Ambassador Service: Chapter 10
Ambassador William Harman Holds A News Conference, And Receives Some Surprising News.
Ambassador William Harman Holds A News Conference, And Receives Some Surprising News.
William Harman sat at his desk, puzzled over the grant request for a new Enhanced 911 Emergency Phone System by the city of Dennado. It had been forwarded to the U.S. Department Of Homeland Security and was marked as “Approved.” That wasn’t the puzzling part.
Lt. Ballencek poked his head in the door of Harman’s office. “Hey, Boss!”
The Ambassador held up the folder with the application in it with both hands. “What do you know about this E911 application?”
The Embassy Security Officer and Chief Of Staff walked up to Harmon’s desk and took the offered folder. He flipped through the pages. “Not a lot. Mayor Jackson submitted the application to your predecessor, who looked it over, and sent it on to the State Department, which forwarded it to Homeland Security.”
“Has anyone talked to the Mayor about it since then?”
Ballencek furrowed his brow and looked at the ceiling as he thought about it. “I haven’t”
“Ok. We’ll have to visit with him about it sometime soon.” Harman took the folder again and closed it. He put it in a file in a desk drawer he had designated as “Immediate Action.”
“Vinod Ramesh told me the project was almost finished.” Ballencek offered.
“That’s good I suppose.”
“Yes, sir,” Ballencek agreed. “Speaking of Ramesh, your news conference is in five minutes.”
“News Conference?”
"The Ambassador normally holds a news conference every six months to update the island on U.S. policy that impacts Oslea.”
“That’s news to me,” Harman shrugged.
“You’ll be news for everyone.”
“Indeed. I’ll throw together some notes and be out in a few minutes.”
“Very good, Mr. Ambassador.” Ballencek spun around as if on display. “What do you think?”
“About what?”
“You asked me to ditch my floral shirts and camo shorts and wear something more of what you called ‘professional.’” The Security Officer turned 360 degrees again. His new wardrobe was a black long sleeve turtleneck t-shirt and khaki pants. “I think I have the suave British spy thing going on.”
“You look more like a bad French poet in a cheap coffee shop.”
TRANSCRIPT OF NEWS CONFERENCE WITH U.S. AMBASSADOR TO OSLEA WILLIAM HARMAN
U.S. EMBASSY CONFERENCE ROOM DENNADO,OSLEA
AMBASSADOR WILLIAM HARMAN: I’d like to thank you for coming here today to update the Embassy’s efforts at strengthening the ties between the U.S. and Oslea. Wait, where is everybody?
VINOD RAMESH, INDIA GLEANER: I am the only one here, Mr. Harman.
HARMAN: I see that. When will the TV stations arrive?
RAMESH: They never come to these.
HARMAN: Oh. Ok. I’ll continue with my statement.
RAMESH: I am very looking forward, sir.
HARMAN: My wife, Jennifer, and my son, Bill Jr., have been warmly received by the city of Dennado and the nation of Oslea as a whole. We are thankful for the opportunity to represent the U.S. to the island. Since we have been here, we have partnered with the Dennado School District to boost Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math programming.
RAMESH: Will U.S. technologies and philosophies supplant Oslea’s?
HARMAN: That is not our intent. We want Oslea to leverage United States knowledge and skill to build on and enhance local STEM education and manufacturing.
RAMESH: Because Oslea is somewhat isolated the international supply chain is a challenge.
HARMAN: That’s true, Mr. Ramesh. ashtabula.biz is among the partnerships we have been developing. This is a U.S. based start-up that plans on using Oslea and other islands in this region as a test for their new delivery systems that will connect globally.
RAMESH: Speaking of that, Mr. Harman what are your thoughts on the trade war?
HARMAN: U.S. and Chinese negotiators continue to work through the differences between our nations’ trade policies. Even though it has been difficult at times, and the tariffs have created hardships for many people in both nations, I’m sure we’ll be able to reach a compromise that would be beneficial to the interests of both the U.S. and China.
RAMESH: That is not the trade war I was talking about.
HARMAN: Oh. Ok. Well, the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement has been successfully negotiated. It, of course, still needs to be ratified by the legislative bodies of each country. The U.S. hopes that part of the process can be completed soon.
RAMESH: That is not the trade war I was talking about.
HARMAN: No?
RAMESH: No.
HARMAN: Then what are you talking about?
RAMESH: Oslea today declared a trade war against the Aneolwah Islands.
HARMAN: They did?
RAMESH: They did.
HARMAN: What about?
RAMESH: Marshmallow pies.
HARMAN: What?
RAMESH: Especially the butterscotch.
HARMAN: Geez.
END OF TRANSCRIPT
Lt. Ballencek poked his head in the door of Harman’s office. “Hey, Boss!”
The Ambassador held up the folder with the application in it with both hands. “What do you know about this E911 application?”
The Embassy Security Officer and Chief Of Staff walked up to Harmon’s desk and took the offered folder. He flipped through the pages. “Not a lot. Mayor Jackson submitted the application to your predecessor, who looked it over, and sent it on to the State Department, which forwarded it to Homeland Security.”
“Has anyone talked to the Mayor about it since then?”
Ballencek furrowed his brow and looked at the ceiling as he thought about it. “I haven’t”
“Ok. We’ll have to visit with him about it sometime soon.” Harman took the folder again and closed it. He put it in a file in a desk drawer he had designated as “Immediate Action.”
“Vinod Ramesh told me the project was almost finished.” Ballencek offered.
“That’s good I suppose.”
“Yes, sir,” Ballencek agreed. “Speaking of Ramesh, your news conference is in five minutes.”
“News Conference?”
"The Ambassador normally holds a news conference every six months to update the island on U.S. policy that impacts Oslea.”
“That’s news to me,” Harman shrugged.
“You’ll be news for everyone.”
“Indeed. I’ll throw together some notes and be out in a few minutes.”
“Very good, Mr. Ambassador.” Ballencek spun around as if on display. “What do you think?”
“About what?”
“You asked me to ditch my floral shirts and camo shorts and wear something more of what you called ‘professional.’” The Security Officer turned 360 degrees again. His new wardrobe was a black long sleeve turtleneck t-shirt and khaki pants. “I think I have the suave British spy thing going on.”
“You look more like a bad French poet in a cheap coffee shop.”
TRANSCRIPT OF NEWS CONFERENCE WITH U.S. AMBASSADOR TO OSLEA WILLIAM HARMAN
U.S. EMBASSY CONFERENCE ROOM DENNADO,OSLEA
AMBASSADOR WILLIAM HARMAN: I’d like to thank you for coming here today to update the Embassy’s efforts at strengthening the ties between the U.S. and Oslea. Wait, where is everybody?
VINOD RAMESH, INDIA GLEANER: I am the only one here, Mr. Harman.
HARMAN: I see that. When will the TV stations arrive?
RAMESH: They never come to these.
HARMAN: Oh. Ok. I’ll continue with my statement.
RAMESH: I am very looking forward, sir.
HARMAN: My wife, Jennifer, and my son, Bill Jr., have been warmly received by the city of Dennado and the nation of Oslea as a whole. We are thankful for the opportunity to represent the U.S. to the island. Since we have been here, we have partnered with the Dennado School District to boost Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math programming.
RAMESH: Will U.S. technologies and philosophies supplant Oslea’s?
HARMAN: That is not our intent. We want Oslea to leverage United States knowledge and skill to build on and enhance local STEM education and manufacturing.
RAMESH: Because Oslea is somewhat isolated the international supply chain is a challenge.
HARMAN: That’s true, Mr. Ramesh. ashtabula.biz is among the partnerships we have been developing. This is a U.S. based start-up that plans on using Oslea and other islands in this region as a test for their new delivery systems that will connect globally.
RAMESH: Speaking of that, Mr. Harman what are your thoughts on the trade war?
HARMAN: U.S. and Chinese negotiators continue to work through the differences between our nations’ trade policies. Even though it has been difficult at times, and the tariffs have created hardships for many people in both nations, I’m sure we’ll be able to reach a compromise that would be beneficial to the interests of both the U.S. and China.
RAMESH: That is not the trade war I was talking about.
HARMAN: Oh. Ok. Well, the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement has been successfully negotiated. It, of course, still needs to be ratified by the legislative bodies of each country. The U.S. hopes that part of the process can be completed soon.
RAMESH: That is not the trade war I was talking about.
HARMAN: No?
RAMESH: No.
HARMAN: Then what are you talking about?
RAMESH: Oslea today declared a trade war against the Aneolwah Islands.
HARMAN: They did?
RAMESH: They did.
HARMAN: What about?
RAMESH: Marshmallow pies.
HARMAN: What?
RAMESH: Especially the butterscotch.
HARMAN: Geez.
END OF TRANSCRIPT
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