Say Hello to Christopher Hill, Our New US Ambassador to Iraq

Final vote on Ambassador Chris Hill’s nomination — YEAs – 73, NAYs -23. Say hello to our new Ambassador to Iraq. If he gets sworn in tonight, its about 6 pm EST — he could be in Baghdad tomorrow, 4/22 …

The Official "Under the Sea" Ambassador Hume Photo

U.S. Ambassador Cameron R. Hume (center)
feeds the sharks at Sea World Indonesia,
as part of the U.S. Embassy’s Earth Day
“Under the Sea” celebration.

I couldn’t find a video of this tank dive, but the press release dated April 18 finally got posted online and the photos of the event finally got posted in its Facebook page. Yep, that’s Ambassador Hume inside the cage, behind the label that says http://jakarta.usembassy.gov. Nice, huh?

OK, what’s this thing with photos? I’m still scratching my head here. US Embassy Kabul labels its photos “all rights reserved” and US Embassy Jakarta tweaks official photos with its URL right smack on the middle. Have you ever seen any of the large formatted DOD photos labeled with copyright notices or its URL? Um… nope, really — you can check it out here.

To the web folks running our digital diplomacy efforts — please check out the official guidance on copyright protection and US Government work. Works by the U. S. government are not/not eligible for U. S. copyright protection. You can check with our friendly US Copyright Office here. They are pretty good with responding via email.

A work of the United States government, as defined by United States copyright law, is “a work prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. government as part of that person’s official duties.”[1] The term only applies to the work of the federal government, not state or local governments. In general, under section 105 of the Copyright Act,[2] such works are not entitled to domestic copyright protection under U.S. law, sometimes referred to as “noncopyright.” As an exception to section 105, 15 U.S.C. § 290e authorizes U.S. Secretary of Commerce to secure copyright for works produced by the Department of Commerce under the Standard Reference Data Act.[3]

There’s no need to “watermark” these photos. But if you must, can you please put the URL address, down at the bottom, in smaller font next time?

Related Post:
Ambassador Hume in Tank with Sharks

The Official "Under the Sea" Ambassador Hume Photo

U.S. Ambassador Cameron R. Hume (center)
feeds the sharks at Sea World Indonesia,
as part of the U.S. Embassy’s Earth Day
“Under the Sea” celebration.

I couldn’t find a video of this tank dive, but the press release dated April 18 finally got posted online and the photos of the event finally got posted in its Facebook page. Yep, that’s Ambassador Hume inside the cage, behind the label that says http://jakarta.usembassy.gov. Nice, huh?

OK, what’s this thing with photos? I’m still scratching my head here. US Embassy Kabul labels its photos “all rights reserved” and US Embassy Jakarta tweaks official photos with its URL right smack on the middle. Have you ever seen any of the large formatted DOD photos labeled with copyright notices or its URL? Um… nope, really — you can check it out here.

To the web folks running our digital diplomacy efforts — please check out the official guidance on copyright protection and US Government work. Works by the U. S. government are not/not eligible for U. S. copyright protection. You can check with our friendly US Copyright Office here. They are pretty good with responding via email.

A work of the United States government, as defined by United States copyright law, is “a work prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. government as part of that person’s official duties.”[1] The term only applies to the work of the federal government, not state or local governments. In general, under section 105 of the Copyright Act,[2] such works are not entitled to domestic copyright protection under U.S. law, sometimes referred to as “noncopyright.” As an exception to section 105, 15 U.S.C. § 290e authorizes U.S. Secretary of Commerce to secure copyright for works produced by the Department of Commerce under the Standard Reference Data Act.[3]

There’s no need to “watermark” these photos. But if you must, can you please put the URL address, down at the bottom, in smaller font next time?

Related Post:
Ambassador Hume in Tank with Sharks

Ambassador Hill Adds More Pages to the Congressional Record

Well, it’s not his fault but Ambassador Hill is adding more pages to the Congressional Record by the hour. The Senate has reconvened and proceeded to executive session to resume its consideration of Ambassador Hill’s nomination to be ambassador to the Republic of Iraq. It is live right now on c-span2 (session may go on for another four-five hours; video’s product ID is 285411-1, if you need to look this up later ). Yesterday, he occupied another five pages of the Congressional Record. There will be more pages added before this is all over. See pdf files below:

NOMINATION OF CHRISTOPHER R. HILL TO BE AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ
— (Senate – April 20, 2009)

[Page: S4430] GPO’s PDF
Mr. KERRY. I yield 5 minutes to the Senator from Indiana, the distinguished…
Mr. LUGAR. Madam President, I rise in support of the nomination of Christopher…
[Page: S4431] GPO’s PDF
Mr. KERRY. I reserve the remainder of my time.
Mr. BROWNBACK. Madam President, I yield myself 8 minutes.
[Page: S4432] GPO’s PDF
Mr. BROWNBACK. I reserve the remainder of my time.
Mr. KERRY. I am going to speak to the issue raised by Senator…
Hill on the Allegation That He Reached an Agreement With the North Koreans…
SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE NOMINATION HEARING, MARCH 25, 2009
[Page: S4433] GPO’s PDF
Mr. KERRY. Senator Lugar asked him about this. He said specifically…
[Page: S4434] GPO’s PDF
Mr. BROWNBACK. Madam President, I appreciate my colleague from Massachusetts…
CLOTURE MOTION
Cloture Motion
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Alaska (Mr. Begich), the…
Mr. McCONNELL. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the…
Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote, and I move to lay…

Update 11:32 pm: I don’t get it. The cloture motion was agreed to yesterday and today, they are at it again. The back and forth started at 10:00 am and on and on it went except for a short break. Senator Brownback has updated his props and brought up General Zinni’s name. He was joined in his opposition to the nomination by Senator Demint (talking about the tea bag protests), Senator McCain (who brought up David Sanger’s book, Chris Hill’s Appomattox quote and General Zinni) and Senator Kyl (who brought up Hill’s “freelance diplomacy” and lack of requisite experience). A final vote on this nomination has now been scheduled for 5:15 pm EST. [11:50 pm: ok, apparently according to AP that agreement yesterday included 30 additional hours of debate but Senator Brownback has agreed to cut it short just a short while ago].

Ambassador Hill Adds More Pages to the Congressional Record

Well, it’s not his fault but Ambassador Hill is adding more pages to the Congressional Record by the hour. The Senate has reconvened and proceeded to executive session to resume its consideration of Ambassador Hill’s nomination to be ambassador to the Republic of Iraq. It is live right now on c-span2 (session may go on for another four-five hours; video’s product ID is 285411-1, if you need to look this up later ). Yesterday, he occupied another five pages of the Congressional Record. There will be more pages added before this is all over. See pdf files below:

NOMINATION OF CHRISTOPHER R. HILL TO BE AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ
— (Senate – April 20, 2009)

[Page: S4430] GPO’s PDF
Mr. KERRY. I yield 5 minutes to the Senator from Indiana, the distinguished…
Mr. LUGAR. Madam President, I rise in support of the nomination of Christopher…
[Page: S4431] GPO’s PDF
Mr. KERRY. I reserve the remainder of my time.
Mr. BROWNBACK. Madam President, I yield myself 8 minutes.
[Page: S4432] GPO’s PDF
Mr. BROWNBACK. I reserve the remainder of my time.
Mr. KERRY. I am going to speak to the issue raised by Senator…
Hill on the Allegation That He Reached an Agreement With the North Koreans…
SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE NOMINATION HEARING, MARCH 25, 2009
[Page: S4433] GPO’s PDF
Mr. KERRY. Senator Lugar asked him about this. He said specifically…
[Page: S4434] GPO’s PDF
Mr. BROWNBACK. Madam President, I appreciate my colleague from Massachusetts…
CLOTURE MOTION
Cloture Motion
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Alaska (Mr. Begich), the…
Mr. McCONNELL. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the…
Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote, and I move to lay…

Update 11:32 pm: I don’t get it. The cloture motion was agreed to yesterday and today, they are at it again. The back and forth started at 10:00 am and on and on it went except for a short break. Senator Brownback has updated his props and brought up General Zinni’s name. He was joined in his opposition to the nomination by Senator Demint (talking about the tea bag protests), Senator McCain (who brought up David Sanger’s book, Chris Hill’s Appomattox quote and General Zinni) and Senator Kyl (who brought up Hill’s “freelance diplomacy” and lack of requisite experience). A final vote on this nomination has now been scheduled for 5:15 pm EST. [11:50 pm: ok, apparently according to AP that agreement yesterday included 30 additional hours of debate but Senator Brownback has agreed to cut it short just a short while ago].

A Future Case Study: Mutiny of the Foggy Bottom Historians

TSB of The Skeptical Bureaucrat has posted an item on a possible development in the State Department’s Office of the Historian. Read his post on Some Informed Speculation About the Office of the Historian.


For backgrounder, read
Secrecy News’ Management Crisis Threatens “Foreign Relations” Series and the History News Network’s Hillary and the State Department Historian’s Office: A Way Forward.


If you have a subscription to the National Journal, you may also read John Maggs’
“Mutiny of the Foggy Bottom Historians” published over the weekend. The teaser reads: Accused of bureaucratic overreaching, the head of a State Department research team may soon be history himself.”

Related Posts:



A Future Case Study: Mutiny of the Foggy Bottom Historians

TSB of The Skeptical Bureaucrat has posted an item on a possible development in the State Department’s Office of the Historian. Read his post on Some Informed Speculation About the Office of the Historian.


For backgrounder, read
Secrecy News’ Management Crisis Threatens “Foreign Relations” Series and the History News Network’s Hillary and the State Department Historian’s Office: A Way Forward.


If you have a subscription to the National Journal, you may also read John Maggs’
“Mutiny of the Foggy Bottom Historians” published over the weekend. The teaser reads: Accused of bureaucratic overreaching, the head of a State Department research team may soon be history himself.”

Related Posts:



Ambassador Hill Edges Closer to Baghdad …

The cloture motion passed yesterday at 6:51 pm, so everyone got home on time for dinner and did not have to order pizza. The votes were 73-17 with 9 not voting — agreeing to end the debate on Ambassador Hill’s nomination to be Ambassador to the Republic of Iraq.

The 17 Republicans who voted NAYs included good old Sam. The 73 senators who voted YEAs include Senator Graham (R-SC). Nine senators who did not vote on the cloture motion included Senators McCain and Lieberman.

Sorry, Heather, you won’t see Ambassador Hill in Baghdad today. The final vote on the nomination did not follow the cloture motion last night. The Senate convenes at 10:00am today to Resume Executive Session and consideration of the nomination. The final votes could come today or who knows — soon. Somebody could suck up all the oxygen in the room with another ho-ha, er sorry — speech on North Korea.

From the top critic once more, bow:

“He operated a failed strategy in North Korea,” Brownback said. “Now they’ve launched missiles and they’re being investigated for selling enriched uranium to Iran. He was a complete failure, and now we’re going to give him the most important diplomatic post we have.”

North Korea is going to the dogs, Dear Leader is looking bland and old and you know whose fault is that. You can watch some more of Hill’s lovable top critic here.

And here’s one from a steadfast defender:

Senator John Kerry, the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called the criticism “unfair”. “Those who criticize him for not accomplishing more in the area of human rights ought to appreciate that he was, in fact, implementing the specific daily instructions that he was receiving,” said Senator Kerry. “And if they do not like that policy, then the real complaint is against President [George] Bush and the Secretary of State, [Condoleezza Rice].”

Well now …

Ambassador Hill Edges Closer to Baghdad …

The cloture motion passed yesterday at 6:51 pm, so everyone got home on time for dinner and did not have to order pizza. The votes were 73-17 with 9 not voting — agreeing to end the debate on Ambassador Hill’s nomination to be Ambassador to the Republic of Iraq.

The 17 Republicans who voted NAYs included good old Sam. The 73 senators who voted YEAs include Senator Graham (R-SC). Nine senators who did not vote on the cloture motion included Senators McCain and Lieberman.

Sorry, Heather, you won’t see Ambassador Hill in Baghdad today. The final vote on the nomination did not follow the cloture motion last night. The Senate convenes at 10:00am today to Resume Executive Session and consideration of the nomination. The final votes could come today or who knows — soon. Somebody could suck up all the oxygen in the room with another ho-ha, er sorry — speech on North Korea.

From the top critic once more, bow:

“He operated a failed strategy in North Korea,” Brownback said. “Now they’ve launched missiles and they’re being investigated for selling enriched uranium to Iran. He was a complete failure, and now we’re going to give him the most important diplomatic post we have.”

North Korea is going to the dogs, Dear Leader is looking bland and old and you know whose fault is that. You can watch some more of Hill’s lovable top critic here.

And here’s one from a steadfast defender:

Senator John Kerry, the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called the criticism “unfair”. “Those who criticize him for not accomplishing more in the area of human rights ought to appreciate that he was, in fact, implementing the specific daily instructions that he was receiving,” said Senator Kerry. “And if they do not like that policy, then the real complaint is against President [George] Bush and the Secretary of State, [Condoleezza Rice].”

Well now …