I try to keep pictures to within 500 x 400 for formatting reasons. This one is much bigger than that. This size does not do it justice. Click to enlarge.
This picture shows President Obama walking to St John’s Church in Washington, DC with his older daughter Malia, age 15, on October 27th 2013. Michelle Obama, Sasha and bodyguards are cropped out of the picture.
I have done only one Gratuitous Picture over the past three years, having soured on Obama.
See also:
- Gratuitous Obama Picture #1 – shows Malia at age ten
- Gratuitous Obama Picture #2
- Gratuitous Obama Picture #3
- Gratuitous Obama Picture #4 – shows Malia at age ten
- Gratuitous Obama Picture #5
- Gratuitous Obama Picture #6
- Gratuitous Obama Picture #7
- Gratuitous Obama Picture #8
- Gratuitous Obama Picture #9
- Malia Obama
- Barack Obama
Meanwhile in Pakistan,Afghanistan and Yemen, Obama’s killing the daughters of other men.
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[…] "I try to keep pictures to within 500 x 400 for formatting reasons. This one is much bigger than that. This size does not do it justice. Click to enlarge.This picture shows President Obama walking to St John’s Church in Washington, DC with his older daughter Malia, age 15, on October 27th 2013. Michelle Obama, Sasha and bodyguards are cropped out of the picture." […]
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I’m disappointed in the job he’s doing as president, but I LOVE seeing the family pictures of him. I think the only reason I “support” him these days is because I like his family so much, and I love the image/idea of them.
Yeah, I said it…
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That is a lovely picture of him and his daughter. All little black girls should be so lucky. I am piggybacking on grin and bear it, I am somewhat disappointed in him as a president, but I do love and respect him for loving his family. I love that his daughters are treated like princesses, and that he treats his wife like his queen. I do love that in these days and times of black woman hatred.
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I understand your intention here is to disrupt the discussion with a sly and flippant comment concerning the president’s decision to use drones in the War on Terror, as opposed to maintaining a heavy troop presence in those theaters. Moving on…
Same here. I find his policies lacking but his commitment to family a breath of fresh air.
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Malia has really sprouted up, almost shoulder to shoulder with dad in flats! Lovely pic.
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This is nothing more than happy/smiley photo op (opportunity/operation) that cajoles some (as in FEW) Americans to give him a positive approval rating.
*EVERYTHING* that’s shown to us from Washington is staged managed and produced/arranged down to the smallest detail much like a Hollywood movie… especially the PR images of a happy/thriving First Family to evoke the exact same comments/sentiment we see here.
Don’t believe the hype! They would have us believe that ALL IS WELL … as Rome (Amerikka) is about to burn.
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“The believe the hype!”
should read – Don’t believe the hype!
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@Mack Lyons:
“I understand your intention here is to disrupt the discussion with a sly and flippant comment concerning the president’s decision to use drones in the War on Terror, as opposed to maintaining a heavy troop presence in those theaters. Moving on…”
What makes you think I’m a conservative, I’m not even American.
I’m from Pakistan, and this drone war is personal, I haven’t liked any American Presidents(apart from JFK).
Obama has killed more Pakistanis than George Bush, ironically Obama visited Pakistan in 1981, I thought he would have a soft spot for Pakistan, but he’s a coldblooded mass murderer and a stooge of the global elite.
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I admire Obama and I adore this photo. His daughter also seems much more confident, mature and elegant compared with other girls her age.
Perhaps the Obamas will start another presidential dynasty – here’s hoping.
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@ Legion I hear what you’re saying but unfortunately politics is the business of compromise. Obama has to practice realpolitik in order to govern effectively.
I’m not saying the ends justify the means but there’s a careful balance that leaders have to achieve in terms of foreign policy. That doesn’t mean condoning the use of drone strikes – international law appears to condemn this.
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Well. Mosh, what about the Taliban bombing and massacering little children in Pakistan, Afghanistan, etc poisoning their water, trying to kill girls trying to get an education and Al Quaeda in Yemen and what they are doing in Africa…they cut off hands in Mali for listening to music…I persosnaly dont care what you think..what, you dont care about them?
sorry, the stench of Boston is still in my nostrils, there are sobs out trying to do some bs
no, I like Obama, people dont have any idea of how close the American financial system colapsed..they never lived in a country where the money is inflating everyday and losing value so much that everything is just a downword spiral
We were in that spiral with Bush, people had no idea the real danger it could have meant , the dollar colapsing and going into hyper inflation ..Ive seen it up close, and its really scary and horrible, you all dont have any idea
Obama and the democrats pulled us up from the brink of total disaster , the dam dollar actualy has some firmeza right now
interesting on here, you Americans, where do your parents and grandparents keep their money? In a mattress? Probably, like the 70 percent middle class of black Americans, are tied to the financial system one way or another and if there had been a colapse , their lives would have hit skids you all have absolutly no idea about…thank you Obama
Legion, what is your perspective problem that you are so hung up , banshee screaming about drones…you never utter a peep about the Talaban massacering people…what about the hands cut off in Mali? You never pitched in about that…if there is anything I hate more than commies , its fundimental religion,all of them…
I could really care less if my position is aganist the grain on this blog doh
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@ Legion: I have much respect for Malalia , If you go to the Pakistan thread I talk about my respect for her. I did say in my comment that I was somewhat disappointed in Mr. Obama as a president. I do love how he is a family man.
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@ Legion I hear what you’re saying. It’s easy for me to make assessments in the comfort of my own (safe) home. Of course I would have an entirely different perspective if my own country were subject to drone strikes.
I’m still hesitant to condemn Obama on this point. He is privy to information and has to make the kinds of judgement calls that you and I would never have to. It must be difficult to be in his position.
I don’t think Obama gets enough credit for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq. He also relies on soft diplomacy (rather than default military action) much more than either Bush or Clinton did. He has much better relations with most Middle Eastern powers than either of his predecessors.
On another note, I completely agree with you about the immorality of drone strikes. I think they’ve been used for a valid goal (i.e. to take out threats to global safety/quashing potential threats) but the ends don’t justify the means.
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She’s becoming a very beautiful woman,all of the pictures of obama and his wife and kids are nice and pretty. A very photogenic family ,but only the very young ,naive and uniformed would think this is anything more than presentable image.
The same image any wea person would present to the world.
I always liked and still do the “positive and wholesome” image of the current selected president and his family , esp because I’m african american and it shows a version of us that is consistently positive to the world.
However I was not naive enough (though still idealistic) to vote for him the first nor second time.
And as morally reprehensible and tragic is american foreign and domestic policy ,its the current state of our species ; if we could do “better” we would.
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@ Legion you’ve probably already seen this but there’s an interesting and very balanced discussion about the drones issues in the Guardian (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/22/questions-drones-obama-resolve)
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No, Legion, you just dont utter a peep ever…not one word..how about hands cut off in Mali? You are absent, severly missbalanced, could you have ever been so wrong about Chomski and Chavez? Which , Venezuela is absolutly tanking under his legacy , with his man in power , following his policies..you see long after that subject is cold here, I still follow the truth there…its my neihbor, and Chaves brought havoc, confusion and death to the area
You never admit it,and ready to read into me and launch criticism that are unfounded , yes, I apreciete your apology, but, id rather you see my point
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I dont see balance in that article at all, this isnt a war, its about, scum , in the name of their religion, which they are a joke to Islam, think they can terrorise the world , slauhtering thousands, many Islamic, for their ghastly ideas of how people should live, like no music..
Rules for war dont aply here…and for the peoplle who scream they create more terrorists, they will just be matched by the family victoms they bombed, they need to be crushed…why do you think so many countries and people are on board including huge amounts of people of Islamic fatia?
If you say American hegomy and preasure… Wrong answer, they dont like the scum either
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Fatia is faith, this thing jumps in with a word, and miss it
Id like to know how the banshee screamers would actualy dela with it?
Just wait to get hit again.dont hurt those Talaban or Al Quaeda, oh you might break an international rule that doest even aply here, oh, those poor maligned, Talaban , give them a break…
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“Well. Mosh, what about the Taliban bombing and massacering little children in Pakistan, Afghanistan, etc poisoning their water, trying to kill girls trying to get an education and Al Quaeda in Yemen and what they are doing in Africa…they cut off hands in Mali for listening to music…I persosnaly dont care what you think..what, you dont care about them?”
I hate the Taliban too, as do most Pakistanis, we’ve been on the frontline of the war on terror, fighting your war, while you’re sleeping comfortably two shores away, we’ve faced the brunt tin his war, and the same Americans call us terrorists.
Before 9/11 the Taliban wasn’t present in Pakistan, they were in Afghanistan, but after the fall of the Taliban regime they ran into Pakistan and tried to take control of the Northwestern parts of the country, 40,000 Pakistanis have died in the war on terror, 4000 Pakistani soldiers have died fighting the Taliban.
We made more sacrifices in this war, than Americans, but you’re a typical arrogant American, you think you know everything, you think your country is the best, and can never be wrong.
Before 9/11, Pakistan was a really peaceful country, but then you made us fight your dirty war, and we’ve lost over 40,000 people, and our economy has suffered as well.
Before 9/11 we were one the fastest growing economies in the world,we outperformed India’s economy, we were an turning into Asian tiger, but after you made us fight your dirty war, our economy has suffered and we’re now compared to countries like Somalia.
You believe everything the mainstream media tells you about the Muslim world,but you’ve never been outside or interacted with people from this part of the world, you’re a typical American.
You think I like the Taliban, I actually don’t, but America’s drone strikes are fueling the militancy, many of these combatants aren’t even “Jihadists”, they are ordinary people that lost loved ones in American drone strikes, and they want to take revenge, it’s part of Pashtun culture.
You need to read a book about world history, and learn about other cultures before you make asinine comments online.
“sorry, the stench of Boston is still in my nostrils, there are sobs out trying to do some bs”
How is Boston related to what’s going on in Pakistan or Afghanistan?It’s completely irrelevant.
You’re justifying Obama’s war crimes because “we kill each other all the time”.
That’s absurd as somebody saying that, it doesn’t matter if white people kill Renisha McBride or Trayvon Martin because blacks kill other black people all the time.
That’s what your argument sounds like^.
You can defend Obombo and Amerikkka as much as you want, but it still make him a war criminal.
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@ Mosh
Brilliant. Thank you.
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@BR
I haven’t read through all the comments, but in regards to your first post, in some way I agree.
African Americans, and Americans in general seem to have had the idea that Obama would get in and be free to completely focus on the African American community. That is wholly unrealistic; no one has thrown this amount of condemnation on numerous war-heavy-handed presidents before, imo. Although I completely disagree with his actions in Pakistan, this is a presidency in a long line of heavy-handed and misguided war presidents, and that needs to be addressed in Washington, full stop.
As far as African Americans complaining about the result his presidency has had on their quality of life, of course African Americans are suffering during Obama’s run, being at the bottom of the totem pole, and having a president come on just as the financial collapse came in, will do that.
The war on terror is a bumpy and sensitive area, the war has been completely disorganized and costly in every area from jump. But as far as many other areas, as I’ve said before, he brought about the toughest laws on Wall street since the great depression. Even though these people finances his first campaign, he was quick to cut ties and go to work on them and the corruption, as soon as he got in. He’s been sympathetic to the amount of attack Israel has been under, and aided in provision of defense, while demanding the human rights of Palestinians. He’s appeared to be ever eager to end a war he didn’t create, but without immediate pull out, that could result in even more problems. He’s modified the war on drugs, for non violent first time offenders, which has resulted in hundreds of thousands, to millions, of Black and Brown people being used a slave labor for multimillion dollar corporations, in the prison industrial complex, while White murderers and sexual offenders serve far less time for much more severe offenses. He took the risk of dumping a huge stimulus package into the economy, in a desperate attempt to message the numb economy, for the working class. He’s fought, and continues to fight for a US version of a nhs healthcare system, which is something we get to take for granted in the UK and Canada; a current insurance company privatization black hole of a healthcare system, vulnerable in a hyper-capitalist society, which has failed the average American people time and time again.
There are more seats with Republicans than Democrats, and he has been vetoed at every turn. But, in many areas, he’s certainly no Reagan or Bush, but he has gotten far more stick, while having far less breathing room.
Mosh, thanks for the information, I was not up on it. You’ve certainly caused me to view Obama differently now. We have not been privy to that information in the UK, at all.
As far as the economy, Reagan’s the one who messed up the unions and k!lled a lot of your exportation from the UK to the world market, where you were no longer accumulating what you were giving out. It was Nixon who took you off the gold standard so that there was no longer anything backing your dollar, after spending all your gold reserves and much of the gold reserves of other countries, during the g()ns and butter era of trips to the moon as well as war. But Obama wasn’t the president in 1971.
I think people idealized him and place unrealistic God-like expectations on him. But I still don’t think he’s been, like, the most disappointing president of all time, (specifically for the US) or anything like that, imo.
I don’t know. . .
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Mosh, you are giving totaly wrong information, the Talaban were trained in Pakistan madrasses, you totaly are in denial about the civil war in Aghanistan before the USA got there , when a million people died in their brutal civil war, and Pakistan’s finger prints are all over that…
spare me that the USA trained Al Quaeda, they taught them how to use stingers and gave them stingers and money, havent you seen the picture of Stalin with Roosevelt and Churchill?
India just launched a rocket to Mars for research, Pakistan just tested a short range missle for a nuclear strike..who do you think they were practicing for ?
Pakistan a peaceful nation? What were they doing with India before, playing pattycake? Kashmire? A peaceful nation before the americans got there? this is brilliant? brilliant misinformation and covering of the truth, if yuo think the Taliban is the only game in town, you are only looking at it from your narrow world vision , I never said you were for the taliban
no you are not brilliant, and quit lying, Abagond just doesnt know
the blood of the Kenya shopping mall hasnt even dried yet, Mumbai is too close to memory, I feel for all the Pakistanies killed by the Taliban, you think americas involvement had anything to do with the little girl shot recently? the hands cut off from Mali citizens for some infringement aganist Sharia law stinks too much
Ebonymonroe, you ever lived in a country that the currency was tanking by the day and inflation raking over the economy?
With Bush, the dollar started tanking steadily , slowly but surly, all the way up to the point of the huge financial crisis …Brazils currancy, in a bubble,hit stability and rose against the dollar…
no matter what led up to the mess before Bush took office and plunged us into finacial territory American hadnt seen since the depresion , Its Obama and the democrats who saved the country from sinking any deeper, which would have been a disastor we Americans cant even fathom…people were thinking its the end …but, now, the dollar is firm , which is far differant than it was, so, Im releived about that…yeah, wh o knows what the future holds,
I apreciete your balanced opinion, I dont think America isnt dirty at all, Im more than willing to look at the dirt, and can admit it, but many people cant look at the whole picture and the real reasons we fought some wars, or did certain things in the Cold War . There are wars like Iraq America got into, that make me sick to the stomach, but , I beleive in fighting fundimental religious terrorists who think they can terrorise all of us , and Im so happy Brazil crushed people who thought they would hae a Che revolutions , so ther is lots of room for saying what was just and unjust, its not cut and dried
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@ Legion
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wWUc8BZgWE)
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@ Legion
Unfortunately life is not that simple.
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http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/saudi/analyses/madrassas.html
you are brilliant mosh
hey Abagond, if my truth is bugging you so much, just politly ask me to leave, Ill be happy to
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I dont like woody allen, but the white girl i lived with in new york was in that movie, maybe near that scence
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^^^*Reagan’s the one who messed up the unions and k!lled a lot of your exportation from the US to the world market, where you were no longer accumulating as much as you were giving out.
@BR
Yeah, I get where you’re coming from. I’m not up on all the details to the wars, but I am aware of how many gray areas there are, and how much lives have been taken of affected by terrorism, it’s a complicated thing. Even Africa has recently found itself contending with religious extremists and Sharia law.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Pakistani_wars_and_conflicts
you are brilliant , Mosh what a peacful nation
who is the woody allen charactor in this, Abagond…brilliant
or is it just more lies and half truths which are in no short supply around here
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Ebonymonroe
that didnt create the financial crisis that happened under bush…it was his horrible desician to go into Iraq, and also the game of deregulation, which yes reagon is guitly for pushing that, got hyper out of control under bush…clinton played the game with them, but, by gosh look at the properity under clinton
i watched the dollar start to tank in brazil under bush, it never stopped, that was the litmus test something was going wroing
i lived in brazil when their money was tanking daily and inflation was raging, it was horrible , horrible and as soon as i saw the dollar tanking with bush, slowly but steadily, i knew somthing was going wrong and where it could lead and it did
it never went down like that with all the presidents I ever lived under in the usa
this was differant
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Man, I looooove Woody Allen movie! “Annie Hall,” “Manhattan murder mystery,” “Vicki, Cristina, Barcelona,” easily in my top 100 favourite movies of all time. . . I know, I know, off topic.
Speaking of the Obamas, has anyone read that article on Kanye West talking about Kim vs Michelle? What in the world is with the rise in c00nery?
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in moderation, Ebonymonroe
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well abagond brought it in
i dont know, look at “Manhattan”…there is so little in that movie that reminds me of manhattan…still in moderation as im writing this, maybe it came up
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@ B.R.
You do know, right, that you are only proving Mosh’s point with that Wikipedia article on Indo-Pakistani wars? You are no different than Bill O’Reilly on Fox News using black-on-black crime to excuse George Zimmerman killing Trayvon Martin.
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@ B.R.
In the Woody Allen clip you are played by the professor and Mosh is played by Marshall McLuhan. Only in real life, you are lecturing Marshall McLuhan!
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@ B.R.
“Truth” was not the word I had in mind. More like “bad moral reasoning”. What goes on in Mali does not even begin to excuse killing women and children in Pakistan. Not even close. That you can even think that is pretty disturbing – but not surprising coming from a White man.
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@BR
It is a sweet perception that the roots of the financial crisis was something that began recently, but sadly, it’s simply not true. Nixon set about the making the dollar worthless by removing the gold standard to back it. Your g[]ns and butter era of war and trips to the moon in the 60’s was the beginning of your trajectory into financial deficit, and Reagan’s moves to end your exportation to compete with the worldwide market, in favour of receiving services through importation, pouring money into external economies, like East Asia.
I HIGHLY recommend the documentaries “The end of the road: How the dollar became worthless,” and Michael Moore’s “Capitalism: A love story,” for everyone. I saw the former on netflicks not too long ago, it should still be available if you have it and wish to watch it, although it’s probably accessible online. The latter is available on y0ut()be.
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^^^
*Nixon set about making the dollar worthless
*and Reagan’s moves to end your US exportation that made you a competitive entity in the worldwide market, in favor of receiving importation of services, pouring money into external economies, like East Asia, was the final nail in the coffin. Bush’s presidency was just the funeral.
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“Before 9/11 the Taliban wasn’t present in Pakistan, they were in Afghanistan, but after the fall of the Taliban regime they ran into Pakistan and tried to take control of the Northwestern parts of the country, 40,000 Pakistanis have died in the war on terror, 4000 Pakistani soldiers have died fighting the Taliban.”
“A madrassa is an Islamic religious school. Many of the Taliban were educated in Saudi-financed madrassas in Pakistan that teach Wahhabism, a particularly austere and rigid form of Islam which is rooted in Saudi Arabia. Around the world, Saudi wealth and charities contributed to an explosive growth of madrassas during the Afghan jihad against the Soviets. During that war (1979-1989), a new kind of madrassa emerged in the Pakistan-Afghanistan region — not so much concerned about scholarship as making war on infidels. The enemy then was the Soviet Union, today it’s America. Here are analyses of the madrassas from interviews with Vali Nasr, an authority on Islamic fundamentalism, and Richard Holbrooke, former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. (For more on the role of madrassas in producing militant Islamists “
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“Before 9/11, Pakistan was a really peaceful country, but then you made us fight your dirty war, and we’ve lost over 40,000 people, and our economy has suffered as well.”
After I bring in the history of many wars and conflicts , you say I prove his point? Abagond, Mosh is like any American talking about America…they really dont know their own history, and you fell for it, labeled my analysis “white man”…
The truth is, you need to stop reading only the one sided papers and books and opinions, by mostly white men, by the way, how ironic you would lable me that, the truth is, you never heard a white man come from where Im coming from in your life..you cant handle it…you tired fables and cookie jar childs stories hardly can deal with the complexities and in depth reality that is the real truth…you scream about 500 babies killed in drone attacks but cant quite utter a peep about the children the other side is not only killing in much larger numbers, but also recruiting children as suicide bombers , , if you bomb the taliban and accidently kill some children, you are saving more , by stopping the ones who kill more children…but that is warped logic..but, it fits with how you think…children is not your real purpose of screaming about it, or you would have a plethora of threads about the plight of children througout the world, like the children killed in Brazil from lost bullets due to the huge coke crack trade by huge drug gangs fighting each other or the police , who did big business with the farc who Hugo Chavez invested big money into, and aided and abetted them, even facilitating access through Venezuela to get into Brazil , in some cases, now that would be a noble story, the wonderful children in huge numbers dead from a lost bullet in the drug wars…42 thousand people die from assasinations a year in Brazil, a lot from the drug wars…those are war numbers
I would suggest getting more informed of all sides and the complexities
when I moved to brazil 28 years ago, and heard some people and poiitics and attitudes were extremly anti American , not all brazilians by anymeans, I made it my business, because in a sence, my life depended on getting as knowledgable as posible about what the real story of America in Brazil during the dictatorship was and the cold war…and that meant going in depth as I could, for sure I havent exausted everything, maybe even half, but Ive seen 28 years of tv reports, news paper reports, documentaries, books, hearing what my son was saying they taught him in school, by far the most frightening, also opinions on the stree, and down right insults, anti american slurs hurled from passing cars and buses, so, I made it my lifes mission to find out as much about the truth as i could, and that also meant, finding out about other things in the world, yet, i dont have any deep knowledge ,like I was getting in Brazil, but, finding out with a little more research, that suree enough, there were always deeper realities and complexities than ever was told on the cut and dried right or left positions..always…i dont run or hide about American dirt, but dont you ever think you can tell me half truths and lies, because i qwill call you on it big time…ive handed many people their lunch on here because they have only been coming from the half truths, for gosh sakes i am not smart or intelligent about world politics, i found outthe hard way, about the deeper complexities, and that is what you are going to have to do…you are smarter than i am, but you dont sound smart about the truth of world internationsl American affairs and issues
so this man, who happens to be white , is calling you on your bs
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Ebonymonroe
You have to understand this…there is a tiny little local station on some public band of tv down here that is extremly anti American…they also play other interesting docus..lots and lots and lots of stuff from the BBC, and even more anti American drek..the most incredible stuff, that I truly get the most amunition from , is actualy the pro Castro , or Che, or telling the marxist side of the people who opted for armed revolution in Brazil, how they trained in China, Cuba, the Soviet Union…and the Castro ones were shot in Cuba, like some national promo, translated into portuguese of course, and in two of them, as he is talking about the Batista regime, which was dreadful, and, the biggest thing that comes out of his mouth , in both docus was …prostitution…how ironic since in the international hotel section on his island, its ripe with prostitution..just to show the hypocracy that rolls coming from the far left anti american sources, he is a source i would say..
and, or course, they show Michael Moore, Oliver Stone , there is some guy from England who did one on the South american Boliviarin revolution, with Hugo, Ivo , Lula, Correa, Kirsnir, Lugo etc amazing they never touched on Farc..never, not one peep…they one of the most destabalising forces in the area…etc
anyway, most of it is yesterdays news…you are talking about something that isnt in effect now..yes, the money is printed up , not tied to the gold standard, etc , but my point to you is, in paper currancy definition , by the way , who is tied to the gold standard? im not sure , I know Brazil isnt, but by paper, the dollar is not weak now….its not the michael moore fiasco scenario now, and that is my point…I saw the stuff with Naomi whats her name about the Feidman economics, ive seen other ones were talking that the federal governent was going to make the Amero…that isnt happening…now someone may fart in Alaska and we are going into a tailspin, but, seriously, under Obama, there has been a very slow but steady climb out of the hole the previous administration buried us in
and, I know all about the Reagan thing, no , that was the rich get richer and there is the income gap, the previous administration , by going to two wars, one totaly unnescasary, the other, there is no way in anyones farthest imagination that could think an American president wouldnt have gone into Afghanistant some kind of way..but then, there is some kind of much more hyper version of the game of taking the wealth and toxic investments out, played with the same ferver as Chenney gaining profits with Halibuton. These poison loans flooded the market, but, I ask myself, could only that have made what happen happen?
You really have to understand what it is like to live in the country where the currency starts to tank on a steady leval over a period of years and the inflation starts hitting hard , to get the feeling of the real hades its like to live in , and the real toll it starts to take on the national economy, and everything…
And , since I went to Brazil, I have been hyper aware of currencie exchanges and the dollar…im hyper aware, and, during the first two years or so, the dollar started a slow but never ending decline…I really started to get uneasy after about 3 years, but, a currency I saw go as high as 3.90 to one real, slowly tanked to 1.50…for me, enormous differance.and absolutly things started happening that were very wierd and bad
im not saying the dropping currency is the cause, Im saying its the baromater something is wrong…of course the deregulation put in place by Reagon had its foundation, but Clinton just had unbeleivable prosperity, and , you dont think a decent president and more regulation, could have prevented it?
I think it could…something very bad was happening in the moral fiber of people of high power and elite statis in the country at that time..i actualy beleive the moral ground can be gained back
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have patience EbonyMonroe before you respond to the first comment, my answer to you is in moderation
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Having Abagond and BR over for dinner, in the same house, the same room, at the same table, conversing, would be funny.
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“during the first two years…” EbonyMonroe, in my comment to you in moderation, that was meant to mean “the first two years of the Bush administration”…hope you can remember that
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well, i dig the heck out of Abagond…
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you know , i like him a lot
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“Mosh, you are giving totaly wrong information, the Talaban were trained in Pakistan madrasses, you totaly are in denial about the civil war in Aghanistan before the USA got there , when a million people died in their brutal civil war, and Pakistan’s finger prints are all over that…”
Did I ever deny that the Pakistani establishment trained the Taliban?Pakistan did train the Taliban during the 80s to fight the soviets but the funds and arms came from the USA and Saudi Arabia.
Also, during the 1980s Pakistan was under the dictatorship of Zia-Ul-Haq, who was supported by the U.S, in fact the American government has supported oppressive regimes all over the world to support their interests, did you know that Ronald Reagan compared the Taliban to the founding fathers of America, and yes Pakistan was involved in the Afghan civil war, I’m really critical of my own government, I’m not a jingoist like you, but did you care to read about the history of conflicts in Afghanistan, and about the acrimony between Pakistan and Afghanistan even before Pakistan’s inception in 1947.
“spare me that the USA trained Al Quaeda, they taught them how to use stingers and gave them stingers and money”
That’s the truth, you can deny all you want but it doesn’t change, America has supported Al Qaeda and they have had connections with the Bin Ladens way before 9/11.
“India just launched a rocket to Mars for research, Pakistan just tested a short range missle for a nuclear strike..who do you think they were practicing for ?”
Do you know that just a couple of weeks ago, India tested a long-range missile(with a range of about 9,000 KM) that could reach Beijing, where were you when they tested that.
Pakistan has missiles but that’s because our army and government views India as an existential threat to Pakistan, every country has the right to self-defense., unlike America that always play offense.
“Pakistan a peaceful nation? What were they doing with India before, playing pattycake? Kashmire? A peaceful nation before the americans got there? this is brilliant?”
When I said Pakistan was a peaceful country, I meant that life in Pakistan was peaceful before 9/11, nobody was afraid of going out, of going to school,the market,to a concert, to a mosque or any place of worship, but after America’s invasion of Afghanistan, the Taliban spilled over into our borderlands but they didn’t start killing, until America started droning out innocent civilians, If Pakistan created the Taliban(America did too) then America gave it steroids.
You brought up Kashmir, do you even know ANYTHING about Kashmir?Do you anything about it’s history?I have Kashmiri roots and my grandparents are from there, so it’s a personal.
One mans patriot is another mans terrorist, those so called “militants” supported by Pakistan, are freedom fighters, there is a LOT of grass root support for Kashmiri seccesion in Kashmir(at least among Kashmiri Muslims, that make up 95% of the valleys population), as much as 75% according to a BBC poll in 2010.
Do you know that amnesty international and Human Rights Watch are not allowed to enter the Indian part of Kashmir?Do you know that tens of thousands of Kashmiri people have been killed, and 9,000 women have been raped, some as young as 5?Do you know that Kashmir is THE most militarized region in the world, and that Indian troops can not be prosecuted under law, so they can do anything they want.
In October 1953, the UN security council passed a resolution for Kashmir, that demanded India to give the people of Kashmir the right to self-determination, it’s been 60 years since then, but nothing has happened.
“the blood of the Kenya shopping mall hasnt even dried yet, Mumbai is too close to memory, I feel for all the Pakistanies killed by the Taliban, you think americas involvement had anything to do with the little girl shot recently? the hands cut off from Mali citizens for some infringement aganist Sharia law stinks too much”
What does Mali & Kenya have anything to do with Pakistan?Does it justify Obama’s actions?Does it mean it perfectly fine for America to kill innocent people with it’s drones, which have been deemed a war crime by Amnesty international.
I also blame my government, because they have complied with America, they have granted permission to the US to drone us out.
However, when I look deeper, I notice that the Pakistan government receives billions of dollars in “aid” from Uncle Sam, so they have to comply and grant “permission”, because if they don’t then America would cut off all AID to Pakistan, and probably bomb us back to the stoneage as they threatened Musharraf soon after 9/11.
we’re damned if we do, and we’re damned if we don’t, America has done good job manipulating/buying our government.
With all of that being said,all of your arguments are IRRELEVANT.
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AMEN.
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http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2010/aug/10/afghanistan-civilian-casualties-statistics
http://www.brookings.edu/research/essays/2013/deadly-triangle-afghanistan-pakistan-india-c
If people on here want to read a real in depth analysis of the Pakastan, Afghanistan/India triangle and the real complexity and depth of it, its right here, in the link directly above
Now lets get this straight, Mosh, you said the Talaban werent in Pakistan before the USA got there and that Pakastan was a peaceful nation before the americans got in the war
now you are back tracking and admitting there were madrassas in Pakistan, as a matter of fact, Pakistan had its finger prints all over the Afghan civil war , where one million deaths occured, compared to 10,000 thousand deaths in the actual extension of that civil war, since the americans got in…and most of the death rates in the last years come from the Talaban, just check the guardian report…if anything, death rates have gone down since the americans got in, the talaban have run home to daddy and are rebeling against him..for sure that would be a cookie cutter version that would fit your logic
as well as your cookie cutter statement that Pakistan was a peaceful nation before the USA got in…in truth, pakistan’s training and support of the Talaban in the Afghan civil war makes them as Imperialistic by the dictionary definition of the word, as Hugo chaves supporting farc in Colombia, and Cuba in 17 coutries in Africa, and especialy America with its over throwing of democracies
I never said who is to blame in Kashmere, but the dirt has gone back and forth enough to say Pakastan sure isnt a nation at peace
and, according to you, its all Indias fault, all america’s fault, and you have the nerve to call me arrogant? for simply pointiong out that your cookie cutter statements have huge swizz cheese holes, that i am bringing in facts to prove?
well then you are extremly welcome to the low leval international world affairs american critique on this blog, where you can come in and tell half truths and lies and cookie cutter non in depth versions of complex complicated world events, and be received with platitudes like “brilliant” and people fall to their knees screasming “amen’ in capatal letters
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jefe, you ca get up off your knees now, the sight of you smacking your lips on Moshes rear end is demeaning
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Abagond, this is just more blaring truth that the discusion and critique of American foreign policy in the world , on this blog, is a low weak leval
When a college drop out like me, can easily bring in actual facts and proof , that destroys cookie cutter lies and half truths notions, of really complex , complicated world events , then you just have to admit, you are on a pop leval in these discusions, fed by cliched leftist rightest dogmas , that hardly get to the extremly deep reasons things got to the point they did in regions of conflict
outside of america and Brazil, Im on that same low leval understanding of the deep realities, but , if I can bring in facts and proof, that many of these cookie cutter depictions are ridled with false oversimplified one sided points of view, any logical discusion would at least have to take it somewhat seriously
instead, I get called arrogant, racist and the point of view of “the white man’, after you are building most of your international american world affairs critiques in from reading nervous agenda riddled white men like Chomsky…you too, Legion, especialy reguarding chomsky….you would think after I pointed out direct flaws in his agenda, you might start thinking these things are a little more complex and complicated than just any old third hand diagnosis by a far away from Colombia/Venezuela , linguistics expert at Colombia University, who has an axe to grind
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You know BR, I choose to stay out of these discussions because I have my own thoughts about these types of situations — ones that I don’t wish to share –so I’d rather sit back and watch.
and I’ll be honest, I come from a country that got thrown into a civil war due to HEAVY American manipulation and gun trafficking — they put a false king on the throne and my country paid for it in blood and tears.
so I am weary of this subject because I am slightly biased but I am also aware that there is always 2 views to the 1 story — but the problem with these discussions is that everyone always thinks they are sitting on the right-hand side of God.
with all that being said, I just want to make sure I understand your underlying premise:
“are you saying that the US policy in the Middle East and in Afghanistan and Pakistan is the best policy right now because the Taliban supports Al-Qaeda?
and because the Al-Qaeda movement has spread into north and east Africa, then the US drone policy is the best way to defeat Jihadist terrorism?
I’m just trying to make clear your position — I’m not choosing sides in your discussion with Mosh.
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@ B.R.
On this issue you sound like Archie Bunker. Mosh is right when he calls you a jingoist.
To put it another way, on Pillar I issues you do not sound like most White American men, but on Pillar III issues, like this one, you do.
I use those because people like you want to make it all complex to avoid facing up to the moral issue. Which is what you are doing now.
I knew exactly what Mosh meant when he called Pakistan peaceful, but you are missing the point to “win” the argument.
Ha! Go on and tell yourself that. I have seen little proof of it.
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…it was the “Al Qaeda” bit that had me in stitches…
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i love her jacket!
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Harold and Kumar deserve a post – the entire series makes a spoof of American stereotypes.
(Actually, I recommended that a couple months ago in a separate email to Abagond).
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@ Noneya me too! Someone should start a style blog about her.
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@ Legion why so?
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I fail to see the problem with saying that Malia is an extremely stylish young woman. She’s the kind of role model I hope my own daughters (if I have any) will look up to.
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@ Legion I ticked the ‘comment alert’ thingy on wordpress. It means I get an emails every time someone comments on a post that I’ve commented on 🙂
Plus, I do take your comments seriously, probably because you generally make sense!
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* an email. I have butter fingers!
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Haha…
For WordyNerdy
http://www.africanspotlight.com/2012/11/27/how-malia-obama-has-blossomed-from-an-awkward-teen-to-americas-next-style-icon-photos/
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@King thank you! She’s getting to be just as elegant and well-dressed as her mum.
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Oh, funny! Ms Michelle is not amused. I love how, at the end, she takes her husband’s seat next to the female Danish Prime Minister … and you can see this message all over her face and body language:
EXCUSE my back, Blondie!
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