Saturday, November 05, 2011
Obama mourns Steve Jobs’ passing
United States President Barack Obama made a rare statement mourning the passing of Steve Jobs (56), Cofounder, Chairman and former Chief Executive of Apple Inc., saying that he and First Lady Michelle Obama were saddened to learn of the death of one of “the greatest of American innovators - brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it.”
His statement came a few hours after Apple announced on its website that Mr. Jobs had passed away. Displaying nothing but a photograph of Mr. Jobs and its main menu bar on its homepage Apple said that it had lost a visionary and creative genius, and that the world had lost an amazing human being. “Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple,” the company said.
In a tribute to Mr. Jobs’ spirit, Mr. Obama said that he exemplified American ingenuity and recalled that Mr. Jobs was fond of saying that he lived every day like it was his last. “Because he did, he transformed our lives, redefined entire industries, and achieved one of the rarest feats in human history: he changed the way each of us sees the world,” Mr. Obama said.
Mr. Obama’s comment in some senses reflected a now-famous speech that Mr. Jobs made at a commencement event at Stanford University in 2005. In that speech Mr. Jobs had spoken about inspiration when he said, “Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love.”
Having learned of his cancer diagnosis a year earlier Mr. Jobs had also touched upon the theme of death and said, “Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.”
Underscoring the sea-change in technology that was brought about by Apple’s numerous, elegant products Mr. Obama said that in Mr. Jobs’ death “the world has lost a visionary, and there may be no greater tribute to Steve’s success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented.”
The President spoke especially of Mr. Jobs’ transformative innovations and said that by making computers personal and literally putting the internet into people’s pockets, he made the information revolution not only accessible, but intuitive and fun. “By turning his talents to storytelling, he has brought joy to millions of children and grownups alike,” Mr. Obama added.
Labels: death, former Apple CEO Steve Jobs, U.S. President Barack Obama
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
U.S. modulates West Asia involvement
From The Hindu
In a possible indication that the United States is seeking to tamp down its involvement in West Asian politics, the White House has refused to officially recognise the Libyan Transitional National Council rebel formation, even as President Barack Obama accepted the resignation of his top West Asia envoy, George Mitchell.
Despite a high-profile meeting at the White House with National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, TNC President Mahmoud Gibril came away disappointed when he was informed there would as yet be no official recognition of his group as the alternative to Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi. While the White House spun the meeting as a positive development and said the U.S. viewed the TNC as a “legitimate and credible interlocutor of the Libyan people”, a State Department spokesman said the question of recognition was “one of many... policy issues... that are still under review”. He added it was up to the Libyan people, and not the international community, to decide who was to lead Libya.
Mr. Gibril had earlier said in an interview with CNN that his main message to the White House would be to clear up “misperceptions” about extreme elements in the opposition and to ask for formal recognition.
Even as these tensions became evident, the White House announced, following two years of failed efforts to get Israeli and Palestinian leaders to the negotiating table, that Mr. Mitchell would be resigning.
“Over the past two and a half years, George Mitchell has worked as a tireless advocate for peace as the U.S. Special Envoy for the Middle East. His deep commitment to resolving conflict and advancing democracy has contributed immeasurably to the goal of two states living side by side in peace and security,” said Mr. Obama.
While Mr. Mitchell said he had resigned based on his commitment to leave his role after two years' service under the Obama administration, foreign policy specialist Josh Rogin suggested that “Mitchell's departure is the clearest signal that no new peace initiative from the administration is forthcoming.”
Labels: Libya, Libyan Transitional National Council, Middle East, Middle East envoy George Mitchell, Muammar Qadhafi, U.S. President Barack Obama, White House
U.S. still holds BP accountable for “painful losses”: Obama
“We continue to hold BP and other responsible parties fully accountable for the damage they have done and the painful losses that they have caused,” said United States President Barack Obama, speaking on the occasion of the first anniversary of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
When the Deepwater Horizon oil rig operated by BP exploded on April 20 last year, it killed 11 men and released an estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf, making it the worst spill in U.S. history and an environmental catastrophe of unprecedented magnitude.
In a statement on Tuesday Mr. Obama said that the “catastrophic event” had deeply affected the lives of millions of Americans, from local fishermen to restaurant and hotel owners and small businesses throughout the region. He reiterated that from the beginning, his administration had sought to bring every available resource to bear, “amassing the largest oil spill response in our nation’s history.” Yet, he added, while significant progress had been made, “The job is not done.”
In an earlier interview with The Hindu, Kenneth Feinberg, Mr. Obama’s “pay czar” charged with disbursing compensation to the Gulf spill victims out of a $20 billion fund set up by BP, said that BP as the “wrongdoer” had to step up and “pay the freight” of the compensation programme. Mr. Feinberg added that although $3.6 billion had already been disbursed to over 200,000 claiimants, the emotional side of the disaster should not be disregarded, in particular the fact that many individuals, families and businesses had seen their livelihoods wiped out.
Providing an update on the recovery efforts a year later, Mr. Obama said that nearly 2,000 responders were still actively working in the Gulf and the disaster response team was “monitoring seafood to ensure its continued safety and implementing aggressive new reforms for offshore oil production in the Gulf so that we can safely and responsibly expand development of our own energy resources.”
Arguing that his administration would continue to keep “a watchful eye” on the continuing work required to ensure that the Gulf Coast recovers “stronger than before,” Mr. Obama added that Lisa Jackson, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency was leading a task force to coordinate the long-term restoration effort based on input from local scientists, experts, and citizens.
Labels: BP oil spill, first anniversary, U.S. President Barack Obama
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Democrats reject tax-cut deal
From The Hindu
United States President Barack Obama must be thinking to himself that he's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't — and he's probably right, at least so far as the latest controversy surrounding the expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts is concerned.
This week, the President was roundly criticised by the liberal section of his party for striking a deal with Republicans, under which tax cuts enacted by the former President, George W. Bush, and set to expire on December 31 2010, would be extended across the board for two more years.
While the Senate tax proposal, whose price tag is estimated to be a whopping $858 billion over the next 10 years, is firmly supported by Republicans for allowing the cuts to remain for the richest Americans, it has come under fire from Democrats in the House of Representatives for the same reason.
The chagrin of House Democrats became obvious on Thursday evening when, in a behind-closed-doors vote, they called for the package to not be brought to a floor vote “without changes scaling back tax breaks for the rich”.
Republicans are also keen on the bill's proposal to lighten the tax burden on the estates of the wealthy. The Obama compromise includes a plan to raise the estate tax floor from $3.5 million to $5 million. Yet the alternative, to allow the tax cuts to expire and face Republican blockades against the bill's proposals to extend unemployment insurance and similar benefits for the middle class, might well have been political suicide for all concerned.
Mr. Obama on Friday argued that “Nobody — Democrat or Republican — wants to see people's pay-cheques smaller on January 1 because Congress did not act.”
Yet he appeared to hold out hope that his solution would make it through Congress.
He said, “I think that the framework that we have put forward, which says not only that people's taxes do not go up on January 1, but also that we extend unemployment insurance for a year, that we make sure that key provisions like the college tax credit, the child tax credit, the earned-income tax credit are included.”
That aspect of the framework would serve as the basis for compromise, he said ; and he was optimistic about how this compromise would ultimately be perceived: “At the end of the day, people are going to conclude we do not want 2 million people suddenly without unemployment insurance and not able to pay their rent, not able to pay their mortgage,” he said.
Labels: House Democrats, Republicans, tax cuts, U.S. President Barack Obama
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