Also interesting is the following passage:


>>I also strongly believe that those of us who have

the benefits of
	living in
	free society must help others realize the benefits of
liberty. I
	believe
	that. I believe that's part of America's
responsibility in the world.
	I
	realize we can't impose our vision of government, nor
should we try.<<

So when will he stop imposing what is seen as freedom
and human rights to the world? And not all of us agree
in the American version of a free society, having
lived there, pre and post 9/11. Does the man realise
that there are 'free' societies outside of the US? And
that we ALL have a responsibility of listening to
different definitions of freedom, civil liberties, not
just Uncle Sam's or Uncle George's in this case?


	>>But we
	believe here in America in the universality of
freedom. We don't
	believe
	freedom belongs only to the United States of America;
we believe that
	liberty is universal in its applications. We also
believe strongly 
that
	as
	the world becomes more free, we'll see peace. That's
what we believe.
	And
	we're going to act on those beliefs.<<

And yet, "we" do not believe in glabal collaboration
unless it's on 'our' terms. "We" also do not believe
in international justice, the Geneva Convention, the
use (or not) of torture...... 

	
And these remarks were particularly offensive:
	
	"I am deeply concerned about the spread of
radicalism, and I know you
	are, as
	well. We long for the days when people don't feel
comfortable or
	empowered
	to take innocent life to achieve an objective. One
reason radicals are
	able
	to recruit young men, for example, to become suicide
bombers, is
	because of
	hopelessness. One way to defeat hopelessness is
through literacy, is
	to
	giving people the fantastic hope that comes by being
able to read and
	realize dreams.<<

A number of the Islamic, Irish, Hindu, Nepali,
Congolese, Sri Lankan 'radicals' were educated. A
greater number were unemployed. And a number dislike
American international policy. He completely left out
the conservative Bible Belt and the everyday racism
that is experienced by non Bible thumpers in the
South. He left out the KKK, he left out the lynch
mobs.... the police, one could go on.
	
	>>So this literacy initiative is vital as far as the
United States of
	America
	is concerned, and we want to help. That's what I'm
here to say. I want
	to
	thank you for being here and let you know that we
want to lend our
	help.<<

"Just follow our directives and we'll be glad to help,
Amen."

Ujwala Samant


	

--- Elsa Auerbach <Elsa.Auerbach at umb.edu> wrote:


> Interesting.  The President says, "The capacity of

> -- the simple act of teaching a child to read, or an

> adult to read has the capacity to transform nations

> and yield the peace we all want."  If literacy

> yields peace, then maybe someone ought to teach him

> to read.  

> Elsa Auerbach

> 

>  

> 

> 	-----Original Message----- 

> 	From: womenliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of

> Daphne Greenberg 

> 	Sent: Mon 9/18/2006 3:25 PM 

> 	To: womenliteracy at nifl.gov 

> 	Cc: 

> 	Subject: [WomenLiteracy 564] Remarks by the

> President and Mrs. Bush at WhiteHouse Conference on

> Global

> 	

> 	

> 

> 	The following was sent by Tom Sticht. I am

> wondering if anyone has any

> 	reactions to it:

> 	

> 	Remarks by the President and Mrs. Bush at White

> House Conference on

> 	Global

> 	Literacy

> 	Sep 18 9:25 AM US/Eastern

> 	

> 	

> 	

> 	

> 	To: National Desk

> 	

> 	Contact: White House Press Office, 202-456-2580

> 	

> 	WASHINGTON, Sept. 18 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Following

> is a transcript of

> 	remarks

> 	by President Bush and Laura Bush at the White House

> conference on

> 	global

> 	literacy (Part 1 of 2):

> 	

> 	New York Public Library, New York, New York

> 	

> 	12:10 P.M. EDT

> 	

> 	MRS. BUSH: Thank you all so much. Thank you very

> much. Thanks a lot.

> 	(Applause.) Have a seat, everyone. Thank you all

> very much. Thanks,

> 	everybody. You all can have a seat. I want to thank

> all the terrific

> 	panelists today for sharing your experiences and

> your expertise. I want

> 	to

> 	thank everyone in this room for your commitment to

> literacy.

> 	

> 	Today, we heard about the three most important

> benefits of reading:

> 	Literacy

> 	instruction for women improves educational

> opportunities for their

> 	children

> 	-- women who can read are advocates for their

> children's education;

> 	literacy helps adults make informed decisions to

> protect their health

> 	and

> 	the health of their children; and literacy helps

> adults -- women and

> 	men --

> 	learn the basic financial skills that generate

> income, that foster

> 	independence, and that boost local economies. If

> more countries invest

> 	in

> 	literacy programs like the ones we've heard about

> today, the benefits

> 	of

> 	reading can be enjoyed by every country. The

> leaders of every

> 	government

> 	must commit themselves to this cause.

> 	

> 	Now I'd like to introduce a leader I know is

> dedicated to improving

> 	literacy

> 	and education: Ladies and gentleman, my husband,

> President George

> 	Bush.

> 	(Applause.)

> 	

> 	THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. Thank you for

> attending this important

> 	conference. I look around the room and see some

> familiar faces -- my

> 	mother. (Laughter.) How are you doing? It's good to

> see you. My

> 	mother-in-law. (Laughter.) Both of these ladies

> have instilled a great

> 	passion for literacy not only in Laura and me, but

> for others around

> 	our

> 	country. Thank you all for coming. Laura, thank you

> for your

> 	leadership.

> 	

> 	Laura believes strongly in the power of literacy to

> change societies.

> 	And

> 	that's really what we're here to talk about. The

> capacity of -- the

> 	simple

> 	act of teaching a child to read, or an adult to

> read has the capacity

> 	to

> 	transform nations and yield the peace we all want.

> 	

> 	So I want to thank you for being here. I

> particularly want to thank

> 	the

> 	First Ladies who are here, and the ministers from

> different

> 	governments

> 	around the world. We're really proud you've taken

> time to join us here

> 	today.

> 	

> 	As you probably can tell, our government takes this

> initiative

> 	seriously.

> 	After all, we've got the Secretary of State,

> Condoleezza Rice, and the

> 	Secretary of Education, Margaret Spellings, both

> here. It should say

> 	to

> 	people loud and clear that, when you combine the

> resources of the

> 	Department of Education and the State Department,

> that we're serious

> 	about

> 	helping global literacy. And then we've added Randy

> Tobias, who's the

> 	head

> 	of USAID. He's the fellow who's got the

> responsibility of handing out

> 	some

> 	money -- (laughter) -- which is what we're doing,

> because we believe

> 	strongly in this initiative. So I want to thank you

> all for taking time

> 	out

> 	of your busy schedules to send a clear message to

> folks.

> 	

> 	I want to thank Mr. Matsuura of UNESCO. Thank you,

> very much, for

> 	serving.

> 	Thanks for leading this vital organization. We want

> to work with you.

> 	And I

> 	see you're sitting next to one of my great friends

> -- the Ambassador,

> 	Karen

> 	Hughes, is here, as well.

> 	

> 	I want to thank Paul LeClerc of the -- of this

> fantastic library. Isn't

> 	this

> 	a wonderful place to meet? Obviously, it makes

> sense to meet in a

> 	library if

> 	you're going to talk about literacy. It's really

> one of the most

> 	special

> 	spots here in New York. And I also want to thank

> Catie Marron for

> 	allowing

> 	us to use this facility. She's the chairman of the

> board, and Paul, of

> 	course, is the president and CEO of the New York

> Public Library.

> 	

> 	I want to thank those who have participated in

> panels. I had the honor

> 	of

> 	meeting some of the panelists and the panel

> leaders. I met Gerri

> 	Elliot,

> 	who is a corporate vice president of Microsoft. The

> reason I bring up

> 	Gerri

> 	Elliot is because, in America we believe that there

> is a combined

> 	responsibility to help. We believe government has

> got 

=== message truncated ===>
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