In 2008, in response to media inquiries, the President’s campaign requested his birth certificate from the state of Hawaii. The state sent the campaign the President’s birth certificate, the same legal documentation provided to all Hawaiians as proof of birth in state, and the campaign immediately posted it on the internet. That birth certificate can be seen here (PDF).
When any citizen born in Hawaii requests their birth certificate, they receive exactly what the President received. In fact, the document posted on the campaign website is what Hawaiians use to get a driver’s license from the state and the document recognized by the Federal Government and the courts for all legal purposes. That’s because it is the birth certificate. This is not and should not be an open question.
The President believed the distraction over his birth certificate wasn’t good for the country. It may have been good politics and good TV, but it was bad for the American people and distracting from the many challenges we face as a country. Therefore, the President directed his counsel to review the legal authority for seeking access to the long form certificate and to request on that basis that the Hawaii State Department of Health make an exception to release a copy of his long form birth certificate. They granted that exception in part because of the tremendous volume of requests they had been getting. President Barack Obama's long form birth certificate can be seen here (PDF):
Correspondence with the Hawaii State Department of Health can be seen here (PDF).
At a time of great consequence for this country – when we should be debating how we win the future, reduce our deficit, deal with high gas prices, and bring stability to the Middle East, Washington, DC, was once again distracted by a fake issue. The President’s hope is that with this step, we can move on to debating the bigger issues that matter to the American people and the future of the country.
@'The White House Blog'
Wednesday 27 April 2011
Bread and fugn circuses! (GB2011)
Journalisted Journalisted
Past 24hrs: 20 articles on the leaked Guantanamo files http://bit.ly/i14Djt vs. 70 articles on Prince William http://bit.ly/e3XDDF
jamesrbuk James Ball
#royalwedding is much like a zombie film: one by one your friends succumb, and you have to attack them with a pitchfork.
Jimmy Carter's blog from North Korea
I am pleased to be back in Pyongyang on my third visit to North Korea. It’s a privilege to be able to visit a place that is quite mysterious to most people – and this time I am here with three of my fellow Elders – Mary Robinson, Gro Brundtland and Martti Ahtisaari.
Gro has been here before and we have been recalling our previous visits. She was here in 2001 as Director General of the World Health Organisation and will be taking particular interest in our planned visits to a hospital and to better understand food issues here.
I was here last year to negotiate the release of a US citizen – and before that in 1994, when Kim Il Sung – known here as the Eternal President – was still alive. At that time, North Korea’s nuclear programme was in its infancy. On a memorable six hour boat trip, I discussed nuclear and security issues with Kim Il Sung who agreed to freeze his nuclear programme. He was very warm and friendly towards my wife Rosalynn and me. Keep in mind that our countries were (and still are) officially at war, with a ceasefire prevailing.
Sadly he died shortly afterwards, and his son Kim Jong Il succeeded him as leader. Kim Jong Il pledged to honor his father’s commitments and continued his father’s policy, and in October 1994 North Korea and the US adopted a Framework Agreement which committed North Korea to denuclearisation.
Kim Jong Il also agreed to take part in a summit meeting with the then President of South Korea, Kim Dae Jung whose “Sunshine policy” was very helpful in building better relations. This kind of people-to-people contact is vital in trying to encourage dialogue and build sufficient confidence and trust between former enemies to allow them to reach lasting peace.
Since then – relations have gone up and down between North and South Korea but they are currently at rock bottom. There is no official dialogue on the key issues that divide the two countries, tensions are very high, and the US, as South Korea’s key ally, also refuses to engage directly with North Korea. Also, neither the US nor South Korea is at this time willing to assist with the desperate food shortage in North Korea.
We are hearing consistently throughout our busy schedule here in Pyongyang that the North wants to improve relations with America and is prepared to talk without preconditions to both the US and South Korea on any subject. The sticking point – and it’s a big one – is that they won’t give up their nuclear programme without some kind of security guarantee from the US.
We will be working hard in our few days in Pyongyang to learn as much as we can about the North Korean position. I hope we will be able to return to the US and Europe with a positive and constructive message. We have been told that our visit here is seen as helpful in establishing a positive atmosphere and that the people in both North and South expect a lot from us.
It is to my mind a tragedy that, more than 60 years after the Armistice that ended the Korean War, North and South Korea have not signed a peace treaty. My country, the United States, is South Korea’s guarantor, which creates enormous anxiety among the North Korean people and drains their political energy and resources.
I hope that this visit by the Elders will help North Korea become less mysterious to outsiders and that we can provide a glimpse of the country’s development ambitions as well as the serious challenges it faces.
In order to succeed we will all need to work together – especially the United States and South Korea. The warmth with which I am always greeted in Pyongyang makes me hopeful that our nations can, with political will on all sides, find peace at last.
@'The Elders'
Gro has been here before and we have been recalling our previous visits. She was here in 2001 as Director General of the World Health Organisation and will be taking particular interest in our planned visits to a hospital and to better understand food issues here.
I was here last year to negotiate the release of a US citizen – and before that in 1994, when Kim Il Sung – known here as the Eternal President – was still alive. At that time, North Korea’s nuclear programme was in its infancy. On a memorable six hour boat trip, I discussed nuclear and security issues with Kim Il Sung who agreed to freeze his nuclear programme. He was very warm and friendly towards my wife Rosalynn and me. Keep in mind that our countries were (and still are) officially at war, with a ceasefire prevailing.
Sadly he died shortly afterwards, and his son Kim Jong Il succeeded him as leader. Kim Jong Il pledged to honor his father’s commitments and continued his father’s policy, and in October 1994 North Korea and the US adopted a Framework Agreement which committed North Korea to denuclearisation.
Kim Jong Il also agreed to take part in a summit meeting with the then President of South Korea, Kim Dae Jung whose “Sunshine policy” was very helpful in building better relations. This kind of people-to-people contact is vital in trying to encourage dialogue and build sufficient confidence and trust between former enemies to allow them to reach lasting peace.
Since then – relations have gone up and down between North and South Korea but they are currently at rock bottom. There is no official dialogue on the key issues that divide the two countries, tensions are very high, and the US, as South Korea’s key ally, also refuses to engage directly with North Korea. Also, neither the US nor South Korea is at this time willing to assist with the desperate food shortage in North Korea.
We are hearing consistently throughout our busy schedule here in Pyongyang that the North wants to improve relations with America and is prepared to talk without preconditions to both the US and South Korea on any subject. The sticking point – and it’s a big one – is that they won’t give up their nuclear programme without some kind of security guarantee from the US.
We will be working hard in our few days in Pyongyang to learn as much as we can about the North Korean position. I hope we will be able to return to the US and Europe with a positive and constructive message. We have been told that our visit here is seen as helpful in establishing a positive atmosphere and that the people in both North and South expect a lot from us.
It is to my mind a tragedy that, more than 60 years after the Armistice that ended the Korean War, North and South Korea have not signed a peace treaty. My country, the United States, is South Korea’s guarantor, which creates enormous anxiety among the North Korean people and drains their political energy and resources.
I hope that this visit by the Elders will help North Korea become less mysterious to outsiders and that we can provide a glimpse of the country’s development ambitions as well as the serious challenges it faces.
In order to succeed we will all need to work together – especially the United States and South Korea. The warmth with which I am always greeted in Pyongyang makes me hopeful that our nations can, with political will on all sides, find peace at last.
@'The Elders'
Jeff Tweedy on Wilco's new album
"We're still chipping away at it," Tweedy tells SPIN. "We're just doing some overdubs and some tracking, but we're pretty far along."
So far, Wilco have laid down some 20 tracks for the album, which has the working title of Get Well Soon Everybody. Tweedy says the material fits into two categories: experimental-leaning rock and "cinematic-sounding country music…you know, folk music."
The band — Tweedy, bassist John Stirrat, guitarist Nels Cline, drummer Glenn Kotche, multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone, and keyboardist Mikael Jorgensen — hasn't decided which tracks will make the final product, but Tweedy says it could end up being a two-disc set. "I don't know what type of record is going to win out or if it just ends up as a double record," he says. "I put off that decision until I know which songs are still kicking my ass."
The finished album may be one of the group's most adventurous yet. "I do think it's a little bit more obnoxious and irreverent of a pop record than people have heard from us, maybe, ever," he says. "And that's exciting. But I have no doubt that the second this record becomes available there's somebody sitting in a basement at their computer with the word 'meh' already typed up, waiting to post a review."...
Continue reading
France and Italy in call to close EU borders
Sarkozy and Berlusconi want passport-free travel within the EU suspended as north African migrants flee north
Read more HERE
Lobsang Sangay elected Tibetan exile leader
A Harvard University academic has been elected prime minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile and will take on the political role previously played by the Dalai Lama.
Lobsang Sangay won 55% of the votes cast by Tibetans around the world. He defeated two candidates for the role, Tenzin Tethong and Tashi Wangdi.
Mr Sangay must now assume the political functions of the Dalai Lama, who said in March he wanted to devolve this responsibility to an elected official.
The Dalai Lama will retain his role as Tibetan spiritual leader.
'Middle way' The elections were held in March and the result announced on Wednesday in Dharamsala, India, where the Tibetan government-in-exile is based.
"The Election Commission of the Central Tibetan Administration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama has declared Dr Lobsang Sangay as the third kalon tripa," Election Commissioner Jampal Thosang announced, using the Tibetan term for prime minister.
Almost 83,400 Tibetan exiles were eligible to vote and more than 49,000 ballots were cast, he said.
Tenzin Tethong, a former representative of the Dalai Lama in the US, got 37.4% of the vote and Tashi Wangdi, a government-in-exile bureaucrat, received 6.4%. The 42-year-old winner is an Indian-born legal expert who has never lived in Tibet. His father fled Tibet in 1959, the same year as the Dalai Lama.
He says he will move to Dharamsala to serve as prime minister and that he supports the Dalai Lama's stance on ties with China.
"What His Holiness stands for is the 'Middle Way', which is genuine autonomy within China or within the framework of the Chinese constitution," he told the BBC earlier this month.
"If Tibetans are granted genuine autonomy then his Holiness the Dalai Lama said he is willing to accept Tibet as part of China."
Daunting task An official told Reuters news agency that that Dalai Lama was "very happy" that people "took a very active part in the election process".
The 76-year-old monk announced in March that he wanted an elected official to assume some of his responsibilities, saying that such a move was in the best interests of the Tibetan people.
Analysts say he aims to ensure that even if China's government tries to select the next Dalai Lama, the Tibetans will have an elected leader they can look to who is outside China and beyond the Communist Party's control.
The BBC's Mark Dummett says Lobsang Sangay has the daunting task of trying to keep the issue of Tibet alive while the man who embodies the struggle for Tibetan rights gradually steps back from the limelight.
He has been elected head of a government which no country recognises and will face in China an opponent which has shown no sign of wanting to compromise, our correspondent adds.
@'BBC'
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