you might expect if you've played a console skiing or boarding game, partly because you travel the slopes alone with no other players to race (or crash) against. The full “pro” versions ($2 on iOS and $1.03 on Android) do have more content, including more outfits, tricks and missions, and this may account for why the game is so popular on both platforms.

An alternative game on iOS and Android is Ski & Snowboard 2013. This game also has 3-D graphics that simulate real winter sports environments, and has a number of gameplay styles. But it's less about pulling off tricks than cleverly negotiating courses like giant slaloms or proper ski jumps, and in some modes it pits you against other downhill racers so it feels more dynamic.

There's also the option of choosing between playing as a skier or snowboarder, and you can choose to have on-screen touch controls instead of waving your phone in the air to steer your character.

It is fun, and you can try the free edition before paying $2 for the “full” editions on iOS and $1 on Android, which have more tracks to complete and more options. But the paid versions also lack a certain addictive edge for me, and there's one strange flaw: While you can choose which character you want to be - each with slightly different skills - there are no female racers.

If it's a skiing game experience you're after, then Ski Challenge 14, free on Android and iOS, is definitely one to try. This game has perhaps the most impressive graphics of the apps mentioned here. Playing it by rotating your phone, you almost get the sensation of skis biting into the snow to make tight turns.

There are several courses to choose from, though you have to qualify and race on them to unlock the later ones. There's even a sense of competition, thanks to the online mode where your live race times are compared with other players. But the game requires you set up a (free) account, and it's designed to get you to buy in-app “coins” to upgrade your experience or repair your skis, which have limited on-snow time. This can quickly get annoying.

Finally, check out Ski on Neon, $1 on iOS, and Stickman Snowboarder, free on Android, for some simple 2-D casual gaming. Both are games you'll come back to again and again.

Oh, don't forget to go outside, too! Winter really isn't that bad.

Quick Call

The popular finance app Mint has hit Windows Phone 8 devices. It's integrated into Microsoft's Live Tiles system so a glance at your phone's home screen keeps you up to date on your spending. Mint is free.

A version of this article appears in print on December 12, 2013, on page B7 of the New York edition with the headline: Playing in Ice and Snow, Without Ever Venturing Outdoors.

State of the Art: Keep an Eye on Children, or Other Valuables

Keep an Eye on Children, or Other Valuables

The Dropcam Pro can stream video to a computer or mobile device. The recorded feed from earlier in the week can be retrieved from a timeline.

I still remember the baby monitor my parents had - my friends and I used as a primitive walkie-talkie.

It was very basic: One boxy unit went in the baby's room near the crib. It had a microphone so if the baby made a sound you'd hear it on the other unit, at the end of a long wire. You could even send your voice back up the wire to lull the little one back to sleep.

Needless to say, our games were limited by that wire.

Technology has improved quite a bit since my childhood, of course, a point made ridiculously clear by the newly released Dropcam Pro.

Dropcam Pro is a $200 wireless webcam with two-way audio and night-vision capabilities. It's an upgrade over the previous model, simply named Dropcam. The size-imaging sensor in the new unit is twice as big, which means the camera captures much more light and can deliver a better picture with more zoom capability.

Plus, it has a 130-degree field of view, bigger than the previous 107 degrees. What does this mean? In my case, it means that after standing the camera on a shelf in my children's room it can see a lot of the floor, a bit of the ceiling, the window, the door and their beds from about six feet away. All in up to 1080p, HD video detail, even at night.

The camera unit itself is a sturdy, plain, hockey-puck-shaped device, and it clips into a similarly sturdy and plain metal stand. The stand can be placed on a flat surface, and you can turn it left and right and tilt the camera up and down. This stand can also be clipped into a plastic mount that can be screwed to a wall or ceiling for a more permanent installation.

The main limitation: you need to be within about 10 feet of a power socket, because that's the length of the cable that comes with it.

Over the years, my wife and I have tried a number of baby monitors, but they've either been unreliable or tricky to set up and maintain. This seems to be the situation the team at Dropcam has tried to avoid. Installing, then setting Dropcam up and using it via a web-based control from a computer or an app on an iOS or Android device couldn't be simpler.

To start, you hook the cam's cable to your computer's USB port and follow the on-screen instructions, either on a Mac or a PC. The menus appear in a web browser interface and are fuss-free. They guide you through the steps of setting up a free account with Dropcam's cloud services and connecting your camera to your home's wireless network. The whole process takes about two minutes.

Next, plug the camera in where you want it. The browser window you were using for the setup changes to the camera's view, and 12 or so pop-up instructions walk you through controls on the screen.

Through this webpage interface, you view the camera feed and can zoom and pan around the image. In my home, the impressive, eight-times digital zoom is enough to see if my children's eyes are open or shut from six feet away.

At night, the camera automatically switches to an infrared mode. The color video feed is then replaced with an eerie black-and-white view - the Dropcam unit includes its own infrared transmitters to “light up” the dark.

The camera has a microphone so you can listen through your PC and can transmit your voice through a small, built-in loudspeaker by tapping a control on the web page. You can also tell the system to be sensitive to movements or to loud noises and even send an alert to your phone.

Although I've introduced Dropcam Pro as a baby monitor, you can imagine it's capable of much more. The wide-screen camera, night vision and movement or sound alerts make it handy as a home or small business security monitor. But you're hardly going to be watching around the clock.

That's where Dropcam's secure, cloud-recording service comes in handy. It encrypts the video feed in the camera and constantly records it on the company's servers. Then it streams it back to your home using security like your bank's website.

Kit Eaton, a regular contributor to The Times, is a guest columnist for State of the Art.

A version of this article appears in print on December 12, 2013, on page B1 of the New York edition with the headline: Keep an Eye On Children, Or Other Valuables.

Despite Improving Indicators, Poll Finds Harsh View of Obama on Economy

Last week’s reports of hopeful economic indicators did nothing to improve the American public’s negative opinion of President Obama’s stewardship of the nation’s economy. However, while most Americans describe the economy as in bad condition, there has been a slight uptick in the number who view the nation’s fiscal circumstances positively, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

The poll found 37 percent of those surveyed approve of Mr. Obama’s handling of the economy; 58 percent disapprove. These numbers are indistinguishable from the results of a CBS News poll taken last month, although better-than-expected unemployment numbers and other positive economic data were released last week. Interviewing for the nationwide poll was conducted Thursday through Sunday.

Last week’s encouraging reports on the economy may have had some influence on the public, however. While over all the impression of the economy remains negative, the number who see it in a positive light has grown slightly. In the latest poll, 37 percent said the economy was in good condition, up from 32 percent in last month’s CBS News poll.

Still, 61 percent regard the economy negatively, including a majority of all age and income levels, most independents and 80 percent of Republicans. Only among Democrats, people with a postgraduate education and blacks do a majority regard the economy as good.

There is division on whether the economy is improving or deteriorating, with about 3 in 10 each holding that view. Among the 42 percent who describe the economy’s trajectory as holding steady, about a third said it was in good shape while 6 in 10 said it was in poor condition.

The telephone poll of 1,000 adults has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points. More results from this survey will be released on nytimes.com after 6:30 p.m.

Texas Conservative Steve Stockman to Challenge Senator John Cornyn

WASHINGTON â€" In a surprise move, conservative Representative Steve Stockman of Texas filed just before the Monday evening deadline to challenge two-term
incumbent Senator John Cornyn in next year’s Texas Republican primary.

Mr. Stockman’s challenge of Mr. Cornyn, the second-ranking Senate Republican, offers the potential for yet another ideological showdown in the 2014 Republican Senate primaries.

But to be viable, Mr. Stockman will have to move swiftly. He has just $32,000 in his House campaign account and the Texas primary is on March 4th. Mr. Cornyn, who had been hoping to avoid a primary from the right, has just under $7 million stocked for his re-election.

The congressman, who returned to the House this year after serving a single term in the 1990s, will also need significant help from outside conservative groups. But in the hours after he suddenly became a Senate candidate, it was not clear if Mr. Stockman would enjoy such support. Two groups that often back primaries against incumbent senators, the Senate Conservatives Fund and Madison Project, both praised the general concept of a conservative challenge against Mr. Cornyn but stopped short of endorsing Mr. Stockman. A spokesman for the well-endowed Club for Growth did not immediately comment on the unexpected match-up.

Further, it appears that Mr. Stockman will not have the support of Mr. Cornyn’s colleague, Senator Ted Cruz, who is popular among the sort of grassroots conservatives in the state the congressman would need to upset Mr. Cornyn.

“As the Senator has said many times, he will likely not get involved in any incumbent primaries,” said Sean Rushton, Mr. Cruz’s communications director.

Mr. Cruz’s presence in the Senate is an illustration of the conservative bent of the state’s Republican primary voters and the potential of at least
an opening for Mr. Stockman. The freshman senator toppled a better-funded and better-known opponent, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, to win his party’s Senate nomination last year. But there are myriad differences between that race and Mr. Stockman’s 11th-hour challenge, most notably the short window the congressman has to put together a campaign against a formidable opponent who has a solidly conservative record.

Mr. Cornyn’s campaign manager, Brendan Steinhauser, made no mention of Mr.Stockman in a statement Monday night.

“Endorsed by Texas Right to Life and ranked as the 2nd most conservative Senator in America, Senator Cornyn looks forward to discussing his
conservative record with Texans,” said Mr. Steinhauser.

What is certain, though, is that Mr. Stockman will keep Mr. Cornyn tethered to the right at least through March. A supporter of impeaching President Barack Obama who has a penchant for making provocative statements, the Houston-area congressman is likely to raise questions about the incumbent’s fidelity to the conservative movement. Mr. Cornyn was criticized by some on the right for breaking with Mr. Cruz in the debate over whether to tie the federal health law to funding the federal government. In entering the race Monday, Mr. Stockman cited that split, telling a conservative website that the incumbent “undermined” Mr. Cruz’s effort to block funding for the health law.

Sunday Breakfast Menu, Dec. 8

Stephen Crowley/The New York Times

Nelson Mandela, the first black president of South Africa, died Thursday, leaving many to eulogize and honor the world leader. Mr. Mandela led his country’s emancipation from white minority control, after spending 27 years in prison for opposing apartheid rule. Many Sunday shows will celebrate the life and legacy of Mr. Mandela, gathering guests who knew him both personally and professionally.

A six-month interim nuclear deal with Iran, signed by six world powers, including the United States, last month, has drawn both praise and criticism from political leaders. The deal aims to ease painful economic sanctions on Iran in return for a freeze on part of the country’s nuclear program.

Both subjects are likely to dominate the conversation on the Sunday morning news shows.

Guests on ABC’s “This Week” will include Jendayi Frazer, a former United States ambassador to South Africa; Stan Greenberg, who was a pollster for Mr. Mandela; Bill Keller, a former South Africa bureau chief for The New York Times who has written a biography of Mr. Mandela; and Gary McDougall, who was a member of the electoral commission that oversaw the South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994. Also on the show, Senators Dick Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, and Rob Portman, Republican of Ohio, will go toe-to-toe over the budget and income inequality, topics President Obama has addressed directly this past week.

The poet Maya Angelou, who first met Mr. Mandela in the 1960s and published a poem Friday in honor of the former president, will appear on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” She will be joined by James Baker, former secretary of state, who was the first high-level American official to meet with Mr. Mandela after his release from prison in 1990, and Randall Robinson, the founder of TransAfrica, the oldest African-American foreign policy organization.

On “Fox News Sunday,” South Africa’s former foreign minister, Pik Botha, will share his reflections on Mr. Mandela. Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, will also appear on the show to discuss the possibility of a 2016 presidential run and his latest thoughts on the Affordable Care Act.

Representative Michael McCaul, Republican of Texas and the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, will join Representative Adam Schiff, Democrat of California and a member of the Intelligence Committee, to discuss the Iran nuclear deal on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

On CSPAN’s “Newsmakers,” another Democrat, Representative Adam Smith of Washington, will discuss foreign and defense policies, including the Defense Authorization bill, the sequester and the Iranian nuclear deal. The program airs Sunday at 10 a.m. Eastern.

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright already weighed in on Iran, North Korea and China’s relationship with the United States on Bloomberg’s “Political Capital” Friday, which will be broadcast again over the weekend.

Ms. Albright’s former boss, former President Bill Clinton, will appear Sunday morning on Univision’s “Al Punto,” to talk about the Affordable Care Act. Last month, Mr. Clinton criticized Mr. Obama for not keeping his promise to allow Americans to keep their current health insurance under the new law. But Mr. Clinton recently defended those comments, telling CNN he meant them to be “supportive.” The show airs at 10 a.m. Eastern.

Coalition of Evangelical Churches Seeks Prayers for Boehner on Immigration

A coalition of evangelical Christian churches pushing for an overhaul of the immigration laws will run radio commercials over the next two weeks calling for prayers for the speaker of the House, John A. Boehner of Ohio, to take up legislation on the issue.

The Evangelical Immigration Table, which includes the National Association of Evangelicals and 10 other Christian organizations and churches, will run 60-second spots on WTOP, a news and talk station in Washington, and on more than 30 Christian radio stations throughout North Carolina and the Dallas-Fort Worth region. Ads in Spanish will run in Orange County, Calif.

“More than ever, Speaker Boehner needs our prayers,” says Pastor Dub Karriker of the Christian Assembly Church in Durham, N.C., in the ads running in that state. He says Congress should pass “a true conservative solution” to fix the immigration system. “Please join me in praying for Speaker Boehner and House leadership, that God will help them find an immigration solution that reflects biblical values,” Pastor Karriker says.

The coalition said it had spent more than $1 million this year on ads promoting its message, and more than 200,000 people have signed up online to pray for House leaders. The groups favor broad legislation that includes a path to citizenship for immigrants in the country illegally.

Although House Republican leaders have said time is short to schedule immigration votes this year, Mr. Boehner said again this week he is “hopeful” for action on the issue. Many House Republicans have been reluctant to move on the divisive issue, saying support is not clear in their districts, while conservative opponents are active and vocal. Many Republican districts have small populations of immigrants and Latinos.

“Members of the House need to hear from constituents who may not be Latino but who are evangelical Christians who are in favor of immigration reform,” Leith Anderson, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, said on a press call Thursday.

Sunday Breakfast Menu, Dec. 1

Stephen Crowley/The New York Times

The pressure is on and expectations are high as the Obama administration’s Dec. 1 deadline to fix the problems with the Healthcare.gov website arrives. The Sunday news shows this week will delve into that topic, plus the emerging details of an interim deal to halt Iran’s nuclear program.

“Fox News Sunday” will feature James C. Capretta of the Ethics & Public Policy Center and Neera Tanden, the president of the Center for American Progress, discussing the health care deadline and concerns that users could again overwhelm the site. Michael V. Hayden, former director of the National Security Agency, will give his take on the pros and cons of the agreement on Iran’s nuclear program.

Tom Donilon, former national security adviser for President Obama, stops by ABC’s “This Week” to discuss Iran, the future of United States troops in Afghanistan and China’s newly declared air defense zone.

Representatives Mike Rogers, Republican of Michigan and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and Chris Van Hollen, Democrat of Maryland and member of the Budget Committee, will appear on NBC’s “Meet the Press” to evaluate the Iran nuclear deal and potential trouble in Congress for Mr. Obama over the health care site’s problems. Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York will discuss the effect of the Affordable Care Act on the Catholic Church.

Those subjects will be explored further on CBS’s “Face the Nation” by Senators Robert Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey, and Bob Corker, Republican of Tennessee, both members of the Foreign Relations Committee. Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin will also be interviewed.

Howard Dean, former Vermont governor, and Rick Santorum, former senator from Pennsylvania, will be on CNN’s “State of the Union” to discuss the Supreme Court’s decision to hear an appeal concerning mandated contraception coverage under the new health care law. Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, and Representative Rogers will talk about the threat of terrorism at home and abroad.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Democrat of New York, will discuss her proposal to change the way sexual assault cases in the military are handled on Univision’s “Al Punto.”

Ben Nelson, former senator from Nebraska and chief executive of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, will be on C-Span’s “Newsmakers” to weigh in on how the nation’s insurance commissioners are adapting to the changes in health care laws around the country.

A White House Menu, Heavy on the Pies

President Obama and his family will have a traditional Thanksgiving meal this holiday, enjoying a menu that will look familiar to many American families: Turkey, ham, stuffing and plenty on the side. What’s remarkable is the dessert menu: the number of pies rivals the number of dishes in the dinner menu itself.

There are the Thanksgiving favorites, pecan pie and pumpkin pie. Perhaps to indulge Michelle Obama, there are the ostensibly healthier peach, apple and sweet potato pies. Cream pies are represented by banana, coconut and chocolate. Huckleberry caps the nine-pie lineup.

On Wednesday afternoon, Mr. Obama and his family helped dish up out food at the Capital Area Food Bank in northeast Washington. As people passed the Obama family’s station at the food bank warehouse, the president handed out small bags of onions, and Mrs. Obama gave out carrots. Their daughters, Sasha, 12, and Malia, 15, were responsible for the apples and M&M’s (the latter in boxes bearing a presidential seal).

Marian Robinson, Mrs. Obama’s mother, gave out recipes for a sweet potato curry. Earlier in the day, during the traditional turkey pardoning, Mr. Obama said his family would bring “bring a couple less fortunate turkeys” to the food bank.

It should be noted that the pardoned turkeys, Popcorn and Carmel, may only be slightly more fortunate than their brethren. The blog Obama Foodorama reported last week that seven of the eight birds that Mr. Obama has pardoned only lived for a few months after the ceremony, and just one lived to see another Thanksgiving.

For those keeping track at home, here is the full White House Thanksgiving menu:

Dinner
Turkey
Honey-baked ham
Corn bread stuffing
Oyster stuffing
Greens
Macaroni and cheese
Sweet potatoes
Mashed potatoes
Green bean casserole
Dinner rolls

Dessert
Huckleberry pie
Pecan pie
Chocolate cream pie
Sweet potato pie
Peach pie
Apple pie
Pumpkin pie
Banana cream pie
Coconut cream pie

Kerry Defends Nuclear Pact With Iran

Secretary of State John Kerry offered a robust defense of the interim nuclear agreement with Iran on Sunday, rejecting comparisons to North Korea and insisting that the deal would make Israel and Persian Gulf allies of the United States more secure, not less so.

Speaking on three Sunday news programs, Mr. Kerry said the deal, signed early Sunday morning in Geneva, would lock in place nuclear activities that bring Iran closer to having a bomb and subject its nuclear facilities to unprecedented international inspections.

“From this day, for the next six months, Israel is in fact safer than it was,” Mr. Kerry said on the CNN program “State of the Union.” “We’re now going to expand the time by which they can break out, rather than narrow it.”

Mr. Kerry acknowledged that Israel, Saudi Arabia and other countries in the region had a right to be skeptical of Iran’s intentions. But he said the United States and its negotiating partners had taken steps to address that by insisting on strict monitoring and verifications.

“You don’t trust,” he said on the CBS program “Face the Nation.” “It’s not based on trust. It’s based on verification. It’s based on your ability to know what is happening.”

But there were already indications that Iran and the West were interpreting crucial parts of the six-month agreement differently. Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, has asserted that the agreement explicitly recognizes Iran’s right to enrich uranium. He also said the agreement effectively removed the threat of an American military strike.

Mr. Kerry rejected both of those contentions. “The fact is, the president maintains” the option to use force “as commander in chief, and he has said specifically, he has not taken that threat off the table,” he said on CBS.

Administration officials reaffirmed on Saturday night that the United States has not yet recognized a right to enrich uranium by Iran. But in the interim agreement, the language is more ambiguous, saying that a “comprehensive solution would involve a mutually defined enrichment program with practical limits.”

The treatment of this question is likely to be a major focus of the next six months of negotiation. Israel and other countries have flatly opposed Iran’s right to enrich uranium because of its violation of several resolutions of the United Nations Security Council.

Ray Takeyh, an Iran expert at the Council on Foreign Relations, said that in his reading of the interim deal, enrichment is “respected in practice but not acknowledged just yet.”

Sunday Breakfast Menu, Nov. 24

Stephen Crowley/The New York Times

Two stories are vying for the top slot on the Sunday news shows this week - one about the so-called “nuclear option” in the Senate that would limit filibusters, and the other the nuclear talks between Iran and Western nations. The potential fallout for both issues is equally dominating on the political panels this week, with in-depth discussion from experts on which sides may come out on top.

“Fox News Sunday” will feature Senator Bob Corker, Republican of Tennessee, and Senator Benjamin L. Cardin, Democrat of Maryland - both members of the Foreign Relations Committee - discussing how a potential diplomatic agreement could restrict Iran’s nuclear program as world leaders inch closer to a deal. Former Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska will appear on the program as well, arguing that any change to Senate filibuster rules is an attempt to distract the public from the struggles of the new health care law.

Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California and chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, will sit alongside Representative Mike Rogers, Republican of Michigan and a member of the House Intelligence Committee, on CNN’s “State of the Union” to discuss progress in fighting terrorism and potential vulnerabilities. They will also weigh in on Secretary of State John Kerry’s trip to Geneva for the Iran talks. A roundtable of political experts will take on the filibuster rule changes.

ABC’s “This Week” will cover Mr. Kerry’s trip as well, with Senator Saxby Chambliss, Republican of Georgia and vice chairman of the Intelligence Committee, debating Senator Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia and Foreign Relations Committee member, over how to best confront the issue. They will also talk about the “nuclear option” on filibusters. Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive of Facebook, will be on to discuss his new push for immigration reform.

Talk of immigration reform will continue on Telemundo’s “Enfoque” as Representatives Xavier Becerra, Democrat of California, and Mario Díaz-Balart, Republican of Florida, evaluate the practicality of passing legislation in the House.

Representative Juan Vargas, Democrat of California, will also be discussing immigration on Univison’s “Al Punto.” Plus, Anibal de Castro, ambassador of the Dominican Republic to the United States, will talk about a recent controversial decision by the highest court in his nation to strip anyone who was born after 1929 to an undocumented immigrant of his or her citizenship.

Along with a conversation on filibuster rules with Representative Steny H. Hoyer, Democrat of Maryland, and Kevin McCarthy, Republican of California, CBS’s “Face the Nation” will have more coverage of the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. Clint Hill, the Secret Service agent assigned to Jacqueline Kennedy, will shed light on the historic event from his perspective.

Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, and Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, will be on Bloomberg’s “Political Capital” to talk about the health care rollout and the future of the Republican Party.

Representative Mac Thornberry, Republican of Texas and the House Armed Services Committee vice chairman, is leading an effort to revamp the defense acquisitions process. He will be on C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers” to discuss.

NBC’s “Meet the Press” will not air this week.

Breslin and Son of Kennedy Gravedigger Recall the Famous Job

“Clifton Pollard was pretty sure he was going to be working on Sunday,” is the way that Jimmy Breslin’s famous gravedigger column begins, kicking off a poignant account of Mr. Pollard digging President Kennedy’s grave at Arlington National Cemetery shortly after the assassination in 1963.

And it is similar to how Mr. Pollard’s stepson, Johnnie Edward Jones, 66, begins his own recollection of the day Mr. Pollard dug the president’s grave.

“My father didn’t work weekends, but he knew he was going to be called in for this,” Mr. Jones recalled when reached by phone on Friday. “They wanted him to prepare a grave for the president, so my mother got up early and fixed him breakfast, and he come home late that night.”

Breakfast was bacon and eggs, noted Mr. Breslin’s column, which also quoted the supervisor telling Mr. Pollard on the phone, “I guess you know what it’s for.”

Mr. Breslin, now 85, said the idea to visit Kennedy’s grave occurred to him shortly after hearing about the assassination, while working in Selma, Ala.

“First thing I thought was, ‘Where will they bury him?’ ” he said, reached by phone at his home in Manhattan on Friday. He said he contacted Arlington and was told Mr. Pollard would be called in to dig the grave. He rushed that morning to the Pollard house on Corcoran Street in the Northeast section of Washington, where, as the column noted, Mr. Pollard put on khaki overalls and ate his breakfast. Then he and the columnist traveled to the cemetery, which would result in Mr. Breslin’s now-famous column for The New York Herald Tribune.

“By then, I knew I was in good shape, because there were a thousand reporters at the funeral, so no way I was going there,” Mr. Breslin recalled. “I knew it was going to be a good piece. I didn’t get excited. I just wanted to do it and get out, and hit the bar.”

When President Kennedy’s body was moved several years later, to its current spot nearby, Mr. Pollard was called upon to dig that second grave.

“He dug the president’s grave twice,” said Mr. Jones, of New Carrollton, Md., who was 16 at the time and remembers it vividly. He now works as a courier at Federal Express and as a desk clerk at a condominium complex.

“He was very upset when he heard about the assassination, but when he got the call from Arlington that Sunday, he found it within himself to put his sorrow behind him and do what he had to do, for his country,” Mr. Jones said. “It was a big part of his life.”

Mr. Pollard, a World War II veteran, worked at Arlington for more than 30 years, before retiring around 1980. He died two years later and was buried a few hundred feet from where President Kennedy now rests.

“My father and mother both liked Kennedy when he first came on the scene, and they mostly voted Democratic, so there was a lot of pride involved in digging his grave,” Mr. Jones said. “He wasn’t looking for special recognition. He considered it his duty to his country, and he took as a great honor.”

Mr. Breslin said that he wrote the column in Washington in a couple of hours before a 5 p.m. deadline - “I could write a column in a half an hour, if it was life and death” - and then hopped a train to New York and another one to Queens and went straight to Pep McGuire’s bar and began drinking.

Mr. Jones said that Mr. Breslin sent copies of the column to the Pollards, which they distributed to friends. On Friday, Mr. Breslin said he himself never even read the column once he filed it.

“To this day, I haven’t read the thing,” he said. “You just go on to the next one. What, am I going to read it and extol myself? I worked for a living. It’s ‘Where’s the bar?’ and you keep going.”

Obama Campaign Veterans Start New Advertising Venture

A few months after members of President Obama’s 2012 advertising and data teams came together to start a new firm called AMG that would bring some of his campaign’s technical savvy to corporate America, a rival faction of advertising and data strategists say they are starting a competing effort.

On Thursday the ad firm of Jim Margolis, GMMB, and the big data firm of Dan Wagner, Civis Analytics, announced the formation of a partnership that will replicate the Obama campaign’s high-tech system for placing ads on television at the right time and on the right programs for political and business clients.

The campaign’s system - called “The Optimizer “ â€" essentially figured out the minute-to-minute viewing habits of specific individual voters by tracking the activity of their cable or satellite television set-top boxes.

Mr. Margolis was Mr. Obama’s senior advertising strategist, and his firm was in charge of placing all of the campaign’s commercial time buys. Mr. Wagner was the data mastermind who oversaw the campaign’s secret analytics department, which set out to specifically identify every individual voter the campaign needed to sway in critical swing states.

The new firm says it will work not only for political clients but also for businesses and nonprofit organizations.

As such, it will be in direct competition with AMG. That firm was started by another senior Obama advertising strategist, Larry Grisolano, of the firm AKPD, formerly run by Mr. Obama’s former adviser David Axelrod; the Obama communications strategist Erik Smith; and several younger techies led by the former Democratic Party strategist Chauncey McLean.

Despite the new rivalry, Mr. Margolis said: “We work closely with AKPD on a variety of projects every day. Sometimes we also compete.”

Both new advertising firms are operating without the benefit of the vast - and valuable â€" trove of voter data the Obama campaign has collected over the years. Most of that is not being transferred to the Democratic Party, Politico reported Wednesday.

The formation of the new firm further highlights the decision by many of the most technologically sophisticated members of Mr. Obama’s data team to head into business for themselves rather than to enlist with the administration for a second term. Those decisions have stood out in recent weeks as attention has focused on the failed start of the health care website.

Food Stamp Spending and Caseload Are Declining, Report Says

The money spent on food stamps and the number of people who receive them are declining as the economy has improved, according to a report released Wednesday, even as the program remains a source of contention in congressional negotiations to complete a five-year farm bill.

The report, by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a Washington research group, said that spending and the program’s caseload leveled off in 2011 and 2012 and had remained essentially flat for the past year.

The center said the number of people on food stamps, formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, was declining month to month in about half the states and increasing incrementally in the other half. About a third of the states had fewer people participating in the food stamp program in August, the most recent month for which there is available data, than a year earlier, the group said.

The program is under fire in the Republican-led House, where a proposed bill would cut food stamps by nearly $40 billion over 10 years. A Senate bill would decrease spending by $4 billion over 10 years. Republicans lawmakers have said the program, which costs about $78 billion a year, has grown out of control.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said Utah and North Dakota had the biggest declines, about 6 percent.

Some of the caseload decline can be attributed to the fact that stimulus funding for the program, which had temporarily increased benefits, expired Nov. 1. That cut benefits by about 7 percent on average, for a total of about $5 billion, the center found.

The Congressional Budget Office expects that the number of food stamp recipients will fall by 2 to 5 percent each year over the next decade â€" from 47.7 million to 34.3 million by 2023 â€" if the economy continues to improve.

“Further large SNAP cuts, at a time when unemployment remains above 7 percent and the economy struggles to create enough jobs, would make life harder for tens of millions of Americans who are already struggling to put food on their tables each day,” Dorothy Rosenbaum, a senior policy analyst at the center, said in the report.

In an Attack Ad, an Alaskan Voter Is Really an Actress From Maryland

WASHINGTON - In a tough new advertisement from the Koch brothers-backed Americans for Prosperity, an unnamed woman looks directly into the camera and upbraids Senator Mark Begich, Democrat of Alaska.

“Senator Begich didn’t listen. How can I ever trust him again?” she asks in criticizing Senator Begich’s support for President Obama’s health care law. “It just isn’t fair. Alaska deserves better.”

But there is a slight problem with the commercial. The woman is not from Alaska. She is actually an actress who lives in Maryland. And to some, the elegant kitchen she is standing in, done in French country style with granite countertops, might seem out of place somewhere as rugged and frontierlike as Alaska.

The commercial, which was scheduled to start running on Wednesday, never explicitly claims that the woman is a real Alaskan voter. And actresses are used routinely in political commercials. But as far as Mr. Begich is concerned, it is an illegitimate attack from outsiders who have no business getting involved in Alaska politics.

“Today’s misleading ad from the Koch brothers is just more evidence that even billions of dollars can’t buy integrity,” said Rachel Barinbaum, a spokeswoman for Mr. Begich.

Aides to Mr. Begich, who is up for re-election next year and is expected to face a tough fight in a state where Mr. Obama lost handily in 2012, also took issue with the commercial’s claims, which attempt to tie the senator to the problems that millions of people are having in keeping their current health plans.

In a sign of how politically perilous the health care law’s problematic implementation has been, Mr. Begich’s office put out a fact sheet highlighting his support for a Senate plan that would allow people to maintain their current insurance through 2015. It also points to his impatience with the president’s claims that the problems are being addressed.

As for the actress, a woman named Connie Bowman who does voice-overs, commercials and print ads, she said she was just doing her job. “I’m just an actress,” she said Wednesday when reached by phone.

Koch Brothers’ Group Uses Health Care Law to Attack Democrats

WASHINGTON â€" Americans for Prosperity, the political group backed by the billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, is targeting three of the most vulnerable Senate Democrats who are up for re-election next year. The group’s efforts are part of a new $3.5 million attack advertising campaign that hammers lawmakers for supporting President Obama’s health care law.

The senators â€" Mark Begich of Alaska, Kay Hagan of North Carolina and Mary L. Landrieu of Louisiana â€" are all from conservative-leaning states that voted to elect Mitt Romney in 2012. The ads will start running in those states on Wednesday.

Americans for Prosperity is also targeting three Democratic members of the House who are in danger of losing next year: Ron Barber of Arizona, Joe Garcia of Florida and Patrick Murphy, also of Florida.

With the health care law’s flaws now front and center, Republicans and their allies have been trying to ratchet up the pressure on Democrats, especially where voters are most likely to respond negatively to the Affordable Care Act.

Tim Phillips, president of Americans for Prosperity, said that reminding voters about problems with the way the law had been carried out so far was part of a much larger strategy.

“We want to make sure Obamacare is the No. 1 issue they’re thinking about,” he said. “We believe repealing Obamacare is a long-term effort, and a key part of that effort is keeping it in front of the American people night and day.”

The ads are specifically aimed at women because the group’s research has shown that they are not only more undecided than men about the merits of the Affordable Care Act, but that they also tend to make the decisions about their family’s health care.

Women are featured as narrators in the ads.

“Health care isn’t about politics,” one of those narrators says in an ad that will be broadcast in North Carolina. “It’s not about a website that doesn’t work. It’s not about poll numbers or approval ratings. It’s about people. And millions of people have lost their health insurance.”

In the commercial that will run in Alaska, a woman talks about the unfulfilled promises made by Mr. Obama and senators like Mr. Begich: “Senator Begich didn’t listen. How can I ever trust him again? It just isn’t fair. Alaska deserves better.”

Another Website, Another Problem for Obama

WASHINGTON â€" Some supporters who tried to log in to hear President Obama defend his embattled health care law on Monday night were unable to hear him because the website of the group behind the call, Organizing for Action, failed to work for them.

The website problems were an inconvenient moment for a president who has spent the last six weeks trying to explain the failure of HealthCare.gov, the online marketplace for Mr. Obama’s Affordable Care Act.

The event on Monday was intended to offer Mr. Obama’s most ardent supporters a chance to hear directly from him. It was the latest conference call to be hosted by Organizing for Action, the nonprofit group that grew out of the president’s 2012 campaign organization.

“I want to cut through the noise and talk with you directly about where we’re headed in the fight for change,” Mr. Obama had said in one of many emails sent to supporters over the past several days. The emails urged supporters to log onto an Organizing for Action website at 8:15 p.m. to listen to the president’s remarks.

Mr. Obama told those who could hear that there had been “a lot of misinformation” about his health care plan and noted that nearly a half-million people had signed up for Medicaid or for new insurance despite the problems with the health care website.

“I am confident that by the end of this month, it’s going to be functioning for the vast majority of folks,” Mr. Obama said. “Despite all the noise out there, despite all the criticism, despite all the setbacks, I’ve never lost faith in our ability to get this done.”

But many people who logged in said they could not hear anything, with the website reporting “connection failure” over and over again. It was unclear how many people could listen to the call. An official with the group gave a New York Times reporter, who also could not hear anything on the website, a telephone number to call and listen in.

At the same time, a chat board on the website began filling up with messages:

“I can’t hear any audio?”

“Is everyone getting the ‘reconnecting’ message?”

“I did refresh twice â€" still no sound.”

“WHERES THE SOUND YO?”

One supporter pleaded, “Don’t tell me there are troubles with this live event like there were with the Obamacare website!!!!!”

Organizing for Action officials said at the beginning of the call that more than 200,000 people had signed on to listen to the president. Katie Hogan, a spokeswoman for the group, said that technicians noticed a spike in traffic at the beginning of the call and that there was no indication that large numbers of people were unable to hear the president.

Ms. Hogan said the “vast majority” of those who logged in were able to listen in, and she pointed to the quick popularity of a Twitter hashtag â€" #ofacall â€" that was announced on the call as evidence.

Whether or not people could hear may not have mattered much.

“I CAN’T HEAR YOU, MR PRESIDENT, BUT I’M BEHIND YOU,” one person wrote. “PLEASE STICK IT OUT WITH OBAMACARE. THE COUNTRY NEEDS IT … AND YOU.”

The glitch was at the very least inconvenient for a White House that has been struggling to combat the perception that it cannot get things done.

“Just like healthcare.gov, this site doesn’t work either,” another supporter said. “It is tougher and tougher to defend all of this mr president.”

Within Cheney Family, a Dispute Over Gay Marriage

Mary Cheney, a daughter of the former vice president, and her wife, Heather Poe, sharply criticized on Sunday a comment by Liz Cheney, a candidate for the Senate in Wyoming, that she and her sister disagree on the issue of same-sex marriage.

“Liz - this isn’t just an issue on which we disagree, you’re just wrong - and on the wrong side of history,” Mary Cheney, who is gay, wrote on her Facebook page.

Ms. Poe’s comments were sharper and more personal. “Liz has been a guest in our home, has spent time and shared holidays with our children, and when Mary and I got married in 2012 - she didn’t hesitate to tell us how happy she was for us,” Ms. Poe wrote on her own Facebook page. “To have her say she doesn’t support our right to marry is offensive to say the least.”

Appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” Liz Cheney, who is challenging the incumbent, Senator Mike Enzi, in next year’s primary, said she and her younger sister had parted ways on whether gays and lesbians should have the right to marry. “This is just an area where we disagree,” Liz said.

Her sister’s salvo on Facebook is the second time this fall the younger Ms. Cheney has criticized her sister’s position on same-sex marriage. The comment suggests that both Mary Cheney and Ms. Poe are going to continue speaking out on the issue during the primary.

Such comments could present political difficulties to Liz Cheney, who is attempting to unseat Mr. Enzi by running to his right. Former Vice President Dick Cheney has already said that he supports same-sex marriage, but the matter is now plainly causing intense family friction. The back-and-forth comes as Liz Cheney ramps up her campaign and Mr. Cheney is back in the news promoting a book he wrote with his elder daughter about his heart transplant. The former vice president is also playing a role in Liz Cheney’s campaign - he is joining her this Wednesday in Denver for a fund-raiser.

In her post, Ms. Poe argued that the current patchwork of same-sex marriage laws is unfair to gay and lesbian couples. And she subtly raised the issue of Liz Cheney’s move last year from suburban Washington to Wyoming, a sensitive issue in the state and one Liz Cheney sought to address by touting her family’s state roots in her her first television ad last week.

“I can’t help but wonder how Liz would feel if as she moved from state to state, she discovered that her family was protected in one but not the other,” wrote Ms. Poe, who called Liz Cheney “my sister-in-law,” adding: “Yes, Liz, in 15 states and the District of Columbia you are my sister-in-law.

Mary Cheney praised her wife’s statement - “couldn’t have said it better myself,” she wrote.

Sunday Breakfast Menu, Nov. 17

Stephen Crowley/The New York Times

President Obama encouraged Americans to blame him - not his party - for the problems with the rollout of the national health care law. Still, some top Democrats are taking to the Sunday shows to defend him and ask for more patience. Plus, one network will dedicate its program to the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s assassination.

Though some critics say the law is destined to fail, Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the Democratic leader in the House, is expecting a brighter future for the legislation. She will discuss the next step on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Senator Kelly Ayotte, Republican of New Hampshire, will appear on the program to argue in favor of a proposed “timeout” in carrying out the law.

FOX’s “Fox News Sunday” will have interviews with Karen Ignagni, president of the industry trade group America’s Health Insurance Plans, and Ben Nelson, a former senator from Nebraska and chief executive of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. They will be talking about the president’s meeting on Friday with leaders of the insurance industry. Later in the program, Liz Cheney, a Republican senatorial candidate in Wyoming and daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, will sit down for an exclusive interview.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, who posted an image on Twitter this week that read, “Don’t rush to a bad deal with Iran,” will appear on CNN’s “State of the Union.” Senator John Barrasso, Republican of Wyoming, and Representative James E. Clyburn, Democrat of South Carolina, will be on as well to discus alliances, political gaming and Mr. Obama’s legacy.

ABC’s “This Week” will air an interview with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Democrat of New York, about the health care fight and the continuing effort to stop sexual assault in the military. Gov. Scott Walker, Republican of Wisconsin, will sit down to discuss the state of the party and his own political ambitions.

CBS’s “Face the Nation” will have interviews with Luci Baines Johnson Turpin, Lyndon Johnson’s youngest daughter; Hugh Aynesworth, a Dallas Morning News reporter who was present when the shots that killed Mr. Kennedy were fired; and Mike Cochran, a former Associated Press correspondent who was made to carry the shooter’s coffin from the hearse to the grave site when he covered the funeral.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel of Chicago will be on Univision’s “Al Punto” to talk about unfulfilled promises the president made in his first term, including on immigration reform and the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

Representative Bill Flores, Republican of Texas, and Representative Tony Cárdenas, Democrat of California, will also talk about immigration on Telemundo’s “Enfoque.”

Representative Robert W. Goodlatte, Republican of Virginia, will talk about both immigration reform and potential changes to the Foreign Intelligence Service Act on Bloomberg’s “Political Capital.”

C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers” will feature an interview with Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He will discuss the future of the National Security Agency’s surveillance program.

Obama Gives San Francisco’s Batkid a Six-Second Shout-Out

All Miles Scott wanted to do was to put on his Batman costume and fight crime on the grimy streets of Gotham City.

Miles, a 5-year-old leukemia patient, got his wish on Friday, and his heroism earned him a pat on the back from President Obama.

“Way to go, Miles. Way to save Gotham,” the president said in one of his first posts on Vine, a social media site that loops six-second videos uploaded by its users.

President Obama's message to #SFBatKid â€"> http://t.co/O7J4XWwYBs

â€" The White House (@WhiteHouse) November 15, 2013

With the help of the Make-A-Wish Foundation in San Francisco, part of the city was transformed into Batman’s hometown as throngs turned out to see the Batkid in action.

Escorted by two black Lamborghinis outfitted with the Batman logo, the junior Caped Crusader took out familiar adult-size villains like the Joker and rescued a woman stuck on the cable car tracks. (He arrived just in time.)

The Justice Department got in on the action, too. After Batkid saved the San Francisco Giants’ mascot, Lou Seal, from the Joker and the Riddler, the United States district attorney’s office announced the villains’ arrest in a news release. “The havoc they could have caused, if it wasn’t for the shrewd crime fighting efforts of Miles, a k a ‘Batman’ a k a ‘Batkid,’ would have been widespread and could have caused great harm in the city and surrounding communities,” it said.

The president’s video drew a range of reactions on the Vine site, not all of them friendly.

“You need to get off Vine and fix our country,” one commenter said.

Another defended the president: “Just because he made a six second video doesn’t meant he stopped taking care of the country or doing his job calm down.”

Former Lobbyist Becomes Biden Chief of Staff

WASHINGTON â€" Steve Ricchetti, a former lobbyist and Clinton administration veteran, will replace Bruce Reed as Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s chief of staff next month, the White House announced Wednesday.

Mr. Ricchetti has had a lengthy career in Washington, and has been a counselor to Mr. Biden since early 2012. Like Mr. Reed, he worked in the Clinton administration, having been President Bill Clinton’s deputy chief of staff and deputy assistant for legislative affairs.

Much of Mr. Ricchetti’s time in politics has been spent in lobbying, which caused some tension when he joined the administration in light of President Obama’s campaign promise to keep lobbyists out of the top jobs in his White House.

“Steve and I have been friends for years, and I was thrilled when he joined my staff as counselor,” Mr. Biden said in a statement. “He has a wealth of experience in policy and government, he knows Congress and he has strong relationships with the West Wing staff. I’m lucky to have him.”

Mr. Reed plans to leave the administration in mid-December to become president of the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, a multibillion-dollar philanthropic organization dedicated to education, science and the arts. He has worked as chief of staff since January 2011.

Shailagh Murray, a veteran journalist until she came to the White House in May 2011, will add the position of deputy chief of staff to her duties while continuing to serve as Mr. Biden’s communications director.

Graham Sticks With Threat to Block Nominees

Senator Lindsey Graham on Sunday stood by his threat to block all nominations by the Obama administration until Congress is granted access to all of the survivors of the attack on the United States Mission in Benghazi, Libya, even as the news report on which Republicans based their latest demands was being retracted.

Mr. Graham, Republican of South Carolina, said on the CNN program “State of the Union” that he would not back away from his threat because he had been asking to talk to the witnesses of the attack on Sept. 11, 2012, for a long time without success.

“I’ve been trying for a year to get the interviews without holds, and you just can’t allow something this bad and this big of a national security failure for the administration to investigate itself,” he said.

CBS News plans to broadcast a rare correction Sunday to a recent “60 Minutes” program in which a security officer, Dylan Davies, recounted being at the mission on the night of the attack. It was later uncovered that his account on CBS News and in a newly published book differed from what he told the F.B.I., casting doubt on the credibility of his account.

After the “60 Minutes” report was broadcast, seeming to support claims that the mission was not adequately secured and that the attack was the result of a terrorist plot, some Republican senators renewed calls for the Obama administration to make survivors of the attack available to congressional investigators. Mr. Graham vowed to hold up President Obama’s nominations until the administration complied, citing the CBS News report to substantiate his demands.

Mr. Graham said he had not known of Mr. Davies until the “60 Minutes” report came out.

When asked how many witnesses would satisfy his request â€" with one having already testified in a closed hearing with members of the House and another three former security officers set to testify next week, according to CNN â€" Mr. Graham said he wanted to question all five survivors, plus the Central Intelligence Agency officials with knowledge of what happened in Benghazi. He estimated that the total would be no more than 30 people.

“The State Department has thus far refused to allow anybody in Congress to talk to these five,” he said. “And we’re going to talk to them because they possess the best information about what happened at Benghazi, more than you and I know, and I want to find out what they know.”

The attack has been the subject of outrage among congressional Republicans, many of whom have accused the administration of failing to secure the diplomatic compound and of misleading the public about whether the attack arose spontaneously from a protest or from a terrorist effort planned in advance. State Department officials, including then Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, have testified before Congress, and an independent inquiry determined there were serious security failures.

Mr. Davies â€" who gave his public account under the pseudonym Morgan Jones â€" told CBS News that on the night of the attack he visited the hospital where he saw the body of J. Christopher Stevens, the United States ambassador who was killed, as well as the compound, where he fought off an attacker.

But that version of events contradicted his account to the F.B.I., in which he said he did not arrive on the scene until the next morning, which matched the incident report completed by his security firm. Faced with that revelation, CBS News said that Mr. Davies had misled them and that it would issue a retraction on the program on Sunday night.