Tag Archives: White House

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a message from David Simas


The White House, Washington

Hello, everyone —

In the early hours of September 15, 2008, five years ago last Sunday, Lehman Brothers announced it would file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Lehman was a giant of the financial system — the fourth-largest investment bank in the US, a firm that employed thousands of brokers and analysts, with billions in assets that were suddenly worthless — and its collapse sent shock waves through the global economy.

Suddenly, it was obvious that the next president of the United States would inherit a staggering economic crisis. But the challenge that President Obama was forced to confront didn’t just begin in 2008. Even before Lehman Brothers, middle-class security had been slowly eroding for decades as jobs became obsolete or were shipped overseas.

So as we mark this anniversary, we’ve asked senior staff from across the Obama administration to sit down and talk about the moment when key decisions were made — the factors they weighed, the results of the actions that President Obama took. What we’ve put together is a behind-the-scenes look of the decision-making process that you won’t find anywhere else.

Check out the story of America’s recovery, then share it with your friends.

By the end of 2008, the economy was shrinking by an annual rate of more than 8 percent, our businesses were shedding 800,000 jobs a month, and credit was frozen for families and small businesses. We were in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. On the day that I first began working in the White House in 2009, the auto industry was on the brink of collapse and the President was wrestling with how to help the millions of families in thousands of communities who would have been devastated if the motor companies died.

That’s the lens through which President Obama saw his responsibilities, and it’s a consistent theme in all the stories we’ve collected. Every decision he made was meant to stop the economy from spiraling out of control, put people back to work, and reverse the trends that had buffeted middle class for decades. The task was nothing short of monumental — to clear away the rubble of the crisis and lay down a new foundation for sustained economic growth in the United States.

There’s no diminishing the severity of the challenge we’ve overcome together, and we’ve got a lot more work to do to rebuild an economy where everyone who works hard has a chance to get ahead. But five years after Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, we want to help everyone get the context and see the full picture.

Take a minute to learn more about where we are five years after the start of the financial crisis:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/five-years-later

Thanks!

David

David Simas Deputy Senior Advisor The White House @Simas44

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A Better Bargain for Responsible, Middle Class Homeowners


In his weekly address, President Obama notes that while college education has never been more important, it has also never been more expensive — which is why he proposed major new reforms this week to make college more affordable for middle class families and those fighting to get into the middle class.

A Better Bargain for Students: President Obama hit the road on Thursday for a two-day bus tour in New York and Pennsylvania to share his plan to make college more affordable. The President stressed the importance of ensuring that higher education pays off for students and their families:

“Too many students are facing a choice that they should never have to make:  Either they say no to college and pay the price for not getting a degree — and that’s a price that lasts a lifetime — or you do what it takes to go to college, but then you run the risk that you won’t be able to pay it off because you’ve got so much debt.”

President Obama also shared his own story about college loans in an email to White House subscribers. If you didn’t receive it, be sure to sign up for future updates.

Meet Sunny: The Obamas welcomed a new member of their family, a Portuguese water dog named Sunny! The new puppy is settling into the White House and is expected to take on many family projects, just like her big brother Bo.

Administration Officials Answer Your Education Questions: On Thursday, the White House hosted office hours with Deputy Communications Director Katie Beirne-Fallon and Deputy Director of Domestic Policy Council James Kvaal. You can check out many of questions asked on Storify.

On Friday, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan joined Sal Khan, the founder of Khan Academy, to discuss how we can innovate in American education.

“At a time when going to college has never been more important, unfortunately it has never been more expensive,” Duncan said. “And so we have to work together to drive down costs. We have to have much greater transparency and help young people and their families make better choices.”

Mental Health and the Affordable Care Act: On Wednesday, health leaders and mental health advocates came to the White House to talk about how health reform will help Americans gain access to mental health coverage if they need. Because of the Affordable Care Act, 71 million privately insured Americans have gained improved coverage for preventive services.

We the (Immigrant) Geeks: Friday’s edition of We the Geeks highlighted prominent immigrants who are breaking ground in their professional fields. In a Google+ Hangout moderated by Todd Park, U.S. Chief Technology Officer, and Doug Rand, Assistant Director of Entrepreneurship at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, participants discussed why immigration reform is necessary to keep bringing innovators to the United States.

Hosting the 1973 Super Bowl Champion Miami Dolphins: On Tuesday, the undefeated 1972-1973 Miami Dolphins visited the White House. President Obama congratulated the team for their legacy both on the field and in their communities.

“I know that some people may be asking why we’re doing this after all these years. And my answer is simple: I wanted to be the young guy up here for once,” President Obama joked about the team’s visit 40 years after they earned their Super Bowl rings.

One Year of Open Source Code for We The People: One year ago on Friday, the White House published its source code for We the People. To mark this anniversary, we updated readers about our new web development projects and how you can get involved.

Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Strategy: On Monday, the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force released its final report. The Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Strategy provides recommendations to rebuild and reinvigorate Sandy-impacted areas. Over the past six months, FEMA has provided $12 billion to individuals and communities in need.

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Kenaf

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Kenaf – A 21st century crop

Posted on 21. Mar, 2010 by admin in crop

[Translate]a repost

Kenaf, should be the fibre crop of the 21st century, and hopefully explode into the market place for industrial products made from sustainable natural materials. Several multinational companies already use kenaf fibre in small, but growing quantities, in newly-marketed green products such as the Toyota Lexus and NEC mobile phones to replace environmentally-damaging materials.

Crucially, the green tag attached to kenaf is gaining more importance as people, companies and governments realize that the kenaf crop removes substantial amounts of CO2 and NO2 from the atmosphere and three to five times faster than forests with its deep roots improving the soil. Trees take many years to reach a harvestable size, however kenaf grown as an annual crop will reach a mature size in just 120 to 150 days after the seeds are sown, producing the largest biomass of any agricultural crop – far more than trees.

It can clean the environment efficiently and in some Japanese cities, kenaf is planted by the Government to improve the air quality. Kenaf will also greatly reduce our reliance on wood pulp and petroleum-based products. From construction board and concrete to plastic composites for mobile phones, from paper and light-weight, high-strength surfaces in aircraft to non woven industrial fabrics, from newspaper to absorbents for the oil industry. Commerce is waiting for the sustainable kenaf fibre in large quantities.

The kenaf plant is composed of multiple useful components (e.g. stalks, leaves, and seeds) and within each of these plant components there are various usable portions (e.g. fibres and fibre strands, proteins, oils, and allelopathic chemicals). What can’t be harvested can be used as Biomass fuel and fertilizer

Exciting New Technologies

In the past kenaf fibre production has been limited by the manual processing required to extract the fibres once the kenaf crop has been grown and harvested and the non-sustainable method of retting the fibres in rivers. New methods are now becoming available to process kenaf in volume providing a distinct advantage over existing processes, taking them to a new economical viability.

Green Planets and our partners intention is not to compete with other existing kenaf producers or processors, but to enlarge the industry and provide new opportunities for kenaf fibres. In most of the countries chosen, there are existing kenaf customers, we aim to enhance those relationships and the export routes for kenaf to developed nations. While at the same time create locally-owned hubs of agricultural excellence, kenaf business and community social support for the growers.

To find out more and how you can assist us, please contact us at www.kenaf@greenplanet.com

Kenaf is a crop of importance – to a world in need of it

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Relief for DREAMers …. what it is and is not

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 click on photo for better look at bullet points

    This is for all DREAMers … not just Hispanic or Latinos

President Obama announced that the policy of prosecutorial discretion—which allows immigration agents to defer deportation of low-risk, non criminal undocumented immigrants—will be expanded to all DREAM eligible youth.This is a huge win for the immigration reform movement, and comes as a result of years of tireless mobilization and agitation by DREAMers, undocumented immigrants, and immigrants’ rights activists and politicians.

The expansion in policy means that effective today, there will be an immediate halt to all deportation proceedings for DREAMers, and all DREAMers who are already in deportation proceedings will get deferred action (lasting two years) and work permits, if they meet eligibility. Any DREAMer who meets the criteria can come forward and apply for deferred action and a work permit as well.

While this is an exciting moment for the immigration reform movement, it is not an ultimate victory. This policy expansion still does not provide a path to citizenship for DREAMers. There is still a dire need for a national DREAM Act. The struggle continues, and electing pro-DREAM champions into office this November is as important as it has ever been.

Here are some of the details of the new policy:

To be eligible you must

  • Be between 15 years or older and 30 years or younger may apply
  • Be in US for at least 5 (as of today, 6/15/12)
  • Have to have maintained continuous residence (relatively flexible interpretation)

There are no restriction on when you can apply (i.e. no window that closes after a year, for example)
Grants of Deferred Application are for 2 years and are renewable
Criminal Ineligibility: If you have been convicted of a felony, a serious misdemeanor or three minor misdemeanors not all stemming from same incident, then you are not eligible.

Need to apply? USCIS should have an application process online within 60 days. Check back on their site for more information.

We estimate that as a result of this policy extension, nearly 1 million DREAMers will be spared from deportation. This is truly an exciting day.

Click here to thank the White House for keeping their promise to provide administrative relief.