malawi | The Obama Diary

"Last night, America lost not just a coaching legend but a gentleman and a citizen." —President Obama on Dean Smith: http://t.co/xNFSOoin1J
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The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 08, 2015

Dean Smith, civil rights champion and basketball coach, has died. For more on the former description, read this. es.pn/1D9OWEk
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Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) February 08, 2015

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Obama’s new budget puts billions toward fighting climate change thkpr.gs/3618406 http://t.co/p16I5nMM6Y
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Climate Progress (@climateprogress) February 07, 2015

Obama is "polarizing" because a large part of this country would rather be wrong than admit the Black President is right. About anything.
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(@GrooveSDC) February 07, 2015

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R.I.P. to Tougaloo alum Anne Moody. She was heavily involved in the sit-in demonstrations. #blackhistory http://t.co/DgJNYEIs1W
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English Fields™ (@BougieIntellect) February 07, 2015

47 yrs ago today, officers killed 3 in student demonstrations in Orangeburg, S.C. clarionledger.com/story/journeyt… http://t.co/uVIXAaXcOs
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Jerry Mitchell (@JMitchellNews) February 08, 2015

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OK. We make resisting arrest a felony. But every cop who makes an unlawful arrest also gets a felony charge. Deal? nypost.com/2015/01/26/pol…
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Radley Balko (@radleybalko) February 07, 2015

"Reagan said that he filmed a Nazi death camp as an army photographer, but he never left the country during WWII". politico.com/magazine/story…
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BWD (@theonlyadult) February 08, 2015

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So I was on the train to work this morning. Now, most women know that street harassers never think it's too early to street harass.
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Olivia A. Cole (@RantingOwl) February 06, 2015

So that was happening. This dude was aggressively hitting on this woman, who was about my age. She was ignoring him. Everyone else was too.
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Olivia A. Cole (@RantingOwl) February 06, 2015

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He kept after her. I could hear him saying, "Come on. I want your number. You're so pretty. You don't want my number?"
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Olivia A. Cole (@RantingOwl) February 06, 2015

She finally says, loudly, "NO, I don't want your number!" And what happened next was amazing.
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Olivia A. Cole (@RantingOwl) February 06, 2015

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This young woman a few seats away, looks up and she says, also loudly, "AND NO, I DON'T WANNA GIVE YOU MINE."
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Olivia A. Cole (@RantingOwl) February 06, 2015

And there was this awkward silence. Like, at first people just stared at her, myself include. But then I realized, and slowly so did others.
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Olivia A. Cole (@RantingOwl) February 06, 2015

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The second woman's friend started laughing and she said (not as loud, but still audible) "NO, I DON'T WANNA MEET YOU NO WHERE."
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Olivia A. Cole (@RantingOwl) February 06, 2015

And together they sang, really loudly (and off key) "NO, I DON'T WANT NONE OF YOUR TIIIIIME"
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Olivia A. Cole (@RantingOwl) February 06, 2015

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The dude trying to get the first woman's number just stared at them, and the woman he was harassing was just LAUGHING. He was done.
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Olivia A. Cole (@RantingOwl) February 06, 2015

And if you don't get the joke....well, maybe your sense of humor needs some....TLC. *chuckles*
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Olivia A. Cole (@RantingOwl) February 06, 2015

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Nigeria is postponing its presidential elections until March due to security concerns. bit.ly/1xPAZF8 http://t.co/C0JSbWD6JH
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(@Newsweek) February 08, 2015

Who is Kayla Mueller, the American held by #ISIS? Why her parents have not given up hope. @CBSEveningNews cbsnews.com/news/isis-host…
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Jim Axelrod (@JimAxelrod) February 08, 2015

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Cannot recommend more highly today this story on Dean Smith by @tommytomlinson that ran last year: espn.go.com/espn/feature/s…
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Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) February 08, 2015

#BrianWilliams's helicopter lie is nothing compared with the misinformation spewed by US press in lead-up to Iraq War bit.ly/1yRfJ3f
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BillMoyers.com (@BillMoyersHQ) February 08, 2015

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Mossad has broken with Netanyahu on Iran, adding fuel to the fire in Washington. @joshrogin @elilake bloombergview.com/articles/2015-… via @BV
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Dr. Hatem Bazian (@HatemBazian) February 08, 2015

If Netanyahu has lost the Anti-Defamation League, he's in real trouble lgf.bz/1DqzJiC
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Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) February 08, 2015

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She's the daughter of a New Jersey police sergeant. nydn.us/1KAUwA4 http://t.co/MPd0JkfvNm
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New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) February 08, 2015

Emergency dispatcher to 13-year-old girl as her dad dies: "Stop whining" wapo.st/1vyQW8z
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Washington Post (@washingtonpost) February 08, 2015

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Wait a minute... http://t.co/WcD45wHsyT
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MyFeminismRealAF (@FeministaJones) February 08, 2015

Any campaign pushing abstinence that focuses on girls'/women's "reputations" loses http://t.co/hpLKCszs9z
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MyFeminismRealAF (@FeministaJones) February 08, 2015

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Gay marriages planned for Monday in Alabama unless US Supreme Court orders a stay: apne.ws/16EecWO
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The Associated Press (@AP) February 07, 2015

Referendum To Bar Same-Sex Couples From Marrying And Adopting In Slovakia Fails buzzfeed.com/lesterfeder/re… via @jlfeder
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Adam Serwer (@AdamSerwer) February 07, 2015

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LOLZ at the white people shitting their pants that Obama dared remind them that they've done some horrific shit too nyti.ms/1FajtRM
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Ijeoma Oluo (@IjeomaOluo) February 06, 2015

REMINDER: "Christian" America currently imprisons more black men than America enslaved in 1850 m.huffpost.com/us/entry/10073… http://t.co/BVuZiWmK56
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The Baxter Bean (@TheBaxterBean) February 07, 2015

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Kerry warns of 'additional' US assistance to Ukraine u.afp.com/KEH
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Agence France-Presse (@AFP) February 08, 2015

Five African nations pledge to deploy thousands of troops, police and civilians to fight #BokoHaram militants ab.co/1vy0gtd
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ABC News (@abcnews) February 07, 2015

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Five dead, including two children, in horrific domestic violence-related shooting in Douglasville, Georgia: every.tw/1KwCZLf
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Moms Demand Action (@MomsDemand) February 08, 2015

Thousands cut off from aid in disastrous Malawi floods. aje.io/4tmn http://t.co/3oNdh7z2wS
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Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) February 07, 2015

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Brian Williams just couldn't live up to the high standards of a news org that employs Joe Scarborough and Luke Russert.
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Frank Conniff (@FrankConniff) February 07, 2015

BREAKING: Brian Williams to take a "brief leave." He becomes the first person ever to be punished for lying about Iraq.
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(@LOLGOP) February 07, 2015

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EDITORIAL: "The small but dangerous minority of American parents resistant to vaccinating their children" sun-tim.es/1EqYo8k
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Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) February 07, 2015

I was vaccinated as a child. 30 years later I am a complete failure. No way is that a coincidence.
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(@OhNoSheTwitnt) February 08, 2015

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That moment when President @BarackObama met boy who inspired $1 million @humansofny fundraiser bbc.in/1zIDL3g http://t.co/QjHf3XRZoA
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BBC Trending (@BBCtrending) February 07, 2015

40 bills introduced in 17 states so far in 2015 to make it harder to vote brennancenter.org/analysis/votin… @BrennanCenter http://t.co/YioUssniux
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Ari Berman (@AriBerman) February 06, 2015

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Dancing in the streets of Baghdad: a curfew ends & the city is finally coming back to life http://t.co/qBCT1a0C1Z
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Liz Sly (@LizSly) February 07, 2015

Finally got details of Putin peace plan proposal. #MSC15 http://t.co/W3HhKoMxgB
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ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) February 07, 2015

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Booming jobs and falling gas prices make this the best economy in 15 years wapo.st/16zMdHL
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Barry Ritholtz (@ritholtz) February 08, 2015

This chart should be a question in the first 2016 GOP Debate cc @comebackdecade: http://t.co/Ma1YxhCHb0
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Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) February 07, 2015

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Gladiators? You know exactly what this Scandal moment means 🙂

When you graduated 6 months ago and can't find a job so you walk into every business with your resume http://t.co/cpDSvqax94
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Brandon. (@BMarcTheBest) February 06, 2015

"I smell steak on your breath, dude. And you serving us puppy chow. Fuck you mean?" http://t.co/2qCvesqYh8
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My Beard Looks Nice (@WinkWestwood) February 07, 2015

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NYT Editorial: … Mr. Obama can make a convincing case that his policies — especially the stimulus and auto industry rescue — helped cushioned the effects of the recession he inherited, which pushed the jobless rate from an already elevated 7.8 percent in January 2009 to 10 percent by October 2009. It has come down, more or less, steadily since then. But it is still higher than when he took office — a point that Mitt Romney and Congressional Republicans have seized upon as evidence of failed policies.

Actually, it was the Republicans’ relentless opposition to constructive policies that has kept unemployment high, from their resistance to the 2009 stimulus to their blockage of Mr. Obama’s proposed $450 billion jobs bill in late 2011. Federal aid to states was a mainstay of both of those efforts. As the stimulus ended and further aid was delayed and denied, the effect on state budgets — and on jobs — has been catastrophic.

… if it weren’t for state and local budget austerity, the economy would have 2.3 million more jobs today, and the unemployment rate would be around 7 percent, not 8 percent. The lesson is that the best and easiest way to reverse job losses would be for Congress to provide fiscal aid to states. Thwarting such aid, as Republicans have done, is a way to keep unemployment elevated and their hopes to win the White House alive. Jobless Americans, struggling businesses and hard-pressed communities are hostages in the fray.

Full editorial here

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The Nation: GOP Votes on Healthcare Versus Jobs Legislation:

Thanks Dudette

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Cagle

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Nicholas D. Kristof (NYT): Obama’s Fantastic Boring Idea

The farm fields here (in Malawi) are cemeteries of cornstalks: a severe drought has left them brown, withered and dead. Normally, a failed crop like that signifies starvation.

Then television cameras arrive and transmit images of famished children into American and European living rooms. Emergency food shipments are rushed in at huge expense.

Yet there is a better way, and it’s unfolding here in rural Malawi, in southern Africa. Instead of shipping food after the fact, the United States aid agency, U.S.A.I.D., has been working with local farmers to promote new crops and methods so that farmers don’t have to worry about starving in the first place.

…. President Obama has made agriculture a focus of his foreign aid programs with mixed results. On the plus side, these initiatives are smart, cost-effective and potentially transformative. On the negative side, they’re boring. At a time when there’s a vigorous political debate in America about foreign aid, outreach to African farmers doesn’t wow Congress or the American people.

But if it’s boring, it’s also succeeding.

More here

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