Tuesday, July 31, 2012

What are the odds of Obama being related to 1st American slave?

There is no way hell that the first American slave could be related to Obama - on his mother's side, supposedly.

No, I'm sorry, there is no way.
"A team of genealogists has found evidence that Barack Obama..." (panting) could be, it might be, it could be, it is, slave blood.  That's right.  The first recorded slave. Not just any old slave, but Obama's slave blood is traceable to the first slave, which, after Eve was created, was Adam.  I kid.  Here's the story. 

"A team of genealogists has found evidence that President Barack Obama could be a descendent of an African slave -- but not through the lineage of his black father, the most likely route researchers had followed and exhausted." Oh, yeah, there has been an exhaustive search.  They've been searching DNA, red blood cells, white blood cells, blue blood, red blood, white, they've been search everything.  They've been tracing markers and guardrails, anything they could find, and they'd exhausted it all.  "The link, genealogists with Ancestry.com said Monday --" yesterday, for those of you in Rio Linda, "-- is, in fact, through an examination of his white mother’s family history.  'We were surprised and excited to make that connection,' said Joseph Shumway, a member of the Utah-based Ancestry.com team.
"Obama’s father was from Kenya and his mother was from Kansas. It had been generally assumed that the president had no slave ancestors..." Remember, Democrats couldn't stop talking about this during the '08 campaign. It was all about whether Obama was authentic.  Remember that?  The real reason the Reverend Sharpton was not in the tank from the get-go was because Biden was out there talking about finally the Democrats had a clean, articulate black guy.  And Sharpton said, well, I take showers, what do you mean? How come Obama's the first clean guy?  So he wasn't on board.  And then, folks, I'm not making it up, trying to be funny.  I know it sounds funny.  There was an ongoing debate of Obama's authenticity.  You can't, in the Democrat Party, be an authentic black unless you have ancestral traces to the Deep South and slavery.  'Cause you're not down for the struggle otherwise. 
If you don't have a provable, documentable genealogical trace to slavery, then you are not down for the struggle, and questions of -- (interruption)  Well, yeah, you have to be marching, too.  I mean that was qualifier number two, you had to march.  But a lot of people marched that were not with slave blood.  Well, Heston marched.  James Garner marched.  A lot of people who weren't alive then marched!  Just listen to 'em tell you.  By now, everybody, every white liberal marched. Every white liberal in Hollywood marched. 
But, anyway, I'm getting distracted here.  "Researchers couldn’t find it through the lineage of his father. However, no one had yet performed any exhaustive research into the lineage of his white mother, who turns out to have a mixed-raced family history. Ancestry.com now said the maternal line traces back to one of the first documented African slaves." Folks, it's not just slave blood. It goes back to slave number one.  They find this in late July during the summer of Obama's reelection campaign.  He's now authentic.  They're breathlessly reporting all of this.  However, folks, if you actually read the article that AP writes you'll see that the researchers say they cannot establish a definitive link because of gaps in the Punch family history.

The bravery of Saudi Arabian women

Rush was making a joke today about the IOC relenting and letting a Saudi Arabian judoka wear her hair covering while fighting in her match. Usually judoka's - that's a "judo player" or participant - doesn't wear anything on their head because it could get entangled in the hands of someone trying to throw her and cause an injury...

But that's the only way this female athlete from Saudi would be allowed to participate by her country.

Ever seen Saudi women - or Muslim women in general - trying to run? They've got to wear full body gear - no inch of flesh showing anywhere except their faces.

Ever seen the full-body swimsuit they have to wear if they want to go swimming?

I have nothing but admiration and respect for any Muslim woman who risks her life - yes, she risks her life - to become an athlete.

There was a story in the last summer Olympics, some Islam woman wanted to compete.

I paraphrase, but it was something like, "Wouldn't you be proud of her if a Saudi Arabian woman won a medal?"

And the response was, "Hell no. She would have disgraced herself by appearing in public and she deserves to die."

The suicide rate of women who lived in secular Islamic countries - that have turned into Sharia-law ruled countries - has trebled. That's because where once they were free - they could leave their house when they wanted and do what they wanted - that's all over. Now, they can't leave their house without a male relative, they can't drive (women in Saudi can't drive), and if their husband suspects them of being unfaithful...he gets to cut off their nose or throw acid on them and gets away with it!

WH Denies Obama is Whipped

If a man does what his wife or girlfriend says, is he "whipped?"

I've always hated that term. Maybe he just sees that his wife or girlfriend makes a lot of sense/

As for Obama listening to Valerie Jarrett - why not? He spent 16 hours thinking about whether or not he should send American troops secretly into a country that is not friendly to us (proof - the poor sap who gave us the intel is now in jail over there!) and kill someone. That's something that took a lot of thinking about...and gee whiz, Bin Laden wasn't going anywhere - he thought he was safe.

WH Denies Obama is Whipped
RUSH: You know, yesterday we talked about a new book by a guy named Richard Miniter.  This is the book that claims Obama called off the raid to get Osama Bin Laden three times at the urging of a woman, Valerie Jarrett.  A White House spokesman is now calling that a fabrication.  But you have to love this.  On the day Newsweek comes out with a cover saying that Romney is a wimp, the White House is denying that Obama's whipped, that whatever the women in the White House tell him to do or not to do is what he does or doesn't do.  And yet they say that Romney is the wimp. 

31 July 2012, Tues, Rush Limbaugh headlines

--Romney's Trip Has Been So Successful Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Endorsed Obama
--Twitter Kills Account of NBC Olympics Critic, But Spike Lee Still Free to Tweet?
--Cautionary Tale: India Goes Dark
--Milton Friedman Schools Phil Donahue (and Barack Obama) on Capitalism and Greed
--Media Overjoyed: Genealogists Link Obama to the First Slave... But They Can't Prove It
--The Granddaughter of the Former Two-Term Mayor of Rio Linda -- and She Admits It!
--Remembering the World Before Rush
--Mitt's Olympics Ad Annoys Obama Team
--Left Tries Racism in Latest Attempt to Combat "You Didn't Build That"
--Media Targets Romney Again for Telling the Truth About Israel and the Palestinians
--GE's PC Olympics
--Thank the Roads and Bridges for EIB

Stack of Stuff
--NBC Fails to Recognize Evander Holyfield on London Street.
--Unfortunate Headline: Republican Hopefuls Jockey to Fill Barney Frank's Seat
--WH Denies Obama is Whipped
--PPP: Romney Up with Connecticut Independents
--Taranto: What Happens If Obama Loses
--AT&T Comes Through on iPad Problem
--Not Fired Up for NFL Yet.

31 Jul 2012, Tues, SoS Clinton and Staff Schedule

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/appt/2012/07/195790.htm
SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON

Secretary Clinton departs on foreign travel.
DEPUTY SECRETARY BURNS

Deputy Secretary Burns is on foreign travel to Mexico and Colombia for bilateral meetings and to lead the U.S. delegation to the July 31 U.S.-Colombia High Level Partnership Dialogue in Bogota.

DEPUTY SECRETARY TOM NIDES

8:00 a.m. Deputy Secretary Nides meets with General Mike Moeller, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

UNDER SECRETARY FOR POLITICAL AFFAIRS WENDY SHERMAN

10:45 a.m.
Under Secretary Sherman meets with German State Secretary Michael Link, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

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

8:30 a.m.
Under Secretary Hormats delivers remarks on “Re-Engaging Burma? Reform, Sanctions, and the Road Ahead,” sponsored by the Washington International Trade Association, at the Microsoft Offices.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

10:30 a.m. Under Secretary Hormats holds a conference call with John J. Castellani, President and CEO of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

Under Secretary Hormats departs on foreign travel to Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa, August 2-12. In Botswana and Namibia, Under Secretary Hormats meets with the relevant ministries, the business community, and local conservation leaders. In South Africa he participates in the U.S.-South African Strategic Dialogue, serves as part of the U.S Chamber of Commerce’s business delegation and participates in the U.S.-South Africa Business Summit.

ACTING UNDER SECRETARY FOR ARMS CONTROL AND INTERNATIONAL SECURITY ROSE GOTTEMOELLER

9:00 a.m.
Acting Under Secretary Gottemoeller attends an event hosted by the Bureau of Intelligence and Research and the National Intelligence Council titled “Emerging Issues in European Conventional Arms Control” at the University Club, in Washington, DC.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

12:00 p.m. Acting Under Secretary Gottemoeller speaks to the Executive Women at State group about the negotiation of the New START Treaty and other nuclear policy issues, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR EAST ASIAN AND PACIFIC AFFAIRS KURT CAMPBELL


Assistant Secretary Campbell is on foreign travel through August 7 to the Pacific Islands.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR AFRICAN AFFAIRS JOHNNIE CARSON

Assistant Secretary Carson accompanies Secretary Clinton on foreign travel.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR INTERNATIONAL SECURITY AND NONPROLIFERATION TOM COUNTRYMAN

10:45 a.m.
Assistant Secretary Countryman participates in a taping of the Conversations with America Program with Deepti Choubey of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR ECONOMIC AND BUSINESS AFFAIRS JOSE FERNANDEZ


Assistant Secretary Fernandez is on foreign travel in Bogota, Colombia to co-chair the Economic and Social Opportunities Working Group of the U.S.-Colombia High Level Partnership Dialogue on July 31.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR EUROPEAN AND EURASIAN AFFAIRS PHIL GORDON

Assistant Secretary Gordon is on foreign travel to Greece and Turkey through July 31.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR WESTERN HEMISPHERE AFFAIRS ROBERTA JACOBSON

Assistant Secretary Jacobson accompanies Deputy Secretary Burns on foreign travel to Colombia for bilateral meetings and to participate in the U.S.-Colombia High Level Partnership Dialogue in Bogota.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR POPULATION, REFUGEES AND MIGRATION ANNE RICHARD

Assistant Secretary Richard is on foreign travel through August 3 to Burkina Faso and Geneva, Switzerland. In Burkina Faso, Assistant Secretary Richard will join UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Antonio Guterres to review the situation of refugees from the crisis in Mali. She will also visit programs for family planning and fistula care in Ouagadougou and meet with the First Lady of Burkina Faso Chantal Campaoré. In Geneva, Assistant Secretary Richard will address media jointly with UN High Commissioner Guterres and will also meet with other donors.

AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE AND COORDINATOR FOR COUNTERTERRORISM DANIEL BENJAMIN

12:30 p.m. Ambassador Benjamin briefs the press on the release of Country Reports on Terrorism 2011 at the State Department Daily Press Briefing, at the Department of State.
(OPEN PRESS COVERAGE)

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

Ambassador Rapp is on foreign travel to Bujumbura, Burundi, to participate in official meetings on global criminal justice issues.

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

10:00 a.m. Ambassador Verveer holds a conference call with Ernst & Young Global Vice Chair Beth Brooke, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

2:00 p.m.
Ambassador Verveer meets with a White House representative, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

3:00 p.m.
Ambassador Verveer meets with Arison Group Founder Shari Arison, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

5:30 p.m.
Ambassador Verveer meets with UN Foundation CEO Kathy Calvin, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS KRIS BALDERSTON

Special Representative Balderston is on foreign travel in Guatemala through August 1 to lead a Clean Cookstoves Delegation along with the Director of U.S. Cookstoves Initiatives Jacob Moss and the Senior Director for Strategic Partnerships at the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves Leslie Cordes. The delegation will meet with high-level representatives from government, private sector, and non-governmental organizations to discuss new opportunities for cooperation around the Global Alliance for Clean Coosktoves..
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR GLOBAL INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS RETA JO LEWIS

Special Representative Lewis is on foreign travel in Vladivostok, Russia to promote U.S.-Russia Subnational Dialogue and Engagement.

11:00 a.m. LOCAL Special Representative Lewis meets with journalists from Konkurrent Newspaper, at the U.S. Consulate.
(OPEN TO INVITED PRESS)

SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE TO MUSLIM COMMUNITIES FARAH PANDITH


Special Representative Pandith is on foreign travel to Burma and Cambodia through August 3 to meet with civil society groups, government officials, youth, and participate in Ramadan activities.

DIRECTOR OF POLICY PLANNING JAKE SULLIVAN

Director Sullivan accompanies Secretary Clinton on foreign travel. 
PRESS BRIEFING SCHEDULE
12:30 p.m. The Bureau of Counterterrorism’s Ambassador-at-Large, Daniel Benjamin, will present the Country Reports on Terrorism 2011 in the Press Briefing Room (2209). This event is ON-camera and on-the-record.
An OFF-camera, on-the-record briefing with Acting Deputy Spokesperson Patrick Ventrell will follow.

31 Jul 2012, Pres and VP Schedules

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule

10:30 am

The President and the Vice President receive the Presidential Daily Briefing
Local Event Time:
10:30 AM EDT
Oval Office
Closed Press
 
 
VP has the same schedule.
 
 

Monday, July 30, 2012

Why the third gymnast on a team can't compete

I've been watching the Olympics... it was interesting to watch ping pong, the way the guys would hold the ball, stare at it, try to "be the ball" before they served, so funny...and some kind of hand-soccer game that I'd never seen before...

Anyway, gymnastics. Jordyn Wieber, supposedly the best woman on the US team, placed third behind her countrywomen. So 2 girls - but not her - get to go  to the team finals.

A caller said:
CALLER:  The judges, they don't let them compete.  They changed the rules a couple years back that they take the top two from each country to compete in the finals.  So in the case of the USA, we have three girls, and only two can go, so the third girl, she doesn't get to compete in the finals, even though she would be the top four or five in 24 competing

And called this an example of socialism.
I've been trying to find out if this was a rule newly instituted, but haven't been able to do so.

Meantime there's also been controversy on the men's side, where the Japanese protested a score, the judges got together, looked at video, and said, yeah, he should have been scored higher - when everyone agreed he deserved his first mark.


 Ah, the joys of the Olympics

30 July 2012, Mon, Limbaugh headlines

--Collectivist Gift to Obama: Olympic Opening Ceremony Honors National Health Care!
--A Twitter Controversy with Ice-T
--Pathetic Liberals at Newsweek Recycle Wimp Cover -- and Drag Me Into It This Time
--The Political Media Complex is Broken
--The Nanny of New York Strikes Again
--CEO of Buckyballs: Save Our Balls
--Elizabeth Warren Ad: I Will Do for You What the Communists Have Done for China
--12-Year-Old with a Chip Dilemma
--14-Year-Old Educates the Host

Stack of Stuff
--Rasmussen: Hope for Future Generations at All-Time Low, 55% Want Obamacare Repeal
-- Claire McCaskill in Trouble
--Chavez Endorses Obama, Walesa Endorses Romney
--White House Lied About Churchill Bust

2 Olympic Athletes Banned For Making Racist Tweets

There are hundreds of athletes at the Olympics, so to have only two of them making racist tweets is not that much of a percentage...

But you do have to wonder how stupid these people are. You can not say anything these days that sounds even remotely racist without losing your job...how can they not know this? Well, you can if you're a minority yourself, but if you're in the majority, you've got to keep your mouth shut.

I'm not sure how I feel about this.

The one tweet I saw from a woman soccer player, I think, just kind of joked about African immigrants...didn't seem to begregious to me but she's gone.

Today another athlete, and I forget his nationality but his first name was Michel so I'm thinking France - apparently made some kind of "threat" when his team lost to South Korea, and he's gone.

I mean, where does it end? I criticize the black community occasionally on this blog - pointing out the high illegitimate birth-rate, the use of Ebonics instead of English, the low test scores yet getting hired anyway because the guvmint dictates that they must be hired - what if someone decides these criticisms are racist and complains to blogger.com? What if blogger deletes my account without doing an investigation, just because it's easier to delete someone than to spend a bit of time researching an accusation to see if it has any merit. Bang goes my livliehood.

But the "R" word is bandied about so easily and with too much power. For example, anyone who doesn't want illegal aliens pouring into this country, getting free rides at colleges, welfare, etc., are squelched by being accused of racism.  I can remember I was on one movie forum, which has a special folder for "Off topic" stuff - and which is the most popular folder on the board.

There was a thread about illegals, and I was making what I assumed everyone would see as cogent arguments - and then all of a sudden someone called me a racist afraid of the "brown flood". And now all of a sudden I'm labeled as a racist there. No cogent arguments exist for keeping out illegals, apparently - if you don't want illegals in this country it's just because you're a racist. They can't see anything else!

It's like we're living in the Twilight Zone. My objection to illegal aliens is not because they're Mexican, or Asian, or from Haiti, or this, that and the other...it's because they're illegal. The anger is not because these Mexicans, Asians, Haitians, etc. are getting free healthcare, free education, free this and that, it's because they are getting them illegally - with our own Federal government, and the media, complicit in the crime.

And because they feel entitled to them. Case in point the Somali community in St. Paul. Many, many years ago thousands of Somalis were welcomed into St. Paul, set up with all the welfare, etc. Then, about a decade later, the mayor of St Paul asked the new waves of Somali refugees to go elsewhere. The St. Paul welfare system, which had welcomed wave after wave of Somalis in the past, were bankrupt.  They could not afford to give more waves of Somali any more welfare. So they asked the Somalis (the organization bringing their countrymen into the country and settling them in St. Paul, to settle them elsewhere instead.

And oh, the firestorm! Oh, the accusations of racism! Never mind that there just wasn't any money for more Somalis to come to St. Paul. Never mind that previous waves of refugees had been welcomed with open arms. Nope...they were trying to stop more Somalis from coming, and so they were obvious racist.

And of course, once you're called a Racist there's nothing you can do. They had to fold and let the Somalis come. With predictable results.

This is all part and parcel of why Americans are afraid to have a dialog about race in this country. Remember Eric Holder said we were cowards, when he took office a few years ago. Well, it's not cowardice. It's prudence. Just remember the reaction of someone from the NAACP when the white Mitt Romney dared to say to the NAACP that family - marriage - was very important.

"We don't need a white man telling Negroes this," he said.

Although...it's true...they shouldn't need anyone telling them that. It should be obvious.  But people should be able to tell them that without being accused of racism ... because racism has nothing to do with it! Statistics show that kids who come from two-parent families fare best. Regardless of the race of the family. And since that's what it is, statistics, they should be able to be presented without fear of being called racist.

Well...time to bring this rant to an end.


30 July 2012, Monday, SoS Clinton and Staff Schedule

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/appt/2012/07/195626.htm

SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON

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

10:45 a.m. Secretary Clinton meets with the winners of the Summer 2012 Corridor Contest, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

10:50 a.m. Secretary Clinton meets with the Jefferson Science Fellows, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

11:15 a.m. Secretary Clinton meets with Ambassador-designate to Afghanistan Jim Cunningham, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

2:00 p.m. Secretary Clinton delivers remarks on the release of the 2011 International Religious Freedom Report, at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Access to the livestream at state.gov.
(OPEN PRESS COVERAGE)
Pre-set time for cameras: 12:45 p.m. from the 1779 Massachusetts Ave. NW Entrance.
Final access time for journalists and still photographers: 1:15 p.m. from the 1779 Massachusetts Ave. NW Entrance.


DEPUTY SECRETARY BURNS

Deputy Secretary Burns is on foreign travel to Mexico and Colombia for bilateral meetings and to lead the U.S. delegation to the July 31 U.S.-Colombia High Level Partnership Dialogue in Bogota.

DEPUTY SECRETARY TOM NIDES

7:30 a.m. Deputy Secretary Nides meets with Chief Economist Heidi Crebo-Rediker, in Washington, DC.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

2:20 p.m. Deputy Secretary Nides attends a meeting at the White House.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY WHITE HOUSE)

3:30 p.m. Deputy Secretary Nides meets with U.S. Ambassador to Mozambique Douglas Griffiths, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

4:00 p.m. Deputy Secretary Nides participates in the Economic Statecraft Task Force meeting, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

5:30 p.m. Deputy Secretary Nides meets with the President of the Center for Global Development Nancy Birdsall, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

USAID ADMINISTRATOR RAJ SHAH

8:45 a.m.
Administrator Shah meets with Navy Admiral James Stravidis, at USAID.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

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

10:15 a.m.
Under Secretary Hormats delivers opening remarks at a ceremony for the Department of State and USAID 2011-2012 Jefferson Science Fellows, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

4:00 p.m.
Under Secretary Hormats attends the Economic Statecraft Task Force meeting, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

UNDER SECRETARY FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS TARA SONENSHINE

1:00 p.m.
Under Secretary Sonenshine hosts a meet and greet for Congressional staff, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

2:00 p.m. Under Secretary Sonenshine attends the selection committee meeting for Secretary Clinton’s Awards for Corporate Excellence, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

4:15 p.m. Under Secretary Sonenshine meets with U.S. Ambassador to Mozambique Douglas Griffiths, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

ACTING UNDER SECRETARY FOR ARMS CONTROL AND INTERNATIONAL SECURITY ROSE GOTTEMOELLER

4:30 p.m
. Acting Under Secretary Gottemoeller meets with Director of Lawrence Livermore National Lab Penrose Albright, Director of Los Alamos National Laboratory Charles McMillan, and Director of Sandia National Laboratories Paul Hommert, to discuss general arms control and verification issues.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

CHIEF OF PROTOCOL AMBASSADOR CAPRICIA PENAVIC MARSHALL

1:45 p.m.
Ambassador Marshall participates in the Ambassador Credentialing Ceremony with President Obama, at the White House.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY THE WHITE HOUSE)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR INTERNATIONAL SECURITY AND NONPROLIFERATION TOM COUNTRYMAN

1:30 p.m. Assistant Secretary Countryman meets with U.S. Ambassador to Burma Derek Mitchell, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR ECONOMIC AND BUSINESS AFFAIRS JOSE FERNANDEZ


Assistant Secretary Fernandez is on foreign travel in Bogota, Colombia to co-chair the Economic and Social Opportunities Working Group of the U.S.-Colombia High Level Partnership Dialogue on July 31.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR EUROPEAN AND EURASIAN AFFAIRS PHIL GORDON

Assistant Secretary Gordon is on foreign travel to Greece and Turkey through July 31.

ACTING ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR CONFLICT AND STABILIZATION OPERATIONS PATRICIA HASLACH

11:00 a.m. Acting Assistant Secretary Haslach meets with Gerald Talbot, Executive Director of the National Security Professional Development Integration Office, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR WESTERN HEMISPHERE AFFAIRS ROBERTA JACOBSON

Assistant Secretary Jacobson accompanies Deputy Secretary Burns on foreign travel to Mexico and Colombia.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR OCEANS AND INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL AND SCIENTIFIC AFFAIRS KERRI-ANN JONES

10:15 a.m.
Assistant Secretary Jones participates in a ceremony honoring the Department of State and USAID 2011-2012 Jefferson Science Fellows, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

3:00 p.m.
Assistant Secretary Jones addresses Global Health Diplomacy students, at the George P. Shultz National Foreign Affairs Training Center, in Arlington, VA.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS AND LABOR MICHAEL POSNER


1:00 p.m. Assistant Secretary Posner meets with representatives of civil society organizations, think tanks and multilateral and academic institutions on implementing the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR POPULATION, REFUGEES AND MIGRATION ANNE RICHARD

Assistant Secretary Richard is on foreign travel through August 3 to Burkina Faso and Geneva, Switzerland. In Burkina Faso, Assistant Secretary Richard will join UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Antonio Guterres to review the situation of refugees from the crisis in Mali. She will also visit programs for family planning and fistula care in Ouagadougou and meet with the First Lady of Burkina Faso Chantal Campaoré. In Geneva, Assistant Secretary Richard will address media jointly with UN High Commissioner Guterres and will also meet with other donors.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR POLITICAL-MILITARY AFFAIRS ANDREW SHAPIRO

10:30 a.m.
Assistant Secretary Shapiro meets with Brendan Sargeant, Australian Department of Defence, Deputy Secretary for Strategy, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

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

9:00 a.m.
Ambassador Goosby delivers remarks at the National Medical Association Annual Convention and Scientific Assembly, in New Orleans, LA.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

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

8:00 a.m. Ambassador Verveer co-chairs a gender task force between State Dept participants and Embassy Kabul via digital video conference, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

2:00 p.m.
Ambassador Verveer meets with a group of Central American women participating in an international visitors leadership program on gender-based violence, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

3:00 p.m.
Ambassador Verveer meets with Department of Defense Principal Deputy Director of the Task Force for Business and Stability Operations Alisa Stack, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS KRIS BALDERSTON

Special Representative Balderston is on foreign travel in Guatemala through August 1 to lead a Clean Cookstoves Delegation along with the Director of U.S. Cookstoves Initiatives Jacob Moss and the Senior Director for Strategic Partnerships at the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves Leslie Cordes. The delegation will meet with high-level representatives from government, private sector, and non-governmental organizations to discuss new opportunities for cooperation around the Global Alliance for Clean Coosktoves.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR GLOBAL INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS RETA JO LEWIS

Special Representative Lewis is on foreign travel in Russia through July 31 to promote U.S.-Russia Subnational Dialogue and engagements.

10:00 a.m. LOCAL Special Representative Lewis meets with Igor Pushkarev, Mayor of Vladivostok, in Vladivostok, Russia.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

11:00 a.m. LOCAL
Special Representative Lewis meets with Alexander Ivanovich Kostenko, Acting Governor of Primorsky Krai, Russia.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

2:00 p.m. LOCAL
Special Representative Lewis meets with Vladimir Mikhailovich Novikov, Mayor of Artem and Tatyana Nikolayevna, Deputy Mayor of Artem, in Artem, Primorsky Krai, Russia.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

COORDINATOR FOR INTERNATIONAL INFORMATION PROGRAMS DAWN MCCALL

Coordinator McCall travels to Fort Ross, California to participate in the 200th anniversary of the Fort Ross Bicentennial Conference featuring panel discussions on US-Russian Relations and the Bilateral Presidential Commission.

10:30 a.m. PST Coordinator McCall participates in a panel discussion on the U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission on Culture and Exchanges at the Fort Ross U.S-Russian Relations Foundation and the Bilateral Presidential Commission conference, in Sonoma, California.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE TO MUSLIM COMMUNITIES FARAH PANDITH


Special Representative Pandith is on foreign travel to Burma and Cambodia through August 3 to meet with civil society groups, government officials, youth, and participate in Ramadan activities.
PRESS BRIEFING SCHEDULE
12:00 p.m. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, Suzan Johnson Cook, will present the 2011 International Religious Freedom Report in the Press Briefing Room (Room 2209).

The Daily Press Briefing with Spokesperson Victoria Nuland will immediately follow.

30 July 2012, Mon, Pres and VP Schedules

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedulehttp://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule

11:10 am
The President receives the Presidential Daily Briefing
Local Event Time:
11:10 AM EDT
Oval Office
Closed Press

12:30 pm
Press Briefing by Principal Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest
Local Event Time:
12:30 PM EDT
Press Briefing Room

1:45 pm
The President participates in an Ambassador Credentialing Ceremony
Local Event Time:
1:45 PM EDT
Oval Office
Closed Press

3:30 pm
The President departs the White House en route to Joint Base Andrews
Local Event Time:
3:30 PM EDT
South Lawn
Open Press

3:45 pm
The President departs Joint Base Andrews en route to New York City
Local Event Time:
3:45 PM EDT
Travel Pool Coverage

4:40 pm
The President arrives in New York City
Local Event Time:
4:40 PM EDT
John F. Kennedy International Airport
Open Press

8:05 pm
The President delivers remarks at a campaign event
Local Event Time:
8:05 PM EDT
New York City, NoMad Hotel
Print Pool

9:35 pm
The President departs New York City en route to Joint Base Andrews
Local Event Time:
9:35 PM EDT
John F. Kennedy International Airport
Open Press

10:30 pm
The President arrives at Joint Base Andrews
Local Event Time:
10:30 PM EDT
Travel Pool Coverage

10:45 pm
The President arrives at the White House
Local Event Time:
10:45 PM EDT
South Lawn
Open Press

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/vice-president
2:15 pm
The Vice President attends a campaign event
Local Event Time:
1:15 PM CDT
Chicago, Illinois

Sunday, July 29, 2012

You can't change anyone's mind using sarcasm

I've posted often about the Hannity forums - the message boards for the Sean Hannity show.

There's a wide spectrum of folks there - Democrat, Republican, Liberal, Independent, etc.

And it's interesting to watch them post. The forums have rules, you're not supposed to insult other members, etc. And occasionally someone will go whining to the Moderators in the Talk to the Moderators folder, which I've always found odd because it seems like in every thread, everyone is insulting everyone else and being uncivil...

And of course every faction makes fun of every other faction. Although I'd have to say that the most vicious posts come from a few guys on the Republican/Conservative side, all snarky and condescending and trying to put everyone els eon the defensive..

But the thing is...after howsoever many years that each of these people have been posting, I doubt if anyone has changed their opinion about anything based on what someone else  has said, because what someone else has said is invariably sarcastic and/or condescending and enough to set your teeth on edge.

I'm currently seething because of one of the moderators. I think there are 4 of them. Most of t hem are all right, but one of them seems a bit power mad - very condescending and sarcastic, so much so that you just want to call him an idiot - but of course if you do you'll be summarily banned.

I'm tempted to do so regardless, he does need cutting down to size. And I would - I wouldn't mind being banned - if my post would just remain, but of course he'd delete that too. So the satisfaction of calling him out for being a jerk would be tempered by the fact that the people who need to see it might not get their chance!

I didn't think this could still happen....

I always knew there were racist folks around - of all colors - but I didn't think it possible in the year 2012 that someone could actually be denied service from a business because they were black (not because they were dressed inappropriately with underwear hanging out, etc.).

Does put me a bit more in sympathy with these folks who are crying racism all the time...I mean it's got to be hard to live your life, feeling good, but always knowing in the back of your mind that you can still, today,  as a normally dressed and acting human being who just happens to be black, step into a restaurant or a church and be denied service just because you're black.

From ABC News: Mississppi Church Refuses to Marry Black Couple
They had booked their wedding far in advance. The invitations had been sent, the programs printed. But one day before Charles and Te'Andrea Wilson were to be married at the Mississippi church they frequented, they said a pastor told them they would have to find another venue -- because they were black.
There has never been a black wedding at the First Baptist Church in Crystal Springs, Miss., since its founding in 1883. According to Pastor Stan Weatherford, some church members objected so strongly to breaking that precedent, they threatened to oust him from his pastorship.
Rather than risk his job, Weatherford, who is white, said he decided to marry the pair at a black church down the road.
"My 9-year-old was going to the church with us. How would you say to your 9-year-old daughter, 'We cannot get married here because, guess what sweetie, we're black,'" Charles Wilson told ABC's affiliate WAPT-TV.

(Meantime, there's a story out of India. Some Indian woman dressed in a red jacket marched with the athlete contingent, and no one knows who she is. The comments on the article's message board are pretty interesting...not sure if its racist if you are Indian and think Indians from a different region are inferior...would it be called regionalism instead?

Times of India: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/london-olympics-2012/news/Indian-contingent-fumes-at-mystery-woman-in-red/articleshow/15246843.cms

(I won't share the message board posts here but they're rather sad... calling the girl fat (when she was perfectly proportioned) etc., criticizing their country for not doing well in the Olympics and allowing themselves to be" treated poorly" whereas China would never stand for it.... It were the posts from last night that were all about regionalism, apparently the  Kannadigas are looked down upon...

From Wikipedia.com
The Kannada or Kanarese people, known as the Kannadiga, are the people who natively speak the Kannada language. Kannadigas are mainly located in the state of Karnataka in India and in the neighboring states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa and Maharashtra. The English plural is Kanarese, Kannadas, or Kannadigas.

Kannadigas are people who speak Kannada, its variants or its various dialects as their native language.Various districts of Karnataka have mixed variations of dialects like Dharwad Kannada, Sankethi, Naddvara Kannada, Havigannada, Bengaluru Kannada, Are Bhashe, Mysooru Kannada, Kundagannada, etc. Janapadas of Soliga, Badaga and other tribes of Karnataka having rich contribution to Kannada literature have their own style. Many Kannadigas have emigrated to countries like United States of America, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. Apart from native speakers, Kannada is also spoken by Tuluvas, Konkani, Kodavas of Karnataka and Telugu and Tamil settlers in the state.
The Wikipedia article doesn't mention that the Kannadiga are held in contempt by the rest of India...
 

Friday, July 27, 2012

Mark Simone needs to learn the definition of "Context"

I turned on Hannity very briefly today and heard someone named Mark Simone talking. He was talking about Obama's "You didn't build that" statement, and saying, "They're saying we're playing it out of context. Well, we'll air it again, this time in context."

And then they proceed to play it from, "I'm always struck by people who say, "Oh, I must have succeeded because I'm so smart. There's a lot of smart people out there."

That did not establish context. To establish context, Simone should have played it from the beginning, where Obama began with, "A lot of wealthy people endorse my tax plan. They want to give something back...." because - and then he goes on to talk about people getting help from teachers, from our system of government (and it's interesting how people ignore the fact that he said that it was our way of life that allowed people to succeed - you'd think that that is what they'd be harping on because it is that that Obama is hellbent on changing!) and so on and so forth.

Now, don't get me wrong. That doesn't change the fact that Obama's tone was so contemptuous and that he really seemed to believe that hard work wasn't enough to achieve anything.

Simone did continue, and made sense - the bit about how some businesses succeed and some fail, and why would that be if it wasnt all about hard work (well...frankly, it's about money. Most businesses fail within five years because the business owner doesn't have enough capital to see him/her through rough patches). So yes, I still think Obama was in the wrong and more contemptuous of small-business folk then you'd expect, but the fact remains that his words are being taken out of context.

Government Destroying Entrepreneurs and Entrepreneurial Spirit

Rush played some soundbites from Rep Mike Kelly, who got a standing ovation:
It's an amazing story. Someone built [actually renovated] a ballpark in his district, a Little League ballpark, and federal regulators came in and wouldn't open it. They wouldn't allow it to open. On the day they were going to play the first game, the little kiddies are all there about to have their first baseball game, and the federal regulators said, "Nope, you can't open it because the mirrors in the men's room were a quarter of an inch too low on the wall."
and
KELLY: So you want to know the price of regulation? You want to talk about the thousands and thousands of pages that we put on the back of the job creators? You want to talk about creating jobs in America? When you want to see a nation that doesn't want to participate but wants to dominate in the world market, then let them rise! Take the heavy boot off the throat of America's job creators and let them breathe!
and
KELLY: We are so out of touch with the American people. And you know what all this does? It adds layer after layer after layer of cost. And that cost is ultimately paid for by the American consumer. You want to have more revenues, then let the tide rise for all boats! Let us be able to not only survive, but to thrive. I urge all my colleagues, on both sides of the aisle. This is not a left or right issue. This is American issue. I urge you to rise today and vote for HR-4078, and let's let America get back to work!

Romney offends the English

Romney was criticizing London organizers yesterday for not being prepared by the time the Olympics started. And he was telling the truth, by the way - there were quite a few articles about it at the time.

But of course now that they've been criticized, the Brits are banding together against their attacker, Romney.

Not quite as serious, IMHO, in Obama handing back the bust of Churchill or receiving several significant and historical gifts from England and responding with a pack of DVDs that couldn't even be played in England, and giving the Queen of England an IPod of his own speeches...

Having said that, I certainly hope that everything goes smoothly and no lunatics do anything stupid...

27 July 2012, Fri, Rush Limbaugh headlines

--Economy Weakens as Election Nears
--No Joke: The Regime Replicates the Policy That Created the Subprime Mortgage Crisis
--Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA) Gets Standing Ovation on House Floor for Saying What Americans Say to Each Other Every Day
--Is Bam Losing Fundraising Battle?
--Great Romney Ad: "It Worked"
--Thank You from a Converted Lib
--Buchanan: Last Hurrah for the GOP?
--What They Hid in the Highway Bill
--Study Confirms Undeniable Truth of Life #24
--Romney Told the Truth in London
The Left's Stalinist War on Chick-Fil-A
--The Left's Stalinist War on Chick-Fil-A

Jerusaleum or Tel Aviv - a "gotcha" question?

Yesterday, a couple of reporters asked Jay Carney what city did the US consider the capitol of Israel - Tel Aviv or Jerusaleum. Carney couldn't answer the question.


Couldn't That's what the news headline said.


This makes it seem like he didn't actually know the actual capital city of Israel, but of course that wasn't the case. He was just refusing to say. He was WAFFLING. (To use a bingo my opponent used on me last night in a scrabble game.)

Well, he wasn't waffling, really, he was stonewalling.

No country recognizes Jerusealeum as Israel's capitol, because Israel acquired the land on which East Jerusaelim stands through force of arms. Every country wants Israel to give Jerusaleum back to Palestine and make Palestine a state of its own. Because of this, they are keeping the Palestinians entrapped in Palestine just as surely as Israel is. They want the Palesitinains to be looked on as victims - and their own actions in ensuring this are largely ignored by the diplomatic community!

But of course, Carney was being stupid. Just come out into the open and admit that the US's official position is that Tel Avivi is the Israeli capital. Unless he's been directed by the President to not voice the government's official position?

However, we continue to fund Israel's existence: (We're bankrupt. We've  got serious race relations problems in Anaheim. It sure would be nice if we could use that $70 mil to fund African American education in Anaheim instead of sending it to Israel.)
From the Boston Globe: Obama releases $70m in military funding for Israel
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama said Friday he is releasing an additional $70 million in military aid for Israel, a previously announced move that appeared timed to upstage Republican rival Mitt Romney’s trip to Israel this weekend.
The stepped-up US aid, first announced in May, will go to help Israel expand production of a short-range rocket defense system. The system, known as Iron Dome, has proved successful at stopping rocket attacks fired at Israeli civilians from close range, including from Gaza. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly ahead of the president.



27 Jul 2012, Fri, SoS Clinton and Staff Schedule

SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON

10:00 a.m. Secretary Clinton meets with Counselor Mills and Senior Advisor for Development Daniella Ballou-Aares, at the Department of State.

(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

11:30 a.m. Secretary Clinton meets with President Obama, at the White House.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY WHITE HOUSE)

DEPUTY SECRETARY BURNS
3:15 p.m. Deputy Secretary Burns delivers remarks at the Intern Appreciation Forum, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

3:50 p.m. Deputy Secretary Burns meets with U.S. Ambassador to Japan John Roos, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

DEPUTY SECRETARY TOM NIDES
10:00 a.m. Deputy Secretary Nides receives the credentials of Ambassador of Latvia to U.S. Andris Razans, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

11:00 a.m. Deputy Secretary Nides speaks with President and CEO of Carlson Hubert Joly.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

2:30 p.m. Deputy Secretary Nides meets with Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, in Washington, DC.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

3:15 p.m. Deputy Secretary Nides meets with U.S. Ambassador to Japan John Roos, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

USAID ADMINISTRATOR RAJ SHAH
10:00 a.m. Administrator Shah swears-in David Barth, USAID Mission Director to Bosnia-Herzegovina, at USAID.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

UNDER SECRETARY FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH, ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT ROBERT HORMATS
10:00 a.m. Under Secretary Hormats meets with Ambassador Karan Bhatia, GE Vice President, Senior Counsel International Law & Policy and Dan Rowley, General Counsel, GE Enterprise Solutions, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

2:00 p.m. Under Secretary Hormats meets with Sir Suma Chakrabarti, President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

8:15 p.m. Under Secretary Hormats attends a National U.S.-Arab Chamber of Commerce Iftar reception dinner in observance of the holy month of Ramadan, at the Ritz Carlton.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

UNDER SECRETARY FOR CIVILIAN SECURITY, DEMOCRACY, AND HUMAN RIGHTS MARIA OTERO
11:00 a.m. Under Secretary Otero attends the swearing-in ceremony of U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Mozambique Douglas M. Griffiths, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

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

3:00 p.m. Under Secretary Otero meets with USAID Deputy Administrator Donald Steinberg, at USAID.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIAN AFFAIRS ROBERT BLAKE
2:00 p.m. Assistant Secretary Blake meets with members from the American-Uzbekistan Chamber of Commerce, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT AFFAIRS WILLIAM BROWNFIELD
2:00 p.m. Assistant Secretary Brownfield meets with Honduran Foreign Minister Arturo Corrales, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR ECONOMIC AND BUSINESS AFFAIRS JOSE FERNANDEZ
7:30 a.m. Assistant Secretary Fernandez participates in the White House Hispanic Community Action Summit, in Livermore, California.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR EUROPEAN AND EURASIAN AFFAIRS PHIL
Assistant Secretary Gordon is on foreign travel to Greece and Turkey through July 31. Please click here for more information.

ACTING ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR CONFLICT AND STABILIZATION OPERATIONS PATRICIA HASLACH
1:30 p.m. Acting Assistant Secretary Haslach meets with Pauline Baker, President Emeritus of The Fund for Peace, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR WESTERN HEMISPHERE AFFAIRS ROBERTA JACOBSON
10:40 a.m. Assistant Secretary Jacobson delivers remarks at the Connecting the Americas Champions of Change event, at the White House.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY WHITE HOUSE)

2:00 p.m. Assistant Secretary Jacobson meets with Honduran Foreign Minister Arturo Corrales, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)
ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL AFFAIRS ANN STOCK
9:30 a.m. Assistant Secretary Stock speaks to participants in the Study of the U.S. Institute on Women’s Leadership, at the State Department.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)
AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE AND U.S. GLOBAL AIDS COORDINATOR ERIC GOOSBY
11:00 a.m. Ambassador Goosby participates as a panelist in a Black AIDS Institute/Kaiser Family Foundation international webcast reviewing highlights from research presented at the AIDS 2012 Conference.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS KRIS BALDERSTON
10:30 a.m. Special Representative Balderston delivers remarks at Champions for Change, a ceremony honoring diaspora leaders and social entrepreneurs from Latin America, at the White House.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY WHITE HOUSE).

SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR GLOBAL INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS RETA JO LEWIS
Special Representative Lewis is on foreign travel in Russia through July 27 to promote U.S. – Russian subnational engagement.

9:30 a.m. LOCAL Special Representative Lewis meets with Anatoliy Matern, First Vice-rector of Ural Federal University; Aleksey Klyuev, Director of the Entrepreneurship Institute; Yevgeniy Kapelyan, Deputy to the Vice-rector for Innovations in Yekaterinburg, Russia.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

1:00 p.m. LOCAL Special Representative Lewis meets with IT Business owners and promoters, Dmitry Kalayev and Leonid Volkov, in Yekaterinburg, Russia.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)
PM LOCAL Special Representative Lewis meets with Svetlana Garipova, Head of International Relations Committee, City Administration in Yekaterinburg, Russia.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)
PM LOCAL Special Representative Lewis meets with members of the Presidential Program Alumni including Maksim Gashkov, Head of international relations committee of the PPAA; Marina Vshivtesva, Executive Director of the Regional Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (PPAA member); Vladimir Dyagelev, member of the Ministry of Economics in charge for regional development (PPAA member)
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)
SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE TO MUSLIM COMMUNITIES FARAH PANDITH
Special Representative Pandith is on foreign travel in London through July 27 to participate in events for the 2012 Hours Against Hate campaign’s Olympic partnership.
DIRECTOR OF POLICY PLANNING JAKE SULLIVAN
Director Sullivan is holding a roundtable session with Department of State employees and Deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough, at the Department of State
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)
PRESS BRIEFING SCHEDULE
There will be No Daily Press Briefing today.



27 July 2012, Fri, Pres and VP Schedules

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule
9:40 am
The President and the Vice President receive the Presidential Daily Briefing
Oval Office
Closed Press

10:15 am
The President signs the United States-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act
Oval Office
Pool Spray

11:00 am
The President and the Vice President meet with Ambassador Crocker
Oval Office
Closed Press

11:30 am
The President and the Vice President meet with Secretary of State Clinton
Oval Office
Closed Press

1:10 pm
The President attends a campaign event
DC, Jefferson Hotel, Washington
Closed Press

4:45 pm
The President departs the White House en route McLean, Virginia
South Lawn
Open Press

5:25 pm
The President attends a campaign event
McLean, Private Residence, Virginia
Closed Press

7:35 pm
The President delivers remarks at a campaign event
McLean, Private Residence, Virginia
Pooled Press

8:25 pm
The President departs McLean, Virginia en route the White House
Travel Pool Coverage
In-Town Travel Pool Coverage
8:35 pm The President arrives at the White House
South Lawn
Open Press

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

Thursday, July 26, 2012

How to Solve the Education Gap Among African Americans

First off, what is a "more effective continuum"?

And what is this except another Federal jobs bank - they're not going to be educating anyone, they're just going to "coordinate the work of communities and federal agencies" (which already exist?) to "ensure that African-American youngsters are better prepared for high school, college and career."

How are they going to do this, that is what I want to know! It is time that this country does have a serious talk about race, as Eric Holder said - well, kind of said - when he took office three years ago. We need to be able to discuss the reasons behind African American education failures without the fear of being called racist!

Why do most African Americans drop out of high school? And how is this new African-American education office going to help them stay in school? We've already had a few advertising programs... comedian Sinbad appeared on posters in malls ten years ago saying, "Math is power, stay in school." How did that work out? (I also seem to remember some other posters, that were a bit more pejorative, making it seem like white folks didn't want to teach black kids how to do math, but the black kids should insist on their right to be taught math.)

So one wonders exactly what the approach will be for this "continuum."

[And don't get me wrong, obviously something has to be done. But until we get into a dialog where Presidential candidates can tell the leaders of the Arican American community that they should get kids to stop talking Ebonics, to start dressing properly, and to have respect for the education process, (as well as stop being baby mamas and baby daddies and start being husband and wife) and be seen not as talking adult to adult, nothing will change. (Remember the guy who castigated Romney because Romney dared, during his speech to the NAACP, to talk about the black family?

RUSH: We have another one: Amos Brown. Amos Brown, an NAACP board member, is criticizing Romney for "his references to the importance of family. 'For him to come here and lecture us about the family -- he doesn't need to be talking to Negros about that,' Brown said. 'Who tore up the family?'" Amos Brown said that, implying that Romney and the Republicans tore up the black family.

And of course, something has to be done about the Latino education gap as well. Blacks drop out of school at the highest rate, but Latinos are right up there. What about them, President Obama? Shouldn't this new education inititive be to help every student who for some reason drops out of school, not just those of one single minority?

From AP.com: Obama creating African-American education office

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama is creating a new office to bolster education of African-American students.

The White House says the office will coordinate the work of communities and federal agencies to ensure that African-American youngsters are better prepared for high school, college and career.

Obama is announcing his election-year initiative Wednesday night in a speech to the civil rights group the National Urban League as he seeks to rally black voters. Aides say his executive order, to be signed Thursday, will set a goal of producing "a more effective continuum" of programs for African-American students.

How Can People Be So Incompetent

You'd think that making sure that flags - and national anthems - matched the athletes concerned, would be of the highest priority during the Olympic Games. There have been mistakes in the past... I think some Eastern Europeam medalists a few years ago had the wrong anthem played....

And you'd think that Olympic organizers would learn from the mistakes of others and not make them themselves!

But, apparently not:

From The Telegraph: London 2012 Olympics: North Korea women footballers protest over flag gaffe
Just four hours after the first action of London 2012, the Games saw its first gaffe when the electronic scoreboard at Hampden Park displayed the South Korean flag ahead of North Korean women’s football match against Colombia.

The entire team left the pitch in protest when they saw the wrong flag next to their names on the screen.

The match had been due to start at 7.45pm but there was a delay of at least an hour while the mistake was corrected. The game eventually kicked off shortly before 9pm.

Announcers at the stadium apologised for the delay and said there was “an issue behind the scenes”.

There were reports that fans had booed while others walked out after being kept waiting.

Before the match, Scottish Secretary Michael Moore said: “The Olympics is of huge importance and the fact Hampden will be front and centre as the world turns it attention to the UK is great news for Glasgow and Scotland as a whole.

“The Olympics is our chance to show the world what we are capable of as a nation and the hard work of people across the country is helping ensure the success of the Games.

“I am looking forward to watching the game and hearing the first-ever Olympic roar at Hampden later today.”

North Korea is no stranger to Olympic controversies. In 1964, the nation withdrew from the Olympics after the IOA banned countries that took part in the 1963 Games of the New Emerging Forces.

The country also boycotted the 1988 Games after being snubbed as co-hosts for the Seoul Games.

A Locog spokesman said: “Today ahead of the Women’s football match at Hampden Park, the South Korean flag was shown on a big screen video package instead of the North Korean flag.

"Clearly that is a mistake, we will apologise to the team and the National Olympic Committee and steps will be taken to ensure this does not happen again.”

No posts on Thursday

I have to go to the Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo early today...so early that I won't have time to make any posts - and then I have my Scrabble club in the evening...

So I'm sharing two news articles from Wednesday.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

25 July 2012, Wed, Rush Limbaugh Headlines

--Don't Worry About Apple's Earnings
--Bogus NBC/WSJ Poll Oversamples Dems
--Gallup: Democrat Enthusiasm Down Sharply
--Obama Admits: Our Plan Worked
--They Can't Steal the Election If We Vote!
--This Wasn't Supposed to Happen: Gun Sales Jump in Colorado
--An Interesting Question on Unemployment
--"You Didn't Build That" Gets Under His Skin
--Confessions of a Poll Questioner
The Latest Salvo in the War on Football
--The Unfolding Obamacare Disaster
--Businessman Takes Issue with Obama

Posting Late Today...

Today is Cheyenne Day here in Cheyenne, WY. Got up early to go to a free pancake breakfast, and now I'm off to a rodeo. I'll post later on today about political news of the day.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Criminal Minds - The Thirteenth Step

Ever since the murders in Aurora, the discussion has been about gun control - but also about violent movies. For example, did this psycho have an affinity to the Dark Knight, or the Matrix, etc.

Well, I'm watching Criminal Minds, a show I've never really liked, but which I've watched on occasion when I'm ready for something new and I've seen the Law and Orders and the CSI episodes many times...

The one on tonight is called "THe Thirteenth Step" and is about a male and female serial killer.

And the way they're showing this... slow motion footage of the people being killed. some of them shown twice. The man and woman engaging in sex and slo mo looks at that (not the actual act but the woman's face when she's reaching orgasm, etc.)

And I'm thinking, how can people watch this? It's just glorifying that lifestyle. Criminal Minds is one of the shows that actually focuses on the psycho-killers,half of each episode seem sto be from their point of view, and shows them torturing or killing their victims, etc. You telling me this doesn't de-sensitize people who watch it?

More Americans on Disability

Cybercast News Service: "The number of workers taking federal disability insurance payments hit yet another record in July, increasing to 8,753,935 during the month from the previous record of 8,733,461 set in June..." So 20,000 new people are on disability. This is from the Social Security Administration. It'll also be interesting to see if the number of new jobs went up 20,000 in July. So more people are signing up for disability than are getting jobs in America. Now, I have to tell you, folks: I have not yet come to the belief that this is something that people want to do. I don't believe that a majority
Rush seems to be saying that people are going on disability not because they have to, but because, since they can't find work, they're using it as a ploy in order to get free money from the government.

Well, the problem with that is...doesn't the government vett these people to make sure they're really disabled?

Now, on the one hand, there was my experience many, many years ago. I had a part time job as a clerk at a gym, greeting people, etc. And one of the women who came there - and worked out - was on disability. Not sure what her job was, but she'd hurt her back, and was on disability for howsoever many weeks. And even though she was all better - good enough to lift weights - she wasn't going to go back to work until her disablity payments ran out. Now, a week or so ago, an acquaintance of mine (not quite a friend, as we don't socialize outside my scrabble club, but a "good acquaintance", if that's a term! was telling me that a lot of nurses were getting out of the profession because they were getting hurt. Lots of obese people showing up in hospitals, and procedures say when you need to lift someone that heavy you should have two or three nurses doing it (depending on poundage) and hospitals ignore this and make a single nurse do the work... and many of them get injured, throwing out their backs, etc. and have to go on workman's comp. Or dealing with obstreperous patients...one of her cousins, also a nurse, apparently had her wrist broken when a patient in the bathroom slammed the door on it...stuff like that. So it may well be that all these disablities are legitimate...after all, our population keeps rising and as it does, percentages of everything have to increase...

24 July 2012, Tues, Rush Limbaugh headlines

--Bain Attacks on Romney Bomb Big Time; Anti-Obama Groundswell Continues to Build
--The Most Telling Moment of Obama's Presidency: "You Didn't Build That"
--Big Government Didn't Build the Internet!
--A Fellow Beverage Business Owner
--Carville and Ice-T: Gun Control is a Loser
--Shooting Victim's Father: He Did It for Fame
--George Stephanopoulos of ABC News: Political Hack Poses as Objective Journalist
--Developers Build the Roads and Bridges

Stack of Stuff
--One in Ten Employers Plan to Drop Health Care
--More Americans on Disability

24 July 2012, Tues, News Headlines

Headlines from Google News, 10:04 am mountain time

--Earhart search ends with sonar, video to sift through

--Families of theater shooting victims plan goodbyes

--Romney to slam intel leaks from White House

--State College businesses ponder impact of sanctions

--State College businesses ponder impact of sanctions

--Five Syria Nightmares: The Middle East Can't Live with Assad, but Living ...

--UK charges Coulson, Brooks, others with phone hacking

--London 2012 Olympics: How Danny Boyle got 60,000 fans to keep mum over opening ceremony dress rehearsal

--Armed conflict possible in South China Sea: ICG

--Deadly Iraq bombings and a reawakening insurgency







24 Jul 2012, Tues, SosClinton and Staff Schedule

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/appt/2012/07/194357.htm

SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON

9:30 a.m. Secretary Clinton delivers the keynote address at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Forward-Looking Symposium on Genocide Prevention, at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
(OPEN PRESS COVERAGE)

11:00 a.m. Secretary Clinton holds a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister of Haiti Laurent Lamothe, at the Department of State.

(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)
11:35 a.m. Secretary Clinton holds a joint press availability with Prime Minister of Haiti Laurent Lamothe, at the Department of State.
(OPEN PRESS COVERAGE)

2:15 p.m. Secretary Clinton meets with a group of Afghan and Rwandan Businesswomen participating in the Institute for Economic Empowerment’s Peace Through Business Program, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

2:30 p.m. Secretary Clinton meets with Coordinator for Cyber Security Chris Painter, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

3:00 p.m. Secretary Clinton meets with Eric Schwartz, Dean of the University of Minnesota's Humphrey School of Public Affairs, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

3:15 p.m. Secretary Clinton meets with Counselor Mills and Senior Advisor for the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review David McKean, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

4:00 p.m. Secretary Clinton hosts a swearing-in ceremony for Anne Richard, Assistant Secretary for Population, Refugees and Migration, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

DEPUTY SECRETARY BURNS
10:45 a.m. Deputy Secretary Burns accepts the credentials of South Sudan Ambassador-designate Akec Khoc Acieu, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

11:15 a.m. Deputy Secretary Burns delivers remarks at the Ambassadorial Seminar, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

2:00 p.m. Deputy Secretary Burns meets with U.S. Ambassador-designate to Georgia Richard Norland, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

3:15 p.m. Deputy Secretary Burns meets with Senator Jim Webb, on Capitol Hill.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

4:30 p.m. Deputy Secretary Burns officiates Ambassador John Beyrle’s Flag Ceremony, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

DEPUTY SECRETARY TOM NIDES
7:30 a.m. Deputy Secretary Nides participates in a video conference with Embassy Baghdad.

(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

1:30 p.m. Deputy Secretary Nides meets with U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg Robert Mandell, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

3:15 p.m. Deputy Secretary Nides meets with the General Manager of the Global Fund Gabriel Jaramillo, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

4:30 p.m. Deputy Secretary Nides accepts the credentials of Singapore’s Ambassador to the U.S. Ashok Kumar Mirpuri, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

USAID ADMINISTRATOR RAJ SHAH
9:00 a.m. Administrator Shah meets with Dr. Akihiko Tanaka, President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), at USAID.
(CAMERA SPRAY PRECEDING MEETING)
2:00 p.m. Administrator Shah participates in a press conference with actress Debra Messing, at the XIX International AIDS Conference, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.
(OPEN PRESS COVERAGE)

3:00 p.m. Administrator Shah meets with Prime Minister of Haiti Laurent Lamothe, at USAID.
UNDER SECRETARY FOR MANAGEMENT PATRICK KENNEDY
5:30 p.m. Under Secretary Kennedy participates in the 5th Annual Senior Government Executive Dinner hosted by AFCEA.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

UNDER SECRETARY FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH, ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT ROBERT HORMATS
1:30 p.m. Under Secretary Hormats delivers remarks at the Ambassadorial Seminar, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

3:00 p.m. Under Secretary Hormats participates in a press briefing at the National Press Building, Washington, DC.
(OPEN PRESS COVERAGE)

UNDER SECRETARY FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS TARA SONENSHINE
4:00 p.m. Under Secretary Sonenshine attends a swearing-in ceremony for Anne Richard, Assistant Secretary for Population, Refugees and Migration, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

5:00 p.m. Under Secretary Sonenshine hosts a reception for new Public Diplomacy Officers of the 168th Foreign Service class, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)
UNDER SECRETARY FOR CIVILIAN SECURITY, DEMOCRACY, AND HUMAN RIGHTS MARIA OTERO
9:00 a.m. Under Secretary Otero attends Secretary Clinton’s keynote address at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Forward-Looking Symposium on Genocide Prevention, at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
(OPEN PRESS COVERAGE)

2:00 p.m. Under Secretary Otero meets with Robert Kaplan, President and CEO of Inter-American Foundation, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

4:00 p.m. Under Secretary Otero attends a swearing-in ceremony for Anne Richard, Assistant Secretary for Population, Refugees and Migration, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

ACTING UNDER SECRETARY FOR ARMS CONTROL AND INTERNATIONAL SECURITY ROSE GOTTEMOELLER
Acting Under Secretary Gottemoeller is on foreign travel in Vienna, Austria for consultations with counterparts on strengthening conventional arms control in Europe.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

COUNSELOR AND CHIEF OF STAFF CHERYL MILLS
11:00 a.m. Counselor Mills joins Secretary Clinton’s meeting with Prime Minister of Haiti Laurent Lamothe, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)
CHIEF OF PROTOCOL AMBASSADOR CAPRICIA PENAVIC MARSHALL
4:00 p.m. Ambassador Marshall participates in the swearing-in ceremony of The Honorable Anne Richard, Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR CONFLICT AND STABILIZATION OPERATIONS RICK BARTON
10:30 a.m. Assistant Secretary Barton meets with Congressman Sam Farr, in Washington, DC.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

3:45 p.m. Assistant Secretary Barton attends a swearing-in ceremony for Anne Richard, Assistant Secretary for Population, Refugees and Migration, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIAN AFFAIRS ROBERT BLAKE
10:00 a.m. Assistant Secretary Blake meets with representatives from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, at the Department of State.

(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

2:00 p.m. Assistant Secretary Blake testifies before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe and Eurasia, on Capitol Hill.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR INTERNATIONAL SECURITY AND NONPROLIFERATION TOM COUNTRYMAN
Assistant Secretary Countryman leads the U.S. delegation during the final week of the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty Conference, at the UN.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY UN)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR ECONOMIC AND BUSINESS AFFAIRS JOSE FERNANDEZ
11:00 a.m. Assistant Secretary Fernandez meets with the Advisory Committee for International Economic Policy (ACIEP) Sanctions subcommittee, in Washington, DC.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

2:00 p.m. Assistant Secretary Fernandez meets with the U.S.-UAE Business Council, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

6:00 p.m. Assistant Secretary Fernandez attends a reception for the Washington Network of Hispanic Leaders, 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 attends the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Forward-Looking Symposium on Genocide Prevention, at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
(OPEN PRESS COVERAGE)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR POPULATION, REFUGEES AND MIGRATION ANNE RICHARD
4:00 p.m. Assistant Secretary Richard is officially sworn in as the Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR POLITICAL-MILITARY AFFAIRS ANDREW SHAPIRO
9:00 a.m. Assistant Secretary Shapiro hosts the U.S.- Azerbaijan Security Dialogue, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

10:30 a.m. Assistant Secretary Shapiro meets with Lieutenant General Robert Caslen, Chief of the Office of Security Cooperation – Iraq (OSC-I), at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL AFFAIRS ANN STOCK
5:00 p.m. Assistant Secretary Stock attends the Welcome Reception for Public Diplomacy-coned Foreign Service Officers of the 167th A-100 orientation class, at the State Department.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE AND COORDINATOR FOR COUNTERTERRORISM DANIEL BENJAMIN
11:30 a.m. Ambassador Benjamin meets with British Minister of State, Department of International Development Alan Duncan, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

2:30 p.m. Ambassador Benjamin meets with Embassy of Greece Deputy Chief of Mission to the U.S. Sophia Philippidou, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE AND U.S. GLOBAL AIDS COORDINATOR ERIC GOOSBY
1:00 p.m. Ambassador Goosby participates in an AIDS 2012 panel discussion at the Washington Convention Center on the role of AIDS ambassadors in sustaining the global momentum in combating HIV/AIDS with Swedish HIV/AIDS Ambassador Anders Nordstrom; Dutch HIV/AIDS Ambassador Dr. Marijke Wijnroks; Australian HIV/AIDS Ambassador Murray Proctor; French Ambassador for HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Mireille Guigaz; and former UNAIDS Executive Director Peter Piot, at the Washington Convention Center.

(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

4:30 p.m. Ambassador Goosby delivers remarks on the healthcare workforce at an AIDS 2012 session, at the Washington Convention Center.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

6:30 p.m. Ambassador Goosby co-chairs a PEPFAR-sponsored AIDS 2012 session on the role of the Global Plan in eliminating new pediatric HIV infections, at the Washington Convention Center.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE FOR GLOBAL WOMEN’S ISSUES MELANNE VERVEER
11:00 a.m. Ambassador Verveer meets with Ambassador Stuart Holliday, president of the Meridian International Center, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

3:00 p.m. Ambassador Verveer meets with Africa-American Institute CEO Mora McLean, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

5:00 p.m. Ambassador Verveer meets with Executive Director of the Peace Operations Institute Harvey Langholtz, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE

6:00 p.m. Ambassador Verveer delivers remarks at the Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women’s 2012 Peace Through Business Program graduation ceremony for women entrepreneurs in Afghanistan and Rwanda, at the U.S. Institute for Peace.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR GLOBAL INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS RETA JO LEWIS
Special Representative Lewis is on foreign travel in Russia through July 31 to promote U.S.-Russia Subnational Dialogue and engagements.

4:00 p.m. LOCAL Special Representative Lewis meets with Sergei Bebenin, Chairman of the Leningrad Oblast Legislative Assembly, in St. Petersburg, Russia.

(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

6:00 p.m. LOCAL Special Representative Lewis meets with Alexander Yurievich Drozdenko, Governor of Leningrad Oblast, in St. Petersburg, Russia.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE TO MUSLIM COMMUNITIES FARAH PANDITH
Special Representative Pandith is on foreign travel in London through July 27 to participate in events for the 2012 Hours Against Hate campaign's Olympic partnership.

DIRECTOR OF POLICY PLANNING JAKE SULLIVAN
5:30 p.m. Director Sullivan meets with interns from the Legal Advisor bureau, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)
PRESS BRIEFING SCHEDULE
12:30 p.m. Daily Press Briefing with Spokesperson Victoria Nuland



24 July 2012, Tues, Pres and VP Schedules

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule

1:15 pm The President departs San Francisco, California en route to Portland, Oregon
Local Event Time: 10:15 AM PDT
San Francisco International Airport
Open Press

2:40 pm The President arrives in Portland, Oregon
Local Event Time: 11:40 AM PDT
Portland International Airport
Open Press

4:50 pm The President attends a campaign event
Local Event Time: 1:50 PM PDT
Oregon Convention Center, Portland Oregon
Closed Press

7:10 pm The President delivers remarks at a campaign event
Local Event Time: 4:10 PM PDT
Oregon, Oregon Convention Center, Portland
Pooled TV, Open to Correspondents

8:05 pm The President departs Portland, Oregon en route to Seattle, Washington
Local Event Time: 5:05 PM PDT
Portland International Airport
Open Press

8:50 pm The President arrives in Seattle, Washington
Local Event Time: 5:50 PM PDT
Boeing Field
Open Press

9:15 pm The President attends a campaign event
Local Event Time: 6:15 PM PDT
Hunts Point, Private Residence, Washington
Closed Press

11:15 pm The President delivers remarks at a campaign event
Local Event Time: 8:15 PM PDT
Hunts Point, Private Residence, Washington
Print Pool

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

Monday, July 23, 2012

There HAVE been calls to censor movies

Rush was commenting today that everyone is going after gun owners, no one is going after the movies that engender this behavior, like the Bstman film, the Matrix films, etc.

That's not really true. Plenty of people have been trying to ban violence on TV - or at least stop it from coming on til late at night where kids won't see it.

Parents have been trying to stop violent video games, and have failed, as the makers of that garbage cite First Amendment.

I've got my own Devolution Media blog where I talk about this kind of stuff.

Far more than violence in movies, I think sex and loose morals on sit coms and drama shows and reality TV is what is dumbing down and coarsening America - and indeed the world.

Reality shows called "Teen Mom", "Toddlers and Tiaras", "Dog the Bounty Hunter", "Bait Car," etc.. are just awful...and yet because they're cheaper to produce than fiction shows, we're getting inundated with them. To our detriment.

If Guns are made illegal, only outlaws will have guns...

As Rush said, if a law is made that prevents people from having guns, law abiding folks won't have 'em. But criminals will get them just the same, because they are not law-abiding! Apparently Obama made the Aurora tragedy all about him...
At the end of the day on Friday I'm checking voluminous amounts e-mail and I get a note from a guy who said, "You wouldn't believe, why does Obama do this? He had to say, 'My daughters go to the movies, what if they had been in that theater?'" And I looked at that, did he really say that? If I had a son, he would look just like Trayvon Martin. My two daughters go to the movies. What if they had been there, as though, what are we to conclude? That his two daughters are more important than people that were in that theater? (interruption) What, that's not what he meant? What the hell did he mean? Wait a second. No, no, no.

Look, I'm mayor of Realville. I deal in the literal. First off, did he say, "My two daughters go to the movies, what if they had been in that theater that night?" Did he say, "I wonder if"? Even if he said, "I wonder if my two daughters had been," trying to relate to average, ordinary peons just as they might be asking, "Gee, what if my daughters had been there?" Well, without those daughters, would he have a different reaction? What's the deal here? If his daughters weren't there, would he have a different reaction? If Trayvon Martin hadn't been black, would he have had a different reaction to a son that he didn't have looking like Trayvon Martin?

Why Vacate Penn State's Victories?

Joe Paterno was given information about a pedophilac about 10 years ago and did nothing about it.


That makes him a scummy human being. It does not invalidate over 100 victories! Why should it????


If he had had ineligible players on his football team for this or that season, that would be enough to vacate wins during that season or seasons. But to invalidate them just because Paterno was a scummy human being? That's stupid!

That's like saying: We're going to invalidate all the wins that a team had when Lenny Dykstra played for them, because he's been sent to jail for various scummy reasons. A better thing to do would be to invalidate all the wins of teams on which Mark McGwire played when he was taking steroids, or Sammy Sosa, or Rafael Palmeiro.


Fine Penn State millions of dollars, sure. Civil suit them into bankruptcy, sure. But don't vacate wins that had nothing to do with pedophilia!

23 Jul 2012, Mon, Rush Limbaugh headlines

--Politically Ill Leftists Exploit an Unspeakable Human Tragedy
--History of Violence: Guns vs. Hollywood
--Obama Makes It All About Him
--An Incomprehensible Defense of Obama's "You Didn't Build That" Philosophy
--GOP Establishment Joins with Left to Mainstream Radical Islam and Marginalize Michele Bachmann
--Coming Soon: The Wealth Tax
--Obama Campaign Strategy: Poison Blue-Collar White Voters Against Romney
Stack of stuff
--Bad Economic News for Obama
--Startling Poll: 34% Blame President Kardashian for Economy, Only 18% Blame Bush
--NCAA Sanctions Penn State ...

Haiti: Billions Dollars Wasted

(The story below speaks of money in the millions - but as far as I'm concerned whenever money is spent whether by civiliarn or government, you always have to multiply it by 2. There's the money that was spent on A, and there's the money that has to be spent on B because money was spent on A.  Because we've "forgiven" Haiti's  debt (and who has had to pay Haiti's debt since they don't have to pay it? Why, we, the American taxpayer) and sent millions of dollars their way, that's millions of dollars we couldn't spend on something else, and thus, that millions of dollars had to come from some other pot...or was just printed by the guvmint which of course adds to inflation....)

I've told this story a few times. I spent many years, right into milddle age (that'd be age 30!) not paying much attention to the world around me. The US by definition was filled with the smartest people and the most efficient government, other countries should just get out of our way.

In particular - when there'd be some earthquake or tsunami, and news reports would come out about how aid was late getting everywhere because of red tape. And I'd feel a gentle contempt and think, thank goodness that can't happen here.

Then, of course, we had Hurricane Katrina, which destroyed New Orleanss, and the scales were lifted from my eyes, at the utter imcompetence of our government - on the state level, with thousands of buses underwater that could have brought people to safety, thousands of people stranded at the Super dome in New Orleans because they were too stupid to get out of town...well, half of that, and half because they'd expected the Army Corps of Engineers to have properly overseen the dikes that were supposed to protect the town and which gave way because they hadn't been maintained properly.

Once I started paying attention to our own, home grown disasters, I realized that Americans had nothing to sneer about when it came to disaster preparedness and aftermath behavior. Story after story comes out afterwards of people stealing millions of dollars from the government by pretending to need disaster relief, but actually being scam artists. And instead of catching it right away, they live for several years with their ill-gotten gains before someone catches them.

Now we've got the ridiculousness that is Haiti. We have been pouring billions of dollars into that country, and apart from the rubble being gone, apparently, nothing else has changed!

You can't really blame the Haitians in particular for that...I suppose if you lose most of your government folks it could take two years to replace them all...I can't carp on that as thank god, I've never lived in a country where the complete country was devastated by an earthquake...

But there are other things that we, Americans, had control over and that we've botched incredibly badly. And we're not tallking about ill-educated folks on welfare put in charge of something which they couldn't handle - we're talking about experienced American businessmen who thorw good money after bad, lose money in red tape...and a few scams too, I'm sure.

And what are we going to do about it?

If we shut off all funds to Haiti, we'll be condemned as racists, no doubt. But it has to be done. Our own country is bankrupt - we can't keep pouring money into other countries that is needed to fix what's wrong here at home! It would be one thing if our efforts actually produced good results...but after two years we've discovered that our efforts have produced nothing, except lots of money for American businessmen who know how to game the system.

I know that sounds harsh, but it's the only explanation of what's going on here!

Yahoo News: US pledge to rebuild Haiti not being met. http://news.yahoo.com/us-pledge-rebuild-haiti-not-being-met-170346036.html



PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — The deadly earthquake that leveled Haiti's capital more than two years ago brought a thread of hope: a promise of renewal. With the United States taking the lead, international donors pledged billions of dollars to help the country "build back better," breaking its cycle of dependency.
But after the rubble was cleared and the dead buried, what the quake laid bare was the depth of Haiti's dysfunction. Today, the fruits of an ambitious, $1.8 billion U.S. reconstruction promise are hard to find. Immediate, basic needs for bottled water, temporary shelter and medicine were the obvious priorities. But projects fundamental to Haiti's transformation out of poverty, such as permanent housing and electric plants in the heavily hit capital of Port-au-Prince have not taken off.

Critics say the U.S. effort to reconstruct Haiti was flawed from the start. While "build back better" was a comforting notion, there wasn't much of a foundation to build upon. Haiti's chronic political instability and lack of coordinated leadership between Haiti and the U.S. meant crucial decisions about construction projects were slow to be approved. Red tape stalled those that were.
The international community's $10 billion effort was also hindered by its pledge to get approval for projects from the Haitian government. For more than a year then-President Rene Preval was, as he later described it, "paralyzed," while his government was mostly obliterated, with 16,000 civil servants killed and most ministries in ruins. It wasn't until earlier this year that a fully operational government was in place to sign paperwork, adopt codes and write regulations. Other delays included challenges to contracts, underestimates of what needed to be done, and land disputes.
Until now, comprehensive details about who is receiving U.S. funds and how they are spending them have not been released. Contracts, budgets and a 300-item spreadsheet obtained by The Associated Press under a Freedom of Information Act request show:
— Of the $988 million spent so far, a quarter went toward debt relief to unburden the hemisphere's poorest nation of repayments. But after Haiti's loans were paid off, the government began borrowing again: $657 million so far, largely for oil imports rather than development projects.
— Less than 12 percent of the reconstruction money sent to Haiti after the earthquake has gone toward energy, shelter, ports or other infrastructure. At least a third, $329 million, went to projects that were awarded before the 2010 catastrophe and had little to do with the recovery — such as HIV/AIDS programs.
— Half of the $1.8 billion the U.S. promised for rebuilding is still in the Treasury, its disbursement stymied by an understaffed U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince in the months after the quake and by a Haitian government that was barely functional for more than a year.
— Despite State Department promises to keep spending public, some members of Congress and watchdogs say they aren't getting detailed information about how the millions are being spent, as dozens of contractors working for the U.S. government in Haiti leave a complex money trail.
"The challenges were absolutely huge and although there was a huge amount of money pledged, the structures were not there for this to be done quickly," said former U.S. Ambassador Brian Curran. "The concept of build back better is a good one, but we were way over-optimistic about the pace we could do it."
The U.S. Special Coordinator for Haiti Thomas C. Adams, who oversees USAID spending here, says the first priority in the critical days after the quake that killed more than 300,000 was crisis management, and the U.S. government spent $1.3 billion on critical rescue operations, saving untold lives.
Three months later, the goals shifted from rescue to what would become a $1.8 billion reconstruction package aimed at building new foundations.
"U.S. taxpayers, in the past, have spent billions of dollars in Haiti that haven't resulted in sustainable improvement in the lives of Haitians," said Adams. "The emphasis was never on 'spend the money quickly.' The emphasis was on spending the money so that in a year or two, we could look at these projects and see that we've helped create a real base to jump-start economic development and give Haitian families and businesses the kind of opportunities they deserve."
Haitian government officials are appreciative, and said the U.S. provides generous support for projects that impact long-term development. As for going back into debt, "Haiti needs all the assistance it can possibly get at this point," said Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe's deputy chief of staff Dimitri Nau.
PROMISES UNMET
Within months of the quake, Congress approved a 27-page plan detailing a partnership with the Haitian government to "lay the foundation for long-term stability and economic growth." USAID, an agency overseen by the State Department, was held responsible for getting the job done by choosing contractors, selecting projects and overseeing the work. But just as there's little to show for the $2 billion the U.S. spent in Haiti in the two decades before the earthquake, it hasn't built much that is permanent with the new influx of cash.
The plan laid out broad categories: infrastructure, health care, education, economic development. It was followed by a strategy that included specific benchmarks. This month, as about 40 of those come due, some are met, like a new police hotline to report abuse. But others are not.
For example, the U.S. had planned to improve the business environment by working with the local government to reduce regulations, pass national e-commerce laws, expand mortgage lending and update the tax code. The measurement of success, said U.S. planners, would be a better ranking by the World Bank's "Doing Business" indicators.
Instead, this year Haiti sank eight points lower compared with the rest of the world as a place to do business in categories including securing construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, receiving credit, enforcing contracts and paying taxes.
And so far, the U.S. has no public plans to build a clean water or sewer system in Port-au-Prince, even as the country grapples with the world's biggest cholera outbreak that medical researchers say was likely introduced by a U.N. peacekeeping unit after the earthquake. [I'd say healthy folk don't bring cholera into a region. A region without clean drinking water brings cholera to a region.] The U.S.'s largest jobs program is a garment manufacturing plant being built in Caracol, 280 kilometers (175 miles) from the capital.

Adams said some investments, like fixing the electricity system, are taking more time.
A $137 million effort toward supplying reliable electricity in Haiti, including blackout-prone Port-au-Prince, stalled after a contract dispute led to a stop-work order — leaving the capital with electricity only about 10 hours a day. Those who can afford it use private generators and those without use lanterns or candles. To date, just $18 million has been spent on electricity — largely to build a power plant at the northern industrial park in Caracol.
The single largest recipient of funding is Washington, D.C.-area contractor Chemonics, which has received more than $58 million, including $6.8 million to remove rubble, $7.2 million to develop a market for environmentally friendly cook stoves, and money for youth soccer tournaments and "key cultural celebrations" including Flag Day, patron saints days and Mother's Day. Chemonics spokeswoman Martha James says 67 percent of the federal money went to Haitians, including salary for 94 Haitian staff, and Haitian subcontractors, grantees and vendors.
Meanwhile, 390,000 people are still homeless. The U.S. promised to rebuild or replace thousands of destroyed homes, but so far has not built even one new permanent house. Auditors say land disputes, lack of USAID oversight and no clear plan have hampered the housing effort. USAID contested that critique.
The State Department says 29,100 transitional shelters have been built, to which residents are adding floors, walls or roofs to make permanent homes, although homes once again vulnerable to natural disasters. U.S. funds also supported 27,000 households as they moved in with friends or families, and repaired 5,800 of the 35,000 damaged homes they had planned to complete with partners by July 2012. Also by this month the U.S. had planned to help resolve 40,000 to 80,000 land disputes, but at latest count had helped 10,400.
The State Department acknowledges that efforts to build shelters has been slower than anticipated.
While more than 1 million people have been moved out of the tent camps, most went to stay with family or friends, or moved into temporary shelters.
"Having tent cities in the capital 2 1/2 years after the earthquake is horrendous," said Raymond Joseph, a former Haiti ambassador to the U.S. "It's a condemnation of those who had the money and dragged their feet."
'NOTHING TO DO WITH THE QUAKE'
Making progress in Haiti has been easier with established programs that were under way before the earthquake. Contractors had already been chosen, and plans drawn up. As a result, much of the recovery and reconstruction funding was awarded to projects that were not damaged in the earthquake — from medical clinics to rural farms. Of the $988 million spent to date, $1 out of every $5 went to HIV/AIDS programs, though $49 million went to farming projects and $16 million supported elections.
Lack of education has long been a problem. Haiti has about 4.5 million school-age children, about half of whom were attending school before the earthquake. The largest U.S. education program after the quake was through the Washington, D.C.-based American Institutes for Research, which was a few years into a $25.6 million U.S.-funded project to train teachers.
"Then the earthquake happened and everything changed," AIR vice president Jane Benbow said. "They said we need you to take the resources you have left and we need you to redirect them, we need you to start doing other things with that money."
In April 2011, USAID announced that a $12 million AIR project had "constructed or is in the process of constructing more than 600 semi-permanent classrooms serving over 60,000 students."
But when pressed for details, AIR spokesman Larry McQuillan said the number of classrooms actually was 322. They were serving at least 38,640 students each day, many in two shifts.
The organization left Haiti last year after building 120 temporary schools. Today, about half of Haiti's school age children attend school, about the same as before the catastrophe. The Haitian government says it wants to put another 1.5 million children into school — by 2016.

The education money has made no difference for Odette Leonard, 39, who lost her husband, and her home, to the quake. Like most Haitians, she cannot afford to pay even the modest school costs for uniforms and books.
"People like me won't be able to see any of that money," Leonard said. She had to send her two children to her mother's house in the countryside so they could attend an affordable school.
One of USAID's most tangible post-earthquake accomplishments was the construction of a bridge across the muddy, winding Ennery River. The strong and well-engineered span eases a key route from the north to the south 160 kilometers (100 miles) from Port-au-Prince. The bridge had been down for more than a year before the earthquake, a casualty of the 2008 hurricane season. Plans had been sketched for a new bridge, but there wasn't funding.
Engineer Larry Wright, who temporarily moved to Haiti from Wyoming to lead the $4 million project, said he didn't know the funding came from earthquake reconstruction funds.
"This had nothing to do with the quake," said Wright.
AND YET MORE DEBT
When the earthquake hit, world lenders were already several years into forgiving Haiti's substantial debts, many of which dated back to millions in loans taken by the dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier, who was overthrown in 1986 and suddenly returned last year. In June 2009, seven months before the earthquake, donors wiped out $1.2 billion of the Haitian government's debt. In January 2010, as the capital lay in ruins, it still was $828 million in the red.

In March 2010, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) said canceling the debt is "one of the simplest but most important things we can do to help Haiti."
And to date, debt relief is the largest single item the U.S. has spent toward Haiti's rebuilding: $245 million.
But since taking office in May 2011, President Michel Martelly's administration has borrowed $657 million, largely from Venezuela for basic fuel needs, but also from Taiwan, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the International Monetary Fund and OPEC. Next year Haiti is expected to spend close to $10 million servicing those debts, according to the IMF.
"The U.S. government cannot dictate how the government of Haiti, as a sovereign country, chooses to address its financial situation," said USAID's Haiti task team leader in Washington D.C., Beth Hogan, whose office facilitated the payments. The U.S. is now only providing grants, not loans, to Haiti. [In other words, they are still getting money, but since they can't pay it back, our government is saying, "Okay, you dont' have to pay it back."]
Waters now says she's disappointed, but not surprised, that Haiti has resumed its borrowing habits.
More than half of Haiti's annual $1 billion budget comes from foreign aid.
"Haiti needs grants, gifts and loans," said Haitian official Nau. "Every country in the world has debt and Haiti is no different."
OFF THE RECORD
A major frustration for watchdogs of the U.S. effort is a lack of transparency over how the millions of dollars are being spent.
From interviews to records requests, efforts to track spending in Haiti by members of Congress, university researchers and news organizations have sometimes been met with resistance and even, in some cases, outright refusals.
As a result, U.S. taxpayers are told they've agreed to spend $7.2 million for a project to design and distribute cleaner cooking stoves to 10,000 street vendors and 800 schools and orphanages, but there's no public accounting for how that will break down: How much might each stove cost? What are the office expenses? What are workers' salaries?
"The lack of specific details in where the money has gone facilitates corruption and waste, creates a closed process that reduces competition and prevents us from assessing the efficacy of certain taxpayer-funded projects," said Congresswoman Yvette Clarke, a New York Democrat whose district includes the second largest population of Haitian immigrants in the country.

Legislation introduced last year in Congress would direct the Obama administration to report on the status of post-earthquake humanitarian, reconstruction and development efforts in Haiti.
The AP filed a Freedom of Information request to learn what was accomplished and how much was spent on a two-day retreat for 12 senior U.S. staffers in Miami in March 2011. USAID released the hotel sales agreement, the facilitator's purchase order and an agenda. It did not release information about what was accomplished, and withheld another nine pages, citing concerns that it contained information that had not been finalized.
State Department officials say they are trying to be responsive, noting that in the past nine months, they have coordinated 51 briefings to members of Congress and their staff on Haiti and delivered five congressionally-mandated reports.
One of the problems with following the money in Haiti is that the records are not up to date.
A State Department inspector general report in June found the embassy's political section retains about 10 linear feet of paper files dating back a decade in several safes, and the narcotics affairs team doesn't have a coherent filing system.

In its own effort to follow the money, this year the AP began contacting firms that have received U.S. funding since the earthquake. A memo went out two weeks later.
"A series of requests from journalists may come your way," cautioned Karine Roy, a spokeswoman for the USAID, in an email to about 50 humanitarian aid officials. "Wait for formal clearance from me before releasing any information."
U.S. contractors, from pollsters to private development firms, told the AP that USAID had asked them not to provide any information, and referred to publicly released descriptions of their projects.
The Durham, North Carolina-based group Family Health International 360, for example, received $32 million, including $10 million for what the State Department described as an "initiative designed to increase the flow of commercially viable financial products and services to productive enterprises, with a focus on semi-urban and rural areas."
When the AP asked for a budget breakdown, FHI 360 spokeswoman Liza Morris said, "We were pulling that for you but were told that it was proprietary by our funder."
Who is the funder?
"Our funder," she said, "is USAID."
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U.S. spending documents: https://www.documentcloud.org/search/project:%20%22Haiti%20-%20U.S.%20Spend ing%22