New Orleans has rebounded but not recovered from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
** OBAMA TODAY – SUNDAY. President Barack Obama is in Massachusetts, Louisiana, and Washington, DC.
Obama and his family have ended their summer vacation on Marth’s Vineyard. It was a very low-key affair, especially compared to President Bill Clinton’s vacations in the same locale. The Obamas were even kept indoors for a few days due to heavy storms hitting the island off the Massachusetts coast.
Obama went to a bookstore, went out to dinner a few times, and played golf a few times — including on Friday with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg — but otherwise was very much out of sight with family and friends.
Obama left Martha’s Vineyard via helicopter designated Marine One to the Cape Cod Coast Guard Air Station, where he boarded Air Force One and left commemorate the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina striking and nearly destroying New Orleans.
At 10:20 AM Pacific, Obama lands in New Orleans.
At 12:10 PM Pacific, Obama delivers remarks commemorating the strike of Hurricane Katrina at Xavier University.
At 3:20 PM Pacific, Obama flies on Air Force One from New Orleans to Andrews Air Force Base.
At 5:20 PM Pacific, Obama lands at Andrews Air Force Base, where he boards Marine One.
At 5:35 PM Pacific, Obama lands on the South Lawn of the White House.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILES – 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 the end of U.S. combat operations in Iraq.
** OBAMA TODAY – SATURDAY. President Barack Obama is in Massachusetts with his family.
Obama is on summer vacation through August 29th.
He received his daily intelligence and economic briefings at a private residence on Martha’s Vineyard, the island off the coast of Massachusetts.
Obama has no scheduled public events today.
Deputy White House press secretary Bill Burton will hold a daily media briefing on Martha’s Vineyard.
Obama is monitoring geopolitical crises in Korea, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and Iraq.
In Afghanistan, the Taliban have been staging attacks in the relatively stable north, in addition to the usual attacks in the east and the south.
The touted Taliban offensive hasn’t amounted to that much. But then again, neither has the ballyhooed U.S./allied offensive in Kandahar Province, which is far behind schedule.
In Pakistan, relief efforts to deal with the country’s worst flooding in history are ongoing. Private American contributions to the effort are relatively low.
In Iraq, the governance situation remains unresolved over five-and-a-half months since national parliamentary elections on March 7th.
Obama will formally declare the end of U.S. combat operations in Iraq in a speech on August 31st. Prior to that, he will visit returned American troops at Fort Bliss, Texas.
Far right Fox News media personality Glenn Beck — speaking at the National Mall in Washington, site of Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech on its 47th anniversary — told a crowd of tens of thousands that “America is turning back to God.”
Far right media personality Glenn Beck is having a rally today on the anniversary and at the site of Rev. Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech. He claims it’s a coincidence, and that his purpose is to honor America’s troops. Also on hand is ex-Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.
Of course, a big part of Beck’s message, in addition to his trademark efforts to re-write American history, is that it’s time to stop talking about what’s wrong with America and focus on what’s right with America. Well, except for the part where he talks about Obama as the personification of evil.
FROM THE ARNOLD FILE – SATURDAY. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Los Angeles today.
He has no scheduled public events.
… 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.
** MAD MEN REVIEW: ANOTHER FAMOUS ANTHROPOLOGICAL STUDY. The reports of Don Draper’s descent into chaos have been greatly exaggerated.
“The Chrysanthemum and the Sword,” a distinctly odd title for those who were not students of anthropology, sociology, or history, is a significant improvement over last week’s episode. Much more happened in this episode, and there was a sense of greater forward motion. There be spoilers ahead, as usual.
Let’s get the title out of the way first. It’s a direct reference to a famous book, published in 1946 by anthropologist Ruth Benedict, a close associate of Margaret Mead. Benedict, sadly, died not long after, but her work lived on. In particular this book, which drew from a series of papers Benedict prepared during World War II for American intelligence. Their purpose? To understand the Japanese, with whom we were then engaged in a war in the Pacific far more brutal than the war against Germany. … From my August 25th review.
** MAD MEN REVIEW: “THE REJECTED” IS A ROUTINE EPISODE, BUT BETTY DRAPER HAS JOINED THE X-MEN! This was the most routine of the episodes so far this season. But afterwards, I learned where Betty Draper has gotten herself to. She’s joined The X-Men! … From my August 18th review.
** HARSH REALM: MEG WHITMAN AND THE C.E.O. MYTH. Billionaire Republican Meg Whitman, still trying to gain traction in her bid to beat Jerry Brown and succeed Arnold Schwarzenegger as California’s governor despite already having smashed all non-presidential campaign spending records in American history, rests her campaign on her reputation as a corporate CEO. Since she didn’t bother to vote and was never involved in public affairs before deciding to start as governor of a state she moved to in the late ’90s, it’s all she has. Absent that, she is nothing more than an assertion of ambition and creation of paid advertising.
Californians have been inundated with ads since last fall extolling Whitman’s purported expertise as the former CEO of eBay, the online auction company, and other business credentials. With her negative ads coming up short against Brown, Whitman relaunched her imagineering efforts anew … with a TV ad telling us she did a great job at eBay.
But did she, really? Or did she actually do what she claims politicians do, i.e., disastrously expand into areas she knew nothing about, jack up overhead, take far more in personal pay and perks, and repeatedly hike fees (read: taxes) on eBay sellers? … From my August 17th feature.
** MAD MEN REVIEW: “THE GOOD NEWS” IS SAD YET VERY GOOD. … From my August 9th review.
** HARSH REALM: THE LEGACY THAT MEG WHITMAN INVOKES. … From my August 7th feature.
** MAD MEN REVIEW: “CHRISTMAS COMES BUT ONCE A YEAR,” EXCEPT FOR THESE THREE WISE GUYS. … From my August 3rd review.
** HARSH REALM: THE POST-PRESS ERA AND MEG WHITMAN. … From my July 30th feature.
** MAD MEN RETURNS WITH “PUBLIC RELATIONS,” IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE: WHO IS DON DRAPER … From my July 26th essay.
** DOES INCEPTION SALVAGE THE SUMMER MOVIE SEASON? … From my July 22nd essay.
** 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.
** 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 at $75.17 per barrel on Friday. Energy markets are closed on the weekend.
This is up about $41 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 (30) |
Good speech by President Obama on Iraq.
Glenn Beck acts like a salesman.
Barack’s weekend address on Iraq is really good.
I can’t wait to see him with the returned troops on Monday, and his speech to the world explaining it all on Tuesday. This is a big win for his patient policy.
I can’t watch that charlatan…
Jonas Blane says:
August 28, 2010 at 8:51 am
Glenn Beck acts like a salesman.
Glenn Beck and this rally is a sick joke.
Understandable.
> Capitol Boy says:
August 28, 2010 at 9:45 am (Edit)
I can’t watch that charlatan…
Jonas Blane says:
August 28, 2010 at 8:51 am
Glenn Beck acts like a salesman.
We’ll see how it goes in Iraq, but clearly Americans want us out.
> Capitol Boy says:
August 28, 2010 at 9:45 am (Edit)
Barack’s weekend address on Iraq is really good.
I can’t wait to see him with the returned troops on Monday, and his speech to the world explaining it all on Tuesday. This is a big win for his patient policy.
The actual term of art for this character is “huckster.”
> Jonas Blane says:
August 28, 2010 at 8:51 am (Edit)
Glenn Beck acts like a salesman.
Bill,
Do believe it would be more accurate if you would replace the “H” with an “F”…yep, I do.
Beck’s listeners hate Obama because he’s black. Beck is popular because he offers a cheap facade of reasons to hate Obama to cover this racism. That’s the reason for the wink-wink, nudge-nudge date of his rally. His listeners know.
Unfortunetaly, hate and fascism always have an uptick when times get tough…
This treatment of your President is shameful.
Hurricane Katrina video today?
New Orleans is still a sad story…
Times are tough, we have the first black president in Barack, this racist loon Beck gets really popular…
Brasky says:
August 28, 2010 at 5:46 pm
Beck’s listeners hate Obama because he’s black. Beck is popular because he offers a cheap facade of reasons to hate Obama to cover this racism. That’s the reason for the wink-wink, nudge-nudge date of his rally. His listeners know.
Unfortunetaly, hate and fascism always have an uptick when times get tough…
The Glenn Beck phenomenon reminds me of the Promise Keepers craze. Where is that now? Or, going way back, the John Birch Society. Things come, things go.
Good news video on the after effect of Hurricane Katrina.
Mad Men gets the third straight Emmy Award for Best Series on television!!!!
At the age that MLK was leading the Montgomery bus boycott, Glenn Dreck was getting attention for an on-air stunt as a radio host when he released a live gerbil into a bank through the deposit tube…. That anyone takes Glen Dreck seriously is testament to the success of the US media in dumbing down the populace with fake reality TV, celebrity infotainment, and ‘news’ that promotes the pro-corporate predator capitalist worldview.
meanwhile, back in the real world, the folks who brought us al-Queada are doing their part for democracy (and the opium and WMD trade) in Kabul….
Evidence that Afghan leaders are on CIA payroll
By James Cogan
30 August 2010
A series of leaks to the New York Times and the Washington Post over the past week has revealed that members of the Afghan government headed by President Hamid Karzai are paid agents and informers of the CIA.
The revelations began on August 25 when senior Times’ correspondents Dexter Filkins and Mark Mazzetti reported that a close aide of Karzai who is accused of corruption, Mohammed Zia Salehi, had been on the CIA payroll for “many years”. The information was provided by anonymous sources “in Kabul and Washington,” suggesting it came from high up within the US military or the Obama administration itself.
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/aug2010/ciaa-a30.shtml
The Glenn Dreck vs MLK Flow Chart:
http://other98.com/2010/08/25/mlk-glenn-beck-flow-chart/
What new video today?
Obama on the economy and Katrina, Mad Men wins again.
It took me awhile to realize that a lot of people take Glenn Beck seriously.
Speaking of being taken seriously, you won’t be if you keep repeating the canard that the CIA created Al Qaeda.
That’s complete nonsense.
> Paul Burton says:
August 29, 2010 at 10:53 pm (Edit)
At the age that MLK was leading the Montgomery bus boycott, Glenn Dreck was getting attention for an on-air stunt as a radio host when he released a live gerbil into a bank through the deposit tube…. That anyone takes Glen Dreck seriously is testament to the success of the US media in dumbing down the populace with fake reality TV, celebrity infotainment, and ‘news’ that promotes the pro-corporate predator capitalist worldview.
meanwhile, back in the real world, the folks who brought us al-Queada are doing their part for democracy (and the opium and WMD trade) in Kabul….
Indeed.
> Capitol Boy says:
August 29, 2010 at 8:26 pm (Edit)
Mad Men gets the third straight Emmy Award for Best Series on television!!!!
I’ve completely forgotten about Promise Keepers, which was never as big. On the other hand, the John Birchers are clear antecedents.
> larry says:
August 29, 2010 at 12:46 pm (Edit)
The Glenn Beck phenomenon reminds me of the Promise Keepers craze. Where is that now? Or, going way back, the John Birch Society. Things come, things go.
Beck really says some very crazy stuff.
> Capitol Boy says:
August 29, 2010 at 11:19 am (Edit)
Times are tough, we have the first black president in Barack, this racist loon Beck gets really popular…
Brasky says:
August 28, 2010 at 5:46 pm
Beck’s listeners hate Obama because he’s black. Beck is popular because he offers a cheap facade of reasons to hate Obama to cover this racism. That’s the reason for the wink-wink, nudge-nudge date of his rally. His listeners know.
Unfortunetaly, hate and fascism always have an uptick when times get tough…
But not a surprise.
> sergei says:
August 29, 2010 at 4:39 am (Edit)
This treatment of your President is shameful.
Dog whistle politics, without the cover of a dog whistle.
> Brasky says:
August 28, 2010 at 5:46 pm (Edit)
Beck’s listeners hate Obama because he’s black. Beck is popular because he offers a cheap facade of reasons to hate Obama to cover this racism. That’s the reason for the wink-wink, nudge-nudge date of his rally. His listeners know.
Unfortunetaly, hate and fascism always have an uptick when times get tough…
Really?
> Sacramento Solon says:
August 28, 2010 at 3:22 pm (Edit)
Bill,
Do believe it would be more accurate if you would replace the “H” with an “F”…yep, I do.
Sort of, kind of and how are you this fine day…
The Obama administration deciding to get our boys home is great. Until the last of them come home I will not be put at ease. Bring all of them home soon.