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12 Dec 2011 14:36

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U.S.: Obama holds press event with Nouri al-Maliki to mark end of Iraq war

  • A war is ending. A new day is upon us. And let us never forget those who gave us this chance: the untold number of Iraqis who’ve given their lives; more than 1 million Americans, military and civilian, who have served in Iraq; nearly 4,500 fallen Americans who gave their last full measure of devotion; tens of thousands of wounded warriors and so many inspiring military families. They are the reason that we can stand here today. And we owe it to every single one of them, we have a moral obligation to all of them to build a future worthy of their sacrifice.
  • President Obama • In remarks to the press pool, joined by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Obama has pledged that U.S. forces will be withdrawn from Iraq by the end of the year, saying in October that “our troops in Iraq will definitely be home for the holidays.” The U.S. presence in Iraq is not, however, going away completely — while some 8,000 active duty military personnel are returning home, along with nearly 5,000 private military contractors, the U.S. embassy in Iraq still boasts a personnel staff of 15,000, making it the largest U.S. embassy in the world. Obama has said he intends to cut that number substantially, but that given Iraq’s situation immediately following the war, the embassy’s security staff will by necessity remain higher than most. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Dec 2011 10:54

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U.S.: World AIDS Day: Obama boosts U.S. stake in the battle against AIDS

  • $50 million in new funding to continue to fight AIDS source
  • » How that money would help: The Obama administration has a couple of goals for that money. First, they plan to get antiretroviral drugs to 2 million more people by 2013. Second, they plan to give the drugs to 1.5 million more HIV-positive pregnant women, in an effort to prevent the disease from getting passed on to their children. The president, with Bill Clinton and George W. Bush by his side, is announcing the renewed anti-AIDS initiatives (as a part of World AIDS Day) as we write this.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Nov 2011 14:35

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Politics: President Obama speaks to Occupy after jobs speech interruption

  • For a lot of the folks who have been in New York and all across the country in the Occupy movement, there is a profound sense of frustration about the fact that the essence of the American dream, which is if you work hard, if you stick to it that, you can make it, feels like that’s slipping away. And that’s not the way things are supposed to be. Not here. Not in America.
  • President Obama • Responding to an interruption by Occupy protesters during a jobs speech in New Hampshire. After protesters “human-mic’d” themselves into the President’s attention (“Mr. President, more than 4,000 peaceful protesters have been arrested…”), he gave the above response, which seems both significant and somewhat lacking. That the President would directly address the protesters and cast himself on their side, in a way, speaks to the now nearly unstoppable influence the Occupy movement is having on the public discourse. At the same time, though, what Obama chose to say was fairly customary “American dream” rhetoric that didn’t address their specifically stated concern over the arrests of their comrades. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Nov 2011 20:10

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Politics: Obama offers tough words on debt supercommittee failure

  • They’ve still got a year to figure it out. They can still come together around a balanced plan. I believe Democrats are prepared to do so. My expect is that there are some Republicans who are interested in preventing the automatic cuts from taking place.
  • President Barack Obama • Discussing the failure of the supercommittee to make a deal on cuts, as required by the debt ceiling deal he made in August. The president’s tone was tough — “I will veto any effort to get rid of those spending cuts,” he said — but did offer some wiggle room for Congress to get their act together. The cuts — half defense, half domestic — offer a lot of pain for both sides of the aisle, so who knows? Maybe we’ll see a deal — perhaps the elusive “balanced” one the president is pitching. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Nov 2011 10:38

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U.S.: Guns around the White House: One week, two incidents

  • Friday Two vehicles were spotted in the midst of a gunfight within a relatively close distance to the White House — within a few hundred yards of the building. An AK-47 was recovered.
  • Tuesday White House officials found a single bullet that had been fired at the White House itself, but was held off by ballistic glass. Officials don’t know if Friday’s incident was the cause for the find. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Nov 2011 10:14

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World: Tell us how you really feel: Sarkozy, Obama rip Netanyahu on hot mic

  • Sarkozy French leader Nicolas Sarkozy, at the G20 economic conference last week, had what he thought was a candid exchange with Barack Obama when he said this about Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu: “I cannot bear Netanyahu, he’s a liar.” Damn.
  • Obama In an effort to sympathize with his diplomatic friend, Obama reportedly responded like this: “You’re fed up, but I have to deal with him every day.” While press officials heard the conversation, it seems unlikely that there was a recording of the (amusing) exchange. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Nov 2011 20:45

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Politics: Sheriff Joe Arpaio wants Obama’s birth microfiche

  • To help the president of the United States, let’s go to the microfiche. All you have to do if you’re the president is go to the Department of Health, or whatever, and release the microfiche.
  • Maricopa, AZ’s Sheriff Joe Arpaio • Taking birtherism to a dizzying, inane new height. We especially like how he couches it – “to help” President Obama. Arpaio has also formed what he referred to as a “posse” to investigate the President’s entirely well understood birth, and at a Tea Party Rally last month he said “…there could be a shock there somewhere that my guys came up with. I can’t talk too much about it. It’s in the process.” Just like Donald Trump’s investigators in Hawaii, huh? source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

24 Oct 2011 16:02

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Politics: Rick Perry: Trump not sold on Obama’s birth certificate

  • Say it ain’t so, Rick!  The Texas governor and presidential candidate recently told Parade Magazine that he dined with Donald Trump, and that Trump didn’t believe President Obama’s birth certificate was genuine. When pressed for his own opinion, Perry said he had “no reason to think otherwise… I don’t have any idea. It doesn’t matter. He’s the president of the United States. He’s elected. It’s a distractive issue.” (Photo by Gage Skidmore)source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Oct 2011 23:10

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Politics: Obama’s campaign fundraising prowess tops estimates, and then some

  • $70M the amount Obama raised for his 2012 campaign in the most recent quarter
  • $55M the amount the president expected to raise this quarter; all the extra was just showing off
  • 98% of donors to Obama’s campaign threw in $250 or less; you do the math on that one, guys source
  • » And he wasn’t even at his peak powers: Thanks to the long-running debt ceiling debate that boringly captivated the country earlier this summer, Obama had to turn down a number of major fundraising events, lowering his total from the previous quarter. He’s miles ahead of every other candidate, for obvious reasons: The still-splintered GOP field has to fight with each other for the right to take on Obama next November.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Oct 2011 16:50

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Politics: Obama pressures Congress to take more action

  • If Congress does something, then I can’t run against a do-nothing Congress. [If they do nothing] then I think the American people will run them out of town.
  • President Barack Obama • Answering a reporter’s question whether he was pursuing a similar reelection strategy to that of Harry Truman’s 1948 campaign against a “do-nothing Congress.” Obama has used a tougher, more confrontational rhetorical style against Congress lately, and while this does have much to do with his push on his proposed jobs bill, you needn’t be a cynic to see this as a desirable campaign strategy. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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