April 18, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: 2 Comments
The UN rapporteur on torture responded to the announcement by US pres. Barack Obama that CIA agents who engaged in practices the Justice Dept. had authorized as legal would not be prosecuted by saying that such an amnesty would violate US treaty obligations under international law. Manfred Nowak told the Austrian newspaper Der Standard that any acts of torture must be investigated and those involved prosecuted.
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April 18, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: One Comment
En la Cumbre de las Américas, el presidente de Estados Unidos, Barack Obama, ha proclamado su intención de llevar a cabo un nuevo programa diplomático en las Américas, buscando colaboración y apertura. Había establecido esta semana en México su apoyo al tratado interamericano contra el tráfico de armas, prometiendo impulsar al Senado a actuar para ratificarlo.
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April 17, 2009 :: Severino Villalonso :: One Comment
Cuban pres. Raúl Castro has said he is willing to engage the US in talks on any subject, including human rights and democratization, so long as there are no preconditions. Sec. of State Hillary Clinton today said that 50 years of US policy toward Cuba have “failed” to bring about the changes sought, and hinted the Obama administration would be looking to a new era of engagement and negotiation.
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April 17, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: One Comment
The Justice Dept. of Pres. Barack Obama yesterday released a series of memos, reported as ‘only lightly redacted’ (for security purposes), detailing the advice the Department gave the Bush White House concerning the legality of harsh interrogation techniques proposed for use by the CIA. Pres. Obama sought to preclude a political firestorm by pledging not to prosecute CIA agents who may have implemented the techniques, if they had been advised the techniques were legal, but no such immunity was offered to administration officials who may be liable for having deliberately misinterpreted existing law or authorized illegal techniques.
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April 16, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: 2 Comments
Electronic medical records (EMR), like health insurance, benefit from being spread over the widest pool possible. A system that aggregates and cross-references data from hundreds of millions of patients can find statistical evidence far more efficiently than today’s statistical modeling for health problems and solution improvement.
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April 15, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
The problem with the recent furore over the anti-tax ‘tea party’ movement is that no one knows what its message is. Some say it represents a platform against all forms of taxation. Most of the newcomers to the movement seem to suggest they just want the proliferation of targeted taxes (gasoline, tobacco, property) to be minimized. Some radicals seem to favor anarchy (obviously not thinking much about the risks). And the Republican party has clearly latched onto this libertarian-originated movement as a way of sowing fear and opposition to Obama.
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April 14, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: 8 Comments
Pres. Obama today gave an address at Georgetown University, in which he explained his economic policies and how his budget and recovery plan will achieve not only better healthcare for more Americans and a green energy agenda, but real substantive entitlement reform, new financial regulations intended to both curb abuses and spur sustainable investments in future prosperity, and protect against long-term decline stemming from mass under-education.
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April 14, 2009 :: Denver Lessing :: Comments Off
An instrumental part of the radical smear effort being waged by well-funded conservative fringe groups against Pres. Obama is what is being called the ‘tea party’ movement. Members of the movement have been sending envelopes full of loose tea or tea bags, labeled “tax protest” to members of Congress, raising security concerns and provoking hazmat investigations, evacuations and other measures oriented toward addressing bio-chemical terror threats.
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April 10, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: 3 Comments
In an effort to address the ongoing diplomatic crisis related to Iran’s refusal to follow certain UN mandates to cease nuclear research processes, 6 powers, including the United States, have invited Tehran to talks on how best to achieve a state of affairs acceptable to all parties and which does not allow Iran to expand the group of nuclear-armed nations. The move comes on the heels of US pres. Barack Obama’s announcement in Europe that he will initiate a program aimed at directing international treaties toward the ultimate elimination of all nuclear weapons.
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April 8, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: 3 Comments
President Barack Obama, during a speech in Prague, announced his intention to embark upon the framing of a new global effort to eliminate all of the world’s nuclear weapons, admitting the goal may not be achieved for decades. The US president told his audience that the deadliest weapons known to humanity must be considered contrary to peace and stability by all humankind, and should be responsibly phased out by those powers that have them.
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April 7, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
Largely ignored by the mainstream media, one major part of the president’s European tour was his insistence that the international community needs to make historic long-term commitments to food security. If made, that commitment would be perhaps the most significant security achievement of the G20 summit and Obama’s first European trip, as food insecurity poses [...]
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April 5, 2009 :: staff :: 4 Comments
When I was born, the world was divided, and our nations were faced with very different circumstances. Few people would have predicted that someone like me would one day become the President of the United States. (Applause.) Few people would have predicted that an American President would one day be permitted to speak to an audience like this in Prague. (Applause.) Few would have imagined that the Czech Republic would become a free nation, a member of NATO, a leader of a united Europe. Those ideas would have been dismissed as dreams.
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April 4, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was shot by a sniper 41 years ago this morning in Memphis, Tennessee. He was 39 years old. King had been the youngest ever recipient of the Nobel Peace prize in 1964, for his efforts to achieve civil rights reform through nonviolent protest. The legacy of his commitment to peace, democracy, equality and justice, continues to inform all of American politics to this day.
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April 3, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
The Republican party has developed an astonishing tendency to shock the conscience with its inability to deal with facts or interact seriously with the political climate in which they find themselves, since losing handily to Barack Obama and the Democrats in November. That their entire economic philosophy has been roundly rejected by the electorate and by economists, seems lost on their leadership in the most comprehensive way.
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April 1, 2009 :: Anjika Sridhar :: One Comment
In a gesture of cooperation toward the United States, and in answer to a call for regional assistance, Iran has offered its help in combating the spreading drug trade in Afghanistan. The offer has not been formalized by a diplomatic meeting or by policy-specific talks, but may be a signal that some negotiations could be begun between the two states. The US government insists that Iran halt any activities that could be part of a weaponization program for nuclear materials.
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March 31, 2009 :: Webb Tisch :: Comments Off
The White House gets tough with automakers and Wall Street ‘takes a dive’. At least that’s the news the CNBCs of the world are pushing. Every time something happens in the world and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) swells or declines, it was direct cause and effect. Nevermind the millions of people who may have milions of reasons to act one way or another and the countless permutations of those interests.
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March 27, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you so much. Well, it is great to see all of you. And I am thrilled that all of you here in the White House and everybody who is viewing this online is participating in this experiment that we’re trying out. When I was running for President, I promised to open up the White House to the American people. And this event, which is being streamed live over the Internet, marks an important step towards achieving that goal. And I’m looking forward to taking your questions and hearing your thoughts and concerns — because what matters to you and your families, and what people here in Washington are focused on, aren’t always one and the same thing.
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March 27, 2009 :: Webb Tisch :: Comments Off
Pres. Barack Obama held a live online town hall meeting yesterday, which is reported to have attracted 3.5 million viewers and 100,000 participants. It was a landmark event in the developing media of interactive democracy in 21st century politics. It was an opportunity for the president to reach out directly to the public in order [...]
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March 24, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
Pres. Obama tonight held his second prime time press conference, in the East Room of the White House, at 8pm, EDT. The main topic of the evening was the president’s budget proposal and the process of economic recovery. Obama opened with a prepared statement, before taking questions from the press corps. He praised efforts being made around the nation to implement projects that are creating new jobs, and defended his plan for a tax cut for 95% of working families.
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March 11, 2009 :: Riga Listin :: One Comment
Pres. Barack Obama today signed an executive order creating a special White House Council on Women and Girls, saying the cause of gender equality dates back to the founding of the United States, the promise that natural and democratic rights would be acknowledged for all citizens.
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March 9, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: 4 Comments
An array of reports show some 1,200 people living in a growing tent city outside the California capital Sacramento, as more and more people are left homeless by the housing crisis. The UK’s Daily Mail on Friday detailed the community, noting echoes of the Depression era. There are an estimated 2,000 people living in such communities around Sacramento, with foreclosure and jobless rates skyrocketing.
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March 7, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
Yesterday, we learned that the economy lost another 651,000 jobs in the month of February, which brings the total number of jobs lost in this recession to 4.4 million. The unemployment rate has now surpassed 8 percent, the highest rate in a quarter century. These aren’t just statistics, but hardships experienced personally by millions of Americans who no longer know how they’ll pay their bills, or make their mortgage, or raise their families.
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March 6, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
Kenya PM Raila Odinga denounces murder of human rights advocates… Sudan ambassador to UN says aid groups “spoiling” country, while Khartoum continues campaign against civilians in Darfur… GOP blocks spending bill for “earmarks”, despite requesting over 4,000 of them; GOP leaders propose “spending freeze”, a policy embraced by Pres. Herbert Hoover, which sped the arrival of the Great Depression… Italy to build world’s longest suspension bridge in stimulus plan, linking Sicily to mainland…
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March 5, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: 3 Comments
Saying the nation cannot afford any further delay, Pres. Barack Obama told a joint session of Congress last week, “let there be no doubt, healthcare reform cannot wait, it must not wait and it will not wait another year.” He promised he would begin meetings this week, to begin formulating the strategy that would best achieve the goal of “quality, affordable healthcare coverage for all Americans”.
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March 3, 2009 :: Severino Villalonso :: Comments Off
Raúl Castro, brother and replacement of Fidel Castro, who headed Cuba’s revolutionary government for nearly 50 years, has replaced two top officials who were long-time aides to his brother and potential successors. The move is being called a clear indication that Raúl Castro is now the true leader of the Cuban state, not just a place-holder for his ailing brother.
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March 3, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
Pres. Barack Obama today visited the Interior Dept., noting it was once called in jest “the Department of Everything Else”, a government agency with responsibility for nearly 1/5 of the entire land area of the United States. He professed his intention to task the Interior Dept. with taking major steps to help build green infrastructure for an energy economy based on solar-voltaic and wind-turbine-generated energy.
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March 3, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
Zimbabwe has released a top human rights activist whose detention was illegal, according to activists, the opposition and foreign governments. Zimbabwe power-sharing arrangement still under strain as Mugabe regime seeks to guard against prosecution for past crimes. After a sustained series of bombings across Pakistan, an attack by gunmen in Lahore, this time targeting a [...]
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March 2, 2009 :: Riga Listin :: Comments Off
The United States and the Russian Federation are reportedly planning lengthy and in-depth discussions in Geneva, starting Friday, to improve relations and strengthen bilateral efforts in a number of areas. Security in Europe, the Middle East and the far East will all be on the agenda, as will nuclear non-proliferation and negotiation with Iran to halt its nuclear program.
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March 2, 2009 :: Denver Lessing :: 2 Comments
The Obama administration is looking at the severity of the banking crisis with a mind to settling the issue of survivability and recoverability of banks, case by case, based on facts in evidence. The first step will be to gather evidence, through a series of ‘stress tests’ designed to examine what resources troubled banks have to weather oncoming storms, then plan according to the results of those tests.
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February 28, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
Transcript of President Barack Obama’s Weekly Address Saturday, February 28th, 2009, as released by the White House Two years ago, we set out on a journey to change the way that Washington works. We sought a government that served not the interests of powerful lobbyists or the wealthiest few, but the middle-class Americans I met [...]
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February 27, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
CitiGroup announces deal to let US government take 36% stake in firm, up from 8% stake, a move that will intensify regulatory scrutiny and possibly move firm toward solvency by way of nationalization. Move is third rescue in five months in ongoing effort to save massive banking operation. Obama announces plan to remove most US [...]
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February 27, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
In keeping with my commitment to make our government more open and transparent, this budget is an honest accounting of where we are and where we intend to go. For too long, our budget has not told the whole truth about how precious tax dollars are spent. Large sums have been left off the books, including the true cost of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. And that kind of dishonest accounting is not how you run your family budgets at home; it’s not how your government should run its budgets, either. We need to be honest with ourselves about what costs are being racked up — because that’s how we’ll come to grips with the hard choices that lie ahead. And there are some hard choices that lie ahead.
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February 26, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
The administration of Pres. Barack Obama has lifted a ban on filming and/or photographing the coffins of soldiers killed overseas. Defense Secretary Robert Gates had been asked to review the ban, put in place by the first Pres. Bush, in 1991, and he found that the ban could be lifted without any negative impact on [...]
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February 25, 2009 :: Severino Villalonso :: Comments Off
Last night, Pres. Barack Obama made his first address on the state of the nation to a joint session of Congress, though not officially classed as a ‘State of the Union’ address. Obama sought to reassure the public that economic recovery was in its beginning stages and the future was full of hope and possibility, proclaiming: “We will rebuild, we will recover and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before.”
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February 25, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
Bobby Jindal’s official Republican response to Barack Obama’s address last night was nothing short of a startling, clumsy, shameful attempt to hijack the ideas and the achievements of Barack Obama. One by one, he listed priorities his party has neglected or fought against for decades, each of which Obama not only talks about, but has been implementing, as if the Louisiana governor believed there were any credible way for Americans to take his spiel seriously.
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February 25, 2009 :: staff :: One Comment
As Prepared for Delivery, Tuesday, 24 February 2009 Madame Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, and the First Lady of the United States: I’ve come here tonight not only to address the distinguished men and women in this great chamber, but to speak frankly and directly to the men and women who sent us [...]
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February 25, 2009 :: Webb Tisch :: One Comment
The official Republican party response from Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal was surprising for a number of reasons, not least because he declared his party’s support for affordable universal healthcare coverage, something with very little history to back it up. He clearly sought to co-opt Obama’a can-do “era of responsibility” message. He even went as far as to suggest that somehow his vision might be more in line with the spirit of great historic achievements like the freeing of slaves than Obama’s, perhaps an ethical low in purely rhetorical flourishes.
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February 20, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
A few years back, an ambitious youngish president staged an impressive event, in which he landed a fighter-jet on an aircraft carrier, then declared “Mission Accomplished”, in the midst of what would turn out to be only the first baby steps of a very complicated war. The $780 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is a victory for the president in terms of his organizing Congressional support, but it is just the beginning of a very long, high-stakes journey, for his nascent administration, and for the nation.
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February 18, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
La Secretaria de Estado, Hillary Clinton, visita hoy la sede del gobierno indonesí, en Djakarta, con un mensaje sin matices: el gobierno del Presidente Barack Obama quiere tenderle la mano al país islámico más poblado, la tercera democracia más poblada del planeta. Con una población de 237 millones, Indonesia es el cuarto país más poblado de la Tierra, después de China, India, y Estados Unidos, y un eje clave en la dinámica político-económica de la región.
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February 17, 2009 :: staff :: One Comment
What makes this recovery plan so important is not just that it will create or save 3½ million jobs over the next two years, including nearly 60,000 in Colorado. It’s that we are putting Americans to work doing the work that America needs done in critical areas that have been neglected for too long, work that will bring real and lasting change for generations to come.
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February 16, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
50 years ago today, Fidel Castro was sworn in as president of Cuba, after his rebel militia overthrew the authoritarian Batista regime. Castro’s revolutionary government is still in command, under Fidel’s brother Raúl, whom many are calling on to institute substantial reforms and democratize Cuba and its one-party system. Xinhua reports that “Sri Lankan President [...]
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February 16, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
We have hashed out the details of how finance became a shell game and our major banks lost track of what was real money and what was speculative. And now, we have the consequent malaise, rippling out and flooding underfoot. People are infused with a sense of urgency and intoxicated by the beguiling qualities of the concept of their own martyrdom.
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February 13, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: 3 Comments
The current crisis, in a sense, stems from an all-too-pervasive and endless test of human nature: the lenders wanted mega-profits from everyone, not just a little on top, no matter how much or how little additional wealth their wealth could reasonably generate. Despite getting substantially richer as credit and lending proliferated, it seems there was a (perhaps subconscious) insistence among the top bankers that they should see their lot improved by vast amounts for every last consumer diving into credit or investments. This means: the ideology of bank management devolved into a notion of automatic income, a dangerous and untenable approach.
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February 11, 2009 :: Riga Listin :: Comments Off
As the world’s focus begins to shift, with the priorities of the American administration, to the conflict zone in Afghanistan, which may or may not include the tribal areas along the border, inside Pakistan, we must ask: will the administration of Barack Obama pressure officials in either country to end the brutal violence suffered by women?
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February 11, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
US Senate votes 61 to 37 to approve American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, devoting over $800 billion in investments to public works, social programs, lending and tax measures, to spur economic recovery, private investment and job creation. The bill will have to be renegotiated with the House of Representatives in a conference committee compromise bill that both houses will have to approve before Pres. Obama can sign it into law.
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February 10, 2009 :: staff :: One Comment
I took a trip to Elkhart, Indiana today. Elkhart is a place that has lost jobs faster than anywhere else in America. In one year, the unemployment rate went from 4.7 percent to 15.3 percent. Companies that have sustained this community for years are shedding jobs at an alarming speed, and the people who’ve lost them have no idea what to do or who to turn to. They can’t pay their bills and they’ve stopped spending money. And because they’ve stopped spending money, more businesses have been forced to lay off more workers. In fact, local TV stations have started running public service announcements that tell people where to find food banks, even as the food banks don’t have enough to meet the demand.
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February 10, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
Pres. Barack Obama led his remarks with a mention of today’s town-hall meeting in Elkhart, Indiana, which he highlighted as a town whose troubles illustrate the gravity of the current crisis. He said that job losses and recession have become so deep there that local television stations are broadcasting public service announcements notifying residents where to find food banks.
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February 9, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
Pres. Barack Obama today held a unique town-hall meeting in Elkhart, Indiana, in which he explained to a community beset with the worst unemployment rate in the country, at 15.3%, why the recovery and reinvestment bill before Congress is urgently needed and how it will work. First delivering a detailed assessment of the nation’s economic woes, then answering questions from unscreened citizens in attendance, Obama gave a vigorous defense of the unique stimulus project that blends “economic recovery” and “community reinvestment”.
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February 8, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: One Comment
Pres. Barack Obama announced, just one week after taking office, the creation of a new website, Recovery.gov, which will detail the manner in which all the money from his American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan, once passed by Congress and signed into law, is being spent. The website is another in a series of steps to create a far-reaching reform of the federal government’s reporting to the public about its activities, with the aim of achieving Obama’s promise of the “most transparent” government in US history.
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February 6, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
Whether you are an avid supporter of Barack Obama, a perennial political skeptic, a critic, or a staunchly ideological opponent, it is clear that there must be some sort of vast, perhaps unprecedented economic stimulus put into effect in order to slow or reverse a now spiraling economic downturn. And, all have to admit as well, it is a very risky thing to gamble one’s political capital, at such a crucial moment in American history, on a huge spending package that might not have a very visible effect in the immediate short term.
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