In his blessing at Easter Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, the Pope urged an end to the fighting in Libya.
** OBAMA TODAY – SUNDAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington.
Obama has received his daily intelligence briefing in the Oval Office.
He has no scheduled public events.
The Obama family attended Easter services this morning at Shiloh Baptist Church. This is only the seventh time that the Obama’s have attended public church services in Washington during his presidency.
Not too surprisingly, Libyan rebel claims to have driven Gaddafi forces from besieged Misurata, the nation’s third largest city, have proved to be exaggerated. But with help from more aggressive NATO air strikes, and attacks from U.S. Predator drones, regime forces have been driven from the center of the city.
In Yemen, longtime President Ali Abdullah Saleh, a key ally of the U.S. in the fight against Al Qaeda, has agreed to a Gulf Cooperation Council-negotiated plan to give up power to his deputy in 30 days and allow free elections 30 days after that.
But protests continued, in part because Saleh and his family would be granted immunity from prosecution.
In Syria, more than a hundred protesters have been killed by security forces since Friday. Yet the protests against longtime President Hafez Assad, no friend to the U.S., continue today.
Obama is also monitoring other geopolitical crises, mostly related to the Arab uprising, AfPak, and Iraq.
War Zone Times: The time in Libya is nine hours ahead of Pacific time; the time in Iraq is ten hours ahead of Pacific time; and the time in Afghanistan is eleven-and-a-half hours ahead of Pacific time.
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … HAS CALIFORNIA’S REFORM MOMENT ARRIVED?
** FROM THE JERRY FILES – SUNDAY. Governor Jerry Brown is in Northern California.
He has no scheduled public events as of this morning.
Brown received relatively good news in a new Los Angeles Times/USC poll published today. His job approval rating is steady and his state budget plans are backed by solid majorities of California voters.
I’ll have more about this, and more numbers from that poll, tomorrow.
In his Easter weekend video/radio address, President Barack Obama discusses the crimp that rising oil prices are placing in the economic recovery, promises an investigation into potential manipulation of the oil and gasoline markets, and criticizes Congressional Republicans for trying to cut alternative energy programs by 70%.
** OBAMA TODAY – SATURDAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington.
He has received his daily intelligence and economic briefings and met with senior advisors in the Oval Office.
Obama has no scheduled public events.
In the Libyan War, rebel forces claim to have taken the long embattled city of Misurata, Libya’s third largest and their only toehold in the western part of the country. NATO air strikes, and the introduction of US Predator drones to the conflict, have helped the rebels to drive Libyan Army forces away from the city center.
The Gaddafi regime is saying that army units will withdraw, but tribal forces still allied with Gaddafi are likely to enter the fray. If so, they will be more difficult to distinguish from the civilian population.
However, despite major gains, Al Jazeera is reporting that the rebels have not yet taken the city.
In Ajdabiya, which changed hands seven times before finally being secured by rebel forces with the help of increased NATO air strikes, the opposition today named the main city square after Tim Hetherington, the Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker and photojournalist who was killed on Wednesday in Misurata. Hetherington had chronicled much of the fighting in and around Ajdabiya. His death may not have been in vain, as it may have spurred NATO to greater efforts in Misurata.
Senator John McCain spent Friday in Benghazi, the highest ranking American official to visit war-torn Libya, and after a day of meetings called for recognition of the rebel council as Libya’s legitimate government, along with increased military support for the rebel forces, but eschewed the use of US or other Western ground troops.
In Syria, massive demonstrations yesterday and today resulted in dozens of deaths at the hands of Syrian security forces. But the protesters are not backing down.
Big demonstrations continue also in Yemen, where longtime American ally President Ali Abdullah Saleh, having run through a variety of scenarios, is under relentless pressure to step down both within and without from Gulf Arab states.
While these dramatic developments play out, another very significant development has occurred off-stage, largely unnoticed.
The Arab League was to hold its annual summit next month in Baghdad. But the Gulf Cooperation Council (the six mostly wealthy Gulf Arab states) declared their opposition to the event taking place in Iraq due to the Iraqi government’s protest of the ongoing crackdown against the majority Sunni population in GCC member state Bahrain.
Saudi troops are in Bahrain, as you know, and the regime has cracked down brutally against protesters there, ending what had been truly massive demonstrations. Now they are quietly rounding up opposition leaders.
Libyan rebel claims to have taken long-besieged Misurata appear to be exaggerated, though major gains have been made.
Obama is also monitoring other geopolitical crises, mostly related to the Arab uprising, AfPak, and Iraq.
War Zone Times: The time in Libya is nine hours ahead of Pacific time; the time in Iraq is ten hours ahead of Pacific time; and the time in Afghanistan is eleven-and-a-half hours ahead of Pacific time.
** FROM THE JERRY FILES – SATURDAY. Governor Jerry Brown is in Northern California today.
He has no scheduled public events as of this morning.
Brown was a hit yesterday at the Silicon Valley Leadership Group’s 8th Annual CEO Business Climate Summit in San Jose, garnering praise for his performance and continued support on California’s chronic budget crisis.
With half of the state’s budget deficit eliminated, but the other half stuck in impasse, the state Legislature is off on its 10-day spring break.
Brown continues working on the California state government’s chronic budget crisis and his nascent administration.
** THE NON-IMPERIAL PRESIDENCY: OBAMA AND LIBYA. Newscaster: The failure of today’s pre-dawn Special Forces raid in Tripoli to catch or dispatch Moammar Gaddafi leaves the Obama Administration with a dwindling set of options on Day 32 of the Libyan War. The wily colonel had already moved from his Bab al-Azizia compound to an alternate headquarters, leaving the assault force of Navy Seals and Army Rangers little choice but to fight their way out of a trap. The Pentagon has not released casualty figures. The CIA is not commenting on the misfiring mission.
More than a month of round-the-clock air strikes and Tomahawk missile attacks have forced Gaddafi forces back from the rebel-held eastern part of Libya but have failed either to relieve the dictator’s siege of Misurata in the west or to loosen his grip on the capital. Widespread civilian casualties from the increased allied aerial bombardment have stiffened the resolve of the colonel’s supporters and spurred anti-American sentiment.
Now America’s hopes for victory turn on the amphibious units on the ships offshore, where heroic young U.S. Marines await the chance to perform their generation’s version of the second line of their famous anthem, ‘From the halls of Montezuma, To the shores of Tripoli …’
Nothing at all like this has happened, of course, though many imagined that something much like it would.
There were fantasies here and elsewhere of another Iraq or, better yet, the golden oldie, Vietnam.
But in reality, it looks, as I said at the beginning, a lot more like Kosovo. … From my April 21st essay.
** ASSESSING THE JERRY BROWN ASSESSMENTS (AND WHY HE WAS IN STEALTH MODE SO LONG). Jerry Brown is now 15 weeks into his new/renewed governorship. How were the assessments at his 100-day mark? And, oh yeah, why was he in stealth mode for so long, eschewing virtually all public appearances for months in favor of behind-the-scenes negotiations? …
Brown gets top marks from most for having eliminated half the state’s bulging $26 billion budget deficit, largely through steep budget cuts. And he gets widespread kudos for bringing a new spirit — hmm, that could be a slogan — of constant engagement with state legislators from both parties.
Brown’s predecessors weren’t exactly keen on hanging with the legislature. Republican legislators famously wore name tags to a meeting with Schwarzenegger a couple of years back. …
The reality is that Jerry Brown is his own chief of staff, his own chief strategist, his own communications director, his own media director, his own chief negotiator, etc. …
Some believe he’s trying to set up a contrast with Schwarzenegger, who traveled in motorcades and had a fairly large staff. And certainly there is an element of calculation to what Brown does. He is, after all, a politician.
But the deeper reality is that this is how he operates. At least since the first time he was governor.
After his father died in 1996, the California Democratic Party held a lengthy commemorative ceremony honoring the great Democrat at its April convention in Los Angeles. … From my April 18th feature.
** MAD ABOUT MAD MEN: WILL IT MATCH WEST WING‘S MARK? … From my April 14th essay.
** THE RETURN OF JERRY BROWN. … From my April 11th column.
** LIBYAN WAR: NEW INTERNATIONAL “CONTACT GROUP” OFF TO A RUGGED START. … From my March 30th essay.
** CALIFORNIA’S PARTY OF NO TAKES CENTER STAGE, OR DOES IT? > … From my March 26th feature.
** OBAMA’S DIFFIDENT WAY OF WAR. … From my March 21st feature.
** IS LIBYA A TURNING POINT ON HUMANITARIAN INTERVENTIONISM? … From my March 18th essay.
** FROM GOVERNATOR TO MOONBEAM. … From my January 3rd, 2011 feature.
** 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.
The new season of the famed British cult series Doctor Who premieres this evening in the UK, US, and around the world on BBC America, BBC, and other channels.
** 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 three wars in the region, and the Arab uprising underway, 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 on Friday at $112.29 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Energy markets are closed on the weekend.
This is up about $78 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 (27) |
Good weekend address on Easter and oil by President Obama.
Good news video from the front lines in Misurata.
Doctor Who looks good, 9 Eastern premier.
http://www.bbcamerica.com/tvschedule.jsp
It does look good. 6 PM in the west…
Amazing that Republicans want to cut alternative energy…
Jonas Blane says:
April 23, 2011 at 10:50 am
Good weekend address on Easter and oil by President Obama.
I guess they don’t have it yet…
Jonas Blane says:
April 23, 2011 at 10:59 am
Good news video from the front lines in Misurata.
[...] have taken a prolonged embattled city of Misurata, Libya’s third largest and theirArticle source: http://www.newwestnotes.com/2011/04/23/easter-weekend-edition-3/Share and Enjoy: This entry was posted in easter. Bookmark the permalink. ← Easter [...]
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Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen.
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Folks,
Happy Easter!
Good news video of the Pope’s Easter message. Happy Easter!
[...] The firstborn edition of this book gave practicing engineers and students a systematic reference to wholly perceive the [...]
I don’t know, it’s in Italian!
Jonas Blane says:
April 24, 2011 at 10:10 am
Good news video of the Pope’s Easter message. Happy Easter!
Happy Easter to you, stranger!!
Sacramento Solon says:
April 24, 2011 at 9:27 am
Folks,
Happy Easter!
CB,
Will try not be a stranger much longer…just have a lot of reading and running going on.
Hope all is well with you and that you’ve had a grand Easter.
Maybe you’re right, but I still have my own opinion about this.
500 Taliban escaped prison in Kandahar.
What new video today?
Good. I’m good. I had a nice Easter and hope you did too.
Sacramento Solon says:
April 24, 2011 at 9:11 pm
CB,
Will try not be a stranger much longer…just have a lot of reading and running going on.
Hope all is well with you and that you’ve had a grand Easter.
Fukushima and Chernobyl anniversary, the big strike on Gaddafi’s compound …
> Jonas Blane says:
April 25, 2011 at 9:04 am (Edit)
What new video today?
Good hearing from you!
> Sacramento Solon says:
April 24, 2011 at 9:27 am (Edit)
Folks,
Happy Easter!
Close enough, unfortunately.
> sergei says:
April 25, 2011 at 5:46 am (Edit)
500 Taliban escaped prison in Kandahar.
Yes, and no.
> Capitol Boy says:
April 23, 2011 at 2:44 pm (Edit)
Amazing that Republicans want to cut alternative energy…
Jonas Blane says:
April 23, 2011 at 10:50 am
Good weekend address on Easter and oil by President Obama.
So, what did you think?
>#
Jonas Blane says:
April 23, 2011 at 11:02 am (Edit)
Doctor Who looks good, 9 Eastern premier.
http://www.bbcamerica.com/tvschedule.jsp
#
Capitol Boy says:
April 23, 2011 at 1:10 pm (Edit)
It does look good. 6 PM in the west…
…[Trackback]…
[...]I am now not sure where you are getting your info, however good topic.[...]…