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Obama Goes To South Africa, Protests Ensue
If Obama was hoping for a warm reception upon his arrival in the second leg of his 3 nation African tour, in Johannesburg, to celebrate the life of South Africa's critically ill, 94 year old leader Nelson Mandela, he got quite a surprise when local police had to lob stun grenades at local protestors who had gathered at the world's once most famous apartheid ghetto, Soweto, where they chanted against US foreign policy, American drone strikes, US policy in Guantanamo and Iran and much more. They were hardly racist.
Video courtesy of RT:
And from Reuters:
U.S. President Barack Obama met the family of South Africa's ailing anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela on Saturday, offering words of comfort and praising the critically ill retired statesman as one of history's greatest figures.
The faltering health of Mandela, 94, a figure admired globally as a symbol of struggle against injustice and racism, is dominating Obama's two-day visit to South Africa.
But Obama also faced protests by South Africans against U.S. foreign policy, especially American drone strikes.
Police fired stun grenades to disperse several hundred protesters who had gathered outside the Soweto campus of the University of Johannesburg, where Obama addressed an afternoon town hall meeting with students.
The brief confrontation some distance away did not disrupt the event in the heavily protected campus, where Obama gave a speech praising what he called a new "more prosperous, more confident" Africa. He also took questions from students.
***
Obama met Mandela's relatives to deliver a message of support instead of directly visiting the frail former president at the hospital where he has spent the last three weeks.
The half-hour meeting took place at the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory in Johannesburg.
Obama said afterwards in a statement he had also spoken by telephone with Mandela's wife Graca Machel, who remained by her husband's side in the hospital in Pretoria.
"I expressed my hope that Madiba draws peace and comfort from the time that he is spending with loved ones, and also expressed my heartfelt support for the entire family as they work through this difficult time," he said, using the clan name Madiba by which Mandela is affectionately known.
Machel said she had conveyed this message to her husband and thanked the Obamas for their "touch of personal warmth".
Obama's visit to South Africa had stirred intense speculation that the first African-American president of the United States would look in on the first black president of South Africa in his hospital room. But Mandela's deterioration in the last week to a critical condition forced the White House to decide against such a visit.
Of course, not everyone was unhappy to see Obama:
"Obama, like Nelson Mandela, is the first black president in his country ... His success in the U.S. shows that we as Africans can also make it," said Nanzwakazi Zuma, a lecturer in electrical engineering who attended the Soweto event.
Yup. Those 'Hope' shirts still sell somewhere...
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Dave Chappelle - Africa
+1
they refer to NAS (Nasser Jones) song - If i Rule the World
"I'd open every cell in Attica send em to Africa"
lol
US presidents are going to need better crowd control going forward - the DC propaganda firms & corporate media just aren't what they used to be.
These guys sum up Obama / US foreign policy pretty well:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4GsLYYzwNw
Kumbaya, Mofo’s, Kumbaya
oops,, maybe it’s not Kwansa yet.
The HumeriKan Spin and Rinse Perceptions Management and Propaganda Machine is based in and owns the MSM outlets here in the UsofSSRA. Not in Africa, Europe, the Middle East or Asia. Here. "At Home" so to speak.
Them furrignerses don't drink quite the same Kool-Aide that we do.
And if you doubt me, go spend some real time overseas off the beaten well trod "safe" tourist path with some of the real "Natives"
It's not that they don't love HumeriKans, they just downright have an opinion somewhere closer to disgust, vilification, hate or disdain.
And there he goes, the Messiah who kept on keepin' on Bush's Fault.
What do people expect? Er, excuse me, what do realists who've still not woken up from the Obammie trance expect?
I played golf today with a whole cast of folks from uberliberal Kalifornia Social Justice types to Neo-Cons.
Interestingly enough, one of the Olde School Neo-COns was now lamenting that with everything going on domestically, that its about time the Republican Party stop getting involved with social issues at all, if anybody wants to be gay, drugged, drunk, whatever, its' their own bloody decision and the gubamint shouldn't even be involved.
WOW!
I almost pooped my pants. Well there were no chunks, OK?
Things are a changin' folks....
I didn't realize there were so many Repubs in Johannesburg....all hatin' on Obama like that for being a Democrat. At least what kridkrid would tell them. Now, the rest of us just think Obama is the epitome of an entitled egomaniac socialist who doesn't care about people, rather wanting to rule everyone from "on high". This is when I'd like to say I can't wait until 2016, but I really don't know if it will matter then anyway.
And he had some sort of "religious experience" in Senegal at Goree Island walking through the “Door Of No Return”...being an Irish-American and all...with ancestory from Kenya...this must have really meant something to him.
Pandering demagogue that he is.
With his "ancestory from Kenya"?
You're getting warm, nmewn,...
I wonder how many people know "his tribe" (Luo) were directly involved in the Arab slave trade? Africans (on the east coast of Africa) trundled off to Muslim Zanzibar apparently doesn't carry the same black/white American guilt trip as the west coast of Africa.
If he really wants to sort out "his roots" he should go there instead of a place wholly unconnected to himself like Senegal.
But what the hell WE'RE PAYING FOR IT, why would he care about facts, so I guess he can go wherever the fuck he wants, on our dime.
2016?? JHFC.. even Hillary will be dried up by then
If you ask Slick Willie, he'll tell you that she's been dry for a long time.
Egg the corrupt banskter stooge!
Al Sharpton and his side-kick Jesse have been noticeably quiet recently.
Typical Obama-hating, Southern Conservative Redneck Repulicans... Sorry, you said the protest was where??
No you are wrong. I expected a bigger and brighter america. And what we have got is an admistration that has sold out to the highest bidder.
I'm a liberal (who believes in a one payer system) and in education: which used to be better.;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14fXm4FOMPM
God bless you..
but take your liberal mind and envision Prague in 1937..
you and your kids are there now.
I couldn't bare to watch ... did he bring his bullet proof glass with him again?
People in uzdesertstan understand obuma better than the prime-time zombies who voted for him.
"This is when I'd like to say I can't wait until 2016, but I really don't know if it will matter then anyway."
Perception does matter to it's fabricators. There's a good chance they'll drag this dead horse economy pumped full of stimulus past 2016 and let it drop on the next guy. These are master manipulators.
Is Gitmo the new Robin Island? Wonder what Mandela thinks of all the "safety measures" the US has put in place here and around the world. For liberty lovers around the world http://tinyurl.com/pp588mj
Robben Island - not Robin !
An interesting place to visit if you go to Cape Town - a "half day trip" and it's not at all uncommon to spot a few Great Whites during the very short voyage.
Cold, windy and wet this time of year - best time to visit would be September / October. Not too hot, but pleasantly warm.
Lobbing stun grenades into the crowd.
Always a good sign.
Trip fail.
"I knew Mandela, he was a friend of mine,
and you're no Nelson Mandela."
Yeah, talk about cashing-in ... what did Winnie say, they were, "like vultures gathering around a carcass"?
Some imagery for you WB7
OT: Why did the NSA thread disappear?
South Africans are one generation past a police state that spied on it's citizens ... it stands to reason that they would protest a visit by the leader of a police state that spies on it's citizens.
Very astute comment. It raises the question why we can only see clearly when we are emerging from the dark and why we cannot fully comprehend and resist our slide into darkness.
In part you can thank General Electric for the darkness:
I am gross and perverted
Im obsessed n deranged
I have existed for years
But very little had changed
I am the tool of the government
And industry too
For I am destined to rule
And regulate you
I may be vile and pernicious
But you can't look away
I make you think Im delicious
With the stuff that I say
I am the best you can get
Have you guessed me yet?
I am the slime oozin out
From your tv set
You will obey me while I lead you
And eat the garbage that I feed you
Until the day that we don't need you
Don't got for help...no one will heed you
Your mind is totally controlled
It has been stuffed into my mold
And you will do as you are told
Until the rights to you are sold
That's right, folks..
Don't touch that dial
Well, I am the slime from your video
Oozin along on your livinroom floor
I am the slime from your video
Cant stop the slime, people, lookit me go
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHHvqncASrI
Moreover, many typical citizens in South Africa are more informed, more involved and more willing to get off their lazy asses & protest against what are clear & deeply harmful activities of Orwellian Police States than their American counterparts.
While South Africans actively protesting against Obamney & the Orwellian Financial-Industrial-Technology State he carries water for, here's what "educated" American college students happened to be doing/discussing:
Video Interviews: College Students Know More About Kim Kardashian's Baby Than NSA, Snowden, Holder, SCOTUS, etc.
I'm 25, apparently a full generation ahead of these people, the last of human children to have grown up playing outside without using the internet everyday. Everyone I know in my generation either doesn't know, doesn't care, or can't be arsed to know or care. How can you expect this new wave to?
Pretty sad considering Snowden is your generation. Too many people care more about the newest app, the next gadget, their facebook page or Apple versus Samsung.
lol, imagine how hard people work on their FB pages. If they spent the same time reading the Feynman lectures, they'd be fucking genii (plural of genius, of course).
He was such a great straight guy to Groucho...
Ever used Dr. Bronner's magic soaps? The soaps are amazing - just don't read the damn words on the bottle (All-One-God-Faith, Moral ABCs, etc). Same thing goes with Feynman. The lectures are amazing - don't look behind the curtain.
Whether we like it or not, good people have made/promoted/taught bad things, and bad people have made/promoted/taught good things.
ZH's love and fully appreciate the science and artistry of soap making.
Query: What do you get when you mix equal parts gasoline and frozen orange juice concentrate?
What is 10 - 15 Alex.
Green Energy Drink! ;-)
Guys who say "we" are weasels selling soap to the unwashed. Eminence front buying asses backwards. Cash, Grass or Ass. Nobody rides for free, but Feynman flew right over this cuckoo.
+1 re Feynman.
That guy was awesome.
If you like this sort of thing, the Royal Institution's Christmas Lectures are all downloadable as video presentations - the main catalogue goes back as far as 1973. Covers everything - Chemistry, Mathematics, Astronomy, Electrical Theory, Engineering, Materials Science, Meteorology - and all aimed at the "General Audience" level.
http://www.richannel.org/christmas-lectures
...If they spent the same time reading... anything!
"But Mommy, my brain hurts when I read."
A little more broadly, they're a generation past having been spied upon by their own and now are pissed about being spied upon by some-fucking-body else who preaches all sorts of hypocritical tripe and acts in direct opposition.
They see through the curtain and the Emperor has No Clothes.
Tom Sharpe's Indecent Exposure, a "black" comedy on apartheid South Africa, highly recommended.
think he's going to try to get a game of golf in while in africa? what a waste of our taxpayer dollars.
Maybe this was a golf trip after all. In any case I think he might do less damage playing golf than sitting in the White House.
he does damage in his fucking sleep as long as he is mr.p
While the election of an American black president was a great step in overcoming racist predelictions or stereotyping of blacks, the unfortunate reality is that President Obama is just a great talker who either was dishonest in his promises or who is thoroughly compromised.
Geezus PP. Quit being such a "he was dishonest in his promises" pussy. Obama is a fucking liar, narcissist, and charlatan. He has been intentionally dishonest. One day, the great "reveal" will happen. I can't wait.
I think the only reveal will be "sorry, all financial institutions closed until further notice," upon which those who depend on the intricate global supply chain network will be forced to stop producing for it (no pay, no work). Then the food riots start.
Bammy will not get thrown under the bus.
. . . and imposter.
Who his very self along with his sycophants plays the race card and fans the flames in an irresponsible manner ... claiming anybody who disagrees with his policies on any topic, a racist.
Can't stand that human race...
I wonder what race tought him that?
They seem to be expert at deflecting any criticism to label you an anti-______?
Who says you can't train a chimp?
aka "Harrison J Bounel."
-1000
Baaa...baaaa
PS......he can' talk for shit without the aid of words flashing before him
I don't want the racist sterotyping "overcome"; because it is correct. They're tribal with childlike minds. Useless.
LOL
by that measure, we should elect a goat for President in '16 a be a beacon of Hope and Change for all animal lovers.
The idiots that inhabit the White House and D.C. just don't get it. The people of the world have caught onto their shit. It might take a club or a big bottle of government Viagra to help convince this nation of sheep that something is wrong.
Not even. Obama and the Congress are representative to the 'american' middle class aka wethepeople.
WeThePeople care about being spied. They do not care about others being spied.
They are practising piety, abstinence, austereness and the search for unadultered wisdom! To those who are willing to listen that bestows devotional thoughts in conjunction with the knowledge that all pathes lead eventually to the grave, as well as many other dreary contemplations. You could learn something here.
call in the drone's and give em a good dose freedom and a shot of denoracy , if that don't work there is bound to be an AlCIAder geehawdie in the bunch.
Curious George indeed
Fuck Africa. Fuck Obama
Going to visit his padre in his homeland?
I thought they sent the loser side's shirts to africa like Bruins 2013 Cup Champs!! Spurs WIN! and McCain Palin, You Betca!!
Obama is like an Oreo cookie. Black on the outside and elitist white on the inside.
50% honkie and 100% donkey.
heeee haw
good one made me laugh
thanx
Obama urged to use Africa trip to push investment opportunities
When China Met Africa: Lusaka Airport
The Kenyan relations was late in the Globalisation expansion investment opportunity
“Promises HOPE, Changes PROMISE”
Gotta get me one of them Hope tee shirts. Oh the irony.
STRING HIM UP!
They don't like president Drone-Bomber?
Upholder of universal peace and transparency.
www.allafrica.com/
scroll down page for E/W/N/S Africa countries and tell me there's "Hope-n-Air'?
They don't like Obama in Africa because he is white.
The US media gave us a green light with new PC [Political Correctness] terms..
Cracker & Uncle Thomas
/sarc
It's my understanding that South Africa voted in a popular referendum to restore Apartheid... because the country quickly went to shit once the black replacement government was installed. Of course, that never came to pass, just like Kuwait voting to rejoin Iraq never came to pass.
More importantly and entertaining however is the ticker text at the bottom of the video above... MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD HQ SET ON FIRE IN ALERXANDRIA!
Muslim Brotherhood inherits U.S. war gear
Why is Obama Sending Tanks and F-16s to Muslim Brotherhood-Led Egypt?
We seem to always arrive at the obvious IB [Investment Banking] question. A simple audit will reveal the trail of perpetrators creating terrorism within Washington, DC. Winks
winter is fast approaching... and Western Europe is getting a cold chill?
"Qatar to invest $18bn in Egypt over next 5 years" [9/6/12] http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/3/12/52169/Business/Economy/Qatar-to-invest-bn-in-Egypt-over-next--years.aspx
"Qatar's love affair with Syria" by Pepe Escobar [6/28/13] http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MID-01-280613.html "We are all Qataris now" by Pepe Escobar [6/26/13] http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MID-01-260613.html
Mandela said yes children, you too can aspire to maim little brown babies in their beds.
And how much is MoeBama's walkabout costing taxpayers? All that money spent and no "nookie" - being da Prez sucks......
Being a tib autistic I dnif ti better to daer here then ot tsop.
.
good
maybe somebody will slash the tires on airforce 1
and he'll get stuck there, with no ride home
It'd be worth 100$ million if he'd just stay there.
That's probably wishful thinking - the most likely outcome would be even more US Taxpayers' dollars being spent for the Military to ship out a new set! (Can't buy them locally - might be "sabotaged" you know). Along with a small army of "essential support staff" to fit them.
And you wonder why Military spending accounts for 1% or more of US GDP - http://truth-out.org/news/item/16850-pentagon-may-be-wasting-a-billion-dollars-a-year-in-erroneous-payments-to-contractors
This is particularly choice - $700 MILLION to buy RUSSIAN Helicopters for the Afghan Army!! - all US Taxpayer dollars too. http://freedomoutpost.com/2013/05/barack-obama-to-spend-700-million-in-us-tax-dollars-for-russian-helicopters-for-afghan-air-force/
One wonders just WHO Mr Obama is supposed to be "working for"? How much of the "interest" being paid on US Loans is paying for the development of the Chinese Military (with NEW weapons and infrastructure) http://www.tomorrowsworld.org/node/5653. Interest on the debt in F/Y 2011 was $ 454 BILLION - ALL of which was "paid" to overseas creditors. http://useconomy.about.com/od/fiscalpolicy/p/US_Debt.htm
Getting very scary. And even your most loyal "Invstors" are getting cold feet http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2013/02/how-the-united-states-high-debt-will-weaken-the-economy-and-hurt-americans
Did you ever think you'd see it?... black people that hate Obama -LOL!
I love it.
You forget. A long time ago, Jesse Jackson said he wanted to castrate him.
That would be a bit redundant.
Not as many "Hope dopes" as there used to be; funny how reality is curing that disease. Clearly, if it wasn't for the fact that Chalky is black and a Democrat, the impeachment hearings would be gathering full steam. Just ignore the drone strilkes and the failed foreign policy fuckups; the IRS targeting of political opponents; the illegal witchhunts against the first, second, and fourth amendments to the US Constitution [written by dead white guys who had slaves]; and last but not least the illegal wiretapping by the NSA, CIA, and probsably a whole shitload of other alphabet soup agencies. Yup, just ignore it libtards; it's more important to protect the moron who is doing more to destroy Amerika than Nixon, LBJ, and all the other progressives combined.
http://vegasxau.blogspot.com
Clearly, South Africa is filled with gun-totin, bible-clinging racist teabaggers.
I was reading about this yesterday in the NZZ. It's shocking that he has the balls to take this type of extravagant vacation while still in office. What a big "fuck you" to the American people...
I believe the proper term for Barack Bush is "House Negro"
Just a thought - but -
Mandela - former "terrorist organiser" - Nobel Peace Prize recipient - President of the "New" South Africa - and note how well the SA Economy has done under this Presidency (and those who followed) - remember that Joburg (and Durban) have amongst the highest rape and murder rates per head of population on the entire African continent.
Obama - former "Community Organiser" - Nobel Peace Prize recipient (for doing exactly what?? Talking about doing is NOT doing!); President of the "New" USSA. Notice the rape and murder rates in many US Cities - Detroit, Chicago. Notice how the US Economy is "improving" (for those with the "right connections").
Interesting parallel? Or just sheer co-incidence?? You decide . . . . .
....as mandela floats between life and death, Blowbama lurks nearby, staging a voodoo ceremony hoping the old guy will croak so he can suck up his life force......
Great to see an African country not buying into the absolute BS of this WH.
Hillary[ious #45?] wants to hit the "Restart Button" on Neo-Colonialization by China in Africa.
Can you believe this idiot running the country flagging her stinking`cunt index-figure... with C'heel`sea cheerleading in the 'shadowy-backdrop apponted 'Princess of Dynasty',... a new line of Xena`the Amazonian-Amerikas Warrior'etts!
a misogynist nightmare... the man'eater commeth?
A vulture .... circling over his next meal .... at least a hyenna waits .... for the lions to finish .... if Mandela dies while Obama is still there .... what a foto op .... if he dies .... after Obama leaves .... Obama is done with the matter .... or what a precedent .... Obama returns to Afrika .... for the state funeral .... and the passing on of freedoms baton .... what rubbish ?
"One man's Terrorist is another Man's Freedom Fighter" (Harry's Game, Gerard Seymour (1975))
Ask many Afrikaners what THEY think about Nelson Mandela, and you'd wonder who nominated him for a Peace Prize!
so,... i guess you've been to s.africa as i, many times?
Lived in Plumstead, then moved to Hout Bay. Worked for a number of years at Groot Schuur Hospital (famous for Barnaard's exploits!)
Still in contact with ex-colleagues most of whom have relocated - Stellenbosch, Paarl, Worcester, Agulhas, Durban, Windhoek, although those in the "nicer" areas of Cape Town have mainly stayed put.
Only ONE colleague has gone to Joburg, and that was a Military posting (offered a good Commission (Major) in the SAA and did the equivalent of "Took the King's Shilling").
Hyenas most certainly do not wait for the lions to finish...
Do vultures eat dead hyenas .... Mutual of Omaha ? Do hyenas eat dead lions .... we are sheltered from the really good shit .... in life !
Obama "necklaced" by Soweto mob ? Kerry snubbed by Putin .... three hour wait in Kremlim green room .... imagine how the visit went ? Obama doesn't even rate a visit with Mandela .... not even through the incubator window ? Reagan got more R - E - S - P - E - C - T ! LOL
al-Keitha hates us for our Freedoms!
I didn't realize that Frank Marshall Davis was a Kenyan!! What a touching return to where his real pappy filmed his first porno flick!
Obama's mom was fucked by the black Communist .... Barack's grandfather was tailing .... as a CIA spook .... a professional embarrassment .... the CIA saved face .... by making the bastard, sex child .... President ? www.obamasrealfather.com
I love me some RT. They've got smokin' hot ladies reading stuff.
NO OIL HERE GO HOME sign! lol
dear south africa, pleas keep this piece of shit in your country ( his home country i should say) and do not let him come back to the u.s.a
signed, 95 percent of america
O.K., so blacks celebrating a droning black - as President of the New Rome.
Other blacks - protesting the droning black President of the New Rome.
Problem?
Yeah.
I hope they are not Indian givers and Keep O'bummer! We have enough gay commie illegal dipshits already.
The illegal alien criminal pathological liar that has more gate(s) than any machine voted politician in history goes to Africa?
Who gives a flying fish, or even a frick frackin Fig Newton.
What happens when the god money dies?
I'd like to see a "hope" shirt that says DOPE! instead of hope
if people in Africa had shoes
they would probably throw them at obama
Dont get this wrong, people. They are protesting against America because they are racist. Obama's policies are just in line with what the congress wants.Notice how the policies they protest existed before Obama went into office. They will protest the next US president just the same. They are comfortable today because there is a negro in the oval office so we cant say these are racist protests.They say "oh, wait, if those were racist protests, why would we protest against a black president?"
But tomorrow, when a proper president, one of us, is elected, they will protest the same.
Dont get confused, they vindicate us because of race issues. Today, they are just offered some convenient cover.
Signed: an American.
Wisdom, young lad, is never cheap! So, please refrain from trying to sell your measly surrogate by the pound.
Moar like counterfeit, i.e. RoNK $100 USD.
Et tu, Brute? - LOL!
One can only imagine my disappointment on waking and not reading a headline that says:
"American President visiting Africa captured and eaten by tribesmen."
It must have been the White South Africans causing all the trouble. Look, Barry's a bother o' color. Who else could understand the troubles of poor South Africans than a man of the same ethnicity. I'm pretty sure the whitey's down there were stirring up the trouble, damn crackers.
...and only three trips to Africa since 2008. That will change as soon as African resources are worth more than anything in those blown apart countries like Iraqi, Afghanistan, Libya. Maybe it's time for regime change for the entire African Continent. I'm sure Barry can take care of that. A little regional destabilization here, a little regime change there, get the whites to move back to Europe (or else) and Africa will be a land of milk, honey, and peace. Another Nobel Prize for Barry methinks!!! Man, Barry the next best thing to God himself!
Pleeez ZH! South Africa is a constitutional democracy (yes, actually) and freedom of speech is protected. So there are differing views about the US and many things beside. But the overwhelming majority of South Africans admire and resoect the US enourmusly and its great president and institutions. So let's keep a little perspective here, please.
Pleeez ZH! South Africa is a constitutional democracy (yes, actually) and freedom of speech is protected. So there are differing views about the US and many things beside. But the overwhelming majority of South Africans admire and resoect the US enourmusly and its great president and institutions. So let's keep a little perspective here, please.