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How Rio De Janeiro is like Barack Obama
Well, the word is in for the 2016 Olympics, and it’s not so pretty for my hometown, Chicago. After three rounds of voting in Copenhagen, Denmark, the International Olympic Committee announced that Rio de Janeiro will host the games, making it the first Olympics to be held in South America. That alone is news worth…
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"Brick City" Offers More Real Talk Than Pep Talks
Via Baratunde Thurston of Jack and Jill Politics, a stirring clip from Brick City, the Sundance Channel documentary on Newark, New Jersey and its Mayor, Cory Booker: I pulled this clip because I think it’s the most powerful monologue I’ve seen in a good long while. The speaker is not an actor, however. This is…
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Is President Obama Really Going to Grovel in Copenhagen?
The president heads to Europe today—not to bargain for an international treaty on climate change, or to join the heated Swiss negotiations on Iranian nuclear ambitions, but to beg and plead on behalf Chicago’s 2016 Olympic bid. There had been some speculation about who might go fight for the president’s adopted hometown (last week, Michelle…
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The Public Option Is Dead, Long Live the Public Option
A government-administered health insurance plan—similar to Medicare, for any American who wants it—has had a rocky debut on the national political stage this year. Known to its supporters and detractors alike as “the public option,” it was debated anew by the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday. As befits such a heated debate, there were charts, there…
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Is Higher Education in America Worth Saving?
As the 2009-1010 school year gets underway, President Barack Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan have been making strong moves to ensure that American higher education remains competitive in the 21st century economy. Commentary has focused on Obama and Duncan’s plans to extend the school year to match the time foreign counterparts spend educating their…
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Stephen Colbert Defines "Blackwashing" for Obama's Critics
On Thursday’s episode of “The Colbert Report,” Comedy Central’s faux conservative talk show host stuck it to actual conservative media figures Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck—as always, in the guise of chastising liberals (in this case, former president Jimmy Carter). Sarcastically defending Beck and Limbaugh and North Carolina Rep. Virginia Fox for their outrageous comments…
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PHOTO OF THE DAY: The Obamas hit the G20
US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama walk to Air Force One at JFK International Airport in New York, NY, September 24, 2009. Michelle and Barack will be hosting their first G20 bash in Pittsburgh today and tomorrow. Michelle who will be entertaining the spouses of the 20 world leaders that are poised…
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A New World Order
NEW YORK—On the eve of the international political conference in Pittsburgh known as the Group of 20, President Barack Obama addressed a packed main hall of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Making his first appearance before the international diplomatic and peacekeeping body, Obama stressed that expectations of global cooperation now drive American…
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Obama on Race at the UN
Making his first appearance before the United Nations General Assembly as president, Barack Obama laid out a forceful, well-received case for international cooperation in a globalized world. He laid out “four pillars” that would determine America’s relationship to the diplomatic and peacekeeping body going forward: nuclear disarmament, energy security and climate change, democracy promotion and…
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Obama Meets with African Heads of State
After addressing the United Nations on the topic of climate change and having a closely-watched bilateral meeting with Chinese president Hu Jintao, President Obama headed to the Clinton Global Initiative to address conference attendees from businesses, NGOs, and governments around the world. There, he gave a well-rounded, if vague address on the major crises of…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
