TresSugar

Briefing Book! Secretary of State Clinton Gets Warm Welcome

LibertySugar — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 12:00:28 -0800

Hillary Clinton: New Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gets big cheers during first day on the job. - Huffington Post
Kennedy: Why do you think Caroline dropped her bid for the senate seat? - 23/6
Bush Administration: Dick Cheney says Bush should have pardoned Scooter Libby. - Townhall
Website of the Day: Want your own inaugural photo? Website lets you put yourself right in the middle of the inauguration. - geeksugar
Democrats: 10 Democrats Obama should watch out for, including Michelle Obama. - Politico

Diplomacy 2.0? State Department Turns to Online Groups

LibertySugar — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:30:06 -0800

What do Google, MTV, Facebook, Howcast, and the US State Department all have in common? They're joining forces to fight terrorism, political oppression, and crime. Inspired by a Colombian Facebook movement against FARC rebels, the US government wants to take advantage of online youth groups that promote stability, human rights, and democracy.

In early December, organizations fighting oppression and violence in places like Burma, Egypt, Uganda, Darfur, India, South Africa, Britain, South Africa, and Turkey will meet in New York City to get the Alliance of Youth Movements up and running. The US State Department has donated $50,000 to sponsor delegate travel. Observers from Iraq and Afghanistan will attend, and participants from Cuba will participate remotely.

While they're taking a break from discussing how to build online youth movements, they'll listen to guest speakers, including Whoopi Goldberg. MTV and Howcast will stream the event live. Are you happy to see the US State Department support international movements, started in the private sector, that favor US policy?

Source

US to Stop Terrorism With Working Professionals

LibertySugar — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 10:00:01 -0700

If you're an American engineer, city planner, law enforcement official, public health worker, economist, or judge, Uncle Sam wants YOU to move to dangerous and "failing" countries and help keep these places from completely collapsing into the death grips of eager terrorists.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has announced the Civilian Response Corps, a program Congress allotted $75 million in June. A response to September 11, the professional Peace Corps hopes to pro-actively prevent countries in turmoil from going to the dark side. The goal can also be described as hoping to avoid another post-invasion-Iraq disaster. The volunteers from the private sector and state and local governments will be trained to deploy rapidly (along with other federal employees) to countries in crisis or emerging from crisis in order to provide reconstruction and stabilization assistance.

Since the group will usually deploy with or after US troops, critics argue that the CRC is a thinly veiled plan for imperial expansion, or an effort to impose government institutions according to a model familiar, or friendly, to the US.

Arguments of nation-building can probably best be assessed in specific situations, so on the surface this plan sounds like a creative way to develop America's power beyond guns and bombs. What do you think?

Source

US Revokes Fulbrights Because of Israel's Blockade of Gaza

LibertySugar — Fri, 30 May 2008 12:15:51 -0700

Israel's isolation of the Gaza strip has prompted the US State Department to withdraw all Fulbright grants to Palestinian students. Because only those with the most urgent medical needs can leave the Hamas-run region, American officials are worried that their educational funding will be wasted on those that will not be able to leave to attend American institutions.

Fulbrights, educational grants awarded by the US government, fund international educational exchange, in order to foster mutual understanding between Americans and citizens of other countries.

One shocked Palestinian scholar views the decision as counterproductive to American and Israeli goals, as well as ultimate peace. To see what he told the New York Times and to find out if there is any possibility that visas will be granted, read more.

Abdulrahman Abdullah, whose scholarship was revoked, said:

If we are talking about peace and mutual understanding, it means investing in people who will later contribute to Palestinian society. I am against Hamas. Their acts and policies are wrong. Israel talks about a Palestinian state. But who will build that state if we can get no training?

Today, the State Department spokesman said that the US will try to "revisit the issue" with Israel. Dissenters within the Israeli government have called for a reconsideration of the isolation policy, as applied to students.

Is higher education a humanitarian concern? Do you think something can be worked out to help these students go abroad, and bring their experiences back to better Palestine?

Source

War of the Words - Don't Call It Jihad Anymore!

CitizenSugar — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:30:50 -0700

The war on terror just got a new front: the dictionary. This week, the language officials from the State Department and the Department of Homelands Security use to describe the war is set to get a makeover.

Out: Jihadists; Mujahdeen; Islamo-fascism. In: Violent extremist; Terrorist

Some crack linguists realized that some words may actually boost support for radicals among Arab and Muslim audiences by admitting religious credibility or by offending moderates.

To see a sample from the memo, which is way more interesting than its title, Words That Work and Words That Don't: A Guide For Counterterrorism Communication, read more.

Regarding "jihad," even if it is accurate to reference the term, it may not be strategic because it glamorizes terrorism, imbues terrorists with religious authority they do not have, and damages relations with Muslims around the world.

A HSA version called, Terminology to Define the Terrorists: Recommendations from American Muslims says that the US may be "unintentionally portraying terrorists, who lack moral and religious legitimacy, as brave fighters, legitimate soldiers or spokesmen for ordinary Muslims."

Words are absolutely a potent tool - just consider the dubbing of "prochoice" and "prolife." Who's against either choice or life? But used in context they imbue the adherents of each with a certain credibility. Is it right to eliminate words like jihad because they could have positive connotations for some? Do we need to be careful not to give bin Laden and other al-Qaeda leaders legitimacy by characterizing them as religious figures? Should the war on terror become a war of words?

Source

Front Page: More From bin Laden, Obama's Passport, Pelosi

CitizenSugar — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 07:00:36 -0700

Another new audio message allegedly delivered by Osama bin Laden urges Muslims to join the insurgency in Iraq, calling it the best way to support the Palestinians. He makes the tie between the two saying, "The nearest jihad battlefield to support our people in Palestine is the battlefield of Iraq." The statement was released on al-Jazeera TV, and comes just a day after he threatened Europe in a similar audio recording. The newest statement says of attempts at peace talks, "Palestine cannot be retaken by negotiations and dialogue, but with fire and iron."

Two employees have been fired from the State Department and another reprimanded for improperly opening electronic information from the passport file of Senator Barack Obama. The announcement came yesterday detailing three separate occasions of unauthorized access, in January, February, and March. The events are being called "imprudent curiosity," and there are no details yet as to reasons for the breach, or why the announcement only reached top officials and Senator Obama after the third occasion.
US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi arrived in northern India this morning for talks with the Dalai Lama and his Tibetan government-in-exile. Pelosi sharply criticized China saying, "If freedom-loving people throughout the world do not speak out against China's oppression in China and Tibet, we have lost all moral authority to speak on behalf of human rights anywhere in the world. The situation in Tibet is a challenge to the conscience of the world." The comments came during a meeting with the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader. Pelosi noted that she was voicing her personal opinion and not US policy. The meeting comes amid violence surrounding Tibetan protests against China.

Stranger than Fiction: School Used Lap Dance Therapy

TresSugar — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

When you think of activities to help the emotional growth of teens with behavior troubles or special learning needs, lap dances would probably be the last thing you'd think of.

But that's exactly what the staff at Mount Bachelor Academy came up with, and they forced students to undergo lap dance therapy as a part of their "emotional growth" curriculum. The boarding school was shutdown after students accused the staff of employing this dubious therapy, and a seven-month state investigation has just confirmed the allegations.

According to the report, the school's "Lifesteps" seminars made students take on sexualized roles and perform in front of staff and students. One girl, who had been raped before going to the school, was forced to dress as a French maid and perform a lap dance. (Who thought this was a good idea?!)

Oregon's Department of Human Services says the school poses "a serious danger to child safety." Whenever I hear these horror stories about reform schools, I wonder: did anyone ever check to see if the people allowed to run them for so long needed some reform themselves?

Which Will Be Legalized First: Pot or Gay Marriage?

TresSugar — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:00:46 -0800

Can you believe it used to be against the law in America to have a nice cold beer or a refreshing glass of wine? I can't! Perhaps that's what future generations will say when they look back at some of our more moralistic laws, specifically those banning marijuana and gay marriage.

Slate ran a piece yesterday arguing that America will soon get rid of these modern prohibitions. In fact, Maine is voting today on a referendum that would legalize gay marriage and another that would legalize medical marijuana, so I guess we'll get to test that thesis soon.

Now that we have a justice department that will not prosecute medical marijuana possession - not to mention a president who once said: "I inhaled. . . frequently. That was the point." - it's not such a stretch to think Americans might soon be able to get high without fear of the jail time. And while many states still have all-out bans on same-sex marriage, the public seems increasingly supportive of marriage equality. Which do you think has a better chance of becoming fully legalized first?

Private Security Contractors Gone Wild in Afghanistan

TresSugar — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 11:00:00 -0700

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton got a letter on Tuesday from Project on Government Oversight (POGO), and I’m sure she didn’t like what she saw. It was reported that private security contractors ArmorGroup North America guarding the US Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, have been behaving not like professionals responsible for keeping American government workers safe, but like crazed frat boys on a particularly debaucherous Spring break.

What have they been up to? According to the letter, "peeing on people, eating potato chips out of [buttock] cracks, vodka shots out of [buttock] cracks (there is video of that one), broken doors after drunken brawls, threats and intimidation from those leaders participating in this activity."

Apparently, this has been going on under the not-so-watchful eye of supervisors, creating a kind of hazing environment that has caused many incoming guards to leave within a year of arriving. Some guards claimed that they actually had to barricade themselves in their rooms because they were afraid that if they didn’t participate in this depraved bacchanal, they would be physically harmed.

This would be unacceptable behavior coming from adults at a frat house, but not only is ArmorGroup North America funded by taxpayers (to the tune of $189 million a year!), but they're also in charge of safeguarding the lives of hundreds of diplomats and other officials who work in the embassy. A representative for the security contractors testified before Congress and said ArmorGroup has been fully staffed since January 2009, but a POGO rep says that they’re chronically understaffed, overworked, and now that these allegations are out - subject to hazing abuse.

State Department spokesman Ian Kelly had this to say about the shocking news and graphic pictures (NSFW): "These are very serious allegations and we are treating them that way," adding that the State Department has "zero tolerance for the type of conduct that is alleged in these documents."

POGO

What Do You Know About 400-Year-Old New York City?

TresSugar — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:31:18 -0700

Yesterday Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg welcomed Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Maxima of the Netherlands to New York City. The royals are in town to kick off the festivities for New York City's NY400 week. This year marks 400 years since Dutch traders departed from Amsterdam for what would become New York City. Take a bite out of this quiz to see what you know about the Big Apple.

Take the quiz