Posted by DipNote Bloggers on Jul 31, 2009 - 04:47 PM
![Farm worker holds unprocessed rooibos tea in Clanwilliam, South Africa, Apr. 21, 2007. [AP]](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090807162331im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_0731_south_africa_m.jpg)
The Secretary’s trip follows the themes laid out by President Obama during his visit to Ghana: supporting…
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Posted by Heather Fluit on Jul 31, 2009 - 05:32 PM
![Exchange participants perform on Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage, July 28, 2009. [State Dept.]](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090807162331im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_0731_hip_hop_m.jpg)
Being an intern in Washington, DC can be a great experience when you make the most of the opportunities in the city — especially when you’re coming all the way from South Dakota. And while I expected my internship with the State Department to be engaging and informative, I’ve certainly come to appreciate the diversity of the work that occurs here. This week after work, I went to a hip-hop dance show at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ Millennium Stage. The Millennium…
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Posted by Kathe Conrad on Jul 31, 2009 - 03:48 PM
![Traffic backs up at an intersection in Hanoi, Vietnam, Oct. 8, 2004. [AP Photo]](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090807162331im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_0731_traffic_jam_m.jpg)
People often misjudge the risks they face overseas. A case in point is a U.S. Government health care employee who attended two days of security briefings about overseas threats. She came up to me afterwards and told me she was worried about taking her family to her central Asian assignment. What she feared most was that either her husband or daughters would be kidnapped and become hostages. Two months after she arrived at post though, she died in a car accident. Tragically, she wasn’t wearing a seatbelt.
Getting people to think about risks they might face overseas isn’t difficult. There are always a slew of scary stories about carjacking, hostage taking, and sexual assaults…
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Posted by Reno Harnish on Jul 31, 2009 - 12:15 PM
We went to Sharm el-Sheikh at the explicit instructions of Secretary Clinton. She wanted us to join the International Renewable Energy Agency. This is at the heart, really, of President Obama’s policy for clean energy, clean tech, clean jobs. And he has devoted himself to this. As you remember, $61 billion worth of programs, grants and guarantees were in the stimulus package. And he’s pledged 150 billion in revenues over the next ten years to…
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Posted by Patrick Ventrell on Jul 30, 2009 - 09:48 PM
Today, Ambassador Susan Rice signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on behalf of the U.S. Government. This is really a landmark moment, as the United States joins 141 other nations who have already signed what President Obama calls “the first new human rights convention of the 21st Century.” The signing took place on the 38th floor of UN Headquarters, and there was palpable excitement in the air — the United States is back to fully participate on human rights issues on the international stage.
Because of renovations to UN Headquarters (the multi-year Capital Master Plan is already in motion to completely update the UN from a 1950s iconic landmark,…
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