Category: Politics

Obama in Memphis

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From his commencement speech at the Booker T. Washington here in Memphis:

Yes, you’re from South Memphis. Yes, you’ve always been underdogs. No one has handed you a thing. But that also means that whatever you accomplish in your lives, you’ll have earned it. Whatever rewards and joys you reap, you’ll appreciate them that much more because they will have come through your sweat and tears; the product of your efforts and talents. You’ve shown more grit and determination in your childhoods than a lot of adults ever will.

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Chernobyl Tours, 25 Years After Accident

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Jim Heintz, for the Associated Press:

But Chernobyl is in fact still a dangerous place, as the rules for visitors make clear. Don’t touch any structures or vegetation, don’t sit on the ground or even put your camera tripod there, don’t take any item out of the zone, don’t eat outdoors. Guides make sure the visitors understand that various spots in the zone are more contaminated than others and insist no one wander off the designated paths.

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Apple and Intel Take Stand on Conflict Minerals

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Michael J. Kavanagh at Bloomberg:

Rules backed by Apple Inc. and Intel Corp. to stop sales of minerals used in electronics from funding war in Central Africa took effect today, forcing miners from the region to seek new buyers in Asia, according to exporters.

“There is a de-facto embargo, it’s very clear,” said John Kanyoni, president of the mineral exporters association of North Kivu, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. “We’re committed to continue with all these programs. But at the same time we’re traveling soon to Asia to find alternatives.”

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On Libya and Sudan

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Mark Hackett,1 on why comparing the two countries is a vital mistake:

To be frank, it has been disappointing to see a talented anti-genocide movement here in the U.S. make such an obvious mistake by trying to compare two different conflicts. Both require two different solutions as they are happening for different reasons to different people in a different geographical location. U.S. activists calling for a no-fly zone in Darfur would do well to take a step back and examine the simple fact that blanket solutions for complex international political crises are not only a bad idea but also dangerous. When mass atrocities begin, the world often times uses the blanket approach with little results. Sanctions are usually implemented soon after crises begin, and the crises usually continue unabated. Unfortunately, everyone remains where they are after this because the international community made an attempt, the perpetrators continue killing, and the victims continue dying. Blanket efforts do not work.

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House Cuts NPR Funding

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Susan Ferrechio:

The House on Thursday voted to strip National Public Radio’s federal funding, a move that followed the release of a “sting” video showing an NPR executive criticizing the Republican Party and saying the station didn’t need millions of dollars in federal money. The measure passed 228-192, mostly along party lines, after a vigorous debate over the merits of public radio and the need for the government to reduce spending in the wake of a $1.3 trillion debt and $14 trillion deficit that threaten the economy.

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FUD

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Dan Pfeiffer at the White House:

As valuable as the internet can be in helping to spread information, most people know that you can’t believe everything you read, and they should check the source before relaying every alarming story they read. One such story is going around the internet over the past two days claiming that the Obama Administration is somehow responsible for the rolling blackouts in Texas that have caused terrible hardship for so many Texans. The source is questionable and the story is unquestionably false.

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