25 Beneficiaries Of International Protection Depart For The United States Of America

25 persons from Somalia, Eritrea and Sudan all of whom are single adult men left today to start a new life in the United States, under the US Refugee Resettlement Program (USRRP). On arrival, they will be assisted by NGOs in the U.S.A. to proceed to their final destinations in various states. This latest departure brings the total of beneficiaries of international protection who were resettled to the United States from Malta since such resettlements started in 2007 to 896. To date, 28 migrants have been resettled from Malta to the U.S.A. during the month of April - 85 since the start of the year. More beneficiaries of international protection are expected to leave to the United States in the coming weeks.

In all 1,507 refugees and beneficiaries of international protection have been relocated or resettled to various other developed countries since 2005.

The persons who departed this morning were selected following a process involving the UNHCR (Malta office) as well as the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) at various stages. US Government officials also conducted interviews in Malta.

Washington's Birthday

Washington's Birthday is a federal holiday honoring George Washington. Originally if was celebrated on Washington's actual birthday, February 22. In 1968, the 90th Congress voted to shift three holidays (including Washington's Birthday) to Mondays. The law took effect in 1971, and as a result, Washington's Birthday holiday was changed to the third Monday in February. Not all Americans were happy with the new law. There was some concern that Washington's identity would be lost since the third Monday in February would never fall on his actual birthday (the third week of Fenruary can only fall between the 15^th and the 21^st of February). There was also an attempt to rename the public holiday "Presidents' Day", but the idea didn't catch up universally as some believed not all presidents deserved a special recognition. This federal holiday was the first one to honour and American ciizen.

George Washington was the first president of the United States of America. His first term as president was from 1789 to 1793 and his second term from 1793 to 1797. Before he became president, he played important roles in the military, leading the American Continental Army to victory over the British in 1783. Washington is often seen as the father of the United States and is probably the best known American politician ever.

George Washington could trace his family’s presence in North America to his great-grandfather, John Washington, who migrated from England to Virginia. The family held some distinction in England and was granted land by Henry VIII.  Much of the family’s wealth was lost during the Puritan revolution and in 1657 George’s grandfather, Lawrence Washington, migrated to Virginia.
George’s father, Augustine, who was born in 1694. Augustine Washington was an ambitious man who acquired land and slaves, built mills, and grew tobacco. George Washington’s father died when he was 11. In 1748, when he was 16, George traveled with a surveying party plotting land in Virginia’s western territory. In 1753, Virginia’s Lieutenant Governor, Robert Dinwiddie sends Washington, now aide-de-camp with a rank of major, to Fort LeBoeuf Pennsylvania, to warn the French to remove themselves from land claimed by Britain. The French refused and French and Indian War begining. The French counter attacked and after a full day siege, Washington surrendered. He was later released. George Washington was given the honorary rank of colonel and joined British General Edward Braddock’s army in Virginia in 1755. During the encounter, the French and their Indian allies ambushed Braddock, who was mortally wounded. Though he fought bravely, he could do little to turn back the rout and led the broken army back to safety. In August, 1755, Washington was made commander of all Virginia troops.

In 1758, George Washington returned to duty. His experience during the war was generally frustrating and eventually he resigned his commission and returned to Mount Vernon disillusioned. George Washington married Martha Dandridge Custis, a wealty widow.  He kept over 100 slaves, but accepted the fact that slavery was the law. He also entered politics and was elected to Virginia’s House of Burgesses in 1758.

The British ministry, facing a heavy postwar debt, high home taxes, and continued military costs in America, decided in 1764 to obtain revenue from the colonies. When the Virginia legislators, in May 1774, called for a Continental Congress, he was present and signed the resolutions. The Virginia provincial convention promptly elected Washington one of the seven delegates to the first Continental Congress. When the Congress met in Philadelphia on Sept. 5, 1774, he was in his seat in full uniform, and his participation in its councils marks the beginning of his national career.

He was elected to the second Continental Congress at the March 1775 session of the legislature.

After the battles of Lexington and Concord in April, 1775, the political dispute between Great Britain and her North American colonies escalated into an armed conflict. In May, George Washington traveled to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia dressed in a military uniform, indicating that he was prepared for war. On June 15, Washington was appointed Major General and Commander-in-Chief of the colonial forces against Great Britain.

By November, 1783, the British had evacuated New York City and other cities and the war was essentially over. The Americans had won their independence. The war had been costly to the Washington family but generous land grant from Congress for his military service and sufficiently compensated him.

In 1787, George Washington was again called to the duty of his country. At the Constitution Convention, George Washington was unanimously chosen as president. Washington had come to the conclusion that it wasn’t amendments that were needed, but a new constitution that would give the national government more authority. 

During his first term, George Washington adopted a series of measures proposed by Treasury Secretary Hamilton to reduce the nation’s debt and place its finances on sound footing. In foreign affairs, President George Washington, took a cautious approach, realizing the weak young nation could not succumb to Europe’s political intrigues.

All through his two terms as president, George Washington was dismayed at the growing partisanship within government and the nation. As Treasury Secretary, Alexander Hamilton pushed for a strong national government and an economy built in industry.  Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson desired to keep government small and center power more at the local level, where citizen’s freedom could be better protected. He envisioned an economy based on farming. Those who followed Hamilton’s vision took the name Federalists and people who opposed those ideas and tended to lean toward Jefferson’s view began calling themselves Democratic-Republicans. Washington despised political partisanship, believing that ideological differences should never become institutionalized. He strongly felt that political leaders should be free to debate important issues without being bound by party loyalty. However, Washington could do little to slow the development of political parties. The ideals promoted by Hamilton and Jefferson produced a two-party system that proved remarkably durable. These opposing viewpoints represented a continuation of the debate over the proper role of government, a debate that began with the conception of the Constitution and continues today.

Groundhog Day

Do you recall the 1993 comedy starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell called Groundhog Day?  For the benefit of those who aren’t fans of Ghostbusters star Bill Murray; aren’t film buff or are not that old, I’ll briefly go through the move plot: “A self-centered weather forecaster (played by Bill Murray) ends up reliving Groundhog day every morning until he finally realizes that in order for this routine to stop he must change from within. What is most striking about this movie is the alarm clock at the B&B Murray resides in; it wakes him up the same rituals and activities as the day before and Murray soon realizes, the day after.” IMDB rate this move at 8.1/10 and places is at position 168 of the top 250 movies of all times. 

 Photograph by Jason Cohn, Reuters

Has SASM started reviewing movies? No yet. We want to discuss the holiday celebrated on February 2^nd. Tradition has it that when a groundhog leaves its burrow on this day it will look for its shadow. If it can’t see its shadow (because it is cloudy) than the groundhog will leave its burrow signifying that winter-like weather will soon end. On the other hand if the groundhog sees its shadow (meaning that the sun is out), the critter will head back into its burrow and winter weather will continue for another six weeks.

Punxsutawney, a borough in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, 135 km northeast of Pittsburgh holds the largest Groundhog Day celebration. It is followed by thousands of locals, tourists and news crews who gather every year to observe whether winter has come to an end or still has a few more weeks.

German immigrants brought the tradition with them. As they settled in hills of Pennsylvania, they began using the Groundhog to predict the arrival of spring. The tradition is based upon Candlemas, the day that is the midpoint between winter and spring. A famous Candlemas poems goes:

If Candlemas be fair and bright,
Winter has another flight.
If Candlemas brings clouds and rain,
Winter will not come again.

Obama vs Romney?

Mitt Romney's 16-point victory over Ron Paul in the New Hampshire primary provided a big boost for his candidacy as the race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination heads to South Carolina. Romney is the first non-incumbent Republican presidential candidate to win both Iowa and New Hampshire since Iowa assumed the pole position in the party's race to the nomination in 1976.

New Hampshire is a state with only 12 delegates of which Romney picked up 7. The remaining 5 delegates went for Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman. This is still a long way from the 1,144 delegates needed by a candidate to secure the nomination but this state represents the first tangible step in the stuff that counts, delegates.

The next primary now moves south of the Mason-Dixon Line to South Carolina were there will be 25 delegates up for grabs. Polls see Romney leading with Gingrich close behind and Paul coming in third. The actual outcome will now depend on the rallying and lobbying of each prospective candidate’s camping team.

Mitt Romney was born in Detroit on March 12, 1947. His mother, Lenore, gave up an acting career when she met and married his father, George. Mitt’s father came from humble origins and never graduated from college. He apprenticed as a lathe and plaster carpenter and sold aluminium paint before beginning a career that brought him to the head of American Motors and then the governorship of Michigan.

Mitt married his wife, Ann, in 1969. They first met in elementary school when he was a Cub Scout. When they met again years later at a friend’s house, he was smitten. Between them, they have five sons and sixteen grandchildren, who are the center of their lives. Like any family, the Romney’s have faced hardship: Ann was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1998, and more recently fought a battle with breast cancer. She credits her husband’s unwavering care and devotion to her for helping her through these ordeals.

Martin Luther King Day - Jan 16

Martin Luther King Day is a federal holiday that will fall on January 16 this year. It celebrates the life and achievements of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK), the civil rights leader. He is best known for his campaigns to end racial segregation on public transport and for racial equality in the United States.

This federal holiday is a relatively new one with all states observing it from the year 2000 -- New Hampshire was the last state to observe it. Four days after Dr King’s death in 1968, Congressman John Conyers, Democrat from Michigan, first introduced legislation for a commemorative holiday. Even though Illinois was the first state to adopt Martin Luther King Day as a state holiday in 1973, at a federal level everything was at a standstill. When the bill did not progress, a campaign was started. Following support from the musician Stevie Wonder with his single "Happy Birthday" and a petition with six million signatures, the bill became law in 1983 and Martin Luther King Day was first observed by some states in 1986.

MLK was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. According to him the civil rights movement began when he was six years old. Two of his friends did not show up to play ball and Martin decided to go look for them. He was met by the mother of one of the boys who told him in a very rude tone that her son would not be coming out to play with him ever again because they were white and he was black.

Rev King is probably best known for the speech he gave on August 28, 1963 on the steps of the Washington DC Lincoln Memorial. It goes as follows:

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal. I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

Iowa Caucuses: And then there were 8

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has won the Iowa caucuses by only eight votes. Romney narrowly edged out former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum. Romney got 30,015 votes while Santorum received 30,007 votes.　

During the Iowa caucuses residents of Iowa State meet in precinct caucuses in 1,774 precincts and elect delegates to the corresponding county conventions. There are 99 counties in Iowa. These county conventions then select delegates for both Iowa's Congressional District Convention and the State Convention, which eventually choose the delegates for the presidential nominating conventions.

Romney was born on March 12, 1947. He was the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007. While Governor he presided over a series of spending cuts and increases in fees that eliminated a projected $3 billion deficit. He also signed into law the Massachusetts health care reform legislation, which provided near-universal health insurance access via subsidies and state-level mandates and was the first of its kind in the nation.

Santorum has on numerous occasions made derogatory statements against homosexuals. In 2003, Santorum stated that he believed mutually consenting adults do not have a constitutional right to privacy with respect to sexual acts. He described the ability to regulate consensual homosexual acts as comparable to the states' ability to regulate other consensual and non-consensual sexual behaviour, such as adultery, polygamy, child molestation, incest, sodomy, and bestiality, whose decriminalization he believed would threaten society and the family, as they are not monogamous and heterosexual.　

　

US Primary Elections

The election for the president of the United States occurs on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November.  In 2012 this date will fall on November 6th. On that day the two main political parties will have their candidate’s name written on the ballot.

But how does each party choose the candidate it wants to back up for president? That’s where primary elections (or as they are better known, primaries) come into play. Primaries are elections in which party members or voters select prospective presidential candidates from a set of contestants. Primary elections are one way by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election.

Outside the US, primaries are not that common mainly because in other countries the selection of the leader is the responsibility of the political party itself and does not involve the general public. One exception close to Malta took place when Italy, in 2009, the Italian Democratic Party opted for primaries to select the party’s Secretary. In this election 17-year olds were allowed to vote.

Back to the USA, the Democratic Party will not hold primaries this election because President Obama is not being contested. During the early stages of the campaign there were rumors that the Secretary of State Hilary Clinton would attempt another go at the presidency but she has declared that she did not intend to run. Even though the Democrats’ presidential candidate is not being contested, the Democratic National Convention to be held in North Carolina still has to confirm President Obama.

On the Republican ticket the contestants still in the run are Fred S. Karger, Gary Johnson, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann, Buddy Roemer and Rick Perry. On January 3rd, Iowa will kick off the primaries. As the months roll by, the prospective candidates will gain delegates who will vote for them in the 2012 Republican National Convention that will be held in August 2012. As the weeks pass, candidates who feel they do not have a chance will pull out of the race and will transfer any of the delegates they would have won to someone still in the running. At the end of it all, one candidate will take the party to the polls.