Feed: The Guardian | Search phrase: obama | Tony Blair thinks the media got McCain and Obama the wrong way around in 2008, according to his autobiographyWhat did Tony Blair think of the 2008 US presidential election? Chris Brooke, who is valiantly live-tweeting his reading of Tony Blair's memoir, A Journey, highlights Blair's take, which comes on pages 512-513:It's one of the oddest things about modern politics. The paradigm imposed, usually by a particular media view, completely disorients the proper analysis. I used to smile at the way the Obama/McCain election of 2008 was framed: Barack was the man of vision, John the old political hack. One seemed to call America to a new future, the other seemed a stale relic of the past. This was a paradigm that determined the mood and defined the election.
Feed: Alertnet | Search phrase: obama | Source: Reuters * Pentagon sees serious and growing threat * Security, development, humanitarian aid to be included * Plan is part of Obama's next federal budget request By Jim Wolf WASHINGTON, Sept 2 ( ...
Feed: WAPO | Search phrase: obama | As President Obama declared Tuesday that it was "time to turn the page" in Iraq, Mahmoud Othman - tuning in to the Oval Office address here at 3 a.m. - listened in shock. For Americans, the message was clear: The United States' war in Iraq is over.
Feed: The Guardian | Search phrase: obama | 'It's time to get to work,' says US secretary of state with the knowledge that expectations are low as negotiations beginIt is clear Israelis and Palestinians face a tough slog if the negotiations launched in Washington today are to get anywhere near the agreement Barack Obama hopes to reach within a year.Low expectations were reflected in the opening statements, but it was the US that sounded most determined to keep hopes alive in the face of profound scepticism in the Middle East and beyond. Hillary Clinton's most significant comment was her promise to be an "active and sustained partner" noting that an agreement was "in the national security interests of the US".
Feed: The Guardian | Search phrase: obama | Stupid me, I should have remember to go to undispatch.com and check their archives on this. As usual, the intrepid Mark Leon Goldberg has been on the story of the Human Rights Council and the universal periodic reviews.In the comment thread to my earlier post on this matter of the State Department and the Arizona immigration law and the UN, I wrote, in response to left halfback, who thought that the US shouldn't be reporting to the UN period end of story:LHB: The point of participating in such a regime is not to expose ourselves to the UN; it is to set the example of participation so that other countries with less exemplary records may feel forced to do the same. Do we want Egypt and Syria and China and lots of other places to improve their human rights records? Of course we do.
Feed: The Guardian | Search phrase: obama | Israeli prime minister gives positive message to 'partner for peace' Mahmoud AbbasHillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, launched peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians today with a call for courageous, bold leadership and an appeal to stay the course even when a resolution seemed elusive.Clinton noted that all of the key participants Binyamin Netanyahu, Mahmoud Abbas and herself had been there before in one role or another."Those of you here today, especially the veterans who are here today, you have returned because you have seen the cost of continued conflict," she said. "The core issues at the centre of the negotiations territory, security, Jerusalem, refugees, settlements and others will get no easier if we wait, nor will they resolve themselves.
Feed: The Guardian | Search phrase: obama | Explosion off Louisiana raises pollution fears after BP oil spill, with mile-long slick reported in the areaFresh fears about drilling in the Gulf of Mexico were raised today when fire forced workers to abandon an oil and gas platform, just six months after the BP explosion that created an environmental disaster in the region.The coastguard reported an oil slick a mile long and 30 metres wide near the site of the fire, undercutting a claim by the oil company that there was no pollution.It is not known yet whether the oil might have come from the platform or, more worryingly, from a well below the surface. The prospect alarmed the White House, environmentalists, fishermen and others on the Gulf Coast, still coping with the pollution from the BP oil spill.
Feed: The Guardian | Search phrase: obama | Israeli and Palestinian leaders begin framework talks on a peace deal which could encompass borders, Jerusalem, Jewish settlements and securityThe Israeli and Palestinian leaders, Binyamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas, met for the first day of direct talks in Washington today and agreed that a peace deal could be achieved within a year.George Mitchell, the White House envoy who joined the negotiations, said the two leaders decided to begin putting together a framework agreement on all major issues such as borders, Jerusalem, Jewish settlements and security that will "establish the fundamental compromises necessary" to flesh out a comprehensive peace deal.Mitchell said Netanyahu and Abbas agreed to meet again in a fortnight in the Middle East and every two weeks after that.
Feed: The Guardian | Search phrase: obama | Warning extended to include Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard in MassachusettsHurricane Earl blew towards North Carolina today with winds of up to 125mph (200kph), putting the east coast on alert. Federal emergency management agency (Fema) administrator Craig Fugate said there was no longer time to wait on the next forecast to see how close the eye of the storm might get to shore.A hurricane warning for the tip of Massachusetts, including Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, joined earlier warnings and watches for hurricanes or tropical storms that stretch from North Carolina up to near the Canadian border."They really need to focus today on what they're going to do before the storm gets there," Fugate said. "Implement your plans and be ready to heed evacuation orders.
Feed: The Guardian | Search phrase: obama | Website barackobama.ir promises 'an Iranian viewpoint on Barack Obama's opinions'A group of Iranian journalists sympathetic to the world view of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has launched barackobama.ir, a website set up to address "an Iranian viewpoint on Barack Obama's opinions".The news of its creation first appeared this week in a series of government-sponsored websites and news agencies, which endorsed it as an independent source of information about the life of Obama, his administration and issues such as 9/11, Israel and Iran's nuclear programme.The website has attracted nearly 100,000 visitors in its first week. It introduces itself as a group "that believes that Barack Obama isn't only a name but a political phenomenon".
Feed: The Guardian | Search phrase: obama | Publishing's notion of what women want is dated and patronising. In my case it's like trying to stuff a rottweiler in a dressThe latest literary dust-up in America concerns the outsize critical admiration of Jonathan Franzen's new novel Freedom, the follow-up to his 2001 National Book Award winner The Corrections. Freedom secured two worshipful reviews from the New York Times in one week, the Book Review's lengthy cover essay drooling with such jaw-dropped awe that it was hard to read for the saliva stains. Franzen himself appears on the cover of Time, and Freedom sits in President Obama's stack of holiday reading.
Feed: Alertnet | Search phrase: obama | Source: Reuters WASHINGTON, Sept 2 (Reuters) - The Obama administration hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday as they began their first direct peace ...
Feed: The Guardian | Search phrase: obama | Director talks of 'responsibility' to tell story of Middle East conflict in film Miral, told through eyes of two Palestinian womenThe American artist and film-maker Julian Schnabel said he felt a "responsibility" as a Jew to tell the story of Palestine when he opened his new movie at the Venice film festival.Schnabel's film Miral, competing with 22 others for the Golden Lion award, brought a note of seriousness to an event that sometimes veers towards the frothier side of culture.Miral is told mainly through the eyes of two Palestinian women, covering 40 years of history from the birth of the state of Israel in 1948 to the failed Oslo peace accord of 1993. Its message is that education is the only hope to bringing any kind of resolution to the conflict.
Feed: The Guardian | Search phrase: obama | Such is the political hysteria over 'illegal aliens' that legislative reform is paralysed. Only President Obama can break the logjamA month after a federal judge struck down most of Arizona's tough new immigration law, the White House campaign to stigmatise the GOP as the party of bigotry and intolerance has backfired. Rather than rally independents, it's further polarised white swing voters against the Democrats. And its real purpose to galvanise disaffected Latino voters hasn't borne fruit either. It's time for Obama to change course.Β With Republicans still hostile to comprehensive immigration reform, Democrats prefer to punt on immigration until after the mid-terms.
Feed: The Guardian | Search phrase: obama | Israeli PM names non-negotiable issues as Hillary Clinton warns of cost of continued conflictIsrael's prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, opened peace talks with the Palestinians today by saying that two issues recognition of his country as a Jewish state and arrangements to ensure it does not come under attack from within an independent Palestine state are key to any deal.Netanyahu called the two issues the "pillars to peace" at the opening of face-to-face talks with the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, in Washington.The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, launched the negotiations by calling for the two men to show themselves as bold and courageous statesmen and reach an comprehensive peace agreement within the one-year deadline set by Barack Obama.
Feed: The Guardian | Search phrase: obama | Our dear Appalachian-Lukacsian-Burnettian comrade (did I forget anything?) known by the initials VM certainly piqued my interest this morning with that business in the comment thread about the State Department and Arizona and the UN. So I looked into it, and yes it's true, but...The UN used to have a high commission on human rights. That's the one Libya chaired. Thus discredited, the high commission was replaced by a new body called the UN Human Rights Council in 2006. Under its rules, apparently all member nations are required to submit evaluations of their own human rights records. As nearly as I could find out this morning, this is to be done quadrennially, so this seems to be the first one conducted by the US (i.e., the Bush administration wasn't obligated to do one).
Feed: The Guardian | Search phrase: obama | Follow all the diplomatic activity as Israel and Palestine hold Middle East peace talks in Washington DC - live10.33am: Now Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu is speaking."We have to get from disagreement to agreement, that's a big task," says Netanyahu, who refers to the "two pillars of peace": legitimacy and security."Just as you expect us to recognise the Palestine as the nation state of the Palestinian people, we expect you to recognise Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people."Netanyahu refers to Clinton's remark about the "veterans" of these talks, and the 12 years he has been involved in them, but then talks about what has changed in recent years, especially the influence of Iran.10.29am ET: Clinton is making no bones that the chances of success from these talks are slim.
Feed: The Guardian | Search phrase: obama | Barack Obama has declared an emergency as states along the eastern seaboard of the US prepared evacuation plans to be put in to operation if hurricane Earl moves inland instead of glancing the shoreline.
Feed: Independent | Search phrase: obama | With a diplomatic push from US President Barack Obama, Israeli and Palestinian leaders start direct peace talks today overshadowed by scepticism on all sides and violence in the volatile West Bank.
Feed: Alertnet | Search phrase: obama | Source: Reuters * Hillary Clinton to host direct talks on Thursday * Hamas promises more West Bank attacks * Settlers to start building in defiance of freeze * Obama faces risks with peacemaking (Adds Hamas ...
Feed: The Guardian | Search phrase: obama | As you'll recall I've written previously about liberals and despair, earlier in the summer. But I've been thinking about this anew lately, because, well, the situation has if anything gotten worse.Most liberal despair is expressed toward Obama. He hasn't done this, he messed up on that. Since people on the left are by nature anti-authority and more likely than people on the right are to turn on people they admire once those people have power, this is understandable.But I think the more profound despair among liberals in the US is about the country. People may not express it this way, and they may not even be quite aware of it.
Feed: The Guardian | Search phrase: obama | Hurricane expected to reach North Carolina later today as states from Virginia to Massachussetts prepare to batten down hatchesBarack Obama yesterday declared an emergency as states along the eastern seaboard of the US prepared evacuation plans to be put in to operation if hurricane Earl moves inland instead of glancing the shoreline.The US president authorised the US Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergencies Management Agency (FEMA) to co-ordinate disaster relief a move that should allow rapid movement of equipment and other resources if the hurricane threatens the most densely-populated area of the country.
Feed: The Guardian | Search phrase: obama | Israeli and Palestinian leaders begin direct talks, as Netanyahu describes Abbas as 'partner for peace' despite recent attacksThe Israeli and Palestinian leaders, Binyamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas, begin direct talks in Washington today as Hamas pledged to scupper attempts to bring about peace after its second attack on Israelis in two days.Launching his initiative to forge a Middle East peace agreement within a year, Barack Obama described it last night as a "moment of opportunity that may not soon come again".The US president said that he recognised the task would be difficult after so many failed efforts, and that passions and mistrust ran deep. But he said that the occupation and accompanying conflict were unsustainable. His cautious optimism was shared on both sides of the table.
Feed: NYT | Search phrase: obama | President Obama with President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, King Abdullah II of Jordan and President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt at the White House.
Feed: WAPO | Search phrase: obama | On the eve of the first direct Middle East peace negotiations since he took office, President Obama urged Israeli and Palestinian leaders Wednesday to seize "this moment of opportunity" and to end their decades-long conflict, pledging to throw his administration's "full weight" behind their effor...
Feed: Alertnet | Search phrase: obama | Source: Reuters * Hillary Clinton to host direct talks on Thursday * West Bank attacks underscore challenges * Obama faces risks with peacemaking foray By Andrew Quinn and Jeffrey Heller WASHINGTON, Sept 2 ( ...
Feed: The Guardian | Search phrase: obama | President Barack Obama meets with Middle East leaders in Washington before opening direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians scheduled to begin 2 September
Feed: The Guardian | Search phrase: obama | Barack Obama admits past difficulties, but heralds 'moment of opportunity' to clear way for two-state solutionThe Israeli and Palestinian leaders, Binyamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas, begin direct talks in Washington today after Barack Obama launched his initiative to forge a Middle East peace agreement within a year, which he described as a "moment of opportunity that may not soon come again".The US president said that he recognised the task would be difficult after so many failed efforts, and that passions and mistrust ran deep. But he said that the occupation and accompanying conflict were unsustainable."The purpose of the talks is clear. These will be direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. These negotiations are intended to resolve all final status issues.
Feed: Independent | Search phrase: obama | Now it's his turn. After the elder George Bush, Bill Clinton and George Bush the younger, Barack Obama has became the fourth consecutive American president to seek international diplomacy's hitherto impossible prize: Israeli-Palestinian peace.
Feed: CNN Top Stories | Search phrase: obama | The Middle East moved front and center, as U.S. President Barack Obama held a series of high-stakes meetings with Israeli and Arab leaders.
Feed: The Guardian | Search phrase: obama | Obama must push for a settlement that is fair to the Palestinians if the deadlock of weariness and obstinacy is to be brokenWe have been here before. Once again, Israelis and Palestinians are preparing for talks aimed at agreeing on the two-state solution which has for so many years appeared to be the obvious, indeed the only, template for peace. Once again, Arab countries have been summoned to do what they can to help. Once again, an American president is putting his prestige on the line in the hope that American pressure on both sides can tip the balance. And once again, expectations are low.The optimism which fitfully and misleadingly marked the Oslo-initiated peace process is a distant memory.
Feed: BBC World | Search phrase: obama | President Obama urges Mid-East leaders not to let the chance of a peace deal slip away, ahead of a new round of talks.
I wrote this tool some months ago while developing on the xPresso publishing system (NO), and has done some rewriting this week to implement further functionality.
The Codificator now provides: - automatic code wrapping in DC board format - conversion of regular HTML-formatted text to DC board formatted text - link extraction from HTML to DC board format - auto fetch of webpages, with on-select conversion of content to DC board format.
It won't boil your coffee or knit you a warm sweater for the winter, but it may help you to be more efficient when you're online discussing politics.
AnoBBS is a opensource 3DES-encrypted Bulletin Board where users encrypt their messages before submit with a common known phrase, using javascript. The server does not know the key, so this is end-to-end encryption where the key is never submitted. The technology used is Ajax and PHP, the forum files are stored as XML. Below is a list of the basic functionality: - user authentication - topic list and topic view - three userlevels; admin, moderator and user - post threads - post and edit replies - print or save threads - edit, delete and lock threads (mod) - edit forumdata and users (admin) - save BBS (admin) - delete BBS (admin)
The BBS is very simple to install and even simpler to use. It requires only a standard php distro on the server and a javascript enable browser to function.
AnoChat is an opensource 3DES-encrypted chat where users encrypt their messages before submit with a common known phrase, using javascript. The server does not know the key, so this is end-to-end encryption where the key is never submitted. The technology used is JX, similar to Ajax. The chat is very simple to install and even simpler to use. It requires only a standard php distro on the server and a javascript enabled browser to function.
Large number of US citizens demonstrated against the war in Iraq (and the possible war in Iran) during this October weekend. Massive turnout in Boston and San Fransisco, and also in Chicago, LA and DC people took to the streets. The message was: NO more war in Iraq! NO to a war with Iran!
Feed: The Guardian | Search phrase: obama | 
