Barack Obama
- Realistic Portrait -
- Realistic Portrait -
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This is a total digital painting.
Please enlarge for better quality.
It took me 39 hours of work.
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Please enlarge for better quality.
It took me 39 hours of work.
.
Showing posts with label Barack Obama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Barack Obama. Show all posts
Save Our Planet
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To spur biofuels research and commercialization, President Barack Obama signed last Tuesday a Presidential Directive establishing a Biofuels Interagency Working Group. He announced his administration's notice of a proposed rulemaking on a national Renewable Fuels Standard and announced $786.5 million in additional Recovery Act funds for renewable fuel projects.
"We must invest in a clean energy economy that will lead to new jobs, new businesses and reduce our dependence on foreign oil," said President Obama. "The steps I am announcing today help bring us closer to that goal. If we are to be a leader in the 21st century global economy, then we must lead the world in clean energy technology. Through American ingenuity and determination, we can and will succeed."
The Biofuels Interagency Working Group will be co-chaired by the secretaries of agriculture and energy and the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and will operate in cooperation with the National Science and Technology Council's Biomass Research and Development Board.
The Working Group is tasked with developing the nation's first comprehensive biofuel market development program. It will use existing authorities and identify new policies to support the development of next-generation biofuels, increase flexible fuel vehicle use, and assist in retail marketing efforts.
>>> Read the full article
.
"We must invest in a clean energy economy that will lead to new jobs, new businesses and reduce our dependence on foreign oil," said President Obama. "The steps I am announcing today help bring us closer to that goal. If we are to be a leader in the 21st century global economy, then we must lead the world in clean energy technology. Through American ingenuity and determination, we can and will succeed."
The Biofuels Interagency Working Group will be co-chaired by the secretaries of agriculture and energy and the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and will operate in cooperation with the National Science and Technology Council's Biomass Research and Development Board.
The Working Group is tasked with developing the nation's first comprehensive biofuel market development program. It will use existing authorities and identify new policies to support the development of next-generation biofuels, increase flexible fuel vehicle use, and assist in retail marketing efforts.
>>> Read the full article
.
Publication in
"La Libre Belgique"
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.Today’s publication in La Libre Belgique
(National Belgian newspaper), page 15.
It intends to announce the new size
and new focuses of the newspaper.
(National Belgian newspaper), page 15.
It intends to announce the new size
and new focuses of the newspaper.
.
Original illustration with
colours below. Click to enlarge.
colours below. Click to enlarge.
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.
H1N1 Swine Flu: Barack Obama
and the First Deadly Mistake
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© 2009 - Ben Heine (after Shepard Fairey)
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and the First Deadly Mistake
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© 2009 - Ben Heine (after Shepard Fairey)
.
Influenza A virus subtype H1N1, also known as A/H1N1, is a subtype of influenza virus A and the most common cause of influenza (flu) in humans. Some strains of H1N1 are endemic in humans, including the strain(s) responsible for the 1918 flu pandemic which killed 50–100 million people worldwide. Less virulent H1N1 strains still exist in the wild today, worldwide, causing a small fraction of all influenza-like illness and a large fraction of all seasonal influenza. H1N1 strains caused roughly half of all flu infections in 2006. Other strains of H1N1 are endemic in pigs and in birds.
In March and April 2009, hundreds of laboratory-confirmed infections and a number of deaths were caused by an outbreak of a new strain of H1N1.
The H1N1 swine flu hits the US, and for the first time President Barack Obama seems to make a deadly mistake: A disease spread simulation has emphasized that flu interventions must be imposed quickly, if they are to be effective. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Public Health have shown that staying at home, closing schools and isolating infected people within the home should reduce infection, but only if they are used in combination, activated without delay and maintained for a relatively long period. The President should have acted by enforcing social separation - but economic items seem to be more important.
What all the President's men should have known: Professor George Milne and his colleagues from the University of Western Australia (UWA) simulated the effect of social distancing on the spread of a flu virus within a small town. Their research used a detailed, individual-based model of a real community with a population of approximately 30,000 (Albany, Australia) using simulation software engineered by UWA’s Dr Joel Kelso. Milne said, “Our results suggest a critical role of combined social distancing measures in the potential control of a future pandemic. Non-pharmaceutical social distancing interventions are capable of preventing less-infectious influenza epidemics and of significantly reducing the rate of development and overall burden of the worst epidemics”.
>>> Read the full article
.
.
The H1N1 swine flu hits the US, and for the first time President Barack Obama seems to make a deadly mistake: A disease spread simulation has emphasized that flu interventions must be imposed quickly, if they are to be effective. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Public Health have shown that staying at home, closing schools and isolating infected people within the home should reduce infection, but only if they are used in combination, activated without delay and maintained for a relatively long period. The President should have acted by enforcing social separation - but economic items seem to be more important.
What all the President's men should have known: Professor George Milne and his colleagues from the University of Western Australia (UWA) simulated the effect of social distancing on the spread of a flu virus within a small town. Their research used a detailed, individual-based model of a real community with a population of approximately 30,000 (Albany, Australia) using simulation software engineered by UWA’s Dr Joel Kelso. Milne said, “Our results suggest a critical role of combined social distancing measures in the potential control of a future pandemic. Non-pharmaceutical social distancing interventions are capable of preventing less-infectious influenza epidemics and of significantly reducing the rate of development and overall burden of the worst epidemics”.
>>> Read the full article
.
Interview with Ben Heine
for 'The New American Dream'
.
Mike Palecek: Where do you think your passion came from? What are your personal experiences of oppression, militarism, imperialism?
Ben Heine: My passion started a long time ago when I was a little boy. I didn’t live in an oppressed country, I read about it in books and news articles. And I do my best to denounce all kinds of social injustices, crimes against humanity, human rights infringements, racism and oppression with my pencils and brushes.
M P: How long have you been making a living as an artist? You don't have a day job, do you? Did you use to?
Ben Heine: Are you joking? Do you really think I make a living as a political artist? Ha ha, no, I don’t. I do have a full time day job. I teach French, English and History in a Belgian high school. This is very challenging and time consuming. A few months ago, I was working in a communication agency. I didn’t really like it. I think we, artists, must accept making jobs that have nothing related to our passion. That’s stupid, I know, but that’s what society obliges us to do. A good friend of mine and a very talented Spanish artist, Juan Kalvellido, used to work many years at Burger King and make his revolutionary political creations beside!
Mike Palecek: Would you like to choose one of these to answer, elaborate on? I don't ask this to make fun. I ask because I really seek the answers.
Are UFOs real? - Did we land on the moon in 1968? - Did Bush knock down the towers? - Was Paul Wellstone's death an accident? - The Oklahoma City bombing? Wasn't that just another U.S. government terrorist exercise? Or not. - Waco. We burned kids, right? You can see flames shooting out of the tanks. Or not. - Is Bigfoot real? - Is there a God? ... What makes you think that?
Ben Heine: Ok, I go for "Is there a God?". Yes, I think so. God is to be found in as many entities as there are human beings. This is just a personal opinion. (Mike, I’m not a crazy philosopher, you are. ☺)
Mike Palecek: Let me see, how do I want to put this... Do Europeans give a shit about America? Do we really affect your lives? How about our wars, our government? Our movies, entertainers? Or, do you have your own culture, exclusive of us. I have never been to Europe, you understand.
Ben Heine: Very good question you ask here. Yes, in my opinion, all European countries and people are very concerned about America’s decisions. Many European countries are involved in the same wars (sad to say, but for instance, the Belgian government sent some troops in Afghanistan too…) Many Americans used to be Europeans in the past. American culture affects us in a strong way too. We have all your big Hollywood movies in our cinemas. I’m not sure that this is positive because this is somehow a “brain colonization”. And we actually don’t have much choice. And yes, we have our own culture. We have our own movies too, ha ha! Each country in Europe has rich traditions. Belgium is in the middle of Europe. From Brussels, I can travel to Amsterdam, Paris, London or Berlin in just a few hours. We all have different languages. Although we all have different customs and standards of living, we still feel Europeans.
Mike Palecek: Do you have hope in Obama? Why? Why not? Do you spend time thinking about Obama? Bush?
Ben Heine: Yes, I have many hopes. Barack Obama has won the presidential elections and I believe an important change is happening in America. There is a new positive hope for Americans and for the citizens of other foreign nations. I foresee a better future for America hence for the world. There are a lot of expectations. And Obama might disappoint us in many ways. But he will act differently than his predecessors and if he follows only 50% of his promises this will have positive consequences. This election changed in many ways my views about America. America is able to renew itself as no other country can do.
Mike Palecek: Does your favorite coffee cup have words on it? What are they? What did you absolutely have to get done by noon today?
Ben Heine: My favourite coffee cup has a big heart on it. I’m a lover and I drink litters of coffee everyday. I must prepare the lessons I’ll give to my students tomorrow and answer to a bunch of emails.
Mike Palecek: What else would you like to add? What else should I have asked?
Ben Heine: I would like to put here some questions that were recently asked to me by Joe Szabo (Joe Szabo is an American cartoonist, author, editor, public speaker and founder of WittyWorld International Cartoon Magazine. He is currently making a worldwide survey for his upcoming book on “The Image of America”.
-----------
Joe Szabo: If you could think of one word that could describe the United States best, what would that be?
Ben Heine: The US, as everybody knows, is a multicultural country. It is the fruit of the old European colonization. The practice of intense slavery gave the US African people. Now, people from all around the world (especially from South American coutries)are coming to live in the US, because they consider it as an "El Dorado". The US is a mix of nationalities, of origins and roots, that's, according to me, an explanation of it's cultural wealth, but also of the growing xenophobia, and the fear of the foreigner…
Joe Szabo: In its relation to other countries, do you see the U.S. as a partner, leader, or dictator?
Ben Heine: The US is definitely a worldwide leader. It is a strong democracy, thus not a dictatorship. Since the "Monroe Statement", the US has decided to lead and not to be lead. The US is a partner for some countries (mostly European) but also has many enemies (mostly in the Middle East and in South America).
Joe Szabo: Many countries took the model for their own constitution, legislative system as well as economic and cultural development from the United States. Do you see this as an equalizer, a threat to national and cultural independence or do you view this as a common sense, forward-propelling factor for the rest of the world hoping to catch up?
Ben Heine: I see this as "a common sense, forward-propelling factor for the rest of the world hoping to catch up." I am from Belgium. Belgium got its independence from the bigger nations surrounding it (Germany, France, Nederland...) in 1831. It got its own Constitution, which was inspired from the US Constitution. We can criticize the use of this Constitution by the Bush administration, but I think that the US Constitution in itself is a true and beautiful example of real democracy.
Joe Szabo: Is there still such a thing as "the American dream?" And if so what is it for you?
Ben Heine: The American dream is the search of material possessions as a way of finding happyness. The American dream is different for each American, though I think it's always related to material wealth and financial success. The famous "American dream" has evolved throughout American history. It has become a symbol and an ideal.
The American dream is different nowadays and is more related to egoism, making money and pure consumerism. I find it a bad choice. In some ways and for some people, it has become the "American nightmare".
Mike Palecek (an American writer living in Iowa for whom I made several illustrations in his recent book "Iowa Terror") has just launched a new website called "The New American Dream" where he gives a new definition of it, affirming that one of the obstacles Americans need to overcome is the lack of curiosity about the rest of the world... I can't agree more with him.
Joe Szabo: Why do people hate America?
Ben Heine: May be because of it's arrogance though its a young democratic State in mankind history, because of it's violent way of solving conflicts abroad (Iraq, Afghanistan...), because many Americans just ignore what's happenning outside the borders of their country, because big US multinationals (Coca Cola, Nike, Mc Donalds...)invade and destroy the economy of several other nations.
In the Middle East, many Arab countries hate America because it backs Israel by giving money to the Israeli government and weapons to Tsahal (the Israeli army).
Europeans usually criticize specifically the Bush administration (not the US in general). They usually dislike Bush because they believe he is stupid and doesn't understand the consequences of his acts.
But the US and European countries still have a lot in common (same judeo-christian roots, similar culture, same way of living, similar political systems...)
I think the question is wrong. It shouldn't be "Why people...", but "Why some people...". Americans are sometimes "paranoiac" and believe all the world hates them, which is of course wrong. People know North America is able to change fast.
Joe Szabo: About 59 million immigrants, including 11 million illegal aliens, live in the U.S. today. Why do so many people - some even risking their lives - keep migrating to the U.S.?
Ben Heine: As I said in a previous answer, I think the main reason to that is the "El Dorado" ideal. We have roughly the same situation in Europe (many Africans try to migrate to European industrialized countries, most of them die on their way. It's a terrible situation.)
The immigrants (Mexicans...) coming in the US dream to earn more money, to have a great job, to live in a nice house, and to enjoy social/financial help. Some immigrants also seek asylum and consider the US as a better democracy, they are political refugees.
This is a totally wrong conception. What they get instead is social exclusion, ghettos... America is considered as the richest and most powerful, technologically advanced country but many Americans do not earn a lot and live as "poor people". All the world saw the growing poverty some American citizens after the Katrina disaster last summer.
Joe Szabo: Tell a story you heard about or experienced in the United States and of which you could say it can happen "only in America."
Ben Heine: Well, a few years ago I visited all the Western coast of the US (and only Washington in the East). The landscapes, towns (Canyons, Yosemite village, salt desert, amazing hotels in Las Vegas, business in Holywood, Indians in Arizona...) hotels, food and people were great. I can't quote all the great things I saw.
But I was struck by the Indian tribes reserves in Arizona. This was quite shocking. Most of the Indians have no social help and live in total poverty. They become depressed and alcoholic and they die very young. They are treated like animals in a zoo by the "modern Americans" (because the Indians only shoud be called "Americans", as it's their land originally...). That can only happen in America. I liked a lot visiting the US, but I was deeply shocked by this.
I was also amazed by the "big dimension" of everything. Las Vegas is a particularly good example: Huge hotels with so many casinos... In one of the hotels, there is even a reconstitution of Paris! Along the streets, there are lakes with shows and spectacles to attract the tourists and visitors in the casinos... All the advertising lights, the smart limousines, the famous people. Actually Las Vegas is an artificial town in the middle of the desert! This was beautiful to see. That can only happen in North America.
Joe Szabo: Why did 9/11 (the terror attack against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon) happen?
Ben Heine: That's very complicated. The September 11 attacks were a tragic event in American history. It was also tragic for the world. The so called "War on terrorism" launched by the Bush administration generated more dramatic tensions between leading countries. Instead of appeasing the world, it increased terrorist attacks worldwide. I think it happened because Al-Qaeda wanted to show the world that American supremacist behaviour had come to an end. America was vulnerable as any other country. I believe it was also a revenge by the attackers and all their supporters against American imperialism.
Joe Szabo: How would you describe the American culture?
Ben Heine: I would say the American culture is rich and fertile. The only problem is that it’s too “self-centered”
Joe Szabo: What is America's greatest shortcoming?
Ben Heine: It's too "self-centered", blind to all the disasters that are happening outside its borders...
Joe Szabo: How is America different from your country?
Ben Heine: My country is really tiny :) The USA is huge. We, as Belgians do not really consider that being Belgian is a “top quality” in itself. At least that's my belief. I consider myself more as a “citizen of the world” or a “European”. I was born and lived 7 years in another country (Ivory Coast, Africa). So I might be somehow an "exception". I have the feeling that some Americans are so proud of their nationality that they don’t pay attention to what’s happening “outside”. This is an important difference.
Joe Szabo: Would the world be a better or worse place without America? Why?
Ben Heine: I don't know. What I know is that any other huge nation could make the same mistakes.
Joe Szabo: Describe your feelings, and emotion when you see an American flag.
Ben Heine: I see a lot of colored and complex symbols…
Now the fact that it is so frequently displayed in public and private places (more I think than in other European nations) proves a certain fear of the American people to lose what they have had with great difficulty: independence, unity, freedom, democracy and power.
Although American people do certainly not interpret it this way, I think many foreign observers see this as a hostile and arrogant demonstration of authority, control, supremacy…
A flag should have a rational meaning, but the American flag brings a lot, may be too much emotion, pride and passion.
Joe Szabo: In your view what are the main goals of U.S. foreign policy?
Ben Heine: I think the main goal of the U.S. foreign policy is to preserve national interests. This is rather logical. But I’m convinced that this shouldn’t be the purpose of a leading nation worldwide. A good leader normally helps as much as they can the weakest the poorest and the oppressed ones and do not fight only for their own interests. A good leader promotes Peace and defends democracy and justice in its land but also in other lands. But it’s always easier to play with people’s fear.
Joe Szabo: How do you see the foreseeable future of America?
Ben Heine: Barack Obama has won the presidential elections and an important change is happening in America. There is a new positive hope for Americans and for the citizens of other foreign nations. I foresee something good for America.
Joe Szabo: What are America's greatest contributions to the world? You may give more examples starting with the most important.
Ben Heine: There have been many contributions. Here are a few ones that I have in mind:
1) The progress and spreading of new technologies and applied sciences.
2) The proof that a country can have citizens of all origins, of all races, of all colours living in an apparent peaceful harmony.
3) The demonstration of the importance and effectiveness of the Constitutional democracy and the safe development of universal suffrage.
4) Freedom of the will for the individual.
5) Universal access to education and information
But all these positive contributions have been achieved with tremendous difficulties and after centuries. And I could evoke a negative aspect for each one of them. 1) weapons’ business, 2) Xenophobia, racism, 3) 8 years of almost “dictatorship” under the Bush administration…
.Ben Heine: My passion started a long time ago when I was a little boy. I didn’t live in an oppressed country, I read about it in books and news articles. And I do my best to denounce all kinds of social injustices, crimes against humanity, human rights infringements, racism and oppression with my pencils and brushes.
M P: How long have you been making a living as an artist? You don't have a day job, do you? Did you use to?
Ben Heine: Are you joking? Do you really think I make a living as a political artist? Ha ha, no, I don’t. I do have a full time day job. I teach French, English and History in a Belgian high school. This is very challenging and time consuming. A few months ago, I was working in a communication agency. I didn’t really like it. I think we, artists, must accept making jobs that have nothing related to our passion. That’s stupid, I know, but that’s what society obliges us to do. A good friend of mine and a very talented Spanish artist, Juan Kalvellido, used to work many years at Burger King and make his revolutionary political creations beside!
Mike Palecek: Would you like to choose one of these to answer, elaborate on? I don't ask this to make fun. I ask because I really seek the answers.
Are UFOs real? - Did we land on the moon in 1968? - Did Bush knock down the towers? - Was Paul Wellstone's death an accident? - The Oklahoma City bombing? Wasn't that just another U.S. government terrorist exercise? Or not. - Waco. We burned kids, right? You can see flames shooting out of the tanks. Or not. - Is Bigfoot real? - Is there a God? ... What makes you think that?
Ben Heine: Ok, I go for "Is there a God?". Yes, I think so. God is to be found in as many entities as there are human beings. This is just a personal opinion. (Mike, I’m not a crazy philosopher, you are. ☺)
Mike Palecek: Let me see, how do I want to put this... Do Europeans give a shit about America? Do we really affect your lives? How about our wars, our government? Our movies, entertainers? Or, do you have your own culture, exclusive of us. I have never been to Europe, you understand.
Ben Heine: Very good question you ask here. Yes, in my opinion, all European countries and people are very concerned about America’s decisions. Many European countries are involved in the same wars (sad to say, but for instance, the Belgian government sent some troops in Afghanistan too…) Many Americans used to be Europeans in the past. American culture affects us in a strong way too. We have all your big Hollywood movies in our cinemas. I’m not sure that this is positive because this is somehow a “brain colonization”. And we actually don’t have much choice. And yes, we have our own culture. We have our own movies too, ha ha! Each country in Europe has rich traditions. Belgium is in the middle of Europe. From Brussels, I can travel to Amsterdam, Paris, London or Berlin in just a few hours. We all have different languages. Although we all have different customs and standards of living, we still feel Europeans.
Mike Palecek: Do you have hope in Obama? Why? Why not? Do you spend time thinking about Obama? Bush?
Ben Heine: Yes, I have many hopes. Barack Obama has won the presidential elections and I believe an important change is happening in America. There is a new positive hope for Americans and for the citizens of other foreign nations. I foresee a better future for America hence for the world. There are a lot of expectations. And Obama might disappoint us in many ways. But he will act differently than his predecessors and if he follows only 50% of his promises this will have positive consequences. This election changed in many ways my views about America. America is able to renew itself as no other country can do.
Mike Palecek: Does your favorite coffee cup have words on it? What are they? What did you absolutely have to get done by noon today?
Ben Heine: My favourite coffee cup has a big heart on it. I’m a lover and I drink litters of coffee everyday. I must prepare the lessons I’ll give to my students tomorrow and answer to a bunch of emails.
Mike Palecek: What else would you like to add? What else should I have asked?
Ben Heine: I would like to put here some questions that were recently asked to me by Joe Szabo (Joe Szabo is an American cartoonist, author, editor, public speaker and founder of WittyWorld International Cartoon Magazine. He is currently making a worldwide survey for his upcoming book on “The Image of America”.
-----------
Joe Szabo: If you could think of one word that could describe the United States best, what would that be?
Ben Heine: The US, as everybody knows, is a multicultural country. It is the fruit of the old European colonization. The practice of intense slavery gave the US African people. Now, people from all around the world (especially from South American coutries)are coming to live in the US, because they consider it as an "El Dorado". The US is a mix of nationalities, of origins and roots, that's, according to me, an explanation of it's cultural wealth, but also of the growing xenophobia, and the fear of the foreigner…
Joe Szabo: In its relation to other countries, do you see the U.S. as a partner, leader, or dictator?
Ben Heine: The US is definitely a worldwide leader. It is a strong democracy, thus not a dictatorship. Since the "Monroe Statement", the US has decided to lead and not to be lead. The US is a partner for some countries (mostly European) but also has many enemies (mostly in the Middle East and in South America).
Joe Szabo: Many countries took the model for their own constitution, legislative system as well as economic and cultural development from the United States. Do you see this as an equalizer, a threat to national and cultural independence or do you view this as a common sense, forward-propelling factor for the rest of the world hoping to catch up?
Ben Heine: I see this as "a common sense, forward-propelling factor for the rest of the world hoping to catch up." I am from Belgium. Belgium got its independence from the bigger nations surrounding it (Germany, France, Nederland...) in 1831. It got its own Constitution, which was inspired from the US Constitution. We can criticize the use of this Constitution by the Bush administration, but I think that the US Constitution in itself is a true and beautiful example of real democracy.
Joe Szabo: Is there still such a thing as "the American dream?" And if so what is it for you?
Ben Heine: The American dream is the search of material possessions as a way of finding happyness. The American dream is different for each American, though I think it's always related to material wealth and financial success. The famous "American dream" has evolved throughout American history. It has become a symbol and an ideal.
The American dream is different nowadays and is more related to egoism, making money and pure consumerism. I find it a bad choice. In some ways and for some people, it has become the "American nightmare".
Mike Palecek (an American writer living in Iowa for whom I made several illustrations in his recent book "Iowa Terror") has just launched a new website called "The New American Dream" where he gives a new definition of it, affirming that one of the obstacles Americans need to overcome is the lack of curiosity about the rest of the world... I can't agree more with him.
Joe Szabo: Why do people hate America?
Ben Heine: May be because of it's arrogance though its a young democratic State in mankind history, because of it's violent way of solving conflicts abroad (Iraq, Afghanistan...), because many Americans just ignore what's happenning outside the borders of their country, because big US multinationals (Coca Cola, Nike, Mc Donalds...)invade and destroy the economy of several other nations.
In the Middle East, many Arab countries hate America because it backs Israel by giving money to the Israeli government and weapons to Tsahal (the Israeli army).
Europeans usually criticize specifically the Bush administration (not the US in general). They usually dislike Bush because they believe he is stupid and doesn't understand the consequences of his acts.
But the US and European countries still have a lot in common (same judeo-christian roots, similar culture, same way of living, similar political systems...)
I think the question is wrong. It shouldn't be "Why people...", but "Why some people...". Americans are sometimes "paranoiac" and believe all the world hates them, which is of course wrong. People know North America is able to change fast.
Joe Szabo: About 59 million immigrants, including 11 million illegal aliens, live in the U.S. today. Why do so many people - some even risking their lives - keep migrating to the U.S.?
Ben Heine: As I said in a previous answer, I think the main reason to that is the "El Dorado" ideal. We have roughly the same situation in Europe (many Africans try to migrate to European industrialized countries, most of them die on their way. It's a terrible situation.)
The immigrants (Mexicans...) coming in the US dream to earn more money, to have a great job, to live in a nice house, and to enjoy social/financial help. Some immigrants also seek asylum and consider the US as a better democracy, they are political refugees.
This is a totally wrong conception. What they get instead is social exclusion, ghettos... America is considered as the richest and most powerful, technologically advanced country but many Americans do not earn a lot and live as "poor people". All the world saw the growing poverty some American citizens after the Katrina disaster last summer.
Joe Szabo: Tell a story you heard about or experienced in the United States and of which you could say it can happen "only in America."
Ben Heine: Well, a few years ago I visited all the Western coast of the US (and only Washington in the East). The landscapes, towns (Canyons, Yosemite village, salt desert, amazing hotels in Las Vegas, business in Holywood, Indians in Arizona...) hotels, food and people were great. I can't quote all the great things I saw.
But I was struck by the Indian tribes reserves in Arizona. This was quite shocking. Most of the Indians have no social help and live in total poverty. They become depressed and alcoholic and they die very young. They are treated like animals in a zoo by the "modern Americans" (because the Indians only shoud be called "Americans", as it's their land originally...). That can only happen in America. I liked a lot visiting the US, but I was deeply shocked by this.
I was also amazed by the "big dimension" of everything. Las Vegas is a particularly good example: Huge hotels with so many casinos... In one of the hotels, there is even a reconstitution of Paris! Along the streets, there are lakes with shows and spectacles to attract the tourists and visitors in the casinos... All the advertising lights, the smart limousines, the famous people. Actually Las Vegas is an artificial town in the middle of the desert! This was beautiful to see. That can only happen in North America.
Joe Szabo: Why did 9/11 (the terror attack against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon) happen?
Ben Heine: That's very complicated. The September 11 attacks were a tragic event in American history. It was also tragic for the world. The so called "War on terrorism" launched by the Bush administration generated more dramatic tensions between leading countries. Instead of appeasing the world, it increased terrorist attacks worldwide. I think it happened because Al-Qaeda wanted to show the world that American supremacist behaviour had come to an end. America was vulnerable as any other country. I believe it was also a revenge by the attackers and all their supporters against American imperialism.
Joe Szabo: How would you describe the American culture?
Ben Heine: I would say the American culture is rich and fertile. The only problem is that it’s too “self-centered”
Joe Szabo: What is America's greatest shortcoming?
Ben Heine: It's too "self-centered", blind to all the disasters that are happening outside its borders...
Joe Szabo: How is America different from your country?
Ben Heine: My country is really tiny :) The USA is huge. We, as Belgians do not really consider that being Belgian is a “top quality” in itself. At least that's my belief. I consider myself more as a “citizen of the world” or a “European”. I was born and lived 7 years in another country (Ivory Coast, Africa). So I might be somehow an "exception". I have the feeling that some Americans are so proud of their nationality that they don’t pay attention to what’s happening “outside”. This is an important difference.
Joe Szabo: Would the world be a better or worse place without America? Why?
Ben Heine: I don't know. What I know is that any other huge nation could make the same mistakes.
Joe Szabo: Describe your feelings, and emotion when you see an American flag.
Ben Heine: I see a lot of colored and complex symbols…
Now the fact that it is so frequently displayed in public and private places (more I think than in other European nations) proves a certain fear of the American people to lose what they have had with great difficulty: independence, unity, freedom, democracy and power.
Although American people do certainly not interpret it this way, I think many foreign observers see this as a hostile and arrogant demonstration of authority, control, supremacy…
A flag should have a rational meaning, but the American flag brings a lot, may be too much emotion, pride and passion.
Joe Szabo: In your view what are the main goals of U.S. foreign policy?
Ben Heine: I think the main goal of the U.S. foreign policy is to preserve national interests. This is rather logical. But I’m convinced that this shouldn’t be the purpose of a leading nation worldwide. A good leader normally helps as much as they can the weakest the poorest and the oppressed ones and do not fight only for their own interests. A good leader promotes Peace and defends democracy and justice in its land but also in other lands. But it’s always easier to play with people’s fear.
Joe Szabo: How do you see the foreseeable future of America?
Ben Heine: Barack Obama has won the presidential elections and an important change is happening in America. There is a new positive hope for Americans and for the citizens of other foreign nations. I foresee something good for America.
Joe Szabo: What are America's greatest contributions to the world? You may give more examples starting with the most important.
Ben Heine: There have been many contributions. Here are a few ones that I have in mind:
1) The progress and spreading of new technologies and applied sciences.
2) The proof that a country can have citizens of all origins, of all races, of all colours living in an apparent peaceful harmony.
3) The demonstration of the importance and effectiveness of the Constitutional democracy and the safe development of universal suffrage.
4) Freedom of the will for the individual.
5) Universal access to education and information
But all these positive contributions have been achieved with tremendous difficulties and after centuries. And I could evoke a negative aspect for each one of them. 1) weapons’ business, 2) Xenophobia, racism, 3) 8 years of almost “dictatorship” under the Bush administration…
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Nuclear Threat
.
Nuclear Proliferation 101,
Courtesy of Pyongyang
Courtesy of Pyongyang
.
By John Metzler (*)
.
UNITED NATIONS — The political choreography was perfect — an American president visiting majestic Prague and setting out an ambitious plan for nuclear non-proliferation. An East Asian dictator, defying world opinion, firing off a ballistic missile just hours earlier. And the UN Security Council, gathering in urgent session, discussing, but not quite condemning, the rogue state with even a slap on the wrist.
President Barack Obama’s speech at the storybook Prague Castle aimed high in soaring rhetoric but was punctured by the announcement that half a world away from the medieval spires of Prague, a North Korean dictator had, as planned, tested a long range missile. Flying over Japan, the Taepodong-2 rocket capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, was fortunately a dud, falling short of expectations but still raising the specter that the enigmatic Kim Jong-il will try again and thus continue to hold East Asia hostage to his nuclear saber rattling.
While President Obama painted the grand if Pollyannaish picture of a world without nuclear weapons, he was acutely aware of the growing risk from rogue states and black market atomic bomb technology being a clear and present danger. The U.S. while reducing nuclear arms in parallel with such states as Russia, remains committed to counter the risk from terrorist groups such as Al Qaida to who are “determined to buy, build, or steal a bomb.”
Yet given the Obama Administration’s planned military cutbacks in anti-missile defense research and development, such hopeful dreams are directly challenged by a nightmare of North Korea’s nuclear reality. Precisely the sort of nuclear threats by North Korea, Islamic Iran or someday perhaps Pakistan threaten America, as well as Japan and the European Union. Thus in this setting, the speech could be viewed as Kafkaesque.
Indeed Pyongyang’s challenge has less to do with North Korea’s current capability but with the intent and aspiration; and its inspiration to radical regimes elsewhere.
North Korea already has nuclear weapons, and the regime is working on the rocket technology to deliver them. Japan is seriously threatened by this and thus has taken particularly strong diplomatic moves in the UN Security Council to slap sanctions on Pyongyang regime.
In 2006 responding to Pyongyang’s rocket firings and nuclear tests, the UN Security Council passed two binding resolutions #1695 and #1718 which forbade North Korean “not conduct any further nuclear tests or launch of a ballistic missile.”
Despite the robust rhetoric from the Obama Administration both before and after the missile test, “Rules must be binding. Violations must be punished…the world must stand together to prevent the spread of these weapons. Now is the time for a strong international response,” the response remains tepid.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton later scolded that North Korea’s test had “It’s a provocative act that has grave implications.” She advised a forceful UN response.
But back at Turtle Bay in New York, both the People’s Republic of China and Russia played interference and blocked the Security Council discussions from going further offering the sonorous advice that the missile only put a satellite into orbit, let’s not overreact, and in the words of Beijing’s delegate take a “Cautious and proportionate” response. Eventually the Council may make a pro-forma declaration
Still the multilateral Six Party talks in which both South and North Korea are joined by China, Japan, Russia and the USA in discussing a nuclear free North Korea probably remain the best diplomatic path ahead, though Pyongyang will use the test as leverage in the stalled negotiations.
Pyongyang’s missile plan to launch a satellite (portrayed as a glorious scientific victory in communist media) has more to do with internal regime mobilization as it does with bullying East Asia.
In the bizarre political hagiography of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea the missile test is clear and logical; it offers a political benediction to the regime, the Kim Cult, and the military. Kim Jong-il has just been “re-elected” by proclamation in the Supreme Peoples Assembly in Pyongyang as dictator. This period constitutes the celebratory Loyalty Festival, between Dear Leader’s Jong-Ils birthday in February and that of the deceased Great Leader Kim Il-Sung on 15 April. The moribund Marxist state needs rallying points, through both domestic mobilization and international brinksmanship. Rebuffing Japan and the U.S. is grist for Pyongyang’s propaganda mill.
It’s crucial that the USA, South Korea and Japan stand firm against North Korea’s latest provocation. It’s ironic that President Obama’s speech was made in Prague, after all the capital of the Czech Republic, a country whose name has been synonymous with the tragic legacy of appeasement. History must not be allowed to repeat itself, this time in the Far East.
(*) John J. Metzler is a U.N. correspondent covering diplomatic and defense issues. He writes weekly for WorldTribune.com.
President Barack Obama’s speech at the storybook Prague Castle aimed high in soaring rhetoric but was punctured by the announcement that half a world away from the medieval spires of Prague, a North Korean dictator had, as planned, tested a long range missile. Flying over Japan, the Taepodong-2 rocket capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, was fortunately a dud, falling short of expectations but still raising the specter that the enigmatic Kim Jong-il will try again and thus continue to hold East Asia hostage to his nuclear saber rattling.
While President Obama painted the grand if Pollyannaish picture of a world without nuclear weapons, he was acutely aware of the growing risk from rogue states and black market atomic bomb technology being a clear and present danger. The U.S. while reducing nuclear arms in parallel with such states as Russia, remains committed to counter the risk from terrorist groups such as Al Qaida to who are “determined to buy, build, or steal a bomb.”
Yet given the Obama Administration’s planned military cutbacks in anti-missile defense research and development, such hopeful dreams are directly challenged by a nightmare of North Korea’s nuclear reality. Precisely the sort of nuclear threats by North Korea, Islamic Iran or someday perhaps Pakistan threaten America, as well as Japan and the European Union. Thus in this setting, the speech could be viewed as Kafkaesque.
Indeed Pyongyang’s challenge has less to do with North Korea’s current capability but with the intent and aspiration; and its inspiration to radical regimes elsewhere.
North Korea already has nuclear weapons, and the regime is working on the rocket technology to deliver them. Japan is seriously threatened by this and thus has taken particularly strong diplomatic moves in the UN Security Council to slap sanctions on Pyongyang regime.
In 2006 responding to Pyongyang’s rocket firings and nuclear tests, the UN Security Council passed two binding resolutions #1695 and #1718 which forbade North Korean “not conduct any further nuclear tests or launch of a ballistic missile.”
Despite the robust rhetoric from the Obama Administration both before and after the missile test, “Rules must be binding. Violations must be punished…the world must stand together to prevent the spread of these weapons. Now is the time for a strong international response,” the response remains tepid.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton later scolded that North Korea’s test had “It’s a provocative act that has grave implications.” She advised a forceful UN response.
But back at Turtle Bay in New York, both the People’s Republic of China and Russia played interference and blocked the Security Council discussions from going further offering the sonorous advice that the missile only put a satellite into orbit, let’s not overreact, and in the words of Beijing’s delegate take a “Cautious and proportionate” response. Eventually the Council may make a pro-forma declaration
Still the multilateral Six Party talks in which both South and North Korea are joined by China, Japan, Russia and the USA in discussing a nuclear free North Korea probably remain the best diplomatic path ahead, though Pyongyang will use the test as leverage in the stalled negotiations.
Pyongyang’s missile plan to launch a satellite (portrayed as a glorious scientific victory in communist media) has more to do with internal regime mobilization as it does with bullying East Asia.
In the bizarre political hagiography of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea the missile test is clear and logical; it offers a political benediction to the regime, the Kim Cult, and the military. Kim Jong-il has just been “re-elected” by proclamation in the Supreme Peoples Assembly in Pyongyang as dictator. This period constitutes the celebratory Loyalty Festival, between Dear Leader’s Jong-Ils birthday in February and that of the deceased Great Leader Kim Il-Sung on 15 April. The moribund Marxist state needs rallying points, through both domestic mobilization and international brinksmanship. Rebuffing Japan and the U.S. is grist for Pyongyang’s propaganda mill.
It’s crucial that the USA, South Korea and Japan stand firm against North Korea’s latest provocation. It’s ironic that President Obama’s speech was made in Prague, after all the capital of the Czech Republic, a country whose name has been synonymous with the tragic legacy of appeasement. History must not be allowed to repeat itself, this time in the Far East.
(*) John J. Metzler is a U.N. correspondent covering diplomatic and defense issues. He writes weekly for WorldTribune.com.
-----------
--> This article appeared on worldtribune.com
.
I m a g i n e
By John Lennon
Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one
.
(The colours of this image
are based on the Rainbow Flag)
.
By John Lennon
Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one
.
(The colours of this image
are based on the Rainbow Flag)
.
)
.
I wanted to share with you these 2 sensational poems by my dear associates and friends Mark Prime and Peter S. Quinn.
FYI, I'll post brand new portraits of Barack Obama in the coming days.
Good luck to the new US President!
.FYI, I'll post brand new portraits of Barack Obama in the coming days.
Good luck to the new US President!
Finally
By Peter S. Quinn
Finally we are equal
That is the place to be
Finally we are equal
Yes finally we are free
There are dreams in our heart
From this moment to start
With so much to give
In rejoice and to live
Every walk in the past
Is now in for its trust
We were flowers and seed
That in past did bleed
But now is our hope
To hold on to that strong rope
Finally we are equal
That is the place to be
Finally we are equal
Yes finally we are free
There is so much to do
Bring it forward and through
With the feelings inside
That will be our guide
What we want to bring
And about much to sing
So we prosper to live
And from ourselves give
There were moments of strife
In our thoughts and life
But now the new shall arrive
Where all our hope will thrive
Finally we are equal
That is the place to be
Finally we are equal
Yes finally we are free
Give from everything like this
Don’t just make moment’s bliss
But the true reality to go
What we share and what we know
Let’s build responsibility
In its greatest durability
And the rise of new day to come
Where every prosper is from
There is hope in this all
Never let it again fall
Make the final takes a go
Come now start freedom show!
Finally we are equal
That is the place to be
Finally we are equal
Yes finally we are free
Ask not what the country
Can do for you
But be its strong support
That makes it all come through
Walking my way with my brother
In every its turn and trial
Where before my father and mother
Had some of the flourish denial
Where everything was in bramble
In every its thorn and din
Through struggling ways and ramble
For the growing to be akin
Where our ancestors are to lead
With their written words and tongues
So we might someday it read
And be their voice and lungs
Oh give the music its true worth
Of singing and the melody
So we might prosper this earth
And become of troubles free
Oh give us the music from birth
In each of its going harmony
In each our walk and waiting try
We consider the changing paces
Where the heart meets the sky
In every its way and graces
So much is to reconsider
And what we must for future aim
So we may come out fitter
In peace and be the same
The road is still to be made
To be someone to grow
And not to the moments fade
That falls in its furlough
There is safeness on the side
To give us something more
And there for each freedom abide
And reach to its peaceful shore
These times must be in safe
To bring us forward still
In every instances waif
To climb to the highest hill
Love everything in right
For that has given the day
And sketched for further light
To lead the tomorrow's way
When tracks of time be brought
Into the raised battlefield
Where love must come from thought
That generation appealed
Through every struggling grain
Each struggle is not plain
And driven through struggle
There is so much strain
In times of hope and juggle
Love is so much to give
And conquering from there
We must in justice live
For us in just adhere
The love is never easy
In times that move along
There might be some breezy
In hours timeless song
And fall be cast on light
On days from bright to dark
For sometimes there is night
Away in glowing spark
Today is sparkle time
Of glowing air
For now is the time made
To go finally there
In to the billow's high
And reach our new sky
With hope of every brim
From the deep of the dim
The growing of glowing
Of well-to-do times to come
With all the best forward
Each fragile bloom
Finally we are equal
That is the place to be
Finally we are equal
Yes finally we are free
There are dreams in our heart
From this moment to start
With so much to give
In rejoice and to live
Every walk in the past
Is now in for its trust
We were flowers and seed
That in past did bleed
But now is our hope
To hold on to that strong rope
Long last
Freedom has come!
.
* * *
Finally we are equal
That is the place to be
Finally we are equal
Yes finally we are free
There are dreams in our heart
From this moment to start
With so much to give
In rejoice and to live
Every walk in the past
Is now in for its trust
We were flowers and seed
That in past did bleed
But now is our hope
To hold on to that strong rope
Finally we are equal
That is the place to be
Finally we are equal
Yes finally we are free
There is so much to do
Bring it forward and through
With the feelings inside
That will be our guide
What we want to bring
And about much to sing
So we prosper to live
And from ourselves give
There were moments of strife
In our thoughts and life
But now the new shall arrive
Where all our hope will thrive
Finally we are equal
That is the place to be
Finally we are equal
Yes finally we are free
Give from everything like this
Don’t just make moment’s bliss
But the true reality to go
What we share and what we know
Let’s build responsibility
In its greatest durability
And the rise of new day to come
Where every prosper is from
There is hope in this all
Never let it again fall
Make the final takes a go
Come now start freedom show!
Finally we are equal
That is the place to be
Finally we are equal
Yes finally we are free
Ask not what the country
Can do for you
But be its strong support
That makes it all come through
Walking my way with my brother
In every its turn and trial
Where before my father and mother
Had some of the flourish denial
Where everything was in bramble
In every its thorn and din
Through struggling ways and ramble
For the growing to be akin
Where our ancestors are to lead
With their written words and tongues
So we might someday it read
And be their voice and lungs
Oh give the music its true worth
Of singing and the melody
So we might prosper this earth
And become of troubles free
Oh give us the music from birth
In each of its going harmony
In each our walk and waiting try
We consider the changing paces
Where the heart meets the sky
In every its way and graces
So much is to reconsider
And what we must for future aim
So we may come out fitter
In peace and be the same
The road is still to be made
To be someone to grow
And not to the moments fade
That falls in its furlough
There is safeness on the side
To give us something more
And there for each freedom abide
And reach to its peaceful shore
These times must be in safe
To bring us forward still
In every instances waif
To climb to the highest hill
Love everything in right
For that has given the day
And sketched for further light
To lead the tomorrow's way
When tracks of time be brought
Into the raised battlefield
Where love must come from thought
That generation appealed
Through every struggling grain
Each struggle is not plain
And driven through struggle
There is so much strain
In times of hope and juggle
Love is so much to give
And conquering from there
We must in justice live
For us in just adhere
The love is never easy
In times that move along
There might be some breezy
In hours timeless song
And fall be cast on light
On days from bright to dark
For sometimes there is night
Away in glowing spark
Today is sparkle time
Of glowing air
For now is the time made
To go finally there
In to the billow's high
And reach our new sky
With hope of every brim
From the deep of the dim
The growing of glowing
Of well-to-do times to come
With all the best forward
Each fragile bloom
Finally we are equal
That is the place to be
Finally we are equal
Yes finally we are free
There are dreams in our heart
From this moment to start
With so much to give
In rejoice and to live
Every walk in the past
Is now in for its trust
We were flowers and seed
That in past did bleed
But now is our hope
To hold on to that strong rope
Long last
Freedom has come!
.
* * *
.
This Day's Birth
By Mark Prime
Through flood… and quaking earth
And winds, those before our grand machinery
Anointed the solemn granite
With our foundation, left great trust in the future
Of their manuscript here
Upon the countries doorstep,
That such swaying of the pillars toward failure
Be remedied in the steadfast parchment.
On this day of days
Let us consider love,
Compassion, freedom, hope.
The sky, ocean, seas, soil,
Home to our limbs and joy
Long misplaced and low,
A glee sunken in our brow
Like the whisper of our end
Bending the corners of our mouths
Misplaced in the shadow of sand and war.
Let this day be remarkable with its coming,
Daring our better selves to stand upon
The shoulders of history and predict our future
With its smiling on the children of peace
In one long, joy filled stride.
We have but to embrace ourselves; the wish
We formed at this day’s birth
Beneath the sun, reaching down to us, above
The staining of men in trenches
Whose lives wait in favor of ours.
Holding for a rise from ashes,
To cleanse this; our foul-bred hunger.
Equipped with mercy
And kindness
The prayer need rise out of us, but no further
Than we might travel among the poor.
No further than the broken,
The weary, hunkered down, begging
Of our hands to fetch them up.
All of us, our strength, a sturdy column
Unbent by the weight of courage,
Tempests in the empty halls of power,
Rumbling a refrain of unity
As we break open the shackles of misuse
Long left to fester on the people’s steps,
Find that this dawn is upon our shoulders,
It is we, who now negotiate with our own death,
Our girth of indifference.
Rise now to greet this day,
Our moment elevated from spirit,
Breathing, throbbing, ready,
Not for one, not for country,
But for love.
Use it for more than our self-seeking,
Use it as if it were the breath of mercy kneeling down.
Indulge its hunger, it has been waiting so long,
Hunkered down, bound and bleeding, ready
For our rising shoulders to hoist it tall again.
By Mark Prime
Through flood… and quaking earth
And winds, those before our grand machinery
Anointed the solemn granite
With our foundation, left great trust in the future
Of their manuscript here
Upon the countries doorstep,
That such swaying of the pillars toward failure
Be remedied in the steadfast parchment.
On this day of days
Let us consider love,
Compassion, freedom, hope.
The sky, ocean, seas, soil,
Home to our limbs and joy
Long misplaced and low,
A glee sunken in our brow
Like the whisper of our end
Bending the corners of our mouths
Misplaced in the shadow of sand and war.
Let this day be remarkable with its coming,
Daring our better selves to stand upon
The shoulders of history and predict our future
With its smiling on the children of peace
In one long, joy filled stride.
We have but to embrace ourselves; the wish
We formed at this day’s birth
Beneath the sun, reaching down to us, above
The staining of men in trenches
Whose lives wait in favor of ours.
Holding for a rise from ashes,
To cleanse this; our foul-bred hunger.
Equipped with mercy
And kindness
The prayer need rise out of us, but no further
Than we might travel among the poor.
No further than the broken,
The weary, hunkered down, begging
Of our hands to fetch them up.
All of us, our strength, a sturdy column
Unbent by the weight of courage,
Tempests in the empty halls of power,
Rumbling a refrain of unity
As we break open the shackles of misuse
Long left to fester on the people’s steps,
Find that this dawn is upon our shoulders,
It is we, who now negotiate with our own death,
Our girth of indifference.
Rise now to greet this day,
Our moment elevated from spirit,
Breathing, throbbing, ready,
Not for one, not for country,
But for love.
Use it for more than our self-seeking,
Use it as if it were the breath of mercy kneeling down.
Indulge its hunger, it has been waiting so long,
Hunkered down, bound and bleeding, ready
For our rising shoulders to hoist it tall again.
.
.
(This poem is for President Elect
Barack Obama... and hope.)
.
Barack Obama... and hope.)
.
How is it possible-
that, in an age of such a shredded foundation,
that, in an age of such unprecedented warring,
that, in an age of such unequaled corruption and
terrible sadness, a moment as this could come?
How is it possible-
that, after such machinations of greed and hubris,
we have the power to have witnessed this;
the moment now bending its light upon us,
directing us forward to our better selves?
How is it possible-
that we now proceed with this stunning milestone,
that we march onward in the footprints of revolution
though the course is not curved of our choosing
and the strident shriek of the dying covers our skies?
How is it possible-
that we have stumbled to our rightful place of account,
wandered in on such lustrous and cheerful promise
standing now before our grasp, yet still untaken,
unused, and ready for our hands to shape into our art?
How is it possible-
with the end written before the bright and new beginning,
with our expectations rutted in dishonest obligation,
with the world’s eyes having peered down into our shame,
that our pathway is not ruled by immeasurable detonation?
How is it possible-
that, with such divergence and fragmentary mourning,
with stained waters and sky distorting our reflection,
with our differences still hidden in the visage of ghosts,
we were able to land here without knowing what’s next?
How is it possible-
that the air that we scorch doesn’t blink or make a sound
as we push and shove our burning way through it
with sorrow at our flank speaking of others as mere fodder
for our wholly unrestrained hubristic nourishment?
How is it possible-
that this plot has begun at the end of such torturous ire,
at the back of gloom instead of the heart of illumination?
That this moment even has words like hope and change within it
is certainly the most astounding thing of all!
What Next ?
.
.
It's A Small World After All
.
By Greg Peel
(FN Arena News)
It's A Small World After All
.
By Greg Peel
(FN Arena News)
.
This weekend in Washington saw a meeting of what is known as the "Group of 20" nations - those representing the most powerful economies in the world. It's a little bit of a misnomer, as the G20 is actually 19 nations plus the European Union. The European Union itself consists of 27 nations, although just to confuse the issue there is cross-over.
Meetings of the G20 are not common, and one can imagine that getting 20 countries to agree on something over a weekend is no small task. More common are meetings of the G7 - the most powerful among the powerful. The G7 consists of the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, The United Kingdom and Canada.
To bring that up to the G20, we add Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea and Turkey, and the European Union.
The European Union consists of 27 countries which trade as a bloc, and as a bloc the EU has an economy greater than that of the US. Of the 27 members only 15 have adopted the euro as their currency. Germany, France, Italy and the UK are all members, so by adding the EU to the G19 you add Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
In other words, 42 nations were represented in Washington, one way or another, representing about 90% of the world economy.
The reason they were there is because the world's economy is in dire straits. Prior to the meeting we learnt that Europe is the first to officially record a recession - being two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth. It is actually the 15 members of the euro currency which have collectively fallen into recession, posting negative 0.2% growth in the third quarter following the same result in the second. The full EU also posted a negative 0.2% figure but was on zero in the second quarter. The biggest economy within the EU - Germany - saw a negative 0.2% following a negative 0.4% previously. The second biggest - the UK - saw an ominous 0.5% drop following a zero result previously. Let's not get hung up on the definition - Europe is in recession.
That Europe should be the first major economy to enter recession is illustrative of why the G20 saw urgent cause to meet in Washington on the weekend. For we all know that the real problem is derived in the US - creator of the subprime mortgage, the CDO, the CDS, and forty times leverage for investment banks. But in today's financial world interconnectivity ensures that no significant economy can operate in isolation. The world has weaved a tangled web. No economy can be spared the ramifications of the actions of others.
We all now appreciate the common chaos theory adage that a butterfly flapping its wings in South America can cause a typhoon in Japan (or variations on that theme). If the theory needed any proof then it has come in the knowledge that an unemployed garbage collector defaulting on a mortgage he should never have been given in Jacksonville Florida in early 2007 has led to the UK seeing negative GDP growth of 0.5% in the September quarter of 2008.
The global financial crisis of the twenty-first century is a result of the rapid movement into the Third Age of modern mankind. The Agricultural Revolution brought about the First Age of civilisation some eight thousand years ago, leading to the creation of democracy and the rise and fall of mighty empires. The Industrial Revolution ushered in the Second Age in the late nineteenth century. Therein followed two world wars and, in between, the Great Depression. By late in the twentieth century we were experiencing the Information Revolution - that of the internet and ever-increasing computer power in ever-decreasing chips. This is the Third Age, and it is this age that more than ever before has connected the world through a web of information channels.
Perhaps Sir Walter Scott might look down and suggest an amendment to his famous poem - "Oh what a tangled world-wide web we weave".
The Information Age has allowed world trade to expand at a rapid pace, allowed for developed nations to outsource their manufacturing and service centre bases to emerging nations, and allowed large financial institutions to transcend borders. The "developed" world has expanded and homogenised, and inextricably interconnected.
Little did Joseph Heller realise when he wrote his iconic Catch-22 that the line "What's good for M & M Enterprises is good for the country" would still be able to be satirically applied today. Heller lampooned the shortcomings of "modern" capitalism back in 1961, highlighting a self-feeding economic circle. The collapse of the world economy in 2008 has close correlation with the collapse of M & M Enterprises.
Prior to September 2008, the world was still hanging on to a notion that the global economy remained divided along distinct lines. It was first thought in 2007 that the "subprime crisis" would be contained in the US. When the situation became more worrying, the International Monetary Fund concluded that Europe and even Japan would rise to balance the economic problems in the US, and it was a common assumption that the booming Chinese economy was "decoupled" from the US. Australia took much solace in the latter, being more worried about too-rapid economic growth in early 2008 than ever contemplating recession.
It took the fall of Lehman Bros to prove everyone wrong, but if it hadn't have been Lehmans then some other event would have at some point inevitably triggered the financial market implosion of the last three months. The world now faces recession, of that there is little disagreement. And the world now realises the extent of global financial connectivity that transcends old-world concepts of nation-states and borders. To address the problem, and to ensure it never happens again, a globally coordinated plan is needed.
Enter the G20.
Rome was neither built nor dismantled in a day, and nor was the G20 ever going to solve the world's problems in a weekend. However, the first step towards the solution of any problem is recognising there is one, and the hasty organisation of a G20 meeting is testament to just that. It would have been easy to turn the meeting into a US-bashing fest, if one assumes the heart of the problem lies in the world's most powerful individual economy, but it would not have been helpful. To be helpful the G20 needed to acknowledge that a new global order needs to be established - a united regulation of the global economy.
That, at least, had to be the second step. The first was to react immediately to the problem at hand and prevent further economic collapse.
Again, it was never going to be possible to draw up a consummate plan of global attack among twenty representatives in one weekend. Thus with the UK prime minister Gordon Brown taking a leading role, the G20 nations collectively agreed to continue to stimulate their own economies individually as the most effective means of preventing further hardship. Stimulation would be both fiscal - pumping government money into the economy - and monetary - cutting interest rates. This is exactly what everyone has been doing anyway but whereas previously it was a case of "follow the leader" now all have agreed in the merit of such policy and thus can feel comforted to keep up the good work as part of a team effort. In short, all members agreed to keep doing "whatever it takes".
To address the second step, it had to first be decided just who was to blame for the global economic crisis. No doubt there would have been small groups happy to point the finger squarely at the US over informal drinkies, but given the US dollar is the agreed reserve currency and no country can honestly say they are completely blameless in letting it get to this point there was little to be gained from playground behaviour. To that end, it was agreed by the end of the summit that "policy-makers, regulators, and supervisors in some advanced countries" were the culprits.
In other words, "us".
With that established, the next task was to figure out how to prevent the disaster ever happening again. Meetings of the G20 and even the G7 are notorious for achieving a lot of talk and a little action, and usually the sort of "agreeing to move forward with unbinding commitments" type rhetoric that Sir Humphrey Appleby would have been most proud to have drafted. One only need take the example of the World Trade Organisation - of a similar membership - and the infamous "Doha round" of trade talks which have continued unresolved for seven years.
And so like guilty school children, this time the G20 agreed upon what is loosely a six-point plan of immediate action, or at least immediate action in the form of an agenda for reform to be ratified at the next summit, planned for March 31. Between now and then the details will be honed. Like any summit of world-leaders, this plan was drafted before anyone actually arrived. It just needed a collective stamp of approval.
The first step is an agreement to complete the Doha round of trade talks by the end of the year.
Thereafter things get a bit hazier, but include better risk management practices at banks, accounting standards to be put in place to account for notorious "off-balance sheet vehicles", standards to address the conflict of interest of ratings agencies (which advise on the creation of instruments they then rate, and profit from the practice), the development of a clearing house for credit default swaps (already underway in the US) and an assessment of the adequacy of hedge fund best practises, which will prove the first step towards regulation of the global hedge fund industry.
Perhaps the most significant step, nevertheless, was agreement on the creation of a "college" of supervisors of the world's biggest banks. The college will be drawn from regulators of many countries. This is an acknowledgement that the global financial market has, as always, moved ahead of the regulators, and as always regulation needs to catch up. This time that catch-up will be globally coordinated and overseen. Homogenous global regulation for a homogenous global financial market.
Agreement to act on such measures in time for the next summit in March was enough for host George Bush to declare the G20 meeting a great success. Bush would have no doubt hoped to have left such a legacy, for it will be Barack Obama in the chair at the next meeting, and a Democratic Congress that leads the charge on the wider agenda of reforms.
Those reforms have been tabled as a total of 47 action items in eight pages of the official document released after the summit. Their focus is to establish a series of new safeguards for the fragile and opaque global financial system. The attempt therein is to better flag risky practices and shortcomings in regulation so that the domino effect of corporate failure cannot again lead to such an economic disaster as has been experienced in 2008.
The G20 wants to keep a strict eye on South American butterflies.
George Bush was also pleased that the plans suggested at the summit did not amount to an attempt to undermine the fundamentals of free market capitalism per se. However, by its very definition free market capitalism can never be fully controlled. Regulation will always chase market practice - practice that is questionable in retrospect but nevertheless legal at the time. The market also fears a swing back to over-regulation - regulation that might be socially laudable in its intent but economically stifling in its application.
Wall Street did not respond favourably ahead of the meeting, falling sharply on Friday. But little can be drawn from the move, given squaring up on a Friday has become common practice and given the present lack of participants means sharp falls can occur in ten minutes flat. Such moves are not reliably representative of more general sentiment. The global market knows it will take time for the G20's actions to bear fruit, and the immediate plan of doing "whatever it takes" (fiscal and monetary stimulus) implies to some there is no immediate coordinated plan at all. But either way the great deleveraging process continues and that has not been forced by any global government regulation. It has been forced by free market capitalism at work.
The focus is now on the global economy and just how bad things might yet get. If "whatever it takes" does manage to put a floor under markets from here, the next problem is just how quickly economic growth can return if weighed down by the sort of over-zealous regulation that may ultimately result from this first G20 gathering. There are few who would not agree that "something had to be done", other than those who believe the only solution is to let global chaos run its full course - the ultimate purge. But among those appreciating the need for reform, it then becomes a case of balance.
As the history of modern mankind has passed through each of the previous Ages, there has been disruption. Disruption that requires a long process to reach resolution, if ever at all. The Third Age will prove no different.
-------------------
Meetings of the G20 are not common, and one can imagine that getting 20 countries to agree on something over a weekend is no small task. More common are meetings of the G7 - the most powerful among the powerful. The G7 consists of the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, The United Kingdom and Canada.
To bring that up to the G20, we add Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea and Turkey, and the European Union.
The European Union consists of 27 countries which trade as a bloc, and as a bloc the EU has an economy greater than that of the US. Of the 27 members only 15 have adopted the euro as their currency. Germany, France, Italy and the UK are all members, so by adding the EU to the G19 you add Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
In other words, 42 nations were represented in Washington, one way or another, representing about 90% of the world economy.
The reason they were there is because the world's economy is in dire straits. Prior to the meeting we learnt that Europe is the first to officially record a recession - being two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth. It is actually the 15 members of the euro currency which have collectively fallen into recession, posting negative 0.2% growth in the third quarter following the same result in the second. The full EU also posted a negative 0.2% figure but was on zero in the second quarter. The biggest economy within the EU - Germany - saw a negative 0.2% following a negative 0.4% previously. The second biggest - the UK - saw an ominous 0.5% drop following a zero result previously. Let's not get hung up on the definition - Europe is in recession.
That Europe should be the first major economy to enter recession is illustrative of why the G20 saw urgent cause to meet in Washington on the weekend. For we all know that the real problem is derived in the US - creator of the subprime mortgage, the CDO, the CDS, and forty times leverage for investment banks. But in today's financial world interconnectivity ensures that no significant economy can operate in isolation. The world has weaved a tangled web. No economy can be spared the ramifications of the actions of others.
We all now appreciate the common chaos theory adage that a butterfly flapping its wings in South America can cause a typhoon in Japan (or variations on that theme). If the theory needed any proof then it has come in the knowledge that an unemployed garbage collector defaulting on a mortgage he should never have been given in Jacksonville Florida in early 2007 has led to the UK seeing negative GDP growth of 0.5% in the September quarter of 2008.
The global financial crisis of the twenty-first century is a result of the rapid movement into the Third Age of modern mankind. The Agricultural Revolution brought about the First Age of civilisation some eight thousand years ago, leading to the creation of democracy and the rise and fall of mighty empires. The Industrial Revolution ushered in the Second Age in the late nineteenth century. Therein followed two world wars and, in between, the Great Depression. By late in the twentieth century we were experiencing the Information Revolution - that of the internet and ever-increasing computer power in ever-decreasing chips. This is the Third Age, and it is this age that more than ever before has connected the world through a web of information channels.
Perhaps Sir Walter Scott might look down and suggest an amendment to his famous poem - "Oh what a tangled world-wide web we weave".
The Information Age has allowed world trade to expand at a rapid pace, allowed for developed nations to outsource their manufacturing and service centre bases to emerging nations, and allowed large financial institutions to transcend borders. The "developed" world has expanded and homogenised, and inextricably interconnected.
Little did Joseph Heller realise when he wrote his iconic Catch-22 that the line "What's good for M & M Enterprises is good for the country" would still be able to be satirically applied today. Heller lampooned the shortcomings of "modern" capitalism back in 1961, highlighting a self-feeding economic circle. The collapse of the world economy in 2008 has close correlation with the collapse of M & M Enterprises.
Prior to September 2008, the world was still hanging on to a notion that the global economy remained divided along distinct lines. It was first thought in 2007 that the "subprime crisis" would be contained in the US. When the situation became more worrying, the International Monetary Fund concluded that Europe and even Japan would rise to balance the economic problems in the US, and it was a common assumption that the booming Chinese economy was "decoupled" from the US. Australia took much solace in the latter, being more worried about too-rapid economic growth in early 2008 than ever contemplating recession.
It took the fall of Lehman Bros to prove everyone wrong, but if it hadn't have been Lehmans then some other event would have at some point inevitably triggered the financial market implosion of the last three months. The world now faces recession, of that there is little disagreement. And the world now realises the extent of global financial connectivity that transcends old-world concepts of nation-states and borders. To address the problem, and to ensure it never happens again, a globally coordinated plan is needed.
Enter the G20.
Rome was neither built nor dismantled in a day, and nor was the G20 ever going to solve the world's problems in a weekend. However, the first step towards the solution of any problem is recognising there is one, and the hasty organisation of a G20 meeting is testament to just that. It would have been easy to turn the meeting into a US-bashing fest, if one assumes the heart of the problem lies in the world's most powerful individual economy, but it would not have been helpful. To be helpful the G20 needed to acknowledge that a new global order needs to be established - a united regulation of the global economy.
That, at least, had to be the second step. The first was to react immediately to the problem at hand and prevent further economic collapse.
Again, it was never going to be possible to draw up a consummate plan of global attack among twenty representatives in one weekend. Thus with the UK prime minister Gordon Brown taking a leading role, the G20 nations collectively agreed to continue to stimulate their own economies individually as the most effective means of preventing further hardship. Stimulation would be both fiscal - pumping government money into the economy - and monetary - cutting interest rates. This is exactly what everyone has been doing anyway but whereas previously it was a case of "follow the leader" now all have agreed in the merit of such policy and thus can feel comforted to keep up the good work as part of a team effort. In short, all members agreed to keep doing "whatever it takes".
To address the second step, it had to first be decided just who was to blame for the global economic crisis. No doubt there would have been small groups happy to point the finger squarely at the US over informal drinkies, but given the US dollar is the agreed reserve currency and no country can honestly say they are completely blameless in letting it get to this point there was little to be gained from playground behaviour. To that end, it was agreed by the end of the summit that "policy-makers, regulators, and supervisors in some advanced countries" were the culprits.
In other words, "us".
With that established, the next task was to figure out how to prevent the disaster ever happening again. Meetings of the G20 and even the G7 are notorious for achieving a lot of talk and a little action, and usually the sort of "agreeing to move forward with unbinding commitments" type rhetoric that Sir Humphrey Appleby would have been most proud to have drafted. One only need take the example of the World Trade Organisation - of a similar membership - and the infamous "Doha round" of trade talks which have continued unresolved for seven years.
And so like guilty school children, this time the G20 agreed upon what is loosely a six-point plan of immediate action, or at least immediate action in the form of an agenda for reform to be ratified at the next summit, planned for March 31. Between now and then the details will be honed. Like any summit of world-leaders, this plan was drafted before anyone actually arrived. It just needed a collective stamp of approval.
The first step is an agreement to complete the Doha round of trade talks by the end of the year.
Thereafter things get a bit hazier, but include better risk management practices at banks, accounting standards to be put in place to account for notorious "off-balance sheet vehicles", standards to address the conflict of interest of ratings agencies (which advise on the creation of instruments they then rate, and profit from the practice), the development of a clearing house for credit default swaps (already underway in the US) and an assessment of the adequacy of hedge fund best practises, which will prove the first step towards regulation of the global hedge fund industry.
Perhaps the most significant step, nevertheless, was agreement on the creation of a "college" of supervisors of the world's biggest banks. The college will be drawn from regulators of many countries. This is an acknowledgement that the global financial market has, as always, moved ahead of the regulators, and as always regulation needs to catch up. This time that catch-up will be globally coordinated and overseen. Homogenous global regulation for a homogenous global financial market.
Agreement to act on such measures in time for the next summit in March was enough for host George Bush to declare the G20 meeting a great success. Bush would have no doubt hoped to have left such a legacy, for it will be Barack Obama in the chair at the next meeting, and a Democratic Congress that leads the charge on the wider agenda of reforms.
Those reforms have been tabled as a total of 47 action items in eight pages of the official document released after the summit. Their focus is to establish a series of new safeguards for the fragile and opaque global financial system. The attempt therein is to better flag risky practices and shortcomings in regulation so that the domino effect of corporate failure cannot again lead to such an economic disaster as has been experienced in 2008.
The G20 wants to keep a strict eye on South American butterflies.
George Bush was also pleased that the plans suggested at the summit did not amount to an attempt to undermine the fundamentals of free market capitalism per se. However, by its very definition free market capitalism can never be fully controlled. Regulation will always chase market practice - practice that is questionable in retrospect but nevertheless legal at the time. The market also fears a swing back to over-regulation - regulation that might be socially laudable in its intent but economically stifling in its application.
Wall Street did not respond favourably ahead of the meeting, falling sharply on Friday. But little can be drawn from the move, given squaring up on a Friday has become common practice and given the present lack of participants means sharp falls can occur in ten minutes flat. Such moves are not reliably representative of more general sentiment. The global market knows it will take time for the G20's actions to bear fruit, and the immediate plan of doing "whatever it takes" (fiscal and monetary stimulus) implies to some there is no immediate coordinated plan at all. But either way the great deleveraging process continues and that has not been forced by any global government regulation. It has been forced by free market capitalism at work.
The focus is now on the global economy and just how bad things might yet get. If "whatever it takes" does manage to put a floor under markets from here, the next problem is just how quickly economic growth can return if weighed down by the sort of over-zealous regulation that may ultimately result from this first G20 gathering. There are few who would not agree that "something had to be done", other than those who believe the only solution is to let global chaos run its full course - the ultimate purge. But among those appreciating the need for reform, it then becomes a case of balance.
As the history of modern mankind has passed through each of the previous Ages, there has been disruption. Disruption that requires a long process to reach resolution, if ever at all. The Third Age will prove no different.
-------------------
--> This analysis appeared on Fnarena.com
.
Why I decided to vote for Obama
.
.
By Alix Bryan
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Here it is the eve of a historic election. For so many people, 1.20.09 is a very important date--but not if we don't vote wisely.What is voting wisely?
The ability to see beyond propaganda, party lines, and America's borders.
Voting wisely is to first sit quietly and ask yourself what you want our future to look like.
After lengthy deliberation, I decided to endorse Barack Obama--just about 6 weeks ago. I met thousands of wonderful Americans while traveling 22,000 miles on a historic Peace ride. I chose to steer our conversations away from politics, because they are often divisive; instead I emphasized how important it is for each individual to know exactly what they want for themselves, their community and their country. And what they are willing to give to see those beliefs take root. Our visions our powerful.
A personal ideology and daily action within one's community is imperative. I consider voting a very, very small part of my duty as a citizen in a democratic republic. What our government does during the next two or four or eight years is largely a function of what we do, not just of whom we elect.
What many of you told me was that you came out to support the Peace ride because I wasn't angry. I wasn't pointing fingers. I wasn't criticizing you for your beliefs. One of the people who joined me at the end of the ride, in Washington D.C., was a son in a long lineage of soldiers--whose ancestors are buried at Arlington Cemetery. He said he joined me that special day because of my declaration that our fate depends on us, not just those in charge and that anger is not what fosters change.
Obama has this leadership quality. He has run his campaign with more integrity than McCain. At first, I feared Obama was full of empty rhetoric. I did my research. A person who tells you Obama is not experienced enough has not done their research, nor utilized critical thinking to weigh in all the factors. Just because someone might have more experience does not mean they have the character for such an esteemed position. Obama has both.
Think about how great it would be to have an eloquent, passionate, level headed President speak for our country. It is not just rhetoric, Obama inspires people, he gives us hope. Our country needs that now. Our world needs that now. How wonderful would it be to have a diplomat in the office? Someone who will use force if needed, but also understands a greater power--the dialogue it takes to reach common ground. It is not a sign of weakness to confront your alleged enemies. For all religious fans--it is what your God teaches. People think pacifism is easy and weak. Folks, that's silly. It takes a lot of effort to develop and maintain relationships, especially with people who hold different beliefs. It is a skill McCain does not have. In this age of globalization, it will be required for us to co-exist with others.
Yes, McCain has experience. He is experienced in an old paradigm of thought which can not lead us into a better future. He has hundreds of lobbyists working for him. Obama's campaign does not. McCain was in the bottom 5th of his class. If you have been unhappy with President Bush's leadership, remember that he too had experience, as well as bad grades in college.
Beware the hysteria, friends.
Think about the facts. Think about the anger and lies that have come from McCain. Think about his age. Think about the severe lack of experience his VP has. She was chosen to attract female voters. The gamble that his campaign took when choosing Palin is indicative of the risky, impulsive behavior McCain will continue to make if elected President.
The greater American public aren't just ready for change, they are changing. In the past 8 years, we have just collectively witnessed an American decay. Logically, at this point in our history, with our power, money and experience, this country should be better poised to better serve its citizens and lead the world. Instead, we have witnessed an erosion of the Constitution, our economic system, and our international standing.
I spoke with my mother the other day. Sadly, she lost half of her savings in the market crash. On top of that, she is paying her taxpayer money towards the very people who gambled with her money. On top of that, her health care expenses will be raised in 2009. She has worked hard her whole life. She now has cancer, and she is, point blank, screwed. She is the great all American statistic that candidates court.
With great sadness I find that most of my family are voting opposite of me. We go over the list of things that are wrong, and they agree. They agree about McCain's character and policy flaws. But they can't break free of their thinking.
I'm asking you to do so. And to tell others how important it is that the election be won by a Democratic landslide.
In years past, I voted, or considered a third party vote.
But this year, I want a landslide. I want Obama to win overwhelmingly. I quote David Swanson here, because he says it best.
"I want the Republican Party put out of business. If you want to build a new party, what better breakthrough could you ask for than eliminating the Republican Party? That process will be well underway if the Democrats win the House and Senate seats that optimists predict, and if the presidential election is a popular and electoral landslide. I want that landslide understood as a landslide for peace and against Republican war mongering. It can be understood as such despite Obama's own support for war, because most Americans are unaware of that. In the simplest terms, McCain has been labeled the war candidate and Obama the peace candidate.
We can better seize on that and compel Obama to actually be a peace president if he wins overwhelmingly. I understand that Bush claimed a mandate on the basis of the narrowest conceivable (and not even true) victory, but his supporters control the media. To claim a mandate, Obama needs a landslide. And if the Democrats take large majorities in both houses, including 60 or more senate seats (possibly including one or two independents caucusing with the Democrats), then Emanuel's excuse strategy evaporates. If the majority of Americans demand something, the Democrats will have to either deliver or admit to not being democrats with a small d. If Obama does not win a landslide over McCain, I will be ashamed to show my face abroad; I want this as a message to the world."
I've been volunteering for the Obama campaign, and I tell people on the other end of the phone; "thanks for listening for just three minutes. Our time is precious, yes, but think about how much of it we willingly waste each day. Think about the greater things we have to lose in this election and sacrifice just three minutes of your time to listen, think and teach others."
I am not in any way glorifying Obama's entire platform. I simply would rather see him in the White House than McCain--and I'm taking an hour of my time to write this to you. To beg and plead with you to put aside your fears, your stubborn allegiance to third parties that won't win, and take off your Republican hats. People say there isn't too much difference between the two parties anymore anyhow--so why not vote for the man who visibly handles himself with more integrity than McCain?
Please, get out there and vote, but remember how easy it is to do things that are fare more important on the other 729 days every two years.
Vote with your heart and your head. The times- they are always a changing, but sometimes that change comes from the people and sometimes it's forced upon us. Together, let's create the world we are prepared to handle.
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One Nation (Move On)
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© 2008 - Ben Heine.
If you like it please follow this link and vote. While you're at it, and while you're on the vote page, you will see the video html embed code and the link code, please place the link code on your site for your visitors and if they are inclined to vote for it they can do so via the page that follows and it will count extra toward thepoetryman's video's chances of winning.
The video is based on my potraits of Barack Obama and Martin Luther king.
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.The video is based on my potraits of Barack Obama and Martin Luther king.
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Vote now!
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Martin Luther King "dream" lives on,
40 years after death
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40 years after death
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By AFP
WASHINGTON -- On April 4 America marks the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, just as the first black candidate with a viable shot at the White House reinvigorates the late reverend's civil rights "dream."
In 1968 the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr was killed by a single bullet to the head while on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in downtown Memphis, in the southern state of Tennessee.
The Nobel peace prize winner was just 39 years old. Had he lived he would have turned 79 in January.
The mystery surrounding his assassination has swirled for years, with escaped convict James Earl Ray convicted of the murder and sentenced to 99 years in prison.
Ray confessed to pulling the trigger, then quickly proclaimed his innocence. Debate over the official version of events, in which authorities determined that Ray had acted alone, remained sharp.
Conspiracy theories abound, with many refusing to believe how or why this unknown convict could have escaped from a Missouri state penitentiary, planned the assassination, and thwarted King's security detail all on his own.
In death King became a martyr in the civil rights struggle, but in life he was a charismatic hero battling for racial equality, from the 1956 bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama and non-violent protest marches through to his famous "I have a dream" speech in Washington in 1963.
"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,'" King told some 250,000 people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial in the US capital.
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
Four words -- "I have a dream" -- thundered through his speech and entered into the American lexicon as symbols of the pursuit of racial equality in America.
Some 40 years later, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's campaign is putting that concept to the test.
The Illinois senator -- the only African American presently in the Senate -- addressed the sensitive race issue directly in a recent speech in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that drew parallels with King.
Obama's remarks were "the most important speech on the question of race and the future of this country since Dr King's 'I have a dream' speech," said Chaka Fattah, a black Congressman from Pennsylvania.
Several other commentators hailed Obama's address as historic.
According to a CBS News opinion poll, 69 percent of Americans approved of the Illinois senator's speech, in which he urged an end to the country's "racial stalemate."
Obama also spoke eloquently about black "anger" and white "resentment" at a time when divisive talk about race threatened to engulf the presidential campaign.
"I have never been so naive as to believe that we can get beyond our racial divisions in a single election cycle," Obama said.
"But I have asserted a firm conviction ... that working together we can move beyond some of our old racial wounds," said Obama.
While 52 percent of Americans hailed King's "great influence" on civil rights -- with 75 percent of blacks and 47 percent of whites saying so -- some 39 percent of blacks said the country still had "a long way to go" towards racial equality, according to a survey of 1,012 respondents conducted by Ohio University.
Throughout the country, religious ceremonies and university conferences will celebrate King's legacy, including an event at Tennessee's Vanderbilt University, where longtime human rights advocate and black activist Angela Davis will address the theme "We are not now living the dream" of Martin Luther King.
(The report appeared on newsinfo.inquirer.net)
Forty years on, Obama, others
still stand in King's shadow
.
By John Railey
still stand in King's shadow
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By John Railey
By the spring of 1968, an exhausted Martin King was often tortured by thoughts that he would be killed. He harnessed his pain and pressed on.
“He grasped the benefit of dramatizing his fight with death - and hence, his people’s fight with social death as victims of oppression,” Michael Eric Dyson writes in his compelling new book, April 4, 1968: Martin Luther King Jr.’s Death and How It Changed America.
“King never tired of telling black folk that unearned suffering, even death, is redemptive. … What we make of his death may determine what we make of his legacy and our future.”
Friday will mark the 40th anniversary of King’s assassination on that Memphis hotel balcony. The anniversary has always been a more realistic occasion than the King holiday in January. The holiday is about sweet dreams. The anniversary is about whether America really is moving from nightmares to those dreams. This year, in addition to the big 4-0 number, Barack Obama’s presidential run has given us all the more reason to ponder that question.
Obama, with his mix of black blood and white blood, has forced America into a debate on race. But it’s a debate that often gets dumbed down, just as King’s radical dreams of peace, equality and justice have been dumbed down. King’s hard legacy was quickly wrapped in soft myth.
“Before his body was even laid to rest, Martin Luther King Jr. had slipped into the long night of myth,” Dyson writes. “He quickly became the most overworked martyr since Abraham Lincoln.”
And “martyrdom also forced onto King’s dead body the face of a toothless tiger. … In exchange for collective guilt, whites have given King lesser victories: a national birthday, iconic ubiquity, and endless encomiums,” Dyson, who is black, writes.
“But blacks have not been innocent in the posthumous manipulations of King’s legacy. If whites have undercut King by praising him to death, blacks have hollowed his humanity through worship. … Whites want him clawless; blacks want him flawless.”
Amen.
Dyson writes about how Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, despite what Dyson depicts as strong efforts, have failed to fully carry out King’s dreams. You think? Dyson could have found a few other black leaders to explore. Regardless of what their inflated egos might lead them to believe, Jackson and Sharpton don’t speak for all black folks any more than James Dobson and Pat Robertson speak for all white folks.
Dyson writes that because “King and Jackson fought bitter battles with ugly forces, Obama can gracefully walk through doors kicked in by King and Jackson.” Jackson did fight those battles, at least in his days as one of King’s lieutenants. But Sharpton’s fighting, often just for the sake of publicity, has accomplished little except to further divide the races.
And how about all the anonymous blacks and whites who paved the way for Obama’s presidential run? Dyson does seem to get that point. “As he walks through those doors, Obama carries the legacy of his people even as he seeks to serve the entire nation. There could hardly be a more fitting tribute to King, and to the people and justice he loved.”
It’s a grand vision, anyway, that suggestion that Obama could sweep into the White House, buoyed in large part on the dreams of another charismatic black leader. For Obama to have made it as far as he has is a huge statement in and of itself about how far we’ve all come.
And regardless of whether we’re backing Obama, we can all hope that 40 years after King’s assassination, a black leader shouldn’t have to worry whether he’ll have all the time he needs to play out his hand, for better or worse. He shouldn’t have to worry that he’ll be killed for the color of his skin in a land that proclaims freedom for all.
(The article appeared on journalnow.com)
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