Another Book About Obama

David Garrow, Pulitzer-prize winning author of a book on Martin Luther King Jr., has written a book about Barack Obama–Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama–to be released May 9, 2017. Garrow began writing his book in 2008, working on it over the past 9 years. The book, 1460+ pages long, covers Obama’s history from the point where his father allegedly came to the U.S. in the late 1950s through 2016 (but with scant coverage after 2007).  Garrow spoke recently on Jamie Weinstein’s radio show:

I think that people irrespective of their political views or partisan identification will be astonished—I cannot say that too strongly—will be profoundly astonished by how much important substance of Barack Obama’s life has not previously been known. … [emphasis added to quotes]

South Side of Chicago 2016

How ironic. The same weekend that a “romantic comedy” about the courtship of Barack Obama and Michelle Robinson opened in cinemas, the cousin of a Chicago Bulls player was gunned down in the city. Both events took place on Chicago’s South Side. Decades apart, of course.

Obama Administration Says Marijuana Among The Most Dangerous Of Drugs

The Obama administration has decided marijuana will remain on the list of most dangerous drugs, fully rebuffing growing support across the country for broad legalization.

The Strange Career of Barack Hussein Obama II

Have you ever heard of William Ellis, aka Guillermo Eliseo? (That’s not his image above, but it looks like him.) A new book documents Ellis’s amazing, fabulous life story. The Strange Career of William Ellis: The Texas Slave Who Became a Mexican Millionaire was written by Karl Jacoby, a historian, and it sounds utterly fascinating. [emphasis added to quotes, in blue]

Obama Returns to Kenya

HIT THE ROAD, JACK!

On Thursday, Barack Hussein Obama II returns yet again to Kenya. This will be, arguably, his fifth, sixth, or seventh trip to “his home country.” (Actually, who knows? See: Nov. 1982. What many would like to know is at what age he first left Kenya.)

This time, Barry will meet Uhuru Kenyatta, alleged to have committed crimes against humanity. That all charges were dropped under the circumstances described by the prosecutor in that article (linked above), brings to mind a quip from Bill Ayers, which we might paraphrase as:

Magna Carta Is 800 Years Old Today

Today marks a truly monumental anniversary: 800 years ago, at Runnymede Meadow, England, King John signed  Magna Carta, June 15, 1215: [emphasis added to quotes]

Magna Carta established for the first time the principle that everybody, including the king, was subject to the law.

Obama Mystery Theater: SDN Menteng 1 School Graduation Photo

We’ve been having fun lately, comparing photos of various Indonesian personages to our current president. See here,  here and here, for examples. The photo at the top of this post is said to be of Barry Soetoro (aka Barack Hussein Obama II, circled) in 1969 or 1970, depending upon which source you read. As captioned by the Washington Post, the photo was taken at a graduation ceremony at SDN Menteng 1, the Muslim public school that Obama attended while he lived in Indonesia. Our post at this link examines Obama’s numerous schools and teachers, for more context.

Obama Mystery Theater: Stanley Ann’s Passport Discussion (continued)

Stanley Ann Dunham to Philipines April 6 1986 Passport File Page 14, Signature

Because there are so many comments on the topic, we’ve had a request for a new thread, where we can continue our discussion of Stanley Ann Dunham Obama Soetoro’s passport records, which began here, here, and here.

Obama Mystery Theater: Stanley Ann’s Passport Renewal of 1968 (Part Three)

Click to enlarge; then click again to enlarge further.

This is the third article in a series that looks at some passport records related to Stanley Ann Dunham Obama Soetoro (Ann), with special emphasis on an application she made to renew her passport in August 1968. In part two, we determined that it’s likely that Ann did have a passport that predated the passport she was renewing. Since her then-current passport was issued in July 1965, if she had a preexisting passport, then that passport may have been issued in July 1960, right after Ann allegedly graduated from high school and around the time that her family moved to Hawaii.  It’s also possible, however, that the earlier passport had been issued in July 1962, provided that she didn’t extend the expiration date for another two years.

Obama Mystery Theater: Stanley Ann’s Passport Renewal of 1968 (Part Two)

Click image to enlarge, then click again.

This is the second part of a closer look at Stanley Ann Dunham Obama Soetoro’s passport records. In part one, we examined a portion of a passport renewal application dated August 13, 1968, nearly two years before her passport, issued July 19, 1965, would have expired. We looked into the background of the “vice consul” who processed this passport-renewal: Mr. Alphonse F. La Porta. Because no passport records for “Ann”  Soetoro dated before 1965 were found or released, we speculated about whether the 1965 passport was the first-ever passport for Ann, or whether she had a previous passport, perhaps one issued five years before July 19, 1965.