Author, Author!

The Chicago Daily Observer ^ | March 23, 2009 | Daniel J. Kelley

[PBRCat]

What makes “Dreams From My Father” unique is that so few of those praising the book for its supposed merits seem to have actually bothered to read it. Numerous copies have been sold to Obama’s liberal camp followers, but, unlike Chairman Mao’s “Little Red Book,” no one was actually expected to memorize it cover to cover or to become familiar with its contents. Lord knows, I tried, but, time and time again, I had to put it aside. Based upon those chapters that I managed to slog through, I was reminded of Oscar Wilde’s comment upon reading about the death of little Nell in “The Old Curiosity Shop” by Charles Dickens. To paraphrase Wilde, one could not read portions of Obama’s autobiography without dissolving into tears of uncontrollable laughter.

[PBRCat]

Will Bill Ayers be rewriting and revising Obama's next bestseller?

[razorback-bert]

Stanley Ann Dunham ... doctoral thesis on rural blacksmithing in Indonesia

A Phd in blacksmithing, is this true?

[tet68]

As a blacksmith for 30 years, I would be interested
in reading that.

[PBRCat]

I am sure that some obscure academic publisher will scoop it up to please Obama by putting it into print someday soon.

[Fiddlstix]

==snip==
......similarities between Obama’s prose and that of his neighbor William Ayers. One curious feature common to both men’s writings is their shared preference for using nautical similes and metaphors. Interestingly enough, Obama has never been known to have taken an active interest in boating whereas Ayers is an lifelong enthusiast.

==snip==
......Like so many episodes in the book, including the author’s imagined relationship with his absent and uncaring biological father, which suggests a need for therapeutic counseling.......

==snip==
.....Later in the book, Obama depicted his mother as a struggling single parent making ends meet while using food stamps. In actuality, Stanley Ann Dunham was a perpetual graduate student who elected to apply for public assistance to subsidize her studies rather than working her way through the university.

I would suggest he needs more than therapeutic counseling

[freespirited]

As a blacksmith for 30 years, I would be interested in reading that.

A few academic libraries own copies.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/65874559

Your other alternative would be to buy a copy from UMI, the people who keep track of everyone's dissertations. It would be pricey (> $50).

[Old Professer]

http://www.scribd.com/doc/9657130/Obama-s-Mama-Peasant-Blacksmithing-in-Indonesia-Excerpts

[Beckwith]

“Dreams...” is a nightmare to read - - it’s practically unreadable.

Try it sometime.

[Beckwith]

Stanley Ann Dunham was a perpetual graduate student who elected to apply for public assistance to subsidize her studies rather than working her way through the university.

More Obama bullsh!t

Stanley Ann Dunham Obama Soetoro Sutoro published her dissertation, "Peasant Blacksmithing in Indonesia," in 1992.

Anna was a highly paid consultant during the period when she was working towards her PhD. If she was accepting welfare/food stamps, she was stealing, because she was making BIG BUX from 1981 through 1992.

Anna worked for the Ford Foundation from 1981 through 1984 establishing micro-credit loans in developing countries. She was employed as a program officer for "Women and Employment" at the "Regional Southeast Asia Office of the Ford Foundation in Jakarta. Her antipathy for America and Americans didn't prevent her from funneling its money to third-world countries.

She lived in Pakistan for the five years beginning in 1987 and ending in 1992. During this time, Obama visited his mother and stayed for a few months (This would have been his second trip to Pakistan). She was hired as a consultant by the Asian Development Bank for Pakistan Agricultural Development Bank’s Gujranwalla Agricultural Development Program.

Anna monitored the funds received for this program from the Asian Development Bank and trained the Mobile Credit Officers of the Agricultural Bank. This program was controlled from the Gujranwalla Regional Office. She stayed for five years in the Hilton International Hotel (now Avari Hotel), Lahore. She travelled daily from Lahore to Gujranwalla. When Barack Obama visited Pakistan, he stayed in the same hotel.

She worked at Bank Rakyat of Indonesia, where she facilitated the practice "macrofinancing," making loans to people with poor credit and low incomes. You know the one, exactly what the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac banks were pushing -- loans to people with poor credit and low incomes that created the mortgage meltdown.

Bank Rakyat is 70% government owned (Persero) and is also part of the "Islamic banking cooperative."

From her divorce filing, 1980, under living arrangements, the documents states, "oldest child in university and mother resides with youngest child in 4 bedroom home provided by mother's employer (USAID); household includes 2 full-time live-in domestics. Mother spends approximately $300 per month on domestic help, including after hours babysitting, if necessary."

Everything the public thinks they know about Obama, comes from Obama. Writing that damned book and getting his mythology into the public consciousness was brilliant. He'd still be in Chicago without "Dreams..."

Embedded links/sources are halfway down this page: Obama's Family

[PBRCat]

While I do not dispute your information, it should be recalled that Dunham completed her education over the course of three decades. It is possible that Obama emphasized the food stamps story (just poor folks) while omitting to mention that she later held a job.

I suspect that Dunham may have been receiving public aid after Barack’s beloved father split from his bigamous marriage and left his leftist wife (the couple met in a Russian language class in 1960) and baby boy behind. Given the wide span of years involved, it is very possible that Dunham both received food stamps rather than working her way through school as an undergraduate and later held a well paying position as she finished her Ph.D.

[SuziQ]

The deal was finalized immediately before the inauguration, but not made public until now. It is good to know that the economic crisis has been settled and foreign affairs are in good order. Otherwise, how could Obama find time to moonlight as the author of a children’s book?

*snort* Can you imagine what the outcry would have been if George W. Bush had made a deal to write a book while he was President?

[SuziQ]

A Phd in blacksmithing, is this true?

Not quite. Obama's Mama's PhD thesis was ABOUT blacksmithing in Indonesia. Sounds like something a typical Social Science PhD from a 'roll your own' type of University.

[NathanR]

Sounds like a typical Socialology thesis to me. (I believe she was a Socialology major.) Socialology was, at least until majors like Women's Studies came along to pollute the well, one of the most worthless degrees in college. (I took way too many socialology courses in college.)

[SuziQ]

I took ONE Sociology course in college, because it was a requirement for my Bachelor of Arts degree, and that was enough for me! It was a complete and utter waste of time!

[Fiddlstix]

Thank you very much for posting this information.
Probably many people unaware of these facts.

[Beckwith]

When was the last time you heard Obama describe his mother as a high-paid international consultant?

The point is, Obama’s life story is a myth.

But, I'm sure Obama would appreciate your heartfelt defense of his America-hating mom.

[PBRCat]

Actually, I am in general agreement with your point of view.

Obama is a dissembler who relies upon half truths on a consistent basis. If his mother was facing financial difficulties during her twenties (how many other people did not experience the same things until they got their first jobs?), Obama emphasizes it. When she started making money, well that did not fit the template. Most of his biography is a total myth.

Obama is and always has been a calculating schemer: he has always lived a life of privilege (he never attended a public school in his life), but always played the affirmative action card when it benefitted him personally.
Without affirmative action, there is no way that Obama would have been accepted at Harvard. His admission proves that the affirmative action bureaucracy is out of kilter: Obama is not a descendant of former slaves, but the administrators only saw his color in approving his application.

In Illinois politics, he always played to the poor voters (As a state senator, his legislative district is one of the most impoverished and crime infested districts in the state) while living a life of luxury. He damns the wealthy, but wants their standard of living. Why did he seek to run from such a poverty stricken district as his political base: captive Democratic voters meant potential life time tenure. When his career took off, he dumped some of these precincts to seek out wealthy constituents who could become donors.

[ichabod1]

If she was working part time she may have qualified for assistance.

[ichabod1]

Well, there’s always education theory. Actually, I can’t tell the difference between most of the education theories and the sociology theories. Interesting ideas, next to impossible to prove, and useless in the real world. You figure out what you’re going to do, and then find a theory to match. Or 5 theories to match.

[NathanR]

Education theory, would have been more useful.

The only socialology course that was useful was “Marriage and the Family”. That actually had useful ideas in it.