Free flow of ideas is the cornerstone of democracy: March 2015

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Help Bring Film About Deputy US Marshal Bass Reeves to the Silver Screen

Vintage Snow Covered 1920s City Street Cars Winter Postcards by artbymar
See other Snow Postcards at zazzle

HR BlogVOCATE: Portrait of a Corporate Psychopath: How J.K. Simmo...

HR BlogVOCATE: Portrait of a Corporate Psychopath: How J.K. Simmo...: Last week I watched Whiplash, starring Miles Teller (as young jazz drummer Andrew) and J.K. Simmons (as Fletcher), and it occurred...

Don't be Afraid to Take Whisks CUSTOM Poster by KnotPaperStitch
Browse Kitchen Posters online at Zazzle.com

Sunday, March 22, 2015

The Hunting of Billie Holiday

A story about jazz great Billie Holiday that few people know. The story of her run in with the Federal Bureau of Narcotics.
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/01/drug-war-the-hunting-of-billie-holiday-114298.html

BOSS lady with a pink coffee cup Mug by JazzyHumor
Browse more Ladies Mugs at Zazzle

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Vendor Selling Racist Targets At Gun Show

The Noose of Racism | Teaching Tolerance

The Noose of Racism | Teaching Tolerance. A disease that infects the U.S. from coast to coast.

When Racist Acts Obscure Racism | Teaching Tolerance

When Racist Acts Obscure Racism | Teaching Tolerance. An examination of American culture, and how we seem to be blind to things that are right in front of our faces.

Sunday, March 15, 2015

Running for AFSA Vice President-Retiree on the Future Forward AFSA Slate

Dear Friends:

I hope that this missive finds you all well. I don’t normally send holiday letters, but the year 2015 promises to be a momentous one, and I wanted to share it with each of you.

Since my retirement from the Foreign Service in 2012, I have been actively involved with the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA), mainly with AFSA’s Committee on the Foreign Service Profession and Ethics (PEC), which I chaired from 2012 until the summer of 2014, and working with the outreach staff in explaining the Foreign Service and foreign affairs issues to audiences such as ROAD Scholars and others. I also served as the chair of the AFSA working group that developed the Chief of Mission Guidelines in 2013.

I have throughout my career been intensely interested in enhancing the Foreign Service as a career, and now in my retirement I have been able to take an active part in efforts to achieve that. After careful thought, I am now ready to take the next step, and am running for the position of Vice President-Retirees on the AFSA Governing Board in 2015.

I ask your support in what will be a challenging race. Along with nine other colleagues I am running as part of the Future Forward AFSA slate. Any active duty or retired AFSA member of any foreign affairs agency can vote.

For those of you who cannot vote, I ask your help in getting the word out online on Facebook or Twitter. You can also copy the Future Forward AFSA URL, http://www.futureforwardafsa.com/ and share it on other social media sites, such as LinkedIn and Tumblr.

The next couple of months will be busy, but I’m looking forward to it, and with your help, I’ll be able to move my involvement to the next level – to work with like-minded colleagues to build on AFSA’s strong record of accomplishment and maintain it as an independent voice for the Foreign Service, and to help build a Foreign Service that is capable of addressing our nation’s most complex diplomatic challenges.

Sincerely,

Charles Ray

AVG's Michael McKinnon Explains What Are Tracking Cookies?

Saturday, March 14, 2015

When You Kill Ten Million Africans You Aren't Called 'Hitler'

An Open Letter to Senator Mitch McConnell: Why No One Wants to Consult You

Dear Senator McConnell:

You were recently quoted in the local press as saying, “You just have to be suspicious as to why the administration would not want our participation” in reference to your claim that the White House has not sought ‘Congressional input into the negotiations over the Iran nuclear arms deal.’

As someone who served as an American diplomat for more than 30 years, I can agree with you that congressional input and advice on sensitive negotiations is important, and is a crucial element of American foreign policy. But, I must also say that I’m surprised that you would wonder why the current administration would be reluctant to consult you and your colleagues at this point in our history.

There’s an old saying I recall from growing up in East Texas – ‘Sleep with dogs, and wake up with fleas.’ These days, Senator, you have made your bed with a pack of undisciplined pups that don’t seem to have been house broken. Let’s look at the record, and maybe you’ll see what I mean.

The most recent, and in my view most egregious, action was the signing and transmission to Iran a letter signed by 47 Republican senators basically threatening to ‘overrule any deal made by the current administration.’ That even the Iranian foreign minister points out how inappropriate such a missive is should not be lost on someone with as much time in the Senate as you have. These 47, supposedly intelligent people, seem to have forgotten that there are legitimate and appropriate channels to express congressional disapproval of treaties and agreements, and none of them involve the direct communication with a foreign power.

Speaking of foreign powers, when the GOP speaker of the House issued an invitation to a foreign head of government to speak before congress regarding an issue currently being negotiated with the P-5 – without the courtesy of even informing the President in advance – this was not just a breach of protocol. It was a disingenuous and devious act that displayed disdain and disrespect not just for the incumbent, but for the office of the President.

The GOP tantrums over presidential executive orders, which was accompanied by a ton of disinformation and outright falsehoods regarding the number of executive orders president Obama has issued, was more like playground squabbling than the deliberations of rational people who have the good of the whole country at heart. Executive orders, while not explicitly provided for in the Constitution, have been a part of our politics for many years. Presidents have been issuing them for ages: Here are some examples of who issued how many:

Truman 907

Eisenhower 484

Kennedy 214

Nixon 346

Ford 169

Carter 320

Reagan 381

Bush, G.H.W. 169

Clinton 364

Bush, G.W. 291

Obama 194

I find the GOP’s sometimes rabid opposition to the Affordable Care Act mind boggling. Can’t your colleagues read and recall history, or are they just ignorant? The current legislation is eerily similar to a Republican proposal that failed to make it through a Democrat-controlled congress, and much like legislation former presidential-candidate Romney passed into law when he was a governor. What’s going through the minds of the opponents of a law that finally provides affordable health coverage to Americans who were previously left out in the cold?

Let’s get real. You consult people you trust, and that trust must be earned. What have most of your colleagues—yourself included—done to earn anyone’s trust lately? Maybe if you’d put the good of the people, and not just a narrow minority of the most wealthy, ahead of getting reelected, it would be easier to make the kind of compromises and take the actions that would restore sanity to American politics and clear the toxic fumes from the air.

I sincerely hope you are reflecting on that in the days ahead. Let’s roll up the papers and smack a few unruly pups on the nose to dissuade them from doing their ‘business’ on the carpet.

Respectfully,

A Concerned American

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Thursday, March 12, 2015

Ted Cruz Speaking to International Association of Fire Fighters

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

The 131 Preview Review: A Spotlight from The #131PreviewReview #TeaserTued...

The 131 Preview Review: A Spotlight from The #131PreviewReview #TeaserTued...: A Break in the Silence... So I know I've been AWOL for a while, I'm not going into the why or the how, it's just been a cra...

The Changing Face and Changing Roles of the Foreign Service

Saturday, March 7, 2015

Indigenous versus Indi-genius | Nozipo Maraire | TEDxHarare

Friday, March 6, 2015

Honoring the Commitment: Story of the Repatriation of PFC Lawrence Gordon

Support Jed Henry's Kickstarter campaign to produce a documentary on the identification and repatriation of the remains of World War II veteran PFC Lawrence Gordon.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1988748312/honoring-a-commitment