America | StaunchUSA

Sharon Stone Being Pursued by Young Guys… DUH!

On July 6, 2010, in Celebrity, by admin

The 52-year-old actress admits her love life is almost non-existent at the moment- comparing it to the barren Mojave desert – but it’s not from lack of offers as males in their 20s are keen to date her, but she’s not sure what their intentions are. She told America’s More magazine: “Life and love is like the ocean. Sometimes the tide is in and sometimes the tide is out, and sometimes it’s like the frigging Mojave. Where’s the tide now? For me? Mojave! Fortunately, I like the desert. I’m a desert flower.

Thanks NaaNoo.

Barbra Streisand Releases “My Passion for Design,” at Book Expo

On June 2, 2010, in Celebrity, by admin

At 68, Barbra Streisand is writing her first book — but it’s no memoir. “I’m a little too private. I’m not ready to write about my life,” Streisand said Tuesday at the opening of BookExpo America, a publishing convention.

She said she tried writing a few chapters of an autobiography but quit after deciding that “this is hard. I’d rather write a book about design.”

That $60 coffee table book, MyPassion for Design, will be released Nov. 16. It will feature 350 photographs of a complex of houses Streisand helped design in Malibu, Calif.

There’s her “main house,” where she lives; an “elegant barn,” which she described as her art project; her “mill house” with 200-year-old beams; and a guest house, nicknamed “Grandma’s house” by Streisand’s husband, James Brolin.

It’s a long way from her childhood in Brooklyn, N.Y. In a staged interview at the convention with Gayle King, editor at large of O magazine, Streisand mentioned her father, a teacher who died when she was 15 months old, and how her family couldn’t afford a couch until her mother remarried when Streisand was 8.

“Maybe that’s why I love couches,” she said.

She linked her favorite color, burgundy, to a sweater she had as a child and described her love of “pure lipstick red.”

Her passion for architecture blossomed, she said, in 1994 when a movie she was supposed to direct, an adaptation of Larry Kramer’s play The Normal Heart, fell apart. “A house became my project. I made a house instead of a movie.”

King asked Streisand if she kept anything in her California homes that remind her of her New York childhood.

“You mean like egg creams?” Streisand quipped.

King persisted.

”No,” Streisand replied. “We lived in a $40-a-month apartment. Five people shared one bathroom. I have nothing that reminds me of that.”

Thanks USA Today.

Tagged with: America • Barbra Streisand • booxexpo • Brooklyn • California • design • james brolin • Malibu • memoir • my passion for design • NY • Streisand

NYPD Interviews Owner of SUV Used in Foiled Terror Attack in Times Square

On May 3, 2010, in Life/Culture, by admin

Investigators have spoken to the registered owner of an SUV used as a homemade car bomb in a failed terror attack in the heart of Times Square, police officials said Monday.

Paul Browne, the NYPD’s deputy commissioner for public information, would not give further details on the registered owner, and would not say whether the person was considered a suspect.

The 1993 dark-colored Nissan Pathfinder didn’t have a clearly visible vehicle identification number. Its license plates came from a car found in a Connecticut repair shop.

Investigators Monday were also looking to speak with a man in his 40s videotaped shedding his shirt near the sport utility vehicle where the bomb was found. The surveillance video, made public late Sunday, shows an unidentified white man apparently in his 40s slipping down Shubert Alley and taking off his shirt, revealing another underneath. In the same clip, he’s seen looking back in the direction of the smoking vehicle and furtively putting the first shirt in a bag.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, making the morning talk show rounds Monday, warned on NBC’s “Today” that the person on the tape may not become a suspect.

“There are millions of people that come through Times Square,” he said. “This person happened to be in a position which a camera got a good shot of him, and maybe he had something to do with it but there’s a very good chance that he did not. We’re exploring a lot of leads.”

The NYPD and FBI also were examining “hundreds of hours” of security videotape from around Times Square. They traveled to Pennsylvania for video shot by a tourist of a different person, and were evaluating the tape Monday and determining whether to make it public.

Police said the crude gasoline-and-propane bomb could have produced “a significant fireball” and sprayed shrapnel and metal parts with enough force to kill pedestrians and knock out windows. The SUV was parked on one of America’s busiest streets, lined with Broadway theaters and restaurants and full of people out on a Saturday night.

The area bounced back quickly and had returned to its normal bustle on a rainy Monday morning.

The Pakistani Taliban appeared to claim responsibility for the car bomb in three videos that surfaced after the weekend scare, monitoring groups said. New York officials said police have no evidence to support the claims and noted that the same group had falsely taken credit for previous attacks on U.S. soil.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told “Today” on Monday that no suspects had been ruled out.

“Right now, every lead has to be pursued,” she said. “I caution against premature decisions one way or another.”

Police released a photograph of the SUV as it crossed an intersection at 6:28 p.m. Saturday. A vendor pointed out the SUV to an officer about two minutes later.

The explosive device in the SUV had cheap-looking alarm clocks connected to a 16-ounce can filled with fireworks, which were apparently intended to detonate the gas cans and set the propane afire in a chain reaction, said Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly. It could have cut the SUV in half, produced “a significant fireball” and sprayed shrapnel and metal parts with enough force to kill pedestrians and knock out windows.

Investigators had feared that a final component placed in the cargo area—a metal rifle cabinet packed a fertilizer-like substance and rigged with wires and more fireworks—could have made the device even more devastating. Test results late Sunday showed it was indeed fertilizer, but NYPD bomb experts believe it was not a type volatile enough to explode like the ammonium nitrate grade fertilizer used in previous terror attacks, said police spokesman Paul Browne.

The exact amount of fertilizer was unknown. Police estimated the cabinet weighed 200 to 250 pounds when they pulled it from the vehicle.

Times Square, choked with taxis and people on one of the first summer-like days of the year, was shut down for 10 hours. Detectives took the stage at the end of some of Broadway shows to announce to theatergoers that they were looking for witnesses in a bombing attempt.

Thanks Breitbart.

Tagged with: America • car bomb • Connecticut • FBI • michael bloomberg • NBC • nissan pathfinder • NYPD • Shubert Alley • SUV • Terror • Times Square • today

Hillary Clinton’s Journey…

On April 26, 2010, in Political, by admin

In a year of historic political firsts, Hillary Clinton got closer to the Oval Office than any woman in history. In 2007, Clinton was heavily favored to win the Democratic nomination, but she lost the first round of the long campaign, to Barack Obama in Iowa on Jan. 3, 2008. For the next six months, the two candidates battled each other across America, the momentum seesawing back and forth between them. At the end of the race, Clinton had 1,932 Democratic delegates, just shy of the 2,118 needed to win the party’s nomination.

Check more at Newsweek.com.

Tagged with: America • Clinton • Democratic • Hillary Clinton • oval office • Secretary of state Hillary Clinton

Dame Helen Mirren: British Actors are Lazier than American Actors

On April 26, 2010, in Celebrity, by admin

The star, 64, was in both the British and US versions of A Month in the Country in the 90s.

She said: “They were wonderful casts. But in England at the rehearsal a lot were not on top of their lines. We finished at 2pm so everyone could learn.

“In America, by the second week the cast had their lines down and did a full day’s rehearsal.”

In London she starred with John Hurt and Joseph Fiennes but neither was singled out for criticism.

Dame Helen, due to star with Russell Brand in Arthur, was at the Brit Film and TV Week in LA.

She said: “I’ve always loved US actors’ commitment.”

Thanks Mirror UK.

Tagged with: America • British • England • Helen Mirren • JOHN HURT • JOSEPH FIENNES • London • US

Americans Say U.S. Cars Top Asia Automobiles

On April 21, 2010, in Life/Culture, by admin

America’s love affair with the automobile has a new spark—a renewed affection for U.S.-made cars after a long dalliance with foreign automakers.

Slightly more Americans now say the United States makes better-quality vehicles than Asia does, with 38 percent saying U.S. cars are best and 33 percent naming autos made by Asian countries, according to an Associated Press-GfK Poll.

The survey suggests those numbers are largely fueled by a plunge in Toyota’s reputation and an upsurge in Ford’s. The poll was conducted in March, as Toyota was being roiled by nightmarish publicity over its recall of more than 8 million vehicles around the globe and allegations that it responded sluggishly to safety concerns.

Though the U.S. advantage is modest, it marks a significant turnabout for American automakers battered by recession and relentless competition from foreign manufacturers. When the same question was asked in a December 2006 AP-AOL poll, 46 percent said Asian countries made superior cars, while just 29 percent preferred American vehicles, reflecting a perception of U.S. automotive inferiority that began taking hold about three decades ago.

“Toyota’s problems are not to be minimized here,” David Williams, dean of the business administration school at Wayne State University in Detroit, Mich., said in explaining the attitude shift.

In both AP polls, Japan—home to brands like Toyota, Honda and Nissan—was by far the dominant Asian nation volunteered as producing the best cars. European autos—which include BMW, Mercedes Benz and Volkswagen—were called top quality by 15 percent last month, about the same as the 17 percent who said so four years ago.

Williams and others also cited a fresh look Americans are giving U.S. automakers, especially Ford and General Motors. Though GM and Chrysler went through bankruptcy last year and the federal government invested $80 billion to keep them afloat, GM has revamped its lineup with more fuel-efficient and crossover vehicles. Analysts say Ford revived its reputation by not accepting the taxpayer bailout and improving its vehicles’ gasoline mileage.

Highlighting the changing attitudes, 15 percent in the March poll said Toyota makes the best cars, down from 25 percent who said so in 2006. Moving in the opposite direction was Ford, cited as tops by just 9 percent in 2006 but by 18 percent last month.

Eighteen percent said GM cars were best, little changed from 2006. Chrysler—which continues to struggle—remained mired at 3 percent.

“They last,” Charlotte Flentge, 60, of Chester, Ill., a Chevrolet Cavalier owner, said of American autos. “You get a good American car, you know you have a quality car you can be safe in and not be afraid to put your family in.”

Those likeliest to say Asian-made autos are superior included men, the better educated and residents of Western states. U.S. cars were a strong preference for those age 50 and up and rural residents.

Overall, though, only 51 percent in last month’s poll expressed strong confidence that cars sold in the U.S. are safe, with owners of domestic and foreign cars giving similar responses. The 2006 survey did not ask that question.

“Toyota is leading the parade in reducing confidence in the safety of automobiles,” said Gerald C. Meyers, a former auto executive with American Motors and now a University of Michigan business professor. “I suspect that’s holding the number down a lot.”

Despite consumers’ altered views, the poll showed that allegiance remains strong to many makes. Well over nine in 10 owners of Fords, GMs, Hondas and Toyotas expressed satisfaction with their cars, with the figure slightly lower for Chryslers.

Among the brand loyalists is Vernon Harmon, 44, a police officer from Rock Hill, S.C., proud owner of a Toyota and a Mazda.

“I know people are going to say, ‘That guy, is he not watching the news?’” he said. “I know what’s going on. I still think Japan makes the best cars in the world. Period.”

With the U.S. trying to claw out of a recession, the poll showed that Americans’ taste for alternative-fuel cars is being tempered by economic realities. Such cars often cost more than similarly sized vehicles that run on gasoline.

By 61 percent to 37 percent, most said last month they would consider buying an alternative-fuel auto. That was a narrower margin than the 70 percent to 29 percent who said so in 2006.

Tellingly, people cited the environment and a desire to save money about equally last month when asked which would prevail in making their decision. Four years ago, with a strong economy, protecting the environment outweighed saving money, 47 percent to 34 percent.

“I’m concerned about the environment, but I don’t want to kill myself, I don’t want to go into bankruptcy,” said Kathryn Mershon, 47, of Henderson, Nev.

The poll also found that:

_Fifty-six percent own vehicles made by U.S. automakers, about the same as in 2006.

_Eight in 10 live in households with autos, including about two-thirds who have two or more cars.

_Six in 10 autos were bought used.

_About four in 10 say their dream car would be a foreign brand, compared with three in 10 wishing for a domestic car.

Flentge, the Chevrolet owner, picked the German-made BMW as her dream car, saying, “I don’t know, it just sounds prestigious.”

The AP-GfK Poll was conducted March 3-8 by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Media. It involved interviews with 1,002 adults conducted by landline and cellular telephones. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 4.2 percentage points.

Thanks Breitbart.

Tagged with: America • AOL • Asia • automobile • Cars • ford • Recession • toyota • United States • US

Sarah Palin her own Media Brand?

On April 5, 2010, in Political, by admin

When Sarah Palin made her debut as the host of “Real American Stories” on Fox News on Thursday night, she described several triumphs of regular people over insurmountable odds, but she missed an obvious one: her own.

After her failed bid for the vice presidency, she was more or less told to head back to Alaska to serve out her term as governor — a kind of metaphorical kitchen.

Instead, she quit her day job and proceeded to become a one-woman national media empire, with the ratings and lucre to show for it.

With its tales of uplift and pluck, “Real American Stories” trades in the kind of easy sentimentality that provokes eye rolls among those of us who work in media while quickening the pulse and patriotic ardor of almost everyone else. At the beginning of the show, Ms. Palin promised that it would “reaffirm our pioneering spirit and unmatched generosity, here and around the world.”

And so it did, with two million people tuning in. It featured a young man with cerebral palsy who was inspired to walk by the love of a dog, a millionaire who financed the college educations of legions of underprivileged youngsters, and a soldier who died to save his brothers in arms. (LL Cool J’s interview was withdrawn after he complained that it was going to be used in Ms. Palin’s show, proving that not everyone was in the reaffirming mood.)

“It’s not the kind of thing that’s going to excite you guys on the East Coast, but everyone else is dying to hear stories like these,” said one of her representatives who was not authorized to speak on the record but was authorized to slam the East Coast.

Ms. Palin’s politics can border on the atavistic, but beyond her Tea Party theatrics, she has tunneled her own route into the public consciousness and gone into the Sarah Palin Across America business. And what a business it is.

She was paid a $1.25 million retainer by HarperCollins. Her book, “Going Rogue,” has sold 2.2 million copies, according to its publisher, and she has another tentatively scheduled for this fall.

She now has an actual television career, including appearances as a pundit on Fox News, her gig as the host of “Real American Stories” four times a year, and a coming eight-part series on TLC called “Sarah Palin’s Alaska,” which will cost, according to some media reports, $1 million an episode (a lot more than governors make for “Come visit!” P.S.A.’s).

Other people have crossed the border from politics to media to very good effect — George Stephanopoulos, Patrick Buchanan and Chris Matthews, to name a few — but the transition was far more gradual. Ms. Palin turned on a dime and was a ratings sensation from the word go: her first paid appearance, as a commentator on “The O’Reilly Factor” on Jan. 12, was good for an extra million viewers.

Her appeal doesn’t stop at the red states. When Ms. Palin stopped by to chat with Oprah Winfrey — not exactly friendly territory — the show achieved its biggest ratings in two years.

Ms. Palin didn’t go on the show to run for president as much as to become the next Oprah. And it seems to be working.

So what are the rest of us missing?

Back in September 2008, when she was unveiled in St. Paul during the Republican convention, a longtime political reporter told me that her appeal would burn off over time. I wondered about that. I’m from Minnesota, which is sometimes considered the southernmost tip of Alaska, and her way of speaking in credulous golly-gee may have been off-putting to some, but there is a kind of authenticity there that no image handler could conjure.

In Ms. Palin’s America, everyone’s got bootstraps; they just need to have the gumption to find them. And her version is full of plain old folks spending a lot of time overcoming a great deal, including a government that she posits usually intends to do them harm. “America is exceptional! It’s not her politicians that make her so; it’s her everyday people and the values Americans hold so dear,” she said on her Facebook page, which, by the way, has 1.5 million fans.

She’s also imported the political trick of coming from the outside and ruling from the center. When she sets down the ear piece and leaves the studio lights, even the way she says the word “media” in her speeches — “MEE-dee-uh” — makes it sound like something yucky and foul, a swamp to be avoided at all costs. Unless, of course, you are promoting a show, a book or a cause.

Many observers thought her unwillingness to serve out her term would be fatal to her ambitions, but the fact that governance did not suit her — she resigned as governor back in July — has become a kind of credential.

Ms. Palin still gets a session in the media spanking machine every time she does anything, but the disapproval seems to further cement the support of her loyalists. Ms. Palin may or may not be qualified to represent America around the world, but she certainly represents vast swaths of the American public and has a lucrative new career to show for it.

If we don’t see why, then maybe we deserve the “lamestream media” label she likes to give us.

During the 2008 campaign, she was accused by the staff of Senator John McCain of running her own show and going off message. Then she took their disregard and made a book title out of it. “Going Rogue” is just one more example of how her inability or unwillingness to connect with the establishment leaders gives her credibility elsewhere. That’s a skill that works every bit as well on television as on the stump.

Last week, she returned to Senator McCain’s side to help in his re-election bid. As she bounded across the stage in Arizona and Cindy McCain struggled to maintain her frozen smile, even people who can’t stand her politics must have laughed.

Thanks NYT.

Tagged with: Alaska • America • east coast • Fox News • going rogue • Harper Collins • Million • o'reilly factoroprah winfrey • real american stories • Republican • Sarah Palin • tea party • tlc

Madonna and Ellen DeGeneres Cousins?

On April 1, 2010, in Celebrity, by admin

Two of America’s pop-culture icons — music superstar Madonna and TV powerhouse Ellen DeGeneres — are distant cousins with Canadian roots, according to the Toronto-based online genealogy service Ancestry.ca.

Researchers have discovered that the two women are 11th cousins with a common “10th great-grandfather” — Martin Aucoin of France — whose daughters emigrated to Nova Scotia in the early 1600s.

The daughters, Jeanne and Michele, were found to be matriarchs of French-Canadian clans that remained in this country for many generations.

”DeGeneres’s family left Canada in the late 1700s when her fifth great-grandfather, Joseph Martin, relocated to Louisiana,” says Ancestry.ca. “It wasn’t until the late 1870s that Madonna’s second great-grandmother, Emilie Daniel, left Quebec” for Michigan, which the singer considers her home state.

DeGeneres’ ancestors appear likely to have been victims of the 18th-century Acadian Expulsion, the British government’s forcible removal of tens of thousands of French-speaking residents of the Maritimes during the fall of New France.

Many of the deported families relocated to Louisiana, the source of that region’s vibrant Cajun culture — a name derived from the word “Acadian.”

“It’s rare to discover that two icons are related, but when they are similar in their successes and even their interests, it makes the discovery even more fascinating,” said Lesley Anderson, a genealogist at Ancestry.ca. “They are the same age, they are both published authors who have gone on tour, and are both recognized internationally for their impressive dance moves. And now that Ellen is on American Idol, they are both entrenched in the music industry as well.”

Anastasia Tyler, a genealogist with Ancestry.com. — the company’s Utah-based headquarters — added: “Fun stories and amazing surprises like this can be found in everyone’s family tree. You never know what adventures, heroes — even superstars — you might find until you dig into your family’s roots.”

Last June, Ancestry.ca announced a genealogy research partnership with Library and Archives Canada and revealed previously unknown details about the family backgrounds of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and B.C.-born Baywatch actor Pamela Anderson.

In unveiling its new family history database at the time, Ancestry.ca highlighted the fact that Harper’s great-grandfather, Joseph Harper, was a salesman in 1911 living in Westmorland, N.B., and that Anderson — “arguably Canada’s most famous blond” — has Scandinavian roots, tracing her Canadian origins to the 1908 immigration from Finland of her great-grandfather Juho Hyytiainen.

Thanks Vancouver Sun.

Tagged with: 1908 • 9/11 • America • ancestry • bc • Canada • cousins • ellen degeres • Madonna • Pamela Anderson • Prime Minister • toronto

Connecticut Girl Wins Most Disgusting Shoes in America

On March 24, 2010, in Life/Culture, by admin

An 11-year-old from Connecticut has the most disgusting shoes in America. Trinette Robinson of Bristol, Conn., was crowned the winner of the 35th annual National Odor-Eaters Rotten Sneaker contest Tuesday in Montpelier, Vt.

Her sneakers were judged the most vile on the basis of their condition and odor. She says she got them dirty by playing hard in Girl Scout Camp and doing community walks for charity.

She was among nine kids ages 6 to 16 competing in the contest. She wins $2,500 and an expenses-paid trip to New York City.

The runner up was 6-year-old Madilyn Taylor of West Jordon, Utah.

Thanks TBO.

Tagged with: America • bristol • Connecticut • girl scouts • montepelier • national oder-eaters rotten sneaker • New York City • Utah • vt

Hillary Clinton Pledged Help to Central America for Fight on Drugs

On March 8, 2010, in Political, by admin

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday pledged more U.S. help for Central America’s fight against drug cartels, saying the United States was part of the problem as trafficking and violence spread.

“We are going to forge an even closer partnership in the months and years ahead,” Clinton told a news conference in Guatemala, the last stop on a five-day Latin America tour.

“We are well aware that Central America is between the countries of Mexico and Colombia that are waging their own very intense efforts against the criminal cartels.”

Clinton’s stop in Guatemala featured talks with regional leaders on both the drug problem and Honduras, which is struggling to move beyond last year’s coup.

Mexico’s powerful drug cartels have moved deep into Guatemalan territory in the past few years as a Mexican army crackdown has pushed them to seek new smuggling routes between South America and the United States.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration reckons three-quarters of South American cocaine going north passes through Central America, smuggled by cartels that earn some $40 billion per year.

Clinton said the United States must take some responsibility

for Latin America’s drug wars because the huge U.S. domestic drug demand helps to drive the market.

“We know that we’re part of the problem,” she said. “That’s an admission that we have been willing to make this past year and it’s one of the reasons why we feel so strongly about trying to help countries like Guatemala fight this terrible criminal scourge.”

Traffickers traditionally moved cocaine through Central America by plane or boat but are increasingly developing land-based operations in countries such as Guatemala and Costa Rica, leading to rising rates of local drug violence and addiction.

Central American leaders have complained that their region is increasingly at risk in the drug wars and is not given enough assistance under the 2007 U.S. Merida initiative, which has authorized some $1.12 billion in help since 2008, mostly for Mexico.

“We are convinced that the fight against narco-trafficking and organized crime should be regional,” Guatamalan President Alvaro Colom said at the news conference. “We have seen an invasion by the Mexican cartels, we have seen a total invasion of narco-trafficking.

“The cartels move from one place to the next but its our society that is suffering.”

Clinton did not provide specifics of the new U.S. help on Friday but has used her visit to reassure Central American governments that they would see more U.S. assistance on things such as maritime security, police and judicial capacity, and anti-corruption efforts.

Guatemala has made several high-profile arrests in recent weeks, including those of the national police chief and anti-drug czar, both charged in connection with the theft of cocaine and guns from a drug gang warehouse last year.

Thanks Reuters.

Tagged with: America • central america • Columbia • drug • drug cartels • guatemala • Hillary Clinton • Honduras • Mexico • Secretary of state Hillary Clinton • smuggling • United States • US • violence

Iran: “We Do Not Take Mrs. Clinton’s Remarks Seriously”

On February 3, 2010, in Political, by admin

Atleast he properly addressed her as Mrs. Such nice people those Iranians.

Iran: “We Do Not Take Mrs. Clinton’s Remarks Seriously”

Can anyone imagine the regime in Iran not taking a Republican administration seriously?

Ronald Reagan was barely sworn into office when Iran released its hostages.

And here is Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki dumping on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the Obama administration. Remember, she came within a few thousand votes of being president in 2008.

Last week, she said: “Iran has provided a continuous stream of threats to intensify its violation of international nuclear norms. Iran’s approach leaves us with little choice than to work with our partners to apply greater pressure in the hope that it will cause Iran to reconsider its rejection of diplomatic efforts.”

The official response from Iran? Talk to the hand.

“Mrs. Clinton’s efforts to take America back to the failed policies of the Bush administration era will not benefit the people or the government of that country,” Mottaki said — according to CNS News.

He also said: “It has been three decades that the Islamic Republic of Iran has been facing the hostile approach of some American officials. Therefore, until the domestic prospect of the White House on Iran-U.S. relations is clarified, we do not take Mrs. Clinton’s remarks seriously.”

Why should Iran take Mrs. Clinton or President Obama seriously? As presidential candidates in 2007 and 2008, they were far from serious about Iran as they dismissed as “saber rattling” President Bush’s attempts to stop Iran’s efforts to build nuclear wea[ponry.

The perpetual campaign is noticed outside America’s borders. Predators always seek the weakest in the herd and they do not get much weaker than Obama and Mrs. Clinton.

**Hillary show them who is weak!

Thanks Daily Mail.

Tagged with: America • bush administration • CNS • Hillary Cliton • hostages • Iran • islamic republic • Republican • ronald Reagan • US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton • weak

Hillary Clinton goes “On the Record,” about Haiti

On January 19, 2010, in Political, by admin

This is a rush transcript from “On the Record,” January 18, 2010. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: Over the weekend we did go to Haiti with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She went “On the Record.”

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Good to see you, Greta.

VAN SUSTEREN: Obviously in a horrible situation.

CLINTON: It is, but I’m very pleased you’re here on the ground, as you often are.

VAN SUSTEREN: Obviously, this isn’t our country, and we are desperately trying to help, and we need the cooperation of their government. What is the state of the government to help us?

CLINTON: They’ve been hit very hard, but we just had an excellent meeting with the president and the prime minister. And they were very specific about what they’re trying to achieve.

Clearly, their highest obligation is to get necessities to the people who are living, to clear the streets of the corpses, and that is a very tragic job that has to be done, and to begin working on the electricity, the transportation, the telecommunications, you know, the nuts and bolts of how they get up and going again.

VAN SUSTEREN: You are down here just a couple days after this happened. How long can we sustain this? And are we getting help from other foreign governments? And how are you coordinating that so we can collectively make this work out?

CLINTON: We are getting an outpouring of help. First and foremost the United Nations, despite suffering their own horrific losses, are here, are getting stood up. We saw a lot of U.N. trucks.

We have a great group of other countries in our hemisphere and beyond. We are beginning to meet, and I talked with many of my counterparts, the foreign ministers around the world.

So there is going to be an international effort. The key is coordinating it, and to make sure that we are each doing what we can do best.

Watch Greta’s interview with Secretary of State Clinton

Now, there isn’t anybody who could have gotten this airport open and up and running besides the United States military in the time that we did it. We are going to be looking at the pore to make sure we can take information and expertise we have and try to get that port up and going

So the teams that are here, there are I think 30 search-and-rescue teams, six of those are Americans and the others are from all over the world. Everybody has been saving lives. It is really heartwarming. And from my perspective what the world is doing on behalf of this terrible tragedy is a great tribute us to.

VAN SUSTEREN: In our great zeal to help, and we came in the other day at this airport, you think it would be so easy to take over an airport, but it is not. I don’t think people realized we had to work something out. What did you have to be able to have the authority to do that?

CLINTON: We’re here as a humanitarian assistance and disaster relief mission. That’s what the United States military is here for. They are here as we all are at the invitation of the Haitian government that knows they need help.

And this airport is a perfect example. There’s only one runway. This is not ideal. Thank goodness it was not damaged. If the earthquake had knocked this runway out I don’t know where we would be in terms of trying to help.

So we went to the Haitian government. We said we were ready to help. They asked for our help. We negotiated an agreement so that the United States military could get it open and prioritize the flights in and out, because, as you can tell, it’s a small airport, but we’ve made it very busy and we’ve got to be sure people are safe coming in and out.

VAN SUSTEREN: So we have all these supplies, cargo coming in, and we’re shipping it out into the country. But the things like hospitals, and we would like to help in the hospitals — does the United States have to work out agreements there? Is there any sort of resistance?

If we can help in those hospitals, because we are hearing horrible stories there.

CLINTON: The Haitians have said we need all the help we can get. It’s a question of getting to where the help is need, setting up a facility, making sure it’s well-staffed and well-equipped. There are military hospitals by a number of countries being set-up around the affected area. There will have to be more.

We are also trying to resupply and support the Haitian hospitals that are still operating. Before I got on the plane this morning I got an e- mail from Dr. Paul Farmer who you has a long history here in Haiti and Partners in Health, which he was one of the founders of. He has a team working in one of the hospitals, giving me a report.

So it is all hands on deck. Everybody in our government and all these other governments are doing our best.

VAN SUSTEREN: We see the men and women of our military here. What is with the U.S. embassy?

CLINTON: Our ambassador is the chief of mission. Everybody in country is reporting to him. He’s coordinating the civilian and the military assistance. General Keen, who is the military commander on the ground works closely with our ambassador. Our ambassador negotiated the agreement with the Haitian government to get this airport open and have our folks help to prioritize.

So literally there’s more work than any human being can do in a 24 hour period. But everybody is working hard. What we want to make sure we are prioritizing and coordinated, and that’s my goal.

VAN SUSTEREN: I think it is interesting to show the all hands on deck — even your staff was out last night hustling at drug stores around Washington, D.C., buying all sorts of items to bring. So it really is really all hands on deck.

CLINTON: It really is. It is the best of America. And I’m so proud of our State Department, our USAID, our military, all of our private citizens, the generosity of the American people.

This is a terrible, horrible catastrophe for the people of Haiti, but I think that the outpouring from America and beyond should give them some reason to hope.

Thanks Fox News.

Tagged with: America • Americans • Clinton • earthquake • Fox News • general keen • Government • Greta Van Susteren • haiti • health • Hillary Clinton • on the record • united nations • United States

Sharon Stone Being Pursued by Young Guys… DUH!

Barbra Streisand Releases “My Passion for Design,” at Book Expo

NYPD Interviews Owner of SUV Used in Foiled Terror Attack in Times Square

Hillary Clinton’s Journey…

Dame Helen Mirren: British Actors are Lazier than American Actors

Americans Say U.S. Cars Top Asia Automobiles

Sarah Palin her own Media Brand?

Madonna and Ellen DeGeneres Cousins?

Connecticut Girl Wins Most Disgusting Shoes in America

Hillary Clinton Pledged Help to Central America for Fight on Drugs

Iran: “We Do Not Take Mrs. Clinton’s Remarks Seriously”

Hillary Clinton goes “On the Record,” about Haiti

Recent Comments

Categories

Looking for something?

Visit our friends!

Tags