Former 2012 Presidential Candidate Jon Huntsman has announced that he will not be going to the GOP National Convention in August. The Former Utah Governor has attended every GOP Convention since 1984 when he was a delegate for Ronald Reagan. At the last Convention Huntsman announced the Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin.

Obama’s former ambassador to China told the Salt Lake Tribune: “I will not be attending this year’s convention, nor any Republican convention in the future, until the party focuses on a bigger, bolder, more confident future for the United States – a future based on problem solving, inclusiveness, and a willingness to address the trust deficit, which is every bit as corrosive as our fiscal and economic deficits.”

Huntsman left the presidential race in January of this year and endorsed Mitt Romney as the Republican candidate. Huntsman won three delegates during the race, two when he took third place in the New Hampshire primary and one from Texas. These three delegates would have guaranteed Huntsman a speaking part at the Convention.

Former New Hampshire GOP Chairman Fergus Cullen claims that Huntsman’s comments represent the independent nature of the former candidate.

This is not the first time Huntsman has butted heads with Republicans this year. In March of this year Huntsman was dropped from a Republican National Committee event that was being held in Palm Beach after comments he made about having a third party in America.

Huntsman stated, “I think we’re going to have problems politically until we get some sort of third party movement or some voice out there that can put forth new ideas. We might not win, but we can certainly influence the debate.” Huntsman was lined up to speak at the “Regents” event but was informed personally by the RNC Chairman Reince Preibus that he would not be allowed to attend.

Huntsman is not the only Republican who was invited and is not going to the Convention. Virginia Senate Candidate George Allen is also planning to not attend, but not for ideological reasons. Instead, the candidate claims that he wants to stay in state to talk to constituents and continue to campaign.

Similarly, many Democrats are skipping the Democratic Convention in September 2012 to try to garner more votes. Representative Steve Israel, the head of the House Campaign side of the Democratic Party, encouraged those who are running for election in 2012 to stay home because “if they want to win an election, they need to be in their district” he added “I don’t care if the president was at 122% favorability right now. I think [candidates] should be in their district.”

Missourian Senator Claire McCaskill agrees with Israel and was originally criticized for not going. McCaskill stated, “I’ve got a really hard election. If you had a really hard election and it was after Labor Day, would you go to North Carolina to a bunch of parties and glad-handing or would you stay home and work as hard as you know how to convince Missourians they should rehire you?” She also claims that she is not trying to distance herself from Obama.

Huntsman’s decision to stay home from the GOP Convention is unique in its ideological origins. Huntsman claims that the Republican party must “put our country before politics.” He also stated, “I encourage a return to the party we have been in the past from Lincoln right on through to Reagan, that was always willing to put our country before politics.”

Image Courtesy of  Gage Skidmore

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In a speech at the Sullivan Honors Awards, President Obiang discussed the promotion of African integration by leading Equatorial Guinea toward a better future by facing its challenges and achieving the country’s desired self-improvement and progress. President Obiang has led the efforts of the African community while promoting the continent and carrying out the development of Equatorial Guinea.

“Equatorial Guinea, as a unified country, knows that in order to achieve self-improvement and progress, we have to face problems and challenges, with the support of friendly countries and the international community,” said President Obiang.

President Obiang received the Beacon for Africa award at the 2011 Sullivan Honors event on December 15, in recognition of his leadership of the African Union and his exemplary contributions to improving the lives of Africa’s most vulnerable citizens. The Sullivan Honors event is one of Washington’s greatest cultural highlights of the year.

Hope Masters, president of the Administrative Council of the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation, praised President Obiang for his exemplary leadership and contributions to rebuilding Equatorial Guinea.

“This was a great opportunity to discuss continued development in the region and ways to collectively expand our role as part of  the international community,” said President Obiang. “I believe Africa has a positive future ahead of us as long as we continue to work together.”

President Obiang joined leaders from around the world to honor African individuals who are leading and serving the international community. The honorees have selflessly dedicated themselves to humanitarian efforts on the African continent. Together they showed their appreciation for the honorees at the Leon H. Sullivan Honors event at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel.

“A commitment to ensuring that the dignity of the people they serve has been maintained is critical in determining who will be named a Sullivan Honoree. The ability to ignite that spark of hope, to provide to those less fortunate, while improving their quality of life, has been a common characteristic embodied by each of our honorees. I commend our past honorees and am confident that our new honorees will uphold their passion for championing Africans,” said Ambassador Andrew Young, former US Ambassador to the United Nations.

The Sullivan Honors has been conferred upon individuals who have demonstrated unique leadership in enhancing the lives of the underprivileged, the vulnerable, and the destitute in Africa. Previous Sullivan Honorees include former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, General Colin Powell, current President Jacob Zuma of South Africa, current President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania, current President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, and current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. A full list of previous Sullivan Honorees can be found on the Sullivan Foundation’s website, www.thesullivanfoundation.org.

Equatorial Guinea’s government has adopted special programs for the promotion and protection of human rights with the help of the International Red Cross, which has verified the performance of state institutions by selecting and implementing programs that improve the level of social indicators.

“The positive effects of these programs have resulted in an increased school ratio, life expectancy, malaria reductions, as well as the progressive increase of technical and professional staff,” said President Obiang. “Our country recently went through a constitutional change that strengthened the powers of the state institutions, promoted the alteration in power and regulated the strict separation of powers, as well as transparency and equity in public affairs.”

This reform was approved and voted by the majority of the population.

In addition to President Obiang, numerous heads of state from Africa attended this year’s 2011 Sullivan Honors event, showing unity and cooperation among one another. They included President John A. Kufuor, former President of Ghana; President Olusegun Obasanjo, former President of Nigeria; Prime Minister Guillaume Soro of Cote D’Ivoire; and President Salva Kiir Mayardit of South Sudan.

Image Courtesy of   http://www.flickr.com/photos/equatorial_guinea/

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Ambassador Michael A. Battle of the United States Mission to the African Union (USAU), was one of the volunteers on Thursday 1st December 2011, to do the HIV screening offered by the African Union (AU) Medical Services Directorate as the AU joins the rest of the International and Continental communities this day, to commemorate the World AIDS Day.

Several free will persons interested to know their status have been going through the Volunteer Counselling and Testing (VCT) services for HIV that started on Monday, 28th November 2011, from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, until Friday, 2nd December 2011 at the Headquarters of the AU Commission (AUC), in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The exercise is one of the week-long activities organized by the Department of Social Affairs in collaboration with the Medical Services Directorate of the AU Commission to mark the commemoration of the World Aids Day.

Ambassador Battle was accompanied by his collaborators who witnessed the Volunteer Counselling and Testing provided by the AU Commission’s Medical Services Directorate (AU MSD) everybody.

The Medical team expressed appreciation to the gesture of the Ambassador saying that, the example will send out a very powerful message to encourage the people who are still hesitating to get tested.

“I am extremely proud of the African Union for taking leadership on HIV AIDS Day. AIDS is a disease that affects people all over the world. By accepting the volunteer screening today, I want to show that there is no shame in coming out and being tested and screened. I also want to encourage more people to do the same” Ambassador Battle explained. He advised that, the earlier a person can get tested for HIV, the more easy it is to cure “If we could get more and more people to just come out and have a test it will be better for the entire world”, he underscored.

Ambassador Battle announced that the same screening exercise is done at the US Embassy on the occasion of the World AIDS Day, but he chose to do it at the African Union “to show support and solidarity with the African continent” he emphasized.

Dr. Kilenga Naftal, Consultant and Senior Biologist of the AU MSD, thanked the US Mission and Ambassador Battle for the symbolic and very important gesture. He presented the different services offered by the MSD including medical consultations, paediatric services, scanning for breast cancer, dental and laboratory services. Dr Kilenga also stated that the MSD do not only provide HIV testing but also treatment for HIV/AIDS for more than 10 years.

It is worth recalling that, the AU Volunteer Counselling and Testing Services (VCT) is currently taking place inside an erected tent in front of the Medical Center where medical experts and practitioners are receiving people of all classes and works of life, including AU Staff who are interested to know about their status.

Image Courtesy of   https://www.facebook.com/pages/US-Mission-to-the-African-Union/93218692247

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