President Barack Obama talks with Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg before a dinner with Technology Business Leaders in Woodside, California, Feb. 17, 2011. Also pictured, left to right, are Carol Bartz, Yahoo! President and CEO; Art Levinson, Genentech Chairman and former CEO; Steve Westly, Founder and Managing Partner, The Westly Group; and Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman and CEO of Google. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
BBC: US President Barack Obama has met Silicon Valley bosses, including Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Apple’s Steve Jobs and Google chief executive Eric Schmidt were also present at the private get-together in California.
The president had been seeking the views of technology leaders as he works to turn around his country’s ailing economy. Mr Obama has said he wants to encourage American businesses to invest more money in innovation. Among those meeting the president were the bosses of Twitter, Yahoo and Oracle. Apple’s chief executive Steve Jobs was in attendance, despite media reports that his health had taken a turn for the worse.
(Thank you Titti)
LA Times: In the first authorized photo since his medical leave in January, Apple chief Steve Jobs appears alongside President Obama and Silicon Valley technology leaders at a dinner Thursday night, raising a glass at a Woodside, Calif., dinner. Jobs’ back is turned to the camera.
Also visible in the photograph, released by the White House Friday, are Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt, Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, Oracle chief Larry Ellison, and the remainder of the guest list the Times published Thursday.
White House.gov
I like this picture. POTUS, so handsome and Mark is a cutie. I am sad that Mr. Jobs is not pictured. I have been trying to convenience myself that the news about his health is National Inquirer bs but no pics of him is making me scared.
Kelly, I have always has a little crush on Mr Jobs. Mr. Jobs does indeed have pancreatic cancer-which is one of the fastest and deadliest.
He has been sick for a couple of years at least. Our paper recently stated that he will be taking a leave for a while. He has done this before, so we should all have good thoughts for him and hope he will get better again.
Thanks for the shout out Chips!! I am sad also about Jobs, glad they released pics of him.
Thank you for the link Titti!! ;-)
It’s interesting that there are only two women in this group. We need more women at that level in this world! (I’m glad for these two, though).
I had the same exact thought! more women need :D
I also immediately noticed the imbalance.
I just want to see a level field of opportunity for any and everyone. That’s when we can best exercise our “rugged individualism” and demonstrate personal initiative and responsibility for “making of our lives what we will.” And then, like those honored this week at the WH, when we become our best, we in turn give our best to something larger than ourselves.
I am irritated at the moment, thinking how the right twists these principles, and distorts the function and value of government in our lives to something dark and sinister.
I see a sea of white people.
There’s a black one in there, too. :D
:oops: I searched and searched and searched the photo for a black face and was just about to reply: “There is NO black face in there!”
And then I remembered the President is black.
:lol:
I’m guessing this means I don’t see him as any color, just as the President!
I wish more people had that view.
It’s just wonderful - and I was thinking about this earlier today, that people really see President Obama (sane people, of course), not just as the first black president. He’s Barack Obama first, and for many people, he’s just Barack Obama. That’s how many people see themselves - as people first, then their characteristics. Because, for every person, they’ve always been who they are - and they don’t know themselves any other way. Our characteristics are laregely beyond our control, so why define ourselves by things only perceived by people outside ourselves?
That’s all well and good but he *is* black identifying so why is it laudatory to not see him that way? Why was the lack of diversity dismissed with a colorblind comment yet the problem of not having more women was affirmed and re-affirmed?
I can see your point, but the comparison is two sides of the same coin. He’s black - yes. But, he’s also just himself, who happens to be black. The problems that some see with that fact are theirs to resolve - not his. He has always been black, and will continue to be, and doesn’t need to argue that point because who he’s become is not defined by the color of his skin. It’s society that needs to define him - hence, the constant reference to him being the first black president. Yes, it’s a matter of history that he’s the first black president, but he’s so much more than that.
In terms of the lack of women in the higher echelon - it’s the same thing. The problem is created when those who think women can’t or shouldn’t be in the higher echelon prohibit opportunities for those women. It’s not a comment on those women - it’s rather a comment on society’s perception of those women. They are as fabulous as they want to be, but once again, some choose to see them as less.
In both cases, the President and the women are not the problem in society - they represent the problem in society. But within themselves, they are everything they should be. They’re not defined by their characteristics, but by society’s interpretation of those characteristics.
I’m not sure i’ve explained it. But, as a black woman who grew up in a small Canadian city with very little diversity - I certainly don’t feel entirely defined by my characteristics. But, I’m entirely aware of how society’s perceptions of my characteristics impact my experiences in the world - outside of my own head.
Hi Conlakappa, I’m sorry for offending you with my ‘colorblind’ comment, I didn’t make my point too well at all. It drives me nuts when I hear commentators, who are evidently trying to sound complimentary, say stuff like ‘gosh, you’d almost forget he was black’ - like that’s a good thing. That’s how my comment could have been read too, but I genuinely didn’t mean it like that. I simply meant that when I look at him I just see Barack Obama the man, I forget the factors that we often instinctively use to define people, eg race/religion/age/nationality, etc. It doesn’t mean I forget that he is black, or regard his race as unimportant in the shaping of him as a man, I just don’t define him by it. I hope that makes some sense!