30 April 2012, Monday, Rush Limbaugh headlines

--Nerd Prom: Embarrassingly Star-Struck Journalists and Uncomfortable Obama Dog-Eating Jokes
--Tim McCarver Claims Climate Change Causes Home Runs; Algore Says "Talk Show Hosts" are Winning Global Warming Debate
--The Times Takes Another Bite Out of Apple
--An Optimistic Conservative Professor
--Obama Spikes the Ball in Celebration of the Day He Came in Off the Golf Course to Take Credit for Killing Osama
--Caller: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia -- Because of Global Warming!
--Revisiting Jose Rodriguez and Lesley Stahl
--My Questions on the Movie Bully

Stack of Stuff:
You Knew This Last November: Obama Loses White Working-Class Voters
EPA's Al Armendariz Resigns Over "Crucify" Comment
California Man Sues BMW for 20-Month Erection ...

Why shouldn't Obama "spike the football?"

It seems like every time I praise Obama for something good he's done (it's rare, but it happens!), I lose a few subscribers. And every time I criticize Rush for one of male chauvanist jokes, I lose subscribers. Well - I calls 'em as I see 'em, so although I hate to lose subscribers, the praise when merited and the criticism when merited will go on.

Just because I praise Obama for some things he's done doesn't mean I hope-hope-hope! he's kicked out of office in November, and just because Limbaugh occasionally annoys me with his tasteless jokes, doesn't mean I don't agree with about 80% he has to say.

(Well, maybe it's when I criticize religion that I lose the most subscribers, but that will stay as well. I'm glad I live in a secular country with a Judeo-Christian history, but I sure don't want to lose that secularism!)

Anyway, to the nub of the matter.

President Obama is being criticized for "politicising" his taking out of Bin Laden. Now of course there's the doubt that Bin Laden is actually dead, with his ocean burial, but let's assume he actually was killed. Why shouldn't Obama proudly point to that as something that happened on his watch? If I recall correctly, Bush had stopped his forces looking for Bin Laden to concentrate on the war in Iraq...

So if Obama wants to crow about one thing he did well, let him. There's hundreds of other things in which he can be legitimately castigated - all the bowing to foreign rulers, the insult to England with the return of the Churchill statue, the deliberate bankrupting of oil companies, the skyrocking electricty prices....let Obama has his seconds in the sun before getting him back on track with his dismal failures.

Don't get into a tizzy over the dog joke

Apparently at this correspondent's dinner *every year* the President is expected to get up and act like a stand-up comedian. And every president has done it since the tradition began.

So George Bush joked about looking for WMDs, and apparently Obama joked about dog meat (what's the difference between a soccer mom and a pit bull, the put bull tastes better.)

And of course the message boards at Hannity.com were rocking - some saying that Obama was joking about eating dogs and was such a jerk, others pointing out that Bush had joked about WMDs, and it was no big deal.

The thing about the dog eating is, again, the guy was a *kid* in Indonesia, and that's what people in Indonesia eat, apparently! Heck, if you're starving, you'll eat anything.

If Obama had been a grown man and ate dog here in the States, then that talking point would have merit.

30 April 2012, Monday, SoS Clinton and Staff Schedule

The SOS Clinton and Staff schedule has not been updated as of 9.29 am mountain time. Will edit and add when it's available.

30 April 2012, Monday, Pres and VP Schedules

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule

9:40 am
The President receives the Presidential Daily Briefing
Oval Office
Closed Press

10:45 am
The President delivers remarks at the Building and Construction Trades Department Legislative Conference
Washington Hilton
Open Press

11:40 am
The President holds a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Noda of Japan
Oval Office
Pool Spray at the Top

12:45 pm
The President holds a working lunch with Prime Minister Noda of Japan
Old Family Dining Room
Closed Press

2:00 pm
The President holds a press conference with Prime Minister Noda of Japan
Rose Garden
Open Press

3:00 pm
The President meets with Treasury Secretary Geithner
Oval Office
Closed Press
http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/vice-president
No public schedule

We all need to fear the "hate crime" legislation

Delmon Young, African American, is an outfielder for the Detroit Tigers. A couple of days ago, the team flew in to New York, and checked into some hotel. The plane had been delayed and so this apparently gave Young the opportunity to drink to excess.

So, apparently he's standing outside his New York hotel. A Jewish panhandler - known to be Jewish because he was wearing a yarmulke, walked up to 4 tourists who were apparently from Chicago.

The news articles don't tell us the race of these 4 tourists.

For some reason Young apparently said a racial slur to the tourists - not to the Jewish panhandler. (IN the comments section, someone said that one of the tourists had said something to Young - who then reacted. I.e. he didn't instigate the conflict.] [Indeed...a black man standing drunk on the steps of a nice hotel... did they call him a panhandler? Which then provoked him to some unfortunate words?]

Then there was a scuffle in which...gasp....one of the tourists received scratches on his elbows!

According to these very brief news articles, Young could face going to jail for a year. For what is never made clear. Because he scratched some tourist's elbows? Because he called one of these tourists a racial slur, presumably some kind of Jewish insult? Because of calling someone a name he could face going to jail for a year??? Whatever happened to sensitivity training?

Now, players have gotten in trouble before. Drunk too much and had car crashes, etc. Even gotten into fights. And if I recall correctly, their teams have always let them play until the law has taken its course.

Not so Delmon Young. He has been put on the "restricted list" and probably will never be allowed to play baseball again.

That's jut not right. It wouldn't be right if he'd said a racial slur to anybody, any more than white folks should be suspended if they utter a racial slur. That's just not a hate crime. That's a dislike crime, a typical-human-of-one-group-using-a-put-down-that-happens-to--be-racial but not a hate crime. A hate crime is when someone actually beats someone up, or subjects someone to an actual tirade of racist verbal abuse. But to just call someone a name?

But really, do people deserve to lose their jobs just because they harbor racist sentiments? As long as they don't manifest those sentiments at work - by denying raises, verbally harassing someone, etc., what they believe in private is their own business and they don't deserve to lose their livelihood because of it. (Obviously, if they are taking active steps, like joining the New Black Panthers or the Aryan Brotherhood, then steps have to be taken.)

The news articles just don't give enough information. And, as usual, Young has been convicted before all the facts are in.

Should You Give up a basebal to a 3-year old kid?

Was just reading a sports website. Apparently, yesterday, during the Yankees/Rangers game, a player threw a ball 30 feet up into a crowd.

A couple caught the ball and kept it, celebrating with it. A few feet away was a couple with their 3-year old son, and he wanted that ball and whined and carried on because he didn't get it.

And apparently the TV announcer doing the game was castigating the first couple for not giving that ball to that poor, crying 3 year old boy.

And I'm thinking - what the hell is this?

If the kid had been 6 or older, than it's conceivable he understood that he was at a baseball game, and he might take that ball and treasure it forever.

But a 3 year old kid? He'd take it, and throw it back on the field as like as not. Or he'd take it, play with it for 30 seconds, and then forget all about it. He's 3!

The announcer - and some of the commenters on the site that I read, said that this couple with the ball "Must have known" that the kid was not just throwing a tantrum - as kids up until they turn 18 are wont to do - and then like as not they're also adults throwing tantrums.... but in any event... why should the first couple have known this 3 year old was blubbering because he didn't get the ball.

Maybe he got pop spilled on him. Maybe he needed a nap.

So the couple who were castigated want the MLB to apologize to them, and frankly, I think they deserve an apology. Why should they give up a ball for a 3 year old kid who won't even remember to take the ball home with him?

Who is responsible for the student loan debacle?

Here's what Rush had to say on the subject:

RUSH: Folks, you know, Open Line Friday's kind of loosy-goosy sometimes, and a lot of us are fatigued at the end of the week, looking for lightheartedness. But this is some serious stuff, and it confirms every instinct that every person alive in this country knows. There isn't any economic growth. There's government growth, but there isn't any private sector growth. There's no growth in jobs: 120,000 jobs were created last month, according to the news from yesterday. It's just pathetic. It is why Obama is running around making things up about the "War on Women" and now the student loan interest rate doubling. Which, by the way, Boehner, the Republicans are gonna vote today on a bill to make sure that the interest rate does not double on July 12th.

And remember again that's a Democrat law, 2007, the Democrats ran both the House and the Senate, that's when they took over the House. They won the elections in 2006. Pelosi was Speaker, and the Democrats, looking forward to 2012 being an election year, they thought that Hillary was gonna be president, 2007. They thought they'd successfully demonized all Republicans with the never ending assaults on George W. Bush. So they were confident they were gonna have a Democrat in the White House in 2012, they gonna win in 2008.

So they started playing a political game with the student loan interest rate, and they essentially cut the student loan interest rate in half and then wrote legislation that would restore it in July of 2012, knowing full well people wouldn't remember five years ago that it would just appear as though the student loan interest rate was doubling, which that's exactly what it's gonna look like. And guess who's running the House? The Republicans. And so the point was, it was an insurance policy. The Democrats, like the Soviets, they're always looking a hundred years down the road, not just to tomorrow. So they put in place this scheme where the student loan interest rate would appear to double when all it was doing was being restored to what it had always been. And all the better if the Republicans ran the House.

Now, if the Republicans were not running the House, if the Democrats were still in charge, then of course they would pass legislation canceling the increase. It wouldn't be an issue; nobody would know anything about it; it would just be same old low interest rate. But the Republicans running the House, it's scheduled now because of Democrat legislation to restore to what it was, which is gonna appear to be doubled in July. So the Republicans are readying legislation to prevent that from happening. It will be very interesting to see how the Democrats in the Senate vote on this, and the Democrats in the House as well.

No-show jobs paying $300,000 a year...

Yes, Michelle Obama got one... but really... this has been going on since time immemorial. Folks help you get elected, you're supposed to reward them by giving them "sinecures". And for big business, if they can give a "no show job" to someone whose wife or hubby is a big deal in the government, they'll do that to keep the grant money coming.

That's something that's got to be reformed, the incestuousness of the congressman/big business relationship. A guy resigns from his seat, and immediately goes to work for a lobby firm, because he's still hand in glove with the folks he used to work with in the government. Or he becomes a "consultant"...

More Obama Fundraisers
RUSH: President Obama is scheduled to do two more campaign fundraisers later today disguised as policy statements. One of them is a $40,000-a-plate dinner. One thing you could do is you could follow in Michelle Obama's footsteps and get a no-show job at a hospital for 300 grand a year. That will help you pay off your student loans.

Sometimes Rush just wastes space

Some woman in Switzerland, who was obviously mentally capacitated, starved herself to death on a "sunlight diet". Rush takes advantage of this to go off on liberals who tell us what we can and can't eat, but really, this story is nothing more nor less than an anorexic woman who believed that she'd rather die looking skeletal than live looking like she was fat (even if she'd had perfect weight - anorexics apparently always think they look fat).

(Indeed, there is actually at least one website, and probably more, in which teenage girls encourage themselves in their anoreixa. They would rather die "looking beautiful" (in their eyes) than looking (in their eyes) fat.)

Woman Dies on Sunlight Diet
RUSH: A Swiss newspaper is reporting that a woman starved to death after embarking -- this is liberalism, folks, by the way, the predicate here is this is liberalism. "Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger reports that a woman starved to death after embarking on a spiritual diet that required her to stop eating or drinking and live off sunlight alone." Somebody got hold of her and said that food will kill her. Somebody convinced her -- probably not somebody; probably a decade worth of news reports about this food will kill you; that food will make you more prone to cancer; this food will make you more prone to leukemia; this food will make you more prone to kidney disease or whatever, so she probably got scared to eat anything.

Then she heard about all the good vibes from vitamin D and sunlight. Then she was told that drinking too much, that could be bad for you. So this woman, believing all this liberal garbage and then getting involved in spiritualism, stopped eating, stopped drinking, lived off of sunlight alone, but not for long. "The Zurich newspaper reported Wednesday that the unnamed Swiss woman in her fifties decided to follow the radical fast in 2010 after viewing an Austrian documentary about an Indian guru who claims to have lived this way for 70 years."

Now, this would not be the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The Maharishi Mahesh Yogi did eat, and he meditated, had cosmic consciousness. He drank, he did all that stuff. So it wasn't the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, nor was it the Maha Rushie. "There have been similar cases of self-starvation in Germany, Britain and Australia. The prosecutors' office in the Swiss canton (state) of Aargau confirmed Wednesday that the woman died in January 2011 in the town of Wolfhalden in eastern Switzerland," trying to live off of sunlight alone. This is liberalism. "Come on, Mr. Limbaugh, do you have to blame everything on liberalism?" That's probably more close to being true than it is not, Mr. New Castrati.

27 Apr 2012, Fri, Rush Limbaugh headlines

--Obama to Veto GOP Student Loan Fix?
--Federal Government Favorability Hits 15-Year Low
--Obama Has Destroyed the US Economy
--Thoughts on the Space Shuttle
--Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood Passes Law Allowing Husbands to Have Sex with Dead Wives Up to Six Hours After Death
--KSM Interrogator Shocks Lesley Stahl
--High School Student Interviews the Host
--Meteorology Major on His Student Loans

Stack of Stuff
--El Rushbo's New Car Gets 8 MPG...
--Is Obama Got Osama Day a National Holiday?.
--Woman Dies on Sunlight Diet..
--NPR: Is Slow Growth Good for the Economy?.
--More Obama Fundraisers

2 Versions of Mrs. Obama's Refusal To Run for the Presidency

Michelle Obama was talking to some school kids. One of them asked if she would run for President herself.

One article said:

Yahoo News: Michelle Obama rules out White House run

US first lady Michelle Obama on Thursday excluded a possible White House run in the footsteps of her husband Barack, saying the job was "really hard."

The first lady confided in a child visiting the White House during the annual Take Your Child To Work Day who asked her if she would ever run for the highest office in the land.

"No," Obama exclaimed with a laugh. "Being president is a really hard job and it's an important job."

 In other words telling the kid, I'm a woman, and the job is too hard and too important to be held by a woman.

The article goes on to say that she said:

"Once his terms are over, we'll go on to do other important things -- because there are so many ways that you can help this country and the world, even if you're not president of the United States," the first lady said.

"One of the things you learn about yourself as you get older are what are your strengths and what are your interests. And for me it's other stuff that is not being the president. So I probably won't run."

But another article on the same subject doesn't mention that she said, "It's a really hard job and it's an important job.

 From NewsOne for Black America:

Michelle Obama For President? Not!

Mrs. Obama’s response to the middle-schooler’s question about her possibly following Hillary Clinton‘s path was as follows:
“Absolutely not. No,” she said to laughter. “I think one of the things you learn about yourself as you get older are what are your strengths and what are your interests. And for me it’s other stuff that is not being the president.  So I probably won’t run.”

Sean Penn urges more aid for Haiti

The situation in Haiti remains "horrific"?  What about all the aid we've already sent them? Where did that go?

Sean Penn urges more aid for Haiti

Actor and activist Sean Penn urged more aid for Haiti as it struggles with the "enormous task" of recovering from the devastating 2010 quake.

"It would take a poet laureate to describe for you the courage and the dignity of (Haiti's) people," Penn said on Wednesday, after accepting an award at the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates for his humanitarian work in Haiti.

"There are no people on earth more willing to pull themselves up by their bootstraps," Penn said.

"But as Dr. Martin Luther King said, it's fine to tell a man to pull himself up by his own bootstraps, but evil to tell a man to do so without boots."

The situation for many Haitians remains horrific more than two years after the devastating January 12, 2010 earthquake that flattened large parts of Port-au-Prince and damaged much of the south of the country, Penn said.

"Take a look at Cite Soleil some time, where 240,000 Haitians -- men, women and children -- following every light rain, sleep in a black water solution of sewage and toxins, garbage and pigs," Penn said, his voice cracking with emotion.

"Where rape and gun violence are a daily occurrence."

The magnitude 7.0 quake killed 250,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands. According to UN figures, the quake killed, injured or displaced one in six of the Caribbean nation's entire population of almost 10 million.

Penn, who has been named Ambassador at Large for Haiti, expressed confidence in Haitian President Michel Martelly, who is trying to ramp up stalled reconstruction efforts.

"We have four years to solidify the seeding of institutions that can create sustainable democratic solutions. Four years that without a reinvigorated surge of support will leave the people's will up for grabs," Penn said.
"It's quite a task, but a doable one with investments in agriculture education, health care, housing, clean water and recognizing it's a country of nine million people, but it's also only nine million people."

Designated prime minister Laurent Lamothe told AFP last month that his country was seeking another $12 billion in aid.

But the head of the UN mission to Haiti has said that the political situation there remains "fragile" and that delays in forming a new government are hindering the recovery and economic development.

"Every time that Haiti is without a government, a prime minister and cabinet... violence and the feeling of lack of security grow," Mariano Fernandez, head of the MINUSTAH peacekeeping force, said in March.

Even before the earthquake Haiti was the poorest country in the Americas.

Penn insisted that failure is not an option and that the United States has a vested interest in Haiti's success.

"There is the human cost of poverty," Penn said.

"But if that on its own is not compelling, note that increased instability that attrition may bring to a Caribbean island (nation) an hour and half off our shores would be an open invitation to a new explosion of narco-trafficking, terrorist influences and paramilitaries."

 

They're not militants, they're terrorists

From Yahoo News: 
Abduct Israelis to free prisoners: Gaza leaders

GAZA (Reuters) - Islamic leaders in the Gaza Strip called on Friday for militants to kidnap Israelis and use them as bargaining chips to secure the freedom of thousands of Palestinians prisoners held in Israeli jails.
Human rights groups say up to 2,000 prisoners have joined an open-ended hunger strike to protest against jail conditions and thousands of Palestinians staged a rally in the Gaza Strip to support their cause.
"We should work hard to get (Israeli) prisoners in our hands in order to secure the freedom of our prisoners," Khaled Al-Batsh, a senior member of the Islamic Jihad, told the crowd.

"I say to all armed factions, the way to free the prisoners is through swaps ... An arrest for an arrest, and freedom for freedom. This is the way," he said.

Israel last year freed some 1,000 Palestinians in return for the release of Gilad Shalit, a soldier seized in 2006 and held by the Islamist group Hamas in secret captivity for five years.
Human Rights groups say at least 4,700 Palestinians remain in Israeli jails, many of them convicted for violent crimes. Palestinian leaders say they should be treated as prisoners of war, something Israel rejects.
Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas leader in Gaza, said Palestinian militant factions would "never abandon" the prisoners.

"The swap deal was a message to the (Israeli) occupation that the resistance and the Palestinian people will pursue every difficult avenue to break the chains of these heroes," he said.

"We are in a battle for the prisoners, and we will either win, or we will win," he added.

Friday's rally saw participants waving both the green and black flags of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad - a sign of growing ties between the two groups, which share the same Islamist ideology and advocate the destruction of the state of Israel.

Prisoners are seen as heroes in their communities and the mass hunger strike is putting pressure on the leadership to respond. Israel struck deals with two prisoners earlier this year to end their hunger strikes, but is resisting demands for further concessions.

At least two prisoners have been refusing food for more than eight weeks. A mass hunger strike by at least 1,200 was launched on April 17 and the Addameer prisoners' association has said a further 800 have since joined the movement.

27 April 2012, Fri, SoS Clinton and Staff Schedule

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/appt/2012/04/188592.htm

SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON

9:20 a.m. Secretary Clinton meets with the Amn-O-Nisa delegation from Pakistan, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

9:30 a.m. Secretary Clinton delivers remarks at the Department of State’s Annual Holocaust Commemoration, at the Department of State.
(OPEN PRESS COVERAGE FOR THE SECRETARY’S REMARKS)


10:00 a.m. Secretary Clinton meets with Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

11:00 a.m. Secretary Clinton attends a meeting at the White House.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY WHITE HOUSE)

DEPUTY SECRETARY BILL BURNS

10:00 a.m. Deputy Secretary Burns meets with Guatemalan Foreign Minister Harold Caballeros, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

11:00 a.m. Deputy Secretary Burns attends a meeting at the White House.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY WHITE HOUSE)

12:45 p.m. Deputy Secretary Burns officiates a swearing-in ceremony for U.S. Ambassador-designate to Panama Jonathan Farrar, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

2:30 p.m. Deputy Secretary Burns attends a meeting at the White House.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY WHITE HOUSE)

DEPUTY SECRETARY TOM NIDES

8:00 a.m. Deputy Secretary Nides meets with U.S. Ambassador to Iraq James Jeffrey, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

10:00 a.m. Deputy Secretary Nides attends a meeting at the White House.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY THE WHITE HOUSE)

11:15 a.m. Deputy Secretary Nides meets with the Economic Statecraft team, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

1:00 p.m. Deputy Secretary Nides attends a meeting at the White House.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY THE WHITE HOUSE)

5:00 p.m. Deputy Secretary Nides meets with Director of Foreign Assistance Rob Goldberg, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

USAID ADMINISTRATOR RAJ SHAH

1:00 p.m. Administrator Shah delivers remarks at the Global Impact Economy Forum, at Georgetown University. (OPEN PRESS COVERAGE)

UNDER SECRETARY FOR POLITICAL AFFAIRS WENDY SHERMAN

9:45 a.m. Under Secretary Sherman meets with Chairman of Uzbekistan’s Foreign Relations Committee, Sodiq Safaev, and Delegation, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

UNDER SECRETARY FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH, ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT ROBERT HORMATS

8:00 a.m. Under Secretary Hormats participates in a TPP Deputies breakfast, at the White House.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

12:30 p.m. Under Secretary Hormats participates in a Tunisian Investment Conference, at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

2:30 p.m. Under Secretary Hormats participates in a video greeting in honor of the upcoming 3^rd Annual U.S. Business Exhibition in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

5:30 p.m. Under Secretary Hormats attends an event with the Turkish Ambassador to the U.S. Namik Tan, at the Turkish Embassy Residence.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

6:00 p.m. Under Secretary Hormats attends an event with the Indonesian Ambassador to the U.S. Dino Patti Djalal, at the Indonesian Embassy Residence.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

UNDER SECRETARY FOR CIVILIAN SECURITY, DEMOCRACY, AND HUMAN RIGHTS MARIA OTERO

11:00 a.m. Under Secretary Otero meets with USAID Deputy Administrator Donald Steinberg, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIAN AFFAIRS ROBERT BLAKE

Assistant Secretary Blake is on foreign travel to Tokyo, Japan; Manila, Philippines; and PACOM, Hawaii.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION AFFAIRS ESTHER BRIMMER

9:30 a.m. Assistant Secretary Brimmer attends the annual Holocaust Commemoration Program, at the Department of State.
(OPEN PRESS COVERAGE FOR SECRETARY CLINTON’S REMARKS)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT AFFAIRS WILLIAM BROWNFIELD

12:45 p.m. Assistant Secretary Brownfield attends Ambassador-designate for Panama Jonathan Farrar’s swearing-in ceremony, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR ECONOMIC AND BUSINESS AFFAIRS JOSE FERNANDEZ

1:30 p.m. Assistant Secretary Fernandez moderates a panel, “From Short-Term to Long-Term Strategy: Cultivating Shared Value” at the first-ever Global Impact Economy Forum, in Washington, DC.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR WESTERN HEMISPHERE AFFAIRS ROBERTA JACOBSON

12:30 p.m. Assistant Secretary Jacobson attends Ambassador-designate for Panama Jonathan Farrar’s swearing-in ceremony, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

6:00 p.m. Assistant Secretary Jacobson attends the OAS Annual Celebration for Spirits of the Americas, at the Organization of American States.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR POPULATION, REFUGEES AND MIGRATION ANNE CLAIRE RICHARD

11:00 a.m. Assistant Secretary Richard meets with UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

3:30 p.m. Assistant Secretary Richard meets with Peter Vardos and Wendy Southern, Deputy Secretaries of the Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE AND COORDINATOR FOR COUNTERTERRORISM DANIEL BENJAMIN

11:30 a.m. Ambassador Benjamin meets with French Ambassador to the U.S. François Delattre, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

OFFICE OF GLOBAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE STEPHEN RAPP

Ambassador Rapp is on foreign travel to The Hague, Netherlands to attend official meetings regarding global criminal justice issues.

AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE FOR GLOBAL WOMEN’S ISSUES MELANNE VERVEER

11:00 a.m. Ambassador Verveer delivers the closing keynote address to the Women’s Leadership Board of the Harvard Kennedy School, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. .
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS KRIS BALDERSTON

10:00 a.m. Special Representative Balderston provides opening remarks and hosts 350 high-level representatives from the private sector and public sector at the Global Partnership Initiative-organized Global Impact Economy Forum, at Georgetown University, in Washington, DC. .

DIRECTOR OF POLICY PLANNING JAKE SULLIVAN

12:30 p.m. Director Sullivan meets with Ambassador Peter Westmacott, at the British Embassy in Washington, DC.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)
PRESS BRIEFING SCHEDULE
12:30 p.m. Daily Press Briefing with Spokesperson Victoria Nuland

27 Apr 2012, Fri, Pres and VP Schedule

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule
9:05 am
The President and the First Lady depart the White House en route Joint Base Andrews
South Lawn
Open Press
9:20 am The President and the First Lady depart Joint Base Andrews en route Fort Stewart, Hinesville, Georgia
Travel Pool Coverage
10:55 am
The President and the First Lady arrive in Hinesville, Georgia
Hunter Army Airfield
Open Press
12:35 pm
The President delivers remarks to troops, veterans and military families; the First Lady delivers introductory remarks
Third Infantry Headquarters
Open to pre-credentialed media
2:05 pm
The President departs Georgia en route Washington, DC
Hunter Army Airfield
Open Press
3:45 pm
The President arrives the White House
South Lawn
Open Press
4:55 pm
The President attends a campaign event
Washington Convention Center
Open to pre-credentialed media
6:10 pm
The President attends a campaign event
Private Residence
Print Pool http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/vice-president No public schedule

Islamic Terrorists blow up pipeline in Yemen

Of course the original headline reads "Islamic Militants", but le's call a spade a spade, shall we? These are terrorists, using terror to overthrow the Yemeni government. From Yahoo News/Reuters: Islamist militants blow up Yemen gas pipeline ADEN (Reuters) - Islamist militants linked to al Qaeda blew up a gas pipeline on Thursday night in the eastern Yemeni province of Shabwa, a local official and residents said.

The attack is the third against oil and gas facilities in the impoverished country within a month, and the second against the same pipeline.

Resident said columns of fire and smoke could be seen from several kilometers away.

A spokesman for Ansar al-Sharia, an armed group affiliated with Qaeda, told Reuters by telephone targeting the gas pipeline was in response to the killing of an al Qaeda leader in the central Maarib province.

The pipeline transports LNG from Maarib to an export facility at Balhaf. The export terminal opened in 2009 and is led by French oil major Total with three South Korea companies holding stakes, the official said.

Yemen's oil and gas pipelines have been repeatedly sabotaged since anti-government protests broke out in January 2011. On March 30, the gas pipeline was blown up in retaliation to the killing of five Islamist militants in a U.S. drone attack. A few days later, the militants targeted an oil pipeline.

Yemen is a small crude oil producer with a daily output of about 260,000 barrels per day of oil when all fields are operating, but disruptions to Yemeni exports have added to tight global supplies.

It has proven gas reserves of 16.9 trillion cubic feet as of January 2012, according to the Oil and Gas Journal.

Oil companies operating in the country include Austria's OMV, the U.S.-based Occidental Petroleum and Canada's Calvalley Petroleum.

Can Arizona Prevail on Fighting *Illegal* Immigration?

Here's some of what Rush had to say on the subject

"Justices across the ideological spectrum appeared inclined on Wednesday to uphold a controversial part of Arizona’s aggressive 2010 immigration law, based on their questions at a Supreme Court argument." I'm not gonna read to you the whole story, but you just gotta trust me on this. This amounts to an admission of defeat from the New York Times, which, prior to this, seemed to be convinced that Arizona's immigration law would never survive a review by the Supreme Court. Not based on any legal arguments, just because it's so darned unfair for Arizona to try to actually enforce US immigration law.

The New York Times found it impossible that Obama could be defeated by some idiot governor. Obama doesn't lose. Obama sues Arizona. Arizona should cave. Arizona should say "uncle." Just because it's so unfair. Even the New York Times had to admit "justices across the ideological spectrum appeared inclined to uphold its central and most controversial part." And you know what that is? You know what the central and most controversial part of the Arizona law is? It's the provision requiring law enforcement to determine the immigration status of people they stop and whom they suspect are here illegally.

In fact, the wise Latina herself, Sonia Sotomayor, even told the US lawyer, Solicitor General Verrilli, "You can't see this isn't selling very well?" Talking about his argument. Things went so badly yesterday that the Times, in its article here, spends much of the article suggesting fallback positions after they lose. They float the idea that if the court upholds the law, that Obama should just sue Arizona again, and this time say that the law encourages racial profiling. I kid you not, that's what the New York Times says. When the government loses, Obama needs to sue Arizona again, and this time claim that the Arizona law cannot be accomplished without racially profiling illegals.

Most of the argument yesterday concerned a requirement that state officials check immigration status. Several of the justices noted that states are entitled to enact such provisions and that they are already commonplace. Even Justice Breyer suggested that he would uphold the provision if the process of checking immigration status would not mean detention for a significantly longer time than in an ordinary case. This law, all it does is ask the federal government to do something. And that's why I think it was Judge Roberts who said to Verrilli, the solicitor general, "You don't even sound like you're interested in who's here." Because that's all the Arizona law does is identify who's here illegally. That's all it does. And then asks the Feds to do something about it. And the Fed's don't want to do anything about it but sue Arizona. And Justice Roberts said to Verrilli, "You don't even sound like you're interested in knowing who's in the country."

No more travel...no more freedom...

Rush had some audio today of a Democrat op speaking in 2010:

This EPA administrator. I don't have to tell you what the left thinks, because we have a member of the Obama administration doing it for me. His name is Al Armendariz. (I don't know if I'm pronouncing that right.) But he is the EPA Region 6 administrator. This is from May 2010, two years ago, in Dish, Texas.

This is who liberals are. This is who Obama wants in power, because this is also what Obama believes. You may as well just assume that Barack Obama is saying this. All these people that said, "Gee, how did this guy get past Obama? Does Obama know these people?" Yes! They didn't "get past" him. He finds them. He has people that find these people. Barack Obama is going to get around Congress any way he can. The EPA, writing law in the form of regulations, is one way he's gonna do it. Two years ago, Dish, Texas, Al Armendariz...

ARMENDARIZ: I gave an analogy to my staff about my philosophy with enforcement. It was kind of like how the Romans used to conquer little villages in the Mediterranean. They’d go into little Turkish towns somewhere, they’d find the first five guys they saw, and they’d crucify them. And then, you know, that town was really easy to manage over the next few years. So you make examples out of people who are, in this case, not complying with the law. Find people who are not complying with the law, and you hit them as hard as you can and you make examples out of them. It's a deterrent factor.

RUSH: A deterrent. You hit 'em as hard as you can. Find people not complying with the law. I gave an analogy to my staff about my philosophy with enforcement. He's talking about oil here. Kind of like how the Romans used to conquer little villages in the Mediterranean. They go into a little Turkish town somewhere, they'd find the first five guys they saw and they'd crucify them. And then that town was really easy to manage over the next few years. This is who these people are. Had you not heard this, Dawn? This is who they are, folks. This is the governing philosophy of this administration. This may as well have been Barack Obama saying this.

Here's the full transcript. "I was in a meeting once and I gave an analogy to my staff about my philosophy of enforcement, and I think it was probably a little crude and maybe not appropriate for the meeting, but I’ll go ahead and tell you what I said: It was kind of like how the Romans used to, you know, conquer villages in the Mediterranean. They’d go in to a little Turkish town somewhere, they’d find the first five guys they saw and they’d crucify them. Then, you know, that town was really easy to manage for the next few years. It’s a deterrent factor." Explaining the EPA as following the Romans' philosophy for subjugating conquered villages.

That's how this guy wanted to deal and was dealing with oil and gas companies, legitimate American and international corporations. He hates them, he wants to subjugate 'em, he wants to crucify 'em, just because he can. And he's bragging about how to do it. That's who they are, my friends. This is who the American left is, the worldwide left. That is their plan and their philosophy and their approach for everybody and everything they disagree with. Here's another sound bite.

This is Barack Obama, January 2008. He's a senator, interviewed by the San Francisco Chronicle editorial board. They're having a discussion about energy and the environment. Obama was asked, "What about alternatives, including coal? What are your plans for alternatives using coal?"

OBAMA: What I've said is that we would put a cap-and-trade system in place that is as aggressive, if not more aggressive, than anybody else's out there. So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can. It's just that it will bankrupt them because they're gonna be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that's being emitted.

RUSH: So in 2008 Obama told the San Francisco Chronicle editorial board that he intended to put the coal business out of business by making it financially impossible for them to stay in business. And, by the way, in Obama's home state of Illinois they are closing coal-fired power plants. At that same editorial board meeting, Obama described his energy plan in general.

OBAMA: When I was asked earlier about the issue of coal, you know, under my plan of a cap-and-trade system, the electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket.

RUSH: Get rid of coal, demonize oil and gas and try to find a way to replace that and electricity rates will skyrocket. This was the plan. Now, the mainstream media didn't report any of this. The San Francisco Chronicle released the tape, but they didn't make a big deal of it back when Obama said it. It was left up to us. They've not hidden who they are. Obama has not hidden who he is. This guy, Al Armendariz. They're oil-phobes. These people are dangerous, folks. They pose a clear and present danger.

RUSH: By the way, the interior secretary, Ken, the cowboy hat, Salazar, said, "Gasoline could get to nine dollars a gallon. Nobody knows where it's gonna end up." Nine dollars a gallon. The regime is saying that with a shrug of the shoulders.

Rush Limbaugh headlines

--Romney Could Win in a Landslide

--Obama EPA Official Vows to "Crucify" Oil and Gas Industry

--Drive-By Media Can't Spin Unemployment Numbers Anymore

--Left Beside Itself Over Obama Regime's Performance at the Supreme Court

--Hillary and Huma Do the TIME 100 Bash, Hold Meeting with the Inventor of Spanx

--A Passionate Small Business Owner on the Inspiring Story of Spanx Inventor Sara Blakely

--See, I Told You So: Social Issues Didn't Drive Independents Away from GOP

--Herman Cain Endorses Two If By Tea

--Trucker Says Obama Voters He Meets Haven't Changed Their Minds

--The Obama Campaign is Tired and Losing

Stack of Stuff
--More Yemen Drones, Even Though War on Terror is Over?
Dick Morris Thinks Media is Flipping on Obama
Obama Mocked for Not Calling Campaigning Campaigning
Planned Parenthood Loses Big in Pennsylvania

26 Apr 2012, Thu, SoS Clinton and Staff Schedule

 http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/appt/2012/04/188525.htm


SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON
9:15 a.m. Secretary Clinton meets with the regional bureau secretaries, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

10:15 a.m. Secretary Clinton participates in the swearing-in ceremony for Take Your Child to Work Day, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

10:30 a.m. Secretary Clinton hosts and delivers remarks at the Global Impact Economy Forum, at the Department of State.
(OPEN PRESS COVERAGE)

3:00 p.m. Secretary Clinton meets with Counselor Mills and USAID Administrator Shah, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

7:40 p.m. Secretary Clinton keynotes the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Gala and receives the Public Service Award, at the Four Seasons Hotel, in Washington, DC.
(OPEN PRESS COVERAGE FOR REMARKS)

DEPUTY SECRETARY BILL BURNS
8:30 a.m. Deputy Secretary Burns attends a meeting at the White House.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY WHITE HOUSE)

10:15 a.m. Deputy Secretary Burns attends a roundtable with Russian prisoners’ rights activists hosted by the Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

11:05 a.m. Deputy Secretary Burns attends a meeting at the White House.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY WHITE HOUSE)

12:00 p.m. Deputy Secretary Burns delivers remarks to Columbia University graduate students, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

6:00 p.m. Deputy Secretary Burns meets with Pierre Vimont, Secretary-General of the European External Action Service, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

USAID ADMINISTRATOR RAJ SHAH
3:00 p.m. Administrator Shah meets with Secretary Clinton and Counselor Mills, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

4:15 p.m. Administrator Shah speaks with Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Thomas Frieden.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

US  FOR POLITICAL AFFAIRS WENDY SHERMAN
11:00 a.m. Under Secretary Sherman accepts credentials from Malaysian Ambassador-designate to the U.S. Datuk Othman bin Hashim, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)


US FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH, ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT ROBERT HORMATS
8:30 a.m. Under Secretary Hormats participates in a Middle East and North Africa (MENA) event, at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

1:30 p.m. Under Secretary Hormats attends a meeting at the White House.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY WHITE HOUSE)

4:00 p.m. Under Secretary Hormats meets with Chairman of Caravel Management, LLC James Harmon, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

5:00 p.m. Under Secretary Hormats meets with representatives from the American Chamber of Commerce in China (AmCham China), at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

5:45 p.m. Under Secretary Hormats meets with representatives from the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ), at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

6:30 p.m. Under Secretary Hormats attends an event in honor of Secretary Clinton receiving the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Award for Public Service, at the Four Seasons Hotel, in Washington, DC.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

US FOR CIVILIAN SECURITY, DEMOCRACY, AND HUMAN RIGHTS MARIA OTERO
4:30 p.m. Under Secretary Otero delivers a speech to Johns Hopkins University audiences in Washington, DC.
(MEDIA DETERMIND BY HOST)

AS FOR CONFLICT AND STABILIZATION OPERATIONS FREDERICK BARTON
11:30 a.m. Assistant Secretary Barton participates in a forum entitled “Transatlantic Partners in Global Security: The EU's Common Security and Defense Policy,” in Washington, DC.
(OPEN PRESS COVERAGE)
AS FOR SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIAN AFFAIRS ROBERT BLAKE
Assistant Secretary Blake is on foreign travel to Tokyo, Japan; Manila, Philippines; and PACOM, Hawaii.

AS FOR INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION AFFAIRS ESTHER BRIMMER
10:00 a.m. Assistant Secretary Brimmer briefs the Board on International Scientific Organizations on the impact of the cut-off of U.S. funding to UNESCO on its science-related initiatives at the NAS Kek Center.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

3:00 p.m. Assistant Secretary Brimmer meets with Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Agricultural Cooperation Victor Villalobos, and U.S. Representative to the Organization of American States Ambassador Carmen Lomellin, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

AS FOR EAST ASIAN AND PACIFIC AFFAIRS KURT CAMPBELL
4:30 p.m. Assistant Secretary Campbell delivers remarks at the event, “The Coming U.S.-Japan Summit,” with Japanese Ambassador to the U.S. Ichiro Fujisaki, at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), in Washington, DC.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

AS FOR ECONOMIC AND BUSINESS AFFAIRS JOSE FERNANDEZ
2:00 p.m. Assistant Secretary Fernandez meets with Moroccan Ambassador to the U.S. Rachad Bouhlal, in Washington, DC.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

3:00 p.m. Assistant Secretary Fernandez meets with a delegation from the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry to discuss the economic and commercial aspects of the U.S.-UAE partnership, in Washington, DC.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

6:30 p.m. Assistant Secretary Fernandez attends a reception for the Washington Network of Hispanic Leaders, in Washington, DC.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

AS FOR EUROPEAN AND EURASIAN AFFAIRS PHILIP GORDON
3:15 p.m. Assistant Secretary Gordon delivers remarks at the Transatlantic Partners in Global Security Symposium, at the Fairmont Hotel in Washington, DC.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)


AS FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS MIKE HAMMER
6:00 p.m. Assistant Secretary Hammer delivers the keynote address at a meeting of the Foreign Policy Association of Central Pennsylvania, in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)


AS FOR WESTERN HEMISPHERE AFFAIRS ROBERTA JACOBSON
11:15 a.m. Assistant Secretary Jacobson meets with General Jacoby of NorthCom, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)


AS FOR POPULATION, REFUGEES AND MIGRATION ANNE CLAIRE RICHARD
8:00 a.m. Assistant Secretary Richard meets with UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres, at the Holocaust Museum, in Washington, DC.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

2:00 p.m. Assistant Secretary Richard testifies before the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights on The North-South Sudan Conflict 2012, at the Rayburn House Office Building.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOUSE)

AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE AND U.S. GLOBAL AIDS COORDINATOR ERIC GOOSBY
Ambassador Goosby leads a joint U.S.-UNAIDS delegation, along with UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe, to Abuja, Nigeria. They will meet with Minister of State for Health Dr. Muhammad Ali Pate to discuss progress on the joint PEPFAR-UNAIDS initiative on scaling up Preventing Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)


OFFICE OF GLOBAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE STEPHEN RAPP
Ambassador Rapp is on foreign travel to The Hague, Netherlands to attend official meetings regarding global criminal justice issues.

AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE FOR GLOBAL WOMEN’S ISSUES MELANNE VERVEER
9:30 a.m. Ambassador Verveer participates in a panel session with UN Women Deputy Executive Director Lakshmi Puri on “The Global Perspective,” hosted by the UN Agency for Information and Communication Technologies’ (ICT) Tech Needs Girls campaign, during a Girls in ICT Day event, at the Institute of International Education in New York City.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

4:00 p.m. Ambassador Verveer delivers remarks at the Secretary’s Global Impact Economy Forum, at the Department of State.
(OPEN PRESS COVERAGE)

6:30 p.m. Ambassador Verveer attends an event in honor of Secretary Clinton receiving the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Award for Public Service, at the Four Seasons Hotel, in Washington, DC.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)


SR FOR GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS KRIS BALDERSTON
Special Representative Balderston delivers opening remarks and hosts 350 high-level representatives from the private and public sector at the Global Partnership Initiative-organized Global Impact Economy Forum, at the Department of State.


SR FOR GLOBAL INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS RETA JO LEWIS
11:00 a.m. Special Representative Lewis meets with Federal Communications Commission International Bureau Chief Mindel De La Torre, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

1:30 p.m. Special Representative Lewis meets with President of the Rio Grande do Sul Development Agency (AGDI) Marcus Coester, to discuss subnational engagement in Brazil, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

4:00 p.m. Special Representative Lewis meets with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand to discuss subnational engagement opportunities, in Washington, DC.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

6:30 p.m. Special Representative Lewis meets with Virginia State University President Keith Miller, Representative Frank Wolf, and Virginia Delegates Dave Albo and Barbara Comstock, to discuss subnational engagement opportunities, in Alexandria, Virginia.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

SPECIAL ENVOY AND COORDINATOR FOR INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AFFAIRS CARLOS PASCUAL
Ambassador Pascual is on foreign travel in London through April 26 for meetings of the High Level Group of the UN Secretary General’s Sustainable Energy for All initiative and the annual Clean Energy Ministerial.

SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE TO MUSLIM COMMUNITIES FARAH PANDITH
11:30 a.m. Special Representative Farah Pandith meets with Coordinator of the Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications (CSCC) Ambassador Alberto Fernandez, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

SPECIAL ENVOY TO MONITOR AND COMBAT ANTI-SEMITISM HANNAH ROSENTHAL
Special Envoy Rosenthal is on foreign travel in Sweden.

9:00 a.m. LOCAL Special Envoy Rosenthal meets with Eskil Franck, Director of the Living History Forum, a Swedish public authority that promotes tolerance, democracy, and human rights, in Stockholm, Sweden.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

11:00 a.m. LOCAL Special Envoy Rosenthal meets Swedish Minister for Integration Erik Ullenhag to discuss efforts to promote tolerance and combat anti-Semitism, in Stockholm, Sweden.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

2:30 p.m. LOCAL Special Envoy Rosenthal meets with the head of the Jewish Council Lena Posner and Chair of the Swedish Committee Against Anti-Semitism Willy Silberstein, in Stockholm, Sweden.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

3:30 p.m. LOCAL Special Envoy Rosenthal holds a press conference with local media outlets at the Chief of Mission Residence, in Stockholm, Sweden.
(OPEN PRESS COVERAGE)


PRESS BRIEFING SCHEDULE
1:00 p.m. Daily Press Briefing with Spokesperson Victoria Nuland

26 April 2012, Thurs, Pres and VP Schedules

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule 10:30 am The President receives the Presidential Daily Briefing Oval Office Closed Press 4:30 pm The President meets with the Vice President Oval Office Closed Press http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/vice-president 4:30 pm The President meets with the Vice President Oval Office Closed Press

Sarah Palin says Obama wants to ban kids from farm work. Is she right?

From DC Decoder: Sarah Palin says Obama wants to ban kids from farm work. Is she right?

Sarah Palin says the Obama administration wants to ban kids from working on family farms. In a Facebook post Wednesday she charges that the Department of Labor is working on regulations that would stop children from doing agricultural chores that teach hard work and help feed America.

 “This is more overreach of the federal government with many negative overtones,” the ex-Alaska governor writes. Is she right? Are before-school milkings, after-school stall mucking, and summertime hay-bale hauling at risk? Weeellll, it would have been better if Ms. Palin had gone to the source material before putting this up. Maybe. It is true that the Labor Department is working up new regulations bearing on under-age-16 agricultural work. It has been working on them for some years now, with lots of input from farm groups, which are very much worried about that ending-farm-chores thing. So in that sense Palin is resounding a previously rung alarm.

However, “the proposed regulations would not apply to children working on farms owned by their parents”, says the Labor Department press release from last August announcing publication of the proposed law revisions in the Federal Register.

Palin says in her Facebook post that the new regs “would prevent children from working on our own family farms.” This would not appear to be correct, unless there is some definition of "family farm" we nonfarm workers aren't familiar with.

What the regulations would do, according to the Labor Department, is update the list of farm jobs that children under age 16 cannot be hired to do by nonfamily farms. Among the new tasks on the list: pesticide handling, timber operations, and work around manure pits and storage bins. Farm workers under 16 would no longer be able to cultivate, harvest, or cure tobacco, either. Agricultural work accounts for 75 percent of the job-related fatalities for workers under 16, notes the Labor Department. “Children employed in agriculture are some of the most vulnerable workers in America,” said Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis last August.

Many farm-state lawmakers still believe the rules go too far.Sen. Jerry Moran (R) of Kansas earlier this month published an opinion piece on Politico that questioned whether those who drew up the regulations knew much about agriculture, and charged that the Labor Department originally had wanted to narrow the parental farm exemption. “The future of agriculture, and our individual rights, depends on stopping this vast overreach of executive authority,” wrote Senator Moran.

So sorry - my Personal Laminator came!

I belong to the Amazon Vine review program, and had ordered a Personal Laminator, which came today. I run a Scrabble CLub and have been busy laminating various sheets - so much fun.

Meantime, Mitt Romney will be the Republican nominee, it's a given.

So let's get behind him and get him into the White  House!

Sorry for the text format glitches of previous days

Blogger has "improved" their interface, so now, where it used to be easy to cut and paste things, now it's difficult. I'll try to keep an eagle eye on the posts and make sure the text isn't jumbled together.

25 April 2012, Wed, SoS Clinton and Staff Schedule

 http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/appt/2012/04/188447.htm

SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON

9:30 a.m. Secretary Clinton meets with the management team, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

10:00 a.m. Secretary Clinton meets with Department of State Congressional Fellows and the 2012 White House Fellows, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

12:00 p.m. Secretary Clinton holds a swearing-in ceremony for Julissa Reynoso, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

2:00 p.m. Secretary Clinton holds a bilateral meeting with Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha, at the Department of State.
(CAMERA SPRAY PRECEDING BILATERAL MEETING)
Pre-set time for video cameras: 1:15 p.m. from the 23^rd Street Entrance Lobby.
Final access time for journalists and still photographers: 1:45 p.m. from the 23^rd Street Entrance Lobby.

7:00 p.m. Secretary Clinton attends a reception in honor of Poland’s National Day, at the Polish Ambassador’s residence.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

DEPUTY SECRETARY BILL BURNS

10:00 a.m. Deputy Secretary Burns meets with USAID Deputy Administrator Donald Steinberg, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

10:45 a.m. Deputy Secretary Burns meets with Republic of Korea Deputy National Security Advisor Kim Tae-hyo, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

2:00 p.m. Deputy Secretary Burns attends a meeting at the White House.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY WHITE HOUSE)

3:45 p.m. Deputy Secretary Burns meets with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) President Vijay Kanoria and Secretary General Rajiv Kumar, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

DEPUTY SECRETARY TOM NIDES

Deputy Secretary Nides is on travel in New York City. Deputy Secretary Nides will participate in Duke University’s inaugural Coach K Leadership Roundtable, which will focus on the topic of “Leading Consequentially: Building Social Innovation into the Organization Culture.”

USAID ADMINISTRATOR RAJ SHAH

11:00 a.m. Administrator Shah attends a memorial service for Congressman Donald M. Payne, at the U.S. Capitol.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY U.S. CAPITOL)

1:00 p.m. Administrator Shah meets with Deputy Director-General for Operations at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Manoj Juneja, at USAID.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

3:30 p.m. Administrator Shah delivers remarks at a Malaria No More reception, on the occasion of World Malaria Day, at the Russell Senate Office Building.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY SENATE)

UNDER SECRETARY FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH, ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT ROBERT HORMATS

Under Secretary Hormats is on foreign travel in Paris, France through April 25 to participate in the Deauville Partnership meetings.

UNDER SECRETARY FOR CIVILIAN SECURITY, DEMOCRACY, AND HUMAN RIGHTS MARIA OTERO

2:00 p.m. Under Secretary Otero meets with Ambassador Thomas Pickering, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR CONFLICT AND STABILIZATION OPERATIONS FREDERICK BARTON

2:00 p.m. Assistant Secretary Barton meets with representatives from the U.S. Institute of Peace’s Center for Security Sector Governance, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIAN AFFAIRS ROBERT BLAKE

Assistant Secretary Blake is on foreign travel to Tokyo, Japan; Manila, Philippines; and PACOM, Hawaii.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT AFFAIRS WILLIAM BROWNFIELD

12:00 p.m. Assistant Secretary Brownfield attends the swearing-in ceremony for Julissa Reynoso, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR EAST ASIAN AND PACIFIC AFFAIRS KURT CAMPBELL

2:30 p.m. Assistant Secretary Campbell briefs the HFAC on “Oversight of U.S. Policy Toward Burma,” at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC.

 (OPEN PRESS COVERAGE)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR ECONOMIC AND BUSINESS AFFAIRS JOSE FERNANDEZ

3:00 pm Assistant Secretary Fernandez attends the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Inaugural Forum on Global Development, in Washington, DC.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

4:30 pm Assistant Secretary Fernandez participates in the Direct Line Peru teleconference on “Business and Investment Opportunities in Infrastructure in Peru,” at the Department of State. (CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS MIKE HAMMER

6:30 p.m. Assistant Secretary Hammer attends a ceremony awarding the 2012 Urbino Press Award for excellence in the American press, at the Italian Embassy.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR WESTERN HEMISPHERE AFFAIRS ROBERTA JACOBSON

12:00 p.m. Assistant Secretary Jacobson attends the swearing-in ceremony for Julissa Reynoso, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

2:00 p.m. Assistant Secretary Jacobson testifies before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, on the “Western Hemisphere Budget Review 2013: What Are U.S. Priorities?”
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR POPULATION, REFUGEES AND MIGRATION ANNE CLAIRE RICHARD

11:45 a.m. Assistant Secretary Richard meets with Ken Isaacs, Vice President of Samaritan’s Purse, at the State Department.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR POLITICAL-MILITARY AFFAIRS ANDREW SHAPIRO

2:30 p.m. Assistant Secretary Shapiro meets Maciej Popowski, Deputy Secretary General for the European External Action Service, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE AND COORDINATOR FOR COUNTERTERRORISM DANIEL BENJAMIN:

9:30 a.m. Ambassador Benjamin appears before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, on Capitol Hill.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOUSE)

AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE AND U.S. GLOBAL AIDS COORDINATOR ERIC GOOSBY

Ambassador Goosby leads a joint U.S.-UNAIDS delegation, along with UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe, to Abuja, Nigeria. They meet with First Lady Dame Patience Jonathan, National AIDS Control Agency Director-General John Idoko, Foreign Minister Olugbenga Ashiru, 13 state governors, and various interfaith and civil-society leaders, to discuss progress on the joint PEPFAR-UNAIDS initiative on scaling up Preventing Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV.

OFFICE OF GLOBAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE STEPHEN RAPP

Ambassador Rapp is on foreign travel to The Hague, Netherlands, to attend the verdict of former President of Liberia, Charles Taylor, who is on trial for war crimes.

AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE FOR GLOBAL WOMEN’S ISSUES MELANNE VERVEER

9:00 a.m. Ambassador Verveer delivers remarks on the Sixth Summit of the Americas at the event, “Towards a More Inclusive Hemisphere: A Post-Summit Review,” co-hosted by the Meridian International Center and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), at CSIS.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

12:00 p.m. Ambassador Verveer meets with Senior Counselor at the Embassy of France Ann de la Blache, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

2:00 p.m. Ambassador Verveer meets with Uzbekistani Senator Svetlana Baymirzaevna Artkyova and Senator Shodieva Khamrotosh Normurodovna, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

SPECIAL ENVOY AND COORDINATOR FOR INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AFFAIRS CARLOS PASCUAL

Ambassador Pascual is on foreign travel in London through April 26 for meetings of the High Level Group of the UN Secretary General’s Sustainable Energy for All initiative and the annual Clean Energy Ministerial.

SPECIAL ENVOY TO MONITOR AND COMBAT ANTI-SEMITISM HANNAH ROSENTHAL

Special Envoy Rosenthal is on foreign travel in Sweden.

12:00 p.m. LOCAL Special Envoy Rosenthal attends a lunch hosted by the Institute for Security and Development Policy, in Stockholm, Sweden.
(MEDIA TO BE DETERMINED)

2:00 p.m. LOCAL Special Envoy Rosenthal addresses the Institute for Security and Development Policy’s conference on “The Changing Face of Anti-Semitism – Implications for Europe and Sweden,” in Stockholm, Sweden. (OPEN PRESS COVERAGE)

DIRECTOR OF POLICY PLANNING JAKE SULLIVAN

4:00 p.m. Director of Policy Planning Jake Sullivan hosts a Policy Planning roundtable with Michele Flournoy, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)
PRESS BRIEFING SCHEDULE
12:30 p.m. Daily Press Briefing with Spokesperson Victoria Nuland

25 April 2012, Wed, Pres and VP schedules

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule

11:00 am
The President departs Aurora, Colorado en route Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Local Event Time:
9:00 AM MDT
Open Press

12:35 pm
The President arrives Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Local Event Time:
11:35 AM CDT
Open Press

1:20 pm
The President participates in a roundtable with students
Local Event Time:
12:20PM CDT
Travel Pool Coverage

2:20 pm
The President delivers remarks as part of a concerted effort to get Congress to prevent interest rates on student loans from doubling in July
Local Event Time:
1:20PM CDT
Open Press

3:30 pm
The President departs Cedar Rapids, Iowa en route Washington, DC
Local Event Time:
2:30PM CDT
Open Press

5:30 pm
The President arrives Joint Base Andrews
Travel Pool Coverage
5:45 pm
The President arrives the White House
Open Press
Final Gather 5:25PM – North Doors of the Palm Room

6:00 pm
The President attends a campaign event
Closed Press http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/vice-president 11:00 am
The Vice President will attend and deliver remarks at a memorial service in honor of Representative Donald Payne

North Carolina Democrats Embroiled in Sex Harassment Scandal

I do hope this woman has proof Parmley gave her HIV - I guess you can be HIV-positive but not have AIDS - rather than make unsubstantiated accusations.

But frankly., I just don't understand how *anyone* can contract HIV/AIDS these days. Don't have unprotected sex! Don't share needles! How hard are those two little rules to follow? But apparently, straight women are leading the way in new cases of HIV. (There are people who deliberately try to catch AIDs, believe it or not, because they get free medicine out of it, but most people get it because they refuse to have their partners use condoms.)
 
North Carolina Democrats Embroiled in Sex Harassment Scandal

RUSH: North Carolina. There's a big sex scandal going on in North Carolina, too. It started out small. People thought, "No big deal," but it has sort of blossomed. That may be wrong word. It's expanded here. This is from The Daily Caller: "Leading NC Democrat, Already Accused of Sexual Harassment, Now Faces Ex-Girlfriend’s HIV Accusation." Now, this is a "leading Democrat" in the state of North Carolina. Here's the story from The Daily Caller: "Rebecca Burgin, a long-time former girlfriend of former North Carolina Democratic Party executive director Jay Parmley, told The Daily Caller that she believes Parmley infected her with HIV. Parmley resigned on April 15 amid sexual harassment allegations from a former young male staffer.
"Burgin, a 29-year-old Oklahoman, has shared her story with TheDC, including the revelation that Parmley's lawyer offered her health coverage, paid for by the Democratic National Committee, to manage her illness," which is HIV. "She ultimately declined that offer, fearing it would constitute insurance fraud. Parmley, she said, abandoned her a few months later. ... Parmley's ex-girlfriend Rebecca Burgin told TheDC that Parmley forever changed her life by making her HIV-positive. She's worried, she said, that Parmley may have done to someone else what he did to her. ... Burgin told TheDC that she believes Parmley 'prey[s] on' younger adults like her and Ortega," the guy.
"'When Jay and I met, I was 20 and he was 32,' she said. 'To me, it seems to be a pattern, potentially… The unnerving thing to me is that it looks like he uses his position of authority [as a Democrat[ to prey on younger adults.' ... Parmley served as national president of the Young Democrats of America from 1999 to 2001, then becoming executive director and chairman of the Oklahoma Democratic Party until 2005. It was during this period that he and Burgin dated," when she came down with HIV.
Now, the local Drive-By Media in North Carolina missed this whole story. The local Drive-Bys in North Carolina simply reported the sexual shenanigans, here. Some Democrat guy was having sex with a woman out of wedlock or some such thing. I don't know what it was, but that was all it had, and then they had accompanying stories were: "Gee, we hope this really doesn't build and become so big that has a negative effect on the Democrat convention here," and they just tried to sweep it under the rug. The Chapel Hill, Raleigh local media tried to sweep it under the rug. Here comes The Daily Caller with the details of what happened. We have to read about the people the Democrats hire such as this Parmley guy in the national press, the conservative media.
The chairman of the North Carolina Democrat National Committee party said just last week the Jay Parmley is just "a friendly guy." No big deal! But now his female victim... And, by the way, in feminist circles, the woman never lies, right? Do I have that right? The woman never lies. If she's sexually harassed, she's harassed harassed. But she's got HIV. And she's afraid he's out passing it on to other people. And this is a leading Democrat. And this story hits today, the day Obama gets to North Carolina. My sources on the ground in North Carolina say that the Democrat Party in that state is in big trouble, falling apart. This is just one example of it. It's why Obama's there so often. And don't forget Dumplin,' the governor. She's done some strange stuff and she's not running for reelection. They've got their convention there. This is gonna be an important state in the presidential race.

24 Apr 2012, Tues, Rush Limbaugh headlines

--Mikhail Gorbachev Endorses Barack Obama


--NAGS Need Cash, Plan Hush Rush Confab


--CNN: Obama Crowd Half the Size of '08


--Comedy: The "Paper of Record" Promises "Hard Look" at President Obama


--New York Times Employees Fit to Be Tied Over Little Pinch's Pension Changes


--Where The Oprah Went Wrong


--Obama Would Rather Forgive Student Loans Than Create Jobs for Graduates


--How My Dad Viewed My Unconventional Career -- and What It Has to Do with Modern-Day Democrats


--Don't Let Politics Interfere with Your Love for a Sports Team


--A Quick Plug for This Website


Stack of Stuff:
--North Carolina Democrats Embroiled in Sex Harassment Scandal.
--GOP is Winning the War on Women
--Boehner: Dems Rigged Student Loan Rates to Rise in Election Year.

24 Apr, 2012, Tues, SoS Clinton and Stff Schedule

SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON
9:15 a.m. Secretary Clinton meets with the assistant secretaries, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

10:00 a.m. Secretary Clinton participates in the presentation of the Distinguished Service Award to John Beyrle, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

12:00 p.m. Secretary Clinton holds a swearing-in ceremony for Tara Sonenshine, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

1:15 p.m. Secretary Clinton holds a meeting on Iran, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

2:00 p.m. Secretary Clinton holds a bilateral meeting with Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr, at the Department of State.
(JOINT PRESS AVAILABILITY FOLLOWING BILATERAL MEETING AT APPROXIMATELY 2:50 PM)

3:30 p.m. Secretary Clinton meets with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and National Security Adviser Tom Donilon about China, at the White House.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY WHITE HOUSE)

4:15 p.m. Secretary Clinton meets with Salvadoran Foreign Minister Hugo Martinez, at the Department of State.
(CAMERA SPRAY PRECEDING BILATERAL MEETING)

8:30 p.m. Secretary Clinton delivers the keynote address at the TIME 100 Gala, at Lincoln Center, in New York City.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

DEPUTY SECRETARY BILL BURNS
11:00 a.m. Deputy Secretary Burns attends the swearing-in ceremony for Tara Sonenshine, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

12:30 p.m. Deputy Secretary Burns attends a meeting at the White House.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY WHITE HOUSE)

3:45 p.m. Deputy Secretary Burns meets with a delegation from the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

4:30 p.m. Deputy Secretary Burns meets with Torgeir Larsen, Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

6:00 p.m. Deputy Secretary Burns delivers remarks at the Eurasia Foundation’s 2012 Gala Dinner, at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

DEPUTY SECRETARY TOM NIDES
Deputy Secretary Nides is on travel in Minnesota where he will host a town hall with employees from the Minneapolis Passport Agency and the DS Resident Office. In addition, he will speak with students at the University of Minnesota. Deputy Secretary Nides will also attend the Humphrey Public Leadership Awards dinner to present Vice President Walter Mondale with the 2012 Distinguished Educator Award.

USAID ADMINISTRATOR RAJ SHAH
10:00 a.m. Administrator Shah meets with Dr. Omar Zakhilwal, Finance Minister of Afghanistan, at USAID.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

5:30 p.m. Administrator Shah delivers remarks to celebrate gains in maternal mortality reduction, at the Russell Senate Office Building, in Washington, DC.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY US SENATE)

UNDER SECRETARY FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH, ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT ROBERT HORMATS
Under Secretary Hormats is on foreign travel in Paris, France through April 25 to participate in the Deauville Partnership meetings.

8:00 a.m. Under Secretary Hormats attends a meeting of the Deauville Partnership – Governance Pillar, in Paris, France.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

10:30 a.m. Under Secretary Hormats attends the Deauville Partnership Conference on Building Open, Fair, and Transparent Government for Growth and Development, in Paris, France.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

2:00 p.m. Under Secretary Hormats attends the continuation of the Deauville Partnership Conference, in Paris, France.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

5:30 p.m. Under Secretary Hormats attends meetings of the Deauville Partnership – Governance Pillar, in Paris, France.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

6:30 p.m. Under Secretary Hormats attends an OECD reception, in Paris, France.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

UNDER SECRETARY FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS TARA SONENSHINE

12:00 p.m. Under Secretary Sonenshine takes the oath of office as administered by Secretary Clinton, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

UNDER SECRETARY FOR CIVILIAN SECURITY, DEMOCRACY, AND HUMAN RIGHTS MARIA OTERO

1:30 p.m. Under Secretary Otero meets with a group of Indonesian Parliamentarians at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

7:30 p.m. Under Secretary Otero attends a farewell dinner in honor of Ambassador Julissa Reynoso, at the Uruguayan Ambassador’s residence, in Washington, DC.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

ACTING UNDER SECRETARY FOR ARMS CONTROL AND INTERNATIONAL SECURITY ROSE GOTTEMOELLER

11:30 a.m. Acting Under Secretary Gottemoeller delivers remarks on post-Cold War thinking at the “Unfinished Business” Conference, at the National Defense University.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

CHIEF OF PROTOCOL AMBASSADOR CAPRICIA PENAVIC MARSHALL
2:00 p.m. Ambassador Marshall and Ambassador CdeBaca deliver remarks at a briefing for foreign Deputy Chiefs of Mission on policies regarding the treatment of foreign domestic workers employed by diplomats, at the State Department.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

6:30 p.m. Ambassador Marshall hosts a reception for members of the Diplomatic Corps at Blair House with Cultural Tourism DC to launch “Passport DC,” an annual month long celebration of the international and diplomatic community in Washington DC.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR CONFLICT AND STABILIZATION OPERATIONS FREDERICK BARTON
10:00 a.m. Assistant Secretary Barton meets representatives from the Alliance for Peacebuilding, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIAN AFFAIRS ROBERT BLAKE
Assistant Secretary Blake is on foreign travel to Tokyo, Japan; Manila, Philippines; and PACOM, Hawaii.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION AFFAIRS ESTHER BRIMMER
Assistant Secretary of Brimmer is on travel to Miami, FL.

12:00 p.m. Assistant Secretary Brimmer participates in a roundtable lunch meeting on LGBT issues hosted by Save Dade, in Miami, FL.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

2:00 p.m. Assistant Secretary Brimmer delivers remarks to Florida college students and community members at Miami-Dade College on the role of multilateral diplomacy, in Miami, FL.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

4:00 p.m. Assistant Secretary Brimmer meets with members of the American Jewish Committee (Broward County), in Miami, FL.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

6:30 p.m. Assistant Secretary Brimmer delivers remarks to Council of Foreign Relations members, in Coral Gables, FL.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT AFFAIRS WILLIAM BROWNFIELD
4:30 p.m. Assistant Secretary Brownfield meets with Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor to discuss judicial exchange programs with Mexico and Colombia, at the Supreme Court.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE TO MONITOR AND COMBAT TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS LUIS CDEBACA
2:00 p.m. Ambassador CdeBaca delivers remarks at a briefing for foreign Deputy Chiefs of Mission on policies regarding the treatment of foreign domestic workers employed by diplomats, at the State Department.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR INTERNATIONAL SECURITY AND NONPROLIFERATION TOM COUNTRYMAN

12:00 p.m. Assistant Secretary Countryman hosts a luncheon meeting with Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR ECONOMIC AND BUSINESS AFFAIRS JOSE FERNANDEZ
Assistant Secretary Fernandez is on foreign travel in Tripoli, Libya April 23-24.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS MIKE HAMMER
6:30 p.m. Assistant Secretary Hammer attends a reception at the Russian Embassy, in Washington, DC.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR WESTERN HEMISPHERE AFFAIRS ROBERTA JACOBSON
11:00 a.m. Assistant Secretary Jacobson attends the swearing-in ceremony for Tara Sonenshine, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS AND LABOR MICHAEL POSNER
8:00 a.m. Assistant Secretary Posner will attend the U.S.- China Legal Experts Dialogue, in Beijing, China.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR POLITICAL-MILITARY AFFAIRS ANDREW SHAPIRO
2:00 p.m. Assistant Secretary Shapiro participates in a roundtable discussion at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, in Washington DC.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

COORDINATOR FOR INTERNATIONAL INFORMATION PROGRAMS DAWN L. MCCALL

11:00 a.m. Coordinator McCall attends the swearing-in ceremony for Tara Sonenshine, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL AFFAIRS ANN STOCK
10:00 a.m. Assistant Secretary Stock along with Chief Spokesperson for USA Pavilion 2012 Philippe Cousteau, Jr. will brief the press on the United States’ Pavilion at the World Expo 2012 Yeosu, at the Foreign Press Center in Washington, DC
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

12:00 p.m. Assistant Secretary Stock attends the swearing-in ceremony for Tara Sonenshine, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

GLOBAL AIDS COORDINATOR AMBASSADOR ERIC GOOSBY
Ambassador Goosby leads a joint U.S.-UNAIDS delegation, along with UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe, to Abuja, Nigeria. They will meet with the Nigerian Minister of Health Onyebuchi Chukwu to discuss progress on the joint PEPFAR-UNAIDS initiative on scaling up Preventing Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE FOR GLOBAL WOMEN’S ISSUES MELANNE VERVEER
10:00 a.m. Ambassador Verveer meets with Ambassador Swanee Hunt, Founder and Chair of the Institute for Inclusive Security, and a delegation of Pakistani women, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

2:00 p.m. Ambassador Verveer meets with Meryl Frank, expert on women's political participation, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

3:00 p.m. Ambassador Verveer meets with Ambassador Andras Simonyi, Managing Director of the Center for Transatlantic Relations at Johns Hopkins University, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

4:00 p.m. Ambassador Verveer meets with Maureen Aung-Thwin, Open Society Institute Director of the Burma Project/Southeast Asia Initiative, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

7:00 p.m. Ambassador Verveer keynotes the Dinner of Hope event dedicated to the Lighting a Billion Lives program, hosted by the Energy and Resources Institute as part of the U.S.-India Energy Partnership Summit, at the Mayflower Hotel, in Washington, DC.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS KRIS BALDERSTON
12:00 p.m. Special Representative Balderston attends the swearing-in ceremony for Tara Sonenshine, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

SPECIAL ENVOY AND COORDINATOR FOR INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AFFAIRS CARLOS PASCUAL
Ambassador Pascual is on foreign travel in London through April 26 for meetings of the High Level Group of the UN Secretary General’s Sustainable Energy for All initiative and the annual Clean Energy Ministerial.

SPECIAL ENVOY TO MONITOR AND COMBAT ANTI-SEMITISM HANNAH ROSENTHAL
Special Envoy Rosenthal is on foreign travel in Sweden.

10:00 a.m. Special Envoy Rosenthal meets with the Jewish Congregation, in Malmö, Sweden.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

12:00 p.m. Special Envoy Rosenthal meets with the Mayor of Malmö, Ilmar Reepalu, in Malmö, Sweden.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

1:15 p.m. Special Envoy Rosenthal meets with members of the Interreligious Dialogue Forum, in Malmö, Sweden.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

3:15 p.m. Special Envoy Rosenthal attends lectures in honor of Raoul Wallenberg at Lund University, in Malmö, Sweden.
(MEDIA TO BE DETERMINED)

DIRECTOR OF POLICY PLANNING JAKE SULLIVAN
6:00 p.m. Director Sullivan attends the CFR roundtable on Economic Statecraft, in Washington, DC.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

PRESS BRIEFING SCHEDULE
12:30 p.m. Daily Press Briefing with Spokesperson Victoria Nuland

24 Apr 2012, Tue, Pres and VP Schedules

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule
 No public schedule

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/vice-president
No public schedule

Rush News: N.O.W. Schedules Anti-Rush Webinar

From Radio Ink: N.O.W. Schedules Anti-Rush Webinar
Calling it a strategy session with Media Matters, the National Organization for Women has scheduled a May 2nd webinar called "Enough Rush" as the two groups continue to try and get Rush Limbaugh taken off the air. Rush has been the target for both groups for many years. He's nearing his 24th year in syndication. Still playing off the Sandra Fluke incident, the webinar preview says the webinar will be "an overview of the current status of Rush Limbaugh and his airers and sponsors, as well how your chapter can take action to get Rush off the air once and for all."
The webinar page states, "This is a strategy session for NOW leaders only. Please do not publicize on broader lists or public web pages." Here is the link to that page. http://www.radioink.com/goout.asp?u=http://action.now.org/o/5996/t/0/blastContent.jsp?email_blast_KEY=121360

Who is Mary Matalin

She is hosting Rush's show today. I'm a bit surprised - I don't think his show has ever been guest-hosted by a woman before - it's usually Mark Davis or Mary Steyn.

From Wikipedia:
Mary Joe Matalin (born August 19, 1953) is an American political consultant, well known for her work with the Republican Party. She was an assistant to President George W. Bush and counselor to Vice President Dick Cheney until 2003. Matalin has been chief editor of Threshold Editions, a conservative publishing imprint at Simon & Schuster, since March 2005. She is married to Democratic political consultant James Carville. She appears in the award-winning documentary film Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story and also played herself, opposite her husband, James Carville, John Slattery, and Mary McCormack in the short lived, HBO series K Street.


Early life
Matalin grew up in the Chicago suburb of Calumet City, Illinois, the daughter of Eileen (née Emerson), who ran beauty salons, and Steven Matalin, a steel mill worker. Her paternal grandparents were Croatian immigrants and her mother was of Irish descent. Matalin attended Thornton Fractional North High School and attended Western Illinois University for college and Hofstra University School of Law, where she was enrolled for one year before dropping out.

Career
Matalin's first campaign was Illinois Lieutenant Governor Dave O'Neal's bid for the U.S. Senate in 1980, a race O'Neal lost to Alan Dixon.[citation needed] After O'Neal's loss, Matalin began her career with the Republican National Committee, where she would remain for nearly two decades as a key Republican strategist. Leaving briefly to attend Hofstra University School of Law, Matalin dropped out after just one year, and in 1984 returned to the RNC.

She rose quickly, as an aide to Richard Bond and Chief of Staff to RNC co-Chairperson Betty Heitman in 1985. A year later, Matalin gained national attention when she joined George H. W. Bush's 1988 presidential campaign, working as both Deputy Political Director and Midwest Regional Political Director in the primaries. After the election, Matalin was appointed Chief of Staff to then RNC Chairman Lee Atwater. In that capacity, she would in effect run the RNC for nearly a year, as Atwater—his health declining due to an inoperable brain tumor—spent 170 days in the hospital between his diagnosis in early March 1990 and eventual death on March 29, 1991.

In 1992, Matalin served as the deputy campaign manager for political operations on Bush's reelection campaign. Notably, she served in this role while dating her future husband, James Carville, who was chief strategist for the Clinton campaign.

Matalin was a host of CNN's Crossfire political debate show, and in 1993, she co-hosted Equal Time, which aired on the CNBC business television channel. Matalin was also the host of her own talk radio show in the 1990s, "The Mary Matalin Show", which was carried on the CBS Radio Network. She is currently on the nationally syndicated radio program Both Sides Now w/ Huffington & Matalin, hosted by Mark Green and aired weekends on 120 stations.

Matalin, a colleague of Karl Rove, worked for Vice President Dick Cheney in the White House. She attended meetings of the White House Iraq Group (WHIG), an internal White House task force convened in August 2002 (seven months before the 2003 Invasion of Iraq). WHIG was the group that presented to the US public of the threat of Saddam Hussein's violations of international law in his refusal to cooperate with United Nations weapons inspectors.

Matalin resigned her responsibilities as of December 31, 2002.

Matalin also appeared alongside her husband James Carville in HBO's 2003 television show K Street where she and her husband played versions of themselves as they lobbied real and fictional politicians. The show was directed by Academy Award winner Steven Soderbergh and featured a cast of fictional and real characters working in the political sphere.

In March 2005, Matalin was hired as chief editor of a new conservative publishing imprint, Threshold Editions, for CBS-owned Simon & Schuster. On August 1, 2008, this division released The Obama Nation, written by Jerome Corsi who co-authored Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry.

In April 2006, she was appointed Treasurer of Virginia Republican Senator George Allen's re-election committee. She worked on the presidential campaign of Fred Thompson until January 2008, when Thompson dropped out of the race.

In 2008, Matalin joined the Board of Directors at The George Washington University's Cheney Cardiovascular Institute.

Matalin appears in the 2008 award-winning documentary on Lee Atwater, Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story. Speaking about Lee, she says, "They had to kill the messenger because they couldn’t kill the message. They had to turn him into the Boogie Man. Satan incarnate.”

On April 26, 2009, Matalin returned to CNN as a political contributor, joining her husband, James Carville on a special "First 100 Days" edition of State of the Union with John King.

Personal life
In October, 1993, she married James Carville, a political strategist for candidates of the Democratic Party. Matalin had been married twice previously and had also maintained a long domestic partnership with Washington attorney Michael Carvin, but Carville had not been married before.

They were married in New Orleans. Matalin and Carville have two daughters, Matalin Mary "Matty" Carville and Emerson Normand "Emma" Carville. Both Matalin and Carville have gone on record saying that they do not talk politics at home.

The best example of contention between the two, aside from appearances on talk shows, is the 1993 movie The War Room. In the 1992 political campaign, Matalin and Carville were staffing opposing campaigns. Matalin wrote the best-selling book All's Fair: Love, War and Running for President with Carville and co-author Peter Knobler. In April 2004, she published the book Letters to My Daughters.

In 2008, Carville and Matalin — at the urging of Scott Cowen, president of Tulane University, where Carville now teaches — moved their family to New Orleans. On April 26, 2009, the Times-Picayune carried a joint op-ed "Point of View" by Mary Matalin and James Carville on their reasons for settling in New Orleans.

Matalin and Carville are profiled in the Politics chapter of the book The Compatibility Matrix.