Dennis Kucinich speaks on State Employee Unions.

Jorge Castañeda Gutman--Immigrant of the Day.

"Jorge Castañeda Gutman
"From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Jorge Castañeda
"Secretary of Foreign Affairs
In office
December 1, 2000 – January 10, 2003
President Vicente Fox
Preceded by Rosario Green
Succeeded by Luis Ernesto Derbez
Born May 24, 1953 (1953-05-24) (age 57)
Mexico City
Political party Independent
Alma mater Princeton University
Profession Professor, Politician
"Jorge Castañeda Gutman (born May 24, 1953) is a Mexican politician and academic who served as Secretary of Foreign Affairs (2000 – 2003).
"Castañeda was born in Mexico City. He received the French Baccalauréat from the Lycée Franco-Mexicain in Mexico City. Then after receiving his B.A. from Princeton University and a Ph.D. in Economic History from the University of Paris I (Panthéon-La Sorbonne) he worked as a professor at several universities, including the National Autonomous University of Mexico, the University of California, Berkeley, Princeton University, New York University, and the University of Cambridge. He also authored more than a dozen books, including a biography of Che Guevara, and he regularly contributes to newspapers such as Reforma (Mexico), El País (Spain), Los Angeles Times (USA) and Newsweek magazine.
His father was Jorge Castañeda y Álvarez de la Rosa who served as Secretary of Foreign Affairs (1979 – 1982), during the administration of José López Portillo. He was married to Miriam Morales (a Chilean citizen) and he has one son, Jorge Andrés.
"Academic Books
"Among his books is a highly readable assessment of leftist politics, Utopia Unarmed: The Latin American Left After the Cold War (Vintage Books, 1993). The book has had a wide readership in Latin America and elsewhere for its intelligent, sometimes controversial, overview of leftist politics in Latin America, after the fall of the Soviet Union; see History of the Soviet Union (1985–1991). The book provides a reliable historical account of leftist movements in Latin America, often spiked with lively anecdotes. The main theme is a shift from politics based on the Cuban Revolution to broad-based new social movements, from armed revolutions to elections. Another well known work of his is Companero: The Life and Death of Che Guevara, which offers a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the Argentine Marxist revolutionary.
Political career

Castañeda's political career began as a member of the Mexican Communist Party but he has since moved to the political center. He served as an advisor to Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas during his (failed) presidential campaign in 1988 and advised Vicente Fox during his (successful) presidential campaign in 2000. After winning the election, Fox appointed Castañeda as his Secretary of Foreign Affairs. Following a number of disagreements with other cabinet members he left the post in January 2003 and began traveling around the country, giving lectures and promoting his ideas.
"Presidential candidacy
"On March 25, 2004, Castañeda officially announced his presidential campaign by means of a prime-time campaign advertisement carried in all major Mexican television stations.
"Castañeda presented himself as an independent "citizens' candidate", a move which was contrary to Mexico's electoral law that gives registered parties alone the right to nominate candidates for election.
"Castañeda's Court appeal

"In 2004 Castañeda started to seek Court authorization to run in the country's 2006 presidential election without the endorsement of any of the registered political parties. In August 2005 the Supreme Court ruled against Castañeda's appeal. The ruling essentially put an end to Castañeda's bid to run as an independent candidate, however soon after this ruling he took his case to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in order to defend his political rights; as of 2008, the case is pending before the IACHR.
"Articles
"He has published articles in Newsweek. In 2009, he published a theory about the 2009 dismissals by Raúl Castro. He has an article in the Sep/Oct 2010 issue of Foreign Affairs entitled "Not Ready for Prime Time".
"Bibliography
"Nicaragua: Contradicciones en la Revolución. (1980)
Los últimos capitalismos. El capital financiero: México y los "nuevos países industrializados" (1982)
México: El futuro en juego. (1987)
Limits on friendship: United States and Mexico. (1989) Co-authored with Robert A. Pastor.
La casa por la ventana. (1993)
The Mexican Shock. (1995)
Utopia unarmed. (1995)

The Estados Unidos Affair. Cinco ensayos sobre un "amor" oblicuo. (1996)
La vida en Rojo, una biografía del Ché Guevara. (1997)
La Herencia. Arqueología de la sucesión presidencial en México. (1999)
Somos Muchos: Ideas para el Mañana. (2004)
Ex Mex. (2008)
"See alsoMexican general election, 2006
"External linksNYU: Voices of Latin American Leaders
"The Right Deal on Cuba by Jorge Castañeda, The Wall Street Journal, April 20 2009
"How Fidel Snookered Everyone by Jorge Castañeda, Newsweek, May 4 2009 issue
"The Statesmen's Debate Jorge G. Castañeda, Richard N. Haass, and Michel Rocard's monthly commentary for Project Syndicate
"Adios, Monroe Doctrine: When the Yanquis Go Home by Jorge G. Castañeda, The New Republic, December 28, 2009
"Video: Does Che Guevara Still Matter? interview with biographer Jorge Castañeda
Castañeda on the Drug War, Legalization, Immigration and Free Trade - video interview by Democracy Now!
"Preceded by
Maria del Rosario Green Macías Secretary of Foreign Affairs
2000—2003 Succeeded by
Luis Ernesto Derbez Bautista"
Jorge Castañeda Gutman, an intellectual, has been in the United States enough times to be, and is named as, today's Immigrant of the Day--Congratulations, Jorge!

Latest Polls Approve Obama 46%, "Mitch" McConnell 19%!

"Daily Kos Weekly State of the Nation Poll
"Public Policy Polling, Adults MoE 3.1%, Feb 17, 2011 - Feb 20, 2011
"Full Crosstabs FAVORABLE UNFAVORABLE NOT SURE NET CHANGE
PRESIDENT OBAMA 49 (49) 46 (46) 5 (5) 0
DEMOCRATIC PARTY: 42 (46) 48 (45) 10 (9) -7
REPUBLICAN PARTY: 36 (36) 50 (49) 14 (15) -1
APPROVE DISAPPROVE NOT SURE NET CHANGE
PRESIDENT OBAMA 46 (47) 49 (48) 5 (5) -2

PELOSI: 28 (29) 56 (54) 15 (17) -3
BOEHNER: 30 (28) 32 (30) 37 (41) 0
REID: 23 (22) 44 (45) 33 (33) 2
MCCONNELL: 19 (19) 38 (34) 44 (46) -4

CONGRESSIONAL DEMS: 34 (37) 54 (49) 12 (14) -8
CONGRESSIONAL GOPS: 33 (32) 51 (53) 16 (16) 3"
Next time be a winner, vote for the Democrats!

It's time to rethink the wisdom of neverending war in Afghanistan!

Matthew Hoh.Director, Afghanistan Study Group
Posted: February 16, 2011 10:46 AM
"Memorials to Purposelessness
"This Week marks the one-year anniversary of the US military offensive into Marjah in Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan. Operation Moshtarak, as it was called, was the largest military operation in Afghanistan since the removal of the Taliban regime in the fall of 2001. However, it served not just as a military operation, but also as a high profile public relations campaign and the "official" start of America's escalation of the Afghan War.*
"Occurring just two months after President Obama's announcement at West Point in December 2009 to "surge" an additional 30,000 troops into Afghanistan, Operation Moshtarak would prove the chance for the Pentagon and its boosters, desperate for a clear "win" post-Iraq, to demonstrate a smart and new vision of war.
"American forces, both in uniform and as elements of the much-heralded "civilian surge", a self-stylized modern day mating of McNamara's Whiz Kids and Lawrence of Arabia**, riding in together and wearing white hats, would deliver democracy and justice to a beleaguered, oppressed and yearning rural, tribal and poor population. Root causes of the conflict in Afghanistan, a tragedy unbroken since the 1970s, were too complex or too messy to be of much concern for Operation Moshtarak; while any legitimate political grievances the local population possessed for supporting the insurgency, to include political disenfranchisement or victimization due to exclusion and predation, as a result of US, NATO and Afghan government policies, were given similar little regard or consideration. The fact that the conflict in Afghanistan, multi-layered and complex, and characterized through a kaleidoscopic host of reasons and causes including, but not limited to, regional, tribal or ethnic civil war, a proxy war between Pakistan and India and an amazing multitude of local feuds which could aptly be described to Americans as Hatfield and McCoy type narratives, many pre-dating America's arrival into the conflict in 2001, and most importantly, completely irrelevant or tangential to al-Qaeda, were similarly unconsidered.
"This hubris and arrogance should not be surprising, since the everlastingly nasty, brutish and terrifying nature of warfare, the fact that the enemy always gets to make decisions too and that, just possibly, the local population may not see Americans, or any other occupiers, as the ones wearing the white hats, are as troublesome and unfitting to today's promoters of counter insurgency warfare, as they were to the advocates of shock and awe, speed and the Revolution in Military Affairs in the spring of 2003.
"To the politicians, generals, policy makers, pundits, theorists and bloggers, many of whom are resident in Washington DC and to whom the title "Chickenhawk" would not be unfairly applied, the question of conflict and war, so far as they are removed from it, in physical, emotional and existential connections, consistently remains how we should conduct war and almost never as to why or to what end. So, noting the nature of those who offered us escalation of war, with all its attendant costs, as a means to better our lives, on this anniversary of Operation Moshtarak and the "official" escalation of the Afghan War, we must continue to argue for a new course forward for the United States in Afghanistan.
"Derrick Crowe and the team at Rethink Afghanistan superbly document the hyperbole of promised victory prior to the launch of Operation Moshtarak. Additionally, they refute, based upon evidence and fact, the endless and baseless assertions of progress and success in Afghanistan made by the Obama Administration and the Pentagon that have marked the past twelve months. Derrick's article is well worth bookmarking, as it will be an important source this spring as we near President Obama's promised date for "accelerated transition" in Afghanistan. At that point we can have a national debate we should have had this past December, but did not, during a much promised strategy review, on the future of our nation's war in Afghanistan. A debate we should not say we did not receive, but rather one we failed to force.
"We have a responsibility to force such a debate for many, many reasons. Thousands of American service members have fought and many have died or been forever wounded these last twelve months to clear, hold and build Marjah and countless other nameless valleys and villages in Afghanistan. An argument can be made, that after twelve months of very tough fighting, during certain times of the day, Marjah can be considered "cleared." The hold and build aspects of the operation however, like most of the Pashtun dominated eastern and southern parts of Afghanistan, to include most especially Kandahar, remain glaringly out of reach.
"In a year's time, Marjah may come to look like Nawa, which took nearly two years to become the seemingly one and only model of success in Afghanistan since President Obama's initial authorization of 20,000 more troops to Afghanistan in March 2009. Sangin, this year's Marjah, after another year or two of heavy fighting, may come to look like Marjah. The question is, however, if we ever leave Nawa, and not just our Marines, but also our money, how quickly will it again return to Sangin-like or Marjah-like conditions? And what about the majority of the Helmand districts and sub-districts we are not currently occupying? The nature of this war, the enemy and the population will assuredly cause us to see future Nawas, Marjahs and Sangins in villages and valleys whose names are not yet known, but whose vital strategic importance to the peace and prosperity of the United States will surely be proclaimed by those who trumpet war and argue fear in order to achieve such goals. When I resigned from my position with the State Department in Afghanistan nearly eighteen months ago, I used the term Sisyphean to describe the mission given our military in Afghanistan. Now, I still imagine Sisyphus, but with a larger stone.
"The name of the next Marjah, Sangin or Nawa, a place to which we will be told we must dispatch more of our young men and women to fight boogiemen hiding in the fields of illiterate and subsistence farmers, is as unknown as are the gains we have received for our sacrifices throughout Afghanistan over this past year. What are known, however, is what the costs have been, what the costs are and what the costs will be. Casualties seen, those physically killed and wounded, I believe are better known and understood than those unseen casualties, particularly post traumatic stress disorders and traumatic brain injuries, that will rip apart lives and families until the last of this war's generation passes in the second half of this century. That is a very long time to ask our service members, their families and their communities to continue to pay the price of fighting Afghan farmers in fields that are devoid of al-Qaeda.
"The insanity of our expenditure extends past the physical and into the fiscal. The US currently garrisons Marjah with two battalions of Marines and Sailors. Two battalions form more than 2,000 men and women. Utilizing the White House's standard of $1 million per service member in Afghanistan per year, the US has now spent and continues to spend at least $2 billion dollars a year to garrison, i.e. police, Marjah, a rural Afghan hamlet of 50-60,000 Afghan farmers. Not only is this maddeningly absurd, but try and explain this to the residents of Camden, NJ, Reno, NV, or Tulsa, OK. Using logic similar to our policy makers and appropriators in Washington, I presume if we were to change those cities' names to Camdahar, Renostan and Tulsabad, then those cities and their residents could afford the same level of police protection we provide Marjah and countless other nameless valleys and villages in Afghanistan.
"As citizens of a democratic republic we have an obligation and a responsibility not to entrust the lives of our service members and their families, our finances and our communities to those who approach war based on a 2012 political calculus or to those who desire the adrenaline rush of a clash of civilizations or of chasing monsters abroad. We, likewise, have an obligation and responsibility to future generations to pass them a more prosperous and prouder nation; not an empire, a destroyer or a bully, but a leader, an inspiration and a trusted global partner.
"Walk with a child on the Mall in Washington DC and it is easy to explain America's wars as enshrined by the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial and the World War II Memorial. Walk to the Korean War Memorial and it becomes a little more difficult to explain that part of American history, but it is still possible. Walk now to the Vietnam War Memorial and try and explain that Wall and her names to a child. Purposeless is the honest answer.
"We will have a memorial one day to these wars of the early 21st century. If built today nearly 6,000 names would appear. Many thousands more will be remembered if we justly and honorably include those whose lives ended at home by their own hand because they returned from war desolately changed and traumatically ill.
"It was generations older than mine from which we inherited the Vietnam War Memorial. My generation will be responsible for the memorial for America's current wars. 6,000 names on a monument are already far too many. How will we explain those names to our children and them to theirs? How will we explain any more names?
"Let's not have this conversation again, next year, on the two-year anniversary of Operation Moshtarak and President Obama's escalation of a purposeless war. Let's not have another monument to another purposeless war.
*President Obama authorized over 20,000 additional US forces into Afghanistan in March 2009, however, the authorization for 30,000 more US forces in December 2009 by President Obama is publically acknowledged as his "Surge" and so the "official" escalation of the conflict.
**I can say such, as I was one of the first of that civilian surge into Afghanistan in 2009."
Kenneth Stepp agrees with Mr. Hoh. If ever there was a time for the U.S. to exit Afghanistan, it is now. We have killed a bunch of them. We have made whatever point we were trying to make. We have gotten more of our children killed fighting in that war than the terrorists killed getting our ire up. The Muslims have learned that you don't mess with Texas and you don't mess with the U.S.A. People have accused Obama of wishing ill for the U.S.A. The worst thing he has done to the U.S.A. is to continue the George W. Bush policies of neverending war in Afthanistan and Iraq. Let's bring the troops home now.
Follow Matthew Hoh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/matthewhoh

Dennis Kucinich comments on Democratic Challenger for Obama.

"Dennis Kucinich: Primary Challenge To Obama Could Make Him A 'Stronger Nominee'
"The Huffington Post Nick Wing
"Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) said Thursday that a primary challenge to Obama coming from a competitive candidate would strengthen the process, and probably the president as well.
"During an interview with C-SPAN, Kucinich explained that while he thought President Obama was clearly likely to overcome such a confrontation, the challenge would help the president construct a more vibrant candidacy.
"I think primaries can have the opportunity of raising the issues and making the Democratic candidate a stronger candidate," Kucinich said, according to The Hill. "I think it's safe to predict that President Obama will be the nominee of the Democratic Party, but he could be a stronger nominee if he receives a strong challenge in the primary."
"Rumors of a Democrat rising to challenge Obama have been passed around in the past year, especially amid fluctuating and at times weak approval ratings -- although talk of such a challenge may not come close to the speculation that faced President Clinton midway through his first term. Kucinich himself has been floated as one potential challenger, though the Ohio Democrat has repeatedly denied that he has any plans to launch a campaign himself.
"Last summer, Kucinich responded to a flare-up caused by inflammatory comments made by White House press secretary Robert Gibbs toward the "professional left," saying that liberals were, in fact, behind the president, though they admittedly wanted more from him.
"I think that Mr. Gibbs and the White House need to realize that liberals support the president but the criticism is really a measure of hopes that have not been realized," Kucinich said. "We have to get America back to work. That is the key and central issue of all of this and in addition, if I might, don't forget about getting out of Afghanistan and Iraq."
Maybe if the President will get the U.S. troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq, he will not have trouble getting his own parties' nomination for President next year.

The President his climbed back on top, it's Obama 52%, McConnell 19%!

"Daily Kos Weekly State of the Nation Poll
Public Policy Polling, Adults MoE 3.1%, Jan 27, 2011 - Jan 30, 2011
Full Crosstabs FAVORABLE UNFAVORABLE NOT SURE NET CHANGE
PRESIDENT OBAMA 52 (50) 44 (45) 4 (5) 3
DEMOCRATIC PARTY: 46 (42) 45 (49) 9 (10) 8
REPUBLICAN PARTY: 36 (36) 49 (51) 15 (13) 2
APPROVE DISAPPROVE NOT SURE NET CHANGE
PRESIDENT OBAMA 50 (46) 45 (48) 5 (6) 7
PELOSI: 32 (31) 54 (55) 15 (15) 2
BOEHNER: 33 (35) 31 (28) 37 (37) -5
REID: 22 (23) 45 (44) 33 (34) -2
MCCONNELL: 19 (19) 34 (33) 46 (48) -1

CONGRESSIONAL DEMS: 37 (36) 52 (57) 11 (8) 6
CONGRESSIONAL GOPS: 36 (33) 51 (52) 13 (15) 4"
The President has climbed back on top, so the Daily Kos has resumed publishing these polls. Nationally, President Obama as 52% of the voters approve of the job he's doing, but only 19% of the voters nationally approve of the job "Mitch" McConnell is doing. At least "Mitch" McConnell is not on a national ballot, or he'd get turned out of office. Yeah Democrats!

Hal Rogers weeding out and eliminating unnecessary, wasteful or excess spending? Are you Kidding Me?!

Prince Of Pork Hal Rogers Eliminating Wasteful And Unnecessary Spending. Are You Kidding Me?
by: Hillbilly
Thu Feb 03, 2011 at 19:14:27 PM EST
"House Appropriations Chairman Harold Dallas "Hal" Rogers, Republican Kentucky's 5th Congressional District, has a plan.
"CNN Money
"We are going go line by line to weed out and eliminate unnecessary, wasteful or excess spending," House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers said in a statement.
"You know, the same Hal Rogers that:
"Open Secrets
"Hal Rogers sponsored or co-sponsored 52 earmarks totaling $98,908,000 in fiscal year 2010 ranking 10th out of 435 representatives.
"The same Hal Rogers that sponsored $425,642,175 in earmarks from 2008 to 2010. Give me a break…"
As long as people keep voting for the candidates that have the largest campaign coffers, Hal Rogers will be in there for the rest of his life. My Father once said that people get the government that they deserve. Maybe he was right--at least about the Fifth District and Hal Rogers. Yes, school and infrastructure spending will be cut, but Hal keeps getting re-elected because he is "Mr. Pork Barrel"!

Immigrant of the Day-Erich W. Neubert.

Erich W. Neubert

Erich W. Neubert arrived in Huntsville as a member of the U.S.-German rocket
team led by Dr. Wernher von Braun. The endowment reaffirms the values of Erich Neubert, who dedicated his
career to using technology to advance the frontiers of knowledge for the benefit of mankind.

This scholarship is renewable for up to three additional years. The student must maintain a full-time course load
(12 credit hours) each semester. In addition, recipients must complete a total of 24 credit hours each academic year
and have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher to be eligible for renewal. Students should submit a scholarship
application every year in order to update their files and possibly be eligible for other awards.
The Erich W. Neubert Memorial Scholarship
The Erich W. Neubert Memorial Scholarship is awarded to a student majoring in Electrical Engineering or
Mechanical Engineering.


The Erich W. Neubert Memorial Scholarship was established in 2000 by Margot Neubert, in recognition of her
husband’s contributions to space exploration.

Kenneth Stepp salutes Erich W. Neubert, Immigrant of the Day!