Great Facebook Cause: Barack Obama Is My President
Check out the Facebook page that encourages participation in the politial process - Barack Obama Is My President. Here is how they describe themselves...
To encourage voters to speak their mind, get their voices heard, hold Obama accountable to his campaign promises, and get involved in our government.
To encourage voters to speak their mind, get their voices heard, hold Obama accountable to his campaign promises, and get involved in our government.
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US Senate Apologizes For Slavery, Segregation
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The Senate has unanimously passed a resolution apologizing for slavery and racial segregation in the U.S. and sent the measure to the House.
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Democrat Tom Harkin first introduced the measure years ago but wanted it passed Thursday on the eve of Juneteenth, June 19, a day of celebration commemorating the end of the Civil War in 1865 and the release of African Americans from slavery. He said the House is to take it up soon and that a formal celebration will be held next month.
Juneteenth Day events are held in communities around the U.S. to commemorate the day in 1865 when Union soldiers landed at Galveston, Texas, to announce the Civil War was over and that slaves were free.
The Senate has passed such nonbinding but highly symbolic resolutions before, apologizing for such things as the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.
The resolution passed Thursday includes a disclaimer saying that nothing in it supports or authorizes reparations by the United States.
Obama Weekly Address: Financial Reform to Protect Consumers
Posted by Jesse Lee
The President explains his plan to address one of the major causes of the current economic crisis -- the breakdown of oversight leading to widespread abuses in the financial world. The new Consumer Financial Protection Agency will have the sole job of looking out for the financial interests of ordinary Americans by banning unfair practices and enforcing the rules. This is a cornerstone in America’s new economic foundation.
download .mp3 |download .mp4 (49.0 MB) | read the transcript
U.S. Struggling for Right Response to Iran
Obama Seeks Way to Acknowledge Protesters Without Alienating Ayatollah
Washington Post Staff WriterThe political unrest in Iran presents the Obama administration with a dilemma: keep quiet to pursue a nuclear deal with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country's supreme leader, or heed calls to respond more supportively to the protesters there -- and risk alienating the Shiite cleric.
President Obama and his advisers have struggled to strike the right tone, carefully calibrating positive messages about the protests in an effort to avoid giving the government in Tehran an excuse to portray the demonstrators as pro-American. Nevertheless, the Iranian Foreign Ministry yesterday summoned the Swiss ambassador, who represents American interests in Tehran, to complain of "interventionist" comments by U.S. officials, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
In an apt summation of the administration's position, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told reporters yesterday: "We are obviously waiting to see the outcome of the internal Iranian processes, but our intent is to pursue whatever opportunities might exist in the future with Iran." The administration's stance is practical -- the real power in Iran rests with Khamenei, not with whoever is president -- but pressure for a shift in policy will mount if the protests continue to grow and begin to threaten the government's hold on power. Obama already has been criticized -- notably by his Republican presidential rival, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) -- as abandoning "fundamental principles" of support for human rights. Khamenei, a former president of Iran who became supreme leader 20 years ago after the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, plays a defining behind-the-scenes role in Iran's complex and often opaque political system. His power derives from his support among the armed forces and the clerical establishment that presides over the nation's quasi-theocracy.
Few experts doubt Khamenei would have approved of manipulating election results to ensure President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's reelection or could have the influence to order a new vote, though it is unclear whether recent events have threatened his grip on power internally. If he remains in control, Khamenei's views would be expected to prevail on any key decisions affecting the future of the Islamic republic, especially on the question of whether to deal with the Obama administration.
Full Article: U.S. Struggling for Right Response to Iran
U.S. ports set to deal with Cuba
By Rick Jervis, USA TODAY
NEW ORLEANS — Some U.S. port cities are putting plans in place to increase travel and trade with Cuba — just in case relations with the communist island begin to thaw.
U.S. lawmakers are still far from lifting the 47-year-old trade embargo on Cuba, but the election of
In
"We have the right geography, given where we're located, as well as historic ties," says Councilman Arnie Fielkow. "We need to start developing the relationships and getting ready for the time when the U.S. brings down the embargo."
Full Article: U.S. ports set to deal with Cuba
Obama Speech: New Foundation, New Stability (video)
Posted by Jesse Lee
download .mp4 (210.7 MB) | read the transcript
Over the past decades, government has often haphazardly weakened and jettisoned the regulations on the financial sector that were designed to bring stability to the economy. The result has been what the President refers to as a "bubble and bust" economy, leaving American families at the whim of greed and excess far beyond their control and hundreds of miles away. As the President said today, it is indisputable that this peril was a leading contributor the economic breakdown America has seen over the past years.
Today marked a culmination of a months-long process in which the President consulted with the most expert and experienced regulators, leaders in Congress, and his entire economic team to craft a revamping of the system, a "new foundation" on which our economy can grow for decades to come. Many of them joined him today as he announced the principles they had agreed upon.
The President began his remarks by diagnosing the problem:
In recent years, financial innovators, seeking an edge in the marketplace, produced a huge variety of new and complex financial instruments. And these products, such as asset-based securities, were designed to spread risk, but unfortunately ended up concentrating risk. Loans were sold to banks, banks packaged these loans into securities, investors bought these securities often with little insight into the risks to which they were exposed. And it was easy money -- while it lasted. But these schemes were built on a pile of sand. And as the appetite for these products grew, lenders lowered standards to attract new borrowers. Many Americans bought homes and borrowed money without being adequately informed of the terms, and often without accepting the responsibilities.
Meanwhile, executive compensation -- unmoored from long-term performance or even reality -- rewarded recklessness rather than responsibility. And this wasn't just the failure of individuals; this was a failure of the entire system. The actions of many firms escaped scrutiny. In some cases, the dealings of these institutions were so complex and opaque that few inside or outside these companies understood what was happening. Where there were gaps in the rules, regulators lacked the authority to take action. Where there were overlaps, regulators lacked accountability for their inaction.
He spelled out in depth the prescriptions he is proposing. For those who would like to read about the plan in the greatest possible detail, may we suggest the exhaustive White Paper produced by the Treasury Department (pdf). For the briefest possible overview, try the event announcement. And for those with more specific interests, the fact sheets below are also available on each of the core principles:
Full Article: New Foundation, New Stability
Michelle Obama: A Healthy Harvest (video)
Posted by Katherine Brandon
download .mp4 (159.8 MB) | read the transcript
The First Lady hosted a harvest party in the White House kitchen garden today with the students from Bancroft Elementary to celebrate their hard work. As you may remember, the 5th graders helped start the organic kitchen garden back in March. Today, with help from the First Lady, they got to prepare a healthy meal with produce fresh from the garden. The kids harvested lettuce and sugar snap peas then cooked a delicious lunch consisting of salad, baked chicken and brown rice. And once kids finished their salads, they were rewarded with a cupcake topped with fresh garden berries. This was not only a culmination of their efforts, but it was also the realization of a small dream for the First Lady. She explained that planting an organic garden was one of the first things she wanted to do at the White House because of the severity of health issues facing America’s children:
Full Article: A Healthy Harvest
Full Article: A Healthy Harvest
Obama: Weekly Address (video)
The President has long noted that skyrocketing health care costs will be disastrous in terms of our long term national debt unless we pass real reform. In this Weekly Address, the President also explains how he will cover the upfront costs of reform by eliminating overpayments from Medicaid and Medicare and driving down costs contributing to government’s health care expenditures across the board.
Obama: Educating for Change...?
How schools are offering paths for personal and social growth.
by the Ode Editors 
Goddard College, Plainfield, Vermont
Photo: Goddard College
When Barack Obama won the U.S. presidency on the platform of change, it signaled how potent the notion of transformation could be: People in the U.S. and abroad itched for something new, an overhaul of business and government that could herald a sustainable 21st-century world. The question now is how to get there. That question has sparked a trend in academic institutions toward educating for change. Universities around the globe have proven eager to integrate sustainability into their curricula.
A recent survey in The Chronicle of Higher Education found that substantially more professors are interested in transforming their students into "agents of social change" than in teaching the Western classics. Increasingly, colleges are focusing on social activism and business schools on social innovation. The biennial survey Beyond Grey Pinstripes, performed by the New York-based Aspen Institute Center for Business Education, reveals that business schools are determined to emphasize ethics, sustainability and social entrepreneurship.
At the same time, transformational learning (also known as the Integral or holistic education movement) continues to blossom. The idea is to approach all subjects from a variety of perspectives so education can better reflect the interconnectedness of the modern world. Couple this with the rising tide of life coaches who work with individuals and corporations to inspire more meaningful ways of living, and you arrive at a compelling portrait of how critical change is to education in the 21st century.
Business schools
With the global economy in tatters, the business sector is under fire for short-sightedness and exploitation of the public good. Injecting more transparency into the system, along with increased regulation and emphasis on social and environmental return, now seems critical for future success. Business schools have taken the lead in preparing their students for such challenges. Many have started programs geared toward sustainability and reform.
Consumer-led movement to scrap genetically modified food
In his latest weekly address, President Obama says health care reform must no longer mean “reform that throws good money after bad habits”. A wide array of interest groups that have lined up against Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) hope President Obama’s commitment to eradicating health care reform bad habits extends to the nation’s de facto investment in genetically modified crops which have been linked to 65 health risks and long-term health care costs. GMOs are the result of laboratory processes, which artificially insert foreign genes into the DNA of food, crops or animals. Those genes may come from bacteria, viruses, insects, animals or even humans.
With a growing body of new scientific evidence behind them, experts say that any acceptance of the safety of GMOs flies in the face of modern scientific methods. They point out the handful of original safety studies on file come primarily from GMO patent holders themselves. "Multiple animal studies have shown that GM Foods cause damage to various organ systems in the body," said Dr. Amy Dean, a Board Member of the American Academy of Environmental Medicine. "With this mounting evidence, it is imperative to have a moratorium on GM Foods for the safety of our patients' and the public's health."
The White House staff now grows organic vegetables in a much-publicized garden for the first family. A lesser-known fact is the former president and Mrs. Bush insisted on an organic diet at the same time the administration pushed international trade in biotech foods. The No GMO Challenge co-sponsored by the Institute for Responsible Technology and RealFoodMedia.com is a consumer-led movement to end consumer demand for genetically modified organisms. Organizers of the No GMO Challenge hope U.S. shoppers will flex their considerable spending power to buy non-GMO products. They offer a free non-GMO shopping guide for consumers to download. Similar to the successful Eat Local Challenge, the No GMO Challenge is a way to organize, educate and build awareness around the issue of genetically modified food.
Obama "Why Reform, Why Now"? (video)
Posted by Jesse Lee
download .mp4 (599.6 MB) | read the transcript
(On Monday) the President gave a landmark, sweeping speech on health care reform to the American Medical Association in Chicago. More so than at any time before, he explained his vision for comprehensive reform that addresses every weak point in our health care system. It is a vision that implements best practices that have allowed some towns and companies to cut costs by as much as half compared to others. It is a vision that makes sure everybody has access to quality, affordable coverage, whether your family hits a rough patch or you have a pre-existing condition. It is a vision in which patients’ and doctors’ interests are aligned. And it is a vision where Americans’ choices of doctors and coverage are maintained, and they also have a choice of a public option that can help keep private insurers honest. It is a vision that focuses on prevention, making sure Americans stay healthy throughout their lives.
It is well worth the while to read through the entire speech
Obama Meets with Prime Minister Berlusconi, Comments on Iran (video)
Posted by Jesse Lee
download .mp4 (445.4 MB) | read the transcript
(On Monday) evening, the President emerged from his meeting with Prime Minister Berlusconi of Italy, and they fielded questions from the press together. They discussed the strong alliance between the two countries, demonstrated in their meeting by the Prime Minister's agreement to accept three Guanatanamo prisoners in Italy. The first question that was asked, not surprisingly, concerned Iran though:
Q Mr. President, on Iran, does the disputed election results affect -- there's been violence in the street -- in any way change your willingness to meet with Mr. Ahmadinejad without preconditions? And also, do you have anything to say, any message to send to people who are on the streets protesting, who believe their votes were stolen and who are being attacked violently?
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Obviously all of us have been watching the news from Iran. And I want to start off by being very clear that it is up to Iranians to make decisions about who Iran's leaders will be; that we respect Iranian sovereignty and want to avoid the United States being the issue inside of Iran, which sometimes the United States can be a handy political football -- or discussions with the United States.
Having said all that, I am deeply troubled by the violence that I've been seeing on television. I think that the democratic process -- free speech, the ability of people to peacefully dissent -- all those are universal values and need to be respected. And whenever I see violence perpetrated on people who are peacefully dissenting, and whenever the American people see that, I think they're, rightfully, troubled.
My understanding is, is that the Iranian government says that they are going to look into irregularities that have taken place. We weren’t on the ground, we did not have observers there, we did not have international observers on hand, so I can't state definitively one way or another what happened with respect to the election. But what I can say is that there appears to be a sense on the part of people who were so hopeful and so engaged and so committed to democracy who now feel betrayed. And I think it's important that, moving forward, whatever investigations take place are done in a way that is not resulting in bloodshed and is not resulting in people being stifled in expressing their views.
Now, with respect to the United States and our interactions with Iran, I've always believed that as odious as I consider some of President Ahmadinejad's statements, as deep as the differences that exist between the United States and Iran on a range of core issues, that the use of tough, hard-headed diplomacy -- diplomacy with no illusions about Iran and the nature of the differences between our two countries -- is critical when it comes to pursuing a core set of our national security interests, specifically, making sure that we are not seeing a nuclear arms race in the Middle East triggered by Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon; making sure that Iran is not exporting terrorist activity. Those are core interests not just to the United States but I think to a peaceful world in general.
We will continue to pursue a tough, direct dialogue between our two countries, and we'll see where it takes us. But even as we do so, I think it would be wrong for me to be silent about what we've seen on the television over the last few days. And what I would say to those people who put so much hope and energy and optimism into the political process, I would say to them that the world is watching and inspired by their participation, regardless of what the ultimate outcome of the election was. And they should know that the world is watching.
And particularly to the youth of Iran, I want them to know that we in the United States do not want to make any decisions for the Iranians, but we do believe that the Iranian people and their voices should be heard and respected.
Obama: Climate Change Impacts Across America -- Renewed Focus for Decisions (video)
Posted by Anne Waple
(On Tuesday), the White House helped to launch a new science report representing a consensus of 13 agencies developed over a year and half and focused on potential climate change impacts on the United States.
Dr. Anne Waple is with the US Global Change Research Program
download .mp4 (607.8 MB)
(On Tuesday), the White House helped to launch a new science report representing a consensus of 13 agencies developed over a year and half and focused on potential climate change impacts on the United States.· Read the report [UPDATE: The event has now concluded.]
It’s the most comprehensive report to date on the possible impacts of climate change for everyone across America, and begins an important process of redefining the sort of information we need in order to deal with climate change at national and regional scales. Effectively managing our response to a changing climate falls into two general categories:1) Implementing measures to limit climate change and therefore avoid many of the impacts discussed in the report. These measures must reduce the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and might include increasing our reliance on clean energy, and developing energy efficient technologies
2) Reducing our vulnerability and increasing our resilience to ongoing climate change in pro-active, community-based ways. Examples of this include such measures as developing more climate-sensitive building codes to keep people out of harm’s way, or planting more drought or heat tolerant crops, for example.
As a first step in reducing the impact of climate change, we need to know what impacts we must avoid in the future, and this report, "Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States", does just that– outlining the possible direction of climate change under two broad scenarios: the first if we reduce greenhouse gas emissions aggressively, and the second, if we are less aggressive. These are neither the highest or lowest possible scenarios but begin to compare the possible futures for the U.S.
An important element of this new report, apart from that it is deliberately written in plain language so we can all read and understand the science in it, is that it dives down in the various regions of the U.S. and provides much more regional detail about possible impacts than ever before – critical information for an effective response. It also breaks down the potential climate change impacts by economic and social sectors, most of which transcend regional boundaries, such as water, energy, health, transportation, and agriculture – all vital components of a healthy and stable society.
The report notes climate change impacts that we are already seeing across the U.S. as well as those that will soon emerge or become more intense if action is slow to occur. Some of the impacts that the report mentions are:
· More rain is already coming in very heavy events, and this is projected to increase across the nation. This would have impacts on transportation, agriculture, water quality, health, and more;
· Heat waves will become more frequent and intense, increasing threats to human health and quality of life, especially in cities;
· Warming will decrease demand for heating energy in winter and increase demand for cooling energy in summer. The latter will increase peak electricity demand in most regions;
· Water resources will be stressed in many regions. For example, snowpack is declining in the West, and there is an increasing probability of drought in the Southwest, while floods and water quality issues are likely to be more of a problem in most regions;
· In coastal communities, sea-level rise and storm surge will increase threats to homes and infrastructure including water, sewer, transportation and communication systems.
Gulf Coast Area Roads at Risk from Sea-Level Rise
Through identifying the climate change impacts we are experiencing now, as well as those that are emerging faster than we thought, and those projected to increase in the future, the report clearly highlights the choices we face regarding possible response options to reduce the impacts of climate change across the United States.
Responses to climate change impacts in the United States will almost certainly evolve over time as we learn through experience. Determining and refining the responses will involve partnerships between scientists, policymakers, the public, private industry, communities, and decision-makers at all levels. Implementing these response strategies will require careful planning and continual feedback on the impacts of policies for government, industry, and society.
More of the report’s findings are located at http://www.globalchange.gov , which is the new home of the U.S. Global Change Research Program, the interagency Government program that commissioned the report. The report was led by NOAA.Dr. Anne Waple is with the US Global Change Research Program
Michelle Obama: From the Studio (video)
Posted by Katherine Brandon
download .mp4 (42.0 MB) | read the transcript
The sounds of Jazz could be heard through the halls of the White House today as the First Lady hosted the first installment of the White House music series. The Jazz Studio brought in over 140 students from schools across the country to get the opportunity to learn from, and interact with, Jazz greats. Students explored the core elements of Jazz through educational workshops. These interactive sessions got students up and moving: dancing and breaking out their instruments, as they learned about everything from individual legends like Duke Ellington to the broader history of Jazz and its African-American roots. Kemba, 15, said this Jazz Studio opened her eyes to a style of music she doesn’t know much about: "I love all different types of music, but I never learned much about jazz. So this experience is great because it’s really teaching me."
The First Lady stated that she wanted to hold today’s event because the White House should be the People’s House. She went on to explain why she wanted to bring this particular style of music to the White House: Jazz is globally recognized as America’s music, and considered by many to be one of America’s greatest gifts to the world, she said. Therefore, it is essential to preserve and protect it in schools across America so it can be enjoyed by generations to come. "The understanding and appreciation of jazz is integral to understanding and appreciating American history and culture," she said. "It's an outstanding artistic model of individual expression and democratic expression, as well. And there's probably no better example of democracy than a jazz ensemble: individual freedom, but with responsibility to the group."
For many of the students, music is one of their greatest loves, and their arts education has been central to their development. Luke, 18, explained that he feels music is his calling, "It is so expressive. When it comes to playing, I feel I can express myself at the deepest level." Anthony, 17, has been playing the saxophone since the 4th grade. He said in addition to being able to express himself, playing music has taught him "no matter what people say, you have the ability to be whoever you want to be." After the First Lady’s remarks, everyone was treated to a rousing performance by Paquito D’Rivera, Tony Madruga, Zach Brown, Kush Abadey and Elijah Easton, who is a 17-year-old student at the Duke Ellington School of Music.
This was just the first of an on-going series that will include Country and Classical events later in the summer and fall. The purpose of the White House music series is to support the arts and demonstrate the importance of arts education in America, which encourages the ability to think creatively. As one student, Alexander, 17, explained: "Playing music helps me in all academics – math, science especially, and it makes you more interested in the arts." He added, "I can’t live without the violin. Always wanting to be better, practicing – you can’t stop once you start!"
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart w/Katie Couric of CBS News
Katie Couric, the face of CBS News drops by to tell Jon what's happening in the world.
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