President Barack Obama made a surprise appearance via video address at the left-liberal Netroots Nation conference Saturday in Las Vegas. His video featured commentary by MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow on the many accomplishments of his administration. Obama was introduced by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Most “netroots” folks, incidentally, were for John Edwards or Dennis Kucinich in the Democratic primaries.
** OBAMA TODAY – SUNDAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington.
Obama has received the daily intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
He has no scheduled public events.
A joint U.S.-South Korean naval exercise began today off the Korean Peninsula. The exercise, a show of force which comes in response to North Korea’s sinking of a South Korean Navy ship last spring, is taking place over the next few days in the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea.
It features the USS George Washington aircraft carrier battle group. The Washington is a Nimitz-class, nuclear-powered supercarrier.
North Korean has threatened a “nuclear” response if the exercise goes forward, which it is right now.
Meanwhile, the Taliban have apparently captured two U.S. Navy members in Afghanistan. Five other U.S. military personnel were killed on Saturday in Afghanistan.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE – SUNDAY. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Los Angeles today.
He has no scheduled public events.
In his weekend video/radio address, President Barack Obama discusses his signing of historic Wall Street reform legislation and contrasts his economic plan with that of the Republicans.
** OBAMA TODAY – SATURDAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington today.
Obama has received the daily intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
He has no scheduled public events.
There is a setback in the BP Gulf oil disaster after weeks of progress. A brewing tropical storm forced recovery workers to evacuate the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. This will lead to a delay of approximately two weeks in the drilling of the relief wells that are the ultimate solution to stop the undersea flow, which is currently capped.
Obama is also monitoring geopolitical crises in Korea, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and Iraq.
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen is in Pakistan today to meet with General Ashfaq Kayani, Pakistan’s army chief.
Interesting developments in Iran, where President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad criticized Russian President Dmitri Medvedev for his budding alliance with Obama and the U.S. He may be trying to drive a wedge between Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who is historically far less pro-American than his former chief of staff. This indicates Ahmadinejad’s sharply heightened concern that Russia, a long-time ally and historic rival, is now tilted against Iran.
The new Iraqi national parliament was scheduled to meet last week, but that has been postponed for an indefinite period.
The reality is that the governance situation in Iraq remains unresolved, four-and-a-half months after national parliamentary elections there yielded a surprise first place victory for former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi’s secular Sunni party. Meanwhile, the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops, scheduled to be completed at the end of August, is underway and reportedly ahead of schedule.
With California’s chronic budget crisis still stuck in legislative gridlock, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger discusses how efficiencies here and there add up.
FROM THE ARNOLD FILE – SATURDAY. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Los Angeles today.
He has no scheduled public events.
Schwarzenegger talked throughout the week with legislative leaders about the chronic state budget crisis.
But a solution has yet to emerge.
The state Legislature will be back from its month-long summer recess on August 2nd.
… THE CALIFORNIA AS FIRST “FAILED STATE” DEBATE: SCHWARZENEGGER, DAVIS, WHITMAN, AND JERRY BROWN. … From my March 2nd column.
Here is my series of five columns on the governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger for the Los Angeles Times in debate in fall 2008, prior to the global economic meltdown, with Pulitzer Prize-winning former Times reporter/editor Bill Boyarsky, whose columns are also included. You can listen to my video webchat last year with Schwarzenegger here. It covers most of the major issues and also reveals his cameo in the latest Terminator movie.
** DOES INCEPTION SALVAGE THE SUMMER MOVIE SEASON? Does Inception salvage what’s been a decidedly subpar summer movie season? That’s a big load for any movie to carry, even one as smart as Inception, especially one as seemingly obscurantist as Inception.
Incidentally, I’m going to avoid major spoilers here, though, having said that, it occurs to me that the trick about Inception, which so many seek to understand, may just be that there is no trick at all. Which would be quite the trick for this mind-bender movie about purposeful invaders of the unconscious who use a mysterious biotechnology to hack into one’s mind in order to extract and implant very consequential information. It’s a spy flick, it’s a heist flick, it’s an action flick, it’s a scifi flick, it’s a love story, it’s a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma… Wait, no, that last is what Churchill said about Russia. …
** THE MACHINATIONS OF MEG WHITMAN: MURPHY’S MILLION (PLUS) AND MORE. Anyone wondering what oligarch-style politics would look like in America need only check out Meg Whitman’s machinations. The billionaire Republican wannabe governor of California’s technique was in sharp display over the past week. Its focus? Using very big money to bend people to her will, individually and collectively, and taking advantage of what she clearly sees as the emerging post-press era to engage in the most blatant rewriting of her own history, including her most recent history. … From my July 17th feature.
** SHIFT CHANGE: THE 35TH ANNIVERSARY OF JAWS AND SHAMPOO MARKS THE TRANSITION FROM NEW HOLLYWOOD TO BLOCKBUSTER. Just over 35 years ago, 4th of July weekend moviegoers across America thrilled to the tale of how a huge shark cleared 4th of July weekend beaches faster than a huge oil spill. What they didn’t know then is that a movie that would fill a generation with an unrealistic fear of sharks was also changing the culture of movies, less than a decade after they had shifted in a dramatic new direction.
Another film which had its 35th anniversary earlier this year, Shampoo, captured much of what was best about the so-called New Hollywood movement, more realistic, youth-oriented, and anti-establishment. Sexy, funny, candid, incisive, and satirical, Warren Beatty’s Shampoo, released in February, was a big hit, too, the fourth biggest of 1975. But nowhere near the scale of Jaws.
Jaws, directed by a 27-year old Steven Spielberg, marked a pronounced shift change in the culture of movies, from New Hollywood to high-concept blockbuster. Considering that the New Hollywood era had dawned just eight years earlier, with Beatty’s Bonnie and Clyde, and that the blockbuster era is still very much with us, it was in hindsight a sudden and dramatic shift. … From my July 9th essay.
** THE AFGHAN WAR AND THE SPIRIT OF JEFFERSON. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Today he is best known as the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, and in particular for that starburst of Enlightenment thought you see just above. It’s because of the famed document that he largely wrote in June, adopted with a few edits by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, that we celebrate the 4th of July. But Thomas Jefferson wasn’t just a writer, intellectual, and political theorist, he was a politician and a president.
And a rather cagey one at that, for all his famed idealism and lofty intellectualism.
After serving as governor of Virginia during the Revolutionary War, Jefferson was America’s first secretary of state, appointed by George Washington, and our third president.
One of the amusing intellectual parlor games of recent times is contemplating what some great historical figure might do. “What would Jesus do?” Or, more recently: “What would Don Draper do?”
So on this 4th of July weekend, with General David Petraeus taking command of U.S. and NATO forces there, what would Thomas Jefferson do in Afghanistan? … From my July 3rd essay.
** MEG WHITMAN SPINS AND SPENDS: MRS. HARSH FACES A HARSH REALITY. … From my July 1st feature.
** FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE: THE “RESET” CONTINUES. From my June 27th column.
** MCCHRYSTAL: RIGHT MAN, WRONG MISSION. From my June 23rd feature.
** WHAT WE KNOW NOW ABOUT THE BIG CALIFORNIA RACES. … From my June 19th feature.
** THE ARNOLD FACTOR. … From my June 16th column.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th, 2009 Huffington Post column.
Mad Men season 4 premieres on Sunday night. My reviews will resume on the Huffington Post.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in two wars in the region, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** TRACK GLOBAL AND NATIONAL ENERGY PRICES IN NEAR REAL TIME VIA BLOOMBERG ENERGY MARKET WATCH. Having crashed over $147 for yet another record on July 11th, 2008, crude oil closed around $78.98 per barrel. Energy markets are closed on the weekend.
This is up about $45 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity.
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| Comments (22) |
Good speech by President Obama on Wall Street reform and the failed Republican policies.
Great promo for Mad Men.
Arnold makes good sense.
Barack rocks the Reps for their No-ism…
Jonas Blane says:
July 24, 2010 at 8:26 am
Good speech by President Obama on Wall Street reform and the failed Republican policies.
He’s got a nice house!!
Jonas Blane says:
July 24, 2010 at 8:32 am
Arnold makes good sense.
Can’t wait…
Jonas Blane says:
July 24, 2010 at 8:27 am
Great promo for Mad Men.
I’m in.
Be there. Aloha.
What’s that from?
Counting down …
> Capitol Boy says:
July 24, 2010 at 11:04 am (Edit)
Can’t wait…
Jonas Blane says:
July 24, 2010 at 8:27 am
Great promo for Mad Men.
It’s a very good speech. He’s following the template laid out in his UNLV address.
> Jonas Blane says:
July 24, 2010 at 8:26 am (Edit)
Good speech by President Obama on Wall Street reform and the failed Republican policies.
Aditional video of Obama today?
Good talk by Barack to the professional complainers…
This is a very good statement by President Obama on his accomplishments in office.
He’s done a bunch, needs to sell better.
Yeah, who hit Draper in the promo?
Bill Bradley says:
July 24, 2010 at 12:41 pm
Counting down …
> Capitol Boy says:
July 24, 2010 at 11:04 am (Edit)
Can’t wait…
Jonas Blane says:
July 24, 2010 at 8:27 am
Great promo for Mad Men.
I should know what that’s from … but, I don’t. I’d like to know …
Bill Bradley says:
July 24, 2010 at 12:41 pm
Be there. Aloha.
What’s that from?
What new video today?
Wikileaks, naval exercises off Korea, and Inception at the box office.
Hawaii Five-O!
> Elizabeth Miller says:
July 25, 2010 at 8:45 pm (Edit)
I should know what that’s from … but, I don’t. I’d like to know …
Bill Bradley says:
July 24, 2010 at 12:41 pm
Be there. Aloha.
What’s that from?
That’s from last season, where he gets mugged by the kids in the motel.
> Len says:
July 25, 2010 at 8:12 pm (Edit)
Yeah, who hit Draper in the promo?
Bill Bradley says:
July 24, 2010 at 12:41 pm
Counting down …
> Capitol Boy says:
July 24, 2010 at 11:04 am (Edit)
Can’t wait…
Jonas Blane says:
July 24, 2010 at 8:27 am
Great promo for Mad Men.
Indeed to both …
>#
Jonas Blane says:
July 25, 2010 at 3:46 pm (Edit)
This is a very good statement by President Obama on his accomplishments in office.
#
Len says:
July 25, 2010 at 8:10 pm (Edit)
He’s done a bunch, needs to sell better.
Ha! Of course.
Book ‘im, Danno! It’s been a long while but I vividly remember the opening sequence of the show and the music, too.