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Republican Response To Obama’s Trayvon Martin Comment

March 28, 2012 by · Comments Off on Republican Response To Obama’s Trayvon Martin Comment 

Republican Response To Obama’s Trayvon Martin Comment, Newt Gingrich on Monday defended his comments criticizing President Obama’s response to the death of Florida teen Trayvon Martin, saying the president should have empathy for all families — not just black families — who lose a child.

“Every single American of every background is endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, the pursuit of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We should be concerned about any young American of any background who ends up getting killed,” Gingrich said during an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.

He was asked to respond to the administration’s criticism over his initial remarks on the subject, when he termed ‘disgraceful’ Obama’s remarks that if he had a son, that son would look like Martin.

White House senior adviser David Plouffe said on CNN Sunday that Gingrich’s comments were “irresponsible” and “reprehensible.” But Gingrich stood by his remarks when he was asked to respond on Monday.

He recalled a visit by his wife, Callista, to a children’s cancer ward in the Tulane Children’s Hospital. “She was dealing with very young children. she came back and she described me 3-year-olds with leukemia. They were not children of a certain color, but they were children. we should be concerned about children of every background and all too often we’re not,” he said.

Trayvon Martin Shot And Killed

March 28, 2012 by · Comments Off on Trayvon Martin Shot And Killed 

Trayvon Martin Shot And Killed, The parents of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teen killed by a Hispanic man claiming self-defense, says that police would have arrested the shooter if they themselves weren’t racially profiling him.

“I think, for whatever reason, Zimmerman profiled him,” said the teen’s father Tuesday night, referring to the shooter, George Zimmerman. “And then, even worse, I think the police profiled Trayvon Martin.”

The parents, in an appearance on “AC360,” reiterated that the Sanford, Florida, police investigation had been “botched from the beginning.”

“I don’t think he was (not) charged because they were trying to protect him,” Martin’s mother, Sybrina Fulton, said of Zimmerman. “They didn’t understand how serious this was. They didn’t understand the value of my son’s life.”

Martin’s killing has touched a nerve across the nation, sparking calls for justice and Zimmerman’s prosecution.

But there also is support for Zimmerman from an unlikely source: an African-American friend, who says he has endured his share of unfair characterizations because of his race.

On Tuesday, Joe Oliver — a former CNN anchor who now works at WESH-TV in Orlando — defended his friend, saying he’s no racist.

“I understand completely the fear and anger that’s out there over this case. If I didn’t know George Zimmerman, I’d be right out there, too,” said Oliver.

Barack Obama Baskin Robbins

March 26, 2012 by · Comments Off on Barack Obama Baskin Robbins 

Barack Obama Baskin Robbins, There is much to be learned from first jobs: delivering papers, babysitting sniveling children, even scooping ice cream. So it was that The Times journeyed to 1633 King St., where Barack Obama had a job in his teens at Baskin-Robbins.

The president drove by his former place of employment last night on his way out to dinner, and you wonder if he longed to hop out of his SUV and help scoop some Rocky Road.

These days, the ice cream parlor serves kids devouring ice cream and young men eating banana splits who weren’t even alive when Obama worked there. But still, the establishment has lessons for the aspiring politician.

First, there’s the art of presentation. You wouldn’t sign a bill with a sloppy signature, just as you have to make sure the flowers and writing on the ice cream cake are neat and well-formed. Employees are quite good at that, said Sherill Fernandez, a manager and 10-year veteran of the Baskin-Robbins on King Street.

Ice cream scoopers serve people, just as the president does, said Dennis, another employee who is originally from the Philippines and who didn’t want to share his last name. Ice cream scoopers need their privacy too.

They also practice the art of diplomacy, he said. Sometimes, Baskin-Robbins advertises a flavor, and then people come in and ask for it and it’s out of season, and then the scoopers have to convince their would-be customers to get something else. “Whirl of Change” perhaps? It’s the Obama-themed flavor Baskin-Robbins introduced during the election; it includes peanut-nougat ice cream whirled with chunks of chocolate-covered peanut brittle and a caramel ribbon. Probably not the best flavor for keeping off the calories the president has been burning here in Hawaii during his early morning workouts.

Sue Thirlwall, Baskin-Robbins brand operating officer, says kids have learned presidential skills at the ice cream store for 65 years.

“Scooping for America’s favorite neighborhood ice cream shop can result in obtaining basic lifelong job skills, like handling consumer care in real time and keeping calm under pressure. As for the ice cream scooping itself — an actual ice cream scooper is a powerful tool that requires skill and craftsmanship,” she said. “The crew member who communicates effectively is both a diplomat and a terrific brand ambassador, serving guests of all flavor preferences.”

The establishment, and the neighborhood, has changed in the 30 or so years since Obama worked there — a sign on the wall urges customers not to steal the chairs, and the fountain soda machine is out of order (to the dismay of a panhandler who came in wanting a Coke). The Baskin-Robbins is right across the street from the basketball courts at the middle school where Obama reportedly learned to play – though the hoops now lack rims.

But even decades later, the ice cream parlor is a definitive training ground for at least one presidential skill: dealing with the media. Last year, “Good Morning America” and a TV station from Norway visited the shop, Fernandez said. This year, it was CNN and, of course, the L.A. Times.

“Now I’m used to talking to reporters,” she said. And, with a world-weary tone reminiscent of someone who’s seen what it’s like in the presidential spotlight, she continued, “It’s always the same question. And the same answers.”

Barack Obama Dick Cheney 8th Cousins

March 10, 2012 by · Comments Off on Barack Obama Dick Cheney 8th Cousins 

Barack Obama Dick Cheney 8th Cousins, Though they may spar across the political aisle, Vice President Dick Cheney is close enough to Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama to call him “cousin.”

Eighth cousin, that is. Lynne Cheney, the vice president’s wife, revealed this tantalizing bit of political trivia during a television interview Tuesday.

She said she uncovered the long-ago ties between the two while researching her ancestry for her latest book, “Blue Skies, No Fences,” a memoir about growing up in Wyoming.

“This is such an amazing American story that one ancestor … could be responsible down the family lines for lives that have taken such different and varied paths as Dick’s and Barack Obama,” Lynne Cheney told MSNBC.

According to her spokeswoman, Sen. Obama, D-Ill., is a descendent of Mareen Duvall. This French Huguenot’s son married the granddaughter of a Richard Cheney, who arrived in Maryland in the late 1650s from England, said Ginny Justice, a spokeswoman for Lynne Cheney.

The vice president’s full name is Richard B. Cheney.

A spokesman for Obama, who wants to be the first black U.S. president, offered a tongue-in-cheek response. “Every family has a black sheep,” said spokesman Bill Burton.

Lynne Cheney did not reference the ancestral ties between her husband and Obama in the book.

Maya Kassandra Soetoro-Ng

March 10, 2012 by · Comments Off on Maya Kassandra Soetoro-Ng 

Maya Kassandra Soetoro-Ng, Maya Kassandra Soetoro-Ng (born August 15, 1970 in Jakarta, Indonesia) is the half-sister to Barack Obama; they have the same mother, Stanley Ann Dunham. Her father and Obama’s step-father was Lolo Soetoro an Indonesian.

Although raised largely in Indonesia she lived with Obama in Hawaii with their white grandparents from 1973-1976.

Maya Soetoro-Ng teaches history at the private La Pietra Hawaii School for Girls and is an instructor for evening classes at the University of Hawaii. She is married to a Chinese-Canadian and they have a daughter, Suhaila. Soetoro-Ng was active in the Obama campaign.

She describes her mother as agnostic and her father a nominally Muslim. She philosophically describes herself today as a Buddhist.

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