George Clooney expected in Washington, DC on Wednesday

In the Washington Post today: George Clooney is expected in town Wednesday to " celebvocate" about Sudan before a Senate committee. Now on same day the UK Prime Minister David Cameron will be here and a dinner has been schedule at the White House with President Obama. Actor Damian Lewis, star of "Homeland" will be attending (the movie is Obama's favorite). Do you think George has been invited too? His rep was asked but he did not reply to the Washington Post yet.

I am tempted to walk by the Capitol to see if I get a glimpse of George, it's supposed to be a balmy 77 degrees so weather is not an issue.

Socimar-- Committee meetings are held in Senate office buildings, so try there instead of the Capitol building!

According to some tweets George is in NYC today March 13, and is going to have some talk tweeted by a CNN employee.

fava wrote:Socimar-- Committee meetings are held in Senate office buildings, so try there instead of the Capitol building!

I always seem to find parking behind the Capital or around the Botanical gardens, no chance of finding anything in the area of the Sen. Off. Build. if it is held during regular federal employees working hours.

Actor Damian Lewis, star of "Homeland" will be attending (the movie is Obama's favorite).

Socimar, Homeland is an HBO series, which is currently on hiatus. They should be returning to weekly episodes sometime in the next couple of months.

( fantasizes about taking a trip to DC to hook up with Socimar for some G watching) road trip, anyone?

Sorry, what were we talking about? LOL.

The article from above link:


By Associated Press, Updated: Tuesday, March 13, 11:54 AM

NAIROBI, Kenya — Actor and human rights activist George Clooney made a quiet visit to a volatile border region between Sudan and South Sudan last week ahead of testimony he’s giving before a U.S. Senate committee on Wednesday.

Clooney made the dangerous crossing from South Sudan into Sudan’s Nuba Mountains region, Jonathan Hutson, a spokesman for the anti-genocide group the Enough Project, said Tuesday. Clooney saw burned-out villages and met with residents forced to seek shelter in caves because of aerial attacks by Sudan’s military.

Violence has flared along the Sudan-South Sudan border since South Sudan seceded last year, and some experts worry the conflict could grow. South Sudan shut down its oil industry this year after accusing Sudan of stealing its oil.

Wednesday’s hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will examine the oil dispute and the limited access aid groups are being given to Sudan’s southern regions. Aid experts say people who live in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains will soon face a hunger crisis because they haven’t been able to plant crops amid fear of attacks from Sudan.

Clooney traveled to what is now known as South Sudan in January 2011 as the region cast votes to secede from Sudan. The vote was the culmination of a peace deal that ended more than two decades of civil war.

After that visit, Clooney helped found the Satellite Sentinel Project, which uses satellite imagery to track military movements and attacks in the hopes of bringing attention to and potentially heading off hostilities.

On his most recent visit Clooney, met South Sudan President Salva Kiir and the country’s defense minister.

John Prendergast, the co-founder of the advocacy group the Enough Project, also traveled to South Sudan last week. Prendergast and Princeton Lyman, the U.S. envoy to Sudan and South Sudan, are also scheduled to speak at Wednesday’s Senate hearing.

socimar wrote:I am tempted to walk by the Capitol to see if I get a glimpse of George, it's supposed to be a balmy 77 degrees so weather is not an issue.

You've been missed, where have you been?

Good luck in your George search!!! Don't forget to report in. LOL!!

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SUDAN AND SOUTH SUDAN: INDEPENDENCE AND INSECURITY

U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
Full Committee
Presiding:
Senator Kerry

Date:
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Time:
10:00 AM
Location:
Senate Dirksen 419

Panel One
The Honorable Princeton Lyman
Special Envoy to Sudan and South Sudan
U.S. Department of State
Washington, DC
The Honorable Nancy Lindborg
Assistant Administrator for the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance
U.S. Agency for International Development
Washington, DC

Panel Two
Mr. George Clooney
Co-founder
Satellite Sentinel Project
Washington, DC
Mr. John Prendergast
Co-founder
Satellite Sentinel Project, Enough Project
Washington, DC
Mr. Jonathan Temin
Director, Sudan Program
United States Institute of Peace
Washington, DC

I hope this goes well and they LISTEN to George and John!

Lighterside wrote:

Actor Damian Lewis, star of "Homeland" will be attending (the movie is Obama's favorite).

Socimar, Homeland is an HBO series, which is currently on hiatus. They should be returning to weekly episodes sometime in the next couple of months.

I don't know what it is because I never saw it but I can only repeat what the newspaper said today:

"Actor Damian Lewis (and they include the picture of the actor) star of "Homeland", the counterterror drama that's a favorite of President Obama's. Lewis, a British thespian who plays a former American POW, leaked news of his White House invitation during an appearance last week on BBC's "Graham Norton Show"..............."

Tried to scan the article but it is small and my scanner on its last leg, hopefully you can read it including what they say about George.


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sisieq wrote:

socimar wrote:I am tempted to walk by the Capitol to see if I get a glimpse of George, it's supposed to be a balmy 77 degrees so weather is not an issue.

You've been missed, where have you been?

Good luck in your George search!!! Don't forget to report in. LOL!!

One week in NY during the coldest week inMarch. I froze to death doing sightseeing of the city. Returned last Sunday and today in Washington....almost 80 degrees!!

I'm sorry you missed out on the warmer weather in NY and NJ today. Right now, it 75 degrees in NJ. I'm glad if George is in NY today he can enjoy the warmer (or cooler) LOL weather.

socimar wrote:

Lighterside wrote:

Actor Damian Lewis, star of "Homeland" will be attending (the movie is Obama's favorite).

Socimar, Homeland is an HBO series, which is currently on hiatus. They should be returning to weekly episodes sometime in the next couple of months.

I don't know what it is because I never saw it but I can only repeat what the newspaper said today:

"Actor Damian Lewis (and they include the picture of the actor) star of "Homeland", the counterterror drama that's a favorite of President Obama's. Lewis, a British thespian who plays a former American POW, leaked news of his White House invitation during an appearance last week on BBC's "Graham Norton Show"..............."

Tried to scan the article but it is small and my scanner on its last leg, hopefully you can read it including what they say about George.


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I think this is it:

Posted at 06:11 PM ET, 03/12/2012
In other news...: ‘Homeland’ actor Damian Lewis to attend state dinner

By The Reliable Source



Damian Lewis. (Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

• Now we know at least one guest expected at the Wednesday night state dinner for U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron: Actor Damian Lewis, star of “Homeland,” the counter-terror drama that’s a favorite of President Obama’s. Lewis, a British thespian who plays a former American POW, leaked news of his White House invitation during an appearance last week on the BBC’s “Graham Norton Show.” “It’s just the Obamas, the Lewises and the Camerons in the kitchen,” he joked. But seriously: “It will just be a thousand of [the president’s] closest friends, but I don’t care.” By the way, George Clooney is in town that same day to celebvocate about Sudan before a Senate committee — maybe someone’s rustled up a dinner ticket for him? His rep did not get back to us.

This has to do with his Sudan visit:

George Clooney says Sudan commits 'war crimes'

Hollywood heart throb and activist George Clooney, pictured in February 2012, on Tuesday said Sudanese government forces are committing war crimes with attacks on civilians -- including a rocket strike that he narrowly escaped.
AFP - Hollywood heart throb and activist George Clooney on Tuesday said Sudanese government forces are committing war crimes with attacks on civilians -- including a rocket strike that he narrowly escaped.

"There's a difference between two armies fighting and what the Geneva Convention calls war crimes," Clooney told a foreign policy think tank in New York hours after arriving back in the United States from a visit to the Nuba mountains region.

"We saw that very specifically happening on two occasions: rape, starvation, lack of humanitarian aid. They're scaring the hell out of these people and they're killing, hoping and trying to get them just to leave," he said.

Clooney has long called attention to the war between Sudan and newly independent South Sudan. On a trip in January he contracted malaria. On this trip the risks were even greater, he said.

While visiting villagers hiding in caves since the start of a government aerial bombing campaign, Clooney and his activist colleague John Prendergast, were told quickly to take cover, he recounted.

Thinking that the warning referred to a slow-moving government Antonov plane, Clooney said they failed to hurry. "But it wasn't an Antonov. It was a rocket and it went boom. We were looking for that area and we got there, but we weren't expecting rockets," he told the audience at the Council on Foreign Relations, which was packed for the event.

Clooney and Prendergast, who together co-founded the Satellite Sentinel Project, showed the rapt audience of foreign policy experts a video they'd made in the Nuba mountains.

Shown wearing a baseball cap and unshaven, Clooney looked little like most of the characters he plays on the big screen. In one segment he stands over a corpse, along with the text written: "How many more bodies?"

Other footage shows locals in front of huge rock piles. "For the first time since the stone age, people are living in caves," the text says.

Clooney and Prendergast left late Tuesday for Washington where they will report on their trip to Congress and to President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Clooney said the key to pressuring Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir, who is wanted for war crimes and genocide by the International Criminal Court (ICC), is China, a big client for South Sudanese oil.

"China has investments in there, but right now China is pretty ticked off," Clooney said. "There's some movement here. There's an opportunity," he said.

"What I'd like is for the president to send a high-level envoy to China," he said. "We believe there's a moment in time when we can have a non-adversarial relationship with them."


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My heart is in my throat. OMFE! I knew I was uneasy last week for a reason. Thank God he and John are home safe.

I know really scary....it is not a good place to be....hopefully his visit will bring positive results to the area...

So impressive that he and Jon Prendergast saw all this for themselves just a couple of days ago, and he can now use his leverage and celebrity to tell the world - and the politicians first hand about it all. The timing is superb PRwise just after the Oscars publicity, and I think he's right about China. At one time I think they were supplying tanks to al-Beshir in exchange for oil drilling, but hopefully that's stopped now and China will help in a positive fashion for the good of everybody. That would be a wonderful outcome for all the work, wouldn't it?

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He will be on Today show also tomorrow with Ann Curry....I think he might have taped his morning show appearances....

Thank you, Silly Girl !!

I think the reason he goes is so he can experience these things for himself so he can talk about it with real authority. It of course scares the crumbs out of us and his family but I am sure he has plenty of security around him and John. Thanks for info about the today show!

For me, he embodies this John C Maxwell quote: “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” Very proud of you G.

Thanks for all of the updates everyone!

Dexterdidit wrote:I think the reason he goes is so he can experience these things for himself so he can talk about it with real authority. It of course scares the crumbs out of us and his family but I am sure he has plenty of security around him and John. Thanks for info about the today show!

I think they might have guides from the area but plenty of security would draw more attention to them than they might want. JMO

Oh my God

I'm speechless

and what about mom and dad?

George in a good suit with stubble, looking content whilst speaking about a serious issue. My ovaries just sighed.

watching wrote:George in a good suit with stubble, looking content whilst speaking about a serious issue. My ovaries just sighed.

LOL and yes

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Proving he's not just a handsome stud with amazing acting skills, George Clooney is spending time bringing light to some serious issues in the violent Sudanese region of Africa.

The "Descendants" star met with South Sudan's minister and a regional governor last week and, according to the Associated Press, he also crossed into the dangerous Nuba Mountains where civilians were forced to take shelter in caves because the region was under aerial military attack.

Since last year, the area has been rocked by conflict and a hunger crisis after South Sudan accused Sudan of stealing oil, then threatening to shut down the oil industry.

During one of Clooney's most recent visits, the actor helped establish the Satellite Sentinel Project in hopes of ending violence by tracking military movements through satellite imagery.

Meanwhile, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is set to examine the oil dispute in Sudan during a hearing on Wednesday (March 14) - with George having been spotted arriving in the nation's capital via Amtrak late Tuesday night.

Hollywood Gossip

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Three suits - yay for eye candy. Not sure my ovaries will be able to handle that amount of good looking whilst doing something with substance without exploding.

Bigger props for supporting and continuing to raise the profile of the situation in the Sudan.

Stan looks like s**t, but Gee looks soooo sauve bearing in mind what he has just been thro. He must surely call time now on visits like this for safety reasons if nothing else?? Can't he do it from home, isn't that the point of having satellites detecting everything? I know it's not like being there, but someone in his position can't afford to be to blazaaay nowadays. I'm sure that George can do more good in the US with his contacts than being mush in the Sudan outback.

fluffy....To say about anyone you don't know.... and just from a snap photo....that they "look like sh*t" is extremely rude and disrespectful IMO.

Just saw Today show....can't wait for GMA....gotta work...so sad what is happening over there.....scary too. He looked good although I like him clean shaven....looks like he lost weight .....I wouldn't be able to eat if I went there either....hopefully will be online later....

Oh and apparently he will be at a protest in front of the Sudan embassy on Friday....that should be interesting....

he lost weight
in a few days

no good

anyway
someone tell G
he can be
more useful
ALIVE


ok?

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George Clooney’s Crusade for Diplomatic Intervention in Sudan
Mar 14, 2012 8:33 AM EDT
The movie star is using his fame—and an audience with Obama and Hillary—to press for diplomatic intervention in the war-torn African nation. Lloyd Grove on the Hollywood statesman’s impassioned plea.
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The horrific genocide of Darfur may have subsided; a so-called peace document between the Arab-dominated Sudanese government and black African rebels has been the object of prolonged and dithering negotiations; the country has been formally divided into Sudan and South Sudan; but government-sponsored carnage continues apace in the Nuba Mountains on the oil-rich border.


George Clooney once again is bearing witness.

The 50-year-old movie star, who for the past decade has taken up the suffering of the Sudanese people as his personal cause, reported that the situation is as bad and bloody as ever during a panel discussion Tuesday night at the Council on Foreign Relations.

“There’s a difference between two armies fighting and what the Geneva Convention calls war crimes—the indiscriminate bombing of innocent civilians,” Clooney told a packed house at the council’s Manhattan headquarters. “It’s all the same people who were involved in Darfur,” Clooney went on, mentioning President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, Defense Minister Abdelrahim Mohamed Hussein, and former interior minister Ahmad Haroun, three of the north Sudanese officials charged with Darfur-related war crimes by the International Criminal Court. “They’re scaring the hell out of these people”—the men, women and children of the Nuba Mountains—“and they’re killing them and trying to get them just to leave.”

Clooney has just returned from the conflict zone with fellow peace activist John Prendergast, who warned of “a coming cataclysm” in East Africa. They were scheduled to press their case today and tomorrow in meetings with President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, arguing that the United States should work with China, the biggest customer for Sudan’s recently halted oil production, to get the oil flowing again by prevailing on al-Bashir to stop the violence. They were joined on the panel—moderated by Today show anchor Ann Curry—by Darfur activist Omer Ismail and exiled Anglican bishop Andudu Adam Elnail, whose Nuba congregation in Kadugli has suffered rapes and murders; the bishop has been targeted for assassination.


American actor George Clooney attends voting ceremonies in the southern Sudanese city of Juba, Jan. 9, 2011, Spencer Platt / Getty Images

All of them gave compelling testimony about the 22-year-old Khartoum dictatorship’s campaign of house-to-house “ethnic cleansing,” mass rape, and murder (tossing the bodies into mass graves), dropping bombs from high-flying Antonov planes, firing 300mm rockets into villages, and generally wielding instruments of terror against the Nuba civilians.

But Clooney—who has long used his star power to aim a spotlight on the mayhem—was the big draw.

“There’s a lot of things swallowing up the news right now,” Clooney said, describing the difficulty of getting media attention for Sudan’s plight over the past year as the violence has ramped up. “There was the Arab Spring. Go down the list of the big news stories that were happening at the time. News organizations were covering them because they’re big. Syria is still a big story today. Iran is a big story today. We’re in the middle of an election year ... John [Prendergast] and I are gonna do every press thing in the world in the next three days, and people will know more and more about it.”

Clooney suggested that the strongest argument for the United States taking a leading role in solving the problem is economic, not altruistic. The South Sudanese government recently shut off oil production to pressure the north Sudanese (who control pipeline and refining facilities) into stopping the terror, contributing to the hike in gasoline prices.

Clooney—who has long used his star power to aim a spotlight on the mayhem—was the big draw.
“You can’t guilt people into doing the right thing,” Clooney argued. “China gets 6 percent of its oil imports from the Sudan. That’s a big number to China. They have $20 billion of oil infrastructure in South Sudan ... When they can’t get their oil, they’re going to go somewhere else ... That raises the price of oil. So that gives us the ability now to say, as advocates, “Every time you put gas in your car, you have reason to be concerned that these cross-border problems aren’t being addressed—because now you’re actually paying for it.”

Clooney also suggested the U.S. make a concerted effort to track down the Khartoum government’s foreign bank accounts—which they’re using to purchase weapons and ammunition. “We should track that down—find it, freeze it, and make it harder and harder for these guys to spend their money,” Clooney said. “Tighten this noose and make Khartoum a very small place to live.”

Clooney and Prendergast are cofounders of the Satellite Sentinel Project, through which they are amassing photographic evidence of the Sudanese government’s crimes against humanity using a satellite hovering over the region. On Monday, Clooney said, they were able to document an Antonov bombing run, and, using corroborating testimony on the ground, have also collected evidence of mass-grave sites.

Yet President al-Bashir and his cronies have managed to escape arrest by the International Criminal Court, and while such countries as South Africa have banned them from visiting, they are still welcome in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

An audience member asked how members of the Khartoum government can be brought to justice.

“We could have a surprise party in Lake Como for Omar al-Bashir,” Clooney joked, referring to his Italian vacation home. “Come on over! It’s a great party! And have the ICC waiting for them.”http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/03/14/george-clooney-s-crusade-for-diplomatic-intervention-in-sudan.html

thanks

but I need some time

to go throw
that

Thanks lelacorb & macs for that information

Did George do an interview for Good Morning America? I went to their site but haven't found anything yet.

Warning Graphic Photo's[youtube][/youtube]

Lakin460 wrote:Did George do an interview for Good Morning America? I went to their site but haven't found anything yet.

GMA has not posted yet!

Hearings are live on C-span! Wish he'd shaved for Senate appearance.

Joanna, I'm drawing a point of reference in that Stan presumably in the US nice n cosy, to George being in Sudan dodging bombs, probably not much food and no sleep! That's why Stan has no reason to look so dishevelled!! No disrespect intended but point made!

fava wrote:Hearings are live on C-span! Wish he'd shaved for Senate appearance.

yes it's streaming live [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Henway wrote:Warning Graphic Photo's[youtube][/youtube]

This is an incredible video. No one should have to live like this. So sad.

Thanks so much for the live stream video macs.

Just tuned into CSpan! Thanks for the heads up!

Did I miss G's testimony? I'm listening to Panel One, Lyman and the other female ambassador.

fluffy wrote:Joanna, I'm drawing a point of reference in that Stan presumably in the US nice n cosy, to George being in Sudan dodging bombs, probably not much food and no sleep! That's why Stan has no reason to look so dishevelled!! No disrespect intended but point made!

I don't think Stan looks dishevelled...and no matter what you thought, there's no need to be
so rude in saying "Stan looks like shit" IMO.
That IS disrespectful and totally irrelevant to the major issues of the occasion IMO.

Would George like to hear you say that about someone close to him ?

Thanks EEOsandy for posting the valuable video of George in Sudan, much appreciated.