Beltway Insider: Obama Pushes Power Africa; Cuban Embassies; Iran Deal; Gun Control DOA; Caitlyn TV

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Category: Beltway Insider

Published on Sunday, 26 July 2015 21:43

Written by Janet Walker

President Obama foreign agenda has taken center stage as the historic deal with Iran, with effectively initiate the peaceful co-existence of Iran nuclear program with its neighbors, is now in a sixty day holding pattern awaiting approval from Congress.

According to Gallup, President Obama's job approval, over the past week, remained at 46% of those polled who approve of his effectiveness as President and those who disapprove of his effectiveness as President increased one percentage point to 49%.

Obama Pushes Power Africa Deal

On the wake of the historic and unified Iranian deal, President Obama has moved ahead with the Power Africa initiative which makes electricity, and will eventually overhaul the infrastructure, available to the continent of Africa.

“Power Africa initiative has been leveraging private capital to invest in electrification all across the continent.  And our preliminary goal was 10,000 megawatts; now we’re looking at 30,000 megawatts, and we’re well on our way,” the President said.

The initiative which gelled over the last two G7/G8 Summits was a part of the Emerging Nation strategy agreed upon by the summit leaders which at the time was unanimous including the now expelled Russia President Vladimir Putin.

During the June 2013 G8 Summit, the annual gathering for the leading industrialized nations, the leaders agreed to endorse the third world country as the next emerging nation, a title that would fast track private investors along with European nations to enter into trade agreements and other governmental deals with  the more civilized nations within the continent.

Power Africa, is a part of the original plan which the United States, under President Obama leadership, has agreed to fund over 7billion to the strategy that includes the complete overhaul of the continent infrastructure, trade and energy sectors.

President Obama and all members of the G7/G8, of which all have a vested interest in the development of the African continent, are creating an energy evolution, that will bypass the dirty energy and trouble areas that most developed nations are now dealing with the left over clean-up of decades of energy misuse.

“Part of what’s taking place is because, notice these solar panels, this is an opportunity for countries like Africa to leapfrog over dirty energy and immediately go to clean energy.  And so this mix of traditional products combined with these innovative ways of both producing energy and distributing it is why we think this is going to be such a promising initiative over the next several years,” the President said.

Funded primarily by private investors, the idea of electrification of the continent began during an intense visit to Nigeria during the former President Goodluck Jonathan’s tenure and President Obama’s exhaustive visit to the sub-Saharan desert region in 2013.

“How much electricity has Power Africa actually produced lately?   What’s happening is that financing, the transactions have been completed, plans are underway, and the work is being done, now we’re going to start seeing thousands, then tens of thousands, then hundreds of thousands, and then ultimately millions of households all across this continent with electrical power that can boost productivity and economic growth all across the continent,” the President said.

Iran Deal: A Done Deal or Coming Undone

President Obama has made the rounds this week, verbally thanking each member of the P5 +1 negotiators, committee and team members in continually negotiating against intense challenges for the betterment of global peace.

Now, with an accepted deal secured by both governments, the Congress has been given sixty days to review, and has allegedly asked for a thirty day extension, bringing the total review time to 90 days.

The next sixty to ninety days will produce the most intense season of lobbying Washington has witnessed in some time.

“Today, a letter in support of the deal signed by some 60 former senior U.S. government officials from both Democratic and Republican administrations is being circulated. Among the signers were those who know Iran best, the mechanics of nonproliferation and the art of diplomacy.  Included in this list are former national security advisors, Brent Scowcroft and Zbigniew Brzezinski; former Secretary of Defense William Perry; former Secretary of Treasury Paul O’Neill; former Ambassador to Iraq, Syria and Pakistan, Ryan Crocker; former State Department officials, Nicholas Burns, Christopher Hill, and Les Gelb; as well as Lee Hamilton, the former chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee,” White House Press Secretary, Josh Earnest said.

The deal essentially allows Iran, by their own agreement to become the most scrutinized nation in the world. The economic sanctions that have been in place, over the past two decades, will snap back immediately cutting off any financial or economic advances the  nation may have made.

ISIS/ISIL, Syria and Turkey

President Obama and Turkey’s President Erdogan are in agreement to a continued and joint effort to build the ISIS/ISIL counter-terrorism coalition utilizing Turkey’s Incirlik Air Base to assist the United States and coalition partners in airstrikes.

Coming on the heels of the ISIS/ISIL attack in Suruc, Turkey, the leaders remain committed to degrading and ultimately dismantling ISIS/ISIL and any break off terror cells.

“Turkey has taken important steps to curb the flow of foreign fighters.  We do know from reports that this 560-mile-long border between Turkey and Syria is traveled by some foreign fighters who are seeking to join up arms alongside ISIL.  And Turkey has taken some important steps to try to close that border,” said White House Press Secretary, Josh Earnest.

The United States has continued to support Turkey as they have remained committed to regional humanitarian assistance accepting more than 2million Syrians fleeing the civil war and Bashar al-Assad’s tyrannical government.

Chasing Numbers – Mass Shootings Strangling the Free In America

In July 2015, the major media outlets publicized three mass shootings in separate states, in a church, a military installation and a movie theater, overall 16 were killed in these vicious attacks.

The national media, as jaded as the public now follows the newsroom law of journalism, “If it bleeds it leads.” A mass shooting in a Louisville nightclub leaving seven dead or wounded, not catastrophic enough to send national news to the scene; two dead, two hospitalized; Four shot dead; all also occurred within the month of July 2015 without national news impact.

The numbers pale in comparison to dozens dead, scores injured, as the Aurora theater shooter is awaiting his fate after a jury found him guilty. No jury deliberated the fate of Adam Lanza, a mentally disturb, social introvert, who by the grace of God killed himself before local police, wounded parents and bystanders exacted justice upon him as he wandered through the hallways of Sandy Hook elementary school, bushmaster in hand murdering indiscriminately because he could.

Mass murder has become sport in the United States, a nation reeling from relaxed gun laws and politicians who understand supporting the Second Amendment allows a citizen the right to bear arms, supports the National Rifle Association, in turn supports my right, should I chose, to bear arms.

This is not about the laws, which the people bringing enough pressure on government can force change in either the law or the representation. Working within the form of government we support, allows every citizen the right to petition the government for change. Unhearing politicians are elected by the people. Send them home by vote. The next one will listen.

Shooters today, fortunately aren’t intent on chasing numbers, hopefully the days of Columbine, Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook, Aurora, The Navy Yard, the lists of mass shootings, are behind us. Hopefully, there are not others meticulously planning with modified magazine clips, hundred's of rounds of ammunition, four to six weapons ready, waiting,poised for the right moment, scouting locations and chasing numbers, for once being noticed.

Mass Shooting or Rampage killings are central to industrialized nations although the United States holds the number one position in school shootings with half of the top ten, or five, occurring inside the U.S.

Most can name the locations with two exceptions, May 18, 1927, Bath Township, MI, Andrew Philip Kehoe, 55, murdered 44 students and teachers and injured 58. The others Columbine, Virginia Tech and Sandy Hook and one additional unknown 1966, August killing in Austin, Texas left 15 dead and 32 injured.

The U.S. also leads in workplace shootings, Hate Crimes, and with the exception of home intruders which is simply as we are a nation where generations of families often don’t live together in the same home, the United States leads in ultra-violent crimes.

The Mass Shooting Tracker, a call-to-action website also has a list documenting each day in 2015 and every shooting.

January 11, 2015, 18 wounded; three dead in four shootings; May 17, 2015, Nine Dead, 18 wounded, in one shooting. The Mass Shooting tracker has no double Zero dates. Some indicate none of the seven wounded died, or none of the seven shot survived.

On this 204 day of 2015, the home of the free has had 204 Mass Shootings. No modernized definition of “Mass Shooting” has been voted on by congress indicating the numbers needed to be defined as a mass shooting, which for the sake of public policy, elections, gun control and public concern will be next on the agenda.

Americans will then return to their former selves, shocked over senseless crime, content with no new gun laws that challenge the creativity and dedication of elected politicians to find solutions, instead of lobbying or bartering votes to smooth pathways for pork filled bills.

Fame and infamy are so closely tied, one action or reaction is the dividing line. Society has provided those who are not able to compete in socially accepted areas, the opportunity to establish a name among the degenerates, to hold a trophy, to live in infamy forever to chase numbers and hold, for an instant or longer, the sweet taste of victory bought in the blood of the innocent, the title of winner, better than the most heinous among us, the idols of the wicked, the number one position.

Cuban Embassy Opens

President Obama’s foreign policy continues to move forward with a second historic shift as after more than a half a century the United States has reopened its embassy in Havana as Cuba has reopened its embassy in Washington.

The honor, was wrought, after decades of alienation and sanctions against the island nation, situated 90 miles off the Florida coastline.

Obama has continued to life sanctions against the communist country located within the hemisphere of the United States ending policy the late President John F. Kennedy ordered after the Cuban missile crisis brought out two nations to the brink of war.

Chinese State Dinner

President Obama also spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping thanking him for assisting the United States in the recent negotiations resulting in an historic, long-term comprehensive nuclear deal between the P5+1 and Iran that verifiably ensures Iran’s nuclear program is exclusively peaceful going forward.

He also told the Communist leader he looks forward to his visit to his upcoming visit to the White House this September.

Caitlyn Jenner

For Caitlyn Jenner, the once male Olympic Decathlon Gold Medal winner turned LGBT activist, the journey to womanhood has not been smooth.

Introducing herself to the world, through the highly publicized Vanity Fair cover shot by legendary Annie Leibowitz, Caitlyn is now sharing the documented journey in a new reality show titled, "I Am Cait.”

Her mother, Esther, the first person on her journey welcomed her former son, with unconditional acceptance. Unbiased and honest exchanges between the two women, brought to the surface a mother’s simple yet potent concern over some issues Caitlyn refused to share over the years.

"I Am Cait," from E! Television, airs in the Sunday evening time slot. The eight-part, one-hour docu-series premiered in the United States at 8 PM on July 26, 2015, on the E! network. In Australia, the series is set to premiere on the local version of E! on July 27, and in the UK beginning on August 2, 2015. Additionally, the series will be broadcast worldwide on local E! channels in 120 countries.

For more information on President Barack Obama: www.whitehouse.gov

Sources: Whitehouse.org, Wikipedia.com