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Posts Tagged ‘mandela

Feb

Rise and Shine

Categories: All Photos, All Videos and Articles
Tags: act, against, arms, Barack, bureau, cantor, consumer, eric, financial, gabby, Giffords, krugman, mandela, Michelle, montana, nelson, nra, nuclear, Obama, Paul, President, protection, Violence, women

A year ago: A child reaches out to First Lady Michelle Obama prior to a Faith and Community Groups Leading the Way event at Northland, A Church Distributed, in Longwood, Fla., Feb. 11, 2012 (Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

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Today:

12:30: VP Biden holds a roundtable discussion on gun safety with law enforcement officials in Philadelphia

1:45: President Obama will present Clint Romesha with the Medal of Honor at a White House ceremony

2:0: Senate lawmakers will debate and vote on re-authorizing the Violence Against Women Act

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On Thursday at 4:30 ET: “Fireside Hangout” with President Obama

See more here

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23 years ago today, Nelson Mandela was released from prison having been locked up for 27 years by a racist state

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NYT: President Obama will use his State of the Union speech to reinvigorate one of his signature national security objectives – drastically reducing nuclear arsenals around the world – after securing agreement in recent months with the United States military that the American nuclear force can be cut in size by roughly a third.

…… White House officials are looking at a cut that would take the arsenal of deployed weapons to just above 1,000. Currently there are about 1,700, and the new strategic arms reduction treaty with Russia that passed the Senate at the end of 2009 calls for a limit of roughly 1,550 by 2018.

But Mr. Obama, according to an official who was involved in the deliberations, “believes that we can make pretty radical reductions – and save a lot of money – without compromising American security in the second term. And the Joint Chiefs have signed off on that concept.”

More here

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Washington Post: President Obama is considering a series of new executive actions aimed at working around a recalcitrant Congress, including policies that could allow struggling homeowners to refinance their mortgages, provide new protections for gays and lesbians, make buildings more energy-efficient and toughen regulations for coal-fired power plants, according to people outside the White House involved in discussions on the issues.

More here

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TPM: The Senate is poised to pass the Violence Against Women Act reauthorization early this week, with a final vote expected Monday afternoon or Tuesday.

…. Despite the unusually large Senate consensus, there has been no perceptible movement among House Republican leaders since they passed a scaled-back version of VAWA on a party-line vote last year, rejecting the Senate legislation.

In an exchange on the floor Wednesday, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) needled Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) on VAWA….. Cantor responded that it’s a “priority” for Republicans to “move and act on this bill”….

…. By the end of the week, House Republican leaders had no progress to speak of. “Silence,” said a senior House Democratic aide.

More here

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NYT Editorial: If you’d like to know why Republicans are trying to shut down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, take a look at three things the agency has already accomplished in its first 18 months:

* It called a halt to predatory practices by mortgage lenders, ensuring that borrowers are not saddled with loans they can’t afford and preventing brokers from earning higher commissions for higher interest rates.

* It won an $85 million settlement from American Express, which it accused of deceptive and discriminatory marketing and billing practices.

* It opened an investigation into questionable marketing practices by banks and credit card companies on college campuses, which often take place after undisclosed financial arrangements are made with universities….

More here

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Paul Krugman: Last week Eric Cantor, the House majority leader, gave what his office told us would be a major policy speech. And we should be grateful for the heads-up about the speech’s majorness. Otherwise, a read of the speech might have suggested that he was offering nothing more than a meager, warmed-over selection of stale ideas.

To be sure, Mr. Cantor tried to sound interested in serious policy discussion. But he didn’t succeed – and that was no accident. For these days his party dislikes the whole idea of applying critical thinking and evidence to policy questions. And no, that’s not a caricature: Last year the Texas G.O.P. explicitly condemned efforts to teach “critical thinking skills,” because, it said, such efforts “have the purpose of challenging the student’s fixed beliefs and undermining parental authority.”

More here

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NYT: (Missoula, Mont) This funky college town …. has long been a liberal pocket, an isolated speck of blue in a deeply red state. Now Montana is electing more politicians who lean that way, thanks to a different-minded generation of young voters animated by the recession and social issues.

…. these students, and dozens of other young people interviewed here last week, give voice to a trend that is surprising pollsters and jangling the nerves of Republicans. On a central philosophical question of the day – the size and scope of the federal government – a clear majority of young people embraces President Obama’s notion that it can be a constructive force….

…. Here in Montana, a state that backed John McCain in 2008 and Mr. Romney last year, voters under 30 have helped elect two Democratic senators and a new Democratic governor. Nationally, young voters have since 2004 been casting their ballots for Democrats by far wider margins than previous young generations – a shift that could reshape American politics for decades.

More here

Later in the article, the GOP response to young voters in Montanta helping elect Gov Steve Bullock and re-elect Sen Jon Tester (“Both times, polls stayed open hours past their official closing time to accommodate huge lines of students. Both times, Forward Montana ran huge voter registration drives”)?

They are “now trying to undo a Montana law that permits voters to register on Election Day”.

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ThinkProgress: Cleopatra Pendleton, mother of slain Chicago teen Hadiya Pendleton, will be Michelle Obama’s guest at the State of the Union on Tuesday.

More here

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Share the ad through Americans for Responsible Solutions

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NYT: Gabrielle Giffords looked slightly stricken as she considered the question: Would she feel bad about starring in a political advertisement against her former House colleagues who declined to stand with her on guns? “Yes,” she said, it would be painful.

“Sometimes you have to do things that are hard,” said Mark E. Kelly, Ms. Giffords’s husband, as she tucked herself close to him on their couch. Ms. Giffords nodded, as she often does when Mr. Kelly — as he often does — intuits the many thoughts she is still unable to express fully. “Really hard,” she added.

Ms. Giffords, a former Democratic congresswoman from Arizona, a gun owner, an astronaut’s wife, a shooting survivor and an incipient gun-control advocate, is settling into the third act of her public life.

More here

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@BarackObama

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ThinkProgress: The NRA is a big spender when it comes to lobbying and campaigns. ThinkProgress investigated the NRA’s contributions to Members of Congress and — lo and behold — the most heavily NRA-backed congressman are leading the charge against new gun violence prevention measures.

See here

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De naaaaaaaaa:

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MoooOOOooOOOoorning!

Oct

this is a shock: the right wing hates the first lady.

By Chipsticks 70 Comments

Categories: All Photos, All Videos and Michelle Obama
Tags: africa, botswana, bush, cost, daughters, drudge, family, First, house, judicial, Lady, laura, mandela, matters, media, Michelle, nelson, Obama, photos, response, right, safari, south, trip, vacation, video, watch, white, wing

MediaMatters: The axe-grinding good-government poseurs at Judicial Watch are in a twist over First Lady Michelle Obama’s June trip to Africa, calling it “a nice taxpayer-funded ‘working’ vacation.” According to documents they obtained via FOIA requests (and their own “calculations”), the trip cost taxpayers $425,000 in travel and food expenses. Their “report” has already been picked up by Drudge, and it’s being flogged by the dimmer corners of the right-wing media.

….. First, it’s ridiculous to criticize the First Lady for the travel costs of an official trip to Africa. She’s the First Lady; if she travels anywhere, it’s going to be funded with public money. She can’t exactly fly stand-by on Southwest.

Second, the South Africa safari was paid for with the Obama’s private funds. What’s more, in taking her daughters on safari in Africa, Mrs. Obama was following in the footsteps of her predecessor. (Read here about Laura Bush and her daughters’ safari in Africa)

(A quick peek at Judicial Watch’s press release archive doesn’t turn up any outraged denunciations of Laura Bush’s safari-going ways.)

…. to say that the trip “was as much an opportunity for the Obama family and friends to go on a safari as it was a trip intended to advance the administration’s agenda in Africa” is absurd. The six-day trip was dominated by official events and meetings with world leaders…..

…. Judicial Watch doesn’t really explain how a meeting with Nelson Mandela constitutes “tourism.” Also, the other events Judicial Watch considers “tourism” – visits to museums and historical landmarks – are standard fare for visiting dignitaries. Laura Bush, during the same Africa trip noted above, toured museums and memorials dedicated to victims of apartheid and genocide…..

Full post here

Soweto, June 22

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ABC: ….. The White House says a number of assertions made by conservative government watchdog Judicial Watch are in error:

The group calculated that the use of the C-32A aircraft cost taxpayers $424,142 (34.8 flight hours x $12,188 per hour).

“The number stated is misconstrued and out of context,” says a senior White House official. “The hourly rate is not the marginal cost of operating the plane – it is an accounting figure that prices in a number of fixed costs from maintaining the Air Force fleet for this kind of plane over a year. For example, it includes estimated replacement parts, depreciation, repairs, and costs that would have been incurred regardless of this flight.”

Judicial Watch says that Sasha and Malia Obama are listed as “Senior Staff.” Not true, says the White House.

“The Obama daughters were not listed as Senior Staff – that only designates the area of the plane where they were seated,” says the official. “The Air Force categorizes the passengers by compartment on the plane.”

…. The senior White House official says that private safari “was designated as a private event and paid for personally.”…. “It was an official trip with a 5-7 official events each day,” the official says.

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FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA’S VISIT TO SOUTH AFRICA AND BOTSWANA

TUESDAY, JUNE 21 – PRETORIA & JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA

Mrs. Obama began her day by traveling to Pretoria where she met with President Zuma’s wife, Nompumelelo Ntuli-Zuma ….. she then attended a reception with South African leaders organized by the U.S. Embassy … She then visited the Nelson Mandela Foundation, meeting with Graca Machel, Former First Lady of Mozambique, and wife of former South African President Nelson Mandela. She also met with former President Mandela, before touring the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22 – JOHANNESBURG & CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

Mrs. Obama visited Regina Mundi Church in Soweto, where she delivered the keynote address to a U.S.-sponsored Young African Women Leaders Forum. She then visited the Hector Pieterson Memorial, honoring the twelve year-old boy who protested apartheid and was shot and killed by apartheid government police. In the afternoon, Mrs Obama attended two sessions of a forum of Young African Women Leaders. Mrs. Obama completed her visit to Johannesburg by leading the final group of forum participants in a community service project.

THURSDAY, JUNE 23 – CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

Mrs. Obama began her day in Cape Town by thanking United States Consulate employees and their families. She then visited Robben Island – where former President Mandela was held for 18 of the 27 years he was imprisoned. She then delivered remarks and took questions from students at the University of Cape Town. She then visited the Cape Town Soccer Stadium where she met with Archbishop Desmond Tutu and organizations dedicated to combating HIV/AIDS in South Africa.

FRIDAY, JUNE 24 – CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA & GABORONE, BOTSWANA

Mrs. Obama visited the Botswana Baylor Children’s Clinic Center of Excellence’s Teen Club that was assembled to teach leadership among teens and encourage young people to teach others about HIV/AIDS. Mrs. Obama joined Teen Club members in a service project. She then had a meeting with President Ian Khama.

SATURDAY, JUNE 25 – GABORONE, BOTSWANA

Mrs. Obama began her day by thanking U.S. Embassy employees and their families. Following this event, Mrs. Obama and her family departed for private family safari events.

SUNDAY, JUNE 26 – GABORONE, BOTSWANA

Mrs. Obama and her family left Botswana to return to the United States.

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But this trip was okay:

Laura Bush in Cape Town, South Africa, July 12, 2005

July 2005: After a safari weekend, Laura Bush stepped out of a dusty SUV with her twin daughters on Monday to serve as a goodwill ambassador in Africa for President Bush.

The first lady’s whirl through South Africa, Tanzania and Rwanda this week comes on the heels of a Scotland summit where British Prime Minister Tony Blair made alleviating Africa’s mass suffering the top agenda item for Bush and leaders of other wealthy countries.

Mrs. Bush and her 23-year-old daughters, Barbara and Jenna, spent the weekend at the Madikwe Game Reserve on the South African-Botswana border….

The first lady’s staff asked photographers to refrain from shooting the twins as they boarded the plane in Gaborone, Botswana, for the flight to Cape Town, on grounds that they were not part of the official delegation.

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In 2010 Judicial Watch released its list of ‘Washington’s ten Most Corrupt Politicians’ – the list included President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Rahm Emanuel, Jesse Jackson, Jr, Barney Frank, Barbara Boxer and Maxine Waters.

It didn’t, for example, include Darrell Issa.

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What can we conclude from all of this?

Well, two things:

(1) Laura Bush is a Republican and she’s white.

(2) Michelle Obama is a Democrat and she’s black.

That’s all, really.

Jul

happy birthday nelson mandela

By Chipsticks 26 Comments

Categories: All Videos and Articles
Tags: birthday, mandela, minds, nelson, simple, video

Statement by the President and Mrs. Obama on Nelson Mandela International Day

As the people of the world celebrate Nelson Mandela’s 93rd birthday on July 18, Madiba continues to be a beacon for the global community, and for all who work for democracy, justice and reconciliation. On behalf of the people of the United States, we congratulate Nelson Mandela, and honor his vision for a better world.

Nelson Mandela said, ‘There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.’ A man who devoted 67 years of his life to public service, Madiba sets the standard for service worldwide, whether we are students, shopkeepers or farmers, cabinet ministers or presidents. He calls on us to serve our fellow human beings, and better our communities.

Michelle, and my daughters, Sasha and Malia, recently met Madiba during an official visit to South Africa that focused on service, youth leadership, education and healthy living. Their time with Madiba was the most moving part of their trip. Mandela’s legacy exemplifies wisdom, strength and grace, and on the anniversary of his birth we salute the example of his life.

In 2009, the United States was honored to join 192 other United Nations member states in the creation of Nelson Mandela International Day. As the global community honors Madiba on July 18 through individual and collective acts of service, we honor the man who showed his own people, and the world, the path to justice, reconciliation and democracy.

Jul

more pete souza genius…..

By Chipsticks 27 Comments

Categories: All Photos and Michelle Obama
Tags: africa, baby, Barack, Biden, bump, child, crying, cute, fist, funny, jarrett, Joe, kid, mandela, Michelle, nelson, Obama, pete, photos, President, south, souza, valerie, whisperer

First Lady Michelle Obama reacts as President Obama soothes a crying baby at the Congressional Picnic, June 15

President Obama greets the family of Make-a-Wish child Diego Diaz, not pictured, before their visit to the Oval Office, June 23

President Obama fist-bumps Make-a-Wish child Diego Diaz after reading a letter he wrote, June 23

President Obama talks backstage with Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett before a reception at the Hyatt at the Bellevue in Philadelphia, June 30

President Obama listens to Vice President Biden during a meeting with the Democratic leadership in the Oval Office, June 23

President Obama greets hospital workers while visiting wounded service members at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., June 17

President Obama talks with Puerto Rican Senator Alejandro Garcia Padilla during a lunch stop at Kasalta, a restaurant in the Ocean Park neighborhood of San Juan, Puerto Rico, June 14

President Obama greets patrons at Thomas Sweet Ice Cream and Chocolate in Washington, D.C., during a family outing on Father’s Day, June 19

All the photos above are by Pete Souza – here’s some Samantha Appleton and Lawrence Jackson genius:

First Lady Michelle Obama meets with former President Nelson Mandela of South Africa at Mandela’s home in Houghton, South Africa, June 21

First Lady Michelle Obama waits to be introduced during an event at the Claremont Hotel Club & Spa in Berkeley, Calif., June 14

First Lady Michelle Obama greets children at the Zandspruit Township Daycare Center at the Emthonjeni Community Center in Johannesburg, South Africa, June 21

First Lady Michelle Obama talks with young people at the U.S. Consulate meet and greet at the Table Bay Hotel in Cape Town, South Africa, June 23

First Lady Michelle Obama receives a hug while meeting with Young African Women Leaders Forum members at the Rosa Parks Library in Soweto, South Africa, June 22

More new photos here

Jun

“queen of our world”

By Chipsticks 16 Comments

Categories: Abroad: Africa 2011, All Videos and Michelle Obama
Tags: africa, article, flowas.com, flowsa, graca, Machel, mandela, Michelle, Mundi, nelson, Obama, Regina, south, speech, video, wife

Flowsa.com: On June 22, 2011, I walked into the Regina Mundi church in Soweto …. to find myself among thousands who had gathered to hear an address by the US First Lady, Michelle Obama. How lucky was I? …

…. Slowly the choir rose and began to sing …. The audience began to sing along ….. Graça Machel, wife of former South African president Nelson Mandela, delivered the most beautiful introduction … “We welcome you as a daughter of African heritage, and we can call you the queen of our world,” said Machel. I agree; Michelle Obama may definitely be the current queen of our world!

… As she approached the stage, holding clasped hands to her chest while fighting back tears, one could see she was moved by her introduction and welcoming…..

Her speech drew on the history of Regina Mundi, which means ”queen of the world” in Latin, paying tribute to leaders of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa and the civil rights movement in the US, urging the young women in the audience to follow their example.

“The young people of this continent – you are the heirs of that blood, sweat, sacrifice and love,” she said. At this point in time I was holding back tears.

….For 45 minutes Michelle Obama spoke with conviction, passion, elegance and grace that moved me and many other women to tears. Her speech was beautifully inspiring.

She concluded with the famous slogan from her husband’s 2008 campaign to inspire and urge young women to become proactive members of change for women empowerment in Africa. “If anyone ever tells you that you shouldn’t or you can’t, then I want you to say with one voice – the voice of a generation – you tell them, ‘yes, we can’,” she said.

Yes, I can too!

This concluded one of the most inspirationally-moving speeches I have ever heard….

Full post here

Thank you SouthernGirl2 (3ChicsPolitico)

Jun

night everyone

By Chipsticks 13 Comments

Categories: Abroad: Africa 2011, All Photos, All Videos and Michelle Obama
Tags: africa, Barack, Malia, mandela, Michelle, nelson, Obama, photo, President, Sasha, south, video

First Lady Michelle Obama, along with Marian Robinson and daughters Sasha and Malia, listens to former resident Noor Ebrahim as they visit the District Six Museum in Cape Town, South Africa, June 23, 2011. Ebrahim described the forced segregation that occurred after 1966 when District 6 was declared a “White Group Area.” (Official White House Photo by Samantha Appleton)

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Friday: Gaborone, Botswana

The First Lady will visit the Botswana Baylor Children’s Clinic Center of Excellence’s Teen Club. Teen Club was assembled to teach leadership among teens and encourage young people to teach others HIV/AIDS education. Mrs. Obama joins Teen Club members in a service project at the site for the planned Botswana Baylor Adolescent Center.

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