Hillary Clinton's Legacy at State Dept.: A Hawk With Clipped Wings
"Do you know how long you have been here?"
In her final weeks as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton wrote a private memo to President Barack Obama warning that relations with Russia had hit a low point and the heralded "reset" in relations was over, according to people who saw the document.
"I don’t know. Days, weeks, months----I think it is months."
Inside the White House, some officials were loath to ditch a cornerstone of Mr. Obama's Russia policy. Months passed before Russian President Vladimir Putin gave sanctuary to National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, prompting Mr. Obama to cancel a planned summit in Moscow, a stark sign the reset was off track, if not dead.
"And why do you imagine that we bring people to this place?"
Mrs. Clinton, if she runs for president, likely will lean heavily on her experience as the nation's top diplomat. Her memo, written in January 2013, illustrates two striking features of her four years in the post: She was often more hawkish than the White House she served, and at some key moments was ineffectual at swinging policy her way.
Friday, May 30, 2014
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
May 28, 2014.
Author, Poet Maya Angelou Dies
A needle slid into Winston’s arm. Almost in the same instant a blissful, healing warmth spread all through his body. The pain was already half-forgotten. He opened his eyes and looked up gratefully at O’Brien. At sight of the heavy, lined face, so ugly and so intelligent, his heart seemed to turn over. If he could have moved he would have stretched out a hand and laid it on O’Brien’s arm. He had never loved him so deeply as at this moment, and not merely because he had stopped the pain. The old feeling, that at bottom it did not matter whether O’Brien was a friend or an enemy, had come back. O’Brien was a person who could be talked to. Perhaps one did not want to be loved so much as to be understood. O’Brien had tortured him to the edge of lunacy, and in a little while, it was certain, he would send him to his death. It made no difference. In some sense that went deeper than friendship, they were intimates: somewhere or other, although the actual words might never be spoken, there was a place where they could meet and talk. O’Brien was looking down at him with an expression which suggested that the same thought might be in his own mind. When he spoke it was in an easy, conversational tone.
NEW YORK----Maya Angelou, a modern Renaissance woman who survived the harshest of childhoods to become a force on stage, screen, the printed page and the inaugural dais, has died. She was 86.
"Do you know where you are, Winston?" he said.
Her death was confirmed in a statement issued by Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., where she had served as a professor of American Studies since 1982.
"I don’t know. I can guess. In the Ministry of Love."
Ms. Angelou's longtime agent of close to 35 years, Helen Brann, also confirmed that the poet died Wednesday morning near her home in Winston-Salem. "She sounded as she always did. She sounded vital and interested in her new book which we were talking about," said Ms. Brann, who spoke to the author Tuesday. "It's a terrific book, a memoir."
A needle slid into Winston’s arm. Almost in the same instant a blissful, healing warmth spread all through his body. The pain was already half-forgotten. He opened his eyes and looked up gratefully at O’Brien. At sight of the heavy, lined face, so ugly and so intelligent, his heart seemed to turn over. If he could have moved he would have stretched out a hand and laid it on O’Brien’s arm. He had never loved him so deeply as at this moment, and not merely because he had stopped the pain. The old feeling, that at bottom it did not matter whether O’Brien was a friend or an enemy, had come back. O’Brien was a person who could be talked to. Perhaps one did not want to be loved so much as to be understood. O’Brien had tortured him to the edge of lunacy, and in a little while, it was certain, he would send him to his death. It made no difference. In some sense that went deeper than friendship, they were intimates: somewhere or other, although the actual words might never be spoken, there was a place where they could meet and talk. O’Brien was looking down at him with an expression which suggested that the same thought might be in his own mind. When he spoke it was in an easy, conversational tone.
NEW YORK----Maya Angelou, a modern Renaissance woman who survived the harshest of childhoods to become a force on stage, screen, the printed page and the inaugural dais, has died. She was 86.
"Do you know where you are, Winston?" he said.
Her death was confirmed in a statement issued by Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., where she had served as a professor of American Studies since 1982.
"I don’t know. I can guess. In the Ministry of Love."
Ms. Angelou's longtime agent of close to 35 years, Helen Brann, also confirmed that the poet died Wednesday morning near her home in Winston-Salem. "She sounded as she always did. She sounded vital and interested in her new book which we were talking about," said Ms. Brann, who spoke to the author Tuesday. "It's a terrific book, a memoir."
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
May 27, 2014.
New Costs From Health Law Snarl Union Contract Talks
"How many fingers am I holding up, Winston?"
Disputes between unions and employers over paying for new costs associated with the Affordable Care Act are roiling labor talks nationwide.
"I don’t know. I don’t know. You will kill me if you do that again. Four, five, six — in all honesty I don’t know."
Unions and employers are tussling over who will pick up the tab for new mandates, such as coverage for dependent children to age 26, as well as future costs, such as a tax on premium health plans starting in 2018. The question is poised to become a significant point of tension as tens of thousands of labor contracts covering millions of workers expire in the next several years, with ACA-related cost increases ranging from 5% to 12.5% in current talks.
"Better," said O’Brien.
In Philadelphia, disagreement over how much workers should contribute to such health-plan cost increases has stalled talks between the region's transit system and its main union representing 5,000 workers as they try to renegotiate a contract that expired in March.
"How many fingers am I holding up, Winston?"
Disputes between unions and employers over paying for new costs associated with the Affordable Care Act are roiling labor talks nationwide.
"I don’t know. I don’t know. You will kill me if you do that again. Four, five, six — in all honesty I don’t know."
Unions and employers are tussling over who will pick up the tab for new mandates, such as coverage for dependent children to age 26, as well as future costs, such as a tax on premium health plans starting in 2018. The question is poised to become a significant point of tension as tens of thousands of labor contracts covering millions of workers expire in the next several years, with ACA-related cost increases ranging from 5% to 12.5% in current talks.
"Better," said O’Brien.
In Philadelphia, disagreement over how much workers should contribute to such health-plan cost increases has stalled talks between the region's transit system and its main union representing 5,000 workers as they try to renegotiate a contract that expired in March.
Monday, May 26, 2014
May 26, 2014.
Abe's Strategy: Rearrange Region's Power Balance
"Really to see them."
TOKYO----Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe laid out an assertive foreign policy agenda, saying he hoped to accelerate maritime aid to Vietnam amid its territorial standoff with China and host Vladimir Putin this year despite the Russian president's isolation from the West.
"Again," said O’Brien.
Beijing's "unilateral drilling activities" for oil in waters claimed also by Hanoi have led to "heightening of tensions," Mr. Abe told The Wall Street Journal in an interview Friday. "We will never tolerate the change of status quo by force or coercion," added the Japanese leader, who has assiduously courted Southeast Asian leaders during the past year and offered himself as a counterweight to China's muscle-flexing.
Perhaps the needle was eighty----ninety. Winston could not intermittently remember why the pain was happening. Behind his screwed-up eyelids a forest of fingers seemed to be moving in a sort of dance, weaving in and out, disappearing behind one another and reappearing again. He was trying to count them, he could not remember why. He knew only that it was impossible to count them, and that this was somehow due to the mysterious identity between five and four. The pain died down again. When he opened his eyes it was to find that he was still seeing the same thing. Innumerable fingers, like moving trees, were still streaming past in either direction, crossing and recrossing. He shut his eyes again.
As part of his broader strategy to rearrange the region's power balance, Mr. Abe also signaled a desire to keep alive his diplomatic overtures to Russia. He condemned Russia's annexation of portions of Ukraine and noted that Japan has imposed sanctions in coordination with the U.S. and Europe. But he made clear that he also hoped to maintain the dialogue he has intensified through five summit meetings with Mr. Putin, more than Mr. Abe has had with any other head of state.
"Really to see them."
TOKYO----Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe laid out an assertive foreign policy agenda, saying he hoped to accelerate maritime aid to Vietnam amid its territorial standoff with China and host Vladimir Putin this year despite the Russian president's isolation from the West.
"Again," said O’Brien.
Beijing's "unilateral drilling activities" for oil in waters claimed also by Hanoi have led to "heightening of tensions," Mr. Abe told The Wall Street Journal in an interview Friday. "We will never tolerate the change of status quo by force or coercion," added the Japanese leader, who has assiduously courted Southeast Asian leaders during the past year and offered himself as a counterweight to China's muscle-flexing.
Perhaps the needle was eighty----ninety. Winston could not intermittently remember why the pain was happening. Behind his screwed-up eyelids a forest of fingers seemed to be moving in a sort of dance, weaving in and out, disappearing behind one another and reappearing again. He was trying to count them, he could not remember why. He knew only that it was impossible to count them, and that this was somehow due to the mysterious identity between five and four. The pain died down again. When he opened his eyes it was to find that he was still seeing the same thing. Innumerable fingers, like moving trees, were still streaming past in either direction, crossing and recrossing. He shut his eyes again.
As part of his broader strategy to rearrange the region's power balance, Mr. Abe also signaled a desire to keep alive his diplomatic overtures to Russia. He condemned Russia's annexation of portions of Ukraine and noted that Japan has imposed sanctions in coordination with the U.S. and Europe. But he made clear that he also hoped to maintain the dialogue he has intensified through five summit meetings with Mr. Putin, more than Mr. Abe has had with any other head of state.
May 25, 2014.
California Shooting Victim Was Big-Hearted, Athletic, Academic
"How many fingers, Winston?"
ISLA VISTA, Calif.----She was a spunky bundle of contradictions: a math geek and an athlete; a sorority girl who made an effort to include outsiders.
"Four. I suppose there are four. I would see five if I could. I am trying to see five."
Veronika Weiss, a 19-year-old freshman at University of California, Santa Barbara, was one of six UC Santa Barbara students killed Friday night in a rampage that left the suspected gunman, Elliot Rodger, dead too.
"Which do you wish: to persuade me that you see five, or really to see them?"
Late Sunday afternoon, Santa Barbara County Sheriff officials released the names of Mr. Rodger's first three alleged victims and said two of them were his roommates. The three young men were stabbed to death before Mr. Rodger set out on his shooting rampage through the college town, investigators said.
"How many fingers, Winston?"
ISLA VISTA, Calif.----She was a spunky bundle of contradictions: a math geek and an athlete; a sorority girl who made an effort to include outsiders.
"Four. I suppose there are four. I would see five if I could. I am trying to see five."
Veronika Weiss, a 19-year-old freshman at University of California, Santa Barbara, was one of six UC Santa Barbara students killed Friday night in a rampage that left the suspected gunman, Elliot Rodger, dead too.
"Which do you wish: to persuade me that you see five, or really to see them?"
Late Sunday afternoon, Santa Barbara County Sheriff officials released the names of Mr. Rodger's first three alleged victims and said two of them were his roommates. The three young men were stabbed to death before Mr. Rodger set out on his shooting rampage through the college town, investigators said.
Saturday, May 24, 2014
March 24, 2014.
Windfall Enriches Life on a Poor Reservation
He laid Winston down on the bed. The grip of his limbs tightened again, but the pain had ebbed away and the trembling had stopped, leaving him merely weak and cold. O’Brien motioned with his head to the man in the white coat, who had stood immobile throughout the proceedings. The man in the white coat bent down and looked closely into Winston’s eyes, felt his pulse, laid an ear against his chest, tapped here and there, then he nodded to O’Brien.
FORT WASHAKIE, Wyo.----Misty Mann, a single mother raising three children here on the impoverished Wind River Indian Reservation, has long had to cope without money to spare.
"Again," said O’Brien.
But a tough life got easier late last month when Ms. Mann opened her mailbox and found a government check for more than $52,000 for her family, money that has allowed her to settle unpaid utility bills, buy the children new shoes and pants, and set aside enough to purchase a used truck.
The pain flowed into Winston’s body. The needle must be at seventy, seventy-five. He had shut his eyes this time. He knew that the fingers were still there, and still four. All that mattered was somehow to stay alive until the spasm was over. He had ceased to notice whether he was crying out or not. The pain lessened again. He opened his eyes. O’Brien had drawn back the lever.
Ms. Mann is one of about 14,000 members of the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes who received huge checks recently thanks to a $157 million settlement that ended a long-running dispute with the U.S. over unpaid mineral royalties.
He laid Winston down on the bed. The grip of his limbs tightened again, but the pain had ebbed away and the trembling had stopped, leaving him merely weak and cold. O’Brien motioned with his head to the man in the white coat, who had stood immobile throughout the proceedings. The man in the white coat bent down and looked closely into Winston’s eyes, felt his pulse, laid an ear against his chest, tapped here and there, then he nodded to O’Brien.
FORT WASHAKIE, Wyo.----Misty Mann, a single mother raising three children here on the impoverished Wind River Indian Reservation, has long had to cope without money to spare.
"Again," said O’Brien.
But a tough life got easier late last month when Ms. Mann opened her mailbox and found a government check for more than $52,000 for her family, money that has allowed her to settle unpaid utility bills, buy the children new shoes and pants, and set aside enough to purchase a used truck.
The pain flowed into Winston’s body. The needle must be at seventy, seventy-five. He had shut his eyes this time. He knew that the fingers were still there, and still four. All that mattered was somehow to stay alive until the spasm was over. He had ceased to notice whether he was crying out or not. The pain lessened again. He opened his eyes. O’Brien had drawn back the lever.
Ms. Mann is one of about 14,000 members of the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes who received huge checks recently thanks to a $157 million settlement that ended a long-running dispute with the U.S. over unpaid mineral royalties.
Friday, May 23, 2014
May 23, 2014.
(was in the middle of a move so I've missed a couple of sessions. I've picked up from my last retype here)
For New Graduates, Path to a Career Is Bumpy
"You are a slow learner, Winston," said O’Brien gently.
ST. LOUIS----Bailey Kinney graduated from the University of Missouri-St. Louis a week ago with a bachelor's degree and a 3.9 grade-point average. She finished in three years, did unpaid internships over the summers and held part-time jobs throughout her college career.
"How can I help it?" he blubbered. "How can I help seeing what is in front of my eyes? Two and two are four."
The day after graduation, she went to work as a receptionist making $8.50 an hour.
"Sometimes, Winston. Sometimes they are five. Sometimes they are three. Sometimes they are all of them at once. You must try harder. It is not easy to become sane."
"I know I have to pay my dues," said Ms. Kinney, a media-studies major. "But I'm anxious to get started and find a job in my field; I'll pretty much do anything."
For New Graduates, Path to a Career Is Bumpy
"You are a slow learner, Winston," said O’Brien gently.
ST. LOUIS----Bailey Kinney graduated from the University of Missouri-St. Louis a week ago with a bachelor's degree and a 3.9 grade-point average. She finished in three years, did unpaid internships over the summers and held part-time jobs throughout her college career.
"How can I help it?" he blubbered. "How can I help seeing what is in front of my eyes? Two and two are four."
The day after graduation, she went to work as a receptionist making $8.50 an hour.
"Sometimes, Winston. Sometimes they are five. Sometimes they are three. Sometimes they are all of them at once. You must try harder. It is not easy to become sane."
"I know I have to pay my dues," said Ms. Kinney, a media-studies major. "But I'm anxious to get started and find a job in my field; I'll pretty much do anything."
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