In a speech to the recently launched Organizing for Action, Obama acknowledged some suspicion" over the nonprofit group thats replaced his campaign to further his policy goals.

"Because the usual idea is, well, this must just be a mechanism to try to win the next election in 2014,"he told an audience of about 75 donors, former campaign staffers, and volunteers gathered at the St. Regis Hotel in Washington for a two-day conference. And what we've tried to explain to people is, is that, no, I actually just want to governat least for a couple of yearsbut I also want to make sure that the voices of ordinary people are heard in the debates that are going to be taking place."

Yet tacitly acknowledging the intersection of policy and politics, Obama suggested the group could provide cover to vulnerable members of Congress. "If you have a senator or a congressman in a swing district who is prepared to take a tough voteor what they consider to be a tough voteon immigration reform, or legislation around background checks for guns, I want to make sure that they feel supported," he said.

Earlier Wednesday, OFA leaders insisted the group is focused on passing legislation, not winning elections. "We are not a partisan organization, OFA Executive Director Jon Carson said. We are here to move this shared progressive agenda forward.

The kickoff coincided with two new polls suggesting Obamas second honeymoon is waning, which could force him to scale back his ambitions.shows the president's approval has dropped to 50 percent, down 5 points from his inauguration two weeks ago. His ratings were upside-down in a new , which found 45 of voters approving of his job performance and 48 percent disapproving.

Obamas drop in the polls is not surprising, considering how the glow of his second inauguration gave way to the partisan bickering that forced $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts known as the sequester. OFA Chairman Jim Messina said OFA hosted 1,200 parties around the State of the Union speech and has organized 100 gun-control rallies so far.

Thats the power of the grassroots and thats whats going to pass this presidents legislative agenda, Messina said. For every dollar a lobbyist puts on the air tearing down the presidents agenda, an OFA volunteer will mobilize across the country to counter that.

Obamas ratings are lower than most other recent presidents at this point in their second terms, according to The Washington Post. Of the seven second-term presidents who have served since Harry S Truman, only George W. Bushs rating was as low as 50 percent at this point.

I think the window of any second term-president is 18 months, max, said John Morgan, a leading Obama donor from Florida. He might not get gun-control legislation, but he might get background checks. I think hell get immigration reform because Republicans understand that they cant be the party that opposes that again.

Morgan, like other donors, gave $50,000 to attend the conference, sparking criticism from Republicans and campaign finance watchdogs that OFA was selling access to the president. "President Obama promised to change Washington, but these actions just perpetuate the pay-to-play politics he has repeatedly deplored," Common Cause President Bob Edgar saidin a statement.

Besides preserving Obama's image, perhaps the biggest challenge facing OFA will be transitioning its volunteers from a fast-paced campaign to the legislative slog of an advocacy group. The excitement should be the same, but the politics complicate things and that weighs on you, said Marc Casillas, a 19-year-old student at the University of Arizona attending the conference. Asked about Obamas dwindling popularity, he blamed the standoff on Capitol Hill over taxes and spending. When theres partisan gridlock, people start to hate both sides, he said.

The good news for Obama, so far, is that voters vastly prefer him to Congress, which received only 16 percent approval in the Washington Post poll.

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Fresh off a guest-starring run as vampire Roman Zimojic in HBO's "True Blood," Christopher Meloni is ready to "Suck" again - this time for Fox.

"Law & Order: SVU" star Meloni has been cast in an adaptation of Justin Halpern's book "I Suck at Girls," which has received a pilot order from Fox.

The untitled project, which is being written and executive produced by Halpern and Patrick Schumacker, is about a boy becoming a man, and a man becoming a father, in a time before coming of age was something you could Google.

Meloni will play Jack Dunlevy, a straight-talking ex-military man and an oncologist who "talks to everyone like they're 75 years old and dying of cancer," the network said. Dunlevy's habit has been to go to work early, come home late, yell at his kids and go to bed, but he's forced to take a more active role in his kids' lived after his wife enrolls in law school.

Bill Lawrence and Jeff Ingold are also executive producing the half-hour, single-camera comedy, which comes from the Doozer production company in association with Warner Bros. Television.

Victor Nelli ("GCB," "Wilfred") is directing.

* U.S. faces Puerto Rico on Friday for spot in semis (Recasts with Wright's injury status)

March 15 (Reuters) - New York Mets third baseman David Wright will miss the rest of the World Baseball Classic with a moderate intercostal muscle strain, his Major League Baseball team said on Friday.

Wright was a late scratch prior to Thursday's Team USA game against the Dominican Republic in Miami when he complained about soreness in his rib cage near his back and was examined by Mets doctors in New York on Friday.

"He will rest three to five days and he'll resume activity at that time," Mets General Manager Sandy Alderson told reporters.

Wright was already unavailable for Friday's elimination game against Puerto Rico, and the U.S. team can only replace him on their roster if they win this do-or-die showdown that puts the victor into the semi-finals.

Team USA has already lined up San Diego Padres third baseman Chase Headley to join the team should the Americans advance.

Headley led the National League in runs batted in last season with 115, blasted 31 home runs and also snared the Gold Glove award as the league's top-fielding third baseman.

The Mets can only wait and see how quickly Wright heals with Opening Day to the 2013 MLB season just over two weeks away.

"Anything about his condition for Opening Day, I think that's speculative," said Alderson. "Is it possible he'll be out for a longer period of time? Sure, but what we know now is he'llrest for three to five days and we'll see what happens."

Wright was dubbed "Captain America" for his hitting heroics during the WBC, batting .438 with two doubles, a grand slam home run and a WBC record-tying 10 runs batted in.

The Mets were hoping for more of the same once he rejoined the club from the international tournament after signing him to a seven-year, $122 million contract extension in the offseason.

Wright, 30, hit .306 with 21 homers and 93 RBIs last season and was named to the All-Star team for a sixth time.

The U.S.-Puerto Rico winner will join the Dominican Republic, two-time reigning champions Japan and the Netherlands in the semi-finals.

The semi-finals of the 16-team tournament will be held on Sunday and Monday in San Francisco, with the championship game on Tuesday. (Reporting by Larry Fine in New York; Editing by Frank Pingue)

They got one of those throwback, rock 'em, sock 'em races last August, when changes to the track surface forced drivers to get aggressive again and caused tempers to flare. Now, a month into a new Sprint Cup season, NASCAR could use another race like that.

Sunday's race will be the fourth for the new Gen-6 car, and the first this season on a short track. It could be the spark NASCAR needs at a time everyone seems to be holding their breath.

"Everybody is on egg shells. Drivers are on egg shells. I think the fans are on egg shells. The media is on egg shells. The sanctioning body is on egg shells," defending champion Brad Keselowski said. "You get the collective sense in this sport that everyone is feeling a lot of pressure and if we don't have a perfect week every week everybody just kind of shakes down in their boots. So I think, right now, every week is a big week in this sport."

This week, nobody knows what to expect at a track once beloved for its action-packed racing and drama it produced.

But a reconfigured racing surface in 2007 altered Bristol into two racing grooves, sometimes three, and drivers could race side-by-side around the tight bullring for the first time. Without a need to forcefully use the front bumper to navigate through traffic, the drivers thoroughly enjoyed the new Bristol.

Fans absolutely hated it, and the track that boasted 55 consecutive sellouts suddenly had swaths of open seats.

Track owner Bruton Smith had seen enough last March and ordered grinding to the top groove in an effort to tighten up the track and recreate the old Bristol racing. He got some of that in August, and the drama, too: Tony Stewart angrily threw his helmet at Matt Kenseth after contact between the two knocked Stewart out of the race.

Race winner Denny Hamlin thinks Sunday will be even better.

"The lower line has got more grip than I've ever felt here in the past," Hamlin said. "I think we're going to see one of the best races we've seen in a long time here because the low line does have a lot of grip, and we know everyone is going to start making their way higher just to make their car work, so it's going to be a good mix of both I believe."

It could be what's needed for NASCAR's new car that Hamlin put in the news with a mild critique two weeks ago that earned him a $25,000 fine. Furious about the penalty, he said he'd be suspended before he'd pay and angry fans rallied to his defense.

Hamlin this week announced he would not appeal the penalty, but still won't pay; NASCAR plans to settle the matter by garnishing the wages from his race winnings.

Fans, meanwhile, still want to see what exactly Hamlin said that was so wrong about the car.

Bristol could be the track that proves the car is very racy, even though pole-sitter Kyle Busch thought last week's race at Las Vegas was decent and there's no need to stress over the success of this Sunday.

"I think that we actually put on a good show last week in Vegas where there was a lot of good racing," Busch said. "I thought there was good racing throughout the field. I don't think this weekend here in Bristol needs to be a savior at all. I think we all just need to go out here and put on a good show and enjoy Bristol for what Bristol is and see what happens Sunday."

"I love her, but at the time I hid in shame," said Mallika, now 23 and a vendor of cheap, made-in-China clothing at a weekend market in Thailand's capital, Bangkok.

"The boy's family wanted to pay me to shut up and stay away from them. We were both children ourselves," she added, sitting in her dilapidated apartment overlooking a highway on the outskirts of Bangkok.

Mallika's situation is, sadly, far from unusual. Thailand's teenage pregnancy rate is the highest in Southeast Asia after neighboring Laos, according to the Bureau of Reproductive Health at the Thai Public Health Ministry.

In fact, even though the overall birthrate is dropping, teen births are on the rise. Out of every 1,000 live births, 54 are from teen mothers aged 15-19 - higher than in the United States and ten times higher than Singapore's teen pregnancy rate.

What's more, it's rising fast. The number of live births by Thai teenage mothers aged 15-18 increased 43 percent between 2000 and 2011, a Thai annual public health report shows.

Though there are many factors responsible, health experts put weight on cultural mores that make frank discussion of the issue difficult, whether in an official context or a personal one. This is complicated by gender issues.

"Women are told to protect their virginity but Thai men who have multiple sexual encounters are seen as cool," said Visa Benjamano, a commissioner at the Thai National Human Rights Council (NHRC).

"If men sleep around, their image is not at stake whereas a woman's image is. Women are generally more afraid to discuss their sexual health needs in public."

LACK OF DISCUSSION

Although sexual education is part of the national school curriculum, teaching is clearly insufficient. The Education Ministry limits instruction on the subject to eight hours a year despite changing attitudes towards sex among the young.

"Teachers are prudish and out of touch with Thai kids today and they approach the topic like a biology class rather than talking about the emotional issues involved," said Visa.

The consequences of unplanned pregnancy are often left out of classroom teaching too, despite a lack of legal options.

A 2011 report by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and Thailand's National and Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) shows the number of women hospitalized in connection with abortions increased by over 16 percent between 1994 and 2009, hitting 60,000 in 2009.

Yet abortion is illegal in Thailand except in cases of rape or incest, to save a woman's life or preserve her physical or mental health, and if the woman is under 15 years of age.

Under Thai law the penalty for performing illegal abortions is up to five years in prison or a fine of up to 10,000 baht ($340). Despite this, illegal clinics and back street abortions abound.

In 2010, Thai police found 2,000 fetuses on the grounds of a Bangkok Buddhist temple. They were to have been sent there from illegal abortion clinics.

The discovery left the Thai public grappling with the reality of a highly charged religious and social issue. Abortion is recognized as a "sin" in the Theravada Buddhism practiced by up to 95 percent of the population.

Unlike the predominantly Catholic Philippines, Thailand offers easy access to contraception and birth control pills, with condoms and most other contraceptives readily available and sold over the counter.

But when it comes to teenage girls getting them, social stigma gets in the way.

Kanya Musiket was 15 when she started a physical relationship with a boy in her neighborhood. But when she ventured to a local shop to buy condoms, shopkeepers would look at her "disapprovingly," making her feel ashamed.

OVERSEAS HELP?

In a bid to find solutions, a Thai delegation visited Britain in November 2012, looking to emulate programs there.

The number of babies born to teen mothers in England dropped by 27 percent between 2000 and 2010 and overall conception by teens fell by 25 percent between 1999 and 2010. Some areas, like Hackney in East London, showed reductions of over 40 percent.

This was due largely to a 1999 government plan aiming to halve England's under 18 conception rate by 2010. The plan used local grants and guidelines, government funds to improve access to contraceptives and media campaigns to raise awareness.

By contrast, Thailand issued a population strategy plan in 2012 that focuses on reducing teen births but does not include either target reduction goals or concrete ways to do so.

There are university-led sexual health awareness programs, and the UNFPA is trying to raise awareness through both civil and private networks. Yet the most fundamental measure is the hardest to achieve: changing attitudes.

"This is about trusting the moral standards of those young people whom we have invested years of education and nurturing - our children," said Caspar Peek, UNFPA Representative for Thailand and Country Director for Malaysia.

"We need everyone ... to see this as a challenge to development and not just something bad that happens to teenagers because they do 'bad' things." ($1 = 29.8000 Thai baht)

(Editing by Elaine Lies)

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"We are the people who truly care about people," Bachmann said in a speech Saturday. "We want everyone to have the best possible life they could have -- white, black, Hispanic, young immigrants, old immigrants... When you get lifted up in our community we get lifted up too." She sounded almost like a community organizer. She spoke about what caring could do for the country, telling the story ofand the polion vaccine. "PresidentEisenhower in turn cared, and he widely distributed that drug all across the United States" saving money and lives, she said. This is a bit of a flip-flop for Bachmann, whoduring the Republican presidential primary in 2011.

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But Bachmann did not just give the crowd warm and fuzzy images. She gave them what she's known for. Speaking of the deaths of four State Department workers in Benghazi last fall -- and that help didn't come to the consulate fast enough -- Bachmann said official records don't show what Obama was doing after he was informed of the attacks. "War was raging in Benghazi for hours, and all we know is that our president went AWOL!" Booooo, the crowd responded. "No one yet today knows where the president was." But the next day Obama flew to Las Vegas "tocampaign with Beyonce and Jay-Z!" Booooooooo, the crowd said.

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Worse, White House tours were cancelled because of the sequester. But Obama is living a life of luxury, Bachmann said. "Now we find out there are five chefs on Air Force One! ... There aretwo projectionists at the White House! ...We are the ones paying for someone to walk the president's dog! Why are we doing that when we can't even get a disabled veteran into the white house for a White House tour?"

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"We care about people, we love people," Bachmann said. "Thisdebate has to be more about cutting budgets vs. raising taxes." She's right that it's difficult to generate outrage over numbers and abstractions.