America's perception management of Europe

Cartoon of Barack Obama by Morten Morland

Glenn Greenwald wrote in October 2012:

"It is almost certainly the case that an Obama-led attack on Iran would generate far more public support than a Romney-led attack, because most Democrats will almost certainly cheer for the former while pretending to be horrified by the latter, will while Republicans would support both (that's the dynamic that made the very same "counter-terrorism" policies that were so divisive in the Bush years become wildly popular once Obama embraced them)."

Barack Obama - "The drone president"

 

Jeremy Scahill called Obama is "the drone president". He said on Democracy Now:

"On this issue of the drones and the permanent war footing, I mean, Obama has been the drone president. And his line with liberals is sort of "Trust me. I know what I’m doing. I’m monitoring this. I’m doing everything I can to make sure that civilians aren’t killed." But time and time again, we see incidents where large numbers of civilians are being killed, and there seems to be no public accounting for how this happened. They say that they investigate when civilians are killed, and yet we are now two years, almost, removed from the killing of this 16-year-old kid, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, who appears to have been killed because of who his father was, was killed in a drone strike while

The Cult of University, Ctd Barack Obama

In the video above and here, Obama lays into the cult of university. He says:

"The problem is that a lot of young people no longer see trades and skilled manufacturing as a viable career. But I promise you, folks can earn a lot more potentially with skilled manufacturing or the trades than they might with an art history degree."

Barack Obama has previously entered the debate on law school, see here. A PhD student objected to Obama here. As I noted previously here:

"Attending 8 hours of lectures per week in an arts/humanities/social 'science' course is a waste of £27,000 except for the academically gifted."

Previous posts on the cult of university here, here, here and here. Also with The Sunday Times, apprenticeships and comments from young people here, and here on the effect of bringing university to the masses. In the Huffington Post here.

Arm folding and mirror holding, Ctd Northern Ireland needs Ian Knox and more satirists

Ian Knox from today's @irish_news. I really do wish the BBC would put his stuff back on TV again. We need him. pic.twitter.com/DsxDUFg6xD
— Alex.Kane (@AlexKane221b) January 8, 2014

In an article 'Comedy as a Weapon' published in The American Thinker, the power and influence of US political cartoonist Herb Block was explained:

"Thanks to people like Herb Block and his ilk, McCarthy became an American laughingstock, allowing communism and socialism to become "cool" in Hollywood, while Conservatives became unofficially "blacklisted." Sixty years later his methods of using humor and sarcasm for social influence are a template for those still seeking to destroy conservative values."

Herb Block popularised the term "McCarthyism" and through his cutting cartoons managed to discredit and pull down the entire edifice of the McCarthy enterprise, as he did with the cartoon above which helped Herb Block to win the Pulitzer Prize.

Christopher Hitchens on Obama's Nobel Peace Prize

"We thus find ourselves in a rather peculiar universe where good intentions are rewarded before they have undergone the strenuous metamorphosis of being translated into good deeds or hard facts and it becomes increasingly difficult to entertain the suspicion that there is something explicitly political in the underlying process of Nobelista decision making."

Why does everyone want to go to Law School? Ctd Laura Olin

Laura Olin, that girl behind Obama's social media strategy for Obama 2012, made an interesting observation on the everybody's collective dystopic, zombie drift towards Law School. She gave a biographical overview in note form:

"Devote a few words to early, fairly stupid inclination to be a lawyer, explaining two years at a civil rights legal nonprofit."

Barack Obama speech to Northern Ireland, in full

Michelle and President Barack Obama's address to Northern Ireland in full here, in the video above and transcribed in full below:

MRS. OBAMA: 

"Good morning. Oh, what an honor. Good morning, everyone. First of all, let me thank Hannah for that very bold and wonderful introduction. And of course, I want to thank all of you for being here today. 

It is such a pleasure to be here in Belfast. And as you might imagine, whenever we travel to places like this or anywhere else in the world, we’ve got a pretty packed schedule. We’re meeting with Presidents and Prime Ministers and First Ladies. We’re visiting historical sites and attending state dinners. And my husband is spending hours trying to make progress on global issues from trade to international security.

Hannah Nelson speech in full

"Good morning. My name is Hannah Nelson, I am 16 years old and I am from Belfast. I have been thinking about an important question: how do you make peace permanent in Northern Ireland? 

Permanent peace in our country is not just a simple dream for me as a teenager growing up today in Northern Ireland. It is a sincere, genuine aspiration. I believe that enduring peace can only come about through true respect for others. We have a right to express and celebrate our diverse cultures.We all have an obligation to value each other as individuals. 

As a 16 year old I dont want to live in the past, I want to live for the past. I want to live in a country where it is not my religion that is important but my value as a person which is significant. It is important that we all have a unique identity. A choice in life to chose who and what we want to be. We are growing up in a world where we are taught to be tolerant. To live peacefully we must put this into practice.