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In a recently released poll this month, 22% of Mexicans approved of President Enrique Peña Nieto’s performance in office. Data released in the same survey revealed that 55 %, more than twice the percentage of those who viewed the president in a positive light, strongly disapproved of his performance. No president since Vicente Fox, who was elected in 2000 and moved Mexico significantly along the path to electoral democracy, has ever received such weak support.
A tired old elephant hunched in the room as President Obama announced the launch of a new moonshot against cancer during his State of the Union address a month ago. We've heard that promise before. On 23 December 1971, when President Nixon first declared a national war on cancer, he also based his conviction on the successfully completed moonwalk.
It would seem that President Obama has a new prey in his sites. It is, however, a target that he has hunted for some time but never really managed to wound, let alone kill. The focus of Obama’s attention is gun violence and the aim is really to make American communities safer places to live.
On 7 January, 2016, I asked Google, “what religion is Barack Obama”? After considering the problem for .42 seconds, Google offered more than 34 million “results.” The most obvious answer was at the top, accentuated by a rectangular border, with the large word “Muslim.” Beneath that one word read the line, “Though Obama is a practicing Christian and he was chiefly raised by his mother and her Christian parents…” Thank you, Google.
Seven years ago this month the federal funds rate—a key short-term interest rate set by the Federal Reserve—was lowered below 0.25%. It has remained there ever since.Lowering the fed funds rate to rock-bottom levels did not come as a surprise. The sub-prime mortgage crisis led to a severe economic contraction, the Great Recession, and Federal Reserve policy makers used low interest rates—among other tools—in an effort to revive the economy.
On his recent visit to Kenya, President Obama addressed the subject of sexual liberty. At a press conference with the Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, he spoke affectingly about the cause of gay rights, likening the plight of homosexuals to the anti-slavery and anti-segregation struggles in the United States.
We know that access to books – in all forms – is critical for children to develop into readers.
Now, through a new White House-led initiative, First Book is helping connect children in need across the country with access to thousands of e-books. The initiative, announced today by President Obama, is part of a broad effort to ignite kids’ love of reading by improving access to digital content and public libraries.
Through the initiative, called Open eBooks, publishers are providing $250 million worth of e-books for free to children from low-income families. 10,000 of their most popular titles will be included.
The books will be accessible through an Open eBooks app, which is currently being developed by the New York Public Library, the Digital Public Library of America and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Once complete, the app and all the e-books will be available to programs and classrooms serving children in need through First Book.
Every child deserves the chance to learn and thrive in an environment that is enriched by the latest technology. Two years ago President Obama announced ConnectED, a signature initiative focused on transforming teaching and learning through digital connectivity and content. Today, building on the progress made to date, at the Anacostia Library in Washington, D.C., the President will announce two new efforts to strengthen learning opportunities by improving access to digital content and to public libraries: new eBooks commitments and the ConnectED Library Challenge. LEE & LOW BOOKS is excited to be a part of this new program!
The first is commitments from publishers to find ways to make sure their content is available to low-income youth in America. Major publishers (including LEE & LOW BOOKS) are announcing they will make over $250 million in free eBooks available to low-income students. Nonprofits and libraries are partnering with each other to create an app that can deliver this content and materials from the public domain. Complementing that effort, theConnectED Library Challengeis a commitment by more than 30 communities to put a library card into every student’s hand so they will have access to the learning resources and books they can read for pleasure, all available in America’s libraries.
These initiatives represent another way the ConnectED effort is making a real difference for students. Combined with the $2 billion in private-sector commitments, and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) funding for school and library connectivity that includes $2 billion specifically for Wi-Fi, and $1.5 billion more in annual funding today’s announcement brings the total value delivered as part of this five-year transformation in American education to over $10 billion. And as a result of these commitments, we are on track to meet the President’s goal of connecting 99 percent of students to high-speed broadband in their classrooms and libraries.
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As part of today’s effort, the New York Public Library is developing an e-reader app that will provide access to a universe of digital books, including contributions from publishers and hundreds of classics already in the public domain, to create a book collection for students aged 4-18 from low-income families. The New York Public Library will work with a network of top librarians volunteering their time through the Digital Public Library of America to connect young readers with books that match their reading levels and interests. New York Public Library will work with First Book, a book-donation non-profit, to help make sure eBooks reach students in low-income families.
Major publishers are committing to make available thousands of popular and award-winning titles to students over a three-year period. These contributions will create a new book collection for students aged 4-18 from low-income families. Students from all demographics will be able to access the public domain titles, whose cover art and typography will be freshly designed by world-class designers and artists.
The new commitments the President will announce today will help ensure the smartphone or tablet that is increasingly a part of students’ lives is also a teaching tool outside the classroom that encourages kids to become lifelong readers.
Hundreds of Millions of Dollars in New Private-Sector Commitments: Today, the President will highlight some of the major publishers and their authors that have pledged to donate titles to low-income students:
Macmillan: Providing unlimited access to all of the K-12 age-appropriate titles in their title catalog of approximately 2,500 books.
Simon & Schuster: Providing access to their entire e-catalog of books for children ages 4-14, comprised of 3,000 titles.
Penguin Random House: Committing to provide an extensive offering of their popular and award-winning books.
Hachette: Offering participating students access to a robust catalogue of their popular and award-winning titles.
Candlewick: Providing unlimited access to all relevant children’s and young-adult e-book titles in their catalog.
Bloomsbury: Providing unlimited access to over 1,000 of its most popular titles.
Lee & Low: The leading independent publisher of multicultural books is providing unlimited access to over 700 of its titles.
Cricket Media: Offering full digital access to all of its market-leading magazines for children and young adults, including Ladybug and Cricket.
HarperCollins: Providing a robust selection of their award-winning and popular titles.
Commitments from Government, Non-profit, and Philanthropic Institutions: Today, the President will highlight commitments supporting expanded access to free books:
The Institute of Museum and Library Services: Investing $5 million to support the development of the e-reader app and tools and services to help the public more easily access e-books and other digital content.
The Digital Public Library of America: Their network of librarians will volunteer with the New York Public Library to help make sure popular books reach the most appropriate audience. DPLA, in conjunction with Recovering the Classics are also add age-appropriate public domain titles whose text and cover art has been redesigned by leading graphic designers and artists.
New York Public Library: New York Public Library is developing a cutting-edge e-reader app and working with industry and tech leaders to improve the experience for students.
First Book: a book donation non-profit organization has committed to work with New York Public Library and interested publishes to provide authentication and delivery services to ensure that e-books will reach students in low-income families.
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President Obama recognizes the critical role that libraries play as trusted community anchors that support learning and connectivity at all times and many different paces. In fact, more than 70 percent of libraries report that they are the only providers of free public internet access in their community. Like many modern challenges, improving education for all children requires key leaders to collaborate in new and powerful ways. Libraries are uniquely positioned to continue to build programs and partnerships that bridge the divide between schools and homes and provide educational services to every person in the community.
Announcing the ConnectED Library Challenge: Today, the President will call upon library directors to work with their mayors, school leaders, and school librarians, to create or strengthen partnerships so that every child enrolled in school can receive a library card. These libraries also commit to support student learning through programming that develops their language, reading, and critical thinking; provide digital resources, such as eBooks and online collections of traditional media; and provide broadband connectivity and wireless access within library facilities. Over 30 major cities and counties have announced they are taking the challenge and will work to provide cards to all students.
Communities adopting the ConnectED Library Challenge include: Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Clinton Macomb, Columbus, Cuyahoga, D.C., Denver, Hartford, Hennepin County, Howard County, Indianapolis, Madison, Milwaukee, New Haven, Oakland, Pierce County, Pima, Pocatello, Pueblo City, Ramsey County, Columbia, Rochester Hills, Rochester, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Seattle, Skokie, and St. Louis.
Commitments in support of the ConnnectED Library Challenge: To support the implementation of the ConnectED Library Challenge, the Administration announced new commitments to action:
The Institute of Museum and Library Services: Host a national convening this summer to identify and share best practices in reaching universal library card use among public school students.
Urban Libraries Council: Lead an initiative that provides a forum for community, library and school leaders to work together to meet city and county education goals by leveraging resources and measuring outcomes.
American Library Association: Drive adoption of the ConnectED Library Challenge through their 55,000 members and align the challenge with existing support and technical assistance provided through their Every Child Ready to Read initiative.
0 Comments on President Obama Announces ConnectED Library Challenge and #BooksforAll Project as of 4/30/2015 10:55:00 AM
As President Obama ponders whom he will nominate as Eric Holder’s successor as attorney general, he should consider President Ford’s appointment in 1975 of Edward Levi to head the nation’s Department of Justice.
Four decades ago, the United States was reeling from Watergate. President Nixon’s first attorney general, John Mitchell, was on his way to federal prison while Ford’s pardon of Nixon remained controversial.
In this difficult environment, President Ford reached outside his official and personal circles to appoint as attorney general a preeminent legal scholar, Edward Levi.
Levi was a distinguished law professor, an accomplished dean of the University of Chicago Law School, and the widely-admired president of the University of Chicago. In a contentious political setting, Edward Levi was confirmed as attorney general by a voice vote in the United States Senate. Everyone understood that Ford had gone beyond politics as usual to choose an outstanding attorney general capable of restoring confidence in the Department of the Justice.
Ed Levi didn’t need the job. But the United States needed Ed Levi.
Levi’s tenure as attorney general did not disappoint. When Levi left the Justice Department at the end of the Ford Administration, the department’s reputation had been restored in large measure because of Levi’s integrity, professionalism, and independence.
Photograph of President Gerald R. Ford Presiding Over an Afternoon Cabinet Meeting in the Cabinet Room. Bill Fitz-Patrick, Photographer. 4 June 1975. Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library, US National Archives and Records Administration. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
President Obama should strive for an Ed Levi-type appointee for his second attorney general.
Many fine individuals are being mentioned to replace Holder. Most of these individuals are excellent lawyers and, under other circumstances, would be good leaders for the Department of Justice. But the United States today, like the United States in 1975, requires more than a good lawyer as attorney general. It requires someone with Ed Levi’s gravitas.
Some might retort that nothing comparable to Watergate has transpired in recent years. True. But we are a nation badly fractured on political lines. Legitimate concerns have been raised about the recent performance of the Department of Justice. In this difficult atmosphere, it is vital to reaffirm that the Department of Justice is an institution of law, not just another hyper-partisan political arena.
Like President Ford, President Obama should look beyond his official family and his circle of acquaintances to find an attorney general whose prime credentials are professional, not political. Holder’s replacement should be perceived as an independent attorney general who doesn’t need the job.
This heavyweight appointee could, like Ed Levi, come from academia or could come from the private sector. Another potential source for such an attorney general is the judiciary. Among those meeting the Ed Levi-test would be such personages as Justice Sandra O’Connor and Judges Richard Posner, Jon Newman and Jose Cabranes of the U.S. Court of Appeals.
President Ford’s historical reputation improves with each passing year. His pardon of Richard Nixon, widely condemned at the time, is now seen as an act of statesmanship which helped to move the United States beyond Watergate. Ford’s appointment of Edward Levi as attorney general was similarly an act of high statesmanship which reaffirmed America’s commitment to the rule of law. President Obama should make a comparably outstanding appointment for his second attorney general.
President Obama is expected to announce at his State of the Union address tonight that 34,000 US troops — half the number currently stationed there — will return from Afghanistan next year. The war in Afghanistan has now continued for over ten years, since US forces entered the country after September 11th. The country, however, is still far from stable, and as Alex Strick van Linschoten, co-author of An Enemy We Created: The Myth of the Taliban-Al Qaeda Merger in Afghanistan, explains, US involvement has become a crutch for a country still trying to find order. “It is a reality that the only thing holding the country together at the moment is essentially the presence of the foreigners, yet at the same time it’s one of the reasons for the continuing instabilities,” Strick van Linschoten says.
The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 is widely understood as a victory for President Obama. However, the long-term story is more complicated than this. The Act in large measure confirms in bi-partisan fashion the tax-cutting priorities of George W. Bush.
In the Act, President Obama achieved his proclaimed goal of increasing income taxes on the country’s most affluent taxpayers through higher income tax rates and reduced deductions. The Act creates a new 39.5% income tax bracket for individuals with taxable incomes above $400,000 and for married couples filing jointly with taxable incomes above $450,000. It phases out personal exemptions for individuals with adjusted gross incomes over $250,000 and for married couples with adjusted gross incomes over $300,000. It also reduces itemized deductions for these affluent taxpayers.
For high income taxpayers, the Act increases the maximum capital gains tax rate from 15% to 20%. When combined with the new Medicare tax on investment income, this results in a combined tax of 23.8 % on capital gains for the highest income taxpayers.
It is thus unsurprising that the Act has been heralded as a triumph for Mr. Obama and his vision of a more progressive income tax law.
However, the reality is more complex than this. For the long run, the winner under the Act was Mr. Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush. The Act, as it gave Mr. Obama some of what he wanted, also made permanent much of what Mr. Bush desired as a matter of tax policy. Indeed, as a result of the Act, federal taxes are in important measure now permanently at the lower levels where President Bush wanted them.
The vast majority of Americans are not affected by the Act’s changes for the highest income taxpayers. For most taxpayers, the Act thus permanently ratifies the lower federal income tax rates championed by Mr. Bush in 2001. Moreover, the Act confirms that corporate dividends will be taxed at lower capital gains rates rather than as ordinary income. True: capital gains rates are now higher for the most affluent of taxpayers as a result of the Act. However, even at these higher rates, taxing dividends as capital gains, rather than as regular income, significantly reduces the tax burden on such dividends.
Consider, moreover, the federal estate tax. When President Bush took office in 2001, the federal estate tax applied to estates over $675,000. That floor was scheduled to increase in stages to $1,000,000. The maximum federal estate tax rate was then 55%.
While President Bush did not succeed in abolishing the federal estate tax, the Act provides that federal estate taxation will only apply to estates over $5,000,000 adjusted for increases in the cost of living. For 2013, an estate must be over $5,250,000 to trigger federal estate taxation. When it applies, the estate tax will be levied at a flat rate of 40%.
In the area of tax policy, President Bush did not achieve all he sought. No president does. If we define success more realistically, the 2012 Act confirms President Bush’s triumph in permanently lowering federal income tax rates for most Americans, reducing the effective tax burden on corporate dividends, and significantly reducing the reach of the federal estate tax.
To some, these tax reductions are welcome restraints on the federal leviathan. To others, the Bush tax reductions, now permanent, regrettably hamper the federal fisc. What cannot be doubted is that the Internal Revenue Code we have today in large measure reflects the tax-cutting priorities of George W. Bush. In adopting the Act, a Democratic President and Senate, along with a Republican House, permanently confirmed much of these tax-reducing priorities.
1 December is World AIDS Day. Here Kenneth Mayer, MD, explains what makes the 2012 observance different from all those before – and, hopefully, those to come. Dr. Mayer is Co-Editor of Clinical Issues in HIV Medicine, Co-Chair of the HIVMA/IDSA Center for Global Health Policy’s Scientific Advisory Committee, founding Medical Research Director of Fenway Health, a visiting professor at Harvard Medical School, and an attending physician and director of HIV Prevention Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in Boston.
By Kenneth Mayer
Last year, on World AIDS Day, U.S. President Barack Obama set ambitious goals to reach more people with treatment and fundamental prevention. Echoing U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s call for an “AIDS-free generation,” he envisioned a tipping point in a 30-year battle to subdue the world’s costliest epidemic.
This World AIDS Day, the administration’s release of a global AIDS roadmap takes the vision into practice. Outlining the U.S. government’s commitment to apply research to reality, with the efforts of affected countries and other donors, it is as much a promise as a challenge.
The plan serves as a solid indication that three decades into a struggle that began without direction, and that sometimes seemed futile, the U.S. has set a course to continue the pace it has achieved in the last year, while giving partners encouragement and reason to match those efforts. It underscores, at a time of worldwide economic challenges and competing concerns, that this investment will yield gains, this is a battle that can be won, and this is not the time to stand still.
The global health community and its researchers, policy makers, donors, field workers, and affected populations know what to do to begin to end this epidemic, and now need to do it. To realize the magnitude of this opportunity, compare where we are now to where we were 31 years ago when fear, ignorance, and prejudice stymied responses while AIDS’ death toll multiplied exponentially as it circled the world. With little clue as to how the virus was transmitted from 1981 to 1985 rumors and mistrust also spread. Through epidemiological research we overcame the terror of those years, understanding that without blood exchange or intimate sexual contact the virus was not readily transmitted. Researchers’ discovery in the mid-1990s that combinations of antiretroviral drugs could arrest the virus changed it from a death sentence into a manageable disease, for many. Shamefully, the cost of those drugs kept the benefit of that breakthrough from being shared in the poor countries where relief was most needed. Finally, in the last decade, with the importation of generic medicines, the establishment of The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, work to confront the epidemic emerged from laboratories and wealthy countries, to what are now some of the most formidable front lines.
Yet we continue to fall short. We know that injection drugs are a major vector for HIV transmission, but many countries punish users of those drugs rather treat them with opioid substitution therapy and protect them with needle exchange programs. Homophobia and criminalization of gay sex threaten efforts to even count the toll in countries where HIV is most prevalent. Programs to prevent transmission of the virus from mothers to infants are hobbled by constraints on family planning commodities. Sex workers are marginalized by efforts that exclude their input. Treatment and prevention programs fail to reach people with physical and mental disabilities. While tuberculosis is the primary killer of people living with HIV, screening and treatment for the two diseases remain unlinked. While donors have imported some of the means to fight the epidemic, too often they have imported answers as well, failing to allow for the diversity of needs and affected populations in different countries.
With a plan that includes the needs of all affected populations, the tools we have now will be powerful. The study known as HPTN 052 showed that early initiation of antiretroviral therapy could decrease the transmission of HIV in couples in which only one partner was HIV-positive by 96 percent. The use of an antiretroviral drug as pre-exposure prophylaxis in combination with other risk-reduction measures, was shown to be effective in protecting men who have sex with men, and heterosexual men and women from acquiring the virus.
These discoveries will be useless, however, if people who need medicine to save their lives don’t get it. While eight million people are getting treatment, 34 million are living with the virus. Maintaining the momentum of treatment coverage that the U.S. has achieved in the last year in Africa is imperative to meet the original humanitarian mission of the response as well as to continued progress.
Then, with shared responsibility and political will, the next World AIDS Day can be one on which we can see the end of the road, far ahead but certain, when we can stop the further spread of HIV.
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Subscribe to only health and medicine articles on the OUPblog via email or RSS. Image credits: World AIDS Day press images via worldaidsday.org media centre.
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Like many of us, President Obama is a Warren Buffett fan. Most prominently, the president advocates, as a matter of tax policy, the so-called “Buffett Rule.” This rule responds to Mr. Buffett’s observation that his effective federal income tax rate is lower than the tax rate of Mr. Buffett’s secretary. In President Obama’s formulation, the Buffett Rule calls for taxpayers making at least $1,000,000 annually to pay federal income tax at a 30% bracket.
President Barack Obama and Warren Buffett in the Oval Office, July 14, 2010. Photo by Pete Souza. Source: Executive Office of the President of the United States.
In his most recent letter to the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway, Mr. Buffett makes another provocative observation. However, Mr. Obama has so far ignored this most recent observation from the Oracle of Omaha. Addressing the nation’s continuing housing malaise, Mr. Buffett wrote:
A largely unnoted fact: Large numbers of people who have “lost” their house through foreclosure have actually realized a profit because they carried out refinancings earlier that gave them cash in excess of their cost. In these cases, the evicted homeowner was the winner, and the victim was the lender.
In contrast, the dominant narrative about the national mortgage crisis focuses upon the banks which, the narrative goes, knowingly induced homeowners to borrow money the banks knew the borrowers could not repay. The banks then sold the resulting mortgages to unsuspecting investors who were misled by the banks and by the rating agencies which put their respective seals of approval on these unsound mortgages. Banks subsequently compounded their misdeeds by engaging in widespread abuse while foreclosing on the homes subject to these mortgages.
This anti-bank narrative underpins the recent settlement among the federal government, the states and five major lending institutions (Bank of American, JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, Wells Fargo and Ally Financial, previously known as GMAC). Under this settlement, the banks will give a total of $25 billion to homeowners who have been foreclosed upon or who are in danger of being foreclosed upon.
This anti-bank narrative has had legs because there is much truth to it. We now know, for example, that many banks lent money with optimistic public faces at the same time that bank executives knew the loans were unsound and overly-risky.
However, Mr. Buffett’s comments reveal the incompleteness of the anti-bank narrative; many borrowers were culpable along with the banks. It takes two parties — a lender and a borrower — to make a bad loan. Most Americans know a friend, relative, or neighbor who opportunistically gamed the mortgage system during the pre-recession bubble, borrowing against the bubble’s continuation and spending the borrowed funds for personal consumption. As Mr. Buffett suggests, to declare that borrower a victim is to mislabel a willing player in the nation�
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Maya Soetoro-Ng, illustrated by Yuyi Morales Ladder to the Moon
Candlewick Press, 2011
Ages 4 and up
“What was Grandma Annie like?” young Suhaila asks her mother about the grandmother she never met. “Full, soft, and curious,” her mother replies. “Your grandma would wrap her arms around the whole world if she could.”
For children who never had the opportunity to meet a cherished grandparent, the absence of that influential figure becomes a presence in their lives, intensifying the feelings their own parents have about their loss. “Becoming a parent made me think of my own mother with both intense grief and profound gratitude,” writes Maya Soetoro-Ng in a note following the text of Ladder to the Moon. “I wished that my mother and my daughter could have known and loved each other. I hoped that I could teach Suhaila some of the many things I learned as I grew up witnessing my mother’s extraordinary compassion and empathy.” In the case of Soetoro-Ng and her daughters, the grandmother in question has intrigued many people around the world as she is also the mother of U.S. President Barack Obama, Soetero-Ng’s older half-brother.
Since the beginning of the Obama campaign, journalists and politicians have wondered and written about this mysterious and unconventional woman, Stanley Ann Dunham, who died in 1995. There is no question that she, a noted anthropologist and often single mother, had an enormous influence on the lives of her children and thus on history itself. Her daughter’s dream story about the young Suhaila meeting her grandmother comes from a personal, family perspective that will resonate with any child in such a situation, as well as giving adult readers a new insight into this enigmatic figure.
Grandma Annie encourages Suhaila to use each of her five senses to reach out to the rest of the world. Together they find people in trouble: trembling in earthquakes, trying to outswim Tsunamis, and praying for peace. Annie and Suhaila reach down from the moon to offer their solace and comfort as they bring these people up, making the moon brighter for all to see.
Yuyi Morales’ stunning illustrations bring diverse people together to share and connect on the moon. In one scene, they tell stories around a campfire, each with a glowing circle of words around her head. These lines, pulled from traditional narratives and the personal stories of Morales’ friends, represent six languages and four different alphabets.
Above all, Soetoro-Ng says of her mother, she was a storyteller. Those stories have been the inspiration for much of the author’s own life; and with a story, she and Morales honor this posthumously famous woman in a deeply personal yet universal way.
Abigail Sawyer
December 2011
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I’ve been reading a lot about cyberbullying in preparation for Tuesday night’s panel discussion. Here’s a quick link dump of a sampling of the better articles.
It’s something that we care about not only as president and first lady, but also as parents,” Michelle Obama said. “It’s tough enough being a kid today, and our children deserve the chance to learn and grow without constantly being picked on, made fun of, or worse.”
But according to a new survey released Wednesday, the issue simply isn’t getting enough attention.
The report, released by the National Cyber Security Alliance in collaboration with Microsoft, claims that just 26 percent of K-12 teachers surveyed have taught kids how to handle cyberbullying, versus 15 percent who have spoken to students about hate speech online.
* Cyberbullying and Suicide: A summary from the Cyberbullying Research Center. As summarized by Sameer Hinduja, Ph.D. and Justin W. Patchin, Ph.D.:
One factor that has been linked to suicidal ideation is experience with bullying. That is, youth who are bullied, or who bully others, are at an elevated risk for suicidal thoughts, attempts, and completed suicides. The reality of these links has been strengthened through research showing how experience with peer harassment (most often as a target but also as a perpetrator) contributes to depression, decreased self-worth, hopelessness, and loneliness — all of which are precursors to suicidal thoughts and behavior.
It is unclear exactly how prevalent cyberbullying is. However, some statistics suggest that anywhere from 10 to 40 percent of youth in the United States encounter the phenomenon, although this figure varies depending on age. Since cyberbullying can be done by computers, cell phones and other devices, and since these devices are widely owned, the means to cyberbully are easily accessible.
Today my cousin Libby sent me the transcript of a talk recently delivered by President Obama—a talk centered around America's Great Outdoors Initiative. Tucked within those remarks are these words about my great grandfather, Horace Kephart, about whom I have written here many times on this blog, as, for example, here.
President Obama's words, which I reproduce here, make me, might I say it, proud? They also make me hopeful. (Added as a postscript, in my bronchitis haze: I allude to legacies here, but I don't make a very persuasive link to the photograph. And so, a correction: In addition to the land my great grandfather helped to rescue from plunder, he sired the children depicted here. The young, soulful-eyed man on the left was my grandfather, who sired my father, who is a continuing great dad to my brother, sister, and me.)
So conservation became not only important to America, but it became one of our greatest exports, as America’s beauty shone as a beacon to the world. And other countries started adopting conservation measures because of the example that we had set.
Protecting this legacy has been the responsibility of all who serve this country. But behind that action, the action that’s been taken here in Washington, there’s also the story of ordinary Americans who devoted their lives to protecting the land that they loved.
That’s what Horace Kephart and George Masa did. This is a wonderful story. Two men, they met in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina -- each had moved there to start a new life. Horrified that their beloved wilderness was being clear-cut at a rate of 60 acres a day, Horace and George worked with other members of the community to get the land set aside. The only catch was that they had to raise $10 million to foot the bill.
But far from being discouraged, they helped rally one of the poorest areas in the country to the cause. A local high school donated the proceeds from a junior class play. Preachers held “Smokey Mountain Sunday” services and encouraged their congregations to donate. Local businesses chipped in. And students from every grade in the city of Asheville -– which was still segregated at the time –- made a contribution.
So stories like these remind us what citizenship is all about. And by the way, last year Michelle and I, we were able to walk some of the trails near Asheville and benefit from the foresight of people that had come before us. Our daughters, our sons were able to enjoy what not only Teddy Roosevelt did but what ordinary folks did all across the country. It embodies that uniquely American idea that each of us has an equal share in the land around us, and an equal responsibility to protect it.
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MTV confirms the Jersey Shore cast (is heading to the motherland for season four, and might drop in on Vinny’s relatives for a little comfort food and tourism tips. Entertainment Weekly envisions a season of mishaps and miscommunications —... Read the rest of this post
Rubbishing those who hail the digital age as the end for books, book publishers industry players and best-selling authors on Saturday hailed a new dawn for publishing, with India’s voracious readers at its forefront.
Book sales have been squeezed in recent years by e-books and the huge success of Amazon.Com’s Kindle reader, but India’s booming book publishers market is proof of the physical book’s staying power, said participants at Asia’s largest literary event, the DSC Jaipur Literary Festival.
“You read something on Twitter and you know it is ephemeral,” said Patrick French, a best-selling historian and biographer who has written extensively on Asia. “Yet the book is a solid thing. The book endures.”
Regional language novelists and poets rubbed shoulders with Nobel laureates and Booker Prize winners at the seventh festival to be held in the historical pink-tinged city of Jaipur, the capital of India’s northwestern Rajasthan state.
Hundreds of book lovers attended a debate on the fate of printed books in the sun-drenched grounds of a former palace as part of the free five-day event.
“The idea of the book dying comes up all the time. It’s wrong. I think this is a wonderful time for books, to enlarge the audience of the book and draw in more readers,” said John Makinson, Chairman and CEO of the Penguin Group of publishers.
“Books matter more in India than anywhere else we publish them,” added Makinson, whose Penguin Group is one of the world’s largest English-language book publishers.
While book sales slip in most western countries, the non-academic book market in India is currently growing at a rate of 15 to 18 percent annually, as rapid economic growth swells literacy rates and adds millions to the middle class every year.
At the festival, schoolchildren from around the country chased their authorly heroes through the lunch queues to get autographs on newly-purchased books.
Makinson noted that the pressure on physical bookshops in countries like the United States — where bookseller Borders Group Inc is in talks to secure a $500 million credit line — doesn’t exist in India, adding that books have a key role to play in Indian society.
“In India books define and create the social conversation amongst christian book publishers and children’s book publishers. In China, the books that sell well are self-improvement titles. Popular books in India are of explanations, explaining the world. The inquisitive nature of India is unique.”
Indian critic Sunil Sethi, who presents India’s most popular television program on books, said the digital age presented an opportunity, rather than a threat, for printed matter. “Even before I finish my show, the authors are on Twitter to say they are on TV talking about their book. Technology is merging things, but the book is still at the center,” Sethi said.
French agreed that technology, if well-managed, could actually help win books new friends and wider sales.
“Digital e-books have created a space for discussion. Books now have websites and forums, and so reading books on electronic devices has created communities and interaction,” he said.
Nearly 50,000 writers, critics, publishers and fans are expected to attend the festival.
Richard Branson’s Virgin Digital Book Publishing company on Tuesday launched “Project,” a digital lifestyle magazine, exclusively for distribution on the Apple iPad.
The magazine, which will reportedly feature multimedia content, will be priced at US$2.99 an issue.
This is the second digital magazine created exclusively for the iPad announced by a major company; the first was “The Daily,” from News Corp. (Nasdaq: NWS), which is scheduled to be launched next year.
Will Virgin’s endorsement of the iPad as a publishing platform undermine publishers’ consortium Next Issue Media, which is trying to squeeze Apple by launching a digital newsstand on the Android platform early next year?
“Project” was created jointly by Virgin Group and UK multimedia book publisher Seven Squared. It’s a monthly magazine that will change as often as minute-by-minute to give readers up-to-date news.
The publication is based around design, entertainment, technology and entrepreneurs. It will have its own staff, and it will also encourage contributions from the public.
“Project” is edited by Anthony Noguera, formerly editorial director of men’s lifestyle magazines at H. Bauer, the largest privately owned publisher in Europe. The publication’s art director is Che Storey, formerly of Arena and Men’s Health magazines.
The cover story for the first issue focuses on Jeff Bridges. Other subjects include Yamauchi Kazanori, the developer behind the “Gran Turismo” game series.
“Project” claims to have landed top-flight advertisers, including Lexus, American Express (NYSE: AXP), Panasonic, Ford UK and Ford Canada.
Readers Heart Digital
Consumers apparently love their tablets — an online survey of more than 1,800 consumers conducted by Harrison Group and Zinio in September found that 13 percent of consumers are interested in buying a tablet-based device within the next 12 months.
The survey also found that 55 percent of tablet and e-reader owners who read digital content are consuming more digital content than they expected, and that 33 percent are spending more on buying digital content.
That led the Harrison Group to forecast sales of more than 20 million tablets and e-readers next year.
“This is a continuation of the trend in that you’ve got a whole host of devices that are receptacles for Internet-based content,” Frank Dickson, a vice president of research at In-Stat, told MacNewsWorld. “You’re seeing reconfiguring of content, which is already in digital form for another medium, whether it’s the iPad, the Nook, the Kindle or the smartphone,” he added.
“Before the iPad, book publishers tended to think they had to choose whether consumers wanted to read content in print or in digital format,” Jeanniey Mullen, a spokesperson for Zinio, told MacNewsWorld. “Now they’re finding people may love print, but they want digital access as well so they can take their digital device with them and read on the go.”
The Agony and the Ecstasy of the iPad
The iPad has forced the publishing industry to take digital media seriously, Mullen said.
“When the iPad came out in April, it was the first time that the publishing industry began committing design and strategic resources to building up digital readership,” Mullen explained.
The parents of Madeleine McCann are writing a book about their daughter’s disappearance and their so-far unsuccessful efforts to trace her.
A deal has been signed with book publishers Transworld which is an imprint of Random House UK. Few details have been revealed but Kate and Gerry McCann are receiving a “substantial” advance and “enhanced royalties” which gives the couple a bigger than normal share of the profits from sales.
The book is already part-written. Kate McCann said it had been a difficult decision but the money it raised would go directly to the McCanns’ official fund to look for Madeleine.
“My reason for writing is simple – to give an account of the truth,” she said. “With the depletion of Madeleine’s Fund, it is a decision that has virtually been taken out of our hands.”
Hopeful
Gerry McCann said he was hopeful the publication would help the ongoing efforts to find out what had happened to their daughter, who went missing from their holiday apartment in the Portugese resort of Praia da Luz on 3 May 2007, as her parents dined with friends nearby.
“Our hope is that it may prompt those who have relevant information – knowingly or not – to come forward and share it with our team. Somebody holds that key piece of the jigsaw.”
The book publisher, Bill Scott-Kerr of Transworld, is more than happy with the deal and sees the book – expected to retail at £20 – as a big seller.
“It is an enormous privilege to be publishing this book” he said. “We are so pleased to be joining Kate and Gerry McCann in the Find Madeleine campaign.”
There are also expected to be newspaper serialisations around the publication date, believed to be 28 April 2011 which would coincide with the fourth anniversary of Madeleine’s disappearance.
The official Portuguese inquiry was formally shelved in July 2008, although private detectives employed by the McCanns have continued the search.
President Obama to appear on 'The Daily Show' (in his ongoing efforts to appeal to young voters before the midterm elections on Nov. 2. The demo needs the encouragement; according to a poll conducted by the Harvard's Institute of Politics,... Read the rest of this post
I’m weighing in a little late on this one, but something needs to be said. What happened? And how did things get so far out of control? Yes, I am referring to the situation involving Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. (or Skip Gates), office James Crowley of the Cambridge police department, and President Barack Obama leader of the free world. This is a hotbed issue that just kept getting worse and worse. Let’s recant some of the facts and proceed.
First of all, from what we know, professor Gates was coming home from a long trip, and apparently could not get into his house in a normal fashion. When he “broke into” his own home, a neighbor saw this happening, and called the police. From here, the police arrived after Gates was already inside his home. It gets a little fuzzy here, as all the facts are either not known or are different, depending on who you ask. Following this, you have professor Gates being taken out of his home, in handcuffs, escorted by police. This is also where the picture that had been circling the airwaves was taken, of an apparently screaming Gates being removed from his home. Next, the police take professor Gates to jail, where he is processed. He is eventually released, and the charges later dropped. During the arrest, officer Crowley was the arresting officer, and apparently the one that exchanged words with professor Gates. This made headlines due to the prestigious reputation of professor Gates, and perhaps due to the fact that he is African-American, and was breaking into his own home. From the now released police reports, Gates was not arrested for breaking into his own home, but for disorderly conduct. Yes, he was in his own home and actually arrested for disorderly conduct – in his own home. According to the Crowley report, he was “exhibiting loud and tumultuous behavior”. Also from the pictures, it seems like there were several police officers on the scene. This is understandable, as when dispatched initially, they could have been walking into anything, and so utilizing safety in numbers makes perfect sense. End of story? Not even close.
This episode received national news attention, due to the facts mentioned above. It became a beacon and magnet for racial profiling. White cop arrests black man, who had not broken any laws up until the police got there, and did not break any laws following their arrival (and his arrest). On the talk shows, it came up. On the news shows, it was discussed. It quickly became the buzz. This was on July 16th 2009.
Now let’s fast forward to July 20th, 2009. President Obama is giving a speech on healthcare reform in the later evening hours. He is trying to rally support by appearing in prime time and getting his message across. The speech goes as well as expected, and the President opens the floor to Q&A. The questions that he fields from the media are mostly healthcare related. Then he is asked about the arrest of professor Gates, and the President answers by saying that the police “acted stupidly”. From this he goes on to describe his interpretation of the events. From here he continues by drawing a comparison-type of analogy using himself trying to get into the White House under similar circumstances. He continues on a bit further, and even garners more than a few laughs from those assembled. He answers a few more questions, not related to professor Gates, and then ends the event, leaving. Okay, that’s it, right? Wrong.
Now let’s see where things went wrong – and yes, they went terribly wrong. First of all, when the police arrived at professor Gate’s home, he was already inside. Already inside! According to witnesses, he had shown the officers his driver’s license as well as his Harvard identification card. This is confirmed, as he was never charges with breaking and entering, his id never in question. He had shown proof of residency. That should have really have been it. The event should have been over, done, complete. But no, it continued. Officer Crowley, for whatever reason did not leave it there. According to him, professor Gates said something about his mother. Let’s see now, you have one of the most pre-eminent scholars, at one of the top learning institutions in the country, American literary critic, educator, writer, editor, and public intellectual allegedly saying something about a police officer’s mother, with several other police officers around. The director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard was actually debasing himself in such a manner? Very, very hard to believe. However, even if you do believe it, which professor Gates vehemently denies, since when is that grounds for an arrest? Taking another look at the picture where professor Gates is led out of his home, in handcuffs, we see several police officers there. Obviously they had made sure that the area was secure, not dangerous. The only potential threat came from professor Gates. Let’s drill down on that. Professor Gates is 58 years old, small by any and all accounts (even lightweight), and walks with a limp assisted by a cane. In his home, surrounded by police, where is the threat? What greater good does it serve to arrest a man who is legally in his own home, when all he wants is for you to leave? There is little doubt as to why the charges were dropped, because they were bogus and unconscionable; utterly ridiculous. Officer Crowley obviously abused his authority. This was a travesty. Even when the tapes were released of Crowley calling in the incident, he told the dispatcher to keep the backup cars coming. Outrageous! One small man, nearly 60, several police officers, Crowley the arresting officer, and we get ‘keep the backup cars coming’. Disgraceful. Offensive. Officer Crowley was apparently much less than sincere with his statements to the press, and should be ashamed of himself. The arrest should not have happened.
President Obama, arguably one of the most intelligent presidents in generations, charismatic and calm under fire, and possessing on awareness that many, if not most, seem to lack. President Obama who has to deal with major issues like the economy, wars on two fronts, and most recently healthcare. President Obama, author, statesman, man in touch, what were you thinking? Why did you weigh in like you did? It seemed somewhat obvious that the President might have thought that the situation was very straightforward, and even at the tail end of its lifecycle. Yes and no. Yes it was clear what we all saw, more so when the 911 tapes were released, and Crowley’s report was aired. It was stupid, what officer Crowley did. No doubt. However, it was not the type of thing that the President should be giving his opinions on, especially to the detail and magnitude that he did. Not a good idea. Worse even, when coming from someone who is so intelligent. A simple “I do not know the full details, so I cannot comment” would have sufficed in his signature deep, rich tone. President Obama’s comments on the arrest completely overshadowed his speech on healthcare reform – completely. I was finishing the dishes at the time that the speech came on. It was informative and well delivered. He answered the questions definitively and succinctly. Then he said what he said about the arrest, and my jaw dropped. Then he elaborated and expounded. I had to do a bit of a double-take. Really? The fallout came later that night on the late night news programs, followed up by a tidal wave of discussion on his comments, the very next day, and beyond, day after day. It got so bad, that he had to intervene in the daily press briefings to somewhat detract what he had said. Then he revealed that he might be having a beer with professor Gates and officer Crowley in the near future. Really? No, Really! Then it actually happened. The three met, with the VP, at the White House, and had drinks, and discussed whatever.
This meeting should not have happened. Just based on the facts and details, this appears to have been a case of an abuse of authority on the officer’s part. I cannot even discern that it was a case of racial profiling. Maybe, but not sure. Officer Crowley in any case acted without discretion, and was insincere in his statements. He should have been reprimanded for his actions. They were stupid indeed. He should not be rewarded by being invited to a meeting with the President of the United States of America. He does not deserve this honor at all. He owes professor Gates an apology for his actions. This whole series of events was just one mistake after another. Professor Gates should have been left alone once it was determined that he was in his own home – plain and simple. NO crime was committed, and even the stupid (yes, I said it again, stupid) charges that were used to arrest and embarrass him were found baseless and dropped. President Obama should not have commented about it – at all. It cost him focus and attention from his healthcare push, and some political capitol as well. That meeting at the White House should not have happened, period. It raised the level of an overreaching, authoritatively abusive, insincere police officer to the rank of a presidential guest worthy of that type of meeting. Again, worthy Crowley was not. The meeting was something that the President termed as a ‘teachable moment’. Regardless of what your views and opinions are, one thing is happening. People are talking. Racial profiling is receiving some attention. People are discussing it. People are being educated about it, hopefully. Things might change, and this time it could be on purpose.
Just a few more photos from the big game on Tuesday night.
The theme for the evening--GO BEYOND--was celebrated in a tribute to numerous hometown heroes from across the U.S. whose charitable efforts were truly amazing.
My son Dan and his wife Megan wait in line with us to enter the stadium. Megan is a true-blue (and RED) Cardinals fan. Some of their wedding day photos were shot at the old Busch Stadium.
All-Star Cardinals first baseman, Albert Pujols, walks with President Obama after the ceremonial first pitch.
Glittery streamers filled the sky as the game got under way. I felt like a little kid at the bestest birthday party ever!
Wow! What a fun and exciting evening I had last night when I had the privilege to attend the 80th All-Star Game at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Here's a few pictures:
A mini-arch outside the stadium near where we stood in line (for half-an-hour) because of extra-tight security with President Obama's visit.
The Clydesdale horses open up the festivities inside.
The American and National Leagues' lineups.
President Obama--who threw the first pitch--shaking hands with fans later in the evening.
Oh, and by the way, I was one of the few to shake his hand. How exciting is that!
The President very graciously stopped on his way to the broadcast booth to shake hands with a few of us who were trying to catch a peek of him as he scurried by with this entourage. It was so generous of him to take the time from his schedule to greet us. That's a homerun in my book.
I'll share some more pics from the game tomorrow and highlights from the Robin Falls Kids Story Time radio program I was on this morning.
0 Comments on All-Star Night at the Game in St. Louis as of 1/1/1900
I love how President Obama and his family help kids get interested in reading by actually reading picture books to children. It’s wonderful!! Know any other famous people or celebrities who encourage literacy? Especially via children’s books? Let me know.
We know that access to books – in all forms – is critical for children to develop into readers.
Maya Soetoro-Ng, illustrated by Yuyi Morales
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Well deserved!
Wow! How exciting this must be for your family--and how proud you all must be of him.
p.s. Hope that bronchitis clears up soon!
Thanks for sharing this, Beth. What a wonderful legacy you have been given, and you have done so much to pass it on.
Oh, I love this. I'm so proud for your family.
That part of the country is very special to my family, too.
What a lovely honor this is!
:-) A.
And you should be proud. As I've told you before, Mr. BFR is a great admirer of Horace Kephart.