President Barack Obama takes the oath of office in the official swearing-in ceremony at the White House on Sunday morning.
** OBAMA TODAY – SUNDAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington.
Obama and Vice President Joe Biden received the intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
Obama and Biden then traveled to Arlington National Cemetery for a wreath-laying ceremony.
After that, the Obama family attended church services at Metropolitan African Methodist Church to celebrate the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Monday, the day of Obama’s ceremonial inauguration, is also the national Martin Luther King Day holiday.
Following the morning events, Obama was then sworn into office for his second term as president in an small ceremony at the White House.
The ceremonial inaugural takes place Monday. There he will deliver his second inaugural address, before a notably smaller crowd than that which crowded into the capital city to see the inauguration of America’s first black president.
Obama is assessing the just concluded hostage crisis in Algeria. Though several Americans were taken hostage, only one appears so far to have perished, and he may have died as the result of a heart attack.
British citizens were not nearly so fortunate in the takeover of the big BP natural gas facility in the Sahara Desert some 800 miles from Algiers.
They are still finding bodies there. We still don’t have a comprehensive report on what took place there.
Meanwhile, French forces are continuing to advance on jihadist strongholds in northern Mali. West African troops are beginning to arrive in theater.
Obama is monitoring several other geopolitical crises involving the Arab Awakening, Iran and Israel, Syria, Iraq, AfPak, and the South China Sea.
Military Crisis Zone Times: West Africa is eight hours ahead of Pacific time, the Persian/Arabian Gulf is ten hours ahead of Pacific time, and Afghanistan is eleven and a half hours ahead of Pacific time. The time in Manila, on the South China Sea, is fifteen hours ahead of Pacific time.
** FROM THE JERRY FILES – SUNDAY. Governor Jerry Brown is in Northern California.
He has no scheduled public events as of this morning.
Brown, as mentioned here for the past few days, is not attending the Obama Inaugural in Washington. He is prepping for his State of the State address on Thursday.
Click here for my compendium of articles laying out the re-emergence of Jerry Brown as governor of California.
Click here for my compendium of articles providing a narrative of his governorship.
The hostage crisis in Algeria appears to be over. Algeria’s special forces stormed a corner of the sprawling BP natural gas plant in the middle of the Sahara desert on Saturday to finally end the four-day standoff. Local media say seven hostages and 11 jihadists were killed in the concluding operation. Britain’s defense minister says he’s appalled at the loss of life.
** OBAMA TODAY – SATURDAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington.
Obama received the intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
The Obama family will join in the National Day of Service as part of the 57th Presidential Inauguration by participating in a community service project in the Washington, DC area.
At 3 PM Pacific, First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden will honor military families at the “Kids’ Inaugural: Our Children. Our Future” concert at the Washington Convention Center.
Obama is of course prepping for his 2nd Inaugural Address on Monday.
Obama, not incidentally, will officially be sworn in Sunday morning at 8:55 AM Pacific at a private ceremony in the White House. That is because his new term legally begins on January 20th. But inaugurals are not held on Sundays.
Thus the rather anti-climactic in any case second inaugural ceremony for public consumption on Monday.
Can you feel the excitement?
The real excitement of the weekend comes with the NFL conference title games on Sunday. First we have the San Francisco 49ers visiting the Atlanta Falcons in the National Football Conference Championship Game, then the Baltimore Ravens visiting the New England Patriots (at their stadium outside Boston) in the American Football Conference Championship Game.
Look for a 49ers return to the Super Bowl.
But I digress.
There are, of course, several other matters on Obama’s desktop.
The Algerian hostage crisis appears to have finally concluded today. It went on and on, despite yesterday’s raid by the Algerian military, with an unknown number of hostages still in the hands of an unknown number of jihadists, some of whom in the sprawling BP natural gas complex attacked yesterday under still murky circumstances by Algerian special forces, and some having perhaps made their way elsewhere.
In the end today, Algerian special forces killed 11 terrorists, who in turn apparently killed the remaining seven Western hostages. No word yet on nationalities.
Nor is there final word of all the hostages being accounted for.
The jihadists demanded the release of two terrorists imprisoned in the US, Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, a mastermind of the 1993 Al Qaeda attack on the World Trade Center, and US-educated neuro-scientist Aafia Siddiqui, convicted of attempting to murder American officials in 2008 after she was detained in Afghanistan.
US officials noted again that the US does not negotiate with terrorists.
House Republicans, caught between a rock and a hard place (both set up by the president), are caving in to President Barack Obama on the debt ceiling issue, agreeing to extend it for three months without anything in return. Of course, they will find themselves in the same place three months down the line, unless they believe in the power of PR miracles.
After early problems following their sudden intervention in Mali on January 11th, French forces, working with Malian government forces, are pushing back jihadists who had been surging toward the capital city Bamako.
Two key towns have been re-taken, including the one that triggered the French intervention in the first place.
In his weekend video/radio address, President Barack Obama addresses the need for steps to control gun violence in America in the wake of the latest massacre last month at Sandy Hook Elementary School in leafy Newtown, Connecticut.
Obama is monitoring several other geopolitical crises involving the Arab Awakening, Iran and Israel, Syria, Iraq, AfPak, and the South China Sea.
Military Crisis Zone Times: West Africa is eight hours ahead of Pacific time, the Persian/Arabian Gulf is ten hours ahead of Pacific time, and Afghanistan is eleven and a half hours ahead of Pacific time. The time in Manila, on the South China Sea, is fifteen hours ahead of Pacific time.
** FROM THE JERRY FILES – SATURDAY. Governor Jerry Brown is in Northern California.
He has no scheduled public events as of this morning.
Brown is not attending the Second Obama Inaugural. While some of the political world will be focused on Washington this coming Monday, Brown will be attending the funeral for Police Officer Kevin Tonn in Roseville, a suburb of Sacramento approaching the Sierra foothills.
University of California President Mark Yudoff announced his retirement Friday, effective August 31. A controversial figure, Yudof, who was not much of a public spokesman for UC, will have been president for five years, and gets a snazzy retirement package in addition to a teaching gig at Berkeley’s Boalt Hall law school.
Brown spent a second day on Thursday at the University of California Board of Regents meeting, getting to know university leadership and seeking to win them over to his general point of view after winning support Wednesday for his plan to to introduce online courses to the curriculum mix.
Brown of course will have some ideas about the next president of his alma mater.
His State of the State address is on January 24th.
Click here for my compendium of articles laying out the re-emergence of Jerry Brown as governor of California.
Click here for my compendium of articles providing a narrative of his governorship.
** HOW NOT TO STAGE MANAGE THE WORLD. … From my January 18th column.
** POWELL POSITIONS THE DEBATE OVER CHUCK HAGEL. … From my January 14th essay.
** JERRY BROWN’S NEW BUDGET FOR POST-CRISIS CALIFORNIA: DISCIPLINE BEGETS OPPORTUNITY. … From my January 11th essay.
** WHY THE HAGEL BATTLE MADE MORE SENSE FOR OBAMA THAN THE RICE BATTLE. …
From my January 9th essay.
** CALIFORNIA’S FUTURIST AGENDA: A TALE OF THREE GOVERNORS. … From my January 4th essay.
The San Francisco 49ers ripped the Green Bay Packers last weekend in the NFL play-offs, 45-31, behind a record-setting performance by new quarterback Colin Kaepernick. The 49ers play the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday for the National Football Conference championship, the 49ers’ second straight appearance in the NFC title game, having lost in overtime last year to eventual Super Bowl champion New York. The winner goes on to the Super Bowl.
** 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.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in major military operations in the region, and the Arab awakening underway, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. 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.
** 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 from the Russia Today channel. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the state-run 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 $95.56 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Energy markets are closed on the weekend.
This is up about $62 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity, and down about $18 per barrel from the price at the time of the Osama bin Laden raid.
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| Comments (17) |
Good good/bad news Al Jazeera news video on the end of the Algeria hostage crisis.
Good weekend speech by President Obama on gun control
All I can say is Thank God it’s over!!
Jonas says:
January 19, 2013 at 10:53 am
Good good/bad news Al Jazeera news video on the end of the Algeria hostage crisis.
Good video on the 49ers, they look the best of the teams left.
I hope they listen to Barack…
Jonas says:
January 19, 2013 at 10:59 am
Good weekend speech by President Obama on gun control
Niners rock. Captain Kap will scorch the Birdies, San Francisco is back in the Super Bowl, baby!!!
Jonas says:
January 19, 2013 at 11:07 am
Good video on the 49ers, they look the best of the teams left.
JB should pick a live one this time…
BB:University of California President Mark Yudoff announced his retirement Friday, effective August 31. A controversial figure, Yudof, who was not much of a public spokesman for UC, will have been president for five years, and gets a snazzy retirement package in addition to a teaching gig at Berkeley’s Boalt Hall law school.
Brown spent a second day on Thursday at the University of California Board of Regents meeting, getting to know university leadership and seeking to win them over to his general point of view after winning support Wednesday for his plan to to introduce online courses to the curriculum mix.
Brown of course will have some ideas about the next president of his alma mater.
Well, thats good at least.
BB: After early problems following their sudden intervention in Mali on January 11th, French forces, working with Malian government forces, are pushing back jihadists who had been surging toward the capital city Bamako.
Many hostages died in Algeria. Do the USA and UK have so little influence over their ally in Algiers?
26 dead hostages makes for quite a lot of blood on the sand.
More Algeria crisis video today?
Great video of the re-Inaugurated Barack!
Good news video of President Obama’s swearing-in.
THE NINERS DID IT!! THEY CAME FROM 17 POINTS DOWN TO WIN THE N.F.C. CHAMPIONSHIP!!!
San Francisco is back in the Super Bowl, baby.
The 49ers kinda sucked for the first half of the game and they still won…
Algeria calls the shots in Algeria.
sergei says:
January 20, 2013 at 5:53 am
Many hostages died in Algeria. Do the USA and UK have so little influence over their ally in Algiers?
Godspeed to President Obama in yesterday and today’s Inauguration and beyond.