Monday, March 1, 2010

Speaker Pelosi Grades the Republicans on Lack of Governing

From Denny: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi did her job. She passed almost 300 bills up for approval in the Senate, none of which have been passed. Pelosi lamented it was due to, "delaying tactics of the Republicans in the Senate." The Republicans have used the filibuster tactic more than any time in American history to stonewall efforts needed to help the American people. Republicans continue to guard only the interests of Big Business and their lobbyists in order to keep the campaign money flowing into their coffers.

When asked how to grade her performance as House Speaker much as the President graded his own B+ performance this year, Pelosi responded with "an A for effort." In ABC's "This Week" interview, Speaker Pelosi said, "I think I get an A for effort. And in the House of Representatives, my mark is the mark of our members. We have passed every piece of legislation that is part of the Obama agenda." It's the mark of a good House Speaker to work hand in hand with a President to highlight and push his legislative agenda.












Transcript of this video:


VARGAS: Finally, President Obama, when asked to rate his year in office, gave himself a B plus. How would you rate yourself in the past year?

PELOSI: Well, I have a -- I think I get an A for effort. And in the House of Representatives, my mark is the mark of our members. We have passed every piece of legislation that is part of the Obama agenda. Whether it's the creation of jobs, expanding access to health care, creating new green jobs for the future, regulatory reform, we have passed the full agenda.

VARGAS: Are you frustrated so many bills have not have been stalled in the Senate? Almost 300 bills passed by the House that are sitting languishing in the Senate?

PELOSI: And most of those bills have bipartisan support. Strong bipartisan support in the House that have gone over there. But that you know what that's about? That's about -- and it's very important for you to know, that's about the Republican delay tactics. By requiring 60 votes on some simple legislation that Harry Reid always gets -- has the votes for, but he doesn't have the time to go through the procedural day after day where you have to wait days for the time to go by in order to get the 60 votes. That's how it works in the Senate.

So it's about time. Everything's about time. The most finite commodity that we have. We used our time very well in the House to get an agenda passed in time for it to be considered by the Senate. The delaying tactics of the Republicans in the Senate…

VARGAS: Dare I ask you to grade the Senate?

PELOSI: Well, let's grade this all on a curve. What really matters is, what we do and how it relates to the lives of the American people back to that kitchen table where they have to think about how they make ends meet and how they make the future better for their children and provide for their own retirement. That's really where the grade goes. And the grade is given on election day. We -- we're fully prepared to face the American people with the integrity of what we have put forth, the commitment to jobs and health care and education and a world at peace and safe for our children and with the political armed power to go with it to win those elections.






In an ABC "This Week" interview House Speaker Pelosi commenting about some of the views of the Tea Party movement among Republicans, "We share some of the views of the Tea Partiers in terms of the role of special interest in Washington, D.C. It just has to stop. And that's why I've fought the special interest, whether it's on energy, whether it's on health insurance, whether it's on pharmaceuticals and the rest."








Transcript of this video:

VARGAS: The Tea Party movement, do you think it will be a force to be reckoned with? You had said last summer that it was a faux grassroots movement. You called it the "Astroturf Movement."

PELOSI: In some respects it is.

VARGAS: Is the Tea Party movement a force?

PELOSI: No. What I said at the time is the Republican Party directs a lot of what the Tea Party does - but not everybody in the Tea Party takes direction from the Republican Party. And so there was a lot of, shall we say, Astroturf, as opposed to grassroots.

But, you know, we share some of the views of the Tea Partiers - in terms of the role of special interest in Washington, D.C. It just has to stop. And that's why I've fought the special interest, whether it's on energy, whether it's on health insurance, whether it's on pharmaceuticals and the rest.

VARGAS: So, some common ground with many people in the Tea Party movement.

PELOSI: There are some because, again, some of it is orchestrated from the Republican headquarters. Some of it is hijacking the good intentions of lots of people who share some of our concerns that we have about the role of special interests. Many Tea Partiers - not that I speak for them - share the view, whether it's Democrats, Republicans and Independents - that the recent Supreme Court decision, which greatly empowers the special interests, is something that they oppose.





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ANTARA CIREBON DAN TASIKMALAYA

Bandung, 1 Maret 2010
[ketika perjalanan adalah energi untuk terus bergerak]


Singsingkan lengan baju, hadapi lawan,..dst”, bagian lagu ini selalu menjadi sound track yang menemani saya dalam setiap perjalanan. Tidak terkecuali dalam perjalanan kemarin dari Cirebon menuju Tasikmalaya, dan pulang kembali ke Bandung. Setiap tancapan gas, detak jantung seolah tak mau kalah, menggelorakan desah nafas bahwa hidup adalah perjuangan.

Sore itu saya sudah mempersiapkan barang-barang yang harus dibawa. Undangan menjadi pembicara dalam training budgeting teman-teman KAMMI Cirebon, Indramayu, Tasikmalaya dan Ciamis. Hari Sabtu (27/2) di Kampus Unswagati Cirebon, besoknya (28/2) di Sekretariat KAMMI Tasikmalaya. Jam menunjukkan pukul 16.00, sesuai yang sudah dijadwalkan saya harus berangkat ke Cirebon. Tapi Allah berkehendak lain. New Message: kakak sakit dan dirawat di Rumah Sakit Bayu Asih, Purwakarta. Apa mau di kata, perjalanan pun saya ubah, berbelok ke kiri arah terminal Leuwi Panjang. Setelah itu langsung meluncur ke Purwakarta.

Kakak saya memang pecandu berat kopi. So, kata dokter livernya tinggi dan penyakit maag-nya kambuh. Entah berapa gelas setiap hari yang sudah diminumnya. Bisa tiga kali atau mungkin lebih. Mungkin sama dengan jadwal makan. Untuk itulah Ia harus dirawat di Rumah Sakit. Sebagai oleh-oleh, saya bawa “Demokrasi La Roiba Fiih-nya” Emha Ainun Nadjib. Buku itu baru saya beli seminggu yang lalu dan baru selesai setengahnya. Tapi karena yang sakit fansnya Emha, mudah-mudahan ini bisa menjadi penyemangat untuk mempercepat kesembuhannya.

Pukul delapan malam saya sampai ke Rumah Sakit. Alhamdulillah yang dirawat tidak terlalu parah. Besoknya sekitar pukul 06.30 pagi saya pamit untuk berangkat ke Cirebon. Sebenarnya tidak tega karena baru juga datang sudah harus berangkat lagi. Mudah-mudahan kakak saya mengerti dan cukup faham, karena saya harus mengisi di Cirebon hari itu juga. Btw, toh dia juga dulu mantan aktifis. Jadi setidaknya mengerti kegiatan adiknya ini (hehe..). Okelah kalo begitu, tarik kang!!

Terminal Cicaheum, Bandung

Pukul 09.30 sampai juga di Bandung. Singgah dulu ke sekretariat KAMMI Jabar, sarapan pagi dan ganti pakaian. Setengah jam berlalu, bus Bhinneka sudah menunggu dengan sabarnya di Terminal Cicaheum. Alhamdulillah akhirnya bisa berangkat juga ke Cirebon.

Setiap kali beres melewati Sumedang, saya pasti berpikir sudah sampai ke Kabupaten Cirebon. Lupa ada Majalengka ditengahnya. Selalu berulang dan entahlah apa karena sudah tidak tahan ingin sampai tujuan. Tentang tertundanya acara ini, sudah saya sampaikan kepada panitia tadi malam. Alhamdulillah mereka cukup mengerti. Saya bertekad Insya Allah akan membalas kebaikan teman-teman. Maaf temans.

Sepanjang perjalanan dilalui tanpa hambatan. Hanya satu mungkin yang cukup mengganggu. Wangi parfum seorang mba di sebelahku. Saya tidak tahu persis cologne yang dia pakai, dan tidak ada kepentingan saya pun harus tahu akan hal itu. Tapi yang saya heran, itu parfum kok wangi amat, tidak ada habis-habisnya mesti AC di bis ini cukup dingin. Saya jadi teringat hadis nabi tentang seorang wanita yang memakai wangi-wangian. Mungkin wanita ini tidak tahu dan semoga Allah memberinya petunjuk. Amin.

Sebuah perjalanan adalah waktu yang cukup tepat bagi seseorang untuk mengingat setiap aktivitas yang telah, sedang maupun akan dilakukan. Mengevaluasi setiap tindak-tanduk dalam kehidupan, apakah sesuai tuntunan atau tidak, apakah menyimpang atau tidak, atau bahkan mengingat kesalahan yang telah dilakukan. Perjalanan memberiku energi, mengupgrade spirit yang telah hilang dan membuat hidup lebih hidup!.

Kampus Unswagati sudah ada dihadapanku. Empat setengah jam perjalanan akhirnya selesai juga kutempuh. Tak lama berselang acara pun dimulai. Dua puluh lima orang sudah duduk dengan rapih di ruangan ini. Mereka, anak muda yang penuh semangat. Terlihat dari raut muka yang tiada henti menampakkan aura perubahan. Ciri khas anak muda memang. Tak akan kusia-siakan waktuku bersama kalian, wahai pemuda-pemudi. Dan moderator pun berbicara: Mari kita mulai.

Dua setengah jam berlalu. Materi yang kita diskusikan terkait dengan definisi anggaran dan proses tahapan penyusunannya: teknokratis dan politik. Baru itu saja yang saya sampaikan. Kita coba definisikan konsep yang ada dengan kondisi yang dihadapi oleh teman-teman. Walaupun masih terlihat satu arah, mudah-mudahan pertemuan selanjutnya bisa lebih dinamis.

Matahari masih terlihat di ufuk timur. Meski terlihat malu-malu untuk terbenam, masih kulihat sinarnya yang teduh. Cirebon, maaf aku harus meninggalkanmu. Semoga kita bertemu lagi di lain kesempatan. Salamku untuk semua yang ada di sini. oKelah kalo begithu, tarik jeh!!

Terminal Harja Mukti, Cirebon

Tepat pukul 18.00 di Terminal Harja Mukti saya memulai kembali perjalanan ke Kota Tasikmalaya. Tanpa menunggu lama, bis menuju kota santri tersebut pun akhirnya meluncur. Ini bis terakhir hari ini. Saya tak mau tanggung resiko untuk terlambat besok pagi, walau harus berdiri dan harus berdesak-desakan dalam perjalanan ini. “Singsingkan lengan baju, hadapi lawan,..dst” masih terus terngiang di kepalaku. Badan yang terus meronta karena mungkin telah lelah dipakai seharian terus kusampingkan. “Sabarlah, suatu saat engkau tidak berdiri terus. Pasti kebagian duduk.” Dan akhirnya aku pun kebagian duduk. Alhamdulillah lega.

Hampir tiga kediaman Bupati aku lewati dalam perjalanan ke Tasikmalaya ini. Kuningan, Majalengka dan Ciamis. Ah, satu keinginan yang belum tercapai. Mengunjungi Kota Banjar, sebagai pencapaian terakhirku dalam menjelajahi seluruh kota/kabupaten yang ada di Provinsi ini. Dua puluh lima kota/kabupaten lainnya Alhamdulillah bisa kutempuh dalam satu tahun kemarin. Banjar, mungkin lain kali aku berkunjung ke rumahmu. Tapal perbatasan telah kulewati, kabupaten Tasikmalaya dan akhirnya masuk ke wilayah Kota Tasikmalaya. Di Simpang Lima, aku berhenti. Waktu menunjukkan pukul 23.00. Tak lama kemudian, sate ayam di samping rel kereta api menyapaku. Ah, aku pun dengan senang hati membalas sapaannya. oKelah Kalo Begithu, pesan mang!!

Ciamis dan Kuningan memiliki kultur yang sedikit berbeda. Baik dari segi bahasa maupun perilaku orang-orangnya. Maaf, tanpa menggeneralisir semua tentunya. Ini hanya pengalaman pribadi. Di Kuningan, bahasa yang digunakannya agak kasar dibanding dengan Ciamis. Ada pengalaman lucu waktu melintas di Ciamis, ketika seorang perempuan muda turun dari bis, si kondektur dengan ringan berteriak, “Pelan-pelan Supir. Ada yang mau turun. Barang pecah nih”. Maksud barang pecah disini tidak lain adalah kepada sang gadis tadi. Si gadis hanya tersenyum sambil berlalu. Sementara penumpang di dalam karena mendengar barang pecah, kontan semua tertawa. “Aya-aya wae kenek teh”. Wkwkwkkkkk…. Tentu ini tidak bermaksud menyindir sang gadis, tapi maksudnya ini sebagai bentuk penghormatan kepada para wanita. Mereka harus diperlakukan terhormat. Ciamis memang terkenal santun. Aku pun tersenyum dalam hati..

Tahun 2006, saya dan kawan-kawan KAMMI Bandung menjadi relawan di Pangandaran. Waktu itu bulan Juli, tsunami melanda daerah ini. Banyak korban yang meninggal, rumah yang hancur dan anak-anak yang terlantar. Kami berangkat sore dari Bandung. Sang supir tidak begitu hafal dengan daerah Ciamis. Tujuan kami ke Pangandaran, eh malah ke Cilacap Jawa Tengah. Kesasarnya memang tak tanggung-tanggung, lebih dari 60 Km. waktu itu tengah malam, jadi sangat jarang warga yang ada di sana. So, Ciamis akan menjadi pengalaman tersendiri bagi saya karena dulu pernah kesasar.

Perjalanan dari Cirebon ke Tasikmalaya menghabiskan waktu sampai empat jam. Cirebon di Jabar bagian utara sedangkan Tasik berada di bagian selatan. Ditengah keduanya ada Kuningan, Majalengka dan Ciamis. ke arah timur ada Kota Banjar yang berada di daerah perbatasan antara Jabar dan Jateng.

Acara di Tasik mulai pukul 09.00 sampai pukul 15.00. Jumlah yang hadir 30 orang, 19 laki-laki sisanya perempuan. 6 orang diantaranya berasal dari Ciamis. Beberapa peserta mengakui bahwa ini merupakan hal pertama bagi mereka terkait dengan belajar anggaran. Untuk mengetahui kondisi awal, memang kami sengaja meminta data terkait dengan harapan masing-masing peserta.

Materi yang disampaikan tidak jauh berbeda dengan di Cirebon. Tetapi karena waktu training di Tasik lebih lama, maka bagian kegiatan analisa membaca APBD-nya agak kita tekankan. Menganalisa APBD memang tidak hanya melihat angka-angka dalam dokumen penganggaran saja, tetapi juga harus diimbangi dengan dokumen perencanaan semisal RPJPD atau RPJMD daerah tersebut. Nah, karena teman-teman tidak memiliki dokumen perencanaan tersebut, maka kita maksimalkan saja dengan dokumen yang ada.

Training ini pada dasarnya untuk memfasilitasi teman-teman Kamda dalam meningkatkan kemampuan advokasinya di lapangan. Semisal, KAMMI Tasikmalaya sekarang sedang mengadvokasi isu penyelewengan Dana Alokasi Khusus (DAK) Pendidikan yang terjadi di Kabupaten Tasikmalaya. Sedangkan KAMMI Ciamis fokus pada advokasi dana keagamaan. Sesuai dengan KUA-PPAS bahwa alokasi dana keagamaan untuk tahun 2010 sebesar Rp 4 Miliar. Tetapi ketika sidang paripurna penetapan APBD, alokasi tersebut malah menurun drastis menjadi Rp 300 juta. Dengan isu-isu yang menjadi agenda teman-teman, setidaknya training ini menjadi bagian dari capacity building yang dilakukan oleh KAMMI Wilayah.

Pangkalan Bis Budiman, Tasikmalaya

Tidak lama setelah selesai acara, saya langsung pulang. Pukul 16.00 saya sudah berada di pangkalan bis Budiman dan tidak lama bis pun melaju ke arah Bandung. Sang kondektur memberitahu bahwa sore itu di daerah Ujung Berung Bandung ada angin puting beliung yang merusak beberapa rumah. Untungnya sore itu cuaca di Tasik hanya gerimis. Walaupun sedikit panik, tetapi sang kondektur berusaha untuk menenangkan para penumpang.

Setelah hampir empat jam, akhirnya kami sampai juga di Kota Bandung. Betul apa yang dikatakan sang kondektur. Jalanan sejak di Nagreg sampai Terminal Cicaheum macet. Hal ini diakibatkan karena ada pohon yang tumbang di daerah Ujung Berung serta jalanan di sekitar Rancaekek Bandung yang tergenang banjir. Lalu-lintas pun padat merayap.

Dari Terminal Cicaheum, saya melanjutkan pulang ke rumah di Geger Kalong Girang. Cuaca dingin menyelimuti Kota Bandung malam itu. Hampir setiap sore hujan turun. Tak jarang jalanan pun ikut tergenang air cileuncang. Perjalanan akhir pekan ini pun akhirnya selesai juga. Perjalanan memberiku energi, mengupgrade spirit yang telah hilang dan membuat hidup lebih hidup![]
Wallahu’alam bishshawab.


Ramlan Nugraha
[ketika perjalanan adalah energi untuk terus bergerak]

March 1



“Silence is one of the great arts of conversation.”

--Cicero; image from

CONFERENCE

International Conference: Conflict Prevention and Resolution: the Role of Cultural Relations Tuesday, March 02, 2010 - Bibliothèque Solvay

Obama plan: $50M for friendly media in Pakistan - Gavin Dahl, Raw Story: "New US-sponsored Pakistani media will raise awareness and build a brand for America, according to sources in the international press. The Obama administration is set to spend $50 million on media in Pakistan. The goal is to raise awareness of projects aimed at reversing anti-American sentiments. The US Special Representative to Pakistan and Afghanistan, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke believes that a substantial amount of monies spent on media, especially private TV channels, will reduce tension and may even bring Pakistan-US relations back on the right path." Image from



United States to spend $50 million in Pakistani advertising - Michael Bearak, DigitalJournal.com - "The Obama Administration has announced that they are set to spend roughly $50 million in advertising in Pakistan to bolster relations between the two countries. The main intent of the advertising campaign is to build branding in the country, thus improving the Pakistani image of America. The ads are going to be put a focus on projects that have been or are being done in the country with the help of the United States. The administration is that they are also hoping that in the process the ads help reverse some of the anti-American sentiment in the country."

Public Diplomacy-doing it online - jackhojo, Outpost: "During the Cold War, public diplomacy (PD) was the underlying concept behind organisations like Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Asia and Radio Liberty. The mission was to ‘tell America’s story to the world’-essentially to influence the populations of communist-governed countries and enlighten them as to the American way of life. Propaganda by any other name would smell as sweet? Well, maybe…but lets not forget that one of the high priests of Journalistic ethical practice, Edward R. Murrow, was one of the first directors of the cold war era PD powerhouse, the United States Information Agency. Tuft’s university even named their school of Public Diplomacy after Murrow. So what does that say about PD? Well, basically, it says that the best kind of PD is honest PD. As Murrow himself put it when he modified the maxim of PD, 'We have to tell America’s story to the world, warts and all'. But the public spaces that were targeted in the Cold War were more or less limited to radio, press and funding various traveling exhibitions, activist groups etc. With the explosion in online media, these spaces have multiplied and diversified to a point where quantifying or targeting them becomes an impossibility. So whither the earnest art of Public Diplomacy? For the US, engaging with online publics has become a priority. See this speech by Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy James Glassman.

Its all very friendly, fuzzy bumph at the moment: teaming up with trendy, down with the kids companies like Google and Facebook to facilitate discussions about peace, democracy, fighting violence and oppression, as well as the best techniques for nursing abandoned kittens back to health (I may have made that last one up)." Image from article

Alhurra cited here and there - Kim Andrew Elliott reporting on International Broadcasting

Reality Check: The joke's on Edelstein - Jeff Barak, Jerusalem Post:

"Given that the thuggish Avigdor Lieberman is foreign minister, one has to accept that anything is possible in Israeli diplomacy, but even still, the Ministry of Public Diplomacy special Web site (http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/www.masbirim.gov.il) is a new low in the very undistinguished history of hasbara (which can be translated as 'public information' but 'propaganda' is nearer the mark). … There are no shortage of useful Web sites putting overout Israel’s case, among them the Foreign Ministry’s site (http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/www.mfa.gov.il) which is an excellent repository of useful information, both on current issues and the country’s history. Ignoring for one moment the Ministry of Public Diplomacy’s scandalous use of a government Web site to push a biased view of the conflict, there is also the question of why Edelstein thought it necessary to create a Web site explaining Israel to the world when the government already has an excellent one doing the job." Image from

New campaign aims to improve Isreal's world image - Susan Zalkind, Daily Free Press: "The Israeli government has begun a citizen diplomacy campaign to improve Israel’s global image, prompting approval from Jewish faculty and students at Boston University. The campaign, announced on Feb. 17, was initiated after the ministry surveyed 600,000 Israeli citizens and discovered that 91 percent of Israelis believe their country suffers from a negative image abroad. The same survey also revealed that 85 percent of those surveyed would be willing to take an active step in order to improve that image, said. Director of Diplomacy at the Ministry for Public Diplomacy and the Diaspora Shay Attias … orchestrated the survey. The Ministry of Diplomacy contracted consultant firms to educate volunteers in a four-hour course, Attias said."

China doing all it can in global affairs - Wu Jiao, China Daily - "Innovation on diplomatic theories and institutions has become a major factor driving China's diplomacy. For instance, in view of the new demands on diplomatic work, new departments including the Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs, Center for Consular Assistance and Protection and Public Diplomacy Office have been set up in the foreign ministry."

Image from article, with caption: "Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi says China’s development poses no threat to anyone; instead, it offers more opportunities for all."

Freedom first, and China last - Bruce Sterling, Wired: "Robinder Sachdev is president of Imagindia Institute, an independent think tank dedicated to promoting the imagination and public diplomacy of India across cultures."

Louise B. McKnew, spinal cord expert - Frederick N. Rasmussen, Baltimore Sun - "Louise B. McKnew, a lawyer who was a champion of spinal cord injury patients and founder of the National Research Institute for Neural Injury, died Tuesday ... . From 1976 to 1982, Mrs. McKnew worked at the US Information Agency as special assistant to the US Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy."

George Creel's Bay Area home in the 1930s - Geoff Whittington, San Francisco Chronicle: "Investigative journalist, politician and American World War I propaganda specialist George Creel owned the Pacific Heights home at 2761 Divisadero St. in the 1930s, according to the 1938-'39 Who's Who in America Vol. 20 (A.N. Marquis Co.). Creel served as the head of the United States Committee on Public Information - a propaganda organization created by President Woodrow Wilson - during World War I. Creel, who worked as a reporter with the Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News until 1917, outlined his methods in a controversial book, 'How We Advertised America,' published in 1920. It called for official promotion of America in commercial ads. He died in 1953. The three-story, 4,700-square-foot home features elements of Edwardian and Mission Revival architecture.

It is located on the southwest corner of Divisadero and Green streets - a block from the shops and restaurants on Union Street. Nearby, a three-bedroom, two-bath at 3024 Pierce St. is listed for sale at $3.395 million, and a four-bedroom, 3.5-bath at 2830 Filbert St. is on the market for $2.695 million. The 4,700-square-foot Pacific Heights home features elements of Edwardian and Mission Revival architecture." Image from article