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27Mar2011
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27Mar2011
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27Mar2011
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I’m not a big football fan, hence I didn’t have any desire to watch the Super Bowl. Grew up with too many Super Bowls messing with my birthday celebrations. :) So the only part of the game this past Sunday that I indulged in was the half time entertainment. It wasn’t until after the fact was I aware of the commercial with Clint Eastwood. Did you see?
“l am certainly not politically affiliated with Mr. Obama. It was meant to be a message about job growth and the spirit of America,” Eastwood, a libertarian and longtime Republican voter, said Monday evening on Fox News’ “The O’Reilly Factor” about the ad, which features him extolling the virtues of a revitalized Detroit. Chrysler was one of the companies saved in President Obama’s 2009 auto bailout, which Eastwood has publicly opposed. “I think all politicians will agree with it,” he continued. “I thought the spirit was OK.”
Eastwood, who said he was “not supporting any politician at this time,” also gave his blessing for either party to reference the spot, or at least its message.
“If Obama or any other politician wants to run with the spirit of that ad, go for it,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Fox News contributor Karl Rove criticized the ad for being “a sign of what happens when you have Chicago-style politics, and the President of the United States and his political minions are, in essence, using our tax dollars to buy corporate advertising.”
“I think that Rove and everybody, if they’re sensible, would wonder why a longtime Republican and Libertarian would do that,” he said. “Just think about that, how silly that is: It’s not like [the ad] was done by a left-winger, like Paul Newman in his day. It was done by a Republican, and he was doing it about America. There’s not anything political to do with it whatsoever. I don’t want him to do commercials, and as far as I’m concerned, it’s a PSA [public service announcement]. Period.”
*******
Readers: I loved it. Eastwood may not be “politically affiliated with Mr. Obama”, but it certainly doesn’t hurt that the commercial kicked Obama some kudos in a complimentary indirect kind of way. And Eastwood was against the auto bailouts.
Clint, said this to the L.A. Times in November 2011:
“But I’m a big hawk on cutting the deficit. I was against the stimulus thing too. We shouldn’t be bailing out the banks and car companies. If a CEO can’t figure out how to make his company profitable, then he shouldn’t be the CEO.”
And yet he starred in this Chrysler commercial. What are you thoughts? Blog me.
The forum is now open.
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog.If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)
WASHINGTON — At a private three-day retreat in California last weekend, conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch and about 250 to 300 other individuals pledged approximately $100 million to defeat President Obama in the 2012 elections.
A source who was in the room when the pledges were made told The Huffington Post that, specifically, Charles Koch pledged $40 million and David pledged $20 million.
The semi-annual, invitation-only meeting attractswealthy donors, Republican politicians and conservative activists. Last year, hundreds of activists gathered outside the walled-off resort toprotest the meeting. This year, however, the conference went off quietly.
“Conference organizers and their guestssuccessfully slipped in and out of the Coachella Valley without being detected, by buying out nearly all of the 500-plus rooms at the Renaissance Esmeralda resort in Indian Wells,” reported The Desert Sun. “The resort closed its restaurants, locked down the grounds with private security guards and sent many workers home.”
This is the ninth straight year the Kochs have hosted the conference. As Politico reported last year, the meetings often adjourn “after soliciting pledges of support from the donors — sometimes totaling as much as $50 million — to nonprofit groups favored by the Kochs.”
The fact that the wealthy conservative donors pledged $100 million for the 2012 elections shows how intent they are on trying to get Obama out of office — and previews how intense, and likely nasty, the general election will be.
There are limits on how much an individual can give to a political candidate. Therefore, much of the money pledged at the recent gathering will likely go to super PACs or nonprofits that can spend and accept unlimited amounts of funds. GOP primary voters have already gotten a glimpse of how the political system looks with super PACs around: record amounts of money spent on a large number of negative ads in the early primary states.
The source told The Huffington Post that they lamented the direction the conference has taken over the years. They said it used to be about “conservative strategy” and building a movement, but now it was mostly an “alpha male” spectacle focused on fundraising to beat Obama.
The Koch brothers have been the major donors behind many Republican candidates, the Tea Party movement and efforts todiscredit the science around man-made global warming. Democrats frequently highlight the brothers to fundraise, and the first TV ad of the Obama reelection campaign invoked them as “secretive oil billionaires attacking President Obama with ads fact checkers say are not tethered to the facts.”
Also at the conference was Ken Griffin, founder and CEO of the Citadel Investment Group. He supported Obama in 2008, leading his employees to contribute more than $205,000 to the campaign. By the time of the election, however, he had switched his allegiance to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). Since the election, he has openly discussed his “frustration” with Obama’s policies, stating that he is “greatly concerned about the fiscal instability of the U.S.” In the fourth quarter of 2011, Citadel employees completely abandoned Obama, contributing nothing to his campaign while giving $120,500 to presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
The Center for Public Integrity also reported that for the first time, Las Vegas casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson attended the conference. Adelson and his family are largely bankrolling Newt Gingrich’s presidential run, with Adelson and his wife, Miriam, having given the pro-Gingrich super PAC Winning Our Future $10 million just this year.
Koch Industries did not return a request for comment.
EARLIER ON HUFFPOST:
********
Readers: All I can say is, ‘It isn’t going to happen”. With respect to Romney winning Nevada last night, all I wan to say is, “You LSOS“.
Social Butterfly: Love the article – thanks for posting it as well as the write about the screening of “Red Tails”. You’re on it girl! I look forward to the flick too.
With respect to Obama appointing Michael Taylor, what comes to mind is “…Keep your enemies closer”.
CS: I was cracking up at your comment, especially your last line, because it is so true.
Howie: Somebody’s got to be it. Most of the time I feel like I am posting bad news as well. But hey, there’s plenty to report. Not saying what’s up, doesn’t make it not so. If you are privy to it, we are grateful to get it.
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog.If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)
Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:
Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129
Are racists dumb? Do conservatives tend to be less intelligent than liberals? A provocative new study from Brock University in Ontario suggests the answer to both questions may be a qualified yes.
The study, published in Psychological Science, showed that people who score low on I.Q. tests in childhood are more likely to develop prejudiced beliefs and socially conservative politics in adulthood.
I.Q., or intelligence quotient, is a score determined by standardized tests, but whether the tests truly reveal intelligence remains a topic of hot debate among psychologists.
Dr. Gordon Hodson, a professor of psychology at the university and the study’s lead author, said the finding represented evidence of a vicious cycle: People of low intelligence gravitate toward socially conservative ideologies, which stress resistance to change and, in turn, prejudice, he told LiveScience.
Why might less intelligent people be drawn to conservative ideologies? Because such ideologies feature “structure and order” that make it easier to comprehend a complicated world, Dodson said. “Unfortunately, many of these features can also contribute to prejudice,” he added.
Dr. Brian Nosek, a University of Virginia psychologist, echoed those sentiments.
“Reality is complicated and messy,” he told The Huffington Post in an email. “Ideologies get rid of the messiness and impose a simpler solution. So, it may not be surprising that people with less cognitive capacity will be attracted to simplifying ideologies.”
But Nosek said less intelligent types might be attracted to liberal “simplifying ideologies” as well as conservative ones.
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog.If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)
Mitt Romney was a moderate governor in Massachusetts with an unimpressive record of governance. He left office with an approval rating in the thirties and his signature achievement, Romneycare, was a Hurricane Katrina style disaster for the state. Since that’s the case, it’s fair to ask what a Republican who’s not conservative and can’t even carry his own state brings to the table for GOP primary voters. The answer is always the same: Mitt Romney is supposed to be “the most electable” candidate. This is a baffling argument because many people just seem to assume it’s true, despite the plethora of evidence to the contrary.
1) People just don’t like Mitt: The entire GOP primary process so far has consisted of Republican voters desperately trying to find an alternative to Mitt Romney. Doesn’t it say something that GOP primary voters have, at one time or another, preferred Donald Trump, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich, and now even Ron Paul (In Iowa) to Mitt Romney?
To some people, this is a plus. They think that if conservatives don’t like Mitt Romney, that means moderates will like him. This misunderstands how the process of attracting independent voters works in a presidential race. While it’s true the swayable moderates don’t want to support a candidate they view as an extremist, they also don’t just automatically gravitate towards the most “moderate” candidate. To the contrary, independent voters tend to be moved by the excitement of the candidate’s base (See John McCain vs. Barack Obama for an example of how this works). This is how a very conservative candidate like Ronald Reagan could win landslide victories. He avoided being labeled an extremist as Goldwater was; yet his supporters were incredibly enthusiastic and moderates responded to it.
Let’s be perfectly honest: Mitt Romney excites no one except for Mormons, political consultants, and Jennifer Rubin. To everybody else on the right, Mitt Romney vs. Barack Obama would be a “lesser of two evils” election where we’d grudgingly back Mitt because we wouldn’t lose as badly with him in the White House as we would with Obama. That’s not the sort of thing that gets people fired up to make phone calls, canvass neighborhoods, or even put up “I heart Mitt” signs in their yards.
2) He’s a proven political loser: There’s a reason Mitt Romney has been able to say that he’s “not a career politician.” It’s because he’s not very good at politics. He lost to Ted Kennedy in 1994. Although he did win the governorship of Massachusetts in 2002, he did it without cracking 50% of the vote. Worse yet, he left office as the 48th most popular governor in America and would have lost if he had run again in 2006. Then, to top that off, he failed to capture the GOP nomination in 2008. This time around, despite having almost every advantage over what many people consider to be a weak field of candidates, Romney is still desperately struggling. Choosing Romney as the GOP nominee after running up that sort of track record would be like promoting a first baseman hitting .225 in AAA to the majors.
3) Running weak in the southern states: Barack Obama won North Carolina, Virginia, and Florida in 2008 and you can be sure that he will be targeting all three of those states again. This is a problem for Romney because he would be much less likely than either Gingrich or Perry to carry any of those states. Moderate northern Republicans have consistently performed poorly in the south and Romney won’t be any exception. That was certainly the case in 2008 when both McCain and Huckabee dominated Romney in primaries across the south. Mitt didn’t win a single primary in a southern state and although he finished second in Florida, he wasn’t even competitive in North Carolina or Virginia. Since losing any one of those states could be enough to hand the election to Obama in a close race, Mitt’s weakness there is no small matter.
4) His advantages disappear in a general election: It’s actually amazing that Mitt Romney isn’t lapping the whole field by 50 points because he has every advantage. Mitt has been running for President longer than the other contenders. He has more money and a better organization than the other candidates. The party establishment and inside the beltway media are firmly in his corner. That’s why the other nominees have been absolutely savaged while Romney, like John McCain before him, has been allowed to skate through the primaries without receiving serious scrutiny.
Yet, every one of those advantages disappears if he becomes the nominee. Suddenly Obama will be the more experienced candidate in the race for the presidency. He will also have more money and a better organization than Mitt. Moreover, in a general election, the establishment and beltway media will be aligned against Romney, not for him. Suddenly, Romney will go from getting a free pass to being public enemy #1 for the entire mainstream media.
If you took all those advantages away from Romney in the GOP primary, he’d be fighting with Jon Huntsman to stay out of last place. So, what happens when he’s the nominee and suddenly, all the pillars that have barely kept him propped up in SECOND place so far are suddenly removed? It may not be pretty.
5) Bain Capital: Mitt Romney became rich working for Bain Capital. This has been a plus for Romney in the Republican primaries where the grassroots tend to be dominated by people who love capitalism and the free market. However, in a year when Obama will be running a populist campaign and Occupy Wall Street is demonizing the “1%,” Mitt Romney will be a TAILOR MADE villain for them. Did you know that Bain Capital gutted companies and made a lot of money, in part, by laying off a lot of poor and middle class Americans? Do you know that Bain Capital got a federal bailout and Mitt Romney made lots of money off of it?
“The way the company was rescued was with a federal bailout of $10 million,” the ad says. “The rest of us had to absorb the loss … Romney? He and others made $4 million in this deal. … Mitt Romney: Maybe he’s just against government when it helps working men and women.”
The facts of the Bain & Co. turnaround are a little more complicated, but a Boston Globe report from 1994 confirms that Bain saw several million dollars in loans forgiven by the FDIC, which had taken over Bain’s failed creditor, the Bank of New England.
Did you know Ted Kennedy beat Romney in 1994 by hammering Mitt relentlessly on his time at Bain Capital? No wonder. The ads write themselves.
Imagine pictures of dilapidated, long since closed factories. They trot out scruffy looking workers talking about how bad life has been since Mitt Romney crushed their dreams and cost them their jobs. Then they show a clip of Mitt making his $10,000 bet and posing with money in his clothes. All Mitt needs is a monocle and a sniveling Waylon Smithers type character to follow him around shining his shoes to make him into the prototypical bad guy the Democrats are trying to create.
Now, the point of this isn’t to say that what Mitt did at Bain Capital was dishonorable. It certainly wasn’t. To the contrary, as a conservative, I find his work in the private sector to be just about the only thing he has going for him. But, people should realize that in a general election, Mitt’s time at Bain Capital will probably end up being somewhere between a small asset and a large liability, depending on which side does a better job of defining it.
6) The Mormon Factor: This is a sensitive topic; so I am going to handle it much, much more gently than Hollywood and the mainstream media will if Mitt gets the nomination. Mormons do believe in Jesus Christ, the Mormon Church does a lot of good work, the ones I’ve met seem to be good people, and two of my best friends are Mormons. That being said, Mormons are not considered to be a mainstream Christian religion in large swathes of the country. There will be Protestants who will have deep reservations about voting a Mormon into the White House because they’ll be afraid it will help promote what they believe to be a false religion. There have also been a number of polls that show that significant numbers of Americans won’t vote for a Mormon as President.
Just look at a couple of the more recent polls and consider how much of an impact this issue could have in a close election.
The poll found 67 percent of Americans want the president to be Christian and 52 percent said they consider Mormons to be Christian. Twenty-two percent of those polled said they don’t think Mormons are Christians and 26 percent are unsure.
“I do believe they are moral people, but again there is a difference between being moral and being saved,” Linda Dameron, an evangelical Republican in Independence, Mo., told the Tribune.
More than 40 percent of Americans would be uncomfortable with a Mormon as president, according to a new survey that also suggests that as more white evangelical voters have learned White House hopeful Mitt Romney is Mormon, the less they like him.
A survey by the Public Religion Research Institute released late Monday also shows that nearly half of white evangelical Protestant voters — a key demographic in the Republican primary race — don’t believe that Mormonism is a Christian faith, and about two-thirds of adults say the LDS faith is somewhat or very different than their own.
You should also keep in mind that if Mitt Romney gets the nomination, Hollywood and the mainstream media will conduct a vicious, months’ long hate campaign against the Mormon Church. They will take every opportunity to make Mormons look weird, racist, kooky, scary, and different. Would this be a decisive factor? I’d like to say no, but by the time all is said and done, it’s very easy to see Romney potentially losing hundreds of thousands of votes across the country because of his religion.
7) He’s a flip-flopper. Maybe my memory is failing me, but didn’t George Bush beat John Kerry’s brains in with the “flip flopper” charge back in 2004? So now, just eight years later, the GOP is going to run someone that even our own side agrees is a flip-flopper right out of the gate? Romney doesn’t even handle the charge well. When Brett Baier at Fox pointed out the obvious, Romney’s response was to get huffy and deny that he was flip flopping, which is kind of like Lady Gaga denying that she likes to get attention. If Mitt can’t even handle run-of-the-mill questions from FOX NEWS about his flip flopping, what makes anyone think he can deal with the rest of the press in a general election?
There are a lot of issues with trying to run a candidate who doesn’t seem to have any core principles. It makes it impossible for his supporters to get excited about him because you can’t fall in love with a weathervane. Even worse, since politicians tend to be such liars anyway and you know Romney has no firm beliefs, it’s very easy for everyone to assume the worst. Democrats will feel that Romney will be a right wing death-beast. Republicans will think that Romney will screw them over. Independents won’t know what to believe, which will make the hundreds of millions that Obama will spend on attack ads particularly effective. Ronald Reagan famously said the GOP needed “a banner of no pale pastels, but bold colors.” That’s particularly relevant when it comes to Mitt Romney who has proven to be a pasty grey pile of formless mush.
*L*S*O*S*
Readers: Thoughts? Anything on anything….blog me.
Clara: I am sorry that you could not find the day you were looking for on my blog. Thanks for your persistency in sticking around. I will be here unless someone else chooses to shut me down. So please support “Stop Censorship – Stop SOPA” -thanks.
Ronnie: And there you have it – a country cutting off its nose to spite its face.
Howie: You always seen to have additional interesting info on the current topic. Thanks for sharing.
Al: Like most, I am crazy about any baby animals. Elephants are no different in their baby cuteness. Loved it -Thanks too for sharing. You can notice the difference in expressions on these elephants (they are smiling) compared to the elephants abused in the video I posted.
Mike, Our resident “Mike” that usually posts political info and responds to Human Events: I was not sure if it was you commenting the last couple of times as you haven’t been the rebuttal to Human Events for awhile. I HOPE you’re still here. Like Robert,Rt did recently, any chance you can add something to your name, so that I/we know it is you? You have been a regular for so long, I just want to recognize that if you don’t mind. Thanks.
Peace & Love…
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog.If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)
Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:
Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129
While the republicans are constantly running around trying to induce fear about everything from terrorists to the debt crisis to anyone that will listen, (that’s a nod to you Rachel - I agree with your stand on Chris Matthews take on Mitch Daniels), President Obama takes action, kicks ass, and handles it (With help of course:)
As usual, any good thing Obama does, the republicans don’t want to give any attention to it. And this is no different. I have news from a reliable authority that the republicans are limiting their coverage of this news event and that they have sent a spin on the rescue to accuse Obama of staging it, to coincide with his State of the Union speech on Tuesday.
Like I said yesterday, they will do anything, or in this case try to keep it on the hush hush, to get Obama out of the White House.
A big thanks to the Special Ops, the same Navy SEALS who also killed Osama bin Laden, two hostages that were kidnapped and held since last October, are now free, unharmed, and safe. What would we do without our SEALS and Obama? I am so proud of and grateful for both.
Update 10:26 AM: The original video is restricted. If you want to watch it, click on the title below. Or just watch the new video that I just posted of this amazing and courageous rescue by our Navy SEALS.
MOGADISHU, Somalia — U.S. Navy SEALs parachuted into Somalia under cover of darkness early Wednesday and crept up to an outdoor camp where an American woman and Danish man were being held hostage. Soon, nine kidnappers were dead and both hostages were freed.
President Barack Obama authorized the mission by SEAL Team 6 two days earlier, deploying the same unit that killed Osama bin Laden last year. Minutes after the president gave his State of the Union address to Congress he was on the phone with the American’s father to tell him his daughter was safe.
The Danish Refugee Council confirmed the two aid workers, American Jessica Buchanan and Poul Hagen Thisted, a Dane, were “on their way to be reunited with their families.”
Buchanan, 32, and Thisted, 60, were working with a de-mining unit of the Danish Refugee Council when gunmen kidnapped the two in October.
The raiders came in quickly, catching the guards as they were sleeping after having chewed the narcotic leaf qat for much of the evening, a pirate who gave his name as Bile Hussein told The Associated Press by phone. Hussein said he was not present at the site but had spoken with other pirates who were, and that they told him nine pirates had been killed in the raid and three were “taken away.”
The hostage rescue was carried out by the same SEAL unit behind the operation in Pakistan last May that killed bin Laden, two U.S. officials said on condition of anonymity to discuss the operation. It was not clear if any members participated in both operations. The unit is the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, also known as SEAL Team 6.
One official said that the team parachuted into the area before moving on foot to the target. The raid happened near the Somali town of Adado.
New intelligence emerged last week that Buchanan’s health was “deteriorating rapidly,” so Obama directed his security team to develop a rescue plan, according to a senior administration official who was not authorized to speak publicly. A Danish Refugee Council official, Mary Ann Olsen, said that Buchanan was “not that ill” but needed medicine.
“As Commander-in-Chief, I could not be prouder of the troops who carried out this mission, and the dedicated professionals who supported their efforts,” Obama said in a statement released by the White House. “The United States will not tolerate the abduction of our people, and will spare no effort to secure the safety of our citizens and to bring their captors to justice.”
A Western official said the rescuers and the freed hostages flew by helicopter to a U.S. military base called Camp Lemonnier in the Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the information had not been released publicly. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta visited Camp Lemonnier just over a month ago. A key U.S. ally in this region, Djibouti has the only U.S. base in sub-Saharan Africa. It hosts the military’s Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa.
The timing of the raid may have been made more urgent by Buchanan’s medical condition. The Danish Refugee Council had been trying to work with Somali elders to win the hostages’ freedom but had found little success.
“One of the hostages has a disease that was very serious and that had to be solved,” Danish Foreign Minister Villy Soevndal told Denmark’s TV2 channel. Soevndal did not provide any more details. Soevndal congratulated the Americans for the raid.
The Danish Refugee Council said both freed hostages are unharmed “and at a safe location.” The group said in a separate statement that the two “are on their way to be reunited with their families.”
Olsen informed Thisted’s family of of the successful military operation and said “they were very happy and incredibly relieved that it is over.” Olsen said the two freed hostages were in Djibouti and would soon be moved to a “safe haven.” She said Buchanan does not need to be hospitalized.
“One of the first things Poul and Jessica were able to do was to call their families and say they were freed,” Olsen said. “They will be reunited with their families as quickly as possible,” Olsen said.
The head of the Danish Refugee Council, Andreas Kamm, said he would have preferred to see the two hostages freed peacefully after working with Somali groups to win the pair’s freedom, “but we’re happy with the outcome. This is a day of joy indeed.”
The two aid workers appear to have been kidnapped by criminals – sometimes referred to as pirates – and not by Somalia’s al-Qaida-linked militant group al-Shabab. As large ships at sea have increased their defenses against pirate attacks, gangs have looked for other money making opportunities like land-based kidnappings.
The Danish Refugee Council had earlier enlisted traditional Somali elders and members of civil society to seek the release of the two hostages.
“We are really happy with the successful release of the innocents kidnapped by evildoers,” said Mohamud Sahal, an elder in Galkayo town, by phone. “They were guests who were treated brutally. That was against Islam and our culture … These men (pirates) have spoiled our good customs and culture, so Somalis should fight back.”
Buchanan lived in neighboring Kenya before Somalia, and worked at a school in Nairobi called the Rosslyn Academy from 2007-09, said Rob Beyer, the dean of students. He described the American as quick to laugh and adventurous.
“There have been tears on and around the campus today,” Beyer said. “She was well-loved by all her students.”
Buchanan graduated in 2006 from Valley Forge Christian College, a small suburban Philadelphia school. The school’s president, the Rev. Don Meyer, said Buchanan taught at Rosslyn as part of her studies and “fell in love with Africa.”
“Ever since Jessica was captured, we all as a community have been praying for her safety and for her safe release,” Meyer said. “We are also grateful that our prayers have been answered.”
Buchanan and Thisted were seized in October from the portion of Galkayo town under the control of a government-allied clan militia. The aid agency has said that Somalis held demonstrations demanding the pair’s quick release.
Their Somali colleague was detained by police on suspicion of being involved in their kidnapping.
The two hostages were working in northern Somalia for the Danish Demining Group, whose experts have been clearing mines and unexploded ordnance in conflict zones in Africa and the Middle East.
Several hostages are still being held in Somalia, including a British tourist, two Spanish doctors seized from neighboring Kenya, and an American journalist kidnapped on Saturday.
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Associated Press reporters Julie Pace in Washington, Jason Straziuso in Nairobi, Kenya, Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Patrick Walters in Philadelphia contributed to this report. Houreld reported from Nairobi and Dozier from Washington.
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Readers: It’s incredible just how much Obama has done for this country…all the jobs he has created..And that jobs are being brought back home…in-sourced!…And wasn’t it just wonderful to hear that GM, an American company is back on top as the world’s number -one auto maker?! I think America is pretty damn happy. Did you see the stats? Definitely something to be proud of.
According to the poll, which was conducted online by Knowledge Networks immediately after the president’s address, 91 percent of those who watched the speech approved of the proposals Mr. Obama put forth during his remarks. Only nine percent disapproved.
Howie: I just had to go back and read your comment. I find it interesting that these billionaires are paying researchers to find ways to add years to their lives, when we have been told that humans have the capability of living so much longer than we have if we just eat right, and take care of our bodies with the things that are naturally here on earth. That if we just stay away from the chemicals that are so prevalent in our food and drink, and just ingest the right products in the correct proportions we would live so much longer.
I find it interesting and quite stupid that greed has gotten the best of these billionaires who have made so much money off of products that are ruining the earth and our natural resources and poisoning humans; themselves included. Again, as madaline stated years ago, greed and greedy people are like a disease that eats away at the host until there is no more host and the disease dies. Unless we change our ways with earth, the earth will survive but our resources will not; hence nor will we.
Mike: There is no country first with the republicans. “Anybody but Obama” (ABO) is their motto. And…they are all Lying Sacks Of Shit. While republicans are trying to ruin our country, Obama is busy saving it in so many ways.
Done for the day…Blog me.
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog.If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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