World Book Capital is a title bestowed by UNESCO to a city in recognition of the quality of its programs to promote books and reading and the dedication of all players in the book industry.

The designation runs from UNESCO's World Book and Copyright Day (April 23) of one year until April 22 of the following year.

About the title[link]

The success of World Book and Copyright Day, launched in 1996, encouraged UNESCO to develop the concept of World Book Capital City, selecting Madrid as the Capital for 2001. This was again a success, and so UNESCO's General Conference resolved to make the designation of a World Book Capital City an annual event.

UNESCO invited the International Publishers Association, the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions and the International Booksellers Federation to participate in the nomination process, to ensure the three major branches of the book industry can participate in the decision.

The nomination does not include any financial prize; it rather acknowledges the best programmes dedicated to books and reading.

Nomination criteria[link]

The nominating committee welcomes programmes — presented by or endorsed by the mayor of the city making the application — that promote and foster reading. The programmes are to run from one World Book and Copyright Day and the next. The nomination committee will turn its attention to certain criteria:

• the degree of participation of all levels (from the municipal to the international level)
• the programme's potential impact
• the scope and quality of the activities proposed by the candidates, and the extent to which they involve writers, publishers, booksellers and libraries
• any other projects promoting books and reading
• the extent to which the programme respects the principles of freedom of expression, as stated by the UNESCO Constitution as well as by Articles 19 and 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and by the Agreement on the Importation of Educational, Scientific and Cultural Materials

World Book Capital cities[link]

The following cities have been designated as World Book Capitals:

Year	City	Country
2001	Madrid	Spain
2002	Alexandria	Egypt
2003	New Delhi	India
2004	Antwerp[1]	Belgium
2005	Montreal[2]	Canada
2006	Turin[3]	Italy
2007	Bogotá[4]	Colombia
2008	Amsterdam[5]	Netherlands
2009	Beirut[6]	Lebanon
2010	Ljubljana[7]	Slovenia
2011	Buenos Aires[8]	Argentina
2012	Yerevan[9]	Armenia
2013	Bangkok[10]	Thailand

References[link]

External links[link]

• UNESCO: World Book Capital City
• Amsterdam World Book Capital 2008: Official web site
• Beirut World Book Capital 2009: Official web site
• Ljubljana World Book Capital 2010: Official web site
• Buenos Aires World Book Capital 2011: Official web site
• Yerevan World Book Capital 2012: Official web site

v t e World Book Capitals 2001: Madrid · 2002: Alexandria · 2003: New Delhi · 2004: Antwerp · 2005: Montreal · 2006: Turin · 2007: Bogotá · 2008: Amsterdam · 2009: Beirut · 2010: Ljubljana  · 2011: Buenos Aires  · 2012: Yerevan  · 2013: Bangkok

Ari Fleischer
Ari Fleischer conducting a White House press conference
24th White House Press Secretary
In office January 20, 2001 – July 15, 2003
Preceded by	Jake Siewert
Succeeded by	Scott McClellan
Personal details
Born	(1960-10-13) October 13, 1960 (age 51) Pound Ridge, New York United States
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Rebecca Davis
Children	2
Residence	Washington, D.C.
Religion	Judaism [1]
Website	Fleischer Sports

Lawrence Ari Fleischer (born October 13, 1960) is a former White House Press Secretary for U.S. President George W. Bush, from January 2001 to July 2003. Fleischer was born in Pound Ridge, New York; his parents were Jewish, his mother a Hungarian immigrant who lost much of her family in the Holocaust.^[1] He graduated from Fox Lane High School in Bedford, New York in 1978, and graduated from Middlebury College in Vermont in 1982. Today, he works as a media consultant for the NFL,^[2] Bowl Championship Series, and other various sports organizations and players through his company, Ari Fleischer Sports Communications.^[3] He is also an international media consultant to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.^[4][5] He helped Mark McGwire in his media strategy for his admission of steroid usage. He was also briefly hired by Tiger Woods to help him with a strategy to make his entrance back on the PGA Tour, but was not retained after news stories surfaced promoting his representation of Woods.

Congressional staffer[link]

Upon his graduation from Middlebury College, Fleischer worked as press secretary for Jon Fossel, a Republican candidate for a New York congressional seat. Later Fleischer worked as press secretary for Congressmen Norman Lent. From 1985 to 1988 he was the field-director for the National Republican Congressional Committee. He went back to being a press secretary in 1988, working for Congressman Joseph DioGuardi for a short time.^{[citation needed]}

Fleischer served as Senator Pete Domenici's press secretary from 1989 to 1994. He then served as spokesman for the House of Representatives' Ways and Means Committee for five years. He worked as deputy communications director for George H. W. Bush's 1992 reelection campaign.^{[citation needed]}

White House Press Secretary[link]

Although Fleischer served as communications director for Elizabeth Dole during her presidential run in the 2000 election campaign, he joined George W. Bush's presidential campaign after Mrs. Dole dropped out of the race. When Mr. Bush became the President in 2001, he tapped Fleischer to become the first press secretary of his administration.

Fleischer is credited with having been the first to introduce the phrase "homicide bombing" to describe what has also been called suicide bombing, in April 2002, to emphasize the terrorist connotations of the tactic:

On May 19, 2003, he announced that he would resign during the summer, citing a desire to spend more time with his wife and to work in the private sector. He was replaced by deputy press secretary Scott McClellan on July 15, 2003.

Alleged role in Plame affair[link]

Fleischer became an important figure in the CIA leak case; he testified that Scooter Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's former Chief of Staff, told him that Valerie Plame was a covert agent weeks before Libby had claimed to have been informed of Plame's status by a reporter.

On July 7, 2003, at The James S. Brady Briefing Room, Fleischer was asked about Joseph Wilson, a former US ambassador who had recently written a New York Times editorial criticizing the intelligence information the Bush administration had relied upon to make its case for invading the nation of Iraq. Specifically, Fleischer was asked to respond to Mr. Wilson's assertion that he had been sent to Niger to investigate claims that Saddam Hussein had sought yellowcake uranium and found no evidence that such events had ever occurred.

Fleischer testified in open court on January 29, 2007, that Libby told him on July 7, 2003, at lunch, about Ms. Plame, who is Mr. Wilson's wife. MSNBC correspondent David Shuster summarized Fleisher's testimony on Hardball with Chris Matthews:

Fleischer also testified to the fact that Dan Bartlett, the president's communications adviser, told him the same thing on Air Force One days later on the way to Niger with Pres. Bush. Fleischer had then relayed this information to Time correspondent John Dickerson and NBC's David Gregory in Uganda during the African trip.^[8][9]

Dickerson denied that such a conversation ever took place.^[10] Ari Fleischer gave his final 'Press Briefing' on July 14, 2003.

On July 18, 2005, Bloomberg reported that in his sworn testimony before the grand jury investigating the leak, Fleischer denied having seen a memo circulating in Air Force One on July 7, 2003, which named Ms. Plame in connection to Mr. Wilson's mission and which identified her as a 'CIA' covert agent. However, a former Bush Administration official also on the plane testified to having seen Fleischer perusing the document.^[11][12]

Columnist Robert Novak, who published Ms. Plame's name on July 14, 2003, made a call to Fleischer on July 7, 2003, before Fleischer's trip to Africa with Pres. Bush. It is unclear whether Fleischer returned Novak's call.^[11] However, Fleischer is mentioned in Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's indictment of Libby. The indictment states that Libby told Fleischer (referred to as the White House press secretary in the indictment) that Ms. Plame worked for the 'CIA' and that this fact was not well known.

After receiving an immunity agreement, Fleischer testified that he had revealed Ms. Plame's identity to reporters after learning it from Libby.^[9] However, in the end it was discovered that Richard Armitage first leaked Ms. Plame's identity, not Mr. Libby or Mr. Cheney.

Alleged role in Komen Foundation/Planned Parenthood controversy[link]

On February 3, 2012, the leftist blog Think Progress reported that Fleischer was secretly involved in the Komen Foundation’s strategy regarding Planned Parenthood. Fleischer personally interviewed candidates for the position of “Senior Vice President for Communications and External Relations” at Komen last December. According to a source with first-hand knowledge, Fleischer drilled prospective candidates during their interviews on how they would handle the controversy about Komen’s relationship with Planned Parenthood.

Fleischer’s relationship with Komen and the Planned Parenthood controversy was previously undisclosed. He confirmed to ThinkProgress his recent role in filling a key communication position at Komen. Fleischer stressed, however, another communications firm (Ogilvy PR) was retained by Komen to deal with crisis communications and he had not been involved.

In November, Komen advertised for a top level communications position in Roll Call. Promising applicants received a call from Fleischer. The advertisement is no longer posted on the Roll Call website, but a portion is accessible via Google.

According to a source, during at least one interview, Planned Parenthood was a major topic of conversation. Fleischer indicated that he had discussed the Planned Parenthood issue with Komen’s CEO, Nancy Brinker, and that she was at her wits end about how to proceed. Fleischer described himself as a longtime friend of Brinker. Fleischer confirmed to ThinkProgress that he would receive a fee from Komen when the search was complete. Fleischer did not specify the amount of his fee but said it would be “substantially below the normal placement fee charged by executive search companies” because “they’re a charity I believe in.”

Fleischer’s high-level involvement with Komen further complicates its image as an apolitical cancer charity. In his book, Taking Heat, Fleischer criticized Planned Parenthood as a partisan, ideological organization that receives undeserved positive coverage in the press. In 2001, Fleischer said that the Clinton administration verged too far to the left on family planning efforts because “if Planned Parenthood wanted it, the previous administration favored it.”

Personal life[link]

Fleischer married Rebecca Davis, an employee in the Office of Management and Budget, in November, 2002. They live in New York with their two children. Fleischer's brother, Michael, worked for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq.

After leaving the White House, Fleischer formed his own consulting firm, Ari Fleischer Sports Communications, offering media and crisis management

He is on the board of the Republican Jewish Coalition.^[13]

He was portrayed by Rob Corddry in Oliver Stone's W., a biographical movie about George W. Bush.

He was hired by the Green Bay Packers as a consultant in August 2008.

He was hired by Tiger Woods to facilitate Woods' reentry to the PGA Tour, but abruptly dropped by Woods following public revelation of Fleischer's role.

References[link]

External links[link]

Biography portal

• NewsHour interview from PBS
• CNN article on Fleischer's resignation
• Transcripts of all White House press briefings since 2001
• Ari Fleischer Sports Communications
• Appearances on C-SPAN

v t e White House Press Secretaries Akerson Joslin Early Daniels Ross Early Short Tubby Hagerty Salinger Reedy Moyers Christian Ziegler terHorst Nessen Powell Brady Speakes Fitzwater Myers McCurry Lockhart Siewert Fleischer McClellan Snow Perino Gibbs Carney

Michael Novak

Michael Novak (born 9 September 1933) is an American Catholic philosopher, journalist, novelist, and diplomat. The author of more than twenty-five books on the philosophy and theology of culture, Novak is most widely known for his book The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism (1982). In 1993 Novak was honored with an honorary doctorate degree at Universidad Francisco Marroquín^[1] due to his commitment to the idea of liberty. In 1994 he was awarded the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, which included a million-dollar purse awarded at Buckingham Palace. He writes books and articles focused on capitalism, religion, and the politics of democratization.

Novak served as United States Ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in 1981 and 1982 and led the U.S. delegation to the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe in 1986.^[2] Additionally, Novak served on the board of directors of the now-defunct Coalition for a Democratic Majority, a faction of the Democratic Party, which sought to influence Democratic Party policies in the same direction that the Committee on the Present Danger later did. Novak is currently George Frederick Jewett Scholar in Religion, Philosophy, and Public Policy at the American Enterprise Institute. As of 2004, he has claimed to be a lifelong Democrat, but he has supported many Republican candidates in recent years.^[3]

Early life, education, and family[link]

Novak was born in 1933 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, to a Slovak-American family.^[4] He was married to Karen Laub-Novak, a professional artist and illustrator, who died of cancer in August 2009. They have three children (Richard, Tanya, and Jana) and four grandchildren.

Novak earned a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy and English (Summa Cum Laude) from Stonehill College in 1956, a Sacrae Theologiae Baccalaureus (a degree in theology), from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome in 1958 and an M.A. in history and philosophy of religion from Harvard University in 1966. Novak attended Harvard University to study philosophy and religion, intending to obtain a doctorate in philosophy of religion. Novak stated that he thought the philosophy department was too focused on analytic philosophy, neglecting religion^{[citation needed]}. He left Harvard after receiving his M.A., and began work as a writer.

Early writings[link]

Second Vatican Council[link]

Novak worked as a correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter during the second session of the Second Vatican Council in Rome, where he also got the opportunity to fulfill a book contract for a fellow reporter who was not able to complete the project. The result was Novak's second book, The Open Church, a journalistic account of the events of the second session of the Council.

His writings at the time were criticized by the more Conservative factions in the Church, and apostolic delegate Egidio Vagnozzi advised US Churchmen to silence him.^[5]

Early books[link]

Early in his career, Michael Novak published two novels: The Tiber Was Silver (1961) and Naked I Leave (1970). At the time, he considered the modest $600 advance to be "a fortune." ^[6]

Stanford years[link]

Novak's friendship with the Presbyterian theologian Robert McAfee Brown during the Second Vatican Council led to a teaching post at Stanford University, where he became the first Roman Catholic to teach in the Humanities program. Novak taught at Stanford University from 1965 to 1968, during the key years of student revolt throughout California. During this period, he wrote A Time to Build (1967), discussing problems of belief and unbelief, ecumenism, sexuality, and war. In 1968, he signed the “Writers and Editors War Tax Protest” pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War.^[7] In A Theology for Radical Politics (1969), Novak makes theological arguments in support of the New Left student movement, which he urged to advance the renewal of the human spirit rather than merely to reform social institutions. His book Politics: Realism and Imagination includes accounts of visiting American Vietnam War deserters in France ("Desertion"), the birth and development of the student movement at Stanford ("Green Shoots of Counter-Culture") and philosophical essays on nihilism and Marxism.

SUNY Old Westbury[link]

Novak left Stanford for a post as dean of a new "experimental" school at the newly-founded State University of New York at Old Westbury, Long Island.

Novak's writings during this period included the philosophical essay The Experience of Nothingness (1970, republished in 1998), in which he cautioned the New Left that utopianism could lead to alienation and rootlessness. Novak's novel Naked I Leave (1970) chronicles his experiences in California and in the Second Vatican Council and his journey from seminarian to reporter.

Later career[link]

After serving at Old Westbury/SUNY from 1969 to 1972, Novak launched the humanities program at the Rockefeller Foundation in 1973-1974. In 1976, he accepted a tenured position at Syracuse University as University Professor and Ledden-Watson Distinguished Professor of Religion. In the fall semesters of 1987 and 1988, Novak held the W. Harold and Martha Welch chair as Professor of American Studies at the University of Notre Dame.

In the spring of 1978, Novak joined the American Enterprise Institute for Social Policy Research as a Resident Scholar, a position he still holds as of 2008^[update]. He remains at the American Enterprise Institute as the George Frederick Jewett Chair of Religion, Philosophy, and Public Policy, and as the Institute’s Director of Social and Political Studies.^[8]

Novak is a frequent contributor to magazines and journals including First Things and National Review. He is a member of the Catholic Advisory Board for the Ave Maria Mutual Funds.

In 1994, he was a signer of the document Evangelicals and Catholics Together. Novak is a founding board member of the Institute on Religion and Democracy.

Opinions[link]

• Novak believes that Utopian beliefs can lead to the weakening of social bonds. He wrote that "the family is the human race's natural defense against utopianism." (The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism)

• He states that religion can 'thrive only in a personal universe' and not universities or companies, and that Western Humanism, which he states is the leading belief system of most of academia, does not ask "the fundamental questions about the meaning and limits of personal experience" and that "they leave aside the mysteries of contingency and transitoriness, for the certainties of research, production, consumption." ("God in the Colleges," A New Generation: American and Catholic (1964))

• Novak states that the Holy Trinity and God are often thought of in abstract and impersonal terms in philosophy, and that they should be "thought of as a Communion of Divine Persons—radiating his presence throughout creation, calling unworthy human beings to be his friends, and infusing into them his love so that they might love with it." (From “The Love That Moves the Sun,” in A Free Society Reader)

• On December 12, 2007 Novak declared his support for the presidential candidacy of Republican Mitt Romney.^[9]

Bibliography[link]

• No One Sees God: The Dark Night of Atheists and Believers (2008). ISBN 978-0-385-52610-4.
• Washington's God: Religion, Liberty, and the Father of Our Country (with Jana Novak) (2006).
• Universal Hunger for Liberty: Why the Clash of Civilizations is Not Inevitable (2004).
• On Two Wings: Humble Faith and Common Sense at the American Founding (2001).
• Business as a Calling (1996).
• The Catholic Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1993). ISBN 0-02-923235-X
• Free Persons and the Common Good (1988).
• Tell Me Why (1998)
• The Open Church (1964, 2002)
• Joy of Sports (1976, 1994)
• Catholic Social Thought and Liberal Institutions (1984, 1989)
• This Hemisphere of Liberty (1990, 1992)
• Will it Liberate (1986)
• Toward the Future
• Moral Clarity in a Nuclear Age (1983)
• Ascent of the Mountain, Flight of the Dove
• Character and Crime
• On Cultivating Liberty
• The Fire of Invention
• The Guns of Lattimer
• Choosing Presidents
• A Free Society Reader
• Three in One
• The New Consensus on Family and Welfare: A Community of Self-Reliance (Novak et al.) (1987).
• The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism (1982). ISBN 0-8191-7823-3.
• Rise of the Unmeltable Ethnics (1972).
• The Experience of Nothingness (1970; revised and expanded 1998).
• Naked I Leave (novel, 1970).
• Belief and Unbelief, a Philosophy of Self-Knowledge (1965; 3rd ed. 1994).
• The Tiber was Silver (novel, 1962).

See also[link]

• American philosophy
• American Enterprise Institute
• Democratic capitalism
• Coalition for a Democratic Majority
• List of American philosophers

References[link]

Articles[link]

• First Things archive of articles

External links[link]

• Graduation speech at Universidad Francisco Marroquín in 1993.
• Novak's website
• Booknotes interview with Novak on On Two Wings: Humble Faith and Common Sense at the American Founding, March 17, 2002.