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Archive for November 29th, 2009

Obama charmed his way to the Presidency and now woman Salahi charms her way to Obama’s White House dinner!: Obama’s Guest Who’s Coming to Dinner? How secure is the President? Many questions arise.

Posted by African Press International on November 29, 2009

//Hopefully, Mrs Salahi will not charm her way to Obama’s party in Oslo on the 10th of December when he travels there to receive the Nobel Peace Prize… Let her try but we think the Norwegian police will be watching her every move…. until after Obama’s 2 day Oslo visit.

 

UPDATE~
Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009, 8:12 a.m. EST, Fox and Friends TV News produced a photo from 2005, which includes Barack Obama centered in a small group including the Salahi couple who have been accused of being strangers who were “uninvited” guests at the recent Obama White House Dinner. It seems the suppositions I had posted earlier were, in fact, valid. Thank God — and the late Paul Harvey for “the rest of the story,” which is not over yet. Stay tuned! ~Rev. L. Dowell, Voice Ink News Commentary

COMMENTARY

By Rev. Lainie Dowell

Where is Paul Harvey when you need him? It appears the Obama Administration has given the nation another oops moment. But, we cannot help it, if former President George W. Bush made his eight-year tenure in the Office look so easy that every fool thought they could do a better job. Enter the DEMs’ favorite and most highly favored son, Barack Hussein Obama, Jr.

Any time you have almost the entire nation and the global community whispering in your ear telling you “Yes (you) can,” you are bound to begin believing yourself to be invincible and pretty near indestructible and that everything you place your hands to do will turn to gold. Somehow, accolades can become your worst enemy, if you are not settled and grounded in self and truth.

This latest gaff of the reportedly “uninvited White House guests” slipping by the White House staff and security presents for us yet one more moment of levity from the administration’s heavy-handed, ongoing push of various legislative bills towards Obama to be signed into law, such as “Hate Crime,” “Free Choice,” “Abortion,” “Same Sex Marriage,” “Cap and Trade,” and many more to come but against the majority of the people’s will. I am still laughing every time I see the photo flashed on the TV screen showing Michaele Salahi and her husband, Tareq, posing with noted political dignitaries and journalists like they belong. And, no doubt they do. After all, they were introduced and presented to Obama for the well-circulated photo session. Just look at that wide grin on Obama’s face! (Forgive me if I forego the usual blonde jokes)

How could anybody feel so comfortable coming in off the street and getting close enough to Vice President Joe Biden, place her hand on his chest, turn to the cameras, and smile? Where was Dr. Jill? Wouldn’t you think somebody would stop short of snapping that picture and tell Michaele Salahi that is a “no no?” But, that’s the picture that really cracks me up every time I see it!! The look on Biden’s face is priceless and he appears to be enjoying every moment for all the world to see. How “stately!”

The Guest Who Has the White House Invitation – Or Not?!

Somebody is not telling the truth! And the way the Obama White House has been vacillating since he took office on January 20, 2009, I suppose it would be very difficult to determine who is and who is not being truthful about the situation. I mean — the Salahi’s even came dressed up in formal attire, and her bright red dress just screams, “I have arrived!” Who wouldn’t take notice of them and wonder who these people are and what is their role in society? Apparently, somebody in attendance must have known who they were. Apparently, somebody must have said, “They’re o.k. They’re with me! Let ‘em through.” But, really! I don’t understand what all the excitement is about because, when the Obamas’ State Dinner was announced publicly, didn’t we hear Obama state he was holding it outside in tents instead of inside the White House, because he wanted the American people to be able to get in??? So, what’s the problem? Who knew??

The Indian Prime Minister White House Guest and His Wife, Who?!

Even though Obama started out his sojourn in the White House with scheduled “Happy Hours” and socials for the news media and entertainers to come mingle and wine and dine with him and other guests, this particular scheduled event was touted as being the very first White House State Dinner. Never mind that the puzzled public couldn’t figure out why the White House would have as their first state guests, dignitaries from India instead of from one of America’s more notable allies. And, now, we may never know unless we search the small print in the back of newspapers or hear news reports on some very late night, obscure news station in order to know that the Guest of Honor for the night was Manmohan Singh, Indian Prime Minister, and his wife.

For the most part, the supposedly “uninvited” Salahi’s drove that political story right off the front pages of news periodicals all across the nation. And there they stand the talk of the town! (are we laughing yet?) To be sure, the White House security and many government agencies don’t think this is the least bit funny. Nevertheless, the Obamas’ beloved staff have reportedly denied knowing whether the Salahi’s had received invites even while the Salahi’s maintain that they did. And they have engaged an attorney spokesperson to defend them even as calls go forth from TV news pundits to make an example of them and even put them in jail. WHAT??!!

If the Salahi’s Can’t Dine With the Obama’s Then Who Can?

News reports state the Salahi’s showed up for that prestigious event in a long limo and with photogs trailing close behind to record every last moment. Archival articles found in the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal give a pretty good background on the now infamous couple. Therefore, it is even more puzzling to me why White House security must not have even taken time to go on the internet and find out who any of the invited guests are. The government has access to the latest technology, think tanks, and proverbial records of “Who’s Who” everywhere in the world. Therefore, I find it difficult to believe the government is now publicly whining about a couple of billionaires coming to “crash” the White House dinner which was held OUTSIDE! How ridiculous is that?!

Tareq Salahi is almost 40 years old. He is a young man who lives in Hume, Virginia, with his family and owns a world renown winery called, “OASIS.” Hume, Virginia, is also reportedly the homeland of Fox TV’s journalist, Britt Hume. And, with neighbors like that, how bad could the Salahi’s be? Furthermore, while news pundits are on TV yelling about the Salahi’s having filed lawsuits in the Virginia courthouse, they fail to add those suits have been ongoing for years and that hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake for them. That’s nothing to sneeze at.

The Salahi’s may have actually done the Obamas’ and the nation a favor by identifying a real flaw in the Obama administration’s loosely and flippant attitude. On the one hand, the Obamas’ are complaining and sending out armed police and FBI agents and CIA agents to threaten and intimidate citizens, if they speak out and tell the truth about Barack Obama. And, on the other hand, Barack and Michelle Obama are apt to be found out on the town seated amongst a crowd of people, such as during their recent visit with family members to watch a basketball game coached by his brother-in-law, Michelle’s brother. How fearful could they be for their lives, when Obama was seated down front and up close and not encased inside of any bulletproof enclosure while he was enjoying that basketball game? Where was the security detail?

Could it be that Obama’s security detail is feeling frustrated by their attempts to keep up with their job to protect him, when he is determined to have it his way or have them hit the highway? Could the White House security detail be subjected to the same overbearing as the American public?

My mind cannot grasp how those two “guests” from that well-known Virginia family could have escaped the Obama radar along the path to the party. But I cannot overlook the fact that Tareq’s father is reportedly from Israel and is Palestinian. And, it just so happens that Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, has the same background as Tareq, in that his father is also from Israel and is Palestinian. Tareq is known to be a jet setting polo player who is well-known to the international set, especially in the Middle East. But, so, too, are Rahm and Obama known to be jet setters. And, to date, when we look back over the documented record, it is easy to surmise that, if RahmBO knows anybody on the political, fundraising, party circuit, then its a sure bet that Obama would at least have a passing acquaintance at some time or another throughout all of these years of them knowing one another.

Stay tuned. The late Paul Harvey is probably putting together “the rest of the story” right now, because all of this supposition is just the beginning.

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Doubting Thomasses: US says Sudan’s 2010 elections in doubt

Posted by African Press International on November 29, 2009

US President Barack Obama (right) meets with Sudan Special Envoy General Scott Gration in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington March 30, 2009. The State Department said it saw little movement on issues such as voter registration and border delineation between Khartoum and the semi-autonomous South. Photo/ REUTERS

US President Barack Obama (right) meets with Sudan Special Envoy General Scott Gration in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington March 30, 2009. The State Department said it saw little movement on issues such as voter registration and border delineation between Khartoum and the semi-autonomous South. Photo/ REUTERS

By REUTERS

 

WASHINGTON

Sudan may be unable to hold credible elections in coming months because the ruling party and opposition cannot agree on ground rules for the polls, the US State Department said on Friday.

At the end of a trip to Sudan by President Barack Obama’s special envoy Scott Gration, the State Department said it saw little movement on issues such as voter registration and border delineation between Khartoum and the semi-autonomous South — endangering plans for national elections in April 2010 and a referendum on southern succession in 2011.

“Without immediate resolution of these disputes, we are concerned about the chances for conducting credible elections and referenda,” it said in a statement.

“Unfortunately, the parties have not yet demonstrated the political will necessary to achieve resolution on these difficult and sensitive issues.”

Gration’s trip to Sudan was his first since Washington announced in October it would keep economic sanctions on Sudan but would also offer Khartoum new incentives to end violence in Darfur and the South.

The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), former southern rebels who are now junior partners in the governing coalition under the terms of a 2005 peace deal, have accused the North of stalling on a democratic transformation and undermining plans for free elections.

The SPLM and other parties said on Wednesday they would delay a decision on whether to boycott April’s elections in part due to a week-long extension of the voter registration period.

The strains have raised fears the north-south civil war — fueled by issues including religion, ethnicity, oil and ideology between mostly Christian southern rebels and the Islamist Khartoum government — could reignite.

Gration visited voter registration centres and urged people to sign up for the polls “as it is the only way for the Sudanese people to maintain their right to participate in the national elections in April 2010,” the statement said.

He also visited Darfur, where the United Nations says more than 2 million people were driven from their homes and some 300,000 people died in a crisis that saw non-Arab militias take up arms against the central government. Khartoum puts the death toll at 10,000.

Gration’s meetings concentrated on the security situation along the Chad-Sudan border, with the State Department noting lawlessness and banditry were heightening tensions yet again.

“Addressing these ongoing security concerns is crucial for achieving a lasting peace in Darfur,” the statement said.

source.nation.ke

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The Buganda Kingdom should be appreciative of President Museveni: He restored the Kingdom – But now Buganda kingdom rejects new Uganda land law

Posted by African Press International on November 29, 2009

The Buganda kingdom has rejected a new land law passed after heated debate in Uganda’s parliament. Buganda Prime Minister John Baptist Walusimbi said the kingdom would continue to campaign against the law, saying it would remain “idle”.

The kingdom feels the new law encroaches on the king’s territory. Buganda is the largest of Uganda’s four ancient kingdoms. It has long campaigned for the restoration of some of the king’s traditional powers.

Tension is high between the Buganda kingdom and the government of President Yoweri Museveni. Supporters of Buganda King Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II in September rioted in the capital Kampala after police blocked the king from making a controversial visit.

The land law was passed by a majority of 112 to 55. Three ruling party MPs, all from Buganda, voted against the bill. Seven MPs walked out during the parliamentary debate, according to the New Vision newspaper.

The BBC’s Joshua Mmali in the capital Kampala says the king currently has absolute jurisdiction over land within the kingdom. The new law gives tenants more rights to resist eviction by landlords.

Landlords need a court order to evict tenants and must notify them before selling their land. Some analysts welcome the new law as a way of modernising Uganda’s system of land tenure, but others see it as a political move ahead of elections due in 2011.

source.nation.ke

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LIBERIA: Breaking breastfeeding myths > Nutritonists must target grandmothers to change breastfeeding practices

Posted by African Press International on November 29, 2009


Photo: Anna Jefferys/IRIN

MONROVIA, 27 November 2009 (IRIN) – “My first kid died because I breastfed him after my husband had had an affair,” Tina Kollie, mother of a seven-month-old in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, told IRIN. She has not breastfed any children since. “[If I breastfeed], whenever my husband has an affair my child gets sick.”

Rebecca Carter in the Buzzi Quarter neighbourhood said she stopped breastfeeding after a few months because she could not have sexual intercourse while breastfeeding – the semen will mix with breast milk, she said, making it toxic for the child.

“I didn’t want my husband to go with other women so I could not breastfeed,” she told IRIN. “I had to be available for him.”

UNICEF estimates that just 35 percent of Liberian mothers practice exclusive breastfeeding; a survey by NGO Action contre la Faim (ACF) in Monrovia estimated 44 percent in 2008.

ACF staff regularly hear widespread beliefs about breastfeeding perils: It is dangerous to breastfeed while pregnant as it could weaken the unborn infant; women should not breastfeed if a previous child has died while breastfeeding; and breastfeeding over time is dangerous as breast milk can mix with blood.

Instead Kollie, Carter and dozens of other women IRIN spoke to, feed their babies mainly rice and water.

The World Health Organization and UNICEF recommend feeding newborns only breast milk for the first six months to reduce vulnerability life-threatening diseases or malnutrition. Aid agencies in Liberia are trying to re-frame breastfeeding and infant nutrition as a health issue.

“Working with communities on breastfeeding is a long, drawn-out job, because malnutrition is often not seen as a sickness, but is associated with witchcraft-like beliefs,” ACF Liberia head, Massimo Stella, told IRIN.

UNICEF nutrition specialist Kinday Samba agreed, saying aid agencies have to support the Health Ministry over the long term to bolster exclusive breastfeeding. “We won’t see huge changes immediately.”

Men, grandmothers key

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Catholic Relief Services (CRS), ACF and others are encouraging women to exclusively breastfeed their babies up to at least six months.

Dispelling breastfeeding myths is not the key to changing women’s behavior, ACF’s Stella said; all staff can do is inform communities of the benefits of breastfeeding and trigger discussion, he said.

Women who have already changed their feeding practices can show that it is not dangerous, encouraging others to attempt change, ACF’s care practices manager, Audrey Gibeaux, told IRIN.

ACF must also target men and grandmothers in the discussion, she said.

“I always try to encourage men to come, as they have so much decision-making power in Liberian households…and grandmothers must be present as the knowledge they pass down is considered very valuable.”

Liberia has one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in West Africa and grandmothers often care for babies.

All fronts

Breastfeeding messages must be spread through every channel to be effective, UNICEF’s Samba said, citing radio, posters, community groups and clinic visits as examples.

UNICEF is developing messages to be disseminated on all of these fronts, she said.

Stella agreed: “We found the prevention activities are more effective if they take place simultaneously at country level, community level and school level.”

Monitoring the impact of these efforts is not easy, Stella said. “Immediate evidence of the links among increased knowledge, behavior change and improved health cannot all be measured in medical or statistical terms.”

A UNICEF-supported infant feeding practices survey is due out in late 2009, while ACF will carry out a study of its activities’ impact in February 2010.

More red peppers, more breastfeeding

One village where knowledge has translated to behavior change among some families is Gbarnga-ta, 15km outside of Gbarnga in Bong County, where according to NGO Caritas a third of under-five children are undernourished.

Caritas, supported by CRS, has been working with residents to improve agricultural productivity and infant feeding practices.

Before, women and men thought having sex while still breastfeeding was dangerous, resident Helena Sharif told IRIN.

It was partly the success of the agricultural activities that made villagers more receptive to the NGO’s breastfeeding messages, giving them traction, say villagers.

Residents are now producing surplus aubergines and red hot peppers which they sell to nearby villages, giving them money to pay school fees, said Sharif.

Helena’s husband Tony Sharif is relieved. “We don’t worry so much about [having sex while breastfeeding] now. We do it. Things are much better than they were,” he said, prompting laughter and nods from fellow villagers.

While intensive efforts may work, some aid experts are skeptical that behavior change can be effective on a mass scale.

“It’s very difficult to change people’s behavior,” said European Commission humanitarian aid department (ECHO) representative in Liberia Koen Henckaerts.

“I’m skeptical that you can [do so] in the short term or on a mass scale. It takes a long time, and it is related to wider, entrenched issues such as poverty.”

aj/pc/np source.irinnews.org

Posted in AA > News and News analysis | Leave a Comment »

 
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