<div dir="ltr"><br clear="all"><h1><span>Secretary Kerry knows just what to say to woo the Norwegians — in their own language</span></h1>
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<p>(Mandel Ngan/ AFP/GETTY IMAGES ) - Norwegian Foreign
Minister Borge Brende, left, joins Secretary of State John Kerry last
week at the State Department. Kerry regaled reporters with a “tusen
takk” here and a “jeg elsker deg” there.</p>
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By <span> <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/al-kamen/2011/02/02/ABiEEAJ_page.html" rel="author"><font color="#0066cc">Al Kamen</font></a></span>,
<span>Published: November 18</span>
<a id="be48e502c6-4e01-4550-b9e1-25b8258a0cad" href="mailto:al.kamen@washpost.com?subject=Reader%20feedback%20for%20%27Secretary%20Kerry%20knows%20just%20what%20to%20say%20to%20woo%20the%20Norwegians%20%E2%80%94%20in%20their%20own%20language%27"><font color="#0066cc">E-mail the writer</font></a>
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<p><span></span> It’s an international mystery: What did Secretary of State <strong>John Kerry </strong>say in Norwegian during an appearance last week with Norwegian Foreign Minister <strong>Borge Brende</strong>?</p>
<p>After introducing Brende at a State Department event on Friday
and saying lots of nice things about Norway (the country is “a huge
global citizen” and a “terrific partner,” yada yada), Kerry got a little
more personal. He lived in Norway for a few years when his
diplomat-father was stationed there, he said, “so I have a special
affinity for Norway and Norwegians.”</p>
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<p>Al Kamen</p>
<p>
Al Kamen, an award-winning columnist on the national staff of The
Washington Post, created the “In the Loop” column in 1993. He began his
reporting career at the Rocky Mountain News and joined The Post in 1980.
He has covered local and federal courts, the Supreme Court and the
State Department. Follow him on Twitter.
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<p>More from In the Loop:</p><div>
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<h2><font></font> </h2><div></div>
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<p>Oh yeah?</p><p>“Say something in Norwegian!” one of the
reporters covering the event called out. (Bet Kerry wishes all questions
from the media were so easy.)</p><p>Kerry obliged, offering a few lines
in the language of his visitor. But here’s where the mystery comes in —
the official transcript of the event didn’t reflect what he said. “(In
Norwegian.)” was how it appeared.</p><p>What did he say? Whatever it was, the crowd seemed tickled. His comment got laughs.</p><p>We were intrigued.</p><p>So
we checked with the Norwegian Embassy for a proper translation. Kerry’s
message was as nice as his one in English. He said “tusen takk,” which
means “thank you,” we’re told. And then he said, “jeg elsker deg,” which
translates to “I love you.”</p><p>
<strong>Kine Hartz</strong>, the embassy’s cultural and information
officer, who was there to hear the performance in person, gave his
pronunciation high marks. </p><p>“It was good,” she tells us. “He had that singsong-y Norwegian sound — we were very impressed.”</p><p>
<strong>The Rouse report</strong>
</p><p>Every so often, White House observers <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2013/08/pete-rouse-white-house-95312.html"><font color="#0066cc">hear that</font></a> <strong>Pete Rouse </strong>— <strong>President Obama</strong>’s trusted counselor and former interim chief of staff — is leaving.</p>
<p>This
would leave a significant hole in the White House operation and is one
of the reasons Obama is said to always push back hard to stop him from
going. Rouse, who was Obama’s first Senate chief of staff in 2005, is
the president’s longest-serving senior aide.</p><p>After he clinched the Democratic nomination in June 2008, Obama told our colleague <strong>Karen Tumulty </strong>(then
at Time magazine) what he thought of Rouse. Rouse was “as well
connected and well known and as popular and as smart and savvy a person
as there is on Capitol Hill. But is completely ego-free. And that just
makes for a good team,” Obama said. That’s about the highest compliment
you’ll hear anyone get in this town.</p><p>So when we heard the rumors
percolating up of late — “it may be true this time,” one source said —
we thought it worthwhile to make a few calls. Best we can figure is that
Rouse, who’s 67, is once more edging toward the door, hoping to leave
soon, but no date has been set and nothing’s “imminent.” Of course
“imminent” is a somewhat squishy term.</p><p>
</p><p>
<strong>Bibi gets an F</strong>
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<p></p><p>As the prime minister of Israel, <strong>Benjamin Netanyahu </strong>presumably has some pretty competent folks working for him.</p><p>But he might want to rethink his graphics department.</p><p>Netanyahu
last week tweeted a PR-style infographic opposing the deal that the
United States and other countries are negotiating to lift some sanctions
on Iran. He called it an “important message” and urged his 188,000 or
so followers to share it. The graphics were a tad cartoonish. </p><p>We
assumed that one illustration was meant to be a mushroom cloud, but it
looked a lot like a tree. And another one was . . . a missile, right?</p><p>Still,
it seemed an improvement over the poster depicting a bomb that he
paraded last year in front of the U.N. General Assembly. “Netanyahu’s
bomb cartoon is the Middle East equivalent of <strong>Clint Eastwood</strong>’s chair,” columnist <strong>Jeffrey Goldberg </strong>
<a href="https://twitter.com/JeffreyGoldberg/status/251384223313821696"><font color="#0066cc">tweeted</font></a> at the time.</p><p>We decided to check our amateur critique against a professional’s. So we asked <strong>
<a href="http://com.miami.edu/profile/Cairo,Alberto"><font color="#0066cc">Alberto Cairo</font></a>
</strong>, an expert on graphic design and a University of Miami journalism professor, to analyze Netanyahu’s presentations.</p><p>The professor indicated that if they had been the works of one of his students, they would have received failing grades.</p>
<p>First,
he says, the initial problem is content: Such visuals are often used in
the PR and marketing world, and they are a far cry from “real”
infographics, which are journalistic products that he calls a “visual
representation of evidence.” </p><p>And then there are the aesthetics. Netanyahu’s are “just ugly and badly designed,” Cairo said.</p><p> </p><p>fwd from Washington Post</p></div></div></div><br>-- <br>=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br>
<br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>
Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br>
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