"Obama, family visit cell that became Mandela’s crucible; President cites legacy of sacrifice in later speech" by Michael D. Shear | New York Times, July 01, 2013
CAPE TOWN — President Obama recalled a speech delivered there by Robert F. Kennedy in June 1966. Kennedy hailed the push for civil rights in the United States, in South Africa and around the world.
That doesn't get us started well.
“Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance,” Kennedy said.
Bloggers.
Related: "Americans tend to only know about Nelson Mandela, he said, but the film documents how Chief Luthuli led the ANC and received a Nobel Peace Prize for his unwavering support of nonviolence resistance."
The symbolism of Obama’s visit was impossible to miss: America’s first black president, whose wife is a descendant of African slaves, said this week that he might not have been elected were it not for Mandela’s ability to endure imprisonment and emerge to take power without bitterness or recrimination....
Strange thing to say and connection to make given Obama's agreement with indefinite detention for innocent men, but beyond that I am just so tired illusion, imagery, and scripted and staged symbolism posing as some sort of reality.
And more than that, just tired of SEEING IT in my NEWSPAPER!
For Obama, the visit to Robben Island, just off Cape Town, was part of an African trip that has been overshadowed to some extent by concerns about Mandela’s health....
He's still hanging in there -- or the machines are keeping him technically alive until they decide to pull the plug.
Obama talked to his daughters about the history of the prison island and of the role it played in the political movement of nonviolence started by Gandhi.
Oh, man!
That is offensive to me given Gitmo, the drone strikes, the overthrow of Khadafy, the attempted regime change in Syria using terrorist mercenaries, and on and on.
I'm surprised his tongue didn't catch fire when he said the great soul's name. Thank God he was cremated. He's not bumping his head in that coffin in which he would be whirling around at light speed.
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Do I really want to continue with today's coverage?
"President Obama courts business in Africa; Ends visit with trade meetings" by Julie Pace | Associated Press, July 02, 2013
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania — President Obama on Monday courted African business leaders and announced trade initiatives to open East Africa’s markets to American businesses, as he sought to counter the rise of Chinese economic influence in the continent.
Gee, for a minute there I thought it was intended for the African people.
The United States, he declared, wants to ‘‘step up our game’’ in a region that is home to six of the world’s 10 fastest-growing economies.
In addition to the drone surveillance and missile programs?
The president was welcomed in Tanzania by the largest crowds of his weeklong trip to the continent where his family ties run deep. Thousands of people lined the 20-minute route as his motorcade sped from the airport to the center of this city on the shores of the Indian Ocean.
Yeah, thanks for helping out with the global-warming problem you want to tax us for with the taxpayer-funded trip. Thanks a lot.
Some onlookers wore shirts and traditional khanga wraps bearing Obama’s image. The oceanfront road leading to the residence of the Tanzanian president, Jakaya Kikwete, had been permanently changed to ‘‘Barack Obama Drive’’ in honor of the visit.
And if they were negative protests would the paper tell us?
Throughout his three-country trip, Obama has touted a new model for US partnership with Africa, one based not just on aid and assistance but also on trade. While the United States has long been a leader in foreign aid to Africa, China has surpassed America as sub-Saharan Africa’s largest trading partner. Countries including India, Turkey, and Brazil also are increasing their presence on the continent.
Translation: we are arriving late, and it begs the question, Who Lost Africa?
‘‘I see Africa as the world’s next major economic success story,’’ Obama told American and African business leaders Monday. He spoke after a private meeting with top executives, including representatives from Coca-Cola, Microsoft, and General Electric.
Who had their hands up his ass. Obviously, Obama is nothing more than corporate pitch man and puppet.
Obama will close his Africa trip Tuesday with a rare meeting on foreign soil between two American presidents. George W. Bush is in Dar Es Salaam for a conference on African women organized by his institute and hosted by his wife, Laura Bush. The presidents will attend a wreath-laying ceremony honoring the victims of the 1998 US embassy bombing in Tanzania.
Oh, MAN!
In earlier stops in Senegal and South Africa, the president said he welcomed world economies turning their sights to Africa, declaring ‘‘the more, the merrier.’’
But he also challenged African leaders to pick their international partners carefully, saying they should push back against countries that bring in their own workers or mine Africa’s natural resources but handle the production outside the continent — all criticisms that have been levied against China.
And yet here at home, more work visas for cheap foreign labor are good while he protects the interests of already-established western corporations that have done the same thing. I gotta give it to him, the man is a wonderful piece of work.
Seeking to draw a contrast with Beijing, Obama said his administration’s goal was ‘‘for Africa to build Africa for Africans,’’ and for the United States to be a partner in that process.
When is he going to apply that on the home front? The place is falling apart and all the money is going for empire.
Obama’s trip marks his first stop in Africa since 2009, when he spent 24 hours in Ghana. China’s new president, Xi Jinping, embarked on an Africa swing less than two weeks after taking office earlier this year.
During his meetings in Tanzania, Obama revealed a venture, dubbed ‘‘Trade Africa,’’ that aims to increase the flow of goods between the United States and sub-Saharan Africa. The initial phase will focus on East Africa — Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, and Tanzania — and aim to increase the region’s exports to the United States by 40 percent.
The program is designed to assist those countries trade with each other. The president cited the laborious physical roadblocks and border crossings on the continent that delay the transport of goods and products.
Obama’s two-day visit to Tanzania marks the final leg of his weeklong visit to Africa. He arrived in Dar Es Salaam Monday afternoon, along with wife, Michelle, and daughters Malia and Sasha.
During a joint press conference with Kikwete, Obama appeared moved by the welcome from the exuberant crowds.
He cited his ties to neighboring Kenya, where his father was born, and said that his father’s family had spent time in Tanzania.
Interesting that he didn't go to Kenya, huh?
Related: Kenya Elected War Criminal
Oh, maybe not, but why not? He doesn't mind being seen with war criminals.
In advance of his Tuesday meeting with Bush, Obama praised the anti-AIDS program the former president began during his tenure, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.
‘‘I think this is one of his crowning achievements,’’ Obama said. ‘‘Because of the commitment of the Bush administration and the American people, millions of lives have been saved.’’
And billions in pharmaceutical profits were booked despite a cure!
Obama rejected the notion that he has reduced the United States’ commitment to the program, saying lower spending on it is due to efficiencies in treating more people.
It has, but, you know.... why let that get in the way of the imagery and illusion?
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NEXT DAY UPDATE:
"In Africa, President Obama vies with history; Labors to convey pledges" by Julie Pace | Associated Press, July 03, 2013
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania — The initiatives Obama promoted on food security, improved health care, and expanded access to electricity appeared small-scale.
The president at times seemed to be trying to will the traveling press corps and the American public to grasp the importance of the ventures. He took jabs at the US media for covering only poverty or war in Africa and made a rare on-the-record appearance before reporters on Air Force One to give an extra boost to his program for reducing hunger.
‘‘I know that millet and maize and fertilizer doesn’t always make for sexy copy,’’ Obama said during an event in Dakar, Senegal, last week. ‘‘If the American people knew the kind of work that was being done as a consequence of their generosity and their efforts, I think they’d be really proud.’’
I think we would be angry at spending money overseas as we are under the lash of austerity, as well as appalled by the drone surveillance and special operations on the continent.
And if they knew about the 9/11 lies and all the other things.... why have you invoked state secrets so many time anyway, Mr. Transparency.
The president’s frustration underscored the challenges he faced during his three-country trip, which wrapped up Tuesday in Tanzania.
Yeah, poor asshole president.
While his Africa policies have the potential to improve the lives of millions of people on the continent, he lacks a signature initiative such as Bush’s anti-AIDS program....
Despite his policy differences with Bush, Obama repeatedly praised the former president....
Where did all that Haiti aid money go, George?
And what policy differences is he talking about? The changes in the wrong direction that simply carried the neo-con plan forward more?
And when a scheduling coincidence put both Obama and Bush in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday for separate trips, the two leaders made a rare joint appearance on foreign soil, laying a wreath at a memorial for victims of the 1998 US Embassy bombing in Tanzania.
Yeah, it was a coincidence.
Similarly, Obama made Mandela’s legacy a central part of his visit to South Africa, the country the anti-apartheid hero led out of decades of white racist rule. The president made an emotional visit to Robben Island, the prison where Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years in captivity, and met privately with the ailing 94-year-old’s family.
Obama also made fulfilling Mandela’s vision of equality and opportunity for Africa a central theme of the trip’s keynote speech at the University of Cape Town. And he tried to cast his own development agenda in Africa as part of fulfilling that legacy.
The president’s initiatives, though not always splashy or headline-grabbing, have resulted in significant improvements in the lives of many people in sub-Saharan Africa, according to Obama administration figures....
Sorry, folks, but I've tuned out anything that lying and betraying administration has to say.
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Yup, NOT ONE WORD about the PROTESTS that GREETED OBAMA in my BOSTON GLOBE! If they had they couldn't holler racist here at home for protesting Obama over the same concerns.
NEXT DAY UPDATE:
"In Africa, President Obama vies with history; Labors to convey pledges" by Julie Pace | Associated Press, July 03, 2013
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania — The initiatives Obama promoted on food security, improved health care, and expanded access to electricity appeared small-scale.
The president at times seemed to be trying to will the traveling press corps and the American public to grasp the importance of the ventures. He took jabs at the US media for covering only poverty or war in Africa and made a rare on-the-record appearance before reporters on Air Force One to give an extra boost to his program for reducing hunger.
‘‘I know that millet and maize and fertilizer doesn’t always make for sexy copy,’’ Obama said during an event in Dakar, Senegal, last week. ‘‘If the American people knew the kind of work that was being done as a consequence of their generosity and their efforts, I think they’d be really proud.’’
I think we would be angry at spending money overseas as we are under the lash of austerity, as well as appalled by the drone surveillance and special operations on the continent.
And if they knew about the 9/11 lies and all the other things.... why have you invoked state secrets so many time anyway, Mr. Transparency.
The president’s frustration underscored the challenges he faced during his three-country trip, which wrapped up Tuesday in Tanzania.
Yeah, poor asshole president.
While his Africa policies have the potential to improve the lives of millions of people on the continent, he lacks a signature initiative such as Bush’s anti-AIDS program....
Despite his policy differences with Bush, Obama repeatedly praised the former president....
Where did all that Haiti aid money go, George?
And what policy differences is he talking about? The changes in the wrong direction that simply carried the neo-con plan forward more?
And when a scheduling coincidence put both Obama and Bush in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday for separate trips, the two leaders made a rare joint appearance on foreign soil, laying a wreath at a memorial for victims of the 1998 US Embassy bombing in Tanzania.
Yeah, it was a coincidence.
Similarly, Obama made Mandela’s legacy a central part of his visit to South Africa, the country the anti-apartheid hero led out of decades of white racist rule. The president made an emotional visit to Robben Island, the prison where Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years in captivity, and met privately with the ailing 94-year-old’s family.
Obama also made fulfilling Mandela’s vision of equality and opportunity for Africa a central theme of the trip’s keynote speech at the University of Cape Town. And he tried to cast his own development agenda in Africa as part of fulfilling that legacy.
The president’s initiatives, though not always splashy or headline-grabbing, have resulted in significant improvements in the lives of many people in sub-Saharan Africa, according to Obama administration figures....
Sorry, folks, but I've tuned out anything that lying and betraying administration has to say.
--more--"
Yup, NOT ONE WORD about the PROTESTS that GREETED OBAMA in my BOSTON GLOBE! If they had they couldn't holler racist here at home for protesting Obama over the same concerns.
