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Obama’s Council on Women and Girls

President Obama has just signed an executive order establishing the “White House Council on Women and Girls.” The purpose of the new group “is to ensure that American women and girls are treated fairly in all matters of public policy,” he said at the signing. “Our progress in these areas is an important measure of whether we are truly fulfilling the promise of our democracy for all our people.” He defined those areas as economic security, a balance between work and family, violence against women and women’s health.

March 11, 2009, 5:01pm

Should he?

Obama floats talking with Taliban - CNN.com

(CNN) — President Obama says the United States is open to reaching out to some moderate voices in the Taliban, but critics say that’s not the right approach.

March 09, 2009, 2:02pm

Video: Barack Obama thanks Stevie Wonder for ‘soundtrack of my youth’ | Music | guardian.co.uk

February 26, 2009, 4:27pm

The Afghan trap

(via The Real News Network)

As Obama sends 17,000 troops to Afghanistan, we look back to the roots of the conflict. Ray McGovern says that the USSR was “mousetrapped” into invading Afghanistan by the CIA under both the Carter and Reagan administrations. He adds that the CIA policies of that day are “largely responsible” for the existence of today’s armed fundamentalist groups.

February 22, 2009, 12:46pm

Uighur (via Barack Obama’s Uighur Problem | Rights and Liberties | AlterNet)

First, the good news. Adel Abdul Hakim, one of five Uighurs (Muslims from China’s oppressed Xinjiang province), who was released from Guantánamo in May 2006, has had his asylum claim accepted by the Swedish government.

February 20, 2009, 11:33am

Could a Sudden Collapse of Mexico Be Obama’s Surprise Foreign Policy Challenge? | DrugReporter | AlterNet

A year-end report by the Pentagon’s Joint Forces Command names two countries as likely candidates for a “rapid and sudden collapse” — Pakistan and Mexico.

February 19, 2009, 5:09pm

Al Jazeera English - Americas - Obama: No troop plea with Canada

Barack Obama has said he has not asked Canada to send more troops to Afghanistan after visiting the country on his first foreign visit as US president.

February 19, 2009, 5:03pm

Johann Hari: Obama and the lethal war on drugs - Johann Hari, Commentators - The Independent

February 18, 2009, 5:17pm

What do y’all think of this?  

Delonas - New York Post Online Edition- New York Post

February 18, 2009, 10:43am

“The president believes that federal resources should not be used to circumvent state laws, and as he continues to appoint senior leadership to fill out the ranks of the federal government, he expects them to review their policies with that in mind.” (via Laura Carlsen: Report Calls for End to Drug War, Obama Moves Toward Reform)

February 12, 2009, 3:49pm