Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Nuevos diseños flor4u

Tras el rotundo éxito de su primera colección, Flor4u acaba de presentar 3 nuevas colecciones de vinilos decorativos. En sus nuevos diseños cabe destacar nuevamente la elegancia, la sofisticación y la calidad de los vinilos, características a las que ya nos tiene acostumbrados la firma.




Recomendado visitar la galería donde pueden visualizarse fotografías ambientadas de las distintas colecciones en www.flor4u.com

Paredes decoradas con Flor4u

Q-esko Dissenys presenta Flor4u, una colección destinada al mundo del interiorismo y la decoración compuesta de 10 vinilos adhesivos inspirados en el arte floral.

Estos vinilos son aptos para paredes lisas así como para cristal y madera. Los modelos pueden estar orientados a izquierda o derecha y están disponibles en una amplia gama de colores. Existe la posibilidad de diseños personalizados.

Más información en:

www.flor4u.com

Cómo colocar vinilos decorativos

Los vinilos decorativos son la última tendencia a la hora de decorar paredes.
Sin duda, la pregunta que a todos nos surge a la hora de decidirnos a comprar un vinilo decorativo es:

¿Es fácil de colocar un vinilo decorativo? ¿Podré hacerlo yo mismo?
De la mano de MiraEnTuInterior.com, firma dedicada a la venta de vínilos decorativos, os presentamos un video explicativo de como colocarlos. Con él podemos ver que con un poco de paciencia, cualquiera puede hacerlo.

Una vez visto el video y comprobar que no es tan complicado, es hora de hacer un breve repaso a las diferentes colecciones de MiraEnTuInterior.com. Destacamos los vinilos decorativos infantiles, que posiblemente son los más difíciles de encontrar.







Fuente: www.miraentuinterior.com

Color Inspiration: White Christmas

I am dreaming of a white Christmas... glitter and sparkle, stars and tinsel, beautiful chandeliers reflecting the winter light... white linens, silver and gold... mixed with an assortment of evergreens...
White Christmas inspiration
White Christmas inspiration
More color inspiration and
More ways to follow BB&B

November 30-December 1





"In my conversations at least one of my counterparts said to me, 'Well, don't worry about it, you should see what we say about you.'"



--Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, regarding WikiLeaks's disclosure of classified State Department telegrams; image from



SYMPOSIUM



International Broadcasting and Public Media: Mission and Innovation in the Digital Environment (December 8, 2010, New America Foundation)



PUBLIC DIPLOMACY



1. WikiLeaks



U.S. focuses on Pakistan's military, nuclear material - Karen DeYoung and Greg Miller, Washington Post: "In the cables [leaked by WikiLeaks], Pakistani officials complain about a U.S. civil nuclear accord with India, their traditional adversary, and note that its provisions will allow Indians to divert materials to their own weapons program. Administration officials noted that the security of Pakistan's nuclear weapons had been extensively discussed during a White House strategy review last fall.





Although President Obama has made repeated public expressions of confidence in Pakistani safeguards, the issue remains one of high concern. 'Why is it that we're trying to prevent the Pakistani government from collapsing?' one administration official said. 'Because we fundamentally believe that we cannot afford a country with 80 to 100 nuclear weapons becoming the Congo.' 'Shoring up Pakistan, helping it fight extremism, trying to improve its institutions are not just a humanitarian effort or some naive public diplomacy gambit,' the official said. 'There is a sense that other places in the world can go to hell, but not this one.'" Image from



WikiLeaks Update: U.S. Tries To Contain Damage From Leaked Embassy Cables - spintested.blogspot.com: "[R]ead the articles (and more than just a handful of the cables), and they are indeed newsworthy ... . Let's look at one of the most benign assessment­s from the BBC: 'What the documents show in fact is not that the US secretly wants to go to war with Iran but that it has resisted pressure to do so from Israel and Arab leaders acting out of a coincident­al common interest. This is very much in line with President Barack Obama's public diplomacy'[.] Maybe (very much in line with Obama's public diplomacy)­, but it doesn't mean that we're not moving to expanding the wars to include Iran. The situation is as dire as it was when Bush was in office. Nothing's changed."



There's a Leak in the House - thedailyrealpolitik.blogspot.com: "WikiLeaks is amazing! The recent leaks (250,000 juicy embassy cables)





cover everything from gossip about Gaddafi's Libyan squeeze to the wishes of Arab nations with regards to bombing Iran. So what now? America has been launched into a 'worldwide diplomatic crisis' with nearly every single one of its so called 'allies'. I believe that these embassy cables show what Americans really think about the rest of the world behind the gloss of their public diplomacy." Image from



Leaked State Department Cables on Obama’s Sept. 17 Missile Defense Announcement Reveal His and Secretary Gates’ Views on Russia - Ted Lipien, Opinia.US: "Leaked secret State Department cables may help to resolve the mystery as to why President Obama chose September 17, 2009 to make his announcement on canceling President Bush’s missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic. The announcement pleased the Kremlin, which had been pushing for the cancellation of the planned system for years. But why the Obama White House made the announcement on September 17, the anniversary of the Soviet military invasion of Poland in 1939 under the secret terms of the Hitler-Stalin Pact,





is still not clear. The timing of the announcement has been seen around the world as a public diplomacy disaster for America and was described with ridicule in U.S. and foreign media reports. Needless to say, not only the decision itself, but also the historical symbolism of the date when it was announced, greatly upset the Polish Government and Polish Americans. It turned out to be a major embarrassment for President Obama." Image with caption: David Low’s Exchange of Christmas Parcels shows how when the Hitler-Stalin pact divided Poland each dictator abandoned his supporters in the other’s territory from



US embassy cables: Fears over safety of Pakistan's nuclear weapons‎ - The Guardian: Nonproliferation and Public Diplomacy: "19. (S/NF) Leslie opined that P5 states are 'losing the public diplomacy arguments about nonproliferation" and civil nuclear power, with the P3 and the P5 'being portrayed as the bad guy.' Day expressed a similar sentiment, noting that there is "no real recognition" of what the UK has done in terms of nonproliferation and disarmament, 'either in our own media or worldwide.' U/S Tauscher agreed that we all need to do a much better job of getting our narrative out, and noted that the State Department has brought in new people to help to do that."





'China dumped Pak in Conference on Disarmament' - The Hindu: A top British diplomat in September 2009 told a visiting American diplomat that China has 'dumped' Pakistan in the Conference on Disarmament, according to a US cable leaked by whistleblower site WikiLeaks on Wednesday. This is a good sign, Mariot Leslie, a senior British Foreign Official is quoted as saying in the cable in September 2009, which records her meeting with U.S. Under Secretary of State for Arms Control, Ellen Tauscher ... In the meeting, according to the cable, Leslie opined that P5 states are 'losing the public diplomacy arguments about non-proliferation' and civil nuclear power, with the P3 and the P5 'being portrayed as the bad guy.'” Tausher image from



WikiLeaks 25 million copies of the exposure of confidential State Department documents
- discount-adapter-battery.com: "Public diplomacy document also records a U.S. official evaluation of foreign leaders, many evaluation very outspoken. Such as the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, the U.S. charge d’affaires in Italy Elizabeth Dibble was called 'irresponsible, arrogant, lack of capacity.' Another document showed that Berlusconi has been approved, 'often stays up late, indulge in the party, can not get enough rest,' is a 'political level in the body and are weak,' the leaders."



WikiLeaks…and Some More - Team SAI, southasianidea.com: "This is the worst disclosure in





the field of public diplomacy highlighting games nations play. A trove of a quarter-million State Department cables, obtained by WikiLeaks, offers an extraordinary look at back-room bargaining by embassies, candid views of foreign leaders and assessments of nuclear and terrorist threats.Whatever the outcome of the leaks, they sully the diplomatic efforts of nations, especially of US, in dealing with friends and foes. International relations will no longer be the same." Image from



WikiLeaks: Why They Help American Diplomacy - John Brown, Huffington Post: "On the whole ... the WikiLeaks episode is not a disaster for America from a public diplomacy or 'behind closed-doors' diplomacy perspective, so long as diplomats are not 'shut up' by a State Department overly concerned about future leaks." Includes comment by Ted Lipien. See also, (1) John Brown, "WikiLeaks: Would George Kennan Have Been Delighted?," Huffington Post; (2); (3); (4)



YPFP: Media & Foreign Policy-A Discussion with Price Floyd - Debie Waggoner, State of Global Awareness "Best Point of the Night: The State Department documents revealed on WikiLeaks only proves the strength of our public diplomacy efforts.





Instead of damaging the relationship of the United States, most of our friends and allies were understanding and even commented that they said even worse things about the U.S. and its representatives. True-and I would add that if it happened to the U.S., it could happen to any government-it could be China or Germany’s turn next to have documents leaked, so don’t be too harsh." Floyd image from



Diplomats in the news for wrong reasons - Nicholas Kralev: Writings on global travel, diplomacy and world affairs: "The silver lining for U.S. diplomats of this week’s WikiLeaks release of secret State Department cables is that there is more buzz about their work than there has been in years. Even though it’s for the wrong reasons, it provides a chance to use the public attention for a serious debate on modern diplomacy."



WikiLeaks: a strange interlude‎ - Andrew Finkel, Today's Zaman: "I’ve never actually seen a production of Eugene O’Neill’s groundbreaking play 'Strange Interlude,' but it won a Pulitzer Prize back in 1928 for its innovation of having the characters interrupt their normal dialogue to turn and tell the audience what it is they really think. On the other hand, I have seen a recreation of that technique in the recent avalanche of documents now pouring from the WikiLeaks website. So much for all those decades of public diplomacy, carefully controlled press briefings and public affairs officers, like worried hens, hovering in the background deciding what was on or off the record. We now have a life-time’s reading worth of documents in which those oh so diplomatic diplomats reveal precisely what’s on their minds."



Finland Surfaces in Wikileaks Exposé - Tiina Jutila, YLE News: Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb has spoken out against the decision to leak the documents. ...





'I support transparency and public diplomacy. However, some information between states can be sensitive. This is certainly a difficult situation.'" Image from article



Al-Qaeda's Magazine in Yemen: Where's Our WikiLeaks Scoop? - Bobby Ghosh and Oliver Holmes, time.com: "The producers of Inspire, the online magazine by the Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) must now feel the frustration familiar to editors around the world, when big news breaks just after you've closed your latest edition. For Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh, the latest WikiLeaks revelations are little more than an embarrassment.





But it's a safe bet that AQAP will extract as much propaganda value from them as possible. 'They will use these documents to say: 'See, just as we've been saying, the ruler of Yemen is a sinful man, who works for the Americans,'' says Mohammed Aish, a researcher on extremism in Yemen." Image from article: Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh



Digital Diplomacy – 21st Century Statecraft and Australia: ASPI-UNISYS Defence and Security Luncheons - Prakash Mirchandani, IntelliBriefs: "What does it say about modern public diplomacy when a foreign Government enables the internet to spread pictures of protest and crackdowns in Iran? When a single tweet message brings hundreds of thousands onto rooftops to shout out 'Allah O Akbar'? When secret videos out of Myanmar provoke the junta to describe satellite television as 'a skyful of lies'? When, without boots on the ground, a recent poll showed that ordinary Afghans view India more positively than any other country? These topics, along with suggested ways ahead, were explored at this ASPI-Unisys Defence and Security Luncheon."



Selling Wikileaks, Selling Hate For America - ‎Gordon Duff, Veterans Today Network: Wikileaks has divided the world into two camps,





those who love Wikileaks as a slap in the face for the United States and those who recognize the stench of Wikileaks for what it is, simple Israeli propaganda. Image from



2. Other Public Diplomacy Items



Under Secretary of State Judith A. McHale Travel to Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore - Office of the Spokesman, US Department of State: Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Judith A. McHale will travel to Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore November 30 – December 8, 2010. During her visit to Indonesia, Under Secretary McHale will participate in the launch of the U.S. Government’s new high-tech American center in Jakarta, '@america,' and meet for discussions with Indonesian officials, media executives, and social media practitioners. Under Secretary McHale will also journey to Yogyakarta to participate in a panel discussion with students at Gadjah Mada University, joined by other Indonesian students via video conference technology, and to meet with civil society leaders. In Malaysia, Under Secretary McHale





will meet with senior Ministry of Education officials to discuss ways of enhancing educational exchanges and bolstering English language training in Malaysia, and participate in discussions with media practitioners, students and women entrepreneurs. She will also visit Malacca, a UNESCO World Heritage City where the U.S. State Department has contributed to the preservation of Malaysia's cultural heritage through a project funded under a grant from the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation. In Singapore, Under Secretary McHale will meet with emerging filmmakers and leading local writers. She will also tour LaSalle College of the Arts, a leading arts institution in Singapore that is a close partner of the United States Embassy in Singapore and awards degrees in fine arts, film, design, media and performing arts." Image from



Reconn - Paul Rockower, Levantine: "Apparently, I am State's forward operating team. Undersec for PD McHale is coming out to Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore (terimah kasih, JB). Unfortunately, no Philippines in the mix. Too bad. This all comes as State is set to open the @America center in Jakarta. Very nice. If only the U.S. Pavilion in Shanghai was this cool...I do hope Madam Undersec McHale gets out of the hermetically-sealed diplo bubble to see the street-level musical culture that I blogged about in Java, and how State could really take advantage of cultural diplomacy outreach to Indonesia's rock youth."



Grand strategy‎ - Philippe Wojazer, Frontline: "A strong political nuance in Obama's new economic diplomacy towards Beijing came into sharp focus following his latest interactions with Chinese President Hu Jintao. They had an exclusive conversation in Seoul on November 11,





besides participating together in the Group of 20 (G20) Summit there on the same day and in the meeting of leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Yokohama on November 12 and 13. ... The overwhelming accent on economic issues in Obama's official and public diplomacy towards China was in tune with the season of G20 and APEC meetings." Image from



What should Egypt exactly learn from Jordan??‎ - Amer Al Sabaileh, Ammon News: "Senior Research Fellow at the Netherlands Institute of International Relations Peter Van Ham ... : 'The problem is that Arabs and Muslims will not attach credibility to US public diplomacy as long as US policies in the Middle East and beyond remain unchanged.'"



Thread: I bet the Nobel Peace Prize committee... -philadelphiaspeaks.com: Comment by Oskee Wow Wow [:] "[T]he Middle East, where Obama's intervention seems to have become an impediment to what progress there was between the Palestinian Authority and Israel. (Getting rolled as Obama did on missile defense for Eastern Europe was amateurism but not an embarrassment to the committee.) Still, it's interesting how closely U.S. private diplomacy tracks with its public diplomacy."



Famous humorist writes: "Voice of America is primarily about America"
- Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting: "RFE/RL is a 'surrogate broadcaster,' providing the accurate information about its target countries that the media of those countries would provide if those countries were free. Kimandrewelliott.com is a surrogate website,





providing the accurate information about US international broadcasting that senior executives of US international broadcasting would provide if they provided accurate information about US international broadcasting. ... The entities of US international broadcasting, as bureaucracies, will do what bureaucracies do: try to preserve themselves. To this end, RFE/RL management has trotted out the old line about VOA primarily broadcasting about America. ... Surveys (my day job for most of the past thirty years) tell us audiences are interested mainly in what is happening in their own country, and secondarily in what is happening in the rest of the world. Their interest in the United States is, I'm afraid, a rather distant third. For any target country at any time in its development, there is a sweet spot, a proportion of the three categories of news, that will best attract an audience. The present structure of US international broadcasting does not allow this proportion to be achieved. ... I am not advocating that RFE/RL dry up and blow away so that my colleagues at VOA can enjoy greater job security. I am advocating that the elements of US international merge into a single corporation, actually organized more along the lines of RFE/RL than VOA." Image from



Obit: Soviet poet [Bella Akhmadulina] heard in the USSR on VOA and Radio Liberty - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting



Ranching's Loss, Jazz's Gain - Marc Myers, Wall Street Journal: [A]fter the [Brubeck] quartet's State Department-sponsored tour in 1958 of 12 countries,





Mr. Brubeck began incorporating rhythms he heard abroad into his compositions." Image from article



Kosovo - MFA officials trained in public and economic diplomacy - ‎isria.com: "In an effort to advance skills required to present Kosovo interests throughout the world, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, namely the Department for International Economic Cooperation, in cooperation with a USAID funded project to support MFA, is holding an intensive training program in Prishtina on pubic [sic] and economic diplomacy for Kosovo diplomatic and consular officials. An introduction to the public diplomacy, turning of problems into opportunities in the context of Kosovo’s economy and other important matters for the newest country in the world were presented to the participants by the project representatives: Dan Santos, Ivan Abrams and others."



Kayani's Briefing: Dawn's Shoddy Journalism - aq-lounge.blogspot.com:







"State media managers in Islamabad and Rawalpindi need to improve the methods of delivery of background information, possibly streamline it in accordance with the latest best practices in public diplomacy methods. Often Pakistani media trails behind its peers in other nations like China, Iran, US, Russia and others in terms of the quality of current background information available to media professionals. Pakistan is a late entrant into this field and it would take stakeholders time to get a handle on it." Image from



Medvedev's Annual Address - Yelena Osipova, Global Chaos: "Today President Medvedev delivered his key annual Presidential Address to the Federal Assembly. ... Of course, the highlight has been his 'threat of a new Arms Race' comment, and yet he talked about modernization, also touching upon the need to enhance Russia's Economic Diplomacy and improve the ties with the governments as well as the publics of Russia's Eastern neighbors. Russia's public diplomacy is turning to the East, now?"



Weapons of mass information - Tim Wall, The Moscow News: "[A]lthough there are often sound reasons to put out false trails about diplomatic aims and objectives, the more public diplomacy there is between nations, the better. Like the United States and many other countries, Russia has employed its share of secret diplomacy, and it has not been that edifying to see when exposed to public scrutiny. One example of this was finally acknowledged this week, as Russia’s State Duma publicly blamed Stalin for the 1940 massacre at Katyn of 20,000 Polish soldiers. This came about as a result of the secret clauses in Stalin’s pact with Hitler in 1939.





Yet Russia can point to cases when its public diplomacy served a better purpose. As Le Monde pointed out recently, in 1918 the new Soviet government exposed Kaiser Wilhelm II’s war aims at Brest-Litovsk by publishing the secret negotiations between Germany and the allies. That early prototype of WikiLeaks-style disclosure may not ultimately have prevented the Western powers invading Soviet Russia in 1918-21, but it did hasten the end of the First World War and arguably helped to save millions of lives. Whether modern-day leaks can serve such a noble purpose isn’t yet clear. But we should remember not to shoot the messenger, at least." Image with caption: 23rd August 1939: Vyacheslav Molotov, Russian Foreign Minister, signs the non-aggression pact negotiated between Soviet Russia and Germany, at the Kremlin, Moscow. Standing behind him is his German counterpart Joachim von Ribbentrop (left), and Joseph Stalin (centre) from



Nation branding - Coastal Asia Unrevealed: Blog related to my on & off Korean Experience. Tourist, Expat, Social, Environmental and other issues. And my satiric eye on it: "I have already mentioned about Korean Nation Branding efforts and how they impress me. In more developed countries than Korea comprehensive nation advertising and public diplomacy took much longer time or is not that well organized. Part of it is Korean Wave which currently hits Japan, China and other Asian countries. Korean boysbands and girlsbands, so called K-pop music to which you may find links in the video corner is just an example. Korean dramas with Winter Sonata leading among them, singer BoA and many others."



'Israel's public diplomacy tactics insufficient'‎ - Rebecca Anna Stoil, Jerusalem Post: Despite steps taken to improve image abroad, MKs and media representatives agree that diplomats have a long way to go. MKs and members of both new and traditional media complained Tuesday that the government’s public diplomacy strategy was ineffective and did not meet the needs of modern communications or successfully represent Israel’s interests.





The Knesset’s Immigration, Absorption and Public Diplomacy Committee met to discuss how Israel can better promote itself overseas, with MKs concluding that there was still much innovation needed to improve Israel’s image. ... The Foreign Ministry’s Deputy Director-General for Media and Public Diplomacy Yigal Caspi emphasized that in the past four years, there was a decision to invest most of the public diplomacy effort toward fields including medicine, culture, art, fashion, agriculture and tourism. Caspi said that he opposes governmental involvement in social-networking sites, and that he preferred to cultivate relations with overseas Jewish organizations who can act more freely on such sites. ... Danon [MK Danny Danon (Likud)] agreed that there was significant work to be done to improve Israel’s public diplomacy, and promised that Tuesday’s session would be the first of a number of meetings held to address the topic." Image of Knesset from



Kazakhstan: OSCE Summit Set to Open in Astana‎ - Joanna Lillis, EurasiaNet: "Rico Isaacs, a lecturer in International Studies at the UK’s Oxford Brookes University, says Astana secured the summit through a skillful performance as chairman. 'The summit has to be seen as a success of Kazakhstan’s chairmanship,' he told EurasiaNet.org. 'I think that they’ve been given the summit through their own political skill in many ways, their own form of public diplomacy.'”



USAK Conference on “OSCE Vision of Kazakhstan”‎
- Journal of Turkish Weekly: "Özdem Sanberk, retired ambassador and director of USAK, ... addressed the importance of the period which started after the demise of Soviet Union within the end of Cold War. In that regard, he pointed out that Turkey was ready and had a great strategy depending on 5 pillars towards Turkic Republics. According to Sanberk, this strategy was based on being alternative on transportation, communication, trade and make cooperation on common culture and common energy politics. In other word, Turkey made investments and used public diplomacy tools effectively to be alternative and partner to them.





Lastly he stressed that Kazakhstan’s importance because of its constructive attitude towards security, peace and development in the region." Image from



The term "public diplomacy" increasingly used globally, but less fashionable in the USA - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting: "Even though more fashionable terms, such as 'strategic communication' are gaining traction, I still think 'public diplomacy' is a useful term. This is especially because 'public diplomacy' is in increasing use around the world. It's a useful replacement for 'propaganda,' which, despite attempts to declare it a neutral term, has a negative connotation. 'Public diplomacy' should be the official[underlined] presentation and advocacy of international policy by one country to people (not just to government officials) of other countries. International outreach by non-governmental individuals, companies, and organizations is a good thing, but it needs a different word to describe it, so that everyone understands this is not a nation-state speaking."



Dana Perino is among experts speaking at "International Broadcasting and Public Media" - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting: "I have suggested a partnership of US international broadcasting and private US broadcast networks in my recent Foreign Service Journal article."



Write whatever you like: I’ll Read it how I want
- International Communication SIS 640: "The key framing issue in pubic diplomacy is that there is no magic bullet,





no special phrase, no shortcut that means your message will have the impact on the listener or even that they will understand and take away from it what you want them to do or know. Meaning: You can tell me all day long that red is the best color, but I’m just going to think you are arrogant and that you’re trying to change me." Image from



Campus News and Updates – November 30
- Office of the President Dr. R. Bowen Loftin • Texas A&M University: "Congratulations to Ambassador Ryan Crocker (Ret.), dean and executive professor at the Bush School of Government and Public Service and our Commencement Convocation speaker (5:30 p.m. Thursday, December 16 in Rudder Theatre), who has been nominated by President Obama to serve on the United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy. Ambassador Crocker also serves on the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Academy of Diplomacy."



From Nyet to Da [From Nyet to Da: Understanding the New Russia, by Yale Richmond, Boston: Intercultural Press, 2009] - Reviewed by John Handley, American Diplomacy: Yale Richmond, a former U.S. Foreign Service Officer, worked on U.S.-Soviet exchanges for over twenty years and served in the American Embassy in Moscow as Counselor for Press and Culture.





He also authored Into Africa; From Da to Yes: Understanding the East Europeans; and Practicing Public Diplomacy: A Cold War Odyssey. ... This book [under review] is certainly most useful to the first-time visitor to Russia and could be equally useful to anyone, businessperson or diplomat, negotiating with Russians. Yale describes at some length the similarities and the differences between Russians and Americans."



Alumna serves Americans in Israel as first line of border defense - Billi London-Gray, The Texas State University-San Marcos blog: "Jen McAndrew ... [t]he 2007 master’s graduate of Texas State’s mass communication program is now a member of the U.S. Foreign Service, currently representing the State Department in Israel. As a vice consul at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, McAndrew does everything from approving visa applications to managing the consulate section’s social media outreach. ... 'Since my background is in PR and writing, I knew I wanted to enter the public diplomacy career track,” McAndrew says.





“My constituents are Americans living in Israel and Israelis needing visas for work, travel or study.'” Image from article: Jen McAndrew, right, and a consular representative at an outreach event at an Israeli university.



Dan Diker to become next Secretary General of the World Jewish Congress - worldjewishcongress.org: "The Executive Committee of the World Jewish Congress has nominated B. Daniel Diker, a noted foreign policy and media expert, as next WJC secretary-general. ... Diker has served as WJC's Director for Strategic Affairs since May, 2010 and since early 2009 has served as WJC Middle East adviser on policy and diplomacy. Diker comes to the WJC following nearly ten years at the Jerusalem Center of Public Affairs where he served in a variety of roles, including as director of its Institute for Contemporary Affairs - the Center's public diplomacy institute. At the JCPA, Diker produced and edited several books on the Iranian nuclear threat, Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy and on Israeli defense and national security issues.





Diker is a former Knesset affairs correspondent for Israel's Channel One English television service and also served as a featured commentator on international news networks covering Middle East affairs and US-Israel relations. Previously, Diker held two senior marketing positions at two leading Wall Street firms. Diker is a graduate of Harvard University and grew up in New York City." Diker image from article



One more voice in defence of WikiLeaks - mephiztofel.livejournal.com: "[T]he hypocrisy of American politicians, who declare the ideals of "public diplomacy" (sic!) and then threaten the dissidents lifting the mysterious veil of this rotten diplomacy. So 'public diplomacy' turns out to mean private diplomacy, after all. Even George Orwell would be utterly petrified, I dare smirk."



B C- The New Diplomacy: A reflective group blog by some of the students on The New Diplomacy module at London Metropolitan University



RELATED ITEMS



The Irony of Wikileaks: By threatening U.S. diplomacy, the hard left is undercutting its own worldview - James P. Rubin, New Republic: The hard left, so quick to demand that America accept other countries’ political systems, now seems blind to the fact that other governments want to have the right to say one thing in public and a different thing in private.





By respecting that difference, American diplomats are doing their job.U.S. diplomacy has been damaged, not destroyed; it will recover after a time. But for now, Wikileaks is making diplomacy’s task a whole lot harder. Julian Assange mage from article



A WikiLeaks wakeup call: In the end, what these documents confirm is that President Obama's foreign policy is a mess - Jonah Goldberg, Los Angeles Times. Below image from







The Obama Doctrine: Hindering American Foreign Policy - Alliances, International Law, National Security and Defense and Worldwide Freedom and Human Rights, Heritage Foundation - Helle C. Dale: The problem for Obama, of course, is whatever you want to say to the American people, such as we want to get out of Iraq, is a message that is boomeranged around the world. The Iranians are going to listen to that message just as well as the domestic audience here in the U.S. So he’s not able to have one message for his voters here at home and one message for the Iranians. That is an unfortunate conundrum for the President.



Obama's isolation grows on the Afghanistan war - Susan Page, USA Today: The invasion of Afghanistan was launched to wide approval after the 9/11 attacks, targeting al-Qaeda leaders and the Taliban regime that had sheltered them. At the time, nine of 10 Americans supported the combat mission. Most in the USA still do, although opposition has risen: Four in 10 now say the military operation was a mistake.



A Role for Science Diplomacy? Soft Power and Global Challenges – Part II - Daryl Copeland, Guerilla Diplomacy



AMERICANA





--From the cover of the May 28, 1954 issue of Colliers; from Boing Boing



Magical Handmade Christmas Ornaments

Robin Kranitsky and Kim Overstreet are the artists and designers of these magical handmade Christmas ornaments. Their designs of intricate, stylized pins and precious metal pieces have gained a national reputation and their work has been chosen for museums, private collectors (such as Robin Williams), and galleries across the country.
lost and found1
The creations you see here are smaller versions of their intricate pieces. The result are these amazing ornaments of all kinds of material and personalities. Antique dominoes are magically transformed into beautiful figures. They use light weight materials such as balsa wood and foam as well as items from nature such as pine cones and thorns from plants. Old tins and assorted objects are recycled into an amazing works of art.
lost and found3
Each and every piece is decorated by hand, with added costumes and accessories. Some are innocent and some are slightly mischievous.
lost and found2
Their work can be seen at Quirk Gallery in Richmond as well as the
Va. Museum of Fine Arts during the Picasso exhibition in the Spring 2011.
You can contact them here ~ info@lostandfoundstudio.com.

More holiday inspiration and don't miss the SALE
going on now in my shop ~ Enter this week's giveaway too!

North Korea Throws Dangerous Temper Tantrum: Why?

North Korea bombs its neighbor to get the attention of a weary, and increasingly indifferent, world.


Heir to North Korea Kim Jong un - AP photo


From Denny:  This week North Korea shelled a small island, Yeonpyeong Island, off South Korea for three hours.  After the relentless and merciless shelling, the islanders evacuated.  This weekend, North Korea shelled the island yet again - only this time there were no people left to harm.

Normally, South Korea takes the temper tantrums of "the crazy uncle from the North" in stride, not reacting. But there is a game changer these days, a new sheriff in town: the crazy out-of-control son has taken over the helm of the crazy uncle.

The heir to the Starvation Throne, Kim Jong un, is also now a four-star general since his father installed him a year ago. He oversees a million man army. He also has his itchy fingers on the buttons of an arsenal that is the most concentrated into one small geographical area on the planet.

Since 1953, when the peace accord was signed to end the Korean War on that peninsula, America has had 38,000 troops on the border between divided North and South Korea. We currently have about 30,000 troops there. North Korea has starved under a Communist regime and built up a huge arsenal, developed nuclear weapons and has sold nuclear material to other crazy rogue states like Iran.

South Korea, during the almost 60 years of peace, has made better use of their resources and time. They are a thriving democracy and healthy world economy, selling Kia and Hyundai cars around the world. They also have now finally built up a million man army. South Korea has grown weary of American troops rumbling our tanks through their villages for generations. They want us out of South Korea as they now believe they can handle the crazy uncle to the North on their own. They are right. Let them handle the crazy uncle and the crazy son.

Communist China has a stake in all this. They possess a three million man army they built up - thanks to trade with America. Yes, they used their profits to build weapons and a military to both protect China and advance on neighboring countries. Sounds like a world power to me. Why should America be surprised they used our consumerism greed money to do it?

China has a vested interest in North and South Korea not unifying back into one country. After all, with the fall of traditional communism in the old Russia, who is left to carry the banner forward but China, Cuba and North Korea? Both North Korea and Cuba are faltering on that front. Dictatorships are dependent upon their charismatic leaders. Once the leader dies, so does that vision of the country and the system in place deteriorates - later to resurrect as something else by someone else.

Right now South Korea is making all the appropriate noises of anger and posturing. They also look like they will do little to nothing though they have the capacity. Over the decades they have become co-dependent upon America for direction and protection. For some reason, President Obama thought he should revert to a 60 year old mindset and send over some gunboat diplomacy. Like one American warship will scare a young nuclear power? Come on.







What is going on with North Korea? Several things. They are still starving. Anyone see the news clips in the past few months of a North Korean army marching in the square? The soldiers marched forcefully and proudly. They problem was that to any casual observer their uniforms were practically hanging off them like an emaciated runway model. Usually, in regimes like this, it's the military who are well fed. If the military looks to be starving we can only imagine the horrors going on in the cities and the countryside.

North Korea's young son, Kim Jong un, now a four-star general, is testing his power to bring the world to his doorstep to negotiate. North Korea has always done dangerous temper tantrums - or threats to do so - to get the world to give them free food and wads of cash to keep their regime afloat. This time, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said a definite no to their temper tantrum of late - no more freebies.

One main reason for the bombing of those hapless islanders is to create more unity among North Koreans by increasing North-South tensions.  It's a considered opinion among think tanks that to do so will help promote the new heir as a strong military leader, therefore inspiring loyalty to him.  The strategy is considered useful to pave the way for North Koreans to accept the new - inexperienced and untested - heir to power, Kim Jung un.

One of the most immediate needs as North Korea sees it is to pressure America and other countries back to the negotiating table, those six-party talks. Those talks have been stalled since April 2009 when it was North Korea that threw another of their famous temper tantrums and walked away from the negotiating table.  They were in a snit when there was world condemnation for the test-firing of their rocket.

Right now the reason for the current temper tantrum is that North Korea wants assurances that America won't attack. They desire a permanent security guarantee of safety. So, they go around attacking their vulnerable easy-prey neighbors in order to make the world feel it's a good idea to give them a security guarantee? Talk about warped thinking. They want others to honor their word yet North Korea breaks their word constantly. It's time for the world to quit taking these Bozos seriously.

And, it's about time America quit placating these destructive fools. It's also past due time we withdraw American troops from the Korean peninsula. Let China handle the temper tantrums in their back yard. Let South Korea negotiate with North Korea. It's time for America to withdraw and quit playing the world's policeman with deep pockets. The American people are weary of financing these dictatorships and their stupid games.

As it is, it's smarter to wait them out with sanctions. They can't starve forever. Sooner or later there will be a coup to take over the country. As it is, when the crazy uncle to the North dies there will be a military coup to kill the sons - especially the young and inexperienced novice: Kim Jong un, who is only 27 years old. The question then is whether South Korea will grow the courage to advance and reunify the North.  "If you will feed them, they will come."


*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!

*** Come by for a visit and check out my other blogs:

*** Check out Holiday Recipes From Dennys Food and Recipes

The Social Poets - news, politics
The Soul Calendar - science, astronomy, psychology
Visual Insights - photos, art, music
Beautiful Illustrated Quotations - spiritual quotes, philosophy
Best Spiritual Posts - my own best as well as links to other spiritual posts from all viewpoints
Poems From A Spiritual Heart - poetry
The Healing Waters - health news
Dennys People Watching - people in the news
Dennys Food and Recipes
Dennys Funny Quotes - humor

APBD Jabar Defisit Terus


Anggaran Pendapatan dan Belanja Daerah (APBD) Provinsi Jawa Barat Tahun Anggaran 2011 akhirnya bisa ditetapkan tepat waktu menjadi Peraturan Daerah (Perda). Penetapan tersebut dilakukan dalam Rapat Paripurna DPRD Provinsi Jabar kemarin pada 29 November 2010. Tindak lanjut Perda tersebut selanjutnya tinggal menunggu hasil evaluasi dari Mendagri.

Posisi APBD Jabar sejak 4 (empat) tahun terakhir selalu mengalami defisit. Anggaran belanja daerah lebih besar dibandingkan dengan pendapatan daerah. Pemerintahan baru Ahmad Heryawan-Dede Yusuf belum bisa menaikkan posisi defisit kurang dari 1 triliun.
Walaupun pendapatan daerah mengalami kenaikan tiap tahunnya, hal itu tidak menuruni belanja daerah yang juga selalu naik. Terhitung sejak 2008, defisit sebesar Rp 353.728.216.947,69. Pada tahun 2009 sebesar Rp 1.310.594.009.826,00 dan tahun 2010 sebesar Rp 1.803.008.115.263,54. Sedangkan untuk APBD 2011 defisit sebesar Rp 1.413.020.000.000,00.

Tantangan Gubernur Ahmad Heryawan dan jajarannya ke depan adalah memperkecil jarak belanja dengan pendapatan daerah. Lebih ideal lagi bagaimana pendapatan daerah lebih besar dibandingkan dengan belanja sehingga posisi anggaran bisa surplus. Penambahan pendapatan daerah yaitu dengan meningkatkan Pendapatan Asli Daerah (PAD) lewat pajak, retribusi daerah, hasil pengelolaan kekayaan daerah dan lain-lain PAD yang sah. Pembenahan BUMD yang sedang gencar dilakukan Pemprov tentu juga akan berdampak positif jika dilakukan dengan profesional. Wassalam.


*) Ramlan Nugraha, Peneliti di PATTIRO Jabar

Monday, November 29, 2010

Earrings Nation Giveaway!

**Update: Julie, you are the winner ~ Congrats **
Today's giveaway from Earrings Nation is this pair of gorgeous
orchid flower and seafoam glass drop earrings! I wish I could enter myself...
I would wear these with everything.
Today, you can also receive a 10% Discount Storewide. See shop for coupon code.
To qualify for the giveaway, visit Earrings Nation and leave a comment below.

For a second entry, tweet it, blog it, and/or share it on Facebook and
leave the link on a separate comment to increase your chance to Win!

You must follow BB&B via Facebook, bloglovin, or Google friend connect.
Winner will be announced on Friday!
More ways to follow BB&B